DanHasNoPlan

Alright so I’ve been debating on what I want to do with part four of TDKBATF, but I’m kinda stuck between two things.

1) Kill Eddie like usual

2) Have Eddie survive but at the expense of somebody else

Absolutely! This sounded so fun to write so I kinda had to! And thank you so so much! I’m so glad you like my writing, it means a lot! I hope this is what you wanted! (Also the third part of TDKBATF is totally out if you don’t already know so yk 👀)

You Rule!

steve harrington x gn!henderson!reader

summary: read the ask !

warnings: cursing

———————————————————————————

“How many attempts is that today?” You grumbled to Robin from the back room of Scoops Ahoy as you listened to a certain co-worker of yours try to get a girl. Key word: try.

“Let’s look, shall we?” Robin hummed, grabbing the white board. It was structured like a T-chart, the left side reading “YOU RULE” and the other “YOU SUCK”. “This is attempt number five! Let’s see how ol’ Stevie does!” She feigned excitement after showing you the tally marks at four before pressing her ear up to the sliding glass window while you rolled your eyes and flat-out turned away from Robin and pouted like a toddler being denied a cookie. You faintly heard Steve’s conversation, but when you heard Robin speak it was clear to what the result was.

She opened the window and held out the board. “Ah, poor Steve. Another one bites the dust. Better luck next time.” You could hear the faint squeaking of the marker adding a brand new tally mark. You could practically sense Steve’s eye roll before suddenly you were being spoken to.

“Hey, Henderson! How come you aren’t out here helping?” He called in annoyance.

“What, helping you pick up chicks?” You turned around and hopped off the counter with a grin. “I won’t be able to help you with that, I don’t swing that way.”

“Helping me scoop ice cream, dumbass. That’s our job, y’know. I’m gonna tell that brother of yours when he gets back and have him bother you.” Steve retorted, crossing his arms sassily.

“Oh, buzz off.” Robin groaned. “Aren’t you a big, strong man? Can’t you handle it?” She teased. “I need to talk to Henderson anyway.”

“Oh yeah, you two can have your little chit-chat but when I-”

“Uh huh! Sure, Steve! I’m sure Henderson would loooove to scoop ice cream together with you later! Just be patient and don’t get your panties in a twist!” Robin waved her hand and shut the window in his face, and she whipped around to face you.

“Dude. Tell him.”

“No!” You hissed out. “Are you insane?”

“Why not?!” She threw her hands up in the air and sat on the counter by the window.

“Why do you think he spends half his time at work flirting with random girls?” You crossed your arms, gasping in offense when Robin threw her hat at your face, knocking your own hat off in the process.

“Because, he probably thinks you’ll say no if he asks..!” Robin hissed, catching her hat that you threw back at her. “Do you not see the way that idiot looks at you? He looks like a little schoolboy with a crush! And you look at him like he’s some hot celebrity!”

“You’re just saying that.” You huffed out as Robin threw her hat back at you.

“Why would I ‘just say that’, Henderson?” Robin crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t embarrass you that badly. I’m so annoyed of you both giving each other lovey-dovey eyes. If you’re gonna make me third-wheel, at least make it official.”

“You say that like it would be easy telling him.” You chucked the hat back at Robin. “‘Hey Steve! Guess what? I have a big, fat crush on you! Isn’t that just great?!’”

“Yeah, exactly like that.”

“You’re no help.” You folded your arms, which gave you no chance to catch the hat Robin threw back at you. “Whatever, I’m gonna go do my job.”

“With Steve?” She crooned, a smug smirk on her face.

You whipped around and picked up Robin’s lost hat along with your own that had fallen, and hurled both hats at Robin. At that moment, Robin ducked and the window opened.

“Hey, what the hell?!” Steve groaned as two hats smacked him in the face, which led to Robin falling on the floor cackling.

You couldn’t help a faint giggle escaping your lips. “Sorry Steve!” You said, catching your own hat he threw back at you. “I was just about to come and keep you company.” You carefully adjusted the stupid hat on your head. Company policy.

“Yeah yeah.” Steve huffed a little. “Just come on.” He said, watching as you came out of the back room and stood by his side.

“At least it doesn’t seem TOO busy today.” You hummed, taking out your ice cream scooper from your belt and flipping it up in the air. “Why did you need my help?”

“I was bored.” Steve shrugged, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. “What were you and Robin talking about?”

“Uh…none of your business?” You cocked an eyebrow.

Steve clicked his tongue, nodding. “Hmm…so you aren’t gonna tell me about the ‘big, fat crush you have on me’, huh?”

A loud clatter came from the ice cream scooper you didn’t catch as it fell to the floor.

“Pftt, yeah you think I didn’t hear that little conversation?”

“Uh…hey! Look at the time, my shift is over!” You blurted out, looking at your watch and you were about to just leave the store but Steve had gently grabbed your wrist.

“You still have ten minutes, Henderson.” His voice was softer than you expected. “Why are you freaking out?”

“What do you mean why am I freaking out? I’m not freaking out, are you freaking out? No one’s freaking out.” You breathed out.

“…you do realize I like you too, right?”

“…what?”

Steve breathed out a little shakily and let go of your wrist, trying to keep his voice down. “I…” he mumbled something, but you couldn’t hear since he was being so quiet.

“Steve?”

“I heard kinda everything. And it’s mostly all right. I didn’t think you liked me.” He tossed his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. “So like…why would I bother? And even if I did anything, would it happen like it happened with Nancy?”

“Oh…I didn’t know you felt that way.” You said, honestly very surprised. “I didn’t think…you’d like me.”

His eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his lips turned down into a frown. “What? Of course I like you. You’re…incredible. Everything I’ve ever wanted. Hell, Henderson, I think I liked you before I liked Nancy Wheeler. You just were always so quiet and so smart and I was used to all the people liking me not bothering to hide it. I never figured you would like a cocky asshat like me. Especially since I didn’t stop any of my ‘friends’ from making fun of you.”

You blushed. “I’ve had a crush on you for a long time.” You admitted. “Since around the middle of junior high. I stared at you in every class we had together. All my friends made fun of me. Told me I had no chance with a guy like Steve Harrington. I never lost hope. Maybe you remember, but we had a project together once. Yeah I did all of it, but I didn’t care. I got to be with you, even if it was for a little.” You chuckled airily, feeling a little relieved to let all of this out so somebody that wasn’t your diary. “I wrote your name in the corners of my notebook, all that corny stuff. It was a little pathetic.”

Steve’s eyes were wide when you looked at him again. “Are you serious?” He said softly, a dumb grin finding a way onto his face. “You really do like…like me?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Like…like like me?”

“Yes, Steve..!” You smiled a little as his grin only grew wider.

“Yes! I like you!”

“Yeah!”

“And you like me!”

“Exactly!”

“That’s crazy!!”

Then, the window opened and Robin’s smug face appeared as the two of you looked over, confusion replacing the smiles. She slowly pulled up the whiteboard with the tally marks and uncapped the marker, hovering it over the surface…

and slowly drew a line on the previously bare left side.

Y͟O͟U͟ ͟R͟U͟L͟E͟

Part One ! Part Two !

eddie munson x male!hargrove!reader

STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR SPOILERS

summary: three parter! first part is about how reader and eddie met, second is them getting together, and this one is reader being infected by vecna’s curse ! (Yay this part is finally done!!)

warnings - mention of death, mention of attempted unaliving, arguing/fighting, cursing, mentions of abuse

———————————————————————————

“When the hell are those idiots getting back here?” You hissed angrily, trying to wipe off some blood that had randomly started flowing from your nose. “Shit, and now my nose is bleeding.”

You were at your wits’ end at this point. You were so fucking tired of everything. You wanted to go home and sleep in your own damn bed. You wanted to eat as much garbage as you wanted. You didn’t want to live as a murder suspect for the rest of your damn life. You needed to go back and support Max and Susan. You were still young!

“They better be back soon. I’m getting freaked the hell out!” Eddie exclaimed, pacing around back and forth on the ground. “Oh god oh god…we’re so screwed! We’re so damn screwed!!”

Your face was twisted into a snarl as you watched him walk around, head absolutely pounding. You pulled off your jacket and threw it down at Eddie from the top of the rock. “Would you stop that?!”

Eddie stopped in his tracks, the jacket you threw at him falling to the dirty forest floor. His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head at you like a confused puppy. He then seemed to finally register that your nose was bleeding. “Oh- shit, doll, here-!” He was about to come up and help you with your bloody nose, but he hadn’t expected you to smack his hand away once he got up there. “Baby..?”

“You pacing down there and muttering all that pessimistic shit isn’t helping the situation, Ed!” You snapped. “My head is fucking killing me and I didn’t get an ounce of sleep because of that damn nightmare I keep having! So please, cut it out!”

Eddie stopped, not knowing how to react exactly. You hadn’t ever used that tone of voice with him before. It would probably be expected. He felt terrible you were in this kind of situation. You didn’t deserve any of it, especially being treated like a suspect because of you having a dead brother. Apparently the story had gone something like ‘he went crazy after the death of his younger sibling’, which Eddie personally thought was bullshit.

He sat with you every night when you had nightmares about that fateful night. He remembered bolting out of his trailer in the trailer park when he heard your scream faintly from the trailer across from his. You would tend to leave your window unlocked after the first few nights this happened, so Eddie could hurriedly climb inside and practically leap onto your bed so he could hold you. He would cradle you in his arms and stroke your hair, whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

The last thing you were was crazy. All you were was traumatized. You were guilt-ridden. You would never hurt anybody, much less hurt someone like the way Chrissy was killed.

“Look, baby, I’m sorry…” Eddie sat next to you on the rock. “If you want to try and get some more sleep, I’ll hold you. All that stress might be getting to your head or something, so some rest could help you feel a little better.”

