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resident-gay-bitch · 1 year

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communication breakdown

Steve was like, totally Eddie’s whole world or whatever.

It's not like he wanted Steve to be, well… he did. Steve was a total babe and like, really kind and had soft eyes and perfect hair, broad shoulders and grabbable hips and oh the way those jeans made his- Uh… basically, he was attractive and nice so yeah, sure, it made sense that he could become Eddie’s whole world. But he was also straight. A straight jock who had googly lovey dovey eyes for Eddie’s new bestie, A.K.A, Steve's ex.

It’s like… a whole thing.

Anyway, being head over heels for Steve Harrington was not doing Eddie any favours. Steve was kind, and hot, and got all up in Eddie’s personal space on the constant, and he was pretty, and he asked Eddie if his outfits were nice, and he was handsome, and he opened doors for Eddie like a gentleman, and he looked like a Greek God, and he complimented Eddie a lot, and he was so fucking hot, and then there was that one time he smacked Eddie’s ass, and not to mention he was like the walking definition of sex.

But that was the problem.

Steve and Eddie had this weird trauma bond, and Steve seemed to be kinda touch starved and loved physical affection and intimacy, and he also was deep in jock culture (hence the ass slap), and so Eddie was in a constant state of torture.

Steve was totally his world or whatever sappy shit they preached in romcoms, and it was entirely one sided.

Eddie needed to get a grip and move the fuck on before he made it weird.

“Hi.” Eddie smiled at the barista, “Can I please get a strong long black and a hot chocolate with an extra marshmallow?”

The barista eyed him up and down then gave him a funny look.

Eddie pointed his thumb back over his shoulder at Max sitting by the window with her headphones on, “Someones got a sweet tooth.”

The barista smiled and nodded his head, “No problem.” he wrote the order on the cups, “She your sister or something?”

“Somethin like that.” Eddie smiled.

“Cute.” The barista hummed, tapping his pen on the cup and looking up at Eddie again, “Name?”

“Ah, Eddie.” Eddie swallowed.

The barista wrote it down, “Eddie.” he smiled, setting the cups by the machine, “That’ll be seven dollars.”

Eddie smiled and fished out his wallet, sorting through it for the cash.

“Eddie?” Max called from their table, and Eddie spun around to face her, “Can I get a toastie too? I haven’t had breakfast.”

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled and turned back around, “Add a cheese toastie to that?”

The barista smiled and nodded his head, “You’re a good brother.”

“Thanks?” Eddie chuckled lightly, grabbing a ten out of his wallet, “Is that enough?”

“Plenty.” The barista smiled back, “I’ll call that out when it’s ready.”

“Easy.” Eddie smiled and headed back over to Max.

He sat down across from her, leaning back against the window, stretching his legs out. She pulled off her headphones and stopped her scribbling in her notebook. She gave him a look. A look he knew meant he was in trouble.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?” she scoffed, “He was totally eyefucking you.”

“You think?” Eddie’s eyebrows shot up, and he leant forward on the table, glancing over to the barista as he made their coffees.

“Eddie.” She kicked him under the table, “Don’t be an ass.”

“Why?” Eddie hummed, “Why does that make me an ass? He was the one supposedly eyefucking me.”

“Because you let him.” Max glared at him.

Eddie looked over to the barista again, and sure enough he was looking Eddie’s way. When they locked eyes, the barista gave him a little smile before continuing on with his task. Eddie felt his stomach flutter.

“So what?” Eddie asked.

“Are you serious?” Max asked back.

“Yes, I am. It’s not my fault I’m irresistible.”

Max rolled her eyes, pulling her headphones back on, “Don’t be a jackass. I will kick you so hard in the balls if you break his heart.”

Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed at that, “Break his-” he looked back at the barista who was staring again, “I’ll try not too?”

Eddie sat there for a couple of minutes, watching Max bop her head and scribble away at her latest piece of scary abstract art that only Eddie (and Lucas but also not really) could appreciate. Since being trapped in Vecna's mindscape, Max had taken a little bit of a dark turn. Her already don’t-give-a-fuck attitude had doubled and gotten a little bitchy, she smiled a lot less, and she often said things that kinda bought the mood down around the party. But to be honest, Eddie kinda got it. He went all dark and gloomy when he was about her age, after his mother overdosed for the last time. That’s when he found metal. So, he and Max kinda bonded, he showed her all these cool bands and new songs, and let her see some of his cool art (mostly gorey D&D characters), and laughed when she made darker jokes because he liked making them sometimes too. Together they could be angry metal heads, trailer trash freaks whose dads didn’t love them and whose mothers fought addiction and had seen too many horrific things before they could even legally drink alcohol. Together they were grumpy chosen siblings who were secretly sunflower children and had hearts and dreams bigger than anyone else they knew.

“Eddie?” the barista called, and Eddie jumped up to get their drinks.

“Thanks.” Eddie smiled at him, noticing just how cute the guy was up close.

He was cool, edgy, had dark hair and a piercing through his lip and nose, a bunch on his ears. Eddie could see slithers of possible tattoos under his work uniform that he obviously had to keep hidden on the job. He was thin and tall, like, really fuckin tall, and gave off vampire vibes which totally caught Eddie’s attention. He figured the dude was either goth or punk, maybe a mix of both. Eddie really wanted to find out.

