#Steve: you’re a butthead

[morganbritton132]

Dustin posts to his Tiktok account like, “Guys, I hear you. I’m getting your messages. I know Eddie hasn’t posted in a while but him and Steve recovering from an illness. They’re still sick but they’re getting better. I’m at their house right now and they’re-“

You can hear from the next room Steve say ‘get off’ and Eddie say ‘you want me to get off? You perv’ followed by a loud thump of Eddie being pushed off the couch and then both of them yelling, “DUSTIN!” Dustin just sighs and tells the camera, “They’re dead, actually. I’m going to kill them.”

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[steveseddie]

sweet as pumpkin pie

steddie | rating: t | wc: 3,1 k | cw: none | tags: dustin & steve, dustin & eddie, eddie knows how to bake, steve has a crush, getting together, first kiss, steve pov

for @steddie-spooktober day twenty-four, prompt “pumpkin” 

read on ao3

Pounding at the door has Steve scrambling to his feet and hurtling towards the front door. He glances at Eddie on the couch and is relieved to find he’s still napping soundly, unbothered by the noise. 

Steve doesn’t want him to wake up, not when Eddie showed up an hour earlier looking exhausted after nightmares kept him up all night. The last thing Steve wants is for Eddie to lose any more sleep because whoever is at the door grows impatient and knocks harder. 

So he fumbles with the lock and swings the door open to reveal–

“Dustin?”  

“Steve, we have an emergency!” Henderson shrieks, his loud volume making Steve flinch.

His annoyance is immediately replaced by worry as the kid’s words register. His body tenses up, his fingers itch for his nail bat. “An Upside Down emergency?” 

“Worse!” Dustin says. Steve’s stomach churns and he feels sick. He tries to think what could be worse than an Upside Down emergency– “A baking emergency!” He finishes before Steve can spiral. 

He blinks at him. “A baking–” he starts in incredulity. “Henderson! Jesus fucking Christ, man.” He reaches over and flicks his stupid Thinking Cap. 

“What?” Dustin protests, swatting Steve’s hand away.

“That’s not worse than an Upside Down emergency! Nothing is worse than an Upside Down emergency!”

“Fine, but it’s up there,” Dustin argues stubbornly.

“Whatever,” Steve says, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wishes Eddie was awake so that they could share an exasperated look. “What’s the matter, shithead?”

“You know my mom isn’t home this week, right?”

“Yeah, she’s visiting family or something.” She told Steve as much when she called and asked him to keep an eye on her Dusty. 

“Right, well, the science club is in charge of the baking sale this week and she volunteered to bring something, but she forgot it was this week!” 

Steve blinks at him, failing to see what the problem is. “So? She left you money, right? Just buy some cupcakes at Melvald’s and bring those.”

Dustin gasps, affronted. “Steve, it’s a bake sale! Not a store-bought sale!”

“Things at stores were baked at some point too, butthead,” Steve argues, but Dustin keeps looking at him like he’s being stupid. “Geez, fine, what do you want me to do about it anyway?”

“I need you to bake me something, duh.”

Steve snorts. “Sure, yeah, I’d love to, except I don’t know how to bake.”

Dustin frowns. “Bullshit! You cook for us all the time!”

“Yeah, cook like actual food, not pies and shit,” he says, crossing his arms and leaning against the door.

“It’s the same thing!”

Steve thinks back on the time he tried to bake brownies for Nancy and how he almost burned his house down in the process. “It’s so not,” he says in a bitchy tone. 

Dustin groans, scrubbing his hands down his face. “But Steve, I need a pie!”

“Sorry, kid, you’re gonna have to ask someone else. Maybe Mrs. Wheeler or–”

“I can do it.”

Both of their heads snap towards the living room entrance where Eddie stands, rubbing his eyes sleepily. 

Christ, he’s cute, Steve thinks, and immediately feels his cheeks heat up. He hopes Eddie is still too groggy from sleep to notice. “Do what, Eds?” 

“Make Henderson a pie,” Eddie says, waving his hand at the kid. 

Dustin blinks at him with wide eyes. “You know how to bake a pie?” 

“Yup.”

Steve finds himself asking, “How?” 

Eddie snorts amusedly. “We have ovens in the trailer park too, rich boy,” he snarks but his words lack any heat. “Though I might have to borrow yours for this, ours hasn’t worked since the turkey incident of ‘84.”

Dustin and Steve exchange a look, equally shocked by what they’re hearing. 

“So,” Eddie goes on, clapping his hands together. “What kind of pie do you need, Henderson?” He asks as slides his Reeboks on, which he left by Steve’s door when he showed up. “Cherry, pumpkin, apple?”

“Uh, pumpkin?”

Eddie flashes him a dimpled grin. “My favorite,” he says, grabbing his car keys from the table at the entrance. “Let’s go then, shrimp.”

“I thought you were gonna make it here,” Steve says, confused by Eddie leaving.

“Gotta go shopping first, Stevie,” Eddie explains, van keys spinning around his finger. “And I gotta dust off the old recipe, it’s been a while since I used it.”

“Ugh, but I hate grocery shopping!” Dustin whines, earning a smack on the back of his head from Eddie.

“It’s your pie, Henderson. Suck it up.” 

Dustin scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Eddie turns to Steve, batting his long eyelashes at him. “You mind cleaning the oven for me in the meantime, sweetheart?”

Steve should protest that he didn’t agree to help, but with Eddie’s big doe eyes staring at him like that and him calling him sweetheart, all he can muster is a weak, “Yeah, okay.”

Eddie grins, throwing a wink over his shoulder as he grabs the back of Dustin’s neck and pushes him towards his van. “Be back in a few, honey!” He calls back to Steve. “And then we’re baking a pie!”

Steve watches them go and closes the door once the pair gets in the van. 

He’s in the kitchen, ready to clean his oven for Eddie when his words register in Steve’s brain.

“Wait– we?”

***

Eddie and Dustin come back an hour later, carrying everything they need. 

Dustin dumps his bags on the counter and immediately tries to retreat to the living room but Eddie moves faster. He grabs onto the handle of his backpack, pulling him to an abrupt stop, Dustin’s limbs flailing like a puppet on strings. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asks, tugging Henderson back into the kitchen. “I told you, it’s your pie so you’re helping.”

“But my mom never forces me to help!” He protests, trying to shrug off his backpack to escape. 

Eddie wraps an arm around his neck instead. 

“Yeah, well. Your mom is a saint, I’m not,” he says, letting him go once Dustin stops struggling and handing him a whisk and a list of ingredients for him to mix. 

Begrudgingly, Dustin accepts them and sets off to work on making the filling while Eddie and Steve work on the crust. 

Steve has to focus really hard on following Eddie’s instructions correctly. Not because the instructions are particularly complicated or anything, mostly it’s just ‘add this’ or ‘measure that’ or ‘hand me those’. It’s because Eddie is very distracting like this– with his hair tied in a messy bun, the sleeves of his flannel rolled over his forearms, flour smeared on his face.

And then there’s the familiarity with which he moves around Steve’s kitchen after spending so much time here, helping Steve cook or just keeping him company. And the confidence with which he measures, mixes, and adds ingredients, or tells Steve to do it. 

Steve always had a thing for competence. It’s why he was so attracted to Nancy, whether she was getting all of her chemistry flashcard questions right or shooting monsters in the face. It’s why he started crushing on Robin after she cracked that Russian code. Steve knows that if he had been there when Eddie played the most metal concert ever, and he had seen him shredding his guitar the way Dustin describes it, he would’ve been too busy drooling over him to fight Vecna. 

Eddie knowing how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch is no different– and if it weren’t for Dustin, Steve probably would’ve already pinned Eddie against the kitchen counter to sloppily make out with him. 

For now, Steve tries his best to pay attention to what Eddie asks him to do and not get distracted by thoughts of kissing him or dragging him upstairs or–

He realizes he fails when Eddie has to smear flour on his nose to get his attention. 

“Hey,” Steve protests weakly, going cross-eyed trying to stare at the white powder on his nose.

Eddie chuckles. “There you are, I’ve been talking to you for like, five minutes.” 

“Oh.” Steve must’ve gotten distracted staring at Eddie’s arms as he expertly kneaded the dough and rolled it into balls. He glances down at the counter and realizes he’s done already. Then he glances around the kitchen and notices it’s just the two of them. 

“Where’s Henderson?”

“Well, the filling is ready and we have to leave these babies in the fridge for two hours,” he says, holding up one of the dough balls. “So I sent him to pick a movie for us to watch in the meantime.”

“Oh, okay,” Steve says, wondering how he could’ve been so deep in thought that he missed all of that happening. He grabs one of the dough balls while Eddie grabs the other one, following him to the fridge. “Do we need this much pie crust?” He asks as Eddie opens the door. 

“I thought we could make two pies so I doubled the recipe. Henderson can take one and we can have the other,” Eddie says, sticking the dough in the fridge. “That way you can try it and I can take some back to Wayne. I don’t think we’ve had any homemade pumpkin pie since my mom died.”

Steve hums. “Is this her recipe?”

The smile Eddie gives Steve over his shoulder is a little sad. “Yeah, she taught me how to make it years ago.”

“I can’t wait to try it,” Steve says softly, knocking their shoulders together. 

Eddie spins on his heels, leaning back against the fridge. “I just hope I didn’t fuck it up, it’s been a while,” he chuckles, hanging a hand from his neck. 

Steve shrugs. “You can always blame me. Or Dustin.”

Eddie throws his head back, laughing. There’s a streak of flour on his neck and Steve has to fight the urge to clean it up with his tongue. “Nah, Stevie, you two are doing a great job,” Eddie says with a dimpled grin, “even the kid with his fucking attitude.”

Steve huffs, rolling his eyes. “Right? You’d think he’s doing us a favor.”

“Entitled little shit,” Eddie mutters, but the corners of his mouth tick up.

From the living room, Dustin yells at them, his voice dripping with annoyance. “You guys are gonna watch the movie or what?” 

Steve and Eddie share a look and start laughing. 

***

Two hours later the two of them are back in the kitchen, rolling out the pie crust. 

Or at least, Eddie is. Steve keeps messing it up. 

“Fuck,” he mutters as he screws it up again. “You know what? You do it.”

“Come on, Stevie, it’s not that hard,” Eddie says, knocking his bony hip against Steve’s. 

Whatever protest Steve is about to make dies in his throat when Eddie leaves his perfectly rolled-out pie crust and moves to stand behind him, pressing his body against Steve and Steve’s body against the counter, his arms wrapping around him so he can guide his hands on the rolling pin. 

“You gotta start at the center and work outwards,” Eddie says, speaking into Steve’s ear as he shows him how to do it. Steve can barely focus on anything that isn’t the entire length of Eddie’s body pressed against him. “Yeah, just like that.”

“Christ,” Steve mutters. Eddie’s words whispered lowly into his ear are making Steve’s head swim with all kinds of ideas. It’s a good thing that Eddie seems oblivious to it. 

“Now you do it,” Eddie says, letting go of Steve’s hands and holding Steve’s waist instead. 

Steve’s movements are a little jerky, but he manages to finish rolling out the pie crust successfully, even with Eddie standing behind him the entire time. 

“Great job, Stevie,” Eddie says, hooking his chin on Steve’s shoulder to look down at the counter. 

Steve makes the mistake of turning his head, leaving their faces only a few inches away from each other. Steve’s breath hitches and his heart starts jackhammering against his ribcage. It feels like it might explode out of his chest when he notices Eddie’s eyes unmistakably flicker down to his lips. 

And of course, that’s when Dustin comes barreling into the kitchen. 

“Are you guys done?” He asks, his arms crossed over his chest, his foot tapping on the floor impatiently. 

Steve drops the rolling pin and Eddie jumps back a few steps. Dustin’s eyes dart curiously between the two. 

Eddie clears his throat. “We’d be done sooner if you helped us,” he says, his voice coming out a little strangled. 

Dustin gives them an innocent look, eyes wide like he’s never done anything wrong in his life. “But you're doing such a great job, Eddie.” 

Eddie doesn’t fall for it. He snorts, throwing a kitchen cloth at his face. “Shoo, you gremlin!”

He doesn’t wait for Eddie to tell him twice, hurtling towards the living room. Steve watches in silence as Eddie carefully places the pie crust on the pan and pours the filling Dustin made.

“Now we wait?” Steve asks once both pies are inside the preheated oven. 

“Now we wait,” Eddie says, smiling at Steve. His eyes catch on something and then he reaches out to wipe flour from Steve’s cheek, his thumb lingering on his cheekbone for a second too long. 

His eyes flicker to Steve’s lips one last time before he goes to join Dustin in the living room. 

***

“I present to you," Eddie starts, spinning around on his heels, holding the pie in his hands, “your pumpkin pie, my good sir.”

Dustin grins, letting out something between a laugh and a snort. “Dude, it looks so good!”

“I told you I could bake,” Eddie says, grinning smugly. 

“Hey, we helped,” Steve says with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Eddie sets the pie down on the counter so he can crowd Steve against it. “Oh, I know, baby, I could never have done it without you.”

Heat builds up in Steve’s cheeks. It’s a good thing that Eddie gets distracted by Dustin rounding the counter and wrapping his arms around his middle in an unexpected hug. “Thank you, Eddie.”

Eddie ruffles Dustin’s curls. “You’re welcome, kid.”

Before Steve can protest once again that he helped, thank you very much, Dustin lets go of Eddie and hugs Steve too. “Thanks, Steve.”

“Of course, buddy.”

“I’ll tell Mom to have you both over for dinner when she comes back,” he says, adjusting his Thinking Cap. 

“Hell yeah,” Eddie says, licking his lips like he’s already tasting Mrs. Henderson’s cooking. “You just earned yourself a drive home, mister.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, no way I’m letting you ruin my–” Steve clears his throat, “ our pie by taking it home on your bike.” He grabs Dustin’s shoulders, and once the kid grabs the pie, he steers him in the direction of the front door. “I’ll come back to help you clean up,” he tells Steve over his shoulder. 

“You better.”

With a wink, they disappear through the kitchen archway, leaving Steve alone with his thoughts. 

And he can’t help but think about Eddie– his eyes on Steve’s lips, his thumb softly brushing over Steve’s cheekbone, his chest pressed against Steve’s back. 

He forces himself to start cleaning up, just so he can stay busy and not drive himself crazy thinking about what might happen when Eddie comes back, now that Dustin won’t be here. 

He’s elbow-deep in rinsing water when he hears the front door open, followed by Eddie’s whistling as he makes his way to the kitchen. 

“Stevie, Stevie, Stevie,” he says, waltzing in, “I told you I’d help!” 

Without turning around, Steve shrugs. “Grab a cloth, you can help me dry.”

He hears a cabinet open and close as Eddie presumably looks for a clean kitchen cloth but when he appears next to Steve, he’s got a plate with a slice of pumpkin pie on it. 

Steve purses his lips. “That’s not a kitchen towel,” he says matter-of-factly. 

“Nope, but I couldn’t wait to try it,” he says, leaning back on the counter, facing Steve. 

Steve gives the slice of pie a pointed look. “Well?”

Eddie grabs a forkful of pie and shoves it into his mouth while Steve stares expectantly at him, waiting for his reaction. It comes in the way of a sinful moan that makes Steve want to shove his head into the water to stop the heat from creeping up his cheeks. 

“I- uh,” he clears his throat, “I take it we didn’t fuck it up?”

Eddie licks his lips, and Steve’s hands tighten around the bowl he was rinsing. “Nop, it’s perfect. Just like my mama used to make it.”

Steve smiles at Eddie’s smug little tilt of his head as he shoves another forkful into his mouth. 

“Hey, I wanna try it too,” he says, nudging Eddie’s side with his elbow. 

He expects Eddie to feed him some pie since his hands are still under the rinsing water and it’s probably what Eddie intends to do, he scoops some pie up with his fork–

But then he hesitates.

His eyes dart over Stece’s face, searching for something. He either finds it or gives up, dropping the fork back onto the plate and placing it on the counter next to him. 

Steve cocks his head, puppy-like, but before he can get a word out, Eddie grabs his cheeks and kisses Steve square on the lips. 

He instinctively kisses back– or does his best to do so considering his hands are still in the water. He moves his lips against Eddie’s and when Eddie laps at his bottom lip, Steve opens his mouth, letting Eddie’s tongue slide inside. 

He tastes like pumpkin pie, is Steve’s first coherent thought, followed by– holy shit, I’m kissing Eddie.

It’s that realization that makes Steve retrieve his hands from the sink, dripping water all over the floor, to wrap his arms around Eddie’s shoulders. He kisses him more deeply, chasing after that taste of pumpkin pie, and smoke, and cinnamon, and Eddie. 

They pull back when they finally need to come up for air but stay wrapped up in each other. 

Steve’s eyes dip down to Eddie’s lips, red and slick with spit. He hears them moving but realizes he didn’t hear whatever Eddie said from the blood still rushing through his ears. 

“Sorry, what?” 

Eddie chuckles a little breathlessly. “I said, what did you think of the pie?” 

“Oh, um. Good, it’s–” Steve licks his lips. “It’s good.” 

Eddie’s mouth twitches with a hint of a smirk. “Yeah?” 

“Mhm but, uh, I think I need– I need to give it another try, you know?” Steve stammers out, watching as Eddie’s eyes go a little dark at that. He licks his lips and Steve does his best not to let out a whine. 

“Come here then, pumpkin,” Eddie says, pulling Steve forward, mashing their lips together. 

Neither of them points out it would be easier for Steve to grab a forkful of pie– they’re too busy chasing after the taste of it on each other’s mouths to even try. 

[plistommy]

Steve was looking more pissed off as ever with his hands on hips and scowl on his too-pretty face as he looked down at Eddie, who was nervous and embarrassed as hell because, well…

He had forgotten their first anniversary.

They had been together a year.

A whole year and Eddie’s dumbass has forgotten about it as he had been too busy planning on a new DnD campaign with the other members of the club instead of being here with his boyfriend who had waited for him to show up, apparently, for five fucking hours with Eddie’s favorite dinner.

