This is my only platform that has any sort of following.
In light of the recent actions of some of the stranger things cast I feel I need to make it clear that I support the right of the Palestinian people to live freely and safely. I unequivocally support a ceasefire and condemn apartheid and genocide.
I also condemn the actions of Western governments who fund Israel and refuse aid to Gaza. I condemn the corporations who directly profit from genocide. I condemn the public figures who have announced their support for these same parties.
That includes members of the Stranger Things cast.
I urge you to show your support for Gaza in anyway you can. Donate, speak out, educate yourself, and bear witness.
I type this and its feels stupid and dystopian and ultimately pointless but its what I can do with this tiny following.
Fandom is a sanctuary for me but it feels wrong to protect my peace in this space while the creators we engage with daily support a genocide. So I will no longer be posting recs. I will not brush aside the actions of some cast members in the name of enjoying the final season of this show.
Eddie's hanging out in Family Video during Steve and Robin's shift, just being a general nuisance, when it begins.
The other two are talking in low voices in the back corner, discussing something Eddie can't hear. Normally he'd get up and go over there, insert himself into the conversation, command their attention, but he's too busy judgmentally rifling through Family Video's paltry horror movie supply to care that much.
He sneaks a glance over, and then he sees it.
Steve presses a kiss to Robin's forehead.
Eddie has to drop the tape he's holding before he does something stupid like break it out of jealousy.
And he knows, okay, he's heard it no less than eight million times, they're platonic with a capital P. That doesn't stop the little green monster in his chest from rearing its head.
It doesn't stop there, either. Eddie starts to see Steve kiss the rest of the Party. Simple little forehead kisses and temple kisses and kisses on the crowns of their heads, like he's their parent, which, well, he is. He does it when Dustin needs comfort. He slings an arm around Lucas and pulls him close for a kiss on the temple when Lucas makes a particularly good shot for basketball. He does it to Max, on one of her bad days. He even does it to Mike absentmindedly, who makes a feral screech like an angry cat before everyone starts to laugh at him. And of course, he and Robin are always all over each other.
But he won't kiss Eddie.
It's stupid that he expects it. They don't know each other. Steve's been with this group, been saving them from monsters and scientists and torturers for forever.
Eddie still wants in on it. If only to indulge his pathetic little crush on the former King of Hawkins High.
One night, Steve hosts a movie night, and Dustin invites Eddie along. He goes, because of course he does, and takes a seat on the end of the couch as Steve puts in the tape.
Eddie immediately forgets what the movie is, because Steve sits down next to him. His entire brain is a fuzzy kind of static that only intensifies when Steve scoots closer.
"Sorry," is the first word Eddie registers out of Steve's mouth, and he hastily tries to collect his thoughts. Steve moves closer, which doesn't help.
He peers around Steve and sees the kids all trying to squish onto the couch. "Scoot over, Eddie!" Mike shouts, and Eddie moves as close as he can to the arm of the couch. Steve follows, arm around him and thighs pressed close together.
Okay, then. Eddie can die happily tonight, apparently.
Something jumps at the screen, and Steve flinches.
Eddie learns a new thing about Steve that night. Apparently, when Steve gets frightened, he pulls everyone within reach towards him, like he's trying to shield them with his body. Eddie finds himself hugged to Steve's chest and has to employ breathing exercises to get rid of his new little...problem.
He somehow makes it through the movie without spontaneously combusting, a feat nothing short of a miracle. The kids run to the kitchen and Eddie can hear Dustin pick up the phone and say, "Hello, Paulie's Pizza?"
Steve sighs and gets up. "I did not say they could order pizza," he grumbles. He extends his hand to Eddie, and after a second of bewildered staring, Eddie manages to grab it and pull himself to standing.
Robin's sitting on the couch still (she had been on the other side of Steve), and she watches this interaction with an unreadable expression on her face.
Well, unreadable to Eddie, anyway. Steve and Robin proceed to have an entire conversation with just facial expressions, and Eddie is left in the dark about it.
Steve finally rolls his eyes and stalks into the kitchen. He distracts Dustin with a kiss on the top of his head, then steals the phone. "Hi, yeah," he says, and Eddie recognizes that voice as his King-Steve-takes-what-he-wants voice. "No, that's right. Two medium pepperoni pizzas and a side of garlic knots, yep."
He listens, then says, "I'll be over to pick it up," then places the phone back on the receiver with a click.
"I'm going to get the food." he announces to the room at large. "Eddie, you coming?"
"Sure?" Eddie slings his leather jacket from the back of one of the kitchen table chairs and slides his sneakers on.
The drive is quiet. Multiple times, it looks like Steve wants to say something, but he never does. When the two of them walk in to get the pizza, Steve grabs both boxes. "Can you get the door, Eds?"
Eddie wants to tease him about the new nickname, but he chooses not to, opting instead to nod and say, "Sure thing, Stevie." He pulls open the glass door and says, with a mock bow and a grand gesture, "Your majesty."
Steve rolls his eyes. "Thanks." He (finally!!) goes to kiss Eddie.
However, Eddie is not as short as the kids (and Robin) who Steve normally does this to. Eddie's pretty sure the kiss is supposed to land on his forehead.
It lands on his mouth.
Pretty shoddy kiss, as it were. Mostly, Steve kisses the corner of Eddie's mouth.
Both of their faces burn red. If not for Steve's sports-playing, monster-killing reflexes, the pizzas would be on the ground right now.
"Sorry!" Steve says, hurrying out to his car and tossing the food in the backseat. "Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."
Eddie slides into the passenger seat. "Finally!" he says.
"What?"
