#implied steddie but not really a lot

[strangersteddierthings]

The thing is, Steve has learned, that becoming untouchable isn't all he wants it to be.

People were too quick to try and reach out for him, ask for more than he was willing to give. He hadn't wanted to give up his first kiss to some random girl at some random boy's twelfth birthday party because of spin the bottle. He hadn't wanted to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with Jenny Jackson or Linda Simons at Tommy's birthday party the following year. He did want to take Mary Linscott to Snow Ball, but she just wanted to make out behind the bleachers instead of dance with him. He didn't want to do that but then Brian called him stupid for not wanting to, and asked if he was queer. So, Steve had turned right back around and dragged Mary back under the bleachers, kissing her until it was time to go to prove Brian wrong.

(Even though Steve knows Brian isn't wrong. That Steve had wanted to ask Brian to the dance as much as he'd wanted to ask Mary but knew better than to do that. He saw how they treated Eddie Munson last year for the suspicion of liking other boys and Steve wasn't going to let that happen to himself.)

Brian had congratulated him after and asked what base he got to. Steve didn't want to get to any bases, but he couldn't say that, so he just punched Brian in the arm and said 'more bases than you' which was true because Brian's date didn't kiss him even once.

Then Carol Perkins approached him at lunch, shortly after Snow Ball, and asked if Steve would be her first kiss. Not because she wanted to kiss Steve, but because she wanted to kiss Tommy H, but didn't want to be bad at kissing. Steve agreed because he liked Carol. Not in the way she liked Tommy, but mostly because she'd asked.

No one had done that yet.

She came over to his house on a Saturday because she didn't want Tommy to catch them and think she didn't like him. They made out in his room because, despite his parents being home, they didn't really care who was in his room with him or if the door was open or shut. Probably didn't even notice he had someone over. She leaves an hour later.

By Tuesday Tommy and Carol are an item and by Friday they were Steve's best friends.

However, for reasons Steve doesn't understand, more girls keep asking him to be their first kiss. And maybe it's because he's already got a reputation, or maybe Carol let slip he'd said yes when she asked, but Steve finds himself kissing a lot of girls he doesn't want to. He doesn't know how to say no. Can't find a reason too. Brian's words play in the back of his mind every time he thinks about saying no.

(Are you stupid? Are you queer? He doesn't want to be either of those things, and given his grade in biology and pre-algebra, he's really only got a hope of avoiding the queer label. His father would tolerate a stupid son. He doesn't think he'd survive if his father had a queer one.)

There are a few girls he's been crushing on that ask him and that was nice. One, Alice Baker, even becomes his girlfriend for a month. His first relationship.

Soon eighth grade gives way to being a freshman and Steve, who has always been handsome and cute, catches the eye of upperclassmen now.

And Steve's not sure how it happens, but he ends up moving past first base with another girl whose name he can't remember, or possibly never knew. He doesn't remember asking her for hers when she led him into one of the bedrooms at the house this party was at while he was way too tipsy.

And then it just grows. The reputation and what people expect from him, and he doesn't want it, but he's never said no before so can he start now? Doesn't he need a reason to say no? If he doesn't have a reason, does that make him queer? He should be wanting this. What boy doesn't want this?

And maybe he does want it. But not like this.

He doesn't want to be slightly drunk at yet another party, following the first girl that grabs his wrist and pulls him after her into whatever secluded area they can find. He doesn't want to keep saying yes when he wants to say no.

The summer between freshman and sophomore year he confides in Carol. It's a risk. Carol can be cruel, quick with her words to tear you down, to spread the rumor that will ruin your life. But she's also fiercely loyal.

He tells her he's tired of kissing people he doesn't want to.

Carol is quiet for a long time, and Steve almost thinks he's made a mistake. But then she speaks.

"Okay. Let's make a plan."

And they do. Then suddenly Steve is untouchable. Carol teaches him how to see the weakness in people and call it out. How to wield his facial expressions as a weapon and a shield. How to put on the air of being the most important person everywhere you go so well that everyone else begins to believe it. How to fall back on the fact his parents are rich, gone often, and, almost most importantly, well known in the community. It gives Steve's name a weight to throw around.

More importantly, all of that culminates in people no longer asking things of him. Instead, they look to him to take the lead, they wait to be asked. It makes Steve feel in charge of his life for once.

But now.

Now, years later, having survived a spring break from Hell and averted the apocalypse, Steve watches Eddie hang off Argyle with ease, fling an arm over Jonathan's shoulder while laughing at a joke, easily pull Dustin into a headlock or wrestling match.

Easy touches that Steve should be able to do, too. A jealousy wells inside him almost as much as the unease he feels in his stomach at the mere thought of letting them know they're allowed to reach out and touch him, too. That Eddie's allowed to reach out and touch.

But then he remembers what happened when he let people have that power over him and he can't bring himself to do it.

It settles in Steve, then, the realization. When you become untouchable, you're unable to touch.

-

@nburkhardt @i-less-than-three-you adding my own lil bit of angst into the mix now (:

[starshideurfics]

Can’t go home alone

steddie, aob, hurt/comfort, established secret relationship

I just can’t leave this concept alone 🥰

Pain pulses over and behind and around Steve’s eye along with the beat of his heart. It isn’t as bad as it was even an hour ago, and definitely not as bad as when he and Robin puked their guts out in the movie theater restroom.

But his head hurts. His chest hurts. And he just wants to curl up in his nest and hope his parents don’t come home in time to see him like this. 

But the paramedic checking him says he’s definitely got a concussion. “Have you got someone who can keep an eye on you for the next 48 hours?”

“I… Yeah, I do.” Steve leans his head on Robin’s shoulder, needing the support as he’s hit with a sudden dizzy spell. He really doesn’t want to hurl again.

“Steve,” Robin whispers, “There’s no way my mom is letting me stay at your house for two days. Or letting you stay at mine. She would freak if I had an omega in my room.”

“I know,” Steve mumbles back. “‘Preciate the offer, Robbie, but I’ve got someone.”

“Steve. You can’t just shrug this off!”

“I’m not! I do have someone.” He pouts, breathes deep, her scent sour still from the truth serum leaving her system. His face is hidden in her short hair as he mumbles, “I’ll stay with Eddie.” Steve’s so tired. 

He just wants to rest his eyes a minute, but Robin shakes his shoulder.

“Eddie? Steve what are you talking about?”

“I’ll stay at Eddie’s. He’ll take care of me.”

Robin is struggling to focus, her brain not as scrambled as Steve’s, but after a day and a half without enough to eat or drink coupled with everything else, she’s just as tired and confused. “Eddie who?”

Tires screech to a stop at the edge of the Starcourt parking lot, the closest cars can come now with the barriers up. Steve whips his head around to look towards the noise and his head spins. But then he sees a familiar, shitty van, the driver’s door opening and closing loud enough for Steve to hear the slam over the surrounding hubbub.

Pushing himself to his feet, Steve starts walking towards the streak of denim and dark curls racing towards him. He’s grinning like an idiot as Eddie stops just short of barreling into him, the rangy alpha delicately cupping his face. “Steve, baby, what the hell happened?” His fingers brush gently along Steve’s brow, over the cut on his lower lip. “I saw on the news—about the fire—called your place a dozen times and no one picked up. Been half-crazy worrin’ over you, and it looks like I was right to.”

“M’sorry,” Steve mumbles, pressing his cheek into Eddie’s touch.

“No, baby, not your fault. I’m just glad it isn’t worse.” He pulls Steve close, guides his face to the scent gland at his neck, and kisses his hair. “I’ve got you.”

Steve begins to purr, feeling safe for the first time in two days. “Can we go home?”

“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Wait! I gotta tell Robin!”

“What? Is Buckley here, too?”

Steve doesn’t answer, just pulls out of Eddie’s grip and stumbles back to the ambulance where Robin is still waiting, wrapped in an emergency blanket, her blue eyes glued to him as he approaches. “You’re dating Eddie Munson?” The, ‘and you didn’t say anything about that when we were spilling our guts literally and metaphorically on the bathroom floor’ is implied.

“Yeah. Eddie’s the best. He’s really sweet and he’s got a big—”

“Please don’t make me barf on you by finishing that sentence. I do not need to know what you and your alpha get up to behind closed doors.” Robin reaches for his hand. “Just… Call me in the morning, okay?”

“Okay.” Steve squeezes her fingers before loping back to Eddie and snuggling into his boyfriend’s chest.

Eddie rubs at Steve’s back. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. I’m hungry.”

“Want me to make you a grilled cheese when we get back to my place?”

“Uh-huh.” Steve nods enthusiastically, only to bring on a wave of nausea, forcing him to shut his eyes and put all his weight on Eddie.

“Maybe I should just get you into bed.”

Steve moans wordlessly, lets himself be manhandled into the van, barely noticing anything beyond the bumps in the road that make his head ache more.

Once they reach Forest Hills, Eddie plops Steve on the couch, brings him water and a bag of frozen peas for his eye, and turns his attention to frying two sandwiches.

After Steve is fed, Eddie helps him into the shower, washing his hair in the tiny bathroom, and getting rid of the dried blood and days’ worth of sweat. 

They dry off together, and Eddie bundles Steve into his bed, their naked bodies pressed close beneath the covers. “I’ve got you, baby,” Eddie whispers, dropping a kiss to Steve’s unbruised temple. “You rest. And if you need anything, let me know, I’ll get it for you.”

“I know,” Steve hums, snuggling impossibly closer. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby. Now sleep.”

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddie-week.

All Hours

Day #1 - Prompt: Secret Relationship | Word Count: 1125 | Rating: T | CW: Language | POV: Steve | Tags: Post S4, Eddie Munson Lives, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Steve & Wayne

Steve parks outside of the trailer park and walks in. Careful to avoid the streetlights and the corners where there are known yapping dogs.

He approaches Eddie's window on the back side of the new trailer, and moves to push open the screen, to let himself inside without waking up Eddie, or Wayne. He just hikes his foot up into the sill when he's startled. 

"We do have a front door, you know," comes the lazy drawl, and Steve nearly jumps out of his skin, heart hammering wildly in his chest. He tries to suck in a breath, gripping the edge of the window frame, finally looking over at Wayne as he sits on the back steps, cigarette burning between his fingers.

"I'm sorry," Steve says, taking a step back from the house, pulling the window closed, putting some distance between himself and the room where Eddie is surely sleeping.

Eddie sleeps all the time these days. The doctors swear it's just part of his healing process, the recovery, but Steve still worries. All the time. Everyday. It's impossible not to. Eddie's healed so slowly, after being so close to death, that Steve's terrified he'll never fully recover.

"C'mere, kid," Wayne says, and pats the step beside him. 

Steve goes, but is a little wary. Wayne and him haven't really spent that much time together, they were just ships passing in the night while Eddie was in the hospital. Each taking their turn, and then handing the baton off to the other.

Steve sits down, and folds his hands in his lap.

"I know you've been sneaking in and out of his window during all hours of the day and night, for, well, months now," Wayne says, just barely above a murmur. 

"I'm sorry. I just worry about him," Steve says, and that's the truth. Most of it, anyway. 

There have been a couple quick, tentative kisses, but that's it. Eddie isn't strong enough for anything else, definitely nothing as tawdry as Wayne seems to be implying. It's pretty innocent, this thing they've got going. 

Steve's snuck in a lot of windows in his lifetime, but none compare to crawling over the sill of Eddie's window, and onto the chair Eddie now leaves there to ease Steve's entrance. None have been as chaste as this either. Steve's never spent months pursuing someone, hell, loving someone, that he didn't win over.

Even Robin, he counts as a win. It's platonic love, for sure, but he worked his Harrington charm on her, and got her to love him.

"I know you worry, but we have a front door. You're welcome to use it. Day or night," Wayne says, low and almost too soft to hear, even in the still of the night.

"Oh," Steve says, like this hadn't been something he'd ever considered, and honestly, it hasn't been, "okay."

"Okay," Wayne agrees, and he digs in his shirt pocket and fishes out a single key on a ring. "Here. So I can lock it. I worry about him, about someone coming after him again. And I wanted to put better locks on all the windows, but Eddie protested. Any idea why?" Wayne asks, and it's playful, in a very dry way.

Steve laughs, reaching out and taking the key, closing his hand around it, tight.

"Okay, I'll come through the door."

"Thank you," Wayne says.

"And I'll help with the window locks. If you want," Steve offers, and Wayne nods, like he's accepting this offer.

Now, Steve isn't sure if he should get up and leave, or keep sitting, or what. He stays.

"I don't care, you know," Wayne finally says.

"Don't care?" Steve questions, wanting him to clarify. 

"If you boys are more than friends," Wayne says, and Steve hadn't expected it.

"Oh," Steve breathes out.

"He's my boy, and I want him to be happy. Whatever that means for him," Wayne explains and Steve suddenly feels like his eyes are burning.

He wishes his dad would be as invested in his happiness as Wayne clearly is about Eddie's.

"Thank you," Steve says, "it's…nothing, not really. We're just friends."

Wayne turns to look at him, and grins, "If you say so."

Steve feels like he's lying, even if he isn't. Not really.

"But we could be more than that, maybe, someday. When he's feeling better. Maybe, if he's interested in that," Steve rambles.

Wayne smiles, takes a deep drag on his cigarette, and blows it up into the night sky, "Oh, he's definitely interested. Steve Harrington this, Steve Harrington that. Let me tell you. I've heard your name more in the past few months than I've heard my own."

Steve laughs at that, unexpected and far too loud, and it doesn't take long before Eddie's bedroom window is being shoved open, his head popping out. His hair is a mess, tangled and frizzy, but he's on his feet, and that's a damn good look on him.

It's a beautiful sight. But he always is.

"What? Are you two having fun without me?" Eddie asks, like he's not at all surprised to see them together. Like this whole sneaking through the window thing wasn't a top secret operation.

Was it not a secret?

Steve turns back towards Wayne, "How long have you known I was coming through the window?"

"Since the first night," Wayne admits, "I heard you floundering in, and came to the door to check on him, but I heard Eddie laughing, so I knew he was okay. I asked him in the morning who was making such a racket, and he said it was you."

Steve laughs at himself, apparently he was trying to be stealthy for Eddie's benefit, but they weren't on the same page.

"C'mon in, Harrington. Henderson brought over some new tapes earlier," Eddie says, and Steve stands.

Wayne nods his head towards the back door, "It's unlocked. But your key will work there, too."

And Steve pulls it open, heading towards Eddie's room. Eddie is back in bed, propped up, remote in hand for the VCR Steve had set up in Eddie's room months ago, thinking they'd get better use out of it here, than Steve would at home, these days.

Steve settles next to him, "What do we got tonight?"

"Back to the Future, have you seen it?" Eddie asks.

"Only while very drugged by the Russians," Steve admits, "it'll be nice to see it again."

Steve's sure there's no chance Eddie will stay awake for an entire movie, but he'll be happy to sit with him, no matter what.

"You're so weird, Harrington," Eddie says, but it sounds affectionate, and Steve will take it, as Eddie leans his head on Steve's shoulder.

"Yeah, well. Back at ya, Munson."

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddie-week and follow along with the fun!

[eddiezpaghetti]

It has come to my attention that SOME OF YOU who read my last Byler post remain UNCONVINCED. So I'm gonna tack onto it this:

I'm older than fucking God and air, and I've been out and proud since 2007. Yes, I know what homophobia is, and yes, I know what queerbaiting is. I know about Supernatural and Teen Wolf and Sherlock and blahdyblahdyblah. No new ground is being covered here. I thought I made that clear in the original post, but, clearly, I did not.

I am aware of queerbaiting and homophobia, and I'm still wholeheartedly certain in Byler being canon anyway.

Okay, so there are three types of relationship I want to discuss when it comes to queerbaiting. They're all, like, "queer relationships that could have happened, but didn't".

First off, queer-coding. This isn't really a thing so much anymore, but it still crops up every once in a while. I'd argue it probably happens most with male-male relationships in family shows these days. First example that comes to mind is Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowny from Steven Universe. You can't make a relationship canon because some shitty overhead bastard overhead said no, so you get as close as you can without compromising the show. Can't make someone gay? Well, now their comedy routine is a blatant allegory for a romantic relationship. Boom-shaka-laka. This is something I don't see being a problem with regards to Stranger Things, but I want it to be there as contrast, a demonstration of one of many things queerbaiting is not. However, one could argue that, thus far, Will Byers is, canonically, queer-coded. It's pretty fucking heavily implied in the show, and the creators have confirmed it, and you're gonna be able to see it if you're not FUCKING BLIND, but word of god is not technically canon which means that interviews don't technically make something canon, blahdyblahdyblahdyblah, technicalities, Robin has been explicitly stated in the text to be queer while Will has, thus far, not, outside of good ol' Show-Don't-Tell. Of course, anyone with two brain cells to rub together can tell that that's going to change by the end of Season 5, but, hey, for what it's worth, I'm throwing this out there.

Alrighty, Thingamajingama Number Two: "Oops, I accidentally made the greatest love story known to man." AKA, a genuine, honest-to-goodness mistake. Unfortunately, we do live in a heteronormative society. Sometimes people who don't think about being gay much write a friendship that's incredibly compelling and don't even consider the possibility that it could have been read as romantic. Something something Top Gun something. This is, again, not queerbaiting. This is Steddie, this is Ronance, this is Elmax, this is your favorite flavor of non-canon ship this week, this is not Byler. The creators know DAMN well what they're doing. They've talked about it. We know this. Nothing new here.

Which brings us to the topic of discussion here. Actual queerbaiting. This usually starts out as an "accidental greatest love story", and then reacts to fan response. And when I say "reacts", I mean like a goddamn chemical reaction. Like bleach and ammonia, bitch. It's noxious and it's gonna kick your fucking ass without mercy. This is when a creator is like, "Hey, let's get our queer audience invested, but we're not actually going to give them what they want because our straight audience isn't here for that/we personally think it's gross/we don't give enough of a shit to want to research a goddamn thing to write a real gay character," blah blah blah whatever excuse they want to come up with this time.

And when you think "queerbaiting", I want you to think "bullying". Because that's what it is. It's lucrative bullying, like beating us up and taking our lunch money, but it's bullying all the same. And it's a real goddamn thing, even if people misuse the word a lot, often when they mean one of the two above, sometimes when they mean "bury your gays", which is another homophobic thing entirely that I'm not going to get into here. Queerbaiting is the thing we're focused on, and it's real, and it's bullying. And here's the reason I want you to think of it as bullying:

They

Think

It's

Funny.

They are actively making fun of us.

That's why Dean had the "Cas, get out of my ass," line in Supernatural. It's why the "Do you like boys?" line happened in Teen Wolf. It's why "Lie with me, Watson," happened in the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies. Because "It's just a joke, mate." "It was just a prank, bro." "You didn't really think it would happen, did you?" "You should see your face."

So here's probably the biggest reason I don't think it's specifically queerbaiting in this specific instance of Will Byers and Mike Wheeler.

Stranger Things has never, not once, made a gay joke. Ever.

Every single time queerness comes up, it's dead serious.

Lonnie calls Will a fag, and the show is not at all reluctant to show what a goddamn horrible person he is. And when Hopper latches onto that, it's not as "Hahah, is he gay, though?" It's because he's trying to determine a potential motive for Will's disappearance, and even if someone had interpreted it as a joke, Joyce immediately has a line that functions as snapping her fingers in front of the audience's face and yelling "FOCUS" when she says "He's MISSING." Basically outright saying "This isn't funny!"

Troy calls him a fairy, along with targeting Lucas and Dustin for their skin color and disability respectively, and Mike gets damn near murderous. Troy is portrayed as a goddamn monster and the show portrays it as justice when El makes him piss his pants and later breaks his arm.

Steve calls Jonathan "queer" as a slur and gets the shit beat out of him for it.

Billy's father is revealed to be homophobic and abusive in the same breath.

Mike says "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" and we're shown how devastated Will is and Mike immediately follows him to beg for forgiveness.

There is a joke in Robin's coming-out scene, but it's not at Robin's expense. It's at Steve's. Specifically for being heteronormative.

Jonathan has multiple scenes where he's trying so hard to tell Will that he's always going to love him as he is, whether he's gay or not, without pressuring him to come out before he's ready.

Even when there's a little bit of ribbing at Robin's expense, it's always because she's an awkward nerd who's nervous around pretty girls, just the same as Lucas and Dustin are teased when they both first develop crushes on Max, and even then, even then, it always comes as a package deal where they make fun of Steve's girl problems at the same time.

Stranger Things is an emphatically pro-gay show. It may not be the core point of the show the way it is in, say, Our Flag Means Death, but there is nothing less than respect for its queer characters. Its queer characters are always taken completely seriously. No one is making fun of us. They never have. That's why I have serious doubts that this is queerbaiting. It would come completely out of left field for the bullying to start in Stranger Things' final season.

So it's not at all likely to be queerbaiting because queerness is taken completely seriously. The creators have talked about Will's queerness, at least, so it's not an accident. And queer-coding would be silly to expect from this show when it's already on its final season. Like, what is Netflix gonna do? Cancel it? Not to mention all the explicit queerness that's in there already. And no one's gonna "What about the children?" a show that's had sex scenes in it since the first season.

There's no fakeout here. It's gonna happen. Breathe.

[solarmorrigan]

If you’re still taking prompts, could I ask for “please come get me” with Steddie?

I’ve read over all your other angst prompts and just about died this morning, you’re so good at the pain!!

Hello! :D Thank you for the prompt! I'm afraid this one is a little heavier on the comfort than the hurt, so perhaps not as much pain, but if you've been binging what I've written so far, maybe that's a good thing?? But anyway, I hope this is alright!

[Warning for implied child neglect/emotional abuse. Nothing really happens in the fic, but just as a heads up]

Angsty-ish Prompt List

-

Eddie shouldn’t be hearing this. This isn’t a conversation meant for spectators.

“I know you just got back from a trip, I just–” Harrington says into the receiver of the payphone, clinging to the handset as he practically wilts against the useless ‘privacy wall’ next to it. “I’m sorry, I was just hoping you could give me a ride home.”

All Eddie had wanted to do was cut the pep rally like any self-respecting social outcast would, except he couldn’t just ditch and go home; it’s Friday, and he has Hellfire after this. But the last thing he’d expected while loitering around outside, waiting for the pep rally to end, had been to stumble across Steve Harrington on the phone, practically begging someone for a ride home.

“No, I drove myself here today, I’m just not sure I can drive home.” Harrington pauses, then sighs. “No, Dad, this is a pep rally, I haven’t been drinking.” Whatever comes down the line next makes his posture snap straight almost immediately, before he hunches back in on himself with a wince and a hand pressed to his forehead. “No, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

This is weird. This is so weird. Harrington is meant to be cocky – confident and in-charge and at ease, not curled around a payphone in the same way a kicked puppy tries to protect itself even as it asks someone for more attention.

Someone who is apparently his dad.

It’s just – weird. It’s like how you know a lemon is a citrus fruit, just the same as an orange, but the second you peel off the rind, you feel like you’ve seen something forbidden. Lemons aren’t meant to be peeled that way, and Harrington isn’t meant to look close to tears while trying to get someone to drive him home.

“I – I’m sick. I mean, it’s – I have a migraine,” Harrington explains haltingly. “No, it’s not just – yeah, my head hurts, but if it was just that, I swear I wouldn’t bother you, I just – I’m dizzy, and my vision’s all blurry, so I’m not sure I can drive, and I don’t…”

Shit, that sounds kind of fucked up. Eddie frowns, leaning against the wall he’s been peering around, now definitely intentionally eavesdropping. Harrington is frowning, too, rubbing a frustrated hand over his face.

“Tommy and I don’t hang out anymore, we haven’t in over a year,” Harrington says, then carries on a little more quietly, a little more subdued, “and there isn’t really anyone else here I can catch a ride with, either.”

Eddie will admit he hasn’t been paying a whole lot of attention, but anyone who doesn’t live under a rock knows that Harrington’s popularity had taken a bit of a hit last year, when he’d ditched Hagan and Perkins and decided to be a bit less of a dick. And then this year – well, even if Hargrove hadn’t crowed enough about the fight between the two of them, the state of Harrington’s face back in November had spoken volumes. Still, Eddie hadn’t been aware the condition of Harrington’s social life was so dire.

“I’m not – I’m not making this up, the doctor talked to you about this, he– I’m not trying to talk back, I just– Dad, please, can you just – please, come get me,” Harrington stutters through what sounds very much like a losing argument before going silent altogether, pressing one hand over his eyes as he lets his head hang, the other still holding the handset near his ear. “I understand,” he says dully after a minute. “I’m sorry. I’ll – I’ll figure it out… Yes, sir.”

It doesn’t seem like there’s much left to say after that. Harrington hangs up the phone and leans up against the adjacent wall before sliding down and sitting himself right there on the ground, knees drawn up and face in his hands.

Shit.

Eddie ducks back around the corner, gnawing on his lip, caught in indecision. He shouldn’t have overheard any of that, intentionally or otherwise, but now that he has, he can’t just – not do something.

Can he?

He tries to tell himself it’s not his problem, that Harrington’s certainly never done him any favors, even if he’d never been a dick to Eddie specifically, but it doesn’t work. All Eddie can see is the defeated slump of Harrington’s shoulders, the helpless way he’d just sort of dropped to the ground, the way he’d quietly admitted there’s no one else he can ask for a ride – Eddie’s always had a soft spot for the lonely ones.

But when he rounds the corner, prepared to come up with some bullshit excuse as to why he’s out here and willing to drive Harrington home, he finds that Harrington is – gone.

