#not between steve and eddie tho

[wheneverfeasible]

The Beast With Two Backs

wc: 2.7k || rating: M || cw: infidelity/cheating, implied alcohol abuse, minor sexual content || ships: Steve/OMC, Steve/Eddie, Robin/Vickie (minor/side) || tags: Modern AU, College AU, no Upside Down, angst with a happy ending || ao3

Steve remembered, as a child, his mother warning him of the beast with two backs. She’d been drunk on the expensive champagne she had bought for her and his father’s ten year anniversary dinner. He was supposed to be going over to Tommy’s for the night after his father got home from work, except he had called off, saying he had some important paperwork he had to do.

Even Steve could hear the shrill laughter on the other side of the phone that his father barely tried to shush.

His mom had gotten a little too drunk to drive him to the Hagans’ now, and too drunk to call them and tell them that, so Steve did instead. He promised Tommy he’d see him tomorrow, but that his mom wasn’t feeling good. Tommy had been annoyed, but it was whatever. He needed to take care of his mom first. He promised he’d see him tomorrow though.

His mother was halfway through the bottle when she bemoaned the beast, warning Steve never to fall prey to it, to never become the beast that ruined a poor girl’s life. To never trap someone in a life they didn’t want because he wouldn’t ’wrap it up’.

It wasn’t until he was a little bit older and discovered how long a pregnancy took that he began wondering about the fact that his tenTh birthday was only five months after what should have been his parents’ ten year anniversary dinner.

When he became sexually active in high school, he always made certain to use rubbers, or found his partner’s pleasure in other ways. Later, after his falling out with Tommy and his new friendship with Robin, things got even better when he realized he could like boys too. There was no risk of pregnancy with most boys. Entering college opened a whole new ballpark for him.

It was where he met his boyfriend. He and Robin were working their part time job, where he’d met her, and his future boyfriend had strode in, caught sight of him in those ridiculous blue shorts, and the rest was history he supposed. The guy was ripped jeans and band tees and everything his parents would hate. Steve possibly fell in love at first sight.

It had been fantastic, at first. His boyfriend would serenade him, would take him out to bars and dance with him in public, and would promise to always love Steve.

And then Steve’s boyfriend made a new friend who he spoke to all the time through text messages he wouldn’t let Steve see. Suddenly, his boyfriend wasn’t around as often. Suddenly, his boyfriend started missing dates, calling to tell him he had coursework he had to do. There was never laughter at the other, but Steve’s insides squirmed.

His boyfriend told him he was being delusional. Paranoid. That there wasn’t anything to worry about. Steve had met the friend who touched his boyfriend in the way that his boyfriend always shook off when Steve did it. Steve’s boyfriend never called Steve his boyfriend when his friend was around.

He stopped repeating Steve’s “I love you”s at the end of their phone calls and texts.

Steve wanted to surprise his boyfriend, so he stopped by his room to drag him to dinner and maybe a movie. It wasn’t an anniversary or anything, but he wanted to reaffirm their relationship.

Instead, he saw the beast his mother had once warned him about, composed of his boyfriend and the friend he’d repeatedly been told not to worry about.

Eddie’s eyes were the first one to meet him from his position on top of Dennis, his dark eyes widening at the sudden appearance of an audience when Steve had entered his boyfriend’s unlocked dorm room. Eddie froze for a brief moment before he flushed bright red at being caught riding dick and scrambled off.

Dennis propped himself up on his bed and glared across at Steve. “Jesus fucking Christ, Steven, don’t you ever knock?” his boyfriend hissed at him.

Steve stared without blinking, his chest feeling caved in. Dennis wasn’t even apologetic. Eddie was looking back and forth between them with lowered brows, confusion radiating from him, prompting him to start looking for his clothing. He had a hard time telling them apart from Dennis’s always scattered on the floor.

“Baby, c’mon, don’t go,” Dennis crooned, but it wasn’t towards Steve. No, he was propped up on his elbow on the bed, dick still wet and hard, holding out a hand towards Eddie.

Baby.

Dennis used to call Steve that too.

Eddie glanced nervously at Steve. “It looks like your friend needs to talk to you,” he hesitated, and that snapped Steve at least partly out of his silent staring.

“Boyfriend,” he corrected.

“What!” Eddie squawked while Dennis let fly an expletive.

“I’m his boyfriend. Or…I was, until just right now.”

Dennis swore again. “Steve, babe, don’t do this,” he said, causing Eddie to fling his head around to gape at Dennis. “Look, we can work this out,” he wheedled, sitting up finally to hold his wiggling fingers out towards Steve. “You could join us,” he added with a purr that used to send Steve’s toes curling.

Now it only curdled his stomach.

“He was your boyfriend this whole time?” Eddie hissed, and he looked so disgusted with Dennis that Steve couldn’t even find it in himself to hate the guy. Hell, even if he had known about Steve, he couldn’t really hate the guy. After all, it was Steve’s boyfriend doing the cheating, not Eddie.

Dennis just scoffed, rolling his eyes, obviously trying to salvage the situation. “He’s a baby gay. It was never going to be serious. Not like you and me, baby,” he coaxed, reaching out to grab Eddie by the hip.

Eddie’s hand solidly met Dennis’s cheek, making Steve jump. “Find someone else to buy your weed from,” Eddie growled, and then he was shoving on clothes that may or may not belong to him and crashing through the door, sending Steve an agonized, apologizing look.

Steve finally blinked at Dennis, who was clutching his cheek and swearing a mile a minute, finally understanding his mother and wishing he had expensive champagne right now too. “Goodbye, Dennis. We’re through.”

Steve closed the door on his ex-boyfriend, ignoring his calls for Steve to wait and come back.

Robin helped him through the breakup, blocking Dennis’s number from both their phones and helping Steve file the paperwork to switch dorm rooms. Neither of them wanted him to be where Dennis could easily find it after the first night when Dennis had pounded on the door to be let in.

He crashed in her dorm, eating their weight in the ice cream they more or less stole from work, and watched the Bridget Jones’s Diary trilogy while getting drunk off of shitty wine coolers. Robin had told him it was a rite of passage for having your heart broken. He only let himself cry after she fell asleep, however, muffling the sounds so he wouldn’t disturb her.

He was given his new dorm assignment, told he was in luck because another guy was looking for a new situation as well, and he moved in that next weekend. He should have known that life wouldn’t make things easy for him, however. Because his new roommate? The guy currently unboxing his items as he settled into the new dorm with him?

It was Eddie.

