#Eddie munson conflict

[ericaand]

Why is JQ not as attractive anymore?!

Ok, I KNOW I'm going to get hate for this but why isn't Joseph as attractive as he was? Like, did I have some freaky rose colored glasses on or some shit?

I cannot be the only one who feels this way. Help a girl out. I'm so confused rn. But he just seems different to me. IDK jfkengkso;

[paperbackribs]

werewolf steve, werebat eddie (ch3)

🐺🛌🦇🥺

It’s the quiet conviction that he’s in the wrong bed that wakes Eddie the next morning. The mattress too soft, the pillow too thick, and the boy next to him is an unwavering, giant red flag too. He sighs, hand under his cheek and contemplates the sleep-creased face of Steve Harrington next to little old Eddie Munson.

And he thought turning into a bat was going to be the only weird part of this weekend.

Steve snuffles, twitching his nose before falling back into a steady breathing rhythm again. And Eddie would like to deny how cute it is, would like to refuse to see how handsome Steve is, and would very much like to pinch the thin river of greed winding through him that would like the chance to have a fun, kind guy too. Someone who stirs Eddie, makes him laugh. But that’s not his fate in this lifetime.

He turns onto his back, staring directly above at the bubble pattern of the ceiling and determinedly focusing on more important matters.

Like the fact that he’s a bat now.

Apparently.

Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, he wonders what the hell to do with that knowledge. It’s not going to get him anywhere; there’s no big corporation that wants to hire bat services. Last he heard, the ability to squeak wasn’t going to land him a record deal. Eddie huffs out a laugh, maybe he can get into acting. Take this gig out on the road.

No, just like having to watch a girl be brutally murdered in front of him and only barely scraping past that hack job Hawkins PD called an investigation, Eddie is going to have to take his lumps and keep moving.

He peers at the awful plaid wallpaper of the bedroom. Unsurprised by the banality of it, the hint of wasted money on lack of taste, but he is surprised by the pleasant abundance of greenery across the whole space. Potted plants crowd every available surface, some with trailing vines flowing over containers hanging from the ceiling. Even with the window closed, the room smells fresh, a clean sweetness to the air that matches the shiningly healthy and obviously well-cared for leaves, flowers and, he peers closer, herbs.

He wonders whether Steve dug these out of the woods with his big furry paws or if he’d bought them at the local nursery. Looking at the array of sizes and colourful patterns on the clay pots he figures that Steve shelled out a decent amount of money for his botanical set-up.

It twinges something in Eddie. Steve, just as taken in by the Upside Down, doomed to forever be a half-man and half-beast too, but sleeping peacefully within an oasis of his creation, sheltered by the tall walls of the Harrington home, with friends who love him, who don’t care about the monster within.

It feels unfair.

Because what is Eddie now? A monster? Maybe. A creature? Definitely. This new change in his life won’t make it any better, it won’t give him any advantages. It’s just one more thing he’s going to have to hide. To squirrel away like a tender thing lest the soft belly of it be exposed to the type of people who would hurt him.

Hurt, he knows, comes in many different forms. From a father believing your best value is in using small hands to boost a car, in the indifference of a mother leaving you on your uncle’s doorstep, on your best friend pushing you to the floor when you try to kiss him.

He looks over at the effortlessly handsome features of Steve, at his expensive and beautiful room, and thinks that whatever risk Steve carries, it is nothing like the one Eddie would be exposed to if his new secret got out.

He spots a familiar animal on the cover of a book on the bedside table. Curiously, he picks it up, flicking his eyes over the types of bats in the world, their characteristics, advice on care, and other little random facts.

Steve stirs, smacking his lips his eyelashes flutter before his gaze opens to land on Eddie bent over the book. He’s under the blanket that Eddie lays over; his bat version must have crawled out of the hoodie at some point but remained on top of the bed. Last night had been a blur and he doesn’t remember much except panic followed by Steve’s warm hands.

“Hey,” Steve smiles sleepily, “You came back to us.”

Eddie grunts, “Yeah, not sure exactly how that happened, but small blessings and all that.” He scans the feeding behaviour header, noting that blood is indeed amongst fruit, insects, and nectar as their preferred diet. Pausing, he tastes his mouth like it’ll suddenly reveal an obvious craving for bloody flesh. Meeting only morning breath, he grimaces and continues reading.

Finally realising that Steve has been silent for an unusually long pause, he glances over only to be startled by the intent look in his eye as he regards Eddie. “Are you okay?” He asks quietly and Eddie bristles at the concern, resentment stirring that Steve gets to be the kind one. The guy who cares despite being similarly afflicted. Why can’t he be just as resentful and mean as Eddie?

“Well, it’s not a giant dog, but I suppose you should welcome me to the club.”

Steve purses his lips thoughtfully, “I’ll ignore the canine dig for now since I know you’re going through something. But I get it, you know? If you can talk to anyone about being suddenly faced with the oddity of waking up in a body that no longer feels like your own, it’s me.”

Eddie rolls his eyes down at the book, “Our life experiences are vastly different, Steve. I don’t think you could get where I’m coming from if you tried.”

“Maybe not all of it,” Steve admits carefully, sitting up so he and Eddie are on the same level, “But I can try. And it’s got to be better than holding it in. You’re a pretty verbal guy, Eddie. I figure’d you’d want to talk about this.”

“What’s that mean?” Eddie glares at him and Steve raises his palms, saying, “Just that you seem to like talking your thoughts out, and that I’m here, willing to listen if you want to get anything off your chest.”

“Yeah, well, you can keep that hairy chest to yourself,” Eddie mutters darkly, looking at a bat’s mouth held open, exposing sharp fangs from front to back like a deadly, serrated knife. He presses his tongue against his molars thoughtfully; he doesn’t remember there being a lot of sharp tools in his mouth.

“Right,” Steve huffs out a frustrated breath, “You’re obviously in a mood. But fair, you’re allowed to take a beat until you get your feet under you.”

“I’m allowed,” Eddie mocks under his breath.

Steve cocks his head, “Yeah, you’re allowed. Just like I was allowed to take a beat too, once I figured out that turning into a wolf wasn’t a hallucination or a mental breakdown.” Eddie ignores him and Steve says with frustration, “What’s your problem?”

As he does, Eddie’s eyes catch on a fun fact section, and he can’t help the grim laughter that escapes. Of course. Of fucking course. He hears the mounting irritation in Steve’s voice as he calls his name again and latches on to it, happy to smack back. “Did you know, Steve,” Eddie starts, meanness fuelling his smirk, only he has a feeling that the petty feeling is directed inwards. “That bats have the highest rate of homosexuality out of any mammal?”

Steve watches him warily, “Are you saying that the shift turned you gay? ‘Cause I’m not sure it works like that,” his lips tug up cautiously, “It didn’t for me, anyway.”

Eddie sees the invitation to share the joke in Steve’s expression and it fuels the bitterness, “Yeah, well, you being a straight dog isn’t going to surprise anyone.”

Invitation dropping accompanied by eyes narrowing, Steve says, “That’s fucking condescending.” Eddie sees the insult across his face and rolls his eyes, conviction spreading that Steve has never had to think about how he presents to the world for one fucking minute before being afflicted with their shared infection.

“All I’m saying is that the wolf stuff may have made you a bit weird, but you were never gay-boy-in-Hawkins weird to begin with. Let alone the shitty kid from the shitty family with parents who don’t give a fuck.”

Steve’s eyes harden and he sucks his breath between his teeth consideringly, “I’m not sure whether I should share with you how wrong you are or simply tell you to fuck off.”

Eddie stares back just as hard, “You can’t tell me that you were ever the weird guy, Mr Popular Jock. What? Did you get ostracised from the team when you wore the wrong lucky jock strap?”

Rolling his lips, Steve nods his head decisively, “Yeah, you know what? I am going to tell you to fuck off.” Any hint of warmth in his expression shutters away and Eddie blinks, not having realised how open Steve had been with him even while they bickered. Steve continues, voice flat and unfriendly, “You know what your problem is, Eddie?”

“What?” He tries to sneer but the feeling of being wrong-footed continues and it lands with less force than he wants.

“You think you’ve got everyone worked out,” Steve trails his eyes over Eddie's face leaving his skin feeling flushed and burning, “What was it you said in the Upside Down? The Munson Doctrine? I was barely enough for you to approve of even then, right?”

The ground beneath Eddie’s feet shudders slightly, shaking his gut into an uneasy feeling but Steve doesn’t notice his suddenly shaky equilibrium as he bitingly continues, “I suppose I only met the bare minimum when you said that I was a good guy: I wasn’t a massive asshole that would allow you to take the rap for Chrissy’s murder or, I don’t know,” he laughs with very little humour, “Let Max be killed by Vecna? So that must mean I was scarcely half decent, right?”

Eddie frowns: he had meant what he said in the Upside Down — he’d seen Steve care for the party, chase after Max and make sure the kids were safe. He’d been a steady port in the storm who Eddie had looked to more than once while feeling unsafe and unsure, and Steve had always been looking back, with either a reassuring nod or a helpful explanation in the sort of plain speak necessary for a newbie to their wretched adventures.

Steve rolls out of bed and Eddie can’t even be mad that he might use his height to his advantage because he heads straight to the doorway, pausing with his hand steady on the frame. He shakes his head looking down, “I thought that you saw me. It didn’t have to be every part, but I thought that you at least saw that I’m trying to be a good person.”

He looks up and Eddie is pierced clean through by the hurt in his eyes, the walls falling briefly to allow this one sad glimpse, “But ever since I showed you who I really am, what I am, I’ve realised that your approval comes with conditions.”

“That’s not true,” Eddie protests, furiously thinking, but his gut sinks below his feet when he can’t work out a counterargument to the accusation.

The walls over Steve’s eyes swiftly build up again, leaving only a cold man in its wake. “You assuming how easy I’ve always had it tells me that you never cared enough to look below the surface anyway.” He regards Eddie for one last long second as if taking him in for the final time, and Eddie is unsure how to respond when the ground is rumbling so strongly under his feet.

Steve leaves.

Quietly and without looking back at Eddie. No fanfare in the movement as if he’s decided that he’s not worth the fight. He realises now that he’d expected Steve to push back, to argue for Eddie to do better, but—having left him behind—Eddie doesn’t know what to do other than to quietly take his book and leave.

No one sees him out.

If you enjoyed any of this, I hope you'll consider leaving a message over on Ao3 because you would make my day. :)

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Supernaut (Chapter 2)

Ahh here’s the next chapter to Supernaut! I’m so excited to share it with everyone and here’s the link to the ao3 :)

“Hey kid,” Wayne’s voice is rough and gravily as he talks. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, that movement alone causing the trailer to make loud creaky noises. Wayne leans over at a slight angle, on the same side he was leaning most of his weight on, to peek into Eddie's room.

Eddie knew Wayne wouldn't just push his way into his room without permission. They each respected the other's boundaries too much to do that. Wayne had always preferred just peaking into his room to see if he was alright or needed anything, and if the door was closed Wayne knew not to bug him. It had been a working system for a while now.

”Yeah, Wayne?” That was the go-ahead for Wayne to slightly push the door open so he could talk to Eddie face-to-face. 

“I'm about to head out, need anything?” He asks as his eyes wander the room like he always did. It was a habit he had picked up from the army, always scanning a room to confirm that there was no danger. This is why Eddie wasn’t surprised when his Uncle raised an eyebrow at the numerous medical books and articles on his bed.

Similar to the door situation, they had created a system of just not asking. It would be much harder to explain than just ignoring it. Typically Eddie was doing research like this for a DnD campaign. Not for someone whose life depended on it. (He was being dramatic, but from how Steve Harrington looked he wouldn’t be surprised if his everyday life depended on what to do and not to do with the information this book was giving him.)

Eddie furrows his eyebrows, moving a hand to rub at his face. His eyes are beginning to strain from spending numerous hours reading. He had a small headache and his stomach growls from not getting up to grab lunch. He was starving but was too focused on the research to pay attention to such human problems. But he didn’t need to bother Wayne about that, Eddie knew how to fend for himself.

“Nope, not that I can think of.” Eddie hums gently. He wiggles around in his spot when he begins to feel what parts of his body fell asleep, such as his ass. 

Eddie offers a small smile to his uncle, who simply gives him a hand gesture to get the boy to go back to whatever he is doing. “Alright, see you in the morning kiddo.” 

When Eddie knows his Uncle is safely in his truck and out of the driveway he dives back into his research. Chewing his lip and pencil as he kept scanning and reading intensely when he found something that could mean something and be understandable.

As time progressed, he was beginning to realize that some medical stuff contradicted itself. One paper said not to sleep for twenty-four hours after a concussion and the next said to get as much rest as possible, even within the first twenty-four hours. Eddie makes sure to take note of this.

“Keep an eye on the patient for repeated vomiting, worsening headaches, visual problems, problems sleeping, trouble balancing, dilated pupils, and problems walking. To have a speedier recovery make sure the patient avoids any physical activity that can lead to another concussion, along with driving, watching too much television, using any illegal substances, or consuming alcohol. If anything worsens you should see a licensed professional immediately.” 

The more he read the more concerned Eddie was for Steve Harrington. He hadn’t paid much attention to the guy but from the short time he had talked to him, he was checking off a decent amount of things that were “noteworthy” and serious enough for a doctor to get involved.

Eddie doesn’t even bother writing that all down, instead he pulls a highlighter out and highlights the entire paragraph to read to Steve when he sees him next. 

He didn't care if the library yelled at him for "Ruining" their book. He's sure that the next person who would be checking this out would be another Steve Harrington. Another Steve Harrington who didn't have time to read over three hundred pages worth of nonsense that doesn't even give any new knowledge. Just common sense like avoiding getting hit in the head. It didn't take a supersonic genius to figure that one out, Sherlock.

Eddie secretly hoped the next person who needed this book, like Steve does, could just skim through the book and find that paragraph.

He figures that he has done enough for the night, and learned all he could to help Steve Harrington. So he allows himself one dramatic flop into his bed before grabbing a leftover joint off his side table. After all of that reading, he deserved one.

However, what he didn’t like to admit was how much anxiety he currently felt over Steve Harrington.

*****

The next day Eddie got up and ready for school much faster than normal. On average, he was out the door by the second period and on campus for the fourth. The perfect time to show up to school as his lunch was fifth.

Today though he had some motivation to get to school on time. He had finished his research the night before and was eager to share it with Steve. (And collect his money of course.)

He had all his research collected and in a normal schoolbag, an item he rarely brings to school. Before he started dealing his drugs from his lunch pal, he used to carry them around in a bag. But it had clashed with the whole metalhead image and was more inconvenient.

He was only bringing one now because of the number of research articles he had snatched. He was a clumsy fool and probably would lose everything if he didn’t secure it in a bag. 

