#except maybe steddie

[rypnami]

murray x alexei is the ultimate stranger things ship don’t even @ me y’all know i’m right

[mardyart]

911/firefighter!steve x dispatcher!eddie AU

[feralsteddie]

OKAY BUT

Thinking about all the hilarity that would be if Tommy tried to “befriend” Steve again after everything.

Tommy and Eddie glaring at each other every time Steve looks away.

Fighting over Steve’s attention.

Each going to throw their arms around Steve just to end up slamming them together while Steve’s still walking

The “I can fix him” vs “I can make him worse”

The bitchy comments back and forth over who knows Steve better

Tommy will show up with a six pack just to find Steve and Eddie already high together

Eddie swinging by for an impromptu movie night and Tommy and Steve have a basketball game on

Tommy trying to have a conversation with the kids because he know they’re the key to winning Steve back, but Max snaps her teeth like she’s going to bite him once and Tommy screams so high pitch Steve started panicking because he thought it was Erica

Eddie trying to learn Steve’s sports to show he won’t just dismiss his interests, but he’s a chronic smoker whose hobbies are fairly sedentary so five minutes in he’s wheezing and somehow manages to almost break his nose with a basketball

It’s only funnier when they both pull up to Steve’s place, at the exact same time, with flowers in their hands. And Steve opens the door to them trying to kill each other on his front lawn.

[cuoredimuschio]

okay, but where's my steddie AU where steve wants to learn to play guitar to impress a girl he's infatuated with and he remembers that munson kid was always hanging up posters for his weird band at school, so he hikes out to eddie's usual dealing spot behind the track and asks (with far less groveling than he really should have) if eddie will teach him how to play, and obviously eddie says no because why would he want to help king steve, but of course, steve offers to pay him, $20 a week, and well, that's the kind of get-the-hell-out-of-this-shithole-town cash eddie really can't afford to refuse, so fine, he'll teach steve to play and they'll spend inordinate amounts of time together tucked away in eddie's room and they'll start to see that they have more in common than they thought and that they kind of had each other all wrong, and eddie will put his hand over steve's to help him get the placement for a tricky chord and it totally won't awaken anything in either of them?? where is it??

edit: i started writing it

[eddie4bat-president]

I can so perfectly picture Eddie as this doordasher wearing that shirt

He is. So So Tired, just to start off the day. Did not sleep at all the night before because first he was in the zone perfecting his latest campaign but then he went a little overboard with the villain's backstory; then he realized that if his party didn't question specific people and roll high enough persuasion to get this information, he wouldn't get to tell this story. So then he went on to craft an npc bard who would be singing about the villain and- wait he's a songwriter. Oh how sick would it be if he had his players in a tavern or something after they defeated the Big Bad and then Eddie, at the table, could take out his guitar and play that song to tell the villain's tragic backstory? Amazing, showstopping, incredible. Except he was almost done writing a song he could play on his acoustic that would sound kind of medieval-ly when he realized- wait this is good, actually. What the fuck. He should make a real song out of this for Corroded Coffin. And when he finally tries to go to sleep he keeps laying wide awake with ideas for a whole concept album from the viewpoint of the Bard and-

Point is he's borderline delirious when he gets dressed to dash to some doors - enough that when he looks at the “if she sits on your face, she legally owns you…. Squatters rights and all that” on the shirt Jeff got him for his birthday he giggles for a minute straight while getting dressed and then on and off again until he's in his van.

He loses some time in the routine of getting people their shit and driving until he rings a bell and a distracted pin-up angel from jock-heaven opens the door in some ratty green basketball shorts and nothing else unless you count the t-shirt he's decidedly not wearing but using to wipe... flour? And something else? From his face.

