Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ow!” Robin hopped in the air, grabbing her foot. “You just broke my fucking toe, Stevie!”

Stevie's eyes fluttered and darted to robin jumping up and down, holding one foot in her hand. “Hmm?” She was pushing a cart of movies while distracted and somehow ran smooth over her friend's pinky toe. “Fuck— sorry, Robbie. Do you need ice?”

The blonde girl dropped her ankle and plopped down onto the floor, discarding her sock and shoe to examine a bright red, irritated toe. “Nope. I need a hospital. Amputation, most likely.” She shot a grin up to Stevie, who was standing above her open-mouthed.

“You’re such a shithead. I got distracted, I really am sorry,” the other girl sat down next to Robin. “I guess I was in my own head again.”

“College?”

“Yup,” Stevie sighed. “My dad said he’d pay for me to go wherever I want, I just have to pick one. I think it’s bullshit though— my grades sucked. I couldn't get into an in-state college if I tried.” She knew that wasn’t true, she’d already applied. But to tell the truth, she didn’t really want to go anywhere yet. She'd rather stay in Hawkins with her friends for another year. Maybe wait for Robin to join her. It wasn't realistic, but a girl can dream. She already did her gap year; it was time to start cracking down.

“If it makes you feel better… It's only February. you still have the rest of this school year and all summer to decide!” Robin used her elbow to nudge Stevie in the ribs. She always knew how to make her feel better.

Stevie hadn’t formally met Robin until the summer beforehand, when they both got a job at Scoops Ahoy together. They had a class together in high school, but Stevie was too much of a self-absorbed bitch to ever acknowledge Robin’s existence. since their ice cream scooping days, however, they’d been inseparable. It was rare to see one without the other, which boded well for Stevie, whose parents were starting to believe her only friends were fourteen-year-olds.

In high school, Stevie was a completely different person. She was captain of the swim team, homecoming queen, and would’ve been a shoo-in for prom queen if Hawkins did that sort of thing. She was condescending, belittling, and straight up rude. That was until she met Nancy Wheeler.

Nancy changed Stevie's way of seeing things. She saw the good in people, even Stevie. They became quick friends, and eventually more than that. It was quiet— quick kisses in school bathrooms and sneaky sleepovers. After Barb Holland, though, it all changed.

Stevie didn’t like to think about Barb. It made her feel guilty, and technically— she was.

“Did you hear me?” Robin asked, waving a hand in front of the other girl's face. It finally caught Stevie's attention as the family video door swung open with the ring of a bell.

In walked Dustin Henderson, bee-lining straight to Stevie.

“Answer the damn phone next time!” He stomped, landing in front of her. “I've called the store seven times!”

“How many times have I told you to stop calling me at work?”

Dustin rolled his eyes and lifted a hand down to help Stevie stand up. “I'm going to ignore that. Turn the news on.”

Stevie stood up and reached over the counter for the grey remote control. They rarely kept the work tv on anything other than what Robin suggested, which had recently been a lot of daytime soaps. Stevie flipped channels until she found the local news station, Chief Hopper’s face on full blast. The tiny words at the bottom of the screen read: LOCAL FEMALE STUDENT FOUND MURDERED OUTSIDE FOREST HILLS.

Robin's head whipped around from where she had been sitting. “It’s not-” She cut herself off. She knew better than to assume it to be any of her friends, especially the way Dustin was reacting. He would’ve been more solemn about it.

“Chrissy Cunningham.” He replied, barely missing a beat. He had his sleuth eyes on.

Stevie hadn’t realized that her mouth had been wide open the entire time. Honestly, the fear that it could’ve been Max paralyzed her with fear. It wasn’t that she was relieved, but at least it wasn’t one of her kids. She had only spoken to Chrissy a handful of times, but the girl was sweet. “Any suspects?”

“You find out one of the head cheerleaders was murdered and you jump straight to ‘who did it?’” Robin gaped, slapping the back of Stevie’s leg from where she sat. “You don’t care about her family or friends?”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that, I just– what was she doing in Forest Hills anyway? Doesn’t she live like four minutes away from me?”

“Has anyone seen Eddie?” Robin asked, eyeing over at Dustin.