It was…awkward. Eddie had been beside himself, apologizing over and over again and saying he’d talk to the office while putting his things back into his boxes. He wouldn’t look Steve in the eye.

Steve thought it would be easier if he hated Eddie, but he was just as much a victim in this as he was. It turned out that he and Dennis had been dating for a few months after matching on Grindr, starting out as a hookup and a weed deal, but Dennis wasn’t wanting to put any labels to anything yet. He had assured Eddie that he was single though, that Steve was just a friend who had an unfortunate crush on him.

Eddie didn’t know that Steve and Dennis had been boyfriends for over a year now.

Eddie had also blocked Dennis’s number.

It would be easier to hate Eddie, probably easier not to see him again either, but he told Eddie it was fine and that it wasn’t like Eddie had anywhere else to go at the moment, so they uncomfortably settled in together for the time being.

And Eddie wasn’t terrible. A little messy, sure, and he played his music too loudly, would work himself into rants about conformity and toxic masculinity and anything else that caught his attention, but…it wasn’t necessarily unpleasant.

Strange as it was, he and Eddie developed a sort of friendship. Robin had been hesitant about it, but all too soon she had been dragged into it as well, something she never had with Steve and Dennis, who never really liked her. Eventually, they all forgot that Eddie was going to look for a new place to stay, and soon they had become a trio as if they’d been friends all along.

Eddie called them “The Three Muskequeers” with a roaring laugh while Robin pelted him with popcorn during one of their weekly movie nights.

Steve secretly loved that laugh.

The more time that Steve and Eddie (and Robin) spent time together, the more Steve was starting to realize that he might secretly love more than just Eddie’s laugh. Though, by the way Robin stared at him sometimes with worry, maybe it wasn’t all that secret.

Steve wasn’t delusional. Eddie still met guys on Grindr, making them take up the sock system for the doorknob, and that was fine. Eddie didn’t seriously date anymore, only doing hookups. Steve knew he wasn’t Eddie’s type anyways. Knew that Eddie wouldn’t ever look at him and see anything other than the pathetic, jilted lover. It was fine.

At least, it was fine, until they went to the club one night and got drunk. Until Robin left with wide eyes following a beautiful girl who had a dorky grin looking like she came straight from a John Hughes film, her many braceleted hand holding tightly to Robin’s. Until it was just him and Eddie and booze and pounding music and the fact that Steve hadn’t been touched by a man since Dennis.

Until Steve found himself with his back pressed against the door of a bathroom stall, Eddie on his knees with his mouth around him as he stared up with his gorgeous brown eyes.

Steve, stumbling with his hand in Eddie’s into their dorm room, knew what this was. Things might be awkward in the morning, but he knew they could laugh it off. It was just a night of passion, of letting off steam. Eddie didn���t need to know about his unfortunate crush on him.

Eddie didn’t need to know that Steve was more in love with him than he had ever been in love with Dennis. Or anyone else for that matter.

In the morning, he feigned sleep as he felt Eddie carefully extricate himself from Steve’s bed. He listened to Eddie carefully dress, carefully leave their dorm room, and told himself that he was fine. When Eddie eventually came back, he’d pretend like it never happened. He’d pretend he didn’t know how Eddie tasted on his tongue, or the sound Eddie made when he sank into him, or the way Eddie felt like home.

He sat up in bed, head in his hands, trying to convince himself everything would be okay. He sat like that for a while.

And then the door jiggled open and he jerked his head up to see Eddie walking back in with his hands full of a familiar bright pink box and a drink carrier, a greasy white bag clenched between his teeth, and his eyes lighting up when he saw Steve.

“Stevie!” he exclaimed, or tried to with his mouth full. He kicked the door shut with his foot and moved to set the box and drink carrier down on the shared desk, spitting out the white bag from his teeth and setting that on top to spin around to face Steve again.

Eddie grinned, cupping Steve’s face in his hands and bringing him in for a surprising kiss. “I was hoping you were still asleep. I got breakfast! Donuts and breakfast sandwiches and coffee from that place you really like,” he said, still grinning, when he finally pulled away. He wiggled his brows. “I got Buckley’s favorite too for whenever she stumbles her way home,” he teased.

Steve stared up at Eddie with wide eyes, unable to process. “What?”

Eddie’s grin grew smaller, slowly sliding from his face, the light in his eyes dampening. “Oh, uh…shit,” he muttered to himself. He grabbed his hair to pull over his face, but instead of looking happily embarrassed like he normally did when he made that move, he looked withdrawn, awkward. Sad.

“You don’t…” Eddie gulped. “You didn’t mean anything by it,” he said as though slowly realizing something that was, Steve knew, absolutely not true. “Fuck. Shit. Sorry, man,” Eddie said, turning away as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself, hands clasping his shoulders. “I didn’t mean…uh…yeah. It’s fine. We’re still bros. It doesn’t have to mean anything. We can just forget it. Um. I’m gonna go…take a shower,” he finished in a mumble, moving swiftly to grab his shower caddy.

Steve felt his heart stutter in his chest. Hope blossomed warm in his chest, his belly, and before he knew it he was out of bed and grabbing Eddie by his arm before he could escape.

Eddie cringed away, ducking his head to hide his face in the curtain of his hair, and the smell of Steve’s favorite donut shop filled their small dorm. But even the best glazed donut would pale in comparison to the sweetness of Eddie’s lips when Steve pulled the other man back around, cupped his jaw, and showed Eddie just how much he didn’t want to forget last night.

Their breakfast sandwiches were cold by the time they got to them, their coffee too, but Steve didn’t care as he laid in bed with Eddie and licked the remnants of sugar and jelly from Eddie’s lips.

Later, when Robin stumbled in with a few new hickies and the pretty girl’s number in her phone, she didn’t even acknowledge that the two of them were still tangled up in Steve’s bed together—though thankfully showered and dressed—as she collapsed on to Eddie’s. It was only when she’d polished off one old fashioned and was reaching for another that she paused, took stock of the way they were wrapped on each other’s arms and holding hands, and let out an unholy shriek.

Her smile was radiant, however, her eyes bright, and though she told them point blank she wanted zero details, she also told them that she was happy for them. She teased them mercilessly, of course, at least until Steve teased right back when she was going to introduce the girl last night to them so they could become the Four Muskequeers.

Robin shrieked again, throwing a pillow at them, and Steve realized for the first time in a long time, he was utterly and truly happy.

Him and Eddie still had a lot to talk about, still had their insecurities to work through, but later Eddie had Steve watch as he scrubbed his Grindr account and then deleted his account, giving Steve the passcode to his phone as well. Steve of course did the same, and they tried to be as transparent as possible about who they were talking to without feeling attacked.