Eddie glances around, but he doesn’t seem to be anywhere. Poof, vanished while Eddie had been too busy trying to decide what to do.

Well, damn.

Distantly hoping that Harrington had, indeed, figured something out, Eddie tries to put the incident out of his mind. The pep rally will be over soon, and that means Hellfire will begin, and he needs to get his head in the game.

He has no real reason to think on the incident after that, and he’s fairly successful at shoving it somewhere into the back of his mind until nearly two years later, in a setting so far removed from that spring day at the school that it might as well be in another life.

Eddie has to extricate himself from a few fans (actual fans; apparently, rumors of Satanism and returning form the dead will do wonders for the reputation of your metal band) in order to get up from the table settled near the back of The Hideout. Gareth, Jeff, and Oliver are all accounted for, enjoying their drinks and chatting with whoever’s descended upon them after their set, but Steve had disappeared ten minutes ago and has yet to make a reappearance.

Ten minutes isn’t all that long, Eddie knows logically, but after last year, after everything, it still feels a little too long. If he finds Steve and Steve tells him he’s fine, then that’s great, Eddie will leave him be. But he just wants to check.

The bathroom is a bust, empty but for one drunk swaying precariously in front of a urinal, so Eddie heads outside, where, around the side of the building, settled on the ground in a triangle of sodium-glow orange thrown off by a nearby streetlight, he finds his quarry.

Steve is sitting with his back to the rough wood façade of the bar, his knees drawn up in front of him and his head leaned back against the wall behind him. His eyes are closed, but there’s a little pinch of tension between his brows, and Eddie is abruptly reminded of that day, eons ago and not really that long ago at all, when all Steve had wanted was for someone to care enough to give him a ride home when he’d been sick.

Eddie finds his ass on the concrete right next to Steve before he even has the conscious thought to go over and sit down.

“Doing okay, sweetheart?” Eddie asks, picking up one of Steve’s hands from where it’s resting on his own knee (it’s safe enough right here, Eddie knows; someone would have to actively be looking for them to spot them where they’re tucked away).

If Steve is surprised to find Eddie beside him, he doesn’t show it. He turns to look at Eddie in the low light, offering him a fond little smile.

“I’m good. It was just getting to be a little much in there, so I came out here for a break,” he says.

Things like excessive noise and heat—say, the likes of which might be experienced at a concert in a crowded bar (or maybe a high school pep rally)—tend to be migraine triggers for Steve, so why he continues attending shows at The Hideout is beyond Eddie. He’s tried telling him that he doesn’t have to come, but Steve still insists he wants to make it to every performance that he can.

Eddie squeezes Steve’s hand. “You wanna head out?”

Steve shakes his head. “You’re having a good time. I don’t want to take you away from that.”

“I’m not going to be having a good time if you’re miserable.” Eddie reaches up and cups Steve’s cheek in his hand, keeping him facing in Eddie’s direction. “You’re a priority for me, you know that, right? Say the word, and we’ll go home.”

It doesn’t seem like Steve has anything to say to that; instead, he just stares at Eddie with something like wonder, as if Eddie’s just done anything more amazing than promise Steve that he’ll never have to beg for basic consideration.

“Besides,” Eddie goes on, if for no other reason than to shift the sudden weight of Steve’s reverence, “it’s not like it would be a hardship.” He leans in, pressing a kiss to Steve’s willing mouth before he continues, speaking so close that their lips are brushing. “Getting to take you home, take you to bed, lie there in the dark, just the two of us…”

Steve presses in for another kiss, long and lingering, before pulling away.

“Let’s stay a little longer,” he says. “Jeff owes me a beer, anyway.”

“Y’know,” Eddie pauses with a grunt of effort as Steve stands and uses their joined hands to pull Eddie up after him, “the only reason you knew the movie he was referencing—and, thus, the only reason he owes you a beer—is because I made you watch it.”

“And? What do you want, a medal?” Steve snarks.

“Well,” Eddie drawls, glancing Steve up and down, “some token of appreciation wouldn’t be remiss.”

Steve raises an unimpressed eyebrow at Eddie. “It would be if we did it in the alley next to a bar.”

“Wow, Harrington, mind in the gutter much? I only meant a beer,” Eddie sniffs, all exaggerated offense.

“Sure you did,” Steve says. “Now c’mon; one more beer, and then… home?”

“You got it, sweetheart,” Eddie says, offering one more quick kiss in hopes of putting any hesitation out of Steve’s mind. “One more beer, and then home.”

[justmeinadaze]

Nothing's Gonna Change My World (Steddie X You) (Regency Era Universe)

AN: This is my first time writing for an era like this so bare with me. I think I could have done better with the details but alas! Please enjoy :)

Warnings: Steddie X Fem Y/N, In universe Regency Era Lords Steddie X Lady Fem Y/N, SMUT and FLUFF, established friendship in alternate universe, Friends to Lovers

ANGST, we learn more about these experimentees, both men talk about their parents and Eddie elaborates a bit more on how Steve treated him in school. Y/N talks a bit more about her family and status. At the end, she talks a bit more about her sister who has died. In the alternative universe, Steve's father is a dick who feels like he isn't measuring up. Calls Eddie and Y/N names (bastard & whore). Reader has a run in with someone who physically hurts her (no elaborate; just the after math), guys defend her.

Word Count: 5335

Series here/ Donate to Me <3

“You were definitely one of the lucky ones.”, the doctor exhales as he continues to make notes without looking your way. “A lot of the participants were either injured or experienced something they’d rather forget.”

Remaining silent, you press your lips together as you nod just wanting this to be over so you can go have a cigarette (and check on Eddie).

“Was there anything that stood out? People you knew or anything like that?”

“Uh, no. A group kidnapped me and wanted to use me for leverage. I was rescued and then went back to a compound where I was talking with people till I woke up. I did have memories of my sister still dying. Obviously not in the same way.”

“Huh.”, the doctor hummed as he made notes. 

“What?”

“It’s just interesting to have two participants experience a kidnapping. Another participant said he saved someone from being taken. Did you see Mr. Steve Harrington there?”

“No, I didn’t.”, you growled, annoyed at the man’s stupidity. 

“Ok. It’s not that outlandish in an environment like that so I’m not too concerned about it.”

“If we had seen each other would it be? Something to be concerned about I mean.”

“Hmmm… not really. It would be interesting to dissect, metaphorically of course. To meet someone you’ve only met through this avenue in an alternate reality, I mean, that would be so fascinating.”

“What if you saw them in more than one?”

The doctor chuckles as he leans back in his seat. 

“Theoretically that’s impossible but, if we’re speaking in theory, to meet the same someone in all different universes including this one? That sounds more metaphysical…like fate.”

“If that’s true…then it implies my sister was meant to die…no matter what universe we both lived in.”

Your voice comes out barely above a whisper causing the doctor to scan you over as he says your name but you promptly ignore him, rising to your feet as you power walk out of the room. 

While walking down the hallway, you hear people still sniffling as they continue to regale people with stories of the other universe and how terrified they were about moving forward. You were so focused on the sounds of sobs; you didn’t even notice you passed by Steve who leaned out of his bedroom when he noticed you walk by and followed quietly behind you. 

Eddie’s door was open but when you poked your head inside you realized he was asleep and still looked incredibly pained. As you tiptoed to his bedside, you noticed a little bruise starting to form where the nurse must have given him a shot to help calm him so he could rest. The other boy watches you with amusement as your sad eyes take in the man in front of you before you turn to the wall behind you, tapping your fingers gently against the light illuminated panel, and waiting for only a moment before a small door opens providing you with whatever it is you had purchased. 

Sitting beside him, you carefully opened the tube you bought, squirting a bit of gel on your palm and rubbing it along his purple wound.

“What’s that?”, Steve murmurs as your eyes flick his way. “That you’re putting on him.”

“Healing gel for bruises.”, you respond while tossing him the bottle so he can see. “That brand is good at soothing swelling and aches. Definitely needed some of it a time or two.”

When you giggle, he can’t help but smile at the sight.

“May I ask why? Why you’re doing that for him? You just…you seem a bit guarded.”, he clarified when you flashed him an annoyed look. 

“Yeah…Comes from years of bullshit. Plus…he was right. I’m terrified to let people in because something always happens. My sister was always there for me through the bad stuff but when I lost her… I just thought it was best to keep people at bay.”

“I can understand that.”, he nods, smirking when your quark your eyebrow his way. “Just because I’m an asshole doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings.”, Steve laughs. “I’m, um, sorry if I’ve come on to strong with my personality or been rude… It’s just my defense, you know?”

“I can understand that.”, you recite back making both your smiles grow. “I should go back to my room.”

Even as you say your words, your body doesn’t move. You know you should leave but something in your gut keeps tugging you towards the sleeping in man in front of you. He was in so much emotional pain and all you wanted to do was make it go away for him. 

Sighing, you curl up behind Eddie’s back, pressing your face into his shoulder as you wrap your arms around his waist.

***

When the long-haired boy woke up the following morning, he was completely confused when he felt a weight against his body until lifting the blanket and seeing a hand resting lazily against his stomach. 

As carefully as he could, he rolled over coming face to face with your sleeping frame. He should have been confused or annoyed even that you just crawled into his bed but for reasons he couldn’t explain he felt like this was completely normal. Like he had spent the last few years waking up to you already. 

Eddie wondered if maybe the experiment was leaving imprints him as the memories stayed. In the first universe, he hadn’t met you yet but he felt incredibly comfortable with you as that version of himself had already begun hoping for a long future with you by their side. In the second, he and Steve had been with you for a while and even now he could picture some of that Eddie’s memories as if they were his own. 

Memories of meeting you and being skeptical as his friend insisted on bringing you back home. Taking you out to the field near the high school to practice shooting with you and allowing you to try his sniper rifle which he had conveyed to never let anyone before you do. The immediate fear he felt when you didn’t come back and the anger that followed when he found out someone took you. 

As he reached out to caress your cheek, those protective feelings inside him increased and he wanted nothing more than to keep you safe. 

The current reality came rushing back as his eyes glanced at the discounted jewelry on his fingers. He was lower class and would always be labeled that way. Whatever class you were didn’t matter because even he knew he was at the bottom of the society rung.

After crawling over you out of bed, he quietly covered you back up and headed to the bathroom to get ready for breakfast. 

***

“He’s not eating with you?”, you ask as you take a seat in front of Steve and glance towards Eddie who was nibbling on his lunch by the wall.

“Uh, no, not today and I kind of understand why. If I saw what he did I would want to keep to myself to.”

“Is…are your parents…how they are in the other realities?”

The man pauses for a moment before his eyes flick up to meet yours. 

“Yeah, they are especially my father. I’ve been conditioned to take over his company since birth.”

“Conditioned?”

“Yup. Luckily my dad got a boy on his first try with my mom so…yay me.”, he sasses making you smirk as you exhale at the heaviness behind his words. “What about you? What are your parents like?”

“My parents and I haven’t spoken in a while. I, um, after my sister died…it was like the glue that held us together melted.”

“I’m assuming they’re assholes then?”

“What are we talking about so intensely?”, Eddie asks as he throws his body down next to Steve and continues to eat. 

“Parents.”

“Oh that’s a fun topic.”

“Y/N was about to tell me more about hers.”

They both stare at you with wide, focused eyes as they wait for you to go on and on impulse you cross your arms as your wall begins to go up. 

“Uh, yeah, you can say they are assholes. My father is a judge and my mom is a lawyer. Like you said, my great grandfather has the school named after him because he did a lot within congress. Careers of that degree kind of run in the family so I’m…noted as the failure…”

“You’re not a failure.”, Steve tries to comfort as your eyes become glassy before you hastily blink any tears away. 

“I also don’t believe in my families class system so that’s a point against me.”

“Not really anything you can do about it though, right sweetheart?”, Eddie sighs. “The Harrington’s basically swear by it.”

The other man exhales as his head hangs.

“I was raised to believe that the higher class…were superior…”

“Yeah. To push low level people like me and my uncle aside. Part of the reason our school allowed people like me in was to add to the arrogance of the upper class so they could push us around.”

“I never hurt you, Eddie.”

“Physically, no.” 

At that, Steve’s head jerks towards the boy beside him as anger and shame fills his heart. 

“I’m sorry, Munson.”

As you watch their exchange, you can’t help but feel the pain as well from your seat across from them. This is why you and Kallie hated the class system. From the videos you saw, your great grandfather touted it as a way of motivation and peace. 

“So the higher classes feel safer and the lower classes can aspire for greater.”

All it did was cause pain and no one did anything to counter or abolish it. It was so engrained in society that it was just common at this point but no one in the upper class did anything that made them better people. They continually belittled anyone beneath them and made sure to remind them there was no point in “aspiring for greatness” because this is where they belonged; under them.

Maybe Kallie could have made a difference…

“It’s ok—”

“It’s not. I’d…like to start over…maybe. If we can.” Steve’s hand hovers in the air as Eddie’s beautiful eyes take in the gesture with a glimmer of hope reflected behind them. 

“Alright, Harrington.”, the man smirks as he smacks his palm into his and shakes it making you grin their way.

***

The following morning, Steve woke up in chair inside Eddie’s room with you both asleep in the long-haired boy’s bed and him sitting up against the wall while his palm rested on your bicep as your head slept comforting on his lap. 

You three had spent the evening together getting little tidbits about each other and just getting to know the other more. 

As you spoke, he couldn’t help but study you as your lips moved and your eyes focused as you listened to one of them speak. It was in his nature as an upper-class businessman’s son. He was taught from an early age to read body language and listen to inflections in words which he always found amusing because his father did none of that. 

Bill Harrington did everything with selfish motivation and if someone questioned him or seemed to be disloyal, he attacked whether the person was indeed being nefarious or not. 

In school growing up, Steve was the same but a bit more calculated. He punished people for being weak and quite frankly never even noticed they were always the lower-class student. He should have been more observant and empathetic. He just wanted to belong. 

Lord knows his parents never made him feel wanted. 

Steve couldn’t help but wonder how he would have treated you had you grown up together. He would like to think he would have been kind but the fact that he wasn’t sure broke his heart. Maybe you would have made him want to be a better man. 

He felt that in the last universe he was in; that strong need to be better. The memories that still lingered had him wanting to continue that philosophy. He desperately wanted to make the world better for you and Eddie but the current version of himself was struggling.

He didn’t know how to begin and definitely didn’t want to cross a line. 

Truth of the matter was…he was scared…

***

“What do you think? Three for three?”, Eddie jokes as you guys head towards the pods for you next session. 

“I’m not sure. It does comfort me though…to know you both might be there. I aways get nervous before hand at what we might see.”

“Yeah. We understand the feeling.”, Steve sighs under his breath before giving you both a soft smile as you all separate to go to your areas.

“Alright Miss Y/L/N, here’s your shot…good. And I must insist that when you wake up, please remain in the vessel so we can do our jobs.”

“No promises.”

The nurse narrows her eyes at you as the door slowly slides closed. 

“Dropping down in 3…2…1…”

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

“I will not tolerate this insolence anymore!”, the man screams on the other side of the door causing you and Edward’s eyes to lock from your places as you continue to listen in. 

You had known Eddie and Steve since you all were children and it was killing you to hear the latter man’s father scream at him in such a manner. 

Steven did everything he could to appease his parents including taking a woman he deemed boring to a dinner date in an environment he detested. He went with his dad on business ventures overseas to learn more about a company he did not want to inherit, sending you both long winded letters about how drab the whole affair was and how his father belittled him the entire ship ride back home. 

All he wanted to do was spend time with his two best friends like he had always done. 

“You need to get your act together, son. I won’t be here forever to keep you afloat. You can’t make a living running around with the bastard Munson and that whore Y/L/N.”

Your hand reached out to take the boys beside you as he flashed you a small smile and delicately kissed the back of it. 

“Don’t call her that.”, Steven growled. “They are my friends.”

“Pfft. Then explain to me why she’s been seen with every Duke and Lord in the county?!”

“Her father wants her to settle down and marry—”

“She needs to! She’s way past her prime!”

Eddie snickers as you lift your eyebrows as if to silently agree with your friend’s father.

“AND Edward is a respectable gentleman—”

“Whose father ISN’T in the prison for thieving jewelry from castles like ours?”

“That doesn’t make him a bastard.”, Steve whispered under his breath causing his father to stomp forward and hit his son hard in the cheek. 

“It’s too bad you don’t have this kind of fight in you when it comes to a work ethic.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m fighting for something I care about.”, his son spits back before turning and powerwalking out the door running into you both as you lean nonchalantly against the opposite wall. “Oh, that’s inconspicuous.”

You giggle as you run to keep up with him as he continues walking down the hall, your olive-green gown flowing behind you as you do. 

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll survive.”, he replies a bit curtly before pausing at a set of double doors and grabbing your bicep. “Why don’t we skip this affair and spend some time in the library.”

“Steve.”, you smile as you reach up to move some of his loose hair away from his face. “We all got dressed up to come to your father’s idiotic dance. The least we could do is make an appearance.”

“I think she just wants to impress William.”, Eddie teases making you blush as you reach forward and lightly punch his arm making little to no impact against his black suit jacket he looked incredibly handsome in. 

“Look, your father may be a rude but he’s right.”, you shrug. “If I don’t get married soon—”

Steve’s soft palm extended towards you to cup your face as his thumb slid across your lips to silence you. Touches like this were not abnormal and even you had flirted with the idea of taking your friendship further but shame overtook you when you realized you cared about both men. 

You could care less about your parent’s approval or how society would view you. They did that already with the many men who tried to court you but you did care about them. Eddie was already demeaned for being “new money” since his family didn’t come from wealth. Add in the fact that he rarely behaved or dressed in a manner they found suitable but all that mattered to you was his kind demeanor and how he always made you smile. 

Steve was constantly judged by high society because he struggled to follow the “proper etiquette” of someone in his status. He just wanted to live his life the way he wanted and you encouraged that. He was incredibly smart and protective which is something you enjoyed on late nights when he would sneak into your room and you two would lay together talking about the future. 

A relationship with one of them let alone two would bring undo trouble their way and you loved them too much to allow that. 

“Fuck my father, honey. All that matters is that you’re happy.”

Grinning, you loop your arm through his and gesture towards Edward so you can do the same with him. 

“As long as I’m with my two best friends, I’m happy.”

***

“What do you think? Has she finally found the one?”, Eddie asks as he passes his friend the bottle of scotch they stole from one of his father’s many offices. 

“Please…William Hargrove isn’t the kind to settle down but…who knows. She’s an amazing woman.”

“Yeah she is.”

This was one of Steve’s favorite spots in his large family estate, the garden out back. Since he met you two, he would bring you out by the fountain where you would play games and make him laugh. As you three grew, it because a place to gossip and talk about anything that came to mind. You had made a plan to meet here within one hour’s time so the gentleman could be seen before disappearing but you were late which was making your long-haired friend nervous. 

“You don’t think something happened right?”

“I’m not sure but if it’s something good I know she’d kill us for interrupting.” As Steve chuckles, Eddie can’t help but force a smile before letting out a long-winded sigh. “I know…”

“Maybe we should finally tell her how we feel…say something…”

“Say what?”, you asked with a happy sounding high pitched tone appearing in front of them.

“What took you so long? Talking with William?”

“Oh, yes, I was but he is just so intellectually draining.”, you tease, mimicking your voice to sound like Steve’s parents. 

“Your hair is pulled back differently. Some of the strands are loose.”, Eddie notices as he rises to his feet but at the action however you take a step backward. “Where did you get that shawl?”

“Oh, um, I stole it from Lady Bradberry. That’s what she gets for always calling me a harlot.”

As you chuckle, your eyes become glassy as your voice cracks. Both boys take a step forward and once again you back away. 

“Let’s, uh, let’s get out of here. We can go to my estate—”

“Let us see, Y/N.”

This time when Steve extends his hand out you don’t pull away, allowing him to slowly pull down the garment covering your shoulder exposing the slowly forming bruise.

“No, no.”, you scold as you watch their eyes cloud over in anger. “I took care of it, alright? William won’t be a concern anymore. Edward! Steven! No!”, you hiss as you try to pull on their arms to stop them as they begin stomping towards the castle. “No! I won’t let you ruin your reputations over me.”

Abruptly, Eddie turns around and cups your face in his palms as his lips passionately press to yours. You had tasted him before on many a lonely night but this felt different in the best possible way. 

“You don’t seem to understand, my lady. You…mean more to us than any reputation…”

This time you allow them to continue forward, following close behind as they reenter Steve’s home and make a beeline for the study where you had last been. To your surprise, William wasn’t far but to his surprise you weren’t back to reconsider his offer of becoming his mistress. 

Steve’s fist flew before any words were exchanged and your breath caught in your throat as you watched the men you cared for defend your honor. 

“Steven!”, his father shouted as he tried to pull his son off the unlucky man now bleeding on the floor. Friends of the Harringtons and Hargroves ran in to separate everyone but while everyone crowded around the man who had physically hurt you, your best friends backed away to make sure they were front of you, shielding you from everyone. 

“What is wrong with you, you imbecile!”, Mr. Harrington scolded as he pointed his finger towards Steve. “William is set to be married next month to Lady Cunningham. Everyone will be talking about this.”, he gestures towards the man’s bleeding face. 

“That filth put his hands on the woman I love.”

Your hopeful eyes widen at his words and to your relief Eddie doesn’t flitch or hiss at his friend. 

They both care about you to. 

Reaching out, your fingers cling to their formal jackets causing both men to stand up straighter. 

“I’m DONE with all this nonsense! You are no longer allowed to be friends with those two. End it now.”

“No.”

“EXCUSE ME!?”

“He said no.”, Eddie defended. “Y/N and I have known your son since we were children and thankfully he’s nothing you or that scum.”, he growls as he gestures towards William. 

“Get out of my home!”

“With pleasure.”

At Steve’s final words, they both grab your hands and power walk out the double doors into the garden. 

***

Your eyes follow them as they maneuver around the Munson bedroom; Steve roughly hurling off his jacket and Eddie doing the same before gathering some supplies in his lavatory. 

You three had spent many an intimate night here. The first time either of them kissed or touched you was on this floor or in the big comfy bed. You all made a vow that this would never be anything more but never elaborated on why. You knew your reasons but…

“Why didn’t you say anything before? About how you feel?”

Edward smirk salaciously as he kneeled in front of you and placed a cool rag with ice against your now prominent, purple bruise.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because of this.”, you gesture towards your other friend who was now facing you both with his hands on his hips. “Because I didn’t want to be the reason you both lost everything.”

“Sweetheart…”, Eddie cooed in a soothing tone. “You ARE everything.”

Smiling, you run your fingers through his hair as your lips tenderly kiss his till you feel a dip in the mattress beside you. 

“You’re not a…harlot or a whore…”, Steve conveys, wincing at the negative as if he’s disgusted to even say them. “I remember when we were children, your mother would let me sleep over when my father would scream at me and my own mother. You and Kallie always made me smile.”

As he turns to face you, the other man continues to kiss your neck as he reaches behind your back to unlace your gown. 

“I can’t picture my life with you, Y/N. I’d give up everything, my name, status, and reputation… just to have you here with us.”

Your palm caresses his cheek and in return he tilts down to bring his lips to yours. Soft kisses turn heated as they undress you and then themselves. 

“We can go anywhere we want to.”, Eddie breathes into your ear as you lay on your back between them. “We can take one of the Harrington’s many, MANY ships and run to someplace new.”

They smile when you giggle as their palms roam your soft skin. 

“Maybe we can build our own estate where we can be together and happy.”, Steve added as his hand slid between your legs.

“We can grow our own supplies and I can play my music.” 

As the other man speaks his fingers spread open your pussy lips making you moan as he begins to rub circles against your clit. His friend joins him as he guides two of his own into your dripping hole. 

“Oh…my…”

“I can become a businessman and own a shop in town. Maybe you can come work with me and sell things at the counter with that gorgeous smile. Fuck, I love seeing you smile.”

“Would…would we have any…children?”, you ask as you feel that knot steadily building in your tummy. 

“Of course, sweetheart. We’d have so many we’d have to build more rooms in our home till it’s as big as a Harrington Castle!”

You and Steve chuckle at your friend’s exclamation; yours more of a pant as both their rhythm hastens. 

“I love you both…so much…I-I should have said something—mmm—before but…I was scared.”

“We know, honey. We know.”

“Just like that. Fuck, I’m coming.”

Both sets of lips attached to your throat as your body trembled and you came undone. 

“Listen to you trying not to scream.”, Steve teased. “You can here, beautiful.”

You giggle as the other man flips you on to your side and pulls your back to his chest. While kissing your cheek, he lifts your leg in the air and you both groan as he guides his cock into your entrance. 

“Oh god, Y/N.”

“Fuck, Eddie. So big.”

His mouth falls open as his humid breath warms your face and his large palm cups one of your breasts. When your hand covers his, you realize his knuckles still have remnants of dry blood. 

“Thank you—mmm—for protecting me.”

“Of course. Fuck—fuck that self-righteous son of a bitch.”

“You’re safe with us, honey.”, Steve smiled softly as he leaned forward to capture your lips. 

“Always have been. God, you feel so good. Say my name, sweetheart. T-Tell me again you love me.”

“Ahhhh—I love you, Edward. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. Please, make me cum.” Locking your eyes with the man in front of you, your body shakes and you scream Eddie’s name repeatedly as you cum. “Please…please… cum inside me.”

The long-haired boy’s rhythm falters for a moment before his fingers grip your cheeks forcing you face him. 

“Are you sure? We’ve never…”

“I’m sure. I want to have a family with you…both of you.”