"Hi, sorry, give me a second - I don't care that you're old enough to drive, Henderson! You don't touch another thing in that kitchen until I'm back or I swear to God- give me a second, I want to give you the tip in cash, that's better for you, right?" "...Huh? Yeah, it's- yeah" Sue him, Eddie's distracted. There's hairy chest right in front of his sleep-deprived face and he's considering his conversion to becoming a tits man - except in that moment the (literally) dirty angel turns away and oh Jesus Christ. Yeah, no, still an ass man. Oh wow.

He loses some time again and when he's all there once more he's holding a marker and has just - in view of his future owner, fingers crossed - blacked out the "S" on his shirt so it says "if ■he sits on your face, ■he legally owns you" instead. He's still trying to figure out how this happened and if the surprised look on his doordashee's face is leaning good or bad when fucking Dustin Henderson walks around the corner.

[itsame-ariana]

and then Joseph Quinn saw that and went

Hah- just watch

Need I bring up “Harringtons got er, dOnTcHyA bIg bOy” and more

[pizzaqueen]

Steve and Eddie go see Top Gun together and Steve doesn’t know what happens but he leaves the cinema with a gigantic crush on Eddie. He goes out and buys the soundtrack and spends the next few weeks pining for Eddie, listening to Take My Breath Away by Berlin on repeat. He listens so many times he knows exactly how long he has to rewind the tape to get back to the beginning of the song

[pbchocmint]

✨⭐️ Starry-eyed steddie ⭐️✨

@yearoftheotpevent July (I’m so behind lmao) prompt: star

[rosiesramblings]

Whenever Eddie wants to get Steve's attention, he'll do the 'fingers tipping the other one's face up to look at them' thing, except every. damn. time. he flutters his fingers under Steve's chin, coaxing bubbly giggles from his lips. Eddie thinks it's hilarious and adorable. Steve thinks its embarrassing.

The one time Steve tries to turn the tables, they are in Eddie's room of the Munsons' new government-hush-money-purchased apartment. Eddie's strumming absentmindedly at his guitar when he feels Steve's fingers under his chin.

To both of their surprise, Eddie reacts violently, throwing himself backwards with a loud "FUCK!" Steve freezes for a moment, his eyes traveling from Eddie's now bright red face to the brand new hole in the wall courtesy of Eddie's elbow.

Steve feels so fucking bad, he goes out and buys all the stuff to patch up the drywall, hoping to be done by the time Wayne gets home. Instead, Wayne happens upon him in the middle of the repair, and Steve was worried he'd be pissed. Instead, Wayne just snorts and immediately dives into the story of when Eddie kicked him in the face and gave him a black eye when he was little and Wayne tried to tickle him.

[second-hand-heaven]

steddyhands content where the onus is on stede to make the effort to close the stede/izzy hypotenuse of the poly triangle, where???

[nitro502]

Hey it’s ok actually to headcanon Eddie as a trans guy without drawing him uncharacteristically feminine. Encouraged even. Especially if you yourself are not trans.

[paperbackribs]

tags: steddie, pre-canon, season S2-ish, tommy hagan will always have a crush on Steve Harrington

🩵💥🩵

“Someday, you're gonna get bitch-slapped, and I'm not gonna do a thing to stop it,” Steve hears the echo of his words in the Hawkins High boys’ bathroom. Spinning off the tiles, pinging against its corners and stabbing at Tommy who stands gasping at his best friend.

But Steve doesn’t care. This has been a long time coming.

Tommy is a prick and Steve thought there wasn’t anything wrong with going with the flow, ignoring the snide comments, looking away from the rumours that Carol would spread, as long as his friends remained by his side.

But Billy Hargrove had infected Hawkins High. Steve stopped swallowing the cool aid. And Tommy is fuming; red in the face and ready to take it out on any unfortunate soul that crosses his path.

Enter Steve.

Or, really, enter Eddie Munson.

Steve wasn’t sure if Tommy followed Eddie into the empty toilets or coincidentally came across him or whatever could be going on in the mixed up mind of his former best friend. But watching Tommy square off his stocky, muscular body against the other boy, boxed into the corner and wide, brown eyes only visible over Tommy’s shoulder, Steve swears that he’ll no longer look away from Tommy’s indiscretions.

