Sabriel: Ship of all Ships @t-rickst3r - Tumblr Blog

Steve Harrington's guide to wooing your soulmate... or something [Part I]

Steve’s soulmate was an asshole. At least that’s what he’d always thought, based on the mark on his ribs. Who the hell says, ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ as a greeting to their soulmate? An asshole, that’s who, he decided early in his life.

But in reality, things were a little more complicated than that.

Because Steve’s soulmate wasn’t just some jerk, or some snobby girl with a bad attitude; Steve’s soulmate was Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson, and that was a whole different level of fucked up right there.

And it’s not even for the fact that it’s Eddie per se, it’s for the fact that Eddie hated Steve’s guts.

They hadn’t been friends in school; they had very different tastes in friends and basically everything else in life. Steve had been aware of who Eddie was at the time, sure, everybody had known who Eddie Munson was, just like everyone had known who King Steve was, but it had never occurred to Steve that he and Eddie had never exchanged words before.

That changed one night when he went to pick up Dustin on one of his firsts Hellfire meetings. Eddie took one look at Steve there, waiting outside his car, and came rushing towards Steve like a man possessed.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Eddie said, furious, but Steve wasn’t paying attention to that.

He was busy clenching his teeth and hissing in pain as the mark on his ribs burned. And then his brain caught up with what was happening, and he forgot all about the pain in a second.

“Oh, my fucking God, this can’t be serious,” he gasped, bewildered. In retrospect, not a very polite way to greet your soulmate either, but, come on, Eddie couldn’t really judge him.

Munson’s pained cry as he grabbed at his forearm was everything Steve needed to know that he had not been imagining things; Eddie Munson was his soulmate, and apparently he was Eddie’s too.

That went as well as one would expect. Eddie was not interested in having Steve Harrington as a soulmate, and Steve couldn’t even bring himself into resenting the guy. Eddie didn’t know him; he didn’t know about Steve’s growth and how he wasn’t the same jerk who used to harass people with Tommy Hagan back in school. Eddie had only ever met King Steve, and King Steve hadn’t been a very nice guy.

Steve, however, wasn’t that bad of a person, or at least he tried very hard not to be, and all he wished was that Munson would give him a chance to show him that.

“What, you really wanna be soulmates with Eddie Munson?” Robin asked him one night, after Steve told her about his soul mark and about the whole Eddie situation. She didn’t even try to hide her amusement, the asshole.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Eddie is my soulmate, Robin, doesn’t matter if I want it or not.”

They were having their own little movie night at his house, without the other kids and with a lot of alcohol involved. The movie, however, had been on pause for a while, the TV serving as some kind of weird night light more than anything else in the otherwise dark living room. The poor illumination had given Steve enough courage to share his predicament with Robin, but now even the pale blue light the TV cast over them seemed too much for that conversation, made him feel as if a spotlight was aimed right at him.

“No, no, no, no,” Robin shook her head, sat upright on the couch, almost spilling her drink as she did so. “You’re deflecting, Harrington. You know exactly what I meant, but I’m gonna be the better person and spell it out for you; do you really want to complete the soul bond with Munson? I didn’t think you would.”

And, honestly, neither did Steve. They were so very different; some would say they were complete opposites. But, for some reason, the idea of having Munson as a soulmate didn’t feel wrong at all.

Call him a romantic, or a sap, or whatever, but Steve believed that if the universe had chosen Eddie as his other half, it must have done it for a reason and Steve wanted to at least give it a chance before rejecting what could maybe be something very good in his life.

“Oh my god, you really want to complete the soul bond,” Robin gasped.

Any other person saying something like that would have sounded a little offensive, or judgmental, but Steve knew Robin didn’t mean it that way. If anything, she sounded way too delighted by the idea, and with shadows partially obscuring her face, she looked a lot like the cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, grinning all toothy and a little mad around the edges.

Steve snorted softly. He took another drink of his beer and looked at his best friend’s grinning face as he said, “Yeah, I really do.”

Completing the soul bond, however, would be a little troublesome since it required both parties to be willing and, right now, Eddie was avoiding Steve like the plague.

