Corroded Coffin are rehearsing a new, extremely thrashy, purely instrumental song.
Eddie said it didn't need words. They wouldn't do it justice. This was a song that should "Punch you through your chest, grab your spine and tear your skull right out," or at least that's what Eddie said it should do.
Eddie has already nailed the lead, and rhythm guitar parts, essentially thunderous, chugging, down-picked power chords, and a face-melting, ear-splitting solo that sounds like the guitar is howling in pain, screaming.
Gareth and Jeff try their best to replicate the beat Eddie is tapping out and the sounds he's making, and they match it precisely every time.
That's just what you had to get good at real fast when playing with Eddie. He might write down ideas and lyrics, but the music itself...forget about it.
"No. No. No!" Eddie throws himself backward over the empty beer crate in frustration. "Guys, I know it's not you. It's not right. I can't convey what is in my head. I just..." Eddie looks thoughtfully out of the garage, frowning slightly, trying to figure it out.
"How about me and Gareth put our thinking caps on and try to come up with a few things similar to what we already played," Jeff suggests brightly, turning back to Gareth on the kit, who already looks close to exhausted. They had been going at the song all afternoon.
Eddie leaps out of his seat, "What time is it?" he says with urgency looking intensely at Gareth.
"Time you gotta-" Gareth starts before getting cut off by Eddie running around and grabbing his wrist.
"Ok, ok!" Eddie runs into the house.
The band listens at the door.
"Henderson?...*mumbling*...Uh-huh...I just want your opinion on it...oh, I see...noooo, sorry my dude, I can't...oh, he can?...I guess...ok, cool, later" Even though Eddie had made the call to Dustin, his tone was like he was trying to sound as disinterested as possible.
The jangling of chains indicates Eddie is running back to the garage and everyone scrambles back to their original, casual positions.
Eddie bursts back through the door, a wicked grin on his face, "The answer is on the way. Just follow my lead. I need you to say absolutely nothing about it. Just listen and play, alright?"
The band nods. Everyone in Corroded Coffin had their turn to present songs to the band, and each had displayed their fair share of theatrics in rehearsal, so this kind of display wasn't unusual. But this was an Eddie epiphany, and these tended to be the most dramatic. Jeff and Gareth smile at one another knowingly. He had been working on his song since the hospital. He said it was inspired by something he saw when he was on the run.
"How about we take a break, huh?" Eddie says, producing a grocery bag of drinks and snacks for the band, "Take a short rest to max out HP before round 2, yeah?" Eddie unleashes his most charming smile, and of course, the band agrees, even though the practice had already overrun by about an hour.
Twenty minutes later, the familiar BMW rolls up on the driveway.
Dustin stumbles out of the car in his hurry and rushes towards the band, "So let's hear it!" He's totally hyped about being chosen for an opinion on a Corroded Coffin song.
"Yeah, in a minute..." Eddie says, watching the car.
Steve Harrington emerges, nods a greeting at everyone, and the look on his face reads whatever it was, he was over it. He leans back on the hood of his car, arms folded, and waits, occasionally checking his nails or looking around with a bored expression.
Eddie puts down his guitar and walks into the house.
Dustin stands gobsmacked, gesturing with his hands at the spot Eddie was just standing in and turning around, looking completely lost, to the other band members for answers, but they only have shrugs.
Moments later, Eddie re-emerges, but he's sneaking up behind the car. Something in his hands. Some kind of rubber bat or something. He pulls back his arm and throws it at Steve with all his might.
Steve almost leaves his body for a second when this thing makes contact with the side of his face. He hurriedly grabs it and rips it apart. Eddie is standing there, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly agape.
Then, Steve looks into his hands and turns to Eddie, looking less than impressed. Eddie is snickering, no, he's giggling, and walking backwards into the garage as Steve berates him, hand on hip, accusing finger pointing at a grinning Eddie.
Eddie circles around the drum kit, Steve still pacing after him, and he grabs Gareth's hand and puts it to his chest.
Gareth smiles, "Oooooh, I'm gonna need the double kick pedal for this one" Jeff raises his eyebrows and rushes to get it for him, and sets it up while Gareth can't move.
Eddie is still grinning wildly as Steve lectures him on the dangers of scaring someone who has nearly died on numerous occasions.
Dustin still looks absolutely bewildered until Gareth's sticks smack the skins of his drums, and the double kick pedals against the bass drum start to drown Steve out, even though he's still trying to make himself heard.
"Oh fuck yeah!!" Eddie shouts, "That's fucking it" Jeff follows the rhythm on the bass and starts to move around the notes for the scale in the designated key.
"This is heavy as fuck!!" Dustin shouts, causing Steve to focus on him and his foul language, leaving Eddie free to grab his guitar.
As Eddie swings his sweetheart around into position, he drops into a low rock stance, dragging his plectrum along the strings as he and the rhythm guitar play their parts over the new bass and drums.
The whole band is headbanging in unison, as is Dustin, and Steve gives up, shakes his head, and goes back to leaning against his car, tapping his watch at Dustin.
As Eddie launches into the solo, he runs up to the BMW and leaps onto the hood of it, and makes the guitar squeal. Steve is absolutely not ok with this in any way, he's yelling and waving his arms around, but all it does is make Eddie point his guitar at him as he plays and sticks his tongue out of his mouth like a demon.
Eddie jumps back down once the solo is over, leaving Steve to frantically search his car for something to clean the hood with.
Dustin, a little dazed from all the headbanging, is jumping up and down with the band as the song comes to a close.
"That beast is going in the set list, my dudes!" Gareth gets up from his kit and makes his way over to the wall set list, "Er…what's it called, Eddie?"
Eddie looks a little nervous, "Oh…er…I don't know…I hadn't thought of one yet" Dustin sees him sneakily try to slide a notepad off the crate and onto the floor. Dustin grins and intercepts it, and runs out of Eddie's reach before he can grab it
Dustin raises his eyebrows at the pad and giggles, "No title, huh? What about this right here at the top of all your notes? Looks like a title to me" Dustin pokes at the pad with a big smile on his face.
"Er…well…that's just when I've been doodling when I'm thinking," Eddie says, trying his best to look unbothered, but he is edging his way towards Dustin and the notepad.
Dustin laughs again, "So are you saying you were just deep in thought, wistfully looking into the distance, absentmindedly doodling, and this is what was on your mind?" Dustin takes a few steps away again, noticing Eddie's subtle approach.
"No, absolutely not that, I just meant…er…it's a working title…yeah, that's it. Yep." Eddie tries again, but the stress is starting to show on his face. His mouth is tense, and his eye twitches a little, "So, if you'd kindly give it back, Dustin!"
Realising there is a joke happening he isn't the butt of, Steve peers over Dustin's shoulder to read the pad. All he says is, "Huh." He shakes his head, puts a hand on his hip, and approaches Eddie.
Eddie looks like a deer in headlights as Steve reaches for the pen sticking out of his mass of hair and returns to Dustin and the pad.
Steve smiles big and laughs, shaking his head, and glances up at Eddie. as he puts pen to pad, Steve says, "Sleeve has two e's in the middle, you silly goose!"
Steve looks proud. Eddie has never looked more relieved, and everyone else is looking at Steve in shock.
"What? It's an easy spelling mistake to make. Anyway, I've fixed it now. You're welcome." Steve says, looking around the garage with wide eyes because not one of these little shits said thank you.
Eddie walks over and smiles smugly at Dustin, taking back his pad, "Yes, thank you very much, Harrington. None of these goons spotted it"
"Anytime, Munson," Steve claps his hands together at Dustin, "Henderson, come on, the game is gonna start soon."
As Dustin gets into the car, Eddie gives them a little dainty finger wave, the smug grin still on his face.
He's never been more grateful to have forgotten to cross a t in his life.
Once Eddie returns, helps his friends save the world, he graduates and focuses on his dream, playing The Garden.
Corroded Coffin do indeed play MSG and then some, they become the biggest band on the planet, and they are raking it in.
They are making so much money the record company is throwing anything they want their way, anything they could dream of, and each member of the band takes advantage of that fact, making sure to avoid extreme excess, on the sage advice of other rockstars they meet on their way up, making sure to invest, and that their families are set for life.
But there are indulgences, fast cars, fancy hotels, big palatial homes, being surrounded by the most beautiful and talented, epic custom made gaming tables (because lets face it, they are still nerds) but Eddie shies away from a lot of that, he has this own indulgence. Theatrics.
The lights of the stage show had to be the latest technology, lasers, pyros so big and loud that had every concert comes with a warning on the posters, a mascot of this weird looking bat snake thing that Eddie had drawn up, and then the props.
Parts of the stage that "fell apart" making the crowds gasp in horror as a band member takes a hit, only to emerge completely unscathed. Harnesses so he could play flying through the air. A giant cannon to straddle and duck walk along over the crowd. Flame throwers that send a heat wave across the stadiums they play. His personal favourite was the deconstructable guitar.
Specially designed to be able to break apart and to be put back together for the next night, it was made for the heaviest song corroded Coffin had written to date. It was only ever used for that one song and with the magic of effects pedals and the nature of the song, it didn't have to sound particularly great.
At the culmination of this song an already shirtless Eddie would swing the guitar around, smash it on the floor behind him and then onto the floor in front of him, booting the now heavily dented body into the ground so he could rip the neck out of it, holding it aloft, strings snapping off, popping the blood capsules in his mouth, and letting them flow out of his mouth and down his chin and throat, with a huge grin on his face, before blowing a kiss into the crowd.
