#eddy distressed

[hairmetal666]

It's 3am. It's pouring down rain. Steve's soaked to the skin, been wandering the city for most of the night, hasn't slept in almost 24 hours, thinks maybe he's on the brink of delirium, and then a truck hits a pool of ponded water, sending a muddy wave cascading over him.

He just wants to go home but Dustin lost his dog and he can't leave a puppy out in this weather.

Steve steps off the curb, and what looks like a shallow puddle turns out to be a water-filled hole. He crashes towards the pavement, nothing he can do to stop it. As fast he's falling, he's miraculously not, arms wrapped around his waist. It takes a second for his brain to catch up, to understand that he's being held upright in an old-fashioned, romantic dip.

"Careful, sweetheart," a deep and smoke raspy voice says from above him.

it sends chills down his spine, the good kind, and warmth slips through him. His rescuer is a solid 10 knockout. Long, curly hair; eyeliner; decked out in leather and studs and chains. He smells like booze and cigarettes and weed, and it's intoxicating. Steve has to fight the instinct to nuzzle the guy's leather jacket. He's beautiful, holds Steve with the swagger only a guy with rings on every finger could pull off.

And Steve is a mud soaked mess in sweatpants and a threadbare Hawkins High tee. But the guy holding him isn't letting go. He stares down at Steve, brown eyes wide.

"Steve!" A voice calls over the patter of the rain.

"Dustin?" He says at the same time that the man holding him says, "Henderson?"

"Eddie?" Dustin asks.

"Wait, dnd Eddie?" Steve gets his feet under him, but Eddie's arms don't drop.

"You're the famous babysitter Steve I've been hearing all about?"

They gape at each other until Dustin reaches them.

"What are you still doing out here?" Dustin shouts. "We found Dart hours ago."

"Dustin!" He thinks he might cry. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You weren't answering your walkie!"

"Fuck." Steve drops his face to his hand. The walkie. Which is on the table by the front door where he and Robin leave their keys.

Steve swallows his frustration, the misery of waterlogged shoes, having to be up to open the store in a few hours, meeting the hottest guy he's ever seen when he looks like a drowned rat.

"I promised I'd find Dart, didn't I? Now what the hell are you doing out so late?"

"Mom and I were looking for you!"

"Let's get you back to the car, man, okay?" Steve says to Dustin. He wants to end this weird, terrible, embarrassing night before it gets even more humiliating.

"I can give you a ride home," Eddie says. He's got this weird, intense look on his face, staring at Steve.

"I'm only a few blocks away. I'll be fine. C'mon, Henderson."

"Oh, I can walk him. You head home."

He nods, starts towards his apartment, but turns back just in time to see Eddie and Dustin share a look he can't parse.

---

A few days later, Dustin's following him around at work, chattering about dnd as Steve shelves books, and without taking a breath during a soliloquy about owl bears, says, "Eddie's running a one-shot for us next week. You should come! It's a great way to get into the game."

"I'm not playing dnd," Steve answers. He slides a book onto the shelf. "I've told you this."

"Yeah, but you liked Eddie, right? He'd help you out!"

Steve squints at the kid. "I didn't really meet Eddie to know. Anyway, I'm sure he doesn't want a newbie crashing."

Steve is pretty sure Eddie doesn't like him, based on their short introduction, so he's not interested in forcing himself into the guy's dnd club. The night they met was humiliating enough, Steve in all his dorky glory.

"No, he totally wouldn't care. C'mon, Steve!"

"No can do." He ruffles Dustin's hair as he walks away.

He thinks that'll be the end of it, but every few days, for weeks Dustin and all the rest of the kids stop at the store to beg him to join their dnd club.

---

Steve is working the register and he hears the shuffling clank of a customer, looks up and finds Eddie. He's staring at Steve with that same look from the night they met, intense and piercing, cutting straight through the heart of him. He feels himself start to blush.

The first thing out of Eddie's mouth is, "Wait, this is your store?"

"Yeah?" Steve asks. "Is that--is that weird?"

"No! Not at all. It's a good store. Cute." His nose wrinkles when he says it and Steve's blush grows hotter. He knew Eddie thought he was a dork.

"Cute. Yeah. Right. Can I help you with something?"

Eddie rocks back on his heels, hands going to the pockets of his leather jacket, sending his chains jingling. "Oh, so, actually I wanted to see if you were busy?"

"Yeah, man. I'm busy." He laughs, doesn't intend to be mean about it, but he and Robin only opened the store six months ago and both take night classes at the local community college. Plus, everything he does with the kids.

