#Eddie Munson the boomer vampire

[super-cosmic-library]

loosely based on this post

tw: mentions of blood

Look, everyone had gone through a vampire phase. One Mrs. Stephanie Meyer had a heavy hand in that. And even if one had somehow managed to skirt the whole Twilight saga, there were a litany of other vampire books/tv shows/movies that came in its wake. Almost everyone in the 2010s wanted a vampire boyfriend. Even Robin, whose taste veered toward the more extraterrestrial side of paranormal fiction, had confided in Steve that she wouldn’t mind having an undead, blood sucking vampire girlfriend.

All in all, Steve didn’t get it. Why did nearly all of the girls in his grade fawn over the idea of getting with someone older than their great grandfathers? It was gross. Not to mention the fact that vampires didn’t have blood, so how would they even be able to get it up in the bedroom? 

The whole mess baffled him to no end, and he was grateful when its popularity died down. He didn’t know if he would be able to take listening to Max and El giggling over Edward What’s-his-face.

His relief, however, was short lived. Just as the kids he baby sat started to enter high school, the Twilight saga had a resurgence of popularity all thanks to TikTok. Only this time, he didn’t just have to hear it from the girls. Max and El had gotten Lucas and Will to watch the movies with them, which led to them reading the girls’ copies of the books. And, look, Lucas he understood. When Steve was in high school, he would have done anything to please Nancy. (Luckily, she had been more interested in the rising popularity of the dystopian genre. He had thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Hunger Games series on audiobook.) But Will? Even if he was just doing it to bond with his sister, Steve thought the boy had more taste than that.

And when Lucas and Will became obsessed with it, so did Mike and Dustin. Again, Steve understood Mike, even though unlike Lucas, he was totally oblivious to his crush on Will. But Dustin? As far as Steve was aware, Suzie wasn’t allowed to read the series, even though the creator was also Mormon.

At least Erica was still at the age where she turned her nose up at any hint of romance.

But, you know, it wouldn’t be such a big deal if the kids obsession with vampires contained itself to the fictional world. He could deal with it better if it did. If then, they might be able to talk about other topics of interest. Hell, Steve would give anything to listen to the boys ramble all day long about their Dungeons and Dorks game. But Steve wasn’t so lucky.

Because while he loved the kids’ strong, creative imaginations, it meant that sometimes their fictional obsessions would spill over into the real world. And that. That was what he was really fed up with.

“I swear, it’s him,” Dustin nearly shouted over the other boys. “Same name. Same exact hair. He’s a vampire.”

Steve restrained a groan as he looked up from the dishes to see Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Mike at the dining table crowded around what appeared to be a high school yearbook.

“He can’t be!” Thank god, Mike was being the voice of reason. (Something Steve never thought he would be.) “I’ve seen him walk to his van in the sun, and he was totally fine. Also, on spaghetti day in the cafeteria, he ate, like, three slices of garlic bread!”

Steve had thought too soon.

“Then how do you explain this?” Dustin asked, gesturing to the page.

“Maybe it’s someone he’s related to?” Will offered.

“I don’t know,” Lucas said. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

Curiosity got the best of Steve. What could he say? Even if he hated this whole vampire thing, he enjoyed the weird little adventures his kids went on. Steve didn’t have many friends growing up. Hell, aside from Robin, he didn’t have many friends now. At least, friends his own age. It made his heart warm, seeing all of them getting to be a bunch of idiot children together. 

But they didn’t need to know that.

“What are you little shits looking at?” He slung the dish towel he had been using to dry the flatware with over his shoulder, and made his way over to the table.

“Steve, we think our new DM is a vampire!” Dustin announced excitedly.

Steve put his hands on his hips (his signature mom pose, according to the kids), and rolled his eyes. “Vampires aren’t real.” 

He didn’t say it to dull the kid’s enthusiasm. If anything, antagonization was their form of love language. Plus, Dustin always took the discouragement as a challenge to double down on whatever stance he took. Steve had to admire the kid for his confidence in himself. He knew first hand how easily that could be stripped away. 

“Then how do you explain this?” Dustin slid the yearbook over for him to look at, pointing at  the man in question. “He’s been in high school for years.”

Steve glanced down at the page. “Oh, Eddie Munson? He was in some of my classes last year. He was held back twice; though, that may have been because he almost never showed up to class. But that doesn’t mean he’s a vampire.”

“This is an old yearbook, though,” Lucas countered.

“If last year is old, then how ancient do you think I am?” Steve snipped. He pointed to the class picture that captured his likeness. “Look, there’s me. Does that mean I’m a vampire?”

“Steve, this isn’t your yearbook.” Dustin held the cover of the book up for Steve to read. There on the cover, in green and gold, were the words “Class of 1985.”

“What?” He snatched the yearbook from him, and flipped back to the page they had been studying. “No, that’s . . .”

He trailed off. Yes, that picture had captured his likeness; however, it was his father’s name that was written underneath. His father, who he was apparently the spitting image of.

“Maybe it’s his dad,” Steve tried, flipping through the pages. “Or his uncle. Doesn’t he live with his uncle?”

“We already checked the rest of it.” Mike snatched the book away from him. “He’s the only Munson in there.”

“His dad and his uncle could have not been in high school together,” Will countered.

“Thank you for being the only reasonable person here.”

Will blushed at Steve’s praise. 

“I am telling you,” Dustin trudged on. “Eddie Munson is a vampire. And we’re going to prove it.”

~~~

Proving it ended up being more challenging than the boys had thought. As Mike had already proved, Eddie had no aversion to garlic or the sun. Crosses, Lucas pointed out, had no affect on him either, seeing as he wore one on his ring. So there went that theory. Dustin had even followed him into the bathroom one day to see if Eddie had a reflection in the mirror. He ended up having two Eddies stare at him like he was a creep.

Either none of the stereotypes were true, or--and Dustin was loathe to admit it--Steve was right.

There was still one more thing they could try.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Lucas said.

Dustin huffed. “Well, do you have any better plans? Because the only thing we haven’t tried yet is a stake to the heart, which is a dumb thing to begin with because that could kill anyone.”

“What about holy water?”

“And how are you going to get a priest to agree to bless a bottle of water?” Mike asked.

“My pastor might do it,” Lucas said.

“Let’s just try this first,” Dustin said. “And if it doesn’t work, you can call your pastor.”

The plan was simple, really. While they were playing DnD that afternoon, Dustin was going to “accidently” get a paper cut. Eddie’s reaction to the fresh blood would determine whether or not he was a vampire. It was fool proof.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Dustin was a fool. Who could blame him, though? Eddie was an amazing Dungeon Master. He knew just how to craft a story to suck just about anyone in. It wasn’t until they were packing up at the end of the session that Dustin remembered the plan. That probably explained the looks the other boys had been shooting him the entire time.

Dustin was just about to drag the edge of a piece of paper across this hand, when the drama room door banged open.

“Alright, you little shits. Get in the car. I’m already having a bad day, and I don’t need your moms blowing up my phone asking where you are.”

“Steve, why do you have a tampon in your nose?” Will asked.

Dustin glanced up at Steve, only to find that the man indeed had a bloody tampon in his nose.

“I had a nose bleed, and didn’t have any Kleenex in my car. It’s the only thing Robin or I had. And it works, so I don’t want to hear anything more about it.”

Blood.

Dustin nearly gave himself whiplash turning his head to look at Eddie. Eddie, who was staring at Steve with eyes that could only be described as ravenous.

“King Steve,” Eddie drew out as he approached Steve.

“Munson.”

“Now why’s a pretty jock like you carting around a bunch of nerdy freshmen?”

“I baby sit them.”

Eddie chuckled. “Yes, they are a bunch of babies.”

That was met with a round of protests from the kids.

“How hard was your nose bleeding? Aren’t tampons supposed to be super absorbent?”

Lucas was right. There was a ring of blood leaking down the tampon.

“Are you okay?” Will asked.

Eddie, however, did not look okay. Dustin had never seen him so focused on one thing as he was with Steve’s nose. And that included DnD.

“Yeah, it just happens sometimes. I’ll be fine. Now come on, or Robin’s going to start honking.”

They were being corralled out of the building before Dustin could come to any concrete conclusions, but judging from the way Eddie had stared at Steve’s nose, he was sure their hunch was correct.

Now they just had to prove it.

~~~

Turned out, the best way to prove their DM was a vampire was to show up at his trailer unannounced. Catch him off guard while he was at his most comfortable. In fact, the hardest part about the whole thing had been trying to convince Steve to drive them over to the trailer park. In the end, he was a push over as always.

Dustin bounded up the steps to the trailer, the other boys close behind. He pounded on the door. “Eddie!”

A crash came from inside, followed by a grumbled “shit.” A few moments later, Eddie swung open the door.

“Couldn’t have given me a heads up?”

“We have some urgent DnD questions. Couldn’t’ve waited for you to respond.” Dustin and the rest of the boys pushed passed him into the trailer. Only Will hesitated, sheepish look on his face.

“Hey, wait, what are you doing!” Eddie called after them.

“Oh my god, have some manners,” Steve slammed his car door closed.

“Steve,” Eddie began. “They roped you into this?”

“They threatened to walk otherwise. Couldn’t let them get hit by a car or kidnapped.”

The four boys searched around the tidy trailer, not even trying to appear like they weren’t.

“What are you knuckleheads doing?” Eddie asked.

Steve, who they had not informed what they were doing, seemed to have caught on to their plan. “Not this again.”

“You know what they’re doing?” 

“Guys, look!” Mike, staring in the fridge, exclaimed. The boys ran over to him.

“Hey, you guys, get out of there!” Eddie exclaimed.

“Yeah, knock it off. Let the man live in piece.”

Dustin, Lucas, and Will gasped when they saw the contents of the fridge. Yes, there was normal people food in the fridge--nothing to write home about. But stacked on the top shelf was the motherload: bags and bags of blood.

Mike grabbed one and held it out for Steve to see. “We fucking told you!”