“Oh, we are way past that.” You muttered, crossing your arms and not acknowledging Eddie’s frown at you.

“Okayyy…I dunno what your problem is, but can you maybe not talk to me like that? I know this is a shitty situation but I’m trying to help you, babe.” He said, tensing up. Was this about to be an argument? A fight? He never thought he’d have one of those with you.

Yeah, a couple that doesn’t fight is a bit unrealistic, but the only fights you two ever had were small disagreements that the both of you knew were never serious. You’d yell at each other over Dungeons and Dragons sometimes but you both would smile by the end of it.

“My problem?” You looked at him in disbelief. “Well, Munson-”

“Oh, so we’re not even on first name basis anymore-?”

“-my problem is that I’m hiding out in the fucking woods from the cops because I’m a murder suspect! That’s my damn problem! Not to mention I’m a murder suspect because my brother is dead, which a handful of people think I did, by the way!” You stood up on the rock, the bottled up rage you had finally spilling over. “I’m scared, I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I keep having these stupid headaches and nightmares! Every night I’m reliving the worst moments of my life! And who the hell knows what’s happening to my sister right now? What if something happened to her while I’m here like a fucking sitting duck?!”

“Well, you don’t think I’m scared, hungry, and tired too?!” Before he knew it, Eddie was shouting back at you, standing up to meet your level. “Goddamn it, babe, there’s nothing we can do about this, so I would really appreciate it if you quit acting like I can just make everything better! If you wanna leave, then be my guest, darling!” His face moved close to yours, his voice painfully condescending.

“Maybe I will!” You snapped. “I’ll go get fucking arrested, how about that?!”

“What do you want me to say?!” Eddie shot back. “Jesus christ, I don’t know what you want from me!”

That’s when you realized, you didn’t know what you wanted from him either. Why were you yelling at him? What did he do wrong? Eddie was only trying to help. Apparently you’d been quiet for too long, as Eddie kept talking.

“See? You don’t even know! So why the hell are you yelling at me?! Try watching Chrissy Cunningham’s bones snap in all different directions, then see what it’s like!”

“Oh yeah?!” Your fire only got refueled. “Try watching your little brother get fucking murdered by a fucking Mind Flayer! Yeah, you really think he died in a damn fire?! I sat with my sister and held him while he died!” Tears filled your eyes and fell at the memory.

“A what?” Eddie spluttered, but then shook his head. “That’s not what this is about! It’s not my fault he died, so why are you taking this out on me? If you wanna leave, go right on ahead! If you wanna get caught by the damn cops or whatever killed Chrissy and Patrick then be my guest!”

Then, within a couple seconds, he was on the ground. You had shoved him. “Goddamn it, Ed!” You hopped off the rock. “Fuck you!”

Eddie watched from the ground as you stomped off into the woods alone. When you were out of view he sighed to himself.

“Shit.”

-

After around a minute or so of walking, you leaned up against a tree and started to cry. Why the hell did you do that? Eddie was only trying to help you, and you flew off the handle at him. Maybe he wouldn’t have said what he said if you hadn’t started screaming at him. Nonetheless, it still hurt. You didn’t really know how long you sat and sobbed for, but you were interrupted by a loud sound.

It…sounded like a clock.

You stood up, intrigued by the sound. You nervously walked in the direction of it.

“Ed..?” You called out, but there was no response. “Eddie..?” Your eyebrows furrowed as you saw an antique grandfather clock just…stuck inside of a tree.

“The hell?” You mumbled, and then a voice spoke behind you that sent a horrifying chill down your spine.

“You think that pothead’s gonna come and save you after what he said to you, big brother?”

You weren’t sure if you wanted to turn around or not. Your curiosity got the better of you and you slowly turned around, the air being drawn out of your throat in a gasp at the figure standing there.

“B-B-Buh-”

“Buh-Buh-Buh-!” Billy mocked, his eyes holding fake sympathy and innocence. He was in the same outfit as you last saw him in. White tank top and jeans, but the only difference was the appalling, disgusting, grotesque hole in his abdomen. You hadn’t seen his face in such a long time, except for in your nightmares. So…what was this? Another nightmare?

“Billy…” You managed out, trying not to let your voice get caught in your throat. “I-I-It’s been so long…I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry for everything!” You blurted, your apologies you wanted to tell Billy since his death spilling out like a pot of water boiling over.

You apologized for what happened to Mom. You apologized for not being able to prevent Neil from hurting him. You apologized for neglecting him when you moved to Hawkins. You apologized for not saving him.

All he did was stare at you. His thick eyebrows were pulled downward and his mouth didn’t move. His fists stayed clenched by his sides. You weren’t even sure if he was blinking.

“Billy? Please, say something!” You begged, and you were about to walk over to him, but his words stopped you.

“You aren’t really sorry, are you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re just like Max. Part of you wanted me to die that day, hm?”

“What?! Billy, no, that’s not true!” You stammered. “Billy, I love you more than anything, I never wanted you to die!”

“Then why did you leave me alone?” Billy scowled. “You’d go and fuck around with those assholes who never even gave a shit about you. You’d fuck around and hardly even think about me. Then you tried to kill yourself like that would solve anything. I saved your goddamn life and you were about to throw it away.”

“B-Billy- I-I’m sorry…”

“It’s time for your suffering to come to an end, big brother.”

-

“Shit…” Eddie mumbled, his body trembling as he sat at the base of Skull Rock. “Baby just come back…I’m so sorry…Jesus fucking Christ I screwed up so so bad…” he stared in the direction you’d stormed off in. He obviously knew you couldn’t hear him, but just maybe if he begged quietly enough you’d come back. He couldn’t leave. What if the others showed up and no one was there?

Eventually, he spotted Steve and Dustin push through the leaves. Before he could even say anything, Max shoved through everybody there. Her blue eyes stared into Eddie after they darted around the area.

“Where’s my brother?” She asked, stepping closer to Eddie. Her gaze intensified when Eddie averted his eyes and gave no answer. “Eddie Munson tell me where my brother is!!” She exclaimed, but Steve came forward and gently touched her shoulder as a way to tell her to back off.

Robin squeezed between the two and looked at Eddie.

“Look Munson, you gotta tell us what happened to Hargrove.” She said seriously.

“…I screwed the hell up.” Eddie mumbled quietly.

Robin’s eyebrows furrowed. “Did something happen?”

“We were…both stressin’ the hell out, y’know? So I think I pissed him off a little and he started yelling at me, and we were fighting…” Eddie explained, Robin taking a seat next to him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Then I…I told him to leave. And he did. I-I dunno where he went but-”

“You told him to leave and didn’t look for him?!” Max exclaimed.

“I was waiting for you guys!” Eddie stammered back.

Max was fuming, Kate Bush still blaring through her ears. “You idiot! Which way did he go?!”

Eddie immediately pointed in the direction of where you left, and Max stormed off in that direction, calling out your name.

“Shit, are you serious?” Steve mumbled, running a hand through his gorgeous hair. “Let’s all go look for him. In groups.” He said.

“Nance?” Robin looked over to her, who averted her eyes.

“Sure.” She said curtly, going with Robin into the woods.

“I’ll find Max.” Lucas quickly said and ran to where Max had gone.

“Come on, Henderson. You too, Eddie.” Steve demanded.

“Just volunteer me like that, okay.” Dustin mumbled, going up to Steve and following him into the woods, Eddie not too far behind.

It didn’t take too long for someone to find you. Eddie, Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Nancy were alerted by the sound of Max’s panicked yelling.

“Well, looks like they found him!” Steve exclaimed, but Eddie was already running to where they heard Max’s voice. Eddie wasn’t sure he’d ever run so fast, but he about froze in his tracks when he found Max and Lucas.

There stood you, his boyfriend, in the middle of the woods. Your eyes were puffy and face tear-streaked, but that’s not what he was worried about. Your eyes were rolled into the back of your head. You looked exactly like Chrissy had that night.

Max was in tears, frantically shaking you despite the fact she knew it wouldn’t do anything. “Come on, you gotta wake up!” She choked out.

“Shit!” Dustin exclaimed when he and Steve arrived. He hurried over and grabbed multiple tapes from Max’s Walkman. “His favorite song! What is it?!”

“I-I dunno-!” Max replied, still trying to shake your still body awake.

“Why do we need to know his favorite song?!” Eddie exclaimed, finally finding his voice and going up next to Max. Although he knew he needed to do something. How would he be able to live with himself if you died the same way Chrissy did after what he said to you? He finally realized how badly he was shaking when he reached out to touch you, Max’s screams beside him deafening.

“Just- what is it?!” Steve exclaimed, and Eddie realized all eyes were on him. They figured he would know it.

“Wh- she doesn’t know it?!” He gestured to Max, silently cursing himself for his voice cracking.

“No! You talk to him more than me!” Max shouted, Robin and Nancy finally showing up to the scene. “Hurry up and think!!”

Eddie’s breathing increased, searching for any memory of a conversation of which you mentioned a particular song you liked. It was hard to think with the redhead screaming next to him and everybody freaking out. You tended to listen to stuff like AC/DC or The Scorpions, or sometimes Def Leppard. Although Eddie could never recall you saying that a song by say, Guns N’ Roses was your favorite. What about special moments between the two of you? What songs tended to pop up?

‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper played when the two of you had your first kiss up on that rock.

You both had your first time later that night to the tune of ‘Africa’ by Toto.

He went through some more songs and then he remembered.

Dungeons and Dragons that day hadn’t gone too well for Eddie, plus school hadn’t been great for him either. It was pretty obvious people thought of him as a freak. This man was like 20 and still in school. Usually people’s words didn’t bother him, but something about today was a little different. He had also had a nightmare the previous night too, which had freaked him out pretty bad. He just had a bad day, which you picked up quickly whenever he called you from across the street. Usually he just came over.

