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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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Baby making procedures

Steddie | Explicit | 5.2k | ao3 | Steve wants to have a baby and Robin and Eddie would do anything for him

Eddie looks with a half amused smile on his lips as Steve throws himself on the couch with a groan, his face buried into the cushions. Robin, her legs now under Steve’s own, rests her beer on Steve’s thigh.

“Date went well?” Robin asks, even though Eddie and her already know the answer. They exchange an amused look when Eddie reaches over from his seat to open a beer for Steve.

Steve lets out another groan and starts squirming to sit up, making Robin have to move her beer and hand up to avoid getting kneed and spilling everything. When he is finally up, his legs under him as he sits next to robin on the couch, he sends an annoyed look to both Robin and Eddie before he reaches forward to get the beer from Eddie’s offering hand.

“We broke up.” Steve says with a scowl. Steve sounds frustrated, and a part of Eddie feels for him. Just a small part, though, because the rest of him can’t stop the smile on his face and the relieved feeling every time Steve comes home after every failed date. You can’t blame a guy for being happy because the guy he has had a crush on (and been in love with, if he doesn’t lie) on and off for ten years is completely single again. Specially not now when his crush is back at its height.

“Is it-“ Steve starts, but he stops to take a drink, “Is it so difficult to find someone good for me?” Eddie has a candidate in mind, but he won’t share it. He hasn’t before and he won’t now.

Robin pats Steve’s knee with a sympathetic smile. She turns it towards Eddie for a second, but he ignores it in favour of taking some chips from the coffee table to shove in his mouth. He’s pretty sure Robin has clocked at some point in these 10 years, but she has never mentioned beyond a few knowing looks and Eddie won’t either.

“I’m sure you will find the one, some people just take a bit longer before getting with who they are meant to. Sometimes the best option is closer than you think.”

“Robin,” Steve says, his voice flat. Eddie doesn’t look at him, he focuses on the chips.

“What happened this time?” Robin asks.

“She didn’t want to have children, like- at all.” Steve’s voice is back to a complaining whine.

Aaaaaaand that’s why Eddie won’t share his candidacy. He can’t give Steve what he wants for the future. Sure, it makes it hurt more when Steve dates other men because if Eddie let Steve go because of it, then no other man can take his place. Eddie knows that there is no other man that would care about Steve as much as he does, but he refuses to be the reason Steve has to let go of his dream life.

“You brought up having children in your third date?” Robin asks. Eddie agrees with the sentiment, Steve can be too forward.

“I’m already 31 Robin! I thought by now I would already be married, have at least two children! I have to be quick with this, can’t waste time in people without the same goals as me. But no, I��m stuck having first dates with people that are just not right and I just want a child.”

No wonder Steve can’t keep a partner, if this is his what he is pitching on the third date. Actually, no. Eddie can’t wrap his head around the fact that some people willingly give up Steve Harrington and won’t do anything to stay with him. This girl is demented, if you ask Eddie, saying no to having children with Steve when you could give them to him? Eddie wishes he knew her name to curse her properly, but she appeared a couple weeks ago just as fast as she has disappeared now.

Eddie knows he will say something stupid if he opens his mouth, so he tries to stay away from the conversation by stuffing his face with chips.

“Maybe I should just marry the first girl that says yes to my plan, even if she is and idiot.” Steve muses.

“Dingus, you can’t marry someone just because you want a baby. Maybe wait a few more dates before you bring it up?”

Eddie nods in agreement.

“But everyone leaves when I bring up children or moving in with you guys!” Eddie pauses. Wait, what. “It’s just easier to weed them out early so I don’t waste time.”

“I told you that you didn’t pitch the idea of moving in correctly.”

“As if you had much more luck.”

“My situation was not the same, she just didn’t want to live with two men.”

Jesus Christ, is Eddie the only one that has thought about moving out? Don’t get him wrong, he loves living with his best friends, that’s why he has been doing it for ten years, -from even before they were best friends, and this was just a convenient arrangement in a smaller apartment close to Robin’s university- but he always thought it was temporary, just them sharing their lives before Steve inevitably found his perfect girl and moved with her to live his perfect life with children. Robin doing something similar, of course. But now it seems that Steve and Robin had been trying to get their partners to move in with them.

It makes Eddie feel worse about his attempt at moving out a month ago.

He had been dating a guy from the gym Steve had forced him to sign up to. They had met one of the days Steve’s and his schedules had not lined up and he had gone alone. The guy had approached him and asked him where his partner was and at first Eddie had thought that he was interested in Steve but no, a clarification of who the guy was interested in and that Steve and he were not dating and the guy was asking for his number after joking that he was stealing him from Steve.

Eddie had given him his number, they started dating, but he was having a bit of a hard time trying to deal with his feelings for his boyfriend and his residual feelings for Steve, always there at the back of his mind, in the deepest parts of his heart. So, he had decided that the best course of action was to get some distance from Steve’s intoxicating and sometimes overwhelming presence and, because he was a coward, he had decided that the way to do that was to silently move out.

He knew that he couldn’t just tell Steve and Robin that he was moving out, they would protest, get sad, and Eddie couldn’t see them getting sad, he would have caved in immediately, so he just packed a bag while they were out, went to his boyfriend’s place and stayed there. It was going well – except from the fact that Eddie was missing Steve like crazy – for about a week. Until someone had started pounding on the door at night, and when Eddie had opened the door, Steve was there, demanding to know why Eddie had not been home or called them in a week. Saying that if Eddie’s boyfriend had told him to cut contact with his friends that was a massive danger sign and he should break up with him immediately and really, Eddie, Steve had told him not to date any guys from the gym for this very reason, they are all toxic.

Eddies boyfriend had not liked that display, they had fought, they had broken up, and Eddie had come back to the apartment with no sadness about his breakup and a rekindled crush on his best friend, who had decided to unknowingly make the biggest romantic gesture anyone had ever done for Eddie -apart from Steve himself saving his life from the upside down all those years before-. Or maybe that was Eddie’s feelings about Steve coming to get him, wet from the rain with his hair and eyes wild, talking.

“Well, do you have a different way to do it?” Steve is saying, unaware of Eddie’s thoughts.

“It’s almost the 21st century! There are a lot of single parents out there, you would be a fantastical single father, you don’t need some random girl.”

“Yeah, well. Women, maybe. I can’t really have a baby on my own, just in case you couldn’t remember.”

They sit in silence for a few seconds, Steve with a pout on his face, Robin with a meditative look and Eddie trying really hard not to bring attention to himself.

“Okay, so-“ Robin starts, and Steve looks up at her. “You know how we have this queer platonic co-living situation going on and it’s really good, it works, we are very happy living like this?” she asks. Steve nods. “And we are not getting any younger and you think we are running out of time to form a ‘real family’ of our own, whatever that means.” Steve nods, his pout now fully back. “But that’s like, bullshit, we have a family here, we are only missing that you want children and I think I want children and, if you think about it, we have all the parts necessary for it?”

Eddie’s hand pauses halfway to his mouth, a chip held between his fingers. Robin can’t be saying what he thinks she is saying.

“What are you saying?” Steve asks.

“I’m just saying that we could have a little communal baby,” Robin drops it like it’s nothing.

Jesus H Christ. Eddie was not prepared for this. He was prepared to spend the night hanging out with Robin while they waited for Steve to come back from his date, maybe drink too much and feel sorry for himself if Steve ended up not coming back to their apartment, lament about his years long pathetic crush that he should be over already but refuses to leave. He was ready to console Steve if his date had not gone well but now… now they are talking about having a baby?

“Are you serious?” Steve asks, his eyes focused on Robin.

Robin nods, “yeah.” Steve lets out an incredulous, happy laugh and moves to face Robin better. Eddie can’t move, he can only look from one to the other, unbelieving.

“That would be- that would be perfect! Just the baby and… us…” He trails off, still looking at Robin. She returns his look and they keep their eyes locked into each other’s for a few seconds of silence that feel like an eternity to Eddie, his eyes flying between the two. And then, in a second, they both turn towards Eddie at the same time in the freakiest way possible.

“What,” Eddie deadpans.

“You are part of this queer platonic co-living situation,” Robin explains, as if Eddie was not very aware of it.

“So?”

“So, do you want to have a baby with us?”

Robin is the one who says it, but Eddie has his eyes fixed on Steve. His eyes wide, with that sad downturn of his. Eddie never stood a chance against those eyes.