It seems like just another theatrical bit from Eddie Munson, a fan favourite to imitate or use as part of their Halloween costume. Eddie Munson wasn't the first rockstar to smash a guitar on stage and he wouldn't be the last, but what he was acting out was shrouded in mystery, as the song itself gave away nothing with its absence of lyrics.
When questioned in interviews Eddie said the same thing, "If I told you, I would have to kill you" then he would laugh heartily. An added clue if he was on TV, he'd wink directly at the camera and say, "Isn't that right, big boy?".
Thats all the fanbase has to go on, until a concert video is released. At the end of the tape past the credits, is a hidden extra.
Spliced together, the cameras are filming two views of this particular part of the show. One is stage focused from the crowd's view and the other is also pointing out at the stage but from the wings, out of sight. In which leans some bespectacled, unassuming, yuppie-looking, type of guy, complaining, with his arms folded watching the show.
He's frowning, shaking his head in an alarm, as one hand comes out to gesture at Eddie on stage "Ah no! That is not what happened..." Then turning to behind the camera, worry etched on his face and in his tone, "I didn't look that ridiculous? Did I?" Only to be met with the raucous laughter of two unseen women.
Ok because the other two little fics were so well liked my brain could stop thinking about it.
So we've got how the song in question was written, the song when Corroded Coffin make it big, so consider this one the last time that song is ever played live by Corroded Coffin.
It starts with a little shocker so I've hidden the story under a read more so people don't accidently read it, in case it upsets anyone, but trust me when I say it's not all doom and gloom 😉 I got you 💚
The day the news of music legend Eddie Munson passing breaks, it plunged the world into deep, dark despair. A shocking departure that stopped newsreaders in their tracks to announce it.
The bombshell news was plastered everywhere for weeks, billboards, posters, newspapers, magazines, murals, tv show opening monologues, and this thing slowly emerging, the internet, had its forums full of theories as to what had happened, as no announcement had come from the Corroded Coffin camp as yet.
There was no sign of illness or injury. No accident or crime details. He seemed to have just...died.
The outpourings of condolences from countless heavy metal icons, hundreds of celebrities, some of which you would never have even guessed, liked Corroded Coffin, millions of fans worldwide held candle-lit vigils and sang their songs sombrely acapella in meeting places all around the world.
A week later, the band finally released a written statement.
"It was during the hellish times of high school that Eddie found us, protected us, guided us and forged this band of brothers that would go on to conquer not just our fears but the entire world. Impossible dreams came true countless times over, but now we sit in a waking nightmare at the loss of our leader, so now our time must come to an end.
A band is a sum of its parts, and with any one of us gone, this is simply not Corroded Coffin anymore. So it is with the deepest sadness but no regrets we have to say goodnight to you one last time.
Thank you for sticking by us all these years.
Remember to look out for one another.
HFC 4 Eva
The Remains of Corroded Coffin"
With the statement is an announcement that there will be a tribute show organised by Corroded Coffin, but they declined to play all but one song, which a special guest on guitar.
A month later, the tribute show goes ahead, but no stadium can hold it due to demand, mainly because the band had to fulfil Eddie's final wishes.
One of which was causing the most problems, Eddie wanted every member of the Corroded Coffin fan club to get the first refusal on a space at the tribute show. So no matter where in the world they were from, they were invited and their travel expenses paid, or something set up so they could join the live feed.
Eddie had jokingly set up the fan club at a merch table in the early days. It got you a Corroded Coffin badge, a hand-painted d20, a poster, access to a monthly newsletter/comic and a hand-drawn membership card signed on the back by the band, all for the price of five dollars. As the band grew, the fan club pack stayed the same, except the merch was better quality, it had to be mass-produced, and the price was lowered to one dollar.
The band also often had membership cards on their person or gave them out for free to fans that wanted them through their music charity for kids living in low-income areas.
So as you can imagine, there were thousands of potential attendees, but if you didn't have the card, you weren't getting in, no matter how much money you had or how famous you were.
The crowd is a sea of Corroded Coffin fans of all ages and all walks of life.
The first people out on stage are Corroded Coffin.
All of them.
The three band members wheel out an enormous coffin encased in rusted metal sheets with haphazardly driven rivets to keep it together, standing up tall, onto a platform at the back of the stage. They do this in absolute silence. The crowd is so hushed that on the recording, you can hear the ting of someone dropping a can.
Then the chants start, "Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" Hauntingly fierce like an army ready for battle, they know they can't win.
It spreads across the ocean of fans like a ripple of deafening voices.
Then the concert begins. Not only is the lineup littered with some of the most famous musical artists in the world, but also many of Eddie's favourite bands, and to introduce each of them is a celebrity pairing.
Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley. Prize-winning journalist and film director, respectively.
Tech Whiz Kids Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair.
Internet entrepreneur duo Jargyle.
Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers. Heads of a missing children's charity.
Award-winning scientists Mike and Will Byler.
Novelist Lucas Sinclair and Skateboarding legend Mad Max.
Then lastly, a fan favourite, Eddie's Uncle Wayne. He had made a cameo appearance in every video they had ever made, was on every concert video and was always thanked in the album notes.
"It is my greatest honour that the boys chose me to introduce the last performance of the evening. I know this song was his favourite, and many of yours also. So without further ado...Sadly, for the final time, Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Corroded Coffin," he shouts finally over the crowd's roar as flames shoot out of the sides of the coffin on stage, and the three remaining members walk out.
They say nothing and launch into the heaviest song Corroded Coffin ever wrote.
A lead guitar joins in but with no guitarist to be seen.
As the song draws to a close, a man walks out in a denim battle vest a little too snug for him, his hair voluminous but dishevelled. He's holding the prop guitar.
He swings it around, smashing it into the floor behind him, and with an almighty swing back in front of him, the guitar must know this is its last show because the body splits in two. The man rips the neck of the guitar out of the body and holds it above his head. The fake blood spills out of his mouth, and the tears flood down his face as he punches the air in time with the Eddie chants before he blows a kiss at the crowd and then one at the coffin.
There is a curtain call for all involved as pyros and flames fill the air around the stage until the last fan leaves the area. Then the curtain finally drops.
Everyone heads backstage or to the trailers behind it for food and drinks.
All except one person. Steve Harrington.
He looks around to ensure the coast is clear, approaches the giant coffin structure, and puts his hand on it, still warm from the flames.
"I never did find the right time to tell you this, and it looks like I'm too late." The tears prick his eyes again, and the first one that escapes down his cheek causes the rest to follow in droves.
His sobs are so loud he covers his mouth to quiet them for fear of anyone overhearing, "I love you, Eddie. I just didn't know how to say it, I-I d-didn't know if you felt the same, so I'd act like I didn't care and hoped you'd make the first move, but you didn't. And then you got famous, and were gone. I saw you a handful of times, and every time I wanted to tell you, something got in the way, or I chickened out, you know, because...well, because maybe you'd reject me and hate me or worse, you'd want what I did, and the press would eat you for breakfast. It would have ruined everything you built, and I couldn't handle that."
He runs his hands through his hair, bows his head, and presses his forehead against the warm sheet metal. "I couldn't take that chance because I loved you so much, so very very much, Eddie." He plants a kiss on his fingertips and presses it against the name plaque on the coffin. He lets out a final guttural sob. "See you on the other side, Munson", he manages finally and walks away.
He takes a last look back over his shoulder as he wipes the tears from his eyes, and Steve swears he sees the thing move.
He shakes his head and takes a few more steps, he can hear Eddie cursing under his breath in his mind, and it makes him smile.
But then Steve freezes to the spot because there is a loud clang behind him. He doesn't want to turn around and fix Eddie's coffin, but who else is going to do it, right?
"Well, that was suffocating!" Eddies voice rings in Steve's head.
Steve steels himself and prepares to see the worst as he turns back towards the coffin, only to find the front of it completely off its hinges, and standing draped in his guitar, with crumbs in his hair and hat with two beer cans in with straws, is one, very alive Eddie Munson.
Steve cannot move. He mutters, "Oh god, I've finally lost it."
Eddie looks at Steve with a perplexed look on his face, "Ah, yeah, you have" he puts his hands on his hips, "Keeping a secret like that from me for like a decade. First of all, how fucking dare you wait until I end everything to tell me, and secondly, get over here, you big stud, and give me some well overdue sugar."
"What...the...fuck..." Steve fearfully whispers to himself, "I'm actually insane."
"Eddie!!" Dustin's excited voice rings out behind Steve as he charges forward, embracing him.
"Hey, watch my guitar, you little shrimp!" Eddie giggles and Ruffles Dustin's hair.
"Wait a second now," Steve says, finger pointed out in front of him, slowly stepping forward, "You can see him?"
Now it's Dustin's turn to look confused at Steve. He scoffs out a laugh, "Well, of course, I can! Are you feeling ok, Steve?"
"But...but...but he died...again...is he like... immortal, or something. Like a-a vamp.. vampire?" Steve tries gingerly, moving closer, one hand still stretched out in front of him like he's trying to ward off something evil.
Dustin and Eddie look at one another in confusion and start laughing.
"Steve, have you sampled some of the special backstage treats?" Eddie asks and turns back to Dustin, "I mean, that might explain why he also just confessed he's had a massive boner about me for over a decade!"
"Really?" Dustin says curiously, and Eddie nods as he takes off his guitar. "Wow."
