The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
Series Metadata
Listing Series
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The Performance of One Steve Harrington by hubristicgoldenboy
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
17 Jan 2026
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Summary
"It was all Steve could do to keep up appearances. Being Captain of the Swim team and a key player on the Basketball court while barely keeping his grades up was what kept Daniel Harrington off of his back. Steve wasn't sure when popularity contests and notoriety became important to his father, or when he started expecting the same things from Steve. Reputation was everything, especially in a lacking town like Hawkins, Indiana. Steve's reputation, in fact, was the only thing that ensured his inheritance and potential job opportunities paved by his father. A guaranteed future only sounded so great before Daniel Harrington yelled at him for being still being friends with Jonathan Byers."
or, Stranger Things if Steve and Jonathan had been dating since before the events Season 1, and the fallout when Will goes missing.
Series
- Part 1 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"They started after Will returned, safe and sound. Jonathan thought that he would've started to get the nightmares when Will originally went missing, but he remembers that he wasn't exactly sleeping through the night when that had happened. So now that everything had calmed down, and his family had somehow regained their composure, it was Jonathan's turn to lose his. Again."
or, Jonathan Byers copes with the aftermath of fighting a monster, and getting his brother back. (And the dire lows of having dinner with Bob Newby). It's a good thing he has Steve.
Series
- Part 2 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"Jonathan doesn't know how he is going to get through this with a straight face. He would do it anyway, of course, because what else was he meant to do when he was told that just hours prior that his little brother was possessed and they couldn't get through to him?"
or, Jonathan frantically tries to save his brother with the help of his friends and family, but time is running out. Steve gets into a fight with Billy Hargrove, and is cared for.
Series
- Part 3 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"Wading through crayon-encrusted papers over the walls and counters, Jonathan gets back to Steve. His boyfriend had been waiting patiently for Jonathan to check that they were in the clear, leaning up against a doorway and looking half-asleep."
or, ST 2 aftermath with Steve and Jonathan.
Series
- Part 4 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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The Malls & Their American Sweethearts by hubristicgoldenboy
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
25 Jan 2026
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Summary
"The other shoe hasn't dropped yet and he knows it. For crying out loud, Steve was working in the mall wearing nothing but a blue sailor ensemble, white tube socks, and a stupid floppy tie. (When Jonathan first saw it, he called it "cute" with the expression of a man that was trying and failing at hiding a laugh)."
or, Starcourt, Robin Buckley, and taking care of the guy you love.
Series
- Part 5 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"According to Jonathan, Joyce wanted to give the kids a fresh start. El was still reeling from Hopper's death, and Will has had too many things happen to him courtesy of Hawkins. He imagines it is much of the same for Jonathan, but he never mentions his hurt. Not when—in Jonathan's mind—his pain was inconsequential to El and Will's. Jonathan was leaving."
or, Steve grapples with some difficult things in the face of Jonathan, his boyfriend of four years, moving away to California. They work through it together, and affirm their relationship before Jonathan has to leave.
Series
- Part 6 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"Jonathan loved quietly, Will knew that much; and even if he has given Will hundreds of invitations to talk about his feelings, Jonathan has never offered his own perspective. He has seen many bits and pieces of Jonathan over the years, but never enough to complete the puzzle. Will doesn't know why it scares him to ask about, but it does."
or, Will is met with the struggle of consolidating his image of Jonathan with who Jonathan actually is outside of just being his brother & protector, and calls Steve when he doesn't know how to help Jonathan through a panic attack.
Series
- Part 7 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"Out of all the places in the last couple of days, if someone told him that they were setting up base in a Surfer Boys Pizza Shop, Jonathan would have thought he had gotten too high. But, no. Since the disaster at Rink-o-Mania, El getting arrested, and being forced into a days long road trip across the country until they found the Byers' sister in the middle of the desert, Jonathan was almost glad to be in this shitty establishment.
Jonathan just wished that Will would stop looking at Mike like he was seconds away from a breakdown."
or, Jonathan and Will have a chat that has been a long time coming.
Series
- Part 8 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"
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Summary
"The constant driving was taking him out, and his back has probably never hated him more, but they were almost back. Almost home (even if Hawkins has a tenuous relationship with that word). But they were an hour out from the town Jonathan grew up in, Melvalds, nights spent messing around in the woods, and Steve."
or, Jonathan and the rest of the Cali crew reunite with the Hawkins crew. Jonathan and Steve spend some much needed quality time together.
Series
- Part 9 of The One Where It Was Always "I Love You"