Surprise, not dead yet. But I do come with a new plot thot idea for a modern online influencer au Steddie…
Picture it.
Steve is one those super cringe and annoying influencers who do stupid stuff, like the Stay Wild guys. (Apologies to anyone who likes that stuff, but my godson is obsessed with those videos and I’m ready to gouge my eyes out after having them play on repeat all day.) His brand is called like KingSteve or something and he’s basically how season 1 Steve was in the first episodes but cranked up to 11 (pun not intended).
He gives off the whole jock thing to perfection.
Eddie is frontman of a metal band that boasts of a pretty decent online following but it’s nothing special. Certainly not the type of views that KingSteve gets, who is a household name for people in the online influencer world. He gets invited to red carpets events and everything. Eddie and the Corroded Coffin boys have done some shows, but always more of the indie type and nothing mainstream.
Eddie viscerally hates KingSteve.
He’s just like the kind of guys who would bully Eddie in high school, who used to “gay” to mean bad and gross, who had a silver spoon all their life and took every privilege for granted. (Even if he did pick up on some weird homoerotic subtext with one of KingSteve’s fellow influencers and friends, TomTomTiger, who made up the second person in the super popular trio, Stomrol, the “last being PerkyCarol.)
Eddie hates KingSteve, hates how he knows KingSteve is the same off camera and on, because that’s just how those sorts of influencers are—the ones who care about popularity.
And then Stomrol stops producing videos together. KingSteve still thrives, KingSteve is still the same as always, but suddenly he’s unfollowed both TomTomTiger and PerkyCarol, suddenly it’s just him. At least for a while.
Then RockinRobin makes an appearance. RockinRobin with her little violet flower pin on her lapel, with her entire aesthetic that looks so different from KingSteve, RockinRobin who throws herself over KingSteve all the time and yet there’s none of the tension between them that Eddie swears existed between KingSteve and TomTomTiger, at least on TomTomTiger’s part.
Also, Eddie is pretty sure he saw a pair of tits drawn on her shows when they were briefly seen on camera.
KingSteve is still the same tho. He still acts like a jock, still acts stupid and annoying and everything Eddie dislikes. Still makes those dumb fucking videos.
And then, during a live stream, some kids busts in demanding KingSteve hurry up so they can watch the new Corroded Coffin music video together.
Corroded Coffin’s views explode.
Corroded Coffin doesn’t know why at first, but eventually they read the comments and see the link to the now posted KingSteve stream. They don’t know what to think about it, but soon they’re too busy to think about anything because suddenly they have requests for shows, are invited to events, and eventually they’re even invited to those sorts of prestigious influencer parties they’ve always mocked—partly, admittedly, because they’d never been invited.
Eddie is off having a drink, feeling super out of place but refusing to show it, when the most attractive guy he’s ever seen walks up to introduce himself. This guy with the sweetest smile on his face and the softest expression and such a gentle way of speaking and who is, undoubtedly, KingSteve.
Except he’s nothing like the KingSteve he is on camera. He’s sweet and funny and kind of a dork, actually, and he’s jocky, sure, but he’s also so much more. And when Eddie mentions the kids who name dropped his band on KingSteve’s live stream, KingSteve gets such an affectionate and indulgent look on his face that can’t be an act.
And Eddie realizes with growing horror, worsened when RockinRobin glomps on to Steve squealing that she got the ChrissyCuntingham’s number (a former golden child influencer who now speaks out against eating disorders and the pressure put on the youth and toxic purity culture) and his affectionate expression only grew as he enthusiastically congratulated and supported her, that Eddie was very much already halfway in love with this contradictory man who was absolutely nothing like his online public persona but everything like the man of Eddie’s dreams.
Later, though not too much later, after Eddie and Steve become friends and grow closer, Eddie will finally meet these strange children in Steve’s life and become instantly fond of all of them and even more deeply enamored with Steve’s mother hen tendencies towards them and takes to the kids as if they were his own…that Steve will decide that Eddie is everything like the man of his dreams too.
Of course they collab and first star on each other’s channels, and though Steve keeps up his online persona, he softens too, especially when Eddie guest stars on his channel, or he guest stars on Corroded Coffin’s (or their connected DnD account, Hellfire Club, sometimes with the kids and sometimes not). And really, it’s inevitable that the internet starts shipping them.
Maybe it takes years for them to confirm anything, because of course they start dating not long after meeting each other that very first night. Or maybe Steve is done playing it safe, and maybe he wears a “Steddie” shirt with a picture of him and Eddie on it and the words “my ship is real” during one of his videos, and maybe Eddie writes a love song about brown eyes and some certain famous moles.
Idk. Idk how any of it goes. All I know is that I started wondering how those annoying influencers act in real life off camera, which ones are their public personas and which ones are completely different, and couldn’t help but drunkenly Steddiefy that thought.
And now I shall disappear into the ethers again for the foreseeable future while the ao3 curse continues to wreak havoc in my life.
wc: ~2.1k || rating: teen || relationships: stobin, pre-steddie, robeddie || trope: fake dating
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“I have a boyfriend.”
The sound of several plastic cases clattering to the ground came from the—aptly named if anyone could see his expression right now—horror section. There was a moment’s quiet, Robin nonchalantly picking at the cuticle on her thumb, before Steve’s voice rang out in a scandalized, betrayed tone:
“WHAT?!”
Robin rolled her eyes from where she was leaning on the counter as Steve stumbled into view of her, and though she didn’t say it, Steve could hear the ‘dingus’ loud and clear. “How do you think I got here so quickly?”
Which…yeah, Steve glanced down at his watch which showed that Robin was early for her shift instead of the borderline late she always was when Steve’s own shift prevented him from picking her up from school and she had to bike. He’d occasionally be able to use his lunch break to get her, but not often. He looked back up at her, his brows puckered and mouth slightly open in his confusion.
“Rob…you’re…” he trailed off, despite the store being empty, tilting his head forward with raised brows and wide eyes to finish what he couldn’t say.
“I know that, dingus,” she scoffed, pushing against the counter’s edge with both palms as she leaned away slightly. “But…I have one anyways.”
Steve was speechless, his face screwing up as he tried to rationalize that with everything he knew. Or thought he knew. He recalled Robin pointedly telling him about bisexuality (which, he enjoyed the occasional Bowie and Elton John song, so he was well aware what it was, thank you very much, Robin) which he didn’t get at the time, but maybe she wasn’t as much of a lesbian as she had thought she was?
