for @softsteddieseptember event (yes im late lmao)
Communication | Parents | Wrong Number | General | Final wc: 4k | no cw
This was supposed to be the second fic for the Soft September Month (the other is already post and finished) so uhm… late but here! Also, my own challenge or just enjoyment was to write mtf Eddie Munson aka Amelia!
A message to the wrong number and the big curiosity and worrisome of famous Amelia E. Munson may be the best not only for Steve Harrington, but his young puppy… oh, daughter.
There were nights for partying with friends after a successful concert, fill it with some alcohol, some drugs, and much fun. But now that age arrived to her time, there were also nights like this that were much better after a whole tour.
Amelia Munson would boil some water, prepare a hot black tea with a splash of milk and be in front of her computer to check the last news about Corroded Coffin. Sometimes, most of the time, wouldn't be that healthy to do so, finding some not so nice comments of people that didn't have anything else to do and used this to, somehow, pass the time. They needed a hobby.
What she cared about was the happy fans, especially those who saw themselves on her, wanting to keep going and, very few, showing off how many years they have being following the band. Some even with little kids on their concerts.
Amelia smiled at those, happy that their music would pass to next generations in one way or another. Call her corny, whatever, she liked the idea that even if she wished time ago to have a family, which she couldn't for different reasons, at least little ones would be singing her songs and dressing up like her on Halloweens.
She was lost in her thoughts, looking at pictures the fans posted, when began to hear her phone somewhere on her backpack. At the beginning, she ignored it, but the constant buzzing and the song starting over without the other finishing made her aware of it.
With some laziness, she stood up and stretched before finally taking her phone out of it. Her friends and bandmates knew that after a whole tour like this one, she will turn her phone away to decompress and go back to Earth. She knew it wasn't an emergency because they would have to call to her apartment instead.
As Amelia took the phone, she could see a wave of messages
Here we are at the end of September! Here's a sweet little drabble for @softsteddieseptember prompt "sunrise," but it's technically an epilogue to round out this AU.
Rating: T | CW: implied mpreg | Word Count: 449 | Tags: royalty AU, omega prince Steve, alpha groundskeeper Eddie, married & bonded steddie, bed sharing, pure fluff, implied platonic stobin | ao3
It’s pretty typical for Steve to wake with the sun, but there’s something special for it to shine on now. As the first light of morning streams through his window, it falls across him and lands on Eddie’s serene face.
His Alpha. His beloved husband.
He smiles to himself, overwhelmed by the sight. The feeling hasn’t diminished since the day before; if anything, it’s more intense today, knowing there’s nothing at all standing in the way of their future. Not his bride, who had been more than grateful for the engagement to be broken, and whose secret sweetheart struck up a quick and close friendship with Steve. Not his parents, who’d grudgingly welcomed Eddie into the family as prince consort. Not even his uncertainty as to whether Eddie would be willing to endure the stuffy parties and fake laughter of the upper crust in Hawkins, because Eddie dispelled that notion by agreeing to fittings for a new wardrobe and giggling with Steve through a nuptial banquet, a ball, and an apology visit to his would-be in-laws’ ancestral home.
After suffering a few weeks of the king and queen’s formalities, they’re free to spend a while in newlywed bliss. Last night had been spent dancing between the sheets, and tonight is likely to bring more of that kind of pleasure. But for now, in the minutes before Eddie wakes, Steve watches him sleep, with contentment radiating through him like the sunlight through the gap in the curtains.
What will the future hold for them? How will he and Eddie grow together? He has some ideas. One of them, if he’s right about what his own subtle shift in behavior means, could be on its way right now.
Steve’s eyes trace the curve of Eddie’s chin, the natural pout of his lips as he’s sleeping. He lays his hand on Eddie’s chest and savors the rise and fall of every breath. When Eddie stirs, he resists the urge to kiss him awake, because he knows it’ll be so much more lovely to watch him remember all over again that he gets to wake up next to Steve.
What will they become? Only time will tell, Steve knows. He knows not to plan too far ahead; his life had been composed of the best-laid plans, and they were all upended when he fell in love. The only thing he knows for certain is that as long as Eddie is with him, he’s willing to be patient. He’s willing to wait for the future, because their forever is in the present—this present moment, with eyelids fluttering and plush lips forming a surprised, delighted oh—and it is far too precious to rush.
written for the @softsteddieseptember week three (september got weird for me after week two idek) prompt "second meeting" | rating: T | wc: 2327 | cw: n/a
Saying yes to the reunion wasn’t even really a question for Eddie.
For one – he has nothing but good memories from his time on set for the kids’ comedy-adventure movie he’d filmed when he was…Christ, Eddie doesn’t even remember. Eleven years old, maybe?
Eddie knows he’s one of the lucky few ‘child actors’ who wasn’t screwed up in some way by his early foray into the world of Hollywood, but he really did have a blast on set – probably because there were so many other kids. The movie had a big ensemble cast, and while the adult actors did still outnumber the child ones, it wasn’t by much, so it’d felt more like a summer camp to eleven-year-old Eddie, with the way ice cream trucks were driven in around lunchtime and playrooms were set up for the younger kids and how they were brought on bonding outings to the zoo and a local amusement park early on in the filming process.
It had all paid off, Eddie supposes, because the film had performed pretty good in the end – good enough for a sequel a few years later, even if it didn’t use any of the same actors as the original.
Cut to today, fifteen or so years later, the studio is finally releasing a long-awaited third installment in the franchise, and organizing a reunion of the original cast as part of the promo.
None of them – those now-adult kids from the first movie – have become A-List anythings over the years, least of all Eddie, which is totally fine by him. He didn’t really even do too much acting afterwards and eventually his interests tipped over into the music side of things.
Now, he’s living comfortably in the underground music scene, which brings Eddie to his second reason for agreeing so quickly to attend the reunion, because it’s not like he’s not trying to carve out his own space in the world of entertainment, and it couldn’t hurt to get a little mostly-free publicity, especially if it related to the project he’s probably still best known for.
So, yeah, Eddie was all for it, and he was still excited by the time he needed to make the trek from Seattle to LA.
The first event on the docket was the true reunion – no cameras, no press, just as much of the cast and crew from the franchise as had RSVP’d yes to the whole shindig in an event space on the second floor of the hotel that the studio had booked out.
It was a little overwhelming at first, honestly, mostly because there were a lot of people who remembered Eddie and not a lot of people Eddie remembered back – such was the nature of being a kid at the time, he supposes. It didn’t take too long, though, for him to start running into the kids he’d worked with fifteen years ago.
It’s funny, honestly, the way they’d all been stuck as kids in Eddie’s head. He hadn’t really kept in touch with anyone beyond the first year or two after filming, so he figures that makes sense, but it still doesn’t make it any less crazy to see little El, who’d only been four when she was cast, five while they were filming, now at the big age of twenty.
He also runs into Dustin, the little kindergartener pest who’d followed him around on set – he’s twenty-one now apparently, and the tallest of all of them by a mile – then Gareth and Robin who’d been eight and nine respectively and now are wrapped up with college and stepping firmly into the grown-up world (Eddie was thrilled to hear that Gareth’s doing music now too, and Robin’s some kind of global diplomat or something – okay, probably not a global diplomat, but something along those lines because she’d been a smarty-pants at nine and she’s clearly still one to this day).
Then Eddie’s path finally crossed with Steve, and holy fucking Christ, had the past fifteen years been kind to Steve Harrington.
He might be the hottest guy Eddie’s ever been in the same room with, and that’s being objective. What absolutely is not objective is the ridiculous gymnastics act Eddie’s heart had done when Steve’s eyes caught on his, when he saw the way Steve grinned, excused himself from whatever conversation he’d been in to make his way over.
“Eddie!” Steve exclaims. He stutter-steps for a moment, arms slightly open like he’s taking a second to assess whether or not Eddie’s a hugger.
Eddie is a hugger, for the record, and he meets Steve in the middle, and, yeah, he fuckin’ smells him – he won’t lie, and he can’t help it either. He still has to breathe air, obviously, and if the air in question comes with the faint scent of cherry and lemon zest and something kind of woody he can’t put a name to, what’s he supposed to do about it?
“Steve!” Eddie laughs as they step away from the hug, “Holy shit, what happened to you?”
“Grew up, apparently,” Steve shrugs, still grinning, “Same as the rest of us, I guess. Dude – did you see Dustin? He’s, like, thirty feet tall now, I swear!”
Out of all the kids in the cast, Eddie had been closest with Steve. He may have been a school grade above Steve, but they’d only been six-or-so months apart in age, so they’d been buddies on set, always goofing around and getting scolding by the director for making each other laugh during scenes and running off to play videos games whenever they had a break, and now, even fifteen years later, it doesn’t take long for them to fall into an easy rapport.
Eddie learns that Steve still acts – he’s a series regular on a fairly well-received TV show that Eddie had heard of but admittedly never watched, and he’s had a steady flow of projects since he was a kid – and Eddie gets to spend some time rambling about his band and his music.
Steve surprised Eddie by remembering Wayne after all these years, asked how he was doing and what he gets up to now that he’s not accompanying a pre-pubescent Eddie on movie sets. He even talks a little bit about his own parents too – Eddie doesn’t remember them in the way Steve had remembered Wayne, probably because they hadn’t really been around too much during filming (not any more than they were required to be, at least). Steve talks about how he’s not all that close with them anymore, which Eddie has to imagine is probably the natural consequence for parents who were both overly controlling and chronically uninvolved.
They even talk about dating for a while. Steve tells Eddie about his break-up from a while back – nothing too heartbreaking, just two people who wanted different things out of a relationship. In return, Eddie tells Steve about his heinous break-up from a little over a year ago now.
In the end, they spend the rest of the evening talking. It occurs to Eddie at some point that they're technically supposed to be reunion-ing with everyone else in the room too, but there's something magnetic going on that feels so much like the way he and Steve and been drawn to each other as kids on set but with more, more layered onto it because there's fifteen years worth of more to both of them now, and Steve doesn’t seem all that pressed to move on either so, yeah, either way, they talk the rest of the night away until, eventually, some folks from the PR team who organized the whole event circulate a schedule for tomorrow right as some of the venue’s staff starts clearing away any untouched food, and on the whole, Eddie gets the sense that it’s time for them to clear out.
They take their leave not too long later, heading out of the banquet hall and towards the elevators, and Eddie’s not an idiot.
He does recognize that maybe there’s something going on between him and Steve, and he’d have a pretty good chance at having a really good night if he decided to shoot his shot, but…he doesn’t, and neither does Steve.
Steve just gives him a lazy salute before they part ways.
Eddie won’t speak for Steve, obviously – he hasn’t truly known Steve since they were in grade school – but he can speak for himself and maybe at his big age of twenty-six, he’s ready to seek out more than just a hook-up. Maybe he wants something bigger and maybe whatever’s going on here is looking like a chance for something like that.
While Eddie’s getting ready for bed, his phone lights up with an Instagram notification – steveharrington started following you.
Eddie bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning over the fact that Steve’s still thinking about him enough to seek him out on Instagram, and before he can even hit the Follow back button, he gets a second notification – a DM with only a phone number (Steve’s phone number, presumably), and then another DM comes through.
text me so i have urs :)
Eddie sends back the salute emoji, then does as told – opens up a new text message, pastes Steve’s number in, and then sends a hey.
(Followed by an i’m cAlliNG FROm iNSIDE yOur HoTEL, because…why not?)
He’s got a few other missed texts, including one from his agent reminding him that the itinerary for tomorrow is in his inbox, which he thumbs ups in response, and one from Wayne asking how the travel down to L.A. went, which he ignores in favor of texting him i’ve met the love of my life
Despite the time difference between Cali and Indiana, Wayne replies back almost immediately.
