#platonic stobin is also mentioned

[dreamofbecoming]

ok fuck it context now on ao3

—

“I’m freaking out, man!”

“You’re what? Why? This is like, what you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it?”

“I mean, yeah, dude, but now it’s here, it’s happening, and tomorrow it’ll be done and I can’t take it back!”

“Do you want to take it back? Because I think that’s a terrible idea, but if it’s really what you want, I’ll sneak you out the back right now.”

Dustin deflates a little, slumping into the plush chair this weird little church greenroom was nice enough to provide. “No, I don’t want to leave. Of course I don’t.”

Steve puts his hands on Dustin’s shoulders, not massaging, just resting. He doesn’t want to smear too much of his scent onto him before the ceremony, but old habits die hard. Steve suspects he’s always going to want to scent the kids for comfort, even though they’re literally all grown and starting families of their own and don’t need their old omega babysitter anymore.

Case in point, Dustin’s wedding is meant to start in, oh, looks like about 25 minutes, so Steve has to smooth this crisis over double time.

“What’s really bothering you, Dust? You were over the moon yesterday, and the day before that, and every day since you and Susie proposed to each other. Hell, every day since you met! What’s going on now?”

There’s a pause, which is always unsettling coming from Dustin, who hasn’t shut up for more than twelve consecutive minutes in the decade plus Steve has known him, but then he sighs.

“She wants kids.”

Steve’s brow furrows. “And you…don’t?”

Dustin huffs, frustration rising in his scent. “It’s not that I don’t, it’s that I don’t know if it’s a good idea, you know?”

“And you guys haven’t talked about this before now? You’ve been together for like eleven years, dude!”

“We have, of course we have! I’m just thinking about the risks, Steve! I’m a beta, I can’t carry her pups, and pregnancies are dicey for alpha females! What if something happens?”

“First of all don’t call women females, it’s weird. Erica or Nance will definitely smack you for that, and you don’t need a black eye in your wedding photos.” Dustin nods, cringing a little.

“Second, pregnancy isn’t the only option, man, and also it’s her decision. If she wants to carry them, that’s a discussion you need to have with her, but you can’t just shut her down about it. She knew you were a beta when she decided to marry you. She picked you because she loves you, don’t go deciding for her she’s better off with someone else. And besides, if you decide it doesn’t feel right for both of you, you can talk about adoption, or surrogacy, or…I don’t know what all the options are, but I bet there’s tons! Hell, I’d carry for you guys, if you wanted.”

“You would?” Dustin’s eyes get big and shiny almost immediately, and shit, Steve’s gotta shut this down now. The groom can’t be going out there with red eyes and tear stains, Susie will murder Steve on principle.

But he can’t lie to Dustin. Swore he never would, not when it mattered. “Course I would, man, what’s family for? Aw hell, kid, don’t cry, your mate will run me over with her car if your photos are fucked up because of me.”

“I just- I can’t believe you’d do that for me! You don’t even know if I’ll be any good at it!”

Ah, so that’s what this is really about.

“Of course you’ll be good at it, Henderson. You’d be an incredible dad, any kid would be lucky to have you. I mean, your kids are gonna turn out to be nerd city, but that was always a given.”

Dustin gives him a bitchy little eye roll, which was of course Steve’s aim. He still smells anxious, though.

“How can you be sure, though? It’s not like I have any idea what a dad is supposed to be like, you know? It’s why I kept latching onto older male figures, no offense to you and Eddie.”

Little shit. “You should be so lucky, you little twerp.”

Dustin shoves him away, but he’s grinning now, and his scent is slowly returning to the lemon-bright joy that colors it so often Steve just associates it with Dustin’s base scent at this point, so he’ll take the win.

“You really wanna know how I know you’ll make a great dad, Dustybun?”

“Don’t fucking call me that, today’s supposed to be my day!”

“I’m your best man, I’ll call you whatever I want. Seriously though, I have a story for you.”

“A story, huh? I don’t know, Eddie’s more the storyteller in your relationship…”

“I’m gonna go out there and tell your bride to delay the ceremony because you shat your slacks and need new ones, you menace.”

“Okay, okay!” Dustin laughs. “Tell your story.”

“I was gonna put this in my speech later, but I think you need to hear it now, and honestly it might be more about me than you, and I don’t want to steal the spotlight or anything.”

“Not worried about that, but I’m intrigued.”

“You know how when you’re a kid, you learn how to pick out emotion scents by context clues, from like your family and stuff?”

Dustin lifts an unimpressed eyebrow. “Yes, Steve, I’m aware of one of the foundational tenets of our society, which we all personally experienced.”

“Almost fifteen years I’ve known you, and your attitude hasn’t improved one bit, you know that?”

Dustin waves imperiously for him to continue. Steve glares at him, but they really are running short on time.

“You ever know a kid who had like, a gap? Some feeling they had never run into before, so they didn’t know what the smell meant?” Dustin shakes his head, looking curious.

“There was this girl in my class when we were like, seven? Eight? Something like that. Anyway, she borrowed Tommy’s favorite eraser, one of those animal-shaped ones with the faces printed on? He loved that thing. The girl, Cassie, she broke it, by accident. Tommy lost his shit. I’d never seen him so angry. And like, you know how little kids emotions don’t really come through that strong? He smelled like, grown-up angry. Filled the whole room. Freaked the teacher out, too. Everyone’s backing the hell up out of Tommy’s way, even me. But Cassie was just confused. Because no adult in her life had ever been truly angry around her, so she hadn’t learned what it smelled like yet.”

Dustin is listening avidly, looking gratifyingly similar to how he does when Eddie DMs.

“Anyway, Tommy slapped her so hard it left a bruise, got his dumb ass suspended. But I just remember being so jealous, you know? Can you imagine? Eight years old and never knew what anger smelled like. Hell, at that point anger was just what home smelled like to me.”

Aw shit, now Dustin just smells sad.

“Do you remember when I drove you to the Snow Ball?”

Dustin’s got his thinking face on now, trying to figure out why Steve keeps jumping all over the place. Sue him, he’s no Eddie.

He nods anyway.

“Before you got out of the car, when I told you I’d come back to pick you up, you gave me this huge smile, and the car filled up with something I’d never smelled before. Not really, anyway. Maybe like, in passing, you know? Like in the hallway at school, but always faint and never towards me, so I never focused on it.”

Dustin’s eyebrows are totally scrunched up now, little genius brain whirring away. Goddamn brat never had any patience.

“I didn’t ask about it, because I wasn’t sure it was important, and also a little because I felt like enough of a caveman around you little rocket scientist dweebs I didn’t need you explaining feelings to me too, but I kept smelling it from you after that. And from El, and a little from Lucas and Max and even once from your mom, but it was just confusing, you know? I couldn’t figure out what was causing it, so I had no context clues to figure out what it meant.

“And then at Starcourt, after Robin and I went to go puke up those Russian drugs—”

“Ditched me and Erica who were very responsibly trying to wrangle you, you mean.”

“Tomato, tomahto, kid. Anyway, I told her I had a crush on her and she panicked and came out to me, so I switched to making fun of her crush so she would know I was okay with it, and suddenly there was that smell again. First time I ever smelled it coming from her. So after everything was done, I asked her.”

“Oh, so you’ll ask her, but not me? Hurtful, Steve.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Yeah, shithead, because Robbie already knew I was a moron, and she was never gonna want to go out with me, so I didn’t need to impress her. I could look stupid to Rob back then, but I still wanted you guys to think I was cool.”

“Steve, buddy, my brother, my best friend, my favorite jock please don’t tell Lucas I said that, we literally never thought you were cool.”

“Now who’s being hurtful?”

“Just the truth, Munson. I tell it like it is.”

“Ugh, whatever. The point is, I asked Bobbie what she felt for me in that bathroom, and she told me that’s when she realized she would love me forever. That we were going to be best friends.”

Dustin looks stricken.

“That’s what I was smelling all that time. Honey. That’s what I smelled in the car in the Hawkins Middle parking lot. You loved me. You were literally the first person in my whole life who ever did.”

“Steve—”

“This isn’t—look, I know it’s kind of sad and pathetic for kid Steve, but this isn’t about that. It’s not about me, okay? It’s about how my whole life turned around the day Dustin Henderson decided he loved me, because he never stopped. Not for a single second of the last thirteen years, and because you loved me then, I have a platonic soulmate and a horde of little siblings and a mate I adore and more friends than I can count on all my fingers and toes! You’re the one who encouraged me to go to cosmetology school, you’re the one who introduced me to Eddie, you’re the one who stood by me and let me crash on your mom’s couch when my parents kicked me out. My life is full of love, and joy, and purpose, and it all started with you, Dustin. I’m here because you loved me, and because once you started loving me you never stopped. I have smelled honey on you every single day since the 1984 Snow Ball, and that’s how I know you’ll be an incredible father. Because if you have all that love for a washed up ex-jock omega nobody had ever loved before? You’ll have all that and more times a million for any kid lucky enough to call you Dad.”

They’re both crying by now. Susie is gonna kill them for sure, but as Dustin buries himself in Steve’s arms like he’s still six inches shorter, Steve decides it doesn’t matter. This is worth it.

There’s a knock at the door, just in time it seems.

“Dingus, baby Dingus, you in there? T minus 5 minutes, boys, stick those feet in the oven if you gotta!”

“Yeah, Bobs, I hear you! We’ll be out in a sec, no cold feet in sight.”

“Roger that, bubba! I’ll inform the bride!” He can hear her racing off, probably dancing with pre-wedding excitement. For a cynical lesbian who has a new girlfriend every month and swears marriage is an archaic institution built on misogyny and omegaphobia, she sure does love weddings.

“You ready, kid?”

Dustin has taken the brief interlude as an opportunity to splash his face with water from the sink in the corner, so he doesn’t look like he’s been crying to into Steve’s shoulder, but Steve makes sure to straighten his tie and finger comb his curls back into place.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready.” He looks at Steve for a long moment, then throws his arms around him one last time. “I’m really glad you’re my brother, Steve.”

Steve squeezes him tighter for a moment, breathing in the familiar scent of lemon and cut grass and honey. Of family. Of love.

“Yeah, kid. Me too.”

[estrellami-1]

Steddie Week 2024

July 6th Prompt: Dizzy

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 7

@steddie-week

Steve stands up, and that’s where it all goes wrong.

His intent was to grab more drinks from the fridge, but when he stood, he blinked a few times. “Whoa,” he murmurs.

“Steve?” Robin asks. She sounds like she’s at the end of a long tunnel.

“Steve?” Eddie asks. He sounds closer, but not as close as he should.

“‘M fine,” he says, “jus’ dizzy.”

Then he’s waking up in the hospital. “What,” he asks, then doesn’t complete the thought because Robin and Eddie are both standing over him, one on each side, holding each of his hands, and he’d feel so much love if he could feel anything besides general panic because- “I can’t hear you,” he says, breathing picking up. “I can’t- please, I- I need-”

Eddie shuts up, staring at him with wide eyes, and after a second of hesitation, places Steve’s hand, palm down, on his chest. He takes deep, purposeful breaths, and Steve can feel his hand moving, feel the breaths, feel his heartbeat-

He takes a breath. Another. Another. By that time, Nancy had gotten a doctor.

Later, he’ll learn this is something they’d been watching for, but couldn’t be sure of until he woke up. Later, he’ll learn that Eddie lays awake at night, sometimes, hearing the sound Robin makes.

All he knows right now is how to keep breathing, how to keep holding Robin’s hand, how to believe he’ll be okay, because he has to.

He has to.

He stays with Eddie upon his release, because they’re together most days anyways, and it’s a certain kind of torture on Steve’s heart because Eddie’s started carrying around a notebook and a pen just to write to Steve whatever he was gonna say, and Steve doesn’t think he could love another person more than he did, but here’s the proof, apparently.

They’re sharing a bed, because Wayne had previously called their couch “older than Jesus,” and Steve lasted for all of an hour on it before slipping into Eddie’s room.

The good thing about sharing a room is it helps curb the nightmares for a time.

Eventually, though, they come back with a vengeance.

Steve’s laying in bed, like he does every night, when he rolls over to face Eddie. “Eddie?” He asks. Eddie’s always last to sleep, so Steve’s not hesitant about asking, except Eddie doesn’t answer.

“Eddie?” He asks again, jostling Eddie’s shoulder a bit.

Suddenly he shoots up in the air, and Steve bites back a yell.

Suddenly there’s a voice that sounds like it’s coming from everywhere and nowhere, reverberating off the corners of the room, echoing louder and louder. You took everything from me. Eddie’s arms snap, and Steve yells, scrambles up, music, except what’s his favorite song—that puppet one, metal, come on brain, think—but there’s nothing here but country, bluegrass, stuff Wayne likes, and Steve turns to watch the blood drain from Eddie’s face as another gristly crunch echoes, louder than anything so far. So I’ll take everything from you!

Something reaches out for him, grabs his shoulder, and he yells, twists around, pushes away, hard enough he falls on the ground. He opens his eyes to see Eddie on his bed, Steve sitting just off it, eyes wide and hand reaching to help, stalled halfway. Illuminated by the lamp, too, which wasn’t on half a second ago.

Steve blinks at him, looks at the room. No floating Eddie in the middle of it.

“Dream?” He asks. Eddie nods. He stifles the sob and practically launches himself onto the bed, into Eddie’s arms, lets himself shake apart because he can.

Eventually he feels reverberating in Eddie’s chest that he knows means words, means speaking, so he looks up at Eddie, who’s looking at the door.

He turns to look, too, and sees Wayne. “S-sorry,” he tries, still sniffling.

Wayne shakes his head at him, walks into the room, sits on the edge of the bed. Offers his arms out in a hug.

Steve thought he was done crying. Trust Wayne to prove him wrong, because he’s tearing up all over again as he leans into Wayne.

His new position means he can see Eddie, who points at him, makes a talking motion with his hand, then points at himself and Wayne. Steve frowns. “You… want me to tell you?”

Eddie points at Steve again, insistently, and Steve understands: your choice.

“I can,” he agrees. “We were in bed and I was tryin’a talk to you, but you didn’t answer, and I kept trying to get your attention, but suddenly you- you were up in the air, and your arms and legs broke, and a voice—it was Vecna, I didn’t recognize it in the dream—said I’d taken everything from him so he was gonna take everything from me. And I was trying to find music, but I couldn’t remember the name of your favorite song, and the only stuff in here was Wayne’s stuff, country and bluegrass and stuff like that, and…” he sighs out a broken sob. “I couldn’t save you.”

Eddie reaches for his hand, but suddenly that’s not enough, he needs to be able to feel his heartbeat, have his breathing move Steve’s hand, so he tips over into Eddie again, gets his hand on his chest and his face in the side of his neck.

