good god when the clicky noises in the dean winchester rebel just for kicks amv hit.........

fic writers writing a destiel au and they need to give sam a job

"Go to prom with me?" He says softly, contently holding Steve, their bodies tangled together on his bed. His voice almost sounds shy, uncharacteristically anxious to even be asking.

Steve, head on Eddie’s chest, as he traced invisible lines on his torso, stiffened slightly. God, he would love to go to Eddie’s prom as his date. His own prom, he brought some girl he never spoke to again after that night. He would love to go with someone he loves, like half the straight couples. But he knew they couldn't. Boys like them didn't get to go to school dances together in small town, Indiana. "Eds... we can't." He says sadly, like he knew he would be disappointing Eddie. He tries to lighten the mood. "Besides, didn't peg you as someone that would want to go to prom."

"Honestly..." Eddie sighs, "You're right. A few months ago, you wouldn't catch me dead at prom, other than to sit outside and make a few quick sales. Never had anyone I really wanted to dance the night away and shit, with. But now," Steve can hear a smile in Eddie's voice. "I have someone that I want to do things like that with, princess. You know, do all the cheesy things, flowers and corsages, dancing together under those stupid crepe paper decorations hanging from the ceiling, kissing you softly as we slow dance to a song I hate. " There is a l giddiness in Eddie's voice as he talks, wanting to go with Steve so badly. And the fact that Steve knows they could never really go together, kills him. Sure they could go with Nancy and Robin, and everyone could use each other as beards, but they still couldn't be open like other people.

Eddie seemed to sense the tension in Steve’s shoulders and could practically read his mind. "Don't worry, Stevie. I'm happy just being with you, I know we couldn't really go together. Wouldn't be safe, I'm not that naive. Just thinking out loud..." He squeezes Steve tighter, seemingly leaving the conversation there.

But Steve couldn't stop thinking about how excited Eddie got talking about going to something like prom. And he knew he couldn’t give Eddie that. But he was determined to figure something out that was better.

--

It was the Saturday night of prom. Steve was supposed to pick Eddie up for a movie. Eddie was waiting in the livingroom with Wayne. About 6:30, there is a pound on the door before it just flies open. Eddie assumes it's just Steve letting himself in. He is confused instead by the sight of Nancy, hair and makeup done, wearing a poofy light pink dress. She is carrying a garment bag with her.

"Nance? What are you..." He starts, completely unsure of what to make of what is happening.

"Come on, Eddie. Steve and Robin will be here soon and you don't even have your tux on." She says, not doing anything to alleviate the confusion. Nancy simply makes her way down the hall to Eddie’s room. Wayne smiles from his chair, obviously in on whatever is going on. When Eddie looks to him for clarification, he just shrugs his shoulders and goes back to his newspaper.

"Eddie! Come on!" Nancy yells from his room, prompting Eddie to run down the hall to meet her.

When he gets in there, she is already pulling out a fancy looking suit.. but he doesn’t hate it. It had black pants and a black shirt, but the bow tie was red and so was the velvet jacket. She can feel him staring so Nancy just says, "Don't laugh, Steve picked it out for you when he went to rent his tux too."

Eddie can't help but smile. Steve saw this and thought of him. "I wouldn't. I'm kind if into it. But... I still am confused on what's happening." He puts his hand on the back of his neck.

"It's prom night, Eddie. Steve and Robin are getting ready and then they are picking us up." She sounds exasperated, like it should be obvious.

"Okay, Wheeler, I get that. But in case you forgot, I'm dating a dude. Also, you're dating a girl. We can't really walk into Hawkins's gym with them on our arms, can we?" He says sarcastically.

Nancy shakes her head, trying to hide her amused smile. "Don't worry about it, okay? Just get ready." She hands him the suit before leaving to give him privacy before he can press anymore.

Eddie reluctantly listens to her, slipping on the tux that seems to fit him perfectly. He looks in the mirror, feeling a little out of his element but still liking it. He does decide to add a chain to his pants and ditches the bow tie when he can't get it tied. He doesn't really own dress shoes, so he opts for black boots instead. Finally he ties his hair up in a lose bun with few stray pieces framing his face. He doesn't know what Steve has planned but he wants to look good.

He makes his way to the front room to find, to his "horror, " that Wayne had dug out the old camera, aiming it at him when he walks in. "Come on, man. What are you doing?"

"You think I'm not going to take pictures of my kid going to prom?" Wayne shoots back. And Eddie can't argue with that, can't help but smile when Wayne snaps a picture.