Luckly for Steve, he was a very stubborn motherfucker. He had no intention of letting this go until he at least convinced Munson to consider the possibility of their bonding. It would be hard, yes, but Steve had faced literal monsters in his short nineteen years of life, and he had survived; trying to sweettalk Eddie Munson into giving him a chance looked like child’s play in comparison.

-

A few days later, Steve realized that he might have underestimated how stubborn Munson really was. The amount of effort the guy put into completely ignoring Steve’s existence would be impressive if Steve didn’t feel a little offended by it.

He was never around anymore when Steve showed up to pick up Dustin and the other kids after Hellfire meetings. He only came to Family Video when Steve wasn’t working –and he knew that because Robin sometimes mentioned that Eddie had stopped by to grab a movie. If they ran into each other downtown, Munson pretended he hadn’t seen Steve and walked away without even acknowledging his presence.

It was so frustrating, to say the least.

“You gotta see this from his perspective, Dingus,” Robin reasoned, talking quietly to keep any unwanted attention away from them as they separated the returned tapes before they could put them back on their places. “A month ago, he found out that one of the guys that made his life a living hell during High School is actually his perfect match. He’s allowed to freak out a little.”

“But, Robin, I’ve never—"

The bell over the door dinged, announcing a new customer and cutting off their conversation. Steve gritted his teeth, annoyed by the interruption. He grabbed another tape, putting it on a new pile and busying himself with that dull task at hand, as Robin rounded the counter to help their new customer out.

When Robin finally came back, the tapes were all sorted in clean piles and ready to go back to their shelves.

“Well, aren’t you a model employee?” she said, actually impressed by his efficiency, but Steve gave her no mind.

He pulled his friend back down on the stool beside him, until they were both out of sight behind the counter.

“You’re not getting my point, Robin,” Steve whispered, ignoring her taunting and resuming their interrupted conversation, his voice sounding a little more desperate than he’d like. “I never did anything to Munson. Until a few weeks ago, I’d never exchanged a single word with him. I know I was a dick for a good chunk of my school life, but I’m pretty sure Eddie has never been a target to anything King Steve might have done. He doesn’t hate me for something I did to him, what he hates is the idea of me and everything I represent.”

“So… he hates you on principle?” Robin frowned, a small wrinkle marring her otherwise smooth skin as she tried to make sense of what Steve was telling her.

Steve nodded, lips pursed in distaste. “I think so.”

The bell twinkled again, announcing another customer. Steve pulled himself up just enough so he could peek over the counter and check who it was. The newcomer didn’t even look at the counter, walking straight to the R-rated section of the store, so Steve flopped back down on his stool.

He felt so stupid for hiding behind the counter to have this conversation with Robin, but these past days had been so fucking frustrating that Steve was getting too tired to care about being stupid.

“What?” he asked the moment he noticed Robin’s assessing stare. She even had a hand on her chin, eyes squinted in thought.

“If the problem here is what Eddie thinks he knows about you, then all you have to do is prove him wrong.

“Uhn?” Steve very eloquently asked, but that seemed to be more than enough for Robin.

“Think about it.” Robin pushed her foot against Steve’s stool and turned it until they were facing each other. “If there’s no real bad blood between you two, you can show Eddie that he’s got the wrong idea about you.”

As if Steve hadn’t spent the past days obsessing over that exact matter.

“What kind of idiot do you think I am, Robin? Of course I know that, but it’s really fucking difficult to convince Eddie I’m not a jerk anymore when the guy is avoiding me like I’m contagious or some other shit.”

Steve felt bad for snapping at her like that as soon as the words left his mouth. Robin didn’t have anything to do with his problems, she was only trying to help, and here Steve was, being a dick to his best friend because he couldn’t get a grip.

“I’m sorry, that was unfair,” he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly. Robin was having none of it though. She swatted his hands away and punched his shoulder hard. “Ouch, woman!”

“You are a butthead, Steve Harrington, I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, a lot of people already told me that, thanks.”

The place where Robin hit him throbbed, and Steve rubbed it as he pouted.

Robin’s glare, however, softened. “Good,” she said. “But butthead or not, you’re a good person and you deserve to be happy, and if this means wooing the hell out of Eddie Munson, then do it. Show him how wrong he is about you, that King Steve doesn’t exist anymore and that he’s being a real fool for ignoring your bond and not giving you a chance.”

