Steve doesn't like summer very much. It's always too hot to be comfortable, and the sun makes him tired, and the bugs are such a pain in the ass to deal with.
Eddie, though? Human ice cube Eddie? He loves summer just as much as Steve doesn't like it, even though he's constantly sunburnt because he doesn't like the way sunscreen feels on his skin.
Steve supposes he's lucky that he tans and freckles instead of burns. If he did, he'd be spending the whole season indoors and would tell Robin to come get him when the leaves start turning.
Eddie plops down on the pool chair next to Steve. After a brief moment of silence - that's always concerning, since silence with Eddie is like silence with a toddler - he reaches over and starts tapping Steve on the face. Over the bridge of his nose and his cheeks, where Steve knows he gets the most new freckles every summer.
“What are you doing?” Steve asks, keeping his eyes closed as he basks in the sun.
“Typing.”
“What?”
“Typing.”
“I heard you the first time. The hell does that mean?” he asks, cracking an eye open.
“Looks like typewriter keys. So, I’m typing.”
Eddie throws himself in Steve's lap with an oof, blocking out the sun. Steve opens his eyes just as Eddie brings up both his hands to Steve’s face, taps some more, makes a stupid little ding sound, and gives Steve a quick kiss.
Steve rolls his eyes, but he still asks, “What’d you type?”
“That I love you.”
“Why say something I already know?”
Eddie shoves him, and Steve laughs.
“I love you, too,” he says.
“I know,” Eddie says, and now it’s Steve’s turn to shove him, and Eddie, drama queen that he is, rolls out of his lap and onto the patio.
It's almost embarrassing, how in love Steve is with him.
Because I am obsessed with the famous trope here’s another one that kept me up all night.
Steve and Eddie dated right after Vecna in ‘86 and it’s perfect. They date each other and it’s like two puzzles clicking together. But they’re young, foolish and they both have mountains of trauma. And sometimes, the passion and love, just isn’t enough to keep a relationship going.
They have a messy break up that has Eddie packing all his stuff up in ‘88. Eddie goes to LA or New York, either way that’s where he gets discovered. He then goes on to write some very angsty and angry rock/metal music about the break-up that gets him up on the map.
Steve hates it. He hates it with every fibre of his soul because it’s one thing when you and you ex still have the same friends and have to be civil with each other, but it’s a whole other thing when you open the radio and this man you dated, this man you loved and cared for and failed is just out here singing it for the whole world to hear.
And yeah listen, it’s petty and dumb. But Steve writes his own fucking songs, it’s not the direct response to Eddie’s song but it’s close. By that time it’s already ‘90 and Eddie’s made a whole name and career out of their relationship. Steve writes the songs, he sings, and he sends the damn demo to almost fifty different companies. And he gets picked up by one company.
Steve takes the pop star route, and with his looks and his somehow amazing vocals, by ‘94 Steve’s on the charts with Whitney and Mariah. The whole Party has solemnly promised to not get involved with their petty songwriting fighting anymore. They also haven’t spoken in person in almost six years, and the only way they communicate now is through the freaking songs.
There’s not a lot of overlap with the rock and pop community, and no one notices it until ‘05. It’s one fan that makes this one blog post talking about this weird freaky coincidence in Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson’s songs. It becomes a whole thing, like someone from Hawkins pulls out the yearbooks and finds out that they could’ve known each other. Their faces are splashed together into every magazine and celebrity entertainment shows.
They don’t say anything about it. No one comments about it for a few years and it infuriates the public even more. The next time Steve comes out with a song, Eddie comes out with another song a few months after and it’s once again a literal conversation about their relationship.
The whole thing continues until ‘11 and by then there’s blog dedicated for all the clues. It’s now a long running thread, and it gets updated when there’s another clue to this massive confusing puzzle. There’s a whole subsection with names of every Party member and how they connect the two artists together. There’s freaking flow charts and pictures and family trees.
It only ends when Eddie finally posts two pictures on Twitter. The first one is taken backstage. All you can see is Steve’s back, but you will know it’s him because of his hair. He’s standing at the side of the stage, and on the stage is Eddie Munson singing. The second one is a picture of Eddie sitting in a couch as Steve looms over him, hands crossed on his chest. Eddie’s signing his own album with a smirk, while Steve glares at him. If you zoom, you can see the sign on the album saying, “To Steve. This album is for you.”
The caption says: “Me and my biggest fan. Circa 2004.”
Steve replies to the original post saying: “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”
Eddie deletes the post and reposts it with: “Me and my wonderful, gorgeous, talented husband. I can’t believe I am married to THE Steve Harrington.”
It’s the first time the term “break the internet” is ever used.
Turns out, they were just writing the songs to spite each other and to add fuel to the fandom fire. (In an interview, Eddie says, “It’s our foreplay.” and Steve doesn’t talk to him for a solid 30 minutes for running his mouth. It only lasts for 30 minutes because Eddie made it up to him by using his mouth for something else.)
Steddie, onesided stommy, hint of a daddy kink (becomes full fledged in part 2)
Tommy had seen a lot in his life (not really) but he never thought he'd see anything like this. Steve. His Steve (he should've been his), on the arm of the Freak.
The word had spread. One last party. One last hurrah in the Harrington house before Steve left Hawkins. Tommy still didn't know where exactly he was going. Was going to ask tonight. He wasn't betting on Eddie Munson being here. The rumors had been flying for a while. Steve had fallen from grace and fallen hard. He was hanging with losers and freaks, the worst of all being Eddie.
