I want to stay at the beach at night and watch the stars discussing philosophy and/or the pros and cons of liberalism vs socialism and then watch fireworks be light up in the distance and notice a bit far some guys that made a fire and ask if i can join and just stay all together meeting new people drinking gin lemon from a water bottle and vibe, go in the water in the dead of the night to burn off too much alcohol and get out to cold pizza and warm sand, stay awake until sunrise chatting and playing guitar and keeping the fire alive, until sunrise when i suddenly decide it's time for another bath and i go and make everyone wonder how the fuck i survived the cold water and then go to the nearest bar and eat freshly baked pasticciotti
It could be argued (and has been) that Steve has been hit in the head one too many times.
It would explain his recent behavior. Becoming infatuated with a guy he just met, proceeding to then Google him, and now flirting with him. He barely even knows the guy other than what can be ascertained from the Internet.
In case you’re wondering he’s from Tennessee, helped start Corroded Coffin in high school, and came out a few years ago. (This last piece of info is very interesting to Steve.)
He also found his social media which included a recent photo of him and the band, which he had zero reaction to, thank you very much. (In reality, his phone locked after staring for too long).
Now, granted, he has been known to flirt with just about anyone, but only recently did this include guys.
He came to the conclusion of his bisexuality a few years ago with the help of Robin. There is only so many times you can watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier “for the plot”. And now that he thinks about it, his type might be long haired brunettes. Because Eddie just winked at him and he is having trouble focusing.
Now, just to be clear, Steve has been winked at a lot. One of the byproducts of being popular and hot for most of his life. But he can unequivocally say that this wink was the most affective. Like this is the reason winking was invented.
And then he just walked away, like Steve’s world didn’t just tilt off its axis. He thinks this is what Robin would call “bi panic” but he’s not super familiar with all the terminology.
The band makes their way on stage and the crowd roars. They take their places; Gareth on the drums, Jeff on bass, Archie on rhythm guitar, and Eddie on lead vocals with his electric guitar slung across his back.
“Vegas, how are we doing tonight?!” Eddie practically screams. “We are Corroded Coffin and we are so thrilled to be here tonight.” The crowd cheers as does Steve and his friends.
They launch into their first song. It’s heavy and loud and Steve can feel the bass thumping in his chest in time with his heart.
He is vaguely aware that he recognizes the song, but most of his attention is on Eddie. He can definitively say that this is the most attractive thing he has ever witnessed.
Eddie’s body is pressed against the mic stand and both his hands rest on top of the microphone. His rings shine in the light and his eyes are closed as he sings. Steve gets swept away in the moment and notices a few seconds too late that Eddie has pulled his guitar in front of him.
His fingers dance along the neck of the guitar as he plays. Scratch that earlier thought, this is the hottest thing he has ever seen. Steve has always understood the concept of why people find rockstars attractive, but he has officially jumped on the bandwagon. Although maybe it’s because of one rockstar in particular.
They move through the set list with Eddie playing guitar occasionally but mostly sticking to singing. Steve is thankful because as on edge as he his now, Eddie plus the guitar make him feel like he is going to combust.
“Alright, Vegas. We only have a few songs left for the night,” the crowd collectively groans, “I know, I know, I’m sad about it too. But, I have thrown in an extra song on the setlist just for y’all.” The crowd cheers, “I was inspired to add this one because last night we went to a UFC fight and one of the fighters, a certain Steve Harrington, had our song as his walk-on song.” He drawled out Steve’s name made him blush and the crowd cheered again, “and we were so honored that we thought we’d play it for you tonight.”
The opening chords of the song Steve knew well began and he couldn’t help but smile.
Robin and Chrissy keep sneaking him looks. Of course they know about his crush. Robin clocked it the moment Dustin told her the story. Then she told Chrissy, because she tells her girlfriend everything.
Robin, thankfully hasn’t been teasing him too much about it. She knows this is a big deal to him, his first crush on a guy he knows. Well, at least a crush on a guy he knows that he recognizes as a crush. Like he said, it was a recent development.
All that said, he’s not 100% certain Eddie is into him. He’s pretty sure, but he could just be like that. Again, he barely knows the guy. And even if it turns out Eddie is just a natural flirt and Steve is reading into it, it doesn’t matter. Because Dustin is having the time of his life right now. He is singing along to every word and has not stopped bopping his head.
Robin must see him lost in thought because she walks over.
“You know he likes you back, right?”
Her ability to read his mind just further convinces him that she is his platonic soulmate.
“And how do you know that?”
“I have eyes. Boy is head over heels.”
Steve drops his head and blushes, “Could you be more specific?” Thankfully she hears the doubt in his voice and answers.
“Well first of all, he lit up like a kid on Christmas when he saw you walk in, he asked how we all knew each other because he wanted to know if Chrissy or I were dating you, and the way he couldn’t take his eyes off of you,” she says all of this while counting on her fingers. “So, like I said. He’s totally into you.”
“What would I do without you?” Steve says.
“Crash, burn, and miss out on this fantastic opportunity with a guy you really like,” she says like it’s a matter of fact. He knows she’s right so he pulls her into a quick hug and drops a kiss on the top of her head.