Eddie rolls his eyes. "Steve, I've been the only one who you haven't been bestowing kisses upon for weeks now. Sorry if I'm excited to be included in the group."
Steve starts the car. "But...those are all platonic kisses."
Eddie scoffs. "What, and kissing me wouldn't be?"
Steve is silent.
"REALLY?" Eddie yells. "Wait, wait-" He leans over the center console. "Steve Harrington, if you wanted a kiss, a romantic kiss, you could have told me before cuddling with me all night!"
Steve sighs. "Fine. Eddie Munson, I'm going to kiss you romantically."
And he leans in.
Eddie's obsessed with the curve and dip of Steve's mouth against his. He greedily cups his hand against Steve's face, his other hand propped up against the center console. Steve tastes like the soda he was drinking earlier, mixed with something richer and deeper that's wholly, entirely Steve.
They break apart at a small crackle from Steve's inner pocket.
"Henderson," Steve says exasperatedly. "That kid is so damn impatient."
"Steve!" Dustin's voice comes from the walkie Steve pulls out. "Have you gotten the pizza yet?"
"Yes, you little shit, we're coming back now." Steve sighs. "Oh! Henderson, find Robin. Tell her it happened."
Eddie shoots Steve a confused look, but Steve just holds up a placating hand, a slight smile on his face.
"OH MY GOD STEVE!" comes Robin's voice on the walkie. "HELL YEAH!"
Steve cackles and leans back in to kiss Eddie, who happily accepts.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson & Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson & Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington's Parents, Corroded Coffin (Stranger Things), Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson
Additional Tags: Feelings Realization, Sexuality Crisis, Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, POV Alternating, Practice Kissing, References to Period-Typical Homophobia, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers
Summary:
When Eddie confesses he’s never got the big deal about kissing, Steve teases him about it, saying maybe it’s because Eddie’s a bad kisser. Pride wounded, Eddie can’t let that go and decides he needs an unbiased opinion on his kissing skills. It’s weird but it’s only one kiss, no big deal, right? So, Steve says yes.
Eddie gets the answer he wanted, but then he and Steve are left with a whole new set of questions to navigate. Now they just have to find new answers.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson
Additional Tags: Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Romance, Meet-Cute, Alternate Universe - College/University, The Romanticization of the Communal Laundry Room
Summary:
Steve hates his roommate, Josh.
It’s hard enough sharing a shitty dorm with a constant reminder of the asshole jock he used to be. And of course, Josh doesn’t pick up his dirty socks, he steals drinks from their shared mini-fridge, and he smacks his food when he eats.
But the worst thing is Josh bringing his girlfriend over every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, like clockwork, and locking Steve out of the dorm until they’re done. (He’s tried standing his ground once before and staying put on his bed, but they just started going at it like he wasn’t even there)
That’s how Steve finds himself doing his laundry at the college laundromat every Sunday night. It's how he ends up stumbling upon a metalhead with dark brown curls and even darker eyes, sitting on top of his machine.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 12/12
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson & Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers
Additional Tags: Mutual Pining, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Has Abandonment Issues, Pining Eddie Munson, Found Family, background Lucas Sinclair/Max Mayfield, background robin buckley/nancy wheeler, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, POV Eddie Munson, Angst with a Happy Ending, actual alternate universe, Eventual Fluff
Summary:
If Eddie didn’t know any better, he would think that he’d slipped into an alternate dimension. A dimension where he was happy and not dead. A dimension where Steve Harrington sleeps in his bed—or maybe where he sleeps in Steve Harrington’s bed.
OR: Eddie dies. But then he wakes up next to a sleeping Steve Harrington.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Protective Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug
Summary:
After Nancy calls him bullshit, Steve finds another party. He decides to keep drinking. He's not too sure how he ends up curled up with Eddie Munson but he's kind of glad he did. It quickly becomes the best thing that could have happened to him.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Claudia Henderson, Wayne Munson, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Robin Buckley
Additional Tags: canon-divergent, everyone lives nobody dies, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, more accurately eddie munson is in love with steve harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, yay they defeated vecna now what, glossing over the shady government shit, eddie munson's ultimate bucket list, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Minor Angst, they're just silly dumb boys, Eventual Smut, Top Eddie, Bottom Steve, Dual POV, happy ending goes without saying at this point, steve harrington is a very sad boy, Mutual Pining, But they're idiots, Loser4Loser
Summary:
When Eddie Munson doesn’t kick the bucket in the Upside Down, he realizes there are a whole load of things he might have died without doing. And who’s there to help him out? Why, Steve Harrington, of course.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Robin Buckley & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Scoops Ahoy (Stranger Things), Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Period-Typical Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Canon Rewrite, I'm not kidding about putting that Eddie & Robin relationship tag first, overuse of em-dash and italics because they're dramatic nerds, POV Alternating
Summary:
“Edward Munson,” Robin says, eyes wide in a way that means trouble. “I sincerely hope your last will and testament is in order, because your mortal soul will leave your body when you hear who just got hired at Scoops Ahoy.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Mike Wheeler
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers, Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, Holly Wheeler
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Steve Harrington-centric, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Found Family, Queer Themes, Gender Identity, Gender Confusion, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Nonbinary Steve Harrington, Dialogue Heavy, Nail Polish, hinting at Byler, this is basically semi-connected one-shots about steve reflecting on gender with the others, Genderfluid Steve Harrington, The Party as Family (Stranger Things)
Series: Part 10 of all my steve fics— i mean, stranger things fics!
Summary:
Steve's parents never had any problem coming up with the ways he'd disappointed them. Whether it was his grades, his career, his social circle, his ambitions (or lack thereof), it was never good enough for them. It always came down to the same thing: when would he "quit fooling around and act like a man?"