“Fuck—”, he grunts at your confession as his eyes squeeze shut and he clings to your sweaty form as he pounds his release into your cunt. “H-Hearing you say that…that you really do want a family with a…commoner like me—”

“You’re not a commoner, honey. Your uncle worked so hard to get where he is.”

“I love you.”, he whispers and kisses your lips. 

Grinning, you focus on Steve and circle your arms around his neck as he tugs you under his large frame. 

“Thank you for defending me to.”

You can’t help but giggle as he trails kisses from your forehead, down to your nose, and along your cheek to your neck.

“I’ll always protect you and defend you. No matter what.” Your eyes roll back as he gradually pushes his length into your slightly sore pussy. “Fuck—I love you, Y/N.”

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

“And there she goes. Why do I even bother?”, the nurse sasses as you promptly climb out of the pod and run to your room.

You were having so much trouble catching your breath having been pulled out in the middle of your intimate moment. You could still feel the intense want and need of having Steve inside you but more than anything your current reality was mixing with that one as you started to sob, feeling heartbroken that you didn’t hear yourself tell this man again that you loved him. 

A rough palm grabbed your bicep and turned you around as lips crashed to your own. 

The second you recognized the taste, you allowed Steve to push your back against the wall as his arms held your waist as close to him as possible. 

He tastes the same as the other universes. How can that be?

Neither of you willing to separate, you listened to him grunt in your ear as he sloppily pulled down your sweats before tugging at his own enough to free his hard, leaking cock from its confinement. 

“Oh f-fuck.”, you mewled as he stretched your tight pussy open and set an aggressive pace as he slammed his hips into yours. 

Your fingers threaded through his soft hair as you bit into his shoulder to stifle the continuous moans that wanted to break free especially when he took hold of one of your thighs to wrap around his waist as he hit your g-spot at a much more precise angle. 

As you opened your eyes, you were met with Eddie’s soft chocolate ones in the doorway and that was enough to allow the coil to snap as you whimpered Steve’s name repeatedly into his ear. At the feeling of your cunt quivering around him, he dropped your leg and quickly pulled out, pumping his cock in his fist till you felt his spend hit your thigh. 

“I-I love you.” At your words, Steve tilted back to look at your face. “I said it to Eddie again. Y-You said it to me but I didn’t get to say it back. I didn’t get to say it back. I did the same with Kallie. I didn’t say it back and then she died.”

Your arms clung to him tighter as he slid with you to the cold tile floor. A blanket was wrapped around your lower half before you felt another set of strong arms circle around you. 

“Sweetheart, just like that Steve in the other universe, I’m sure your sister knew you loved her.”, Eddie whispered as he rested his chin on your shoulder. 

“You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve done.”, you murmur back. 

“In every universe my father hates me including this one. He wants me to be someone I’m not. Feeling that in every universe so far… it’s heartbreaking but I know I’m ok because of you two.”, Steve sighs and when you pull back he quickly wipes the tear that escaped down his cheek. 

“In all of mine my mom is dead and my dad abandons me leaving me with my uncle. I…I feel them all…all the memories those other versions of me have with my mother being a loving woman and my father being an abusive piece of shit. I feel what I feel for you and Steve; my best friend and the woman I care for. I get overcome with this strong need to protect you.”, Eddie follows as his voice shakes.

“That has to mean something. If whatever you did in those universes didn’t affect us there…”

“Then it won’t affect us here.”, the metalhead finished. 

Shaking your head, you push yourself away from them and pull up your sweats as you head for the door. 

“You’re safe with us, Y/N.”, Steve called giving you pause. “That’s been the same in every universe to…including this one.”

@baileebear @jasminelafleur @twirls827 @dashingdeb16 @myherometalhead @starboygf @alba8688 @crybabyddl @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @utterlyinsanity @hardladyheart @yesimabratandwhataboutot @chelebelletx @season4steve @fic-lover-29 @micheledawn1975

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

[wheneverfeasible]

So this is a little different but…I really wanted to write something from Tommy’s perspective so…here we go.

wc: 1.9k || T+ || cw: implied child abuse || tags: onesided stommy, post s4 (everyone lives except Vecna), eventual background steddie, gay Tommy Hagan, bi Steve Harrington

~

Tommy loved Carol, he did. She was one of his best friends. He just…he wasn’t in love with her. Never had been. He tried to pretend, even to himself, that he didn’t know why. Tried to pretend like he didn’t know why he could never love her in the way she deserved to be loved.

Tried to pretend that the envy he felt every time his other best friend had his arms around another girl didn’t make him feel sick to his stomach.

It was manageable when Steve used his popularity to date girl after girl without actually going steady with them, but then he caught genuine feelings for Wheeler and Tommy could feel it; he was going to be left behind.

Did Wheeler know that the first time Steve ever received a black eye was from his own father? Did Wheeler know that Steve wanted to be a mermaid when he was a child because he loved swimming so much and he couldn’t hear his parents yelling from under the water?

Did Wheeler know that Steve can’t remember a single instance of his parents telling him they loved him?

Tommy knew. Tommy knew these things about Steve and so much more, like how Steve used to think cows were the size of large dogs, or that narwhals were just made up animals like unicorns and dragons.

Tommy knew Steve’s favorite pasta shape, knew his favorite candy bar, knew that Steve actually enjoyed waxing for swim meets even though he’d complain every time.

Tommy knew that Steve had been forced into piano lessons he didn’t like as a kid, until his father forbade it and forced him to focus on sports, and that sometimes Steve would miss playing, even if he himself didn’t realize it.

Tommy knew that Steve was better than all of them.

When Billy came around, Tommy’s anger and hurt at being left behind had him latching on to the Californian boy, but they weren’t friends. Not really. Billy reminded Tommy of Steve a lot, actually, but as if Steve had let the sharp edges of his father’s ire and expectations pierce him and cut away anything soft and sweet and kind.

Tommy never wanted the crown for himself, never wanted the popularity, or attention. No, Tommy only ever wanted Steve.

But Tommy lied to himself, over and over again. He refused to admit it, to accept it, to allow himself to acknowledge that sometimes his eyes or touch or smile would linger a little too long when he’d been with Steve.

Refused to look too deeply at why he felt relieved when Steve and Wheeler broke up, why he felt so heartbroken when Steve didn’t return to his side afterwards.

Why he would still, even after everything, have to remind himself not to call Steve when reruns of Star Trek came on, a guilty pleasure show they both secretly loved but would never talk about to anyone, not even Carol.

Tommy hadn’t even been aware he’d driven to Steve’s house when he heard about the mall fire.

He’d sat there though, in his car, staring at the vacant spot in the parking lot and refusing to admit to the terror clawing its way up his throat, or the way his palms were sweaty against the steering wheels, knuckles white in their grip that would for sure leave seam indents in his flesh.

Eventually, however, Steve’s familiar car made its way slowly home the next morning. Tommy had been ready to jump out from where he’d been all night, to rush to his friend and make certain he was okay, but then a girl stepped out of Steve’s passenger side that looked vaguely familiar.

She looked across at Steve with a wide grin, laughing at something Steve said, Steve whose face was the worst that Tommy had ever seen it. Even after Billy. Even after Byers. Even his father.

Steve looped his arm across her shoulders, pantomiming fainting, and even through his closed car windows, Tommy could hear her cackling laughter and the way she screeched out “Dingus!”

Tommy remembered then. He and Steve weren’t friends anymore.

He continued sitting for a while longer once the front doors of the place he’d spent so much time at closed behind the strange duo, leaving Tommy behind. Again.

And then the killings started up, and then the earthquakes. And then…

It’s a fairly common phenomenon that, when life-threatening tragedy strikes, you start thinking about all the things you wished were different. You start thinking about your regrets, your wishes, your hopes.

Tommy had seen Steve at the school afterwards, volunteering and helping out the community he probably never would have just a few years ago.

He saw the way he watched his former coworker, the way he’d interact with the kids he’d gained through his connection with Wheeler, watched the way Steve carried himself like he was injured yet never let anyone see anything else but a smile from him.

He also heard about how Steve stood up for the Freak, how he proclaimed his innocence, even before news broke about Victor Creel’s son actually being alive but institutionalized out of state all these years. About how he had returned to reenact his father’s crimes before being taken down permanently.

As things settled, so many people displaced after their homes or businesses were destroyed, as the town tried to heal, people started reevaluating what was inportant in their lives.

Some people left town entirely, others stayed but left their jobs, some even left their families, or started new ones. No one was immune against wanting to live their life to their fullest, wanting to be with their loved ones, wanted to make their lives matter now that they knew that it could end so suddenly.

And Tommy, gut clenched with ice, was one of them.

He was going to propose to Carol.

But his hands shook as he headed for Carol’s, the ice in his gut swirling into a storm, and without realizing it, Tommy was standing in front of the Harrington house instead. Steve had looked so surprised to see him, had hesitated only a moment before saying they should go to his room for privacy.

Steve’s mom glanced his way but otherwise didn’t seem concerned that he was there, like his absence in Steve’s life hadn’t even been noted. Did she even know he and Steve weren’t friends anymore?

They’d gone up to Steve’s room, which hardly looked different at all from the last time he’d been up there, still devoid of Steve’s personality. Steve had shut the door, and though his hands shook, he’d told Steve he was going to propose to Carol, how he had the ring already and how it was happening soon.

Steve had looked confused, like he didn’t know why Tommy was telling him this, and congratulated him.

It was what broke Tommy.

He yelled at Steve then, demanded to know why Steve wasn’t angry, why he didn’t protest everything because surely what they had had had been more than just friends. Tommy’s looks had lingered, but so had Steve’s. Sure, it wasn’t just on Tommy, but…

But Tommy had seen it. He’d known there was something there. Knew the friendship between him and Steve could have been so much more.

Knew that the reason he couldn’t love Carol was because he was in love with Steve. That he always had been.

Tommy was angry, and hurt, and it couldn’t have been one-sided this entire time, it couldn’t. He refused. He had to make Steve see.

So he kissed him.

And Steve kissed back.

He’d pulled Steve against him by his lapels and kissed him hard and angry and it took a moment for Steve to respond, but he did. Tommy walked him back towards his bed, pushed Steve onto his, following closely barely without breaking the kiss.

Steve groaned beneath him, Tommy’s hands moving under his shirt as pressed against him in all the ways he’d wanted to for years, and he would prove to Steve that this is what they were always meant to be.

And then Steve’s mom entered the room.

The thing was, Tommy wanted this with Steve. He loved Steve, wanted Steve to love him, but…deep down he knew that Steve did not. Knew that Steve was touch starved, love starved, but maybe they could make this work.

Except. Staring in horror at Steve’s mom, at the disgust on her face, every single one of Tommy’s fantasies fell apart because, at the end of the day, he wasn’t strong enough.

He was always the follower, never the leader. He had raised Steve up to be king, had then later done the same to Billy, but never did he want that crown himself. He never wanted to be the one leading the charge. He would follow, would hide in the shadows of those stronger than him, but he was a coward.

He was a coward now too.

Without so much as another look at Steve, Tommy fled. He pushed past Steve’s mom, ignored the sound of her yelling, ignored what could only be the sound of a slap echoing from Steve’s room as he flew down the stairs and out the door.

He went to Carol’s the very next day and proposed.

He didn’t hear about what happened to Steve after his father got home, didn’t see Steve for a while even. He was caught up in wedding preparations and refused to think about that night. He couldn’t.

He was too much of a coward to be with the one person he truly loved because then he would have to accept the fact that he never actually liked Carol, not in that way. He never liked any girl that way.

Thoughts like that though? In a town like Hawkins? It would kill you. Tommy would lose everything and everyone and he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.

So he pretended Carol was the love of his life, he made love to her, kissed her, held her. He made himself forget the taste of Steve’s lips against his, the touch of his chest hair through his fingers, the sounds Steve made…

Eventually, he hears the rumors. Carol tells him, actually. Steve is living at the new Munson trailer.

She laughs at that, scoffs at their former friend, but Tommy wonders how long he lived there. Wonders if it was that same night, or after.

When Tommy finally sees Steve again, after returning from his honeymoon with Carol, he sees it all.

Tommy knew what Steve looked like when he was truly happy. More than that, after Wheeler, Tommy knew what Steve looked like when he was in love.

The look in Steve’s eyes, the flush in his skin, the smile on his face, and even the way he held himself as he grinned at something Munson said as they hung on to each other exiting the diner…

Steve never looked his way. Never saw him. His eyes and focus were only for the other boy who had, somehow, made Steve the happiest Tommy had ever seen him. And there, uncaring who might see, Steve slid his palm against Munson’s and laced their fingers together as they walked down the sidewalk towards their future.

Happy. In love. Proud and brave.

Everything that Tommy wasn’t.

Everything that, now, Tommy could never be.

~

Fun fact: This is actually Tommy’s POV of a Steddie roleplay I have going on with Deryth (hi buddy!) about events that take place prior to the main plot, and then on to past where we’re currently at, so creative licenses abound here lmao

It’s also not exactly Steddie focused in this post but it is Steddie adjacent, so I’m gonna go ahead and tag my

Hostage Hotties:

@derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump @honeii-puff @scoops-aboy86 @dotdot-wierdlife

@everywherenothere @bumblebeecuttlefishes

[steddiebang2024]

Getting to know you (again) |  E |  68k

Author: @medusapelagia

Artist: @boybonebird

Beta Reader: @spookysnarkyem and @dame-zoom-a-lot

[Link to fic]  |  [Link to art]

Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, minor Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, implied Jason Carver/Billy Hargrove

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Steve’s parents, Eddie’s parents, Wayne Munson, Dustin Henderson, Claudia Henderson, Robin Buckley

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Slow Burn, Amnesia, Forced Marriage, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Whump, POV Alternating, Misunderstandings, Eventual Smut, Eddie Munson is Taller Than Steve Harrington, might contain traces of Billy Hargrove, Digital Art, Steddie Big Bang 2024 

Trigger Warnings: Car Accidents, Hospitals

↳ Keep reading below for a summary!

The Harrington Family is rich, disgustingly rich.

The only problem is that their wealth comes from loan sharking and old connections to the mafia. But Richard Harrington is an ambitious man and he won't let the shadow of the past influence his future: all he needs is a famous name that will finally clean their, but none is willing to be associated with the Harrington family. None apart from Alan Munson, the member of a prestigious family now in disgrace, who immediately accepts the idea of marrying his son to Harrington’s son.

What they don’t know is that Steve has his own plan: marry Eddie and get a divorce by consent after a few months, so both the boys will be finally free from their families.

It looks like a perfect plan, until a car crash messes everything up.

When Steve wakes up he doesn’t remember Eddie or their plan and he truly believes that they got married for love. Didn’t they?

-

“Are you drunk, Steve? Do you need me to pick you up?”

“No, I’m home. With a warm beer that tastes like piss thinking about my vows.”

“Vows? What are you talking about?”

“It was a busy night.”

“I got it,” Robin replies, “but I’m still confused. Did you really say vows?”

[sidekickjoey]

Nothing's Gonna Harm You

Rating: T WC: 2,411 Tags: Post-Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2, Canon Compliant, Implied Steddie, Referenced Character Death, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug & Is Not Okay A/N: Here's a little fic inspired by the pics of Dustin defending Eddie's grave from jocks in S5 and how emotional that made me to see. Shout out to @steddieasitgoes for indulging in my rambles about this idea as I avoided work to write it xx Divider by @steddiecameraroll-graphics! Read it on AO3

Steve heard Dustin's shouts a mile away.

He hadn't wanted to drive him to the cemetery, originally. Ever since Eddie's death, the place has felt so strange. Haunted, almost. Steve wouldn't put it past Eddie to haunt Hawkins after how they treated him, but it's more like there's this lingering cloud of sadness and loss hovering over the place that's heavier than before. He doesn't like to dwell on it too much, fears the way it might make him feel if he lets it go on around him for too long.

But, Dustin wanted to go.

He's missed Eddie a lot, is the thing. Steve had not realized the full extent of the bond they'd formed until Eddie no longer was there to fill it. He knows now that it was strong. So strong. He'd be an asshole to not let Dustin come pay some respects here and there. Lord knows, had they had more time to spend together, Steve might have come out on the other side just as closely bonded with him himself, if not more so. So naturally, they went.

Everything had been fine at first, too. Steve pulled up near the front of the cemetery, parked his car, and gave Dustin a small 'be careful' talk before sending him on his way, and that had been that. He'd rested back in his seat the moment Dustin left his sight, turned on some tunes, and tried to distract his mind from his surroundings the best he could. For a while, that worked.

But then, Dustin shouts rang out over the cemetery, and well, Steve Harrington would not be Steve Harrington if he didn't run head-first into situations -- especially the ones he hates -- to protect the ones he loves.

He was up and out of his car in seconds.

It thankfully did not take long for Steve to find Dustin, all things considered. He had been to Eddie's grave before during the funeral, so he sort of knew the way, and Dustin was screaming quite loudly. He'd lost a little hearing throughout the years from injury, but not even that could drown out his wailing and calls for Steve. Hell, Steve probably could be many miles away and still be alerted to that kind of call.

When he did approach Dustin, it was like approaching a nightmare. He was standing right by Eddie's grave looking a mess, with his Hellfire shirt ripped, his face reddened and muddied up with dirt, and cuts near his nose and mouth. Beside him, Eddie's grave was clearly defaced with something also bright red, spelling out 'burn in hell' over Eddie's name. It's sloppy work, really. Steve could just hear Eddie judging their lack of creativity. On any other day, he might have pressed his luck with it and made a comment or two, just to see where it'd take him.

This day was no day for that, though. Dustin wasn't standing alone, after all. He had a jock's arm around his neck and another's arm cast back ready to swing. That just couldn't do. Luckily for him, Steve had been well trained on how to handle situations like it.

Approaching the jocks from behind, he wasted no time casting his weight back and slamming his fist expertly into the cheek of the one prepping to punch.

The guy, wildly caught off guard, stumbled to the side and fell over himself with a groan. Steve had heard that groan before leave his lips, so he was well aware he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. This freed him to turn and handle the other two jocks at the scene ready to pounce.

The first took a few swings, but he was slow. He was no match for Steve, who had been trained by the likes of Billy Hargrove and Russians to act fast and on his toes. Steve easily nailed him in the gut, sending him wailing to the grassy floor. The next guy took a more analytical approach, jumping around to get Steve to accidentally trip over one of the headstones nearby. It was smart, but Steve was smarter. He knew how to use a good logic flip to his advantage and did so the moment he could. The guy was on his ass in seconds, whining about a twisted ankle like he'd been shot.

Steve brushed him off and immediately turned to Dustin.

The kid still wriggled around in the tight grip around him, so that was good at least. His face was as pale as a ghosts and his eyes were jumping back and forth, but he also looked hopeful. Carding back his hair, Steve used that hope. He let it refresh him and fuel him to finish the job here and not let him down, to give him a happier ending than the one's he's been dealt lately.

Stepping toward the first guy, a moaning pile on the floor still clutching his jaw in agony, Steve folded his arms and cast a scathingly judgmental look his way.

"God, you guys are pathetic."

Near his feet, the guy spat -- blood red, just like the color on Eddie's stone. "Move aside, Harrington. We're doing this one a favor so he doesn't end up six feet under like your friend here."

"Oh, well forgive him for not bringing a thank you card," Steve sneered back, cocking his hip to the side. "Honestly, if anyone should be thanking anybody, it's you to him. That kid saved your stupid life -- all your lives."

"He's not the first humanitarian to ever help after an earthqu- OW!"

Steve hoped Eddie got a kick out of that kick to this guy's side, wherever he was. He devious grin made its way to Steve's face then, as well as the teasing lilt that had driven Steve crazy in the forest what seemed like forever ago.

"Wanna' try again, hot shot?"

"Screw you," the other jock holding Dustin yelled then, tightening his hold around his neck. Dustin winced but held strong, reassuring Steve to keep going with pleasing eyes. "I hope you both go to Hell, right there with the freak!"

And, well, that was perhaps not the best thing somebody could say to Steve in that moment. Coolly, calmly, Steve straightened up and smiled. It was an early, unsettling thing that stretched across him and felt utterly vicious for him to deliver. It had to look as fearsome as it felt, because the second it reached its full potential, he saw the hold on Dustin slip ever-so-slightly. Steve could practically preen over it, over how he still easily can read these jerks like a book.

Stepping forward once more, he looked the guy up and down.

"Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but that won't work on us, unfortunately. See, we've been there already. Not that bad of a place, actually. You know, once you get over everything rotting and all the demons waiting to devour you whole."

The guy stared back at him for a long moment then, confused but too scared and perturbed by the pet name Steve threw in to ask anything more. One of the other boys, the one who he nailed in the gut earlier, cursed under his breath in tandem, muttering something about how Steve's gone crazy. It only emboldened him more, enough so that he decided to toss a wink the guy's way and sweetly coo that "he'll be sure to remember that next time he's down there."

He swore he heard Dustin snicker.

"Anyway, unless you boys want test your luck with how serious I am right now, and I really advise against that I should add, I think we're done here. Get the hell out."

The group remained silent, stunned. Steve raised his brow. And then-

"NOW!"

Amusingly, it was Mr. Hostage himself who made it out the fastest. His other boys quickly followed, cursing and checking behind them the entire way.

Steve felt so alive.

Dustin, however, very much did not look super duper alive. Once he was finally back to himself and reality, Steve jogged over to him and bent at the knee to see his cuts. The one near his nose was pretty gnarly, enough to make him wince sympathetically.

"Jeesh, you okay kid?"

"Now that you're here, yeah," Dustin replied, more in awe than in pain. "You scared the shit out of those guys, Steve."

"Yeah, well," Steve huffed, applying some pressure to the cut on Dustin's cheek with his shirtsleeve. "Wish I could've done more, but I don't think I can exactly afford a lawsuit right about now."

"Parents cut you off?"

"And Family Video."

"Jesus."

"Doesn't matter though. The point is that you matter, and so does your health, and right about now we need to be getting you to a first-aid kit before anything gets too bad." Steve noticed a bruise forming under Dustin's eye. He winced. "And maybe get you some ice while we're at it."

Dustin nodded his consent, only to turn to his right and freeze in place. Steve followed his gaze back down to Eddie's grave, still very much disturbed. They shared a moment of silence before locking eyes, and when they did, Dustin shook his head already anticipating Steve's thoughts.

"I can't leave him like that, Steve. I can't."

That pooling feeling of dread hit Steve's gut then. He took a shaky breath.

"No, man. You need to get fixed."

"Not before him," he snapped back, a little louder, meaning business. Steve gnawed at the corner of his mouth and chanced a glance over at the stone. Something in his heart twinged.

"Dustin-"

"Not before him, and not when his uncle could come here and see this," Dustin reiterated, firmer.

And dammit, once again, Dustin was right. One-hundred-percent right.

How could Steve possibly be anything other than helpless to oblige there, in that moment.

With a sworn promise to let Steve bandage him up as soon as physically possible, the two went back to Steve's car and drove to the nearest mini-mart. There, with Dustin waiting in the passenger seat, Steve made quick work purchasing cleaning supplies, bandages, and two candy bars for once they were all finished with this mess. A short drive back and medical pit-stop later, Steve and a newly bandaged Dustin made the walk through the cemetery right back to Eddie's defamed plot.

They worked diligently and delicately.

The paint itself was pretty easy to get off with some soap, but its remaining residue was trickier. Steve and Dustin had to spend the better part of an hour scrubbing at it and dousing it with chemicals to remove it, which could not have been easy for Dustin in his wounded state. He still tried hard though, as did Steve. Eventually, the stone emerged good as new, shining in the glow of sunset.

There, on the ground, Eddie watching over them, Steve handed over one of the candy bars to Dustin.

Call Steve biased, but he figured the sun's light had nothing on the way Dustin lit up like a sparkler in that moment.

He turned to Steve and hugged him tight.

"Thank you," he said, voice tight with emotion. "From me and from Eddie. He'd really be glad you did this for him."

Steve let out a slow breath. Nodded once, twice.

"I'm serious, man," Dustin stressed again as he pulled back, knowing Steve and his deflections all too well. "That was really cool of you."

"I dunno."

"Okay, but I do. You protected me, Wayne, and him. That's like, the Eddie Munson trifecta. I don't think you could be more badass in his eyes right now unless you like, learned guitar right this second. Or, actually, no shit, if you whacked those assholes with a guitar! You know, upside the head, like your bat!"

Steve shook his head. "Fat chance of that."

"Hence why what you did is so amazingly cool," Dustin noted, snagging a big bite of chocolate.

Grabbing a smaller bite, Steve still was not so sure. He was, however, reminded then of a fleeting thought he had come up with earlier, a thought that might just be the right Eddie-like thing to say then to smooth things over and help Dustin know he'd be okay.

With one more look at Eddie's grave, Steve decided fuck it.

"Yeah, well. Their work was way too uncreative to let slide, even for me."

Dustin shoved at Steve's shoulder, grinning again to Steve's delight -- an instant win. "It was pretty lame, huh?"

"I'm just saying, the guy created an entire club based on fantasy creatures and has a whole backlog of oddly named artists he listens to, and the best they could come up with is burn in hell. They could've at least tried or used something other than cheap Crayola paint."

"Bet you Eddie cringed so hard, man."

"That's what I'm saying."

After a few beats of silence and another candy bite, Dustin looked back at the grave. "I'm, um. I'm thinking of coming back here again in a week or so. You know, to check on him. Make sure those assholes didn't try another shitty drawing. Do you want to come with?"

Steve swallowed hard, anxiety bubbling back. "I'm not sure, man."