“Sure.”

“You don’t have to if you-“ Steve starts.

“No, no. I’ve always dreamed about having a communal baby with my queer platonic best friends and roommates, what are you talking about?”

Robin snorts, but Eddie does not pay attention to her, too focused on Steve’s face full of joy in answer.

The rest of the night is filled with beers, excited conversations about toys and baby names between Steve and Robin and Eddie still not understanding what the fuck just happened.

****

Eddie doesn’t believe he can be blamed for thinking that the baby conversation was just a way of cheering Steve up after a bad date, a crazy idea that they would never speak of again more than in a joking manner. So, it’s not his fault he chokes on his coffee and spills it everywhere when Robin announces, “I’m ovulating in three days,” while Eddie was trying to enjoy a calm breakfast at their round table.

Steve perks up between them, paying no mind to him fighting for his life between coughs right next to him.

“Are we really doing this?”

“I’m in if you are in.” Robin says with a smile.

They break out in excited chatter that Eddie doesn’t pay attention to, too busy wiping the coffee from the table in front of him. They really are here, sitting at their square table, discussing having a baby. Again.

When he finishes cleaning as best as he can, he finally speaks, interrupting whatever the platonic soulmates were saying.

“So, how are you doing this? Steve jizzes in a mug and Robin turkey blasters herself?”

“Gross, Eddie, I’m not a turkey,” Robin says with a disgusted look in front of him.

“Yeah Eddie, she’s not a turkey,” Steve backs her up with a mirror disgusted look.

“Well sorry for assuming,” Eddie puts his hands up. “Didn’t think you two were going to go the traditional way and just fuck.”

His words are met with more disgusted protests and sounds.

“We are doing this the right way,” Robin finally says when they are finished protesting. “Steve comes in a mug and I use a syringe. I read that the results are better like that.”

“Oh!” Steve says, excited. “You have to make yourself come too, I read that women are more likely to conceive if they have orgasmed.” Eddie is pretty sure he is directly quoting someone else’s words. Also, they have read about this. They did not dismiss it like Eddie did. They were serious about it, they have been preparing for it.

He should have expected they wouldn’t let it go. He has known them for ten years, he should have known.

“Where did you read that, dingus? In a book written a century ago?”

“It’s worth a shot! A little orgasming never hurt anyone.” He says it with a teasing smile. Robin hits him about it.

“Don’t say it like that!”

“Also, you said it wrong,” Steve says when Robin has calmed down a little. Robin looks at him with a confused frown. “You said I come in a mug.” Steve’s eyes dart to Eddie for a second when he says it, and Eddie watches as realisation downs on Robin’s face.

“How else would you do it?” Eddie asks, his confusion getting the best of him. A part of his brain tells him he is not prepared for the answer to that.

“We said the baby was going to be the three of ours,” Robin says it like a question after a few seconds of intense eye contact with Steve. She says it like she is easing Eddie into accepting a new ridiculous idea they have had. “So you need to participate.”

Eddie needs the second of silence that follows those words to process them.

“And how the fuck would I participate? Do you want me holding the syringe? Or jerking our Steve here off?” Eddie’s brain must be off, that’s the only explanation, he wouldn’t otherwise been able to utter those words. Steve takes a deep breath between Robin and him, but Eddie very resolutely does not turn to him.

Eddie is not sure if he should be thankful or not about only having three days to prepare himself for this. He feels like he should have had more time to get his mind used to the idea that he was going to jerk off in the same room as Steve. At the same time as him. Fuck Vecna, this is the scariest thing Eddie has ever had to face.

Robin extends a hand forward on top of the table so it rests just in front of Eddie. “Think of it as a Russian Roulette baby.”

****

He also knows that if he had more time, he may have made a run for it. Say some excuse about Wayne having an emergency so he had to go back to Hawkins for some time and just never coming back, or at least not until the baby was done or this idea was forgotten. (It wouldn’t have worked, he knows Steve would have insisted on coming with him, the fucker.) He is still thinking about it now as he stands in the middle of his room, eyeing the window and wondering if he can climb out of his fifth-floor window without killing himself, waiting for Steve to come with a mug they can use to come in. It’s surreal, Eddie still can’t wrap his head around it.

The door opens, and Eddie turns to look at Steve coming in and closing the door behind himself.

“Robin is in her room,” he says. Eddie nods. That was the plan. Robin in her room and them in his, because Steve’s shares a wall with hers and it was already too weird knowing that all of them were jerking off at the same time without hearing it.

Eddie’s eyes are fixed on Steve’s hands, or, more accurately, on what they are holding.

“That’s the mug we are using?”

“Oh, uh- yeah. I figured it was the best choice, Robin never uses it,” Steve says. Of course she doesn’t, because it’s a ridiculous thing Eddie had bought for Steve years ago that Robin still complains about having to see in their kitchen. Does she know that’s the mug Steve has chosen? Did she approve this? Or was this entirely Steve’s choice as Robin will only see the syringe?

“You use it,” Eddie answers, his voice barely more than a whisper. And- great, now he is going to remember this every time he sees Steve eating cereal out of it. It is a bit fucked up that he finds it hot. He is a bit fucked up.

“Yeah but I’ve boiled it, it’s totally clean, safe to use.” Eddie was not worried about that part of it, more so of the after but sure, let Steve think he is actually thinking about the safety of their little experiment.

“You could have gotten one of those plastic cups they give you for piss tests.”

“Well, it’s a bit late now for that.” Steve sounds annoyed but Eddie recognizes it as him being upset, maybe a bit self-conscious. He didn’t want to upset him, he is just nervous himself. Steve moves Eddie’s chair so it’s halfway between them and puts the mug down on it. “Look, man if-“

“How do we do this?” Eddie interrupts him, finally looking up from the mug and into Steve’s face. “Should we get naked? Would that be weird?”

Eddie sees – and feels – Steve’s eyes look him over. From his dishevelled hair to his Motörhead shirt, his sweatpants and his bare feet. Eddie looks away from Steve’s mouth where he has started biting his lip and to his body. He is wearing one of Eddie’s shirts, a habit he got very early into their living together when he claimed that they were just comfier to wear at home than his, softer, and that none of Eddie’s boyfriends had ever liked. Eddie should be used to the sight, but he can’t help the way it still gets him hot, specially paired with the shorts Steve is currently wearing.

Fuck. How is Steve even hotter at 31 than he was at 20? How is that fair?

Eddie can’t stop his deep breath or his dick from chubbing up when Steve cups himself under his gaze.

“We should start…” Steve starts saying, but trails off, as if he needs an excuse, as if Eddie didn’t know what’s coming.

“Yeah,” Eddie answers, his hand moving to the front of his pants too, finding himself already hardening. In his defence, it’s been a long three days. Steve and Robin had read something about the chances of conceiving being higher if the guy hadn’t cum in three or four days, so Eddie and Steve had been put into a mandated three days of abstinence. It should have been fine, Eddie is not twenty anymore, he doesn’t need to jerk off as often. But knowing that he was going to do this with Steve at some point… It really made not getting horny and jerking off hard.

Steve takes a step forward so he is almost on top of the mug. “You need to get closer, don’t want you to miss the target.”

Eddie mirrors Steve’s move. “I may not be a jock, but I know how to point my dick to come inside where I want to.”

Steve lets out a strong huff, but he doesn’t say anything.

Eddie knows that it’s normal in certain circles to fool around with your friends. He has gotten surprised looks from guys at bars when he said that no, he has never even kissed his hot bisexual friend. Has had to shut down a few that asked for threesomes (as attractive as the idea was).

He has almost kissed him a few times, if he is honest. Some days when he thought that Steve could feel the same as him, that they could work out as more than friends, but then he got scared, Steve got another date, and Eddie let him go. Kissing Steve, fooling around with him just for fun was never an option, Eddie knew, more than anything, that that would break him more than never doing it at all.

The fact that he is doing this now just shows that he cares more about Steve’s happiness than being broken.

“Do you need porn?” Steve asks between breaths, maybe because Eddie has barely moved. He is getting properly worked out now, and Eddie can’t tear his gaze from the way he is tenting his shorts, his hand stroking himself through them.

Steve pulls his pants down, just enough to free his dick.

Fuck, not getting naked then.

“Yeah, no.” How could he look at porn when he has that sight in front of him.