Eddie was eager to share all the information with Steve as soon as possible. It had only been a week since he made the deal with the other in the library, but with everything he learned that still felt like it was too long of a wait.

So he sucked up it and woke up much earlier than he typically would and raced himself to school. He was hoping if he got to school early he would be able to catch Steve in the parking lot and pull the bandaid off quickly. Then afterward drive back home to sleep until lunch period.

Much to his disappointment, Steve’s car was nowhere. Eddie groans as he taps his fingers on his steering wheel, distracted by looking for Steve to notice a familiar figure walking up to his window. 

Gareth's loud knocking makes Eddie jump, completely startled by the sudden noise. Eddie snaps his head to look out his window to see an agitated Gareth peering up at him. His fists were clenching tightly around the straps of his bag and Eddie was confident he could see the flames of hellfire in his eyes.

Eddie makes an over-the-top face at the other as he turns his head back to look behind him before pointing at himself. “You want me?” he mouths out to the other.

"Munson!" Gareth's yell could easily be heard through the glass, which was just a little scary as Eddie had ‘Escape’ by Metallica blaring at full volume. 

Eddie quickly moves to lock his door but the boy seems to catch onto what he is trying to do and quickly pulls the door open. Eddie nearly falls out head first but quickly regains balance by grabbing Gareth's shoulders.

When Eddie was confident he wouldn’t get a concussion, he looked back up at Gareth who was visibly annoyed.

"Hey there buddy!" Eddie's soft accent pops out from the current excitement at hand. 

"Eddie, why are you here?"

"Where?-" Eddie tries to start but Gareth begins to scrunch up his nose, which is never a good sign and Eddie is quick to change what he's about to say, "Oh here! In this fine establishment? Well, I am here to learn Gare bear like any other kid here. You know this is going to be the year I graduate you know? I should take it a bit more seriously shouldn't I?" He was pulling all of that out of his ass and Gareth knew that as well.

Gareth keeps a blank expression on his face and now Eddie isn’t so sure his chances of avoiding a concussion were one to none. He needed to defuse whatever this bomb was and quick.

“Eddie you never show up to school before the fifth period.” Gareth squints at him, “Hell you haven’t woken up past fourth period since the first day of school. So tell me, why are you here this early and why the hell did you not pick me up? I live just up the road from you dude.” His face was a light red, from either being incredibly angry with Eddie or from the mile walk between his house and Hawkins High.

Eddie opens his mouth to say something but is quick to put his most charming smile on as he hops down from his van. He was secretly grateful he didn’t toss his bag in the passenger seat or else Gareth would have been even more suspicious of him.

“Gary, if we drop this and never bring any of this situation up again I shall award you with whatever you want in the campaign tonight.” That was a pretty steep offer but Eddie really didn’t want to seem like a dick friend. He honestly forgot Gareth this morning. 

His offer seems to work in his favor as interest sparks in Gareth's eyes. Gareth is about to say something when from the corner of Eddie’s eye he sees the exact vehicle he was hoping to see moments prior. 

Eddie can’t help but visibly cringe when he realizes that the book recommended a person with a concussion doesn’t drive for a couple of weeks. And from context clues, Steve Harrington had a concussion.

“Eddie?” Gareth speaks louder this time, moving his head in front of Eddie's vision so that he could see him. “Hey did you hear me?” His voice is now growing slightly concerned as he turns his head to look where Eddie is looking. It was very out of character for Eddie not to pay attention to what he was saying. They were best friends after all.

Gareth also sees Steve, the only person Eddie could be looking at step out of his car. From the limited view Eddie had, Gareth looked even more confused. Which was exactly what he was hoping to avoid by getting this whole transaction done sooner rather than later.

Eddie quickly glances back at Harrington, who is stumbling over his feet as he places a hand over his right ear wincing about something. When it was clear the other wasn’t going to fall on his face Eddie turned his attention back on Gareth slightly confused. 

“Huh?” 

“You alright dude? You're not normally this distracted,” Gareth points out warily as he keeps glancing between Eddie and in the direction of Steve.

“Yeah, yeah. I am completely fine my dude.” Eddie awkwardly sticks up two of his thumbs before he moves backward to shut his door. Cursing when he realizes he just locked his key in the van. 

“Fuck!” he curses as he quickly turns to smack at his door. 

“Eddie!” Gareth groans loudly. Moving to the back of the van to kick the back door at a slight angle resulting in it popping open pretty easily. A trick that Eddie purposely implemented just in case of emergencies. (Just like this one) Don’t ask him how he did it, not even he knows.

“I forgot about that.” 

“Eddie, are you going to tell me what's seriously going on?” Gareth squints at his friend. Eddie opens his mouth to only shut it again when he remembers Steve didn’t want him bringing anyone else in on this whole thing.

Taking the hint that Eddie wasn’t going to tell him Gareth sighs, “You aren’t dealing again are you?” He asks in a hushed whisper, his right hand gesturing to the backpack that was on the van floor just a few inches from them.

Eddie opens his mouth trying to act offended but he can’t. If he was Gareth he would think he was dealing again too. Opening his mouth again, he groans loudly when he realizes the only way he could convince the other boy he wasn’t selling was to bring him in on the whole Steve Harrington ordeal.

He moves quickly and shoves Gareth into the back of the van, like he has done multiple times in the past. When he was sure the other was safely in the back he hops in and joins him. Grunting gently as he feels a rip in his pants grows bigger. He quickly shuts the van door and looks back at Gareth. He was being dramatic but boy did he enjoy putting on a show for people

“You can’t tell anyone else what I am about to tell you, not even Freak or Jeff,” Eddie says seriously. 

“Oh my god, did a deal go wrong with Steve Harrington?” Gareth gasps. “He’s not going to snitch on you, is he? Oh my god Eddie you can’t afford to go to jail.” Gareth hisses out as he stays in a hunched stance, already coming up with the scenarios that Eddie could have possibly gotten himself into.

“I did not partake in any sort of drug deal with Steve Harrington. There was a deal but it didn’t involve drugs, it involved books.” 

“Books?” 

“Yeah, you know? The thing with pages and you're supposed to read?” Eddie says partly sarcastic before he moves to the bag to unzip it. Not bothering to pick it up off the floor, he just peels the bag back a little to show Gareth the book Steve had requested him to read and the pages of notes he took to share with Steve. 

“He’s going to pay me a hundred dollars to read this, which I already did and is the reason why I missed practice last night,” Eddie explains. 

“Why?” 

“Gareth have you not seen that boy's skull, It's two dents away from being a crushed can.” Eddie exaggerates. 

“No, I mean why help him read a book? He’s an asshole jock?” Gareth's eyebrows are pinched together, there is no malice behind his words just curiosity. 

“Well young Gare, sometimes you will have to help a jock in need. In this case, dire need, and hope it can benefit you in the future. And I’m getting a hundred dollars, I would be a moron to say no.” Eddie comments before pausing as he answers more seriously.

 “And I don’t know, he looked pretty pathetic in the library. And you noticed how he was walking. He nearly fell on his face just from getting out of the car. What would make me and any other jock different if I didn’t help him learn more about his injuries? If I can possibly prevent him from accidentally killing himself by giving him the information he needs then I’m willing to do that.” Eddie rambles out. 

Gareth listens intently, before pointing out the obvious., “Why doesn’t he just go to the doctor?” 

Eddie shrugs, “No clue.” He admits before an Idea pops into his mind. 

“Hey, is your mom still a nurse?” 

“Is your mom still a whore?” Gareth shoots back.

Eddie squints at the other boy before commenting, “You know you could have just said yes like a normal person.”

“Eddie, when has this friendship ever been normal?”

***

Throughout the day it seemed like some invisible figure was shoving Steve and Eddie closer than normal. Eddie was slowly becoming convinced that they had their own personal invisible man afoot.

When Eddie happened to be going down one hall Steve happened to be coming up the same hall. When Eddie was leaving a class Steve was awkwardly entering it. (Eddie had completely forgotten that Steve was in his third-period class, maybe if Eddie showed up to school more often he would remember small details like this.)

For one, Eddie was glad he was seeing the other everywhere but on the other hand, he was nervous the other was going to figure him out. After all, it was in their contractual agreement that Eddie didn’t tell anyone what he was doing for Steve. And what did Eddie do? He blabbed his mouth to fucking Gareth. Who wouldn’t tell anyone, but it still nerved Eddie that he broken an agreement.

When it was finally his lunch period he was more excited about getting to his table than what he normally was. He purposely swings his metal lunch pal back and forth with a relaxed and cheerful smile as he skips his way to the designated nerd table. 

He had a great campaign planned out for tonight and was excited to share it. He pulled up a chair, even though there was enough room to sit on one of the benches. If he could he would drag the homemade throne from the musical room and sit on that instead. But he’s already gotten in trouble for that.

As he waits for the other boys to join him he pulls out his lunch, carefully pushing his stash of weed to the side in there. Most of the kids in the area smelt like weed anyway so he wasn’t too worried about being sniffed out. Though he had always been worried about being jumped by the basketball team at one point. But other than that, Hawkins High was one of the safer sides of town he could get away with just carrying his stash around. Surprisingly. It also wasn’t like the teachers knew what they were sniffing out for. And if they did know they didn’t care as most times they were buying off from Eddie anyway.

“Hey, Eds.” Jeff greets as he sits down in his normal spot, leaving the seat right next to Eddie free for Gareth. If anyone loved routine it was Gareth. 

“Hey Jeff,” Eddie hums back with a mouth full of pbj. With each bite, he could taste small little flakes of weed that he didn’t bother cleaning out from the sandwich bag before placing his food in it.

He has the great thought of possibly turning a PBJ sandwich into an edible when he catches sight of Steve coming into the cafeteria. Steve was shakily holding a lunch tray as he walked away from his normal seat with Tommy Hagen. Which was a strange behavior as the two had been two peas in a pod for as long as Eddie could remember. 

What was also out of the ordinary for the Harrington boy was how he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. From across the lunchroom, Eddie could see that the boy's color was still very off, the bruises on his face had only gotten worse with time instead of better and he was still stumbling over his feet a little.

Eddie doesn't stop staring, figuring that enough people are watching Steve that Harrington wouldn’t make eye contact with him. He keeps watching as Steve’s head lifts and he begins to glance around the room, looking for a place to sit. Eddie doesn’t get a chance to look away, caught off guard when Steve’s eyes meet his. They make intense eye contact for a couple of minutes, and Eddie nearly drops his sandwich in the process.

Steve looks away before Eddie can and sits down at an empty table as if he’s never seen Eddie in his life. Or currently had a deal with him. The entire interaction was weird. 

Eddie relaxes a bit before Gareth and Freak finally join them. 

“Hey boys,” Eddie grins. “You ready for tonight?” He can't sit still as he's reminded of the exciting campaign he has in store. He doesn’t stay seated in his chair for long as he climbs into the chair and crouches awkwardly. He keeps eating his sandwich as if he wasn’t acting like a fucking Goblin, and listens to the boys ramble excitedly.

It doesn’t take long before he hears a tray being dropped across the lunchroom. The banging noise echoed over everyone’s voices. He tilts his head curiously to see who the victim is. He almost lets out a groan when he realizes it's Steve Harrington. 

From where Eddie sat he could see Steve bending over and picking up the tray. A decent amount of eyes were back on him again as he waddled to put the tray at the tray station. From the corner of Eddie’s eye, he could see Gareth's head turning to look at him. Eddie knew what the other was going to tell him to do, there was no point in looking at the other but he still does. 

Gareth's face was pulled up in concern as he glanced between Jeff and Freak to make sure they weren’t looking before mouthing out a “Go help him.”

Eddie squints at him, mentally sending Gareth the reasons why he shouldn’t go help him. One is the fact that if he left after Steve that would give the other two boys a bad impression of what Eddie is doing. Like Gareth, they would most likely assume that this was another drug dealing situation and freak out at him. And when they found out that wasn’t the case they would next assume that Eddie was in some weird homoerotic relationship with Steve Harrington and he is pretty sure that would be pushing the line of their acceptance to his queerness. 

Even though he had remotely no interest in the guy.

Eddie rolls his eyes when Gareth just glares at him more. He tries to think fast about what excuse he could use to get away from the table. He glances at Gareth's drink and thinks it's the perfect escape. He purposely reaches over while the two guys aren’t looking and pushes the open bottle of water to spill all over the table and into Eddie's lap. 

Eddie jumps up with a groan, putting on a show. “Gareth, you clumsy bastard,” he says dramatically as he tries to wipe the water from his shirt and his crotch area. Jeff and Freak look between him and Gareth, completely clueless as to what is happening. Dare Eddie say, unexpecting even? 

Eddie was mentally hyping himself up after that stunt, believing that if this was a dexterity check he just rolled a goddamn d20 like a total natural. In his mental gloating, he nearly forgets that there was a purpose behind dumping Gareth's water all over himself. 

“Uh, I’ll be right back. Imma go to the bathroom—” 

Fuck. Eddie may have mastered dexterity but he sure didn’t master common sense. He simply could have just said he had to go to the bathroom. Instead, he made a mess of things and now had wet pants for no reason. From how Gareth looks at him now, it��s fair to assume he was calling Eddie some creative name choices. And a dexterity god was not one of them.

Eddie chuckles, smiling awkwardly before speeding out the lunchroom doors and away from that ungraceful situation. He prays to the metal gods that neither Freak nor Jeff brought up what just happened during DnD tonight.

He glances up and down the halls quickly, hoping to catch sight of Steve. It doesn’t take long to find him as Steve appears around the corner to head towards Eddie. Good, great–this was very convenient. Eddie could tell him what the book said, get paid, and be on his merry way. 

He eagerly moves down the hall, “Hey Harrington,” He says a bit louder so that Steve can catch what he is saying. There is no response from Steve, who hasn’t looked up from the floor since turning the corner. As Eddie moves closer he notices how the boy is holding his ears, as if he were trying to squish them into his skull.  

Eddie pauses for a second and mentally revisits some of the symptoms of head injuries. Some hearing loss was one of them, along with random sporadic ringing noises. He wondered if that was the issue Steve was having now. Eddie keeps walking towards the boy carefully, not wanting to spook the other. When he was in reaching distance he carefully poked the other's shoulder to grab his attention. But even being that careful Steve still jumps and flinches away from him.

Steve looks up, appearing very disoriented. His color is off, and he looks seconds away from throwing up all over Eddie’s new sneakers. “Hey, you okay?” He asks concerned.

“What?” Steve asks loudly. “Sorry can’t hear you over the loud ringing,” his face pinches up, looking even more distressed. 

Eddie was starting to feel uncomfortable, his anxiety was rising in his chest and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do to help the other now while he couldn’t hear him. He glances frantically around the hallway as if anything could help Steve, before deciding the best thing to do was to stay calm.

He turns his attention back on the other as he moves his hand in a ‘follow me’ gesture, and leads the other to his van. It probably looked suspicious, but he was sure that being outside would help the other a lot more than being cramped inside. 

