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shipskicksandgiggles · 2 years ago

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32 with uh. yhose little gay bitches from stranger things. steddie.

the second I saw this I knew exactly what I was going to write. this is so them, thank you

32. “I don’t like the way you just implied you couldn’t legally drive in the state of Illinois.” (from this list)

also on ao3

The fact that they had a protocol for the world ending probably should have been more of a concern to Eddie than it was.

Well, it wasn’t so much of a protocol as it was a process. It started with everyone landing at a home base.

Chief Hopper’s absolutely destroyed cabin seemed to be that home base. They spent their days there, clearing away debris and coming up with a plan.

The kids always seemed to get their first, followed by him, Robin, Steve, and Nancy.

Eddie was a more recent addition, the hospital having released him sooner than they probably should have, but not soon enough for Eddie’s liking.

Then more people showed up.

Johnathan Byers, his younger brother, Little Wheeler, a long haired guy Eddie assumed was from California, and a small girl whose head looked like it had been shaved recently appeared the day after he did.

Joyce Byers, a not-dead Hopper, and some guy named Murray showed up about a week after them.

Given the month he’d had, Eddie gave up on asking questions.

Without any adults present, they seemed to get on fine. Nancy was a powerhouse when it came to planning, and the kids were always ready to workshop ideas.

Things only seemed to get easier after the girl with the shaved head arrived.

He learned her name was Eleven. El for short.

Johnathan gave him the footnotes of her story one night, under a haze of weed. She really was a superhero.

Steve was also a powerhouse, but in a different way. Work horse might have been a more apt description. He was the one who made sure everyone was eating and sleeping. He drove everyone everywhere they needed to go. His house became the unofficial crash pad for party members whose houses were destroyed or families had left.

He kept watch constantly, making sure no Upside Down creatures could hurt them.

Eddie didn’t think he slept, or if he did, he slept sitting up, never not on guard. He saw him one night when he couldn’t sleep himself, watching out the back window with a baseball bat with nails driven into it propped up against the chair, perfectly in reach.

These people had seen things more horrific than probably anyone else on earth, and yet they endured.

It made sense that there was a process.

By the time the adults made it to Hawkins, they were running themselves ragged. Eddie was exhausted, physically and mentally. He’d almost popped one of his stitches that morning, but Steve had come to his rescue, somehow still alert despite probably being the worst off of all of them. It was a relief to finally have more people who knew what to do.

After the joyous reunions of mothers and fathers with sons and daughters, everyone sat down, introductions were made, and a plan was developed.

The Upside Down coming to them was an unforeseen complication. El, Will, Joyce, Nancy, and Murrary would be the ones to problem solve and maybe find a solution.

The rest of the kids plus Robin, Johnathan, Argyle, and Hopper would take whatever they found and help make it actionable in whatever capacity they could.

As for Steve and Eddie?

“There’s some equipment and paperwork we’ll need to avoid unnecessary government involvement,” Murray told them. “I’ve got everything stored in a bunker in Illinois. I need you two to go get it.”

“You might need to take my truck,” Hopper told them. “There’s a map in the glove box for all the traps he set out.”

“Of course you made a map,” Murray muttered. “Before you leave, I’m going to proofread that map to make sure he didn’t miss anything.”

His tone was dead serious. Who the fuck were these people?

“You want us to go?” Steve asked. “Are you sure you don’t still need my help here?”

Murray gave Steve the same look he gave him when they were introduced.

(“Steve,” he’d said, sticking out his hand for Murray to shake. “Steve Harrington.”

“Harrington,” Murray had said, shooting a look at Nancy. “Really?” He looked him up and down incredulously before conceding. “If you say so.”)

“We can hold down the fort here, Steve,” Joyce reminded gently.

“What about me?” Eddie asked. “Are you sure you want me and Harrington to go on a road trip together?”

“I could go with Steve,” Robin piped up. “Eddie can switch roles with me.”

Murray ignored her. “It’ll be good for you two to take a step back from all of this,” he told them. “My guest room should still be made up, you can stay the night there.”

“But if it’s just in Illinois-”

Murray gave him a different look, one that probably had more meaning than just a glare. “Look, I’m not usually one to beat around the bush, so I won’t. Steve, you need a break. For the love of god, get out of Hawkins and sleep for a night, please. Munson, you also need to get out of here. This town makes you jittery, and you both deserve a night where nothing is trying to kill you. We also just happen to need paperwork and equipment. I’ll give you a list and check over Hop’s map. I expect you to have your bags packed and be on your way to Illinois by sunset.”

