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#and the deepness of the relationship that robin and steve have
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2023
Steve knew, the moment he saw Eddie’s first message that he wasn’t going to like what they had to say.
EdM0112: Are you busy?
KingSteve: no, why?
EdM0112: I have some silly little news to give you. It’s nothing bad!
KingSteve: what is it? Wait, let me guess, YOU’RE PREGNANT!
EdM0112: hahaha, no, nothing like that.
KingSteve: so what?
EdM0112: I am engaged!
KingSteve: oh, really? That’s Great!!!
It was, in fact, not great. Steve felt like he couldn’t breathe. His chest felt so, unbelievably heavy and tears started pouring, unbidden, down his cheeks. Robin. He needed Robin, she would know how to help him. She helped him the last time his pesky feelings came out of the hole he had buried them in.
See, Eddie and Steve had never been good together. Steve was well aware of this fact, thanks to endless hours of talking to Robin. They were teenagers when they first got together, and neither of them had any clue how a relationship should work. Eddie was figuring themself out and they weren’t comfortable with Steve’s easy affection or deep wells of devotion and love. Steve had been too much. He had loved much too hard and much too fast and it ran Eddie away. They had never been good at the communication side of the relationship either. They were never on the same page or even in the same book most of the time. Yet, none of this had stoped Steve from giving his heart to Eddie. None of this made him think for even a millisecond that they couldn’t figure it out, that they couldn’t be together, that they wouldn’t be together forever.
Steve had always thought that he would be the one putting a ring on Eddie’s finger. Until Eddie handed his heart back to him in a million tiny pieces.
2019
“Eddie, please. I love you, Eddie.”
“Steve, we aren’t good for each other, can’t you see that? We haven’t done anything other than hurt one another this whole past year of dating.”
“You don’t have to do this Eddie! I can be better, I can be whatever you need me to be, just please don’t leave me.”
“Steve, the fact that you don’t see how fucked up that is only solidifies that this isn’t good for either of us.”
Steve was sobbing. He was sobbing and Eddie was mad at him. He just needed to know what he was doing wrong. He could fix it. He had to fix it. If Eddie left it would just prove what his parents had always shown him. He is unloveable. He is never good enough. Never strong enough. Never caring enough. Never enough. He just wanted to be enough.
“Steve, this has to be over. For both of us.” Eddie sounded so exasperated. So tired.
Steve nodded, still sobbing.
“I’m… I’m sorry that I couldn’t make you happy, Eddie. I’m sorry. Please, I love you.”
“And I’m sure I will always love you, but I’m leaving. I have to go. I can’t be myself here, Steve.” Eddie was whispering now, running their cool hand down Steve’s cheek. Steve watched Eddie’s tears roll down their own cheeks as they wiped his away. “I’ll still be just a phone call away, but I have to move on.”
Steve grabbed Eddie’s wrist and nodded. Giving up hurt worse than anything but he couldn’t keep causing Eddie pain. He couldn’t keep them here if they would be unhappy and anything other than wholly themself. Eddie moved across the country that day and never looked back.
2023
Steve isn’t really sure when he called Robin, but he apparently did because she was here. She was picking him up off of the floor that he had sank to, his phone still on the couch cushion behind him.
“Hey, hey, Steve” she patted his cheeks and he blinked. “There you are. What happened Stevie? You called but never said a word so I came to check on you. You don’t look good. Why are you crying?”
Steve brought his own hand up to his cheek, it came back wet.
“Eddie is getting married.”
“Woah, okay. I didn’t even know they were dating anybody.”
“Me either” Steve whispered.
“And how are you handling this information?” Steve gave her a glare that he’s sure lost some of its sterns by his no doubt puffy eyes. “Yeah, so not great.” Steve snorted. “Do ya want to talk about it.”
“I thought I was done with this. I thought I had moved past it. Why? Why did I break the moment they told me that they were engaged.”
“I’ve gotta be honest here, Steve, the situation you put yourself in wasn’t the best. You knew Eddie was moving on. They told you they were. You never really let them go. You stayed close and kept your own hopes up. This just crushed them.”
Steve flopped his head over on her shoulder.
“Why cant you be my therapist, again?”
“Conflict of interest, babe. I would be too clouded by my love for you to give you the advice you need.”
“It’s never stopped you before.” Robin chuckled and ruffled his hair. “I don’t think I ever actually let myself work through my heartbreak. I just kind of shoved it down far enough that it wasn’t a problem to keep talking to Eddie as if they’d never broken my heart. I still wanted them to be my best friend. Eddie knows me better than almost anyone, besides you, and it felt harder to lose that than to bury my feelings.”
“Yeah, you’ve buried more than you would ever let anyone you love even think of going through. Don’t you think you’ve held on to enough? Just let it go, Steve. It’ll be okay. I’ll be here.”
“You won’t leave me too?” Steve’s voice sounded so so small, even to himself.
“Never.”
And Steve broke.
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florallylly · 4 months
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warning: i rant
imo fanfic and shipping is FANTASY and wish fulfillment which is SO okay and valid. and i an avid consumer of fanfic am obviously not going to disagree with people fulfilling their fantasies bc that's literally what fanfiction and fandom spaces are for.
HOWEVER putting your opinions online opens you up to criticism and it's also completely valid for other fans to point out discrepancies according to the canon work. bc at some point, fanfic becomes a completely different thing and the characters are unrecognizable.
and that's fine but understandably something people would find issue with, especially people who hold canon dear to heart. there's like two camps (with people in between but) which are like those who take the bare bones and IMAGE of the characters and setting and those who try to adhere to canonical depictions.
to also be noted, it can be frustrating for those who want to read canonical depictions to be having to comb through pages and pages of fic to find one that isn't pure wish fulfillment. neither camp really has an excuse to criticize the act of putting those fantasies out there, but criticism regarding characterization and the lack of recognition for the source material MAKES SENSE. so keep that in mind
though once again pointing out media literacy and how every interpretation is different and built on the viewer's personal experience and perceptions.
i do notice that in mlm ships, there is a lot of feminization of the bottom. it makes sense BC it's wish fulfillment. maybe it might not seem like it, but it's the fantasy of having two hot guys and often the bottom is more of a surrogate for the author/reader. bc a lot of mlm fic is written by straight women. to reiterate WISH FULFILLMENT
and also, a lot of media does prioritize the characterization of male characters over female ones which means it's a lot easier to analyze and theorize more in depth.
now my gripes: this doesn't mean that female characters should be villainized. i get how people want to make canon love interests no longer an option or up the angst, but why not include a completely new character. you could relegate the love interest to simply a friend or someone who used to have a crush on them. there's so many possibilities other than writing out a female character to have some kind of vendetta for being rejected.
not going to say that sometimes people aren't vengeful bc i certainly am, but if a character is so far off from their canon depiction... once again, it's open to criticism.
and making the love interest a lesbian or wlw can be valid, but at least make it make sense rather than just having two attractive women together to keep them out of the way. DOES THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE
like yeah i'm talking about ro//nance bc i have opinions on it. (not invalidating people who ship it, just stating my personal opinion on it) and i do prefer canon over some fanon
so either way, respect people's choices BUT also respect people's right to comment their views on your work, obviously, do provide constructive criticism or your own commentary in a respectful way, or just block people that don't agree with you.
personally, i choose to not comment on other people's work bc i KNOW i have harsh words, so i'll make my own post which others can ignore. at that point, it's their choice whether or not to block me and my content.
so don't try to police other people's content. UNLESS. they are being profoundly misogynistic, racist, transphobic, etc etc. which is in fact prevalent within the mlm fanfic community and it's UNDENIABLE. and it's further pushing the agenda that coed friendships aren't possible unless they aren't attracted to each other.
bc in doing so, you're not just pushing an agenda that makes no canonical sense, but you're also degrading the character that you claim to love so much.
again again these are my opinions and what i choose not to consume. i won't complain about it in fics i read bc i CHOOSE to read them DESPITE my hang ups. that's on me (but also bc i'd lose a good chunk of content) note: it's also possible to simply skip over the parts that you don't like. no one is going to crucify you for that
here's the thing though. taking your opinion and then twisting canon and posting it as your reasoning behind your fic and headcanons. OBVIOUSLY there's going to be criticism.
and i'm not counting subtext and actual chemistry between actors bc that's Proof. that's something that can be seen and felt and happened in canon.
just like. just like. a consideration into how you treat women in mlm fan spaces and how they're either villains or wlw. there's so rarely an in between and . idk that's sad to me.
this is also prevalent in other media, so i'm not going to say it's not a societal issue bc it is and smth smth sociological theory i won't go into. i know AND i consume as a woman, but i'm able to actually reflect and say "that's not right" i am under no illusions that media is unable to be criticized
like even this ! it can be criticized it can be skipped it can be ignored. and idc about being flamed bc TRUST me when i say i've had worse. it's my personal opinion i'm putting out into the world and that's the consequence
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male/female banter-y friendships on tv just make me so sad now bc every friendship i’ve had like that has ended really badly. like “i can’t even be grateful for the time we shared because my life would be better if you’d never been in it” badly so now stevie and david in schitts creek make me tear up a little
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sp0o0kylights · 8 days
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We often see Robin focused on her own love life (or lack thereof) while Steve collects more You Suck tallies on the board, but imagine Steve does find a girl he dates that he hits it off with?
He aces dates 1 through 5 and suddenly he's around a little less, his new relationship looking serious, and Robin isn't jealous but--
She is worried.
That's her best friend. Her platonic soulmate!
She doesn't think Steve would ever stop being those things--Her dingus has a soft squishy heart under all that hair.
Problem is, Robin's seen this play out before.
Had band friends drift away because someone's dating someone else and suddenly they're all wrapped up in each other's lives, friends pushed to the wayside.
She doesn't say anything though. Knows how lonely Steve is. How much he wants (and deserves) a relationship.
Then the worst possible fucking thing happens: Steve's new girl telling him she isn't comfortable with Robin.
That she doesn't believe girls and guys can be "just friends" and would Steve please stop seeing Robin so much? Please?
Her friends even saw him taking Robin out to lunch yesterday and thought he was cheating!
Of course she knows Steve isn't cheating. He'll prove it to her, right? By letting Robin know they can only be coworkers? And their friendship?
Robin hears all this at her and Steve's next shared work shift, and she feels the floor of her world give out beneath her.
Fear and hurt crawling up her throat because of course Steve can't tell whatever her name is why Robin will never date him.
Of course this chick clearly isn't taking Steve's regular excuses as an answer, and--oh God, what if Robin is losing him, isn't she?
Then Steve's done talking, clearly expecting Robin to say something, and oops she may have been panicking and not listening there at the end but she manages a very choked up;
"I mean if you think shes like, the one..." because what is she supposed to say!?
And Steve, the only person Robin's met who craves a relationship as much as she does if not more, frowns at her with a bitchy little twist to his face and says: "What part of "so I told her that was ridiculous and we broke up" didn't you hear?"
Robin gasps a breath, the world stable once again. She doesn't know when she started crying but she does register Steve's panic when he clocks it, panicking and pulling her into a hug.
"Oh my God did you think I'd agree with her!?" He says and he sounds a little hurt about it, she'll have to fix that, but presently all Robin can do is cling to her best friend and sink deep into the knowledge that he really won't leave her.
Even for the things he wants in life the most.
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steddiealltheway · 10 months
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Steve looks at Eddie and takes a deep breath. He can ask this. He really can. It's not that big of a deal.
"Hey, Eddie?"
Eddie glances up from the small book he's writing in and raises his eyebrows.
"Can you give me a hickey?"
The book shuts quickly, but, other than that, Eddie remains relatively frozen in place.
Steve shifts to sit up a little straighter against the wall of Eddie's bedroom as he explains, "There’s this girl who keeps coming into Family Video who is really persistent. I've tried to drop hints that I'm not into her, but she isn't getting it. And Robin suggested that I needed to appear to be in a relationship so she would stop."
Actually, Robin had told him that he needs to be direct and reject her, but he didn't want to be cruel. So, he suggested that the two of them should pretend to be in a relationship. But Robin only looked at him in disgust and told him that she would not be taking the fall for his problem.
"Why don't you just reject her?" Eddie asks.
Steve sighs. Why do people keep having to ask him that? "It's not the Family Video way."
Eddie snorts and glances away, pausing for a moment before turning back. "Why me?"
Steve shrugs. "You're the only friend my age that I can ask. It would scar me and Robin for life, and there's no way I'm asking Nancy."
"You know who would do it with no questions asked?" Eddie asks.
"Who?"
"Argyle."
Steve laughs. "Yeah, but I don't really know the guy."
Eddie softly smiles and nudges his shoulder. "So you're saying I make you comfortable?"
Steve looks at him, wondering why he's phrasing it like it's a question. "Yes," he confirms.
For some reason, it seems to fluster Eddie, but he quickly nods and sets down his book. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"I'll give you a hickey," Eddie says.
Steve swallows and runs a hand through his hair. "Cool. Cool. Uh, I guess we should do that now?"
Eddie nods, but neither of them move.
A few seconds pass before Eddie clears his throat and asks, "So, how are we doing this?"
Steve shrugs. "However you're comfortable with, but you should probably be in front of me."
Eddie nods and says, "Right." Then, he shifts and swings a leg over Steve's lap, straddling him on his bed.
Steve's heart beats a little faster. He hadn't thought this far into his plan, and he certainly hadn't expected Eddie to make him feel this way.
Eddie slowly leans his head down to Steve's neck then sits back, biting his lip in thought but not saying anything.
"What?" Steve asks.
Eddie fidgets with his rings and says, "This will be easier if we're standing up or laying down. Sitting like this is going to hurt my back."
Steve knows that either position is going to kill him, but the thought of his knees buckling while standing up has him deciding, "Well, we're already on the bed, so..."
Eddie nods at him and moves so Steve can lie down.
As he gets comfortable, Eddie climbs on top of him, hovering in a way that must be a damn workout.
Steve laughs, "You don't have to do a plank over me. You can get comfortable."
Eddie blushes a bit then settles his weight over Steve's body. And oh. Yeah, that feels nice.
Steve reaches up to hold Eddie's hair back so he can look at him. And shit, he didn't realize this is an angle he wants to see Eddie at more often.
"You're still okay to do this?" Eddie asks, voice slightly rougher than before.
Steve nods quickly. "Yes."
Eddie nods back and leans down as Steve tilts his jaw to expose the right side of his neck.
Eddie's breath is hot against his neck, mouth hovering but not touching yet. "Where do you want it?"
Steve tries not to sound so strained when he says, "Right under my jaw."
Eddie's lips finally brush against the sensitive area almost like a kiss before he opens his mouth wide and presses his lips firmly against the skin, tongue brushing lightly against him before he begins sucking. Steve's eyes squeeze shut when Eddie's teeth brush slightly against him. He slaps a hand over his mouth and fists his hands into Eddie's sheets.
This was not part of the plan. This was definitely not a part of it.
Soon, Eddie pulls away, and cool air makes contact with the wet spot against his neck as Eddie breathes out.
Steve's hand clamps over his mouth tighter before he opens his eyes, thankful that Eddie is staring at the mark and not at his face. But he's confused about why he's frowning.
Then, Eddie's hand comes up to lightly tilts his jaw back to him, but he still stares at the mark with his brows pinched.
"What's wrong?" Steve asks, a little more breathlessly than he wants to sound.
Eddie finally looks him in the eye and says, "It's...it's good. Like, a solid hickey... but it's right under your jaw like you asked so it's not extremely visible." He crawls off Steve and grabs a small mirror off his side table.
Steve grabs it, trying to ignore how flushed he looks before he stares at the hickey. Eddie's right. It's nice and red, standing out against his skin, but only when he tilts his head just right. Hell, someone could brush it off as a hit to the jaw.
Steve sighs. He doesn't know if he'll be able to survive Eddie giving him another hickey.
"I can give you one on the middle and bottom of your neck if you really want to sell it," Eddie offers.
"Sure," Steve says without thinking. Because shit, if he doesn't think he can survive one more hickey, how the hell is he supposed to survive two??
But Eddie takes the mirror back and is on top of him again before Steve can really think.
Luckily, Eddie looks him in the eye and asks, "Are you sure you're okay with this? We could just put makeup on you to make it look like hickeys."
Against his better judgment, Steve shakes his head and replies, "No, it's okay. I want this to look as realistic as possible. But, hey, are you okay with this?"
Eddie nods quickly and enthusiastically in a way that makes Steve feel like maybe he's not the only one enjoying this a little too much. Honestly, it makes him feel much better... but also knowing that Eddie's into it makes him feel h-
His thoughts are cut off when Eddie's hand fists into his hair and gently pulls to expose his neck more. Without thinking, Steve's hands come up to grip onto Eddie's back tightly as he sucks another hickey into his neck.
Steve pinches his lips together as best as he can, but he's sure his heavy, quick breathing gives him away.
Then, Eddie moves on from his neck to the junction between his neck and shoulder, pulling at his shirt to get better access as he trails his lips over his skin, never losing contact as his wet lips leave a trail connecting the two areas.
But when Eddie starts sucking a mark into his neck again, something about the area sets something off in Steve causing him to moan loudly. He slaps a hand over his mouth again, but the damage is already done.
Only, Eddie doesn't pull away. He sucks harder.