Eddie says something, but before Steve can move Wayne’s got a comforting hand on his back. He removes it after a minute, and Steve can feel the shift in the bed of him getting up, but before he can mourn the loss, Eddie’s got his arms wrapped around Steve as he carefully lowers them back down. He rubs a hand up and down Steve’s spine, slips the other into Steve’s hair.

Steve falls asleep like that.

He wakes up in almost the same position. He tries to apologize, but Eddie waves him off, hands him some clothes and points to the bathroom before pointing to himself and miming cooking.

Steve’s heart clenches at the thought. “Okay,” he whispers.

Robin comes over later, and they sit on the front steps as he recounts what had happened. “He’s just so sweet,” he sighs. “And I’m an idiot who’s letting my heart get involved.”

Robin wraps an arm around his shoulders and kisses his temple. It doesn’t help as much as he’d hoped it would, but he appreciates the gesture anyways.

Later she leaves, and Eddie pulls out his dedicated Steve Notebook.

I’ve got a friend in Indy who knows sign language. I could give her a call, if you want? He writes, and again Steve’s all but overcome with love for this man.

Instead of anything he wants to do, he just nods. Eddie grins and hops up to use the phone.

He’s back in a couple of minutes, collapses onto the couch with the notebook before furiously scribbling and handing it to Steve.

I spoke to my friend. She says sorry and it sucks, first of all. Steve snorts and nods. She’s willing to talk to you, get you started, maybe even get you some books. Does tomorrow work?

Steve gapes up at Eddie. “Tomorrow?”

Eddie nods and grins, then points at Steve in a gesture Steve knows has come to mean you decide.

“That would be great,” he says. “Seriously, I- thank you, Eddie.”

Eddie waves him off, but Steve can see the happy little blush on his cheeks.

They head out the next day. It’s probably twenty minutes into the drive, and even with Eddie sitting next to him in the driver’s seat, it feels lonely. He never realized how much he’d miss the sound of tires on asphalt. He wasn’t ever truly into music, like Eddie is, but he misses the radio. He misses the wind rushing past, the silence that’s possible to share when both people can hear-

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Eddie’s pulled over, a hand on his cheek and a concerned expression on his face. “Sorry,” he tries. Eddie shakes his head, presses his palm more firmly to Steve’s cheek. “Fuck,” he mutters. “‘S stupid. Just… felt alone. I dunno. There’s, like, a million little things you hear every day that you don’t think about, like the way your hands tap the steering wheel when you turn, or the way your clothes shift and rub against each other, and it’s all silent now, and there’s not even music, and-” he takes a deep, shaky breath. Lets it out as evenly as he can. “I just… felt really alone all of a sudden.”

Eddie brushes his thumb along Steve’s cheekbone as he thinks. Suddenly, he grins and moves his hand, shoving a tape into the deck and cranking the sound. He demonstratively puts his hand on the door. Steve laughs and does the same, gasping when he feels the vibrations of the song move through him. He can’t tell notes, but it’s something, and then Eddie carefully reaches for his hand, keeps his grip relaxed until Steve smiles at him and tightens his own fingers around Eddie’s. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Eddie smiles, nods, and gets back on the road.

They arrive at his friend’s apartment in no time, and Steve would be jealous at the length of the hug if Eddie didn’t immediately step back to grab Steve’s hand again. Based on his hand motions, he’s introducing Steve.

She asks Eddie something, and he turns bright red, pulling a strand of hair across his face as he glances at Steve before looking back at her and answering.

She invites them in, scribbles on a little chalkboard, and hands it to Steve with a smile. Hi, Steve! My name is Nicole. It’s nice to meet you.

He grins up at her. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

She takes the chalkboard back, scribbles something else. Eddie tells me you recently lost your hearing. Do you mind me asking about that?

“Not at all,” Steve says, then frowns, somehow just now realizing he doesn’t know the full extent of what happened. “Honestly, all I know is I stood up and got really dizzy, and then I was waking up in the hospital.” He shrugs. “I’ve had a couple of pretty bad concussions, and I guess whatever made me pass out also just… took my hearing.” He shrugs.

Eddie shakes his head, grabs for the chalkboard. Almost. He bites his lip. You passed out, and I wasn’t fast enough. You hit your head on the floor. He looks away, takes a deep breath. I’m sorry.

“That is not your fault, Eds,” Steve tells him firmly. Eddie won’t look him in the eyes, so Steve grabs his chin. “Hey, look at me. Not your fault. I don’t blame you. Okay?”

Eddie shrugs, pointing to himself with a self-deprecating smile, and Steve knows what he’s trying to say. I do.

“Well I don’t,” Steve says. “But if- if you need to hear it. I forgive you, okay?”

Eddie nods, eyes big and wet, and Steve pulls him into a hug.

Eddie suddenly laughs, pulling away to wipe his eyes before saying something to Nicole.

Right. They’re not alone. “Sorry,” he tells her, but she waves him off, handing over the chalkboard again. I think we’ll start on the alphabet today. That way you can at least finger spell what you need, even if it’s slow.

“Sounds good,” he says, and she nods, talking the chalkboard to write the alphabet.

Slowly but surely, she teaches Steve and Eddie the alphabet. They get a little tripped up on some of the letters, most noticeably p and q, until Nicole takes pity on them and makes a p. She uses her other hand to draw a line down both her extended fingers, then tracing her own legs. She taps her thumb, peeking out between the two, and with a mischievous grin, points between Steve and Eddie’s legs.

They share a look and burst out laughing, but they don’t forget those letters again.

By the end of the day, they’ve gotten through the alphabet with enough regularity that Nicole feels they can practice on each other.

Steve pauses before they leave. T-h-a-n-k, then a pause, then y-o-u.

Nicole smiles, presses her fingertips to her lips, then brings her hand down to chest height, palm up. She does the motion again, and Steve copies her, grinning when she nods excitedly.

“Thank you,” he signs and says, grinning even wider when she pulls him into a quick hug before waving at him and Eddie.

They wave back and pile into the van, Steve’s hand in Eddie’s before Steve can practically blink. He smiles, unbearably fond, and squeezes to get his attention before signing, “Thank you.”

Eddie just smiles back, throws the van into reverse, and starts home. 

They practice more while they make dinner, throwing words like spatula and stir and chop around, and Steve didn’t realize learning could be this fun.

He’s watching Eddie stir the broth, hips moving in a little dance to a song only Eddie knows, and his heart is so full, he has to say something before his heart bursts. “I’m gonna say something that’s gonna sound incredibly sappy,” he says. “But just… please just listen until the end? And try not to tease me too much.”

Eddie just smiles, grabs his hand and squeezes, and Steve takes a breath before starting.

“I’m glad it’s you. I’m glad you were there that day, I’m glad you were there when I woke up at the hospital, I’m glad you were there when I realized going home meant being completely alone. I’m glad you made a complete fool of yourself in the hospital lobby, doing charades to let me know I could stay here.” He takes a breath. “I’m glad you have Nicole, because it lets me talk with you easier. I’m glad you never once let me feel like I’m alone, or like I’m going through this alone. I’m glad you’re learning with me. I’m glad you’re making this fun. I didn’t know learning could be fun, but it is with you, and I-” he takes a breath, swallows the three words that want to come out. “I’m glad it’s you,” Steve whispers, “here, at the end of all things.”

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Eddie’s hands are cradling his cheeks, wiping away tears. Eddie’s just as teary-eyed, though, and he pulls away, looking for the notebook. Please don’t punch me.

Steve looks up, brows furrowed, to watch Eddie spell something. I l-o-v-

That’s as far as he gets before Steve gasps, understanding, or hoping he understands, and pulls Eddie into a kiss.

He pulls back almost immediately to check that’s correct, that that is what Eddie was trying to say, when Eddie pulls him back in, dinner be damned, crowding him in against the counter and doing his best to lick into Steve’s mouth.

Steve lets him, pulling away for a sharp inhale before diving right back in, fingers tight in Eddie’s hair and the back of his shirt, and there’s a sudden vibration that he just knows means Eddie moans, and suddenly he’s dizzy again, but this time he welcomes it, because this time he’s not passing out; this time, he’s dizzy because he’s drunk on love.

[wheneverfeasible]

playing with fire🔥

wc: 5k || rating: T+ || cw: some swearing and suggestive language || summary: While Steve and Robin are discussing how best to get Robin to ask out Nancy, Eddie enters and has a jealous misunderstanding. || also on ao3

-

They’re playing with fire and he knows it.

He’s playing with fire. The chances of being burned are of course high, but he can’t stop himself either way. He wants this, wants him, more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone. He can only pray that he’s right and Eddie wants him back.

It had started after Eddie’s expedited trial, after hours of working with the group to find the best defense to clear Eddie’s name, after the judge agreed that Eddie wasn’t guilty and he was free to go, after Eddie had cried silent tears of shock and they’d thrown a huge party. After Steve got to see Eddie living life again.

Eddie became a major fixture of their lives and Steve began realizing that he never wanted that to stop. He’d stopped dating because he found he’d rather spend time with Eddie, would always gravitate towards Eddie whenever they hung out with a full group, would always glance over at Eddie when something funny happened or was said because he wanted to see Eddie’s response.

It was when Robin had come to him in tears with the secret that she liked Nancy, feeling horrible for betraying Steve by having a crush on his ex, that Steve realized he didn’t have those feelings for Nancy anymore because he had them for someone else: Eddie Munson.

“I think I like Eddie,” he had blurted out while Robin was mid-rant apologizing profusely and promising she’d never do anything and would always support him and Nancy being together, which had the benefit of effectively shutting her up when his words processed, her mouth gaping as her eyes bugged. It at least gave him a chance to say that she didn’t need to apologize at all because it wasn’t like she could control who she had a crush on, even if Steve had still been in love with Nancy and was trying to win her back, which…he wasn’t. He hadn’t thought about Nancy in that way in a long time.

Speedrunning his sexuality crisis didn’t take long, thankfully. It might have taken longer if he hadn’t been impatient to getting to the part where he could acknowledge his crush on Eddie, of course, and being able to continue liking him from the respectable distance of friendship like had with Nancy and Robin before both those feelings petered out. Except…

Except Eddie continued to flirt with him, and Steve would sometimes flirt back, sometimes making it a game for who could say the most cringe stuff and sometimes making Eddie flush high on his pale cheeks. Eddie would then quickly change the subject, push past everything like it never happened, but it filled Steve up with hope. Especially when the flirting started to get more physical with them all but cuddling together when they watched movies, even when they were amongst friends and not alone, or when Steve would crash at Eddie’s some nights and he’d wake up with his arms full of Eddie, or Eddie pressed along his back.

He had even felt Eddie’s morning wood before, pressing into his lower back where they were curled together, and he discovered that he definitely did not mind that one bit. He hoped to experience it—and more—again frequently.

The only thing Steve didn’t understand was Eddie’s reaction to Nancy.

He always seemed jumpy when she was around, always looked startled when he’d see her while he and Steve were cuddling or flirting. He wished Eddie wouldn’t care about that stuff. Nancy was after all the second person Steve had told after realizing he was bisexual, because yeah they were exes, but they were also friends. And unlike with Robin or Eddie, she hadn’t been around when he realized these things about himself.

Steve kept meaning to tell Eddie that Nancy was fine with queer people, though he kept getting distracted by Eddie being, well, Eddie. He had even told Nancy about his own crush on Eddie, actually. What’s more, there had been something in her expression when he explained what bisexuality was that made Steve think that maybe his little group of young adult friends was actually more fruity than he realized.

Though Eddie had never actually said the words to come out, there had been enough rumors about Eddie in school that Steve hadn’t really been all that surprised when the guy first flirted with him when the world was ending for the umpteenth time, and after Jonathan and Nancy broke up, Jonathan had begun spending a lot of time on the phone with Argyle and sometimes even Dustin’s girlfriend’s older sister, with him even going to meet up with them after graduation. He’d returned with hickeys that were obviously from two different sized mouths and a pep in his step Steve could only be envious of.

Nancy realizing she might like girls was what led them to this moment, however, Robin and Steve with heads bent together as they discussed all the things Steve remembered Nancy liking and the things she didn’t. If his best friend was going to try to pick up his ex, he’d be damned sure that he helped out in whatever way he could.

“What about a bouquet of fresh flowers with one artificial one in the middle? The card could read, ‘I’ll love you until the final petal falls’ or something.”

“God, that’s so cringy, Dingus!” Robin huffed out in laughter, a large and exaggerated eye roll following. “Does Nancy even like that shit?”

“I’m just saying!” Steve protested, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. He thought it was a good idea. But…she had a point. That wasn’t really Nancy’s thing. He could admit that more and more of his suggestions stopped being about Nancy and started being about things he thought Eddie might appreciate. Cringy and embarrassing and over the top and weird. Yeah, maybe he’d take that idea for himself then…

And then, as if summoned by his name whispered in Steve’s thoughts, Eddie walked into Family Video at just that moment, catching sight of their conspiratorial looks as they whispered ferociously to each other. The shop was empty, of course, but they were still careful.

“What are you two whispering about now?” Eddie laughed, sauntering as though carefree, though his eyes continued to dart around whenever he entered a new area, as though looking for something hiding in dark corners, though whether it was monsters or townsfolk who didn’t fully believe in his innocence was always in question.

Probably both, honestly.

Steve moved his eyes from Eddie’s entrance to Robin, knowing that so far she hadn’t come out to anyone else yet, though obviously that would hopefully be changing soon once she’d figured out the best way to ask out Nancy. Steve felt like the keeper of sexualities here suddenly, knowing everyone’s secret but unable to tell anyone else (though he was certain Jonathan and Nancy might be aware of each other’s as well).

Robin hesitated for a moment, her gaze likewise shifting to take in Steve. They exchanged silent words for a moment, his encouraging while hers were begging to be encouraged, and then she was relaxing against the counter with a small sigh of acceptance and shot Eddie a grin next.

“Just thinking about the best way to woo Nancy,” she said with a wiggle of her brows, though Steve could tell that there was still some anxiety in saying it out loud to another person. Even if that other person was Eddie Munson, who would hopefully be more than just a friend soon. Robin had complained about having Eddie as an in-law before, but she’d never been able to fully hide her teasing smile when she’d done so.

Christ. If Robin was actively going to be brave and do this though, was actually going to ask Nancy out, then he needed to be too, right? Eddie was interested, he had to be. What with the rumors and the flirting and the way his fingers lingered just a little bit too long whenever they touched…

Eddie’s expression, however, blanked.

“Oh,” he said tonelessly. He then blinked rapidly, shook himself, and plastered a smile on his face as he moved towards the shelves of VHS’s.

The smile, Steve noticed, did not reach his eyes.

“Well. Good luck with that,” Eddie said, turning his gaze towards Steve for some reason when he said that. “Wayne asked me to pick him up a movie,” he explained, picking up one called Vision Quest before frowning at the cover. “Something about that dude’s face bothers me,” he muttered to himself, putting it back.