You’d walked over to where he resided, waving to Mr. Munson who was on his way out to go work. He almost instantly met you in the living room, hardly giving you any chance to speak before he hugged you tightly. He ignored all your questioning, just focusing on your embrace. He let out a soft, content sigh as he felt you run your fingers through his frizzy hair.

“Bad day, Ed?” You had crooned.

“Mmhm…” he softly mumbled in agreement, letting his face find a nice hiding spot in the crook of your neck. “Today sucked ass.”

You let a soft chuckle escape your lips at his phrasing and kissed the top of Eddie’s head. “Let’s go lay down and we can talk about it.” You gently removed his face from its little hiding spot and kissed his cheek before you led him back to his room.

After he explained everything to you, you kissed his cheek before hopping up and telling you that you would be right back. He waited about a minute or two and you came back with a walkman and a certain tape.

“We’ve known each other for a while,” you’d started, a faint pink hue in your cheeks. Were you embarrassed? “And when this song came out, I started to listen to it whenever I was sad. I would kinda dance around to it in my room like a total idiot. Billy caught me once and never let me hear the end of it.” You chuckled sadly at the memory. “I’ll let you listen to it since it might help you too, but you have to promise not to make fun of me.”

“Aww, is my wittle baby embawwassed?” Eddie teased, standing up and pulling you in close to him, kissing all over your face.

You huffed and gently punched his chest. “I’m trying to open up to you right now Eddie and make you feel better. Do you wanna hear the song or not?” You puffed out your cheeks in irritation.

“Okay, just stop making that face.” He joked, poking your cheek. “You look like a pufferfish.”

“Jackass.”

“You love me, doll. I promise not to make fun of you either.” He hummed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “Alright babe, hit me.”

You sighed a little at his antics, but there was a smile on your face. You gently placed the headphones over his ears, pressing play.

He waited a little and let the song start playing before he giggled just a little.

“I told you not to make fun of me-!” You whined.

“I’m not!” Eddie quickly defended, still letting soft giggles out. “It’s cute!” You didn’t seem to believe him, so he stood and slipped the Walkman into his pocket. You were confused but then he placed his hand on your waist and held your hand on the other. You understood what he was getting at and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you even know how to dance?” You asked, squinting at him. “Besides, I’m supposed to be comforting you.”

“This is comforting.” Eddie shrugged. “And I can figure it out. Probably.”

“I know!” Eddie shouted out. “I know it! Lemme see the goddamn tapes!” He took them from Steve and looked through them. “It’s not here!”

This only aroused more panic, especially from Max. Then Eddie got an idea.

“Can any of you sing?!”

“…” All eyes immediately went to a certain member of the group.

“Shit.” Dustin muttered, raising his hand.

-

You had been running, and long story short, you were in some kind of…blood dimension. It was something you might see out of a movie. You just had to get away from this thing. Was it the thing that killed Chrissy? As you ran, you eventually made it to some sort of…was it a house? But then you saw it.

Vecna.

Your breathing only increased if that was even possible. You turned to run away, screaming Eddie’s name. As if he would or could come and save you. Something wrapped around your leg and dragged you back screaming. In a heartbeat you were trapped up against a weird, fleshy pillar. It was really gross.

“Let go! Get off!” You cried out at the disgusting creature in front of you. You squirmed and kicked but nothing happened as a weird…thing slithered up and grasped your throat. Vecna said something to you, but you couldn’t exactly tell what it was. This was it. You were gonna die. There was so much you had wanted to do in life, but you weren’t gonna be able to. Billy’s words repeated in your head. Was he gonna say the same thing when you saw him in the afterlife? What was Eddie going to think when he saw your limbs twisted like a snapped twig.

Then, you heard it.

“Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong

You're enchained by your own sorrow

In your eyes, there is no hope for tomorrow

How I hate to see you like this

There is no way you can deny it

I can see that you're oh, so sad, so quiet”

Chiquitita. The song you always listened to when you were sad. The song you made Eddie listen to and danced with him in his bedroom to. But it wasn’t ABBA singing it. Was that…Eddie Munson and Dustin Henderson? A small hole/portal opened up in the far back of the scary dimension. You were floating in the air where you first heard the clock. Dustin, Lucas, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Max, and Eddie were panicking below. Dustin and Eddie’s mouths were both moving slower than the others, and then you realized they were singing to you to help you.

But Vecna looked pissed.

His grasp on your throat tightened, and you could feel your eyes roll back into your head before you snapped out of it. You couldn’t die here. Not while Max and Eddie were there. Billy gave his life for yours and others, so you couldn’t let what he did go to waste.

“Get…off…you…FUCK FACE!” You wheezed, lifting your leg and kicking Vecna where the sun doesn’t shine. Well, where it would be. He instantly let go, and you had never run so damn fast in your entire life.

“Chiquitita, tell me the truth

I'm a shoulder you can cry on

Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on

You were always sure of yourself

Now, I see you've broken a feather

(How it hurts to see you cry)

(And how it hurts to see you sad)

I hope we can patch it up together”

Vecna started to throw…well, something at you. You weren’t about to look back and risk being slaughtered. One of the objects fell directly behind you and caused you to fly forward face first in the…blood? Yucky. Choking on the crimson substance, you scrambled up and started running once more.

“Chiquitita, you and I know

How the heartaches come and they go

And the scars they're leaving

You'll be dancing once again

And the pain will end

You will have no time for grieving

Chiquitita, you and I cry

But the sun is still in the sky

And shining above you

(Even though you cry)

(The sun is shining in the sky)

Let me hear you sing once more

(So let me hear you sing some more)

Like you did before

(The way you used to do before)

Sing a new song, Chiquitita

Try once more, like you did before

Sing a new song, Chiquitita”

You were almost there. You could see the group better. It broke your heart to see Max and Eddie both crying. Eddie’s voice shook while he sung. Max was trembling in Lucas’ arms, which only kicked up your adrenaline and you ran even faster, yelling your sister’s name.

“MAX!” You screamed out in desperation. “I’M COMING, MAX!”

Then your world turned stark white.

Your eyes opened, and you were suddenly falling, screaming out as you did.

Your ears were ringing and your vision was blurry, but you felt a pair of arms around you and frizzy hair was seen from the corner of your eyes. Eddie? Your breathing was quick, grasping onto Eddie tightly and inhaling in the small scent of his house that was left after hiding out in multiple places. Eddie was saying something to you, and you felt his lips touch the top of your head, but you weren’t focused on him.

“Max…” you whispered, trying to get your vision to work properly again. “Max…you okay..?”

You recognized the red hair approaching and your vision and hearing came back to you. Max knelt in front of you, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“You idiot, you almost got killed and you’re asking if I’m okay?” She mumbled, wiping her eyes furiously. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t…bullshit me.” You said softly, and pushed away from Eddie, ignoring your body trembling. “C’mere…sis.” As soon as you held out your arms, Max was in them, hugging you tightly.

“I…I’m glad I didn’t lose you, too.” She muttered quiet enough for only you to hear.

“I know…I’m sorry I got you worried. But I’m not letting some nasty-ass monster get me.” You chuckled, grinning when she laughed a little as well. She pulled away with a soft sniffle.

“Yeah, of course.” She said, already seeming to be doing better. She looked to Eddie beside you, who unbeknownst to you, was still in tears. He felt so guilty about what he said. She pondered for a moment before standing up. “I think Eddie wants to say something. In private.” She pointedly looked at the others.

“Yeah, come on.” Robin nodded, leading the others away a little to give you both privacy.

You turned a little to look at Eddie, who definitely looked like he was aching to say something. You opened your mouth to say something, but he beat you to it.

“Baby I am so so sorry.” He blurted, tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to forgive me, I’m not expecting you to. I-I fucked up so so so bad. There was no reason for me to have said what I said. There’s no justification or any of that shit. I-I never m-meant for this to happen, I swear to whatever God is out there. God, Zeus, who the hell ever! Just please know I never want to see you hurt, and if I could take back what I said, I’d do whatever it took.” His voice shook like you’d never heard before, and it broke so many times. Tears spilled from his gorgeous eyes, but he never looked away from you.

“Eddie-” a sob escaped your throat and you threw your arms around him. “I’m the one who should be sorry…I started saying that awful shit when you were trying to help. I’m so fucking sorry. I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me…just please don’t leave me…” you whimpered pathetically into the crook of his neck. “I thought I would never see you or Max ever again. I don’t care about some argument anymore. I just want you.”

“Oh, thank fuck.” Eddie sighed out shakily in relief, holding you close and cradling you like he had countless times when you were sad.

The both of you sat together and cried. You both cried until Steve came back and made you come to Skull Rock. But even then…you never stopped making contact. You held each other’s hands the whole time.

“Eddie..?” You whispered softly after he picked you up in his arms.

“Yes, doll..?” His voice was delicate glass.

“You really sang Chiquitita for me with Dustin Henderson?” You giggled, and he just smiled and kissed your temple.

Part One - Part Three

eddie munson x male!hargrove!reader

STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR SPOILERS

plot summary - this is a three parter! first part is about how reader and eddie met, second is how they got together, third is the reader being infected with vecna’s curse !

warnings - mention of death, mention of attempted unaliving, mention of homophobia, censored f slur, cursing, mentions of abuse, mentions of drinking/alcohol, implied sexual themes

———————————————————————————

Ever since meeting Eddie Munson at the quarry, things progressively got better. You’d discovered Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair were apart of the Hellfire Club. They were a little hesitant in playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friend’s older sibling, but Eddie practically made them let you play. You worked with Eddie in coming up with a cool character, learning the rules of the game along the way. And it turns out, you were pretty fucking good. You ended up helping the party out of some pretty sticky situations.