Fuck.

Eddie felt like the worst boyfriend ever.

But, he still tried to lighten up the mood and grinned nervously up at Steve who was not breaking his stance.

”Look… I’m really sorry, baby—”

”Don’t you baby me!” Steve snapped and wrapped his arms over his chest, pout pulling into his pretty mouth.

”You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Eddie’s eyes widened a little and he awkwardly looked around ”But… this is my house.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

Steve huffed annoyingly and stomped to Eddie’s bedroom, leaving Eddie to sit on the living room’s couch, but before Eddie could really do anything, Steve was coming back with his green duffle bag and went to put on his shoes that were tidily set next to the front door.

”Fine. I’ll go to Robs. The food is cold, but I bet if you warm it up it isn’t half bad. There’s some ice cream too, chocolate and sprinkles on the top shelf. I know you like them…”

Steve and his caring side will be the death of Eddie. Even when the younger boy was mad at him, he still cared.

Before Steve could open the door, Eddie jumped from the couch and ran to him. He wrapped his hand around Steve’s wrist and pulled it back from the handle.

”Please, don’t go. Look, I’m really sorry, Steve. I am. I fucked this up,” Eddie took both of Steve’s hands to his, hating how the other boy wasn’t catching his eyes. ”Please, forgive me? I’ll do anything, baby.”

Finally, Steve turned those big brown eyes to his and gave a small nod, making his hair flop to his eyes which made Eddie push them back.

”Yeah?” Eddie said softly and Steve nodded again.

He dropped his duffle bag to the floor and let Eddie embrace him as the older boy wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist.

Steve breathed in the other’s scent, relaxing a little even if he was still a little upset.

”Okay, look,” He started, making Eddie pull away a little so he could see Steve’s face.

”It… it isn’t that serious. It’s only our first anniversary, but I just… I really wanted this to be special because I really really like you, Eddie and I love what we have and I just—”

”Hey, hey, Steve. It’s okay.” Eddie caressed Steve’s cheeks. ”You don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who fucked up. I should’ve known.”

Steve bit his bottom lip and leaned into the other’s touch.

”I love you. I will make it up for you, ’kay? If it takes me years of hard work I’ll do it. If it… if it means I can’t play anymore I’ll do it for you.”

That made Steve snort as he wrapped his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and fuck did it make Eddie happy when he finally felt the other’s touch on him.

”Like you’d be able to keep your hands off your ’sweetheart’.” And that made Eddie chuckle a little too.

”For you, anything.”

Steve gave him a soft smile and let Eddie kiss him.

”Fine. I’ll accept, you butthead.”

Eddie grinned as he led Steve to the couch, pulling the boy onto his lap as Steve giggled.

They made out for a while, Eddie doing all the things he knew to get the other laugh. Tickling his feet, the spot behind his ear that was unusually sensitive and squeezing that amazing ass when Steve wiggled on top of him.

When they both calmed down, now lying on the small couch with their legs tangled, Steve grinned.

”Hm, maybe for a start of this ’big’ journey of forgiveness, you could… fuck me? It could make me a little less mad.”

Eddie felt heat pooling into his dick right away.

”Thought you wanted me on the couch?” He teased and Steve rolled his eyes as he smacked softly the other’s grinning face.

”Do not tempt me. Again.”

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 24

So, it pains me to say that there is only one more chapter after this. Yep. Just the one. But I have an epilogue all written up and a sequel partially written up. So you won't have dwell in sadness for long.

In this we have a wild Dustin appearing, Ellie be awesome, another asshole reporter shows up, and Gareth and Eddie finally have it out.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23

~

The Fallen were holed up in their trailer, Ellie showing off her fix for the hoods. She held up a small fan and battery pack.

“Since the hoods cover most of the neck,” she explained, “this will go on a collar that you can turn on and off, and even change the speed. This will help keep you cool so you don’t faint again.”

Spence took the fan from her. “That’s genius. How did you come up with that?”

“I convinced my dad to go as the Red Guardian with me to New York Comic Con a couple of years ago. I was dressed as Yelena from ‘Black Widow’ ,” she said with a grin. “But as you guys know leather is hot so we put a couple of these bad boys in the neck of the costume to keep him cool.”

“That’s amazing,” Shane breathed. “I mean the fans are neat, too, I guess.”

She giggled. “The blonde wig I wore wasn’t very fun, but the rest of it was.”

“Thanks, Ellie,” Steve said. “How long will it take you put them together for us?”

She cocked her head to the side. “About twenty minutes.”

They piled out of the trailer to find Dustin arguing with Eddie.

“I keep telling you,” Eddie huffed. “I don’t know who they are and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you! I don’t even know how you got past security in the first place.”

“I showed them pictures of us from your Instagram.”

Eddie pressed his fingers into his eye in frustration. “Dustin...” he said warningly. “You can’t do that.”

“I just did,” he said smugly, crossing his arms and grinning at him.

“You are such a butthead,” Steve groused. “How are you even here in the first place? Don’t you have school?”

Dustin shrugged. “You’re touring in California right now, it’s not that hard to drive up here for the weekend.”

“Dustin,” Steve said, pinching the side of his nose. “It’s Tuesday!”

He pulled out his phone and looked at the date. “Huh. Oops.” He put it away. “Well, I’m here now. No use crying over spilled milk.”

Eddie surged forward to strangle him, but Steve stopped him.

“Why are you here?” Steve asked sternly.

Dustin’s shoulders slumped. “All right, I was feeling a little lonely. Mike and Will graduated last year and they moved back to Hawkins to figure out where they want to go from there. And Lucas and Max are on the other side of the country. I missed you guys.”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance over his head and sighed.

“I know, bud,” Steve murmured, putting his arm around him, “but you’ve got school if you want to make it into MIT.”

Dustin sighed. He was a late bloomer, college wise, because it took a lot of convincing Mrs. Henderson to let him go. She was really worried about him on his own. It wasn’t until Steve moved out to California that she was willing to let him go.

“It was a dumb idea,” he admitted. “I just wanted to see you guys.”

Just then the trailer door opened and Ellie stepped out. Dustin’s jaw dropped. Eddie lifted his his chin with his finger.

“Oh hey, Steve,” she said, “I have the cooling collars for the band, can you make sure they get them before they go on tonight?” She held out the four devices and Steve took them.

“I sure will,” he replied. “Dustin this Ellie Hopper, she designed The Fallen’s costumes this year and her dad is head of security.”

Dustin reached out to shake her hand which she took with a small smile.

“Ellie,” Steve continued, “this Dustin Henderson. I used to watch him and his friends when they were snot-nosed kids.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Dustin said with his winning smile.

“Same.”

“I was just about to bug these two into lunch,” Dustin said. “Care to join us?”

Steve and Eddie glared at him.

“I’d love to!” Ellie said brightly.

And now Eddie and Steve were caught. They had to go now, because it’d be rude to turn down the person that made the costumes for The Fallen.

So they all went out to lunch, but they had to be back for the sound checks.

“I don’t know hwy you have to be there,” Dustin whined. “You’re only a medic, it’s not as though you’re a rockstar, too.”

“Because I’m the medic for the band,” Steve huffed. “If something goes wrong at the sound check I have to be there.”

“Can we watch the sound check together?” he asked hopefully.

“Why don’t you take Ellie around,” Eddie suggested. “She’s never been this far north in Cali.”

Ellie immediately agreed and Eddie and Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

As they were walking off, Eddie got a text message and he grinned, hurriedly typing back.

“You cheating on your lover over there, Munson,” Steve teased.

Eddie threw back his head and laughed. “It’s just Chrissy. You know, the lesbian?”

Steve grinned wolfishly as they got into the car that would take them back to the venue.

~

A week later Corroded Coffin were doing their own press conference when some reporter from a gossip rag dropped a bombshell.

“A question for Eddie Munson.”

“Shoot.”

“What do you say to the rumors that you have a secret lover on this tour?”

The room went dead silent except the clicking of camera shutters going off.

“Do you want to repeat that?” Jeff growled into his mic.

She repeated the question with a smug expression.

“I wasn’t aware there was one,” Eddie hedged. “And all questions about my sex life are off limits.”

“Are you worried that with your past exploits on previous tours that this man will be labeled as just another notch in your bedpost and you’re trying to protect him from that?” she continued as if she hadn’t heard him.

“You heard the man,” Brian hissed. “He doesn’t want to talk about his sex life.”

“What about the rumors that you are fucking the frontman to The Fallen?” she asked a little louder as the other reporters started shouting their own questions.

“Unless your sucking my dick, you don’t get to know about my sex life!” Eddie snapped. He stood up and walked out.

Chrissy walked up to the front of the room, putting herself between the other band members and the now pressing throng of reporters.

“This press conference is now over.”

The woman who had started it all, crossed her legs and smirked at the chaos all around her.

~

Steve watched the YouTube video of the press conference over and over. Those same forty-seven seconds over and over again.

Who was the leak? Who told? Was it just speculation because that’s how Eddie usually played it on tours? Or was it something more sinister?

He decided if nothing else, he should at least go check on Eddie to see how he was doing.

He walked up to the door of Eddie’s hotel suite, but the door was partially ajar.

“Oh I get it now,” Eddie was saying. “The call is coming from inside the house.”

“You’re blaming me?!” Gareth cried.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie hissed. “This has you written all over it.”

“I’m on your side!”

“You’ve always been jealous of Steve,” Eddie snapped, “and now that we’re a couple, you couldn’t take it and went to the press.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Gareth pleaded. “I know said some fucked up things last year. But I’ve been in therapy for that shit and I know it’s unhealthy. I don’t know who leaked it to the press, but it wasn’t me.” There was a brief pause. “Here, check my phone. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

There was silence for a long, tense moment so Steve took the liberty of the pause to knock on the door.

Chrissy went to go open it and saw Steve. With a single look she knew he’d overheard at least some their exchange. She winced and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry’.

“Come on in, Steve,” she said, opening the door wide enough to let him in. “Vickie’s on her way and will be here in about twenty minutes.”

Steve nodded and walked up to Eddie. “Hey,” he asked leaning down to look him in the eye, “are you okay?”

Eddie’s lips quivered as he nodded. He was still going through all of Gareth’s messages, DMs, and social media posts.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered to Gareth.

Gareth hugged him fiercely and Eddie hugged back. Soon they were both crying.

“I’m sorry I blamed Steve for everything wrong in the band,” Gareth murmured. “I was just scared he’d take you away from me.”

Steve snorted. “Dude, I would need a fucking crowbar to remove Eddie from you guys’ lives. He loves you like brothers. I’m not here to get in the way of that. Okay?”

“Yeah, man,” Brian said, “families grow and change, that doesn’t mean we don’t still love each other.”

Gareth nodded into Eddie’s neck.

“And I’m sorry I accused you without evidence,” he muttered back, “Uncle Wayne would kick my ass if he found out I did that.”

“I won’t tell,” Gareth said softly, “if you won’t.”

“Deal.”

They stood like that for awhile, just holding each other and muttering apologies.

Vickie came barreling into the room like a bull in a china shop.

“Fucking hell!” she growled and threw herself onto the sofa like a Victorian maiden. “That was such bullshit.”

They all turned to her, Chrissy closing the door tightly behind her to make sure no one in the hall could hear them.

“It was a completely unsubstantiated comment said off the cuff in the same vein as ‘I’ll kill you for that’,” she moaned, rolling over and putting her hand on her forehead.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Eddie said, “what was said?”

Vickie sat up drew her knees to her chest. “Someone overheard Steve teasing Eddie about cheating on his lover.”

Eddie and Steve looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” Brian huffed. “That’s it? God. People must be hard up for news if that’s all it takes.”

“The reporter’s name was Heather Halloway,” she continued. “She works for the same gossip rag as the guy who brought up the spelling of Abbadon’s name in their press conference. His name was Billy Hargrove. He also has some conspiracy podcast he does that she’ll sometimes feature on. A regular Bonnie and Clyde.”

“So she was just trying to rile Eddie up to get a reaction?” Jeff asked.

Vickie nodded. “Which unfortunately worked.”

Eddie grimaced and scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

“You’re only human,” Vickie said with a half shrug. “I’ll get out ahead of this and like with what happened with Steve, just call all your friends ‘lover’. Make it as uncomfortable for them as possible. Turn it around and throw it their faces.”

“In other words, ‘let Eddie be Eddie’?” Gareth asked.

Vickie grinned. “Perfect. Let Eddie be Eddie.”

Eddie blushed and shoved his hair in front of his face to hide his bashful smile. “Thanks, guys.”

“Now get out of here so I can cuddle with my boyfriend,” Steve huffed, making shooing motions with his hands.

Everyone laughed and they all shuffled out of the room.

Well all but Gareth. He held out his fist.

“We good?” he asked shyly.

Both Steve and Eddie fist bumped him.

“Not yet,” Eddie said softly. “But we’re getting there.”

Gareth smiled and slipped out of the room. A single step forward was better than a step back. They’d get there. They had the time now.

As soon as Gareth left, Eddie turned to Steve. “Cuddling, huh?”

Steve advanced on him like a tiger seeking his prey. “As I understand it, unless they’re sucking your dick they don’t get to know your sex life.”

Eddie’s tongue dragged slowly over his teeth, his drooping seductively. “I did say that, yeah.”

Steve started pushing him back to the bed. When they reached it, he pushed him on the bed and then began crawling up Eddie’s body.

“And since I’m the only one who gets to suck your dick,” he purred, “I wasn’t going to tell them shit.”

Eddie smirked. “You’re a bitch, Stevie. But you’re my bitch and I’m going to fuck you into this mattress.”

“Hmm,” Steve hummed. “Bring it on.”

~

Part 25

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

[steviewashere]

The Great Cornholio

Rating: General CW: Implied/Referenced Animal Abandonment, Implied/Referenced Animal Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abandonment, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect Tags: Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Mild Angst, Fluff, Steve Harrington is Impulsive, Steve Harrington is a Little Shit, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Soft Steve Harrington, Soft Eddie Munson, Adopting a Dog, Beavis and Butthead Reference, Cornholio the Dog, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Domestic Steddie, Domestic Fluff

🐕—————🐕 There’s a disrupting clatter of noise coming from the front door of their apartment. Eddie stops immediately what he’s been doing in the kitchen—wiping down counters and putting away the dry dishes from the rack—and listens in. Shushing. Scraping? And then…a whine.

“Steve?” He calls out.

All of the sounds immediately stop. Unnervingly so.

“Uh…Steve, you alright?” He calls out again. “You didn’t get into another fight again, did you? I think we’re out of rubbing alcohol, so it’ll be a bitch to disinfect any wounds you got.”

Subtle shuffling comes closer to the open doorway of the kitchen. Eddie turns to look. Steve’s standing in his work clothes, vest over his polo, jeans straight down his legs, shoes still laced. He’s flushed bright red. Nervously fiddling with his fingers. He shifts from foot to foot and peers up at Eddie through his eyelashes. Mirth glints at him.

“What’d you do,” Eddie sighs.

Steve smiles at him. All his teeth. Squinting his eyes so hard, they nearly look closed. “I got us something,” he giddily states, “you’re going to love it.”

Eddie gestures for him to get whatever this thing is. And waits, dish gloves up to his elbows, barefoot and in his pajamas, half-tired, not showered. He had a day off from work, the automotive shop around the corner, so what if he does chores and nothing else? But he’s especially exhausted. Just wants to relax. And knows, whatever Steve’s done, will tarnish all of that.

A couple minutes later, Steve comes back towards the kitchen. Vest gone, shoes off. Hands behind his back. Squirming left and right as his grip subtly—or not so subtly—changes. Slowly, carefully, he reveals the contents of his hands. And staring back at Eddie is a dog.

It’s a smaller breed—whatever breed it is. Soft looking, white fur. Ears that fold over like airplane wings. Big, brown, bug-like eyes. Pink nose, straight tail, short legs, and six toes on the front left foot. The dog’s cute, Eddie can objectively notice. It doesn’t mind being held, considering how Steve’s holding it close to his belly like it’s a toddler. And it’s not barking at him, like most dogs do the first time they’re introduced to him. This one’s rather mellow. Very relaxed. Though, that may just be from nerves.

“I got a dog,” Steve says. His voice goes a little high with his happiness. Smile bright and big and unmistakeable. Eyes excited and warm.

Eddie already knows he won’t turn this away.

“I can see that,” he states. “Is it our dog or—“

“His name is Cornholio. Like in Beavis and Butthead. And I’ve got all the supplies in the trunk,” Steve begins explaining, barreling over Eddie’s question. Okay, so it’s definitely ours, Eddie notes. “Cornholio here is housebroken. He knows how to sit and lay down. He’ll be sleeping with us in bed, I’m not making him lay in a dog bed by himself. And I’m going to buy him his own turkey to eat for dinner. And—“

“Wait, wait, wait,” Eddie interrupts. Immediately, Steve stops talking. And his smile fades. Looking more like…Well, it’s in bad taste, but he looks like a kicked puppy. The longer Eddie takes to collect himself, though, Steve appears as if his entire family has been slaughtered in front of his eyes. Eddie rubs a, now gloveless, hand between his eyebrows. “We didn’t talk about getting a dog? What led you to do this? How much did he cost? Have you factored in the possibility that either of us could be allergic?” Calm down, he scolds himself. He takes a quick, steadying breath. “I’m not…We can keep the dog, Stevie. But I—I’m not prepared for a dog.”

Steve cradles the dog closer to himself. Looks down at the top of his head and kisses the fur between his ears. Cornholio looks up with his big brown eyes, his tail wags as much as it can where Steve’s holding him, and he licks the underside of Steve’s jaw. “I just thought it would be nice to have a little buddy around,” he murmurs lowly, a little sad. “There was an ad for the humane society in the newspaper this morning and I thought, y’know, what if I looked after work? Just for the shits and giggles of it, but then I saw him. 