“Eddie’s a vampire,” Dustin vibrated with excitement. “Eddie, you’re a vampire.”

“Eddie’s not . . . there’s gotta be . . .Eddie?” Steve looked to Eddie as if asking him to deny the kid’s claims.

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest and heaved out an exasperated sigh. “Looks like you caught me.”

“I fucking told you!” Dustin shouted at Steve.

“Language.” Steve snapped. “Eddie, come on. Be serious. Vampires don’t exist.”

“Telling the truth, Harrington.” Eddie flashed them his fangs. “I am a vampire.” 

“You’re teeth aren’t normally that sharp,” Will said.

“I can control when my fangs come out,” Eddie said with a shrug. Then, to demonstrate, he retraced his fangs, so his teeth looked human again. “It’s been handy in hiding from mortals. In fact, you guys are the first to figure it out. Surprised it took this long for anyone to notice, honestly.”

“So you’ve been able to hide in plan sight for, like, hundreds of years?” Dustin asked.

Eddie slouched down onto the couch, understanding that he was about to be pelted with about a million questions. “More like forty.”

“Forty?” Will asked.

“I was turned in the ‘80s. ‘86, I think. I don’t know, the years start to blur together.”

“So, you’re just as old as our parents?” Mike scoffed. “Lame.”

“But I look much better than them.”

The boys took his nonchalance as permission to start their rain of questions.

“So do you have vampire powers?”

“How can you eat garlic?”

“Does the sun not burn your skin?”

“Do you have to get permission to enter new places?”

And on and on they went, only briefly pausing for Eddie to get a sufficient answer out. Meanwhile, Steve just stood by the door. Dustin could tell he was trying to process the fact that he had almost graduated with a vampire. Dustin could understand. Had he not already been convinced himself, the information would have taken a bit to accept.

When Steve finally came back around, he joined the group surrounding Eddie. 

“Why are you still at Hawkins High?” Steve asked. “You were in class with my parents. Couldn’t have you gotten out and gone someplace people won’t recognize you?”

Eddie paused, actually giving that question some thought. The other boys let him think it through instead of feeding him more questions. They wanted to know the answer too.

“Well, I tried to once, but then Wayne started having health problems, and I didn’t want to leave him alone. When I realized that I had stopped aging, I decided to stay with him even after he recovered. Realized that if I don’t grow old, I’m going to outlive him. I’d rather spend the rest of his life with him, than in hiding and regretting it when he’s gone. As for people recognizing me: you’d be surprised how little attention the freaks of Hawkins get.”

The group sat in silence for a moment, letting his words sink in. Dustin supposed that if he were turned into a vampire, he would stick around to spend as much time with his mom as he could.

“Speaking of, where is your uncle?” Lucas asked.

Eddie smiled to himself. “Technically, he’s my little brother. We started doing the whole uncle/nephew thing when he got too old to believably be my brother. And he should be finishing up his shift at the hospital. Decided to become a nurse after finishing chemo. He has always been the smart one. Besides, it helps with procuring my stash of blood.” 

Mike perked up at that. “So you do drink blood?”

“Yes.”

“But we’ve seen you eat real food.”

“You’re point?”

Mike huffed. “So do you need blood to live, or is it just a craving--like wanting a Coke?”

“I can eat real food, but it doesn’t fully satisfy my hunger. Only drinking blood does that.”

“Have you ever?” Steve gulped. “Have you ever drank blood from a person.”

“You offering?” Eddie smirked.

Steve flushed.

Weird.

As his friends continued to talk, Dustin’s mind wandered. It was no secret that Steve found men attractive. He was the biggest slut in Hawkins, after all. And Dustin had only ever seen him nervous around men who he thought were really hot. 

Oh, Dustin could have fun with this. After all, didn’t everyone want a vampire boyfriend?

okay, well this completely got away from me. will I make this a series? mayhaps.

[super-cosmic-library]

no, but this is exactly how writing chapter 6 of "pool boy" is going. also, robin feels the exact same way about eddie.

Eddie: *looks at Steve*

Eddie: Baby boy. Baby.

Eddie: *looks at Robin*

Eddie: Evil.

[springfaekohaku]

Fics that I’m dying to write:

Steve In The Upside Down (so many variations)

Steve getting shot by Nancy in S1 (might also connect to Steve being dragged into the Upside Down) How Will that turn out? What are the consequences? How does this affect everyone? It was only supposed to be a warning shot…

Steve befriending a Demodog. It somehow disconnected from the Hivemind or was created as defect, hence the other monsters turn on it. But Steve saves it and in turn they both bond.

Steve has Powers (I’m already writing and continuing my first fic. But I want more different powers for him)

Steve’s powers being more physical and more practical. Maybe even adaptable and willing to change. Especially under pressure. Kinda like how El can fight off 001 in their minds and Steve can finish him off by destroying his physical body too.

Richard Harrington and Steve both flee to escape the abuse from Richard’s wife, Steve’s Mother and find themselves at Forest Hills Trailer Park. Before S1 maybe?? Eddie and Wayne notice their new neighbours and their story starts from there.

Hannibal Inspired fic but I’ve never seen the show. Only like, the premise and insane amount of Hannigram. Except, Henry/001/Vecna was stolen, taken under Brenner, a mad-man who believes that Cannibalism is the key to knowing all and the human condition. 001 was passed the torch to continue Brenner’s experiments and quest. So, he tries to find his first victim. First it was El, but then she escaped. His first attempt and failure, but he succeeds with capturing Steve. But then no matter how hard he tries, Steve never breaks, so he sets out to find a more younger impressionable youth; enter Will Byers. Steve stays and tries to keep Will alive and sane. Will they escape? Will they be brainwashed like how Brenner did to Henry? Will El find others to help them escape? Will they actually find the key from consuming human flesh? Is that Jason fucking Carver and why does he have Chrissy Cunningham and Eddie Munson tied up? Steve feels like everything is going to shit. Now he has more people to save before they become the next main course. Hehehehehe—

Steve actually being Dmitri’s son. Steve was taken as a baby and sent across to the USA, Dmitri hoping to give him a better shot at life rather than to stay in Russia. Can you imagine in S4 when Dmitri follows Hopper back to Hawkins that he’s reunified with his son?

Everyone besides Steve is a Vampire and Steve is the last werewolf. Humans have hunted down Werewolves for centuries and the numbers have dwindled down severely, right down to almost extinction. Vampires are more adaptable and find it easy to survive in plain sight. The Party and everyone in their Coven have found sanctuary in Hawkins and for years, things have been normal. But then a new scent and sunshine of a boy comes along with it (after S1) — but his timing is seemingly the worst because now he’s facing off Demodogs as a giant wolf and no one knows who he truly is unless he shifted back as a human. In S1, he missed out on the excitement but he got to know and become close to everyone. But then in S2, he is faced with the existence of The Upside Down and vein revealed that his friends and found-family are in fact Vampires. Oh and Vecna is a boomer elder-vampire. Everyone in The Party does not know ANYTHING about Werewolves and so, they learn a lot from Steve when they finally know about him and vice versa. ;))

Another Werewolf Steve AU but this time, he’s hurt, while hunting in his wolf form, he was caught in a bear trap and found by Wayne. Inspired by How To Train Your Dragon scene, Wayne was about to mercifully kill the wolf, but looked into his eyes and saw himself. So he instead took it upon himself and take the wolf back and nurse it back to health. Eddie of course has no idea what his Uncle is hiding until he finds out and freaks out. But finds himself enamoured by the wolf too. Steve is so fucked because he needs to shift back soon, his body itches and the need to be human again nawed at his entire being.

Kali introduces the Punk Culture to Steve. They have a sibling pond and Steve loves his new self. Kali dyes his hair, shaves it a little on the side/s and helps picks out clothes and everything. The whole gang also educated him of the history, iconic figures and music. Just, Punk Steve means a lot to me. You can also imagine him and El bonding about it too. “Bitching.” Eddie is head over heels. Wait, is that a bloody hanky in his pants right back pocket?

I will expand on these later and separately. But these fic ideas have been in my brain and I can’t write them out because I already have two fics to focus on. So ah, thank you for letting me get this off my mind and into the world. 💜🪻

[super-cosmic-library]

Part 2 of this post 

Now on ao3!

Dustin was up to something, that much Steve could tell. He just didn’t know what. 

However, whatever that plan entailed meant that Eddie was around all the time now. In fact, there were few days now that Steve didn’t see him for at least a few minutes. And he wasn’t complaining.

Well, he kind of was, but only internally. And only because he was beginning to understand the appeal of the whole “vampire boyfriend” trope. Or maybe it was just Eddie.

Because despite being technically as old as his parents, Eddie was hot. Downright delectable. And Steve knew it was probably weird to be into someone older than the internet when he was freshly out of high school, but Eddie acted like a high schooler.

(And yes, he understood that teenage girls all the time were attracted to grown-ass celebrities, but those people were unattainable. Or at least should be unattainable. Looking at you, Leonardo DiCaprio.)

Besides, maybe vampires did age, just really, really slowly. Both mentally and physically. Eddie wasn’t connected to the larger vampire community, so had no proof to the contrary. And he had already proven that most vampire cliches were false. So maybe he really was just 20 years old, despite having been born in the ‘60s.

Steve felt light-headed from all the hoops he was jumping through to try to justify his attraction. 

And it wasn’t that he was opposed to people dating people with large age gaps. He had just never been interested in doing so. He wasn’t Billy Hargrove, who had basically acted as a sugar baby to all of Hawkins’ wealthy older Republican women. (From the way the bastard had talked about sex workers, Steve was sure that anyone who called him a sugar baby would become well acquainted with his fist. For the life of him, he didn’t understand what people saw in him after he opened his mouth.)

Also, the release of “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) [Taylor’s Version]” had rekindled the long-running conversation of how predatory large age gap relationships with freshly legal teenagers were. And Steve did not want to be a statistic.

