I'd Know Those Doe Eyes Anywhere
For @steddieholidaydrabbles warm up prompt: High School/College AU
Rating: G
CWs: Implied/Referenced Transphobia
Tags: College au, Trans Steve Harrington, Coming Out, First Kiss, Bisexual Eddie Munson, Halloween Parties
~♡~
Stevie had taken a few necessary years between high school graduation to finally starting her college education.
She used that time to save up some money through her minimum wage customer service jobs that she worked alongside her best friend and platonic soulmate, Robin Buckley.
With the money she squirrelled away in a savings account combined with the trust left to her by her grandparents, she finally moved out of Hawkins and into a small apartment in Indianapolis. With Robin as her roommate, obviously.
Now out from under her parents' thumbs, away from the watchful gaze that followed her everywhere in places where everyone knew each other, Stevie felt free to finally be herself in the anonymity of the big city.
And now that she'd fully made the social transition, and with her physical transition was under way, she felt that it was finally time to return to the world of academia. For better or for worse.
What she was not expecting was to run into an all too familiar face. Stevie couldn't recall exactly when Eddie Munson finally graduated from Hawkins High, but clearly he must have, or he wouldn't be squinting at her from the back of the class every Monday morning.
It would unnerve her if she thought he recognized her, but between the 'hot girl makeover' (Robin's words) and the fact that she'd changed her last name to her grandmother's name, she was fairly confident that he didn't know who Stevie Evelyn Marie even was.
Eddie didn't know what it was about that Stevie girl in his English class, but he showed up to his classes on Monday more often than any others before 12pm through the rest of the week.
Regardless of what was nagging at the back of his mind about her, Stevie was pretty. He still tended to lean more towards men than women, but he had eyes, and Stevie was easy to look at. She was shy and soft spoken, but she seemed to know the curriculum well and answered every question asked of her thoroughly and thoughtfully, but worded it in a way that even the dumbest of jocks could understand.
The thought of jocks had Steve Harrington coming to mind, and holy shit that's what it was! She looked like the spitting image of King Steve. If The Hair was a girl, he'd be Stevie Marie. But what if? No, it couldn't be. Unless? Steve did, famously, skip town with Robin Buckley of all people, and has yet to make a reappearance. Was this why? Not that he could blame them for leaving either way, Hawkins was a hell hole that he'd been more than happy to leave in his rear view.
Stevie hadn't planned on coming to the campus halloween, but now that she was here, she didn't want to be anywhere else. With Robin as her plus one, she felt confident enough to flirt with a few of her classmates, even going so far as to wink when she'd made eye contact with Eddie from across the room.
The next moment he was standing beside her, and just like that they were laughing and chatting like old school friends catching up and talking with a familiarity hitherto unknown (yes, hitherto, Stevie knew her vocab words).
So of course with everything going so well, Stevie's brain had to betray her. She could see Eddie lean in to kiss her and before she could think about it she was pushing him away with a muttered 'sorry' and rushing off to the nearest bathroom.
"Stevie? Are you in there?" Eddie called out before cautiously stepping into the communal bathroom. "Stevie, if this is about what I think it is, then you should know that I don't care what gender you are." Oh god, Eddie knew! How did he know? He knew he should've picked a different first name, damn Robin for reassuring him that Stevie was fine. "But if this is about something else then you need to tell me, okay? I can't fix it if I don't know what I did wrong."
That finally broke through the panic spiral. "Re-really?" She spoke hesitantly, unlocking the door and poking her head out from the stall she'd run to. Eddie's worried face greeted her in the main area of the bathroom near the sinks. "D'you really mean it? About the-" she paused to take a breath- "the gender thing?"
Eddie's face softened instantly, cautiously walking forwards as he spoke, "yeah, baby. I'd know those doe eyes anywhere, on the face of the sporty boy who made me face my own bisexuality, or the kindest and most well spoken young woman in the whole damn college."
"You recognized me by my eyes?" Stevie asked, leaning in to the touch as Eddie's hands came out to hold her face.
"How else would I recognize such beauty, darling?" He asked, a kind smile gracing his face. Stevie wanted to kiss that sweet smile right off his handsome face, and before she knew what she was doing, she'd pulled him in to do just that.
"Finally!" Robin called out, startling the pair out of their kiss, both turning to look at her before they all burst out in laughter.
Yeah, Stevie was glad she decided to wait a while before entering college.
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