Oh brother.
actually, Eddie continues texting, more like re-met. remember steve harrington?
Yes.
Then – Cute kid.
you don't know the half of it, Eddie fires back, and then he sends the drooliest emoji he can find.
Keep those details to yourself, boy. Wayne replies, which makes Eddie throw his head back and laugh.
--
The press junket of it all begins bright and early the next morning.
Eddie had known going into everything that he’s not the guy everyone is there to see – that’ll be the cast of this new film, plus the few A-minus-Listers from the previous two – so he’s not surprised when he gets positioned near the back of the group, and next to Steve by chance (by height, more like, since Dustin’s on Steve’s other side). He answers the few questions that come his way every now and then, and spends the rest of the day trading jabs and nudges and funny looks with Steve and wondering what might be the chilliest, most cool and normal way to ask him when he can see him again.
It's kind of agonizing, honestly, because the itinerary had outlined about six hours’ worth of press, and Eddie feels every single godforsaken moment of it, including the allotted time the reporters surpassed and the transitions between each events that always took too longer and the very generous interpretation of lunch hour one of the aforementioned A-Minus-Listers took, and so he’s not at all shocked to learn that they actually net out at a mean eight goddamn hours.
When all is finally (finally) said and done, Steve catches up with Eddie as he’s grabbing his stuff from the greenroom.
“Hey,” Steve says, “Uh, I know we wrapped late and you might have places to be, but…would you wanna go grab dinner with me?”
“Yes,” Eddie replies immediately, heart doing those same gymnastics again, except, like Olympic-level at this point (collegiate at the very least). He grins, “Aw, did you wait ‘til everything wrapped so there’s no fraternizing with the colleagues or whatever?”
“Basically,” Steve shrugs, “Didn’t want the whole day to be weird if you weren’t, like, feeling it. Feeling the same.”
“Uh, don’t worry, big guy, I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m feeling the same.”
A month or two later, all the press starts to come out as the new movie’s release date approaches.
Eddie didn’t really think too much of it, honestly – like he said, he knows he’s not the reason anybody would watch those videos, but Wayne still sends him a link to one, and Steve sends a few more.
(you look hot in these, he’d added – Steve, not Wayne, obviously).
Then clips started getting posted to TikTok and Instagram, and then the comments started rolling in, because apparently Steve and Eddie’s time spent goofing off in the back row was not subtle.
loved this movie so much as a kid but WHAT is going on between the two guys in the back
more chemistry going on at a reunion for an early 2000s kids’ movie than this season of the bachelor
Steve sends him a screenshot of one of them – a TikTok comment that says dear god tell me they were at least single
He follows it up with a text – *please* can i post something – and that pouting emoji that looks remarkably similar to the actual pout Steve hits him with whenever he wants something.
yes yes go ahead my liege Eddie replies.
And it’s honestly kinda pathetic (and cute and endearing and sweet) how quickly he gets an Instagram notification saying that steveharrington mentioned you on their story.
Eddie opens up Steve’s Instagram story to see that, yeah, the bastard had clearly been working on this for a while because he’s got his screenshot of the TikTok comment cropped small and pasted in the bottom corner of a selfie Steve had taken of the two of them last time he visited Seattle, where Steve’s got his face half-tucked into Eddie’s shoulder and Eddie’s hand is squishing Steve’s cheeks. Steve’s got an arrow sticker pointed at the comment, a cheeky little not anymore ;) text box on the other end.
It doesn’t take much longer than Eddie reposting the story for his notifications to start blowing up, and all he can really think aside from the SteveSteveSteveSteveSteveSteveSteveSteve that’s been looping around his brain for two months is thank Christ Eddie said yes to that reunion.
It's stupid. He's stupid. It was just sex. Two friends fucking.
He knew that going in.
It was his idea for fuck's sake, and he's still the one that's gotten clobbered by it.
He's cursed, always forming unrequited attachments, so what did he really think was going to happen here? Stupid, stupid.
► read the full seventh and final chapter of How To Lose Your Roommate in Six Weeks [rating: e] on ao3!
This chapter fills the prompt "modern au & sunrise" for @softsteddieseptember as well as "ice & love confession" for @steddiesmuttyseptember and "fall" for @steddiebingo.
This is for week 4 of @steddiesmuttyseptember: "ice" "toys" and @softsteddieseptember "modern au" "sunrise" | rating: E | wc: 2311 | Female Stevie, Transmasculine Eddie Munson |Eddie uses, cunt, pussy, and dick for his bits.
This one goes out to all the freaks in the discord chat. You know who you are 😉
Summary: Eddie buys a new toy to use with Stevie.
AO3
The sunrise wakes Eddie with a start, reminding him he forgot to close the blinds after his late night. With a groan, he rolls over and checks his phone with one eye open; the email notification makes him sit up in excitement. He opens it and does a happy little jig. According to the tracking information, the special package he ordered for Stevie should arrive this afternoon and he's bouncing off the walls waiting for her to call.
Part of the gift is in his freezer, getting nice and chilled. It's kind of a two for one exploration. Stevie wanted to try temperature play and he wanted to try… whatever this is.
Three weeks ago, while stoned out of his mind, he was jerking off and ran out of lube. Annoyed, he decided to order it online so he could get the bigger bottle and while on the site he got extremely distracted by the fantasy section. So many different types of toys, he was overwhelmed and confused on how to use them.
Three hours later, he was deep in the well of pornhub videos watching silicone knots disappear into holes, and giant horse dicks somehow squeeze inside places they definitely shouldn’t. Recommended video after recommended video, he couldn’t stop watching; his boxers were soaked, his dick throbbed, and he couldn’t stop picturing fucking his girlfriend with every single one.
After jerking off like crazy, he switched back to the toy site and rolled a d20 to figure out which one to buy. He should have sent it to his place, but he didn’t know how discrete the discrete packaging really was so he typed in Stevie’s address without a second thought. Eddie still hasn’t told her exactly what’s in the box just that it’s going to be fun for both of them. Now that it's nearly here, he can't seem to think about anything else but stuffing Stevie full.
It’s been a long morning.
He's tried to distract himself with d&d, then TV, then a nap. Now he's cleaning his room in a desperate attempt to avoid jerking off so he doesn't wear himself out. It's only partially working. There’s only so much he can do to take his mind off the special ice cubes waiting patiently for their little vessel. Well according to the product page it’s not exactly little.
One hand reorganizes his dresser, while the other dips past the waist band of his sweats, rubbing along his dick. He clenches his thighs as he does so, hoping to give himself some more stimulation.
It's taking all his concentration not to give in and rub one out that he almost misses his phone ring. With a yelp, he dives over the bed and snags it, sliding the answer button to open up the video call.
“Hey, Eds.” Stevie smiles when she comes into view. Her pretty brown hair is fluffed up and gorgeous, make up perfect, and eyes twinkling.
“Hey, beautiful.” Eddie replies trying to seem cool and collected. His flushed cheeks and blown pupils aren't doing him any favors; based on her smile, Stevie knows exactly what he's been doing.
“The box came.” There's a mischievous smile on her lips. She turns the camera to the open box, the toy nestled in it's soft packaging with a pump wrapped around it. Holy shit.
“Come over.” Is all she says before the screen goes black.
Eddie snags his keys off his bedside table, sprints down the hall, and pulls the frozen tray out of the freezer, tosses it into a nearby grocery bag, slips on his shoes, and hops in the van.
Driving way above the speed limit, Eddie thanks his lucky stars that he doesn't see a single cop on the way. He parks crooked on the driveway and barely remembers to turn the van off and pocket the keys before he's sprinting to the front door.
He doesn't even have to knock before Stevie's yanking the door open and smashing their lips together. Her hands twist into his hair as she pulls him the rest of the way inside, kicking the door shut behind him.
“Hello to you too.” He chuckles as his hands wind around her waist. Pulling her flush against him, he groans when she nips him lightly.
“What were you thinking when you bought this thing, Eds?” Stevie laughs when they finally come up for air. There's no way he can justify this, so he just shrugs.
“I watched Alien and then Shape of Water back to back while high as shit, then jerked off, had to buy lube, and one thing led to another.” Trailing off, he pulls the ice tray out of the bag in his hand with a smirk. Stevie takes the ice and stares at them for a moment before taking a huge breath.
“My room. I already laid down a few towels.” Stevie takes Eddie's hand and leads him up the stairs as quickly as she can.
Once at the top, Eddie snags Stevie around the waist and tosses her over his shoulder, carrying her down the hall. She shrieks happily as Eddie smacks her cute ass as it wiggles back and forth.
Tossing Stevie on the bed, Eddie crawls over her, kissing along her neck. His hands slide under her shirt and cup her tits, groaning when the flesh spills out of his hands. He rubs the pads of his thumbs along her nipples, sucking a bruise into her neck.
Stevie pushes on his shoulder, forcing him onto his heels, whips her shirt across the room, and goes to push down her shorts. Eddie quickly follows suit and soon they're both bare.
“Full disclosure baby. I forgot to bring my strap.” Eddie smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. With a laugh, Stevie reaches into her bedside drawer, tossing her own harness onto the bed. “Thank you darling.” Eddie tips an imaginary hat.
It takes him a bit longer than usual to slip into the straps and attach the new toy, the tube with the pump at the end dangles a little funny and he has to figure out how to tuck it in. Cold water drips onto the bed as Eddie pushes the little egg shaped ice cubes into the shaft of the toy; he slips a few silicone eggs in, then he’s ready. When he looks back up, he’s treated to the site of Stevie with two fingers buried inside her cunt, moving them back and forth lazily.
“I was going to do that.” Eddie pouts playfully as he crawls closer, setting his hands on either side of Stevie’s hips. A bit of cold water drips from the tip of the cock onto Stevie’s stomach making her hiss.
“We have a time limit with those bad boys.” She wraps her hand around the shaft, whimpering softly when she feels the bumps of the eggs. He knows he has to move quickly, but he can't resist pushing three fingers inside her pussy, groaning at the feeling.
“God baby you're soaked.” He moans, curling his fingers against Stevie's g-spot, grinning wide when she cries out. Pulling away his hand, Eddie lines up with Stevie's entrance. He watches her pretty pussy clench around nothing a few times before giving her what she needs.
“Oh shit that's so cold.” Stevie whines as the shaft slowly enters her. Shuddering against the feeling, Stevie tries to shimmy away; but, Eddie yanks her back down.
“I know baby, I know. You gotta warm it up for me okay?” Eddie whispers, pulling out a little then thrusting back in. It's a little difficult given the soft nature of the thing, but he makes it work. Keeping his pace slow and steady, he reaches down to rub Stevie's clit with freezing hands.
“Oh, shit.” Stevie gasps, bucking up into Eddie hand.
“You like that baby?” Eddie grins. When she nods, he reaches over to the ice tray and grabs one of the spare egg cubes. His eyes never leave her face as he lowers it to her clit, rubbing little circles on the nub.
Stevie’s cry of shock quickly turns to a moan of pleasure as the heat radiating off her pussy melts the ice. Cold water runs down her slit, meeting the base of the toy.
Eddie can't take anymore. He thrusts his hips forward until he's buried as far as he can go, then grabs the little squeeze ball.
“I'm gonna breed your sweet cunt, baby girl. Make you round with my clutch until they hatch.” Eddie groans pumping the little ball as he pulls out slowly. The eggs slip out of the toy and stay inside Stevie's pussy, keeping her full and pressing on her inner walls.