Steve’s eyes flickered over her, taking her in from her makeup and jewelry choices to the non-Family Video vest she wore over something he was pretty sure she thrifted from her mother, the bracelets clacking at her wrist and peeling pain job on her fingers, and down to the cuff of her jeans exposing her converse. With the boobies drawn on them.
No, that was definitely a lesbian.
He threw his hands up. “Why the hell do you have a boyfriend?”
Robin just scoffed and rolled her eyes, but there was something shifty in her look after, something in the way she glanced down at where her thumb continued to pick at her cuticle. She shrugged one shoulder. “Thought I’d give it a whirl? Make certain, ya know?”
Steve’s brows lowered, his hands to his hips. “Robin,” was all he needed to say, his tone firm but concerned, for her to break.
“Okay, all right!” she huffed, all but throwing herself across the counter too as she collapsed against it. She grumbled where she pressed her cheek against the counter, before jerking up with a wrinkle of her nose and an “Ew” at the sticky surface. She glanced up at Steve again, who just tilted his head forward with raised brows this time, before sighing.
Robin crossed her arms across her chest that to anyone might read as annoyed, but Steve knew her better than anyone else. She was comfort seeking. (Another term Robin told him, which okay, he hadn’t known that one.)
“So…there’s been a couple boys at school who have bee—WHOA Steve, wait!” Robin exclaimed, diving forward to grab Steve by the arm where he was in the process of tearing his green vest off and striding towards the door with a determined glint in his eyes and a fierce stone-like quality to his expression. “It’s okay, really! Plus school is over. It’s fine!”
Steve didn’t think it was fine. He was well versed in saying something was fine when it was anything but.
“Is one of them forcing you to date them? Have they—” If one of them touched her he was going to fucking kill them.
“No!” Robin exclaimed, before softening her tone, her expression also softening as she gently squeezed his arm. “No, they didn’t, Steve. It’s not one of them. It’s…Eddie Munson.”
Steve reared his head back, face once more twisting in confusion. “The Freak?”
Robin rolled her eyes again, this time moving her fingers to pinch Steve where she held him, resulting in a scandalized yelp from him. “Be nice to my boyfriend,” she said, obviously trying to sound serious, but there was mirth in her eyes and dancing along her lips. “But yes, him.”
Steve batted Robin’s surprisingly strong fingers (he kept the dirty thoughts about that to himself) away and took a step back for his own safety, righting his vest with an annoyed huff. He then took a moment to process what Robin at said.
Eddie “The Freak” Munson was her boyfriend? Sure, he supposed they had some similarities from what little he knew of the guy, but wasn’t he some Super-Super Senior or shit? What was he doing sniffing around Robin of all people?
“And he’s not—”
“No, dingus,” Robin said with yet another roll of her eyes. Why was he cursed to be around people who kept rolling their eyes at him? “Eddie was really sweet actually—”
“The Freak? Sweet?”
“Shut up, dingus. And he saw those Neanderthals harassing me—Steve, get back here!” She waited until Steve huffed and put his vest back on from where he was striding once more towards the door before continuing. “And he asked me if I was all right, if I needed a safe place for a moment, and we got to talking. He asked if that had been going on for a whi—don’t even think about it, Steven!—a while, and then he offered to help keep them off my back—that was figurative language!”
Steve crossed his arms with a grumble. He was thankful though, even if he wouldn’t admit it, that someone had been there for Robin when he couldn’t. But he still had no idea what to do with this information.
“So…what? You decide to pity date him or something? Robin, you know what boys want from their girlfriends,” he pointed out, maybe letting his unease turn his tone a little bitchy.
“I know, dingus, but Eddie’s not like that. Promise. It wasn’t a pity date or anything. He offered to fake date me.”
Steve was once more confused. “He what? Fake date? What the hell is that?”
“Christ, Steve. He’s going to pretend to be my boyfriend so that idiot boys who only view a woman as off-limits when she supposedly belongs to another man will finally take ‘no’ for an answer when I tell them I’m not interested.” She shrugged again, like it was no big deal.
It was a very big deal.
“And how do you know this isn’t just some ploy to get into your pants?” he huffed, though…he could admit that the dude had never given him predatory vibes before.
Sure, he was a freak and loud and dressed in a way that scandalized little old women, but Steve could appreciate that the man looked out for others. He’d seen the guy take attention off of other freaks by making them target him instead, despite how much Steve had tried to get Tommy to cool his jets on that whenever he saw it happening.
He probably could have tried harder. Looking at Robin now, he knew that he should have tried harder. Christ, and what about the kids when they started high school? Middle school was bad enough, but throw in everything those kids were? Everything they’d gone through? He still heard whispers of Zombie Boy sometimes, making Steve thankful Will didn’t have to deal with that anymore, but he hoped California treated him and El better.
And Max…
Steve drew a hand down his face, even as Robin gave a small, amused snort.
“Trust me, Stevie, you don’t have to worry about Eddie,” she said, her tone and expression indicating something she wasn’t saying. She flapped a hand to brush past that. “I mean it, Steve. Eddie’s the good sort. He won’t hurt me like that. He’s definitely not interested in me romantically or sexually.” She grinned. “Plus, I get to have a beard now!”
Steve’s eyes dropped to Robin’s jaw before he remembered the meaning of that term. He glanced back up at her eyes scandalized. “Hey, wait a minute! Why didn’t you ask me to be your beard? I could have been your fake boyfriend!”
Robin reached over and patted Steve gently on the arm. “I know, Stevie. But I hadn’t even thought about it until Eddie offered to help out. Plus, it’s more helpful to have a boyfriend who’s there during school hours, isn’t it?”
Stev grumbled still offended, perhaps even more offended than he’d felt when he thought Robin was experimenting and hadn’t asked him for help. At least he knew the truth about Robin. Though, as much as he’d once had a crush on her before—and still could have had one had things been different—he could acknowledge about how weird the thought made him now. Kissing Robin would be weeeiiirrrd.
“And he’s, what, doing this out of the kindness of his heart? What does he want in return?”
