Not So Bad

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/39331002.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley/Vickie, Will Byers/Mike
Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Jonathan Byers/Nancy
Wheeler
Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Vickie (Stranger
Things), Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper,
Lucas Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Argyle (Stranger Things),
Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers
Additional Tags: Stranger Things Spoilers, Post-Stranger Things 4, Vecna is dead,
Volume 2 isn't out yet so this is probably canon divergence, this is
assuming everyone lived, Frenemies, frenemies to lovers, Drinking,
Underage Drinking, Recreational Drug Use, we die like bob, Slow Burn,
Mostly not beta read, all ships besides steve/eddie are background,
Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington
Stats: Published: 2022-05-30 Completed: 2022-06-05 Chapters: 9/9 Words:
43409

Not So Bad
by outofmygourd

Summary

Vecna is dead. It's the summer after the party's freshman year. Steve Harrington spends it
in the Family Video Store, and Eddie Munson is spending post-graduate life bothering him.
And maybe Steve isn't as bothered as he used to be.

Notes

note: i'm notorious for not finishing fics, so no promises about this one.
 Normalcy Flipped On Its Head

The bell above the door to the Family Video Store jingled, catching Steve’s attention from where
he leaned over the register counter, flipping through a magazine. His eyes flicked up, an unamused
scowl twitching his lips as his eyes rested on Eddie Munson.

“Robin’s home sick, Munson,” He supplied dully, turning his attention back to the magazine.
Eddie had been coming in more and more recently, mostly to hang out with Robin, but Steve swore
he was also doing it just to annoy him.

“Right, because I’m only allowed in here under her supervision,” Eddie said humorously, and
another glance up at him revealed that irritating smirk paired with those deep brown eyes that
always seemed to bore holes right through you. Steve gave a small shake of his head, once again
busying himself with the magazine. “Oh, c’mon Harrington,” Eddie scoffed, leisurely walking
around the store, fingertips grazing the tapes as he walked by. “We helped save the world together,
and you still act like you barely know me.” Steve didn’t need to look up this time to see the ever-
present smirk, instead he let out a huff.

“I do barely know you.” Another glance up, Eddie no longer looking at Steve but inspecting some
of the horror movies. “I’ve seen more of you these past months than I did when we were saving the
world. And ya know, at first I thought it was just because you and Robin are friends, but now I’m
convinced it’s because you like bothering me.”

“And?” Eddie turned to catch Steve’s eyes, an infuriating smile twitching his lips. “What if I do? If
you don’t want me coming around, maybe you shouldn’t be so fun to bother.” Eddie gave a quick
raise of his eyebrows, before turning back to the tapes. “Besides. It’s not like you’re ever busy.”

“You are frequently in here when we’re busy. And that doesn’t stop you from pretending like you
need to ask me a million questions while I’m trying to help actual paying customers. Speaking of
which,” Steve fixed him with a look. “If you don’t plan on being one, why don’t you go bother
Dustin instead. I’m sure he’d appreciate it a lot more than me.”

“Hey,” Eddie turned to Steve and put a hand over his heart, face and tone feigning offense. “I am
browsing this fine establishment. How am I to know if any of your wares will catch my eye?”
Steve stared flatly back at him, Eddie’s smile widening briefly. “Besides, Dustin and the rest of the
little gremlins are busy. He’s got some broadcast date with Suzie, Lucas and Max are doing
whatever soon-to-be-sophomores call a date, and the Wheeler kid– well, I’m sure you know the
Wheeler kids are in California helping the Byers move back.” Eddie waggled his eyebrows at
Steve, who groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Will you let that go? I told you, me and Nance just got a little caught up in the whole…” Steve
flapped a hand around dismissively. “Saving the world. She’s still very much in love with
Jonathan, hence why she’s in California right now.”

Eddie shrugged. “Whatever you say, man,” he didn’t sound convinced.

“So, your only friends besides Robin are… a bunch of sophomores? Aren’t you like, twenty dude?”

“Look who’s talking, Harrington, who last time I checked also only had kids as friends. Besides
Robin, of course,” Eddie glanced him up and down. “And Ms. California-Boyfriend.” Steve made
a face, unable to come up with a retort as it was, much to his chagrin, a fair point. “Plus, I do have
other friends.”
“Right, right. The band,” Steve said disinterestedly, flipping the page of his magazine and trying to
get distracted enough in whatever pointless celebrity gossip was in it to ignore Eddie. “Go bother
them, then.” Two leather-clad forearms folded onto the counter in front of him, and looking up
revealed Eddie leaning on the counter, chin in hand as he regarded Steve.

“Ya know, Stevie,” Steve grimaced at the nickname. “Robin is quite fond of both of us, and it
would behoove us–” Steve mouthed the word ‘behoove’ with furrowed brows, but Eddie
continued. “To get along. Neither of us are going anywhere.” Eddie looked around the Family
Video Store, muttering more to himself than Steve “Clearly.” Steve watched as an unknown
thought seemed to occupy Eddie’s mind, before just as quickly as it came it snapped away, the
goofy demeanor back in firm place as his eyes fell onto Steve again. “Besides. We saved each
other’s lives more than once, afterall.” With that, he knocked twice on the counter and pushed
himself off, meandering his way to the door. “See ya, Harrington.” And with a lazy wave over his
shoulder, the bell dinged once more as Eddie exited the video store. Steve’s eyes lingered where
the boy had just stood for a moment before snapping out of whatever stupor he had fallen into.

+++

“I don’t understand why it’s so important that I come with you to some stupid party.” Steve
groaned as he walked next to Robin. The party was miraculously within walking distance from
Robin’s house, so Steve was leaving his car parked in her driveway, determined to at least not be
stuck as designated driver. Especially since he didn’t even wanna go to this thing in the first place.
“You said Munson was going, so you don’t even need me there anyway.”

“You realize how weird it is that I am convincing you, Steve Harrington, the value of partying and
being social.” Robin lolled her head to one side, giving Steve an almost reprimansive look.

“Exactly. I’ve done enough partying to justify staying in for the rest of my life. So can I go home
now?” Robin sighed, a surprisingly serious demeanor washing over her as she turned her attention
forward, puzzling Steve. He furrowed his brows at her.

“Honestly, Steve, have you, though?” She looked back at Steve. “Since Will went missing and you
got caught up in all that… shit? You definitely haven’t partied since I’ve known you.”

“Yeah, well. Partying doesn’t seem so important in light of other things.” Steve spoke quietly,
focusing more on his shoes.

“My point exactly. I mean… Vecna’s been dead for a while. It’s time to loosen up just a little.”
Robin clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You can take a break from being a babysitter.”

Steve let out a long exhale, shaking his head a bit. “I dunno, Robin. You couldn’t believe it was
back after Starcourt, meanwhile I’ve been consistently surprised it’s been coming back since we
killed the first round of demogorgons. I don’t think I know how to loosen up anymore.”

“You being on edge isn’t going to make it any less likely to come back, Steve,” Robin grabbed his
sleeve and tugged him to a gentle stop. “It’s just gonna leave you more burnt out in the event it
does come back. Keep your mind open to the possibility so you don’t overlook signs, sure, but
going to one party isn’t going to determine whether or not some interdimensional demon tries to
destroy Hawkins.”

Steve gave Robin a long, debating look. He knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier.
He worried his bottom lip beneath his teeth, looking down the road where he could see people
gathering around a house.
“Fine,” he said finally, resuming the walk once more, Robin in quick tow, a smile stretched onto
her face. “But I’m leaving early and making Munson drive you home if it’s lame.”

“Deal, Harrington.”

As they reached the end of the driveway, synthy pop music warbled out from inside the multi-
storied house, people milling about or filing in and out. It was already in full swing, the two
arriving later due to having to convince Steve.

They were immediately met with a wall of muggy heat, the combined temperature of people
dancing and drinking leaving the air thick and humid compared to the light chill on the summer
night outside. Steve led them past the room where the music was loudest, filled with people
dancing, and straight to the kitchen, brushing past other partygoers as they went. He’d never been
to this house before, but it was easy enough to find all the alcohol, bottles and cans piled high on
the large island in the middle of the kitchen.

Steve grabbed two solo cups, passing one to Robin as he began mixing them two drinks. He didn’t
know much about drink making besides pouring alcohol in the bottom and enough soda or punch
to make it tolerable, but Robin didn’t yack immediately upon sipping it, so he called it a win. Robin
led them to the dance room, filing to the side where there was seating.

He and Robin took a seat on one of the couches, Steve starting on his drink. “See? Not so bad.”
Robin commented, Steve shrugging. A party was a party. He wasn’t miserable, but he certainly
didn’t have the same enthusiasm he used to about the things. Now just to get drunk enough to make
Eddie Munson tolerable.

And, almost as if on cue, a figure walked up next to Steve. He looked up at Eddie, raising his
eyebrows in the faintest motion of acknowledgement as he took a long sip of his drink.

“Eddie! You came.” Robin stood up to hug her friend, who returned it gladly, both of them careful
not to spill their drinks. “Good. Maybe you can get Steve to loosen up.”

Eddie scoffed. “Not likely. I tend to have the opposite effect on him,” Eddie’s eyes fell to Steve.
“Don’t I, Harrington.”

“You say that like it’s not your intention.” Steve said back flatly. Eddie smiled amusedly down at
him, a teasing waggle of his eyebrows as he took a sip of his own drink. Steve took in his
appearance, slightly different from usual. He ditched his leather jacket, but kept his usual denim
vest, a tight band tee underneath. He still wore his usual chains and accessories, which Steve
thought pointless functionally, but supposed it did make him look… decent. This wardrobe change
showed off his unexpectedly sculpted arms, which had shocked Steve the first time he noticed;
sometime during their time fighting Vecna. Eddie didn’t strike Steve as the kind of guy to care
about working out, but evidently he did enough for his shirt to stretch tightly over his biceps and
chest. Probably the kind of guy to buy shirts a size smaller. Steve thought bitterly as he drank
more.

“I don’t think this grouch is gonna dance with me,” Robin commented, turning to Eddie. “Do me
the honors?” Eddie smiled deeply, eyes beaming with that mischievous undertone Steve noticed
was nearly ever-present.

“No, I’d be honored.” Eddie took her hand and led her to the dance floor, Steve watching over the
brim of his cup as the two danced to the synthy beat that pounded through the speakers. He wasn’t
really surprised Eddie could dance, considering he was a musician, but he was surprised he was
good at dancing to things that weren’t heavy metal, or whatever it was he listened to. His long hair
bounced around his face, which switched between goofy contortions to make Robin laugh, and a
genuine smile when he would accomplish his goal of doing so. He even knew the words of the
song, singing along gleefully with Robin as they bounced around on the dancefloor.

One song died down, being replaced by one Steve actually recognized, though he wouldn’t readily
admit just how well. Lay All Your Love On Me by ABBA began pouring through the speaker,
Steve absent-mindedly tapping his foot to the beat as he sipped and continued to watch the two
dance. Eddie’s eyes drifted over to him then, Steve feeling the urge to look like he wasn’t watching
them for some reason, promptly glancing around the room to attempt to convey that. But Eddie
clearly had the goal of pestering Steve in mind, as he shot him a coyish look.

He danced the few steps needed to close the gap between him and where Steve sat, not giving
Steve time to react as Eddie grabbed his free hand with his and tugged him off the couch.

“Munson, what are you doing? Let go of me,” Steve protested as he allowed himself to be yanked
forward, as not to spill his drink. Robin smiled as he (forcibly) joined them on the dance floor.

“Giving Mr. Serious an excuse to dance,” Eddie beamed, still swaying in time to the music. He
started singing the lyrics pointedly at Steve, Robin joining his attempt to get Steve to dance. Steve
rolled his eyes with a sigh, but began swaying in a noncommittal way that could, technically, be
considered dancing. This seemed to satisfy the two in front of him as they finally turned their
attention from him, Eddie doing so with an encouraging wink that made Steve pause. He blinked a
few times, not sure if he imagined the flip in his stomach, or simply misinterpreted the cause of it.
Steve peered into his drink, nearly empty. He must have poured more than he thought.

As the song ended, Vickie, who Robin had a hopeless crush on when they were still in high school,
came up and tapped her on the shoulder. Steve watched as excitement and fear flooded his best
friend’s face, hiding his amusement in his drink, which he finished.

“Robin! I didn’t think you were gonna be here.” Vickie smiled, Robin sort of just staring at her for
a moment. Steve not-so-covertly gave her a shove on the shoulder, kickstarting her to blutter out a
few sounds before eventually finding a sentence.

“Oh, yeah, parties weren’t really my thing in high school. Thought I’d try some out before I…
die.” She cleared her throat, Steve and Eddie sharing a confused look at her odd choice of words.
Vickie didn’t seem to find it too weird, however, laughing a bit.

“Yeah, me too actually. Well, I mean, we were both in band.” Vickie breathed a laugh. “You get
it.”

“Would you look at that, Munson,” Steve turned to Eddie, who raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m all
out of alcohol. We should go fix that.” He clapped a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, ignoring Robin’s
scared, pleading look. Sometimes you gotta throw a kid in the pool to teach ‘em how to swim. Steve
thought smugly, reveling just a little bit in his friend’s panic.

“You’re absolutely right, Harrington. Vickie, good seeing you,” Eddie gave a little half-bow to
Vickie, the two boys immediately walking away and ignoring their friend’s sounds of protest.

“Surprised you know how to be a wingman,” he commented as they made their way back into the
kitchen. Eddie also began making himself another drink.

“Please,” Steve gave a snort. “I didn’t even date that much in high school. I don’t know why I have
the reputation I do.”
“You don’t know why–” Eddie shook his head, dismissing his obvious contradiction to Steve’s
words. “Nevermind that. Don’t act like it was by choice. I’m like, ninety-nine percent certain if
you hadn’t been fighting monsters and Russians for most of your high school career, you would not
be the little church boy you’re claiming yourself as.”

“And what about you, huh?” Steve said after sipping his new mixture, which he had made a tad too
strong. “Bet you had the freaky chicks hangin’ off you.” A look Steve couldn’t quite place flashed
over Eddie’s eyes. Almost a mixture of amusement and confusion and… analyzing? As if he were
trying to figure something out about Steve just by looking at him.

“My experience in the ways of the heart are limited, Harrington. I’m surprised that wasn’t…
glaringly obvious.” He had the intense stare in his eyes he always had, like he’s giving you a
hundred percent of his attention even while you talk about something mundane. If there was one
thing about Munson, Steve thought, it was that he always made you feel interesting. “I was head of
the D&D club, for fuck’s sake.”

Steve shrugged. “Yeah, but that doesn’t really matter.” He leaned back against the counter behind
him, crossing one arm and gesturing vaguely with his drink as his eyes fell absently on the other
people talking in the kitchen. “You have a van, you smoke weed, you’re attractive, and a guitar
player in a band–”

“Rewind, did you, Steve Harrington, just call me attractive?” Eddie’s smirk was more infuriating
than ever, Steve’s face falling as he felt his face erupt into flames. He rolled his eyes, shaking his
head.

“Oh, don’t make it a thing. You annoy the shit out of me but I’m not oblivious to what people find
attractive. And obviously you know you’re good looking… so shut up.” He muttered that last part
into his cup before taking a long sip.

The smirk on Eddie’s face had stretched into a smug grin. “Well, I actually didn’t know. But thank
you for voicing your opinion of me,” he teased, earning a death glare from Steve. Eddie seemed to
look around the kitchen, eyes falling on an open backdoor that led to a backyard, where more
people could be seen hanging around. “I’m gonna smoke a cig, wanna join?”

“I don't have any on me.” Steve supplied, Eddie rolling his eyes.

“Okay, let me rephrase. I’m asking if you’d rather stand awkwardly alone here, or awkwardly next
to me while I smoke, and give you one if you’re nice.”

“I’m not standing awkwardly,” Steve grumbled defensively. Eddie raised his eyebrows
expectantly. “Fine. After you, Munson.”

Eddie led the way outside, and immediately Steve welcomed the cool breeze that pricked up the
hairs on his arms and chilled the mugginess from inside right off. There were less people out here,
most of whom were smoking, and by the smell it was a mixture of cigarette smokers and weed
smokers. The music could still be heard from inside, but muffled, allowing for conversation to flow
easier. Eddie leaned against the house, holding out his cup to Steve.

“Be a dear and hold that for a sec.” As Steve obliged Eddie took out a carton of Marlboro reds,
plucking one from the middle and perching it between his lips. He raised an eyebrow at Steve.
“Want one?”

Steve looked at the cigarettes in Eddie’s hand, contemplating. “Yeah. Thanks.” Eddie held the
cigarette up, filter end first, toward Steve. His hands still full holding their drinks, he took it
between his lips, quirking his eyebrows up in a gesture of thanks. Eddie lit Steve’s cigarette first
before getting his own, then tucked the lighter and carton away in his pocket.

“I’m surprised you’re here, honestly.” Steve said idly through the corner of his mouth, passing off
Eddie’s drink and pulling the cig away from his lips. He blew out a puff of smoke. “Didn’t peg you
as someone who had a good time singing pop songs in a room full of drunken strangers.”

“Why? Because I was a nerd in high school?” Eddie quipped, letting out a puff of his own. Steve
seemed to debate this.

“Well, yeah, actually,” he said honestly.

“Nerds party too, as our dearest Robin has proven.” He took a long pull from the cigarette, a plume
billowing out into the air in front of them.

“Oh, no. I thought you partied. I just thought they were… different parties. Ya know, trailer parks
and grunge music instead of graduated cheerleaders and ABBA,” Steve clarified.

“Those are, admittedly, most of the parties I’ve been to. But not because I didn’t think these would
be fun. Your kind just never invited me to these.” Eddie raised his eyebrows pointedly at Steve.

“My kind,” Steve repeated with a light hearted roll of his eyes. “Guess it doesn’t matter so much
now that we’re graduated? Considering you got an invite to this one.”

“Apparently so,” Eddie punctuated this with another puff of smoke. “What about you?” Steve
furrowed his brows.

“What about me?” said with an exhale of smoke.

“This scene is the kind of place I expected you to be thriving. Natural habitat,” Eddie smirked.
“So, why so gloomy?” Steve inspected Eddie, trying to discern if he was actually asking or just
trying to annoy Steve. But Eddie’s eyes were earnest as he waited for a reply, smoking through
more of his cigarette. Steve sighed, looking out upon the backyard and watching the groups of
people laughing and conversing amongst themselves. He smoked more before answering.

“Partying has sort of… lost its charm, I guess. All things considered,” Steve took a long sip of his
drink, hyper aware of Eddie’s endless eyes bored into the side of his face. For some reason it made
him squirm. He’d never found Eddie intimidating before, and even now that wasn’t the right word,
but over their time killing Vecna Steve learned he’s the kind of guy who really sees what’s going
on. He pays attention. And Steve wasn’t used to someone paying so close attention to him. Not in
any real way.

“I guess I can understand that.” Eddie said, surprisingly serious for once. “Suppose for me, being a
recluse lost its charm.” There was a small pause, Eddie no longer looking at Steve but somewhere
in the distance ahead, before he added “There were… a lot of times I thought I was going to die.
Times I thought most of us were going to die. Guess I realized life’s not really worth it without
people, and I didn’t want mine to end before I got some people in it that I cared about. Really cared
about. Not just high school bandmates, or whatever. As great as they are, besides our shared
interest we don’t have much tying us together, ya know?”

Steve did know. He knew plenty of people, sure. Teammates, other “popular” students from school
that he associated with because… well, because he felt like it was the thing to do. But it wasn’t
until Nancy, Robin, and the kids that he really cared about people and whether or not they stayed
in his life. That he wanted to do things for people, and not because of what he got out of it.
“Yeah. I know.” They smoked in silence for a moment, Steve watching Eddie from the corner of
his eye, and he had to admit to himself that over the group’s time killing Vecna, he’d come to
consider Eddie someone he, at the very least, detested the idea of him dying. In fact, one of the
scariest moments throughout the entire ordeal was when he thought they’d lost Eddie. Vecna had
him in his grasp, tentacles strangling him as Eddie hovered high above the ground. Steve had
sworn Eddie had been right next to him, and then the next second he was hoisted in the air, clawing
feebially at the vines as his face contorted, choked noises scraping to escape his mouth.

Steve hadn’t known he was running until he was at Vecna, chopping the tentacles off in one swift
motion, Eddie’s body dropping to the ground. Vecna had tried to get Steve in that moment of
course, but Robin, Nancy, and Lucas had successfully fought him off enough for Steve to pull
Eddie behind some cover.

”Munson? Eddie, look at me,” Steve lightly patted Eddie’s cheek, tugging the long haired boy’s
attention to him as he crouched over his slouched form. Fear was the only thing in his wide, brown
eyes, and it was jarring to see a guy who carried himself with such confidence look so small.
”You’re okay, hey–” Steve put his hands on Eddie’s shoulders, forcing him to hold his gaze as
panicked, scratchy breaths poured out of the boy below him. “You’re fine. You’re here.”

Eddie hadn’t said anything right away. Just tugged Steve down into a crushing hug, hands fisting
in Steve’s clothes. And Steve had hugged him back just as tightly. He had thanked him properly
later, when it was all said and done and it was just the two of them awake in the Wheeler’s
basement.

“Jeez, you really do think I’m attractive,” Eddie’s words dragged Steve back to the moment, and
he realized he had been staring at Eddie for a considerable time now, a smirk on his face and
cigarette discarded in a nearby ashtray on the porch railing. Heat flooded Steve’s face for the
second time that night as he snapped his eyes away, a scowl crossing his face in an attempt to hide
his embarrassment.

“Shut up. I was just lost in thought,” he muttered as he took a long drink. He’d drunk enough now
for his head to feel fuzzy and body warm, but not enough to numb his self consciousness entirely.

“Yeah, lost in thoughts about how hot I am,” Eddie teased, a satisfied grin crossing his face as
Steve shot him a look.

“God, you’re insufferable,” Steve sighed out smoke.

“Oh, c’mon. You secretly love it,” Eddie bumped his shoulder against Steve, then looked into
Steve’s nearly empty cup, then his own. “Here, finish mine. I should start sobering up to drive.”
Steve threw back the rest of his drink before stacking Eddie’s cup in his, and taking a sip.

“Trying to get me drunk, Munson?” Steve arched a brow at the accused, who was watching him
with an odd smile.

“Think you’re doing a good enough job of that yourself, Harrington,” Eddie retorted smoothly, and
the silence that followed lingered just a bit thicker than usual as they regarded each other, Steve
finding himself momentarily distracted by the look in the other’s eyes. A feeling Steve couldn’t
pinpoint flooded him, as if he were suddenly a million times drunker, and then confusion. For a
second, he even considered his drink being spiked, but he’d pourn his own drinks and knew Eddie
wouldn’t do that. Plus, he watched Eddie mix the drink he was now drinking. He cleared his throat
and shook his head again, breaking the abnormally long eye contact they had been holding and
putting the rest of the cigarette out in the ashtray.
The two of them joined Robin and Vickie again, Steve getting considerably drunker throughout the
rest of the party than he had intended, but by the end of it he was thoroughly enjoying himself. So
much so he didn’t think twice about how close he was sitting to Eddie on the couch, or the fact that
Eddie’s arm was slung over the back of it and all he’d have to do is tip his head back to be– for all
intents and purposes– in his arms.

“You’re seriously telling me that you think Mike Myers would beat Freddy Krueger in a fight?”
Eddie looked at Steve in disbelief, Steve laughing.

“That guy is tenacious, man. Give me one reason why he wouldn’t,” Steve challenged, looking
hazily at Eddie through lidded eyes. He smiled wider at the way Eddie was watching him intently,
big brown eyes only focused on him as an amused smile hung on his lips. Steve didn’t realize until
this moment how close they really were, knees brushing and heads tilted toward one another so
they could be heard over the music. He blamed the buzzing inside him on the copious amount of
booze that he’d consumed.

“I can give you, like, a million,” Eddie chuckled, as if the argument was too easy. “For one, Mike
Myers is just some dude. Freddy lives in your fuckin’ nightmares. All he’d have to do is wait for
Myers to sleep and he’d have no chance! Plus, you can’t hurt Freddy unless you drag him into the
real world, which is incredibly hard to do.”

“But– but consider this…” Steve held up a pointer finger, leaning a fraction of an inch closer and
twisting his torso to face Eddie more. “Mike has a scarier mask.” Eddie furrowed his brows at
Steve before bursting out into laughter.

“Okay… putting aside the fact Freddy doesn’t need a mask to be scary… how does that mean
Mike can kill him?” Steve looked away, considering Eddie’s words before laughing almost
groggily to himself.

“I guess it doesn’t. You win, Munson,” Steve patted Eddie’s knee, leaving his hand to rest there
without really taking much notice that he did so. “Let’s revisit this argument when I’m sober. Then
I’ll get ya.” Eddie didn’t respond right away, looking at Steve as if he said something wildly
confusing, which puzzled Steve because he didn’t think he had. Though it was getting harder to
remember what they were talking about.

“Speaking of which, I think it’s time I get you kids home,” Eddie leaned around Steve to interject
into Robin and Vickie’s conversation. “Hey, Vickie, you need a ride? I was gonna take Robin and
Steve home.”

“Oh, yeah actually. I came here with someone, but I saw him go upstairs with some girl a while
ago and haven’t seen him since,” she gave him a genuine smile. “Thanks, Eddie.”

“You still wanna spend the night at mine?” Robin asked, and even in Steve’s deeply inebriated
state he saw the blush rush to Vickie’s face.

“Uh, y-yeah. If that’s still– I mean if you’re still cool with it?” Steve and Eddie shared a knowing
look at this.

“Y-yeah! I’m cool with it!” Robin said eagerly, her face lighting up before she seemingly realized
how she sounded and cleared her throat.

Steve leaned in close to Eddie, whispering “It’s like watching two science experiments learning to
hold a conversation.” Eddie chuckled at this, playfully hitting Steve on the arm before standing up.
He caught Steve off guard by pulling him up quickly by the wrists, letting go too fast for Steve to
get his bearings and causing him to stumble forward into Eddie’s chest, his forearms the only thing
in between them.

Eddie chuckled. “Easy there, Harrington. I know we’ve established you think I’m irresistible, but
we’re in public.” His voice was low and resonated between them, their noses barely an inch apart,
and it pulled a giggle from Steve, of all things.

“You wish, Munson,” he pushed himself off of Eddie with a roll of his eyes. He noticed Robin
giving him an odd look, but whatever she was thinking she decided not to voice it as the four made
their way through the house and to Eddie’s van on the street.

They dropped the girls off first, saying their goodbyes as they filed out of the back of the van, and
leaned on each other as they walked up Robin’s driveway.

“They grow up so fast,” Eddie cooed, clasping his hands over his chest like a dramatic mother.
Steve smiled as he watched to make sure his friends got in. Once they disappeared inside, Eddie
began to pull out of the driveway and Steve began giving him directions to his house.

The drive wasn’t long, the cool night air filling the van from the open windows, a peaceful silence
blanketing the boys besides one of Eddie’s cassettes playing on low volume.

“Your humble abode, Harrington,” Eddie gestured to the not-so-humble two-story house that Steve
called home.

“Thanks for the ride, man. And for somehow making the party more tolerable,” Steve gave Eddie a
teasing look. Eddie pulled a face of mock offense, but his face quickly crumbled into that familiar
fun-loving smile.

“Try not to miss me too much,” he grinned, earning an eye roll from Steve, but this time a smile
was unable to leave his own face.

“Yeah, yeah. I regret this night already,” Steve opened his door and hopped out, stopping briefly to
put a hand on the driver side door, peering in the window slightly. “Night, Munson.” He gave the
van two pats before making his way up his driveway, swaying slightly as he was still reasonably
drunk. When he got his door opened he turned over his shoulder to see Eddie still in the driveway,
presumably waiting until he got in as well. He gave a small wave before disappearing into his
house, and making his way as quietly as he could to his room.

When he flopped back onto his bed he found himself replaying a lot of the night in his head, which
consisted entirely of Eddie as they had been nearly glued to each other’s side the whole night. He
drifted off to sleep with a faint smile on his face.
 The Monumental Task of Loosening Up Steve Harrington

“I don’t get why I’m coming with you,” Steve stated, doing a final hair-check in his rearview
mirror.