Neither of them wanted to argue with him, so they agreed quietly and the group disbanded.

“I’m going to head back to my place to pack my bag if you need anything,” Steve said. “You can come if you want.”

Eddie dropped into the passenger seat of his car. “I need to pack a few things too, and I think most of my stuff is at your place anyways.”

“Very convenient. Certainly saves us some time,” he said, starting the car and immediately turning down the stereo that started blaring Springsteen. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“And you’re not going to either.” He pulled out onto the road. “I will let you pick some of the music for this trip. I’m not listening to you bitch a fit about my music for six hours, so you can bring some tapes of your own.”

“Did I pop a stitch and bleed out? Harrington, doth mine ears deceive me?”

“Cut it out,” Steve chastised. “Don’t make me regret it before we even start.”

“Alright, geez, I’ll be quiet. I need to start planning which tapes to bring anyway.”

Steve sighed again, but he didn’t say anything, so Eddie took that as a win. This road trip might not be so bad after all.

~~~

It didn’t take either of them long to pack for the night, so they were back at Hopper’s cabin a couple hours later.

They had barely stepped out of the car when Murray was handing them three maps; one for the drive, one of the traps Hop had mentioned, and one of Murray’s bunker (seriously, who was this guy?) complete with a list of everything they needed and where the items would be located. Short of getting on the highway, they were all set.

Then Hopper handed Eddie his keys.

“Why-”

“No offense kids, but Harrington’s car probably isn’t the most equipped for my property,” Murray said. “It’s best if you take Hop’s truck.”

“Don’t worry, Munson, there’s a tape deck, it doesn’t have to be a quiet drive,” Hopper told him.

“Why did you hand me the keys though?”

“You think I’m about to let Harrington drive when he hasn’t slept in over a week? Absolutely not, I would hardly trust him to navigate.”

“I’m fine, Hop,” Steve insisted.

Eddie knew he was lying. “I promise I’ll take care of your truck, Chief.”

“I know. Drive safe, follow the rules of the road, don’t get caught by anyone who wants you dead, got it?”

“Got it,” the boys chorused.

They said their goodbyes to everyone, loaded everything into Hop’s truck, and got on the road. It wasn’t long before they crossed over the Illinois border, and Eddie let out a soft snort.

“Something funny?” Steve asked.

“It’s nothing. Just that I’m glad it’s been enough time that I can drive in Illinois again.”

Despite the music, Eddie could still hear the gears turning in Steve’s head.

“I don’t like the way you just implied you couldn’t legally drive in the state of Illinois.”

“Don’t worry about it, it was when my dad was still in my life. The state couldn’t do much other than tell me to not drive until I was an adult with a license and kicked me off to Indiana to live with Wayne. Anyways, I turned out fine and I can legally drive here now, so no harm done.”

“Hopper will have your skin if he finds out.”

“Oh, I know. There’s a reason I was confused when he handed me the keys.”

He glanced over to see Steve smiling. It wasn’t a laugh quite yet, but he seemed to relax the longer they drove, so he counted it as a win.

After that, it was a pretty quiet drive, the silence only being broken by changes in the music or Steve telling him where to turn. A few hours later, Eddie pulled the car off the road onto what seemed to be a hidden driveway, and stopped.

“Switch to map number two,” he instructed.

Steve folded the first map up and grabbed the next one in the pile. “You can drive for another hundred feet or so before you need to make a left. There should be an old tree, that’s your marker.”

“Great,” Eddie muttered. “Of course the man who has everything we need is paranoid as shit.”

“Murray means well, he’s just been through a lot,” Steve said lightly. “I don’t really blame him sometimes. That’s the tree, make a left.”

Eddie did, and saw a rock that would have dropped onto the truck in the rear view mirror. “Right.”

Another 15 minutes went by in much the same fashion. The only indication they were getting close was the gradual increase in traps to the point where Steve was constantly listing turns when they could see the building.

Finally, Steve said “Park,” and Eddie did just that.

Both of them sat in silence for a moment, breathing heavily, and then Eddie started laughing.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop, and eventually Steve joined in. This entire situation was too ridiculous to not laugh about it.

It took a while to calm down, mostly before once one got themself under control, the other would start up again, but they got there eventually.

Steve grabbed both of their bags out of the back while Eddie went to figure out the door. Once they got in, Eddie was surprised to see that Murray’s bunker looked a lot like a normal apartment on the inside.

“Is it weird that I expected more, I don’t know, blank metal walls and plastic chairs?”

“Or at least some sort of indication of doomsday preparation?” Steve joked, dropping their bags next to the couch.

“Check the bookshelf, I think I saw at least one survivalist manual.”

He did. “What do you know?”

“See? Even Murray can live like a normal guy while still having this side of him. Did you grab the list of things we needed?”

Steve pulled it out of his pocket. “I’d say let’s split up so we can tackle more ground, but it might be better if we stick together this time.”

“For sure.” Eddie looked over his shoulder. “Pull that copy of Julius Caesar out of the shelf.”

“How did you even see that?”

“Better question is, why does Murray have Shakespeare on his doomsday shelf-”

The shelf swung open as Steve pulled it out.

“-if not to hide something?”

“Holy shit.”

“I’m starting to love this guy.”

“You would.”

Eddie grinned and winked, ducking back into the space. “Let’s see what we’re working with, shall we?”

Murray’s list and accompanying map were organized well enough that they were able to locate what they needed easily.

“Looks like we’ve got two things in this room. One form is in a box labeled ‘1985�� with a star and a down arrow next to it, and the other is in ‘1985 Battery Protocol’.”

“I don’t want to know how his brain works.” Eddie started searching the room for either of the boxes.

“Is it bad that I think I get it?”

“Maybe it’s just because you’ve been around this longer. You start to all think alike.”

Steve snorted. “Right, sure.”

He finally found one of the boxes and started rifling through it while Steve kept looking for the other one.

“Did Murray ever, like, talk to you about anything?”

Eddie paused. “Not really. We had a weird conversation the other day where he told me it was cool that I was still unapologetically myself even after everything, but I got the feeling we weren’t having the same conversation. Why?”

“I had something similar happen, where he said something and I didn’t think we were on the same page. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure him out.”

“Hopper and Joyce can.”

“Yeah, that’s not a can of worms I’m willing to open.” Steve dropped down to the floor next to him with his own box. “Find the ‘Guide to Reporting Russian Activity’ yet?”

“Just start looking for the battery sheet. Should have the equations to figure out how many batteries we need to appropriately stock however many walkies for the apocalypse.”

Steve made a face. “Switch boxes?”

Eddie slid his over. “Hand it over, big boy.”