Pretty soon, Eddie got you a Hellfire Club shirt, and you couldn’t be more happy. You finally felt apart of something. You had somewhere to call home. Somewhere where you actually belonged. You felt happy there. You hadn’t expected to actually make friends with Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, but you did. You and Dustin were pretty close. Of course, no friendship you made with the other members of Hellfire compared to you and Eddie. Eddie practically became your lifeboat. He would occasionally check in to make sure you were feeling okay, but he never was suffocating about it. This boy just seemed so…perfect. Yeah, he may still be in school after being held back and not graduating, but he really did care about you and you cared about him.

This was part of why your heart just ached for him while you sat at Skull Rock late at night. You tried not to think about it, sitting at the top of the rock and staring at the stars. You were of course thankful for the group helping you two out, but why did it have to be one of the sweetest people in Hawkins that was getting framed? Eddie may look absolutely fucking insane (he kind of is sometimes) but Eddie Munson would never hurt a fly. It was a little cliche to say, but nobody else knew Eddie like you did. You knew how sweet he was, and how caring he was for others.

You couldn’t imagine the guilt he felt too. You, his boyfriend, were getting roped into this heinous situation and there was nothing he could do about it. You had heard whispers after Billy had died. You’d heard a couple people at his funeral say you did it instead of the ‘mall fire’ killing him. You wanted to tell Eddie everything, now that he knew about the Upside Down, but it was just so hard to think about.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by Eddie, who had climbed up the rock and was now hovering over you.

“I was getting lonely down there, Hargrove.” He hummed, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. He was scared out of his mind, but he didn’t want you to know that. “What’s up?”

“I dunno…just thinking, I guess.” You sat up and breathed out, letting him just take a seat in your lap. Your hands found their way to Eddie’s, lightly playing with the rings on his fingers.

“Heh…it’s weird, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“This is where you asked me out, ‘member?”

He was right. This was where the both of you got together. At this very spot.

“Wow…you’re right, Ed. Although it was more of a demand than a request.” You chuckled a bit, the memory playing through your head. “That felt like so long ago. The last time I cried that hard was when we first met at the quarry.”

“Mmm…yeah. You look pretty when you cry.” He said absentmindedly, making you smile.

“Maybe I should cry more.”

“Wait- that’s not what I meant-!” He panicked, and he would have definitely tried to apologize if you hadn’t kissed him to shut him up. His muscles untensed and he calmly kissed back. It occurred to you that you hadn’t kissed him in a while. Sure, you kissed his knuckles or his forehead to try to reassure him or calm him down, but you hadn’t fully kissed him since before Chrissy’s death.

You pulled away when you couldn’t breathe anymore, but Eddie just pulled you right back in. Almost like he needed more. You understood pretty quickly once you felt soft tear droplets fall onto your shirt. He was crying. Eddie never usually…cried. Once you caught him crying after a nightmare he had once, but that felt like a while ago.

You kissed Eddie for as long as he needed, which you didn’t exactly keep track of how long that was. When he pulled away, he clung to you and nuzzled his tear-stained face into your neck like a child clinging to their mother.

“I’m…so, so sorry.” He whispered, his voice like a heartbroken little boy’s. “I never meant to get you wrapped up in this…fucking mess. Not after what you went through. You don’t deserve any of this shit.”

“Oh…I know, I know.” Your voice was a hushed whisper, moving him into a cradling position. He always liked it when you held him like this. “None of this is your fault, okay? We were both just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe that would have happened to Chrissy either way. You had no way of knowing.” You knew your words wouldn’t make anything completely better, but he needed to know nothing was his fault. You gently ran your fingers through his wild hair, kissing the top of his head.

Eddie cried softly for a little longer, pulling away when he was done. His angelic face was red and his eyes were puffy, so you kissed all over it. He chuckled a little and pulled his face away more.

“Don’t be too loud, idiot.” He hummed, going back to sitting on your lap.

“Oh yeah, yeah.” You laughed softly, ruffling his hair.

“…you remember how our first kiss was on top of this rock?” He hummed. “The first time you actually opened up to me was here, too.”

“Yeah, I ‘member.” You chuckled. This rock was so important to the both of you.

Susan had been drinking that night, and Max had shut herself in her room. It had been about nine months since Billy had died, and Eddie knew that. You were about to just clock out, but there was a little rapping on your window.

“Hargroooove…open up…” The unmistakable voice of Eddie Munson was muffled from outside your window. It was almost embarrassing how quick you jumped from your bed and went to the window, opening it.

“Eddie, you goof, why are you here?” You chuckled, trying to be quiet. “Just because you live across the street from me doesn’t mean you can come Romeo and Juliet me or whatever.”

“What? Why not?” Eddie pouted. “I just wanna see you.”

“Well, not in here. Susan and Max aren’t in the greatest of moods.”

“Then come on..!” Eddie grabbed you by the wrist and carefully tugged you of the window. “I wanna take you somewhere.” He shut your window quietly, ignoring your questions as he dragged you to his van.

You tried to hide a smile as you hopped into the passenger seat. You turned on the radio as Eddie drove off, cranking the volume up like the two of you liked, not noticing Eddie’s fond smile.

He parked near Lovers’ Lake, and led you into the woods nearby, holding your hand.

“I hope you aren’t about to murder me.” You joked, hoping it was too dark for him to see your red face.

“Ah shit, you caught me.” He said, before swooping you up into his arms. He was surprisingly strong. “Gotcha!!”

You yelped out, your yell soon morphing into laughter as Eddie ran with you through the woods.

“You weirdo, what are you doing?!” You exclaimed, cackling with no shame as Eddie carried you.

“We’re here!” He announced.

“I can’t see, jackass.” You huffed out, considering he had thrown you over his shoulder. Eddie turned around, not bothering to put you down. You saw a huge rock in the shape of a skull. “Isn’t this that place where people come to make out?”

“That’s not what we’re doing, dumbass.” He sassed, putting you down finally and climbing on top of the rock. You brushed yourself off and climbed up with him.

“The view is really pretty.” You commented as you looked at the stars.

“Yeah…it really is.” Eddie softly said, and you turned to face him only to discover he wasn’t looking at the stars. He was looking at you. You blinked and looked away with a clear of your throat.

“So, Munson. Why’d you take me here at however late at night?”

“I dunno, you just seemed kinda down lately.” Eddie shrugged, pulling his legs into a criss-cross position. “I figured you would appreciate this.”

Your face turned even redder. “That’s…really nice of you.” You stammered out. “Thank you.” How could he read you so perfectly? Or maybe he was the only one that gave a shit. You both were silent for a while, before Eddie pulled out a walkman from his inner jacket pocket and started playing some music. He knew you hated things being quiet.

“Hey…Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you stop me from jumping off the quarry?”

Eddie blinked, obviously not expecting that. “What?”

“Why did you stop me? You had no clue who the hell I was, but you stopped me.”

“Who wouldn’t stop someone from jumping off the edge of a quarry?” Eddie said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You just…looked like you were in so much pain. I couldn’t ignore that. Yeah, I didn’t know who the hell you were, but what kind of a person would I be if I just let you jump?”

You were silent, letting your mind think back to that day. You didn’t get to think about it very long, as Eddie laid his hand on top of yours to pull you back to reality.

“I mean hey, I’m glad I did. You’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever fucking met. You make me really happy, y’know that? Yeah I’m friends with the other members of Hellfire, but you aren’t like them.” He hummed out.

You turned to look at him, and you could tell he was being genuine. How did you get so lucky? You didn’t feel like you deserved that. Not after Billy. Not after what a horrible brother you were to him. You almost didn’t even realize the tears that were bubbling until he said something.

“Hey woah, what’s wrong?” He jumped up and sat in front of you. “Are you alright? Did I say something wrong?” He placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. You tried to not cry, but just like at the quarry, you couldn’t stop the onslaught of tears that came rushing out. “Shit, c’mere…” He scooted closer and wrapped you in a hug, letting you openly weep into his chest. Your chest and throat constricted, body shaking like a leaf as you clutched onto Eddie.

“I don’t deserve this, Eddie…” You managed, trying not to cry on his clothes. “You don’t understand why I was there that day…”

Eddie gently moved away from you and gingerly laid his hand on your face, the cool metal of his rings helping ground you.

“Then tell me.” He cooed softly.

With hardly an ounce of hesitation, you spilled everything. How you and Billy endured the abuse of your father after he drove your mother away. How the two of you gradually grew apart. How you realized how horrible of a brother you were.

“He must have hated me, Eddie…” You sobbed. “I left him alone in a house but not a home. I just couldn’t stand getting beat and getting called a f*g on a daily basis. I fucking failed him! Now my little brother is dead and I can’t fix anything! Why wasn’t it me..? Billy could have gone on to do so much good…he was my baby brother…and now I can’t apologize or anything…and now I’m failing Max just like I failed Billy.”

“…shit, Hargrove…” Eddie whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that alone…” His voice was gentle, like he’d break you if he spoke too loud. His thumb rubbed your cheek, allowing you to focus on that movement. “But…I don’t think Billy ever thought you failed him, you know that? All of this shit is the fault of your shitty dad, you understand? That’s not fair of him to put that blame on you.” He allowed his voice to become a little sharper so you’d pay attention. “No horrible brother would be here sobbing and regretting the way he treated his sibling, y’know? But there’s nothing you can do now, I’m sure you understand that much. Sitting here and crying won’t fix anything, but you know what will? Learning from that shit experience and being a better man, like your brother would want. Living your life to the fullest and being happy, but also keep him alive in your memory and all that shit, y’know?”

“Eddie, I-”

“And I’m gonna help you in any way I possibly can. No person should have to handle all that alone. You’re not alone, y’know? It’s okay to rely on other people sometimes.”

You stared at him, tears still in your eyes. The genuine care and compassion in his eyes made your heart beat faster and faster. That’s when you realized how close your faces truly were.

“I…Eddie..?” You whispered out. “Can I…tell you a secret?”

“Anything.”