“Holy shit. It's so cold, it feels so good.” Stevie whines, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. The ice eggs are a little easier to get inside since they've partially melted, but the silicone eggs struggle through.
Eddie grabs the shaft and milks the eggs up until one after the other pop inside his little incubator. When he pulls out, Stevie’s stuffed full; a mix of lube, her pre, and cold water, leaks out of her pussy and runs down her ass. He presses on the top of her cunt, groaning when he feels the eggs inside.
“Does that feel good, baby?” Eddie murmurs, eyes wide and dark with lust. Stevie only nods, gasping from the pleasure/pain of the cold and the pressure. “You like being bred by this alien freak, don't you?” Without waiting for her answer, he crawls between her legs so he's eye level with her pussy.
Spreading her open, he moans low in his throat when her hole clenches. Unable to resist, he licks a broad stroke over her pussy, groaning at the cool skin against his lips. Stevie cries out and winds her hand into his hair holding him in place.
“You want to cum and then lay my eggs, baby?” Eddie asks. He licks up the mix of fluids leaking from inside her stuffed cunt. The ribbed silicone egg rubs against his tongue when he slips it in Stevie's hole, swirling around the egg and pushing the toy into her g-spot.
“Oh, fuck.” Stevie gasps, thrusting into his face. With a grin, he sucks her clit into his mouth, rolling the little nub between his teeth. He flicks his tongue against it, then using his finger, he pushes the eggs deeper inside Stevie's pussy.
“Cum for me, mama.” Eddie growls thrusting his finger in time with the flicks of his tongue.
Stevie’s legs shake and her back bows off the bed as she clenches hard around the eggs. Eddie can feel her body wanting to push them out, but he holds them in.
“They're not ready yet, sweetheart. You gotta keep them in a little bit longer.” He whispers. Once Stevie settles back down, Eddie stands and removes the harness.
Getting back on the bed, he kneels between Stevie's legs and spreads them wide. He has a perfect view of her entrance so he sits back on his heels, spreading his own legs a bit. He reaches down and strokes over his cunt, moaning at how wet he is. Dipping two fingers inside, he thrusts hard from the start.
“You're so wet baby. I can hear it from here.” Stevie groans and attempts to move forward. Eddie holds her still as he curls his fingers, crying out as he hits his g-spot. He rubs along the spot, getting closer and closer to the edge.
“I want to watch you lay them.” Eddie gasps, adding another finger.
Stevie wraps a hand around each knee, lifting her legs higher. His eyes never leave her pussy as she clenches down. Her hole stretches to accommodate the girth then the egg pops out.
“Oh fuck.” Eddie whines. With his free hand, he takes his dick between two fingers, stroking quickly.
“Another one's coming.” Stevie moans, pushing a second egg out. This one pops out a little easier and shoots down the bed a bit. Eddie's so close, the sounds of his wet cunt are so loud in the quiet room.
“There's one more baby. Push it out for me.” He says breathlessly. It's the biggest one, Eddie needs to see it.
Stevie bares down again, the bottom of the egg is barely visible. It doesn't come out as easily as the others; she relaxes her muscles for a moment and the egg gets sucked back in. They both gasp in pleasure.
Stevie takes a deep breath before baring down again, the egg finally pushing out of her. It's slow going at first, she whines at the stretch. Eddie's panting as he moves his hands faster.
“This is the hottest thing I've ever seen.” He whines. “I'm so close.”
The last silicone egg finally slips out with a distinct popping sound. Stevie’s pussy pulses as she relaxes, then Stevie does the unthinkable.
She picks up the eggs and pushes them all back inside. Eddie's eyes roll into the back of his head as cums hard enough to see stars.
“Fuck, fuck.” He cries as he rides it out, thrusting his fingers faster to prolong the feeling.
When he can't take anymore, he pulls his hands off himself and flops down on top Stevie. The motion causes one of the eggs to slip back out and he groans.
“That was fun.” Stevie whispers, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Eddie turns to give her a proper kiss and grins.
“You liked being my incubator then?” Eddie murmurs. Stevie smacks him lightly in the shoulder for his wording but laughs.
“Do they sell bigger ones?” Stevie asks with a sly smile.
With a burst of energy, Eddie dives for his phone and opens up his browser.
"Do you ever switch it up?" Eddie asks, laying in bed next to Steve. He might miss this part the most when this ends, the full bed. The warmth of Steve, right at his side.
"What do you mean?" Steve asks, phone in his hand, scrolling. Not really paying attention to Eddie, at least not fully.
"Are you versatile, you know, like, do you pitch and catch?"
Steve puts his phone down on his chest, and turns his head to look at Eddie, "I only played first base."
Then he grins. Steve's teasing. Poking fun at him for the sports metaphor that sounded wrong coming off Eddie's tongue.
► read the sixth chapter of How To Lose Your Roommate in Six Weeks [rating: e] on ao3!
This chapter fills the prompt "toys & vers" for @steddiesmuttyseptember and "wrong number" for @softsteddieseptember.
For @softsteddieseptember prompt "eavesdropping," @steddiesmuttyseptember prompt "wedding night," and @steddiebingo prompt "'Forever?' / 'Why not?'"
Technically part 4/5, but hopefully works as a standalone. Previously: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
Rating: E | CW: unreasonable parental expectations, forced arranged marriage, light angst | Word Count: 4,356 | Tags: royalty AU, omega prince Steve, alpha groundskeeper Eddie, emotional hurt/comfort, eloping, bonding sex | ao3
“Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that I won’t be getting married to the girl you chose for me, because I’m in love with the groundskeeper.”
Steve wrinkles his nose. The long carpet muffles his pacing footfalls, but they echo in his head, regardless.
“Do you remember when I was little, and I told you I never wanted to get married unless I was in love?”
He shakes his head.
“Mom, Dad—I found an Alpha on my own. He’s been courting me and everything.”
“Fuck,” he whispers, out loud. None of his potential arguments sound like they’ll convince his parents to call off his engagement, but he knows he has to try. For himself, but also for Eddie. He has to try for the sake of his Alpha.
Well…not his Alpha. Not yet, even though Eddie said he’s willing to take that step as soon as Steve is ready—something he needs to prove to himself wouldn’t be a selfish act, trapping Eddie into a life he’d hate. Maybe he can abdicate, and they can live a simple life together in town.
But they’ll never get that chance if he’s married off to the first girl whose parents agreed to the arrangement. Eddie also offered to join him at breakfast with the king and queen, if only for moral support, but Steve had told him to stay put. Having Eddie hear them snipe at Steve about being “unreasonable” would be a recipe for disaster.
They returned from their trip to the prospective in-laws’ manor house overnight, some time between Eddie scenting Steve all over and the two of them falling asleep in each others’ arms. It was akin to torture, leaving Eddie in bed before taking the time to sink into the beginnings of an actual den together, but he’d promised himself to make the confrontation quick. After a kiss for luck, Eddie had told him, “Go get ’em, tiger,” and he’d marched all the way down to the foyer, only to stop outside the dining room and start pacing as he’d realized he had no idea what to say.
All the pacing has made him late, and that’s not a great start. So he resolves to just speak from the heart, takes a deep breath, and closes the distance between himself and the double doors, where he stops again at the sound of his father’s voice echoing in the cavernous room.
“…rather not wait, either. You know how excited he is to move forward with his royal duties.”
“He’ll be delighted, I’m sure,” Steve’s mother agrees. “He’s always been so eager to start a family. He can get started right away.”
“Lord knows it’ll be a relief to me, too!”
Listening to their insincere laughter, Steve leans closer to the door. He notices it’s slightly ajar, explaining how he can hear them so clearly through the heavy wood. He tilts his head so that his ear is closer to the gap.
Once the laughter dies down, the king goes on, “To think—in a year or two, we’ll have a new generation of Harringtons.”
Steve rolls his eyes.
“Knowing our boy, it’ll be sooner,” the queen says.
“Oh, don’t say that,” the king chides.
“I don’t mean anything untoward, Richard!” she protests. “I’m only saying they could get started as soon as tomorrow night.”
“You won’t find me tempting fate with talk like that, anyway,” the king says. “Not until he’s got that ring on his finger.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll only have to wait another day, then.”
Steve’s blood turns to ice in his veins. “Tomorrow night”? “Only another day”? Does that mean—?
“When are the guests set to arrive?”
There’s a short pause, then the king answers thoughtfully, “Mid-afternoon, if I recall. That way Steve will have the opportunity to get to know the bride over dinner. That reminds me: make sure his nice suit is laid out for him to greet the wedding party tonight.”
“What do I look like, his valet?” the queen scoffs, but Steve is hardly listening anymore. In fact, the king’s response is lost entirely as he stumbles away from the door.
He stares at the gap like it personally wronged him. Then he turns on his heel and sprints back down the corridor, up the stairs, and all the way to his chambers, where he charges through the door like he’s being chased.
“Steve! How did…?” Eddie trails off, the smile fading from his face as he sits up straighter in bed. “Steve?”
Steve swallows. He knows he must look manic, but he can’t be bothered to hide it. He can barely pull together the wherewithal to mutter, “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I don’t understand, what’s—?”
“The wedding.” He swallows again. It’s useless; his throat is still bone-dry as he croaks out, “The wedding is tomorrow.”
Eddie raises his eyebrows. Cautiously, he says, “Our wedding?”
All Steve can do is look at him.
“Steve. Please tell me you’re talking about us. Because if you’re telling me you’re supposed to be getting married to someone else tomorrow, then…”
He feels his lip trembling, senses his own scent going sour with distress. Still, pitiful eye contact is all he can muster.
“Shit,” Eddie mumbles, shooting to his feet. He’s with Steve in a fraction of a second, holding him close and cocooning him in heady vanilla. Steve breathes it in like he’s surfacing from a lake while Eddie murmurs, “Shh. It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
“We were…supposed to have…a few months,” Steve manages between hiccuping breaths. With his face pressed against the side of Eddie’s neck, he sobs even harder than he did the day he learned of the engagement. “A few months…to convince them…”
Then it all comes crashing down on him: to convince them of what? To convince the king to let his only heir, the key to his dynasty, leave royalty behind altogether? That had never been in the cards. If Steve tried something like that, it would be a one-way ticket to getting locked in a tower like some kind of tragic damsel in a fairytale. Not only would Eddie be banished from the castle grounds—or worse—but Steve would never get to walk in the garden again. He would never be trusted to slip away to his special place among the juniper and ivy. And without the two of them tending it, the garden itself would grow into something unruly that, while undoubtedly still beautiful, would catch the queen’s negative attention, prompting her to have it all mown down in favor of something tacky and artificial.
“Steve,” Eddie coos, “there’s still time.”
“Time for what?” Steve sobs. “Time to run away? Disappear? Because that’s the only thing I can think of. And I hate to say it, but I’m not exactly prepared to live on the road or in the wilderness or something.”
“I think you’re underestimating yourself,” Eddie says. “But that’s not what I was going to suggest, anyway. Well—not entirely.”
His words at least confuse Steve enough to distract him from his tears. “What?”
“We could run away. Just…temporarily.”
“What good would that do? The wedding can wait for me to get back.”
“Not if you’re already married.”
Steve narrows his eyes.
Eddie kisses him, quick and rough, then continues to cradle his face in his hands as he says, “We could elope.”
“Eddie—”
“I mean it! I have a buddy who works at the chapel in town. He can make it official.”
Steve sighs. “That’s all well and good, but they’ll just have it annulled, and then they’ll banish you.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to be bonded before they do.”
He studies Eddie’s face for his usual humor, but comes up short. “Eddie, that’s…that’s really sweet of you, but…”
“But what?”
