#the type of queerness of each character is kept purposefully vague so it can be whatever you headcanon

[harpsthings]

Modern AU where Dustin is a teenage youtuber who decides to do a stream marathon playing insanely old video games to raise money for a charity for  LGBTQ+ youth Nancy and Robin had started about a year back. 

He does it out of spite because well known internet radical douchebag known by his internet handle Vecna keeps trying to ruin the charity. 

Dustin doesn’t expect it to raise more than a few thousand because, while some of his videos had popped off, he wasn’t nearly famous enough to do as much as he wanted. He keeps going anyways because any money is good money. 

His legal guardian Steve keeps popping in and out to check on him and bring him snacks despite Dustin telling him not to. His presence quickly becomes a meme among his viewers and helps boost Dustin’s viewership and donations a bit.

Realizing this, Dustin drags Steve in to join him. At first Steve is annoyed, but when he realizes what Dustin is doing this for he is all for it. They end up switching off the controller all the while talking about the struggles of being queer, especially in a small town. Steve also talks about his efforts to adopt another queer kid he has been looking after (Max) and how much of a struggle the system is.

A clip of Steve and Dustin tearing up about becoming each other’s family, especially when Steve never had one who accepted him ends up leaving the circle of people in the know on Twitter and gets roasted by a queerphobic troll.

Dustin sees this and gets angry on Steve’s behalf (despite Steve telling him not to pay attention to that stuff), but while he’s scrolling he sees that the guy was ratio’d, absolutely destroyed, by a verified user.

That user? The famous openly queer rockstar and advocate Eddie Munson.

Dustin is hyped and sees this as his chance to get the stream more traction. While Steve is yelling at Donkey Kong, Dustin publicly invites Eddie on the stream.

To Dustin’s delight, Eddie replies almost instantaneously with a resounding yes. They work on setting him up and Eddie promotes the stream. Once he’s in the views and donations quickly get out of control.

Steve, who had been paying attention solely to Donkey Kong, is in shock when he hears his old classmate (and longtime hopeless crush) Eddie Munson over the call and sees his face on Dustin’s second monitor. Eddie greets him with a warm “Hey, Stevie” and Steve’s resulting expression becomes an instant classic gif.

Dustin asks how they know each other and Steve stutters through an answer that sounds vaguely like “I was a douche to him in high school but he’s always been super cool sorry Eddie for being a douche in high school”. Eddie replies that it’s water under the bridge and that he’s glad Steve seems to be more comfortable in his own skin now.

For the first little while, it’s mostly Dustin interviewing Eddie and them both cheering when they break goal after goal while Steve grits his teeth through Super Mario, interjecting when he has time to breathe.

But soon Dustin gets exhausted and Steve forces him to sleep. Dustin only does once Steve promises not to mess anything up and Eddie promises to stay. When Dustin leaves and he and Steve exchange “I love you”s the whole audience descends into “awwws” and screeches. No matter what happens after this, Steve and Dustin are now internet famous brothers.

Once Dustin is asleep, Steve and Eddie decide to play a casual multiplayer game and just chat. What starts off as casual flirting quickly turns into a deep emotional discussion about how their lives have gone and how they’ve changed as people. 

Eddie admits that he used to have a crush on Steve in high school but he likes how Steve is now a lot better. Steve breaks down at that, from the exhaustion and emotion, saying that he hated himself as a teenager and how he wants to make the world safer for people like Dustin, especially from people like him. 

Eddie tells him that he was never an evil person, just a scared kid, and that he can see that Steve is making the world better already, just from the way he interacts with Dustin and the kind of advice he gives to the chat. Steve laughs wetly through his tears and says he probably needs a break.

They get in contact with Robin and Nancy and set them up on stream so Steve and Eddie can take a break. Robin and Nancy are ecstatic about all the donations they are getting and answer chat questions about themselves and their charity. They also invite other queer creators and members of the audience to come on stream, chat, and promote their own charities and fundraisers.

Eddie ends up calling Steve while they are on break and they have a soft conversation until Steve falls asleep. Steve thanks Eddie for helping Dustin and the charity and Eddie responds that in these short few hours they’ve helped him just as much, sweetheart.

The last thing Steve mumbles out is that his crush on Eddie never stopped. On the other side of the country, Eddie is blinking at his phone as he processes what Steve said. Once he does, a grin spreads across his face and he makes a promise to himself to not let this chance go.

Steve wakes abruptly a few hours later to Dustin and Max’s incoherent screams. He grabs his nail bat and runs into the office where Dustin usually streams, prepared for anything. He once more becomes a classic gif, his messed up hair and crazed expression (not to mention his fucking nail bat, who has a nail bat?) reposted endlessly.

He is simultaneously relieved and annoyed that they were only screaming about the amount of donations they’ve gotten for the charity. Steve grumbles and drops the bat as the voices of Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Argyle, and Eddie greet him from the computer. He loudly says that he’s going to go shower and marches out.