Eddie's face flushes bright. "Oh, sure, of course. Yeah, I--I'll see you around."

The door thunks to a close behind him, and a voice immediately pops up to ask, "What the hell was that?"

He turns to find Max Mayfield hands on hips, glaring up at him, Robin close behind.

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

Max rolls her eyes and strides up to the counter. "Why were you an asshole to Eddie?"

"He started it!"

"I highly doubt that."

"Okay, Ms. Know-it-all, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"I know for a fact that Eddie came in today to ask you out. So, tell me, Steve Harrington, why he rushed out of here looking like a kicked puppy?"

"What?" He yelps. "Eddie doesn't even like me!"

She glares. "Doesn't like you? He's been pathetic about you since you met."

He gapes at Robin. "Don't look at me," she shrugs. "But that guy was definitely here to ask you out."

"Fix it." Max commands as she stomps out the door. "He bar tends at that metal place on 68th."

---

It's just after 9pm and he's at the metal bar on 68th, decidedly out of place in the yellow t-shirt and jeans he wore to his business accounting class.

It's fairly busy for a weeknight, but Eddie's not hard to find. He's obviously in his element, bobbing his head to a song Steve's never heard as he mixes a drink.

With a hard swallow and a healthy dose of humility, he walks up to the bar.

"Be right--" Eddie starts, balking when he notices Steve.

"Can we talk?" he shouts over the music.

Eddie's eyes widen a little, but he nods, slips out from behind the bar to guide him to an employee exit.

"What's up, Steve?" Eddie asks. His hands are in his pockets, shoulders bowed in.

"I wanted to apologize."

"What for?"

"Earlier, I--when you said the store was cute I thought you were making fun of me."

"But--why?"

"I thought you didn't like me." Steve cringes at the admission.

"What?" He laughs.

"I don't know. We met in the middle of the night and I was covered in mud looking for a dog that wasn't lost anymore."

"Steve. Holy shit." Eddie shakes his head. "You looked gorgeous that night. The way your clothes were sticking--you know what? Never mind. Did you think I wanted you to come to dnd because I hated you?"

"You wanted me to come?"

"Dustin didn't..."

"No! And he's been asking me to play dnd weekly for the past five years."

"Jesus Christ," Eddie slumps agains the brick wall at his back. "No wonder you turned me down today."

"To be fair," Steve slumps next to him. "If I had realized you were asking me out, I wouldn't have turned you down."

"No?" Eddie asks. His brown eyes gleam.

"Definitely not. I've had a crush on you since that night. Sort of devastating since I thought you didn't like me." Steve runs his hand through his hair, watches Eddie track the movement.

"The store is cute, Steve. I--uh--I've been a few times. Back before I knew you were the owner! I just kept seeing a hot employee with great hair and a perfect ass, and the vaguely mean lesbian barista gives me free drinks."

"That's Robin," Steve says. He's smiling so hard.

"I know that now," Eddie smiles back. "Sorry for being an idiot."

"Me too." Steve nods. "Do you--could I still come to dnd? Or take you out sometime?"

"Why not both?" Dimples pop on Eddie's cheeks, and Steve's heart flips.

"I like both." They're still against the wall, but drifting into each other's space.

"So Dustin said."

It surprises a laugh out of Steve. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Too bad. He's a nice kid."

"Eh, we've got six more to choose from."

"I have a few more hours here, but there's a diner down the street that does some of the most mediocre pancakes I've ever tasted. Meet me there? Around 2?"

"A thousand lost puppies wouldn't make me miss it."

The next time Steve is out at 3am he's pressed against a building, Eddie kissing him so thoroughly he knows he's never recovering from this one.

[peppermintquartz]

NOW ON AO3

--

Eddie and Buck come through the door of Buck's loft together in a fit of giggles, still high over Chimney's expression being spat on by an alpaca, when they see Tommy sitting alone on the floor, pressed to a corner where he is staring out the window.

"Tommy?" Buck says, delighted and about to head over, when Eddie slaps a hand to Buck's chest. "What?"

Eddie's eyes narrow. There's nothing overtly odd, but there was something strange yet familiar about Tommy's expression and position.

"Buck, go make coffee."

"Eddie it's 9pm," Buck protests.

"Make. Coffee. And don't come over until I call you," Eddie doesn't mean to put on his Dad voice, but it works on Buck, and as Buck heads to the kitchen, Eddie goes to Tommy.

Thousand yard stare. Left hand clenched over the right wrist. Jaw set.

There is a knife in his right hand.

"Kinard, you okay there?" Eddie asks softly.