Steve's back arches off the bed, and his hands fist into Eddie's hair pulling him off of him.
Eddie's lips are red and wet with his own saliva and his pupils are blown wide in juxtaposition with the panic filling his eyes.
Steve breathes out, "Please tell me I'm not the only one who wants this."
Eddie shakes his head quickly and rasps out, "Fucking hell I thought you were going to murder me."
"Eddie, the last thing I want to do to you right now is murder you."
He leans down, brushing his nose against Steve's, and whispers, "And what do you want to do to me right now?"
"First, I want to kiss you," Steve confesses, heart hammering in his chest.
Eddie leans down, lips brushing against his as he asks, "And then?"
"I'm thinking something that involves a lot more hickeys."
Eddie smiles. "I like the sound of that."
Finally, they both move together, kissing deeply in a way that makes Steve think that maybe Eddie's lips are magic everywhere.
And shit, he's going to have a hell of a time explaining the hickeys to Robin and the kids, but it'll be worth it.
Now including an Ao3 link :)
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touretticeddiemunson · 4 months
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Steddie with those tap vibration bracelets for couples | Angst with a surprise ending
Eddie had been dead for over a year. After Dustin had to leave him in the Upside Down, they tried to look for him. But Eddie’s body was just…gone. Steve didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. No one thought he would have a reason to. No one knew what they did behind closed doors, hands under each other’s shirts, lips moving together.
Steve was the one who had the idea to get tap bracelets in the first place. They were something you could keep hidden, in your pocket or on your wrist under a long sleeve. Whenever they were thinking about each other, they could tap the bracelet and it would vibrate the other person’s. It started as a cute gesture but it soon turned to a feature they used for survival going into the Upside Down.
“Tell me when you’re okay. 1 tap for safe, 2 for danger. Okay?”
“Steve, I could do Morse code. I know SOS.”
“Eddie, there won’t be time. Please, just follow the system.”
But Eddie didn’t follow the system. He didn’t fucking follow it, and instead of running he tried to be a goddamn hero. He didn’t tap the bracelet before he went after the bats, didn’t tell Steve he was in danger.
Steve would never forget the scream of absolute anguish as the bats tore into Eddie’s flesh. He knew the sound came from him. He knew his voice backwards and forwards. He would never forget the rapid vibrations on his wrist in the moments before he heard Dustin yell.
In that moment, he knew his Eddie was gone. Eddie had spent his last moments, his last spurts of energy thinking of Steve. Letting Steve know he loved him, that he was always with him.
Steve hadn’t taken off the bracelet ever since, not even to shower. He kept it right on his wrist, covered with saran wrap like you’d bag a cast. He never wanted to be separated from him. He knew that he’d never be able to feel Eddie’s touch again, but bracelet’s presence was enough to keep the grief at bay. Every now and then, he’d touch it a few times. Hoping, praying Eddie’s soul could feel it. He never told the party about him and Eddie’s relationship. Never opened up, really, about what they were to each other.
No one understood why he had shut down after Vecna was defeated. They assumed it was because he was mentally and physically exhausted. But it was so much more than that. It was grief. He’d lost his person, he was sure that Eddie had been the one. And he lost him. The only person he ever told was Robin.
He came out to the party as bisexual about a year after Eddie’s death, but it didn’t ring a bell for any of them still. Not even Dustin, who had always been suspicious of his and Eddie’s closeness.
Years went by and he still hadn’t taken off the bracelet, even though was with someone new. They had only been together a few days before Steve called it off. It had taken so long to get over losing Eddie, but something deep inside of him chewed. And chewed.
Something just didn’t feel right about this new person. It wasn’t her fault, Steve just couldn’t do it.
One night, Steve stayed awake a little longer than he normally did, reading some book series Eddie had left in his room before all the shit went down, Lord of the Rings.
His attention was drawn away by a buzzing feeling against his wrist. He looked down at it to see the gold bracelet lighting up and vibrating. He put the book down and hesitantly tapped back. This couldn’t be happening. Not after all these years. Something in the Upside Down must have gotten ahold of the bracelet. But nothing could have prepared Steve for what he felt next. Sharp, punctuated taps. He focused, hard, trying to figure out what it meant. He eventually made it out. It was Morse code, 3 letters, repeating themselves over and over.
“S. O. S.”
Eddie was alive, and he needed help.
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eiightysixbaby · 6 months
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under the mistletoe
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modern!eddie munson x fem!reader (college au)
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summary: a holiday party, a sweet gift exchange, and an even sweeter kiss
cw: mentions of alcohol, v brief mentions of weed smoking, fluff
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“If Steve and Chrissy kiss one more time under that mistletoe, I’m gonna barf,” Eddie mumbles around his glass of eggnog.
“Oh, come on, I think it’s sweet,” Robin says, elbowing him in the side. “Stop being such a downer.”
You look in the direction of the couple under scrutiny, watching as Chrissy perches herself on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on Steve’s waiting mouth. It is sweet, sickeningly so, if you’re honest. Maybe that’s where Eddie’s coming from…
“I’m not being a downer, I just don’t think we should all have to be subjected to them sucking face every five minutes,” Eddie sneers at her, huffing when she rolls her eyes at him.
“You’re just jealous you’re not getting any, Munson,” Robin sing-songs, walking away to refill her drink.
This was your first time experiencing one of Steve’s Christmas parties. Last year, you spent the holiday miserably sick in your and Robin’s shared apartment. You’d met the group during your first year of college, making fast friends and fitting right in with them. Robin and Eddie knew Steve from their shared hometown growing up, and they’d told you countless stories of all of the parties he used to throw in high school.
You’re just thankful that now, the parties are a little more scaled-back. A lot less drinking-till-you-puke and a lot more quality time with people you actually care about.
“So, you having fun at your first official Harrington holiday party?” Eddie asks you, looking casually over at you with his deep brown eyes.
“Yeah,” you smile. “It’s fun. I needed this after all the stress from finals. And it beats having the flu like last year,” you grimace, heart skipping a beat when Eddie laughs.
“Okay, you got me. Watching Steve and Chrissy make out might be bad, but it’s not as bad as the flu.”
You giggle, feeling your cheeks heat when he doesn’t take his eyes off of you. You’d be a filthy liar if you said you didn’t have a thing for Eddie. The moment you met him he’d captured your full attention, with his boisterous personality and his pretty eyes. His wild curly hair and his stellar smile. Everything about him had you giddy like a teenager, but you hadn’t voiced this to anyone — too scared that your feelings would disrupt, well, everything.
Plus, Eddie definitely didn’t like you like that. You’ve heard some of his hookup stories, he wouldn’t want to settle down and start a relationship with you. You’re just a friend to him, and that’s fine.
But with the way he’s looking at you right now, you could almost be convinced otherwise…
The little moment is gone before it really even started, Nancy coming over to the two of you and hurrying you into the living room to do the gift exchange. You’d decided to do a Secret Santa, drawing names and keeping your chosen person a secret until it was time for the unwrapping.
Much to your excitement, you’d pulled Eddie’s name. You’d debated over what to get him for as long as you could get away with before you finally came up with the perfect idea. Now that it’s almost time for him to open it, you find yourself getting nervous to see his reaction.
Everyone sits in a circle in the living room, taking up all of the furniture as well as the floor. You take one end of the sofa, and Eddie claims the chair closest to you. You watch as Nancy places all of the wrapped boxes and sparkly gift bags in the center of the group, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Eddie chose to sit by you.
“So, whose name did you get?” he leans over and whispers to you, those big doe eyes full of mischief.
“Well what fun would it be to spoil it now?” you counter, smiling at him as he rolls his eyes and sighs exaggeratedly.
Your attention is brought back to the group as Steve offers to go first, picking up his gift and handing it over to Jonathan. Jonathan shyly accepts it, smiling as he tears the tissue paper out of the bag to reveal its contents. He pulls out a few cassette tapes of his favorite artists, as well as a new strap for his camera.
“Dude, these are awesome!” he says, and you watch as Steve smiles proudly. “Thank you so much,” the shaggy-headed boy continues, leaning over to accept Steve’s fist bump.
“No problem, man. I know you were complaining about your current camera strap getting all worn. The cassettes were an obvious choice,” Steve jokes.
The room is full of smiles and laughs as the gift-giving continues. Jonathan gives his gift to Chrissy, Chrissy had drawn your name and gives hers to you — a beautiful charm bracelet and a cozy blanket you’d seen at the mall not long ago and wanted terribly.
That means you’re up next. Your hands feel clammy and nervous butterflies flutter in your stomach as you grab your gifts from the floor. Angling yourself in Eddie’s direction, you hand him the presents with a timid smile.
“For me!?” he asks, holding a hand up to his heart. “How’d I get so lucky?”
You feel your face flush, unable to maintain eye contact as your jitters get the best of you. You just hope he likes it. You hope it’s not too much.
Eddie’s careful hands unwrap the first present of the two, tossing the wrapping paper to the floor. The small box is exposed, and you feel like you might pass out as he takes the lid off. His jaw drops open, his head snapping up to look at you and then look back down at the contents of the container once more.
“What is it!?” Nancy asks, craning her neck from her seat to try and catch a glimpse.
“Custom guitar picks. For Corroded Coffin,” Eddie says, in awe as he just stares at them.
The picks were a red and black marbled pattern, with CC printed onto them on one side, and an image of a bat flying on the opposite side. You know how important his band is to him, how often he stays up till the asscrack of dawn practicing guitar, and so it felt like the perfect thing to get.
You wait with baited-breath as he continues looking them over, picking them up and marveling at them as if they aren’t just pieces of plastic at the end of the day.
“These are…. I don’t even know what to say. These are so fucking sweet,” he says, meeting your eyes.
“Don’t forget to open the second one,” you say, trying to bite back a smile.
He just smiles, shaking his head as he goes to pick up the second present. Reaching carefully inside of the big, sparkly red bag, he pulls out a vinyl record. Not just any record, though. It’s a copy of Master of Puppets, signed by every member of Metallica. Eddie’s favorite band. You’d scoured the internet for a legitimate and somewhat-affordable copy, completely scoring on this one. A good chunk of the money you’d made from your campus job went towards it, but it was more than worth it.
“No fucking way!” he shouts when he clocks the signatures scrawled out in marker. He flips the record around to show the room, everyone erupting in a chorus of “holy shit!” and “oh my god”.
He’s out of his seat in an instant, encouraging you to stand with him. He squeezes you in an impossibly tight hug, his arms so secure around you.
“I can’t fucking believe you,” he says, right against your ear. He pulls back a little, looking you right in the eyes. “Thank you so fucking much. What the hell,” he laughs, his teeth fully on display and the dimples coming out in his cheeks.
“Damn. She’s the best gift giver of us all. I think we might as well just call off Secret Santa for next year, no one’s topping that,” Steve says, getting a nod from Robin.
Eddie still hasn’t fully let you go, and it’s only when you become excruciatingly aware of all of the eyes on you that you pull away from his touch.
“Okay. So, Eddie, you’re next?” you say shakily, trying to gain your composure back. The boy stares at you just a second too long for you not to overthink it, before he’s nodding along.
“Yeah, alright,” he says, reaching for his gift.
The remainder of the gifts are exchanged rather quickly, but you really couldn’t tell anyone what they were if you’d had a gun to your head. All you could think about was the way Eddie hugged you. The look in his eyes when he opened both gifts. His eyes watching you intently from that moment on.
You want to buy him gifts like that all of the time, want to make him smile like that all of the time.
Chrissy and Steve cozy up on the loveseat, wrapped in each other as Christmas music plays softly. Jonathan and Argyle sit by the window, smoking from the new bowl the latter had been gifted by Robin. (That was the only gift you’d actually paid attention to as it was given, because Argyle literally cried). Eddie was relaxing in his chair, sipping another glass of spiked nog.
Robin and Nancy had pulled you into the kitchen as soon as they could, talking in whispers.
“Okay, so what was that? You got Eddie, like, the best gift ever.” Robin says, her eyes bulging at the end of the sentence.
“Yeah, I mean, that record had to have cost a fortune. And the custom picks!?” Nancy prods.
“Can I not just get my friend a nice gift?” you counter, your hand rubbing the back of your neck.
“Something’s up. I always know when something’s up,” Nancy says, her small mouth pursing in thought.
She’s right. She always knows. You don’t stand a chance lying to them — especially not both of them, together.
“Okay, fine! So maybe I have a little thing for Eddie…” you say. “But he definitely doesn’t like me like that! I just… wanted to get him something nice. It made me feel good,” you add, quick to defend yourself.
“I knew it!” Robin says, a little too loud, Nancy and you hurrying to shush her. “I knew it,” she says again, whispering this time.
“Just pleeaaase don’t tell him, okay? I don’t need this getting out—”
“Okay, babe, have you ever considered that he might like you too?” Robin interrupts, and Nancy nods.
“I— I don’t know! He doesn’t seem like the type to want a relationship, and… I don’t know!” you stumble, realizing you aren’t sure if you have a valid reason to confidently claim that he doesn’t like you.
The truth is, you just don’t know. And the unknown is terrifying.
“Why don’t you ask him out?” Nancy asks. “You know Eddie’s a sweetheart. I’m sure he’d love to go on a date with you,” she says, and you chew on your lip in indecision.
“I don’t know, you guys…” you mumble, nervously playing with your hair.
“Just, think about it?” Robin asks, just as the curly-headed man in question strolls leisurely into the kitchen.
“What are we thinking about?” he noses his way into the conversation, grabbing a few cookies off of a tray.
“Uh, nothing important,” you lie, giving him the most convincingly casual smile you can muster.
He bites into his cookie, leaning casually against the table. His dark eyes don’t leave you. Bringing an icing-covered finger to his mouth, he sucks the sugary substance off, making you flustered for the millionth time tonight.
Think about it, Robin said. You’re definitely thinking about it.
“Hey, um, could I talk to you alone, for a sec?” he asks you, bringing you back to earth.
“Oh! Y-yeah, sure,” you say, following him out of the kitchen. You chance a quick glance back at the girls, both of whom give you a thumbs up and an encouraging nod.
Eddie rounds the corner from the kitchen, standing in the entryway to the apartment. You’re just out of earshot of anyone else, and you’re nervous for what he’s about to say. You lean against the wall, his taller frame almost caging you in.
“Listen. I just want you to know how much I appreciate the gifts you got me. You didn’t have to do that,” he says sincerely. “No one’s ever gotten me a gift that nice before, besides for when Wayne got me my guitar,” he says, laughing lightly. “I just… thank you. I can’t thank you enough, actually.”
“I wanted to do it. You don’t even need to thank me. I’m just glad you like them, and you don’t think it’s too much,” you admit, glancing down at your feet.
“They’re perfect,” he says earnestly, getting you to look back up at him. “You’re… perfect," he breathes, saying it like it's a sigh of relief. Like it’s long overdue.
His eyes are so soft and sincere, his lips plump and pink as his tongue pokes out to wet them. His cheeks are tinged with the slightest bit of red, either from nerves or from the alcohol. You find yourself lost in him, your lips parting slightly as you both stand in silence.
Something above his head catches your attention, after a moment, and you look further up. You laugh in spite of yourself, making him look up, too.
Right above both of you, hanging from the arch in the ceiling, is mistletoe. The same mistletoe Eddie had been complaining about earlier. He starts laughing too, and then the both of you are stood there giggling like schoolchildren at the situation you find yourselves in.
When he’s regained composure, and your belly-laughs have subsided to a shy smile, you meet his eyes again. He steps ever-so-slightly closer to you, regarding you carefully down the bridge of his nose. There’s a playful look on his face, and one of his hands reaches out to gently rest on your waist.
“Since we’re here… should we..?” he starts, inching even closer.
“Yeah, we should,” you murmur, pushing up on your toes to meet him as he starts leaning down.
Your eyes flutter shut, your noses brushing together before your lips barely graze his. His warm breath fans your face, and then his lips are pressed fully on yours. You’re drinking him in, letting your mouths move softly together as you press your body against his. He smells like cinnamon and spice, tastes like the liquor from his drink, and you can’t get enough.
He’s pulling away too soon, reaching his hands up to cup your face. You never want him to let go, never want to go back to the reality you were living in before you’d kissed him, and the look on his face tells you he might be feeling the same.
“Wow,” Steve says from his spot on the couch, reminding both you and Eddie that you aren’t the only ones here.
“Awww you guys are so cute!” Chrissy coos, making you bite your lip in slight embarrassment.
Nancy and Robin high-five nonchalantly, before looking at you with huge smiles. Eddie’s arm wraps around you, pulling you into his side. You feel like a million bucks with him so close to you.
“You guys mind if we get out of here?” he says to the room. “I think we have a lot to catch up on,” he adds, glancing down at you with a wink.
You’d never been so happy to leave a party in your life. And maybe you didn’t even make it out of the parking lot of Steve’s complex before Eddie’s hands were all over you, but that’s your business.
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lovebugism · 8 months
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AH HI!! so... i love the way you write ditzy!reader, and especially with steve idk it just warms my heart yk? The way they interact 😭 it's so lovely
Since I'm an angsty girly at heart, I thought about a situation where steve gets a teeny tiny bit frustrated with ditzy!reader, but it's just seconds, even less than that but it's enough to make her upset for making him upset but also a super fluffy moment between both of them and steve being mesmerized by her and just so much in love
ahh thank u lovie! pls enjoy!! — steve gets frustrated with his sensitive gf and makes up with her accordingly (hurt/comfort, established relationship, 2.7k)
fictober (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
You keep Steve company during the last half of his shift like you always do. 