So, he says it again, nodding to the leather clad boy in the corner, “Eddie’s going to take a swing at you and not only will I not defend you, I might even fucking taking a swing too.”

Tommy gapes, “What the fuck, Steve? I know we’ve been having troubles, but you’d take the freak’s side over mine?”

Eddie’s face twists in the background. Steve can see the anger warping his eyes and he doesn’t blame him, almost wishes that Eddie would take a swing and then Steve could just stand back and let it happen.

He sighs: he’s allowed a lot of things to just happen so far and it’s not to his credit.

Weirdly, Steve's resigned gaze meets Eddie’s incredulous look and, just for a moment, Steve feels like he’s met someone who gets it. Someone who sees the ridiculous, short-sighted nature of the petty bullying in the hallways of their high school and knows how stupid and utterly pathetic it is.

Steve swears that the corner of Eddie’s lips kick up at the irony of their shared understanding but is distracted as Tommy strides forward, knocking against his shoulder hard enough to send Steve spinning against the wood of a stall. He steadies himself as Tommy slams the bathroom door shut behind him with a clamorous bang and shakes his head: how could he have had such loyalty for a guy who won’t even stop to talk out their stupid shit together?

Steve thought he’d at least earned Tommy’s patience, a moment of Tommy’s time so they could talk this out and find a way forward again. He stares after his former friend, a hollow, gaping hole in his stomach as he grieves the friendship he thought they’d shared.

Eddie approaches with a gentle hand, laying it on Steve’s shoulder, “Are you all right, man?”

Steve swallows around the thickness in his chest and belatedly realises that his cheeks are wet. He clears his throat and, through a tight smile, says, “Yeah, don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

The deep richness of those brown eyes regard him for a long moment and Steve feels stripped bare. He thought he was the guy rescuing Eddie, but he suddenly feels like the one vulnerable and exposed to the other boy.

Eddie smiles softly, “Yeah, got saved, right? How could I be anything but peachy keen?”

Steve snorts despite himself, amused by Eddie’s tongue-in-cheek tone, “Like a summertime in Georgia.” He can’t help but flash to Tommy’s retreating back and hates that his tone is already bitter, “Except I’m the stupid fucking tree alone in the grove.”

His head twitching slightly to the side, as if he were weighing Steve’s words, Eddie lightly responds, “Well, maybe it’s time to try another field. Wanna hang out sometime?”

Steve blinks, bewildered at the offer. The suggestion given so freely and without conditions seems anathema to his experience of friendship, and especially friendship in the complex halls of high school. He eyes the other boy suspiciously, but Eddie’s eyes remain clear, his body loose and almost curled towards Steve as if he were the north to his compass.

What could it hurt? Steve thinks.

Looking at what he can only describe as kindness in Eddie’s eyes, Steve thinks that a lot of things could hurt. Could burn or scald or stab, but the sweet, clear acceptance in Eddie Munson’s eyes has him thinking of a world where Steve can offer his loyalty and receive it in kind. A place where he can be good and feel like he’s doing good and perhaps a lovely brown-eyed boy would wait and tell him he’d done the right thing.

Eddie sticks out his hand in a gesture of friendship that only bolsters the words he’d already extended to Steve. And nothing moves in the cold room of Hawkins boys’ bathroom, no wind or breeze, but as Steve reaches out to clasp Eddie Munson’s outstretched hand, he feels a seismic shift that he can’t explain.

Steve’s fingers fold around the warmth of Eddie’s palm and Eddie’s full lips stretch into a smile, welcoming and true. A gesture that Steve can’t be sure of, can’t let himself fully trust; yet, nonetheless, Steve finds himself hopelessly following after Eddie’s extension of friendship.

And it'll eventually allow Steve to follow him to the confusing halls of the Hellfire Club.

To the strangely welcome space of Eddie's uncle’s trailer.

And Steve follows.