Steve doesn't really think about his parents anymore, doesn't need to, not with the weird, wonderful, mismatched family he's found all on his own.
But he does sometimes wonder what they meant about being a man.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Will Byers, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Wayne Munson, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Erica Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Calvin Powell, Steve Harrington's Parents
Additional Tags: Developing Relationship, Eddie Munson Lives, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Stranger Things Spoilers, Explicit Sexual Content, eddie munson is a virgin, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Secrets, Idiots in Love, Dungeons & Dragons References, Eddie Has Issues, Soft Eddie Munson, Not Canon Compliant - Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, Post-Vecna (Stranger Things), Fluff and Angst, Don't copy to another site, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Minor Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eddie Munson Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, safe sex, Mixtape, Podfic Available
Series: Part 1 of Back Pocket
Summary:
Okay, so… Okay. Steve thinks that Eddie has a rubric or, or a checklist of some kind. A scale of sexual gratification, because he has a grand history of previous guy on guy fooling around, and Steve, first timer to all things gay, wanted to make sure he was doing right by Eddie and all his worldly experience.
There are, Eddie thinks, several problems with this assessment.
(In which Eddie has a teeny tiny secret, the Party just wants to have fun for once, and Steve is just rolling with the punches.)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Wayne Munson, Eleven | Jane Hopper, The Party (Stranger Things)
Additional Tags: Bodyswap, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Bisexual Awakening, Post-Season/Series 01, Canon Divergence, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Supportive Wayne Munson, Period-Typical Homophobia, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, smut at the end
Summary:
“What the fuck is going on?” Steve shouts to himself, spinning around, looking for anything that could possibly explain how he ended up in Eddie Munson’s bedroom, in Eddie Munson’s fucking body.
There’s a soft rap on the door followed by a man’s concerned voice, “you alright, Ed? Why’re you yelling?”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington & The Party, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Eddie Munson, one sided Tommy Hagan/Steve Harrington
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, The Party (Stranger Things), Wayne Munson, Nancy Wheeler
Additional Tags: Oblivious Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Disaster Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is Bad at Feelings, idiots to lovers, the stancy is only s1 and brief, stommy is also brief and also one-sided but only sort of, Eddie Munson's Black Handkerchief, Eddie still thinks he's straight, Eddie Munson has a gay awakening, Steve's bi awakening was technically Jonathan Byers, Brotherly Steve Harrington, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Post-Concussion Syndrome, Pre-Season/Series 04, Autistic Steve Harrington, Autistic Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has ADHD, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Dungeons & Dragons References, Protective Wayne Munson, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, no sex but there is a wet dream
Series: Part 1 of off-script
Summary:
"I'm saying this," says Steve, loudly, cutting him off, "because someone I love is, uh, gay. And I love them, but like, platonically. And also me calling you a queer might've been a little hypocritical, in restrospect."
There is a long, baffled pause.
"What," says Jonathan, "Steve, are you--are you coming out to me?"
Steve frowns, "Oh, yeah, I guess I am. Cool."
Or, post season 3, Steve manages to figure out that he's bisexual, despite his best efforts to repress it, comes out to Robin and Jonathan Byers of all people, and figures himself out. Also, there's a cute guy who might be actually insane running the kids' dnd club and he's got his eye on him. And his bandana.
Too bad Eddie Munson hasn't had a similar revelation. He's still under the impression that he's a straight man obsessing over Steve Harrington for normal, extremely heterosexual reasons.
OR: Steve figures out he's bi before Eddie figures out that he's gay. Eddie still manages to fall first.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Dustin Henderson & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Eddie Munson, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Steve Harrington, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Eddie Munson
Characters: Eleven | Jane Hopper, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Karen Wheeler, Joyce Byers, Jonathan Byers, Argyle (Stranger Things), Jim "Chief" Hopper, Sam Owens (Stranger Things), Vecna (Stranger Things), Will Byers, Martin Brenner
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Protective Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson-centric, Triwizard Tournament (Harry Potter), Protective Eddie Munson, Hurt Eddie Munson, Slow Burn, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington is Viktor Krum With Hair, Yule Ball (Harry Potter), Hurt/Comfort, POV Eddie Munson, Chosen One Eleven, Dragons, Underwater Kiss, Muggleborn Steve Harrington, Angst, Not Beta Read, Whump, Hurt Steve Harrington
Series: Part 1 of Steddie Harry Potter AUs
Summary:
After failing his fifth year twice, Eddie is ready to buckle down and have just one, relatively normal year at Hawkins’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But then famous professional Quidditch player, Durmstrang golden-boy Steve Harrington just has to enter the Triwizard Tournament.
(And Eddie can’t be one-upped by him and his flouncy hair—no way. Not when Dustin’s respect is on the line.)
But maybe he’ll finally prove to Gryffindor House that he belongs there after all.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, The Party (Stranger Things)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Porn with Feelings, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, First Time, Bottom Steve Harrington, Top Eddie Munson, Miscommunication, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dead Vecna (Stranger Things), idiots to lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending
Series: Part 1 of Sugar, We're Going Down
Summary:
He’s halfway in Eddie’s lap as one kiss becomes three becomes five, and Steve forgets that he needs to breathe until his lungs burn from the lack of oxygen and force him to break away. Eddie chases after him and Steve can’t stop the small laugh that bubbles up in his chest - this is going to be the end of him, Steve doesn’t remember the last time he’s felt so wanted.
Steve wants Eddie, and after weeks of pining, he's sure that Eddie wants him too - until they fall into bed together and suddenly nothing is the same anymore.