He took the coffees and the bag with Max’s lunch with a smile, and Eddie noticed the chipped black nail polish on his long bony fingers.

This guy was nothing like Steve, and Eddie thought that was probably for the best.

Why not take a shot? Eddie did need to get over Steve.

“So, I ah… didn’t catch your name.” Eddie smirked, putting on his utmost confidence.

The guy blushed, winning, “Alex.”

“Cute.” Eddie leant up against the counter nonchalant.

Alex’s eyes went a little wide and he tried to hide a grin, “Thanks?”

Eddie nodded his head, “You been workin here long? Haven’t seen you before.” Eddie has been here a total of two times in his life.

“Ah, not too long.” Alex shrugged, “Been picking up more shifts since I dropped out of college though.”

“Oh, you dropped out?” Eddie asked, genuinely curious, “Why? What were you doing?”

“Engineering.” Alex placed his palms on the counter across from Eddie, leaning forward, making himself comfortable for their conversation, “It was just so fuckin boring.”

Eddie laughed, “Fair enough, school’s never been my thing either.”

Alex smiled, “What's the point, right?”

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled back with a softer laugh, “Half of it’s just bullshit, the other halfs just a bunch of stuck up pricks telling us we were weird.”

“Tell me about it.” he grinned, “Jocks man, fuckin assholes.”

“Every single one.” Except Steve Harrington, he is an angel sent from heaven.

“I don’t-” Alex turned his head when his manager so rudely interrupted their flirting, rolling his eyes before telling the guy he’ll get back to it, “Sorry.”

“Don’t stress it,” Eddie shook his head, “gotta get this one to where she’s goin anyway.”

“I ah…” Alex licked his lips, “I work every Tuesday, same time… just so you know.”

Eddie grinned, making sure the drinks were steady in his hands before walking backwards towards Max, “I’ll keep that in mind, Alex.” He chucked the cool guy a wink before turning for his beloved red-head.

Eddie placed her cup and food down on the table in front of her, lifting his own cup to his lips.

“Thanks.” Max pulled her headphones off again, closing her book suit, “Let’s go before punky boy cums in his pants.”

“Language!” Eddie glared at her, taking another sip, “You think he’s punk?”

Max gave him a funny look like he was stupid for asking such a question, then she grabbed her things and headed for the door, “So stupid.”

“Hey!” Eddie chased after her, “Wh- why am I stupid?”

“You’re such a jackass, you know?”

“What makes me a jackass?”

“He’s so into you Eddie, it makes me sick.” Max opened the van door, “Don’t fuck up the one good thing you have. I made that mistake once, you don’t need to do it too.”

Eddie furrowed his brow, looking down to the ground before looking back through the window at the cute barista. The one good thing? Damn, Max must really think Alex is the one. Maybe this ‘getting over Steve’ shit would be easier than he thought. He shrugged his shoulders and hauled himself into his van, taking a long sip of his extra marshmallow hot chocolate.

“Coffee strong enough?” he asked, fixing his seatbelt.

“Could be stronger, punk boy seemed a little distracted whilst making it.”

Eddie grinned, shaking his head before pulling out of the parking lot and taking Max back to summer school.

“Hey, Max!” Eddie called, knocking on the third bedroom door to his and Wayne's new government given unit.

“Yeah?” She called from inside, turning her music down to zero.

“Steve’s here, just letting you know.”

“Okay.” She called back before turning her music back up a little, “I’ll come out for dinner.”

“Okay.” Eddie nodded, leaving her be.

The third room was basically just Max’s room now, since she didn’t like staying at home with her mother most nights. She was a drunk and abusive and said too many cruel things to her. Eddie knew what that was like, addiction turned the most beautiful of people to mould. His mother was the same. So he gave Max a key many months ago and told Wayne he was worried about her. The first night Max came over, a crying mess with a bruise on her arm, Eddie offered her the spare bed and some comfy clothes to sleep in. The next morning, Wayne took Eddie to buy some bedsheets and decorations for the room that Max might like.

Now, half of Max’s personal possessions had been transferred from her place over to theirs. The walls had been painted dark blue like she wanted, and posters of her favourite things hung about. It wasn’t the spare room anymore. It was Max’s room, and the Munsons didn’t intend on changing that any time soon.

Steve and Eddie had been going through Eddie’s D&D guides for the past hour or so. Steve wanted to learn, for some miracle of a reason (another thing that made Eddie feel like he might be in love), and he wanted Eddie to teach him everything. Max came out when pizza was ordered, and requested they all sit and watch a movie or two. Eddie didn’t like to say no to her, and neither did Steve.

They watched a couple of movies, actually, horror ones of course because they were Max’s favourites. Steve didn’t like horror, it scared him, and so he spent the entire four hours of watching curled into Eddie’s side, shying away behind his long hair. Their hands were interlocked and Eddie could feel Steve's lips pressed against his shoulder, his breath on his neck. It was intoxicating and Eddie had a hard time (literally) dealing with it.

