#eventual background steddie

[maxineholtzmann]

what's all this talk about love? - now complete on ao3!

Rating: Mature

Relationship: Chrissy Cunningham/Nancy Wheeler

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Runaway Bride,This is very loosely based on Runaway Bride, Lesbian Nancy Wheeler, Gay Eddie Munson, Past Chrissy Cunningham/Eddie Munson, Past Jason Carver/Chrissy Cunningham, Past Chrissy Cunningham/Gareth, Platonic Soulmates Chrissy Cunningham & Eddie Munson, Mechanic!Chrissy, mechanic!Eddie, journalist!nancy, Priest!Gareth, Asshole Jason Carver, Technically there is Chrissy/Steve, But they're both comphet-ing super duper hard the whole time, Eventual Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Discussions of and allusions to domestic violence, high school football coach!steve

Word Count: 19,345

Chapters: 3/3

written as a birthday gift (finished deeply belated) for @hexiewrites!

Chapter One Snippet:

Nancy handed over the can of hairspray, extending her other hand. “Nancy Wheeler,” she said as the other woman accepted her extended hand, shaking it.

“Chrissy Cunningham,” she said, smiling wide. “What brings you to Hawkins, Nancy Wheeler?”

No way. Absolutely no way was this tiny peppy sprite of a woman the calculating serial heartbreaker Jason Carver made her out to be. She barely looks like she could kill a mosquito let alone leave three men at the altar!

Nancy cleared her throat. “Actually, you do.”

Chrissy withdrew her hand, backing up. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a journalist from Chicago–” Nancy started.

“ –you met Jason didn’t you? God, why can’t he just leave me alone?” Chrissy looked up at the ceiling, visibly tensing.

“I’d really like to sit down with you and get your side of the story if you have time this weekend–”

“Absolutely not. My life is not some salacious story for whatever cut rate tabloid you work for, Wheeler,” Chrissy said coldly, fury overtaking her expression. “‘ My side of the story?’ You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

read the rest on ao3

[angeldreamsoffanfic]

content warning: this took SUCH a turn to dom eddie munson wanting to make steve harrington just absolutely one, turn his brain off, and two- realize that his interests aren’t stupid. like it’s not… necessarily explicit on here but when this gets a bit more fleshed out… it’s gonna have to be posted on ao3 😂

-

The thing is, Steve Harrington knows hair- okay?

And he also knows that his friends completely like to tease him about it, that they think that most of the time his affinity for it is a bit narcissistic. That he shouldn’t spend as much time as he does on it and he should “let go sometimes”, but he can’t.

He can remember watching his mother years ago in the bathroom mirror teach him how to style his hair, with little spritzes of water and a just a few puffs of sweet smelling hairspray. He can fully and thoroughly recall flipping through magazines when he was younger, back when his parents had started to travel, and taking beauty tips from the pages in regards to detangling. He’d spent three days with a knot at the nape of his neck, after a few days of swim practice, and he had too much pride at the time to ask anyone for help.

But anyway, Steve Harrington knows hair- and it’s not that he thinks other people don’t… but he also knows that some people don’t care as much as he does. And that’s why watching Eddie Munson take a brush to his curls (completely dry which is painful in it of itself) is absolutely heartbreaking in the weirdest way possible.

Steve also is completely and totally aware that his face must be doing… something, because Eddie has turned around to fully face him- instead of glaring daggers at his own reflection.

“What, Harrington?”

Steve shook his head quickly, fingers drumming against his thighs as he diverted his attention to the tv again. He hadn’t had a television in his room before actually, had figured it’d be a bit too much of a distraction from trying to sleep. Steve is sure there’s some study about the light too, a study Robin had rambled to him before.

That’d been before Vecna though, before the year 1986 and all of it’s horrors that it brought along to the town Hawkins once again. In Steve’s mind? A small tv and a couple of VHS tapes was probably the least of his worries after surviving everything. The tv itself had some poorly made horror movie on, something Eddie had brought along from his government provided home, while the two waited on Robin and Nancy to make their way over.

“Stevie?” Eddie had moved closer, brows slightly furrowed as his dark eyes widened. “What’s on your mind, man? Not getting like…” Eddie mimed wiggling his fingers at the side of his own head, and Steve couldn’t hold back the laugh that made it’s way out from his throat. “Okay so Vecna is not getting his creepy hands on you… so what’s up then?”

Steve took a moment and shrugged, before he let himself card a wide-splayed hand through his own hair. The hairspray was just ever so slightly crunchy under his fingers, and Steve huffed as he shrugged again.

“It’s so stupid man, like don’t even worry about it.” Steve flapped a hand in Eddie’s direction, and Eddie was quick to click his tongue against the back of his teeth as he moved closer.

“Nuh uh, big boy.” Eddie eased himself onto the foot of the bed, and Steve forced himself to not scrunch his nose as Eddie’s dry curls swished a bit around his shoulders. “C’mon I can see it in your eyes! Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell m-”

Steve cut Eddie off with a press of a flat palm up against Eddie’s lips, and Steve tried to not think about how soft Eddie was up against Steve’s skin. Steve groaned as Eddie’s tongue swiped against his flesh, and Steve hissed as he reared backward away from the older teen.

“Fucking gross dude!”

“Usually I’m the one doing that, big boy!”

Steve and Eddie both spoke up at the same time, and the two eyed each other warily, before they split into soft laughs between the two. Eddie then shifted further up onto the bed, back pressed up against the footboard, before he knocked his leg against Steve’s.

“C’mon dude, what’s up?”

“Your hair!” Steve finally answered, before he then folded his arms over his chest. “I know it’s stupid, but watching you tear a brush through it dry is actually breaking my heart, Munson.” Steve groaned, and ran a hand over his face before he continued. “And I know it’s stupid and everyone always says it’s stupid of me to care about hair so much-”

“It’s not stupid.” Eddie’s firm tone cut Steve off, and Steve glanced back toward the man through his lashes. Eddie’s jaw is set, firm and unyielding, and Eddie let out a dry laugh. “Fuck man, what has everyone in your life done to you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re… fuck sweetheart, you’re allowed to enjoy things.” Eddie’s voice has gone saccharine sweet, soft and gooey- and the tone has an immediate effect on Steve, making his brain feel all fuzzy and soft. “So, what has everyone in your life done to you?”

Steve doesn’t answer and instead just shrugged again, and it draws a quick intake of breath from Eddie- before the man has pushed himself up and off of Steve’s bed. He’s quick and methodical in his movements, scraping his curls up and off of his neck into a low bun at his nape. Eddie then pulled his boots back on, before he checked his pockets for a moment, and then proceeded to nod to himself. Eddie then extended a hand out to Steve, and wiggled his fingers with a small grin on his face.

“C’mon then, dude. We need to go to the store.”

Steve let his hand meet Eddie’s, and is quick to ignore the flutter in his stomach at the touch. His hands, Eddie’s, are larger than his but the fingers skinnier and calloused from what Steve knows to be years of guitar playing. That, and Eddie now has a pretty decent job at the local mechanic shop, and Steve knows that Eddie enjoys the job. Knows that Eddie likes working with his hands, and Steve tried to ignore the idea of Eddie getting those hands on Steve—

“Stevie?” Eddie snapped his fingers in front of Steve’s eyes, and Steve shook himself out of his revere. Steve sent Eddie a nervous smile, and he tried to ignore the flush of heat he can feel under his cheeks at the soft coo that Eddie let out. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Mhm,” Steve bobbed his head in a quick nod, even when Eddie hummed before he moved as to grab the pair of Nikes that Steve had on earlier in the day. “Where are we uh, headed?”

“You and I-” Eddie moved back to Steve, and he curled a hand around Steve’s right ankle before he pulled- which caused Steve to unsteadily rock back, before he clamped a firm hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “I gotcha don’t ya worry baby-” Eddie murmured, soft and saccharine again, before he continued on as if Steve’s heart isn’t about to beat out of his chest. Eddie worked Steve’s Nike onto his foot, methodical in tying the laces tight, double-knotted just like Steve does. “You and me are gonna make our way out to Anderson for the afternoon.”

“But why?”

Eddie just sighed, soft and slow at Steve’s softly asked question, before he grabbed at Steve’s left foot, and set about slipping the other shoe onto it. Eddie took a moment, made sure to tie the laces of the shoe tight, before he stood back up so he could peer down slightly at Steve. Steve doesn’t move as Eddie pinched Steve’s chin soft in between his thumb and pointer, before Eddie slightly shook Steve’s face from side to side.

It’s enough that something in Steve just burns.

“Because Anderson has a nice and big hair supply shop in it, and we’re gonna go spend a little bit of government hush money there.” Eddie cooed, his voice soul-achingly sweet again, and Steve forced himself to swallow down the saliva that had been quick to pool in his mouth at Eddie’s tone. “And then when we’re done, I’ll drive us back here and you can do anything you want to my hair.”

“Anything?” Steve croaked, eyes wide as he kept his eyes on Eddie’s from under his lashes. Eddie’s smile is gleaming, and Eddie hummed quietly as he nodded himself.

“Absolutely anything, sweet thing.”

Steve Harrington knows hair, and he knows that.

And he also knows that his friends completely like to tease him about it, well, it’s seems like except for Eddie. So Steve let himself smile and nod, and he reveled in the way that Eddie grinned- a quick flash of teeth as he pinched a little firmer at the meat of Steve’s chin, before he let go.

“Atta boy.”

-

just a little sacrifice to the tumblr readmore gods

[hbyrde36]

Midsummer Nights (a.k.a Summer Camp Fic)

It's finally here! This one has been percolating for a while, and I'm so glad to have the start of the story written and out there. Updates might be a little sporadic until my Steddie big bang is complete, but I'm so excited to finally give this fic some attention!

WC: 3154 | R: Explicit (for eventual smut) | Ch 1/? | AO3

Chapter 1

Steve had been a camper at Sunset Lake since almost before he could remember. 

He was seven that first summer, and hadn’t spent more than a night away from his own bed before, for sleepovers with family or childhood friends. 

Regardless, his parents didn’t hesitate to dump him off in the middle of nowhere upstate for the full eight weeks the camp ran, with total strangers, many of whom were hardly more than kids themselves, the second he was old enough to attend. From then on, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington spent their own summers partying it up at the country club, pretending they didn’t have a son. 

It used to hurt, having the fact that they didn’t give a shit about him shoved so blatantly in his face. When he was still young and hopeful he would wait patiently by the front gates every visitor’s day, hoping that the next car full of visiting parents and family would be for him. 

