Rose, She/Her, 24, scallywag, 🩷💜💙 Ao3: featherforarose (So I thought my blog name was a common phrase… it’s not.) You guys literally make my day, so I hope I can make yours :) 💛
I need to make a quick list of the fanfics I've written with parts on here. I'll come back with a master list of my blog eventually!
For now, know that I'm a secondary blog that cannot do things like reply to comments, and it doesn't notify when I follow accounts or like posts (very upsetting honestly). My messages and asks are always open and encouraged! (But I can be very bad at responding in a timely manner...)
I now have a reblogging account!!! @steddieallthewayreblogs
My Ko-fi (if you want to buy me a hot cocoa 💛)
Redbubble!! And follow our tumblr @ruthandrosereimagined
If you’re interested in buddie from the show 911, feel free to check out my other blog @ivegotyourbackbuddie ;)
I’ve further expanded to hucklerobby from The Pitt! Feel free to check out my other blog @drstressball
Here are some of the steddie fanfics I've written with AO3 links and links to parts on tumblr that have been posted. I hope this helps :)
Meet Ugly: Rated T. Completed! Ao3 Link. Tumblr: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13
Right Locker, Wrong Time: Rated E. Completed. Ao3 Link. The Tumblr post that was the start of it all.
Alone Together (A Christmas Series): Rated T. Completed. Ao3 Link. Tumblr: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11
Not-So-Secret Secret Admirer: Rated G. Completed. Ao3 Link. Tumblr: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10
Love and Hate are Easily Confused: Rated E. Completed. Ao3 Link. The post that was the start of it all.
Meddling: Rated G. Completed. Ao3 Link. Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6
The Danger in Romanticizing: Rated T. Wip. Ao3 Link. Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4
And really, Steve has a good reason. Or, well, he has a reason. Which is figuring out what the hell Dustin finds so cool about the long-haired freak recovering in the Harrington home.
Sure, he saved Dustin's life and nearly got himself killed doing it, but it's not like Steve hasn't risked his life plenty for the kid. Yet, Dustin only visits his house if he wants to see Eddie.
Eddie, who makes Dustin cackle like Steve never has. Eddie, who inspired Dustin to grow out his hair. Eddie, who is Dustin's new and improved best friend.
And it's cool and whatever. It's not like Steve feels like a third wheel everywhere he turns with Robin's budding relationship and Dustin and Eddie's bromance that they flaunt in his own home.
Really, he should've never agreed to house him. But with Steve's parents refusing to come back to Hawkins until the quarantine is lifted, and Steve's inconspicuous reputation, it really made the most sense at the time.
The worst part is that Steve, very deep down, likes hanging out with Eddie Munson. He somewhat gets why Dustin is so enamored by the guy, which is another reason why he can't stop staring as Eddie continues on with his dramatics, waving his arms around until he's hiding a wince. Steve will have to change his bandages and give him yet another lecture about exerting himself, to which Eddie will smile and joke about how Steve wishes he could see him exert himself.
He's annoying in that way.
Dustin curses and rattles on about building some frequency antenna something or other, then tells Eddie, "I'll see you later, man," with a big grin. With that, he runs out the door, and Steve gets in a, "I'm here too!" before the door closes.
Steve sighs and goes right back to staring at Eddie, who stares back this time. He grins at Steve. "Alone at last."
Steve scoffs, breaking eye contact so he can grab supplies from his hall closet. When he returns, Eddie looks at the items in his hand and drops his head back against the couch. "My hero," he says, stretching out the word for far longer than it needs to be stretched.
It's all an act to prepare for the pain of the disinfectant - vodka from Murray, their personal Santa. As Steve takes off the bandages, he tries to distract Eddie from the inevitable, going through their well-practiced routine. "Do I need to remind you about-"
"Not being my usual whimsical self because it aggravates my injuries? I'm pretty sure I've got the speech memorized, Harrington," he hisses the word out as Steve applies the disinfectant.
"Sorry," Steve says, although he really isn't, since he asked Eddie to not be a damn hero, but here they are. Post heroics.
He finishes up quickly, wrapping Eddie up and handing him a bottle of pain meds courtesy of Robin's hospital trips. He cracks it open, throwing back two pills and dry swallowing them.
"You couldn't have waited until I got you water?"
Eddie smiles. "Nope."
Steve puts his hands on his hips and stares down at him. There's only so much he can deal with.
Eddie cocks his head to the side. "You keep doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Staring."
Steve swallows as he looks away, cleaning up the area around them. "I'm not staring," he lies.
He can see Eddie give him an incredulous look out of the corner of his eye.
Steve sighs, still not looking at him when he says, "I'm just... trying to see what Dustin sees in you."
Eddie's hands dramatically clasp over his heart. "Ouch, man."
"Not what I mean."
"Then, what do you mean?" Eddie presses on.
Steve ignores him.
"Steeeeve," Eddie groans. "You're my only entertainment around here. Give me something, man."
"Your only entertainment besides Dustin, who visits you once a day, and the other kids who stop by at least three times a week without so much acknowledging the actual person who lives here. You're so bored without them, I get it."
He puts the supplies away, ignoring the unfamiliar silence from Eddie that really doesn't sit well with him. Steve risks a glance back at the couch, finding Eddie to be the one staring, his eyebrows pinched together. Steve doesn't want to touch this conversation with a ten-foot pole, so he tries to escape to his room.
"If you leave, I'll try to climb up those stairs alone," Eddie warns him.
Steve stops on the first step, rolling his eyes and very reluctantly making it back to his living room. "Happy?"
"Very," Eddie says with a small grin. He cocks his head to the side, eyes flickering to the seat beside him. Steve joins him on the couch, crossing his arms to indicate his discomfort. "Do you need me to remind you how much Dustin worships you?"
Steve can't help but laugh humorlessly. "Yeah, you see how much he does. Can't even get a hello or goodbye in my own home."
"Maybe you should try nearly dying for him sometime," Eddie jokes, but it's still a little too soon for Steve to truly laugh about it. "Seriously, man, the kid adores you. If I weren't as injured as I am, he would have us in a full-blown custody battle. Just wait until I can conquer those stairs on my own, he'll be right back at your side, singing your praises." He bats his eyelashes at Steve, only dropping the act when he sees the flat look on his face. "Steve Harrington, do I need to sing your praises in the meantime?"
Steve rolls his eyes. "I'm thinking instead we should see how we do on the stairs today."
Eddie frowns but sticks his hands out, letting Steve help him up, holding his hands lightly as he takes a few steps forward. "You're really great with the kids, and they'd be lost without you - especially Dustin."
Steve's eyebrow quirks up. "I thought I said stairs instead of praise."
"I think I'm capable of doing both. Just like you're capable of getting through this time where the kids aren't appreciating you as much as they should."
"Is that right?" Steve asks, tightening his grip on Eddie's hands as he takes a wobbly step forward.
"It is. And I seem to remember you saying something about me being bored without the kids here."
Steve doesn't say anything in response as they reach the steps. He lets Eddie grab onto the railing while he wraps an arm around his torso, trying to avoid his injuries as much as he can. "Ready?" he asks.
Eddie nods, determination washing over his features on his first step up. He gets a few steps in before he pauses, taking deep breaths. "I think... I haven't told you how much I appreciate you."
"Alright, break is over," Steve says, trying to urge Eddie along.
Eddie takes a step. "You've been..." he takes another step. "A great host." Another. "You're surprisingly funny." He takes a few more steps and pauses again.
"You okay?" Steve checks in.
Eddie nods. "I can make it." He takes a few more seconds before continuing on. "I see why Dustin loves you. I didn't want to." He takes another pause, this time to look at Steve. "But... I do."
Steve looks back, staring again, getting the fluttery feeling he usually does when Eddie's overwhelmingly in his space.
Eddie sways a bit, and Steve tightens his grip around him. "You sure you can make it?"
"I can do anything with you, Harrington," Eddie flirts, getting a small smile out of Steve. He makes it up the next few steps, pausing a bit before the final landing. "So, this crawl thing... do you think it'll be dangerous?"
Steve shrugs. "Probably not for the people staying up here, which will include me."
"That's a shame. No way to impress Dustin that way," Eddie jokes before taking a few very slow steps up the stairs, and finally making it to the top. He laughs in relief and leans into Steve, squeezing the arm braced around him a little tighter. "To your bedroom now?" he asks hopefully.
"You're relentless, man," Steve says, but he plays his part and bends down, sweeping Eddie up in his arms in a bridal hold as he carries him to his room. It's become Eddie's ridiculous reward, but he loves making fun of the plaid room while lying in his bed.
Steve lightly kicks his door open and gently deposits Eddie on his sheets. He pulls away, but Eddie grabs his wrist, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Will you lie with me?"
Steve doesn't think twice before nodding and joining the man, staring up at his ceiling as Eddie fidgets with his rings.
The silence between them grows on until Eddie suddenly asks, "Will you promise me something?"
Steve turns his head, watching Eddie, whose eyes remain fixated on the ceiling. "If the crawl becomes dangerous, can you promise not to be a hero? I know it's rich coming from me, but... I know Dustin wouldn't survive losing you." He spins the ring on his pointer finger and turns to look at Steve. "And I don't think I could survive it either."
Without overthinking it, Steve puts his hand over Eddie's, squeezing it. "I won't be a hero," he promises, hoping that he can keep it unlike Eddie.
"Good," Eddie says, intertwining their fingers. "I want Dustin to myself for a little longer."
Steve laughs loudly, and Eddie joins him, wincing a bit and asking Steve to not give him his usual lecture, which only makes Steve laugh harder.
And yeah, he can see what Dustin sees in him, maybe even a little more than ever.
Imagine Steve Harrington, son of Richard Harrington, founder of Harrington Estates, is sent to the small town of Hawkins, Indiana to convince whoever owns the cozy downtown area to sell the land in order for his dad’s company to destroy it and build condos.
The small town is not happy to hear about this, especially so close to their annual winter festival which is always held in the downtown area. So, they decide that they need someone to convince the man to go away.
Much to Eddie’s surprise, this is the one time the town actually pays him any sort of “positive” attention, and they volunteer him to scare this Steve guy off.
Eddie, in hopes that this might bring some customers into his music shop, agrees to this, and when Steve Harrington gets into town, he makes it his personal mission to get off on the wrong foot with the guy. He spills hot chocolate on him immediately - which is actually an accident because no one told him Steve was going to be hot. Then, he pulls out all the theatrics, trying to convince Steve that the town is actually haunted by some Vecna guy, and a while back, this guy kidnapped a kid named Will who never recovered.
To Eddie’s surprise, Steve actually listens to every word he says, asking more questions until Eddie is basically improving a full D&D campaign for the man who doesn’t seem off put in the slightest. If anything, he looks like he’s enjoying Eddie’s antics.
So, when Steve casually asks, “So, does that mean the land is for sale?” Eddie’s heart drops as he realizes that he’s failed at his one task the town trusted him with.