Robin pulled away with a sigh to finally go drop off her school stuff in the back office. “Actually, yeah, he is.” She paused. “But I did offer to help tutor him a bit so that he can actually pass senior year this year. It’s obvious he’s smart, he just doesn’t do well in school. Reminds me of someone else I know,” she teased, giving him a pointed look.
Steve wanted to be offended again, but he felt a rush of warm pleasure at the thought of someone, especially someone whose opinion he cared so much about, thought him smart. Despite her favorite nickname for him. He was so used to the kids and everyone else treating him like he was stupid that it was nice to be reminded that he wasn’t.
“Okay, well…I wanna meet him!” Steve called out after her, causing her to pop her head out of the office with a roll of her eyes again.
“You know who Eddie is.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know that,” he chided, pointing a stern finger at her. “I want to make certain he knows boundaries and that if anything happens to you, I have a nail-bat in my closet.”
“Oh my god, do not give Eddie Munson the shovel talk!” Robin screeched, finally coming out of the office properly with her green vest in hand. She was still early for her shift, however, so she just tossed it on the counter to cross her arms and glare at him. “Do not embarrass me, Harrington.”
Steve just raised a single unimpressed eyebrow. “I need to make certain what his intentions are. That he knows this only pretend and he doesn’t get any ideas.”
“Like I said, trust me, Stevie. He knows,” she drawled. She waggled her fingers towards the horror section. “Now go pick up those movies you dropped,” she grinned, obviously pleased she’d gotten the desired reaction from her initial announcement.
Now it was Steve’s turn to roll his eyes as he turned to leave and pick up his mess, but not before throwing the bird to his favorite bird. “Don’t think you’re cute, Buckley,” he warned.
“Oh I don’t think it, I know it,” she grinned unrepentant.
Christ. She was spending too much time around Steve, her ego was starting to grow. Still, he couldn’t help the small smile at the knowledge that Robin was finally starting to feel more comfortable in her own skin. Though this was going to make things much harder for her to get a girlfriend.
“Oh, by the way, I don’t need a ride home tonight. Eddie’s getting me so we can discuss the plan for tomorrow.”
Steve stilled, his fingers tightening on the plastic case of one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, before a tight smile slowly curled his lips. Eddie was getting her? Good.
Steve would be able to have his talk with him after all. And soon. And maybe he’d also get the names of the ones harassing Robin too.
Maybe, he considered after a moment, he should revive his nail bat after all.
In any case, Steve was going to have an intensive conversation with Eddie “The Freak” Munson. That much was certain.
No one hurt one of his and got away with it. And he was going to make damn certain that the Freak understood that very well. Just in case.
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Hello my sweets! So….i know I’ve been a bit distant lately. Life is rough fr. Don’t worry, once I update one of my WIP on ao3 I’ll trauma dump in the author’s notes like god intended to explain how the Curse has been affecting me lately, but yeah. I’m trying to get back into things and thought I’d write this little thing whose idea wouldn’t leave me alone to hopefully get back into the swing of things.
I’m not supposed to be continuing it at all, though it’s me so I probably will, but if anyone else would like to write their version of how this continues, please do so and tag me!
Anyways, here’s hoping things settle soon. I probably still won’t be around much until after the holidays but hey. Here’s hoping.
Random story idea. A bit of a reversal of the constant flirting Eddie does in fics. Non-S4 compliant.
Steve, a confident though not really out bisexual, is finally forced to hang out with Eddie “The Freak” Munson when he’s picking up The Party up from school. He sees Eddie, in all his nerd glory with his big hair and bigger eyes and thinks, yup. That’s the one.
Steve, who always falls so fast and so hard. Steve, who knows Eddie doesn’t like him and only tolerates his presence for the kids. Steve, who might not ever make Eddie like him how he wants too but maybe make him like him as a friend. After all, he’s still friends with Nancy and Robin.
Steve, who never once hesitates to use the Harrington CharmTM on Eddie, flirting for all he’s worth. (He would, of course, stop if Eddie seemed to genuinely hate it, but Eddie always grits his teeth and seems to flirt back.)
Because Eddie…Eddie, the guy who has had more gay rumors about him than anyone, just assumes Steve is straight and making fun of him. Eddie, who doesn’t understand how the kids can be friends with that jerk. Eddie, who decides to try to beat Steve at his own game by flirting back and hoping to call Steve’s bluff.
Steve, who falls harder every day and is just happy Eddie will let him flirt without getting mad at him.
Eddie, mad as hell but like hell is he, an actual gay man, going to lose to Harrington’s Gay Chicken game.
Eddie, who sometimes slips and forgets that it isn’t real.
Steve, telling himself that of course Eddie could never like someone like him, even as his heart flutters every time Eddie sends him that dimpled grin.
Robin, who knows exactly what’s going on but thinks this is far too funny to stop.
Robin, who shares some popcorn with Erica as they watch the two idiots fight-flirt and placing bets with Nancy and Max on who is going to break first.
Eleven, who wins the bet when Eddie accidentally falls into the pool and Steve immediately dives in after him and inadvertently confesses while worriedly checking Eddie for injuries leading to a kiss probably best left in private.
Eleven, who wipes her bleeding nose with a smirk because sometimes you have to make your own accidents when enough money to buy an entire row of waffles is on the line.
Steve stared at the pamphlet in his hand, handed to him by one of those zealots that have been posting up on street corners and in parking lots ever since the “earthquakes” totaled Hawkins. He rolled his eyes and was just starting to crumple it up in his hand as he walked to his car before something stopped him.
He paused, brow furrowing slightly as he frowned down at the paper.
1. Is too "nice" to be true.
Steve was so used to being called an idiot by everyone, to being condescended to, that he had started taking it as just a simple matter of course. At least, until Eddie entered their little friend group.
Now, Eddie seemed to make it his life life’s mission to compliment Steve at least once a day, always with a smile to let Steve know it was meant genuinely, and even stood up to their friends’ playful bullying when it went to far.
He never made Steve feel stupid. Never made Steve feel like he was alone. He was just…really, really nice. More than Steve had ever thought was possible, at least when directed at someone like him.
It had taken a couple months of it for Steve to realize that Eddie meant it too, that Eddie wasn’t making fun of him in a way that Steve didn’t understand. Not only that, he went out of his way to do things for Steve, like offering to be the ones to drive the kids around when Steve had had a long day, or when his migraines were acting up.