But there was just something about Eddie that made these cautious thoughts turn to background noise. There was just something about him. He carried himself with a sort of confidence, like he didn’t care if he died (which he probably couldn’t). And he was constantly joking around with the kids. Hell, he never took himself too seriously, unlike most of the people Steve’s age, who were constantly trying to prove that they were adults. Maybe that was because he didn’t take himself seriously. Or maybe it was the vampire thing.

And Steve had expected to be grossed out by the whole “drinking blood” thing. He was whenever the kids talked about the vampires in their vampire stories doing it. But he didn’t find it repulsive. If anything, the red that tinged Eddie’s lips and teeth after he drank one of his human juice pouches awakened something in Steve. Something he didn’t really feel comfortable confronting just yet.

And it’s not like Steve was worried Eddie was straight. The black hanky he insisted on keeping in his back pocket was as glaring of an indicator as a rainbow Apple Watch band or an iced lavender oat milk latte in the middle of winter. However, Steve didn’t know if people still met up in parks like that. He thought most hookups happened over Grindr. Maybe at this point, it was just a fashion thing. Like how the vampires from What We Do in the Shadows still wore clothes from the time periods they died in. 

It was a good thing that fashion trends had cycled back to ‘80s styles. Otherwise, Eddie would stick out like a sore thumb in his long hair and battle vest. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that pretty much anyone who had turned into a vampire in the last hundred years had lucked out these days due to all the influences modern fashion took from the previous decades.

Unless they stayed put as Eddie had, did other vampires hold onto their wardrobes from their living years? Or had the clothes become a burden to carry around when moving from town to town in hopes of avoiding suspicion? And how many other vampires existed that were hiding in plain sight? Because there had to be others, otherwise, how had Eddie turned into one?

All of these questions made Steve’s brain hurt, which, honestly, made sense. Steve had gotten used to not having to use his brain much since graduating high school. He was perfectly content to be his friend group’s himbo, even if most of the people in his friend group were much younger than him. 

What would it be like to be a vampire’s trophy husband?

What would it be like to be a vampire’s personal blood bank?

Steve nearly swerved into the other lane when the thought of Eddie’s strong arm wrapping around his shoulders, teeth sinking into his neck, tough lapping at his skin assaulted him.

“Steve, pay attention to the road!” Dustin shouted from the passenger seat. “I don’t want to die at fifteen.”

“Awe, is Dusty-Buns scared of a little game of chicken?” Max jokingly sneered from the backseat. Or at least Steve hoped she was joking. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if the suicide jokes she made were serious or if it was just a by-product of being born Gen Z.

“I told you, it’s Dusty-Bun. Not buns,” Dustin huffed. “My buns aren’t dusty.”

“That’s not what Suzie said.”

Dustin let out an ear-splitting pterodactyl screech. “Suzie did not say that! She hasn’t even seen my buns.”

“Oh, right. I forgot you were a total virgin.”

“So are you!”

“Enough!” Steve snapped. “You two are, like, twelve. You should both be virgins, so stop shaming each other.”

“I’m not twelve!” Max protested.

“I literally just said I was fifteen! Were you even listening? You came to my birthday party.”

“Whatever,” Steve said, exasperated by his two favorite children. “You still shouldn’t shame people for their sex lives or lack thereof. It’s not cool. Now, can you stop shouting? We’re almost there.”

“Yes, Steve,” El responded. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten she was sitting in the backseat with Max. He regained his composure. “Right, thank you. See, this is why El is my favorite one of you.”

The other two teens squawked in protest, but at least this time they had the sense to not start a never-ending argument. Besides, Steve often called whoever was acting the best his favorite. Even Robin, even though she wasn’t one of the kids. He wouldn’t be surprised if one day soon he called Eddie his favorite kid.

Oh. That actually might be incredibly embarrassing. Mental note: do not call the guy you have a crush on your “favorite kid.”

They pulled up to the library. Dustin had been begging Steve to drive him there so he could do more research on vampires. Max and El had tagged along because they had a stack of finished books they needed to replenish and they had some Vampire Academy books on hold. 

When the news of Eddie’s unalive status reached El and Max, they gave two wildly different reactions. El, ever wide-eyed and curious, had approached the situation in a similar, albeit calmer, way than the boys had. She asked questions, paused for answers, and actually showed some empathy when Eddie had told her about the more challenging aspects of never aging (i.e. having to hide from his friends who might question why he still looked like he did when they were all in high school).  Max, on the other hand, didn’t seem to give a shit. Though that was just Max.

“Are you going to try to suck our blood or turn us into your brainless, undead army?” Max had asked Eddie when she first found out.

Eddie had blinked back at her. “Uh, no.”

“Then I don’t care.” She had stuck her earbud back in her ear, and that had been that.

As soon as he put the car in park, the kids scrambled to unbuckle and fling themselves out the doors. He watched through the windshield as they barreled through the library doors, nearly knocking over an elderly couple in the process.

He had no need to go into the library. Reading had never been a strength of his. The letters had a habit of swimming around the page, incapable of staying still for just one moment. Kind of like the kids. 

Robin had once suggested that he might have dyslexia, but he had brushed her off. He would have known if he had a learning disability, right? His parents would have gotten him tested. 

No, he just sucked at reading. That was all. He wasn’t missing much, anyway. Books were boring.

A rapt at the window startled him out of his thoughts, nearly getting a heart attack in the process. Steve turned his head to find Eddie standing outside the passenger’s side door, grinning mischievously at him. 

He rolled down the window.

“You contemplating going inside, or what?” Eddie asked.

“Waiting on Dustin, Max, and El to get their books.”

“Mind if I join you.”

Steve reached over the console to open the passenger door for him.

“Thanks,” Eddie said, sliding into the seat and resting a genuinely impressive stack of mass market paperbacks in his lap. “Dustin still on his vampire research kick?”

Steve nodded. “I swear, that kid won’t quit until he’s gotten his hands on every vampire-related book in the county library system.”

“I don’t know what he’s expecting to find,” Eddie said, reorganizing his stack of books. “I told him everything I know about it. Besides, I’ve already gone through all of those books. It’s like the kid doesn’t trust me.”

“He just thinks too highly of himself. He’s smart, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are complete idiots.” Steve watched as Eddie reorganized his stack again. “Whatcha got there?”

“Oh, just some returns.”

“How long did it take you to finish all those?” In high school, Steve could hardly finish two books of assigned reading over the summer months. It would probably take him a whole year to get through most of Eddie’s stack.

“Checked them out three weeks ago, so,” Eddie did the math in his head. “About three weeks.”

“Damn.”

“Eh, some of them I’ve already read, so I mostly just skimmed those ones.”

“Still.”

“You’ve got any plans after you and the little hellions are done here?” Eddie asked, brushing off the impressed look Steve was sure he was giving him.

“Was probably going to stop by the movie theater to bother Robin at work. Then go home and scroll around on my phone for a few hours. Why?”

Adrenaline had begun coursing through his veins. If this was what he thought it was, then he was about to get a date with Eddie Fucking Munson. He needed to keep his expression calm. Nonchalant. Like he wasn’t going to spontaneously combust due to the sheer joy of somehow catching Eddie’s eye.

“Yeesh, that sounds dull.” “Yeah, I guess it is. You’ve got any better ideas of what I could be doing?” Good job, Harrington. Show him you’re interested, but don’t make it too easy.

“Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to go play laser tag. Me and Chrissy and the Corroded Coffin boys were going to go play tonight, but we needed an even amount of players.”

Steve deflated a little at that. It was not quite what he had wanted. He had wanted a nice night in with Eddie. Maybe order in some pizza and completely ignore whatever movie they put on the TV. But, it wasn’t nothing. 

Besides, Steve liked laser tag. Even more, he liked the idea of getting to see Eddie all flushed from running around. He knew Eddie was a competitive little shit. He had seen him and the kids play Mario Kart together. 

It had been his first time playing the game. Apparently, he and Wayne had never gotten any of the gaming consoles that had come out in the past couple decades. Wayne was more of a sports/billiards guy, while Eddie preferred table top games. It had taken a good hour to teach Eddie how to play Mario Kart on the PS5 at Steve’s house. (His parents had gotten it for him for Christmas, despite him never showing an interest in video games past Wii Sports in middle school; but he kept it around for when the kids came over.) However, Steve chalked that up to the fact that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin kept yelling over each other as they tried to explain the controls to him. 

But once he got the hang of it, he was an absolute demon. He threw red shells like there was no tomorrow. He had even managed to push all of the other boys’ characters off the tracks in Rainbow Row to slow them down. When Lucas had managed to beat him one time during his five race long winning streak, Steve swore Eddie was going to throw the controller at the TV.

He hadn’t. Once he seemed to realize how upset his loss had made him, he had closed his eyes, and took a few deep breathes. As soon as he had calmed himself down, he had congratulated Lucas on his victory, passed his controller off to Will, and joined Steve on the couch to watch the younger boys play.

So, yes, without a doubt Eddie was competitive. But not the type that cornered you in the locker room after you beat them at what was supposed to be a friendly game of basket ball. No, he was the type that you wanted to keep playing with, even after he lost. 

“That sounds like fun,” Steve smiled at Eddie. “What time are you guys playing?”

Eddie grinned back at him. “We were planning on meeting up at the place at 8, but I can pick you up at 7:30 and we can go together.”

It wasn’t technically a date, but if Eddie wanted to drive him there when he knew perfectly well that Steve could drive himself (he was sitting in his car, after all), then that had to mean he was interested in him. At least, that’s what Steve had always done when he offered his crushes rides to group hang outs.

“Sure, I’d like that.”

If Steve had any doubts about Eddie returning his affection, they were silenced by how bright his eyes glowed. They were practically golden.

“Great, I’ll see you then.” And with that, Eddie ducked back out of the car.

Steve watched as he practically skipped to the library entrance. Right before he walked through the double doors, he looked back over his shoulder at Steve and waved his finger. Steve gave a small wave back to him, causing the other man to beam. 