He answers, “No, it’s not.”
To his surprise, Steve smiles and says, “Guess I’ll have to come back tomorrow then to hear more about why this place is too haunted to buy.” Then, he heads out to a bed and breakfast Eddie manages to recommend without asking if Steve would like for him to stop by tonight for another story.
The first person to check in on how things are progressing is Robin who happens to come out of the back room in the music shop right as Steve leaves. Before she can ask about things, Eddie blurts out, “New plan! I’m going to seduce him!”
Robin cackles at the news, but to her surprise, and the whole town’s surprise, Eddie manages to pull it off. By the time of the Hawkins Winter Festival, Steve loves the whole town, not only the people but also the little shops in the downtown square. He befriends Robin quickly and even gets roped into practically babysitting a group of Freshmen - including Will, the one that supposedly was never the same after this Vecna guy. But, what’s also really pushing him to stay is Eddie… plus his hate for his dad’s soulless company which he’s always wanted to leave anyway, and what better way to do that than to make him lose a huge deal on the way out?
Eddie, on the other hand, is having a crisis about whether or not to come clean to Steve about his original intentions because he feels like he’s deceived him. To his horror, a girl at the Hawkins Winter Festival tells Steve all about the plan to make Eddie scare him off, and she makes sure to bat her eyelashes while telling him how she’s so glad he stayed anyway.
Eddie runs off to avoid the fallout of the incident, but Steve easily finds him at Skull Rock. Eddie stutters out an apology, only for Steve to interrupt him with an amused laugh as he says, “I knew.”
“What do you mean you knew?”
Steve shrugs. “Robin and Dustin filled me in.”
Eddie stares at him blankly. “They… filled you in?”
“It’s a small town, Eddie. Word travels fast.”
Eddie’s stomach twists as he wonders how long Steve has been angry at him. “So, you’ve been aware for… how long?”
“Well, it wasn’t too hard to connect the dots when everyone was asking me if you had scared me away yet. But I’m pretty oblivious, so Robin had to spell it out for me the night we got ice cream.”
“That’s the day after you met her.”
“It’s why we bonded so fast.”
Eddie steps back, trying to get space between them. “So, you’ve been mad at me this entire time?”
Steve frowns and shakes his head. “Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you for immediately ditching the entire ‘scaring me’ plan right after you met me so you could ‘seduce me?’ Don’t you know me? I’m Steve Harrington, the guy with the ego too big for this town as Robin says.”
Eddie doesn’t quite believe him, but Steve is quick to reassure him by dumbly suggesting, “Remember when you told me this spot was corrupted by being the new ‘makeout spot?’ Maybe I need that demonstrated to me, to make sure this spot also needs to be saved from horrible condos.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint the town,” Eddie replies cheekily, crowding Steve’s space.
“You really wouldn’t,” Steve mumbles against his lips.
It’s safe to say that Eddie convinces him very quickly that this land is definitely not for sale.
They return back to the festival, and Steve announces that he will be staying, and he’ll personally make sure the land is never sold to any soul sucking company - especially his dad’s. All thanks to Eddie (and Robin and Dustin of course).
Not only does he find out that his girlfriend doesn’t actually love him, but somehow the creepy monster thing that united his now ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, came back in the form of some type of monster dog.
The highlight of his year might actually be befriending a nerdy middle schooler who introduced him to said monster dog - which he named Dart of all things... something to do with a candy bar.
He groans at the thought as the music from downstairs carries into his room. For some reason, Tommy Hagan decided to temporarily ignore the fact that he ditched Steve for the new keg king, Billy Hargrove, who managed to give Steve something else to worry about while literal Hell crawled its way into Hawkins, in favor of throwing a New Year's Eve party in the Harrington residence.
Typical for the year Steve's having. Why not end it horribly too?
He glances at the clock, relieved that it's already somewhat close to midnight. If it weren't for the noise, he would consider trying to sleep through this one. Instead, he lays back on his bed and hopes that no one tries to disturb him.
As if the universe can hear his thoughts, and then curse them, the door to his bedroom swings open.
Steve sits up with a huff and frowns at the person.
A guy with medium length curly hair and doe eyes stares back at him with a big smile that screams chaos.
"Sorry, dude," Steve says, "Bedroom is off limits. Go hookup, smoke, or whatever somewhere else."
Instead of leaving, the guy closes the door behind him and locks it.
Steve scoots back on the bed, hand reaching back to wrap around the nail bat he leaves behind his nightstand.
The dude raises his hands in mock surrender, silver rings glinting in the light streaming in from Steve's window - blinds open enough so he can make sure no one does anything weird in his pool. "Listen, man, I'm not here to hurt you or anything. Although you might hurt me when you hear why I'm here."
There's something about his voice that sounds familiar to Steve when it suddenly hits him - all the yelling and stomping around on tabletops. "You're Eddie Munson."
Eddie smiles and bows dramatically. "Guilty as charged."
Steve's frown deepens, and for a fleeting moment he thinks Dustin would really like the guy. "So, why would I hurt you if I hear you out?"
"Because, Steve," Eddie draws out his name as if it has a deeper meaning, "I was downstairs thinking about what a wonderful year I've had, and I decided that I might as well start the year with a little chaos."
Steve's grip tightens around the bat in case he's some sort of satanic serial killer or something, although his gut tells him that he shouldn't be scared of the man. "What do you mean by chaos?"
There's a strange glint in Eddie's eye when he shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks on the feet as if he wants to move closer to Steve but has decided to plant himself by his door. "I mean... I came to this party to sell my supply and after my whole lunchbox was cleaned out, I started thinking about who I should kiss at midnight. Or more precisely, who would be the worse option, or rather, the option that would bring the most-"
"Chaos. Yeah, I got that part," Steve cuts him off.
Eddie's smile changes to something genuine for a moment as he comments, "Wow, Steve Harrington is actually listening to me."
Steve rolls his eyes, grip loosening on the bat. "I'd rather you not stand on my desk to get my attention." To Steve's surprise, Eddie actually laughs in response and pulls a strand of hair in front of his face to hide his smile. And to Steve's much greater surprise, his heart starts beating a little faster and he finds it harder to not smile back at him. "So, chaos?" Steve prompts.
"Right," Eddie says, rocking on his feet again, "Chaos." He ducks his head for a moment as if hyping himself up for the next thing he's going to say, which is when Steve entirely releases his grip on the bat, realizing that Eddie is more scared of him. "So, I thought, to start the year off with the most chaos, I would choose someone to kiss that would bring the most chaos. And I thought, why not the host of this party?"
Steve frowns. "Tommy's downstairs."
Eddie mirrors his frown. "You're not hosting?"
"Why would I be in my room if I'm hosting?"
"Why would the party be in your house if you're not hosting?"
It suddenly hits Steve. "Wait, you want to kiss me?"
Eddie takes a step back, hovering even closer to the door than he was before. "Consensually, of course."
It takes a moment for Steve to fully process what is being asked. "You think I'm the worst option to kiss?"
"That's what you're asking?" Eddie asks, trailing off to mutter something like, "The fragile ego of athletes, I swear."
"I got dumped this year. Of course my ego is low."
Eddie smiles bashfully. "Sorry, my uncle always tells me I'm not as quiet as I think I am." And there's something about Eddie's cheeks that are slightly flushed, the strand of hair he starts tugging at again, and the way he can't stop bouncing as if he's buzzing with energy and nerves that makes him so...
"Yes," Steve blurts out suddenly. For a moment, he wonders if the mindf- mind fly? mind... whatever evil thing from a few weeks ago has possessed him.
"Yes what?" Eddie asks sounding genuinely confused. As Steve stands up to look out his blinds and shut them, Eddie rambles, "Yes, I'm not as quiet as I think I am? Or yes, you're about to punch me, and I'm going to finally figure out how it felt when you got your face bashed in a few weeks ago?"
Steve rolls his eyes before holding up both of his hands, mimicking Eddie's pose when he first came into the room. "Yes, I'll kiss you."
It's as if Eddie has forgotten he's asked the question the way his jaw drops, and he stares at Steve like he's said the most confusing thing he's ever heard. Which... to be fair... is highly likely.
"You want to kiss me?"
Steve takes a small step closer to Eddie. "I want to give you your chaos."' When Eddie doesn't look convinced, Steve takes a step closer to him, hand running through his hair as he continues, "Who knows, maybe it'll give me good luck or something for next year by cancelling out the chaos from this year."
Eddie nods. "Okay. You're giving me your chaos. Yeah. That makes sense."
"And you're taking my chaos away," Steve agrees, trying to tell himself that this is a rational decision. "This makes sense."
"You're not going to beat me up?" Eddie asks, risking a small step away from the door.
Steve shakes his head. "Seems like a bad way to start the year, don't you think?"
Eddie nods as Steve steps closer to him, slowly, as if not to startle him away. "You know, I thought just asking you would be chaotic enough as is and then I could run away and pretend you hallucinated or something when you tried to beat me up."
"Should've asked Hargrove then," Steve says, cocking his head to the side. "Does that mean you don't actually want to kiss me?"
Eddie swallows and shakes his head. "I didn't say that."
Just as Steve gets in front of Eddie, he hears people downstairs counting down from ten. "Good," Steve says, "Because there isn't enough time to find someone else."
Eddie scoffs, the countdown now at eight, "That's not true for you."
"Maybe, but I'm not really looking to find anyone else right now. Are you?" Five.
Eddie smiles and takes a step forward. "No." Three.
Steve reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind Eddie's ear. "Good." One.
Steve's not really sure who moves first or if they move together, but the yells of, "Happy New Year" are drowned out as Eddie's lips meet his in a kiss that feels more desperate than Steve expected. He's not sure why they're kissing as if the countdown was for the end of the world, but he really doesn't care.
It's only when Steve's gets a little carried away, Eddie's back slams against Steve's door with a thud that's loud enough to alert anyone that something's happening in Steve's room, that Steve breaks away with a gasp, seeking the air Eddie's stolen from him. He wonders if - hopes - it's the chaos he's taken.
"Happy New Year," Steve whispers, hands cupping Eddie's face while Eddie's are tangled in the mess he's made of Steve's hair. He's not sure when either of those things happened.
"Happy fucking New Year, Steve," Eddie mutters, hands slowly dropping from his hair.
Steve's hands hold onto Eddie's face a little tighter for a moment, and he sees the moment a bit of fear sparks in Eddie's eyes. Steve quickly shakes his head. "No, I'm not about to beat you up. It's just... I kind of slammed you against the door a little hard there, and if someone else is up here and they see you..."
"Chaos," Eddie fills in with a nod, "And not the good kind."
"Yeah," Steve sighs, "Not the good kind." He glances to his window where the blinds are firmly shut - thank you Jonathan for teaching him that lesson - and down at the locked doorknob before looking back at Eddie. He glances at his lips momentarily before blurting out, "Stay with me."
Eddie's jaw drops, mouth opening slightly in shock.