He sits by Nancy on the couch, but it isn't long until there is knocking at the door. Wayne opens it to let Steve and Robin in. Robin looks beautiful in a little one sholder blue dress with a poof on the shoulder, hair teased, and make up done. She instantly makes her way to Nancy, smiling as she does.

But Eddie can't focus on them, not when Steve Harrington is standing in front of him, pulling him up from the couch. He is wearing a very traditional black and white tux, with a red bow tie. As usual, his hair is perfect. He has a rose boutonniere pinned to his jacket and is holding another in his hand. He is staring at Eddie with the biggest smile.

"You look beautiful, Eds..." He says softly like they were the only two in the room. The girls were too wrapped up in their own conversation to even care. Eddie feels his cheeks turning red. It does not matter they have been dating for two months, he still gets butterflies whenever Steve stares at him like that.

"Thanks, princess. So do you. You look really hot, actually." He smirks, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist, careful not to crush the boutonniere in Steve’s hands as he does.

Steve is blushing as he starts to pin the almost matching rose to Eddie’s jacket, except with one small difference. On the stem is a tiny black bat lapel pin. "Do you like it?"

"Yea, I love it, baby." Eddie smiles before leaning in, pressing a soft kiss to Steve's lips. As he pulls away, he says, "But can you tell me what is going on? Nancy wouldn't tell me anything."

"Good, she wasn't supposed to. " Steve just smiles before pulling away, lacing his fingers with Eddie’s before pulling to the door, obviously not answering either. Before they can leave, Wayne stops them. He makes all of them take a million pictures, all posing in those silly prom couple poses... and Eddie is beaming through each and every one.

When they finally leave, everyone refuses to tell Eddie what is going on. Steve had made them promise not to ruin the surprise until they got to where they were going.

What Eddie does not expect was to pull up at Steve's house or to see so many cars there. Before Eddie can get out, Steve is out and goes to the other side of the door, opening it for him, Nancy doing the same for Robin. Nobody mentions that it's Steve's house, leaving Eddie even more confused as they walk to the door.

Everything clicks when they step inside. Eddie can feel his mouth drop open. All the furniture from the open living room/dining room had been pushed away into another room, except for the table, where there were some pizza, chips and punch. The room was dark, but in the corner sat one of those plastic disco light balls flashing colors throughout the room. Hanging from the ceiling were crepe paper decorations. The stereo was play generic pop songs that Eddie "hates." On the wall read a poster Hawkins's "Gay" Prom '86

But that wasn't the most shocking part. The room was filled with at least 35 people. Jonathan(brown suit and his camera) and Argle(in a powder blue tux) were there , talking, as Jonathan pushed Argyle's hair behind his ear, standing way closer than they would in public. Corroded Coffin was there. Gareth and Jeff were there with their girlfriends, obviously preferring to be with their friends, than regular prom anyway. Plus, technically Gareth wasn't a senior. Jared brought his boyfriend, who, to Steve's surprise, was a swimmer that used to be on the team with him.

More than that, the kids were there since they were high schoolers now too. Dustin is dateless, so he is manning the fruit punch/DJing. Max, El, and Lucas are all dancing together, while Mike and Will awkwardly try to not look like huge doofuses dancing together. Eddie thinks it's cute to see.

The biggest surprise, though, were a few random people from school and their dates. Being queer in a small town, you tend to know the others. There was, of course, Vickie and some girl she was dancing with from Eddie’s first period math class. There were also a few random juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, all here being unapologetically queer.

Eddie didn't realize he had been staring until Steve grabbed his hand and stepped in front of him. "What so you think?" He says shyly.

"I...I...love it." Eddie stutters, still dumb founded. "How did you do this?"

"Just had the kids and Nancy and Robin reach out to anyone at school they knew were... you know. I figured there had to be other people who wanted to go to prom but couldn't, not really. Not with the people they want to." Steve smiles and Eddie swears he has fallen even more in love with Steve. Nancy and Robin have made their way to the "dance floor."

"You're amazing, sweetheart. Thank you. " Eddie's eyes are glowing as he leans in to give Steve a little kiss. No one around them bats an eye.

They spend the night dancing together and just enjoying themselves with the others. Steve "requests" I'd Die for You by Bon Jovi and sings it at Eddie as they dance. They all slow dance to "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (Robin's song to Nancy). Robin and Nancy "win" prom queens. It's honestly one of the best nights of Eddie’s life, and he is so grateful for Steve.