“You know, you could sound more enthusiastic,” Robin drawled sarcastically, obviously trying not to pout.

Eddie shot her a pinched look, gaze darting to Steve again before hastily looking away. “Hey, I already said it was some true love shit. Do you need me to hold Steve’s hand during it?” he scoffed. “Might cramp his style.”

Steve exchange a furrowed brow look with Robin. Why would he need to hold Steve’s hand for Robin to ask out Nancy? Not that he was complaining about holding Eddie’s hand. No, quite the opposite in fact. And what was that about true love? He didn’t recall them ever mentioning Nancy and Robin together before.

He shrugged at Robin’s silent question asking what Eddie’s sudden deal was before turning his attention to the metal head and lifting his hand to wiggle his fingers.

“I dunno, Munson. Maybe I do need you to hold my hand,” he teased, though he wanted to frown again when, instead of laughing or smiling or teasing back, Eddie scowled at the next movie he picked up. He hesitated before moving around the counter. “Hey, you okay, Eddie?”

“Fine!” Eddie said hurriedly, and a little aggressively to be quite honest, Steve couldn’t help thinking. Rude. Eddie just huffed though and put the movie back before scanning for something else, eventually picking up something called Hoosiers. Steve had been eyeing that one for himself, actually, since it intrigued his inner Indianian jock, but he’d let Eddie take it for Wayne if he wanted. Maybe he could actually watch it with Wayne.

That was another benefit of his and Eddie’s friendship: Wayne Munson. Though the guy didn’t know all that had gone on, he knew enough to just let the fact that his nephew was suddenly best friends with a Harrington slide. And he liked sports, giving Steve someone to talk to about it finally besides someone still in high school.

Though, sometimes Lucas joined in on it, and the three of them would watch a game together at the trailer while Eddie just shook his head at having three sports lovers in his life suddenly. Steve could tell he was secretly pleased, however, and was always a little nicer to Lucas to make up for being a jerk about it all before everything went down. He even now went to all of the kid’s games, sitting between Steve and Wayne for protection against anyone who thought to start anything.

Eddie had once asked if Steve was sorry he could never take a date to the games anymore, to which Steve had answered that he’d brought Eddie, hadn’t he? And they even had their own personal chaperone with Wayne. Eddie had flushed, hidden behind his hair, but didn’t bring it up again like Steve had expected him to like they did with other reoccurring jokes.

Anyway, back to Eddie’s sudden moodiness, Robin had less far patience for Eddie’s shit than Steve did, seeing as how she wasn’t the one with a raging crush on the guy. She rolled her eyes and picked up a bag of Reese’s Pieces and threw it at Eddie. “Why are you being such a dick right now? Stop being homophobic.”

That got a reaction out of Eddie. He spun around to face Robin, ignoring the bag that hit his shoulder and fell to the floor while spluttering and pink in the face. “How am I being homophobic, Buckley? How is that even possible when I’m—” Eddie cut himself off quickly, shooting Steve what looked like a panicked expression for some reason. “A-anyways, how am I being homophobic right now?”

“I mean, I literally just came out to you and you didn’t even bat an eye. You just ignored it to go huff about…I don’t know, whatever it is you’re huffing about,” she snarked, and Steve could tell she was just barely refraining from rolling her eyes again, and also that she was a little hurt her grand revelation didn’t merit a reaction. He moved over and bent down to pick up the fallen bag before it could be crushed under Eddie’s sneakers as he stomped to the counter, shaking his head a little at their antics, though he glanced at the bag with a small smile too.

Eddie was actually the one that informed him about the history of the candy. How it had been a relatively newer candy, not all that popular compared to the well-known M&M’s, but the latter company had declined being featured in that alien puppet movie a few years back and so the Reese’s brand stepped in instead. After the movie did so well, the candy exploded in popularity, which Steve thought was just simply crazy.

Eddie was full of random facts like that. He never made Steve feel stupid for not knowing them either, which was honestly one of the main reasons Steve had started falling for him as hard as he was. He wondered if that meant he had some kind of praise kink, since he still thought about Eddie’s compliments back during everything and felt his stomach pleasantly squirm at them.

Now, however, Eddie was suddenly leaning over the counter and staring at Robin with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, causing Robin to rear back in startled and confused concern.

“Holy shit, Buckley, you’re a…” He swallowed, tensing as he glanced over his shoulder at Steve, before looking back at Robin with raised brows. “You-know-what?” he hissed.

Robin and Steve exchanged another confused look (Steve could vaguely hear Dustin’s snide voice telling them that their faces would stay that way if they didn’t stop) before she snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “A raging, flaming lesbian? Yes, Munson, I thought that was clear by the fact that I’m trying to score a date with Nancy Wheeler.” This time she didn’t refrain and rolled her eyes again so hard it looked like it hurt.

“Yeah, dude,” Steve snorted as he moved to lean back against the counter beside Eddie, resting one elbow on the countertop as he tore open the bag of candy still in his hand. He offered it to Robin first, who held out her hand and let him pour some out, not taking her hand back until he picked out the yellow ones from her palm. They were his favorite and she always let him have them, just he let her have all the orange ones.

He held the bag out to Eddie next, who still looked gobsmacked for some reason. He shook the bag until Eddie held out his hand automatically. With the same automation Eddie began picking out the yellows and oranges to set them aside in front of Steve and Robin respectively, keeping the brown ones for himself. Robin began picking out the browns from her hand for him as well as Steve divided up the rest of the bag.

“Wait wait wait,” Eddie said after a moment. He turned to look at Steve. “You knew she was…” he trailed off uncertainly.

“Gay? I should hope so since I’m trying to help hook her up with my ex-girlfriend,” he grinned with a chuckle, dropping a few of the yellow pieces in his mouth. He winked at Robin. “You know that means that we’ll have inadvertemph—” Steve started to say before Robin’s free hand was covering his mouth to prevent him from saying something crude about being with the same girl.

“Don’t be repulsive,” Robin shuddered, dropping her hand with a yelp and grimace when she felt Steve lick her palm, grumbling as she wiped it off on her vest while Steve just continued grinning at her.

Eddie watched this like he was watching a tennis match, his brow furrowing in further confusion. “Wait…so…” He thickly swallowed, glancing at Steve with a peculiar expression on his face. Steve hoped it was, well, hope. “You’re not trying to get back with Wheeler?”

“Absolutely not,” Steve said, dropping the rest of the yellow pieces in his mouth and scrunching the bag up to drop behind the counter, chewing the large mass quickly. “That ship has long since sailed.” He was the one that hesitated this time, and even without looking at her, he could hear Robin’s silent communication. He shuffled a little against the counter, turning to properly face Eddie.

Shit. He hadn’t been expecting to do this so soon. The fire he was playing with could very well burn him alive right now if this went poorly. But…

Eddie liked him. He had to, what with the way they’ve been flirting and all but canoodling when they watched movies and things together.

“I, uh…I actually have someone else I’m interested in,” he admitted.

And…oh. Eddie’s face, which had started to look hopeful at the thought that Nancy wasn’t his interest anymore, fell again. And that…Steve knew what that meant. He was good at flirting again, could tell when girls were genuinely into him, and he’d picked up those signs from Eddie plenty of times before. He had been second guessing everything because Eddie was a boy.

But he knew this.

Eddie had thought he was interested in Nancy still and had become as bitchy as Steve could get. He looked hopeful when Steve said he wasn’t into Nancy. Looked dejected when Steve said there was someone else.

He had thought it was true, but…this confirmed it, didn’t it? Eddie showed all the right signs of having a crush on him. Eddie liked him.

Steve’s grin then was blinding. Robin choked a little on her own orange Reese’s Pieces before scooping the last few up from the counter into her hand and muttering about needing to check the back for something. God, he loved her so much.

“You are?” Eddie asked, and Steve could see him drawing back into that bitchy shell he’d been hiding in earlier. God, he was adorable.

“Yeah, I am. He’s really smart, but also kind of dumb. I’ve been flirting for ages and he still somehow hasn’t clocked that I have this massive crush on him apparently. I thought I was being obvious,” he teased.

Eddie was still withdrawing backwards, even physically this time as his body shifted to turn away, that familiar pinch between his eyebrows. Steve suddenly recalled a similar look when Eddie threw his vest at him back in the Upside Down, when he and Nancy had been lightly flirting.

Ohhhhh, Eddie’s down bad for him, Steve couldn’t help but think with an even wider grin. Even before Steve had clocked it all. He could only lament his double-guessing things for so long now. He might have been able to score a boyfriend months ago if he’d recognized and accepted the signs sooner. Oh well. No time like the present.

“Well, I’m sure she’s just shy,” Eddie muttered, eyes glaring down at one of the brown candies on the counter with pursed lips. He placed his thumb down on it and pushed until the hard candy shell cracked and the peanut butter filling inside smeared out. Steve couldn’t even find it in himself to be annoyed enough to care. He was far too pleased with himself. “Probably doesn’t think someone like King Steve could like her.”

That was another tell-tale sign that Steve had always ignored. Eddie had a habit of referring to him as his old moniker whenever Steve would talk about taking out girls before. It made Steve wonder if this crush Eddie had on him had been going on for a while. Even ever since high school.

Damn, but Steve really was an idiot for missing out on it for so long. Despite what he had thought was reciprocal interest this entire time, known to the both of them, he hadn’t been quite certain Eddie felt the same way. But surely his own interest had been evident? It wasn’t like he hid his sexuality, had been more openly flirting with Eddie, and sometimes even Jonathan for the fun of it, though both he and Jon knew it was just teasing and nothing real.

Though…

“Eddie,” he laughed, shaking his head. Eddie just started smashing another Reese’s Pieces piece causing Steve to roll his eyes. “Eddie,” he said a little more firmly, finally making the pair of brown eyes he thought about a little too much maybe turn to look at him. “I said ‘he,��” he pointed out.

Confusion marred Eddie’s face as he tried to work out what Steve was telling him. It made Steve wonder if he really did give off such great hetero vibes that Eddie’s gaydar hadn’t clocked him yet despite everything. And he thought his gaydar was shit. Jesus fucking Christ.

“‘He’ who?” Eddie finally asked, still looking confused.

“We’re talking about my crush,” Steve reminded Eddie, and sue him if his own tone got a little bitchy, but Eddie was being completely obtuse.

“What, does she have a boyfriend?”

“Oh my god,” Steve huffed out, partly annoyed and partly completely fucking enamored by the idiot before him. But he supposed that meant Eddie was in good company, since Steve was an idiot too for not having clocked how obvious the older boy was with his crush all this time, even before Steve had been aware of his own feelings. Two dumbass peas in a pod.

Shaking his head, Steve reached out and covered Eddie’s hand decimating the candy with his own. “My crush, Eddie. I said he’s really smart but kind of dumb,” he said with slow emphasis on the correct pronouns.

Eddie had stilled under Steve’s hand when he covered Eddie’s, but it took a few moments more of furrowed brows and pursed lips before Steve’s words finally seemed to catch. Eddie stiffened, his muscles going tense, his expression going slack and neutral.

Steve should have expected it, should have known that Eddie still wouldn’t get what Steve was trying to say, but the look of utter devastation that briefly crossed Eddie’s face before he swallowed it down hiding behind his hair by ducking his head, still surprised Steve.

How was Eddie not getting this?

Huffing slightly, Steve slid his hand from Eddie’s to reach out and brush Eddie’s hair back, hooking it behind his ear. “Like I said. Kind of dumb. He never seems to realize when I’m seriously flirting with him. I would have thought it’d be obvious by now. It’s not like I cuddle with Jon when we watch movies together.”

Eddie, this time, finally seemed to be catching on. He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening before ever so slowly turning to face Steve. The flush to his cheeks and forehead rapidly spread through his entire face and down into the collar of his shirt. Steve thought he should be congratulated for not pressing Eddie into the counter to find out just how far down that flush went.

“You—” Eddie’s voice squeaked out. He cleared his throat, his eyes darting over Steve’s expression as though looking for the trick, the trap, the joke. Steve made certain his expression didn’t changed, though he wondered how comforting his expression of exasperation could really be.

Steve let his eyes drop purposefully and tellingly to Eddie’s lips, licked his own which caused Eddie to jerk slightly, and then finally looked back up into Eddie’s eyes with a smirk. “Yeah, man. I mean, I even told him I wanted him to hold my hand and nothing.” He winked. “Maybe he wants to hold something else.”

Typically Steve would not be quite so scandalous when flirting with hopeful-conquests, but he also knew that Eddie wasn’t like any girl he had ever flirted with before. Eddie was brash, frequently abrasive, and more than frequently over the top. He was like a bull in a china shop sometimes, honestly. And Steve couldn’t get enough of it.

Or the way Eddie seemed to choke on his own air, a strangled and incredulous laugh leaving his prettily parted lips. Big brown eyes still stared at him disbelievingly, but at least Eddie was turned fully to face him now. Steve reached out again to twirl a finger in Eddie’s hair.

“Y-you’re not…straight?” Eddie wheezed out, and at least it was a full-ish sentence. Progress.

“Bisexual, actually,” he happily announced, leaving Eddie looking even more floored. “Something about having a guy pin you to the wall and then later say some really nice stuff about you tends to make you realize when you maybe kind of want to kiss him,” he added, a little sheepishly this time.

“Mostly the nice stuff,” Steve quietly admitted with a small laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, the pinning to the wall was nice once you get past the fear your jugular is about to get ripped out by a broken bottle, but it’s really the dude making me feel like I might actually be a good person and always being really nice to me when I don’t understand something that really made the crush grow.”

Eddie’s shaking hand reached up to lightly grasp the one still playing with his hair. “You…you really have a crush on…this guy? Like a real one?”

Steve could only grin, taking a small step closer. “Absolutely. He’s kind of adorable, actually. Tries to put up this big bad rockstar vibe, but I happen to have it on good authority that he’s actually a big softie nerd who cried when an animated toaster got crunched up rescuing his friends,” he lightly teased.

“He was so brave,” Eddie pouted, distracted for a moment by the memory, before blinking rapidly, because there was no way to pretend that Steve’s crush could be anyone else now. He drew in a shaky breath, his eyes darting between Steve’s, and then the most beautiful smile Steve had ever seen spread across his lips. Steve felt dizzy at the sight.

Feeling a little more confident now, Eddie leaned in slightly, his eyes dropping to Steve’s lips before looking back up into Steve’s eyes. He still had to clear his throat a little before speaking again, but the wariness was finally absent from his expression.

“I happen to have it on good authority that your crush might just like you back,” he murmured, and Steve was enraptured by the way Eddie’s eyes sparkled up at him.

“Yeah?” he murmured, swaying forward despite the public location. The store was dead, sure, but they could be interrupted at any moment, or seen by pedestrians walking by the shop. “Think he might be up to pinning me to another wall lately?”