Steve steps back, hands reluctantly leaving Eddie's face. "Stay until everyone clears out at least. No ulterior motive."
Eddie shoves his hands into his pockets and moves back into Steve's space. "What if I want there to be an ulterior motive?" He tilts his head down and gives Steve a case of lethal puppy dog eyes. "Fully take your chaos away, remember?"
Steve is absolutely sure that this in no way will take away the chaos of his previous year and will likely only invite questions, confusion, and further chaos into 1985.
"Yeah, I remember," Steve says, pulling Eddie into another desperate kiss.
Maybe Eddie was onto something about starting the year with a little chaos. And maybe 1985 will be his year.
(i accidentally wrote a tiny epilogue later in the tags that i really like)
Robin is away visiting her family in Kentucky for the holidays, and the only other person to ever call would be...
"Dustin," Steve says, his free hand coming up to rest on his hip, "why are you calling?"
There's a pause on the other line before Dustin whines, "How do you always know when it's me."
"Because your irritating energy bleeds through the phone."
Another pause. "You got that from Robin, didn't you?"
Yes. He did. Sue him for wanting to be witty and taking a few notes from Robin. "What do you want?"
"Okay, so..." Oh boy. "I've been meaning to talk to Suzie for a while now, and we made plans not to talk on Christmas because she would be with her family all day, and I knew my mom wouldn't want me to be away for too long so-"
"The point, Dustin."
Dustin mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like multiple curse words before continuing, "The point is that I'm taking Cerebro to that hill, but I'm going to need a ride."
Steve frowns, walking toward the nearest window until the phone cord is fully stretched so he can pull a curtain open. He winces a bit at the bright light. "Dustin, it's freezing out, and the hill will be covered in snow."
"You would've done the same for Nancy!"
Steve's eyebrows raise. "Not the best approach if you want a ride, dude."
"I'm not trying to approach the whole you and Nancy thing. I'm trying to make a point," Dustin emphasizes a little too loudly into the phone. "You would do anything if you were in love! Even sit out in the snow for a few hours just so you can talk to the person you love."
"Have you ever heard of the phone?"
"Have you heard the number of siblings she has that would jump at the opportunity to listen in on our call? Plus, Cerebro is our thing."
Steve really wishes Dustin were in front of him, so he could see the way his cheeks are flushing during this exact moment. "You just like using your Cebro thing because it makes it feel like your love is forbidden."
"I do not!"
"Alright, Romeo," Steve says with a laugh, "I'll give you a ride. If you promise to only be there for an hour."
"Not including the time it takes to get there, set it up, and leave."
Steve sighs and knocks the phone against his head for a second before reluctantly agreeing, "Yes, but you better be bundled up so much that you're sweating out there. I don't want to hear you complain." He also secretly worries about the kid getting frostbite or something, but he'd never admit to it.
"Fine I'll see you in an hour?"
"Yeah, I'll see you then," Steve says as Dustin hangs up. "A thank you would've been nice..."
He really hopes he doesn't regret this.
-:-:-:-:-:-
When Dustin climbs in the car, he's bundled from head to toe but still manages to laugh at Steve who is wearing the same amount of layers as him. "Look in the mirror," Steve comments dryly before driving off.
The drive there isn't too long, and although Steve saw Dustin a few days ago - after Claudia insisted he spend Christmas with them instead of home alone - he's kind of glad to hang out with Dustin again. It's not often he gets a lot of one-on-one time with the kid anymore.
Which is why Steve is particularly bitchy when he pulls up to the familar area below the hill and find a familar van there.
"Dustin..."
"I didn't think you would agree to take me here and stay! So, I asked Eddie to give me a ride back this morning-"
"This morning?"
"And he said he was already going to be in the area and wanted to briefly meet Suzie and my Cerebro, so he's here now! And if you want, you can just drop me off. Think of it as a late Christmas gift."
Steve shakes his head. "And leave you in Munson's capable hands only to find out you two froze to death? No thanks." He gets out of the car with thoughts of a mourning Claudia Henderson on his mind.
"We wouldn't freeze to death!" Dustin practically shouts as he climbs out.
At that same moment, Eddie exits from his van, wearing his usual attire, only with maybe an extra added layer - a leather jacket.
Steve turns to Dustin, raising his eyebrows and gesturing toward Munson. Dustin sighs before going to the trunk to dig out all the different Cerebro parts.
Before Steve can join him, Eddie approaches him with a big smile. "Steve Harrington. Looking awfully toasty."
Steve rolls his eyes in response before openning his car door and reaching toward the back, grabbing the spare pair of gloves and a hat that he keeps whenever Robin forgets the extra layers - which is often. He hands them to Eddie without a word then helps Dustin grab his things before heading to their snow covered destination.
Eddie only lasts a few minutes up the hill before he manages to push into Steve's space while Dustin hurries ahead of them. "So, you look happy to see me."
"Just peachy, Munson."
Eddie snorts. "I'm guessing Dustin didn't tell you I would be tagging along when you got here?"
"And I'm guessing Dustin didn't tell you I was planning on staying."
"Actually," Eddie says, nudging Steve's shoulder, "I told him you would jump at the opportunity to hang out with him, and there was no way you would drop him off to freeze to death."
Steve narrows his eyes as he looks at Eddie.
Eddie shifts things around in his arms to grab his shirt and jacket and lift them up enough to show off some of his scarred skin. "Our matching battle scars will forever bound us, Steve. I wonder if the bats gave us telepathic abilities," he says, way too cheery for Steve's liking.
"If it did, then I would teleport up to the top of the hill right now."
"Telepathic means the ability to read each other's minds. The word you're thinking of is 'teleportation.'" Eddie corrects him without judgement - something Steve's always found surprising.
"Oh. Then guess what I'm thinking about right now."
Eddie hums before leaning in to mumble in his ear. "You're thinking about getting a piece of this."
Steve laughs and shoves him away. He's glad it's cold out so he blame his blush on the cold. For some reason, he's still not entirely immune to Eddie's flirting. "Definitely not what I was thinking about."
"You are now," Eddie teases.
Steve swallows heavily, pressing down those thoughts and many... many.... images. "I think you're confusing my thoughts for your own thoughts."
"Tell me about it," Eddie sighs dramatically.
Steve is relieved when he sees they've reached the top of the hill. He's even more relieved when Dustin doesn't ask for his help to put Cerebro together, but Eddie is all too happy to help while calling Dustin a genius - in various annoying, dramatic ways.
It's not long before Dustin is awaiting Suzie's response while Eddie bounces on his feet. Steve's not sure if it's from excitement or being cold - probably both.
"Dusty bun?"
Dustin's face lights up in a way that is entirely too endearing for Steve's heart to handle. The jedi has learned the art of love from the master - or something like that. "Suzie poo! I'm here with Steve and Eddie for the next few moments. Eddie wants to say hello."
Steve frowns and raises his voice, "I want to say hello, too! Eddie just wants to be dramatic about it."
"Because I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the lady," Eddie argues before turning up the charm. "Suzie, it's a pleasure. I'm sure you've heard nothing but wonderful things about me just like I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you. Unlike Steve over here who you've probably never heard a good thing about."
"Hi, Eddie, it's nice to meet you," Suzie replies, giggling. "And hi Steve!"
"Hey, Suze. Don't let Eddie win you over with his charm just yet. It's bad for his ego."
"You think I'm charming?" Eddie asks, batting his eyelashes.
Steve makes a see? gesture before realizing Suzie can't see him.
"Alright," Dustin says, "Now they're going to leave us alone for the next hour."
"Hour? It's already been at least five minutes," Steve complains.
Eddie grabs him by the shoulders and steers him away. "Don't worry, Suzie! I'll make sure you get the fulll hour!"
Steve lets Eddie guide him a little down the hill, ignoring when Suzie asks, "Do they always bicker like an old married couple?"
When they get a comfortable distance away, where they're out of earshot but Steve can still see Dustin to make sure he doesn't freeze to death, Steve sits on the ground. He glances up after he gets as comfortable as he can get on the side of a hill, only to find Eddie frowning down at him.
"What?" Steve asks.
Eddie shrugs. "Doesn't seem fair that you get to sit on the ground, and I can't."
Steve's eyes scan over Eddie's body. "Not my fault that you didn't wear a long enough jacket to cover your ass when you sit."
"Not my fault that I wasn't born into a wealthy family that can afford those jackets."
Steve's stomach flips, but he knows Eddie isn't looking for an apology. "Why don't you sit in your van then?"
"Wouldn't want to miss my chance to hang out alone with Steve Harrington," Eddie says with a wink.
Steve nearly scoffs and gives him a snarky reply, but his thoughts go out the window when he notices Eddie's teeth chattering. "Shit," he mutters.
"What was that?"
Steve groans and stands up before unzipping his large jacket.
"Am I in a dream?" Eddie jokes, but his voice shakes a bit.
"You're about to be living one," Steve says dryly as he stands in front of Eddie and opens his coat. Eddie just stares at him. Steve huffs out a breath that becomes visible in the cold air between them. "Come here."
"What?"
Steve raises his eyebrows at Eddie before tugging at his coat. But Eddie continues to stare at him with wide wandering eyes. "I'm not letting you freeze to death up here, so come here before I tell Dustin to pack it up because you're cold."
Eddie crosses his arms a little tighter. "I'm f-fine." A shiver visibly runs through Eddie's body.
Steve rolls his eyes for what feels like the hundreth time this day and wraps Eddie in his jacket before he can protest.
He's stiff for a moment, then Eddie relaxes enough to wrap his arms around Steve who is able to close the jacket around them. They linger in each other's arms long enough that Eddie stops shivering and Steve wonders how much time Dustin has left with Suzie.
"Better?" Steve asks to break the silence.
He feels Eddie nod over his shoulder before he pulls back enough to look him in the eye, nose brushing against Steve's as he whispers, "I know something we could do to keep ourselves warm."
Steve's heart beats a little faster in his chest.
Eddie laughs and tucks his head into Steve neck, his lips far away enough from Steve's that it's no longer the only thing on Steve's mind. With the new brain space, he can feel Eddie drum a nervous rhythm onto his back and bounce a little on his face. He wonders if maybe Eddie was onto the whole scars making them read each other's minds thing because he swears he knows the first part of what Eddie's about to say before he says it.
"Sorry if that was too much. No guy has ever let me flirt at them the way you do."
Steve gets stuck on flirt at and, "No guy?"
Eddie lets out a short humorless laugh. "No guy."
And for some reason, Steve has to ask, "Has any guy let you kiss them before?"
Eddie pulls back to look at him with a frown tugging at the corners of his lips. "What are you getting at, Steve?"
Steve glances at Eddie's lips, slightly chapped but they've never looked more inviting. Maybe it's time to listen to Robin's knowing looks whenever Eddie is around and Steve finds himself simultaneously drawn to him while also wanting to run to the bathroom with Robin to have another floor talk. "What if one guy let you kiss them?"