"If you won't go to visit with me, would you go to protect me at least?"

"Dustin-"

"Please?"

Sighing, Steve conceded with a nod. And that was that.

They stayed there for a little while longer, until their candy bars were nothing but distant memories and the sun was nearly gone in the sky. Dustin got up first and began running to the car, telling Steve he'd race him. Steve held back though, told him to get the car warm for him. He just needed to do something real quick.

Kneeling down at Eddie's grave, head swimming with the loss and sadness that had been plaguing him the whole time, Steve placed his hand on the headstone, let a tear fall, and then met the stone head-on.

"I'll protect him," he spoke, to no one but the air in actuality but truly, dearly to Eddie in his heart. "I-I can't promise much, man. But, I'll promise that. For you. I promise."

With a pressed kiss to his hand, he let it rest on the stone for a minute or so more and then turned, jogging back to Dustin.

Above him, in the twilight sky, the stars twinkled.

[runraerun]

AO3 • Harringrove & HellCheer • Rating: T • Beta: @dame-zoom-a-lot • Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, Homophobic language, Implied Child Abuse, Neil Hargrove.• Tags: The Fruity Four but it’s Steve, Billy, Chrissy and Eddie. Fuck gender norms. Chrissy and Billy blonde bombshell solidarity, Billy Hargrove Centric, Platonic Steddie, Platonic CaliCheer, but Eddie is so bisexual in this it’s crazy. Lots of fluff but lots of angst. Feminization. SFW.

*Written for @harringrovekinktober 2024!🎃 I spun: Feminization at Steve’s house!✨ (even though this turned into Flufftober. I’m so sorry.)

Summary:

“Do my eyes?” Billy mutters around his cigarette, “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“With make-up.” Chrissy clarifies easily.

And with that, Billy nearly sucks back the cigarette dangling between his lips. He coughs, and coughs, and then coughs some more. Has to fucking lean forward to catch his breath, feeling a lot like he did when he first tried that stolen cigarette from his dad at the tender age of twelve. He uses the back of his hand to wipe away the stray tears that had eked their way out during his fit. “No. Absolutely not. No fucking way.”

Eddie perks up, “Ooh. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks.”

“What the fuck’d you just call me?” Billy croaks, his voice still a little ragged from his coughing.

Or, Chrissy convinces Billy to let her put makeup on him. 💋

“Has anyone ever told you that you have really pretty eyes, Billy?” Chrissy asks from across the fire pit. She’s tucked up under Eddie’s arm, their fingers threaded together over her shoulder.

Billy snorts, “not recently, no.”

He and Steve aren’t nearly as tangled up as the pair across from them are, even though technically they’ve been together longer than Chrissy and Eddie have—which automatically makes them the superior couple, obviously. But… he and Steve don’t really do the whole PDA thing, even when they’re in ‘safe’ company. A lifetime of having to hide will do that. It’s a tough habit to break.

But he and Steve are sitting side by side, their knees pressed against the other’s, and Billy’s got an arm slung behind Steve, resting along the back of the wicker loveseat they’re squashed onto. Steve’s even got a hand high up on Billy’s thigh, fingers clamping down every so often. Under the security of their shared blanket, of course. And that’s enough for Billy. More than he ever thought he’d get to have, if he’s being honest.

Eddie shoots Steve with a look of disbelief, like he’d caught him red handed at something truly reprehensible. “For shame, Stevie. For shame! You’re a bad boyfriend!”

“What? I—well, listen, I think Billy’s eyes great! I just—” Steve flounders before he turns to look at Billy, red in the cheeks. “I’m sure I’ve said something about your eyes before. Haven’t I?”

“Maybe. I don’t remember.” Billy shrugs, a little embarrassed. In truth, Billy remembers every compliment that Steve’s ever paid him. His chest, his ass, his arms—but never his eyes. Not that it’s a sore point for him or anything, it was just one of the things Steve hasn’t remarked on.

“Shit, does that make me a bad boyfriend?” Steve lets his head fall back against the meat of Billy’s arm and groans. “I’m sorry. Your eyes are great. Really! They work great too. Remember that time you spotted a quarter across the parking lot? Incredible.”

Billy feels his ears heat up. With a roll of his eyes, he growls at Steve, “don’t hurt yourself, Harrington.”

“I’m being serious!” Steve laughs, voice going high with guilt, and it gets everyone else chuckling too.

“Well, I think they’re a really beautiful shade of blue. And your lashes are so dark. Do you tint them?” Chrissy asks, eye’s focused solely on him.

Billy ducks his head, sort of hating this sort of scrutiny. He’s fine with being the center of attention if he’s playing basketball or balancing on top of a keg, but sitting here like this? It’s… weird. Too intimate. Billy clears his throat, “look, I’m flattered, Chrissy, really, but your boy is literally right fucking next to you.”

“It’s okay, she’s right; you do have really pretty eyes.” Munson winks as he takes another drag from his joint.

“Jesus…” Billy shakes his head and follows suit, though he’s just smoking a cigarette. Such is the fate of being the designated-sober-guy for the night.

“So you don’t tint your lashes?” Chrissy asks again.

“I don’t even fucking know what that means.” He mutters around his cigarette.

But Chrissy seems immune to the very clear ‘fuck off’ signals he’s putting out. She continues, “Well, do you dye your hair?”

“No.” He answers quickly, a reflex.

“Billy.” Steve says in a drawn out type of way and a tilt of his head. He levels Billy with a look. The little shit…

“I don’t!” Billy huffs, defensive as he readjusts himself in his seat.

But Munson smells blood in the water, clearly. “Ooh. Tell us what you know, Stevie boy.”

Only then does Steve have the decency to look apologetic, wincing, “I really shouldn’t.”

“Yeah because there’s nothing to tell.” Billy widens his eyes with each passing word in an attempt at conveying his unspoken threat. Steve’s getting dangerously close to being on the receiving end of a purple-nurple.

Eddie begins to chant, “Tell us! Tell us! Tell u—” before Chrissy reached a hand over and pinches his lips shut.

“Shush.” She tuts.

“Go on, ba–Billy. Who cares?” Steve raises his shoulders, trying to appear innocent. He pulls his knee back only to knock it back against Billy’s, urging him on.

Billy growls out a frustrated sigh. But at this point it was inevitable. And it was true–who the fuck cares? It’s just the four of them. And they have a symbiotic, assured mutual destruction sort of relationship going on between them. Steve trusted them enough to tell them about Billy, so Billy supposes he can tell them about something as stupid as his hair care secrets. “Fine! Jesus... I put a little bit of lemon juice in my hair when it’s sunny. It bleaches it a bit over time. Happy, you pack of vultures?”

“Ecstatic.” Eddie mumbles out from behind Chrissy’s hold on his lips.

“Sorry.” Steve mutters, but he doesn’t sound sorry at all. He’s smiling and on the verge of another fit of giggles for Christ's sake.

“Well it looks great. It makes your eyes pop.” Chrissy leans forward, hands on her knees, as if to get a better look at him in the firelight. Billy feels like a damn bug under a magnifying glass.

“And popping eyes are… good?” Billy cocks a brow. Doesn’t sound good. Sounds weird—like something you’d say about Munson, not him.

“Totally!” She says in that high, sweet voice of hers. Then she gasps, like she’s just remembered something important, “you should let me do your eyes!”

His brows pinch as he takes another pull from his cigarette. “Do my eyes?” Billy exhales a thick cloud of white smoke, “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“Do them up, like with make-up.” She clarifies easily.

And with that, Billy nearly sucks back the cigarette dangling between his lips. He coughs, and coughs, and then coughs some more. Has to fucking lean forward to catch his breath, feeling a lot like he did when he first tried that stolen cigarette from his dad at the tender age of twelve. He uses the back of his hand to wipe away the stray tears that had eked their way out during his fit. “No. Absolutely not. No fucking way.”

Eddie perks up, “Ooh. The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks.”

“What the hell’d you just call me?” Billy croaks, his voice still a little ragged from his coughing.

Chrissy continues, ignoring her boyfriend, “You’d look great! I do Eddie’s make up all the time! I’m going to beauty school, y’know. It’s good practice for me.”

In a way Billy isn’t surprised. Eddie is a freak, after all, and the more time he spends with Chrissy the more he’s starting to realize she’s more or less the same.

“Thanks, but hell no. I’m not… like that.” Billy shakes his head, hoping someone would just change the goddamn conversation already.

“It’s just make-up, dude. It’s not a big deal.” Eddie says casually as he stretches his legs out in front of him, a boot propped up on the edge of the firepit. Apparently not caring if the bottom of it melts.

“You really let her paint your face up, Munson?” Billy asks, still trying to wrap his head around what he’s hearing. Because guys didn’t… do that. Queer or not, you didn’t—unless you were… and Billy wasn’t like that! The wires in his head are crossed, he knows that much, but they’re not totally fried, unless Munson’s apparently were.

“Like the London whore!” Eddie bellows out in a truly terrible British accent. “It’s all very Rocky Horror Picture Show when she’s done with me.”

“Jesus Christ… here I thought me and Steve were the queers.” Billy chuckles dryly.

“Hey!” Steve protests, though Billy’s not sure what about. They are queers. Card carrying, cock-sucking pillow-biters, the pair of ‘em. As fucking insane as that still sounds to admit to himself openly…

“It’s fun!” Chrissy exclaims, voice high, defensive.

“Harmless fun!” Eddie reiterates, voice similarly high.

But there’s no fucking way–

“I don’t like shit getting in my eyes.” Billy grunts out stubbornly.

“Now, that is true. He had to use eye-drops for a few days after he scratched his cornea,” Steve tries to tell his story, but he’s already giggling so damn much that he’s barely fucking intelligible. “I had to sit on his chest and hold his eye open while I put the drops in every single time. I felt like I was wrestling a crocodile.”

“Or maybe he just liked you sitting on him.” Eddie eyebrows jump up and down suggestively which only gets Steve laughing harder, nodding along like he was in on the joke. Christ these two are unbearable when they get together…

“Your lips then.” Chrissy cuts the two knuckleheads off, speaking directly to Billy.

Chrissy’s sweet, but there’s no fucking way Billy’s letting her do that to him. Just the idea of it is… well, not only is it totally bonkers, but it wouldn’t even look good. He’s not… feminine. No part of Billy Hargrove could ever even pass a dainty or whatever. He’s bulky, all hard edges and calluses and scars. He knows he’s hot, sure, but Billy’s not beautiful, even if Steve occasionally whispers it when they’re fucking. But Billy’s not stupid. He knows it’s just something you say. It’s not real. Steve doesn’t actually mean it. “I don’t…”

“You should do it.” Steve says, all smiles. His pupils are blown, eyes gone a little glassy with the high. “Why not?”

Billy narrows his eyes at his boyfriend. “You just want me to look stupid.”

Steve frowns, mouth hanging open in his apparent bewilderment, “Wha-? Why the hell would I want that?”

With a jerky, defensive shrug, Billy answers, “because you get weird when you’re high.”

“Sure, maybe—but I don’t get mean. That’s your thing.” Steve pokes a finger to Billy’s chest.

“I’m just gonna go get my makeup bag!” Chrissy chirps, already up on her feet.

“No–Chrissy, I’m not…” Billy tries to call her back, but she ignores him, disappearing into the bright Harrington house behind them.

“Don’t bother trying to stop her, Hargrove. She’s tiny but she always seems to get her way. It’s like her super power.” Eddie passes on his advice, but Billy just rolls his eyes and grumbles something about not rolling over like a bitch.

When Chrissy comes back, it’s with a fucking suitcase, not a bag. She heaves it up onto one of the glass side tables that creaks and groans under the weight. The boys all watch in fascination as she snaps open the clasp and it unfolds its sides, then unfolds again. It was like a fucking magic trick; the case just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

“There.” She says, hands on her hips, seemingly satisfied. “Okay, Steve, move your tush.”

“Chrissy, I’m not–wait, what are you doing?” Billy’s attention goes from Chrissy to his retreating boyfriend, who’s sliding out from under their shared blanket to stand.

“Moving my tush,” answers Steve, “duh.”

“I was thinking of red at first, but now that I’m looking at you up close, it would overwhelm you. Especially since you won’t let me do your eyes,” Chrissy explains as she plops down where Steve had been, sitting on top of their blanket, effectively sealing Billy in, “so maybe pink.” She holds up several tubes of lipstick to his mouth, humming as she goes.

The corners of his mouth pull down as his brows come together, “Pink?”

Eddie shifts to stand, slapping his thighs as he rises. “Okay, I’m stealing your man, Hargrove.” He threads an arm through Steve’s, “Stevie and I are gonna go see which one of us can hold our breath the longest under the water.”

“For the record, I’m just going to make sure he doesn’t drown.” Steve clarifies as Eddie pulls him towards the pool.

“Come find us when you’re done!” Eddie says in a sing-song voice.

Chrissy just waves a hand over her shoulder in response, more a motion to ‘go away’ as opposed to a farewell wave.

“Those two idiots are going to get themselves killed.” Billy murmurs, stone still as Chrissy holds up yet another tube of lipstick, checking the little color sticker stuck on the bottom.

She giggles, “nah, not when we have Hawkins finest lifeguard here to keep us safe.”

Billy scoffs, gets ready to argue about distractions and inebriated states when pop! Chrissy uncaps a tube of lipstick and the words die in his throat.

“Okay, hold still.” She says, and everything in Billy runs cold. He feels like his heart stops beating in his chest. His lungs solidify. He shuts his eyes so he doesn’t see it coming.

But the expected waxy touch doesn’t reach his lips.

“Billy?” Chrissy asks, in her distinct high, soft voice. It’s strangely soothing. Sort of reminds him of–... Well, another pretty blonde lady who helped him put lipstick on. But that feels like a lifetime ago, back before Billy knew to be ashamed of this sort of thing. Back when he was just playing dress up while the house was empty besides just the two of them. “Billy, if you really don’t want to, I won’t make you. You know that, right?”

And there it is; his out.

The thing he wanted and would have taken a few seconds ago, without hesitation. But… if he’s being honest, he sort of hates that she’s gone ahead and offered it up to him like this. Because now Billy has to make the active choice in this whole humiliating ordeal. How much easier would it have been if she would have just forced him? If it remained out of his hands?

But Chrissy isn’t like that. She isn’t actually pushy. No, she’s… Helpful. Like she could see something in Billy, maybe. The same thing his mom saw. Something Neil had spotted at some point too. Maybe that’s why his dad hates him so much.

Chrissy doesn’t hate him though. Even though he was an asshole in high school, and pretty much everyone hated or was afraid of him back then. But now that they’re out of high school, and Billy’s out out, at least to the handful of people here tonight, he’s surrounded by people that don’t hate him, even though they have every right to. It’s still sort of surreal.

And now Chrissy’s sitting here in front of him on her folded legs, with seemingly endless patience—like she’s got all the time in the world for Billy to work through his impossibly complicated shit. Like how actual friends treat each other, maybe. Billy doesn’t really know. The only real friend he’s ever had turned into his boyfriend, so his frame of reference for this sort of shit is probably fucked up beyond recognition.

But maybe they are friends. And you could trust friends, in theory. He could trust Chrissy, in theory.

“No, it’s okay.” Billy swallows, feels his adam's apple bob in his throat, “I don’t care.” He lies as he flicks what little remained of his cigarette into the crackling fire pit beside them.

She beams, looking like pure sunshine even in this dim, flickering firelight. And fuck, she really is too good for Munson; way out of his fucking league. Just like how Steve is way out of Billy’s. But hey, some people just had shitty taste in men, what’re you gonna do?

“Okay. Well, then pull your lips tight over your teeth–oh, not that tight. Just enough that they’re not–yeah, that’s perfect.” Chrissy instructs him gently, doesn’t laugh, doesn’t make him feel the sharp, hot feeling of shame at any point. Then Billy feels the distantly familiar smooth feeling of lipstick over his mouth. He’s already itching for another smoke, but that may just be his nerves acting out.

“Oh yeah, pink is definitely your color. Eddie looks completely washed out in this shade, but you have those nice warm undertones.” She says, pulling the lipstick along his bottom lip now, taking her time around the edges. It feels like she’s going over his lip line, but he doesn’t comment. Doesn’t risk moving his mouth and throwing Chrissy off. She seems to be completely in her zone. “Dollface looks perfect on you.”

“Doll face?” He frowns. Coming out of his mouth it almost sounds like a slur.

“The shade. It’s called Dollface.” She explains as she pulls back a little, and Billy tries very hard not to immediately wipe all of her hard work off on the sleeve of his shirt. “Can I put blush on you too? I have the perfect shade that would match it.”

“I don’t–... I don’t want to look like a clown or anything.” He mutters, hyper conscious of how different his lips feel when he speaks now.

“It’ll be subtle, I promise. Like mine.” She motions towards her own face and Billy has to squint to see what the fuck she’s talking about. But there is a slight peachy tone to the apples of her cheeks, now that he’s looking for it. “I wouldn’t want to cover any of your freckles up, after all. They’re so cute.”

Jesus… He’s never had this many compliments paid to him so fucking quickly, and all on things that no one ever fucking mentioned. Sure, he gets lots of remarks on his ass and his chest, but those were things he worked tirelessly on, spent hours doing squats and pumping iron. But his eyelashes? His freckles? The blue of his eyes? Those weren’t things he earned. They were just… him. Base model, nothing special, piece of shit with anger issues, Billy Hargrove.

But he nods nonetheless. “Okay.”

“Okay.” She repeats with a smile. She leans back towards her magic make-up bag and fishes out a plastic compact that opens up like a clamshell, along with a big fluffy brush. She swishes it around the pigment for a second before tapping off the excess in a colorful cloud. Billy watches her with an enraptured sort of fascination. She grabs a napkin, and a few other sticks of something before she settles back around in front of him again.

“The trick is to suck in your cheeks, like a little fishy.” She says before she demonstrates it.

And even though it feels stupid and embarrassing, he does the ‘little fishy face’ right along with her.

She hums her approval as she swipes the soft bristles against his cheeks. They catch a little on his stubble. He hopes it doesn’t wreck her brush.

“Perfect,” she coos, soft as a dove. Chrissy snaps the clamshell of pink blush shut and puts it aside before she picks up some of her dark pencils. “Now, I know you said you didn’t want anything in your eyes, but I thought maybe we could try just a water line? You don’t need to, but I promise it won’t go anywhere near your actual eyeball, just your lower lash line. It would really pull the whole look together.”

Billy frowns. Hasn’t he given enough?

Sensing his hesitation, Chrissy continues to plead her case, “it might just tickle, a teeny tiny bit. And if you don’t like it, I’ll stop right away. Deal?”

He hesitates, running his tongue along his teeth as he mulls it over. “It won’t touch my eye at all?”

“Nope. I’ll hug the outside of your lid, I promise. You just gotta stay super still for me, okay? And it washes right off. One lap around the pool and it’ll probably be all gone once you get out.”

Oh, right. Billy had forgotten about how he was going to get this gunk off. He had work tomorrow, and he couldn’t exactly show up at the pool looking like… well. Whatever he looked like now. Billy wasn’t exactly sure. It made his insides squirm.

“Fine. As long as it’s quick.” Billy huffs, readjusting his legs so that they didn’t fall asleep on him.

“Quick as a bunny!” She uncaps the pencil and leans forward.

Her hands are back on his face–only this time she’s pulling down at the skin where his eye bags usually form if he doesn't get enough sleep. Billy expects it to hurt, or maybe to burn a little, but she’s right; it just tickles. He flinches when the cool tip of the pencil initially hits the sensitive skin of his lower lid, but Chrissy remains as patient as a saint, and just waits for him to stop blinking before she tries again. And this time Billy knows what to expect, so Chrissy’s able to do a full swipe, left to right, focusing a little on the outer edge, before she moves onto the next eye and does the same.

“Now,” She murmurs as she retrieves the napkin, “kiss this.”

He screws his face up, “what?”

“To get the excess off. And it makes the lipstick last longer.” She waves the bit of tissue in his face. “Trust me, I’m almost an expert.”

Billy sincerely has his doubts, but he kisses the tissue, blotting his lipstick. It still feels like a lot is left on his mouth, but it doesn’t feel as… heavy. Sort of feels nice, actually. And when he pulls the napkin away it’s marked the perfect imprint of his pink kiss. If he didn’t just finish making it himself he wouldn’t have thought his lips were even capable…

“Do you want gloss?” Chrissy asks, pulling him from his fog.

“Won’t that ruin the—“ Billy points towards his mouth, “this layer?”

She shakes her head, sending her blonde ponytail into motion behind her, “No, it sort of just seals it. And bonus, it tastes like bubblegum.”

Steve likes bubblegum.

“Alright.” He says quickly, with a jerky sort of shrug. He’s already made it this far, he might as well see it through all the way. And it’s not like he’s going to do this again or anything… may as well go full hog.

So she pulls out a wand coated in the clear looking gel and does a final swipe over the top of his lips with it. It feels sort of sticky. And now that it’s sitting under his nose, he really can smell the bubblegum.

“Done!” Chrissy exclaims as she pulls her hands away. She holds them up and away from Billy, as if to reassure him that she’s finished with her torture. “Smile for me so I know I didn’t get anything on your teeth.”

And there’s no way he can give Chrissy anything remotely genuine at the moment, so Billy simply bares his teeth for her to inspect.

“No lipstick on your teeth. And I think I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.” Chrissy says, admiring her handiwork.

“Yeah?” Billy clears his throat, not knowing where to look. Eddie and Steve are still busy splashing and shoving each other in the pool, so at least he doesn’t need to worry about them. “I don’t look too stupid?”

She smacks his arm with the back of her hand, “You don’t look stupid at all, silly. You look great!” She then starts tidying up her makeup, putting everything back in its proper place. Billy watches her with the same fascination as he did while she was taking it out.

“Your mom teach you this shit?” Billy asks.

She frowns, just a little. “Some of it.”

He nods. His leg bounces. Resists the urge to rub at his eyes. The hard shells of Chrissy’s makeup containers clack together as she rearranges them.

“My mom used to—“ Billy mumbles, quiet enough that he very much doubts Chrissy had even heard him, but when he looks up, she’s stopped putting her things away, and her eyes are on him. Waiting for him to go on.

He clears his throat, doesn’t even know why he’s confessing this to her, but a strange compulsion seems to have taken over him. He feels the words right at the tip of his tongue before he can think to bury them back down, back to somewhere deep within himself. “My mom used to do this for me sometimes. When I was really little.”

It’s something that should be embarrassing. Something to laugh at, like the punchline of a joke. But Chrissy doesn’t laugh. She smiles gently. “Those sound like happy memories.”

Billy frowns—he’d never thought of them as happy, per se. More embarrassing than anything else. Something he can’t look in the eye. Billy ducks his head, feels his eyes sting. He should stop, he knows. Just shut the hell up. Because why the hell is he getting himself worked up over a dumb childhood memory in front of some chick he barely knows? It’s stupid.

And yet, the idea of not saying more seems even more unbearable than eating his words.

“I’d ask her to, when she was in the mirror getting ready or whatever.” Billy explains, daring to meet her eye before retreating to somewhere off in the distance. “This was before I knew it was, y’know… not something boys did. My dad made sure I knew it though, after he caught us. I didn’t ask after that.”

The truth of it is, maybe those memories could have been happy if they didn’t exist exclusively under the shadow of Neil. He can’t picture his mom’s smiling face without also picturing Neil’s disgusted one. Can’t remember how it felt having the make up on his face when the bruises lasted so much longer. He can’t hear the soft words his mom had whispered to him over the roar of the awful names Neil called him afterwards—the ones he never stopped calling him. It’s no wonder Billy’s so goddamn fucked in the head.

Then, there’s a hand slipping overtop of his, small and soft, squeezing against his rough, calloused ones. “I’m sorry.”

Billy feels a rush of emotions, but he’s not entirely sure which direction they’re flowing. Hot or cold.

Part of him wants to stand up and scream at Chrissy that he doesn’t need her fucking pity—that Billy Hargrove doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him, that sympathy is for the weak—and Billy isn’t weak.

Some shit Neil would do.

But in the moment, Billy can’t find the strength to do any of it. He just sits there and squeezes her hand back. So maybe he is weak after all.

“My parents were tough on me too,” Chrissy explains, keeping her voice low. “I sort of always felt like a disappointment to them.”

”You?” Billy scoffs, his voice frustratingly shakey, “you’re like, perfect.”

“Yeah, well, some parents are dummies. They get all upset when their kid turns out differently than how they expected.” Chrissy says with a tilt of her head. And Billy knows she isn’t just talking about her own mom and dad. “Dumb, right?”

Billy nods as he sniffs back any congestion that dared try and accumulate in his nose, along with the tears he doesn’t let fall. He blinks a few times, letting the air take them. “Yeah, real fuckin’ dumb.”

Chrissy smiles, and it’s like she’s beaming. Too fucking good for Munson, Billy thinks again as she stands, bringing him along with her by way of their clasped hands. “You ready to show the boys?”

A new wave of uncertainty hits Billy straight in the gut, but he keeps pace with her. ”You sure I don’t look stupid?”

“I’m positive. You should trust me, Billy. I’m like, really smart.” Chrissy insists, a playful giggle on the edge of her words.

Billy scoffs in response, but he doesn’t bother arguing. She is smart. Smarter than the rest of them combined, most likely.

When they approach the pool, Steve and Eddie are so preoccupied with staying underwater they don’t even notice Chrissy and him. Which suits Billy just fine; he doesn’t want to draw any more attention to his painted face than it was already inevitably going to get. They just slip into the shallow end and wait for the other two to come up for air. Or drown.

