Six months. For six months Steve has been listening to this radio show and not ever one time did he expect to hear the host, Eddie Munson, growl out the words “Hawkins, Indiana," but here they are. The name said.
Steve stops the car dead in the middle of the road, can’t hear anything aside from the radio show host listing Hawkins facts in his sonorous voice.
He should have known. Like rationally, he should have considered it a possibility that Hawkins might come up on this late night talk radio show called Hellfire about monsters, cryptids, folklore.
It’s just. He thought. Hawkins hadn’t exactly made national news, and what had was about a toxic gas leak and a government coverup, not exactly this show’s focus.
But enough, apparently. Obviously.
Eddie starts talking about the disappearance of Will Byers, and Steve lays his head on his steering wheel, tries to ignore the way his hands tremble.
For six months Hellfire brought him comfort and companionship as he roams the dark street of Hawkins on what Robin calls his patrols. It’s not like he can sleep, not anymore, so what better to do than make sure everyone is safe? That there’s no signs of the Upside Down? That the gates are still closed?
Hellfire has been his companion through it all and now—now—
Eddie’s talking about the Department of Energy, MK Ultra, a fake body in the quarry.
He could turn it off. Or better yet, go home. But he sits in his car out by Lover’s Lake and he listens to Eddie detail the rumors and speculation. Listens to the callers who share their two cents and conspiracy theories—none close to the truth.
The thing is. He’s become—fond of Eddie, of Hellfire. He doesn’t care about cryptids, isn’t interested in Big Foot, but he was captivated by Eddie. Not just him, though, it’s the whole thing with his producer, Gareth, and his two other best friends who pop in from time to time. They’re funny, nerdy, love that dork game the kids play. And if the low resonance of Eddie’s voice makes him a little melty? Well, that’s between him and 3am.
Steve calls in, sometimes. Has called in. Just, you know, once a week or so. It's not like he knows anything about the monsters, but he asks questions, likes to listen to Eddie talk no matter if he understands.
They finish with a caller and Eddie says, "unfortunately, we'll probably never know what happened."
And Gareth cuts in to say, "Hawkins is only an hour a way. You know. If you find that interesting."
"What are you saying, Gar?" Eddie asks. "That we should go?" He laughs.
"Why not? We could do our own investigation. Maybe we'll find something the authorities don't want us to."
"Hmm, what do you think, listeners? Should we don our adventurer caps and head into the unknown?"
He doesn't remember putting the car into drive, but he knows he's speeding toward the little two-pump gas station on the edge of town and the deserted pay phone there.
The line beeps and beeps when he dials. He tries again and again, until finally there's a click, and Eddie's radio voice booming in his ear.
"Thank you for calling Hellfire," he laughs, manic. "You're--
"You can't go to Hawkins," he interrupts.
"Sweetheart," Eddie croons. "Haven't heard from you in a while. How are you?"
"I'm Fine. Stay out of Hawkins."
"You gotta ease into it a little, baby. Little small talk first."
"Eddie..."
"What do you know about Hawkins?"
"N--nothing. I've heard bad things about it. Cops."
"Cops," Eddie snorts. "I'm not afraid of Hawkins PD. Are you calling because you're worried for my well-being, sweetheart?"
"Yes." Steve doesn't hesitate.
"You're my favorite listener, you know that?"
"I'm being serious."
"It's cute."
"It's a really bad idea to go to Hawkins."
"Do you know what's funny? You didn't know what a chupacabra was, but you know about Hawkins."
"I--" he swallows. "Have specific interests."
Eddie laughs. "What do you know about Hawkins?"
"Nothing," too quick.
"Are you lying to me?"
"I can't say."
"You just keep getting more and more mysterious."
"Please, stay away. It's--there are things, people--you don't want their attention. Just, please. Trust me."
"I'll agree on one condition. Tell me how you know this."
"I can't," he whispers. "That's why you need to trust me."
"What's stopping you?"
He flashes back to an interrogation room, Hopper's stern face, the even sterner ones of the government agents, the four-inch high stack of papers to sign, again and again and again.