But last Tommy heard, Steve wasn't involved with anyone. Seeing the way Eddie had his arm around Steve, that was clearly bad intel. Or maybe the small minded people of Hawkins just chose not to see. To Tommy though, they were quite obvious. Maybe no one was making a fuss because Steve would be gone soon.
The point remained, Eddie was the last person who should have his hands on Steve. Tommy kept his distance and didn't that feel strange. There was once a time when Tommy was there, right at the king's side.
The two of them moved from mingling in the crowd of young adults to sitting on the couch and Eddie still had his arm around him, playing with the short hairs at his neck and the few moments Steve wasn't looking at whoever was talking, he was gazing at Eddie like a god and Tommy couldn't take it anymore. He downed the rest of his beer and walked right on over, taking the empty spot on Steve's other side. He wasn't quite as close as Eddie but their knees were touching.
"Tommy, glad you could make it man", Steve spoke easily like there wasn't a murder suspect playing with his hair.
"I wouldn't miss this." He couldn't help the way his eyes glanced at Munson. He was met with a hard stare. Almost like his mind was being read.
"So what've you been up to?", Steve asked.
Tommy indulged him in the small talk, but he was hyperaware of every movement Munson made. Of the easy way he touched Steve. And the way Steve just let him. At some point Eddie's hand moved from his hair to squeeze between Steve's body and the couch and put his hand on his hip. Then Eddie's hand snuck under his shirt to rub circles on his hip and Tommy wanted to bite something.
"Eddie", Steve whispered to admonish him, but did nothing else to stop him.
And Eddie didn't. While Steve told Tommy about his plans to move to California, Eddie looked right into Tommy's eyes as he nuzzled into Steve's neck and then the teeth came out. That got Steve to tear his gaze away from Tommy and look to Eddie. Steve said something that too soft even for him to fully hear with other people in the house having conversations, but it looked close to Eddie's name again. A very conflicted part of Tommy thought he might've said 'daddy' instead.
"You know, I think it's me and Hagan's turn to catch up", Eddie said. For a moment, Eddie and Steve seemed to have a full discussion with only their eyes before Steve was sighing.
"Alright." Steve stood up and gave Tommy a very familiar look. The 'know your place' face. "Don't bite each other's dicks off while I'm gone."
"My teeth are properly sealed", Eddie grinned.
Once Steve left them, Tommy's interest also left but not quite his intrigue. Clearly, something was going on between them two. Tommy wished he could just call them fags and punch Eddie and be done with it. But he needed to know. He'd never seen Steve this way. He needed to know why.
"Sooo, you and Steve are...?"
"Bingo H", Eddie smirked like he had won, which he sort of did.
Tommy couldn't help the scowl on his face. "How? You actually turned him queer?"
"That's not the part your curious about though, is it?" Eddie leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees while looking him up and down. "Whatchu wanna know is how I can get him to melt like that."
"Steve was never like that with any of his girlfriends", Tommy said.
"Let's just say I have the magic touch."
"Munson, so help me god-"
"Okay, consider this a gift from me to you, since I'll be hightailin' it outta town soon. But Steve told me the moment he knew was when I pushed him up against a wall."
Tommy had a lot of questions. Why? When? And how could that work for Eddie when he had definitely pushed Steve around before. Especially before he officially cemented his place as king of Hawkins High.
"That can't be it. I pushed him once and he just told me to stop being a little bitch."
Eddie laughed so loud that Tommy regretted telling him. But this weird thing couldn't last forever. Steve was going to California. Maybe Tommy could visit him out there and-
"I think maybe the fact I had a broken bottle to his neck helped my situation."
"You threatened his life...and now he just lets you rub on him in public? You're both freaks."
"I just think Stevie knows a real man when he sees him."
Eddie winked and then got up off the couch to find Steve probably. Tommy wanted to find him first. At this point in the party he'd probably be in the kitchen, hovering over whatever snacks he'd put out. Somehow, Eddie had beat him there, and he had his arm around his shoulders while Steve chomped on some pretzels from a bowl.
They were whispering to each other and then they both looked at Tommy at the same time. Steve brushed by Tommy as he walked by.
"See you later", he whispered before going on his way.
Tommy had wanted to find Steve with the intention of propositioning him. He'd never been with a man, but he knew what Steve liked from his talking about the girls he'd fucked. And if he was humping anything that moved like Munson, why not him? Something must have remained in their past friendship for Steve to get all that just from a look.
What he didn't get was why Munson was still grinning at him.
"Hagan. Thomas. Tommy? Can I call you Tommy?", Eddie asked as he walked over to him.
"Just spit out whatever you gotta say." Because if Tommy was reading this right, Steve was heading up to his bedroom, waiting.
Eddie held his hands up in surrender. "Just wanted to offer you another lil parting gift."
"I'm not getting high tonight."
"Not on my stuff, you're not. I was thinkin' a different kinda buzz. One courtesy of me an' Steve." Eddie got close enough to where they were nearly toe to toe.
Tommy fought off the instinct to push him away and bashed his head into the fridge. What kind of gift could come from the two freaks of the evening? As annoyed and confused he was by all of this, he was also intrigued. Eddie could see that and went on.
"Steve wants to give you a show."
Tommy's eyes glanced up to where he knew Steve's room was and Eddie knew he had him. So he backed away and started making his way towards the stairs. Tommy went after him, leaving behind drunk teens and young adults and loud music while they went up the stairs.
idk, wibbly virgin Eddie who wants to bottom doesn't do it for me. Virgin Eddie who wants to top and dom king Steve until he's a shivering, sobbing mess is so much more interesting. I want to read about an Eddie with no sexual experience beyond some kissing and touching, who's so consumed by fantasies of fucking Steve he's jerking off constantly and stealing bondage mags and practising how to tie knots and feeling like he's going rabid from how much he wants to hold Steve down and fuck him rough and make a space for himself inside him.