“And he’d been there for three years. He used to be left alone at his old house for weeks on end. Just left with scraps and the bag of dog food. Whatever he could find. He was lonely and sad and…Somebody finally called for him to be taken in.” Steve shrugs as much as he can with the weight of the dog between his arms. Looks up to Eddie, his eyes just as big as Cornholio’s, wet and tired. Meekly, he adds, “He made me think of myself. When…When my parents would just leave me all alone.”

Oh, Eddie thinks. His chest feels heavier. Head foggier. Eyes stinging.

“And you wanted to give him a better chance than what you had,” Eddie says, though he meant it like a question. It comes out a little breathy, too much of a realization to be anything more than that. Steve nods slowly, gently.

“He was only $50. I’ll return him if it’s a prob—“

“No, no,” Eddie rushes. He forces himself to move forward. Stand close and in Steve’s space. He peers down at the top of Cornholio’s little head, his tantalizingly soft fur. So, he scratches his nails over the baby’s scalp. He peers up at Steve again. At his impossibly sadder eyes, just a second away from bursting into tears. His free hand comes up and cups Steve’s left cheek. Thumb gently swiping over his cheekbone. “I think that you picked a good one, sweetheart. This baby’s adorable,” he coos. “Look, he’s even got my eyes.”

Steve scoffs. “Your eyes? He’s my son!”

Eddie hums. “Actually, he’s our son,” he murmurs. Smiles small to himself at the way Steve preens at those words. “And his name is Cornholio, like in Beavis and Butthead. And he’s going to eat turkey with us every night. And he can sleep between us in bed to ward off our nightmares, yeah?”

“Really? You’re not mad?”

He shrugs. “No, maybe just a little scrambled. But…I’m also an impulsive person, so this matters none.” Cornholio’s fur is incredibly soft under his hand. And he looks up at the two of them with all the gentleness in the world. And, maybe, Eddie thinks he could die happy here and now.

Steve leans in a little closer. Rests his cheek on Eddie’s shoulder as they both peer down at the little white dog. “Huh,” he mutters, “I guess he does have your eyes.”

“See?” Eddie asks softly, grinning. “Match made in heaven. How about we take him on a walk? Show him our picnic spot?”

Abruptly, Steve gasps. “Oh my gosh!” He crows, “We can take him on our picnics with us! And he can meet all the dogs at the park! And he can lay in our laps! And—“

Chuckling, Eddie swipes a soothing hand down Steve’s back. He’s bouncing in place, probably five seconds away from lift-off into the ceiling. He kisses Steve’s temple. Murmurs, “I’ll make some sandwiches, alright? Go get his collar and leash.”

Steve positively squeals.

And Eddie was right. This does ruin the plans he had on his day off, but he figures this is better. Way better than anything he could’ve done for himself. There was no way he was going to turn down the opportunity to see his boy happy.

🐕—————🐕

[reputationmunson]

Crossing Lines | S.H x fem!reader

part one | part two | part 3 | part 4

series summary: Steve isn’t your biggest fan, so why does he ask you to be his date to a wedding? | enemies to lovers, fake dating

chapter summary: time to meet the family!

content: you and steve go shopping, meeting his family, mentions of drinking, food mention, swearing, she/her pronouns, use of y/n, a little surprise at the end ;)

word count: 4.7k

_

The piercing ring of the phone wakes Steve from his deep sleep and putting a pillow over his head doesn’t drown out the sound even a little bit. He begrudgingly throws his blanket and grumbles obscenities until he reaches the phone.

“Hello?” he answers with an abrasive tone. “Good morning to you too, sunshine” your voice sounds way too happy for someone who’s awake this early. “y/n? Why the hell are you calling me this early?”

“Do you always talk to your girlfriends like this? No wonder you’re still single.’’ you tease and he lets out an overdramatic, loud sigh. “Get to the point it’s too early for this”

“It’s almost ten in the morning that isn’t exactly the break of dawn, but anyways, I need to know if you work today”

“Yeah, I do” he lies. “Liar! I already asked Robin and she told me that you’re off today” he can practically hear your ‘know-it-all-’ smirk over the phone. “I’m five seconds away from hanging up”

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a twist. We need to go shopping today” you tell him and he scoffs at your words “We? Why do I need to go?”

“You said all expenses paid and I need new clothes for our couples getaway, therefore, you’re going shopping with me”

“It’s not a couple’s gateway” is all he says. “That’s all semantics, Stevie”

“Do you even know what semantics means?” he asks “do you?” you reply, turning the tables. His lips purse while he tries to thinks of an answer. He’s got nothing. “Whatever. I’ll pick you up in an hour” he hands up before giving you a chance to gloat.

_

Steve shows up to your house an hour and a half later and he expects nothing less than you reprimanding him for it. You walk outside wearing a dress that might be a bad idea for a breezy day like today, but it’s still a pretty dress. He tells himself that only the dress looks pretty, not the person wearing it. Your sparkly lip gloss that anyone from a mile away can see, looks pretty too, but not because it’s on your lips. He can just appreciate a nice gloss, that’s it.

“Thirty minutes late, mister. That isn’t very ‘boyfriend’ of you” you say as soon as you get into the car. “How about a ‘thank you’ for picking you up? That isn’t very ‘girlfriend’ of you” he rebuttals.

“Hush, I’m the perfect girlfriend. Can I play some music?” you ask and he turns the radio on. “Oh, I love this song!” you cheer when you change the station and ‘We Belong’ by Pat Benatar comes on. “Of course you do” he says and you roll your eyes at him while turning up the radio. In all honesty, he likes this song, but he’ll never admit that out loud.

You sing every word, not too loudly, but loud enough that Steve can hear. Your singing isn’t horrible, but he knows every time he hears this song he’s going to associate it with you. “Why are you always so grouchy? You constantly have a look on your face like someone put salt in your sugar shaker”

“Thanks for putting off your concert long enough to ask me that” he turns the radio down until there's almost no music and you turn it back up a smidge. “See! You’re a total butthead” you argue. “Butthead? Are we five?”

“That’s such a butthead response”

“Then how about we don’t talk for the rest of the car ride? Kay?” he impolitely suggests and you cross your arms. “Fine”

“Fine”

So you sit in silence for the rest of the time you’re in the car, aside from your soft singing. It drives Steve insane.

_

The mall was quite busy for a Tuesday and it takes Steve three loops around the parking lot to find a decent spot.

“I told you to just park in the back. We could’ve saved so much time”

“What did I say about not talking while we’re in the car?” he asks, rhetorically. You quickly step out of the car and repeat yourself “I told you to just park in the back. We could’ve saved so much time. I’m not in the car, so you can’t get mad at me! C’mon, let's go!”

Steve sighs before taking the keys out of the ignition and following behind you. Once you reach the entrance you hold your hand out to him. He looks down at your hand and back up at you “What’s that?”

“It’s a hand, Steve. Ya know, most people have one attached to the end of their arm and-”

“What do you want me to do with your hand, smartass’’ he cuts you off. “We’re supposed to be getting used to acting like a couple, so hold my hand” your hand is still held out and you shake it in front of him. “Nope. No way” he pushes your hand but you reach it out again. “Stop being a butthead, yes I said it again because you’re acting like a five year old”

He reluctantly takes your hand and your fingers lace together. “Wow, look at that. You didn’t even burst into flames” you taunt. He doesn’t hate it as much as he thought it would. Your hands are soft and he notices that your nails match the color of your dress. It’s kind of cute.

Steve tries to shield his face with his hand and you laugh at him. “That’s not gonna work. People come from all over to see that head of hair, so they’ll be able to tell that it’s you holding my hand. I hope you’ll be able to survive this tragic event”

He removes his hand from his face “People do not come from all over just to see my hair.” he grumbles. “It’s called a joke, Steve. Since I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile whenever I’m around then I shouldn’t be surprised you didn’t know that”

“Let’s just get this over with. Where are we going first?” you drag him to the first store and Steve is convinced everyone is staring at him while he holds your hand. (literally no one is giving either of you a second glance).

“Hold this for me, baby” you hand him a sundress and he grimaces at the nickname “Is holding hands not enough? You gotta call me ‘baby’ too?” he complains. “Get used to it, baby”

After only ten minutes in the store, Steve has a stack of clothes piled in his arms. “Are you really buying all of this?” he asks. “I’m not buying anything, you are, but I have to try it on first and you have to give me your opinion”

“My opinion is that you’re going to look horrible in all of it”

“You say that now, but you’ve never seen me in this shade of pink” you point to one of the dresses in his hand that isn’t holding yours. “I’ve seen you in every shade of every color. Your closet looks like a box of crayons exploded”

“You remember what colors I have in my wardrobe? Sounds like you’re a bit obsessed with me”

“In your dreams…babe? Ugh that sounded weird. Can you try this shit on now? My arm is about to fall off” He whines. “Yeah, I wouldn't want you to break a nail. Wait outside the dressing room so I can show you how it looks” you tell him. “Can’t wait” he replies, sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

Steve checks his watch every thirty seconds because how long does it take to try on one dress?

“Spend your whole life waitin’ on your woman, don’t ya?” an older gentleman asks him. “Uh, yeah. I guess so” chuckles. “My wife, Ethel, over there” he points in the direction of where his wife stands “always takes her sweet time. After forty years of marriage I’m still always waitin’ on her, but she still looks so damn beautiful that it’s worth it”

“Harold, leave the poor boy alone, honey” His wife says when she wanders over to her husband. “No, I don’t mind. I’m just waiting for my girl to show me her new dress” Steve says. He said ‘my girl’ so naturally he didn’t even realize it until he finished his sentence.

“Steve, what do you think- oh, hi!” you greet the couple and introduce yourself. “That’s a beautiful dress, don’t ya think Steve?” Harold asks him. “y-yeah. You look great, sweetheart” he smiles. You do look great. The color of the dress compliments your skin tone perfectly and makes your eyes pop.

“How long have you two been together?” Ethel asks. “Five months” you both say at the same time. “Oh, young love. It’s truly a wonderful thing. I feel like I’m looking in a mirror from forty years ago” She expresses and puts her hand over her heart. “We’ll let you kids get back to it. Enjoy the rest of your day” Harold says. “Thank you, you too!” you respond before they walk away.

“So, um, tell me what you really thing about this dress”

“I think it looks great” he replies. “Really? No snarky comment? Did that old couple make you go all soft on me, Harrington?”

“Not in a million years. Go try the other shit on I don’t wanna be here all day” he carps. “Okay, I’m going, but don’t fall in love with me after seeing how good I look in this next one!” yeah, right he thinks.

After a fashion show and a dent in his bank account, you finally leave the store. Most of your outfits were casual, but cute and preppy enough to impress his family. You even found a dress to wear to the wedding. “I have to get a new bathing suit. Or three new bathing suits” you announce as you walk past a store with all the summer essentials. “Three? For what reason?”

“You said your family members are all staying in lake houses and I need to be prepared. I’m also assuming this fancy hotel we’re staying in has a pool” you explain. “Oh, and how come we aren’t staying in a lake house?” you wonder. “My parents weren’t gonna rent a house for just me. I even told them I was bringing my “girlfriend”, but we’re still staying in a hotel twenty minutes away from everyone” he answers. “Oh no, we’re staying in an expensive hotel with all the amenities we could ever need. Should I bring a survival kit?” you gibe.

“Just go get your swimsuits and don’t make me watch you model them” he pleads. “Why? Scared you’ll like what you see?” Yes, he thinks to himself. “Nope. Just starving. I’m gonna go grab something from the food court” he says before scurrying off.

“Hey, can I get two soft pretzels and two lemonades, please?”

“Steve Harrington?” He hears a woman's voice and turns around. “It’s me! Beth!”

“Beth, hi!” He greets. Steve went on a date with Beth a few months ago and she never called him back. He actually really liked her, too. Until she ditched him for her new boyfriend.

“How are you? Hungry?” She asks when she she's the two pretzels and drinks in his hand. “Oh, um, ones for me and ones for my… girlfriend. She’s shopping right now- oh look, there she is! Baby, I’m over here!” he waves to get your attention.

“Aw, you got me something? You’re so sweet, Stevie” you kiss his cheek and it takes everything in him to not act weirded out. “Babe, this is Beth. Beth this is my girl, y/n”

“Nice to meet you, y/n. It was good to see you, Steve” she says and saunters off. “Did you really have to kiss my cheek?” he wipes your lipgloss off of his face. “Give me a soft pretzel and I’ll do just about anything”

“Gross” he mutters, “Are you done shopping yet?” he groans. “Yes, I’m done. Thanks again for the pretzel. That was actually really nice” you smile at him. “Don’t thank me yet. I poisoned it” he jokes and you chuckle. “Thank god. Then I wouldn’t have to spend three whole days with you”

“Well, actually, we have to go up thursday” he tells you and you stop in your tracks. “Thursday? That's in two days and I have so much to do!” you exclaim. “You’ll just have to get it done a day early. It’s the least you can do after I bought you this pretzel”

“You’re impossible”

“And you’re welcome for the delicious treat and all the clothes”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just take me home, please”

“Gladly”

_

By the time Thursday rolls around, you’re already exhausted from this weekend before it’s even started. You spent your entire day yesterday doing laundry, going to the store for travel things, packing, and mentally preparing yourself for being Steve’s “girlfriend”.

It wasn’t that pretending to be his significant other was going to be the worst thing in the world. He’s attractive and you’ve heard his personality is alright, you’ve just yet to meet that version of Steve, but you worried it would be awkward.

There’s no way you have any amount of chemistry with Steve that makes it convincing that you two are in love. He scowls at any pet name you give him, he practically freezes any time you touch him, and you’re pretty sure he’d slip into a coma if he was actually nice to you.

The sound of Steve honking his horn pulls you from your anxious thoughts. He can’t even come up and knock on your door. God forbid he helps you carry any of your luggage. He did pop the trunk for you, though, so that’s something at least.

“Is your arm broken?” you ask, sitting down in the passenger seat. “No?” he replies, confused. “I just figured since you didn’t help me carry a single thing that-”

“You’re bitching already? It hasn’t even been five minutes that must be a new record”

“your hair looks flat today” you insult and he glares at you “you do know i have traits other than my hair, right?”

“yeah, I know. just don’t care enough, is all” you state, looking at your manicure like his existence is irrelevant to you. “Right, okay. Let’s just not kill each other until we get there”

“Only if you promise to buy me snacks at the gas station” you bargain “Fine. Whatever you want”

_

You fell asleep halfway through the car ride and have woken up once. For some reason, Steve can’t stop himself from glancing over you. Your head is resting on the window, your lips are slightly parted, and if he didn’t already know you, he’d think you actually look kind of sweet.

“Hey” he whispers and gently shakes your shoulder to wake you up. You grunt in response and he shakes your shoulder a little more. “Wake up, we’re almost at my parents lake house” he says and you jolt awake. “We’re stopping there first? I’m not prepared for that!” you exclaim and flip down the visor mirror to make yourself look presentable.

“They said they have a surprise for us and they’re looking forward to meeting you. It’ll be fine” he puts his hand on your thigh for a split second then quickly pulls it back. “And here we are” he announces when he pulls into the driveway. It’s more of a lake mansion than a lake house, but you didn’t expect anything less. Steve opens the passenger side door for you just in case anyone is watching. He can tell you’re nervous about meeting his parents. You’ve been fiddling with the hem of your top and the look on your face isn’t exactly hiding any of your emotions.

Steve grabs your hand and you’re taken by surprise. He’s touching you without acting like there’s a gun to his head. “Ready to meet the parents?” he asks, giving your hand a squeeze “As ready as I’ll ever be”

He knocks on the door and your leg bounces, anxiously. “Hey, stop worrying. They’ll love you. Most people think you’re great. Apart from me, obviously” he jests and you snicker. You know it isn’t a big deal if his parents don���t like you. You two aren’t actually together and there's a high chance you’ll never see them again, but you have this irritating need for people’s approval. Which is a bit ironic considering your hand is currently being held by the one person who has a huge issue with you.

“Steve, honey! We’re so glad you’re here!” his mom exclaims before hugging him. “You must be y/n! It’s so nice to meet you!” she hugs you next. “It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Harrington”

“Oh, please, call me Joanne. Come in, I’ll get your father. George, Steve and his girlfriend are here!” she shouts when you all walk inside.

Steves’ father emerges from the back porch of the house and it’s like Steve twenty-five years from now walked in from the future. “Now, what’s someone as pretty as you doing with my son? Did you pay her Steve?” he jokes, but he has no idea how close he is to being correct. “Thanks, dad, good to see you too.” Steve grumbles. “Don’t get too upset, I know how sensitive you can be. I’m George, it’s a pleasure to meet you” he extends his hand and you shake it. “It’s great to meet you. I’m y/n”

“You’re much nicer than most girls my son dates. There was one girl-”

“Anyways, mom said you had a surprise for us” Steve interrupts his dad. “Yes, we do!” his mom says and hands Steve a key. “What’s this?” he asks as he holds the key. “Well, your father and I thought it might be romantic if you two had your own house and you’d be much closer to the family. It’s just right up the road and we cancelled your hotel reservation.”

“That’s so kind of you, Mrs. Harr- Joanne. You didn’t have to do that” you thank her and she beams at your appreciation. “Honey, we’re just so grateful that Steve has found someone that he clearly loves. You should’ve heard how he spoke about you on the phone” She tells you and Steve’s face turns beet red when you turn to look at him. “Uh, yeah, thank you. We should probably go check this out, yeah?’’ he asks and you nod.

“Once you freshen up, don’t forget we’re having dinner here tonight!” Joanne reminds the both of you before saying your goodbyes. Your nerves come back when you think about meeting the rest of his family.

“So… what did you say about me on the phone?” you ask once you both step outside. “I don’t even remember. I didn’t really say much” he lies, but he doesn’t want you to know just in case you get the wrong impression that he might not dislike you as much as you think he does. “Keep your secrets, then. Let's go check out our house!” you squeal and run to the car.