In the aftermath, Steve tries to cope with the thought that Eddie just doesn't want him as much as he does Eddie - and Eddie, Eddie is trying to understand how he managed to lose his new best friend and one chance at love at the same time.
In the background, Robin and Dustin may be debating if they should just lock the two in a room until they get over themselves and talk it out.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 9/9
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Susan Hargrove
Additional Tags: Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington-centric, Maxine "Max" Mayfield Needs a Hug, Maxine "Max" Mayfield-centric, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Sibling Relationship, Steve adopts Max, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Neglect, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Found Family, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Hurt/Comfort
Summary:
After Steve learns Max has been living alone since her mother went AWOL, he takes her in. Now he has to balance semi-adopting a child, with his budding feelings for Eddie and figure out what the hell to do with his life in the process.
Featuring copious amounts of cooking, lots of love and a medium-burn relationship.
5 times everyone thought Steve and Eddie were dating before they got together + the first time Steve tells someone after they actually get together
happy birthday @legitcookie!!! i hope you had a fantastic day!💗
read on ao3
1.
Thinking back on it all, Steve thinks he should have known something was up when Dustin started letting Eddie sit up front when he drove them places, a spot reserved only for Robin or Erica when Dustin was riding with him.
Steve has seen that kid - who's not really a kid anymore, he's in college now which is so weird to think about - elbow his friends in the neck trying to get to the car first so he could ride shotgun. So giving up the coveted spot for anyone - even Eddie - should have been a giant red flag.
Steve brings up Dustin letting Eddie sit up front to Robin and gets an eye roll for his trouble.
"What?" he asks. "It's not like it isn't weird. The kid will literally only let you or Erica sit up front and he only lets Erica do it because he's afraid of her."
"Yeah, and he let me sit up front because he thought that we were a thing or about to become a thing or whatever," Robin says, like that explains anything.
"Right," he says, not quite getting what she's getting at.
Dustin knows better now and has stopped bothering them about it, stopped asking Steve when he's going to finally ask Robin out. It only took a million years, but he thinks Dustin gets it now.
He still lets Robin sit up front out of habit - and because Steve refused to start the car the one time Dustin tried to bully his way up front with Robin after figuring out they would never be a 'thing'.
"You know he still kind of idolizes both of you and now that you're, you know-" Robin says trailing off.
Steve lost the thread a little bit, but he nods. "Sure, sure," he says.
Now that he and Eddie are friends, Dustin has stopped bugging them about about each other. Maybe Robin's right. Dustin is still just idolizing Eddie and that's why he lets him sit up front.
Steve still thinks it's weird though.
2.
The first instance Steve can remember something weird happening even before Dustin started letting Eddie sit up front was at a club in Indianapolis.
Robin's sitting in between him and Vickie in the booth, talking about her classes this semester, when she stops short.
"Rob?" Steve asks, and then waves a hand in front of her face when she doesn't respond.
She snaps out of it when he boops her nose lightly. "Uh, um. Don't look, but-"
He immediately looks in the direction she was looking in when she spaced out and tries to scope out what she saw that caught her attention so hard she stopped talking. He sees the crowd of dancing people in his line of sight, but he doesn't see anything out of place.
"I said don't look!" she snaps at him and he turns back to her.
"What? I don't see anything!" he says, feeling chagrined at her snapping at him like that. "You can't say 'don't look' and expect me not to look."
"Just- Eddie's, like, dancing on someone right now," she says, tone almost apologetic.
Steve fails to see what's so special about that. Eddie's always hooking up with someone when he and Steve come out together. He doesn't even think it's the first time Robin's seen it, so he isn't sure why she's so shocked. Vickie has a sympathetic look on her face when Steve glances at her to see if she thinks it's weird that Robin is bringing this up.
"Okay?" he says, voice lilting high at the end like a question.
"And you're okay with that?" Robin asks, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Uh, should I not be? He's always hooking up when we go out," he says, looking back over and yep - he's got his tongue down some guy's throat on the dance floor, the guy's hands gripping Eddie's ass to bring their hips together. Steve feels a ribbon of want float through him - it's been a while since he hooked up with someone.
"So, you've got like an arrangement where you can hook up with other people?" Robin asks, confused.
And Steve is also confused. The way she says 'arrangement' like it has connotations that he should understand. Why would he and Eddie have even talked about hooking up with anyone?
His slightly tipsy brain tries to rationalize it - maybe she's talking about when they go out just the two of them, like if Eddie hooks up with someone, Robin's assuming Steve would be all alone. He doesn't have a problem with it - he's a social butterfly when he's drunk and even if he wasn't, Eddie running off to go dance or make out or hook up with someone gives Steve time to find someone to hook up with himself. It's not like he's ever bored when he goes out with Eddie.
So he tells her, "He can literally do whatever he wants, Bobbie."
She sips her drink and stares at him, her gaze scrutinizing, and whatever she sees must appease her because she drops it and starts talking about her courses again.
When he remembers that conversation the next day, all he can think about is how bizarre Robin was acting.
3.
The next weird occurrence he can remember happening, he didn't even find out until after the fact that something was awry.
He's on vacation with most of the older crew, staying at a house near the ocean, just a small little bungalow, for the week that they're in California.
When Steve and Eddie go to drop their suitcases off in the room Nancy shuffles them towards, they pause.
There's only one bed.
He and Eddie look at each other and Eddie says, "Maybe all the rooms have one bed?"
"Yeah, yeah, probably," he says, dragging his suitcase to the far side of the room.
"We probably shouldn't say anything, right?" Eddie asks, later, before they all head out to the beach. "Like, about the room?"