“Love you, Rob.”
“Love you too, dingus. Now get ready.”
His eyebrows scrunch and then he hears, “Goodnight, everybody!”
The band is making their way off the stage and Steve can’t help how his eyes stay glued to Eddie. His bangs are sweaty and stuck to his forehead, his breathing is heavy, and the look in his eyes tell Steve he’s hyped up on adrenaline. Hot.
Dustin is the first to speak, “That was awesome! You guys were amazing! Thank you so much again for getting us in, best night ever.”
Eddie places a hand on Dustin’s head and ruffles his curls. Normally Steve is the only one who can get away with that, but Dustin is too star struck to care. “Thanks for coming, man.”
He turns to Jeff and hands him his guitar. Jeff gives him a look that Steve can only describe as shock. Steve would later find out Eddie rarely lets anyone touch his sweetheart, but he wanted to stay and talk to Steve.
“So, what did y’all think?” He asks the group but makes direct eye contact with Steve.
“You guys were amazing out there. Best concert I’ve been to in years.” Steve says immediately.
Eddie beams and Steve wants to make him smile like that as many times as possible.
“Yeah, you guys killed it. Vegas needs to give you a residency,” Chrissy adds.
“That would be amazing,” Eddie nods, “but just between us, we are actually going on a break after this. Nothing announced yet and not forever, but just some time off.”
Dustin jumps in with, “Well if you’re ever in Chicago, please let us know. We’ll show you around, take you to all the sights.”
“That sounds amazing, I will keep that in mind.” Once again Steve sees Eddie’s eyes drift to him. And because Robin is an actual angel, she says, “Hey Dustin, you want to go look at the merch table?”
“Uh, duh. Steve you coming with?”
Steve doesn’t even hesitate, “I’ll catch up in a minute.” Robin ushers him out before he can question anything. Again, literal angel.
“So, you really enjoyed the show?” Eddie had taken a piece of hair and pulled it in front of his face. Steve thinks he’s shooting for coy but he can see the genuine worry in his eyes. His big, beautiful, Bambi eyes.
“Couldn’t take my eyes off you.” He didn’t mean to be that honest, but it was true.
Eddie’s eyes widened even more and a gorgeous blush crept up his face. “Careful there Stevie, a guy might take that the wrong way.”
“And what way is that?”
“That you have a crush on me,” Eddie says with a teasing lilt as he drops his hair, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning forward. But once again, his eyes betray his demeanor; he’s nervous.
All those years of dating and flirting leading to this. All his confidence placed on this one moment. “Oh, I most definitely do,” Steve says.
Eddie pauses, does a full reboot, and croaks out a small, “Wait, what?”
“I have a crush on you,” Steve says slowly. “Is that alright with you?”
Eddie finally seems to come back to himself. He cracks one of those amazing smiles and says, “very alright with me. As long as you’re okay with the crush I have on you?”
“I think I’ll find a way to cope,” Steve smirks.
“How long are you in Vegas for?”
“We fly out day after tomorrow, you?”
“We leave at the end of the week. What are you doing tomorrow?”
Steve shrugs, “Not much, I think Robin wanted to try her luck at a casino but I was more interested in some good food. Know any places?”
“Oh yeah, I know several places. Of course they are super off the beaten path. I’d have to give you step by step directions. Or you know what? Better yet, why don’t I accompany you? That way you don’t have to worry about getting lost. This is a big city after all.”
“Such a gentleman. Here,” Steve reaches for Eddie’s right hand with his left but lets Eddie move those final few inches. He takes a sharpie he carries with him for autographs and writes his number on the inside of Eddie’s forearm. He makes it a point to hold his hand the entire time.
“Text me with the details and I’ll meet you whenever,” he tells Eddie with his most charming smile.
Sorry if I missed anybody, thank you to everyone for liking this story and saying such kind things ✌️. This is the final part but I may write an epilogue one day, we'll see.
"our son made it through the war to come of age, let's fucken party! rsvp only if you're a little bitch who's NOT coming. all y'all not dead of alcohol poisoning by morning (lmao losers) get dunkt on"
In light of the recent Game Changer finale, I think the decision to have "One Year Later" be the first episode of Season 7 was perfect. It's an episode which seems natural to put as a finale, hell maybe it was even pitched as such. But putting it first works so well because even though Vic has appeared on Game Changer before, this episode is the one that truly cements them as not just batshit insane, but such a specific breed of batshit insane that they act as the perfect foil to Sam. We watch this person rob him of his belongings and home, steal his wife, blatantly ignore the intended prompts in favour of ridiculous loopholes, secretly capture recordings of him in his own home, break his podium with a hammer, attempt to scam him out of thousands of dollars, make him eat sand, and god knows what else I'm forgetting. We watch them become the first person to ever score negative points on an episode of Game Changer. And then in the final episode, we watch them continue to do this, but now instead of forcing the crew to work overtime editing negative points onto their podium, they fucking win and become co president of dropout.
Vic is introduced at the start of the season via an hour long special episode in which they systematically destroy any semblance of safety or control Sam as come to feel on the set of Game Changer. They are then made president of the company he built from the ground up. I love this show, I have no notes.
