#eddie is like: well that’s what happens when you have a *calling* steve-o

[livwritesstuff]

inspired by a conversation i walked past during my commute this morning

Eddie is outside when Steve arrives home from work, sitting on the front porch and waiting for their daughters’ bus to drop them off from school.

“Hey!” Eddie grins as Steve makes his way up the steps, “You’re home early.”

“Last client of the day canceled,” he replies, and he grabs Eddie’s hands to pull him to his feet and into a long kiss.

“I love you,” Steve said when he pulled away, snaking his arms around Eddie’s waist to hold him close, “So much.”

“I love you too, Stevie,” Eddie laughed, “Something happen today?”

“Not really. There’s just this guy – the guy who started at my practice last month.”

“The one you don’t like?” Eddie clarifies.

“Ed – I hate him. He came in all smug and smiling today and looked so thrilled to be there, and someone was like dude, what’s your deal? And he had the audacity to say, my wife is home with two sick kids, so…”

Eddie made a face.

“Like, don’t sound so fuckin’ proud of yourself, man,” Steve continued, shaking his head, “Whatever. Anyways, I looked at his schedule and – get this – he had one client today. At three in the afternoon. So he spent the entire day lounging around the office doing jack shit while his wife was home with a sick baby and toddler.”

“What a prick.”

“Right? Anyways, I just want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you and how you stay home with our ridiculous children while I go to work, and that I’m thinking about you guys all day, and all I ever really want is to be home with you.”

“I know you do,” Eddie tells him, because he totally does. He knows it in the way Steve’s week is about as short as it’s allowed to be, and in the way he always checks in on Eddie when he gets home to feel out the day he’d had and to give him a “night off” if he needs one.

Steve nods, and then he adds, “When I was leaving I made a whole point of saying, like, headed home to spend time with my husband and children who I adore more than anything.”

“Of course you did.”

“Kind of forgot he’s also a licensed and practicing therapist so he totally knew I was being passive aggressive.”

#steve is perpetually cursing the job he still happens to love #otherwise he would have quit the second moe was born #eddie is like: well that’s what happens when you have a *calling* steve-o #steddie #liv’s steddie dads verse #steddie dads #steve harrington #eddie munson #judgy-steve my beloved

[tangerinesteve]

"Do you think Eddie likes me?" The question leaves Steve's mouth absently, like an afterthought. Wayne watches his shoulders tense as he holds the cabnet door up. His eyes are on the floor. His cheeks going red. Wayne hums genlty, trying not to laugh in Steve's face. If he only knew.

Instead he sits with the question for a moment, keeps working, tightening the screws till they're snug. He nods at Steve, he lets go. Wayne swings the door back and forth a few times. No squeaks. And it doesn't fall off into his hands. He and Steve both nod at the same time, satisfied, Steve's hands dropping to his hips.

"Does he bite you?" Wayne asks, trying to sound as thoughtful as Steve had with his question. Steve stares at him. Wayne raises his eyebrows.

"Eddie. Does he ever bite you?" He repeats, giving Steve a pointed look.

"Oh! Um.. he... yeah? S-sometimes." Steve stammers a bit, his brow furrowing as he rubs at the back of his neck. And then his hand falls to his shoulder. And then drops by his side and clenches. Wayne smiles.

"You ever heard'a cuteness aggression?" Wayne asks, putting his tools back into their box and stashing it on top of the fridge. Steve shakes his head and frowns again. Wayne nods, motions for the small table and sits, Steve following him and sitting across from him.

"Well what I understand of it, and I'm getting this information from Eddie so... take it as you will." Steve smiles, a knowing look passing his face as he nods, and yeah, this kid has it bad for his boy.

"It's when someone thinks something is so cute it makes them violent. And Ed's got it bad. Took him ages to get it under control. What do you think happened to Gilberts ear?" Wayne nods toward the couch where their chunky brown tabby cat is napping. He looks up at the mention of his name and meows inquisitively.

"Oh my god what?!" Steve gasps, his hand jumping to cover his mouth. Wayne snorts.

"I'm just messin with ya kid. He was like that when Ed found him." Wayne smiles. Steve looks at him, straight faced, unimpressed. One of Eddie's favorite looks to wax poetic about.

"Very funny." He says dryly. Wayne chuckles, taps his hand on the table and says,

"I thought so. Anyway, point is. If that boy's teeth have sunk into you at some point. Odds are he likes ya just fine." Wayne smiles warmly, watches the gears turning in Steve's head, his brow furrowing and then relaxing as his mouth drops open in a little "O".

"So he'd say yes. If I- I mean if I wanted to-" he watches Steve swallow nervously.

"If you asked him out. Yes. I believe he would say yes." Wayne just watches Steve, takes a sip of his coffee. Steve nods to himself.

"Okay. Okay cool. I can do this. Awesome. Thank you!" He'd stood, hands wiping at his thighs, patting down his pockets, looking for his keys, before startling and turning back to Wayne to thank him.

"They're on the table by the door. And you're welcome son." He took another sip.

"And Steve?" He calls as Steve's hand hits the door, the boy turns to look at him, wide eyed.

"Yeah?"

"He can be a little... dense. When it comes to these things. Best to be forward. To the point." Wayne nods again, gives Steve a knowing look. Watches as his head tilts like a puppy as he processes.

"Forward. To the point. Okay. I got this." Steve said, nodding, to himself really, before darting out the door.

Wayne shakes his head, smiles as he cleans out his coffee cup and hopes that he'd done right by his boy. He couldn't take much more of Eddie's love sick puppy eyes. And Steve had been doing them for a few months now as well, and it was all too much. It had to be done.

~*~

Three hours later the trailer door slams open and Eddie rushes in. Steve hot on his heels, hand locked in Eddie's as he drags him down the hall.

"Evening boys." Wayne says, nonchalant, from his place near the stove, leaning against the counter.

"Hi Wayne!" Steve calls, happy and polite.

"No!" Eddie says, points at Steve aggressively and then to Wayne.

"No more talking! You two have talked enough today!" He half yells, and then drags Steve into his room, both of them laughing. His door slams shut. And then promptly opens again. Eddie bounds into the little kitchen, right into Wayne's space, and nearly tackles him in a tight hug.

Wayne squeezes him back, feels Eddie's lips press gently against his shoulder and then he's gone. Twirling away from his uncle's hold.

"Thanks Wayne." He says, his eyes bright and shining, his cheeks dimpled with happiness, and, right along his jaw, the imprint of teeth. A bitemark. Right on his face.

Wayne nods, and smiles as Eddie disappears into his room again. He can hear them talking and laughing through the wall as he makes dinner. Dinner for three now. As it has been for months.

He cooks. And he thinks. Three hours later and Steve still had to bite him to get his point across. Wayne shakes his head, smiling as he breaks the noodles and tosses them into the water, happy that his boys were finally happy.

#just a little something i thought of last night #and had to write outbefore i took my nap!!! #wayne munson #eddie munson #steve harrington #wayne munson pov #steddie #eddie and wayne munson #mine #my writing

[loveinhawkins]

The birthday gift Robin gets from her parents is that they’re gonna help her fund a three month solo trip to Paris. Steve thinks she should be delivering this news with much more excitement than she currently is.

“Okay, but you’re going, right?” he says, as she bites her nails for the third time. When she doesn’t reply, he lifts his eyes to the heavens, despairing. “Oh my god, are you kidding? Robin, you’ve wanted this for—”

“Years,” she confirms, so quietly. “I want—” She swallows. “I want it so badly, Steve.”

He pauses, drops their usual teasing schtick. “Okay,” he says, a little softer. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just…” She moves her hand away from her mouth, tugs on a hangnail. “What if—what if something… happens. And I’m not…” She gestures vaguely. “Not here.”

Steve slings an arm over her shoulder. “Rob,” he says, “nothing’s gonna happen.”

Robin nods. “I know, I know.”

But then she sighs, and Steve understands: it’s one thing to know something objectively, another thing to feel the certainty in your bones.

He has a wave of gratitude for Robin’s parents, for them knowing that she needs this, for letting her have a year out, maybe even two, without judgement. It’s something they all need, really, in different ways: some time to let the weight of everything settle, to catch their breath.

Steve’s honestly been relishing the mundanity of it all, the comfort of routine—easy days where the biggest ‘disaster’ is him being late for their opening shift at Family Video.

“Keith’s keeping your job open for you, right?” Steve asks, just in case that’s a sticking point.

Robin nods again, laughing. “Yeah, mom arranged that all before she even booked the flights. Well, I think she just basically told him that—”

“So it’s gonna be a super long vacation.” Steve gives her knee a reassuring little shake, before tickling the back of it. “Jesus, Robin, if you don’t go, I’ll go for you.”

Robin snorts and wiggles out of his grip. “Shut up.”

“And I’ll speak French so badly that I’ll just get banned for life, like, right outta the gate, it’ll be tragic—”

“I’ve got the picture, dingus,” she says, and she’s smiling—finally, finally there’s a spark of excitement in her eyes.

And that excitement only grows as her flight date gets closer, as she calls Steve the week before, begging him to be the one to take her to the airport, because, “My dad took one look at my suitcase and burst into tears, please Steve, the man can’t do this.”

And then Steve’s pulling up to her driveway, and she’s already waiting for him, perched on her suitcase. She’s wearing a cobalt blue beret, and Steve loves her so much he thinks his heart might burst with it.

For a while, it’s all grins and laughter, Steve giggling every time he edges out of the driveway, and Robin’s mom stops him, frantically waving, asking if Robin’s got everything, did you pack that other coat, honey?

Then it feels like time rushes forward—they’re at the airport, and Steve gets out of the car to fetch Robin’s case from the trunk, but she’s already got it, is already standing in the parking lot, eyes wide.

“What’s gonna happen now?” she whispers.

Steve’s heart clenches; the last time she’d asked that had been as they sped to the hospital, Robin gripping his hand so tightly as Eddie lay unconscious.

Steve puts both hands on her shoulders. “You’re gonna have the best time,” he says, deadly serious, “and then you’re gonna come back and tell me all about it.”

She laughs, right on the edge of becoming tearful. “O-okay.” She blinks several times.

“Don’t,” Steve says, faux-warningly, “or you’ll set me off, too.”

And it’s only partly a joke.

“Okay,” Robin says again, and then she’s hugging Steve tight, pressing a damp kiss to his cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

“God, me too. Every day.” Steve rocks her back and forth, makes sure her beret doesn’t get dislodged with the force of the hug.

When they break apart, Robin picks up her case—she pauses, then grins.

“Now, if you’ll just point me in the right direction…”

Steve chuckles. He spins her around so she’s facing the airport, then pats her on the back.

She starts walking.

Steve stays right where he is; he knows she’ll look back right at the last second—ah, there she goes. He shakes his head, laughs. Waves.

He drives back alone.

When he gets home, he barely has time to even think about it, because the kids have biked over after school, clamouring for him to order pizza from the moment he opens the front door, and Eddie’s shrugging apologetically with a grin, and it’s only later that Steve realises that the whole thing was probably coordinated beforehand.

And he’s fine, really, he’s absolutely fine until he steps into the hall to use the phone, and he unthinkingly orders the pizza him and Robin usually share: one half with pepperoni, the other half with mushrooms.

And then he has to finish the rest of the phone call with a lump in his throat, and when he hangs up, Eddie is watching him with a sad kind of smile.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

“Don’t. Don’t be nice to me, goddamn it.” Steve shuts his eyes. “I was fine, I was fine.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Eddie knocks their foreheads together gently. “I’ll miss her, too.”

And God, missing Robin does hurt, but it’s nothing compared to the joy Steve feels whenever he receives a letter from her. He laughs himself stupid the first time, because instead of just using sheets of paper, she’s sent multiple postcards wrapped in an elastic band, her handwriting all squished so she can fit everything in.

She writes like she talks, all rambling enthusiasm, and Steve cherishes every word.

He can tell she’s having so much fun. She enthuses about little cafés she’s found, a bookstore near Notre Dame; she spends multiple pages on art galleries, how she has the time to wander, to look at a painting again and again until the meaning reveals itself, it was like when I solved that ‘crossword’ in the mall, it suddenly just clicked, you know? I need you here next time, you’ll look at it from another angle, I wanna know what you think.

She sends Polaroids, too. There’s one of her in a white shirt with a trilby hat at a jaunty angle—Steve can tell she’s been in the sun, because there’s freckles all over the bridge of her nose. On the back of the photograph, she’s written Had a carefree kiss!

And Steve cries when he reads it, because he knows what it means: that Robin’s often spoken wistfully about how she’s never got to have that fleeting summer kind of love, where nothing is all that serious.

But she’s still so young, and life is finally light, and she gets to have it now.

Other photographs are sent to Eddie, with instructions that he should translate the French Robin’s written on them, à force de pratique, on y arrive, mon cher Édouard!

“I said literally once that French at school wasn’t, like, the worst,” Eddie says, pouting. “Didn’t realise that meant she was gonna torture me from across the world.” He frowns at a picture of Robin petting a grey cat, a bowl of food at its little paws. “And I tried translating whatever the fuck she’s written here, but I can’t work it out.”

“Not even a guess?” Steve says.

“I mean, yeah, but it sounds so stilted, man, I know it’s wrong. Like, who actually says where the silver cat feeds—you dick, stop laughing! What’s so funny?”

Two months pass, and Robin’s back soon, but not soon enough to catch Steve’s birthday. It’s not like he wants to have a huge party, anyway—he goes to Wayne and Eddie’s for dinner, and discovers Dustin leading a not-so successful ‘secretly bake a birthday cake,’ meeting at Max’s.

Everyone’s on their second slice of cake when the phone rings, and Steve knows instantly who it is from the way Eddie shouts, “Huh? What?”, like there’s a delay on the line. Then he beams and shouts, “Steve! Got a long distance call for you.”

Steve’s over in a flash.

“I promise I’ve got you something,” Robin says, slightly muffled—every so often a word will cut out, but Steve gets the gist. “I swear, I’m not awful, I was gonna post it, but then I had no idea how many stamps I’d need, and I didn’t wanna risk losing it forever to, like, the nightmare limbo of customs, so I thought when I come back, I can—”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Steve laughs, “you didn’t need to get me anything. This is the best present ever.”

“Oh, gross,” Robin says cheerfully. “You’re all sentimental in your old age. Happy Birthday, Steve.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, and the lump in his throat is back, but it’s not so bad; he can breathe through it. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

And then there’s a sound that Steve at first thinks is just from the bad quality of the line, but then he realises it’s Robin trying to stifle a yawn; “Wait, Jesus, isn’t it, like, two in the morning over there? Go to bed!”

She doesn’t listen, of course—they keep chatting, everyone in the room wants a turn on the phone, Robin teasing Eddie relentlessly for his French pronunciation.

And as Steve ends the call, he finds that the hurt of missing her has faded away into something else—knowing that there’ll be comings and goings in their lives all the time, adventures they’ll share and adventures they won’t. But they’ll always, always find their way back to one another.

Steve sets the phone into its cradle, pictures Robin doing the very same so many miles away.

Yeah, we’re gonna be just fine, you and me, Steve thinks, and feels the certainty of it right in his bones.

#steve and robin #steve and robin fic #steve and robin ficlet #robin buckley fic #steve harrington fic #eddie and robin #steddie #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #background steddie

[andvys]

I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss | part 21

Warnings: none really, the tiniest amount of angst, mentions of insecurities and jealousy, allusions to an ED. Proofread but poorly, if you saw any mistakes... no you didn't

Pairings: Steve Harrington x fem!reader , Eddie Munson x fem!reader

Summary: You and Eddie pay Steve and Robin a visit at Scoops Ahoy.

Word count: 5.3k+

A/N: @hellfire--cult I added the ice cream scene we talked about, I hope you like it hehe

series masterlist

-

Eddie is looking out the window, sipping on the coffee he just made. The rain paddles down the windows, thunder rumbling softly in the distance. The light summer storms had always been his favorite, for some reason it always gave him an odd sense of comfort.

He didn’t sleep last night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the tears in your eyes, the ones that he had caused. He felt so guilty, he still feels guilty. He was scared, jealous and worried. The fear of losing you pushed him to behave so horribly towards you. The fear of losing you to him. Eddie had always wondered what would happen if you let Steve back into your life, it scared him because he knew, he knows that he holds nothing to Steve. 

He thought that it was already happening, that he was already losing you and it hurt. He got defensive and he hurt you without realizing it. 

The sound of footsteps pulls him out of his thoughts, he looks back, blood rushes to his cheeks and his eyes widen. He halts every movement, hand frozen mid air as he was just about to take another sip of the steaming hot coffee. 

He was just about to greet you with one of his cheeky smiles but, it’s not you who just walked down the stairs. It’s your mom – who he thought was already at work. 

Just like him, she halts in her tracks and looks at the metalhead in surprise. She is already in her scrubs, a bag thrown over her shoulder and a tired look on her face. 

If Eddie wasn’t in just his boxers and a shirt, he would’ve been less embarrassed. 

She chuckles when she notices how embarrassed he looks, she walks into the kitchen, shaking her head in amusement. 

“Good morning, Eddie.”

“M-Morning,” Eddie stammers, scratching the back of his neck, he places the mug on the kitchen counter. 

He feels awkward. It’s not the first time that he slept over but he usually never ran into your mom in the mornings.

“You’re up early,” she says, seemingly not surprised about your little slumber party. She reaches for her favorite mug in the cupboard, she turns around, glancing at Eddie, “couldn’t sleep?” 

He shakes his head at her, watching as she prepares her coffee. 

“The storm woke me up.”

She nods and furrows her brows as she takes a sip. 

“Are you kids doing anything fun today?” 

Eddie’s lips twitch. He is convinced that your mom will always call you ‘kids’. 

“Nah, I don’t think so,” he shrugs, “we might get some food at Benny’s later.”

“That’s nice, enjoy your last free day before tomorrow,” she says in amusement. Both you and Eddie are starting your full time jobs tomorrow. 

Eddie groans, closing his eyes for a moment. 

“From teenage hell to adult hell,” Eddie mumbles.

She laughs, shaking her head at him.

“Oh Eddie, it won’t be that bad, you’ve worked with cars before and you loved it every time, didn’t you?” 

“I mean, yeah.”

“See, it’s going to be fine. – Well, I’m going to my ‘adult hell’ now,” she jokes as she makes her way out of the kitchen but then halts in her tracks. Eddie straightens up when she turns around, now with a more serious look on her face. 

“Thank you, Eddie.”

He tilts his head, not quite understanding what she is thanking him for. 

She notices the confusion in his eyes. 

“I don’t know what would’ve happened if she didn’t have you – after her and Steve broke up, you know?” 

Eddie’s eyes soften. He nods his head slowly.

“You make her happy.” 

He looks down at his cup. He is happy to hear that, though the guilt from treating you so badly yesterday, still lingers deep inside. 

“O-Oh and Eddie, I really don’t want to have to tell you this but, please use protection, my daughter is too young to have a baby.” 

Eddie almost chokes on the sip of coffee he just swallowed. His eyes widen, his jaw drops and he stares at the awkward look on your mom’s face. 

“Ma’am! We are not – it’s not like that!” 

She raises her brows. Now, she is tilting her head at him. 

“It’s not.. Wait –” her eyes widen when she takes in the sight of his flustered face, “are you two not.. dating?” 

“Excuse me?” Eddie laughs, nervously. 

She is quiet, for the longest two minutes, she is quiet and stares at Eddie in genuine confusion. She seems to think over every moment she has seen you with Eddie. 

He would have laughed if he wasn’t so flustered. 

She shakes her head and mumbles some incoherent words under her breath. She clutches her purse tighter against her body. By the look on her face, Eddie already knows that you will be having an awkward conversation later with your mom. 

“Nevermind,” she laughs, waving at him, “I gotta go. Have a nice day.” 

She rushes out before he can even form a sentence. 

“You too,” Eddie mumbles. 

A sigh falls from his lips when he hears the front door shutting. His brows knit together and he just now notices that his heart is racing in his chest. All this time, your mom thought that you were dating. 

Should he be surprised? 

Most people think that about you two. Benny. The old couple that sat in the booth behind you the other day. Your boss at the record store, Dustin and Uncle Wayne. And now, your mom too. 

Why? 

Is it because a friendship between a male and a female is so unusual? 

Is it because you two are close? Closer than friends should be? 

Is it because of the way he looks at you?

“Good morning.”

Your voice pulls Eddie out of his thoughts, he looks up to find you standing in the doorway. A tired look on your face, lips puffy and hair falling down your shoulders messily, a big shirt hanging loosely on your frame. Fuck. You look cute. 

“Morning, sweetheart.”

You give him a small smile and make your way over to the coffee pot when you smell the freshly brewed coffee. 

“You made coffee? You’re the best, Ed’s,” you say with a tired and groggy voice. 

His heart skips a beat. It’s not the first time that he gets to see you like this. You have spent many mornings together, yet, something feels different. 

“I’m so glad you stayed over, last night. Slumber parties with you are always fun.”

“You just loved using me as your doll,” he jokes. 

You scrunch your face up, turning around to look at him. There are still a few braids in his hair, traces of the black eyeliner that you draw on his eyelids, he got a little too dramatic when soap got into his eyes after he tried to wash it off again. 

A giggle falls from your lips, “not like you didn’t like it,” you say into your cup as you take a sip. 

Eddie saw it, the cheeky smirk that crossed your face, only for a second, but he saw it. 

He would be lying if he said that he didn’t like it. 

Last night, he was scared that things would be awkward after the way he treated you all day. You had every right to be mad at him, to give him the cold shoulder but you didn’t. Instead, you hugged him, even kissed his cheek and apologized in case you did something that upset him, after all. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want you to apologize. You had no reason to apologize but somehow you completely dismissed it when he told you that. You ‘easily’ moved on from the cold shoulder he gave you all day, you took his hand and led him downstairs and pretended that everything was fine. 

You were desperate to keep the peace. 

That’s how it worked in your relationship with Steve. You wanted peace during war. The moment he laid down the invisible weapons he hurt you with, you were quick to jump into his arms, submitting to him without considering the other option – walk away and never look back, something that you should have done to protect yourself and your fragile heart. 

Eddie doesn’t want you to do the same you did with Steve. He doesn’t want you to submit just to keep the peace. You are allowed to be upset and to show him that. You have a voice, just like he does and he wants you to know that. 

That is something you still have to learn.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks, unable to hide the grin on his face. 

You shrug, biting your bottom lip, “nothing.”

You look at him from beneath your lashes, acting innocent, like you didn’t straddle his waist to draw the lines on his eyelids, last night.

“Are you planning to go home anytime soon?” 

“Are you trying to kick me out?” He chuckles. 

“Yes,” you joke as you make your way over to him, “of course not. I was thinking that we could just watch movies all day, maybe get some food later?”