And the next year, they keep it going, opening up a secret queer prom for kids at the high school. It's a tradition. And now, in 2022, 36 years later, it doesn’t have to be a secret anymore. Hawkins's still has a queer prom, and the Hawkins's High guidance consoler and his rock star husband still chaperone it(grant it, in a much bigger venue than Steve's living room).

Eddie is six years old, the first time he hears the voice. 

It wakes him with a jolt – sends him tearing through the house, searching under every bed and behind every door for the boy he hears calling his name.

Mama finally stops him. “Sweetheart, what did you lose this time?” (Eddie is always losing things.) She looks impatient, standing with a laundry basket balanced on one cocked hip, curly hair spilling out of the messy bun on top of her head.

“I heard somebody saying my name! I gotta find him, I think he’s hiding.”

Mama’s whole attitude changes, all at once. She sets the laundry aside and drops to her knees in front of him, squeezing his little hands between her own. “Oh baby. That voice means you’ve got a soulmate!”

Love Grows - Part 2

March '85

Steve gets more comfortable bringing Rosemary to school. Twice a week he brings the 6 month old along as he goes to class, and when Eddie asks him about it one day, Steve just shrugs. "I used to pay for a sitter on those days, because the usual one can't watch her, but I'd rather have her with me since everyone knows anyway." And yeah, that makes sense.

Eddie starts taking her during Steve's free period, so the guy has a chance to do some schoolwork without worrying about keeping an eye on his kid. He enjoys it, the time he gets with Rosie one-on-one, but he really enjoys lunch on those days, because Steve will bring her out to Eddie's van - which Eddie scrubbed clean before offering the first time - and they'll eat lunch and talk while Rosie stretches out in the soft blankets laid out in the back.

He gets some weird looks, including the occasional piercing stare from Nancy Wheeler that he pointedly ignores, as well as his own share of whispers whenever he goes around with Rosie. He’s grateful that the years of acting out, of perfectly honing his loud, unruly persona has left him immune to the chatter. All that matters is Rosie, and Steve, and making sure they’re both taken care of.

star wars! au steve

Vertigo

Warning: blatant misuse of concussion symptoms are described in this fic, please speak to your doctor or other medical professionals if you are experiencing severe headaches or vertigo

5.5k words of pure whump and hurt/comfort (apparently it's whump month? i honestly had no idea)

Enjoy!

--

The first time he got concussed, Steve managed.

He would get the odd headache every now and then after his fight with Johnathan, but that was to be expected. Obviously a bruised face was going to be sore for a few weeks. And even after the bruises faded, the headaches were annoying. But he’d cope.

At least they were more tolerable than the insomnia-inducing nightmares.

The second time he got concussed, vertigo became an unwanted bosom buddy. The headaches were more pronounced, but the newest symptom of dizziness he’d kindly ask to fuck off. It sucked when he was laying still and yet felt like he was on a tilt-o-whirl. Curling around his favorite pillow while going through a dizzy spell seemed to be the only thing to anchor him through it.

Barely.

The third time, there was silence.

el was fighting boredom at the weekly dnd night at steve's house. she lost the plot thirty minutes ago when eddie brought out something called a pseudodragon that got the entire table up to their feet, screaming in frustration and fear. she knew what a dragon was but what does pseudo mean? no one could give her a clear answer and eddie was too impatient to let anyone explain, moving the plot along, promising to tell her later. 

el gave up, walking away from the table and finding steve in the separated living room, tv on, popcorn bowl in his lap. she sat down next to him with an annoyed hmph. 

steve smirked in her direction, "finally got tired of all the nerd shit, huh?"

she sighed, "i do not mind listening to the story. it can be fun sometimes. but the words are too long and no one has time to explain to me what they mean. it makes me feel...." 

steve nodded, understanding clear on his face, "i get it. they talk so fast and loud, nothing they say ends up making any sense. or they'll get mad for even daring to ask. as if we grew up reading novel length fantasy books or whatever. don't worry, i'm sure once they finish up, they'll tell you all about it." 

el smiled, glad to have someone else to be confused with her. she looked over at the tv. "what are you watching?" 

"hmm? oh, i was just catching up on the baseball game. here, you can change the channel if you want." 

she took the remote being handed to her, about to do just that, when suddenly she heard booing coming from the screen. a man in a pinstripe uniform, wearing a mitten was running towards another man with a metal cage on his face. she could see the two men were yelling, the man with the mitten being pulled back by other men wearing the same pinstripe shirt. the booing got louder. 