“What you’re suggesting, I mean…forever? Really? You’re willing to put up with me and all this royal bullshit forever?”
“Why not?” Infuriatingly—endearingly—Eddie actually shrugs and wrinkles his nose along with his easy smile. There must still be some doubt in Steve’s expression, because he turns serious in an instant, the tenderness of his fingers on Steve’s cheek doing far more to convey his devotion than words ever could.
“You hate the idea of royalty,” Steve protests, though his voice quavers, uncertain.
“But I love you.” Eddie’s hand rakes through the hair at Steve’s temple, then circles back down to cradle his jaw. “Darling, I would do anything for you. You’re all I need.”
Again, Steve carefully takes in every inch of Eddie’s face, but he struggles to find any trace of insincerity. “You really mean that, don’t you?” he whispers.
“I do,” Eddie replies. He smiles. “I really, really do.”
Steve takes a deep breath and says, “Then I promise you this: if you spend the rest of your life with me, we’ll be the last kings Hawkins ever knows.”
The ceremony was simple. Eddie found his friend at the tavern next door to the chapel, and the bemused patrons were their witnesses. Steve’s instinct had been to make the affair as private as possible, but Eddie had pointed out that the more people in town got to share the moment with them, the harder it’ll be for the king and queen if they react badly. Because Eddie has long been a presence at the tavern, and because Steve is as well-liked as a somewhat reclusive prince can be, everyone there seemed happy enough to attend their wedding—especially so when Steve, overcome with the heady feeling of being told to kiss his husband, bought another round for everyone.
It seems the news traveled faster than they could, too.
As they approach the castle gates on Steve’s horse, Sir Hopper himself comes striding up the drive with purpose and greets them as, “Your Highness, and…Your Highness.” Several emotions do battle across his brow, though his uncertainty and mild annoyance are no match for the strength of his convictions, and Steve is fairly certain his amusement at the king’s plans going to hell are going to come away victorious.
“Why are you on duty? Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?” Eddie asks.
Hopper ignores the question, looks directly at Steve, and says, “Her Majesty’s been looking for you, I hear.”
“What for?” Steve says innocently. He quirks a daring eyebrow and feels Eddie muffling his laughter at the nape of his neck.
“Your fiancée and her family are set to arrive soon.”
“Fiancée?” Steve furrows his brow and puts on a dramatic frown. “But I’m already married.” With Eddie still giggling into his collar, he lets go of the reins and holds his hand up. The sun glints on the golden band Eddie slipped onto his finger a couple hours ago.
Hopper smirks. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” he remarks.
“Any tips on married life?” Steve jokes in return.
“I think that’s a little above my pay grade, kid. I’m just here to tell you your mother’s in a tizzy.”
“You’re not going to march me to the throne room, are you?”
“And ruin your big day? Joyce wouldn’t ever let me hear the end of it.”
Steve smiles. That’s why he likes Hopper—he’s always been the only one of the royal guard to treat him like a normal guy, and to treat his parents’ orders as optional. Really, it’s the same reason Steve fell for Eddie, and why he had such a rapport with Wayne before he retired and passed down the groundskeeper job.
It’s subdued, but Hopper smiles back. After a moment, he sighs, pretending to be put-upon. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got some royal nuisance to round up. Have either of you come across this guy called ‘Steed’?”
“Never heard of him,” Steve quips. “Weird to be named after a horse, though.”
“That’s what I thought, too. You know, when the queen interrupted my honeymoon to have me to look for him.” He sighs again, though he can’t seem to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. “Well, then. You gentlemen keep an eye out, and let me know if you see him.” With that, Hopper gives a casual salute and marches off in the direction of his quarters, just outside the castle grounds. Over his shoulder, he calls, “And congratulations.”
The whole way to the stables, Steve and Eddie both shake with barely-contained laughter, doing their best not to spook the horse or draw attention to themselves.
On the threshold of his chambers, the full weight of what they’re doing hits Steve. Not in a bad or even an overwhelming way, but in the sense that he’s about to get everything he dreamed of. For once, he refuses to look at it critically, analyzing all the implications; he simply lets the warmth of his new reality radiate through his chest.
Eddie Munson, forever his Eddie.
He whirls to look at him. “I love you,” he says, unable to hold it in.
Smiling, Eddie replies, “I love you.”
Steve crowds into his space, reaches past him to latch the door. He also uses the moment as a shameless excuse to drink in Eddie’s scent, bright and sweet. He closes his eyes and whispers, “Show me.”
He senses Eddie shifting into a squat. It’s the only warning that he’s about to be literally swept off his feet. Eddie chuckles at the surprised yelp that escapes him, and as he carries Steve to bed (Our bed, Steve reminds himself), he says, “I intend to show you just how much you mean to me, sweetheart.”
“Tell me, too?”
“You mean the world.” He gently lays Steve across the sheets and crawls in after him. With his face hovering inches away, he adds, “I would rearrange the stars for you.”
“You already have.” Their lips meet, and as Eddie kisses him—more slow and deliberate than he ever has—he smiles at the truth of it. If not for Eddie, he would be dreading a loveless, cordial marriage at sunrise. He would be biding his time until he can finally take over the kingdom, hoping it might finally make him happy.
He doesn’t have to wait. Not anymore. He’s happy now, fortune be damned. The stars were no match for his Alpha.
Steve also can’t imagine the happiness of ruling over Hawkins would ever hold a candle to the joy flooding him now, the sparks of it that fly wherever Eddie touches him. It’s grounding; wonderful. The very essence of comfort.
“How else should I show you, then?” Eddie asks. His lips sweep over Steve’s cheek to caress the edge of his jaw.
“Make me yours.” Steve swallows to keep from drooling at the feeling of Eddie’s teeth on his skin. “I want you to mark me, so everyone can see.”
Eddie already knows that much, but he must like hearing it again, because he groans into the crook of Steve’s neck, and his hand flexes on Steve’s waist. He’s so close to the right spot; in fact, he nudges it with his nose and inhales deeply. “Mm. You smell so perfect.”
“What do I smell like?” Steve can’t help asking, even here in his marriage bed. Then again, maybe it’s the perfect time to ask. He’s always been curious how his scent comes across to other people, and his husband seems like the right person to describe it.
“Like jasmine and honeysuckle,” Eddie murmurs, and he takes another deep breath. It comes back out on a contented sigh. “Like a summer evening.” He kisses the spot where it’s most concentrated and smooths his hand down over Steve’s hip.
“It’ll be stronger if I’m naked,” Steve giggles.
“Hm. Good point.”
“You’ll need to return the favor, of course.”
“Of course,” Eddie echoes, lifting his head and wrinkling his nose in playful disbelief. “You think I would deny you that? You think I would be so cruel?”
“No, but it’s polite to ask.”
He exhales a laugh, and they make quick work of their clothes. They hadn’t bothered with anything too formal for the wedding itself, knowing they wouldn’t want to deal with so many buttons and buckles afterward, and they’d hardly cared what they would look like anyway. Steve silently thanks his past self for that decision as he settles against a fully nude Eddie in a matter of seconds, breathing his uninhibited vanilla-almond scent.
Skin to skin, with heat passing directly between them, the anticipation builds exponentially. Before long, Steve’s hands rub every inch of Eddie that they can reach. His cock stirs, he aches to be filled, and he can even feel his pulse in his toes. “Eddie, I need you.”
“How?” The breathlessness of it gives away how far gone Eddie is, too.
“On my back,” he murmurs. “I want to see your face.”
“As you wish,” Eddie replies, and he rolls them both over to hover over Steve, holding himself aloft on shaking arms.
Steve uses the new leverage it affords him to spread his legs and bracket Eddie’s hips with his knees. The sudden abundance of his scent on the air has a beautiful effect on Eddie, whose eyes widen as his nostrils flare.
“Fuck,” he hisses.
“That’s the idea,” Steve quips.
The result is a grin and a gentle glare. “I think I’ll be making love to you from now on, Highness,” Eddie counters.
“I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll be gentle all the time. Highness.”
“Opposite, really. I won’t hold back.”
“Please don’t.” He knows Steve’s limits better than anybody, perhaps even Steve.
“Just because you’re precious to me doesn’t mean I won’t give you just what you need.”
“Then do it. Give me what I need.”
Eddie sighs another laugh and leans down for another kiss. It’s sweet and chaste, just like the one that surprised Steve in the garden last week, and he realizes what Eddie had been trying to tell him back then, consciously or not: “I love you, darling. I always did.”
One of the hands that have been all over Steve’s chest disappears, and a moment later he’s being stretched open, the head of Eddie’s cock sliding past his entrance, leading the way for the rest of him. Steve wouldn’t be sure where to separate his whine and Eddie’s low hum if he wanted to—though of course, he doesn’t. They’re too perfect in harmony with each other.
“Eddie,” Steve breathes when he stills, buried to the hilt. He reaches up to brush away the hair that’s falling across Eddie’s face, tucking it behind his ear. “I think you were made for me.”
“I…god, there’s something about being inside you while I can look in your eyes,” Eddie replies.
“You know what might make it better?”
“Mm?”
Steve cups his hand at the back of Eddie’s neck and pulls him closer. He cranes his neck to put his lips right by Eddie’s ear. “Give me your knot,” he reminds him in a husky whisper.
“Fuck. Steve.”
“Get yourself all ready to blow and then stay put. I want it so bad.”
“I know, baby, I know.”
“Then move for me, Eds.”
Eddie rocks his hips, and they both gasp.
“Like that. Holy shit, yes, like that,” Steve babbles.
He moves again, pulling nearly all the way out before slamming home again. It’s deeper than Eddie’s gone since the first time, when they’d both been a little delirious—Steve from his heat, Eddie from the effect it had on his instincts. How he’s managed to give the illusion of being so wild and rough without daring to go all the way again, Steve will never be able to understand. Nor will he ever be able to go back, knowing what it’s like to have Eddie all the way inside him without a thick hormonal fog making the memory hazy.
Steve intends to remember this with perfect clarity. He plants a special corner in his mind’s garden, each flower calling to mind a specific sensation. Vanilla orchids pop up all around as he’s surrounded by Eddie’s scent. Woody honeysuckle vines cling to every surface the same way his own scent clings to Eddie’s skin. Phlox the same pale pink of Eddie’s flushed cheeks carpets the ground—a bed as safe and welcoming as Eddie’s arms. And at the center of it all, there’s a peach tree in full bloom, sure to yield fruit just as sweet as the feeling of being joined with Eddie this way.
“Steve,” Eddie sighs. His rhythm, steady thus far, stutters as his knot catches on Steve’s rim, and suddenly there’s only so far he can move. Even with Steve wetter than he’s ever been outside of a heat, it would take some serious force to pull them apart now.
“I feel it,” Steve gasps. “Keep going. Make me yours, Eddie.” As if to drive the point home, he wraps his legs around Eddie, pressing his heel against the small of his back.
Once again nosing at Steve’s neck, Eddie hums and murmurs, “Forever.” There’s not a hint of trepidation in it. Only pure amazement and adoration.
“Forever,” Steve echoes. “Yours forever.”
Eddie mouths at his skin, then experimentally scrapes at it with his teeth.
Alpha fangs against that most sensitive spot send a jolt of pleasure down Steve’s spine and flood his whole body with white-hot want. Suddenly, it feels like his skin is on fire, and he whimpers and writhes eagerly. “Eddie…please, mark me. Please, please…”
His hands scrabble at Eddie’s sides, desperate to hold on to him but too frantic to keep still. And then Eddie is sinking his teeth into Steve’s tender flesh, and he barely breaks the skin before Steve feels the wonderful snap that has his body arching into Eddie’s and jerking against him. Wave after wave of pleasure crashes over him, only growing more intense the longer Eddie’s mouth stays latched onto him.