Eddie also loudly proclaimed how much he loved his boyfriend every chance he got, and now the sock on the door system was only used to keep Robin and Vickie from bursting into their dorm. Though, unfortunately for Robin, they sometimes forgot.

Years later, after they stood in front of their family and friends to declare themselves, when Steve stood from the table after the cake had been sliced and bellies were fed, Steve lifted his glass with a sly smile and in his speech thanked someone named Dennis, who unfortunately couldn’t make it though they had sent him an invitation, for introducing him to the love of his life.

Robin, Vickie, and Eddie all snorted with laughter, and when Eddie pulled him down for a grinning kiss, his lips tasted as sweet as ever.

~ ~ ~

Hostage hotties: @derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump

[findafight]

WIP Wednesday Game

@eriquin I'll be doing this thursday and the weekend too (i'm posting this late as i JUST saw the notification) so even if you think it's late send an ask! make me write!

Rules:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

File names and snippet under the cut!

Chapters 11-20 (RaSEPSM)

fail b!lly/eddie to soft steddie

starbara s1

the party discuss the camera incident

joyce doesn't like steve au

Snippet from fail b!lly/eddie to soft steddie (this stupid fic has become way longer than i thought it would and i want it FINISHED.)

“What, no, you’re the only other person I’ve met willing to, like, acknowledge it.”

Steve looked confused. “What about the— your him.” he made an effort to drop his voice even lower than it was.

Eddie Snorted. “What part of I have shit taste did you not get?”

Steve winced. “So he, like. Kissed you and stuff? But then, what? Said “Just kidding!” like that makes it not count?”

He groaned. This was embarrassing, and Eddie never thought he would be admitting to it to Steve Harrington of all people. “More like…” he sighed, and stared up at the stars. “More like he would call me names after kissing me, like it was all my idea or he had caught me doing something, instead of him being the guy that pushed me against a tree and shoved his tongue in my mouth.”

“Ew.”

“Yeah. He fucking sucked, dude. Not even the fun way.”

tags: (i have forgotten everyone i know on this website oops)

@momotonescreaming @withacapitalp @thestobingirlie

[pearynice]

I was finally able to finish this yaaaay enjoy this absolute schmoopfest

“When did you know?”

“Know what?” Steve asks, voice muffled.

“That you liked me.”

Steve lifts his head slightly from the pillow so he can look at Eddie properly, eyebrow raised and mouth quirked in a sleepy, teasing grin. “That I liked you or liked liked you?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, presses his face into his chest. “Answer the question, Harrington.”

Steve wraps his arms around him, pulls him so Eddie’s fully sprawled over his stomach. “You actually don’t know? I thought it was obvious.”

“Stevie, need I remind you it took me three tries to graduate. I’m not exactly the sharpest tool-”

Steve presses a sleep laden finger to Eddie’s lips, “none of that.” He mumbles. “You’re like, the smartest.”

Cheesy bastard.

Eddie smiles, “you’re such a sap.”

Steve hums and Eddie can feel his chest vibrate with it. “Says the guy who just asked me when I knew I liked him.”

“You’re rubbing off on me,” Eddie grumbles, and Steve snorts.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, sunshine.” Steve’s hand travels from his face into his hair, and the slow drag of his fingertips against Eddie’s scalp sending tingles down his spine. “You really don’t know?” Steve asks in a whisper.

“You’re acting like this is common knowledge.” Eddie’s starting to drool a bit, his mouth hanging open at the sensation of Steve’s fingers.

“I thought it was. Eddie, the moment you brought that bottle to my neck, l was a goner.”

That’s enough to break Eddie out of his stupor. His mouth clicks shut and he lifts his head to look at Steve properly. “What?” He asks, because that cannot be right. “Stevie, I almost sliced open your aorta.”

Steve shrugs, and diverts his eyes- and- is he blushing?

“Oh my god,” Eddie says, and he honest to god giggles, because he’s going to have so much fun with this. “My little masochist!” He squeals, and Steve removes his hands from Eddie’s hair to cover his face, now a flaming red. “Stevie, baby, if you wanted more of that in our love life all you had to do was ask,” he lifts himself up and attempts to pull Steve’s hands from his face, but he holds firm, calloused palms covering those gorgeous cheekbones. “Stevie,” Eddie repeats, voice softer, now, and tugs futilely on his wrists.

“We’re never making eye contact again,” Steve grumbles, “I thought you were playing dumb- I thought you knew.”

Eddie lets go of his wrists. “What? You thought I knew you were into all that and then just ignored it?”

Steve doesn’t move.

“Baby,” Eddie says, and he really wishes Steve would look at him.

He lays back down so he’s no longer on top of his boyfriend. He curls his fingers around Steve’s bicep. “I love you,” he murmurs, a reminder. “I love you, and you can talk to me about anything.”

Finally, Steve removes his hands from his face. He glances towards Eddie. “It’s so embarrassing though,” he mumbles, and it looks like the words themselves are causing him pain.

Eddie takes one of Steve’s hands between his own. “Wanna know when I knew?” He asks, and Steve’s face twitches, an almost-smile.

“Please.”

“You can’t say anything until I’m done, okay?”

“Promise,” Steve says.

Eddie begins rubbing Steve’s hand. Massaging the knuckles. “I’d just gotten out of the hospital. You were over ‘cause Wayne had to work that night. And I was still all groggy and on pain meds, could barely stay awake for longer than a couple of hours. I fell asleep on the couch. Which, you know, wasn’t exactly uncommon.” He smiles, and Steve, with a confused little frown on his face, smiles back. “I woke up I don’t even know how much longer later. You had on a basketball game. On mute. And I remember something happened that you liked- like someone made a goal-”

Steve makes a strangled noise that Eddie plows over.

“Or blocked a goal or some such shit. But the important part is you jumped up from the couch and started dancing. Like, wagging your hips and spinning around in a circle and I could tell you were trying to be quiet, and I just thought, in that moment, he’s such a dork.”

Eddie smiles. Threads his fingers between Steve’s. “That’s when I knew.”

Steve pushes himself further into the pillows. “Can we make it a different moment?” He asks. “Like when I carried you out of hell? Or a time when I was a total badass?”

Eddie hums. Pretends to think this over. “Hot, but not when I knew. Sorry, Stevie. That’s the one.”

Steve looks back to him. Turns so they’re facing each other again. “I thought that was supposed to make me feel better.” He says, failing to keep down the curve of his lips. “You just like me because I’m embarrassing.” He whispers, soft and fond.