“I think I might be in love with you.”

…

His silence scared you. He stared with wide eyes, and you were unable to read the boy’s expression. Did you go too far?

“Just kick me off this rock please.” You mumbled, going to turn away. “I should go, I’m so sorry, forget i said anything.

“I love you too.” He blurted, leaving you to be the one with wide eyes.

“H-huh?” You stammered. Real smooth. “You- are you serious?”

“One hundred percent.” He breathed out. He was just as nervous as you were.

“You’re…not playing a sick joke or anything, right, Ed?” You mumbled, even though Eddie had kept his large hand on your cheek.

“No.” He said, a little firmer. “I’ll prove it if you don’t believe me.”

You almost thought you were dreaming.

His lips were on yours.

He was kissing you.

His lips weren’t the softest thing on the planet, but you didn’t mind. They were a little chapped, but you really couldn’t care less. They were perfect. He was perfect.

He realized you weren’t kissing back, so he went to pull away, but you’d only pulled him right back to you as to savor this moment you never thought you’d experience anywhere outside of your dreams. He decided to savor it too. Both his hands were holding your face, and your hands were holding his. You felt like two lovesick teenagers only without the lust. All of it was love and passion. You’d never imagined this moment would actually come. You told yourself to keep the idea of this locked away in your wildest dreams. You wanted this to happen again.

“Go out with me.” You breathed out once his lips left yours.

A wide, goofy, love-struck grin spread across Eddie’s face. “What’s the magic word?”

“I don’t need a fucking magic word, just say yes, dumbass.” You pouted out.

“Say it, Hargrove~”

“Ughhh, please?”

His lips were on yours once again.

“As you wish.”

~

You didn’t remember much after that. You had woken up in a soft bed in a room that wasn’t yours. You quickly deduced that it was Eddie’s room, his guitar catching your eye as soon as they got adjusted to the light. You could see your shirt, jeans, and shoes strewn about the floor, along with Eddie’s outfit from yesterday too.

You gently lifted the blankets to see that you had been dressed in some of Eddie’s comfier clothes. Did he do that? What a sweetheart.

Speaking of, two arms pulled you close, and you realized Eddie was next to you. He was in nothing but his underwear, which made your face turn bright red. His arms were around your torso, and his legs were all tangled in yours. He looked so innocent.

Part Two! - Part Three!

eddie munson x male!hargrove!reader

SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR

plot summary - im planning for this to be a 3-parter! first part is about how reader and eddie met, second is how they got together, third is the reader being infected with vecna’s curse !

warnings - mention of death, mention of unaliving, attempted unaliving, talking someone down from unaliving, mention of homophobia, censored f slur, cursing, mentions of abuse, mentions of drinking/alcohol

———————————————————————————

Right now, being Eddie Munson’s boyfriend and the dead kid’s brother really wasn’t the greatest position ever for you. You would really rather be at home with your step-sister and step-mother instead of hiding at Skull Rock with Eddie after watching Patrick McKinney get his bones broken like someone was cracking a glow-stick.

Ever since you and Eddie had watched Chrissy Cunningham die in his trailer, things had just taken a turn for the worst. You had heard Chrissy’s bones cracking from Eddie’s bedroom along with his screaming, and when you got in the living room, you saw something you could never imagine, despite having seen a huge monster at the Starcourt mall. Chrissy had been suspended in the air, her limbs bent in several directions that NO limbs should ever go. You came in right as her eyeballs popped out of their sockets and she crashed into the floor. You had no time to get over the shock that Chrissy was the one buying from your boyfriend, and just had to deal with the fact she was dead on the floor.

You and Eddie had a sort of agreement. It was pretty much common courtesy that he didn’t tell anybody who his customers were, and you accepted that. So when he told you somebody was coming over for a deal, you nodded and said you’d stay in his room until the person was gone. Of course, that didn’t last very long.

Eddie was of course freaking out. Some girl had just fucking died in his living room. As he yelled and cried you had stared at Chrissy’s body, trying to figure out what had even happened. Was it something with the upside down? If it was, fuck that shit. Not after what had happened to your brother.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?!” Eddie sputtered, almost forgetting you were there.

“We can’t report this to the cops. They’re…” You hesitated, knowing that Eddie wasn’t going to want to hear this. “They’re…gonna think either me or you did it.”

“What?!”

“Think about it, Ed!” You grabbed his shoulders to stop him from pacing. “Chrissy Cunningham is fucking dead in your living room! What is that gonna look like?! My sister knew I was going here! We live right across the street!”

Good god, what was Max going to think?

“We have to get the hell out.” You said, trying to stay calm for Eddie’s sake.

“Shit, shit, you’re right.” He breathed out shakily. “Come on, I-I know somewhere!” Eddie grabbed one of your hands that was on his shoulders and dragged you out, audibly freaking out as he did so. You jumped in the passenger seat and he got in the driver’s. He quickly sped off, leaving you to just stare at where you lived with Max and Susan.

This was just going to crush them. After what had happened with Billy and then Neil leaving? You had picked up a job at a gas station in order to help Susan provide for everybody. After your brother had passed away, everything had just gone south. She and Neil had started fighting, he left, she picked up multiple jobs, and now she was drinking like no tomorrow. You had tried hard to be there for Max, but she had almost shut off completely. Nobody except you was exactly close to Billy, but you knew she had some caring for him. You couldn’t imagine how it must feel grieving for someone who hurt you.

As Eddie had ranted about wherever you were going, all you could think about was Billy. What would he do? You were a little sad to say you didn’t know. The two of you were relatively close when you were kids and your mother was around. But Neil ruined everything. He had driven Mom away and only caused you and Billy so much more pain. You remembered the nights when Billy would come to you with black eyes, fighting back tears and trying to be strong. You were just a little older than him, but that didn’t make the fact you were his big brother any different.

That being said, you couldn’t handle the fact that you had failed him once moving to Hawkins. You had forgotten what being a big brother had meant. He had seemed so independent and was pushing you away, so you figured he didn’t need you anymore. He had grown up. You stopped staying at the house as often. You went out with some of the jock friends you had made. You didn’t want to deal with Neil yelling at you and hurting you and calling you slurs. You realized too late that really had needed you. He was dead by the time you had realized how royally you’d fucked up. You had left him alone in a house. But not a home.

Ever since he died the guilt was starting to eat you alive.

But that’s how you met Eddie Munson.

It had all started when your dad left. He made you stay with Susan and Max. He told you it was your fault that Billy had died. Everything had been your fault, according to him. Your fault that your mother had left. Your fault Max was getting into trouble. You were to blame for all of it. You remember Susan begging him to take it back, that you didn’t do anything. But his words still rang clear in your head.

“The f*g only has himself to blame.”

Now you realized he just said that because he didn’t want to admit it was his fault. But then? You were still grieving over your little brother who you failed to save.

So, that night after Neil had left, you decided you didn’t want anything to be your fault ever again. Standing on the edge of that quarry that one middle schooler got his arms broken at by some girl, apparently, you were ready to just relieve everybody. But before you could do what you had planned, someone had called out.

“Hey, woah, bud! That’s the wrong place you wanna jump off if you’re going for a swim.”

You had whipped around and saw a strange boy your age with a shirt that read ‘Hellfire’. He was obviously cautious, knowing what your plan was.

“Go away!” You shouted. “Just- get out of here!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, you fucking can! Just go, please! I dunno who you are, but nothing you have to say is gonna make me fuckin’ feel better!”

The boy sighed, and you thought he had left, but suddenly he was right there next to you.

“Well, you at least gonna tell me your name so I can tell people who I saw jump off at the quarry?”

“What? What do you care?”

“You gonna answer the question?” He asked, perfectly calm as opposed to your loud, shaky voice and puffy eyes. “What’s your name?”

“…(Y/n)…”

“(Y/n)…?”

“…Hargrove.” You uttered the last name like it was delicate glass.

It seemed to click in his head immediately. Hargrove. The dead kid. You were related to the dead kid.

“Shit…well, I’m Eddie. Nice to meetcha.” He offered you a smile and held out his hand. Your eyebrows furrowed as you nervously took his hand. “Now, if you’re gonna jump, just know it’s not gonna solve anything.” He said, gripping your hand in his as if to try and ground you. You just glared and ripped your hand away.

“I guess I’ll have to be the judge of that.” You gave him no further explanation and that’s when you stepped off the edge.

Instantly, you regretted it. The feeling of falling really wasn’t fun, and in that moment you remembered Susan and Max. Luckily, that feeling didn’t last too long.

A strong hand had grasped your arm. Eddie had knelt down on the edge and grabbed you. All he did was smile at you.

“You really think I was gonna let you fall, Hargrove?” He quickly yanked you up. This man had strength.

You scrambled up and scooted away from the cliff, trying to fight back the tears that were coming on but miserably failing. You’d always been shamed for crying. It wasn’t manly, according to…like, everybody you knew. You remembered hiding your tears during Billy’s funeral, only to go out by this same quarry and scream out your frustrations in private. But…Eddie didn’t say anything. He just went and sat next to you, crossing his legs. You tried stopping, worried he would eventually make some backhanded comment.

But he didn’t. He laid his hand on your back, being cautious in case you didn’t want to be touched.

“I know this is kinda weird considering we just met, but…do you wanna hug?”

You stared at him for a few seconds. When was the last time someone had hugged you? You couldn’t remember. Eddie seemed to sense your uneasiness, and he held out his arms, almost like he knew you basically forgot how to initiate one. You bit your lip and eventually just said fuck it and leaned forward and hugged the boy. As soon as he wrapped his arms around you, it was all over. The tears gushed out of your eyes like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube. Your throat tightened and you started shaking like a baby rattle. You were a mess. You felt pathetic as you cried like a baby in this stranger’s arms.