He was just…really really nice. It was one of the things Steve noticed first about him. Huh.
2. Wants to spend time with you alone.
Eddie was always down for a big group hang with the kids, seeming to like keeping them under eye as much as Steve did. He also always enjoyed the nights that it was just the older kids, or even just Steve and Robin, but…
Those days, those nights, when it was just Steve and him…Eddie’s smiles always seemed so much bigger, so much more open. There were times when he specifically requested just Steve to hang out, always asking when he knew the others were busy, or simply asking Steve to keep hanging out after the others left.
His smile always shone brighter when Steve said yes.
3. Proposes that you be roommates and sleep in the same bed.
Steve hated his house. Hated how empty it was. Hated when it wasn’t. Hated how it was full of memories he didn’t want to think about anymore.
His parents were in discussion to sell it off, wanting to escape the curse that was Hawkins. They hadn’t included Steve in the talks of moving elsewhere. Which was fine. He was a grown man now. Had been responsible for himself long before he was an adult, even if he messed up sometimes.
And the thing was, him and Eddie had already talked about leaving town too. Now that the Upside Down was sealed away forever, and Vecna dead, there really wasn’t anything tying them down to Hawkins anymore either.
Sure, there were the kids, but they were growing up too, moving on, starting their own second chance at life too.
Eddie had offered Steve to crash at his and Wayne’s new trailer, saying that if they moved out of Hawkins, they could be roommates, so they might as well start now. Said that they might have to start somewhere cheap too, somewhere with only one room if any room at all, so it wouldn’t be strange to share a bed now.
It just made sense, Eddie said. It would save them money, and there would be someone nearby in case the nightmares became too much.
It made sense to Steve too, he had to admit.
4. Writes you love notes as to a sweetheart.
Sometimes, Eddie left little notes behind when they hung out. Jotted down thoughts sometimes, but most often than not it seemed to be song lyrics. Steve assumed he just left them by accident, had tried to return them to Eddie next time he saw them, but Eddie always smiled and said that he already had them memorized.
It was strange though. They weren’t the typical sort of fantastical nonsense or rebellion that was usually in Corroded Coffin songs. If Steve didn’t know any better, he’d almost say they were…love songs.
Steve really wished Eddie would play them for him whenever he finished writing them. They made his chest ache in a way that almost felt good.
5. Directs the conversation to intimate matters.
Eddie wasn’t a prude, that was for sure. He’d talked about his own limited experiences, mentioned how the first two girls he’d slept with he’d only done it first to lose his virginity, and second because why not. The third one he’d thought he’d loved, but later confessed that he thought he was more in love with the idea of being loved than actually loving her as a person.
He then poked and prodded about Steve’s history, wanting to know the juicy details, though he always seemed off afterwards. Not annoyed, necessarily, but…almost like he regretted knowing despite being the one asking in the first place.
He joked around a lot too, making sexual innuendos about a lot of things. Strangely, he only ever seemed to do this with Steve, however. He seemed strangely fascinated watching Steve eat bananas too.
Steve never really knew why he always felt like eating bananas around Eddie. Maybe it was because Eddie always seemed to shut up whatever he was ranting about when he did.
Maybe Steve sometimes wondered what other fruits might have the same effect on Eddie.
6. Wants to touch the private parts of your body.
Eddie never touched Steve in a way that made him uncomfortable. He never touched Steve in a way that raised alarm bells. Never touched anywhere private.
Though, sure, his touch lingered elsewhere sometimes.
Once, Steve recalled the heat of Eddie’s hand on his hip, the pinky of his fingertip just barely brushing at the edge of Steve’s swim trunks, when he’d passed by him at the public pool.
It wasn’t anything unusual. Steve, having history as a lifeguard as well as having been co-captain on the swim team, had aided Eddie a lot during his physical therapy days when it was his aquatic therapy days. They had to learn to be comfortable with their bare skin touching sometimes.
Granted, they could have worn swim shirts, but they both agreed that it was best that Eddie had as much freedom to move as possible, and Steve wanted the same to be as helpful as possible. He was used to Eddie’s hands on his chest, his hips, his back, his arms, even his thighs occasionally. Just as his were on Eddie’s.
Sure, there had been the one time that Eddie had accidentally groped him at the start, back when they’d first started out and Eddie had been flailing as his regrowing muscles spasmed, but Eddie had looked so mortified that Steve knew it wasn’t on purpose.
(He also remembered how terrified Eddie had looked, how he’d cringed away like he expected Steve to hit him, and still to this day thinking about it made bile rise up in his throat.
(He sometimes wished Eddie would do it again so that Steve could prove he was fine with it.
(Eddie sometimes looked like he wanted to too.)
Eddie…oh. Huh.
Steve blinked down at the crinkled paper in his hand. The points slowly slotted together in his mind.
Eddie, always so considerate of him.
Eddie, always so happy to see him.
Eddie, always willing to open up his space to him.
Eddie, writing love songs when with him.
Eddie, wanting to know everything about him.
Eddie, wanting to touch him.
Oh.
Oh.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE TRADEMARKS OF HOMOSEXUALITY.
The last eight words on the pamphlet glared up at him. Eddie was…
He should have seen it earlier. Should have recognized things for what they were, especially after knowing Robin for as long as he did. Should have realized sooner.
But…it wasn’t just that. Wasn’t just Eddie and…this.
It was Steve.
Steve, always so happy when Eddie did things for him, always so eager to return the gesture.
Steve, who loved those quiet nights when it was just the two of them perhaps more than when they hung out as a group.
Steve, who thought it would be fun to be Eddie’s roommate, not having considered they would need two bedrooms until Eddie mentioned it was cost effective to only have one.
Steve, who wasn’t good with words but cherished all the scraps of paper that Eddie left behind with his, feeling the urge to write something back as if the words had been meant for him and him alone.
Steve, who hated the thought of Eddie being with someone who didn’t truly love him, but wanting to know everything, who laughed at Eddie’s jokes and ate bananas around him for a reason he wouldn’t admit to himself before.
Steve, whose skin burned at Eddie’s touch in a way that only made him crave more, made him want to return the gesture, made him want to be the only one who touched Eddie like that again.
Oh.
Right.
Okay.
Steve thickly swallowed, staring at those last words again, and though he thought a part of him should have felt unease, all he felt was…relief.