You stop in front of him and he can’t help but stare at you. The way you clutch the mug to your chest, the way you stand there in the big shirt that definitely belongs to him – you must’ve stolen it after a sleepover at his place. You look at him with the cutest smile he had ever seen. Shit. 

He reaches for your hand, pulling you closer, instinctively. 

“I’d love to spend my last day of freedom with you,” he says dramatically. 

You roll your eyes, laughing. 

“Always so dramatic, Eddie. But, I’d love to spend my last day of freedom with you too.” 

“Perfect,” he smiles at you, “let’s start with breakfast.”

“Pancakes?” 

“Pancakes.” 

-

The new record store at the mall is smaller than the old one in town, it’s much more crowded and there is less space – much less space but for some reason, it appears cozier this way. The lights are dim, making the store much darker than all the other ones in the mall, string lights hang from the ceiling and posters of bands and singers decorate the gray walls. 

You’ve been stacking up records for the past few hours, desperately counting down the hours till lunch break. It’s not that you aren’t used to working but a full time job is definitely different from part time, after school a few days a week.

You are grateful for your boss though, a middle aged man – a retired ‘rockstar’ who had taken a great liking to Eddie, you’re not surprised. He is nice, very laid back and he allows you to choose the music that always plays in the background. You can wear whatever you want and don’t have to worry about any work uniforms. 

The bell above the door rings, you don’t turn around to see who it is, assuming that it’s another customer. 

“Excuse me, miss, you don’t happen to have the new Metallica album do you?” 

A smile tugs at your lips, you place the last record into the shelf before you turn around. 

“Miss, really?” You giggle. 

Eddie stands in front of you with a teasing grin. Hands behind his back, hair pulled into a low bun, a few strands falling out of the hair tie. He is wearing a red and black flannel, the sleeves bunched up at his elbows. Your eyes stop at his tattoos as always. You swallow. 

“Where’s your sexy work uniform?” You tease. 

Eddie chuckles, leaning against the counter, he eyes you, “I don’t have one yet – besides, they let me sit at the front desk, can you believe that?” 

“Wait what? You’re the hot secretary now?” You tease, walking towards him, “the wives better hide their husbands.” 

A laugh falls from his lips and he scrunches his face up in disgust, “you mean the grumpy mechanics who don’t let me do shit?” 

You frown. 

“Lee – I mean, Wayne’s friend, the dude who hired me wasn’t in today and the other’s apparently know my dad so, they weren’t exactly happy to see me there. They don’t trust me.”

Eddie doesn’t look sad about it, more so annoyed. 

You roll your eyes and scoff, “those stinky old assholes.”

He laughs, eyes lighting up in amusement. 

“Do you want me to kick their asses? Cause you know, I will.”

He takes your hand, pulling you towards him, “oh you will, huh? Gonna get into trouble for little old me?” He smirks. 

You nod, looking up at him through your lashes, “I will, yeah.”

“Lee will be back tomorrow, he’ll let me work.”

You nod. 

“Well, if they know your dad then they also gotta know that he was good with cars at least, right?” You ask, shrugging.

He nods, rolling his eyes, “yeah but, I don’t think they remember him for that. They just remember him for the shit he stole while he still worked there, oh and the money he took from the cash register.”

“The cash register at the front desk?”

“Yeah.”

“So… they do trust you, Eddie. Otherwise they wouldn’t trust you around the cash register if they thought that you’re anything like your dad – which, you could never be, by the way.” 

Eddie’s lips lift into a smile.

“You’re Wayne’s boy, they know that. Hell, even Steve’s dad called you Wayne’s boy.”

His eyes widen, “wait, he did?” 

“Yeah! When I was over for dinner at Steve’s place, you know, back in december?”

He nods.

“I told them about you and when I told them your name, his dad called you Wayne’s boy – he knew your dad too, by the way. He still called you Wayne’s boy.”

Eddie always thought that the Munson name was a curse. Most people know him as his father’s son – something he can’t stand. He doesn’t want to be like him, ever. People always hated him for things that he never did. Not only did they accuse him of things that his father did, they also made up stories about him, the rumors he heard about himself, made him physically sick sometimes.

If he wasn’t a satanist or a criminal, he was that ‘good for nothing Munson kid’. 

He had always worried about what people thought of him, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he always worried. Especially when it came to you but, you never made him feel like that, like he’s ‘good for nothing’. You made him feel like he is someone. Someone who matters, someone who can be more than just that Munson kid. Someone who is special. 

“You’re the best Munson – don’t tell Wayne I said that.” 

He chuckles at your words but looks down at you with softened eyes. Your opinion matters the most to him. 

“You are so hardworking, Eddie, always helping your uncle and doing everything you can to make the people around you happy. Taking me out and buying me stuff even though you don’t have to! Not that I don’t love the things you get me,” you gesture to the rings on your fingers, making him smile. “I guess, what I’m trying to say is, you’re amazing and you are good. You’re nothing like your dad.”

You always get to him like no one else can. Even with just a few simple words, you touch his soul in a way no one else ever did – no one else ever will. Not only do you give him comfort and reassurance without needing to, after all, you’re just friends, you don’t owe him reassurance but you do it naturally. 

“Shit, sweetheart, are you trying to make me cry on my lunch break?” He jokes. 

“Of course not.”

You smile up at him with big eyes, that alone, gives him that nervous tingle, again. 

You know that he still feels bad for how he treated you last Saturday. You don’t want him to. He apologized, he made you breakfast, took you to Family Video, bought you ice cream and apologized about ten times. You know that he regrets it. You know that it won’t happen again, that he won’t do it again. 

“No making out while you’re on the clock, young lady.”

You pull away from Eddie to look at your boss. He is holding a clipboard in his hands, his glasses low on the bridge of his nose, he looks at you with a straight face, though you can see the amusement in his eyes when he notices the panicked look on your face. 

“We’re not–”

“How’s it going, rockstar?” He asks, flashing Eddie a smile as he walks behind the counter, placing the clipboard down, he takes his glasses off. 

“Good, I’m just here to check out the new store,” Eddie says, lying. “Been meaning to buy the new Metallica album.”

“You ain’t fooling anyone, boy. You already bought it when we were still downtown.” 

Eddie chuckles, scratching the back of his neck, “ah shit, you got a good memory don’t you?”

Rufus crosses his arms over his chest, chuckling, “I do.” He looks at you, “do you wanna go on break now?”

“I’m not done with the records–”

“It’s fine, you finish that later, you’ve been stacking them up all morning, go eat something, kid.” 

“I won’t say no to do that,” you chuckle. 

You get your purse from the backroom and take off your name tag before you leave the store with Eddie. Even though it’s only 2pm, the mall is already crowded. 

“I’m so excited to see Steve and Robin in their uniforms.”

“Are you really ready to see them? I bet Steve is wearing booty shorts.” 

You giggle and step closer to Eddie when a group of boys walks past you. Eddie places his hand on your back when you press your side against his. 

“Do you wanna get some pizza first?”

“Uh no, I’ve been thinking about ice cream all day!” 

He looks down at you skeptically, “did you eat breakfast, at least?”

You give him an innocent smile, “yes?”

“Sweetheart,” he mumbles, his smile slipping. “You didn’t have any breakfast?”

“I had coffee.”

“That’s not breakfast!” 

“I wasn’t hungry – oh look, Scoops Ahoy!” 

He gives you a disapproving look and takes your hands in his before you can walk into the store, he turns you towards him. 

“We can go eat something first if you’re hungry,” you say. 

He smiles at you, shaking his head, “no, I’m not hungry, right now.”

“We can get takeout later?” You offer with a smile on your face, “you can pick where to go.”

“Nah, you can pick, sweetheart.”

You look into his brown eyes, you feel the warmth of his hand, he is looking at you, he is looking at you in a way that makes you feel seen. He had always looked at you that way, right from the start. You were unaware of the feeling that was going on inside of you, you were too focused on the pain. But now, now you feel. 

You squeeze his hand, his lips twitch, something else takes over his face, something that makes your heart race. 

Here you are, standing in the middle of the bustling mall, ignoring everything that is happening around you. 

You’re holding his hand, standing close, you’re looking at each other, you are looking into his eyes as he traces every inch of your face with his eyes. 

“Out of the way, lovebirds.”

You both furrow your brows and tear your eyes away from each other, looking down to find Erica Sinclair glaring at you with an ice cream cone in her hand, her friends standing behind her, with similar looks on their faces. 

“You are blocking the way!” She says, pointing her finger at you. 

“Hello to you too, baby Sinclair,” Eddie says, knowing that it will piss her off. 

She narrows her eyes at him, looking him up and down with a glare before she looks at you. 

“I’m sorry, Lady Applejack, didn’t mean to block your passage,” you chuckle. 

You and Eddie step out of the way, looking at each other in amusement when she glares at you both before walking away with her friends. 

“Such a mean girl.”

“Mean in a cool way,” Eddie says, chuckling. 

“Definitely,” you snort. 

You let go of his hand when you walk into the shop, you look around, a few tables are occupied but the shop is mostly empty. When you look over at the counter, you see him, Steve, who ‘subtly’ took his hat off and threw it on the ground the moment you walked in. 

You only see half of his outfit as he is still behind the counter, yet, you can’t help but giggle, not because of the shirt but because of the pink cheeks, he is embarrassed. 

Robin comes out of the backroom just as you walk up to the counter with Eddie by your side. 

She halts in her tracks.

Eddie stares at her and Steve with raised brows, taking in the sight of their uniforms. 

“Damn Buckley,” Eddie chuckles, looking her outfit up and down in amusement, “you ready to set sail?”

You giggle at the annoyed look on her face. 

“Has Ch– your crush seen you like this yet?” He teases her. 

“Who’s your crush?” Steve asks. 

“None of your business, Dingus,” she scoffs with flushed cheeks. 

“Steve, show me your whole outfit,” you giggle.

Steve sighs, hazel eyes filled with embarrassment as he walks around the counter. He rolls his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair again before he gestures to his whole outfit – the short shorts. 

“Ta da!” He mumbles, mockingly. 

Eddie snorts, “damn Harrington, turn around, show us the booty shorts from the back.”

“Dude,” Steve mumbles with a frown on his face, causing Eddie to laugh. 

“I don’t know, the shorts are kinda doing it for me.”

All three of them turn to look at you with surprised looks on their faces. Eddie’s brows are raised. Robin tilts her head at you and Steve looks flustered. 

You turn away from him with a giggle. Taking a step closer to the counter, you take a look at all the different ice cream flavors. You lick your lips, “so.. can I get some ice cream?”

Robin glances at Steve, who nods his head, “s-sure!” 

He walks around her, reaching for the scooper in his pocket, he flashes you a small smile, “so uh, what flavor do you want?” 

“Hmm, I don’t know, surprise me!” 

He smiles at you, loving the way your eyes are lit up as you look at all the flavors. You look happy again. He wondered how you felt after what happened with Eddie, he contemplated on giving you a call just to check on you but he didn’t want to cross any boundaries. 

He glances at Eddie, wondering how he is feeling after the way he behaved towards you. Steve always felt guilty, yet he kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again. He knows that Eddie won’t do the same thing he did, he saw the look in his eyes, the regret and the guilt when he finally realized how much he hurt you. Eddie would never do this to you again but neither would he – if he could turn back time, everything would be different. 

He hands you the ice cream cone. 

“U.S.S Butterscotch for the lady,” he grins. 

“Thanks sailor,” you giggle as you take the cone from his hand. 

“I’ll be right back,” you hear Robin say, stopping her conversation with Eddie, she goes back into the backroom.

“Oh, that’s good!”

Steve chuckles at the excited look in your eyes after trying the ice cream. 

“You like it?” Steve asks, smiling as he watches you eat. 

You nod, “mhmm, I’m gonna be here every lunch break.”

Steve’s eyes light up, this will be the highlight of every day here. Maybe, this job won’t suck after all. 

“Eddie, you need to try some of this!”

You turn to him, smiling happily. 

He chuckles, not at the excited look on your face but at the ice cream on the corner of your mouth. He doesn’t even think before he stretches his hand out to cup your cheek, using his thumb to get the ice cream off your lip. 

It’s something he had done before, hell, it’s something that you have done before. Yet, it feels different. His touch feels different. It makes your heart flutter. 

You stand frozen in place, staring at him wide eyed with a blush on your cheeks. You watch how he licks the ice cream off his thumb, humming at the taste of it. 

When he finally notices how you look at him, he grows flustered as well. His heart skips a beat when he sees how flustered you are but he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from you. He stares at you and you stare at him. 

And Steve looks between the two of you with an annoyed look on his face. He clenches his jaw and rolls his eyes. The bitter taste on his tongue almost becomes too overwhelming. 

He claps his hands together to pull you two out of whatever trance you are both in. He's annoyed and jealous.

You and Eddie flinch at the loud noise, you two blink, cheeks growing hotter. 

He clears his throat and you look down at the ice cream. 

“So, what do you want, Eddie?” Steve asks, giving him a fake smile as he points to all the ice cream flavors. 

Eddie’s heart is racing and he is far from feeling calm. The blush is clearly very visible on his cheeks, otherwise Steve wouldn’t stare at his cheeks that way. 

“Give me a few samples, man,” Eddie smirks. 

“Of course, the fucking samples,” Steve mumbles as he reaches for one of the sampling spoon. “Alright dude, what do you want?” He sighs. 

A smug look appears on Eddie’s face when he sees the annoyance in Steve’s eyes. 

“Let’s start with the boring ones,” he chuckles, “give me the strawberry one, please.”

Eddie tilts his head to the side, giving Steve a smile that makes you laugh. You lean against the counter and watch the two of them. How Steve scoops up some of the strawberry ice cream and hands Eddie the tiny spoon. 

“There you go,” Steve mumbles. 

“Thanks dude.”

You lick your ice cream, watching Eddie try the pink ice cream. 

Steve places both hands on his counter, rolling his eyes at Eddie before he looks at you. Watching you. 

The windows behind him slide open and Robin looks out, smirking at you. 

“You guys wanna know what Steve said to one of our customers earlier?” She asks, “or better yet, how he tried to flirt?”

You raise your brows. 

You aren’t surprised to hear that he is flirting with girls again, but the feeling inside of you is still an unpleasant one. You don’t want him. You really don’t want him anymore but you are not in control of your feelings. You can’t help but feel that sour taste on your tongue.

Steve groans, closing his eyes, he pinches the bridge of his nose. 

“Don’t. I wasn’t flirting!” 

He really wasn’t flirting, yet, he still glances at you, wanting to know how you react to the news of him ‘flirting’. You instantly break eye contact and look down. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that you are jealous. 

“Oh no no, do tell us what he said,” Eddie says, throwing the spoon into the little trash can, “give me the cinnamon one now.”

Steve sighs, “yeah yeah.”

“What did he say, Robin?” 

Steve looks back at Robin, shaking his head at her, mouthing, ‘please don’t.’

She just gives him another smug smile before she clears her throat. 

“Ahoy ladies! Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I’ll be your captain, I’m Steve H–”

“Robin!” Steve groans, turning around to glare at her after handing Eddie another sample.

You and Eddie burst into laughter, both at the deep voice she mocked and at the words that apparently spilled from his lips earlier. He reaches for one of the bananas on the counter, throwing it at her but she slides the windows shut again before it can hit her. 

“King Steve is Captain Steve now,” you giggle. 

He turns around, glaring at you with flushed cheeks. 

“Harrington, saying you will take them into an ocean of flavor is not the way.”

Steve clenches his jaw, glaring at the metalhead who leans down, placing his elbows on the counter. The smug look on his face, the smirk and amusement in his eyes is making him angry. 

“Now, can I try the… banana boat?” 

At his choice, Steve smirks and nods. He reaches for another spoon from the little bowl, scooping some of the ice cream on it, he holds it out to him but before Eddie can reach for the spoon, he puts it up to his mouth. Eddie frowns in confusion, he opens his mouth but before he can say anything, Steve sticks the spoon into his mouth, catching him off guard. 

“Is that enough flavor for you, Munson?” 

Your eyes widen and you raise your hand towards your lips, holding a giggle back at the shocked look on Eddie’s face. 

Eddie pulls back and throws the spoon away. 

“Nope,” he mumbles and turns away, walking out of the shop with a flustered look on his face. You watch him, you know that he won’t actually leave, but clearly he got embarrassed by this. 

Steve’s lips are pulled into a smirk. 

You turn back to him with raised brows. 

“I’m not taking flirting advice from someone that blushes when he gets fed. Jesus christ..”

“You should feed him more often,” you giggle. 

Steve crosses his arms over his chest, “he would fall in love with me, better not.”

You roll your eyes at him, “you wish.”

“Don’t get jealous now, I wonder what would happen if I fed him a chocolate covered banana.”

“Steve!” 

He laughs at the look on your face. 

“You’re a pervert,” you mumble.

“Yeah, you love me though.”

The moment those words leave his lips and he sees the stunned look on your face, he freezes and so do you. His eyes widen, a nervous laugh falls from his lips. 

Neither of you say anything, you just stare at each other, awkwardly. 

“Dingus! You need to bring in the shipment from outside!” Robin yells, opening the windows again. 

He closes his eyes and sighs, turning around with an angry look on his face. 

“Why can’t you do it?!”

“I’m weak!” She lies. 

“They’re not that heavy, they’re fucking sprinkles, Robin.”

She gives him a small smile, holding her hands up before she walks back. 

He sighs, “alright, I got it.”

“Yeah uh, I gotta go,” you mumble, looking down at your ice cream to avoid looking at him. 

“Okay uh – see you tomorrow?” 

You hear the hope in his voice and you see it in his eyes too when you lift your chin to look at him. 

“Y-Yeah.”

“Okay,” he smiles.

“Bye.”

“Bye y/n.”

You give him a small smile. A smile that is enough to make everything in him feel lighter, better, happier. His heart feels alive at every glance you give him, every smile you flash him is enough to heal his heart piece by piece. 

But every time you leave, the sadness creeps back in. 

You leave the store and look around for Eddie, a smile appears on your face when you spot him. You walk away, disappearing from his view. 

His shoulders slump and he blinks as he looks down, sighing. 

Steve knows that he might never get you back, not the way he has you, at least. But as long as you wear the locket around your neck, as long as you still smile at him, as long as you still appear in his life. 

There is still hope, right?

next chapter

-

tagging friends and mutuals

@hellfire--cult @taintedcigs @mysticmunson @littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @take-everything-you-can @trashmouth-richie @xxhellfirebunnyxx @succubusmunson @somethingvicked @nemesis729 @sherrylyn628 @chrissymjstan @corrodedseraphine @corrodedcorpses

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fluff #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson angst

[sp0o0kylights]

Still working on the BB fic but have another snippet of that Stobin Timeloop AU. This can be read as stand-alone.

Steve Harrington snaps on a completely random Friday.

Well--not completely random. It's both the day of the Big Sportsball Game as well as Hellfire’s grand finale--but neither of those things should matter to Harrington.

Not that he needs a reason to lose his shit--Eddie’s long used to being threatened, insulted or outright attacked out of the blue. 

It’s the whole reason he built up the persona he had--because the scarier he was, the more people left him alone. 

Unfortunately it would appear that Hawkins fallen king hadn’t gotten the memo, given he seemed hellbent on kicking Eddie’s ass. 

"Come on Harrington, we can talk about this." Eddie says, as he’s shoved back, scrambling for a way out, as the former jock gets up in his face. 

The guy had called out his name the second he pulled into the parking lot (sans Buckley or any of the freshman they shared, which has Eddie's back up instantly) but Eddie had simply ignored him.

It was too early to deal with whatever had Harrington sounding like his ass was on fire.

Pity Steve had charged over instead, a look in his eyes that said whatever happened next was going to hurt.

Eddie carries a switchblade, but hes never had to use it before. 

Had instead made an entire production about having it, including cleaning his nails with the blade or stabbing it into the cheap wood desks when a teacher stepped out of the room. 

Had shouted that he’d pull it even when Harrington had charged him, but the guy didn't even blink.

Thus forcing Eddie to confront the fact that he really doesn’t want to stab someone.

Particularly not someone whose family has the police in their pockets (or did with Chief Hopper, though Eddie doesn’t doubt that the Harrington Hoard won’t immediately grab onto the next pig to get promoted.) 

His panic leaves him flailing but somehow, (and unfairly Eddie may add) Steve seems to expect this. 

Knows how to navigate it.

Eddie's back hits the metal of the van and he winces, expecting the hit, the pain. 

If he can duck, if he can make it so the first punch only grazes him, he can grab his fucking knife and wave it around, see if that gets the asshole off him, except--

Instead of hitting him, Steve reaches past, to yank one of the van’s passenger doors open. 

Herds Eddie inside, slamming the door behind him before snatching a fistful of Eddie's shirt and hauling him forward. 

"What--" Eddie asked, confused, right before Steve smashes their lips together. 

It's a hard kiss, practically a claim. 

Steve kisses him like a drowning man gasps for air and Eddie can only fall into it, stunned. 

(The stunned portion only lasts long enough for Eddie to blink before he's kissing back, hot and heavy.

He's been horny for Harrington since the asshole did a trick shot that showed off his ass and involved flipping Hagan off at the same time, sue him.) 

Thinks as he does, that this is probably a trap.

That even if it isn't, then whatever it is Steve will make him regret it--even if he started it. 

(Not like Eddie can claim he wasn’t enjoying it, either. He’s giving as good as he gets, dick quickly overwhelming any rational thought in his brain. 

He clings to Steve like a lifeline, gasping when the jocks takes his bottom lip between his teeth and lightly drags it out, begging to be let into Eddie's mouth. 

This isn't reality.

 Cannot be reality, must be the start of a wet dream or some…vivid hallucinations because when Eddie grinds himself upwards into Steve, cock chasing friction, Steve presses back.) 

"Fuck." Eddie moans when Steve finally releases him, panting up at the ceiling. 

"Do I have your attention now?" Steve asks, voice raspy and Eddie finds himself able to die happy, because that tone is downright possessive. 

"Yeah big boy, you have me--it." Eddie corrects himself fast, the words practically blending together. 

Steve gives a strangled sort of laugh at that, and instead of getting up, presses his face down onto Munsons shoulder. 

Eddie expects him to spring up at any moment. Declare insanity maybe, or far more likely threaten him about telling anybody.

If past bar hookups were an indicator, he'd  throw a few slurs in for good measure. 

(And those men had been at a gay bar, not Hawkins high school parking lot.) 

It's nothing Eddie can't handle, but Steve…isn't doing any of them.

Instead his breathings gone weird, body trembling--and Eddie can see how Steve is holding himself up.

Like he's worried about Eddie taking his weight.

Slowly, carefully, he raises a hand to the back of Steve's hair.

He presses in slow, waiting to be yelled at, waiting to be rejected but never is. 

"You can lay on me, Harrington, I won't break." Eddie tells him and knows his voice is too sweet when he says it.

Too lovey dovey, too awed. 