Then the others start piling onto the stage, all of Eddie's nearest and dearest, and all of them are smiling and laughing and joking, except for Steve, who is watching this happen around him until he erupts.
"How can you all be so god damn normal about this??!!!!! He's just come back from the dead. Not like last time when he passed out. He's been dead for like a fucking month, and your all just-just fucking OK WITH THAT??!!" Steve is yelling at the top of his lungs, hands gesticulating wildly at them all, still keeping his distance, and the group falls silent.
"Oh, no, honey," Joyce says soothingly, walking towards Steve. "It's ok, it must be really scary to see this kind of thing, but you remember, right? It's all just for show." She turns and whispers to Hopper, "I knew all those bumps to the head needed looking at."
"FOR SHOW?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FOR SHOW?! IT WAS EVERY-FUCKING-WHERE" Steve starts counting on his fingers, "It-it was on the news, and-and in all the papers, and-and the fans did all those vigils" He points accusingly at the band, "You were at least three of those!!"
Robin's eyes go wide "Steve, it's me, Robin. Hi!" She approaches him slowly, "I'm real. We're all real here. Everything is ok" Once Robin is within arms distance of Steve, he pokes at her and squeezes her arm to make sure she is, in fact, real, "OW!! Jesus!!!"
She bats Steve's hands away, "Ok, enough. Listen, did you open the fan club mail this month?"
"The fan cl-? What the hell are you talking about?? Is this a nightmare? Am I dead??!! Is this Hell??!!!" Steve shouts into the air.
"In this month's fanzine, it explained everything. The band wanted to stop and spend time with their families and start new projects, but the press was getting to a fever pitch with them. Gareth had his bins rifled through. Jeff couldn't even take his kid out for his birthday without getting hounded. So Eddie came up with this plan. That way, no one gets blamed for breaking up the band. It just is no more." Robin explains compassionately to Steve.
"So the whole crowd, all of you and the bands, they all knew it was fake?" Steve asks quietly whilst everyone is still staring at him and Robin.
Robin nods but then adds, "Well, not the other bands. We couldn't risk it, but we and the fans are loyal enough to keep a secret. Plus, if anyone even tries to say they've seen him, they'll be labelled like those Bigfoot-spotting people."
Steve shakes his head, "But I'm not a member of the fan club?!"
"The absolute audacity!!! What, you fucking love me, but you're not a member of my band's fan club? What kind of half-assed groupie are you?" Eddie shouts, astounded and a little insulted at Steve.
Jeff turns to Eddie, "You knew he wasn't, man. You made him that special membership card at the hideout for valentine's day, but you never gave it to him, remember?"
"Shut up!" Eddie says through gritted teeth at Jeff.
Steve stands more confidently, his hands on his hips, "Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah, that's right", Gareth laughs, "And then when we were talking about this, you said you'd call him and tell him yourself, Eddie, remember?"
Eddie bites his bottom lip and tries to look as innocent as he can from under his hair, smirking over at Steve, "Did I say that? Really? Funny thing that... I don't remember"
Steve's eyes go wide, "Why, you little shit!!" Steve runs and lunges for Eddie. Eddie is laughing and yelling as he's being chased around the stage by Steve, who eventually captures him in a bear hug when he runs the wrong way around the drum kit.
"urgh...god...let me..." Eddie struggles angrily and tries to wriggle free as Steve squeezes him.
"Oh-hoh no, you are going nowhere, you little prick!" Steve says, squeezing him tighter, making Eddie's face screw up, "What you did, was so not cool!"
"I...only...did...it...cus..." Eddie tries to talk, but it is difficult. He can hardly breathe.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Excuses. You wanted to make me look like an idiot!" Steve says with an unimpressed tone.
Eddie's face is turning pink as he frantically shakes his head in a no.
"Oh, you didn't? Then why?" Steve says, loosening his grip enough for Eddie to take a breath.
Eddie's body sags a little as he takes a deep breath, "Because... I wanted to see if you'd be sad if I died." Eddie says quickly, "I mean, I didn't expect you to agree to headline and the whole speech, you know?" Eddie says, trying to hold back an adoring smile.
Steve squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head in disbelief, "You made me go through a month of grief to see if I would be sad if you died?"
"Well...it was supposed to be just a day, but then I got genuinely distracted by everything, and then it was two weeks later, and then I thought I could surprise you by jumping out of the coffin, and you'd be overjoyed and I'd say something romantic to maybe win you over, like..." Eddie looks everywhere but at Steve as he details everything.
"Like what? What could you possibly say to make up for that, you complete shithead!" Steve says with an angry squeeze, making Eddie wince and groan.
"That I fought an army of angels and the hordes of hell for one kiss from your sinfully perfect heavenly lips because you're my muse, my love." Eddie manages to get the words out with a struggle.
"What?" Steve says, lessening his grip.
"The songs I write, the ones with my name next to them on the albums, they're all about you," Eddie says as he catches his breath.
"What?" Steve says again, wholly bewildered and fully releases Eddie.
"Our first number one, the one that got a Grammy, and was used in a bunch of movies. That's about you. The um, slow one with the choir on the unplugged album, that's about you. The one we close the shows with, the one with no words, that's about you too. And loads more," Eddie says, adjusting his clothes, looking back up at a dumbfounded Steve, "What? You had no idea? You don't remember? in the garage? You corrected the spelling of sleeve, but it was supposed to be Steve. I just forgot to cross the t" Eddie looks between Steve's eyes for a glimmer of comprehension.
"Ohhh", Steve says finally and points at himself and smiles.
Eddie smiles back at this lovable weirdo and nods.
Steve claps his hands together and looks pleased as punch, turning to the others still pointing at himself with a look of happy surprise.
Everyone nods at him except for Mike, who throws his hands up, "Are you kidding me? The song we danced to at our wedding was about Steve??? Oh my god!" Mike has to be consoled by Will and Nancy.
Steve eventually turns back to Eddie with a massive smile on his face.
Eddie plays with his hair and looks coyly up at Steve swaying from left to right, "So I dunno, do you maybe wanna come live on a secret island with me for a few years until people forget about me, maybe? I mean, I'll have to get my hair buzzed first, and um, lose the whole rockstar get up" Eddie looks up hopefully and gives a cute little shrug.
Steve folds his arms and taps his lips thoughtfully, "Hmmm."
"OH, MY GOD! Could you grown-ass idiots just kiss already? I could be solving the mysteries of the goddamn world, ok? But instead, I'm stuck here waiting for a long-haired freak and his little ex-sailor boy bride to figure out what everyone else knew years ago!!" Erica shouts, exasperated.
"Apart from Mike", Dustin whispers.
"Yeah, except Mike, who is also on team dumbass!" Erica adds.
"Hey!!" Mike says, annoyed, and is immediately swamped by Will, Joyce and Nancy as Hopper pats Erica on the shoulder with a smile.
"Get offa me, sasquatch!" She says, rolling her eyes.
"Well, you heard the lady," Steve says with a smile walking with an over-the-top swagger towards Eddie.
Eddie grins mischievously, jumps up to grip onto Steve like a koala on a eucalyptus tree, and kisses him, once on the lips, with an audible mwah sound.
Steve looks at him with a laugh, "I hope you've got more where that came from because you've got a lot to make up for, Eddie Munson."
It's Tuesday night, and Eddie hasn't heard a peep from Steve since he yelled at him down the phone. He hasn't seen Steve since he threw those guitar picks at him, which Eddie had initially thought were special editions due to the big S and E on them, one of which he'd been playing with tonight and was currently twiddling around his fingers. In fact, Eddie's had no indication of Steve since the rose and module mid-last week.
Maybe he'd finally given up? The prospect of which made Eddie a little sad, but ultimately perhaps it was for the best.
Eddie knows he could call, but he isn't ready. He was scared. Scared because he wasn't good at hiding his big feelings. Which meant either he didn't pursue this and forget it happened, which he was loathed to admit was eating him alive, or call Steve, apologise, and hide it from and lie to his friends, which Eddie knew was nearly impossible.
Something was going to give soon because it was too much for Eddie to shoulder. He had enough on his mind.
"You alright, dude? Still thinking about last week?" Gareth asks
Eddie doesn't waste any energy denying it, "I'll be ok, just you know, it gets in my head every now and then. It will pass."
Gareth looks Eddie up and down, looks around and asks kindly, "You sure you don't wanna talk about it, dude? That chick turning out to be a stalker must have been a headache, "
Eddie tries to get back to be usual self and out of his thoughts again. "Well, who could blame her, right? Look at me, carved by the gods, charisma at max modifier, master guitarist. She didn't stand a chance, right?" Eddie laughs and gives Gareth a huge grin.
"Wait, is this the same girl that caused the ice cream therapy?" Jeff asks, confused, and gets a sharp elbow in the ribs from Gareth
"What I mean is, I feel like it's weighing on you, even in your playing tonight and last week. You still killed it out there, but it wasn't...Eddie...Like someone turned down your volume, you know?" Gareth says with genuine concern.
"Nah, man, I'm good. Maybe I need to practice a bit more?"
All three of the band turn and raise their eyebrows at Eddie in disbelief. He knew it was a stupid excuse. He practised harder than anyone. Eddie sighs in defeat.
"Just I really liked her, but it turned out all wrong...Look, It's all too weird. I wish I could explain, but I can't. " Eddie replies
"What do you mean, dude? You feel like you can't tell us something?" Paul asks
Eddie just looks awkwardly at him.
