This Is How I Fangirl

Squeee! And asdfjkl; OMG. This is a tumblr that finds and shares all the rabid fangirl love from around the net. Or just stuff I find interesting.

[kikheatedrivalryficrec]

Unexpected Item in Bagging Area by SpaceWaffleHouse - (Rating: Mature, Words: 10,438)

“Mr. Hollander, what’s your designation?” One of the doctors, a beta woman with kind eyes, asks, typing away at a nearby computer.

“He’s an omega,” Ilya replies for him, because at the moment, all Shane can say is “ow.”

“Any chance he’s pregnant?”

“Maybe? He’s on suppressants.”

Or Shane goes into labor at the cottage, which would be fine, if he’d known he was pregnant.

Come On, Let’s Get You Your Chicken Parmesan by shieldedstar - (Rating: T, Words: 2,436)

After their meeting with the commissioner, Shane and Ilya finally get their first proper date. It might not be what they wanted their first date to be like, but fuck it. They were out and they might as well make the best of it.

breaking the matchmaker curse by mae, onthewaytosomewhere (mae) - (Rating: T, Words: 2,468)

Shane has been watching Ilya kiss strangers for years. Sometimes it’s because someone is either brave—or foolish—enough to try and prove the fabled curse of the matchmaker wrong. Sometimes it’s because no one can help themselves, because it seems like such a harmless thing to do; stealing a kiss like it will give them some sort of guaranteed assurance in the universe. It makes Shane’s stomach curl every single time. He can see the way Ilya stiffens, how he swallows too late, too polite or too jaded to ask them to stop. The world doesn’t see how he hates it, because the world never sees. They see a legend, they see a myth and nothing more; not the person who has to put up with it.

Shane does.

He sees Ilya’s mouth, of course. Not because he’s greedy, because he’s in it for a stroke of luck or faith or whatever delusion people want to buy into. Shane wants to taste those lips because they’re Ilya’s, because he knows... or Ilya suffers from a curse where whoever kisses him falls in love with their true soulmate (it's never him)...Shane wants to kiss Ilya bcuz he's already fallen in love with him

Got a Bad Desire by Design by Clearpearls - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 6,963)

Subs don’t play in the MLH, but Shane Hollander will.

(Or, Shane Hollander falls into subdrop at World Juniors. Ilya Rozanov brings him back.)

Boston Lily and Other Lies by sreka - (Rating: Mature, Words: 4,453)

Hollander takes a hit. Pike makes a call. Rozanov answers.

Or; Ilya learns a new vocabulary word, Hayden just can’t connect the dots, and Shane seriously doesn’t need this stress.

Just another finding-out-about-Lily after Shane’s hit fic based on a tumblr prompt I can’t track down (or maybe I hallucinated?) that said if Ilya answered when someone called Lily, people would probably assume Lily was one of Ilya’s girls before they assumed it was Ilya himself.

there you are, my morning star by ingberry - (Rating: Mature, Words: 2,262)

“What do you want me to say, exactly?” Shane asked, his voice very different from the one they’d usually get for interviews. Less polite and less guarded. “Do you want me to stand here and tell you details of my sex life?” Someone chuckled awkwardly and when no one said anything, Shane threw his arms out to the side just as Harris made his way towards the disaster. Shane looked the reporter straight in the eyes. “Sure! My sex life is fantastic. My husband is hot. Ten out of ten. Any more questions?”

Or the one time Shane Hollander was the problem

A Weak Backhand by fi3fi3 - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 5,029)

Breathlessly, Shane tried the line he’d been rehearsing in his mind for days.

“You’re n- you’re not in charge tonight.” He pointed to the floor. “Get on your knees.”

Rozanov made no move except for his eyebrows which shot up in surprise. He looked down at the floor and then back up at Shane slowly. His expression changed to one of indifferent amusement and then, very deliberately, he sank slowly to his knees.

“Oh fuck…” Shane whispered. He hadn’t actually expected that to work.

