#Eddie also needs a hug or 12

[estrellami-1]

Keep Me (And I’ll Keep You)

Ao3 Link

Eddie hums contentedly as he sits on the couch, beer in hand. The couch is cotton, a soft brown that matches the rest of the living room. It’s one of those fancy sectionals that, up until knowing Steve, Eddie had only seen in catalogs. It’s a comfy couch, and he hums again as he settles in, wiggling his butt and shoulders, doing his best to let the couch envelop him.

Steve, to his left, snorts as he sits down. “Looks like you’re trying to become one with the couch.”

“Hey, it’s comfortable,” Eddie says, giving an aborted shrug and leaning his head back.

Steve chuckles, then sobers. “Y’know, sometimes I think when I move out, what’s the one thing I’m gonna miss the most? What’s the one thing I want to bring with me? And nine times out of ten, it’s this couch.”

“What’s the other one?”

“The microwave.” Eddie snickers. “Hey, you laugh, but those things are expensive!” Steve defends himself, also laughing. He’s got one knee up on the couch, turned to face Eddie, leaning sideways against the back of the couch.

A shout startles them both, and Eddie whips his head around to the dining room, where the Party is gathered. Will is DM today, after a long brainstorming session with Eddie. He’d brought the kids here and is available in case Will gets stuck, but Eddie silently thinks Will downplays his abilities. He’s a damn good DM, especially for his age, and Eddie was actively considering joining in.

Ultimately he decided to let the kids have this one. Erica, no doubt, would’ve joked (at least, he thinks it’s a joke) about Eddie cramping their style.

So here he is, relaxing on the couch with the man of the house, who’s relaxing now that he knows there’s no actual danger, only imagined.

Steve sighs, leaning forward to put his beer on the coffee table. “One of these days I’m gonna wake up and find a grey hair, and I’m gonna know it came from them.”

Eddie snorts. “Oh, man, you think that’s bad,” he jokes, and continues on to tell a story about something the kids had done involving Dustin’s second cat, a balloon, and a car tire. He leans forward to put his beer down, too, and when he leans back again Steve slides forward, head coming to rest on Eddie’s shoulder.

And here’s the deal, right? They don’t do that. They don’t casual touch like that. Eddie does, with most anybody, but Steve is in a class of his own, one that Eddie knows not to mess with for his own heart’s sake.

Said heart rabbits in his chest as he freezes, words drying up. He slowly looks over at Steve and sees closed eyes and open mouth. “Oh,” he whispers, cataloging the soft wisp of eyelashes resting on cheeks, the crinkle on his nose, scrunching up his moles, the lips slightly parted, driving damp puffs of breath to land on Eddie’s arm.

The next thing Eddie notices is Steve’s neck is at a weird angle. If he were to guess, he’d say Steve hadn’t been sleeping very well, and waking him is the last thing he wants to do. He tries to shimmy down the couch a little, to relax Steve’s neck some, but Steve’s upper body moves with his head, and now Eddie thinks the crick in his neck is more severe. “Fuck,” he mutters, shimmying down more, because surely it’ll work this time.

Something happens. He doesn’t know what, exactly, just knows that as he shimmies down Steve’s head slides down his shoulder, down his chest, to land on his stomach.

Steve murmurs something and shifts, turning his face into Eddie’s stomach as he stretches out, still asleep.

Butterflies awaken with a vengeance.

Shifting down his body means Eddie’s arm is free. He lifts it up nonsensically, as if not touching Steve of his own will is better than whatever the fuck is happening, but he can only hold his arm up for so long, so he eventually, gently rests it over Steve’s back and side. “What the fuck,” he mouths to himself.

It’s quiet and comfortable, though, the low murmur of voices in the other room doing nothing to keep Eddie awake, so it’s not long before he begins to drift off, too.

Sue him, he hasn’t been sleeping all that well, either.

He opens his eyes to Will walking into the room before seeing them and freezing. Eddie forces himself more awake, blinking rapidly until some of the fog lifts. He gestures Will closer with the hand not on Steve, and Will shakes his head, smiling. “We’re done,” he whispers. “I’ll call Jonathan.”

The words take a minute to make sense in Eddie’s brain. When they do, he shoots Will a thumbs up.

Will leaves, and Eddie succumbs to the siren call of sleep once more.

When he wakes up, he’s alone.

It’s morning, he can tell by the light in the room, natural now instead of artificial. His back is screaming at him, and his neck isn’t too happy either, so he takes his time sitting up and stretching, imagining the jokes Wayne would throw his way.

“Oh,” someone says, and Eddie looks over to see Steve, pink-cheeked, holding two mugs of coffee.

He seems to make a decision and crosses over to the couch, handing Eddie one of the mugs. It’s blue-and-white checkered, like Dorothy’s dress in The Wizard of Oz, and something about it makes Eddie smile even before Steve says, “Here. Enough sugar to give a bull a heart attack.”

Eddie takes a sip and hums gratefully. “Thanks, man.”

“I, uh. Think that’s my line.” Steve’s cheeks are even pinker now, and he’s studiously not looking at Eddie. “And sorry. For falling asleep on you.”

There’s about a million things Eddie wants to say that he bites his tongue on. Ends up with, “Actually, I slept really well last night.”

Steve’s cheeks are still pink, but he at least glances at Eddie when he says, “Yeah. Me too.”

In for a penny, in for a pound, Eddie thinks. “I haven’t been sleeping super well, actually. You know how it is.”

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. “I do.”

It’s silent for a second, long enough that Eddie begins to inanely suggest, “Maybe we could-”

At the same time, Steve starts, “What if we-”

They break off at the same time, blinking at each other before laughing. “You first,” Eddie says.

Steve’s cheeks burn again. “What if we did it again?”

Eddie grins. “I was gonna say maybe we could do it again,” he admits.

Steve giggles, and Eddie has to work to not stare at him with actual hearts in his eyes.

“Not every night,” Eddie hazards. God knows he wants to do it every night. God also knows it’s the fastest way to break his own heart.

“No, of course not. Just- when it gets bad?”

It’s bad every night, Eddie swallows, chokes on. “Yeah,” he says quietly.

“And- we’ll just call each other, I guess.” Steve runs a hand through his hair. “You- you’re welcome to call whenever. Day or night. Doesn’t matter.”

“Same for you.”

“What about Wayne?”

“Works nights. And I’m home during the day. If I’m not, I’m with you guys. No chance of waking him up.”

Steve snickers. “Unless you sleep through the phone ringing.”

Eddie snorts. “Fat chance. Every little sound wakes me up, now.”

Steve really looks at him. “Yeah,” he finally murmurs. “I know how that is.”

They finish their coffee, Eddie leaves, and Steve heads into work.

That night, four seconds before Eddie gets up to call Steve, the phone rings.

He bolts down the hall, grabs it so hard he hears the plastic casing creak. “Hello?”

“Eddie.” Steve sounds… small. Relieved, like he wasn’t sure Eddie would answer. “Thought-” Eddie can hear the crease between his brows. “Dream, I guess.” He sniffs, clears his throat. “Sorry.”

“No, hey,” Eddie tells him, “that’s why we’re doing this, you don’t need to say sorry. D’you wanna stay on the phone for a few more minutes? Or can I go for, like, ten minutes?” Usually the drive to Steve’s house is more like fifteen, he knows, but like hell is he following the speed limits when they’re both feeling like this.

“No,” Steve murmurs. “I can- I can go, sorry, you should- you were asleep, I bet-”

“Nope,” Eddie tells him cheerfully. “I wasn’t asleep and I actually was about to call you. I’m gonna hang up so I can drive over, Steve. Are you at a place where you’ll be okay if I hang up?”

Steve hums. “Think so.”

“I’m not getting off until that’s a yes.”

Steve huffs out a breath. “No, it’s- ‘m fine, sorry, you can- if you wanna go-”

“Steve. You’re kinda proving that you’re not okay right now.”

“Oh.”

Eddie huffs out an approximation of a laugh. “Yeah. Think you can take some deep breaths for me?”

Steve takes a shaky breath. “Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll do it with you, ready?” He coaches Steve through a breath, then through three more, until Steve’s able to inhale without it sticking. “Good. How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” Steve admits. “You don’t have to come over if you don’t want to.”

“Stevie, baby, I don’t have to do anything.”

He’s grinning, hamming it up for Steve, and can hear the smile in return, the little huff that means a laugh. “But you’re coming over? Because you want to?”

“Ding ding ding, that is correct!” Steve giggles. When it dies down, Eddie quietly says, “I’ll see you in ten, okay?”

“Fifteen,” Steve counters, “don’t speed.”

“Five,” Eddie says nonsensically.

Steve giggles as he says, “You’re already here?”

“I’m already in your bed, are you kiddin’ me? I got there half an hour ago.”

Steve laughs again. When he sobers, he says, “Fifteen. I’ll unlock the door in thirteen, not a minute sooner.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Eddie says, “seven,” and hangs up to Steve’s laughter.

He’s smiling as he pulls shoes on and grabs his keys and wallet. He’s out the door in two minutes, locking it behind him and hopping into his van.

He makes it to Steve’s in twelve minutes, hoping the door’s unlocked so he can walk in.

Steve opens it before he can even get there. “What happened to fifteen?”

Eddie shrugs, smiles. “You know me.”

Steve rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling as he moves to let Eddie in. “Unfortunately I do.”

“Hey,” Eddie says, affronted, “what’s that mean,” and pulls Steve into a hug before he can say anything.

Steve stiffens for a second, not expecting the hug, but then relaxes into it so quickly Eddie’s almost sure he imagines the stiffness. “Thanks for coming,” he whispers.

“Thanks for calling,” Eddie whispers back, pulling away with a smile. “Bed? Or not yet?”

“Bed,” Steve agrees, leading him upstairs before stopping halfway. “Or- would you prefer the couch?”

“Why the hell would I prefer a couch over a bed,” Eddie demands, nudging Steve to keep him moving. His words are soft, though, as he says, “Wherever you want.”

“Bed,” Steve agrees, just as softly.

They climb in then stare at each other. “How do you wanna do this?” Steve asks him.

“However you want.”

Steve shakes his head. “I’ll take too much,” he whispers.

Eddie thinks, privately, Steve’s more fucked up than anyone knows. “Not if I’m willing to give you everything,” Eddie swears, heart in his throat and on the line. “C’mon. You called me. Help me learn how to help you.”

“You’ll tell me if it’s too much?”

“It won’t be,” Eddie swears, “but yeah. I’ll tell you.”

Steve looks at him for a long moment. Eddie does his best to keep his expression open and willing. He’s not sure how he’s doing, but it must be good enough for Steve, because he burrows in, tucking his face into Eddie’s chest, throwing an arm over Eddie’s waist and relaxing.

Eddie responds in kind, laying an arm over Steve’s, around his back, and pulling him in that little bit closer. “Sleep,” he whispers, even as he succumbs and his eyes close.

When he awakens in the morning, it’s still dark, but Steve’s getting up. He makes a questioning noise, reaching out for him.

Steve squeezes his hand before placing it down again. “Just going to the bathroom,” he whispers. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He falls back asleep.

When he wakes up again, Steve’s back in bed, curled up against him, breath whiffling across Eddie’s chest.

Something in his chest cracks open as he lets himself study Steve. There’s a slight furrow in his brow, like even in sleep he’s still holding onto stress. Eddie wants to hold him by the ankles and shake him until all the bad thoughts come out and only the good remain. A sigh escapes his mouth at the thought, wisping over Steve’s face, and it’s apparently enough to wake him. Eddie watches as Steve’s face scrunches and his feet kick out in a stretch. He rolls over closer to Eddie, putting his face in Eddie’s chest, then freezes and pulls back, looking up at Eddie with a confused frown that quickly turns into a shy smile. “Morning,” he murmurs.

“Morning,” Eddie responds.

“Y’wake?” Steve asks nonsensically, but Eddie understands: is he really up, or is he going back to sleep.

Eddie shrugs in response. Steve nods, rolling back over into Eddie’s chest and sighing.

The thing in Eddie’s chest cracks more.

He wraps his arm around Steve again. He feels it, the moment Steve falls asleep, all tension leeching from his body.

He’s warm and solid, breathing evenly, and Eddie’s eyes don’t want to open, go longer and longer between blinks.

He falls asleep.

When he wakes up again—the third and final time—Steve’s out of bed, and the sheets are cool to the touch. “What,” he mutters, brows furrowed, palm on the sheets next to him. The area is slowly warming up, from his body heat, but they were definitely cold.

He sits up, stretches, scratches his head, and makes his way downstairs to look for Steve.

He can smell coffee and pancakes halfway down. The thing in his chest is wide open, hungry, hurting.

Hunting.

He thinks, stuck halfway down the stairs, he needs to stay away from Steve.

He has no idea how he’s going to do that.

He finishes his walk and finds himself in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the wall, watching Steve cook.

He flips a pancake, shimmies his hips when the pancake is perfectly brown, and slides it off onto a stack next to him. He pours more batter in and turns to get some coffee, freezing for a second when he sees Eddie. “Hey, you’re up! How’d you sleep?”

Eddie nods, watching Steve walk over to the coffee pot and grab two mugs. “Pancakes are almost done, coffee’s here, sugar’s here-” he points, “-and milk’s in the fridge. Help yourself.”

“Um,” Eddie says, and heads toward the coffee.

Steve grins. “Not a morning person? I can tone it down if you need me to.”

Eddie waves him off, doctors his coffee, and takes a long sip, humming at the taste and warmth. “You’re fine,” he finally says. “I just need, like, five minutes for my brain to go oh, we’re awake, I should work.” He adopts a funny voice for his brain, smirking when Steve laughs.

“Fair enough. Any plans for the day?”

Eddie hums as he thinks through his schedule. “Band practice with the guys tonight, and…” he doesn’t have any plans with Wayne, but he knows he needs to talk this through, so, “Wayne wants my help with… something. I dunno.”

Steve snorts. “Sounds exciting.”

“Oh, yeah, the height of excitement, I’m just gonna expire from anticipation.” He sends Steve a flat look, and Steve cackles as he flips another pancake.

“Well let me know if this super-exciting thing you’re doing needs another set of hands.”

“Will do,” Eddie says. “Thanks for breakfast, by the way.”

Steve shrugs. “I like cooking. Not much reason to when it’s just me, so I don’t usually do pancakes, but I do enjoy it.”

“Well,” Eddie says, leaning on the counter, “isn’t that reason enough?”

Steve stills for a moment, tilting his head. “Huh. I never thought of it that way.”

The thing in Eddie’s chest grumbles.

His stomach also grumbles, and Steve hears that, laughing as he retrieves a plate. “Here, take some, syrup is in the pantry and jelly is in the fridge.” He stacks a plate with four pancakes, thrusting it Eddie’s direction.

Eddie notices there’s only two on his plate, takes one from his pile and puts it on Steve’s. “Only if you eat too.”

Steve smiles at him, a small, real thing that makes the thing, the monster in his chest ache. “Okay.”

Eddie leaves soon after, quoting his thing with Wayne, makes sure Steve knows he can call if he needs someone.

Steve makes sure he knows the same.

The monster claws at his chest.

He covers the wince with a grin, waves on his way out, jumps into his van.

Turns the tape up until the drumbeat drowns out his thoughts.

He’s back to the trailer in fifteen. Wayne’s there, awake, facing the door when Eddie comes through. “Thought so,” he says, first thing. “You needta talk.”

Eddie collapses into a ball on the couch.

Wayne joins him, pulls him in, like he’s two instead of twenty, like a heart in danger of breaking is the same as a skinned knee. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Talk to me. That’s what you do.”

“I really like him, Wayne.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s- he’s so nice, but he-”

He sniffles. Only realizes then that he’s crying. “Wayne,” he asks, “am I a good person?”

“You are.”

“Why’s the worst shit always happen to good people?”

Wayne sighs. “I wish I knew.”

“He’s better than me. And he’s had so much shit thrown his way. And I just- I wanna help but I dunno how when I see him like this.”

“You wanna take care of him.”

“Yeah.” Another sniffle. “But he doesn’t want that.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“Didn’t need to. I can see it.”

Wayne hums. “Y’know when you first got here, you were scared of me? Not ‘cause I’m Al’s brother. Because of me. ‘Cause my face scared you. You thought I was always mad. Sometimes what you see isn’t how it is.”

“But how do I know?”

“You don’t. Not unless you talk to him.” He rubs a hand down Eddie’s spine. “How ‘bout that Birdie girl? She’s his best friend. She might be able to tell you more.”

“She won’t tell me anything.”

“My momma had a saying. Honesty begets honesty. Talk to her. Tell her the truth. She’ll tell you a truth right back.”

“…Today?”

“Better sooner ‘n later, but I guess it don’t gotta be today.”

Eddie sighs. “Today.” He picks at the knee of his sleep pants, worn with age. “How?”

“How do you talk to her?”

“Mhm.”

“Honesty, boy. ‘S about all y’got.”

Eddie sighs, leans into Wayne. Lets himself be held for a moment longer.

Wayne sighs, too. “Wanna watch that animal documentary?”

Eddie immediately perks up. “Really? You’ll watch it with me?”

Wayne smiles, nudges him off his lap. “Go put it in.”

Eddie grins as he races to do so, and the next two hours is lost to polar bears and orcas.

After it’s over, Wayne stands with a sigh and ruffles Eddie’s hair as he walks past. “Got work tonight. Y’mind bein’ quiet today?”

Eddie hums. “Imma go find Robin. Talk to her. Wish me luck.”

“Y’dont need it,” Wayne says, “but luck anyways.” He waves as he passes into his room.

Eddie grabs his car keys, looks down, and sets the keys back down before trudging to his room to change.

Soon enough he’s walking into Family Video. “Buckley!” He greets happily.

“Munson!” She parrots before her voice flattens. “The fuck you want.” Her eyes are sparkling, though, and the corners of her mouth are twitching up, so he pays no mind to her words. He drapes himself over the counter with a dramatic sigh. “You ‘lone?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we… talk?”

“This is starting to feel like a visit to the principal’s office.”

He pops his head up, eyes wide. “No, no, no! It’s not that at all! It’s me.” He lays his head back down with another sigh. “It’s… okay, so, let’s say, hypothetically, I… liked someone.”

“Steve, got it, go on.”

He puts an arm over his face. “And let’s say—still hypothetically—I did something, said something, that means we’re gonna be in close contact a lot more than before.”

“Okay. I’m following so far.”

He shrugs. “What do I do?”

“What’s the thing?”

“Y’know how he hosted Hellfire last time?”

“Sure.”

“Well I wasn’t playing, Will was DM and I was just there for guidance if he needed it, which he didn’t, kid’s a natural, but. Anyways. I was sitting with Steve in the living room, and we were talking, and I start telling him this story and… he falls asleep on my shoulder.” He groans. “And he looked so peaceful, I couldn’t disturb that, y’know?”

“Okay, I’m following so far.”

“Well turns out when there’s nothing to do but sit there, you end up falling asleep, too.” He clenches a hand in his hair. “We cuddled, Birdie. And then we told each other that we slept well, so I, like the absolute fool I am, said he can call me. If he wants. If he needs someone.”

“He called you last night.”

“He did. I dunno what to do, Robbie.”

“I’m not in the business of telling you what to do. But I can tell you if you told him, he wouldn’t react badly.”

“You’re sure?”

She lays her head down next to his, meeting his eyes. “I’d bet my life on it.”

“So… you think I should tell him?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, Eddie.”

He groans and shuts his eyes. “This sucks.”

“Feelings usually do,” she nods, standing up and ruffling his hair. “But if I were you, I’d talk to him.”

Eddie makes a face. “Today?”

Robin shrugs. “Is there a better time?”

Eddie thinks it through. “Tomorrow,” he decides. He looks up at Robin. “If I don’t tell him tomorrow, can you tell him the day after?”

Robin raises her brows. “You want me to?”

“Yeah. Like… like incentive. Because if I know it’s gonna happen anyways, it’s better if I do it, right?”

Robin smiles. “I’ll tell him the day after tomorrow if you don’t.”

“Thanks.” He squeezes her hand, straightens up. Smiles. “I’ve gotta run. You’re a good friend, Buckley.”

She smiles, rolls her eyes. “Get outta here, Munson.”

His grin grows wider. “You’re a good friend, Buckley, I don’t know what I do without you!”

“Die, probably,” she deadpans, also grinning. She makes a shooing motion. “You said you’ve gotta run, so go!”

He laughs and runs out, waving over his shoulder.

He makes it to practice just as Gareth does, and not much practice happens that day, but is it really his fault that Jeff’s mom made lemonade and cookies for them?

He gets home that night, tired but happy, and watches a little TV before going to bed.

It’s a scary movie, not one he’s seen before, with a girl with long, dark hair, obscuring her face. She seems to grin right at Eddie and walks toward the camera. He laughs, because it doesn’t even look real.

Except suddenly it is. Suddenly she’s climbing through the screen, doing things he’s never seen a contortionist do, and heading straight for him. He scrambles over the couch and runs for his room, the girl close behind. He closes and locks the door, searching for his walkie. When he finds it, he depresses the button and yells, “Code red! I repeat, code red! Can anyone hear me?”

Only static greets him when he lets go of the button. His hand begins to shake.

“Code red,” he says again, quieter this time. “Please help, someone, please- it’s a code red, I’m serious!”

She rattles his doorknob, long fingers sneaking under his door, reaching and growing until they can almost reach the lock.

“Hello?” Someone calls out from inside the trailer.

Steve.

“Oh, holy shit-” he can hear Steve scramble back. “Eddie? Are you okay?”

“Uh,” Eddie says, “I’m alive?”

The fingers stop growing. In the blink of an eye, they’re gone. The girl hisses, and Steve whispers out another curse.

Eddie tiptoes to his door amid the sound of fighting. When everything goes quiet, he opens his door.

He can’t see anything at first. He silently walks out of his room, looking around, freezing at the sight of Steve on the ground, eyes open, mouth agape, and the girl crouching over him.

She’s hissing at Eddie, but he can’t even care about that right now, because Steve is looking directly at him, and he knows what it looks like when someone’s dead, and he-

Steve-

Eddie swallows bile, drops to his knees. “Steve?”

He never got the chance to say anything.

Only had one day to enjoy holding him.

He could’ve had longer, if he’d said something before now, if he’d made a move-

Or if not, at least Steve wouldn’t be here, dead-

He swallows a sob. The girl turns to him, still hissing, and slowly advances.

He closes his eyes. Waits for the inevitable. Sends a silent apology to his uncle.

Except… nothing happens.

He blinks his eyes open carefully, confused when he’s in his dark room. He sits up, looking around, grateful the moon is bright enough to light up his room enough for him to see.

He creeps out of bed, carefully opens his door, and looks around.

His eyes catch on the place he’d seen Steve dead, and it’s a dream, he knows it was, but he still feels-

He dials. Tries to keep breathing as the phone rings. “‘Lo?”

“Steve?”

“Eddie.” A yawn. “You alright, man?”

“Uh,” Eddie says, looking for the right words, but apparently Steve speaks Eddie.

“Am I going over there or are you coming over here?”

“N-no, you- you don’t have to-”

“Eddie. I don’t have to do anything. I’m doing this because I want to. Are you gonna be okay for fifteen minutes?”

“Define okay,” Eddie says, still unsure what words mean. What he’s saying.

“Okay, that’s a no. Eddie, I need you to take a couple of deep breaths for me, okay? I’ll do it too. Ready? We’re gonna breathe in… in… in… now hold it, two, three, four, now out… slowly… out… and hold. Two, three, four. Twice more, okay?”

He guides Eddie through the exercise, pausing when they finish. “How’re you feeling now?”

“Better,” Eddie agrees, sighing. “I’m sorry, man, you really don’t have to come over.”

Steve scoffs. “Unlock the door, Eddie, I’ll be there in fifteen, alright?”

“M’kay,” Eddie murmurs.

“Okay. I’ll see you.”

“Yeah. See you.”

Steve ends the call, and Eddie blinks as he puts the phone back on the hook. He moves to unlock the door then sits on the couch. He doesn’t look at the TV, doesn’t look at the spot on the floor where Steve-

He flinches, a full-body shudder, when the door opens. “Eddie?” Steve asks, locking eyes with him. “Hey, man, everything okay?”

He’s alive. He’s breathing, he’s moving, he’s-

Eddie reaches out for him, face shuddering, and Steve’s quick to respond, crossing the room in three long steps and throwing himself onto the couch next to Eddie, pulling him into a hug, and Eddie can breathe again.