Eddie feels a strong wave of desire go through him and pool deep inside him. He knows he is rock hard now.

Steve has his dick out in front of him. Eddie is looking at Steve’s flushed hard dick right in front of him and it’s better than any fantasy he could have come up with. He can hear his deep breaths. He can almost feel them, they are so close.

Eddie looks as Steve gathers his precome and uses it to make the slide easier in a long stroke. This is better than any wet dream he has ever had, and he’s had a lot with Steve as the main character. And then Steve is spitting on his dick and yeah, nope, Eddie has to hold himself hard to not come on the spot, bite his lip to not let out a very embarrassing moan. He hasn’t even gotten his dick out of his pants.

If Eddie didn’t know better, he would say that Steve is putting on a show. The spit, the way his hand is moving on his dick. Slow, playing with the head with a pinch and a gasp before he gives himself a long stroke again… But Eddie knows better, this is just a mean to an end.

Eddie closes his eyes, because if he keeps looking at Steve he will blow his load in seconds and what would Steve think of him if that happens.

The darkness gives him courage to finally reach inside his pants and take his dick out, give himself a few strokes to release some of the tension. He gathers the precome at his head to make the slide easier. Fuck, he is so wet already. He had been worried when Robin had told him that they couldn’t use lube, but it seems like it won’t be a problem at all with how much he is leaking. Steve’s breath hitches in front of him, and Eddie wonders what did he do to himself to make that sound.

Eddie does not open his eyes to check. He continues stroking himself, focusing on his own dick and his own pleasure as much as he can. It’s difficult, his awareness of Steve in front of him too high, but for a few minutes it’s only his hand on his dick, the wet sounds of two dudes jerking off in a room, and Steve’s glorious ragged breaths across from him.

This is okay, Eddie thinks that he can survive this. At least if this takes in one try and they don’t have to do it ever again.

And then something else touches his dick. Something wet.

Eddie opens his eyes before he can think better of it, just to be met with the sight of Steve’s dick touching his dick. They are touching tips. Eddie can’t keep the moan supressed this time. He’s so loud he almost misses Steve’s gasp.

He looks up, expecting Steve to have his eyes closed too, expecting this to be an accident that happened only because they are so close to each other, not wanting to miss the mug. He was not expecting to see Steve’s eyes wide open as he stares at their dicks. The knowledge that this was probably intentional on Steve’s part almost makes him come on the spot.

Steve must feel his eyes on him, or he must be wondering why Eddie’s hand stopped moving, because he looks up, his eyes meeting Eddie’s.

“Eddie,” Steve whispers.

Eddie doesn’t have time to react, to answer, before Steve’s left hand is on his nape, pulling him forward. Their lips crash in an uncoordinated kiss. Too fast, too hard, but Steve is not stopping. His lips are moving against Eddie’s, insistent, and Eddie lets himself be kissed.

A hand, Steve’s hand, bullies Eddie’s off his cock, and then replaces it. Eddie can’t help but let out a loud moan against Steve’s mouth. He can’t even think about what is happening, his brain has turned into mush, a horny and overwhelmed mush. He only knows Steve’s hand around him, stroking him.

“I don’t want a platonic baby with you,” Steve says against his lips. Eddie lets out a confused sound that quickly turns into a moan when Steve steps closer and grabs both of their dicks at the same time with his big hand.

“Not platonic,” Steve continues between kisses and breaths. “Not with you.” He lets out a moan as he squeezes the heads of their dicks, Eddie mirroring him. “You almost left me.”

Eddie tries to shake his head as best as he can, even when he did try to leave.

“I am so in love with you I was happy to just be your friend but you were going to leave me.”

Steve’s voice is ragged, and Eddie wonders how can he form sentences like that when his own brain is struggling just to understand them. He still doesn’t get what is going on, but he is shaking his head and his hands have come up to cling to Steve’s sides.

“You are not leaving me again, right?”

There is vulnerability in the way that he says it, and Eddie, even through the fog in his mind, knows that he can’t let it exist.

“No, never.” He reaches up with his hands to hold Steve’s head. It’s probably disgusting, his right hand still covered in precum, but he can’t find himself caring.

Steve’s hand speeds and Eddie knows he is close. Steve’s hand around him, his dick against him, the wet slide of his precum mixed with Steve’s, their shared breaths and lips against each other. Eddie never had a chance lasting long, but Steve seems to be there with him.

“We are going to be together,” Steve is saying. Eddie can feel the words against his lips. “No more dates with others. No one between us.”

“Yes, yes,” Eddie agrees with a new moan. In this moment, he would agree to anything Steve said. He already does, but that’s not the point.

“Just you and me.”

That does it.

“Ste-“ Eddie manages to say as warning.

Steve is quick. Eddie looks down as Steve steps away and grabs the mug with one hand and Eddie’s dick with the other, pointing it so he comes inside it. Eddie looks as his cum pools inside the mug, Steve’s hand around him.

Steve lifts the mug, just a bit, and Eddie suddenly has the image of him bringing it to his lips to drink. The thought alone makes his dick let out a new, final spurt of come.

Steve’s hand leaves his dick – a travesty, really. It looked perfect there, it should never leave. – and Eddie’s head is fuzzy from his orgasm, from the feeling of Steve against him, but he has enough sense to reach forward to grab Steve’s dick himself before he can. He can’t appreciate the weight of it in his hand at the moment, the smoothness, how wet it is. When he tries to get a good feel of it, Steve’s hand wraps around his. Probably too impatient and close to let Eddie take his time admiring him.

Steve moves Eddie’s hand in fast movements, and Eddie wants to tell him to slow down, take his time, enjoy himself, but the still working corner of his brain is telling him that they have a goal to fulfil.

Steve doesn’t take long to come. Eddie sees the moment it happens in the way he opens his mouth in a groan, his eyebrows scrunching up. He quickly looks down to see Steve’s come joining his. He may become immediately obsessed with the sight of it.

Eddie wants to taste it.

It has a more important purpose though. Maybe in the future.

“Steve,” Eddie says. He can barely stay standing up. He just wants to kiss Steve again, to lay down with him in his bed, to ask him if he meant all the things he said.

Steve looks up at him, their eyes meeting each other.

“IF YOU GUYS ARE FINISHED, I NEED THE BABY JUICE,” Robin’s voice comes from all the way to her room.

Steve curses, leaves the mug on Eddie’s table, and scrambles to get its contents into the syringe while Eddie stays there, looking at him. At some point into Steve struggling with the syringe Eddie finally snaps out of it and reaches forward to tuck Steve back into his pants. It may be the most intimate moment Eddie has shared with someone. Or maybe it’s his feelings interfering with his objectivity again.

Before he leaves, Steve gives Eddie a quick kiss, his hand cradling his face, but gone too soon for Eddie to really answer to him. Steve smiles at him before he goes through the door.

“Robs! The three-bedroom with the small backyard is going to be enough,” Steve is saying as he walks away from Eddie’s room.

Eddie feels like he’s been tricked somehow, but he can’t bring himself to care as he throws himself down face up on his bed.

He turns to look at the mug. It can’t have all fit into the syringe, right?

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

Text

Steve gets dragged to a metal festival and he can't stand around just looking while the band is setting up. ao3

“Okay this is fucking awkward.” Steve says, his hands on his hips as he stands next to the group of sitting teenagers.

He had said the same thing fifteen minutes ago when he had left them there to go get drinks for everyone, as soon as they had arrived at the side stage and Steve had seen that there would be no rushing and shoving to stand at the front. They were the only ones there.

It was awkward, being the only ones waiting for the set to start, so he had left them there to go on a supply run. He is now back and the party is sitting there right next to the barricade, the rest of the makeshift pit for the festival empty save for a few other small groups standing around.

One of the guys walking on and off stage looks their way and acknowledges Steve with a nod. It’s the fourth time it’s happened in the two minutes Steve has been back. Every time from a different guy that Steve is pretty sure is one of the members of the band they are going to see setting up their shit.

Steve looks as the one with the twig arms and long hair tries to get a case of what must be a drum up the stairs and sighs. It doesn’t even look that heavy, the guy is just struggling to grab it correctly.

He is at the barricade in two strides and over it with a quick jump. He doesn’t pay attention at the chorus of “Steve what are you doing?” “Oh my god, you can’t do that” “Come back you can’t do that” and “You are going to get us kicked out!” he leaves behind. He just walks over to long hair guy and grabs the other side of the drum.