When Steve decided to try to give college a try, Eddie was 100% supportive.
When Steve found people to hang out with and study after classes, Eddie was still 100% supportive.
When Steve started coming home late every Wednesday because of very long "study sessions", Eddie was still 100% supportive but maybe, 2% anxious.
When Steve started avoiding questions about this "study group" he goes to every week, Eddie's support was tanking faster than the 1929 stock market.
He knew Steve would never cheat on Eddie. There was still that niggling piece of doubt that wonders when the other shoe would drop. Will Steve find a smarter, more professional girl or guy who had their life all figured out and take Steve away from him and leave Eddie choking on the dust? Percentage was low but not quite 0.
The next Wednesday Steve came home late, Eddie sat in their apartment living room with the lights off. If he was going to get dumped, he may as well do it as cinematically dramatic as possible. He'll romanticize his own breakup to hell and back if he wants to. The theatrics might stop him from splintering into pieces.
Steve stepped inside, turned the light on and to his credit, barely reacted to Eddie staring at the door.
"Oh hey, babe. Were you waiting up for me? I'm sorry, the study session went on a bit longer tonight. I brought takeout."
Eddie guessed Steve still hadn't noticed his rigid stature or blank expression. He took a deep breath, counted to ten and said, "Steve."
That got a reaction out of him. Steve snapped his head up, worried, "What? What's wrong? You never call me by my first name, what happened?" He quickly put everything down and ran over, taking a seat next to Eddie, checking over his face.
Eddie had to kill the smile that was threatening to spill over and push him off, forcing a scowl. "Steve."
"Oh my God, it's the kids, isn't it? What did they do? Is someone in the hospital? In jail? Who do I need to call, I probably still have Owens number, that bastard still owes me a fucking fav--"
"Steve, stop, no! It's not the kids, everything's fine, the kids are fine, I'm physically fine."
His boyfriend paused, catching on immediately, "Physically? So, does that mean you're not mentally fine? Eds, babe, you're scaring me, please tell me what's wrong."
A bemused chuckle escapes Eddie's mouth. Even when trying to prep himself for hearbreak, Steve still manages to charm and delight him. Maybe he's worrying over nothing. Maybe he just jumped to conclusions, like he always does.
"Stevie, I'm sorry. This was a bad way going about this but, you're right. Mentally, I'm kind of mess. Understatement of the century, yeah, yeah but I just...something's been bothering me and I really want to be honest with you and I hope you'll be honest with me."
Steve nods, his hands squeezing Eddie's encouragingly. "Of course, Eds. I always want you to be honest with me, no matter what, even if you think it might be something I don't want to hear."
"Yeah, I know but this isn't really about something you don't want to hear, it's more about what I might not want to hear. But I do want to hear, or at least be told that the thing I don't want to hear isn't true and I just made it up in my head."
Steve reeled back, "Whoa, okay, let's roll it back. I think I need to get a notebook to try to decipher what you're trying to say. Can you repeat that for me please? In maybe smaller sentences?"
Eddie groaned, pulling a hand away to scrub it over his face, "Please just tell what you've been doing at these "study sessions" because I'm scared that you might have found a more interesting person to want to spend your life with and you're slowly trying to distance yourself and gently break up with me!"
He heard a choking sound and when he opened his eyes, Steve was balking back at him.
"Eddie, no! Of course not, I wouldn't do that to you, you know that."
"They why have you been acting all cagey and secretive whenever I ask you what you've been doing once a week? Your classes end at 3, but you always come home around 9! And you don't work today!"
He sees Steve flapping his gums with no sound coming out and the anxious, cold feeling was creeping back up again.
"They're study sessions, they can go pretty long--"
"Not for six hours! Please Steve, just tell me the truth man." Eddie refused to cry and instead pulls his hair over to his mouth and started to chew on the ends.
Neither say a thing, he doesn't think they even breathe, unwilling to be the first to break away from the sudden staring contest.
But Eddie, master of the hard stare, watches Steve squirm, his face contorting into a pained wince until finally he gasps, "Okay! I'll tell you. But...you have to promise not to be mad."
Eddie spits out his hair, "That is NOT the way to get me to do ANYTHING for you. That a fucking guarantees that I'm gonna be mad. I swear to God, if you're cheating--"
"No! No, Eddie, God, ugh! I would never--you know I wouldn't do that!"
"You're going to have to start talking because I'm pretty sure I'm 5 seconds away from having a panic attack, so just tell me what's going on!"
"I JOINED A D&D GROUP!"
The room once again envelops into silence, this time, however, the temperature drops alongside with the noise.
"You. What."
Steve slowly gets up from the couch, grabs his backpack from the door, opens it, and takes out some folders before placing them in Eddie's lap.
Out of sheer reflex, Eddie opens the file, scanning over the papers like they're confidential documents. And there it was. Character sheets, campaign notes, printed out pages from the D&D handbook about certain class abilities. He even found laminated cards with spells on them.
As he pores over the folder, Eddie tuned back into the conversation.
"There was this guy in my philosophy class and I overeheard he was trying to start up a D&D club of sorts. And I kind of mentioned that I knew some kids who were really into D&D but I never really understood it.
It was more just to make small talk than anything, but he kind of reminded me of Dustin a bit. He jumped at the chance to recruit me or whatever. Said that the group he was DMing for were mostly first time learners, so if I was still interested, he'd leave a spot open for me."
Eddie took some time to process what was being said to him. The fact that Steve was using proper D&D terms was blowing him mind.