“Fuck,” he mutters into Steve’s neck.

“Bad one, huh?”

He holds Steve tighter. “Dreamed… code red. No one answered. You- you came.” He swallows. “I saw-” he shakes his head, buries his face into Steve’s neck. “I know what it looks like when someone dies,” he whispers.

Steve stiffens, then relaxes and pulls Eddie even closer. “I’m so sorry.”

“I keep- seeing, you-”

“Hey.” Steve grabs his neck, makes him look at his face. “I’m right here, okay? Im right here. I’m okay. You’re okay. We’re both here, and we’re both alive.” He grabs Eddie’s hand, puts it on his chest, over his heart. “Feel that? Feel my heartbeat?”

Eddie looks down at his hand. Feels the rising and falling of his chest from breathing. Feels the steady thump-thump of his heart. “Yeah,” he whispers.

“I’m right here,” Steve promises, also whispering.

Eddie lets out a shaky sigh and rests his forehead on Steve’s shoulder. “Yeah.”

Steve rubs his back for a few minutes, then pulls back a little to ask, “Wanna try and go back to bed?”

Eddie shakes his head.

“Okay. How about TV?”

“No.” His fingers clench, digging into Steve’s chest, and Steve’s hand comes up to cover his, to smooth it back out, to calm him down.

“That’s okay. How about we get something to drink?”

Eddie sighs, takes one deep breath, lets it out. “I’m a shit host,” he jokes. “You want somethin’?”

“I was thinking tea for you,” Steve replies, smile evident in his voice. “How about it? A nice cuppa?”

Eddie snorts and pulls away. “Alright then, mate,” he jokes, affecting a British accent, then back to his normal voice. “Long as you’ll join me.”

“Always,” Steve promises, and the monster growls.

Steve makes the tea. He won’t let Eddie help, but doesn’t oppose to him sitting on the counter and watching.

After they’re finished, Eddie dumps the mugs in the sink with a mental promise to get to them tomorrow. “Okay,” he says around a yawn, “your tea worked. I’m tired.”

Steve smiles. “Bed?”

“Bed,” Eddie agrees, pushing the monster in his chest down and taping its mouth shut. He only hesitates a little when he sees his bed, but climbs in anyways, holding the covers up for Steve.

They get settled, and before he knows it, Eddie’s drifting off.

He wakes up to sunlight on his face. He groans and rolls over, snorting and pushing back when he runs into Steve, who had already been awake. “Morning,” Steve offers.

Eddie plops his head back down and resolutely shuts his eyes.

“Or not,” Steve agrees, amused.

He’s about to speak, to wake up more, when Steve shifts and puts a hand in his hair.

He melts.

He thinks his brain might be melting out of his ears, all his thoughts leaking with it, because suddenly his head is blissfully blank.

He falls asleep again.

He wakes up as Steve settles back in bed next to him, glancing up with bleary eyes. He’s got a steaming mug in one hand, glancing down at Eddie with a smile. “Morning?”

Eddie hums out something that isn’t a word in any language. He blinks, long and slow, but he’s up. He tilts his head away from the pillow to speak. “Wha’s-” he squints at the mug. “Coffee?”

Steve smiles, grabs a second mug from the nightstand, hands it over. “Enough sugar to knock out the Duracell bunny,” he teases, and Eddie’s hard pressed not to blurt out a love confession right here and now.

Except… why not, he thinks. He promised Robin he would. And sure, it doesn’t have to be right this second, but… when else would he do it? He knows himself, he’d just chicken out.

He sits up, accepts the mug. Hums at the sweet taste. Gulps down half of it in the hopes of it waking him up faster.

Steve snorts. “You’re not gonna run out, Eds, there’s more in the pot and we can always make more.”

Eddie smiles sheepishly at Steve. “‘M tryin’a wake up faster.”

Steve rolls his eyes fondly. “You don’t have to be up just because I am, dude.”

Eddie shakes his head, leans against the wall. Can’t look at Steve when he says, “No, I, uh. Actually wanted to talk to you?”

He can see, in his periphery, Steve turning to look at him. “About what?”

He works his lip, takes another sip. “About…” he sighs. “About what we’re doing. About how I don’t think we should.” He ducks his head. “I- I know you don’t feel the same, and it’s fine, I swear, I can get over myself. But I can’t if we keep doing this. ‘Cause I’m, like… stupidly gone on you, man. And I can’t- I can’t keep doing this.” He shuts his eyes. “I could, I could make myself, I could try to tune it out, I could- I could break my own heart. Which is exactly why I can’t.” He doesn’t know when his voice lowered into a whisper, but it did, and the last word comes out scared and breathy.

Steve takes a shaky breath. “You… like me?”

Eddie breathes in. Breathes out. Nods.

Steve swallows audibly, turns to face him. “How?”

He’s whispering, too, and Eddie looks up at him. Looks into honey-brown eyes, full of muted hope. “How do I like you?” Steve nods, and Eddie blows out a breath. “I like you… in the way I always want to make you laugh. In the way I want to always be there for you when you’re sad, or scared, or need help. In the way I want to know every piece of you so well I know how you’re feeling before you do. I want to make you dinner, and pull you close on the couch when we’re watching a movie, and wake up every morning to your face. I want to take you to Enzo’s and play footsie under the table with you until we’re both laughing way too hard and the waitress is staring at us because she just wants us to order. I want to scream it from the rooftops, even though I know I can’t. I want to hold your hand and run my fingers through your hair.”

“You want to keep me,” Steve whispers.

Eddie nods slowly. “Yeah. I want to keep you. I want you to be mine the way I’ve been yours.”

“I am yours,” Steve murmurs. “I want you to keep me.” He watches Eddie for a second. “You want to kiss me?”

Edie looks up at him. Slowly nods.

“Then do it,” Steve whispers in a hiss, and Eddie does.

And he does thoroughly.

“Mine,” he whispers against Steve’s lips.

Steve pulls back, takes his mug, puts it on the nightstand with his own. Turns back to Eddie, grabs his hand, lays his head on Eddie’s chest. “Yours,” he whispers, smiling when Eddie puts his other hand in his hair.

They don’t fall asleep. It’s a close thing, but they don’t have time before Steve has to get up for work.

He hesitates in the doorway. “Tonight,” he murmurs, then falls silent.

Eddie smiles at him. “Come over?”

Steve brightens, nods. The monster in Eddie’s chest purrs, satisfied.

[apomaro-mellow]

Hot for Teacher(s) 12

Part 11

Eddie was aware of Valentine’s Day. It was a big day in first grade where crushes ran rampant. He rarely had anything to do with it himself though. But as the day approached, he thought about all the ways he could spend it with Steve. It did happen to fall on a Saturday this year, so they’d both be free from work.

He waved each kid off as their parents came to pick them up. When Steve came up, he felt the same urge to kiss him, to scent him, to be able to be closer than they were right now but needing to keep up appearances for professionalism’s sake. Shawn stayed between them and anyone looking from afar simply saw a parent speaking with a teacher.

“Are you coming over tonight?”, Shawn asked, used to Eddie coming over a few times a week at this point for dinner.

“Of course, bud. But I’m gonna be a little late”, he replied, then looked up at Steve. “Got a meeting to go to.”

Steve nodded. Fourth quarter was upon all schools in the county and that meant a lot of meetings about different things. Testing, close down procedures, grades, promotions or holding someone back, graduations and award ceremonies. Or maybe it was something more insular. Either way, Steve had been dragged to his own impromptu meetings, so he understood. 

Shawn hugged Eddie’s leg and without thinking, he scented him, rubbing his wrist to the top of his head before Shawn took his dad’s hand and bounced off.

Eddie didn’t tell Steve the meeting was just him and the principal, but he saw no reason to worry him when he had no idea why he was being called on in the first place. He sat down and it started normal but then the principal’s words began to sink like lead in his stomach.

“Inappropriate relations…unfair treatment…special attention…parental concerns…”

It took him a moment to respond and he realized the man before him had asked him a question. Eddie had to take a second to gather his thoughts.

“Let me get this straight, one of my student’s parents thinks that I’m in a relationship with another parent? And that I’m giving another student unfair advantages because of that?”

He was met with a nod and not much else and Eddie had been on this side of an interrogation before. He knew the questioning party preferred to rely on the other person’s guilt to get them to admit to something but Eddie wasn’t guilty of anything. If anyone found out about him and Steve and was making these conclusions, obviously that wasn’t ideal. But if they were also positing that this was why Shawn’s academic performance was so high…well they didn’t know his classroom.

So Eddie just crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. He and Principal Parker weren’t really at odds, but in general Eddie liked to push the boundaries.

“Does this parent have proof of this special treatment? Or proof of this relationship?”

“I was hoping you could shine some light on that situation”, Parker said.

Which either meant he didn’t know or was hoping Eddie’s info would match his mystery informant. Like a lot of administration, Parker hid his scent so Eddie couldn’t tell much from it. Either way, he wasn’t about to just give the man details he didn’t need.

“I’m not having inappropriate relations with anyone.” There was nothing wrong with what he and Steve were doing and that was private anyway. “And none of my students are getting anything special.” Nothing besides the extra attention some of them needed in math or reading. 

He was dismissed with the promise/warning that the situation would be monitored. When he arrived at Steve’s he was glad to be greeted with a kiss. It was like a balm for his nerves. 

“How was the meeting?”

Eddie wondered how much he should tell him now, knowing that Steve was directly involved. But Shawn came crashing against his legs like he hadn’t just seen him, so he couldn’t say everything now.

“Parker wanted to meet about some parent complaints. What’s for dinner?”

“Pasta!”, Shawn exclaimed. “Did you know there’s like a hundred kinds?”

“Yeah? And how many can you name?”, Eddie asked as he went to help Steve with the preparations.

“Macaroni, spaghetti, fettuccine, um, angel…”

Listening to Shawn list pastas while he and Steve made dinner, Eddie didn’t know how anyone could find anything wrong with it. But perhaps people couldn’t see how serious it was when they were just boyfriends. Which meant he had to do what was right and make it legitimate.

With it being Valentine’s Day that week, it was the perfect time to do a mini lesson on old courting methods and procedures. He got his student’s attention with all the different types of gifts a suitor would give to their intended. They were a little confused on why someone might need a parent’s permission to do it though.

“Can’t they just ask?”, Yasmin scratched her head.

“It’s kind of like asking someone’s parent if they can play outside”, Eddie explained. “But in this case, it’s asking if you can ask them out.”

“What if both their parents are dead?” Elodie asked, a grin on her face like she said something funny.

“Then you have to ask someone important in their life”, Eddie said.

Friday, the kids came in with cards and candy for everyone and some even shared with him, which he was always grateful for. At the end of the day, Steve came to get Shawn as always.

“I should just put you down as a designated guardian so you can just drive him home whenever you’re dropping by”, Steve teased.

And that certainly wouldn’t help the allegations but neither would Eddie kissing him the way he wanted to right now. Eddie followed almost immediately after them though and he went right to Shawn when he arrived.

He knelt down in front of the pup, keeping his face serious. “As the next of kin of my intended, I would like to ask your permission to officially court your father.”

Steve’s eyes widened as he held his breath for Shawn’s answer. He had his nose scrunched up and lips pouted a bit. His thinking face.

“Do you have a good courting gift?”, Shawn asked.

Eddie had set his bag down on the floor and now he pulled a folded shirt from it. He unfolded it to reveal that it was a Corroded Coffin t-shirt. Shawn took it and looked it over before giving it a quick whiff and an approving nod. 

“That’s a good gift. You have my permission. Here you go Dad”, Shawn held the shirt out for him.

Steve came over, hands shaking a little as he took it, bringing it up to his nose and taking a deep breath. He had never received a gift like this. An offering for his nest, one meant to begin an official courtship. It was old fashioned, but romantic. Eddie rose up on his knees, looking a little nervous, as if Steve would ever refuse him.

To assuage those fears, Steve leaned in close and touched his cheek to Eddie’s. “You know you’ll have to scent this everyday for me, right?”

That night, Steve wore the shirt to bed and Eddie got to scent him in earnest. Saturday morning came and it was decided the three of them would go out for Valentine’s Day. Eddie didn’t like to make assumptions, but he was pretty sure Billy wasn’t the best father even on good days. He didn’t want Shawn to think he was only here for Steve.

He made chocolate chip pancakes for them both and then they drove to the aquarium. While Shawn had his face pressed to the glass of a tank, Eddie told Steve more about the meeting.

“I don’t think anything’s gonna come of it. But just in case any of the other parents try and make trouble for you…”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Respectfully, they can fuck off. My kid is smart because I put in work early.” Working with kids who were below grade level for several reasons made Steve realize how important it was for parents to take education seriously. Shawn excelled in kindergarten before Eddie and he’d do so in second grade after Eddie. But he knew parents fussing could cause huge problems down the line.

“You’re not in any trouble, are you?”

Eddie shook his head. “Parker’s the kind that doesn’t like rocking the boat. He’ll probably tell the parent that he spoke with me.” And if they kept kicking up dust, Eddie would be more than happy to evaluate their own child and give suggestions of how to improve their performance. “Like you said, they can fuck off.”

Of course that was when Shawn ran back to them, jaw dropped and frozen in his tracks at what he’d heard. Steve wasn’t helping by snickering and hiding it horribly in Eddie’s shoulder.

-----------------------------

The true test came a week later, as it was Shawn’s birthday and Eddie would be attending not as his teacher, but as the alpha dating his dad. He laughed a little to himself thinking off the other times kids would invite him to their parties that he would have to express interest in but politely decline.

Of course his classmates were invited and that meant when the doorbell rang, Eddie was able to greet them and welcome them inside. A few were a bit surprised to see him at the Harrington household, but were able to disguise it for the most part. He knew they had questions. Eddie let his body language do the talking and so did Steve. 

Sitting close, arms around each other, never straying too far from each other, openly scenting Shawn in front of others because for all intents and purposes, that was his pup. Shawn loved all of his gifts, including the sets of miniatures from Eddie.

Steve shook his head. “You’re trying to indoctrinate him into that dungeons game, I know it.”

“When it’s DnD it’s indoctrinating, but when you buy him a basketball it’s just a game. I see how it is. The double standard”, Eddie lamented, hand to his chest as Shawn opened the rest of his gifts.

No one said a word against them then, but it was now out in the open. Mr. Munson was dating Mr. Harrington.

---------------------------

“Hey! I remembered the name of the thing! It’s Molang, not the Cinnamoroll one”, Steve said, in the middle of brushing Shawn’s hair for bed.

Shawn’s face scrunched up. “That was so long agoooo.”

“Yeah but I was right. You’re all soft and squishy like that”, he smiled, pushing his son’s cheeks together and giggling through the mirror.

“Mmnot soft”, Shawn protested.

“Alright then, go ahead and brush Mr. Not Soft.”

Shawn grabbed his toothbrush. “Just call me Mr. Hard.”

“Not doin’ that”, Steve muttered under his breath as he walked out of the bathroom. He put on the CC shirt. It was fresh from when Eddie scented it just about an hour ago when he’d been here. Not for the first time he wondered if it was too soon to just ask him to move in. He spent half the week in this bedroom anyway.

Eddie’s courting gifts extended to Shawn as well, who got his own t-shirt. This one wasn’t from the band, they didn’t have kids merch. It was simply one with a vintage print of a dragon that Eddie had scented as well. After brushing his teeth, Shawn settled into his bed for story time and Steve grabbed a kid’s chapter book they were working through. Shawn’s latest obsession was the Magic Treehouse series.

More often than not, Shawn would take over reading and sometimes Steve found himself nodding off. It was happening now and his eyelids got heavy when he heard the doorbell ring, putting him on high alert. Eddie had been by earlier, had he forgotten something? Robin usually texted before coming through, but emergencies did happen from time to time.

Besides that, he couldn’t think of who else could be calling on them this late. The doorbell rang again and there was knocking this time. Steve knew he had no obligation to open it. Whoever it was could come back at a more reasonable time. But the oddness of it compelled him to answer. 

He went downstairs and did a quick assessment. There were several things around that he could use as a weapon just in case it was some sort of assailant and Shawn knew how to dial 911. Then he shook his head. He lived in a nice neighborhood, that sort of thing didn’t happen here.

Nothing could have prepared him for opening the door and seeing Billy on the other side of it. 

Part 13

Taglist

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @aol19 @lololol-1234 @gregre369 @attic-cat-blog

@hippieg1rl420 @spectrum-spectre

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

Strawberries and Cream

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Reader

Word count: 5.8k

Notes: I’m so sorry this is so late, I’m just really sick rn and I feel like that’s just an excuse 🤣🤣🥹🥹but don’t worry because 12 and 13 are actually finished already! So they will be coming out very soon after this one

Episode 11: There’s a First Time for Everything

He asked to use their house.  

Is that stupid? Would you have preferred it at home? No, no you need a little vacation anyway and he knows you like it here… No this will be perfect and it’s in the guest room so you don’t feel awkward. It’s like an Airbnb at this point! And they won’t be home for a month… so it’s not like he’s putting anyone out or anything…

You’ll love it.

He thinks. 

Eddie paces a little as he gets everything set up nicely in the bedroom. There are condoms in the bedside table if you want them, and there are snacks and drinks in the little mini fridge. The blankets are plush and soft and he’s even taken a couple of your favorite stuffed animals that he knows you wouldn’t leave home without and a cute new one he got from Target he thought you’d really like. 

He’s kind of nervous, to be honest, okay he’s a lot nervous. You guys had been spending so much time together lately… maybe now wasn’t the best time… but okay maybe it also was? Because the tension was becoming truly unbearable between the two of you. The sweet lingering glances, the soft kisses, the countless times Eddie did exactly what he was not supposed to do and very very carefully got you off a few times. He’d drag his cum through your folds and paint a pretty little picture for you. Not once did he put it in 

But that was about to change tonight. That is if you wanted.

He made Buck drive you over, he was literally too nervous to do it himself. He was too busy getting the house ready, setting all the moods in every room you guys could possibly end up in. He’d even turned on the lights in the hot tub, the water red hot… literally. 

The doorbell rings and he sighs, smoothing his hair back and straightening out his shirt. It’s just a lounge shirt, he’d told you to wear your pajamas and bring an overnight bag. Just a regular little slumber party! 

He opens the door and smiles, tilting your chin up to kiss you 

“Hello gorgeous” He purrs and you giggle, kissing him back 

“Hi” 

Buck puts his hands on his hips, he’s carrying your overnight bag and a grocery bag 

“Hey! I’m here too!!” 

Eddie leans over and kisses his cheek “Sup sexy” 

You walk in and Buck follows you “That’s more like it” 

He sets your bag down in the foyer and looks around for a minute, slipping his hands into his pockets 

“Welp, you guys have fun!”

You turn to him as you take off your shoes, replacing them with your little bunny slippers 

“Aren’t you staying for a bit? I thought you were?” 

Eddie leans against the wall, looking at him, he narrows his eyes transmitting a little message to that thing Buck calls his brain 

“Nope! I’ve uh- I’ve got plans tonight! With the Bennett’s. Eliza and I are having an old movie night while William gets us snacks!” 

You giggle and walk over, hugging him tightly. He kisses your head and holds you a bit longer, he does that now, and can’t ever seem to let you go 

“Love you kiddo, have fun. And remember, you can always call Daddy Buck to come pick you up if you get scared” 

You toss your head back laughing and push him away “Yeah, yeah whatever, I love you too papa” 

“Thank god you didn’t call him daddy” Eddie laughs and you shrug

“It would be kinda weird calling you both, don’t you think??” 

Buck's mouth drops open and Eddie holds his hands up

“She calls you daddy?!?!”

“She does not call me daddy!”

They yell it at the same time and you laugh even harder, grabbing your duffle bag and dragging it away from them 

“I was about to be so damn hurt if I found out she called you that and you had the audacity not to tell me!!” 

Eddie gives him a weird look “You want me to tell you that your cousin called me daddy??” 

“Okay, it’s gross when you say it like that god Eddie you perv. I’m your best friend, of course, I want all the dirty details!” 

“I’m not. No, I'm not giving you the- god no” 

“Eddie Diaz!” Buck says as he’s opening the door “She’s just gonna tell me anyway!!” 

He turns to you, pretty decently far from them “You’d tell him?!” 

“It’s a girl thing,” You say simply and Buck points at you

“Damn right it is” 

Eddie faceplams, completely hating the both of you in this moment and you both giggle at his expense. 

God why did he have to fall in love with a Buckley. 

“Eddieee” Buck whines and Eddie knows damn well he’s lost this fight. Because truly Buck is his best friend and as pouty and annoying as he is he knows he’d probably end up telling him every detail anyway. He just likes to give him shit for it, because what else are you gonna do on a 24-hour shift?

“You win” Eddie puts his hands in the hair and Buck fist pumps while doing a little dance 

“Y/N you’re sleeping over at Maddie and Chim's !! Eddie and I are having girl time!!!" 

“You guys have fun!” You wave and Eddie forces Buck out of the house now while he screams how much he loves you and to have a good time. He leans against the door for a second, shaking his head before he walks over to you, taking your duffle bag and your hand 

“Would you seriously tell him every detail?”

“Him? Maybe. Maddie? Absolutely” you giggle and Eddie rolls his eyes before scooping you up in his arms, you squeal as he takes you upstairs to put your stuff in the bedroom. 

You guys decide to order dinner instead of going out, you’re kind of in the mood for Applebees so while you’re in the bathroom changing he orders for you two. 

“So I was thinking after dinner we could hit the hot tub?” He asks as he scrolls through DoorDash on his phone 

“Oh yeah sounds good,” You say from around the corner as you change into your real pajamas for the night. Hen had taken you shopping especially for Eddie’s little sleepover plans 

“Or you know two birds one stone have dinner in the hot tub” He jokes and you poke your hand out from the bathroom and flip him off 

“Oh shut up!” 

“Close your eyes!!” You say and he shuts off his phone, crossing his arms over his chest 

“Nah you were mean!!” 

“Eddie!!” You stomp your little bunny and he huffs 

“God fine” he closes his eyes “but only because you’re like the biggest damn baby I know and I know you’ll start crying”

“I will not!!”

“Will too” he teases and you walk over to him, slapping his leg 

“Ow, you little br-“ his words get caught in his throat as he stares at you, his mouth falling open slowly. You’re in the sweetest little pink babydoll he’s ever seen. It’s sheer with feathers covering your breasts and lining the bottom. You do a little spin for him and toss your hair over your shoulder 

“So? What do you think?” 

He can see all of your gorgeous sun-kissed skin and the tiny little sheer thing you’re apparently calling a pair of panties. 

“I thought I'd, you know, dress up a little for you tonight! D-do you like it?” You put your hands behind your back nervously and look at him 

Does he have a corruption kink?? Signs are starting to point straight up to yes 

“U-uh??” He’s short-circuiting. He hasn’t been this bad since he first met you 

“I also thought… that maybe…um, if you’re up for it? We could go skinny dipping” 

Oh god, you’re gonna give him a heart attack. Maybe you already have! Maybe this is heaven. 

“Eddie?” 

Has your voice always been that sweet?? That innocent?? 

You crawl onto the bed and go to straddle his lap, but he knocks you right off and you yelp as you tumble onto the bed 

“Hey!!” 

He jolts out of bed, putting his hands up in front of him 

“I swear to god this night is going to be very short if you sit in my lap now” 

You roll over and laugh into the covers and he pushes your butt out of the air so you’re lying on your side 

“Quit it!!” 

“Do you want me to change?” You’re still giggling as you turn to look at him and he puts his hands on your thighs shaking you slowly 

“Noooo…. No, I can handle it! I just… you’re so gorgeous baby, I just wasn’t expecting this” 

“So you like it?” You ask as he turns you flat on your back and pulls your legs to the edge of the bed

“I really, really like it” he looks at you laying there, your arms up, your body laid out for him… 

“Whatcha thinkin' about?” you ask quietly, biting the tip of your finger and he lets out a frustrated groan, smacking your leg 

“I said quit it” There’s a little growl to his voice and you pull your legs closed, squeezing them together a bit 

“You gonna make me?” 