Because he is helpless but to follow this wide, brown-eyed boy who smirks at him with a knowing smile.

[yabakuboi]

thinking about oldman yaoi steddie like—

trucker eddie picks up drifter steve at a pit stop some where in the middle of cornfield ohio. they've both had pretty rough lives, but eddie's a softy and when a pretty guy (despite his ragged appearance) flashes him a smile and says "hey handsome, got room for one more?" eddie lets him up in the passenger seat

a hundred miles later, eddie loses him and the last $10 out of his wallet, but that's okay. to be expected really and steve was pleasant company for a while. he doesn't think he'll ever see steve again.

except that he does, nearly half a year later, and eddie recognizes steve where he's sitting outside a truck stop in new mexico. steve obviously recognizes him too by the way he's carefully not looking at eddie. still, eddie buys two sandwiches and drops one in steve's lap before he heads over to the well-graffied picnic table outside the gas station. it takes a moment, but steve follows, sits across from him.

"i don't want any trouble," he says, warily placing his sandwich in the middle of the table, like an offering if eddie wants to take it back.

"no trouble to be had," eddie tells him, and slides it right back.

they eat in silence after that, and when steve's done, eddie asks if he needs a ride anywhere.

he drops steve off near atlanta this time, sighing when steve refuses to take any money but leaving him with a number to Eddie's trailer if he ever needs it. eddie doesn't take much time off, so he's rarely there, but steve takes the little paper from eddie almost reverently all the same. if he calls, he never leaves a message, and he never calls when eddie's home.

so they don't see each other for maybe a year this time, until one day eddie's passing through tennessee and the roads are wet and icy and there's steve again outside another truck stop. he looks at eddie with wide eyes, like a man that hasn't seen a lot of luck in his life and whispers, "i never thought i'd see you again."

and eddie asks "it's almost christmas time. you might as well come on home with me."

"i don't want to cause trouble with your family."

"no family to trouble," eddie tells him seriously.

so he brings steve home, and they eat frozen pizza for christmas dinner and drink cheap beer for new years. eddie gets called out on the road again, but he leaves steve at home. he calls the first night and steve's still there. and the next night, and the next. and when he's next in hawkins, steve is waiting for him on the porch and eddie thinks he must be mirroring eddie's shock, the two of them surprised that steve's still there.

steve's still there though, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years later, long after eddie's retired from trucking. they got a little RV now and a dog and they roam far and wide, but always together

[lihhelsing]

Carry me home

cw: anxiety attacks, angst | 1.7k | Steddie

Eddie has no idea what he's doing here. If he had a little more self-respect he would be as far away from here as possible. 

But Eddie knows his feelings for himself are questionable, at best. So here he is, against every logical thought.

He spent most of the night wandering around, trying to pretend he was invisible and that no one could see him. In the end, most people were already used to ignoring him, so it wasn't that hard. 

Except for him. 

Eddie's not ashamed to say he had dipped behind the kitchen counter to avoid being seen by him. 

His ex-boyfriend probably wouldn't be happy to see Eddie walking around his party. 

In fact, Eddie could already hear the kind of nasty thing he would shout to him if he were to catch him there.

It was past three in the morning, and Eddie still had no clue why he was there. Maybe he was waiting to get caught. 

The party had died down quite a bit from how it was when he arrived at midnight and Eddie knew it was time for him to leave. He just really, really needs to pee.

He tried the downstairs bathroom and found it locked. There were sounds coming from inside that Eddie would much rather not think about, so he moved on.

Tried to convince himself he could make it back home and pee there, but even as he considered it, he knew he wouldn’t make it.

So he climbed the stairs because he knew it was off-limits during parties – painfully remembering the many times he and Steve would sneak out to his bedroom to make out or just sleep.

The corridor upstairs was dark and mostly quiet, except for the party sounds. Eddie went straight to the second door on the left. The bathroom. 