Eddie whines just as Steve’s orgasm is finally waning. Thorns of arousal still prickle at him, though, and he begs, “Please, Eddie.”
It seems to be just what he needs, because Eddie shudders, his moans muffled against Steve’s skin, and Steve feels what he’s longed for all these months. Eddie’s cock twitches so violently that he doesn’t even need to keep thrusting. He comes to a halt with his hips pressed close, his cock as deep as it’ll go, filling Steve with more cum than Steve was aware he could produce. At least, it feels that way; maybe that’s just the knot talking.
Regardless, it tips him right over the edge again. He cries out and clutches Eddie’s shoulders to keep from floating away as he’s overtaken by another, more powerful onslaught. His muscles seize up beyond his control, so tight it’s almost painful, but he doesn’t care. Eddie is still coming, still pumping more cum into him, and a second orgasm was inevitable. Plus, it’s not only more pleasure for himself, but it’s also bound to leave him a quivering mess that Eddie will be all too glad to soothe to sleep.
“Steve,” Eddie breathes as soon as he can make himself pull his teeth away. He’s coming down now, but they’re still held together, and he licks at the new mark, soothing the sting. “My precious omega.”
“Thank you,” Steve whispers. “Thank you, thank you…”
“No, thank you, sweetheart.” He chuckles. “They say bonding is more intense than regular sex, but…wow.”
“Wow,” Steve agrees with a breathless giggle.
“So…”
He quirks an eyebrow as Eddie lifts his head to make eye contact. “So?”
Eddie grins wide. “What should we name our first?”
Steve laughs and slaps his shoulder halfheartedly. “You can’t even pull out yet, and you wanna talk baby names?”
“I was thinking something floral, or at least garden-y. What about Juniper? Could call them Junie for short.”
He smiles up at his Alpha. After a beat of contented silence, he remarks, “You’re such a romantic, you know that?”
“’Course I do. And I know you love me for it.” Eddie smiles back, wrinkling his nose. He moves his hand to the mark he left and smooths his thumb over it.
“I do,” Steve says.
“The question is…what will the king and queen think of their new son-in-law?”
“I don’t think they’ll be able to do anything but accept you as you are.” He swallows. “Besides, I think if they haven’t tried to bust the door down, they might be more okay with it than I realized.”
Eddie raises his eyebrows. “Is that a possibility? Them trying to barge in on us like this?”
“Sure. But…I think we’re safe. There’s no way they haven’t gotten word by now. They’re probably busy doing damage control, and I have a feeling tomorrow might be tense, but that’ll probably be the worst of it.”
“Really? They won’t try to do something heinous to pull us apart?”
Steve shakes his head. “They’re not evil, just stupid and shallow. They won’t want to cause a scene. And if we go down to breakfast together, dressed up like a nice royal couple—”
Eddie interrupts him with a disgusted groan, but he’s still got a fond smile on his lips.
“If we show up acting like being together is the most natural thing in the world,” Steve goes on, grinning back, “then they might even think you got their blessing to begin with.”
Clearly surprised in his amusement, Eddie asks, “The plan is to make them feel like they’ve gone insane or something? Pretend I’ve been courting you all this time?”
“Haven’t you?” Steve can practically feel the mischievous sparkle in the gaze he fixes on Eddie.
Under it, Eddie blushes. “Well, I guess so. If you consider fucking around and refusing to admit how hard I was pining for you ‘courting.’”
“I do.”
He narrows his eyes, and his tone is one of faux-suspicion when he remarks, “You keep saying those words today, huh? Do they mean something?”
Steve laughs some more, and he tugs Eddie closer to kiss him silly.
for @softsteddieseptember week 4 prompts "communication" "eavesdropping" "parents" | rating: G | WC: 2626 | cw: hate crimes (past) | This is a sequel to A Long Time Coming but can be read as a standalone. | title is a reference to "you've got a friend" by Carole King
Summary: After band practice, the CC boys confront Eddie about his relationship with Steve.
AO3
There's been a weird energy in Gareth’s garage through all of band practice. He's sure it has to do with Steve. The guys haven’t really warmed up to him as much as Eddie hoped, so he’s been waiting for them to say something. It seems like Steve dropping him off is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Normally, Eddie drives himself but Steve wants to take him to dinner and the drive in tonight. Steve carried his amp inside and kissed him gently before promising to pick him up later. Eddie waved goodbye with a soft smile and ever since, the vibe’s been weird.
They're wrapping up when Eddie finally snaps. Everyone is quietly putting their instruments away and winding up cords when Eddie snaps the case to his sweetheart closed. He turns to his friends with a calculating stare.
“Okay, what's up?” He demands, crossing his arms.
“Nothing, man.” Bear says unconvincingly. But then, Bear did hate confrontation so he's not surprised.
Eddie doesn't acknowledge that, nor does he bother to look at Jeff. Jeff has three siblings, he doesn't flinch under pressure. So, he glares at Gareth, knowing he's going to be the one to crack. It takes less than a minute.
“Why the hell are you dating, Harrington?” He explodes. Even though he knew it was coming, Eddie's still shocked.
“Because I can.” He answers a lilt of confusion in his tone.
“But, what do you see in him man?” Jeff jumps in. “He's a stuck up jock with daddy's money and a savior complex.”
“No he isn't. He was a stuck up jock before, but he's changed into a better person, no longer bound by the crutches of high school prejudice, he's grown out of judging people. Just like I've grown out of it. I thought you guys did too.” His arms hold himself tighter, disappointed in his friends. They haven't bothered to get to know Steve at all since he's been coming around; hell, he didn't stick around for practice because they give him the cold shoulder every time he does. Steve didn't want him to choose between him and the band, probably because he thought Eddie would choose the band.
“I love him.” He says confidently.
“He doesn't love you!” Gareth insists, jumping to his feet and getting into his face. “He's using you. He's probably waiting for Nancy Wheeler to drop Johnathon and leading you on to get his dick wet in the mean time; playing gay with the freak until she's back on the market. Hell, he'll probably wait until she puts out to break it off with you!” He's pacing now, waving his hands back and forth as he rants. “If he even bothers to tell you! Guys like that? He’ll stop returning your calls the second he’s got his girl.”
Eddie doesn't say anything. He just lets them continue, wants to see how deep of a hole they're willing to dig themselves.
“Yeah, who better to fuck around with than a guy the town already hates?” Jeff says. “If you admit to anyone that you two hooked up, it'll get you killed and he'll walk away scot free with a key to the city.”
“Are you done?” Eddie asks with a quirked brow. He knows why they're saying this shit, he just doesn't want to hear anymore.
“We're worried about you man. That's all. We’ve seen you here before, smitten about a someone who barely considers you better than the gum on their shoe. You're always the one who’s fucked over while they're off doing whatever.” Bear whispers. “We just don't want you to get hurt again.” There's genuine fear in his voice now. Gareth puts a hand on Bear's shoulder and squeezes once. Turning to Eddie, he takes a deep breath.
“Steve and you know who run in the same circles. They're families are friends. I know you believe Steve won't hurt you like that, but you also never thought he would do what he did. We love you Eds, and we don't want history to repeat itself. We want to trust him, we do. It's just…” Gareth trails off.
“The last time we trusted a rich jock you almost died.” Bear admits. “We don't want to make that mistake again.”
Eddie waves them forward and they fall into a group hug, surrounding him on all sides. Someone sniffles, probably Gareth, and Eddie pulls back to look at each of them in turn. His band, his friends, his brothers. Even though he's upset that they think so lowly of Steve, he's glad they're looking out for him.
They're right about one thing, his relationships never end well. Girls only dating him to piss off their parents, guys use him for sex in the cover of darkness and then move on without a word. It's not great to date as Eddie Munson.
Then there was his last boyfriend. He was everything those others weren't. Sweet, kind. Introduced himself to Wayne, and won over the band; he wasn’t ashamed to kiss Eddie or hold his hand in front of their friends. James was the real deal.
Until, his father walked in on them kissing. They were laying on the couch, James was on top; It wasn't anything particularly obscene, just a little making out. But even still, his father accused Eddie of poisoning his son and ranted about going to the police.
James told the man he didn't want anyone to know he'd been cursed by a fag. A small kindness as he turned against him.
He doesn't remember exactly what happened after that, he just knows James and his father took turns wailing on him until he was near death. They packed him up in the passenger seat of his van and drove him to the side of the road. Took a bat to the hood to make it look like Eddie hit something and dragged him into the driver's seat. Ditched him and his van.
They probably hoped he'd die.
And he would have, had it not been for Hopper stumbling upon him an hour or so later. He got Eddie to the hospital, he lost a lot of blood, had a few broken bones, and was covered in bruises from head to toe… to heart.
After, Hopper asked him a lot of questions and Eddie was too hopped up on pain meds to lie. He's lucky Hopper's one of the good ones or it could have been a lot worse. Eddie didn't want to press charges, said it was more dangerous than just letting it go.
Officially, the attack was labeled as a hit and run car crash by some rogue out of towner. Eddie “got thrown out” of the car to explain away his injuries and Hopper threatened James’ family into paying the medical bills.
So Eddie can understand where his friends are coming from. Steve does have a similar background to James, rich jock born from the loins of a richer jockier father. But they don't know Steve like Eddie does.
They don’t know that Steve sat on his bedside for weeks as he healed from those bat bites, or that Steve answers his calls in the middle of the night when he has nightmares, and stays up with him for hours. They don’t know that Eddie’s been gun shy about sex due to his past, and in the six months they’ve been together Steve hasn’t pressured him about it once. They don’t know that when Eddie told him the full story, Steve called his dad and asked him to fire James’ father and get him blacklisted from as many companies as he could, and Rich did so without hesitation.
They’re wrong about Steve, and it’s up to Eddie to tell them. He’s more than happy to do so.
“Steve loves me.” Eddie smiles. “You don't have to believe me, but he does. He’s not afraid of it either. I know you think he’s going to leave me for Nancy but three months ago I overheard him tell her in no uncertain terms that I was it for him.” Eddie smiles, a soft dreamy thing. The conversation runs through his mind as he remembers the strong conviction in Steve's voice. “Wayne loves him. Even when he tried to scare Steve off he didn’t budge. Hell, Hopper threatened him with a shotgun and he barely bat an eye.”
A snort left Gareth’s mouth at that. Ever since Hopper found him that night, the chief of police has since gotten very protective of Eddie and has been cracking down on the hate. Surprisingly, Hawkins is a lot safer to be open in than he ever thought it would be; like “The Castro” in Indiana.
“But what about his parents?” Bear asks soberly. It's a good question given everything, but Eddie smiles wider if that's even possible.
“Rich and Marie Harrington love me almost as much as they love Steve, maybe more.” He laughs. “We have dinner once a week.”
Eddie tells them about the investment account Rich made in Eddie’s name, that he’s teaching him about so he can “start out right”, like his father-in-law did for him. He tells them that Rich is in talks with the family lawyer to get him set up with a trust fund, just like his mother did for Marie. Something for her to fall back on if Rich ever fucked up and she wanted out; something Eddie said he didn’t need but Rich wouldn’t allow him to refuse. It was a way for him to honor his mother’s memory and Eddie knew what that loss felt like so he did his best to graciously accept.