“I said I could-“ long hair guy starts to say, but the words die in his lips when he looks up and sees Steve.

Fuck. He looks pretty now that he is close. Steve might have miscalculated this. He didn’t know metal guys were pretty, he thought they were gross and rough. He may have tried to look better if he knew.

The guy looks over at Steve’s friends at the other side of the barricade, Dustin and Mike now standing up, their hands gripping the barrier.

“You are not supposed to be here,” the guys says, his voice smooth. There is an amused undertone in his voice, a slight upturn of the corners of his lips. Steve guesses, from his hair and clothes and the fact that he is in a metal band, that he is not a big fan of rules.

Steve shrugs. “Was getting sick of seeing you try to lift stuff with those noodle arms.”

“This?” the guy asks, flexing his arm. Okay, it is not that thin up close, the general look lied to Steve. “How do you know I was not struggling on purpose so you’d come help me?”

“It’d say that would be a horrible plan, luckily for you, I hate to stay looking while people struggle in front of me.”

“Do you know anything about setting up instruments?”

“No, but I’m good at lifting stuff.”

The guy’s eyes move down to look at Steve’s arms, flexing with the weight. Steve looks as the guy bites his lip.

“I see that.”

“Hey! If you guys don’t mind, I need my drums before the concert starts!” a voice shouts from the stage.

Steve and the guy get into action. Up in the stage, to the back where the dumkit is going to be.

“What else can I help with?” Steve asks once the case is set down on the floor.

“Can you bring all the stuff from the van while we set it up?” pretty boy asks. The guy opening the case with the drum (Steve is going to guess he is the drummer) sends him a weird look.

“Since when do we have a roadie?”

“Since now, I’ll get it.” Steve turns to go back for the other stuff.

When he is halfway through the stage, he looks towards the kids. Mike and Dustin are still standing gripping the barrier, but they are now looking at him with their mouths wide open. Steve sends a thumbs up their way.

“Don’t,” he says when Mike moves to jump over the barricade too, his hand moving to stop him with a pointed finger.

Mike stops, but he is about to protest when Dustin starts slapping his chest. There’s a mess of arms and pointed fingers, and both boys are now still, staring at some point to Steve’s back. Mike gulps.

Steve looks over his shoulder. Pretty guy -fuck, he forgot to ask his name- is standing in the middle of the stage, wagging his forefinger back and forth at the boys.

They look properly chastised, so Steve skips the few steps to get down from the stage and grabs the first box he sees.

By the time the set is about to start, they have a good rhythm going, Steve working in tandem with the boys from the band. He has even plugged up some stuff, and adjusted microphones. It is fun. Maybe he can sign up to work on this, Robin will probably be good at it too. He wishes she was here to try, but of course she met a girl that morning and is now god knows where. Probably getting drinks at the main stage, or making use of one of the tents.

Steve has more fun than he thought he would. The set is not very long, festival sets never are, but the music is good enough, the energy is high, and even getting into the moshpit to get Dustin out is fun enough.

There’s also the thing about Eddie – because that is pretty guy’s name. Steve had not asked it, but the other guys had shouted it enough – looking hot as fuck playing the guitar. The fast movements of his fingers, the way he stuck his tongue out, the way he grinned at Steve and winked in his direction.

When the set is finished and the band has said their goodbyes and then got back onstage to clear out their stuff for the next group, Steve wastes no time and jumps over the barricade again.

There is a security guy now, but he doesn’t stop Steve, he had seen him do the exact opposite move right before the concert started and they had talked before that. Steve pointing to his cap and asking him about the game last week.

Clearing up the stage is a bit more chaotic, with the people from the next group wanting to set up at the same time, but with Steve’s help they manage just fine. Soon, Steve is shutting the van’s doors and dusting off his hands.

“We are going to sell some t-shirts now, if you wanna help with that too,” Eddie says, leaning on the van with his shoulder and his arms crossed. He appears so suddenly that Steve almost jumps away, but he catches himself in time. Maybe not fast enough, if Eddie’s smile is anything to go by. “I’m sure your presence will make the ladies flock to us to spend their money.”

“You’ll have to pay me at some point if I keep helping you,” Steve answers with a snort, mirroring Eddie’s pose.

Eddie gasps and puts a hand to his heart, “you mean you are not doing this for the goodness of your heart?”

“A girl has to eat too,” Steve replies, and regrets it immediately when he sees Eddie’s amused face. Damn Robin and her catchy phrases.

“Well, we don’t have much money but I can find some other way to pay you back,” Eddie trails off as his eyes move down Steve’s body and he bites his lip, moving just a bit closer to Steve.

Steve moves closer to the other boy too. “I can take free drinks for the rest of the festival.” He pushes off the van, and starts walking off.

“Wait!” Eddie calls out, as if Steve was really leaving. He stops and turns to look at him. “You are staying for the rest of the festival?”

“Did you think we came all the way here just to see you?”

“Are you camping here too?” Eddie continues without acknowledging Steve’s interruption.

“You want me to camp with that bunch of kids? You think I’m crazy?” Steve waits until Eddie looks properly dejected to say. “We are in the small field, near gate C.” Eddie’s face splints in a grin. “You go sell your t-shirts and you can buy me a drink if you find me later.”

“I will,” Eddie answers.

Steve gets closer to him, puts his hand on the metalhead’s sweaty shirt, “and we can talk about other ways for you to pay me back.”

#cute

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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Now let’s reverse their roles, shall we? Nurse!Eddie AU where Steve is a frequent patient in the ER Eddie works because he keeps getting himself hurt all the freaking time. Eddie can't help but worry about the guy.

First, Steve ends up there after he falls from a tree and breaks his wrist. When Eddie asks what happened, Steve shrugs.

“There was this cat stuck in the tree.”

Then, it’s the accident with the car door. Two broken fingers.

“Robin didn’t see my hand was still there when she closed the door.”

The third time, it’s a concussion because, somehow, Steve thought skateboarding after drinking half-a-bottle of whisky was a good idea.

“Robin dared me, Eddie. She said I couldn’t!”

“And now you’re here! She was clearly right!”

Then there was the time Steve bruised his ribs and hip when he pushed a little kid out of harm’s way and got run by a bike in their place.

And the time Steve twisted his ankle when he was out on a hike with Robin, Nancy, Jonathan and Argyle but didn’t tell them he was hurt because he didn’t wanna spoil their weekend. He walked more than five miles with a fucked-up ankle, the idiot.

And how would Eddie forget the time Steve came to the ER with his pretty face half-disfigured by bruises and so badly swollen his left eye was nothing more than a slit. His ribs were also cracked and the skin over his knuckles was torn everywhere. Steve had clearly been fighting.

“The fucking asshole was gonna hit Max, man. Not when I’m around.”

Eddie would’ve been endeared by the sweet admission if he hadn’t been concerned about the man’s labored breathing at the time.

All this to say that Steve’s presence in the ER is not something new. He’s always there; sometimes for stupid reasons like trying to save a cat stuck in a tree or after one of Robin’s dares goes wrong, sometimes because he’s such a selfless sweetheart that he often gets hurt while trying to help people out.

So when Eddie comes back from his break and sees Steve there in the waiting room, he’s not surprised at all. Steve still has the bandage on his right arm, from his last visit a couple of days before.

He is surprised when Steve opens his mouth and blurts a “Do you want to go out with me one of these days? ” before Eddie has the chance to ask what he’s doing there.

“Oh my God, are you getting hurt on purpose so you can see me?”

“What!?”

“Because if this is the case, stop doing that!”

“I’m not hurting myself on purpose! I’m just an idiot, I swear!”

But Eddie is not an idiot, so of course he says yes to going out with Steve.

Two weeks later, they are dating… and Eddie is bandaging the dislocated shoulder his boyfriend got from falling off the roof while cleaning the gutters.

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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Give me the Party taking Steve’s kindness for granted and Eddie getting so pissed off by this.

But it’s not like the kids are mean to him. They are not. They like Steve, love him, really, but teenagers hardly realize they are being dismissive and less than considerate to people who are doing things for them out of the goodness of their hearts and not because they have any kind of obligation to. And the Party are still teenagers so, yeah, being appreciative of other people’s kindness is not really their forte at the moment.