“Shit- f-fuck- ‘m sorry…” You stammered out, your words barely comprehensible due to your onslaught of tears. “You shouldn’t have to deal with a total stranger’s problems, man…”

“Well…yeah, so?” Eddie hummed. “I wasn’t about to let a pretty boy like you jump off and die a painful death on those rocks.”

Pretty boy? Your face was already red from crying, but it just got a little redder. That’s when you spotted the black handkerchief/bandana in his back pocket.

“I-I hope you didn’t stop me just because you wanted a fuck.” You mumbled, and now it was his turn to be surprised.

“I- well, no, that’s not what I meant-” he started stammering, not sure if he should reassure you or be surprised you knew what that meant. “You’re- I mean, shit-”

You couldn’t help but just laugh a little, sniffling as you pulled away. He looked a little scary, but he was actually pretty sweet. “It’s okay…I just joking. You’re…y’know?”

Eddie seemed to relax. “Yeah, I am. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded in understanding. “Well, nice to know you aren’t gonna call me a slur or anything.” He chuckled lightheartedly.

“Same.” You breathed out shakily. It wasn’t often you met another gay person. You knew Robin Buckley was, but that’s about it.

“So…do you wanna talk about anything? I mean if not, that’s whatever.” Eddie hummed. “If you want a distraction or anything, that’s cool too.”

“A distraction?”

–

steve harrington x gn!henderson!reader

SPOILERS FOR STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR

plot summary - after venturing with steve, dustin, max, and lucas the reader begins to realize they’re affected with vecna’s curse. although max has her walkman, steve immediately realizes she doesn’t have the reader’s favorite song.

warnings - mention of death, cursing, smoking, mentions of bullying, sexual innuendos, dead bodies

angst + slight fluff

———————————————————————————

All you could do was stare in pure shock as Max Mayfield came tumbling to the ground in the cemetery. Lucas frantically held her in his arms as her hurried breathing eventually slowed, the faintness of Kate Bush’s voice coming through Max’s headphones. You wished you could somehow thank the woman for basically saving Max’s life. After Eddie’s description of what happened to Chrissy Cunningham? You didn’t think you could bear seeing that happen to a poor child.

“Hey, babe!” Steve’s voice was calling you back to reality. You had kinda almost forgotten about your boyfriend. Dustin of course found immense pleasure in teasing the both of you or making loud, obnoxious gagging noises whenever the two of you showed any kind of affection towards each other. “You alright?” His hand fell upon your shoulder.

“Oh- oh, yeah ‘m fine, Steve.” Your reply was definitely shaken, but how could you possibly be fine?

“…okay, that was a dumb question.” He admitted out loud, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. “What do you need right now?”

Steve had never really liked trying to read your mind to figure out what was wrong. He knew you wouldn’t really lie to him, either. He always preferred asking you outright. He didn’t wanna end up saying something stupid like usual.

“Just…” You forced yourself to swallow down your anxiety. You couldn’t tell Steve, could you? You couldn’t tell him what was going on.

How your head had been pounding even more lately.

How those images of being stuck with evil Russians with Steve and Robin had been haunting your sleep.

How terrible you felt that your little brother had gone through so so much without you to protect him like you always swore to.

How guilt ate you away when you thought of Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins after they found out Steve Harrington was dating you, and how Dustin was the one to comfort you after what they did to you instead of you dealing with it on your own.

How deep your stomach seemed to sink when looking over the files of Chrissy Cunningham and Fred Benson in the counselor’s office.

How the image of that damned grandfather clock flashed through your mind.

Apparently you had spaced out again. You only realized this when your little brother started freaking out.

“YOU BETTER WAKE UP RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I’M GONNA KILL YOU BEFORE THAT THING DOES-”

“Wh-? Yeah, what? I’m awake, Dust!” You shook your head a little and Steve pried Dustin off your shoulders.

“Jesus! Don’t scare me like that!” Dustin exclaimed, throwing up his arms like ‘what the hell?’

“You were the one screaming in my face when I was only thinking! Relax!” You shot back, but instantly regretted it when you took a second to look into Dustin’s fearful eyes. “Shit- ‘m sorry.” You sighed and rubbed your face. “C’mere, shithead.” You stepped forward and Dustin quickly hugged you before you could hug him first.

Steve silently watched the two of you embrace (playing it pretty calm considering he totally was freaking out at the sight of you spaced out), glancing over as Max and Lucas walked over. Max still had her headphones on, which wasn’t exactly all that surprising. He gestured for them to get in the car, hiding the small pit in his stomach. Why did you seem so different? He couldn’t really fit the pieces together, but he really wish he did when you looked at him after pulling away from Dustin and asked that question.

“Stevie?”

“Yeah, doll?”

“Can we stop at my place on the way back?”

“…is there a particular reason why?” His eyebrows furrowed. Why make another detour?

“I just wanted to grab my Walkman is all.” You shrugged, which was only partly a lie. “Just in case something happens to Max’s and we need a spare.”

Steve couldn’t exactly argue. It was a smart plan. “Alright, but someone’s going inside with you.” He said gently.

You chose not to argue, only replying with a nod. You figured it was time to go now, but supposedly not according to Steve.

“Henderson, go get in the car.” He told the curly-haired boy.

“What? Why?” Dustin frowned. “They’re my sibling, and I would like to stay with them, please and thank you.”

“Yeah, well, your sibling is also my hot significant other, who I too care very much for.” Steve cocked an eyebrow. “I mean, if you want to hear us gush over each other, fine by me.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked to you, plastering a goofy smile on his face with eyes that said ‘play along’.

You finally let a smile grace your lips as you looked at the boy crushed on during freshman year. Yeah, he was a dick. You couldn’t really deny that he was a playboy, but every so often you would catch wind of that boy who was a little kid at heart. You weren’t exactly loud and extroverted like Dustin. Steve had never directly shown you that side until later. You were more of an observer. You watched things, taking subconscious notes of what you saw. You didn’t really like rushing. You would always silently observe Steve’s almost child-like joy. When you worked at Scoops Ahoy with him and Robin, his and Dustin’s reunion was what finally knocked it into you that you loved him.

“Oh, definitely.” You slid your arms around Steve to further sell the point to Dustin. “After what just happened? I totally need my wonderful boyfriend so we can just mak-”

“Okay!” Dustin exclaimed loudly to cut you off. “I get it, you guys wanna kiss and shit! Leave me out of it!” Without any further argument, Dustin stomped to the car, muttering something about ‘disgusting assholes’.

“Worked like a charm.” Steve clicked his tongue, looking down to you and gently holding your waist. He chuckled.

“What’s so funny, Harrington?”

“Oh nothing. Just think it’s funny that he gets so worked up over this.”

“Eh, he’ll survive. Anyway, what’s up?” You tried playing it cool. You and Steve could read each other like books. He knew something was up, and you knew he wanted to find out what that was.

“I know something’s wrong, alright?” His voice was soft but stern. “I don’t want all the details if you don’t wanna give them. But you’ve been spacing out like that a lot, and now is…not a great time for that, honestly.”

“I always space out.” You lightly argued, keeping your arms around Steve as to attempt to trick the kids into thinking you guys were just doing sickly sweet things like partners do. The last thing you wanted to do was worry Dustin.

“Yeah, only when you’re doing that little thing where you remember the tiniest details. What were you looking at?” He pressed, pulling you closer and pressing his lips to your forehead. Damn him. He wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he could make you melt with the simplest of actions.

“I…the gravestone next to Hargrove’s.”

“What did it say?”

“…okay, you got me.”

“I know. Now please, tell me what’s wrong. I don’t want anything happening to you.” He whispered softly, holding your face in his hands and rubbing his thumb across your skin. “After what happened last summer…I’ve never stopped thinking about what could have happened if events had played out differently. I want them to play out in your favor this time, too. I don’t know what I would do without you…what your brother would do. Lord knows he would kick my ass if something happened to you. Hell, I’d kick my own ass if I could.”

Guilt came back and crushed your being even more. What were you supposed to say now? ‘Yeah babe, I actually think I’m gonna die in the next few hours!’ Like hell that was happening. You didn’t wanna give him any hope that he could save you. You didn’t want him to go through the agony of feeling like he should have done more. You didn’t even know what your favorite song was. You listened to a lot of songs.

“It’s just…I’m scared, Stevie.” You whispered softly, deciding to just…omit the part about you maybe/probably dying. “I thought Starcourt was it. I thought getting kidnapped by Russians and getting drugged and watching Billy get murdered was it. I thought my brother was safe. I thought you were safe. I thought everything was okay. But it’s not.” The words just spilled out of your mouth.

“Oh, baby…” Steve quickly pulled you closer. “I know…I’m so sorry. I wish I could just make all that go away, y’know? But hey, we saved the world once, didn’t we?” He offered a genuine smile. “Why can’t we do it again? Nothing’s gonna happen to me or Dustin, I promise you. Nothing’s gonna happen to you, yeah?”

“…yeah.” You smiled just a little at Steve. He was so confident everything was going to work out, but the sudden pain in your head told you otherwise. “I love you so much, Steve Harrington.”

“I know.” He winked. “I love you more, Henderson.”

“In your dreams.”

Steve was going to swoop down and give you a kiss, but before your lips could touch…

HONK!

“HEY, STEVE! QUIT TRYING TO MAKE OUT WITH MY SIBLING!”

-

The car ride was relatively silent. All the kids agreed to the plan of grabbing another music player, especially Lucas. Steve’s hand was rubbing soft circles into your thigh in attempts to comfort your bouncing leg, but it didn’t really help you. You slipped out a pack of cigarettes from Steve’s the jacket that you were wearing’s pocket, along with a matchbox.

“You know I hate it when you do that…” Steve whispered softly.

“Steve, I feel like I deserve this one smoke. Please?” You mumbled.

Steve decided to cut you some slack. “Just don’t light my hair on fire, doll.” He teased.