Eddie grinned. “I think he’s willing to pin you to anything you want, big b—”

“Oh my god, please shut the fuck up,” Robin’s aggrieved voice broke in, startling the both of them so badly that they jumped apart as though electrocuted.

Of course, after realizing it was just Robin, Steve gave the bitchiest eye roll of his life and rested a hand on his hip. “You’re just jealous because you can’t flirt with Nancy yet,” he said, tone matching his eye roll. “I’ve been telling you to just hurry up and do it, Buck.” He glanced at Eddie and indicated Robin with a look that clearly said ‘can you believe this hopeless lesbian’ which caused Eddie to snort.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Hairy. Like you weren’t whining to me about Eddie just three days ago,” she snarked, causing Eddie to grin and Steve to flush this time. “At least wait until your next break before you shove your tongue down his throat or anywhere else.”

“Robin!” Steve gasped, completely scandalized, pressing his palm to his chest. “I expect at least one date first before I shove my tongue anywhere except Eddie’s mouth.”

Eddie choked, face once more flaming, but Steve could only grin at Robin’s disgusted expression.

“The first part sounds fantastic though,” he acknowledged, reaching down to grab Eddie’s hand in his own. “I think I’ll take my first break now. Be back in fifteen, sweetie!” he laughed, tugging a dazed Eddie towards the front door, knowing Eddie’s van was parked somewhere nearby.

“Don’t forget to use protection later, you whore!” Robin merely called back, and despite all her snark and annoyance, Steve knew she was happy for him. And happy for herself that she didn’t need to hear him mooning after Eddie anymore, though she would probably come to regret what Steve was like now that he and Eddie were together.

It was fine, she’d get her payback once she asked out Nancy later that night too.

As for Steve, he proved himself to be a liar, because that night he definitely put out before their first date. Though, he figured with a teasing smile when Eddie brought that up, they had been on several dates at Lucas’s basketball games, remember? So really, he had plenty of lost time to make up for that night, again and again and again.

They might have been playing with fire, him and Robin, but how else were you expected to keep warm?

-

Fun fact! The bit about Reese’s Pieces is true! They’re also my favorite candy. Also, the movie Vision Quest (titled Crazy for You in the UK and Australia) starred a young Matthew Modine, who played Dr. Martin Brenner in Stranger Things. Hoosiers is about a high school basketball team in Indiana going to the state championships.

-

Hostage tag: @derythcorvinus

Courtesy tag: @katyawriteswhump

[rebirthdinosaurs]

i want married! platonic stobin. i want some corporate jobs! steddie. i want a fic where steve runs a company under his familys name or smthn and eddie gets a job there and develops a crush on the office cutie and himbo boss man steve harrington, only for him to figure out that he’s married (”of course hes married”) and in a really healthy relationship with some lady named robin. i want him to meet robin at corporate party and realize “oh this is a lesbian” (because steve is bi and really good at accidentally putting up a straight persona at work, and all of steves flirthing tactics go right over this mans head, but a gay recognizing a lesbian is instant). i want eddie to derail and jump to conclusions and think that robin is just using steve as some coverup and a money bag and obviously poor heterosexual himbo steve has zero clue as to whats going on. 

i want robin and steve to invite eddie over for dinner one day only for him to see a couple of their wedding photos of them in semi formal clothing like their dressed for prom, both in suit, and max contact a hug or a kiss on the cheek. maybe one is robin sitting down with steves head in her lap. (the were half tempted for steve to wear a wedding dress, and robin to wear a tux, but decided it wasnt very subtle. i would love a fic that is just about them trying and sorta failing to have a very heteronormative wedding but they just cant help themselves, can they?)

along the way, they become friends, eddie introduces them to his best friend, chrissy, and eddie is eventually told that steve and robin married as a safe way to conceal their complete gayness from the homophobic agenda (around the same time, before or after, he figures out that robin and chrissy are totally crushing on each other. eddie and chrissy eventually marry with the arrangement that they can be safe and date their neighbors steve and robin under the guise of steve and eddie and chrissy and robin just being “bestfriends” instead of completely and totally gay for one another.   

[resident-gay-bitch]

🏳️‍⚧️ Trans Tuesdays 🏳️‍⚧️

FtM Robin (platonic stobin + MtF Stevie + side steddie + Eddie being the definition of "guy")

It took a while to get here, but he’s here now, happy in his identity. 

Robin had no idea, for a long time, that he was a dude. It only took Stevie figuring it out about herself for things to click in place for Robin. 

Maybe it was like, destiny or some shit that they worked together that hopeless summer. Maybe they were just supposed to end up drugged out of their minds on that bathroom floor. They’re totally each other's soulmates, and now they’re even closer. 

It’s like they have shared experiences now, each living as both a dude and a chick. They just… got each other. Besides, it’s cool having a gender guru, guide you through your transition. Like, Stevie’s giving him tips on how to talk and walk like a dude, or at least how she used to in highschool, which seemed palatable enough in Hawkins. And Robin gets to teach Stevie stuff too, like the best remedies for periods (because she fucking gets those now, like, without the blood, which is wild), and how bra sizing works because that shit is actually confusing at first. 

It’s also awesome because they totally got to just swap half their wardrobes. Like, Robin had been meaning to get rid of a bunch of those dresses his mom got him for ages, and Stevie can just take them. And Robin got to raid Stevies wardrobe and feel totally euphoric trying on all her old clothes because not only did he look like a guy, he also smelt like one. 

Robin got to teach Stevie how to shave her legs properly, to get them all smooth and shit, and Stevie got to teach Robin how to get his hair sitting so fucking nice in a masculine way. Ferrah Fawcet is a lifesaver, actually. 

Everything about being trans has been awesome so far- like, apart from the fear of smalltown transphobia, but like, the feelings. It’s just been euphoria hit after euphoria hit once he finally opened up and expressed his feelings to Stevie. 

That was a really revealing conversation. And it’s been nice, getting to hide away with Stevie for a little while, figuring themselves out. 

Robin likes to bind, it looks good and feels good, but it’s kind of painful. Which is why living with Stevie feels so good, because he doesn’t have to bind around her to feel validated. He doesn’t feel the need to look or act a certain way around her to pass. 

Things changed when Eddie came over for the first time. 

It’s not like he could just say no when Stevie asked to have Eddie over. He knows they have a thing going on, and they haven’t seen eachother in two weeks, Stevies having withdrawals. It’s just… a new person. Robin hasn’t been a dude around anyone other than Stevie yet. 

He doesn’t want to be a girl again for the afternoon. 

He’s shocked when Eddie walks in, shooting finger guns at him and says, “Hey dude, nice haircut- jeez, it smells good in here, is that a cheese melt?” 

Robin ran a hand through his hair nervously, glancing over at Stevie, who just shrugged before walking over to say hi to Eddie. 

Eddie embraced her, tight, giving her a little kiss on the cheek that had her blushing before turning back to the cheese melt.

“My god, I fucking love cheese melts.” 

“You can have it.” Stevie offered. 

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, babe.” He muttered, stuffing his face full before moving to the fridge to make a replacement cheese melt, “I haven't eaten all day, and work was crazy busy today. Anyway, what are you nerds up to?”

“Just hanging out.” Stevie muttered. 

“Waiting around for me?” He grinned up at her, biting into his sandwich. 

Stevie rolled her eyes and shrugged, “We were… actually just fucking around a bit. Trying out some makeup on me… and… stuff.” 

“Oh, stuff huh?” He smirked, whacking the cheese sandwich on the press. 

“Yeah, stuff.” Stevie smiled, glancing over at Robin. 

Eddie looked over to him, “So….” He said, giving him a once over, “Is this like a lesbian phase thing, or are you a dude?” 

“Ed’s!” Stevie scolded. 

“You got a problem, Munson?” 

“Obviously not.” He scoffed, pointing a thumb over at Stevie before continuing to munch on his cheese melt, “I’m head over heels for her and you think I have a problem with transsexuals? Dude, my uncle was like, the first trans dude in Hawkins, I think.” 

“What?” Stevie and Robin both asked in sync. 

He shrugged, turning the sandwich press off before it burnt the bread, “Well, maybe not. But as far as he’s concerned, you know? Why do you think he doesn’t give a shit about me and Stevie- oh, I know how to draw beards on real good.”

“Why do you know that?” Stevie asked. 

“I wanted to look like an adult when I was ten so I could run away and get a job.” Eddie said so nonchalant, “My dad was a dick and said I couldn’t be gay and have a good future. Total arsehole. Look at me now, dad, bisexual and a full time drug dealer. Fuck. you.” 

Robin grinned, “Can you teach me the beard thing?” 

“Sure thing, man.” He smiled, cutting the fresh cheese melt up for Stevie and plating it for her, “So does this mean you’re like, straight now, or?” 

Robin froze, looking over to Stevie, who was also struck with a baffled expression as Eddie pottered around the kitchen, unbeknownst to their panic. 

“Fuck, I’m straight!” He shouted, and Stevie burst out laughing. 

Happy Spooky Month!!! sorry i didn't have anything spooky planned for this day, but this is still fun :)

[ronancebyler]

Elumax headcanons?

WOAH it's been a while let's go

you will see both platonic and romantic hopclair in this because i enjoy both. you might also see contradicting hc's or things that make no sense since it's the 80's and for that i say shhhhhh

el - they/she, demigirl lesbian max - they/she/he, genderfluid bisexual lucas - she/he, nonbinary omnisexual

LOVE cuddles. love cuddles too much. an annoying amount. they will not be near each other without tucking into each other

will complain about pda of other people while laying on top of each other bc shhh shut up

el asks them out first by going up to the two of them and going "im in love with max, and max is in love with both of us."

max is shocked that el somehow confessed for him but they quickly figure things out

go to rojancy for advice in the beginning. nancy talks to max, el talks to robin, lucas talks to jonathan

they help a LOT with sharing a partner and jealousy and how it worked for jonathan and robin platonically

generally the agreement in the beginning was that they're both max's partners and that evolved from there

if romantic hopclair, max sees lucas and el slowly fall in love but neither of them notice until at some point max calls el lucas's girlfriend and they just don't correct her because "huh, i guess they are my girlfriend. anyways"

if platonic hopclair, they slowly learn that they are also partners, just not romantically. talking to robin helped a lot.

"yeah, jonny is my partner, just like stevie is. i don't like them romantically, and i really don't want to kiss them, but they're my partners in life either way. we do all the other stuff, like hanging out and living together and spending our lives together, we just don't want the romantic parts."

el and lucas are just as important to each other as max is to them, and they don't need to be romantic life partners to be life partners. they're spending their lives together and they're one of each other's favorite people. they just don't necessarily have to kiss on the mouth.

speaking of kisses though, they all love non mouth kisses. theyre really annoying about it

cheek kisses, wrist/hand kisses, forehead kisses, kisses on the earlobe. if they're nuzzling into each other they'll plant a kiss wherever they're nuzzling into.

will, mike, and dustin are all like "you are legally not allowed to call us annoying around our partners"

because byler and duzie are gross but they are so much less pda inclined than these three are

the three of them aren't very words of affirmations inclined. they don't speak a lot of soft words around each other, but it doesn't matter. they all know

they do like leaving notes to each other though, especially if one has to go somewhere before the other wakes up/comes home to see them

it usually just involves telling them how their day was or something so if by the time they return the other is gone/asleep, they can just respond with a note to keep up the talk

love languages: physical touch, quality time, gifts

they love getting each other trinkets. "this reminds me of you." "i thought you'd like this <3" "here's a dandelion, make a wish!" tiny little things that brighten each other's days

MENACE on any gift giving holidays. it's household warfare on who gets the best gift for the others. most gift giving related holidays, they spread it out where they each get a day to show off their gifts because of how extra they are. on christmas they do not give each other gifts the day of and focus on spending time with other friends and family, usually giving it to each other three days before or after.

lucas and el have the most pet names for each other, especially platonic hopclair. no one understands.

"love, i need help!" "max, i think el is calling you" "no, that's for lucas" "coming darling!"

yes, they are girlfriends. yes, max and lucas are man-adjacent. no, they will not elaborate.

l: "i'm also girl-adjacent." m: "sometimes, me too." e: "i'm always girl adjacent!"

el and lucas are obsessed with max's short hair. they love playing with it so much

mike is the biggest hater of elumax ever because wdym my ex chose knock off me and my best friend.

"first, you're knock off max. second, you're gay, mike." "it's the principle of it lucas. also fuck you."

okay i'll shut up now

[imfinereallyy]

Happy Almost Birthday!!! dialogue prompt #41 for Platonic Stobin please and thank you :)))

@spectrum-spectre aaah thank you!! also it feels right to start this event with an ask from you, your reblogs always make me smile. also this one is absolutely not where I expected it to go. (you can find the request game here)

Robin walked into the doorway of their apartment, only to find Steve staring off into the distance with a CD case gripped in his hand.

She felt something drop in her stomach. Sure, Steve wasn’t a man of many words, but the utter silence when she entered the door was damning. Steve never failed to greet her, even on his bad days.

“What’s wrong?” Robin demanded, getting on to the floor besides Steve, resting on her knees.

Steve turned and gave her a watery smile, “I like that.”

“Like what?”

“That you just know.”

Robin hummed in agreement; if anyone else were around, she would wave it off as being friends for years. That living with someone allowed you to pick up on their signals. She knew that was not true, though. That Steve and her had always been connected. Even when they didn’t like each other, there was an understanding between them. The years between them now made it stronger, sure, but to her, Robin and Steve were always meant to be Robin&Steve.

“He came out with the new album.”

Oh. Robin thought, that’s what this was about. That funny feeling only got worse with his words. It settled into something more solid, something more like dread.

Robin knew what she said next would be crucial. Most would want her to bash the album instantly. Any ex-boyfriend should be immediate trash, no matter the talent. But Robin knew Steve, so instead, she asked,

“Any good?”

Steve huffed, “Stupid good.”

“That make you angry? That he’s doing good even without you?” Robin took his hand and rubbed circles with her fingers.

“No, I’m not angry, and I don’t think he’s doing good. Kinda worried, actually. It’s just… it’s just track 7, is well—“ Steve cut himself off to rub his eye with his free hand. The motion pushed his glasses up and down his nose.

Robin took her friend in. The years had been stupidly kind to Steve. Sure, he was only 28, but fighting another dimension should age a guy. His scars only made him rugged instead of old. Robin hated him at times because of it, even told him so. But then, Steve would say something dorky, and kind, and would make her ego inflate way too much and—

Yea she loved her strange little dude.

“What’s on track 7?”

Steve cleared his throat, “You haven’t listened to the album have you?”

Robin, despite the tension in the air, can’t help but roll her eyes, “Oh that’s what ticked you off? Not me asking how the album was?”

