ADHD mum to lil 1yr old boy 🖤 Hufflepuff 🤍 She/Her 💚 Demirose 💜 29 🩶 A page for my current hyperfixations... Subject to change: Steddie, Wolfstar, Miraculous Ladybug 🏳️🌈 Multifandom page 🏳️🌈
Warning: Steve feeling like he can't say no to sex and having it without really wanting to
Steve knew he had a reputation. If he was a girl, he'd be labeled easy. Gagging for it. Slutty. But no one called him a slut. Not to his face, anyway. Instead he got clapped on the back by the boys on the team and told how lucky he was. They thought it was funny to leave condoms in his locker and make bets about whether or not Steve would knock somebody up before he graduated.
It was fun, at first. He liked sex, obviously. He liked how it felt to be close to a girl, the smell of her perfume, the brush of her hair against his skin, her moans and sighs when he touched her right. He liked the satisfaction that came with making someone feel good. He'd felt proud the first time a girl wanted him to be her first. Like he’d earned her trust.
Somewhere along the way, it started feeling less like girls wanted him, and more like they wanted the Steve Harrington Experience. For Steve to show them a good time, so they could brag to their friends about the size of his dick or how many times he made them come. They stopped wanting to go on dates with him. He'd be at a party and a girl would come up to him, start making excuses to touch his arms or his hair, press in close and giggle, and eventually whisper in his ear to take them upstairs.
He couldn't turn a girl down in front of his friends, not when she was so obviously offering sex. They'd never let it go if he did. He could already hear the jokes: looks like Steve's off his game or did you finally catch something, Harrington, or worst of all you aren't some kind of fag now, are you?
So he took them upstairs, and he fucked them, and he made sure they enjoyed it, and then they'd maybe cuddle with him for a few minutes before they went back downstairs to tell their friends. It's not like they were forcing him or anything—he could have said no, he just didn't—but it didn't feel good anymore. He felt gross. He felt used.
That's why it hurt so much when Eddie started coming on to him. He'd thought Eddie was his friend. He'd thought them coming out to each other was bonding, not Eddie trying to get a read on him. If the hangouts, the jokes, the way Eddie always looked pleased to see him—if all that was just to get in Steve's pants, to take him for a ride, well. It was unnecessary, first of all. Everyone knew Steve would fuck just about anybody who asked. Eddie didn't have to pretend to like him. Steve would prefer if he didn't, because this hurt so much more than getting blatantly propositioned at a party.
The way he saw it, he had two options. Number one, he could act dumb and pretend he didn't understand that Eddie was making a move on him. That might get Eddie to back off for a while and earn Steve some more time with him.
Number two, they could have sex. He could show Eddie a good time, give him exactly what he wanted, and then get his heart broken when Eddie promptly dusted his hands of Steve and moved on to better things.
Steve was tempted to go for option one, but that would just prolong the heartbreak. It would always be in the back of his mind that their friendship was just a fat fucking lie. It would be better to just get it over with.
So when Eddie touched his face and looked into his eyes and told him he was pretty, Steve knew what he had to do. He didn't get why Eddie was beating around the bush, but maybe he was shy. Maybe it was his first time. It didn't matter.
Eddie was looking at his lips, clearly angling for a kiss, so Steve leaned in and gave it to him. He still liked kissing, even if the rest of sex had become kind of flat and stale.
Eddie was a very enthusiastic kisser. He clutched at Steve's back and dragged Steve down on top of him until Eddie was flat on his back on the sofa with Steve's tongue in his mouth.
“Fuck,” Eddie moaned when Steve pulled back, and chased Steve's mouth with his own. “Get back here, c’mon.”
Kissing was part of Steve's routine. Kissing, oral, then the main event. It made it easier to pretend it was real. But there was only so long he could drag it out before it was time to move on. Even the shy girls got impatient eventually.
He kissed Eddie until he was hard against Steve's hip, and then he sat up and started taking Eddie's pants off.
“Holy shit,” Eddie said, his head thunking back against the armrest as Steve got his dick out and started touching it. “I can't believe this is really happening.”
That was a bit much. He wished Eddie would just acknowledge this for what it was and quit messing around. He ducked his head to try and hide his scowl but he must not have been quick enough, because Eddie was pushing himself up onto his elbows and frowning back at him.
“What's wrong?” Eddie asked.
“Nothing,” Steve lied. What the hell was Eddie playing at, acting like he gave a shit about Steve? “Do you want me to suck your dick or what?”
“Yeah, obviously, but can we like, call a timeout for a sec? Because I feel like I'm missing something here.”
“Everything's fine,” Steve said. “Look, either you want to fuck or you don't. It's all the same to me.”