Cinnamon & Pine by minakaye - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 3,132)

Shane hasn't presented yet, and honestly didn't think he ever would. Figured all of the intense athletic training stunted his secondary gender development. That is, until he goes into his first heat during the final game of the playoffs against Boston. He doesn't want their secret to get out, but all he wants is for Ilya to take him home and mate him. After the intoxicating scent of jasmine and lemons hits Ilya, he's pretty sure he's willing to oblige.

When fate is a pair of slutty blue shorts by nyangibun - (Rating: Explicit, Words: 7,928)

“You’re staring,” Ilya points out.

“So are you.”

“Hmmm,” the alpha hums, moving closer. He taps at Shane’s neck. “You wearing scent blocker?” Shane nods, mute, incapable of doing much else. His breath hitches when Ilya’s thumb rubs over Shane’s scent gland. Once satisfied, Ilya steps into his personal space and drops his face to the junction between Shane’s neck and shoulder. He lets out a low groan. “You smell like… pryaniki.”

((or the one where Shane wears tiny blue swim shorts and drives Ilya crazy))

Five and a Half Beers and Just as Many Chalupas by Erisenyo - (Rating: T, Words: 4,724)

Hollander as an opponent has always been focused and precise and an absolute nightmare for a defenseman, the kind of player you dread facing.

Hollander as a teammate is…well, he’s still focused and precise, and intense about every drill and lift and film session to the point of being more than a little intimidating.

Hollander on five-and-a-half beers and just as many chalupas is something else entirely.

OR,

The Centaurs get to know Shane Hollander.

[noahreids]

wonderland magazine: bonus Hudson Williams

[rocksteddieandbebop]

Slutty rolling around on the floor with pants unbuttoned… I’m dead.

[texasbama]

Best thing I’ve ever seen.

[texasbama]

“I LIKE TO LOOK AT YOUR FACE WHEN YOU IN IT”

[rocksteddieandbebop]

I don’t even need to watch the Stranger Things finale to state, unequivocally, that the starkest comparison of true progress in media is the juxtaposition of this shows nothing burger of queer representation, immediately following the glorious joy and celebration of queer story telling that is Heated Rivalry. Give Jacob Tierney Stranger Things money and bury the anti gay Duffer bros. That is how media serves the audience.

[yonglixx]

GQ bts 🤍

[rocksteddieandbebop]

I want to know what Connor whispered in his ear, for reasons.

[actuallysara]

Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams BTS of Heated Rivalry S1

[rocksteddieandbebop]

I love these two idiots

[punksalmons]

the 'my moon, my man' montage

[rocksteddieandbebop]

This show is gonna be the death of me. That smash cut to the boards and then bedroom should win several Emmys

[hrgifs]

HEATED RIVALRY 1.01 "Rookies"

[rocksteddieandbebop]

God this show has ruined me. They are so hot

[honey002]

In regards of the Trump government scraping all trans inclusion in its queer information portion of its websites I have made this thing. Spread the word. Don't let them pretend we never existed.

P.S: Don't like! Reblog! <3

EDIT: Well this got a lot of attention! I got a few users asking to print or repost my art and I am unimaginably grateful to everyone's interest, especially since it's a really simple drawing I made on a whim haha! Anyone who is looking to print these out to hang or hand out or repost on another platform is free to do so, although I ask you to credit me and let people know it's from my Tumblr profile! If anyone wishes to do anything else with my art or post and wants to clarify what I consent to then they can message me privately and I'll explain! <333 all my love to my queer siblings

EDIT: I made an LGBTQIA+ version with a focus on trans and intersex folks, it's on my pinned if you prefer this version of the acronym.

[the-moon-loves-the-sea]

Shared here today by Matthew Boroson on Facebook. (ETA: Gaining inspiration from other authors is great. Lifting passages and avoiding giving credit isn’t.)

Tanith Lee was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award for best novel, for the second book of the Flat Earth series. She died in 2015. You can buy Tales From the Flat Earth here in paperback or here on Kindle.

[ortofosforico]

Imagine if different vampire worlds were connected and we didn't know just because they don't like eachother.