He’s grumpier than usual, though — all pouty and visibly brooding. 
You plop yourself on the front counter of Family Video and ask him what’s wrong, and he tells you that the day’s been hell and he’s just tired. There is no “but I feel better now” like there usually is when he’s upset but doesn’t want you to think it’s your fault. 
The “because you’re here” is typically implied. 
Not so much now.
You’re having the complete opposite day of your sulking boyfriend. Yours had been dreadfully boring, or at least you say it had been, but you find a million different things to tell him. You’re too excited after having spent so many hours without him, like a dog with a wagging tail. You’ve got the zoomies of the mouth, if you could even call it that.
“—And then I saw the cutest dog on the way over here. His name was Cappy, and he was huge, and the owner was so nice. He even let me pet him, and he literally felt like a cloud— the dog, not the owner.”
Steve is used to this. The whole rambling about nothing thing. He loves it about you, actually. It took him ages to coax you out of that shell after your asshole ex told you that you talked too much, convinced you that no one cared about what you had to say.
You’re more comfortable now, and Steve loves that you are, but right now he just can’t concentrate.
Keith’s been on his ass about inventory all day, and he just learned how to do it on the old, bulky computer this morning — but only after Robin made him an hour late to his shift. Everything’s just too much now. He’s overwhelmed to the point of spontaneous combustion. 
For the first time ever, you’re not helping.
“—And, like, I know when we move into our apartment, we’re technically not allowed to have pets, but like… What about a fish? Or a turtle?” you wonder aloud but don’t stop to let him answer. Sitting on the edge of the counter, you kick your feet and flit your eyes to the spotted ceiling. “What if I start feeding the deer in the woods, and they just start showing up at our backdoor? ‘Cause technically—”
“Babe, please,” Steve snaps suddenly when your sneaker knocks his chair. He’s buzzing with anger, and even though it’s not because of you, he doesn’t know where else to put it.
Your eyes go wide at the newfound bite in his tone. He’s not shouting at you, but it makes your heart stop like he is. You feel like a kid again, getting scolded for being “too much.”
“…What?” you squeak.
Steve sighs. A deep, heavy sigh. It doesn’t remove the leaden weight from his chest, though. 
“I’m… I’m really trying to concentrate here, and you’re just— you’re making it really hard,” he tells you through gritted teeth, trying hard to keep his composure.
You deflate like a popped balloon. “Oh…”
He can hear the waver in your tone, the way your voice sounds wet with unshed tears. But he’s too overwhelmed — internally raging and selfish with it. His sweltering temper makes his woe feel more important than yours.
“Yeah, so… Can you just— go bother someone else for, like, five minutes?” he asks, fists clenched on either side of the clunky keyboard, his gaze concentrated on the pixelated screen. “Robin’s probably sulking in a corner somewhere. Go find her.”
Your face crumbles like a balled-up piece of paper. Your chest gets all tight, and your eyes start to burn when tears gather behind them.
You’d always been a flower of melodrama — blooming eternally and constantly sensitive. So when Steve cut you off as you fantasized about a family of deer living in the backyard of an apartment you were supposed to share together, it felt like a knife in your chest. 
The irrational thought that he no longer wanted any of that with you was fleeting and vivid and burning. Irrational, still.
But now you’re annoying him. He’s told you as much, with an unusual harshness he’s never spat at you before. And now your fears feel much more real.
“I’m bothering you?” you ask him, barely intelligible through the whimper in your throat.
Steve huffs again. His elbows thunk against the desk when he puts his head in his palms, swiping his fingers through his hair like he always does when he’s antsy. 
“I just really need to get this done,” he tells you, softer now. He makes himself mad all over again, though, and gets sharper once more. “I need to finish this before I get fired, and then we have no apartment to move into because we have no money, alright?”
There it is. The root of all his anger. A lingering feeling of inadequacy. 
He wants a life with you, but all he’s got is a measly Family Video salary — which he’s lucky to have apparently, because he can’t seem to do anything right. It stirs like a fire in the pit of his stomach.
After another deep breath, he finally turns to look up at you. His honey eyes are wet and stern. The chiseled edges of his features are sharp. Gently, he pleads. “I really need to work here, babe.”
You nod, understanding and internally weeping. “Okay. I’m— I’m sorry, I was just— I’ve been missing you all day, and I got too excited, I think,” you confess, wringing your clammy hands in your lap like a scolded child.
“Don’t apologize,” Steve says with a huff, leaning back against the squeaking swivel chair. It’s old and has lost all its cushion. His stiff back aches all the more. There’s no relief, to any of it. 
He sits back up again and puts his unsure hands back on the keyboard. “Just— Just go, okay? Let me finish this.”
He leaves little room for argument.
You wouldn’t, though, even if you wanted to. Which you do. You’re just not strong enough.
—————
Steve tells you to go, but you end up in the kiddie corner across the store. 
Mr. Rogers puts on a bright red cardigan and sings a tune that makes you feel like crying. You sit on the color-blocked carpet, surrounded by block toys, and clutch a stuffed bunny to your chest. You can’t tell if the vintage VHS is making the screen blurry or if it’s the tears gathering heavy at your waterline.
Robin walks by you, does a double-take, and immediately reports to Steve.
“What did you do?” she interrogates with narrowed eyes, strolling up to the counter with a cart full of tapes to put away.
The hearty tap, tap, taping of the keyboard fills the silence. 
Steve doesn’t look at her until he’s finished up the last of his work. Only when it’s fully and finally complete does his hardened gaze dart to her. “What are you talking about?”
“Your girlfriend. She’s upset.”
“What do you mean she’s upset?”
Robin rolls her eyes at his obliviousness. “I don’t know. She’s singing the Mister Roger’s theme song and, like, crying. It’s weird.”
Steve’s brows pinch. His heart does, too. “Crying?”
“Well— not crying, exactly. It’s this really weird blubbering thing.” She fails to explain it so she tries to imitate it. A sobbing, sniffling sort of noise. She fails at that, too. Her scrunched face goes back to normal. “Like that.”
Deadpanned, Steve nods. “Wow, Robin. That was really helpful. Thank you.”
“Just go comfort your girlfriend, dingus.”
Steve still thinks she’s joking. Robin doesn’t lie, but she does have a tendency to overemphasize the mundane. 
He goes to see you anyway, though, and doesn’t think twice about any of it — about what Robin said or what he had said to you before that.
He finds you in the kid’s section, in front of the tiny television, surrounded by brightly colored toys. He smiles at the sight of you, exhaling a sharp laugh through his nose.
“What are you doing all the way over here, huh?” he questions to announce his arrival, which you seemingly hadn’t noticed. “This area is usually for kids, ya know? Well, kids and Dustin Henderson.”
He doesn’t sound as annoyed with you anymore. You’re grateful for that much, but you still feel a bit sick about the whole thing.
Your nervous hands pick the cotton of the fuzzy bunny in your arms. You keep your gaze on the television in front of you, but you aren’t really watching it anymore. “I used to watch this stuff a lot growing up. The nostalgia sorta makes me wanna puke. But, like, in a good way.”
Steve scoffs. “Well, maybe we should turn it off then, ‘cause if I have to clean up vomit after the day I’ve had, I might actually go insane.”
He’s kidding. Mostly. The universe tends to be cruel like that, but he’d clean up all your messes a thousand times over if he had to.
He laughs at his own joke as he crouches to sit down next to you. He bends his knees, props his arms on top of them, and looks over at you. You don’t crack a smile for him, which is weird because you always laugh at his jokes. Even the ones that aren’t funny. Especially the ones that aren’t funny.
His smile ebbs to a wavering half-smirk as he knocks his shoulder with yours. “You okay?”
You think for a moment, jutting your lips out, unblinking at the television screen. “No,” you answer after a few seconds of silence. “But I’ll get over it. I think.”
Your honesty makes his heart wrench — like you’ve wrapped both your tiny hands around the beating organ and squeezed. It knocks the breath out of his lungs, a fish so ruthlessly pulled from the water. He tries to speak through the sudden lack of air. “Wh—What happened? Was it… Did I do something? Did you—”
“No,” you cut off his stammering with a firm shake of your head. “I did something.”
“Oh,” is all he says, pink lips pouting and wide eyes darting. “What does… What does that mean? Did you, like, step on a rogue VHS or something? ‘Cause I do that all the time, and technically, that’s Rob’s fault for leaving them out, so—”
You shake your head again, digging your nails into the delicate cotton of the well-loved stuffy in your arms. “No. I was just— I was botheringyou, and now I feel bad,” you confess, all quiet like a meek child who’s learning what it means to be sorry.
Steve — your oh, so oblivious one — goes aflame with embarrassment. He’d been too clouded by his own anger to recognize the venom spilling from his mouth; to understand that it would inevitably hurt you.
With chiseled features twisted in confusion, he shakes his head and stammers. “What? No! You weren’t— You weren’t bothering me!”
You turn to look at him, for the first time since he sat down beside you. Your eyes are glassy and swimming with hurt. You try to keep your trembling features stoic. You don’t want to seem as hurt by it all as you really are. 
You feel like you should, anyway. What right do you have to be sad when you were the one being a bother?
“You said I was,” you remind him, still soft but sterner now. “You told me to go bother someone else—”
“Oh, babe…” Steve says, deflating just as you had. 
He knows how sensitive you are, how deeply you feel things. You’re vulnerable, raw — it makes everything feel more personal than it really is. It makes grumpy jabs from your dumbass boyfriend hurt like a lemon on a weeping wound.
He tries to apologize, knowing that he hurt you and that it’s not up to him to decide that he didn’t. 
“I wasn’t… I didn’t mean to, babe,” he murmurs, swiping a tense hand through his hair and then gesticulating wildly with it. “I was just being a dick, you know? I’ve been super stressed all day and—”
“Don’t apologize. I was being annoying.”
Steve blinks at you with wide, wet eyes — like you’ve hurt him by talking so cruelly about yourself. 
“Baby, no. No,” he urges, ducking down to meet your gaze when you look away from him. “I’m just an idiot, okay? I put off inventory until the last second, and Keith’s been on my ass all day about it, and I just— I took that out on you, and that’s not fair, and I’m sorry.”
You shake your head, pursing your bitten lips to the side and twisting the long ear of the bunny between your fingers. “It’s not your fault, Steve…” you murmur, almost inaudibly.
He scoffs. It sounds like a bitter laugh. “Well, actually, it kinda is.”
“I just… I don’t really understand what’s going on sometimes. Or, like, a lot of the time,” you admit with a distracted gaze, eyes flitting everywhere but to the boy beside you. You’re too ashamed to look at him now. “And it’s harder for me to know when I’m talking too much, you know? Or if I’m being super annoying.”
“I know…” Steve nods, trying his best to be sympathetic of you. He loves how soft you are — too much to understand you completely. He loves how gently you treat the rest of the world, how unusually giddy you get in your gentleness. 
You swallow through a tightening throat and shrug to pretend your world doesn’t feel like it’s crumbling around you. “And I don’t care about annoying other people— well, I do, but it’s different with you, you know? Other people can’t break up with me for being too much.”
“The idiot that told you you were too much had exactly zero personality,” Steve tells you, mostly because he means it but also to see you smile. 
You do, just barely. A grin so soft only someone deathly in love with you could see. 
“You’re never annoying me, okay? Ever. I love hearing you talk. I love having you around.”
“Yeah?” you ask him, blinking back burning tears.
“Hell yeah! You’re, like, the best part of my day! The only good part of my day, now that I think about it.”
Biting back a grin, you tease, “Well, what about Robin?”
“Robin made me late today, so we’re kinda not friends right now.”
“That’s mean,” you scold despite the growing smile on your face.
Steve shrugs. “We’ll make up before I clock out. No big deal.”
You go suddenly shy, smiling sheepish and tilting your chin to your chest to peek at him through your lashes. “Are we gonna make up before you clock out?” you wonder quietly.
“Only if you’re willing to forgive me for being an insufferable douchebag,” Steve answers, only half-joking. He very seldomly feels worthy of your softness.
You look at him with it, anyway. 
Full on beaming now, you reach across the short distance to wrap him in a firm embrace. The position is only slightly awkward. Sitting side by side with your asses on the hard carpet, your arms wound tightly around his neck — a bit like a snake smothering its prey. 
Steve feels grateful to be held so ardently. 
His nose smushes into your neck. The sweet scent of your perfume entwines with the warm scent of your sweater. He smiles into your shoulder when it makes you giggle. You pull back from him then, just to steal a quick peck a moment later. Your lips smack audibly against his grin.
“Can we make out before you clock out?” you lilt with a shy smirk.
“…That is the single best idea I’ve heard all day.”
Your giggle fills the empty store when Steve rises suddenly and pulls you with him. He leads you toward the back, tugging you by the hand down the short corridor and rambling all the way. “Keith left for the day, so his office is empty, which means it’s fair game—”
“I am not making out with you in Keith’s office!”
“But his desk chair is crazy comfortable, and also, he’s a dick, so… who cares?”
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bit-odd-innit · 1 year
Text
They’re about 20 minutes into the movie when Steve feels the familiar dip of weight against his shoulder.
He can’t stop the pulse of fond bemusement that surges through him. After all, Eddie had insisted on picking the movie this week, insisted that it was “an unfathomable travesty” that Steve had never seen it, insisted they had to watch it despite the bruise-colored circles under his eyes, the discreet flex of his hands disguising the tremors he gets when he’s over exhausted. Steve says nothing, lets the movie run, and once Eddie conks out instead of switching to something more his speed, he keeps watching.
The movie’s not Steve’s taste, but it’s not bad. He hasn’t been big into cartoons since he was a kid. The animation is strange yet fascinating, the characters’ movements equal parts natural and off-putting. He drifts in and out of the story, though enough of Dustin and Eddie’s ramblings have sunk in that he’s able to follow along. Whenever a name or location he recognizes pops up he turns to Eddie and says, smugly, “I know what that is.” Eddie replies with a soft exhale that ends in a low hum. His breath skitters across Steve’s throat. Steve shivers.
Eddie’s got this little bank of noises he makes when he’s sleeping. When he crashes after drinking too much, he snores. When he’s asleep but not deep enough to rest, he mumbles—sometimes giggles, too, which is really unsettling if you’re not expecting it. And when he’s dreaming, good or bad, he hums.
They’ve been doing this—whatever this is—for long enough that Steve can tell when Eddie is having a good dream and when he’s having a bad dream. (It’s not weird, he counters to the tiny, horrible Robin voice that lives in his head.) The bad dream hums are low, dredged up from the base of his chest. The good dream hums are high, slipping out from behind his teeth. Steve can’t read music but he took chorus in middle school and he’s hung around Robin while she learned a new piece for band so he’s got an idea of how the note…thingy works. If Eddie’s dream sounds were a song, the good dreams would be at the top of the bar, and the bad dreams would be at the bottom.
Except now, as the movie nears its end, the song changes.
At some point Eddie’s legs had curled up beneath him, his face buried in the join between Steve’s shoulder and neck. Steve can’t hear as much as feel the noises vibrating against his skin. He feels the thrum of bad rising into good, then dipping into something in the middle and holding there. They’re stuck at the center of the stanza (Stanza! That’s what it’s called!) and Steve doesn’t know where to go from here.
“Eddie?”
The arm Eddie is leaning on has gone a little numb, so Steve uses the other to sweep aside the curtain of hair drawn across the side of Eddie’s face, his fingertips grazing his cheekbone. Eddie’s lips part. A new sound, a different sound escapes him. He pushes in close enough for those pink plush lips to press against Steve’s collarbone. Heat curves around the back of Steve’s ears.
“H~eeey.”
He doesn’t want to wake him if this is a good dream. Eddie’s an open book. Eddie’s told him he’s been sleeping like dogshit, that the night terrors have been particularly horrible this week. It’s a joke, a little. The two of them share weird hours. They create bits about how bad things are, how awful they feel about their relationships with people they love, how awful they feel about themselves. It’s fun, until it isn’t. Steve’s seen Eddie’s whole personality swallowed by the wet sand of sorrow. He’s seen him sink into himself and surface with something else, something bright and exuberant and loud and false. If Eddie feels good Steve doesn’t want to ruin it. But if Eddie feels bad—
“Hey.” Steve hooks his palm to rest beneath the ridge of Eddie’s jaw, his thumb pressed into his dimple. “Eddie. Wake up.” Eddie’s eyebrows cinch, a sigh gliding across Steve’s knuckles. His eyelashes flutter, dark and spidery, his lids hanging low over hazy eyes. He blinks, owlish, then tilts up to meet Steve’s gaze with a slow, dreamy smile. “Hi,” he whispers. “Hi,” Steve chuckles in reply.
“W…” Eddie’s mouth works like its full of sunflower seeds; deliberate, purposeful. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “Why’dju stop?”
“Stop…what?” He glances to the muted blue static of the screen. “The movie’s over, bud.”
Eddie blinks again, slower. He’s so sweet like this, soft and syrupy, so when he breathes a laugh Steve can’t help but mirror it. “Oh,” Eddie exhales, then leans forward and kisses him.