Tommy's gaze flickers and he looks at Eddie, a small frown creasing his brow. "I don't know."

"You know where you are?"

"Evan's place." He frowns more deeply. "I heard screams. Explosions."

Eddie sits down. He can hear the coffee machine going and Buck is probably hovering, waiting for Eddie's signal.

"When did you hear the sounds?"

"I don't know. I was... I was in my car, heading home. And then next thing I know I was... I heard screaming, and I drove here, and all I could think of was Evan. I had to get to Evan." Tommy blinks rapidly and his breathing picks up. "Where is-"

"Buck, come here," Eddie calls out.

Buck practically dashes over and kneels down next to his boyfriend. "Tommy."

"Evan," Tommy breathes out, and as if a string is cut, his rigid posture goes slack. "You're safe. You're safe."

Eddie exhales too. "Tommy, drop the knife."

"Knife?" Tommy looks at his hands and instantly relaxes his grip. The knife falls the short distance with a thud. Eddie reaches over and picks it up. A folding utility knife. Something Tommy would have in his car. "I didn't... Did I hurt anyone?"

"No," Eddie says with a tiny smile, patting his friend on the knee.

Beside him, Buck is swallowing down his thousand and one questions. He touches Tommy's arm tentatively, and is reassured when Tommy pulls him into a one-armed hug.

It could have gone badly, if Buck had run up to Tommy suddenly and unwarily. A knife wound to the gut would be a bad, bad thing, and Tommy would never forgive himself.

Some dark days, Eddie was thankful he had somehow had the presence of mind to lock the door before he fired the shots. If anything had happened to Christopher... He shakes himself out of the sheer horror of the thought.

"I thought... I heard screams," Tommy's telling Buck, "and I knew, I knew we were under attack, we had to find cover, but I needed to find you. I needed to make sure you were safe."

Buck kisses him on the forehead, then on the mouth, twice. "I am safe. We all are."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Either of you."

Eddie stands. "I think we all need some coffee."

-

Eddie and Tommy are sitting at the table, picking at what's left of the nacho chips, while Buck has been persuaded to go take a shower.

"You seeing someone about that?" Eddie asks.

"Used to." Tommy smiles grimly. "It was... It was really bad at first, when I just came back, but it's been... Shit, it's been a year and half? two years? since the last one."

"Auditory hallucinations."

"Explosions and screaming. There were... It was an accident, they told us afterwards. Bad intel. Civilians weren't supposed to be hurt." Tommy snorts. "Bullshit liars, all of them."

"That why you left?"

"Once the tour was done, I was too. I like flying. I don't like killing." Tommy's face is ashen. He looks a decade older with exhaustion. "I like what I've built since."

"I can tell." Eddie sighs and grabs Tommy's wrist, squeezes it once to get his attention. "And before you beat yourself up about the knife, I'm gonna tell you that you had a firm grip on your knife hand." He leans in, catches Tommy's guilt-ridden gaze. "You would not have hurt him. Part of you was keeping yourself in check." He squeezes again when Tommy tries to avert his eyes. "Tommy. You wouldn't have hurt him."

"I might in the future."

"We'll tell him how to manage this, okay? Because... Because he's had to deal with me too. He gets it. He really does."

Closing his eyes, Tommy inhales, holds his breath, and exhales. "Okay."

From the bathroom, Buck calls out, "So you guys done with the heart to heart yet or do I have to stay in here any longer?"

Eddie laughs, and is relieved to see Tommy's face crinkle up in that same warm, familiar grin. We're all gonna be fine.

[morganbritton132]

Nancy sends Eddie a video the morning after her monster hunter trio sleepover and Eddie uses it as a background in a Tiktok.

So, he’s wordlessly in the corner of the screen while the video plays. It shows Nancy getting out bed, putting on her sleepers and her robe, and then walking across the hall to the guest room where Steve and Jonathan are asleep at opposite ends of the bed.

Nancy walks to the side of the bed that Steve is sleeping on and taps on the phone laying next to him. The screen lights up and shows that he’s on a call with Eddie that has been going on for the last five hours.

She flips the camera around and says directly to Eddie, “You’re pathetic.”

Nancy’s video ends and Eddie takes up the whole screen of his Tiktok just to say, “I can’t believe this is how I find out that my husband has me in his phone as Eddie Munson.”

[lover-of-mine]

No, but they are so sick for these 2 stills tho. It's the same concept but Tommy is pulling away where Eddie is literally holding Buck's hand.