Eddie Munson was a tall, gangly girl with unruly black hair and a personality that could overwhelm just about anyone. She ran the Hellfire Club, which three of the kids were involved in. Stevie picked them up from sessions at least once a week, but that was about the only times that she’d ever spoken to Eddie. Most people didn’t intimidate Stevie, but Eddie was definitely on the list. Dustin, in particular, was close with Eddie. He teased Stevie constantly about having another older female friend, but Stevie told him that it was weird when he phrased it like that. He took that as ‘I’m jealous,’ and ran with it.

“We can’t find her.” Dustin fidgeted with his fingernail. “I know that sounds bad, but this wasn’t her. It wasn’t Eddie.”

“I know you’re close, but it would kind of check out, right?” Stevie raised her eyebrows. “Super senior drug dealer from the wrong side of the tracks?”

“You don’t know her like me! She could never do something like that, seriously, Stevie. Just trust me on this.” Dustin spit back. He seemed dead set on his statement, as if it were fact. Stevie decided not to pry.

—

Later that night, Stevie went home to an empty house and ordered herself a pizza. She went to take a shower, expecting for the pizza to show up near the time that she’d get out. After putting on sweat shorts and an old, oversized shirt, she went downstairs still with a wet head. The phone started ringing on the wall, and she almost tripped herself on the way to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Stevie.” A low, unfamiliar voice answered. She couldn’t make out anyone that she personally knew who could’ve been calling.

“Who is this?” She asked, moving the phone to the other side of her head.

“Your pizza delivery service, sorry.” Stevie felt a rush of relief fall over her face. “Your driver is running a little behind, we just wanted to call and offer the pizza to you for free. Is that alright with you, Miss Harrington?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s all good.” The doorbell rang. “Oh– that must be them!” She turned her head to look to the front door.

“Must be,” said the other line. Weird. “Better go answer. Thank you for your time.” The phrase was spoken so flatly that Stevie was almost convinced it could’ve been a robot.

Stevie hung up the phone and went to go answer the door. She raked one hand through her damp hair, the other on the door handle. “Hi–” She spoke, finally looking up. No one. The girl furrowed her eyebrows and stuck her head out the door slightly. No delivery truck, no smell of pizza, no hint that anyone had even shown up. She quickly shut the door and backed away from it. Behind, a branch cracked from around the back door. Stevie crept over to the light switch for the back patio, flipping it on. In the corner, behind her pool, stood a tall figure with a black robe and white, ghost-like mask.

“Fuck!” She ran to lock the door and grab the phone. 911– they’d know what to do. Instead of the figure running to greet her, it slowly walked back into the woods behind her house. Stevie stood with the phone in her hand, watching the scene play out with her mouth wide open. She forgot to keep breathing. Instead of dialing the number from her previous thought, she dialed one of the only numbers that she had committed to memory.

After two and a half rings, Mrs. Buckley picked up. “Buckley residence!” She said in a cheery tone.

“Hi, Mrs. Buckley. It’s Stevie– is Robin available? Can she please come over?”

Chapter Text

Within the hour, Robin knocked on Stevie’s front door holding a duffle bag and a tupperware container.

“Mom made spaghetti, thought you’d want some in place of your missing pizza.” She gave a weakened smile and walked inside. Stevie knew that she sounded both panicked and utterly insane over the phone. She’d been pacing back and forth from the moment that she had hung up until the moment that Robin arrived. “She dropped me off. Said that we should just ride together to work in the morning:

Stevie nodded and took the tupperware from her friend's hand. “Yeah, I agree.” She strolled over to the microwave, Rob following behind her. “Sorry for scaring you, I just didn’t know what else to do.” She took the lid off and placed the food inside. Despite being scared shitless, a girl still needs to eat.

“Oh, I don’t know– maybe call Chief Hopper?”

“What if it was just one of the kids playing a prank or something?” A worry formed in the pit of her stomach. She knew that none of the kids would do anything deliberately frightening like this. “Or like… Byers? Doesn’t his friend work at the pizza place?”

Robin hopped herself up onto the kitchen counter. “We both know that it wasn’t any of your little shitheads. And I doubt Argyle is sober enough to pull any of that off.” She looked down at her feet, which were swinging back and forth. “I’m glad you called me. I wouldn’t know what to do, especially if I was home alone like you.”

Since Stevie could remember, her parents left her home alone. It started out when she was probably seven, and it would just be hours at a time. By middle school, it was full weekends. Now, she hardly ever sees her parents. Her dad has constant work trips that Mrs. Harrington follows him on. They love to book cruises for the both of them, and have timeshares with their friends to go off to God knows where whenever they feel like it. They were never anything special in the way of parenting, but Stevie wished they would stay home during times like these. Honestly, her parents weren’t even on her radar.