Steve looks even more confused as Eddie gestures for him to get in the back of the van. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.” Eddie snorts as he hops into the van first. Hoping that would ease some of the other's anxiety. 

Eddie sits on the ground, watching the other curiously. Steve looks around for a moment, and at this point Eddie’s confident that the confused goldfish was his new signature look.

Steve awkwardly climbs in and Eddie moves forward just in case. Watching the other stumble in clumsily before Eddie closes the door behind him. Steve shifts his body around as if he didn’t know what to do with it and Eddie is quick to take the lead again. Waving his hand for the other to sit down once more.

Steve looks around the van, taking in the setting while Eddie waits for the other to be able to hear again. Hopefully, it would be soon, but he was willing to wait if necessary. 

When Steve finally turns his head back to Eddie he opens his mouth, wincing a little before he points to his ears. “Sorry, my ears tend to ring louder when I'm in loud places,” he comments as he rubs at them again. 

Eddie nods his head and takes note of that before it quickly grows awkward. “So, why did you bring me into your van?” Steve asks confused. A light chuckle falls from his lips when Eddie starts to move around to grab the bag. Remembering what they were in here for. 

“I finished the book,” He says simply. “And I did take some notes, figured I could tell you the summary if that's cool with you?” He says as he grabs the stack of notes he wrote. 

Steve has an unreadable look on his face as he nods his head carefully. Eddie takes that as his queue and takes a shaky breath as he begins to read off all of the information. Even pulling out the book to read the highlighted section. By the time he’s finished reading it all Steve’s face was pale again. His eyes looked watery and Eddie couldn’t tell if he was going to be sick in his van. 

Steve's hands shake in his lap a little like he was somewhere else. Eddie pinches his eyebrows before hesitating over his words. “I think it would be a good idea if you went to see a Doctor Steve,” he comments. “I know a guy, his mother is a nurse and I can easily take you over and get you checked out and-” Eddie rambles but Steve shakes his head no with a slight sniffle that they both choose to ignore. 

“Nah, I’ll be fine. Handled worse than this.” He laughs bitterly. Eddie furrows his eyebrows, concern taking over him again as he opens his mouth again but shuts it again when he realizes there is no point in trying to persuade Steve Harrington. He had already made up his mind.

“Alright, I see I can’t change your mind.” Eddie chuckles, unsure what he's supposed to do in this situation. But he can’t help himself as he comments, “But please, for the love of god don’t play any sports this season man. I don’t want to hear about how Steve Harrington died on the court.” He was fidgeting with his rings as he said this, shifting his eyes anywhere but on Steve. 

“I’ll be fine, no plans on dying either.” Steve laughs gently. His whole demeanor had changed, from being the most vulnerable Eddie had ever seen him to being the most closed-off a person could be. 

Those were the last words Steve said to him before he hopped out of the van and left to go back into the school. And in his place, where he had been sitting were two one hundred dollar bills.

[samgelina-jolie]

eddie book news

[ghosttotheparty]

love me softly p22

part 21

Eddie wakes up to Steve tracing lines across the side of his neck.

He smiles into the pillow, reaching out blindly to find him, and when he grabs at his waist he pulls him closer, mumbling, “C’mere.”

Steve rolls on top of him and their legs tangle as Eddie wraps his arms around Steve’s bare waist. His skin is almost hot, warm from sleep and blankets. Steve’s chin rests on Eddie’s chest.

Eddie can feel him gazing at him, and he suppresses a smile.

“Bed head,” Steve says fondly. His voice is rough. Eddie hums.

Steve traces the spider on Eddie’s chest slowly, the body, then the legs, and then he kisses it. Eddie sighs, sliding a hand under the waistband of his boxers to squeeze his hip.

“I was thinking,” Steve says quietly.

“Mm. Sounds dangerous.”

Steve pinches Eddie’s nipple, and Eddie giggles, grabbing his hand to push it away.

“What are you thinking?” he asks, holding Steve’s hand to himself after a moment. Steve is quiet, his chin back on Eddie’s chest, just over his heart.

“…I don’t care if people know.”

Eddie slowly opens his eyes, blinking at the ceiling for a moment before his eyes find Steve. Steve is gazing at him, his chin squished so his lips are pouting.

“Explain?” Eddie says softly.

“I mean…” Steve exhales, looking back at the spider and tracing it again as Eddie pushes his hair back, running his fingers over the side of his head. “I don’t think we should, like, make out in the hallways and stuff, but I…” His lips shift thoughtfully, still pouting. “I like wearing your clothes. And I like, like, leaning against you and laying on your shoulder. And holding your hand. And I miss it at school.”

Eddie listens intently, running his fingers through Steve’s hair, thinking.

“…You know people will talk,” he says quietly. Steve shrugs weakly.

“People will always talk,” he says. “People already talk.”

“They’ll call you things.”

Another shrug.

“Whatever they call me…” Steve frowns a little bit, his eyes trained on Eddie’s. “I’ll make it mine. Like you.”

“Jesus,” Eddie sighs, blinking and letting his head fall to look up at the ceiling. He scratches his fingertips across Steve’s scalp.

“We don’t have to,” Steve says, misunderstanding. “We can— We can keep our distance, I don’t mind, I just…”

“No, baby, it’s just—”

He sighs again, looking down at him.

“They’re gonna give you so much shit, Stevie, shit that you don’t— you don’t deserve.”

“You don’t deserve it either,” Steve says. “Or Gareth, or your friends, or— or anyone that people are assholes to for no reason.”

“I know, but…” He touches Steve, tracing the moles on his cheek. “They’re probably gonna call you stuff. And harass you, and call you—”

“I know, Eddie,” Steve murmurs. “I’ve thought about it. I think about it every time I see you in the hallways because I wanna… push you against the lockers and kiss you until you can’t remember your own name.”

Eddie can’t suppress a grin, and Steve smiles up at him.

“I won’t do that, though,” Steve says.

“You can do it when we get home.”

Steve nods against his chest.

“So what do you think?” he says after a moment. Eddie gazes at him for a moment, tucking his hair back.

“Just… I want you to know what you’re getting into.”

“I do.”

“It might be dangerous, Stevie.”

“I know,” Steve murmurs. “I’ve thought about it.”

Eddie gazes, tracing a line across his forehead.

“We don’t have to be super obvious,” Steve says softly. “I just wanna be able to touch you. Just… Your hand. Or, like, leaning against you. I feel like I’m dying every time I see you and I have to just look at you like we’re buddies.”

Eddie smiles softly, touching his face. There’s a line on his cheek from the pillow.

“We can let them all wonder,” Steve says quietly. “And then… we’ll run away together. Get married ’nd shit.”

Eddie’s eyes burn. He blinks them, looking up at the ceiling and listening to Steve giggle softly, biting his lip to suppress a smile.

“Jesus, I love you.”

“‘S nice,” Steve whispers, tilting his head to press a kiss to Eddie’s chest. He reaches up to wipe a tear for Eddie, leaving his hand up to twist in Eddie’s tangled curls. Eddie takes a deep breath, blinking tears back, focusing on the weight on Steve on top of him, the pressure of his head on his chest, the feeling of their skin touching.

He hesitates after a few moments, furrowing his brows.

“What if… What if your parents hear about us? Somehow?”

Steve’s eyes skim over Eddie’s face, his fingertips untangling a snag in Eddie’s hair.

“I don’t know. I don’t… I don’t really care.”

“Stevie.”

“I don’t, Eddie. They barely know me anyway. I already wanna leave home as soon as I can. Kinda wanna, like, cut them off eventually.” He looks soft, like he might cry, but his voice is strong. “I don’t care if they know.”

“If they…” Eddie pauses to collect himself, realising his hands are shaking. He holds Steve’s head, touching the buzzed hair. “If they do anything. If they find out, or— or you think they know or that they’ll find out, and you— you feel unsafe at all, you come to mine and Wayne’s.”

“I know,” Steve says with a small smile.

“Or Tommy’s if his dad isn’t home, or— or Gareth’s.”

“I know, Eddie.”

Eddie exhales, staring for a moment before he sits up, pushing Steve to sit across from him, their legs around each other. Steve glances down at himself, at his stomach, insecure, so Eddie moves closer and slides his hand across his belly, over the soft rolls, and he leans close to kiss him. It’s a soft, slow kiss, and Steve’s hands find Eddie’s shoulders, pulling his hair back to touch his neck as Eddie’s fingers press into his flesh.

“Are you sure?” Eddie asks when they part.

“Yes.”

Eddie exhales, nudging their noses together.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay,” Eddie says again, nodding, smiling. Steve leans closer, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s neck and pulling him in tightly as Eddie slides his hands over his back firmly, down his spine to the waist and of his boxers and back to the nape of his neck.

They stay there for a while, just holding each other, face in each other’s necks, rocking back and forth a little bit without even really noticing, until Steve whispers, “Will you take a shower with me?”

“Is that a serious question?”

Steve giggles.

When Gareth and Tommy arrive, Steve’s hair is carefully styled with products that keep it silky smooth. Eddie’s hair smells like the same products, and he still feels weak in the knees from letting Steve run his fingers through his wet curls, scrunching them and twisting them around his fingers to form perfect ringlets.

Gareth and Tommy promptly ruin Steve’s hair by manhandling his head to see the shaved sides, simultaneously rubbing the sides of his head roughly and making him giggle.

They brought pizza.

Eddie brought weed.

Steve comments that maybe weed isn’t a great idea as he pulls Poltergeist out and holds it up for Eddie to see, but it doesn’t stop them. They all sit on the floor together, Steve leaning against Eddie’s chest between his legs, the others leaning against the sofa. Tommy and Gareth share a joint between them. Eddie and Steve share one, but Steve stays bundled under a blanket when he finishes his pizza, and Eddie just holds the joint down to his lips for him.

Tommy gets up to put another movie on when the first one ends because Steve refuses to get up. Steve falls asleep halfway through it.

Gareth lets his head fall to Eddie’s shoulder as they watch, smiling as he watches Eddie comb through Steve’s hair and rest his cheek on the top of his head. Tommy moves to lay his head on Gareth’s lap. (Gareth covers his eyes with a hand and has to stifle a laugh as Tommy reaches up to smack at his face, calling him an asshole.) Tommy falls asleep next, taking steady breaths, his shoulder rising and falling.

“I’m really happy,” Eddie murmurs to Gareth after a while, sounding sleepy. His eyes are trained on the television, his fingers tracing Steve’s knuckles as Steve holds onto his forearm that’s gentle across his chest.

Gareth sighs, nuzzling against his shoulder before he lifts his head and smacks a soft kiss to his temple, making him squeeze his eyes shut with a bright smile.

“I’m glad you are,” Gareth says as he’s laying his head back down. “I am too.”

—————————

The summer between Steve’s junior and senior years, he and Eddie go to Indianapolis to get away from Hawkins for a few days. They drag Tommy and Gareth along.

As they’re walking down a sidewalk, laughing and jabbing at each other, Steve lingers at the window of a piercing and tattoo shop, and Eddie stops, watching the way he gazes inside, eyeing the posters and photos.

They go inside.

They spend too long chatting with the people that work there, browsing the flash sheets on the walls and the displayed jewellery, until they all make their decisions.

Tommy doesn’t get anything, just because it’s not his style. (Though Gareth won’t stop teasing that he’s just scared, mouthing pussy at him across the shop.)

Gareth gets a septum piercing after much contemplation. He squeezes his eyes shut tightly as the piercer holds the needle up, and then after it’s done, he promptly says, “That actually wasn’t that bad,” even though his eyes are watering.

“You’re crying,” Tommy says, leaning against a nearby shelf and watching intently, curiously.

“It’s a natural reaction, Tommy,” Gareth says sassily as the piercer chuckles, putting the jewellery in in place of the needle. “You ever get punched in the nose?”

“No.”

“How’d you like to be?”

Tommy just cackles.

Eddie gets his right ear lobe pierced. It’s just a black stud for now, but he keeps eyeing the piercer’s gauges, the small black tunnels through his ear lobes.

Steve gets his left eyebrow pierced. Eddie already has the polaroid camera out of his bag, waiting, and as the piercer moves away to pick up the jewellery, Steve turns to look at him. His left eye is squeezed shut because the piercing is bleeding, bright red on his golden skin, the needle straight through his brow. Eddie lifts the camera without hesitation, and Steve lifts a hand in a lazy rock-on gesture.

(Eddie keeps the photo in his wallet, occasionally just opening it to gaze at him, at the smile just teasing at his lips, at his soft arms that are exposed because he’s wearing one of Eddie’s old Megadeath shirts, the sleeves cut off to battle the summer heat. The man of Eddie’s dreams.)

Eddie wipes the blood away for him after the jewellery is in place, and Steve tugs him into a chaste kiss.

Steve insists on paying for all three piercings, with the explanation of, “If my parents found out I’m using their hard-earned money for body modifications they’d lose their shit, so…” and a wink. Eddie just says, “I’m in love with you,” and the cashier laughs softly as Tommy and Gareth groan obnoxiously.

Eddie and Steve go back to the same shop before summer is over. Steve gets his septum pierced because he really liked Gareth’s, and Eddie holds his hand as he gets it done, laughing when Steve’s hand clenches and Steve lets out a gasp.

“Gareth is a fucking liar,” Steve says firmly as the piercer changes the needle for the nose ring. “Holy shit.”

Steve holds his hand as Eddie kicks his feet in anticipation as the piercer cleans the bridge of his nose, just between his eyes.

“This may be a horrible idea,” Eddie says, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Why’s that?” Steve asks, running his thumb over his knuckles.

“I really hate needles.”

Steve and piercer laugh, and piercer, a young woman with a buzzcut, tells him he can change his mind.

“Gareth would never let me live it down,” he says. “Let’s do this, stick me.”

“Alright,” she says, squeezing the bridge of his nose with the clamp and lining the needle up. His hand squeezes Steve’s so tightly it hurts. “On three. One—”

“Fuck you,” Eddie complains when she pierces him before three. She just laughs.

Steve pays again. He tells Eddie he wants to get his tongue done next, and Eddie sighs heavily like he’s annoyed before he tugs him into an alleyway and kisses him silly.

Come August, nobody in town really recognizes Steve. He gets the same stares Eddie gets as he walks down the street, the same squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows and judging, wrinkled noses. He gets the same glares from parents as they turn their children around. Don’t stare, they say, even as they stare over their shoulders. And Steve realises everything about Eddie and his behaviour makes sense, because when an old man stares him down for more than a full minute, all Steve can think to do is stick his tongue out and hiss at him. The man looks away haughtily, huffing and turning red, and Steve just giggles to himself.