The hum of Eddie’s dreams are now against Steve’s lips. Those lovely little middle sounds are now inside Steve’s mouth. He swallows them, feels them knife down his throat, wedge between his ribs, twist into the open valves of his heart. He pulls back.
Eddie giggles again. Pouts. “You stopped again.”
“Oh, honey,” The endearment wrenches out of him, involuntary. He smoothes the worry lines out of Eddie’s forehead. “You’re tired, huh?” Eddie makes a non-committal noise. “Okay.” Steve sets his feet and secures his arms behind Eddie’s back. “Okay,” he groans as he lifts him, spins him towards the stairs. “Okay. Time for bed.” Eddie’s still in a half-conscious limbo as Steve navigates him upstairs, mouthing indelicately at any piece of Steve’s skin he can find. It’s untenable, and Steve’s not proud at how he launches Eddie in the direction of his bed, sprints to the en suite to splash cold water on his face before helping him undress. “Take it,” Eddie murmurs when Steve unbuttons his jeans, and Steve needs to sit in the center of the floor for a moment before proceeding. “That’s not what this is.” “Wantchu t’aveit.” Steve shoves him into a pair of flannel pajama pants and stuffs him beneath the sheets. Eddie curves onto himself like a mollusk, and Steve sinks at his hip, brushing his bangs away from his closed eyes. Steve feels himself split down the middle: One part already downstairs; one part already nestled in the contours of Eddie’s body.
“Go back to sleep,” Steve says, and moves to stand. Eddie’s hand closes around his wrist. “Stay?” His eyes flit open, brief, earnest, pleading. “Please, stay.” And, well. They’re going to talk about it tomorrow. They’re going to talk about the movie they didn’t watch, and the moment they half-shared, and the reason its so hard to sleep apart yet so easy to sleep together. Not now. Now Steve shrugs into shorts and a t-shirt, slides in beside Eddie. Now, when Eddie’s limbs tangle around his own, he tugs him closer, lets something deep within himself settle. “Stay?” Eddie asks again. “Go to sleep, honey.”
And he does. And they do.
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rainylana · 1 month
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“I love you.”
Eddie Munson x female reader
summary: a night of bad dreams leads the both of you into the each other’s arms for comfort.
warnings: smut, angst to the max, mentions of blood and guts.
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“Baby, please, wake up! Y/n, y/n! Oh, God, please, God, no! Wake up! Wake up! Don’t you dare leave me!” He couldn’t move. He was sure he was paralyzed. Your eyes were closed. Were you dead? He couldn’t get up to see. Covered in blood and guts, he laid their, screaming for you, crying.
The bats would be back again soon. He’d have to play dead, but he wondered if he would be dead by the time they got back. He flexed out his fingers as hard as he could, trying to reach you. You had blood seeping from your head. “Y/n, please! Please wake up, baby! Oh, God, help! Help us, please!” He continued screaming. A scream you didn’t hear unless you were watching a scary movie, the blood curdling kind, until Steve, Nancy and Robin found you both.
Eddie was awake. Again. He wondered if you were, but your back was to him and your breathing seemed to be steady. You were asleep. Good. You needed it. His head was propped up with a pillow, his body halfway sitting up. The window was open, a steady draft of wind that was cool against his bare chest. The moon shone a precious gleam that made him look angelic, highlighting the muscles of his torso. The sheet laid rested on his legs, though lay tangled with yours.
Another round of nightmares and deep thoughts, another night of thinking he’d lost you. It had been almost two months, but it hadn’t seemed to have gotten any easier. Eddie thought you had died that night. He’d eventually passed out from the blood loss, and when he’d woken up in the hospital, you were his first thought. When he found out you were alive, critical, but alive, he’d sobbed, completely broke down and thanked God.
Nobody was there. No nurse, no doctor, no Eddie. You were screaming, hand on your stomach, twirling around the hospital floor at three in the morning, demanding to know where he was. Was he dead? Was he alive? You could barely remember what happened. The bats. Oh, god, the bats!
Wayne had found you first, and when you found out he was alive, critical, but alive, you fell to your knees and threw up. You had looked up, face covered in vomit and tears, and thanked God. The nurses had demanded you get back into bed, hooked you back up to your iv and oxygen. It was a miracle you were alive.
Your eyes were glued to the window, staring at the light of the moon, a pale, silvery color that reminded you of your mom’s set of pearls she’d given you. The wind was cold on your face, but it soothed the burn in your chest. Another night, another nightmare. The burn of the memory that you couldn’t forget. You wondered if you ever would. You could tell Eddie was asleep. His breathing was even.
Your relationship had taken it’s toll that night, but it brought you closer together. He thought you’d died. You thought he had died. It created something so grave, so treacherous inside you that only the other could understand.
A tear slipped down your face. You needed to see him. With a shuffle of the blanket, you rolled over and turned your neck to look at him, only to find he was already looking at you with his own teary eyes. He knew what you were thinking. You knew what he was thinking.
You both stared at each other before you climbed over his lap slowly, caressing his face as you did so. You kissed him deeply, your hair falling over his own curls. Your tears blended with his, your bodies hoping to feel anything but pain for one night.
He took off your shirt, leaving you naked before him, and took your nipple in his mouth. He took his time, caressing each and every part of your chest. You sighed in content, thinking. God, where would you be now if you had lost him? You couldn’t bare the thought. He moved up to your neck, his hand cupping the heat of your sex, finding you wet and ready, aching for him to take you.
You pulled at his hair and brought his mouth back up to yours, kissing him desperately and needfully, pouring all your thoughts and feelings into him. He did the same to you, gripping and pulling at you. It was passionate, full of love and sorrow.
He pulled out his cock beneath you, hard and ready and slipped it inside your cunt with ease. You both kept your eyes locked together as you slowly slide up and down his length. He held your hips, guiding you. You couldn’t help it, but you let out another tear, a fat one that rolled down your face so quick he almost missed it.
“I love you.” You cried, rocking yourself against him, the friction building a satisfying pull in your abdomen.
He caught your cry with his mouth, wrapping an arm around your back to pull you flush together, helping you move quicker, faster. He kissed back the words I love you.
The pressure built up in your stomach, growing tighter and tighter, his cock full and prominent up inside of you. He groaned underneath you, pressing his face to bury himself between your breasts. “I love you.” He husked, feeling his cock twitch inside of you. “God, I- love you.”
You were gushing all over his cock within seconds, and he was following quickly after you as he came undone. You collapsed and laid atop of him, feeling blissful, free of thought and torment. He was still inside you, wrapping an arm around your back, he kissed your forehead until you eventually fell back asleep. “I love you.”
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caxde · 2 months
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bright eyes | eddie munson x reader
summary you and Eddie have just become a couple, you meet hellfire club, Wayne finally meets you, navigating your relationship with him and his little girl (6.8k)
warnings fem!reader, girl!dad Eddie!!!!, fluff, mutual pining, yearning etc, slowburn strangers to lovers, idiots in love!!!, , english is not my first language so I apologise if there’s some mistakes, not proof read! 
a/n: thank you guys for the support, and thanks to the lovely @criesinlies for her help and motivation, this one is for u babe <3 part1 part2 part 3 (they can be read seperatly)
“As you feel the air collapse in your lungs, I’m gonna need a constitution saving throw from you, Tayr.” Eddie explains, as his voice changes into that dramatic tone he always uses when he’s in the middle of a session, pointing at Mike who is stunned and on the verge of having a meltdown. 
“Wha-Whaddumean the air collapses in my lungs?” He asks frantically, as he shuffles through papers, trying to find something that will get him out of this, his die on his hand, rattling anxiously. 
“Counterspell!” Will screams, his hand on reaching for Eddie, he just scoffs. 
“It’s not a spell.” His voice remains calm, not stopping the visual contact he had going on, enjoying the menacing aura he had going on, something he didn’t get to do as often now that most of the stories and voices he could do were the ones for bedtime so Lua would fall asleep. 
He enjoyed looking at the chaos that ensued at the table, how they all were chatting amongst themselves, trying to find a solution, something useful so Mike’s character wouldn't die. 
Eddie hears the soft knocks on the door, his eyebrows raise a bit as he looks over at the trailer. The kids were around the table, buried deep with character sheets and spell cards, Max and El were on the living room floor drawing and colouring with Lua, Steve and Robin weren’t supposed to come pick them up for another forty minutes and uncle Wayne had yet to come back from work. 
He made his way to the front door, excusing himself from his usual DM spot, Dustin nodding in understanding, a curious look on his face as he looked over at him, and who could be behind the door. 
You had left work a bit earlier, for once they actually respected your work hours, and understood that if you started your shift at ten in the morning, you shouldn’t stay past six in the afternoon. So for once, you were back in the trailer park beforehalf past, and lucky for you, you caught some pastries they wanted to throw out, they said they were too old to sell, but you had baked them yesterday night, so you knew for a fact the blueberry muffins that where Lua’s favourite and the Cinnamon rolls that Eddie liked were good to take. 
So, there you were, your work clothes still on, and a little cardboard box in your hands. 
You looked up at him, as soon as he opened the door and his head tilted ever so slightly to the right, your lips were already curving upwards as you made eye contact with him. His eyes melting a bit at the sight of you, he made a step back, letting you in. 
You didn’t really have any reason to be alert, you were just happy to see him, and excited to do so, even if the nerves of the dinner you had in a couple hours were starting to manifest in your body, you paid them no mind. Instead, you pointed your feet up, the distance between both of your bodies closing, a small peck left on his lips from yours. He smiled as he always does when you kiss him. 
You realised right there that something strange was going on, when the usual noise that rummaged through his trailer was gone. Even worse, the noise you had heard from the other side of the door had ceased, you pulled away, not too far for that matter, your body still a breath away from his, his hand resting on your waist. 
“Got out of work earlier, they gave me some sweets… I thought maybe Lua..” That’s when you realised that he wasn’t exactly alone. 
There was a group of kids sitting around a table, their eyes about to pop out of their heads, mouths opened in shock, whilst Lua was in the company of two girls. You recognized the red head, Max lived a couple trailers down from you, she always had some kind words to say about your outfit, and you had helped her a couple of times when her mom was away and her washing machine was making the same funny sound as yours did. 
She was the one that seemed more shocked out of them all, standing up in one swift movement as Lua clocked that you were there. Her usual gigle as a greeting as she started walking clumsily to your feet, her arms opened for you to hug her. Eddie gave you the same nod he always did, as he took a step further from you and took the little box with sweets out of your hands. It always happened when Lua wanted attention from you, you looked over at Eddie a ‘is this okay? can i hold her?’ look he had become used to, and that he absolutely adored. 
“Princess!” Lua cheered as she wrapped her arms lazily on the back of your neck, Eddie had told you about the whole princess accident, and you had become somehow warmed up about the nickname that she had gifted you. You pulled her in a warm hug. 
“Hi dude, you doing okay?” You asked, your voice higher in pitch as it always did when you talked to her. 
“Yeah. Friends over!” She pointed out to the two girls that remained silent on the floor, her mouth still slightly opened. 
“Eddie you rat!” Max broke the silence, the cascade of comments starting to flow as the kids were coming out of shock. “I live right next to you, how did I not know!” She continued, you looked at her, a bit afraid of her if you were being honest. Her hard tone contradicts with her wide smile. 
“Is she your girlfriend?” One of the boys asked from the table, his tan skin made his blue shirt pop, just as much as his question did. Making you both blush in a similar way, looking at each other, Lua looking between the both of you, still on your arms. 
“She’s dada’s princess.” She explains, as best as she could, her sweet words making you chuckle, as Eddie took her from your arms, pulling her in a soft embrace. 
“Yes, and she got you a snack, d’you want some?” Eddie rattled the box, and Lua’s eyes widened as she cheered. 
The chattering continued as you sort of stood in the middle of the room, not sure where to go to, or what to do now. 
“How did he get you to agree to go out with him?” A boy with curly hair half covered with a cap that had some writing you couldn’t quite read spoke, an incredulous tone evident by the way his face looked, a raised eyebrow following his question. 
“It wasn’t that hard, really… he just… asked?” You could hear Eddie laughing from the kitchen, the sound of it making your shoulders relax, you weren’t used to that much attention. 
“Unbelievable, I should have been asking Eddie the Freak Munson for girl advice, not King Steve… who would have known.” The same boy replayed, you caught the same dramatic voice and flare you had caught on Eddie a few times, it made you chuckle. 
“Eddie the Freak?” You questioned, more to yourself than to anyone else, as you took a step closer to the table.
“Oh, yeah. He’s a big nerd, even bigger when he was in High School.” Max was the one talking now, teasing him as Eddie walked out the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. 
Lua was walking with a plastic plate on her hand, half of the muffin on it. She was trying really carefully to not drop it, concentrating on finding her way to the couch. 
“Hey, enough teasing the one that’s housing you, ‘kay?” That was an expression you still haven’t seen or heard in Eddie. His head tilted to the left, his hair falling a bit in front of his face, his eyes wider before he closed them a bit, his lips pressing against each other. Eddie was embarrassed, and didn’t really know how to manage it. 
“Yeah, we’re literally in the middle of a campaign.” The boy with the black hair and arched nose points out frantically gesturing at the board on top of the table. “I might be dying!” Urgency comes back into his voice, and you can see the way Eddie tries to mask a laugh, his hand hiding his smile, only growing when he makes eye contact with you. 
“Well, at least someone kisses her girlfriend.” The girl that was beside Max and had been quiet spoke out, a spec of hurt in her voice. Her words made the boy that was somehow about to die shake his head in disbelief at her, while Max and the two other boys that had spoken chuckle. The boy that hadn’t spoken yet looked at the dying boy longley. 
Eddie enjoyed the teasing when it wasn’t focused on him, so he let out a chuckle as soon as she heard how El teased Mike back for not being as affectionate as he was. Then again, Eddie was aware that he was highly affectionate, and even now, not being next to you, or holding your hand was a weird feeling now that he could call you his girlfriend. 
Maybe that’s why he uses the small moment where they were chuckling and quietly teasing Mike to walk over you, his hand finally resting on the small of your back, where it fits in a perfect way, the small touch reassuring you in a way you didn’t think possible. Your head spins to look at him, his eyes half closed when they meet yours, he can’t help but leave a small kiss on your forehead. And you can’t help but rest your head on his chest as soon as he breaks the tiny kiss. 
“Okay, roll call or they won’t stop looking at us weird.” Eddie half jokes as he speaks up, you just enjoy the way his chest vibrates when he talks, for a moment you let yourself daydreaming of the day you get to sleep with him as close as you were now. “You know Max.” You nod as the red haired girl looks up at you again, before sitting down back on the floor. “That’s El” The one that had teased the other boy about kissing mouthed a silent hi, her eyebrows slightly raised “She also goes by Jane.” Eddie turns to your ear, whispering it to you. 
“Dustin, Henderson. Though right now I’m Nog.” The boy with the curled covered hair spoke next, he seemed excited to meet you, his smile was contagious. 
“Uh… Okay?” You weren’t exactly sure what he meant with right now, and you had a habit of not masking your emotions, so your face could be read like a poem, your eyebrows raised in misunderstanding and confusion. 
“She doesn’t know about D&D?” The boy that was supposedly dying erupted again, and you heard Eddie audibly roll his eyes. 
“It doesn’t matter.”The guy next to him talked, though he almost cut him off, frustration on his voice, the rest of the party scoffed and tried to hide a chuckle “I’m Will, or Will the Wise. He’s Mike, or Tayr in this case.” He pointed to them both, you nodded, trying hard to remember everyone’s names. 
“I’m Lucas or Sundar the Bold, also Max’s sometimes boyfriend.” He tries to charm the girl who just rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. Even if you clock a soft curving of her lips. 
You smile to yourself, trying to hold as much information as you can. 
“Do you also have a second name?” 
Eddie laughs, as he pushes a little hair away from his face, tucking it away nicely under his ear. 
“No, I uh… I’m the, uh… Dungeon Master.” 
“What’s-”
Luckily for Eddie, Steve walked in at that moment. Robin followed him closely. Giving him another moment of quietness and self reflection as they walked inside, observing the scene as they did.
He had never been embarrassed about playing, or anything of that matter, but for some stupid reason that he wasn’t sure of, he felt just that seeing you in his space when he was not expecting it. He wasn’t prepared, for you to see him actively nerding out, even worse, when the stakes at the table were as high. 
“I think we got here a bit early, Steve.” Robin pointed out, her voice doing that sing along tone that you found charming. Lua waved at them from the couch where she was still enjoying her little treat. The reason you were here after all. 
“Oh, shi-” Eddie glared down at him before he could finish the sentence, a quick nod to the little girl listening in. “You’re one to talk.” 
“You are!” Dustin halved screamed from his chair, an accusatory finger pointing at him. “You’re the one giving out girl advice, while Eddie somehow managed to find a respectfully hot girl to go out with him.” You can’t help but giggle at the way he said respectfully, his mouth enunciating every syllable of the word while he looked at you in an apologetic way. 
Eddie blushed harder, the palm of his hand hitting his forehead. The vein on his neck grows larger every second. Unlucky for him, and due to the fact that he was far too distracted, he missed the look on your face when you caught that, the half second where the image of Eddie biting his lower lip trying to hide a cocky smile as his vein pulsed had made your thighs clench, and your eyes darken. 