Steve snorted as he leaned forward to click seek and landed on track 7 before he hit play.

Robin wasn’t prepared.

Track 7: My Reflection is You

In the depths of darkness,

where love once thrived,

A burning passion left,

but a coldness revived.

Our once forged bond,

now a shattered mirror,

Reflecting the pain,

as we stand here unclear

Torn apart,

like lightning splitting the sky,

Our hearts collide,

leaving scars we can't deny.

With every shattered piece,

a painful memory,

We fight to find solace,

a fleeting remedy.

“Jesus Christ.” Robin found herself saying interrupting the song. The irony wasn’t lost on her; that phrase she used was ingrained into her by the very man singing the lyrics.

Robin looked at Steve, and could see the pain he held in his body. How he ached to change things. The lyrics continued to play as she waited for Steve to speak.

Shattered silence,

shattered dreams,

Torn apart, it seems.

Steve leaned forward and paused the cd, “I guess I just always thought when someone wrote a song about me, it would be romantic. Not this.”

Robin didn’t have much to say. She leaned her head against his shoulder, "I know, babe. You deserve better.”

A sob escaped. Steve was suddenly buried in the crook of her neck, and Robin didn’t say a word, just held him as he cried it out. She didn’t shush Steve, or distract him. He needed this.

Robin, some days thought about yelling at Eddie Munson. This song, though, made her want to commit murder. Torture even. With her experiences, that wasn’t something she said lightly. But with Steve there, as he sobbed in her arms, she doesn’t even question the idea of stabbing a man she once considered a best friend.

But he would never be a soulmate. He would never be Steve. And for making Steve cry he deserved death.

Robin wouldn’t actually do it, though, because it would be more for her in the end. It wasn’t what Steve needed.

Steve’s sobs settled and he pulled back. “Sorry, Robbie.”

“What are you sorry for?”

Steve shrugged, “Don’t know. Just feel like I should be.”

“Well don’t. You did nothing wrong, okay?”

Steve nodded slowly, “Okay.”

“Now,” Robin sighed, “Do you want to rant about it or do you want me to tell you what I think?”

It was Steve’s turn to look at her. Robin wasn’t sure what he saw as he silently gazed at her, but she could tell something had settled in him. “Tell me what you think.”

Robin took a deep breath, “I think that the Upside Down fucked us all up in ways that we can’t even count.”

Steve grunted, but let her continue.

“But also think that as time passed, we all made lives for ourselves. Some of us with each other, like you and Eddie, or Lucas and Max. Some needed distance, like Mike. But we all became these things outside of the trauma, but we couldn’t exactly escape said trauma. So we all had our ways of coping. Me, throwing myself into academics, you with overexercising—don’t give me that look; I’m sure we can unpack that another time—but for Eddie, he made this wonderful life with you, and outside of you. Got big, and got a record deal. But he still had that trauma. So add famous rockstar plus unhealed trauma, and it usually equates to partying and addiction.”

“Where are you going with this robs?” Steve scrunched his eyebrows.

“I have a point, I promise. He loved you, and two things are usually offered to these rockstars: sex and drugs. And God—that boy loved you. Would never think about cheating, so I think he got it into his head that drugs were the solution. Maybe he got into his head that it would help him, or cure him. I’m not sure, who knows what goes on in Munson’s head.”

Steve giggled. Robin can’t help but feel she’d done something right. “It doesn’t matter why he did it, though. It doesn’t matter how much he loved you. Because you tried. You tried to make it work. You tried to get him to accept help. You tried to put up with the long nights, and the I’m sorry’s and the ER scares. It reached the point where, even though I love you both, I couldn’t stand to see the ghost of the person you had become. So you gave him a choice, to get sober or lose you, and he chose wrong. Not because he didn’t love you, not because you’re the problem, but because Eddie Munson doesn’t know a good decision if stared him in the face.”

Steve pushed his head against Robin’s “So you don’t think I made a dumb decision, that I deserve this?”

Robin held his face in her hands, “No, babe. In fact, I actually want to murder him for violating your trust and exposing you raw like this. Like how the fuck does he get to sing about heartbreak and make money off of something he could of fix. The only reason I’m not busting down his door right now is because of you.”

“I’m not exactly stopping you Robbie.”

“No, sweet Stevie, but I, unfortunately, know the inevitable truth. That you guys are going to end up together, he’s got a lot of work to do, and I get to at least punch him twice at unexpected times, but I know you both. I think that you guys are a force impossible to separate, always finding your way back to each other. Kinda like us.”

There’s a watery mist built up in Steve’s eyes, “No Robs. Nothing can be like us. Not even Eddie.”

Robin tried to hold back her sob, “Yea, okay. Nothing can beat us; I promise you that. But either way, I do know this: You, Steve Harrington, deserve the world, and one day that man is going to give it to you. But for now, we’re going to cry about what a piece of selfish shit he is, and how I get to record him groveling when he inevitably realizes what an asswipe he was.”

Steve settled back into her side, “So, no killing him? Only trash talking?”

“I feel it’s only right we at least do that. Maybe hold off on our first actual murder charge.” Robin nodded.

“Maybe you shouldn’t hear the next lyric.” Steve moved to grab the cd out of the player, but Robin stopped him, reached across Steve, and hit play.

A love once pure,

now turned to rust,

Betrayal's sting

now we're in disgust,

Echoes of laughter

that haunt my mind,

In faded memories,

I'm left behind.

Robin was silent.

Steve put a hand on her shoulder, “Robin? Babe?”

Robin turned to Steve very slowly, as the weight of everything came over her. This was her best friend, her soulmate. How dare someone blame him for wanting to actually heal, how dare that little weas—

“Robs?” Steve spoke softly. “You okay?”

“What? Oh yea. I’m just going to need your bat. I’ve changed my mind on that murder charge.”

And although she was serious, Robin couldn’t help the smile that cracked on her face when she heard Steve’s laughter echo through the apartment.

***

sorry I know this hurt a lil bit, I can’t believe I wrote purely angst. I hope even if this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind, you liked it. Thanks for all the laughs and love.

find the request game here

[formosusiniquis]

stevie just hit the wall

aka the multi chapter bowling for soup inspired Stevie fic where i give her a midlife crisis and a second chance at dating a rockstar.

transfem!Steve Harrington; Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Minor Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham; Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley; Steve Harrington & Chrissy Cunningham

“Maybe I should have just stayed with him, Robs. I mean I'm not getting any younger. “Okay 1. Tommy was using you to cheat on his wife of 10 years, remember, Carol?” “They were on a break. Basically separated.”  She keeps going like Stevie hadn’t spoken, “2. He called you dude every time you went out with him cause he was a total chaser. And most importantly 3. He was a fucking CPA Evie, what a snore.”

NOW COMPLETE ON AO3

[flowercrowngods]

now that ao3 is back, feel free to send me your favourite fics of your own. be loud, be proud, brag a little, tell me what you love about it, what you’re most proud of if you want.

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddiesongfics.

Vigilante Shit

October Prompt: Vigilante Shit by Taylor Swift | Word Count: 7777 | Rating: E | CW: Unsafe Sex, Mildly Dubious Consent | Tags: Modern AU, Past Break-Up, Divorced, Angst, Exes-to-Lovers, Hopeful Ending, Famous Eddie, Corroded Coffin, Platonic Stobin: Ride or Die (Eddie Might Die If Robin Has Her Way, lol), Unsafe Sex, Barebacking, Hurt/Comfort, Love/Hate, Except It's All Love Underneath, Mr. Americana and the Heartbreak Prince

Also available right here on ao3.

they say looks can kill and I might try Taylor Swift, Vigilante Shit

Steve steps out of the taxi, and looks down, smoothing the lines of his shirt. Hoping it's not too wrinkled. He's left it unbuttoned one more button than would be considered decent, but nothing about today is going to end up decent, he's sure of it. The fabric is tight, midnight blue and clinging to his sides, his biceps, tailored to perfection. He made sure of it. When he looks good, he feels good. And today? He needs to at least feel good about how he looks. 

He stands on the sidewalk, shrugging on the leather jacket that doesn't actually belong to him. The one with the chained up broken zipper on the sleeve. The one from before. A relic of years gone by, of kids that have been dead and buried by adulthood.

He doesn't actually need it, weather-wise. But if he's digging up bones, he might as well dig deep.

And he looks good in it, without fucking question.

Tonight he isn't dressing for women, or men. He's dressing for revenge.

The event space is old, he can tell. One of those remodeled places, salvaged from the hands of time. He's never been here before, and wishes he didn't have to be at today, either. He wishes he was seven hundred miles away, at home. When the plane touched down here this morning, he felt like he was being suffocated. Like the air was thicker, like he was being stifled, just because he lives here.

Steve avoids the city like the plague. Henderson moved here a few years ago, though, and Steve would be lying if he hadn't felt betrayed. He felt like a side had been chosen, and that it wasn't his. 

Steve knows that's irrational. But he still feels that way, especially when he's alone with his thoughts. Robin has gotten sick of hearing about it. She's the only person on earth he feels comfortable letting see how much he still hurts.

How much he'll always be hurt, maybe.

Coming here today feels a little bit like torture, and opting out was definitely his first instinct. 

But here Steve is. He couldn't do that to Henderson.

Even if he lives in town. It's not like Henderson ever mentions him anymore. Dustin quickly learned that was a bridge not to cross with Steve if he wished to continue living.

So, Steve cut off his nose to spite his own face, like a fucking idiot. Now he gets no information on Eddie, no secondhand gossip from friends, no nothing that doesn't come from the gossip rags. 

Steve double-checks his reflection in the door of the brick building, fingers combing through his hair. Looks good. Like the rest of him. That much he is confident about. Everything else is the problem.

It's an old building, and when the old elevator opens, Steve looks around the big, airy ballroom. There's an open window seat, and he walks over and perches in it, waiting. The setting sun is warm on his back, and while he hasn't heard for sure, he knows in his gut that Eddie will be here. There's no way Eddie's missing Henderson's engagement party. 

Even if that means seeing Steve.

Steve had checked the tour schedule, hoping, praying he'd be halfway across the world tonight. But there was a suspicious looking break in their dates. As if this had been planned around it. 

It probably was.

But Steve can't worry about Eddie. He will, of fucking course, but it would be so much better for his own well-being if he didn't.

Eddie cut the first tie between them, but Steve is the one that burned the bridges behind him, making it permanent. If Eddie wanted to run from him, well, then he was gonna stay fucking gone. Steve wasn't interested in providing any sort of lifeline for Eddie to ever use to climb out of the hole he insisted on digging for himself.

Robin and Henderson have both said in soft, roundabout ways that Steve was kind of being a dick. Being petty, bitchy, mean. But Steve doesn't care. He got his heart broken. He lost his husband. He can be all of those things, and more. 

Steve spins the ring on his finger, the one he hasn't worn in years. The old gold band that he dug out of the back of his closet, and spent all morning polishing into a gut punch.

His motto for tonight: Don't get sad, get even.

He wishes Robin were already here, but she's never been on time a day in her life. Every flight she's ever booked has been delayed, if not outright canceled, and today was no different. Unfortunately, that means he's sitting off to the edge of the ballroom by himself, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Friends who have become closer to strangers mingle, and laugh, leaving him on fringes, alone. And Steve knows that's his fault. He cut a large swath out of his life, isolating himself. Licking his wounds in solitary confinement. Robin is his only companion, besides his misery and grief.

He needs to suck it up, go mingle, force himself to dole out apologies and be a little more active in the festivities, certain that he's been foolish. Eddie isn't coming after all.

Steve makes his way over to Dustin.

"Congrats, kiddo," Steve says, wrapping his arm around Dustin's shoulders, squeezing.

"About damn time, I thought you were gonna sulk in the corner all night," Dustin snaps, and Steve laughs. No, he's not gonna do that. He just needed a minute. And he gets that Henderson understood that. He's a good kid, a good man, now.

He keeps talking, "I thought you were gonna go on some sort of anti-marriage tirade."

No, no, Steve was wrong. He is still a little shit.

"I'm not anti-marriage," Steve says, and he isn't. Sure, his didn't work out, but he's not going around assuming that everybody else's will end up the same way.

Unless they plan on marrying Eddie. Then, that's on them. Play dumb games, win stupid prizes.

"He was supposed to come tonight," Dustin admits.

Yeah, Steve figured as much, "Sorry he let you down, kid."

Dustin looks up at him, "Sorry he let you down, too."

Yeah, well. Shit happens.

The room is sparkling with twinkling lights that look even better as the sun melts into the horizon. Tray after tray of drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres make the rounds, and everyone seems happy to see him, maybe forgiving him a little too easily for his disappearing act. 

They come see him in his window, like it's his new office. Handing him drinks, food. Doling out hugs and kisses. Stories. Sharing their lives with him.

Robin comes in earlier than he expected her, and she throws her hands in the air, announcing her arrival.

Dustin hugs her, and then she marches over to the window seat he's been holding court from.

He stands, and she steps into his arms, squeezing him tight, "Hi, dingus. Sorry I'm late."

"You're early," he says, and she's not. She's nearly an hour late. But for him, she's right on time.

Eddie didn't come. He doesn't have to say it, she knows. He feels foolish. He's wearing Eddie's leather jacket and his old wedding band, and dwelling on a past Eddie clearly doesn't give a flying fuck about.

Steve squeezes Robin back. It's been too long. Living in separate cities is for the goddamn birds. Maybe he should move closer to her. Pack up his life and just hit the road and be wherever she wants to be, always.

That sounds like the best plan for a lifetime of happiness that he's had in a goddamn long time.

"We could call the FBI. Tell them he's a drug mule. Tell them he's evading taxes."

Steve doesn't think either of those things are true.

He's about to say so when he feels the air in the room change. 

Fuck.

He drops back to the bricks, not really able to stand under these conditions.

Eddie's here, Steve can't see him yet, refuses to scour the room, looking, searching, but he knows. He always knew when Eddie manifested himself into Steve's presence. Like a magic trick Steve doesn't know the secret behind, and probably never will. 

Steve leans back, and sprawls out on the brick window sill he's been sitting in, and Robin is looking down at him wide-eyed. Because she's well aware of the only thing here that could knock his feet out from him.

She steps to the side and turns to look.

And he's determined to keep his head up. He's gonna meet this head-on, no-holds-barred. If Eddie wants to look away, wants to run like he always does, then he can be the one to do that. Again. Because Steve's got nothing to be ashamed about.

He didn't fuck up their lives. Eddie did.

Two black suits, his private security Steve's sure, flank Eddie. Like there's a threat at his friend's engagement party. Fucking ridiculous. 

Well.

Maybe there is a threat: Steve. 

At least a threat to his peace, and as if on cue Eddie stops in the middle of the room and stares. Steve stares back. Wrist resting over his own bent knee. They say looks can kill, and tonight Steve damn well might try.