Robin groaned. “Don’t tell me I have to talk you into another thing. I used all my big ammo last
time.”

“No. I’m driving us there aren’t I?” Steve pointed out, starting his car. “I just don’t see why my
presence is necessary. In fact,” he glanced over at Robin as they began the drive. “Why are you
going over to Munson’s at all? You and Vickie should just go on a date.”

Robin scoffed. “Sure. Let me just, ask her on a date,” She rolled her eyes. “Like that’s not
presumptuous. Just because I know she likes girls now doesn’t mean she likes me.”

“She slept over the night of the party,” Steve reminded, but Robin gave a sigh.

“It’s different when you’re gay. Girls have sleepovers all the time. Makes it hard to know when
you’re sleeping over, or sleeping over.” Admittedly, he realized now she was right and it didn’t
really narrow anything down.

“Okay, so what did you two do when you got inside?” He realized if he didn’t outright tell his
friend what was romantic and what wasn’t, Vickie would have a wife and kids by the time Robin
made a move.

“Went upstairs and got ready for bed. I let her borrow some sleep clothes, but again, that’s–”

“Yeah. Normal for friends. Guys have sleepovers, too, Rob,” Steve glanced over at her. “You don’t
have to remind me what’s normal sleepover behavior. Did you share a bed?”

“I mean… yeah. I wasn’t gonna make her sleep on the floor.”

“Ehhh…” Steve debated, pursing his lips together. “I dunno. Could go either way, I guess.”

“Yeah, were you gonna try and tell me you’ve never shared a bed with a guy friend?” Robin
countered.

“True, but that’s usually reserved for close guy friends and only if I’m too tired to get them shit to
sleep with.” Steve held up his index finger, as if telling her to slow down. “You went from talking
a few times at school– if you could call it that– to talking all night at a party, to sharing a bed the
first time she comes to your house. Not to mention she totally could’ve gone home, Munson was
down to drive her.”

“Okay, but that’s practically what you did with Eddie.” Robin pointed out, and for some reason
Steve found his face heating. “Barely knew each other, then talked all night at a party. You just
didn’t sleep over.”

“It’s obviously different,” Steve rolled his eyes.

“How?”

“Eddie’s not gay,” he said with a breathy laugh, as if it were obvious. There was a pause, causing
Steve to glance over at Robin, who to his surprise seemed to be studying him closely, eyes
narrowed like they do when she thinks deeply.

“One,” she said finally. “I find it interesting you didn’t say because you’re not gay. And two: did
he tell you that?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer, but shut it before doing so. “No…? I guess not. I just…”

“Assumed?” Robin asked.

“Well, yeah. I don’t really spend my time wondering who’s gay or not gay, Rob,” He glanced over
at Robin again. “Is he gay?-- No, nevermind. Pretend I didn’t ask. I probably shouldn’t be asking
you that.”

“You could always ask him.” Robin supplied, gave a lopsided smirk.

“Feels like something I shouldn’t just be asking people,” Steve responded, gesturing with one hand
to himself. “Might come off like a hate crime.” Robin let out a laugh at this, earning a chuckle
from Steve himself.

“Whatever. You and Eddie are just here so I don’t freak out and ramble about something totally
freakish,” Robin finally answered his question, though Steve still didn’t see much of the point.

“I’m not a miracle worker, Robbie,” he teased, Robin playfully swatting his shoulder. They picked
up Vickie on the way to the trailer park, Steve greeting her and doing the best to keep conversation
flowing on the ride over when he saw Robin struggling with what to say next. He supposed he saw
what she meant, now, plus a horror movie is a perfect excuse to get a little friendlier-than-friends
with someone. Either way, if this is what his friend needed to get a grip on her confidence, he was
more than willing to help.

They pulled up outside Eddie’s trailer not long after, the three filing out of the car and Robin
knocking on the door first. Considering it was a trailer, it didn’t take long for Eddie to open the
door. He smiled warmly at Robin, pulling her into a hug.

“Welcome back, Rob,” Eddie said as he pulled away, turning to address Vickie and Steve. “Vickie,
Harrington, try not to lose your minds over the estate, hard as it may be.”

“Thanks for having us, Eddie,” Vickie smiled encouragingly, Eddie opening the door wider and
gesturing for them to come in. Steve filed in last and kicked his shoes off next to the others’, Eddie
closing the door behind him and moving to the kitchenette.

“You guys can have a seat. Can I get you anything? Water? Beer?” He looked between the three of
them. “Soda? Weed?”

“Let’s not corrupt them just yet, maybe.” Robin smiled, as if sharing a private joke with Eddie. He
chuckled.

“Probably for the best. Robin doesn’t shut up when she’s high,” Eddie stage whispered the last
part to Steve and Vickie. Steve bit back a comment about how that wasn’t much different to Robin
sober.

“Hey!” She interjected. “You said you thought I was interesting!”

“And I did!” Eddie shouted in defense. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, holding the door open
and gesturing questioningly to Vickie and Steve.
“Beer, please. If we’re watching Poltergeist I’m gonna need to calm my nerves,” Vickie chuckled,
Robin smiling downright fondly at her. Eddie pointed at Steve, looking at him expectantly.

“Yeah, sure. With one beer I’ll still be good to drive after the movie,” Steve shrugged, taking a
seat on the couch next to Robin and Vickie.

“Oh, yeah. By the way, my uncle’s gonna be gone all weekend so if you guys wanna stay the night
feel free.” Eddie nodded at the couch. “That pulls out and can fit two people. And Harrington, you
could crash in my room.” He got beer for all of them and popped in the VHS, also taking it upon
himself to turn out all the lights and draw the curtains before he took a seat on the other side of
Steve. “Sorry, it’s a tight squeeze on the couch y’all.” Everyone made various noises expressing
they didn’t mind, settling in for the movie.

Eddie got up about twenty minutes in and brought over two blankets, passing one over to Vickie
and Robin before he began covering himself with the blanket. He held up a corner, raising his
brows at Steve. “Blanket or no?” Eddie asked softly. Steve looked over, debating for only a second
before agreeing and pulling it over the both of them and muttering a thanks.

It was weird seeing Eddie in such a casual light. No denim vest or leather jacket, just a faded band
tee and tucked under a blanket. Still wore his ridiculous amount of rings, which admittedly made
his fingers look nice. Steve noticed now, the light of the tv glinting off them as he took a sip of his
beer, that he had really long fingers. Very suited for playing guitar, he thought. It was then that
Steve realized he had been staring at Munson’s fingers for way too long, and his gaze jerked back
to the screen.

The couch was a tight squeeze, Eddie was right, but Steve found he didn’t mind as the movie
pressed on, the eerie atmosphere building. Eventually Eddie moved his arm to rest on the back of
the couch, giving Steve slightly more arm room but somehow, at the same time, making the space
feel more intimate. Steve took a sip of his beer and tried to focus more on the movie. He’d never
seen it before, and while it wasn’t the scariest movie he’d seen– and certainly not the scariest thing
he’d actually seen– a jumpscare with a clown doll managed to get him.

Steve jolted with a loud yell, hands shooting out to grip Eddie’s shoulder and chest, his shirt balling
slightly in his fists. “Jesus fucking christ,” Steve breathed out, head slumping and grip loosening
on Eddie, but not fully releasing just yet.

“Jeez, Harrington,” He turned to see Eddie smirking at him, and their proximity almost gave Steve
deja vu. Eddie clapped the hand resting on the couch on the base of Steve’s neck, causing all of the
hairs to suddenly stand on end as his thumb brushed over the bare skin quickly. “Who knew you
were so scared of clowns? Or was it the fact it was a doll?” Eddie teased, removing his hand and
placing it back on the couch. Steve shot him an unimpressed look, not dignifying him with a
response as his body relaxed again and his attention was back on the tv. Or, at least, he tried to turn
it back to the tv. He found himself thinking about Eddie’s thumb brushing over the back of his
neck for the next few minutes.

When he realized how fixated he had become, he shifted uncomfortably and finished his beer. “Is
it cool if I get another one?”

“Be my guest,” Eddie nodded with a shrug, gesturing to the kitchenette beside them. When Steve
sat back down it was a bit closer to Eddie than he intended, but he simply opened the beer and
followed Eddie’s lead in putting his feet up on the table in front of them, leaning back a bit. As he
did this, his throat tightened at the realization he was practically leaning his head against Eddie’s
shoulder. What if Eddie got weirded out? What if Robin and Vickie thought it was weird? Should
he move over, or is that drawing more attention to it then just staying where he is? Steve’s whole
body felt tense, like all of his muscles were flexed in an attempt to not invade Eddie’s space too
much. Like relaxing would be the last straw that made Eddie flip out on him for being so weird
when he invited Steve to his home.

Steve had never been this worried about what a person thought of his actions, and these thoughts
whirled around his head but he still wasn’t sure if moving would be the right decision. He was
frozen with indecision, not even paying attention to the movie anymore when something fell over
his shoulder. Steve glanced to see Eddie had shifted a bit, his hand having fallen lightly over
Steve’s shoulder. Sparing another glance at Eddie’s face, Steve saw he was simply taking a sip of
his beer, unphased by any possible weirdness Steve had been stressing over.

All at once Steve felt himself unclench, a soft breath he hadn’t realized he was holding left his
mouth all at once as he deflated into the couch. If Eddie was so unbothered by his hand on Steve’s
shoulder, then he was fine with the proximity, and probably didn’t even notice what he’d been
stressing about. At least, that was Steve’s logic, and it allowed him to relax against Eddie without
worry.

During a tense scene where the wife falls into a sunken crypt, a bunch of muddy skeletons popping
up around her as she struggles to get out, he even found himself leaning closer to Eddie.
Subconsciously at first, but he became aware when he realized his shoulder was leaning against
Eddie’s chest, Steve tucked into his side and Eddie’s hand still loosely hanging over his other side.

“Ya know,” Eddie’s voice was soft and quiet in Steve’s ear. “They used real skeletons in this
scene.”

Steve’s face scrunched in skepticism. He tilted his head a bit, still keeping his eyes on the screen as
he whispered back. “No way. I’m not that gullible, Munson.”

Eddie chuckled in his ear, deep and rumbling in his chest against Steve. Steve’s hair stood on end
again. He blamed the movie.

“No, It’s true. My uncle has a friend who worked on the set,” Eddie said.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause it’s impossible for you to lie about that, too,” he said
sarcastically.

“Believe me or not, Harrington,” and Eddie saying his last name in his ear shouldn’t be making his
stomach feel like that. “I’m just trying to share a fun fact to keep you from jumping out of your
skin.”

“Your logic was to tell me those are real dead people in order to calm me down?” Steve breathed a
laugh. He wanted to look over at Eddie, the urge almost winning out, but for some reason he was
also fearful. The fear won out. “I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“Now who told you that? I graduated high school at 20, Harrington.”

Steve shrugged. “No one had to,” he answered honestly. “Your ideas saved our asses more than
once. Hasn’t anyone ever told you high school isn’t everything, Munson?” His curiosity won out in
the end, head turning to face the boy beside him. Eddie was already looking at him, large eyes
picking him apart like he was a puzzle. It caught Steve off guard, the air of cockiness yanked away
as soon as they made eye contact, and for the second time now Steve found his face inches away
from Eddie’s. Steve’s eyes darted between Eddie’s before– and he doesn’t know why he did this–
falling on Eddie’s lips for a fraction of a second. Blink and you’ll miss it, or at least Steve hoped
so.
Heat sprung to his face and he snapped his head back to the screen. Robin stood up then, also
asking Eddie if she could grab another beer.

“Trust me, that we always manage to have an endless supply of. Go nuts,” Eddie gestured with the
hand that wasn’t on Steve. As Robin stood up she seemed to almost do a double take at Steve, no
doubt confused that they were tolerating each other so easily.

“Grab me one too?” Steve asked as she walked over. Robin waved her hand to indicate she got it,
passing the can to him as she took her seat next to him again. She gave him that odd look again,
one she’d been giving more and more, but Steve never really knew what she was thinking and she
never elaborated. He brushed it off, cracking his third beer while relaxing further into Eddie.

The first movie ended and everyone agreed they wanted to watch another, Eddie giving the girls
free reign of his horror movie collection. Robin and Vickie sat on the floor in front of the
television, Eddie and Steve still on the couch sipping their beers, of which Vickie got Eddie a fresh
one.

“Didn’t think you’d be the kind of guy to get spooked by horror movies, Harrington,” Eddie teased.
Steve gave him a look and knocked his knee against Eddie’s under the blanket, having to draw it
back first as his side was now completely pressed against Eddie’s.

“The only reason you didn’t jump is because you’ve seen it before,” Steve defended. “I’m not even
the only one here who jumped, either!”

“Yeah, but you’re the one who gets most riled up over it,” Eddie was the one to knock his knee
against Steve’s, this time. Steve buried his face in his beer, grumbling out a “whatever.”

The girls ended up choosing The Exorcist, a movie that had so far shown to be mostly without
jumpscares. Robin and Eddie had already seen the film, and they both seemed to enjoy teasing
Vickie and Steve over their lack of culture.

It wasn’t until halfway through the movie that Steve realized Eddie’s arm had long been off the
back of the couch, now directly slung around Steve’s shoulders. And the only reason this came to
his attention was the maddeningly distracting patterns Eddie was softly tracing with his thumb over
Steve’s shirt. A little girl was spider-walking and spewing blood on screen, and all Steve could
focus on was how Eddie seemed to enjoy tracing Steve’s collar bone through his shirt, electricity
shooting up his spine when the thumb would brush over skin and ever-so-slightly dip under his
collar before popping back out.

Steve would find himself glancing over at Eddie, wondering if the latter knew the effect of what he
was doing, but every time he seemed to intently be watching the screen. Eventually Steve gave up
trying to discern if this was some weird way to fuck with him, and just enjoyed the feeling. If it
was an attempt to annoy Steve, he felt triumphant in the fact that it was having the opposite effect.
He didn’t know what to think if it wasn’t with the intention to annoy him, so he didn’t entertain
that possibility, dismissing the question as soon as he asked himself it.

The end of the movie came much quicker than Steve expected, especially since they said it was a
long movie. To Steve’s surprising dismay, Eddie unwrapped his arm from him and stretched,
Robin stifling a yawn as well.

“Alright, let’s get the couch pulled out for y’all,” the four stood up at Eddie’s words, the girls
pulling back the coffee table while Steve and Eddie pulled out the couch. “You two can keep these
blankets, and there’s some pillows underneath the couch for you. If you need anything my room is
the furthest down the hall.” Steve grabbed all the empty beer cans in his arms and tossed them in
the waste bin before they all said their goodnights.

Eddie’s room was pretty much exactly what Steve expected. There were D&D books, a guitar and
an amp, a reasonably filled ashtray, a bong, some clothes strewn about, and the walls were littered
with various posters of movies and bands. Tucked into the corner was a full bed with dark red
spreading.

“I can sleep on the floor if you got a pillow,” Steve supplied groggily, wiping the sleep out of his
eyes.

“I’m not making you sleep on the floor, man. What kind of host do you think I am?” Eddie
rummaged through his dresser before turning around and throwing clothes at Steve’s. He did not
catch them in time, them hitting him smack in the face. He grabbed them off of his face and looked
at a pair of sweatpants and a stretched out t-shirt. “So you don’t have to sleep in jeans and a
crewneck.” Eddie closed his door and began unbuckling his belt, Steve immediately whipping
around so he wouldn’t see.

He took a second before he took off his shirt and slid on Eddie’s. It smelled overwhelmingly like
him, his whole room did, which wasn’t a bad thing, just… noteworthy to Steve. Once Steve had
changed into Eddie’s clothes he turned around, his brain buffering as it slowly registered that Eddie
was shirtless, wearing nothing but sweatpants. His long hair fell over his bare shoulders, his upper
body just as toned as his arms would imply.

Steve felt himself staring as Eddie moved for the door, and he quickly blinked himself back into
reality, tearing his gaze away. “I don’t have an extra toothbrush, but you can rub toothpaste on your
teeth if you want.” Steve took this as a cue to follow him to the bathroom.

“Better than nothin’.” Steve commented as he entered, Eddie leaving him to get ready for bed.
Once Steve was done Eddie dipped out to presumably do the same, chuckling when he returned to
see Steve just standing awkwardly in the middle of his room.

“You can get in the bed, Harrington,” he flopped onto his bed, scooting over to make room and
relaxing back, his arms stretching behind him to prop up his head. It was impossible for Steve not
to take in the way they flexed, and his toned chest rising and falling with a single necklace atop it.
With his messy waves of hair, Steve couldn’t believe he was saying it, but Eddie looked downright
pretty. “You walk around my place like you’re scared of breaking it.”

Steve made a noncommittal scoff of dismissal, instead climbing tentatively under the covers, Eddie
following suit. “Can you get the light?” Eddie pointed to the bedside lamp next to Steve's side of
the bed. Steve began fiddling with the little knob on the side, but the light never turned off.

“I can never get these on the first go,” he grunted to himself, slightly embarrassed that he was
struggling to turn a damned lamp off.

“Nah, here. It’s kinda broken,” and without warning Eddie was leaning over him, bare chest and
dangling necklace inches from Steve’s face as the man above him tried his hand at turning the light
off. He paused for a moment, looking down at Steve with something the latter couldn’t understand.
Eddie breathed a short laugh, a small smile, shaking his head as he returned his attention back to
the light. “Don’t look at me like that, Harrington.”

Steve’s brows furrowed. “Like what?” He asked genuinely.

Eddie glanced back with an almost reprimanding look in his eyes, then they were plunged into
darkness, but the pale moonlight filtering through Eddie’s window illuminated him just enough for
Steve to see him still smirking down at him. “See? Just needed a little finesse,” he wiggled his
fingers in front of Steve’s face before rolling off of him and back onto his side of the bed. Steve let
out yet another held breath he hadn't been aware of. “Nighty-night, Harrington,” Eddie sighed out.

“Night, Munson,” and if it hadn’t been for the light amount of alcohol in his system, Steve
might’ve found himself awake all night trying to decipher what Eddie was talking about. But not
long after Eddie’s breaths slowed, Steve found himself slipping into one of the most peaceful
sleeps of his life.
 Twenty One Candles

He was thinking more about the conversation he had with Robin on the way to Eddie’s. A week or
so had passed since, and Robin and Vickie had kissed after the boys went to bed that night. But
while Robin had Vickie’s feelings confirmed, Steve found himself unable to confirm his own
thoughts and feelings.

“Steve, you good?” Robin asked with raised eyebrows.

“Huh?” Steve looked up. “Yeah, why?”

“You’ve been pushing around the same sausage on your plate for like, five minutes,” Robin
supplied, and he realized she was right. They were getting breakfast before work, something they
did when they opened together.

“Yeah I just… Did you ever figure it out?” Steve asked, knowing obviously that wasn’t enough for
Robin to know what he was talking about, but feeling too silly for asking what he was really
asking.

“That I’m a lesbian? Yeah, we’ve talked about it in detail, Stevie,” Steve rolled his eyes at her
sarcasm.

“No…” He sighed, pursing his lips as he debated actually asking. She’d know immediately, and
then it would be a whole thing. Instead of what it was. Which was a question. Just a question,
Steve thought. “How to tell if sharing the bed is platonic or not. Ya know, when you’re both the
same gender.”

Robin hit him with that scrutinizing gaze, and her delayed answer made it feel like ants were
crawling up Steve’s spine. “I mean, obviously in the case of Vickie it wasn’t. But I think you’re
asking for like, concrete evidence that it’s one way or the other, and in that case no. I haven’t. I
think it varies from situation to situation.” There was a long pause, and Steve knew there was no
avoiding what she was going to ask next. “Why?” She said it almost as if she already had an idea to
the answer, her eyes narrowing curiously.

“No reason,” Steve shrugged with a shake of his head, finally eating the sausage on his plate. She
gave him an unconvinced look.

“Is this about the movie night at Eddie’s trailer?” She leaned in closer, voice soft and no hint of
teasing in it, which almost made it worse. It made Steve feel like it was a thing, something she
couldn’t joke about. “Did something happen between you two?”

“What? No,” Steve denied, still opting to stare at his plate rather than her. He wasn’t lying, but for
some reason he felt like he was. “Obviously not. I was just… wondering.” Robin nodded in that
way she did when Steve’s answer gave her more of one than he intended, and he sighed heavily.

“Right. Obviously…” She treaded carefully. “But in the event it’s… not so obvious… I’d say if
you have to think about it too hard, it might not be just platonic.”

”I find it interesting you didn’t say because you’re not gay.” Steve shook his head in an attempt to
shake off his thoughts.

“Or, you could always just ask,” Robin supplied unhelpfully.

“Did you ‘just ask’?” Steve asked accusingly.

“No,” Robin said simply. “But I kissed her and that’s sorta like asking. You could always kiss him.
You’ll definitely get your answer that way.”

“I’m so glad to have a helpful friend like you,” Steve muttered sarcastically into his coffee mug.

“Steve, you know if you’re… struggling with that, I’m here for you, right?” Her serious tone was
back, and Steve was starting to hate this whole ordeal.

“I’m not struggling with anything, Robbie,” he put his silverware down with a clank, finally
finishing his breakfast. “After you pointed out I had just assumed he was straight, I started getting
worried I was sending him mixed signals. That’s all.” And Steve could almost believe it himself.
Because it was at least partially true, wasn’t it?

“Okay,” Robin said after a far too long silence, and Steve knew she was less than convinced and
just doing him the gracious favor of not pushing it. “Still. What I said stands.” Thankfully, there
was no more Eddie talk, or discussion of anyone’s sexuality besides Robin rambling affectionately
about Vickie, which Steve was grateful for.

Work was uneventful for most of the day, until Eddie came in about twenty minutes before closing,
and Steve suppressed a groan, instead opting for a roll of his eyes as he restocked the candy they
kept at the checkout counter. He was already unhappy about getting stuck working opening to
closing, their coworkers having called in sick at the last minute, and the last thing he needed to deal
with was the whirlwind that was Eddie Munson.

“Rob, Harrington. I’m in crisis,” Eddie said dramatically as he flopped his upper body onto the
counter.

“Hey, watch it!” Steve swatted Eddie’s shoulder. “You’re gonna crush the candy bars.”

“What’s your crisis?” Robin asked as she swept the floor.

“I wanna have a party for my twenty-first, but my uncle’s gonna be here for a while. He’s cool or
whatever, but not cool enough to party around, ya know?” Eddie explained, his attention mostly
directed to Robin. “Any ideas where I should have it instead? I was thinking the woods but that just
spells shitty-teen-slasher-movie. Especially in this town.”

“When’s your birthday?” Steve asked, neatly stacking Snickers bars.

“This Friday.”

“What about a bowling alley?” Robin offered, Eddie giving her a disappointed look.

“It’s my twenty first. I wanna get drunk, not throw a heavy ball around a bunch of middle schoolers
and geriatrics,” Eddie retorted, Robin putting her hands up in mock defense.

“We could always have it at mine,” Steve’s sentence didn’t only catch Robin and Eddie off guard,
who were now staring at him like he turned into a demogorgon, but himself.

“You wanna host my birthday party?” Eddie clarified, Steve shrugging as there was no use taking it
back now.

“Why not? My parents are gone this weekend visiting family, and I have a pool. It just can’t be a
huge thing,” Steve pointed his finger at Eddie like he was a dad setting the house rules to his
teenage son. “No more than ten people besides us, no smoking inside, no glass by the pool, and
upstairs is off limits to anyone but you two and Vickie.”

“Harrington, I could kiss you,” Eddie clapped Steve on the shoulder, who pointedly ignored the
blush working to his face as he busied himself with the candy once more. “What’d’ya say, Robin?
Call up Vickie and tell her to bring a friend or two? I’m only gonna invite the guys from the band,
anyway.” Steve rolled his eyes again at this. He didn’t think Eddie’s bandmates were very fond of
him, but it was Eddie’s birthday party and they were tolerable enough.

“Yeah, I’m sure she’s down,” Robin shrugged.

“Great! I’m gonna go tell the guys,” Eddie turned over his shoulder as he began to leave the Family
Video Store. “Thanks Harrington!” He called as the bell jingled.

“Hey– tell your friends it’s BYOB!” Steve yelled after him, Eddie giving a flippant wave as he
disappeared into the night.

There was a silence only accompanied by the sounds of sweeping and crinkling candy wrappers.
Finally, Robin was the one to break it.

“That was awfully nice of you–”

“Shut it,” Steve shut down, before disappearing into the back to get more Crunch bars. Great. Now
he was hosting a party. Objectively way less fun than simply attending one, which Steve barely
wanted to do. Stupid Eddie fuckin’ Munson.

+++

He knew the party wasn’t gonna be fun, but it was Eddie’s birthday and it wasn’t like Steve could
take back his offer. That’d be pretty fuckin’ rude, he thought, but he certainly wished he did. The
only people he knew were Robin, Vickie, and Eddie, and he was pretty sure everyone else there
hated his guts. Sure, they’ll swim in his pool, but god forbid they greet him with the slightest
smile. Or at the very least, not scowl when they make awkward eye contact across the pool.

“I’m starting to think you like being miserable at parties, Harrington,” he looked up to see Eddie
sitting down next to him, his feet joining his in the pool, two unopened beers in his hand. He
offered one to Steve, who took it with an appreciative nod. “Or were you just moping around
‘cause you hoped I would come over to cheer you up?” And just like that Steve’s moment of
gratefulness washed away.

“I think your friends are trying to explode me with their minds,” Steve said, looking over at
Eddie’s bandmates staring daggers at Steve over their cups, not bothering to hide the fact they were
talking about him. It made his skin prickle, but he just took a long swig of his beer.

“They’re just jealous that a jock is my new BFF. Don’t pay attention to them, Harrington,” Eddie
knocked his bare shoulder into Steve’s, giving him a smile that could almost be described as
encouraging. “Thanks for throwing me this party.”

Steve made a face of protest. “I didn’t throw you a party, Munson. I said you could throw yourself
one at my house,” he corrected into his beer can.

“Whatever you say, Stevie,” Eddie smirked, taking a sip of his own drink. “I’m surprised you let
me play my tapes, though.” Steve nodded, the sound of some rock band blaring through the
boombox he’d brought down.
“Well, figured it’s not much of a birthday party if the birthday boy doesn’t even get to listen to
music he likes.”

“Don’t worry, Harrington. I won’t tell anyone you’re secretly thoughtful to the freaks,” he clinked
his can against Steve’s, the backs of their hands brushing together as he did so. His rings were
discarded today, probably not wanting to lose them in the pool, and Steve found himself examining
the boniness of Eddie’s hands. They seemed somehow even bigger without the jewelry, and a part
of Steve wondered if his own hands were smaller. “I’m surprised you didn’t invite a girl or
something. No post-grad-cheerleader to warm your troubled heart?”

Steve looked at Eddie’s face now, teasing at always but a part of him was still staring at Steve so
intently it made his head swim a bit. He sighed, looking out across the pool where Robin, Vickie,
and two of Vickie’s friends talked in the deep end.

“‘Fraid not. What about you? Any freaky Elvira types knocking at your door?” Steve paused then,
remembering his conversation with Robin. He glanced over at Eddie unsuredly before adding “Or
Draculas, maybe. Don’t wanna assume.” He hurriedly brought the can to his lips and took a long
drink. Steve was looking at the water again, but he didn’t miss the way Eddie’s head snapped to
look at him at this. The curiosity was eating him alive but he didn’t dare turn to see what look was
on Eddie’s face.

When the silence trudged on just a little longer than Steve anticipated, he began to panic. Had he
said the wrong thing? Did Eddie take offense to him implying he might like guys? Shit, he
should’ve just asked Robin so he didn’t stick his foot in his mouth.

Eddie chuckled, snapping him out of his imminent spiral. Steve looked at him out of the corner of
his eye as he took another sip. “No, unfortunately not. Well, a few girls have hit on me at the bar
where the band plays.” He chuckled again. “But I’m not really looking for Elviras.” But I’m not
really looking for Elviras. The words rang out in Steve’s head, and he found himself smiling at
Eddie, who had busied himself with a loose string on his swim trunks. If Steve didn’t know better
he’d say Eddie looked downright nervous. A sudden urgency for Steve to show he was cool with
what was said flooded him.