"NDAs."
Dead silence on the other line until Eddie asks, "wait, PLURAL?" excitement spikes through the speakers.
That's when Steve hears the distant click down the line, knows it isn't him or Eddie, knows--
The line goes dead.
"Fuck."
He goes straight to the cabin. It's late enough in the morning now that he's unsurprised to see the glowing ember of a cigarette near the porch steps.
"What'd you do, kid?" Hopper asks when Steve gets out of his car.
"Called into a radio show about monsters."
The chief sighs, drops his hands to his sides, muttering. The crunch of gravel way up the long drive has them both turning.
"Guess we're in for a long day." Hopper stomps out his cigarette.
---
Steve isn't allowed to listen to Hellfire anymore. Is forbidden from calling in. And he gets it, okay, he knows. He said too much on the radio, but he hopes that he didn't get Eddie in trouble, that they don't try to come to Hawkins.
He gets a late start on his patrols one night. Took the kids to the movies, caved within minutes when they begged to go for ice cream after, Robin giving him a fond eye roll when he stops.
It's late, summer sun set for hours already, and he's driving on backroads behind the lab. And it's been--it's been a few weeks, okay, since the last call, long enough that he's stopped thinking Eddie will show, so when he sees the van on the side of the road--when he sees the van he doesn't stop right away.
It's tan and white or maybe grey, old, from the 70's or something; spiky black lettering on the side. It says Hellfire.
Steve slams on the breaks so hard the tires squeal, car skidding. He parks haphazardly on the side of the road, only grabbing a flashlight before hurling himself into the woods.
He figures Eddie and the guys will be easy to find, bumbling through unfamiliar forest, but minutes pass with nothing but his own feet crushing through the underbrush. He's afraid to yell, afraid it will draw the wrong kind of attention, but he does a kind of hoarse whisper, knowing it's not enough.
There's a small rock formation that he skirts past, mind everywhere but on his surroundings. He hears a rustle, he thinks, turns, and in the space of a breath, collides with something distinctly solid, warm, and judging by the pained grunt, human.
"Fuck. Gareth?" A very familiar voice asks.
"Eddie??" He responds. His fingers scrabble for his flashlight, illuminating the leaf strewn forest floor and some nearby tree roots.
A beam of light illuminates his chest and face, forcing his eyes down. "Who are you?"Eddie demands.
Steve finally grabs his flashlight, points it at Eddie's middle. Has a second to take in his long, curly hair, his cut-off t-shirt, pale skin and the swirl of inky black tattoos. "I'm--I--I called into your show. I--I told you not to--"
"Oh," Eddie's breath hitches. "Sweetheart. You said not to come to Hawkins and then you--you--" He blinks, seems to struggle to find words. "I didn't expect you to be so beautiful."
He smiles. "i--your show, I loved it. I miss listening to you. I miss--" He takes a step, closes the distance. Eddie smiles and it grips something in his stomach, doesn't let go.
Over Eddie's shoulder, there's a flash of movement, catches in Steve's periphery. It's an unfurling, an opening, there's a shine of saliva, teeth.
Anyways, Steve loses his hearing in the fight with Billy and Tommy secretly teaches himself sign language in case Steve ever wants to talk to him again.
Steve is unknowingly popular in teacher spaces online despite not having social media because his students keep posting videos of him on Tiktok.
Every now and again, a video will break containment and reach a wider audience - like the time one of his students used ‘girl math’ to justify their wrong answer and Steve responded with an exhausted ‘math is non-binary’ - but it’s always a flash-in-the-pan kinda thing. The lasting power isn’t there.
Or well, it wasn’t before famed rockstar Eddie Munson started randomly quoting some of the dorky shit ‘Teacher Steve’ says in those videos.
Someone puts together a compilation of Eddie quoting videos that have less than one hundred views. Now Eddie has to admit that he’s kinda obsessed with the guy and suddenly Steve is famous everywhere online (still doesn’t know about it though).
Things may have died down but then one of his students post a video of them asking Steve if he knows Eddie, and Steve is just like, “Munson? Eddie Munson from high school?”