Max wanted to watch another movie, but she noticed the way Steve was still clung to Eddie and how red Eddie was in the cheeks, so she decided to retreat back to her room and turned the music up high, as per usual. Wayne said Eddie was rubbing off on her too much.

“So…” Steve hummed, lifting his head so he could look at Eddie but refusing to let go, “what do you wanna do?”

“I don’t know.” Eddie stated pretty quickly, Steve always made him nervous.

Steve hummed, eyes darting around and cheeks turning pink, his fingers dusted over Eddie’s forearm, “Wanna go to your room, maybe?”

“Okay.” Eddie shrugged, hopping off of the couch and making his way down, they often chilled in Eddie’s room, it was the only inside place they were allowed to smoke, “Want some weed, or… we just chillin?”

“Erm…” Steve trailed after him, turning to shut the door safe behind them, “I don’t mind, maybe we can just… lay here.”

“Okay.” Eddie shrugged and flopped down on his bed, stretching out with a groan, “Sure thing, Stevie boy.”

Steve ducked his head and smiled, climbing onto the bed beside Eddie and sitting very close, laying down beside him. His head rested on Eddie’s shoulder, his hand reached down for Eddie’s, their fingers locking together. Okay, so this was a sad Steve day. A day he needed extra physical affection. Stay calm, Eddie. Stay freakin calm.

“Your hand’s so warm.” Steve said.

“Sorry.” Eddie swallowed, he was so nervous right now, “Summer.”

Steve giggled softly and Eddie wasn’t sure why, this man was a mystery, “Yeah, it is really warm in here.”

“Wanna open a window?” Eddie offered, turning his head to look at Steve.

“Ah…” Steve swallowed, “that’ll probably let more heat in, how about we just… take our jeans off or something?”

Eddie’s eyes widened, “Erm, sure?”

Steve sat up and pulled his shirt off, looking back down at Eddie before tossing the blue polo at his face. Eddie caught it with a little laugh, pushing it to his chest. De ja vu. Steve looked at him, and he had this glimmer in his eyes that Eddie always loved to see, though he didn’t know what it was for. Steve began to unbuckle his jeans, and Eddie reached to do the same, opting to keep his shirt on since it was a cropped muscle tee and really airy, and he didn’t need the added nerves of being shirtless in front of a shirtless Steve. Once in their boxers, Steve gave Eddie that look again, sitting up on his knees. Eddie swallowed. It was a glorious, sinful sight.

“Better?” He managed to ask, tearing his eyes away from Steve's scarred up body to his face.

“Much.” Steve nodded, and his voice was husky.

“Cool.” Eddie nodded, stretching back out on his pillows, tucking his arms behind his head, “Wanna listen to some music or whatever?”

Steve looked at him for a quick moment before nodding and hopping up to put some tunes on, “This okay?”

“Mhm.” Eddie nodded, it was Zepp, of course it was okay.

“Cool.” Steve climbed back onto the bed, sitting much closer to Eddie this time, “I like your tattoos.”

“Yeah, theyre sick, huh?” Eddie lifted his arms to show them off, “Can’t wait to get more.”

“You wanna get more?” Steve asked with a glimmer in his eye, “They’ll look so hot.”

Eddie almost choked, “Y-yeah.” he nodded, Steve was just being a supportive wingman, “They will.”

Steve grinned, sitting there sweet, on his knees by Eddie’s hip. Eddie tucked his hands back behind his head, looking up at the roof and mouthing along to the lyrics playing in the background. Steve let out a loud breath. Eddie looked at him, and it looked like he was kind of… waiting for something. Eddie swallowed.

“You good?”

Steve gave him a look, a few blinks of his eyelids, “Yeah, course.”

Eddie nodded, “You seem tense or something.”

“Mhm.” Steve nodded too, “Just… thinking.”

“About what?” Eddie asked, tipping his head in curiosity.

“What we’re doing… right now.” Steve drew his finger mindlessly over Eddie’s thigh.

Eddie furrowed his brow and laughed a little, “Were laying in my bed, chilling, listening to Zep.”

Steve nodded slowly, “Yeah… what else?”

Eddie gave him a funny look, “Nothing?”

Steve huffed a little, he seemed to be getting more agitated, his finger stilling, “Nothing?”

Eddie shook his head, “Are we doing something else?”

“I don’t know,” Steve shrugged, “you tell me.”

“Ah…” Eddie thought for a moment, he was very confused, “I don’t think so, man.”

Steve's expression dropped, and suddenly he looked kinda furious, “Really?”

“What?” Eddie leant up on his elbows.

Steve glared at him, and Eddie felt a little hot under his gaze, “Fine.” he scoffed, grabbing his jeans, “You know, you can just communicate with me, Eddie, instead of doing this… pretend you don’t know shit. It’s really fucking annoying, okay?”

“Ah.” Eddie sat up, he didn’t know what he did wrong, “Steve?”

“No.” Steve shook his head, doing up the zipper before reaching for his shirt, “I’m pissed off right now. Leave me the fuck alone, okay?”

“Okay…” Eddie scrunched up his face, beating himself up inside for hurting Steve… however he did, “Should I call you tomorrow or…”

“No.” Steve shook his head, shirt properly on now, “Don’t fucking call me. If you're ready to communicate on Tuesday night, we can talk then. If not, then… then fuck off.”

