Stranger Things - Imagines

Everyone x Platonic!Reader - Platonic Love Song

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Platonic Love Song #1 by Lauren Bird. This is set just before the start of Season 4. I hope you all enjoy it. 

It had all started with a throwaway comment from Dustin. Some stupid little muttering about how you spent so much time mothering the entire group, even though half of them were basically the same age as you. Sure, Steve was Mom, but you were Mom x 1000. You spent most of your time keeping them all out of trouble, driving them where they needed to go, picking them up when they got stranded, and keeping them fed and hydrated and safe. It was practically a full-time job and as the group grew, so did the amount of time you spent looking out for them. You'd even put aside a weekend to take a first aid course, knowing full well that you would definitely end up needing it eventually. 

And sure, the kids knew how much you did for them. Hell, even Steve and Robin and Jonathon and Nancy realised that you had started treating them like one of your little hoard of children. But that didn't mean that they saw the toll it could take on you. 

You'd worked a full shift that Friday, opening the coffee shop you managed at 5 am and not getting off until you closed at 5 pm. Of course, that mothering instinct seemed to go into overdrive there too. One girl had mentioned having a cold and you'd immediately okay'd her time off request, leaving you to close alone, again. So you were already exhausted as it was.

All you wanted to do was go home and take a nice relaxing bath before you had to do the exact same thing tomorrow. But Friday was Hellfire night. And you always picked the kids up and drove them home on Hellfire night. You'd never missed a damn week. Never.

When the kids had come skipping out to your car, with Eddie curiously following along behind them, having heard many mentions of their 'honourary mom' throughout their DnD sessions, they'd been shocked to find you curled up in the back seat, completely passed out. 

Dustin knocked lightly on the window, face pressed up against the glass to look at you. 

"Y/N?" he called out, watching you sit up rather suddenly, looking a little confused. "Hi," he pressed on, grinning at you. 

You quickly shuffled forward, unlocking the car. "Sorry," you murmured, pushing past them to get back in the driver's seat. 

"You look really tired," Lucas murmured, brow furrowed slightly as he watched you fumble with your keys, almost dropping them. 

"Yeah," Mike chimed in. "Did you not sleep last night?"

You forced a smile onto your lips, shaking your head slightly. "Long day at work," you explained softly. 

"You didn't have to come and get us-"

"Nonsense," you interrupted, waving away his comment. "Wouldn't miss hearing how this week's session went for the world," you pressed on, finally getting a good hold on your keys and twisting them in the ignition. "Come on; get in."

The kids reluctantly did as they were told, with Dustin scrambling to get the front seat, and whilst you were distracted, Eddie leant down by your window. "I can drop them home next week," he hummed, offering you a sweet smile. "Let you have an evening to yourself?"

You let out a soft chuckle. Eddie couldn't say he had been surprised to see you as their driver/mom figure. You'd always been someone who tended to attract the odd ducks and the two of you had even hung out a couple of times. But he'd never seen you look so mom-ish before. You did look exhausted, worn down by work and everything else that you took on. 

"I like driving them," you told him. "Besides, they'll all be driving themselves in a couple of years and then they'll never spend any time with me. Gotta make the most of it whilst I still can," you chuckled, reaching out to ruffle Dustin's hair slightly.