Eddie tried to be as quiet as he possibly could walking in and closing the door behind him, still in the dark and too afraid to turn on the lights in case that gave him away. 

Steve was probably downstairs, doing keg stands or playing beer pong or some dumb shit like that. 

Eddie used to love to watch him play, but he brushed it aside, not wanting to get sucked in by the rabbit hole of memories. 

He walked using his muscle memory as his eyes got used to the dark. He could make out the toilet and reached out to lift the lid when he heard it. 

It was a muffled, low cry. Sounded like an injured animal and Eddie thought he might be going crazy and hearing things because Steve's parents wouldn't allow him to get a dog, no matter how much he wanted one.

He held his breath to try and figure out where the cry was coming from and was terrified when he realized it was coming from his right side. The bathtub. 

Eddie's mind started to race with a million possibilities, each one nastier than the other. He knew Harrington's parties tend to be crazy and this could literally be anything but he was so freaked out he had even forgotten about how badly he needed to pee. 

Eddie pulled the curtains slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible so as to not alert whoever – or whatever – he was going to find there.

And out of all the scenarios... He just didn't expect to see Steve. Curled in a ball, hugging his knees close to his chest and crying softly. 

Eddie felt his heart plummeting inside his chest. He would very much like to say that was the first time he ever saw Steve like that, but it wasn't. 

And some of those times he was the one to blame. 

For a second, Eddie just stood there, watching Steve cry.  He was so out of it that he didn't even notice Eddie was there and that was scary. 

Meant that he was probably very out of it. 

Eddie should leave.

That was his plan, wasn't it? And there was no way Steve would like his ex-boyfriend to see him looking like that. 

But at the same time... How could he leave him? 

Even before his mind was made, Eddie's legs were moving, stepping inside the tub so he could crouch in it.

He knew better than to touch Steve, so he gently called his name. One, two, three times. 

When it was clear that wouldn't do, he reached out his hand and touched Steve's knee softly. Steve reacted instantly, jerking away, scared. 

Eddie raised his hands and kept his voice low whispering over and over that it was ok, he was ok. "It's just me. It's just Eddie."

Steve's eyes were glassy when he found Eddie's. His face was red as if he had been crying for hours and Eddie worried this might be something he had no idea how to handle.

It was too late to back out now. 

"Eddie?" Steve said. His voice was rough and weird and he coughed a few times before managing to get the words out. 

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. It's me. Hi."

"Am I dreaming?" Steve asked and Eddie let out a dark chuckle. 

"Wouldn't that be more of a nightmare?"

Even through the tears, Eddie could see Steve rolling his eyes. Or at least he thought that was what he wanted to do. 

"Can I touch you?" Eddie asked, and Steve nodded faster than he was expecting. And then Eddie's hand was back on his knee. 

"You're really here?" Steve asked.

"I'm really here," Eddie assured him, squeezing his knee softly. "What happened? Why are you..."

Alone. Hiding. Crying. Looking like you're having a panic attack. 

Steve didn't answer. Instead, he started to move, stretching his legs towards Eddie.

With a loud pop, he found a place for them right under Eddie and didn't seem too worried about it. 

"Just anxious, I guess," Steve said as if it was nothing. He moved his hand so now his fingers were going up and down Eddie's arm, tracing his tattoos.

Eddie felt a shiver running down his spine. He and Steve hadn't touched each other in months. Ever since he walked away. 

Steve was right, this felt like a fever dream.

"Why? Something happened?"

He could see the moment Steve hesitated. Could see the words getting caught in his throat. Instead of answering, he shrugged and looked away. 

"Steve..." Eddie said and he was ready to be yelled at. He was ready for Steve to tell him he had no right to ask him that.

"Felt wrong," Steve answered, eventually. His fingers stopped moving and he curled them around Eddie's wrist. He could feel Eddie's heartbeat going crazy, no doubt. 

"What did, sweetheart?" Eddie knew he was playing with fire. Knew he shouldn't say things like that because

Steve wasn't his anymore. But old habits die hard. 