"And you joined. Just like that?"
"I mean. Not at first. I really wasn't interested when he first brought it up but the more I thought about it, the more I got curious cause, the group he was going to be hosting were people my age. People were in the same boat as me, heard of the game but never played before. So I went and sat in for a session 0 and...we kind of hit it off."
Eddie was nodding along, chewing now on his bottom lip. "Ok. I believe you. Just one quesiton."
"Sure."
".......is he a better DM that me?"
Steve groaned, head falling back onto the couch, "Oh my God."
He didn't relent, smacking Steve's shoulder with the papers, "Don't give me that, tell me the truth, is he a better DM than me?"
"This is why I didn't want to tell you, I knew you were going to become weirdly jealous about this."
"Obviously! I've been begging for you to play for years! What's this guy got that I ain't got, huh?! Are his storylines better paced? Are his NPC's more interesting?" He gasps, "Are his plot twists more devious than mine?!"
This time it was Steve's turn to scrub his face with his hands, "No! Brendan is just--"
"Oh, so the homewrecker has a name! Fucking Brendan!"
Steve started to laugh helplessly and pulls on Eddie's shirt for a hug. Eddie wasn't going to make it easy, smacking him again with his folder, though his energy was lacking. "Get off me, you floozy. No hugs for philandering miscreants, go sleep at Brendan's house."
After a feeble struggle, hIs body finally gave out, slumping onto Steve's shoulder. Steve huffed an amused sigh, "Never. He lives in apartment with 3 other dudes, we'd never get any privacy."
Eddie pinches his arm.
"Ow, ow! I'm kidding! Uncle!"
The pinching turns into a tickle fight which turns into a pillow fight where they both end up in their bed, panting, sweaty, but giggling between kisses.
Eddie pulls back, putting a hand on Steve's mouth to stop him from taking another kiss, "I really do need to know, Stevie. Why wait till now? With...fucking Brendan?"
Just because Eddie stopped him from kissing his mouth doesn't mean Steve stops kissing his completely, more than willing to kiss the palm of his hand instead. He grins back, puckish and not at all sorry.
"I promise, it has nothing to do with your ability to DM, you're an amazing story teller, Eddie. But I guess...sometimes I sit in on a Hellfire game and I try really hard to follow along but everything goes by so quickly. Since you all know how the rules and mechanics work, you can't exactly stop explain every detail. That would mess up the flow of the campaign.
Brendans game isn't like that. It's slower. A lot slower. And the stakes aren't as high because we're all a bunch of newbie punks still getting the hang of figuring out the difference between an action and a bonus action.
And I was planning to tell you. I just wanted to get more experience before I did so I wouldn't look dumb in front of you and the kids. It was going to be a surprise."
Eddie makes a wounded noise but Steve shakes his head, "No, don't feel bad, I should have been more upfront about all this. I hate that I made you feel insecure about us just because I was worried about looking dumb. I really am sorry about that, baby."
The silence that envolops them for the third time that night is a comfort, their steady breathing creating an odd sort of lullabye.
"I'm sorry too," Eddie whispered. At Steve's confused look, he added, "I shouldn't have waited so long to tell you how I was feeling." He paused and then rolled his eyes, "And I'm sorry for calling Brendan a homewrecker. I still hate him though."
Steve snorted, "You don't even know him."
"It's the principle, sweetheart. Fine, I won't hate him but I reserve my right to judge him harshly when we meet and then give my final verdict after. I mean. If you want. I won't pressure you or anything but...I am curious to see you in action, so to speak. But this is your thing. You deserve to have your thing."
Steve gathered Eddie up against his body and smiled into his hair, "It is. But I really do hope it can be our thing someday. And yeah, I'll ask if you can sit in on a session. Just promise not to backseat drive the DM, ok?"
"Pshh, I would never, that's improper D&D etiquette, Steven."
"Oh yeah? Then how come you kept rule lawyering Dustin the last time we went back to Hawkins?"
"Alright, just letting you know, you using D&D terms correctly is really doing it for me, keep that up, please and thank you," Eddie nips at Steve's earlobe, enjoying the shudder that runs through his body.
"As for me rule lawyering Dustin, It's simple. I did it for the bit."
Steve laughs into Eddie's hair who in turn laughs into his neck. They don't bother putting on their pajamas or brushing their teeth, too comfortable to get up to even have a late dinner, resigning to have cold Chinese takeout for breakfast.
Just as sleep overtakes them, Eddie has one last request.
"Please let me be the one to break the news to Dustin. Kid's gonna flip his shit."
Wayne first saw Steve Harrington when he was on a class field trip to the plant. He couldn’t have been older than 9. Eddie hadn’t come to live with him yet.
He only saw him for a minute, but it only took a minute to see that the boy had dark circles under his eyes that rivaled his own.
It took him a while to forget about the exhausted child in front of him and how much he reminded him of his nephew.
*****
He attended one of the Hawkins High basketball games during Eddie’s first senior year, took the night off for it, even. Eddie was never one for sports, so the fact he agreed to play with his band during their halftime was something Wayne couldn’t pass up watching. It had to have meant something to his boy for him to even mention it, so he played the part of proud parent and sat through the first half of the game.
But when he saw Steve Harrington out there, he couldn’t help but check for those dark circles or the same exhausted slump he saw in a child much too young to show physical signs of exhaustion.
He appeared to be fine, though Wayne couldn’t help but notice how he kept searching the stands for something or someone during every pause in the game.
Wayne had a gut feeling he knew who he was searching for, and an even stronger one that he wouldn’t find them.
After the game and the show, Wayne helped Eddie pack his guitar and amp into the back of the van.