"Steve..." Eddie whispers, his eyes flicking over his shoulder.
Steve turns to find Dustin, facing away from them. Still he loosens his hold on Eddie and says, "Wrap your arms around my neck instead of my back."
Eddie does as he's told, and Steve gives him no warning before saying, "Hopefully this goes alright." Then, he slightly picks up Eddie before falling back, letting the snow break their fall as he lays back with Eddie on top of him.
"That went better than I thought it would," Steve says with a big smile then asks, "Can Dustin see us?"
Eddie glances up and shakes his head.
"Perfect," Steve says, heart practically beating out of his chest when Eddie looks down at him. When he doesn't make a move, Steve can't help but tease, "So you really are all bark, no bite."
"Shut up, Harrington," Eddie says before finally kissing him.
For only a moment, Steve nearly laughs at the fact that Eddie Munson told him to shut up. But then his brain goes nearly haywire yet completely silent when Eddie's lips meet his in what he thinks might be the single most transformative kiss of his life.
His arms tighten around Eddie's back, and Eddie's hands move to cup the back of his head as they deepen the kiss. Somehow, laying in snow, Steve has never felt warmer.
They eventually break the first kiss reluctantly, both of them going back to steal more as they catch their breath, which turns into laughter and giggles between more kisses. Then, Eddie breaks away long enough to say, "You know, the van is seeming like a really great option at the moment."
"And Dustin's a smart kid. He knows how to not freeze to death," Steve says, kissing Eddie every chance he gets.
"You're right. No need to stay here in the snow," Eddie replies.
"Right."
Neither of them make a move to get up, but they both move to kiss again.
It's only a little while later before they hear Dustin yell out, "Guys?" And that's when they finally break away.
Eddie pops up first and calls out, "Yeah?"
"Let's pack up! It's been over an hour! Come on!"
Steve pulls Eddie back down into the snow one more time for a kiss before stomping up the hill. "Alright, alright. We thought you'd be happier that we gave you more time and that we both waited for you."
"it's cold," Dustin complains.
Steve nods, but he still feels warm.
Eddie joins a few moments later, stealing glances at Steve before asking Dustin what they're doing next.
"I'm thinking we change out of our snow clothes and get food somewhere maybe..." Dustin trails off and frowns at Eddie. "Why are you covered in snow?"
"We were making a snow angel?" Eddie hurriedly says.
Steve tries not to laugh.
"One?" Dustin asks.
Eddie nods. "You'll see it on the way down."
Sure enough, on the way down, they all see one horribly disfigured snow angel.
While Steve laughs and Eddie smiles proudly, Dustin shakes his head and mutters something like more curses to himself. In a volume that's able to be picked up by the other boys, he asks, "Eddie, you'll drop me off at my house, and we'll meet back up in an hour at my house?"
"Hour and a half," Steve says. When Dustin opens his mouth to complain, Steve explains, "I need to take a shower so I don't get pnemonia. Plus, I'm not letting my hair freeze on my way to your house."
"Fine," Dustin sighs. "See you then."
"See you then," Eddie echoes to Steve, winking at him once.
Soon after Steve gets home, he hears a knock on the front door, and when it's Eddie on the other side, Steve pulls him in and says, "Maybe you were right about the telek- tele-"
"Telekentic abilities?"
Steve nods as he closes the door behind Eddie and traps him against it. "I definitely know what you're thinking about now."
Eddie cocks his head to the side and wraps his arms around Steve's neck. "Yeah? What am I thinking about?"
"Kissing me again," Steve says, leaning in.
"Actually," Eddie says turning his head away, "I was thinking about a lemon."
"Crazy. I happen to have lemon scented body wash," Steve comments as he grabs Eddie's hands and tugs him up the stairs.
They're both a little late to Dustin's house. And maybe their hair freezes a bit.
But Dustin was right. There's a lot of things Steve would do for love.
Maybe it was while Eddie was in the hospital recovering from his injuries, and the kids had forced Steve onto the visiting schedule. Maybe it was after Eddie got out of the hospital, and the kids insisted they continue to honor the schedule. Maybe it had nothing to do with the schedule and everything to do with the fact that Steve and Eddie had become... friends.
This is also a big maybe in Steve's head because he's pretty sure Eddie just hangs out with him from time to time because he's allowed to drink and smoke around or with him - and he's found that Eddie doesn't like to be alone for extended periods of time.
Steve can't blame him. But with his parents' seemingly permanent absence, he's kind of grown used to it whenever the kids and Robin are forced to go back to school.
But right now, Steve is grateful that Eddie has continued their "thing" in which he shows up at Steve's house at 9pm every Thursday - the same time as one of Steve's assigned "Eddie shifts" - with a six-pack in hand.
Only, this week, Eddie shows up with two bottles of wine.
Steve raises his eyebrows at him as he lets him into the house, shutting the door quickly to keep the cold air out.
"I just thought you'd like to change it up today," Eddie comments nonchalantly as he heads to the living room. Steve wonders for a moment if he knows the secret he's been keeping from everyone, but he figures he doesn't especially when he blabs on, "So, what movie are you blessing me with this week?"
Steve rolls his eyes as he goes to grab the tape and put it in the VCR, but he hesitates for a moment, straightening up to point at Eddie. "You will absolutely tell no one about this, got it? Also, I'm expecting a phone call, but you're not allowed to listen in on it."
"Got it. Scout's honor," Eddie replies with a wink and a salute.
"You were not a boy scout," Steve huffs as he decides to bite the bullet and put the tape in.
Eddie frowns and puts a hand over his heart. "You wound me, Steve. How could you say that?"
"Because I was a boy scout, and we would've been in the same troop."
Once Steve sits on the couch, Eddie leans in and nudges his shoulder. "What I wouldn't give to go back in time and meet a young Steve Harrington. I could've corrupted you sooner."
"I'm afraid Dustin beat you to the corrupting. He's the one who made me watch Star Wars."
"I can always corrupt you in other ways, Steve," Eddie comments, obnoxiously batting his eyelashes.
Steve laughs, used to the blatant flirting during the trailers at this point. "Is that why you brought the wine? To set the mood?"
"Something like that," Eddie says with a soft smile before switching back to his dramatics. "But I'll have you know, I'm a gentleman. Plus, I would like you to remember the first time I blow your mind."
"Blow my mind?" Steve asks, reaching over to grab the bottles. "How would you do that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Eddie says with a wink before uncapping his wine.
Steve glances at his own bottle for a moment, distracted. "It's a screw top."
"It's cheap," Eddie explains. He raises his bottle and tilts it Steve's way. "Cheers."
"Cheers," Steve answers, screwing off the top and taking a swig. Tastes like wine. And it also tastes like... a bad idea.
"So, what movie are we watching that has you so defensive?" Eddie asks, throwing his arm along the back of the couch.
To that, Steve takes a longer drink. "One of my mom's favorite movies. We used to watch it together whenever my dad went out of town for his business trips. But then my mom started getting more suspicious of him staying at the office late, and then she started to go on those business trips with him. Which now seem to... never end." Steve sighs and settles back onto the couch a bit more, head resting right on Eddie's hand. He quickly gets the hint and starts gently playing with his hair.
Steve's not sure when that became a thing either.
After another sip of wine, Steve finally confesses, "It's The Sound of Music."
A few expressions pass over Eddie's face before he quietly says, "That was one of my mom's favorites, too."
The two of them share a similar look of understanding and painful longing for a time they'll neither get back. They both drink at the same time as the opening notes of "The Sound of Music" ring out.
As the movie plays, the two of them drift closer - as they always do - and Steve notices that he's slowly but surely getting a bit wine-drunk. Which is what Robin calls the "worst type of drunk Steve." Maybe he should've taken her up on her offer to stay the full day.
As the last scene plays, Steve finds himself glancing toward the phone more than the screen.
"You okay?" Eddie asks gently, the hand in his hair moving to cup his face.
Steve can feel the way the wine flushes his cheeks and sits heavy on his stomach when he asks, "When do you realize your parents have given up on you?"
Eddie swallows heavily before grabbing Steve's nearly empty bottle and putting it on the coffee table. He sits back and fully turns to him. "For me, I fully realized a month after I stayed with Wayne. I still hadn't unpacked the cardboard box my things were in, hoping that maybe since my dad had dropped me off my mom would pick me up. But I hadn't seen her in years." He looks back at the TV where the end credits are rolling. "She left promising me she would come back and make a better life for the two of us eventually. I thought with my dad out of the picture, she'd be back. But as soon as I unpacked that box, I gave up on the idea."
Steve shifts closer and grabs Eddie's hand. "I'm sorry."
Eddie looks at him and tilts his head down so he's looking him right in the eye. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, too. And..." he hesitates for a moment before resting his forehead against Steve's and whispering, "Happy birthday."
Steve's eyes close tightly. It's the words he had been waiting for all day but in hopes that they'd be coming out the mouths of at least one of his parents. Preferably his mom.
There's pressure behind his eyes, and Steve reaches out to squeeze Eddie's hand gently, warning him in his own way that he might fall apart. But Eddie stays where he is.
"This is the first year they haven't called," Steve whispers, feeling one tear fall down his face. "I know they're assholes but... I didn't think they'd be this much of an asshole. God," he breathes out, breaking away from Eddie to lean back against the couch, hands covering his face as more tears fall.
A familiar arm drapes itself around Steve's shoulders tugging gently until he winds up with his head buried in Eddie's neck.
They sit there for a while, Eddie holding him and running a soothing hand through his hair that reminds Steve of the first time Eddie had opened up to him about the nightmares that never went away, and they had ended up in a similar but swapped position.
Maybe that's when this became a thing.
It's a while before Steve speaks up to ask, "Hey, how do you even know when my birthday is? The last person I told was probably Tommy Hagan in the eighth grade. And Robin, of course, but I swore her to secrecy."
"Oh god," Eddie says in a way that makes Steve pull back to look at him fully. Eddie's head lulls to the side as he looks at him with an adorably embarrassed and caught expression. "So... don't hate me for this, but this happened a few years ago. And... do I really have to tell you?"
"It's my birthday, you have to tell me," Steve replies.
Eddie huffs, ever so dramatically, and grabs Steve's hands before confessing, "So, I stole your wallet a few times."
Steve can't help but laugh at the absurd confession. "When?"
"It was back in your sophomore year probably. We had some horrible science class together, and you sat right in front of me, and well... My friends and I made this hypothesis, very scientific, that some rich kids, including you, wouldn't notice if a dollar or two went missing from their wallets." Steve snorts, and Eddie smiles. "And you had this horrible habit of leaving the front pocket of your backpack open so..."
"Occasionally you would steal anywhere from one to five dollars from my wallet? And one time you managed to swipe ten," Steve fills in for him, vividly remembering something he hadn't thought about in years.
Eddie's eyes widen. "So, my hypothesis was wrong."
"No, you're just less subtle than you think you are."