"why are they angry?"

steve blinked, looking between el and back to the screen. "uhh, not too sure but from the looks of it, the pitcher thinks the umpire made a bad call." 

el blinked back, head tilted. 

"right, yeah, okay. so, you see the guy being pulled back? that's the pitcher, he throws the ball so that the guy with the bat can either hit or miss. they're on opposite teams so it's the pitchers job to make the hitter miss the ball. but he has to throw it in a way that gives the hitter a fair shot of hitting. the umpire is the one being yelled at and he isn't on anyone's team. he makes sure that the pitcher and hitter don't try to cheat, to make the game fair. sometimes, like right now, the umpire will make a call that a throw was out of bounds, meaning it wasn't thrown properly and that can make the pitcher angry. cause again, his whole job is to throw the ball and make the hitter miss. if the umpire says it wasn't thrown fairly, that will let the hitter walk onto the base. does that make sense?"

slowly she nodded, watching now with rapt attention. the angry men were scattering, the pitcher, going back to his little hill in the middle of the field. 

"and they do not....want the other team to go on the bases? the squares on the corners?"

steve lit up, beaming, "that's right! the whole point of the game is for the team to hit the ball and get as many people on their team to touch each base and return back to the first square. the more people who touch all the bases, the more points they get and win the game." 

el smiled back, sitting up straighter as she let steve's impassioned explanation envelop her with a sense of pride. it reminded her of will when he got really into a piece of d&d lore, how he would slow down to make sure she followed along and would go back to break down some of the more complicated bits. 

but steve seemed to catch himself, face flushing and his smile growing smaller in a self deprecating way. "sorry, this all must sound super boring to you. we can put on a movie if you want, i got loads." 

she shook her head before he finished his sentence. "no! it is not boring. it looks kind of fun. can we keep watching?" 

shock colored his face but the smile lost its touch of shyness and a light feeling bloomed in el's stomach. 

"sure thing kid. let me know if you get lost. gotta warn you, though, i'm kind of bad at it." 

she shook her head again and bumped her shoulder against his. "the way you explain things...is easy to follow. i like it." his entire face softened, hand ruffling her hair before placing the bowl of popcorn into her lap. 

"why is the pitcher standing on that little hill?"

"it's called the mound. pitchers can throw the ball faster if they throw it downhill towards the hitter." 

"who is that man squatting behind the hitter?"

"that's the catcher. he and the pitcher communicate using hand signals to let each other know where they want the ball to go cause they're on the same team. if the ball is thrown and the catcher doesn't catch it, that could get the hitter a freebie or another chance to hit the ball. the hitter gets three chances to hit and if he misses, it goes to the next hitter." 

they continue like that for the rest of the night, el asking question after question and steve answering the all to the best of his ability. she appreciates it when he lets her know that some questions leave him stumped. he promises to find the answer and let her know the next time watch together.

"if you want, i mean. there's usually a game on when the heathens play here." 

el nods, excited for the first time for d&d night to come around again

El, who learnt through Hopper that if you do something bad then something you like gets taken away, kidnapping Steve whenever someone in the party does or says anything that upsets her

collection of things for a rally racer/mechanic steddie au spawned on twitter from one of my moots wanting them drawn as lightning mcqueen and mater 🫶🏻

El, who learnt through Hopper that if you do something bad then something you like gets taken away, kidnapping Steve whenever someone in the party does or says anything that upsets her

Okay, but imagine her doing this specifically when they are particularly mean to Steve. El just blocking Dustin from seeing Steve saying, “you can get him back once your learn how to treat him properly.

It confuses El, the first few times that it happens. The groans of exasperation when Steve will sometimes ask questions. The comments made when Steve expresses his confusion. The way her friends will roll their eyes or laugh when Steve makes certain observations.

Friends don't lie and Steve doesn't try to refute their claims but it makes her wonder. Is Steve dumb? People say it all the time. Steve is dumb. Steve is stupid. They call him a moron. They talk down to him and laugh. It reminds El of the kids who bullied her in Lenora. But Steve doesn't seem bothered by it. Right?

She starts watching Steve more closely and that's when she starts to see it. She the small flashes of hurt before Steve either laughs or playfully shoves someone with a 'shut up' depending on who the comment came from. Steve never gets mad. But it makes El mad. She's mad because Steve is sad. She can tell. Why can't anyone else tell?

Her friends are being mean. They're being bad. And there are consequences when you're bad. El decides that she'll have to come up with a punishment since no one else is going to do it and she thinks she has the perfect one. After all, since they find enjoyment in being mean to Steve she'll just take that away. They can't be mean if Steve's not there and it has the added bonus of keep Steve away from mean people.