And just like that, Steve felt the words stuck in his throat, with no hope of getting out any time soon. He had no idea what he had done to deserve someone like Robin in his life, but Steve sure was very fucking thankful for that.

“Hey, you’re not gonna cry on me, are you?” Robin teased, nudging his leg with her foot and grinning at him.

God, he loved her.

“Fuck you.”

“Love you too, Dingus. And Eddie will too, someday.”

“Robin, shut up!”

Her laughter echoed through the store, and Steve couldn’t even bring himself to be mad.

-

Woo Eddie Munson, those had been the words Robin used and, as much as it pained Steve to admit it, they weren’t far from the truth. Steve needed to woo Eddie, at least a little bit, until he stopped being so bullheaded and gave Steve the freaking benefit of the doubt.

After a lot of thinking, Steve decided he’d start simple. The idea was to break the ice with Eddie, show his good intentions without being too overbearing since the guy was still skeptical about him. There was only one way Steve could do that, and that was by using the oldest wooing tactic humankind had come up with; through food.

And considering Steve couldn’t really give it directly to Eddie because that wouldn’t be weird at all, he did the next best thing.

“Here, take this with you,” Steve said on a Monday morning, grabbing a Tupperware from the backseat of his car and handing it to Dustin before he left for class.

Was it the best plan on the planet? No. Did Steve have any guarantee that it would work? No. But it was better than sitting around on his butt and moping because his soulmate wasn’t talking to him; at least this way Steve was actually doing something about it.

Dustin looked at Steve funny, brows knitted in confusion when his eyes landed on the red Tupperware. “What is it?” He tried to open the container, but Steve smacked his hand away.

“Don’t open it yet, it’s for later. I made some brownies for you to share with your new club friends during lunch, so don’t eat it now, dipshit.”

Judging by Dustin’s disbelieving face, one would think Steve had just grown a second head instead of handing him a container with baked goods. “You made us brownies?”

“Yes, Dustin, I made you brownies.”

“But why?”

Dear fucking God, talking to Dustin was worse than pulling teeth.

“What do you mean why? You’re making new friends, aren’t you? Food always helps to make a good impression. I’m trying to help you here.”

Which was not totally true, but not totally a lie either. Steve’s main goal was to get Eddie’s attention, yes, but it didn’t hurt that it would also make Dustin look better in the eyes of his nerdy peers. Two birds, one stone and all that.

Dustin had so much to say about this, Steve could see it in his face how much he wanted to question Steve about his sudden change of heart about Hellfire and the weird kindness he was showing, but the bell was ringing, and his first class was about to start any second now, so he had to go.

“You’re never beating the middle-aged mom allegations, man,” Dustin finally said, right before he rushed out of the car, yelling a quick ‘Bye!’ as he ran across the school yard with the Tupperware hugged close to his chest.

Steve hissed, scrunching his nose. Almost two hours slaving off in the kitchen last night to make a perfect batch of brownies, just so Dustin could destroy them by shaking the freaking Tupperware like a damn rattle.

Great.

-

Two days later, on Wednesday, Steve handed Dustin a batch of blueberry muffins to share with his friends. On Friday, it was scones. The following Monday, chocolate chip cookies. Then peanut butter cookies, blondies, strawberry shortcake.

In all honesty, Steve had no idea if his tactic was working or not. Dustin always returned his containers empty, said the guys had loved everything, but he never specifically mentioned if Eddie was eating anything Steve sent, and Steve couldn’t straight out ask him that. At least not if he didn’t want to make the kid aware of his true intentions.

“Look, if the food thing doesn’t work out, we can always try sneaking into the Hideout,” Robin suggested, as they clocked in for the day and put on their ugly green vests. “I heard Munson’s been playing there with his band a couple of nights a week. Maybe you can try talking to him then?”

Steve made a displeased face, brushing his hands over his polo to get to make sure there were no wrinkles left. “That place is horrible, Robin,” he complained, which earned him an impatient glare from Robin. “But it is!” he insisted when his friend didn’t even bother with an answer and just walked past him and left the backroom. Steve followed her. “And even if it wasn’t, the Hideout is a dive bar. We’re not even allowed to get in there; neither of us is twenty-one yet.”