He tells them about the fancy lunches Rich takes him on; introducing him to his associates as his “future son-in-law”. At first, the others were hesitant to accept Eddie, but Rich reminded them those views were the same as his own father and they changed their tune. Apparently, the man was a raging asshole, hated by all who worked for him and when Rich took over he swore the company would work to erase his hate from the world. In a final fuck you to Richard Harrington Sr., Rich started a non-profit to support gay youth in the dead bastard’s name. It’s beautiful revenge in Eddie’s opinion and he hopes the asshole rots in hell.
That’s not even mentioning Marie. They go out for coffee all the time and at first it was to get to know him without Steve there, to make sure Eddie was good for her baby boy. But now, it’s more of a gab session before her book club. The club of socialites and senator wives she’s been lobbying to legalize gay marriage. Last Eddie heard, most of them were on board with it, and all of them were willing to convince their husbands to buy stock in pharmaceutical companies to research an HIV vaccine and cure.
“When Steve introduced me to them he was nervous but he didn’t want to hide us. After one dinner Rich made him promise to treat me right because ‘this one’s a keeper’.” He makes air quotes with his fingers as he speaks. “Marie’s a little old school, she chaperones our dates when she's in town. It's annoying but sweet.”
“Wait, his dad is setting you up a full retirement fund and his mom is trying to get you hitched?” Jeff exclaims. Before Eddie can answer, a voice shouts behind them.
“They’re what?!” The four of them turn in shock to see Steve standing in the doorway with wide eyes.
“Stevie! How long have you been standing there?” Eddie squeaks.
“Never mind that, my parents are doing what?!” He asks stumbling into the garage.
“Rich wants to make me comfortable and Marie wants me to have a autumn wedding.” Eddie shrugs like it's not that big a deal.
“No offense, but why is Richard Harrington making an investment account in your name?” Gareth asks, in shock. Turning back to his friends, Eddie smiles sheepishly.
“I guess it’s what his father did for him when he was young and since my old man’s in jail he thought it was the right thing to do.” Eddie’s smile turned impish. “Plus apparently Marie’s father was down right mean and classist. So, they’re using the funds she inherited from the old douche when he passed as like a fuck you to him.”
The group bursts into laughter. It starts small and builds into something bigger and more free.
“How did Marie convince the book club ladies?” Bear asks.
“Her angle was ‘if England can give them a hospital and Princess Diana can shake hands with an aids survivor, then America has to do better; we have to give them hope and a cure.’” Eddie cringes a little at the political stump speech energy but shrugs. “It looks like it worked, last I heard two senators were drafting a bill.”
There's a moment of silence as they all contemplate all of what Eddie just said. It seems to have calmed the boys down a little and the relief in their eyes when they look at Steve is almost palpable.
“Why an autumn wedding?” Steve asks, breaking the silence. Eddie turns to his boyfriend and grins widely.
“She asked me about my perfect wedding and I said it was Halloween themed on Halloween.” There’s a slight glimmer to his eye as Steve purses his lips; probably trying to let him down easy. “Don’t worry baby. Marie said there was nothing tackier than a wedding on or themed around a holiday but she will compromise and pick a different day in October.” There’s no stopping the laughter that bulbs out of him at Steve’s confusion and shock.
“She’s willing to compromise? What about my perfect wedding?” Steve huffs, no longer seeming to care about the rest of the conversation.
“I asked don’t get me wrong.” Holding his hands up in surrender, he steps closer and wraps his arms around Steve’s shoulders.
“What did she say?” Steve whispers, kissing him softly. Eddie cackles, knowing his answer is going to make Steve blush.
“She said your perfect wedding was the one when I was the groom. You wouldn’t notice anything else.” Just like he predicted, Steve’s face turns bright red and he tucks his face into Eddie’s neck.
“That’s the most disgusting thing I have ever heard.” Gareth says, faking a gag. “Get out of my garage and go on your date.” He waves his hand toward the door dramatically. Pulling away from Steve, Eddie turns to his friends one more time.
“We’re all good now right? You’re gonna start being nicer to my future husband?” Eddie asks, only half joking about that last part. The three boys make eye contact and have a silent conversation before they all nod as one.
“We’re good.” Bear promises.
“We promise to be nicer but if you guys start being really gross I will spray you with a hose.” Jeff jokes good naturedly.
“We’ll be good.” Steve replies. But Eddie smirks slyly and bites Steve on the neck making him yelp.
“I make no such promise.” Eddie laughs. He runs and hugs his friends tightly, whispering so only they can hear. “Thanks for looking out for me and for giving him a chance.” The arms around him somehow get tighter and when they pull apart they all have misty eyes.
Steve’s waiting by the garage door, Eddie’s sweetheart over his shoulder. There’s no tension in his shoulders like there used to be, and he seems lighter.
“Doing okay?” He asks Eddie softly.
“Never better baby.” Eddie slings his arm around Steve’s waist with a smile and a wave at his friends. “Never better.”
Rating: E 🔒 Words: 1.6k 🔒 Tags: One Year Anniversary, Pool Sex, slight Dom/sub, Overstimulation, Dom Top Eddie, sub Bottom Steve
For: @steddiesmuttyseptember - Pool
@softsteddieseptember - Anniversary
@steddiebingo Round 2 - Rough Sex
Part 1
Ao3
Steve was vibrating, he was so fucking excited. It was their one year anniversary and Steve had plans.
Earlier in the evening they’d made dinner together, Eddie had brought home flowers they’d put in a Death Star vase on the table, and Steve gave Eddie the abstract painting of his favorite scene from Lord of the Rings Steve had commissioned Will to paint. Afterwards, they’d made their way to bed and made the sweetest, slowest love to each other they’d had in all their one whole year together. And then they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms. It was gentle and sweet and perfect.
Steve’s plans were considerably less sweet.
He set the note on his pillow, grabbed his prepared bag, set the alarm on his side of the bed, and headed out, leaving a trail of rose petals to the hallway.
-
Eddie jolted awake to Steve’s alarm blaring through the room. “Steeeeve,” he said sleepily, patting an arm over at Steve.
Steve wasn’t there.
Eddie stretched to smack the alarm off and propped himself up, looking blearily around the room. Odd.
He laid back down, face smushed to Steve’s pillow…and a piece of paper. He hummed to himself, rolling to flick a lamp on, and read the note Steve left for him.
Come find me <3
Well, never let it be said Eddie can’t follow directions. He rolled out of bed, feet hitting soft petals. Eddie pulled on a pair of boxers and let the flowers lead him to his Stevie.
The hall was lit with the shifting blue light from the pool above him. The petals stopped halfway down the hall.
Eddie looked around for another clue. Someone’s shadow flickered along the walls. Of course there was someone swimming at three o’clock in the morning. He glanced up to see which of the older residents was doing laps when they couldn’t sleep-
Fuck.
Eddie’s jaw literally dropped open in shock, his hand hitting the wall for support.
Steve.
Naked.
His feet planted on the glass separating them, head tipped back so all Eddie could see was his lusciously covered chest.
And his hand slowly stripping his cock.
Found you, baby.
-
Sweat clung to Steve’s lip and hairline. The water was warm and the room was humid. And he was unbelievably turned on.
Knowing Eddie would see him like this, on display for him, performing for him, Steve’s gut clenched. He reached a hand down to squeeze himself, wanting to last. Needing Eddie with him, in him, when he came. It was their anniversary after all.
They’d joked about doing this, that first time Eddie showed him his place and told him how couples would use the pool without regard for Eddie seeing them…or maybe because Eddie might see them. Though the exhibitionists did taper off once Steve moved in. Especially, since Steve had no problem whatsoever making sly, bitchy comments to said neighbors when they ran into each other in the building’s restaurant, all said with a smile, of course.
Steve reached over, digging around in the bag for the lube. He added a few drops to his hand, reaching back in the water, pressing a flat palm against his cock, trapping it against his belly.
Eddie, where was Eddie? Steve’s chest heaved, hips humping upward, using his own hand to find relief. His head tipped back, mouth open sucking in air. He was getting too close. He just needed-
“Look at you, baby.”
Eddie’s voice sliced through the pulses of arousal fogging his head. Steve found Eddie through blurry eyes, stalking along the lap pool down toward him, focused and predatory – naked, hard, sleep wild curls hanging around his shoulders, Steve’s mouth watered.
“Such a pretty show you put on. And all for me? How did I get so fucking lucky.”
“Eddie,” Steve panted out, breaths coming out quick, hips still shifting up and back, lost in the movement of the water.
“Baby,” Eddie tsked, “you couldn’t even wait for me to find you. Got all worked up on your own, don’t even need me.”
Steve let out a cry, reaching out toward Eddie. “Nooo, I do. I need you. Please, Eddie.”
Eddie crouched, swishing a hand through the water, droplets cooling Steve’s heated skin. “Well, then. How can I deny you when you look so pretty and fucked out.”
With a smile, Eddie slipped into the water. Steve smiled back, lifting his chin as Eddie pushed through the water to press a soft kiss to his lips. Steve hummed as Eddie cupped his hips, pushing him hard against the wall, the water splashing out around them, bringing their bodies flush to each other.
Eddie lined their cocks up between their bodies, moving his hips rough and uncoordinated. He tipped his lips against Steve’s ear, “This all you wanted, baby? Better than your hand, at least?”
Steve shook his head, rubbing their noses together, and twined his arms around Eddie’s neck. He pecked Eddie on the lips and looked up through his eyelashes. “Want you to fuck me, Eddie. Please? Want you to make me yours for everyone to see.”
Eddie’s besotted smile turned sharp. Steve shivered, his belly tightened and his hole pulsed with need.
Eddie slid a hand into his hair, fisting hard against his scalp, tipping his head back. With teeth against Steve’s throat, he growled, “Honey, the entire building knows you’re mine.”
He licked up Steve’s neck, sucking and nipping along the corded muscle. Steve whimpered, angling to give him more room, more skin to mark. It wasn’t enough though. No, he needed Eddie in him and he was tired of asking nicely.
Steve tightened his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and pressed his back to the wall, letting the water lift him up, letting him easily wrap his legs around Eddie’s waist. He reached down to line Eddie up with his hole-
“Tsk, baby, you’re so impatient. Couldn’t even let me take my time with you after making me track you down in the middle of the night.”
Steve’s eyes fluttered, tears pooling along his lashes. “Eddie, please.”
Eddie ran a thumb under his eye, catching a stray tear, shushing him gently. “Okay, baby. You’ve been so good for me, setting up this little surprise, being so polite. I’ve got you.”
Eddie pressed a soft kiss against his lips, hooked his fingers under Steve’s ass and thrust up in one hard swift motion.
Steve gasped as the tears broke free, digging blunt nails into Eddie’s bare shoulder. He was still open from earlier and he’d added more lube when he’d gotten in the pool, but fuuuck.
“Brace yourself,” Eddie commanded, firm hands holding Steve’s hips flush to his pelvis, he stepped away from the wall. Steve fell back, laying bent arms on the ledge, fingers curled hard around the lip of the pool. His head fell back, hair brushing the floor with each of Eddie’s hard thrusts, Steve letting him – begging him to – use him.
Steve couldn’t catch his breath, hiccuping out cries and pleas. He was nearly horizontal across the water with no leverage to push back or slow Eddie, using all his strength to just stay on the ledge. But Eddie had him – fingers digging into the meat of his thighs, thrusting hard and rhythmic, making waves of water splash out all around them, darkening the concrete.
“Touch yourself, Stevie. Come on my cock.”
“Ah! I don’t- I can’t- Ed-” Steve wanted to tell him he’d fall if he let go of the ledge, but his head was getting fuzzy and words were getting hard. Tears fell into his hair.