“Hey, you ever talk to that Harrington boy?”
Eddie’s face was answer enough.
*****
To know Eddie was alive wasn’t enough for Wayne, he needed to watch him breathing, watch his fingers twitch while he slept. He needed to know that Eddie was real, was safe, was right in front of him.
But apparently Steve Harrington needed the same reassurances.
Steve had been by Eddie’s side since they let visitors into the room. As far as Wayne knew, he’d only left once for an hour to visit that Max girl’s room.
He was hesitant to say anything beyond kind greetings and goodbyes when he had to head to work. Steve looked one second away from breaking down.
He held Eddie’s hand like it was a lifeline, and maybe it was for him. Whatever they’d been through was serious, proof of that being the injuries they both were dealing with and the fact that Eddie hadn’t opened his eyes yet.
As much as Wayne wanted explanations, he wanted Steve to find comfort in being with Eddie more.
The dark circles under his eyes remained.
Wayne watched the way Steve would stare at Eddie, wordlessly begging him to open his eyes, and wondered what had changed between them. Was it just the trauma of the situation or something else?
He’d known Eddie liked boys for years; hard to hide when you get caught sneaking out of the house to go to a “special” bar in Indianapolis on a school night. He hugged him, told him he loved him no matter what, and offered to drive him out there himself the next weekend he had off if he promised to not go alone on a school night.
But Steve didn’t seem the type. Wayne had learned how to spot them, mostly so he could protect Eddie, and Steve had never seemed like he’d strayed or even thought about straying from girls.
He shouldn’t assume, though.
He knew how Richard Harrington was.
So he sat silently, guarding the two boys who needed it most.
On the sixth day, Wayne asked a nurse if Steve had left the hospital at all.
“No. Poor boy’s been glued to his side. The doctor had to stitch him up in the room because he wouldn’t leave.”
“Stitch him up?”
“Oh, yes! He had a large wound on his side and his chest had a few areas that needed stitches. He wouldn’t let anyone bandage his neck, but they prescribed him penicillin to try to prevent infection.”
Wayne shook his head. So Steve was a self-sacrificing idiot. Time to address that.
“Thanks, Janet. I owe ya a coffee for takin’ such good care of Eddie.”
Janet blushed. “Stop it! I’m just doing my job.”
Wayne smiled at her before making his way into Eddie’s room.
As usual, Steve was in a chair by his bed, hand in hand with Eddie.
The unusual part was that Steve was fast asleep, head nestled against Eddie’s leg.
It couldn’t be comfortable, but going off of how Steve had looked the day before, he was probably too tired to care about comfort.
Wayne looked at the scene in front of him.
Something else was different, too.
Eddie’d moved.
Only someone who’s been in this room for hours on end every day would have noticed it. Eddie’s head was turned towards Steve, and his other hand had found it’s way to Steve’s hair.
Oh.
So it was like that.
Wayne let out a shaky breath, too many emotions trying to escape at once. His boy had woken up, and had found comfort in someone who hadn’t left his side for almost a week. He couldn’t ask for more.
He slowly made his way out of the room, catching Janet just as she was passing to check on another patient.
“Did Eddie wake up?”
Janet’s eyebrows furrowed. “No, Steve hasn’t come to get us. Why? Is everything alright?”
Wayne nodded. “Everything’s fine.”
She smiled at him and continued on her way.
Wayne smiled to himself as he made his way down to the cafeteria to get Steve some food.
It looked like Steve Harrington was finally getting some rest.
I love all the headcanons of "Steve is not dumb he's..." Hard of hearing, has poor eyesight, learning disability or his primary language is not English. I particularly enjoyed @dwobbitfromtheshire 's recent headcanon that he's hiding it because his father hates feeling inferior and only Eddie realizes that he is not dumb. But I would like to throw my own hat in the ring.
Steve is not dumb. Actually, he's quite smart and did quite well in school (because his parents would not expect anything less). He just wasn't into nerd culture and everyone just placed their stereotypes and rumours of him being a pretty and privileged rich jock who bought his way out of school but couldn't buy his way into college. Nevermind that he was in the top 10 students of his year and for most of his classes if not topping them and if not he wasn't failing the rest other than one or two science/math-based (rumours say the school forged those marks so that Steve could continue sports) and had a 3.6 GPA. It wasn't enough to get into his Dad's alma mater so his dad dismissed any of the other schools he got accepted into.
He does not try to hide his intelligence from Nancy or the Party, but Nancy had bought into the "Steve is simple-minded " narrative and the like before they got together and failed to realize that they are both in the same AP classes that were full of seniors and in any group or partnered project he more-than-well pulled his weight and had his own insights. So she spreads the narrative to Mike who spreads it to the rest of the party so by the time the events that befan with Dustin asks him for help with his "dog" and developed into concussed in the back of a car while a preteen drove his car, the kids have also bought into parts of the narrative. It doesn't help that he really isn't into the stereotypical nerdy stuff
Even his best friend Robin believed the lie until she worked with him and then got tortured with him by Russians. She eventually realises that he's way smarter in a practical sense than people give him credit for (he did raise himself since he was 11 or so) but does not think of it as stretching into the academic side of his life. She has not stopped calling him "dingus" though.
Eddie on the other hand knows better, which is why when a specific exam was coming up he turned to Steve.
He barged into the Harrington home a day when tye entire party was their.
"Stevie, you either have to tutor me or lend me your notes for this class. I am not failing this class and increasing the possibility of another year at fucking Hawkins."
Mike and Dustin burst out laughing at that before Steve can answer.
"I know you're e bad at that subject, but I didn't realise you were desperate enough to use Steve's notes," Dustin says with that condescending tone that means it should be obvious to Eddie.