Robin scoffed. “Well, technically, Eddie couldn’t be there either, but he’s still playing in that dive bar every week, so I don’t think the owners would care much if we’re old enough or not.”

Which, fair, made sense when Robin put it that way, but still didn’t sound any more appealing to Steve.

He knew he’d end up going anyway if nothing changed in the next few weeks; Steve was starting to get a little restless with his soulmate situation.

As Robin sat down by the counter to turn on the computer, Steve turned the OPEN sign on the door and mentally prepared himself for another boring day at work. Good news was, Keith’s shift only started mid-afternoon, so there would be no one nagging at them for the majority of their own shifts. As well as things were going for him at the moment, Steve was more than willing to cherish the small blessings life threw his way.

Morning was a slow affair, as it tended to be on Tuesdays. There weren’t many customers, since most people were at work or in school at that time, so this left them with enough time to rearrange the candy displays and finally get rid of the never-ending piles of returned tapes and put them back on their shelves.

Robin called dibs on rearranging the candy displays, of course, because she was a traitor and always left the worst tasks for Steve. She was lucky Steve loved her enough to actually follow her orders. He still ran his cart of tapes over her foot on his way to the shelves because, loving her or not, Steve could also be a bitch when he wanted to.

A few customers came in while Steve was shelving the tapes. The first guy that came in went straight to the new releases section without asking for anything, but an old woman that came right after and asked Steve to help her find a documentary about some serial killer he had never heard of, then a guy asked for recommendations on romance movies his wife would enjoy. Serial killer documentaries and romance movies weren’t really his area of expertise, but he did what he could to help them out before sending them to Robin with their choices.

Robin, who at that point was already done rearranging the displays and was slacking off by the counter while Steve dealt with everything by himself.

By the time he was done and rolled the cart back to its place by the return shelf, the store was empty, and it was almost lunch time.

“Did you bring anything for us today?” Robin asked, pausing the movie she had been watching as Steve finally joined her and stretched his tired legs.

“I missed my alarm this morning, barely had time to make myself a cup of coffee before I had to leave.” Damn, his feet hurt. Would Robin judge him too much if he took off his shoes for a minute?

A small sigh tumbled out of Robin’s lips, her shoulders sagging a little before she grabbed edge of the counter and pulled herself up. Steve opened his mouth to ask her what she was doing but shut it when she threw the VCR remote in his direction and he fumbled to catch it, almost falling off his stool in the process.

“Hey! Where are you going?” he asked, when he realized Robin was making a beeline to the door. When did she even take off her vest?

“To grab us lunch?” she said, as if it was obvious and Steve should’ve known it. “Consider it your payment since you’ve just spent almost the entire morning shelving tapes and tidying up the store by yourself. It’s only fair.”

“But I didn’t give you money.”

“It’s on me, Dingus,” Robin called, just as she opened the door.

“I didn’t tell you what I want either!” Steve called back, but she was already gone, the door closing behind her and blocking his voice. “And there she goes.”

Leaning on the counter, Steve watched through the glass doors as Robin crossed the parking lot, then disappeared as she turned left, probably towards Josy’s. It was always Josy’s when Robin was the one in charge of lunch. He hoped she remembered to ask for no pickles in his burger this time.

Tapping his fingers rhythmically on the smooth surface of the countertop, Steve watched the empty store for just a moment. There was nothing else for him to do while he waited for Robin to come back; the store was spotless, everything was back in its place, no customers to deal with.

Yeah, definitely an uneventful Tuesday morning.

Shrugging, he flopped down on his stool again, resting his back against the cabinet doors under the counter as he pressed play and started the movie again. A loud snort escaped him when Steve realized Robin had been watching The Goonies again. How many times could she watch that one before she finally got tired of it?

Steve hadn’t been watching the movie for ten minutes when the door opened again with a chime and heavy footsteps echoed in the otherwise silent store, definitely not Robin’s.

Steve rolled his eyes, already pausing the movie again. Of course they’d get customers when it was Steve’s time to slack off a little bit.

“Welcome to Family Video, how can I help—” The last word got caught in his throat as all oxygen seemed to flee from his lungs at once because Eddie Munson was right there when Steve turned to greet the newcomer.