~~~

They found a spare box to store their materials in, which they set on the kitchen counter once they emerged from the storage part of the bunker.

“Is it weird I forgot it was normal out here?”

“After the 20 minute mark, I convinced myself I imagined it,” Eddie admitted. “Shall we see what he keeps in his kitchen? Make some dinner and then we can sleep?”

“Do you honestly think he has anything worth cooking in this kitchen?”

“He might keep a drawer of take out menus?” Eddie opened a random drawer, and sure enough, he found them on the first try. “Jackpot. How do you feel about pizza?”

“That sounds amazing. I’m going to see if Murray has cable. Or at least a VHS player with some halfway decent movies.”

“Good luck!”

Ten minutes into negotiating with the pizza place, it turned out Eddie needed luck too. The pizza place was familiar with the address and refused to deliver to them. Thankfully, he was able to talk them into meeting him at the road so he didn’t have to drive all the way into town, but the delivery driver didn’t have to deal with the traps.

By the time he made it back to the bunker, pizza in hand, Steve was loading a tape into the TV.

“What’d you find?”

Steve held up the case.

“Star Wars? Really?”

“I was shocked too. He’s got all three too, so we’re set.”

“Wow.”

“I know! I’m beginning to think there’s no end to how weird this guy is.”

“Keeps you guessing, that’s for sure.” Eddie propped the box up on the coffee table and sank into the couch. “Well what are you waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road!”

Halfway through the first movie, Steve started nodding off next to him. Eddie went to turn it off, but Steve stopped him.

“It’s fine,” he insisted. “Keep it on.”

Eddie gave in, but he wasn’t at all surprised when Steve was lightly snoring by the end of the movie. He smiled, and quietly went about cleaning up. The leftover pizza went in the fridge, and he rewound the VHS and put it back in the case, leaving it next to the TV because he wasn’t sure where Steve had found it.