He looks at you, his eyes darkening with desire and he smirks, pulling your legs back down slowly 

“I’m gonna remember that Sugar cube” He drags his thumb over the front of your panties, relishing in the way your breath hitches. He rubs a slow, torturous circle with a little sadistic smile on his face before pulling his hand back and smacking your cunt. It’s not nearly as hard as he could do it, oh you’re not ready for that. But you squeak, slamming your legs shut and he tilts his head back laughing 

“Oh I’m sorry, did I hurt the baby? Did my little sugar cube not like that?” 

His tone is so condescending and he looks so gleeful as he stares at you, rubbing your thighs together 

“You gonna be a good girl for me? Let us enjoy the evening I have planned? Or…would you rather learn your lesson the hard way. It makes no difference to me”

You stare at him, you’ve never seen him quite like this, of course, you’ve never really gotten to this point before. You knew before coming here tonight what you both were hopefully going to do… and now it seems like you’re trailblazing right towards it 

“I’ll be good,” You say softly and he smiles, pulling you off the bed and picking you up to take you back downstairs 

“That’s my good girl”

Dinner is delivered and Eddie sets you down at the dining room table, he sets your food out for you and pours the same Strawberry wine you’d had on your first date

“This is pretty romantic” You tease him as he clinks glasses with you 

“I told you once, I’ll tell you again. I can be a pretty romantic guy” He winks and you giggle as he pulls your chair closer to him. He kisses your nose before watching you sip from your glass 

“Tastes good?” He asks as he sips his and you nod 

“Of course it does!”

You spend the rest of dinner giggling and joking around with Eddie. He toys with your hair and teases you, poking and prodding and you push his hands away, pouting playfully and telling him to behave. 

He ignores you. 

Because how can he behave when you’re dressed like that, sitting all pretty right next to him, the smell of your perfume enveloping him in the sweetest hug. He can’t wait for it to be all over him, for his lips to be all over your body, kissing you, loving you. 

“Eddie?” You snap in front of his face a couple times and he flinches 

“Huh??”

“I asked if you were done eating? I wanna go watch a movie or something before we hit the hot tub?” You have a little knowing smirk on your face and he glares at you playfully 

“Yeah sure, go put somethin’ on corazón I’ll put the rest of our food away” 

That was a new name 

He gets up from the table, pulls your seat back, and takes your hand to help you up. He kisses it gently, then kisses your cheek and you blush, pushing him away and he chuckles, taking your plates into the kitchen as you skip off to the couch. 

Honestly, you knew these people had money. Since the first time you’d seen the house. But these are the softest, fluffiest, comfiest couches you’ve ever sat on. There’s a large fluffy blanket on the back of the couch and a cute pink basket of snacks on the coffee table. You grab the remote from the basket and cuddle up under the blanket, flipping through Netflix to try and find something 

Eddie had set this area up really cutely, the snack basket was an adorable touch even if you wouldn’t be eating them just yet. He comes into the living room and lifts up one side of the blanket, plopping down on the couch and opening his arms so you can crawl into them 

“Pick anything yet?” 

You crawl up into his lap and cuddle into him, snuggling down into the blanket and continuing to scroll 

“Eh, not really,” you say as he adjusts himself, putting his arms around you and placing his head on yours. You flip over to Disney+ and lean into him, he starts to kiss your neck lightly and you smirk

“You think we’ll actually get through this?” You turn on Deadpool and he relaxes on the couch, dimming the lights with his phone 

“Not if I can help it” 

He wasn’t kidding either. His kisses to your body are light and teasing, his fingers trailing ticklish little paths on your arm. He just wants to touch you, like he can’t get enough of you being here with him, and maybe he can’t. He spent too long away from you, he’s going to be glued to you until the next century. 

You’re not even paying attention to the movie anymore and it’s practically over, in fact, you hadn’t been paying attention to it in quite a while you’re not even sure how it got to Deadpool forgetting his bag in the taxi but that’s where you’re at 

“Do you wanna go in the hot tub now?” You ask breathlessly as Eddie leaves yet another hickey on the nape of your neck near your collarbone. You’re not even sure what the purpose of these panties was, they’re certainly not doing a very good job containing the slick that’s coating your thighs from all his teasing 

“Sounds good to me, beautiful”

You get up from the couch and stretch a little, purposely making that baby doll rise so Eddie can see how wet your thighs are. Not that he definitely couldn’t feel it anyway. He stares at you for a moment, licking his lips and you wink at him before turning on your heel. You smirk a little as you hear him get up and follow after you. 

You walk in front of Eddie, taking off your baby doll and tossing it backward at him. He catches it, holding it close to his chest and inhaling happily 

Fuck he loves strawberries. 

You decide to leave the thong on, just to bother him and walk out to the hot tub. You can hear him stripping behind you as you walk up the steps and sit on the edge of it. You turn to face him and your cheeks flush. His clothes are discarded in a pile with your babydoll to the side, and he’s naked in front of you 

“You’re staring Sugar Cube” he’s got that stupid cheeky grin on his face as he walks up the stairs, his ass bouncing with each step 

“Goddamn” You mumble as he gets into the hot tub, sitting down and leaning back against the wall 

“You gonna get in? Or are you just gonna keep staring at me?” He puts his arms on the wall as you slowly float back down to earth, swinging your legs over the edge and getting in

You wade over to him and snuggle into his side, he drapes an arm over you and kisses your head 

“How’s healin’ going?” He murmurs into your hair and you shrug 

“Not bad, especially with all the help from everyone… and I love being around everyone and it’s so nice being pampered all the time-“

“But?” Eddie chuckles and you sigh, looking up at him with a small smile on your face

“I really, really needed this vacation”

You put your forehead against his before climbing into his lap. You cup his face, your fingers splayed over his cheeks as you kiss him slowly, wrapping your tongue around his and tilting your head, deepening the kiss. He lays his head back slowly as you start to grind on him while placing soft kisses along his jaw 

“You’re gonna start something…” He moans softly, his hands coming to squeeze your hips. He pulls you down on him more, feeling the way you slip easily along his cock 

“Maybe I finally want to” You look him in the eyes and he grins wickedly, getting up and spinning you around so you’re pinned against the side of the tub. He runs his cock through your folds, grinding on your clit and you grip the edge of the tub, little whining noises falling from your lips 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” He grinds against you, trying his best to be careful and you shudder underneath him, lifting your leg onto the stair on purpose, encouraging him to slip in 

“Your first time is not gonna be in a hot tub” He chuckles breathlessly and you push back against him whining and bracing your hands on the edge of the tub more

“Please, Eddie? Please I need it” you practically sob and he picks you up out of the water, walking up the stairs and onto the deck. He moves quickly and you’re slightly terrified he’s gonna slip but he doesn’t as he makes his way to the bedroom he had all set up. You gasp softly as he kicks the door open, flipping on the lights. A soft pink hue cascades over the room and little fairy lights twinkle from the canopy above the bed 

“Eddie?” Your eyes are wide as he stops for a moment, letting you take it all in. There are rose petals all over the floor and a couple of your candles that are unlit. 

“I-I wanted it to be special for you” he’s blushing now as he carries you over to the bed and sets you down. He grabs a lighter from the bedside table and lights your favorite candles before placing it back in the drawer 

“So. I uh-“ He rubs the back of his head awkwardly“I did bring condoms- if - I mean I will absolutely put one on if you want me to”

“I’m uh- I’m on the pill” You blush and he looks at you, his eyes wide for a second 

“So remember the first time we messed around?” You say sheepishly 

“When you moved in?” 

“Yeah and you literally kinda rubbed your um-“Your cheeks are burning and he smirks at you 

“My what? Pretty girl” 

You glare at him and he smiles so sweetly at you, but his eyes are so dark and hungry and you can feel it stirring up way too many emotions in you 

“Y-your…stuff” 

He tosses his head back laughing, his hand on his chest as he has just a good freaking laugh at your expense. He pushes you down on the bed and you squeak as he leaves you to grab a towel from the bathroom to toss on the floor to stop it from dripping all over it. 

“You mean when I rubbed your pussy with my cum?” He gets on his knees now and you prop yourself up on your elbows quickly 

“You don’t have to be so vulgar!” 

Your mouth drops as he rips a hole in your panties and he looks up at you 

“Don’t I?” He can’t help the way he stares, like you’re the most delicious thing he’s ever seen in his entire life like he’s been starving for weeks…and you know technically he has. 

It doesn’t help that you had decided to pretty up a little. ✨Magic shave powder✨ is the greatest thing you’ve ever bought in your entire life, you’re as smooth… you don’t know, something that’s like really smooth? Wait okay that one street in Cars after Lightning McQueen fixes it 

“The movie, Cars?” Eddie looks at you and you blink slowly 

“Said that out loud didn’t I”

“Mhmmm” He chuckles against your thigh and you bat at his head 

“But you didn’t have to go through all this trouble,” He says, kissing the inside of your thigh softly and getting you back on track “I’d devour you either way baby”

“I wanted to” 

“I’m not complaining” He nuzzles his nose against you and inhales deeply, his eyes roll back as your jaw drops slowly 

“Smells good enough to eat” 

“E-“ 

It’s like all the air has been sucked from your lungs the moment he kisses you, French kisses you. It’s an odd feeling at first, but your hands automatically tangle in his hair as he laps at your clit, you feel the vibrations of his chuckles as you buck against his face and he pulls you closer to him, putting your thighs over his shoulders

He’s hungry for you as his tongue dips inside you, tasting your arousal 

“Such a good girl for me” He murmurs, flicking his tongue over your clit as he finally tastes you for the first time.

“Such a pretty little cunt too” His fingers dig into your plush ass as he pulls you closer to him, licking and teasing you. He loves the way you shiver at his touch, the way your back arches off the bed as he slides his fingers inside you. He can’t help but groan, his cock throbbing with need as he tastes your sweet nectar, but he can’t be bothered with himself at the moment, he’s too enamored with your bare cunt. 

You writhe frantically in the covers, trying to pull yourself away from him just a little, just enough to breathe. But he slaps your thigh, leaving behind a red mark and you yelp. His eyes connect with yours immediately, staring daggers at you for trying to run from him and you shove his face back down just so you don’t have to stare into those gorgeous brown eyes. You know you wouldn’t last either if he made you. 

“I’ve wanted you for so, so long” he purrs against your lips before sucking on your clit and biting it just a little, your hips buck against his face as you cry out his name and he chuckles deeply, pulling his fingers away, and reaching for his cock. He strokes himself a few times, as he continues devouring you, gasping into you. 

You’re a babbling mess underneath him, incoherent and a bit dazed, that man knows what he’s doing. You can feel the way he spells out his name, claiming you. Like any other man ever had a chance with you. 

The sounds of your moans are music to his ears, his sweet little angel, tugging at his hair, begging him to let you cum. 

“Look at how sweet and submissive you can be, I’m so proud of you baby girl… come on. Let me taste you baby, cum on my tongue” 

You cry out his name as he sucks your clit relentlessly, his fingers pumping back into you, in and out as you reach your climax. Your body trembles harshly as you collapse into the bed, panting and almost crying from how overwhelmed you’re feeling. 

Eddie pulls his fingers out slowly, crawling over you and kissing you softly 

“Hey, hey you did so good sugar cube. You’re so wet for me…” He kisses your tears and you look at him, sniffling a little 

“That was a lot,” you say and he smiles, reaching over and grabbing your new teddy bear and handing it to you 

“Mhmm it sure was” he watches you snuggle with it, taking a little breather and he lays next to you, pulling you into his arms 

“We can leave it at that if you want baby, we don’t have to go further” 

“What about you?” You ask quickly, barely letting him finish the sentence 

“Y/N, I just got to eat you out for the first time. Trust me when I say I’m perfectly fine waiting if you’re not ready” 

“I just need a minute” You blush a little and he kisses your nose 

“That’s perfectly fine with me” 

You can feel just how hard he is, his thick cock pressed against you. All he does is softly rub your arm, humming a soothing little song. You know he’d really stop if you needed to… you know he wouldn’t think twice.

But god is it finally time to ride your cowboy

You look at him, hugging your bear to your chest, your head is practically spinning with the deep desire to just take him inside you, and finally know what it feels like for him to just… destroy you. 

“Eddie?” 

“Yes, cutie?” He says playfully as he nuzzles into your neck 

“Fuck me” 

You feel the way he stops breathing, the way his hand stops caressing your side

“What was that?” 

His voice is deeper, darker. There’s a bite to his tone as his hands become more possessive, pulling your body into him greedily

“Say it again for me” His hands trail up your sides as he watches you so intensely. So desperately aroused. 

“Uhhh” you start to get a bit shy again, hiding behind your teddy bear “Um” 

“Oh come on now” He pulls your teddy bear from you, kissing your neck as he slides the bear down his bare torso 

“Tell me what you want from me” Your eyes widen as he strokes himself slowly with your teddy bear, groaning softly and bucking his hips into it a bit 

“Look at how much I need you” 

You stare at him, unable to even comprehend what you’re seeing as he rubs that bear up and down his shaft, hissing at the satisfying friction it gives him…but-

“Come on, say it for me” 

“F-fuck me,” you say again, your voice squeaking a little 

“Fuck me… what?” 

Your jaw drops slowly as he tosses the bear aside and gets on his knees, pulling your hips to him and tapping your pussy with his cock 

“U-uhh” 

“Come on honey, one little word” You feel a slight pressure as he teases your hole with the tip, he reaches over to the bedside table and grabs a small bottle of lube, pouring it over his cock and rubbing it in 

“Fuck me… d-daddy” 

“That’s my girl” He grins wickedly as he pushes into you slowly, stretching you out inch by mind-blowing inch. You’re not even sure how big he is but damn it just keeps going. You’re panting softly, your eyes rolling back as he finally sinks his cock into you.

“Ohhmygod” 

Your words slur together as your body trembles underneath him, he leans forward and kisses your neck, taking your hands in one of his and pinning them above your head 

“Look at you, doin' such a good job baby girl. Let me know when to move, we’ll go at your pace” 

He looks mesmerized by the way you stretch around his cock, your tight cunt gripping him. He sighs dreamily, knowing he’s the only man to ever take you like this and he likes that. It makes him kind of wish he’d saved himself for you which is hilarious considering he didn’t even know you existed. You wiggle your hips a bit trying to adjust to his size and he smirks, pulling out a little 

“Is it too much for you? Too much for my pretty baby to take?” 

Okay Eddie is kinky 

But maybe you can be worse 

You wriggle one of your wrists free from him, he’s not holding them very tightly for your first time and reach for the nightstand 

“You want the condoms, honey?” 

He goes to pull out but your fingers reach your phone first, handing it over to him. He stares at it in his hands and then looks back at you 

“You wanted pictures right?”

Now it’s his turn for his jaw to drop “I-i mean-“ 

“Unless you’re just all talk…”

The look he gives you like you have the audacity to be saying that when you’re just trying to buy time to get used to his size. He ignores you though, and rubs his hand over your thigh soothingly. You hear the shutter of the camera and it sends a shiver up your spine. His fingers ghost over your sensitive clit and you gasp, moving your hips against it as he plays with your clit, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he films the way he’s touching you. 

You reach out for him, your thighs shaking and he tosses your phone to the side as he goes to lay over you now, kissing you softly 

“I think you’re ready” he whispers as his hips start to move slowly, you wrap your arms around his neck, burying your face in it for a second as he pumps in and out, moaning lowly in your ear 

“Fucking hell, Y/N” 

He keeps his slow pace up, feeling your pussy clench around his cock as he tortures both of you for the sake of not hurting you 

“F-faster” you pant, pulling at his hair so he’s looking into your eyes “Please, please go faster” 

Goddamn you don’t have to tell him twice 

His hips speed up as he reaches between you and massages your clit in time with his thrusts, your back arches into his chest as you cry out and he bites his lip, grunting as his cock thrusts in and out of you 

He grips your hips again, tighter this time. The muscles in his arms bulged with each snap of his hips, his body moving in perfect sync with yours. Eddie's hot, heavy breaths mingle with your own as he drives into you, the primal sounds of passion filling the room and driving you up the wall, almost the same way he’s driving you up the bed. You hold onto the headboard, your body arching up higher, your tits bouncing in his face 

He pulls out almost completely, then plunges back in, the intensity of his movements driving both of you higher. Sweat glistens on both of your skin as you move together, your moans louder with each powerful stroke.

Eddie's breathing becomes labored, his thrusts more erratic as he nears his peak. His gaze never leaves yours, seeing the passion reflected in your eyes. He feels your body tremble, watching the way your body comes closer and closer to finishing all over him 

It’s so purely euphoric the moment you cum, he watches the way your body arches into his, the way you cry out his name, reaching for him. He holds you closer, finishing inside you fucking finally, he holds it in you, his cock throbbing inside you as he releases more and more and he’s sure it’s the hardest he’s ever cum in his life

You hold onto him, your entire body shaking, your nails clawing at his back, just trying to find something to ground yourself with. He doesn’t pull out as he collapses on top of you, panting into your hair, giving you soft little kisses 

“Jesus I’m in love with you” He laughs breathlessly and you nod, laughing with him 

“I-I love you too”

“Hello??…. What? Buck, Buck slow down buddy. Where??” 

You sit up slowly, rubbing your eyes 

“Baby?” Eddie gets out of bed, running over to the dresser and tossing you a t-shirt, that you rush to get on. He hops around trying to get his pants on while talking to Buck and you nearly fall off the bed, trying to reach for your bra on the floor 

“We’ll be there soon!!” He hangs up and lifts you back onto the bed, tossing your bra at you 

“Eddie!” You cup his face and he finally stops running around 

“Maddie’s having her baby”

Your mouth drops open and you fall backward, squealing and kicking 

“Finally!!!” 

You scramble to get ready just as fast as he is. You don’t bother digging through your overnight bag, you just pull on his t-shirt and snatch your pajama shorts from the top of the bag. They’re short, and show off the curves of your ass and just the bottom of your cheeks. Eddie looks at you as you stumble off the bed and you put your hands on your hips, letting his t-shirt fall over them 

“Hey, it’s this or nothing okay! I didn’t exactly expect to be going anywhere in the middle of the night” 

“It’s not “or nothing” but fuck I’m not complaining” he snickers as he picks you up and your mini backpack and heads straight for the truck. 

He opens the driver's side door and just makes you crawl across the seat. He slaps your butt as you’re crawling and you squeak 

“Hey!! That hurts!!” You kick your leg at him and sit carefully in your seat

“That hurts?” He wanted to sound playful but it just came out worried and you pat his arm 

“You’re kinda big, and it’s my first time. Don’t worry about it okay? If it gets too painful I’ll tell you”

He looks at you skeptically but starts the truck anyway and pulls out of the driveway 

“Sure you will” 

You buckle up in the middle seat and cuddle into him, smiling 

“I’ll tell you all about it!! how sore I am from you stretching me so much… how I can still feel you inside me with every step I take..” you wriggle your eyebrows as he shakes his head, ignoring your ass and concentrating on the road 

“If um… if you’re not too tired when we get back?” You bite your lip shyly and that finally gets his attention 

“You sure you’re up for that?” 

“Are you kidding? I finally had you and you think I’m going to be able to stay off it? I’ve been dreaming about this with you” 

He smiles a little, he can feel the blush creeping up his neck 

“Alright Sugar Cube, whatever you want” 

[iamderp07]

Meet Eddie Dear's Family! These are my new Welcome Home Original Characters (WH OCs) that I created based on Eddie Dear, one of my favorite WH characters! It took me a while to finish them, but I'm happy to have them out of my head!

Some Dear Siblings HeadCanon/Fanon Facts down below 🤣👇

1. Their parents are Elizabeth and Eddison Dear. Beth is from Texas, and Edd is from Louisiana.

2. Emmett is the oldest among the three Dear siblings, and Eddie is the youngest. Ellie is the middle child and the one and only daughter of Beth and Edd (All of them are equally loved, don't worry 😆🤣👍).

3. Emmett is 8 years older than Eddie, while Ellie is 4 years older than Eddie.

4. Eddison and Emmett work at the family-owned hardware shop, with Emmett often handling deliveries using his truck. Beth works at the family post office, where she used to work alongside Eddie. Meanwhile, Ellie owns a diner that was passed down from her grandparents.

5. The Dear siblings all have mitten like hands! Though Ellie has more feminine ones. Perfect for hugging their friends, neighbors, partners, and of course each other!

6. Eddie frequently stays connected with his family through phone calls and mail. ☎️📬

And I like to think that they've added a personal touch to their letters by using custom designed letters, each serving as a unique signature from every family member.

7. Emmett inherited his name from their great-grandfather on their mother's side, while Ellie and Eddie's names were derived from their parents' names - a shortened and endearing version:

Elizabeth - Ellie

Eddison - Eddie

8. Ellie and Eddie talk a lot about their day via phone call-A LOT. During late-night conversations, they end up talking for hours. Eddie often shares a lot with her about Frank, and she loves listening to her brother gush about him.

9. Emmett and Eddie also talk via phone, where Emmett tends to let Eddie take the lead in the conversation. There are times when Emmett ends up dozing off but still holds onto the phone.

10. During calls and when together, Emmett assists Eddie in managing his forgetfulness, much like their father. Emmett provides advice and solutions, especially when he notices Eddie in need of help or feeling troubled. Ellie also contributes in a similar supportive manner.

11. Eddie and Ellie are often mistaken for twins based on their looks and close sibling bond. Ellie actually gets flattered whenever someone mentions this because it makes her feel younger.

12. Among the three siblings, Ellie and Eddie have shared a close bond since childhood (probably because of the short age gap and since Emmett works a lot with their Pa). Despite Emmett being the more reserved and stoic one, all three of them have a good sibling relationship.

13. Emmett is usually fine with receiving hugs but occasionally gives one.

14. Emmett's instrument of choice is the guitar, while Ellie likes to play the harmonica. Eddison bought Ellie her own harmonica for her 12th birthday, and she has always carried it around with her since then.

15. Ellie and Emmett had their Mailman/Mailwoman phase.

16. Ellie is lesbian while Emmett just assumes he is cisgender. He wrong, he is actually bisexual ufhsjgkxxjgz

17. Ellie is like the second mom of the family.

18. At some points during the year, Eddie heads back to his hometown to visit his family.

19. Ellie has a terrible fear of heights.

20. One of the reasons why Eddie has a fear of bugs is probably because of Ellie.

21. Emmett would bring Eddie alongside him during his deliveries when Eddie is around and available.

22. When Ellie and Emmett first arrived in the Welcome Home Neighborhood, Wally somehow mistook them as Eddie's parents. This made Eddie laugh.

23. Emmett is actually good friends with Howdy and Barnaby. Howdy and Emmett would talk about business, while he and Barnaby tell each other jokes.

24. Ellie actually has good balance and poise. But gets all clumsy when she's flustered.

25. Ellie has a crush on one of Julie Joyful's siblings. Specifically, she has a crush on Franny Joyful.

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 17

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | AO3

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Eddie wakes up with his face smooshed against Steve's bicep, which, honestly, is not a bad place to be. He lifts his head up a little, blinking bleary eyes, and sees they've both migrated towards the center of the bed. Steve's rolled over onto his stomach, face buried in his pillow. Eddie's still on his back, but he'd shifted a little, leaned in towards Steve, and they're pressed together all along their sides.

Steve moves, which Eddie is guessing what woke him up in the first place, and turns his head to look at him.

"Morning," Steve mumbles, all rough with sleep.

It's not the first time Eddie's heard him like that, yeah, but it is the first time that Eddie's been this close, that he's been touching this much of him, and it makes his brain shut off.

"Doesn't it hurt sleeping like that?" he says, like an insane person.

Steve huffs out a little laugh. "My back's all torn up too, man, it kind of hurts sleeping like anything."

Shit, right, Steve'd gotten dragged over the lake bed in the Upside Down. Eddie has a vague memory of red streaks like road rash all up his back before he'd put on his vest.

Eddie makes a noise, quietly distressed, mostly because he doesn't know what to say to that, and he gets to watch the way Steve's eyes go all soft up close.

"I've had worse," Steve says.

It makes Eddie snort. "You keep saying that, but it's not as reassuring as you seem to think it is. Will you at least let me take a look at it later?"

Steve smiles. "I look after you, you look after me?"

"Something like that." Eddie ducks his head. "Come on, I'm starving."

They take turns in the bathroom. Eddie borrows more of Steve's clothes - another pair of boxers, the same track pants and a dark gray sweatshirt this time. Steve abandons the attempt he'd done at jeans yesterday, opts for navy sweats and a green sweater.