“Ah… okay.” Eddie nodded, head hung low, “See you… Tuesday then.”

Steve looked at him, hurt flashed in his eyes and he looked like crying, “Bye.” but he didn’t leave.

Eddie looked up at him again, “Bye?”

Steve’s face scrunched up and he stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind him, “Asshole!”

“Wh-” Eddie muttered to himself, laying back in bed with a groan, “What the fuck did I do?”

Eddie couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he did wrong with Steve the other night. He asked Max if she noticed anything off with him, and she just said she didn’t want to know anything about what they do behind Eddie’s bedroom door. Which he just shook off and moved on because the girls got an attitude and Eddie respected the shit out of it. He asked Robin over the phone, and she just scoffed, told him to get his shit together and then hung up. He asked Dustin when taking him to the arcade if anything was going on with Steve, but he had no idea and said he’d probably just lost sleep or something. Steve tended to do that.

So his last resort was Nancy.

He flopped down on her neatly made bed, fucking it up of course, and grabbing her teddy to clutch to his chest, “Steve is mad at me and I don’t know why.”

“Jesus.” Nancy groaned, sitting down on her desk, legs crossed like a school child.

“Jesus indeed.” Eddie agreed, taking a deep sigh in, “One minute we were laying in bed just chilling, the next he was a grumpy goose.”

Nancy furrowed her brow, “A grump- okay.” she shook her head, remembering who she was talking too, “Talk me through it.”

“Okay, so…” Eddie thought, “He came over. We talked D&D for a while, and ordered pizza, his favourite of course. Then we watched some movies with Max, horror ones per her request and it freaked him out so he clung to me the whole time- Nancy, it was hard to keep my cool. Like… I could feel his breath on my neck and his hand was so soft in mine. He’s like a fucking dream.”

Nancy both smiled and gagged at the same time, “You’re such a sap.”

“Yeah.” Eddie exhaled dreamily, “But then Max went back to her room, and we headed to mine. It was so hot inside, so we ended up taking off our clothes, which is a whole other conversation-”

“Wait, you got naked?” Nancy asked, eyes wide.

“No.” Eddie lifted a hand, pointing a finger at the roof, “I had my boxers on and a tank, and Steve was just in his boxers looking fine as hell- wait, maybe he noticed my semi. Oh god, Nance, what if he noticed my semi and got grossed out.”

Nancy rolled her eyes, “I highly doubt that.”

“Hmm.” Eddie thought, “But… I don’t know, he put on some Zepp and then we kinda just sat in silence for a while. Then suddenly he was just angry at me.”

“What did you say?” her eyes narrowed in on him.

“Nothing!” Eddie shrieked, legs kicking out dramatically and his whole body jolting with it, “I promise, I didn’t say anything. But he told me I need to ‘communicate with him’ and then he told me to leave him the fuck alone, and if I was ready to ‘communicate’ on Tuesday we could talk, but until then, I’m not allowed to call.”

“Have you called?”

“Of course not, he told me not to, Nance.” Eddie flung his arms out, the teddy went flying, “I’m not gonna overstep that boundary and make him hate me more.”

“He wanted you to call, dingbat!”

“He specifically told me not to.” Eddie glared at her.

“Did he storm out?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Did you tell him not to? Ask him to stay? Follow him?” Nancy pressed.

“No.” Eddie shook his head, “He told me to leave him alone Nance, do you not know what alone means?”

Nancy groaned, rubbing her eyes, “You’re an idiot. This is why I don’t like men anymore.”

“What did I do?” Eddie asked, voice high pitched and squeaky.

“You were supposed to follow him, talk about it. You were supposed to call, be open and honest.”

“About what, Nancy?”

“About whatever he needed you to be, and you can ask if you don’t know.” She grabbed a pen off the desk beside her and tossed it at his head, “At least you would have been trying to fix it, whatever it is.”

Eddie groaned, rubbing his head where a second pen hit him, “Ow, stop.”

“No, you deserve it.” Nancy threw another, “You need to sort your shit out, loverboy, or you're gonna lose him.”

Eddie sighed, as much as he hated this relentless pining over Steve, he didn’t want to lose him for good. Steve was his everything after all, and once Eddie finally moved on from this maybe-love, he wanted to be good friends still. Steve seemed to need him.

“Fuck.” Eddie rubbed his eyes, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“Call him!” Nancy shouted, tossing a handful of pens at his head.

“Ow!” Eddie sat up, throwing a pen right back at her, “He’s at work, Ms. Drew, and I’ve got band prac tonight. Tomorrow.”

Nancy sighed, “Fine.” she glared at him, “But I swear to god, Eddie, you better fix that shit. He’s like, your everything and I honestly don’t have the time, nor energy to wipe your tears and spoon feed you ice cream for the next month, I have a girlfriend to woo.”

“You’re such a good best friend, Nance.” Eddie spoke in monotone, “Constantly showing just what friendship and love is about, time and time again proving that love is real.”

“Get fucked.” She tossed a final pen at him, “Now go get me some soda.”

“This is your house.” Eddie narrowed his eyes.

“I have homework.”

“You know…” Eddie huffed, standing up, “I shock myself every time I let your meanness slide.”

