All Eddie can hear through the wall is the sound of water softly knocking against bathroom tiles.
A low, masculine voice joins after a while, humming the melody of a song that's all too familiar. Eddie can't recall the name of the track, only knows that it's played on every goddamn music channel as of late.
Then, the voice turns all velvety and angelic as his new neighbour’s belting out fucking Madonna during showering.
The man knows the lyrics by heart, it seems. He's becoming more confident as he's getting into it, because now Eddie can hear every word loud and crystal clear.
Eddie’s not sure if he's furious for being interrupted during his precious songwriting process, annoyed that the choice of music couldn't get any more mainstream, or intrigued by the guy's gorgeous singing voice.
He's probably all three.
By the end of the week, it's the latter. This guy can sing.
And he's ridiculously hot, Eddie finds out on a Friday night when he's coming home exhausted from work, not ready in the slightest for the encounter when the guy’s front door swings open, revealing him in all his glory.
He's tall, around the same height as Eddie. Broad shoulders, definitely a sportsman or a former jock. Long legs underneath the shortest shorts Eddie's ever seen.
The worst of all, the guy's got a soft look about him. A pair of nerdy glasses are sitting on his nose, brown hair beautiful and thick, probably would be silky soft to touch.
The smile he gives a dumbstruck Eddie is radiant. It lights up his beautiful brown eyes, his whole face looking like he's straight from a magazine.
If Eddie's got a weak spot, then that's hunky men with golden hearts and eyes that could downright destroy him with a single glance. He'd fucking combust if the man ever looked at him pleading.
This guy's got them all and more. The musician in Eddie is screaming, because he's heard his voice through the wall, seeks it out every night at around 9 pm, antsy and buzzing with excitement.
Eddie would even buy a fucking ticket if he had to. Would blow all his money from his shitty minimum wage job and become homeless. Live in a cardboard box by this guy's window to hear him sing fucking Take On Me by A-ha.
He hates pop music. Has he mentioned that yet?
By the start of the second week since he heard the guy sing, he's developed a full-on school boy crush on him.
At the age of 28, Eddie’s pining after a gorgeous brunet who just moved next door at the end of last month.
His name is Steve Harrington, he finds out when he peeks at his neighbour's mailbox on his way to band practice with the boys.
He can't help himself. Eddie's always been a weak man, apparently even more so for a guy named Steve.
Eddie’s so, so fucked.
— There's a fic about this now that I've been working on, called 'I'm Hung Up On You', go check it out if you liked the idea!! —
Something I wrote this because Aqua back to the 80s is stuck in my head all flicking day and I’m tired. And if my random ass brain can imagine Steve in a scoops suit singing dark trauma to cheesy Euro-pop music you will also be subjected to it. All those colours. Barbie doll. Anyone. No. Whelp looks like it’s just me.
The rest of the gangs around somewhere. Didn’t know how to fit them into the bullet points though.
It’s 89, post Vecna, post government mountain of paperwork, Eddie’s pouting about not being able to continue with CC as his face is too recognisable and they don’t need anybody questioning the government’s hapdash attempt at a cover up. He’s spending his off time (which currently is in abundance) writing his trauma into songs (and if he so happens to write a certain dethroned king’s into little cheesy earwigs because it makes that certain person laugh, it means nothing)
It’s 90 and Eddie is having a mental block on writing when he hears something that gets the juices flowing. It’s summer, the party is at Steve’s and Eddie was going to get a drink from the kitchen where he’s halted just outside the kitchens doorway arch. Inside Steve is spinning a giggling Robin about as he sings cheesy made up ditties just to make her smile, which Eddie realises are his earwigs he made about Steve’s trauma. What surprises him more is god that boy can sing. Eddie disappears into Steve’s dad’s office and isn’t seen till dinner.
It’s 91 and Eddie presents steve with a finished lyric sheet and a cassette the CC boys and robin helped him make. A song about vecna and the witch hunt wrapped up in bubblegum pop. [think euro pop band Aqua -esk]. After a bit of confusion, he explains about hearing Steve sing so he wrote a song for Steve to sing with Robin as second. By Christmas they have a song painstakingly recorded, multiplied and sent out to record companies.
It’s 99 and [insert band name here] is popular. Their most popular songs are about a cookie cutter Ken doll who doesn’t fit in, a little birdy with no responding song, two siblings from a small American town with home grown conspiracies, a haunted mansion full of family ghosts, and a song written without their main writer about a curly haired boy, with a large smile and a bigger personality. Rumours of a curtain curly haired metalhead sneaking in backstage are rapidly growing.
As the bell tolls midnight bringing in the millennium a photo is captured and circulated of the metalhead with one of the lead singers of [band] and it certainly wasn’t Buckley who everyone was speculating the metalhead was visiting regularly.