Too late, for him to recover into a normal voice but fuck it. Not like Eddie was known for making smart decisions. 

Nothing could have prepared him from the wounded noise Steve makes in return. 

"Hey--hey." Eddie says, in rising panic. "I've got you." 

"I know." Steve raises, and head coming up at last, cheeks red and tear stained but his eyes are clear.

Clear and fucking haunted.

 "I know you do, Eds, but we don't have time. Which is why I need you to listen to me, because I'm not the Steve Harrington you know."  

Utterly reeling from being called "Eds" it takes Eddie a moment to digest what was just said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Steve sighs, a blast of frustration, and Eddie finds himself automatically scritching at Steve's head. 

For some reason that seems to help. 

"Your D&D finale’s tonight, right?" 

"Yes." Eddie says slowly, his mind spinning uselessly, every coherent thought derailed by something new. The moles on Steve's neck. The way he shifts, how his leg is tangling with Eddie's, awkwardly because it's cramped as shit back here. 

"I'm way past this. I've lived this. More than once." 

Aha. 

So it's a mental breakdown Steve's having. 

"I'm still waiting for you to make sense, Harrington." Eddie says to buy himself time to think. 

"Steve." The younger man corrects and he's holding Eddie's gaze. "And I'm not making sense because saying it sounds stupid." 

Eddie can't help the little derisive laugh that breaks out of him. "I hear a lot of stupid things, one more won't kill me." 

"I know, you're famous for your rants about them." Steve snarks back, but it's teasing. 

Friendly and familiar, like he's used to bantering. 

Not just that, but bantering with Eddie, specifically.

He doesn't know what to do with that, so he tugs a little on Harrington's too perfect hair. 

Demands an explanation with that little jolt--and somehow, Steve doesn't haul off and punch him for it. Instead a shudder rollers through him, eyes closing just a touch and--Oh.

Oh, Harri-Steve, likes it.

"I'm from the future." Steve says, which does indeed sound stupid. 

Eddie blinks. "What?" 

"Robin and I are stuck in a time loop-- we keep living this week over and over." He continues, only now he's leaning his head against Eddie's arm. 

"Every single time, you take the longest to get on board and buy in, and every single time I fail to get everyone out alive so fuck it. Fuck all of it--I'm speedrunning this part." 

Oh this is beyond breakdown. 

This is 'took something he shouldn't have and then some' and Eddie knows how to trip sit. 

He just…doesn't want to get punched for being the first person Steve released his repressed homosexual urges out on, drugged or not. 

(The fact Steve's still letting Eddie pet him like a cat absolutely does not have anything to do with it, no sir.)

because his mouth bypasses his rational mind most days and today is no exception. 

"Okay." Eddie says. "Let's say you are from the future and not shot up with what I'm assuming you were told was steroids and was very much not."

 Steve rolls his eyes. 

He never bothered to dry his cheeks and Eddie does it now for him, with the hand that's not in Steve's hair.

Steve leans into it, which somehow feels like the craziest part of it all.

"Prove to me that you're from the future." Eddie challenges.

"Oh the kissing wasn't enough? Fine." Steve bitches, before rattling off facts like he's blowing through answers on Jeopardy. 

"You call your guitar sweetheart and apologize for cheating on it anytime you use your other guitar, who is named Arwin. Your favorite mug in Wayne's collection is the Garfield one and you can play Master of Puppets by heart even though the album came out last month."

"And this is coming from the future and not one of the freshmen we somehow share custody over…?"  Eddie says, even while alarm shoots down his spine.

Had he told the kids about his Garfield mug? 

That his acoustic was named Arwin…?

He suddenly couldn't recall but that made the most sense. Had to make sense.

Steve huffs, annoyed.

Its very cute, and Eddie bites his own lip hard to keep himself focused. 

A finger dips under Eddie's collar, wrapping gently around the chain that sits there before he can react.

 "This," Steve emphasizes with a gentle tug, "was your mom's. She gave it to you the morning of the accident." 

Eddie's world stops.

Not the same way it stopped when Steve kissed him, it stopped in a way they felt like ice had been dumped over his head. A flash freeze that squeezed his chest, claws digging into his exposed heart.

The only person who knew about the pick was Wayne. 

No one else, not even his band, his closest friends, knew the origin of it. 

To tell someone that, to say it was not only his mothers but that shed given it to him the morning before some drunk asshole t boned her shitty, shitty car and killed her-- was akin to handing over step by step instructions on how to hurt him. 

Eddie would go to the ends of the earth for that pick, and he had never let anyone know just how important it was to him.

Except Steve Harrington, apparently. 

"Okay." Eddie says, "Okay, you're from the future. You said--" He pauses, swallows. 

Fights down his disbelief even as the dots connect, because why else would he tell anyone about his pick? 

The only reason he can possibly conjure is if he needed someone to give it back to Wayne, because he, for whatever reason, couldn't.

 "You said you're reliving this because you can't get everyone out alive?" Eddie managed to get out, grappling with the knowledge that "everyone" included him. 

"Yeah." 

 "Are you also my boyfriend or something?" 

"If we can make it there, then yes." Steve says, slightly hysterical. "And really? You're finally gonna believe me?" 

"Are you arguing here for me to believe you or not, Steve, you're giving conflicting signals--" 

"No it's--you've fought me on this man. I've tried every method of getting you with us and every time you argue until the bats show up but one kiss and you're all for it?" 

"Give yourself some credit, it was a grand slam of a kiss.” Eddie replies, because it was by far and large the best kiss of his life. 

He’d follow Steve to hell and back if more kisses like that were on the table, mental breakdown or no. 

Steve snorts at him, a half-hysterical sound. “Noted.” He says. 

Then; “You believe me though?”

“Not at all!” Eddie chirps with a wobbly grin that betrays him.  “But on the off chance you’re right the uh…the thing about my pick…” He trails off self consciously. 

“I should have guessed that was what it. You only ever tell me that when you’re dying.” Steve fills in for him, and it’s weird, to know that for two seconds Steve Harrington apparently read his face and correctly guessed what he was thinking about. 

Abruptly decides he doesn’t want to think of his impending doom any longer. 

“So how about we skip the dying part and focus on the boyfriend part?” He says, poking at Steve’s cheek. 

Steve makes a face at him, before grabbing a his hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. 

“We gotta fix this mess first, Munson.” He tells him gently, looking up at him through his lashes and oh, that is a look Eddie will keep for the rest of his life. 

“Lead on, lassie.” Eddie tells him to hide how dazed he feels. “Let’s go save the world and shit.” 

With one final kiss to the palm of Eddie’s hand, Steve does. 

#steddie #actual steddie for once lol #miscommunication #stobin timeloop #this starts off kinda dub con but quickly turns #steves just desperate lool #eddie munson #eddie is like those owls who puff themselves up to look mean #robin is gonna be equally annoyed the kissing is what finally gets eddie on board fast #steve harrington #0o0 fanfics #stranger things #stranger things fanfic

[hornedqueenofhell]

Steddie Sick fic pt. 3

Pt 2

When they make it to the parking lot Steve is clearly having a time freeing himself from octopus Eddie who has decided to latch onto Steve with a single-minded determination. Gareth wishes he had a camera.

He can’t see what Harrington does to make Eddie let go but whatever it was was very effective as Eddie finally releases his grip and allows Steve to lay him down in the backseat. Dustin hands his keys back and accepts a hug from Steve before the freshman trots back over to them as Jonathan pulls into the parking lot. The boys wave to each other and then Steve is gone, taking Eddie with him.

“You think he’ll be okay?” Grant asks worriedly, they did just hand Eddie the Freak Munson, weak as a kitten, off to King Steve. The enormity of what just happened starts to hit them all and they start to panic.

“Oh fuck, oh god what if he kills him?”

“He wouldn’t do that right? The kids wouldn’t have called him if he would, right?!”

A sharp whistle cuts them off and they all turn to Lucas who pulls his fingers from his mouth, he gives them all a disappointed look, his hands settling on his hips like a small, angry soccer mom. “Steve is getting certified as an EMT. He’ll keep Eddie safe.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Gareth explodes, he was ready to tear his hair out worried about his friend.

“Steve doesn’t know that we know.” Mike says as he hands Dustin his backpack, Will is already off to go talk to his brother.

“Huh?” The band collectively replies.

“He’s scared he’ll fail. Doesn’t want to tell anyone until he’s sworn in, like there’s any chance he won’t be top of his class. He doesn’t know that we all know already, we’re planning a big party for him once he graduates. Of course Dustin has all the subtlety of a brick to the face so how Steve hasn’t figured out that he knows yet is the real surprise.” Lucas explains, giving Dustin some major side eye.

“Hey!”

Well that was kinda reassuring, didn’t people who did medical stuff have to take a vow to not hurt people or something like that?

“What’s going to happen when Eddie wakes up?” Oh boy.

~O~

Munson was scary light as Steve got him through the front door and onto the couch. He’d mumbled a few things into Steve’s neck when he got jostled as Steve kicked the front door closed behind them but settled down again shortly after.

“What was that?” He asked as he pushed Munson’s sweaty hair off his forehead.

“Had… dream…like this.” He mumbles and yeah Steve needs to get his fever down. He walks into the kitchen and finds a frozen bag of peas he used to use for sports injuries and after wrapping it up with a towel from the stove he plops the bag on Munson's face.

"Blindfolding me 'lready, sssso bold."

“You really never shut up do you?” He rests one arm on the couch arm, chin propped on the other with a slight smirk. He leans over Eddie and watches as the older boy drags the bag of peas to his chest to hold against his overheated core and blinks up at him with foggy, wet bambi eyes.

“C’n think… a feww ‘ays.” Munson tries to give him a flirty look back but his fever makes him uncoordinated so it looks more like his face just scrunches up uncomfortably. It makes Steve chuckle softly and Eddie lights up in response.

“Pretty… pretty boy.” He tries to reach up but Steve catches his hand and gently places it back on the pea ice pack. Munson was smart, pressing his wrists against it to help cool him down. 

“I know I’m gorgeous Munson but let’s get you feeling better before you try to kiss me okay?”

“Promise?” Well, Steve feels like he should be surprised but considering Eddie has been basically spilling his sexuality in his fevered state, he’s just going to wait it out and see if Eddie remembers any of this later. And if he doesn’t then he will keep the older boy’s secret.

“We can talk about it when your fever breaks. Do you think you could keep some food down for me or would you rather take some Nyquil and sleep?”

Eddie looks queasy at just the mention of food so it’s not a surprise when he asks for sleep. Steve stands and goes to dig through his medicine cabinet, he knows he stocked up when Dustin had a cold from all the stress after Starcourt. After filling up the little cup with the medicine he fills another glass with some gatorade mixed with ice for him to wash it down.

Eddie’s breathing is still a little shallow when he returns, but hopefully the medicine will help with the fever breaking. He is able to haul Eddie up enough to get him to drink the medicine but struggles with getting him to sip the juice. Eventually Eddie places his hand over Steve’s to steady him so he’s not feeling waterboarded. 

“Spose it’ss too late t’ ask, you di’n’t poison me right?”

Steve sets the glass aside since it seems like Eddie is done drinking. “No Munson, I’m not that jealous of you stealing my kids yet.”

“Nooo, not jel’uss. Kids luv you.” His slurring started to get worse as the meds kicked in.

“We can debate that in the morning, for now let’s get you in a bed.” He takes the melty bag of peas and sets them aside before scooping Eddie up again. Getting up the stairs leaves Steve huffing a bit, Eddie is light but he isn’t weightless. He says as such and gets a bite to the shoulder for his trouble.

“...u callin’ me fat?” He pouts and weakly tries to squirm away.

“No Eddie you’re the prettiest princess at the ball I assure you. I will search the whole kingdom to find out who could ever fit into your scuffed up Docs.” Steve snorts but Eddie looks pleased as punch at Steve’s proclamation.

“Damn straight.” Eddie sighs tiredly, his head lolling against Steve’s shoulder. “Don’ wanna wake up.”

“Wake up from what Eddie?” He asks as he lays Eddie in the guest bed, he kneels down to tug off Eddie’s boots and set them aside. Talking to Eddie is like conversing with a sleep talker at this point.

“Dream, you bein’ niccce.”

“What would you like me to say in this dream of yours then? Before you wake up.” He asks, looking up at Eddie from where he’s kneeling in front or the other, hands gripping his shins to keep his balance. He’s not expecting Eddie to reach out and touch his cheek with icy fingers.

“Ssssuch a crussh on you…school.” 

Steve’s cheeks explode with color at that admission and he quickly stands up to lay Eddie down and tuck him in. Eddie is out as soon as he hits the pillow. Steve runs a hand through his hair and sighs as he watches Eddie Munson curl around his pillow in his sleep and let out a loud snore.

Shaking his head he leaves the door cracked open and heads back downstairs to clean up and watch some tv before bed.

Pt 4

#stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steve x eddie #dustin henderson #will byers #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #gareth emerson #jeff stranger things #stranger things unnamed freak #corroded coffin #sickfic #emt!steve #steddiefic chronicles

[piratefishmama]

Fake it till you make it | Part 10

Eddie declined the invitation to stay for dinner that evening, politely of course, and genuinely solemn in his refusal. He would have actually liked to stay, the Harringtons weren’t… bad. They weren’t bad. As baffling as that notion was, they weren’t bad, but Eddie had dinner with Wayne every night. It was part of their routine, had been since his freshman year of Highschool and continued to be even now when they could see each other a lot more now that he wasn’t in Highschool anymore.

It'd always been the only time during the day where he’d be able to see Wayne before he went to work. A time where they could catch up, Wayne could ask him about school, now it was about the band, or if he’d had any luck finding an actual job, or if he’d heard any new gossip.

Wayne loved a bit of gossip. Quiet as he may have been, he soaked up gossip like a sponge because nobody ever expected him to be actually listening to the conversations they had around him.

What the Harringtons were actually like, he’d be on the edge of his seat waiting for that bit of juice. Metaphorically of course, Wayne was always the picture of calm indifference whenever he asked about the gossip, like it wasn’t deep down his life blood.

They had pretty solid excuses to not see each other for the rest of that week though.

Eddie had band practice, Steve had work, they’d ‘see each other’ in between where the parents couldn’t see and the only phone call that needed to happen between meet the parents day, and the day they left, was the night before to arrange the time when he ought to arrive back at the house with Uncle Wayne in tow.

It was… heaven, actually.

In Steve’s case anyway, that week, leading up to the week away? Bliss. Complete and utter bliss.

His parents were happy with him, they weren’t trying to introduce him to anyone, weren’t bothering him, sure they asked a couple of times if Eddie would be coming by, offering an open invite for dinner again, but they didn’t mind when Steve gave them the same excuse of he’s having dinner with Wayne!

The only issue he had was Robin and her teasing little “you made out with Eddie Munson” sing song she brought out at random while working together midway through the week, and no amount of “it was PRACTICE” would shut her up.

“I just can’t believe it!” She’d said while they were stocking shelves “you, Steve Harrington, Keg King, ruler of the jocks—”

“Ex, Robin, ex-king, pretty sure I haven’t been king of anything in years now” he’d shed that title. Let it fly free to land on a douchebag who wanted it more.

“Okay but still, lord of the jocks, with Eddie. King of the nerds.”

“And why is that so weird?” Why was she acting as if it were actually real? As if she hadn’t been there when Dustin had suggested the faux relationship.

“I didn’t think he’d be your type!”

“He’s not” the only real issue he had, was that maybe that wasn’t actually… completely, strictly... true, as he was rapidly beginning to realise.

And Robin knew it, if her scoffed little “ch’yeah OK, an I’m not a lesbian.” Was anything to go by. She let it go though.

She let it go because the chime above the door rang alerting them to customers, and their day continued on as normal.

Their week continued on as normal, with a brief appearance of the kids on the Thursday evening to try and sneak an R rated movie by him for a sleepover at the Wheeler’s but they didn’t get very far.

They took the Goonies despite Dustin’s very loud complaints about having seen it five times already and that he wasn’t going to do the truffle shuffle again, so don’t anyone ask him to do it, only to immediately lose all the wind in his very serious sails when Jane mentioned she’d yet to see him do it.

Friday was uneventful save for the phone call with Eddie the night before.

And then It was Saturday, and he was watching an old pick up pull up to a stop out front, watching Wayne Munson, in his well-worn jeans covered in dust, work boots, and flannel climb out of the truck. He may have been up all night working, but he was awake, alert, and he even grabbed Eddie’s bags out of the truck for him while Eddie sorted out his carryables.

A gym bag that’d never been used for gym full of… well, Steve didn’t know but it looked heavy, and a guitar case that looked fit for an acoustic rather than the beauty hung over the mirror in Eddie’s bedroom.

Steve rose to his feet and poked his head back through the front door to yell “The Munsons are here!” Before making his way down the drive to greet them halfway, taking Eddie’s suitcase from Wayne to put it by the door with the rest of their things with a friendly “morning, sir! How was your shift last night?”

“Exhaustin, an boy I told you over the phone, it’s just Wayne.”

“I know I just… have this, memory issue, bopped on the head a couple’a times, so you’re just gonna have to keep reminding me.” It earned a chuckle from the man and a gentle pat to his shoulder, and then Eddie was there, a bundle of energy dressed in a band tee with the sleeves chopped off and ripped black jeans, a buffalo check flannel wrapped and tied around his slim waist to complete ‘the look’. His hair wild and free as usual. “Eddie, you uh… you clean up nice…”

The smile was replaced with a look of surprise, Eddie doing a quick once over of himself as if he hadn’t actually— “I do? I didn’t—well I wasn’t trying to I mean—” tried to look good. He just naturally looked good. Of course, he just naturally looked good, the bastard.

“Guess it’s just a you thing then. Looking good I mean.” So smooth, but it worked. Eddie actually looked frozen in place, like a wire had just decided enough was enough and shorted out. It recovered quickly enough though, allowing Eddie to cutely hide behind his own hair, cheeks a pretty pink, dimpled by his bashful smile.

“Guess games on then huh, boys?” Wayne spoke through an amused chuckle, before turning his attention to the two adults who appeared in the doorway, both in… surprisingly relaxed attire.

When Wayne pictured the Harringtons, and he had once or twice when he’d overheard them being mentioned in town, he’d always kind of pictured two highly manicured people, pencil skirts, blazers, pressed slacks, polo shirts and pastel colours. Nothing old, nothing well worn, everything looking like it’d only just come off the rack and dry clean only.

Lynda however, in her red house socks, soft, dark brown, woollen skirt resting just below her knees, and baby-pink sweater tucked into her skirt, looked comfortable. And John was wearing something Wayne probably would have worn himself! Jeans and a simple dark blue button down shirt.

The only ‘manicured’ thing about them was that John was clean shaven, and Lynda’s honey brown hair looked freshly blown out. She wasn’t even wearing makeup, he felt like he’d stepped into some alternate reality where rich people were normal folk. “Mr Munson” John greeted as he stepped out of the house, hand extended which Wayne took to give a firm shake then released. “I see our boys are in a world of their own.” Wayne turned back to them as if to check and yep, they’d begun loading Eddie’s things into the Lincoln… slowly. Matching smiles on their faces as they talked about… god only knows what.

Damn scheme would make idiots out of the both of them. “Seems like.”

“Why don’t you come on inside and have a coffee, let the boys load everything up.” Well, he wasn’t going to turn down whatever fancy shit the Harringtons had in their cupboards, was he?

“Don’t mind if I do, might wake me up some.” And he was inside. The damn hallway looked bigger than his whole trailer for a moment. But no, it couldn’t be, it was just… long, and felt emptier without knick-knacks or pictures lining the walls. It was clean though, not even a hint of dust. “So… Steve lives here on his own while you two are away?”

“It wasn’t ideal” Lynda admitted softly “but Steven had to finish school so we couldn’t take him with us, and well, after that he was old enough to take care of himself. We keep in touch the best we can” calls were occasional, and they dropped in from time to time, but Steve was an adult now. It wasn’t like he was still a child.

He could probably move out if he wanted to. It wasn’t like he didn’t have access to the trust fund yet. It was his! He just hadn’t touched it yet, worked for his money, was clearly saving the fund for something more important.

“And the boys…” Wayne began once they reached the kitchen, a room full of mahogany and marble, John already there setting the coffee maker, everything pristine. Steve kept the whole place spotless, all on his own. Could be as supportive as they wanted, there was no excuse for leaving that boy all on his own for so damn long. “You don’t mind them bein… themselves around you? Now I've walked in on them up to all kinds'a nonsense, in a total world'a their own. They’re kinda touchy an they ain’t about to be like some bashful damsels actin shy with each other, they’re both men, an you supportin that means they’ll assume it’s okay to be who they are around you.”

Even though Wayne knew they weren’t actually a couple, he saw them, he saw their chemistry, he saw how Steve looked at his nephew, and he knew, he knew Eddie had had his fair share of mole related crisis’s over the years being in Steve’s vicinity in school.

There was no way they’d come out of this cleanly. Either of them. No drawn out fake date scheme ever ended cleanly.

“Boys will be boys.” Lynda chirped as if she wasnt even the slightest bit surprised, huh. “The chalet is quite large, Mr. Munson—”

“Wayne, please, ma’am.”

“Then, Lynda, if you please, Wayne” he gave her a curt nod “as I was saying, the chalet is large, there’s plenty of places for them to hide away, and I know Steven knows all of them. We used to play hide and seek when he was little, we almost had the police out searching for him once or twice, so I know he knows where to go if he wants a little privacy. We don’t expect them to be… chaste, our son is—” she paused, then looked to John with a slight scrunch in her nose.

“A slut.” Wayne was glad he wasn’t drinking anything yet because it’d have been all over the floor as he choked on his own saliva. John so nonchalant with how he said it. “We were all young once, Wayne and he’s no innocent child. Now I don’t know Eddie, but if I know my son…” and he liked to think he did, at least a little. “With what I saw the other day... i'm not surprised that they've already rounded a few bases.” A fair assessment. Their chemistry was off the charts. “How’d you take your coffee, Wayne?”

“And that ain’t an issue to you? Just black’s fine.” He was handed a mug filled with black coffee, clean, black porcelain, plain. Nothing fun about it. He still kind of wanted to take it home to add to the collection, the rare ‘expensive house, rich family’ mug.

“Not really no. As long as they're staying safe. The world is changing outside of Hawkins, and when you own a business you either change with it or get left behind.” A solid business stance, Wayne couldn’t argue with that but… if it was just for business then—

Lynda placed a hand on her husbands’ arm, offering a warm smile that reminded him a lot of Steve, that boy got a lot of his softness from his mother it seemed. “Eddie is delightful, a little quirky, looks a little different to the people we usually find in our home, but… if he can make our son look that happy just by being here, well… even if we wanted to stand in the way of it, which we don’t… I don’t believe we could. Steven is an adult now, and we can either support him in his decisions, or lose him.” Those were the options. Support him, or Steve would inevitably find his own way. “We may not be around as often as we’d like, we may have missed a lot of him growing up… but we would still rather support him than lose him. People like them… they deserve to be happy too, don’t you think?”