It’s Eddie that breaks the surface first in a flurry of splashing and gasping breaths. He’d probably catch his breath faster if he stopped cursing for a second, but Eddie’s got one of those mouths that never fucking stops.

Steve is the second to rise out of the water. While Eddie looks like a drowned fucking rat, Steve looks like he’s materialized out of a copy of Sports Illustrated as usual. His hair’s slicked back, but he gives it a good shake and briefly runs his fingers through the strands, somehow making it look just as good as always. God’s fucking favourite, that one.

Billy’s gotta look away because sometimes it’s even too much for him to take in.

“You cheated.” Eddie accuses Steve.

“Yeah, I cheated by not smoking a pack a day for the past four years like you have.” Steve snorts as he backstrokes to the shallow end, followed by Eddie’s doggy paddle.

“So he admits to cheating. I want that on record.” Eddie calls over to Chrissy and Billy, who’ve propped themselves up on the stone steps leading into the pool, patiently (or, impatiently if Billy’s being honest) waiting.

Steve flips around when his feet can touch, and immediately locks eyes on Billy. And then he just. Stares.

God, Billy really wishes he weren’t sober for this. That was sort of an oversight on his part. Hell, he hadn’t even grabbed a cigarette on his way over so he’s got nothing to do with his hands besides letting them hang by his side, his elbows propping him up behind him.

“Holy shit…” Steve mutters, coming towards him like he’s locked in some kind of weird tractor beam.

“Looking good, Hargrove.” Munson says as he crowds Chrissy, who doesn’t seem put off by the attention. In fact, she sort of lights up under it. So weird. “I almost couldn’t tell you two sexy blondes apart.” He winks.

Billy rolls his eyes, grimacing at the remark. He makes a mental note to give Munson a Charlie horse the next time he’s within arms reach. But when his eyes return to Steve’s, he’s… like, struck stupid or something.

“You kill off one too many of your brain cells under the water, pretty boy?” Billy quirks a brow, trying to give what he hopes is a sharp grin, even from behind his pink lips. “You and I both know you can’t afford to lose anym—“

Then Steve’s kissing him.

Actually kissing him.

In front of people.

…They’ve never done that before. Not ever. Not that they’d ever talked about it, but they didn’t need to. Because Steve and Billy didn’t do PDA. It just isn’t in the cards for them. And yet—

Steve seems to hear Billy’s internal struggle and pulls away, taking some of Billy’s bubblegum lip gloss with him, looking a little sheepish as he licks his lips. “Sorry. I couldn’t really control myself there for a second.”

“You’re hanging around with Eddie too much.” Chrissy laughs, and is rewarded by a playful bite to the cheek from Munson, as if to prove her point of his impulsivity.

“You just look so… good.” Steve admits, and Billy’s stomach doesn’t do an entire flip inside of him. It doesn’t. He’s fine. “You look beau—”

“Don’t.” Billy cuts in. He’s already exposed enough, he doesn’t need Steve to wax poetically about his fucking beauty in front of an audience. Even if it is just Chrissy and Eddie.

“But you do!” Steve insists, smiling, going all syrupy on him. Must still be feeling the effect of that joint from earlier.

”I swear to god, Harrington, I will drown you.” Billy gets his hands on Steve’s biceps and keeps him at bay. Steve pouts and whines.

Yep, definitely still high.

“Good luck, he can stay under for like four whole minutes.” Eddie mutters, still sulking about his defeat. Steve throws him a long suffering roll of his eyes.

“C’mon, let’s see if you can win back your dignity with a game of chicken.” Chrissy all but shoves Eddie off. He’s like a fucking leech. Though Steve isn’t too far off at the moment.

“You know I’ll never say no to having your legs wrapped around my head, sweetheart.” Eddie swoons and even Steve has the decency to balk at the audacity.

“Alright, you take shoulders.” Billy sighs as he pushes off the hard steps. He’s a way sturdier bottom than Steve could ever hope to be.

When Steve doesn’t answer, Billy claps his hands on either side of the column of Steve’s neck, hoping the hit’ll knock a little sense into Steve’s oxygen deprived brain. “Hey, you with me, amigo?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Steve finally sputters out, still unable to break eye contact, “Always, baby.”

Billy ignores the way it makes every inch of him feel warm, and fucking. Cherished. God damn. Harrington really is going to be the death of him.

By the time their game of water chicken has wrapped, Billy’s been thoroughly soaked so there’s not much makeup left on his face, save for a slight pink residue on the lines of his lips. It’s for the best, he thinks. It didn’t look right on him anyway…

But when Chrissy’s hugging him goodbye, she not-so-subtly slips Dollface into his pocket and pulls away with a cheeky, knowing sort of grin. He almost cracks a smile before Eddie is glomming onto him, insisting he also is in dire need of a goodbye hug.

Billy shoves him off before he gets too comfortable, and Eddie folds with a manic, downright deranged laugh that somehow, against all odds, seems to be growing on Billy. Will wonders never fucking cease?

Later that night, before going to sleep next to Steve, he puts the tube of lipstick into the top drawer in Steve’s bathroom. Knows it’ll be safe there, like every other god forsaken thing Billy’s given him—including his busted up, worn down, hardened heart—Steve always keeps whatever Billy gives him safe.

[runninriot]

Love Is A Polaroid Steddie ficlet | ~2k | cw: implied/referenced self-destructive behaviour, drinking, a little heartbreak before it gets better | happy sappy steddie & platonic stobin

inspired by the insanely talented @inklessletter 's #polaroid series (go check out their art right now!!!)

   "Steeeve, please!" Robin begs. Literally begs.

Like, hands folded together as if in prayer, a pleading look in her eyes, expression as if she's in pain.

   "Robs, no! I don't- that's stupid. I don't feel comfortable with you following us around to take pictures for your- whatever it is." He waves a hand at her dismissively.

   "It's a project, Steve. For my Photography Studies course."

He should know, she already explained that. Told him something about visualizing love in its purest form. Told him she wants to take polaroid pictures of him and Eddie. No posing, just random shots whenever she feels like it. Pictures in black and white - something about using dark tones and deep contrasts to enhance the beauty of simple moments in their day to day life.

   "Whatever. I still don't get why it has to be us?"

Steve is a little frustrated. She's been going on about her wonderful idea for a good few minutes now, not willing to drop the subject no matter how adamantly Steve declines. She knows how shy he gets when he knows someone is taking a picture of him. He hates how he always looks a little off, has never felt very photogenic. So, the mere thought of Robin capturing him in possibly awkward situations with his boyfriend makes his skin crawl.

   "Well, first of all, you are my best friends, so it would mean a lot to have you be part of it. Plus, we live together so I wouldn’t be around you any more than I already am. You wouldn’t even notice. And you two are the perfect motive because-“ Robin’s eyes flicker down to her own feet, unable to hold his gaze.

Her face is suddenly painted with a faint crimson blush. Steve's furrowed brows smooth out and his expressions go soft again when he looks at his best friend's bashful little smile as she looks sheepishly back up at him.

   "You are the perfect motive because I've never seen two people being so in love with each other. Makes me sick how soft and cute you two are, if I'm honest."

Robin chuckles and Steve snorts loudly, both rolling their eyes at the same time because God, when did Robin become such a sap?

   "What you and Eddie have is love in its purest form. It’s unapologetic, honest, and real. It's all I ever want to find for myself. I'm fucking jealous of you, Steve!"

They laugh and Steve ignores the violent tug in his heart caused by her words.

What him and Eddie have really is special. He knows it's some kind of miracle that they've ended up where they are now. It wasn't always that easy. There were times when Steve wanted to just give up. When the world tumbled down and buried him under its weight. When he thought he could never have Eddie like that, wanted to rather die than live life without him.

When Steve realised he had fallen in love with his best friend, his best male friend, he panicked. Finding out he likes boys like he likes girls wasn't even the scariest part. What really took him out was the fear of losing Eddie if he ever told him the truth. For weeks he tried to push his feelings down, tried to cage them behind his ribs but all it did was make him suffer even more. Every time Eddie looked at him, he felt a sharp pain in his heart. Every time Eddie touched him, it left a searing sensation on his skin. Every time they were alone, Steve felt like he was losing his mind, desperately trying to fight the urge to kiss the boy so blissfully unaware of the heartache he caused him. He fought and suffered in silence until he couldn’t take it anymore and succumbed to the tormenting ache in his chest. Until he fell into a dark hole.

Steve drifted apart, dulling his feelings with unhealthy amounts of booze. Hunting for warm, willing bodies to sink into. Starving for touch and affection just to feel anything other than the grief-stricken pain of losing the lover he never even had to begin with.

Of course, his self-destructive behaviour hadn’t gone unnoticed by his friends. Robin tried everything in her power to get through to him. Offered advice and help for all the wrong problems because she couldn’t have known that the real issue was his own fucking mind and his inability to talk about what kept him up at night. What made him so angry and distant and numb.

And then there was Eddie. Sweet, kind, and caring Eddie who couldn’t keep watching his friend ruin his own life anymore. Who gave him an ultimatum – stop hurting yourself or I’ll leave.

Eddie’s words felt like a pistol held to his head, the determination in his teary eyes like a finger ready to pull the trigger. Steve knew he meant it, knew this was his last chance. He would lose the one person that meant everything to him.

   “I can’t lose you, Eddie.”

   “Then let me love you instead.”

He said the words like it was easy. Like it hadn’t nearly cost Steve his sanity to even think them.

Love.

Love you.

   “I love you!”

Steve felt like he was startling awake from a nightmare. One of those where, once you’ve opened your eyes, you instantly forget its horrors. That’s what it felt like when his confession found its way out of his mouth, making the pain of the past months disperse into nothingness.

Eddie had been right there all this time.

Eddie, with tears running down his beautiful face, smiling lovingly at Steve. Eddie, who brought his hands up to each side of Steve’s face before he leaned down and sealed his lips with a bruising kiss. Despair and pain spilling from his mouth as he licked his way inside, forcefully pushing something else in their place. Filling Steve’s insides with warmth and light and happiness. Passion running through his veins, pumping love into his heart, restarting the rotten organ to pick up its once steady beat. Its rhythm hard and fast, growing in size so big Steve felt like it would burst right through his chest.

I. Love. You.

Three simple words were all it took.

All the pain, the suffering, the loveless nights, and dreadful days – they all vanished in the seconds it took to say them out loud.

Three simple words, that seemed so frightening in his mind, so loaded with too much meaning and not enough weight to truly express what he felt.

What he still feels.

Loving Eddie and be loved by him in return is so easy. It’s easy because it just comes naturally. It’s what makes their love so pure, so honest, and true. They have one heart beating in two separate bodies. They are a two-piece puzzle, their curves and edges shaped to fit. A perfect match.

Steve holds out his hands, waits for Robin to take them in hers, and pulls her into a hug.

   “Eddie already said yes, hasn’t he?” Steve says through a defeated smile.

   “Well, his exact words were ‘You’re gonna regret it, Bucks.’ And then he said something about being extra nasty and insufferable just to wind me up. But yeah, he’s on board.” Robin huffs out a laugh.

Steve pulls her tighter, laughs when he practically hears Eddie’s voice in his head, sees his mischievous grin before his inner eye.

Eddie loves to be the centre of attention. Loves to be in the spotlight. Of course, he would be happy to provide himself as vessel for Robin’s artistic outlet.

    The things you do for love, Steve sighs before he agrees.

 

Polaroid #1

Movie night. The three friends are watching some old, trashy horror movie. Steve had a very stressful day at work, can barely keep his eyes open when they’re not even 15 minutes into the movie. He falls asleep on the couch, unbothered by Robin and Eddie’s bickering and laughing. When the movie comes to an end, Eddie leans down to Steve’s resting body, foreheads touching as he takes a moment to just listen to the other man’s calm breathing. ‘Hey baby,’ Eddie whispers softly, ‘time to get up.’ He kisses the tip of Steve’s nose, waits for him to slowly drift out of his deep slumber.

Steve smiles sleepily when he opens his eyes and sees Eddie’s face hovering over him, accepts the gentle press of Eddie’s lips against his own.

   ‘C’mon, darling. Let’s get you to bed.’

   ‘I’m not even tired anymore,’ Steve says, his face scrunched up when he yawns loudly.

   ‘Hmm, I know a way to tire you out, baby. Don’t worry,’ Eddie answers smugly, brushing their noses together before he kisses him again.

Robin makes a gagging sound, but smiles as she takes a picture to capture this soft little moment.

Polaroid #2

Sunday morning. They are all a little groggy from Robin’s early birthday celebrations last night. They’ve been out dancing, downing shot after shot, having an awesome time. Now, the buzz from the night before is gone and makes way for headaches and hangover munchies. Steve promised Robin pancakes in the morning and she’s desperate for him to finally get up and make them. She knocks on their bedroom door and steps in without waiting for an answer. The boys are still in bed. Eddie looks like he just woke up with his frazzled hair hanging into his face, lying half on top of Steve, rubbing his eyes. ‘Just five more minutes’, Steve grumbles, refuses to turn and get up.

It’s her Birthday, sure, and he promised her food she absolutely, definitely needs to soak up the remaining alcohol in her system – but she can give him another five minutes.

When she returns (exactly five minutes later), she captures Eddie and Steve still in bed. Eddie’s lips grazing the skin on his mole-speckled back with a dreamy look in his eyes, while Steve sighs in defeat ‘Alright, Robs. You win.’

The shutter clicks just before he turns around to throw a pillow at her head, causing Eddie to tumble to the side and nearly topple off the bed.

Polaroid #3

Robin sorts through the pile of polaroid pictures she’s taken over the last two weeks:

Steve and Eddie dancing in the kitchen to some dorky love song.

Steve resting between Eddie’s thighs where they lie cuddled up on the sofa, Eddie reading his favourite book to Steve.

Eddie trying and failing to make a handstand, Steve beside him, holding his belly from laughing so hard.

A picture of all three of them on Robin’s birthday, faces covered in whipped cream and chocolate syrup after devouring their pancakes like starving animals.

Eddie with his guitar in his lap, Steve sitting on the floor across from him. They share a loving look, eyes full of desire and devotion.

And then- Robin startles in shock. How did that get in here?

She knows she didn’t take that picture. She couldn’t have. Not with the way she already feels the deep blush creeping up her face because- Jesus! That’s entirely too personal. She feels like she’s invading their privacy just by looking at that. This surely isn’t meant for anyone’s eyes but theirs.

It’s not like they’re visibly naked but the position of their bodies leaves literally no room for speculations. One of Eddie’s hands wrapped around Steve’s throat  and Steve looks like- well, he looks absolutely fucking blissful. Robin can practically hear the soft moans escaping his parted lips (How she knows what he sounds like, you ask? They swore to never ever talk about that incident ever again).

It looks like Eddie is kissing him. Or maybe he licks his skin. Maybe he whispers some dirty words into his ear, tells him how he’s going to wreck him – who knows? The point is, Robin doesn’t want to know because as much as she adores them, as much as she’s been prying on their sweet moments over the past weeks, there are things that should be kept between them.

She’s going to frame it and surprise them with it. (What she doesn’t know, is that Eddie sneaked that picture into her folder just to tease her. What she also doesn’t know is that there’s a whole collection of more of these kind of pictures hidden in a shoebox under their bed.)

[andvys]

Everlong / part seven

Warnings: 18+, angst, physical fight, blood, sexual harassment (someone touches readers thigh without permission but she stands up for herself and Steve defends her), reader uses a gun, smut, breeding kink, jealous!Eddie, daddy kink, mentions of pregnancy 

Pairings: Eddie Munson x fem!reader / Steve Harrington x fem!reader / implied Steddie x fem!reader (?) 

Summary: After weeks of avoiding you, Steve finally finds the courage to face you and apologize to you which may or may not end with a broken heart. 

Series masterlist 

-

The hideout was never really crowded, only a few town residents occupied the tables and the chairs at the bar, though the group of men that would always sit at the biggest table by the windows were loud enough to for you to think that half of the town were in here, no one ever minded them though, they are kind and never start any fights.

There’s five of them– the five drunks, Eddie always jokes about.

Tonight, the bar is more crowded, you don’t see many women around and it makes you a little uneasy. Usually, Robin and the rest of your friends would be here to watch Eddie play but Robin and Nancy left for college again. 

Robin hasn’t come to see you, she didn’t apologize and she didn’t say goodbye either, not in person and not on the phone. It broke your heart a little, despite what happened, you still consider her your best friend even if you aren’t hers anymore.

Argyle and Jonathan went back to college in Lenora, you and Eddie spent a lot of time with them before they left. Sometimes, Nancy would join and something about the way she behaved around you had changed. She was more open and more kind.

And Steve, you haven’t seen him since that night.

You can’t help but feel sad that he didn’t seek you out yet. You are still upset and very hurt by the things he said to you and by his behavior but you still want to talk to him.

You don’t know where you are standing now.

Does he hate you or does he feel ashamed for what he has said to you? You don’t know.

He didn’t apologize to you but he apologized to Eddie a few days ago. He waited for him outside of his trailer after work and apparently they had a long conversation. Eddie didn’t tell you every detail of their conversation but he did tell you that Steve is very sorry for the things he has said and done. Eddie had a pitiful look in his eyes when he told you about their little talk, you know that he forgave him, you don’t know if you can though.

Steve and Robin were on your mind a lot but not tonight.

A smile appears on your face as Eddie starts playing the next song, he winks at you as he mouths ‘for you, baby.’

Your eyes light up and your smile widens as he starts playing hysteria by def leppard.

You giggle as he blows you a kiss. Leaning your elbow against the counter, you place your hand under your jaw as you watch your boyfriend play. 

He looks so good, he always does but something about the way he looks tonight makes all your insides tingle and your heart flutter like crazy. 

He is wearing a red and black flannel you got him, a black tank top underneath, his jeans hang low on his hips and as he raises the guitar higher, his shirt rides up a little, exposing his pale skin.

You bite your lips, squeezing your thighs together. He notices it, of course he does. Even with the distance between the two of you, he notices the flustered look on your face. A smirk tugs at his lips.

He does the same to you, checking you out shamelessly, he could care less about the crowd or the other people in the room, all he cares about is you. His little groupie is what he called you the last time you came to his gig. When he was done playing, he sauntered over to you and began flirting with you as though you both didn’t know each other, you played along, pretending to be his groupie. You ended up fucking in the dingy restroom.

You’re wearing a skirt that he specifically picked out when you went shopping together, a cute black top that showed your boobs off nicely, way too nicely. If you weren’t his already, then he’d certainly make you his tonight.

You look like an angel, a naughty fucking angel. And of course, you caught someone else’s eyes tonight. He noticed it right away when you both walked in.

A group of men he hasn’t seen here before sat around a table near the stage. One of them kept checking you out shamelessly, eying you from the other side of the room with a hungry look in his eyes.

Eddie kissed you possessively and made a big show out of it, making sure that everyone in this bar knows who you belong to. He draped his leather jacket over your shoulders before he left for the stage, hoping that the guy would take the hint that you’re taken but apparently that didn’t stop him.

Eddie’s smirk fell when he saw the man walking towards you, stopping next to you, he was already smirking as he turned to look at you.

“Hey.”

You noticed the frown on Eddie’s face before you heard the man’s voice.

He puts his hand on the counter and steps in front of you, blocking the view to the stage.

You furrow your brows and straighten your back as you put your drink on the table, eying the tall man in front of you, “hi…” you mumble, eying him cautiously.

“I’m Drew,” he says as he holds his hand out for you.

You look down at his hand, noticing the few tattoos on his forearm. You raise your head, eyes meeting his, “and I’m not interested, now move, you’re blocking the view.”

He laughs in surprise and draws his hand back, you expect him to leave after that but instead he sits down in the chair next to you, eyeing you up and down with a dark look in his eyes, “that’s an interesting name.”

You look back at Eddie again, noticing the worried and angry expression on his face as he looks at the man in front of you. You give him a small smile, subtly holding your hand up to tell him that you’re alright.

“So what’s a pretty girl like you doing in–”

You roll your eyes as you turn back to him, “dude, I’m not interested. Go and bother someone else.”

He squints his eyes, stroking his chin as his face grows a little serious. He eyes the jacket around your shoulders.

He is young, probably your age. He is tall, way taller than you, his blue eyes flash with anger and you can already tell what kind of a man he is.

His demeanor and the look behind his eyes reminds you of someone you once knew.

“I’m just trying to talk to you, what’s your problem?”

Irritation and anger sparks inside of you, “do I look like I want to talk to you?”

He shrugs, smirking, “you looked at me earlier.”

You looked around the room the way you always do when you walk into any place. 

You raise your brows and chuckle, “so?”

“Figured you wanted to talk to me.”

You laugh, shaking your head, “I didn’t. Why would I want to talk to you?”

He licks his lips, chuckling, “you’re kind of a bitch, you know that right?”

Your expression turns into a sour one and you clench your jaw. You would love to slap the cocky smirk off his face and throw your drink at him.

“And you’re fucking annoying, Drew. Now piss off and go find someone else to talk to,” you say as you wave him off.

“Nah,” he shakes his head, bringing the bottle to his lips, he brings his beer as he continues to check you out.

You know you should just get up and go but you refuse to give up your spot because of some asshole who won’t take no for an answer.

“I’d rather talk to you. Little brats like you just need to be put in their place.”

Asshole.

Your glare turns into an icy one. Your heart starts pounding in your chest as you feel the anger rising inside of you.

He leans closer to you and puts the half empty bottle on the table before he places his cold hand on your thigh.

“How about I take you back to my–”

“Don’t fucking touch me!” You slap his hand away and jump off the chair, taking a few steps back.

Your loud voice alerted his friends, who looked at the two of you right away. Eddie too, who was just about to jump off the stage. His face showed nothing but pure anger.

“Oh come on,” he chuckles, stepping towards you and before you can take another step back, he grabs your waist, pulling you towards him.

You shudder in disgust and anger as you raise your hands to push him away but his hands are suddenly gone and he stumbles back as someone pushed him off of you roughly. A surprised grunt falls from his lips as he stumbles back.

“Don’t fucking touch her.”

Steve.

You look at the man in anger, who only chuckles as he walks back towards you, holding his hand up to his friends.

Eddie puts his guitar down, telling his friends to keep playing as he jumps off the stage, making his way towards you.

Steve grabs your hand and pulls you back. You can see the anger in his eyes as he eyes the man in front of him. He is breathing heavily, pumped on adrenaline, he is ready to fight the guy and anyone else in this room who dares to put their hands on you.

“I’d suggest you to leave,” Steve mumbles angrily.

“And who are you?” he asks, looking down at Steve’s hand that is still holding yours.

You sigh in annoyance, “just fucking go and leave me the hell alone!” you exclaim as you pull your hand out of Steve’s grasps.

He points to Steve, smirking, “is this your second boyfriend?” he grins, “damn, I knew you were a bitch but I didn’t take you for a cheap slut–”

Steve throws a punch before he can even finish the sentence, the sickening sound of a bone cracking follows as Steve throws another punch.

Your eyes widen and you step back, looking around in panic, you notice one of Drew’s friends heading towards the fighting men.

“Shit,” you mumble, gulping nervously.

This guy is shorter than Drew but he definitely packs more muscles than him and Steve.

He walks towards Steve and your heart stops in your chest.

You should do something, you know you should. You fought interdimensional monsters before, ones that were twice your size and yet, men still scare you more than any monster ever could.

Before he reaches Steve, he falls back as a fist collides with his face and Eddie steps in front him.

Your heart jumps in your chest, you watch Eddie worriedly, scared to see him getting hurt but he is fueled by anger, the guy has no chance against him as Eddie steps over him and grabs him by the collar of his jacket.

You hear a glass shattering and look towards Steve, eyes widening in fear as you see the blood dripping down his face as he fights Drew off, throwing one punch after another.

“Steve!” you look around in fear, not knowing what to do. The bartender looks just as panicked as you are, Drew’s friends are ready to fight and the five drunks are useless as always, meanwhile Gareth and the rest of the band look like they’re having a good time as they watch the fight unfold.

Drew gains the upper hand and delivers a punch to Steve’s stomach causing him to double over in pain.

“God… fuck this,” you mumble, you rush behind the counter, knowing that bar owners usually keep some kinds of gun around.

The bartender looks at you in confusion as you walk towards him, “you got a gun?” you ask.

He nods with widened eyes, “shotgun.”

“Well, give it to me.”

His eyes widen, “no, kid–”

“Give me the gun!” you demand as you glance at Eddie, who still has the guy pinned to the ground. One of the other men walks towards Eddie, the tallest one out of them. Your heart leaps to your throat and you rip the shotgun out of the man’s hand the moment he takes it out of one of the cabinets.

The last time you held a gun in your hand was when you escaped the Russian base at the mall and managed to steal a rifle from one of the guards.

You know how to use them, years of fighting against monsters forced you to learn your way around all kinds of weapons. 

You cock the gun, pointing it at the man who walks towards Eddie.

The shotgun isn’t even loaded but it doesn’t matter, you don’t plan on actually shooting, though you wouldn't hesitate to blow someone’s hand off if they tried to hurt Eddie. 

“Do you even know how to use–”

“Hey!” you yell.

The band stops playing as they see the gun in your hand. Gareth’s eyes widen and he drops the drumsticks.

“Oh damn,” Jeff mumbles as him and Gareth share a look.

“That’s the most action this town has ever seen!” one of the drunks yells, causing the others around him to laugh.

You glance at them, they are barely even fazed by the fight they just witnessed.

Eddie lets go of the grunting man on the ground and glances at the one who headed towards him.

“Do you even know how to use this, baby?”