On the left side of the store, by their horror shelf, Munson was going over tapes, reading their synopsis before putting the VHS case back in its place just to pick another one. His eyes never wandered to find Steve’s, focused on their task at hand, but Munson’s sole presence was enough to leave Steve feeling a little overwhelmed.

The mark on his ribs tingled, the lightest prickling sensation spreading all over the right side of Steve’s ribcage and letting him even more aware of Eddie’s presence. It didn’t exactly hurt. It was more like that weird pins and needles sensation you get when you sleep with your arm in the wrong position and it cuts your circulation for most of the night; not painful, but far from pleasant.

‘Feels that way because the bond is incomplete,’ Steve thought, chest suddenly tight as he just stood there and watched Eddie go through their horror collection as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet.

Meanwhile, Steve could barely breathe.

Time became a faraway concept for him. It seemed to slow down, as Steve was suddenly able to notice every tiny little detail on what was happening around him. The choked sound of the AC unit, struggling to keep the weird late September heat at bay, the way sunlight was filtering in through the glass storefront and hitting Munson like a spotlight, his messy hair a halo of curls a shade lighter than it actually was and the bulky rings on his fingers sparkling. And Eddie himself; how his chest raised and fell with each breath, the tiniest frown on his face as he squinted to read the back covers and how the tip of a pink tongue threatened to poke out of his mouth.

Steve could have spent hours there, just looking at Eddie –at his soulmate, Steve’s mind reminded him— but the whole ordeal probably didn’t last more than a couple of minutes. Eddie turned to face him, and the spell was broken, replaced by a coil of anticipation that set heavy in Steve’s gut as Munson strolled towards him.

Steve followed, pulled in like a magnet; took a step forward until the edge of the counter was digging in his tummy and those two feet of polished surface was the only thing separating them.

“Hi,” Steve forced out, knowing quite well that his voice was sounding way squeakier than it usually did.

Eddie’s face was unreadable. His eyes considered Steve carefully, measured him, but it was impossible for Steve to know what was going on in his head.

For a moment there, Steve thought Eddie was going to ignore his greeting, just like he had been ignoring him for the past weeks. He held to the edge of the countertop until his knuckles turned white, and Steve did his best not to squirm.

But then something shifted in Eddie’s eyes. Still confusing as hell to Steve, but different from what it had been a moment before; less loaded with that suspicion, sometimes even distaste, that was always there when Munson looked at him.

“Hey,” Eddie said. That single word was enough to make the tingling in Steve’s mark worsen.

Steve almost missed it when Eddie slid the VHS case to him. “Ah, right. Sorry.” He fumbled a little with the case, the thing nearly slipping from his hands as Steve turned it so he could type its title into their system and register the rental.

He really needed to get a grip, Steve thought, as he searched for the right tape on the shelf. Eddie wasn’t there to see him; he was there for the movie and Steve needed to remember that. Soulmate or not, the weeks of silence treatment made it pretty clear that Eddie wasn’t very fond of the idea of sharing a bond with Steve, and it would be naïve of him to believe that Munson had had a change of heart just because Steve had been sending him and his friends a few pastries for the past couple of weeks.

Even if Steve really wanted to believe it was possible. Even if Eddie’s sudden reappearance made no sense at all, if Steve was being honest.

He registered the rental with trembling fingers; Eddie’s searching gaze fixed on him the whole time and making him even more nervous as Steve put the movie tape on a plastic bag and accepted the money Edde handed him.

“This is yours,” Steve blurted, shoving the receipt on Eddie’s hand along with the plastic bag. “I hope you like the movie.”

A flash of amusement crossed Munson’s face, his lips curving up the slightest bit, but it was gone as quickly as it came, the impassiveness back in the blink of an eye. If Steve hadn’t been watching the man like a hawk, he’d never have noticed.

“Sure,” Eddie nodded curtly. “Thanks, Harrington.”

Eddie didn’t bother saying goodbye; just turned on his heel and marched out of the store, swinging the plastic bag back and forth with each step, just like a kid. Steve wouldn’t have been surprised if he had started skipping as well.

Steve watched him go, heart still thumping like crazy as Eddie disappeared into the small crowd that was starting to take the streets, but at least Steve’s lungs seemed more prone to cooperate with him without Munson there, and the prickling on his mark started to subside.