This time, Eddie lets Steve help him downstairs, even gets set up in a chair at the kitchen table so he can watch him cook breakfast.

They're halfway through eating a massive stack of pancakes when the walkie flares to life, and a time is agreed on for everyone to come over.

Turns out Steve hadn't been kidding about an invasion.

There's everyone in their little Vecna fighting mission, of course, Robin and Dustin and Erica arriving in Nancy's station wagon with her. But a Surfer Boy pizza van comes up alongside of it, Max and Lucas and Mike Wheeler spilling out of it along with Jonathon Byers, a pair of kids that Eddie's going to guess are El and Will Byers, and a dude that Eddie's pretty sure he's never seen before.

He's Argyle, apparently, owner of the van and the guy who pointed out that Eddie was not a girl, Jonathan's best friend from California.

Also brand new to all of this, which makes Eddie toast him with his second mug of coffee, from where he's pretending he needs to lean against Steve for support to stand up but he's also mostly using him as a shield because both Dustin and Mike look like they're ready to tackle him any minute.

Someone must have updated the California crew on what went down in Hawkins, because no one asks Eddie why he's standing in Steve Harrington's kitchen wearing Steve Harrington's clothes.

Steve stops working as a deterrent for Dustin about two minutes after the introductions are done, and really, Eddie's kind of surprised it took him that long to come over and hug them both. He's reasonably gentle about it, at least, so Eddie guesses he can't complain much.

"Hey, buddy," Steve says, ruffling his hair. "We're still okay."

"Still alive and kicking," Eddie chimes in, slinging one arm around Dustin and giving into the hug.

Mike looks - sullen and uncertain, like he's not really sure of his place here and he's unhappy about it. For a moment, Eddie considers ignoring it until he absolutely has to do something about it, but, well. He's kind of ignoring a lot of things right now, and he really doesn't want them all to come back up at once.

So he stays in the kitchen as everyone else trickles out into the living room, plops down at the table and makes significant eye contact with Mike, raising one eyebrow. Sure enough, it works, and Mike stays behind.

He doesn't say anything, just drops down to sit at the kitchen table with him and looks mulish.

It reminds Eddie of himself, actually, and he wonders if this is how Uncle Wayne felt sitting across from him when he was fifteen. Shit, he owes that man so much. Eddie's still got some coffee left, though, and he can wait this out, taking slow, lingering sips.

"You weren't supposed to get involved with all of this," Mike says finally.

Eddie raises an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, well, Vecna disagreed with you."

Mike scowls. "You were supposed to be safe. Everything was supposed to be done, or I never would have-"

He cuts off, but Eddie knows exactly what he was going to say.

"Or you never would have left," he finishes for him.

"I wouldn't have!" Mike insists, looking up at him with a fire in his eyes. "Joyce left, and she took Will and El and Jonathan, and Nancy said she wouldn't have left us alone like that if the gate wasn't closed and we weren't safe. Once November passed and nothing happened, we thought we were good."

Eddie sets his cup on the table, the hand that isn't all splinted up running absently over his knee. "That's a lot to unpack right there, Wheeler."

Mike groans. "Whatever. The point is, people who get involved with this because of us die. And it wasn't supposed to be you."

"Aw. Almost sounds like you care," Eddie says, batting his eyelashes at Mike, who scowls harder at him. "Mike, none of this is your fault. I didn't get involved in this because of you, I got involved in this because Hawkins is a shithole and Vecna is a jackass who targeted a girl I knew. Being friends with you guys is the only thing that got me out of this, okay?"

Mike scoffs. "You mean Dustin and Lucas got you out of it."

Eddie raises his eyebrows at Mike, because really, is there jealousy happening here? "If we're going to be technical, Nancy was the one who figured out the Creel connection, and Robin was the one who figured out that music was the key, and Steve got to Max in time and-"

"Okay, okay," Mike grumbles. "I still should have been here."

Ah. Not jealousy - or at least not entirely jealousy. It's the paladin thing, being upset with himself for not being there when his friends needed him. "Mike," he says, pitching his voice a little gentler. "You can't be everywhere at once, you know that. When the party splits, you have to pick which group to go with, and from what it sounded like, you were right where you needed to be. El and Will needed their paladin, didn't they? And we had Steve."

The cloud over Mike's face had been lifting, and he even got a smile when Eddie said that El and Will needed him, but it drops back into a scowl when he mentions Steve.

"Steve's not a paladin," Mike retorts. "If anything, he's a barbarian."

That's not the point, Eddie knows it isn't, but he can't help but consider that, thinking about Steve bare chested with blood and grime all over him for probably a moment or two too long. "All right, yeah, I can see that," he admits. "But what gives, I thought you guys all thought Steve was a badass?"

Mike whips his head around, looking out the kitchen door, then slouches down in his chair. "That was before you knew him! I just didn't want you to like, pick a fight with him when he picked us up, because he's already had too many concussions."

Eddie raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And how many of those concussions did he get saving you little assholes?"

Mike pulls a face that Eddie is going to assume means all of them. "That's not the point. I just - are you and he -"

Oh, shit. Somehow, Eddie had completely forgotten their shenanigans over the walkie yesterday morning. He fights the urge to fidget, and instead gives his best stoic, you'll never get it out of me face. "And what if we were?"

Mike slumps down even further. "You don't have to yell at me. Jonathan already got there, I'm not going to say it's gross. It's just - I was gone for like a week! You kept insisting that he was an asshole, and wouldn't believe Dustin and Lucas, and now you're staying with him?"

All right, well, when he puts it like that - Eddie scrubs a hand over his face. "Kind of hard to hate someone when you watch him rip up demobats and then he carries you out of the Upside Down."

Mike rolls his eyes, but he looks a little less like his world has been completely shaken. "Oh. Yeah, Steve does that. So you're not-"

"No," Eddie says, because he can't keep talking around it, and saying anything else would be a lie. There's a pit in his stomach that says no is technically a lie, too, because Eddie's pretty convinced that Steve is his soulmate, but he can't let that trip him up. "I mean, we're definitely friends now, but he's letting me stay here because I've got nowhere else to go."

"They told us," Mike says, his scowl back. "We'll figure something out. Nancy and Jonathan got Hawkins Lab to release a story about Barb, and all of Starcourt got covered up. We'll get your name cleared."

It's a great sentiment, but Eddie's not sure he can believe it at the moment. He clears his throat, nodding towards the living room. "You better get back out there."

Mike stands, though he pauses to look at him quizzically. "You're not coming?"

Eddie holds up his cup. "Just finishing my coffee, I'll be right out there."

Fuck, he knows as soon as he says it that it's a lie. He'll just have to hope that Steve is too busy with the gremlins to check what just got written on him.

Mike apparently doesn't believe him, either, because it's only a few minutes after he leaves that Robin comes into the kitchen.

"Your turn to check on the new guy?" he asks her.

She scoffs. "Awfully self absorbed of you, Eddie. Maybe I just came for leftover pancakes and coffee."

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I mostly came for coffee," she relents, pouring herself a cup. "But also to check on you. Hey, though, bonus, you're not the newest guy anymore."

"Thank you, Argyle," Eddie mutters as Robin comes to sit next to him.

"So," Robin says, taking a long drink from her cup. "Are you going to give me something that's a reasonable approximation of the truth so I can not lie when I give a condensed report back to concerned parties, or are we just going to sit here for a while and make this awkward?"

He huffs out a little laugh. "I don't know, Buckley, I'm pretty awkward and you're definitely awkward, I don't think we have much of a shot of this not being awkward."

She smiles at him, wide and amused, but that doesn't stop her from taking another pointed sip of her coffee as she looks at him over the brim of her mug.

"How come I have to be the one who's always getting checked in on?" Eddie bitches. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one not doing okay."

"Because you are the new guy," Robin says, though not unkindly. "Everyone else has been through this enough that we kind of know how they're going to react, and what to look for that means things are getting worse. They did it with me, too, after Starcourt."

Eddie hadn't actually been upset, just a little ruffled by the fact that so many people are this concerned over his well being, but if he had been, that would have soothed it. "Steve told me a little about the aftermath of that, about the song you taught him."

Robin laughs a little. "There you go. I had Steve singing that for me just about every night for a while. That's mine - my brain gets itself all worked up with hypotheticals and possibilities, and things that could have happened but didn't will just start spilling out until I have a hard time sorting them all out from what actually did happen. Some of the others have gotten pretty good about knowing when to let me talk myself through it and when to cut me off and distract me."

It's shockingly vulnerable, especially for sitting in Steve Harrington's kitchen with a huge group of people just on the other side of an open doorway, and Eddie appreciates it more than he can say.

"I hyperventilate," he blurts out. "I get trapped in my head and I can't get words out. It gets worse at night and when I wake up, but Steve and Dustin have kind of figured out how to talk me down. I'm sure some new terrible way of not coping will probably come up, but that's me right now."

Robin nods, looking thoughtful. "Has Steve had a nightmare yet?"

"No," Eddie says. "I don't think so. He said he does better with one of us there, so we've been sleeping in the same room."

He isn't expecting it, but that makes Robin light up, looking at him - almost like Steve does, when Eddie did something for one of the kids, and Steve smiles so warm and open at him.

"Thank you," Robin says, toying with the handle on her mug. "My parents wouldn't let me stay over until they knew for sure I was okay, and I just - yeah, that's him. He goes into protect mode when he wakes up from a nightmare, and he needs someone there to tell him that we're all safe."

Eddie gives a little smile, trying not to give into the way his stomach does a stupid, lovesick little flutter at that. "Protective mode fits him so much better than that you're all so beneath my notice thing he did in high school."

Robin barks out a little laugh. "Right? I couldn't believe it when I actually met the real Steve and found out how dorky and sweet he was."

He lifts his mug to her in a toast, draining the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "I'll keep an eye on him for you until your parents relent," he promises, even though it feels a little disingenuous because he was planning on doing it anyway.

She shoots him a grateful smile. "It was a lot easier after Starcourt, probably because it was so new and my parents figured I'd just sneak out and be over here anyway. This time they said they'd come find me, so, you know."

So she didn't sneak out, because Eddie was here and no one can know that, and he feels a stabbing of guilt.

Robin continues before he can decide if he should say anything, though. "We came to a deal, I'm home for a week and then I can come over and stay with you guys until they start school back up again."

Fuck, okay, then. Well, no, mostly not fuck - he's kind of excited about it, actually, the idea of staying with both Steve and Robin for a while is stupidly appealing - but it means he's only got a few more days to suck it up and tell Steve he thinks they're soulmates, unless he wants to do it with Robin there. Which, actually, wouldn't be the worst thing -

"Wait, start school back up?" he asks, his mind skipping and catching on that.

She grimaces. "Yeah, with the earthquake and the school still being used as a shelter, the school year's on hold. They made sure to inform us we'll have to make the time up during summer, but, eh. Gives us more time to make sure you're graduating."

He must look a little blank, because she rolls her eyes at him.

"You're one of us now. If you think Nancy and I aren't going to make sure you're right there with us on graduation day, then, well, you've got a little more time to get your head out of your ass before the mandatory study sessions start."

Oh.

He shouldn't have finished the last of his coffee, because there's suddenly a lump in his throat that he can't quite swallow past.

There's a little bit of a commotion outside the kitchen, though, saving him from having to say anything.

"Robin!" Dustin shouts from the living room. "Is Steve lying?"

"Nice try, dingbat, you know I need more than that before giving up any of the goods!" she shouts back without hesitation.

"He says there's nothing the hospital could've done for him if he stayed and let us look after Eddie!"

Robin pauses, like she's doing a mental catalog of something, and Eddie clocks onto what it is at the same time as she calls, "Not lying! Not enough to count, anyway."

His stomach drops, and he feels like the floor goes with it.

"You and Steve are soulmates." Eddie's not sure why he says it. It's obvious, and he doesn't really want to hear it confirmed, but - he's an idiot, apparently.

"Yeah, we figured that out during Starcourt."

Eddie - needs to say something, he knows he does, because Robin's looking at him in that searching way again, like she's seeing too much of him. But what the fuck is he supposed to say? Robin's his friend, how is he supposed to tell her that he'd wanted her soulmate to be his so bad that he'd almost tested it a few times, that he still wants Steve to be his, that he's angry at her and Steve and himself and the goddamn world, even though he knows he's the only one to blame for thinking he could have this? He can't even bring himself to look at her, gaze dropping down.

"Wait, you didn't know? I thought the gremlins told you."

There's a moment of silence before he hears a sharp intake of breath, and he can't stop himself from wincing.

"Steve and I have two!" she blurts out in a whisper-shout.

His gaze snaps back up to her face, and she's staring at him wide-eyed and frantic.

"What?" he asks, feeling a little wide-eyed himself.

"Soulmates. Steve has two soulmates, and so do I."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh," he breathes out, his eyes darting to look back at the doorway, where he can just see the back of Steve's head.

"Yup. A platonic," she says, emphasizing the word way more than is really necessary for Eddie to pick up on what she's implying. Steve hasn't found his platonic soulmate yet - it could be Eddie. "And a romantic. So, you know. If you wanted to do anything with that information. It's there."

Eddie swallows, finally looking back at her to see the way her eyes are brimming with nervous excitement. "And you're… you'd be okay with that?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "If anything, I'd be relieved. It'll be a hell of a lot easier to navigate if it's someone who's been through the Upside Down stuff. I like you, Eddie, don't go getting a big head or anything, but you're pretty great."

And that's soft and sincere enough that it actually does make his head feel a little bigger - or at least his cynical heart, anyway, because he likes her, too. He's never been jealous of her before - watching her and Steve together has always felt good, made him all gooey and fond even when he refuses to acknowledge it - and he doesn't want to be jealous of her now.

He can do this, he decides. Steve might already have a romantic soulmate, but Eddie'd already resigned himself to having a platonic soulmate more than once. He can do it, if it means having Steve.

"Cool," he says, and resists the urge to make a face at himself. "That's, uh, yeah. I'll keep that in mind."

She raises one eyebrow at him, and he groans, leaning over to plant his face on the kitchen table.

"Just leave me here," he implores her, his voice all muffled.

Robin laughs at him, though not meanly, and pats him on the head. "No," she says cheerfully. "Suck it up and take your next dose of meds and let's go into the living room."

He groans louder, but he does get up and shuffle over to down his meds, not looking at her as he sets the bottle back down. "You're pretty great, too," he admits.

She doesn't say anything in response to that, until he finally looks up to find her grinning at him.

"I know," she replies smugly. "Now come on, potential soulmate-in-law, your solitary brooding time is up."

Taglist (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

-----

Part 18

[emilybahu]

My Thoughts While Watching 8x01 of 9-1-1:

(Literally no one asked for this and it’s so late, but whatever… I had fun spending an hour and a half watching a 43 minute tv show episode to share my thoughts 🤷‍♀️)

1. Oh this poor man just bought his new plane then he gets caught in a beenado… what did he do to deserve that?

2. Oh crap oh crap! He about to crash!!

3. God damn Gerrard… I hate him with every fiber of my being😠

4. EDDIE I love you, I love you, I love you! But now that Gerrard said he likes the mustache it’s gotta go…

5. BUCK’S CRULS ARE FREE!!! Omg I just love him so much he’s so pretty!

6. Also, Gerrard 🙄🙄🙄

7. 3 MONTHS AGO! Not much of a time jump my ass! LIARS!

8. Who are you Gerrard? Donald Trump? Building a fence (wall)…

9. ATHENA! Hey queen! Oh wait, they making you transport the man who killed your fiancé… yikes 😬

10. He requested her!?

11. Buck… BUCK! What are you doing!? Get away from the ledge!

12. “Don’t jump!” “Why not?” 😀 Buck you know perfectly well why we don’t want you to jump, and it has nothing to do with the quote below.

13. “Gerrard would just make us clean you up off the sidewalk.” This line is hilarious and so not hilarious at the same time!

14. My poor baby boy! Buck come here let me give you a hug!

15. Chimney making fun of Eddie’s mustache 😂

16. Bobby the technical advisor 🤭

17. It’s so funny that there’s a show within the show!

18. Poor Bobby, like it is partially his fault that he’s not at the 118 right now, but you can tell he misses his team 🥺

19. Oh this kid, I love her already! And fair question Mom, what exactly does she mean by “hooking up”?

20. OH NO THE BEEEESSSS!!!

21. Yesss Buck and his fun facts! I love it!

22. Ugh 😑 Gerrard, that’s rude, our favs at the 118 are beautiful! You’re just salty because you’re old and ugly and no one likes you.

23. I’m sorry like half of this is gonna be me complaining about Gerrard… he’s so rude though! How dare he yell at Josh like that, for something he can’t control.

24. No, no, no! The bees got in!

25. No, no, nope! ABSOLUTELY NOT! The bees fucking went down the second driver’s throat!? I’d be outta there in a second!

26. Why did you smack the bee!? Aahhhhhh no!

27. Thank god the girl is okay! Oh damn, of course the mom gets stung too!

28. “Why do I taste honey?” SIR?!

29. Oh god no!

30. This poor kid, this has got to be so incredibly traumatic, she had to give her own mother an EpiPen.

31. God I’m sorry, I just love Buck so much! That little smile when the bee landed on his finger! ☺️

32. Good lord here I go again… what the hell Gerrard! Buck saved the patients and you’re reprimanding him!

33. “It’s a beenado” 🐝🌪️

34. Bobby and Athena house hunting! I love them!

35. Here goes Athena breaking my heart…💔

36. Eeeeeee! Family dinner! I love this so much!

37. Mara calls them Mom and Momma! It’s too cute! And Jee omg I can’t even with her! She’s precious!

38. Awwww Chimney bonding with Mara over Harry Potter! I love that for them!

39. Yes Denny, their boss is a jerk, you are very correct!

40. Eeeeeeee! Tommy! I didn’t think we’d see you in episode one!! Yay!!!

41. Literally I got so excited when I saw the cupcakes and the sign, I thought Chris might be coming back… oh how I was wrong.

42. Oh my boys! I love them so much! I NEED to see more of Buck, Eddie, and Tommy together!

43. I may or may not have actually screamed… Buck and Tommy flirting! They are so adorable together I can’t handle this!

44. Oh Eddie, bless his heart! So excited to talk to Chris and wish him a happy birthday. Meanwhile his son still can’t look at him, even though a computer screen. 😢

45. He made such an effort, just for the screen to freeze and for Chris to leave him hanging. You can see the man’s heart breaking behind his eyes. My heart broke too, but I understand the kid needing time.

46. But seriously seeing Eddie’s lip quiver like that when his mom mentions putting in a pool… PLEASE CHRIS COME BACK TO US! We can’t handle seeing your dad this heartbroken! 💔

47. This woman be here having a midlife crisis, making her own fragrance, only for the bees to crash her party.

48. “Tomorrow is going to be flawless” cue the giant swarm of killer bees just hanging out on top of the tent.

49. Oop her party is ruined…

50. Oh not Buck volunteering Eddie ass the bee bait! 😂

51. “But why me?” “Because you’re the fastest runner!” Stop it now I’m cackling! 🤣

52. The close up of Eddie’s face has me wheezing! 🤣🤣 Oooo he runnin’!!

53. Oh that close up bee cgi is sooo bad it’s hilarious! 🤣

54. Yeah sure, duct tape fixes everything, but why is it in the medical bag!?

55. “I’ve been shot before, I’m pretty sure I can handle this.” It’s funny because the beekeeper was talking to the bees not Eddie! 🤣 (sorry for the excessive use of the laughing emojis I can’t help it)

56. Come on man, Buck is like a little puppy, you gotta give him some praise!

57. And we have Buck with the episode title drop!

58. Noooo Athena! 😢 Come on let me give you a hug! 🫂 So much ✨Trauma✨

59. Ooo this is a fishy situation…but Athena knows what’s up.

60. NO ONE and I mean no one messes with Athena Grant! She knows her shit!

61. She straight up locked this man in a trunk of a car in the middle of the desert! My dude, what!?

62. “Get yourself back to LA in one piece.” Little did she know what was going to happen next…

63. Not the actor being star struck by Bobby, I love that!

64. “I’m gonna study you tip to tail” 🤣

65. Good god Gerrard you got everyone watching Buck like a hawk to make sure he doesn’t deck you.

66. Eddie walking behind Gerrard signing to Buck to cut it out… he tried to help

67. “Broody little pout” 🤣✨

68. Do WE need to remind YOU Gerrard who’s the TRUE captain of this firehouse… news flash it’s NOT YOU!

69. Eddie in the background, we all know he’s got Buck’s back

70. Eeww I just paused on the close up of Gerrard’s mouth… gross. Also, have I mentioned that I HATE this man.

71. Oh my good god! Buck’s eyes are fucking beautiful!

72. Woah, oh wow, that was crazy dude! I seriously can’t tell if Buck snapped and tackled him to the ground, or if he did it to save him.

73. OH CRAP! OF FUCKING COURSE ATHENA WAS ON THE PLANE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE!

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 15

Hello!! We slowly but surely cranking up the tension between the two boys and it's going to be delicious.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

***

Eddie had every intention of telling Steve about Seth Thursday, but he was thwarted by Robin.

Steve was running a little behind because a tattoo was taking a little longer than he thought it would, so Eddie was in the waiting area for his turn.

“So, don’t blame Miranda for this,” Robin began with a wince. “But she told me about Seth.”

Eddie took a deep breath. “I’m a little disappointed she told you, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Mandy likes to talk.”

Robin hurried around the desk and knelt in front of him. “I only bring it up, because I have a different opinion about telling Steve.”

Eddie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not against it as a whole,” she said gently. “Bad exes are bad business and that kind of shit can ruin things. I’m just saying not today.”

“Why...?”

Robin sighed, and sat next to him. “Look, you’re a great guy and I totally ship you and Steve. But don’t you think it’s a little early for the seven evil exes talk?”

Eddie snorted. “Thankfully only the one.”

She nodded. “I don’t think you should hide it from him. I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying have more fun with each other before you going trauma dumping.”

“But I–”

“Want to move slow and don’t know how to say that without trauma dumping?” she finished for him.

He waved his hand in front of him. “Yeah, that.”

She nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Just say you had a rough go at dating the last couple of years and just want to go slow. He’ll understand. Okay?” Eddie nodded. Robin paused for a moment. “And also maybe not do it while you’re in the middle of a literal business transaction.”

Eddie mouthed the word, ‘oh.’ “Point taken. I keep making mistakes like that.”

“That’s because your job isn’t usual,” she explained. “Getting up on stage and playing music for hoards of people every weekend for cash is the dream for a lot of people, but other than the bar owner you really don’t have a boss and your co-workers are your best friends.”

Eddie laughed. He hadn’t heard what he did described that way before, but it was true. His job wasn’t normal, but even though the product wasn’t the usual thing, what Steve and Robin did was essentially retail. They provided a service to a consumer at a price.

He smiled. “Point well and truly made. Thank you. I probably would have fucked it up between us again if I told him about Seth while sharp needles were near my person.”

Robin cocked her head. “That too. I keep saying it but seriously I’m Team Steddie, okay? But Steve has never been wooed and doesn’t know what to do when someone is interested, just at a different speed then he’s used to going.”

Eddie played with his rings. “Steve’s never been wooed?”

Robin shook her head. “Even when he was dating men, they always seemed to expect Steve doing all the romancing. That’s why he forgave you so easily. You went out of your way to remember things about him that even he had forgotten himself. That’s a really big deal for him.”

Eddie blushed. “Jeff and Mandy said to go big, so I just did what I would have wanted to get as an apology.”

She hugged him. “I’ll be sure to tell him that if he ever needs to apology to you.”

Eddie leaned his head back. “Let’s pray he never has to, yeah?”

Robin nodded. “And look, you have this shitty past that means you want to take it as slow and steady as you can but don’t want to hurt his feelings and lose your chance with him. Does that sound about right?”

Eddie took a deep breath and let out with a shuddering sigh. “That about sums it up, yeah.”

She let him go and he slumped against the back of the chair.

“So this is what we’ll do,” Robin said with a small smile. “You’ll hold off telling Steve until Saturday after the gig. Probably on the way to the club and then have a good time with each other knowing you two like each other. How does that sound?”

“Yeah, okay,” Eddie said, his voice shaking a bit.

She patted his hand. “Let me go see how much longer he’s going to be, because we might have to reschedule.”

He nodded.

She got up and went back to Steve’s room. She came out a minute later.