"Aw, man. That's on us. There ain't anything you couldn't tell us, Ed. We're not just friends or a band. We're brothers. That you, Eddie, collected and protected. We got you. For life." Jeff says, throwing an arm around Eddie.
Eddie swallows the lump in his throat, "Nah, man, you guys are the best friends anyone could ask for. I will tell you, I promise, but I just need a little time. I'm still working through things myself. It's a real mind fuck."
"Hey man, no pressure. Just know we're here for you when you're ready." Jeff says, patting Eddie on the back.
Eddie nods, "Yeah, totally...Drinks?" He suggests, mainly to change the subject, and they head through to the bar, Eddie buys a round of cokes, and they sit in a booth together.
"I can't believe our set was cut short for a new open mic night!" Gareth complains
"You just know it's gonna be some folk, bullshit", Paul adds.
Eddie looks around, and there certainly are a few more people. A few small groups of girls, a few extra pairs that he assumed were duos and a few ancient bearded guys with guitars.
"You know, maybe this could work for us, the open mic night drawing in a bigger crowd?" Eddie remarks with a shrug.
The bartender walks up to the mic, looking thoroughly disinterested as usual "Ok, welcome to the first open mic night at the hideout. If you can make it to the stage, the mic is yours. Just don't piss off anyone else, ok? Have at it."
The next hour is, as accurately pointed out by Paul, mostly folk music, so the guys just chat amongst themselves, trying to get campaign clues out of Eddie or generally putting the world to rights.
Then something happens that makes Eddie forget to breathe.
"Good Evening, everyone. My name is Steve Harrington," there are a few cheers and some girls yelling his name, "I won't keep you too long. I only know one song, but...er...I really wanted someone to hear it, so you're gonna have to sit through this mess too." He laughs that charming laugh, and the bar, of course, laughs along with him.
The only person not laughing is Eddie.
Eddie keeps his eyes trained on his bottle. Do not look up. He even moves a little to hide behind Paul and sit opposite Jeff.
Eddie unblinkingly stares at the tiny scratches on the table and picks at them. His mouth is tight, and his whole body has tensed up.
This was Eddie's place, one of his safe spaces, and Steve had invaded it.
"Fuuuuuck Harrington's gonna play?" Paul says in amazement.
"I didn't even know he could play guitar," Jeff says to Eddie, and in reply, Eddie just shrugs with a forced smile.
Steve clears his throat, "Ok, here we go" Eddie can hear the faint waiver of nervousness in Steve's voice.
There is a wolf whistle and a yell from some older lady at the bar, "You got this hot stuff", she slurs, raising her whiskey at him before knocking it back.
"Well, thank you very much," Steve says in a poor Elvis interpretation and laughs again.
Eddie sees a hand reach out to him from the other side of the table.
He looks up to meet Jeff's eyes and looks away, trying to get up from the table, but Jeff's hand on his arm stays him.
"Eddie?" Jeff tilts his head at Eddie, a look of concern in his eyes. Eddie wishes the ground would swallow him up, and then his eyes flit towards the stage for a second before going back to Jeff's and back to focusing on the bottle and table marks.
Eddie had made a silent confession to Jeff, he hadn't meant to, but it was done now. Jeff's head was moving between Eddie and Steve, his mouth partially open.
Eddie isn't looking at the stage right now. He can't bring himself to. His emotions were in turmoil. But, he knew that he didn't stand a chance after that glimpse, where he saw Steve's hair with a rolled-up bandana around his forehead, wearing a W.A.S.P t-shirt with L.O.V.E. Machine written on it. Steve was being so loud.
Steve walks up to the amp, scrapes the guitar strings generating some ear-splitting feedback, and strums out a familiar set of chords on an electric guitar before singing.
"Wild Thing! You make my Heart sing!
You make-a everything groovy"
"What is this guy doing?" Gareth laughs, "that's not even how it goes."
"Wild Thing, I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure.
Come and sock it to me one time.
You move me"
"Those aren't even the words", Paul laughs.
Jeff isn't watching Steve anymore. He's still staring at Eddie and says slowly, "Because it's not The Troggs version. It's the Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey version."
Eddie can feel his chest heaving. He feels uncomfortable. On the spot. His heart is thundering in his chest like a stampede of wild mustangs. Even though logically, he knows it's only Jeff looking at him, he feels like it's the entire room.
Steve is singing for him. The minuscule non-terrified part of Eddie is snuggling this moment close to his chest and is smiling happily, but the part of Eddie that the world could see is just staring at a coke bottle like he's trying to explode it with his mind.
It's evident to Eddie's ears that Steve isn't a proficient player, but you only had to know a few chords to play this song, and the lyrics fit what Steve wanted to say.
Eddie knew there were hundreds of songs Steve could have picked, but he chose this one, and he chose this specific version because he knew Eddie would know the difference.
He wanted Eddie to know that Steve had done his homework. And for a second, a smile twitched at the corner of Eddie's mouth because though the guitar playing was clumsy, the singing was rough in all the right places and soft enough in others to lure Eddie in, just like it had in the car.
Eddie looks hesitantly between Jeff and his bottle of coke a few times, swallowing nervously, and Jeff bursts out in a huge grin and mouths, "Oh".
Eddie feels his eyes begin to tear up. He had no idea what would happen next. Would they kick him out of the band, never speak to him again, tell everyone about his secret, or worse, hurt Steve?
Jeff taps his hand on Eddie's arm to get his attention. He puts up four fingers and then makes an L-shape, mouthing, "for life".
Eddie feels a tear tumble out as he looks back at Jeff and gasps a breath of relief, and Jeff hands him a bandana quickly. Eddie pretends he is blowing his nose to mop up the rest. At least one of them might be ok with it.
"You know what, I think he's doin' a damn good job...Sounds a bit lonely up there, though, don't ya think?" Jeff asks the table.
"It would probably sound better with some backing, sure," Paul says with a laugh. "Wait, are you suggesting...but what about Eddie?"
They all turn to look at him, but Jeff answers for him, "Eddie needs a little time out, I think."
Eddie watches as his three bandmates approach the stage, and a very animated Robin appears from out of nowhere and tries to stop them from getting at Steve onto the stage. Jeff whispers something to her, and she lets them pass.
For the first time, properly, Eddie dares look at the stage. Steve does not stop playing, but Eddie can tell he's scared. The way his body tenses and the strums on the guitar are harder, even though he could probably take all three of them out in one go.
Robin runs over to the table, "Eddie! Eddie! Please listen" She looks around hurriedly and grabs Eddie's face in her hands, "Look at me. I have never dated him or anything else. Platonic with a capital P! He was hiding, he was, but it was because he's not the brightest and does crazy stuff like run into rooms with weapons because he's worried someone he cares about might be hurt or-or drives a car into another one to save his friend, or charges into a Russian dude and knocks him out with a telephone, or learns a song in a week and plays it in front of everyone, just so one person could hear him, say something quiet, loudly."
Robin turns Eddie's face to the stage, "All I'm saying is if you like this song, Eddie. He'll play it for you anytime you want. Do you understand what I mean?"
Eddie looks up at the stage and with Robin right next to him. Steve can safely point over to them.
"Wild thing, I think I love you,
But I wanna know for sure"
Eddie looks back to Robin, searching her eyes. "I have to get some fresh air," he says, gently removing her hands and brushing past her and the newly formed crowd to get outside.
Eddie manages to get to the next convenience store and buys three pints of ice cream. The good stuff.
On the ride home, he turns the stereo up so loudly that it almost sounds distorted through the speakers. Then, finally, the van comes to an abrupt stop outside of the trailer. He jumps out of the van with his haul. Heads inside, putting two in the freezer and one on the countertop with a little spoon.
He walks into his room, changes into his favourite Sabbath threadbare t-shirt and some old shorts, comes back out to the living room, puts in a video, opens the ice cream and as he consumes the first spoonful, he lets the tears fall.
He had suspected this would happen, but he was crushed all the same. It was just all so unceremonious. Life just loved to kick him in the nuts that way. All those times he was hoping for disappointment to come to quiet those thoughts, it didn't. It just kept building him up, and the moment...the fucking moment he let his guard down an inch...oof!!
He had no idea Steve would be at the video store and vice versa, that was pure coincidence, but Eddie couldn't help but feel a little dumb that he hadn't made the Robin connection. It was probably because he always called her by her surname.
Sobbing into his ice cream, Eddie attempts to reason this out with facts. Ok, so maybe Eddie couldn't be mad at Steve for breaking his heart, but he could be angry that Steve had a great girl like Buckley and was fooling around with Felicity at the drive-in. That fucking sucked. What an asshole.
Some people just get everything, and they squander it. Eddie didn't have a crush on Robin or anything like that, but he knew she was nice and seemed cool. She didn't deserve this shit.
The phone in the trailer rings. Eddie ignores it and turns the TV up louder, but the ringing continues. He curses and gets up to answer it.
"Hello?" He says, shovelling another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.
Shit! Eddie had forgotten all about hanging out with Gareth tonight.
"Hey, man", he manages with his mouth full, "This is lame, but I'm er...I'm gonna have to raincheck on the hangout tonight, man."
"Ah, ok, no wor-...Eddie? Are you watching The Fox and the Hound?" Gareth's tone turns very serious.
"No", Eddie lies unconvincingly.
There is an audible sigh on the other end of the phone, "Which number pint of ice cream are you on?" Gareth asks gently.