So Eddie watches Dustin bitch about how Steve is late to pick them up at school or at Hellfire. Watches Max complain that Steve didn’t buy her favorite snack for movie night, and Mike and Lucas barging into the man’s house, without even calling beforehand, to use his pool when it’s too hot, as if they own the place or something. And every time he sees this shit happening he gets so mad because Steve has no obligation to do any of that. He owes nothing to those brats. He does all that because he wants to, because he loves those kids so much, he does everything they ask him to without asking anything in return; not even a ‘thank you, Steve’.

And that’s exactly what Eddie tells them. He doesn’t yell at them, nor does he try to force them into doing anything. No, Eddie takes another rote; he makes them see, with a soft tone and the most disappointed look he can muster, how much Steve has been doing for all of them, whilst they have been treating him so dismissively.

(And it doesn’t even take Eddie much to make them realize what they are doing because they are good kids and they do love Steve. They’d never, ever hurt Steve’s feelings on purpose. They just happen to still be a little immature, even after literally saving the world.)

After Eddie’s pep talk, the Party makes sure to show their appreciation of Steve every chance they get. And Eddie will never forget Steve’s stunned face the first time Mike said ‘Thank you, man, appreciate it’ after Steve handed him his favorite candy bar during a movie night… just priceless.

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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I'm assuming everyone has seen this malarkey with those people caught out as cheaters at a Coldplay concert.

But what if it was Steve's fiancé Tommy, and it was at a Corroded Coffin gig.

And obviously Eddie feels so terrible when it all comes out that the least he can do is track down Steve on social media and send him two gig tickets.

And Steve goes with Robin, obviously. Eddie meets Steve and, inevitably, falls completely in love, or something like that.

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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The nurse pulls the stethoscope away from the bend of Steve's elbow, the sound of the blood pressure cuff being pulled away is harsh in the quiet room, “right, lets give those wounds a check.”

Steve has the routine down now, and he pulls the hospital gown away from the appropriate places, lies back, sits up, pulls the sheet, lifts a leg, the nurse humming appreciatively each time. Just one bandage to remove and replace with clean now.

“Okay, so, eat a good meal this evening, and breakfast tomorrow, and after a bowel movement I think you’ll be fine to go home.”

Next to Steve, Eddie snorts, “bowel movement. Better order prunes for Breakfast Stevie.”

“Thank you,” Steve tells the nurse, and she leaves with a nod.

Eddie has his filthy boots on the bed, but they never leave a mark on the sheets, so Steve ignores them.

“So Joyce and Nancy are already at your place,” Hopper tells him, “you’ll have groceries and some meals ready. I think El’s there too, she wanted to make sure your bedroom was clean.”

“That’s sweet of her,” Steve says absently, no energy to fight it after climbing up into Hop’s truck.

“Hope you don’t got anything suspicious hidden away,” Eddie shoves a dirt encrusted hand between the seats, into Steve’s peripheral vision, nails caked with filth and blood, the end of one finger is just bone, the flesh eaten away by something. Steve tries not to gag. Eddie makes a vulgar gesture, wanking the empty air, “don’t want her innocent young eyes finding your supply of dirty mags right?”

The cuff of Eddie’s jacket has a string of something flesh like and rotten hanging from it.

Steve spends the rest of the journey looking out of the window.

“Steve, honey, are you okay?”

Steve shuffles through the house, finding only Joyce in the kitchen, “yeah. All good.”

“Right, well, let me show you what I’ve done okay,” and Joyce shows him, the neatly prepared meals still cooling on the side. All very sensible, palatable, starch and protein and vegetable. Everything neatly labelled.

Eddie’s speaking in the background, Steve does his best to ignore it, “bet she’s filth in the sack you know. Nice of her to get you the good stuff though,” and Eddie pulls a milk shake out of the fridge.

Eddie drinks, and Steve watches as it leaks through the holes in Eddie’s guts, soaks his filthy jeans, and drips onto the kitchen floor, Joyce talking all the while.

Steve flinches. He can’t help it. The bang is loud.

“Hey Dingus, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” but it’s made a lie when he twitches again.

“Steve...maybe you came back to work too soon? Do you want to go home? You look really tired.”

Home is worse. Home is so much worse, because at home he’s alone with Eddie, “nah, I want to try and stay.”

“Okay, well, sit then,” Steve does, flinching again as another launched tape hits the windows, Eddie cackling madly.

Steve stares at the ceiling in the dark. Eddie is hopping around and singing. Loudly. Something Steve doesn’t know.

Steve’s so tired he feels like his eyes are sinking into his head. His body is weighed down by it. He feels a little delirious, like he was when he was on the good meds at the hospital, but the evil twin of that feeling.

He wonders vaguely if you you can die of exhaustion. It really feels like you can. He’s broken, he knows it, can sense it creeping up. He’s so close to just...crumbling in on himself. He does something he hasn’t done for weeks, spurned by a final act of desperation, “Eddie,” Steve’s voice cracks, and he can feel that his eyes are wet, tears tracking their way along his temples, “Eddie please stop. Stop, just for a little while.”

Eddie stops moving, listening to Steve, “are you going to stop ignoring me?”

Steve feels like he’s making a deal with the devil, swallowing thickly. By acknowledging Eddie he’s admitting that Eddie’s there.

This is the end of Steve’s sanity.

“Okay.”

“You screamed like a little girl when you first saw me,” Eddie says absently.

“Yeah,” Steve admits. Admitting it is easy, it’s true. It’s speaking at all that he’s reluctant about.

“Don’t seem bothered now though,” Eddie moves when Steve does. Steve’s done pissing now, stripping to get in the shower. The toilet lid drops with a sharp thud and Eddie sits on it. Eddie hasn’t been out of Steve’s eye line since he came to in the hospital; he’s had no choice but to get over being viewed naked.

Eddie has provided Steve with an unwanted but highly detailed commentary on his own body.

Apparently Eddie finds him attractive. A subject he has gone into in vile detail.

“No,” Steve passed out from exhaustion the moment Eddie allowed him some peace last night, and if this is the game he has to play to get some sleep tonight, then he will.

Steve showers, “so you’re actually not dating that Buckly girl then. I really thought you were. Didn’t clock that she was a raging dyke.”

Steve closes his eyes under the hot water, letting it batter him. It covers the sound of his deep sigh, “I’m fair game. You don’t say anything derogatory about anyone else or the deals off.”

“Okay. Okay that’s fair. I mean...I’m not that kind of guy anyway, I swear I just...you’re the only one who could hear me. And you were ignoring me. I was trying to get a rise out of you...trying to get you to...react I guess. Even for a second.”

Steve sighs, “stop trying to guilt trip me. I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”

“Yeah but...I don’t want you thinking I’m like, a bad guy-”

“Whatever. That’s exactly what someone in my head would say.”

“What? You don’t think I’m real?”

Steve scoffs, finally pulling the shower curtain back and climbing out to dry himself. Up until now Steve’s had to endure Eddie’s lecherous and very obvious oggling. This time, Eddie looks away. Steve's glad.

“I’m the only one who can see you, of course you’re not real. I’ve just...been hit in the head one too many times. Or...it’s trauma, or something.”

“Can you put a movie on for me? Honestly you’ve got no idea how fucking boring this is.”

“Sure,” and Steve does, and he ends up just sitting and watching it with Eddie. Steve reflexively tuts when Eddie’s boots land on the coffee table, but Eddie just grins at him.

“You’re looking better,” Robin tells him absently.

“Yeah, yeah I feel a lot better,” which is true. Steve’s had two whole nights full of sleep. Eddie is propping up the counter, flicking through leaflets for upcoming releases and two for one rental coupons.

“Come here Dingus, I was worried,” Eddie watches as they hug. They hug for a long time, “you’d tell me, right? If something was going on?”

“Sure, of course,” Steve answers reflexively. Easily.

Eddie looks up long enough to roll his eyes at Steve, “why don’t you tell her?”

Steve doesn’t answer. Eddie glares for a second but then shrugs it off when Dustin and Mike come through the doors, looking for free rentals and staff discounted snacks.

Steve can’t help but stare at Eddie, who in turn is staring, wide eyed and fascinated. He tries to touch Dustin’s shoulder, but as usual, his hand goes straight though. He looks, briefly, heartbroken.

The pain echos in Steve's own chest.

Once Steve had started ignoring Eddie, since, you know, he’s not real, Eddie had gone through a four day period of trying to punch Steve in the face. Half way through day three, Steve even managed to stop flinching.