Eddie stepped forward, hooking Steve’s ankles behind his back. “Come on, baby, up you go.” He pulled Steve off the wall, hugging him to his chest. Steve pressed his face into Eddie’s hair, hooking an arm around his neck, he slid a hand down between their bodies to wrap around his cock.
Eddie bounced him on his cock, the water’s buoyancy helping him keep a quick pace. Steve cried out, sinking teeth into the meat of Eddie’s shoulder. He stroked his cock, one, two, three times before he was tensing up, shuddering in Eddie’s arms. The cock within him suddenly felt too big, still thrusting up into his tight hole.
Steve draped himself over Eddie, loosely holding himself up, letting Eddie use his body. Eddie kissed along his shoulders, his arm, breaths panting hard into his skin. With one last hard thrust, he came deep within him, squeezing Steve to him in a desperate hug.
-
Eddie’s breathing slowly evened as he stood in the pool holding a limp Steve in his arms.
“Baby? You awake?” He brushed Steve’s hair back from his tear stained face.
“Mmmm,” Steve hummed with his eyes closed, but smiling and rubbing his cheek along Eddie’s shoulder.
Eddie chuckled, dropping a hard kiss to Steve’s cheek. “Just realizing now that post sex check out’s a lot easier when we’re already in our bed. I see you brought a bag, though. Okay, let me just prop you against the wall here.”
Eddie pulled the bag closer and dug through it, finding a couple towels and their silk robes. That’ll work.
It took some bodily maneuvering and then bringing Steve further back to reality, but they finally made their way back down to their apartment. Steve tried to fall into bed, already nearly asleep, but Eddie pulled them into the shower for a rise off. He patted them dry and then let Steve crawl into bed, Eddie right behind him.
They curled together, asleep in seconds, content, sated, and secure in the knowledge that this anniversary was only the first of the rest of their lives.
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Wedding + Lake | Teen & UP | Complete WC: 9,435 | no cw
Finished! Honestly, the last chapter it is just me wanting to be super sweet and showing how in love they are haha.
Hope you enjoyed this fic! This week will be a short one (two chapters) following the next prompts.
When Steve Harrington had to be part of a blind date event, he really wasn't enjoying the idea. But after knowing Amelia E. Munson and maybe trying something serious with her, Steve's September become the best with every week. There were secrets to learn, and maybe things about himself, but at the end he knew it would be okay.
Chapter 03 - NEXT WEDDING
"There. Much better, big boy."
"Thanks… I don't have to fix anything for you. You are more than perfect."
Amelia's laugh always made his heart go faster.
"Are you guys ready?" Robin asked. "Or do you need a moment?"
"Oh, don't be jealous." Chrissy giggled, holding her arm. "You look more than handsome, too. Love what you did to your hair."
Steve decided to save his friend as her cheeks became brighter, quickly holding Amelia's waist to begin their walk towards the lake.
Hype's Filthy Fluffy Forty - Soft and Slow + Sapphic September - Day 24 : Ballgown + Soft Steddie September 2025 - Week 3 : Wedding - 20.09.2025
I decided to combine one of @just-my-latest-hyperfixation's prompts with one from the @sapphic-september's prompts and also with one of the prompts from Week 3 of the @softsteddieseptember event 😊💕
Hyper's Filthy Fluffy Forty : Day 1 - (You got me) In the palm of your hand | first times | written in the stars / Day 2 - Just add water | outdoor sex | summer romance / Day 3 - Hic sunt dracones | monsterfucking | soul bond / Day 4 - Possession | BDSM | hurt/comfort / Day 5 - Whatever you want it to be | heat/rut | courtship / Day 6 - Someone who cares | domestic fluff / Day 7 - Saltwater Symphony | (semi-) public nudity | love songs
Sapphic September 2025 : Day 1 - Quill / Day 2 - Voyage / Day 3 - Laurels / Day 4 - Discovery / Day 5 - Inheritance / Day 6 - Wild West / Day 7 - Aeroplane / Day 8 - Corset / Day 9 - Kimono / Day 10 - Industry / Day 11 - Hieroglyph / Day 12 - Cartography / Day 13 - Wartime / Day 14 - Gold Rush / Day 15 - Revolution / Day 16 - Archeology / Day 17 - Ivory / Day 18 - Timepiece / Day 19 - Treasure / Day 20 - Lighthouse / Day 21 - Nobility / Day 22 - Millenium / Day 23 - Jade / Day 25 - Theatre / Day 26 - Sculpture / Day 27 - Holy / Day 28 - Oracle / Day 29 - Chiffon / Day 30 - Scroll
Soft Steddie September 2025 : Week 1 - Strangers to Lovers | Blind Date | Party | Cooking | Fairy Tale // Week 2 - Friends to Lovers | First Date | Secret | Falling | Pool // Week 3 - Surprise | Love at First Sight | Second Meeting // Week 4 - Communication | Eavesdropping | Parents | Wrong Number | Anniversary // Week 5 - Modern AU | Sunrise | Flowers
Sapphic Steddie getting married - 20.09.2025
I had a lot of fun drawing this :3
I hope you'll like it Hype !
Done using ink pens, graphite pencils, alcohol markers, colored pencils and Photoshop for the lace motifs, the jewelry, hairclip, the background and the hearts and fireflies effects
AO3 post 1 / AO3 post 2 / AO3 post 3 / Bluesky post / DeviantArt post / Instagram post / Pillowfort post / Twitter post
Rating: M | Word Count: ~9k | Tags: Steve Harrington Needs A Hug, Hurt/Comfort, First Kisses, Mild Frottage, Day Trips, Eddie Munson Takes Care Of Steve Harrington, Loneliness
Eddie needs a ride to Indy for a concert. Steve just wants somebody to spend the day with him, so he won't feel so lonely.
Read on AO3
@steddiesmuttyseptember Week 3: Secret, Knees
@softsteddieseptember Week 3: Surprise
If somebody told Eddie a year ago that he would kneel in the middle of Family Video on a random Thursday night in front of one Steve Harrington, he would have declared them the biggest jester of the royal court of Hawkins. Or clinically insane and ready for an extended vacation at Pennhurst.
But here he is. Kneeling. Begging.
Steve’s doing his soccer mom stance in front of Eddie’s antics, hands on his hips, head cocked to the side, lips pressed into a thin line. If Steve’s going to push a hand through his hair, he’s going to look the most Steve he could possibly look, Eddie thinks.
“Please, Harrington? Pretty, pretty, plea~se?”
“Can’t I just lend you the money, and you get your van repaired?”
“No way they’ll fix her before I have to leave to make it in time for the concert.” Plus, Eddie would be loath to owe Steve a financial debt. An emotional debt he can handle, find ways to pay him back, but since he cannot deal drugs anymore, it’s much harder for him to get enough money to pay for the repair of his piece-of-shit car. (Sorry, Berta, I didn’t mean that. You know you're my best girl.)
“What about the bus?”
“Doesn’t come here anymore after all the ‘earthquakes’.”
Steve sighs and clicks his tongue.
“Please, Steve? Won’t you be my saviour?” He flutters his lashes for emphasis.
“It’s not that I don’t want to— It’s just that tomorrow is…”
“You’ve got a hot date?”
Strangely enough, Steve grimaces at that.
“Not exactly,” he says and finally pushes that hand through his hair. It gives Eddie immense satisfaction, like when a marble rolls down the precise path into a hole. “More like the opposite of that.”
“So, you’re free?” Eddie shuffles closer on his knees on the hard floor.
“Well…”
“Steve,” Eddie says more seriously now, making his eyes large and round on purpose. “If you do this for me, I’ll be forever in your debt. I’ll do anything you want me to. Clean your car? Do your dishes for a week? Take Henderson off your hands for a month? Massage your shoulders after your shifts? Anything.”
“Anything?”
Eddie nods, but the weird whimsy smile on Steve’s face worries him a little.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Ha!” Eddie claps his hand and jumps back onto his feet.
“Under one condition.”
“Uh? Sure?”
“You’ll spend the day together with me before the concert. As a friend.”
“In Indy, you mean?”
“Yeah, in Indy. We’ll hang out and have lunch together somewhere. That way it won’t be a total waste of my time.”
Eddie must look a little stunned because Steve deflates and lowers his arms.
“Unless that sounds like a horrible idea?”
“No,” Eddie waves him off. “I mean, by all means, Harrington, let’s make a day out of it. I just— Are you sure that’s all you want in return? You could’ve had me service you for a while.”
Eddie cringes, heat crawling into his neck. “I mean, do acts of service for you.”
Steve shakes his head and laughs. “Yeah, I don’t need any of that. Just hanging out is fine. As friends.”
Eddie narrows his eyes. He knows he hasn’t been exactly forthcoming with attention after the whole Vecna thing. It had taken a bitch of a time to heal, and well, he never considered that Steve would actually want Eddie to hang around besides the occasional overlap when they spent time with the brats. But the way Steve keeps emphasizing the friends part makes Eddie think that Steve somehow assumes that Eddie’s against the idea on principle.
"Am I boring to you?" Steve asks abruptly, and Eddie's head pops up, an inquisitive look on his face.
Then, he smiles.
"Steve Harrington, you've never been boring to me a single day that we've known each other."
► read the fifth chapter of How To Lose Your Roommate in Six Weeks [rating: e] on ao3!
This chapter fills the prompt "surprise & communication" for @softsteddieseptember as well as "knees, spit & leather" for @steddiesmuttyseptember and "tattoo artist au" on my @steddiebingo card.
Written for @softsteddieseptember prompt "wedding," and @steddiesmuttyseptember prompt "love confession." Note that this is part 3/5 of a longer fic, but it should make enough sense as a standalone.
Rating: M (no smut, just mild discussion of past experiences) | CW: unreasonable parental expectations, forced arranged marriage, light angst | Word Count: 2,705 | Tags: royalty AU, omegaverse, omega prince Steve, alpha groundskeeper Eddie, frenemies with benefits to lovers, emotional hurt/comfort, background Jopper, jealous Eddie, cameo characters | ao3 | part 1 | part 2
As prince, one of Steve’s minor duties is to attend funerals and weddings of important people. Normally, that would make him want to throw himself from the castle’s highest tower, but there are two major differences with this particular occasion.
First, it’s a celebration of the love between two people he actually cares about, and a lot of his friends are in attendance as a result. He actually volunteered to represent the royal family on his own—something he’s confident the groom appreciates, considering he’s never been too fond of the king and queen. Steve is pretty sure the only reason Sir Hopper still serves as captain of the guard is because he fears what the kingdom would become without his influence.
Second, Steve has done something that’s bound to make the evening’s dullest moments more interesting. He’s done the unthinkable—something he was only capable of doing because his parents are away with his future in-laws, hammering out the details of his own wedding.
Steve invited Eddie to keep him company.
It’s the most fun he’s had at a party in a long while. For the first time in years, Steve isn’t spending the whole night dancing with heiresses and duchesses, being tried on as arm candy. Instead he gets to joke with his favorite people, including a certain groundskeeper whose penchant for lewd humor had him blushing all through dinner. Now, watching the other guests at the reception, Eddie mutters under his breath about all the things he’s learned just by paying close attention the other people who frequent the palace grounds, sending Steve into fresh bouts of giggles with each revelation.
“And that guy over there—what’s his name again?”
“Sir Callahan,” Steve supplies.
“Right, Callahan. He’s afraid of cats. Deathly afraid.”
“Of cats?” he says, disbelieving.
Eddie nods. “Swear to god. I saw him draw his sword on a feral tabby once, but when it got closer to him, he took off running. Screamed like a little girl.” He smirks. “I may have mentioned it to his girlfriend later.”