“It’s because you adore me.” Nancy batted her lashes at him and gave him a cheesy smile.

“Ew, wipe that shit off your face.” Eddie covered his eyes, “Never do that again, I’ll do anything you want. Just never do that again.”

Nancy laughed and sat back down in her desk chair, “I’m holding you to that.”

“Shit.” Eddie chuckled as he headed out the door to fetch her a soda.

It was Tuesday, and tonight Eddie was gonna figure out whatever the fuck Steve was so angered about. It had been at the forefront of his mind since their argument-thing had happened and he’d been losing sleep over it. Honestly, friends should not get this worked up over each other. It was eating away at him, a constant worry that this argument was gonna have Steve lost from him forever. Maybe Steve did know Eddie was basically in love with him, maybe he knew it all and was mad Eddie kept trying to hide it, play it off. Maybe he wanted a straight answer so he could tell Eddie he was gross and end their friendship for good.

Eddie really didn’t want to lose Steve over some stupid, uncontrollable feelings.

God, he was going to lose Steve entirely because he was gay for him. This was gonna hurt so bad.

Eddie groaned and rolled over in bed, slamming his hand down on the alarm clock he’d set. He needed to drop Max and Lucas off to the cinema this afternoon, then pick them up before heading off to Steve’s for the pool party.

He was unusually quiet in the car ride, both Max and Lucas noticed. Chewing at his lip and keeping the music below ten percent volume. Max figured it was something to do with Steve, whatever tiff they had, she’d fill Lucas in on it all whilst they waited in line for their movie. Well, all she knew about it so far anyway.

After dropping the two off, Eddie sat in his van, clueless as to what to do with himself. He was meeting Gareth and the boys for a quick band practice in forty minutes. If he headed home before then, he knew he’d just sit and stew and probably end up in a crying heap over the possibility of being called a ‘gross fag’ by Steve. He couldn’t head to Gareth’s early, he was having his Grandma for lunch. He couldn’t head to Jeffs, he had work. He couldn’t pop in to Grants, he was on a date with his new girlfriend. Dustin and El were hanging out today, and Mike and Will were too. Nancy probably had her head between Robin's thighs right about now, and Eddie didn’t want to risk interrupting that like last time. He couldn’t go to Steves, not yet. He was too scared.

So, Eddie sat, listening to music for a while, drowning out his thoughts with Slayer ringing through his ears. He felt like a milkshake, actually.

Chocolatey drinks always picked up his mood.

He kicked the van into drive and headed off to do just that, still thinking of Steve, Steve, Steve. He was terrified. He was going to lose his Steve because he was totally falling in love with the dude and that was like… boundary crossing gross. Why did he have to fall for Steve, seriously? Why couldn’t he just move on? Why couldn’t he just-

Alex.

Eddie slammed on the brakes, flicking his indicator on before making a u-turn, heading back for the cafe. He should still be working, Eddie went there about this time last week.

He was there, looking cute and tall and definitely punky behind the counter through the window.

Eddie clambered out of his van, rather ungracefully, and headed inside.

“Hi.” He smiled, cheeks a little pink.

“Eddie.” Alex smiled back, “What can I get you?”

“Ah…” Eddie cleared his throat, “Do you do like… chocolate milkshakes?”

“I could do an iced chocolate with extra ice cream?” Alex offered with a little shrug.

“Sounds good.” Eddie grinned, watching as Alex write the order down on a cup.

“Can I get you anything else today, handsome?”

Okay, time to shoot your shot Eddie. You. Can. Do this.

“Ah, yeah.” Eddie leant on the counter, kinda slipping but he was able to catch himself before making a fool, “How about a date with you tomorrow?”

Alex looked a little stunned at Eddie’s overt bravery, but a blush creept onto his cheeks and he smiled rather bashfully, “I’m free after six.”

“Cool.” Eddie smiled, “I can ah… pick you up, if you want?”

Alex nodded, jotting something else down on the cup before showing it to Eddie, his phone number, “Give me a call tonight?”

“Okay.” Eddie smiled, reaching for his wallet to pay, “Yeah, okay.”

“It’s on me.” Alex smiled, pushing Eddie’s wallet away, “I was kinda hoping you’d ask.”

Eddie blushed and dipped his head, “Okay.”

Steve hadn’t so much as said hello to Eddie the entire party. It was infuriating and was only sending Eddie’s anxiety higher. The looks Steve kept sending him had his body shivering and shaking constantly.

He had to tell him. Tell him that he’d gotten this date with Alex so he’d think Eddie never really had an interest in him at all, or at least not anymore. So they could remain friends. They’d both apologise and sort it out and everything could be normal again. Eddie would go on his date tomorrow night, and he’d finally start getting over Steve.

Everyone was sitting around with barbeque dinner on paper plates, all chatting away in the comfortable warmth of the end of Hawkins summer. Steve looked at Eddie again, hurt behind his eyes. He and Robin had been speaking- whispering, and Steve looked like he was about to cry. Eddie tried to smile at him, but that only seemed to make things worse. Steve scrunched his face in anger and looked away. Robin shot him a mean glare.

“Nance, I don’t know what I’ve done.” He leant over to her.

“Ask.” She offered.