Finally, he shook Steve awake. “Steve.”

“Hmm?”

“C’mon big boy, I need you to wake up enough to walk to an actual bed.”

Steve opened his eyes slowly. “Is the movie over?”

“Yeah,” Eddie smiled. “Which means it’s time for bed. I’ll grab your bag so you can change into pajamas, okay?”

“Okay.”

He waited until he was sure Steve was up and moving before he made his way into the entryway where they dropped their bags. He grabbed his bag and Steve’s before heading for the guestroom where Steve was standing in the doorway.

“Uh, Steve?”

“There’s only one bed.”

Eddie looked over Steve’s shoulder, and sure enough, there was only one bed. “I can see that.”

“I can take the couch, I fell asleep fine there before.”

“Absolutely not,” Eddie shut him down as soon as the sentence was out of his mouth. “If you think I’m letting you sleep on the couch, the concussions must be getting to you because you’ve lost it, buddy.”

“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch either, Eds,” Steve argued.

He knew arguing with Steve would get him nowhere, but he sure as hell wasn’t letting him sleep on the couch, so a compromise it was. “You know, I think both of us could fit on that bed.”

Steve blinked. “What?”

“That’s got to be a queen sized mattress, so unless you sleep like a starfish or kick a lot in your sleep, I think we could make it work.”

“Eddie-”

“Steve, the whole point of us coming out here was so you could get a decent night’s sleep. In an actual bed, because I know you keep sleeping in the living room, and I’m sick and tired of you not taking care of yourself. Emphasis on the tired because this whole situation is exhausting, and I don’t know about you, but I want to go to bed.”

He pushed past Steve into the room and dropped their bags by the foot of the bed. “Which side do you want?”

“Either is fine.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. He took the right side, knowing despite Steve’s insistence that he didn’t care, he’d want to be closer to the door.

“I’m going to shower and change into pajamas unless you want first dibs at the bathroom.”

“If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all, your highness. I can wait.”

Actually, given that Steve looked like he was still on the verge of passing out, he was happy to wait. He didn’t take that long, and Eddie ducked into the bathroom right after him, making sure to squeeze as much water out of his hair as possible before swapping into softer clothes, leaving his rings and chains on the counter.

When he emerged, Steve was lying on top of the covers.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“Sleeping,” he muttered. “Shhh.”

“Get under the covers, Steve.”

“‘M fine.”

“Steven Michael Harrington.”

He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted at Eddie. “How do you know my middle name?”

“Unimportant. Get under the covers, or so help me god.”

“Fine, Jesus.” He stood up and pulled the comforter back before crawling back in. “Happy?”

“Yes.” Eddie finished putting his clothes away before climbing into bed next to him. “See, I don’t bite.”

“Sure, that’s what I was afraid of.”

Eddie ignored him. “Are you okay with me turning the light off?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure? Don’t need me to make a pillow barrier or anything between us?”

“It’s fine, Munson, just turn off the damn light.”

“Alrighty then.” He hit the light switch before making his way to his side of the bed. “Goodnight, Harrington.”

“Night, Eddie.”

Despite what Eddie said about being fine sleeping next to Steve, it was hard to not be aware of him. He laid down on his back, as still as could be. It was kind of freaky, which coming from Eddie was kind of impressive.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Please tell me you don’t actually sleep like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re made of wood, dude. You know you can relax, right?”

“Sorry, it’s hard. I’m not used to it, I guess.”

Eddie sighed. “Alright, sit up.” He felt for a switch on the lamp sitting in the bedside table, and the room was bathed in a soft, yellow light.

“I thought you wanted me to sleep.”

“Steve, I swear to god.”

Steve pushed himself up, and Eddie shifted closer to him. “Turn around.”

“What?”

“Put your back towards me.”

“Why?”

“Do you trust me?”

He stared at him for a second, and Eddie couldn’t help but feel bad. His pillow rumpled hair and tired eyes made it so much more obvious how exhausted he was.

“Of course I trust you,” Steve said finally.

“Then turn around. Let me help you.”

Once his back was to Eddie, he sat up on his knees. “Do you mind if I touch your hair? I know it’s like your thing, but I’ve got an idea, and I think it’ll help you relax.”