Steve won't blink first, won't back down.

And eventually Eddie gives, loses, and looks away.

Steve smiles to himself, taking a sip of his drink, swirling the ice in the lowball glass, as Robin's eyebrows have permanently lodged themselves into her hairline. He makes small talk with her, when he knows she wants to say so fucking much about what just happened. There will be time for that later, time to dissect and replay, but only then does he unfold himself from the window seat, sauntering across the room, stopping to talk to his friends. His. 

Steve doesn't look his way again, but he can definitely feel the eyes boring into him as he moves around the room. Good. Let him stare. 

On the way back from the bathroom, Steve passes a little too close to the sun.

And Eddie reaches out, snagging Steve's hand in his, squeezing it hard enough that it pinches his skin between the ring he has no business wearing, but Steve doesn't react. Doesn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he can get to him in any way.

Not anymore.

He just looks at Eddie, and Eddie stares back. 

Eddie doesn't let go. Instead he shifts his hand, sliding it upwards, until he's hooked his finger through the chain on the jacket sleeve, and starts to pull Steve by it, like he's on a lead. His feet betray him, and he follows. 

So do the bodyguards.

"No, stay," Eddie says, like they're guard dogs. Maybe they are. They definitely heel to his command.

And he leads Steve out of the ballroom, down a long hallway, trying to push open door after locked door, until he finds one that gives, swinging open. It's empty, and probably used for staging or a dressing room during other events. There's a fancy couch, and the whole place is lit by the moonlight coming through the deep-set windows.

Only then does he let go. Steve feels burned.

But he doesn't react to that, instead Steve stands there, hands on his hips as Eddie lingers, several paces away, staring back. 

He didn't ask for this, for any of this.

"What the fuck do you want?" Steve snaps, and Eddie's teeth are showing as he stalks forward. Steve refuses to take a step back, refuses to flinch or lose an inch of ground to him. Eddie's not gonna steamroll him, not ever again.

"What the fuck is this?" Eddie asks, reaching out and squeezing Steve's wrist. The jacket. Then flicking Steve's finger, the ring, as it rests on his hip.

"It's a wedding ring. I know that's probably confusing for you, since you never wore one of them. It ruined your aesthetic, or whatever this is," Steve mocks, waving his hand around Eddie's whole being. All the black leather and silver jewelry that doesn't mean shit.

Eddie ignores all that, and his eyes narrow down on Steve's hand, demanding, "You marry somebody else wearing my ring?"

"Maybe I did," Steve snaps. "What's it to you?"

And Eddie loses the standoff. His hands find his hair as he roughly pulls at it, spinning in a circle.

Steve smirks. 

"You want it back? Here. Take it," Steve spits out, angry, so fucking pissed off for the past decade or more, pulling the ring off his finger and throwing it. Listening as it hits the wall across the room, and then clatters across the hardwood flooring. 

He shrugs out of the jacket and throws it next. Hitting Eddie square in the chest.

The sound Eddie makes is distraught, feral, and if Steve didn't know he's only bullshit and bluster, he'd probably be scared.

But he's not scared of Eddie Munson. At least not in the way the rest of the world is, hoodwinked by the reputation he built with his carefully cultured public image that is just lie after lie.

Steve wasn't sure what would happen next, but Eddie on his hands and knees, patting around in the dark, his phone flashlight darting around trying to catch the glimmer of metal, wasn't what Steve expected.

"Why fucking bother?" Steve asks as he crosses his arms over his chest. Because honestly? He doesn't need it. He made his point. He cut him. He won this round. He needs to leave before he gets left. Again.

And Eddie didn't want him to have it back then, so why waste time digging up old bones? Let sleeping dogs lie. 

"Because," Eddie grits out.

"Just let it go, Eddie. Just like you let me go," Steve snaps, and Eddie's head whips up, the flashlight suddenly blinding Steve.

Steve shields his eyes, "Put that down, asshole."

"Then don't fucking say that," Eddie snaps.

"Like it's not true?"

It is true, and Eddie can't even begin to deny it. He fucking ran, two years into their marriage. Two years that they spent more nights apart than they did together. Two years where they were too young. Too different. At least that's what everyone else said when the dust settled. Like, it was just a mistake anyone could have seen coming.

Like, two years had been a good run, but that this had always been the expected end result.

Steve hadn't expected it. 

That didn't matter, though. They divorced, long-distance, papers delivered and signed through lawyers. All contact completely severed. And then they both spent more than a decade being extra careful to not wind up in the same region, let alone the same building, or room.

Now, here they are. Eddie on his hands and knees rooting around for ancient history, and Steve wishing he could be swallowed up by the floor under his feet just to be out of here. Away. Anywhere else.

It's bullshit. All of it.

Eddie finds it with a huffed laugh, and Steve isn't sure what happens next. Does Eddie pocket it? Keep it? 

No, he stands, and stalks over to Steve, "You wanna wear it? You're gonna wear it."

And he forces it back onto Steve's hand, a perversion of the first time he did it. It catches on his knuckle, and hurts as Eddie forces it on, but Steve watches it happen, can't look away. 

Then, Eddie's even further in his personal space, mouth closing over Steve's, hand sliding into Steve's hair, pulling. Steve kisses him back, hands digging into his back, holding on tight to everything he's already lost.

Steve's whole fucking body betrays him. He moans in Eddie's mouth, dick rushing towards hard, as Eddie leans further into him.

Learning all Steve's secrets from his time away.

Steve doesn't want Eddie to know anything about him.

He also wants him to know everything.

It's infuriating.

Even more so when Eddie spins him around, shoving him forwards, making Steve catch himself on the back of the couch.

Eddie puts his hand in the middle of Steve's back, and presses downwards, hard. Bending him over the back side of the vintage couch. Steve goes, willingly. The ornate wood trim digging into his belly. Eddie's hand rubs up and down his sides, hands feeling how his shirt is hugging his skin, and Steve knew it was a good choice. But he doesn't have time to gloat before Eddie's fingers slide around, brushing Steve's stomach, slowly unbuttoning every button of his shirt. Roughly pulling it from his arms, catching on his wrists before being tugged loose, then moving on to unhooking his belt, unbuttoning his jeans, before yanking them down his thighs.

Steve digs the toe of his boot into the hardwood floor, trying to get some leverage that he knows he'll need. It's gonna be rough, and fast, and hard. Desperate. 

Overdue.

Maybe a little bit mean. Steve's not sure what kind of headspace Eddie's in. Hadn't had the chance to really gauge him, before he was drug away into the darkness to fight and fuck about unfinished business.

All their business is unfinished.

Eddie's pressed flush to his back, his palm pressing into the center of Steve's chest, his fingers moving through his chest hair. His cock, hard through his jeans, pressing into Steve's ass. A promise, or a threat.

Either, both, maybe. And then Eddie makes good on it. Steve hears him tearing open foil. Then he feels the cool liquid running down his crack. He tries not to jump, startle. Of course Eddie's carrying travel packets of lube. He shouldn't have assumed anything else.

Then there are slick fingers, one, then two, pressing at him, in him. Sliding deep, working to push all his buttons, proving Eddie hasn't forgotten a goddamn thing. One hand working fingers inside him, the other palming his balls before reaching down to tug on his cock. Just like Steve always liked. But Steve won't make any noise. Won't give Eddie the satisfaction. But Steve's breathing deep and hard, panting as he pushes back against Eddie's hand. Demanding more.

Eddie listens for once, too fast, too soon, and Eddie's breaching him. Steve wanted to draw this out. But that cock that Steve has loved, missed, needed is working him open, fast and rough. It's not enough, it's too much. All at once.

Steve loses, can't bite it back any longer, and Steve huffs out a whine of a breath as Eddie slams into him. He hasn't felt this in years. It's exactly the same, but totally different, too. It's like being fucked by a complete stranger.

It's also like coming home.

He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to keep quiet. The last thing he wants is any of their friends to see him like this. To know that he allowed himself to be bent over this easily. That all he had to do was spend fifteen minutes alone with Eddie before he allowed his resolve to crumble to dust, desperate for it, the second Eddie laid hands on him.

Eddie's not wearing a condom, Steve can feel the difference, can feel the ease of the slide in a way that he hasn't since Eddie cut and ran. Steve knows he should be mad, furious that Eddie thinks he still has that right. That he thinks his blanket permission from a decade ago overrides a goddamn divorce. But Steve's not mad. And he hates that he's not mad. Resents that he gets off on the fact that it's still only Eddie that has been invited inside him, and has been allowed to leave his mark deep, in more ways than one.

"Fuck you, Harrington," Eddie says, and Steve claws at the fabric of the couch, blunt fingernails scraping against the rough texture of it. 

"You already are, asshole," Steve says back.

Eddie laughs. It sounds more delighted than deranged, and if Steve keeps his eyes shut, he can pretend this was another lifetime ago. 

It's easy to go along for the ride, just allowing himself to feel what he hasn't in so many years. It's not like he's been celibate, or alone, but he has been without this. Without Eddie, and having a taste of it again might just wreck him.

There are lips against his back, and a cock splitting him wide. In his mind he's twenty-two and in love. Really in love. 

When he opens them again, he's thirty-four, and bitter. Broken.

Angry. 

So goddamn angry that his life, their life, turned out to be bullshit.

And suddenly the tears burn his eyes. Fuck. He's gonna cry. He reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, as if he can stave it off with that alone. As if he can just will it away, by wanting it bad enough. But it's not working. He's gonna do the very last thing he ever wanted to have happen in Eddie's presence ever again. When he can't hold it back a second longer, he hitches in a ragged breath, and Eddie stutters, stilling all momentum, immediately.

It nearly gives Steve whiplash, going from a hundred to zero, just like that.

Which is fitting. That's how their whole relationship turned out. From hot and heavy, to distant strangers. Why would this be any goddamn different?

"Steve?" Eddie asks, a warm palm against his back. Rubbing soft, soothing circles, his guitar calluses scratching gently. "Sweetheart?"

That's the last straw, it's too familiar, too much, and he curls over the back of the couch as far as he can as Eddie pulls out, leaving him empty and more bereft than he already was. Steve tries to reach backwards, tries to lure him back. Back inside, back to Steve. Just back, in any way he can get him.

It doesn't happen, of course, and Eddie tries to manhandle Steve into turning around to face him. Steve would rather do anything else, so he won't allow himself to be turned because Steve's still bigger, always has been bigger and stronger, and Eddie's hands disappear before reappearing as he moves around the couch to kneel on the cushion next to where Steve is actively wishing to be swallowed whole.

"Steve," Eddie says, the voice reedy and scared, hands brushing down Steve's back, then moving through Steve's hanging hair, trying to find his face. "Did I hurt you? Did you…" Eddie trails off, thumb on Steve's cheek, "Did you not want that? Did I - did I read you wrong?"

Steve shakes his head. He's hurt, of course he is, just not in the way Eddie means. Of course he wanted this. He just can't. Not with Eddie. It's too hard.

Even if that's all he wants.

He looks down at the cushions below, he sees Eddie's bare thigh, tattoos unfamiliar, and his cock, very familiar, scared into softness. Nestled there in his open fly. Steve wonders if he smells the same. Wants to bury his face in Eddie's crotch and breathe deep.

What an unhinged thing to want, he thinks. But Steve just wants to go home, go back in time.

Eddie's still gorgeous. Always has been, though, and Steve snakes out a hand, curling it around Eddie's forearm.

Asking him not to go.

Asking him to stay this time.

"Sweetheart. Look at me, or I'm getting Robin," Eddie says, and Steve hiccups a laugh as Eddie plays with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

He's not his sweetheart, not any longer, he knows that all too well, but hearing that come out of his lips makes something bloom in his chest. An unfurling longing. Nostalgia for a time he'll never be able to return to, as long as he lives. 

It's already gone. They've already grown up, distant from each other.

And Steve raises his head enough to meet Eddie's eyes.

"She'd kill you," Steve says, trying to blink the wetness from his lashes.

"I'd let her," Eddie answers.

Steve misses him. He's right here, looking right at him, but Steve misses him something fierce.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" Eddie asks, scooting closer, his hand never leaving Steve's neck. Fingers brushing against his skin, keeping contact, soothing him in a way only he ever could.

Steve laughs, bordering on unhinged.

"Vigilante shit," Steve breathes out, and it's like he's ran a marathon, maybe an ultra.

And Eddie laughs, leaning forward and pressing his mouth to Steve's temple.

Steve leans into him. 

"Well, that's fair, sweetheart," Eddie says, "I'll give you that. I deserve it. But are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Steve reassures. As okay as he'll ever be, anyway, here surrounded by the smoldering embers of the life he watched burn to the ground.

Eddie rotates until he's laying down on the couch, and opens his arms for Steve. Steve takes the offer, sliding over the back of the couch, crawling on top of Eddie. Not very gracefully since his pants are still trapped around his thighs, boots on his feet. 

"Here, let me help," Eddie says, trying to maneuver him to sitting. Steve allows it.

And Eddie slides off the couch, kneeling at Steve's feet. Eddie looks at how Steve has them laced so they just slip on and off, and it's an old Eddie trick. Steve knows it, Eddie knows it.

"Well, this is sexy," Eddie says as he gently pulls the first one off his foot, then the second. And Steve laughs. Eddie then pulls his jeans down, tossing them aside, "Can you breathe now?"

Steve nods.

Undressed, and a little more unburdened, Steve watches as Eddie sheds his own pants, and then gets back on the couch, laying back against the cushions, an invitation.

Steve takes it.

He's pretty sure their naked asses aren't supposed to be on this antique piece of furniture, but he'd like to see anyone tell Eddie Munson no. It's impossible, and a waste of breath. Always has been.

So, they lay together, Eddie's hand stroking up and down his back, fingers against his spine. Whispering words that Steve's waited a decade to hear. And Steve listens, feeling the rumble of Eddie's chest, the timbre of his voice that is somehow even deeper than it was at twenty-three. They kiss and grind soft cocks together until they aren't soft anymore. They roll together until Steve slides back down on Eddie's cock, ready to finish what they started. 

It's gentler now, and Steve's pretty sure that might make this worse, after. Hate sex, angry fucking to get each other out of their systems, he thinks he could get over. That he could take at face value.

But this?

This is too soft. Too loving.

And that's gonna destroy him when it's over.

Eddie was, is, will always be, the greatest thing he's ever lost. Steve swears he only blinked, but in between that breath and the next, Eddie had slipped through his fingers.

But he wouldn't give this up. He never wanted to give Eddie up. Not then, not now, and that's really fucking hard to wrap his head around. That it ended against his will. That the thing he was sure was forever, crashed and burned so fucking quickly, completely out of his control. 

He couldn't save them from themselves. He couldn't save them from the self-destructive streak Eddie just couldn't shake.

He couldn't stop Eddie from running.