Wayne took a sip of his coffee, damn near groaned at the rich taste of quality grounds, both in love of the taste, and in mourning of what he'd only have once, but nodded his head in agreement. Approval. “Couldn’t have said it better myself. The peace an quiet at the trailer’s gonna be real strange.” He was giving his go ahead. “But… I suppose I can let him go on ahead with you.”

Eddie could go and he wouldn’t stop him. Although the chief would know where Eddie was, just in case he mysteriously disappeared, as terrifying as that thought was. As sobering and... mind changing, as that thought was.

No, Eddie would be fine. He'd be okay.

“Wonderful!” Lynda cheered, as if Eddie really was welcome among them. “So… has Eddie ever been on a plane before?”

Part 12

#PirateWrites #FakeItTillYouMakeItFiclet #Steddie #No Upside Down AU #Fake Dating AU #yeah aint no rich person road tripping to canada from indiana #absolutely not

[juiceicicles]

Mean and Scary | Chapter 1: King of Hawkins High

AO3 Link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48053206/chapters/121165750

Pts: 1, 2, 3

As he traipses through the woods, Eddie tries to get a bearing on what is about to happen and what his plan is for when it inevitably goes sideways.

Dealing pot to Hawkins Royalty like King Steve isn’t entirely out of the ordinary, but doing it alone at a picnic table in the middle of the isolated woods? Yeah, not Eddie’s smartest decision for a meeting place.

In his defense, he’s only a hop skip and a jump away from the high school, and he couldn’t be assed to drive any further for what’s likely going to be a one time payment of $20. $25, if he overcharges Steve (which, he absolutely plans to do.)

Eddie finally gets to the clearing and Steve jumps when he notices him, finally looking away from a tree he was seemingly having a very intense staring match with.

“Whoa, hey, hey, hey! Sorry,” Eddie chuckles a bit awkwardly, trying his best to subconsciously communicate that he is not a threat, because he really doesn’t wanna get his lights punched out right now “Didn't mean to scare you.”

Eddie sits down and his metal lunchbox clatters onto the table —Steve flinches again. Boy, Harrington is jumpy— and sits across from him. He opens up his Pail-o’-Drugs and watches as Steve drums his fingers on the table.

“There's, uh... There's nothing to worry about. Okay? No one ever comes out here. We're safe. I promise.” Eddie honestly didn’t expect Steve Harrington to be worried about being caught, considering that Steve apparently used to hold daily house parties.

He still can’t believe it. King Steve goddamn Harrington sitting there, in all his douchey glory. Or at least, that’s what Eddie expected. Instead he sort looks exhausted. His eyes keep flitting around, and he looks like he just saw a ghost.

You see, Harrington was never a dick to Eddie, specifically. However, he sure as hell didn’t treat the freaks of Hawkins High with any sort of sympathy. Hence Eddie’s original plan to act like the biggest asshole he possibly could without scaring off a rich customer. But something about Harrington’s eyes, a sort of dull terror etched into the hazel brown, is making Eddie reconsider that decision.

“So, how does this work, exactly?” Steve sort of mutters. This is so utterly different from everything Eddie heard about him. Steve always roamed the halls with a sick sort of ironclad confidence, with his two jackals Tommy and Carol following his every beck and call. The boy across from Eddie though? He seems so haunted. Like a flickering projection of someone. A puppet with its strings cut.

“Uhh just like any other old sale, except cash only, and for obvious reasons, no receipts,” he gives Harrington what he hopes is a reassuring smile, “I'll do you a half ounce for, uh... 20. What do you say? Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.”

A squirrel skitters up a tree in the background, and Harrington gasps quietly and whips around to track it. And then, finally, it clicks for Eddie.

Steve’s worried about being seen with Eddie the Freak Munson. Figures. He shouldn’t have expected anything less from King Steve.

“Hey, we don’t need to do this. Just give me the word, and I’ll walk away.”

“It’s not that, I don’t want you to go.” Steve starts, tentatively. He’s still looking around, like somethings about to pop out of the woods. “It’s just…Do you ever feel like you’re loosing your mind?”

And, of course Eddie feels like he’s lost his marbles. He’s a super senior with the nickname the Freak. Obviously he sometimes feels a little crazy. He’s a little surprised that notorious cool guy Steve Harrington feels that way, though.

He makes the decision right then and there to see this out, because even if Harrington’s afraid of being caught, there’s something here that Eddie’s missing.

“You know on a daily basis. I feel like I’m loosing my mind right now,” screw it, might as well be honest, go big or go home right? “doing a drug deal with Steve Harrington, former king of Hawkins High.”

“Ah, well, I haven’t been king for a while…” Steve trails off.

Eddie remembers Billy Hargrove. Remembers how he made him want to beg every god there was for Steve to steal back the crown. Billy Hargrove was mean to Eddie. He was mean to everyone. And he wasn’t highschool-mean either, he was Larry Munson mean. He was a jackass who wasn’t afraid of anyone and wanted you to know it.

Unprompted, Eddie remembers the first time he met Steve. Before he was Hawkins Royalty, before he was a jock and a bully, before Eddie was the freak and not just a freak. Eddie had just gotten to Hawkins, his old man had been put away and the US government dropped lil’ Eddie on Wayne’s doorstep. He’d met some friends and formed a shitty garage band. They’d played at the middle school talent show, and Eddie had lost his guitar pick. A boy about his age had given it back, told him his name was Steve and he had found it underneath his chair in the seats.

“You know, this isn't the first time that we've, um... Hung out.”

“No?”

Eddie lets out a little chuckle. Of course Steve wouldn’t remember. “It’s alright.”

He clutches at his heart like he’s been shot with an arrow and flings himself off the bench and into a pile of leaves behind him. He hears Steve let out a little gasp before he hops back up.

“I wouldn’t remember me either, Harrington!”

Steve looks a little amused, and Eddie catches a light brown blob in his peripheral vision. He combs his fingers through his hair and dislodges a dead leaf.

“Honestly, do I have stuff in my hair?”

Steve lets out a little chuckle as Eddie starts to gets into his story. If there’s one thing Eddie Munson is good at, it’s story telling.

“Middle school, talent show. Carol I think did this cheer thing? You know the thing the,” Eddie mimed some pom poms. Steve was smiling a little bit, so Eddie continued his spiel, “and I- I was with my band.”

Suddenly Steve pipes up “Corroded Coffin! Oh my god!”

Eddie’s bewildered that Steve apparently remembered their weird prepubescent metal show. He claps his hands excitedly and points to Steve. “You do remember!”

“Yes, of course! With a name like that, how could I forget?”

“I dunno. You’re a freak.” Eddie’s pretty pleased with himself when his lack of brain-to-mouth filer apparently doesn’t offend Steve. In fact, Steve breaks out a smile. It’s less Harrington Charm then Eddie expected, more of a dorky toothy grin.

“No you just- you looked so-“

“Different? Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, my hair was buzzed, and I didn't have these sweet old tatties yet.”

“You played guitar right?”

“Uh-huh. Still do. Still do.” And since Eddie is an impulsive mess and isn’t totally hating this interaction, he does something that totally spits in the face of the tried and true Munson doctrine and invites a preppy jock to a metal concert, “You should come see us. Uh, we play at the Hideout on Tuesdays. It’s pretty cool. We- we actually get a crowd of about five…drunks.”

Steve laughs a bit and clamps a hand over his mouth, like he’s a bit startled by the noise. Eddie doesn’t blame him, he’s a bit caught off guard too.

“It’s not exactly the Garden, but, you gotta start somewhere, right?”

Steve looks at Eddie with a considering gaze for a moment, like he’s trying to figure Eddie out.

“You know, you’re not what I thought you’d be.”

“What, a total freak?”

“No, no. Honestly? I thought you’d be mean. And scary.”

“Me? Steve Harrington thought I’d be scary?”

“Yeah! You’ve got this whole, I dunno, chains and leather vibe. Thought you wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

“Yeah, well, I thought you’d be mean and scary too.”

“Yeah?”

“Terrifying.” Eddie’s hit with the sudden realization that he’s completely forgot about the drug deal he came here for and plops himself back down at the picnic table. “Uh, so, in other good news, flattery works with me, so... Twenty-five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You're robbing me blind here, you know.”

“…do you have anything maybe stronger?”

#Steve Harrington as Chrissy Cunningham #steddie #Steve Harrington #steve gets vecna’d #eddie munson #the picnic table scene #the drug deal scene #idk what’re we calling it #lemme know if you like this #I might write more actually! #steddie ficlet #steddie fic #steve harrington fic #eddie munson fic #stranger things 4 #stranger things volume 4 #steve x eddie #stranger things fanfiction #Ao3 version available #it’s linked in a reblog #Mean and Scary #< for some reason that tag won’t work on this post

[strangersteddierthings]

Porcelain Steve - Part 8

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six🦇Part Seven🦇Part Eight🦇Part Nine

Eddie hears the commotion in the living room, and it takes everything left in him to move away from the door. He just crawls himself forward and onto a pile of nearby clothes because he knows he'll be out of the way there when they open his door.

He knows he should open the door and go out there. Wayne's still out there, confused and concerned, and he needs to call Jeff. He can't just not show up. Yet he remains on the ground, cross-legged this time, face hidden in his hands.

Steve is broken. Because Eddie broke him.

He's been so afraid that something would happen to Steve if he wasn't around but given the track record of Eddie's life, he feels like such an idiot for not realizing the biggest threat to Steve and his safety is Eddie himself.

The commotion beyond his door gets louder, bursting open, and then Robin and Dustin are falling through it, stumbling over each other in their haste to get into Eddie's room. Wordlessly, Eddie points to where he abandoned Steve on the floor, knows that they're here for him.

He's a bit startled when the two finally untangle themselves and Dustin goes to Steve but Robin drops herself onto his dirty laundry, all but draping herself over him in a hug. His body moves on its own, wrapping around Robin and all but pulling her into his lap in a bear hug. He's not crying, too numb for that now, but he does shove his face into the side of her neck and let out a dry, sobbing noise as she coos softly.

"Shhhh. We're here. We've got Steve and we've got you," Robin's voice is wet. She's crying, too, silently but tears are definitely falling because one lands directly in his ear.

He feels detached from himself after that. He's aware of things going on around him but doesn't feel sentient. Robin pulls back from him slowly, she says something as she stands up but Eddie's too busy watching Dustin ever so gently pick up Steve's pinky finger and then Steve. He thinks the smile Dustin gives him is supposed to be reassuring but it's mostly just sad.

Eddie's head followed Dustin as he heads out the door and down the hall, at which point he starts to track Robin as she's coming back down the hall, dragging Wayne behind her.

"Can you stand up, Eddie?" she asks, and Eddie feels like he's watching himself shake his head no more than he feels like he's actually doing it.

"That's alright," Wayne says, as he pats one of Robin's shoulders before moving around her. "I'm not so old as to not be able to get down there. I still don't understand what's goin' on, Eddie, but I'm here."

Wayne joins him on the floor, sitting beside him so he can fling an arm around Eddie's shoulders and tuck him into his side. Robin flops down on his other side, once again draping herself across Eddie like a weighted blanket. It's all very grounding, and a little bit jarring, and that's probably what makes Eddie come back to himself sooner than he would have if he were alone in his room.

"You should be with Steve," is what Eddie decides on saying when words return, turning his head to look at Robin.

"Nah."

"He'd want you-"

"No, he wouldn't. I'm Steve's soulmate and I know him better than anyone else in the world. Which mean you don't get to tell me what Steve would want, because I know what Steve would want. And that's me, here, making sure you're okay first."

"What's happened with Steve?" Wayne asks, and Eddie stiffens. Robin starts rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"It's a long story, Mr. Munson. But I promise we'll fill you in once the crisis has passed."

"Is this related to whatever happened last year durin' the supposed earthquake that y'all can't talk about?"

"Well, I couldn't say either way, since we can't talk about it."

"Right. Get one o' the kids to tell me, then. Whatever they signed ain't legal anyhow."

Robin shoots Eddie a look, like she's trying to figure out if Eddie broke his NDA and told his uncle everything. He gives a quick shake of his head, and then Robin looks to Wayne. "I'm certain Dustin would be thrilled to fill you in, then. Now, Eddie, can you tell me what happened?"

He looks down the hall. He can see people crowded into the trailer's tiny living room but none of them look like any member of the Byers-Hopper household. "Uhh, yeah, but where's El?"

"They're in Indy, some family day thing. But don't worry, we went out to the Cerebro and were able to get El on the Walkie, so they're on the way back."

"You went- how long have I been just... sitting in here," Eddie is mostly talking to himself because it hasn't felt like enough time has passed for them to have made it to pick everyone up, get to Weathertop, communicate with El, and come here.

"Well, Nancy called me-" she cuts off, grabbing Eddie's arm and twisting it around so she can read the time on his watch, "-about an hour and a half ago. So, I guess you've been here that long."

Eddie untwists his arm, shaking her off. "You are being scarily calm right now, Queen of Catastrophizing."

"I already had an hour and a half to freak out. You think I need more?" Robin says as she stands up.

"I guess not," Eddie follows after her.

"Hey, help your old man up," Wayne grumbles, hand out for Eddie to grasp and help pull.

They go down the hall and now Eddie can see the full collective of people in his living room. Nancy, Mike, Lucas, Erica, Max, and Dustin, who is still holding Steve. It settles something inside Eddie, that the group he sees before him is the same one that fought tooth and nail to clear his name and keep him alive.

"So, we're all really sure that we can't just glue it back on?" Mike is asking when Eddie, Robin, and Wayne make it to the living room.

"We aren't sure about anything, Mike," Nancy replies, the frustration in her voice clear.

Everyone stops talking, though, as Wayne gives Eddie a thump on his back and wades through the crowd to get back to his chair. "Well, don't stop on my account. If I hear somethin', no I didn't."

That gets a snort of a laugh from Dustin.

Nancy looks like she wants to argue but doesn't. Instead, she wheels on Eddie, full journalism mode seemingly on, "what happened?"

Eddie swallows thickly before answering, "I dropped him. I-I pick him up and something pinched my palm. It surprised me, or something, and I just- I just let go. He landed on his left side before falling onto his back."

Nancy nods, brain processing much faster than Eddie right now, "And the crack appeared before or after you dropped him?"

He tries to remember, "I don't- I think so?"

"You think or you know?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know, Wheeler," Eddie says it more harshly than needed but he doesn't know! He doesn't remember because he didn't even look at Steve for longer than a second or two after Jeff saw him. "I've been having a mental breakdown kind of all day so no, I don't know! All I know is it's my fault because there wasn't a crack this morning, and now he's missing a finger-"

She's not even effected by his outburst, "Eddie! I'm not blaming you! I'm asking for the details because if you didn't do anything to cause the crack, then maybe that's just Steve, breaking the curse or something."

His anger drains from him almost as quickly as it built. "What?"

"I've been reading a lot, researching you know. About magical transformations. But there's not a lot of nonfiction on the subject. Ergo, I've been reading a lot of fairy tales."

"Which isn't really good for research-" Dustin starts, but Nancy just talks over him.

"My point is that, if you didn't do anything to cause the crack, maybe it just happened naturally. Supernaturally? Whatever, maybe it's a sign of whatever curse is on Steve is fading on it's own. That's why I wanted to know," she shifts from one foot to another now before adding, "I'm sorry about your day. I might have broached the subject differently had I known."

"No, you wouldn't have, but that's why I like you, Wheeler. You're a no-nonsense gal and I appreciate that," Eddie says.

Nancy gives him a small, almost shy, smile in return and the room falls into a silence that just this side of uncomfortable.

"Alright, Dustin, since the talkin' seems to be done, you wanna fill an old man in on what the hell's been goin' on around here for the last few years?" Wayne breaks the silence and Eddie barks out a laugh at the look on everyone's faces.

"Uhh, we don't-I don't know what you are talking about," is Dustin's eloquent answer.

Wayne nods and Eddie knows his uncle well enough to recognize the look on his face and in his eyes. Wayne switches tactics, then, and says, "You got any one older than twenty-five that knows what's happenin'?"

The group exchanges looks before Dustin says, "yes."

"Alright. They comin' here?"

"Yes."

"I can wait, then. Anyone hungry? Thirsty?" Wayne asks, and then without waiting for an answer, looks to Eddie and says, "Eddie, get to makin' some sandwiches. What kinda host are you?" Wayne is shaking his head like he can't believe Eddie's audacity.

Eddie sputters out some indignant response, even as he turns to round the corner cabinet to officially be in the kitchen. His first choice is peanut butter and jelly, but when he gets the peanut butter out, he can see there's probably enough for two sandwiches, three if it's a thin layer of peanut butter. Opening the fridge shows a sad amount of lunch meat; the cupboard has two tuna fish cans.

"Guess we're making several different sandwiches," Robin's voice so close to his back makes him jump, which earns a chorus of chuckles from the peanut gallery in the living room.

"Someone needs to get you a bell," Eddie mutters. "Get to work on the PB and J's. I'll get this tuna mixed."

They work in silence, making three different types of sandwiches. Wayne knew they didn't have enough of any one thing to make enough for everyone here, and the ones who will be showing up eventually, but he told Eddie to do it anyway. Asked, but didn't wait for an answer. Wayne's making busy work for him, he realizes. A distraction from what he's done. He's not sure if he should be thankful for that or not.

The only thing separating the kitchen from where everyone is seated in the living room is a counter and cupboards, so when the sandwiches are done, Eddie just shoved them across the counter. "Sandwiches are done."

It's not exactly a rush for the sandwiches on the other side of the counter but everyone does gather to grab one. There's not even an argument about wanting a specific one, except Max, who is offered all three kinds and when she says PB&J, Mike hands over the one he grabbed without hesitation. It's the most mature thing Eddie's seen him do, if only because every other time he does something mature he complains about it, which kind of ruins the 'mature' part.

It's about three minutes into eating that the trailer's front door bursts open and at first no one is there, like a gust of wind had blown it open, but then El comes barreling in and Hopper can be heard shouting something about knocking first.

"Where is he?" El demands.

"Here," Dustin is already holding Steve out to her. She doesn't even approach Dustin, just pulls Steve to her using her mind, grabbing him out of the air with one hand. She examines him quickly, finding the crack. She trails one of her fingers along the crack to where his pinky is missing. Dustin adds, "Do you want his finger, too?"

She shakes her head and turns to Eddie next, and he doesn't even feel the bandana leave his pocket, but he does watch it fly across the space between them. She moves over to sit in front of the TV, Steve in her lap as she's folding the bandana into a blindfold.

"TV," is her final demand as her eyes vanish behind cloth and she's trying off the bandana. Mike moves instantly to the TV, clicking it on to fill the room with static.

Wayne, to his credit, has only the tiniest hint of an eyebrow raised from watching things move about the room seemingly by nothing. El hadn't even stopped to consider someone not In The Know was here. Guess he's In The Know now.

Will, Jonathan, Argyle, Joyce, and Hopper have made it into the trailer, closing the door silently behind them. Hopper finds Wayne among the crowd of kids, eyes going wide, while Wayne just lifts his sandwich in a salute before taking a big bite out of it.

"Steve, I cannot hear you. I do not think you can hear me in your mind. Nod if you hear me now." El's voice breaks the tense silence that had fallen.

Of shit, what did Eddie do?

"Oh, good. Are you okay?" A pause. "He is nodding. Do you know what happened? He is shaking his head. Do you know why you are far away now? Shaking his head again. You can still hear. Can you still see? He is nodding. Steve, there is a crack on your arm-"

"His left arm," Mike interjectes.

"Yes, your left arm. Yes. You are missing a finger on that hand. Do you think that is what is causing the distance? He is shrugging. Do not worry, we will figure this out. I am going to go now."

El pulls off the bandana and uses it to wipe the blood from her nose before setting it on the living room floor. "I cannot get as close to him as I could before. He stays far away no matter how close I walk. But he is okay."

He's okay. Steve's okay. Fucking Christ, Eddie's going to throw up. A couple people call his name as he dashes down the hall. He crashes through the bathroom door and knows he doesn't have time to close it, so everyone gets to hear him lose his sandwich into the toilet bowl. On the third heave of his stomach, cool hands touch his head, gather his hair up and away from his face. He doesn't even have it in him to flinch or jump. "Thanks."

"I'd say anytime, dingbat, but I don't really want to hold your puke hair too many more times. You get, like, two more, tops," Robin says.

"I can't go back out there, Robin," he whispers, "I did this. I cracked him, broke his finger off and now El can't even hear him. I can't- he's gotta go with someone else. I can't-"

"I know. Dustin already asked if you'd be upset if Steve went home with him. I'll let him know you understand he needs to be around Steve right now."

"Why aren't you mad at me?"

"Dingbat. Eddie. You're mad enough at yourself for all of us," she says, reaching over and flushing the toilet. Eddie feels like there's more throwing up to do but he is glad to have the smell of vomit reduced with the flush. He sits up a bit more, so his hair won't fall into his face when Robin lets go. Robin lets go long enough to search the bathroom cabinets for a hair tie, pushing it into Eddie's hands. "Hair up."

"So demanding," Eddie mumbles even as he gathers his hair into the tie.

"Once you're done ralphing just go to bed. I'll get everyone out of your house."

Eddie nods and Robin leaves, clicking the door closed. He heaves a few more times before his body is done. On shaking legs, he makes his way to his room. He feels like he's floating above himself again. He doesn't know if everyone has left yet, or if he hears nothing because he's too out of it.

He tucks himself in and dozes. He wakes up three times; once, when his uncle comes in and puts the walkie near him on the bed, the second time in the evening when Robin wriggles into his bed and forces herself into his arms with a simple I usually hold Steve when I'm feeling bad, but I suppose you holding me will have to do and the final time, almost at midnight, when the walkie goes off.

"Anyone up?" says the disembodied voice of Dustin Henderson.

Eddie's not sure how the quiet voice woke him up, but it does. He reaches over Robin, who has starfished out of his arms in their sleep, to grab the walkie. He doesn't know if he should answer, so he holds out for someone else.

"Hello?" Dustin asks again.

No one answers. So, finally, Eddie does. "I'm here, Henderson. Bad dream?"

"I'm glad it's you, Eddie," Dustin says, something soft in his voice.

"Why?"

"'Cause I wanted to talk to you," says a new voice, a familiar voice.

"Steve?" Eddie whispers, even as his free hand is violently shaking Robin awake.

Robin mumbles something incoherent, head turning to Eddie as the voice on the walkie says, "Yeah, it's me."