Mike snorts at that derisively, "If he even has notes."
"Maybe," Lucas said diplomatically, "there are better options than using Steve's notes?"
Nancy steps up next offering some of her notes and flashcards since she took the class last year/is taking the class, "It's not my strongest subject but if we do a study group I'm sure you won't fail the class."
Eddie stares at the group with growing bewilderment as they agree that Nancy is the best choice while implying that Steve was not. Actually, they were acting as though he was dumb for even asking Steve, which made no sense to him.
Eddie turned his eyes to Steve. His posture by the kitchen island was much more different than when Eddie burst in. He had subtly curled into himself as if to make himself smaller, shoulders tense and a resignation on his face as if he's been through this conversation so many times before.
It was almost as if...
"You guys think that Steve is dumb, don't you?"
There was the type of silence that only comes when the quiet part is said outloud.
"No we don't think Steve's dumb," Robin begins and Eddie can hear the 'but' before she even said it, "But you know he wasn't good at the school part of school."
She continued to ramble on from there but Eddie did not hear any of it. He was too busy reevaluating the group he was with and rechecking old memories and facts to see if there was any inkling of truth to this strange idea that even the older teens should know isn't true.
It took him a moment to find the answer, and when he did he could not stop the derisive laugh that burst out and interrupted Robin's ramble.
"You guys fucking bought into the rumours, didn't you? I expect that from the kids maybe even Johnathan, maybe even Robin because of you became friends after he left school, but not from you, Nancy."
Nancy had that look on her face that she got when she was ready to argue but Eddie steamrolled over it.
"Jesus H Christ! Weren't y'all together for a whole fucking year? How do you not know that he was at the top of his year when you were together? Unless you dismissed that in favour of believing the rumours that his parents paid for his grades and the school wanted to make sure he kept on playing sports?"
He paused for a second waiting for someone to contradict him, but the look on Nancy's face was one of scrambling to defend herself. He sighed at that; she still wasn't getting it and it a sweeping look at the others proved they were lost too.
"Even if they paid off the school he would not have been in the top ten of his year, he would be like Carver and Hagan whose parents paid and their grades were just good enough to get into a decent college without too many questions. And they would not have kept on giving him high grades after he stopped doing any kind of sport in his last 2 years at that dump. Hell if Hargrove wasn't such a fucking beast at sports he would have been told he would have to repeat his senior year with me."
"It's okay Eddie; leave it go." He turned a fake sunny smile with his eyes tightly shut towards Eddie as if to pacify him.
Eddie turned to Steve who had yet to say anything throughout Eddie's diatribe up until that moment. He just continued to robotically make dinner for the party as though nothing was wrong, as though the hurt dripping off him didn't matter.
"I'm not letting this go! They had classes with you, some of which I'm pretty fucking sure were AP classes. If I had the attendance needed I would have graduated last year because of you, Stevie. So excuse me if I'm a bit annoyed that our friends are so blinded by a rumour that they can't fucking see your Salutatorian medal. Hanging. Right. There!"
All eyes except Eddie and Steve's turned in the direction that Eddie pointed at.
And there on the wall, was a framed silver medal with the word "Salutatorian" emblazoned on it. The party immediately burst into chaos amongst each other.
"Now, pretty boy, are you gonna tutor me or what?"
Steve never put much thought into his room. His mom had decorated it when he was younger with plaid wallpaper and curtains that matched. It never really occurred to him over the years that he could redecorate. He had a bed he could sleep in, a closet to put his clothes in, and a desk he could do homework at. It was functional so he was fine with it.
It wasn’t until the one time he had Eddie over that Eddie lost his shit. They were just going to watch a movie and Eddie got there earlier than expected. He ran up the stairs to try to scare Steve but ended up trying to decide if he wanted to laugh or cry when he saw the atrocity of Steve’s room.
His plan to playfully scare Steve all went to shit as he stood in the doorway taking it in, “What… the fuck?”
Steve looks over unphased, “Oh hey, Eds.”
Eddie scans the room, looking at the godawful wallpaper and making note of the fact there is not one thing in here that tells him anything about Steve.
He finds himself frowning, but smiles when he looks back to Steve.
“Uh, hi. I know I’m early. I was in the area anyway.” He lies.
Really he just wanted an excuse to spend more time with Steve. He has his crush under control. He really does. In fact he’s over it. He just likes Steve as a friend. He’s good with being bros really.
“No problem man! Just finishing up here. The pizza should be here any minute.”
Eddie sits on the bed as he watches Steve put his clothes away.
He clears his throat after a moment, “Have you ever considered changing your room?”
Steve shrugs, “Not really. Why?”
“It looks like a fucking prison cell in here. Like… it’s not… it’s not you.”
Steve snorts, “What do you mean?”
“The wallpaper Stevie. It’s so bad. And the matching curtains? Also there’s no pictures in here.”
Steve points to the picture of the car on the wall and smirks, “I disagree.”
Eddie rolls his eyes, “Pictures of things that matter. Like where’s Robin? Dustin? Joyce and Hopper? The rest of the kids? There’s nothing in here that tells me you’ve actually done anything with your life.”
Steve considers this for a moment, putting his last shirt away before crawling onto the bed to lay down on his stomach next to Eddie. He looks up at him and grins.
“I guess the plaid is a little boring huh?”
Eddie snorts, “A little? I feel like one of Wayne’s flannels threw up in here.”
Steve laughs and Eddie eventually joins in.
Eddie stands up and looks at Steve, “That’s it change of plans. We’re calling Jonathan for pictures and going shopping. We also need the stylistic advice of Nancy and Robin because this is not staying.” He gestures to the wallpaper.