“Oh my gosh, it’s so cute!” you say as you pull into the driveway. The house is smaller than the others, but the ideal size for two people. There’s a porch that overlooks the lake with two rocking chairs and a coffee table. It’s perfect for watching the sun rise and set.

It does make you a little sad that if you weren’t here, Steve would be all alone in a hotel while the rest of his family was within walking distance. Why wouldn’t he stay with his parents? or another family member? “Did you hear me?” he asks, bringing you back from all the questioning going on in your mind.“No, sorry. What did ya say?”

“I asked if you’re ready to go inside. I’ll help you with your bags this time”

“Yeah, thanks.” you grin and get out of the car.

The inside of the house is as beautiful as the outside. It’s cozy and inviting. If Steve was your boyfriend, it would be very romantic. “So, only one bedroom I suppose,” Steve speaks up. “I’ll take the couch” he volunteers.

“Steve, I can already tell you’re too tall for that couch. I’ll take it”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind”

“Or we could be adults and share the bed? It’s big enough that you won’t even come close to touching me” you assure him. “If you wanted to sleep next to me, all you had to do was ask” he smirks and your nose scrunches in disgust. “Shut up, I’m trying to be nice to you”

“Let’s unpack before we have to go to dinner. Are you nervous about meeting everyone else?” he asks as you throw your luggage on the bed so you can unpack your bags. “Yeah, I guess. Is there anything I should know?” you question. “Not really. My parents seemed to like you, so they’ve probably already put in a good word.”

The rest of the time you spend unpacking and getting ready is spent in silence. It isn’t either an awkward or comfortable silence. It’s like neither of you are there, not acknowledging each other unless absolutely necessary.

_

You and Steve decide to walk to his parents since it’s such a pleasant evening. The sound of the lake is peaceful and the moonlight illuminates your surroundings so perfectly that it makes the street lamps needless. “It really is lovely out here” you say and Steve hums in agreement. “Are you nervous, Steve? About seeing your family? You ask and he lets out a sigh that he’s been holding in for a while. “Kind of, but they’re probably gonna be more focused on you”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” you offer and he shakes his head. “Nah, that’s alright. We’re almost there anyway” When you walk through the door of the house, Steve places his hand on the small of your back. Only for appearances, clearly. “We’re here” he announces and his family comes over to greet you.

“You must be y/n! I’m Linda, Steve’s aunt. We’ve heard many great things about you!” You make your way through all introductions followed by a million it’s nice to meet you too’s. His family is bigger than you expected and you can definitely tell that they have money just by looking at them.

You’re finally offered a glass of wine and happily accept. “Here, Steve, it’s an old-fashioned. The real man's drink” His father hands him a glass and he has to stop himself from chugging it.

“We are all dying to know how you two met” Steve’s aunt says to you once you and Steve are in the kitchen. It seems like everyone is gathered in the kitchen to hear the story. Steve looks a little lost so you decide you’ll take the lead on this one.

“Well, we met through mutual friends and Steve was terrible at attempting to flirt with me. I thought he was just so cute and one night I got stood up on a blind date and Steve came to my rescue and the rest is history” you wrap your arm around his back and his arm wraps around your shoulder. He can’t believe how quickly you came up with that. Your story is met with many ‘aws’ and Steve mouths a ‘thank you’ when no one is looking.

“I like your dress’’ you hear a small voice come from behind you and you turn around to see the most adorable toddler with pigtails. “Thank you, sweetie. I like your hair” you bend down to eye level with her. “I’m y/n. What’s your name?”. “Penelope. I’m this many” She holds up three fingers and you smile. “Do y’wanna color with me?” she asks and you follow her to the table she was coloring at.

“Are you married to Steve?”

“Nope, not married, but I am his girlfriend” it still feels weird to say that. “Okay. You can use my crayons”

Steve watched this interaction from the kitchen. He thinks the drink is already starting to go to his head because he thinks it's absolutely adorable. You’re a natural with kids and with his family. He can’t tell if it’s all part of the act or if you are actually this amazing.

Dinner goes smoothly with the help of several alcoholic beverages. Steve’s hand has been on your thigh throughout the entire meal and he didn’t act bothered by it at all. Maybe his acting skills aren’t so abysmal after all.

“Can I help you wash up?” you ask his mom as she cleans up the kitchen. “That would be wonderful, dear.”

“Penelope adores you, by the way. She’s always been a little shy and she warmed up to you just like that.” She tells you. “She’s a sweet kid. I was like that when I was younger. Shy, I mean. Guess I still am” a small chuckle escapes your throat. “Well, no worries about that. The family loves you” She assures you and you give her a kind smile.

“Ready to go, babe?” Steve asks you. “Go on, I’ll make George help with cleanup” His mom hugs you both and his hand holds yours as you say your goodbyes to everyone.

“That wine got to me, I think. I feel all warm and fuzzy” you say with a giggle. Steve still hasn’t let go of your hand even though you're halfway back to the house by now. “I know what you mean. You were great, by the way. Pretty sure they’re convinced we’re in love.”

“Wow, you’re complimenting me? You must definitely be tipsy” you laugh. “And you’re still holding my hand so you’re absolutely toasted” he quips. “m’not. I just might fall over if you let go” so he doesn’t let go, not until you’re both inside the bedroom.

Once you both climb into bed, there’s more than a respectable distance between you and Steve. For some reason, a strange thought crosses your mind and you have the biggest urge to bring it up. “Hey, Steve?”

“Hm?”

“I thought of something we haven’t practiced yet and it’s kinda weird, but hear me out”

“Okay…I’m listening” he says, sounding a little suspicious. “Do you think it’ll be weird if we don’t kiss? Nothing crazy just a couple pecks here and there” he sits up and turns on the bedside table lamp. “You wanna makeout in front of my family?”

“No! Of course not. I said peck” he doesn’t respond and you’ve never felt more embarrassed in your life.

“Okay. Yeah, we probably should practice it. Ya know, just to be convincing” he finally speaks up. “Yeah. Just to be convincing.” you both sit up and scoot closer to each other. “Wait! Can you turn off the light?” you request and he quickly turns off the light.

You feel Steve’s hand resting on your cheek and your heart thumps in your chest out of nerves, not anything else, that’s for sure. “Ready?” he asks “Ready”

His lips brush yours and linger for a few seconds before he places his lips on yours in a proper kiss. It’s a simple kiss. There’s no tongue, obviously, and it feels like it’s over before it's even started.

“Wait, sorry. Let me try again” he says. He kisses you again and it’s still simple, but this time your lips move together in a harmonious agreement. His body moves closer to yours and you feel yourself slipping away, like you’ve forgotten that you’re kissing Steve Harrington. Someone that you aren’t supposed to be kissing.

He pulls back as he feels that the kiss might grow more intense. You’re left breathless and stunned, but Steve doesn’t seem to be as affected as you are, but he is. His palms are sweaty and his heart feels like it might jump out of his throat. He nonchalantly rolls over back to his side while you stay in the same position, staring at his silhouette.

“Goodnight, y/n”

“y-yeah, goodnight”

_

a/n: IT’LL GET JUCIER SOON I PROMISE

_

taglist: @freezaz123 @lovelyimpossibleobservation @johnricharddeacy @mjtalksaboutanything @nix-rose-q @eternallyvenus (i hope i didn't miss anyone!)

[mugloversonly]

The Letter

written for ‘edge’ wc: #509 | rated: _G_ | cw: _na_

@steddiemicrofic

The party sat around the Harrington living room and watched Eddie pace back and forth. He was holding an envelope in his hand that he was too scared to open. It would tell him whether he was a success or a failure.

Steve watched his boyfriend for a few moments before stepping into his path and gently holding his shoulders. “Babe, breathe” he demonstrated a few deep breaths. “You’re on the verge of a panic attack.” Eddie followed his instructions until he calmed enough to speak.

“Stevie, this letter makes or breaks my life”. He said as he tried not to hyperventilate.

“Well then, open it!” Dustin yelled followed by a chorus of agreement. Eddie shook his head frantically. “Why the hell not?” Dustin demanded.

“Language, butthead.” Steve replied pointing a finger in his face. “We can’t open it because Wayne’s not here”. That shut everyone up. They knew Wayne had been Eddie’s only source of love, understanding, and support for years. He needed his uncle for this.

Steve forced Eddie to sit down and Erica brought him a glass of water. She was excited but nervous. Unlikely as it seemed, Eddie and Erica bonded like siblings after Vecna. It annoyed Lucas and Dustin to no end.

The girl turned to Eleven, “Can you see how far away Wayne is? Eddie’s about to explode.” She said with her usual sass. El nodded and closed her eyes.

“Two minutes” she said when she found him. All noise faded from the trailer as they heard Wayne’s loud truck. He opened the trailer door exactly two minutes after El spoke and froze. Steve made eye contact.

“The letter” Wayne whispered. His nephew nodded and held it out to him.

“You open it, dad. I can’t” Eddie’s voice and hands shook. Wayne took the letter and glanced around the room. He tore it open and scanned the contents. Without saying anything, he folded it back up and tucked it back inside the envelope. Everyone hung onto the edge of their seats. Wayne took a breath giving nothing away. He moved to his recliner and sat down, grabbing Eddie’s hand on the side without Steve.

“Eds,” he said looking pensive, he put both hands on Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie’s eyes widened as he waited with bated breath. “The first Munson to go college”. He said with a smile, tears in his eyes. Eddie gasped, a huge smile breaking across his face. The party cheered around him.

“God, almost gave me a heart attack old man!” He laughed as he jokingly pushed Wayne away. Wayne’s words finally caught up to him and he froze. “Wait,” he said turning back to his uncle. “I got in?!” He yelled snatching the letter. There at the top Congratulations Mr. Munson. He turned to share a smile with Steve. “I got into college baby!” He screamed as he practically tackled Steve with a searing kiss.

“We’re going to Chicago?” Steve smiled. A face splitting grin spread across Eddie’s face.

“Yeah,” Eddie sighed kissing him again. “We are”.

“Can Robin come?”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53980570

[piratefishmama]

For dialogue prompts #6 with Steddie pls!!!!

Writing Prompts | No longer accepting new prompts

06.  “I don’t know if I want to know the answer, but what are you doing?”

--

“I don’t know if I want to know the answer, but what are you doing?” Steve startled upright at the voice behind him, turning, his hands and the thing within them flying behind his back out of sight, he found himself looking a little downward to the judgmental gaze of two of the three members of Corroded Coffin. The one in the middle, Gareth, being the one who’d spoken.

How did he, the King of Hawkins High know of Corroded Coffin pray tell? Not important. Definitely wasn’t the painful crush he had on their magnanimous ring leader that’d had him lingering incognito at a gig at The Hideout every now and then despite it definitely not being his scene. Definitely wasn’t that. It wasn’t like he had clothes hidden in the guest room’s loft space so he could attend those gigs and blend in for that exact reason, definitely wasn’t THAT.

“Uhhh... nothing.” Nothing. Gareth raised a single brow. Nothing. “Seriously, man, nothing. What’s it to you anyway?”

“That’s Eddie’s locker, dude. He’s our friend. The hell are you doing at it? Were you trying to break in or something?”

“No” well that was believable. Fuck, why didn’t he get one of the little buttheads to do this. It’d have been easier for them! Nobody knew who they were, would have probably been mistaken for random freshmen. His face was known. He was known in Hawkins High, and he really hadn’t thought that anyone would still be there that late in the evening.

Stupid nerd clubs running late.

“Alright, I changed my mind, I absolutely do know that I wanna know the answer. What the hell are you doing to Eddie’s locker, and don’t say nothing cause I saw you fuckin with the lock, so what is it, Harrington? If this is some kind of practical joke, then cut it the fuck out, he’s never done shit to you, so leave him the fuck alone.” Maybe Eddie had verbally abused them from lunch tables once or twice, but he’d never messed with lockers or hurt any of them.

The basketball team definitely hadn’t shared his hesitance to declare war either, always doing shit unprovoked.

“I’m not—shit, I’m not doing anything bad, Jesus, could you just… I dunno… trust me? and not say anything to Eddie maybe, that you saw me here?” God he was so not sneaky, he was the worst possible ninja ever, the duo only looked more suspicious. “Ugh, look, it’s none of your actual business why I’m here, just… just move on, and uh… forget you saw me. please. I’ll buy you lunch for the next month.”

“Now that’s just extra suspicious” the other one piped up, Jeff the backup guitarist “you think our loyalty to our friend can be bought, Harrington? Cause it can’t, we can afford our own lunches.” Their parents paid for them basically. “So spill it, what do you have in your hands?”

“I have nothing in my hands, look. Im gonna go, I’m just gonna go, so lets just forget you saw me.”

“Or we could tell Eddie we saw you lurking at his locker so he c—”

“No!” Steve grabbed Gareth as the boy tried to start for the door, “No, nope, don’t do that. Why would you do that?”

“Cause you’re being really fucking suspicious and get off the threads, man.” Gareth shoved Steve’s hand away from his jacket “he has a right to know if he’s about to get punked. Especially if he hasn’t done anything to earn it.” Eddie could be pretty fuckin annoying at times sure, especially toward the basketball team, but he’d never done anything to Steve.  

“He’s not about to get punked, Jesus. That’s not—I wasn’t going to—that’s not it. Okay? It’s not. It’s just… I just—” Gareth’s eyes dipped down just in time to spot a box in Steve’s other hand, peeking out from behind his back, wrapped in red with black ribbon… his eyes narrowed “I just—” Steve was obviously grasping at straws, clearly about two seconds from panic if his tone was anything to go by, the choppy speech, the broken sentences.

Gift wrapped box. Sneakily snuck into Eddie’s locker. The date. The day it’d be tomorrow. Holy shit.

Jeff seemed to catch that lightbulb moment at the exact same moment as Gareth did because they both burst out with “It’s YOU!!” At the same time, clearly scaring the shit out of Steve who jumped back in surprise, back hitting the metal of the lockers.  

Gareth continued though “you’re the one that leaves him presents every holiday!! That’s you!” Steve’s eyes widened, clearly just about to deny any involvement when Gareth continued with “oh my god, that’s YOU?! Dude. Oh my god. Dude. Eddie’s gonna flip—”

“You can’t tell him, man” Jeff seemed to catch on quicker though, punching Gareth in the arm as if he’d done something wrong. “We can’t, that’s just… not right, dude.”

“Eddie’s not an asshole, Jeff, c’mon, he deserves to kno—"

“Nope. It’s not cool, man. Even if Eddie’s not an asshole, if Steve wants to tell him, then Steve can tell him, but until then? No. It’s not fair to take that choice from him. How would you feel if you were in his place?” Gareth seemed to consider that for a moment before his whole body deflated.

“Ugh, fine. You’re right, why are you right? Who said you could be the grown up, man, Jesus.” Gareth then turned back to the deer in headlights gaze of Steve Harrington “Alright, man. We won’t tell Eddie. He changed his combo to nine nine nine if you didn’t already know, but I swear if that’s not some real tasty chocolate or some other nice thing that’ll make him feel all gooey tomorrow, we tell Eddie exactly who left it there, and he can corner you himself, got it?”

“…Got it. You uh… you won’t tell anyone else… right?”

“Nah” Jeff answered for him “We don’t tell on our own people, man. Your secrets safe.”

“Thanks. M’not… like… fully, y’know… I’m just—It doesn’t matter, will you both just… I dunno, go? Not like… not like I’m not thrilled you’re being cool but—” he was nervous enough, he didn’t need an audience watching him do something he’d always managed to be sneaky as all hell with before. Someone had to spot him eventually.

“Heh, sure thing, man. But remember, if that’s not something that makes Eddie smile tomorrow, all niceties are off. Got it?” Steve nodded quick to Jeffs warning, which seemed to be enough, because the boy moved to push Gareth toward the doors, away from the scene of Steve’s little holiday crimes, leaving him there to finish up and disappear into the night back to his castle.

Both hopeful, and thankfully thrilled when they attended school the next day, to find Eddie, excitedly bouncing on his heels by his locker with a box of fancy homemade chocolates, a beautiful little dice bag in his hands, and Steve Harrington, barely visible in the throng of teens bustling through the hallways, trying very hard to remain inconspicuous as he watched the reaction from a distance, hope that Eddie liked his gift in his gaze so blatantly obvious even from a distance that they couldn't believe nobody had figured him out yet.

Someday. They figured. Given how determined Steve was to remember every single holiday... someday. They'd find each other properly someday. But until that day...

Eddie had a really cool new dicebag to show off to them.

[justmeinadaze]

We're a Family Part 22 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Get ready to feel old <3. I wrote Good Neighbors a little over a year ago and I've loved how they've evolved. I'm not done with this little family yet. I still have one more chapter with Dylan and then some ideas with an older Ro but, ugh, lol I feel how the reader feels when it comes to her first born.

Warnings: Dads Steddie/ Mama Fem Reader, SMUT, edging (they are still trying new things), handcuffs, etc, FLUFF, they love each other <3 and their kiddos, ANGST, someone from the past comes back to talk to the adult Munson-Harringtons and Dylan, Steve and Eddie struggle being protective over their eldest (Eddie just hides it better), lots of talk about Dylan growing up and leaving the nest and how these three feel about it.

Word Count: 5256

An 18-year-old Dylan bounces anxiously on his toes as you sort through the mail too slow for his liking. 

“MOM! Come on! Did anything come for me or not?”

Two years had passed since you reconnected with your mother and things had been going very well. She was always extremely busy with work but when she came over Aurora insisted on showing her all the movies she missed out on. 

“Grandma! Watch how cool this is!”, the seven-year-old squeals with delight as they focus on the film in front of them. The light saber flies past Kylo-Ren into Rey’s hand and Ro breathes a sigh of excitement.

“Ok, now explain to me again how ‘the force’ works.”, yoru mom asks as she leans forward over her crossed legs on the couch. 

You grin from your spot in the kitchen as you bump Eddie’s hip with yours. 

“Definitely your daughter, nerd.”

“Takes one to know one, princess.”

James was now a toddler causing all kinds of chaos around the Munson-Harrington home. His sticky fingers got into everything even some of the cabinets that you had believed were too high for him to reach. 