On the first day of school, he wears one of Eddie’s shirts that he’s stolen. A black t-shirt Eddie made Steve paint with bleach, leaving the soft, worn fabric stained red in a careful spider web across the chest. He’s wearing one of Eddie’s rings, and he fidgets with it during classes, rubs his fingers over it until the metal is warm as he tries to pay attention.

The teacher takes attendance silently, looking up around the room and checking off names, until she stops and asks, “Is Steve Harrington here?”

He raises his hand and says, “Here,” and then has to lower his head to hide his smile. Because the students around him look toward him at the sound of his voice, wide-eyed and already spinning rumours and theories around in their minds, rumours and theories that make their way to open air by the next day.

Steve Harrington’s been corrupted. He’s been dethroned, manipulated, possessed. It was Eddie Munson’s fault. Look at them. Listen to them. He called him Stevie. He’s holding his hand. What the fuck are they doing? What happened to Steve? What happened to the king? Where did he go?

Did you hear?

King Steve and the Freak.

Steve ignores them all as he leans against Eddie in the cafeteria, laughing at something Gareth says. He ignores them all as Eddie laughs into his hair, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and tugging him closer, as Eddie’s fingers run across the side of his head, over his buzzed hair. He ignores them all as he throws a fry at Tommy, who catches it in his mouth and high-fives Gareth.

Because after school he gets to go home to Eddie’s trailer and kiss Eddie’s lips and cheeks and neck, and he gets to fall asleep to the sound of Eddie’s heartbeat. Nobody else gets that. Nobody else gets to see that. (Except Gareth and Tommy and Wayne on the occasions that Steve gets sleepy around them and leans against Eddie instinctively.)

They never confirm the rumours, even when Steve’s old friends corner him in the hallway with accusations of Satanism and rituals and Eddie brainwashing him. We’re worried about you, man. What did he do to you? Steve just glares at them, almost sneering at the faux concern in their eyes, at their gentleness after he saw them trip a little freshman in the hallway this morning.

You guys are fucking idiots.

He pushes past them without a second glance, ignoring their increasingly angry Steve!s that turn into Harrington!s that make his blood run cold. He just goes to meet Eddie at his van and says, “Wanna go home.”

When one of Steve’s old friends tells him, “Man, I don’t even recognise you anymore,” Steve has to fight a smile off, and he takes a breath before he says lightly, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

Steve raises an eyebrow.

“What, am I in trouble?”

Drew scoffs.

“Dude, what’s going on with you?” he asks, gesturing vaguely at Steve, who seeths. “You’re so…”

“What?” Steve says coldly. “Weird?”

“Yeah. What’s going on with you?” Drew says, shrugging a little bit, and Steve’s jaw twitches as he takes a breath.

“Nothing,” he says evenly. “There is nothing going on with me. You just hate that I’m not exactly like you anymore.”

Drew scoffs.

“So, what, you’re like them?”

“Yes,” Steve says, his hands shaking. “I’m like them. And I’d rather be like them, or anyone fucking else, than like you.”

“You’re fucking pathetic, Steve.”

Steve nods, unblinking.

“I mean, you…” Drew shakes his head in disappointment. “You were the king, man. And then you started hanging out with Eddie fucking Munson.”

The sound of his name in Drew’s mouth makes Steve feel sick with anger.

“And everyone’s trying to figure out what that fag did to you, but—”

Steve has him pinned to the wall before he can even process it, his fist tight on the front of Drew’s shirt, his heart pounding his chest. Drew is wide-eyed, startled, breathing hard as Steve speaks in a quiet, even voice.

“You keep your fucking mouth shut about him,” he says softly. “‘Kay?”

Drew stares back at him, and he nods when Steve raises his eyebrows.

Steve shoves him against the wall harder before he releases him and leaves. Eddie is in the parking lot, leaning against his van, waiting for Steve when he comes out of the school, and even though there are still others standing around the parking lot, talking and laughing with their friends, Steve steps up close and wraps his arms around him tightly.

Eddie hugs him back even though he’s confused, tucking his face into Steve’s neck.

“What’s going on?”

Steve can feel the others eyeing them, but he doesn’t care. No one can hear them murmuring to each other.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, honey.”

Steve pulls away after a few moments, standing in front of Eddie and hesitating.

“What happened?” Eddie asks softly, dropping his hands and pushing them into his pockets. Steve bites his lip, gazing at him.

“I’ll tell you later,” he says quietly.

Eddie nods.

Steve hesitates for a second before he leans in, tilting his head, and he kisses Eddie’s cheek lightly, chastely.

Eddie’s face flushes pink, and he suppresses a smile, hearing a soft voice behind them say Did he just…

“You really don’t give a shit, do you?” Eddie asks, amused, and Steve shakes his head.

“I am so tired of caring. ‘M done.”

Eddie tilts his head at him like he’s adorable, and then he reaches out and pulls at Steve’s hand.

“‘S go home.”

Steve keeps his hand on Eddie’s thigh as they drive home, and at red lights, Eddie reaches over to run his fingers over the side of his head, dragging his fingertips over his buzzed hair in the way that always makes him close his eyes and sigh.

Rumours about the kiss spread around the school by the next morning.

Did you hear that Harrington kissed Munson?

What?

Yeah, they made out in the parking lot.

They didn’t make out, Steve kissed his cheek.

I didn’t know he was queer. I mean, I knew Munson was, but Steve Harrington…

Steve ignores the stares he gets in the hallway, the way they’ve intensified. Some are malicious, but there’s a heavy ring on Steve’s index finger that could cause some damage if he had to throw a punch. When he’s asked about it (Are you queer? Are you with Munson?) he just stares at the questioner blankly until they leave. Eddie finds it hilarious every time.

Steve stays at Eddie’s more often than not. Wayne gets used to finding him in the kitchen in the morning, and the first time he ruffles his hair the way he does Eddie’s, Steve almost cries. (He and Steve take their coffee the same way, and they both tease Eddie for how much sugar he takes.)

The first time Steve hugs Wayne, it’s when he comes over to find one of his own paintings hanging on the wall above the sofa. He’d given the painting to Eddie last time he was over.

It’s a colourful, messy painting, the paint smooth and smudgy and almost smokey. He did it on his bedroom floor, kneeling on top of a blue tarp his father used to use to cover his car, his left hand clutching a bundle of paintbrushes, humming along to a mixtape Eddie made for him.

Steve had expected the painting to be in Eddie’s room, maybe resting against his mirror or propped against his windowsill, but it’s the first thing he sees when he walks into the trailer. There’s a hammer and nails still on the table.

“Oh,” he says.

“Is it straight?” Wayne asks, stepping out of the kitchen and setting a mug down on the table, looking at the painting. “I tried to get it straight but I can’t tell if I did it right. Eds is better with handy stuff like that.”

Eddie is at Hellfire. Steve came over anyway just because.

“It looks good,” he says weakly. His voice cracks. Wayne looks at him.

“You alright?” he asks gently. He’s always gentle. Steve sometimes wonders if Eddie’s told him about him, about his parents, the drinking. But part of him also thinks it’s just how Wayne is. Always gentle, kind, slow and patient. He’s always making tea.

“I’ve, uhm.” Steve clears his throat, sniffling. “All my paintings are on the floor in my closet,” he says, because he doesn’t know how else to explain everything he’s feeling.

Wayne just looks at him.

“Well that’s not where they belong, is it?” he says lightly after a moment, looking back at the painting. “You wanna bring any more, I can get Eds to put them up straight on the walls. Bring some colour in here.” He doesn’t see Steve squeeze his eyes shut. “He’ll probably make some joke about putting them up straight, though.”

Steve laughs wetly, nodding. He definitely would.

“You alright?” Wayne asks again as Steve is wiping his face. Steve nods.

And then he can’t stop himself from stepping over and hugging Wayne tightly, squeezing his eyes shut as Wayne hugs him back carefully. He takes a gasping breath, still trying not to cry, but Wayne rubs his back and murmurs a soft, “You’re alright, son.”

And then he’s sobbing. Son. He’s never been called that before. Wayne sways with him in his arms, rubbing his back, whispering to him, waiting until he pulls himself together.

“Sorry,” Steve says weakly as he starts to pull away, but Wayne tsks at him, shaking his head and wiping his tears away with his warm, rough, callused hands.

“You don’t gotta apologise, Steve,” Wayne says gently. “‘S alright to cry.”

When Eddie comes home, Wayne and Steve are both on the sofa watching a baseball game. Steve is wearing Eddie’s clothes, some black sweatpants and a heavy sweater that used to be Wayne’s, and Eddie pauses in the doorway just to look at them.

Steve drifts off as he’s listening to Eddie’s heartbeat. His eyes are closed, the baseball game turning into quiet white noise behind him, and as he’s starting to drift he hears Eddie say quietly, “We’re gonna run away together someday.”

“Are you?” Wayne says. Steve can hear his smile in his voice. Eddie’s fingers run across his shaved hair.

“Mhmm.”

“Where to?”

“Steve says maybe San Francisco,” Eddie says, smiling. His voice is rumbling in his chest. “We’ll see.”

“Send me a postcard, will you?”

“‘Course. We’ll send you some of Stevie’s art.”

“That’a be nice,” Wayne says. “Was talking to Steve about his painting. Said he can bring us more if he wants. Get some colour in here.”

“All your damn mugs aren’t enough colour for you?” Eddie teases.

“Steve likes the mugs.”

“‘S true.”

Eddie is still playing with Steve’s hair, his fingertips so gentle it’s like a lullaby. That with his heartbeat against Steve’s cheek.

“I really love him, Uncle Wayne.”

“I can tell, Eds.” Wayne is quiet for a moment. “I love him, too.”

Eddie shifts, falling to the side a little bit, and Steve falls with him, nuzzling into his chest as he settles, his hands tucked under his chin, legs drawn up across Eddie’s lap. He knows without looking that Eddie is leaning against Wayne.

Steve sighs. Eddie kisses the top of his head, and when he speaks again, Steve is too tired to understand him. He doesn’t try to, instead listening to the rumble of his voice, of Wayne’s voice when he responds. If he was awake enough, he would say it back. If he was awake enough, he would probably cry again. But Eddie’s fingertips are dragging through his hair, and his voice is smooth and low, and his heartbeat is steady, right against Steve’s face.

Steve falls asleep.

epilogue read the whole thing on ao3 tagging: @thehumblefigtree @cr0w-culture @goodolefashionedloverboi @newtstabber @bestwifehaver <3 comment to be tagged in the epilogue :)

[munsonfamilyband]

So I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD since I was a toddler but my dad grew up in the 70s and 80s and didn’t get diagnosed until he was almost 50, let alone taking medication for it. Can you imagine the pure relief Eddie would feel the first time he took ADHD medication? For people who don’t have it/have never experienced it, it truly is an insane feeling to suddenly have the ability to focus on things and finish thoughts coherently.

Imagine Eddie in his late 20s, maybe early 30s, it’s the 90s and Robin just got diagnosed and told him he should get tested. He gets tested, diagnosed and he starts trying out meds. He and Steve suffer through the process of finding the right medication and dosage but the moment it clicks? Eddie cleans the apartment and get’s caught up on all the paperwork he needed to do for weeks but kept pushing off. He found things he had misplaced months ago and set up a plan for the next day to keep being productive. Steve is at a loss for words and Eddie almost cries when he sees what he did, both because he finally has something that helps him do things, but also because he should have been able to get this as a kid. He starts advocating for testing your kids because he would have done so much better in school if he had someone or something to help his brain chemistry even out and function like a regular brain.

[pubbydreams]

steddie coded

[tinytalkingtina]

Logical imperfection - Chapter 3 (Steddie Star Trek AU)

Chapter 3 is now live! In which Eddie is leading his first away mission, and we get to hint at S'tevan's Tragic BackstoryTM.

Eddie continued to fuss with the machine for several minutes before his anxiety and anger finally boiled over. “Stupid hunk of junk!” He growled, kicking it in frustration. In response, the water purifier sputtered to life and kicked out a cloud of sand directly into Eddie’s face. Coughing, half blind, he flailed around wildly before losing his balance and falling flat on his ass. Truly the picture of a calm and collected senior officer. “I see your decade of experience in engineering has well prepared you for desert survival tactics.” S’tevan commented dryly, leaning against some rocks a distance away. Eddie glared at his pointy-eared rival. Some security officer he was, letting his crewmates injure their bodies (and egos). But after months of jabs about how planetary missions were the only real work in Starfleet, Eddie didn’t want to give S’tevan the satisfaction.

Read the full chapter on Ao3!

[hellcheerficdatabase]

His Dungeon Master Throne

Author: LittlePine

Rating/Warning: Explicit

Chapter Count: 1/1

Description:

Searching for Dustin's lost wallet in the Drama room AKA Hellfire club room, Steve accidentally stumbles upon an unlikely couple as things get steamy. He can't do a lot but watch.

Uh oh.

Tags: Alternate Universe- no vecna, accidental voyeurism, smut, Steve is conflicted, it's so hot, but tender, Steve having an awakening? Maybe so, outside POV, one-shot, status: completed

[sundaynightlive]

Fools (Steddie)

First Part | Last Part | Next Part

Steve’s losing his mind. Not losing it, actually—it’s actively being stolen from him every second he spends with Eddie Munson.

At first, he considered it just… fooling around. Or a school girl’s crush. It had been easier, then, to talk himself out of saying stupid things, doing stupid things—being altogether that mushy, maudlin guy he starts being when he actually likes somebody. 

It’s getting harder and harder by the day. Maybe even by the hour.

“Dude, that’s the third time you’ve tried to hand me back a tape without tagging it,” Robin says, incredulously, “Where’s your head at?”

Where’s his head at? 

Swimming pools, living rooms, a little house on the hill, and children’s names. That’s where his head’s at—creating asinine fantasies of the life he and Eddie might live someday in a world which does not even exist for them. He doesn’t usually fall so quickly—he and Eddie aren’t even really together. Hell, they’ve barely been fooling around two-weeks and he’s obsessing over a life with the guy.

Maybe Eddie doesn’t even want that, but they haven’t talked. They don’t talk. Suddenly, something they used to do so easily has been replaced by constant, mind-numbing affection. Steve isn’t complaining, but he aches to just talk about it.

Talk about the fact they spend every moment of free time together.

Talk about the fact it feels like fucking magic.

Talk about the fact Steve’s never liked someone this much, ever.

Talk about what the hell is going on.

But no, Steve is stuck in “will they won’t they” limbo, wishing the guy who used to never shut up would just fucking say something. 

“Steve?”

He snaps his attention back to Robin. He bites his lip, opens his mouth to say it, and closes it again. She stares at him expectantly, arms crossed over her chest.

“Can… you keep a secret?”

[strangersatellites]

so I had this idea about Eddie being one of those people who sells spells on Etsy. he’s not a con artist and he doesn’t overprice his spells and he doesn’t offer anything he can’t deliver, it’s mostly cleansing spells, spells for confidence, etc. he sends his clients a kit with simple instructions if they live faraway or for more complicated spells he will meet people in person. he offers anti-love spells too, but they have to be done in person.