Eddie’s eyes widened. “All the same to you?” he repeated. “Jesus, Steve. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
As he spoke, he shoved his dick back into his underwear and yanked up his jeans. He sounded hurt, which was baffling. Steve wasn't so blunt with girls, true, but they also had never pissed him off as bad as Eddie was.
“You know,” Steve said, shrugging. He didn't usually talk about it. He didn't usually need to. He'd stopped expecting anything more than sex years ago.
“Can we just, like, pretend that I don't?” Eddie said, shoving his hands into his hair and looking so genuinely confused that Steve felt a little frisson of uneasiness shoot up his spine. “Let's pretend that I have no fucking idea what's going on right now.”
“Can we just drop it?”
“Uh, no, man, we cannot just drop it.” Eddie shuffled closer. “Steve, hey. Talk to me. What's going on?”
He put his hand on Steve's knee, and Steve flinched.
Eddie's face fell, and he snatched his hand back.
“Shit, sorry,” he said. “You don't want me to touch you?”
Steve shook his head. “I can't have sex with you,” he said miserably, and pulled in his knees to hug them to his chest. He should have been happy about that—he’d been mad at Eddie for wanting sex, after all—but it turned out he did want to have sex with Eddie, he just didn't want it to be some empty, meaningless transaction. So now he would lose Eddie's friendship without even getting the fake-closeness of sex with him in return.
“You can't?” Eddie asked, because of course he'd zeroed in on that. “I don't understand.”
“I thought I could do it, but I can't,” Steve said, feeling very small. “I…I like you too much.”
“Right, how stupid of me,” Eddie said, smacking his own forehead with the palm of his hand. “You only have sex with people you don't like.”
He could tell Eddie didn't mean it, but it was uncomfortably near to the truth. He swallowed hard and fiddled with a worn spot on his jeans.
“It's not like that,” he said finally. “It's just…nevermind. It doesn't matter.”
“It does matter!” Eddie said, and from the corner of his eye Steve could see him reach a hand out and then change his mind and pull it back. “Look. If you don't want to have sex with me, that's cool, I get it. We can still be friends, no hard feelings. But there's obviously something else going on here.”
“You still want to be friends?”
“Uh, duh.” He gave Steve a lopsided smile. “You're one of my best friends, man. I'm not gonna ditch you just because you don't feel the same way about me.”
Steve didn't understand. “Oh,” he said. “I thought—”
Eddie waited him out, more patient than Steve had ever seen him before.
“I thought you just wanted sex,” he said. “That's all anyone ever wants from me.”
“But you like me too much to have sex with me,” Eddie said, like he was trying to confirm it, and when Steve nodded his eyes went all soft and sad.
“Steve,” Eddie said in a very careful voice. “When was the last time you had sex with someone and you actually wanted it?”
Steve tried thinking back, but he'd been in a dry spell for a while. He'd stopped going to parties after what happened with Billy, and it turned out that girls were only interested in Steve “the Hair” Harrington, not so much Steve “the Loser” Harrington. Before that it was all just a blur of faceless girls at parties and the sinking feeling he got when they approached him.
Eddie wasn't going to like the answer, he knew that much. He felt like he was in trouble, which was stupid, but knowing it was stupid didn't change how he felt.
“I can't remember,” he mumbled, looking down at his knees and not at Eddie.
“Jesus fucking christ,” Eddie swore. “Why? If you didn't want it, why didn't you say no?”
“I guess…I didn't feel like I could,” Steve said. His face was hot. He kind of wanted to cry, except Eddie was there, and he didn't want Eddie to see.
“Okay,” Eddie said. “Shit, okay.”
“Sorry.”
“Don't fucking—” Eddie pushed his hands back into his hair and yanked on it. When he spoke again he sounded calmer. “You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong.”
“Didn't I?” Steve said. He felt like he'd done a lot of things wrong. He'd made some pretty shitty assumptions about Eddie, for starters.
“No, man, you didn't. But I think maybe I owe you an apology.”
Steve had no idea what Eddie could possibly have to apologize for. He was chewing on a lock of his hair, which was gross and definitely going to give him split ends, but he spit it out and straightened up.
“I'm, uh, I'm really fucking sorry if I made you feel like you couldn't say no to me,” Eddie said, his eyes darting over Steve's face.
“You didn't,” Steve protested. Eddie had been sweet, really. And he hadn't even mentioned sex until Steve brought it up. This was all Steve's fault.
“Then why—”
“I forgot that I could!” Steve said, nearly yelling, and put his hands over his face when he saw Eddie's look of shock. This was it, he was going to die of mortification right here and now.
“Steve,” Eddie said softly. “Fuck. Do you, uh, do you want a hug?”
Steve nodded, and Eddie put his arms around him just like that, even though Steve was still all scrunched up with his knees to his chest. After a minute Steve uncurled enough to hug Eddie back. Eddie's shirt was soft against his face and his hair tickled Steve's neck.