Eddie sniffles, "The first one..."
"How many in total?" Gareth asks in a more muffled voice, and Eddie hears the noise of a set of keys.
"Three", Eddie says weakly, with his mouth full.
"I'm coming over there. Do not lock the door. I don't want to explain to your Uncle why I had to break into your house again!" Gareth says.
"Ok," Eddie says, holding back a sob, putting the phone down.
Eddie didn't have to hide his emotions from anyone in Corroded Coffin. They'd all been through the wringer around one another. Eddie had taken them all under his wing, to begin with, but slowly and surely, they grew strong enough to shelter him, too, when he needed it. Though it still didn't stop Eddie from feeling a little embarrassed when he had moments like this. He felt a responsibility. He was the leader, the big brother. He thought he shouldn't be in floods of tears around them, at least, regardless of what they said.
Fifteen minutes later, Gareth's car pulls up outside. Which Eddie knew meant that Gareth had not been driving at the speed limit, and Eddie would definitely hypocritically lecture him about that at some point, but right now, spoon was hitting carton, and Eddie was frantically wiping his eyes with his shirt.
The door bursts open, "Who did it?! Who was it, Eddie? I swear I'll..." Gareth makes crushing gestures between his hands and growls.
Eddie waves his hands in front of him, "It was no one, man. It's just that time of year, you know?"
"I know what yesterday was, ok? We all do, and we shoulda not listened and joined you at the drive-in anyway! But I know for damn sure that it isn't the time of year that caused a three-pinter, Eddie."
Then Gareth takes a good look at Eddie. Making eye contact first, Gareth looks sad, then his eyes fall to Eddie's cheek, and his face twists into anger.
"Fucking assholes!" Gareth rages. "I swear to Christ I'm gonna slash all of their tyres. Pricks."
Eddie scrapes around the bottom of the ice cream carton, "You will absolutely not, ok? You are not getting in shit because I did something dumb."
The door swings open again, and Jeff and Paul charge through, out of breath, armed with some mountain dew.
Jeff thumps Paul on the arm, "I fuckin' told you we shouldn't have listened to him, man. Now, look at this, shit."
Paul thumps him back, yelling, "Oh, I can't respect my friend's fucking wishes now?"
Jeff heads to put the drinks in the fridge and returns with ice cream carton two, for Eddie and a fresh teaspoon, whilst at precisely the same time Paul is switching out The Fox and the Hound for Eddie's favourite Iron Maiden concert tape and Gareth sits next to Eddie takes away his empty ice cream tub, and scoops him up in a hug. They don't do any of these things in silence or even with a break in the conversation, still squabbling over whose fault it was any of them had even listen listened to Eddie. Except for Eddie of course, it definitely couldn't have possibly been his fault.
The events of the last twenty-four hours have made Eddie feel so overwhelmed he just wants to violently sob to the point of convulsion into Gareth's shirt, but he manages to just about keep it together and leans back with a sigh.
It wasn't just they were here for him. It was because they knew him. They knew how he liked things, the small stuff, which made him feel good because he felt seen and heard. They didn't know about Eddie's secret camp visit, and he certainly wasn't going to tell them about Steve. Especially not now. He didn't need to.
"Wanna talk about it?" Jeff says, opening the ice cream and handing it over to Eddie, who immediately eats some as he looks around at their faces.
"It's really lame, guys. Like the stupidest shit," Eddie sighs.
There is a chorus of shut up, that's ok, don't worry about that. All at the same time.
Eddie decides to tell them, but he'd take some artistic license to protect himself and Steve.
"Well, I went to the drive-in as planned. I was doing my drops and flirted with a girl. She was with those assholes. They beat me up. I had van trouble. This girl offered me a ride. I didn't wanna see Wayne because he'd be pissed, so I went to hers. We had an amazing time, and I mean amazing. We were talking, laughing, drinking, smoking, dancing..."
"Dancing??!" Paul's eyes go wide like Eddie had just said something like murder.
"Yeah...she even got me dancing, man," Eddie says softly, poking the ice cream with his spoon. "She called me beautiful, and I respectfully stayed in a separate room because she was wasted. This morning I made her pancakes..." Eddie keeps his eyes on his ice cream as he speaks
"Not the pancakes, Eddie..." Gareth says, running his hands down his face, pulling his cheeks downwards, making him look like a droopy-jowled puppy.
"Yes, the pancakes! But this time, she sat and ate them with me. She dropped me off at my van, and we sang and laughed all the way there, like some fucking Disney musical. Then I come home, go to...um...the store, and she's there with this guy, right, and she says hello, but it's like cold, you know, and I can tell from her hair and clothes..." Eddie looks down and turns his head away to choke back a sob. "That she and he...you know..." Eddie waves his hand in front of him like he's trying to bat away the memory.
"Eddie, that fucking sucks, dude!!" Jeff says quickly.
"Sounds like she didn't deserve you anyway." Paul consoles.
"Plenty more fish in the sea, buddy" Gareth reassure him.
"I just don't get it, you know? What did I do wrong? Why can't the universe just give me a chance, you know?" Eddie looks sadly at the floor.
"Hey man, you did nothing wrong. You were kind, you were chivalrous, you were respectful. None of those things is bad. You are not bad. It's her. Look at it this way the universe let you know as soon as it could. She wasn't the one." Paul says kindly.
"I know you're just backing me up but she's not bad. She's pretty cool, actually, unexpectedly. But also completely not cool at the same time, kinda goofy, you know?" Eddie sighs, "I'm just upset because I read it wrong, is all. I got my hopes up. She didn't know that" Eddie desperately wants to direct all his hurt at Steve, but he can't.
The rest of the band stays quiet and looks comfortingly at Eddie, knowing he wants to say more.
"It's stupid. One night, not even a kiss and someone steals your heart, right outta your chest? That doesn't even seem possible, and obviously, she didn't mean to do that. That's on me."
Eddie gives a defeated smile and shakes his head.
"It also sucks because we probably could have been pretty good friends, but now? I just think it would be creepy for me to do that," Eddie finishes and digs into the ice cream again.
"Well, you know, that can happen with stuff. Remember when Paul was obsessed with that new brand of strings and wouldn't shut up about 'em, and then he got 'em, and they snapped in rehearsal? We all said they couldn't take your style of play, man, but you went ahead and got 'em anyway." Gareth says, looking between them all.
"I swear, I make one tiny mistake, and you haven't let it go in three years, man!" Paul says in exasperated annoyance, raising his hands to his curls.
"Tiny mistake? Tiny mistake!! You cost us a full rehearsal, man. That's what cost us the battle of the bands" Gareth flails his arms animatedly.
"No, what cost us the battle of the bands was you deciding you wanted to try to drum like a deranged Keith Moon for the night, head butting your crash, and your forehead becoming Mount Vesuvius", Paul readjusts his sitting position and points the finger at Gareth.
"I disagree. From where I stood, I think that looked fucking awesome," Jeff adds quickly.
"See, it looked fucking awesome." Gareth gestures both hands at Jeff before glaring at Paul again.
"Are you forgetting that you passed out, and we had to play without a drummer?" Paul says, putting his hands to his head, miming his head exploding.
"Sorry for being that guy, but Gareth wasn't passed out. Sure, he was draped over one side of his kit with his eyes shut, but he was still playing with the other side. So we still had kick and snare," Jeff interjects calmly.
"It made us sound like a heavy metal Oompa band!!' Paul shouts, eyes wide, thumping the floor.
"Oompa?? Oh that's it" Gareth is livid and launches himself at Paul, who uses Jeff as a shield to take the full impact of a flying Gareth. It soon descends into a blur of headlocks and other wrestling submission holds.
Eddie watches the scene in front of him and smiles, "Dumbasses" he says fondly. His smile turns into a laugh, and soon enough, he's gripping his bruised ribs, cackling with laughter.
The past 24 hours had been a real roller coaster, but these guys, his brothers, never failed to pick him up.
He puts the top back on the Ice cream, walks past the all-out brawl to put it in the freezer, and goes to his room to put on his armour once more.
He walks back into the living room, and the rest of Corroded Coffin lie breathless on the floor, still attempting to argue.
Jeff makes it to one knee and bows his head. Paul and Gareth follow Jeff's lead in kneeled bows.
Jeff dramatically raises his hands to the ceiling, "A blessing on this day of the sun, where our great and noble leader hast been returned to us from the darkest depths."
"The mightiest of champions" Paul adds miming holding a two-handed greatsword.
"The slayer of riffs," Gareth says, throwing up the metal horns.
"Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" The three chant with acceleration together, swarming and crushing Eddie in a group hug, slash hair ruffle.
"Shut up!" Eddie screeches out, and all three recoil on instinct, but Eddie pulls them all back in, "I love you fucking dickheads"
Author Notes: This is the final part of this series :( Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story, I'm over the moon you've read it. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it :) I was so nervous to post a story about my favourite ship #steddie
It is almost like the world rushes back into Eddie's senses as he releases Steve from his grip and holding his hand. He wipes at his eyes quickly, stepping backwards, well away from Steve.
"Steve. Shit! I'm sorry, man" Eddie feels like the scum of the earth. He could have really hurt Steve by being out of control like that. Eddie steps back a bit more and raises his hands in surrender. He looks over at Steve, who has currently slid down the side of the van and is bent forward a little catching his breath.
"Hey, no. Get back here, right now!" Steve manages to get out, pointing at the floor in front of him.