As Eddie disappeared, Steve realized that he would be spending the rest of the day staring at the clock in anticipation of tonight, and honestly, he was okay with it. Because with every minute that passed by was a minute closer to spending time with Eddie.

Oh, he was going to be blowing up Robin’s phone for the next twelve hours. He typed out an apology text to his best friend as well as a quick recap of what just happened. As soon as he hit send, his eyes wandered to the time up in the corner of his screen.

2:18 p.m. 

This was going to be a long five hours. 

Tag list:

@yourebuckingkiddingme @mickalaem @live-the-fangirl-life @mojowitchcraft @gregre369 @farfaras @loguine-linguine @spectrum-spectre @sidekick-hero @rozzieroos @steddieloverrr @hellion-child

[super-cosmic-library]

Part 3

part 2, part 1, ao3

It was 7:31, and Eddie was nowhere to be found. Steve peeked out the blinds once again to confirm that Eddie’s van hadn’t pulled up since the last time he checked less than a minute ago.

He hadn’t gotten any texts from Eddie about being late, and Eddie did have his number. Their text chain with his strangely chosen emojis and overuse of ellipsis proved it.

Was he being stood up? Did it still count as being stood up if it wasn’t technically a date?

He checked his phone again. 7:32. No new messages.

He was overthinking things. Eddie was probably stuck in traffic, and just being a safe driver by not updating Steve. He would show up.

7:33, Steve checked the blinds again. He was going to go crazy doing this. He could just tell. Already, the little Steves inside his head were running around, hurling themselves at the walls of his brain and contemplating setting fire to the filing cabinets that held all the information he knew about Eddie.

Steve flung himself over the back of the couch. Guess it didn’t matter if his hair got messed up. It looked like he wasn’t going to be going anywhere tonight. Might as well start boiling some water to make mac and cheese for one.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Steve bolted to his feet. All thoughts of despair dissolved as he made his way to the door, running his fingers through his ruined hair. Just before he opened the door, he took a look in the mirror his mom had hung in the entryway. He could definitely tell that he had landed directly on his hair when he flopped on the couch, but he chalked that up to knowing what it had looked like before his wallowing. To anyone else, he looked fine. He didn’t want to look fine. He wanted to look stunning. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

He took a deep, grounding breath, and opened the door.

He deflated. Standing on the doorstep was none other than Chrissy Cunningham.

“Hey, Steve . . . oh, are you okay?”

His disappointment must have been evident on his face. He forced a bright smile. Chrissy was always the friendly ray of sunshine type of girl. She didn’t deserve to deal with any of his moodiness. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just expecting Eddie.”

Chrissy’s brow furrowed. “He told me he texted you that I was coming. His engine won’t start, so I offered to drive all of us.”

Steve opened up the text chain between him and Eddie. He had no new messages since that afternoon.

Eddie: Can’t wait for tonight! *water gun emoji* *creepy, dead-eyed smiley face emoji*

Steve: Prepare to get your ass beat

“I didn’t get any texts.” Steve showed Chrissy his phone screen.

“That’s strange. Maybe he forgot to press send. He does that sometimes.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Steve hadn’t realized that Chrissy and Eddie were so close. Playing laser tag together was one thing. She could be friends with any of the guys in his band. But close enough to be familiar with his text patterns?

Jealousy began to gnaw at his insides. Were the two of them dating? Was his reading of Eddie wrong? Was he not gay? Did Eddie have a crush on Chrissy?

Steve scolded himself for being biphobic. Of course, Eddie could be interested in Chrissy and still like boys. He was interested in Eddie and still found girls attractive. Besides, Eddie had every right to be into Chrissy. It wasn’t like he and Steve were an item, no matter how many daydreams Steve had that they were.

“So, you ready to go pick up Eddie, or are you just going to keep staring off into space?”

“Right, sorry,” Steve shook the fog of jealous thoughts away. “Let’s go.”

Steve should have expected that Chrissy drove a mom car. Perfect for toting her cheerleader friends to and from games. It made sense. He didn’t know why he had assumed it would be some sort of vanity car. Probably had something to do with the resentment he still held for people like Tommy and Carol and Billy and the Carver brothers.

It was really nice inside. She had put some pastel pink and glittery stickers on the visors and the dashboard. A little disco ball hung from the rearview mirror. She even had one of those flower-shaped vent clips from Bath and Body Works that was emitting some sort of mouthwatering peachy fragrance.

One of the stickers caught his eye. Hope pulsed through him. “Chrissy, are you a lesbian?”

“Hmm?”

Steve pointed to the lesbian pride flag sticker stuck next to the glove box.

“Oh, yes. Sorry, I thought it was common knowledge.”

“Guess I missed the announcement.”

“Wasn’t so much of an announcement as it was a rumor my dick ex spread around school after I dumped him. I didn’t even know I was a lesbian at the time, but because of the rumor, I started to think about my identity more. Which led me to realize he was right.” Chrissy said it all so matter-of-fact like she wasn’t bothered by her ex unintentionally outing her anymore.

If it had happened to him, Steve would have definitely started beef with the person who outed him. Maybe even some sort of long cold war that would have lasted at least five years after graduation. Maybe longer. Probably longer. It shed light on how much better of a person Chrissy was. Still.

“What a dick,” he replied as she pulled out of his driveway.

She snorted. “Absolutely.”

The two continued to make conversation as they drove across town to Eddie’s. Steve asked her about school and cheerleading and her parents and her dating life. Turned out, they had quite a lot in common. Chrissy was just as passionate about cheerleading as he had been about basketball. Her parents, specifically her mom, had outrageously unrealistic expectations for her that were claimed to be born out of wanting the best for her. Steve had scoffed at that. For him, it was his dad, and he knew that it was more about the image of the parents than genuine care about their kid’s happiness.

The topic that interested him the most by far was her dating life. Like Steve, she had been dating around (as much as she could, what with them living in Bumfucknowhere, Indiana, and the supply of sapphics was abysmal), but hadn’t been able to find exactly what she was looking for.

“It’s starting to feel like I’m never going to find anyone,” she lamented. “Which, I know, is absolutely crazy. After all, I’m only seventeen, and I have so much more time to find the right person. But date after failed date, it’s starting to feel . . .”

“Hopeless?”

“Exactly!”

“I get it. I feel that way too, and my dating pool is twice the size of yours.”

“Bragger.”

He chuckled at that. It was the kind of quip Robin might say. A lightbulb went off in his head. “Do you know Robin Buckley?”

Chrissy pressed her lips, forehead scrunching up in thought. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t say I do.”

“She’s kind of hard to miss. Short brownish blonde hair. About a million freckles. Plays trumpet in the band. Doesn’t know when to shut up.”

Steve watched as Chrissy’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I think I know who you’re talking about. She wears all those rings and doodles on her Converse.”

“That’s her!”

“She’s cute,” Chrissy said in a softer voice, almost like she was afraid to admit it out loud.

“The cutest,” he agreed. “And she’s a total nervous wreck around girls, so she’s helplessly single. You'd have to make the first move.”

“Are you trying to set me up?”

“Depends. Are you interested?”

“Maybe.”

They rolled to a stop in front of Eddie’s trailer, finding the man himself waiting for them on the porch steps. Eddie snubbed out his cigarette and leaped to his feet. Chrissy unlocked the car doors, so he could take his place in the back seat.

“I thought I had permanent shotgun privileges,” he whined as he shuffled to the middle of the bench.

“Not anymore. Steve’s setting me up with Trumpet Girl.”

“Steve knows Trumpet Girl?”

“Trumpet Girl?” Steve asked, ignoring Eddie’s question. “You have a nickname for Robin?”

Chrissy blushed and shrunk in on herself. “I may have been checking her out all year. I really only see her at pep rallies and games, so I never learned her name.”

“So, Steve gets permanent shotgun privileges now because he’s setting you up with someone? Didn't I set you up with Jeff’s cousin and my physics lab partner?”

“You did, but you also didn’t text Steve that I’d be picking him up tonight, which was very rude of you.”

“What? I did too text him!” Eddie unlocked his phone and tapped the screen a few times. “Yeah, see. Here it is.”

Steve took the phone from him. He had certainly sent the text to “Steve;” however, examining the previous texts and opening the contact for “Steve” instantly cleared things up. “You sent this to the wrong Steve.”

“What?” Eddie took the phone back from him and deflated. “Shit, I texted Steve the owner of the Hideout, not Steve ‘the hair.’ Fuck.”

Steve watched in amusement as Eddie sent out a quick apology text to the other Steve.

“You’ve really got to start paying more attention to who you’re texting,” Chrissy scolded. “I keep getting texts from you that are clearly meant for Gareth or Jeff. And we don’t even have similar names!”

“Sometimes I’m texting multiple people, and I get confused! Not my fault phones are difficult.”

“They’re really not.”

“They are too. Steve, back me up.”

Steve, who had been staring out the window, watching as they left Hawkins, glanced between Chrissy and Eddie. “Well, I understand the whole Steve/Steve thing, but the previous texts should have clued you in that it wasn’t me you were texting.”

Eddie squawked in protest.

“But,” Steve continued. “While the texting multiple people at the same time thing is also understandable, you should still be double-checking who you are texting before pressing send.”

“Chrissy, pull over. I’m going to walk.”

“Quit being a sore loser. You know we’re right.”

Eddie pulled at his seat belt like he was trying to take it off but had forgotten how. “Pull over!”

Chrissy rolled her eyes as she turned them into a parking lot. “Quit whining, we’re here.”

Eddie figured out how to unlock his seat belt, and was already storming out of the car.

Chrissy shook her head, shooting Steve an exasperated look. “Why do I even put up with him?”

“I don’t think I have an answer for you,” he grinned back.

Eddie and the Corroded Coffin guys were already waiting in the lobby by the time he and Chrissy entered the building. It was one of those arcade/bowling alley/laser tag places that also had a sports bar and a pizza parlor. It was . . . a lot to take in. Neon lights flashed over the fluorescent blue confetti-speckled carpet. Kids were running around screaming their heads off, and the people their age were no better. The whole place smelled like pizza dough and body odor.