“Sorry if I ruined everything,” Steve told him.
“You didn't ruin anything. We're good, okay? We had a misunderstanding and we sorted it out.”
“Do you still want to kiss me?” Steve asked, and Eddie's hands paused where they were stroking his back.
“Full disclosure? Yeah, I do. But I'm not gonna let it mess up our friendship, I'm gonna repress that shit so hard—”
Steve cut him off. “I like kissing,” he said.
“Oh!” Eddie said, and his arms tightened around Steve. “Okay, so maybe…maybe we skip the repression?”
Wayne is 26 when his kid brother becomes a father. When he holds Eddie for the first time and promises to do better by him than he managed for Al.
At 32, he steps in to keep Eddie from breaking to pieces after Liz died. Only for Al to get territorial and send him away.
He’s 37 when Eddie shows up on his doorstep with his things shoved in a black trash bag, now Al’s got his third strike. It takes nearly a whole year for Eddie to get comfortable, only for it all to be undone two years later when Al makes parole and acts like nothing changed.
When Eddie’s 17, Wayne finally gets his boy back. It means he’s there to hold him as he rages and cries his heart out over being held back. There to tell him that sticking it out and really trying is what matters, even if he needs more time.
Wayne cries his own eyes out two years later when he nearly loses Eddie for good.
Later that year, his close eye on Eddie even closer as he heals, Wayne sees just how close the Harrington boy has gotten. Sees how protective Steve is of Eddie. How he looks at him like he’s precious.
He sees how Eddie reaches for him like he knows he’ll be there.
He sees that Steve always is.
Wayne is 50 when he spots one of Eddie’s rings on Steve’s finger. When he asks, Eddie mumbles, “We made it as official as we can.”
They hug and Wayne tells him how happy he is for them. “You chose well,” he says softly against his hair.
At 55, Wayne’s knees hurt and his back hurts, his body tired after years at the plant. But it doesn’t bother him. He still gets down on the floor to play with his granddaughter, the adoption paperwork finally complete now Rosie’s three.
One day, you're going to change your mind about something you once defended with your whole chest. When that day comes, you're going to think the sky will fall. Trust me, it won't.
Right now, you believe changing your mind is a sign of weakness. You think once you say something out loud, you must defend it forever. You think that if you switch lanes, people will whisper.
Well...I say let them. You are not a contract. You are allowed to change your mind, and you will have many chances to practice that.
You will choose a career and later realise it no longer fits the woman you are becoming. You will hold opinions tightly and then life will laugh softly and prove you wrong. You will commit to certain dreams, and later dream bigger ones. You will pour into friendships and later accept that not everyone is meant to stay.
Each time this shift happens, it will shake you. But growth is uncomfortable and it stretches you beyond who you used to be. You will outgrow people, places, and versions of yourself - that's just part of life. You are not a sellout, nor a hypocrite. You are growing.
Adulthood is not about planting your flag and guarding it for life. It's about having the courage to move it when wisdom demands it. And I wish I could tattoo this next nugget on your forehead so you never forget: your life is not a public performance, you do not owe the world a permanent position statement. You owe yourself alignment.
So change your mind. Change it when your peace depends on it. Do not hold yourself hostage to a contract you never signed.
A regional manager of Scoops Ahoy took one look at newly hired Steve (fresh highlights in his hair, lipgloss on) and said: do you want to participate in Scoops Ahoy yearly charity calendar? (said calendar did not exist until a second ago)(it will be wildly successful and reprinted for many years)
Sometime later one Eddie Munson finds the calendar at some underground queer bookshop in Indianapolis and almost dies from lust-induced nose bleed
Steve Harrington is NOT Robin's boyfriend and she does not understand why people keep asking if he is.
He is, however, walking into her homeroom with the trumpet she forgot in his car, interrupting her conversation and drumming his fingers on her desk like, "Rob-magnetooooo, forget something? And speaking of magnets and forgetting, can you...."
"Give Dustin the bag of magnets you told him not to leave in your car and he did anyways?"
"Yes," He says with gravity. "All of his friends wear the same cologne and they wear too much of it. It's nauseating."
"Fine," She sighs. "I'll endure since you're such a big baby."
"Yeahhh, but I’m your big baby," Steve jokes, shooting her finger guns as he leaves. "You're the best, Rob. See you at lunch."
Robin turns back to her conversation and gets hit with, "Is he your boyfriend?"
That video where the woman says her boyfriend is about to talk about his nerdy collection except it's Eddie talking to Corroded Coffin before Steve comes to one of their practices/hang outs saying, "Listen up, my boyfriend is coming tonight and he's probably going to make some sports references you don't understand and you better be nice to him or you'll have to start drafting up new characters for Hellfire."
