#a couple decades later max sends eddie an email with a video link

[klausinamarink]

A Surprise! :)

forgive me my dudes

At twenty-two years old, Eddie has been always suspicious of any packages that arrived on his doorstep. Even if they were addressed directly to Wayne, he would never pick it up with a ten foot pole.

Being the freak of Hawkins had its downsides and prank deliveries was one of them. Sure, some of the packages were hideously funny like a jar of fake blood or rubber spiders. Like that was going to send Edward Munson running back to the landfill he crawled out of.

But the contents became so much more threateningly creative in the last year, even after Eddie was cleared of all charges and he and Wayne moved to a new house further out of town.

So the sight of a small taped box on the kitchen counter made Eddie’s heart stopped.

But Wayne told him that it was legit and the sender meant no harm. He said this with that knowing wink whenever Steve became part of their conversation.

Oh. Eddie checked the handwriting and breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank fuck, it’s just Steve.

He was too quick to rip it open, but still kept careful and cautious enough. He blinked at the reveal of a cassette tape. It had a strip of plain tape on the side where two words and a smiley face were written in fat black marker: A Surprise! :)

Eddie grinned, unable to contain his giddiness as he hurriedly hobbled back to his room. He nearly broke the poor cassette as he inserted it into his radio player. It’s not like Steve giving him gifts out of the blue wasn’t unusual. But for him to give Eddie a mixtape? That made his poor heart combust and regenerate again, beating more faster with love.

But why did he have to drop it off instead of giving it to me? He thought as he pressed play.

Then the song of his nightmares blasted at high volume.

He immediately hit pause. Then pressed play again on autopilot.

He forced to listen to the opening, hoping this is some sick trick of his ears.

“We’re no strangers to love-”

Pause. He pressed the forward button, waited a few seconds, then hit play again.

“-just wanna tell you how I’m feel-”

Pause. Forward again. Play.

“Your heart’s been ra-”

Forward. Play.

“Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down. Never gonna-”

Fucking forward again-

Click.

Eddie’s breathing heavily through his nose. He’s seeing red prickling the edges of his vision as he rewound the tape to the fucking beginning.

Forward. Play.

“You know the rules and so do I-”

He stopped the tape and clicked the button so fiercely he nearly broke it. Once the cassette was freed, he grabbed and immediately stalked out. “I’m going out!” He shouted as he snatched his car keys and passed by Wayne, who was still in the kitchen and drinking his coffee in amusement.

Eddie drove to Steve’s house, fast and furious and one-handed. He gripped the cassette in his clutches, unable to let it infect his van. Thank god his radio was off. If he heard that song play one more time-

He screeched to a stop on the driveway. He got out and marched to the front door. He knocked hard and loud for several seconds and waited, fuming. He heard a few muttering and footsteps. Then the door clicked open and there was Steve, grinning at the sight of Eddie.

And Eddie slapped him across the face.

Before Steve could recover, Eddie shoved the cursed cassette tape to his boyfriend’s chest. He yelled, “Thanks for the fucking mixtape!” And turned back around, purposefully blocking out any pleas Steve might have called out for him.

As he drove back home, Eddie felt satisfaction replacing his righteous anger. And then the satisfaction was replaced with dread and horror.

“Oh my god, I just broke up and hurt my boyfriend!” He immediately turned his van back to Steve’s house, tires screeching.

He parked more hazardously this time, but he didn’t care as he rushed out of the driver’s seat and ran back to the front door, despite his leg’s protest. This time, when Steve opened the door again, Eddie pounced on him with an inescapable koala hug, legs around his waist style.

Words tumbled out of his mouth as he carefully held his boyfriend’s face. “I’m so so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean it! I never meant to hurt you, I’m sorry I hit you. I promise I never hated you at all or hate your song choices again, can you forgive me? How bad did I slap- oh god, there’s a bruise! I’m so fucking sorry I’m such a shitty boyfriend-!”

Eddie wailed tearfully into Steve’s neck as he was patted lightly on the back. He could hear Steve shushing and giggling quietly in his ear. “Hey, hey, Eds, Eddie. It’s okay, I swear. I’m fine, promise.”

Eddie shook his head like he was five years old again, “You’re not fine! I just slapped you across the face and I called you an idiot!”

“Eddie, you didn’t call me an idiot. You just said thanks for the mixtape.”

“But it was mean and horrible. And I implied that you w-”

“Hey.” He felt Steve’s nose bumping to his cheek. “First, you didn’t call me an idiot. You never had and never will, even when you’re angry. Second, it was my idea to send you that tape with the Rick Astley single. I knew you hated it, but I thought it was funny to mess with you and clearly it wasn’t. Would you call me an idiot for that?”

Eddie lifted his head up at that, staring at Steve with teary-eyed shock. “What? Of course not!”

Steve smiled softly, still looking at Eddie like he was the only best person in the whole world. “See? You now know it was a joke and I now know it was too mean-spirited. I’m very sorry about hurting your trust like that, Ed. But I promise that I’m never doing it again. You can cross my heart for me on that because I literally can’t let you go of your ass yet.”

Eddie snorted and kissed gently on the reddened skin of Steve. He felt shame burning his lips and eyes until Steve kissed him back.

“Oh my god…”

Eddie whirled his head around. The kids were in the living room, all in varied levels of shock, because of course they are. Only Max and Erica were on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn with mirroring smiles. But Robin was also here and she looked ready to murder Eddie on sight, her hand clenched around a thin ceramic vase. The only reason she hadn’t moved further was because Dustin, Mike and Lucas were literally holding her back.

“Robin. We’re cool now. Put the vase down.” Steve said nonchalantly.

Robin just glared at Eddie more. She then pointed at him and made a cutting motion across her throat before hissing, “You’re back on thin ice, Eddie.” Then she easily freed herself of the boys’ clutched and huffed towards the kitchen.

Steve started moving, still holding Eddie who was still hugging him, “We’re gonna be in my room. Just remember to knock, dipshits.”

“No sex!” Everyone yelled in unison, Robin being the loudest. Eddie bit back a laugh as he was jostled up the stairs to Steve’s bedroom. Only when they laid down on bed that Eddie finally let go, groaning at the stiffness and aches in his limbs and back. Steve rubbed a hand along his side in comfort, “You want anything?”

“Just listening to music is fine. ‘m tired.” He reached out a finger and crossed Steve’s chest. “Just no more of that Rick fucker. You change the tape while I’m listening, I’ll break your dick.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but he nodded and grabbed his Walkman from his drawer. He took out a Billy Idol cassette and showed it to Eddie who nodded in approval. Then Eddie shuffled closer, resting his head against his boyfriend’s chest as a non-Rick Astley song played though the headphones.