Steve thinks about it. He knows Nancy is the one who got the keys to the house through her parent's friends and she got here earlier than them and scoped out the place. If there was another option to them sharing the same bed, Nancy would have told them. "Yeah, I mean. It's fine, right? You don't have a problem sleeping next to me?"
Eddie shakes his head. "Oh, of course not. I'm good sharing if you are."
"Yeah, it's no problem," Steve says. He kind of can't remember the last time he shared a bed with someone other than Robin when she stays over at his apartment sometimes.
"Okay, then we'll just. Keep it to ourselves. Besides, I feel like Nancy would skin us if we tried to complain about a place we aren't even paying for," Eddie says with a grin. The perk of Nancy's parent's friend having a vacation house is that even though it's a little small, they let them use it for free. And it's empty because they only use it when it's winter in Hawkins.
"She one hundred percent would," Steve agrees, so they drop it and don't bring it up. Too few beds isn't the end of the world.
Waking up with Eddie's arm firmly wrapped around his waist is fine, nice even. If Steve turns off the alarm that woke him, snuggling back into the embrace, making them both late for breakfast when they finally do wake up, that's no one's business but his own.
-
It's later, after they're home, that Eddie stops by and tells him about the extremely bizarre conversation he had with Nancy the last day there.
He says, "So something weird happened on vacation and I don't know what to make of it and I'm only telling you because you're the only other person it affected," as soon as Steve opens the door.
"What happened," Steve asks, instantly worried. He lets him in and Eddie starts pacing in the living room. Steve goes to sit on the couch.
"So, that last day on vacation, Nancy asked me to come sit on her suitcase because it wouldn't close with all the souvenirs she bought. I went into her and Jonathan's room and there were two beds," Eddie says, stopping in place to look at Steve to gauge his reaction.
His eyebrows shoot up. "Oh," he says. He's really not sure what to make of that either.
Eddie starts pacing again.
"Yeah. So I asked her why there were two beds in their room, but not two beds in our room - kind of put my foot in my mouth if I'm being honest. I didn't mean to just blurt it out, but then she said 'we were just trying to make sure everyone was comfortable'," he says, inflecting his voice higher to mimic Nancy.
"What the hell does that mean?" Steve asks, trying to wrack his brain and see if he remembers her telling him anything about her and Jonathan's relationship being shaky. He thought they were good. There were some rocky times before Vecna, with the distance and everything, but once they were both in the same place again, things seemed to smooth out between them. They've been happy together for years as far as he could tell.
"Exactly!" Eddie says, finally coming to sit on the couch next to him. "I literally asked her what does that mean? Because I had no idea. Still have no idea. She said 'what? It's not like you have a problem sharing with Steve', which honestly something about her tone made me feel like I was stepping on her toes, so I just dropped it. But I can't stop thinking about it. Are she and Jonathan okay?"
"As far as I know," Steve says. "That's so weird. But if there is something happening between them, it would make sense that they'd call dibs on the one room that has two beds. I gotta talk to her and see what's going on."
"Don't, like, tell her I told you or anything," Eddie says to him. Steve still thinks it's hilarious that Eddie is patently afraid of Nancy and her guns, which are mostly retired and locked up.
"'Course not," he says. "I'll just ask how they're doing the next time we hang out. I hope it's something they can get through at least."
"Yeah," Eddie sighs. "If they don't make it, how are the rest of us supposed to have a chance?"
Steve does ask Nancy about it later, just casually asks how she and Jonathan are doing.
She kind of narrows her eyes at him and says they're fine, but her voice is suspicious like she isn't sure what he's getting at. He drops it because he's also a little afraid of her.
The entire situation just leaves him confused, though.
He doesn't bring it up to Nancy again, but he does talk to Robin about it because his conversation with Nancy left a weird feeling in his chest.
"Eddie told me Nancy and Jonathan had separate beds on vacation," Steve blurts out, trying to go for casual, but absolutely failing.
She looks over at him with a weird expression on her face and says, "Yeah, I thought you knew that? It was just how it all shook out. Nancy just wanted everyone to be comfortable." And those words are eerily similar to what Eddie told him Nancy said about it.
He asks, "What do you know?"
"What do you mean?" she counters.
"You know something," he says, narrowing his eyes. "Are she and Jonathan alright? I tried asking her, but I felt like she was gonna bite my head off."
"They're fine," Robin says. "Nancy and Jonathan were just taking one for the team."
Steve's still so confused.
Robin must see the confusion on his face because she grabs his hand and says, "Look, we don't really ever talk about it, and that's totally fine by the way, but we all just want you to be happy."
Steve isn't sure where that came from or what it has to do with Nancy and Jonathan, but he's touched that his friends want him to be happy, he supposes.
4.
It's when he and Eddie get an apartment together that Robin brings up the thing she said at the club, jogging his memory of that bizarre night.
She's helping him unpack his room, putting stuff in the drawers, leaving space in some of them like she expects half of his wardrobe to be filled with something else. He thinks it's just another one of her weird quirks. Does she keep yarn for her knitting projects in half of her dresser or something?
He's hanging some shirts and she's folding his jeans when she blurts out, "You know, you don't have to let him 'do whatever he wants' just because it's what he wants, right? You're allowed to have a say in it too, you know."
It takes him a minute to realize who she's even talking about and even longer to realize she's referring to the conversation they had at the club years ago now.
"What- Eddie?" he asks confused. She nods, so he asks, "Why, because we live together now and that should, like, change something?"
Robin sighs, setting the folded jeans in the drawer. "I just mean, this doesn't exactly seem like the type of thing you'd be into. You've never mentioned wanting-"
He cuts her off, and says, "I mean, it's not like I don't also hook up with people when we go out."