Steve snorts into his beer and remarks, “Serves him right for telling the king I was climbing down the drainpipe to get around my bodyguards.”
“What?” Eddie laughs.
“I never told you about that?”
“No, I don’t think you did.”
“It was right after I presented. They were so worried I was going to do something scandalous, like get knocked up by some peasant. So they put guards outside my chambers and made them escort me everywhere. I had to sneak out just to go to my secret corner of the garden.”
“Wait, seriously?”
Steve rolls his eyes. “It backfired on them, anyway. Dad caught me on my knees for one of the guards. Next day, I was free to come and go as I pleased as long as I promised not to seduce any more soldiers.”
Eddie’s whole face goes red, and at first Steve is confused. It makes more sense when he clears his throat and mumbles, “Who was it?”
Steve raises his eyebrows. “Why?” He doesn’t need Eddie to be honest—his gruff tone is answer enough. But he can’t resist egging him on.
“Just curious.”
Bullshit, Munson. “Oh, Eds,” Steve pretends to scold. “What’s all this about? You some kind of jealous Alpha, after all?”
“What? No!” He clears his throat again. “No. You know I’m not into that, uh…all that possessive crap.”
“Sure,” Steve says. Teases, really.
“I’m not! If I was, would I be willing to watch you dance with Alpha after Alpha for years on end, looking for one to marry?”
“If I recall correctly, you said those Alphas weren’t a threat because they didn’t know what they were doing.”
“Well, they didn’t. And I’m not threatened by your fiancée, either, because rumor has it she’s got some little commoner of her own,” Eddie snipes.
Steve blinks, startled. “What?”
Eddie freezes. “Oh. I, um…”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“I just…uh…”
“Eddie,” Steve demands, “are you talking out of your ass, or do you know something I don’t?”
With his jaw clenched, Eddie stares at the floor in front of them. He takes a long time to answer. “Okay, so I don’t know if it’s true. Like I said, it’s a rumor. At the king’s party, after we…you know.” He coughs into his hand instead of saying it out loud in mixed company, even with the hushed tone he’s using. “I went back to the kitchen to steal some cake, and everybody was talking about a couple of the guests getting caught in the garden, near the pond with the water lilies. So I did some digging. Asked around. Most people think it was the Lady and one of her entourage. A beta.” He purses his lips. “Most of them think her parents found out, and that’s why they accepted the proposal on her behalf.”
“Holy shit,” Steve whispers.
“Yeah.” Eddie chuckles humorlessly. “So…I guess at least you probably won’t be the only one with something extramarital.”
“Yeah,” Steve echoes, breathless. “I guess not.”
That should be a relief. Maybe he and his wife, who was admittedly one of the few Alpha girls to make him laugh in the short time they spent together, will have the sort of political marriage that’s more like friendship. Platonic, and purely contractual. For logistical purposes only. She could have her love affair, and he could have his, and they would only be bonded to keep the public—and their families—in the dark. Steve can picture it so clearly in his head: days spent politely holding her hand in the throne room, clandestine nights spent with Eddie.
Except…that’s not enough. It’s not what he wants.
He wants to be holding Eddie’s hand at court, with a fierce and passionate grip. He wants to spend his nights with Eddie in their shared bed, not in whatever drafty corner of the castle they can get away with. He wants a nest that smells like Eddie, wants to feel Eddie’s teeth sinking into his skin to mark him. He wants pups with wild, dark curls running around in the garden they planted together.
“Highness?” Eddie says, yanking Steve free from the current of thoughts set on carrying him away.
“Hm?” Steve says, lifting his head. It’s not until he sees the look on Eddie’s face and smells the bitterness of his concern on the air that he notices the mucus in his throat. Absently, he lifts a hand to his own cheek. When he pulls it away, he stares at the moisture on his fingertips like he’s never seen tears before.
“Highness…”
“I’m sorry,” he mutters, casting his eyes back to the floor and wiping his cheeks impatiently. “I don’t know…what…”
He trails off as Eddie’s fingers find his chin, lifting his face. “Steve.”
“Yes?”
“There’s something you’re not telling me about all this.”
Steve snorts derisively, though there’s not any real venom in it. “You’re one to talk.”
“Are you upset about her having someone else? Because honestly, that’s pretty rich. I mean—”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just all so much to take in,” he fibs.
Eddie frowns, contrite. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. Here you are, trying to have a good time and take your mind off the whole thing, and I’m shoving it in your face.”
The truth is that every minute Steve spends with Eddie is a reminder of what he can’t have, and he brought that on himself. But he’s not about to say that out loud. He looks around and tries, “Maybe going to a wedding wasn’t a great way to forget I’m tying the knot soon.”
Eddie’s smile is sad. Sympathetic. “Probably not.”
Steve looks around again. The band has struck up a slow tune, and all across the ballroom, people are coupling up. Most of his friends have a partner to dance with—Henderson with his beloved Suzie-poo, Lucas and Max together, the bride and groom. His eyes linger on Sir Hopper and Lady Joyce, taking in the unadulterated joy on their faces, and fresh tears threaten him at the thought that he won’t have the chance to be so happy on his wedding day.
Suddenly, he wants to run. He needs to.
The feeling must be evident in the downward curl of his trembling lip, because Eddie whispers, “Do you want to get out of here?” and there’s not a hint of the double-entendre that he would normally use.
Wordlessly, Steve nods. He swipes at the only new tear that managed to fall, takes Eddie by the arm, and leads him from the ballroom.
“I forgot how cozy this place is,” Eddie remarks.
Steve only half listens. He’s too busy marching to his bed, exhausted from such an emotionally taxing week, and falling face-first into the covers. His voice comes out muffled when he replies.
“Pardon?” Eddie chuckles.
He rolls over and repeats, “That’s ’cause the rest of the castle’s a fucking icebox.”
“I don’t just mean it’s warmer in here.”
“Neither do I.”
Eddie chuckles again. “Fair enough.” He approaches the window and stares down into the garden. “Huh. You can see your secret corner from up here.”
“Get away from there,” Steve mumbles halfheartedly. “Someone might see you.”
“So? They’ll see a loyal servant returning His Highness to his chambers, ensuring his safety from any ruffians or thugs he might encounter.”
“Right. All those ruffians and thugs roaming the palace grounds are a huge problem.”
Eddie nods sagely. “You never know where one might be lurking. Plenty of dark corners.”
“Lucky for me, I already know all the dark corners to look out for.” Steve quirks an eyebrow. “So do you.”
“Which makes it extra necessary for me to accompany you all the way to your nest, my liege.” Eddie makes a dramatic bow. “Another pair of eyes.”
Steve shakes his head, smiling fondly. “Well then, I thank you, sir.”
“‘Sir’? My, my. Imagine—the prince calling me ‘sir.’”
“Don’t have to imagine it. I just did.”
“I’ll be holding that over the other servants’ heads forever.”
He lets out a sharp exhale, equal parts melancholy and amused. “Feel free. They should know how special you are.”
Their eyes meet, as they have a hundred times before. Only there’s something different now—some sort of new understanding that Steve doesn’t recognize from all their past encounters. Eddie’s lips even form a small, silent oh, telling Steve that he noticed it too.
“Anyway. I suppose I should bid you adieu,” Eddie finally says. He smiles, soft and sweet. “Goodnight, Your Highness. For your sake, I hope your future queen finds you half as lovely as I do.” He turns to the closed door, and his hand is on the latch when Steve speaks up.
“Eddie,” he says, a bit panicked at the idea of him leaving. It feels too…final. Like if he doesn’t say something else, all the joy he’s felt tonight will drain out of his chest, and he’ll never be able to get it back.
Eddie turns his head, and Steve is startled to see his eyes shining.
Reaching for anything that might keep him here in the room, Steve asks, “Do you remember the first time?”
Blinking, Eddie says, “You mean our first time together?”
Steve nods.
“Of course I do. Do you?”
He nods again.
How could he forget it? It was the day he learned Alphas could smell like flowers. Eddie’s scent of musky vanilla and almond blossom was overwhelming in the best possible way. And when they fucked, he was kind, but not too gentle. He played Steve like a fiddle, never once hesitating to give him what he needed. And good god, had he needed it, with no doctor on hand to help keep him comfortable.
“I think about it all the time,” Steve confesses. “How great it was.”
Eddie’s breath catches. His hand falls away from the door, and he murmurs, “So do I.”
“I wish we could do it again.”
He shakes his head. “But—”
“I know.”
“Highness, you got lucky back then. Extremely lucky.”
“Sure,” Steve snorts, “if you call every method of emergency contraception under the sun ‘luck.’”
Eddie cocks his head.
“My parents,” Steve sighs. “They didn’t know it was you, but they figured out I had an Alpha in here during a heat.” Steve frowns, and his voice is barely audible even to his own ears as he goes on, “If it was up to me, I would’ve let it happen.”
“You…would’ve…?”
“If it was up to me,” he says, swallowing the lump in his throat, “I would be carrying your pup right now. Ready to pop any minute.”
Eddie’s brow furrows. “I don’t understand.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand!” he cries, shoving his hands in his hair and tugging at the roots. “What the hell made you change your mind?”
Steve stares. After a confused moment, he says, “I didn’t.”
“For the love of Christ, Steve, I need you to tell me what you’re talking about, then. What do you mean, ‘if it was up to me’?”
“I mean exactly what I’m saying,” he mutters. He sits up straighter and takes a steadying breath. “I want my pups to be yours. I did then, and I do now.”
“Then why the fuck did you come up with that asinine rule in the first place?” Eddie demands.
“Because it’s not what you want!” Steve snaps, unable to hold back the frustration and embarrassment of spilling his biggest secret any longer. “If it took, and I ended up with your kid in me, the king and queen would force you to marry me. They would do whatever they had to to make it happen. And you don’t want to be stuck in this goddamn castle with me forever. You hate the concept of royalty!”
He stands with the intention of moving closer to Eddie, of invading his space and directing all of his fury at the situation right at him, as undeserved as it may be. He only makes it a single step, though, before his feet get stuck in some invisible tar that’s spread across the floor.
“Maybe if I was actually another gardener, or some omega from town, things would be different,” he goes on. “But I’m the fucking prince. And I’m not about to let you betray everything you stand for just because I want to spend my life with you!”
Steve isn’t sure what he expects, but it isn’t for Eddie’s expression to soften and for his lip to tremble. “You do?” His voice is small—quieter than Steve has ever heard it. Quieter than he would’ve thought possible for Eddie, if he’s being honest. “You want…me? Not just my pups?”
Steve has to take another deep breath before he can even think of answering. Even so, all he can offer is a curt nod, still not trusting himself to actually speak.
“You want to be with me,” Eddie echoes, sounding like he’s trying to wrap his head around an unnatural truth.
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Steve grumbles. He folds his arms over his chest.
Eddie glares. “Don’t sass me, Highness. Not while I’m trying to figure out what I did to get so goddamn lucky.”
Steve starts to utter an indignant response, but it dies on his lips as his mind deciphers Eddie’s words. Instead, he whispers, “Eddie…”
Eddie.
He moves faster than Steve’s eyes can track, and there isn’t a single other thought in Steve’s head when Eddie is suddenly kissing him, messy and rough, and gripping his upper arms tight enough to bruise.
Steve feels himself unravel. He breathes in the familiar scent, and his eyes fall closed. His hands fall to his sides, only to make their way to Eddie’s chest a moment later. And when his knees start to go weak, he finds himself leaning against Eddie like a crutch, their closeness the only thing keeping him upright.
“Eddie,” he whispers, again and again, between deeper and deeper kisses. “Eddie.”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart.” Eddie nuzzles his jaw. “I’ve got you.”