Distance, blossoming fame, and the road just being more of an obstacle than they would have ever imagined when they stood up and said I do, promising forever. 

Well, forever was pretty fucking short, Steve guesses.

He rocks on Eddie's cock, fucking himself as Eddie holds his hips in his hands. 

"That's it, sweetheart," Eddie encourages, and Steve's setting the rhythm now. The pace, the intensity, so he can't even blame Eddie for this slow down. For this softness.

This is all on him. 

But Eddie still fits in him like he was made to be there. Of course, Steve assumes Eddie's cock has been in lots of places since they buckled and folded. So, yeah, that probably means a doctor's visit, and a nerve wracking wait for test results will be in his future for being impulsive and foolish.

At the same time, he still trusts Eddie. Maybe he shouldn't. It makes no sense to, for fuck's sake. Eddie broke his heart, abandoned him like he meant nothing. But for some reason he trusts that Eddie would have never slid into him, warm and bare and familiar, if there was a cause for concern. 

He's always lost his fucking mind when he came to Eddie. That not changing today is no fucking surprise, not really.

Steve angles himself so Eddie's bumping his prostate, over and over, and it's just too much, too good, and Steve tenses, coming all over Eddie's belly. But he keeps grinding down on Eddie's cock, determined to get him over the edge, too.

Eddie groans, hand squeezing Steve's hip, "I'm gonna come."

"Do it," Steve breathes out, and Eddie does. Shoving up into him as far, and as hard as he can, and Steve tilts his head back, enjoying that this moment has happened for them, one more time.

He collapses onto Eddie's chest, laughing the way he always has after good sex, Eddie's softening cock still inside him, and Steve's not about to pull away yet.

The door opens, and Steve pops up to look to see who has found them.

Robin. 

"Goddamnit, dingus," she says from the doorway. He's aware from her angle she can see he's shirtless and debauched. She can't know that Eddie's still in him, soft, but unwilling to extract himself.

"I take it that asshole ex of yours is under you?"

"Hi, Robbie," Eddie says, still unseen by her, from his place on the couch under Steve.

She doesn't respond, ignoring Eddie. Which is to be expected, Steve supposes.

"Get cleaned up. Dustin's realized you're both missing."

Steve watches as Eddie stretches his arm backwards into her view, making the okay sign and she slams the door in response. 

They both laugh, and Steve lays back down on Eddie's bare chest, kissing him again. And again.

"She hates me now," Eddie says, when they break apart.

"With the fire of a thousand suns, yes," Steve answers, tucking his face into Eddie's neck. Robin and Eddie used to be friends, best friends, but when Eddie cut and ran, Robin wrote him off swiftly, with finality, and without remorse. Steve appreciated the loyalty. And he's gonna need it, tomorrow. Because he knows this was just one night, one mistake, but he's gonna milk it for all that it's worth since he's already in for a penny.

"We really have to make an appearance," Eddie says, and Steve whines at the idea. But he lifts up, Eddie's cock sliding out of him for the last time. At least he knows this time. At least he can brace for the impact.

But Eddie has other ideas.

"We'll be seen, we'll congratulate the kid, and then I'll take you back to bed, and show you how much I've missed you."

Steve nods. Yes. That. All of that, please. 

If he only gets one more night, he wants to draw out this long overdue goodbye as much as possible.

"We hadn't even had dinner," Dustin admonishes, shoving Steve's shoulder. Eddie puts a hand between them, like this might escalate.

"That's my bad, kid," Eddie says, shit-eating grin on his face.

Henderson is more forgiving. He loves them both. But Robin's glaring daggers through Eddie's back. There's no way he doesn't feel it. Steve can feel it, and it isn't even directed at him.

The party is winding down, and at the first opportunity, Eddie holds out the old leather jacket, helping it up and over Steve's shoulders.

"Steve," Robin says, a warning, and he steps away from Eddie, leaning down, hugging her.

"Let me say goodbye right this time," he pleads and she nods against his cheek.

She hates this, Steve knows she does, but she lets him go. She'll let him make this mistake. Will let him poke at this old, never-healed, wound.

Eddie leads him out the front of the venue. A crowd has gathered. Word must have spread that Eddie Munson was in the building, and now flashbulbs are blinding Steve, and Steve's instinct is to let go. Drop Eddie's hand and run. Hide, get out of sight. But Eddie doesn't let go of his hand. Even as he's guiding them towards the waiting black SUV. 

One of the security guys reaches for the door handle, and Steve sees Eddie rest his hand on his shoulder. The guy immediately backs off, and Eddie opens it for Steve himself. Standing there, looking grown up, and then suddenly his arm pops out, and he dips into a half-bow.

Steve laughs, loud and happy. He's still Eddie. 

He wishes he had a picture. Wants to replay that memory in his mind forever, and he realizes suddenly that he probably can. That in the next ten minutes the entire walk from the building to the car will be uploaded from at least a dozen angles.

There's gonna be story after story of Eddie Munson entering the building alone and re-emerging four hours later with his ex-husband on his arm.

The divider in the car goes up, and they can't keep their hands off of each other.

Steve shifts on the leather. 

"What's wrong?" Eddie asks, pulling back to look in his eyes.

It's only Eddie, so he tells the truth, "I'm leaking."

And Eddie grins, wolfish and wild, "Well. I could take care of that."

The pulse of want goes through Steve. It's filthy and is he really gonna let Eddie eat his ass in a moving car, a driver just on the other side of the barrier?

Yeah, yeah he is.

He moves to his belt, but Eddie's fingers replace his own, "Let me, sweetheart."

And at this point, Steve thinks he'll let Eddie do anything he wants.

The pictures from outside Eddie's building are sure to be obscene. Eddie, mouth red and lips shiny, Steve's hair in utter disarray. The crowd is rowdy, extra loud and demanding, and Eddie seems to be in no hurry. He's smiling, and looking around, as if this is completely normal. 

As if he always hooks up with his ex-husband, rims him in the car, and the waves to the fans, after. He looks happy, thrilled even, instead of annoyed to be caught in the public eye.

Maybe it is normal for him, but it's definitely not for Steve. This was never his life, not even when they were married and Eddie's star continued to rise. Maybe, especially not then. Eddie wanted his private life to be private and that meant Steve was left at home, out of sight. 

Not tonight.

Tonight it's obvious what they've been doing during the car ride. The press will have a field day building a timeline with the pictures and videos.

Eddie holds Steve's hand, tight and protective, leading the charge, but he uses the other to wave. To stop and sign an album. A poster. All while his security tries to wrangle him inside.

"This is Steve," he tells a fan, a camera shoved in his face.

Steve tries to put on a pageant smile, and is certain he's failed. This is fucking bizarre. Has Eddie really changed this much? Then they're moving again, finally making their way towards the door.

"Thank you," Eddie says, looking right at the man holding open the door.

"Mr. Munson," the doorman says, and Eddie shakes his hand, and Steve really thinks the guy wouldn't have if he knew where Eddie's hands have been recently. 

They're taken to a private elevator, and when it opens, it's in the middle of a huge penthouse apartment. 

Which is pretty amazing. The only thing fucking up the view is Gareth on the couch, in his underwear. He's holding a bowl of cereal under his chin, and he accidentally tips it on himself.

"Sorry," Eddie says, "I wasn't expecting to bring home company."

"Oh, that's okay," Gareth answers with a smirk.

"I wasn't talking to you," Eddie laughs, and Gareth grins. "If you got cereal on that couch, clean it up. I'm not smelling sour milk for the next decade every time I sit down."

"Yeah, yeah," Gareth says. 

Then he looks right at Steve.

"Steven," Gareth greets, and Steve gives him a little wave. He's really grown up since Steve saw him last.

Eddie puts his hand on the small of Steve's back, "My bedroom is back here."

It looks like his closet exploded, a familiar mess. Eddie starts picking up clothes off the bed.

"Sorry, I had trouble deciding what to wear tonight," Eddie says, several pairs of black jeans that look identical to Steve slung over his arm. 

His room has a hell of a view. There are floor to ceiling windows, and Steve stands there and looks over the city. Eddie's done well for himself. But Steve knew that, never doubted that he would, but it's just something else to see the reality of that with his own eyes.

Eddie wraps his arms around Steve's middle, hugging him from behind, his chin hooked over Steve's shoulder.

Steve closes his eyes and just leans into his touch.

Eddie's hands are all over him. Rough calluses touching, stroking, remapping his skin. Seemingly marking the changes. Steve's face down on the softest, worn-in sheets he's ever felt. They smell like Eddie. They feel like home. 

They aren't fancy, no satin or showy black here, just comfortable gray cotton. The real Eddie, not the persona.

The lights of the city are casting the room in shadow, but Steve doesn't need to see Eddie. He can feel him. 

Eddie is rocking into him, slow and steady. There's no hurry, no racing towards the finish line.

Because this is goodbye, and neither of them are quite ready to let go. Not yet.

When Steve wakes up, it's dark in the room, and Eddie is dead to the world, his hair is fanned out across the pillow. As much as Steve wants to roll over, curl into Eddie's body and go back to sleep, he's aware it's time to go. He doesn't want to do it in the morning when it's awkward and sad. The harsh light of day ruining this. Eddie had shown him how much he'd missed him, as promised, and Steve's gonna carry that with him, feel it for days. 

This is a better ending than they got last time.

He dresses quietly, and Steve's carrying his boots out of Eddie's bedroom, when another door in the hallway cracks open.

"Oh, hell no," is the pronouncement, and Steve turns and looks. Gareth.

"Yeah, well, I love you, too, Gareth," Steve says, as he keeps walking. He doesn't need any lip from this kid. Never has, never will.

But then he's jostled as Gareth forces his way in front of Steve, blocking his path out of the hallway. Standing in front of him, not allowing him to just sneak away in peace. Does there really need to be salt rubbed into the gaping wound? He's going. Maybe he fucked up. Maybe they both did. But it was one night. Closure. Ripping open old wounds. Whatever you want to call it.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Gareth hisses, and Steve just glares at him. 

"Back to my own hotel, back to my own life. What the fuck is it to you?"

And Gareth grabs Steve's boots, yanking them from his hand, one landing with a thunk against the plush carpet. Then he kicks his foot out, banging it against the door they're stopped in front of, like a crazy person.

"What the fuck is your problem, dude?" Steve snaps, and the second door opens. Goodie, then Jeff, standing in the doorway. Why are they all fucking here? Don't they see enough of each other on the goddamn road? Steve tilts his head back, annoyed, "Great. Just great."

"Steve?" Jeff asks. Like he might be someone else.

"Don't you run away from him again!" Gareth hisses, and Steve feels insane. In what universe did Steve ever run from Eddie? 

"What the fuck? Run? Me? I'm the one that ran? I think you've rewritten history there, kid," Steve says, squatting down to pick up his fallen boot.

And Gareth shoves his shoulders, knocking him off-balance and onto his ass. 

Oh, Steve's gonna kill him.

But Eddie gets there first.

"What in the actual fuck?!" Eddie screams, getting in between Gareth and Steve as Steve puts on the one boot he has control over.

Eddie attempts to wrestle the other away from Gareth, bullying him around the hall.

"I was helping you!" Gareth yells, ducking under Eddie's arm, darting to the side, but that allows Goodie to easily snag the boot being held hostage during the evasive maneuver. He turns it over to Jeff, who hands it down to Steve, waiting for him to get it pulled on, and then helps him to his feet.

Ushering him past Eddie roughhousing Gareth against the wall, making him squawk and squall. Not a thing has changed. It'd be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous.

Jeff holds his arm out behind Steve, a protective gesture, and presses the down button for him.

Steve steps in when the door opens, sees Jeff pressing the intercom on the wall, and then the doors close. The last thing he hears before he descends is a hand slapping against the doors, and Eddie's muffled, "No!"

When Steve steps out of the private elevator, the same doorman from earlier is waiting and steps forward.

"Mr. Harrington, this way," he states, and hovers a hand behind his back, just like Jeff had, like Jeff must be so used to this, that now he was doing it himself. He hears the doorman radio for a car to be sent to the escape hatch and Steve thinks that sounds a bit dramatic, but smiles to himself.

So, there's a back entrance they use, but Eddie decided to have them dropped off out front. He wanted them to be seen, and Steve doesn't try to read into that. Tries not to interpret it as a hard launch, as he's led down a long hallway, far away from the front of the building. 

The doorman holds open a door that leads to a flight of stairs that go down, down, down. Steve smiles at him, even if he's a little embarrassed to be slinking off underground in the middle of the night. Maybe the doorman is used to it. Maybe this is part of his regular job, ushering out Eddie's conquests. 

"Steve, wait!" he hears, as Eddie is rushing down the hallway toward them.

"Mr. Harrington," the doorman says, giving him a choice. He surely works for Eddie, especially if he knows who Steve is without having ever met him before, but he's clearly giving Steve an out. 

"It's okay," Steve says, and the doorman takes a step back, as they both watch Eddie run down towards them only in his jeans, barefoot.

The doorman lets Eddie and Steve step into the stairwell, and then closes the door to the hallway, giving them some privacy. Eddie nods towards another door, and then taps his watch against the plate on the wall, lighting it up green, unlocking it. Once he opens it, it's a small balcony. With some sort of dark screen that Steve assumes only works one way. They can see out, but the world can't see in. Eddie's sure living a fancy life.

The fresh, fall air feels nice against his face, and Steve closes his eyes. Eddie pats his pockets, finds what he's looking for, and then lights a cigarette. When it's offered up, Steve takes it. At least on this side of the building, the street is blissfully empty. The crowd from earlier, totally gone. 

It feels normal, and the sounds of the city hum with life down below.

"Don't go, or at least let me walk you out," Eddie says, hand on Steve's forearm, and he keeps talking, "Are you okay?"

Steve laughs, "Just plotting Gareth's demise."

"I'll help," Eddie says, a small grin on his face. Then he looks serious, "He shouldn't have shoved you."

"I just didn't have my center of balance, and he took advantage like a little shithead."

"Still," Eddie says.

Steve's not mad. Trying to be forced to stay is way better than being encouraged to leave.

"It's fine. He just didn't want me to run again," Steve says, raising an eyebrow, and he smiles when Eddie cackles. "You been telling stories?"

"No. Well, of course, but not about that. He knows what really happened. He's just-"

"Your Robin," Steve fills in.

"Yeah. How is Robbie? We didn't really get a chance to catch up."

Steve laughs, Robin would have eviscerated him had he tried.

"Good, great. Happy. Well, probably not tonight. She doesn't want to clean up any more messes you and I make with each other. But good, otherwise."

Eddie just stares at Steve, eyes unwavering.

"What?" Steve finally asks.

"What if we don't make any more messes?" Eddie asks, big, brown eyes looking into Steve as if he can see his soul if he stares hard enough.

"Eddie," Steve says.

"Seriously. What if we do it right this time?"