Like- the vampires from What We Do In the Shadows talking to their cameras

"Lestat? 🤨 We don't particularly like the guy. I once showed him my collection of horse figurines and he started blabbing about wasted potential and savage garden. Honestly, we just avoid each other at this point.

Armand and I have been enemies for quite some time on the Minecraft. I thought I could find my peace in the computer land of Roblox, but he's found me... I must prepare for war.

Louis and I had a blast in the seventies, with the sex and the spiked blood and the killing, but then he would start crying and moping about Lestat, and I was scared that if I showed any interest he would make peace with him and make us hang out together, and I really didn't want that. When it got out of hand, I told Louis I was going on a journey of self discovery backpacking through Asia, and then I didn't get out of my neighbourhood in Staten Island for eight years."

[rocksteddieandbebop]

I love this idea, imagine Daniel Malloy interviewing Dracula:

“I fell in love a young man and followed him back to his homeland. Where I fell in love again with his wife. Some horrible German doctor tried to kill me with a stake and a cross, so I had to go underground for a century or so. Now I just do this thing called ‘DJ’ around the Eastern European club scene. I have rare gifts that make it fun to mess with humans. I can turn into mist and bleed them and then appear onstage as a bat or a wolf. They think it’s special effects. It’s no Transylvania in the 15th century, but it keeps me busy.”

[rocksteddieandbebop]

I am all about the new Deadpool/Wolverine brain rot. But I just think we missed a huge opportunity to call their ship “Lode”. It was right there.

[celestibabs]

Feyd Rautha relishes your ability to withstand his rabid sex sessions after a hunt in the Harkonnen arena. Each evening is the same, spurred on by the echoing cheers of the crowd. He bursts into your quarters, crimson blood spatter speckling his porcelain skin and eyes crazed from the adrenaline.

Grasping the base of your neck with hands that had committed atrocities, Feyd forces you into his desired position. Face pressed harshly into the mattress of the absurdly large mattress, you feel the nick of a blade tip cutting into the soft skin of your ribs when it rips through the expensive fabric you wore. You imagine Feyd viewed your clothes as an adversary, carving through them with his dual hunting knives like he did the many Atreides he fought in the arena. 

He holds your chin in a vice grip, his fingerprints bruising into your jawline as he pulls you back, leaning in to force a ravenous kiss onto your mouth. The coppery taste of fallen Harkonnen prisoners coats your tongue, and you find yourself moaning at the familiar taste. To the Na-Baron Feyd Rautha, blood meant sex– meant burying himself in your weeping cunt to burn off the residual epinephrine rush from the slaughter. You’d come to associate the flavour of iron with the stretch of his cock. 

The soft silk of the cool bed sheets beneath you do little to soothe the hot sting of Feyd’s nails sinking into the soft, naked flesh of your hips. Crescent moons that pearl with maroon. If you’re lucky– if you’re good, Feyd drags his tongue over the weeping wounds. 

When the Na-Baron sinks his throbbing cock into you, there’s no warning. He likes the shock it causes, the gasp that rips through your chest when he lips your hips and rams inside of you harshly. It’s so much, too much at once; the stretch in your fluttering cunt, the rippling of Feyd’s abs against your back when he pistons his hips into you. He’s feral, each thrust driving you further up the mattress. 

You’re almost certain the pretty little whimpers that he punches out of you with each push of his thick length gets the Na-Baron off quicker. You’re like prey beneath him, at his mercy. Those black eyes spark with arousal when you submit to him entirely, baring your throat and whining his name as your arousal teases at the edge of your consciousness. 

He responds in kind, cumming deep inside your cervix and baring his teeth. A predator reminding you that he would force you to submit– or devour you.

dune masterlist

[dailyflicks]

SALTBURN (2023) + my favorite letterboxd reviews

[steddiecameraroll]

I'm Thinking of the Way it Was - ch 6

Excerpt from chapter 6 of my getting back together fic

“Have you ever slammed head first into a point so hard you give yourself brain damage?” Eddie bounces his leg quickly.