Actually, I need a fic where the only person who realizes that Steve and Robin are dealing with some pretty severe ptsd after the mall is their very confused boss at Family Video.
I mentioned in one of my kid Steve posts that Wayne thinks that Steve is Hopper’s nephew, and I just think it’s really funny if he just doesnt figure out hes wrong for a long time.
Like, he’s met Steve. He likes Steve. He does not realize that their Steve is the Steve Harrington that Eddie spent years complaining about.
Steve and Eddie start dating, tell Wayne, and Steve’s like, “Yeah, no one in my family would be cool about this at all. We can’t tell them.”
“What about your uncle?”
Steve thinks about his uncle Larry (Kline, former mayor) and is like, “No, he’d definitely disown me.”
Okay. Hopper adopts Billy and Max and he’s dead set on not parentifying Billy again, so he decides to pay for a babysitter. But he doesn’t want a girl Billy’s age in the house since Billy will absolutely try and seduce her, so he’s stuck between very old woman or a guy. Joyce recommends Steve Harrington, says he’s great with teens that age. Jim brings Steve to the house and introduces him to Billy, Max and El and tells him “obviously you don’t have to watch Billy, haha, you’re only like a year older, i just wanted to be sure he wasn’t gonna try hit on the new babysitter, so I picked you.” Steve is happy with the new job, tells Hopper “Ha, yeah, no problem.”
Two weeks later he goes to Hopper like “Jim, bad news. There’s a problem.”
steve and eddie fuck to cope with all the shit they’ve been through and seen.
it doesn’t mean anything, they don’t talk about it—it just happens from time to time. its not nice and not overtly gentle. it’s just both of their pent up energy coming to a head.
they’re best friends and it doesn’t change that, so when each of them start to catch feelings that start to teeter into frightening territory—they begin to distance themselves from the other.
it sucks, they hate it.
eddie makes up excuses about band practice and dnd planning. steve makes up excuses of fake dates and work shifts.
despite their best effort, it doesn’t work. if anything, it makes it worse.
they have a night to themselves, robin bailing last minute.
it starts out the same as always. with slow movements towards each other. fingers brushing, moving close till their thighs touch.
then quickly encompassing of the other, hot mouths and determined, wandering hands.
its the same, but its different. it slows down, like they’re savoring it, like it’s the last time to touch and feel whatever this is between them.
the different becomes overwhelming. its not the same—and they both know it.
they just think it’s the last time to have this.
so, eddie asks.
holding steve’s face in his hands, both breathing in the same air, he asks.
“tell me you love me.”
steve doesn’t move, still breathing deeply, just looking at him.
“please,” he whispers, “i just want to be loved. even if it’s not real. just this once, i want to feel what it’s like to be loved.”
big hands cup eddie’s face, brushing away a tear that escaped down his cheek.
“i love you,” is all he hears before he’s kissed again, languid and deep, soft and hard.
eddie has half the mind to say it back, an unspoken question from the answer to his own.
its not the same.
its not rough, it’s not harsh.
its soft, it’s tender. it’s loving.
it’s making love.
as corny as it sounds, it’s what he imagines making love would be like.
they both think it’s one sided.
they pour every ounce of love and devotion they carry for the other into the moment.
but,
when they wake up tangled together. and they stay like that.
basked in warmth, they try to hang on to the night just for a second more.
when they say i love you, it’s not because they’re half asleep, it’s because they mean it.
and when steve comes back to bed and pecks eddie’s cheek, they both share a look—as if to realize and solidify that, yeah, this is real.
Tommy's costume at Tina's Halloween Party in season two is full on karate gear. And the quality of it looks too high to just be some store bought costume or a homemade costume.
I pitch to you:
Tommy does karate and Steve does, too. They meet in karate as little kids. Tommy's the more efficient one of their duo, Steve gets injured easier. The first time they "fight" is in a defensive karate match, but Tommy kicks out too hard and sends Steve crumpled to the floor and Steve thinks his best friend hates him for days and days afterwards.