The next time a jab towards Steve's intelligence is made, El makes her move. When no one is looking she grabs Steve by the wrist and pulls him to her room. They spend the afternoon making crafts and El finds that she really enjoys Steve's company. He's nice and he listens to her. He tries to answer all her questions and he explains things in ways that are so much simpler for her to understand. She likes it. She doesn't understand why people call Steve dumb if he knows this much and can get her to understand it.

After that she keeps taking Steve. She'll ask him to come over when she knows her friends are expecting Steve to drive them somewhere but they haven't asked yet. If they're sharing a meal and someone is mean to Steve, she'll pull him away and not come back until everyone is expected to leave. During movie nights she'll pull Steve over to the corner of the couch and sit right next to him so no one else can sit by him.

It takes a few weeks for it to click that they've been seeing Steve less and less and that he's no longer at her friends beck and call. It takes a few more days after that for them to realize that Steve's reason for why he can't do one thing or another is because El already asked him to do something else with her.

Steve caught on that something was happening a while ago. It took about a week but he realized that El pulled him away whenever someone insulted his intelligence. He asks her about it and El just nods, a protective look on her face.

"They are being mean and it makes you sad. I do not want you to be sad. I am taking you away so they can't be mean to you anymore and so that you can hang out with me and do fun things that make us happy."

Steve can't argue with that logic. Hanging out with El does make him happy. She's the best. She's so sweet and earnest and, now that he's thinking about it, she's the only person who hasn't called him stupid or some variation of it. Well, her, Joyce, Hopper, Will, and Eddie. Everyone else has insulted him one way or another. So he goes along with her scheme.

It takes a while for it to sink in why her and Steve keep disappearing together. And even then, it takes El broadcasting it through the walkie before it clicks.

"Steve is busy. He can't pick you up. Over."

"What do you mean, he's busy! Over," Dustin shouts.

"We are hanging out and do not want to be bothered. Over."

"El, come on, we just need a ride to the arcade. Over," Lucas pleads.

"No. Steve is teaching me about space and we are having a wonderful time making a diorama of the solar system."

There's a pause and then Dustin is speaking up, laughter in his voice, "Steve is teaching you about space? Over."

"Yes. Steve is very smart. I learn a lot from him. Over."

"Steve's a dumb jock. He doesn't know anything about sciences! Over."

That makes El mad. "Yes he does. Steve is smart. He knows all sorts of things and you are being mean. You're being bad and actions have consequences. Until you learn to treat Steve properly you won't be getting him back. Over and out."

El is breathing heavily as she tries to reign in her anger.

"Hey," Steve says as he holds an arm out to her. El launches herself towards him and curls up under his arm. "You didn't have to do that. It's oka-"

"It is not okay. You are not dumb. You are not. You are smart. You know more than me and teach me things. You are not dumb." El shakes her head and doesn't realize that her eyes are tearing up. "We are not dumb."

Steve inhales sharply and then wraps his arms tighter around El. He has a feeling that this was why El felt so strongly about everyone else calling him dumb. He figured she might be internalizing it. But she's never confirmed it before and he's never asked.

"You're right. We are not dumb. We are smart."

"We are."

"Just because it takes us a little bit longer to get things doesn't mean we're stupid."

"It doesn't."

"And- and we shouldn't just take it when someone is mean to us. It's okay to stand up for ourselves."

"It is."

Steve sighs but it's in relief. "Thank you, El. For being my friend and for defending me. Thank you for calling me smart."

El just smiles up at him. "You are smart. Friends don't lie."

Steve smiles back. "You're smart, too. Friends don't lie."

Steve doesn't really mind the jokes about his intelligence. Not anymore, anyway. He's gotten used to them. Even when they did get to him, he knew that they were just playing. Kid shit.

But he slowly starts to notice... El always watches for his reaction. Almost like she's waiting for something.

So, he starts to watch her too.

He's more subtle about it though. She turns her whole head and body towards him, pointedly staring.

But Steve leans, casual as always, tilting just enough to see her out the corner of his eye. He isn't able to get a great read on her like that, but he sees enough.

He slowly realizes that the insults that he's getting are upsetting her.

When Dustin dismisses his questions because they're stupid, her hand twitches just before she turns to him.

When Mike calls him an idiot, she flinches, almost jerking around to look at him. Her hands stay on the edge of her chair, gripping tight enough to whiten her knuckles.