Steve looked up, finally crumpling the paper and tossing it over his shoulder as he finally moved to put the groceries he was holding in the back of his car. They were for the dinner he was preparing to make for Eddie tonight. It wasn’t for a special occasion or anything, just something he offered because he wanted to, because it felt right.
Now he knew why.
Grinning, Steve slid into the driver seat and made his way towards the refurbished Forest Hills, figuring that he might not be the best with words, but he thought he could tell Eddie through his actions what he’d just learned. What he’d just realized.
And who knows, maybe he could even add his own trademark at the end of the night.
Lucky number 7.
And then maybe lucky number 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…
The possibilities, and their future, were endless.
Just reblogged this post about platonic fake dating and it reminded me that I HAD had a platonic fake dating idea I’ll probably never write with Stobin told entirely from Eddie’s pov as a sort of high school years au. Maybe post s2.
I was playing with the idea of some meathead jock or Billy or someone being pushy, or maybe Robin was just being made fun of and harassed for being weird, and Steve steps in and gets them to back off by saying she’s with him. Granted, they’ve never spoken before, Steve is just tired of his former friends being pieces of shit.
Robin is nervous obviously but too shocked to say anything and when they leave Steve immediately turns around and is a girl’s girl and reassures her that he was just trying to help out and idk they keep up the charade and become pretty close friends and she ends up telling Steve her truth of her own volition and they’re the same platonic soulmates as ever and now Steve is super protective and her proud beard and he takes that shit seriously.
Except Eddie doesn’t know this. And it’s told entirely from his pov right? So he just sees The Hair, known playboy, all over a younger girl he clocked as queer immediately. He starts worrying for the obvious lesbian, worried Harrington might be pressuring her into things, especially when Harrington would give Buckley eyes and then they’d disappear to someplace private and return some time later red in the face, maybe even a little sweaty and disheveled, though sometimes Buckley returns looking a little haunted in the eyes and disgusted.
And Eddie is protective of kids othered by society, right? The freaks and the geeks and all the rest. So he starts getting in the way. He starts circling around Stobin, starts trying to chat to Buckley when Harrington is elsewhere, sometimes even when Harrington is there and is leaning in close to murmur in Buckley’s ear and she gives such a fake laugh he doesn’t know how Harrington doesn’t clock it. Or if he doesn’t care.
Except Harrington starts noticing Eddie is circling Buckley more and so Harrington starts being more present by her side, starts throwing his arm around her, making her wear his letterman all the time, and starts sneaking off with her more and more. And Buckley looks more and more disgusted each time they stumble out, red faced, from whatever empty classroom or room at a party Harrington has all but pulled her into.
I then picture like, maybe one such time Eddie overhears Buckley yelling at Harrington to stop, begging him to stop, and Eddie bursts through the door with fire in his eyes and ready to throw himself between them to save her, except…
Buckley is on one side of the room miming throwing up while Harrington is pouting where he lounged on the other, and Eddie realizes that the noises he’d heard wasn’t Robin crying but her laughing. Stobin startles at Eddie’s entrance, freeze, and then Harrington is going red in the face while Buckley just starts cackling and pointing at Eddie.
“That one? Seriously, dingus, that one!?” Buckley gasps around braying laughter, causing Harrington to pout further.
“At least he doesn’t sound like a muppet when he sings,” he grumbles under his breath.
Which…Harrington has heard him sing? And what the hell is going on?
Buckley wipes at her eyes, heaving for gasping breaths. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t listen to you pining for one for more second, oh my god.” She turns to Eddie then, holding out her hand with a massive grin. “Hi, I’m Robin Buckley, a flaming homosexual, and this is my best friend, platonic soulmate, and ridiculous beard Steve Harrington. Please put me out of my misery.”
Eddie, befuddled, takes her hand, shakes it, and then she’s leaving the room with a shouted “Get your shit together, Harrington!” in parting. Then it’s just Eddie and Harrington.
Who looks extremely embarrassed but he’s also looking at Eddie with a nervous coyness for a moment before he blinks, smirks, and suddenly has that patented ladies killer The Hair look on his face except he’s staring straight at Eddie and not a single lady is present.
Oh.
Anyways, further hijinks ensue as the three of them have to keep their secrets from the kids, not because they think the kids would be bigoted, but because they’re little assholes and Steve has no desire to deal with them.
But yeah. I think Stobin would be messy gossip queens who chat about crushes and after Steve comes out as bi to her she makes it her life’s mission to harass him for liking the Freak just as much as he did her for liking Tammy. However, Eddie knows none of this and it’s just him trying to increasingly protect a fellow queer while Steve just becomes more and more enamored with him.
Which results in Steve pulling Robin away for more gossip sessions where she has to deal with Steve talking about big brown eyes the entire time, much to her disgust.
It’s even worse after they get together and she’s real tempted to out herself just so that she doesn’t have to put up with it anymore.
Thank god Steve graduates and she doesn’t have to listen to him pining about his boyfriend anymore. Except then Eddie is dragging Robin away to pine about Steve and suddenly there’s a rumor going around that she’s dating both former King of the Jocks and King of the Freaks and getting a girlfriend has never been harder.
But hey. At least everyone’s too scared to fuck with her anymore.
~
Not actually a fic but tagging my Hotties anyways 😜
He’d known his parents didn’t love him since he was a young child. He’d known that the girls he casually took on dates and occasionally fucked didn’t love him. He’d known Tommy and Carol didn’t love him like friends were supposed to. They all loved his reputation, sure, but not him. It was easy though because he didn’t love them either.
He’d loved his parents once, a long time ago. Back before they were practically strangers, but that love had been the obligation of biology. He’d thought he loved Tommy and Carol, but it had all been too surface level and focused on popularity.
He had loved Nancy though. He finally found someone he could start to be his true self with and he loved her and he thought she loved him, only…only she didn’t.
He couldn’t blame her. After a while, when the same thing keeps happening, you kind of have to look for the common factor in all those loveless relationships and see what the real issue was. Simply put…
Steve was just unloveable.
Maybe it was his past. Not that he’d actually been a bully or anything, he’d actually shut down a lot of bullying even among his then-friends and teammates, but he had been kind of self-absorbed. Or maybe it was just the fact that he wasn’t as smart as the people he found himself surrounded by. Maybe it was just the fact that he wasn’t anything special, not at the end of the day.