It’s 92 and there is conspiracies galore about the missing [band] members who disappeared only months after the picture was leaked of Eddie Munson and Steve Buckley kissing on new years. What really happened was they all decided to settle down in Italy, run a small holiday vineyard and get some qualifications.
It’s 2016 and Steve Munson is mortified and happily fielding questions from his class as they’ve somehow managed to find old videos and images of his days in [band]. Talks about Robin getting married to an Englishwoman in 2013 when it became legal. About how his husband wrote most of their songs. And when asked about the subject matter he responds with “we had over-imaginations and a case of the whimsies”.
Brainstorming. Before season four aired I had this idea for a fic (tentatively titled Crash & Flow) where Billy is an ex rocker who left his group to go solo due to artistic differences (aka everyone was blasted on drugs and they were starting to lean into xenophobic and homophobic bullshit that billy wasn’t down for). After a stint in rehab he moves down to Nashville to stay with Max and gets a menial job at a studio to pay the bills while he works on his album, exorcising his demons- instead of going to therapy Billy wrote some songs. Anyway the music isn’t flowing like it used to and Billy’s frustrated and secretly afraid (because who is he if not this and maybe Neil was right about him) which isn’t helped by the fact that he’s stuck cleaning up for these country music assholes who look down on him. At first Billy thinks Steve is like all the rest (albeit super hot) and is rude and standoffish to him, but he can’t help but keep watching - there’s something about him.
When Steve starts coming to the studio late at night Billy realizes Steve has a gift, and that he is lost too. Billy gets all thinky and meta about how lonely is the head that wears the crown, and gets his flow back. He becomes a little obsessed with watching Steve/writing lyrics about how America kills its darlings, feeling caged and ready to kill etc. It’s not long before he wants to fuck Steve’s shit up and bad, but he’s afraid of doing anything to ruin “the flow”. He’s gone all phantom of the opera on us.
Steve is in a popular pop/country duo with Nancy “King & Country” and they are like America’s sweethearts, and it was a love story for the ages - except behind the scenes they fell out of love ages ago but stay together because of the pressure. Steve struggles with depression, sexual confusion, and an increasing apathy for his music and life in general. But instead of going to therapy he seeks out new ways to get high. Dustin and everyone are very worried. He ends up at this bar one night in a sketchy part of town and it turns out to be an underground club for queer folk. Billy is playing there and Steve is really moved by the music and attracted to him. Recognizing him, Steve approaches him to talk about music, but Billy can spot a guy who wants some from a mile away and is like “do you wanna talk or fuck?” And they have some pretty nasty but thrilling sex in some place not nearly private enough.
Steve is hooked. Like this is the best high he’s ever had and if Billy could eat his soul he would. He pulls Steve down the rabbit hole of the wonderfully strange and wicked world of the 1980s queer punk rock scene, and he watches as Steve grows wings and sets fire to his ‘good boy’ image and the career that went along with it and Billy will do anything he can to keep fueling that fire (because he knows that when it goes out, Steve leaves and he’s alone again). He doesn’t realize that Steve thinks the same way, that Billy is only interested in deflowering America’s sweetheart and will be gone as soon as the thrill stops. So Steve keeps roping Billy into trying more dangerous and depraved shit (sex and drugs mostly) and they just become this codependent mess that results in gorgeous music. Poor Dustin and Max are pulling their hair out and trying to stop the train before the inevitable crash.
Haven’t worked out an ending yet… maybe they get their shit together and start learning healthier ways to cope. But I am leaning towards they have to go their separate ways, because when you’re that close to a situation and stuck in a cycle with someone, sometimes distance is the only thing that can save you. Any thoughts?
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fluff, Swearing, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Disaster Eddie Munson, Bartender Eddie Munson, Guitarist Eddie Munson, Singer Steve Harrington, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things)
Summary:
At the age of 28, Eddie Munson, bartender and guitarist, finds himself pining after a gorgeous brunet with an angelic singing voice next door.
A classic Neighbour AU that's going to be short, but sweet. Maybe even a bit spicy, we'll see.
A long long time ago but recall you talking about wips you have and one of them was country singer star steve? (I don’t know what you would have it tagged under so I can’t check but i hope I’m not wrong). Anyway! If you ever need musical inspo for him, I beg you to check out the song permanently lonely by Orville peck. (His other music and esp his album pony is also worth checking out too!). But yeah. Sad lonely country singer star steve is what I’m imagining!
Yes. I think so. I wish tumbler would fix its tag search. Is it this one?
Brainstorming. Before season four aired I had this idea for a fic (tentatively titled Crash & Flow) where Billy is an ex rocker who left his
Wow anon thanks for recommending this song. I've stumbled across the artist a few times in spotify but it has mainly been that gay cowboy summer duet with Willie Nelson that is mostly a joke. 😆
But this song is great. It really gets to the heart of loneliness and how it can become a stone around your neck and drive you crazy. And it's crazy how note perfect it is to this plot. Definitely going on the playlist.