That shuts her up for a solid minute. He watches as she processes it and almost wants to roll his eyes. His friends really think he has no love life whatsoever, huh?
He knows he hasn't dated anyone in a long time, but he's fine hooking up with people when he and Eddie go out sometimes. He can't say he doesn't miss having someone, or being in a relationship, but he's fine for now. He's still young, he still has time, you know?
Robin looks at him and says, "Okay. Okay, if that's something you want. Only if it's what you want, though. Don't just let Eddie talk you into something you don't want to do. Don't let him walk all over you."
"Yeah, of course," he says easily. "And if you're worried about us bringing people back here and it causing tension or whatever, we have rules in place and everything."
Robin says, "That- that's good! Rules are good."
'Rules' might be stretching it, but they did talk about guests not staying for longer than one night and trying to keep it down when they do have guests and that's good enough for Steve.
Luckily, Robin seems content to let him drop the subject and talk about how they're thinking of decorating the living room.
5.
The invitation comes in the mail.
Max popped the question - surprising Lucas, who had been agonizing for weeks over how to propose - a few months ago.
They knew the invitations were coming. Max told him over the phone that they'd be coming soon and that she expected them to send back an RSVP even though she already knew they'd be coming.
Steve checks the mail and is surprised to find just one invitation addressed To Steve & Eddie.
He takes the mail inside and shows the invitation to Eddie, who's eating his breakfast, still a little bleary-eyed and soft from sleep.
He drags the chair at the kitchen table closer to Eddie's chair and drops into it as he watches Eddie frown at the envelope in his hands.
He looks at Steve and asks, "Just the one came?"
Steve nods and Eddie opens the envelope to pull out the invitation.
They look over the invitation and Steve notices the RSVP section doesn't have options to add a plus one for either of them.
"Wow," Eddie says, dragging the word out. "None of our friends think either of us would manage to convince someone to come with us to the wedding, huh?"
Steve hums in agreement. He knows Robin, Dustin, El, and Erica helped Max and Lucas with the invitations and no one saw an issue with this one.
"God, are we both so extremely single that not one of our friends thinks we could find a date?" Steve asks, putting his head in his hands.
"Truly and deeply so fucking single, dude," Eddie says, rubbing a hand over Steve's back to lament with him.
+1.
"Hey, can we talk?" Eddie asks him after dinner one night and Steve's heart immediately starts beating out of his chest.
That phrase, even uttered by a friend, out of blue, makes him think something is wrong. He has the irrational thought that he's about to get friend-broken up with or that maybe Eddie wants to get his own place or something, which would really fucking suck.
They've lived together for a long time and are kind of co-parents to a cat now - it would just be a supremely inopportune time for Eddie to suddenly decide he wants out.
Eddie must see the anxiety in his expression because he quickly says, "No, it's nothing bad. It's just- it's actually something good, I'm hoping."
"Uh, okay," Steve says, wringing his hands a little with worry.
Eddie takes a deep breath and says, "So you know how I haven't really been interested in going out or hooking up lately?"
Steve nods, his heart finally calming down a little. Eddie hasn't wanted to go out lately, but it's fine - Steve hasn't really been all that interested either, more content to just lounge around the apartment with Eddie than to go out and try to meet new people.
"It's because there's someone I'm kind of interested in right now, but I'm not sure if he likes me back. It's a close friend, so I've been debating whether or not to say anything because I don't want to screw things up if he doesn't feel the same," Eddie says.
Steve's eyebrows furrow trying to think of who Eddie could be into. The thought that he might be into Jeff or Grant or Gareth, one of his closest friends, makes something in Steve's stomach swirl. He's not sure he likes that. Eddie dating a close friend, moving out to move in with him, sharing a life with him - that leaves a bad taste in Steve's mouth.
But it's Eddie - and Eddie deserves to be happy - so he says, "I think if you like someone, even a friend, you should tell him. If he's into guys, I mean. He'd be a fool to say no to you, whoever he is."
The smile that lights up Eddie's face is a little painful to see for some reason.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Eddie says.
Steve expects Eddie to get up and leave, to go find whoever it is he's into, but he stays put, on the couch next to Steve.
He reaches out and takes one of Steve's hands in his, still looking at him, like he's waiting for something.
Thoughts churn through his brain, first wondering why Eddie would hold his hand when he's apparently in love with one of his friends, and then realizing that he's probably also in the category of people Eddie considers a close friend and then-
Oh.
"Me?" Steve whispers, eyes wide.
That smile is still there, fond and happy.
"You," Eddie says, squeezing his hand.
"But why though?" he blurts out.
Eddie laughs. "We kind of share a life together, dude. We have a cat together and a home. And like, I don't think I've ever wanted anyone the way I want you, so there's also that."
Steve looks at him and thinks about their friendship up until this point, thinks about them deciding to move in together, to keep the stray cat Eddie found, the natural stop to them going out to clubs and bars in favor of staying in together and curling up on the couch.
He thinks of waking up for a week straight on vacation with Eddie's arms wrapped around him, feeling safe in his arms.
He thinks about the feelings that wrap around his heart and squeeze when he looks at Eddie sometimes.
He thinks about Eddie's hand in his right now.
He squeezes his hand back.
"I did say whoever you were into would be stupid to say no to you," he says.
"You did say that," Eddie says. His cheeks are a little flushed and Steve is overcome with the urge to pepper kisses all over them.
He scoots closer on the couch and says, "I meant it."