#steddie #my fic #porcelain steve #let me tell you‚ the decision to go with this ending for this part was HARD #i had to flip a coin about it because i couldnt pick #almost done now!! #I think only 1 more part then ill do a post about what didnt make it into the story

[steddieas-shegoes]

so for the prompt thingy... i have several and you can pick any, all, or none of them! 1. Steve and Eddie getting one over Murray when he's being all you two are pining ect. 2. Uncle Wayne - anything where Wayne accepts Steve immediately and tries to get him and Eddie married. 3. Werewolf den mother steve being seduced to be eddie's mate 4. Hopper as Steve's father figure accepting Eddie immediately because he isn't a wheeler.

I have so many cause i have ideas but can't write for crap... So thank you for being so open about writing! It's really nice to know it isn't a bother to ask...

THIS WAS SO EXCITING!!!! I did end up combining 1 and 4 into one. Also, I didn't IGNORE 3, but I got another request that is somewhat related and I think I am going to work on this when I work on that, but I didn't want you to wait longer for these other ones. I hope you love these! - Mickala ❤️

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PROMPT 1 AND 4

Murray clocked Eddie within literal seconds. That wasn’t surprising according to everyone who dealt with him before.

What was surprising was that he didn’t immediately call him out. Maybe he actually respected that some people’s secrets should stay secrets.

Or maybe he was just waiting until he figured Steve out, too.

Which apparently happened on a random Saturday at the Byers’ home.

But the thing is. The thing is that Eddie had clocked Steve within seconds, too.

So when the dust settled after Vecna, and Steve pulled Eddie from Hell, and he finally got his true love’s kiss (according to Robin), it took them about six hours before they were making out in Eddie’s hospital bed and calling each other boyfriends.

But only a handful of people were in on it, mostly to protect themselves, but also because they liked just having this for them. Too much of their lives had been out of their control, and they liked being able to have control over this one thing.

Until Murray.

They weren’t even next to each other when it happened.

Steve was helping Hopper at the grill, even though he’d been hopelessly terrible at grilling anytime he attempted it at pool parties with the kids. Eddie was pretty sure it was just to spend time with Hopper.

Eddie was with Will and Lucas, planning out a campaign that Will would DM for all of them, not even looking at Steve.

Okay, maybe he kept glancing over there occasionally, but that was just to make sure that he wasn’t catching anything on fire.

But they were always careful around everyone, and the fleeting glances he gave weren’t abnormal for him. He would do a visual checklist in his mind anytime they were all together, keeping count of everyone in his head the way Steve often did if they were all out somewhere.

“So you’re in love with Steve.”

Eddie jumped at Murray’s voice. He hadn’t even realized he was here.

Will and Lucas were staring, though Will didn’t look surprised at all. If Dustin blabbed…

“Don’t worry, nobody said anything.”

“Uh.”

“And I won’t say anything to anyone else.”

“O…kay?”

“Especially not Steve.”

Wait.

Murray didn’t know they were together, he just thought Eddie was pining.

Oh, this would be fun.

Eddie fought off a smirk, choosing to appear more worried.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Will, somehow, seemed to catch on to everything at once. Maybe his suspicions about Will were right, or maybe Will had just learned to be perceptive about things like this. Either way, he was hoping Will would play along.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Murray said with an annoying hand wave. “I don’t care about you being gay. I’ve had plenty of relations with men in my day.”

Gross, but okay. At least there’s that.

“The problem here is that Steve is so very straight.”

Oh my God, Murray was so wrong.

He shoved down the glee he felt at knowing Murray was wrong about two things.

“And so obviously still in love with Nancy. Poor guy doesn’t know how to call it quits on something that was never good for him. Gotta hand it to him, when he falls, he’s committed.”

Well, some of that was true, but he wouldn’t give Murray the excitement of being right about that.

“How long have you had these feelings? Oh wait, let me guess.” Murray pretended to think for a moment before he smirked. “Since high school when he was the King of the school and you were nobody just trying to survive your second senior year.”

It was longer than that, but he wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction from this conversation.

“You know, Steve would be fine with you coming out to him. I’m sure he’d even play wingman for you if you ask nicely.”

The plan forming in Eddie’s head was going to be so fun.

“You’re right. He’s changed a lot since high school and we’re friends now. I should tell him.”

Will’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

“The sooner the better. Keeping these secrets is mentally exhausting. I keep a lot of secrets for people.”

Hard to believe considering most of what came out of Murray’s mouth was something about someone else that they probably wouldn’t want other people to know.

“I’ll go tell him now.”

Eddie got up, ignoring Murray’s protests about this being a family function and isn’t responsible for if things go south.

“Hey Steve, can we talk for a second?” Eddie said loud enough for Murray to hear from across the yard.

Steve was busy flipping a burger as Hopper watched closely.

“Uh, sure. Everything okay?”

“I need you to go along with this,” he whispered. “Today’s the day.”

“Today? Right now?”

“If you’re okay with it.”

They’d discussed it recently; Coming out was something they had to do eventually, especially with how often they were almost caught kissing in the kitchen or holding hands during movie night.

As nice as it was having this for themselves, they knew they had to say something before everyone caught on and felt blindsided by it. Just having Dustin and Max knowing was a risk.

Plus, they wanted to be able to hold hands over the blanket for movie nights, not under.

“Okay.”

Hopper was watching them suspiciously, not interrupting, but clearly wanting to.

“What did you wanna talk about?”

“So you know how everyone thinks I’m into men?”

“I’ve heard the rumors.”

Steve was so good at going along with Eddie’s dramatics. God, he loved him so much.

“They aren’t just rumors. I do like men. Actually, I’ve only ever liked one girl and I was 11, so I think it’s fair to say my judgment could have been off.”

Steve smiled fondly at him, holding back a laugh as he remembered that story from the one time Eddie went to summer camp.

“So I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I also like men.”

“Oh?”

Eddie looked at Murray out of the corner of his eye, smirking at the way he was muttering to himself, disbelief written across his features.

“Yeah, one man in particular.”

“Have I met him? Is he hot?”

“You have and he’s known for fishing for compliments. He knows he’s hot,” Steve raised his eyebrow at him as he turned to take the burgers off the grill and put them on a plate Hopper was wordlessly handing him.

“Excuse me for wanting to hear it out loud in front of all our family and friends.”

“Wait! You’re…are you…you can’t be…together?!”

Murray was outraged and Eddie couldn’t help the snort he let out as he wrapped an arm around Steve’s waist, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

Steve blushed, like he always did when Eddie showed him affection, but kept putting burgers on the plate.

Hopper was suddenly right in front of Eddie, eyes squinting at him, calculating.

“How long have you been with Steve?”

“Uh. Since March.”

“You’re boyfriends?”

“Yes, sir.”

Eddie never called Hopper sir. Not once in his entire drug dealing and getting away with it career, not once since he came back after Vecna.

But Steve had gotten really close to him when he came back, so he did respect him. And he knew that his opinion mattered to Steve.

“I think I owe you a little conversation then.”

Steve held up the spatula, pointing it between them.

“You two behave. I’m a grown man, Hop. I don’t need you to do what I think you’re gonna do.”

“Yeah, but you’re my kid, and this is what I do for all my kids.”

Steve dropped the spatula.

Eddie’s eyes widened.

He tried to send a silent message to everyone to give them a moment, maybe find something to keep their eyes and ears busy while Steve and Hopper talked for a minute, but everyone’s eyes remained on them.

Hopper sighed.

“Look, your parents suck. That’s not a secret to anyone here, especially not you or me.” Eddie tried not to let his mind wrap around how Hopper seemed to know more details than he did about Steve’s parents. “You’ve never had someone to watch out for you like a parent should. But you’ve got me now. And if I wanna give Eddie a bit of a shovel talk, you’re gonna let me. He’s better than a Wheeler.”

“Hey!” Mike yelled from where he was sitting between El and Dustin on the porch.

“Can it, Michael!” Hopper yelled back at him. “So Eddie and I are just gonna have a quick chat inside. You know how to do the hot dogs on your own.”

“Uh.”

Hopper pulled Eddie away from Steve, guiding him back up the porch steps, passing Murray’s befuddled face.

They went into the house, keeping a good distance between them.

Eddie had never been this nervous before, not even when he had to talk to a judge about living with Wayne or when the government officials took his Upside Down statement.

“So.”

“So,” Eddie responded, clasping his hands in front of him and playing with his rings nervously.

“You and Steve? Really?”

“I-”

“No, I’m talking,” Hopper held his hand up to stop Eddie from trying to explain. “You know about Steve’s parents?”

“A little. Enough, probably.”

“It’s not my thing to share, but I will say I’ve been looking out for Steve for a lot longer than he even realizes. I’ve seen how he handles hurt. I don’t wanna see it ever again. Especially not because of some metalhead who took three years to get through his senior year. You got me?”

“Yes sir.”

“Does Wayne know?”

“What?” Eddie was still trying to parse through the first part of what Hopper said to him.

“Does Wayne know about you and Steve?”

“Yeah, he kind of walked in on a situation that left no room for hiding.”

Hopper nodded once in understanding. No further details needed on that one.

“You boys let me know if anyone out there gives you trouble, okay?”

“Okay.”

They stared at each other in silence.

“You love him?”

“More than anything.”

Hopper gave him a sincere smile. A real smile from Hopper. He got an actual smile!

“Good. You both deserve to have something good with each other.”

Eddie wasn’t going to cry. Not now, now in front of Hopper, not when he had to go back out to their little get together.

Hopper’s hand rested on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

“I know everything about you. Just remember that if you ever think about hurting him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hopper left through the backdoor, yelling at Murray to stop mumbling to himself because he was scaring the kids. He looked out the window to see Joyce and Max hovering near Steve at the grill and he smiled to himself.

Steve was so loved by all these people, and he was so loved by all these people. It probably didn’t matter if they were obvious, if anyone knew about them from the start, if Murray was right or wrong.

The people who mattered were just happy that they were happy and he couldn’t ask for more than that.

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PROMPT 2

“Why the hell are you cleaning the shower? Is that bleach?” Wayne scrunched his nose at the overwhelming smell of bleach coming from their shared bathroom.

“I’m having a guest over.”

“And they plan on showering here?” Wayne smiled amusedly at Eddie’s frantic scrubbing.

“It’s Steve.”

Ah. It all made sense now.

Wayne took a sip from his mug, his black coffee lukewarm from sitting on the counter for a bit too long.

“So he’s showering here? Is there somethin’ wrong with his showers?”

“It’s just in case,” Eddie huffed, finally pausing to look over at Wayne in the doorway.

“In case he spills the entire kitchen on his head?”

“Can’t I just clean the bathroom? When’s the last time we cleaned this thing?”

“Probably the last time I made you clean it as punishment for something.”

“When’s the last time you punished me for something?”

“It’s about to be now with that tone,” Wayne said as he raised his brows.

He’d never seen Eddie quite like this, not even the one time he brought a girl home for dinner. He knew he’d been kind of in love with Steve from a distance for a while, and when everything happened in March, they’d gotten close, but he didn’t realize how close.

“Sorry. I just want things to go okay.”

“Is there a reason they won’t? You spend an awful lot of time with that boy already.”

“I just don’t want him to think we’re trash, ya know? Like, we kinda are, but I don’t want him to see it.”

Wayne didn’t like that Eddie referred to himself as trash, never had. Sure, they were broke, and he was usually too busy working and trying to get some sleep to deep clean the house, and he didn’t really have nice stuff, but they had what they needed and they were safe.

“Has he ever said or done anything to make you think you’re trash? If he has, he ain’t welcome here.”

Eddie sighed.

“No, he’s been really nice.”

“So you’re worryin’ for you, then. Didn’t I tell ya to stop doin’ that?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Open the window in here, air it out. Gonna kill the boy with the smell of bleach,” Wayne said as he walked back to his chair.

His days off were few and far between, even after they got their trailer fixed up and paid off for free and Eddie’s medical bills suspiciously disappeared. He spent most of them watching TV or fixing something, but now that he knew Steve was coming, he wanted to cook dinner.

Maybe he wanted to impress him to keep him around for Eddie.

Maybe he just wanted an excuse to cook something.

But it was barely past lunch, and he wanted to relax a bit before Eddie was so high strung from stress that he couldn’t breathe.

He watched his TV, but he listened to Eddie grumbling from his room, the occasionally clatter or bump making him laugh to himself at how much effort Eddie was putting in.

“You alright?” He asked after a particularly loud bump against the wall.

“Yep!”

Wayne checked the clock and saw it was close enough to the time he needed to start making dinner.

“Eddie? How’s pork chops and mashed potatoes sound?”

“Good!”

Something falls in Eddie’s room, but Wayne just shakes his head and goes to the kitchen to start prepping everything.

His pork chops were Eddie’s favorite for years, probably because they usually only had them on special occasions or if Wayne was able to go in a little late to have dinner with him. Anytime he had his friends over, Wayne would try to make them.

And now he could make them for Steve.

Steve had been over a lot when Eddie first got out of the hospital, helping make sure he had everything he needed while Wayne was at work, making sure he was being left alone by the idiots in town.

He stopped coming by as much after a while, but anytime Eddie came in the door, he’d been with Steve. He was visiting Steve at work, or at Steve’s house, or with Steve and the kids at the arcade or the diner, or with Steve at the quarry.

Wayne wasn’t stupid.

He knew Eddie was in love with the boy.

He just didn’t know for sure if Steve loved him back.

But he’d find out tonight one way or another, even if he had to outright ask.

He got lost in the cooking, barely noticing Eddie walking in and out with dirty dishes and trash from his bedroom.

But then he heard a loud knock on the front door and Eddie’s footsteps racing to open it, and Wayne Munson almost had a heart attack.

Eddie was wearing plain blue jeans, the sneakers he got just for graduation, and a button down shirt. A nice button down shirt.

“You look nice.”

“Shut up. It’s just what I had clean.”

“Right. Sure.”

Wayne smirked down at the pan in front of him, flipping the pork chops over and drizzling more of the melted butter sauce over them as they seared.

He pretended not to listen to the exchange at the door as Eddie let Steve in, but couldn’t help it when he caught Steve planting a kiss on Eddie’s cheek.

“Hope you like pork chops. Wayne’s real good at making them.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. You look nice.”

“Oh uh, thanks. You do also. I mean, too. You look nice too.”

Wayne had never heard Eddie like this, he’d definitely never seen him like this, and he had to figure out what the hell made Steve so special that Eddie suddenly became a different person.

He turned to welcome him and was met by a Steve Harrington he almost didn’t recognize.

He seemed shy for some reason, as if he hadn’t been by Wayne’s side for hours at a time in the hospital waiting for any change with Eddie. He was dressed in similar jeans to Eddie, but was wearing a Metallica shirt that definitely belonged to Eddie.

He was also wearing Eddie’s guitar pick necklace.

So this was serious.

“Well, hey there, Steve. Nice to see you here again.”

Steve was blushing.

“Thanks for having me, Mr. Munson.”

“Steve, we agreed you can call me Wayne last year, didn’t we?”

“Oh. Right. Sorry, sir.”

“It’s okay, son,” Wayne laughed. “Dinner will be ready in a few if you boys wanna grab drinks and plates.”

They did, and Wayne watched out of the corner of his eye as Eddie placed a hand on Steve’s lower back and kissed his shoulder.

They were silently getting things out, but moving in a way that made Wayne smile.

They revolved around each other the way soulmates do, naturally being close enough to touch but not, always anticipating where the other person will be and what they’ll need, happy just to orbit each other.

Wayne watched as Eddie smiled at Steve, who was sticking his tongue out at him while he reached for the cans of soda in the fridge.

He’d never seen him so light, so happy, so content. Especially not since everything that happened with the quake.

He grabbed the plates from Eddie and served them each a hearty portion of food.

“This looks great, Wayne. Thanks for cooking.”

“No need to be so formal, Steve. I like cookin’ for you boys.”

They took a few bites in a slightly awkward silence. Eddie’s leg was shaking so badly, the whole table started moving. What the hell was this kid so nervous about?

Steve placed his hand on Eddie’s knee, probably thinking it was out of sight. Wayne watched as Eddie stopped his movements and settled completely, letting out a long breath.

“So what’s the occasion? Not that I ain’t happy to have ya over, Steve, it just seems outta nowhere.”

“We uh, actually wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?”

Wayne knew where this was going, but he liked to keep Eddie guessing.

“Yeah. So you know how I’ve been spending a lot of time with Steve.”

“Go on.”

“Well, a few months ago, um. I told him about me. Like how I’m into men and women. And it turns out he is too! So that was a relief obviously. And we talked about how nice it was having someone else know and then he explained he’d never even kissed a guy which is just kind of silly because look at him! He’s hot! And I told him he could kiss me to get it out of the way, ya know? Because sometimes just getting the first one out of the way just makes you more confident and then he kissed me to shut me up because I was rambling like I am now, Jesus Christ, Steve, please stop me.”

“Okay, so what he’s trying to say is um. We’ve been boyfriends for a while now. And I’m.” Steve took a shaky breath, then put his hand in Eddie’s on his lap. “I’m so in love with him, Wayne. He’s been spending a lot of time at my house, but I wanted to come here and he was worried about us not being able to hide it around you so I told him we could just tell you. I hope it’s okay.”

Wayne kept his face level, no smile or frown, just waiting to see if they’d word vomit anymore.

“And like, it’s okay if you don’t want to see any PDA or anything! We won’t like make out on the couch or anything, but we just wanted you to know. I wanted you to know. And Steve knows you’re so important to me so he agreed.”

“And we’ll probably still spend a lot of time at Steve’s because that’s where the kids like to hang out since he has a pool and a lot of space for us to watch movies. So you’ll hardly even see us together here.”

“Are you boys done?”

“Yes, sir,” Steve said, head hanging down.

“Good. Who knew you both could ramble on like that?”

They stayed silent, anxiously waiting for Wayne to yell at them or kick them out.

“You love each other?”

They both nodded.

“And you make each other happy?”

They nodded with smiles growing on their faces.

“Then I want you boys here, loving each other, making each other happy, whether I’m here or not. You’re always welcome in my home.”

He felt the relief wash over them, their tense bodies relaxing in their chairs.

“Now, Steve.”

“Oh no. Don’t,” Eddie said, suddenly tense again.

“Now, wait a minute. It’s my job, Eddie.”

“No it’s really not. I’m an adult, I can take care of myself.”

Wayne turned to Steve with a small smile.

“You’ve heard the speech before, I’m sure. You hurt him, I hurt you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, if you hurt him on purpose, they’ll never find your body, you hear me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you,” Wayne turned to Eddie. “Same goes for you. You think just because you’re my blood I won’t protect Steve if you do somethin’ stupid?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled.” Wayne took a sip of his drink. “Steve, you like ice cream?”

“I love ice cream.”

“What’s your favorite flavor? I always keep Eddie’s in the freezer.”

“Oh. You don’t have to do that.”

“Stevie, you better answer him or he’ll guess.”

Steve laughed. He looked happy. Wayne liked that he looked happy.

“Mint chip.”

“We all have our flaws.”

“Hey! It’s good!”

Wayne laughed.

“Fine, fine. I’ll get some at the store this weekend.”

Wayne knew what it was like to have neglectful parents, and he knew that Steve may have had a lot of things handed to him, but never love and affection from his own parents.

So if he was someone Eddie loved, and who loved Eddie, then he was going to have to accept the love and affection Wayne had to offer.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #wayne munson #murray bauman #jim hopper #requests #this is like a 3 in 2 but 2 in 1 #shovel talks but barely #prompt 2 is EXACTLY 2000 words which has never happened before for me #ficlets

[justmeinadaze]

My Little Man (Steddie X You) (Part of HFOD and SS Universe)

A/N: I guess you guys would call this season 3? Lol. My angst hella took over as well as some feelings I've been dealing with lately.

Enjoy please <3.

Part of this Universe

Warnings: Demon Steddie & Human Fem Reader, No SMUT in this one, FLUFF, they love each other and their son. Demon Steddie is navigating how to be human while taking care of a pregnant Y/N.

ANGST: More or less the normal level of angst that comes with this series. The theme is grief and PTSD (from a soldiers perspective). Y/N is still struggling with the notion of her parents not being there to see Ellis grow up and the guys (especially Steve) is struggling with being raised how they were and taught to fight. Eddie struggles with feelings of enabling because of everything they went through.

The dreams probably have the most feels. They talk to their loved ones and Ellis says goodbye. Steve has nightmares that involve his dad being a dick (of course) and something that happens within one angers Eddie (blood briefly mentioned).

Word Count: 6398

"Don't you know I love you more than life itself Don't you know that you're my pride And I would not have you walking through this world Without me by your side

Go to sleep my little man Don't you weep my little man"

3 Months Pregnant

Steve sits on the bench outside of the library he had just exited from, sighing heavily as he closed his eyes and threw his head back.

Ever since the three of you got home, he and Eddie had been doing research on which human job they would best be suited for in your realm but were struggling to find much of anything. For him, it was even more difficult since he was raised to be a solider. He genuinely didn’t know how to do anything else and it didn’t help that even though you explained a lot of human behavior, he still felt slightly ignorant with many things. 

“May I sit?” The demon jumped at the sound of a gravelly voice beside him. “Oh, shit. Sorry, son. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, it’s alright. Um, please.”, he gestures towards the area beside him causing the man to flash him a thankful grin as he takes a seat. 

“How long?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I asked how long. I know the look of a fellow veteran trying to figure out how to adapt to a civilian lifestyle. How long has it been since you saw combat?”

“Oh, uh, it’s…it’s been a few years. But I did it the bulk of my life.”

“I can imagine with you being so young. I bet one of your parents was a solider as well?”

“Wow. Yeah, that’s amazing. How did you…?”

“I told you, son. I know the look.”, the man chuckles as he extends his hand. “Truman Duvall; Ex Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.”

“Steven Harrington. Um, Sergeant in the US Army. Well, Ex.”, Steve laughs nervously as he hopes his memory of things he’s learned about humans in the past is still up to date.

“Nice to meet you. If I may ask, what were you thinking so hard about specifically?”

“My girlfriend is pregnant and I’m trying to find a job so I can help support my family. I want my son to have a better life then I did but I have no idea where to start.”

“Congratulations on the little bundle! I have four myself, two of them grown and out of the house already. My wife pretends like she’s glad they’re out but she misses them.”, he laughs. “I don’t know if you would be willing but down the street here, we have a recreation center where veterans go to relax and let loose. They’ve been looking for a counselor to lead the group therapy. I think you’d be a good fit.”

“Yeah? Um, I guess I could…”

“Look, you don’t even have to make a decision right now. Why don’t meet me there tonight? We’re having a little party get together thing. Of course, you can bring the girlfriend and you both can meet the person in charge. See if you feel comfortable.”

“O-Ok. I, um…” Steve pauses as he debates on if he should tell the truth about Eddie. That was a fight they had when it came to going home. He had been afraid that they would have to hide their relationship and he never wanted to hide or be hidden when it came to the man he loved. But this is also where he wanted to raise his son and he didn’t want to cause a commotion before you four even had a chance to settle in. What would Eddie do?