It never was.

And by the time he turned eleven, he had stopped waiting. 

He also stopped signing up for activities that he had chosen only to impress his dad, like tennis, basketball, rock climbing—even if he was good at them—and instead began to fill his days with art, theater, and music. Anything that caught his interest, even if he was terrible at it. 

Suddenly he lived for those eight weeks of summer that used to leave him feeling so lonely and unloved. Knowing it was the one place, the one time of year, where he could be the most himself. And he was too busy with performances and showing off the projects he’d completed on visitor’s days to think too much about the fact that no one ever came to see him. 

That was how he met Robin, his best friend and platonic soulmate. They were twelve and had both auditioned for roles in Shakespeare in the Summer, a series of famous scenes from the playwright's works, a pet project of the counselor who ran the theater department meant to be the big final show at the end of camp that year. They got the roles of Romeo and Juliet, respectively. 

As they rehearsed he developed a very small, but still very embarrassing crush on his co-star and eventually confessed, knowing he would feel guilty about kissing her if she didn’t know how he felt. 

Robin broke it to him gently, explaining that while she’d grown to like him a lot, as a friend, over the time they’d been working on their scene together, he just wasn’t her type. 

The last bit was said with a particular significance, but Steve, oblivious to what she was so subtly trying to convey, had protested that he was everyone’s type. She’d rolled her eyes and given him a fond, if exasperated, smile, and after swearing him to secrecy, put it in plain terms he could understand. 

She was a lesbian. 

Robin liked girls, exclusively, and her tastes ran long in soft skin, cherry red lips, and blonde ponytails—all of which Steve, for better or worse, lacked.

It was the 90’s, and the world was slowly changing, so it wasn't as if Steve had never heard of gay people before… it's just that he had never met one in real life. He accepted her immediately, his crush gone in a flash like it had never existed, and felt a kinship with her snap into place that he didn’t quite understand at the time, but was so obvious looking back. 

In the end they faked the kiss. Steve grabbed Robin’s face with both hands and all the faux passion he could muster, slipping his thumbs between their lips at the last second to keep them from crossing that particular line, and she had trusted him to do it. 

They were inseparable from that day forward. 

As promised, he kept her secret, and exactly one year later after coming to terms with a few realizations of his own—namely that he wasn’t as straight as he assumed, that in fact, he wasn’t sure he actually liked girls at all—when he confessed a secret of his own as they walked along the edge of the lake before curfew, he knew she would do the same for him.

This summer they were eighteen, part of the graduating class of 1999, on the brink of college, and finally old enough to be hired as full fledged counselors with paychecks and days off and everything. 

Not that it paid much, but Steve wasn’t in it for the money. He was in it for the love of the place. Sunset Lake Camp had become a second home to him over the last decade of his life, his real home, and the people there like family. There were always a few new faces that came and went, but most of the kids and staff alike came back year after year like him.

Robin was mainly in it for Steve, excited at the prospect of getting to spend the entire Summer with him for once instead of the single session, two short weeks, she was used to—all her folks had been able to afford each year growing up. 

It was poised to be the best summer of Steve’s life. 

Then he met Eddie. 

Pre-camp was exactly what it sounded like. A full week of cleaning, painting, maintenance, and general setting up of the place before the first crop of kids was set to arrive. It wasn’t mandatory for the staff, and some counselors wouldn’t even arrive until the day before the first session began, but it did come with an extra paycheck and the opportunity to get out of his parents house that much sooner. 

Steve was so in.

And naturally, that meant Robin was too.

They both arrived mid afternoon. Steve had driven himself in his beloved second hand BMW all the way from Hawkins, his excitement mounting as the scenery changed, flat boring highways finally giving way to lush green rolling hills and mountains, the roads eventually going from asphalt, to crushed stone, to dirt as he turned onto camp property and made his way to the employee parking lot. Robin arrived just after, her parents' car rolling to a stop next to his while he was still unloading his duffel bags from the trunk.  

Steve had offered to pick her up on his way so they could ride in together, it wouldn’t have added that much time to his own trip, but Mr. and Mrs. Buckley would never give up the opportunity to see their only daughter off for the summer, no matter how old she was. They were good parents, and just plain good people.

Robin was horribly embarrassed by the sheer number of hugs they gave her, and Steve, before finally getting back in their car to head home, and he couldn’t help wondering if she knew how lucky she was. His own parents had hardly looked up from their coffee when he’d said goodbye to them that morning.

“How was the drive?” Robin asked with her face squished against Steve's chest, as he pulled her in for his own bone-crushing hug. God he fucking missed her. Emails and once a week phone calls just weren’t enough. Damn long distance fees.

“Long, boring, the usual.” He said, pulling away from her reluctantly. 

In truth he didn’t mind the long journey. It was nice getting to shut his brain off, and sing along at full volume to whatever songs had made it on American Top 40 with Casey Kasem that week.

The low rumble and put-put-put of an old engine had them both looking up, signaling the arrival of Director Hopper in his ancient pickup truck, its tires kicking up dirt and rocks no matter how slowly he drove. 

The truck rolled to a stop in front of them, and the man behind the wheel leaned out the open window to wave. “Long time no see, kids!”

“Hop,” Robin whined, “we’re not kids anymore.”

“Oh! My apologies—Miss Buckley, Mister Harrington.”

Steve wrinkled his nose. “Okay, now you're just being mean.”

Hopper threw his head back and laughed, before stepping out of the truck. “You know you’ll always be kids to me.”

After another round of hugs the man helped load their stuff up into the back, then helped both of them climb up on top of their piled luggage.

As the truck bumped along slowly towards the north side of the campus, where the bunks were, Hopper slid open the back window of the truck so he could shout out to them.

“Me and Joyce got two of the cabins fixed up already so you-all have someplace clean to sleep tonight. One for the women, one for the men.” Hopper’s eyes narrowed as he stared them down through his rearview mirror. He, along with almost everyone else, thought they were dating and had been for years. If he only knew how wrong he was. “Dinner is at six tonight in the dining hall, and I suggest you settle in and relax till then. The real work starts tomorrow.”

“You sure you don't need help with anything today?” Steve asked, sticking his head through the little window to make sure the older man could hear him.

“Thanks kid, but I got it covered. All that’s left today really is picking up a few international staff from the airport. I would have been on my way there already, but the flight got delayed, not due in till late tonight now.”

It was one of Steve’s favorite things about this place, getting to meet and make friends with all sorts of people from all over the world. The cultural exchange program that the camp worked with brought in support staff and counselors from other countries that wanted to come work for the summer, many of them visiting America for the very first time.

Soon enough they came to the end of the road, hooking a left through a break in the trees and came out into a huge clearing. Two giant half circles made up of small white and green buildings faced each other, with a wide open field between them where, in a week’s time, kids would be found lounging around on towels and blankets in the sun, or throwing frisbees and baseballs to each other during their free period. 

Hopper pulled over on the girl’s side, which was fair—if sexist—considering Robin had more stuff than Steve did, and got them unloaded before quickly heading off with a reminder about dinner.

Robin slid her backpack on and began to drag her small trunk up the old wooden steps of the cabin. 

Steve heaved her big duffel bag over his shoulder and moved to follow, but she spun abruptly, letting the trunk drop, slapping a hand hard against his chest before his foot even made contact with the lowest board. 

“Woah, woah, woah, where do you think you’re going?” She asked.

“Seriously? I’m just trying to help you with your stuff!” 

“Yes, seriously! You know boys aren't allowed in the girl’s cabins!” She whispered boys as though it were a dirty word.

Steve snorted. “I’m pretty sure those rules are for the campers, Rob, not us, and what could possibly happen?! There’s no two people on the planet less likely to hook up than you and me.”

“Yeah but people don’t know that, Harrington!” 

She was right. As much as camp had always been Steve's safe haven, his sexuality was still something he felt the need to hide, as did Robin. They just couldn’t be sure how their peers would react, and he wanted to believe Hopper would be accepting and open minded but what if he wasn’t? What if he fired them, or used it as an excuse not to invite them back to work next year, because parents might freak out if they knew their children were being ‘exposed to the gays’? 

Steve couldn’t lose this place, for that reason or any other. 

He tossed her bag up the short staircase and onto the porch, letting his shoulders slump in defeat.

“Don’t pout. I just don't want to get in trouble on our first day,” Robin said.

“Yeah, me either,” he agreed.

“Good. Now move along to your own bunk.” She dropped her voice down low, looking around before she spoke again, wriggling her eyebrows. “I’m sure Jonathan will be around to help you get settled in.”

“You’re never gonna let me live that stupid crush down, are you?” 

“Nope.”

“It was two years ago!” Steve hissed.

“I still say you had a chance.”

Steve sighed heavily. “Even if he wasn’t straight—” he began but Robin cut him off with a judgy stare.

“You don’t know that.” She said.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But even if he wasn't, I told you, I'm not getting in the middle of whatever on-again off-again dance he and Nancy are doing.”

Robin tilted her head from side to side. “That’s fair. She scares me.”

“Me too.”

Jonathan was, as a matter of fact, already at the men’s temporary cabin, greeting Steve with a hug and everything, and offering to help him carry his stuff inside. Not that he’d be telling Robin any of that. 

His brief crush had been nothing short of awkward. They’d known each other since they were little, Jonathan’s mom being the camp nurse, and Hopper becoming his and his brother Will’s stepfather a few years ago, and out of nowhere Steve couldn’t even have a conversation with the guy without blushing and stuttering. Thankfully, the other boy’s sad little puppy dog eyes didn’t really do anything for him anymore.

They talked a little, making the usual catching up small talk that you do with people you know well but maybe aren't truly friends with, and soon were joined by a new face, fresh off a days long road trip from California. 

Argyle greeted Steve and Jonathan like they were all long lost pals. He had the longest, shiniest hair, the most colorful wardrobe Steve had ever seen, and his smile was infectious. He also absolutely reeked of weed, and within minutes had talked Jonathan into taking a walk in the woods with him to “open their minds”. It was clear the two stoners were well on their way to becoming best friends.

Steve left them to it, knowing Robin would kill him if he showed up to dinner high and smelling of smoke. 

He chose a bed by the door and started making it up, tucking the sheets in tight and tossing his ugly plaid comforter on top. There was no point in really unpacking until they got their final bunk assignments, the night before the kids came, so after pulling out a few random t-shirts, shorts, and a bathing suit, and shoving them all into one of the cubby holes built into the walls of the cabin, Steve grabbed his discman and headphones and went to lay out in the sun. 