Eddie grins. “Caught red handed.”

Steve squeezes his hands. Then his smile turns crooked. “Just as long as you like me.” He whispers.

Eddie’s chest clenches. He breathes. Tries not to explode. “I a lot more than like you, Stevie.”

Eddie lifts one of his hands. Cards it through his boyfriend’s hair. “Love you. All the time, I love you.”

Steve exhales. Dips forward so he’s the one in Eddie’s chest. “Love you all the time too.” He whispers.

Eddie kisses the top of Steve’s head. Wraps his arms around him.

Steve’s breaths get deeper, and even out.

Eddie thinks about the boy he pressed the broken bottle against, the boy who danced, the boy currently in his arms, and thinks there are very few moments he didn’t know.

*****

✨Tagging @hotluncheddie per request✨

[fuctacles]

<< 13 | 0 | 15 >>

Going on a lil break from wips as I'll be balancing christmasy, event, and personal shit. (Single dad Steve should still go out on Wed, tho.) Check out my events: @stevieweek @genderthings @stmonstercalendar And I'd like to thank you again for supporting me on ko-fi. I'm less scared of the upcoming months <3

Eddie feels the need to take his thoughts away from the public eye. Even if nobody can actually see them, he'd feel safer marinating in them in solitude. 

The inside of the house is chiller than the outdoors, which reminds Eddie of the financial gap between him and Steve. Whoever was in charge of building this place, must have known his shit. The Munson trailer is impossible to sit in without melting in the summer days. 

From his safe perch on the kitchen island, Eddie looks over the party outside. Everyone is having fun and none of them has any idea about his perverted, subconscious scheme. He's kind of disgusted with himself, but on the other side, he wonders what his brain has been trying to accomplish. He wonders if Steve was freaked out last night when he started undressing in front of him and if swinging his dick out this morning was an act of revenge. 

On one hand, Steve looks innocent and lovely in the afternoon sun, laughing at whatever joke someone has said. On another, he's a bat-biting lunatic with a mean streak known through the whole Hawkins High. He absolutely could flaunt his ass out of spite.

When the glass door opens, Eddie almost jumps out of his skin.

"Sorry." Will smiles apologetically.

"You're fine, Byers. Just drifted off a bit. What's up?" he asks with a tilt of his brow. The kid had an imagination that could match his own, and he'd grown fond of him even in the short period of time he'd known him. 

"I volunteered to grab sodas for everyone." Will points his thumb to their friends sitting outside. "Figured you wouldn't want Dustin bothering you if you need some space." 

Eddie can't help but smile. 

"That's very thoughtful of you, Will the Wise."

Will shrugs. 

"I try." He walks up to the fridge, but he seems to hesitate there. Eddie gives him time to think, sipping on his soda. "Do you need space? Or do you want to talk?" he eventually asks. 

The older boy hums. 

"I think it's too soon to talk about it. I'm not even sure what it is," he admits, heels kicking against the cupboards below him. 

He startles again when Will appears at his side.

"For fuck's sake, get a bell or something!" he hisses, clutching at his chest. But Will ignores his joke, looking thoughtfully somewhere else. 

"You've been spending a lot of time with Steve."

Eddie forces his shoulders to relax. There's no way he was that obvious, right? He himself has just figured it out. 

"Well, we can't spend all our time with you twerps," he defends. He risks looking towards the party and finds Steve looking back, frowning at the two of them talking inside. But he sends Eddie a small smile and turns back to the grill.

"No, of course. We're too young to chat about wills and taxes," Will shoots back with a serious nod. 

Eddie slaps his shoulder.

"Watch it, youngster, or there won't be any Will in my will." 

Byers presses his lips together, but Eddie knows it is a good joke, the kid just doesn't want to admit it. They're all buttheads like that.

"You know I'm gay, right?"

He blinks at the boy. 

"That's not going to take you off my will," he reassures, but Will's expression turns only more pained. "No, seriously, I don't care. As long as you're not diddling kids, or animals, or, or corpses—"

"You know what?" Will pushes away from the counter to gather the sodas he's been sent for. "Forget about it. Figure it out yourself. And please never use that word again."

"Which one? Diddling?"

"Yes. That."

Will is halfway through the living room when Eddie suddenly realizes what just happened. Little Byers was trying to give him The Gay Talk.

Little Byers. 

Who must have barely figured it out himself. 

Eddie shoots up from the counter, almost falling on his face in the process. 

"Byers, wait!" He sprints the small distance to stop him from getting to the door. Will looks unimpressed but he's more focused on balancing the cans in his arms so he stands still and waits. 

"Am I really that obvious?" Eddie asks in a whisper, sparing a worried glance over his shoulder. Thankfully none of their friends' attention was on them.

"You both are," Will informs him with a roll of his eyes. "It almost hurts to watch." 

It stuns Eddie enough that Will pushes through him towards the door. 

"Both? What do you mean both?"

"Figure it out!" Without looking at him, Will opens the glass door and leaves him alone with his thoughts again. And that's a dangerous company on a good day.

Because, both?

Could Steve Harrington, high school heartthrob, and Mister Hair, be into guys? Into Eddie, of all of them?

He looks up to search for him again, but it's not hard, as their eyes meet again. Steve raises his eyebrow and makes a little sideway nod as if asking him if he's coming back. Eddie nods wildly, makes a "T" with his hands, then points one finger up. In a minute. Steve smiles, visibly relieved, and holds up two plates of deliciously looking food.

Eddie's stomach somersaults as he realizes he has saved food for him. He quickly runs away to the kitchen to collect himself and grab something to share as well. 

On his way back, he passes by the stairs and suddenly freezes as the memory of last night hits him. 

Maybe Steve wasn't looking at his crotch because he was grossed out by Eddie's actions. 