Eddie leans in closer and says, "I want to kiss you, but I want to be sure that we're on the same page. Like, it's not just about wanting to fuck you, which I do by the way-"
Steve interrupts and says, "I mean, I kind of got that when you said you didn't want to ruin your friendship if I didn't feel the same."
"Shut up, I'm trying to confess my love to you," Eddie says.
"Love?" Steve teases.
The blush on Eddie's face deepens, spreading down his neck. "Kind of. I mean, I've known you for how long now? I think it's kind of impossible to know you and not love you."
There's heat prickling behind Steve's eyes, embarrassingly enough. "I'm gonna kiss you," he says, instead of addressing how that one line has absolutely swept him off his feet.
He pushes closer, closing the small distance between them, getting his mouth on Eddie's for the first time.
Eddie sighs against his mouth, this pleased little sound that lights Steve up from the inside. He wants to kiss Eddie until he's dazed with it, wants to hear all the noises Eddie can make, wants to draw them out of him with his mouth and his hands.
Eddie kisses him and kisses him and kisses him until his mouth feels tender under Eddie's.
He pushes Steve backwards on the couch to lay on top of him, his hips in the cradle of Steve's thighs. He keeps kissing him as he settles his weight on top of Steve, their bodies pressed flush together.
They lick into each other's mouths for a long minute, just tongues tasting each other and mouths moving together.
Steve is working up the courage to touch Eddie, to put his hands on him, when he hears him hiss in pain. He pulls away from Eddie's mouth and sees Trick clawing her way up Eddie's arm to get on the couch.
Eddie sits up and pulls her off his arm and deposits her on Steve's chest. She immediately steps on his windpipe in an attempt to curl up near his head.
"God, your daughter is so mean to me," Steve says as he moves her off his neck.
"To you?" Eddie asks, looking at his arm to make sure he's not bleeding. "It was my arm that she clawed."
Eddie's still perched between Steve's legs, but with Tricky on the couch, there's no way they can go back to making out.
And-
"I have to tell Robin," Steve says.
Eddie grins at him and asks, "Immediately after our first kiss? You're gonna run over to her place?" There's no judgment in his voice and that makes something in Steve's chest feel tender - that Eddie knows how he is with Robin and isn't weird about it.
"Yeah, it won't take long. I'll be back before you know it." Steve watches as Eddie climbs off him and adjusts himself in his pants. He covers Patricia's ears and says, "Trick won't like it, but when I get back, we can lock her out of the bedroom so she can't interrupt us next time."
"Oh yeah? And what are we gonna do 'next time'?" Eddie asks.
"Whatever you want," Steve says, watching the flush return to Eddie's face.
He bites back a grin and says, "Hurry back. I'll, uh, I don't know. I'll get myself ready or something."
Heat floods Steve's veins. "You gonna be waiting for me with a rose in your mouth when I get back?" he teases, trying to dissipate some of that heat.
"I think you're the roses boyfriend, not me."
"Boyfriend?" Steve asks, standing up from the couch.
"Boyfriend," Eddie says, cupping his jaw and kissing him again. It's easy to get swept up in it, the feeling of Eddie's mouth moving against his, the feeling of Eddie's hands on his waist.
He pulls back from the kiss with a slick noise and says, "I'll be back in like twenty minutes."
Eddie nods and lets him go.
Steve grabs his keys and heads over to Robin and Vickie's apartment where he knows Robin will be.
"Bobbin," he calls out as soon as he opens the door to her apartment.
"In here," she calls back from the kitchen.
He rounds the corner of the kitchen and says, "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Eddie."
He watches several emotions pass over her face, none of them excitement, and deflates a little bit.
She says, "Okay?" like it's a question, like she's confused.
"Like, we're dating now and I'm. We like each other and I'm pretty sure it's more than that for both of us," he say, hoping to get some kind of reaction from her.
"I don't understand," she says.
"What's not to understand? Eddie and I- we're together now," he says, in case she didn't get it the first time.
Robin squints at him and says, "Okay, but you've never wanted to talk about it before. What's changed?"
"What do you mean, what's changed? We kissed and he said he was confessing his love to me. I thought you'd be happy?" His chest feels a little tight at the thought of Robin not approving. He really thought she'd be happy.
"Did you, like, break up and not tell me? Why would him confessing his love to you warrant a house call? Where is this coming from?" she asks, and Steve's moment of hurt is replaced with a deep sense of confusion because they are somehow not on the same page about this.
What the hell is she talking about?
"Rob, what do you mean break up?" he asks, feeling off-balance.
"I mean, you and Eddie have been together for years nowso I'm not sure what you're talking about." She looks in his eyes and then lights up. "Oh, are you trying to tell me you're exclusive now? That's exciting!"
Steve just stares at her for a minute, memories of the weird things his friends say to him and Eddie and the weird things that happen coming rushing to the surface. The weird conversations he's had with Robin over the years, feeling like they were talking about two different things. The first vacation where they shared a bed together even though there was a room with two beds, and how it happened again the next time they all went on vacation together. Dustin letting Eddie sit in the front seat of his car. The one, singular wedding invitation.
He's not even sure how to broach the fact that his friends all apparently thought he and Eddie have been together for years, but he says, "Eddie and I weren't dating before now. We literally just got together. We, like, literally just had our first kiss less than fifteen minutes ago."
"That's not funny, Steve. You guys have been in each other's pockets for closing in on five years now," Robin says, coming to sit on a bar stool at the kitchen island. "You, you live together and have a cat together."
He can see her mentally going through all the things she thought about them as he comes to sit next to her.
He gently says, "We weren't together before. We were only friends before today. I'm not sure what we did to make you think that we were together, but you know I'd talk to you about anyone I was dating, even Eddie."