Except he could take a punch.
And slowly, he found people that did love him. The other kids might tolerate him, might like him, but Dustin genuinely loved him, he knew that. Dustin was his original ride-or-die. Dustin might be a little shithead that constantly treated Steve like he was stupid, but he was like his brother. And Dustin also make him feel amazing and wanted and loved.
And then there was Robin. Most amazing of all really was that Robin loved him. His Platonic soulmate. His other ride-or-die. She saw him at his lowest and saw him at his highest, was there for him when he had stuff he didn’t want to drop on a teen boy who should be worrying about pimples and bad hair days, not interdimensional monsters and evil wizards. Robin made him feel loved too, even if she also sometimes teased him a little too sharply.
There was also Max of course. He’d been surprised at receiving a letter from her too, back when Vecna had been after her. He’d read it, back when she’d been in her coma. She hadn’t said she loved him, but it was there in other ways. The big brother she should have had all along.
So yeah, okay, Steve was loved. But it was platonic. It was friends, his new kind of family even, but it wasn’t the love he’d always wanted and never had. He just accepted the fact that people didn’t love him that way.
Which was why, when he realized he was in love with Eddie, he just sighed and accepted it and never changed anything in the way he interacted with the other man. He didn’t bother telling Eddie because he knew there was no point. Besides, Robin called him out on it, said he was being so obvious about his feelings, but Eddie never said anything too.
So okay. Steve was in love with Eddie, but Eddie wasn’t in love with Steve. Eddie also didn’t treat Steve any differently despite knowing that Steve loved him. After all, if Steve was so obvious about it, then Eddie had to know too already, right?
So Steve watched Eddie come out to them, had nodded along when Eddie nervously explained what bisexuality was, having already had his own crisis before though he realized he’d never officially come out either. But then if his feelings for Eddie were so obvious, he figured he didn’t have to, so he didn’t say anything and let Eddie have his moment.
And it didn’t matter that Eddie liked guys. He still couldn’t love Steve, so Steve just accepted it and let it be. He didn’t flinch when Eddie mentioned meeting a guy in the city, was even downright friendly when Eddie eventually brought the guy around to meet everyone.
It hurt, of course, but Steve’s feelings were his own problem; he wasn’t going to let the fact that he was in love with one of his best friends make things awkward. Eddie was nice enough that he never told Steve to knock it off when Steve got a little too touchy with him, though Steve backed off in his own when Eddie seemed a little panicked about it sometimes.
Steve was even there for Eddie when Eddie came over crying because he and guy broke up. He wouldn’t tell Steve why they broke up, not entirely, but eventually Steve learned it was because Eddie had feelings for someone else this entire time.
Steve wondered who it was, but in any case he just hoped Eddie got to be happy with them eventually. He later told Eddie one day when Eddie was over that he was a great guy, obviously, and anyone Eddie liked would be a lucky person. He hoped he didn’t sound judgmental about it, didn’t want Eddie to think he was being petty or whatever, but Eddie just looked sad again and left soon after.
Steve knew he had a problem about being too much sometimes. It had pushed Nancy away, and every girl he’d tried to date afterwards never really liked him enough either. It was still just his reputation and his hair that got him dates, not who he was himself. That was fine. Temporary companionship was better than nothing he supposed.
And life continued, and Steve kept loving Eddie, and he was content that Eddie let him love him, even if there was no hope of it being reciprocated.
And then Steve went on a date with a guy.
It was…okay. The guy was a lot handsier than Steve would like, and kind of boring when compared to Eddie, but Steve just shrugged and figured that at least it’s be someone else’s hand this time. And it was okay. No great spark or anything. More of a glorified one night stand than anything, but it was fine.
He knew he needed to get out dating again. Girls and guys. His love for Eddie wasn’t abating at all, so he couldn’t bring himself to actually date anyone, but he could do hookups.
Which was how Eddie found him one day, mouth around some guy at a bar in Indy because they had forgotten to lock the bathroom door. Oops. It was a little annoying though that Eddie looked as upset as he did. He appreciated the fact that Eddie didn’t call him out for his unwanted feelings, but it wasn’t fair that he thought Steve shouldn’t be able to move on.
They got into a fight.
They never exactly said what they were fighting about with words, but Eddie yelled at him for having unsafe sex, while Steve yelled at him for being a hypocrite, and then Eddie yelled at him for leading the guy on, and Steve said that that was a bit rich coming from him.
And Eddie was yelling and yelling and yelling about who knows what, telling Steve he shouldn’t be having random hookups in bathrooms when he wasn’t even gay, and Steve yelled that bisexual men can have bathroom hookups too, and that seemed to surprise Eddie for some reason.
In any case, it caused him to shut up for long enough for Steve to angrily tell him that just because Steve loved him, it didn’t give him the right to tell Steve what he could or could not do, especially when he knew Eddie didn’t love him back.
And then…
“You…you love me?” Eddie choked out, his eyes wide as he stared across the dark alley outside the bar, where he’d dragged Steve after catching him on his knees.
Steve rolled his eyes, jutting out one hip to place a hand on while the other hand ran aggressively through his hair. It was started to rain while they were in the bar, a light drizzle that was slowly weighing down their hair, not that either of them paid it any mind.
“Jesus, Munson, are you really going to make me listen to the whole spiel again?” He rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in frustration. “This is bullshit, I’m bullshit, my love is bullshit, yadda yadda yadda. Or are we going the other way? The sad puppy eyes and the fact that you like someone else and it could never be me? I already know all this, Munson.”
Eddie continued gaping at Steve like a fish. It was starting to make him vaguely uncomfortable. Eddie shook his head, long strands of hair whipping wetly around him. “H-how long have you loved me?” Eddie whispered.
Steve’s frown deepened. “I don’t know, man. You probably clocked it before I even did. I just barely realized like a year and half ago.”
Eddie’s eyes bugged further. “You’ve love me for a year and a half?” he asked incredulously, making Steve’s frown turn from annoyance to confusion.
“You already knew this, Eddie.”
“I most certainly did not!”
And…oh. Oof. Okay. Steve grimaced and held his hands up suddenly in a surrender sort of way. “Yikes. Okay, well, this doesn’t have to change anythi—”
“This changes everything!” Eddie exclaimed in what others might cause a shriek.