You glare at Drew, aiming at him now, you tilt your head, “wanna find out?”

Steve pushes him off, wiping the blood off his face, “fucking asshole,” he mumbles.

“Hey kid, put the gun down.”

You glance at the man, the one that walked towards Eddie, he holds his hands up. Surprisingly, he doesn’t look as mad or pissed as Drew or his friend on the floor does, he just looks frustrated and shoots Drew a pointed look as he throws another comment at you.

“We don't want any trouble.”

You chuckle and raise your brows at him, “really? Cause Drew over here touched me without permission and then he attacked my friend.”

You miss the way Steve’s eyes soften after you called him your friend.

“And this pathetic asshole over there wanted to join the fight,” you say, pointing the gun at the groaning man on the ground.

He raises his head, “I wanted to break them apart but this Kirk Hammett wannabe broke my nose,” he grumbles as he pushes himself up into a seating position, clutching his nose.

Eddie glares at him, scrunching his face up at the comment.

“Please just put the gun down, kid.”

“I will, once this asshole is gone,” you mumble, tilting your head towards Drew.

The older man nods, turning to look at Drew, he glares at him, “get your ass up, we’re leaving.”

He furrows his brows, “seriously–”

“We’re leaving,” he says with a stern voice, one that can only belong to a father. Judging by their similar features, you figure that he must be Drew’s dad.

He clenches his jaw and nods, turning away from Steve, he looks back at you one more time before he walks away from Steve, spitting on the ground, “this is a shithole anyways–”

Eddie steps forward, he places his hand on his chest, pushing him back, he throws his fist into his face, “that’s for touching my girl, you piece of shit,” he growls, “if I ever see your ugly face here again, I’m gonna do worse than a few punches.” 

You watch as he clenches his fist, ready to punch Eddie back.

“Don’t even think about it, asshole!” you yell.

His friends seem to have enough of his bullshit. The guy on the ground grunts in pain as he gets up, walking past Eddie, he glares at him, “thanks for that, rockstar,” he grumbles, holding his broken nose.

The older man grabs Drew by his shoulder, giving Eddie and Steve an apologetic look before he turns to his friend, “go,” he mumbles as he pushes him towards the door.

You glare at him as he gives you a wink before he leaves the bar, his friends following suit.

“I’m sorry about him, kid always pulls some shit like this,” the older man grumbles before he places a few bills on the counter, “nice music by the way,” he says to Eddie before he turns to leave.

Sighing in relief, you close your eyes and take a deep breath as you place the shotgun on the counter.

Eddie turns around, looking at you with a concern in his eyes. He notices the way your hands are shaking. His eyes soften as you open your eyes and meet his. He walks towards you as you move away from the counter, meeting him halfway. Reaching out for you, he cups your cheeks as you place your hands on his forearms.

“Are you okay?”

“You okay?”

You both ask at the same time.

You chuckle as you stare into each other’s eyes.

Steve rolls his eyes, not looking amused in the slightest.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Eddie whispers, his eyes still flicker with anger, “should’ve killed that asshole for touching you.”

Your eyes soften and you lean in, pecking his lips, “I’m okay,” you whisper and grab his hands, frowning as you see his bloodied knuckles, “I should clean that up.”

Placing his hand on your lower back, he presses a kiss to your forehead as he looks over your shoulder at a grunting Steve. The bartender handed him a rag to clean off the blood, he winces in pain as he holds it against the wound on the side of his cheek, “I think you should help Steve instead, I’m fine.”

You shake your head, “Eddie–”

“He looks pretty bad, baby,” he mumbles.

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

“You don’t have to,” he says, although he hopes you will.

Steve was your friend before he became more than that to you. He knows that he still means a lot to you and he knows that you mean a lot to Steve. He doesn’t want you to lose each other because of the mess you three have gotten yourself into.

“Just play nurse, I know you love to do that,” he chuckles, squeezing your waist, “I’ll help the guys carry all the stuff back into the van, guess the gig is over,” he sighs.

“I’m sorry… it’s my fault,” you mumble, feeling guilty for causing a scene earlier.

“Hey….” he shakes his head, placing his fingers under your chin, he tilts your head up, “it’s not your fault, that asshole shouldn’t have touched you. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself, Sweetheart.”

Your heart flutters and you smile, “thank you,” you whisper, you look into his soft eyes and place a kiss on the top of his hand.

Eddie smiles at your sweet action, he brings you closer to him, brushing your hair back, “can’t wait to take you home.”

You smile and lean closer, “me too,” you whisper and give him one last kiss before you turn away from him and look at Steve, who stares at you with a sad expression on his face.

“Come on,” you sigh.

He turns to look at Eddie, who nods at him, eyes flickering with encouragement. 

-

The flickering lights in the bathroom drove you crazy, you couldn’t concentrate on the wounds on his face. You grabbed the first aid kit the bartender gave you and took Steve into the backroom instead. You both sat down on the couch and spent the first few minutes in silence as you began to clean his wounds.

“You need to see a doctor,” you mumble, you avoid looking into his eyes as you cup his cheeks, eying the wounds, “you might have a concussion.”

“No, I feel fine.. He didn’t hit my head or anything,” he mumbles, staring at you.

You nod but you don’t respond and you don’t look into his eyes either. It makes him sad. You brush your fingers through his hair, pushing it back so it doesn’t get in the way as you to clean the blood off his face. Your hands are gentle on his face, your thighs are pressed against his and you lean closer to examine the wound on his cheek.

Steve stares at you and he feels a pang of hurt in his chest.

Your pretty eyes used to light up whenever you saw him, now you can’t even look at him anymore.

Your lips were always set in a smile whenever you looked at him, now they are set in a frown.

You look tense and he hates it and hates that he is the one who caused it. He is the one who pushed you away, who pushed you into another man’s arms– a man who makes you happier than he ever could.

But god, Steve wants you so bad.

“Thanks for defending me but you really shouldn’t have done that,” you mumble.

Steve scoffs, “he touched you and he called you a slut–”

You scoff at his words.

“Oh, don’t worry, it wasn't the first time someone called me that,” you say as you briefly look into his eyes.

He sighs, closing his eyes, “I-I didn’t mean that–”

“Whatever, I don’t want to hear it, Steve.”

His heart sinks and his shoulders slump. He feels awful for the things he has said and done.

Luckily, there is only a little cut on his cheek and the bleeding from his nose has stopped. You disinfected his wounds and put a bandaid on the cut.

You grab his hand, examining his bruised knuckles. You stop your movements and your eyes flash with recognition as you notice the ring on his middle finger, the one you gave him for his 20th birthday. You touch it with your thumb, letting it linger there for a moment.

Steve’s heart flutters in his chest as he sees the softened gaze on your face.

“Y/n, I’m–”

“Don’t,” you snap at him.

He tenses up.

“You don’t get to say you’re sorry after all the shit you have done, it won’t change anything.”

“But I am sorry,” he whispers.

You roll your eyes, shaking your head, “are you?” you ask, looking back into his eyes.

He nods and moves his hand out of your grasp before he takes your hands in his, “I am, y/n. I am so fucking sorry and I-I know that it won’t change anything, I know I messed up but I want you to know that I’m really sorry a-and I don’t even know where to start but I wanna apologize for everything that I’ve done– I don’t expect you to forgive me, I just want you– need you to know that I’m sorry,” he says with tears in his eyes, he squeezes your hands.

You look into his brown eyes, seeing the regret and the sadness in his eyes leaves a dull ache in your chest.

He looks so vulnerable, so soft and innocent. You can’t believe that this man broke your heart.

“I know I fucking ruined it, I know that we could have been happy together–”

“But it doesn’t matter anymore, we won’t be happy together!”

You take a deep breath as you feel the anger growing stronger. How dare he say this to you after everything that happened?

“I-I know, I know that okay? I know I fucked it up for us–”

“There is no us, Steve. There never was!”

His face falls, his eyes flicker with sadness.

“But I love you.”

You blink, sighing, you turn away from him.

"Oh, you do?” you scoff, “did you love me when you were with all your girls?”

Guilt crosses his expression, “I always loved you.”

“No you didn’t, Steve. You said you did but you didn’t. You wouldn’t have been with anyone else if you really loved me. I didn’t blame you for needing time for yourself when you said you weren’t ready for a relationship but using that time to be with other people when you apparently loved me makes no sense.”

“You kept saying that you love me, you kept saying that all you ever wanted was me, you kept telling me that you want a future with me and yet you did all of this. How am I supposed to believe you?” you ask as you think of all the times he claimed those things only to be with someone else right after, “I mean, was I ever, even for one second, enough for you?”

He tilts his head, holding your hand tighter than before, he speaks your name softly, “you were always enough for me–”

“Don’t say that I was enough for you, I never was. You wouldn’t have chosen Nancy over me, you wouldn’t have chosen any of your meaningless flings over me if I was enough for you,” you mumble as you feel the frustration rising inside of you, “you kept stringing me along, you kept me waiting, you were hurting me all this time and you didn’t even care because I never mattered to you, did I?”

Being away from him and being with Eddie, truly helped you open your eyes. You realized things that you haven’t realized before. Steve manipulated you for years and you acted like a damn fool and waited around for him, knowing that he would never feel the same.

“What?” he gasps, shaking his head, “you always mattered to me! Nancy or any of these girls… they never mattered to me–”

“Stop, just stop, okay? You’ve done nothing but hurt me all these years, you gave me all this hope, all these empty promises. It took me years to even try to get over you–”

“Try?” he asks as his eyes lighten up a little, “try to get over me? Does that mean that you still aren’t over me?”

His eyes hold nothing but hope now and he squeezes your hand tighter than before and it kills you, you love him, you always will but it’s not what you once thought it was. Even if none of this would have happened, even if he never hurt you, the moment you’d lay your eyes on Eddie, things would have changed.

Eddie is your person.

You are his and you wouldn’t want it any other way. Even if you could change things and you could have Steve from the start, even if he would do anything to prove to you that he wants you, only you, you still wouldn’t want him back. You want Eddie. 

“Steve.”

He cups your cheeks, staring at you with pleading eyes, “y/n, please.. I-I can change, I can prove my love for you, I haven’t been with anyone since–”

You shake your head and grab his wrists, pushing his hands away from you, “no, no.. stop this.”

You can’t take this. The look in his eyes, his shaky voice, the tears that are welling up in his eyes.

“You don’t have to change for me and you don’t have to prove anything to me. It’s too late, Steve.”

His brows draw together, he starts breathing heavily as he tries not to cry in front of you.

“I love you so much, y/n…”

You look into the eyes of the man you once loved so much, the man that broke your heart over and over again, it still hurts to look at him and it hurts even more that you have to break his heart now.

“I don’t think you ever loved me, Steve. You are just scared of ending up alone. You always knew that it wouldn’t work out with any of your girls and you knew how much I loved you, you knew you would never be alone with me there,” you say, trying to blink the tears away.

Confusion flickers in his eyes and he shakes his head, looking at you as though you have gone crazy.

“No! No that’s not it!” he says as he tries to take your hands again but you move away from him.

“Then what is it?” you ask angrily, “why did you do all of this? Why did you treat me like that, why did you want other people when you apparently love me so much?” you get up and turn away from him, running your fingers through your hair in frustration before you cross your arms over your chest, pulling Eddie’s jacket tighter against your body, you instantly feel calmer as you smell his cologne. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, “Eddie never did that, you know? He loved me and he didn’t want anyone else even when he knew that I loved you.”

Steve nods to himself, he leans his elbows on his knees and buries his face in his hands.

He knows that now. He knows that Eddie loves you, that he spent all these years loving you and pining after you. Apparently everyone knew it, everyone except for you and him.

Eddie opened up to him about his feelings for you when he apologized for what happened at his party. Steve wanted to know, he wanted to know how all of this even happened and Eddie gave him all the answers that he wanted and it left him with a heartbroken feeling.

Eddie deserves you, he doesn’t.

For a few minutes the room is silent, the only noises you hear are coming from the bar. The faint music, the laughter.

You didn’t want your night to go like this. You didn’t want to see Steve and you sure as hell didn’t want to deal with this now.

You are over him, you don’t want him anymore, you promised him a future, just like he did to you and this time it won’t be him breaking the promise, it’s you and it feels awful but this isn’t your fault, it’s his.

You let your arms fall to your sides and you turn around to look at him. He sits back up, wiping the tears away quickly before he raises his head, glassy eyes meeting yours, his bottom lip quivers a little.

He looks horrible.

The heartbroken look on his face, the tears, the wounds he got from fighting because he wanted to defend you– it hurts.

Your 12 year old self would be disappointed if she saw you right now, if she saw what happened to your friendship.

You and Steve were inseparable, you were best friends, ones that never even fought. You protected each other, you loved each other and now? Now you hurt each other.

“I-I was scared to end up like him… my father. I didn’t want to hurt you the way he hurt my mom, he constantly cheats on her, I didn’t want to do the same to you when we’d start dating. I-I thought that if I did all of this now, then I wouldn’t feel the urge to be with anyone else later on. But, I didn’t realize that I was already hurting you.”

You don’t even know what to say at this point, you don’t know what to feel either.

“I promised you a relationship, you already gave me your heart and I fucked up, I broke it and I’m so fucking sorry,” he says, getting up, he walks towards you, “I-I was an asshole and I took you for granted, I hurt you and I lost you because of what I did and I will always regret it a-and I want you to know that I always loved you even if it never seemed like it. You have had my heart since we were kids, I never loved anyone else the way I love you and that will never change.”

You turn your head away from him, not wanting him to see the tears in your eyes, you cross your arms over your chest.

“I’m so sorry for what I’ve done,” he whispers.

What have we become? Steve thinks to himself. His heart breaks at the sight of you, the way you can’t even look at him anymore, the way you try to blink your tears away, trying to act like you don’t care anymore, that what he did doesn’t affect you anymore.

“I uh–, I just want you to know that you were always enough, in every way. You never did anything wrong, ever. I fucked up. I wasn’t faithful. You didn’t deserve the shit that I put you through.”

Feelings don’t just fade away, there’s still some love for him left. Not enough to want him but enough to care about him and his feelings. The wounds that he left are still fresh too and hearing all these words from him only makes you feel weak. A few tears escape your eyes and you dig your nails into your arms as you try to keep yourself from crying.

You narrow your eyes and clutch your chest as you look at him, “you stopped seeing other people?” you ask, ignoring his confession.

He nods, “yeah, I-I don’t wanna do that anymore,” he says as he draws nearer to you.

“Why not?”

He shrugs, “I just, I realized that it’s not what I want, it doesn’t make me happy.”

A bitter laugh falls from your lips and you shake your head, “why did you realize that now? You seemed happy a few weeks back.”

“I wasn’t happy a-and after what happened that night.. after I lost you, I realized that all these girls were never what I wanted, I want you,” he pauses, looking down in shame, “you are the only one who can make me happy.”

You can’t help but feel sad that things have to end this way.

Steve glances at you. He wants to pull you into his arms, he wants to hold you and tell you how sorry he is, over and over again but he doesn’t.

Instead, he swallows the lump in his throat and stares at you through his blurry vision, “for what it’s worth, I love you and I always will.”

Your heart would have fluttered and a smile would appear on your face if things were different but instead he is met by a frown on your face and tears in your eyes.

“A-And if there’s a chance then I’m willing to wait for you, the way you did for me,” he whispers, hoping that you will say yes.

You furrow your brows and shake your head.

You don’t need to speak to let him know that you don’t want him anymore.

Your eyes swim with tears and so do his. You stare at each other and you both understand, it’s over.

There was never a beginning for the two of you but there is an ending and it’s not a happy one.

You look at him as though it’s the last time you ever will and it hurts. Losing him still hurts.

You might not feel the same way about him anymore, you might not love him the way you love Eddie but he still means a lot to you and losing him feels like you are losing a part of yourself. He was your best friend before he was anything else.

Tears fall from his eyes, his eyes show nothing but sadness and heartbreak but he nods in understanding and he gives you a sad smile, “I get it,” he whispers, “I’m sorry for everything.”

You sniffle, staring down at your hands, you are suddenly overcome by sadness and anger as your mind takes you back to all the moments when he broke your heart.

When he canceled what was supposed to be your first date to take out Nancy instead.

When he promised you a future only to walk into Tina’s house party with some random girl clinging to him, later that night.

When he kissed his dates in front of you, knowing how much you loved him.

When he paraded them all in front of you.

When he begged you to wait for him right before he went to a date with someone else. 

When he called you a slut for being with Eddie.

“I don’t forgive you.”

You look up at him and watch the way his face contorted in pain and shock.

“W-What?”

“I don’t forgive you, Steve.”

He panics and his heart hurts in his chest, his face falls, his shoulders slump, he looks defeated and by the look in his eyes, you can tell that he is on the verge of a breakdown.

“Oh.”

“I can’t just move past all of this, I just can’t.”

You want to, you really do but you need time away from him.

You can’t look at him, knowing that you will only cave in, like you always do, so you turn around and walk away from him.

Steve stares at you, the pain in his chest is so bad. He already realized that he lost you a few weeks back. Seeing you today, getting the cold shoulder from you, hearing all these words from you and watching you walk away from him breaks his heart in a way he can’t even begin to describe.

He can barely see through the tears in his eyes.

You stop as you reach for the door handle and for a second he hopes that maybe, just maybe you changed your mind and you can forgive him.

“I… I don’t love you anymore, Steve.”

He freezes, the tears fall but he can barely feel them.

“At least not like I used to,” you say as you turn back to look at him, the pain in his eyes breaks your heart but he deserves to know the truth, “Eddie is the one I love, the one I always loved, I just didn’t realize it but he’s different, Steve. He is my person, my.. soulmate.”

He closes his eyes for a moment and nods at your words.

“I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head and opens his eyes, “you have nothing to be sorry for, y/n,” he pauses as he brings his hand up to his face, wiping away the tears quickly, “I’m not mad.. I just– fuck, remember when you told me you’d wait forever?”

There is no anger in his voice or in his eyes, just a bitter sadness and you get it.

You blink, looking down at the ground, you nod slowly.

You did tell him that, on more than one occasion, mostly when you were drunk or high and he would take care of you.

“Yeah.. guess, I’m the one breaking the promise now.”

You expect him to agree with you. In the time you have been away from him, you realized how selfish he was, how cruel he could be sometimes.

You wouldn’t be surprised if he still blamed you for your falling out but instead he gives you a small but sad smile, “no… I made you break that promise,” he sniffles, “a-and I know you said that you don’t love me anymore and that there’s no point in waiting but… I will always wait for you. I messed up, big fucking time but you are my person. I know you probably don’t believe me but, you mean the world to me and I really do love you.”

You find it hard to believe his words, you don’t trust him, not anymore. He broke it too many times.

“And I hope that you can forgive me someday,” he says as he inches closer to you.

You want to but you don’t know if you can.

He maintains eye contact as he comes closer until he is right in front of you. He waits for you to say something, to tell him to leave or to push him away but you don’t, you even let him touch your face but the look in your eyes tells him not to try anything. He cups your cheek and for a moment, he just admires you. He looks into the eyes that always gave him comfort, the ones he would always see love and warmth in.

He kisses your forehead, letting his lips linger for a moment as he closes his eyes.

He could have kissed you if things were different.

He could have seen you smile if things were different.

He could have hugged you and walked out with you if he hadn’t been such a fool this whole time.

He could have taken you home if he would’ve just chosen you from the very beginning.

‘What now?’ he wonders as he looks into your eyes.

You were always there, you were his light at the end of the tunnel, waiting for him, you were his hope. You were always the one to hold your hand out for him, to catch him and hold him in the safety of your arms but now it’s over.

How will he continue to live the life he wanted to spend with you?

How will he look in the mirror without wanting to break it whenever he will see his reflection staring back at him, seeing the person that ruined it all.

How will he live with himself, knowing that he broke your heart and that he lost you because of his foolish behavior?

He leaves before he breaks down in front of you, he rushes through the hallway, walking back into the bar, he feels Eddie’s eyes on him, watching him in concern, he calls out to him as he walks away from Gareth, he waves him off and rushes out of the bar though, not wanting anyone to see him cry.

Eddie halts in his tracks, shoulders slumping as he watches his friend leave.

When Eddie asked him to come to his gig, he hoped that it would give Steve the chance to apologize to you. He is not sure if Steve deserves forgiveness after all the things he has done to you but you do deserve an apology.

He still feels angry for what he has done to you and for the things he said. Steve opened up to him though and promised he would do better.

He knows that Steve loves you, despite the things he has done. He loves you.

And maybe that should make him insecure or scared because there could be a chance that he might change for you, that he will make it up to you, that you might want him back.

But the love you have for him is different than the one you always had for Steve.

He finds you in the backroom, sniffling quietly as you clean up the bloodied tissues and the wrappers from the bandaids you’ve used. Your shoulders are shaking a little as you cry.

Eddie’s eyes soften, his heart hurts at the sight of you.

You close the first aid kit and get up from your kneeling position, turning around, a small gasp falls from your lips as your eyes lock with Eddie’s. You quickly wipe your tears away and plaster a smile on your face.

“Sweetheart,” he whispers, entering the room.

You press your lips together and dig your nails into your palms. You don’t want to cry, you really don’t but ending a friendship with the person that once meant the world to you is anything but easy.

The look in Eddie’s eyes and the way he cares so much for you, only makes you want to cry even more.

He places his hands on your cheeks, eying you with his large sad eyes, catching the falling tear with his thumb, he wipes it away.

“What happened?” he asks.

His hands leave your face, he brushes his fingers through your hair, pulling it back and tucking it behind your ears before he pulls you into his embrace.

You wrap your arms around his waist and lay your head on his chest, instantly calming down at the feeling of being in the safety of his arms.

“I-I ended our friendship,” you manage to say before you break down.

You are overcome by the feeling of guilt.

Everybody leaves him.

His parents always left him.

His friends always left him.

Nancy left him.

You promised that you never would and yet you did.

Eddie understands it, he has broken your heart and your trust too many times but he can tell that it’s not what you really want. Despite what happened, you still want him in your life.

“It’s not what you want, is it?” he asks.

You shake your head against him.

“Then why did you do it, baby?”

You lean back a little and tilt your head up to look at him, he meets your eyes and he squeezes your waist, eyes flickering with understanding, whatever it is, he wants you to tell him.

“He’s always gonna come in between us, he’s gonna try to ruin things for us– not intentionally b-but he’s gonna draw you away from me and I can’t handle that. Losing him hurts but losing you would fucking kill me, Eddie.”

Sadness flitted across his face. There is nothing that could draw him away from you.

“J-Just earlier, he told me that he loves me, that he wants to wait for me even though he knows that I’m with you now. If I keep him in my life, he’s gonna keep doing this, he’s gonna keep trying things and you’re gonna get sick of it and then you’ll leave me,” your voice cracks at the end and a new wave of tears wells up in your eyes, you look down, trying to hide your face in his chest.

“Hey,” he whispers as he moves his hands up to cup your cheeks “look at me, y/n. Nothing and I mean nothing could ever push me away from you, okay? Look, I didn’t even think that this– we would happen. I expected you to go back to him a-and that would’ve fucking broke me and I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself if I lost you but when we started this whole– I’m not even gonna call this a friends with benefits thing, ‘cause let’s be real, it was never just that,” he says with a small smile on his face as he looks down at you, “I really thought that you would leave me once he’d want you back, shit, I think I knew that you would leave ‘cause you were so in love with him. I knew I didn’t have a chance b-but I still wanted this, you, us and even if it would’ve turned into nothing but a fling, I would have been okay with that because at least, you’d be mine even if just for a moment- I would’ve spent the rest of my life pining after you but-”

“Eddie,” you whisper sadly.

He places his finger on your lips, giving you a small smile, “let me finish, Sweetheart.”

You nod as you look into his loving eyes.

“I loved you from the very first moment and my feelings never faded, not even when I found out about your feelings for ‘King Steve’,” he chuckles, rolling his eyes at the memory of him coming home and hiding in his room all day, listening to a ‘sad rock songs’ tape, he stole from Wayne’s car and laid in bed all day with headphones on, crying after he found out that his crush was in love with the popular guy.

Yeah, teen Eddie would throw a party and invite King Steve if he could see himself right now. “I fell so fucking hard for you when we worked on that stupid anatomy project together, you took me home with you and the first thing you did was show me your horror movie collection,” you both laugh at the memory.

You took his hand and brought him to your room, rambling about all the new movies you got. Eddie nodded along the whole time, he watched you with a smile on his face and an awestruck expression. To this day, he still feels his heart flutter whenever he thinks of the first time you held his hand. 

“You were the only one who listened to my rambles!” you exclaim as you smile at him.

“I always loved your rambles,” he chuckles, “and I still do.”

“I fell even harder for you when I was roped into this whole mess. You were the one that stayed with me the whole time, from the beginning till the end. Shit, I saw you killing things– oh and by the way, the whole thing with the shotgun earlier? Very metal, babe and so fucking hot.”

You giggle at his words and you can’t help but blush as he pulls you closer against him.

“But what I’m trying to say is, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, not even death could take me away from you,” he jokes, which only earns him a slap to his chest.

“Don’t,” you frown.

“Okay, okay,” he chuckles before his face grows serious again, “Sweetheart, I love you so goddamn much, you have my heart no matter what, nothing and no one can come between us, okay?”

“But what if–”

“Not even Steve. And, it doesn’t seem like he’s trying to sabotage anything,” he shrugs, “he just realized what he had all this time and what could’ve been if he wasn’t such a douchebag, of course he’s gonna declare his love to you and tell you that he will wait, I’d do anything to get you back too.”