When Max scoffs at his suggestion, talking louder, as though his ideas are too stupid to consider... Els hands shake. She moves slower whenever it's Max making the cutting remarks, as though they cut deeper.

It's when Hopper joins in, patronising when he ruffles Steve's hair and tells him that 'yeah kid, they know, he's the jock. He's the sports guy, not the brains'.

The noise El makes is too quiet for Steve to really hear. All he knows is that she sounds... wounded. Upset.

"Alright," Steve finally says. He slams his glass down on the table. "That's enough. You've had your fun. The dumb jokes stop here."

"Don't be such a baby," Mike scoffs. "They're just jokes."

"And they're not funny anymore, so cut it out."

"Steve, c'mon-" Dustin starts.

"No. Nope. Nuh-uh. I'm putting my foot down."

"It's not our fault you ask dumb questions!" Mike says.

"Hey, it might be," Max says, smirking slightly. "He's taken a lot of hits to the head for us."

El jumps to her feet, suddenly enough that it startles everyone into silence. She opens her mouth a few times, visibly struggling to speak.

She turns to Steve gesturing for him to follow her.

When the others get up at the same time, trying to follow as well, she finally finds her words.

"No!" She snaps. "You stay here. I am going to talk to Steve."

"What's wrong?" Mike asks, stepping closer, despite her glare. "El?"

"You are wrong."

She grabs Steve's wrist, leading him into her room. She sits on the bed, smiling a little when he sits next to her.

"You need me to be quiet for a minute?" He asks, voice hushed.

"Yes."

Steve nods, giving her a reassuring smile. He looks around her room while he waits for her to gather her thoughts, determined to wait as long as she needs and-

"Holy shit, is that a diorama of the solar system?!" He jumps up, excited, hunching over so he can look at it closer. "What the- El, this is amazing! Did you make this?"

"Oh, yeah. It is ok." Her smile is a little timid, hands shifting into her lap so she can pick at her nails.

Steve doesn't notice, looking back to the diorama. "This is amazing - I know, I already said that, but... Jesus, El."

"Thank you, Steve." Her voice is stiff, stilted- sad.

Right, Steve remembers, cringing at himself.

"Sorry, uh... I'll... I'll shut up now."

"No. It's nice. Will helped me a lot but he won't to let me tell anyone."

"I won't tell," he crosses his heart. "You doing ok?"

"No."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"They are mean to you."

"They are."

El narrows her eyes at him, frustrated. "They should not be mean to you."

"You're right."

She looks even more frustrated, but Steve thinks that this is his best little technique of getting people to talk. Especially about emotions. It works on Eddie like a charm.

"I do not like when they are mean to you."

"Why?"

"Because it is not nice!"

"You're right, it isn't."

"They are supposed to be your friends!" El jumps to her feet, voice raised so much that the others can undoubtedly hear her. "They are supposed to be my friends! I do not understand either! If you are an idiot, so am I!"

"So, you're upset because they think you're stupid?"

"No! I know they do not think I am stupid! They are being mean! They are being bullies!"

Steve nods, pausing for a long moment, waiting for her to calm down a little.

"You remember what Eddie told you about bullies?"

"They are sad with themselves so they have to make others miserable too so they can feel better." She glances at the door. "He also called them assholes."

"Do you think that's what they're doing?"

She considers that for a second, before shaking her head. "No. They... do not understand."

"They're not going to understand if we don't talk to them." He raises an eyebrow when she frowns. "You could stay here, let me do the talking?"

"No. I will talk to them. You are too nice."

"Alright," Steve snorts, gesturing to the door. "Let's give 'em he'll."

El doesn't understand her friends sometimes.

It's to be expected she supposes, growing up in a lab there's sure to be things you don't understand about the real world.

There's things like the war of the stars and the ghost catching car that are stories her friends like. There's things like mouth breathers and bullies and jocks she thinks are a lot like papa. There's things like maths class and school projects and all the things her friends understand so easily.

Her friends are never mean about it, they show her the movies she's missed, they stand up for her against bullies and they explain their maths homework like it's fun and easy which makes her smile.

The biggest thing she doesn't understand is why her friends are mean to Steve about the same things. Steve called the funny little green man Yoba and Lucas laughed at him for two weeks. Steve was watching the sport game on tv and Mike called him a dumb jock, but Steve is nothing like papa. Steve gave Dustin the wrong change and yelled at Steve for not knowing how to count.