“The guy on the phone,” the microwave beeped. Stevie opened it and pulled the food out, poking it with a fork she had gotten from the drawer. “I didn’t recognize his voice. He said he worked for Surfer Boy– but the pizza never even came. Do you think… Do you think something bad might’ve happened to the delivery guy?” She felt guilty. It wasn’t even her fault, but she still felt guilty.

“It’s probably fine. Just because something bad happened to Chrissy, doesn’t mean anything bad will happen to you!” Robin shrugged her shoulders slightly, then realized her words. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure this isn’t connected in any way.” She spoke so fast that her words started to run together.

“Fuck.” Stevie moved her eyes to the fork she was twirling in her spaghetti. “I’ll go to the station tomorrow after work. Talk to Hopper,” she says, taking a bite. A damp piece of her still unbrushed bangs fell into her line of sight.

“You were so spooked that you didn’t even brush your hair,” Robin teased. “I think I may be the first person ever to see Stephanie Harrington with imperfect hair.”

“Can it, Buckley. I’m traumatized.”

—

Robin slept in Stevie’s bed with her, like a proper sleepover. It was a good thing, because Stevie knew she wouldn’t have slept a wink without another person there. She woke up a couple times through the night, but the presence of her friend allowed her to drift back into slumber easily.

At 8:30am, their alarm went off to wake up for work.

Robin turned over quite harshly, slapping her hands over her eyes. “Turn that godforsaken death machine off!” She shrieked.

Stevie reached over, eyes squinted, to turn off her alarm clock. “You gotta get up, Robbie. We can’t be late.” She spoke, sing-songy.

After what felt like a fight and a half, both girls made their way outside to get into Stevie’s car. Opening the door, they were both greeted with a Surfer Boy pizza van parked where her parents’ vehicles normally sat.

“What the hell?” Stevie’s eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head.

Robin looked like she’d seen a ghost, but both girls took steps toward the van. Stevie glared through the windshield, nothing unusual visible. They made their way to the back doors and Stevie grabbed the handles. Yanking it open, they both lept backward.

Inside the van, lay a presumably previously tan pair of legs, although they were pale with lifelessness now. Above the hip bones, nothing. The body had been severed there, with blood coating the floorboard. The blood was pooled in some places, seeped into the carpet in others. The legs wore a bright colored pair of shorts and big sneakers, but there were no defining traits— other than the pit in the girls’ stomachs. They could assume exactly who’s body this was, but they didn’t want to.

Robin started breathing heavily, her hand over her mouth. “Shit! Oh God, what the fuck!”

Stevie stood, shocked. What had she done to deserve this? What had the body inside the van done? “Fuck! Come on, we’re calling the police,” she gestured for Robin to follow her as she ran back into the house.

By the time the Hawkins police arrived, Stevie and Robin were so late to work that they had given up. It took convincing from Keith’s end, but he finally agreed to let them take the day for themselves. The girls could tell that he thought everything they were telling him was a load of bullshit, but with one murder under weigh, he let them take the benefit of the doubt.

“You didn’t see anything?” Hopper stood next to the van with an arm crossed around his side.

“No— nothing. I didn’t even hear the van pull up, did you?” Stevie turned to Robin.

“No! I guess we could’ve been asleep, but I just don’t get it.”

“Is there anyone you know that would want to scare you like this?” Chief Hopper was looking at the girls with a stern face.

“Not really, no. Not that I can think of.” Stevie ran a hand through her hair and then down over her face.

—

By the time that word had gotten out, both Stevie and Robin knew that they had majorly fucked up. In the hours between what had happened and it being plastered on the news— neither had told any of the kids. A series of harsh knocks and over-enthusiastic doorbell rings made that apparent.

“Fuck,” Stevie went to open the door to find Dustin, Lucas, Mike, Will, Max, and El standing on the other side. Every single one of them looked pissed off.

“Were you just never gonna tell us?” Mike asked, shrugging dramatically. He outwardly didn’t like Stevie, so this seemed quite odd to her. All of the kids pushed their way into the house, tumbling over each other.

Robin, who was sitting on the couch, finally realized what was happening. “You can’t get mad at us, we just went through something traumatizing.”

“We can help!” Lucas threw his hands up. Max shot him an annoyed look.