“Guess that limits your options quite a bit,” Steve stated in a way that he hoped was sympathetic.
Eddie scoffed, eyes widening a bit as he nodded, staring out across the pool.

“Quite,” he huffed a noncommittal laugh. “But it’s fine. Gives me more time to annoy you and
Robin,” Eddie grinned at Steve, shoving him hardily with his shoulder.

“And thank god for that,” Steve muttered sarcastically, but he could feel the smile on his face as
looked back at Eddie, who was watching his own feet kick lazily in the pool. The lights reflected
and danced in his ebony eyes, making the usual mischief in them appear to bounce with an
intensity that almost supplied it a personality of its own. It was… entrancing, Steve thought, and he
had never really met someone he wanted to use that word for.

He heard snickering, and looked up to see the bandmates laughing and whispering like a group of
school girls as they observed Steve and Eddie. Anger and embarrassment fought for first place
inside Steve, jaw clenching as he forced himself to look down at his beer can, but he didn’t miss
the bothered look on Eddie’s face as he looked between Steve and the band.

He hated them being there, not because of them personally, but because it made Steve feel so
watched. Like they were critiquing his every breath and there was nothing he could do to win. And
because of that, he felt like he couldn’t be his usual self around his friends, which was getting him
down more than anything. He briefly wondered if this was how he made people feel in high
school, whether intentionally or not, and it made him wanna crawl inside himself.

It’s Eddie’s birthday party. Don’t make a scene. He repeated to himself silently, head shaking in an
attempt to brush off the anger.

Eddie had been looking at him for a moment, then something like determination washed over him
as his eyes settled on his bandmates, and before Steve knew it he was standing up and walking
over to them, water dripping from his lower legs.

“Hey!” His voice was more authoritative than Steve had ever heard it, and it took him by complete
surprise. It also caught the attention of Robin, Vickie, and their friends, who paused their
conversation to observe what was happening. Robin looked at Steve, raising an eyebrow. Steve
just shrugged off her worry from across the pool.

“Harrington was nice enough to give us a place to party, drink, and use a fuckin’ pool of all things–
and you repay him by gossiping like bitter high schoolers?” Eddie addressed his bandmates, who
were all silent. Steve couldn’t do anything but watch. “Either shape up or go home, boys. Maybe if
you weren’t such killjoys we’d get invited to more parties, yeah?” The guys looked among each
other, as if having a silent debate, before all muttering out defeated apologies.

“I don’t know why you’re apologizing to me,” Eddie said before looking over his shoulder and
pointing at Steve, who’s face heated as he embodied a deer caught in headlights. “Apologize to
him.”

They all chorused, albeit begrudgingly, their various “Sorry’s.” But Eddie wasn’t satisfied, shaking
his head.

“No, no, no. Like you mean it. C’mon, after me,” Steve had to bite back a smile he deemed
inappropriate as Eddie scolded them like school children. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Harrington.” They all
looked between each other again, before looking at Eddie to see if he was serious. Eddie must have
made a face at them because, with almost a collective sigh, they called over to Steve, louder but
just as dejected in tone.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Harrington,” he had to admit, their clear humiliation was making it hard not to
enjoy this little performance Eddie orchestrated. Eddie, seemingly satisfied, walked back over to
Steve, who was doing his best to contain his laughter behind his beer can, but clearly failing if the
amusement on Eddie’s face was any indicator.

“You didn’t have to defend my honor, Munson,” Steve grinned. “I’m a big boy, I can handle
myself.”

“I know you’re a big boy,” and even though they were his own words repeated back to him, it
managed to heat Steve’s face all the same. “But I wanted to. They were being assholes just because
they finally had the chance to be. It’s embarrassing.”

“You know what?” Steve looked over at Eddie, who returned his gaze intently.

“What?” Eddie tucked his chin into the palm of his hand, batting his eyelashes dramatically, as if
to mimic a gossiping school girl. Steve gave a snort, but continued.

“There is one perk to hosting, and it is that I don’t have to drive,” Steve stood up from the pool.
“I’m gonna get myself something stronger to drink. Want one?” And for a fraction of a second– so
brief he couldn’t be sure if he actually saw it– he thought disappointment flashed in Eddie’s eyes.
What Eddie could be disappointed over, he had no idea, so he let it go, deciding he must have been
mistaken. Eddie’s smile was back on his face too quick to second guess, anyway.

“Absolutely not,” Eddie scoffed. “You can’t mix drinks worth a shit. I’ll make us something
actually stomachable.” Steve rolled his eyes at this, but stuck out his hand for Eddie to take, which
he did, their beer cans forgotten by the pool. They dried what they could of their legs and Steve led
the way to his kitchen, large and pristine.

“You saw the drinks everyone else brought out there, right?” Eddie questioned, gesturing behind
his shoulder to the direction of the pool.

“Hey, you seemed eager to prove you know your way around a bottle,” Steve pointed at Eddie
before opening a set of cabinets next to him, revealing an expansive array of expensive alcohol.
“I’m just giving you some better shit to work with. No blaming cheap liquor.”

“A man after my own heart,” Eddie fanned himself exaggeratedly as he sidled up next to Steve,
inspecting his supply. And soon, he got to work, taking the two red cups Steve passed him. He was
even using some of the fancy stuff that wasn’t alcohol, so Steve never bothered to touch it.

“By the way, I figured it’s not really a birthday if you can’t get reasonably plastered, so…” Steve
crossed his arms, leaning against the island behind him as he watched Eddie make his concoctions.
“Feel free to stay the night. We got a guest bedroom,” Steve’s offer earned a curious look from
Eddie. “Plus, I owe you for letting me crash after the movie.”

Eddie gave a dismissive wave, turning back to his drink making. “You don’t owe me for anything,
Harrington. But I will take you up on the offer,” he turned to look at Steve for a brief, but genuine
moment as he said “Thank you.” It was then that they heard a shrill giggle, which they both
recognized as Robin’s, one that rarely occurs when she’s sober.

They shared a look, chuckling amongst themselves at this. “Maybe Robin and Vickie need that
guest bedroom more than me.”

“Well, you can always crash in my room. And anyway,” Steve gestured between himself and
Eddie. “If you’re not driving them, and I’m certainly not driving them, they’re kinda stranded here
whether they like it or not.” Steve gave a shrug, Eddie giving an agreeing smile.

“I’m no genius but I do believe that math adds up,” he grinned, pressing a full cup into Steve’s
hand. “Give me a taste, sugar,” he did a little shoulder shimmy with his request, Steve giving him a
weird look that he couldn't help but accompany with a smile. He obliged, sampling the
masterpiece. Eddie was excitedly tapping the tips of his fingers together in a sort of quite clap,
clearly eager for Steve’s thoughts.

“Holy shit, Munson,” Steve’s head lolled in minor shock. He had to give it to the guy. “I didn’t
know alcohol could taste this good.”

“Ahhh?” Eddie gestured to the air as if to say “See?” He picked up his own drink, giving it a sip.
“Told you I was good.”

“I guess so,” Steve admitted, taking a long sip of his drink and nodding in approval. “We should
probably go back out, but don’t tell them about the good alcohol. Our little secret,” Steve sent
Eddie a wink before striding back towards the door leading to the pool. He paused momentarily,
looking back at Eddie when he noticed he wasn’t following. “You comin’, Munson?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” Eddie picked up the pace, following Steve back to the pool. The sight waiting
for them was certainly not one Steve expected, and from the stunned look on Eddie’s face, he
didn’t either.

Vickie was on top of Robin’s shoulders in the pool, chicken fighting with the tiniest member of
Eddie’s band, who was on the shoulders of one of the guys Vickie brought. And Vickie was
winning.

“C’mon, Vickie, kill ‘em!” Robin yelled, sounding blood thirsty below Vickie. Steve cocked his
head in mild concern, but decided it was probably a pretty healthy way to let off some steam.

Eddie’s bandmate was pushed into the water, Vickie letting out a triumphant scream and raising
her hands in victory. A surprisingly… primal side, that Steve had not expected her to have. “Maybe
she can handle Robin afterall,” Steve commented, finding he was both newly impressed by and
fearful of Vickie.

“Vickie, Robin!” Steve called out as he and Eddie approached the pool. “You’re staying in the
guest bedroom.” He turned to Eddie before saying, quieter, “Executive decision.” Eddie nodded in
agreement, sipping his drink.

“Aw, man,” Eddie said, disappointment clear in his voice. “I forgot the most important ingredient
for our drinks.”

“What? Really?” Steve asked, looking down at his drink before returning his eyes to Eddie. “It’s
already so good, though. Do we really need it?”

“Yeah, man, it’s a total game changer. Here,” Eddie held out his free hand. “I’ll go put it in real
quick.” Steve shrugged, handing him his drink before turning back to the pool.

“Did you guys know Munson’s really good at making dri–” but he never got to finish his sentence,
as two firm hands plowed into his back and suddenly water was crashing around him. He quickly
breached the surface, shaking his head and wiping the water out of his eyes. “What the hell,
Munson?!” He blinked up at Eddie, who was laughing to himself in accomplishment.

“Oh, c’mon. It’s a pool party. Someone’s gotta get pushed in once or it basically didn’t even
happen,” Eddie justified, grin still plastered to his face.

“And it had to be me? The guy who just offered you my bed?”

“You what?” Robin piped up from where she was treading water next to him, eyes wide.

Steve gave a small shake of his head, waving dismissively at her, “Not like that.” He turned back to
Eddie. “At least help me out. I didn’t even get a buzz going from your stupidly good drink.” Steve
swam closer and reached out his hand, Eddie still smiling smugly as he took it. But now a smug
smirk crossed Steve’s face, Eddie’s instantly falling in turn as Steve now had a firm grasp on his
calloused hands. Steve tutted at Eddie. “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie,” He chastised playfully. “You’ve
been a very foolish boy,” and with that Steve kicked off the side of the wall, yanking Eddie in
practically on top of him, but he managed to move mostly out of the way at the last second. Eddie
surfaced a few moments later, flicking back his long hair so he could see Steve.

“You fight dirty, Harrington,” he said, slightly out of breath as they treaded water.

“You shoved me in the pool first, sugar,” Steve teased, triumphant smile still not quite off his face.

The night went on, the bandmates even intermingling with Vickie and her friends. Those staying
over continued to drink without care, and before they knew it, it was just the four of them drying
off by the pool, all reasonably drunk and tired.
“Alright, we got plenty of bathrooms for everyone to rinse off in. I say we turn in,” Steve offered,
his eyelids heavy with sleep. He wasn’t sure he was gonna even be able to make it through the
shower. The group rallied their agreement, and shuffled inside, Steve leading the way upstairs.

“Ladies, this is your room. That’s a bathroom, there’s another shower downstairs,” Steve gestured
to the respective doors down the hall. “I’ll bring some clothes you can sleep in, but they’ll
probably be baggy.”

“As long as I don’t have to sleep in my jeans, I don’t care,” Robin said groggily. Steve opened his
door, motioning for Eddie to follow.

“I’ll get you something to sleep in, too. You can use my shower. The towel hung up is mine but
there are folded ones in there that are clean,” Steve explained, voice quiet with tiredness as he
plucked out enough clothes for his three friends. He gave Eddie his before dipping out of the room
to say goodnight to the girls. “Let me know if you guys need anything,” he gave them some of his
older shirts and sweatpants with good drawstrings.

“Don’t get pregnant,” Robin said seriously, her eyes so heavy they almost looked closed. The
clock on the wall showed it was nearly four AM. They’d certainly be having a late morning.

“No promises,” Steve deadpanned before patting Robin on the shoulder and disappearing back into
his room. He heard the shower running from behind the bathroom door, which was connected to
his room. He grabbed a pair of gym shorts and took this time to shower in his parents’ bathroom,
and when he returned Eddie was already out.

He sat on the foot of Steve’s queen-sized, towel hanging around his shoulders and hair hanging in
curly strings around his head. Steve was the shirtless one this time, and he couldn’t help but think
the green of his shirt looked nice on Eddie. It was a shame he didn’t wear more color. “You kept
it,” was all he said, looking over at Steve as he closed his bedroom door. Steve furrowed his
brows.

“What did I keep?” he asked, sitting beside Eddie on the bed and following his gaze. Immediately
he realized what he was talking about.

“My vest,” a smile that wasn’t out of jest or Steve’s expense tugged on Eddie’s lips. Genuine
instead of joking, for once.

“Sorry. You can have it back,” Steve said, realizing he probably should’ve returned it awhile ago.
Was it weird that he didn’t? He couldn’t exactly say he forgot. He’d in fact thought about it ad
nauseam, but after a while of debating if he should give it back, it had been so long he decided just
to hold onto it.

“Nah, it’s cool. You can keep it. I have a backup,” Eddie said, and Steve couldn’t believe he was
friends with someone who owned a backup denim vest. “You looked hot in it, anyway.” The words
reverberated around Steve's brain, rattling around in his head which had now become devoid of
other thoughts. He dealt with it the only way he knew how; teasing Eddie, who had a mortified
look on his face, as if he hadn’t meant to reveal what he did.

“I’m sorry, did you just admit I looked hot in it?” Steve smirked, Eddie hiding his face in his hands
but not before Steve could see how red it was. “Oh, Munson, how the tables have turned.”

“So what? Plenty of people look good in denim vests,” Eddie defended. “They’re a staple for any
fashion-forward individual.”
“No, no, no,” Steve wagged his pointer finger at Eddie, reveling in a rare moment where he could
get the infuriatingly self-assured Eddie Munson embarrassed. “You said I looked hot in it. That is
distinguishably better than just looking good.” He had honestly forgotten what it was like to be the
teaser rather than the teased since Eddie started hanging around more. It was nice to be back on
top, Steve thought.

“Whatever, Harrington! So you wear a vest well– we should be getting to sleep anyway,” Eddie
tried to change the subject, Steve grinning before he could even get out his next sentence.

“Wow!” He said with exaggerated shock. “And now you just can’t wait to get me into bed–”

“Alright–” Eddie pulled his hands away and gave Steve a look like that was a stretch, but the latter
continued anyway.

“Unbelievable. You know, you men only want one thing and it is disgusting,” Steve deadpanned,
satisfied with himself when he saw Eddie having to bite back a smile while trying to maintain his
annoyance.

“Uhuh. We’re a bunch of dogs,” Eddie agreed with a shake of his head, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Neither of them could seem to wipe the smile off their faces as they crawled into bed, Steve
turning off the light. This left both of them lying on their backs in silence, staring up at the ceiling
for quite awhile. Steve had been seconds away from falling asleep, but now he was wide awake.
Eddie’s breathing never slowed, either, so it seemed he was having the same issue as Steve. When
Eddie spoke, it was almost too soft to properly break the silence.

“I don’t know how you do it.” Steve searched for what Eddie could be talking about, but for the
life of him couldn’t figure out what he was referencing.

“Do what?” Neither of them seemed keen to break the calm in the room, Steve’s voice barely
above a whisper. They both had a tone one only found in those dark hours of dawn, when
everything was softer around the edges.

“You seem so… well-put together,” Steve could almost hear Eddie swallow. “After everything. I
wish I could bounce back like you.” This stunned Steve into a brief silence.

“Believe me… I don’t think I’ve quite come back yet,” Steve said honestly, his voice almost
croaking to admit it. “If anything, I thought you were the one handling everything absurdly well,”
Eddie scoffed at this, but Steve doubled down. “No, it’s true. You’re certainly handling it better
than I did after the first time around. Those were the worst nightmares I had in my life.”

There was a long pause before Eddie spoke again, voice even smaller than before. “Did the
nightmares ever get better?” Steve turned his head to see Eddie looking at him, big brown eyes full
of hope even visible in the sliver of moonlight shining through Steve’s curtains. It felt like a punch
in the heart that Steve didn’t have a better answer.

“For a little bit. But then… something would happen again… or, I’d just get worse for seemingly
no reason,” Steve didn’t know why he was being so honest. He never found himself talking about
it much, even with Robin. It felt like he had to be the one to put on a brave face, even though none
of them ever did anything to suggest such a thing. But sometimes it’s all Steve felt he knew how to
do. “Sorry. That’s probably not what you wanted to hear.”

“No, it is,” Eddie said, to Steve’s confusion. “I wanted the truth. I’m tired of hearing ’it’ll be okay,’
and all that bullshit,” Eddie gave an exasperated sigh. “Because clearly it might not. All of you say
it’s come back more than once now… I don’t know. Saying it’s gonna be okay like any of us have
any fucking idea what could happen doesn’t help. It just makes me feel…” Eddie shook his head
lightly, brows furrowing as he looked somewhere far off. “Crazy.”

“Yeah,” Steve supplied, gaining the attention of Eddie’s eyes again. “I know what you mean.”
Eddie gave him a small smile then.

“Not a very fun house guest, am I?” Eddie chuckled, earning a sympathetic snort from Steve.

“If you, uh,” Steve swallowed thickly, not quite able to meet Eddie’s eyes as he spoke now. “If you
ever need to feel less crazy. I’m here.” He chanced a glance at Eddie, and it was a mistake because
he was smiling at him with so much in his eyes Steve felt like he was going to be crushed under the
weight of it.

Eddie’s pleasant smile cracked into a deeper grin. “Don’t think it’s possible for me to feel less
crazy, but I’ll keep that in mind, Harrington. Thank you.”

“Someone to join you in insanity then, maybe,” Stever offered, realizing that was a much more
doable request for him to fill.

Eddie gave a low, quiet whistle. “Watch out, world. Steve Harrington looks good in a vest and he’s
a poet.” Steve rolled his eyes, a smile on his face as he looked back up at the ceiling.

“Whatever, Munson. Goodnight,” and with that, Steve shut his own eyes.

“Night, Stevie.”

"Oh, one more thing," Steve said, Eddie humming in question. "Happy birthday, Eddie."
 Coping
Chapter Notes

btw, if the duffer brothers kill either of my boys i will be living in this universe i
created and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me

Birds chirping and sun shining in Steve’s eyes awoke him the next morning, pulling an annoyed
groan from his throat as he squeezed his eyes tight, hand fisting in the bedspread next to him.

“Someone’s grumpy,” he heard from beside him. Steve opened one eye, and was met with the sight
of Eddie smiling– smugly– at him. It was then that Steve realized he wasn’t grabbing sheets, but
rather his own shirt, which was attached to Eddie. Both eyes opened as embarrassment flooded
him, sleep making his brain lag to catch up with reality.

Eddie, who seemed like he might’ve been awake for a little, saw this and gave a warm smile. Then,
he did something that effectively shut down Steve’s barely functioning brain. He took the top of
Steve’s hand gingerly in one of his, then Steve’s thumb in the other, and proceeded to make it look
like Steve’s hand was talking while Eddie said, in a weird, scratchy demon voice: “Mornin’,
Stevie.” He let Steve’s hand fall back on his chest, still smiling that goofy smile as Steve tried to
form words, but it currently felt like his stomach was taking off from JFK.

Miraculously, he managed to snap out of it, rolling further onto his back and taking his hand with
him as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. He looked at the clock next to his side of the bed, and as he
predicted, they had slept late, the numbers showing it was half past noon.

“I heard the girls talking downstairs not too long ago. We should probably go before they burn your
house down,” Eddie pointed out, Steve letting out a quiet sigh.

“Always the babysitter,” he grumbled out, throat scratchy from the morning. When he looked back
over Eddie was staring at him, more intensely than usual, and god if Steve wouldn’t give
everything in the world to be a mind reader right now, because what is that look? “What?” He
asked.

“Nothin’,” his eyes glanced up at Steve’s hair. “Just nice to know that isn’t always perfect.” And
then, he ruffled Steve’s hair. Steve groaned in protest, shooting him a look as Eddie rolled off the
bed, dressed in Steve’s shirt and shorts. The golden light illuminated his hair from behind, and it
made the guy look downright angelic. Steve shook his head, blinking a few times before getting
out of bed and quickly throwing on a shirt and leading them downstairs.

“Is that them?” Steve heard Robin say from the kitchen.

“Do you think they…?” Vickie trailed off, and a blush rushed straight to Steve’s face. He was just
glad he wasn’t facing Eddie.

“Do you think we what?” Steve loudly announced before they entered the kitchen. The girls
stiffened slightly, as if caught doing something they shouldn’t.

“Uh… yacked,” Robin supplied, looking at Vickie to back her up, which Vickie nodded
enthusiastically. Dangerous, those two, Steve thought to himself as he gave Robin a scolding look.
He began moving around the kitchen, pulling out things to make breakfast.

“Nope. Too much experience to throw up that easy,” Steve said over his shoulder. “Scrambled
eggs and bacon fine, or am I gonna have to learn to make an omelet on the spot?”

“That’s fine,” Robin confirmed, his three friends sliding into the barstools pulled up to one side of
the island.

“Good. Because I wasn’t gonna do anything else, anyway,” Steve shot her a sickly sweet smile
before getting started on their breakfast.

“Hey, when did you say the Wheelers and the Byers get back?” Robin asked.

“Uhhh… last day of July. Why?”

“So… today?” Eddie said, causing Steve to whip around.

“What? No,” he challenged, walking over to a calendar on his wall and studying it.

“My birthday’s the thirtieth. That makes today the thirty-first, Harrington,” Eddie commented, and
Steve realized he was right.

“I wonder how long before Johnathan and Nancy have to go to college,” Robin wondered aloud.

“Probably not till late August, at least,” Vickie said, and Steve would wager she was right. It would
be nice to see them a little before they left, Steve thought. He hadn’t given much thought to Nancy
after everything. As much as he brushed off Eddie’s teasing, they definitely had a few weird
moments during their time killing Vecna. But that was done. She was back with Johnathan, and
when lives weren’t at stake, Steve wasn’t sure he was all too upset about that. They’d dated when
they were young, and honestly, Steve didn’t want the drama of fighting for someone already in a
relationship.

The four of them ate their breakfast, talking about random things, or funny moments from last
night, and before he knew it they were getting their things together, Eddie ready to take them
home. Steve was walking them to Eddie’s van when he realized something.

“Shit,” he grabbed Eddie’s jacket sleeve, everyone having changed into the clothes they wore over.
Eddie stopped, giving him a quizzical look. “I forgot something, wait right here.” Steve ran back
inside and bounded up his stairs, cursing himself for forgetting until now. It’s not even his birthday
anymore, he thought guiltily. He pulled open a drawer in his bedside table, retrieving the little
green box tied with a simple black ribbon, and ran back downstairs.

Eddie was leaning against his van, swinging his keys around idly, the girls inside already. He stood
up a bit when Steve came back, a curious look on his face. Steve pulled the box out from behind
his back, Eddie’s eyes lighting up in clear surprise.

“I totally fuckin’ spaced and didn’t even give you your present. Sorry, Munson,” Steve said
genuinely, apologetically wincing at his own forgetfulness as he placed the box in Eddie’s hand.

“You got me a present?” Eddie asked, voice more sheepish than Steve was used to. “You didn’t
have to, ya know.” Eddie began untying the ribbon and suddenly Steve felt nerves flood him.

“I, uh, I didn’t know your size… so if it doesn’t fit I have the receipt– or if you don’t like it. You–
you don’t have to like it,” Steve was rambling. Something he had, as far as he could remember,
essentially never done. “I just didn’t wanna get you nothing. Ya know, twenty one is a big birthday
and all–” he cut himself off when Eddie opened the box, revealing a large, silver ring with a shield
on it. Directly down the middle of the shield was a longsword. When Eddie looked back at him, it
was the biggest smile Steve had ever seen the boy wear, and the anxiety he was feeling fell away
all at once.

“Steve…” and he didn’t realize Eddie saying his first name would catch him so off guard. He
shifted his feet, placing his arm up on the side of the van so he could lean against it. Steve was no
expert, but this seemed like the good kind of speechless.

“You like it?” Steve asked, trying not to sound too eager, but admittedly he had spent a decent
amount of time deciding on the right ring. No point in getting someone a gift they’re gonna hate,
after all. Eddie had been inspecting the jewelry, but he looked back up at Steve then. And god,
Steve didn’t know how one person could fit so much emotion in one set of eyes.

“Are you kidding?” Eddie chuckled, beaming as he slid on the ring. Steve let out a breath of relief
when he saw it fit. “It’s fucking sick, Stevie.” And before Steve could prepare himself, Eddie was
throwing his arms around his neck, tugging him into a tight hug. Steve’s arm slid off the van and
he stood there for a moment, stunned, before he wrapped his own arms around Eddie’s waist.
Eddie was warm and smelled like he usually did, sweet musk and a faint smell of smoke. Steve
tucked his nose into Eddie’s shoulder, surprised by the smell of vanilla that hung in his hair. He
squeezed just a bit tighter, and then the hug came to an end. He couldn’t tell if it lasted a second or
thirty, but he found himself thinking it ended too soon regardless.

Neither of them said anything for a second, Eddie just biting on his lip but unable to contain a
smile. He shook his head slightly, chuckling to himself. About what, Steve didn’t know. Eddie
took the small box in his hand and tapped it to Steve’s chest twice, muttering out “Steve
Harrington,” in a way that could almost be awe. With that, he pulled open the driver’s door and
slid into his van.

Steve stepped back from the van as it started up, a grin never leaving Eddie’s face as he pulled out
of the driveway. He saw a flash of a look from Robin, but they were gone before he really had a
chance to figure out what she was trying to convey. He couldn't wipe the stupid smile off his face
for quite some time after his friends’ departure.

+++

If it wasn’t Eddie coming in to annoy Steve on his shift, it was most certainly Dustin Henderson.
Lucas and Max were there sometimes, but more often than not he could count on the short curly-
haired boy to be talking rapidly about whatever topic he was zeroed in on.

As was the case today, apparently. The bell jingled, and as soon as Steve saw that determined look
in his eye, he knew he wasn’t leaving this conversation without doing some child a favor. “Steve,”
Dustin said, beelining for the checkout counter.

“Oh, no,” Steve sighed. “What do you want?” He asked flatly.

“How do you feel about carnivals?” At this question, Robin came out from the back, an eyebrow
raised at Dustin.

“How do I feel about carnivals– Dustin, just get to the point,” Steve said earnestly. “We don’t need
a whole,” he gestured dismissively in the air, “thing to try and get me on board.”

“We need you to take us to the carnival. It’s in town and Mike and Will just got back,” Dustin
smacked his hands on the counter. “It’s perfect timing.”

“So? Ride your bikes,” Steve countered. First the babysitter, now the chaperone.

“We can’t, it’s on the edge of town. Plus, all of our parents are still pretty…” Dustin sighed. “I
guess they’re still freaked out because, ya know, us almost dying again. For like. The millionth
time. We wanna go at night for the haunted corn maze, but they won’t let us unless we specifically
have more than one adult with us.”

“Okay, even if I say yes, I’m only one person. Don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Steve deadpanned.

“Johnathan and Nancy agreed, too,” Dustin added impatiently, as if Steve was getting hung up on
the details.

“Let me get this straight,” Steve steepled his fingers and pointed them at Dustin. “You want me to–
once again– babysit you little goblins, but this time I have to also third-wheel with my ex-girlfriend
and her new boyfriend?” He raised his eyebrows at Dustin, trying to convey in his tone that this
was ridiculous.

“Please, Steve!” Dustin clasped his hands together and held them up to him in desperation. “This
whole strict parents thing is really getting in the way of a plan I got goin’ on, and I need you to
work with me here!” His eyes lit up as they fell on Robin. “Look! Bring Robin! Bring Eddie– I
don’t care, okay? I just need you there, my mom thinks you’re an angel.”

Steve looked at Dustin with crossed arms and pursed lips as he debated. He took a glance at Robin,
who was simply watching the interaction. She raised her eyebrows at him. He let out a sigh that
slowly turned into a groan as he laid his attention back on Dustin. “Fine.” Dustin fist pumped in
triumph. “Only if Robin goes,” Steve looked to his friend.

“Can I bring Vickie?” She asked, Dustin furrowing his brows in curiosity.

“When did you start hanging out with Vickie?” He asked Robin.

“We have lives outside of being your babysitter, Henderson,” Steve swooped in. Dustin was a good
kid, but he was, bless his excitable heart, a loud mouth. Steve understood why Robin didn’t feel the
need to tell the others. As far as he was aware, he and Eddie were the only ones who knew. Well,
and Vickie, Steve supposed.