Enter Steve, who has recently gone through a rough breakup with Nancy, and who in his desperation finds Eddie’s Etsy shop and contacts him for an anti-love spell to make himself fall out of love with her.

your post about witch Eddie made me think of this 🤭

oh OH!!! this is doing WONDERS for my witch eddie brainrot brandi this is serious

steve contracts eddie for a spell but he’s not confident in his ability to perform it himself even with the kit. luckily, he notices eddie is based out of the same town as him so he asks if they can meet. eddie agrees, of course, and they meet up somewhere in town.

unfortunately for eddie, he gets a bit distracted by the pretty boy with pretty eyes and pretty hair and a pretty pretty smile. he doesn’t notice until it’s too late that he messed up the spell. nothing seems immediately wrong though so he thinks he’s gotten off scott-free.

afterwards, he and steve hit it off and make plans to hang out soon. numbers are exchanged and they quickly become inseparable.

it’s only once eddie realizes he’s in love with him that he wakes up in a cold sweat and realizes his mistake.

in his distracted mindset casting steve’s anti-love spell, he accidentally cast the spell that didn’t dull steve’s affection for nancy, but shift it. to him.

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? -Family Video's Booming Business

Chapter 19/? - - - Read it on AO3

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Word Count: 9,603

Summary: The doors of Family Video start seeing quite a few newly familiar faces. Eddie Munson, Vickie Nelson, Nancy Wheeler... They all show up looking for different things though.

More ST Fics

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

The weirdest things happened over the next few days.

Well, it wasn't necessarily weird on the scale they'd all somewhat become used to. Just weird on the scale of their regular lives and what they'd come to expect from those.

Eddie had gone back to crashing with his uncle after the first sleepover he'd shared with Steve, but then he started to come by Family Video. Often. And he was really good at being there right when Robin wasn't. When it was just him and Steve and not even a single other customer in the building to focus on.

The first time it happened was on Sunday. Robin wasn't in for opening - her parents were still pushing hard on the early-morning-Mass-thing - so it was just Steve. Thumbing through the newspaper and wondering if the folks at the corporate office would fund an ad for hiring since the sign out front wasn't doing much legwork to fill the hours.

And then, without any real warning, Eddie was there.

He pushed open the door, and the bell rang through the shop. Steve was on his way to snap into customer service mode and tuck away the paper when he looked up and realized who it was. The infamous metal-loving, drug-dealing, half-dead outcast…

“Oh. Hey, Munson.”

“Well, that was a bit of a bitter welcoming from an employee,” Eddie noted.

And that's how it started.

Eddie made a game of it on that very first day. Who knows if he really classified the game as “Annoy Steve Harrington” or if that just happened to be the result of all the pestering, but that was essentially how it worked. Eddie would walk into the store, see he was the only one, and then start slowly bumbling around. Wandering in circles through the isles with no real intention. Like it was all just to waste time. Maybe it was.

And then he'd start asking Steve questions. And not questions about Steve, or the certain secret situation they were both a part of. No, they were questions about the movies. But not the kinds of questions anyone really asks. Not the kind Steve ever really had an answer to.

He'd pelt Steve with an inquiry about almost every movie on the shelves. Despite how many times Steve would tell him that he hadn't seen most of them. Eddie would just pick up the most obscure-looking tape and ask something like…

“Do you find the prominent themes in this film in line with the state of American politics today? Literal or metaphorical, I'm not picky about the presentation of the ideology.”

Since it was about the fifth question like it he'd asked, Steve rolled his eyes,“ So, the joke here is that you’re trying to sound like a pretentious asshole. Right?”

“Steve!” Eddie threw a hand over his heart. Shock painting his features as his voice rose an octave higher,” I can’t believe you would say such a thing to a PAYING CUSTOMER OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT! I am simply asking a relevant question in relation to this business you run so I may improve my overall customer experience.”

And then it happened again on Monday too. Turned out that Eddie decided to skip the first two days back since he had that concert Tuesday anyway and could get away with it. He was still resting up, as far as the front office was concerned. And somewhere around his stroll through the horror section, Eddie called to him from the display.

He held up a copy of Halloween, pointing to it while he asked,“ Would you call this one a classic for any old family of five to watch together, or would you recommend a more private viewing for mom and dad without their little one’s peering eyes?”

Steve only shrugged and flipped the page of his magazine,“ I don’t know, haven’t seen it.”

And maybe in a more practical conversation, Eddie would've been focused on the fact that Steve Harrington hadn't seen Halloween yet. Would've more honestly insisted that he needed to as soon as possible. Would've made a fit about “How can we really be friends if you don't know about Michael Myers?” But Eddie was playing a game. And his character was more like a suburban mom than the alternative guy he actually was.

So, instead, he set the movie back down and demanded,“ Well, you must know! You are an employee of this company. If I can’t come to you to make sure I don’t let my little Timmy, dear sweet Sally, and… my… my little guy…” he struggled for a third name,” Reginald?” It'd have to do. “If I can’t trust you to advise me so I don’t expose them to something untoward, then who can I trust in this world?”

“The only babies you have are named Dustin, Mike, and Lucas.” Steve counted them off on three fingers,” And they’ve seen way worse stuff than any of these flicks might have.”

“Excuse me! I also have a claim to Erica and am going through the legal procedures to gain custody of Max, Will, and El to make them my own too.” Eddie was starting to lose focus on the game, but he didn't mind that much.

“Yeah, yeah, good luck with that.” Steve hummed with a stretch of his tense shoulders.

Eddie drifted over to the counter. “I’ll win ‘em over,” he declared, leaning on an elbow and narrowing his eyes at Steve,” Won you over, and that was supposed to be the impossible part.”

Steve finally straightened up from his magazine,“ Oh? You think you’ve won me over?”

“You think I haven't?”

Eddie was even there on Tuesday. He'd mentioned the show was that night, and he had a whole drive up to Indy to make, but the rest of the band had to get let out of school before they'd head out. So, of course, he pulled that '71 Chevrolet into the parking lot right outside the store windows and set about killing time with the game that never seemed to get old.

He threw open the door, Steve greeted him with a familiar “Again?” and then he nosedived for the inspiration to kick off the day's questions. It all went how it usually did. Eddie would ask something, talking way too fast in convoluted phrases that Steve didn't even have any hope of figuring out. They were practically setting a routine.

And it might've bothered him more if it was someone else doing it, or someone doing it in a different way. If the game felt like it was about making Steve seem stupid. But it was obvious he wasn't supposed to get it. The joke wasn't “Steve Harrington is unintelligent.” The joke was that Eddie was being obnoxious and Steve was unable to walk away since he was the only one running the register.

He was “trapped in the clutches of capitalism” and “the bearer of lonesome responsibility” Eddie had said once when Steve asked how he was getting his kicks out of it.

It made the time pass by, at least. Eddie had already been running around and playing his game for over half an hour when he'd migrated back to the scary movie section. He hung around that part of the store most often, to no one's surprise.

That time he'd grabbed The Shining off the shelf and deemed it his latest victim (aside from Steve himself).

“How would you rate the special effects? Is the fake blood too runny or too bright or does it look pretty accurate? What about the madness- or even the violence itself? Does it look real enough to make someone like you squirm in your seat?”

“Don't know, don't care,” Steve said, pretty much automatically. Then his face scrunched up as he thought,” And I've seen real violence, I don't think I'd be squirming over something playing on a tv screen.”

Eddie's arms fell down and he rubbed his nose bridge. “Okay, come on. That one was a total bait pick. You're seriously telling me you haven't sat down to see the rivers of blood drown out the hotel's hallway?”

“Well, it sounds like to me you just spoiled the whole thing, so I guess I'll never need to.” Steve reasoned.

“Steve! That is not a movie-ruining giveaway and you need to watch some of these!”

“I watch some of 'em…”

Steve was getting grumbly when, just as Eddie was gearing up to demand a horror-movie-marathon or something in that vein, a customer walked in.

A high schooler. Even though there was still some time before classes let out. But it was Ashley Brahms and she was sort of known for finding ways to skip out at the end of the school day. She strode in under the bell, her purple sweater puffing around her hands where they pushed open on the handle of the door. She quickly noticed both Steve and Eddie being at the same place at the same time. Something to be considered an oddity in the days of Old Hawkins before its latest tussle with monsters.

Course, the common people didn't know how much had really changed.

So she just looked at the two of them. A slight wideness to her eyes as she took in the strange sight. “Huh, first time to see the twin victims together,” she commented. Quietly, almost under her breath. Something she was saying mostly to just herself as the glass door came to close behind her.

There was also that.

They became the “twin victims” to explain the scars. Everyone had figured it’d only be a matter of time before Steve got with a girl and she’d notice the massive expanse of newly traumatized tissue he'd collected over the last few weeks, so they started a story to excuse it. Said he was camped out in the woods with everyone during the whole Eddie-on-the-run thing, and they ran into a bear. A black bear, Dustin had insisted. Course, he “fought it off,” but not before it did some damage. They added that Eddie fought it with him too, seeing as he had the same scars, and it could only help his image to have nearly died protecting sweet girls like Nancy Wheeler and Robin Buckley.

Well, that was one rumor circulating around town. There was a second that started just after saying that they’d just gotten so drunk that they passed out and something more like a badger tore into them before they woke up, and the bear was just a coverup to make them seem cooler. Which was fair, seeing as they don’t really get bears anywhere in Indiana or most of the states around it. Plus, the point of the bear story was specifically for people to discredit it with a more truthful idea to make smaller rodents like what they'd told the hospital seem that much more likely.

But, surprisingly, there were a few faithful girls who would whisper about how even a bear migrated across some great distance for a taste of Steve Harrington. Which was a compliment. And probably should’ve boosted his ego a lot more than it actually did. It didn’t do much except remind him how uninterested he was in meaningless sex those days.

But that whole train of thought was way beside the point.

The point was, Steve and Eddie had sort of been tied together that way. In the eyes of public opinion, they were paired together as the reckless boys who went into the woods and got themselves fucked up before the earthquake. It was a fine cover story. But it did feel a little awkward just having some person say it like that.

Eddie pushed off of the counter and said he should probably head off. It was almost time to pick up his crew. Steve just gave him a wave as he went out the door, empty-handed. He never really rented anything, no matter how much time he spent asking fake questions.

Whatever. Eddie Munson's business was Eddie Munson's business. At least it made a couple of shifts go by faster when Steve was without Robin.

It was never about movies. There was never any intent from Eddie's side of things to check one out. It was about not being alone.

Eddie didn't want to go back to school yet, but he also didn't want to be alone. Sitting on his ass, waiting for something to happen to give him a reason again. He might've been going a little crazy, but there were a few times he was laying in that hotel bed, empty room because Wayne was still pulling overtime shifts, and he sort of missed the way he felt when everything was falling apart.

Not the bleeding out. That part didn't feel good. But everything leading up to it...

He was scared out of his mind. Thundering heartbeat and sweaty palms. Terror was at the forefront of every thought. But… there was purpose. He had something to do, something important. Something that mattered. People counting on him.

And in those minutes before the bats circled up, he'd have been lying if he said he didn't sort of want to laugh through some tears. It was a confusing blend of adrenaline that pumped through his bloodstream. But there was that tiny little part of it that felt good.

But it probably wasn't a good idea to linger on too much. Becoming an adrenaline junkie wasn't really a good life plan. As if that was even the only part of it that Eddie remembered fondly.

When the bell rang through the building, echoing into the tiny teacher's parking lot out the back, there was something else to think about. The sound just barely leaked beyond the school's walls, but it wasn't very long until the double doors were thrown open. His merry band of freaks poured out with backpacks slung over their shoulders and radiant smiles spread across their faces. Only took about five seconds of freedom for Bruce to shake Jeff by his shoulders and let out some kind of battle cry as they made their way over to Eddie.

The Corroded Coffin team was trailed by the young members of the wider Hellfire Club. They all circled up on the van and beat open hands against the outside until he climbed out. They were all hyped up and bursting with energy and excitement. Eddie almost felt bad for the teachers that had to deal with them towards the end of the day.

“Duuuuuude!” Gareth yelled, grabbing Eddie by the arm and yanking him the rest of the way out onto the asphalt.

“Duuuuuude!” Eddie responded with the same inflection.

“It's happening!” Gareth continued, wide-eyed like a kid on Christmas morning.

“I know it is!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” he screamed with the biggest grin while Josie slung an arm over Gareth's shoulder and started yelling with him.

It was going to be one hell of a road trip on the way up to the concert, that was for sure. Eddie was close to accusing them of robbing a candy store and riding a sugar high the whole way. Well, the five members with tickets were smiley and sweet. Some others were a little more sour.

“It's so not fair,” Dustin said from the side. Grumbling. Standing between Mike, Lucas, and Will watching the older kids start to celebrate their plans for the night. The plans they didn't get to join in on.

To be fair, the freshmen weren't on the guest list for the evening. They hadn't really been invited, so sure, they had a little right to be grumbly. But, come on, it was more of a field trip for the band. It just so happened that every member of the band was also in Hellfire Club.

So they'd only been, like, halfway excluded.

“Hate to break it to you like this, but none of you kids even showed up to auditions. Much less make the band and scored an invite.”

Plus Eddie was considering this a little bit of a send-off before he buckled down and finished off the year to break for the graduation stage. And with Jeff, Gareth, Josie, and Bruce, he'd known them more than a couple of months.

He liked his little sheepies, yes. Didn't mean they got to come to a show on a school night with him. He didn't want to play babysitter with all his free time.

“Well, do you have concert money?” Jeff countered the kid's bad mood,” And not just the amount we paid in advance, you kids would be paying door prices if they even still have any left.”

“And it'd be rude not to pitch in for gas and road trip snacks,” Gareth added.

“And you'd need to get last-minute permission from all your parents. Cause I am not getting hit with a kidnapping charge after all the shit I just got off my record.” Eddie leveled the last of any complaints they might've had.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if there might be an opportunity for something with The Party. A closer show with a lot more notice. He'd keep his ear to the ground. But that night was not about palling around with the kids who almost watched him die. It was about getting away from all the shit for just a few hours.

“Grow up a little in time for the next one, and then we'll talk.” Gareth teased.

Mike only huffed when Jos told him that going green with envy wasn't a good color on him.

Will didn't have much dog in the fight. He was still new. Finding his footing. And Lucas didn't seem to be getting as much of a kick out of Dustin's play protests. He was probably more focused on getting back to Max's bedside than earnestly going to a rock show.

“I just said it wasn't fair.” Dustin bristled.

“Dusty, Dusty, you'll survive.” Eddie chastised him, his hand finding the boy's head of curls,” It's not even really your scene, lil' man. Study up until you stop wanting to change what I play in the van and maybe-”

“Who cares!” he was getting defensive. “Well, we're all going to hang out, and you should really be jealous of our plans!