Eddie’s already in the passenger seat, “why don’t you tell them about me?” he asks again.

Steve finds a tape, digs out some Abba, takes great pleasure in Eddie’s clear disgust. “Because you’re not real. I’m going to get myself locked up somewhere.”

“Steve,” Eddie huffs, “I’m pretty sure I’m real man. I feel real.”

“That's exactly what-”

“Oh fuck off Harrington. Why you then? Why is this happening to you?”

Steve sits in the quiet left behind by Abba. The car making quiet noises as it settles and cools. Steve stares through the glass at his own front door.

“I think I’m being punished.”

Steve moves around the kitchen, making effort to cook himself something that’s actually protein and vegetables and not just canned food and melted cheese in slightly different arrangements.

“That’s sad, you know, that you think you’re being punished. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Steve shrugs, “you’re dead.”

“Not your fault. I made my own choices.”

Steve shrugs again, “it’s not like I’m doing this on purpose.”

Eddie snorts, “you think your subconscious is punishing you with me? That’s...a hundred kinds of shitty. Also, I’m kind of offended.”

And Eddie really does look offended. Steve laughs. Really laughs. And then he’s laughing desperately because the laugh knocked the pieces loose and he feels like he’s cracking open with all of the everything that’s happened. And then he’s crying, leaning against the kitchen counter, sobbing.

Eddie’s hard to see through the snot and tears, but he’s there, hand hovering uselessly in the air, looking so, so, concerned about Steve. Steve wipes the tears away eventually. His chest feels tight, but also lighter, and he spends a minute relearning how to breathe, Eddie talking him gently through it all the while.

Everything looks a little better, after. Even Eddie’s face isn’t as dirty as Steve thinks he’s made it out to be.

Steve’s lying on the couch. Eddie’s lying on the floor.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t really have one.”

“How can you not have a favorite color? Come on Harrington, Everyone has a favorite color.”

“What’s yours?”

“Like...I guess like a teal? Like a really specific green kind of blue?”

Steve hums, turning to look, “I would not have guessed that for you.”

Eddie shrugs, staring at the ceiling, “how about red? You seem like a primary colors kind of guy.”

“Are you like...calling me simple, some how?”

Eddie laughs, a short shocked braying noise, “am I insulting you though the medium of favorite color choice?” Eddie gestures vaguely, rings catching the afternoon sun, Steve noticing the shine on them for the first time.

“Feels like it,” Steve grumbles, but he’s smiling, lying back on the couch.

“I’m bored,” Eddie gets bored when Steve’s doing housework. He’s become a constant distraction away from the things Steve really should be doing, but still. This is how the laundry ends up not being folded, and they end up going for a drive to no where that results in a sunny walk along the bank of lovers lake.

“Nearly fucking shit myself jumping in that lake. Was bad enough watching fucking Patrick die.”

“Yeah that must have...must have been bad.”

Eddie skims a rock across the water, “maybe you’re right,” he says, almost absently.

“What about?” Steve finds a rock for himself, but it only skims one time before disappearing below the surface. Eddie grins at him, quick, before he goes back to finding another stone.

“Me being...a curse. I was there for Chrissy. And then Patrick-”

“Hey. Hey, no. No I don’t...I don’t think that, any more. And Patrick and Chrissy, that was awful, but it was Vecna, you just...wrong place wrong time man, don’t beat yourself up.”

Eddie sighs through his nose, “okay.”

They stand, watching the sunshine make the water all sparkly. Far off in the distance, Steve can hear some kids playing. The fun kind of shrieking and hollering.

“Nothing to be scared of now though, right?” Eddie asks.

“Nah, I don’t-”

Steve doesn’t even get to finish what he’s about to say, Eddie hollering and whooping, gravel crunching under his boots as he sprints the few yards to the waters edge. “It’s fucking freezing,” he screeches when he’s in up to his hips, but he doesn’t stop, arms splashing as he still tries to walk even the waters too deep for it.

Steve absently thinks that the water's going to fuck up the leather of his jacket.

Steve doesn’t really know what possesses him, but he chases Eddie in anyway.

Steve’s sneakers squelch horribly as he slumps up the beach, but he still doesn’t regret it. The elated look on Eddie’s face when they'd splashed each other. The joy.

Steve hadn’t played like that since he was a kid.

He can hear Eddie following him, and they flop down on the grass, side by side, an inch between them.

Steve squints at the sun, watching as Eddie holds his hands up to the warmth, bands of light shining though his fingers. They look better. As in, they’re all present and correct.

When they turn to look at each other, Eddie’s face is clean.

They both lean in at the same time, and Eddie’s mouth is warm from the sun and chilled by the water.

#ohhh loved this

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fromapayphone · 6 days ago

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like a fantasy, baby

Explicit | 4.2k words | Full tags and read on Ao3 | Divider credit

CW: Consensual non-consent, Rape Fantasy, Consensual Somnophilia, Under-negotiated Kink

"What's your darkest sexual fantasy?"

The question comes just as Steve is taking a drag from a cigarette, and he chokes on the smoke out of sheer surprise.

"Where the fuck— did that come from?" he manages to ask around his coughing fit and Eddie shrugs as he reaches over and plucks the stick from Steve's fingers. He takes a long pull and holds it for a second before slowly releasing it. Steve would be entranced by it if he wasn't fighting to catch his breath.

"I mean, you present yourself as this big romantic," Eddie says, his head lolling over to look at Steve. It's late; they're on the loungers by the pool, and the light shining from the water only makes Eddie look more ethereal. "I'm just wondering if there's anything darker hiding under that prince charming exterior, or if you're all missionary and tender love-making to the core."

Steve is grateful for the low lighting that covers the way his face suddenly flushes, because— there is something. It's not something he's ever admitted out loud, and just fantasizing about it has left him feeling guilty more than once.

There's no way he can look Eddie in the eye and say 'I've thought about sneaking in through my girlfriend's windows and fucking them while they're asleep'. It's weird, it's beyond creepy, and Steve isn't— he doesn't want to be that guy. He's nice, he's the boy-next-door, the boyfriend all the parents love. So Steve shakes his head, not even sure how to answer, when Eddie reaches over and grabs his arm.

"Come oooonn," he says, shaking Steve a little. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Huh. Steve has to admit, he's curious. Eddie is a self-proclaimed freak; he's into all kinds of things Steve barely has a grasp on, so his darkest fantasy could be something pretty out there.

"You say yours first," Steve demands, and Eddie grins as he releases him. He finishes off the cigarette and drops the butt into the mug they've been using as an ashtray.

"Since spring break, I haven't really had control over anything. My time, my activities, my fucking body. I'm always being carted around by other people, being told where to go, what to eat. It's annoying as hell, and I am more than ready to be completely healed so I can take care of myself again, but the lack of control, of my loss of autonomy— It started to roll over into my sexual fantasies a little. I started thinking about someone holding me down and fucking me, making me take it. Dreaming about some guy using me, not stopping even when I beg him to because he 'knows what's best for me'. Just completely helpless, totally at the whims of someone else's desires."

Steve can see it; a hand fisted in Eddie's curls and the other pressed between his shoulders as he fucks into him. Eddie's desperate "Stop, please," being met with a gentle shushing, a soft "Don't worry, baby. I've got you."

The fantasy is vivid, and— shocking. He's never thought about Eddie like that before. Yes, the man is beautiful — that's an objective fact — but Steve has only ever seen him as a friend, one of his best friends.

Still, he has to admit the mental image is enticing. Arousing.

The only response Steve can manage is a soft Huh, and Eddie must sense some kind of conflict in him. "You don't actually have to tell me yours. You know I'm just fucking around," he says, giving Steve an out, but Steve shakes his head. If Eddie can be open about something like this, then Steve can too.

"I, uh. Have a bit of a reputation for climbing in through windows?" Steve starts, hesitant but determined. "Specifically into the bedroom of whatever girl I'm dating at the time, and I've had this— thought, I guess. Of sneaking in at night and— and fucking them while they're asleep. Trying to be careful so they don't wake up. Coming in them and leaving before they know anything is happening."

It's the first time he's said it out loud, and it makes his skin crawl a little until Eddie cuts through it with a "That's hot."

Steve looks over at his friend and blinks in confusion. "That's hot?"

Eddie shrugs and slouches a bit more in the chair as he lights another cigarette. "I just told you that I want someone to pretend to rape me. Yours isn't that much of a stretch from there, so yeah. It's hot."