"Are you not still on the road?" Steve asks, because he knows the answer to that, and Eddie's a lot more famous than he was the last time he thought he needed to leave Steve in the dust.

"Yeah, but not in the same way. I'm older. Wiser."

"You sure about that?" Steve teases.

"Let a guy dream," Eddie banters back, then adds, "Let a guy make up for his sins."

"Well, you do have plenty of those," Steve teases.

"I do," Eddie admits, then reaches out to squeeze Steve's arms, "But I'm ready. For you. For this," he says, hand sliding down to brush against Steve's wedding band. "How 'bout it?"

Like it's that easy. Like there won't be conversations to have, and the same old problems to tackle. Like there isn't deep-seated hurt to smooth over, overcome.

But none of that matters. Not really. 

Because, yeah. Steve's ready for it, too. 

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

Notes: If you're familiar with the song by Taylor Swift, you'll have recognized where several of the lyrics popped in. (And other songs from Taylor's discography as well.) I love these song challenges, since music inspires me to write things SO often.

This got way longer than I intended. I was gonna write it jointly for this and "wrath" over at @corrodedcoffinfest, but 1313 words went by way too fast, haha. 🤣

[the-lark-ascending69]

Worst thing is they don't even hate it in itself. They hate it because they like to imagine it would hurt the feelings of a fictional male character.

How could someone be against Ronance?

They literally have the potential to be the best couple in all Stranger Things.

They deserve WAY more love from this fandom!

FR!!!! they have so much chemistry <333 i love them sm and it sucks that some hate them just to hate them

[neverthebabysitter]

Ghost! Steve Harrington my beloved <3

Something about a dead Steve who stays as a ghost but not because he wants to stay, afraid of dying, but because he can't leave the Party alone. It just scratches a part of my brain...

I have a lot of au's for this, and au's for the au's, help.

Also, one of my favorite things to add about this, is the implied platonic soulmates stobin, Steve getting attached at Robin in every single one of them in one way or another, whether he can't separate himself from her/ being apart, or he could stay because he has some connection to her that make it possible.

Just- the heartbreak and grief that it would came from Steve's death but also not knowing how to deal with it because he is right there.

Not to mention that Steve may have already accepted that he would die young, but still grieving his own death and what could have been. I'm talking about his developing relationship with Eddie.

Eddie being devastated that he is falling in love with literally the ghost of a person, that they can't have something even when it's mutual, Steve might be a ghost now but he can't stay forever. Steve is dead.

Robin of course isn't having a good time but she already knew that Steve would have died for any of them. She's angry and sad and just wants to hug his best friend after she wakes up from a nightmare only to realize that she can't, even when he's right there.

She loves Steve so she will bear with the weight of his loss. She is happy he doesn’t know the pain of losing half of himself. For him, she will accept that he can go first, he just needs to wait a bit longer for her.

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 12th: Soulmates | Eight - Sleeping at Last | Perceptive a/n: steddie, soulmates au (phillia + eros). eddie & jeff as platonic soulmates, stobin soulmates mentioned always. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3

Soulmates, Eddie scoffs to himself as he doodles in his notebook at the back of the coffee shop. Bullshit. 

He knows it’s actually not, that people walk around every day hand-in-hand with beautiful, swirling tattoos that grow in intricacy and detail the more time they spend with their soulmate. Most days, Eddie doesn’t mind that the simple snake design on the inside of his wrist never so much as slithers, but today? Today, he minds. 

Dating in the world of soulmates is challenging. He tries to just focus on how feels, on if the person sitting across from him is compatible with his lifestyle, on if there’s any kind of spark, but it’s inevitable that at some point, both he and his date look down at their wrists to find nothing. 

His coffee date had gone well enough but, like always, was a dead-end. How many paths can one person try before the destination seems moot? 

So he sits and scribbles in his notebook, hoping that perhaps staying in the coffee shop rather than returning home to the apartment he shares with Jeff will provide some inspiration. That tattoo, the one that’d started as a small star on his ankle, has grown into a whirling galaxy since moving in with Jeff– a philia connection if he’s ever seen one. But if his eros tattoo won’t build upon itself naturally, he’ll do it manually with a tattoo gun. 

It also helps that the barista is perhaps the most beautiful man Eddie’s ever laid eyes on, enough so that it’s… actually a little intimidating, if he’s being honest with himself. Intimidating to the point that Eddie’s yet to approach him for a refill since the girl who’d given him his first sugary abomination finished her shift. Besides, the mystery barista must’ve already found his soulmate. His entire left arm, from fingertip to at least his elbow, is covered in delicate, colorful designs that twist and wind about his skin, curling around each finger and looping gracefully up his arm.

I can still enjoy the view, he justifies to himself, taking a sip from his cup and remembering for the third time that it’s empty. 

He sighs and sets it back down, clearing his throat. It’s as good a time as any, he supposes, as he stands from his little corner table by the window and strolls across the room to the counter. 

“Hi, what can I get started for ya?” The barista asks, his name tag now visible and proclaiming Steve. 

“Uh,” he starts. “Salted caramel mocha, please?” 

Steve’s smile is bright and he leans on the counter, leveling it straight in Eddie’s direction. All Eddie wanted was a refill on his sweet treat disguised as coffee and instead, it feels as though he’s smacked in the head.

“Comin’ right up,” Steve replies, turning around to get his order going. “You’ve been sitting over there for a while, how’d that date go?” He asks with the confidence and familiarity of someone Eddie’s known his entire life. 

“Watching me, were you?” 

Steve grins over his shoulder, shrugging. “A little.” 

“I’m flattered. Well, I’m still here and they’re not so that oughta tell you everything.” 

Steve hums and turns back to the machine, finishing up his order. Eddie’s heart beats rhythmically, somehow slowing and quickening all at once and his lungs feel buoyed by something more powerful than his breath. When Steve faces him again and hands him his cup, exchanging it for the empty one in Eddie’s hand, they both freeze. 

Eddie’s snake begins to move. 

A clear, serpentine movement at the center as small, geometric lines begin to appear in the background. 

“Holy shit,” Eddie whispers, setting his full cup down so he doesn’t spill it. 

“Yeah, holy shit.” Steve places his other arm on the counter, the blank one, and Eddie sees that it’s not blank. There’s a small, barebones tree on his forearm whose leaves begin to blossom and shake, different shades of greens and oranges appearing before his eyes. 

“But– your other arm?” Eddie chokes out, eyes flickering between his own wrist, Steve’s forearm, and Steve’s other, fuller arm. 

“Philia. That’s Robin. But this one, this is eros.” Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. “I’m Steve.”

Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. Eddie looks in wonderment, searching for any sign of lie or trickery in Steve’s eyes and finds nothing but warmth and familiarity. 

“I’m Eddie.”

[edmufics]

S5 Theory Part Three

SO

Here are my theories with all the info I have from The Dark Tower universe.

Disclaimer: Im not saying any of these are right, likely to happen, or that I necessarily even want them to happen. I just think that btwn learning ab TDT and rewatching stranger things, these are fun theories to consider!

*SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1-4 AHEAD*

*MENTIONS OF S5 BTS CONTENT AHEAD* I think S5 will come out on July 15th, 2025—the ninth anniversary! It will take place over the course of several months rather than a week or two like we have seen in the past. I think it will start in late summer, back-to-school time. I think we will see a lot more of Mr. Clark this season, and he will fill some of the scientist roles (along with new casting) we will be missing after S4's deaths. We will see a lot more flashbacks this season, either due to trying to keep Vecna out with positive memories or just reminiscing. Vecna will return to Hawkins lab at some point. Possibly a significant battle or it will be his lair. Vecna takes Holly, but I'm not sure he kills her (Like an 80% chance he does tho) I think with the increased army presence, we may see the kids lose the ability to see or visit Max (since she is a Venca victim). Nancy has a candy stripper/nurse outfit this season because they are trying to sneak in to see/save her in some way. I'm at about 60% on the chance of Kalli coming back. If she does, it will either help El train or help El defeat Vecna. Nancy detective journalist era, but she isn't going to leave for college. She would never just dip like that. Stobin or Nancy work at the radio station set we've seen. Hopper will either be stuck in hiding with El or in the army, but only as a means of gathering intel.

I think that people were not far off on the Kas theory. I think there will be a character that represents Kas, but it'll be Will. In S4 they talk about how Vecna doesn't kill his victims, he absorbs their abilities/souls. We also see that El can revive the dead (Max) in some way. That skill isn't practiced on her part, and we know Vecna is stronger than she is. I think Vecna kills Will and then revives him using memories like El did to Max, but only uses his darkest memories. These memories turn him against his friends, at which point he becomes Kas. Mike will be the key to getting Will back (since Mike is the heart). Mike will have to confront his romantic or platonic feelings for Will while reminding him of their good memories. This will lead to Will delivering the final blow to Vecna (like Kas) when he remembers.

I also think the idea of "Twinners" from The Talisman will come into play, but not quite in the same way. Instead of them all having Upside Down twins, I think Vecna will reanimate the corpses of his victims (since we've seen that the bodies are still in the Upside Down) and use these reanimated corpses to torture the MCs. Especially bc we know that it's all a hive mind so anyone killed by a part of Vecna's hive mind was technically killed by Vecna (depending on if thats how they wanna spin it). Specifically, I think Dustin will be either Vecna'd (but not killed) or have to see Eddie's reanimated corpse (fitting in with strange similarities between Eddie and Metallica's Eddie). Barb will return to torture Nancy, Bob returning for Joyce, etc.

In the Talisman universe, there is a plot where the person who opens the gate banishes himself to an alternate universe and closes the gate forever, forcing himself to leave behind everyone he loves. I think this is how El's story will end. She won't die but instead will have to stay in the Upside Down forever. In the end, we will see a crying Mike looking up and noticing the light above him glowing brightly, showing how he and El may continue communicating.

Characters I think could die:

Vicki (they loooove giving us a new character to fall in love with so they can brutally kill them that same season)

Steve (sacrificing himself for the Dustin, Robin, or Johnathan.) Holly (Maybe, it just seems too easy) Dr. Owens Vecna (Duh) Either Lucas or Max (I think Max may come back only to lose Lucas) Murray Ted Wheeler Wayne Munson (following Eddie's reanimated corpse into the upside down; I think that's how they reveal that Vecna reanimated the bodies)

Characters that I think are 100% going to survive: Mike Dustin (will try to be a hero like Eddie, but Steve will sacrifice himself to save Dustin (I think at the church)) Will Joyce Karen Wheeler

Anyone else, I'm not sure they are safe, but I also don't think they are going to die.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

[shares-a-vest]

wc: 7.4k (7 Chapters - Completed) | Rated: T for Canon-Typical Swearing, Flirtatious Banter/Innuendo/Suggestive Language | cw: One hospital scene right up top (contains very mild descriptions of hospital details and Eddie’s injuries), Past Mention of Eddie selling weed

Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Max Mayfield, Wayne Munson, Robin Buckley’s Mother (Melissa Buckley), Claudia Henderson, Keith (Stranger Things)

Relationships: Endgame Steve/Eddie, Platonic Stobin

Tags: Post Season 4, Fix-It (Everybody Lives, Nobody Dies), Switching POVs, Idiot4Idiot, Summer School, Tutor!Robin Buckley, Studying, Getting Together, Summertime, Light-Hearted Banter, Awkward Flirting, Shenanigans (Mild Matchmaking/Setting Up), Family Video, the Harrington’s Pool, Study Cards

Eddie finds himself completing High School by way of a summer school program, Steve wants to shoot his shot at a college application and Robin needs to study for finals that were pushed back because Hawkins almost fell into an undead abyss. What could possibly go wrong? Written for @malikat24601 for the @steddiesummerexchange using the prompt: 'Robin is a tutor and she gets stuck tutoring both her best friend Steve but also Eddie Munson. Eddie flirts, Steve is dumbfounded, Robin gets more and more annoyed watching the idiocy play out as the days go by'.

Read on AO3

[bylertism]

tfilygate (The First I love You)

a byler theory based on the “The First I love You” parallel!

ok sooo this is a bylergate i made <3 if someone made this already uhhhhhhh i did not know oopsies also first serious post on here scary

for those who don’t know the parallel: 

“The First I love You” is a song from the stranger things original score. the reason i’ve been writing it with proper formatting is because the way it’s written is *very* important. the word “love” is off – it’s missing capitalization. we’ll get back to this later.

this song (which i’ll be referring to as “tfily” from now on) only plays in two scenes: first near the end of robin’s coming out scene and second near the end of mike and el’s scene at the end of s3. the song isn’t played in any other scene.

as you probably know if you’ve watched the show, in the first scene, steve confesses to robin. robin rejects him because she's a lesbian. in the second scene, el tells mike she loves him and kisses him. he doesn’t kiss back (keeps his eyes open, too) and doesn’t say anything. he just stands there looking confused.

what's interesting is that they could've used any other song for the mileven scene –  hell they could've even made a new one seeing as tfily is new in that season – but they didn't. they specifically chose the song they already used for a failed confession. for a scene with unrequited love. back to the uncapitalized "love" from the title.

this is also the only song in the entire show to have a titular word like this uncapitalized (no, words like the and if etc do not count. that's just how you write a title) so randomly in the title. it automatically makes you think that something is wrong with the love, at least on a surface level. then you see the stobin scene. there's something wrong with the love. it's not true love. it's unrequited love. we can assume that the lowercase love probably means untrue love or unrequited love. now we look at the mileven scene… it's also a confession scene. el confesses her love to mike (albeit they're already in a relationship). of all the songs they could've chosen, they chose the song from another confession scene. a confession scene that did not end in the characters involved becoming a couple. if we established that the "love" stood for untrue or unrequited love then… we can only assume that el's love for mike is unrequited. and no i don't mean his love in general as so many milevens think. i mean his romantic love. he definitely still loves her platonically, but this isn't about platonic love. we're talking about romance. specifically, failed romance.

long story short, the lowercase "love" in tfily is important and stands for untrue/unrequited love. it plays during scenes where one character confesses and the other doesn't feel the same.

now that that's out of the way…

onto the theory!

compared to the explanation of the parallel, the actual theory is so short, but i needed to have that explanation there for people who didn't know about it… so anyway!

the theory is that sometime in season 5 we'll get another parallel to both scenes mentioned before… but a bit different. 

the two differences: 

this time, it'll be a byler confession.

the song playing in the back will be titled "The First I Love You" with love capitalized. This will signify that their love is not unrequited and is true love.

to tie this together, the person confessing in this scenario would be mike. even though mike has said i love you to el before, it wasn't true romantic love. in this scene with "The First I Love You," it would be his first true ily that he means with actual romantic intention.

(if this st writers post is mike to will and the last blank is "love, mike", then the song would be "The Second I Love You" instead. basically the same thing, love is still capitalized)

wow that was short.