It took Eddie placing a hand on Steve’s elbow to realize he was being talked to. Even then, it was hard to focus on his words, what with his skin tingling at the contact.

“Steve, this is Gareth, Jeff, and Grant. Guys, this is Steve.”

“We know.”

“Why is he here, again?”

“He is here to play laser tag with us. I know our stance on preps, but Steve is actually pretty cool. So no fighting.”

Steve knew he had been kind of a bitch in high school, but he didn’t realize he had been bad enough for these guys to stare at him like he was a dead, bloated rodent on the sidewalk. If he was honest, he couldn’t even remember any of them. So, maybe he did say something nasty to one of them, but he was nowhere near as bad as Billy and Tommy had been. At least, he hoped he hadn’t been.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I ever said anything to you guys in high school.” Better to apologize right off the bat. Get rid of any bad blood right off the bat. “I’m not going to excuse my past behavior, but I am trying to do better.”

“Damn it, Harrington,” Jeff exclaimed. “You’re going to make me feel bad for when I beat you at laser tag.’

“What?”

“I’m not,” Gareth chimed in. He glanced at Steve. “Just a heads up, we’re going to be taking our resentment for you and your jock buddies out on you tonight.”

“Hope you’re good at dodging,” Grant said.

“I’m confused,” Steve looked to Eddie and Chrissy for help.

“I may have told them they could be on a team together, so they can all go after you,” Eddie said.

“What?”

“The people you hung out around in high school were really awful to them. This was the only thing I could think of to keep them from leaving once I told them you were joining.” Eddie shrugged, giving him a what-can-you-do look. “Besides, you, me, and Chris can be on the same team.”

Steve was a bit disappointed. He had been hoping to go toe to toe against Eddie. To have all of Eddie’s wild energy directed at him and solely him . . .

However, if it made Eddie’s friends comfortable, he could suck it up.

They strapped themselves into their vests (Gareth, Jeff, and Grant on the green team, and Steve, Eddie, and Chrissy on the blue team), and just barely paid attention to the bored-looking employee as he explained the rules. The employee had Gareth, Jeff, and Grant go into the arena first, making Steve, Eddie, and Chrissy wait behind to give the others time to get to their base.

“Game plan: me and Steve will go after the guys’ base, while Chrissy protects ours.”

“What! We always make the new guy guard the base. Why do I have to?”

“Chris, you sprained your ankle.”

“That was weeks ago!”

“And you’re still limping,” Eddie pointed out. “You shouldn’t be running around. It’ll put more strain on it, while you’re still trying to heal.”

“I’m fine!” Chrissy protested.

“Chris,” Eddie put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him. “If you injure yourself even more, you’ll have to sit out of cheerleading for the rest of the season. You don’t want that, do you?”

She huffed. “No.”

“Then stop trying to push yourself. We all already know you’re a badass at this. You have no one to prove yourself to. Right, Steve?”

Steve hadn’t seen Chrissy play yet, but he did recognize this type of self-destructive behavior. There had been many nights where Robin had been on one obsessive deep dive or another, where he had to practically drag her to bed because she claimed she didn’t need sleep to function. He remembered when Max had broken her leg skateboarding, and insisted that she didn’t need crutches. It had taken the whole party--as the kids deemed themselves--to convince her to use them. Even then, it had been Will's offer to paint flames and skulls on her crutches to get her to relent. So, Steve knew how to be persuasive when it came to others taking care of themselves.

“You’re like the scariest one out of all of us. We need you on the base to prevent the guys from even wanting to approach it.” He didn’t actually know if she had an intimidating bone in her body. However, he was friends with Nancy Wheeler, and she didn’t seem all that terrifying until you crossed her. Then, she was an absolute menace. He could envision this sweet girl in front of him being the same way.

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I’m only agreeing so I don’t miss any more cheer practice.”

“That’s the spirit,” Eddie said as the worker motioned for them to enter the arena.

Generic upbeat battle music poured out of the speakers, neon lights flashing to the beat. Steve gripped his gun as the three of them entered the arena. Chrissy disappeared to where their base was set up in the corner of the room, while Steve and Eddie hid behind foam pillars nearby.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he watched the countdown on his gun’s little screen. He itched to start running and shooting at anything that moved. He had to temper that instinct down, though. He needed strategy, otherwise, he would spend most of the game waiting for his vest and gun to recharge.

The countdown reached one and the music intensified, signaling the game had begun.

Steve was off. He ducked and wove between the large foam structures, shooting anyone in a green vest. Oftentimes, the other guys hadn’t realized he had been there until after they had been shot.

He was good. He knew he was good. However, he wasn’t the greatest. There were a few times when he had been so focused on pursuing Gareth, he didn’t even realize Jeff was aiming at him.

Eddie, though . . . Eddie was a god. Turned out, that competitive spirit of his wasn’t reserved only for Mario Kart. For most of the game, he didn’t even see the other man. He had to assume Eddie was attacking Grant and his team’s base. There had been plenty of opportunities for him to do so, while Steve was preoccupied with Gareth and Jeff, who seemed to be keeping their word in taking out their resentment on him.

He wondered if Eddie had known they would be more focused on going after Steve than the actual game. He wouldn’t put it past him. They were his friends, after all. He knew their moves probably as well as Steve would know Robin’s.

Could that be why Eddie had been so adamant about Chrissy guarding the base instead of Steve? Even if Chrissy was a beast at laser tag, Gareth and Jeff’s goal would still be shooting Steve as much as possible. If he had been positioned near the base, surely they would take shots at it as well just because they were there. But with Steve nowhere near the base, they seemed to have forgotten all about it.

It was honestly kind of genius. Steve suddenly got why the kids had sung his praises for his dungeon whatever-ing skills. The type of planning that move took and doing it behind Steve and Chrissy’s backs? He knew that had Eddie told him that he was going to be used as bait, Steve would have objected. He wasn't proud to admit that he still had that jock need to be the one who won the entire game. He wouldn’t have liked the idea of just being the distraction.

The whole plot was impressive.

Steve ducked behind a foam tower to catch his breath. Eddie’s friends weren’t joking around. They were really out to get him. And they were good at it too. He was glad their bullets were just beams of light and not paintballs.

Rapid footfalls approached him. Steve readied his gun. As soon as he saw movement, he began shooting. It wasn’t until the vest’s light blinked out, that Steve recognized that mop of frizzy black hair.

“Shit, Stevie.”

“Sorry,” he grimaced.

“You know you’re supposed to shoot the other team, right?” Eddie jested. At some point, he had swept his hair up into a messy bun, and, admittedly, it was really doing it for Steve.

“I got excited.”

Eddie’s blue vest powered back up. “I can tell. We should take a break after this before the next round. Catch our breaths and get some pizza.”

At the mention of food, Steve noticed how empty his stomach was. He had been so concerned about spending time with Eddie and what Eddie’s friends thought of him, he hadn’t realized he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

“Yeah, that sounds—“

Eddie’s brow furrowed, and suddenly Steve was being shoved aside. The sound of someone’s vest getting shot went off behind him.

“Fuck!” Gareth shouted.

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder to sneak up on me, Gare-Bear.”

That was—that was probably the hottest thing that had ever happened to Steve. He hadn’t even heard Gareth's approach. Could that be due to some sort of super sonic vampire hearing ablities? And Eddie had pushed him out of the way to keep him from being shot? He struggled not to swoon.

Gareth ran off to find cover before his vest powered back up.

Eddie shot him a wink. “Continue this later?”

Before Steve could respond, Eddie was on Gareth’s tail.

Steve needed to control himself. To get his head back in the game. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by a pretty boy and lose the game for his team.

He needed to be the distraction.

Steve ran out into the middle of the arena, where there was less coverage from the foam walls. He quickly spotted Eddie pursuing Gareth. Grant, as he suspected, was vigilantly guarding the green team’s base. Grant was too focused on protecting the base from Eddie, that he didn’t notice Steve was in his line of sight.

All that remained was Jeff.

Judging from the zapping noises from the laser guns to his left and what could only be described as a feminine battle cry, Jeff was trying to go after the blue team’s base.

“Oh, come on!” Jeff shouted as Chrissy shot his vest.

Chrissy really must be a beast at this, Steve smiled to himself.

Focus, Steve. He needed to draw the other boys’ attention to himself, so Eddie could go after the green team’s base. However, he couldn’t be too obvious about it, otherwise, they may forget their vendetta against him for the greater goal of winning the game.

A light bulb went off in his head. He knew just what to do.

Steve ducked back behind one of the foam pillars like he hadn’t just been out in the open. Besides, it gave him more room to work with.

With a deep breath, Steve took off running back through the middle of the room. With the grace of someone who has never acted in their life, he forced himself to trip over nothing, letting out a manly (Steve would like the record to show that it was indeed manly and guttural, and definitely not at all high-pitched) cry and accidentally hitting his knee on the way down. He winced. That was definitely going to bruise later.

It was worth it, though. Suddenly, three laser guns were firing at him. Gareth and Jeff swarmed him. Even Grant was abandoning his post in order to attack him.

Steve struggled back up to his feet. He needed to lead the boys further away from both bases. He’d also like to have a moment of reprieve from getting shot at so he could shoot back.

He ran off to the right to take cover behind one of the foam structures. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eddie at the green team’s base, shooting up at the target on the ceiling.

Pride bloomed in his chest. His plan had really worked.

His vest and gun powered back up. He took a peak around the corner and saw the three boys hiding behind other foam structures, waiting to attack.

Steve readied his gun. Time to finish this thing.

____________

Eddie let Steve claim shotgun on the ride home. After all, he had played a key role in their victory. It was the least Eddie could do.

Their team ended up winning both games the six of them played; however, that second game was won by an incredibly close margin. It seemed that Eddie’s friends had gotten out all their aggression toward Steve during the first game, so they were much more focused on winning than on high school drama after that.