“Henderson’s right, Steve” Robin added in her teasing tone, her words felt like they had an extra space written in between them. “That’s another point on the you suck table.” For some reason that you didn’t understand, that snarky comment made them all laugh, an inside joke you hope to understand someday. 
“I uh… should go back to my trailer.” You point to the opened door with your head, your hand now was somehow tangled with Eddie’s. 
“You can stay.” He pleas with a sweet soft voice, like honey to your ears. His eyes looking down at you, somehow becoming doe-like. 
“I would, but I need to make dinner for four.” You remind him as you wink. A lovesick smile appears on his lips once again, forgetting that he was surrounded by people that will tease him as soon as you’re gone. “I’ll leave the door unlocked, come whenever.” 
He stands there for a moment, knowing full well that their friends are talking to him, teasing him relentlessly, but he doesn’t really care, he’s too focused on seeing the way your body moves, and how even your steps reflect how happy you feel. 
-
“I thought she was coming over here.” Wayne pointed out, standing against the bathroom door, looking over Eddie's shoulder, as he brushed out Lua’s recently clean hair. 
“She was, but she wanted to host, said she’d feel more comfortable.” Eddie explained, not really focusing on what he was saying, more centered in the job he was doing. He had an experience with curly hair, and knew just how much care it needed, and how much he hated detangling it when he himself was a kid. “I’ll be done in a second, bug.” He tried to reassure her, her hands pushing him away. 
“Right.” Eddie wasn’t expecting much words out of his uncle, but he was still a bit anxious, and he wasn’t really sure he knew why. “You should shower, I’ll change Lua.” He told him, as he grabbed Lua in a soft embrace. 
That’s when Eddie realised he had been anxiously brushing his daughter’s hair for the last fifteen minutes. 
And that he probably just needed a second, a moment or a minute just for himself. 
 Turns out, silence can also be an overwhelming sound. 
For Eddie, silence was the time his thoughts gained free raign on his brain.
Even if he tried to quiet them down, hot water hitting the back of his head as he takes his time washing his hair, he wasn’t sure he could do it. 
He was used to judgment. First it was him being a nerd, which evolved into freak, which ended with reckless. First he had been an outcast, then he had been the dangerous teen, now he was the young dad who barely finished high school. 
His problem -he realised as the water pressure hitted the knot that he had on his left shoulder- was that that had all happened before you met him. 
And he hadn’t told you a lot about that. Or about Hellfire and just how important and life saving it had been for him, despite it’s nerdy side, which was what you had only seen. 
He had a river of what if’s as he brushed his damp hair, putting leave in conditioner and drying it. 
He kept thinking. 
What if you seeing him with (ironically) even more kids had somehow pushed you away.
What if you knowing that he had been on the verge of expulsion made you reject him. 
What if you getting to actually know him made you wish you never had in the first place. 
Wayne knew what was going on, but he had realised through experience that the best he could do is just give him space, facilitate the tasks he had to do. So he left him his comfort black button up shirt he always wore when he wanted to feel better, his usual blue jeans under it. 
He had dressed Lua, with the hand-me-down clothes Jameson from three trailers up had given them a few months ago, a pastel baby blue dress she had a fuss about, until she realised it was actually comfortable. Wayne smiled to himself, remembering how Eddie used to do the same. 
Across the street, you were setting up the table. 
The meat cannelloni your grandma used to make for you -or your best attempt at them- where being covered in bechamel that you had just finished, the bottom of the pot that you had used was barely brown for once, a good sign, you thought. Maybe a bit too nutmeg, maybe not enough salt, but it drowns the cannelloni in a warm blanket, before you put some shredded cheese on top. 
Once they were in the oven, the whole trailer smelt like warmth. 
And you started fidgeting with the hem of your long sleeve. 
You checked again that the white wine was chilled, and that you had plenty of water and orange juice for Lua. 
You repainted your lips red, and checked that you didn’t have any mascara stains in your eyelids for the third time. 
You decided to set the table, soft music playing in the background. A tape you had had for a while, with Bowie, the Smiths and some songs you just knew the name of. As you placed the last fork, the familiar soft knock came from the door. A smile appearing in your lips as a response. 
Eddie’s breathing slowed down as soon as he locked eyes with you. His shoulders dropped a bit, his eyes softened, just by seeing you, the river of thoughts stopped. 
Wayne’s eyebrows raised -as soon as he saw the effect you had on his anxious nephew- but neither of you noticed. 
“You look nice.” You let out, your voice softer, kinder. 
“So do you.” He said back, his voice no longer shaking. Lua in his arms, reaching for you. 
“Hi dude!” Your pitch became higher, as you grabbed her for a quick hug, letting her on the floor so she could investigate as she loved to do. 
Eddie stepped a bit closer to you, leaving a kiss on the spot he liked so much, right where your right temple met your hairline, before introducing you to Wayne. 
“It’s a pleasure.” You tell him, a firm shake of hands proceeds your words, a kind smile in his lips as his eyes are framed by smile lines. 
“I’m sure it’s all mine.” He replays, you like how he drags every word, his accent being so different form the one Eddie has. “It smells heavenly.” 
“Grandma’s recipe.” You tell him, as you move to the table. 
Eddie sees that you had fixed a chair with a couple of your hard pillows, so Lua could actually be seated on her own chair, with you. For some stupid reason, it warmed his heart. He hadn’t asked you to, assuming that she’d just be in his lap once again, but seeing that you had taken the effort, made him see -even if he thought it before- just how much you do care. 
Wayne caught it, the way Eddie’s smirk appeared as he looked at the chair, the small plastic plate and utensils you had set up for her. Water and orange juice. Wayne was starting to like you already, and he had barely talked to you. 
Everyone seemed to like the food, a soft wow escaped Wayne’s lips when non one was looking, as his eyebrows raised in amusement. Lua had wanted to try them as soon as they were set up on the table, Eddie telling her as he cut them up in a soft voice that they were too hot, she didn’t care. She grabbed the end of the fork Eddie had, trying to take a bite. 
“Do you really wanna burn your mouth?” He asked, even if he was a bit overwhelmed, his tone stayed sweet, calm. She nodded, only looking at the food. He let her take a small bite, which she did eat, chewing with her mouth opened. “I told you.” Eddie gave her a look that you found endearing. His head tilted ever so slightly to the right, his eyes opened a bit too much nodding as he did so, a soft giggle escaped your lips. He couldn’t help his from curling as soon as he heard you. 
“Yummy” Is all she said, and it made your eyes squint a bit, your smile growing bigger. Eddie’s voice stopped for a second as he saw you, and how proud you looked. 
“You like it?” Eddie could swear your eyes shined when you asked, even a bit brighter when you saw Lua nodding. 
Wayne realised something in that moment, the small bubble that you seemed to be in. 
From where he was, it already looked like you belonged. Like you always had. You seemed to understand Eddie just as good as he was, maybe even better. 
Wayne did try to get to know you, asking you things every time he felt like he had an opportunity. He was always kind, and gave you a smile when you answered. 
The thing that you found out that Wayne and Eddie shared was how much they listened, and remembered. 
“How come you ended up in Hawkins?” 
“They lied to her.” Eddie replayed before you could, food still in your mouth. 
“Whaddumean?” Wayne responded in shock, his eyes staring at you, wanting you to answer. 
“I uh… I got a call about a teaching spot that was supposedly open, in the High School, but uh… they forgot to add that it wouldn’t actually be available for another six months so… I’m in the cafe, saving up… you know” You felt like you were overexplaining yourself, or that you were coming across as pitiful, but as soon as you felt Eddie's hand on your thigh, a small squeeze on it, you knew you were going to be okay. That you were doing okay. 
Wayne looked over at Eddie, a smirk appearing on his lips, that Eddie knew the meaning of, and for once he was welcome you didn’t. It said, you also want to get out of here. Eddie couldn’t unpack that, not now. 
“Well, I’ve heard you’ve already met some of your future students.” He said instead, taking a sip of the white wine you had poured for him. 
“Have I?” 
“Didn’t your little fan club come?” Wayne was now looking at Eddie, who had gone quieter. Not only was he not talking, but he had that shyness that he had grown to hide coming out, right there in the open. 
“Fan club?” You asked back, giving him a little look. He seemed lost, present, but still not entirely there. 
“Hellfire, we uh… play a game together.” 
“I didn’t know you had more kids beside Lua.” Even if you were smiling sincerely, even if he knew you were teasing him, he still gave you an apologetic smile, not really looking at you but at Wayne, begging him to stop. 
Wayne understands, so he waits a few seconds for the music that had been softly playing to stop, he wipes his mouth with the napkin as he nods at his nephew. 
“I should get Lua to bed.” He excuses himself, as he walks over to her. Lua looked up at him with a puzzled look in her eyes, her head swinging between his dad and his uncle. “Let’s go to bed, Lu.” It’s the first time that you hear him being sweet, almost like honey. 
Lua stands up on her own, her arms up in the air, waiting to be lift up by him. He waves you goodbye in sync with Wayne as he walks out the door. 
You stand up. 
You don’t really know what you have done to make Eddie quiet, but you give him space, as you clear the table, and you catch him playing with his index finger, a repetitive movement that lets you know he’s got something bugging him in his mind. 
You let him stay in the chair while water runs down your hands. Calming yourself whilst you come out with the right words. 
“Are you okay?” You end up asking the most basic question, but the only one you can actually think of. He finally looks up at you, and in doing so he realises due to the iron taste in his mouth that he had been biting his lower lip a bit too hard. 
“Yeah, just… Sorry.” He tried to brush it off, finally standing up, walking to the kitchen. His hands hidden deep in the back pockets of his jeans.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He knows that took courage out of you to ask, you start cleaning the plates, the sponge bubbling up as you squeezed it. 
“Do you want me to dry?” He asks back, stepping closer to you, nodding to your previous question, looking for a way to be close to you. 
“Sure.” You step to the left, letting him a bit of space for him to fit, his waits hitting his, a comforting touch that makes his brain slow down once more. “Did I do something? While we were eating?” You try to ask, not sure why he went quiet all of a sudden. Not sure why Wayne had vanished and let you two alone, or why he nodded at Eddie before doing so. 
“No, you were amazing. I can tell Wayne already likes you.” He admits, drying the first plate, his voice was shaking a bit in anticipation about the conversation he knew you were about to have. “It’s just… I haven’t been embarrassed about Hellfire in like, ever. And suddenly the fear that you might I dunno, think it’s dumb, or that you wouldn’t like me being like, this huge nerd, that hangs out with Highschoolers while you are supposed to be a teacher and I…” He was talking faster and faster, his words were starting to fuse together, catching up to the speed in which his brain was thinking about it all. 
You turn the faucet off, paying him full attention. He catches that in the midst of his rumbling. His eyes lock with yours, as nervous tears make his eyes crystallize. 
“Shit I barely graduated. I hated school, I was a freak who liked to play or still likes rather, who tried to defend anyone even if I got beat up or called shitty things and then I got a kid and shit… You have been nothing but nice and you literally are like a I dunno, a princess. Kind and all that shit I don’t… I don’t really deserve it.” 
You shake your head as he talks, wanting to interrupt but not really being able to. You just take his hand, a soft touch that lets him know he’s being heard. 
“Moon.” He can’t help but look at the way your lips move when you call him by the sweetest nickname he had ever been called, only made better by your voice. Your thumb tracing drabbles on the back of his hand. “I like that you’re a nerd.” He can feel the sincerity of your voice, only made more evident by the smile that painted your lips. “I like it because I like you.” You tell him, your eyes looking at the way his lips part, his head shaking in embarrassment. “I don’t care if you play whatever game, or hang out with whoever, because that makes you who you are. And that’s who I like.” 
“Idiot.” It’s the only thing he can manage to say back, with the stupidest widest smile you had seen from him. 
“Hopefully yours.” You tease back, turning back to keep cleaning more dishes. 
He just stands there, mesmerized by you, and the way that you treat him, how you make him feel. He just gives in the urge, his arms wrapping to your waist, his chest hitting your back. You gave in a bit, pushing into him, melting in his arms. 
He took the opportunity to kiss your neck, right where it made your skin tingle, goosebumps being sent through your body. He kisses the same spot again after he hears a giggle turning into a soft moan. 
You turn to him, finally giving him a decent kiss. 
His lips intertwined with yours, the softness contradicted with the underlining neediness of his touch, both of you smiling through the kiss, his hands in the small of your waist, pulling you in closer, your hands lost in his hair, tugging it in a way he thought was heavenly. 
“Yeah, hopefully mine.” He finally responded, once he broke off the kiss, his forehead still touching yours, his hands tracing circles on your skin, under your shirt. You couldn’t stop playing with the ends of his hair. 
You stayed a bit longer like that, soft caress left on your body, as you just held each other, whispering sweet nothings to one another. 
-
He had come over, right when you were ending your shift, panic in his eyes. He was stressed, you could tell that much, switching his order from regular to decaf. He told you, that he had just been called to cover a late shift, and that he didn’t know if he could take Lua with him, because it would be too late, that Wayne had the night shift and wouldn’t be home until 6 in the morning, how much he just needed some reassurance, maybe a little kiss -he couldn’t stop teasing, not even if he tried, not even when he was panicking- but he wasn’t expecting your response to all of this. 
“I could go over and watch her.” 
You saw how his thoughts stopped for a moment, and how the warmth he felt in his heart after he heard your words spread through his cheeks. He asked if you were sure, if you actually didn’t mind. He reminded you that you didn’t have to do it, that it wasn’t your responsibility nor did he want to impose you with something you weren’t ready for. 
“I’d love to spend some time with her. Maybe she’ll even like me more than you in the end.”
He chuckled, added a no way and thanked you a bit too much, finalizing it all with a quick kiss before he headed out, already late for his shift. 
A to go cup in his hand.
Wayne had also thanked you profusely, even if he was a man of no words, he gave you a smile and a comforting squeeze on your shoulder. Lua was sitting down on the couch, mumbling along to the words to her favourite princess movie, while she swanged her hand around, holding on tightly to her chocolate chip cookie. 
You sat down next to her, she squeezed in closer to you. 
“You really like Aurora, don’t you?” Your voice was always higher in pitch when you talked to her, slower, softer. You thought that maybe you did that, in a way, because if someone had been kinder to you when you were little, maybe things would have been easier. 
“She’s the best.” She answered, as if it was painfully obvious. “She lives in the woods, like me!” She pointed out, as soon as the little cottage came on the screen. 
“She does.” 
“And Dada says I’m special like her.” You noticed how her eyes shined when she talked about Eddie, the care and love he had for her reciprocating in the way she talked. 
“You are.” You reassured her, brushing her hair with your fingers, she cuddled with you, a smile on her face. 
-
Three fast knocks on the door made you startled. Lua had just gone to bed, and you were a bit busy cleaning the mess you ended up doing. Thankfully, you were used to cleaning after yourself, white papers filled with doodles, and teddies laid on the floor next to the couch. You looked at the clock, and you saw that Eddie still had a while to come home, and he wouldn’t knock, he would just barge in. So with an unsure pace, you made your way to the trailer door, opening it as the little boy was screaming Eddie’s name. 
“Oh, hi.” He mumbled, as soon as he saw you. 
“Hi. You’re… Dustin?” He took a quick look at you, scanning the scene before he dared to say anything else, not really understanding why you opened the door and not his friend who actually lived there. 
“Uh, yeah. We met.” He was measuring his words, still a bit unsure as to what he was supposed to do now. “Where’s Eddie?”
“D’you wanna come in?” You both had asked the questions at the same time, so when he nodded, you just stepped to the side so he could come in. You noticed the backpack he had glued to his back, his straps tighter so the weight wouldn’t bother him. “What do you got there?” You pointed at the heavy back with your finger, a curious tone in your voice that made him grab it, before putting it on the table. 
“Oh, I was supposed to meet Eddie.” He said, before seeing you nod, wanting to know more, as you sat down. He followed your movements, as he opened the bag. “He left me some of his D&D stuff, and he was supposed to help me with some things I wanted to add to my first campaign.” He started yapping, you saw that just as Eddie, he talked faster when he was excited about a topic. 
“That’s the game you were playing the other day?” You ask sincerely, he nods, as he starts to fill the table with books, little figurines, papers that had scribbling with two different handwriting, sketches… You got lost into all of it for a second, Dustin watching at the way you seemed to analyze it all. “Could you… like, teach me stuff about it?” 
“Why?” Dustin scrunched his nose, not really following you, his eyebrows almost meeting on the bridge of his nose. 
“Eddie really likes this game, and he talks about it, and I don’t always follow, but I don’t wanna bother him with too many questions so…” 
Dustin's wide smile was all the confirmation you needed. 
You were starting to get it, you had races, and classes and the little numbers on the paper sheets where abilities, that you decided rolling weird sided dice. 
You were in to deep, trying to understand and following him closely, as he flipped through the pages of the big dense book he had between the both of you. 
Maybe that’s why neither of you heard him when he walked in. 
He was about to talk, his mouth remained open, but as soon as he saw you both, he stayed there. His body against the door frame, his arms crossed above his chest as he just looked, with the fondest stupidest smile on his lips as he saw just how much interest you had in whatever Dustin was talking to you about. 