“Clearly,” Dustin rolled his eyes, giving. “Eddie won’t stop blowing me off to hang out with you.”

“Hey, it’s not just me! Robin’s there, too. Why aren’t you blaming her?” Steve defended. Dustin
gave another roll of his eyes, shaking his head.

He muttered something Steve couldn’t quite make out, but he thought it sounded something along
the lines of “God, another Mike and Will,” before he started making his way to the door. “I gotta
go, but thanks! Pick us up at 7:30 tomorrow night– sharp,” Dustin emphasized, one hand on the
door.

“I don’t get off until 8:30– aaand he’s gone,” Steve lolled his head in defeat, turning to Robin with
a shake of his head.

“I’ll call Cory and scare him into taking your shift,” Robin said, hopping up on the counter and
beginning to flip through the employee contact info.

“God, if you’re taking Vickie I just went from third wheel to fifth wheel,” Steve whined.
“Just invite Eddie,” Robin shrugged, punching in what Steve assumed was Cory’s number.

“I dunno… Does the carnival really seem like something he’d wanna do?” Steve asked.

“Are you kidding?” Robin glanced around briefly. “Eddie acts like he was born in a carnival.
Besides,” she shrugged again. “You’re asking.”

Steve furrowed his brows before asking “What does that mean?”

“Hi, Cory?” Robin’s tone changed to one of customer service as Cory apparently picked up. She
continued in a perfectly polite tone, a wide smile on her face. “Hey, it’s Robin, from work.
Remember when I said it’d be awfully hard for you to be a famous keyboardist if I broke all your
fingers? Yeah? Well, it’s time we revisit that conversation.” Steve watched with deep concern, but
also an equal amount of fascination. He allowed her to continue. “I need you to take Steve
Harrington’s closing shift tomorrow.”

+++

Steve shouldn’t be here. The Starcourt Mall had been burned down for quite some time now. Yet,
Steve found himself standing in the middle of the mall, staring up at the Mind Flayer, standing tall
and very much alive. It was holding someone high in the air, tearing into them with its multiple
limbs.

Right, it’s tearing into Billy Hargrove. Steve knew this. He remembered feeling bad for Max. How
does he remember feeling bad if it’s only just now happening? His eyes focused in on the limp
form. Something isn’t right. The long, curly hair that hung in the air was not the dirty blond of
Billy Hargrove. It was brown, and there was a sickeningly familiar denim vest and leather jacket.

Horror sunk deep in Steve’s stomach, his knees buckling underneath him as he realized what he
was witnessing was Eddie Munson’s agonizing death. A scream ripped through his throat; “NO!”

He’d never meant something with so much of his being, the only thought that his entire body could
muster being ‘no.’ This couldn’t be happening. Steve doubled over onto the ground, wanting
nothing more but to run forward and do something. Anything. But his legs were lead, as if he were
a figurine fixed to the spot. Motionless. Useless.

Steve watched in abject horror as the Mind Flayer released Eddie, and his body dropped through
the air, sinking like a rock into a lake. He hit the ground with a sickening crack.

”EDDIE!”

Steve shot bolt upright, gasping for air, chest heaving and heart pounding with no sign of stopping.
He wiped his forehead, looking frantically around his room. Good, he thought. He was in his
room. A cold sweat covered every inch of his body, and his throat felt raw and scratchy.

Struggling to catch his breath, his body was still shaking with adrenaline as he tried to convince
himself none of that was real. His eyes rested on a denim vest hanging off the back of his chair.
Relief flooded him in that moment, panicked breaths slowing into deep, languid inhales. Eddie’s,
was all his brain could supply, but it was enough.

Steve ran a hand over his face, taking one final deep breath. His body moved before his brain even
made the decision, grabbing the vest off the chair and flopping back onto the bed with it clutched
to his chest. After a moment of debating if he could live with the shame, he slowly brought the
tough material to his face, and took a long inhale.
A sense of calm spread through Steve as Eddie’s now familiar scent filled his senses. He could
smell the sweet, earthy cologne he used, and the vanilla that clung to his hair. At this, Steve
couldn’t help but chuckle, endlessly thankful that it had all just been a nightmare. And then, all at
once it hit him what he was doing, and he lowered the fabric. A little pathetic, Harrington, he
scolded himself, then shook his head. “No,” he said aloud to his empty room. “A lot pathetic.”

He didn’t return Eddie’s vest to the chair until morning.

 Scare Easily

Steve stared at himself in the mirror, running his hands through his hair for the millionth time in an
attempt to get it to fall ever so slightly different. He let out a frustrated sigh, unsatisfied and
deciding to give up on his hair, he turned his attention to his outfit. It felt too… plain. Just a white
t-shirt with blue stripes tucked into dark blue jeans and some white trainers. It was a warm summer
night, as well, so no jacket would be needed.

As his eyes glanced around his room, they settled on the vest he had found comfort in the previous
night. His eyebrows perked up in debate. Munson did say you looked hot in it… Surely, if it could
get Eddie to pay him a compliment, he looked decent enough to wear it out.

He shrugged on the denim vest, taking a moment to appraise himself in the mirror. Steve had to
admit, he did like how it made his shoulders look. Giving a final tug on the lapel, he grabbed his
wallet and car keys and headed out to pick up the children.

+++

Steve pulled into the dirt parking lot of the pop-up carnival, Dustin, Lucas, and Max in his
backseat. Jonathan and Nancy were bringing Will, Mike, and El. He got out of the car, the kids
following suit, and saw that everyone else had already arrived and was waiting in the parking lot
for them. Including Eddie, Robin, and Vickie.

“I told you 7:30 sharp, Harrington,” Dustin scolded, looking him up and down. His brows
furrowed for a moment. “Is that Eddie’s vest?”

“Yeah, you’re welcome by the way,” Steve deflected, giving Dustin a soft shove forward as they
met up with everyone else. There was a guy Steve didn’t recognize standing beside Jonathan, with
just about the longest hair he’d ever seen and an outfit made up of loud, mix-matched patterns.

“Long-time no-see, Wheelers, Byers, and…” Steve landed on the long haired guy, pointing. “Nope,
definitely don’t know you.”

“Oh, I’m Argyle, man,” the guy smiled, lids looking so heavy that if he stood still enough he might
have looked asleep. He held out his hand, which Steve took with a smile.

“He’s staying with me until we head to college,” Jonathan explained, Steve nodding as it made
more sense.

“Argyle actually helped with the whole Vecna thing,” Mike piped up. “You guys just didn’t get to
meet.”

“Oh, well, welcome to freak city,” Steve nodded, Argyle chuckling with a lazy smile.

“Good to see you, Steve,” it was Nancy who spoke this time, giving Steve a small smile, which he
returned.

“You too, Nance.”

“Well, isn’t this lovely,” Dustin clapped his hands together, as if they were failing to stick to a
schedule. “Now can we please go in?” Everyone started heading towards the ticket booth, the older
kids leading the back.
“Nice vest, Steve,” Robin commented in that pointed way she did. “Now, where have I seen that
before?” Steve rolled his eyes at her.

“Robin, Vickie,” Steve greeted, smiling more genuinely at Vickie, while giving Robin a look that
said to shut it. A smug smile remained on her face.

“Jeez,” Eddie said, sidling up beside Steve and slinging an arm around his shoulder. A trill ran up
Steve’s spine. “Give the guy a vest and don’t even get a hello.” Eddie looked at Robin and Vickie
with mock disbelief, gesturing to Steve. “Can you believe him?”

Steve rolled his eyes, hoping it didn’t show how much their proximity was throwing him off.
“Hello, Munson.” He also couldn’t wipe the smile twitching at his lips.

“Harrington,” Eddie grinned widely, glancing him up and down. “Lovely as ever,” and with that he
slid his leather-clad arm off of Steve’s shoulders. Steve simply shook his head, still smiling to
himself.

“You two are closer than I remember,” Nancy commented, her arm hooked on Johnathan’s elbow.

“Yeah, well. Munson is… persistent,” Steve supplied.

“Hey, you didn’t say ‘annoying’!” Eddie said with mock enthusiasm before turning to Nancy and
stage-whispering “That’s a big step in our friendship.” Nancy and Johnathan chuckled at this.

“The night’s still young,” Steve teased, all of them buying some tickets. The kids began running
off, Steve’s hands on his hips as he shouted, feebly, “Be back here by eleven– Hey! I’m too young
for this hair to be graying!– Nope. There they go.” Steve sighed, letting his hands flop by his sides
in defeat. He turned to Eddie, shaking his head. “They’re gonna kill me, Munson. Survive demons
from another dimension– multiple times– and some kids are gonna kill me.”

“All you can do is embrace the chaos, Harrington,” he gave a reassuring pat to Steve’s shoulder.

“Hey, you think they got, like, food here?” Argyle asked, looking around aimlessly.

Steve raised his eyebrows. “At a carnival? Yeah, I think you’re in luck, dude,” Steve pointed over
to a line of food booths.

Argyle’s eyes lit up. “Alright, funnel cake,” and he started walking off.

Jonathan turned to Steve, nodding at Argyle. “That’s who I’m really babysitting. Will and El will
be fine.”

“We’ll meet up with you guys at the games,” Nancy said, she and Jonathan following after Argyle.

“You heard the lady,” Robin said, gesturing to some games nearby with a bunch of assorted stuffed
animals as prizes. “I wanna play some games!” Robin grabbed Vickie by the hand and tugged her
along, Eddie simply shrugging at Steve before following, leaving Steve to do the same lest he be
alone.

“That Argyle guy seems cool,” Eddie mused as they walked up to a skee-ball esque game, but
without the ramp. A no doubt underpaid teen with a dead look in their eyes leaned against the side,
chewing gum. Robin and Vickie were throwing darts at a booth next to them.

“Now how did I know immediately he’d be your kind of company,” Steve teased, sliding the teen a
ticket and getting a ball in return.
“You have three tries,” the teen said in a bored tone. Steve lined up his shot.

“You just know me so well,” Eddie smirked, watching as Steve made it into one of the harder to
reach holes, biting his lip in small victory. “Seriously, though. I’ll have to invite that guy to the
trailer.”

“Let me guess,” Steve said, taking his second shot. It sunk into a middle hole. “That’s code for
‘smoke so much weed our legs don’t work,’ right?”

“Hey, it’s not every day I meet someone who can keep up with me,” Eddie raised his hands in
defense.

Steve snorted. “How do you know I can’t keep up with you?” He glanced at Eddie before taking
his final shot, getting it in the middle again. He didn't know if it was in his head, but Eddie seemed
to be watching him a little extra tonight.

“Take your pick of these,” the teen gestured to some medium sized stuffed animals hanging above
him.

Steve spotted a frog. “That one,” he pointed to the stuffed frog, before saying to Eddie “Robin
loves frogs.” He took the frog from the teen, thanking him briefly.

“Have you ever even smoked before, Harrington?” Eddie questioned as they walked over to Robin
and Vickie.

“Robin, look,” he held up the frog when he got her attention. “It’s a frog,” he said simply, handing
it to her. A smile lit up her face as she accepted the gift.

“Thanks, Steve. I’ll call him Eugene,” she mused to herself, Vickie smiling widely at her as she
examined the stuffed frog.

“And, no, Munson,” he turned his attention back to Eddie. “I haven’t smoked weed before. I just
didn’t like you assuming I hadn’t.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows, chuckling a bit in disbelief. “But… I was right,” he pointed out, Steve
waving his hand dismissively.

“Besides the point,” Steve said, before continuing matter-of-factly. “You’ve deeply offended me
on this day. How will you atone for your sins?”

“Hmmm…” Eddie hummed, making a show of thinking before his eyes fell back on Steve. “I
could always offer to break your weed-virginity?” Eddie suggested, Steve’s face half way between
a smile and a grimace at his wording.

“If you promise not to call it that again, deal,” Steve chuckled, holding out his hand. Eddie looked
at it for a second before shaking it.

“Deal,” Eddie chuckled. As his grasp loosened on Steve’s hand, Steve spotted the ring he gave him
glinting up at him from Eddie’s hand.

Excitement got the better of Steve as he grabbed Eddie’s hand back to get a better look. “Hey,
you’re wearing it,” Steve said with genuine surprise, a small smile on his face. “You actually liked
it.”

Eddie gave him a questioning look. “Was that up for debate until now?”
Steve shrugged, letting Eddie’s hand fall. “I dunno. I’ve told people I liked plenty of gifts that I
didn't.”

“Then, in case it wasn’t clear,” Eddie held up his hand, wiggling his fingers. “I actually like it,
Harrington.”

“Hey, c’mon!” Robin interrupted, grabbing both of them by the wrists and leading them towards
one of those games with a bunch of mounted water guns where you race against each other.
Jonathan, Nancy, and Argyle were already waiting for them by the game, Argyle shoveling funnel
cake into his mouth like he hadn’t seen food in days.

Steve took a seat next to Jonathan, Eddie on the other side of him as they all got ready to shoot.
The game started and so did the yelling. Eddie started shoving Steve to throw him off, earning a
cry of exaggerated disgust from the latter.

“Cheater!” He accused, shoving him back.

“Gotta fight dirty!” Eddie laughed, but despite his attempts, he was losing miserably in comparison
to Steve, who was neck and neck with Johnathan.

“Just like old times, Byers,” he teased, grateful when Jonathan laughed, as he was briefly worried
it wouldn’t be taken as a joke.

In the end, Jonathan won a stuffed giraffe for Nancy, earning him a hug and kiss on the cheek from
the latter. The group collectively moved further down the lane of games, the couples, as expected,
falling into their own conversations. This was why Steve hadn’t wanted to come without another
friend, and he was grateful to have Eddie as a distraction. He didn’t blame his coupled friends for
getting wrapped up in each other, obviously, but a night of Steve sitting around in silence while
slightly-too-intimate conversations were had around him sounded horrible.

They came to a pause so Robin could try and knock down some milk jars for a giant octopus. Steve
wandered to a basketball booth across from it, a simple hoop-shooting game, and his eyes fell on
one of the prizes. A tiny, palm-sized stuffed bat with floppy wings. “Munson, don’t you like bats?”
Steve pointed, raising his eyebrows. Eddie walked over, face lighting up at the small, toy creature.

“Adorable,” Eddie commented, looking at Steve with big eyes. “I’m unfortunately shit at
basketball. Plus, they make these things impossible by making the hoops smaller,” he nodded at
the hoop, which was actually noticeably smaller than a normal one.

“Okay, well I’m not shit at basketball,” Steve said, already giving the worker his ticket. “And that
doesn’t make it impossible, just harder.” Eddie put up his hands, as if to say ‘excuse me.’

Steve lined up the shot, and managed to sink the first two, meaning he only needed one more. He
missed the next two, but on his final chance made his final shot, twirling around with a smug
smile. “Still got it, baby!” He preened, getting the bat from the attendant and presenting it to Eddie
triumphantly.

Eddie beamed as he took the bat from Steve. “You spoil me, Harrington,” he said with a dramatic
gesture.

“What are you gonna name it?” Steve asked as they joined up with the others, Vickie quickly
gaining quite the collection of stuffed animals.

“Ozzy, obviously,” Eddie said matter of factly, like Steve shouldn’t have had to ask.
“Obviously,” he smiled, the group walking slowly. They ended up migrating to some tables,
everyone else finally gaining an appetite. Argyle voiced that he was, miraculously despite eating
multiple funnel cakes, still hungry.

When they arrived at these tables, they actually spotted two of the kids, and instantly Steve’s
babysitter instincts went into overdrive. He scanned the area, including all the visible food lines,
and saw none of the other kids.

“Wheeler! Byers!” Steve scolded from where he was holding a container of large fries. He
marched his way over, the two boys looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. Steve furrowed his
brows a bit, used to never being taken seriously when trying to keep everyone safe. “Why are you
two alone? Did all of you really split up? Safety in numbers–”

“Steve, we’re fine,” Mike rolled his eyes. “The others just totally ditched us in the corn maze.”

“Yeah, it was really weird,” Will chimed in. “One second they were there and then, poof. All four
of them were gone.”

“They’re missing?!” Steve all but crawled out of his skin, but Mike’s hands shot up, indicating to
wait.

“No, no, no. Don’t freak,” he said, letting his hands fall. “We saw them on the ferris wheel when
we got out. We just decided to get food while we waited for them.” Steve let out a huge sigh of
relief.

“Jesus Christ,” Steve muttered. “I can literally feel the gray hairs growing,” Will and Mike shared a
look at this. “Anyway, fine. Just, please stick together. Move as a group, for my sake?”

“Relax, Harrington,” Eddie came up then, slinging his arm around Steve’s shoulders. At first his
whole body tensed up, but he quickly relaxed into the touch. It took some getting used to, but it
wasn’t unpleasant. “You’re gonna drive yourself into an early grave.” Eddie turned so he could
smirk at Steve, leaving their faces all too close for Steve’s comfort. So he turned back to face the
kids.

“Tell them to stop running around like little demons,” Steve gestured to Mike and Will, who made
faces of confusion and slight offense.

Eddie placed his hand on his own chest, taking on a serious tone. “I would never smother their
passion,” he turned to Mike and Will as well. “Go. Cause problems,” with this he pulled out a
lighter and began handing it to them, but Steve’s eyes widened and he snatched it away just in time.

“Give me that,” he turned a scolding gaze on Eddie. “What is wrong with you?”

Eddie just laughed, sliding his arm off of Steve’s shoulders and instead grabbing him by the wrist,
tugging him away. He called over his shoulder “See ya at eleven, boys!” before forcing Steve to
join the rest of the group. Eddie pushed on Steve’s shoulders until he sat down before releasing and
taking a seat next to him on the bench, stealing some fries out of his container in the process.

“How are they?” Jonathan asked as they sat down.

“Aggravating, but fine,” Steve supplied, finally starting on his fries. He noticed Eddie glancing
over his shoulder, and followed his eyes to see he was watching Mike and Will, a curious
expression on his face. “Whatcha thinkin’ about, Munson?” Steve bumped his shoulder against
Eddie’s, drawing his attention back to the table.
He seemed to hesitate a second, looking around the table before saying “Nah, it’s nothing.”

“What? No, c’mon,” Steve said, disappointed.

“Uh… if it’s about Will and Mike,” Jonathan chimed in, Eddie looking at him with raised brows.
“Yes.”

“Ah, see I thought maybe so,” Eddie nodded, and Steve looked between the two of them, clearly
talking about something Steve did not get. “Mike talked about him nonstop in the Hellfire Club, so
I always wondered."

“Okay, ‘cause I was wondering too,” Vickie piped up, Steve’s brows furrowing in further
confusion. “But I’m new, so I didn’t know if it was like– an ‘everyone knows’ kind of thing,” she
gestured circularly to the group.

“Oh, trust me,” Robin chuckled. “It’s an ‘everyone knows’ kind of thing.” Nancy nodded
enthusiastically in agreement, and that was when Steve decided he needed to break his silence.

“Sorry–” he cut in, holding up a finger. “Everyone knows what? Because I’m lost.” There was a
momentary silence around the group as they all looked among each other, Steve looking between
them in an effort to decipher what they were silently talking about.

“That Will and Mike are into each other,” Robin said, keeping her voice low and glancing in the
boys’ direction. It was at this moment that everyone at the table turned to observe the two boys,
staring intently into each other’s eyes as Mike talked animatedly about something, and Will
watched on in abject adoration. Steve took note of how close they were sitting, and though he
couldn’t tell from his angle, it looked like they might’ve even been holding hands.

Steve’s jaw fell open. Had he really missed this? The entire time? Seeing it now, it made a lot of
things make sense. Like, an absurd amount of things he thought were weird until this very moment.

Then, the two boys turned their heads and made direct eye contact with the group. Immediately the
six adults rotated to face their own table, all muttering out random, mix-matched excuses of a
conversation in an attempt to cover their very obvious spying. A glance in the boys' direction
showed looks of deep confusion on both of their faces as they got up and made their way towards
the ferris wheel, stealing a few more confused glances over their shoulder.

Eddie chuckling next to him got Steve’s attention. He looked at Eddie curiously, raising his
eyebrows. “What are you giggling to yourself about?”

“Sorry, it’s just,” Eddie chuckled once more, taking a sip of the soda he had gotten. “Of course you
didn’t notice.” When he spoke, it was almost more to himself. And while Steve didn’t know what
he meant by Eddie’s words, Robin must have, because she laughed.

Steve was about to ask what he meant, but Nancy ended up asking if the group was down for the
haunted corn maze after they ate. Then the subject was changed, and despite Steve not being able
to get the words out of his head, he didn’t get a chance to bring it up again.

+++

The haunted corn maze was completely idiotic, Steve had decided. “I mean, it’s ridiculous!” He
proclaimed as he and Eddie continued their way through the corn stalk labyrinth. A cheaply
painted, cartoon ghost on a wooden paddle had swung out of the corn maze, scaring Steve so hard
he had screamed, bumping into Eddie and nearly toppling him. “Anyone would have jumped, it
popped out right in front of me!”
“I didn’t jump,” Eddie countered, his laughter still not entirely exhausted as he watched Steve with
clear amusement on his face.

“You were further away,” Steve said defensively. Eddie gave him a patronizing look. “I’ve fought
literal monsters. You’ve seen me fight literal monsters,” he wasn’t sure why he felt the need to
keep defending himself.

“I know,” Eddie said simply, Steve giving him an intense look.

“I can handle myself,” Steve kept going.

“And… I believe that,” Eddie replied in the same tone, and Steve couldn’t even tell if he was still
unconvinced. Steve gave him a long, scrutinizing look, but immediately jumped back as another
wooden cutout sprung out from the stalks.

“Son of a–” Steve sucked in a long, loud breath through his nose, pursing his lips together. He
could hear Eddie poorly trying to stifle a laugh behind his fist before he even turned to see it. Steve
slowly turned his gaze to Eddie, ears still ringing from fear but fading.

Eddie slowly lowered his fist, a poorly bitten back smile on his face as he said, voice strained and
quiet in an attempt to hold back laughter: “It could happen to anyone.”

“Yeah,” Steve’s voice came out higher than it usually was. “Anyone,” he repeated back before
starting their walk again. He cleared his throat and said “Let’s just get out of this stupid maze and
find the others. Where did they go, anyway? I swear I didn’t even hear them turn different ways.”
Steve looked around, raising onto his tippy toes in a failed attempt to see over the corn stalks.

“Relax, Stevie,” Eddie was leaning in close to Steve, his hand coming to rest where Steve’s neck
met his shoulders. Steve felt a chill shoot up his spine and carry down all the way to his fingertips.
“This is supposed to be fun.” Eddie’s fingers and thumb began working at the tension in Steve’s
muscles, and he felt himself relax a bit.

They got out of the maze not much later, much to Steve’s relief, but saw no sign of their friends.
“Well, guess we’re on our own, Munson,” Steve said with a sigh as they moved through the
carnival.

“Well, try not to sound too excited,” Eddie said sarcastically, filling Steve with fear he offended
him, but when he saw that usual goofy smile he knew he was fine. “Seriously, we still have,” Eddie
grabbed Steve’s hand, the latter’s face heating in the slightest, and checked his watch before
dropping him. “Twenty minutes ‘til we have to take the ankle biters home. Wanna ride the ferris
wheel?”

Steve looked up at the ferris wheel beside them, then back to Eddie. “Why not?” He gestured for
Eddie to lead the way. The line wasn’t long, and soon they were having a bar lowered over their
lap, the ferris wheel starting its slow ascent.

It was a nice night, a light breeze present but not so strong that it was unbearably cold. There were
a decent amount of stars out as well, even with the light pollution of the carnival. “We’ve lived
kind of strange lives, huh Munson?” Steve wondered aloud as they rose higher and higher above
the ground. He could feel Eddie looking at him. He breathed a short laugh, turning to look at him
as well. “And I’m not even twenty one yet.” Steve leaned back, putting his arm across the back of
the seat. He could just drop it around Eddie so easily…

“Guess we have. Maybe that means the rest is easy, though,” Eddie offered, and Steve thought
about this. He often found that he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. Obviously, he
was grateful it was all over as he hardly found worrying for the lives of his loved ones enjoyable,
but it did leave him feeling sort of… directionless.

“Ever wonder if it’ll be too easy?” He looked over at Eddie and felt himself get lost in the sight.
Big brown eyes lit up by the carnival lights, hair blowing in the light wind, cheeks and the tip of
his nose tinged pink from cold. Steve almost wished he could paint so he could try and recreate it,
but he didn’t think even the best artist in the world could capture Eddie in his entirety. “Like, if we
did all that… what else is there to do?”

Eddie met Steve’s eyes, and Eddie searched them as if they held the answer for him. “Nah. Life
finds a way to fuck with you just when you start getting comfortable,” he spoke the words with so
much weight behind them, but Steve wasn’t sure he knew all the meanings. Instead, he hummed in
response, looking out across the horizon. They were at the peak of the first rotation now, the wheel
stalled for viewing, and Steve looked out into the darkness of the wilderness that stretched out
beyond the ferris wheel. He could see the tops of trees, and their cars in the parking lot. He even
thought he spotted Max’s bright red hair bobbing along next to Lucas from here.

“Feel like I have such a long way to comfortable,” Steve said softly. He felt Eddie looking at him
again, but he couldn’t bring himself to look. Like Eddie’s big, too-keen eyes would be too much
and he’d just… die on the spot. Or worse, be seen right through. The seat shifted a bit as Eddie
moved just a fragment closer to Steve, his arm so close now but not nearly as close as Steve
wanted.

Just do it, Steve. What’s the big deal? he thought to himself, and he had never become more aware
of his limbs than in that moment. Their knees were so close, all Steve would have to do–

As if Eddie read his mind, he widened his legs, pressing their knees together. They had just hit the
bottom and were on their final rotation, but Steve felt like he was a kite floating up into the
stratosphere. Do it, Harrington. Who says it means anything? he reasoned with himself. You’re
physically affectionate with Robin all the time. But this felt like a bigger deal than that. Frankly, he
hadn’t been this nervous since his first date with a girl freshman year. And that was the realization
that made it click that he was being ridiculous.

Eddie Munson was his friend, and if he wanted to put his arm around his friend’s shoulder, then he
fuckin’ would, damn it.

He sucked in a breath of courage and didn’t release until he dropped his hand onto Eddie, wrapping
his arm around his shoulders fully. Steve didn’t dare look at the boy, keeping his gaze carefully
trained ahead of them as Eddie studied him from the side.

Whatever Eddie thought of Steve’s action, he didn’t share, and instead also turned his gaze to the
view. He did, however, scoot a fraction even closer to Steve, his own arm snaking behind Steve’s
lower back and his hand on the seat, bracketing him that much closer. They were nearly at the peak
again when Eddie let his head fall onto Steve’s shoulder just a bit.

“You’re a strange man, Steve Harrington,” Eddie said softly, almost as if he was speaking to
himself. A small smile twitched onto Steve’s lips, the carriage halting at the top once more.

Steve hummed in consideration before saying “Coming from you, Munson,” he fiddled with a
strand of Eddie’s hair. “That is quite the proclamation.”

With his free hand he plucked the bat, Ozzy, from Eddie’s hands and held it so it was looking at
Eddie. In a high pitched, goofy voice that instantly made Eddie laugh, Steve made the bat say
“Because you’re veeeery straaange, Mr. Munson!”

“Yeah, yes,” Eddie said once his laughter died down, but not entirely. “I got the implication, thank
you.” He kept laughing as he looked over at Steve.

“Juuust checking!” Steve moved the bat’s head dramatically, still holding the ridiculous voice.
Steve didn’t unwrap his arm from Eddie until their carriage stopped to let them out, the two of
them walking shoulder to shoulder once they exited the ferris wheel.

Steve held up his watch, and his eyes widened at the time.

“Shit, we’re ten minutes late to meet the kids!” Without hesitation Steve grabbed Eddie’s hand and
began tugging him through the carnival, beelining for the parking lot.

“Harrington! Would you slow down, they’re not gonna starve and wither away in ten minutes!”
Eddie called, but it was no use, Steve didn’t stop yanking him through the crowd.