Eddie would be lying if he said he hadn’t been nervous about tonight. Not only had he been spending time with Steve for the first time without the kids around, but he was introducing him to his friends. He had been so worried over how that would go down, he had barely been able to drink any of his mid-afternoon blood.

Turned out, he had been worried for nothing. Steve and his friends had gotten along great. Hell, Steve and Grant had even had several friendly competitions of Dance Dance Revolution while the group wandered around the arcade for the last hour of the night. (Steve had lost much more gracefully to Grant than the rest of the boys had the last few times they went against him in DDR. The man could go pro.)

When they pulled up outside of Steve’s house, Eddie tripped over himself as he scrambled to open Steve’s door and walk him up to his front door like this had been a date or something. He knew it wasn’t a date. He knew that Steve knew this wasn’t a date. He had been hoping that had he been able to drive Steve like he had wanted to it would've felt like it could be a date. At the very least, he'd hoped that tonight would lead to a date. Maybe even a chaste goodnight kiss. But with Chrissy waiting in the car, that last part didn’t seem achievable. However, that didn’t mean that the night would end without plans for an actual date.

Why were his palms so sweaty?

He'd never been this pathetic around people he had feelings for. There was just something about Steve that made him nervous, and nothing made Eddie nervous. So what gives?

“Well, this is me,” Steve joked. If Eddie wasn’t mistaken, Steve looked almost as nervous as he felt.

“Nice place. It’s really . . . big.”

Steve snorted and ducked his head. “That’s what she said.”

“What?”

“I said, ‘That’s what she said,’” Steve repeated.

“Who’s she?”

“It’s a joke. You know, from The Office.”

“What office?”

“The TV show. Eddie, have you not seen The Office?”

“Oh, no. I have. I watched it when it first came out. Didn’t finish the first season. Wasn’t a fan.”

“Yeah, the first season is trash. I can’t believe you stopped there, though. It’s so good.”

Eddie shrugged. “Wayne and I don’t watch much TV. Most of the time when the television is on, it’s a sports game or a game show or reruns of Seinfeld.”

“So it’s mostly Wayne watching?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s so depressing. We are in like a golden age of television, and you’re just missing it.”

Oh, here was his in. This is how he can score that date. Don’t fuck this up, Munson.

“Why don’t you do something about it.” Okay, not his best, but have you seen Steve? The fact that he was even able to string words together in his presence was an impressive feat.

“Maybe I will. You should come over sometime. I’ll show you introduce you to some shows.”

“What, like a date?” Please say yes. Please say yes.

Steve shrugged nonchalantly. “If you’d like.”

“Maybe I would.” Eddie bravely took a step forward into Steve’s space. They were close enough to be sharing air. Close enough to intimidate. To touch.

“How’s tomorrow night sound for you?” Steve’s eyes flicked down to Eddie’s lips.

Oh, boy. Maybe he was wrong. Looks like he will be getting that date and that goodnight kiss after all. Eddie’s nerves fluttered with anticipation.

“I’ll have to check my calendar,” he teased softly, leaning further into Steve’s personal bubble. “But I think I can make room for you.”

“Oh? You think?”

It was like a movie scene, the two of them moving in to kiss. Which was why it felt even more cinematic when Steve’s front door opened right as their lips were about to touch. The unexpected intrusion startled them so much that they jumped apart.

“Steven, where have you been?” The man at the door looked like an older, greyer version of Steve. Or, should Eddie say, an older version of his former classmate and ’80s high school bully, Richard Harrington.

Fuck, he forgot who Steve was related to. He was hoping that maybe by sheer dumb luck, Steve’s last name and physical similarities with Richard “the Dick” Harrington (as Eddie had liked to call him) were just a coincidence and the two weren’t actually related. Eddie should have known it wouldn’t be, though. He had never been the lucky sort.

Richard Harrington, seeming to forget his first question, squinted at Eddie. “You look familiar. Do I know you?”

Eddie didn’t know what to say. No one from his pre-vampire days had ever seemed to notice him post his blood-sucking transformation. He had spent decades counting on the assumption that everyone in this godforsaken town was too self-absorbed to realize they had an immortal communist metalhead in their midst. This town-wide narcissism had kept him safe. But mostly, it had made him bored.

Finally, things were getting interesting.

“The name’s Munson. Eddie Munson,” he said, clasping good ol’ Dick’s hand in both of his. “Steve and I went to school together.”

Steve stared at him with wide eyes, like he couldn’t believe that Eddie had used his real name to introduce himself to his former classmate. Eddie supposed he might have the same reaction had the roles have been reversed, but considering the confused expression that remained on Dick’s face, he didn’t have anything to worry about.

“You don’t happen to be related to an Edward Munson, do you?”

Well, maybe not, but he could play with that.

“I sure am. He’s–”

“He’s his uncle,” Steve cut him off. “Anyway, Eddie was just saying goodbye. Right, Eddie?”

Boo.

Steve shot him a look, begging him not to argue.

What a killjoy. Eddie couldn’t believe that this was the guy who caused his insides to flutter like he had swallowed a colony of bats. Where was the rebellious spirit? Where was the anarchist ideology? Had Eddie spent too much time in middle America that his type had turned into all-American boys?

Then again, the way Steve handled the toy laser guns spoke of something much more raw and rugged than what Eddie had come to expect from jocks. And the way Steve acted with the kids was vastly different than the way the Carver boys kicked the freshmen around. If anything, Eddie should be worried that his type had transformed into milfs, with the way Steve mothered those kids.

Another point against him, Steve strongly resembled the man–well, then teenage boy–who used to try to give him swirlies and “rough him up” behind the gym. Clearly, some wires must have gotten crossed. That, or he was more of a masochist than he thought.

“I didn’t think you’d be home until next week,” Steve said. Something about his tone told Eddie that he probably shouldn’t be here for the conversation that was about to be had. However, Steve had made no indications that he should leave, and Eddie, for once, was curious about ol’ Dick’s personal life. At least, how it involved his son.

“Your mom and I had to move up our flight,” Dick replied. “The weathermen were predicting a large storm, which might have delayed our flight for who knows how long. I have a meeting in the city I need to get to on Tuesday morning, and your mother insisted she could not reschedule her appointment.”

“Oh, okay.” Steve didn’t look at his father when he spoke.

Dick glanced between the two of them. “Well, don’t be out too much longer. You have a good night, um–”

“Eddie,” Eddie supplied.

“Right, Eddie.” With that, Dick went back inside, leaving the two of them alone again.

“We might have to reschedule tomorrow,” Steve said sheepishly.

“Or," Eddie drew out. "You could come to my place. Wayne’s going to be working the night shift, so we’d have the place to ourselves.”

Steve’s slow smile was dazzling. Eddie’s stomach flipped. “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The two stood there for a moment, just staring at each other. Eddie had a feeling that with Dick's interruption, he wouldn't be getting that kiss like he thought he might. Oh well, he was still getting that date!

"I should probably . . ." Steve motioned to the door behind him.

"Yeah. Yeah!" Eddie nodded.

Steve blessed him with another smile. Oh, a guy could get used to that. “Goodnight, Eddie.”

“Goodnight, Stevie.”

Eddie watched Steve disappear inside. It took all of the strength he had to not skip back to Chrissy's car.

Tag list:

@yourebuckingkiddingme @mickalaem @live-the-fangirl-life @mojowitchcraft @gregre369 @farfaras @loguine-linguine @spectrum-spectre @sidekick-hero @rozzieroos @steddieloverrr @hellion-child @ littlewildflowerkitten @ novacorpsrecruit @ rainbow-freckle @anaibis @ madigoround

[super-cosmic-library]

“Do you think we have time before Robin returns?” Steve asked, searching his eyes. “If she walks in on us, we’ll never hear the end of it.” “Did you see the way she was making eyes at Chrissy? She’ll be gone for a while.” “Good. Because if you don’t put your cock in me right now, I’m going to lose my mind.” Eddie’s eyes widened. “Yeah, okay.”

Chapter Six is now live!

[super-cosmic-library]

Part 4

part 3, part 2, part 1, ao3

“His dad literally tried to shove me into a locker, Chris,” Eddie whined as he washed the rest of the homemade avocado facemask off his face. “He was such a cliché bully, it was boring. And Steve looks almost exactly like him, but somehow I’m turned on by him? Am I actually insane?”

Chrissy rolled her eyes. Eddie had been going on about Steve nonstop since they dropped him off. At first, it was cute to see her best friend all flustered by his crush, but after a nearly thirty-minute monologue about the guy’s ass while the two did their end-of-week skincare routines, she was ready to change the subject.

“You need a drink?” Chrissy hollered from the kitchen, taking a can of La Croix from the fridge for herself. It filled her with warmth every time she saw them in there. She knew Eddie kept those drinks in there just for her. Neither of the men who lived there drank the stuff.

“Yes, please. God, I’m famished.”

She grabbed an already open bag of blood and shut the door behind her.

She’d known her best friend was a vampire for a long time. She had kind of figured it out when they started hanging out her junior year and she’d realized he had been a senior since she began high school. She didn’t know what the teachers thought, but she’d reasoned that there was no way someone could go through senior year that many times and not just drop out altogether. There had to be a bigger reason.

She took Eddie’s favorite mug—a plain white one with the words “World’s Foxiest Grandma” written in black and a picture of Garfield in a curly grey wig, a green knit shaw, and pink readers on it—off the rack on the wall and poured it half full with blood. He never needed much more for a feeding.

She placed what little remained in the bag back in the fridge, then passed the mug over to Eddie as he entered the kitchen, fresh-faced and mischievous. Although, he almost always had a mischievous glint in his eye. It was a practically permanent fixture.

She cracked open her sparkling water as he took a long sip from his mug.

“Remind me to never skip feeding ever again,” he said, licking blood from his upper lip.