“Ah, shit, there goes my plan.” You teased back, sticking the cigarette in your mouth and striking the match, lighting the stick of nicotine in your mouth before rolling down the window. Of course, it wasn’t like you smoked all the time. Just occasionally, to calm the nerves. You recently had picked up the habit after Starcourt. Steve couldn’t stand the smell, so you usually didn’t indulge in your coping mechanism around him. Luckily, Dustin wasn’t a snitch and your mom didn’t know, and she was not going to find out.

When you arrived at the Henderson household, you stepped out of the car without a word. You just needed to grab what they needed and do what you really came there to do. Your mother wasn’t home, so you didn’t bother putting out the death stick in your mouth.

“Hey, excuse me?” Dustin called as he fumbled with the car door, sounding a little offended. “You seriously aren’t going in there by yourself, right?”

“…yes?” You said, furrowing your brow.

“I’m with him. After what happened? Not a shot.” Steve shook his head after sticking it out the window. “Someone’s going with you-”

“-that someone being me.” Dustin interrupted, marching to your side. Dustin had always been protective of his older sibling. One time, when Mews was only a kitten, she had scratched you. Dustin had been relatively little, but he was pretty mad at that cat and made it stay outside until Claudia let her back inside. When he was a little middle schooler, he got so incredibly pissed when he figured out Tommy and Carol had been bullying you. He talked so much smack, ranting on and on about how he was gonna go kick their asses.

A fond smile crept up on your face. “Okay, shithead.” You hummed, stealing the hat he wore and ruffling his curls that both you and your mother were crazy about the moment he was born.

“Give that back..!” He huffed out, punching your shoulder and taking it back.

“Ow!” You exclaimed, laughing as the two of you made your way into the house. You figured you were a pretty good actor since Dustin didn’t seem to notice your shaky hands or how terrified you were.

The smell of home almost brought tears to your eyes. Was this the last time you’d ever smell this scent again?

“So I guess your Walkman is in your room?” Dustin hummed, making a beeline for your bedroom.

“Hey, excuse me.” You huffed, grabbing the back of his jacket and pulling him back. “I don’t want you in my room. You don’t know what I have in there.”

Dustin’s eyebrows raised. “What do you have in there?”

“Good lord, Dust. I’m not being serious.” You laughed out loud, patting him on the back.

“Hey, how am I supposed to know what you do or don’t have in that room? You hid those things for a while.” He gestured to the cigarette in your mouth.

“Welllllll, if you really wanna know…” A playfully evil grin spread across your face. “Remember that night when Steve came over and the next morning I told Mom I got that bruise from the curling iron? Well, Steve and I-”

“Y’know what-? I don’t think I wanna know, actually!” Dustin quickly said. “I’ll just grab a snack or something.” He grumbled.

You just chuckled as Dustin walked away, letting him know you’d yell if anything happened.

Would you even be able to yell?

“Hey, Dust?” You quickly called out, and his head popped out from behind the wall of the kitchen.

“Yeah, loser?” He said with a playful grin.

You forced out a soft laugh, before taking a deep breath. “I love you, Dustin. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, duh.” He chuckled like it was obvious.

“And all those times I made fun of you were just lighthearted, right?”

“Uh…yeah?”

“And I’m sorry for stealing those leftovers you were gonna eat the other night.”

“Oh, I’m still mad at you for that one, asshole.” He huffed out, but realized you weren’t laughing. You just kept going.

“And I really couldn’t ask for a better little brother, y’know? Sometimes it feels like you’re the older one.” You chuckled quietly. “You’ve been there for me when I needed you, and I appreciate it.”

“Well, yeah. You’re my family.” He shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“…yeah. Sorry, didn’t mean to get all sappy.” You breathed out, sensing Dustin really didn’t understand why you were saying all this.

You quickly went into your room and shut the door without another word. With a shaky breath, you took a seat at your desk and grabbed the pain relief medication by the lamp. Your head was absolutely pounding. You cursed upon realizing it was empty. Of course. This was definitely a sign. You had to hurry.

You hurriedly opened the top desk drawer and grabbed a notebook and pencil, ripping out a piece of paper. Your handwriting would have been a little neater, but just then, the lights in your room flickered. You wrote faster.

You needed to write this will.

“Hey, you find it yet?!”

“Shit-!” Dustin’s voice had scared the hell out of you, and you dropped your pencil. You took a deep breath, trying to keep your calm.

“Uh, n-no, not yet! I’m working on it! It could be in between the couch cushions!” You called back, continuing to furiously scribble after picking up your pencil. Dustin’s footsteps faded away from your door. You chose to give Steve and Dustin most of your stuff. You finished it after about two minutes and you stood.

The lights were flickering again.

“Shit, shit-!” You whispered, shaking your hands as tears formed in your eyes. You didn’t want to die. Not this young. Not in such a gruesome way. Why did it have to be you?

Well…if you were gonna have to die like Chrissy and Fred, you sure as hell weren’t gonna let anybody be witness to it like Eddie was. Your feet brought you to the door.

Then, you locked it.

-

Dustin groaned loudly after he had ripped all the cushions off the sofa. He didn’t even find any quarters or anything.

“Have you found that thing yet?!” Dustin called out in the direction of his sibling’s bedroom. “Don’t you think the others are worried?!”

…nobody responded.

He rolled his eyes a little and started back toward your room, knocking.

“Hellooooo? Steve is gonna get all mad at me if we take too long, not you.” He complained. But still, nobody replied. He frowned a bit. You never straight up ignored him before. He expected some quick comeback, but he was met with silence.

“Uh…hello?” Dustin knocked on the door a little louder. “Can you answer me, please?”

…but nobody came.

Here’s when he started freaking out. “Hey, come on, this isn’t funny!” He quickly reached out for the doorknob and tried opening the door. It was locked. “Now isn’t the time to be joking around right now!” He shouted, trying to open the door. “Shit shit, come on, please!”

There was still no reply.

“Shit!!” Dustin exclaimed, his breathing increasing. “Shit shit, what do I do-?” He mumbled to himself, before remembering that there indeed was a car with three people outside. Among those three people was someone Dustin was pretty confident could bust down the door.

-

“What the hell is taking them so long?” Steve hissed out, his leg bouncing as he stared at the house. “They just need to grab it and come out, what’s the big deal?” He spoke out loud to no one.

“I dunno, but talking to yourself probably won’t help.” Max responded, gazing out the window.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Steve mumbled, running his hand through his hair. He just felt like something was off. A few days ago, you’d started acting strange. It started with your migraines. You had to take a day off work because of them at one point. Once, you’d called Steve half past midnight. You’d been sobbing hysterically, ranting to him about the nightmare you’d had about being captured by those Russians. It probably didn’t help that you’d run into Tommy and Carol the other day, too. That’s when you came to him with bruises. All he could do was just hold you in his arms. Rub your back, whisper sweet nothings into your ear. Assure you that he had not been killed by the Russians. That you and he were safe.

His thoughts were interrupted by the front door busting open.

“STEVE!” Dustin’s voice ripped through the air like a knife chopping through a vegetable. “STEVE, QUICK, COME ON!”

Steve almost thought he was going to pass out. He knew something had been wrong. He should have pushed more. He almost fell on his face scrambling out of his car, tears already forming. This couldn’t be happening. He hardly even registered Lucas and Max following. He bolted to the door, letting Dustin yank him inside and lead him to your room.

“What’s going on, Henderson?!” Steve shouted, but he had a feeling he already knew.

“They won’t open the damned door!” Dustin cried, trying to open the door and demonstrating that it was locked. “You gotta bust it down!”

“Goddamn it!” Steve tried opening the door. “Baby please open the door! Can you hear me?! It’s Steve! Please, you gotta snap out of it!” He begged, almost like a little kid.

“Don’t you think I tried that?!” Dustin yelled. “BUST DOWN THE DOOR!!”

Steve’s breathing increased. He couldn’t let Dustin down. He couldn’t let you down. Without arguing, Steve braced himself and slammed his body into the door. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He quickly repeated the action.

“COME ON!” Steve’s voice broke, ramming himself against the door. The door bust down at that exact moment, hinges going flying. Thank fuck for hysterical strength.

The sight he saw was horrifying. There was his baby. His sweetheart. They were standing in the middle of the room, eyes rolled to the back of their head. He should have known. It all made sense to him. The migraines, the spacing out, the nightmares. Why didn’t he figure it out sooner? Maybe he was too focused on saving Max.

“The Walkman! Where the hell is it?!” Steve shouted, legs moving him to his dear partner before he could even think.

“I don’t know!” Dustin shouted back, in tears at this point.

“Oh, shit…” Steve groaned. You had left it at his house. He remembered trying to get it back to you at work but always forgetting. “They don’t have it here, we need something else!”

“Here!” Max suddenly was at his side, shoving her Walkman into his hands. “Quick, what’s their favorite song?! You’re their boyfriend!”

“Ah, shit, shit!” Steve hissed out, taking the songs from Lucas and looking through them. What was your favorite? You had never outright told him. But he definitely knew it was none of these. “None of these!” He dropped them on the floor, tears escaping his eyes. “Come on, Harrington, think!!” He hissed to himself, the sight of Dustin full-on sobbing as he stared at his sibling in the middle of the room.

-

The ringing of the clock was deafening. No…this wasn’t happening.

“Steve?!” You called out, voice shaking. “Steve, where are you?! Dustin?!”

Then, a voice spoke.

“Aww…poor Henderson. All alone.”

You whipped around and saw Carol Perkins. Carol? What was she doing here?

“Where’s your little boyfriend Stevie? Oh, don’t tell me. Did he leave you too?” She mocked, her voice echoing throughout…wherever you were. “Or wait…those Russians got him, didn’t they?”

“What..? No, no, he’s okay.” Your voice was smaller than you’d expected.