[foolsocracy]

Horrible thought: what if miles or someone makes a lobotomy joke near noir

i think he would be allowed to go a little off the rails

[muppeddie]

yknow what. tommy was buck's most functional relationship to date actually. yeah it wasn't the most exciting he had ever had and they didn't click that much but tommy was not about to move to another country or scared of what it meant to date a guy who risks his life for a living, he didn't grow to resent buck because they were fundamentally incompatible, he basically said "i would have loved to move in with you down the line but I can't because /you/ don't really want to. you just don't know it yet." because buck has misconstructed the idea of a romantic partner down to the bones of "i need someone that's my girlboyfriend because everyone has a girlboyfriend and it's all im missing to be complete." except he already takes everything that a partner could give you from eddie. a home, reassurance, family, someone who understands him and cares for him, someone he calls when he's down, someone who takes him to the hospital and sits with him and tells him when he's being stupid. that's eddie. buck knows it's eddie. so everything every other love interest does for buck will simply bounce off the walls of his beautifully insane brain and he can never understand what's wrong. why did tommy leave him? he didn't ask for much. (unaware that's the exact point). he's not looking for a partner he's looking for a paper-thin placeholder. imagine what it will feel like once he realizes he can just put the right name to the man who's been there all along and call it a day.

[bitch-i-ship-them]

starting to think that if you include that 911 LS episode where he was, 911 8x04 would be Ryan's 100th episode so they can totally parallel it with 7x04 by doing a Eddie, Estranged, and Embittered or whatever. delicious.

[plistommy]

Oh my god someone hold him already????!!

[littlespoonevan]

911 season 7 episode 9, aka the episode where I kept thinking things were a dream that were NOT in fact a dream

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ohhhhh god not Eddie's costume having his face split yellow/purple like the fucking clocks

[dangerpronebuddie]

For @badthingshappenbingo

Baby, I'm Never Gonna Leave You 12k

Eddie changed lanes, prepared to head back to the station, when Buck's phone started ringing. "Oh, it's probably Maddie," Buck said, taking his phone from his pocket. "I already told her I'd have to-" he frowned at the screen- "oh?” "What's the matter?" Eddie asked. "Um... You remember that bracelet I bought Taylor?" Buck asked. Unfortunately, Eddie did. That Christmas was memorable... for all the wrong reasons. (Including, but not limited to, the presence of one red headed demon.) "Yeah. Why?" "It's been set off," he said, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

Bad Things Happen Bingo: Distress Call

Read on ao3

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

So you guys remember this post that I posted the other day? The one where Eddie makes a deal with Steve to read a book for him? Well I kind of have been working on more for that. (Slowly but surely) and I kind of want to post and get an opinion on this scene I wrote for it, I still have to edit it but for the general idea I was just curious to see if I should I keep it in the oneshot

Eddie had told himself that he wasn't going to pay attention to Steve Harrington after their agreement in the library. But he was never good at holding himself to his own word. Ten minutes after he had left Steve by himself in that aisle, he found himself wandering the school hallways. Specifically near the nurses lounge, where he spends possibly five minutes standing outside of in hopes of hearing Steve inside.

When he realizes he wasn't going to actually know if the king was in there without actually walking in there himself he becomes slightly agitated.

An idea pops into his head when he hears the bell ring, signaling the end of the period and the beginning of the next. He scurries to the side of the hallway, where he can catch every face that passes him. Crossing his arms as he leans back a bit, glancing over faces before finding exactly the one he needs.

He nearly tackles Gareth when he sees the familiar flannel vest. Quickly shoving him in the direction of the nurses office, with some struggle. Enough struggle that the book in his hand was nearly smacked away towards the wall to their right.

"What the hell dude!" Gareth's voice squeaks a bit.

Eddie may have accidentally chosen the wrong trooper for this job. With how much he was concentrated on this singular quest he had forgotten Gareth was one to piss off fairly easy. His nose was already scrunching up and he was already starting to smack Eddie's chest as his face began to match the color of his flannel.

"Eddie what the fuck!" Gareth finally gains some control as he quickly turns around and shoves Eddie backwards and into a couple of passing bystanders.

Awkwardly smiling, Eddie wiggles his fingers apologetically towards the group of kids before he's quickly walking back up to Gareth. Realizing he was going to have to come up with a good excuse as to why he had to go into the nurses office and check to see if Steve Harrington was inside.

Making a whoopsie face Eddie quickly leans forward and plops his hands down on the other's shoulders. "Sorry Gare bear didn't mean to startle you but I need your assistance my kind sir." He tilts his head and bit and hopes that his smile could possibly soften the other's anger. Just enough to receive his help.