She shook her head, unimpressed that a man his age struggled with taking basic care of himself. “How you’ve been able to keep yourself alive for so long is beyond me.”

“Wayne.”

“You’re a grown-ass man, and you let your brother take care of you?” Chrissy didn’t get to swear at home or anywhere else her mom might hear of it, so she reveled in doing so in the privacy of the trailer.

“What can I say? My brother is my keeper, or whatever the fuck they teach in Sunday school.”

“The fact that you know that much is impressive,” she said, vaguely remembering something like that from her own years of Sunday morning bible classes.

“Excuse you, I read my Bible every day and go to church on Sundays.”

“I find that hard to believe. You’d burst into flames if you set foot in a church, and that’s not even because of the whole vampire thing. That’s just a you thing.”

Eddie grinned wickedly. “You flatter me.”

She gave his shoulder a good shove, and he cackled in response.

Eddie threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave and started rifling through the cabinets for any other junk foods that tickled his fancy. The first time they had a “girl’s night,” Chrissy had been amazed by the abundance of junk food the Munsons had. She knew people bought things like snack cakes and potato chips, otherwise, why would stores stock them? However, because her pantry had always been filled with dried fruits, rice cakes, and almonds for snacks, she thought that was how it was for everyone. This thought had only been reinforced by her friends on the squad having very similar pantries, at least from what she saw when she went to sleepovers and study sessions at their houses.

Her mother had spent years drilling into her head how bad junk food was for her health. Growing up, the only times she ever got to have dessert were when she went to her grandma’s house. Even then, it was only one oatmeal raisin cookie after dinner. She was never allowed to eat cake at her classmates’ birthday parties. She didn’t even get to eat ice cream–only frozen yogurt with fresh fruit toppings. And afterward, her mom would force her to go on runs with her to burn off the calories.

So when Eddie first started offering her snacks when she came over, she was hesitant, to say the least. Of course, she was worried about what would happen to her figure if she ate even a single Oreo. How could she not be, after being drilled on the dangers of processed foods? But more than that, she was scared of how her mother might react if she found out Chrissy had eaten something that contained trans fats. And she would know it, right? Her mom would be able to smell the high fructose corn syrup on her breath, right?

Chrissy about damn near had a panic attack the first time she accepted an Oatmeal Cream Pie from Eddie. It was made with oatmeal. It had it in the name! It should have been healthy, right? But her body had betrayed her after she finished half of it. It wasn’t used to eating something that had more than three ingredients listed on the package. So as her stomach cramped, all she could think about was how disappointed her mother would be.

Chrissy had contemplated going to the bathroom to force herself to throw up. She knew bulimia was dangerous, so she only did it on occasion and only when she had access to a toothbrush. However, she could make an exception. Especially, she felt as bad as she had.

She hadn’t realized she was crying until Eddie asked her what was wrong.

There was something about him that made her feel safe. Like she could be herself around him and talk without a filter, and he wouldn’t judge her or talk behind her back about it. It was something she noticed during their first interaction and the feeling only grew stronger the more they became friends.

That night, she’d broken down and confessed her tumultuous relationship with food–something she had never done aloud. Eddie had sat there silently and listened as she poured out her heart. All of the not gettings and the not wantings and all of the instant regrettings. It left her feeling exposed and scared, though not because of what his reaction to all of it might be but because of what these issues she struggled with might mean about her.

When she had finished, he’d tried his best to comfort her. He had tried to talk things out with her. It helped a little, but the problem was rooted so deep, it had taken months of patient encouragement and talking with Wayne about what an actual healthy diet could look like (and not the crap the women in her mom’s Facebook groups shared) to get to where she was now.

She knew she wasn’t “fixed.” She knew she would always struggle with food to some extent. But now she could eat a slice of veggie pizza for dinner and have Eddie-approved snacks and not have a meltdown afterward. After years of drowning in her mother’s trendy diets and daily exercise regimens, she finally felt like she could breathe.

Chrissy grabbed a bag of M&Ms and poured some into the metal popcorn bowl. If she left Eddie to do it, he would forget to put them in until after the popcorn, which meant they would lose precious time warming up under the heat of the popped kernels. And Chrissy liked them warm.

She padded over to the living room in her fuzzy penguin socks to connect her laptop to the Munsons’ shitty little TV and pull up YouTube.

“No, not this movie again,” Eddie groaned as the intro music to But I’m a Cheerleader filled the room.

“It’s a classic!” She gasped. “Do you hate classics?”

Eddie plopped down on the couch behind her, popcorn bowl resting in his lap. “Only when we’ve already watched them a million times.”

“It has not been a million times.” Chrissy sunk into the couch next to him.

The couch, like many other things in the Munson trailer, was much older than her. She would argue that those things were also much more well-loved than her, but that would start an unwinnable argument between the two of them.

It was one of those couches where the springs were kind of busted and the cushions could no longer keep their shape, so you felt like you were going to be swallowed up whenever you sat down. Then, when two people tried to sit on it, they would always end up tumbling to the center of the couch, all pressed up against each other.

The first time Chrissy ever visited the trailer, she made the mistake of trying to sit next to Eddie on it. She still swore (jokingly) that she had almost been crushed to death by him because of it.

Chrissy loved Eddie’s home because it was nothing like hers. Eddie and Wayne didn’t decorate to impress company as her mother had. They decorated with things that made them happy, like Wayne's hat and mug collections that were displayed along the ceiling of the living room or the framed and completed jigsaw puzzle hanging above Wayne’s sitting chair. It gave the place more character than the abstract paintings her mom had found at Home Goods. Ones that looked like they belonged in a hotel room rather than the house of a suburban family.

The Munsons’ furniture was practical and useful. The tables weren’t replaced because they were mismatched. The lamps were repaired when they broke. Pieces were thrifted and not in the way Chrissy’s mom “thrifted” things–by strolling through different discount stores or scrolling through Wayfair and Etsy. No, these things were found at Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Chrissy should know. When their box TV finally gave out, it was Chrissy and Eddie who spent all day scouring the local thrift stores in search of a new one–picking up clothes and other tchotchkes that caught their eyes and they went along.

The entire trailer was always clean; however, it was also constantly cluttered. This was primarily due to Eddie’s inability to focus on a single task, often setting things down the forgetting they existed. This led to half-painted minis and bottles of paint left on the coffee table. Campaign notes, unfinished homework assignments, and paper scraps of scribbled song lyrics stacked on the kitchen table. A can of hairspray sat next to the toaster. And dozens upon hundreds of guitar picks in the carpet, next to the kitchen sink, in the cupboards, on the bathtub ledge, behind the dryer, wedged between the couch cushions, and so many other places Chrissy couldn’t possibly begin to fathom. The space felt lived in. Unlike her own home, where unless the place was shining, sparkling, and spotless, it was considered a pigsty.

So, yeah, Chrissy preferred spending her time at her best friend’s home much more than she did at her own home.

As the montage of the campers “learning” traditional gender roles played, Chrissy pulled out her box of nail supplies. “What color this week.”

He took a contemplative sip from his mug. “I’m feeling blue.”

“Really?” She asked, setting aside the black nail polish she had been taking out for him. He usually only ever had his nails painted black. On one occasion, he wanted them blood red, but he spent the following days complaining about how bright they were until he finally picked all of the paint off.

“Yeah. Kinda want to switch things up.”

“And this has nothing to do with the blue sweater Steve wore tonight?”

“I am offended that you would accuse me of such behavior.”

“So it has nothing to do with Steve?”

“Absolutely not.” He plucked a midnight blue bottle of nail polish out of her carrying case. The color was so dark, it was nearly black, but there was a slight shimmer to it that one could tell it wasn’t. Maybe she had been wrong, she conceded.

She picked out a lime green color for herself and handed it to Eddie. The two slid down to sit on the floor, so they could use the coffee table to use as a workspace. Chrissy laid her hands palms down on a paper towel. Eddie uncapped the bottle and began to carefully brush the cool paint on her nails.

When they started doing each other’s nails, Chrissy had been surprised at how well Eddie was able to paint hers. Back when they were dating, whenever she asked Jason to help her with her left hand, he always bemoaned doing something so “girly” (his words). Then, he would do such a shit job at actually painting them, that most of the time she would have to scrub it off with nail polish remover and attempt to do it herself to slightly better results. Despite his attitude, she could tell that Jason had actually tried his best to help her out–his face twisting, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. It wasn’t some sort of attempt at weaponized incompetence, simply inexperience and shaky hands. Even though his complaining had made her feel small, she couldn’t fault him for not trying.

Eddie’s hands, by contrast, were meticulously still. She supposed it made sense due to all of the miniature Dungeons and Dragons figurines he enjoyed painting. He’d ensure the brush wasn’t overloaded with paint, then carefully apply each layer, swiping around her nail with his to collect any excess paint. Because he did this, her nails were always the ones to get painted first. That way, he wouldn’t get any brightly colored paint on his fresh dark nails.

“All joking aside, I’m glad that Steve was able to come tonight. He’s a fun guy. I like how he makes you light up.”

With his wild hair pulled up in a top bun, she was able to see his cheeks flush. “Shut up.”

“It’s true!” She laughed, careful not to jostle her hands. “I like seeing you happy.”

“Well, we should have him bring Buckley next time. How’s that sound, Chris?”

Chrissy turned tomato red. “I swear to god, Eddie.”

“What? What do you swear?” He challenged her.

“I’ll kill you.”

“Pfft,” he waved her off. “That’s an empty threat. You know I can’t die.”

“Then I’ll find a way to end you. Or maybe I’ll just lock you in a coffin and bury you alive. That way you’ll never get out.”

“Cold, Cunningham. Metal, but cold.”

“Thank you.” She grabbed a few pieces of popcorn with the hand Eddie hadn’t painted yet, and popped them in her mouth.

He watched her as she ate. He did that sometimes. It was a little strange, but she knew it came from a place of concern. He wanted to know that she was taking care of herself. Even though she sometimes wanted to shove his face away from her direction, she couldn’t fault him for worrying. She worried about him too.