There's a moment where Eddie just stares at him incredulously. "You're telling me, you let me steal from you? And you didn't beat me up for it?"
Steve shrugs, thinking about the first time it had happened, and he had truly considered it, but he realized. "I knew you needed it more than I did. But that's not what we're talking about. How did this lead you to finding out about my birthday?"
"It was on your driver's license, and I ended up memorizing it in case you had a big party that I could sell at. But then it just... stuck." Eddie looks down at their hands for a moment before he looks up and states, "And we're not about to breeze past this. I must've stolen at least thirty dollars from you!" He lets go of one of Steve's hands to grab his wallet off the coffee table. "For your birthday, let me pay you back."
Steve laughs and shakes his head. "You are not giving me thirty dollars for my birthday. And don't fight me on this, or I'll end up telling Dustin you gave me money without hesitation."
Eddie frowns at him and reluctantly puts his wallet back down. He leans over to Steve and cups his face as he plants a kiss onto his forehead. "You're never who I think you are, Steve Harrington."
"Is that a good thing?" Steve asks as his eyes glance down at his lips.
"A very good thing. It means I'll never give up on you," Eddie says with a teasing lilt but Steve knows that he means it.
"Same to you."
Eddie's teasing smile falters as he looks at Steve. One of his thumbs swipes at a remaining tear trail.
Steve's heart beats a little harder and he can't stop staring at Eddie's lips. He wonders when that became a thing.
"There's one thing you could do for me for my birthday," Steve breaths out.
"And what's that?" Eddie asks quietly.
Steve doesn't answer him, he just leans in slowly, closing his eyes when his nose brushes against Eddie's. But then he feels Eddie gently pull away.
"Earlier, I said I wanted you to remember when I blow your mind, Steve."
Steve's eyes flutter open. "I'm not that far gone."
Eddie sighs and mumbles, "I can't believe I'm doing this," and raises his voice to say, "I'll kiss you when I can't smell wine on your breath, deal?"
"Deal," Steve says, holding out his hand.
Eddie laughs as he shakes it, then grabs it to pull them both up.
"Bedtime?" Steve asks. Eddie nods, turning off the TV before leading the way to the kitchen to get two glasses of water before heading to Steve's room.
Steve knows exactly when that became a thing - the second time Eddie was over at his house, and he had a nightmare in the guest room. Steve now insists that he sleeps with him anytime he's over.
When they get into bed on their by-now-established sides, Steve can't help but say, "I think this is the best birthday I've had in a long time." He sighs and reaches out to grab Eddie's hand laying between them. "Maybe next year I'll tell everyone."
"Or we can make up a fake birthday for you that happens to fall sometime next week, and next year we'll pretend that everyone remembered the wrong date."
Steve laughs and squeezes Eddie's hand. "Or next week, I can take you on a date."
"Shh," Eddie quickly shushes him, "This definitely means it's time for you to go to bed."
"I can't wait for you to blow my mind in the morning," Steve says instead of trying and failing to fight Eddie on the fact that he's more coherent than he thinks he is. Besides, the faster he falls asleep, the sooner tomorrow will come.
"Goodnight, Steve," Eddie says, slightly amused.
"Goodnight, Eds."
Much to Eddie's surprise, he wakes up to Steve asking for a kiss. And he very much blows his mind.
Welcome to the Steddie Big Bang 2024! This is our backup blog, as we woke up to find our beloved original blog completely gone with no rhyme or reason. We've contacted support and hope to regain access, but given that our posting season starts tomorrow, there's no time to wait.
We will be working to reblog all of the teaser posts we can find, and get this blog up and running as quickly as possible ahead of posting season tomorrow. If at all possible, please reblog and share this post so we can spread the word!
-SBB '24 Mods
Check out our posting calendar here and our collection on AO3 here!
hey!! I was recently going thru my texts looking for a steddie fic I sent a friend a while ago but when I clicked on the link it said it didn’t exist. But it still sent me to your blog so maybe you could help :))
this was one of the tags:
steve-and-eddie-accidentally-start-dating-it
I don’t remember clearly but I think it might have been about Eddie showing up to Steve’s job and Eddie is in a well known band?? (might be wrong tho)
@intergalactic-bean Hi!!! I did a little digging, and I think I found it! I hope... <3 It starts with the sentence tagged! :)
Steve and Eddie accidentally start dating.
It just kind of… happens.
In the Vecna aftermath, the find themselves more touchy with each oth
Thinking of a No Upside Down AU a few years down the line when Steve and Robin are looking for jobs together. Only, Robin breaks their unspoken rule and gets her own individual job as a personal assistant for singer Chrissy Cunningham.
While Steve bitches and complains about it, Robin manages to secure him an interview to be a PA for some singer who won’t be revealed to him until a few steps into the process - if he makes it that far with zero qualifications.
But when Steve shows up for the first interview, he finds none other than Eddie Munson arguing with his manager about something - which sounds suspiciously like you’re not supposed to be here for this.
But when Eddie looks up and makes eye contact with Steve, his face lights up with a shit eating grin as he says, “Steeeeve Harrington. I always said you and your friends would work for me one day, and I see that day has come.”
And Steve leaves that interview a stuttering and embarrassed mess, absolutely possessing none of the qualities or skills required to be Eddie Munson’s PA. So he’s shocked when he gets a call saying that he got the job, and is even more shocked when he hears that Eddie insisted he get the position.
While Steve preps to be humiliated as Eddie likely intends, he is grateful to find out that in the upcoming weeks Chrissy and Eddie will be pursuing a fake relationship as a publicity stunt for both their new albums. So, Steve and Robin will be working together after all, much to their relief (if only they could stop falling for their respective singers).
One thing that sucks about fighting monsters from some weirdly dusty and gooey parallel universe to your own… is going back to school. Specifically going back after telling all your friends that they’re actually trust fund assholes and your girlfriend - ex-girlfriend - ends up with the one guy she swore up and down was just a friend.
Not that Steve really blames Nancy for that. Jonathan’s a good dude. Plus, it’s not like Steve was the perfect boyfriend or anything. He tried, but maybe it just wasn’t enough.
Maybe it’ll never be enough.
Steve takes a sudden right, making a detour from all the student rushing into the lunchroom in favor of being anywhere but there. He barely registers walking out of the school until he notices the woods in front of him. Why does everything always lead him back to here?
He doesn’t know why, maybe it’s what Dustin call his “mother hen” instinct, but Steve continues walking into the woods, wondering if maybe there are more monsters lurking about that he can spot early this time. God knows he would do anything for those kids - not that he would tell them that. Dustin especially does not need the ego boost.
So Steve wanders, listening closely for any unusual noise.
And then he hears one.
It’s just the thud of something metal sounding against maybe… a tree? Something solid. Then a crunch of leaves. And…
Singing?
Steve slowly peaks around a tree and finds the source of all the noise.
Eddie Munson.
Steve nearly rolls his eyes but finds himself fondly watching the boy as he drums on a wooden picnic table singing some song Steve has never heard. It’s when Eddie does some type of ridiculously uncoordinated twirl that Steve ends up snorting. It’s loud enough that Eddie ends up hearing it, startling mid turn and head bang that has him misstepping and landing right on his ass.
Steve tries to let some sheepishness bleed through the amusement in his expression. “You okay, man?” He asks, stepping forward to offer him a hand.
Eddie eyes it wearily. “Depends. What are you doing out here?”
“Just…” Steve stares at Eddie for a moment, trying to find a normal answer, but instead he shrugs and sighs, “I don’t know, man.” He takes another step closer and pointedly looks down at his offered hand.
Eddie narrows his eyes at him before taking it carefully. Steve is caught off guard by the cold metal rings but hauls Eddie up easily who wobbles when he gets to his feet. “Thanks,” Eddie breathes out, lingering in Steve’s space.
Steve just nods and wonders if Eddie Munson’s eyes have always been so big and brown.
“So, Steve Harrington,” Eddie starts, drawling out his name while taking a step back and brushing dirt off his pants, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Steve raises an eyebrow.
Eddie marches over to the picnic table and gestures dramatically at his lunch box. “I’m assuming you’re here for the goods?”
“The what?”
“Drugs, Harrington. Are you alright?” Eddie asks with a tilt of his head leaning forward as if assessing him.
Steve shrugs. “Fine. And no. I’m not here for your drugs which you evidently keep in your lunch box for any teacher to find.” Eddie’s brows furrow. Steve rolls his eyes. “I know you sell, but Tommy usually does this part.”
“I know,” Eddie replies as he hops up on the bench and crosses his arms. He faces Steve and bends at the waist - Steve ignores the urge to reach out and steady him so he doesn’t fall again. “So what are you doing out here? Are you here to… beat me up?” Eddie asks dramatically, hopping onto the table and pretending to brandish a sword.
Steve simply raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms.
Eddie’s arms drop. “Okay. Surprising but I guess you would’ve already taken a swing if you wanted a fight.” He squats down on the table until he’s eye level with Steve. “You’re not here because of the rumors, right?” Eddie asks, dropping his voice and appearing weirdly serious.
As for the rumors, Steve’s sure he’s heard more than he can count - including one about Munson being a vampire - so he’s not sure what he’s talking about. He’s also not sure if he wants to know which rumors he’s talking about. Steve runs a hand through his hair and settles his hands on his hips. “I just needed to clear my head. I didn’t know you were out here.”
Eddie squints at him. “You’re clearing your head by taking a walk in the woods?”
“Yes.”
They hold eye contacts for a few moments, and Steve can’t really tell what they’re silently sizing each other up about. Eddie reluctantly stands up and jumps off the table. “Fine. What are you clearing your head about?”
Steve stares at him.
“What?”
“Why do you want to know?”
Eddie steps closer to him and obnoxiously twirls a piece of hair around his finger. “Because you’re Steve Harrington, and I must be the luckiest guy in all of Hawkins since I’ve got you here alone with me.”
Steve laughs loudly and gently shoves Eddie away. “Shut up.”
Eddie’s cheeks flush pink, and Steve can almost see him biting back the words “make me.” Then he’s reminded of the rumor that Eddie bats for the other team, and Steve suddenly wonders if it’s true - not that he would mind.
Steve pushes the thought away as Eddie smiles sincerely and pushes some hair in front of his face. “Maybe I wouldn’t mind the company. Plus,” he turns and sprawls back on the picnic bench, “You can tell me anything. I’m great at keeping secrets, and even if I wasn’t, it would be your word against mine.”
Steve considers what he’s said before asking, “And how crazy of a secret would you not only keep but believe?”
Eddie smiles almost manically. “Try me.”
Steve looks around wondering if the government people or whoever they were can hear him out here. He’s not sure if it’s been long enough to guarantee there’s not someone keep track of each of them, waiting for them to slip up. He also wonders how cruel it would be to unload all of this onto Eddie. Steve knows life was much simpler before he knew that demogorgans existed.
“I’ve been fighting… some monsters recently,” Steve settles on, hoping Eddie doesn’t take it so literally.