“I will.” he sighed, “But, I did something.”

“What?” her eyes widened, “Did you write him a song? A poem? Profess all those deep dark love feelings I know you have for him.”

Eddie glared at her, “Obviously fucking not.”

She frowned, “Boys are dumb.”

“You’re dumb.” he scoffed, then clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention, “Everyone, I have an announcement to make!”

Conversation silenced and everyone turned their attention to Eddie. He felt a little on the spot, but he knew this was what he needed to do.

For Steve.

“You little sheepies are about to be really proud of me.” Eddie grinned, “Take notes. This is how you get successful love lives.”

Nancy, Robin and Steve all perked up at that, wide eyed expressions with nervous smiles across their faces. Steve's cheeks turned pink, and Eddie had to look away so he didn’t swoon over it.

“As if.” Max scoffed, “You are a disaster.”

“Yeah,” Lucas agreed, grabbing Max’s hand, “you constantly complain about how our love life is better than yours.”

“Ah, not true. That was once.” Eddie insisted, “And shut your smart little mouths, I’ve grown.”

“Ah huh.” Erica pumped her eyebrows.

“Shut up.” Robin ordered, squeezing Steve's bicep, “Let the jester speak. I wanna hear about this brilliant succession to a better love life.”

Nancy shot him a little double thumbs up with a grin, a proud one at that. Eddie felt good inside. Sure.

“So,” Eddie hummed, clasping his hand together and subconsciously turning his body towards Steve, “I decided to be confident for once and like… shoot my shot.”

“Yeah, old news.” Dustin wailed his hand about, “Continue.”

“Max seemed to have a pretty good feeling about this too, so… I just went for it.” Eddie continued to lead everyone on.

“I did?” Max looked up at him, then over at Steve, “Oh, okay… sure.”

“I asked a dude out.”

“We know you're gay.” Mike said, “What's the news?”

“That is the news.” Eddie stated, looking at him like he was dumb, “I asked a dude out, and we have a date tomorrow night.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked, that glimmer Eddie loved so much was back in his eye.

“Yup.” Eddie clapped his hands together, a wide grin on his face, “I’m thinking… I’ll take him for chinese or something, then like… we can go for a walk, maybe I’ll put the moves on him, get this first kiss shit out of the way.”

“You haven’t had your first kiss yet?” Max asked, looking at him weirdly.

“You know this.” Eddie looked down at her.

“Yeah… like, four months ago. Things have happened since then.”

Eddie shrugged, “Well, it just hasn’t.”

“That sounds really nice, Eddie.” Steve said, his voice soft and calm, “I think he’ll love it.”

“Yeah.” Eddie sighed a little dreamily, he was so glad to have his Stevie back, “He’s pretty cute too.”

“Hell yeah, he is.” Robin agreed, patting Steve on the back.

Eddie smiled, “He’s like… cool, edgy or whatever. Taller than me too, and he's a barista named Alex.”

Silence fell over the group.

Dustin forced a laugh, “Good one.”

“What?” Eddie folded his arms over his chest, “You guys know him or something?”

“No, you just…” Dustin looked between Steve and Eddie, “Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie about scoring a date, Henderson? My love life is finally stepping up.”

Steve stood up, giving Eddie that same disgusted look he had the other night, only this one was ten times worse, eyes glassy and broken. He stormed inside.

Fuck.

What now?

“What the fuck, Eddie?” Robin stood up too, unsure weather to follow Steve inside or shout at Eddie. She chose Steve.

“What’d I do?”

“Not cool, man.” Dustin stood up, walking inside behind Steve, “Seruously, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What…” Eddie sighed, brows furrowed and his head started to hurt, “I don’t know what I did.”

Max glared at him, mean and full of disgust. She shook her head at him and grabbed Lucas by the hand, dragging them inside, actually spitting on Eddie as she walked by.

“Ew, Maxine-”

“Don’t you Maxine her.” Nancy stepped into his view, and she looked furious, Eddie was scared of her on a good day, “You’re a mother fucking asshole, Eddie.”

“Why?” Eddie asked.

“Why do you fucking think?”

“I don’t think!” Eddie shouted, tugging at his hair, “What did I do wrong?”

“Don’t you think he’s been through enough, Eddie?” Nancy jabbed at his chest, “Don’t you think he deserves better than that? You’re always preaching that shit, how Steve deserves nothing but goodness, and here you fucking are, being a cunt!”

“Woah.” Eddie took a little step back, “Cool it, Wheeler.”

“Cool it? Fucking cool it?” she sneered, “You are lucky I don’t have my goddamned guns.”

“What the fuck?” Eddie shouted, “What did I do? Someone please spell it fucking out for me because I clearly do not know!”

“You broke his heart!” El shouted from beside him, “You are a mouth breather. I will-”

“El, no.” Will pulled his sister back, “He’s a jackass, sure, but you can’t kill him.”

El sneered, “I would like to hurt him.”

“We all would.” Will held her by the shoulders, “But let’s leave him with Nancy. Promise he’ll get what he deserves.”

“You are a bully.” El glared at him, being pulled away by Will now.

“What the fuck?” Eddie muttered, genuinely scared for his life now, “What’s this about a broken heart?”