Maybe they both should be sprayed with cold water like horny dogs. 

ko-fi (the smallest amount counts as the PLN to USD exchange rates are in my favor)

tags: @noodle-shenaniganery @jaytriesstrangerthings @imaginary-maggie-waggie @samsoble @croatoan-like-its-hot

@dragonmama76 @storyranger @scoops-aboy86 @ollyxar @estrellami-1

@stevesworldxx @ajeff855 @live-laugh-love-dietrich @thelittleclare @wheneverfeasible

@bumblebeecuttlefishes @blasvemous @n33dlew0rk @manliest-of-muppets

@ravenfrog @dreamercec @tartarusknight

[lexirosewrites]

for slick sunday, i've been thinking about this very specific idea for the last two days (it's been adjusted slightly to fit the "new" theme for this week just bc i think it's fun :) )

thinking of alpha eddie and omega steve in a secret relationship. they've been courting for ages, on the cusp of mating, but they've been waiting for the right time. neither of them were quite ready to take their relationship into the world, and that's exactly what would've happened had they mated. see, eddie is very much in the public eye. his band is, like, really out there. not quite world famous, but they do a lot of press and a bunch of different projects and such. eddie was recently featured on a relatively popular song, and the others have been in movies/tv shows as one-off side characters here and there. point is, people know who they are. and the paparazzi knows nothing about privacy.

it's not exactly easy to hide a mating bond (tho it is possible), so they just decided together that they would wait.

and then steve gets pregnant.

they still don't mate yet, but it changes everything for them. they know they're not going to be able to hide it for long. part of steve is a little relieved, honestly. he'd never say it out loud, but he missed the days before eddie got famous. when they could go out on dates and grocery shop together and just generally exist together in public, even though they were still keeping it pretty low-key back then too.

steve mostly stays home during the first several months of his pregnancy. it's hard on him, and there are days he can barely get out of bed because he feels so sick. he gets lightheaded easily, and he's constantly nauseous. the doctor said it's normal. he just needs rest and fluids. so that's what he does. and they talk, a lot. about everything.

eddie never makes a formal statement about their relationship, that's never been his vibe. he does, however, hard launch their relationship via one photo on social media. it's of him and steve on new years, standing in front of the christmas tree they hadn't taken down yet. they're wearing those headbands that have the year in giant, flimsy, gold numbers, facing each other. they're foreheads are pressed together, and eddie is grinning like a goddamn idiot bc of how in love with steve he is. steve's six-month baby bump is between them, and eddie's got his hands over the sides. it's captioned with a simple, "new year, new adventures with the love of my life"

obviously, that photo practically breaks the internet within two hours. it's everywhere. everyone is talking about it. the band doesn't say a word, outside of gareth logging into the band account to share it on their story, and the others sharing the post on their own accounts. they all just go on as normal, like nothing ever happened. they don't answer any of the comments. the band is seen coming and going from the studio a few times over the next month and a half, and then nothing. radio silent on all fronts. everyone wants to know what's going on.

it's at the end of april that people finally get their answer, in a series of photos posted to eddie's account. photos of a tiny baby; some with steve in them, some with eddie, but mostly just the baby. hailey jo munson (jo, after wayne, who's middle name is joseph; he definitely did NOT cry about that, thank you very much) was born on april 5th, happy and healthy and loved.

four months after that, eddie is seen leaving a grocery store with bags of baby supplies in his arms, a wedding band on his finger, and a fresh mating bite. no one is the least bit surprised by that one.

and no one is surprised in the slightest when a year and a half later, after corroded coffin's probably most successful album is released (there's a couple songs that are not-so-secretly about hailey, tho eddie really did try to be subtle), another pregnancy announcement goes live on eddie munson's account.

happy slick sunday my friends :)

i know slick sunday has ruined me because i kept waiting for something bad to happen😅 thank you for the fluff!!!

[katyawriteswhump]

Take my hand (and we’ll make it, I swear) 💕

Rating: M; WC: 2945; CW: mentions of recreational drug use; Tags: O!Steve, A!Eddie, Omegaverse au, Steve has chronic pain syndrome/fibromyalgia, scenting, mutual crushes, Steve has shitty parents, angst and hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, cuddling and snuggling, happy/hopeful ending. Summary: O!Steve is losing his mind, struggling with chronic pain, and it feels like nobody believes him or hears his pleas for help. In his desperation, he goes to A!Eddie to score drugs… and they end up ��saving’ each other.

For @steddiebingo fill, ‘Ring,’ and @steddiesongfics May prompt, Free space and AU. Song inspiration, Livin’ on a Prayer, by Bon Jovi (not exactly original tho’ I was mainlining the 80s again and it got indelibly stuck in my head. The original version of the fic used the song more integrally, rewrites after my laptop disaster ended up more loosely inspired till the end😉) Read on Ao3

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Eddie drops onto one knee on the dewy grass.

He plucks off one of his own rings—the blue mood ring on his right hand, tho’ they all mean everything to Steve—and offers it up between a finger and thumb.

Steve staggers backward. Might’ve literally toppled, if it hadn’t been for his Alpha landing a hand, warm and steadying, on his hip.

“Steve Harrington, will you…”

Steve’s blood pounds to the phantom beats from the ghetto blaster Eddie recently switched off. His brain is a freakin’ fog. He’d been having a shitty night, his pain and insomnia feeding greedily on each other, as per ever. Eddie woke too, as he intuitively does, when his Omega’s struggling this bad.

They came out to wait for the dawn. So yeah, this feels like a hazy dream.

“…marry me?”

It’s real. As is that cliché of a galaxy glittering across his Alpha’s super-earnest, super-loving eyes. 

Eddie loves him. The Omega who often lacks the energy to style his hair. The Omega whose scent is too regularly soured with pain. It is right now, when he’s on top of the world, really. It’s like there’s always a darn bluebottle drowning in his honeysuckle perfume.

He’s sucked in the best Alpha in Hawkins too, tho’, so that’s a total win.

He dabs his eyes, sniffs, kinda squeals. The heat of his Alpha’s touch flows through his sore hip and floods his belly, and his heart, with warmth.

They both know what Steve’s answer is going to be. 

Life shouldn’t be this perfect.

…

Three years ago

“Are you okay, Steve?” asks Chrissy, dropping her pom poms and hurrying over.

“I’m good. Quit fussing and leave me alone already.”

She’s hunted him down in the locker room at the end of Omega cheer squad practice, and yes, he’s lying. He’s not okay. He’s not crying either, which is one strike for his tattered pride, tho’ he’s pretty damn close. His eyes and throat burn with unshed tears. 

He wants to sneer, “Come to gloat?”

Apart from this is Chrissy. Kind, caring Chrissy. Why the heck is he being a bitch? 

His only excuse is that he’s useless, and that’s on him. He can’t even follow a cheer routine without his shoulders feeling like they’d been wrenched at the sockets, and he’s constantly stumbling over his own damn feet. No wonder she quietly suggested he sit out the pyramid and basket toss.

Now, she sits down and curls an arm around him. “Stevie, you’re not okay.” 

He chokes the truth out to her. Doing anything, everything, any sport, any movement at all—hell, even sitting down in class—it hurts.