When they reached the parking lot, Steve let out a sigh of relief to see everyone standing next to
their cars.

“Gee, look who decided to show up!” Dustin scolded as Steve and Eddie reached the group, Steve
finally releasing the other boy.

“For someone who’s always hounding us about not being where we’re supposed to be, this is pretty
rich, don’t you think Harrington?” Lucas teased, his arms crossed in a way that almost reminded
Steve of himself. When Max started chuckling, he realized that was the point.

“The ferris wheel took longer than we expected,” Steve explained pointedly, rolling his eyes
because of course the kids wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to scold him.

“That sounds like a load of excuses to me, Steve,” Mike said sternly, pitching his voice deeper and
furrowing his brows. Nancy failed miserably to hide her laughter, whereas Robin didn’t even try.

“Yeah, yeah,” he gestured to Max, Lucas, and Dustin. “If you three don’t wanna be walking behind
the car the whole way home, I suggest you cut the lip and get in the car.” The three of them rolled
their eyes, but started saying their goodbyes.

“Jonathan, Nancy. Good to see you guys,” Steve nodded at them, turning his attention to Mike,
Will, and El before saying “You too.” His eyes couldn’t help but linger between Mike and Will for
a fraction of a second longer, his brain still processing what he’d been told. Mike gave Steve a
strange look, which snapped him back to reality as he hugged Vickie and Robin goodbye. He
turned to Argyle, giving a sheepish wave. "Nice meeting you, dude."

Argyle gave a wide smile. "Yeah, man, you too."

Eddie looked almost conflicted about approaching Steve to say goodbye, so Steve took it upon
himself to stride up and pull him into a hug. It took a beat before Eddie wrapped his arms around
Steve’s middle, squeezing tightly.

”You should wear the vest more often, Stevie,” Eddie murmured into Steve’s ear, making his hair
stand on end. They pulled apart, Eddie giving him a slow look up and down before giving a tug on
Steve’s vest lapels. He held agonizingly intense eye contact as he said “I meant what I said about
it.” Steve felt stunned into silence, his mouth hanging slightly open as all he could do was just stare
at Eddie, who was backing up to his van with an accomplished smile on his face.
He held up the stuffed bat, moving it’s head while in a garbly, high-pitched demon voice said
“Thanks for winning me, Mr. Harrington.” A smile stretched across Steve’s face as he chuckled,
shaking his head at Eddie’s goofy behavior. Eddie smiled back, sending Steve a wink before
finally disappearing to the driver’s side of his van. Steve was frozen in place.

Oh.

“Steve Harrington!” Dustin yelling snapped Steve back to reality, and from the annoyed look in his
tone and on his face, he had tried more than once to get Steve’s attention. He snapped his fingers in
front of Steve’s face and waved, Steve blinking and tucking his head back to create distance from
the action. “Wanna take us home anytime soon?” Dustin shook his head, turning away to follow
Lucas and Max to the car. Quietly, Steve could hear him say “I swear, first I deal with Will and
Mike all night…” Whatever else was said was lost to the wind, Lucas merely sympathetically
patting Dustin on the shoulder.

When Steve pulled into the driveway of his house, all the kids dropped off, he turned off the car
and let out a long sigh, head thumping against the headrest. He sat like that, in the dark silence of
his car, for an hour before finally going inside.
 Weed Smoking 101 with Professor Munson
Chapter Notes

btw wanted to say thank u to the person who reminded me Steve actually did admit to
smoking weed in season 3! for the purposes of the story we're gonna pretend he didn't
say that lmao, and that this is his first time.

also thank u for all the kind comments! if i don't respond know that i still read them all
and appreciate every one! and even if ur not commenting, i appreciate u taking the
time to read!

also, also-- i've written essentially all of this to basically the same Wallows EP on
repeat (except for the first chapter, which i wrote to my oldie's playlist lol.) Wallows
obviously isn't a band from the 80's, but their Remote EP really captures the ~vibes~
of this fic. or at least, it does to me, and maybe u! figured i'd throw it out there.

anyway, hope u enjoy! little bit longer of a chapter than usual :)

Steve stood in front of Eddie’s door to his trailer, anxiously bouncing on his toes and running
nervous hands through his hair. He looked around, as if surveying the environment for the nerve
he needed to finally knock. He was trying to pretend like he didn’t know why he was nervous, but
that was beyond far from true.

Eddie was around a little less the following week of the carnival, which meant Steve had a lot of
uninterrupted hours at the Family Video Store to work out his… problem.

Not that Steve thought being gay was a problem, but that’s the thing. Was he gay? He genuinely
liked Nancy– or at least, he thought so. But now he was starting to question everything he thought
he knew about himself. Because if that felt so real in the moment, and this feels so real, how can he
tell which one is true?

If he liked Nancy, he was straight, and if he liked Eddie, he was gay. It was that simple in his
mind. Now if he could just figure out which one it fuckin’ was…

Which was why he was here in the first place. Eddie had offered to smoke with him for his first
time, and he figured some one on one time with the boy would help him sort himself out. But that
required actually knocking on the fucking door. He shook his head, forcing himself to get a grip.
This is stupid. Seriously, what have you become?

Steve was about to finally knock when he heard… laughter? And not Eddie’s. Were they not going
to be alone? Curiosity outweighed his previous anxiety, and he finally gave a soft knock.

The door opened to reveal a smiling Eddie, and behind him on the couch were none other than
Argyle and Jonathan. Steve tried not to let his face fall. He didn’t have any problems with the guys,
but he had been anticipating he and Eddie being alone. Where Steve wouldn’t feel the judgment of
others, making him too scared to be a little more free around Eddie.

“Harrington,” Eddie greeted. “You actually came. Figured I’d invite Argyle and Jonathan,
considering it’s also their area of expertise,” He smirked, giving a little bow to the two, Argyle
returning it.

Right, why would they have been alone? The only time Eddie hung out with him alone was at the
carnival, and that’s because they were forced to. Now that Steve thought about it, it was probably
weird to assume Eddie wouldn’t invite them. He silently thanked Steve-From-The-Past for
deciding against wearing the damn vest again. It had been a heavy debate, one that almost made
him late.

“I brought beer,” Steve held up the case he had grabbed from his house. “Ya know, as thanks.” He
was initially going to only bring a six pack, but then he remembered how much he and Robin drank
of Eddie’s the last time they were over, and felt bad not giving him more. But, considering the
newly added guests, it worked out moreso.

“What a gentleman,” Eddie mused, clapping Steve on the back and lightly ushering him into the
trailer. “Though, maybe don’t drink if it’s gonna be your first time smoking,” Eddie offered,
closing the door before taking the case from Steve and putting it in his fridge.

“This is your first time smoking?” Jonathan asked, clearly surprised. “But you’re… Steve
Harrington. I would’ve thought at some point…” Jonathan ended his sentence with a shrug.

“Nah, both my coaches drilled into us the importance of lung health,” Steve said, pulling a face as
he did so. “Apparently your liver’s not important, though. Stuck to drinking for high school,” Steve
joked, taking a seat next to Jonathan. Argyle, despite there being room on the couch, chose to
move to the floor.

“Well, tell your lungs to lube up, Stevie,” Eddie had disappeared into his room, but emerged now
with a clear bong and a plastic baggie of weed, grinning as he held the two items up. “Because
they’re about to lose their virginity.”

Steve grimaced while Argyle laughed. “We made a deal that you wouldn’t call it that again,” he
pointed an accusing finger at Eddie as he leaned back against the couch.

“And now I won’t,” Eddie said simply as he sat down next to Steve on the couch, Jonathan
scooting over to leave more room. “Got it out of my system.” Eddie set the bong and baggie of
weed on the table, instead picking up a small, circular object from it. He opened it and placed the
two halves on either of his knees, revealing jagged points inside. Eddie began placing broken up
pieces of weed in between the spikes.

“That looks like a torture device for very tiny people,” Steve commented as Eddie closed the
halves and began twisting them in opposing directions.

Eddie gave a laugh. “It’s a grinder,” he informed, giving it a few more twists. Steve couldn’t help
but watch the way his arms flexed in his t-shirt as he did so. He opened a third compartment that
Steve didn’t know the object contained, and there was a bunch of grinded bits of weed that almost
looked like moss. It smelled… somehow like sweet coffee, but… grimier? He knew it smelled like
a skunk when it was burned, but he learned it didn’t have an off putting aroma beforehand.

“Makes it smoke easier, and you don’t waste as much,” Eddie continued to educate as he took
small pinches of the plant and tucked it into the bowl of the bong. He dug a lighter out of his
pocket, closing the grinder and placing it on the table. He turned to Steve, holding the bong and
lighter before giving a thoughtful look. “I’m guessing you don’t know how to use this?”

“Nope,” Steve supplied, popping the ‘p.’

“Okay, it’s easy. I’m not gonna do it first because I want you to get the green, but you just put your
mouth in like this,” Eddie paused to demonstrate before pulling back out. “You’re gonna suck in
while you burn the weed here,” he moved the unlit lighter over the bowl, though Steve didn’t
really need a visual to understand that part. “And once this whole area gets white with smoke,”
Eddie ran long fingers over the tube part of the bong, Steve’s birthday present winking back at him.
He felt his stomach tighten. “You’re gonna pull this out, like so,” Eddie pulled the bowl piece out.
“And suck in again, but like a little bit harder.”

“And that’s all?” Steve asked sarcastically, feeling like that was a lot of steps to remember.

“Not really, actually,” Jonathan chimed in, gaining Steve’s attention. “When you suck it into your
mouth basically, that’s not inhaling it into your lungs. So you have to inhale again and then hold
your breath for as long as you can before exhaling.”

“Well, before coughing,” Eddie corrected. “You’re definitely gonna cough your first time. It’s
inevitable.”

“That’s a lot of verbal instructions you just gave me, and I’m gonna be honest I’ve already
forgotten some,” Steve said blankly, earning a chuckle from Eddie.

“It’s fine. Just focus that pretty little head of yours on sucking,” Eddie pushed the bong into Steve’s
hands, the latter hoping the lighting was dim enough in the trailer to hide his blush. “And I’ll do
the hard parts,” he held up a lighter, readying it over the bowl.

Steve gave him a final look of hesitation before putting his mouth to the piece, and following
Eddie’s instructions. The bong began to bubble as Eddie lit the bowl, milky white filling the entire
piece faster than Steve had expected. Eddie pulled the bowl out and Steve felt the tension inside
snap as he quickly sucked in all the smoke he could, Jonathan taking the bong from him and
clearing it as Steve did his best to inhale again.

Steve held his breath, face scrunching in effort as he looked at Eddie, who watched him intently.
He held it one, two, three whole seconds before a plume of smoke erupted out of him,
accompanied by a coughing fit.

Jonathan gave him sympathetic pats on the back as Eddie got up and, though Steve could only tell
from the sound of running water as his eyes were currently squeezed tight, filled up a cup of water.
The glass was being pushed into his hand and he quickly gulped it back, his cough having subsided
to something much smaller by the time he was done.

“Jesus fucking christ,” Steve croaked out, accompanied by a few more coughs that he washed back
with more water.

“How do you feel?” Eddie asked.

Steve lowered his glass before rasping out, “Cherry definitely popped.” Argyle laughed at this,
Eddie grinning. “This what being high is?”

“You tell me, Harrington,” Eddie chuckled. “Some people don’t even feel it their first time.”

Steve’s eyes bulged at this. “You mean I could’ve just done all of that for nothing?” Eddie and
Jonathan chuckled at this, the bong bubbling from its place in Argyle’s hands.

“Maybe. Take a second,” Eddie coaxed, slinging his arm around Steve’s shoulders. Steve felt chills
erupt across his skin, his stomach floaty like the anxiety one has as a roller coaster slowly climbs
upwards. “Feel any different?”
This was hard to do, because he was pretty sure the only thing he felt was Eddie’s arm around him,
and big eyes staring intently at his face. He forced himself to look forward, letting out a deep
breath. The light inside the van was dim, the curtains drawn, save for a few streaks of afternoon
sunlight filtering through. Steve watched the dust particles dance in the glow.

“I feel…” Steve searched for the right word. “Fuzzy.”

Jonathan and Eddie chuckled at this. “Sounds about right,” Jonathan said. “But that’s only really
the beginning.” The bong was passed around to Eddie, who, to Steve’s dismay, had to unwind his
arm to accept it. Steve watched, a bit fascinated, as Eddie lit his bowl and took his own hit, barely
coughing as he finished.

“You were more graceful than I was,” Steve commented, narrowing his eyes as if Eddie did it on
purpose. Eddie gave a small laugh.

“You’ll get there Harrington,” he assured, packing another bowl before passing the bong to Steve.
“Wanna do it yourself?”

“Sure,” Steve said, unsure of himself as he took the lighter and bong from Eddie.

Seeming to sense Steve’s hesitation, Eddie reminded him of the steps. “Pull,” he tapped the top of
the bong, then the lighter. “Light,” his finger then trailed up the tube once more, “Milk,” he tapped
the bowl. “Remove, then you clear the bong and it’s the double inhale.” Steve nodded, getting it
when it was more straight to the point.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t a total disaster. He still coughed a lot, but he was able to do it himself.
After he passed the bong to Jonathan he collapsed back into the couch– or rather, Eddie’s arm
again– a few coughs working their way out of his system.

Steve just took in the room, a smile permanently plastered to his face as he looked at nothing in
particular. “Ya did it, Stevie,” Eddie’s voice close to his ear brought him back from wherever he
had floated off to. He turned to face him, his eyes feeling heavy as he took in Eddie’s face. And
then he giggled, for the love of god. Yup. He was definitely high now.

“What’s funny?” Eddie questioned, a lopsided smile on his face.

“I have… no idea,” Steve said honestly before a mostly silent laugh wracked his body, Eddie also
laughing. Whether Eddie was laughing at Steve’s ridiculousness or something also unknown to
him, Steve didn’t know, but he didn’t particularly care. He did care, however, when Eddie had to
once again remove his arm in order to take another hit.

When Eddie passed the bong to him this time, Steve just passed it along to Jonathan. “Think I’m…
already there,” He informed Eddie who nodded, and put his arm across the back of the couch once
more.

“Good boy,” and then Eddie was ruffling Steve’s hair and Steve felt like he might melt into the
couch right then and there, his head tipping back into the touch subconsciously. “You know your
limits.”

“Dude, you have The Shining?” Argyle held up a movie from Eddie’s collection. “This movie
rules. Can we watch it?”

“Argyle, dude. You’ve seen that movie like a million times,” Jonathan chuckled. “Eddie’s got a
fuck ton of horror movies, you really wanna watch one you’ve seen so many times?”
Argyle seemed to think about this for a second. “If I already know I like it, why wouldn’t I enjoy
watching it?” Jonathan opened his mouth to answer, but stopped, seeming to think harder about
Argyle’s response.

“Good point,” Jonathan conceded.

“What’d’ya say, Harrington?” Eddie looked at him, smirking. “Or are you still reliving your time
in the haunted corn maze?” Normally, Steve would’ve rolled his eyes or grumbled out how he
wasn’t that scared, but Eddie’s hand was still in his hair, massaging slow movements into the back
of his head, and frankly Steve couldn’t find it in him to even pretend to be bothered.

“Sure. Never seen it,” he shrugged, tilting his head back further into Eddie’s touch, not even fully
aware of his own eyes falling shut.

“You’ve never seen The Shining?” Jonathan asked in disbelief. Steve shrugged again. “Didn’t see
it when it came out, and got a little busy when monsters from another dimension started invading
Hawkins.”

“Fair enough,” Jonathan chuckled as Argyle began to put in the movie. Eddie’s hand fell from
Steve’s hair, falling instead over his shoulder. Steve tried not to let his disappointment show.

It was roughly thirty minutes into the movie, and Steve’s mind would not focus on it for the life of
him. He was frankly less than impressed so far, considering how highly spoken of the movie was.
In its defense, though, not much was scary to Steve after spending his teen years fighting
demogorgons, and the Mind Flayer… and whatever the hell Vecna was.

Instead, he found his mind was only able to focus on Eddie. His wide eyes reflected the oddities on
the screen, bottom lip ever so slightly bit. His arm was still around Steve, and maybe if he’d have
been sober he would’ve cared about what Jonathan or Argyle thought, but as it were he couldn’t
find it in him to worry. And if either of them thought anything weird, neither said something or
indicated otherwise. Steve imagined they were also too high to think anything of it.

“Watch the movie, Stevie,” Eddie’s voice was a low purr, probably soft enough the other boys
didn’t hear. Steve wasn’t sure when Eddie had started looking at him instead of the screen, a coy
smile on his face.

Steve made a disinterested face. “When does it get scary?” He let his attention fall begrudgingly
back onto the screen, very aware of Eddie still looking at the side of his face.

He felt two gentle tugs on the hair at the nape of his neck, and Steve almost exploded out of his
seat due to the excitement that burst through him. “Impatient,” Eddie cooed. “It’s not in-your-face
scary, Harrington.”

Steve made a confused face. “Then what kind of scary is it?”

“It’s supposed to be… unsettling.” Eddie explained. “If you put yourself in Wendy’s shoes, it’s a
terrifying situation.”

“Plus, you’re tellin’ me that kid and his freaky little imaginary friend doesn’t skeeve you out?”
Argyle chimed in, their efforts of trying to remain quiet apparently having failed.

“I mean, I guess… but we know a fifteen year old who can literally kill people in the blink of an
eye,” Steve countered, shrugging. Jonathan nodded, as if to concede to Steve.

The movie continued, but Steve was so hyper aware of all the points of contact with Eddie he still
couldn’t focus. The side of Eddie’s thigh pressed against Steve’s, his thumb tracing slow patterns
on his shoulder, his other shoulder tucked into Eddie’s side. It was so much, but somehow not
enough. He let his head fall onto Eddie’s shoulder, noting the other boy stiffen for a moment, his
thumb pausing its movements for just a second. Steve felt something akin to pride flutter through
him.

Eddie gave a squeeze to Steve’s shoulder before continuing his tracing, his fingertips stretching
their reach so he lightly strummed up and down Steve’s bicep in slow, languid movements.

Argyle got up, pulling a bag of popcorn out of a backpack next to him and making his way to the
kitchenette. “Hey, man. Can I use your microwave?” Argyle asked.

“Knock yourself out,” Eddie called over, not pausing his movements on Steve, who felt like his
brain was nothing but pure static at this point.

When Argyle was on his way back to the seat on the floor, he paused for a moment, looking at
Eddie and Steve with a thoughtful look on his face. Steve felt his entire body tense. Was he gonna
say something?

Argyle looked at Jonathan then, sheer disappointment on his face. “Man, why don’t you ever hold
me like that?” He gestured to Eddie and Steve, confusion replacing all the fear he had felt moments
before. Jonathan glanced over at the two, then back at Argyle, also confused.

“You… never asked me to?” It was more of a question than an answer. Argyle sucked his teeth in
disapproval, shaking his head as he took his seat on the floor again, digging through his popcorn
bag.

“No, no, it’s cool. You just don’t value our friendship enough to show your affection through
physical touch,” Argyle brushed him off. “I get it.”

There was a silence, Jonathan looking to Eddie and Steve for an answer, but they just shook their
heads. “Argyle?” Jonathan asked timidly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you… Want me to hold you sometimes?” Jonathan still looked extremely confused by his
friend’s apparently neglected needs.

Argyle looked up, that thoughtful expression returned as he seemed to really consider his answer.
Finally, he looked at Jonathan and said “Yeah. Okay.” And went back to eating his popcorn, eyes
on the screen.

Jonathan looked at Steve and Eddie again, who just shrugged in tandem. Jonathan turned back to
Argyle. “Argyle?”

“Yeah?” Argyle looked back at his friend.

“Do you want me to hold you now, or…?” Argyle thought about Jonathan’s question again,
pausing his eating as he did so.

“No. Maybe later,” he smiled before returning to the movie and his popcorn. Honestly, Steve kinda
admired his direct communication. Lord knew he could certainly take a page out of his book.

At some point Eddie’s hand slowed to a stop. And then his arm was smoothly maneuvered to wrap
around Steve’s lower back. And now his hand was on Steve’s waist, his thumb making slow
strokes over the shirt there. Steve’s heart was in his throat, and he could feel his stomach floating
away from him. He was pretty sure if Eddie’s arm wasn’t anchoring him down, he’d be hitting the
ceiling.

To give some indication that, yes, he wanted this, he angled his body so he was leaning more on
Eddie, sinking down in his seat slightly so he could rest his head more comfortably on Eddie’s
chest.

He couldn’t get his mind off the hand on his side for the rest of the movie, every little movement
of Eddie’s fingers sending trills up his spine. As the credits rolled, Jonathan stretched beside Steve,
standing up.

“We should probably head out. Gotta pick up Will from Mike’s,” Jonathan explained, Argyle
getting up and slinging his backpack over one shoulder. This, to Steve’s dismay, prompted Eddie to
stand up to say goodbye.

“Good seein’ ya, Byers,” Eddie gave Jonathan a hug before turning and doing the same to Argyle.
“Pleasure getting acquainted,” he said in a posh British accent.

“Totally, man,” Argyle smiled as he and Jonathan shuffled out the door, giving their final waves.
Eddie closed the door and turned back to face Steve, who was trying to rub the sleep out of his
eyes.

“I should probably get going, too, but honestly I’m not good to drive yet,” Steve blinked a few
times as he pulled his hands away from his eyes. “Is it cool if I stay here for like, an hour or
something?”

“Yeah, whatever you need, Harrington,” Eddie said with a wave, picking up his paraphernalia and
disappearing for a second. He grabbed a beer from the fridge on the way back, cracking it open as
he took a seat next to Steve. “So. What were your thoughts on the movie?” Eddie asked, raising the
can to his lips. He and Steve weren’t pressed right against each other, but rather facing one another,
knees turned toward the other as each of their arms propped them up against the back of the couch.

“It was… alright. Had some cool shots, I guess,” He said as he tried to recall the movie.

“To be fair, you didn’t really seem to be paying much attention,” Eddie said with a smirk, and
Steve felt his face heat. He did the only thing he knew how to do when Eddie got to him in such a
way; rolled his eyes. But he was biting back a smile.

“Being high is distracting,” Steve supplied the weak defense knowing neither of them really
believed it. They debated certain parts of the movie for a little while, and admittedly Steve realized
he retained less than he thought. Then, Eddie changed the subject.

“You and Byers seem to get along well, considering you used to date his girlfriend,” Eddie
commented, taking a sip of his beer.

“Yeah, well. We didn’t always,” Steve shrugged. “Mostly my fault. Though, in my defense, he
kinda acted like a creep.”

“I’m guessing he doesn’t anymore?”

“He doesn’t anymore,” Steve confirmed, Eddie nodding with a smile. It all sort of hit Steve then
that they were alone, and if there was any time to try something that could be embarrassing, it’d be
right now. His eyes fell on one of Eddie’s knees. It would be so easy to make some charming joke
and reach his hand over… he’d done it a million times with girls. It was a hit! So why can’t he just
get his arm to move?

“You didn’t wear the vest,” Eddie said with a pout, ripping him out of his internal struggle. Steve
blinked, realizing he didn’t quite process what Eddie had said.

“What?”

Eddie’s mischievous smirk deepened a little. “The vest,” he reached out and gave the collar of
Steve’s polo shirt a quick tug, before letting his hand fall on Steve’s knee.

Rat bastard, Steve thought, his face heating. He beat me to it.

“You didn’t wear it,” he repeated, cocking his head and sticking his bottom lip out briefly before
devolving back into that signature smile.

Steve felt himself lean a little closer, moving Eddie’s hand up his leg just a fraction but it felt like
miles to Steve. “No, uh,” he dipped his head for a second, trying to get a miniscule break from
Eddie’s all-seeing gaze. “I was going to, but then, uh. Thought better not, ‘cause of the smell,” he
gestured to the atmosphere around them, which held no visible smoke, but likely smelled heavy to
whoever would walk in.

“You realize it was my vest before, right?” Eddie chuckled. “Probably already smells like weed,
Harrington.”

Steve shook his head with a shrug. “It doesn’t,” and then his face stalled, eyes widening slightly
and cheeks heating at his words. “I-I mean… not that I’ve noticed, at least.” He gave an only
slightly nervous sniff. Nice save, Harrington, he internally praised himself.

Eddie was staring at him, observing him, not saying a word. Just the hint of a fond smile on his
face as he looked at Steve. It made Steve crinkle a bit under the scrutiny, but it also made him
want to be bold.

He nudged the knee Eddie had his hand on closer, pressing it into the inside of Eddie’s knee as he
sat a little more forward, eyes focusing nervously on one of Eddie’s necklaces. He took in a deep
breath, and on the exhale said “Eddie, I–”

But he was cut off by a rapid pounding on the door. They both jumped at this, turning to face the
door. A moment of silence before the rapping was back. Eddie looked back at Steve, clear
annoyance at the interruption written on his face. Another round of knocking came and he pushed
himself up with an exasperated sigh.

“Mildred, for the last time I’m not feeding your cat tomatoes!” Eddie called as he yanked open his
door, but instead of whoever Mildred was, there was Mike Wheeler, breathing heavy with his bike
discarded behind him. Steve’s brows furrowed.

“Wheeler, now’s not the best time to talk campaigns–” Eddie pressed, but Mike cut him off.

“This isn’t about D&D, Eddie!” Mike said frantically, eyes wide with fear. Steve stood up, anxiety
flooding him. No… please don’t be back, he pleaded silently. It couldn’t be back. He just got…

“Out with it Wheeler! What’s wrong?” Eddie snapped his fingers a few times.

“I kissed Will!” Mike’s voice cracked as he said this, eyes growing watery as silence fell around
them. Eddie looked back over to Steve with his mouth in the form of an ‘o’, and Steve just stared
wide-eyed back. This was when Mike seemed to notice Steve’s presence. His eyes widened and
cheeks turned bright red. “Steve? W-what are you doing here?”

“We were, uh…” Steve glanced at Eddie, then back to Mike. “Just hangin’ out. But back to your
thing–” Mike furrowed his brows, sniffing the air a few times.

“Smells like weed,” Mike commented, looking at Steve with raised eyebrows. “Steve, you smoke
weed?”

“No,” Steve said at the same time Eddie said “Now he does!” Steve shot him a glare, Eddie
shrugging defensively.

Eddie sighed, looking at Mike and likely realizing he and Steve would be douchebags to turn him
away right now. “Inside, Wheeler,” Eddie stepped aside, allowing Mike in before closing the door.
Mike took a seat on the couch, Eddie and Steve following suit.

“So, you kissed Will. That’s a catastrophe because…?” Eddie gestured for Mike to explain.

“Because he’s my best friend and now he probably hates me,” Mike said as if it were obvious.
Mike’s face fell a little bit before he added, more quietly “And… I didn’t think I was gay.” The
smallness in Mike’s voice made something inside Steve break. He sounded so… lost.

“...Let’s address that first part first, shall we?” Eddie held up a finger. “How did he react when you
kissed him? Did he kiss you back?”

Mike seemed to think back before saying “Well… yeah.” Eddie let out a sigh, shaking his head
slightly.

“Then why would you think he hates you now?” Eddie asked.

Mike looked caught off guard by that question, but shook his head in a rush to explain. “Because
we got interrupted. Will took too long leaving so Jonathan came pounding on the basement door.
Will sort of just looked at me all bug-eyed before grabbing his things and leaving with Jonathan.
We didn’t get to… talk about it at all. And he looked scared leaving.”

“Don’t ya think he’s just scared for the same reasons you are?” Steve supplied, his arms crossed as
he watched the high-strung mess that was Mike.

“Harrington’s right, Wheeler,” Eddie agreed. “He probably just got all twitchy ‘cause his brother
showed up, and he probably left in a panic thinking you hated him too.”

Mike furrowed his brows again. “Why would I hate him? I kissed him?”

Eddie rolled his eyes dramatically. “And he kissed you back, yet here you are whining to us
because you think he hates you.” Eddie threw up his hands in defeat, shaking his head as he looked
over at Steve. “Honestly,” he gestured in disbelief to their troubled younger friend. Steve shrugged
to show he sympathized.

Eddie turned back to Mike, speaking softer than Steve had ever really heard him speak to the kids.
“But we should get to that second part… Do you still not think you’re gay?”