“Did something happen?” Dr. Whilstaf inspects him from her chair.

“You could say that. I did the journaling thing. It fucking sucked, by the way. Apparently, I’m not good enough. I didn’t…I mean, I did, I knew that, but…” his eyes dart back and forth while he tries to put his thoughts together. “I didn’t know that’s how I felt, all the time, constantly. And now that I do know it, I can’t stop thinking about it. This fucking light bulb moment happened when I was at Steve’s, too, by the way.” He pauses and leans back in his seat, sighing and closing his eyes. “I’ve been trying…I don’t know if it’s making things worse, and now I feel…fuck.”

“What happened that triggered this at Steve’s?”

“His washing machine broke, and he called me to help, which alone was a miracle. Steve doesn’t ask for help, so I jumped at the opportunity. I went by last night to replace the hose, and…something perfect happened, and then it fell apart, like usual. We made dinner together and had wine, which is fucking fancy shit. It felt really nice.

“We kinda skipped dating or like the traditional version of it before, and it kinda felt like a date happened naturally, and he kept smiling at me like he was surprised I was still there. Then he kissed me. It felt really nice. But then he tried to take my belt off, and I stopped him. And that’s the thing. I told him I wanted to win him back by proving I loved him, not his body because he’s…I don’t know, but we had sex a couple of times weeks ago, and it was terrible.” He whispers the last word.

“Why is that?”

“Because it was so good,” he chuckles. “But it was hate fucking, and that is not how we feel about each other, or at least it’s not how I feel. It felt like he didn’t care, though. He just wanted to fuck, like he wanted to hurt himself, physically, emotionally, just in every way he wanted to cut himself open and bleed everywhere, but with sex and apparently my dick.” He shifts in the chair uncomfortably.

“Besides realizing I’m not good enough, I realized I am only good enough to have sex with. I got a damn booty call text yesterday morning and a fucking unsolicited dick pic to go along with it. The shitty fucking shitty part about it is that I seriously considered it. Like, what the fuck is wrong with me?” His emotions are straining through tears. “So I tell Steve we can’t have sex because he’s using it to hurt himself and me, and we need to go backward. I wanted to start over. I wanted to prove to him that I wasn’t going to do that to him, that I loved him regardless of the sex, but he couldn’t…he told me that every time I say no to him, it makes him feel unwanted. I want him so badly, though, but I want all of him, but it’s like he can’t believe me or hear me unless we have sex, and I don’t…I don’t know what to do or how to get him to understand. And now that I feel so fucking used and unloved by everyone, it hurts even more because he just wants my dick, like everyone else. It sucks.”

“It sounds like Steve is struggling to accept your love. Have you noticed him doing this with anyone else?” Dr. Whilstaf flicks her pen back and forth in her hand.

Eddie rubs his fingers across his forehead, thinking about her question. “Um…yeah? As I said, he doesn’t ask for help, and I know all of us would help him if he asked. He takes care of everyone, the kids joke, and he jokes that he’s just their babysitter, but it’s not like that at all. He loves them, cares about them, and puts his life in danger to protect them, and they would do that for him too. They love him too, but they’re so mean sometimes. They’re fucking kids, sure they saved the world, but they’re children. So they don’t know that making fun of him and calling him dumb hurts. It just adds to his own insecurities.

“He has a fucked up relationship with his parents. They’re assholes; they left him alone a lot as a kid, even now still. They were here a little last week but are already gone again. His dad did a number on his confidence. Has said he’s not good enough for the Harrington name. But Steve is this incredible human being that is more than enough; I just want him to know that.”

“You’d mentioned last week that you thought he was attractive and that everyone that’s met him also finds him attractive. Does he get a lot of attention for his appearance?” 

“Yeah, his one of many nicknames in school was The Hair. It’s gorgeous hair. He has this jawline that I just want to bite sometimes.” Eddie smirks while reminiscing.