“Steves!” Nancy offered, slapping her hands together to make her point.

“Right.” Eddie nodded, “Since when did I have the ability to break Steve's heart?”

“Since you fucking asked another dude out!” Nancy snapped, “Not only did you cheat on him, Eddie, you fucking admitted to it in front of everyone he loves, embarrassing the shit out of him. How could you be so-”

“Sorry.” Eddie closed his eyes, taking in a little breath, hands up in self defence, “Cheat?”

Nancy looked at him, a sternness in her eyes that sent a shiver down Eddie’s spine and had his hairs standing on end, “Going on a date with another dude is cheating, Eddie.”

Eddie blinked a few times, “Sorry, I’m just… Why do you think I’m cheating on Steve? I’m trying to move on from him.”

“Why?” Nancy shook her head, “Wouln’t you wanna at least tell him fucking that before asking another dude out?”

“No!” Eddie snapped, “Because I’m not with Steve!”

“Yes you are!”

“No I’m fucking not!” Eddie shook his head out, hands flying with it.

“Yes you fucking are!” Nancy mirrored him, “You guys have been dating for the past two months, he wont fucking shut up about it!”

Eddie stared at her for a moment. Like… really fucking stared at her.

“We what?” his voice cracked.

“He asked you on that date to the new diner on Mapel two months ago and you’ve been going out since…” Nancy looked at him with a hint of uncertainty, her sternness wavering, “he’s… he took you to Indy for that Sabbath concert for your one month anniversary date thing… you do know your dating Steve, right?”

Eddie was a little frozen.

“I’m dating Steve?”

“Yeah…” She looked at him weirely.

“Fuck.” Eddie muttered.

“Oh my god…” Nancy took a small step back, “You didn’t… you didn't know you were together?”

“No!” Eddie squeeked out, “He didn’t fucking tell me.”

She covered her mouth with her hand, “Oh my- did you just never talk about it?”

“I guess not!” Eddie cocked his head.

“That explains a lot.” Nancy whispered, nodding her head, “I just figured you wanted to keep the first kiss information and stuff private… I didn’t…”

“Oh my god.” Eddie pulled at his cheeks, “Everything makes so much more sense now- oh my god I totally cheated on Steve.”

“Yeah!” Nancy shouted.

“Oh my fucking god.” Eddie shoved past her, running inside, “No!”

Eddie bursts inside to find Steve on the couch, his head in his hands, surrounded by Robin, Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erica. All consoling him after getting fucking cheated on by his stupid dumb oblivious boyfriend.

“You got a lot of fucking nerve coming in here.” Robin practically growled.

Lucas and Dustin were up on their feet, standing between the two men as a barricade whilst Max shoved her way past. She walked up to Eddie and smacked him in the face.

“I thought you were a good guy.” She shook her head, “Have your fucking key back-”

“No.” Eddie grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to look past at Steve, “I was… I was so dumb, I’m sorry-”

“No one wants your pathetic apology.” Dustin rolled his eyes, they were wet too, “Get out, Eddie.”

“No. I need to talk to Steve.”

“Get out.” Lucas pushed.

“I’m not leaving until I talk to Steve.”

“If you think for one second I’m letting your dumb ass near him, you’re clearly delusional.” Erica spoke up with her hand on Steve's back, “No wonder you took so godamned long to finish highschool.”

“Let them talk.” Nancy stepped up beside him, “Now.”

“No fucking way.” Robin scoffed.

“Robbie,” Nancy’s voice was stern, “baby, I wouldn’t let this happen unless I was sure it would end okay.”

“I’m not leaving him-”

“Bobbie, it’s fine.” Steve muttered, his voice was so broken, “Leave us. I wanna talk to him.”

“No-”

“Bob.” Steve looked at her through fractured eyes, and Eddie felt so guilty.

Robin sighed, leaning in to kiss his temple before hopping up, “Ten minutes is all you get.”

“Promise.” Eddie nodded his head.

Robin scoffed, and everyone left the room.

Eddie walked over, tentative and gentle, as to not startle the boy he apparently loved. The boy he broke. He sat down on the couch beside him, letting silence linger in the air for a while. He didn’t really know how to say this. He didn’t really know how to admit this without it sounding like a lie for cover or that he was just a dumb jackass. He hoped for dumb jackass.

“I didn’t know.” Eddie managed to say, causing Steve's head to turn slightly in his direction, “I didn’t know we were dating.”

“What?” Steve asked, sitting up straight and wiping his nose.

Eddie groaned, “I… I’m like, totally head over fucking heels for you man, but like… I had no idea we were dating.”

Steve looked at him with a furrowed brow, “How did you…”

“I don’t know.” Eddie shrugged, “I mean, I don’t think you used the word date when you supposedly asked me out the first time. I remember it because I lied in bed all night reciting your words over and over and over again, trying to make it sound possibly romantic in hopes that you weren’t actually straight as a plank of wood and could possibly have taken an interest in me too. But I came up empty handed and figured it was just to bros who have totally bonded over some… alternate dimension shit.”

Steve just kinda looked at him, a little dumbstruck.