“James Wayne Munson Harrington.”, you scold with your hands on your hips as you watch him lean back and laugh with a wide smile that only rivaled that of his dad. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Plopping his butt down on the counter, he dangles his legs over the side as he reaches his tiny hand into the snack box and produces a chocolate chip cookie. 

“Mama cookie…Yames.”, he coos as he points to himself while struggling to say his name correctly. 

“Mhmm. Didn’t you just eat lunch?”

“For…for mama an Rara.”

“Don’t you bribe me and your sister with sweets, you little butthead.”

“Why are you being mean to our son?”, Steve asks as he rounds the corner into the kitchen.

“Because our son parkoured up the counter for a snack.”

The three-year-old giggles as he offers his dad a cookie that he accepts before lifting him into his arms and putting the box back in the cabinet. 

“What did we say, bud?”

“Ask.”

“That’s right. You have to ask first. Now give mommy a kiss as an apology and get out of here, you butthead.”

Dylan was halfway through his senior year of high school and applied to a lot of colleges but was anxious to be accepted to a certain one because that’s where Daisy was going. The two of them had continued to date and see each other which you didn’t mind. What killed you however was that because of her family she was looking at a school that was a few states away. You had never been that far from your son and it scared you.

“I don’t know. I see bills and ads. Let me take my time to really read these though.” Dylan huffs making you smile as you give him a hug. He was so much taller than you now, your head resting against his chest as you wrapped your arms around him. “Everything’s going to be ok, weirdo. You’ll hear something soon. There’s still some time.” 

***

Steve ran his hands over his eyes exhaustedly while grading papers during his lunch. With winter break coming up, he wanted to get everything out of the way so he could take these next couple of weeks to spend some time with the kids especially Dylan. When he had mentioned going to school out of state, of course, he was proud and encouraged him to apply but he’d be lying if he didn’t say the idea of his son being so far away broke his heart.

“Stevie?”

The sound of Eddie’s voice calmed him as he smiled towards the door his husband was leaning against. 

“Hey you. What are you doing here?”

“You, uh, just started your lunch hour right?”

Steve knew that tone, something was going on that the metalhead was afraid would upset him. 

“Yeah? Everything ok?” As he turned his head towards the hall, your ex-husband stepped into view. “No. Nope. Not happening.”

“Give us a second.”, Eddie gestured towards Charlie before entering the classroom and closing the door. “Steven, calm down.”

“Calm down? Why the fuck is he here?! Whatever he wants the answer is no.”

“Baby, sit. Please? At least hear me out first.” Steve huffed as he folded his arms and pouted while Eddie sat on his desk in front of him. “I get it. Trust me I do but I felt like…for what he’s asking we should talk about it at most. He wanted to speak to us both first out of respect because we are Dylan’s dads.”

“Damn right.”

“He’s not asking to spend time with him again or anything like that. Charlie doesn’t think Dylan would even want that but… he’s asking to see him graduate.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Edward Munson?!”, Steve practically shouts as he rises to his feet.

“Shhhh.”, the metalhead tries to calm him doing the same.

“No! He hasn’t earned that fucking right. He hasn’t been here AT ALL in over 5 years. Why is that?! Oh, that’s right, he signed him over. Charlie had plenty of chances to be there for him and he failed! WE raised him and he thinks he can just waltz back in and be a part of something like that?!”

“Steve! Breathe.”, Eddie tries to sooth as he cups his face in his hands. “Breathe. I get where you are coming from. I said all of the same things to him when he came to the shop. But… I get it from Dylan’s side to. Remember when I finally graduated? I was so excited that Wayne was there but there was still a part of me… that wished my mom and dad could see me finally do it to. A lot of that was to spite them and show them I could do it.”, he chuckled making Steve smile. “But a lot of it was also the little kid in me wanting them there.”

The man in his arms heavily exhaled before tilting forward to kiss his lips and gesturing for Eddie to bring him in.

“I warned you before, Charlie, about hurting my son. If we talk to him and he wants you there and you don’t show up…I swear to God—”

“No, no. I understand. I’ll move heaven and earth to be there I swear.”

“Yeah to bad you couldn’t do that for him or Brody before.”

“Steve.”, Eddie warned.

“No, he’s right. I always said I’d never be like my stepdad yet… I’m, um, glad he’s had you two. I’m working with Vivian to be there for Brody. I’m trying…”

“You understand if he or Y/N says no, then the answer is no?”

“Yeah, I understand. Thank you for hearing me out though. I know I don’t deserve it.”

***

Your eyes constantly raked across them during dinner while they ate. Both men seemed completely distracted but especially Steve. 

“I’m done. I’m going to go play games upstairs.”, Dylan announces as he stands from the table. 

“Ah, kid, do you mind staying for a bit?”, Eddie asked throwing the two of you off guard. “Are you done to?”, he asks Ro as she beams up at him with her messy face. 

“Yes, daddy.”

“Good. Can you take this troublemaker and go watch tv please?”, he laughs as Steve blind sides her with a napkin to wipe her mouth and the other boy pulls James out of his chair, placing him on the floor. 

Aurora grabs her brother’s hand, giggling as they run to the tv in the living room. They wait until the sound of a show blares from that area before Eddie leans forward on his elbows and Steve leans back folding his arms. 

“I don’t know how to ease into this so I’m just going to say it. Charlie came to visit me and Steve today.”

Your eyes widen as your head ticks to the side while Dylan sighs mirroring Steve’s posture. 

“Whatever it is the answer is no.”

“Y/N…please. He said all he wanted was to see Dylan graduate from high school.”

“After everything he’s done?!”

“Yeah, I already went down that road, baby, but Eddie seems to think it’s worth the conversation.”, Steve exhaled heavily. 

“Do you?”, his son asked. “What did you say when he asked?”

“I told him that it was up to you and Y/N. If you two said you were fine with it—”

“But you don’t want him there?”

Steve glances towards Eddie who gives him a look of subtle warning.

“No, I don’t.”, he answers honestly causing the metalhead to huff in frustration. “I don’t feel like he’s earned that luxury after everything he’s done and put you through. But…I also feel like it’s your choice. If you want him there then he should be there. You know no matter what, kid, you’re still my son. It won’t hurt my feelings if you want him there.”

“Our feelings.”, Eddie added. “I get what Steve is saying but I’ve been on the other side. My dad was in prison when I graduated. I was ecstatic Wayne was there but…”

Dylan’s soft eyes shift towards you as he reaches for your hand. 

“Mom?”

“I just…I don’t want him to hurt you. I don’t you to get your hopes up and then he doesn’t show.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Stevie already threatened him if he didn’t show.”, Eddie grinned making your son laugh. 

“I’d, um, I’d like to talk with him before I make a decision if that’s alright.”

***

“Baby?”, Eddie cooed as he came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist while you leaned in the doorway of James’s room. Steve had fallen asleep in the toddler’s little racecar bed, his frame much too big for the mattress underneath as his legs hung off the side. His arm was holding the small boy to his side as he rested his sleeping head on his father’s chest. 

“Eddie, why do you think everything with Charlie affects him so much more?”

“Hm, sweetheart, it affects us both about the same but Steve here just sucks at hiding it. I love Dylan with my heart and would do anything for him. I’d be lying if I said the idea of him going to graduation doesn’t make me angry but if that’s what our son wants then I want him to be happy.” You nod at his statement, giving the man pause. “How does it make you feel? Be honest.”

“I don’t want him to go. I don’t…trust that he’ll actually show up. I feel like Steve right now where I just want to tell Dylan that we’re his parents and the answer is no so we can protect him.”

“The problem with that, my love, is you don’t know for 100% if that will be the outcome. I mean look at what happened with your mom.”

“Eddie, he’s my baby.”

“I know, babe. I know.”, he soothes as he turns you around and wraps you in his arms. 

***

“When he gets here, do you want us to leave you two alone?”, the metalhead asked as the three of them waited at a table in the nearby Hawkins Diner.

“Not like alone, alone though. We’d be a couple of tables away.”, Steve assured confidently, trying to push down all of the emotions he was feeling. 

“Can you stay, please? I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little terrified.”

“Terrified how, bud? You don’t have to do this if you’re uncom—”

“Steve! Calm down, sweetheart.”, Eddie chuckles as he rubs his back comfortingly. 

Dylan reached for his father’s hand and flashed him a big smile. 

“Everything’s going to be ok, dad. No matter what you both are always going to be my real fathers.”

As they beamed over at him, a figure caught Eddie’s eye as it quickly turned to leave. 

“Hey, I’m, uh, I’m going to go smoke before he gets here. I’ll be right back.”

Throwing on his jacket, the long-haired boy hastily power walked towards the front door, opening it just in time to see Charlie heading back to his truck. 

“HEY! No. No, no, no, no.”, he shouted as he ran to block his path. “No. You are NOT doing this to him. You’re here now just get the fuck in there and talk to him.”

“I-I-I can’t. I saw him and… he looks so different now. That’s not my little boy anymore. I can’t do this. I can’t—”

Eddie abruptly shoved the man against his vehicle, cutting him off. 

“You’re right. He’s not a little boy anymore. Unfortunately, you missed that because you were too fucking selfish. Now you have a chance to be a part of his adult life if that’s what he wants but, Charlie, if you walk away now that is never going to happen. Don’t be a fucking coward. He’s a good kid.”

“Because of you two. He fucking hates me.”

“Believe it or not, he doesn’t. Dylan thinks YOU hate HIM.”

“What? No. I love him and Brody so much.”

“Then where the fuck have you been?!”, he sighs releasing him from his hold. “He’s graduating with honors and a baseball scholarship to any school he chooses. He wants to go to a school up north with his girlfriend to major in music and education so he can become a music teacher. Dylan has worked so hard to get here. Don’t ruin it with your bullshit.”

Eddie shakes his head as he saunters back inside and plops down next to Steve. 

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”, he grins but his husband can see right through it. 

Placing his arm around the back of his chair, he leans close to his ear. 

“You’ll tell me later?”

A throat clears startling everyone as they turn to see Charlie standing beside the table. 

“Hi. Hey.”, his voice trembles as he shakes Eddie and Steve’s hands before turning to give Dylan his attention. “Hey, um, wow. Jesus. You look so much like your mom.”

“Oh. Uh, thank you. She thinks I look like you. To be fair she thinks none of her kids look like her.”

“Yeah? How many siblings do you have now?”

“Not including Brody, two. A sister and another brother.”

Your ex nods taking a seat as Dylan folds his arms over his chest. The guys were trying their best to stay as out of the way as they could while still being present for their son.

“So, uh--”

“Why do you want to come to my graduation?”, the boy asked bluntly. “My entire life you never went to anything that I was involved in and then signed me away. Why do you care?”

“I didn’t…sign you away… I just…I was never good at being a dad.”

“Why didn’t you try? Was it because of me?”

“No. God, no. Dylan, to me you were…are… absolutely perfect. I love you with all my heart. That’s why I signed those papers. After talking with your mom, I realized these two would be a better father for you than I ever could.”

Your son nods, sighing under his breath as he collects his thoughts. 

“Mom will be there and Vivian to. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Oh, uh, no. I didn’t realize they were talking to each other.”

“They aren’t. Dylan wanted to get to know Brody and Vivian missed him so Y/N lets him go to her house on the weekends.”, Steve explained. 

“Wow. It seems a lot has changed.”

“It’s been 5 years, Charlie. What did you expect?”

Your ex flinched at the sound of Dylan using his name but unlike the incident with Steve, it didn’t bother your son. He had long since moved past feeling like Charlie was his dad and could honestly never see himself calling him that again. 

“I don’t want you to go to my graduation but, maybe, we could get together and get to know each other again. Work our way up to having a relationship… I mean if mom and my dads are okay with it.”

“Yeah, Dil. I’d like that.”

Hearing Charlie call him that again stuck a raw nerve he kept tucked away for the last five years causing him to abruptly rise from his seat. 

“Ok, I’m ready to go now.”, he announces without waiting for an answer and flying out the front door. 

“Thank you guys for this. Tell Y/N I said thank you to.”

“Oh, she didn’t approve of this either. I’m the only one that seems to be slightly on your side but that’s because I know what it’s like to have your father abandon you.”, Eddie exhales as he and Steve get up as well.

“I didn’t…I didn’t abandon him.”

“Yeah, sure. Neither did my dad. He just boosted cars and ended up in jail for the rest of his life. It’s not his fault.”, he responded sarcastically. “Step one on rebuilding your relationship with him Charlie… Own your mistakes.”

################

“No Grandpa! You have to wear the crown because you’re a princess.”, Aurora giggled as she places the colorfully crown she created out of paper onto Wayne’s head. 

“I’m a princess? Not a King?”

“No.”, she laughs harder, cover her mouth with her little hand. 

Beaming over at them from your place on the floor, you and James continue to color in his little coloring book Eddie’s uncle had brought over. 

“Granpa, purty.”

“Thank you, James. I do feel beautiful.”

The alarm beeps as the front door opens and you do everything in your power not to get up to run to them anxiously. 

“Oh wow, Wayne. I must say, you make a gorgeous queen.”, Eddie teases.

“For your information, son, I’m a princess.”

The metalhead chuckles as they come to sit by you in the living room and your son immediately crawls to Steve to show him his pictures. 

“Dada, look.”

The sound of Dylan’s feet subtly bang up the stairs as he heads for his room and closes the door. 

“He’s ok, baby. Just needs some time alone.”, your husband assures. 

“What happened? Did he show up?” They gave you a recount of everything that happened including Eddie telling you both about him almost leaving. “I can’t say I’m not happy he won’t be going but who knows. Maybe in these six months Dylan may change his mind.”

The next couple of days went by with little to no fan fair as Christmas break finally came. That Friday after coming home from work, you checked the mail like you normally do except a college insignia catches your eye. Running full speed into the house, you drop everything as you scream your son’s name.

“Jesus Christ, woman. What is happening?!”, Eddie exclaims as he slides in from the kitchen.

As Dylan sprints down the stairs with Steve in tow, you present him with the envelope he had been waiting weeks for. Hastily, he yanks it from your grasp and tears it open as you dance on the balls of your feet. 

“Oh my god.”

“What? Is it good news? Bad news?”

With wide tear-filled eyes, a small grin spreads along his face. 

“I got in.”

All the adults in the room shout in excitement as you tackle hug your arms around him. 

“Baby, oh my god. I’m so proud of you!”

“Good job, Dylan.”, Eddie beams. “You’ll be the first Munson to go to college.”

“I’m proud of you to, little man.”, Steve smiles softly as he gives the boy a hug. 

“I’m going to go call Daisy. I love you guys!”, he declares as he speeds back up to his room. 

The metalhead holds up his index finger in your direction as both men tilt their head and wait for his door to close before the other boy nods. As soon as you get the go ahead, you fall into their arms and begin to cry. 

“I know, baby. He grew up too fast. We’re going to miss him to.”

***

“Ok, I finally got Aurora and James to sleep. Eddie is in the kitchen eating Santa’s cook—“, Steve froze when he finally entered the bedroom and noticed the image before him. 

You were sitting on the edge of the bed in a velvet red lingerie dress that cut off just so on your thigh barely hiding your panty less crotch with the white fluff that wrapped around the bottom. Your hair was curled and flowed down your shoulders as the Santa hat you wore sat perfectly on your head. 

“I thought you two could open this present early.”, you grin in a seductive voice as you cross your legs and lean back on your hands. 

“Eddie…”, Steve tried to call with a needy crack in his tone. “E-Ed-Eddie… EDWARD!”

“What!?”, the metalhead whisper shouts making you giggle. “Dude, lower your voice. You’re gonna wake—” While he was talking, the man pulled his collar to hurry him up and your grin grew as the other boy’s mouth fell open as well. 

“Get in here, you dorks.”, you tease as you get up, pull them both into the bedroom, and shut the door. “I was thinking we could try something Eddie has mentioned a few times.”

“Oh my god, I’m so in love with you.”, Steve sighs happily as he lifts you into his arms and spins you around before placing a kiss on your lips. “Do we get to handcuff him? Please tell me we do!”

“If you both want.”

Eddie giddily climbs into the bed, kissing your lips before a thought crosses his mind. 

“Wait, we haven’t handcuffed Steve to the bed yet and I feel like this whole edging thing would be way more fun to do to him… Mr. I’m-the-big-protector-guy.”

The pretty boy rolls his eyes as he falls on to his back, lifting off his shirt, and throwing it in his husband’s face playfully. 

Pushing some of your hair behind your ear, you restrain him to the headboard as the metalhead pulls off the boy’s sweats and boxers. 

“Should we have like a safe word or something? You both get sensitive quickly and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”, you ask in a soft, loving voice that makes him smile. 

“I’ve heard ‘Red’ is a good word.”, Eddie offers, grinning when you both nod in affirmation. 

“Say ‘Red’ if I’m uncomfortable. Got it.”, Steve repeats, smirking when you put your Santa hat on his head. “You know, you’re pretty sensitive to, fyi.” 

“I guess next time, we’ll have to test that theory.”, you tease as you run your palm through the hair on his chest and over to his side. “Ok, my love, do you want to start since you’re the sexual deviant that’s been looking up this stuff?”

The long-haired boy smiles mischievously as he leans over the other boy’s stomach to kiss your lips. 

“You…like…it.”, Eddie coos between each peck. 

As you continue to rub his chest, Steve’s breathing stutters as the man he loves take his cock in his warm hands and begins slowly stroking him. 

“How does that feel, baby?”

“G-good. Really good. I like when y-you both touch me.”

Your palm slides up his neck to his cheek and he tenderly kisses your thumb as it grazes his lips. Shifting your body, you curl up on his side as you listen to the sound of Eddie spit over his tip and smear it along his length making Steve’s mouth open in a silent O.

“Fuck, Eddie, baby.”

Trailing kisses along his side, your hands and nails continue to roam his upper torso as his back arches at the sensations. As your husband’s ringed hand pumps him faster, Steve bites his bottom lip to suppress the loud moan that wants to escape. 