Stevie stopped in front of them, hands on her hips. “The hell you can! This is not a fight for a bunch of stubborn freshmen. I’d rather you all be alive and ignorant to the situation than fully informed and dead.”

Dustin pushed past her and plopped himself onto the couch next to Robin. Absolutely no social cues— which didn’t matter because it seemed that none of the kids had them, because they all followed suit and sat themselves in a lopsided circle around the living room. “It’s too late now! We’re here, we’re informed, and we’re helping. Oh, and Nancy’s on the way.”

Stevie was convinced right there and then that her face had turned blood red. “What? Why?”

“Because she wants to help! She and Jonathan both seemed really worried.”

“Jonathan? Really?” Stevie didn’t believe that.

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Yes. Stop being a bitch and accept the help. Also, they’re bringing Eddie.” He said, nonchalantly. As if not being able to find her two days ago wasn’t a big deal. As if they hadn’t informed Stevie and Robin about literally any of that situation.

“Who found her?” Robin asked.

Max’s hand shot up. “We heard that she could’ve been at Reefer Rick’s house, but we didn’t know where that was. We got Keith to look up different Rick’s in the Family Video data and one of them was really obsessed with Cheech & Chong. So, we biked over there and she was hiding in a shed.”

“Naturally.” Stevie pursed her lips. She didn’t expect to see everyone she’d ever come in contact with at her house after such a traumatizing event, especially unannounced.

After about fifteen minutes, there was another knock at the door. This one was much more polite— a sign that Nancy would be on the other side of it. Stevie reluctantly went to answer.

“Hi.” Nancy stood with Jonathan at one side and Eddie behind them in the middle. What a weird group of people, Stevie thought.

“Hey,” her cheeks got hot. It wasn’t that she still had feelings for Nancy, it was more so that she was embarrassed about how things had ended. “Come in.” She stepped away from the door and gestured inside. Nancy and Jonathan nodded, walking past Stevie. Eddie, however, did not follow. She stood there, staring at her feet.

“Harrington… I know you don’t know me well– and you probably don’t believe me, but this wasn’t me. I didn’t kill Chrissy, and I didn’t mess with you. I was just– freaked out.” The dark haired girl made eye contact with Stevie. At that moment, she believed her. There was terror behind those eyes. Stevie didn't know what she had gone through, but she was telling the truth.

Chapter Text

After the other three teenagers arrived, Stevie and Robin debriefed all of the details of the past day and a half. Dustin asked an unreasonable amount of questions, which was to be expected.

“Not to be forward, but I think it’s Eddie’s turn now.” Robin looked over at Eddie, who was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest, staring into space. “Why’d you hide?”

She looked up and took a deep breath. “Because they aren’t going to believe me. They have no reason to– I mean, I get why I would be a suspect. I’m a fucking degenerate,” Eddie let out a sad laugh. Stevie remembered how Eddie had been torn apart by bullies the entire time that they had gone to school together. She assumed it was still the same. From what Stevie could recall, though, Eddie kept a tough skin. Their teachers often told her that she marched to the beat of her own drum, but she didn’t seem to mind. Eddie was a lot, but she wasn’t apologetic about it.

“We know it wasn’t you,’ said Dustin. “So what’s your alibi? Where were you that night?”

Eddie shook her head, eyes darting back down to the floor. “I don’t have one. Or, I mean, it’s not gonna sound good.”

“Spit it out, Munson! We can’t help if we don’t know anything.” Robin was becoming impatient, if you could describe her as patient in the first place.

“I was with Chrissy.”

The room went dead silent. It was almost as if something had sucked every ounce of air out of the room.

Stevie scoffed. “Look, Ed, I’m all for helping you, but your case is looking really incriminating right now.” Eddie looked up, and the girls locked eyes. “You can’t see a murder victim the night of her death and then run from the cops. Not to mention, she was found dead directly outside your neighborhood. I’m not saying that I don’t believe you, I’m just saying that I don’t think you’re building a strong case for yourself.”

“I hate to agree, but I don’t see this going well,” Nancy chimed in. “Why were you with Chrissy?”

“I picked her up. She– she wanted to buy from me. She didn’t want anyone to see her car there, so she asked if I could come get her. So, I did. I sold her the shit, and she left. I swear. I wouldn’t hurt her, I wouldn’t hurt anyone! I talk a lot of shit but I never actually follow through!” Eddie was finally talking, although frantically. It was clear that she was trying to prove her point, although everyone in the room seemed to be on her side.