“Can I bring my boyfriend as well? He’s a veteran to. We actually met during our tour.”

Truman’s mouth pouted out ever so slightly as his eyebrows lifted in surprise. 

“Oh, um, sure! The more the merrier.”

***

“Steven, oh my God, that’s amazing!”, you exclaim as you wrap your arms around his neck. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Hang on, now. I don’t have a job yet but…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, bud.”, Eddie grins from his place on the kitchen counter. 

“I hope it’s ok that I kind of…announced…our relationship. We actually didn’t talk about what we wanted to do but I know if we had stayed in our realm I’d want to be honest.”

The long-haired demon opened his arms and Steve promptly placed himself between his legs with his back against his chest while Eddie rested his chin on his shoulder. 

“I’m glad you did. I love you and I’m not hiding that.”

“Me either.”, you smiled as they beamed right back. 

Suddenly, the happiness drains from your face before you turn and bolt towards the bathroom. You three had been home for a couple of months and within the past week some of the normal symptoms of pregnancy began springing up such as the morning sickness you were currently experiencing. 

“It’s alright, baby. Get it all out.”, Eddie tries to sooth as he holds your hair into a makeshift ponytail. As soon as you were finished, you fell back into his arms and thanked Steve when he handed you a bottle of water. 

“This is normal, right? Humans get nauseas like this.”, he asked. 

“Yeah, honey. It’s normal. I’m alright. I think I’m going to take a nap so I can be 100% for tonight.”

“Y/N, you don’t have to go.”

“No, Steve, I want to go. I want to see where you’ll be and the people you’ll be around.”

################

“Steve! You made it.”, Truman shouts excitedly as he reaches out to shake the boy’s hand. “You must be the girlfriend.”

“Hi. I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N. What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman and this is your…boyfriend? Right, son?”

“Yes, sir. This is Edward.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Steve said you’re a veteran as well. Were you a sergeant like himself?”

“Oh, uh, no. I was more of a private I guess you’d say. But we spent a lot of time together especially on the battlefield.”

“Wow and for you two to still be so close and find a relationship through all that chaos! That’s amazing. I always tell my wife if she met me during my tour she would have hated me. A lot of civilians don’t understand the headspace you have to fall into to do what we have to do.”

Both demon’s nod in understanding and you can’t help but softly smile as you watch them interact with the other people around them. Steve was definitely in his element and you could tell in some way he felt more comfortable in this setting because he was around beings who seemed to understand what they both went through. As his new friend spoke, his eyes remained intense and focused as he absorbed everything he said. 

Eddie excused himself to grab some drinks but became distracted talking to another couple and began to laugh at something they were saying. The first time you met him he expressed a particular distain for humans but he seemed to open up more since they were freed, finding something interesting in each person he interacted with. 

“Hey, this is my girlfriend Y/N.”, he introduces when you walk over to check on him. “Y/N, this is Lisa and Shawn Bennett. Lisa did a tour in the Air Force flying jets and Shawn was a DJ overseas.”

“Oh wow. For the military or just on your own?”

“For the military. I’m kind of like that Cronauer guy they made the movie about. I read the reports and played music I thought would lift the troops spirits.”, the man explains. 

“Kind of like me.”, Eddie whispers in your ear making you smile. “What do you two do now if I may ask? Steve and I have been searching for employment but we have no idea what would fit us.”

“Well, I actually own a store of my own selling books and comics; things like that. I’m a bit of a nerd.”, Lisa laughs. 

“And I teach media and music courses at the local community college up here.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun actually. Are they looking for another music teacher because Eddie is an amazing musician.”

“Yeah? Unfortunately, they aren’t but you should consider maybe starting your own business as well. You can teach kids to play guitar or any other instruments you know and you can do it from your house or maybe the music store downtown is hiring.”

“Are you looking for a job to, Y/N? I’m trying to hire someone to help me with my shop.”, Lisa offers with a smile. 

“Oh, I’d love that. I’m, uh, I’m actually pregnant though and I wouldn’t want to leave you stranded after you just hired me.”

“That’s fantastic! Don’t even worry about it. You don’t seem very far along yet. I can teach you the ropes before you give birth and that way when you come back, you’ll already know what to do!”

As you glance at Eddie, his eyes widen with encouragement as he nods his head. 

“Ok, I’d love to work for you.”

Lisa claps and gives you a big hug as your demon beams behind you.

***

“Hello fellow veterans, spouses, and partners! Glad you could all join us tonight. I hope you are having some much needed fun! I do have just a quick announcement to make. I would like to introduce you to Steven Harrington who is new to Hawkins and after speaking with him I feel like he will be a great addition to our center here as the group counselor.” The man at the podium smiles as he gestures towards the demon and everyone around the room claps. “Steve, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

When he hesitates, you gently push him forward, urging him softly before he relents and nervously climbs up the makeshift stage. 

“Um, hi. Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve been seen by so many people.” The people chuckle as you and Eddie grin knowingly. “Like Thomas said, I’m, uh, new to Hawkins but my girlfriend is from here and my partner and I thought it would be better for her to be back home where she felt safe with her family so we can start raising our own. I-I-I…shit I used to better at this.”, he chuckles before glancing your way, your gentle smile comforting him. 

“I was raised in a military household. My dad was a solider so that’s what I was expected to be. As soon as I was able, he handed me a weapon and commanded I train to be the best. There was no wiggle room there. It was all or nothing. When I saw war…I shut down and did what I had to. I took no pleasure in killing, contrary to popular belief.”

“The worst part about shutting down that way was how it flowed into my every day. I was as an asshole to everyone including women I dated and people I trained… except for some of the people closest to me…Robin, Chrissy, and Eddie. When Edward and I got out…I felt so out of control…so lost. I lost my identity and everything I knew. If I didn’t have him by my side… Then we met Y/N and without her we literally wouldn’t be here today.”

Steve paused, looking out into the crowd, and realizing he may be talking too much. 

“Sorry. I’m sorry. Thank you so much for this opportunity and I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

The people in the room clap as he steps off the stage and you immediately wrap your arms around his waist as Eddie lightly caresses his cheek. 

***

4 Months Pregnant

You beam at Eddie as he softly strums his instrument. That day after Shawn suggested it, he went down to the music store in town and applied for the job as a guitar instructor. After playing and showing off for them he got the job. He loved hearing the kids try and play reminding him of the children he watched over with Steve during their war. 

Today was everyone’s day off so they were being lazy in bed with you in your pajamas and both demons in nothing but their sweats. 

“Ok, this thing here says for humans you should be feeling him move around now.”, Steve announced as he gestured towards the book he was reading. 

“I haven’t felt him move yet unless the occasional nausea is him saying hello.”, you giggle. Leaning over him, you grab his hand and place it on the middle of your stomach. “Talk to him.”

“Uh, I…hey, Ellis. It’s, um, your daddy. I’m not scaring him with my voice, right?”

“No, baby.”, you grin as you pet his head. “This is how he’ll get used to it though. Hearing and seeing you both in your demon form.”

“Buddy, you have no reason to be afraid of us in any form. I’m sorry your dads aren’t as beautiful as you and your mom but—”

“Hey, speak for yourself.”, Eddie teases making you laugh. “I’m a sexy motherfucker.”

“Oh.”

“What?”, Steve’s eyes shift up excitedly. 

“You didn’t feel that?”

When he shakes his head, you place his hand closer to the side you felt movement, gesturing for the other demon to do the same.

“Say something else.”

“Hey Ellis. This is your other daddy and I assure you we are very handsome.”

“Holy shit.”, Steve exhales as he grins up towards his partner. “That’s amazing.”

“I’m glad you agree, kid.”, Eddie smiles.

***

6 Months Pregnant

Eddie growls at the crib he was trying to assemble as his glowing red eyes glare at the instructions again. Over these past couple of months, you three had made your dad’s old room your bedroom and begun shifting the room you used to sleep in into Ellis’s. 

Going off his personality from your dreams, you painted the room blue with images of guitars along the base boards and up along the ridges of the ceiling. Near where his crib would be, you put up pictures of everyone in his family that loved him including Robin, Wayne, Dustin, and everyone who had passed that he had been conversing with these past six months. 

The boys were able to get everything a baby would need from your realm but also from theirs including those books that Eddie had wrote and some toys demons normally played with at a young age. 

“Whoever invented these contraptions should be tortured for eternity.”, Eddie grunted as he tried again putting a few of the pieces together. 

“You guys don’t have cribs in your realm?” 

“Yeah but they were like boxes essentially. Or at least mine was. I’m sure Steven had gold porcelain or some shit.”

“No.”, Steve chuckled as he took the wrong part from his partner’s hand and handed him the correct one. “I had a regular little wooden thing with soft blankets.”

“I wish I could see what you two were like as kids.”

Since they left Maeve, they weren’t able to snap memories into your head like they were before. It hurt them more than you because you always seemed curious about them and they wished they could show you everything from their point of view, not Henry’s or Mirage’s. 

“How much did Mirage show you?”

“She showed me big events more than anything. Steve always looking for his parents especially your mom. She did play sword fight with you once and you looked so happy until your dad yelled at her for ‘ruining your training’.” You rolled your eyes as Steve pet your head and sighed. “Eddie, I did see what your uncle told me about with your mom singing to you.” The demon’s glow receded in his eyes as he glanced your way with a small smile. 

“Until my father told her to shut up?”

Tilting forward, you crawled over his work to kiss his lips making his smile widen as he caressed your face. 

“What about your parents, honey?”

“Both my parents were amazing. My dad always loved to make us laugh. He liked being a girl dad and my mom exploited that.”, you giggle. “She would make him wear tutus while I would do his makeup and they both would dance.”

A tear left your eyes and both demons promptly gave you their attention. 

“I’m sorry you guys don’t have your parents here. You both deserve better.”

“Baby, it’s ok—”

“Eddie it’s not okay.”

“Will you let me finish?”, he jokes. “It’s ok because I had my mom and I had Wayne. Then as I got older I got my other family. Steven, Robin, Chrissy, and even Dustin. Now, sweetheart, I have you two and Ellis. I couldn’t be happier.”

“I agree. I’m thankful for the memories I do have with my mom but the kids I trained and beings I fought with…that was my family. I’m so excited to see what’s in store for us, you know. See what Ellis is going to do with his life.”

You smiled as you kissed their lips before you wince and lean away. 

“Ow. Little butthead is kicking my side.”

“Hey, kid.”, Eddie teases as he tilts towards your tummy. “Why don’t you stop hurting your mother and come help me make your torture technic of a crib.”

###############

8 months Pregnant

You, Steve, and Eddie walked into the house you three had been in so many times these last few months except now it was completely empty. All the furniture and everything was completely absent as you entered the living room full of people.

“Ellis?”

Everyone in the room moved out of the way to where Eddie’s mom was hugging her grandson to her chest as he sobbed. 

“I don wanna go!”

“You have to, baby. Your mommy and daddies need you now. They’ve been waiting so long to see you.”

“Mom?”, Eddie asked as he stepped towards her. “What’s going on?”

She softly smiled as she handed him to your father who spun him around as he chuckled but your son just buried his face further in his neck. 

“Come on, little guy. Your parents have made you an awesome bedroom and knowing my daughter she’s going to show you so many amazing things.”

The little boy shook his head as your dad kissed his temple before handing him to your mom. 

“Steven, remember, you once told me that everything would be ok and you were right. I’ve watched you both take care of my baby and I assure you, you both are going to be more than ok. You are going to be amazing parents.”

He beamed at him as he wrapped his arms around the demon and pulled him in for a hug. 

Your mother grinned as she reached out to touch your face as you started to cry. 

“I’m scared to do this without you.”, you whisper. 

Your parent’s smiles widen as she kisses her grandson and places him in your arms. 

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re always right here.”, she soothes as she points to Ellis’s forehead. “Right behind that door, honey.”

“I love you.”, you son coos as each grandparent reciprocates his affection. 

As both your demons come to your side, you look down to no longer see a toddler but a newborn baby wiggling in your arms. Steve gently pets his head as Eddie reaches for his tiny hand that immediately clings to his finger. 

All of your eyes shoot open but yours is followed by a grunt as you place your hands on your stomach. 

“Fuck! I think…”

They don’t waste any time as they collect you and your things before rushing towards the hospital. 

***

“How long are they going to keep him back there?”, Eddie growled as he held your hand.

“Calm down. Y/N said this was normal. They need to clean him, check his vitals, and all that.”

“Yeah, but Steven, what if something comes up in those vitals that frightens a human.”

The other demon’s eyes flash red in warning in his direction as a low rumble leaves his chest. 

“Maybe we should have had him in your realm.”, you respond groggily as your heavy eyes shift their way. 

“Baby, don’t let Edward scare you, ok? He’s fine. He’s got more human in him right now than anything. Dustin said he would grow into his demon parts.”

“He also said we’re the first couple ever to do this so…”

“Edward Munson, I swear—“, Steve’s anger was cut short when the door to your hospital room opened and a nurse casually sauntered in.

“Hey Munson-Harrington family.”, she smiles. “We have little Ellis here fast asleep and everything looks good. Mommy, how are you feeling?”

“Like I gave birth.” The nurse laughs at your joke as your demons roll their eyes. “I’m alright. A bit exhausted.”

“Yeah, that’s normal, sweetheart. Good news is your baby is in perfect health. Would you like to meet him?” Your eyes fully open as you sit up, smiling softly when she places him in your arms.  “I’ll come check on you three in a bit.”

Tears start to fall as you fully take him in. Right now, he seemed like a completely normal child with soft skin and just a sliver of brown hair poking out of his blue beanie. 

“Hey, honey. You’re so handsome. I’m your mommy.”, you coo in a whisper as you kiss his forehead. “Oh my god, he smells so good.”, you laugh as you look their way. 

Eddie was the first to step forward, sitting beside you on the bed as he caressed his son’s chubby little cheek with his finger. 

“Holy shit. He’s so soft.”, he breathes. “You’re perfect, kid.”

Steve finally takes a seat as well and reaches out to feel his tiny hand. 

“He’s warm to. Is that normal?” When you nod, he almost breathes a sigh of relief. “Ellis, we’re your daddies. You ARE perfect, oh my god.”

The baby squirms a bit in your hold giving them pause before pulling away. 

“I think that was his way of saying thank you.”, you smile. 

###########

3 Weeks Old

“Fascinating.”, Dustin muses as he rocks Ellis in his arms while swaying around the living room. “He really does look just like a little human with the soft skin and everything. Nothing has stood out?”

“Can you stop analyzing our baby and just enjoy him?”, Eddie snaps as he sighs. 

“No, nothing.”, you giggle, answering his question. “And so far he seems to eat but not as much as normal babies.”

“How so?”

“Babies are supposed to eat every two hours; we’ve been feeding him every six. I was worried at first but we just took him the doctor and she said he was healthy. When I tried to give him a bottle every two he would cry and push at my hands.”

“Interesting. That has to be hard, Y/N. Him not being able to verbally tell you things like that. I hated when my kids cried in general but you…you still have that whole trial and error thing going.”

Glancing towards your demons, Eddie had fallen asleep with his head nestled in Steve’s lap on the couch who was already napping when Dustin arrived. 

“It is. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us though and I know they do to. I’ve been keeping a record like you suggested should this ever happen for anyone else.”

“Good.” When he notices your gaze shift again, he takes a seat on the floor beside you and lays Ellis on the blanket between you both. “Everything ok with you three?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little worried. They were both already so protective over me and now that he’s here… Steve’s been having nightmares. He pretends he doesn’t but I hear him groaning in his sleep and feel him wake up. I asked him the other night if he still has access to my dreams and he said he can’t find the door anymore.”

A tear fell down your check as Dustin reached out to comfort you. 

“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Eddie’s attitude has been a lot shorter lately. He’s exhausted and worried about the three of us. He triple checks everything to the point that I find him asleep on the floor by Ellis’s crib because he’s too tired to make it back to our bed and would just rather be closer to his son just in case.”

“What about you? Besides the worry I mean.”

“I know I’m probably being paranoid but sometimes I feel like we’re being watched. It may just be because of our dynamic. I know not everyone is excepting like the new friends we’ve made but no one has said anything… I don’t know. Just…mom brain maybe.”

“Hm, maybe. Keep an eye on that. From what you’ve told me, you’re always pretty intuitive. Wouldn’t want to miss something you know?”

#########

5 Weeks Old

“Oh my god, Y/N, look at him.”, Lisa coos at Ellis as she holds him in her arms. 

“Are you alright, Steve? You look like you haven’t slept.”, Shawn chuckles. 

“Yeah, I’m doing alright. Just…little guy keeping me up.”, he forces a smile. 

Your friends were having a get together for veterans and their families and since Steve worked at the center you suggested you three should go and be seen. Truthfully, you thought it would be good for them both to get out of the house as well as having him specifically spend some time with his new veteran friends to talk about anything that may be weighing on his mind causing his nightmares.

As the night wore on you noticed their soft grins return to their faces as he and Eddie mingled with the people around them. They radiated warmth as they talked about their son and everything he had done with his short little life so far.

“Have you guys started baby proofing yet? I swear when my daughter started crawling it was like she knew which areas were the bad ones!”

“Oh no, not yet. He did smile at Y/N the other day. Ellis has a beautiful little grin.”, Steve boasts.

“At that age usually it’s just reflexive. They see you guys smiling so…”

“Isn’t that all babies though? Like that’s how they learn?”, Eddie genuinely asks as the dads around him laugh. 

“Yeah but who knows some babies are different! You may just have an extremely happy baby who couldn’t wait to show you guys how much he loves being here.”

Time passed and a few of the guests left, leaving the main few that you had really gotten to know. You all sat in the living room while Eddie patted his son’s back as Ellis slept soundly. Steve tenderly petted the baby’s head as you beamed at them from your place in the chair across from them. 

“So how has everything else been going?”, Thomas asks as he chugs back some of the beer in his bottle. 

“Everything has been good, man. Just focusing on them, ya know?”

“Yeah, I understand. When my son was born, that first night I checked on him every hour on the hour. Then for some reason I kept checking on my wife. I knew our son needed us both and I kept thinking ‘What if something happened to either of us?’”

“I can understand that. I, uh, before Y/N and Steve, I lost a lot of people I loved and there was nothing I could do. Now that Ellis is here…it would kill me if anything ever happened to him.”

“Do you have nightmares about it? About losing them?”

“I don’t but Stevie here does.”, Eddie answers causing Steve to toss a glare his way. 

“I do but it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“I had them to. Sometimes I would dream they were on the battlefield I fought in. I would run to them but I could never quite reach them.”, Thomas sighs at the memory. “What do you dream about?”

“It’s fine really.”

You’re not sure if anyone else heard but you and Eddie did as the demon’s voice fluctuated to his real one for a split second.

“Steven…”

“It’s ok, Y/N. Like I said, I get it. If you talk about it, it gives it validity right? You’d hate to manifest something like that into existence. Someone killing Y/N and your son.”

Steve’s eyes closed as his head ticked to the side. 

“Ok, Tom, I appreciate what you’re trying to do but I’m putting my foot down. You’re going to push him too far and he’s already got enough on his mind.”, Eddie defended rising to his feet and handing you the baby. 

“Ah, you’re the enabler I imagine. You allow him to shelter his feelings so he doesn’t have to deal with them.”

“You’re damn right I do. You humans have no idea what we’ve been through!”

“Interesting word choice. Is that how you separate people from your experiences?”

“Come on, guys, let’s head home.” As the long-haired demon grabbed his boyfriend’s arm, he remained frozen in place. Kneeling in front of him, he cupped his face in his hands. “Steven, it’s ok alright. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. Let’s go home and get some sleep, huh?”

When the demon finally opened his eyes, Eddie’s widen in fear; he knew this look all too well. As subtly as he could, he got to his feet and towards the front door with you trailing after him. 

“Steven—”

Once the wind of the outside hit your faces, he expanded his wings, cutting you off as he vanished into the air.

***

“Edward, baby, are you ok?”

Eddie nodded from his place on the floor next Ellis who was sleeping soundly beside him. After laying down as well, he softly smiles your way as he continues caressing the baby’s open hand. 

“DO I enable him, Y/N?”

“Eddie…”

“I just…we went through so much… Every day I had to watch the man I love breakdown. Even when we were out, summoners never treated us with any kind of respect. They knew we wouldn’t be there for long. In our realm, he was hero and with one choice, he was banished and imprisoned…because of me.”

“No, Eddie. Everything you two went through was because of Henry. He killed Chrissy and framed you. Jason didn’t give Steve much of a choice. He was going to disobey orders and hurt you.”

“I always tried to make it up to him… I tried not to show my feelings, pretending I didn’t care we were trapped. Pretending I wasn’t scared and just as angry as he was. I’ve done that my whole life, Y/N. When my mom got sick, I did everything I could to make her laugh so she wouldn’t see how devastated I was. Every time my father came home upset, I acted like I was tough but I was fucking terrified, baby. I was so scared.”

A tear fell from his eye and your immediately wiped it away with your thumb.

“When he fled, I was afraid for my uncle. I didn’t even think twice when I signed up but I was positive I wouldn’t last a month out there on the battlefield. Steven and Robin helped me become a better fighter. With Chris I pretended to be more together than I was. She had enough on her plate at the time and I wanted her to feel safe.”

“It seems like that’s why you pretend, Eddie, so the people you love feel safe.”

Sitting up, he started to cry harder and you immediately crawled to him, curling up in his lap as you held him in your arms. 

The sound you recognized as a portal opening grabbed both your attention as you called Steve’s name.

“Hey, no, sorry. It’s just me. I have him here though.”, Robin answered as she came around the corner with the demon leaning half-conscious around her shoulders. “My girlfriend sent me a message saying he was there at the bar. He had been babbling about how human drinks aren’t strong enough and something about you two and Ellis.”

After leading her to the bedroom, she gently placed Steve onto the mattress. When Eddie entered the room, she smiled when she saw your son’s wide eyes looking back at her.

“He woke up.”, the demon announced as Ellis yawned to emphasis his point. 

“You need to let your parents get some rest, booger.”, Robin coos as she pokes his nose making him smile. 

“Some of our friends said for human babies around this time smiles like that are a reflex.”

“Yeah but he’s not entirely human and that beautiful, drool filled grin didn’t seem reflexive.”, she responded. “It seems like he can handle the demon skin since he’s letting us touch him.”

“Yeah, I think that’s the potion.”, you nod as you reach out to tickle the baby’s chin. “Thank you for bringing Steve back, Robin.”

Softly smiling, she leans down to kiss your forehead.

“Seriously, you and Ellis are so soft—”

“Ay yi, ma’am. This human is ours.”, Eddie playfully scolds as he swats his hand in her direction. 