“Yeah?”
Steve nods and takes a step closer to where Eddie is sitting, gesturing at nothing as he continues, “It started when I was an asshole to Nance and then she ran off with Jonathan and the rest is history there but… they really dragged me into some heavy shit.”
“I can imagine. It’s not every day that your girlfriend runs off with another guy. Which is a shitty thing to do by the way.”
Steve tries to steer the conversation away from his failed relationship without setting off Eddie’s alarm bells. “It’s not that I really blame them. I mean you’ve seen them, everyone has, they’re kind of made for each other. Who am I to get in the way of that? Especially since I was a shitty boyfriend. But that’s not the point. Before Nance left, I was pulled into helping some…” he pauses, trying to think of a way to talk about the kids out of context without sounding like a creep. “Well, there was this guy who needed help and so… I helped him and his friends out.”
Eddie fixes him with a carefully blank look. “Helped this guy out… how exactly?”
Steve shrugs and sits next to Eddie as he figures out how to phrase things. “He… well. His cat… di- escaped! It escaped. And I was helping him find it, and we actually grew pretty close.”
Eddie knocks his knee against Steve’s. “So… you and this guy grew… close.”
Steve nods and smiles. “Yeah, he’s this dumbass genius k-,” he cuts himself off before he can say kid. “Anyways, then his friends needed help, and I helped them fight… their monsters.”
Eddie raises his eyebrows at him. “So you helped… multiple guys… fight their… monsters?”
Steve nods. “Yeah. But that’s over and now I have to go back here and pretend that none of that ever happened. It just… sucks, man.”
Eddie nods. “Uh. Yeah. I can imagine pretending for so long is... exhausting.”
“Tell me about it,” Steve says with a laugh.
A silence falls between them and Eddie glances over at him. “You know… you don’t have to pretend with me.”
Steve smiles and wonders what not pretending means now, but it’s sounds good nonetheless. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
Eddie softly smiles and his eyes move down to Steve’s lips slowly. “Yeah?”
And oh. Oh. There was definitely a miscommunication somewhere along the way. And… okay. Fighting monsters and helping guys fight their monsters is maybe not the best phrasing. But Steve thinks he likes Eddie remaining so blissfully ignorant.
So, Steve kisses him.
And yeah. Maybe there are quite literally hundreds of different ways he could’ve let Eddie remain oblivious to the whole vague Upside Down retelling, but Steve can’t really complain when Eddie kisses him back, finding the scrape of stubble against his face surprisingly pleasant.
And Steve finds himself taking his time thoroughly allowing Eddie to believe this story that Steve wishes were true rather than the real thing. It’s only when Eddie’s watch beeps that they finally pull away for longer than a few seconds.
“Shit,” Eddie mumbles, resting his forehead against Steve’s, “Time to head back in.”
“Can’t skip?” Steve asks, wondering why he’s trying so hard to solidify his false story.
Eddie sighs and pulls away. “Unfortunately, if I skip anymore, they’re not going to let me graduate. Although right now I think spending more time with you might be more important than my diploma.”
Steve laughs and feels himself pleasantly flushing. He nudges Eddie’s shoulder with his own before standing up and offering his hand to him again. “Come on. We can’t have you not graduating again.”
“Again? Harrington, are you keeping tabs on me?”
Steve raises his eyebrows at him as Eddie takes his hand and pulls himself off the bench. “And what if I am?” He flirts easily.
Eddie smiles giddily and grabs his lunch box. “Then I really must be the luckiest boy in Hawkins.”
Steve doesn’t say anything when Eddie doesn’t let go of his hand as they walk out of the woods toward the school. It’s only as the school slowly comes into sight that Eddie drops Steve’s hand and shoves his hands into his pockets. He stops in his tracks and turns to Steve. “Hey, thanks for not pretending with me.”
Steve glances at the school before moving in to give Eddie one final kiss. He lingers in it before breaking away to say, “Thank you for listening.”
They wordlessly separate as the head back to the building, knowing that even with the few weeks of school left and both of their tarnished reputations that they can’t truly risk it all.
As Steve makes it to his class just before the final bell rings, he’s left to wonder if maybe he really does have some other type of monsters to fight. And he really hopes Eddie Munson can be there to help him with those ones again.
Something that is canon in my mind that I forget to tell people:
The reason why Steve can’t get bitches in his Scoops Ahoy era is because there’s a rumor going around that he’s gay (probably because someone caught him hooking up with Eddie)
It's Cass Day!!!! Happy happy happy happy birthday @henderdads. i love you so so much, and I'm so thankful that you let me plot all my fics and ficlets (including this one ha!) in your dms. (and of course, I'm thankful for you forever and always for everything). I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful birthday :))))
Wednesday afternoons are Steve’s favorite afternoon out of the whole week.
There’s something about pushing a squeaky cart around the local grocery store and making small talk with the Wednesday regulars - a gossipy book club of moms who do their shopping at the same time so they have more time to complain about their husbands - that really fills Steve heart. (Or maybe it’s just the slight bitchy side of him that loves to rag on Elizabeth’s husband Tom who really needs to get his head out of his ass and appreciate the beauty in front of him, and of course he can’t forget Charles, Lisa’s dick of a husband who apparently doesn’t know what a date night is, oh! And Margaret’s husband Al… and really, he could go on about these husbands for hours without getting tired of it)
Really, he loves the routine of it all. And the way the women dote on him for being so kind to his girlfriend back home - which he constantly reminds them is not his girlfriend. But he sometimes wishes the groceries in his cart and the scribbled list in his hand was for someone he could go back home to greet with a kiss. (After giving Robin a hug of course, because in any fantasy, some of those things on that list and in the cart are always going to be for Robin).
But really, it would be nice to have someone to brag about to the group. Maybe bring up their spirits that love is not lost and-
Steve stops in his tracks, all thoughts gone from his head as he does a double take at the magazine rack near the checkout. And yeah, he knows that Corroded Coffin is popular. Hell, he’s seen Eddie’s face on the same rack at least five times before. But never like this.
The picture on the front page is taken at a lower angle, with Eddie clad in leather pants and a tight mesh black shirt that might be a crop top, but Steve can’t tell with the way Eddie’s guitar is covering his midriff, hands flying over the frets, showing off silver rings glimmering under the stage lights including the one that Steve helped Dustin pick out for him as a celebratory gift. But as Steve’s eyes trace over Eddie’s bare arms and the stark black tattoos, he’s led to wild curls perfectly framing Eddie’s face which stares down at the cords, mouth parted in an ‘o’ shape and eyebrows knitted together in concentration in a way that makes Steve feel weak in the knees.
And Steve’s suddenly hit with the question: Why didn’t anyone tell him that Eddie was hot???
He snatches the magazine off the rack before he can even really think about it, and tries not to think of what the moms will say about him when he leaves.
Maybe they’ll stop assuming he has a girlfriend at home at least.
During his drive home, he can’t help but think about the magazine laying between the loaf of bread and carton of ice cream that were packed together by the newest bag boy - which the ladies have a lot to say about, but Steve can’t think of anything besides that damn picture.
Once he’s back at the apartment, he puts the groceries away at an alarmingly fast rate, before making his way to the couch and laying back with the magazine in his hands.
It’s nice to see Eddie on the front cover of a magazine without it being attached to some weird scandal that Eddie had nothing to do with. Usually it’s an ill timed photo because he always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this time…
Steve let’s out a deep breath and flips through the magazine, hoping that there’s some type of interview with more pictures that he can secretly stare at and panic about later.
There’s a bunch of boring looking articles and ads until he spots a page with bright red lettering and a number of pictures. Steve can’t help but wet his lips when he opens the page to find a picture of Eddie smiling at something off camera, looking totally different from the front cover. He just looks like… Eddie.
Yet, Steve finds his heart racing even harder at this picture, missing those dimples and that glimmer of mischief in Eddie’s eyes that’s usually directed at him. And Steve suddenly wonders what or who Eddie's looking at, feeling a bloom of jealousy in his chest.
He glances away from the picture and scans the page for another one. He smiles when he sees Eddie with the rest of his band mates, leaning heavily on Jeff while pulling his signature expression, nearly elbowing Jeff in the ribs to do his devil horns.
Steve laughs at Jeff’s face scowling down at him while Gareth and Frank cackle beside them. He wonders when they’ll be back in town.
Wait.
Steve dog ears the page before running up to his calendar where Robin had written “Dustin’s favorite day ever” on the upcoming Friday.
“Oh no,” Steve mutters to himself. That’s way too damn soon for Eddie to come home after Steve’s realization. He needs to give him at least two weeks to panic and process.
Okay, if Eddie was there with him, the panicking and processing would probably happen in two hours- no, minutes- maybe even seconds. But giving Steve two days is not the right amount of time. That’s just enough time for Steve to really start and settle into the panic. But hey, maybe he can dedicate the next twenty-four hours to panicking and the twenty-four hours after that to processing. Right?
Absolutely. He can do this.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Robin, I can't do this."
Robin rolls her eyes at him. "I can't believe one picture wrecked you."
"It's not my fault! It's the damn photographer and whoever put that picture on the front cover," Steve complains, running a hand through his hair. "They're the ones who made me think of him like that."
"Uh huh."
Steve glances over at Robin who looks completely engrossed in painting her nails a deep purple color that looks black from where Steve is standing. He glances at himself in the mirror, nervously styling his hair before picking up the magazine from where it has made a permanent home on the coffee table. He flops down on the couch next to Robin who yelps and groans, "You made me smudge my nail polish!"
"We have more important things to worry about than the state of your nail polish."
Robin carefully cleans around the edge of her nail, stained with the dark color before turning to Steve. "Yes, the sudden realization that Eddie is hot is very important to me."
"You know what I mean," Steve sighs, leaning back against the couch as he opens the magazine to his favorite picture of Eddie in this edition. He looks at it for a moment, immediately closing it when he realizes he's smiling.
Robin blows on her nails and frowns before glancing back at Steve. "Okay. He's going to be here in less than an hour. How can I help you? Although, I really don't think you'll need my help at all."
"What do you mean?" Steve asks, a pinch forming between his brows.
Robin gives him a look. "You're going to act weird around him. He's going to eventually pick up on it. And then you're going to confess all these feelings you're having and then..." Robin has a sudden look of realization and immediate disappointment. "Then, I'm going to have to find somewhere else to stay tonight since you told Eddie he could stay here on the couch, which is not going to happen after your little confession."
"He's going to leave?" Steve asks quickly in confusion and slight panic.
Robin huffs, "No, he's going to be staying in your bed. And I really do not want to hear that."
Steve frowns. "You don't even know if he thinks I'm hot."
A look passes over Robin's face, first humor, then a bit of confusion, disbelief, and, once again, disappointment. "Steve," she asks, grabbing his hand, eyes staring hard into his. "This whole time you've had the magazine, you never read the interview?" Robin asks as if it's the most important question she's ever asked him.