While he’s in the shower, Steve remembers what he said to Eddie the night prior. The resulting “FUCKING SHIT” can be heard over the stream. When he gets back to the room and sits behind his kids, hair perfectly coiffed, he says that he simply slipped in the shower. No one believes him.

The stream continues for hours until the only ones left are Eddie, Steve, Max, and Dustin. They’re beginning to wind things down when Max loudly sighs at Eddie and Steve’s heart eyes and flirtations, remarking that they had either “ask each other out or stop making her sick”.

Steve flushes and fails to stutter out an answer, but Eddie (a little rosy himself) scoffs that he “was going to do it away from prying eyes, Red, but if you insist...”

“Steve Harrington, would you to me the honor of going on a date with me?”

“Wh- I- Uh- Aren’t you thousands of miles away right now?”

“Actually, I already bought plane tickets.”

“You don’t have a private jet?”

“They’re terrible for the environment, Red, of course I don’t. Anyways, I don’t want to pressure you in front of all these people, Stevie, but I lied earlier.”

“You lied?”

“I said I used to have a crush on you, but it never really went away. Honestly, it’s gotten a helluva lot stronger in the past 48 hours, sweetheart, but say the word and I’ll never bug you about it again.”

“No! No, I don’t want that, Eds. Please bug me about it. All the time, if you want, cause I’ve got a crush on you, too.”

“So you’re saying I don’t have to refund these tickets?”

“I’m saying you’d better not, or I’ll put your old yearbook photos online.”

“Oh, the horror! Guess that means I have to come visit.”

“Guess that means you have to stay- I mean- You don’t have to. You’re a super famous rockstar and you’re super busy-”

“The band’s not touring right now and I think I need a change of scenery to help me focus on my solo stuff.”

“Just say it, Eddie!”

“Shhh, Max, this is getting us a ton of donos.”

“I’m taking that as you giving me your blessing, kiddos.”

“Blessing?”

“Yeah, Stevie. As long as you and your kids want me, I’m coming to stay.”

A sniffle.

“You asshole, you can’t say that kind of stuff when you’re too far away to kiss!”

Eddie grinned. “Put it on my tab. I’ll pay my dues when I get there, sweetheart.”

“Gross!”

“Okay, okay, pack it up! It’s my stream and I’m taking back control.”

With that, Dustin pushed Steve away from the screen and started closing out the stream. Then, it hits him. How much they raised and the lives they’d be able to change. 

Dustin starts sobbing, thanking everyone profusely, saying that he’d never thought he’d be able to do something like this. He never thought he’d be able to make a real difference.

Steve and Max pull him into a tight hug. Steve kisses his forehead and tells Dustin that he was the one who had taught Steve that he could be a better person, who made him excited to wake up to each new day, and that he made people’s lives better just by being in them. 

Steve points at the numbers, at the chat filled with people who were congratulating them and crying along, at Eddie who had tears quietly running down his cheeks, and tells him:

“This was a community effort, but you were the one who brought the community together. Without you, none of this would have happened. But it did happen, and you did so good. I’m proud of you, Max is proud of you, Eddie’s proud of you, Robin and Nancy are definitely proud of you, and I bet everyone out there watching is proud of you, too.”

“So be proud of yourself, dumbass!” Max bites out in between sniffles.

“Yeah, Dusty-Buns,” Eddie laughs. “You did a damn good job, kid.”

“First of all, stop calling me that or I will veto your visit,” Dustin snarks, wiping his face. “Second of all, okay yeah. I did do pretty awesome. I guess I might as well be proud.”

The stream ends in laughter and tears and once the money gets donated to Nancy and Robin’s charity, they realize its so much that they end up donating the rest to other charities and people in need. 

Dustin’s popularity surges and he uses it to further other great causes, including funding the legal fees needed for Steve to adopt Max. 

Dustin ends up bringing his internet girlfriend Susie home and Max brings home El and Lucas. The family keeps growing year by year.

Steve and Eddie become both an internet power couple and a giant meme, but the rest of their relationship is kept out of the public eye. Except when they want to gross their kids out by being mushy in interviews or when Steve goes with Eddie to support him at concerts and awards ceremonies. 

Every year the whole family gets together, no matter where they are in the world, and do a marathon stream for upcoming charities and foundations, raising more and more money each time. 

There’s even a several hour long video by an avid fan reporting on the history of the Henderfam Streams, with a 1.5 hour section about the stream where Steve proposed, that Steve likes to watch from time to time, usually with at least one or two other family members by his side.

Essentially, they’re happy.

#THIS GREW A MIND OF ITS OWN SORRY ITS SO LONG #steddie #henderfam #steve harrington #dustin henderson #eddie munson #max mayfield #stranger things #my writing #AHHH THIS IS SO LONG #IM DYING #the type of queerness of each character is kept purposefully vague so it can be whatever you headcanon