“So you can mix and match any classes and races?” You ask, Eddie's heart stops for a moment, he hadn’t realised you were talking about his game. 
“Yeah, I mean if you were to play a bard which was…?” Dustin was questioning you, seeing if you remembered what he had just spent some time trying to explain to you. 
“An unhinged rockstar that likes to tell stories.” 
“So basically Eddie.” Dustin made the same joke again, making you giggle, whilst Eddie tried to hide his chuckle, wanting to know what you’d say without you knowing he was there. 
“That’s my man.” You teased back, in a singing tone that made Dustin laugh as he looked back down at the book. 
“Yeah, so, if you made your Bard a Half-Elf, it would automatically get a +2 to charisma, which is extremely useful to them.” He cheered, you nodded. You knew that Dustin was feeling a bit proud, as he was explaining these things to you. 
“And they also get a +1 stat boost to other abilities.” Eddie finally chirped in, making his presence known. 
He smiled widely, as he walked over to you. His arms falling to his side, his heart beating faster as if it were eager to finally be near yours. 
“Hi.” You said, voice barely above a whisper as he got closer.
“Hi.” He answered, closing the distance between your lips with a quick peck. 
Dustin was happy, seeing the way Eddie melted when you were close, he liked seeing his friend act like that. All soft, as opposed to the thought persona he had to give out when he was still in school, back when they met each other. 
“Dustin was helping me understand your game.” You told him, eyes shining up at him. “But you’re the one he wants to ask stuff to, so… I’ll head home. See you soon Henderson.” You told the cap wearing boy, with a soft squeeze to his shoulder, he waved bye to you, looking as Eddie walked you to the door. “Lua’s been asleep for a while, so don’t worry about that.” You told him, getting a bit lost into him, which you were starting to realise you had no control over, when his eyes looked like chocolate pools under the moonlight. 
“Have I told you how amazing you are?” He told you, pushing a small flock of hair behind your ear, caressing your cheek with his thumb a bit longer than he really needed to. 
You shook your head in disbelief, your eyes not letting go from his stare. You bite your lower lip, a bit from shame, a bit from childish excitement over kind words. He lowered his thumb, pulling your lip down so you wouldn’t bite it. 
The delicate move, the roughness of his callused finger contradicting with the softness of it all, sends your body into overdrive. 
Goosebumps not only filled your body, but his too. He felt it just as much as you need, the spark, the electricity, the fire. It screamed i need you, though sometimes, it seemed like it was screaming i love you, or rather i could love you if you let me. 
“Why?” Is the only thing you could gather to ask, your voice shaking a bit from want, or need. Eddie felt like your voice was a velvety hug on his skin. 
“Just, you really are.” 
He kissed you. His thumb tilted your jaw upwards so he could reach your lips, even if it was a simple movement, it still made your head a bit dizzy. You took a step closer to him, amidst the kiss, so your waist would touch his, so you could get your hands on the back of his neck, burying them in his hair. Your tongues touch, and you feel out of breath. Eddie couldn’t stop himself from smiling, he was too happy, and it was all thanks to you. 
“Goodnight Moon.” You whispered into his ear, finally pulling away. 
“Goodnight Princess.” 
He could have stayed there, watching you leave forever, if it weren’t for Dustin’s soft teasing. A stream of oh lover boy! that came from inside the trailer, it couldn’t even bother him, not even a little bit. 
Because deep down he knew, he was falling deep in love with you. 
-
if you enjoyed it please leave a comment or reblog. i promise it makes a huge difference <3
-
requests! are open
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part 4 is up, thank for the support dudes <3
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unclewaynemunson · 10 months
Note
I definitely think it takes Eddie a while to accept that Steve changed. He remembers what he was like in high school.
When Steve asks him out, for whatever reason, Eddie says yes. But he’s determined not to fall in love, because deep down Harrington’s still a dick. But he’s cute, and Eddie can smile and play pretend.
But then! Steve goes full happy relationship mode, he tells Robin (obv), introduces Eddie to the other adults as his bf, and is just generally being sweet.
MY SWEET ANON I HOPE YOU'LL STILL SEE THIS!!!
I'm so sorry it took me ages to answer this one! But I really loved the idea of this (the good ol' steddie + misunderstanding about what they mean to each other with a dash of terrible communication skills my beloved) so i wanted to give it my proper attention, which i didn't have enough time for over the past few months. Buuut the words have finally found their way to my keyboard so here is the first part of what probably will turn into a 3-part ficlet, I hope it's something like what you had in mind when you sent this ask to me <3
---
Eddie has been acting weird all day. Maybe Steve is too much of a romantic, but he can't help it: he wanted to celebrate this day. Exactly a month ago, he asked Eddie out. And it's been good. They've spent a lot of time together. They've been on lots of dates, spent plenty of nights together... But today, things are different, somehow. Eddie is different. He turned Steve down for a dinner date, he didn't stop by Family Video during lunchtime, and when Steve shows up at the trailer to surprise him with flowers, he merely frowns and pulls back from their kiss before it can even properly get started.
'Everything alright?' Steve asks, trying to catch his boyfriend's gaze – which isn't exactly easy with how Eddie is turning away from him to not-so-gently put the flowers down in a corner of the trailer's living room.
'Yeah, sure,' Eddie mumbles, not really looking at him. 'It's just – I didn't really expect to see you today. We didn't have plans.'
Steve chuckles, trying to get the tension out of his chest. 'Didn't know I was expected to schedule an appointment before coming here.' He tries to play it off as a joke, but the tone of his voice doesn't really want to cooperate.
Eddie finally turns back towards him and Steve catches the end of an eye-roll.
'I'm just not feeling too great today, alright?' It sounds a bit stiff and Steve pauses. He wonders if he did something wrong, if he somehow invaded Eddie's space – even though he has showed up at the trailer on countless evenings in the past month.
'What's wrong?'
'Nothing,' Eddie answers, a little bit too fast. 'I told you, I'm not feeling so well.'
And now that he can see his face properly, Steve notices that Eddie is indeed looking paler than usual.
'Hey, don't worry about it,' he says. 'I can stay to take care of you, if you want to. We don't have to do anything. You can go to bed early and I'll keep you company. I can make you some soup, read to you... You could've just told me you're not feeling good, you know. I would've picked up some fruit on my way over here and stopped by the library for you.'
'You don't have to do any of that, Steve.'
Steve tries to ignore the fact that it's been ages since Eddie has last called him by his official first name. He doesn't like the sound of it.
'But I want to,' he says instead. He takes a step towards Eddie, lifts his arms to wrap them around him – but Eddie swats his arms away before he can properly embrace him.
'Don't.' He sounds cold and detached, so different from how he usually sounds. 'Don't act like this is something it isn't.'
'Like this is something –' Steve echoes, completely caught off-guard by this turn of events. 'Like what?'
'Jesus Christ, you really don't know when to stop, do you?'
'What?' He takes a stumbling step backwards, driven away by the force in Eddie's words.
'We're not – like that,' Eddie stutters out. 'We're just fucking around, aren't we? So you don't need to pretend. You don't need to bring me flowers. You don't need to take care of me when I'm sick. You don't owe me anything, alright? You can go home.'
Steve takes another step backwards, until his back collides with the door of the trailer. He blindly grabs the door handle behind him.
'Alright,' he says, trying desperately not to let his voice tremble audibly. 'I hear you, loud and clear. I'll – I'll leave you alone, then.'
Read pt2 here (Edit: it's actually 5 parts now. You can read the whole thing on ao3 here)
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steddieas-shegoes · 6 months
Text
love confessions in line
Another stupid little thing because I’m in the car and bored. It’s not edited or really anything much beyond just putting these boys in love in situations.
Rated t | tags: love confessions, established relationship, robin being so fed up with them
————————
“Why do we have to be here so early? My dinner hasn’t even digested properly yet,” Robin complained.
And, okay. It was cold and there were a lot of people standing in line outside of the only Walmart carrying the very specific guitar amp Eddie wanted. He’d called every Walmart in Indiana. Multiple times.
But he had to go all out for Christmas this year. Eddie had already said he’d gotten Steve something he’ll never outdo, never even believe. Obviously, that meant Steve had to do better than the Metallica hoodie that was stashed in his closet for the last four months.
“It’ll be worth it. There’s hardly anyone in line ahead of us and if we go straight to the electronics in the back—“
“You mean where everyone is going?” Robin interrupted, folding her arms across her chest.
Steve sighed.
“Yeah, well. I’ll run. It’ll be fine. I doubt anyone else here is interested in a guitar amp.”
As if the words ‘guitar amp’ were magic, someone who looked a lot like Eddie walked up to one of the security officers standing by the front doors.
Robin noticed at the same time as him.
“Is that…?”
“It can’t be. He said he was going fishing with Wayne in the morning and didn’t wanna end up stuck in crowds shopping,” Steve said.
But then the man turned back to the line.
“Steve?” Eddie yelled, eyes going wide when he realized Steve and Robin were there.
“Uh.”
“Um.”
“I thought you guys were going to Indy for this!” Eddie smiled as he walked up to them. “I don’t think this store will have what you’re lookin’ for.”
Steve panicked. There’s only one thing Eddie could be here for. He could go anywhere else. He could have stayed in Hawkins for that matter.
“Uh. Just wanted a change of scenery.”
Eddie’s brows furrowed as his smile fell slightly.
“O…kay. Well, I’ve got an amp to buy so I guess we’re all in this together now.”
Steve ignored Robin’s snort and mumbling.
Eddie glanced over at her with a questioning face.
“You two are unbelievable. Truly.”
“What? Why?” Eddie asked, genuinely curious.
His finger traced along the back of Steve’s hand subtly, out of sight of the people behind them in line.
“I.” Steve sighed.
Oh well. Maybe he could just try to get concert tickets the next time Ozzy came to Chicago.
“I was gonna get the amp for you for Christmas. I’ve been planning it for weeks,” Steve said, looking down at the ground.
Eddie was surprisingly quiet.
Absolutely no response.
After a full minute, Steve made eye contact with him.
He had tears building in his eyes and Steve felt himself start to tear up, too.
“You were?” Eddie choked out. “But this is-“
“The only place selling it on sale in the state, yeah.”
Robin was grumbling to herself again, but neither of them were paying attention anymore.
“How did you even know?” Eddie asked after a deep, calming breath.
“You mentioned it last month after a gig. Said you needed a new one anyways and this was top of the line or something. That a lot of the bands you like were switching to this kind for studio recording or whatever because of the…crisp? Sound? And then when no one else was selling it at all, I had to call around the Walmarts to see who had it on sale because $300 is a lot of money, Eds, and I wish I could afford that, but I don’t really have that lying around after paying for school and rent so when this place finally said they’d have it for $100, I made Robin promise to come with me since you’d be busy. And I guess you’re not that busy, but. I needed to do my best to get it.”
Eddie’s smile grew the longer Steve rambled. Robin was already walking away, probably back to Steve’s car, halfway through his speech.
“I love you.”
Steve’s jaw dropped in shock.
They’d been saying it in every way except this way for months, nearly a year, really.
It started as Steve taking care of Eddie when everyone else was busy taking care of the Upside Down.
It kept going as Steve was the one listening to Eddie slowly pick the guitar back up, working through the crying about his fingers not working right or his arm getting tired too quickly.
And then five months ago, Steve kissed him.
Took the plunge and kissed him.
They’d done everything together since. They’d become boyfriends. They came out to their group, together, always together.
And now, in a Walmart parking lot during the busiest shopping day of the year, Eddie was telling Steve he loved him.
“Because of the amp?” Steve asked, hesitant.
Eddie knew what he was really asking.
Because I’m buying you something nice?
“No, sweetheart. Because you listen to me. You know what makes me happy. You’re doing something for me that no one else would have even bothered to try to do.” Eddie laughed. “I have never wanted to kiss you as much as I want to right now.”
“Not even that time I wore a crop top and your boxers?”
Eddie groaned. “That was an outlier. You know how that affected me.”
“Oh, I sure do,” Steve smirked. “Too bad we’re in public.”
“The doors open in an hour right?” Eddie asked, checking his watch.
“Yep.”
“And then you have to take Robin to her parent’s house?”
“Probably should.”
“And then what?” Eddie asked, already knowing exactly what.
“And then I’ll come to the trailer and I’ll walk right to your room and hopefully-“ Steve cut himself off to whisper the next part. “You’ll be naked.”
Eddie’s brows raised. “You want me naked? What about Wayne being home?”
“Wayne’s been sleeping with ear plugs for months now. Can’t hear a thing,” Steve pats Eddie’s blushing cheek. “Said he didn’t need to hear what his nephew got up to.”
“We really should just move my stuff into your new place,” Eddie suggested for the fifth time in as many days.
Steve wasn’t opposed at all.
In fact, he’d planned on asking him to move in once he got more settled.
But.
“Wayne wanted another Christmas with you at home, baby. He won’t say it, but when I brought up you moving in with me, I thought he was actually gonna cry.”
“Yeah, yeah. With this new amp, he’ll change his mind.”
“What makes you think you get this amp before Christmas?” Steve put his hands on his hips.
“Because now I know you’re getting it!”
“Uh-huh. And it’s getting wrapped with your other gift to be opened on Christmas morning. No early gifts on my watch.”
“Steeeeeeve. Please! I could use it at our show next week!”
Steve shook his head. “Your amp works fine. Christmas is only a month from now.”
“You’re getting revenge on me,” Eddie pouted.
“Revenge for what?” Steve snorted.
“You know what.”
Steve did. He felt his cheeks and neck heat up with a blush.
“Fine. Yes. Maybe it’s a little bit revenge.”
Eddie huffed, but didn’t argue further.
“You know I love you, too, right?” Steve whispered.
And Eddie forgot about everything else except the way Steve was looking at him, like he needed Eddie to understand how much he loved him.
“Yeah, sweetheart. I do.”
———————
Three days later, Steve set the amp up in the second bedroom of his rented house.
When Eddie came over, he pushed him into the room and wrapped his arms around his waist.
“You can play it here, but I’m still wrapping it up for Christmas and you aren’t allowed to bring it to shows until after. Okay?”
Eddie was bouncing on his toes and squeezing Steve’s hands so hard he was losing feeling.
“Okay! Thank you, thank you! I love you! Thank you!”
Eddie smacked a kiss on Steve’s cheek before pulling away and running to the amp.
“You need your guitar, honey,” Steve laughed.
“Right!” Eddie ran from the room to grab his guitar from his van.
Steve shook his head, but couldn’t help his fond smile as the front door banged open.
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steddiealltheway · 7 months
Text
If someone told Steve four years ago that he would be at a gay bar with Robin Buckley and Eddie Munson, he would have laughed in their face.
Actually, if Steve really thinks about it, he would’ve been nervous that the person found out he was secretly hooking up with Eddie Munson.
But that was forever ago, and although he and Eddie had a nasty falling out, things changed. More like, they both changed. And after practically co-parenting a teenager along with a reunion in a creepy alternate dimension that nearly killed Eddie, it seemed like their fate was sealed and they would always be bonded together.
Steve really didn’t mind honestly. Actually, he has enjoyed getting to know Eddie all over again while not simultaneously trying to get in his pants. Sure, Eddie would flirt with him every now and then (at least a couple times a day), and Steve would maybe flirt back sometimes (most of the time unless the kids were in earshot). But things were different now. Even though Eddie admitted that Steve had changed, it didn’t mean he would ever forgive him for cruelly breaking things off when Steve found himself experiencing actual feelings for Eddie all those years ago.
So, Steve forces him to accept that times have changed and he likely missed his chance. Currently, he settles on leaning back against the bar, nursing a fruity drink that Eddie jokingly bought him before he made his way to the dance floor and eyed everyone around him.
Steve finds his hand tightening around the glass in his hand as he’s rudely reminded of how he’s an unfortunately jealous person. But Eddie isn’t his boyfriend. Eddie really isn’t his anything except a friend. So he's not allowed to feel like his skin is crawling when he finds a few people staring at Eddie with interest.
Steve distracts himself as he glances over to where Robin is in a secluded corner, giving a shorter girl heart eyes as they both get lost in some conversation. Steve smiles and glances away, giving Robin some privacy while simultaneously keeping tabs on her.
When he looks away, his eyes betray him by settling on Eddie who now has his arms wrapped around some man with blonde hair, probably a little older than Eddie but much shorter. All Steve can think about is how Eddie is out of his league and deserves better, and he wishes he could tell him that.
But then, something weird happens. Eddie glances over his shoulder at Steve, eyebrows raised as if he's looking for Steve for approval. So, Steve goes with his gut and shakes his head, and sees Eddie turn back and slowly untwine himself from the man as if taking Steve's advice to heart.
And shit, Steve doesn't know what to do with that so he orders another drink - this time a beer that he's had before so he knows his limit - and sits on a barstool, getting comfortable as he watches over Eddie.
He sees a taller guy with various piercings make his way over to Eddie, smoothly coming up behind him and gently placing his hands on his waist, dancing along with him. Steve takes a deep swig of the beer, trying not to think too hard of the last few weeks of his and Eddie's short-lived almost relationship when Eddie started getting more comfortable with him and would dance wildly around his room to whatever metal album he had on repeat that week. And Steve would just sit back on Eddie's bed and watch him, laughing when Eddie would pause to take a breather, and laughing even harder when Eddie insisted he danced with him.