Bruce was the only one that didn't really bite back his laugh. Eddie just nodded for them and started trying to turn them around. Point 'them back to the school so they could go, find their bikes, and head off for home. Behind him, the bandmates started climbing into his van.

“Send tonight's babysitter my condolences. And ask your folks to spring for a raise for the poor fucker, yeah?”

“Lucas, Will, you're our shining roses between the thorns! Don't forget that and get crabby like the other two!” Josie yelled, hanging out from the back door while Eddie ran to hop into the driver's seat.

“They are plenty crabby!” Mike argued. “They just act nice for you!”

“And we thank them for that.” Bruce agreed with the slam of Eddie's door,” See ya!”

Eddie only turned around long enough to promise “We'll tell you all about it and show off our merch tomorrow! Make sure you're all tucked in by bedtime!” before peeling off from the school.

The boys were still yelling after all of them. And they erupted in laughter in the van as Eddie made for the highway. Josie was fanning her face, saying she didn't want to laugh so hard she cried and ruined her eyeliner so early in the night. Jeff was Eddie's co-captain in the passenger seat, twisted around to look at the other three in the back and picking which tape they were going to begin the drive up on. Bruce mused about poor Mr. Hank bartending at the hideout. Having to make it through the night without his usual Tuesday entertainment. They all laughed and agreed he was probably going to make some comment the next week about not really missing his usual headache while they were out of town.

“It was weird, Rob. We were just having our usual banter-”

“Still getting used to the idea that you and Eddie have “usual banter” when I'm not around.” the girl commented from her perch on the counter.

“Whatever.” Steve moved on,” It was just any other day, he showed up to annoy me - had been doing so for a little while - and then Ashley walked in. Like twenty minutes before school let out.”

“Brahms?” Robin quirked her head to the side.

“Yeah, obviously Brahms. And she just paused, looked at us, and whispered under her breath 'Oh, look at that. First time seeing the twin victims in the same place. That's new.' Or whatever. And then Eddie turned tail and left me alone to fend for myself. I swear she was just silently staring at me the entire time she pretended to browse.” Steve feigned a shiver,” And she only got out of here right before I needed to close shop for a few to run and pick you up.”

Robin put on a big pout,“ Did scary Ashley give you the heebie-jeebies?”

“Ugh. You could at least have a little sympathy for me. Turns out I'm a 'twin victim' now. A victim. They made me sound like some weak pushover.”

She could only shrug,“ We knew our story would run wild through the rumor mill and probably change a little. Word of mouth is hardly a sure thing to bet on.”

“Fine. I'm still mad about it.”

“What were you hoping for? Something more like Steve 'The Bear Slayer' Harrington?”

“No. But being twin victims with Eddie Munson was not my idea of a happy ending.”

“The unforeseen consequences of postponing the end of the world.” Robin hummed to herself. “You were looking for a change of pace with how people usually regarded you anyway. I think this is an opportunity-”

But Robin's thought was quickly swept away when the bell above the door rang. Immediately, she started to slip off of the counter and welcome the customer, but then she saw that it was Vickie. Her Vickie - well, not exactly her's - but Vickie Nelson. And the girl walked in like a vision, backlit by the sun streaming in through the windows. Her short red hair sticking out from her face in its cute little curled-up-at-the-ends sort of way.

Steve was still just beside her, but she almost forgot. Because Vickie was there. Smiling. Cheeks dusted in a red-tinted flush. Her teeth just barely peeked out as she tried to control her grinning lips. Big doe eyes looking up at her with a pretty shade of blue.

“Hey, Robin,” she said as she came closer. Stepping up to the counter that separated the two of them.

Okay, Robin. Don't ramble. Try to focus and keep it together.

“Hey. Hey, Vickie. So you found where I make a living.”

That was a dumb, dumb thing to say. Why couldn't she think of anything cool to say? Why was she so woefully understocked on witty one-liners? Was it too last-minute to ask God to throw a couple down for her?

“Well, yeah.” Vickie nodded slowly,” You did mention it on Saturday.”

“Right. Of course, I did. Sounds like me. Always talking about my job with my bestest buddy.” She elbowed Steve with more force than she was trying to, speaking over his low grunt,“ Welcome to the video store. The Family Video store, to be specific.”

It just kept getting worse.

Vickie looked a little put-off. Maybe not exactly displeased by the welcome, but more like it wasn't what she was expecting. Maybe it wasn't what she was looking for after showing up.

She tried to cover up her expression of slight confusion. “Thanks? I'll, uh, I guess I'll take a look around…?”

Vickie had just gotten around the corner of their rom-com display when Steve grabbed Robin's arm and yanked her a few more feet away. “You're crashing and burning, Buckley,” he whispered behind his hand.

“Don't say that to me right now!” her hushed tones came over fast and panicked, just dampened enough to not be overheard. “She surprised me! I haven't planned for her ambushing me here! What do I do? What if she wants to check out a tape and I have to cash her out and then I accidentally touch her hand in a way that's too much or not enough and she figures it out-”

“Chill out.” Steve's hands squeezed tight on Robin's shoulders.

She didn't have a game plan, and she was already spinning out of control. She wanted a strategy and to have it all figured out before she did anything, but Steve was starting to think she was only getting in her own way. He took a quick glance at Vickie before making his own decision.

Something about momma birds having to push their babies out of the nest to make them fly.

Steve shoved her away so they weren't so crowded into each other's faces. “Uh, hey, Robin?” he said, loud enough to reach across the store.

“Yeah?”

“Don't you think it's time for your fifteen?”

“What? I just got here-” She didn't get the hint until Steve's eyes widened to a worrisome degree, and she realized he wasn't blinking. “Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could take it now.” She finally got on the right track and started to walk back toward the counter.

But then she turned back around to him,“ You good here?”

He could've almost rolled his eyes. “We're still a downtown deadzone. I'll be fine.” Steve told her, unwilling to let her talk her way out of it.

“Okay. Okay.”

Vickie was back beside the register by the time Robin turned away from her co-worker and started shrugging off her work vest,“ So, you're getting off for a few?”

“Yeah. Fifteen-minute break. Gotta take one every shift. Sometimes two if it's a long one.” Shut up, Robin. She got that part.

She smiled wider and Vickie let her eyes wander a little to the side,“ Well, since you're free, if you don't already have plans for-”

“I don't.” Robin sounded a little too eager. “No plans. I'm free for anything. Anything that takes fifteen minutes or less. Obviously.”

Short statements and strict posture. All her effort trying not to ramble through run-on sentences before she really planned where they were going was making Robin sound snippy. And she didn't want to sound snippy. But it felt like the only two modes she had were the hyperaware quips or the mindless rambles.

If she and Steve could just fuse together and even out their personalities already, she have let the Steve half take control for that part. But that science fiction dream wasn't a reality yet. She didn't have the option to step back and let someone else carry the responsibility of her love life.

She just had to try on her own. Win or lose, it was going to come down to her. And that was scary. Really, really scary. But at least Vickie sort of seemed to be helping out. Making the first move.

“Okay. We could go on a stroll down the boardwalk then? In-In case you need to stretch out your legs?”

Vickie reached her hand up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. Robin had the passing thought that she wished she could've been the one to do it. But, more importantly, she needed to accept the offer.

“Yeah. Totally. If you're cool- I mean, if you wanted to get a movie first then we could do that and then-”

“Not really. I more so just came for the company.”

Was that…?

“Cool. Uh- yeah. We can go on a walk then.” Robin had to get out of there. “I'll be back, Steve!” she called over her shoulder, following behind Vickie as she pulled back the door.

“Yeah, I know you will. Now get out if you aren't going to stock shelves.”

And that comment felt as close to a proper send-off as she was going to get. Robin waved behind her without looking. Trying to focus on the girl in front of her, and just trusting that her best friend would watch her back while she stepped up to the high dive.

What? So, she picked up a couple of competitive swim references? Big deal.

The two girls stepped out onto the sidewalk together. Letting the door close behind them with the quiet jingle of the bell. Most of the businesses on the strip were still pretty empty. The Downtown Deadzone, Steve hadn't been wrong. It was a pretty apt name for the time being.

They walked alongside the street. Robin on the outside, between Vickie and the road. Passing by the arcade and its vacant parking lot. The laundromat across the way. The newspaper office was back behind them by the sandwich shop and general store. Further down sat a pizza parlor on the corner and a local butcher. A UPS store. A hair salon.

They were all these little points of contention for the small town. Spots that used to be lively and bustling, but faded from view when the mall opened up. And then that went out in a blaze, so their downtown came back to life. Like a little shock from the defibrillator. And then it all died down again. Because the world ended for like forty-seven seconds, haven't you heard? Most of the city got scared back into their homes.

So it was quiet. Almost felt private, despite being on a city street. Cars used to pass by these buildings all the time. But at that moment, none of them were.

“Thanks for stealing me away from work for a bit.” Robin eventually said. They'd both gone a little quiet after they left the store. Maybe Vickie hadn't planned it all out beyond getting Robin all to herself.

“Well, you were going to get the break anyway,” she excused,” With or without me.”

Robin curled the hand in her pocket into a tight fist. She told herself she'd only get so many chances. She had to be a little bit brave with some of them.

“I definitely prefer it this way, though.“ she said.

Was the water steady enough? Was her taped-together boat going to capsize or survive the current? Was she going to be ripped to pieces by the rapids? Lose, to the rushing river, all the parts of herself she'd barely scraped together enough to hope with?

“I do too.” Vickie returned.

Maybe she wasn't. Maybe there weren't any rapids at all. And it was more like a smooth summer lake. Like Lover's Lake, when it was being used as an actual date spot and not as a hub between planes of existence.

“Well-” Vickie started to backtrack,” I stole you away from your job, so you aren't doing the same thing for me - I didn't really have anything better to do right now in comparison. Not to say that I just see this as something to do over having nothing to do and that's all - and if I did have a job, I'd be more than happy to let you convince me to take an early break!”

When Vickie looked back at Robin, she was blushing. Furiously.

“Sorry. My point is, I prefer spending my time this way too. With you, over not with you.” She paused, rucking in a gulp of air before she dare asked,” You know?”

“Yeah. I know.” Vickie's face softened in response,” I agree. I agree to your agreeing with me. Because I've started liking spending my time with you too. A lot.”

“Good. I feel bad, I'm taking up all your time bumbling on about technicalities-”

“Don't. I'm trying really hard not to become a runaway train of words too.” Robin assured her,” But it's really cute when you do it. I feel like I sound like a skipping record when I really get going. Buzzing around and jumping between my sentences before I've really finished any of them. I can really become a mess that's hard to nail down or keep up with.” Robin laughed through her words at herself,” I was just talking to Steve about it the other day. We were saying it'd be good for the both of us to split the difference between the two of us. I could take some of his cool, suave, impressive traits- and he'd get my dashing good looks. Obviously.”

Robin was anticipating a laugh. Or a chuckle, or a giggle, or some kind of sound to tell her that her comedic timing wasn't off. It was only when she didn't get any that she turned her gaze back to Vickie. To see the girl watching her. Seriously. Eyes full and attentive.

“I don't think you need to split any difference with Steve Harrington.”

Wow. How was Robin going to survive Vickie saying something like that?

She felt her chest swell up. Warmth settled into her lungs and she wondered if she was breathing right. If her face was about to go blue because of the short circuit making her switch to manual efforts. Every step, every breath, every blink, every move, every beat of her heart was pulling her attention.

Did she need to pinch herself and make sure she wasn't dreaming?

“He's just better at the whole 'talking to pretty girls without digging yourself into a deep hole' thing than I am. Sometimes I want to steal that skill of his.”

Okay, she might've been focusing a little too much on the blinking part, because that was more than she meant to say. It was more direct than she intended. More outwardly sapphic than she planned.

But it was out there. And it was up to Vickie how it landed.

“Pretty girls?” she asked,“ I'm a pretty girl you need to worry about impressing?”

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a more scared Robin was warning her it was a trap. That it could all go wrong. But louder than that little version of herself, there was a newer version pushing her to go for it. A Robin she didn't know she could be until recent months.

So Robin slowed her stride and she said to the sweet little redhead next to her,“ Would it be bad if I said you were?”

“No.” Vickie spun around on her heels to look back. And there was this look that Robin had never seen before. Never been the recipient of. It was hard to define, but it was so, so special.

She stepped a little closer, daring herself to get to that big question she'd been advised to ask.

“Vickie, where is this-“

But before she could get the rest of it out, before she could ask where that thing between them was going, her lips were stilled by Vickie's. She had suddenly rushed in on Robin to steal a kiss. Edging onto her toes, eyes closed, hands on Robin's arms. It wasn't much more than a peck, but for Robin, it stopped time.

It was her first kiss.

Her whole world turned over in an instant.

And, when that instant passed, Vickie stepped back onto her heels. She opened back up her eyes and seemed to take a second to realize what she just did. She let go of Robin's arms while the girl was still love-struck and dazed. Mind slowly working over the incredible news that being kissed by Vickie carried. And then Vickie started panicking.

“Oh my god-” her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open, her jaw shaking just the slightest,” I-I am so sorry, that was-“

But then Robin kissed her.

Deeper. Sweeter. Longer.

To stop her from regretting or retracting what she just did.

Robin cradled Vickie's face in her hands. Feeling her burning cheeks on her fingertips. Reaching back to just barely touch the little wisps of her hair where it came untucked. Their noses pressed beside one another's. Vickie leaned her head over, and they both heard the little plastic clack of her earrings.

Robin swept the girl up in the moment as they turned further around the corner of the building at the end of the strip. And Vickie pushed harder back against her lips. Soon onto her toes again, despite Robin ducking her head down to make them the same height. Vickie's arms wrapped around her shoulders, wrists crossing behind her neck as the two of them came closer and closer together.

Robin's second kiss was pretty great too.

It was amazing. It tasted like strawberry chapstick. It smelled like powdery floral perfume. It felt like the sun on her skin and Vickie in her hands.

And Robin had never been so thankful that an earthquake cleared half the city to make it all possible.

Nancy Wheeler could feel each of her limbs hanging heavily off her body. Every inch of her was exhausted. Her eyelids kept trying to fall, her eye bags had to weigh almost ten pounds, and soon enough her eyeballs were going to burn so bad she'd entertain stupid, senseless, insensitive thoughts like “I'm almost jealous of all the Vecna victims” because at least none of their eyes had the ability to hurt anymore.

Yeah, she was sort of reaching her limit.

Sleep still wasn't coming easy. If she managed to fall asleep at all, it was restless, and she was back up, covered in sweat, after just a few hours. It was wearing her thin.

A person needs sleep. Especially when that person likes to usually have a good attitude about things. Or, at least, when that person likes to seem like the kind of person who has a good attitude about things.