“Yeah.” Eddie rubbed his face, “Nancy kinda… enlightened me. I asked that dude out because I wanted to get over you, so I didn’t make our friendship weird, Stevie. I just… I thought, when you got mad at me the other day it was because you knew I was totally into you and were grossed out by it, and it freaked me out so much, I thought I was gonna lose you for good. Alex was a way for me to ‘prove’ I wasn’t into you like that.”

Steve rubbed his eyes, “You didn’t…”

Eddie shook his head.

“Two months, Eddie…”

“I just…” Eddie swallowed, “I didn’t think someone like you could ever want someone like me. And you were always so… aloof.”

“I didn’t want to overstep boundaries.” Steve offered, “I wanted you to be able to make the first move for everything. If it were up to me, we would have been fucking for longer than two months but I knew you hadn’t had a relationship, or a kiss or anything.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, “You wanna fuck me?”

Steve groaned, “We’re- well, maybe dating.”

Eddie nodded, “Is that why you were mad, the other day? Because you were hinting at…”

“Sex and you didn’t even touch me?” Steve nodded, “Yeah. I thought you thought I was gross or something, just didn’t know how to break it off. Maybe you weren’t ready. I don’t know, that’s why I wanted-”

“Communication.” Eddie nodded again, “Right.”

“Maybe…” Steve sighed, “Maybe I could have communicated better too.”

“Maybe we both should have.” Eddie frowned, “I’m sorry, Stevie. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you- just ask Nance, I talk about you all the time.”

Steve almost smiled, “Yeah.”

“Look, I’m- I’m a major fuck up, but… if you’ll give me another chance-”

“What about Alex?” Steve asked.

“I will literally call him right now and cancel.” Eddie sat up straight, “He was a distraction. I want you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Eddie grabbed Steve's hands softly, “So bad, sweetheart.”

Steve seemed to melt a little at that, “You really didn’t know?”

“I promise.” Eddie nodded, “If you give me another chance, we can start this again. I’ll take you out, on a real date, to that diner on Maple. We can go everywhere we went before, and then for our one month I’ll take you to a concert for music you like, and… and I’ll kiss you, whenever you want. And next time you try to be slick and suggest getting half naked to beat the heat, I’ll suggest we go take a cold shower so we don’t work up a sweat…”

Steve snickered, turning into a giggle with a light pink in his cheeks. Eddie thought it was the sweetest thing he’d ever seen.

“I’m so sorry, Stevie baby.” Eddie brought Steves hands to his lips, and kissed his knuckles, “You got yourself the worlds dumbest fucking maybe-boyfriend, but I promise I’ll do a better with from now on. We both can use a little more communication.”

Steve smiled softly, “You know, Robert Plant is performing next month…”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up a little, “Yeah?”

Steve nodded, “Maybe you could take me to that.”

“I’d be honoured, baby.” Eddie smiled, pulling Steve a little closer, “I promise I’ll make it up to you, yeah?”

Steve nodded his head.

“Do you think…” Eddie hummed, looking deep into Steve's eyes and catching that glimmer he now understood, “I could kiss you, Stevie?”

“Yeah.” Steve breathed, nodded.

Eddie cupped his cheek and kissed him soft. It was everything Eddie had dreamed about and more. He had really been missing out. He kept Steve there for a while, but Steve didn’t seem to mind so much. He held Eddie close and climbed into his lap, kissing him harder with soft hands in his hair.

Steve pulled back first, puffy lips and pink cheeks and a grin he couldn’t shake, “Sorry.” he whispered against Eddie’s mouth, “Got a little carried away.”

“It’s okay.” Eddie whispered back, pecking those perfect lips again, “I wouldn’t mind getting carried away a little more.”

Steve grinned, “Maybe not with the kids outside.”

“Maybe not.” Eddie chuckled, “They’re all so mad at me. El was about to use her supergirl magic to kill me, I think.”

Steve awkwardly grinned, “That wouldn’t have been good.”

Eddie shook his head, “Would have died without kissin you.”

Steve smiled softly again, looking bashful and adorable still perched on Eddie’s lap, “They’ll come round. They always do.”

“I hope.” Eddie kissed Steve on the jaw a couple of times, “I know I’m not gonna get your daddy’s approval so I’d at least wanna get your kids.”

Steve laughed, burying his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck, “I’d date you anyway.”

“Oh yeah, obviously.” Eddie scoffed, “I’m not letting you leave me now. I just don’t want to deal with their complaining. They can be real assholes sometimes.”

Steve laughed a little harder, “You’re funny, Ed’s.”

“Hmm.” Eddie soothed his hands over Steve's back, “You’re a good kisser.”

“Practice.” Steve smiled, kissing Eddie quickly again.

“Oh yeah, that’s right…” Eddie grinned, full of mischief, “my boyfriend is a slut.”

Steve gasped and whacked his chest, “Well, my boyfriend is a massive fucking dumbass.”

Eddie laughed and pulled him back down into a kiss, “Super fucking dumb. But I don’t care, I got the guy.” he kissed him a little harder this time, “‘N you’re kinda my fuckin world.”

a/n: divider from @djarrex :) thank you

eddie is such a dumb dumb sometimes. i love the silly goose.

dont forget to reblog :) comments are always welcome too :))

steddie masterlist

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