"Why would I read it?" Steve asks with a shake of his head. When Robin's jaw drops, he gets the sudden message that he is definitely missing something. He snatches up the magazine and flips it open, somehow not getting to the interview right away although he was sure that he opened it to that page so much that it permanently creased the spine.
Just as he gets to it. There's a loud, persistent knock on the door.
Steve's and Robin's eyes meet in a panic. "Hide the magazine," Robin all but hisses as she makes it to the door raising her voice to say, "We have neighbors! Keep it down, dingus!"
Steve looks around, wondering if he can shove the magazine under the couch, but he knows Eddie would somehow see it in his antics. When he spots the stack of magazines on their side table, he rushes to put the magazine right in the middle of them. Hiding in plain sight. Perfect.
He stands up as soon as the door swings open, trying not to look guilty and failing miserably, only to breathe a sigh of relief when he realizes it's only Dustin. "Henderson," he says with a goofy smile launching into their handshake and ending it with a quick laugh, knocking off Dustin's hat to ruffle his hair.
When Dustin starts complaining about his hat being on the floor, Steve bends down to pick it up, only for a pale, ring-clad hand to grab onto it at the same time Steve does.
Steve glances up and locks eyes with Eddie. His heart starts to pound at an alarming rate as he takes in the familiar deep brown irises, moving on to take in the slight blush on Eddie's cheeks alongside a wide smile. "Steeeve Harrington," Eddie drawls out, the way he does when he hasn't seen him in a while.
"Munson," Steve says with a nod, a wide smile tugging at his lips that he tries to push down, as he always does when it comes to Eddie as if pretending not to care. The same way he does when he's trying to get someone to like him...
Oh.
Shit, he doesn't just think he's hot. He likes him. Hell, he's liked him for a long time even. And now he has even less time to panic about that.
Steve glances up, finding that Eddie has stood up, hat still between their hands as he stares down confusedly at Steve. He offers a hand, and Steve takes it, easily being pulled up into his space. He lingers close to Eddie, eyes dipping down to his lips, realizing how much he wants- needs this.
He glances up at Eddie, finding his pupils blown wide and his brow furrowed. And Steve finally feels that electricity that he's been searching months- no, years for.
"Am I getting my hat back?" Dustin asks, clearly annoyed.
Steve and Eddie both shove the hat over at the same time, eyes reluctantly leaving each other, only for Steve to see Robin giving him an unimpressed look. He can practically see her trying to figure out who she's going to call to spend the night with.
Steve glances back at Eddie and rushes out, "It's- uh, good to see you again."
Eddie grabs a strand of hair and pulls it in front of his face, kicking nothing as he says, "You miss me, Steve?"
Steve shakes his head automatically, "No." He turns to Dustin and asks him when the others are getting there, but his question is answered when the door opens behind them again.
"Do you guys knock?" Robin asks, stealing the words out of Steve's mouth.
"Do you guys lock your door?" Mike snarks back.
Steve sighs and moves to Robin's side, watching as the kids all greet Eddie excitedly. "Why don't they greet us like that?" Steve quietly bitches.
"Because we're not famous and gone all the time," Robin answers with a frown. "By the way, tonight is going totally as I planned."
Steve rolls his eyes. "No, it is not. I have been acting completely normally around him."
"Yeah, because you two have the tendency to eye fuck each other for an uncomfortable amount of time." Robin pauses and considers what she said. "Actually, I take that back. You two are acting completely normal."
"Since when do we-"
"Hey," Eddie says, successfully cutting Steve off, "When the pizzas get here, I'm paying."
Robin nudges Steve in the side after a few seconds pass, and Steve can't help but stare at the man instead of processing anything he said. "Hmm?"
"I'm paying for the pizza you all ordered," Eddie says, brows still furrowed. "Are you okay?"
Steve nods and crosses his arms. "Yes, it's just that we didn't order any pizza."
"But Dustin said..." Eddie trails off and glances at the kids. "Those little shits."
"Someone needs to give them a stern talking to."
Eddie raises his brows. "Are you shirking your co-parenting duties while I'm away?"
Steve huffs out a laugh. "Don't worry, I'm keeping your sheep in line."
Eddie offers him a big smile and leans in to say, "Sorry, I can't be here often, sweetheart."
Steve shoves him away with a roll of his eyes, ignoring the way his heart flutters at the nickname. "Go do your part and entertain them."
"And pay for the food!" Eddie reminds him yet again, walking toward the group, eyes not leaving Steve.
"My hero," Steve says, taking a page from Eddie's book of dramatics by crossing his hands over his heart and fluttering his lashes.
Eddie stops in his tracks, looking over him before shaking his head and going to the table where everyone is setting up.
"That was painful to witness," Robin says, scaring the shit out of Steve. She crosses her arms. "Did you really forget I was here?" When Steve doesn't respond, she walks away, muttering, "Unbelievable."
Steve runs a hand through his hair, willing his heart to slow down before he has to sit through this long-ass campaign - that he secretly really enjoys, but no one except Robin will ever know.
-:-:-:-:-:-
A few hours later, Steve finds himself giving the kids hugs as they rush out his door, nearly missing their curfew. When they make their way to Eddie, he whispers to Robin, "See, the night didn't go as planned at all."
Robin raises her eyebrows at him and whispers back, "Yeah, you're not going to act weird at all when you two are alone."
Steve gives her a panicked look. "What do you mean- you're not leaving are you?"
Robin throws her hands up in a shrug as she backs up into her room, leaving the door open as she very obviously packs an overnight bag. Steve wonders if there is any way to stop her without alerting Eddie.
"What's Buckley doing?" Eddie asks, startling Steve. Eddie reaches out and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You've been on edge all night."
Steve nods automatically. "Yeah, I'm fine." And yeah, he is fine. And he has not been on edge at all because that would mean that Robin is right.
Speak of the devil... "I'm heading out tonight! You two have fun," Robin says with a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow." Before Steve or Eddie can stop her, she's already out the door, leaving them entirely alone. Steve doesn't even remember when the kids all left.
"I'm guessing you know what that's about," Eddie says, eyebrows disappearing under his bangs as he stares at the door.
"No idea," Steve replies, making his way back to the dining area to clean up the remaining mess the teens made, and really he was going to have to give them another lecture about cleaning up after themselves.
"Steve," Eddie says softly.
Steve hums in response but doesn't dare to look his way as he stacks up various empty plastic cups.
"Steve," Eddie tries again.
And Steve knows that tone. Knows that if he fully engages, Eddie will want to have a serious conversation which is not something they often do. So he just keeps cleaning until there's nothing left to do except brush imaginary crumbs off the table.
"Steve," Eddie says, voice impossibly close to him.
Steve takes a deep breath and turns to him, heart skipping a beat when he finds Eddie hovering in his space.
"What's going on?" Eddie asks gently.
Steve shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. "Nothing." He quickly moves away from Eddie, grabbing a napkin off one of the kitchen counters and tossing it into the trash on his way to the living room.
"Why are you acting weird?"
"I'm not," Steve says, resting his hands on his hips in the same way he does when the kids start to annoy him.
Eddie raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms, staring but not saying anything.
Steve stares back, jutting his hip out in a show of how adamant he is about his answer.
After a few tense seconds pass by, Eddie slowly walks closer to him, and Steve fights for his eyes to not flicker down to his lips. When Eddie is within arms reach, he leans forward. "Steve, what is wrong?"
Steve shrugs nonchalantly, but his eyes betray him and flicker to the stack of magazines beside the couch. He tries to keep his features carefully blank, but he sees the moment Eddie realizes there is something significant about that glance.
Before Steve can stop him, Eddie is diving down to the magazines, snatching up the whole stack in his arms. Steve moves forward to grab them, only to realize his error when Eddie scoots back and smiles wildly. "This is it, isn't it? What, did you hide a filthy magazine inside here or something?"
"Eddie..." Steve warns, standing above him, hands still on his hips.
Eddie smiles before turning his eyes to the stack and leafing through them. Steve moves down quickly, knocking the magazines out of his hands as he practically straddles Eddie. He stares down at him, eyes wide, about to move back when he notices Eddie's eyes resting on his stomach.
Steve glances down between them only to see the image of Eddie on the front cover staring back at him.
"Shit, I didn't know they released that yet," Eddie says, laying fully back, hands dragging over his face. He lets them rest there before spreading his fingers to ask, "You read the interview, didn't you?"
"No," Steve says honestly.
Eddie frowns and props himself up on his elbows. "When did you get this?"
"Wednesday." And curse his damn mouth for rambling without his permission.
"You got this two days ago but haven't read the interview?" Eddie's expression shifts from fearful to cocky. "Steve Harrington, did you buy this just to stare at me?"
"No," Steve says, crossing his arms.
Eddie sits up fully, and Steve becomes very aware of the way he's still sitting on top of Eddie's thighs. "Did you get all flustered about this?" Eddie asks, holding up the magazine teasingly.
Steve's eyes flicker to the front cover again, and his lips suddenly feel very dry. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. He glances back at Eddie and shrugs. "You look fine."
"Has anyone ever told you you're a bad liar?"
"Has anyone ever told you you need to get your ego in check?"
Eddie smirks at him. "Why would I need to do that when I know Steeeeve Harrington bought the magazine with my face on it?"
"Stop saying my name like that," Steve says, leaning forward trying to be menacing, but only satisfying Eddie by getting closer to him.
"Why? Steeev-" Eddie's cut off when Steve suddenly moves forward and kisses him, hands flying up into his curls to pull him closer.
Steve stills before pulling back, searching Eddie's eyes.
"You...?" Eddie asks before raking a hand through his hair. "You actually bought it to stare at me?"
Steve rolls his eyes. "You already knew that since I'm 'such a bad liar,'" Steve says adding air quotes.
"I was hoping you were. Christ, Steve, this?" Eddie asks, holding up the magazine.
Steve runs a hand through his hair. "You look hot!"
"Christ," Eddie says again, this time dropping the magazine to pull Steve into another kiss. He breaks it to mumble, "I can't believe you haven't read the damn interview." His hands run through Steve's hair messing up the strands before he pulls back suddenly. "Wait."
"Yeah?" Steve asks as Eddie's eyes practically glaze over in panic.
Eddie's chest heaves for a second before he says, "Fuck, you bought it because you thought I'm hot not because... fuck." He looks away from Steve and stares down at the magazine as if it personally offended him.
"Huh?" Steve asks, knees starting to ache on the hardwood floor. He climbs off of Eddie with a groan, but Eddie must take it wrong because he almost immediately stands up.
"Sorry, it's stupid," Eddie says with a humorless laugh. "Hey, do you think Buckley will be upset if I take her bed for the night? It's been a long day, and I'm about ready to clonk out."
Steve can feel his face morph into an expression of bewilderment. "Eddie, what?"
Eddie shakes his head. "Yeah, you're right. Dumb idea. Robin would kill me. I'll take the couch like usual."