“You look so handsome like this.”, you whisper as you tenderly move some of his hair away from his face. “Keep talking to us, Stevie. Please.”

“C-Can’t.”

“Why?”

“Too…too good.”

Beaming towards the other man, he winks at you as he drops another glob of spit over Steve’s tip as the boy ruts up into his hand. You both know his tells for when he’s about to let go; you’ve all studied each other very well over these past almost 12 years. Just as Steve was nearing his release…Eddie let him go and leaned back on his knees. 

“N-No. No, no, no!”

“How are we feeling now, Harrington?”

The man huffed as he tugged on his restraints before groaning with need as Eddie wrapped his lips around his cock taking him all the way down to the back of his throat. After kissing his lips, you trailed your own down his chest to his stomach and stopping just above the base of shaft. 

The metalhead came off him with a syrupy smack, stroking the man with his hand as he leaned towards you to passionately kiss your lips. The two of you played with Steve for a good long while, taking turns bringing him to the edge just before pulling back. His cock was dripping with both your saliva, angry and red from all the teasing. 

As you glanced his way, his eyes were squeezed shut as he muttered things under his breath. 

“Steve, honey? Are you ok?”

His eyes opened abruptly, meeting yours with a fire you hadn’t seen from him in a very long time.

“Eddie, let him go.”, you breathily moaned as his intense gaze never left yours. 

The moment the cuffs came off, Steve’s sweaty frame practically tackled your own as he lifted you into his arms and spun you around making you giggle at his earnestness as your head hit the pillows. His lips devoured yours as if it had been ages since he tasted your kisses. Hissing at your touch, you reached between you both and guided him into your entrance. Before he could make any kind of movement, Eddie took hold of his hips and slide into the man above you. 

Steve was anything but gentle as he slammed his lower half into you both desperately chasing his release. 

“Oh…oh my God, baby. Just like that.”, you whimpered as his head feel beside you, latching his lips to your neck. 

Glancing up to your other husband, his hair blocked his face as he grunted and clung to Steve’s waist as he met each thrust with a hard, rough one of his own. 

The bed underneath you began to shake and the metalhead quickly reached up to hold it still with his palm.

“Fuck, Steve. You feel so fucking good. I love you, baby. M-Make me cum.”

Clinging to his hair and back, he pounded into you till the coil snapped and your pussy clenched tightly around him. The sound he made in your ear drove you crazy as his body trembled on top of yours and you felt his seed release inside of you. As he aggressively thrust it deep into your cunt, Eddie fell against his back, and held his chest as he came inside of the man below him.  

“Jesus fucking Christ, that was amazing.”, the metalhead panted. “Steve, sweetheart, are you ok?”

“I think he fell asleep.”, you giggled as you petted the boy’s head. “Stevie, baby?”

“Hm?”, he grumbled as he snuggled closer to you.

“Are you alright?”

“Hmm…mmhmm…”, he nodded. 

“As much as I would love for you to fall asleep inside of me, it’s Christmas eve. You know at 7am those kids are going to burst through our door.”

Groaning, he nods as he rolls off you with Eddie immediately ready with a pair of boxers and rag to wipe him off. After making sure Steve was set, your husband grinned as he lifted you into his arms, disrobed you, and placed you in the shower as he delicately cleaned you. 

“I love you to, baby.”, you smile up at him as he kisses your forehead. 

“I love you even more. You looked really gorgeous in that outfit and I’m sure Steven will agree when he’s more coherent.”, he chuckles. 

Wrapping your arms tightly around his waist, he does the same as he rests his chin on your head. 

“You know these next few months I’m going to need you two to help me hold it together.”

“I know, sweetheart. I can’t even picture Dylan not being in this house anymore. God, and we’re both going to have to be on Steve duty because you know he’s going to be a mess to.”

################

While Eddie and Steve sip their coffee, you pat James’s back as he curled up around you after opening all his presents and went back to sleep. 

While Aurora was distracted with her morning cartoons, Dylan had gone upstairs to change and came back down just as your doorbell rang. Passing the baby to one of his fathers, you threw on your jacket and opened the front door to a fiddling Charlie. 

“Oh, um, hey Y/N. Merry…Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, so you’re taking him to Vivian’s?”

“Um, yes, ma’am. She’s letting me spend the day with Brody so I asked Dylan if he wanted to join and he said yes.”

Turning to your son, you fixed his ski cap before kissing his cheek. 

“No detours to Daisy’s ok? I want you home straight after for dinner.”

Smiling at you, he jogs towards your ex’s truck and quickly climbs into the heat. 

“Thank you for this. I really appreciate it…after everything.”

“Don’t thank me, Charles. Thank those men in there. I still think this is a bad idea because of everything but we all just want our son to be happy. But I swear to God…I’m not the same woman I was 18 years ago. If you hurt him—”

“I know…your, uh, boyfriends threatened me already.”

“Husbands. Oh, they’ll be the first wave but I’ll be the finishing move. I’m not weak anymore.”

“You never were.” His response startles you as you hug your arms tighter around your body and he softly smiles. “I’ll have him back in a few hours.”

As you reentered the house, their eyes watched you as you sit beside them on the couch still hugging yourself. Ringed fingers threaded through your hair before turning you to face them. 

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah. It’s just weird seeing Charlie be this way.”

“I can understand that. It’s like if my dad came through that door with a smile and a Santa level of presents.”, Steve sighed. 

“Are you both ok? I told him to be home for dinner that way after we eat maybe you three can play that new game we got him.”

“It’s whatever he wants, baby. I try to remember what it was like when I was his age and I never wanted to be home.”, the pretty boy laughs. “So, the fact that he likes hanging out with us at all makes me happy.”

Eddie nods in agreement as James wiggles in his embrace. 

“Daddy. Yames…hungee…”, the boy babbles as he taps his mouth with his palm. 

“I guess it is that time to start fattening him up so we can have him plump enough to eat for dinner later.”

“No, daddy! Don’t be mean to James.”, Aurora scolds as her brother giggles. 

“Come on, you. Let’s see if Santa left us anymore cookies in our pantry.”

#########

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @nailbatanddungeon

@dad-steddie @manda-panda-monium @alligator-person

@decadentwombatmiracle @katie-tibo @marsupiooo

@local-stoner-bitch @steamystrangerfics @lunatictardis

@adaydreamaway08 @hazydespair @actuallyspencerreid

@moviefreak1205 @waylandmorgernsternherondal-blog

@kik51199 @strngrlytn @idkidknemore @damon-loves-pie

@k-k0129 @micheledawn1975 @eddie86baby

@justmeandmymeanderingthoughts @3rriberri

@sashaphantomhive @chelebelletx @big-ope-vibes

@munsonzzgf @munsonmoonshine86

[pizzaqueen]

The second part to the one where Steve tells some flirty girls Eddie’s married. It was only meant to be two parts but I decided to put an Eddie POV in! When I do part three it will go up on AO3 as one fic

This part is 1.3k and rated T

The sounds of the arcade—pings and clinks and curses—filter through to the backroom, providing the soundtrack to Eddie’s dreams. He’s asleep in his chair, the book he was reading propped open on his face, the drool escaping from his opened mouth dampening the pages.

The dream has just taken a turn for the better (Steve is smiling, wind blowing through his hair, decked out in blindingly shiny armor) when there’s the tickle of hair against his cheek and someone whispers boo. Dream-Steve is cruelly ripped away and Eddie flails awake. He grabs his book, throwing it in the opposite direction of the boo and he tips back in his chair, falling flat on his back.

Once the bleariness of sleep clears from his vision, he sees Jeff and Gareth standing over him, not even trying to hide their laughter. Assholes. Jeff reaches down a hand to help Eddie up; Eddie takes it, considers pulling Jeff down with him, but is still too groggy to do anything but let Jeff pull him to his feet.

“Hey,” Jeff says, still holding Eddie’s hand, turning it this way and that, “where’s the ring?”

Eddie blinks. “I’m wearing, like, three rings.”

“No, no, the wedding ring.”

“We hear congratulations are in order,” Gareth says, lips pursed against a smile, arms crossed over his chest.

“Congrat—“ Eddie had been so caught up in the dream he’d forgotten all about that whole thing at Family Video earlier. He rolls his eyes and retrieves his book, flipping through to find his page again. He grimaces at the damp patch in the corner, wiping it off on his jeans, then sets the book on his desk.

“C’mon, man, don’t leave us hanging.”

“Yeah, we want all the details.”

“Like, why weren’t we your groomsmen?”

“Did you elope?”

“Shut up.” Eddie rubs his eye with the heel of his hand. He’s not awake enough for these two, right now. “It was Steve.”

“Don’t tell me you decided to finally make an honest man of him,” Jeff says.

“Or was it the other way around?” Gareth adds.

“He’s not— We’re not—” An uncharacteristic flush crawls up Eddie’s neck, steals along his jaw. He doesn’t get embarrassed, not with these guys. But, between the dream, and what they just said… He folds his arms. “I meant, he’s the one who said I was married. I just played along.”

“Well, that explains everything.”

“Oh, yeah, makes perfect sense.” Jeff raises his brows. “You gonna spill or what?”

Eddie opens his mouth, then closes it. “No, actually, I’m not.” He points at Jeff and Gareth in turn. “I want to know how you two buttheads heard about it.”

“It’s all over town.” Jeff rights the chair that had been tipped over and slumps into it. He looks up at Gareth. “Right?”

“All over.”

Eddie’s eyes narrow. He’s not entirely sure he believes them, but then again— “Good news travels as fast as ever in Hawkins, huh?” He leans back on his desk, crosses his arms. Looks between Jeff and Gareth.

“It sure does.” Gareth’s lips twitch.

Jeff is suspiciously impassive.

After the silence has stretched out for what Eddie feels is a sufficient amount of time he says, “So, which of our town’s gossipmongers did you here it from?” casually inspecting his nails.

They both speak at once, saying two different names and two different places; Jeff’s head falls back with a groan and Gareth doesn’t look even a little sheepish.

“Okay, we overheard the girls you told talking about it in the diner when we had lunch.”

“It probably will be all over town pretty soon, though.” Jeff shrugs. “Those girls seemed kinda pissed.”

“Why’d you tell them you’re married?”

“Well, Steve just said it because he, I don’t know…” Eddie trails off with a shrug. “Didn’t want the competition, or something.”

Jeff’s eyes narrow. “Competition for you?”

Gareth snorts; Eddie flushes. That’s starting to get annoying. “Competition from me.”

“But you don’t…” Gareth looks from Jeff to Eddie. He spreads his hands. “Ladies.”

“I don’t ladies?”

“You know what I mean.” They’ve never actually spoken about this. Well, no, there was one night when they got drunk enough for Eddie to spill his guts about how pretty Steve is and the crush he’s had on Kirk Hammett for years, but not drunk enough he doesn’t remember. But Eddie’s never actually told them told them. He’s never told anyone in so many words. And they haven’t spoken about that night since so he wondered if they didn’t remember.

“Yeah, well, Steve doesn’t.”

“Oh.” Gareth clears his throat. “Anyway, it sounds like more of a you thing to say,” he mutters.

“Guess he’s rubbing off on Harrington,” Jeff says.

“In his dreams.”

Eddie sighs.

“The wet ones,” Gareth adds.

“Yeah, we got that.” Jeff shakes his head.

“Real mature,” Eddie says, but he can’t deny the relief that floods through him. If they’re joking about this, teasing him, then they’re cool with it. But he figures he’ll keep the fact that his dreams about Steve are way more embarrassingly chaste—and dramatically romantic—than dirty most of the time to himself. His subconscious is a bastard.

“You know,” Jeff says, “I have a theory,” not letting Eddie ask what theory before he adds, “I don’t think it was the ladies Harrington wanted to himself.”

“What? Who else…” A few things fall into place, mostly the way Jeff’s looking at him, like he thinks Eddie already knows the answer. “No. No way.” Eddie waves his hands. “Steve isn’t…” It seems clear they all know that Eddie is by now. But Steve… No. “Look, did you guys come here to play games or are you going to“—he gestures toward the arcade—”play games?”

“Aww, we’ve made him go all shy.”

Eddie flips them the bird.

They both start chanting: “Steve and Eddie, sittin’ in a tree—”

“Out! Get out of my office!” Eddie corrals them toward the door, saying, “Don’t you children have college to attend and apprenticeships to apprentice?”

“It’s Saturday,” Jeff says.

Gareth shrugs. “Lunch break.”

But they both let Eddie steer them into the arcade, Gareth only stopping when his gaze zeroes in on one of the new machines Eddie finally convinced the owner to buy.

“You got Double Dragon and you didn’t tell me?” he says, wiggling out from Eddie’s hand on his shoulder, and making a beeline for the game.

“Yeah, because if I’d told you, you’d never leave.”

Gareth pokes his tongue out—Eddie does it back—and starts pumping quarters into the machine. Eddie’s surprised it’s free. There’s usually a whole horde of kids waiting around it.

“Hey, can we talk a moment?” Jeff says.

“Sure.”

Jeff raises his brows in the direction of the office and they head back there. “Look, I know we were being dicks, but you know that if you and Steve…” He trails off pointedly. “It’s cool. Even if you two don’t, it’s cool, either way, you know?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks, man.”

Jeff gives him a small smile. Then he says, “And I call dibs on being best man at your wedding.”

“Get out.”

“I’ve already started my speech!”

“Get out of my arcade, or I’m banning you for life.”

“No, you won’t,” Jeff says cheerfully, grabbing Gareth on his way out—“But my game!”—and a few kids who were rubbernecking whipping their heads back toward their machines when Eddie narrows his eyes in their general direction.

He sighs and goes back to his office, leaving the door open enough he’ll be able to hear any potential catastrophes, but closed enough that he can think in private.

The thing is, what Jeff said, that it might be Eddie Steve wants to keep to himself, not the ladies, has occurred to Eddie before. Mostly in moments of desperate hopefulness like when Steve looks at him a certain way or flirts back (he always flirts back) but he didn’t think that’s what was going on today. Now, though…

Shit. Was Jeff right? Eddie’s never been sure enough to push before, never been brave enough. But maybe he can push it a little further tonight.

—

Part three

NOW ON AO3!

Tagging some people who expressed interest in a second part (please let me know if you’d prefer not to be tagged again):

@drwatsonsjournal @bidisastersworld @rhaenyyras @skoomy-doompy @lonelywyoming @swimmingbirdrunningrock @duckyreads @w1770w @djosephqueery @stranger-poets-society @randomfandomcontent @thereindeerlady

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter Five: Unrequited Lover's Lake (Part One)

The Pariahs That Saved The World [Masterlist]

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: mentions of death, vecna's curse, horror flashback (violence)

[A/N: So I've decided to split this chapter in half mostly because I've disappeared lately. I am so sorry I haven't been updating as usual, I have had two rounds of completely different illness (both being types of flu lmao) and I am still recovering but in a much better place than I was! I'll keep everyone updated but as for now, here's the first half of a chapter I promised you guys agessss ago]

Unrequited Lover's Lake (Part One)

“Oh, boom!” Steve suddenly shouts out and Robin watches him push through some bushes, rolling her eyes. “Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Dustin mutters as she and Nancy push through the leaves, looking up at the famous Skull Rock in all of its glory. Robin never really saw the appeal of this place.

“It’s just a dumb rock.” She murmurs out loud and Nancy hums in agreement, looking around.

The leaves rustle again and Robin watches as you and Max step through, sharing a look as she gestures to your face. You quickly turn, raising your hand, and when you turn back, you’re sending a grateful smile and walking away. Robin frowns at the interaction. Were you crying?

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it.” Steve boasts, placing his hands on his hips. “You just can’t admit that you’re wrong, you little butthead.”

“I concur.”

You all spin around to where someone had jumped down, a smirk on his face.

“You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead.” Eddie announces and the boy goes running to him.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.”

“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” Eddie sighs, patting him on the back. He catches someone else’s eye, pulling away and grinning. “As I live and breathe, Y/n is that you?”

“Couldn’t stay out of trouble just this once?” You chuckle as you share a hug, laughing when he tries to pick you up. “We went to the boathouse, what the hell happened?”

Nothing could really prepare you for what he had to say.

From Jason and his gang finding him, to watching poor Patrick suddenly float out of the water, you all stood around him in silence. You felt the sickening feeling creep up throughout your body until it was stuck in your throat, lurking as a reminder of what you’ve let yourself walk back into.

“Excuse me.” You say to Nancy, brushing against her arm so you could walk away from the group, breathing heavily.

You heard their continued conversations as you leant against a tree, a few steps into the thick expanse of trees, just in their view. Your skin was crawling with goosebumps, your spine shivering under the stress of the situation. You thought you were ready for this, that you could help them and save the people you loved in the process. But you didn’t manage it last time. How was this any different?

July 3rd, 1985

“Nancy…” You shake your head at her as you slowly start walking backwards down the hallway.

“Just stay in position, Y/n.” She hisses at you from behind and you trust her, you really do. But she was foolish to think you were the right person for this.

“I can’t.” You whisper back, tears falling down your face. The lights overhead start to flicker and you grip the metal pole in your hand tighter, praying he doesn’t walk around the corner, that it was all a misunderstanding.

“Just a little longer.” She promises, her soothing voice holding more worth to you than she knows. If only you had seen her face.

Two loud footsteps echo out from around the corner and you hold your breath, waiting for the man to show himself and force every fibre of your body not to run. But it wasn’t him. It was Tom Holloway, Heather’s father, and he was smiling at you.

“Ah, Y/n.” He clicks his neck, smirking, “I knew I’d find you here.”

You shake your head. It wasn’t meant to be him. He was supposed to be dead.

“It’s such a shame no one checked to see if they finished the job.” He laughs, pulling a scalpel you hadn’t even seen protruding from his neck, shrugging when no blood comes rushing out. “Someone should really go check on that poor boy, though. Such a wuss.”