“Chrissy, what’s wrong with me? The doctors haven’t a clue. They say I’m making it up. Why the heck would I do that?”

She folds both arms around him and snuggles him properly. Her scent is sweet, proper Omega cotton-candy sweet, saturated with comfort pheromones that only choke him up more.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” she sniffles.

“Why? It’s not your fault.”

It is my fault. For not being the grade-A, piano maestro, sports champ Alpha he was supposed to be. Who else was there to blame?

“It’s not your fault either, Stevie.”

He actually smirks. 

Of course, she knows what he’s thinking. Clever, empathetic Chrissy. He’s not even good at being Omega, not like her.

He knows she’ll never push him away. He quietly drops out of the squad.

In the final years of High School, the fatigue kills him worse than the pain. He rarely sleeps for more than an hour or two, and his grades crash and burn. 

His love life crashes and burns, too. 

He takes a chance on Jason Carver. One moment, the Alpha is husking in his ear, “Gonna take good care of you, little darling.” The next, he’s growling, “Gonna split you so wide you’ll squeal for your momma. Gonna bone you so hard your brains rattle.”

“Yeah, I’ll pass on that one, Romeo.”

Jason seems genuinely hurt. Steve realizes that it was supposed to be a ‘turn on.’ For other Omegas maybe. Omega biology can absorb some pretty full-on fuckings. For the Omega off sick half the time, who’s been barred from all the sports he once loved?

No thanks, dickwad. Read the room.

He swears off Alphas. Their spiky, predatory stench makes his over-sensitive skin crawl, and his own perfume grows simply depressing, bitter as vinegar. Besides, how is he supposed to be a goddess in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom, if he can’t get out of bed in the morning? He bruises easily, too, like the rotten apple he is. How will he ever safely perch a pup on his hip?

And yeah, he’s a bitch to everyone, exhausted and fractious all the time. Probably deserves the ‘frigid cow’ graffiti somebody sprays on his locker.

Nobody will want him. Ever.

Then his mom flushes his painkillers down the toilet. “I don’t want you getting addicted to those things, Steven.”

He tries to explain. It’s not like he’s getting high. He only wants to get to some place where he feels normal. Where every raw nerve, every fiber in his body, stops complaining enough to let him sleep.

Nobody listens. Which is how he ends up arranging to meet Eddie Munson at some skanky picnic bench in the scrubby strip of forest behind the football ground.

Munson isn’t there when he arrives. Its dead quiet. Too quiet. Not a bird squawks, and it’s bordering on creepy.

Steve slides onto the bench and slumps forward, pillowing his head in his arms. 

This is insane. 

Munson is an Alpha. Steve should leave, like now, for a billion good reasons. On the other hand, his legs are a crazy cross between jello and ton weights, and he’s used a whole day’s worth of energy getting here.

“Harrington?”

Steve jumps, squeaks, gulps air into his too-tight lungs. Eddie looms over him. Also, smiles down at him, and his eyes are kind. 

His scent reassures Steve, whose rabbiting heartbeat slows. He inhales Indiana fir and juniper berry, with low notes of earthiness and freshly ground coffee. It’s potently Alpha, yeah without being punchy or scary. Eddie’s words underline his soothing musk: 

“You’re safe, I promise. Nobody ever comes out here.”

He sits down opposite Steve, places a boxy kind of satchel between them, opening it to reveal packets of druggy shit inside. A cloying marijuana stench sticks in Steve’s throat and makes his eyes water, and he wishes he could just taste more of Eddie. 

Eddie, meanwhile, explains how the exchange is gonna work. Then pauses, a smile flirting across his absurdly pillowy-soft looking lips:

“Can’t believe here I am doing a drug deal with Stevie Harrington, the Omega Princess of Hawkins High.”

“Uuuuuh, I think you’re mistaking me for Chrissy Cunningham? Or you’re outta your mind on your own weed and missed, like, a year of everyone’s life.”

“My Liege Lady, you wound me!” Eddie’s hands clasp his chest like he’s been stabbed. Then—to the soundtrack of Steve’s latest surprised squeak—he tumbles dramatically from the bench. “I am a loyal and true knight! After all, this isn’t the first time we've hung out together.”

Huh?

Eddie springs up like Tigger. “Have I got stuff in my hair, Princess?”

He clowns around, fiddling with that feral mane, which Steve is already hankering to groom. He reminds Steve of their ‘shared history.’ Steve laughs so hard he hiccups, and yeah!  He does remember that Middle School talent show.  

Turns out, Eddie was that dude with buzzed hair. 

The dude who, though Steve keeps silent about it, he’d secretly crushed on for months. Eddie’s band, Corroded Coffin, had gone down a whole lot better than Steve’s yawn-fest piano recital. At least following that, his mom had let him focus on sports, and on the cheer squad after he presented Omega, until… until…

Eddie yanks down his collar to display more of the ‘sweet ol’ tatties’ that’d transformed his look so completely. Steve starts salivating, sucking and licking and even biting at his own lips. 

No doubt now. He’s still gotten that damn crush. He longs to lick the salt from Eddie’s inky skin, nibble that creamy collar bone. He wants that expressive hand, with all its badass chunky silver rings, to clasp his. Above all, he yearns to crawl into Eddie’s lap, be cocooned in that caressing Alpha scent. 

To feel safe, to let it smother his pain.

Yeah, like that’s ever gonna happen. 

His a-hole of a body is already destroying this glimmer of fun. He was so tired this morning, he forgot his sunshades, and the daylight glare is triggering a headache, even out among the trees. He rubs his brow, feeling slightly sick and dizzy, then a gust of wind slams him from behind, scattering leaves, litter, and any remnants of Eddie’s scent. That bone-deep weariness reclaims him. His spine sags, and his eyes flutter closed.

“You okay there, Stevie?” Eddie is sat opposite again, his stash bag open. “You don’t want to do this, just give me the word, I’ll walk away.”

“No! Please, I don’t want you to go. It’s just… I’m in pain, like, all the time. I can’t sleep, and I’ve tried weed, and…” His teeth skate up his lower lip, which is getting sore. Probably all yuck and swollen. Ew, he must look gross. And did he even remember to put concealer on the circles beneath his eyes. He shades his face. “I wondered if you’d got anything maybe stronger? I got cash. Plenty of it.”

Eddie closes his bag with a devastating clack. “I can’t do this, Stevie. My mom had issues a bit like yours. More Omegas have to put up with this kinda shit than you think. Let’s just say, folks weren’t very kind to her either, and in the end… the wrong drugs didn’t help, okay?"