Steve carefully stands and steps into Eddie's space, but Eddie sidesteps him easily. He watches as he flops down on the couch, refusing to look at him.
Steve's eyes settle back on the magazine, reaching down to grab it to find whatever the hell is in that interview.
"Steve, please don't."
Steve ignores Eddie the same way he ignored him, opening the magazine to the same page his eyes have landed on several times before. His eyes settle on the image of Eddie before moving to the words, skimming before he finds his own name staring back at him. He backtracks, looking at the question and answer.
Do you guys have any sources of inspiration?
Jeff: Oh, Eddie sure does.
Frank: He has what you might call a muse back at home.
Eddie: Please shut up.
Gareth: A beautiful muse with the most beautiful hair you've ever seen.
Eddie: Please stop talking about Stevie.
Jeff: He's just shy when it comes to his little crush.
Eddie: Next question, please.
Steve glances up at Eddie who sits red-faced on the couch. He clears his throat. "They told me they would cut it out entirely, but then they reached out later saying it was too good not to publish, but they did me the favor of changing your name to something more feminine so they didn't out me. Still fucked though. I'm sorry you got pulled into this mess."
Steve looks back at the magazine and then at Eddie. "Is it true?"
Eddie groans and lays back on the couch dramatically. "Please don't make me answer that. I've gotten enough shit from the guys, and I know you don't feel that way about me. It's okay that you only find me hot, I'll take what I can."
It hits Steve all at once what Eddie's sudden dramatics are about. "Oh my god. Eddie, I like you, too!"
Eddie's head pops up. "What?"
Steve turns the magazine to him and points at the picture of Eddie laughing. "This is what I've been so flustered and weird about. Yes, the front cover made me realize that, hey, I find you really attractive. But I've been staring at this picture for way longer, and I didn't know why until you got here tonight. And it hit me that I like you. I think I have for a long time, but I just didn't connect the dots before."
"You like me?" Eddie echos, dumbfounded.
Steve laughs. "Yes, I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't have feelings for you."
"That's a fucking relief," Eddie says, scrambling off the couch and racing to pull Steve into another kiss.
Steve smiles into the kiss, pulling Eddie as close to him as possible as Eddie attempts to do the same.
"I'm going to give that photographer the biggest tip ever," Eddie says breaking the kiss for a moment only to kiss him again.
Steve smiles so wide that he can barely kiss Eddie back. When they break away, Steve says, "I'm going to have to buy another."
"Why?"
"I have to get the front picture and the interview framed," Steve says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course," Eddie says with a laugh before wrapping his arms around Steve and pulling him in close. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too," Steve replies.
They hold each other for a while, not willing to break the moment until a sudden thought has Steve groaning.
"What?" Eddie asks, pulling back to look at him.
"Robin was right."
Eddie smiles. "When is she not?"
"Never," Steve answers simply.
They stand in each other's arms just happy to be so close, taking each other in as if it's for the first time. Steve wonders what to tell the Wednesday regulars and how they'd respond if he introduced Eddie to them. He thinks back to Lisa's comments about how the group should just date each other and how Sarah had responded with a little too much enthusiasm, and Steve thinks things will be just fine.
"What are you thinking about?"
Steve shakes his head with a smile. "What are you doing this Wednesday?" he asks, making a mental note to add two frames, another magazine, and Robin's favorite ice cream to the list.
"Anything you want," Eddie replies easily.
And with that, Steve finds himself looking forward to his Wednesday afternoon even more than usual.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Here is my Valentine's Exchange fic for my dear B <3 @stevesbipanic (surprise hehehe Happy Valentine's Day).
Based on the prompt: Steve and Eddie fake date on a double date with Nancy and Robin to make Robin/Nancy feel less stressed and end up realizing their feelings for each other.
(Somewhat combined with the prompt: Steve and Eddie at Lovers Lake making new memories to get rid of the old bad ones there.)
I have posted this as only an Ao3 link because it is 9k words, but if you want me to post it as separate parts on here let me know <3
For once in his life, he’s not being treated like absolute shit by all the dumbass jocks of Hawkins High School.
In fact, they’re not even engaging with him at all. They’re looking at him, but they’re just not saying anything. Even when Eddie pretends to drop his stuff in front of Billy Hargrove, he doesn’t even laugh at him.
And while this should feel like the best day of Eddie’s life, he has an underlying feeling that this is all very very wrong.
Then, he knows the universe has decided to fuck with him or something when Tommy Hagan meets him at his “business transaction” table and instead of buying anything, he leans in and whispers, “Meet me at skull rock after school today.” And fucking plants a quick kiss to his cheek.
And hey. What the hell was that?
Yes, he’s seen the way Tommy looks at Steve Harrington to know there’s no way that there’s not a part of him that wants him in a way that is definitely not platonic.
But Eddie isn’t Steve Harrington (who makes every guy feel a little bit gay) he’s Eddie Munson. And this does not happen to him.
But, he reasons with himself that, hey, maybe he’s in a coma or something and this is his only chance to see what life would be like if he was… liked? That doesn’t seem to be the right word, but he doesn’t know how else to describe it.
Or maybe the universe decided he needs a break from his horrible second senior year.
Doubtful.
Nonetheless, he decides what the hell, why not go to skull rock and see what Tommy Hagan wants, despite everything in his being screaming THIS IS A BAD IDEA!!!
And a few feet into the forest, he hears the quick crunching of leaves and sticks as something approaches him and is nearly startled out of his skin by Steve Harrington of all people.
“You need to leave,” Steve pants out.
Eddie glances around and wonders if this is real.
“Eddie, I’m serious. You need to leave. Right now.”
Eddie crosses his arms. “Why?”
Steve sighs and runs his hands over his face. “Oh my god you remind me of Henderson. Okay. The basketball team is planning to ambush you because Billy thought it was a good idea or something. I don’t know. I overheard it in the locker room. And you have to leave.”
Eddie takes a moment to let it all sink in. And yeah, it adds up with the rest of the day, but also… “Why should I trust you?”
“Huh?”
“You’re Steve Harrington. You’re on the basketball team. What if you’re part of the trap?”
Steve shakes his head. “I’m not really friends with any of them.” His head whips around when a cracking noise sounds out a good distance away. “Let’s go,” Steve says, grabbing Eddie’s hand and tugging him away.
Eddie plants his feet and stays in place. “You’re going to have to prove to me in some way that you’re not in on this.”
Steve runs a hand through his hair and pinches his lips together. “I don’t know how!”
“Then tell me why you’re going against all of them to help me.”
Steve’s brows furrow for a moment before he puts his hands on his hip. “Because I’ve been on the receiving end of a Billy attack and that was before he lost the little control he had over his sort of sister that like kept him weirdly grounded or something. But ever since, he’s been itching for a fight, okay? And he doesn’t hold back. He could kill you.”
Half of it doesn’t make sense to Eddie, but something about Steve’s tone makes him believe that he’s telling the truth. But there’s still a small part of him that wants to doubt him.
“Kiss me.”
“What?” Steve asks, exasperated.
“If you’re in on it, you won’t be able to. Tommy barely even got my cheek-”
“He did what?”
“And,” Eddie continues, ignoring Steve, “if you’re not in on it, you’ll know that this means literally nothing to the both of us, and I’ll run back to my van immediately.”
Steve stares at him for a second as if he’s out of his mind - which he is, really - before stepping closer and asking, “You’ll really leave? Straight away? No poking around the woods because you’re curious?”
“Yeah,” he confirms with a nod. He smiles at Steve’s hesitation and says, “So, you are in on i-”
Only for Steve to quickly close the distance between them, weaving his hands into Eddie’s hair and pulling him close as he kisses him deeply, lingering for a few moments before pulling away, breath coming out heavier than before.
They both stare at each other for a moment, neither of them saying a word until another crunching sound appears closer than before and a voice calls out, “Eddie?”
Steve takes Eddie hand and runs, only for Eddie to pull him the other way toward his van, still slightly not trusting him although he’s pretty sure Steve’s tongue may have grazed the inside of his mouth. But that’s a thought for a later day.
As soon as the van is in sight, Eddie lets out a deep breath, happy to see it’s untouched before he runs and unlocks it, yelling for Steve to get in before starting it and taking off.
Once he’s on the road, he turns to Steve and asks, “You think we lost them?”
Steve nods and sighs, “I hope they don’t find my car though.”
“Where is it?” Eddie asks, quick to turn around when Steve directs him.
He’s not far from where Eddie was parked before, but with the risk of being discovered, Eddie is quick to stop his car and tell Steve, “Go!”
But Steve takes a moment and looks back at him, and Eddie’s suddenly scared that maybe he read this all wrong and Steve really is in on the trap. But then Steve asks, “And what if I asked you to convince me to go?”
It takes Eddie a second to register what the hell he’s talking about before he’s glancing back at the trees, searching for any movement before leaning over and breathing out, “I have got to be in a coma or something.”
There’s a brief sharp pain in his arm that has him yelping before he registers that Steve pinched him. “Maybe not,” Steve says, leaning closer to close the distance between them again, deepening the kiss in the short amount of time they have and quickly pulling away, leaving Eddie desperate for more.
“I’ll see you around. Thanks for listen to me,” Steve says before hopping out of the van and running to his car.
Eddie takes a moment to breathe before realizing he needs to get the hell out of there, and he quickly speeds off wondering if this is real life.
-:-:-:-:-:-
The next day, things go back to the way they used to be, but any time Tommy sees him, he turns an ugly shade of red which is accompanied by laughs of, “Eddie Munson stood you up.”
It’s nice at first, but two periods in, he’s already had enough of the dumb jabs people take at him until someone knocks a notebook out of his hands and it goes flying toward a nice blue pair of Adidas.
Eddie bends down at the same time as the other person does, and they both grab the book. When Eddie glances up, he makes eye contact with none other than Steve who gives him a small, private smile.
“Harrington,” Tommy says in an accusatory tone that has Steve frowning before standing back up, leaving the notebook in Eddie’s hand.
As he walks away, he turns back and gives him an apologetic smile that makes Eddie wonder if this is what Romeo and Juliet felt like.
The thought makes his nose wrinkle up before he stands up and goes about his day as if he doesn’t know what it’s like to be kissed by Steve Harrington. And a big part of him hopes that maybe he’ll get another weird day where Steve Harrington plays hero for him. And another part of him hopes that if he really is in a coma, he’ll wake up with Steve waiting for him on the other side.
Steve has the built up jock need to slap someone’s ass as a form of saying “good job” and he literally cannot do it to anyone because 1) they’re children 2) they’re Robin, his ex girlfriend, or his ex girlfriend’s boyfriend
But when Eddie comes into his life he’s like. Finally. An older male friend.
And one day, after Eddie does something as simple as give the kids a ride to Steve’s, Steve, without thinking about it, just slaps him right on the ass and says, “Thanks.” And as Steve walks off, Eddie has a whole ass crisis.