“Nancy.” You try and whisper, but you hear nothing back, only the echo of her retreating footsteps as she rushes to find her boyfriend. You understood, you really did, but you’ve never felt so scared.

“Just the two of us, now.” He clears his throat, walking forward with intent and you hold out the pole. “That won’t do anything.”

“Stay back.” You cry out, noticing how dark the black veins were appearing now. Was Heather like this too? “I’m warning you.”

“Or what? You’ll trick me?” He laughs maniacally, stopping just short of you reaching the end of the hall, the corner just behind you. “Or should I say… us?”

Your eyes widen, but it’s too late. A sharp and searing pain digs into your shoulder and you scream, dropping your only weapon out of shock and jolting forward. You stumble, cradling your shoulder as you spin around on the floor, another pair of soulless eyes staring down at you. A sob leaves your lips.

“Dad?”

“Join us.”

Everything about that day still feels like a nightmare, to the point where you nearly convince yourself none of it was real. Not Tom tricking you, or your father becoming one of those monsters. Especially not Nancy leaving you behind. But that scar etched into your skin reminds you it was all very real. Your dad was dead, Nancy had left you to die, and you were lucky you ever escaped.

You take a deep breath, smoothing your hair away from your face. There wasn’t time for your breakdown right now. Max needed you. The sooner you figured it all out, the sooner this would be over.

Something snaps in the woods behind you and you assume someone has walked over, making you turn with a ready-made lie on your tongue. Except, no one was there.

You weren’t even in the woods anymore.

Robin rubbed her eyes as Steve and Dustin disputed over yet another absurd argument she didn’t fully wrap her head around, watching in amusement as it bounced back and forth between them. This time, Dustin was convinced his compass wasn’t wrong and for once, she was on Steve’s side. It made literally no sense.

“So you’re using faulty equipment.” Steve exasperated. “You’re still wrong!”

“Except it isn’t faulty.” Dustin says and Steve groans, throwing his hands up. “Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”

Lucas ponders for a moment before his eyes widen. “An electromagnetic field.”

“Yep.” Dustin looks at everyone else expectedly and Robin furrows her brows.

“I’m sorry, I must’ve skipped that class.”

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” Dustin explains, motioning to the woods with his hand. “So either there’s some super big magnet around here, or…”

“There’s a gate.” Lucas concludes and Robin’s eyes widen.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy says and Dustin nods at her.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate? A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller. Way less powerful.”

“Snack-size gate.” Robin offers and he clicks his finger at her.

“All I know if that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is, because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.”

And with that Dustin turns around and starts walking, making Robin bat at Steve’s arm until he took notice too.

“Wha- Oh, where are you going? Hey, hey, hey-” He calls out for attention and Dustin unwillingly stops, looking back at him. “Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks and Robin smirks, looking to you to share in her amusement. She blinks. You weren’t there.

She looks around again as Eddie responds, frowning like she might just be going blind.

“Uh, guys?” She tries, but her voice seems distant as she peers around the rock, through the trees, anywhere.

“So Mordor it is.” Eddie finally decides, shrugging when Steve looks at him weird.

“Guys!” She finally raises her voice and they all look at her inquisitively, noting her worried face. “Where’s Y/n?”

“She was just…” Nancy motions over to where you were just stood by the tree. The look on her face made Robin’s stomach plummet. “Y/n?”

Everyone starts looking around, shouting out for you, but they don’t hear any kind of response. Robin and Nancy venture further in, calling your name like you might just walk towards them completely fine. But Robin knew from the pit in her stomach that wasn’t the case. She just can’t believe she didn’t notice you had disappeared.

“Robin!” Nancy suddenly calls and Robin runs over as quickly as she can, careful not to trip up on protruding tree roots as she joins her.

The girl is knelt on the ground, holding a body and for a second her heart stops. It’s you.

And then you blink, looking a little dazed.

“I just saw her collapse.” Nancy says, her voice shaking. “Robin, look.”

She looks to where her friend is pointing and her breath hitches, slowly letting herself sink to the ground as you finally mutter a few words from lips beneath a crimson nosebleed.

“The gate.” You whisper out, trying to sit up and grabbing Robin’s arm when you felt weak. “I know… I know where the gate is.”

Robin meets Nancy’s fearful eye, her blood running cold. She hated to admit it, but all the signs were pointing to one thing and one thing only.

Vecna had cursed you, too.

taglist: @kryztalglear . @dejerw . @officerrrfriendly . @a-simpfortessa-lesbriean . @spacedoutdaydreamer . @endurexxsurvive . @em16cor . @gray-cheese . @chaosofmanyfandoms . @kitdjarin1 . @some-day--some-how @cultish-corner

[berenwrites]

With Both Hands - Steddie - PG

for @steddie-week Day 1

Prompt: Mystery / secret relationship / One Night Alone by Vixen

rated pg | 838 wds | tags: kissing, fluff, everybody lives, post vecna

Eddie is having trouble figuring out how he got here and believing it's real.

(Also on AO3)( My Other fic on Tumblr)

With Both Hands: A Complete and Utter Mystery

How Eddie had ended up here was a mystery to him. He could make no sense of the timeline in his head and yet the reality was right in front of him.

“You want to kiss me?” he asked, which was all kinds of pathetic, but he couldn’t help it.

Steve nodded, with a nervous little smile.

“If you’re into that,” was the uncertain response.

The little laugh that burst out of him then was completely out of his control. He just couldn’t believe it. His heart felt like it might burst, and the joy had to come out somewhere. Unfortunately, Steve took it the wrong way, the hopeful expression falling off his face and hurt filling his beautiful gold and brown eyes.

That just would not do.

Before Steve could turn away, Eddie brought up his hands to either side of Steve’s face and held him firm.

“Into that? Into that, Stevie, Sweetheart,” he said, doing his very best to make sense. “I am so into that I can feel my heartbeat in my teeth, but you’re gonna have to give me just a moment, because I’m having real trouble believing that all my dreams are coming true.”

He watched understanding dawn on Steve’s face, a smile, a full one this time, breaking across Steve’s expression like the sun coming up over the horizon. It was so bright it was blinding.

“Take all the time you need,” he said, so sincere Eddie wanted to pull him in and never let go.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Eddie whispered, mostly to himself, because his brain had always been a really weird place and it might have been even weirder since his brush with death, “Steve Harrington wants to kiss me.”

“He does,” Steve said, “and then he’d really like to take you on a date and have you as his boyfriend for as long as you’ll have him.”

Something inside of Eddie kind of exploded.

“Putting aside the fact you’re talking about yourself in the third person, Sweetheart” he replied, “yes, yes, and yes.”

Leaning forward he captured Steve’s lips with his own. It was amazing, it was wonderful, and then Steve pulled him in and deepened the kiss and Eddie found out where Steve got his reputation from. For a while Eddie forgot what thinking was as he revelled in the full Harrington experience, well at least level one.

When they finally came up for air, his brain was being even more uncooperative than usual.

“Holy crap,” he muttered, because it was about as eloquent as he could manage right about then.

“Yeah,” Steve replied, pupils just as blown as Eddie was sure his were.

“We should do that again,” Eddie decided.

“We should..,” Steve agreed, but was interrupted by a loud screech.

They both glanced towards the back yard from where they were hidden by the pool shed.

“But one of the buttheads is bound to come looking for us very soon,” Steve said with a sigh of disappointment.

There was currently a party going on in and around Steve’s fancy swimming pool, a celebration of everyone being alive and well and Vecna being very dead. It had taken them until the beginning of June to end the bastard and quite a lot of that time was gone from Eddie’s memory. The Party had found him amongst the debris of the Upside Down, just like they’d found Chrissy and Fred and Patrick and everyone who had died by Vecna’s hand since the beginning of spring break, even Jason ‘I’m fit for the looney bin now’ Carver.

The going theory was something about temporal mechanics and Vecna’s machinations and all sorts of things Eddie did not understand. Dustin had tried to explain it to him, but it would not stick. The kid was currently threatening to write it into a campaign to get it into Eddie’s uncooperative brain. Frankly he didn’t care, and he cared even less now he had so much more to think about.

He was alive, he had graduated because Higgins had wanted to include all those mysteriously back from the dead (the cover story was incredible) and the bastard couldn’t leave out Eddie without lots of questions, and now he had Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington for a boyfriend. It was definitely a mystery, one so deep he wasn’t sure he would ever solve it, but he didn’t care. Sometimes dreams did come true, and he was grabbing this one with both hands.

“We should get back and revisit this when the hellions are gone,” Eddie agreed with Steve’s assessment.

“We should,” Steve said, but didn’t move.

They looked at each other for a while longer.

“You do know you are clinging to my butt with your hands, right?” Steve asked eventually, a small smirk playing at his lips.

So, possibly Eddie was taking the grabbing with both hands somewhat more literally that usually expected after his limbs had migrated downwards while they were kissing. Sue him, he had goals.

The End ( My Other fic on Tumblr)

[cherubcameron]

Okay but like Steve takes the kids to the pool on a hot summers day, and readers a lifeguard. Steve is obsessed with reader since forever, and he plans on pulling that one scene in sandlot when the kid kisses the lifeguard by pretending to drown. Toothrotting fluff lol

“You only want to go because Y/n is going to be there. Don’t you have your own pool?” Dustin said. Eyeing Steve suspiciously.

“I thought it would be nice to have a pool day outside of my house, butthead. More fun, duh.” Steve said, having a terrible excuse on why they were all headed to the local pool, instead of the one in his back yard.

“More fun? There’s so many people in one pool. The water gets too warm and gross.” Max says in disgust. She’s crammed in the back with all the boys and El.

“Yeah and if it gets in your mouth it literally tastes like-.”

“Okay! Okay! I get it, I just thought we’ll uh socialize more duh.”

“Hmm sure, dingus sure. You’re definitely not going to go see a girl you’d been obsessed with. Since like forever.” Robin says. Steve just rolls his eyes. The drive there isn’t long but already seeing from outside of the parking lot. A huge crowd has already gathered around the pool.

“All for a girl.” Dustin says disapprovingly. But Steve ignores him. Because he sees you, high up on your lifeguard chair. Staring out to make sure everyone is safe. No one is drowning.

“Michael! Please don’t run in the pool!” You sound genuinely concern for the kid, unlike other lifeguards who yell angrily at the kids. He likes that about you, your gentle nature.

“Sorry!” The kid yells back.

A plan slowly concocts in Steve mind. A silly plan, but he knows it’ll get your attention. He doesn’t mention it to anyone but Robin gives him a look.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to know.”

☆.｡.:*　　.｡.:*☆

Steve is a really great, outstanding swimmer. If he can say so himself. Which means he knows how to make it look like he’s drowning when he’s not. He knows your instinct to help him will overpower the fact that you know that about him.

He waits until less and less people have left the pool. Heading towards the deep end. He hopes you’re watching him glide in the water. So he knows phase one of his plan is working.

“You sure you can make it that far Harrington?” Max jokes, Steve only smiles at her. Which only sends Max’s eyebrows to go up. She carries on anyway, swimming toward El. Away from him.

Once he makes it to his destination is when he begins to pretend to drown.

“Oh my god! Steve!” He hears you scream, a smirk he hopes no one can see appears on his lip.

“I thought he knew how to swim!” Mike yells.

With the help of another lifeguard, they manage to pull him out. Steve can already see the look on Robin’s and Dustin face. But he doesn’t care, phase one of his plan succeeded.

The lifeguard leaves to go get something as you stay behind.

“Shit, is he okay?” Will asks.

“He’s full of shit.” Lucas counters.

“Are you sure he’s not dead?” El asks.

Steve can feel you lean down close to him, pressing your fingers to make sure he’s still breathing. Then as you begin to give him cpr. His lips begins to mush into yours. Your hand is still pressed on his arm, you pull away quickly. But you don’t seem mad.

“Hope you had your fun, Steve.” You say. You lean down close to him once more as you whisper. “If you’d just ask me, I would have let you kiss me a long time ago.”

That manages to make Steve cheeks go red. You get up slowly, Steve scans your body in your red one piece and he knows he’s acting like a savage teenage boy. But he doesn’t care, he finally got to kiss you.

“Yeah I’m officially done with you.” Dustin says, walking away and back to the pool.

“Very lame, dude.” Mike says, shaking head.

Steve doesn’t care. He watches as you climb back up onto the chair. You send a wink in his direction. He knows he sure to get your number now.

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

i was possessed randomly so you all get this 😈 (i gotta keep my place in the angstflayer somehow lmao)

tw for mentions of death, nothing explicit! just talk of passing on/the afterlife

——————————

It was smoother than he thought it’d be, dying.

Passing on.

The moment of death.

It really was just like falling asleep.

He knew it was time; he was old now (decrepit if you ask his grandkids) but it was something he didn’t even realize he was so ready to welcome. Whatever illness he was saddled with the last couple years already fading out of his memory.

Stepping into his new…life? he’s not sure what to expect.

He floats along for a while. In nothing, being nothing, when suddenly, the nothing in front of him starts to solidify.

Instead of nothing, Dustin Henderson is a young man again. He can see his feet walking across pine needles and leaves. over hard-packed dirt and pebbles.

He knows this path, and starts forward confidently.

Skull Rock comes into view through a break in the branches, looming over him and coated in dappled sunlight.

So, he sits down. Settles in to wait for his friends, hoping they are far behind him, when he’s startled by a noise above him.

First, a leather jacket plops down in front of him, followed closely by worn white reeboks, ripped black jeans, a flash of a white shirt. All still wrapped around someone he lost way to fuckin’ soon.

Dustin’s chest and throat constrict, his eyes burn.

The figure turns, their insane brown curls frizz tossed away from his face when he does.

“Hey butthead.” Eddie Munson smiles at him for the first time in 70 years. “You have my vest.”

Dustin looks down at himself. The worn denim vest in question is, indeed, hung over his shoulders. Fitting just a bit bigger than he last remembered.

He huffs out a chuckle, the tears start to fall down his cheeks. “Thought you might want it, asshole.”

He’s crushed into a hug that lasts an eternity, finally pulling away from Eddie after a good eon or so.

Huffing out another laugh when he does, Dustin wipes the tears off his face and says, “Not that I’m not over the fuckin moon to see you, but is.. is he here?”

Eddie grins at him, “Is who here?”

“Henderson!”

Steve.

Steve’s here.

He’s actually fucking here.

“‘Course he is, little man. Been waitin’ for you, ya know.'' Eddie shakes his shoulders, spinning him around and starts to march him back down the path. “Well,” he feels Eddie shrug behind him, “You AND Robin, of course. She’s just real stubborn about leaving, I think.”

They’ve gone maybe four whole steps, when Steve Harrington breaks through the branches in front of them.

“Dustin!” Steve strides forward, wrapping Dustin up in a hug.

He mumbles everything and nothing into the tears that soak the cap atop his head. A good trade for the already soaked spot at the front of that yellow sweater of his.

“You’re here! I missed you so much! It’s too soon… it’s always too soon, but still! Your kids are all so beautiful, your grandkids too! I’m so so sorry I left before I could meet them, Dusty, I wanted to so badly.”

More and more (mostly repeated “You’re here!”s) until he can’t say anymore and falls silent around him for their own eternity.

“I missed you too, Steve.”

[ladykailitha]

Batshit Soulmates Part 5

We have finally gotten to the lake. Things start to ramp up from here.

In Medias Res| Prologue|Pt 1| Pt 2|Pt 3|Pt 4|

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

****

Eddie was having a hell of a time. Not because Steve was being rude. Because he wasn’t. Nope, the problem was that he wasn’t being rude. He was being sweet and patient. And yeah if Dustin was to be believed, it was because Steve had a big heart and not because Eddie was his soulmate.

But Eddie’s inner cynic kept telling him to poke the bear. To keep pushing Steve until his facade snapped and revealed his inner bitch.

He resisted. This was not the time for that. If they had met under any other circumstances then the world literally trying to end itself...maybe. But the world was trying to end itself and if being Steve Harrington’s soulmate meant he came out this alive, then fuck it. He was going to keep his mouth shut.

“Dustin!” Steve hissed. “Stop getting so far ahead!”

They had been wandering the fucking woods looking for the source of the compass malfunctioning for what felt like hours.

And considering that they had pulled out their flashlights pretty much confirmed that as far as Eddie was concerned.

Dustin just continued to plow on ahead. Not listening to a single thing Steve said.

But Eddie knew this place better than the kid did and he started calling out to him. “Dustin! Dustin! Dustin!”

“It’s right around–”

Eddie, who had been trying to catch up with him, managed to reach out and pull the little butthead back from what would have been a very messy and wet disaster.

Dustin would have walked right into the lake and not a gentle sloping of the shore either. It was a sheer drop off.

“Jesus!” Dustin hissed.

Steve reached them concern on his face until he saw that Eddie had him. God did Steve recognize that pose. He had done the same thing two years ago when the demodogs had rushed Dustin and him in the tunnels.

Warm relief flooded his being as mouthed ‘thank you’ to Eddie.

Eddie blushed. The butterflies that had been cocooned in his stomach since finding out Steve Harrington was his soulmate suddenly burst forth, leaving a little fluttering to warm his chest all the way through.

“It’s at the bottom of the lake?” Lucas asked, frowning.

Max came up behind him and looked across the water. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“But it’s got to be,” Dustin whined, looking down at his compass with a sneer. “There’s no other place it could be.”

“Look!” Robin cried. “The boat!” She pointed a little ways to the south.

It had somehow made it shore even with Eddie accidentally abandoning it in his fright.

They made their way over to it and found that even in his panic, Eddie hadn’t lost any of the oars for damn thing so they could at least row back to the middle of the lake.

“I’m coming,” Dustin said firmly.

“Like hell you are,” Steve huffed. “I don’t want any of you kids near that thing if it is a gate. You’re staying here and that’s final.”

“I’m coming with,” Robin said shooting her hand in the air.

Steve looked at Eddie, who nodded. Yeah, he was going to go with them.

“Look, Henderson,” Eddie said, “there’s only room on the boat for thr–” but just then Nancy stepped up and made it clear with her body language that she too was coming with and to brook no argument.