“I’m fine with this under one condition.”
Eddie turns and smiles, raising a brow in question.
“The picture of the car stays.”
Eddie let’s out a dramatic gasp, clutching his chest and falling back onto the bed, “You wound me Harrington.”
Steve playfully slaps Eddie’s shoulder and stands up offering his hand to help him up, “Let’s get rid of this wallpaper.”
They get the tools they need and get to work. The white walls making an appearance as they slowly get rid of the wallpaper. They call the other older teens and Steve finds a bunch of spare picture frames.
They stay up late redecorating Steve’s room. Nancy insists they add some greenery and Steve assures her he’ll water the plants. Robin wants fairy lights and Steve can’t say no to her.
They frame the developed pictures that Jonathan brought. Several of Steve with Robin, all of the older kids at Eddie’s graduation, Steve and Lucas at a basketball game, one of all the kids dogpiling on top of Steve in his living room, and more.
They hang several on the walls and place a few on top of his desk and dresser. The six of them eat the pizza that was ordered earlier and fall asleep in the living room.
Argyle and Steve are the first to wake up the next morning, both heading to the kitchen to make pancakes and coffee.
The others follow behind not long after and they all sit at the dining table as they enjoy the rare time they get with just them. Eddie stays behind as the others leave and Nancy offers to take Robin to work for her shift.
Steve sighs deeply as he sits back on the couch and turns to Eddie.
“Thanks by the way.”
Eddie offers him a small smile, “What for?”
“Teaching me how to be myself and that it’s okay to express it.”
Eddie feels his heart flip in his chest as he sits down next to him, “The room looks really good now by the way.”
“It does doesn’t it?” Steve and Eddie both giggle as they look at each other. A slight tension filling the room that draws the two closer to each other.
“Let’s watch that movie now.”
Eddie groans, “I just got comfy. You put it in.”
Steve stands and runs over to put the tape in before making his way back to the couch, wrapping his arms around Eddie to pull him in closer. Eddie puts his head on Steve’s shoulder as he presses play.
He could get use to this. Steve’s place was starting to feel much more like a home. Not just for Steve’s sake, but for Eddie’s too.
Eddie looked around the school cafeteria, wondering how the hell he was supposed to believe his soulmate was here.
Hawkins didn’t exactly have a surplus of queer men, at least not any who would be willing to actually kiss Eddie on the mouth.
When he turned 18, two freckles appeared on his neck. Everyone he’d known that got their soul mark already had gotten much more obvious marks in places they could hide. But of course Eddie got something that didn’t make any fucking sense.
He’d known he was gay for years, and he’d honestly thought he wouldn’t have a soulmate because of that.
Fate must not be as homophobic as he thought.
He’d been so focused on scanning the cafeteria that he didn’t notice when someone sat down next to him. Someone different.
When he looked down to take a bite of his sandwich, he was shocked to find Steve Harrington sitting to his left.
“Uh.”
Smooth, Eddie.
“I need to talk to you.”
Eddie just stared at him, then gestured for him to continue.
“In private.”
Eddie gulped.
Steve seemed stressed. Maybe he just wanted to buy drugs.
Eddie didn’t usually deal during school hours, but for The King, he could probably make an exception.
“Listen, uh. I can’t sell during lunch, too many eyes. But meet up with me during the next class…”
“No! No. Not. It’s not that.”
Eddie was beyond confused.
Not only was Steve talking to him in front of other people, it wasn’t about buying drugs?
Maybe he was high. That had to be it.
“So…can we…”
Eddie shook himself out of the weird comatose situation he was mentally in and nodded.
Steve stood and nodded his head outside. Eddie immediately knew where he was going to want to talk.
There was a spot under the bleachers that had become known as the soulmate spot. Ironically, only two pairs of soulmates had ever managed to make it there. It was a make out spot, and occasionally, Eddie’s place of business. How it came to be known as the soulmate spot was beyond him.
Even knowing that’s where they were going didn’t deter Eddie from following Steve wordlessly out of the cafeteria. It’s not like Steve was going to murder him, and he had it on good authority he could probably take him in a fight if necessary.
They walked in silence to the bleachers, going behind them and finding the small cutout that allowed access to the soulmate spot. It was the worst kept secret at Hawkins High, but Eddie had never actually seen anyone else there when he needed it.
As they settled into the small area, Eddie couldn’t help noticing that Steve was wearing a jacket. It was an unusually warm February day, so warm in fact, Eddie had gone without his usual winter leather jacket.
“I have a question.”
Eddie had never heard Steve speak so softly, and it was more than concerning.
“Okay?”
Steve was playing with his hands in his lap when Eddie glanced down and noticed it. The start of a scar on the back of his right hand. The same as Eddie’s.
Eddie had broken his arm in seven places when he was seven years old. Suffice to say seven was not his lucky number. He’d needed surgery to repair a part of his wrist and the scar ended up being nearly four inches long for reasons his parents hadn’t bothered to clarify with the surgeon.
Eddie looked at Steve’s neck.
Two freckles.
What the fuck.
“So. Don’t panic, okay? But I noticed that you have a scar on your right hand and my birthday was last week. So. I got a new scar in the same place.”
Eddie gawked. There was no other word for the way he was staring at Steve.
“I just wanted to compare them and see.”
“See what?”
“If we’re soulmates.”
Eddie laughed in disbelief. Steve flinched at how loud he was, but he couldn’t hold back if he tried.
“There is no possible fucking way I’m your soulmate.”