“I’m not saying that this is what is happening, but there is often a correlation with individuals who have been emotionally neglected in their childhood to seek authentication and approval in other ways from everyone around them as adults. So if this individual gets positive reinforcement from their physical body, it would make sense that they may internalize their body’s attention as positive feelings, love, and care. So it’s possible this disconnect that you’re feeling is because you’re not providing the same type of affection that he’s grown accustomed to, and it’s confusing him.

“This is not to say that I think you should sleep with him to make him feel better, but it may warrant an open and honest dialogue between you, especially if you are now experiencing negative emotional feelings towards sexual intimacy. Where it sounds like you do not want to do that because it may trigger your feelings of inadequacy, not having that sexual intimacy for Steve may trigger his feelings. So you’re both struggling but in opposing directions.”

“Shit, doc.” Eddie sits still while his mind scans over the argument with Steve. “He did say it felt like I didn’t want to be with him, which I couldn’t understand because it’s pretty obvious I want to be with him. Shit…” Eddie suddenly remembers how he’d broken up with Steve right after sex. “Oh my god. I’m such an idiot.” He covers his face with his hands.

Dr. Whilstaf sits patiently, waiting for Eddie to continue.

“When I broke up with him, back before, we had just…honestly, we had just made love. It was not the usual sex we’d been having. It was - intense. I thought my heart would explode, and I was terrified of all of it. No one’s made me feel like that before, and I don’t get to keep the things I love, so I cut it off before it got worse.” Eddie raises his eyes up to meet the doctor’s. “I rejected his love. I didn’t know. Shit.”

continue reading on ao3

[rocksteddieandbebop]

Following up when AO3 is back up

[inacatastrophicmind]

[rocksteddieandbebop]

These two idiots will be the death of me.

[bornonthesavage]

Read on AO3

Eddie should have been out of the mall hours ago. And he would have been, if it weren’t for Gareth practically begging him to pick him up from the movies. It would have served him right, having to walk home for not inviting him. But hell, Eddie had a soft spot for his friends, and Gareth knew that well enough to exploit it. The mall was mostly empty at this hour, with all the stores closing up. Except the theater, of course, which stayed open late enough for the ten o’clock showings to let out.

Eddie swung around the wall separating the cinema from the rest of the mall and strolled inside. There was nobody in the lobby. Which made sense, seeing as there were no later show times. He stopped to take a drink from the water fountain, quenching his dry mouth, then straightened up and pulled out a cigarette. There was still thirty minutes until Gareth’s movie let out, so he had some time to kill. Maybe the concession stand was still open, and he could buy some candy. Eh, but it was always overpriced, so maybe not.

Eddie was still in the middle of weighing the pros and cons of movie theater snacks when someone stumbled into his line of sight. No, not just anyone. Steve Harrington. Steve Harrington wearing a tight little sailor outfit that did wonders for his ass and thighs. It wasn’t as if Eddie had never seen the little getup before. Oh no. Much to his friend’s annoyance, Eddie had started having pretty intense ice cream cravings at least twice a week. Sometimes more, if he felt like coming to the mall alone. Because while he wasn’t a huge fan of crowds, he was definitely a fan of Steve’s ass. He might be a douchebag, but at least he was nice to look at.

Eddie was so caught up in his deep appreciation of the male form, that he almost missed the strange way Steve was walking. As if he’d lost all control of his limbs and was instead being dragged along by an invisible cable linked to his chest. But once Eddie noticed that, his eyes trailed up passed toned legs and arms, and he almost choked when he got a look at Steve’s face. It looked like he’d lost a fight with a Kangaroo. Kangaroos could fight, right? He was pretty sure. Hadn’t he seen a cartoon where that was a thing? Maybe he had dreamt in. Whatever, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Steve was messed up. He had a swollen eye, a busted lip, and more than one bruise blooming under his pretty skin. He also seemed pretty out of it.

“Robin!” he called, stumbling closer to Eddie. “Robin! Come out come out wherever you are! Are you hiding from me?”