But now, he isn't dancing in that wild way that used to be familiar to Steve. No, Eddie's leaning into the man's touch, emphasizing the beat with the smooth yet sharp movement of his hips. A muscle in Steve's jaw jumps as he wonders when Eddie learned to dance like that. And who got to witness it and be subject to it after Steve.
He nearly stands up to use the restroom or go outside to get a breather when Eddie looks right up at him, eyes slightly hooded as he takes a deep breath in and raises his eyebrows while still dancing with the man.
And Steve finds himself shaking his head. He can do better. He deserves so much better than the man clearly trying to get in his pants, not even bothering to make conversation other than whatever he filthily whispers in Eddie's ear every so often.
But Eddie does the same as before, and slowly pulls away from the guy, only to gravitate toward someone else.
It's a cycle that's intoxicating to Steve. If he leaves, he risks Eddie ending up with anyone who isn't him, but as he watches, he learns a whole other side of Eddie that he wants to explore on his own. But with it all comes the painful jealousy that Steve is sure is reading across his face and steering quite a few people away from him.
He takes a deep breath and glances back toward Robin's corner, finding that she's moved on from talking with the girl to getting to know her a little more... intimately.
Steve glances away, no longer feeling the same happiness as he did for her before. God, his jealousy is consuming his entire being as it practically courses through his veins. He wants to be like Robin tonight, but he wants the other person to be Eddie.
He feels his heart skip a beat at the realization. Of course, he knew he was jealous of Eddie showing interest in other people, but Steve hadn't realized how much he was still interested in Eddie. And not just the old Eddie but the one he's come to know and has developed feelings for all over again.
Shit.
"Hey."
Steve startles a bit as Eddie practically appears in front of him breathing deeply as if he hasn't quite caught his breath yet. He has a thin veil of sweat covering his face and neck that he wipes at with a napkin he grabs from the bar. "You enjoying the view?"
Steve shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s a bit frustrating when I know you can do better.”
Eddie leans against the bar and props up a foot on the bottom ledge of his barstool. “It’s hard when the person judging seems to think that I can do better than everyone in this bar.”
“You're right,” Steve says before finishing off his beer and setting it down on the counter. “But maybe there’s someone here that’s just right for you. That wouldn’t just treat you to one night and leave.”
Eddie narrows his eyes and leans in closer. “And tell me, who do you have in mind to fill that role?”
Steve breathes out, “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Eddie’s mouth twists into a frown before he grabs Steve’s hand and practically yanks him off the stool, dragging him in the direction of the bathroom nearby.
“Wait,” Steve says before they make it to the door. “Let me just…” He turns and glances toward where Robin is, thanking their platonic soulmate connection for causing her to break the kiss she’s in the middle of and glance at Steve. Her brows furrow as she takes in the situation, but Steve shoots her a cautionary thumbs up which she enthusiastically returns before giving a cautionary okay? hand sign which Steve responds to quickly nodding before he turns back to Eddie. “Okay, we’re good now.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re long lost twins or something,” Eddie mutters as he pulls Steve to the bathroom and looks around before locking the door behind them. “Now what the hell was that back there?”
“I was checking in on Robin.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Eddie says, crossing his arms as he stalks into Steve’s space. “The staring and acting as if you’re about to murder anyone who comes into contact with me.”
Steve puts his hands on his hips. “Yeah, maybe I’m a little protective after you nearly fucking died.”
“No, that’s not what this is about,” Eddie huffs out. He runs a hand over his face and states, “We’ve never talked about it - what we’ve been through before all of the stuff with the Upside Down and all that other confidential bullshit. But now you start spewing poetry about people being right for me, and what, you imply that I’m supposed to think of you as that person? If you wanted that so bad then why didn’t you go out there and dance with me yourself?”
Steve lets the question sink in for a moment before he replies, “Because, after everything that we don’t talk about, I thought the last thing you would want is for me to be that person.”
“Then why are you pushing it now?”
Steve runs a hand through his hair and bursts out, “Because I want you to want me to be that person! And I want to be that person."
"And why should I believe that?" Eddie asks, stepping closer to him and Steve finds his back pressed into the wall. "After you told me that I meant nothing to you. That I was just your failed experiment because King Steve doesn't like boys. Do you really think I don't remember everything you said?"
"Do you think I don't remember everything I said, and maybe that I lied, and I've regretted my words since the second I said them to you? Do you think I enjoyed telling you it was stupid for you to think you ever meant anything to me?" Steve asks, leaning into Eddie's space, face scrunching up at the words he remembers saying all too well.
"Then why did you say all of it?" Eddie asks cocking his head to the side, eyes flashing briefly with something that looks like hope that he quickly covers up with anger.
Steve takes a deep breath and gently puts his hands on Eddie's shoulders as he explains, "Because I was scared. I was fucking terrified because I started falling for you, and I couldn't stop it. I woke up every damn morning thinking about you, and I felt like I wasn't okay until I saw you and got to talk to you. I just wanted things to be physical, but they were never that simple. And I was a fucking asshole who didn't know what to do. I just needed to end it somehow, and that was the only way I knew how. And I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm so fucking sorry." Steve feels tears sting at his eyes and he fights to not pinch at his nose. He needs Eddie to know how much he regrets everything.
Eddie stares at him for a few seconds in silence. His eyes search his, flicking back and forth between each eye before he slowly backs away and curses under his breath.
Steve squirms a bit under his gaze and finally sighs and asks, "What are we doing in here, Eds? Why did you bring me here?"
Eddie shakes his head and runs his hands over his face before pacing back and forth. "I don't know," he says quietly. "I don't know!" he practically yells before rambling on, "I know you've changed, and I know you're different. And for some reason, I just wanted to open old wounds and see if I could make you jealous or some shit. Wanted to make you see what you're missing out on, but I don't know!" Eddie sighs sharply and stops pacing to look directly at Steve. "I wanted to know if you felt the same," he says quietly before laughing humorlessly, "But I didn't realize how much old shit it would bring up. You did a fucking number on me, you know?"
Steve looks down at the ground and feels a tear slip down his cheek. "I know, Eddie. If I could go back and change things, I would in a heartbeat." And it's true. God, he wishes more than anything he could go back and change so many damn things. He wipes angrily at the next tear that escapes down his cheek, willing it to all stop.
"Steve," Eddie says gently.
Steve sighs and wipes at both of his eyes before glancing up at him. "Yes?"
"Do you mean it?" Eddie asks.
"Mean what exactly?"
Eddie steps closer and fidgets with his rings. "All of it."
Steve nods. "I'm pretty sure I was in love with you back then, and..." he takes a deep breath before admitting, "I'm pretty sure I still am now." He swallows and continues, "You coming back into my life was one of the best things to happen to me, and I wish it was under better circumstances but... I don't regret where we are now."
Eddie takes a few steps toward him before he pulls Steve into a hug and whispers, "I don't regret where we are now either."
Steve pulls Eddie in tighter, trying to hold onto him as if he never let him go. "I'm so sorry."
"I know, Steve," Eddie says, sounding a bit choked up. "You have no idea how much I missed you. I know we've talked and everything as if nothing happened, and I told you you've changed but... you also haven't." He pulls back and grabs Steve by the shoulders. "The guy I fell in love with is that same guy you are today. You were always good deep down, and god, by the end of everything you were so good to me. I nearly called you out on your bullshit when you broke things off, but instead, I spiraled and thought maybe it was all true."
"Nothing I said was true, but everything we had was real," Steve insists.
Eddie takes a deep breath and asks, "And everything we have now... is that real too?"
Steve nods and cups Eddie's face in his hands. "Yes, and I would do anything to be enough for you and make up for everything I should've done."
"Steve," Eddie says, looking at him questioningly, "Kiss me."
Although it's requested in a weird tone, Steve nonetheless leans in and kisses Eddie, trying to pour into the kiss all of his regret and hope as muscle memory kicks in and he carefully traces a thumb against his cheek, his show of gentle affection and genuine love.
The kiss breaks when Eddie smiles and lightly laughs. It's now Steve's turn to look at him questioningly.
"Sorry," Eddie says still smiling widely. "You used to do that thing with your thumb only when you would kiss me without trying to get into my pants."
Steve sighs and thuds his head against Eddie's shoulder. "I didn't even realize. Shit, I was such an asshole."
"You know, it wasn't entirely bad when you did get into my pants," Eddie flirts easily.
Steve laughs softly, feeling the comfortable atmosphere between them that they've recently built. He glances up and flirts back, "Oh, I remember."
Eddie smiles, showing off his dimples before staring at Steve for a few seconds as if considering him. “Should we really do this again?”
Steve grabs Eddie’s hand. “Only if you want to.“
Eddie huffs out a silent laugh. “I really want to.”
“Well that’s great because I do too,” Steve lightly jokes. “But it’ll be different this time, okay? No hiding. None of me being an asshole or trying to hide my feelings.”
“I like the sound of that,” Eddie says with a bright smile. “And I promise to call you out on your bullshit this time around, and I won’t doubt things.”
"I like the sound of that," Steve says with a wink.
There's a loud pounding sound on the bathroom door that startles Steve and Eddie away from each other. Eddie smiles sheepishly. "Should've chosen a different spot to talk."
"All my important conversations seem to happen in a bathroom," Steve replies with a shrug. He runs a hand through his hair and asks, "You ready?"
Eddie hesitates and replies, "I just need to do one thing." He rushes to Steve and cups his face, kissing him deeply before pulling away with a smile. "Okay, I'm good now."
Steve laughs and grabs his hand before unlocking and opening the door.
To both of their surprise, they find Robin on the other side. She looks at their faces then their intertwined hands and sighs in relief, "I thought you killed each other."
Eddie frowns. "You thought that first instead of thinking we were having a quickie?"
"One, gross," Robin says with a frown, "Two, if you guys were having a quickie, Steve wouldn't have checked in on me first."
"Hey-"
Robin holds her finger up at Steve. "Nope, we both know it's true, but it looks like you guys figured things out?"
Steve smiles and looks at Eddie. "I think we did."
"We definitely did," Eddie confirms with a cheesy grin.
"Thank god. Just a warning that the kids may have been taking bets on when you would finally get together," Robin says with a smile before leaning in and saying, "Give it another week and Max will win instead of Dustin."
Steve asks Eddie, "Are you okay with temporarily hiding things again?"
"To make sure Dustin doesn't win that bet? Hell yeah."
Steve squeezes his hand and says, "Maybe we can take a week to ourselves or something. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it a secret for that long."
Eddie's gaze softens as he squeezes Steve's hand back. "I like the sound of that."
In the end, Dustin nearly wins the bet when Steve finds himself unable to resist calling the kids to tell them the news, but Eddie is able to quickly intercept the call as he blasts his music and dances around to distract Steve. And when he says, "Come dance with me," Steve can only promise to call back Dustin later.
As Steve joins him, laughing as hard as he once did before, he can only wonder what would happen if someone told him four years ago that he would end up with Eddie Munson after all.
He thinks he would be a whole mix of emotions. But relieved is one of the main ones that comes to mind.
1K notes · View notes
starshideurfics · 1 month
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Can’t go home alone
steddie, aob, hurt/comfort, established secret relationship
I just can’t leave this concept alone 🥰
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Pain pulses over and behind and around Steve’s eye along with the beat of his heart. It isn’t as bad as it was even an hour ago, and definitely not as bad as when he and Robin puked their guts out in the movie theater restroom.
But his head hurts. His chest hurts. And he just wants to curl up in his nest and hope his parents don’t come home in time to see him like this. 
But the paramedic checking him says he’s definitely got a concussion. “Have you got someone who can keep an eye on you for the next 48 hours?”
“I… Yeah, I do.” Steve leans his head on Robin’s shoulder, needing the support as he’s hit with a sudden dizzy spell. He really doesn’t want to hurl again.
“Steve,” Robin whispers, “There’s no way my mom is letting me stay at your house for two days. Or letting you stay at mine. She would freak if I had an omega in my room.”
“I know,” Steve mumbles back. “‘Preciate the offer, Robbie, but I’ve got someone.”
“Steve. You can’t just shrug this off!”
“I’m not! I do have someone.” He pouts, breathes deep, her scent sour still from the truth serum leaving her system. His face is hidden in her short hair as he mumbles, “I’ll stay with Eddie.” Steve’s so tired. 
He just wants to rest his eyes a minute, but Robin shakes his shoulder.
“Eddie? Steve what are you talking about?”
“I’ll stay at Eddie’s. He’ll take care of me.”
Robin is struggling to focus, her brain not as scrambled as Steve’s, but after a day and a half without enough to eat or drink coupled with everything else, she’s just as tired and confused. “Eddie who?”
Tires screech to a stop at the edge of the Starcourt parking lot, the closest cars can come now with the barriers up. Steve whips his head around to look towards the noise and his head spins. But then he sees a familiar, shitty van, the driver’s door opening and closing loud enough for Steve to hear the slam over the surrounding hubbub.
Pushing himself to his feet, Steve starts walking towards the streak of denim and dark curls racing towards him. He’s grinning like an idiot as Eddie stops just short of barreling into him, the rangy alpha delicately cupping his face. “Steve, baby, what the hell happened?” His fingers brush gently along Steve’s brow, over the cut on his lower lip. “I saw on the news—about the fire—called your place a dozen times and no one picked up. Been half-crazy worrin’ over you, and it looks like I was right to.”
“M’sorry,” Steve mumbles, pressing his cheek into Eddie’s touch.
“No, baby, not your fault. I’m just glad it isn’t worse.” He pulls Steve close, guides his face to the scent gland at his neck, and kisses his hair. “I’ve got you.”
Steve begins to purr, feeling safe for the first time in two days. “Can we go home?”
“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Wait! I gotta tell Robin!”
“What? Is Buckley here, too?”
Steve doesn’t answer, just pulls out of Eddie’s grip and stumbles back to the ambulance where Robin is still waiting, wrapped in an emergency blanket, her blue eyes glued to him as he approaches. “You’re dating Eddie Munson?” The, ‘and you didn’t say anything about that when we were spilling our guts literally and metaphorically on the bathroom floor’ is implied.
“Yeah. Eddie’s the best. He’s really sweet and he’s got a big—”
“Please don’t make me barf on you by finishing that sentence. I do not need to know what you and your alpha get up to behind closed doors.” Robin reaches for his hand. “Just… Call me in the morning, okay?”
“Okay.” Steve squeezes her fingers before loping back to Eddie and snuggling into his boyfriend’s chest.
Eddie rubs at Steve’s back. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. I’m hungry.”
“Want me to make you a grilled cheese when we get back to my place?”
“Uh-huh.” Steve nods enthusiastically, only to bring on a wave of nausea, forcing him to shut his eyes and put all his weight on Eddie.
“Maybe I should just get you into bed.”
Steve moans wordlessly, lets himself be manhandled into the van, barely noticing anything beyond the bumps in the road that make his head ache more.
Once they reach Forest Hills, Eddie plops Steve on the couch, brings him water and a bag of frozen peas for his eye, and turns his attention to frying two sandwiches.
After Steve is fed, Eddie helps him into the shower, washing his hair in the tiny bathroom, and getting rid of the dried blood and days’ worth of sweat. 
They dry off together, and Eddie bundles Steve into his bed, their naked bodies pressed close beneath the covers. “I’ve got you, baby,” Eddie whispers, dropping a kiss to Steve’s unbruised temple. “You rest. And if you need anything, let me know, I’ll get it for you.”
“I know,” Steve hums, snuggling impossibly closer. “Love you.”
“Love you too, baby. Now sleep.”
374 notes · View notes
andvys · 6 months
Text
I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss | part twenty three
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Warnings: angst, mentions of an ED, mentions of reader not eating, mentions of heartbreak and unrequited love. Not proofread!
Pairings: Steve Harrington x fem!reader , Eddie Munson x fem!reader
Summary: After weeks of staying silent, Robin finally confronts you about your feelings.
Word count: 4k
series masterlist
-
You stare at the tiled ground. Bouncing your knee and chewing on your nails, trying to calm your heart from pounding. The sinking feeling in your chest makes you so anxious. 
You shouldn’t have done this. 
You shouldn’t have offered to spend time with Steve. 
You shouldn’t have offered to go out with him for lunch. 
You should have gone with Eddie, like you normally do. 
What if he gets angry again?
What if he’s upset? 
Is that why he sounded so grumpy when you called him last night to remind him that you already made plans? No. He already knew about it since Saturday and he wasn’t mad or upset. 
Or, maybe he was just better at hiding it this time. He hurt you when he found out about the kiss with Steve. He hurt you and that is something he would never do again. You know it. That is why he kept his feelings to himself this time, right? 
Oh god. 
You really hope that he isn’t angry, hurt or upset. 
The last thing you want to do is hurt Eddie. 
You flinch in surprise when a large hand takes hold of your wrist. You look up with wide eyes, about to pull your hand back when you lock eyes with Steve. Your shoulders slump in relief and you take in a deep, shaky breath. You look down at his hand, still wrapped around your wrist. 
“Don’t do that,” he says as he softly pulls your hand away from your lips, looking down at your freshly manicured nails, “you’re gonna ruin your nails.”