“He’s pissed it’s taking so long to get the colors right,” she informed him. “So because he has to reschedule, he’s willing to do it Sunday before he goes over to Dustin and Suzie’s.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. “He doesn’t have to do that.”

“I think I pretty much established how much he wants to be with you dude,” Robin told him. “So come to the shop around noon and he’ll work on your tattoo.”

“Yeah, okay,” he breathed. “I’ll you guys there at the bar on Saturday?”

“Yup,” she said cheerfully. “Me and Chrissy will be dressed appropriately. Steve will continue being Steve.”

Eddie shoved his hair in front of his face. “Which is one of the reasons I like him.”

She grinned, wrinkling her nose. “Sap. Now get out of here before you get it all over the floor.”

Eddie laughed. “Yeah, yeah. See you Saturday.”

Robin shooed him out of the shop to his laughter.

“I’ve never seen two stupider people in my life,” Erica said, leaning against the wall to the hallway that led to her and the other apprentices’ rooms.

Robin looked over at her with an even bigger grin. “Well, they are men.”

Erica bobbed her head back and forth. “That’s fair.” She walked back into her room and Robin followed her to check on Argyle and Chrissy.

“How goes the practice?” she asked Chrissy from the doorway.

Chrissy looked up and smiled. “I think I’m getting the hang of knowing how deep I’m going.”

Robin smiled back. “That’s great. I’m glad you’re finally getting the hang of it.”

“Steve a really good teacher,” she said. “I’ve learned so much since I started here and it hasn’t even been a whole week.”

Robin chuckled. “He’s like that. That’s why I love him.”

“How long have you guys been friends?” Chrissy asked. “Because I know you guys weren’t friends in high school.”

Robin laughed. “Actually we were. If you count the last half of his senior year and he absolutely does.”

“You guys don’t look like you could have been friends in any life time if I’m honest,” Chrissy admitted.

Robin cocked her head and shrugged. She moved further into the room. “Everyone says that, but they forget I was in marching band and soccer in high school. It’s not as though we’re complete opposites.”

“That’s true I guess,” Chrissy agreed. “You said your first job together burned down?”

Robin grinned. “Oh yeah. I’ll tell you about it later, I really have to get back up front.” She hesitated before turning on heel and scrambling out of the room, nearly hitting her head on the door frame.

Chrissy giggled.

*

Steve was vibrating in his seat at the table in front of the stage. Apparently, this table was reserved for friends of the band. The only reason Mandy didn’t show them to it last time was because she knew how loud it could be and didn’t want to scare them away their first night.

So now he can see every drop of sweat, every lip quiver, every finger placement. He gulped. He really wished that he had the foresight to sit in the back curve of the table and not the front. His brain was running a full commentary of all the things Steve found gross to keep his dick under control.

Steve was pretty sure he failed when he caught Jeff’s smirk. He was going to die. There was nothing for it. He was going to spontaneously combust, right here in the middle of this lovely bar.

And then Eddie winked. Steve let his eyelids flutter closed and tilted his head back in agony. He was grateful that was the song was the last in their set, because he was about to burst.

He stayed polite and waited for them to exit stage left, before he ran to the restroom. He ran into a stall and with two quick pumps he was coming into a bit of toilet paper. He carefully cleaned up and walked back out there a lot calmer, but embarrassed to the hilt.

Thankfully it was only the girls waiting for him and only Robin gave him a sly side eye about his mad dash to the restroom. So he was grateful for that. He just knew he was going to hear about it when he got home.

Finally band came out and Steve was relieved to see that Eddie had changed into something a little less ‘sex on legs’ and a little more ‘not kill Steve’.

Eddie looked good. He always did. But damn, that outfit he wore tonight on stage was a heart attack wrapped in leather and mesh.

“You guys ready for the club?” Gareth asked, bouncing on the balls on his feet.

Steve laughed. “I’m glad you guys had fun last time. But yeah, I’m ready.”

There were nods and agreements across the board.

“So where are we going?” Chrissy asked as they filed out into the parking lot.

“We decided to walk this time,” Jeff said. “It’s not very far and not worth the gas it would take to get there.”

Robin hopped up and down. “It’s this nifty little club that Stevie and I found when we first moved to Indy. It’s not strictly a gay club but it’s very friendly. It’s called Rainbow High and it has the best cocktail called Evita and it has...”

Steve tuned her out as she rattled on to Chrissy about the club with a fond shake of his head.

Eddie sidled up to him and nudged him with his shoulder. “I think your girl has a crush.”

Steve looked back up at the two girls walking in front of him. He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. I think she does, poor Miranda.”

Eddie threw his head back and laughed. “I think she’ll live not being pursued by a Robin.”

They walked in silence a moment or two.

“God,” Eddie said, tilting his head back and rolling his shoulders, “it feels good to go out and not have to look over my shoulder every minute of every day.”

“Crazy fan or evil ex?” Steve asked lightly, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. In the back of his mind he kept chanting, go slow, go slow, go slow.

Eddie scoffed. “I’ve had both unfortunately, but no this one is an evil ex.”

Steve winced. “That’s rough. Nothing like a bad ex to make you want to run for the hills. It must take a lot of courage to keep taking a step forward every day.”

Eddie blushed. “I sometimes still feel like a coward, breaking it off with him, but everyone else in my life tells me I did the right thing.”

Steve took Eddie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Sometimes it’s hard to see how bad it looks in front of us, until someone else shows you.”

Eddie squeezed his hand back before reluctantly letting go. “You sound like you know from experience.”

Steve nodded. “My parents, unfortunately.” He ran thumb over the warmth Eddie’s hand left behind in his palm. “It wasn’t until Robin pulled me aside and made examine the relationships her and most of my other friends had with their parents and see that how they treated me wasn’t right.”

“That why you two ran away together?” Eddie teased.

Steve laughed. “Something like that. Her parents were really supportive.” He watched as his best friend laughed and made wild hand gestures for a moment. “Sometimes we think they love me more than they love her.”

Eddie leaned in close. “What’s not to love?”

Steve blushed.

***

Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk​ @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx

[songforeddiemunson]

Happy Hawkins Holiday

For the @stcreators event 02: family

Submission for @bettyfrommars and @allthingsjoeq 's Holiday Prompt party #9: "You’re decorating Christmas cookies and something catches on fire"

Submission for @palomahasenteredthechat and @indulgence-be-thy-name 's 12 Days of Joemas Event prompt: "Is that mistletoe?"

Happy Hawkins Holiday

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader (description vague apart from use of she/her pronouns)

Summary: Reader is spending her first Christmas in Hawkins with the Munson family. This could be a sequel of sorts to Next Summer and Things that Go Bump,

Warnings/Tropes: a comedy of errors, lots of fluff, oodles of love. CW for swearing, drinking, and minor injuries. No smut. No use of Y/N. No upside-down.

Word Count: 2200

Christmas 1991

“Shit,” you cursed loudly, waving a dishcloth below your wailing smoke detector like a flag of surrender. “Eddie!”

Acrid black smoke billowed from the open oven door, polluting the entire kitchen and making your eyes burn.

Your boyfriend, who had you by some inches, trotted into the room and reached up to silence the alarm with a bemused expression.

“Thanks,” you said, slumping your shoulders in defeat as you turned to open the window behind the sink.

“Soooo…what happened? If you hated this apartment so much, you could have just said, you didn’t need to burn the place down,” Eddie joked. 

You were not in a joking mood, unfortunately.

“Very funny,” you said dryly. “I was pulling out another batch of cookies, and one of them slid off the baking sheet onto the heating element in the oven. It caught fire.”

Eddie grinned and pulled you in for a hug. “No harm done,” he said sweetly into your hair. “You made so many cookies, we won’t miss one.”

“But now the house smells like burned gingerbread man,” you countered sourly.

“We’ll light some candles. It’ll be okay.”

“But–”

“Babe,” Eddie pulled back to look at your face. “Dinner’s done, the place looks beautiful. You look beautiful. It’s going to be an amazing night.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now go relax and get ready. You’ve been working on all this since 6am and you must be exhausted.”

“Well you helped,” you replied. Eddie really had been a great helper all day.

“Please, barely. Now go on, I’ll clean up in here.” You wanted to protest, but he had already started rolling up the sleeves of his flannel shirt.

“Eddie–” you began.

Eddie planted a big wet kiss right on your pout. “Stop. Go relax, that’s an order.”

You sighed. “Aye aye captain,” you saluted limply, and shuffled off to the bathroom. Perhaps a hot shower really would be what the doctor ordered.  

This would be your first Hawkins Christmas since moving to Indiana to be with Eddie from Chicago. It was also Eddie’s first year in his own place, since moving in with his Uncle Wayne when he was 18, over seven years ago. You had obviously met Wayne and gotten along with him wonderfully, but you had never hosted a holiday celebration before. You wanted everything to be perfect.

The Wheelers, your cousins, had invited you to their family gathering, but you didn’t want Wayne to be alone on the holiday.  He was too introverted to come to the Wheelers’ house, even though they had extended the invitation. The town had not been kind to the Munson family, and it would take a little more time to bring Wayne out of his shell.

So, you decided to host a small Christmas gathering at your new apartment for just the three of you, and naturally you prepared enough food to feed a small army. Eddie was right, you were exhausted, and the steaming hot shower water did wonders for your muscles and your mood.

By the time you were clean, dried and dressed, you were refreshed and ready to take on the night. You emerged from the bedroom to find Eddie wiping down the kitchen counter, with all previous signs of disaster gone. You breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The doorbell buzzed, and Eddie, ever the helpful partner, proclaimed, “I’ll get it!”  As he rounded the corner from the kitchen to the front door, he accidentally bumped a beautiful vase of flowers you had placed on the entry hall table. It tottered back and forth as Eddie muttered, “Shiiiit…” before it fell to the floor with a crash, sending red and white flowers, water, and broken glass in every direction.

“Oh no,” you moaned as you put your face in your hands. 

“Fuck babe, I’m so sorry,” Eddie said, his expression panicked.

You took a deep, steadying breath. “It’s alright.”

“Fuck fuck shit…” Eddie knelt and started picking up the larger pieces of broken glass. You placed a hand on his shoulder. “Honey,” you said, and he looked up at you. You managed a warm smile, despite your frazzled nerves. “It’s really okay. Accidents happen. Why don’t you let Wayne in, and I’ll grab the broom.”

Eddie nodded and moved to follow your instructions.  When you returned with the broom, Eddie was just taking Wayne’s coat. “We had a little mishap,” you declared brightly as Eddie stood by, looking embarrassed. You began sweeping up the glass and strewn flora. “Probably wasn’t the best place for me to put that vase…” you continued as you swept. 

“She’s being diplomatic,” Eddie said. “I knocked it over because I’m a klutz.”

“Well I see not much has changed since you moved out,” Wayne said dryly, but the twinkle in his eye belied his serious tone. He clapped a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Merry Christmas kid,” he declared before pulling him in for a hug. 

You were just finishing sweeping up the mess when Wayne turned to you, handing you a bottle of Korbel sparkling wine. “I thought I would bring some bubbly. Merry Christmas honey,” he said, before giving you a hug as well. 

“Oh that’s so nice Wayne, thank you,” you smiled, the trials of the day beginning to fade away. “This will go really well with the charcuterie plate I made for an appetizer.”

You carried the bottle of wine into the kitchen where the snacks were laid out, and put the broom back in its closet. 

“This looks really nice,” Wayne said when he saw the spread of fruit, cheese, and cured meats.

“She’s been working on this all day,” Eddie declared proudly.

“And Eddie helped a lot,” you said, and you exchanged a smile with your boyfriend as you worked at the foil of the wine bottle.  Before you could properly secure the cork for removal, it flew off the neck of the bottle with a loud POP, surprising you. The cork sailed across the room like a bullet before smacking Eddie in the middle of the forehead with a solid, PLAT sound.

The three of you stood in stunned silence. Wayne’s face was frozen in an expression of shock and delight with a sliver of concern. “Nice shot,” he said with awe, breaking the silence.

“Jesus christ!” Eddie yelled as he rubbed his forehead.

“Oh my god,” you yelled. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Eddie said, laughing.

“Are you sure?” you asked.

“Yeah totally. Was that payback for the vase?” 

“No! Not funny!” But you had to admit, it was, and you started to giggle.

“Good thing you weren’t an inch or two off; you’d put his eye out,” Wayne added.

“Ha, like A Christmas Story,” Eddie laughed, but the idea of how close you’d come to disaster made your blood run cold for a moment.

Without further incident, you poured the wine and snacked on charcuterie in the living room, as It’s A Wonderful Life played on TV.  When it was time for dinner, you all gathered in the kitchen as you began pulling out dishes that had been keeping warm in the oven.

“I was thinking we could do this buffet style on the counter since we don’t have a big dining room table,” you began. “But where the heck is the can opener for the cranberry sauce?” You started pulling open drawers and rummaging around in the pantry, but the blasted gadget was nowhere to be found.  “How the heck did I manage to lose the can opener?” you asked nobody in particular with a frustrated sigh.

“Give it here, I can do it,” Wayne said while pulling out his pocket knife.

“Uh,” you said trepidatiously, with your can-holding hand paused in midair. “The way today is going, I don’t want to have to spend Christmas in the ER waiting for you to get stitches.”

Wayne laughed. “I used to open cans this way all the time when I would go camping. It’s no sweat.”

“Very well,” you said and handed it over. You exchanged a worried glance with Eddie, who answered with a shrug as if to say I have no idea how this is going to go.

Very reassuring.

The good news was that Wayne did not cut himself. As he jammed the blade of his knife into the thin aluminum lid, it seemed like everything would be fine.

Until he made the second cut, which by way of science that you didn’t fully understand, caused the liquid inside of the can to spray out of the first hole Wayne had made. It shot out of the can with nearly the same velocity of the sparkling wine cork, and landed directly on your chest, on the white Christmas blouse that you bought especially for this occasion. Bright red cranberry syrup. Kapow.

“Oh dear,” Wayne said, and Eddie lost it.

As you stood dumbly looking down at your ruined blouse, you realized it looked as if you walked into the line of fire of arterial spray. 

“At least it’s just cranberry sauce and not you bleeding out from cutting yourself,” you said, needing to raise your voice slightly over Eddie’s cackles of delight. Wayne looked horrified, but the absurdity of everything had you fighting not to join Eddie in his hysterics.

“If you change, and we put something on it right away, maybe it won’t stain…” Wayne began.

You shook your head as giggles fought to escape; even though your shirt was surely a lost cause, you weren’t mad about it. 

“Red on white. It’s festive!” Eddie squealed, and then you started laughing too.

You doubled over, all the stress and tension of the day flowing out of you as you laughed. Wayne looked unsure of what to do.

“If you squint just right, it could be a poinsettia,” Eddie said, pointing at your shirt. It only made you laugh harder. Wayne finally joined in, after really realizing that you weren’t upset.

“I’m really sorry,” Wayne said, though he was smiling. “I’ll replace the shirt.”

“Honestly, don’t worry about it, I was probably never going to wear this again anyway…”

“You should frame it, it looks like a Jackson Pollock,” Eddie managed while wiping his eyes.

The rest of the dinner mercifully went off without a hitch, though it took a while for Eddie to stop giggling every time he looked at you. In fairness, a purple bullseye bruise started to emerge in the middle of Eddie’s forehead, so the feeling was mutual.

“Well,” you said as you polished off the last of your meal. “Tonight we’ve had a small kitchen fire, a broken vase, and assault by wine cork and cranberry sauce. All in all, things turned out pretty well.”

“Well the food was delicious, honestly babe.” Eddie said, giving your thigh a squeeze under the table.

“It really was, my compliments to the chef,” Wayne agreed.  

“I think the more memorable gatherings are the ones where things go wrong,” Eddie said. “We’ll be laughing about this dinner for years.”

Eddie’s innocuous mention of the future made something warm and comforting unfurl in your chest.

“To making memories, and family,” Wayne said, holding up his wine glass.

“Here here,” Eddie said, hoisting his glass by way of response. 

“To making memories, and family,” you repeated, feeling very happy, and you all clinked your glasses together. You took a moment to observe the scene, smiling to yourself as Wayne and Eddie chatted, Eddie’s animated gesticulating juxtaposed with Wayne’s calm manner, and you realized you were a very lucky person indeed.

Wayne helped clean up before excusing himself; it was Christmas tradition to have pints with the guys from the factory at the Attic. After you hugged goodbye and the door closed behind him, you breathed a deep sigh of relief and contentment. Despite the mishaps, it was a lovely evening, but you were happy to be alone with Eddie again.

Eddie had his arm draped over your shoulders as Wayne departed, and then pulled you in for a hug. “Merry Christmas babe; I love you so much. I’m a really lucky guy,” he said. You thought you might swoon, he was so sweet.

“Merry Christmas Eddie; I love you too,” you replied, your heart full.

“Wait, what’s that?” Eddie said, feigning ignorance as he pointed toward the ceiling.

“Wha–” you began as you followed his point. “Is that mistletoe?”

“I suppose so! How did that get there?” Eddie said, making you giggle.

“Well I guess we'd better appease the mistletoe gods or Jesus or whoever,” you said, with a grin.

“Actually mistletoe dates back to the ancient Greeks,” Eddie said, unleashing another random factoid that his brain stored as a result of his voracious reading. “They thought the berries helped with fertility, but even before that the Druids used it in rituals and sacrifices…”

“Dude,” you said. “Would you shut up and kiss me?”

“Sorry,” Eddie smirked, and he did. 

And he did, and he did, and he did.

Thank you for reading! As always, comments and reblogs are the lifeblood of all fic writers. Please show us some love! :)

MASTERLIST

[justmeinadaze]

We're A Family Part 12 (Steddie X You)

A/N with warnings: Y'all know when I give you both in one you're gonna feel some things lol There is no smut in this one but all the angst and fluff near the end. Like I said I knew I wanted a chapter like this but I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted it to go.

What Y/N and Dylan discuss are things I have been through with biological mother especially that feeling of not being enough. If this triggers you, I highly recommend you skip this chapter. Dylan does confront Charlie about how he treats him and it doesn't go well. Dylan talks in detail about how it makes him feel and the guys and reader will talk about their own traumas with their parents.

If you've ever experienced anything like this or have ever felt you weren't enough for one or both of your parents, I'm here to tell you that they fucking suck and your feelings are valid. You ARE enough <3. I love you!

Word Count: 4535

“Can I, um, talk to you guys about something?”, Dylan asked as he entered the living room. 

Steve looks at his watch before placing his arms back on your legs that were strewn over his lap. “It’s after eight. Didn’t Ed say he had to submit questions in writing at that time?”

“A ha. You’re so funny.”, your son teases as you grin. 

“Do you need everyone or will we do?”, you ask. His eyes look around hesitantly and you know before he speaks. As you rise from the couch, you kiss the top of his head before opening the back door. “Hey! Our son needs a word with everyone over 3.”

“Oh shit. I just barely made it then.”, Eddie chuckles as he takes one last drag and stomps out his cigarette.  

“Ok, weirdo. The floor is yours.” You grin at him encouragingly as you sit between the distance of the boys on the arm rest.

“I…so…um…”, he looks down as he fidgets with his fingers. “I was wondering if…I could, maybe, visit my other dad.”

You feel the tension in the room rise immediately, mostly from Steve’s side as you and Eddie glance nervously at each other.

“I don’t have to like spend the night or anything. I was just thinking maybe a dinner or something.”, Dylan quickly followed. 

“Can I ask why, baby? Why now?”

His anxious eyes meet yours. “I miss him a little bit…him and Vivi…”

“That’s understandable. Is it okay with you if the three of us talk about it first?”

“We can talk about it now. I think it’s a bad idea.”, Steve responded in a hard tone.

“Steve…”, Eddie warned. 

“What? After everything that’s happened?!”

“He’s allowed to feel what he’s feeling.”

“Yeah, and as his parents we are allowed to protect him. I say no.”

“Harrington, you do this every time the topic comes up. Y/N is right, we need to talk this through first and then depending on what we decide we also need to reach out to Charlie.”

As they argued back and forth, you and Dylan continued to stare at each other sympathetically. This is what he was afraid of, hurting their feelings. You saw it in his broken-hearted face while he saw your fear for his own feelings not just when it came to them but Charlie as well. 

You subtly nodded your head, signaling you would handle it before he came over to give you a hug.

“I love you, weirdo.”

“I love you to, mom.”

All conversation stopped as you three watched him head back upstairs.

“I want to make one thing very clear, Steven Harrington. That is the last fucking time you do anything like that in front of my son. Do you understand me?”

“I’m trying to protect—”

“No.”, you cross your arms as you glare at him. “I don’t care what you were trying to do. It took a lot for him to do what he just did especially in front of you both. He knows you two care about him and love him but that doesn’t change the fact that Charlie is his biological parent. He’s not like Aurora. He had a whole other man in his life he called dad for 6 years before you entered the picture.”

Steve’s jaw clenched as he looked away from you. “I just don’t get it. I mean…if Charlie wasn’t a complete douchebag…

“I get it.”, Eddie sighed. “Those first few years after Wayne took me in, I still missed my parents. Even after everything they did, I kept thinking maybe if I was ‘a better kid’ they’d come back. When that didn’t work, it was more like why wasn’t I enough, you know? Then it became a mission. I NEEDED to hear from them why I was easy to leave behind. It took a lot of angry nights and patience from Wayne for me to get here.”

“Steve, I know you mean well. Honestly…”, you exhale as you sit beside him. “I’m more worried about having to tell him that Charlie doesn’t want to hang out with him yet and see that sad look on his face.”

“You shouldn’t have to be the one to tell him that.” You look up at Steve in confusion. “Maybe, if Dylan makes that call…”

****

Dylan sat on your bed as the phone rang. Both men thought it would make him more comfortable if you two were alone but they remained at the foot of the stairs to listen in. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, Vivi.”

“Dylan!? Oh my god. Hey, kiddo. How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m doing really good. I miss you. Did you want to talk to your dad?”

“I miss you to. Please…”

“Ok, bud. One second.” You two listened as there was some shuffling on the other line. “Dil?”

“Hey…dad.”

It broke your heart to hear him hesitate as you ran your hand through his hair. The truth was he didn’t really think about Charlie that way anymore but there was still a part of him that hoped. Eddie’s eyes flicked to Steve who exhaled heavily, patting the space next to him on the stairs. As the boy sat down, the metalhead comfortingly rubbed his palm along his back, resting his chin on his shoulder as they continued to listen. 

“Hey, you. How are you doing? Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, no. Everything is fine. I’m fine. I, um, I wanted to call to see if, um, maybe you and Vivi would want to hang out with me. We could have dinner or something.”

“Oh, dude, that would be amazing…”

Your eyes squeezed shut before he finished his sentence. You knew. He had done this so many times during your marriage. 

“Baby, that’s amazing, but I can’t actually make it to your graduation that day. I have to work.”

“I know this is so hard for you, Y/N, but I don’t think I can go with you to your dad’s funeral.”

“Hon, I had dinner scheduled at this amazing restaurant but something came up…”

Steve knew this dance to but his father was a lot more aggressive with his approach. 

“Congratulations on graduating high school, something everyone accomplishes with little to no effort. I’m proud!”

“Oh, you got an A in English? Come to me when you run your own company. Now THAT’S an accomplishment.”

“But we just have so much going on right now we barely have anytime to even sleep!”, he chuckles. “How about we revisit this conversation in a few months, huh?”

“Ok, baby. Give me this and go hang out in your room, alright?” Dylan hesitates as you pull the phone out of his hand. “It’s ok. I got it.”

“Y/N? Did you put him up to this?!”

“Yes, Charlie. I set in motion a diabolical plan for your son to want to spend time with you.”

“Believe it or not, I have a fucking life of my own now and family to take care of. You both can’t just surprise me like this!”

“He’s asking for a dinner not a fucking vacation! And believe it or not, he’s a part of that family you should be taking care of to.”

The bed dips as Eddie sits beside you, Steve leaning in the doorframe.

“No. Remember, he has a new dad now. Two of them!”

“You’re such a child. Don’t do this, Charlie. He’s a good kid. He deserves better.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Y/N. I’m busy alright. Look… maybe if we go back to court and come up with a schedule so I can make time…

“Yes, because that worked so well in the past. I’m not going to waste time and money to do all that if you can’t even see him for 2 hours.”