"All of it? The smell and the touch... It's not the same. And then..."

Eddie wanted to ask what he meant, but he didn't want to interrupt Steve so he let him keep going. 

"Then she fell asleep."

Eddie felt the words piercing through him. Painful and hot. Steve had been with someone else. A girl, it seemed. 

He tried to take his hand away but Steve held tightly to it. 

"It felt wrong, Eddie. So fucking wrong. I told her she was supposed to lie on the right side of the bed and she didn’t.”

Steve's tears were back, rolling down his face freely as he talked.

Eddie had no idea what to say. Maybe he should leave but his legs didn't seem to be working and he didn't have it in him to break free from Steve's touch. Not with how much he had missed it. 

Fuck.

"I told her! I just left for a minute and when I got back she was lying there, on the left side. On your side."

Eddie felt again. Pain. Dread. Hurt. This was too much but Steve was spiraling and he couldn't leave him. He also didn't want to leave him. 

"Shh, it's ok,” Eddie said under his breath. 

He was feeling brave, so he reached out his free hand and pushed Steve's damp hair from his face. He scratched at his scalp the way he knew Steve liked it and the reward was more than he could've hoped for. 

Steve mewled, leaning his head on Eddie's hand as if he had been craving the touch. 

"It's ok, sweetheart. It's an honest mistake," Eddie said even if he had no idea what he was talking about. There was a girl in Steve's bed and he was upset because she was lying on Eddie’s side.

What the fuck.

"Not ok," Steve grumbled back and Eddie had to bite back a laugh. 

He used his thumb to catch a tear that was rolling down his cheek and cupped his face. Steve was so gorgeous, even with his eyes bloodshot and swollen from crying. 

"Not ok, but we'll fix it, ok?"

Steve nodded. His eyes were focused on Eddie and for the first time it looked like he was actually seeing what was happening. Eddie was scared this meant he was going to kick him out. 

But he didn't. 

"Can you take me home?" Steve asked, under his breath. His voice was so small

Eddie barely made out the words. 

He wanted to point out to Steve that he was home, already. But deep down he knew what he was asking. And he knew he shouldn't. Knew this was too much and he wasn't going to recover from it. 

But still. He couldn't bear to see Steve like that.

"Yeah, sweetheart. I'll take you home, c'mon. My car is right outside."

Steve smiled softly as he let Eddie pull him up and out of the bathtub. As soon as they were walking, Steve plastered himself to Eddie's side, holding on tightly. 

Eddie let him.

He made a mental note to call Robin when he had a chance, just to let her know he got Steve. 

He wondered if she was going to be surprised. Probably not.

Steve buried his face on Eddie's neck and breathed him in. He placed a soft kiss there and Eddie sighed in response, knowing damn well he was fucked.

[unfinishedslurs]

hoh steve (steddie)

“Steve,” Robin calls right as he’s preparing to jump. He turns and looks at her, head tilted, and she taps her ear. Eddie watches as Steve’s face goes through several emotions, annoyance, trepidation, resignation, before reaching up and pulling something from his ear. He drops it in her hand with a sigh, and Robin makes some kind of motion with her hands.

He gives her a reluctant thumbs up back, and dives. 

“So, what was that?” Eddie asks after a few seconds, while they all peer into the water. 

“What’s what?”

“The…“ he pokes his own ear, “the thing he gave you.”

“Oh, it’s—“ she starts, but then Steve comes up for air and everything is forgotten. 

“—unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen,” Eddie finishes with a flourish. He doesn’t know why he’s doing this, except that Steve seems like he’s actually a good guy, and deserves to be happy. Eddie knows it will never be him that does that. So matchmaking it is. 

Steve doesn’t say anything, just stares blankly at his lips, brow furrowed. He looks up at the girls, and Eddie assumes he’s looking at Nancy, contemplating their future together. 

“Hey Robin?” Steve calls out a little too loud, dashing all of Eddie’s assumptions on the rocks. 