Steve almost defaults to cranky bitch mode, his mind reaching for something unforgivable to say about Eddie’s junkie mom. Eddie obviously wants rid of him. He might as well force the issue by saying something horrible and doubtless untrue.

Instead, tho’, he forces a trembling hand across the table, grabs those be-ringed fingers. They both startle slightly, and Steve conjures the truth.

“Please, Alpha, I need something. Anything. I’m so through with it all, and… I honestly don’t think I could make it back to school without help.” Eddie pulses Steve’s fingers, and Steve’s heart squeezes with a pathetic hope. He’d do anything to prolong this time with Eddie, and he can’t believe what he’s about to say: “C-can I, erm… sniff you? I-I don’t usually like the scent of Alphas. I really like yours, and maybe it will help?”

Eddie gawks at him. He’s grossed out. Ugh, of course he is. Steve tugs his hand away, wishing the forest would somehow swallow him. Where are those ravenous Omega-munching bears when you need them? 

Then he sees.

Eddie is nodding vigorously, a strange unreadable glow in his intoxicating eyes. “Yeah, you can totally do that.”

Eddie scoots around the table and slides onto the bench, closing in. Steve cringes and wriggles away slightly. “Oh God,” he moans, “I’m such a freak.”

“Don’t steal my thunder, Honey.” Eddie waggles his brows, swinging his legs around so he’s leaning against the table. “Would it help if I..?”

Eddie opens his arms, and Steve surrenders, tumbling forward, notching his nose above that inviting collarbone. Eddie enfolds him gently, and he’s choking up. 

He’s been touch starved so long.

He swallows hard then breathes Eddie in till his lungs are bursting. Till an incredible sense of ease overwhelms. Instincts kick in, and he tentatively slides his nose up Eddie’s throat.

He licks and nibbles that salty inked skin, hugs loosely around Eddie’s neck and simply inhales more. Eddie’s scent seems to be getting stronger. Which must be born of pity. Nothing more. Soon, however, Steve is literally chewing on earthy fruity tones that are, somehow, uniquely Eddie. His headache fades to a bearable background hum.

“Is this okay?” Eddie’s fingers lightly comb through Steve’s hair, kindling truly delicious shivers.

“Mmmmmm,” sighs Steve. “As long as you don’t mind?”

“Mind? I don’t leak off pheromones like this for any random Omega who bats their electric-blue lashes at me. For you, Pretty Baby? I could do this all day. So, now I’ve come clean… Is this okay?” 

The revelation washes through Steve, leaving a strange fizzy frothy sensation in its wake. 

Eddie likes him. 

Eddie likes him, and that super-strength Alpha aroma surely can’t lie. And it's been so darn long since he’s been called ‘pretty.’ His tears are leaking, steady and silent. He wants to burrow into Eddie, and sleep forever, till every last shred of his pain and misery slides away.

“Yes,” he whispers, brokenly, “I love it. Th-thank you, Alpha.”

Time passes. All of it floaty and wonderful, and Steve faintly realizes it’s not all about the scent. He’s never believed in that quasi-mystical tug everyone yaps about, between Alphas and Omegas. He’s beginning to, which is dumb, because he barely knows Eddie. He wallows in it all the same, clinging ever tighter, revelling in the coolness of Eddie’s rings as the Alpha’s palm lightly cups his nape. 

Eddie’s solid heartbeat thrums through him, till his own falls into sync. 

Steve crawls into Eddie’s lap, and Eddie rumbles in blatant appreciation. He holds Steve and gently sways, rubbing soft circles down Steve’s sore spine, his burning hips and always miserable lower back. Their bodies notch together as if some crazy deity created them to fit this way.

Occasionally, a breeze ruffles Steve’s hair. Other than that, the whole rest of the world has scooted away. 

All that exists is them. 

Steve lays his head on Eddie’s chest and sighs contentedly.

“You’re not what I thought you’d be like,” he says at length, peeping up through the blur of his lashes.

Eddie beams, flashing his Alpha fangs. “What? Mean and scary? Alpha as He-man? Nearly as Alpha as She-ra herself?”

“Yeah. You’re not like that at all.” Eddie hoots and Steve mentally facepalms. “Crap! That came out wrong. I mean, obviously, you’re still uber-Alpha and all, and mega scary—"

“It’s okay, I get ya, and you know, flattery works with me, so I’ll let you in on a secret. There was a time I thought you were terrifying, Harrington.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you and your mighty pompoms, and your ice-princess pout, and those green ribbons jangling in your petrifyingly perfect hair. Always had a bit of a crush, tho’.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, I swear.”

Steve giggles, and the answering rattle of Eddie’s laughter awakes something—a strange unfamiliar vibration that radiates from Steve’s chest. Christ, is he purring? Hot on its heels, something like warm honey starts trickling from Steve’s innermost core.

He gasps. Then he giggles again. His fingers twist in the back of Eddie’s Hellfire-club t-shirt, clenching in sheer surprise.

He’s perfuming wildly, and it’s not all sourness and yuck. Somewhere, blooming deep inside Steve, are honeysuckle levels of sweetness.

“Baby,” husks Eddie, dropping a gentle kiss to Steve’s hair, “you smell completely amazing.”

…

Eddie holds Steve for as long as he needs. In fact, he never lets Steve go. 

While Steve’s pain doesn’t vanish overnight, it’s more bearable when somebody ‘gets’ it. When he’s not so incredibly alone. Also, he’s now got a living, breathing body-wrapping hot water bottle, and Eddie’s Alpha fingers do their bestest to soften his seriously bullet-proof muscle knots.

He’s found an Alpha who will be gentle with him, and he’s grateful every damn day.

Mutual need and love happen first. A realisation that they complete each other, that they can’t be apart without ripping their souls in two. Then leisurely, loving sex happens. Eddie makes Steve’s body sing with pleasure and that, in itself, is a fucking miracle.

“You saved me, Honey,” says Eddie, one day, as they’re cuddling and figuring life out. “I wasn’t an Alpha. I was a kid, pushing drugs to other kids because I couldn’t see any other way to rock and roll. You gave me the kick up the ass I needed.”

Steve smiles and purrs into Eddie’s neck.

They still struggle. However they manage to get their paws on them, Steve’s meds cost far too much. He refuses to let Eddie pawn his guitar.

They hold each other through the endless nights, with Eddie worrying, working two bar jobs to pay the bills. Steve hates not being able to earn much and still gets snappy sometimes. 

“Baby, it’s okay,” whispers Eddie, when Steve cries because it’s all too much, “it’s okay.”