El doesn't understand her friends. Don't they know it was hard for Steve too. He didn't grow up in a lab but at least El had siblings growing up, Steve was all alone in that big house he has. Steve didn't have a Papa but once Steve's dad came home and they weren't allowed to see him for a week, El checked on him, Steve's dad yells a lot. Steve got to go to school, but El knows he has trouble reading the big books sometimes.

El tries to tell her friends this, but they say it's different for Steve, and that Steve doesn't mind them teasing him. El doesn't like the word teasing, Angela would tell her teachers the same word. So El helps Steve. She brings Steve over to the cabin to watch the war of the stars together, they giggle at the teddy bears. El asks Steve to teach her how to throw a basketball, she thinks jocks can be nice. El asks Steve for help with her homework, Steve's really good at dioramas. They read the big books together, el shows him how she learnt to sound out the big words, Steve smiles.

El doesn't always understand her friends, but she now she understands Steve a lot more.

High School Musical

Part 1: Start of Something New 

New Year’s Eve, 1983

Eddie has found himself at a ski resort in Minnesota for New Years with Wayne. He officially moved in with him over the Christmas break and is starting his second semester of junior year at a new school. His dad had to go get caught and is in prison once again, honestly he should have seen it coming. Anyway, Wayne had insisted they take a little ski trip during his break. There’s a party downstairs at the lodge that is in full swing, but he’s content reading Lord of the Rings on the couch upstairs.

Wayne walks in and sees him reading, he rolls his eyes and walks over to take it from him. “Eds it is New Years Eve. I think that’s enough reading.”  

Eddie immediately begins to protest, “Oh come on Wayne! I’m almost done and-”

He cuts him off, “The teen party? I think it would do ya some good to go. C’mon there’s some clothes you can change into in the room. Come get ready.”

Eddie wants to protest more, but his uncle is stubborn so he settles for keeping his mouth shut. “Can I at least have my book back?” Wayne shakes his head in response, but hands the book back over.

“Thank you.”

“C’mon kid.” Wayne begins to walk back towards their room, and Eddie begrudgingly follows.

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kingdom dance

fics where steve gets made fun of for being stupid makes me wonder;

if el were more closer to steve, if she had been around more during those times where everyone is putting steve down for not understanding something right away, would she internalize it?

i'd imagine she would say something.

she'd keep quiet at first, doesn't want her friends to be upset if she confronted them.

and steve doesn't complain, always volleys back an insult or gives the other person a quick shove.

but then she watches. really watches him when they say insult his intelligence. watches how sometimes his eyes dim a little, the corners of his lips turn down for a moment, the small sigh he lets out when he thinks everyone else is distracted.

and then she starts to really listen to the words her friends say. how whenever steve asks a question about something, almost always someone in the group groans and admonishes him for even asking. el didn't know either.

when dustin or mike or lucas talks about something school related and steve just looks on in confusion, they roll their eyes and mutter, "this moron." el was confused too.

even when robin talks at length about a movie or a popular book to steve's blank stare and she just smiles and ruffles his hair, "eh, it's a good thing you're pretty, dingus."

el felt...upset. she didn't know about the movie or book either. but the way robin patted steve like a dog. something inside her burned.

later, she asked will about that feeling. when someone says something nice but it feels mean.

"hmm, maybe like, patronizing? like, someone will tell you something they think is helpful but they're doing it because it makes them feel better than you."

she hums as she takes in the definition. that was it. robin was being patronizing. it...didn't feel good to listen to. she wondered if steve felt the same way, since it was directed towards him.

--

they're having a group dinner again, this time at the cabin. it was a beautiful day so everyone was lounging around outside after they finished eating. the boys and max were talking about something or other, she wasn't really paying attention. robin and eddie would pipe up at times which everyone seem to take in stride, pulling them into the conversation.

steve tried to ask a question.

the exasperation was immediate.

"ugh steve, don't you know anything?" dustin.

"steve's a jock, he can't help it." max.

"ignore them, stevie. don't worry your pretty little head." eddie.

with every comment, el clenched her fists more and more, feeling the her nails pinch the meat of her hand. she took a couple of deep breaths. she can control herself. she would just tell them to knock it off.

"it's literally so simple, you're just dumb." mike.

crack

"SHUT UP!"

her voice echoed, a slight tremor shook the ground as the entire woods goes into silence.

everyone stares, shocked and confusion on their faces pointed at el who is now standing, her body trembling in anger.

"el, sweetie. what's wrong? are you alright?" joyce worriedly asks, the first to take a few cautious steps towards her.