She turns around, tilting her head and jogging back to them. Nancy keeps going on, because she’s got the biggest balls of anyone Eddie’s ever met and will not be stopped by man nor hellbeast. 

Steve points to his left ear, the one Eddie’s on the side of. “Do you have it?” 

Robin moves closer to his right, hitching her voice a little louder. “I couldn’t exactly take it into the lake with me, Dingus.”

“Great,” he groans, “lost my hearing aid and my favorite sweater. Fuck this place, seriously.”

Eddie’s eyes widen. Hearing aid? He would have noticed a hearing aid, right?

Steve turns to him with a grimace. “Sorry man,” he says, “I caught, like, maybe half of what you were saying. Something about trying to fix my friendship with Nancy?”

[steddieas-shegoes]

so glad i found you

for @steddielovemonth prompt 'love is coparenting'

rated t | 1,428 words | cw: mention of previous marriage (steve's) | tags: established relationship, single dad steve (except he isn't anymore *wink wink*), steddie dads, modern au, marriage proposal

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

"Sarah, come on!" Steve yelled from the kitchen, his eyes drifting to the clock that he hoped was lying. They were gonna be late for school. Again.

"Daddy, I can't find my jacket!" Sarah came running through the kitchen, only half-dressed, no backpack in sight.

"What do you mean? It was on the hook last night."

"It's not now."

Steve groaned.

And then a jacket was thrust into his hands and a sleep-rough voice was in his ear. "Found it on the floor in the bathroom."

Steve grabbed the jacket from Eddie, kissing his cheek in thanks.

"Eddie found it, let's go!" Steve yelled before whispering to just Eddie. "Thank you, baby. Sorry for waking you up."

"Needed to get up anyway. Wanted to say bye to Sarah."

Steve watched as Eddie walked over to the cabinet that held their vitamins. He reached in and grabbed the gummies Sarah was supposed to take every day. Steve wasn't always the best about remembering them, but Eddie never forgot.

He reached in the fridge next, grabbing the smoothie Steve forgot about and handing it to him. "Since I know you didn't eat anything," Eddie kissed his cheek again and leaned against the counter holding the gummies for Sarah.

"Thanks, Eds," Steve said as Sarah came crashing back into the kitchen and reached for her jacket. "Why did you move this into the bathroom?"

"I didn't."

"Ah, I fear the ghosts are at it again, Steve," Eddie said, smirking when Sarah giggled. He handed her the gummies once she had her arms in the jacket. "Vitamins to make you big and strong, your highness."

"Thanks, Dad."

Everyone froze. The clock on the wall stopped ticking. The air was sucked out of the room.

Sarah was bright red, and because she wasn't the type to stick around an awkward situation, she turned and walked out of the room.

Eddie blinked at Steve, lips parted as he tried to remember how to breathe.

He'd been with Steve for just over a year, and while he didn't technically live with them, he spent more time at their apartment than his own. He was on Sarah's emergency pick-up list, took her with him to run errands when Steve had to work late, bought her things when the budget allowed just because he wanted to, and would read to her most nights that he stayed over. In many ways, he was her dad.

She hardly knew her mom, only spent two weeks every summer with her and was perfectly fine with that. Steve's ex-wife had admitted from the beginning of the pregnancy that she thought it was a mistake and when she filed for divorce when Sarah was six months old, Steve wasn't surprised. She had no interest in being a mom the way Steve had so desperately wanted to be a dad. But even still, Eddie never wanted them to feel like he was trying to force any type of parental power.

She'd called him Eddie until this moment, and he'd been completely fine with it. He would've been fine with it forever if it meant he got to have them both.

"I can talk to her. I don't think she meant to say it and it's okay if you don't want her to. She'll understand and-" Steve started rambling, trying to prevent Eddie from panicking.

But he wasn't. He was just doing his best not to start crying.

"But did she mean it?" He asked, voice shaking as he realized how much he did want her to call him Dad.