Gareth grumbles a bit as he angrily lifts his hands up and squeezes his fists dramatically. As if he was reenacting choking Eddie out. As he angrily growls a bit he then smacks the others hands off from him as he glances down at his watch. Making even angrier noises when the bell goes off again, telling both him and Eddie they were late to their next class.

"This better be fucking good Munson." He growls out a bit before crossing his arms around his chest.

Eddie laughs a bit awkwardly, "Well you see- I kind of need you to walk into the nurses room for me and check to see if Steve Harrington is in there." He puts on his best smile again, but this time it wasn't working nearly as well as before.

Gareth's eyes were starting to do that squinty thing, along with his fists digging into his sides. Eddie's pretty sure that the boys left eye twitches a little.

"Did you seriously just nearly tackle me in the fucking hall way just to get me to check and see if his highness was in the nurses office?" Gareth's voice carry's no tone as he talks, which was not a good sign for Eddie.

"Language young Jedi, do you talk to your mother with that mouth?"

"Eddie!"

"Fine, I may or may not have done that. But it's important, I'll let you do whatever you want with the next character you build." He promises as he brings his hands up. "Scouts honor."

Gareth takes a moment to think before he's grumbling and turning to enter into the nurses office. The bell on the door dings lightly behind him as Eddie carefully starts to pace back and forth down the hallway. Chewing on his nails a bit as he keeps an eye on the door.

Five minutes pass before the door opens again with Gareth holding a hall pass. His face was not as red anymore, and he now had a lolly pop in his mouth.

"So?" Eddie asks impatiently.

"No sign of him," Gareth answers before he adds, "now can I go back to class? Or do you want me to go in there and find out how big his feet are from his file next?" He sasses.

"Oh shut up, and get to class you little asswipe." Eddie grumbles a bit. Mood slightly soured as he realizes the Steve didn't listen to him.

A soft "bitch" is sent his way before Gareth is leaving him by the nurses door.

Eddie swings back to the library, just to make sure that he didn't miss Steve in there. When he realizes there was no use in searching he plops himself down at one of the tables that sat in front of the check out area.

Sulking just a little as he checks the time, seeing he barely had twenty minutes of class left. Deciding that there was no point in going he ends up opening the book from earlier and slowly begins to read the first page.

Yeah sorry to be that guy I just need an opinion and I don’t have any beta readers rn. Also I need help deciding a name for this oneshot oh my god

[morganbritton132]

Eddie falls asleep live-streaming from bed again but this time, he doesn’t even have his phone propped up. Anybody tuning in will have a view of the ceiling from where his phone is laying on his chest.

An hour and a half after Eddie falls asleep, anybody still watching can hear Steve murmur, “Babe. Ed. Eddie, wake up.”

The camera shifts as Eddie moves and you can hear a gasped, “Huh?”

“You were having a nightmare,” Steve told him and gets a tiny ‘yeah, fuck’ in return. Steve’s voice is louder so he must’ve gotten closer before he asks, “Do you remember it?”

“Yeah, uh. Yeah, it was about Chrissy.”

“Oh,” Steve says. “Do you want me to play some music?”

There’s some movement as Eddie rolls onto his side to look at Steve, “Not really.”

“Okay,” He nods. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not- not right now.”

Steve hums before asking, “You know you’re safe though? He’s gone.”

There’s a bit of a smile in Eddie’s voice, “I know.”

“Not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“I know.”

[intermittentmania]

Lost in the Echo

Written for @whumptober || day 4 prompt: Hallucinations And @steddie-spooktober || day 6 prompt: Haunted

wc: 4,117 | rating: T | tags: Post-Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, Canonical Character Death, Suspense, Psychological Horror, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Open to Interpretation | read on: AO3

Summary: After Eddie's death, Steve begins seeing his ghost—or at least he thinks he does. No, he does. Eddie is there. Eddie is real. Steve just has to convince everyone else.

~ snippet~

Steve experienced many times the feeling of his fingers slipping through Eddie’s form—cold, sad, terrifying. So when he found some resistance this time, he pulled back sharply, his hand jerking away like he had been electrocuted. 

Eddie's eyes widened. "You felt that?"

Steve nodded, his heart hammering in his chest. "What's happening?"

Eddie reached out, his hand unsteady, and for the first time, when his fingers brushed against Steve’s cheek, Steve felt it. Light, almost nothing, really. But it was real.

"Eddie," Steve breathed, his voice shaking. "I can feel you."

[wimbledon2008]

i think buck should get hit by a car and i think eddie should have to witness it

[venom-ass-daily]

From The Amazing Spider-Man vol 1 issue #375