#rockstar steve

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

Part Of The Band

by beetlesandstars, witchjeons

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Background Chrissy Cunningham/Robin Buckley Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Dave Grohl, Jonathan Byers Additional Tags: Flirting, band au, Modern AU, Famous Eddie Munson, Famous Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, texting fic, Secret Relationship, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Pining, paparazzi plot devices, dave grohl is in this, dave mustaine is also mentioned, authors have no self-control when it comes to their hyperfixations, Idiots in Love Words: 3,441 Chapters: 1/1

Summary

Robin: *image attached* happy friday Eddie: CAN YOU LET IT GO IT WAS ONE TIME I FELL OFF THE STAGE ONE. TIME. Robin: not when u still react like that i won’t Steve: Making that screenshot my lockscreen Eddie: unbelievable. i’ve been trying to get you to make me ur lockscreen for YEARS and this is what does it??? i thought we were friends Steve: Lol Eddie: i’m quitting the band (Or: the ultimate band AU. Oh, and Dave Grohl makes an appearance.)

[whathehonestfuk]

Some guy Steve and rockstar Eddie

Steve sees Eddie out in public and partially recognizes him, no idea he's famous but in one of those I've definitely seen your face before but he can't get his concussion riddled brain to place where

Eddie meanwhile is bracing himself for either an over eager fan or based on how angry Steve's confused face is for him to start shouting about 'satan worship'

Imagine Eddie's surprise when Steve does finally approach him he simply asks 'do you know Dustin?'

[arelliann]

@steddie-week Day 1: Secret relationship

What does rockstar Eddie Munson get up to backstage?

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Just waiter Steve who’s in tiny black shorts because Robin didn’t like how the pair she was assigned fit. So they swapped, Robin with the baggier basketball shorts and Steve with the short but reasonable pair. Both of them have ties and a button down, and some days even wear sunglasses for the bit.

Though one day while on the clock, Rockstar Eddie comes in. High off his ass. Comes off as a dick, so Steve and Robin double team him. One of them “accidently” trips the other into dumping soup all over him. Then when the other is trying to clean it up, the other is purposely charging Eddie for the soup (it’s not like he’ll notice) and the older gentleman who comes here every day gets a free meal.

Turns out the older man that comes in there every day is Wayne and he’s now sitting across from a soup covered Eddie laughing his ass off because he knows how the wonder twins work when a customer is an asshole. (It’s not the first time he’s received a free meal from them)

[matchingbatbites]

Modern AU where Corroded Coffin does get famous - just not in a way they were expecting.

They try through high school, play some local spots, post their songs online, but they don't really get a lot of traffic. And they think, maybe this isn't going to work.

Until one day, when they post a cover of a pop song, a la Punk Goes Pop, and it does well. Really well.

So they start doing more covers.

Is there a part of their steadily growing fan base that loves their originals and racks up the play counts on the one album they've put out? Of course.

And they never stop sharing their original stuff, but it never gets the kind of engagement that the covers do - and they kind of resign themselves to the fact that, this is what they do now, might as well have fun with it.

Steve Harrington is a popstar who's been on the scene for a little while now, and he loves CC's covers. He never really cared for metal before - overstimulation and audio processing are a wicked duo - but because he knows these songs, he's able to actually appreciate the music, the way the band morphs them into their own style.

He keeps finding himself wishing that they would cover one of his songs.

And then he learns about their original stuff. He listens to the one album on repeat and loves it, loves the lyrics and the composition of the music, and decides that he's going to do the cover for once.

(He's definitely not trying to catch the attention of the hot as fuck lead guitarist, no siree! This is just a nice, normal cover.)

Cue Eddie Munson having a heart attack when his notifications are flooded with links to Steve Harrington - popstar dreamboat and Eddie's absolute guilty pleasure, the man whose music he only listens to at the dead of night when he's guaranteed to never be caught - covering one of Eddie's songs.

[paradimeshifts7]

𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸

𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦, 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸

From this, of course 🎸⚾️

[dreamsteddie]

One of my favorite flavors of Rockstar Eddie and Normal Guy Steve is when Steve not only doesn't care who Eddie is, but actually thinks his music is terrible and is Not Impressed with him at all.

Robin and the kids drag him to a festival where Corroded Coffin is headlining and they have an ok time, Steve is mostly focused on making sure no one gets dehydrated or roofied but he enjoys some of the opening acts before the heavier shit starts.

But then the more metal/alternative stuff starts and more people are crowding around the main stage and the whole thing irritates him and makes his head start to throb but he's keeping it together. Finally, the main act is set to take the stage and Steve can push through one more hour before corralling everyone to the food stalls one last time and heading home so he doesn't have to stop on the way to feed the gremlins, or worse, take them to his place and be forced to provide sustenance.