In any news, Nancy was in a bad mood and feeling the full brunt of so many sleepless nights layered on top of the stress of responsibility hanging over her head.

She was starting to run out of hope. But, the one thing she knew was that she was tense. She was freaked out, and on edge every time she started to doze off. Even more so every time she snapped back up. So, her tactic - since the hot baths and counting sheep, weren't working at all - was to try something that might not have been relaxing, but shouldn't let her stay all tensed up.

Maybe something funny would help?

That was the latest theory, at least.

So she decided to swing by Family Video before she went home. To find a comedy she could push into the tiny tv in her bedroom and watch on low volume until her eyes finally closed again. Honestly, maybe she was going to be so delirious by the time it happened that it'd be funnier than anything she'd ever seen.

She pulled her car into the lot between two others. One was Steve's and the other looked a lot like the car she saw Vickie drive just a few days before. She really needed to get her faculties straightened out if she thought she was seeing the same car all over town all of a sudden. What was that called? Synchronicity?

Nancy climbed out of the station wagon with a huff, brushing back her bangs from her face and setting her mind to its task: find a funny movie, say 'Hi' to Steve and Robin, get home, make it through the next few hours, and crash.

She really, really wanted to crash already.

“Oh. Hey, Nance.” Steve greeted her. A friendly face, if not a little surprised, as she walked in the entrance.

“Hey, Steve,” she responded politely,“ Got anything good around here?”

“Well, that depends. What're you looking for?”

“A comedy. Something funny. Light-hearted.” And something in the back of her mind said she needed a reason. An excuse. Something to blame her need on. “The Wheelers are setting a new family tradition. Movie night.”

“Ah. After all the running around, your folks decided they wanted to keep an eye on you and Mike on a… Tuesday night?” Steve's voice peaked at the end. Like he just thought about how Tuesdays were a bit of an odd day to start something like that. Fridays or Saturdays would've been the most obvious pick. Obviously, Nancy.

She resisted the urge to rub away at her tired eyes and just shrugged,” My dad said he got the idea from a guy at work yesterday and told me to pick something up this evening.”

“Fair.” he nodded and eyed different parts of the store while he thought,” Okay, moving on, so we're also looking for something age appropriate for Holly…”

“Maybe,” Nancy grumbled, thinking that a flick more Holly-themed might just be a drag to put herself through.

Steve smiled and laughed a little,“ Well, I'm assuming she's invited to the family movie night?”

“Of course. Duh. She gets to come. She just- uh- she falls asleep like five minutes into anything on the tv after seven. So if it's a little less kiddish, that's fine. Don't need cartoons to cater to her or anything. Just… something funny. For a change.”

“Okay. Sounds like we'll be checking out this section of tapes then. You guys want something new or one that's been out for a while?”

“It's fine if it's been on the shelves. Maybe something with some nostalgia would strike the right note.”

“Alright…”

Steve sorted through some of the tapes for a few minutes. Picking one up and weighing it against another, offering Nancy a couple that seemed to fit the bill. Eventually, they settled on Freaky Friday. Steve walked them over to get her checked out. Punching in keys on the computer and opening the register. He was handing Nancy back her change when she realized something.

“So, where's Robin? Thought you two said you were pretty much always on the clock together.”

“Oh, we are-”

“Is she not working today?”

“No, she is-”

And then the bell behind her rang. With a glance over her shoulder, Nancy found Robin. Right next to Vickie. So that was Vickie's car out front.

Good to know she wasn't losing it.

And Nancy couldn't tell why she felt more annoyed than she did five minutes before. But she did.

The two of them strolled in together. Looking at each other and giggling with bright red cheeks. Maybe she was just in that kind of bad mood where people in good moods seem that much more irritating. Maybe she just didn't have the bandwidth to have a good attitude or pleasant disposition anymore. Maybe she just needed to get some goddamn sleep so she could be a good person again.

When Robin tore her eyes away from the girl at her side, she finally saw Nancy standing there at the counter.

“Hi, Nancy!” she greeted.

“There she is. Just getting back from her break.” Steve finished his thought.

“Ah. Makes sense.” Nancy responded. Trying for as much energy as she could muster at the moment. “Hi, Robin.”

“Picking out a flick for the night?” she wondered,“ Hosting a get-together?"

“The Wheelers are going under house arrest for at least… “ Steve checked the back of the tape case before handing it over with Nancy's receipt,” Ninety-Five minutes tonight.”

Robin nodded wisely,“ Ah. A family movie night. Supplied by the Family Video store. Adds up.”

“Yup. We're a pretty sensible bunch.”

Vickie didn't wait very long to chime in,“ Anyway, I better be off.”

Steve was just starting to ask,“ Are you sure you don't want something?" when she insisted otherwise.

“I'm good. Have a good shift guys.”

“Thanks! See you tomorrow?” Robin wondered, a sort of soft lilt to her voice as she did.

And Vickie glowed as she agreed,“ Sounds good.” Sparing just a second to extend the goodbye to the other girl in the store,” Bye, Nancy.”

“Bye, Vickie.”

Nancy returned the sentiment. It would've been bitchy not to. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to remind herself of that before she did. Maybe she really, really was at her limits with her no-sleep thing.

But she was still attentive enough to catch the way Robin and Steve eyed each other. Like they were speaking without words. She sort of felt excluded. But immediately after, Robin shook out her shoulders and looked back at her.

“So, what's on the night's docket, Nance?”

She held up her purchase without further delay.

“Ooh! Freaky Friday, I haven't rewatched that one in forever.” Her mind ran for a moment before she continued,“ You know, as unrealistic as the whole prospect is, we see insane stuff so often enough that I feel the need to worry. About being in that spot myself. All the money in the world wouldn't be enough to make me okay with switching bodies with my mom.”

She leaned against the counter beside Nancy. Probably envisioning the chaos Miss Theresa would wreck spending a day in her shoes. Steve wasn't far behind in entertaining her hypothetical. Equally displeased by the idea.

“Agreed.”

“Obviously it'd be even weirder for you, mister.” she reached forward to shove his arm. “Mrs. Harrington in your teenage boy jeans? That's gross. But, more similarly, what about body swapping with your dad?”

That was all it took for Steve's whole face to twist up in a cringe,“ Ugh, please don't ever put that idea in my head ever, ever again.”

“What? It's a fair question! Keeps the stakes the same, anatomically, I mean. Don't you think so, Nance?” Robin looked to her for backup.

“It's reasonable enough.”

“See! And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Getting cursed with the big switcharoo with your mom. Sound like the worst day ever or just kind of an inconvenience?”

Nancy let out a weak, pitiful, awkward sort of huff,“ I think I'd rather fight the demobats again than watch my dad lean in for a kiss with his morning coffee.”

“Oh my god, I wasn't even thinking about that part.” Robin practically squealed. Diving her face into her hands to try and block out the idea. The sight made Nancy laugh something a little bit more real.

“You know,” Steve posed,” Now that we're all unpacking this, maybe that movie belongs in the horror section. Nance, want to find something that actually counts as a comedy?”

“I think I'll just take my chances with this one. Thanks.” Nancy smiled,“ So what movie did Vickie get?”

“None. She just kept me company on my break for a little bit.”

“Oh. Sounds nice.”

Then, from behind her, Nancy heard the doorbell ring again. Steve smiled past her and welcomed the customer that just came in. It was some adult she didn't recognize. Whatever. She got what she'd come for anyway.

“You know, I should probably head out too. Have a good one.”

“You too. Hope the movie's good!” Robin called after her as she backed up to the door.

“I hope so too. Bye.”

Nancy waved and pushed herself outside. Turning around and tossing her tape into the passenger seat when she got into the car.

She was having a bit of a time putting a word to it. How she was feeling. Whether it was better or worse after coming to the store. Maybe it was more like a rollercoaster with a couple of lifts and dips to her mood. Maybe she was just stuck feeling all muddled in her emotions until she got some rest. Maybe this was her new normal.

She threw that thought away and turned the keys in the ignition.

Her current state lasting much longer? That sounded like the real nightmare.

It took a little while for the store to clear back out. But, once Steve knew they were alone, he couldn't very well help the fact that he had to know what happened when Robin and Vickie went on their little walk down the street. He say the way she absolutely glowed when they walked back in together. Steve had never been good at waiting for what he wanted, and what he wanted was an update on what was possibly the first lesbian love story blooming in their small town.

“Spill.” That was all he needed to say. Demanding tone laced with so much pure excitement it couldn't come across even a little bit mean. There was so much hope and optimism.

And in the most surprising turn of events, Robin had the ability to live up to that optimism.

But, she still liked to tease.

“A girl doesn't just kiss and tell.”

Steve almost got mad. He had just enough time to start gearing up to push and insist otherwise when it clicked for him.

“No way.”

His best friend looked back up at him, a smile sitting brightly on her lips, cheeks bunched up at the apples, looking just about as happy as she could possibly get. And she started to spill. Going over every detail and the way it lit her up. The way it sent a buzz through her whole body. Made things start to slip into place. Some things at least.

Robin, by some miracle, wasn't going to die unkissed anymore.

And they laughed, and he cheered her on. She told him that about five minutes after that first and second kiss, where she was gushing to Vickie and asking if it was okay to tell him it happened. She couldn't keep such a big thing from her most favorite person in the world. And Vickie giggled in her sweet little Vickie way. Then she gave her permission to talk about them with Steve Harrington, as long as they kept a lid on things. Which Robin absolutely understood and agreed with.

But it meant so much to not only have that perfect moment between them, but to know she'd have just one other person she could talk about it with. Telling Steve that she got to kiss Vickie Nelson made it real. It happened. Just down the road, around the corner of an empty building. Recklessly out in broad daylight, but luckily out of view of anyone else.

Just secret enough and just real enough.

She did mention it was a little stupid to have let it happen right there in the open. She wasn't going to get away with that sort of play again. Probably, at least. But Steve said he was happy she got to experience a little bit of some classic teenager, hormonal, loss-of-thought, stupid-in-love, impulsivity. She deserved some.

Just one taste of getting caught up in the moment and letting a dream take you right to the edge.

He kept saying stupid romantic stuff like that. Maybe under different circumstances, Robin would have walked that back and brought it around Steve's love life. But for that day, the moment was hers. Her love life was the topic of conversation. And not in just the length of a few wistful sentences. Not of only wishes and small limits of hope.

There was substance. There was something to say. There was a future to think about, and events to be excited about, and so much to discover for herself. So much to experience and feel and finally know for herself.

Robin's love life was something to talk about. Fully. And that was so much to have for the first time.

Steve was the first person Robin got to even have honest conversations about crushes with. And on April 8th, 1986, she got to tell him about her first kiss. And the one that came after. And all the others she was looking forward to having.

At least, she got to tell him all about it until the next customer stopped by. Then it was time to get back to the work that paid them.

The van hauling Corroded Coffin up north spent about three hours on the highway before they hit Indy. They didn't even have an hour to spare before the show was set to start. So they all sped and clambered around for food in the city right before they ran over to the Market Square Arena. Proudly displaying their tickets at the entrance and getting let inside for the big event they'd been looking forward to for weeks.

And before Ozzy was set to take to the stage, there was Metallica as a special guest. The opening act. Eddie couldn't really explain why he screamed as loud as he did when the end of “Battery” turned into the beginning of “Master of Puppets”. The guys didn't know it was a song he'd sort of bet his life on twelve days before. But it was a fan favorite, so at least the crowd ramping up around them helped distract from the fact that he might've gotten just a little emotional during the instrumental.

And through the rest of their set and into Ozzy running out, they yelled and sang along, and jumped and jostled against each other. Bumping arms into sides and knocking shoulders into their neighbors. Sticking out tongues and banging their heads. Howling into each other's ears, and still unable to drown out the amps and speakers buzzing on full blast.

Each person fanning the flames of everyone else's burning energy and excitement.

It was a rock show of epic proportions. It was adrenaline and sweat and life mixing together in a cauldron and being thrown all over the place in visceral ecstasy. It was a dizzying frenzy of pure uncensored existence.

Or, halfway uncensored, at least.

There was this moment. It was during “Killer of Giants”. Eddie stopped swinging his hair forward and whipping it back. He slowed down long enough to look back at the people next to him. Jeff, Gareth, Bruce, and Josie. They looked younger than he remembered.

Younger than he thought they looked before he faced everything he faced.

It was almost like an out-of-body experience. He just stopped moving and watched them have fun. There was so much joy just coming off of them in waves. Like that show, that moment, was the only thing on their minds. And Eddie thought he felt like that before. Even just minutes before when he let himself get swept up in the event. But… there was also this other part to him now.

The part that's seen death, seen people narrowly evade it, seen the world around him when he thought he was done. Seen the look in Dustin Henderson's eyes when the boy thought it was over for him.

And that stuff changes a person.

Eddie Munson could still have fun. Could still put in the effort to pretend like the world was as simple as he thought it was before Spring Break. But there was also this gnawing at the back of his mind that reminded him otherwise. That it wasn't still so simple. And he had to push it down.

Censoring himself.

Which was weird in some ways. Because Eddie Munson hasn't censored much of himself since he was a middle schooler. Since he decided he would take the title of “town freak” and wear it with pride. Since he decided anyone who cared about his bad reputation wasn't worth having around.

Eddie said pretty much whatever he wanted to say. But he couldn't say some things.

Supernatural trauma joined the short list of “things we don't talk about” that he held quietly behind his ribs. Secrets cradled gently in the space next to his heart. 'Course, he got to talk about it with The Party.

He was keeping a few other secrets too. Ones that only really had one or two other keepers. So the Upside Down wasn't the smallest whisper he had to his name.

Jeff was cheering when he turned and saw Eddie processing. He must've been thinking on all of it for a while. His eyebrows creased together. And Jeff asked him, quiet under all the rumble of “Iron Man” being covered on stage and the audience's ecstatic reaction,” Hey. You okay, man?”

His hand found Eddie's shoulder. Clamping down with enough pressure to remind Eddie where he was.

“Yeah, man. Just got thinking about stuff for a minute.”

“Do you need to get some air?” Jeff pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the exit.

“Nah… nah. I just- things were crazy you know.” Eddie decided that was a good enough way of putting it. “Just appreciating that we all made it here after everything.”

Jeff dropped his head like the idea was ridiculous,” Even if you croaked in that hospital bed we woulda made Wayne come up with us on your ticket and bring your ashes with or something. We wouldn'ta let you miss this.”

Eddie reached over and shoved Jeff back by the chest.

“Shut up. And thanks.”

“Of course.”

The song faded out from the band. And then Ozzy brought the mic up to his lips. Throwing his head back as he bellowed out through the stadium “ALL ABOARD!” followed by his wicked, throaty cackle.

Jeff's eyes lit up. “Oh my god! Fuck yes!” His mouth fell open as he wrapped an arm across Eddie's shoulders and turned his attention back on the performance. “Come on, dude!”