***

Loud banging and clinking echoes behind the door you’re looking at as smoke occasionally slips through the seams. Taking a long exhale, you reach for the handle but someone tapping your shoulder startles you as you turn and smack the person’s face. 

“Ow! Jesus woman. How many times are you going to pop me?!”, Eddie whines as he rubs his cheek. 

“Edward, how did you—”

“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for the door for months. Maybe you finally calmed me down enough to know what I’m looking for.” Nodding, you kiss his lips. “So what’s the plan?”

“I think…this is Steve’s door. I don’t know. I’ve been trying to access his dreams but I haven’t been able to.”

Holding your hand, he carefully turns the knob and you both step through. Glancing down at his attire, Eddie realizes he’s suddenly in his old battle armor and you both are on the battlefield they fought on all those centuries ago. 

“Why am I not in armor?”

“I mean, you weren’t there, baby.”

“What the fuck are you two doing here?!”, Steve’s father shrieks above you as he lands on his feet. “Leave. NOW. My son needs to learn his lesson.”

“YOU’VE been giving him his nightmares?”, you growl.

“Not exactly. He started having them on his own but I’ve been fueling them.”

Shifting your gaze behind him, you both watch as Steve slaughters enemy after enemy, panting as he slowly tires himself out.

“Steven! Do better! You think these fuckers are going to show mercy on your son?! You have to do what I taught you to get the truth!”

Eddie gripped Bill’s throat and angrily threw him to the ground. 

“You made your hell his hell, you fucking asshole. He told me all about you and everything you did to him. You ruined his life enough! Leave him be.”

“Please. He’s doing this to himself. He’s worried about you two peasants and that thing. I’m making him better. Stronger.”

Grabbing a sword from the ground, you lift the handle and point the other end towards his throat. 

“You heard him. Leave Steven alone or else I swear to God, Bill, I will find a way myself to keep you in hell.”

Growling under his breath, he tried to stand but you and Eddie forced him back down with your weapons. Huffing he suddenly disappeared as well as every other solider that had fallen around the other demon. 

“Ed-Edward?”, Steve panted heavily when you noticed you both there. “Y/N? What are you…? It doesn’t matter. We need to get to Ellis or else Henry’s going to kill him. We have to—”

“Baby, look at me.”, Eddie tried to soothe as he cupped his cheeks in his hands. “You’re dreaming ok? Henry is gone and Ellis is in his crib fast asleep.”

“N-No. No? I can hear him. I can hear him crying! Can’t you hear that?!”

“Steven—”

“NO!”, the demon growls loudly as he shoves the man he loves hard backwards. “Who are you?! You’re not Edward. Y-You’re…You’re trying to trick me. Are you Mirage? Did Henry and his dad hire you to stop me?!”

“Steven…”, Eddie cried with worry as he threw the sword he was holding to the ground and held up his hands. “Sweetheart, please, it’s me. I promise. I would never hurt you like that. I would never keep you from our son.”

As he tried to step forward, the other demon shoved him to the ground.

“I-I-I need to get to my son.”, Steve sobbed as his voice cracked. “I know you’re not Eddie. Tell me where he is.”

When he didn’t answer, he pulled back and pushed his weapon downward. 

The sound of your grunt filled their ears as your eyes met Steve’s wide glassy ones. When you both looked down, blood drenched his sword where it had pushed through your stomach and around your back. 

“Baby?”

Looking up at him again, you smiled through the pain as blood dripped from your lips. 

“Why…why does it hurt?”

The three of you opened your eyes at the same time as you sat up clutching your stomach. Lifting up your shirt, there was no wound but it felt so real. You could still feel the stinging pain lingering on your skin. 

Eddie’s head slowly turned meeting Steve’s still shocked expression as is mouth hung open in shock. 

“I—”

The long-haired demon’s growl cut him off as his eyes glowed bright red. 

“Take us to another realm that we can fucking damage NOW.” You didn’t say anything as Steve rose to his feet with his head hung preparing a portal for them to go through. “Stay here.”

Coming around the bed, he waited for the other demon to finish as you peeked into the world they’d be going to. It was completely baron with nothing but white as far as the eye can see. 

“Fitting.”, Eddie responded in anger as he and the other demon walked inside. 

As the portal began to close, you quickly got up and jumped through right as it disappeared. 

You knew Eddie may be mad but after what happened this wasn’t something you were going to let them handle alone. 

##############

@tlclick73 @tiannamortis @steeldaisies @goodhappyfriday @paleidiot @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes

@strangerthings64 @howlingco @eddiesguitarskills

@prettypeachsworld @nailbatanddungeon @notlempet

#steddie x reader #steddie fluff #steddie smut #steddie fanfiction #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eddie fanfic #eddie stranger things #steve fanfic #steve smut #steve stranger things #joe keery #joseph quinn #stranger things #fan fiction #steddie x you #steddie x y/n #steve fluff #demon!steddie #demon!Steve harrington #demon eddie munson #au fanfiction #steddie fic #steve x eddie #Spotify

[solarmorrigan]

I was looking for prompt lists from your tumblr only to stumble upon the newest ask game lol Anyway "Don't trust me" for anything/any pairing you want <3

It's kind of funny that for all we talk about Steve n' Eddie, this is the only prompt so far I've filled that doesn't involve any romance between them. Anyway, SEE WHAT ANGST YOU HAVE HELPED ME WREAK. Or something <3

[No major warnings, but you'd probably call this one hurt/no comfort]

Angsty-ish Prompt List

-

Eddie blinks at Steve, apparently startled to find him on his doorstep at seven o’clock on a Tuesday evening.

“…hey,” Steve says after a long moment of awkward silence.

“Hey,” Eddie replies automatically, then scrunches his eyes shut and shakes his head; when he opens them again, he grins at Steve. “Yeah, hey, sorry. To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected royal visit?”

Eddie still hasn’t stopped making references to Steve’s stupid high school nickname, despite Steve’s admission that he no longer cares for it. It’s starting to feel a bit pointed, but Steve reminds himself that it’s also possible that he’s just being sensitive. Eddie’s a hard guy to get a read on, but Steve knows that he likes to tease, so he shoulders past the comment and carries on.

“I brought food,” Steve says, holding up the foil-covered pan in his hands, as if there’s any way to have missed it.

And now Eddie’s back to staring at Steve like he’s never seen him before. “O-kay,” he says slowly. “Well, I’ll never turn my nose up at free food, but, uh – why?”

Steve quirks an eyebrow at Eddie. “I promised Wayne I would, remember? Like, last week.”

Eddie still seems confused. “Wayne’s not even here.”

“What?” Steve frowns. “It’s Tuesday, isn’t it? He said Tuesdays were his nights off.”

“It is, indeed, Tuesday,” Eddie says slowly, like he’s trying to explain the concept of a calendar week to Steve. “But Thursdays are Wayne’s nights off.”

“Shit.” Steve’s heart sinks a little; he knew he should have written that down. “Well – shit, I mixed that up. But I’m not just gonna sit on this until Thursday, so you should still take it. I mean, it’s for you guys, either way, so…”

“Uh… I guess, sure.” Eddie shrugs before stepping back from the doorway and beckoning Steve over the threshold. “Come on in.”

Steve follows Eddie through to the kitchen, placing the pan on the counter when directed. He’s still a little disappointed that it won’t be eaten immediately, but guesses it’ll still be pretty good as leftovers.

When Wayne had heard Dustin pestering Steve about his chicken parmesan recipe last week (his mom has been sideways asking for Steve to bring it to dinner soon), he’d mentioned that it was a dish he enjoyed, and Steve had been happy to offer to bring some. Of course, he’d hoped Wayne and Eddie would both get to try it fresh, but as long as it gets eaten, it’s fine.

“So, you said you talked to Wayne about this last week, but I really can’t say I recall this conversation,” Eddie says.

“Dude, you were standing right there,” Steve tells him. “It was when he invited me in after I dropped the kids off for your game.”

Wayne is always the one to invite Steve in, if he happens to be around; Eddie tends to wave briefly from the doorstep, or only invite Steve in if it can’t be avoided.

Honestly, Steve has the feeling that Wayne likes him more than Eddie does.

Eddie blinks at him. “Wait, you were being serious?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Shit, I thought you were being sarcastic, or that it was a joke or something!”

“Why would I sarcastically offer to bring you and your uncle dinner?” Steve asks, baffled.

“Because you,” Eddie emphasizes with a little laugh, “do not cook.”

“O-kay, except clearly,” Steve pointedly taps the foil cover of the pan, “I do.”

“Since when?” Eddie scoffs.

“Since whe– I don’t know, a while!” Steve shrugs, throwing his hands up. “Since I was twelve or thirteen, I don’t know.”

“Uh huh,” Eddie says flatly.

“What,” Steve says back, just as flat.

“Just, I dunno. In my experience, guys like you don’t really cook.” Eddie shrugs.

Steve crosses his arms over his chest, cocking an eyebrow at Eddie. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, y’know, you play sports, you chase skirts, you don’t cook. Like, you’re rich, what do you even need to cook for?” Eddie insists, as if all of this should be perfectly clear.

Steve clenches his jaw, trying to keep a hold of his desire to snap right back. “I need to cook because I didn’t want to keep living off of boxed mac and cheese and takeout pizza when I was a kid,” he grits out. “Since I was kind of fending for myself–”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure that was real hard, up in that big house,” Eddie cuts in, rolling his eyes.

Steve loses his hold. “Okay, what the hell is your problem with me, Eddie?” he barks.

“Well right now, my problem is that you’re standing in my own kitchen, yelling at me,” Eddie snarks back.

“I brought you dinner! That’s literally all I came here to do!” Steve gestures sharply to the pan sitting on the counter. “And you’re basically throwing it in my face, man, so again: what the hell?”

“I didn’t ask you to bring me dinner. It isn’t my fault you can’t keep your days straight,” Eddie huffs.

“Okay, fuck you,” Steve snaps. “I’ve been trying and fucking trying to be nice, to be your friend–”

“And it’s been fucking weird! I didn’t ask you to be my friend, either!” Eddie says, his volume rising to match Steve’s.

“But I still don’t get what the hell I did to you!” Steve insists. “You’re acting like you’re waiting for me to snap and threaten you with a swirlie or some shit.”

“You know what? Kind of, yeah!” Eddie tosses his arms up.

The premise is so ridiculous that Steve actually lets out a laugh. Eddie doesn’t even crack a smile.

“You’re… serious,” Steve says slowly.

“Not about the swirlie specifically, but the basic concept, yeah.” Eddie crosses his arms over his chest, chin jutting forward defiantly.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Steve asks. “You think I’m still like that. You think I’d still– what happened to ‘actually a pretty good dude,’ huh?”

Eddie shrugs, looking for a moment satisfyingly uncomfortable. “Under certain circumstances, sure. And it’s nothing, like, personal, okay?” he says, and Steve wants to laugh again. “I just don’t really trust that anyone can really change that much.”

The admission—the verbalization of one of the ideas that Steve worries about the most—douses Steve like cold water, and he can’t help the venom that seeps into his tone as the chill sinks in.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck more could I possibly do to convince you? You think I stopped hanging out with all my old friends because – what, I got bored of them? Couldn’t possibly have been because I realized they were all turning into people that I didn’t want to be. Definitely not,” he sneers.

Eddie scoffs. “Bare minimum, congrats for not hanging out with douchebags anymore.”

“And you think I got the shit beat out of me more than once, why? Because I thought it was a cool thing to do? Because memory problems and migraines are all the fucking rage right now?” Steve presses. “Or do you think maybe it was because I got my priorities in order and put the safety of the people I care about at the goddamn top?”

That does give Eddie a moment of pause. “Okay, I didn’t know you had, like, memory shit–”

“Because I don’t talk about it,” Steve cuts in. “Because I don’t want the kids to feel bad if they get it into their heads that it happened because of them! Because, you know what? I like having them around! They’re huge pains in the ass, every single one of them, and I would actually fucking die for them. Does that sound very King Steve to you, Eddie?”

Eddie sets his jaw, arms still crossed in front of his chest. “Fine, but it’s not like you have a monopoly on getting yourself injured for their sake.”

“You’re right,” Steve says quietly. “You’re right, I don’t. And while you were in the hospital, and they were all worried about you, I drove them up there any time they asked. I had other shit to do, I had my own injuries, but I made sure they got there and they got to stay as long as they wanted.” It feels shitty, laying it out like that, like he’s trying to make himself sound good – it’ll probably only prove Eddie’s point, but Steve can’t think of any other way to make him see that Steve really has been trying. “I even got to talk to your uncle while you were unconscious, too, y’know? I mean, why do you think he keeps inviting me inside when you clearly don’t want me here?”

Eddie shrugs, silent in his frustrated uncertainty.

“I seriously don’t know what would convince you at this point. I’ve been trying to do better, I’ve been trying to be better. You told me that you care about Dustin’s opinion, and you told me what he thinks of me; your own uncle seems to like me just fine, but–” Steve sighs, running out of steam. “But fine. Don’t trust me. Don’t trust that I’ve changed, whatever, man. I can’t give a shit about this anymore.”

“Why did you decide to give a shit in the first place?” Eddie demands, looking a little lost. “Last I knew you, you wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with the likes of me, so what the hell changed your mind?”

“I fucking met you!” Steve snaps, finding some extra well of irritation to tap into. “Dustin and Mike and even Lucas have spent the last year talking about how goddamn cool you are, and how you stick up for them, and honestly? I hated it at first, but then I met you and I thought– maybe they know something I don’t, maybe they’re right about you being cool, because yeah, circumstances were shit, but… I thought the guy I got to know over those fucked up few days seemed kinda great. And then, talking to Wayne, listening to him talk about you, I thought – yeah, this guy seems cool. Like a genuinely good person, or something. Like someone I’d want to be friends with.”

It doesn’t seem like Eddie has anything to say to that, staring at Steve in quiet startlement, but Steve has no problem filling the silence.

“My mistake. Apparently, people really don’t change,” he says, and then he turns to leave.

He hears one low call of his name from behind him as he reaches the door, but he doesn’t turn back. He’s wasted enough energy over the years on people who don’t want him; he likes to think he’s finally learned when enough is enough.

#steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #azure7539arts #hurt/no comfort #just in case #listen I STRUGGLED WITH THIS ONE I'M SORRY #solar wrote #answers from solar

[jadewritesficshere]

Presenting

Alpha!Steve Harrington x reader

Synopsis: You present for first time as an omega

A/N: hello all! So I know there are many different types of A/B/O fics out there. Some people say ruts/heats happen once a year, once a month, twice a year, etc. There is some discussion on the exact private parts omegas vs alphas have.

Well, what I envision may be similar or completely different. This is my take. This is my fic. I have a whole lil world for this, and have a few mini blurbs/oneshots planned. This is the first, which I've struggled to have the courage to post since March. Also: reader and Steve are over 21 in this.

Enjoy.

Contents: mostly a bit of backstory on a/b/o dynamics, fluff, first presentation. Gender of Reader is not specified but Steve does call them Honey.

Steve opened the door to the house, grumbling as he juggled the groceries in his arms. He should have taken more then one trip, but with the light rain falling, he didn't want to stay out in the cold more then he had to. The door swung open into the unlit hallway. Steve wasn't surprised. Eddie was at work, and Robin had plans with Vickie. The only person he was unsure of was you, but you had been working nights and it wasn't unusual for you to be asleep at noon. What was unusual was the smell that hit Steve's nose. His nose twitched and he frowned as he tried to identify it, before shrugging it off and heading to the kitchen to put groceries away.

Steve grimaced as he looked in the fridge and saw the plastic container holding Eddie's lunch from last week. The lime green jello Robin had made wiggled as Steve reached past and grabbed the container. Without a second glance, Steve tossed it in the trash can and continued to empty the fridge of old food and replace it with the groceries he had bought. Steve hummed to himself as he thought about what he could make for supper.

A noise from the other room made Steve pause. It had sounded like one of the closet doors had come off their track again. You must have woken up and were getting changed. Steve's heart thumped a little extra at the thought of you, causing Steve to curse himself. He had tried to hide his feelings for you, not wanting to make the living situation awkward if you didn't reciprocate. Eddie gave him shit about how strong his scent was when you came near. Of course it wasn't intentional, biology and all that, but Steve couldn't be mad when it had deterred other Alphas from you. Steve just didn't want you to feel awkward, especially when he glared and growled. He didn't want you to think he was upset because of you. Steve wanted to shower you in love and affection, but you weren't his. You weren't anyone's. You were just you. Amazing, beautiful, talented you.

Robin and you were both Betas. As such, you could smell the scents from Omegas and Alphas, but it was no stronger then if you got close to a flower and sniffed or the spritz of cologne or perfume. Eddie was another alpha, but took suppressants (which he forgot to take half the time, causing his ruts to be a little more unpredictable...). Eddie confided in the group that he was going to stop taking suppressants after this next rut, but he had taken them for so long because he hadn't wanted to seem like an aggressive alpha like his father (who was currently facing life in prison). Steve's parents were both alphas, so it wasn't a surprise Steve was.

Presenting as an alpha or omega was strongly linked to genetics. Regardless of the parent presentation of alpha or omega, if one parent was and the other was a beta there was a possiblity. If both parents had presented, then it was extremely likely for the pup to present as well. There were, of course, cases of the pup not presenting and being a beta, but it was unlikely. Thanks to more modern technology, betas could reproduce with another beta. These pups had low chances of presenting, but was not impossible.

However with presenting were the stereotypes. Steve couldn't care less, agreeing with Robin that a lot of the archetypes were heavily influenced by societal norms of feminine versus masculine, and that there was nothing "wrong" with an alpha that wanted to be a housewife or an omega that wanted to be a CEO. Since the four of you living together, Steve has embraced the more "omega" traits he has, feeling more settled and free than when he had to live up to his parents expectations.

Steve remembers the day he presented, hearing his parent's praise. He then remembers being left to his own devices to try and figure it out by himself. At least they handed him a pamphlet and had stocked the kitchen. Steve learned a lot from that stupid pamphlet. You could present as young as 12 all the way to 25. The first day of your presentation, the genitalia would shape more to your presentation and your scent glands would come in. By the end of the second day, the genitalia would be formed to handle and work with the opposite presentation. By the third day, you would endure a typical rut or heat like you would for the rest of your life. Your first rut or heat would be unable to produce pups. The entire presentation would only last from 3-5 days.

Steve shook his head, wondering why thoughts of that stupid pamphlet had come to mind. Steve stretched as he closed the door to the fridge, the calendar catching his eye. Steve's plain black misspelled scrawl at the end of the month noted his rut would arrive. Robin's green handwriting beneath simply said "sucker" to which Eddie had replied "suck her amiright". Steve shook his head as a grin spread across his lips. Eddie's red haphazard scrawl was written on the next weekend with question marks, indicating his rut if he had taken the suppressants correctly. Your blue "good luck" beneath reminded Steve that Eddie was going to come off the suppressants (did he get a cake for that? Beer?).

Steve left the kitchen making an extra note to grab snacks that had higher nutrients and protein for their upcoming ruts. Steve paused in the hallway as the smell from earlier hit Steve again. It smelled like that honey body wash Robin and you were obsessed with, but also had a hint of something that was more familiar. It grew stronger as Steve walked further down the hall. Steve paused outside your open door and inhaled; the scent being extremely strong here. Steve's eyes widened as he realized that familiar scent was you. He had never smelled you this strongly before, what with Betas not really producing a strong scent.

Steve peered into the room, concerned something was wrong. He was wracking his brain trying to think of what could cause your scent to be this strong. Your walls were filled with Polaroids of your friends, posters of your favorite bands, and some paintings Robin had created. It wasn't as covered as Eddie's, but it showed your personality. The carpet had some clothes haphazardly strewn about, but overall you kept the room clean. Your bed, were Steve had expected to find you after your shift, was empty. Your pillow was gone, which was odd, but maybe it had fallen off from your tossing and turning. Steve blinked a few times before pushing the door open more and leaning in. Your room was definitely empty. Your closet was open, stuffed to the brim with clothes. He could see your desk in the far corner of the room was not being sat at.

Steve frowned to himself and looked at the shut door opposite your room, the bathroom. Oh...You must have gone to the bathroom. Steve went to knock before pausing, he didn't want to interrupt you if you were busy (he knows how much you and Robin hate getting interrupted when in the bathroom, regardless of what you are doing). Steve shrugs and continues leisurely to the next door, his room. He throws open the door without a care-

And nearly keels over. The scent was overpowering here, which confused Steve as he thought it had been you. A whimper from the closet made Steve's head snap in that direction. The closet was closed, but uneven; the door was off the track and barely hanging on. Steve crept to the door and opened it, gasping.

You were curled into the fetal position on his closet floor. On top of his clothes, hangers bare above you. You had pulled his jacket on top of you, and were laying in a pile. Your head laying on your "missing" pillow. The polo he had worn yesterday was clutched in your hands, held close to your face that was scrunched up in discomfort. Steve stood there, jaw wide open, as he tried to understand what his eyes were seeing. He cleared his throat, causing your eyes to snap open. "Stevie?" You whisper, peering up at him with glassy eyes. Steve crouched down to be on your level as you shift to sit up from laying down.

"What's going on?" Steve finally asks, feeling like the biggest idiot. His brain screaming the answer at him, but he couldn't believe it. His brain bringing that pamphlet back to his mind with fanfare. He had to hear you say it he-

"I dont know!" Your voice cracked and your chin wavered, tears filling your eyes. "I dont feel right and i couldnt get comfortable and all I could think of was you and i came in here and it felt right but everything was too much so the closet was perfect and i just i dont-" your rambling continued as you started crying, barely able to speak as sobs overcome you. The scent rolling off you shifted, indicating your distress. Steve's eyes widen and he drew you into his arms," hey, hey. It's okay. It'll be okay." You relax into his arms, nose tucked into the crook of his neck.

Steve feels your body shudder as your cries slow, inhaling slowly at his scent gland. The trill you let out shocking you and confirming Steve's thoughts. Steve hesitantly runs his hand up and down your spine in a comforting motion. "Honey...you're presenting. You're, " Steve clears his throat," you're an Omega." You shake your head "no" against his neck. "You can present until you're 25. Hell, I think the oldest person they know of was 40. It isn't an exact science-" Steve pauses, realizing Robin must be rubbing off on him as he's rambling.

Steve leans his back against the wall and shifts you around so you are between his legs. You are curled into his chest, nose still firmly pressed against his neck. Your tears have gone. Your scent is overpowering to Steve, completely entrancing him. A hint of spice, like nutmeg, mixed with that honey bodywash. Steve finds it ironic that he calls you Honey and here you are smelling so strong of it.

"I'm presenting," you mumble pulling back to look in Steve's eyes. "How will that work?" Steve hesitates, mouth opening slightly, before you cover his mouth with your hand," I don't mean like how omegas work. I get that. I guess...with like you and Eddie." You slowly lower your hand," I don't want to cause an issue."