Oooo and then they come back together in season five to fight alongside each other and Tommy uses the only athletic abilities he has. And Steve is there ready to swing because he was more efficient in their baseballs teams—Tommy would always strikeout.
i just think that if billy and Steve had gotten to be friends, Steve would be dizzy about how aggressively billy is on his side. Billy’s not good at having friends instead of lackeys and so he’s too honest, too passionate about it. They didn’t even know each other and billy was telling Steve not to worry about finding someone else because he’s so pretty, yes there was a veneer of dickishness about it but that’s just billy.
Billy compliments Steve on his rich boy cologne, his sick keg stand stance, is the first one to notice when he gets highlights. He’s the first person to ever call Steve smart. Once he yells it at Dustin who is leaping into a ridiculous plan to fight the demodogs. Dustin is mad as hell and snipes “you always take his side!” And billy yells “yeah! Because you idiots don’t have his strategic mind, maybe if you listened to his plan we’d be alright!”
Steve says shit like “um, maybe Vecna was a …clockmaker?” And the kids snigger and billy is like “DO WE KNOW THAT HE WASN’T A CLOCKMAKER? You tiny bastards. You know nothing.”
Just insanely on Steve’s side. And Steve is so fucking loyal in return that they’re basically each other’s greatest defenders. No loyal knight/king dynamics here. They’re both insane. Attack dog 4 attack dog.
Eddie leaps out of the boat and jams a knife into Billy’s neck and Steve is already whaling on him with an oar. Mike is whining about how Billy sucks and Steve is like “you don’t get his sense of humour, it’s not his fault you’re not funny.”
Max is complaining about how fast Billy drives and Steve is like “uhh, skate then? Selfish.”
Robin asks him if Billy wears eyeliner and Steve is like “I don’t know, maybe he’s just that beautiful naturally.” But he does know. He’s just not gonna let anyone assume anything, even his kinda fun new coworker. And maybe it makes Robin’s eyebrows raise but she’s not wondering if Billy’s the kind of guy who wears makeup anymore, she’s wondering about Steve, and that’s fine.
Eddie fakes an asthma attack so he can hang out in the nurse’s office only to find Concussion 3000 already laying on the comfy cot and - “Wait, don’t - don’t leave me with him.”
Eddie looks at the retreating back of the school nurse and then back at Steve who had his arm thrown over his eyes. He holds his hands out like Steve might make a sudden movement and says, “Don’t die.”
“I will out of spite if you don’t shut up.”
“Then die, I don’t care.”
Those were the last words out of Eddie’s mouth before they both learn that enough head injuries can cause seizures.
I love 80s Harringrove with all my heart but the thought of a lovesick teenage Billy drunkenly belting out Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and thinking about Steve Harrington is just something else.
Do you think after they held hands on the basketball court Billy’s hand burned the rest of the day? Did he go to sleep feeling Steve’s touch??? Did he do the thing???
Yesss!! It's a little short, but I hope you like it!!
---
Robin coughs, blood bubbling over her lips and onto her face. She's aware it's disgusting. She's aware she'd rather be anywhere than here. She's aware it's not particularly good or nice there's blood in her mouth, but she's too sore to care.
The ground is rough beneath her back. Her shirt is torn. The sky is black above her, which is a good sign, it means she hasn't been out for a long time.
And then she hears a scream. Someone is besides her shaking her shoulders and making her wince because she really shouldn't be shaken like that after nearly dying, she's pretty certain she broke a couple ribs and if they puncture her lungs then-
Nancy presses her lips to hers. Her soft, lipgloss wearing lips to Robin's chapped and bloody ones.
There's tears on her cheeks, but they aren't her own.
Nancy breaks away from the kiss. She doesn't go far, resting her forehead against Robin's and breathing right into her face, hurried, short breaths like she doesn't know where to get the air from.
"Never scare me like that again," Nancy mumbles, one of her hands coming up to cup Robin's cheek. "Never again."
"I'll try not to," Robin can hear herself croak, before the pain gets the better of her and she slips under again.
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