And Eddie was pulled along with the joy. With the excitement. With the electricity.

“Crazy! But that's how it goes!” he sang along with the crowd.

Deciding to try and get lost back into the haze of the regular people again.

[mimiri22-6]

Their ship name is HELLCHEER! How am I Not supposed to fall into this rabbit hole!!?!

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Steve craved something that not a lot of people were willing to give him with out him instigating a bit. As much as he loved being loved, and taking care of he enjoyed the feeling of being struck against the face. Being reminded that he was a piece of shit, just like his father. He needed to feel something, he didn’t feel anything with the girls that he found himself being with and that upset him more then anything his father could say at him. Then there had been a slight spark with Nancy but it was gone just as fast as it had lit, and for those very few seconds Steve felt alive.

Even after that feeling faded he still carried hope that someday it might return. If he stuck it out long enough for Nancy Wheeler then he might get somewhere. That hope satisfied that itch under his skin for a while. Up until Jonathan Byers beat the shit out of him near the movie theater. The feeling of his fist against his face, the pain throbbing through his body making the numbness leave. All he could do was hold back the laughter as he takes hit after hit. Like a addict he wanted more, though he fought through the withdrawal to be the best boyfriend he could be. Nancy Wheeler held the key to whatever fucked up lock was wrapped around his heart and he wasn’t allowed to be self destructive knowing that information.

Then he met someone similar to him. Someone that he hated but couldn’t help but notice that same glooming black shadow that followed them everywhere. Billy Hargrove came into town with something larger then Steve’s ever had. If they had a contest to see who was more fuck up Hargrove would have won by miles. The way he carried himself looking for trouble reminded Steve of himself and he hated it. Then he met Dustin. Whatever he had been searching for in Nancy was there. Not in a romantic way of course. The light he craved was there and was sticking to him the longer he stood by it. He waits, expecting it to go out. But yet as he stood in front of the kids to protect them it’s still there.

He fights Billy and watches the way he laughs at him. As if he was enjoying getting hit. Steve knew the feeling, and though Dustin’s light was pushing him through he fell down and found himself taking hit after hit. Enjoying the way it got rid of any numbing feeling he had left through his body. Sure, Dustin made him feel without physical pain and got rid of most of it. But some of the darkness was lurking around his heart and the only way to get rid of it was pain. After everything settled down, the darkness had left Steve for a while. Then it returned when Dustin left for camp and he got a job.

Desperate to find something he throws himself at every female around his age. Some being a little older if he was desperate. As the you suck tallies started to build the more he started to see a spark in Robin Buckley. That was slowly getting brighter and brighter the longer he stayed around her. Then Dustin returned and he now held twice the amount of light he normally would. That should get rid of that numbing feeling right? Wrong. It stayed. Sticking to his lungs like cancer and not wanting to leave no matter how hard he tried.

As he sat in the chair in front of a group of Russians he knew the only way to get rid of that icky feeling. Desperately pleading for it, a sick part of him craving it more then he wanted to protect Robin. Though, the need to protect Robin finally took over completely when they stared a stall together. And he doesn’t feel as guilty anymore. This was his light and it was as platonic as it comes. Its been a long time, and nothing satisfied his itch. He found himself going to bar after bar getting into fights, just for the hell of it.

That’s how he finds himself standing at a random bar on a random night of the week, a tad crowded as he watches a band play their hearts out. Watching the familiar singer throw himself around on stage. Laughing and playing guitar. Steve went blind in that very moment, he’s pretty sure it was a nuclear bomb that took out all of the darkness that lived in him in that very moment. His hands shook as his heart went crazy, discovering a secret that he never knew he was even hiding. Eyes watching the way Eddie Munson moved gracefully at the start and then in a stumbling bambi like motion. After that night he didn’t need the itch to fight. Even though everyone in the bar kept an eye on him, knowing his rep for bar fights. Already banned from most in Hawkins. Though he was on his best behavior as he brings Robin to share what he discovered. Beaming as he shared it with her and watches her get excited about it as well. If they were Corroded Coffins biggest groupies that was for them to know.

The light was starting to fade, the longer Steve realized Eddie Munson couldn’t be his. He was a greedy bastard. The itch in his skin was starting to act up again, though he stayed on his best behavior. Up until he heard a slur being yelled out from some drunk asshole in the front. Causing Eddie to freeze in his tracks and Robin to go pale and close to tears. The word upset her more than anything, and before Eddie could say anything Steve was already over pulling the guy to look at him. Robins already yelling at him to stop. And for the first fight ever he doesn’t get one hit on him. He swings and knocks the guy out with one punch, before he’s grumbling under his breathe to sit back with Robin who was hugging him and crying. She hated fights, and after the Russians she hated it even more.

Steve was to busy focused on Robin to notice that the light on stage was growing brighter and brighter. Coming closer to him until there was slight tap on Steve’s shoulder. There only a few inches behind him was Eddie Munson. Looking at Robin with a knowing look, before grinning at Steve. And fuck, the light was worst then before.

“Did you punch a little old homophobe for me big boy?”

Robins head poked out from Steve’s chest as she looks shocked to see Eddie standing there. “For us,” she says gently. And in that second Steve knew, no matter what he was going to gather every single light in this world and hold them as close to his heart as possible.

[lesservillain]

dream a little dream of me.

sleep demon!eddie munson x afab!reader

cw: SMUT. breeding kink, monster!eddie, readers body is “changed”(I think thats it?)

You’re tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep thanks to the ache between your legs. You already tried getting yourself off to no avail, so sleeping it off was your plan b.

You didn’t know why you’d been so horny lately. All day you’d be thinking about being taken over your work desk or in the coffee shop bathroom. Wet dreams plagued your mind every night of a beautiful man making love to you had left you with wet sheets from how hot and bothered you were getting even in your sleep.

But no matter how much you tried to satisfy yourself, it just wasn’t enough.

Just as you were about to drift off, the mattress dipping caught your attention. You lived alone, besides your cat, so you just assumed it was them joining you in the bed. That was until it continued to dip, pushing down deep indicating that whatever was on your bed was much heavier than your cat.

You froze in fear, trying to regulate your breathing to make it seem like you were still asleep. Your mind raced as you tried to think of what to do.

“I know you’re awake.”

You stopped breathing. You felt your heart pounding on your chest as you panic.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you,” the voice said, sounding less distorted and more like the voice of…

Slowly you turned to look behind you. Sitting on the edge of your bed was the man of your dreams. His soft eyes met yours, his smile turning toothy when you realized it was him.

Were you dreaming right now? It didn’t feel like it. Maybe you were lucid dreaming?

You didn’t have much more time to think about it as he placed a hand on your cheek. It felt as if he really were touching you, and you felt conflicted with that fact.

“I missed you, sweet girl,” he coos at you. “I hate it when you leave me.”

He leans down, stopping just short of kissing you. His eyes flash for a moment, looking almost red compared to his normal color.

When you don’t protest, he closes the gap between you, letting your lips slot together perfectly in a deep kiss. His mouth moves against yours and you reciprocate, feeling as if its the natural thing to do.

As the kiss deepens you feel his hands slowly start to roam your body. He feels you up, his hands landing on your breasts, squeezing and fondling until you hum against his lips. The man smiles against you.

He pulls away, lidded eyes stating down at you as his lips start to kiss down your jaw, your neck, between your breasts, down, down, down, until he’s positioning himself between your legs.

“Mmm such a pretty sight,” the man says, looking at your pussy with lovesick eyes. “Prettiest I’ve ever seen.”

He runs a finger through your folds, making you gasp at the sudden contact. He takes his finger to his mouth, his tongue wrapping around it to lick off your juices.

“Mmmm, like the divine nectar,” the man hums. You watch in anticipation as he brings his face closer to your pussy. His long tongue darts out again, your hands flying to his hair as he gets to work opening you up.

All of the times he’s spent with you in your dreams gave him plenty of practice to know exactly how you like it. He lets his tongue flick and rub against your clit as his fingers work diligently inside you. You feel your legs start shake as he brings you closer and closer to your peak.

Just as you feel yourself tipping over the edge, his tongue and fingers switch places. The pads of his fingers rub against your clit roughly as he sticks his long, thick tongue inside you. The muscle penetrates you deep, until you feel him hitting against your cervix.

Your vision goes white, little stars dancing behind your eyes as you cum hard on his tongue. In your blissed out state, you almost dont feel the way something is pushed deeper inside of you. It feels like a slight pinch, but almost immediately after your body feels like it’s on fire.

Whatever the man put inside you with his tongue begins to spread over the walls of your womb, coating it in a thick lining. Any arousal you had in your body was turned up to a hundred as you turn into a bitch in heat. Slick begins to pool on your bedsheets as it leaks from your pussy.

The man watches your body’s changes with delight. He licks his lips at the sight of you, his sharp teeth suddenly very noticeable to you.

“How do you feel?” He asks you, eyes still settled on your soaked cunt.

“H-hot?” You stutter, looking up at him with pinched brows. Was he always naked? Or had you not noticed his huge, hard cock until just now?

“That’s normal,” he says softly. He gently places a hand over your womb, his pointes nails grazing your skin. “How do you feel here?”

You look at his hand on your lower stomach. It’s huge when compared to the size of your body.

“Feels fine, maybe a little crampy?”

He coos down at you, leaning in to give you a kiss.

“That will get better once I’m inside,” he assures you. His hand leaves your stomach to cradle your face lovingly. You lean into his touch, nuzzling against his large palm.

“What-what did you do to me?” The last word came out as a squeak as you feel the tip of his cock slid through your folds.

He leans into you, his hot breath on the bare skin of your neck as he rolls his hips. Once he’s satisfied with how wet you’ve gotten his cock, he finds your entrance and slowly begins to push it inside of you. He feels even bigger than he looks, and you start to panic as he continues to stretch you out. You grab at his broad shoulders and he shushes you.

“It’s okay,” he says, “your body will sense my size and adjust accordingly. Give it just a moment.”

There’s a slight strain in his voice that wasn’t there before. You can see his brows pinching together as the head of his cock nestles against your cervix. He pauses, looking down for a moment to observe how little of him your body had yet to take.

Suddenly, you feel a tingle between your legs, and a wave of slick pushes out of you. Your body felt like a raw nerve, becoming sensitive to even the smallest shift that the man makes. You begin to squirm beneath him out of desperation, seeking any bit of friction to give you some relief.

“Oh, fuck me,” the creature moans above you, watching the way you try and fuck yourself on his cock.

“Can I move?” He whines. “I need to fuck you.”

You realize you’d been staring down at where the two of you connected. When you look up to the creature’s face, he looks just about as fucked out as you feel.

His disheveled hair falls around his horns and into his face. His mouth is slack, his long tongue hanging out between his parted lips. He’s staring right at you, waiting.

“Please.”

You realize he must not be able to move unless you give him verbal permission. So when you manage to squeak out a “yes,” the creature lets out a sigh of relief. A devilish grin spreads across his face as he gets himself situated.

He pulls out of you agonizingly slowly, before thrusting sharply back inside of you. Your legs straighten at the sensation, his cock hitting your sensitive spot with ease and sending a shock wave through your body.

Suddenly you were cumming on his cock, never feeling a sensation like that before. He continued to move, fucking you through your orgasm without slowing down.

Dark tendrils of hair clouded your vision as he brought his lips to yours again. His long tongue began to lick into your mouth, filling it until you felt it trying to breach your throat. The size and thickness of it had you sucking on it out of instinct. The creature seemed to enjoy this, moaning into your mouth in response.

It was almost too much to be so full of this monster. The haze of lust made it hard to tell where your body began and his ended. Every thrust felt like a spark of lightning through your body that traveled to your finger tips.

When the creature pulled away from you, you audibly whined at the loss, even while gasping for air. He leaned back, angling his hips in a new way that had you seeing stars. Your back arched off the bed as you began to cum again.

“Dammnit,” the gruff voice of the monster breathes out. “You’re like a vice around me.”

“Feel so good,” you say breathlessly.

“Mmm, told you I would make the pain go away.”

You couldn’t think straight, let alone understand what he was talking about. All you could think of is your monster lover and the way he was moving inside of you.

And cum.

The thought of him cumming inside you became all consuming. The need for him to breed you was overwhelming to the point where you began bucking your hips into him again in a feeble attempt at expediting the process.

“Mmm you’re getting so needy aren’t you?” The monster cooes above you. You nod loosely, head bobbing but your eyes lazily fixed on the creatures deep brown ones, pupils big and wide enough you can see your own reflection in them.

“I never did tell you what I did to you, did I?” He says, still moving at a brutal pace.

“Nuh-uh,” is all you manage to say, gasping again at a particularly sharp thrust.

You look down at where the monster and you meet. For a brief, lucid moment your eyes go wide as you see the monsters cock fully disappearing inside of you, a small bulge pressing against your abdomen with every thrust the monster makes.

“I think you can tell by now that I am not like you,” he says. “But, the only way my kind can reproduce is with humans.” His hands roam your body, almost in awe of your form as he continues to speak.

“The only problem is that your kind,” he places a hand above your womb, “are only compatible if we…make it that way.”

Your cloudy thoughts make small connections between his words and his actions. If you were in a right state of mind, you’d probably have loads of questions you wanted answered. But right now, you only had one goal.

Grabbing the monsters arms, you use all of your strength that you can muster and manage to flip him completely only his back. The confident, sure creature becomes wide eyed and blushing as he stares up at you in a state of shock.

“Wh-what are you—“

“Shhh,” you shush him. “Want you to cum. Please?”

You waste no time as you begin to bounce up and down on his hard cock. He was deeper than you could ever imagine possible, but there was no pain. If anything, you couldn’t hold yourself back from cumming again and again.

“Holy shit,” the creature says, mesmerized at the way you use him for your own pleasure.

“Name.” It doesn’t come out as a question, rather a command.

“Wh-wha-You want to know my name?” The creature stutters.

“Yes, yes, please!”

“Eddie! It’s Eddie!”

“Oh, fuck, Eddiieeeeeeeee!”

That pushed the creature over the edge. His large hands grab at your hips to hold you in place. Hot ropes of thick cum begin to fill you up until you start to feel it leaking out of you.

When you can finally open your eyes, you find the creature—Eddie—tongue out and panting as he catches his breath. Before your eyes you watch as he shifts from his monstrous form back into the man you’ve been seeing in your dreams.

If everything wasn’t so real, you’d almost think you were dreaming after all. But the slow circles that Eddie was rubbing into your hips was confirmation enough that all of this was very real.

“Hi,” Eddie says with a dimpled grin when you land next to him in the bed.

“Hi,” you say, looking at the handsome man next to you.

“You okay?” He asks, caressing your cheek.

“Yeah,” you sigh, turning to fully face him. “I just have a lot of questions.”

thanks for reading!