"I dunno, Eds. Probably. You know she never says things she doesn't mean. But we can talk to her-"

"No. I mean, yes, we should. But not because I don't want her to." Eddie took a deep breath. "I've kinda been her dad for a while now. It feels like it, at least. We've been in this together for most of the last year, ya know? I wanna be this for her and for you."

Steve was going to melt into a puddle, maybe right through the floor into the apartment below them. The nice old couple who lived there would have to mop him up.

"Daddy? Da-Eddie?" Sarah's small voice said from the doorway.

"Come here, sweet pea," Steve got down closer to her level. She was tall for her age, but even at eight years old, she was barely level with his chest. "Do you wanna call Eddie Dad? There's no wrong answer."

Eddie nodded, getting down to her level, too.

"It won't hurt my feelings if you just said it by accident, princess. I promise I love being your Eddie," he smiled at her.

He meant that, he wouldn't lie to her. But a small part of him hoped she wouldn't go back to calling him just Eddie after that. Not after he had a taste of what it could be like to be her dad.

"Well, you do dad stuff with me. Like when we built that birdhouse because I was scared the robin would have her eggs in a tree and they'd fall and crack and the babies would die. And when you took me shopping for a dress so I could go to Daddy's awards for work. And you always read to me with the voices and stuff." Sarah was playing with her hair, a nervous habit she'd somehow picked up from Eddie in such a short time. "And that's stuff that Daddy does with me all the time too, like when you're not here with us to do it. And sometimes even when you are and you both do it it feels like I have two dads. I like having two dads."

Steve and Eddie were both barely holding back tears as she spoke. She'd always been incredibly brave about her feelings.

"I like doing all that stuff with you, princess. But I would love it all no matter what you called me, okay?" Eddie said around a barely contained sob.

"But you love Daddy and me right?"

"Of course."

"And you kinda live with us."

He let out a wet laugh. "Yeah, I guess I kinda do."

"And you maybe will get married?"

Steve nearly choked on his own breath. "Sarah, honey, remember I told you that kind of decision is something that takes time and-"

"Yeah, princess. I think maybe we will. Not right now, but someday," Eddie interrupted.

Steve resisted glaring at him. He knew better than to make promises to a child, they'd already been over this before, and he could already see Sarah's wheels spinning.

"Wait-"

"So I can wear a pretty dress?" Sarah asked, as if that was the most important thing. "Can I hold both your hands?"

"If your Daddy is okay with it when it happens. But you know what has to happen first?" Eddie poked her dimple, smiling at her with teary eyes. "He has to say yes."

Sarah looked over at Steve, who was...confused.

"Daddy! Say yes!"

"He's gotta ask!" Steve exclaimed. "And he doesn't have a ring. We've only been together a year."

"Stevie."

Something in Eddie's voice made Steve pause and look at him instead of Sarah.

"I have a ring. Not with me, but. I already know you're it for me." Eddie held Sarah's hand and Steve's. "I just wanted to make sure Sarah was okay with it first. So. Sarah Harrington."

"Yes, Dad?"

Jesus, Steve was pretty sure he would die from this. In a good way, maybe the best way, but Jesus Christ.

"Would it be okay if I ask your dad to marry me? I could be your other dad and I promise I can read to you every night."

"Hm." Sarah thought for barely a second before she beamed at Steve. "Daddy, I'm saying yes. So you have to say yes. I want Eddie to live with us forever."

The most important thing to Steve was someone who Sarah loved and who loved Sarah in return, someone who was part of their family because they wanted to be, someone who felt proud to be theirs.

Eddie checked off all of that and then some.

He looked at Eddie and smiled. "Well, you heard the princess. Yes!"

Being late for school turned into being absent from school. Steve and Eddie skipped work for the day so they could all be together. Eddie went to his apartment to get the ring and Sarah made decorations for a "real" proposal.

He didn't mind that it wasn't anything extravagant. None of them did.