"yeah, what's wrong el? are you feeling sick?" "what do you need?" "is something happening? the upside down?"

"STOP CALLING STEVE DUMB! HE. IS NOT. DUMB. JUST STOP IT!"

that shocks them into silence again. they all look around at each other, up at steve who was the most confused.

"hey look, we were just kidding, el. it's just a joke, we don't really mean--"

"no! you do mean it! you say it all the time, about everything. he asks a question, you call him stupid. he does not know the answer, you call him moron. he's slow at reading, you call him useless. you are being mean! and patronizing! and i am not friends with mean people!"

she stalks over to steve, grabs his wrist and starts to walk away.

"we are going on a walk. don't follow us!"

with that, she stomps away with steve in tow, ignoring the calls for them to come back.

they walk for a long while, steve not pulling away from el's grip, letting her get her energy out. she stops once they hit a clearing, her breath slowing down. she hadn't even noticed she had been panting.

he clears his throat, almost nervous to speak, "el? are you feeling better?"

she's quiet for a moment. "you should not let them talk to you like that. it is not nice."

steve gives a huff and a sad chuckle, "maybe. you didn't have to do that, though. i can handle a few weak jabs from a bunch of infants."

"but it is not just them. robin and eddie do it. nancy does it. johnathan. they are your friends. your family. real friends do not lie so they should not tease like that either."

and that's the crux of it all. real friends don't lie. so why would someone who claims to be her friends call steve a moron. her mind flashes back to the lab.

brenner talking down to her, in that same tone of voice robin spoke, as if talking to a pet. how the other children would mock her for being considered the favorite. she realizes why it bothers her so much. if they think that way of steve, they can think that way of her.

she turns, taking his other wrist and sets her face into a determined scowl, "we. are not. stupid."

steve blinks, tries to protest but she just grips his wrists harder and says it again, "no steve. we are not stupid. say it."

he swallows and looks down, unable to keep focus on her gaze. his lip pinch into a frown and she can hear him sniffle. he quickly uses his shoulder to wipe away at his face.

"we're not stupid."

"again!"

"jesus, el--okay, we're not stupid."

"louder! we are not stupid!"

"we are not stupid, alright?!"

"WE ARE NOT STUPID!"

"WE ARE NOT STUPID!"

she brings him into a hug, ignores when she hears quiet sobbing and just keeps a tight hold of him.

"books are hard. science is hard. people are hard. that does not make us stupid. or useless. okay?"

she feels rather than hear him agree, his arms wrapping around her shoulders. el wipes away the stray tears that fall because this was not about her right now. it was about steve.

she will not let her friends feel like she did. she will make sure steve gets the apology he deserves.

because she was not friends with stupid people.

STEVE HARRINGTON - Chapter Nine: The Piggyback

For Eddie's whole life people had said he looked like his dad. He hated it, he didn't want to look like his dad , he didn't want to be anything like his dad. He didn't want his nose or his eyes or his chin, he didn't want to know how to hotwire a car or run from police.

He wished he looked like his mum, he wished he had her strawberry blonde hair or her green eyes or her freckles. He wished he knew how to make bird calls or paint the sunrise. He wished people looked at him and saw his mum and not a criminal.

Wayne wished Eddie could've grown up without the influence of his brother. He wished he could've taken Mary and Eddie and taken them far away. Maybe then Mary would still be here, maybe Eddie wouldn't look older than he is.

Eddie didn't look in the mirror anymore, the vision of his dad growing clearer as he aged. Soon Eddie would be the age his dad was when he was born, how could someone his age hurt a little kid?

He's meeting Steve's parents today, well not the Harrington's, Steve's real parents in all the good parts of the word. Joyce and Hopper have invited everyone over now that the house is finished and Steve wants to introduce him as his boyfriend.

It terrifies Eddie, he's had runins with Hopper before, what if hopper tells Steve he shouldn't see Eddie? He's heard a lot about Joyce and knows she's sweet and kind but what if she thinks he's a bad influence on Steve and the kids? What if she thinks he's just like his dad?

Steve holds his hand as he introduces them. Joyce smiles and pulls Eddie into a hug which surprises him but not as much as what she says.

"You look just like you uncle."

Eddie had never heard that before but it fills his heart with joy. He's not his dad.

"You know, Wayne went to school with Jim and I, lovely boy, almost took me to prom, how's he doing?"

Steve watches fondly as Eddie and Joyce talk about a younger Wayne. Eddie isn't like his dad at all, he's like his uncle, sweet, kind and full of love.