Was this guy insane? Eddie had, only seconds ago, completely lost his shit at him, and he was asking Eddie to come back. Was he gonna take a swing at him?
Steve looks up at Eddie and points at the ground by him again, "Now, Eddie," Steve's voice isn't angry, but it is tense.
Eddie, still occasionally trembling from his outburst and out of concern about what could have happened, steps forward a little but keeps out of arms reach. He has no clue what could happen after something like that. This isn't something he's rehearsed in his mind.
"You're gonna open the door to the back of this van, we are gonna sit inside, and we are gonna talk about this without arguing, ok?" Steve says, standing back up and pointing at the side door.
Eddie feels like a school kid who's just been chastised, but he takes a deep breath and approaches the door. As he reaches for the handle behind Steve, he expects him to move away, flinch, get ready to defend himself or something, but he doesn't. If anything, he crowds Eddie a little more than he was already, and his body brushes Eddie's arm.
Eddie quickly glances at Steve's face, he doesn't know what he expected, but he doesn't expect to see Steve gazing at him softly with a slight smile on his face.
Eddie quickly looks back to the door, slides it open, and lets Steve in first, extending a hand to help him. Steve's smile morphs into a slight smirk as he accepts the assistance.
Eddie immediately regrets his decision as he will have to follow Steve's denim-clad backside into the van and try not to think about it and keep himself together enough to have this serious conversation. What was wrong with him?! Christ! How could he be thinking about that right now?
Steve sits on the backseat with his back against the side of the van facing Eddie. Who closes the door as he gets in himself and sits at the opposite end of the bench seat. It reminds Eddie of when Steve was pressed against his car door, but Steve wasn't recoiled in fear this time. He seemed entirely at ease, one foot on the floor and the other propped up on the seat. His elbow is on the seat back so that he can rest his sweet face on his hand.
The only light filling the back of the van comes from the street lamp above, and only tiny slivers of the warm-coloured artificial light break through, hitting the highlights of Steve's face, making him look like a photograph taken at some kind of gothic golden hour. Eddie almost forgets they are in here to talk. He could have easily stayed staring at Steve, but the plectrum he's nervously playing with in his fingers reminds him of the band. They could come to the van anytime, so he breaks the silence.
"Look, I'm sorry about…well…um…everything…mostly that… just now, but also being mean to you and pelting you with guitar picks," Eddie says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I get a little intense sometimes. But, believe it or not, I'm actually much better at controlling it now than a few years ago."
Steve shifts a little to lean towards Eddie, "Well, in that case, I'm sorry for being a crazy stalker and not respecting your boundaries, but mostly I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, Eddie. That was not, and never will be my intention." Steve rests his chin on his knee, and his hands come forward to touch Eddie's hand, "Do you think maybe we can call it even and put it behind us?" Steve mumbles gently as he twists one of Eddie's rings and looks expectantly at him.
Eddie can't believe what he's just heard. He isn't sure what to do. Impulsively he gently pushes his hand further between Steve's, "Yeah, I…er…think that could be good", Eddie says softly.
Eddie is in a stalemate with himself. He still felt a little wary, Steve could one-eighty on him at any moment, but he also felt a radiant explosion of hope, a maybe, a sliver of impossible things possibly becoming a reality.
His mouth is devoid of all moisture right now. He is so nervous. Not knowing what is coming next. He's sure Steve must be able to hear his heart booming in his chest from this distance. Pounding so hard and fast, like it was being played by a double bass drum speed demon. When it went silent between them, it was all Eddie could hear.
"So, as we're starting over, can I just go over the facts?" Steve asks, raising his head, but his hands remain in contact with Eddie.
Eddie smiles and nods. Not wanting to break the spell, Steve seemed to have so expertly weaved around them. Not wanting to say the wrong thing and cut Steve off. After over a week of not wanting to hear Steve in any way, it was all Eddie wanted now.
Steve looks at their hands as he plays with Eddie's rings. "Ok, well, I guess you liked a guy before, and you like me, but you also like girls. Me, I thought I just liked girls, but then I really like you. Like so much" Steve laughs like he can't believe it himself, " Sorry, What I mean is, I don't know if I like guys, you know? But I absolutely one hundred per cent, without a doubt, like you." he huffs out a little laugh, "Nope, sorry, let me try that again. I just need to shake off King Steve for a minute. I'll get this right. Bare with me."
As Steve talks, a smile spreads across Eddie's face. Outside of Uncle Wayne and the band, he'd never had someone be so open about their feelings for him. It washes away almost all of his fear. Finally, it feels like he has a moment to be sure of after so long being uncertain. Eddie blinks slowly to shift focus so that all he can see is Steve.
As Steve goes to speak again, Eddie clears his throat, "Are you saying you've got a crush on me, Harrington?" Eddie smirks at Steve coyly, pulling a piece of hair across his face.
It earns him a relieved sigh and a shy smile from Steve, and Eddie's heart blooms, "I guess, yeah, I guess you could say that", Steve says, biting his bottom lip.
"You guess? Come on now, Steve Harrington, founder of Skull Rock, can do a little better than that, can't he?" Eddie says, releasing his hair and reaching out to play with the arm of Steve's t-shirt. He half expects Steve to turn to look at his hand or move away, but he doesn't. Instead, Steve nervously swallows and continues to look directly at Eddie, a shaky breath leaving his mouth as his lips part a little.
Eddie's cold fingers accidentally brush against Steve's warm skin as Eddie moves forward a little more, and Steve hums pleasantly before shuffling forward again. He rolls back his shoulders and looks right at Eddie, and in almost a whisper, says, "I, Steve Harrington, haven't been able to get you, Eddie Munson, out of my head since you put your arms around me at the drive-in. I am absolutely, stupidly, insanely, head over heels for you."
Eddie's eyes follow his own fingers as he walks them up Steve's arm and shoulder to brush them gently against his neck, earning him another noise of appreciation, "Well, you should know, Steve Harrington, that flattery works on me", he says as he makes eye contact with Steve again. It feels like Cupid himself had descended into the van and used a rocket launcher to shoot straight into Eddie's heart.
Eddie realises Steve has gone very quiet, as Eddie's fingers, of their own accord, had worked their way into Steve's hair and gently played with it. Suddenly Eddie stops and keeps his fingers absolutely still.
He waits.
He watches Steve's expression drop into that sad deep frown like he made when Eddie had stopped dancing. He moves his fingers again, and the sleepy smile appears on Steve's face again, making Eddie chuckle deeply.
Eddie feels Steve's hands leave his, and the temperature drop is vast.
"Eddie?" Steve says dreamily, his eyes only partially open.
"How can I help you, Steve?" Eddie says with resonance, grinning at how Steve has completely melted under his touch.
"You remember in the car when you threw yourself at me? Do you remember what you said?" The words are just legible as they are pushed through Steve's perfectly illuminated, barely moving pout.
Eddie snorts out a laugh, "What? Hold me, Harrington?"
"That's the one!" Steve says with renewed energy, his muscular arms grip around Eddie's form and pull him flush to his chest. Eddie desperately tries to remain cool, but the action takes him by surprise, and he lets out a tiny gasp. Steve laughs gently, "Oh yeah…that's the one." He says with an air of confidence, and a huge grin, shuffling around, so Eddie is sitting in his lap.
Never in his life had Eddie been held like this, firmly, passionately, the welcome pressure of which seems to strip him of all his armour for a moment. He felt adored. He felt confident. He felt safe. But mostly, within Steve's grip, Eddie finally felt free.
Eddie assesses his new surroundings, a hand still in Steve's hair, which at this distance, an inch or two away, Eddie could smell how heavenly it was. The grip around his torso sadly lessens as Steve's hands splay out against his back. One sneaks its way up the nape of Eddie's neck. On its journey, he senses it fumble along the rough edges of his back patch and hard denim seams. Then Eddie feels the apprentice finger callouses against his skin, and the meaning behind their forming almost overwhelms him. Thankfully Steve's hand moves further up into Eddie's hair, sparing him another tearful outburst as it massages the back of his head, the other hand still keeping Eddie firmly pressed against Steve.
Eddie's eyes close to savour the sensation before it's interrupted by Steve nuzzling at his throat, doing nothing more than inhaling him. He could feel Steve's chest rise and fall against his own as he did so.
"Don't ever be so far away again, please," Steve mumbles against the sensitive skin of Eddie's neck.
Was this really happening?
Eddie pinches himself.
"Hey, what are you doing to my Eddie?" Steve lifts his head and complains.
Eddie searches Steve's eyes and answers, "I was just checking…checking this wasn't a dream."
Steve smiles happily at Eddie, the one that Eddie loves, the one that creases the corners of his eyes and pushes up the apples of his cheeks until you can barely see his beautiful giant dilated pupils. "If it is, don't wake me up, ok?" he says before disappearing into the crook of Eddie's neck again as if all he wanted was to be impossibly close.
Even though Steve had explicitly spoken his feelings and mirrored Eddie's movements to show him that he felt the same as Eddie did, there was something about his last reply that had sent Eddie's heart rate through the roof.
Steve reaches for Eddie's hand, puts it to the centre of his chest, looks at Eddie, and says softly, "Same."
Eddie can feel the powerful thudding of Steve's heart against his fingertips. Then he understands.
It's because Eddie realises this isn't one-sided. It's equal. Steve had been dreaming about this or at least thinking about this moment that was happening right now. Eddie wasn't going to love this one too much or too hard. Steve was letting him know it was and would always be matched.