Mike covered his face in his hands as he flopped back on the couch, letting out a muffled groan.
“That’s what’s so confusing,” he took his hands away from his face, talking more to the ceiling
than Eddie or Steve. “I really liked El, ya know? We dated and I didn’t feel like I was faking it
but… I don’t feel like I’m faking it with Will. And if I’m not… I was basically just leading El on
the entire time.” And in that moment, Steve realized he had never related more to Mike Wheeler.
He wanted to jump up and yell ”Yes! Exactly!” but somehow managed to contain himself.

“Oh, Mikey,” Eddie sighed. “Things aren’t always so black and white.”

Mike pulled another confused face. “What do you mean? You don’t think kissing Will means I’m
gay?”

Eddie let out a hardy snort at this. “No, I definitely think it means you like guys.” This earned an
exasperated gesture from Mike, clearly not finding Eddie’s words helpful. “You don’t just kiss
your long-term childhood best friend because you’re not into him, what I’m saying is it doesn’t
mean you weren’t into El.”

“What?” The question came from both Steve and Mike. Eddie looked over at Steve, brows knitted
tightly together as his eyes narrowed.

“Do you not–” Eddie shook his head, holding up a single finger to Steve. “Pay attention,” he
swiveled back to Mike and gave a sigh. “There’s more than just being ‘gay’ or ‘straight,’ Mike…”
He glanced at Steve. “And audience. You can like guys and girls, it’s called being bisexual.”
Bisexual. The word echoed around Steve’s brain, and it was as if something unknown clicked into
place.

“That’s a thing?” Mike asked, taking the words right out of Steve’s mouth.

Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a thing. So you can stop worrying about being some sort of imposter,
and start thinking about what you need to talk to Will about. But Mike,” Eddie added when he saw
stress wash over Mike’s face at that advice. “He doesn’t hate you. Trust me. There’s no use
making up how he feels about you in your head, positive or negative.”

Mike nodded slowly, staring off somewhere distant. Steve felt like he was in the same place, but
realized he should probably get the kid off the streets while he’s having a crisis. With a sigh, Steve
stood up. “C’mon, Wheeler. Put your bike in my trunk and I’ll take you home,” he said.

“You’re good to drive?” Eddie double checked.

Steve breathed a short laugh. “Yeah, that was, uh… a sobering experience.” This earned a harder
laugh from Eddie than Steve had expected, but he just gave him a weird look as he followed Mike
to the door.

As Mike grabbed his bike off the lawn and walked it over to Steve’s car, Steve stopped in the
doorway and turned to Eddie. He kept his voice low when he spoke, “You, uh, handled that really
well. I think you actually helped the kid.”

“Yeah, well… Let’s just say I’ve also been the…” Eddie shook his head as he looked for the right
phrasing. “Gay idiot who kissed their best friend. Only… he didn’t kiss me back.” Eddie gave a
halfhearted smile as he tapped his right cheekbone. “Gave me a right hook instead. So… I’m pretty
knowledgeable on the subject.”

It was one of the most heartbreaking things Steve had ever heard. To do that to anybody he
couldn’t imagine, but especially to do it to someone as sweet as Eddie… It was too cruel for words.
So instead Steve wrapped his arms around Eddie’s shoulders, pulling him into a crushing hug.
Eddie seemed taken off guard by this, as it took a second or two for him to wrap his arms around
Steve’s middle.

He knew he held the hug for too long, but he didn’t care. He was wrapped up in Eddie’s vanilla
(and weed) smelling hair, burying his face into the crook of his neck and clutching his back tight
enough to just barely bunch up the fabric there.

“You sure you’re good to drive, Harrington?” Eddie chuckled into his ear, the sound rumbling
against Steve’s chest. Steve breathed a laugh of his own, pulling back and finally letting go of
Eddie.

“As I’ll ever be,” Steve said with a sigh as he backed down the steps to Eddie’s trailer. Steve could
see Eddie watching them drive off in his rearview mirror, a faint smile rising to his lips at the sight.

There was a small silence, neither he nor Mike speaking, until the younger finally broke it. “So…
You and Eddie hang out a lot one on one, or–”

“Say, Wheeler,” Steve cut him off. “Did you or did you not use tongue when you kissed Will?”
This earned him a punch in the arm from Mike, but it got the younger boy to shut up. “That’s what
I thought.”
 Boys In Bands
Chapter Notes

heyyy. so first off, i know the 'see something say something' campaign didn't happen
until 2001, but lets pretend it existed before then in this universe, bc it was funny-ish
and i said so.

secondly, i have good news and bad news. the good news? this will be my first ever
finished fic! the bad news? There's only two more chapters left, and one is an epilogue.
im actually rlly sad to be drawing this fic to a close, i feel like i could write in it
forever, but i love this fic a lot and wanna do it the justice of giving it a proper ending.
as of right now, and maybe im biased bc it's my first ever finished fic, it's my favorite
fic ever written, and im honestly not sure if i'll do better than this. but thats ok! to
create something that not only i enjoy so much, but that a lot of yall did too is
something pretty spectacular!

thirdly, i have the inkling of an idea for another steddie fic. probably shorter than this,
similar concept but not set in the same universe as this fic. it would be from eddie's
pov, and while their dynamic would be similar, it would be tweaked just a bit to
explore different sides of their characters that i didn't really lean into in this one. (ie,
eddie's shyer side, and steve's more confident jock one.) and there would probably be
more angst. honestly this is the first fic i've written with barely-- if any-- angst.
so if that sounds like somethin ur interested in, keep an eye out after this fic is done :D

thank u again for all the wonderful comments and support! as of right now we're at
roughly 800 kudos with a bit over 6000 hits, which is absolutely insane to think that
many people laid eyes on something i made-- and a good amount liked it! thats crazy,
even tho it might not be a lot to some ppl, actually trying to fathom that many ppl
reading something i wrote is... practically not possible haha. so thank u again!

“And it’s like–” Steve scoffed, swinging his feet from where he sat on the checkout counter, Robin
sweeping around underneath him. It was a slow day at the Family Video Store, and Steve was
taking full advantage of it to rant to Robin about his predicament. “I didn’t even know that was a
thing! Did you know it was a thing?”

“What, bisexuality?” Robin glanced up at Steve with a chuckle. “Yeah, Steve. Vickie’s bi.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Well, thanks for tellin’ me! Jeez…”

“To be fair, I didn’t think you were that in the dark,” Robin defended. “I would’ve told you what it
was sooner. I thought you were just… oblivious to yourself.”

“Could’ve told me that, too,” Steve said with raised eyebrows. “See somethin’, say somethin’,
Robbie.”

Robin laughed at this. “That’s… first of all, about bullying. Second of all, think it could’ve been
considered bullying if I was constantly pointing out every time you did something gay.”
“Was it that often?” Steve asked, brows knitted together.

Robin made a show of rolling her eyes. “Painfully often.”

Steve felt heat rise to his face at this, his eyes falling to his lap to avoid looking at her. He thought
he had managed to keep this mostly to himself, and that Robin just enjoyed teasing him. But when
he burst through the back room at the start of his shift, frantically crying out “I think I’m bisexual,”
Robin had barely glanced up from her magazine, simply saying “Finally.”

“I mean– it’s not fair, Rob,” Steve started again, ignoring the amused look on her face. “If I like
guys, I should be able to flirt like I do with girls. But then I’m in the moment and I just– freeze up–
I don’t freeze up, Robin.” He looked at her with a severe expression in his eyes.

Robin chuckled, “I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again; welcome to what it’s like being
everyone else.”

Steve groaned. “I hate being like everyone else. I like being me! Steve Good-At-Flirting
Harrington.”

“Ya know, I’m actually glad this is happening. You were in desperate need of an ego check,”
Robin teased, Steve rolling his eyes in response.

“How do other people deal with being all…” Steve flapped his hand absently in the air.
“Squeamish and squirmy.”

“Well, when Vickie makes me feel like that now, I just kiss her,” Robin shrugs. “Before I could
freely do that, I kinda just felt like I was dying whenever I was around her. But ya know, in a good
way.”

“That’s completely unhelpful, thank you,” Steve said as the phone next to him rang. She stuck her
tongue out at him before starting to sweep the rest of the store, Steve picking up. “Family Video
Store, this is Steve.”

“Stevie,” Steve straightened at the familiar voice, a tingling sensation spreading in the pit of his
stomach.

“Oh, hey Munson,” this earned Robin’s attention. She started making kissy faces at Steve, who
glared at her and gave her a wave to tell her to get lost. “What’s up?”

“What are you doing this Saturday?” Eddie asked through the phone. It was rare for him to call
instead of showing up to ask whatever he wanted in person. Steve tried not to get disappointed over
this.

“Not working, for once,” Steve inspected a candy bar next to him in an attempt to calm his fluttery
nerves. “Why?”

“Come to my show,” Eddie said, and Steve could practically hear the signature smile etched into
his face. His stomach did a flip.

“You want me to come see your band?” Steve repeated for clarity, but also so Robin could hear. A
look in her direction showed her grinning and giving Steve an aggressive thumbs up.

“Yeah, we play at a restaurant in town sometimes. Not a lot of people show up, but it’d be cool if
you did,” Steve felt the need to punch the air, but restrained himself, instead crossing his arms and
clearing his throat.
“Okay, yeah, sounds fun,” Steve smiled to himself widely.

“Great! Pass the word onto Robin and Vickie, if you want,” Eddie said before giving Steve the
address and start-time. A part of Steve just wanted to go by himself, but then he thought he should
probably bring as many people as he could think of to show out. Which, admittedly, was only
Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle in addition to Robin and Vickie, but he figured it was better than
nothing.

“Alright, Munson. Me and the rest of the groupies will be there,” Steve teased, Eddie chuckling on
the other end.

“You gonna throw your bra on stage, Harrington?” He hated how the question made him light in
the stomach and red in the face.

“Well, that depends how good you play, doesn’t it?” He countered, biting his lip in a failed attempt
to stop the smile threatening to split his face in half.

“Those are high stakes, Stevie,” Eddie tutted through the phone. “I’m gonna go whip the boys into
shape. Every time they mess up they’ll get the hose.”

Steve barked a laugh, earning a raised eyebrow from Robin. “The hose?” He asked.

“Yeah, I mean it’s not high pressure or anything. It’s just the garden hose,” Eddie supplied, before
adding “But it’s pretty cold!”

“Guess I’ll leave you to it, then,” Steve chuckled. “Bye, Munson.”

“See ya Saturday, Stevie,” Eddie said before the line went dead. Steve hung up the phone, smiling
to himself quietly. He looked up to see Robin smiling at him. She waggled her eyebrows.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

+++

It was a fairly warm night, likely one of the last few as they moved through August. But even if the
breeze were stronger, Steve was pretty sure his nerves would keep him perfectly warm. He was
practically bouncing in line to the bar Eddie was playing at, The Hideout, his friends chatting
amongst themselves while he worried about how he looked.

He bent down so he could check his hair in the window of a car parked next to where they waited,
running his fingers through it, not satisfied with his abilities. Steve stood back up, straightening the
vest as he did so.

“You look fine, Steve,” Robin gave him a small shove back into line. “Stop stressing.”

“No, you’re too close. Of course you would say I look fine,” Steve turned to Vickie, who came up
to hook her arm in Robin’s. “Vickie, be honest,” he pointed up at his hair. “It’s not as good as
usual, right? Too,” he gestured around his head vaguely. “Much?”

Vickie furrowed her brows, tilting her head a bit as she scrutinized him. “No,” she said finally. “It’s
what it normally looks like.”

“And that’s good, right?” He clarified.

“Steve, you are frequently referred to as ‘Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington,’” Robin cut in flatly.
“Clearly whatever you got goin’ on is working for you.”

It wasn’t long before Steve was giving his ID to the bouncer, getting a big ‘X’ on the back of his
hand. The bar was small, but it was surprisingly decently filled. There were some tables pushed to
the back, leaving a bit of open space in front of the small stage, only elevated a step or two, on the
farthest side of the room. On this stage, was Eddie and his band setting up.

“There’s… kind of a crowd,” Jonathan said with surprise as they all shuffled in.

“Eddie way undersells them,” Robin agreed. “This is more than ‘a couple of drunks.’”

The bar wasn’t packed, but Robin was right. All the barstools were taken, and a fair amount of the
tables, but Steve was already leading the group to where a few people were standing, waiting for
the show to start.

“Munson,” Steve called as he walked up to the stage. Eddie turned from where he was adjusting
some of their equipment, a wide smile spreading his face as he saw Steve. “You didn’t tell me you
actually get a crowd going.”

“Harrington, you actually came,” Eddie jumped down from the stage and immediately wrapped
Steve into a quick hug, the sudden impact making Steve stagger back a bit as he reciprocated.

“Don’t act so surprised, I’m good for it occasionally,” Steve smirked, but was finding it hard to
keep his composure when Eddie looked so good.

Big brown eyes lined with smudged black eyeliner, hair teased up, and wearing his trademark
leather jacket/denim vest duo. And, of course, Steve noticed his gift on his hand.

Eddie arched an eyebrow, giving Steve a look up and down. He cocked his head to the side a bit, a
smug smirk on his face when his eyes lingered on Steve’s vest. He reached out and gave the lapels
a tug, holding painfully piercing eye contact with Steve while doing so.

Steve’s head swam, almost like he was drunk, but he just stared at Eddie like a smiling fool. Until
Robin cleared her throat, stepping up with Vickie. This snapped Steve out of whatever trance he
fell into, subsequently making his face burn red hot. He scratched the back of his head nervously,
giving an awkward sniff.

“Er, yeah. I said I would bring groupies,” Steve gestured to first Robin and Vickie, then Jonathan,
Nancy, and Argyle.

“Hey, man,” Argyle smiled. “Can you teach me some guitar before we go back to California?”

“Uh…” Eddie seemed caught off guard by the question. “Yeah, sure, man. Come by… whenever,”
he shrugged, Argyle smiling and nodding. “Well, I gotta get back to setting up. Thanks for comin’
guys,” Eddie smiled at them all before lingering on Steve, clapped his shoulder, and then hopped
back on stage. Steve forced himself to face the group so he couldn’t stare.

When he noticed Robin and Vickie staring at him, he cleared his throat. “Im uh… gonna get a
Coke.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nancy, to his surprise, was the one who spoke. Steve gave a small smile and
led her to the bar, a slightly awkward silence settling around them as they waited for the busy
bartender.

“So…” Steve said, desperate to break the quiet. “It won’t be long before you guys head to school,
right?”

Nancy nodded. “Yup. Little over two weeks.”

“Jeez,” Steve breathed. “Feel like you guys just got back from California.”

“Yeah,” Nancy gave a halfhearted chuckle. “Me too.”

“Are you nervous?”

“About college? Not at all,” Nancy shook her head. “About leaving Mike,” she glanced at him.
“Everyone else… about long-distance with Jonathan… I’m terrified about all of that.”

Steve nodded sympathetically. Hell, he was worried for her. What if it came back and they were
scattered across the country? What if he needed her help to keep everyone safe?

“We’ll be alright, though,” he was saying it for the both of them, because he needed to believe it
just as desperately. Steve gave a small smile. “I got Eddie to help keep the little monsters in line.
Never thought I’d say it, but I actually think he’s a good influence on them.”

They both chuckled at this, Nancy observing Steve with an almost curious smile. “I think he’s a
good influence on you, too.”

Steve pulled a face of mock offense. “I didn’t know I was so bad before.”

Nancy chuckled.“No, you weren’t, but…” she bit her lip, staring at a spot on the bar as she thought
for a moment. “Sometimes, especially after the Mind Flayer… it felt like you were kinda…
checked out. And around him… I don’t know, I’ve never seen you,” she shook her head, briefly
searching for the words. “More engaged with life, than you are when you’re with Eddie.”

Steve took a second, trying to digest the words. Damn, he thought, And she wasn’t even supposed
to know. Steve laughed, Nancy giving him an odd look.

“Nothin,’” Steve said simply, a small shake of his head. “Thank you, Nance. Do me a favor and
don’t spend all your time at college worrying about the rest of us.” The bartender came up not long
after, Nancy and Steve returning to the group with their sodas.

And as the lights dimmed before flashing bright onto the band, Steve never felt more sure of
himself. The group cheered loudly as the lead singer introduced themselves as Corroded Coffin.
The music started up, and then it was a blur from there.

Eddie was amazing, not only playing guitar but singing backup. And maybe Steve was biased, but
he brought more stage presence and energy than even the lead singer, often getting some of the
crowd riled up by doing funny or downright impressive moves.

One of the times he caught Steve’s eye, he sent him a wink, and Steve thought he could shoot
through the roof. The whole ordeal made him feel like a schoolgirl seeing her favorite boy band,
and while it was embarrassing he found himself too wrapped up in Eddie’s performance to care. It
wasn’t the sort of music he usually listened to, but Steve knew he’d want to come to as many
shows as Eddie would allow. Or, as many as he could attend without looking like a stalker, at least.

“Should’ve brought a bra,” Steve thought aloud, earning a confused look from Robin beside him.

“What?”
“Nothing,” he brushed off.

“Alright, this is our final song,” Eddie was grabbing the mic, tilting it closer and all Steve could do
was watch, mesmerized by the smallest things. “And I’d like to dedicate it to…” he turned his gaze
to Steve, gesturing to him. “Steve Harrington, the best monster-killer in Hawkins!” A few people
clapped or hollered despite having no idea what Eddie was talking about, but it was mostly his
group of friends hooting around him, Robin giving him a light jostle. Steve ignored the fact that he
definitely was not the best monster-killer in Hawkins, as that was almost definitely Eleven or
Hopper, and took the surge of pride that rushed through him.

His face was no doubt fire engine red, but he couldn’t stop staring up at Eddie, who was beaming
at him from the spotlight. “Seriously, that man will turn anything into a weapon,” Eddie added,
earning laughter only from his group of friends. Steve just shook his head at him with a stupid
smile he couldn’t get off his face. “This song’s called; Ozzy’s Prodigy,” and then Eddie started a
fast-pace guitar riff.

The song was great; an amalgamation of bouncy drumlines and a plucky bass, plus a wildly
impressive guitar solo from Eddie, the singer belting energetically about the end of the world.
Honestly, it could’ve been the worst song in the world and Steve couldn’t care less, because Eddie
actually took the fucking time to write him a song. And that was insane to him. The idea that
someone would sit down and get inspired enough to make something about him was nearly
unfathomable. For fuck’s sake, just the confirmation that Eddie thought about Steve in his
downtime was enough to make his head explode.

The final chord rang out and despite the entire small venue offering up rowdy applause, Steve was
determined to be the loudest in the crowd. He let out a long, loud whistle before yelling a deep
“Yeah, Eddie!” accompanied by violent applause. The band did a bow, and as they began packing
up their equipment a few people began to filter out of the bar.

Steve led the group up to the edge of the stage, all of them talking over each other in order to praise
Eddie as he came over. “Please, please,” Eddie said, smirking. “I am but a man.” He crouched
down so he would be eye level with everyone, but was directly in front of Steve. “So…” he looked
at everyone before his eyes fell on Steve. “Did I impress?”

”Uh, yeah,” Argyle laughed. “Obviously, man. It was like, your guitar was making love to my
ears.”

Steve gave him a puzzled look before turning back to Eddie. “Yeah, what he said,” Steve gave
Eddie a lopsided smile.

“Well, listen, I gotta help pack up– but! One of the guys is having a little after party at his house if
you guys wanna come,” Eddie raised his eyebrows at the group. “He lives right down the street
from Robin.”

“Yeah, and can I say?” Robin chimed in. “Sometimes I see him mowing the lawn in nothing but
tidey-wideys, drinking milk straight from the gallon.”

Everyone made various faces of disgust or confusion, except for Argyle, who said “Hey, dude.
What a man does on his own property is his business.”

“Anyway,” Jonathan was the one to move on, sharing a look with Nancy, her nodding, before he
said “We’re in. Thanks, Eddie.”

“Possible milk fetish aside, I’m down,” she looked at Vickie, who was nodding in agreement. All
eyes turned to Steve at that moment, and he gave a strained laugh. “Jeez, yeah, I’ll come,” he side
eyed everyone, shifting uncomfortably. “Now quit lookin’ at me in unison, it’s creepy.”

“Great, sounds like Robin knows where it is then,” Eddie stood, looking down at everyone, but
mostly Steve, as he said “See ya there.”

+++

The band needed a little extra time to get everything loaded up, so Steve, Nancy, Robin, and Vickie
had decided to get food while Jonathan and Argyle went home to grab… party favors. Stomach full
and buzzing with excitement, Steve pulled his car next to a decently sized one-story house.

Faint music and laughter could be heard coming from inside the house as Steve followed the girls
to the front door. A guy Steve recognized as the drummer of Eddie’s band opened the door, giving
a hesitant, but nice enough, greeting to the group.

It was more of a kickback than a party, really, Steve seeing mostly bandmates and only a few
people that were standing for the show. Argyle and Jonathan were on the couch, two slices of pizza
on each of their plates.

Jonathan spotted them first, neither making any move to get up, but smiling widely at the group as
they entered. “Hey, it’s Nancy,” Jonathan said happily, waving again at his girlfriend. Nancy
chuckled.

“Having fun, Jonathan?” She smiled, taking a seat beside him. Steve felt an arm snake around his
shoulders.

“Boo,” Eddie said simply into Steve’s ear, and it was amazing how many shivers one word could
cause. Steve looked over at Eddie, smiling as always.

“Hey,” Steve breathed, a smile tugging at his own lips. “You were really good.”

Eddie made a show of looking like he was thinking, “Hmmm… Was I? Because if I recall
correctly, that would mean I’d have your bra right now.”

Steve shook his head, unable to shake the grin from his face. He had no choice but to look at his
shoes to get away from those fucking eyes. “Shut up,” was all he could supply. At some point, and
he didn’t know when, Eddie’s joke-flirting had become real-flirting, and Steve never found himself
able to get used to it. Or maybe, Steve considered, he just never saw it before. But for some reason
now he could see it so clearly; Eddie Munson was flirting with him. And it was driving him
absolutely fucking crazy.

“Want a drink?” Eddie asked.

Steve thought about it for a second before saying “Just one beer. I’m driving.” Not a lie, but he was
also enjoying… this. Whatever it was. And he wanted to remember as much of it– as it truly was–
as he could.

“Me too,” Eddie said as he slid off Steve, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning to face him
towards the kitchen, giving him the slightest of shoves forward. “Looks like we’re mostly-sober-
buddies for the night.”

“Mostly-sober-buddies,” Steve repeated as he was led into the kitchen, which was small and
empty. Eddie popped open the fridge and pulled out two beers a moment later, passing one to
Steve.
Steve nodded in thanks before opening it, leaning against the small, wooden kitchen island. Eddie
jumped up on the counter opposite him, cracking open the beer and taking a sip. “Loved the song,
by the way,” Steve smiled, teasing instincts kicking into full gear. “What was that one line…
‘Handsome… Hairy beast,’ is that right?” He knew this part. Someone liked him, and he liked
them back. It didn’t matter that it was Eddie Munson and not a girl, Steve knew how to charm
people, and he was going to do it goddammit.

And it was already working, an almost stunned look crossing Eddie’s reddening face before he was
shyly biting his lip and looking everywhere but Steve’s eyes. “Shut up, it was like… a filler line.
Didn’t even think you’d hear it.”

“Oh, I heard it,” Steve grinned as he pulled away from his beer can. “Now will you tell Henderson
that? I keep tellin’ him the chest hair works on all the babes,” he pointedly glanced Eddie up and
down.

Eddie’s shock furthered as he laughed lightly, looking at Steve with morbid curiosity. “What’s
gotten into you tonight, Harrington?” He smiled, face ablaze in a way that Steve didn’t think he’d
ever stop picturing. “Pay the bartender to slip you somethin’ nice?”

Steve pretended to think about this, “No,” he said innocently, stepping forward from the island and
taking a slow step toward Eddie. “You don’t really use my name, Eddie,” he kept his voice low and
soft, the way that always drove girls crazy. “Why?”

He came to stand in the space between Eddie’s legs, not touching but so suffocatingly in his space
Steve almost didn’t know if he could keep his head screwed on enough to do this. But that fucking
look in Eddie’s eyes, pupils utterly blown out on already dark irises. They were endless, and though
Steve often struggled baring the sight of such intensity right now he couldn’t look away.

“I-I don’t…” Eddie trailed off, punctuating the sentence instead with a small shake of his head.

Steve gave a languid sigh as he slid his beer can onto the counter beside Eddie, then plucked the
can in Eddie’s hand and did the same with his. “What’s my name?” Their faces were inches apart
and Steve thought his heart might hammer right out of his chest at any second. He couldn’t help
but drop his gaze to Eddie’s lips, flicking them back up to his eyes after he was satisfied.

Eddie didn’t respond, looking at Steve almost like he was in a trance, big doe eyes blinking up at
him. Pretty.

Steve tutted softly, inching his face a fraction closer, hands falling lightly on Eddie’s knees as he
did so. “What’s the matter, Eddie? You’re usually so talkative,” Steve murmured, his lips so close
to Eddie’s now they brushed together as he said “Cat got your tongue?” But he wouldn’t kiss him.
Not yet. Instead he hovered there and began drumming his fingers lightly on the tops of Eddie’s
knees. He could feel Eddie’s shallow breath fanning against his lips, and it nearly tore him apart
holding back, but he didn’t give in. “What’s my name, Eddie?” Steve asked again.

It was as if the air and time and everything in the world stilled around them, only leaving Steve and
Eddie in motion. And then he breathed it out, barely a whisper: “Steve.”

He could barely finish the word before Steve crashed his lips against Eddie’s, his hands flying up
to cup his face in tandem. Eddie barely wasted time responding, moving his lips just as hungrily as
Steve moved his, Eddie’s grabbing Steve’s waist and pulling him impossibly closer.

Steve trailed his hands down Eddie’s shoulders as they kissed, then his sides. Then they hooked
under Eddie’s knees and gave a quick tug, pulling a startled noise out of Eddie as he yanked him to
the edge of the counter, their entire fronts pressed together.

It was rough and a little sloppy, but Steve didn’t care as Eddie’s hands came to fall around his
neck, tugging at the hair there. Steve hummed gutterly into Eddie’s mouth, his own hands
exploring Eddie’s waist under his jacket, getting mere brushes of skin from where his shirt lifted up
with the friction.

Nothing was enough, but damned his stupid lungs because he needed to breathe and how dare they
not be able to survive off of Eddie alone? He broke the kiss, both of them gasping, noses still
touching and eyes staring deeply into each other. Steve didn’t lessen his tight grip on Eddie’s body.
He felt like he had to make up for all the times he didn’t push himself, didn’t go just that little bit
further when it would’ve been so easy. Like now that he could touch Eddie– really touch him, not
just timid excuses– he never wanted to stop.

“Steve Harrington,” Eddie breathed out in awe, smiling into the words.

Steve smiled back. “Now you got it.” They sat there like that for a moment, the muffled music
filtering in from the living room, distant conversations being had, but all of it faded away. It was
just Eddie and him.

That is, until he heard Robin’s voice outside of the closed door yelling “No– U-Uh, G-GARETH
IS ENTERING THE KITCHEN! GARETH! ENTERING THE KITCHEN NOW!” But even with
her warning, Steve and Eddie only had enough time to look at each other in panic before the door
swung open, revealing a very stunned Gareth and a stressed Robin standing behind him.

Everyone was silent for a second, Robin, Steve, Eddie, and Gareth all looking between each other.
Steve glanced between Robin and Eddie, and made an executive decision.

Steve, not moving from his compromising position with Eddie, started to boo Gareth. “Boooo.
Boo, Gareth, Booo,” With no further explanation, Eddie and Robin immediately started to heckle
Gareth as well.

“Booo,” Robin said, an uncertain look on her face as she went along with… whatever solution this
was. “B-bad Gareth… baaad Gareth.” Gareth looked between all of them, mouth hanging open in
astonished silence, clearly confused.

“Yeah, fuck you Gareth,” Eddie started going in, tone becoming more aggressive. Steve
immediately matched the energy.

“What the fuck, Gareth,” Steve spat as he looked at Gareth like he had just done something deeply
unsettling. Gareth’s confusion started twisting into fear, still unable to say anything.