The look of gratitude on Steve’s face when Eddie had backed him up on keeping the kids on the shore set off the god damned butterflies again.

It was becoming a problem.

Steve knelt down and pushed it a little away from the shore so that it would be easier to push off. He held on to the head of the boat and motioned for them to get on.

He offered a hand to Robin and she ignored it in favor of using Eddie and his heads as supports. He offered his hand to him and Eddie steadfastly ignored it. Not because he didn’t want to take Steve’s hand but because he really, really did. He was afraid that if he took Steve’s hand there would be no letting go.

And yeah, maybe it was a bit of dick move to stick out his hand to give Nancy another option other than Steve to help her into the boat, especially since when he looked over at Steve he looked crestfallen.

Then he watched as Steve pushed the boat off with all of them in it and deftly hopped in. That did absolutely fucking nothing to calm the butterflies in his chest.

They reached the spot in the middle of the lake where Patrick had died and there was an eerie glow to the water. And immediately Steve started taking off his shoes.

“Whoa!” Robin said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Steve looked up at her like he didn’t understand the question. “Someone has to go down there and check to see if a gate has opened right?”

“I’ll do it,” Nancy said. “I’m a strong swimmer.”

Steve scoffed. “I don’t doubt that, but unless any of you can beat co-captain of the swim team and lifeguard three years running, I’m going.”

There really wasn’t answer to that so they watched as Steve removed his socks and shoes. Well, Robin and Nancy did, but Eddie occupied himself with wrapping a plastic bag around the flashlight so it wouldn’t short the second Steve hit the water.

Steve threw his sweater at him and Eddie was faced with a shirtless soulmate and it was a god damned miracle he didn’t nut himself right then and there.

He pulled out a cigarette and immediately Robin tossed it overboard. He glared at her but she just stuck her tongue at him. He rolled his eyes and handed the now wrapped flashlight to Steve.

Steve smiled softly. “Thanks.”

They waited in stony silence as Steve dove beneath their feet. The silence stretched on the longer Steve was gone. No one wanted to say it out loud. What if it was a gate?

What if there being more than an evil wizard the Upside Down was finding ways to open its own gates? Then no amount of government oversight was going to stop the Upside Down from taking over their world.

Steve came back up. “Yeah, there’s a gate down there all right. A big one.”

But before he could even move to get back on the boat, he was yanked back under with a surprise yelp.

“Steve!” Nancy screamed and immediately dived after him.

Eddie’s eyes went wide as Robin sidled up to the side of the boat. “You’re going too?”

“Yup!”

And over she went.

Eddie began cursing and hitting at the air. He knew he was going to capsize the boat if he wasn’t careful. Or...

“Fuck.”

And he followed the two girls into the water.

****

Steve had known that touching the gate would only bring him pain and disappointment, but his lizard brain went ‘ooh glowy thingy!’ and reached out and touched it anyway.

And now he was fighting for his life in the Upside Down against large winged creatures that he was sure Dustin was going to name demo-something. Demo-bird? No, that sounded lame. Demo-eagle? That sounded just as bad.

Oh wait. He was supposed to be fighting for his life here. Not trying to name the creature trying to eat him. Like literally eat him.

Thank god for Nancy and Robin to be honest. Coming in like avenging furies and kicking the shit out the winged beasts.

Eddie coming in clutch was nice too. Watching him shatter that oar on that beastie was a little hot.

It sent off something primal in Steve that he tapped into. He sunk his teeth into the tail of the beastie that had been dragging him across this hellish landscape, snarling. The creature let go and tried to get away, but Steve wasn’t done.

Not by a long shot.

He kept a hold of the tail and began bashing the thing into the ground with a fury he didn’t understand. He stomped on the creature and ripped literally in two.

He tossed the chunk away and then spat out the black ichor, panting for breath.

He looked up to see his friends staring at him as if he had gone insane. And you know what? Fair. He felt insane.

But fighting for one’s life did that to a person.

“Fuck.”

They all gathered behind him to look at the mass of winged creatures that stood between them and the gate that would lead them back home.

Eddie pushed his hair back and let out a small whimper of distress. Steve understood the feeling.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Eddie yelled as he threw a temper tantrum right there in the middle of the hell landscape. Because yeah, Mordor was a fucking good analogy.

Everything around them was dark and twisted versions of the ones he had grown up knowing.

Nancy looked behind them. “The forest!”

They turned and ran for the cover of the trees, hoping that they weren’t running right into the flowered faces of the demogorgons.

At least Eddie didn’t know about those.

Yet.

****

Once they were under the cover of the trees they stopped to dress Steve’s wounds.

Nancy cut off strips of her shirt to bind the two gaping holes in Steve’s stomach. She walked over to where Steve was leaning against a rock face with strips in her hands. Steve hissed in pain.

“Oh god,” Robin moaned. “What if he has rabies? Do bats in the Upside Down has rabies?”

“Robin!” Steve hissed. “If you don’t shut up I will hit you!”

“Oh good,” she said with a hiccup of relief. “He’s fine. His humor is still intact.”

Eddie and Nancy looked over at her like she was crazy. Eddie watched as Nancy edged closer to Steve to put the wrapping on his wounds. Steve shoved his hands into his hair to drive the pain elsewhere.

Then Nancy dropped to her knees and Eddie ran up to them. “Here, let me do it.”

Nancy reared back her head. “What? Why?”

“Do you know how to dress wounds that deep?” he asked, breathing heavily through his nose.

“Well, no,” she replied. “But it can’t be much different than patching up a scraped knee.”

Eddie looked at her with wide eyes. “Is that really the extent of your first aid knowledge?”

“Guys!” Steve snapped. “I’m kinda bleeding out here!”

Eddie snatched the makeshift bandages from Nancy. “Calling soulmate privileges.”

Nancy rolled her eyes but stepped back.

“Hey, Stevie,” Eddie murmured. “This has got to be tight and it’s gonna hurt, but you have to stay with me, okay?”

Steve nodded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “Just hurry.”

Eddie pursed his lips and began wrapping around Steve’s waist, steadfastly ignoring his soulmate’s gasps and moans of pain. This close to Steve and Eddie could almost feel the pain in his own sides. The burn on his back and upper arms.

“Almost done, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured. “We’re almost done. I promise.”

“It hurts, Eds.”

“I know.” He looked up into Steve’s eyes and repeated. “I know.”

Steve opened his eyes and looked down at Eddie. “Yeah. Okay, okay.”

Nancy frowned and leaned over to Robin. “What’s going on?”

“They’re truemates,” Robin whispered back.

Nancy’s eyes went wide and she mouthed “Oh.”

“All done, baby,” Eddie cooed. “Don’t try and talk. Just squeeze my hands when you’re ready to move on.” And he gently took Steve’s hands.

A couple minutes later, Steve squeezed his hands.

“Okay,” Eddie said with a shuddering breath. “He’s ready to move on. So let’s get moving.”

****

Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Epilogue

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[steviewashere]

Goofballs

Rating: General CW: Referenced Recreational Drug Use (Marijuana) Tags: Pre-Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington is a Dork, Eddie Munson is a Dork, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Veiled Love Confessions (Sort of), Mutual Pining, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is watching them do the stupidest things and falling harder for them every time."

💕—————💕

1 —

Steve doesn’t allow anybody (sans maybe Nancy and Jonathan) to eat in his car. Robin often talked through a mouthful, pieces of fries and burger buns spraying onto his dashboard. The buttheads left their trash laying about the backseat, no matter how many times they’ve been reminded to throw it away. And Eddie…

Well, he loses his eating in the Beemer privileges today.

It’s a couple hours since he’s been discharged. Body considered stitched up and healed enough to leave the 1986 bat attack behind, though Steve know it quite literally wouldn’t. A week before May, tail end of April.

And Eddie suggests picking up a few items from the nearby diner. He orders a chocolate shake, cheeseburger and fries, and some containers of ketchup. And Steve gets his usual; cheeseburger with extra crispy fries, strawberry shake with extra whip, and honey mustard if they have it.

All goes well for a while. Eddie digs into his food earlier than Steve expected, as he thought they were going out the quarry for a little picnic. He doesn’t have enough time between when they resettle in the car and when he starts it to tell Eddie that he isn’t allowed to eat in the car. But decides, instead of saying anything, that he’ll figure out if Eddie is one of the people he can trust to eat in his car.

Listen, Steve’s no better about eating in his car. His steering wheel gets covered in grease and he’ll often drop crumbs down at his feet, there’s a couple straggler stains from sauces that couldn’t be contained. But for the most part, Steve cleans up. It’s fine. Everything’s fine with Eddie in the car.

Until he says, after a dangerous laughing fit, “Steve, dude, stop being funny! You’re gonna make me spray shake from my nose!”

Steve, horrified, keeps his gaze on the road but the shaking to his voice when he asks, “What?”

Instead of repeating himself, Eddie goes on with whatever he was going to do. He grabs two straws, ones that were extra on the diner’s counter, unwraps them, and stuffs one in each of his nostrils. “Haha, booger contraption!” He exclaims, laughing at himself. And then, he suckles down some of his chocolate shake. The dark brown, now lukewarm, very sticky shake. The straws still up his nose, stupidly endearing.

Though, maybe none of this would’ve been a problem had Steve not opened his mouth a mere thirty seconds later. Reciting down to the minute details something absolutely disgusting and hilarious Dustin did while Steve was at work. Explaining how in the quiet lulls of his shift, Steve would repeat Dustin’s words in his head. And at one point, laughed so hard that he stumbled into a nearby shelf, several tapes falling from their perches, thudding down onto his head.

It almost happens in slow motion. Almost. Except, Eddie laughs. With his belly, his chest, his head, with his everything. Cackling so hard he shakes the frame of the car. Choking on his shake, body convulsing against the seat with his giggles. He laughs so hard he turns red in the face, crying, a sputtering mess. Then, the slow motion trigger is pulled. From his nose, through those white diner straws, comes two dark brown waterfalls of pure chocolate shake. Spilling and burning their way through Eddie’s nostrils.

The mess splatters to the leather seat below Eddie’s ass. Onto the floor. Some stray spatters on the gearshift and the radio and the glovebox. He stops abruptly, jolting in his place, wide eyed and terrified when he locks eyes with Steve.

Steve, for all his bitching about keeping his car clean, laughs himself. Enough that he pulls off to the side of the road, forehead resting on his steering wheel, hands loose between his knees. Back arching and bouncing. Shoulders hitching and falling. Laughing himself silly into the horn.

Eddie barely makes a sound next to him. Small, short breaths. Then, he panic stutters, “I—I’m—Oh my god, Steve! I’m so sorry! I warned you, man. I didn’t mean to do that. It’s something I can’t control.” He scrambles around the space, grabbing all the napkins available, wiping and smearing at the stains. Almost hyperventilating with his movement. “’T’s why Wayne doesn’t allow me to drink anything but water in the living room. Fuck,” he softly curses, hands clenching around the soiled napkins in his grip, the seat still stained, Steve laughing so hysterically, Eddie’s afraid he may puke. “Fuck, Steve. I’ll find a way to pay for your car to be cleaned, I promise. I’m so—“

“Holy shit!” Steve shouts. Finally leaning into his seat. Eyes wide, wet, cheeks tear stained, smile so big he may just split his face in two. “I didn’t fucking believe you! And—Ha!—Holy shit, you spray shit from your nose if you laugh too hard?! That’s—“

“Fucking humiliating and disgusting, I know,” Eddie grumbles. “Don’t have to make fun of me for it.” And then, all at once, Steve’s laugh Peter’s out. He takes in Eddie. Listens back to his voice. Realizes, horrifyingly, that Eddie’s genuinely hurt, embarrassed, upset. Eddie chucks the sopping wet napkins into the equally gross take out bag. He lays his hands palm up on his thighs, because they’re stained with chocolate and sticky, too. “I’m sorry, Stevie. I—“ He sighs as if he’s just been told his dog died. “I was just hungry,” he says, voice too small. “Man, I should’a waited until we were out of the car, but I just—It wasn’t hospital food and I was too excited and I knew that I do that every time I laugh. And I wasn’t thinking, and I’m really, really—“

Steve places a gentle hand on Eddie’s forearm. Really looks at Eddie. His eyes filled with tears, one beading in the corner. His lips twisted down into a heavy scowl. “Hey,” Steve softly cuts in. “It’s okay, man.”

“It’s not okay! I just fucking ruined your car because I can’t be normal.”

He squeezes. “Eds, when the hell have you ever been normal?” He questions, earning him a not so subtle glare. “It’s fine, dude. Sure, you made a mess, but messes can be cleaned up. Besides, I thought it was funny. I love your laugh—The spraying part of it is like…kind of endearing, too.”

Eddie rolls his eyes.

“It’s true!” Steve exclaims, butting in before Eddie can argue. “I don’t care that you laugh like that! I love it, it’s…cute.” He scoots his palm up to Eddie’s shoulder, pushing back some of his hair to drape between his shoulder blades. Looks softly upon his friend’s face. Wishes they were more than friends, just so he has an excuse to kiss away the humiliation painted on Eddie’s beautiful face. “I love when you’re yourself, Eds. This doesn’t bother me. We’ll go out to the quarry, enjoy some of the fresh air. I’ll lay out the spare blanket in my trunk over your seat. And I’ll take it to get cleaned this weekend. No big deal.” He shrugs. “Though, you are barred from eating in my car again.”

“Ugh, what?!” Eddie splutters. “Man, don’t ban me from eating in here,” he whines.

Steve solemnly nods, attempting to hide his smirk. He sighs, something small and dramatic. He pats at Eddie’s shoulder. “You’ve been banned, unfortunately. Don’t worry, though, you aren’t the only one.”

“Fine,” Eddie sighs. “Thank you for being cool about my…stupid thing, by the way.”

“Not stupid,” he says, “I really do love it, Eds. Just be careful next time.”

+1

Okay, being friends with Steve Harrington should really come with its own warning. Not because he’s a bad guy or that he’s an asshole or he’s plain Jane really boring.

No, it’s because every time Eddie sees Steve do something that he thinks nobody cares about, Eddie falls even harder than he should.

Sometimes, Steve dances around the house, shirtless and singing like Kermit the Frog. He slides around the tiles on his socks. Not because he’s dancing or cold, no it’s because it “Makes me go faster.” He’ll flick dirty dishwasher on everybody in their friend circle, Eddie being destined to this fate many times over. Steve will wrap a scarf around his head, a pair of his mother’s sunglasses perched on his nose, chapstick smeared on his lips and pouting, and pretend like he’s some 1950s dame. 

In fact, that’s what he’s doing right now.

Eddie is blissfully stoned on the Harrington’s couch. Mind floating and his tongue heavy in his mouth. His stomach hurts from a combination of too many bowls of cereal and laughing extremely hard. And Steve is no better.

Steve’s got his stupid little pink sheer scarf on. His lips are pouty and plump and bright magenta pink. There’s a pair of white cat eye sunglasses perched low near the tip of his nose. His eyes are heavy, half-lidded, bloodshot, and glistening. He’s wrapped a blanket around himself like a shawl. And he’s got this terrible, god awful, adorable transatlantic accent. It’s, also, a little southern; though he thinks that Steve doesn’t even notice that aspect. Voice high pitched and sort of nasally.

“Why, Eddie Munson, aren’t you a pretty thing?” Steve says. He’s fanning himself with his hand. Legs crossed, a palm settled on his left knee. He bats his eyes. “I do believe you are,” he murmurs.

Eddie snorts. He’s laid out on the couch, feet near Steve’s hip. He has his hands patting on his belly, head nestled into the arm of the couch. One of his feet pokes Steve’s thigh. “You’re ridiculous, Harrington,” he chuckles. “If you wanted to flirt, you could just do that.”

Steve gasps, clutching at his chest like’s grabbing for his pearls. He genuinely seems offended, but Eddie knows that he isn’t. “Are you calling me…” He drops his voice to a whisper. “A harlot?”

“Are you southern or are you an actress in a 1950s film?” Eddie asks, ignoring Steve’s question. “Not that it really matters because you’re running circles in my mind anyway. Don’t even think you realize how much you’re doing.”

“I’m a doll,” Steve answers unhelpfully. “Thought you knew that.”

Of course, Eddie thinks, of course I knew. He snorts again instead. “You’re ridiculous,” he mutters. “And stupidly cute whenever you do this.”

“Really?” Steve breathes. The accent completely gone from his voice. His posture slumping back to his normal everyday. Character completely gone from him. “You think so?”

And if Eddie looked closely, he could say that Steve’s…sheepish, coy, genuine. Like he actually wants to be cute. Wants to be ridiculous. Wants to be stupidly adorable and stupidly wonderful and everything and more. So Eddie sighs, nestling into the couch with his eyes closed. Because maybe not seeing Steve will mask the truth in what he says next. “Steve, I quite literally love you. And everything you do makes me ass over heels. Seriously, I don’t think you realize how much you affect me, dude.”

Then, the room falls silent. Eddie’s floating in bliss. His cheeks warm and most definitely colored pink. Sure, that’s such a stupid thing to do, confess his feelings on a night like this. But Eddie almost doesn’t care. Though, he knows that if Steve remembers this in the morning, he’ll forget it happened. Blame it on the weed. Blame it on the goofiness and the sleepiness to the two of them.

He’ll save Eddie’s face. That’s what Eddie likes about this confession.

“Oh,” Steve mutters. He says it like he wasn’t expecting Eddie to be honest, which kind of hurts, but he shrugs it off for now. “Oh, okay,” Steve is whispering, “Love you, too, Eds.”

This will all be gone in the morning, wiped away with Madame Steve and her weird accent that can’t be placed, hidden by giggles and sly remarks and Steve’s weird little mannerisms. But the weight will still be there.

For now, “Madame Steve?” Eddie calls out. “How ‘bout you tell me about how pretty you think I am? And I can say how beautiful you are?”

Steve begins with his eyes.

The weight will forever be there.

💕—————💕