Robin? As in Robin Buckley, who also worked at Scoops Ahoy? Would she know why Steve looked like he’d been hit by a bus? Eddie took a drag from his cigarette, contemplating what to do. But before he could come to any sort of decision, Steve turned and spotted Eddie. He’d never seen someone do such a hard double take in his life. And then Steve was just staring at him, with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide and glassy. Yeah, he was definitely on something. Eddie looked around, hoping to see someone who could help him figure out what to do in this situation, but there was no one.

“Uh, you alright man?”

His words seemed to snap Steve out of whatever trance he’d been in, and he took several lurching steps forwards until he was directly in front of Eddie. Which, okay, Eddie may or may not have had more than one dirty fantasy that involved Steve crowding him up against a wall. But this was real life, not a fantasy. So the more likely thing to happen here was that Steve was going to try and fight him. Which, given his current state, Eddie felt fairly confident he could win that fight. Still, he leaned back against the wall in alarm.

“Dude, what—”

“Holy shit,” Steve slurred. “You’re the prettiest fucking person I’ve ever seen.”

Well, that made Eddie snap his mouth shut. What the fuck? There was no way Steve Harrington had just called him pretty, even if he was high. But Steve was still staring at him, his eyes wide with wonder.

“Um, what? Are you okay?”

And then Steve had the gall the give him an absolutely dopey grin. “I am now.”

Okay, holy shit. Steve was definitely trying to put the moves on him. Maybe he was hallucinating and thought Eddie was someone else.

Eddie chuckled nervously. “Um, maybe you’re too out of it to tell, but I’m not some hot chick. I’m a dude.”

Steve scoffed, as if that was the stupidest thing Eddie could have said. “Yeah, duh you’re not a hot chick. You’re Eddie. Which makes you a hot dude.”

Yeah, alright, Eddie was definitely blushing now. What was he even supposed to do with this? Did Steve realized what he was saying? Was there a drug that could make you gay? If there was, the government was going to be pissed.

“You—You know my name?”

Steve took another step forward, so he could lean his hand against the wall beside Eddie’s head, effectively trapping him there. Eddie felt like he’d been turned to stone, his entire body locking up.

“Obviously I know your name. You’re Eddie. You come into Scoops all the time and you always wear the tightest jeans and Robin makes fun of me because I just stare at your ass because it looks so good. And it’s not fair because you never even look at me! But I look at you all the time. You should look at me more, to even things up.”

Eddie stared, slack jawed. What the fuck? What the fuck? That… couldn’t be true. “Dude, um, I think you’re high on something. It’s making you say some wild shit. Maybe you should sit down?”

“No, I don’t want to!” Steve actually whined, like a petulant child. “Besides, I’m not high. I got injected with Russian truth serum. So, I’m just being truthful.”

Russian truth serum? Okay, yeah, Steve was having a bad trip. The best thing for Eddie to do was get him some water, make him sit down, possibly find him a ride home? Because, yeah, he was high. But it also looked like he’d been in a fight. So, Eddie probably needed to do something. That became difficult when Steve took another step closer, practically pressing his body against Eddies. Which, in any other scenario, Eddie would be completely on board for.

“Uh, Steve, you’re not in your right mind.”

“I’ll be in your right mind.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Steve jutted out his lower lip, giving him a full-on pout. “Eddie.”

Fuck, right, okay. Steve saying his name like that was definitely doing it for him. Eddie wondered what other ways he could make him whimper his name… No, shit, fuck. Not the time!

“Steve, come on. Why don’t we get you some water?”

“No.”

Eddie sighed. “Why not?”

“Because right now you’re looking at me and you never look at me and that makes me sad because I want you to look at me. And if we move, you’ll never look at me again.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, okay, that’s dramatic.”

Steve’s whole face fell. Somehow, he managed to give him perfect puppy eyes even with a busted face. “Why don’t you think I’m pretty?”

Eddie’s stomach swooped. Alright, well. Here goes nothing. “Steve, I do think you’re pretty, okay? I hate that I think you’re pretty, because you’re a spoiled little rich kid jock and I should hate you, but you’re literally so pretty that all my common sense seems to be thrown out the window when it comes to you. So, I promise, if you just drink some water and sit down, I’ll still look at you.”