“Still so fucking self-righteous. Like you’re god’s gift to parents. I…”

His voice trailed off as Eddie took the phone from your hand. “Yeah, that’s enough of that.”, he growls under his breath as he hangs up. “You ok, sweetheart?”

“Fucking asshole.”

“I mean…I know I’m not the nicest guy but—”

He smiles when you laugh and push his shoulder. Steve comes up to your side and pulls your head against him as he kisses the top of it. 

“I’m sorry, honey. Maybe, we can all go do something this weekend that Dylan likes. Let the kid have some fun.”

###############

You awoke to the sound of a toddler giggling as she tried to pull herself onto your bed. 

“Aurora Munson-Harrington, what are you doing?”, you grin from your place on Steve’s chest.

“Up! Mama, up!”

After untangling yourself from both men’s protective arms, you lean over to grip her biceps as you tug her onto the mattress and plop her on top of the man you were using as a pillow. 

“Dada, wake up.”, Ro smiled as she placed both her hands on his cheeks, pressing her face to his. 

“Can I help you?”, he groggily asked.

“Teehee. Dada, up.”, she laughs again as she signals with her hand that she’s hungry by tapping her mouth. 

“You know, that sounds like a daddy problem. You should go bug daddy.”

“Nooooo… dad!”, she exclaims.

“That’s my girl.”, Eddie smiles as he throws his arm over his eyes, yawning.

Aurora crawls over you and Steve to straddle her father’s chest, tracing his tattoos with her fingers as she waits for someone to do what she asks. 

“I can go make breakfast. Let me just check on Dylan real quick.”

“Din bye bye.”, she waves towards the hallway. All eyes fully open as they turn towards the toddler. 

“Ro, hey, what do you mean Dylan bye?”, you ask.

She fiddles with her fingers for a bit before answering. “Din bye.”, she babbles some more before pointing towards the stairs. “Beep beep!” You jump out of bed as she mimics the alarm noise you’ve heard her do when someone opens the door. 

“STEVE!” He quickly gets up to head for Dylan’s room. “He’s not here!”

“He probably hasn’t gotten far if he woke her up. Come on.”

****

Dylan knew this was going to get him into trouble especially after what his dad did that got him arrested but he has to know. He has to physically talk to his father to understand why he didn’t seem to miss him like he did. 

He loved Eddie and Steve so much but he just couldn’t understand why it was so easy for them to be his dad but not for Charlie. Is it something he did? Maybe he shouldn’t have called Eddie dad in front of him…but he was scared…Eddie made him feel safe. As he got older he found he was more into stuff his dad found “appropriate” like sports and things like that. Isn’t that enough?

After a 15-minute walk, he finally arrived at his destination, exhaling out the nerves before knocking on the front door. No one answered immediately so after a few moments he knocked again. He heard angry rumbling on the other side as it finally flew open and he was met with his father. 

“Who the fu—Dylan? What are you doing here? Where’s your mom?”

“I needed to see you.”

“You what? Hang on, come in. I need to call Y/N and let her know you’re here.”

The boy walked in heading for the living room as his dad detoured towards the kitchen. It was quiet until he heard your voice echo through the phone. 

“Charlie?! Is he there?”

“Yeah, he’s here. Calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down! I’m on my way!”

He huffed under his breath as he hung up the phone.

“I swear, Dil, sometimes your mom such a pain in the ass.”

The boy’s nose scrunches in annoyance. “Don’t call her that.” Charlie turned to glare down at him. “Why don’t you want to spend time with me?”

“Look, bud. You’ll understand more when you get older that adults get extremely busy sometimes and—”

“So does mom, Eddie, and Steve. Eddie owns a store and Steve worked while going to school.”

“Well, fucking good for them.”

The sound of your hand banging on the door cut through the tension that was beginning to build. You flew in as it opened not waiting for an invitation. Charlie gestured for Steve to enter and he did so cautiously, his eyes scanning over Dylan. 

“What the hell were you thinking!? You don’t just leave like that!”

The boys eyes avoided yours as he targeted Charlie again. “WHY don’t you want to spend time with me? I play sports, I get good grades. I’ve gotten into more things I know you like so we can do more stuff together. I don’t get it!”

Steve reached for your arm and pulled you slightly back out of the line of fire.

“ANSWER ME!”

“HEY! I’m your father! You don’t speak to me like that!”

“You’re not my dad!” You started to step forward, prepared to shield him from everything going on but Steve’s arm extended out to stop you as his eyes remained on Dylan. “Steve and Eddie are my dad! They don’t make fun of me or tell me what I like is stupid! They come to every one of games and help me when I need it! They are actually there for me when YOU NEVER WERE!”

“Charlie?”, Vivian’s small voice echoed from the hallway; her hand casually resting on the baby bump. “What’s…what’s going on?”

Dylan’s eyes looked her over from head to toe, his bottom lip quivering as if he was trying to form more words but couldn’t. Steve stepped forward and kneeled in front of him like he did when Dylan was smaller.

“Are you ready to go home?”

The boy nods.

“Ok. Is there anything else you want to say to Charlie or maybe Vivian?”

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”, he whispers.

Steve softly smiles as he runs his thumbs under his eyes. Dylan wrapped his arms around his neck and the man lifted him up like the boy was still six years old. As you three headed for the door, Steve turns to address Charlie. 

“This was your chance and you blew it. I’m not going to let you hurt him anymore. You stay away from him. Do you hear me?”

“Or what?”, your ex challenged.

“Try me, Charlie. We did this once already and you lost. Now you’re messing with my son. It will be a whole lot worse. Stay. Away.”

##############

“Beep beep.”, Aurora parroted as the front door opened. Eddie immediately rose to his feet just in time to see Dylan fly past him and out into the backyard. 

“What happened?!”

Without a word, you followed after him where he was pacing in the grass trying to catch his breath. 

“Dylan, breathe, honey.”

“He’s…he’s replacing me. I knew it…I knew it…”

“Knew what?” His breathing picked up as he slipped further into his panic attack. 

Eddie came down into the yard and encircled his arms around him from behind as he placed his palm on the boy’s chest. 

“Kid, I want you to do me a favor, ok? Whenever you’re ready, tell me five things you can see.”

“Wh-what?!”

“It can be anything. Surprise me.”

“Um…I see…mom…grass…”

“Good. Keep going. What else?”

“I see…dad on…on the porch…Ro playing inside…sky.”

“Good, kid. You badass. Ok, now tell me four things you hear. Again, any four.”

Dylan’s eyes squeezed shut as he tried to focus. “Birds. I hear birds…kids playing in the street. I hear mom’s breath….and my voice.”

“Ok, three things you can feel.”

His chest was still heaving a bit but you noticed his breathing wasn’t as labored. 

“Your hand on my chest. Um…the wind…and the sun.”

“You’re rockin’ it, kid. Two things you smell?”

“Your cigarettes.”

“Well, that’s a given. Even the dead can smell that.” Dylan released a heavy laugh that made you want cry with happiness. “What else?”

“My mom’s perfume.”

“It’s the one you got me for Mother’s Day.”

He and Eddie both grin. “One thing you can taste.”

“My spit.”

The metalhead turned him around, placing both palms on his cheeks. “Gross.” You son laughed as he hugged him, pushing his face into the man’s chest. “You’re okay, Dylan. Everything is okay.”

****

Dylan crashed on the couch with his sister who insisted on laying with him when the boy came back inside. 

“Din sad? No!”

You three leaned against opposite ends of the kitchen counter as Steve updated Eddie on what happened. 

“Fucking prick.”, he sighed. 

“What was that, Ed? That you did with him outside?”

“The sensory thing? It’s something some school counselor taught me after I moved in with Wayne. She said it was meant to ground me, get me out of my brain and focus on the moment.”

“You panicked like that?” He subtly nodded before turning his attention to the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“What on earth do you have to be sorry for, sweetheart?”

“Steve was right. I should have told him no. I should have protected him.”

“He needed this, Y/N. Eddie never got to tell his dad how he felt and the closest I’ll ever get was telling him fuck off when you were pregnant. You got to tell your mom and now he got to tell his dad.” Steve exhales as he folds his arms. “Maybe now he can really start healing.”

###############

After dinner that night and putting Aurora to bed, you laid with Dylan in his room like you guys used to in the apartment. 

“I’m sorry I snuck out. I didn’t mean to scare you guys.”

“I appreciate that. You are still grounded though for the next week.”, you smile as you pretend to shutter. “Why do you have to make me punish you? I don’t know how to do that. You never get into trouble.” He chuckles at your words. “I love you so much, weirdo. I hope you know that.”

“I do, mom. I love you to.”

“I remember when you were born and I held you for the first time… I knew I would do anything for you. I always thought I could protect you from all the bad stuff and I try! I really do but sometimes…things slip past me, I guess.”

“Hey. Are we asleep yet?” Steve pokes his head into the boy’s bedroom. 

“No, why?”, you grin. 

He waves at you both with his hand, urging you to follow him. He leads you outside where Eddie is already waiting. 

“Why hello there child and ma-ma.” You roll your eyes playfully at the man’s announcer style voice. He gestures to the box in front of him. “What we have here are disgusting man dishes we had across the way when we were neighbors.”

“Man dishes?”

“Honey, they are glass items that are in plate form but I wouldn’t legally call them that.”, Steve chuckles as he reaches in and hands everyone something to hold. “Eddie and I figure; we’ve been living here for almost 6 years. Time to leave our rowdy bachelors lives behind us.”

“Wow, you two need to calm down.”, you laugh at them. 

The metalhead smiles as he nudges Dylan with his elbow. “Remember how I told you a few years ago I moved in with my uncle when my dad did something bad?” The boy nods as he listens to Eddie speak. “He was attempting to steal another car when the owner found him hot wiring it. They got into a fight as my dad tried to run but, of course, cops got him. Because this was one of MANY offenses, the judge didn’t even think twice, and locked him up for good. I remember my mom telling me they had arrested him and why. I couldn’t stop thinking ‘Why? He had us…were we not enough?’.”

Eddie abruptly threw the glass against the concreate around the end of the patio as hard as he could. “Oh wow. That felt nice.”

Steve laughed as he inspected the object he was holding. “My dad always wanted me to be ‘the best’ encouraging me to sign up for sports and these clubs that our family had been a part of for generations. The problem was he never told me what ‘the best’ looked like. In high school, I was MVP in basketball but our team never made it to the championship. Somehow that was my fault…not like he would know because he never went to any of the games.”

The man copied Eddie’s action, the glass shattering loudly. “You’re right, man. That did feel nice.”

Dylan looked up at you eagerly as you heavily sighed. “I hated back to school shopping with my parents. Kierra and I would always hold hands and listen to them bicker about which outfit was appropriate. My dad advocated for what would make us comfortable whereas my mom wanted what looked the best. I remember one time she took us into the dressing room and insisted we prove to her that my dad’s suggestions would work. I had on blue jeans and a yellow tank top with sneakers. Kierra found a sundress that was so gorgeous. She, um, she said my sister looked like a truck stop hooker and my shirt over accentuated my stomach making me look fat.”

You threw your glass object a bit harder than you meant to but it did release a lot of aggression you felt in your chest, not just from the memory but everything else. 

“When I was smaller, when mom and dad were together, I didn’t get why he was never home but…I was okay with it because he yelled at you a lot when he was.”, Dylan exhales before continuing. “When he would take me somewhere, he always seemed... distracted. He would be talking to other people or on his phone. He took me to a movie one time and after the previews said he needed to go to bathroom and didn’t come back till the movie was over.”

You son threw his plate hard and you followed him reaching for something else to throw along with him. 

“If I could go back in time, I swear to god…”, you growl. 

“Ok, Rocky. Chill.”, Eddie chuckles as he runs his palm through your hair. “But for real though. What kind of guy would leave a dope kid to watch…what was it?”

“Spiderman.”

“Oh my god. Seriously? Who does that?” The metalhead tosses a plate casually, smiling when it shatters.

“Eddie’s right. I mean, you’ve shown me all those Marvel movies! Wait until Ro get into them and you can tell her all that trivia you gave me. I think it’s so cool you know all that stuff.”, Steve grins as he throws something else. 

“My dad never liked anything I did! He always said it boring and nerdy.”

“Who says? And even then, what’s wrong with being nerdy?” Eddie hands him something to throw and he does. 

“Right? There’s nothing wrong with it. Not like it matters because I tried things he likes and he still doesn’t care!” Dylan continued to talk, casually throwing things between each of his sentence. “I did everything I could and even then, he’s still too busy! He was too busy for mom and me but had time for Vivi! He was too busy to hang out with me but has time for everyone else! He always seemed to find time to make my mom cry or tell me I should try something other boys are into but can’t come to one baseball game! He doesn’t even call me on my birthday anymore! How is he going to have time for a baby when he doesn’t have any time for me!”

Dylan pauses as he reaches into the box again to find it empty. He turns his head to find you three standing off to the side, watching him. Steve takes his hand and guides him to the porch steps where he and Eddie sit so they can be eye level with him as you come up behind him, wrap your arms around his chest, and rest your head on top of his own. 

“Do you how when people say, ‘I know how you feel’ and you think ‘You have no fucking idea how I feel’? Dylan… we KNOW how you feel. We know our family is a little weird but…”, Steve smiles when the boy laughs. “The first time we met you when you knocked on our door, we knew you were a unique kid. You’re so smart, funny, incredibly kind. I love watching you play with Ro. You’re extremely patient with her and you make her giggle all the time.”

“You’re actually a lot like your mom. When we met her our lives were kind of stagnant.”

“Stagnant?”

“Boring.”, you reply. “I know. Eddie’s whipping out the big words.”

“You calm down over there, princess.”, he winks before turning his attention back to Dylan. “What Steve and I are trying to say is, we understand that you’re going to think about or miss Charlie. Nothing wrong with that and you won’t hurt our feelings if you ever want to talk about him or anything like that. We just hope you know that…we love you very much.”

“And we would never do anything to make you feel like you’re not important or that what you like or enjoy doesn’t matter. We see you the exact same way we Aurora. You’re our son. Full stop. No strings attached. No conditions. You’re safe with us, little man.”

Dylan detaches from you to wrap his arms around Steve before disconnecting to do the same with Eddie. 

“Ok, criminal. You’re free from the adults now.”

“Criminal?”

“I don’t know. Kid’s sneaking out now, getting grounded…He’s a wild child. Who knows what he’ll do next.”, Eddie shrugs as Dylan rolls his eyes before they meet yours.

“Go head and can you please make sure Ro is still asleep?”

“Oh! And don’t tell her about this. The toddler doesn’t really need that idea planted in her head of throwing dishes.”

Your son nods as he runs back into the house. Both men look up at you with a knowing gleam in their eyes. 

“And you two were afraid of becoming your fathers.”, you smirk.

“Eh. We may have grown up a little bit these past six years.”, Steve grins as he reaches for your arms, tugging you between his legs before leaning his neck up to kiss your lips. 

“Thank you for that and this.”, you gesture towards the glass. 

“Of course. Now let me go get a broom so you can clean up this mess you made, sweetheart.”

You fain a gasp as he stands and you lightly smack him with your hand. “MY mess!? Excuse me, sir!” Eddie cackles as he runs into the house and Steve guides you towards a step to take a seat. “You’re not even going to let me help, are you?”

The boy shakes his head as he grins, the metalhead charging back out with a broom and a trash bag.

############# @adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @alienthingstwo

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[hbyrde36]

No Vacancy

Chapter 6: Guest Relations

WC: 4465 | R: Explicit | CH: 6/12 | AO3 | Now Complete!

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch4 Ch 5

*STEVE*

“Well, I'm sorry you wasted so much of your time on me.” 

Eddie’s words reverberated in Steve’s head as he watched him turn and walk away back down to the beach. 

He wanted to follow, to fight for what he’d seen in the other man’s eyes in the seconds before they’d kissed. He was almost sure now that Eddie liked him back. 

It made the rejection that much more painful.

He spun on his heel and made his way back to the Buckingham alone, replaying the entire thing over and over again in his mind along the way. He was a little angry, a lot hurt, but also so, so fucking confused. 

It just didn’t make any sense. 

In hindsight it was obvious now that Eddie had been jealous when he’d seen him and Danny together the night before. That’s why he was so mad—so flustered— enough to flee the motel at the crack of dawn just to avoid seeing him. And when Steve kissed him, Eddie kissed back. 

Oh god how he had kissed back.

Naively, Steve had thought that was it—it was finally happening!

But no, Eddie pushed him away, literally and figuratively, and now he was left to wonder if he’d somehow misread everything. 

He couldn’t deny that Eddie was, at the very least, physically attracted to him. That much had become abundantly clear in the last few minutes. But maybe that was all it was, and all of Steve’s talk about caring, and being worried, and feelings had freaked him out.

Steve hoped to sneak past the motel's front office and make it to his room without running into anyone, and by anyone he meant Robin, but of course she spotted him through the glass front doors and came running out to greet him, hands waving like he might have somehow missed her. 

He took a deep breath and tried to school his features into something that he hoped looked a little less devastated than he currently felt, but must have failed in his attempt spectacularly because one look at him made her own face fall. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, wringing her hands.

He blew out a long breath, dropped his gaze to the ground as a wry chuckle falling from his lips. He didn’t have the energy to lie to her.  

“Not really.”

“What happened? Did you see Eddie?”

“Yeah,” he whispered softly, looking back up at her with a sad half smile. “Yeah, I saw him.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Steve knew how much Robin loved him, that she would do anything to make him feel better, but he wasn’t ready for any of that yet. He didn’t want to do this—didn’t want to explain what an idiot he'd been. He just wanted to slink off and hide under a rock somewhere for eight to twelve hours and feel sorry for himself.

Sometime soon he was sure he’d love to sit with her and overanalyze as they drank a few bottles of red wine and had a good cry about it.

But not right now. 

“Not really, if that’s okay. I think I just want to be alone for a while.”

“Of course that’s okay,” She said, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his waist the way he knew she’d wanted to do since she’d first laid eyes on him.

He hugged her back, breathing her in as the two of them stood in the middle of the parking lot holding each other, uncaring of the world around them. Eventually Steve pulled back, dropping a kiss on her head before they stepped apart. 

“Call me if you change your mind,” She rushed out as he moved to leave. “I have ice cream in the freezer and I can be at your door in two minutes flat.” 

“I will.”

It wasn’t really a lie. He would call her if he changed his mind, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. 

What he really needed was some sleep. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically drained—thankful that he had another day off tomorrow. The thought reminded him of the conversation they’d had at dinner the other night and he felt like an asshole for not bringing it up sooner.  

“Did you ask Chrissy about tomorrow night yet?”

“No, that’s…” Robin waved a hand dismissively. “It's dumb. I'd rather just forget it.”

“Robin!” He leveled her with an unimpressed look, a little less sharp than usual but he was doing his best. “You have to go talk to her right now—I’m serious.”

“No, I'm serious.” She said, shaking her head. “I’m not gonna ask you to watch the desk after all this.”

“Oh my god, for the last time you didn’t ask, I offered! And it doesn’t matter what’s happened, I can still watch the place. I want to do it, and if you really want to make me feel better you’ll go on the damn date tomorrow, have a great time, and come back to tell me all about it.”

She sighed, a heavy defeated sound. “That’s a cheap shot. Fine, I’ll ask her in the morning.”

“But-”

“Don’t push it, Harrington.”

Steve pulled out all the stops—raised eyebrows, hands on his hips, foot tapping the pavement impatiently.

“Don’t give me that shit,” Robin mumbled under her breath. “Look, the sooner I ask her, the more time I'll have to freak out about the actual date, so I figure, why not put it off as long as possible?”

“But you’re already freaking out.”

Her eyes narrowed, arms crossing over her chest. “Don’t stand there and attack me with logic.”

“Alright, alright. You do what you want. I’ll come down in the afternoon to see how it went and you can show me whatever I need to know to keep the motel afloat in your absence.”

“Not much you need to know to cover for me for two hours, but sure, I’ll see you then.”

Steve smiled at her, or tried to at least, and walked off towards the stairs to the second floor. 

The room was dark when he got in, the sun having set while he spoke to Robin and he hadn’t bothered to leave a light on for himself when he left.

He didn’t bother turning one on now either. 

He stripped down, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor and threw himself into bed, face buried deep in the pillows, and screamed into them until his throat was hoarse and he eventually cried himself to sleep. 

In Steve’s dream someone was playing with his hair, carding their hand through it in the most soothing way. People were always afraid to touch his hair. They assumed he’d be mad at it getting messed up because of the time and effort he put into it every day, but it was one of his favorite comforts. 

He stirred from sleep gradually, confused when the fingers running over his scalp didn’t disappear with the rest of the dream, and blinked his eyes open, surprised to find someone sitting on the edge of his bed.

No, not—someone.

“Eddie?” 

The hand moved from his hair down to caress his cheek, with a touch so gentle it made his eyes sting. He let out a quiet gasp and nuzzled into it without thinking.

“I’m sorry. I’m an idiot, and I'm so sorry.” Eddie said softly.

Steve couldn’t believe what he was seeing, much less what he was hearing. It wasn’t real—it couldn’t be.. 

“Is this a dream?”

Eddie leaned down, resting his forehead against Steve’s as they breathed each other in. Their noses brushed, lips almost touching. 

“No, Steve. Not a dream. I… shit.” Eddie cursed, pulling back “I-I don’t know how to do this.”

The air that surrounded them, so thick with tension, caught in Steve’s throat. “Do what?”

“Talk.”

With that one little word something in Steve snapped. 

Eddie was probably right, until they talked he would have no idea what any of this meant, or what had changed the other man’s mind and brought him, not just back to their room but into Steve's bed, but for once in his goddamn life he didn’t want to talk. He barely wanted to think. 

He just wanted Eddie.

Steve swept his covers aside revealing that he was lying there dressed only in a pair of thin boxers and rested a hand on Eddie’s knee, slowly sliding it up his thigh as he sat up, bringing their faces close together once more. 

“Maybe we don’t have to talk. Not yet.” He said, gaze dipping down to Eddie’s lips as licked across his own.

Eddie groaned, a deep rumbling sound in his chest. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

It probably wasn’t—it definitely wasn’t but Steve was like a man possessed.

“Do you want me?” Steve asked, nails digging in where his fingers still played along Eddie’s thigh.

“Steve.” Eddie whispered his name, making the word sound like a cross between a warning and a prayer.

“Do. You. Want. Me?” Steve asked again, more insistent this time, and released his grip on Eddie's leg to skim up under his t-shirt, fingers brushing over the trail of hair on his lower stomach.

Eddie tensed, sucking in a harsh, shuddering breath. “Of course I fucking want you,” he practically growled, reaching out to grasp Steve by the wrist. Not stopping him or pushing him away, just holding him there. 

“I think I’ve always wanted you.”

The last was said so softly, in such contrast, as if he hadn’t really meant to say it aloud. Steve let the words wash over and through him, not ready to think about what they may or may not mean, before surging forward, at last closing the short distance between them to crash their lips together. 

All that mattered right now was this moment, the feeling of Eddie’s mouth on his, their bodies pressed together, Eddie’s nails scratching lightly down his back. 

Steve tugged roughly on the front of Eddie’s shirt and leaned back, trying to guide the other man down on top of him, but Eddie resisted, breaking the kiss. 

“I’m gonna to get sand all over your bed,” he panted.

Steve sat back up, taking Eddie's earlobe between his teeth, biting down just hard enough to make him gasp. 

“Oh?” Steve breathed, letting out a hot puff of air against the other man’s ear, and felt him shiver. “I guess you’ll just have to take your clothes off then.”

Eddie swallowed, audibly. “Jesus Christ.”

Then he was pulling back to stand, and while Steve sat perched on the edge of the bed gazing up at him, Eddie quickly tugged his shirt up and over his head, revealing an expanse of pale chest and torso decorated with intricate black and gray artwork. 

Steve was on his feet in an instant, circling. He’d seen Eddie shirtless before but had never allowed himself to really see and admire him properly 

Tonight, he would look his fill.

Some of the tattoos were familiar, the bats and puppet master pieces on his arm were always on display of course, but set up high on his chest just below his collarbone was a demon skull with dead eyes and tendrils of dark stringy hair flying around its head, and a large terrifyingly realistic black widow spider. Steve could remember catching glimpses of those back when the two men were still in school together, on the rare occasion Eddie would actually show up for gym class and be forced to change in the boys locker room with everyone else. 