Nancy, who was sitting next to Eddie on the floor, simply reached over and placed her hand on top of the other girls. “Take a breath,” she smiled lightly. “We’re behind you.”

This made Stevie tense up. She didn’t have feelings for Nancy anymore— she couldn’t. Nance was with Jonathan now. She refused to let her heart drag her back to that place that had ended so terribly. It had taken her forever to get over Nancy, and one interaction seemed to be undoing all of her work.

Eventually, they came up with a plan. They’d all go to the station and talk to Hopper with Eddie, so that he could see how many people were backing her up. El would start the conversation to soften the blow for her dad. They all knew how temperamental he could be, so Will and Jonathan would tell Joyce to talk to him, too. From what they could tell, they had covered all the bases. By sundown, all the kids knew that they had to go home for fear that their parents would start plastering missing posters all over town. Nancy and Jonathan piled Mike and Will in with them, their bikes in the back of the car. Dustin, Lucas, Max, and El biked home, while Robin’s mom came to get her. That left Eddie with Stevie.

“Do you want me to take you home? I know you’re kind of avoiding it, but you gotta go back sometime.” Stevie shrugged.

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked. They were both standing in the doorway after saying goodbye to everyone. “I mean– do you want to be alone? I can stay until your parents get home if you want.”

Stevie let out a stiff laugh. “You’d be waiting a while,’ she shifted her feet. “They’re gonna be gone for three more days.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “You can stay with me.”

“Hmm?”

“I wouldn’t really want to be alone in this big house that I just got harassed in. It was just an offer.”

Stevie shrugged, “I didn’t think of that. Your folks won’t mind? I can sleep on the couch.”

The other girl leaned her body into the crook of the doorway, crossing her arms. “Nah, my uncle works nights. You can sleep in my room. Or the couch– if that’s too weird.”

Honestly, she was relieved that Eddie even thought of her. She lied straight through her teeth– she had thought about where she would sleep that night. Or if she would even sleep. “Can I sleep in your room? I’m sorry, I’m a little shaken from the past 48 hours.”

“Don’t apologize, Harrington. I suggested it,” she gave a soft smile.

“Thank you. I’ll- I’m gonna go get my stuff. I’ll be back.”

—

One car ride full of Eddie critiquing Stevie’s music later, they arrived at Forest Hills. Eddie pointed at her and her uncle’s trailer, and Stevie pulled into the driveway. All the lights were off, even the outside porch light. Eddie creeped out of the car, still visibly afraid to even go inside her own home. Stevie followed behind, carrying both of their bags so that the other girl could get the door.

Walking inside, Eddie flipped on the overhead light and let out a sigh of relief. Stevie closed the door behind her and took in her sights. It was much smaller than her own home, obviously, but it looked much more lived in. It looked like people sat on the couch and cooked meals and smoked cigarettes.

Eddie walked them back to her bedroom and pointed to the floor next to the bed. “You can just set the bags down there. I’m gonna go shower, I’ll be back in a minute. Are you good?”

Stevie smiled and nodded, sitting herself down on the edge of Eddie’s small bed. It had black sheets and a messy heap of random blankets strewn about. The walls were covered with posters, some purchased and some clearly homemade. Compared to Stevie’s room, this was wonderful. She had nothing on her walls and a big, empty bed with perfectly made sheets and little to no decoration. She liked that this room looked like Eddie.

When Eddie came back from the shower, Stevie was standing in the corner, flipping through Eddie’s cassettes. “Find something you like?” Eddie asked, scrunching a towel in her wet hair.

“Not at all,” Stevie laughed and held one up. “I’ve never heard of ninety-eight percent of this shit.”

“You wound me.” Eddie pretended to stab herself, dropping onto the bed dramatically. She was wearing a big t-shirt of a band that Stevie had never heard of and a pair of long, black sweat shorts. Stevie had changed, too, into a matching set of floral pajamas. They looked like they were going to two completely different events. “Do you want me to sleep on the couch— or do you want me to stay with you here?”

“Here,” she replied, a little too quickly. “Uh— please.” Stevie walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning her back against the pillow behind her.

Eddie scooted herself up to the top of the bed where Stevie was. “Ok. I sleep with three fans going, just so you know.”

“Good. It’s hot as hell in here.”

“Not all of us can afford to have the air conditioning on all day, Harrington.” Eddie stuck her tongue out.

—

That night, Stevie slept better than she had in months.

—

In the morning, they woke to police sirens.