Steve winced, taking a step back and hitching his shoulders up to his ears. “Eddie…Eddie, please, c’mon,” he tried to reason, feeling dread settling in the pit of his stomach. He was suddenly remembering all the times he’d invaded Eddie’s space, how many times he’d flirted back with Eddie’s fake flirting, thinking it was okay because the other man knew how he felt.
Fuck. Fuck, he’d fucked up again.
“Eddie, I know you don’t love me, okay,” he rushed to say. “I know you can never love me. I get it, okay? I’m not trying to force you to feel any way or anything. Just like with Robin and Nancy, the fact that I like you doesn’t have to change anything.”
“Not…Steve,” Eddie said, reaching up to grip and pull at his own hair as an incredulous laugh escaped him. “Steve, I fucking love you.”
Steve tried not to let that hurt. He knew Eddie probably didn’t get how much him saying that pained Steve since it wasn’t the kind of love he was talking about, so he wasn’t going to get upset at him over that.
“I know,” he sighed, slowly letting himself relax his body posture. “I know you love me in a friend way. And that’s enough for me, really! I love you like a friend too, so the fact that I also—”
“No Steve,” Eddie cut in again, and while he seemed exasperated, a wide smile was also starting to curl over his lips. “Robin was right and you really are a dingus. I mean, yes, I love you as a friend, but I’m also in love with you. Romantic styles.”
“I…” Steve blinked. He tried to understand Eddie’s words but they didn’t make sense. “What?”
Eddie snorted out a laugh, and the smile curled on his lips stretched out into a grin. He took a step closer. “I’m in love with you, Steve Harrington. I have been since…hell, probably since you went all Ozzy on me. But definitely since I woke up in the hospital to you holding my hand.”
Steve’s stomach swooped. “I don’t understand,” he said, and even to his own ears there was a small whine there. “You don’t…people don’t love me,” he pointed out. “They can’t. There’s something about me that just makes it impossible.”
Eddie scoffed, reaching out once he was closer enough to curl his fingers in the sleeves at Steve’s biceps. They were both now well and truly wet from the rain, but neither of them paid any attention to it at all.
“Now that’s bullshit, Harrington. You’re so fucking easy to love. As a friend and as something…more. I love you, Steve.”
Steve wanted to deny it again, wanted to say that that was impossible, because…because he’d never heard those words. Sure, Dustin and Robin told him they loved him, but romantically? Even Nancy had never told him that in those words. Not even in a lie. He couldn’t fully comprehend that he was hearing them now.
“Fuck, Steve,” Eddie breathed, his hands moving to cup Steve’s jaw. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life telling you that. You’re stuck with me now, big boy.”
And then Eddie kissed him.
Eddie was true to his words. He told Steve he loved him every single day, told him with his words and his actions and when it was legal, he told him again in front of all their friends and found family when he made a vow as a his husband.
And Steve? Well, it took a while for him for actually believe it, but nowadays? When Eddie kisses him good morning every day in bed, whispering his devotion, and every night doing the same, telling Steve he’ll see him in his dreams? Well…
Steve’s used to being loved. And he spends every day loving in return.
~
Hi hello I have no idea what this is but I just started typing and then I didn’t stop until this was completed lol
Steve looked at himself in the mirror from all angles. Maybe, even just a year ago, he might have squashed all of this down and pretended he was just like any other All American white boy in a Midwest state. Except a year ago he still carried the baggage of his failures and was trying to be someone he was not.
And then Robin Buckley, with her ‘You Rule, You Suck’ board, entered his life.
Now, he was able to fully appreciate how much he had never been able to get Eddie “the Freak” Munson out of his head. He might have played it off had this situation never arose, might have been able to keep his lies to himself secret, but…well. It was a good thing Vickie’s locker had been right next to Eddie’s.
Admittedly, he did feel a little guilty about using the lip gloss that Nancy had left at his place, but then she had let him borrow some before back when he worked at Scoops, so really…was it that bad?
He just hoped that Eddie liked the taste of strawberries.
If Steve was lucky enough to find out.
So here he was, fifteen minutes early, waiting to meet Eddie in the band room after school. He’d never been here, obviously, but he’d managed to sneak into the place Robin and Vickie frequented quite often. Luckily there were no other band geeks hoping to use the free time to practice their instruments…or their instruments—he never realized how fucking horny band geeks were before Robin spilled all that gossip. He should have cast his net wider in high school.
Anyways, Steve got himself ready, trying to pose himself perfectly against an abandoned desk, legs crossed at the ankles as he leaned back on his hands to push out his tits, or whatever guys had, accentuating the thickness of his thighs as well. He’s got this.
And then the handle was turning and there’s Eddie, glancing behind him to obviously make certain he wasn’t being followed and no one is paying attention to him—he must know that the room is used for more than just music practice too—before finally turning to face his supposed secret admirer as he closed the door.
Only to freeze when he caught sight of Steve, face draining of color. Steve was across the room in an instant, hand keeping the door shut where Eddie had turned and immediately tried to open it again, leaning into Eddie’s space with a small smirk.
“What’s the rush, Munson?” he murmured in a tone he hadn’t had to use in a while, letting his eyes drag over the dumb Dungeons & Dipshits club shirt Steve couldn’t wait to get his hands under. His eyes drifted lower, thinking of other things he’d like to get under. When his eyes finally made their way back up to Eddie’s face, the dude’s face was tinged pink.
“Ha-Harrington,” Eddie said with a small stutter, eyes darting frantically to the hand keeping the door closed. The metalhead cleared his throat, stiffening his spine as he seemed to gather himself, though he crossed his arms defensively across his chest. “Is this some sort of sick joke? Got you buddies hiding around here somewhere waiting to jump me?”
Steve softly snorted. “While I’ve had a threesome before, I’m not really interested in a gangbang. Besides, darling, I’m not super keen on sharing,” he purred, reaching out with his free hand to lightly brush through the curly hair at Eddie’s shoulder, twirling a strand with a smile.
To his credit, Eddie didn’t flinch, though he did frown severely. Even still, his eyes dropped to Steve’s lips for the briefest moment, which Steve took as a win. “What the hell, Harrington?”