Only, Corroded Coffin is 30 minutes late to the stage which sets Steve's teeth on edge from the get-go. Then they come on and they are so loud and the main guy whose name he doesn't know (it's Eddie) is drenched in sweat in 5 minutes and looks like a drowned rat with tattoos. Steve has no idea what they're saying and he's reached his limit so he knows he must be glaring up at them and is the infuriating guy in the front of the crowd with his arms crossed not dancing.

Finally, the show ends after two encores making it well past 1:00 AM. The kids and Robin are buzzing, so he can't be too mad, but he's ready to get something to eat and drive them all home. Technically there's two days of the festival, but they only had enough money to shell out for the first day.

It's when they're in line for food that Eddie seeks out Steve. Usually people standing in front and not moving is a surefire way to piss Eddie the fuck off, but this guy was so pretty and looked so sweet looking at his friends next to him he was instantly smitten.

He walks over with a kind of jackass rockstar swagger that immediately sets Steve off. He smells like sweat and his hair is a huge frizzy mess and he says "Hey sweetheart, why don't you let me buy you something?"

Steve just gives him an unimpressed look while the party is in various states of shock, crosses his arms, and says "Only if you want to pay for all these shitheads too. They're like a pack of feral chipmunks and I'm not looking forward to paying their bill."

This is not at all the response Eddie expects. He's famous! He's used to people getting flustered and tripping over themselves to be in his orbit! Sue him! But he's immediately charmed and agrees to pay for everyone and ends up coming with them to eat around Steve's car, entertaining the kids when he'd rather lean up on the side of Steve Robin hasn't already claimed for herself.

By the end of the night Eddie is convinced Steve is the one for him, the man of his dreams and is determined to woo him. He asks for Steve's number which Steve agrees to give, but promises Eddie he won't be easy to please.

Eddie is more than up for the challenge.

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

A sort of part two has been created 😊

[jadewritesficshere]

Rockstar!Eddie who, after rehab, returns home. Have support as he tries to make this time stick (he's also pretty positive Wayne will actually kill him if his assistant Nancy doesn't first). He's told to try some healthy habits.

So Eddie tries to be good. Decides he'd try yoga, cause that's the last place anyone would expect to find him (not that people recognize him much outside of his stage makeup and costuming).

And it's fine. The instructor is nice and takes pity on him, practically staying with him the whole time. Talks his ear off, but it helps distract him from the muscles he didn't realize he had that ache as he stretches.

His hands are flat on the ground, trying to do a downward dog position. "Hips up," a male voice calls. "You're not even an instructor!" The girl snaps, before lightly touching Eddie's hips to position him correctly. He glances up, ready to mouth off to the man but-

He's a fucking God on earth. A male Adonis. Truly a perfect specimen. Hair pushed back that Eddie wants to run his hands through. That tiny waist, slightly shown off in a muscle tank, oh God Eddie can see chest hair and a hint of abs and-

Eddie's hands slip out from under him. Face crashing into the floor. The startled yelp he lets out rivals the instructor's. He simultaneously can't feel his face and also feels way too much of it.

Eddie can feel strong hands grab his shoulders, carefully turning him, one large hand cradling the back of his neck for support. He peers up into the concerned, hazel eyes of the Hottest Man On Earth.

"Holy shit, you okay?" The man asks, fingers lightly touching Eddie's nose. He can feel it already swelling and blood start to come out of it. "Definitely broken," the man sighs and frowns down at Eddie," You okay otherwise? Lightheaded, dizzy, seeing stars?"

"I think I just fell for you." Eddie replies, causing the instructor to snort and laugh as the Loveliest Most Handsome Man blushes.

[ghast1yghosts]

steve goes around pressure washing drive/walkways and mowing lawns for free as a content creator. the next person he offers to is an older man who’s yard needs help. when he comes back the following morning and gets to work, there’s another man there, younger, around his age.

the man says his uncle owns the joint, that he’s been meaning to hire someone out here to clean up the yard for him, and he would do it himself but he can’t stand for long periods of time. steve introduces himself, and in turn, learns his name is eddie.

“i could sit out here if you want since company..?”

it’s a kind offer, but, “i wouldn’t be able to hear you,” steve gives him a weak smile.

honestly, eddie seems like an interesting guy. and pretty cute too. especially when he goes red at the realization that ofc steve won’t be able to hear him. duh.

“you’re welcome to watch, though.”

“i’ll consider it,” he pauses and steve can see him itching to keep the conversation going. “so. no catches on this whole thing? completely for free?”

“yep.”

“at least, like- let me make you a sandwich or lemonade or something.”

“i’m fine with whatever. totally up to you, i’ll still be doing this either way.”

“noted. let you get to it then.” and eddie turns around to head inside the home.

steve ends up taking about half of his day just on his uncle wayne’s driveway. stopping and chatting with eddie when he comes out with some iced lemonade, and having to pause mid clean to hear whatever’s been shouted his way from the stoop. but he really doesn’t mind at all.

later, when he edits the video (no names or places included) and puts it up, his comments are quick to point out that guy looks and sound shockingly like eddie *munson.* some popular musician or something he had to look up on google.

and yeah, that’s probably the same eddie who asked for his number. who’s own number is burning a hole in steve’s pocket.

contact: eddie

sent 7:46pm:

I hope I didn’t just dox you or your uncle

received 7:50pm:

lol

ur good big guy

sent 7:51pm:

K cool

So… you want to get coffee thursday?

received 7:52pm:

i would very much like that yes

[ultimate-shipper-trash-blog]

My Darling

"Who even is that guy?"

"That's my darling"

----

It starts with a post.

Eddie had posted a photo on Instagram holding his acoustic guitar, cross legged on a chair.

Recently he had been front cover of a magazine of 'him' wrapped around a young woman. Living the Rockstar life.

His agent had suggested he show a more domestic side to him, a softer side.

Hence the acoustic.

It was summer so Steve was off of work and sleeping on the couch behind him, blankets up to his ears. The only thing visible was his hair peeking out and his arm hanging over the side of the couch. A sleeve of tattoos running down it all the way to his knuckles. Eddie loved that arm. He loved the way the tattoo curved around his knuckles like water. His nice, big. veiny hand that-

WOAH off topic.

He had done half the tattoos himself and made sure he payed for it all.It was the least he could do for all Steve has done for him.

They met eight and a half years ago, Steve had seen Eddie play at shitty clubs and recognized his mop of hair getting hit in the alleyway.

Eddie thought he was a goner for sure until Steve ripped the guy off him.

Steve just shot him a smile and complimented his guitar skills.

Eddie fell to his knees. He was gone for him.

He invited Steve to band practice as a thank you since he didn't have much to offer.

Two weeks later they were dating and Steve has been their number one fan since.

When Eddie got the record deal he dedicated everything to Steve.

Everything always was for him. As it should be.

Anyways,

Eddie posted the photo excited to promote the acoustic cover of his hit song 'My Hero, My Darling'.

The comments instantly went ballistic asking who the random man behind him was. He definitely wasn't in the band and why would notorious lady killer Eddie Munson have a man in his house...he couldn't possibly have friends.

Eddie responded to one comment only, knowing the rest would sort itself out.

"That's my darling ❤️"

----

"Eddie," Steve was frowning at him, poking his side with his foot.

"Eddie look at me this is serious."

"Yes my love?"

"You outed yourself. You were doing such a good job keeping this a secret. This will change everything."

Eddie turns over until his holding Steve close to him, his face in his hands.

"Good. I'm tired of hiding you my darling. I'm tired of the accusations."

"But Eddie you OUTED yourself."

"I won't say anything about you, I'd never out you Stevie. But I'm done hiding that I'm a simple man in love."

"...me too. I'm done too."

"Darling are you sure? This is a big deal. What about your school? Your principal?"

"I don't care. Everyone important to me knows. My family, my real family, know and don't care. They do wonder why I've been single for eight years but they'll get over it."

"Marry me."

"What?"

"Marry me oh my god that's the hottest thing I've ever heard. I love you so much please I can't live another moment not having you mine. Besides, if you get fired that's definitely a lawsuit and you know I've been pleasing for you to quit so I can take care of you, but you love those damn kids. Just...be mine...please."

"I've been yours. Since the start. Since always." They both have tears in their eyes.

"Yes?"

"YES OF COURSE YES!"

They're giggling through their kisses.

---

"Heeeeyyy everyone thanks for joining my live. I have something super important to inform you on! I'm getting married!!!!!"

The comments instantly flood in questioning him on moving too fast, asking if he's on drugs. The usual.

"Oooooh you guys have no idea."

----

The photo goes up an hour after the live ends.

It's Steve sitting on the couch, glasses on, red pen in his mouth. He's wearing a thick sweater and grumbling grading papers.

He looks so soft, so smooth, it's Eddie's favorite picture. The next picture in the carousel is Steve backstage at his concert. They're holding onto each other like they need each other to breathe.

The last picture is a selfie taken minutes after. Eddie with his stage makeup sweating off his face smiling brightly at the camera. and Steve kissing his cheek. Eyes squinted shut and eyeliner thick, he had worn it as a treat for Eddie.

It was well received.

The caption reads:

"I'm so happy to announce I'm marrying my best friend and partner of eight years! Everyone meet my darling. Steve is a local middle school teacher who has literally saved my life more than once. He saved my heart. God, I love him so much.

P.s. yes the tours are in the summer so Stevie can travel with us. I'd never leave him."

---

Bonus engagement edition:

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED TO EDDIE MUNSON?!"

"Yes. We've been over this."

Eddie stuck out his hand to shake, "hi, Eddie Munson, nice to meet you."

"YOU HID THIS FOR EIGHT YEARS?!"

"Yes."

"I'M BASICALLY YOUR BROTHER! HE'S MY FAVORITE CELEBRITY!"

"Yes Dustin and you can't keep a secret."

"...fair...welcome to the family."

*inspired by my friend only learning her cousin was marrying someone famous when he showed up to Thanksgiving and she lost her mind

[hawkinsbnbg]

Famous tiktoker Steve who took on the "Catch my rockstar's attention" challenge and succeeded.

In the livestream, he was standing in the front row of the Corroded Coffin concert, wearing a simple black tee and snug jeans.

When the band’s frontman—Eddie Munson—sauntered over to his side of the stage, Steve winked at the camera with a "Watch me" before lifting his shirt and flashing his tits at the rockstar.

Much to the viewers’ amusement, Eddie immediately tripped on his feet and played the wrong chord.

Steve just giggled, looking pleased.

For the next several minutes, everyone watched Eddie keep returning to this side of the stage, peacocking and showing off his guitar skills.

It was almost as if he was doing a courting dance for Steve who was too charmed by it to remember answering the comments like usual.

Hours later, Steve was seen sitting in Eddie's lap with Eddie's chin hooking over his shoulder.

They both grinned at the camera as the comment section blew up and the stream started lagging due to the increasing views.

"Guys, in case you haven't caught up on it yet, we're dating."

"Uh-uh, he's the love of my life," Eddie chimed in. "My muse, really. But he's a shy little thing. So I'm gonna settle with fiancé for now."

Steve blushed at that, but still turned slightly to peck Eddie's cheek. "Love you, too, da– darling."

"Say goodbye to everyone, baby," Eddie pressed a kiss on his jaw and husked. "Don't wanna let 'em see you any more than they already did."

"Hey, be nice," Steve chided lightly.

"Just kidding," Eddie sent the camera a wink. "But yeah, we gotta go now. My boy needs to sleep soon."

As if on cue, Steve let out a teary yawn and smiled sheepishly.

Eddie just chuckled fondly.

"See you guys later," Steve waved at the camera lazily, ending his stream with 6M views.

That was how they announced their three-year relationship to the public and made it to the headlines the next day.

The golden ring on Eddie's necklace finally made sense now.

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

you smile that beautiful smile and all the girls in the front row scream your name.

by antithetical_dreamgirl

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Chrissy Cunningham, Murray Bauman Additional Tags: Rock Star Steve Harrington, Song-writer Eddie Munson, they write an album together, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Title from a Taylor Swift Song, Famous Steve Harrington, Famous Eddie Munson, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Best Friends, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, long rambling thoughts about music, Pining, Mutual Pining, Pining Eddie Munson, Pining Steve Harrington, Matchmaker Murray Bauman, Murray is unintentionally a matchmaker Words: 4,510 Chapters: 1/1

Summary

Eddie has three major rules when it comes to working with celebrities: 1. don’t flirt with the talent; 2. don’t hang out with the talent; 3. don’t, under any circumstances, fuck the talent. He’s had enough rockstars’ managers kick him out of hotel rooms after waking up to an empty bed with cold sheets to have learned his lesson ten times over by now. He doesn’t even think of adding a fourth rule: don’t fall in love with the talent. Has never even come close to needing a rule like that. Not until he meets Steve Harrington.

[whathehonestfuk]

Steve taking the party to a corroded coffin concert and Dustin finally holds up the sign he made and was very careful not to let Steve see

The sign proudly declares "my brother is bi and single" with an arrow pointing to where he has made sure Steve is, Dustin is not above using the fact everyone thinks Steve is hot to get his favorite rockstars attention

Eddie catches sight of the sign and laughs at it because of the sheer audacity, once the laughter dies down and he gets a proper look at Steve whose watching him with mild concern do to his random laughter out break and asks "he might be bi and single but is he interested" with a wink

[starkidmunson]

glitter & crimson

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

“Marry.”

“What?”

“Marry. He’s hot, I’m not gonna kill him.”

“Eddie, we’re not playing FMK; you’re supposed to be telling me his name.”

“Oh. That’s…. Joe Jonas.”

“…he’s literally from Hawkins. And he’s holding a hockey stick.”

“Nobody from Hawkins is that hot, man, no way.”

~~~

Gareth posts the clip to his personal TikTok. Before he can get around to reposting it on Corroded Coffin’s band account, it has more than 100k views. Things only spiral from there, because once the band shares it, the video goes more viral and ends up on the screens of the right people.

chiblkhwks: harrington94 is social media challenged, but we’re going to make sure he sees this. Will keep you posted.

The comment is immediately overshadowed by a busy day of PR. A photoshoot to an interview to a radio show to the green room at the Fillmore in Boston, before an intimate pre-album release show for members of their fan club. Eddie has completely forgotten about the video entirely, but Gareth’s phone pings with a text notification.

“A response has been issued!” He declares to the room, still grinning down at the screen of his phone.

The rest of the band shares a collectively confused look, all seeming pleased to find they’re not alone in whatever they’ve missed.

“What?” Jeff asks for the group.

In lieu of an explanation, Gareth just flips the phone in his hand around to show a TikTok, stitched with the clip they’d made earlier that morning.

~~~

“Marry. He’s hot, I’m not gonna kill him.”

#Stitch

“Is… is that supposed to be a compliment?” Steve asks, making a pinched face as he laces up his skates.

“You watched the whole video. He compared you to Joe Jonas.” The girl behind the camera responds, but he levels her with an unimpressed look. She doesn’t respond, and after a beat, he sighs.

“Yeah, alright, I guess Joe Jonas is hot. I’ll take the compliment.” He huffs, standing to his feet and moving from the bench he’d been suiting up on toward the ice. The girl follows him, gliding toward the net once they're in the rink, never falling out of pace with him.

“Do you know who it is talking in the video?” She presses, and Steve looks unimpressed again.

“You mean the other hot guy?” He asks with a grin, then nods. “That was Eddie. I’m surprised you don’t know him, the Party listens to Corroded Coffin all the time.”

The video loops back to the stitched clip from Gareth’s initial TikTok then. Everyone in the room processes what just unfolded.

“The Party? Did… did Steve Harrington just make a reference to DnD? Or is that some sports thing I dont understand?” Jeff asks.

Freak raises his hand, indicating he’s next to speak. “Not only that, but his nerdy DnD friends listen to us all the time?”

“Did King Steve call Joe Jonas hot?” Eddie asks, visibly still trying to connect the wires in his brain that fried at Steve’s agreement. “Did he call me hot?”

All three turn toward Eddie, whose face is still reflecting the long form math equation his brain is trying to work out, and Jeff sighs.

“Well, boys. I think we’ve officially lost him.” He says, bowing his head. Freak and Gareth join him solemnly, making Eddie huff and cross his arms over his chest.

“You’re all so dramatic.”

“Gee, I wonder who encouraged us to be this way,” Freak exaggerates through a grin, before shoving a guitar into Eddie’s chest, just in time for Paige to open the door and summon them.

“We can have a meltdown over Harrington after the gig,” Gareth promises with a pat to Eddie’s back as everyone moves around him, exiting the green room and heading for the stage.

~~~

Riding his post-show high, Eddie makes a bold move in the CC band TikTok, commenting under the video Steve had stitched.

corrodedcoff!n: we’ll be in chicago 1/26 if harrington94 and ‘the party’ are free 🎫

He only gets about 20 minutes of peace before Gareth is jumping around, proclaiming himself the greatest wingman in history.

“It’s an offer for free concert tickets made over social media, and he hasn’t even answered, Gare Bear.” Eddie tries to get him to relax, but he, too, is eager to see how the other reacts to the offer.

He wakes up the next morning to the answer he’d been waiting on, and his stomach flips as he reads it over.

harrington94: only if you guys come to the home game 1/27 🏒

__________

Steve doesn’t even bat an eye when Max shoves her way into the locker room, b-lining straight for him.

“Can I help you?” He asks without looking up, unhooking the padding from his calf and letting it drop to the ground in front of his locker.

“Are you using TikTok to publicly flirt with Eddie Munson?” She asks, voice quieter than he’d typically expect from her, but he just scoffs.

“I’m just being friendly! You’re the one who started this in the first place! What, you didn’t expect me to log on and check if they’d responded?” He asks in response, freeing his foot from the skate, before placing a cover over the blade and letting the boot drop into the lower shelf beside his locker.

“I’m just confused because you’ve been super weird about coming out, and now you’re out here hitting on a rockstar all over social media, that’s all.” Max says, and Steve freezes for a moment.

“Do you…” he trails off, before closing his eyes and rubbing a thumb into his temple. “You really think I just accidentally came out?”

“You called Joe Jonas and Eddie Munson hot, encouraged this rockstar to come to your game when he’s in town and also accepted tickets to see him perform, Steve.” Max was monotone, and held her hands up defensively when he groaned. “I’m not starting anything, I’m just saying that this could get blown out of proportion now.”

They discuss a little further, deciding neither of them will publicly acknowledge anything that’s been posted to the account for now, until they actually come up with a plan.

Once he’s in his car heading home, Steve calls Robin.

“Dingus,” she greets, as always, and he lets out a grumble. “Uh oh. What happened?”

“I think I accidentally came out on the internet, and it’s Eddie Munson’s fault.” He’s met with several seconds of silence as he starts his car on the path to him and Robin’s shared apartment.

“Eddie, the drug dealer from high school?” Robin eventually asks, confused, and Steve groans again.

“Yeah. He uh, also is in a band?” He supplies, and Robin’s quiet for a moment as she processes. Then, he hears the tapping of a keyboard. “What are you doing?”

“Looking Eddie up, obviously.” Steve can practically see her eye roll, even though they’re not FaceTiming. “You’re nothing if not consistent, I guess. Doe-eyed curly brunet.”

Steve scoffs. “You say as though you’re not the one currently waking up beside Nance every morning.”

He’s met again by a short silence, before Robin lets out a little puff of air, in a small laugh. “Thank you again for being so cool about that, by the way.” She says, before he hears clicking on her end. “Apparently, Eddie is out as bi. Corroded Coffin does a charity show for the Trevor Project every year, and he’s been to a lot of Pride events.”

Steve’s stomach twists with each new bit of information she provides, because a part of him wants to be that out, wants to be like Robin or apparently Eddie, freely sharing that part of themselves with the world and having no one give a shit. But that’s not how it works on so many levels for Steve. Beside the shit he’d have to deal with on the ice from certain other players, he had no idea how it would impact the team overall. There’s no way to gauge how fans would react, when there’s never been an openly gay player in the NHL. And that didn't even begin to touch on how his parents would react.

“Hey,” Robin breaks him out of his spiral and he realizes he’s been chewing a hole into his cheek. “I can hear how loud you’re thinking right now. Do you need me to come home?” She asks, gently, and he sighs.

“Please.” He mumbles after a long pause, and is grateful when he hears the jingle of car keys from the other end of the phone.

~~~

Robin scrolls through article after article once she gets to their place, pulling Steve onto the sofa with her and laying his head in her lap. Her fingers twist through his hair, doing her best to keep him calm as she reads up on the situation playing out to try and help gauge how big of a hole he’s dug himself this time.

“I don’t think there’s really anyone who thinks you were flirting with him. Not seriously, at least.” She tries to assure him, but he’d already seen the twitter posts to contradict that before she came over. He sighs and rolls onto his back, so he’s looking up at her, and shrugs.

“I kind of don’t think there’s any avoiding it, at this point.” He mumbles. “I’m not… I’m not ready to come out, not like this. Not on this scale. I think the only thing I can do is carry on and hope it doesn’t get turned into any bigger of a deal.”

Robin hums down at him, and continues to brush his hair back out of his eyes. “Okay. So you don’t come out yet. But don’t overcompensate for it, okay?” He scrunches his face up at her, and she types something into her phone before turning it back into his face. He immediately pales, met with a photo of him out with Heidi last year. With a black eye on full display, he looks miserable behind a fake smile.

“Low blow,” he grumbles, pushing himself away from Robin to sit up beside her, and she raises her eyebrow at him, still holding the photo pointed in his direction.

“‘Maybe they won’t notice or ask why my literal teammate punched me in the face at practice if I take a fucking supermodel out to dinner.’” Robin’s imitation is a little too good, a sure sign of too much time spent together.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it!” He asks, taking the phone off of her and closing out of the image before locking it. He drops it back into her lap with a sigh. “I just don’t know how many times I can keep getting away with hiding it.”

“Well, it helps that Billy got traded out to LA. He would be insufferable about this, and would absolutely make everything 10 times worse.” Robin muses.

Steve sighs and hesitates for a moment before dropping his head back into her lap, curling into her. “I just want it to be on my terms, when I’m ready.”

“We’ll figure it out, and it’ll all be okay, no matter what. Okay?” She assures quietly, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek.

His phone dings with a new notification; Max texted him a screenshot from TikTok.

corrodedcoff!n: you’ve got yourself a deal 🤝🏻

[steddielations]

Steve acts on instinct.

There’s this guy in all black walking in front of him, he’s too busy looking down at his phone to notice, but Steve doesn’t trust that lamppost. He’s been going for daily runs, he likes to keep it simple during the off-season, and that post has been getting more rickety every day. Now it’s swaying dangerously in the wind and he knows it’s about to tumble.

There’s no time to call out to the guy, so Steve just plows forward and tackles him out of the way.

They fall in a messy heap and Steve unfortunately lands heavily on top.

“Holy shit! What the— ugh!” The guy heaves in pain and Steve hurries to scramble off of him.

“Sorry, that post was about to fall on you, man. You alright?”

Pieces of grass stick to the guy’s long hair as he takes stock of Steve and what happened. With a labored breath, he surprisingly jokes, “Guess I’m lucky the best football tackler alive happened to be right behind me.”

It’s sarcastic as shit but Steve smiles with a tug of amusement as he offers his hand. “Baseball, actually.”

“You’re in the wrong league, man,” he lets Steve pull him to his feet and groans on the way up. “Well, nice to meet you, Baseball, you pack a hell of a first impression. I’m Eddie.”

Steve would appreciate his ability to joke so soon after taking a hit, but people are starting to gather around. There’s already phones pointed at them that probably caught the whole thing on camera. Steve’s used to public attention by now, knows the press is going to have a field day with this and he hates causing a scene, but he wants to make sure Eddie is okay.

“Just Steve is good. You wanna…? This way,” he gestures toward the sidewalk and thankfully, Eddie seems just as eager to get out of there too, shuffling next to Steve as they round the corner.

He’s wearing so much metal jewelry, it’s like a costume, the jingle jangle of his every step accentuating how shaken up he seems. They get far enough behind a building and Steve stops to have a real look at him and… well he’s interesting to look at.

It’s like he hopped off the album cover of an 80s rock band, or one of Steve’s Bon Jovi posters that he hid under his bed in high school. Way too much leather and way too much hair for the California sun, all disheveled with grass and dirt.

“You sure you’re okay? Here, you got a little…” Steve’s hand hovers until Eddie nods that it’s okay from him to pluck the grass from his hair and lightly brush the dust from his shoulders. Eddie watches him the whole time, his eyes big and dark, an intensity in them that Steve can’t quite read but he can feel. “Didn’t hit your head or anything, did you?”

Steve lowers his hands, stepping back a little when he realizes how close they are. Eddie’s eyes follow him, a slight quirk to his lips that makes Steve feel the heat of the sun a little warmer on his face.

“I’m touched by your concern, sweetheart, but my brain has been through worse damage than a little bump.”

Steve frowns at the ladder, but the first bit definitely makes him feel the heat. He’s admittedly a bit out of practice but he can still recognize a come on. One that he definitely invited with all the touching and indulgent looks.

Then Eddie starts profusely thanking him for the whole ordeal, asking to treat him somewhere nearby for lunch. It’s not that Steve doesn’t want to, he’s very interested actually, and thankful that out of all the jewelry Eddie’s sporting, there’s no wedding ring. That’s why he’s reluctant because he’s all sweaty at the moment. Not to mention, he didn’t finish his run yet.

“Surely saving my life was enough cardio,” Eddie jokes lightly and Steve snorts.

“I saved you from a minor concussion, maybe,” and okay he’s gotta accept now.

The place is small and unassuming, burgers and sodas type joint. Steve’s likely to be recognized there, which he doesn’t mind meeting fans in public just preferably not now, it might be jarring for Eddie.

He heads for the booth tucked in the back corner, the most private looking spot that Steve had his eyes on too. They get a round of sodas from the waitress and right away, Eddie starts thanking him again.

“I noticed that lamppost wobbling days ago,” Steve sparks a conversation instead of accepting any more thanks, “I was planning to let it fall on me so I could sue the shit out of the city.”

He’s pleasantly startled by the big cackle that gets out of Eddie, “Any chance to stick it to the man. I admire that.”

“‘Course I would’ve really stuck it to ‘em and donated it back to the community,” Steve adds.

“Giving the people’s money back to the people, imagine Big Brother’s horror. Noble guy.”

Eddie seems to bubble with contagious delight that doesn’t match his whole leather and chains thing at all, but it fits into the somewhat magic of him. It's a wonder to Steve.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Eddie ventures, a glint of recognition in his eyes that Steve’s seen a thousand times. He doesn’t ping Eddie as much of a sports guy and he’s not vain enough to assume everyone knows who he is. Eddie’s probably seen him while flipping the channel past ESPN or something. Or maybe an ad for that Netflix thing he did documenting last year’s season.

“I think I’d definitely remember you.”

Steve didn’t mean it as a come-on, just that Eddie’s appearance really isn’t forgettable, but he can tell by the wicked little grin Eddie sports that it was taken as one. Steve likes that even better.

“Have you ever modeled, or anything? You’ve got the looks for it.”

Biting back a smile of his own, Steve shakes his head. “I bet you say that to everyone who saves your life.”

“None of them were half as good looking." That sounds concerning but Steve’s distracted by Eddie swirling his straw in his drink, regarding him with a long look. “Really though, I just feel like I’ve seen you before.”

Steve’s done a few covers of Sports Illustrated, but he doubts Eddie has ever picked up a copy of that, so he shrugs. “Must’ve been in your dreams.”

Eddie laughs softer this time. “You trying to sweep me off my feet or something?”

“Already did.” Steve leans back, enjoying the way Eddie’s eyes follow him.

Conversation sparks and it never really dies out. Eddie just grabs topics out of thin air, talking about the city and what they like to do and movies and his amazement that Steve knows all about D&D because he’s a nerd magnet. Eddie’s personality spills through everything he says like it can’t be contained. He’s talkative in a good way, not to a point where Steve can’t get a word in. He listens intently, has a way of putting all his attention onto Steve like he’s the most interesting person he’s ever spoken to.

It’s surprisingly easy to relax. Not because Eddie has a super calming presence or anything, his energy is just all-encompassing, it’s hard for Steve not to get sucked in and hang on to every word he says. It’s one of the rare times in public that he’s not hyper-aware of everyone around him and too paranoid of having a photo snapped and taken out of context to even enjoy himself.

That happens a lot, being one of the only professional athletes who’s open about his sexuality. The media is extremely invasive with his private life. If he’s seen with any guy friend, there’s a whole press storm about Steve Harrington’s “secret beau” within the hour. It’s ridiculous and he tries so hard to keep his lovelife under wraps that maybe he’s been neglecting it entirely, at least that’s what Robin says.

Of course, that’s when his phone lights up with a message from her. His heart sinks a little when he sees the title of the article she sent to him. He quickly shoots her a text and locks his phone without reading it.

“Everything alright?” Eddie notices the shift in Steve’s mood right away.

“Yeah just,” he sighs, bracing for the inevitable part when Eddie realizes Steve isn’t worth the hassle of all this, “Someone filmed us earlier and now it’s all over the press. I’m really sorry, I totally get it if—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I figured that would happen,” Eddie brushes it off, but Steve shakes his head.

“I don’t think you understand, it’s—”

“Wanna bet?” Eddie smirks for some reason, “I’m fine with it, I promise.”

He tosses a chip into his mouth and picks right back up with the story he was telling.

Steve is stunned for a moment, wary that maybe Eddie doesn’t fully grasp how deep this goes. But he stays there with Steve, seemingly thrilled to keep talking with him even when a family comes in and keeps staring their way, obviously building up the courage to come over and ask for a picture. Eddie’s acting like Steve’s the only person in the room and that’s enough to assure Steve that he’s really fine with it.

He’s so locked into Eddie, he barely registers when the older son from the family’s table finally wanders over and asks for a picture.

Steve is in the middle of wiping his face with a napkin, about to greet him when suddenly, Eddie pops up and asks Steve to excuse him for a minute.

“C’mon little man, let’s do it,” he says and much to Steve’s confusion, the teen excitedly goes with Eddie to his family’s table.

Steve watches, utterly baffled, as they start snapping photos and expressing what big fans they are and Eddie takes it with such bravado, laughing and chatting like he’s with a group of friends.

What the— Steve grabs his phone, opening the article Robin sent him at lightning speed.

At first, he wonders how the press was able to find out Eddie’s full name so quickly, then he sees the words "troubled rockstar" and "recovering star" so many times, it becomes abundantly clear.

Oh.

He’s not so worried about the troubled part, everyone has their shit and he doesn’t read into any of it. Those are Eddie’s stories to tell Steve if he chooses, not some tabloid. But the rockstar part connects a lot of dots that have come up in the last couple of hours since meeting Eddie and—

Yeah, just. Oh.

Part 2

[steddiebrainrotramble]

Steve had always been the one left behind. First his parents who as soon as they deemed him capable at ten, had left for longer and longer. They hadn’t been home in almost two years at this point. It had been about two months since they had defeated Vecna.

Then it had been Nancy, calling him bullshit. He believed it now, knew that anything he loved was just that. Bullshit.

Robin had shown him true friendship though. That maybe some of his love was okay, if it was platonic. That was his platonic soulmate, his best friend. He loved her deeply. But he knew she’d move on eventually too. Go to college, find a girlfriend. She wouldn’t need him for long.

And Eddie. Steve knew he was destined for great things. You don’t survive dying and having your heart restarted without some kind of stubbornness. And Steve knew the songs he wrote and his voice. It would only be so long before he got out of this god awful town and onto a stage where people loved him. Because Steve knew what his love did, it pushed people towards better things. Away from him.

He’d begun to really like Eddie. The hangouts, getting high. He was his bi awakening. His first kiss with a man. The person he wished he could love but knew he’d loose so he’d save himself the hurt.

Until the day Eddie showed up at his door, looking hopeful. Excited. And Steve knew this was it. He was leaving him for good.

“We got a record deal! An actual record deal.” Eddie jumped up and wrapped his arms around Steve, spinning him in the doorway. “We’re going to L.A. Steve.”

Steve hugged him back tightly, trying to keep the tears from his voice. “That’s great! I’m really proud of you!”

Eddie pulled away, staring at him intently. “You’re coming too. Can’t do it without you.” He whispered, taking his hand. “Please say you’ll come with me?”

“You can have the world. Why would you want me there?” Steve asked, voice rough from the tears he tried to hide.

“Because I can’t have the world without my sunshine.” Eddie said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

He couldn’t hide the tears anymore.

Steve yanked Eddie close again, burying his tear soaked face in his neck as he cried. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t bullshit after all.