Eddie could see the two freckles on Steve’s neck that matched his own, but he was still in denial that Steve was anything other than straight and would possibly feel anything for Eddie beyond general tolerance.
Steve’s brows furrowed.
“Maybe someone else has a scar there. Did you check all the cheerleaders?”
Maybe that was harsh. Steve flinched like he’d thrown a physical punch, leaving Eddie feeling a bit guilty.
“Just. For my sake, could I check your arm? Please? If it doesn’t match, I’ll leave you alone.”
“And if it does?”
“Then I’ll ask you what mark has been hiding on you for a year.”
Eddie slowly started rolling the sleeve of his plaid button down, ignoring the way Steve was staring between his face and hands intently.
When he shoved his arm toward Steve for him to inspect, he closed his eyes.
Steve would be disgusted that he’s his soulmate. Steve wasn’t gay, probably hadn’t even thought that it was a possibility. Even if he were, there’s no way he’d be interested in Eddie.
He felt fingers tracing up the scar line, just ghosting over his skin. He shivered and looked up to see Steve staring in awe.
“Where’s yours?”
“Um. My neck. Freckles.”
“Wow. You get freckles and I get a whole scar. That doesn’t seem fair.”
“Of all the things going on here, that’s what doesn’t seem fair?”
Eddie finally made eye contact with him, biting his lip when he realized Steve was already staring at him.
“I guess it’s also not fair that we’re stuck in Hawkins instead of, like, San Francisco or New York.”
“What.”
Eddie wasn’t sure what was happening anymore. He was more lost than he’d ever been, and he had little to no hope of catching up.
“Those are the places where it’s a bit safer right?”
“Safer for what?”
“For us to be together.”
That’s it, Eddie was done. He was throwing in the towel.
“Together?”
Steve rolled his eyes, but squeezed Eddie’s hand where he was still holding it.
“If we’re soulmates, I’d assume that’s the next step?”
“Harrington, I hate to break this to you, but you’re not gay.”
“No I’m not.”
“Exactly! So, this whole conversation is…”
“I like both.”
“Both?”
“Yeah. Guys and girls. Both.”
“Huh.”
And then Eddie did the riskiest thing he’d ever done in his life.
He kissed Steve Harrington. Tongue and all.
And they sometimes say that soulmates have an instant connection, one so powerful you can’t question fate anymore. But Eddie had never really believed it; he’d had no reason to or any examples of it.
But now, with the way Steve was climbing into his lap, metaphorical sparks flying around them, he knew they had it.
And when Steve kissed his freckles before leaving, and when Eddie traced along the fake scar of his hand, they both knew this was the best thing they never could have expected.
people need to stop putting steddie into a heterosexual dynamic and making one of them "the girl"/super feminine/submissive & the other "the guy"/masc/dominant. it's boring and out of character. please, watch the show again.
The party gathers outside the venue to congratulate the newlyweds. They make conversation as they wait, forming two lines on each side of the walkway.
Steve and Eddie make their way hand in hand outside. Both grinning from ear to ear, feeling the “literally just married moments ago” high. They’re both on top of the world. Steve dressed in a tailored maroon suit, Eddie dressed in a matching black suit with his hair pinned so that it’s not in his face.
The moment they step outside, everyone cheers. Somehow their already huge smiles grow wider. Steve throws a fist up in the air and cheers. Eddie moves closer to Steve, laughing and so in love with his dork of a husband. Steve spins Eddie around and dips him, kissing him halfway.
The party all cheers and claps as they make their way through greeting their guests and thanking them for coming. Eddie opens the door for Steve and they both slide in.
“God I love you so much.”
“Love you too sweetheart. Forever is just getting started.”
They can’t keep their hands off of each other. Steve pulls his now husband in for a long, bruising kiss and the car moves forward. They only have eyes for each other, but their family is behind them, excited to see the two of them start their life together.
i want a steddie fic where eddie confesses and steve just laughs at him dryly and just goes “you dont love me, you love this steve that i presented to you, this steve who is an imposter, believe me once you knew just how cruel i can get and how awful i am you wont love me anymore and you’re going to leave like everyone did” and all that drama
eddie looks him the eye, stubborn and determined, and says “i’ve loved you since i was 17 and you were a 16 year old jackass. i loved you since you were all polo shirts and varsity jacket with a stick up your ass. i loved you since you were king steve, looking down on everyone, looking down on me. i loved you when you were a confused 16 year old not sure how you ended up like that but not having the courage to change. i loved you for the longest time but this time, this steve harrington i met? he was so easy to love.”
steve just ends up sobbing in eddie’s arms because how can someone like eddie love him?
I love when fics go into detail about how Eddie’s body looks after it’s been mauled by the demobats. Like you look at the pics of JQ on set and his skin is like this big wounded mass across his entire left side and up his chest. Imagining how much that would scar, how knotted and textured the skin would be after it heals, and how much it would probably affect his confidence when it comes to sex or showing anyone his body in an intimate setting. But then he doesn’t have anything to worry about with Steve because Steve loves all of him. Loves how he looks, and knows exactly how he got the scars in the first place, and it just makes him love Eddie even more. To the point where Eddie’s completely comfortable being shirtless in front of him, and sometimes when they’re lying around together, Steve will lightly trail his fingers across the worst of the scars, and Eddie won’t even flinch, will just stroke Steve’s hair and slowly fall asleep because of how safe and comfortable and desired he feels.
Ok, but Eddie cuts his hair because he is insecure and thinks Steve is only dating him because he has long hair "as a girl " and thinks Steve is missing to date girls.
When in the reality Steve is deeply in love with Eddie and got worried when he saw that Eddie cut his hair.
Hurt/comfort/fluff
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