Steve chuckled, moving to lean his shoulder against the door instead, since it allowed him to pop his ass out a bit. “You got my note, didn’t you?” A little fib since it wasn’t technically his note that Robin had accidentally slipped into Eddie’s locker, but whatever. “I wanna take you out on a date. Right now, if you’d let me.”
Eddie blinked at Steve like he couldn’t believe what was in front of him. “I know I have hair like Wheeler, but you do know I’m a dude, right? I have a dick.”
“You’re a musician, yeah?” Steve said, ignoring that for a moment to lean in closer, trailing the hand from Eddie’s hair down his arm. “Then I bet you’re really good with your hands.” He let his eyes drop to them meaningfully. “I bet those fingers can reach all sorts of places. Bet you know how to get the best sounds with them.”
When Steve looked back into Eddie’s face, it was flushed a bright pink this time, his mouth dropped open slightly in shock. Steve took the opportunity to press his fingers under that sharp jaw to close it with a soft click.
“Bet you’re talented with that mouth too.” And, okay, normally he wouldn’t be quite so forward with a girl, but Eddie wasn’t a girl. Things were a little different here. He had a feeling Eddie would appreciate the direct approach too. “You know, I’ve done a bit of singing myself. I’d love to show you my talent as well.”
Eddie let out a huff of breathless laugh of disbelief as he took several steps back into the room, holding his hands up. “I don’t know who put you up to this, man, but—”
“No one put me up to it,” Steve interrupted. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since high school and I would be the idiot of the century if I didn’t ask such a pretty boy like you out on a date.”
“No one thinks I’m pretty, Steve,” Eddie said with another nervous laugh, grabbing his hair to cover his mouth in embarrassment.
“Then everyone else has to be the idiot. You’re gorgeous, Eddie.” Steve let his gaze drop again, taking in all of Eddie’s lithe form. “You’re hot as fuck and I should have asked you out on a date years ago. Sorry I don’t have flowers with me, but if you let me take you on a date, I’ll buy you whatever flower you want.”
“D-dude, what even makes you think that I’m…you know,” Eddie said, eyes darting around as though searching for another escape route.
“Because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t have checked out my ass back in high school.” Eddie looked terrified again, which wasn’t Steve’s intention. He was supposed to be charming for Pete’s sake…whoever Pete was. He stepped forward, holding his hands out to show that he was without malice. “I promise I don’t mean any harm, Eddie.”
“No? Former Keg King and head cock of the roost Steve Harrington just asked Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson to an empty classroom to ask him on a date? Am I really supposed to believe that?” Eddie scoffed, arms once more wrapping around himself.
“I checked you out too, you know,” Steve murmured. “I think I did even before I realized that guys could be an option.” He licked his lips, tasting that hint of strawberry, but it had the desired effect of snapping Eddie’s gaze to them again as well.
“What, you wanna get dicked down by the king freak?” Eddie lightly sneered. “Really fell that far, Stevie?”
“What can I say, you’re easy to fall for,” Steve said with a wink, slinking his way slowly closer. That seemed to shut Eddie up, his face turning that lovely shade of dusty pink again. “But if you need me to fall further…”
Steve smirked as he dropped to his knees in front of Eddie, who gulped thickly enough that it was audible. He reached out to grab Eddie’s fingers, bringing them to his lips as he looked up at the older boy through his lashes.
“Because I am more than willing to worship Hawkins High’s one true king,” he whispered, pulling out all the stops as he brushed his lips over Eddie’s knuckles in a soft kiss. He had a feeling that a theatrical man like Eddie would appreciate some theatrics himself.
And appreciate it Eddie seemed to do, judging by the first honest look of awe on his face as he stared down at Steve. Like he was maybe starting to realize that Steve meant everything he was saying. Eddie drew in a deep, shuddering breath, before releasing it with a small smirk of his own.
“Is that so? And what does that make you, Steve? My dashing knight, ready to obey my every command?” Eddie murmured, turning his fingers in Steve’s hold to slip under Steve’s chin, his thumb brushing just under his glossy bottom lip.
Steve shivered at the touch. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Eddie, if it gives me the honor of taking you out on a date.”
“Well,” Eddie breathed. “You do look good on your knees.” He leaned in, bending down to bring his lips to Steve’s ear, his hair curtaining around them. “Do you look just as good on your back?” he whispered.
Steve grinned, bringing his other hand up to hold on to Eddie’s hip. “I guess you’ll just have to find out, Munson,” he murmured back. “So what do you say? Go on a date with me? I promise to treat you good. And then you can treat me very, very bad.”
Eddie flushed again, but he was smiling as he pulled back enough to look down at Steve. “That a promise, Sir Harrington?”
“Wanna seal it with a kiss?” Steve grinned.
It turned out, Eddie did like the taste of strawberries.
Later, when he learned the truth about the note mishap, Eddie laughed so hard he cried, but he didn’t waste any time in thanking Robin for her little blunder. After all, without it, he never would have gotten his first (and hopefully last) official boyfriend.
Who did, in fact, look entirely too good on his back.
Steve hates his last name. He hates being reminded that he’s a Harrington, hates that his family, his parents, are still a part of his life in this way even after having gone fully non-contact with them years ago. He knows that he could technically just pay to legally change his name, but that’s a process he doesn’t really want to deal with at the moment.
So he puts out a personal ad.
Wanted:
Person for marriage of convenience. In desperate need of a new last name. Gender does not matter. Serious inquiries only.
He of course puts in his own specifics down as well, as well as a bit more of explanation that he just wants to get married to easily change his last name without having to do all the additional paperwork required if he just bought the change himself. That it would just be a marriage in name only until they could quickly divorce.
He gets a lot of bot replies, and a lot of creepy men saying they could be his sugar daddy, and even some creepy women too. He’d expected as much, truthfully.
But then he gets a message from someone with genuine questions, a man close to age to him who jokes that his name isn’t the greatest either, but that he’s happy to share it. Turns out this man needs a green card marriage actually, and he’ll happily let this stranger take his name if he can help him get a green card so he can stay in the States where his uncle lives.
So Steve agrees, and he meets Eddie Munson 20 minutes before he marries him and becomes Steve Munson.
And of course, by the time Eddie’s green card is permanent, the thought of divorcing never crosses their minds.
It makes for a great story at their ceremony after they renew their vows in a real wedding this time.