The whole time Steve is talking to them, Eddie is stood slightly behind him giving them a warning glare. And everytime he excitedly brings up something they aren't familiar with, Eddie makes a threatening gesture, such as mouthing 'your character' and dragging a finger across his throat.
thinking about that one HC of eddie being originally from appalachia before moving to hawkins and steve going absolutely feral every time the accent slips out, so here’s a tiny ficlet about steve realizing it’s basically his kryptonite
They’re in the horror aisle at Family Video, doing what they always do when it’s dead: finding the worst covers known to man.
Robin holds one up that looks like it was drawn in crayon. “This one,” she announces, “is a crime.”
Eddie barks out a laugh. “Lord, have mercy,” he says, and it rolls out of him warm and thick, a little different than usual.
Steve freezes.
He’s heard Eddie talk a million times. Ranting, scheming, flirting, yelling over amps. But this is… softer. Rounder. It hits his ears and lights up some stupid part of his brain like, oh. Oh, that’s new.
“Okay, where the hell did that come from?” Steve blurts.
Eddie blinks. “What?”
“That.” Steve points at him like he’s just witnessed a crime. “You sounded like, like a whole other guy for a second.”
Color crawls up Eddie’s neck. He shrugs one shoulder, all defensive and twitchy. “Nowhere. Hush.”
“No.” Steve is immediately, deeply annoying about it. “Absolutely not. Say it again.”
“Not a chance, Harrington.” Eddie shoves a VHS into his chest. “Go alphabetize something.”
“Robin,” Steve whines, turning on her like a traitor witness. “Did you hear that? He did a voice.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says, gleeful. “Country boy jumped out.”
Eddie groans, shoving his hair back. “I hate both of you,” he lies, and stalks off down the aisle.
Steve follows, grinning, tossing movies back on the shelf. “C’mon, just one more ‘Lord, have mercy.’ Just for me. Just a little one.”
“Drop it, Steve.”
He does not drop it.
By the time they close up, Steve’s said “Lord, have mercy” in three different terrible impressions, and Eddie’s told him to shut up in at least five creative ways. The accent doesn’t come back, though, and Steve goes home weirdly, stupidly disappointed about it.
—————————-
Later, they’re at the trailer, door propped open to let in the night air. Some crappy late-night talk show mumbles on the TV, volume low. They’re half lying, half sliding off the couch, feet tangled on the coffee table.
Eddie’s flipping through a battered magazine. Steve’s not even pretending to do anything else; he’s just watching him.
“You’re staring,” Eddie says without looking up.
“You’re avoiding,” Steve shoots back. “Say it again.”
Eddie drops the magazine onto his face for a second like he wishes for death. “You are so persistent.”
“Yes,” Steve says. “I am. We’ve established this.”
Eddie peels the magazine away and eyes him. Steve is sprawled out, hair a mess, socked toes nudging his thigh. He looks… annoyingly sincere.
“One word,” Steve says. “One. Then I’ll shut up forever.”
“Liar.”
“Okay, I’ll shut up for, like, ten minutes.”
Eddie snorts. He should say no. Dig his heels in. But there’s this warm, fizzy feeling in his chest that he doesn’t want to look at too closely, and Steve’s looking at him like he hung the damn moon.
“You’re real persistent, ain’t you, sweetheart?” Eddie says finally, letting it come out the way it wants to, vowels soft, consonants a little lazier, the word sweetheart wrapped up in the drawl he’s been choking down for years.
Steve’s brain short-circuits.
It’s like someone unplugged and replugged him in a different outlet. His stomach does this weird swoop. His face goes hot. Something about the sound of it, about Eddie saying sweetheart like that, all slow and easy, hits directly behind his ribs.
“Oh,” Steve says, a little breathless.
Eddie raises an eyebrow, already smirking. “There. You happy now?”
“No,” Steve says, and then he’s moving before he really decides to, leaning over the tiny space between them.
He kisses him.
It’s not planned. It’s not smooth. He just goes on impulse, mouth landing on Eddie’s with a soft, shocked sound like he surprised himself. His hand catches on Eddie’s shirt, fingers fisting in the worn fabric without thinking.
Eddie makes a tiny noise, half gasp, half laugh, and kisses back on instinct, then pulls away just enough to see Steve’s face. Steve’s flushed, wide-eyed, looking at him like he just handed over the Holy Grail.
There’s a beat where Eddie could pretend he doesn’t know exactly what just happened. Then he feels the grin pull at his mouth, slow and sharp.
“Oh, yeah,” he says, letting the vowels go loose on purpose now. “I can work with this.”
Steve swallows. “Eddie.”
Eddie leans in again, close enough that Steve can feel his breath, and drops it low, sweet, a little smug. “Watch me, darlin’.”
Steve practically launches himself into the next kiss, and that’s when Eddie realizes he’s just unlocked the most unfair advantage in the world.