The rest was less familiar—a creeping pattern of darkly inked vines and wild roses that began on his right side just under his ribs. They trailed across his back, snaking down and around to the other side of his body over the front of his left hip. The flower buds were all different sizes and in various states of bloom and decay, but it was the bloodied thorns speckled throughout, the only spots of color on Eddie’s body, that grabbed Steve's attention the most. He traced the intricate lines and swirls with his fingertips, following their path along Eddie’s skin to where it eventually disappeared into the waistband of his pants, letting his hand rest lightly on Eddie’s fly. 

Done examining, at least for now, Steve kissed a trail up the column of Eddie's throat as he quickly worked the other man’s belt buckle open, popped the button on his jeans, and dipped his hand in, wrapping his palm around Eddie’s hot, hard length for the very first time. 

Eddie moaned and wound his fingers through the hair on the nape of Steve's neck, gripping it tight and forcing his head back. Steve’s mouth dropped open in surprise, the hint of pain making his entire body flushing with heat. Then Eddie's lips were on his, his tongue forcing its way inside as if he needed to taste him again more than he needed air.

Steve began to slowly stroke Eddie’s cock as best he could inside the confines of his jeans, pulling a whine from his throat that Steve swallowed down greedily. He loved how responsive Eddie was to his touch, yearned to hear what other sounds he might be able to coax out of the man with his efforts, but Eddie didn’t let it go on for long. 

Without breaking their kiss, Eddie forced him back, until the back of Steve’s knees hit the bed, sending him tumbling down to the mattress. Eddie shoved his jeans down to his ankles, kicking out of them in a rush before climbing up onto the bed, cock swinging heavy between his legs, his body hovering over Steve’s. Eddie kissed his mouth once, an almost innocent brushing of lips compared to what they’d been doing so far, but quickly abandoned Steve's mouth to explore the rest of him. 

Eddie kissed, and licked, and bit his way down the length of Steve's body, starting with the delicate skin of his neck, and ending with a scrape of teeth along his hip bone just above the waistband of his boxers. 

Meeting Steve’s eyes as though asking permission—as if Steve would deny him anything—Eddie slipped his fingers into the elastic on either side of Steve’s waist and waited, the patient expression on his face belied only by hunger in his gaze. Steve nodded eagerly and Eddie wasted no time yanking the boxers off and tossing them aside, the last strip of clothing between them, setting Steve’s own achingly hard cock springing free. 

Eddie stared for a moment, something like reverence in his gaze, before returning to his work, sucking a bruise into the skin of his inner thigh, carefully avoiding the one area Steve was most desperate to be touched. 

Steve whined, squirming even as Eddie kept a tight grip on his hips, urging him to remain still. 

It was too much, watching Eddie with his head nestled between his legs, practically worshiping him, but he still wanted more. Steve bucked, and thrashed, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. 

He wanted Eddie to just touch him, already. He needed more, he needed him to–

“Fuck me,” Steve cried out, the words tumbling out of his mouth without his permission, desperate and whoreish even to his own ears. 

Eddie paused his movements, his eyes cast down, lips still pressed to Steve’s skin. “What did you say?”

“Please,” Steve begged, past caring about how he must sound. “Please, I-I need you—need you to fuck me.”

Eddie looked up, wide eyed and mumbling something to himself.

Steve only caught the words “I knew” and “dangerous.” He didn’t know what that meant, and he honestly didn’t care because a second later Eddie wrapped his plush lips around the head of his cock and and sank down, taking Steve’s full length all the way to the back of his throat in one go. 

In the morning he might be embarrassed, worried they'd been overheard, but in the moment Steve moaned, loud and completely unrestrained, heedless of the amount of noise they were making when it felt this good. Eddie hollowed his cheeks, bobbing his head at a slow pace as he smoothed his hands up and down Steve’s calves and thighs. The touch was tender, affectionate, and that feeling of too much and yet not enough came bubbling back up in his chest with a vengeance. 

Steve continued to beg, a chorus of “please, please, please” falling from his lips even as Eddie’s mouth brought him closer and closer to the edge of coming. When he was reduced to a wordlessly babbling, panting mess, Eddie finally pulled off, working him by hand while he grabbed a nearby pillow, sliding it under Steve’s hips. 

Eddie dove back in, but not to take Steve’s cock back into his mouth. He moved lower, and using both hands to pull Steve's ass cheeks apart, spat directly on his hole. 

The feel of it had Steve throwing his head back, mouth slack and wide open as a wanton sound was ripped from his throat that he would swear he'd never made before. His dick twitched and his whole body shuddered with it. He had no idea that being spit on was something he’d be into, but the evidence was damning. He felt hot all over, his skin on fire, and for something that should have been gross, it was anything but.

Eddie huffed a quiet laugh, pressing a kiss to Steve’s knee as he spread the rapidly cooling saliva around the puckered skin of his entrance, before pushing the tip of one finger inside. 

It wasn’t until Eddie had worked the digit in past his knuckle and the slightly cold metal grazed Steve’s rim that he realized Eddie still had his rings on–and fuck, that really did something for him too. Steve whimpered, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood—so desperate to be filled that when Eddie added a second finger, he flung his hands back flat against the headboard, using it as leverage to push himself down, trying to fuck himself on Eddie’s hand harder.

“Easy,” Eddie whispered, pressing lips to his leg again. “Don’t wanna hurt you.” 

He continued to kiss a line down Steve’s inner thigh, all the way to the place he was pumping his fingers in and out of at a torturously slow pace, and ran his tongue along the edge of Steve’s  hole, letting more split trickle down to ease the glide. 

Steve’s eyes rolled back as he felt a third finger work its way inside, shouting when at the same time Eddie took hold of his cock again, licking a wide stripe from the base to the tip before swallowing it down.

While the first two digits had entered him easily, the last had Steve feeling the burning stretch that he craved, and he reveled in it—sinking into the pleasurable pain.

He felt the world around him go quiet in the way it sometimes did when he had really great sex. The whole universe narrowed down to the warmth enveloping him and the fingers inside him, and for just a moment he thought—even if this was only a one time thing, it might just be worth having a broken heart for the rest of his life if he got to have this, here and now, tonight. 

It wasn’t long before Steve felt himself relax, could feel how Eddie was able to plunge in and out of him freely now. He was ready, he was so fucking ready, and he couldn’t stop himself from making high needy sounds to spur the other man on. 

Eddie made soothing noises in return, saying softly, “I know, I know you’ve been so patient. I’ve got you, you’re going to get everything you want, I promise.”

Steve winced a little at the empty feeling as Eddie eased his fingers free, leaning off the side of the bed to reach for their shared nightstand, quickly retrieving a condom and bottle of lube—Steve's judging by the color of the bottle. He sat back on his heels, tearing the packet open with his teeth, never looking away from Steve’s face as he rolled the condom down over himself. 

Steve waited to be told to flip over, or a nudge to his hip, a not-so-subtle indication that it was time for him to turn and assume the usual position, but it never came. Eddie smoothed his hands over Steve’s thighs again, the same loving touch he’d given him before, and then took his own cock in hand, giving it a few lazy strokes before lining himself up with Steve’s entrance. Inch by inch Eddie pushed inside, hiking Steve’s legs up and falling forward, bracketing Steve's body with his hands on either side.

Oh.

Steve fought not to let it show, what he was feeling. He hadn’t expected them to do this face to face. He’d been prepped a similar way before, but found guys usually wanted to fuck him from behind.

It was incredibly intimate like this. Staring into each other's eyes from inches away while Eddie made gentle shallow thrusts felt a lot more like making love than fucking—and that, more than anything, was going to ruin him, Steve was sure, but he couldn't stop it now. Wouldn’t give this up, no matter the cost.

As Eddie finally bottomed out he leaned down, capturing Steve's lips with his own for a moment, and pressed their foreheads together again, just like he had when Steve first woke up. He eased his hips back slowly, only to snap them forward again, hard and fast, punching a shout out of Steve's chest, a sound that Eddie swallowed down as he slotted their mouths back together again. 

They never stopped kissing, even as Eddie pounded into him, harder and faster, nailing that sweet spot inside him with every stroke, until Steve was brought right to the brink.

He was close—so fucking close and Eddie hadn’t laid so much as a finger on his dick since they’d started going at it.

Eddie was close too, Steve could feel it in the way his cock pulsed inside and the rocking of his hips became more and more erratic. 

And then Eddie did break the kiss, pulling back just enough to reach a hand between their bodies and jerk Steve off. It felt amazing, but the relief of finally getting friction on his poor neglected cock, was overshadowed by the loss of Eddie’s lips. He keened, unable to stop the sound from escaping his throat, but before he could even be embarrassed about how needy and clingy he must sound, Eddie was there, feeding at his mouth like a starving man. 

Maybe needy did it for him. 

“Are you close, baby?” Eddie murmured into his mouth, not daring to break their kiss again to ask. 

Baby.

“Yes,” Steve gasped. “So fucking close.”

Eddie kept slamming into him as they panted into each other's mouths, not so much kissing really as sharing breath and rubbing their lips together, but it was enough, and after two final powerful thrusts Steve was coming hard—his vision whiting out as he shot off in hot, thick spurts between them. Eddie followed him over the edge straight after, cock pulsing inside while Steve’s walls clenched down around him. 

Steve never felt Eddie pull out, never noticed him leave as he floated on the high of the most intense release he’d ever felt. The next thing he knew, Eddie was walking back to the bed, a damp rag in his hand to clean them up. 

As Eddie gently swiped the cloth over his chest and stomach Steve came back to himself, and tried not to panic about what happened now. He told himself he’d be fine no matter how things played out. If Eddie climbed back into bed with him to cuddle and sleep it off, then that was great, wonderful, perfect. 

And if instead he got into his own bed, turned over and went to sleep? That was going to have to be okay too. 

When they were as clean as they were going to get without the help of a shower, Eddie threw the washcloth in the direction of the bathroom and crawled back into bed at his side— leaving a deliberate space between them.  

They stared at each other over the chasm of inches and it suddenly hit Steve that Eddie was just as afraid of what came next as he was. 

He saw his own fear and anxiety reflected back at him through big brown eyes—and the tightness in Eddie's body that disappeared when they began fooling around had returned, even worse than before. 

Steve pulled his lip between his teeth, watching as Eddie followed the movement—and he didn’t know who moved first but they crossed that invisible line at the same time, wrapping each other up in a tangle of arms and legs that left him wondering where he ended and Eddie began. Not sure he cared to ever figure it out. 

They laid together, unspeaking, in the quiet dark for a long time, while Eddie stroked his hair and kissed his temple so many times that he lost count. Eventually Steve’s eyes slipped shut, and it would have been all too easy to drift off surrounded with all that comfort, but they still hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room.

Steve forced his eyes open, shifting so he could see Eddie's face clearly. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth to speak, and let out a huge yawn instead, somehow still managing to get the words in the end. “Why did you come back?” 

Eddie smiled sadly, cupping his cheek, tracing what Steve imagined were dark circles under his eyes with his thumb. “You’re tired. We can talk tomorrow.”

Steve wanted to argue but Eddie was right, they were both exhausted. 

“Will you still be here in the morning?”

“Of course. I mean, I do live here, Stevie.”

Steve smiled, pretty sure mild teasing was a good sign.

He settled back down into Eddie’s side, rubbing his cheek against the sparse hair on his chest, accepting that their talk could wait, but he still wanted to be clear.

“You know what I mean. Will you be here, in this bed, with me.”

“I will. I’m not going anywhere, Steve. I promise.”

“And we’ll talk?” Steve asked, voice gone softer than a whisper as his eyes fell closed again, sleep pulling at him in a way he could no longer fight. 

“Yeah baby,” Eddie replied just as softly, pressing lips to the top of his head. “We'll talk as much as you want.”

Chapter 7

Thanks forever to @penny00dreadful for being the best friend, cheerleader, and beta in the whole fucking world💜

Taglist: @manda-panda-monium @hellion-child @dreamwatch @brbsoulnomming @epiclazershark @estrellami-1 @lokfae @raisedbylibrarians @impala314 @meganwinchester @kacatshi @warlordess @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @garden-of-gay @meela86 @gregre369 @finntheehumaneater

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Hi Cal!

I'm super stoked for your BTHB! I'm also titillated about what Athena noticed in your last snippet for the whodunnit...

As if that weren't enough, I'm doing the pre-season rewatch and just saw the episode with the baby box this evening, so I'm also looking forward to seeing how the boys handle it together in the switcheroo.

🚨🚨🚨🚨

🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

🫶🏼, ~Maxi

HI MAXI!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

12 for 🚨:

---

“I’m sorry you didn’t save those other people,” Chris whispers. “But you saved me.”

Buck takes a deep breath. His eyes are glued to Christopher. 

“And I get to be alive,” Chris says. “And live here, with you. And you get to be my second dad. So that’s good, right?”

He asks the last part in the tiniest, most hopeful voice Eddie has ever heard. Like he’s terrified to hear, no, sorry, it’s not enough. Eddie looks at Buck with pleading eyes. Don’t turn him away right now. 

---

27 for 🦷:

---

Eddie drops his hand to his side stiffly, embarrassed. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles. 

Christopher’s mouth shifts to the side strangely; an expression Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever seen him make before. Like he’s holding his jaw at a very uncomfortable angle, teeth all out of alignment. 

“You have a mustache,” Christopher says. 

“Yeah,” Eddie replies, raising his hand to touch it a little self-consciously.

“Why do you have a mustache?” He asks.

Question of the damn month.

“Uh, I don’t know.” A lie. Great start, Eddie. “I needed a change, I guess.”

“It looks sort of weird,” Chris says.

Eddie tries not to sigh. “That’s what Chimney says, too.”

“What does Buck say?” Chris asks. 

A tiny smile finds its way to Eddie’s mouth. 

“He likes it,” Eddie replies. 

“Okay, well don’t do that stupid thing where you twirl the endings,” Chris warns. 

“I won’t,” Eddie promises. Not even a thought in his mind, truly. “Uh, you ready to go home?”

It’s a loaded question, Eddie knows. But he doesn’t mean it more generally. He just means, is Chris ready to get out of this damn airport.

---

27 for ☠️:

---

“I’m just hoping Maddie and Chimney are having a good time on their vacation,” Athena says. “They really deserve it, don’t you think?”

Bobby smiles. “Yeah. They really do.”

vi.

The next day, Athena does the only thing she can think to do. The only thing that feels right. 

She gives Hen a chance. 

Of all the members of the 118 implicated in Gerrard’s death - as far as Athena and only Athena knows - Hen is the one she feels she owes the most benefit of the doubt. They’ve been close friends for over a decade. They know each other very well. They trust each other. So she has to give Hen a chance to dispel Athena’s doubts. 

Then she will decide how to move forward. 

She arrives at Hen and Karen’s without warning. She doesn’t want to give them a chance to prepare. Consult with Buck and Eddie. Though maybe they already have, given the grocery store run-in. Regardless, Athena wants their most spontaneous reaction possible. 

“Athena?” Karen asks, eyes wide, when she opens the door. “Did you and Hen have plans?”

“No,” Athena replies. Karen’s hesitation at seeing her is answer enough. “I was hoping to talk to her though. Is she home?”

Karen nods quickly. “Yeah, she is.”

---

15 for 🚨:

---

“I’m sorry,” he says to Christopher. “I know. You’re right, buddy. That’s so… That’s so good.” 

Eddie exhales, relieved.

“Do you remember what you said?” Chris asks him.

Buck pulls out of the hug a little to look at him.

“When?” He asks shakily.

“During the tsunami,” Chris clarifies.

“What did I say?” Buck asks. He looks like he really isn’t sure what Christopher remembers. 

[patchworkgargoyle]

🩸 A Steddie Big Bang Fic 🌙

Chapter 4

story by: @patchworkgargoyle || art by: @mcdadarts || playlist to come by: @steves-strapcollection Rating: E || Words: ~3.5k || CW: graphic depictions of violence, blood drinking || Full tag list on ao3! || Posting: weekly Fic title from Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio

It had taken two hours–two whole, entire hours, from 12:30am to nearly 3am–for Munson to get enough things together for him to feel ready to leave for Steve’s house. He’d kept getting distracted, rifling through his room like he’d forgotten almost everything he owned and each uncovered trinket was a noteworthy discovery. And Steve was annoyed.

Dustin and Chrissy managed to keep Eddie on track, somehow, and Steve knew if they hadn’t they’d never have left before the sun came up. All he’d done was sit in the doorway to Eddie’s room and complain that they were wasting time. How many damn band tees did a guy need, anyway?

When he saw Eddie try to put his infamous lunchbox into his patched up duffel bag, Steve put his foot down. “No, you’re not bringing that into my house.”

“I’m an entrepreneur, Harrington, don’t tell me I can’t keep up my business. One that you’ve personally partaken in, in fact, so you being stuck up about it isn’t gonna fly.” he replied with a tight smirk.

“Business?” Dustin asked, but went ignored by every teen.

“If you’re still out making–” Steve glanced at Dustin. “Making money, running around town, that messes up the plan. And you can’t have them come to my house either.”

Eddie grit his teeth, clearly trying to bite back a sneer, then tossed the lunchbox onto his bed a little rougher than Steve thought was necessary, narrowly missing Chrissy who was unfazed. Steve just rolled his eyes.

There was an awkward moment of silence, then Dustin spoke again. Bluntly. “Eddie, are you a prostitute?”

Eddie burst out laughing, loud and unrestrained. Chrissy choked out a giggle, hand over her face. Eddie doubled over with his arms wrapped around his waist and Steve’s eyes were drawn to the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, dark lashes fanned over his cheeks while tears started to clump them together. Swallowing, Steve looked away and ignored how his face heated at Dustin’s question.

“Jesus H. Christ, kid, that’s a new one,” Eddie said around his poorly contained cackling, wiping at his eyes. “I’m a creature of the night, not a man of the night. There’s a difference.”

Of course, Dustin wasn’t deterred. “What’s in the lunchbox then?”

It was then that Eddie scooped up the joint he’d rolled for Steve off the floor, like he’d just remembered it was there, and shoved it into his pocket. “Something I’ll tell you about when you’re older.”

“No, you will not,” Steve said firmly, glaring at Eddie who held his hands up in surrender in a way that was distinctly sarcastic, a glint in his eye like he knew he was pushing Steve’s buttons. It set his teeth on edge. The dimple that appeared when Eddie smirked and winked at Dustin made it worse.

But, eventually, they were on their way. Chrissy drove off after promising to stop by Steve’s in a day or two, and also after extracting from Steve a promise to keep Eddie safe. She and Eddie had hugged for a long time while Steve loaded Dustin’s bike into his trunk, which did nothing to convince Steve there wasn’t something going on between them, but at this point it wasn’t really his business.

On the way to drop Dustin off, the kid asked Eddie an endless stream of questions which Eddie could only answer half of. Was he able to go out in sunlight? No. What happens? His skin starts to boil and blister. Did he have a healing factor? Yes. Could he turn into a bat or a wolf? He fuckin’ wished.

When Steve parked in Dustin’s driveway, Dustin was in the midst of asking, “So who turned you?”

“Uh, wasn’t a ‘who’ as much as it was a ‘what.’” Eddie leaned into the space between the front seats, tilting his chin up and pulling down the collar of his shirt. There was no missing the scarring on Eddie’s jaw, but it was shocking to see how far it went down, and how ragged the scarring really was.

“Did you get used like a chew toy?” Steve asked, which got a snort out of Eddie.

“Bet you’d know all about that, huh?” he teased. Steve’s lips pursed and he hoped it was dark enough they couldn’t see the flush in his cheeks. He shouldn’t have said anything.

Before Eddie could start explaining, the front door swung open, spilling light onto the driveway and Claudia stepped out, hair in curlers, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe, and wearing a deeply worried frown. Dustin cursed under his breath and scrambled out of the car with a hasty goodbye.

“You’re welcome!” Steve said, but Dustin slammed the door shut before he finished, trapping the following sigh within the leather upholstered interior.

He only half-listened to the muffled conversation between the Hendersons, having heard the worried questioning brushed off too many times to count, now, and returned the smile and wave Claudia sent his way before they went inside.

“Kid’s really got an ego,” Eddie said with a nervy laugh, and Steve snorted.

“You could say that again,” he replied.

The drive home was, well, probably the most awkward one Steve had ever experienced. For all of Eddie’s bluster in the trailer he fell unnervingly silent. His leg, though, kept bouncing rapidly, and he picked at his cuticles while he kept his gaze fixed out the windshield. Even his slow heart picked up to something a little closer to a normal, human pace.

“You okay, man?” Steve eventually asked once the bouncing started to drive him a little insane.

The laugh that escaped Eddie sounded manic. “Sure, dude, just waiting for the point at which you pull over and take me out like some supernatural hitman.”

“Wait, what? I’m not gonna t-take you out!”

“You mean you weren’t waiting to get me alone just to assassinate me?” 

Steve shook his head, baffled. “No! I’m literally just taking you to my place. That was the plan, not whatever… insane thing you’re thinking of.” Sparing Eddie a glance, he caught him staring back with wide, tense eyes, his irises black in the darkness of the car. “I promise, Munson. No funny business.”

He let out a long exhale, but finally Eddie slumped heavily into the seat. “Thank fuck. I don’t particularly want to die, especially not at the hands of a monster-hunter-turned-werewolf.”

“If it helps, I’d make it quick and painless,” Steve said, smirking. He hoped the joke would land and not make Eddie either more worried or, worse, piss him off. He didn’t want an angry vampire loose in his car.

Thankfully, after a pause, Eddie barked out a laugh, head thumping against the headrest. “Good to know I’m in the hands of an ethical killer, then.”

Steve chuckled along, but it faded quickly as the words soured something in his gut. He had to set that straight, right now. “I don’t, uh, kill. If I can help it.” Catching Eddie’s interested look, he continued. “It kinda goes on my record as a hunter, and not as a good thing, but I can’t bring myself to do it. There’s some stuff that’s really just an animal, and if they go feral then I have no choice, but that’s, like, the very last option. Most creatures are pretty sentient, so…”

“So killing them feels wrong?” Eddie supplied where Steve trailed off, and Steve nodded, finally pulling into his own darkened driveway.

“Yeah. They can be reasoned with, somehow, or led away to a safer place, y’know?”

“Huh.”

With the Bimmer in park, Steve turned to Eddie. He had his head tilted to the side, curls draped across his unscarred cheek as his eyes darted all over Steve’s face. A tiny line formed between his eyebrows. Steve felt examined, like Eddie was assessing him, and wanted to look away, get out of the car and walk off the buzz the intensity left under his skin. Maybe it was just a vampire thing.

A slow smile stretched Eddie’s full lips, one that felt much more genuine than any others Steve had seen that night. “So you’re just a glorified wildlife rescuer?” he said, amused. Steve just shrugged.

“I guess so. Supernatural wildlife.”

“Now that makes me feel a lot better. Bleeding Heart Harrington, who knew?”

“Shut up, you’ll ruin my reputation,” he joked. Shoving Eddie’s shoulder, he said, “C’mon, let’s get you settled in Munson.”

—

Having someone in his house 24/7 was an experience Steve hadn’t had since he was a kid. Once he hit his mid-teens, his parents started going on consultation trips and left Steve in as the resident Harrington Hunter in Hawkins, only backed up by the (usually ineffective) police, and the Carvers. He did well enough for himself, and he took a little bit of pride in being independent, told himself he liked the quiet. Filling the house with parties, before everything went to shit, was just expected of him. Having Robin and the kids around a few times a week was just for hunter business (and to hang out with his best friend).

This, though? Having a bored, listless, undead roommate messing with his things, moving them out of place, leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor even though the basket was right there, closing all the blinds and curtains instead of staying in the guest room to sleep during the day, like a normal person would? It was the most annoying experience of his life.

Each morning he’d join Steve in the kitchen before work, his eyes boring longingly into Steve’s mug of coffee. The first morning he offered to brew more, yet Eddie shook his head and said, “Wish I could, buddy, but I don’t think either of us wants to clean up that mess,” and cackled at Steve’s disgusted grimace. But it turned into a routine from there, with Eddie poking fun at his mom’s dull decor choices and Steve’s hair care habits while Steve struggled to bring his brain up to speed with Eddie’s seemingly endless energy. He did notice the dark circles under Eddie’s eyes growing a little more intense each day, but if Eddie didn’t seem bothered by anything, Steve wouldn’t mention it.