She worried about what the people in their small-minded town would do if they found out what he was. She was well aware that people in her parents' circles believed with their whole hearts that things like demons and Halloween witches were real. She’d heard some of them rile themselves up by talking about burning witches alive like it was seventeenth-century Salem and not twenty-first-century Hawkins. She wasn’t sure what her parents thought of their friends' righteous rages, but the sheer fact of their keeping those friendships meant Chrissy had to sneak around if she wanted to be herself.

They didn’t know she was friends with Eddie Munson, let alone about their weekly girls’ nights. She let them think she was sleeping over at a teammate’s house. They didn’t know she was a lesbian, despite the rumors at school, or about the Tarot cards and crystals she kept under her bed. She knew that her parents loved her, even though they had a difficult time showing it. But she didn’t know if that love would change if they knew these things. She didn’t really want to know. She looked forward to the day she left for college and would be able to stop feeling like she was sneaking around all the time.

“Maybe we could invite Robin next time?” She said, timidly.

“Fuck yeah,” he pumped his fist in the air. “Mark my words, we are getting you a girlfriend.”

Chrissy giggled. She was really going to miss him when college started next fall.

Tag list:

@yourebuckingkiddingme @mickalaem @live-the-fangirl-life @mojowitchcraft @gregre369 @farfaras @loguine-linguine @spectrum-spectre @sidekick-hero @rozzieroos @steddieloverrr @hellion-child @ littlewildflowerkitten @ novacorpsrecruit @ rainbow-freckle @anaibis @ madigoround @ estrellami-1

[super-cosmic-library]

Pool Boy at the Vampire Mansion Chapter 5 News

So, unfortunately, I have not had the time or energy to put much work on Chapter 5. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on it next week; however, I do not know when it’ll be posted.

[super-cosmic-library]

Ch. 7 is finally posted! Lesbian Interlude time!!!

_ _ _ _ _

The thing between Steve and Eddie was getting out of hand. It had been three weeks since the last time Robin had gotten to spend more than five minutes alone with her platonic soulmate.

She was happy for him, don’t get her wrong. But by god was Eddie’s constant presence annoying.

However, if that constant presence meant spending time with Chrissy Cunningham, then Robin could deal.

Chrissy was by far the cutest girl in Hawkins. Probably in all of Roane County. Hell, maybe even all of Indiana. Robin wouldn’t say in all of America, though. After all, Reneé Rapp existed.

What was even more mind-boggling than the fact that the beautiful cheerleader and the metalhead vampire were best friends was that Chrissy was also a lesbian. A lesbian! Maybe there was a god.

Too often, Robin’s crushes were on the unattainable straight girls. Even when she and Vickie, a loud and proud bisexual, were in the talking stage, it never pandered out. Vickie, for all of her good qualities, was too hung up on her on-and-off-again boyfriend. Steve had to talk sense into her, because, no, Robin really could not deal with being in an open relationship with someone. Especially when she never knew where she stood with Vickie.

So Chrissy being a lesbian and completely single was kind of a miracle. Robin had to keep reminding herself not to get her hopes up.

“This is me,” Chrissy said as they reached her house. “Would you like to come inside for a bit?”

Steve would worry if she took too long to get back to his house.

Wait, what was she thinking? Judging by the eyes he had been making at his boyfriend when they left, Steve wasn’t going to notice she'd been gone for longer than a few minutes. Besides, Chrissy Cunningham was asking her to spend more time with her. How could she ever turn that opportunity down?

Even though they lived in the same neighborhood, Chrissy’s house was nowhere as large as Steve’s. It still classified as a McMansion, at least in Robin’s book, what with the grand balcony overlooking the street and the ornate French windows on either side of the dark oak doors. The well-manicured rose bushes led her to believe the Cunninghams employed a landscaping service as well. After all, those shits were a bitch to maintain. So, yeah, they were rich.

After calling out a hello to her parents, Chrissy led her up to her bedroom.

It was . . . pink. It reminded her a lot of Nancy’s room, the one time she’d been invited in. However, Chrissy’s room had more frills and less ammo.

Chrissy flopped onto the quilted bed, pulling a lavendar narwhal Squishmallow to her chest, and qued up one of those YouTube lo-fi study playlists on the TV mounted to her wall.

“Sorry, I’ve got to have music playing at all times or I’ll go crazy.”

“You sound like Eddie.”

“Dear god, please don’t say that,” Chrissy laughed. Robin’s heart swooped at the sound. “Especially in front of my parents.”

“Not a fan of him?” Although, she understood why. Most parents wouldn’t be too pleased with their child befriending the local drug dealer.

She shook her head. “They say I spend too much time with him, especially since Jason and I broke up. I swear, no matter how many times I tell them Eddie is just a friend, they still think we’re dating.”

“My parents used to think the same thing!” Robin smiled as a sense of kinship with the other girl formed. “They wouldn’t shut up about how nice of a boy Steve was, and how beautiful our babies would look. Which, ew. Incest!”

Chrissy giggled again, sending heat to the pit of Robin’s gut. “Agreed.”

Robin felt Chrissy's eyes on her as she inspected the tchotchkes and fruity Bath and Body Works perfumes scattered about Chrissy's dresser top. She picked up a Precious Moments cheerleader girl, smiled at it, then set it back down. “It wasn’t until I finally came out to them that they finally realized our relationship was and only ever would be Platonic with a capital ‘P.’” She fiddled with the necklaces dangling from a jewelry hanger.

The other girl sighed. “I wish I could do that with my parents. Not sure if you saw the bajillion crosses on the walls downstairs, but they wouldn’t take the news well.”

Dropping the necklace chains, Robin crossed the room and perched herself on the edge of the bed, just to be near Chrissy. “That sucks.”

“What can you do?” Chrissy shrugged and picked at her nails. “My older sister is getting married in the spring. My family–my mom especially–is, of course, all excited for her. I am too. Her fiancé is a nice guy, and he seems to treat my sister right. It’s just annoying because the wedding is all my family will talk about. It made me realize that my family will never have the same reaction and give me the same amount of support whenever I get married.”

Robin exhaled. That sucked. Sure, she’d been nervous about coming out to her parents, but her parents were communist-leaning hippies. She’d had a feeling that they would be accepting of her sexuality, even if they didn’t fully understand it.

She took her hand. Chrissy, glossy lips parted slightly, looked up at her. Her hand was smaller and softer than Robin’s own. It made her want to bite something.

She took a steadying breath, trying not to let her words ramble. “Fuck them. When you get married, Eddie, Steve, and I will throw you the biggest, most elegant and Chrissy-approved wedding of your dreams. And we’ll post the photos all over Instagram and they’ll be so jealous they weren’t invited that it’ll eat them alive.”

“Yeah?” Chrissy blinked up at her. Although a smile had made its way onto her face, the tip of her nose was red and her eyes were filled with unshed tears. Robin refrained from calling attention to it, though. If their places were traded, she’d rather die than admit her parents’ bigotry affected her that much.

“Yeah,” Robin smiled back at her. “And don’t even get me started on the bachelorette party. We’re going to get kicked out of so many clubs.”

Chrissy’s petite nose scrunched as she giggled again. Was this woman trying to kill her?

“I didn’t take you for the clubbing type.”

“I’m not. Loud music makes me anxious. And all those sweaty bodies gyrating on the dancefloor, packed together like sardines? Ew.” She stuck her tongue out. “But, the party would be for you, and that seems like your scene.”

“Aw, you’d sacrifice your own comfort for me?”

“Of course.” As if that were ever a question. “You deserve to be celebrated.”

Chrissy’s face went pink. Her eyes fluttered down to where her fingers played with Robin’s rings. Robin did not know how she was still alive after all of this.

Chrissy sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “Sorry for trauma dumping on you.”

Robin waved her off. “That’s what friends are for.”

“So, we’re friends?”

“Well, yeah,” A fear struck her. “Unless you don’t want to be?”

Chrissy’s hand tightened around her own. “No, I do. I do. I just didn’t think you thought that.”

Robin squirmed. Cool your jets, Buckley. She wanted more than that, but she didn’t know if Chrissy felt the same way. Besides, better to take what she could get than scare her off.

“Yeah, I do.”

They were still holding hands. Chrissy seemed to notice it at the same time as she did and pulled her hand away to adjust her skirt. Robin missed the feeling instantly.

“Would you like to stick around for a bit? Maybe watch another movie?”

Robin’s heartbeat raced. Chrissy wanted to spend more time with her. Although it was probably for purely platonic reasons–after all, they'd just established their friendship–Robin had a difficult time maintaining her hopes.

“Please. I do not want to walk in on whatever Steve and Eddie are doing right now.”

“Blech, don’t make me think of that. I’ve heard Eddie wax on about Steve’s dick enough that I have permanent mental scars.”

“He and Steve really must be made for each other. I’ve never seen the man naked, but I could probably draw an accurate portrait of Eddie by just going off of what Steve’s told me.”

Chrissy let out a long-suffering sigh. “Boys.”

“Tell me about it.”

The two girls settled against the headboard. Chrissy’s arm brushed against hers as she scrolled through Hulu, and Robin was being so normal about it. Definitely not having a total meltdown inside. Nuh, uh.

She should get an award for what a brave soldier she had been tonight.

Whenever the movie was over, she decided, she would call Steve to let him know she was heading back to his house. That way, the boys would have enough time to collect themselves and save her from any more mental scaring.

But as the movie wore on, the two girls continued to talk about life and school and how hot Aubrey Plaza was, and Robin really, really did not want to leave. So, even as she was nodding off, pressed against Chrissy’s shoulder, she stayed. Because maybe she deserved a little hope.

[super-cosmic-library]

lol, it's been months, but chapter five has finally returned from the war, and you can find it here

Pool Boy at the Vampire Mansion Chapter 5 News

So, unfortunately, I have not had the time or energy to put much work on Chapter 5. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on it next week; however, I do not know when it’ll be posted.