That makes Steve relax a bit. Eddie doesn't think it's weird, doesn't think he's horrible, or a terrible person.

"I've spent years hating myself for even thinking about it," he admits, and Eddie looks at him, chocolate eyes intense.

"Look at me when I say this. It's not real, Steve. You wouldn't actually do that to any of your girlfriends, just like I don't actually want someone to assault me. But it's not wrong to think about it, and sometimes you can even find someone willing to indulge in it, to pretend it's real, safely and consensually."

Steve huffs and scrubs his hands over his face. "I can't just ask a girl about that, though. She'd probably call me a pervert and then tell her friends, and shit like that spreads, man."

Eddie hums thoughtfully and takes a drag from the cigarette. They sit in silence for a moment before Eddie breaks it, almost hesitantly.

"I don't know if you've ever thought about being with a guy, but our fantasies aren't too far off. We could— help each other, or something. Make a couple of dreams come true."

Steve hasn't thought about being with a guy. Up until five minutes ago, before he'd imagined fucking Eddie into submission, he'd called himself pretty straight, actually.

"I haven't, uh. Thought about that before."

Eddie shrugs and Steve watches as he exhales, blowing more smoke into the air. "It's just a suggestion. I mean, I trust you with my life, so I couldn't think of someone better to try this with. If you're up for it."

Steve frowns as he thinks, because— he kind of wants to. But he also doesn't know if he could actually act on it. Doesn't know if he could go through with it and have Eddie decide he hates Steve for it.

"I don't know..."

"The fact that you didn't immediately turn me down tells me that you're at least interested, so how about this," Eddie says as he turns, sitting on the edge of the lounger so he can look at Steve properly. "You take some time to think about it, and I'll leave my window unlocked. If you decide you want to, just..."

He pauses, shrugs. "Do it. If you don't come by in the next couple of weeks, I'll take it as a no, and we can forget this conversation ever happened."

Eddie takes one more pull from the cigarette before he drops it into the mug. He grabs his crutches off the ground and stands up, the motion easy now that he's had some practice with them. Steve knows Eddie wouldn't offer something like this if he wasn't serious, but that doesn't stop him from worrying.

"What if— What if I do it, and you change your mind? If you decide once we get into it that you don't want it?"

Steve has to ask, has to know just in case. He refuses to hurt Eddie in any way, and if Eddie is going to be telling him to stop, he needs to know when to really stop. Eddie seems to pick up on his thoughts, because his expression softens. "This is why I trust you. You're a good dude, Steve. If I actually want you to stop, I'll say Hetfield. Anything other than that is just for show, okay?"

Steve nods, repeats the word under his breath. "Yeah, okay."

Eddie smiles, satisfied, and gently smacks Steve's chair with one of his crutches. "Good. Now help me get upstairs, man. I'm fuckin' beat."

They're laying in bed — because after everything, it's easier to share, to have someone next to you if the nightmares kick in — when Eddie mentions it again, voice quiet in the darkness.

"Hey, Steve?"

Steve hums in response, already close to drifting off before Eddie speaks again.

"If you do it, don't wear a condom, okay?"

Lightning strikes through Steve's system, instantly bringing him back to wakefulness. He sits up a little to look at Eddie, but the other boy is stretched out on his stomach, head turned away.

"Okay," is all he manages to say before he lays back down.

He doesn't get much sleep that night.

Steve spirals over it for a few days before he decides to say something to Robin. He can't tell her the exact details of what Eddie suggested, but he can get a little bit of insight on what he should do.

"I'm thinking about having sex with Eddie," is what he says that day while they're re-shelving the returned tapes, and he can hear her freeze in place.

"And how long have you been thinking that thought?" she asks after a brief pause, her voice somewhat stilted. She's clearly unsure of how to handle this conversation, and Steve would feel bad if he wasn't desperate to talk about it to someone.

"Not too long. Like, a few days? We were hanging out the other night and started— complaining about our sex lives, and he just suggested it."

"Huh. That's all it takes to have you questioning your sexuality?"

Steve huffs as he grabs another small stack. "I'm not 'questioning my sexuality', Robin. I'm thinking about having mutually beneficial sex with a friend."

"Right, because you have a long history of sleeping with your friends, especially the male ones." Steve can hear the eye-roll in Robin's voice, but he doesn't get a chance to respond before she continues. "So you're bringing it up to me because... you're scared?"

Steve frowns at the tape he just placed on the shelf. "Why would I be scared?"

Robin sighs and grabs his shoulder, turning him to face her. "If you weren't scared, you would just do it. You're basically asking me for permission, but you have to ask yourself: can you do this and be okay after? Can you fuck him and still be his friend and nothing more?"

"Rob-"

"You say you're not questioning, and honestly, yeah! You can just have sex with a guy and still be straight and that's totally fine! I only worry about this because you have a habit of falling fast and hard, and honestly— I think Eddie could be the exception to to whatever expectation you've placed on yourself. Steve, you look at him like he's beautiful."

Steve's frown deepens. "Because he is. I can be straight and realize that."

"I know you can. I just want you to know that it doesn't have to be so cut-and-dry. You can be attracted to women and just Eddie and no-one will hate your for it. And really, you guys are already really good for each other. Why not add a little romance to the mix?"

"I— Maybe. I'll think about it."

He does. Steve takes two more days to mull it over. He thinks about what Robin said, but Eddie hadn't said anything about feelings. As far as Steve is aware, this whole thing is strictly about sex, about both of them getting to live out a fantasy with someone they trust.

Who cares if this whole scenario has sent Steve head-first into realizing that he maybe, probably has a crush on Eddie— has for a while, if he's being honest. He can squash it down, he can make this happen for them, and then maybe they can talk about the feelings side of things after.

It's pushing 3 AM when Steve tries one of the windows to Eddie's room. It opens with barely a sound, and slipping through is easy; Eddie even moved the amp that had been sitting below it, making Steve's entrance easier. It eases his mind a bit, knowing that Eddie is actually serious about letting him do this, as does knowing that Wayne is out for the night and it will just be the two of them.

There's just enough light shining through the windows to see Eddie laid out on his stomach, fast asleep in the bed. His blanket is low enough to expose his bare back, and Steve is drawn in by the expanse of pale skin broken only by familiar pink scarring.

After their fight with Vecna, after Eddie nearly gave up his life to save Dustin, Steve had been the first to step in and help once Eddie was discharged from the hospital. Between helping him bathe and dress and changing his bandages, Steve has seen every inch of Eddie. He hadn't been excited by it at the time, not the way he is now at the thought of what's to come.

Steve grabs the blanket and tugs gently, slowly pulling it down until it's crumpled on the floor. He's only a little disappointed to see that Eddie is wearing boxers, but they should be loose enough that they won't be a problem.

Steve slips off his shoes and carefully crawls onto the bed, not bothering to get undressed — it doesn't feel right for this, for some reason. He needs the barrier of his clothes to help keep some distance, to remind himself that he isn't here to make love to Eddie, he's here to fulfill a fantasy.

Moving slowly, Steve settles his weight on Eddie's thighs and slips his fingers under the waistband of his boxers, pulling them down to rest under the slight swell of his ass. He thumbs at the faint tan line that runs across Eddie's lower back, happy to see that he's gotten some kind of sun over the last few months.

Steve slides his hands lower to properly grab at Eddie's ass, to feel the taught muscle under flesh as he kneads gently. He spreads Eddie's cheeks and rubs a thumb over the furl of his hole, only to realize— it's wet, slippery. Steve's breath catches and he pushes in slightly, feeling how easily Eddie's body gives way to the intrusion.

Eddie prepped himself.

It's the only explanation, the only reason he would be slick and ready to go. Steve's mind reels at the thought, because- has he been doing this every night? Getting himself ready with the anticipation that Steve might come by?

It makes his blood run hot, wondering if Eddie thought about Steve while he fingered himself, hoping that tonight might be the night. His dick throbs in the confines of his jeans, and Steve is hit with the sudden need to be inside him.

Steve pulls the packet of lube from his pocket and tears it open, squeezing it onto two of his fingers before gently pushing them into the sleeping man. They go easily, and the only reaction from Eddie is a soft sigh.