"It's not just me!" Robin says, looking at him again with a piercing stare. "It's everyone! We all know. Or we thought you were together. I'm so confused. How is it possible that you've never kissed before? Like, wait a minute."
She stops talking and puts her head in her hands.
"What are you doing?" he asks her when she doesn't say anything for a couple minutes.
She pinches the bridge of her nose as she says, "I'm trying to channel my memories. Because there has to be a time where I asked you point blank if you were seeing Eddie and you said yes."
"I can guarantee you won't find that memory. Because it doesn't exist. Because Eddie and I weren't dating. Until now," he says.
"You went to Max and Lucas' wedding together!" she says, looking at him triumphantly.
"Not really," he says. "We thought everyone just thought we were both terminally single or something and that's why they sat us together."
Robin smacks her hand against her forehead. "This makes no sense to me. Wait, I asked you if you were in an open relationship before! We talked about it at the club and again when you moved in together. How do you explain that?" she asks.
"That time at the club, I thought you were talking about him ditching me to hook up. It didn't bother me. That's literally all I said. Not that we were in an open rela- wait, you really thought I'd be in an open relationship with someone?"
"I know! It never made sense to me! You're like the most monogamous person I know," Robin says. "Okay, I get that we crossed wires there, but what about when you moved in together? I talked to you about it then too. You said you had rules about hooking up."
He can see how saying that might have been misleading. He says, "I meant like, rules about keeping it down, not about us dating and hooking up with other people." He feels a headache coming on.
Robin looks just as exasperated as he feels. She looks like she's grasping at straws when she says, "You're always together and you touch each other all the time. When I've seen you cook together, you're always bumping his hip or hand-feeding him extra ingredients."
"We live together, of course we found a groove cooking together." he says.
"A groove, okay," she says, rolling her eyes. "But even before then, you were always hanging out."
"Because he's my closest guy friend? Closest friend in general other than you," he says, still so unsure how he missed his entire friend group thinking they were together.
Steve doesn't know how this happened - how all his friends could have thought they were together when he didn't even know how he felt about Eddie until today. How could he have missed this?
But listen.
Steve has never claimed to be a smart man.
If anything, he thinks Eddie should have caught on long before he ever did, so he's holding strong that it's not his fault he didn't see the signs. If Eddie couldn't see them either, how the hell was Steve supposed to be able to?
"And now you're boyfriends," Robin says, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"And now we're boyfriends," he agrees.
She grins over at him and says, "That's the first time you've said the b-word. This is the first time we've talked about it and you said the b-word. You really weren't dating before now."
He shakes his head. "We really weren't. And I seriously can't believe you ever bought me saying we were in an open relationship. It's like you don't know me at all," he says with a sniff.
"No, I was extremely confused about it, but you were happier with him than anyone else I've ever seen you with, so it didn't matter what I thought, you know?"
Steve's face smooths out at that and his heart melts a little. He loves her so much.
He hugs her to his side and she playfully shoves him away.
"I can't believe I've had it wrong - we've all had it wrong - this whole time. The more I think about it, though, the more it makes sense that you weren't together. Like, I expected you to be talking about him all the time, but you never really gushed about him to me. At first, I thought it was because it was your first boyfriend, you know?" she says.
He nods. He can get that. What he can't get is- "You were okay with me not talking about him, sure. But you really think I wouldn't kiss a guy I was dating in front of you? Or hold his hand?"
Robin shrugs and runs a hand over her forehead like she's getting a headache from thinking about it. "I thought you were just shy at first. Again, the boy thing. And then it was just habit not to or maybe Eddie wasn't into PDA- I was just guessing. And, I, everyone thought it, so it's not just me. You guys literally adopted a cat together, how were we supposed to take that any other way?" she asks in an exasperated tone.
"She's Eddie's, technically."
"You're telling me Patricia's not your daughter?" Robin asks.
"No, she is. But Eddie's the one that found her, so I'm just her step-dad," he says.
Robin stands up from where she's seated and says, "See! You say shit like that all the time and expect us not to think you're dating him?"
He winces. "Yeah, I kind of see it now. Well, good news is that we are dating now and I'm gonna go home and fuck him about it."
Robin rolls her eyes. "Christ, I can't believe I ever thought you could be dating him and be anything other than like that about him."
"Oh Robbie, when we come up for air, you're gonna wish we weren't like that about each other. Apparently, we've got like five years of PDA to make up for," he says with a grin.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley/Vickie, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler, Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Jeff (Stranger Things), Gareth (Stranger Things), Vickie (Stranger Things), Argyle (Stranger Things), Keith (Stranger Things)
Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jealousy, Eddie Munson Lives, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Lesbian Robin Buckley, Spin the Bottle, Eddie Munson in a Band, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, POV Steve Harrington, The Golden Girls - Freeform, Various Song References, Tickling, Pining, Steve Harrington-centric, Making Out, David Bowie’s Junk in The Labyrinth (1986), Use of F Slur and D Slur (but like in a fun reclaimy kinda way), Coming Out, Walking In On Someone, Podfic Available
Summary:
“Alright, well if you want to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, I’m in.” Robin sighed in relief at Eddie’s words after he had straightened up from where he had been bent over the countertop in hysteria. He held a finger up, stopping her sigh in its tracks. “On one condition!”
Robin looked at him questioningly, cocking her head to one side. Eddie smirked sharply, licking his tongue over his teeth in a way that definitely didn’t make Steve’s stomach swoop.
“I get to be the girlfriend.”
-
Or: Robin needs a beard and Steve needs to stop feeling so weird about it. Eddie is having a great time.