“Is he? Why didn’t you do more to try and help him? Harrington got beat the hell up, and all you could do is beg. ‘No, please, stop!’” She mocked, a sadistic laugh coming from her throat as you backed up. “You take him for granted, don’t you know? You finally found someone who said he won’t leave and you are blindly trusting that, yeah? You just think he’ll shield you from everything? He’s gonna get tired of it, don’tcha know?” She giggled, blowing a bubble with her gum.

“Stop!” Was all you could yell, turning on your heel and leaving the room.

Carol’s maniacal cackling distorted into a low chuckling, and the clock only got louder. You slammed open the door to your bathroom only to see a grandfather clock chiming inside your bathroom wall. You went to leave, but the door slammed shut, leaving you trapped in the bathroom. Then you realized. You weren’t in the bathroom. You had run into the room you, Robin, and Steve were in when you were interrogated by the Russians.

“No no no!” You screamed, banging your fist on the door.

“Ah…you’re finally here.” A deep voice rumbled, and a chill shot up your spine. “It’s almost time, don’t you know? I’m sure you’ve known for a while.”

“Please, what did I do?” Your voice came spilling out like a frightened, little kid. “I just wanna go home. I wanna see my little brother.” You squeezed your eyes shut and started ramming into the door to try to get it to open.

“I think you know why you’re here. It’s time for your suffering to end.”

“No…I’m not gonna let you kill me!” After a while of ramming into the door, it suddenly just opened and you started running. You had no clue where you were running to. You just needed to get away.

-

Three children screaming at Steve to hurry really didn’t make it any easier for him to think.

“Shut up! I’m trying, okay?!” Steve cried out, gripping his hair.

The first song that came to mind was ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Elvis Presley, but he crossed it out pretty quick. You skipped that song too much. No, it was a Beatles song. You adored the Beatles. After all, there was a poster above your bed. He went through all the songs in his head.

‘Yellow Submarine’ ?

No, not that one.

‘Eleanor Rigby’ ?

No, he knew it wasn’t that.

‘Hey, Jude’ ?

No, you weren’t a fan of that one.

Then it finally clicked. A while back, you and Steve had gone on this date. It was one of Steve’s best experiences ever. The both of you needed a pick-me-up after the whole Starcourt battle. It wasn’t the dinner date that the both of you enjoyed. Someone had actually hit on you during that. It was after. You had gone to Steve’s house since his parents were away, and you guys ended up goofing off like teenagers do. You were sitting on the counter in his kitchen while he looked for something for the both of you to eat. The only light was the refrigerator, illuminating the room. You had suddenly run off. You came back with his record player and placed it on the counter, placing a record in and then taking his hand.

“Let’s dance.”

He was so confused, and then a song started playing. You pulled him into you and the both of you were suddenly dancing around in the kitchen in the refrigerator light. He remembered it perfectly. That was the night you told him what he’d been waiting to hear for so long.

“I love you.”

Steve instantly ran to your basket of tapes that was for your Walkman. He ransacked the entire basket like a wild animal, throwing tapes that weren’t what he was looking for. He accidentally hit Lucas, but he didn’t care.

“Shit, are you serious?! It’s not here!” He yelped, gripping his hair.

“We can’t just stand here!!” Max yelled, having left Lucas’ side and standing by Dustin instead.

Steve left the mess of a basket and stood in front of you again. “Please please, you gotta wake up!” He sobbed, shaking your shoulders even though he knew his attempts were fruitless. “I need you! Dustin needs you!”

“That won’t work, idiot!” Max shouted, panicked.

Steve rested his forehead against yours, bawling as he tried so hard to think of something. He must have been out of his mind to think just shouting would work.

Then, it finally clicked.

“Everybody shut up!!” Steve roared, the panicked shouting of Lucas and Max not helping. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.

-

You had found yourself in a place similar to what Max described in the car. Red, everywhere. It was really gross, especially the dead, broken corpses in the strange fleshy pillars.

“Stop. Running.”

You finally saw it. Vecna. Its body was so grotesque. It did sort of remind you of the texture of the Demogorgon and Demodogs. You really wanted it to put some fucking clothes on.

“Get away from me!!” You shrieked.

“It’s time.”

“No!!”

That’s when you heard. A soft, melodious voice echoed through the horrifying realm. It was a voice you recognized all too well.

Steve.

-

“Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though they're here to stay.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.”

“Dude, are you singing?”

“Lucas, shut the hell up!” Max hissed.

Steve’s eyes were screwed shut, trying his hardest to block out the voices of the other kids. This was hella embarrassing, but Steve would do anything humiliating if it meant saving the person he planned on marrying.

“Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be.

There's a shadow hanging over me.

Oh, yesterday came suddenly.”

-

“Why she had to go?

I don't know, she wouldn't say.

I said something wrong.

Now I long for yesterday.”

“What?” Vecna growled as the beautiful voice sounded throughout the environment.

“Steve…” You whispered. He was singing to you. You faintly saw a hole begin to form far away, in the walls of the crimson dimension. You were in your room at home. Steve was holding your face in his hands. Max and Lucas were standing nervously near Dustin, who was bawling.

You instantly started running. As fast as your legs could take you. You tripped every so often, but by god you were going to get back to the people who mattered most to you.

You shrieked as something gross and slimy snaked around your ankle and pulled. You fell forward and were being dragged back towards Vecna.

“Let go!!” You begged, but of course, you just kept getting dragged.

Once you were back to the creature, you were instantly forced up against one of the disgusting, fleshy pillars. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw your body levitate into the air through the little portal.

-

Steve acted fast. He jumped up on your bed, and gently tugged your floating body toward him. His tears dropped down onto your bed. You’d probably be so pissed when you saw his dirty shoe prints on your bed. He chuckled just a little at the thought, but he kept singing.

“Yesterday love was such an easy game to play.

Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.”

-

All you could do was scream. You needed to get the fuck away. Vecna was talking to you, but all you heard was white noise. You finally kicked him the hell away, and you started running for your goddamn life.

As you ran and got closer to the vision of Steve, memories flashed through that made you run faster.

Memories of you and your little brother doing things together as children. Things like playing make-believe outside with sticks as swords and trash can lids as shields. Dustin would always win, of course.

Memories of your first day of middle school and your brother getting all sad, worried you wouldn’t hang out with him as much anymore. You had promised him you’d spend as much time as he wanted with him.

Memories of taking Dustin to that silly little dance, and Steve getting him all hyped up. He looked so precious that day, you had started crying.

Memories of Steve flashed through your mind. How he held you after Tommy and Carol publicly humiliated you in front of the entire lunchroom by dumping a milkshake all over you.

Memories of when you held him in your arms after Nancy broke it off with him. He’d cried into your chest. The first time anybody had ever seen him cry.

Memories of you and Steve dancing in the rain, tripping and falling over after he misstepped. When you two had your first kiss.

Memories of when the both of you were dancing in his kitchen. His hold felt so warm. You always felt like you were at home and safe with Steve Harrington.

“Why she had to go?

I don't know, she wouldn't say.

I said something wrong.

Now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday love was such an easy game to play.

Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.”

-

Your eyes shot open and you gasped for air. Gravity gave you zero time to react as you began falling from inside your bedroom, but a pair of large and warm hands tugged you forward and you fell onto the comforting frame of Steve Harrington. Air was being seized from your lungs by a seemingly invisible force. Your body jerked around as you blurted out incoherent, scared noises.

“Hey, hey, I gotcha, I gotcha-!” The same voice that had been singing to you whispered in your ear. “You’re here, okay? You’re safe, you’re okay…” his voice was breaking and trembling, tears falling onto your head.

Your head jerked into the direction of the voice and you were staring into the beautiful brown eyes of the one and only: Steve Harrington. Your throat tightened and only a relieved sob escaped your figure as your arms were thrown around him.

“I know, I know…” he choked out. “I’m so so sorry…but I’m here now, alright? You’re safe. I’ve got you, yeah?” You’d never heard his voice waver like that. “Don’t try to talk, yeah? Just lemme hold you.” He whispered, letting soft weeps fill the room.

The silence was deafening. All that bounced off the walls was the soft cries of Steve and loud sobs of your shaking frame. Steve pressed his lips to about every inch of your face, just savoring the fact you were here. You were okay. He saved you. He couldn’t and didn’t think he ever could describe the gross and ugly terror that consumed him when he saw Dustin exit the house in such a state, and even more so when he saw your frozen body in your room. Steve let his hands roam your body, not in a perverted way, but as a way to reassure him and yourself that he was there. Everything was okay.

It of course took the pair a moment to calm themselves by only a little. Small, broken crying emitted from you, but Steve was just breathing and muttering words of relief as he held. You curled up in his arms and he laughed softly as he held you.

“Wh-What’s so funny..?” Your tired voice whispered out.

“Nothing, dollface…I just…you’re okay.” He mumbled back. The kids had left the room at this point, wanting to get some food. They also figured you two needed a moment. He sniffled shakily and laid his forehead against yours, noses touching. “I…I thought I lost you.” His poor voice broke like fine China. “I thought you were going to die all because I couldn’t think of your favorite song or whatever. Because I didn’t notice the signs earlier.”

“No, Stevie…” You shook your head ever so slightly, your words hoarse. “I should have said something…this is all my fault and I know it. I just was scared. I didn’t want any of you to have to watch me die like Chrissy and Fred.”

Steve only held you tighter. “Shh…don’t blame yourself, yeah? I know you were thinking of us…that’s part of what I love so much about you.” He smiled, tears still slipping down his face.

“I’m really glad you didn’t give up on me.” You whispered.

“I would never dream of it. Now c’mere…”

Steve pulled you closer and finally, your lips met. A sense of pure bliss washed over you both. Was this what Heaven felt like? The kiss lasted for what seemed like hours, and when it stopped, it was quiet for about ten seconds.