It emboldens Steve, who slowly adds a third finger— not because he doesn't trust Eddie to prep himself, but because Steve wants to feel him, wants to see what that tight heat is like for himself. He must rub over Eddie's prostate, because he gets a low, humming moan as Eddie unconsciously rubs his cheek against his pillow.

Steve undoes his jeans and pushes them down with his briefs, just enough that his dick flops out, and he tucks the waistband under his balls. He strokes himself, spreading the excess lube over his cock as he looks down at the man below him, sleeping soundly.

Fuck, he's actually about to do this.

Talking a deep breath, Steve notches the head of his dick at Eddie's hole and slowly pushes forward, groaning at the tight heat of his body. It's so good, better than Steve's had in a long time. He doesn't stop until his hips are pressed to Eddie's ass, then he just sits there for a minute, making sure Eddie is both properly adjusted and still asleep. His hands flutter over Eddie's sides, caressing his hips, his ribcage, lightly squeezing the narrow dip of Eddie's waist between his hands. He seems so dainty like this, and something about it makes Steve's head spin.

After a moment Steve feels comfortable to move, and he starts slow, more of a grind than anything. After that, it's not long before he's lengthening his strokes, pulling out partway so he can properly fuck the boy beneath him. Eddie whimpers and shifts, and Steve plants a hand between his shoulders, keeping him in place as he speeds up, as he snaps his hips harder.

Steve doesn't know what finally pulls Eddie from sleep, but he watches as Eddie jerks awake with a gasp and a slight struggle against Steve's hold.

"What-"

"It's just me, baby," Steve says as he fucks into Eddie again, pulling a startled moan from him. He pauses for just a moment and says "Tell me your word, Eddie," needing confirmation that Eddie is fully aware of what's going on.

He gets it when Eddie takes a shaky inhale and replies "Hetfield. Don't stop."

Steve nods and slides his hand up to grab the back of Eddie's neck as he resumes his pace, not even bothering to ease him into it. Eddie keens and clutches at his bedding, grounding himself under the sudden onslaught of pleasure. He seems to take a second to enjoy the feeling of Steve inside him, filling him over and over, before he remembers why Steve is here, remembers what they agreed to. He reaches back and pushes weakly at Steve's leg.

"Steve, stop—"

"Don't worry, I've got you, baby."

"No! I don't want this, please!"

Steve shushes him softly and squeezes the back of his neck in reassurance. "It's okay, Eddie. Gonna make you feel so good, just wait."

Eddie shakes his head as his breath hitches on a sob, and Steve worries for just a second before he feels Eddie arch back into his thrusts. Steve presses his weight onto Eddie to hold him in place, his pace never faltering as he fucks down into him.

Steve can just hear Eddie mumbling into the pillow, a weak stream of Stop, please, don't, all punctuated and contradicted by moans and gasps. In the moment, Steve can admit that it's hot. Eddie's voice saying one thing, his body saying another. He knows it's all fake, knows that he would never be able to stomach actually doing this to someone. But knowing in the back of his mind that Eddie is enjoying this, makes him enjoy it too.

Steve shifts to a quick, shallow thrust that has Eddie jerking in his hold as more garbled pleas fall from his mouth. "There we go. I told you, baby. Wanna make you feel good."

Eddie is crying now as Steve practically hammers against his prostate, his chest hitching on the occasional sob. Every whine goes straight to Steve's dick, every moan encouraging him to continue. Steve approaches his climax quicker than expected— whether it be the situation or the person beneath him spurring him on, he doesn't know.

"Fuck, I'm gonna come. Gonna fill you up, honey."

That makes Eddie redouble his efforts and he squirms under Steve's hold. "Wait, no-"

Steve ignores the plea and pushes his hand into the mess of Eddie's curls. He grabs a fist-full and uses the hold to turn Eddie's head just enough that he can lean down and kiss him. Eddie whimpers into it and barely kisses back before he's shuddering beneath Steve and tightening around him like a vice.

Steve groans and manages a few more thrusts before his orgasm hits him hard, rocketing through his system and spreading all the way to his fingers and toes. His hips jerk against Eddie's ass as he keeps his word and pumps him full of cum, not stopping until it's leaking out around his dick.

They lay there, just panting into each other's mouths for a minute before Steve shifts, releasing Eddie's hair as he sits up. Eddie makes a choked noise as the motion makes Steve shift inside him, bumping against that tender sweet spot. Steve mutters a soft apology as as pulls out, and he's briefly distracted by the sight of his cum leaking from Eddie's little hole. He has the sudden urge to swipe his fingers through it, to press it back into Eddie's body for safekeeping.

Shaking off the thought, Steve climbs off the bed and just pulls his briefs up before going to the bathroom. After a quick wipe down, he heads back with a washcloth to find Eddie rolled onto his back, eyes closed and breathing even.

"Don't fall asleep on me yet," Steve says as he kneels on the bed, and Eddie looks up like he's surprised to see Steve still there. Steve pulls off Eddie's boxers and tosses them in the general direction of the hamper before he carefully wipes Eddie down, cleaning the cum from his skin and between his legs.

The towel joins the soiled boxers, and Steve pulls the blanket back onto the bed. He watches Eddie cover himself with it, not even bothering to put any clothes back on, and he can't stop himself from asking-

"Can I stay?"

Eddie scoffs and just grabs at Steve's shirt to haul him closer. Steve goes gladly and flops down next to Eddie. He kicks off his jeans and doesn't care where they go as he slides under the blanket. They move together almost on instinct, pulling each other closer until they're wrapped together, and Eddie's head is tucked safely under Steve's chin. There's a few minutes of silence broken only by the sounds of their breathing, but Steve can't deal with it after going through all that.

"So, um. How was that?" he asks, a little stilted but determined to make sure Eddie doesn't hate him. "Did it live up to your fantasies?"

"Yeah, it was— good. Really, really good. Better than I dreamed of. What uh. What about you? Did you have fun climbing through the window?"

Steve can't help but chuckle at the question, and he nods. "Yeah, Eddie. I had fun climbing through the window. Thanks for moving the amp, by the way."

"Oh yeah, of course. Thought it might ruin the illusion if you woke me up by tripping and falling on your face."

They both laugh at that, and Steve rubs a hand over Eddie's back. "Yeah, that probably would have ruined the mood."

There's another moment of silence, a brief lull in their conversation before Eddie says "You know, if you ever want a repeat performance, I am more than willing to reprise my role as the helpless victim."

Fuck, Steve wants that. He wants the chance to experience this again, the chance to make Eddie feel like that again. But— He also wants more. Doesn't know if he can take more of this without also having more of Eddie.

"Actually— Do you wanna go out? Like, on a date?" he asks, and Eddie, always one to deflect from his feelings, responds "You've already gotten in my pants, Stevie. No need to woo me now."

"I want to woo you, Eddie. Want to take you to the movies and kiss you and be your boyfriend."

"Damn, the sex was that good?"

Another deflection. Steve pinches his ass for it, and Eddie yelps as he jerks in Steve's arms. "Hey!"

"I liked you before the sex, dummy. I just didn't realize it until you offered. It's okay if you don't feel the same, I just— I want you to know how I feel," Steve says as he looks down, finding Eddie's eyes in the low light.

They stare at each other for a moment before Eddie moves a hand to cup Steve's cheek. "You're serious about this, huh?"

"Yeah, I am," Steve mutters, leaning into the touch.

Eddie chews on his lip, thinking hard for a moment before he speaks. "I've liked you for a long while now," he confesses. "I offered to do this because I thought it might be my one chance to sleep with you, my one shot at living a long-time fantasy. And now you're offering a whole ass relationship?" Eddie shakes his head and huffs a laugh. "Part of me thinks I'm still asleep and this whole thing is just some crazy intense wet dream."

Steve can't help himself; he pinches Eddie again and this time gets a retaliatory smack on his back along with a sharp "Steve!" He just chuckles and soothes his hand over the pinched spot. "At least you know you're not dreaming."

Eddie's face does something complicated before he surges in, pressing their mouths together in a kiss. Steve hums as he kisses back, languid and deep, and he squeezes Eddie's ass, feeling the warm skin under his hand. Eddie groans and breaks the kiss just enough to mutter against Steve's mouth, "You tryin'a go for round two, big boy?"

"That depends," Steve replies. "You gonna let me be your boyfriend?"

Eddie hums for a moment, like these pretending to think. "Only if we can make tonight's events a semi-regular thing," he offers, and Steve grins.

"I think I can make that happen. That and much more."

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