Everything about Steve’s demeanor changed, as he suddenly straightened and lit up like a damn Christmas tree. “Really? Oh man, Robin is totally going to have to put a tally on the ‘You Rule’ board!”

As if summoned by Steve’s words, Robin Buckley stumbled around the corner at that moment. Eddie breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank God, someone else that could take a very drugged up and affectionate Steve off his hands. But wait, no. No, because Robin was also stumbling and had the same glassy look to her eyes. Well, fuck. This wasn’t good. As soon as her eyes fell on Steve and Eddie pressed against the wall, she squealed and clasped her hands.

“Oh my god, Steeeeve!” she cried, racing forward. “Did you tell him? Did you tell Eddie about your big gay crush?”

Heat flooded Eddie’s face. Because while Robin was apparently high as well, what were the chances they were both having the same delusion? Which meant… which meant it maybe wasn’t a delusion. Eddie closed his eyes. He wasn’t equipped to deal with any of this right now.

Steve whipped his head around to look at Robin when she collided with the wall, but didn’t move from where he was pressing against Eddie.

“Robin!” he cried, looking ecstatic to see his coworker. “Yeah, I told Eddie! And guess what? He thinks I’m pretty too!”

She gasped and clapped her hands. “Oh my god, yay! Oh, oh, can I be your guy’s flower girl at the wedding? Or your man of honor? Maid of honor? Lesbian of honor.”

Eddie’s head was spinning. “Lesbian of—what?! Hey, both of you, chill out! What did you guys take?”

“I told you,” Steve said, as if Eddie were being purposely obtuse. “Russian truth serum.”

“Yep!” Robin chimed in. “They stuck that shit right in our necks. Oh my god! Steve, what if this gives us superpowers!”

Steve gasped. “Oh my god, we can be like Eleven! That would be so cool. I hope I get super strength.”

“I hope I get invisibility. Then I can sneak right past those Russians.”

They both burst into laughter, as if that were the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard. Eddie was completely lost. He doubted they had actually been drugged by Russians, but something was clearly going on. Besides Steve’s beaten face, Robin had several bruises blooming on her arms and legs. While playing nurse had not been on his Friday night wish list, Eddie was fully prepared to handle this. But before he could encourage them to follow him out to his van, Robin slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh man, I’m gonna be sick.”

Steve also stopped laughing all at once, his complexion going a bit green. “Shit. Me too.”

Without any other warning, Steve stepped away. The sudden air between them felt too cold, which made Eddie realize how warm Steve had been, pressed against him. Robin bolted away and down the hall, likely to find a toilet, and Steve was only a few steps behind her. But before he rounded the corner, he turned back and flashed Eddie one last grin.

“Bye Eddie, love you!”

All Eddie could do was stare as Steve disappeared. His brain felt like it had taken the same beating as Steve’s face. There was no way any of that had just happened. He glanced down at his cigarette, just to make sure he hadn’t accidently smoked a blunt laced with something heavier. Nope, just a cigarette. Steve had actually admitted to thinking Eddie was hot. Robin Buckley insinuated they were getting married. And also came out to him? What the fuck was he even supposed to do with all that? He considering going after them, but before he could movie, he heard the distinct sound of a crowd of people moving toward him. The movie must have let out, which meant Gareth would be looking for him. Which was the whole reason he was here. Right. Steve Harrington didn’t need him looking out for him. He was a big boy. A very big boy, if he’d gathered anything from having the other boys body pressed against his.

“Eddie?”

He whipped his head around, hoping he didn’t look too guilty to Gareth, who stood a few feet away. “Oh, uh, hey man.”

His friend gave him a strange look. “You ready to go?”

Eddie spared one last glance in the direction Steve had gone. Yeah, he really needed some alone time to process what had just happened. He stubbed out his cigarette on the ash tray against the wall.

“Yeah, man, totally. Let’s get out of here.”