"You won't." Steve says definitively, "Eddie always says he's married to rock and roll. We've never been the type to fight over territory. This is his house but it's also mine. We're all in a pack and we are all equal." "Even if I'm less tha-" "hey!" Steve's brow furrows and he holds your face in his hands," You are not less than. Anyone who thinks omegas are less than are idiots. You are not less than an alpha, and anyone who believes that bullshit needs some sense knocked into them."

You bite your lip but nod. "It's the first day right?" Steve asks, wondering if it's crossing a line. It is highly personal when an omega goes into heat. You don't seem to care, nodding your agreement. "Well, then today will be the easiest day. We can get a game plan set up tonight when Robin and Eddie come home. Get you some blankets and pillows. Get you snacks."

Steve shifts in his spot and your hands dart out and grab his biceps, "Don't leave!" Steve smiles softly at you," I won't. Not right now. Come here." Steve holds his arms open again for you. You slowly lean in and let him envelope you in his hold. Secure. Warm. Feeling entirely safe in his arms, you drift off to sleep. Steve can feel his heart bursting with love for you. A part of him knows that if you sought him out, you cared somewhat for him. But the other part screamed at him how he couldn't tell you his feelings yet. He didn't want you to feel like he was taking advantage of your new presentation.

So for now, he would be content with just sitting and holding you. Safe. Secure. Warm.

#The first of many lil fics but I wanted a basis of this world so that is why this is so descriptive #The next won't be #And yes there is no smut in this one but there will be in future ones but cmon you just learned life changing news #And your parts are still presenting as I wrote so #Is this the best NO but its a glimpse of what's to come #This has just been sitting here and I've had 0 guts to post so I said screw it I'll post it and then just continue with the universe #A/B/O dynamics #Alpha!Steve Harrington #Alpha!Steve Harrington x reader #Steve Harrington x reader #Steve Harrington x you #Steve Harrington x y/n #Steve Harrington/reader #Steve Harrington/you #Stranger things #Jade is Talking

[transvampireboyfriend]

The obnoxious ringing of their phone fills the trailer and snaps Eddie out of his repetitive strumming.

He's been trying to learn one of his newest favorite songs for, (he looks at the clock; damn, eleven already,) like three hours now.

Eddie gets up from the couch, grumbling about who the fuck is calling them, Wayne left for work some hours ago, but he almost never calls during his shift.

He reaches the phone stuck to one of their kitchen walls and brings the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he greets.

"Eddie!" Steve's voice says on the other end of the line, his tone surprised like he didn't expect him to pick up.

Eddie feels a smile tug at his lips.

"Heeeey Steve-o!" Eddie greets him "what can I do for ya this time a' night?"

"Shoot! Right, sorry. Did I wake you?" Steve asks. Eddie snickers.

"Nah, man. It's cool." Eddie tells him, grabbing a forgotten bag of twizzlers off the counter to start chewing on one of the treats.

"I know you have a lot of teenage friends," Eddie adds around the twizzler now in his mouth, "but most young adults go to bed at like- midnight. Even later on a Friday night." he finishes.

Steve scoffs at "young adults" and Eddie can practically hear him rolling his eyes.

He's still a little surprised he can tease Steve Harrington. It took many many movie nights for Eddie to fully join in on that. Though he still hesitates sometimes, he thinks the kids can take it a bit too far.

"Whatever," Steve dismisses, his smile shining even through the phone lines "I just called to tell you Rob's not working tomorrow, so she won't be able to meet for breakfast" Steve's smile sounds like it fades a little in that sentence.

Eddie stops chewing.

They've been having breakfast together every Tuesday and Saturday, the days Steve and Robin work the morning shift together at Family Video.

Sometimes a couple of the kids will join, sometimes Robin's friends will join, or Nancy, even Garrett or Jeff or Freak; they all know they can find Eddie, Robin and Steve on those days at the diner so it's become their unofficial hangout spot, at least before 9am.

And Eddie's had breakfast with just Robbie before, or Nance, or one of his friends, but never with just Steve.

Steve is a bit of an enigma to Eddie.

Over a really short period of time Eddie had found out Steve's a local hero extraordinaire, that he's totally metal and also that he is a little bit dorky and has an absolutely terrible love life.

And if that wasn't surprising enough, it turns out Steve also isn't totally averse to Eddie, and that sure was surprising.

But Steve is a little awkward around Eddie sometimes. Like he's afraid Eddie will judge him or something; which, is preposterous, Eddie's the queer nerd, what would he have to judge Steve for? Especially now that he's technically no longer a jock. Plus, he had a huge role in saving Eddie's life, it's not like Eddie would forget that.

But he still finds Steve staring at him in the middle of movie nights only to avert his eyes when Eddie turns to him, or Steve'll laugh a little too hard at Eddie's observation like he's overcompensating, or Eddie will feel a little self conscious of his greasy tank and coveralls when Steve's eyes widen at the sight (it's not his fault his job's so messy).

So, he never really hangs with just Steve, not because he's made it so, but rather, it's just never happened and Eddie hasn't actively tried to make it happen because, well, it's a little weird.

In fact, Eddie's fairly certain Steve also works Thursday mornings because he's seen him having breakfast at the diner with Dustin or on his own when Eddie goes by on his way to the auto shop.

Eddie does work mornings most days except for Sunday and Monday since those are his free days. It's very rare that Frank calls to tell him he'll need Eddie in the afternoon shift instead, so technically, Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner any day.

Eddie could be having breakfast at the diner with Steve on Thursdays.

Except?

He's not gonna invite himself is he?

It also doesn't help that Eddie has an embarrassingly huge crush on the guy, so he can never tell if Steve's actually being weird or if Eddie's just paying too much attention to him.

He really can't help himself, the guy's everything Eddie finds attractive in a person and on top of that he's fucking gorgeous. It's frankly unfair, if you ask him.

All those years in high school, hating Steve in the worst of cases or ignoring him in the best, had been pretty easy. Partly because of his good looks, mostly because of the company he kept. But now that Steve surrounds himself with his found family? Now that he laughs freely and fails fearlessly and gives so easily? Eddie does not stand a chance.

So really, it's probably for the best that they don't hang out on their own.

Eddie puts down his twizzler, mentally readying himself to start doing meal prep because Steve for sure called to cancel.

"...ssso if you wanna cancel–" Steve says, there's a muffled thump on the other end of the line, but Eddie pays it no mind, tries to play it cool.

"I mean that's–. Whatever you want." he stammers.

God, Eddie thinks, rolling his eyes at himself, he really could not be cooler.

"I um," Steve inhales sharply then "I'm probably still gonna have breakfast there," he says, "I'm not– I'm no good in the kitchen" he laughs casually.

Eddie huffs, reluctantly charmed.

"So if you wanna join" Steve adds hesitantly, "well, you're always welcome"

"ialsohateeatingalone" Steve adds, almost as an afterthought.

See? He's a little weird.

Not that that makes him any less attractive; on the contrary, it's endearing,

"Alright, cool." Eddie chuckles now, "Sounds good. I honestly don't wanna cook myself anything so you're practically doing me a favor." he says, then waits for a bit, in case Steve really needs an out; he picks his twizzler back up to start chewing on it again.

When Steve doesn't take the out, Eddie teases him again,

"Tell ya what, I'll teach you how to cook breakfast sometime" Eddie says around his treat, just to get on Steve's nerves a bit, but also pitifully hoping his offer would ever be accepted.

"I know how to cook breakfast, Eddie," Steve protests.

"You just said you're no good in the kitchen!" Eddie shoots back, enjoying the sound of Steve's answering laugh from the other end of the line.

"Ok fine!" Steve says, his smile back in his voice, "You'll teach me some day, whatever." he concedes.

Eddie's fairly certain his eyes could not get bigger and his cheeks could not get redder.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Steve asks.

Heart hammering in his chest, Eddie nods.

Steve can't see him.

"Mmhm." Eddie hurries to amend, "See you tomorrow, Stevie," he says.

Eddie feels butterflies fluttering in his stomach with Steve's parting 'see you' before the line goes dead.

#steddie #steddie headcanon #steddie fanfic #im kinda sad that i haven't shared any headcanons or anything about them in a while so here #have a bit from one of my wips #stranger things #Eddie is so oblivious here i love him so much. my dumb lil meow meow #also the thump when Steve asks if Eds wants to cancel is him banging his head against the wall for losing his courage #bc the plan was to just straight up invite Eddie or even act as if Eddie would for sure come even if it was just the two of them #Steve is also oblivious<3 #this is the breakfast date option of that one poll if you remember #.

[strangerthingsn]

Eddie Munson x reader.

Just some fluff.

You were ice skating at some place with winter vibes, nice drinks, music and some other shit. You were alone, you didn’t really wanna go with anybody, you just wanted to be alone. When you were still a kid you used to ice skate around Christmas every year, so you wouldn’t say you never did it but you weren’t good either.

You sit on the side putting your white cute ice skates on, you made sure they were tight around your feed and they sat comfy. When you did you get up and you just started skating. It was very busy so you had to watch out you wouldn’t bumb into anyone.

Once you skated around a bit and you got used to everything you started to make some pirouettes. It all went well until you bumped into anyone, you both fell on the ground and you landed on the person.

“O fuck, sorry” you try to get up meeting the gaze of a pretty guy with long hair and brown eyes.

“My fault” he gets up first and holds his hand out for you. You grabbed his hand and you got up.

“No it was mine, I should have known that wasn’t a good idea when it’s so busy hire” yeah you definitely were in pain, and no you didn’t mind because the butterflies in your belly felt stronger.

“Oh, you’re bleeding on your lip and finger” he looks at you. “Shit come” he helps you off the ice and sets you down in a chair.

“You don’t have to”

“It was my fault” he sits on the ground changing his ice skates into his crusty reeboks. “Let me get some stuff for you, I will be right back”

“Uh, okay” what a gentleman. why was he so nice, it was obviously your fault. You started taking your ice skates off too, it wasn’t easy with hurting hands but it worked.

About 5 minutes later he came back with hot chocolate milk, bandages and some ice. He puts it down on the table and sits next to you.

“You can hold the ice on your lip” he smiles. “Give me your hand” he reaches for your hand and you just give it. You grab the ice and hold it against your lip. He cleans the wound and puts a bandage on after, he did everything so carefully.

“What’s your name?” You dared to ask.

“It’s Eddie, what’s yours?” He smiles letting your hand go.

“It’s y/n”

“Pretty name, fits you darling”you blush for his comment, then suddenly you realize something.

“shit, are you hurt by the way? I totally forgot to ask” you look at him.

“no, not at all” he shakes his head no.

“You felt pretty hard on your back tho..”

“Yeah, but I’m fine” Eddie smiles. “So.. do you live hire in Hawkins”

“Yeah my whole life” you nod taking a sip of the hot chocolate milk. “You?”

“yes but not my whole life, I come from New York but my dad was a criminal then my mom died so I live hire with my uncle since I’m 6” you ha detonation your jaw from dropping open.

“your mom died?” You look worried. “How old where you?”

“I’m not sure but sadly I don’t remember much of her anymore” he shrugs his shoulders.

“so, is your uncle nice to you?”

“yes, I can like- do whatever I want had he works overnight mostly.” Eddie smiles.

“That’s good, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty and-“ a brunette guy interrupted your talk.

“Eddie come we should go home Robin will be there soon”

“I will be right there Steve let me get my stuff” Eddie looks annoyed.

“okay but hurry please” Steve walks off.

“i-.. uh gotta go, im sorry” He shrugs.

“it’s fine, let me-“ you grab your purse out of your bag.

“don’t you dare” Eddie chuckles.

“for the chocolate milk” you look through the money “how many was it?”

“If you really wanna pay is your number enough” you already hoped he would say that.

“you got a pen?” You grin putting your purse back.

“here” Eddie gives a pen and lays his hand on the table.

“on your hand?”

“yes” Eddie nods.

“Alright” you smile writing your phone number on his hand.

“I’ll call you tonight, yeah?” Eddie says after you finish.

“okay” you smile.

“bye sweetheart” he grabs his stuff and wavesz

“bye bye” you wave back and you watch him walk out.

The fall definitely happened for a reason.

#eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x reader #ice skating #everything happens for a reason

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

Steddie Flower Shop / Tattoo Parlor AU

Thanks everyone for the continued warm reactions! I love hearing what you guys are thinking so feel free to reach out!

Part One I Part Two I Part Three I Part Four I Part Five I Also on AO3!

The first month celebration seemed to open the floodgates on Team Tattoos and Team Flowers (as Robin affectionately named their now fairly active group chat) seeing each other outside of work. It wasn’t always all four of them but Steve would start bringing over lunch to eat with Eddie when he picked up his order or Robin would stop by with coffees after doing a run. Chrissy would go over to the tattoo parlor when she needed a break from heavy metal while doing bank reconciliations. 

Steve was in the studio alone on a no client day to get some sketching done and other small things around the shop. Robin had elected to avoid the winter weather and stay at their apartment. 

“Hello! I come bearing lunch!” Eddie called out as he swung open the door. 

After his first formal visit to the tattoo parlor, Eddie had gotten more comfortable waltzing in when the shop was slow. Steve was happy to see Eddie more as he slowly wore down the stubborn metalhead. Robin had started dropping some pretty heavy hints that Steve should just go for it and ask Eddie out but Steve wasn’t quite sure he was ready. As much as Steve was learning Eddie was different, he reminded Steve of the counterculture guys at some of his old studios. Steve couldn’t quite shake his insecurity that Eddie still thought he didn’t have any business running a tattoo parlor. Of course this didn’t stop Steve from becoming more and more obsessed with the man as they became something approximating friends. They even started giving each other small tokens. Eddie would find some cool rock or a weird stamp or something equally random and leave them on the reception desk when he stopped by to rap his knuckles on the desk and tell Steve whatever important fact he’d learned that he “couldn’t possibly just share via text, Steve, the delivery is half of the point.” Steve would always laugh, shake his head, and get back to whatever he was working on before Eddie burst through the door.

After Steve had amassed quite a collection of Eddie’s found treasures, Steve felt like he needed to reciprocate. Eddie had told Steve about his collection of heavy metal tapes for the De Lucas’ van so the next time Robin dragged Steve to a thrift store he scoured the tape offerings for something that he could give Eddie. After sifting through the options for so long that even Robin had gotten bored of shopping, Steve decided on Voices from Hall & Oates. It was just cheesy enough he could play it off as a joke if Eddie made fun of it but it also had some absolute classics Steve loved. And if they happened to be love songs, well, the 80s were a love song filled decade, it couldn’t be helped.

“Munson! Welcome!” Steve called as he walked out of the back office. “Whatcha got for me?”

Eddie situated himself on the couch that he continued to insist he hated and Steve sat in one of the nearby armchairs and started setting out food. 

“Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, Steve-o!” Eddie said as he stooped into a low bow and spread out his arms to show off the offerings on the coffee table.

“This is so good, holy shit,” Steve said as he started wolfing down the sandwich. He should probably work on his table manners but hopefully Eddie didn’t mind. “Where’d you get this, dude?”

“Oh, uh, I made it,” Eddie looked a little embarrassed to admit it.

“Seriously, dude? Unfair,” Steve said.

“Unfair, why?” Eddie asked.

“Well you have the whole flower thing and you’re good at cooking? That’s like a whole first date package, man,” Steve’s mouth moved quicker than his brain could tell him to shut up and run into the nearest snow bank. “Not that, that’s, I mean–”

“Thanks, I think?” Eddie cut Steve off. “I owed you one.”

“Oh wait! That reminds me, stay here.” Steve ran off to the back room to pick up the cassette tape. “I got you this, if you ever feel like diversifying the van’s musical options.”

“You got me a tape?” Eddie looked skeptical. Steve couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or not.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not a big deal, but it’s Hall & Oates. I play them a lot at the shop. They’re kind of chill and I figured maybe if you ever wanted a change of pace, or whatever.”

“Steve, I know who Hall & Oates are.”

“And you hate them. Listen, it was a silly idea,” Steve said as he went to grab the tape back from Eddie.

“Nope, you already gave it to me, no take backs!” Eddie said as he jolted upright and nearly sprinted across the street. Steve was left a little aghast as he went back to the tomato soup Eddie had apparently made him. This was getting out of hand.

The next day Steve got to his studio and saw a square package waiting on the stoop.

Payback, Harrington. – EM

Steve opened the package to find a Led Zeppelin record. He knew he’d heard the name before but other than that he didn’t recognize it. It had a picture with what looked like an explosion and some historical photo.

“What’s that, Steve?” Robin asked as she walked in.

“Oh I guess Eddie left it?” Steve said and flipped the album around to show Robin.

“Ooooo, Eddie, huh?” Robin teased and wiggled her eyebrows. “Oh, get the Led out. Rad.”

“What?” Steve had no idea what Robin said.

“Get the Led out? Led Zeppellin? The band whose record you’re holding?” 

“None of that means anything to me, Robin.”

“You’re such a square, Harrington.”

Steve elbowed Robin but went to put the record on. “I guess it’s good to have some emergency rock?” Steve joked. He wasn’t sure what he thought about the band as the record started spinning.

“You’re ridiculous. You’ll have to set it off to the side so someone doesn’t put it on while you’re in the middle of a tattoo and scare you out of your trance,” Robin said. 

She told Steve that sometimes he seemed so fully wrapped up in his work that she would get nervous that he’d spook at any sudden or unexpected noise. He knew she was fully kidding but Steve decided it would be a funny gag to get a frame to put the record in. He used some of the window paints Robin had got for the studio windows to scribble “Warning! Don’t let the Led out!” Robin thought it was the corniest thing she’d ever seen. That didn’t matter once Eddie saw it and laughed for a full thirty seconds.

Eddie started coming to visit Steve when De Lucas’ closed up and Chrissy left for the day. Steve noticed Eddie picked days where Steve didn’t have afternoon clients and was mostly just sketching and doing shop maintenance stuff. Sometimes Eddie would bring Steve coffee or a snack and other times Eddie would just bring over a book and read on the couch while Steve worked. Steve started joining him on the couch and Eddie would read out loud while Steve sketched. Those were Steve’s favorite days.

“Great engines crawled across the field; and in the midst was a huge ram, great as a forest-tree a hundred feet in length, swinging on mighty chains. Long had it been forging in the dark smithies of Mordor, and its hideous head, founded of black steel,” Eddie was reading while Steve was snuggled into the other arm of the couch working on his iPad.

“Oh! Mordor! I know this–it’s in that song from that band’s record you gave me!” Steve interrupted.

“Holy shit, you actually listened to it before you put the album in jail?” Eddie 

“Of course, dude! Sorry I’m not much of a reader, what book is this?” Steve answered.

“It’s Lord of the Rings, it’s a pretty classic fantasy book,” Eddie looked over at Steve. “There’s actually a decent movie adaptation if you ever want to have movie night.”

“Oh, yeah, I think Robin likes that movie, it has elves, right?” 

“Yes, Steve, there are elves,” Eddie laughed.

“Sounds fun!” Steve stretched out and kicked Eddie’s thigh accidentally. Eddie reached over and pulled Steve’s feet onto his lap, placed his book back on Steve’s shins. Eddie snuggled back into the couch and Steve stifled a laugh. “I don’t think you’re allowed to make fun of this couch anymore, dude.”

“It’s still obnoxious even if it also happens to be unfairly comfortable. Do you want me to keep reading or do you want me to stop so I don’t spoil it? I honestly kind of thought you weren’t paying attention,” Eddie said.

“Keep reading. I’m enjoying it.”

“Alright Stevie,” Eddie responded. “founded of black steel, was shaped in the likeness of a ravening wolf; on it spells of ruin lay.” Steve listened to the familiar timbre of Eddie’s voice and settled back into his work.

“Hey, Eds,” Steve started as he finished up his work. “Have you ever thought about getting, like, an actual tattoo?”

“What do you mean?” Eddie shut his book and pushed Steve’s legs off his lap.

“You know like the kind of stuff I work on? Hang on, I don’t think I’m explaining this very well. Let me show you.” Steve could tell something was off. He knew his work wasn’t Eddie’s style but he kind of couldn’t stop thinking about tattooing Eddie. Steve thought Eddie was absolutely breathtaking and he wanted to give him something equally pretty. Steve hadn’t realized it at the time but he was absolutely thinking of Eddie everytime he sketched one of the bouquets he brought over. He flipped through his iPad and found the drawing he was working on of the bouquet Eddie had made for their one month anniversary. “Something like this? Maybe? I dunno.”

“What is this?”

“It’s just a sketch I did of one of the bouquets I picked up? The one from the day we went to the Hideout?” Steve explained.

Eddie took a closer look at the sketch and Steve couldn’t read the expression on his face. “Oh shoot, is that the time? I gotta get back to my side of the street.” Eddie abruptly stood and walked out, leaving Steve to wrack his brain as to how he fucked it up this time.

Steve was confused. He didn’t know what he did to make Eddie leave. His face was hot and he felt tears well up in his eyes. He’d thought Eddie was different. That he was at least starting to understand Steve. He must have missed something. Obviously, Eddie, with all his metal tattoos, was absolutely not the kind of guy who was into floral tattoos and in fact maybe judged Steve for his style. It was probably stupid to offer to tattoo him. Steve never did that. Robin bugged him as soon as he started tattooing clients until he had to explain that he just couldn’t. He didn’t want to mess up and have someone he was actually close to hate something that was relatively permanent. He knew it was sort of a weird hang up for a tattoo artist but he couldn’t get past his mental block. That was until he met Eddie. Something about Eddie and his flowers had so captivated Steve.

Steve closed up his shop on autopilot. He put everything away for the night and locked up trying to put the metalhead across the street out of his mind. He kept his head down as he walked out to avoid seeing De Lucas’ and Eddie’s stupid van. He managed to mostly keep himself together on the L until he got home. Thankfully Robin wasn’t home yet so Steve pulled on his softest sweatshirt and rolled himself into a tight blanket cocoon and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

***

Part 7 now available here!

Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from the tag list! I’m sorry for the angst! I promise there’s a happy ending coming!

Also if you’re enjoying my writing I have a Warped Tour AU up on my AO3 if you’re interest! It’s available here.

Taglist: @a-little-unsteddie @maya-custodios-dionach @eboyawstenn @swimmingbirdrunningrock @sadcanadianwinter @thehumblefigtree @throwbackthrowaway @micheledawn1975 @blisschaoss @vecnuthy @grimmfitzz @spectrum-spectre @croatoan-like-its-hot @momotonescreaming @beckkthewreck @korixae @citrus-owl @baron-zemo-trash @sleepdeprivedflower @nuagedemots @lololol-1234 @books-and-current-obsessions @acrolius @mightbeasleep @vi-an-te @gregre369 @i-must-potato @vampireinthesun @steveisabicon @child-of-cthulhu

#my fic post #steddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #tattoo parlor / flower shop au #tattoo artist steve #florist eddie