Your heart flutters in your chest. 
Steve had always intertwined his fingers with yours, holding your hand tightly to stop you from chewing on your nails. His hold on your hand was more effective anyways when it came to calming your anxiety. 
His hazel eyes scan your face, he notices the worry etched in your beautiful features. 
“What’s wrong?” He asks, stepping closer to you, “are you okay?” 
His soft voice, his kind eyes and his words are almost so foreign. It’s been almost a year since your relationship ended and yet, you get taken back to it every time you’re with him. 
Every time you look into his soft eyes, every time you feel his gentle touch, every time you hear his kind words, you wonder why he had been so rough and harsh when you were still his. What changed? Why is he like this now? Why wasn’t he like this back then? 
Even in the beginning, when he was so good to you, he still wasn’t this gentle with you. 
“Y-Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re chewing on your nails. You always used to do it when you were anxious.”
He can see the way your eyes flash with surprise and the way your brows furrow in confusion. 
Did you really think that he forgot anything about you?
“Oh, I uh, I’m fine.”
He scans your face. You’re lying, he knows it.
You look both nervous and anxious and a part of him fears that he is the cause of it. 
“You don’t have to spend your break with me if you don’t want to.” 
“What? No! No, it’s not that. I want to.. I want to spend time with you. I-I mean, we’re friends, we can just hang out together,” you shrug, trying to give him a smile, “as friends, right?” 
He smiles. You’re blushing and smiling nervously. It’s cute. 
“Yeah. As friends.”
There’s a moment of awkward silence between you both. You stare at each other, neither of you making a move. You just stare at each other as he is still holding your wrist. For a brief second, he looks down at it, he loosens his grip around your wrist, letting his fingers glide down your knuckles and your ringed fingers. The urge to just take your hand and never let it go is so strong. 
He lets it go, raising his hand to run it through his hair, he takes a deep breath. 
“So, what do you want to eat?” He asks, looking around the crowded mall. 
You shrug. 
“I’ll have whatever you want.”
He furrows his brows when he looks back at you. 
“Is that so?” He asks, amused. “You always used to fight about where we should eat.”
A smile pulls at your lips, you nudge his shoulder, shaking your head at him. 
“That’s not true!”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not,” you mumble, rolling your eyes with a smile on your face. 
“So if I say let’s get KFC, you will say yes?” 
A laugh falls from your lips. 
“Of course you want KFC.”
He raises his brows, “what’s that supposed to mean?” He chuckles.
You lick your lips, looking at the passing people before you lock your eyes with him again. You nudge his shoulder with yours as you start walking. 
“That’s like all you ever wanted to eat, Steve.”
“Yeah and that’s something you never wanted to eat,” he chuckles, “all you ever got was fries. Or mashed potatoes.”
“Well, the mashed potatoes are really good– oh, sometimes I stole your chicken though.”
“Nah, I shared it with you, dolly.”
You feel a pang in your chest. One that makes you swallow harshly, biting back the bitterness on your tongue. You try to leave the pain in the past but every time he says something that reminds you of your past with him, you feel the same pain all over again. 
The same pain that you have felt when he flirted with others. The same pain that you have felt when he started ditching you for her. The same pain that you have felt on the awful night he had broke your heart and everything that came after that. 
You look down with a smile on your face, trying to hide the hurt in your eyes. 
You don’t want him to see how much you are still hurting. He can’t see. He can’t know. Not when you want this to work out. Not when you want to give your friendship a second chance. 
You know that this might be a bad idea. 
Spending time with him. Being alone with him. Letting him back into your life like this but, he just means too much to you to just let him become a stranger again. 
You can be friends again, without wanting more, right? 
You know that you can do it, but can he? 
Can Steve accept being just a friend? 
A part of you thinks that he can’t. He had proven it a few times already, that he can’t be just a friend. It’s in the way he looks at you, it’s in the way he touches you, it’s in the way he says your name, it’s in the way he kissed you. 
But you want it to work out. You want him in your life. You want him to be your friend again. 
“Hey guys! Wait up for me!” 
You and Steve halt in your tracks, both turning around to see Robin rushing towards you both. 
“You gotta be kidding me,” Steve mumbles under his breath. 
“Aaron told me to take the break with you,” she smirks at Steve, who rolls his eyes at her. 
She knows that he was looking forward to this. The lunch date with you. Robin can’t let this happen, not when she saw how nervous you looked when you waited for Steve in front of Scoops Ahoy earlier.
She squeezes herself in the middle, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. 
“Let’s get some fries, girl.” 
A smile appears on your face, a look of relief flashing in your eyes, which makes her feel better about intervening. 
‘Sorry, Steve.’ She thinks to herself. 
-
Robin’s eyes roam your face. Her brows are knit together as she watches you. 
You’re sitting across from her, playing with the fries on your plate that you have only eaten half of. There’s a troubled look in your eyes, you are chewing on your bottom lip, blinking as you stare down at your lap. 
Steve is rambling, talking about some horror story Dustin had most likely made up while sipping on his Dr. Pepper. She isn’t really listening, too busy trying to figure you out. 
She wonders what you’re thinking about for you to look so.. sad. 
She needs to talk to you. She can’t wait till the summer is over. She needs to talk to you and she knows that you need to talk about it as well. 
“Hey Steve?” She turns towards him, interrupting his rambling, “can you get me something?” 
He sighs in annoyance. 
“What?”
She shakes her empty cup, giving him a hopeful smile, “another sprite?” 
He rolls his eyes at her but he stands up from his seat, “you’re lucky I like you.” 
She snorts. 
He gathers the empty boxes on the table, placing them all on the food tray. He looks down at you and the food you didn’t finish, “are you not gonna eat that, y/n?” 
Finally, you look up. 
You look lost, staring at him with a frown as though you don’t understand what he means. 
“The fries,” he mumbles, pointing at your tray. 
You look down, shaking your head, “n-no, I’m not very hungry,” you say, reaching for the drink as you look back up, “I had a big breakfast.”
He frowns, knowing that there’s no truth behind your words. There’s not much he can do about it though. Steve had worried about you and your wellbeing from the day his parents pointed out the changes in you. Ever since then, he had watched you closely, feeling more helpless than ever as there was nothing that he could do to help. 
He swallows, looking down sadly, he reaches for your tray, “alright. Do you want anything else?” 
“No, thanks,” you smile, shaking your head. 
He nods, giving you a smile back before he walks away, leaving you and Robin to yourselves. 
You wrap your lips around the plastic straw, looking out the window, you watch the people at the food court as you take a sip of your sweet drink. Unaware of Robin’s concerned eyes on you. 
Your eyes fall on the three teenage girls sitting by the big water fountain. The one in the middle is holding a magazine, reading something to her friends who are giggling at whatever she is telling them. One of them is wearing a green scrunchie on her wrist, it’s similar to the one you used to have. You don’t know where it went, it must’ve disappeared in one of yours or his drawers. 
She nudges your foot under the table, speaking your name softly. 
You tear your gaze away from them, raising your brows in question when you see the look on Robin’s face. The sad frown. 
“Yeah? What’s wrong?” 
She looks around, leaning closer after taking a deep breath. 
“Are you okay?” 
For a moment, there is nothing but silence between the two of you. She takes in the look of your face, watching the way your features twist into confusion. 
“What?” 
“Are you okay?” 
The feeling of the weight crashing from your chest into your stomach, suddenly makes you feel sick. You don’t know why her words affect you the way they do but, the longer you look at her and the longer you watch the concerned look in her eyes, you feel like crying. 
You blink, hoping that no tears will well up in your eyes. 
“Yeah,” you say after a moment of hesitation. 
Her shoulders slump and she sighs. She doesn’t have to say it out loud for you to know that she doesn’t believe you. 
“Why?” 
Robin takes a deep breath, leaning back in her seat, she raises her hands towards her face, running her fingers through her hair. 
“Y-You’re just, you’re not – can I be honest with you?”
You cross your arms over your chest, nodding, “always.”
“Okay,” she nods, sighing. “You’re different.”
“What?”
“You’re acting weird. You’re not yourself.” 
You straighten your back, leaning closer to the table, “what do you mean?” You frown. 
“Ever since that stupid date with that asshole, you have been acting weird, which is totally understandable considering what happened b-but, you were doing so good before that, you were moving on from Steve, you were doing better every day a-and after that night, you just, it’s like, you took ten steps back. And, I promise, I’m not judging you but I’m really fucking worried about you.” 
You’re a little taken aback. You didn’t expect this. 
“W-What?” You chuckle, nervously. 
“Just when you were getting better all this shit hits the fan!” 
You furrow your brows at her. 
“You’re not eating,” she points to the now empty table, “you’re friends with Steve again – which hey, I get now cause it turns out that Steve Harrington is actually a pretty nice dude now that he’s.. changed,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes. “B-But, you two kissed not too long ago and that upset Eddie which in turn upset you when he found out and acted like a total brat a-and– god!” She pulls at her hair, groaning in annoyance as she takes a deep breath again, “you should be focusing on yourself but you’re stuck between Steve who you are still very much in love with, obviously. And Eddie, who’s clearly more than just–”
Before she can even finish the sentence, you jump up from your seat out of sheer panic, slamming your drink on the table before you rush out of the restaurant, leaving Robin to  sit by herself. 
She calls out your name, throwing her hands up. She knows what you’re doing, you are trying to run away, but she won’t let you. 
She curses under her breath, pushing herself up from her seat and rushes out. 
It’s 1pm on a Monday, the mall isn’t very crowded, yet she needs a moment to find you. She squints her eyes, looking around for you. 
“God damnit, girl,” she mumbles. 
You’re fast, she’s gotta give you that. Every time you run away from something or someone, you make a quick escape and disappear into thin air. She keeps looking around until she finds you walking into the hallway that leads to the bathrooms. 
She follows you, catching up with you just before you walk into the bathroom. She wraps her hand around her wrist, pulling you back, softly. 
“Y/n.” 
You flinch, pulling your hand out of her grasp as you turn around to face her. 
“Leave me alone, Robin.” 
“No!” She shakes her head, grabbing your shoulders when you try to leave again, she slams you against the wall, keeping her hands on your shoulders. “I’m not letting you run away again – that’s what you keep doing, by the way, if you haven’t noticed. You run away from everything, y/n!” 
“T-That’s not true,” you mumble. 
“Yes it is.” 
You try to hide the fact that her words felt like a punch to your gut. 
“You keep running away from your feelings, you can’t even freaking face them!”
Your jaw clenches. You feel the anger bubbling inside of your chest. 
“You can’t even admit to them!” 
You know she is talking about him and it’s making your heart race. 
She’s right, you don’t want to face them, you want to keep running, hoping that they won’t catch up to you, hoping that they won’t ruin yet another good thing in your life. 
“Stop.”
She can’t see the tears in your eyes because you’re looking down, hiding them. 
“I know you have feelings for Ed–”
“Stop it, Robin!” You yell, trying to hide how nervous you are. 
She finally lets go of you and she takes a step back, eyeing you up and down with a shake of her head. She loves you, you’ve become one of her closest friends. She cares about you and your feelings, but she can’t stand watching you make yourself suffer. 
It wasn’t Ray who did this to you. He only triggered the feelings that have been inside of you already. You let the walls of lies crumble down the moment he touched them. You have never been okay, not even when you started to look okay. You were struggling, you were always struggling, even with Steve.
You are scared, that’s why you keep running instead of fighting for the things that you love. 
“You’re a coward.”
Another punch to your gut. 
The coil in your throat tightens and you swallow down harshly before you raise your head to look at her. You almost expect her to look at you in anger and disgust but instead you find the look of pity in her eyes. 
Tears well up in your eyes, your bottom lip trembles the longer you look at her. 
“You are so scared of everything and you keep running away from things instead of fighting for them. You loved Steve so much but you let him go so easily–”
You scoff, staring at her in disbelief. 
“Are you blaming me f-for what happened? A-Are you saying it’s my fault that he left me?” Your voice trembles as you speak. 
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head, raising her hands up, “no! N-No, that’s not what I’m saying!”
“Then what are you saying, Robin? Cause it sounds like you’re blaming me for the break up!” 
“I-I just mean that you let him go! You let him go even though you loved him to death! I’m not saying that he deserved you to fight for him because he really didn’t deserve it at all – this is about you, not him. You loved him and you didn’t bother to even demand real answers, you just let him go because you were scared of the real answers, you were scared of the confrontation, you were scared because you gave him so much and it still wasn’t enough b-but I know that you wanted to fight for him, I fucking know it and you know it too.”
The mask is slipping and you are forced to show how much you are struggling. 
“You ignore everything around you because you’re scared!” 
“N-No.”
“You never show how you really feel.”
You draw your bottom lip between your teeth, trying to stop it from trembling. You shake your head. 
“You keep lying. You keep lying to yourself and to everyone around you.” 
A flush creeps up your face, your heartbeat quickens. You feel both ashamed and scared. You thought you were good at hiding it, your feelings. 
“No,” you lie, again. 
“Y/n,” she sighs, giving you a sad look. 
“You aren’t lying?” 
You shake your head. 
“Alright, well, if you aren’t lying then tell me why you’re not eating or why you stopped talking to me about how you feel – cause at some point you used to talk to me.” 
Your shoulders fall and you close your eyes when you can no longer hold the tears back. 
She is right. 
She is right about everything. 
You lean against the wall behind you, trying to wipe away the tears subtly. 
“I saw you with Eddie, at the lake yesterday. I saw the way you looked at him before you pulled away. I saw you with Steve and the way you looked at him.”
“Robin..”
“No, don’t ‘Robin’ me!” She throws her hands up, “I’m sick of you pushing me away because you think that I will judge you and your feelings for them! I’m your friend, y/n. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for you, I’m here to listen, I’m here to talk, I’m here to help so please, please let me help you because I’m going insane watching you being so hard on yourself!” 
What did you do to deserve her? 
You are so sick of your feelings. 
You are so sick of falling in love and ruining everything because of it. 
You are so sick of setting yourself up for failure. 
You look back at her, bouncing your knee as you look at her through your tears. 
Her eyes soften when she sees how much you are struggling. She takes a step closer. “I’m here, y/n, and I’m not going anywhere. I promise. You can talk to me, about anything.” 
How can you talk about your feelings when you refuse to acknowledge them? 
How can you talk about something that you don’t want to accept?
“I-I just, why does this keep happening to me?” 
Robin’s heart breaks at the sound of your shaky voice. 
“What do you mean, y/n?” 
You swallow the coil in your throat and raise your hand, wiping your tears in annoyance. 
“I-I can’t reach happiness, no matter how hard I try to move on. There’s always something. I-I just can’t be happy. I keep ruining everything, Robin. Steve was my best friend a-and we ruined it, we ruined our friendship for a relationship that fucking sucked. He never wanted me, h-he never even loved me. I’m pretty sure he only loved the idea of us being together – despite the things he’s telling me now, I struggle to believe that he loved me. I loved him, I really fucking loved him and losing him hurt so fucking much – even now,” you whisper.
And for the first time, Robin sees how much pain there actually is, how much pain you have been hiding all these months. It’s in your eyes, it’s in your voice, it’s surrounding you. 
“I thought befriending Steve would numb the pain,” you breathe, closing your eyes to take a deep breath, “but I still love him.”
Her gaze softens, she scrunches her face up, watching the way you try so hard not to break down. 
“A-And Eddie,” your voice cracks and for a brief moment, you look up at the ceiling, trying to calm your breathing. 
Robin looks down.  
“I-I do.. I have – you’re right,” you stutter, closing your eyes, “you’re right about everything you said and I hate myself for it, Robin. I hate myself so much.”
Robin’s large sad eyes don’t make it any easier for you. 
She whispers your name, sadly. Not hesitating to pull you into a hug and wrapping her arms around you tightly. 
“Don’t say that,” she whispers. 
You don’t say anything, you just close your eyes and hug her back. 
“I ruin everything with my feelings–”
“No, you don’t. It’s not your fault, y/n. It’s not your fault, okay?”  
She listens to your sniffles, she feels the way your body is shaking as you try to keep the sobs in. 
A part of her feels guilty for being the trigger of all of this but the other part knows that this is what you needed. 
You need to talk about your feelings.
You need to let yourself feel. 
“You know what you need?” 
“Therapy?” You joke even though there’s tears rolling down your face. 
“Yeah that too but that’s not what I was gonna say.”
You pull away from the hug, chuckling at her words. 
“You desperately need a girls night, you need to talk to girls! You need to talk about your feelings, cry to your favorite movies and songs, eat sweets, get drunk!” She smiles, squeezing your shoulders, “I know Heather is busy with Argyle but Chrissy and I are here. We should hang out tonight, just the three of us, no boys allowed.” 
“I haven’t seen Eddie today though.”
“Oh my god,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes, “you know what? He’ll survive one day without you and you will too, like I said, you need a girls night.” 
“Girls night,” you nod, trying to give her a smile. 
“Yeah, now let's get you into the bathroom, you look like a racoon with your mascara running down like that.” 
You raise your hand to wipe it away but she stops you. 
“No, you’re gonna make it worse! Go,” she gestures to the bathroom, pushing you towards it. 
“Okay, mom.”
“Ew, don’t you ever call me that again.”
next chapter
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tagging friends & mutuals
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