Steve blinked once, twice, taking deep breaths as he did it. Then, when he was sure Eddie wasn’t about to come back, he finally let his panic get the best of him and crouched down behind the counter, out of view so he could have privacy as he beat himself.

What the fuck was that? His soulmate had finally shown up, and Steve had acted like a complete moron, couldn’t even get words out without sounding like some anxious fool. Holy shit, Eddie probably thought he was an idiot.

A groan left his lips, and Steve let his head fall forward until his forehead was touching his knees and he was hugging his own legs, eyes tightly shut in embarrassment.

Fuck, this soulmate thing would be the end of him.

-

Eddie had spent almost four weeks giving Steve the cold shoulder, but after that first impromptu visit to Family Video, suddenly, he seemed to be everywhere.

Eddie was always there outside the school, usually smoking or doing some other dumb shit with his friends, when Steve dropped Dustin off at school. He was also always there, watching from the door, when Steve picked the kids up after their club meetings. He was showing up regularly at the store while Steve was working, and a few times Steve caught sight of him at Josy’s, when Steve and Robin stopped by to grab burgers after work.

He never said much, never tried to approach Steve, or chat with him, but Steve could feel Eddie’s gaze on him even when he wasn’t looking; could feel his soul mark tingle and that pull deep in his chest every time Eddie was close.

It was so weird, and Steve honestly didn’t know what was worse; the silent treatment he had gotten at first, or that disturbing staring contest they were playing from afar whenever they saw each other.

But the worst part of it all was that Steve couldn’t recognize himself anymore when Eddie was around. All it took was Eddie’s presence for Steve to become a nervous wreck.

Last time they ran into Munson at Josy’s, Steve actually spilt his milkshake all over the table because he had been staring at Eddie’s side profile when he tried to reach for his drink. Steve kept his eyes fixed on his food for the rest of the meal, not even looking at Robin when she tried to talk to him, but he just knew Eddie was watching him.

Steve had no idea why he was acting like this. He wasn’t that hopeless; he knew he wasn’t. He’d been popular in school, scored a lot of dates before he and Eddie shared those first words and activated their soul bond. Steve knew for a fact that he was far from a stuttering idiot; so why did he act like one when he came face to face with Eddie?

“Because all those dates, all those flings you had before meant nothing,” Robin told him after yet another awkward encounter with Eddie. He had shown up to return the tapes he had rented, and Steve had, honest to God, squeaked when he saw Eddie there. “I mean, I’m not saying you used them or anything, I know you’re not that kind of an asshole, but deep down you knew none of those relationships had no future, so of course you didn’t get nervous. But Eddie is your soulmate; he’s it for you. It’s understandable that you’d feel pressured and anxious about it. I guess it would be weirder if you didn’t get nervous, considering how big of a deal this soulmate thing has always been to you.”

Honestly? It was a little scary how well Robin knew him; Steve couldn’t have explained it better even if he tried.

Flirting with all those girls in school –damn, even flirting with Nancy—, had never been hard for him because in the back of his mind Steve had been well aware that none of them were the person for him. If Steve screwed up, that would’ve had no major impact on his life because all of those flings had had an expiration date before they even started; they were supposed to last only until Steve found his soulmate, and that was that.

But now Steve had found Eddie, now he knew who his perfect match was, and the weight of knowing that information was turning out to be greater than Steve thought it would.

He didn’t want to screw up, that was the main problem, and in not wanting to screw up Steve was overthinking every little thing Eddie did, every interaction they had, until he just couldn’t think anymore. Was Eddie testing him somehow? Was Eddie’s sudden change of heart genuine, or was he just trying to find concrete evidence that Steve was still a dick, so he could reject him for good without remorse?

Those were questions that were always plaguing Steve’s mind when they ran into each other, and questions he was still too afraid to ask.

Steve didn’t know how much more of that uncertainty he could take before he snapped and did something stupid. When he was alone at home, lying on his bed and staring at his ceiling without really seeing it, Steve wondered if every soulmate bond was messy like his, or if he and Eddie were a special case.

Judging by how fucked up Steve’s life had been until now, he didn’t doubt that the Universe had sent him a stubborn soulmate just because they thought it would be funny. Steve was lucky like that.

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