“You’re gonna play with my hair?”

“Not quite, but if you think that would work, I’ll give it a shot.”

“I don’t care if you touch it, I’ll fix it in the morning. Just get it over with.”

“Bossy. Now hush, and do your best to relax.”

He pressed his fingertips to Steve’s scalp and started rubbing small circles just behind his temple. The effect was almost immediate as Steve slumped in on himself.

“Feel good, sugar?”

“Mm.”

“Good.”

“Magic,” Steve murmured.

“What’s that?”

“Your fingers. They’re magic.”

“Oh darling, you think this is magic, I have excellent news for you.”

Steve tipped his head back to look Eddie in the eye. “I believe you. Just don’t stop doing that.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Might fall asleep sitting up though,” Steve hummed.

“I’ll lay you down if you do.”

He smiled softly. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Not just for this.” Steve caught his hand and turned to face him. “For everything. For driving, for watching the kids when I can’t, for saving my life. I’m glad you’re here, Eddie Munson.”

Eddie hadn’t noticed before how Steve had faint laugh lines by his eyes. It struck him how deep his eyes were, tired, sure, filled with fear and resignation, but also how alive they were. How they seemed to spark when he smiled.

“I’m glad you’re here too, Steve Harrington.”

His hands had shifted with Steve’s movement, so he was holding the sides of his face. It felt so natural to pull him into a kiss, that he didn’t realize he had until Steve was dragging him in by his waist, causing him to practically fall into Steve’s lap.

“Woah.”

“You okay?”

“I don’t think ‘okay’ even begins to cover it,” Eddie laughed.

Steve’s smile only grew. “So?”

“So what?”

“You like me?”

“Do I have to say it? Can’t I just-” he leaned into Steve again, but he was stopped by a hand pressed against his mouth.

“Eddie…” Steve sighed. “I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

He moved the hand away from his face. “Yes, I like you Steve. Had a stupid crush when I thought you were just hot, then I had to go and find out you’re the sweetest man alive who cares too damn much and would probably fight the armies of heaven and hell combined if one of the kids asked you too and that did me in. So ‘like’ might actually be underselling it.”

“Oh,” Steve said. “Well then, I guess that settles it.”

“What?”

“That I’d fight the combined armies of heaven and hell for you too, darling.”

Eddie covered his own face this time. “Fuck off, dude.”

“Don’t call me dude after you just kissed me.”

“I will call you whatever I damn well please, Steve. And don’t think this is getting you out of sleeping, by the way. You’re not going to distract me.”

“Call it delaying the inevitable,” Steve said, leaning back in. “I’ve been told cuddling can help people sleep.”

“Is that so?”

“I’d be willing to give it a shot. You know, in the name of science.”

“Science, of course.”

“One thing though.”

Eddie frowned and leaned back. “What?”

“I actually do sleep on my back, so I’m sorry if that bothers you.”

“You little shit.” Eddie smacked him with a pillow. “Just lay back down so we can turn off the lights and actually go to sleep. I’m sure we can figure our placements out without much trouble.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later found Eddie tucked into Steve’s side. “How should we tell everyone?”

“They’ll probably just figure it out on their own,” Steve said. “The kids are nosy like that, and they’ll just tell everyone else.”

“Why do I get the feeling Murray is going to be happy about this?”

Steve didn’t answer him, and for a second Eddie thought he dropped off. Then- “I was thinking the same thing. There’s no way he could have planned this, right?”

“I don’t think so. Unless he knew something we didn’t.” Then Eddie’s eyes widened. “Just out of curiosity, what was the conversation where you didn’t think you were on the same page?”

“It was about how I’d moved on from Nancy, and how we’d never really fit, and that I’d done a good job growing up into the person I was meant to be surrounded by the people meant to be my family.”

He tapped on Steve’s chest. “He knew. He totally knew. That’s what he was getting at, but he couldn’t just outright say it.”

“This was planned,” Steve said slowly. “Son of a bitch.”

“What do you buy a survivalist as a thank you gift?”

“We’ll figure it out in the car tomorrow.”

Eddie hummed in agreement. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“‘Night Eds.”

And for the first time in almost a month, Steve slept, and Eddie did too.

#steddie #steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson #fluff #fluff and hurt/comfort #murray bauman gets them together #what else do you need #steve needs sleep #that's all #nate tag #ellis writes

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