Steve would come home to find his parents’ records strewn all across the off-white carpet, Eddie lying amongst the pile listening to whatever he’d claimed to be “barely tolerable” at a truly ridiculous volume. He couldn’t get too mad, because when he’d ask Eddie to turn the volume down he’d give a genuine apology and scramble up to reach the volume knob, but still. Annoying.

Add to it the rest of the Party, who demanded to invade his house as soon as Dustin told them all the news, and Steve was ready to pop a blood vessel.

He wasn’t supposed to have to babysit a group of middle schoolers and a fully-grown adult nerd, and yet. Here he was. At least the others would be arriving soon for a meeting.

They were so loud, too. Dustin, Mike, and Eddie sounded like they were arguing but from the sounds of it they were just excited. Will, Lucas, and Max sat in their own little bubble, talking just as loud if only to hear themselves over the obnoxious yelling. Steve had to close himself in his kitchen and breathe for a few minutes before he could face the noise, and how Max managed to handle it he had no idea.

“Alright, hey!” he shouted over the mass of nerds huddled in his living room. They didn’t stop. He clapped his hands, loudly. “Hey!”

Finally all their heads turned to him. Will and Lucas at least had the manners to look apologetic. The rest of them were unimpressed–though Max was exempt, Steve couldn’t change that if he tried.

“Keep it down, you’re gonna make me burst an eardrum.”

“Whatever, old man,” Max snarked with a little smirk. Lucas laughed, making Steve roll his eyes with a fondness he’d deny.

“Sorry, Steve,” Will said.

He sighed. “It’s fine. Don’t know what you’re all screaming about anyway.”

“Eddie was telling us about his D&D campaign,” Dustin said.

“Of course. That definitely means you have to shout at the top of your lungs.”

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all gave him a glare that screamed, “Duh.” Brats. But then Steve saw the thoughtful look on Eddie’s face. One that spelled bad news.

“Y’know, I couldn’t run a campaign for you tiny tots through Hellfire because of the–” he waved a lazy hand at the curtains shutting out the weak autumn light from the backyard, “but maybe I can now.” He grinned when the boys all started shouting again and Steve let out a groan.

“Maybe if you all shut the hell up,” Steve said, surly and rubbing at his temples. That was when the doorbell started to ring, repeatedly and insistently, and Steve stormed off to go answer the door.

Robin opened it with her key just before he’d gotten there, grinning. “Hey, dingus!” Nancy and Jonathan stood behind, the former glaring at Robin and the latter wearing a sheepish smile. Before he could even invite them in, Robin pushed past with an affectionate shoulder bump.

“I’m sorry, I think she heard that racket and–”

Steve finished Nancy’s sentence while pulling her into a one-armed hug. “Decided to be an ass? Yeah. That happens. I’ll get her back by stealing her food at work.”

“I heard that!” she shouted from the kitchen needlessly.

“Good!”

Jonathan chuckled at the exchange and gave an awkward nod when he followed Nancy inside. All they were waiting on now was Hopper and Eleven’s arrival. The teens gathered on the fringes of the kids’ loose huddle around Eddie, catching up on their day-to-day, which mostly meant commiserating about school and work, until the last knock on the door came and Steve let Hopper and El inside.

El gave Steve a bright, wide smile and raced off to the kids, leaving Hopper shaking his head fondly at her.

“How’s it going, kid?” he asked, clapping Steve on the shoulder.

“It’s fine. Looking forward to getting this solved though.”

Hopper hummed in agreement, making his way to the group.

“Oh, fuck.” Eddie’s eyes went wide when he saw Hopper, quickly looking at Steve. “Why’s he here!?”

“Good to see you too, Munson,” Hopper droned, “but for once it’s not because of your shitty life choices.”

Eddie snorted. “Says the guy who buys–”

“Shut it.”

Steve watched the two, biting back a smile when Eddie zipped his lips and gave a mocking salute, Hopper’s eyes narrowing at the gesture. Catching his eye, Eddie smirked at Steve, the corner of his mouth pulling down in amusement. He couldn’t help it, a smile cracked through Steve’s resolve and he dipped his head to hide it.

Sighing, Hopper began again. “So, I assume at this point everyone’s been caught up on the situation?” A round of nods and he grumbled, “There’s no secrets in this damn group. Fine, makes this easier then.” He jerked his chin at the kids. “You lot, you’re to stay out of anything that isn’t research. You’ve seen enough already.”

Where Will and Lucas looked a little queasy at the memory of the werewolf, Dustin, Mike, and Max started protesting. El merely glanced between them all curiously, but when Mike started to make his defence, she began to nod.

“We were the ones to find it, we know what to look for!”

“You know a dead werewolf body when you see it, great job,” Hopper snarked. “That’s more than you should’ve ever seen, so you’re benched, got it?”

They groaned.

“If anyone calls the paper about some weird sightings, I’ll follow up on it and let everyone know. And maybe Jonathan and I can check the archives, on the off-chance that there’s something there?” Nancy said, earning a nod from Hopper.

“Steve?” He looked up when his name was called. Hopper seemed almost apologetic about what he was going to say next. “Your best move is to do nothing. We can’t have you drawing attention to your squatter.”

“Hey, I was invited, thank you very much,” Eddie said.

Steve sighed, frowning. He knew it was right, but he hated being put on the sidelines. It also meant he couldn’t be out there, helping. “So no patrols?”

“Nope. Sorry, kid.”

He folded his arms and leaned further against the corner he’d claimed. “What if something else happens? Other hunter stuff?”

“Leave it to me, alright? Me and the guys can handle it for a while. Hell, maybe we’ll even make the Carvers pull their weight for once.” Steve and Hopper both shared a scoff at the idea, though Steve still wasn’t confident that those in the know at Hawkins PD could handle much at all.

“I guess that leaves me on Dingus Distraction Duty.” Robin sidled up beside Steve, offering him an open bag of chips pilfered from his own kitchen.

“I think now you’ve got two dinguses to distract, if you’re hanging out here,” he said. She and Eddie locked eyes expressionlessly for a moment, then pointed finger-guns at each other, giggling. Why did this suddenly seem like a very bad idea?

“If anything comes up, like if you find another corpse, you’ll call me, right?” Steve asked, a little worried about his fate if Robin and Eddie got along as well as he dreaded they would, and Hop nodded.

“You’ll be the first person I call.”

“Wow, Harrington, you’d rather hang out with a dead guy than an undead guy? That hurts.” Eddie put his hands over his heart. “That hurts right here.”

“That feels discriminatory,” Robin said. Eddie nodded excitedly.

Steve just hung his head with a sigh.

The meeting wrapped up not long after, with rides arranged and meet-ups for later organised. Robin left with Nancy, Mike, Jonathan, and Will after threatening Steve into hanging out after their shift tomorrow (not that he really needed to be threatened), the other kids getting ferried home by Hopper.

Steve waved them all off and closed the front doors with a relieved sigh. Finally the house was quiet. Steve walked back to the living room, expecting Eddie to have started ransacking his movie collection only to find him still in his spot on the couch, looking paler than usual. His hand was clamped tightly over his mouth, eyes screwed shut and chest rising and falling in very slow, measured breaths. Something about it had the hairs on the back of Steve’s neck standing on end.

“Whoa, dude, you okay?” he asked, stepping closer. Eddie flinched hard.

“Just gimmie a sec.” Eddie’s words, muffled by his palm, were flat and forced.

Steve froze. “Sure, yeah, okay.”

Afraid to move, Steve stayed in that spot halfway to Eddie between the couch and the coffee table. Neither of them spoke. All Steve could hear was Eddie’s harsh breathing. After a few minutes his shoulders eased away from his ears, but he still hadn’t opened his eyes, or removed his hand.

“Can you, like, open the windows or something? Let some fresh air in?” His throat bobbed.

“Yeah.” Steve backed away, then opened the windows, doing his best to keep the blinds and curtains closed against the sun. Without moving closer, he asked, “Uh, that better?”

Eddie kept breathing slowly, but the tension around his eyes started to dissipate. He nodded.

“Thank–” Eddie cleared his throat. “Thanks, man.”

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” 

It might’ve sounded a little accusatory, though Steve tried to rein that back. But some little animal instinct in him was still waving a whole field of red flags. Eddie looked like he’d been in pain, broken bone kinds of pain, and now that he wasn’t so wound up Steve could see that he was shaking.

“Been a while since I’ve been around so many people. And, uh, also been a while since I’ve had a drink.”

Steve was about to ask what he meant before it clicked. A drink, of blood. Oh shit.

“When was the last time you… did that?”

“Last week. It’s been too long. The night you showed up, Chrissy was coming by so we could, y’know.”

“Shit.”

Eddie chuckled hollowly. “Yeah, shit.”

“You can call her, it’s fine if she comes over.” He started to walk to the phone but Eddie shook his head, hand falling away from his mouth. He still hadn’t opened his eyes.

“She’s got cheer practice. And if she’s seen here? In broad daylight? And before you suggest animals, they can only keep me going for a few hours. I’ve tried it.”

Staring at Eddie, hunched on the couch and looking like a man on death’s door, Steve weighed their options. Well, the only one he could even consider at the moment. It didn’t take him long to do, and he pushed aside all the weird thoughts, surprises, and worries and buried it all under his desire to help and professional curiosity.

“Bite me.”

Eddie’s head snapped up. Finally, Steve noted with relief, his eyes were open.

Read chapter 5 now on ao3!

[gayphob1a]

STWG Daily Drabble 12/16/23

Prompt: looking back

100 days.

100 days they were together. Just over three months of secrecy. They’d gone from friends to so much more in such a small time frame, but it felt so much longer, like eons of finding safety in Eddie’s smaller frame.

And now Steve’s alone. Again. He kept his emotions locked up tight like the padlock on Eddie’s decrepit trailer. He can’t stand to see the kids right now, not when they’ll ask him what happened, why Eddie left in such a rush.

The tour was sudden. Just a small trial route around the midwest to see if Corroded Coffin really could pull a crowd of more than five drunks, and the kids helped him pack his and Wayne’s life up into the back of his squeaky old van, but they could also see something else behind both Steve and Eddie’s eyes when they hugged goodbye for the last time. They knew there was more to it than just a month-long tour, and explaining it to them would be the last crack Steve’s heart needed to shatter once and for all. Even Robin couldn’t slip past the walls he’d put up to find that final piece of the puzzle.

Because Steve was the only one who knew: Eddie would not be coming back.

And that was as much his fault as it was the music’s.

“Eddie, please. You can’t go.” Steve begged, ready to drop down on his knees and plead, ready to drop the three little words that had been on the tip of his tongue since they survived the upside down. But he also knew he could never say them, not like this. Not when it felt more like a manipulation than the truth.

“How can you even ask that of me? Steve, you know this is everything I've ever wanted! I’ll be like 12 hours away, max, and it’s only a month.”

“A month away from me, you mean. A month with your ‘everything’ apparently. Who knows who you’ll meet out there. I mean, i’ve seen you on stage, people will be throwing themselves at you.”

Eddie got quiet then, sullen and close to tears. “Do you really think I would do that to you? Do you honestly believe I would cheat on you?”

“I don’t want you to have to decide if you will or not,” Steve whispered, far too honest for his own good.

“That isn’t a decision for me because i already know what i would choose. It’s you, Steve. It’ll always be you. Why don’t you just come with us? I already talked to the guys. you know they’re more than happy to have you come along too.”

“You already know my answer to that, Ed’s. I can’t leave the kids and if you’re gonna go, you deserve to get to experience this on your own.”

“So… what are you saying?”

“you know what i’m saying.”

“No, Steve, I don’t. I want to hear you say it or I won’t believe it.”

Steve sighed, the breath escaping with a single tear he’d been engaged in a losing battle with. “I’m saying maybe it’s better if we go our separate ways. If we find our way back to each other, so be it, but I can’t leave and you can’t stay, so really what else is left for us?”

“Please don’t do this. Steve, I lo—“

“Don’t finish that sentence or it changes everything,” Steve pleaded, tears streaming down his face in droves.

“Everything’s changing anyway, isn’t it? Shouldn’t i get to say it at least once?”

Steve shook his head, burying his face in Eddie’s shoulder. He couldn’t stand to look at him when the words finally hit his ears.

“I love you, Steven Anita Harrington.”

“that’s not my middle name,” Steve said, and kissed Eddie for the last time.

He didn’t say it back.

Looking back, he should have said it.

[artiststarme]

What If Steve Were To Leave Hawkins? Part 17

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Just a few more parts! What happens next, should Steve have a talk with everybody, should there be more Eddie/Steve mush? We shall see! Let me know what you guys think!

And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

~*~*~*~

Steve was nervous. It was a new feeling for him and certainly not a welcome one. Apparently, Dustin had walkied the other kids while he was in the bathroom and had arranged a “small get together” with the rest of the Party. Hence the anxiety. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see the kids. But, he hadn’t seen any of them in the few months since he’d moved away and he was not looking forward to seeing their reactions. Would they be upset and yell at him just like they had yelled at Eddie? Or would they be upset since he’s stealing Eddie and Robin from them too? He didn’t know what to expect from the remaining members of the group which put him on edge. Steve had never liked putting himself in situations where he didn’t know what to expect. 

Regardless of his apprehension, he loaded Eddie, Robin, and Dustin into the Beemer and made his way towards the Hopper-Byers residence. It was woefully apparent to the others that Steve was nervous. He was driving 10 mph under the speed limit and kept raking a hand through the swoop of his hair. At the fourth hair disturbance, Eddie grabbed Steve’s hand in his and settled it on his knee. “Stevie, it’ll be fine. They obviously want to see you if they planned all this. Relax.”

Dustin poked his head between the first two seats and glared menacingly at Steve. “And speed up! You’re moving slower than grandpa and he’s dead! Go!”

Steve heard Robin smack Dustin and pull him back from his position, “My god, Dustin. What the hell? Be respectful of the dead. Wow.”

“Oh, like I’m wrong? He’s going like 20 mph in a 40! Going too slow is just as dangerous as driving too fast, Robin…”

He ignored their squabbling and sped up to match the speed limit. Trying to waste time by driving slowly wasn’t going to help anything. He focused on the feel of Eddie’s hand in his own and let the worry seep out of him. Eddie was right, of course. The kids had to be happy to see him, right? Dustin certainly was. Also, bar Mike and Max, the remaining kids were angels. There was rarely any sass from Will, Lucas, or El. Mike and Max could be heathens and their insults could be biting. Even if they were mad though, they were all still his kids and he would own up to his actions. If anything, they were probably hurt and would need reassurance. Unlike what his parents had done for him, he could provide them with that. 

Immediately when they pulled into the driveway, everyone flooded from the house. Most everyone had smiles on their faces and laughter in their mouths. Lucas, Will, and El ran directly to Steve while Mike and Max walked at a more sedate pace behind their friends. 

When they reached him, Lucas, Will, and El engulfed Steve in a group hug. They were thrilled to see him after losing him so abruptly. They all hugged for a moment and appreciated each other’s presence before they pulled away. 

“It is nice to see you, Steve.” El said. Will nodded at her words and mumbled his own little hello accompanied by an awkward wave. They might not be the closest members of the Party but they both loved each other still and Will was still happy to see another part of his family. 

Lucas clapped Steve on the shoulder and redirected his attention to him, “good to see you Steve. We were worried about you but we’re glad you’re okay.” 

Their relationship was often overlooked when compared to the others but Lucas always looked up to the man that had saved him from the racist bully trying to beat his face in. He had admired Steve since he helped them at the junkyard and took Billy’s plate to the head. And with that admiration came the subtle mimicry. Just like Mike with Eddie, Lucas had tried to share in Steve’s interests by practicing basketball with him and joining the team at school. 

Steve smiled back at them. Mike glared at him from several paces away but his teenage moodiness was easily ignored in the face of Max’s subtle excitement. In true Max fashion, she slugged him in the arm, hard enough to make him wince. “Don’t do that again, dickhead. We thought you got your dumbass killed. Let us know when you’re going somewhere next time.” 

Steve chuckled at her words but did feel somewhat chastened. “Sorry Max.” 

She nodded her head and narrowed her eyes at him before giving him a brief hug, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

He nodded with his chin resting on her head, “me too.”

Hopper and Joyce came outside next, following the kids. Hopper was wearing a hideous Hawaiian shirt with flamingos on it while Joyce was wearing a green flannel two sizes too big. But both looked full of love, and slightly menacing, as they charged at Steve.

Joyce wrapped him in a motherly hug when she reached him and cooed, “Steve! Oh, you’re so thin! Have you been taking care of yourself?”

Steve smiled awkwardly at the open affection he rarely received from parents, “Eddie’s been taking good care of me. Thanks for throwing this together, it's nice to see everybody.”

“Of course, Steve! You’re family.” She said and lightly pinched his cheek. 

Hopper grabbed him next. His face was a mixture of exasperation and parental affection as he hugged him close. Steve was surprised to find tears in his eyes when he pulled away. “What? Hop-”

Hopper placed a hand at the back of his neck and looked Steve straight in the eye. “Don’t do that again. You going off on your own without telling anybody took ten years off my life. You can’t just disappear like that. I expect you to stay in contact with us the entire time, got it? You’re like a son to me, kid. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Steve bit his lip as he struggled to keep his own tears in. He nodded stiltedly and reached out for another hug from Hopper. There was no reluctance from him and the other Party members made their way inside in an effort to give them a moment alone. Steve never considered how his departure from Hawkins might affect his found family. Even when he was settled in the city, he hadn’t thought to reach out to the Chief to let him know he was alright. But now, comfortable and safe in the arms of his father figure, Steve knew that he couldn’t just disappear like he did before. He might be moving but now he knew that the Party loved him and he would always have a place here amongst his family.

~*~*~*~

To the people on the taglist; are you guys still being notified when I post a new part? I think these tags are active but I tried putting them in the comments and it didn’t work. Please let me know! Hope you guys enjoy this part!

Part 18 Part 19 Part 20: Epilogue

Updated Taglist: @nickavalens @conversesweetheart @themostunoriginalpersonever @swimmingbirdrunningrock @eddiethegreatteddybear @harrumphingtons @call-me-big-eyes @moonshadows-13 @glittergluekintsugi @cpidcupk @doubleb11 @mentalcyborg @amoris-no-smut-allowed @purple-lemonade @labels-are-for-the-weak @thebrazilianatheist @rajumat @livelaughlexa @5ammi90 @colorful565 @marvelousforlife @chaoticcoffeequeen @gregre369 @suddenlyinlove @thegreatmistake @stillfullofshit @nburkhardt @batxsignalsx @newunknowns @thosemessyvibes @tailsfromthecrypt @luciana-rowan @bird-with-pencils @adaed5 @lolawon @flustratedcas @iwillfindmyneverland @messrs-weasley @skoomy-doompy @yearningagain @forest-fogg @bitchysunflower @stardust-era @newtstabber @bobatrash-queen @notjasontxdd @ohlook-afrog @00biscuit @grtwdsmwhr @oxidantdreamboat @the-witch-forever-lives @estrellami-1 @whatthemeepever @a-simple-gaywitch @imzadidragonfly @freddykicksasses @krimsonsimp

@whatthefuccck @delta-piscium @anaibis @tinynebula @darkwitchoferie @evix-syne666 @tawghasa @pyrohonk @lillys-weird-world @superduckmilkshake @paintsplatteredandimperfect @tiny-enthusiast @whalesharksart @krazyperson @username-i-guess @ilikechocolatemilkh @awkwardgravity1 @romanticdestruction

[shares-a-vest]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by the wonderful @hbyrde36 and @sidekick-hero. Thank you both so much for the tags 💖 I always love seeing authors talking about their work!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Six. I really need to cross-post some stuff, including what I wrote for Steddie Love Month and the Flufftober Spring Event.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

16,565 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things and let me tell you, the brainrot is not subsiding (it is settling in to fester now).

4. What are your top 5 3 fics by kudos?

you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry

Just a Shirt

Eds, I'm Hungry

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! And I'm sure my answers are always too long-winded 😂 It makes me so happy to get comments on the silly things I write. Actually, brb, I'm sure in the initial excitement, I have forgotten to respond to some here and there.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This ficlet (WARNING: BREAK UP FIC). Life got hectic during Eddie Month so I only wrote a couple of things and this one hurrrrt baaad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, tough to pick seeing as I usually write happy endings. Lol, the number of times I ended something with Steddie kissing or saying, "I love you". I think I'll go with the entirety of my Joanie Munson AU because it's where I aim to be as fluffy/sappy as possible.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I am extremely thankful that so far I haven't. And I am sending all my love and hugs to people who deal with/have dealt with hateful comments.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson vs. A Box of Condoms is the closest I have come (hehe, pun). Idk, I struggle to write smut. I'm much better with suggestive language and innuendo, but somehow this fic got the balance right and honestly, gave me a lot of confidence!

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. But I need everyone to know that I have a Riverdale x ST crossover sloshing around in my brain juice on the regular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. But now I'm paranoid *also proceeds to have an existential crisis about ai scraping my very internet-based soul.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'm more than welcome for someone to reach out.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I am absolutely open to it though! The closest to a collab I have done is Just a Shirt in which I wrote a whole fic from some incredible tags that were left on a ficlet.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean, it's gotta be Steddie right? I've never had a hyperfixation give me brainrot like this. Though, if we go back to lame teenage me, the ship that really got me into the fic/tumblr sphere was Sterek.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I have been returning to a few wips I thought I had abandoned lately, so never say never. I firmly believe in taking a break if something isn't working out and circling back with fresh eyes.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Despite how I am probably answering most of these questions (lmao), I think I am pretty good at keeping my writing concise and moving it right along. It's not that I rush writing, but I am good at recognising when something I have written begins to meander. I like writing dialogue where people are cutting each other off, and crafting stuff that is a quick little ficlet etc. Having said this...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptive language. I always get so caught up in action and dialogue that I easily forget descriptions of surroundings, objects, clothes etc. Funnily enough, right now I am working on a few quick visual aids (flash-sheet style sketches) for my Steddie BB fic of things that I need to keep in mind/remember to describe as a strategy that will hopefully help.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I could never do it (I only speak English), but honestly, kudos to you if you do/can!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger Things is the first fandom I have written for.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I swear to god this isn't a plug, but I thiiiiink it might be the wip I am oh-so-close to finishing. It's basically a character study of Steve's Mom and is her POV of the end of season 3. I have shared some snippets in the STWG server (and complained during writing sprints). I just need to do a solid edit and get a vibe-check read-through from someone else then it's good to go!!!

Tagging: @momotonescreaming @eyesofshinigami @devondespresso @missberrycake @steventhusiast

(I know this tag game has been making the rounds, so if you see this and haven't been tagged yet, count this as a tag)

[darkyuffie-blog]

I've seen people do head Canon posts about their favorite characters so I wanted to do one for Gareth Emerson from stranger things ♡◇♡ these are just my own head canons not facts.

1. He loves through touch. Hand holding, hand on your thigh when driving, running fingers through your hair, rubbing your hip or stomach, kisses, hugs, all of it.

2. He secretly likes Elvis but he will never admit it to his mom or anyone ever. He just tells people he tolerates his music because he loves his mom.

3.big mommas boy and is protective of her.

4. Bisexual bean

5. Would fight someone over his boyfriend or girlfriend, sister, mom, or the other members of Hellfire ESPECIALLY Eddie and Will. (I head Canon that Will joins hellfire)

6. Loves flannel which is why his battle vest is a flannel

7. Isn't just good at playing drums. He can also play piano.

8. He likes to paint but it's just a small hobby as he's never had the push he needed to do it, that is, until he met you and you encouraged it.

9. He has a Husky named Dio and a Calico cat named Ozzy, they are besties even if Ozzy sometimes gets annoyed with Dio.

10. He has a little sister named Gabby, short for Gabriella. She's 4 and Gareth, Gare Gare, as she calls him, is her favorite person.

11.paints his own DnD minis.

12. Helps Eddie with his campaigns on occasion.

13. Loves animals

14. Likes to color with his sister and even gets Hellfire in on it sometimes just to see her smile extra big.

15. Favorite movie is The Goonies

16. Will drink beer with Eddie but actually doesn't like the taste of it.

17. Loves his hair being played with

18. Has a lip piercing after high school

19. Likes zombie movies even if they are crappy ones.

20. Knows how to sew thinks to his mom because she got tired of sewing up the holes in his clothes or replacing buttons on his clothes all the time, so she taught him to do it himself.