“You would?”

He smiles, leaning down to kiss your lips softly, “yeah, I’d do anything to get my girl back,” he says as he presses another kiss to your lips, “and I’ll do anything to keep her too.”

Your heart skips a beat, you wrap your arms around his waist and gaze into his eyes, “I’ll do anything to keep you too.”

“Yeah?” he smiles.

You nod, “yeah.”

He inches closer to you, lips brushing against yours again, your noses touch and you smile at each other, “good,” he whispers before he smashes his lips against yours, pulling you closer and closer until you’re completely pressed against him.

He lets go of your waist and wraps his arms around your shoulders instead, hugging you as he deepens the kiss.

Your soft lips, your scent, your touches, your kisses will always drive him crazy. 

Sometimes, he can’t help but feel like this is all just a dream. He never thought that he would get to have you. The girl of his dreams.

What started off with longing gazes, admiring you from afar, loving you from afar turned into something so beautiful and he will forever be thankful that he was brave enough to even make a move.

You break the kiss and stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, lust lingers in both his and your eyes, you want him and he wants you, now. He slams the door shut and locks it before he grabs your hand and pulls you along with him. 

Eddie sits down on the couch and you straddle him, placing your hands on his neck, giggling as he pushes his jacket off your shoulders, “you look fucking hot wearing my jacket but it has to go for now,” he murmurs as he lets it fall to the ground.

His dark eyes flicker with lust as you grind against him, skirt riding up your thighs as you do so.

It never takes him long to get hard with you, one look, one simple touch, one kiss and he is hard and twitching in his jeans.

“Baby,” he whispers, cupping the back of your neck, he brings you closer, “you really wanna do this right now?” he asks as he looks down at your hands, watching as you begin to unbuckle his belt.

Your lips find his again as you continue to grind against his dick. He grabs your waist, pushing you down harder against him causing you to whimper into the kiss which only makes his dick harder.

“Want you,” you mumble against his lips, “want you inside of me, please….”

He chuckles as he looks into your pleading darkened eyes, “what’s gotten you so needy?” he asks as he moves hands down to grab your thighs.

“You,” you moan as he bucks his hips up, you grip his shoulders and dig your nails into his flannel, “got so wet watching you play but then that dick had to ruin everything.”

He growls, eyes flashing with anger.

Eddie is a jealous person by nature, he doesn’t like when people want what belongs to him and he isn’t blind, whenever you go out together, he can see the looks you get from men, he doesn’t blame them, you are a beautiful woman but he can’t stand the hungry gazes. He never had a reason to get this angry though, no one ever made a move on you, until tonight.

Seeing him talk to you and touch you left him with such rage.

Eddie slams his lips back against yours, kissing you roughly with teeth and tongue and such passion, it only leaves you wanting more and more. Wetness pools in your panties, you clench around nothing.

Slipping your hand past his boxers, you take his dick, teasing him as you begin to jerk him off. He squeezes your thighs roughly, moaning into the kiss as he feels your thumb on his tip, collecting his pre cum, you pull your hand away and bring it up to your lips as you break the kiss, you look into his eyes and take your thumb into your mouth, closing your eyes as you moan around it.

Eddie’s eyes widen, his cock twitches, he could cum just from the sight alone, “shit, you’re so filthy baby,” he murmurs, he watches you in awe as he slides his hand up your thigh, grazing your lace panties, he smirks at your little whine. He pushes your panties to the side and cups your wet pussy, slipping his cold ringed fingers through your folds, he collects your wetness and places his fingertips against your aching clit and begins to circle it.

“Wanted to suck your dick so bad,” you moan and grind against his fingers after you release your thumb with a pop, “but this guy–”

Eddie growls at the mention of that asshole, pulling his hand away, he grabs your waist and slams you down on his cock.

“O-Oh my god!”

Tears spring to your eyes at the sudden stretch in your pussy, your forehead falls against his and you whimper at the feeling of him filling you up, it feels so good.

Eddie holds you tightly, his rings dig into your skin, he growls and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. Your tight wet walls clench so tightly around him and he needs to focus not to cum right away.

He feels your soft hands on his face and your lips on his cheek, “Eddie,” you whine, “love your dick so much.”

He opens his eyes and finds you already staring at him with a needy look in your eyes, “yeah? How much?” he asks as he bucks his hips up, pushing his cock in deeper, causing you to clench around him again.

You both moan against each other’s lips.

“S-So much,” you whisper, “fuck me…. fuck me, daddy. Show me who I belong to.”

His eyes darken and he growls at what you called him.

“You need a reminder, baby?”

“Mhmm,” you nod as you bite your bottom lip, closing your eyes as you focus on the feeling of his twitching dick inside of your aching pussy.

“Ride my dick, c’mon, be a good girl, ride me,” he husks as he starts to fuck into you from underneath.

You lick your lips and grip his shoulders tightly as you roll your hips, “E-Eddie….”

“Just like that,” he praises you, placing his palms on your shoulders, he pushes the straps of your top down and slips your top down to your stomach, exposing your boobs, he grabs them, rolling your nipples with his thumbs, “so fucking sexy,” he grunts, mouth watering at the sight of your pretty tits, he leans in and buries his face in them, kissing and licking around your nipple.

You grab his hair, pulling at it as you arch your back in pleasure.

“Feels so good…”

You move your hips faster and faster, yours and his moans echo through the room. He marks your chest and your neck, leaving hickeys on your sensitive skin, you are his, no one else’s.

“You’re mine,” he growls into your neck before he moves back, leaning his back against the soft cushions, to watch you. Keeping his hands on your boobs, he squeezes them roughly, “wanted to rip that asshole's head off for touching you.”

“I’m yours…. just yours,” you moan as you ride him harder and faster, “c-can you feel how wet I am for you, daddy?”

His dark eyes bore into yours, his flustered cheeks and his puffy lips make you smirk, his hands on your tits are rough. He moves his hand to your throat, wrapping his hand around it, he pulls you closer against him.

“That’s fucking right, you’re mine, y/n, your pussy is mine, your body is mine, your heart is mine,” he growls against your lips.

You breathe heavily, whine and whimpers escape your mouth as you feel his dick hitting the right spot.

For a moment, you lean back, placing your hands on his knees, you arch your back as you ride him, you both look down, watching the way his glistening cock slides in and out of your pussy.

“Mine….” he moans, reaching for your hips, he helps you ride him faster, “all mine.”

He watches the way your eyes roll back, the way your chest rises up and down heavily, forehead coated in sweat, the prettiest sounds fall from your lips, you keep your eyes on him, hand reaching for his wrists as he keeps his hand wrapped around your throat. God, you are perfect.

His dick twitches, his stomach tenses up, he is close and he can feel you getting there too. Your walls tighten around him. He moans your name, over and over again.

Placing one hand on your lower stomach, his fingers find your clit, you tense up as he starts rubbing circles on your nub.

Letting go of your throat, he moves his arm around your body and pulls you flush against him.

This time, you reach for his throat and he can’t help but smirk at your action.

“You’re mine too,” you mumble against his lips, “my man.”

His heart flutters and he gives you a dopey smile, “that’s right, baby, I’m yours, your man.”

Goosebumps arise on your skin as you feel your orgasm approaching. You fall against him, still keeping your hand around his neck.

“You’re so…. wet, fuck…” he growls, the feeling of your juices dripping down his cock makes him moan in pleasure, “so.. perfect. Making a mess on my cock.”

Your moans get high pitched and you almost squeak as the feeling gets too overwhelming. Stars blur your vision, you can’t help but drool, “p-please…. n-need to cum… please, daddy… want you to cum inside of me.”

“Yeah? Want me to breed you, baby?” he pants, barely able to keep his eyes open but he needs to see you, he wants to watch you come undone. He is the one that gets to feel you like this, that gets to touch you like this, that gets to fuck you like this, “want me to fill you up with my cum, get you pregnant so everyone knows who you belong to?”

You whine and nod against him, unable to form a sentence. Tears roll down your cheeks and you squeeze your eyes shut.

“Shit baby…. you wanna make me a real daddy huh?”

“Yes….. yes….”

He growls, your hand loosens around his neck and you fall against him.

“Gonna fill your tight little pussy up with my cum….”

“P-Please..” you whisper, “please, I need it…”

“Cum for me, pretty girl.”

Rubbing your clit faster, he grabs your face with his free hand, he watches your face, the way it contorts in pleasure as you come around his cock, your walls tighten and flutter around him.

“S-Shit… baby, y/n…” he moans loudly as he cums, painting your insides white with his seed, “I love you,” he murmurs against your lips before he kisses you.

You cling to your man, holding onto him tightly as you kiss him.

He can taste your tears, the drink you’ve had before, your strawberry chapstick. His heart continues to race in his chest, even after you both calm down. He feels your body relaxing as you slump against him, still holding onto him. His heart swells and he smiles against your puffy lips.

“I love you too,” you finally whisper after pulling away from the kiss, you lay your head on his shoulder and look up at him with a tired look on your face.

He wipes your tears away and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, “you good, Sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” you whisper, “can we stay like that for a moment?”

“Yeah, of course,” he smiles.

He runs his fingers up and down your spine and kisses your shoulder softly.

Your walls still flutter around him, small moans continue to escape your lips. You are so sensitive but you both feel so good.

The room is quiet for a moment, the only sounds you hear are Eddie’s breathing, the music from outside the room and the voices– reminding you that you should probably get up and go home but you are too lazy and you don’t want to move out of his embrace.

“We could make things work, you know?” he whispers. 

With furrowed brows and a confused look in your eyes, you glance up at your boyfriend, “what?”

“With Steve.”

-

it’s not what you think it is.... or is it?

taglist: @prettyboyeddiemunson @littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @lnnlove @corrodedcorpses @mysticmunson @strangermarvelss @yogizzz @metalhead-succubus @aftermidnightwriting @somethingvicked @shelbycillian @lorielulu7 @munsonsuccubus @tlclick73 @manda-panda-monium @hey-rowan @sherrylyn628 @luna-munson83 @qnsfwthoughts @mxcheese @emmalee-01 @eddielives1986 @tvandfanfic @miarosso @m4nulup1n @likeficsinthewnd @hazydespair @ogoc-19 @mopeymopeymouse @clilxlx @yssnxiw @sweet-villain @soanxiousimcalm @olrjmarvete @personofyou @thewritersoldier1918 @levylovegood @elvendria @honeyglee @vulgarfuckinvirgo77 @aysheashea @littletittygothgirl @freeshavocadoooo @sllooney @gracieluvthemoon @martaboj92 @let-love-bleeds-red @kissylovie @sheisjoeschateau @big-ope-vibes @i-me-mine @turtlehyung @corrcdedcoffin @spookycreepycookie @freezaz123 @boinkybarness @babyloutattoo89

[irondiotallica]

Date Night

Yay, another blurb!!! I'm really liking writing again. It's been a long time since I've written with joy and no expectations. Also, Robin finally makes an appearance. Kraft Cheese Singles have existed since the 50s. Let that sink in. Anyway, here's the blurb. Hope you enjoy it!!! -Silas

[Steddie}

Steve Harrington was nervous. For the first time in his life, he was nervous. There wasn’t anything that should be causing this anxiety save for the date that he had tonight. He’s had a million dates before, but this one was different. Eddie was different.

“Robin, what do I do,” Steve asked with panic clear in his wide-eyed expression.

Robin looked at Steve like she had many times before and if she had a whiteboard near her, there would be a tally under ‘You Suck’. She rolled her eyes and fixed Steve with a confused glare. 

“Steve, I think you’re forgetting three very important things.’

Robin held up three fingers and began to count down as she continued speaking.

“One, I’m more single than a Kraft Single.”

“Two, I’m a raging lesbian.”

“Three, you’re the one who’s had a very fruitful dating life.”

Steve shook his head. He was distraught at Robin’s very sound reasoning. He knew he was being irrational, but it was Eddie. He didn’t know how to go about wooing Eddie.

“Robin,” he whined hoping to wear her down,” This is different. Eddie’s different. Help me please.”

“I can’t help you with this. You’ve already planned it. What do you want me to tell you?”

Steve wanted her to tell Steve that he was doing things right.

“I’m doing it correctly, right?”

Robin sighed at that and shook her head. She looked up into his face and felt her gaze soften at the sight of her platonic soulmate.

“You’re doing fine, dingus. No need to stress,” she paused and rubbed his shoulder soothingly,” You’re doing great so far. Okay, Steve?”

Steve let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her. 

“Okay, yeah. Thanks, Robin.”

“You’re welcome, Steve.”

There was a comfortable pause of silence before Robin broke it with a smirk.

“You owe me lunch on Wednesday,” she said as she packed up to head home.

Steve rolled his eyes with a grin.

“Whatever you say, Rob.”

Steve stood in front of the familiar trailer with roses in his hand. He was stressed and his once perfectly styled locks were now disheveled with the numerous times he had run his hands through it. He chewed his lower lip nervously before running his hand through his hair again. Finally, he bit the bullet and knocked on the door.

Steve listened amused as someone stumbled through the trailer, seeming to trip multiple times and stubbing something as Steve heard a quiet ‘God dammit’ and ‘Son of a bitch’.

The door flew open as Eddie came into Steve’s view. Steve felt his breath leave him as he took in the perfection that was Eddie Munson.

Eddie always looked good, but today he had Steve close to busting. Those dark curls were pulled up into a high ponytail with a few strands falling out around his face. His eyes somehow popped more than usual and his rings were polished to perfection. He had a Dio shirt that had probably seen better days on and a pair of jeans with not a rip in sight. His belt and chains completed the entire thing and made Steve fall for him all over again.

Suddenly, confidence and charm flooded his system.

“Hey gorgeous, ready for our date?”

Eddie grinned and responded in kind.

“I don’t know big boy, am I?”

With no hesitation, Steve handed Eddie the flowers with a wink.

“Not until you put those flowers away, wouldn’t want them withering, left to their own devices.”

Eddie flushed at what Steve was implying. Maybe Eddie had been right to think that he would be with Steve for a lot longer than just a date.

“Hold on,” Eddie said, still bright red in the face.

The flowers were placed in water and left on the kitchen counter with care. Eddie grabbed his jacket, keys, cigs, lighter, and whatever else he thought he needed. He locked the door before following Steve to the car. He watched Steve with a pounding heart and a face blushing even more than before as Steve opened the door for him.

“After you m’lord,” Steve said with a flourishing bow. 

“I love it when you start speaking nerdy with me.”

“Good, cause there’s a lot more for later when we’re in a more,” he paused leaning in until his mouth brushed against Eddie’s ear,” private situation.”

Eddie felt a moan bubble up in his throat at the feel of Steve on his ear. He managed to trap it, but God, Steve was driving him up the wall.

They buckled up and Steve turned to Eddie. 

“Let’s get going, shall we?”

Eddie nodded, not trusting his words. Steve grinned at that entwining his fingers with Eddie’s before peeling out of the trailer park to their date of the evening.

[augustjustice]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Thank you so much for this, buddy! 💕Such a sweet, fun ask.

you wanna feel how it feels (let's exchange the experience)

This is my latest baby the Steddie bodyswap fic, and even though it's far from finished, it's really a situation where I've let myself just indulge in what in my heart of hearts I really wanted to write, which is always a great time.

Living Dead Boy

Also recent, this one got pretty experimental for me, as it's more of a sort of horror second person prose poem from Steve's point of view. I enjoyed getting to explore some of the tropes and meta narrative's here, and was glad it came together as well as it did, as I really wasn't certain I would be able to pull it off at first!

Got You By My Side

This is very quintessential 'Steve takes care of Eddie and also sort of asks him out in the hospital after the bats' fic and is canon to me lol. I always like writing kind of semi-canon adjacent stuff, and I thought I was able to tap into the boys' voices and banter pretty well here.

Got Your Mother in a Whirl (She's Not Sure If You're a Boy or a Girl)

This is the first Stranger Things fic I ever started writing, way back in Season 2! I didn't end up picking it back up until Season 4 started, but I remain pretty proud of how it turned out. No romance in this one beyond implied hints, this fic is very much just a story of Stevie exploring his gender identity as someone who is genderfluid, and then eventually she comes out to Dustin who is able to offer lots of support and brotherly love. This fic began long before I realized I had some complex gender feelingsTM myself, so it holds a special place in my heart. I also really got to emphasize one of my favorite aspects of Stranger Things in it as well--close friendships, particularly the one between Steve and Dustin.

The Rules of Engagement

This fic is from my Nygmobblepot days, and I played around with things I often don't in fic here, like established relationship. I really enjoyed writing these characters as middle aged in a post-canon future, and with this one I felt like I did a nice job of balancing sentimentality and fluff alongside the more vitriolic aspects of these characters' temperaments. Ultimately, I think of this one as a love story about two people choosing to be together and make it work despite their flaws, and there's not much that's more romantic than that it my eyes.

[steventhusiast]

@steddie-week day 3: first kiss

<- day two

--

as he sits on the edge of the quarry's cliff, steve leans back and lets out a content sigh. the moon looks a little pink as it rises into the sky, and the stars are visible now that most of the lights in hawkins are off.

after a few minutes of sitting there, steve hears the now-familiar sound of muffled metal music and the tired engine of eddie munson's van. over the last month and a half, after the world almost ended for a fourth time (that steve has witnessed), he and eddie have gotten pretty close. steve doesn't really know how to describe it, but eddie's got this magnetism to him. steve doesn't know a single person in the party that's not charmed by eddie's antics, himself included.

there's just something endearing about the metalhead, and steve finds himself fond and content every time they hang out. hence, their bi-weekly quarry hang outs. sometimes eddie brings weed with him, sometimes beer, sometimes snacks. and they just talk.

"hey stevie." the metal music gets louder as eddie opens the driver door and jumps out. steve doesn't bother to look over his shoulder, because he knows eddie will join him where he's sitting within a minute.

"hey munson." he replies only when eddie's finally sitting next to him, "you bring anything with you this time?"

eddie tsks to himself.

"are you implying my presence isn't good enough for you, king steve?"

steve gives eddie a very unimpressed look at his words, and eddie grins after a second and proceeds to dramatically pat at all the pockets on his person until he reaches into one pocket for a joint he already had rolled.

"i may have brought our friend mary jane along with me."

thirty minutes later, steve and eddie are both laying back on the ground, legs still dangling over the edge of the cliffside. steve finds himself very very conscious of how close eddie's head is to his, how their hands that lay on the ground between them are almost touching.

"i feel like i should have a better tolerance by now." eddie confesses, and turns his head to look at steve. steve's already got his tilted toward eddie, and is helpless to the way his eyes trail over eddie's face lazily now that it's in full view.

"why?" he asks, a little slow and a little stupidly.

"you know," eddie takes another drag, "drug dealer." and gestures at his person lazily. he then seems to decide they've had enough, because he puts out what's left of the joint, considers it for a second, and throws it over the cliffside.

"mm." is all steve can offer back, because he's kind of busy committing the exact colour of eddie's eyes to his memory. no time (or space in his brain) for real conversation with eddie.

now that everything's a little hazy, steve has no problem admitting to himself that he likes eddie. he's not put too much thought into what that means for him (he knows people can like both, but he's never liked a man until now, so what does that mean for him? is he just eddiesexual?), he just knows that when eddie smiles at him he feels shy, and when eddie's looking at him with his intense big eyes his cheeks get warm. like every other aspect of eddie, being the centre of his attention is a lot. overwhelming in the best way.

"earth to stevie."

steve blinks harshly a few times, coming back to some sort of reality to see eddie fully turned onto his side to look at him now. his brows are furrowed, leaving a cute little bump in between them. steve's helpless to his own wants, and lets himself reach out a hand to gently boop in between eddie's brows.

the frown fades away into an expression a lot more bewildered for a moment, and then that melts away into eddie's smile again.

"what's that for?" eddie giggles as he asks this, and steve doesn't think he's imagining things when he notices eddie's cheeks look a little more pink than they did a minute ago.

"you should frown less. your smile is much prettier." steve confesses, finds that he doesn't want to lie. he's been noticing that eddie maybe feels a similar way about him recently, and he thinks (hopes) it's safe to indulge himself a little. eddie's a self-proclaimed freak, so hopefully the worst he'll do is reject him.

"high steve is very complimentary." eddie says after a moment, looking very much like he's resisting the urge to cover his shy smile with a handful of his hair.

"high steve is braver than sober steve. and he- i can't talk in third person right now, my brain is not working enough."

eddie's eyes widen a fraction.

"you flirtin' with me, stevie?" steve thinks he sees hope in those pretty brown eyes.

"so what if i am, hm? whatcha gonna do about it, eds?"

it's quiet between them for a few seconds, eddie's eyes darting all over steve's face. it's like he's looking for something in steve's relaxed expression, a signal for whether steve's joking with him or not. steve offers the man a tiny smile, and where he knows their hands are laying next to each other, makes the effort to link their pinkies together. eddie's eyes stop their searching of steve's face, and he glances toward their hands. steve's definitely not imagining the blush now.

"what i'm gonna do," eddie starts, and somewhat clumsily props himself up on one elbow so he can lean over steve. he seems to lose a bit of confidence once their faces are inches apart, but steve gives their pinkies a little jostle in nonverbal support of whatever eddie's about to do, "is kiss you. if.. that's okay with you."

eddie stays leaning over him, waiting for a verbal signal this time. steve lets his eyes flicker to eddie's lips and back up to his eyes. he doesn't know how much time has passed since they stopped smoking, but he's glad to say he feels a little closer to sober. he wants to remember what's about to happen.

"that is more than okay with me."

eddie wastes no time after that, leaning in to kiss him and letting his free hand come to rest on steve's hip. he's practically laying on top of steve, but steve doesn't mind. he can feel eddie's smile against his, and he never wants this to stop, doesn't think he'd be able to be the first one to pull away.

eddie really is magnetic.

--

-> day four

[justmeinadaze]

Smutty request here....massage therapist(s) Eddie and/or Steve 🥴

Got me feeling all the things

Happy Ending (Steddie X You)

A/N: So this intimidated me a bit because I don't a whole lot about massages and that field. But I ran with what I know and put a spin on it. I hope you enjoy it!

Warnings: Masseuses Steddie and you and all that implies (I regret nothing), mentions of stress from the read and a broken heart, she is aware that they provide more than just massages, DP (I said what I said), they are gentle with her for the most part but their is slight allusions to Dom/Sub dynamics (spanking, some bratty behavior, and stern tones), I think that's it.

Word Count: 6244

“Trust me, Y/N, these two will change your life.”

“They’re masseuses. It’s a massage, Deb.”

“Yes and no.” You stare at your friend as you sarcastically blink in her direction making her laugh so hard she almost spits out her drink. “Yes, they massage your body but they also do…other things…to help you relax.”

“Nope. No thank you. I’m good.”

“Y/N! Wait, come on.” She reaches for you hand as you start to get up from the lunch table you two were eating at. “Listen… you remember how hard things were for me a few months ago? I was working 80-hour weeks trying to get that promotion, my mom was scolding me because I’m still not married, and then add in being broke as hell.” Your friend sighed as you placed your palm over her hand.  

“Someone suggested them and I thought ‘Hey, what do I have to lose?’ When I met them, they were so kind and gentle. I swear for a second, I forgot I was even worried about anything. And that was before the…ahem…happy ending.” You blush as you both giggle. Debbie suddenly leans in closer to you, lowering her voice. 

“They both do the massaging part but you can decide who makes your ending a happy one. Personally, I chose the tall, pretty one. Not that the other one wasn’t cute…he’s just not my type, you know?”

“You can only have one?”

Your friend gasps as she playfully hits your arm. “You whore!”

“What?! I’m just asking! More so out of curiosity.”, you shrug. “I guess not everyone is into that kind of…kink but…I mean if you’re hiring them knowing what they do…wouldn’t you want to take the opportunity?”

“Goddamn, I will never understand why Tony cheated on you.” Your eyes meet hers as she softly smiles. “You’re sweet, funny, fucking gorgeous, and apparently really open minded when it comes to ménage à trois.”

You return her smile with one of your own as you lean back in your chair. “Yeah, well, if you ever find that out will you let me know?”

****

You sigh as you enter your big, empty apartment. Tony, your ex-fiancé, was supposed to come by while you were out today with your friend to get the last of his things. Now half of your home was quite literally gone. 

As you hugged your arms around yourself you noticed a note on the kitchen counter. 

“Y/N,

I think I got everything but if I forgot something can you save it and let me know? 

This was incredibly hard for me. I love you so much, baby. Can’t we just—”

You crumple the letter without bothering to read the rest. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. You heard it all before you caught him with her that night and after you threw him out.

After grabbing a beer from the fridge, you held the card Debbie gave you for the masseuses, tracing your fingers over the number.

“Ugh! Fuck it.”, you exhale as you reach for the phone.

It rings a few times but right as you begin to rethink what you’re doing; music suddenly blares through the line. 

“Yeah! Hello?”

“Um, hi. I’m looking for the Munson-Harrington massage people…thing.”

The man on the other end chuckles as he lowers the heavy metal in the background. 

“I don’t think I’ve heard us called that before. Massage people thing… Yeah, you got one of them here. How can I help you, sweetheart?”

“I, um, my friend recommended I utilize your services.”

“Do you always talk this dirty or are we special?”

“I don’t know. Are you always this much of asshole or am I just that special.”, you growl.

The music on the other end abruptly stops and you hear movement on the other end. 

“You sound like your absolutely special. Are you a little nervous?”

You sigh as you lean against the kitchen the wall. “Yeah. I’ve never done anything like this before. Not even regular…massages. Deb, my friend, said you guys changed her life. My life kind of sucks right now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to and you definitely don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. My friend and I just want to help you relax. Pretty sounding girl like you deserves a clear head.”