Eddie moves his hand to Steve's face and tilts his chin back to look at him, "May I kiss you, Steve?"
Steve smiles up at him again, "What? You aren't even gonna take me to dinner first?"
"No," Eddie says raspily, running his thumb across Steve's plush lips, wholly lost in the moment and utterly ignoring the joke as he stares at Steve in the dim light.
Steve's eyes move between Eddie's eyes and mouth, and he nods enthusiastically, "Yes. Yes, Ple-"
Eddie doesn't let him finish and softly presses his lips to Steve's. He doesn't want to ever move from where he is right now.
He remembers the counsellors telling them things like this we're a sin. You'd go to Hell. Yet when Eddie looked at the world his whole life, he had been sure that Hell wasn't somewhere deep underground or an evil hidden realm. It was right here, on earth, every day. But right now, at this moment, it proved that existing on this mortal coil could be something else.
Eddie reasons if they knew you had this kind of magic in your life, maybe they thought Hell must be the only place you could go after because this…was absolute heaven.
"So I said, despite company policy, it was too many samples, right?" Robin's voice swims into Eddie's senses as their first kiss ends.
"Well yeah, it's a sample. How many samples until it's a whole scoop, right?" Gareth replies as the back doors of the van are pulled open.
Steve and Eddie look at one another in alarm, keeping absolutely still, as pieces of equipment start to make their way into the back of the van.
"Oh hey guys," Jeff says casually, opening the side door to slide in a few of the guitar cases.
Eddie looks around the van, and no one remarks about the current situation other than Robin outstretching her hand, saying, "Pay up" to the band.
"No way, there is no evidence you've won," Paul complains.
Robin rolls her eyes, "Look at them. It's pretty clear to me."
"Nuh-uh", Paul argues back.
Gareth pokes his head around an amp, "Eddie, did you guys kiss already?"
Eddie, in complete shock, just nods his head slowly and braces himself for something. He's just not sure what exactly.
"Goddamn it, Eddie. We all said you were classier than that, man. We were certain you'd take him on a date first or something!!"
"Well, it's not knowing Eddie that won me this bet anyway. It's knowing my friend is ordinarily a complete harlot but, thankfully, is currently completely besotted with one person only. Unfortunately, Eddie seemed to be into him too, so I knew Eddie's fate was sealed." Robin says as she gratefully receives her winnings, "He wasn't making it out of this parking lot unsmooched."
"Heeeeeyyyy!" Steve complains loudly at Robin, still in the same position he was in before they arrived, "I'm right here, Robin!"
"Am I wrong, though, Steve?" Robin laughs.
Steve looks at Eddie and gestures between him and Robin, "Are you gonna let her talk to me that way?"
"Well…she is kinda right, babe", Eddie replies.
"Oh yeah, come to poppa!!" Gareth yells out suddenly. Robin begrudgingly slams a few bills in Gareth's hand, as do Jeff and Paul.
Gareth walks over to Eddie and grasps him by the face kissing his forehead. "Thank you, Eddie. I knew you wouldn't reuse a pet name. Hell, yeah!"
"Hey, man, I am right fucking here!!" Steve shouts, his voice higher pitched because of the sheer audacity while batting Gareth away from Eddie.
Eddie looks around the van, and a laugh bursts from his mouth, and another, until he is gripping his sides, cackling.
The whole situation was utterly bizarre, and that was what had started him off laughing, but what had fuelled it was that he had just kissed the most beautiful human on the planet, and his friends hadn't judged him for it. In fact, they seemed to be having a much easier time with it than he had.
Eddie looks around at his found family and the two brand-new additions and overwhelmingly felt that for once, unequivocally, he was the richest, luckiest guy in the universe.
"Hey!" Eddie yells at Paul and tosses him the van keys, "You can drive. I'm kinda busy right now."
"HA!" Paul celebrates, "You know what that means…get the Led out!"
Eddie turns his eyes to Steve, looks at him lovingly, and plants another tender kiss on his lips.
The van fills with a chorus of awws and cute kissy sounds.
As soon as they separate, Steve leans forward and plants a chaste kiss on Eddie's lips.
A chorus of grossed-out noises and boos comes from Robin and the band as the doors are shut, and everyone finds a seat.
"Seriously, I just did exactly the same damn thing as he did", Steve complains, one hand gesturing in the air. "Is this what it's gonna be? Me versus everyone? Unbelievable! I swear-" Steve sits up a little to go into a full-scale rant.
"Babe-babe-babe, shut up, k?" Eddie says sweetly with a big grin and kisses Steve again as the van, Robert Plant and Robin, scream out of the parking lot into the night.
It might not be needed but I am going to put a warning on this one as it has a bit of shouty angst, and within that there is a brief reference to someone passing away
Even though every atom of Steve says otherwise, he knows he can't run after Eddie out of here.
He plays through the last sequence of chords way too quickly for the band that had just formed around him and gives a "Sorry about that folks, maybe my talents lie elsewhere, thanks for not throwing anything at me." before taking off his guitar.
Robin runs over to him, barging several girls, also headed toward Steve, out of the way.
"Steve, I tried. I did." Robin looks around nervously, "I think she…I mean…I just need a bit more time."
Steve doesn't have time to respond as he feels a hand on his shoulder, "I'm Jeff. This is Gareth. This is Paul" Steve nods at each of them in turn, but his eyes keep flicking to the door. He wanted to get to Eddie.
"Can we just borrow you for a minute in the back?" Steve looks around at the three guys he was confident a minute ago were gonna beat him up on stage, then they played the rest of the song with him, but maybe now they were gonna beat him up backstage instead.
Robin grabs Steve's hand, "We're, um, a package deal. He's my…er… betrothed, and….yeah, we can't be separated."
The faces of the band members contort into an absolute stupor, but Jeff manages wearily, "Sure, you can come too."
Once in a private area away from the crowd, Jeff stands in the middle of everyone, "Ok guys, listen, I have something important to say. It can't wait." Steve sees Jeff take a deep breath. "I'm bisexual," he says firmly. Jeff's body language is feigning confidence, but the worry is located in his eyes that dart between his two bandmates.
Steve turns to Robin to exchange a look of alarm but then quickly turns back to the other two members of the band, who appear to be deep in thought.
"Er, so you like dating two people at a time?" Paul tries and immediately receives a backhanded slap on the arm from Gareth.
"No, idiot, he likes men and women, like Bowie," Gareth says, scowling at Paul. His expression eases when he turns back to Jeff. "I mean, fine, but why? Guys are fucking gross, dude. Chicks smell nice, and their skin is soft," he adds dreamily.
Paul looks around, "How come you didn't wait for Eddie, man? He's gonna be pissed you didn't tell him too."
Jeff laughs. "I think Eddie guessed a long time ago. I know he'll have my back," Jeff says happily. "And for your information Gareth, guys can smell nice and have soft skin. That's pretty sexist of you, actually," Jeff kindly reprimands him with his hands on his hips.
Gareth looks a little guilty, "Sorry, man. My bad"
"Well, of course, Eddie will, man. He's your brother. Corroded Coffin is for life." Paul says, holding up four fingers and then making an L-shape.
"Ha! I like these guys!" Robin says enthusiastically before letting go of Steve's hand and stepping into the circle. "And I only like girls," she says proudly, high-fiving Jeff.
Steve is entirely at a loss for words with what is happening. Robin didn't have to say anything at all, but she looked so happy having done so. Steve wonders if he has the courage in him somewhere too, but he needs to talk with Eddie first.
"See, the strange fighty lady gets it," Gareth gestures at Robin.
"How did you all get so liberal, huh?" Robin asks, absolutely delighted, coming back to hold Steve's hand.
"It's what Hellfire is built on. Helping people that are different or the ones that are gonna struggle in high school. Eddie can spot them a mile away. Plus, it would be positively hypocritical of us if we were prejudiced against someone for anything they can't do anything about. Unless they are an asshole. Then they can get fucked." Gareth says with pride.
"Have you been reading the dictionary on the shitter again, Gareth?" Jeff asks curiously.
Gareth smiles proudly, "Non-illustrated, too."
Steve cannot believe his eyes or ears right now. These little nerds just had a life-altering conversation, and no one freaked out because it was okay, Bowie had already done it. Their main concern was that one of them was left out of the proceedings.
This kid had stepped up and tested the water for Eddie. He revealed himself first because, that way, if Eddie had to bring it up, the response would be something like, how many people are going to announce this today?
"I can go find Eddie", Steve offers.
Jeff smiles at him, "Yeah, you do that, man. Tread reeeeeeally carefully, though. He's had quite a week." The way Jeff looks at Steve makes him feel like he's connected all the dots, but looking around at the other two, who are deep in conversation with Robin, maybe the others haven't.
"Yeah, some fucking stalker's been harassing him," Gareth snarls.
"A stalker? Wow, they must have been doing some really creepy shit for Eddie to label them a stalker…" Robin says in false surprise, turning slowly to look at Steve, who rolls his eyes in response. "Can you even imagine what they would have had to do to spook Eddie?"
"Well, it was more us that called her a stalker. Eddie mostly felt sorry for her. He said she didn't know how much Eddie liked her, so she couldn't have known how badly she'd hurt him with that guy when he walked in on them," Gareth continues and earns a thump in the arm from Paul.
Oh god, this was real. Gareth had just confirmed it. Eddie liked Steve. A lot. All of Steve's internal control centres go to panic stations. He thought he knew before, but now, his suspicions confirmed, it was almost tangible. The urgency within Steve is rising rapidly.