“Yeah, why are you being such a freak, Gareth?” Robin was the last one to be heard, the room
falling silent as the three of them mad-dogged Gareth, who couldn’t settle who to look at to get an
answer as to what he did.

When he saw the stern, unbreaking looks of Steve, Eddie, and Robin, he deflated, hanging his
head. “Yeah, okay,” he said mopily, sulking out of the kitchen.

The three stood– or in Eddie’s case, sat– staring between one another for a moment after Gareth
left. Robin’s grinned almost creepily, and Steve knew he wouldn’t hear the end of this. She didn’t
say a word as she backed out of the kitchen, still smiling, the door swinging closed behind her.

Eddie and Steve looked at each other. They both burst into laughter, Steve letting his forehead rest
against Eddie as they did so. Once their laughter died down, Eddie was the one who spoke first.
“As much as I very badly want to continue this, we should probably head back out there. Plus I
think we just emotionally damaged Gareth.”

“Mmm…” Steve hummed in mock thoughtfulness. “Or… what if we stay in here and barricade the
door? I’ve gotten really good at barricading doors.”

“Don’t think that’s very good houseguest behavior, Stevie,” Eddie replied, his hands playing with
the hair at the nape of Steve’s neck. “What if instead we ditch this thing and you come over to
mine?” Steve couldn’t stop the grin that split his face at Eddie’s words. He didn’t respond
verbally, instead leaning in again for another kiss, but this time it was softer. Gentle and slow.
Steve’s fingers slid smoothly under Eddie’s shirt and he felt the latter’s breath hitch. Steve smiled
into the kiss before breaking it.

“Let’s get to saying our goodbyes, then,” with that, Steve finally unraveled himself from Eddie, the
two of them leaving their barely started beers on the counter as they reentered the living room.
Eddie’s hand was on Steve’s lower back, slipping under the vest but above his shirt as he led Steve
back to their friends on the couch. Steve’s stomach buzzed.

“Hey, uh,” Steve said as he got their friends’ attention. “We’re gonna head out. Both kinda tired.”
It was an excuse he was pretty sure no one, besides maybe Argyle, believed.

“Real tired,” Eddie echoed, a mischievous grin firmly in place.

“No worries, I can take everyone home later,” Jonathan said with a polite smile. Robin had a giant
one on her own face, but to Steve’s surprise she wasn’t making any jokes, perhaps not wanting to
delay their plans.

They said their goodbyes, and as they were walking away he heard Robin yell “Seriously, don’t get
pregnant!” Steve chuckled as Eddie led them out of the house, the two of them stopping before
they had to split to their separate cars.

“Meet you at mine?” Eddie came around to stand in front of Steve, his hands playing with the
collar of Steve’s vest.

“Try and stop me,” Steve snaked his hands around either side of Eddie’s waist and gave a squeeze.
He didn’t know if he was being too much, and when Eddie bit his lip like that at him he didn’t
care.

To Steve’s dismay they broke apart, a fleeting look between them before Eddie finally got inside
the van, Steve wasting no time getting to his own car. He didn’t know what the rest of tonight
would hold, but as long as it was more of Eddie Munson he didn’t care.
 Who You Run Up Hills For
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Steve barely had to wait a second after knocking on Eddie’s door before he yanked it open, an
excited smile on his face, eyeliner accentuating his bright eyes. Eddie gave a deep, purposely evil
laugh before grabbing a fistful of Steve’s shirt and tugging him inside the trailer, shutting the door
behind him. Steve felt adoration bloom deep in his core, and he was sure his face showed it.
Finally, he’d stopped caring that it did.

Eddie pushed Steve easily onto the couch, smiles plastered to both of their faces as Eddie rested
one knee on the other side of Steve’s leg, taking his chin in between his thumb and forefinger.
Steve swam in his gaze.

“You’re beautiful, Steve,” he spoke softly but his words were so loud in Steve’s head. He didn’t
think anyone had called him that before. Never knew that he would enjoy hearing it. His hand
snaked up the thigh of Eddie’s bent knee, the other moving up his waist as he stared up at the
miraculous man above him. Steve could almost laugh at how intense this feeling was.

Instead he ran his hands over Eddie, still careful of not crossing more lines than he may be allowed.
God, he hoped one day he’d be allowed.

Eddie slowly dipped his head down lower, not releasing Steve’s chin as his eyes flicked to Steve’s
lips before pressing them to his own. Steve pressed back hungrily, but Eddie’s hold on his chin
kept him slow. Eddie broke the kiss as Steve lowered him into his lap.

Steve was silently pulled into another slow but deep kiss, Eddie’s hands traveling over his chest
and shoulders. The denim vest seemed to cause him frustration because he tugged Steve a bit by
the lapels, a maddening growl rumbling from his throat. “As hot as you look in this, I’d very much
like it off now,” he said against Steve’s lips.

Steve smirked, hands tugging on Eddie by his own vest. “I’ll show you mine if you show me
yours,” he teased, reveling in how quickly Eddie’s face turned beat red, but his smile never
leaving.

Eddie released Steve’s vest and leaned back enough to take off his jacket/vest combo, tossing it
next to the couch. “Show me yours,” he challenged in a low voice, smirking down at Steve from
where he straddled his lap. Steve, eagerly and with great urgency, removed his vest and threw it in
the general area of Eddie’s. This gained a laugh from Eddie.

Steve’s hands were moving slowly up and down Eddie’s sides, the older boy cupping his face with
his hands. His thumbs brushed gently over the peaks of Steve’s cheekbones. Steve just inspected
his eyes in the pale blue light that blanketed both of them, his stomach fluttering as Eddie’s thumbs
trailed softly down his face, grazing his jawline. He was utterly defenseless under Eddie’s stare,
but no part of him was fighting back anyway.

And then Eddie was pressing their lips back together, his hands more freely exploring Steve’s chest
and shoulders now that the vest wasn't impeding. Steve gripped at Eddie’s sides, desperate to just
have more of him, but it wasn’t enough.

In one fluid movement, Steve hooked his hands under Eddie’s thighs, the latter letting out a small
cry of surprise as Steve stood up, flipping Eddie onto his back on the couch. Eddie gave a light
grunt on impact, followed by what Steve thought was the most intoxicating giggle he’d ever heard.
As he looked at Eddie’s smiling face, he couldn’t believe he’d gone so long without… this.

He was staring at Eddie’s lips, and before he could stop himself his thumb was brushing delicately
over his bottom lip. And then, Eddie was looking up at him with those big brown eyes and
wrapping his mouth around Steve's thumb and sucking. He swore he’d died right then, mouth
hanging open in disbelief at the absolute pornography that was Eddie Munson’s face. He more
than had a problem in his jeans, now.

When Eddie pulled off with a soft ‘pop,’ Steve hung his head a little, chuckling as he shook it. He
looked back up at Eddie, his own eyes wide in an attempt to take in as much as he could of the boy
below him. “You’re gonna fucking kill me, Munson,” he groaned, collapsing on top of Eddie, who
chuckled in his ear at the sudden weight. Steve rested his cheek on Eddie’s chest, his arms
wrapped around his sides as much as the couch would allow and legs entangled together. Eddie’s
hand threaded through Steve’s hair, earning a deep hum from Steve as his eyes fell shut.

“Who knew Steve Harrington got hard just from kissing,” Eddie teased below him. Steve rotated
his head so his chin was resting on Eddie’s chest instead, shooting him a glare that surely fell flat
due to the massive smile on his face.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Steve said sarcastically, cocking his head. “What’s this then?” He ground his hips
into Eddie’s, where he could tell the other was also hard, and was rewarded by Eddie’s eyes
fluttering shut, a suppressed hum rumbling through his body.

“Yes, okay, point made, Harrington,” Eddie gave him a quick tug on his hair, Steve’s own lids
falling shut just a little at the gesture. “But I feel that’s to be expected of the dude who was,
reminding you once again, head of the D&D club in high school.”

“God, I can’t believe someone who used to be head of the D&D club got me hard,” Steve teased,
but the sentiment was formed from truth.

"My point exactly!" Eddie laughed, raising his eyebrows at Steve. “If it makes you feel any better,
I never thought I’d go for a pretty jock,” Eddie's hand started slowly massaging Steve’s head.

“Really? I’m not your type?” Steve asked in a mockingly offended tone, finding it hard to keep up
the unbothered aura with Eddie's fingers in his hair. Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Well, obviously you are,” Eddie let his other hand rest on Steve’s back. “But I always figured I’d
be into some… artsy musician dude. All about his art or whatever.”

“Sounds like a douchebag,” Steve mused, turning back onto his cheek as he soaked up all of
Eddie’s idle touches.

“Huh, guess you really are my type, then,” Eddie said in a puzzled tone, earning raised eyebrows
from a smiling Steve, who had now lifted his head to properly scold him.

“Oh, Eddie,” Steve patronized as he pushed himself up onto his hands, hovering over the man
below him. “Poor, foolish Eddie,” he braced the side of Eddie’s face with one hand, lowering his
lips until they spoke against Eddie’s ear: “You haven’t seen how mean I can be.” Steve caught the
other's earlobe lightly between his teeth and tugged, earning a small gasp from Eddie as his hands
flew to Steve’s back, as if for stability.

Steve didn’t let up, however, trailing wet, sucking kisses down Eddie’s neck. When he got to the
crook of his neck, Eddie let out a long hum, hands moving more desperately across Steve’s back.
Steve took this as his sign, and ever so lightly bit down on Eddie’s sensitive spot, earning an
outright whine. He smiled into Eddie’s neck, feeling accomplished.

Though, in reality he’d made the situation worse for himself as well, Steve letting out a frustrated
groan. He collapsed back onto Eddie. “You making noises like that is gonna make it really hard to
stop, Munson,” his words were muffled as they were spoken into a mixture of Eddie’s neck and
hair.

He chuckled under Steve. “Pretty sure you started it, and…” Eddie hesitated for a moment, his
movements on the back of Steve’s head momentarily stalling as he pointedly caught Steve's eye.
“Do you want to stop?” A tentative silence rang out, not awkward, but charged.

Steve sat up then, straddling Eddie and looking down at his chest instead of his face. He slid his
hands along Eddie’s forearms before moving both of his hands to hold one of Eddie’s, the one with
the sword and shield ring on it. He inspected Eddie’s hand, letting his thumb brush all over the
angular joints Steve had studied so many times. “I… don’t know if I… can yet.”

He didn’t feel… scared to say it, per se. Steve knew Eddie wouldn’t pressure him into anything,
but he didn’t want him to be disappointed regardless. “I want to– really badly,” Steve emphasized,
taking care to catch Eddie’s eye as he did so. “But… I just found out I like guys not too long ago. I
mean,” Steve breathed a laugh. “For fuck’s sake I didn’t even know there was a word for what I...
am.” Eddie let his free hand fall at the top of Steve’s thigh, toward his knee, his thumb gently
stroking as he gave Steve an encouraging smile. “I don’t want there to be anything to take away
from… that. And, I dunno, I think I’ll be too in my head about it.” Steve looked at Eddie
uncertainly. “Is that stupid?”

Eddie’s brows knitted together for a second. “No, Steve, why would that be stupid?” Eddie
breathed a soft laugh, removing his hand from Steve’s and placing it on the other leg, sitting up so
he and Steve were barely inches apart. “It makes total sense. Plus…” Eddie ran his hands up
Steve’s thighs before bringing them back down. Steve’s eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, his
hips subconsciously bucking forward. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Steve looked at Eddie timidly. “Are you sure?”

“‘Course I’m sure, Stevie,” Eddie gave him a lopsided smile. Steve couldn’t help himself; he
cupped Eddie’s face again and gave him a long, hard kiss. Then, he did what he’s been dying to do
for fucking ages now; run his hands through that magnificent hair. Their lips moved roughly
against each other as soft hair entangled his fingers, really properly feeling it. And god when he
pulled on Eddie’s hair his mouth fell open and he moaned.

They broke apart, leaning on each other and panting slightly. Steve let his head fall onto Eddie’s
shoulder with a soft laugh, already regretting his choice to stop but knowing it was the right one.

“Right, Stevie, I hate to cut this short, but I’m afraid if we don’t stop now it’s gonna be a painful
night for both of us,” Eddie chuckled lightly in Steve’s ear, giving his bicep a pat.

Steve let out a frustrated groan, sitting up straight and closing his eyes in annoyance. “Why
couldn’t I have figured this out sooner?” He asked no one in particular, maybe the universe.

“Trust me, Harrington, I’ve been waiting,” Eddie smirked, watching Steve's pouting with
amusement.

“Yeah?” Steve opened his eyes, raising his eyebrows at Eddie. “How long?” He said it like a
challenge.

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, genuinely thinking back. “Well, I certainly wished for it during the
time fighting Vecna. Specifically the night we killed him. You and I ended up being the only ones
awake after all of it.” Eddie was looking somewhere far off, a reminiscent smile on his face. “I
really wanted it to be true then. But…” he seemed to bring himself back to the moment. “I guess I
didn’t know for sure until the carnival. Up until then it was just… a bunch of debating with myself.
And occasionally Robin. I think even Henderson caught on eventually.”

Steve smiled at this. “Robin? How long has she known your thoughts, then?”

Eddie breathed a laugh. “I think she knew I liked you before I did, actually. Helped me realize that,
'yes, you’re into Steve Harrington, of all people.'” Steve laughed at this. “But I didn’t start going to
her for advice until after Vecna was dead. Basically put it off until I felt like I was going crazy and
needed an outside opinion whether or not I was making it all up in my head.”

“Making what up in your head?” Steve asked.

Eddie looked sheepish, unable to look at Steve’s face as one hand gestured vaguely to the air.
“Little things that you would do. Teasing me more than others, but never actually in a rude way.
Leaning into my touch. Looking at me the way that you did sometimes.” Eddie gave a weak laugh.
“I mean, seriously, Harrington, you are hard to read. For a long time Robin couldn’t tell either,
constantly changing her answer every time you would interact with me again.”

Steve smirked. “Well, if it makes either of you feel better, I seemed to be the last to know out of all
of you. So you clearly read me better than I read myself.”

“That’s not saying much,” Eddie teased, earning a glare with no real heat from Steve.

He carded his fingers through Eddie’s hair, just taking in the sight of his skin and sparkling eyes in
the moonlight. “Alright,” Steve gave a long, exasperated sigh before climbing off of Eddie, pulling
him off the couch by the hand. “We should go to bed before you make this more of a challenge.”

“It pains me to say I think you’re right,” Eddie said with a sigh as Steve led them to Eddie’s room.
Eddie dropped Steve’s hand to rummage through his dresser drawers. Steve found the loss of
contact intolerable, taking a few steps until he was pressed against Eddie’s back, sliding his hands
onto his waist. Eddie chuckled as one of Steve’s hands gently pulled back his hair, allowing him
access to bury his face in Eddie’s neck, kissing lightly.

“Harrington…” Eddie sang in a playfully scolding voice. Steve smiled into his neck, humming
innocently. “Behave,” Eddie said sternly, turning around and pressing clothes into Steve’s chest.
Steve gave a goofy roll of his eyes, smile firmly in place as he tossed the clothes on the bed behind
him. He held intense eye contact as he pulled his shirt off over his head.

Eddie shook his head, also unable to wipe the smile from his face. “You’re insufferable, you know
that?”

Steve arched a coy brow before he unbuttoned his pants, pushing them down so he was only in his
boxers. “No!” Eddie gave a dramatic gasp, his hands flying to cover his face. “Your modesty!” He
exclaimed before parting his fingers, allowing him to pointedly look Steve up and down. The latter
laughed at this before tugging Eddie’s shirt on, opting to leave the sweatpants and remain in
boxers. Eddie yanked off his own shirt, snatching the sweatpants off the bed as he muttered, almost
to himself, “You’re evil, Steve Harrington.”
He sat on the foot of Eddie’s bed, leaning back onto his hands as he simply watched Eddie change
into sweatpants, a ferocious blush visible on his face even in the pale glow of his room. Eddie
shook his head lightly, ruffling Steve’s hair as he passed by. “C’mon, Stevie. Dental health is
important, and I got an extra toothbrush since you were here last.”

“Were you anticipating me, Munson?” Steve grinned as he followed Eddie into the bathroom, a
fresh toothbrush being pushed into his hand.

“Shut up,” Eddie mumbled, the two brushing their teeth together before returning to Eddie’s room
and climbing into bed.

Steve glanced over at Eddie and shook his head. “No, Eddie, man, you gotta wear a shirt. I won’t
survive this time,” Steve covered his face with his hands as he spoke, letting them fall to see if
Eddie would listen.

“Right,” Eddie said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “As if you in nothing but boxers and my shirt
isn’t torture.” But he was already getting up, tugging on another shirt before flopping back beside
Steve. “Satisfied, Harrington?”

“No,” Steve said thoughtfully. “But that’s the point.” They were lying on their sides facing each
other, the silence wrapping around them like a warm blanket as Steve could do nothing else but
look into Eddie’s eyes.

But, as Steve was coming to realize, having Eddie in front of him without touching the boy was
practically impossible. His hand tentatively reached out, sliding over Eddie’s waist and gripping
lightly, his fingers stroking softly over the cloth there.

And god Eddie was looking at him so fondly as his own hand came up to caress Steve’s face,
thumb brushing over his cheek. “I don’t want this to end,” Eddie said suddenly, voice quiet and
face pensive.

Steve furrowed his brows a bit, giving Eddie’s side a squeeze. “Does it have to?” He asked
genuinely, a tinge of a smile on his face at Eddie’s seemingly abrupt thoughts.

Eddie gave a half shrug, his eyes falling down to somewhere around Steve’s collarbone. “I dunno.
Good things don’t usually… stick around for me,” and when those big brown eyes reconnected
with Steve he saw an almost longing fear. The urgency to wipe any traces of it from usually such
joyful eyes overwhelmed Steve, him inching forward and pulling Eddie closer, arm wrapping
around the boy fully.

He gave a small smile before saying “Well, Munson. Careful what you wish for. It’s gonna take a
lot to get rid of me. You'll be sick of me soon enough.” He was rewarded by possibly the most
genuine smile he’d seen in his life, Eddie’s face radiating so much adoration it was practically
enough to light up the dark room. Steve pulled Eddie into him, holding him tightly and pressing his
face into the crook of the older boy’s neck. Vanilla and sweet cologne swirled around him, and
Steve fell asleep with Eddie wrapped in his arms, impossibly close.

"Couldn't dream of it, Harrington."

+++

Steve awoke to streaks of sunlight flitting through Eddie’s window, casting abstract shapes of gold
around the room. A look at Eddie showed he was the first to wake, something he was incredibly
thankful for.
Eddie looked so peaceful, lips parted slightly and dark eyelashes dusting his cheeks. Steve was
lying on his back with Eddie resting his head on his chest, Eddie's hand curling the fabric into a
ball. One of Eddie’s legs was thrown over Steve, the older boy pressed entirely into Steve’s side.
He smiled to himself, the arm around Eddie’s shoulders tightening as his other hand glided over
Eddie’s thigh, rubbing up and down in slow, gentle motions. Steve didn’t think he’d ever get tired
of Eddie being this close, even if it were for days on end.

The hand around Eddie’s shoulder fell to his side, just gripping and feeling the solid form
underneath his palms. As if Steve were trying to convince him this was real and not a dream; the
man beneath him wouldn't disappear. Eddie stirred, trying to push even closer to Steve, his face
scrunching up a bit as he slowly woke, his grip on Steve’s (Eddie’s) shirt tightening.

Steve watched fondly as Eddie’s eyes blinked open, sleep glazing over his eyes as he came to
consciousness. His eyes fell on his own hand on Steve’s chest, and as it all seemed to click into
place, Eddie looked up at Steve.

“Hi,” Eddie said quietly, earning a small chuckle from Steve below him.

“Hi, Eddie,” Steve responded in amusement, voice raspy from disuse. “Sleep well?” He asked in a
teasing tone.

Eddie rolled his eyes, but his smile betrayed him. “Yeah, yeah. How did you sleep?” God Eddie’s
morning voice was enough to make Steve want to pin him down to the bed right then and there.

Steve just looked at Eddie for a second before simply saying “Best sleep of my life.”

Eddie gave a scoff, but a blush was spreading over his face. “Yeah, sure it was, Harrington.”

“What?” Steve chuckled. “I’ve had to of had a best night’s sleep at some point in my life, why
couldn’t it have been last night?”

“Whatever you say, Stevie,” Eddie smiled, sitting up only for Steve to quickly yank him back
down on top of him. Eddie let out a yelp of surprise before laughing into Steve’s chest, now lying
fully on top of him.

Steve idly played with Eddie’s hair as the boy maneuvered his head to give Steve a playful glare.
“Gotcha,” Steve said impishly.

“Anyone ever told you that you’re ridiculous?” Eddie asked, Steve giving a mockingly thoughtful
look.

“Someone might’ve mentioned it once or twice,” he mused, tucking some of Eddie’s hair behind
his ear and letting his hand trail down his shoulder. Eddie sat up with a sigh, now effectively
straddling Steve and dear lord the view of Eddie looking down at him from that position was
about to be a problem.

Steve chuckled to himself, shaking his head as Eddie looked at him curiously. “What?” Eddie
asked, and he seemed genuinely unaware of his actions this time.

“You’re killin’ me, Eddie,” Steve groaned, his hands brushing languidly up and down the tops of
Eddie’s thighs.

“Oh,” Eddie said innocently. “That's all?” And with that, to Steve’s biggest disappointment, he
rolled off of Steve and got out of bed, stretching.
Steve huffed a laugh. “Yeah, that’s all. Just my death, no biggie.”

Eddie turned over his shoulder to smile at Steve. “I’m supposed to be the dramatic one,
Harrington.”

Eddie started a pot of coffee before joining Steve in brushing his teeth, neither bothering to change
out of their sleep clothes. Eddie began rummaging around to make breakfast, calling with his head
inside the fridge “How do you like your eggs?”

Steve leaned his forearms against the kitchen counter, just observing Eddie as he moved about,
Steve wracking his brain but coming up short. “Nope. There's a joke in there somewhere, but I
can't find it," he sighed defeatedly, before supplying "Scrambled.” The stove clicked on and Eddie
placed a pan over the burner, grabbing two mugs and filling them as the coffee finished. “Want
help?” Steve asked.

“What kind of host would I be?” Eddie smiled, pushing a cup of coffee over to Steve. “Just make
your coffee how you like it,” he brought out milk and sugar, leaving Steve to his fixings.

“Yessir,” Steve mumbled happily as he began mixing his coffee. They chatted idly as Eddie made
breakfast, Steve feeling more than accomplished every time he managed to fluster Eddie. He felt it
was only fair he got his turn, considering Eddie spent so long messing with Steve’s head. Steve
wondered how much Eddie had known the crisis he caused with nearly every little thing, but there
was no way to tell. Though, knowing Eddie, he was far from innocent.

They sat on the couch now, food finished and talking over their second cups of coffee.

“You know, I’ve never asked,” Steve started, leaning against his elbow propped on the back of the
couch. They were facing each other, but Steve had pulled Eddie’s legs into his lap, his free hand
resting over his knee. “You plan on going to college?”

Eddie barked a laugh at this. “Do I seem like the college type, Steve?”

Steve shrugged genuinely. “You could be. If you wanted to.”

“How many times I gotta remind you I graduated high school at twenty?” Eddie smiled, but Steve
just shook his head.

“So?” He asked. “You could go to community college if you wanted. Save up. I could help,” he
offered genuinely, running his hand briefly up and down Eddie’s thigh. Lord knew he had money
to spare, and even if his parents wouldn’t help he’d be more than willing to put aside some of his
paycheck from Family Video.

“Awful kind of you, Stevie, but I don’t feel like going into debt when I don’t even know what I’d
study,” Eddie said, and Steve nodded. It was a fair point. “For now, it’s dealing drugs and playing
at shitty bars–”

“Hey,” Steve scolded. “You were good, though.”

“Apparently so,” Eddie laughed. “Got you to kiss me.”

Steve gazed into Eddie’s eyes, his eyes flicking to his lips for just a second before he said. “Nah, I
would’ve done that anyway.”

“Were certainly taking your time,” Eddie smirked over the rim of his mug, taking a sip.
“Listen, not my fault no one bothered to tell me I was bisexual,” Steve grinned, earning a laugh
from Eddie. It felt... weird to say it out loud. Not in a bad or good way, just... different.

“Suppose not,” Eddie conceded. His face settled into one a little bit more serious, a flash of that
fearful look he had in his eyes last night. “What about you? Hawkins getting too small for the likes
of Steve Harrington?”

He let out a thoughtful sigh. “I dunno. Maybe one day I’ll go to college, but like you said, kinda no
point when you don’t know what you wanna do.” Steve gave a brief raise of his eyebrows, adding,
“Though it’d certainly get my parents off my back. But for now…” Steve met Eddie’s gaze again.
“Hawkins has too many reasons to stick around.”

A smile split Eddie’s face. “You already got me, Harrington, no reason to lay the charm on so
thick.”

“Why wouldn’t I when your reaction is so entertaining?” Steve questioned rhetorically.

“Alright, say Hawkins… didn’t have any reason to stick around,” Eddie said. “Where would you
go?”

“Hmm…” Steve tilted his head back in consideration. “I used to think I wanted to go to New York.
Get some excitement,” he gave a snort. “But after everything… I think I’ve had enough excitement
for a lifetime. So I guess I don’t know anymore.” Steve shrugged. “What about you? If you could
go anywhere, where would it be?”

Eddie thought about this, staring into his coffee for a moment. “I always wanted to go to
California, honestly. It sounds… less cramped,” he had a far off look in his eyes as he spoke. “Too
many people for everyone to know me… Ya know, I just barely beat the murder charges…” Eddie
worked his bottom lip in between his teeth with worry. “People didn’t really think highly of me
before… and now…” Eddie shook his head with a meek shrug. An overwhelming urge filled Steve
then; the urge to walk around with Eddie like his personal bodyguard, threatening anyone who
dared to look at the sweet guy in front of him the wrong way. He imagined this might get annoying
to Eddie, however. And wasn't very practical, legally that is.

The hand on Eddie’s knee moved to grab his free hand, interlacing their fingers together. “I’ve
been to California a few times on family vacations. It’s nice. I think you’d fit in there,” Steve
smiled softly, glad that the dejected look on Eddie’s face was subsiding. “Maybe I can take you
someday.”

Eddie chuckled at this. “That sounds great, Steve, but if you whisked me away to California I don’t
think I’d ever come back.”

Steve’s brows furrowed in the slightest. “Who said we’d have to come back?”

Eddie beamed at him, one of those full-blown grins that have nothing but fascination and genuine
happiness brimming behind his eyes. Steve felt like he was walking on the moon.

“You’re sort of a fantastic person, Eddie Munson,” Steve said softly. He’d never thought he’d
enjoy looking at a human being so much, and frankly he couldn’t see the wonder ever wearing off.

Eddie leaned in and kissed Steve, gentle and soft as to not spill their coffees, but long and slow.
Steve broke it just enough for them to rest their mugs on the table, before pulling Eddie back into
the kiss by his face, hands framing either side.

Steve had just pushed Eddie’s back onto the couch, hands traveling up under his shirt, when a loud
knock at the door broke them apart. They froze like that, Steve hovering over Eddie as they both
looked at the door, then each other.

“Uncle forget his keys or something?” Steve murmured as he reluctantly climbed off Eddie, who
stood up and walked to the door with a confused look on his face.

“No, he’s not supposed to be back until Tuesday,” Eddie informed, another loud round of knocking
rapping the door before he could open it. “Alright, alright,” Eddie called, yanking the door open.

Once again, earing a long groan from Steve, there stood Mike Wheeler. His bike was forgotten
behind him and his eyes were wide, but slightly less fear than last time. “Wheeler,” Eddie sighed.
“Of course it’s you.” Eddie stepped aside, barely able to finish his “Come in,” before Mike was
entering the trailer.

Mike’s eyes fell on Steve again, and he could practically see the gears clicking in his younger
friend’s head. Steve simply raised his eyebrows, taking a slow sip of his coffee as he waited for the
other shoe to drop. Realization didn’t cross Mike’s face until Eddie sat down close to Steve,
slinging his arm over Steve’s shoulders and picking up his coffee with his free hand.

Eddie smirked, clearly proud of the delighted confusion this struck the boy with. “What’s up now,
Mike?” Eddie asked, sipping from his own mug.

“Wait… so you two are together?” Mike asked, as if he had been going back and forth over that for
awhile. “For how long?”

“Very recently,” Eddie emphasized, giving Mike a pointed look.

“Get to the point, Wheeler,” Steve urged as Mike sat cross legged on the floor.

“Well…” he played timidly with a thread on his pants. “Will is… kinda my boyfriend.” And even
though Mike wore a faint, genuine smile– something Steve rarely saw on such an angsty kid– he
could tell something was eating at him.

“Jesus, you know how to bury a lead,” Steve gave Mike’s knee an encouraging shove with his foot.
“Why’s that not a good thing?”

“N-no!” Mike was quick to correct. “It is, I just… I’m having a hard time…” Mike let out a
frustrated groan. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an asshole. Or like Will’s the
problem, when he’s not at all,” Mike was rambling in a way that reminded Steve a lot of Nancy,
but Eddie cut in, dropping the annoyed act while keeping his tone lighthearted.

“Wheeler, we can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong,” Eddie breathed a laugh. “Trust me,
I’ve had a lot of fucked up thoughts. I think it’s inevitable, considering what we’ve gone through…
in multiple ways.”

Steve gave Mike a nonchalant look, trying to convey to him that talking about this stuff wasn’t a
big deal. Even if Steve still found it hard to talk about himself. “No one’s gonna judge you, kid.”

Mike took a deep breath before continuing. “I know you told me… being bisexual is a thing. And I
believe you– but…” Mike let out a sigh, continuing in a small, quiet voice as he said “It’s just so
hard for me to… I dunno, see myself as someone who… likes guys?” He shook his head, as if he
wasn’t communicating what was in his head properly. “Like, I know I do, because I like Will,” he
gave a little scoff, “I really like Will. But it’s like… I never thought I would be… gay. God, I don’t
think any of that made sense.” Mike put his face in his hands.
It felt like a rubber band snapped against Steve’s heart. He wouldn’t parade it around, but he really
loved these kids, and to see one of them so broken up and lost over the exact same thing he had
tugging at the back of his mind was really hard. Especially because he didn’t have an answer for
Mike. But seeing someone else so torn over his same problem– especially someone who was
younger– it made all the things Steve was getting hung up on seem less relevant.

“Listen, kid,” Steve put his mug on the coffee table, sitting forward a bit and leaning his forearms
on his knees. He sighed, clasping his hands and rubbing them together as he searched for what he
needed to say. “I’m gonna be honest with you. I don’t have the slightest fucking idea about… any
of this,” Steve gestured to the general company. “I just came to the same realization you’re coming
to. And, up until somewhat recently, if you had asked me if I liked anyone other than girls, I
would’ve told you a strong ‘no.’ Not because I was against it, but just because I was so sure it
wasn’t me.” Steve took a moment again, trying to find some semi-neat way to wrap all this up.

“But now here I am, caring for a guy more than I’ve cared for… anyone. I think maybe ever,” he
winced after he said this. “No offense, ya know, to your sister. I’d risk my life for her– I literally
have– but as a friend.”

“Yeah, Steve, I really don’t care what you think about my sister,” Mike assured, urging Steve to
get to the point.

“Right, right. Point is, whether I ever thought– or even think now– that I would be someone who
likes guys… it doesn’t matter. Because I do like a guy,” Steve felt his whole face and neck go red
as he said, while still looking at Mike, “I like a guy a fucking lot. So… the way I look at it I have
two options. Option one: I push this… thing-- that I know I feel-- down. Don’t give it room to
breathe,” Steve’s voice trembled in the slightest as he spoke again, “And I go my whole life-- never
even… trying,” Steve cleared his throat, then gave a nervous chuckle, caught off guard by how
emotional he was getting.

He felt Eddie’s hand rub soothing circles on his back. Steve took a breath and shook his head a bit
to clear it. “Or, option two: I take it day by day. I see my boyfriend,” Steve didn’t even notice what
he’d said, Eddie’s hand halting its movements. “We spend time together. And… I do that over and
over again, until I become the kind of guy who likes guys in my mind. And hopefully for a long
time after that.” Steve gave a lopsided smile, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at Eddie.
“Or until Eddie stops letting me come around.”

Mike and Steve laughed a bit at this, Steve leaning back into Eddie’s arm. “So, did any of that help
or was I just talking out of my ass?” Steve held his hands open to the ceiling for a second before
grabbing his coffee and taking a long sip.

“Surprisingly…” Mike shrugged. “Yeah, I think that actually helped.”

“Thank god,” Steve breathed into his cup. Eddie gave him an encouraging pat on his shoulder, and
for the first time since his little speech, Steve looked at him. His eyes looked almost glassy, still
rimmed with traces of smudge eyeliner, but he had a pleasant smile on his face. There was so much
intensity in Eddie’s gaze Steve felt like he’d fallen into a hole, and that look was the only thing
tethering him to reality, preventing him from sinking into nothing. Oh, you’re in deep, Harrington.

“I’m… gonna go…” Mike finalized as he stood up, fishing both Steve and Eddie out of wherever
they just fell.

“Hey– maybe start calling before you come over, Wheeler,” Eddie commented as Mike opened the
door, looking over his shoulder at the older boys on the couch. His brows knitted together, first in
confusion as he took in Eddie’s words, then again with a disgusted face as he realized Eddie’s
 implication. Steve laughed, deeply entertained by this reaction.

“Yeah, will definitely be doing that now,” Mike said pointedly, face still contorted uncomfortably.

“Oh, and,” Steve said, causing Mike to turn back once more. “Congratulations, Wheeler.”

Mike genuinely smiled at this. “Thanks.”

“And don’t forget to use protection,” Steve added with an encouraging wink, both he and Eddie
devolving into laughter as Mike pulled another disturbed face.

“Hey, you listen to that,” Eddie pointed at Mike, shouting out a quick “Safety is sexy!” As the
younger boy slammed the door shut in a rush, leaving them alone, still laughing.

“The death of me,” Steve muttered with a fond shake of his head, finishing his coffee and placing
the empty cup on the table. That was when he realized Eddie was staring at him in that way he did
when he was really looking. “What do those pretty brown eyes see, Munson?”

Eddie bit his lip, not answering right away as he took in whatever it was he saw. Then, a smug grin
stretched his face. He raised his eyebrows, “I’m your boyfriend, huh?” Steve’s face fell, instantly
blazing hotter than the sun.

“Sorry, that was, uh– I guess I got caught up talkin’ to the kid–” Steve scratched the back of his
neck nervously, before looking at Eddie questioningly. “I mean– Yeah, right? You’re… my
boyfriend?” Steve asked, then winced, hiding his face in one hand and shaking his head. Not his
smoothest moment.

“Steve,” said Eddie softly. Steve slowly parted his fingers enough to look at Eddie, raising his
eyebrow in intrigue. Eddie laughed at this, pride flooding Steve. Eddie gingerly wrapped his
fingers around Steve’s wrist, moving his hand away from his face and instead lacing their fingers
together. “Do you wanna be my boyfriend?”

Warmth exploded in Steve’s chest, and he never knew a question could fill him with… so much.
For a moment Steve didn’t verbally respond, instead just giving a stunned nod, but then he realized
he needed to really tell Eddie. Out loud. “I wanna be your boyfriend,” spoken quietly not because
Steve wasn’t proud to say it, but because it was just for them. Not even for the birds to overhear.
Just him and Eddie.

Eddie crashed his lips into Steve’s with fervor, his hands flying to explore his neck and hair.
Immediately Steve gripped at Eddie’s waist, pulling him onto his lap and deepening the kiss.

And in that moment, for the first time in a long time, not a single part of Steve Harrington worried
about anything.

Chapter End Notes

this was the final chapter, but don't worry! there's an epilogue coming probably
tomorrow. it will likely be a little shorter than the other chapters, however.

i'll say more on the actual final update on this fic, but for now, thank yall so much for
supporting, no matter what way u did! the day of posting this we broke a little over a
thousand kudos, and thats pretty wild! and ofc, thank u all for the super nice
comments, yall are too sweet. seriously, some of u really supersized my ego haha. even
if i didn't respond i read all of them, and they meant a lot!
i hope u enjoyed the last full length update!
 Epilogue
Chapter Notes

main edit: the angsty Eddie POV fic is out btw! it's called 'Keep it Steady, Eddie.'
Once more for clarification; it is NOT a continuation of this fic, or an alternate POV to
this fic

little edit: i've gotten a few ppl asking if they can draw fanart so i just wanted to say
absolutely! pls give credit to the fic if u dont mind, but other than that draw to ur
hearts content! and if ur comfortable, drop a comment with where to find it so I-- and
anyone else who enjoyed the fic-- can see it! i'd love to see what yall come up with :D

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Winter was finally giving way to the tender warmth of spring, the first few blooms popping up
around Hawkins. Steve had spent most of his fall and winter bundled up in blankets with Eddie at
his trailer, or his house on the rare occasion that his parents were out of town. He kept expecting
the excitement to wash away, for something to turn sour, or even just slow the absolute want that
Steve had for Eddie. But it hadn’t.

Every time Eddie looked at him, all wide-eyed and some massive, ridiculously disarming grin
plastering his face, Steve felt that same wonder rush through him. He wasn’t completely naive;
they were young, and maybe they wouldn’t last forever. But he couldn’t help but wonder what if it
did?

And Steve didn’t know when that idea stopped being an unfathomable, intimidating notion, instead
turning into something he thought of with such a palpable fucking want, but he found himself lying
awake at night thinking of what that would look like. A long life with Eddie Munson in it.

“Babe, you know I love when you get that happy puppy-dog look in your eyes,” Eddie’s slightly
stressed voice cut in. “But we’re late to pick up our half of the ungrateful teens. And we got
Henderson. So we will be hearing about it all day.”

“Ugh, god, you’re right,” Steve said with a halfhearted groan, starting up his car and pulling out of
the trailer park. It was spring break for both Jonathan and Nancy, so they were in town, along with
Argyle. Will and Nancy had been the ones to organize a game of capture the flag, and Steve
thought it didn’t sound like a bad idea.

A part of him thought maybe, in an alternate universe where none of the bullshit with the Upside
Down happened, he wouldn’t find this idea fun. He was twenty-one now, and surely what should
appeal to him is bar hopping with his friends, not running around playing a schoolyard game in a
field with a bunch of high school sophomores.

But none of them, including those that were now adults, really got to have a childhood. Hell, Steve
got more of a childhood than likely any of them. So if his group of traumatized teens came to him
asking to play a game of capture the flag, he was gonna play a fucking game of capture the flag.

Eddie had teased him a little about being so adamant on them going. Eddie was skeptical about
going purely because “it sounds dangerously close to exercise.” When Steve gave him the whole
traumatized teen spiel, he caved pretty quickly, though.

They picked up Lucas and Max first before heading for Dustin’s. “You know he’s gonna kill you
for being late,” was the first thing Lucas said as he got in the car.

“Thanks for the ride Steve,” Steve said in a pointedly high pitched and nasally voice. “For always
giving us free rides and never asking for gas money. We appreciate you, Steve.”

“You’re like, rich,” Max said flatly. “Why would we, a bunch of teenagers– and I live in a trailer
park-- give you gas money?”

Steve gave her a slightly apologetic look in the rearview mirror as he tried to backpedal. “I-I wasn’t
saying that to… imply that you should pay me. I’m just sayin’,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, if anything you owe us,” Lucas said, Steve’s mouth falling open as he scoffed in shock.

“I cannot fathom how that’s true,” he stated plainly. He looked over at Eddie. “You wanna help me
out here? Fighting for my life.”

Eddie held up his hands in surrender. “Hey man… I live in the same trailer park. Down with the
rich,” Eddie smirked. Steve shot him a glare, but there was no real malice behind it.

“More like going down on the rich–” Steve muttered, but was immediately cut off by Max and
Lucas exclaiming “Ew!” in unison. Eddie swatted his arm. “Hey!” Steve exclaimed with a laugh.
“It was right there–” Eddie smacked his arm again, but neither were very hard, and there was a
reluctant smile on his face.

“Nasty,” Lucas scolded, keeping a level disgusted glare as he added “And that’s not because I’m
homophobic.”

“Yeah, it’s because you’re like…” Max grimaced. “Our dads.”

“I was gonna say you owe us for constantly opening Eddie’s door shirtless,” Lucas clarified, before
gesturing in the air. “Your… hairy boobies all hanging out–”

“Hey!” Steve protested once more. “I will not have my boobies slandered in my own car! That is
where I draw the line.--”

“--But,” Lucas said pointedly. “You definitely owe us for that.”

Steve pouted, looking over at Eddie. “You like my boobies, right?”

“I love your boobies,” Eddie said earnestly.

“Owe us for that too,” Max pointed in between them, lips tugging down in a frown. Lucas just
shook his head, puckering his lips in distaste.

They pulled up to Dustin’s house not long after, Steve bracing himself for his no doubt long list of
complaints. When the curly haired child slid into the backseat– surprising absolutely no one in the
car– his first words were “You’re late, Harrington.” Steve rolled his eyes dramatically.

“And he wont stop talking about blowjobs and boobies,” Lucas supplied, earning a shocked gasp
from Dustin and a flat look from Steve in the rearview mirror.

“Steve Harrington, I am ashamed to hear of this behavior,” Dustin said, completely serious. Then
he looked at Eddie. “Eddie, kindly keep your man on a leash.”
“Listen,” Eddie clapped his hands together. “I’ve been asking him, so far it’s a ‘maybe’–” he was
cut off not only by the entire backseat yelling their protests, but Steve covering his mouth with one
hand.

“Dear god, if this is you helping please stop,” Steve pleaded, sparing a glance at Eddie. Even if
Steve couldn’t feel the smile under his hand, which he could, he could see it in Eddie’s eyes. Then,
something wet pressed into Steve’s palm. He yanked his hand back. “Did you just lick my hand?”
He asked Eddie in disbelief.

“Not like it’s–”

“I am begging you not to finish that sentence,” Max interjected, genuine desperation in her voice.

Eddie held his hands up once again in surrender. “It’s okay. You just don’t get our love.”

“I feel like people should study you,” Lucas said suddenly, eyes narrowing on Eddie thoughtfully.

“What, like to see if something’s wrong?” He asked, glancing around a bit confused.

“No…” Lucas seemed to think about this as he said it. “Just to see what’s… goin’ on.” Eddie
pursed his lips at this as if he were thinking of a response, but just shook his head and shrugged
instead.

They arrived at the field about twenty minutes later to see two cars already there. As Steve got out
of his car, he did a double take. “Is Argyle… floating?” He wondered, squinting in the direction of
the long haired man levitating a few feet off the ground. Had Argyle not been clearly laughing,
Steve might’ve panicked that Vecna had returned.

“This is trippy, man,” Argyle commented as Steve, Eddie, and the rest of the kids walked up. El
was standing a few paces in front of him, hand outstretched and face smiling. Slowly she lowered
her hand, and in tandem Argyle softly landed back on the ground.

“Doesn’t that tire you out?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at El.

“Not really,” she said simply.

“When she got her powers back, they came back a lot stronger,” Will informed, sitting close to
Mike on the hood of Jonathan's car. Mike’s hand was not-so-inconspicuously on top of Will’s
behind them.

“Isn’t it gonna like, basically be cheating for whoever gets El on their team?” Eddie pointed out.

“Well, obviously,” Lucas said, looking pointedly at El. “She’s not gonna use them during the game,
is she? Because that would be cheating, and cheating is basically lying.”

“That’s right!” Dustin agreed enthusiastically, pointing at El and raising his eyebrows. “And
friends don’t lie, do they?”

“Mmm…” Max hummed skeptically. “Friends lie sometimes. Hey, Steve,” Max turned to him with
an uncharacteristically sweet smile. “Nice shorts. They look great on you, and they definitely aren’t
disturbingly short.”

Steve frowned, looking down at his old gym shorts from basketball. He pouted, turning to Eddie in
disappointment. “You said I looked good in these shorts.”
“And I stand by that,” Eddie snaked his arm around Steve’s waist, pulling him into his side.

“Eugh,” Dustin made a face. “You guys are worse than Jonathan and Nancy.” The group looked
over then to Nancy and Jonathan sitting in the grass, Jonathan picking up small flowers and placing
them in Nancy’s hair with a goofy smile.

Robin appeared then and gave Dustin a light shove. “Show some respect for your elders,” She had
her arm wrapped around Vickie’s shoulders, and had just come over from where they were talking
next to another car, presumably Vickie’s.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Argyle said, furrowing his brows. “If Vickie can drive… why’d I have to
ride in Jonathan’s trunk?” There was a pause as a few members of the group looked around at each
other.

“Argyle, you volunteered to ride in the trunk,” Mike corrected.

“Yeah, Mike even offered to have me sit on his lap and you said ‘no. I want to ride in the trunk,’”
Will added on, Mike’s face turning bright red at this information.

“Bet that was disappointing for you, Wheeler,” Steve smirked at Mike, who just made a face back.

“Oh,” Argyle said thoughtfully, then smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Can we get started already?” Dustin interjected. “Losing daylight, people.” At his comment, Will
motioned for Jonathan and Nancy to come over.

“How are we even supposed to play capture the flag here,” Eddie looked around the very open
field. “Isn’t an integral part of the game hiding the flag?”

“We play it differently,” Dustin informed.

“Yeah, and since Steve took so long getting here,” Mike gave him a pointed look. “We already set
up some sticks and rocks to mark off the jails.”

“Robin, Vickie, the flags?” Dustin turned to the girls. Vickie slinked away from Robin
momentarily to go to her car, popping the trunk and then returning with two large sticks that had
been spray painted bright orange. She handed them off to Dustin.

“Not much is different,” he began explaining as everyone gathered around. “We’ll put two flags on
either side of the field. Obviously, the first team to get the other flag and stick it in the ground next
to their own, wins.”

“That pile of rocks,” Will pointed to a small stack of rocks not far from them, roughly in the middle
of the field. “Marks the halfway point. If you cross from your side of the rocks into enemy
territory, you can get tagged and taken to their jail. You only get out of jail if someone from your
team can make it past enemy lines and tag you, without getting tagged themselves, of course.”

“You can’t tag people if you’re on the enemy’s side of the rocks,” Dustin continued. “The game
ends when either one side has both flags, or everyone on the other team is in jail. Make sense?” He
looked around at everyone with raised eyebrows.

“And to be extra clear, no powers, El,” Lucas looked at her pointedly.

“She has super cool powers and she doesn’t even get to use them to win games?” Vickie chimed in.
“Kinda lame.”
“Wait, hold on,” Mike said, looking over at Vickie. “When did you… learn about everything?”

“You didn’t think she was awfully calm seeing a fifteen year old levitate a grown man six feet off
the ground with nothing but her mind?” Robin raised her eyebrows at Mike. “I told her a while ago,
obviously.”

“And you believed her?” Jonathan asked Vickie.

“It actually made a lot more sense than the excuses she would come up with every time she
accidentally mentioned something,” Vickie said simply. “Robin is pretty terrible at lying.”

“Alright, how do we pick teams?” Nancy cut in, looking around at the group. “Don’t we have an
odd number of people.”

“Easy,” Dustin said with a smile. “Couples go against each other, and in the event that El does
cheat,” he gave her a warning glare, which she seemed to find amusing. “Whoever doesn’t have El
on their team gets Argyle.”

“Hey, why do the couples gotta split up?” Mike protested.

“Because if you don’t there will be like, three people playing, Mike,” Dustin said flatly. “I,
unfortunately, know what all of you are like.”

“You’re just bitter because you can only talk to your girlfriend over a radio,” Lucas drawled, giving
Dustin a disapproving look.

“Suzie and I’s love knows no bounds and transcends time and space, Lucas,” He retorted matter-
of-factly. “So, no. It’s not that. I just want to actually play the game.”

“Then for the love of god let’s play it,” Steve groaned, growing impatient.

“Couples: half of you go over there, the other half over there,” Dustin gestured to either side of the
rock pile. “El, Argyle and I will just choose sides.”

The group began to split off. Steve gave Eddie a confident smirk, keeping his face close to his as
he spoke in a low voice, “You’re goin’ down, Munson.”

Eddie gave a show of thoughtfulness. “Nope. Think that’s later in the evening,” he grinned before
leaning in and giving Steve a long kiss. Never gets old, Steve thought. When they separated and
Steve began walking away, Eddie smacked his ass. Steve grinned over his shoulder before joining
Jonathan, Argyle, Mike, Robin, Max, and Dustin.

The teams had a few minutes to strategize, Steve’s team deciding to go for a baiting technique.
They would all get some distance from their flag, which Dustin had stuck into the ground, but
Steve and Max would linger nearby, since they were the fastest. The idea was this would prompt
someone from the other team to make a break for their flag, but Steve and Max would be
anticipating this, able to flank and tag them easily.

“And I don’t care if all you pot-smokers feel your lungs collapsing,” Dustin stated animatedly,
giving Argyle, Jonathan, and Steve pointed looks. “If that flag is at risk you don’t stop running
until you’re unconscious.” Steve shared a concerned look with Jonathan. He wondered if
Henderson’s intensity would ever die down, but so far it’s only proven to ramp up with age. He
feared for what the little monster was gonna be like in his early twenties. “Am I clear?”

The group gave timid nods, but this didn’t satisfy Dustin. “AM I CLEAR?!” He bellowed, making
Argyle and Max jolt in surprise.

“Sir yes sir!” Argyle yelled back, standing stock straight and saluting like Dustin was his captain.

“Break!” Dustin initiated the group’s dismissal, all of them taking their positions and leaving a few
clear paths to the flag. Steve and Max were both sure to be within sprinting distance, however.

Once the other team was spread out in their own formation, Dustin began the count down, and then
the game was on.

And just as anticipated, El and Lucas were making a break to the path closest to Max. Jonathan
managed to get El but Lucas slipped past, juking out Argyle in the process. Steve got ready to
intercept, but Max was on route to cut Lucas off. Lucas, likely realizing he was his team’s fastest
player and about to get jailed in the first few minutes of the game, pivoted and ran back to his side
of the rocks.

Meanwhile, Mike was trying to taunt the other team by waiting just over the line of enemy
territory, easily able to step back into the safe zone. It was enough to distract Vickie and Nancy
while Robin made a break for it around them. She didn’t get far, however, before Will tagged her
and brought her over to their jail. So far, things were still looking better for Steve’s team.

The game continued on for a while without anyone getting tagged, but no one managed to steal a
flag successfully. Surprisingly, Argyle had gotten the other team’s stick out of the ground, but was
quickly tagged on his way back. Then, Max slammed into Lucas on his second attempt at the flag.
This was pretty big in their favor, but was quickly countered by losing Jonathan on his failed
jailbreak. Since they had Argyle, this still left them with an equal amount of free players. It was
anyone’s game.

“Scared, Munson?” Steve called, staring down Eddie who hadn’t crossed enemy lines once.

“I prefer ‘strategic!’” He yelled back, earning a laugh from Steve.

“Will you stop flirting and make a move?” Dustin chimed in, his comment directed mostly at
Eddie.

“Patience, Henderson!” Eddie retorted.

Mike let out a groan when no one had moved from their side in a while. “I can’t take this. I’m
abandoning the plan!” He hollered before bolting in a straight line for the other team’s flag.

“Serpentine, Mike! Serpentine!” Dustin yelled feverishly.

“He’s not getting shot at!” Steve commented, but the boy had already started zigging and zagging,
which slowed him down just enough for Will to knock him down. Steve had never seen someone
hesitantly tackle someone else, but that was the only way to describe Will’s movements. And just
like that, Mike was jailed and the other team had the upper hand.

“I’m going for it!” Vickie screamed as she started sprinting to the outskirts of Steve’s side, where
cover was bare. Steve, Max, and Dustin scrambled to her, and Max was just able to tag her before
she reached the stick. But not before Nancy, who had managed to slip by in the chaos, jailbroke
Lucas and El.

“No!” Dustin cried as the other team fled to the safety of their side.

“At least we still got Vickie,” Steve offered, Max walking her over to the jail. Dustin shot him a
glare, and he took that as his cue to spread out.

And in the commotion, Steve almost missed a mop of brown hair sprinting down the left side.
Almost.

There was nothing hesitant in the way Steve tackled Eddie, his arms wrapping around his middle as
their bodies collided, slamming them both down onto the ground. Both of them groaned, Steve
moving slowly as he pushed himself up onto his hands, hovering over Eddie. The impact had been
a lot harder than he intended, but Eddie was laughing up at him.

“Gotcha,” Steve smirked down at him, their legs entangled and Steve’s hands bracketing Eddie’s
face on the ground.

Eddie’s hands were resting on Steve’s sides, sliding ever-so-slowly under his shirt. “Oh no,” Eddie
said with no real regret in his voice. “What a shame. Steve Harrington is pinning me down in the
tiniest pair of shorts I’ve ever seen. How will I go on?”

Steve couldn’t help but laugh as he attempted to defend himself. “They’re not even that short.”

“They’re pretty short, Stevie,” Eddie grinned. “Why do you think I wanted you to wear them so
badly?”

“I just thought you wanted me to be able to move as fast as possible,” Steve smirked.

“HARRINGTON!” Dustin yelled, and a look up showed him running in hot pursuit of El, who was
very much outrunning him with their flag in hand. “What the hell are you doing?!” Steve watched
as El bobbed and weaved out of Max’s reach.

In an array of cheers from her team, and boos from Mike and Dustin, El made it back to her side,
proudly sticking the make-shift flag next to their own. Dustin threw his hat on the ground, shaking
his head with his hands on his hips. Steve and Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at this sight, but they
were sure to hide it, Steve behind his hand and Eddie by burying his face into Steve’s shoulder.

Dustin turned to them, marching over with a vendetta in his eyes. Steve hurriedly shushed Eddie as
the child approached, looming over them. “You will rue this day, Steve Harrington. Prepare to
never forget this until the day you die.” With that, he stalked off to where the rest of the group had
loosely gathered, El’s teammates congratulating her.

Steve and Eddie shared a look before bursting into laughter, Steve letting his head fall onto Eddie’s
chest as he regained his composure. “Think he just made us his mortal enemies.”

“Us?” Eddie’s eyes bulged with a laugh. “What did I do?”

“Distracted me, obviously,” Steve supplied, dipping down and pressing their lips together. When
he pulled back he bit his lip, just taking a moment to observe Eddie. His long hair haloed out
around him in the grass, golden sunlight making his eyes shine in a way that illuminated all the
different shades of brown. Like honey and whiskey.

It was moments like these when those thoughts of a life with Eddie would relentlessly flood
Steve’s mind. Not only staying with Eddie, but going to bed with him every night and waking up
next to him every day. Maybe they’d get a small place together in California. Maybe even get a
dog. And maybe they’d host the kids and their friends every holiday, never having anywhere near
enough beds but not caring in the slightest how crowded their house would become. Learning how
to make eggs a million different ways just so Eddie never got bored of having breakfast with him.
Sharing coffee on their porch, Eddie tucked tightly into his side where Steve knew he’d be safe.
 Just Steve and Eddie existing together. Every day for as long as he’d have him.

“You’re lookin’ at me like that again,” Eddie pointed out, not tearing his own curious gaze away
from Steve. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

Steve smiled fondly. “Just thinking.”

A long life with Eddie Munson in it, Steve thought. That’s not so bad.

Chapter End Notes

and that's the end! thank yall so much for all of your support and sharing your thoughts
on the story so far. i wrote the first few chapters of this as a character study just to see
if i could match their vibes, and didn't think i was gonna post it at all. but im so glad i
did! yall have made writing this story somethin really special, & i cant thank you
enough!

if you're interested in a slightly angsty eddie-pov fic, i'll likely be starting it soon after
this one. to be clear: it wont be a continuation of this fic, and will be completely
unconnected to this one. a fresh start so i can explore different sides of their characters,
basically.
but until then, i hope you enjoyed this fic, and a little epilogue where we got some
wholesome group-dynamic content.
thanks again :) <3

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