“Hm. I bet you say that to everyone who calls.”

“You’re right. I did tell the telemarketer before you that he sounded gorgeous.”

That made you genuinely laugh. “What’s your name?”

“Eddie. I’m the Munson in the name. What’s yours?”

“Y/N.” You slide down to the floor as you take another swig of the drink in your hand. “Is the Harrington part of your company there?”

“Yes ma’am, he is. Would you like to say hello?”

“If that’s ok. I don’t want to impose or anything.”

“HARRINGTON! There’s a pretty girl on the phone who would like to speak with you.”

You listen to Eddie pass the phone as he tells the other boy your name. 

“Y/N? Hey, I’m Steve. I heard you wanted to talk to me.”

“Are you an asshole like your friend?”

“I can be when I need to. Eddie! What did you do to this girl?”

“Nothing! She started it by calling and being adorable.”

“Oh my god.”, you giggle. “You guys are good.”

“And we haven’t even touched you yet.” Your breathing stuttered at his comment. He said it with so much confidence as if he already knew his hands (and services) would blow you away. “Are you still with me, honey?”

“Yeah, um, Eddie said that…we could go slow and if I didn’t want…the…”

“He’s right. We want you to be comfortable. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Y/N. If you just want a massage that’s fine. If you just want to talk that’s fine to.”

You exhale heavily into the phone before finally making up your mind. 

“Okay. I’m free on Friday.”

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

“Shit, shit, shit!” You continue to curse as you run down your apartment building hallway. “I am so sorry I’m late! Work kept me late and—”

You froze you saw them sitting outside your door, quickly rising when your eyes meet theirs. 

“Hey, no problem.” One of the boy’s grins as he extends his hand for you to shake. “I’m Steve. This is Eddie.”

“The asshole.”, he teases as his gigantic palm encapsulates your own. 

You couldn’t take your eyes off them; they weren’t what you were expecting at all. You assumed Steve was the “tall, pretty one” your friend had mentioned but to you they were both handsome. Eddie had that kind of metalhead look you’d seen walking the streets of your town with his leather jacket and long hair. His Metallica shirt rested perfectly above his belt that was holding up his blue jeans. 

Steve looked like the everyday 80’s guy you saw in most romance movies at the theater but his smile radiated a confidence that made you feel safe. His muscle-bound arms in his polo caused a little sigh to escape your lips as your eyes traced the rest of his figure. 

“Do we…have to do a chant or something?”

You glanced at Eddie completely confused until he gestured towards the front door. 

“Oh, fuck, right. I’m sorry. My head is just…” You clumsily turn your key in the lock and allow them entry into your home. 

“Wow. This place is really nice.”

“Uh, thank you. My fiancé, well ex-fiancé, and I wanted a bigger place closer to the city since we both worked over here. Do you…would you guys like something to drink?”

“No, thank you. We appreciate the offer.” Steve smiles in your direction making your knees a bit weak. “You can have something though if you want.”

“Thanks? I mean with it being my apartment and all.”

“Ah, there’s that sass I was waiting for.” Eddie flashes you a tooth filled grin.

After pouring yourself the strongest drink you could find, you watched them set up near your living room. Your eyes continued to rake over them as they exchanged small talk with each other, allowing you some space to get more comfortable with their presence.

The phone ringing startled you as you turned to give it your attention. Before you could pick it up it routed to the voicemail and Tony’s voice flowed through. 

“Y/N? Babe, are you there? Please, I just want to talk.” Your eyes fluttered shut as you listened to his excuses. You hated being alone and this gigantic apartment was just another reminder that he wasn’t by your side anymore. You missed Tony terribly but no one in the world had ever hurt you as badly as he had. “…I swear to God, she meant nothing to me. I’m just a fucking idiot.”

Feeling a sudden warmth, you opened your eyes to meet Eddie’s as he towered over you. You glanced at Steve whose own face reflected the same sympathy as his friend. 

“…I felt so fucking lonely, Y/N. You were always at work and I felt like you never had time for me. Baby, I know what it’s like to sit in that apartment all by yourself, hurting. Please just talk to me—”

“Hey. Just so you’re aware you are a fucking idiot. She’s not sitting here alone crying her eyes out over some asshole who broke her heart. Y/N has moved on and you should to. Stop calling.”

After hanging up the phone, the metalhead turned to face you again. “I hope that was ok.”

Before you could stop yourself, you wrapped your arms around his waist, clinging to him as you sighed into his chest. His arms gradually came down to hold you to him as his cheek rested on your head. 

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I’m not going to lie, Stevie, we may want to reconsider taking a payment in a hug because this is quite comfortable.”

They both laugh as you pull away and smile at them. 

“We’re ready whenever you are, honey.”, Steve grins as he points towards their makeshift table.

#########

Your eyes remain glued in front of you as you listen to Eddie move about the apartment. 

“Y/N.”, Steve whispers from behind you as his breath warms your ear. “Remember, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. We can just talk if you want or we can even leave. No hard feelings. We understand how uncomfortable this situation can be especially since you don’t know us but that makes it a little bit freeing to.”

“Can, um, can I ask you for a favor?” You softly smile when you turn to look at him and he nods. “Can you…take off my clothes? I-I-I don’t think I…”, you ask, stuttering through your nerves. 

“Yeah. Yeah, of course I can. Did you want to keep anything on?”

“Is that an option?”, you giggle. 

“Sweetheart, you hold all the power here.” Eddie slides up beside his friend, now jacketless with no shoes. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone let alone naked in front of someone. Tony wasn’t lying about that. I’ve always been busy with work and—”

Steve gently places his index finger over your lips. “Nothing that asshole says matters. I don’t care if you were on the moon, he had no right to cheat on you.” His finger glides down from your mouth to your blouse as he begins undoing the buttons while the other man shifts behind you and unclips your skirt. 

Both garments fall effortlessly to the floor as Steve continues watching your face for any signs of hesitation or discomfort. 

“We’re going to do this one at a time, ok? I’m going to take off your bra and then Eddie’s going to remove your panties.”

Once he gets your approval, he leans over your shoulder and begins unhooking your bra from your body. You don’t know if it’s because he’s being so sweet or if it’s because his strong cologne wafts into your nostrils but something inside of you causes you to turn and softly kiss his cheek. 

Steve pulls back slightly, looking through your eyes till a small smile flickers across his lips. He and his friend had been doing this for a while but not one of them had been as tender at you had just been. He knew there was something different about you when he spoke to you on the phone and he knew Eddie felt it to when the metalhead completely turned off his music to talk to you. 

He hoped he wasn’t misreading things and took a leap of faith as he leaned forward to kiss your forehead before tossing your bra near the rest of your clothes.

Strong hands on your waist turned you so you were now facing Eddie as he sunk down on his heels, dipping his fingers under the waistband of your underwear, and delicately tugged them down your legs. The pads of his digits traced along your skin causing a little shiver to run up your spine. 

“You’re so gorgeous, Y/N.”

“I’m sure you say that to everyone.”

His grin grows as he stands up and looks down at you. “I did have a date with that telemarketer I told you about. Turns out he WAS really good looking.”

Steve smiled behind you when you laughed, gently guiding you towards their table, and helping you up as you lay on your stomach. Folding your arms above you, you rest your head on them like a pillow. The metalhead digs in a bag before kneeling in front of you again till his face was level with your own. 

“Which do you like better?” He holds up bottles to your nose and you point to one that smells like vanilla. 

“What are those?”

“Oil. Steve’s the smell guy and knows how to utilize them better than I do.” He stands up and passes the bottle you chose to his friend. 

“Honey, we’re going to touch you now, alright? It might feel a little weird at first because of the oil but if at any point you get uncomfortable and want to stop or take a break just let us know.”

“Okay.” You close your eyes, unsure of what to prepare for but when a set of hands begins rubbing into you back, you can’t help but let out a soft, low moan. “Shit. I’m—”

“Princess, this is your house. Make all the noise you want to and please don’t be embarrassed.”

“You can also talk to us if you want to. Maybe about things you’re stressed about.”

A second set of hands find your calves and a strong exhale leave your lips. “Honestly, you heard my main bit of stress.”

“Fucker Magee?”, Eddie asks. 

“Yeah.”, you giggle. “Everyone in my life thinks I’m overreacting and I should forgive him.”

“Um, we may not know the whole story but the man you were going to marry cheated on you. I think you’re reacting properly.” Steve’s hands trailed along your spine and back down to your hips. 

“I went to visit him at work and they were fucking in his office. Some pretty, young, big breasted coworker.” 

“What a bitch.” You smiled as Eddie laughed at his own comment, his palms massaging along your thighs and back down to your feet. “For how long?”

“A few months. We…we were supposed to get married next month.”

Fingers came up to firmly knead into your shoulders. “I’m sorry, Y/N.” Steve watched your lips form into a thin line before you pressed your face into your arms. As soon as you felt your emotions were in check, you turned your head back to the side. 

“That feels good actually.”

“Did you think the massage business part was just for show?”, Steve laughed.

“I mean… I don’t know. I don’t want to be rude.”

“Said the girl who called me an asshole.”

“To be fair, you were being one.” It feels almost on purpose when Eddie’s fingers slide up between your thighs just barely near your core before sliding back down your legs.

“You’re not wrong, sweetheart.”

Steve’s own hands glide up your sides, grazing the sides of your breasts before looping back around to your shoulder blades.  

“I hope I’m not being too forward but you have a beautiful body.”

“No, you’re not being too…thank you. Um, you-you can go a little higher if you want.”

“Who are you talking to, honey? Me or Ed?”

“Eddie… You can go higher to. If you want to…”

The hands on your back lifted off you as Steve came around to kneel in front of you on his heels. “How about we take it slow, huh? One thing at a time.” His palm petted your head as he moved the hair back from your face. You let out a little gasp when you felt the metalhead’s fingers slide between your folds. “Are you okay?”

You nodded as you bit your bottom lip, lifting one of your legs up the table to allow him more accesses. This man felt like a master with his fingers as he rubbed circles slowly into your clit.

“Pl-please.”, you whine. 

“Please what, Y/N? What do you need?

“Can…can I turn around? On my back.”

“Of course, pretty girl. Whatever you want.”

They patient waited for you to roll over before Eddie placed his thumb back on your nub. You watched with heavy, lust driven eyes as he stuck two of his fingers into his mouth, coating them with his saliva, and sliding them into your sex. 

“Oh wow, princess. You’re tight.” He exhaled, trying to hide the little moan that wanted to be heard. 

Steve stood back up to his full height, coming around to stand behind your head as he reached down and ran his hands over your tits, massaging them gently but firmly. 

“F-fuck.”, you whimpered. As your back arched, you could help but notice the bulge in his pants. When you tried to touch it with your palm, he jumped back like you startled him. 

“Hey. Um, you…you don’t have to do that, honey. We’re here for you.”

“You don’t want me to feel you?”

Your voice sounded so small; Steve felt his cock twitch. “I…I do…I just…you don’t have to.”

Grabbing his shirt, you yanked his lips to yours. The combination of man and mint on his tongue had you clenching tighter around the other boy’s fingers making him groan, this time much louder than before. 

“I want to.” You slid further up the table, allowing your head to hang a bit over the edge, licking your lips as the man pulls down his shorts just enough for his dick to spring free. “Jesus. I’ve never had anyone as big as you are before.”

He smirks as he subtly chuckles. “You can’t say things like that or else I’m going to cum before you even touch me.”

Your tiny hand reaches for him as he steps closer, mewling when your tongue runs along his tip. You don’t see it but the men give each other a cursory glance. This is a little out of bounds for them in the sense of they rarely ever have the women they massage service them in this way and on the off chance a client does it’s usually during the second part when they are alone with one of them in the bedroom. 

Steve continues to be gentle with you as he runs his fingers through your hair when you wrap your lips around his hard, now throbbing length. Eddie thrusts his fingers into you at a faster pace and your moans vibrate through to the boy in your mouth. 

“Goddamn, Y/N. Your mouth feels so good. Your ex is a fucking idiot.”

They both take note of your reaction, your head bobbing faster as your pussy clenches again. 

“He really is, sweetheart. Makes me want to call him back and curse that fucker out.”

Tugging your head back, you continue to pump him with your fist as your hips began to grind up into the metalhead’s hand.

“Fuck, I’m…”

“That’s it, beautiful girl. Just let go. It’s okay.” Eddie pressed the heel of his palm against your clit as he moves his fingers move at a quicker pace. The sound of your slick fills the room and after a few moments your body trembles as you cum. “Good girl. Coming like that. Geez, I’m so fucking hard right now.”

Abruptly, you sit up and grab the back of the man’s neck as you bring his lips to yours. After your release, your kisses were much hungrier and you reveled in the taste him as your hands shot down to fumble with his jeans. 

“Wait…are you sure…you don’t want Steve.”, he asks between kisses. “You’ve kinda…got him…all riled up.”

“Want both.”

Eddie froze as he pulled his head back. When you tried to chase his lips, his palms gripped either side of your face forcing you to focus. 

“Hey, you don’t have to do that.”

“Want to.” You tried to lurch forward again but he was much stronger than you, holding you in place. 

“Y/N, princess, come down from cloud 9 and really think about what you’re asking for.”

You couldn’t control the annoyed exhale or tone as your eyes met his. “Am I not allowed? I can pay you more.”

“It’s not about the money. We—”, Steve began before you cut him off.

“Want me to be comfortable. I know! I know what I’m asking for. Now, do you want to fuck me or not!?”

Ringed fingers snaked into your hair and firmly pulled it back. Something changed in Eddie’s eyes; a look he saved for partners he had in his own bedroom. 

“Control the attitude, Y/N.”, he growled. “Listen to what he’s saying. It’s not about the money and it’s not about getting off. It’s not fun for anyone here if you wake up in the morning with regret. And while this little session here IS all about you, don’t forget we’re people to. We’ve been doing this for years and no one has ever asked to take us both one right after the other.”

“I’m not asking for that either. I want you both…at the same time.” They look at each other again, unsure of what to do or say. Your hand reaches out to turn his attention back to you as you lean your forehead on his. “Please, Eddie. I know what I’m asking for. I need it. I need you both. Please, please, please.” As you keep repeating your last word, you manage to fully unbutton his jeans, glide your hand through the waistband of his boxers, and rub your palm against his cock.

His jaw falls open as your lips trail down his neck.

“I mean…if she thinks she can handle it.” 

Eddie growled again with more vigor as he lifted you into his arms and carried you to your bedroom with Steve in tow. After tossing you onto the bed, he tore off his shirt, and you marveled at his tattoos, crawling on your knees till you were in front of him again. His hands laced in your hair as your tongue descended down his chest, stopping just above his waistline to allow him to shuffle out of his pants. 

The bed dipped behind you, suddenly feeling strong palms grip your hips and lift them a bit higher into the air. Steve’s own tongue licked a long stripe through your folds causing your body to shudder pleasantly at the feeling. Eddie held the base of his cock, allowing the tip to brush against your lips. 

You opened your mouth for him and he wasted no time pushing through, groaning when your warm saliva began coating him. The metalhead was much thicker than his friend and at times you struggled to take him, gagging around his dick as he occasionally hit the back of your throat. 

The strong vibrations of your moans as Steve latched his mouth to your clit had Eddie’s own eyes rolling back as he held on to your hair tighter trying to control himself from just face fucking you till he came.

You weren’t sure if it was on purpose or not but both men were still massaging you with their palms, Steve especially. His hands rubbed and caressed firmly up your lower back, around to your stomach, and down to your thighs as his tongue flicked against your bundle of nerves. While one of Eddie’s hands remained in your hair, the other ran between your shoulder blades and around to your front to knead your breasts adding to your high. 

Your mouth came off the boy in front of you with a pop as drool dangled from your lips. 

“Yes, Steve. Please, you’re going to make me cum.”

You practically screamed as he pressed his mouth further into your core, sucking and licking until you felt the coil snap as you came. Your upper half fell flat against the mattress as you panted, smiling softly as your body continued to twitch. 

Eddie’s fingers left your hair and moved to your shoulders as he lifted you back up to your knees so he could see your face. 

“This is the last time I’m going to ask, sweetheart. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, Eddie, I’m sure I want you both inside of me.”

His head tilts to the side at your answer, mostly because it was said correctly, or at least how he liked his questions answered. He wondered if there was a submissive side of you that enjoyed it a bit rougher like they did. Both men NEVER brought that into the bedroom with a client and most of the time none of the women they were with never asked. 

You weren’t asking either but he imagined, like they did, that was something personal for you so you saved it for the man you were dating or intimate with. 

Eddie shook the thoughts from his head as his hand laced around your neck and brought your lips to his again. 

“Seriously, your fiancé is so fucking stupid to let you go.”

You smiled up at him and wrapped your arms around his waist as you yanked him closer to you for a hug. He could get used to this. 

“Have you ever done this before?”, Steve asked.

“This exactly, no. Have I ever done anal before? A couple of times. You may need to go a bit slow at first especially since…um…I’ve never had a man, men, as big or thick like you guys.”

You giggle when the boy exhaled again, grabbing your waist, and falling on to the bed with you on top of him. “You have to stop saying things like that. You’re going to kill me!”  

“What, do you want me to lie? ‘Oh Daddy. Your cock is average size and will definitely not split me in half.’” Your giggle turned into a full-blown laugh until you notice he had a funny little look on his face. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong? I was just—”

Steve leans up, cutting you off with a passionate kiss. “You’re an interesting woman. Eddie’s right. I seriously don’t understand why anyone would cheat on you. If you were mine, I don’t think I’d ever leave your side.”

“Aw…that’s creepy.”, you playfully smiled.

On impulse, he smacked your ass. They never did that first. Sometime a client would ask for a light spank but he just delivered you one he’s only given to bratty girls in his bedroom. He didn’t mean to but something about you made him comfortable.

“Shit. I…I’m sorry.” 

You shook your head, dismissing his apology as you kissed him again. Eddie reached over your shoulder to hand his friend a condom and they both hastily tore into the wrapper before sliding it on. His eyes met yours as he leaned back against your mattress and his hands gripped your waist.

“Whenever you’re ready, honey.”

Nodding, you exhaled the nerves as you tipped forward, and slowly lowered your body to his. You both moaned when his tip breached your entrance and Steve craned his neck to watch himself disappear inside of you inch by inch. 

“Fuck, baby. That’s it. Take your time.”

You heard the metalhead’s heavy breathing behind you as he stroked his cock at the site before him. The sound caused you to clench and a broken mewl left you as you pushed yourself further onto him. 

“Oh my god. You’re so…I can’t…”

His palm glided up your sides to caress your cheek. “Yes, you can, Y/N. You’re doing so good taking me already. Do you want some help?”

When you nodded, he firmly took hold of the back your neck and lowered you till your face was hovering over his. His hips thrust up to meet yours and your mouth fell open. 

“That’s it, baby. Good girl. I’m going to do it again, ok?” When you nod again, he pumped into you a couple more times till you felt him bottom out. “Good girl. Such a good girl. Jesus, so fucking tight. You feel so good, pretty girl. It’s Eddie’s turn. Let him know when you’re ready.”

After a few moments and subtly thrusts from Steve, you turned towards his friend and gave him the okay.

Hands spread open your ass and you tightened around the other man again when you felt spit hit your asshole and Eddie’s fingers massaging it in. Your body tensed slightly when the tip of his cock rubbed between your cheeks.

“Sweetheart, if at any point you want to stop, I want you to say ‘Red’ for me, alright? Can you tell me what I just said?”

“If…if—fuck—if I want to stop…say ‘red’.”

“Atta girl.”, he praised as he quickly leaned forward to kiss your temple. 

Prepared, Steve’s palms held on to your face as Eddie began to push into your body. Your head started to droop but his grip was stronger than yours. “Y/N, look at me, honey.” When you did what he asked, his thumb extended out to run along your bottom lip. “You’re doing amazing. How do you feel?”

“F-full.” The metalhead licked the pads of his fingers, looping his arm under your body to slowly and softly massage circles into your clit. “Oh my god!”

You tried to collapse against Steve’s chest but he still wouldn’t allow it. 

“Holy shit. Y/N, stop moving.”, he scolded in a firm tone before he realized what headspace he was slipping into and reeling himself back into the present. “Baby, not yet. You…you say you’ve never had anyone as big as us. I-I don’t know about, Ed but I’VE never…had a woman as tight as you.” He flashed you a small smile. “I’m trying so fucking hard not to cum right now.”

Eddie’s hair bobbed behind you and the man knew he was nodding in agreement. 

“You can—mmm—you can talk to me…like you did. I-I-I don’t mind.”

His eyes scanned over your face as your eyes closed. “Hey, I said keep your eyes open, sweet girl.” You purposely ignored him, grinding your hips forward slightly for good defiant measure. Both men grunted at the action but it was Steve who held your face tighter. 

“Look at me, now.” This time you listened. “What did I say, Y/N? Don’t fucking move. You need to be patient, little girl. Do you understand me?”

“Y-yes, I understand.” At that moment, the metalhead’s hips finally connected against yours. “You…you both can…move. Please, I need you to move.”

The man underneath you released your face and circled his arms around you as he pressed you to his chest. When they both thrusted into you at the same time, the euphoria you felt was indescribable. It was like they knew exactly what you needed and where they needed to be. Each stroke was strong and precise, hitting every nerve inside of you, and setting your body ablaze. 

“Go-go ahead, princess. You wanted—goddamn—you wanted to move so bad. Take over.” Eddie’s hand came down hard on your behind and you hurriedly (and willingly) did as he commanded. Their grunts and groans drove you crazy, egging you on as you bounced and rolled your hips as fast as you could. The obscene sound of skin hitting skin echoed in your room mixed with your whimpers of pleasure. 

It was almost too overwhelming as the ball in your belly began to wind faster and faster. Steve’s grip moved to your hips as Eddie held on to your shoulders.

“Cum, baby. Let go and cum as hard as you fucking can.”, the man under you whispered into your ear. Your forehead fell into the mattress beside his head as they both pounded into you. Their rhythm changed as they slowed, punching the air from your lungs as white blurs your vision. You scream into the bed below you as they fuck you through it, Steve lifting his hand to run his fingers through your hair.

“That’s it. Good-good fucking girl. Taking us both so well.” Eddie tilted forward, placing sloppy, wet kisses against your back as he rolled his hips. He soon followed after you, grunting loudly as he spilled into the condom. Steve, unable to hold back any longer, came as well, smacking his hips against yours and using you to milk himself dry.

#########

Eddie’s eyes blink open as his watch beeps signaling midnight. His eyes take a quick scan of the area, realizing they were still in your apartment. He and Steve were tucked under your sheets but you weren’t between them. 

“Steven.” The metalhead reached over to shake his friend’s shoulder. “Steve, wake up.”

“Huh? Wha?”

“Oh my god, you idiot. Steve. WAKE. UP.” Between each word, he firmly punched his arm causing the other man to grumble in anger.

“What?! Why are you in my room?”

“Oh, you know. I thought I could just use a nice Harrington cuddle. WE AREN’T AT HOME!”, he hisses. 

Steve rubs his eyes before Eddie’s words sink in and he bolts up right. “Shit. We fell asleep.”

“You don’t say.”

“Shut the fuck up, Munson. Where is she?”

As he shrugs, they both jump out of bed. Steve finds his clothes on the floor but the other boy struggles to find his. 

“I know I took them off here.”

“You did.” They both jump at the sound of your voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I woke up before you and noticed your clothes had oil on them from when you picked me up so I washed them for you.”, you softly smiled as you handed Eddie his jeans and shirt.

“Um, thank you. You…you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem. I was hungry to I heated up some left-over pizza if you want some.”

Their eyes scanned over you as you leaned in the doorframe with a mug in your hand. You had changed into an oversized shirt with a metal band that Eddie definitely knew and some sleep shorts. Your hair was a little frayed but to both of them you looked like an angel. 

“I mean, you don’t have to. I don’t really know what the protocol is or how this works.”

“Well, to be fair, I’m not sure if you noticed but this whole thing was a bit off script for what we normally do.”, Steve grins as he nervously chuckles. He has no idea what they are supposed to do either.

You silently nodded before turning and heading back out to the kitchen as they follow behind. 

“How, uh, how are you feeling?”, Eddie asks. 

“Calm. Oddly relaxed. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve felt like this since before I got in engaged.” You hop up onto the counter before meeting their gaze. “Thank you.”

They smile as Steve heads for where their things were as Eddie grabs a slice of pizza. “I made some coffee to if you want some.”

“Did you put our table and all that way?”

“Oh, yeah. I cleaned it to. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to use a certain type of cleaner but I just used my 409. I folded it and placed it by the door with your bags. I, um, I wasn’t sure if when you woke up you’d…want to make a quick getaway.”

They exchanged a look as your head hung. 

“Why do you think we would want to do that?” When you shrug at Eddie’s question, he saunters casually over to you and lifts your chin with his fingers. “Let me rephrase. Is that what you want us to do?”

“Do you want us to leave?”, Steve reiterated. 

“Like I said, I don’t know…how this works…”

“That’s not what I asked, Y/N.”

“No…I don’t want you to leave.”

They both grin at your answer. “We don’t want to leave either.”

Eddie starts to giggle through his teeth as he jumps on the counter beside you. 

“What’s so funny, Munson?”, Steve asks as he comes to lean on the counter across from you both. 

The metalhead intertwines his fingers with yours and you lean your head on his shoulder. 

“Nothing. Just…this gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘happy ending’.”