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tartarusknight · 1 year

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King of the Freaks | Part 8

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Eddie woke up to Wayne yelling at him. Not the best way to wake up. But he pushed himself out of his blankets and sleepily took the phone from his uncle. He leaned on his arms on the counter, “yeah?” He yawned and watched his uncle pour him a cup of coffee like Eddie wasn’t planning on going back to bed after this.

“Hey, um, it’s Steve?” Steve’s voice sounds nervous and Eddie’s hand slips. His face smacked the counter in surprise and he jumped up to act chill.

“Steve? Hey, what’s up?” Eddie says cheerily and glares at Wayne who snorts into his cup of coffee.

Eddie grabs the cup Wayne set down next to him and took a sip. “Uh, yeah, I was- well the kids I babysit were wanting to go shopping for Snowball, you know the dance? And my car can’t fit all of them. I was wondering if you wanted to join me. Or if I could just borrow the van. You don’t have to waste your day on me. I just- It’s not safe and I-” Steve rambled and Eddie wanted to wrap him up in a hug and tell him it was all okay.

“Slow down, sweetheart. Of course, I want to spend the day with you.” Eddie cuts in and Wayne raises an eyebrow over at him. It was just a slip, nothing big and it was just the once, it wasn’t important.

Steve clears his throat over the line, “right. Yeah, great. Uh, I can meet you at the trailer. Sorry it’s so early, they literally woke me up knocking on my door. They’re little shits,” he laughs and Eddie can hear how fake it is.

“No, problem, Stevie. I’ll have enough time by the time you get here to get ready.” He assures and Wayne snorts.

“You leavin’ the house? While it’s sunny out? This boy’s a good influence on ya,” Wayne teases and Eddie flips him off.

Eddie pointedly returns his focus to the call, “Yeah, Wayne told me to get out and get some sun so, sounds like a perfect thing to do. See ya soon, darling.” He hangs up and winces as the second term of endearment comes out. “Don’t say a word,” Eddie glares at Wayne before heading to get ready.

He manages to get himself ready quickly enough but as he’s looking for his wallet, there’s a knock on the door. Eddie glances out the window to see a group of a lot of kids on his front lawn. “I’m so close to being done,” Eddie calls just as he upends a basket of dirty laundry. Swearing under his breath as he struggles to find it even now. There’s a knock on his door, making his door swing open since it was broken and never actually stayed shut.

Steve looks tired and a little bored as he glances around his room and Eddie focuses on finding his wallet. “Sorry, I’m not finding my wallet. I think it’s in a pair of jeans or maybe a hundred different places. I’m not actually sure. Like I’ve tried going back from when I last remember having it but…” Eddie groans as another pair of jeans is empty.

Steve moves forwards, catching Eddie’s attention once again and Eddie needs to remind himself that they’re going to babysit kids all day. He doesn’t have Steve in his room for anything else. Steve clears his throat, “Can you not say anything about Billy?” He blurts out and he looks shocked at his own words.

Eddie pauses his search to truly look at Steve. He’s got bags under his eyes and wearing a soft yellow sweater. Eddie gives him a soft smile, “yeah, of course. I wouldn’t make you seem uncool or-”

Steve laughs and it’s the bitchy laugh Eddie remembers from when he was friends with Tommy and Carol. Except it’s not directed at Eddie but himself, “dude. Trust me when I say they don’t think I’m cool. They watched my ass get beat by Billy already. I just- I don’t need them to know that he’s still, you know?”

Eddie desperately wants to pull him into another hug. But he forced himself to keep his distance. Steve hadn’t said anything about the last hug but it’s not like he’s tried to hug Eddie. So maybe the hug was a little too far. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” Eddie promises.

However, then he spots his wallet in his backpack. Of course, his backpack. He hasn’t needed it yet since the weekend started. He leans close to Steve to grab it and hears a sharp inhale from Steve as he pulls back. “My backpack,” he grins and Steve glances back and nods sharply kind of like a bobblehead. Eddie looks at him and the flush on his face before he heads toward the door. He gives Wayne a two-finger salute before ducking out.

Two of the kids are trying to snoop around his van and he puffs his chest out a little. He knows better than to keep embarrassing shit in there. Not after befriending Gareth who is like a feral chihuahua sometimes. (Definitely didn’t clean it after befriending Steve just in case.) The kids turn in sync and Eddie finds them terrifying with their big innocent smiles, whether they’re actually innocent Eddie doubts. He glances over at Steve who places his hands on his hips like a tired mother. “Dipshits, meet Eddie,” he gestures toward him.

The lanky dark brown-haired one frowns “wow. I didn’t think you’d have non-preppy friends.” Eddie glances over at Steve to see if Steve was hurt by it.

Steve snaps his fingers and points at the kid, “Wheeler you’re on thin ice.” He states and glances over at Eddie with an apologetic face. “Eds meet Max, Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and the only nice one, Will.” Pointing them out for Eddie.

Eddie looks over them and realizes a few things about Steve right then and there. The kids he loves are the younger siblings of people who Steve had the right to hate. “Okay, so let me get this straight,” Eddie starts and glances over at Steve, then the kids, then back to Steve. “You babysit Nancy’s younger brother, Jonathan’s younger brother, and Billy’s younger-”

“Stepsister,” the red interrupts and Eddie nods to her. He’s not sure if it’s wrong of him to be happy that she sounds pissed off to be related to Billy but he is. He’ll feel guilty about it later… or never. But it makes more sense why Steve wouldn’t want to talk about Billy with the kids.

The curly-haired one, Dustin, who Steve’s talked the most about jumps up. “And Steve’s our friend, not just a babysitter,” He adds and Eddie can’t help but smile. It’s obvious how much the kid loves Steve. And the kid was jealous of Eddie for being friends with Steve.

Steve moves and ruffles Dustin’s hair, “course, Henderson.” Acting like an older brother so easily and Eddie likes to see the care written across Steve’s face. Steve never shows his love easily but the kids seem to be the exception.

Eddie nods and tosses the keys up into the air and catches them. “Well, little ones I believe it’s time to embark on our adventure.” He says in his DM voice and opens the back door with a flourish. They all tumble in and Steve hesitates for a moment before locking his car and sitting in shotgun. Eddie hops in and starts up the van that hopefully won’t fail him today cause that would be embarrassing.

Black Sabbath blares for a moment before Eddie turns it down quickly. In the back mirror, he watches the kids plus Steve all jump. “Right, yep,” Eddie gives Steve a small, embarrassed smile. “Uh, where to?”

However, it’s not Steve who answers but Dustin. Dustin’s head peaks out from the back, “we’re looking for stylish dance attire.”

Eddie glances at the kid with a smile of approval. “You know Dustin Henderson; I think you and I are going to be good friends.”

The ride shouldn’t have been entertaining. Honestly, it was just a quick one and Steve pointed out the thrift store to check out first, but it was highly entertaining. Eddie could watch Steve attempt to look calm while Eddie drives for hours. The way his hands jump to the door handle or the armrest before he forces himself to relax. The way Steve looks very close to demanding Eddie pull over and let him drive. Eddie knows he isn’t the best driver, he’s easily distracted and likes the thrill of it all.

But when he stops at the first place and Steve grabs the keys from him, he isn’t surprised. Just amused that he was able to push Steve until he did something about it. They head in and Steve with his hands on his hips tells them to stick in pairs. Steve lingered next to him like he wanted to say something but then the kids were pulling Eddie over to get his opinion since he didn’t dress like a ”preppy jock”. Eddie glanced over to make sure Steve didn’t look hurt but he was just rolling his eyes and turning to Lucas and Max.

Lucas and Max were talking quietly as they looked over the clothes. They stayed close to Steve and would sometimes say something to Steve that would make him snort and shake his head. Mike followed Eddie around and where Mike was, Will followed. But Dustin switched between pulling Steve over to look at something and pulling Eddie over to look at something.

He got the impression that Dustin was checking out the competition for Steve’s best friend. And well… Eddie knew he wasn’t Steve’s best friend. He didn’t know who Steve would call his best friend. Maybe Jeff? Honestly, Dustin had a better chance at it than Eddie did. Steve always seemed relaxed around Dustin except for the small moments when Steve looked like a mama bear. But around Eddie, there were small glances and awkward smiles…

“Why aren’t you looking at the dresses?” Mike snarked at Max who was looking at the sweaters without any real enthusiasm.

She glanced over at him, “I don’t like skirts.”

“But it’s a dance? Girls are supposed to-” Mike continued and Eddie wondered if the kid ever kept a thought to himself.

Steve stepped between them, “she doesn’t have to. Just because most girls wear skirts doesn’t mean all of them do.”

However, that didn’t seem to stop Mike. It didn’t even make the dude pause. “That’s like saying most guys don’t wear skirts but some do.” He crosses his arms like he has a point but Eddie could personally debunk the theory. But he wasn’t sure he was okay talking about trips to gay bars, so he kept quiet.

Steve was kind of frozen and he looks like his brain was working hard to think of what to say. His eyes flicker down in thought. Eddie panics, he should say something. He should jump in and help. But then Steve straightens, eyes staring Mike down. “They do just not in bumfuck Indiana. Now go find a suit Karen would approve of.” Steve’s got a nervous energy as he pulls Max away from the group. Max gives him a weird look but lets herself be directed.

Eddie claps, “Alright gentlemen. Times for the games to begin. Let’s see who can find their outfit the fastest. Whoever wins gets free ice cream from yours truly.” He decides and the kids look at him critically.

“Steve always buys us ice cream,” Will murmurs like he’s saying it to explain it to him.

Eddie hums and glances over at Steve, “whoever wins gets to pick the music on the way back.” The kids look at each other for a moment before scattering. He grins and bounces a little. He’s a natural.

He was not a natural. But Mike seemed to really like him along with Dustin. Will looked a little nervous but Eddie knew the kid had been through a lot, so he figured it might take a minute to warm up. Lucas seemed to like him enough but he followed Max around like a lost puppy. And Max just looked annoyed most of the time but she seemed to like Steve well enough. Honestly, she, Lucas, and Dustin looked at Steve with a little awe in their eye.

“So, why are you friends with Steve? I thought he was only friends with preppy jocks like himself.” Mike states when Eddie notices a Metallica shirt. He makes a confused hum and looks over at Mike with a raised eyebrow. “You two have nothing in common! Why are you friends?”

Eddie pauses and thinks because it’s not like he can say the real reason he and Steve got to know each other. “Well, Steve’s a part of my little group. Honestly, he’s friends with more freaks than jocks. I don’t think I’ve seen him talk to a single jock since Billy- uh since um,” he struggles to come up with something but all the kids get a solum look on their faces.

Eddie looks over at them and then Mike snorts, “but isn’t he like too jocky for you?” He questions and Eddie’s spine straightens.

He looks at the kid, trying to see what his end goal was. Did this kid talk to Steve like this? Like just because Steve liked sports, he was a douche? Shouldn’t think kid be thankful enough that Steve even tolerates him after Nancy and he broke up quite messily? “I think that’s a shitty way to think. Everyone has their own hobbies. Just because you don’t have everything in common with someone doesn’t mean you can’t be friends.” He states and glances over to Steve to see him watching Dustin with a fond smile as the kid talked loudly.

“Plus, sports aren’t too bad. Lots of people like sports. My uncle loves to watch baseball and basketball. I don’t but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him. Honestly, kid, you’re not gonna make any more friends if you think everyone needs to do everything that you do.” Eddie states then pauses. He didn’t want to be an asshole to an actual kid. “I just mean, like, uh, you need to accept that people like different things. Don’t you like Steve? I mean you went to him for help. Unless you’re just using him?”

Mike flounders a little but Will steps in to help, “No way. Steve’s really nice to us. He’s our babysitter but he doesn’t treat us like babies. He’s always been kind to us. Mike just-”

Mike huffs, “he dated my sister. It’s weird,” he states and Eddie can’t stop the small smirk from forming. “Whatever, he’s still douchy.” And he marches off before Eddie can say anything.

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#Mike has a crush whether it's on Steve or Eddie is up to you to figure out #Eddie would fight a kid for Steve #Wayne is amused at how far Eddie fell #Dustin is scoping out the competition #Jeff is the bigger competition #Idk why but I am loving Jeff #the kids!!!!#season 2 au #pre-steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddie fic #high school au #hellfire club #wayne munson #steve x eddie #stranger things #the fallen king and the king of the freaks

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