It was late, well past midnight and Steve had been tossing and turning for the last several hours. He never slept well on the first night of camp, the quiet always taking a little time for him to get used to, and It was no wonder he heard the soft footfalls of someone walking up the steps of the cabin.

The door opened slowly, revealing a figure painted in silhouette by moonlight. A riot of wild hair, and a guitar case slung across the boy’s back were all Steve could make out at first through his barely slitted eyelids. 

He watched, careful not to move too much and give away that he was awake as the boy quietly closed the door behind himself, and tiptoed further into the cabin, tossing his stuff down beside the bunk right next to Steve’s. It meant Steve had a perfect view of the newcomer’s backside as he bent to slide his guitar under the mattress frame and unzipped his bag. He straightened with an arm full of linens and hastily made up the bed, not even tucking the bottom corners of his fitted sheet in before throwing a quilt over the whole thing and calling it done, and began to undress. 

Steve swallowed hard, knowing he should probably look away now, or at least close his eyes, if for no other reason than to put on a better show of being asleep in case the other boy’s gaze swung his way, but he was enthralled.

The unfamiliar figure was still blanketed in shadow, but stood close enough now that Steve could make out a pair of huge sparkling dark eyes, brown he assumed, though the night had a way of stealing all the color from the world, to go with the boy’s even darker curls. A rounded nose and full pouty lips made up the rest of a face that would, Steve was fairly certain, now and forever haunt his dreams, as well as his every waking thought. 

He wanted to scream. 

He’d never felt so drawn to someone at first sight before. How much worse would it be once he saw this vision of beauty in daylight?

Powerless to resist the urge, Steve let his gaze roam down past the curve of the other boy’s jaw, eyes drinking in whatever details they could. The bob of an adams apple as he swallowed, the outline of his collarbones, black and gray markings on his chest and arms—tattoos that Steve couldn’t quite make out the shapes of. A trail of dark hair ran from his navel to the top of his pants, stark and inviting against pale white skin.

The boy reached for the button on his jeans and Steve did look away then. It was one thing to see the same skin that might be on display when someone took their top off down by the lake or at the pool, but another to ogle someone below the belt when they didn’t even know they were being watched.

Second passed and a dull thump had Steve snapping his eyes back open, grateful the other boy still had his boxers on at least, so he didn’t feel like too much of a creep. 

“Bollocks,” the stranger cursed softly, hopping on one foot for a second as he sucked air between his teeth, nursing a stubbed toe.

Steve’s stomach flipped at the sound of his voice.

International, right. He had an accent. Of course he did, obviously, Steve just hadn’t thought—

Why was that so hot?

He groaned internally, he hadn’t even properly seen the guy’s face yet and he was already absolutely fucked. 

Finally, mercifully, the other boy climbed into bed, yawning as he pulled the quilt up over his head, turning to face the other way.

And it was to the sound of this intriguing stranger’s breath that Steve finally drifted away into a fitful sleep.

Steve's Summer Mix Eddie's Summer Mix

Thanks as always to the lovely @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader.

Permanent taglist(open): @penny00dreadful @pearynice @hitlikehammers @bookworm0690 @wonderland-girl143-blog 

@goodolefashionedloverboi @themagicalari @awkwardgravity1 @rocknrollsalad

Fic taglist (open):

[a-little-unsteddie]

zombie apocalypse au where the apocalypse started while the party is at a summer camp and the older teens were camp counselors there. they all travel together to help the kids find their parents — they find El on the way. brenner is the one who created the whatever causes zombies. vecna is patient one, who isn’t out of his mind. Eleven is the only surviving patient who was immune to it or smth. the griup travels to clarke to make a cure. maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.

[humanityinahandbag]

@quarble you are correct and everyone needs to know it

Eddie drags his fingers slowly down those rainy windows, listening to the Every Rose has its Thorns and Time After Time on repeat (Wayne is about to lose his goddamn mind), writing lyrics that make his bandmates want to tear their hair out about how his heart is a shriveled up flower and he's doomed to unrequited love forever and everyone dies alone.

Meanwhile Steve is standing in the same exact room holding up two polo shirts like "which one do you think I should wear on our date tonight; the blue or the pink?" before asking Eddie if he can write a reminder to get condoms at the bottom of the terrible poem he's currently writing about dying alone.

Give me dramatic idiot Eddie or give me death.

Story where Eddie spends weeks pining after Steve, mourning the loss of something that he can't have, becoming the physical manifestation of Gay Longing™.

To be clear; Steve is blatantly flirting with Eddie but getting zero traction because Eddie is essentially spending all of his time sighing out the window like a goddamn tragic hero because he'll never love me the way I love him.

And Steve can be patient. He can take his time. He can woo very softly and gently and wants to do this right without scaring Eddie off.

Until, after a frustratingly long D&D planning session, Steve watches from the couch between a fighting Dustin and Lucas, as Eddie tears out paper and balls it up before tossing it into a trashcan in what can only be described as a glorious nerdified three pointer.

And that would be the tipping point.

Because Steve Harrington is a goner for pathetic, half feral nerds.

But a pathetic, half feral nerd with a good arm?

Forget about it.

(Also, to be clear, Steve would use this moment to politely explain to a blue-screened Eddie that he'd very much like to ravish him while Eddie wears Steve's basketball jersey, pretty please.)

[thefreakandthehair]

Steve’s lied to himself about one thing or another for as long as he can remember. Lies like there was nothing to the way he looked at boys the same way he looked at girls, like he didn’t care what people thought of him, like he didn’t try to bury the truth how much he did care beneath layers of smoke and beer and popularity. He’d tried to convince himself that he could earn his parents’ love and approval if he could just get this one thing right— except the list of one things only grew and before he knew it, his parents and his chance of their acceptance were gone.  He’s lied to himself about Eddie for over a year, but the truth demands to be seen eventually. No matter how much he’s tried, how adamant he’s been in his lies, Steve’s never been able to fully deny himself this hope. He’s only been able to tamp it down enough to convince himself that he’s happy just to have Eddie as a friend, that that can be enough, but his hope has always flickered like a small flame in the background of his life.  And now it flares, a blinding light with flashes of clarity rivaling the lightning outside of their window, and Steve can’t will it back to embers— doesn’t even want to when Eddie turns back to face the television, wiggles closer, and rests his head on Steve’s shoulder.

↳ read the third and final chapter of goin' to california here on ao3! now complete!

for @sharpbutsoft and the @steddiesummerexchange!

tagging some peeps who expressed interest! also, tumblr, I hate you for making me add so many stupid linebreaks for tags:

@kkpwnall @cuoredimuschio @tinytalkingtina @starryeyedjanai @madaboutmunson

@starrystevie @akasalv @wormdebut @griefabyss69 @steddie-island

@steddielations @hbyrde36 @sidekick-hero @steddieas-shegoes @steddieasitgoes

@runninriot @hellion-child @formosusiniquis @kaspurrcat @lihhelsing

@just-my-latest-hyperfixation @quarble @wynnyfryd @stevespookington @stevethehairington

@anthotneystark @rindecision @vthx @devondespresso

[steddiebang2024]

Updraft |  Rated E |  39k

Author: @just-my-latest-hyperfixation

Artist: @cuips-not-cute

[Link to fic] | [Link to art]

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham (background)

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Gareth, Jason Carver, Andy, Patrick, Steve Harrington’s father

Tags: Alternate Universe - Steampunk; Mechanic Eddie Munson; Strangers to Lovers; Sexual Tension; Miscommunication; Eventual Smut; Arranged Marriage, Blood and Violence; Blood and Injury; Intrigue; Action and Adventure; Jason Carver being an Asshole

Trigger Warnings: Medical Trauma; Amputation; Prosthetics; Disabled Eddie Munson; Ableist Language

↳ Keep reading below for a summary!

Eddie used to dream of flying, but that was before the crash.

Today, his dreams are full of fire and bursting metal, and when he wakes, it is to ants crawling under scarred skin, his hands clawing at a limb that is long gone. Today, he is content in his mechanic’s shop, looking at aircraft only when they pass him in the sky above.

Eddie thought he’d never fly again.

Until the day that Steve Harrington, heir to one of the city’s most prodigious entrepreneurs, shows up at his shop, looking for someone to fix his racer for the Starcourt Cup - the airship race that took Eddie’s leg and his dreams four years ago.

Eddie knows he should stay out of this.

And still, he finds himself dragged into Harrington’s affairs - a gentleman’s agreement involving an arranged marriage and a star-crossed love. With the race one week away and Richard Harrington’s henchmen sabotaging their efforts every step of the way, he ends up getting to know Steve more closely than he ever expected.

Eddie thought he’d never fly again.

But life has a way of proving you wrong.

------

Or: An action-filled, steampunk-inspired Steddie adventure.

[tiannasfanfic]

True Sight

Eddie Munson x Reader (Angst)

| Eddie & Steddie Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: While helping Eddie clean out his van, you find something that has the potential to completely destroy your relationship.

Rating: General Audiences

Author Note: Gender neutral Reader, they/them pronouns (if any), because anyone can wear panties. An AU where Henry Creel doesn't happen. Angst with a Twist. This story is 90-95% true, even the background of Eddie and Reader's relationship.

CW: Description of on and off relationship; mentions of abandonment issues; mentions of cheating; brief, non-graphic description of past sexual encounter (below waist penetration but not specified where, choking).

Word Count: 2,676

At some point in every long term relationship, the people in it find themselves purchasing their first vehicle together. No matter if it’s brand new right off the lot or an older model that a buddy is trying to get rid of, it’s a huge milestone for any couple.

That time had finally come for you and Eddie.

By now, duct tape and prayer were holding his van together. Your car may have been slightly newer and in better condition, it was at the point of breaking far more often than the two of you could really afford.

Regardless of why, it was an exciting time for both of you. Even getting a used vehicle, this was going to be the newest one either of you had ever owned. Not only that, but this was the first vehicle that Eddie was able to buy for himself, which was another huge milestone. Yes, the two of you were buying it together, but that was beside the point. You weren’t going to take that claim away from him since his van had been Wayne’s initially and was a roughly used hand me down.

Once a truck was found that you both fell in love with, you went ahead and traded your car in to help lower the down payment. That had been the plan with the van too until dealership took one look at it and laughed, so the two of you were on your own when it came to selling it.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find someone that was willing to give what Eddie was asking for it.

Unfortunately, this meant it had to be cleaned. And if there was one thing that had never happened to this van, it was a good deep cleaning.

Now, while Eddie had gotten better over the years when it came to tossing trash into the back, especially once he had stopped hanging out in there, he wasn’t always the best at remembering to throw things away later. There were still plenty of empty to-go cups, soda bottles, food wrappers, cans, cigarette packs, lighters and the like that had to be thrown away. It wasn’t anything gross, at least, except for a bottle of motor oil that had leaked right behind the driver’s seat.

Once all off the surface trash was out of the way, and the old blankets pulled out and examined before ultimately being thrown away, the van turned into a bit of a time capsule for the two of you. You both started finding things long thought lost, which brought on some reminiscing.

Ah, if this van could talk. She had seen a lot of things, both with and without you at Eddie’s side.

You both were in great moods as the day progressed, made even better by sharing one last joint then making out in the back for old time’s sake. But shortly after that while at the peak of your high, you found something at the bottom of the glove compartment.

When you first saw it, you weren’t really sure what it was. Once you picked it up, you could tell by the feel of it that it was some kind of flimsy fabric that had been wadded up into a ball. After carefully unwinding the fabric from the ball, you held it up with both hands to look at.It took a moment, but you eventually realized what it was that you were holding.

“Hey Eddie?” you said, slowly turning in the passenger seat towards the back of the van.

“Yeah?”

“Look what I found,” you said.

Eddie looked over to see what you were talking about.

It took him a moment as well, but when he realized what exactly it was that you were holding, all the color drained from his face.

It was a pair of mesh thong panties that had been torn open down the sides.

“Sweetheart, I promise those are from before we got back together,” Eddie said instantly, panic all over his face, his tone frantic.

From the look on Eddie’s face, you could see the life you two had built together flashing before his eyes.

The relationship you and Eddie had was a complicated one that was hard to describe.

Really, the easiest way to explain it is by saying it was very easy for the two of you to get together but very hard for you to stay together.

The two of you had been friends since high school. Back in those days, you were good friends but not best friends thanks to people you both dated during those years. This was due to the feelings you both had for each other that were obvious to everyone except for yourselves. The people you dated could see it just as easily as anyone else and didn’t like it.

Not too long after Eddie graduated, you both found yourselves single at the same time and you decided to make your feelings known. Eddie wasn’t about to pass up that opportunity, instantly reciprocated and the two of you had an amazing relationship that lasted for just a little over six months before he ended it suddenly without any explanation at the time.

Over the course of the next three years, the two of you found yourselves drawn back to each other repeatedly. In that time period, you made three more serious attempts to date, made a run at trying to just be friends again, and went through phases as each other’s regular booty call.

But no matter what kind of relationship you two tried to have, it would end shortly after it started and you’d go a long period without speaking.

Now, to be fair, it wasn’t always Eddie who ended things. You ended it your fair share of times, too. If something wasn’t working or making you happy, you had no problem with removing yourself from a situation and moving on, even when it came to him.

But, no matter who ended it, every time the two of you parted ways, it was always over something that didn’t really matter in the long run. It was never anything big, nothing serious, nothing that should permanently kill a relationship. And while you two were madly in love with each other, you were always at different places in life. It was the never right time.

Eventually, you found yourself in a relationship for nearly four years and lost all contact with Eddie for the duration of it. But one particularly rough night near the end of it, you found yourself having a pretty drastic realization. The only time you had ever been happy with someone, really truly happy and not just lying to yourself, was with Eddie.

Unbeknownst to you at the time, Eddie had the exact same realization roughly in the same time period after getting ditched by his date at a party where he knew no one and had no ride home since he rode with his date. He ended up having to call Steve to come rescue him.

A few weeks later, while you were working up the courage to reach out to Eddie, he made contact with you first.

That was a little over three years ago. You two had been together ever since.

But just because you two hadn’t broken up yet didn’t mean things had been easy. The biggest drawback to finally getting with someone you’ve been on and off with for years is the abandonment issues you both have left over from all those breakups before. After three years, and a lot of communication, you two had made a lot of progress, though it was still something you two were actively working on, tackling things together whenever they came up.

But one thing you had never worried about with Eddie was cheating. Eddie was the one person you always trusted implicitly. You actually had more of a sordid past than he did, having cheated on multiple partners while he said he had never cheated on even one. You believed him. Even the mere idea of him cheating never crossed your mind.

By this point, Eddie had completely discarded what he was working on at the back of the van to scramble up on his knees to where you were seated sideways in the passenger seat. He looked absolutely panicked, his eyes wide and filled with fear as he gazed into yours.

“Please, please believe me, Y/N,” Eddie said, cupping your face in his hands, his voice cracking. “I would never, ever do that to anyone, but especially not you.”

He looked so scared, so terrified, his tone heavy with a desperate plea.

And it was at that exact moment you started laughing.

It wasn’t just any kind of laugh, it was one of those laughing fits that soon had you nearly doubled over with tears streaming down your face.

Eddie leaned back a bit in surprise, his hands dropping down from your face to rest on your shoulders. A worried crease appeared between his eyebrows. He didn’t say anything until after your laughter had calmed down, just watched you with a helpless look on his face.

“Sweetheart?” he said, tentatively reached up with one hand to touch your cheek again lightly. “What-“

The question was cut off when you grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulled him closer and kissed him.

Eddie was so stunned he didn’t even kiss you back.

As you pulled away, you took one look at his expression, which was now a mixture of worry, panic, shock and now the fear that you’d finally lost it, and you could feel the laughing fit rising up again. You managed to suppress it down to a fit of giggles.

“They’re mine, you dumbass,” you said, giggling madly and grinning at him.

All of the expressions on Eddie’s face were instantly wiped away and replaced by one of deep confusion.

“Yours?”

You nodded.

Once you had realized what it was that you were holding, you instantly recognized the pair and remembered the night you lost them. You were just surprised he still had them after all this time. It happened many years ago during the second attempt you two made to date.

The two of you had gone to a friend’s birthday party together, making a date of it. As soon as you got in the van when he picked you up, the air had been sparking. It was the first time you had seen each other in a couple of months and the energy between you was electric, the sexual tension as strong as you’d ever felt it.

You both had known days ago when you made these plans how this night would end. If there was one thing you and Eddie had always, always been in perfect sync on, it was sex. Your energies matched perfectly, your bodies fit together as if they were made for each other. The intense passion mixed with rabid lust was always earth shaking. After your first night together, it was almost like you craved each other.

The two of you spent most of the party teasing each other. When the two of you finally left, Eddie couldn’t wait to get back to your place, much less into the back of his van. He pulled over to park on a secluded road and barely got it into park before he was dragging you over to straddle him in the driver’s seat. It was a bit tricky getting your pants off, but the two of you managed, only honking the horn a couple of times in the process. For whatever reason, you didn’t take your panties off at the same time, and they were soon ripped off you.

While you knew that probably wouldn’t jog his memory right away if you told him all that, you knew one particular thing about that night that definitely would.

“Remember when we discovered I like being choked?” you asked, grinning.

It only took a second before Eddie completely relaxed and his face broke into a wide grin.

“Holy shit,” he said, his eyes lighting up with the memory.

Shortly after Eddie ripped your panties off, you had been riding him when he suddenly grabbed you by the throat and leaned you back against the steering wheel to arch your chest out towards him. It was the first time anyone had ever grabbed you by the throat and you absolutely loved it. This became immediately obvious to Eddie when you cried out and clenched around him in a surprise orgasm. He wasn’t too far behind you after that.

“Now I remember,” he said, taking the pair of torn panties from you to look them over. “When I was leaving your place the next day, I saw them on the floorboard. I thought about going back in to give them to you but decided to keep them.”

To anyone else, that would’ve sounded weird, but for you, it made your heart skip a beat.

“Why?” you asked.

Eddie shrugged, a regretful look on his face as he looked up to meet your gaze.

“I was already freaking out again about how much I felt for you,” he said. “And I knew I was fixing to run away again because of it.” He shrugged again. “So, I wanted to make sure I had something of yours when that happened.”

Just a few days after that party, Eddie had suddenly stopped speaking to you again.

You smiled softly, and reached out to brush some stray curls out of his face.

“Good thing we don’t have to worry about that anymore, huh?” you said, then leaned forward to kiss him again, which he eagerly returned this time.

“Yup,” he agreed, then grinned. “We’re on a lease together and now a car loan. You’re kinda stuck with me.”

“And there’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with,” you said happily.

After another slow, deep kiss, Eddie looked back down at the torn panties in his hand and grinned.

You watched as he balled them back up and leaned to one side so he could shove them into his pocket.

“Seriously?” you said, then laughed and pointed in the direction of your shared apartment. “You do realize I have a whole drawer full of those, right?”

“Believe me, I know,” he said, smirking. “But you always throw the torn ones away before I get the chance to grab a pair.”

Now that one got an eyebrow raise out of you.

“Why in the hell would you want a torn pair?” you asked, a bit confused by the idea since you couldn’t wear them again.

“Because these I’ve actually torn off to fuck you,” he said. “That means they’re lucky.”

You started laughing.

“Wait a second,” you said, a grin on your face. “Because you got lucky means they are lucky?”

“Hell yeah it does,” he grinned, then started moving back towards the area of the van he was working on. “And since you got lucky too that night, I’d say that makes them lucky for both of us.”

It was a pretty sound thread of Eddie Logic that was hard to argue.

The two of you went back to cleaning and it was a few minutes before either of you spoke again.

“Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“You do know that if you find any others that aren’t yours, they were from before us, right?”

You turned and found him looking at you from the back of the van, a worried expression on his face.

You had never once worried about Eddie cheating on you, you certainly weren’t about to start now.

“Don’t worry, baby, I know,” you said, smiling warmly at him before switching to a playful grin. “But I will make fun of you for it if I do.”

Eddie started laughing.

“That’s fine by me, sweetheart,” he said grinning at you.

In the end, that was the only pair of panties either of you found while cleaning out the van.

Eddie Munson Taglist: @eddie-swhore @bmunson86 @tayhar811

[maxineholtzmann]

what’s all this talk about love?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @hexiewrites!!!! MY ACTUAL PLATONIC SOULMATE/STEVE TO MY ROBIN (OR VICE VERSA DEPENDING ON THE DAY)!!! PLEASE ENJOY THIS FIRST CHAPTER OF YOUR BIRTHDAY GIFT!!!

Chapter One: when the train rolls by

Nancy burst into her editor’s office, slapping her hands down on his desk. “I’ve got a story.”

Murray slowly spun around in his chair to face her. “Great job with the knocking, Wheeler.”

Nancy waved her hand dismissively, “Who needs manners when I have a great story!” She was practically vibrating with excitement, her bright blue eyes shining.

“Nancy, may I remind you that you are on the weddings and human interest beat? Not the whatever-investigative-expose-you’re-about-to-pitch beat?” Murray said, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to preemptively ward off a headache.

“No need, Murray. This story falls entirely within my purview,” Nancy grinned, dropping into the chair opposite him.

“Oh, do tell,” Murray said, sarcasm dripping as he leaned back in his chair.

“So I just met this guy in the bar–” Nancy started, leaning forward.

“Ah yes, the best place to meet reputable sources.”

“ –and he was going off about his ex-fiancée–”

“Very regular and stable of him.”

“ –and he said that she’s left 3 men at the altar including him so far–”

“Wait–THREE?”

“ –AND she’s engaged again. Obviously he’s gotta be–”

“Like fully AT the altar? In front of all their family and friends?”

“ –full of shit, like who would do that? But–”

“You gotta go interview her.”

“Exactly!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Six hours later, Nancy was on the road, heading to Hawkins, Indiana from Chicago. All she had was her suitcase, a notebook, and a bar napkin with the names Chrissy Cunningham, Eddie Munson, and Gareth Emerson scrawled across it in drunken handwriting. Her first order of business was going to have to be finding a way to meet Chrissy without scaring her off. Well, maybe her second order of business. She had forgotten her toothbrush, so the first order of business was finding the local general store.

As she drove through the town to the Hawkins Inn, she passed Melvald’s General Store. Perfect. She could start there. (read the rest on ao3 here)

[i-think-i-thunk]

steddie racing au

Okay so I have some family that do drag racing for fun and I went to see them recently and it had me thinking about a steddie au. Also bear with me cause I only know a little bit about this lol. Also also, this turned out to be really long, sorry.

So Wayne Munson buys a racetrack in the late 60s/early 70s just outside of Hawkins

He's slowly working on fixing it up and ends up with a bunch of project cars

Word gets around town and pretty soon, local car and motorcycle guys start showing up

Even some from nearby towns

They all start meeting up on the weekends, bringing their families and kids, having barbeques, etc.

Needless to say, they become a really close little community

Something something Eddie's dad sucks and he ends up moving in with Wayne at like 9 or 10 years old

Cue Wayne suddenly having a traumatized kid that he hasn't seen in years and has no idea how to take care of him

So he starts taking Eddie to the track and of course lets him name it (Hellfire Raceway)

All of Wayne's friends step up and welcome little Eddie to the group

The guys teach him how to fix up cars and bikes and show him the ins and outs of racing

The moms take one look at him, decide he needs to bulk up asap and cook more food for him and Wayne then either of them have ever seen

Plus, the kids teach Eddie how to be a kid again

Eddie grows up covered in oil and grease and dirt, spending all his free time tinkering with things and helping Wayne maintain the track and learning to race

As he's learning to restore and maintain cars, he teaches himself how to do different paint jobs and straight line detailing

And he gets to be good, really good

Eventually racing starts catching on in the rest of Indiana, and the different tracks start having competitions with each other

The Hellfire community is slowly but steadily growing

In communities as tight nit at these, new faces are easy to recognize

So when one Steve Harrington shows up with nothing but his beamer and an odd girl at his side, people are shocked

He's spoiled, rich, entitled and cocky

Or at least, the old Steve Harrington was

This Steve is different

He's quiet and reserved, only offering a small wave and a smile every now and then

He starts at the bottom like everyone else

Works his way through the time trials as he learns

A few months in, Eddie starts to get curious

He's been watching Steve stumble his way through racing

He's also happened to notice that Steve doesn't seem to know much about car maintenance

One day, after Steve's car fails on the runway, Eddie helps him and Robin steer it off the track and offers to look at it

Cue Eddie and Robin having a very animated conversation while Eds tinkers with the beamer

After a couple attempts, Robin finally manages to rope Steve into the conversation too

And wouldn't you know it, Steve's actually a pretty good guy

They end up talking for a few hours and when Eddie walks them back to the track, he takes the time to explain scoring and the different types of racing

Maybe he introduces him to some of the guys

The summer is coming to an end, and Steve and Eddie are avoiding the topic at all costs, afraid of what it might mean, worried that autumn will mark the end of whatever it is they had going

Maybe Wayne has a mechanic shop that he and Eddie run during the week and in the off season

A few weeks after the track closes, Steve shows up to talk with Eddie while he's working in the garage

Watches in awe as Eddie works on engines and paints intricate details onto beautiful cars, always with a steady hand

And Eddie is ecstatic, constantly trying to show off for Steve and flashing a bashful smile when his natural clumsiness shows

Then Eddie starts showing up at Family Video to talk with Steve and Robin

Steals a few snacks and definitely doesn't flirt with Steve

Then Eddie is invited to their weekly movie night where he meets the kids and the rest of the crew

Gets real close with Jonathan and Argyle (maybe some background Jargyle)

Starts DMing for the kids and teaching Will and Erica as he goes

Steve, Robin and Eddie are rarely seen without each other at this point

Wayne is skeptical at first but becomes fiercely protective of Steve and Robin once he really gets to know them

Endgame steddie obviously

They bring the kids to the track the next summer and end up their own little cheer squad

Chaos and antics ensue of course

Maybe they work their way up to the pros or maybe they stay and take over the shop and track together. But either way, they survive everything the world throws at them. They buy a cute little house and grow old together.

[hairstevington]

Do I wanna know?

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a world where everyone has a choice - If you had the option of reading a list of everyone who's ever been in love with you, would you do it?

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: Modern day AU sort of?? It's not based in realism, just go with it. Best friends to lovers, Robin & Steve & Eddie all live together because I said so, mutual pining, fluff, confession of feelings, lots of denial but they figure it out eventually

A/N: This idea came to me during my stats class, and then it became very difficult to continue focusing on my stats class. (I wrote it as soon as we were dismissed lol). Enjoy this cute little Steddie one shot! Ao3 link here :)

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

“Dude, did you see what they just announced?” Steve asked as he played video games with Eddie.

“Yeah, it’s some wild shit,” Eddie replied. “How is it even possible?”

“I think it’s fake,” Robin called from the kitchen as she made them all pizza rolls. 

“Not fake,” Steve insisted. “I was reading about it on the internet and a bunch of people are saying it’s legit.”

“Well, if you read it on the internet, it must be true,” Robin remarked sarcastically. 

“Whatever,” Steve said. “I’m gonna get mine and find out.”

The deal was that, somehow, everyone had the option of getting a list of statistics about their lives. It was advertised with a variety of categories to look through - some of them could have been retrieved through bank statements and background checks, like the number of countries visited, money spent, etc. Other categories (let’s be real, the most intriguing categories), were far more mysterious.

Number of near-death experiences. Every book you’ve read, with a total word count. And, the most exciting of the bunch - How many people have been in love with you, and who.

“Don’t waste your money or your time,” Eddie said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s bullshit. Probably just another way for the government to squeeze more money out of us.”

“Come on, it’s not some conspiracy, Eds,” Steve replied. “I’m just curious, that's all.”

“Oh, I bet,” Robin chimed in. “Just be honest and admit you want to know about the love thing. You and your ego, Dingus.” Steve smiled. He couldn’t argue with her.

“As if you’re not also dying to read yours,” he countered. 

“I’m pretty sure mine would just hurt my feelings,” Robin said with a sigh. “Robin Buckley - loved by her platonic soulmate Steve Harrington and Creepy Carl from band camp.” Eddie snickered.

“Carl wasn’t that creepy,” he said. 

“You’re only saying that because you were also kind of creepy in high school,” she replied. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Eddie responded with a shrug. “But I think I speak for all former creeps when I say we were just socially stunted and awkward. Most of us grew up to be half-decent people.”

“Way to humble brag,” Steve teased. 

“I’m bragging by saying I’m half-decent?” Eddie replied. Steve laughed and nodded. Meanwhile, Robin quickly scrolled through her phone until she stumbled across what she was looking for with a gasp.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Creepy Carl’s most recent post is about how the patriarchy is a myth.” Steve laughed again and pushed Eddie playfully. Eddie flopped over on the couch and groaned.

“Dammit, Carl, I was rooting for you!” he joked. 

“We were all rooting for you, how dare you!” the three of them shouted in unison. 

That was, of course, a reference to America’s Next Top Model, which Robin showed the boys clips of one night during a rant about the toxicity and absolute batshit nature of early 2000s reality TV. That quote, for whatever reason, stuck. They had a lot of inside jokes like that.

This is how life had been for the three of them the last few years. They’d become best friends straight out of high school, then all moved in together. Life was comfortable and nice. 

-

Steve somehow convinced Robin that they would both get their lists together. Eddie, on the other hand, downright refused.

“I don’t need any of that shit,” he insisted. “It’s not gonna do me any good, and I’m perfectly fine staying in the dark.”

“Okay, I get it,” Steve said, holding his hands up. “You’re scared and lame, that’s totally okay.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, dickhead,” he replied. “This whole thing is stupid anyway. And - and it’s not like we can seriously trust whatever it says. It’s probably just…all lies, anyway.”

“Yeah, but they’re fun lies,” Robin countered. “It’s like hearing gossip about your own life.”

“Exactly!” Steve agreed. “It’s just for fun.”

“Have your fun, then,” Eddie said devilishly. “I’ll be in my room, not being an idiot.”

Robin and Steve put their names and date of birth into a search engine and, within five minutes, each had their respective documents in their inboxes. Steve opened his immediately and eagerly, skipping past all the boring shit until he found the good stuff. 

Number of people who have had crushes on Steve Harrington: 436.

Number of people who have been in love with Steve Harrington: 85.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, looking at the long list of names. He looked up from his phone to see Robin staring at the wall. “Why aren’t you reading?”

“I don’t think I can do it,” she said. “I’m chickening out.” Steve scoffed. 

“What? Robs, come on. You already ordered the damn thing.”

“Yeah, but -” She sighed. “But now it’s, like, real.”

“Do you want me to read yours for you?” he asked. She shook her head. 

“No, I think I’m just going to keep it unread for now,” she decided. Steve shrugged.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Robin scooted herself over on the couch so she could look at Steve’s phone screen. 

“Wait, they even have crushes on there?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Jeez, Harrington. That’s quite the list.” Steve smirked, realizing it very much did give him an ego boost. He continued scrolling to see even more categories.

Number of people Steve Harrington has had a crush on: 63.

Jesus, Steve thought to himself. That’s kind of embarrassing. In his defense, some of them were celebrities. He continued reading.

Number of people Steve Harrington has been in love with: 3.

Steve didn’t even have to read the list to know who was on it. He quickly clicked his phone off before Robin could see.

“Hey!” she said. “What was that for? It’s not like there are any secrets between us.”

“No, I just - I’ll read it later,” Steve said. 

Robin would usually be right. She was almost completely right. It’s just that Steve had one secret. And it wasn’t even really a secret, it was just something he kept to himself, because it didn’t really matter. 

Nancy Wheeler

Robin Buckley

Eddie Munson

He had barely admitted it to himself, honestly. It’s not like anything would happen. Him and Eddie were best friends, and if something was going to happen between them, it would have already happened. Now, they were too close, and living together. It was different. It didn’t matter. Besides, Robin was on his list, and he wasn’t running off to date her.

Steve put his phone away and didn’t check the list again for a couple days. 

-

“So, how’s the list?” Eddie asked one morning as he made a pot of coffee. “You haven’t said anything about it.” Steve shrugged.

“It’s like a million pages long,” Robin chimed in. Eddie clicked his tongue against his teeth.

“That’s not surprising,” he said. “It’s a shame Harrington isn’t much of a reader. It might take him years to get through.” Steve glared at Eddie, who grinned in response.

“Are you ever going to stop poking fun at me about that?” he wondered. 

“Aaaaabsolutely not,” Eddie replied. “Steve, The Hobbit is 310 pages. 310. Even one page a day you would have been done in a year, and you’re still not done.”

“Okay, listen,” Steve responded defensively. “It’s not my kind of book, alright?”

“He likes the ones with the pictures,” Robin teased. Eddie laughed and high-fived her. 

“Wooow, okay,” Steve replied. “I see how it is. I’m just gonna grab my cereal and go, then.”

“Nooo, don’t leave on our behalf,” Eddie said.

“We’re soorrrryyyyyy,” Robin added. Steve chuckled and shook his head. 

“Whatever,” he resigned. “I haven’t read the damn list. Not all of it, anyway.” Robin’s ears perked up.

“But you’ve read some of it, right?” she asked. “Spill!”

“Just the first ten names or so,” Steve said. He had gotten a glimpse when he skimmed over it the first time. “I think it’s in chronological order.”

“Anyone surprising?” Eddie wondered. Steve shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “Although it did confirm my suspicion that Katie Crystal was into me, after all.”

“I’m thinking maybe I should read mine,” Robin said quietly.

“Yeah, well duh,” Eddie replied. “You paid for it.”

“It’s just - it’s not a big deal, right?” Steve looked at Eddie to survey his reaction. Eddie just shrugged. “It’s like you said, Eds. We don’t even know if it’s accurate.”

Steve didn’t really know if all of it was accurate, but some of it sure as shit was.

“Exactly,” Eddie agreed. “So, Steve, there’s a chance that Katie Crystal actually hated your guts. Who’s to say?”

Steve rolled his eyes. Another few days passed. 

Robin flip-flopped between whether or not she wanted to read her list every few hours or so. Steve and Eddie placed their bets on how long it would take her to crack. 

Meanwhile, Steve counted his lucky stars that Eddie decided not to buy his list. It was clear that they were bros and nothing more, so Eddie finding out would have made everything incredibly weird.

This was for the best.

-

Things carried on as they usually did, until one day Steve was so bored, he decided to revisit the godforsaken document. Plus, he’d been on a few dates that ended in disaster, and reading about the hundreds of people that were into him was bound to put him in good spirits.

He had no idea just how right he was.

The names were all relatively normal. Steve tended to know when girls had a thing for him, especially back in high school. There were some names he didn’t recognize, which meant that there were total strangers crushing on him. He wondered how that was even possible. Like, at that point, they were just basing it on looks and vibes alone. 

Eh. Steve had crushes on people in the past over less. He kept reading.

He made his way down the list until he reached Eddie’s name. He read it again and again to make sure he was seeing it right. 

Eddie had said repeatedly that this thing could be total bullshit, though. Steve had to take it all with a grain of salt. Besides, crushes meant nothing. Hell, Steve was pretty sure Eddie had mentioned once that he thought Steve was hot when they first became friends. 

Steve made his way to the list of people who’d loved him. None of the names mattered except one. 

Eddie Munson. 

“Oh, shit,” Steve muttered. “Oh, shit!” He jumped up out of bed and paced the floor. He had no idea what to do with this information.

It could be bullshit. It could be nothing. 

Or maybe, Eddie had kept saying it was bullshit because he knew what Steve would find. 

“OH MY GOD.”

Robin came bursting into Steve’s room a few moments later. 

“What? What’s going on?” she said. She looked to see his phone on the floor and his hands in his hair. “Oh my god, you read it! What was it? What’s got you all freaked out?”

“I gotta - uhh - I gotta -” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence with Robin in the room. He had to find Eddie - that’s what he had to do. But his head was spinning too much to do so. 

“That’s it. I’m gonna read mine right now,” Robin decided. She swiftly left to go back to her room while Steve continued to pace. 

“Holy shit,” he said to himself. He thought about it for a few minutes, scrawled something on a piece of paper, and then walked down the hall to Eddie’s room.

Eddie opened the door a few inches, still wearing his sweatpants. He hadn’t left his room yet that day, but his guitar was lying on his bed, which meant he’d been practicing. 

“What’s up?” Eddie asked. 

“I finished the list,” Steve replied. Eddie’s jaw clenched just enough for Steve to notice, and then he shrugged. 

“And?” Steve continued to look at Eddie until he broke his composure. He sighed, then opened his door wider. “Come in,” he said. 

Steve had been in Eddie’s bedroom a million times. They’d watched movies in there and stayed up all night talking and smoked together and dear sweet lord I am so dumb for never noticing.

“Is it bullshit?” Steve asked. Eddie started spinning the ring on his middle finger anxiously, refusing to make eye contact.

“Uhh, is what bullshit?” Eddie replied. Steve put his hands on his hips and cocked his head. 

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about,” he said. “I just - is it bullshit? Tell me the truth.”

Eddie stared at him for a few long moments before gently shaking his head. 

“It’s not bullshit.”

Steve’s hands fell back to his sides, and he felt himself get lightheaded. 

“It’s -” he began, struggling to find the words. He cleared his throat. “Wow, I uh -”

“It doesn’t matter, though,” Eddie interjected. “Just so you know. I like what we have. We’re, ya know, we’re friends. Roommates.”

“Do you still -?” Steve started to ask. He noticed Eddie’s eyes flooded with fear, a sight he rarely saw. “I mean, do you still?”

“Steve, I -” Eddie began, his voice tired. “I really, uh. I don’t know what to say.” 

Steve dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper he’d ripped from his notebook. He held it out for Eddie to take, and when Eddie didn’t reach for it, Steve stepped closer and stuffed the page right into Eddie’s hand. 

“Read it,” Steve encouraged.

“What is it?”

“It’s your list.” Eddie’s faced scrunched with confusion. “Yeah, I made it myself.” 

“I told you, I don’t wanna know,” he said, trying to give the paper back to Steve.

“Trust me, you do.”

Eddie sighed, then unfolded the paper and read it. 

People who are in love with Eddie Munson:

-Me

-(Steve Harrington)

Steve waited and watched Eddie’s eyes travel up and down the page, similar to the way Steve’s had when he read Eddie’s name on his own list. Finally, Eddie looked up. 

“Really?” he asked, his voice soft. Steve smiled and nodded. 

“Really.”

In that moment, they both knew this changed everything, and yet it changed nothing at all. They’d just skipped a bunch of steps of dating - blown past the getting-to-know-you stage straight into living together and doing all the domestic shit. 

Eddie and Steve each stepped toward the other until their hands met. 

“OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!”

Robin’s voice pierced through their intimate moment and completely obliterated it. The boys glanced at each other in confusion and then ran out to see what Robin was yelling about. 

She was already out the front door by the time they got to the kitchen. If this were a cartoon, she would have left behind a cloud of smoke. 

“What do you think that’s about?” Steve asked. Eddie felt his phone buzz and checked it to find Robin had texted a screenshot to the household group chat. He smirked.

“Vicki’s on her list,” Eddie said. Steve chuckled, happy that everyone managed to find their happy ending. 

“You know what that means?” Steve asked. 

“That you owe me 20 bucks?” Eddie teased.

“Well, that," Steve replied. "But is also means we’re alone in the apartment for a while." Eddie grinned and took Steve by the hand. 

“I like the way you think.”

They ran to Steve’s room together, and if the confession of love hadn’t already changed everything, sleeping together certainly did.

It was the good kind of change, though. The kind that moved mountains and cleared all the clouds from the sky. 

At last, the idiots were together. All it took was years of denial and one payment of $44.49.

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

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[ataliagold]

Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here

For @astrangersummer week 10 prompt ' "I'm a great driver!" ' Title from Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here by 65daysofstatic.

Pairing: Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, very background Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler

Rating: T

W/C: 1227

Tags: Post-Vecna, everyone lives, established Steddie, Robin and Steve are soulmates, learning to drive, mild angst, Eddie is a little shit, heart to heart in the ruins of Starcourt

Summary: During his last summer in Hawkins, Steve teaches Robin how to drive.

___

“Ready, Steve?”

Robin’s got the keys to his beemer in her hands, jiggling them as she stands by the door.

“Got your crash helmet, Stevie?” Eddie teases as Steve peels himself off the couch, mournfully now out of reach of the mildly-refreshing airflow of the fan on the coffee table.

“Hey!” Robin retorts, “I’m a great driver!”

“Mmm hmm,” Eddie hums, eyebrow raised.

Steve leans over, plants a kiss to Eddie’s mouth, briefly shutting him up.

“I’ll pray for your safe return, my love,” Eddie says dramatically, flopping himself across the now-free space on the couch.

Steve smirks, Robin rolling her eyes as she stomps out the door towards the car.

Steve had been teaching Robin to drive over the summer, Robin begging him to after the first few lessons with her mom had gone…well, terribly, involving a near-miss with a traffic light and her mom gripping the seat with white knuckles and shaking whenever she got in the car with her.

“Pleeeeease Stevie, I want to be able to visit Nancy when she goes to college and I can’t afford to fly back and forth all the time,” she’d implored him, and Steve had caved within moments.

It couldn’t be as bad as that time with Max after all, right?

It was evening now but it was still far too fucking hot, Steve sweating in his t-shirt – one of Eddie’s, soft and worn - and shorts even as he cranks the car AC as high as it can go.

“Ok so just…remember to take your foot off the clutch slowly,” Steve reminds her.

Robin nods, determined. “Ok. Gotcha. Slowly.”

The beemer lurches, stalls in the driveway.

“Slowly!” Steve barks, slapping a hand on the dash in surprise.

“I was slow!” Robin snaps back, turning the key in the ignition again.

A cackle of laughter from behind them - Eddie in the doorway, having ventured over to watch the show.

Robin winds down the window, sticks her hand out, flips him off.

A little flustered now, she gently places her foot on the accelerator. The engine whirrs, louder and louder.

Steve places his head in his hands.

“Why are we not moving?” Robin asks quietly.

“You’re not in first,” Steve says, pointing at the gear box.

“Right,” Robin nods, “first.”

She slams the clutch in again, Steve watching as she successfully maneuvers to first gear, then lets the clutch out painfully slowly, the car starting to roll forward.

“There you go,” Steve says, fighting the urge to grip his seat like Robin’s mom used to.

He glances in the wingmirror. Eddie’s waving his bandana in a delicate hand like a woman seeing her husband off for war.

Steve shakes his head, scoffs a little under his breath, and keeps his eyes on the road as Robin pulls out into the flow of traffic.

“Where should we go?” Robin asks, gripping the wheel tight with both hands.

“Wherever you like. Preferably somewhere without many hazards.”

Robin scowls at him, and Steve laughs.

“I’m kidding, Robs. You’re a lot better than when you first started.”

That was an understatement.

Eddie had joined them for one of Robin’s first lessons, sitting in the back seat and crying with laughter as they’d bunny-hopped down the road, Steve trying to keep calm and give Robin advice while she’d shrieked that there was something wrong with the car.

Eventually, they’d had to let Eddie out of the car to relieve himself after he’d almost laughed hard enough to piss his pants, Steve cursing at him and swearing he’d make him scrub the upholstery if he couldn’t control himself.

After that, Steve was the only one to accompany Robin for her lessons.

They end up in the old empty lot where Starcourt once stood.

Robin brings the beemer to a stop and kills the engine.

Steve glances over at her. Notices the way Robin’s hands tremble a little where they’re still resting on the wheel, the way her breathing has picked up slightly.

“You ok?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Robin replies, her voice tight.

Steve senses there’s more she wants to say. He waits with his window wound down, warm breeze stirring his hair, darkness starting to fall. They’re the only ones here – that was no surprise, what with the invisible heavy cloud that always seemed to hang over this place. Even those who didn’t know the truth about the Upside Down knew that something bad happened here, something unnatural that took the lives of many.

The scorch marks in the concrete were still here. Steve can see them in the low light, the concrete gouged out and charred even more than two years after the mall had burned down.

“Do you think about it, still?” Robin asks quietly, “this place, what happened here, how we nearly…died?”

Steve nods. “Sometimes.”

“I know everything that happened after with Vecna sort of…overshadowed everything else, but whenever I have nightmares it’s about this place still. I’m stuck underground, I can hear you getting hurt but I can’t get to you, and sometimes they drag your body in and I’m just tied up in a room with you lying there…”

Steve squeezes her knee as Robin trails off, choking up.

“Hey,” he murmurs, “we did it. We beat it, Robs, we survived.”

“I know,” Robin replies, bringing her hand down to rest on his larger one. “I just…sometimes I feel like everyone’s moving on. Nancy’s going off to college, the kids are getting older, you and Eddie are moving to Chicago in a few weeks…and I’m still here.” She flaps a hand out the window, gestures at the empty lot around them.

“You can come visit us whenever you like. Hell, what do you think we got a two-bedroom place in Chicago for?” Steve smiles, tries to cheer her up.

Robin huffs out a small laugh. “I will definitely be taking you up on that offer, dingus. Just…do you ever feel like…like everything that happened is just stuck with us now, that it’s a part of us and we’ll never…we’ll never be normal?”

Steve clutches her hand. “Have you ever been normal?” he teases gently.

She slaps his shoulder with her free hand. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”

Steve’s smile fades. “I do. And I think…yeah, it’ll always be part of us. S’not like any of us are ever going to forget it. But I think about all the shit that wouldn’t have happened without the Upside Down, as terrible as it all was. I met the kids, Eddie, you…my life changed completely and a lot of it was honestly for the better. Unfortunately we just gotta…find a way to deal with everything that came with it.”

Robin nods, sits in silence for a few moments before speaking again. “You ever think about those two dumb kids who slung ice cream for a summer and thought that was the worst thing that could happen to them?”

Steve had known even back then there were a few things far worse things than a minimum-wage customer service job, but he understood the sentiment.

He grins. “Yeah, I think about them sometimes. I think they turned out ok, right?”

Robin laughs. Reaches for the key again, turns the engine back on. “Yeah, I think so. Anyway, shall we get out of here?”

“Sure. But remember, slowly.”

“You got it, dingus.”

___

[berenwrites]

Arms of Love - Stranger Things - Steddie - G

Rating: G| cw: none | tags: eddie lives, little bit of angst – lot of fluff, post season 4, pre-Vecna being finished off

Prompt: Love is the heartbeat I can feel when I hug him.

A/N: Written for @steddielovemonth day 8. It’s my wedding anniversary today, and my husband bought me two plushy otters cuddling, so of course I had to pick this prompt. Sorry, no beta today - no time, going out to dinner in an hour.

Also on AO3 | All My Other Stranger Things Fic

Arms of Love: Whatever You Need

Steve woke up with a start, breathing hard as the tendrils of the nightmare curled around his brain. The golden sunlight coming through the window helped him push it away as he lay there just breathing for a little while.

It was nearly July and apparently his unconscious mind was determined to celebrate the anniversary of Starcourt, even though he was studiously ignoring it when awake. He hadn’t been sleeping well, so he’d come up to his room to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. He’d hope the timing would help. It seemed it hadn’t.

The dream hadn’t been Starcourt exactly, but a mishmash of that and their latest encounter with the Upside Down. His mind’s eye was full of Robin and Eddie, both bloody and dead, with the background of the mindflayer and the Russian bunker. It chilled him to the bone.

Robin was at Vicky’s on their third official date, so he could not go and find her to banish the horrors in his brain, but Eddie, lately exonerated, graduated (Steve was not asking how Owens had managed that), but still staying with Steve until Hawkins caught up, was downstairs. The town had decided to hunt him in no time, but it was taking longer for some of the worst culprits to admit their mistakes.

Eddie had been staying with Steve since they’d found him half-dead, spat out by one of the fissures. No one could explain how he was alive, but the latest theory was bat venom and luck. Given how fast Steve’s own injuries had healed and hadn’t gone septic either, Owens had a whole new line of research involving what Dustin and the other kids had christened demobats. Steve didn’t want to know about that either unless he really had to.

All he knew was that something had given them back Eddie, and while getting to know the outspoken metalhead properly as Eddie recovered, Steve had fallen hard. Luckily for him, Eddie had smiled at him, dimples and all, when he had finally confessed, and kissed him until he couldn’t breathe.

Climbing off the bed, Steve headed downstairs.

Eddie was facing away from him, standing, and leaning over the grand dining room table at the end of the living room. There were D&D manuals and bits of paper everywhere as Eddie prepared a celebratory campaign as his farewell to Hellfire.

Without pausing, Steve walked up behind his boyfriend, wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist, and plastered himself over Eddie’s back, the side of his head pressing against the soft material of Eddie’s Metallica t-shirt.

“Hey, Sweetheart,” Eddie said, straightening up a little, but not trying to escape his hold, “everything okay?”

“Need to hear your heart,” Steve admitted, listening to the regular thump below his ear.

“Nightmare?” Eddie asked quietly.

“Uh-huh,” he replied, letting the rhythm settle into him and calm his own heartbeat.

They both had more than their fair share of trauma to deal with and Eddie didn’t question him, just standing there and letting him do what he needed to do.

“I love you,” he said eventually.

“Love you too, Sweetheart,” Eddie told him, rubbing one of his arms.

“Sorry for…” he started to say.

“Na-ah,” Eddie interrupted before he could get anymore words out, turning in his embrace. “No apologies necessary. Feeling better.”

Steve closed his mouth and just nodded. When Robin came over to tell them all about her date, she was going to get hugged within an inch of her life too, but for now he was okay.

“Good,” Eddie said, smiling at him with those killer dimples he was helpless against, “then I want to know what you think of this hideous trap I just thought up. I need your paladin brain.”

“I still don’t get why you call me that,” he complained with absolutely zero heat.

“That’s just what a paladin would say, Sweetheart,” Eddie told him, kissing him on the nose. “Now, come look.”

Steve’s chest swelled with love. He had no idea what he had done to get so lucky.

All My Other Stranger Things Fic

[little-annie]

Hi there, hello there 👋🏻

I am but a humble fic writer looking for praise and encouragement in the form of kudos, comments and reposts.

Warning: This blog contains NSFW content and could at some point contain Dead Dove content as well. Please be cautious and take care of yourself.

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Where The Flowers Bloom...

27k 5Ch M Complete

After purchasing a home with his best friend and deciding to spend his spare hours renovating and landscaping the property, Steve meets a rather striking metalhead at the local greenhouse. Weeks pass and eventually between coffee breaks, bonfires, and days spent in the dirt and burning in the sun, together the pair restore the love and life that once lived in the old home.

[Teacher!Steve | Gardener!Eddie | Background Buckingham | The Party as Kindergarteners | The Munson's Own A Greenhouse | NeglectedCactus!Henry | Stranger Things Big Bang]

Art by @doomcheese

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When Steve goes to Robin questioning his sexuality, her only suggestion is for him to watch some gay porn. So, well, he does just that. Good thing Eddie has some tapes more suited to his taste.

[Sex Tapes | Masturbation | They're Cute but Horny AF]

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3.2k M Complete but may add to later

A dark eyed outlaw tries to rob the Harrington Inn and things don't go quite as planned when Steve's left with an empty till and a sense of longing in his heart.

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All I Want

78.5k 17/?Ch E WIP

They were happy, so fucking happy and so in love.

Until the day Eddie woke up and remembered nothing of Steve. His Steve. The Steve that held his hand and cried his eyes out waiting for the moment that Eddie would wake up. His Steve that made him laugh and sing, made him feel like the luckiest, most loved man alive. His Steve that he spent evenings and weekends with, cuddled into god awful plaid sheets with whispers of the words 'I love you' falling from their lips.

Until the day Eddie woke up from his coma and had no idea why Steve "The King" "The Hair" Harrington was there with him and why the absolute fuck he kissed him and called him Eds on his return to the land of the living.

[Post S4 | Eddie Lives but Has Memory Loss | Post/Current Steddie | Stobin Angst]

[steddiebang2024]

My Soul to Keep | Explicit  | 45K

Author: @mysteriousxmidnight

Artist: @sillysparrow

Beta Reader: @annanevermore

[Link to fic]  |  [Link to art]

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson 

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Argyle, The Party, Joyce Byers, Claudia Henderson, Jim “Hop” Hopper, Original Male Character, Original Female Character, Wayne Munson

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon divergence. Most of it’s the same except Eddie and Chrissy weren’t in Hawkins for it. Eddie is a Grim Reaper. Chrissy is a Grim Reaper. Platonic Hellcheer. Platonic Stobin. Background Buckingham. Steve Harrington needs a hug. Minor Character Death. Temporary Character Death. Eddie dies twice but I swear he’s okay. Afterlife. Still Working that 9-5 Grind After Death. Hurt/Comfort. Angst. Angst with a happy ending. Eventual Smut. Smut. Anal Sex. Anal Fingering. Blow Jobs. Hand Jobs. Tags will update once I actually write the smut and know what else happens heh.

Trigger Warnings: No Warnings Apply

↳ Keep reading below for a sneak peek!

Eddie Munson is dead. As a Reaper, he harvests the souls of those destined to die.

Everything goes according to plan until he and his fellow Reaper, Chrissy, get called to Hawkins, Indiana. There, he meets Steve Harrington and his nerdy band of friends. Eddie quickly gets swept into their world - and, inevitably, swept off his feet by the kind-hearted Steve, who makes Eddie feel alive for the first time since he died.

Reality crashes back down around him when he discovers that the assignment that brought him to Hawkins is none other than the boy he’s fallen in love with.

When tragedy strikes, Eddie is forced to make a painful decision - let Steve die, as fate demands, or save him and risk eternal damnation.

Project #063 of the Steddie Big Bang 2024

[courtingchaos]

The Spring of Arda

A/N: Just the beginning of some background blurbs for Professor Munson.

Warnings: None. This, and a good portion of these blurbs, are steddie centric. Both Steve and Eddie are bisexual in this AU.

I.

Fall 1986

Eddie still isn’t used to the new place yet. Having people above and below is new, the sounds so different from the trailer park. He hears the heavy footsteps of Mr. Langston above him and sighs into his pillow. Steve just watches the ceiling, slow smoke exhale cutting through the sun rays that spill into Eddie’s new bedroom.

“What is he, an elephant? Jesus.”

Eddie turns to look at Steve, his profile backlit and hazy around the edges. He’s been doing this a lot more often, trying to memorize the edges of him. Refuses to admit to himself he’s attracted to Steve because then he’ll be down a friend, if not a whole group. He’s had enough fighting for a lifetime.

Steve leans up on his elbows, offers Eddie his joint back and drops his head on his own shoulder to stare at him.

“You doin’ okay?” Steve, ever the worrier.

“I don’t hurt as much anymore.”

“Not what I asked.”

Eddie just sighs again and jostles himself off his new bed. It isn’t comfortable the way his old, shitty mattress was. The pillows smell different and his room is way too fucking bright. The boxes in the corner still aren’t unpacked after a month and the whole apartment still smells like fresh paint. His side still aches like hell in the morning and sometimes his leg just gives out, thigh trembling under his hand. He’d spent the morning staring at his face in the bathroom mirror, long after Wayne had left for work, running the tips of his fingers over the patch of scar tissue along his jaw. The shiny new skin, almost silvery with the lack of sun, was smooth and mottled and Eddie hated it.

He hated all of it. He hated the physical therapy and he hated the checks from the government and he hated how Dustin left him a new message everyday on the answering machine. He hated how Nancy and Robin were just applying to colleges like it was no big deal and he hated how all the kids just rolled with the punches and dropped it all for Max when she needed them and he hated Steve. Hated him for doing that for him, dropping everything and helping. Eddie was a Munson and Munsons didn’t need any help. He’d been fine before any of them found him and he’d be fine when they all eventually left him.

Steve continues to stare at Eddie while he stands unmoving in middle of his room. He’s still holding the joint out to him between his thumb and index finger. Glassy eyes watching Eddie thinking. He knows he’s been quiet long enough that Steve knows he’s thinking himself into a corner. He just wiggles the joint at him and Eddie finally snatches it, retreating to the bare wall and sliding down to sit on the ground.

“You gonna tell me about it?” Steve asks quietly. He hasn’t moved from his spot, still lounging on Eddie’s bed.

“I hate everything.” Eddie sighs. Steve hums and motions for Eddie to keep talking. “I hate it all. I’m tired of hurting and I’m tired of Wayne being up my ass all the time. I know he’s worried but I’m fine! I’m fucking…fine.” He takes a hit, deep and long and coughs up a lung and Steve still just watches. Eddie crawls over to the bed to hand the joint back over, Steve’s fingers soft against his own. “I hate that everyone is doing just fine apparently. Nancy is going to fucking New York for school? I know I only just passed high school but how is she just applying to college? The shit-“ Eddie cuts himself off, buries his forehead in his palm. “Three more years and the twerps are gonna be gone and I don’t know what to do with myself then. Everyone is gonna be gone and like, what the fuck do I do then?” The loud footsteps stop finally and the silence is deafening. At least when they still lived in the trailer there was always someone outside doing something. The woods full of life or cars passing on the main road. This apartment complex is set back from the road. The woods too far from it for anything to make a sound.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh please. I know Robin is leaving in September.”

“Yeah. With Nancy.” Steve says it like it’s the most obvious thing.

“I thought Robin was going to Columbia?”

“She is, so is Nancy. Why would I move with her?” He scoffs and rolls onto his side, propping his head on his fist. “I know we’re almost attached at the hip, but I don’t want to go to New York, it’s too loud. Also, you still have your club.”

“Yeah but they don’t…they don’t get it.” Eddie pulls his knees up, wincing when the new skin pulls a little too tight on his leg and his side and his hip and wherever the fuck else he got chewed on. “I haven’t exactly been the fun one recently.” He hasn’t, not really. They’ve come over to his new place a few times, and not one of them is stupid so they know something is up but they won’t ask. He can see it, them waiting for him to explain something he’ll never really be able to explain. He hates that too.

“Steve?”

“Hmm?”

“How do you get over it?”

“Mm.” He rubs the thumb of his free hand over his chin, slim joint tucked between his middle and index finger. “I don’t.”

“What?” Eddie’s head pops up, eyebrows drawn together.

“Listen man, it’s been like what, almost four years of this shit? I haven’t had a decent nights sleep since thanksgiving of ‘83?” He frowns, calculating time in his head. “If you’re comparing me to everyone else I don’t know what to tell you. Might have to do with all the hits to the head, but I haven’t ever gotten over it.” He keeps looking at Eddie with those big brown eyes, staring him down the line of his long nose. “Honestly, none of us have. I just think the rest of them have like, futures and shit. They’ve always had a goal to work toward. Nancy was always going to do something with her journalism and Robin speaks three fuckin’ languages so like…” Steve makes a noise in the back of his throat and throws his hand up. “The rest of them are kids and they’ve been through a lot but they’re also smart as hell, smarter than me at least, so they’ll go off to college and leave the two of us to rot around Hawkins.” He finally takes a hit, the smoke dancing up around his face. Eddie doesn’t know where to look, doesn’t know what to say to Steve. He always thought having the name meant he’d be someone some day, or at least have an end goal. Have an idea for college or a career, someway to have money and security. It’s fucking with him to learn that Steve is just kicking around town like him, stuck in a daze of working dead end jobs and watching your friends leave.

Steve rolls back over to stare at the ceiling again, eyes squinted against the thick smoke that hangs in the air. “I could think of worst company.” He grins, doesn’t look over at Eddie, doesn’t see the red blushing his ears.

“I’m not much good company lately.”

Steve pats the bed beside him. “C’mere.” Eddie doesn’t budge at first, not until Steve does look over at him. “Get up here.” His smile, his real one not that bitchy one he gives customers at the grocery store, is infectious. Eddie gets up and crawls across the floor to slink up the side of the bed like a lizard, too lazy to stand. He hooks his leg onto the edge and rolls until he hits Steve’s side, readjust so they’re not touching and Steve follows him until they are, shoulders pressed into each other while he starts listing off the pros of being stuck together.

The sun is setting, his room getting dimmer and him and Steve are still laying on his bed, elbows touching, ankles bouncing off each others feet when one of them gets too animated telling their stories. Eddie is in the middle of explaining how him and Jeff managed to sneak into that godawful basketball hangout the summer before and spray paint a pentagram on the wall when he accidentally elbows Steve in the side.

“Oh fuck sorry dude.” They’re all giggles and smiles, slowly coming off of their afternoon high.

“You’re fine Ed.” Steve pats Eddie’s bicep, fingers hanging on a little longer as the sun goes down. They’ve been close all afternoon but for some reason this is making Eddie’s chest tight, making him take shallow breaths. His own hands are paused in the air where he was miming spray painting, fingers curling into his palms when he drops them slowly to his chest. Steve is turned toward him, eyes a deep brown in the darkening room, still bloodshot from earlier. Heavy lidded and slow blinking and Eddie is staring so badly but he can’t seem to stop.

“Ed?”

“Huh.” He still staring, watching how Steve’s mouth forms around Ed. Steve shifts a little, rolls onto his shoulder a bit to get a better look.

“Can I ask you something?” His words are hushed and close, breath trapped between them.

“Uh y-yeah.” Eddie is still focused on Steve’s lips and how they move around each syllable. They’re pink like all the girls he’s ever thought about kissing’s were pink but Steve isn’t those girls. It takes Eddie a moment to realize Steve is actually moving closer, it’s not just his imagination.

“Please don’t hit me.” Steve whispers, his fingers working their way under Eddie’s cheek.

They stay there all evening, right up until Wayne comes home. The dim sunset keeps them hidden in oranges and pinks, purples and blues and then black. Later, when Steve finally tugs his coat on and sheepishly makes his way through the new apartment, Eddie catches new color under the collar of Steve’s grey jacket. A mottled red and purple, sunset printed on skin.