"Jesus Christ, just spill all Eddie's secrets, why don't you?" Paul says in alarm.
"Hey, man. They're just easy to talk to, alright? Besides, we just played a song with Harrington, with Eddie's blessing, which you know he would never allow normally, and this girl just told us a big secret, and all of us seem to want what's best for Eddie, right?" Gareth reasons, and everyone nods.
Steve frowns at Robin, "I'll go get him, in case his 'Stalker' has turned up and cornered him somewhere."
Steve exits the venue out the back door, leading onto a small parking lot, leaving the excited, talkative group behind. He can just about make out a silhouette near a van, so he heads toward it.
"Eddie?" He calls gently into the darkness.
"Ah, Harrington. Good to see you, man. How ya been?" Eddie gives him a great big Cheshire cat-sized grin, and though this is the Eddie Steve had encountered most constantly over time, it is not the Eddie he expected.
Steve, still feeling a little taken aback by this Eddie when he had literally just seen his shaken expression when he sang to him from the stage, says, "Um, not too great, actually. Can I talk to you?"
Eddie puts his hands on his hips and snorts out a laugh, "Well, that's what you're doing, ain't ya?"
Steve finally realises what this is. Eddie is building his walls back up.
"Um…ok…maybe we could talk somewhere more…um…private?" Steve asks nervously, with a laugh even though he didn't really get what was so funny, but he was laughing anyway to match Eddie's energy. Maybe it would help him calm down a little.
Currently, Eddie looked unmoving, and if you didn't know what to look for, he looked calm and confident, but Steve did know because he used this so often himself to convey a facade of confidence.
A straight posture but a hand near something he can twist around discretely, like his cuff or a belt loop.
The big grin on his face that did nothing to light up his sad eyes.
No pacing, but occasionally foot tapping or inside of cheek chewing to put that nervous energy somewhere that didn't make him look weak.
Eddie wags a finger at Steve, "Oh no, no! There isn't anything you need to say to me that needs to be said in private unless, of course, you wanna be away from prying eyes. Get me all to yourself in the dark, huh?" Eddie raises an eyebrow flirtatiously.
Ah, here it is, now he's trying to fluster Steve into having some kind of malfunction, and honestly, if it wasn't for the fact Steve so desperately wanted, no not wanted, needed to speak to Eddie, it would have worked.
With the fluster attempt failing, Eddie starts pacing towards him, trying to intimidate Steve. "Thought you'd do a little showboating, huh? Thought you'd come to the place I'm at every Tuesday, huh? That, miraculously, suddenly has an open mic night, right? Well, you certainly got my attention, and everyone else's in there, too, right?" Eddie's tone gets increasingly more pointed as he gestures at the back of the venue, "Drew a bigger crowd than me, didn't you? Did that feel good, Harrington? Did it?"
"Eddie, please. Don't do this." Steve pleads quietly, his eyebrows pushed together sadly. Steve knew all of this was just big loud shoves trying to push Steve away, but from what he heard back there, that made no sense.
Steve had absolute confirmation that his feelings were not unrequited. He just wanted to hear it from Eddie too, and Steve was more than willing to confess how he felt about this beautiful, weird dork if Eddie would let him speak, but something more was wrong here, and Steve couldn't work it out.
"Don't do what exactly? Make you feel a tiny bit of what felt, huh? Take you down a peg or two? You've got no idea how I've felt. None. Zip!" Eddie purses his lips and shakes his head.
Eddie splays his arms out and points aggressively at the venue again, his teeth clenched, "In there now, are my chosen family, my brothers, and I have no idea right now if I'm gonna lose them because of what? Because of a night of getting fucked up? No. No way. It's easy for you, Harrington. You mess something up. You just buy a new one, right. You break something, toss it in the trash or leave it for the maid to clean up. I don't have that luxury, Steve. If I mess something up, it's gone. I break something, I have to fix it myself, or that's gone too."
"I know, I know that. But, trust me, you aren't gonna lose them. I'm just asking for you to hear me out." Steve desperately tries to reassure Eddie that everyone is on his side.
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOU!!" Eddie roars at Steve before looking around quickly and dropping to a quieter volume, "And what would you know about my friends? How about this? I want to go back in time to the drive-in, and instead of running, I stayed, took my punishment, took the beating they wanted to dish out, and then got wasted in the van on my own because that is what I deserve."
"No, Eddie, you don't mean that. That's not true", Steve pleads, as he can see Eddie spiralling downwards. He didn't deserve any of the crap this town gave him.
"Oh, it's not, is it? How the fuck would you know? You don't even know what Saturday was. Let me enlighten you, Harrington. So you can see why I deserve everything this town wants to throw at me. They will never hate me as much as I do." Eddie paces like a caged animal in pain, "My Mama had to send me away to some camp, ok, because I'm a freak!" Eddie stalks around in front of his van, pointing at himself.
"I was stupid enough to think my Dad would be there waiting when I came home all fixed, but he wasn't. He never came back because of me!" Eddie thumps on his own chest with such aggression it makes Steve flinch.
"My poor Mama had to do everything herself. Worked to pay the bills, helped my dumb ass with school work, kept a home, protected me, and as you can imagine, I was no walk in the park to take care of. And she did all of that by her damn self, with no help from anybody, until the day she got so sick she couldn't anymore. And we had to sit there whilst some jumped up rich prick sat on the other side of the desk and told us there was nothing we could do about it" Eddie is spitting his words through clenched teeth, and his fists are both adorned with bright white knuckles.
"All of that is on me," he pokes hard at his chest again, "because I couldn't just be normal. She'd still be here, Steve. She'd still be here…." Eddie's words get choked back in his throat as he looks to the sky and grunts in frustration that his tears have cut him off and punches the front of his van.
"Eddie, I had no idea. I'm so sorry. None of that is your fault." Steve steps forward a little. Of course, he had no idea about any of that. It explained so much about why Eddie was so afraid. Being anything but straight might have made society look down on him, but Eddie had never given a shit about that. He could use it to intimidate people or as a joke, but accepting it as part of who he was just brought the past back. He'd played up to those things many times, but this trauma had all bundled it together for Eddie, and he only saw one common denominator, himself.
"Yeah, well, who the fuck cares, right? It's just gonna happen again now." Eddie throws his hands in the air loosely, letting them flop down at his sides, utterly defeated.
Steve moves closer to Eddie. He needs Eddie to really hear him and understand him. "No, that's not true. Your Uncle and the band love you. They aren't going anywhere" he just wants to bundle Eddie up and tell him everything is gonna be ok, but he remembers he's out in the open and can't.
Eddie rounds on Steve so fast that even with his athletic reflexes, he cannot stop him. Eddie grabs him by the shirt, picks him off the floor, and slams him against the van. Steve cannot even fathom where Eddie's strength is coming from. He must be absolutely livid.
Steve tries to squirm away, but with the force at which Eddie has him pinned, he can't escape, especially as he can't find purchase on the ground.
Eddie gets an inch from Steve. His face is all screwed up in a fury, his teeth still clenched, and his eyes are boring into Steve's like a man possessed.
"And then there's you. Nothing, absolutely nothing, for years. Then you ruined me!! All that I built around me. All that I had" he lifts up Steve and hits him against the van again.
This time Steve just looks at Eddie and puts up no fight because the rivulets of tears are streaming down Eddie's face. "And you chipped away at it, in hours, with your smile, and your laugh, and your fucking stupid arms, and the way you let me take care of you, and those looks you gave me. You destroyed me, Steve. Why? You have everything. I had so little. Why would you do that to me? Why?!"
Steve thinks for a second as he looks into Eddie's tear-filled eyes. He hadn't meant to do anything. He hadn't meant to fall for Eddie either.
"Why did you?" Steve says softly.
"What?" Eddie's frown changes from pure rage to confusion, like Steve had spoken to him in another language.
"Why did you do the same to me?" Steve asks calmly, searching Eddie's eyes to see if he can really hear him.
"I…I didn't…" Eddie's face relaxes a little, but his grip on Steve does not. His eyes are scanning over Steve's face, and Eddie swallows hard. Steve could see Eddie was coming back down to earth.
"Eddie, You aren't the only one that's scared or could lose things. The only difference between us is, I'm sure. I know what I felt, and I know what I saw. I've only once felt like this before, and I'll be damned if I don't give it everything I've got." Steve takes his chance to pull off the band-aid and confess fully.
Steve continues looking at Eddie with absolute earnestness, "Yeah, I get it. I'm dumb and not very subtle, ok. I don't have time to be subtle. No one does, not anymore. I just wanted to let you know I'm in. My arms are open wide, Eddie. I'll catch you. I swear."
Steve raises his hand slowly, and Eddie flinches away, which almost breaks Steve's heart. Eddie still expects the worst, even after Steve has spilt his guts to him. He expects Steve is going to hurt him.
Steve persists and cups the side of Eddie's face gently, and wipes away the tears from under his eye, making Eddie's big brown eyes ping back open in disbelief.
Then Steve manages to wiggle his other hand to push some of the fabric out of Eddie's tight grip and replace it with some of his fingers, so he can discreetly hold Eddie's hand. A clumsy version of what he'd done for Steve on the edge of the guest room bed.
Steve intertwines their fingers and says softly, looking into Eddie's fearful eyes, "Hey. Look at me. It's ok. You're safe. Nothings gonna hurt you. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