His parents are out of the picture now. They’ve had their fill of Steve’s ‘weakness and faking,’ and ‘typical Omega attention-seeking antics.’ Wayne stands by them, steadfast and solid. Good, kind, unjudging Uncle Wayne.

And now here they are, on a hilltop backlit by a smudgy yellow dawn. Steve is managing his pain, not ‘beating’ it, but getting by with a temp job in retail. And Eddie earns enough at the bar and as a gigging guitarist to start to save. They’re not sure if they can have pups, let alone afford them. The future is theirs, together, whatever happens.

“Steve Harrington, will you marry me?”

Steve’s nodding his head off, grinning his face off. Eddie slides that ring onto his outstretched finger, chasing up the cool slide of metal with a warm and slightly damp kiss.

Steve drops to his knees, arms flung around Eddie’s neck, cheek rested, perfectly dry, on Eddie’s shoulder. He breathes in the perfection of life, and of being alive and in love.

“Like you need to ask, idiot,” he murmurs into Eddie’s ear. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

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no pressure tag @wheneverfeasible (if anyone else would like to be tagged, I would be very happy to do so) 💕💕💕💕💕

my steddie omegaverse fic on AO3 💕💕💕💕💕

[carolmunson]

the boy is mine | a writing exercise

excuse me, can i please talk to you for a minute? do you know somebody named...y-you know his name. oh yeah, definitely, i know his name. well, i just want to let you know that he's mine. no, no, he's mine.

hi, this is carol and i wanted to create a fun blurb writing exercise a la @superblysubpar and @chechelia considering the current state of the eddie munson x reader fandom. i, personally, can barely stand the seemingly never ending infighting between writers and groups on here. whether it be writing style or characterization, it seems everyone sort of has a problem with everyone. (not me tho, i truly am vibing). in the words of monica and brandy 'you need to give it up, had about enough'. -- so instead of leaving, i wanted to try something fun, fresh, and cute to bring us together. we all have our own eddie munson head cannons that we hold near and dear to our hearts. but i think that's part of what's fun about fandom, there's a little something for everyone. so this exercise is a way for us to all be on the same playing field -- same prompt/dialogues we have to use. only written how your personally HC eddie, our og guy (no au versions pls). i loved how this manifested on cece's old blog because it was so fun to see what people came up with. below is the dialogue and prompt as well as the best way to participate. yes, if you are a steve girl you can participate lol. if you are someone who has me blocked and/or vice versa and would like to participate, please send your link to a friend so i can add it in an upcoming masterlist.

the scene: a romantic night in at the trailer. props included/mentioned (in passing or can hold bigger meaning): a throw pillow, vanilla frosting, a small notebook. dialogue included (can be manipulated slightly if needed, can be placed in any order): - "i ran out of like, nice cups, is this okay?" - "aw, don't be like that. that's not even true." - "and you like that?" - "if you don't stop, we're gonna have a problem." these don't have to be sexy. they don't have to lead to anything. it's just a romantic night in -- and it can end in anything. angst, fluff, smut, alien invasion. who cares! i just wanna see how you'd write in your world with YOUR eddie. so we can see all of our eddies!

to participate, please write a blurb or ficlet titled 'the boy is mine (____'s edition)' and tag me so that i can add you to the upcoming masterlist. share each other's ficlets. enjoy how they differ and how they are the same. what do we all think is true? what do we differ on? i think this could be really cool.

here's a list of people i'm tagging from different 'x reader' groups to spread the word -- but everyone feel free to do it, please! share with your friends, encourage your friends to do it too: @loveshotzz @chechelia @abibliophobiaa @aphrogeneias @jo-harrington @bewilderedbunny @impmunson @queenimmadolla @oneforthemunny @superblysubpar @sweetsweetjellybean @rebelfell @crappymixtape @lesservillain @courtingchaos @bettyfrommars @somnambulic-thing @bimbobaggins69 @blueywrites @lonelysatellites @wroteclassicaly @wheels-of-despair @rip-quizilla @upsidedownwithsteve @powderblueblood

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

{ the song (I Just) Died In Your Arms came on at work today and then this happened. }

Warnings: aftermath of time loops, like years after, hurt/comfort, angst, allusion to sex and loss of virginity (its really more of a fade to black situation tho 👍🏻)

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"Eddie?" Steve calls, dropping his bag and all his crap by the door, and toeing off his shoes.

"Kitchen! Rob's at Chrissy's tonight so I thought we'd do dinner and a movie?" Eddie's voice calls, and Steve can already smell something cooking. Hears the sizzle of a something as well, and the radio playing something, the sound just a low rumble in his ears.

"Sounds good. Watcha makin?" Steve calls, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it over the back of the couch, he knows Eddie will grab it later and hang it by the door. He leaves it there anyway, smiling to himself at the thought as turns toward the kitchen.

"Oh just the ol Eddie Munson special. Gourmet grilled cheese. It soothes the- Steve? You okay?" Eddie's voice is quiet now, Steve's sure his eyes are wide too but he can't see them. Not really.

He's staring at the radio. The low murmur of music finally hitting him, stopping him in his tracks, his blood running cold, like icy fingers trailing down his back. That fucking song. He could kill whoever wrote it. Who needs a song about someone dying in their arms?

"Steve?" Eddie asks, again. Steve nods. Takes one step backwards. And then bolts for the bathroom.

He hits his knees hard, slaming down in front of the toilet, losing the small amount of food he'd had for lunch, his stomach heaving. He's shaking when he stands, his knees buckle twice on the short walk from the bathroom across the hall to his room. He shuts the door softly when he hears Eddie's footsteps coming.

"Steve? Are you okay?" His voice is small, and Steve can see him, with his long sleeves pulled down around his hands, worrying the material between his fingers as he shuffles from foot to foot outside Steve's door.

"I'm fine Ed's. Just, keep cooking. I'll be out in a few for the movie okay?" Steve calls, yanking his clothes off and grabbing one of Eddie's old t-shirts that he'd stolen maybe a year ago. Eddie had never asked for it back. And Steve liked the way he blushed when he saw Steve wearing it.

Eddie does, sort of. He goes back to the kitchen, turns everything off, and then walks back to Steve's room. He slides down the wall outside his door and sits on the floor. He can hear Steve moving around in there, just shuffling around his room doing god knows what.

He does this sometimes. Eddie never knows what to do. Or say. Or how to stop it. He tries. But Steve won't talk to him about it. Just ignores that it happens. Or talks to Robin. They share little looks, he sees them, never knows what they mean.

It makes him uncomfortable sometimes, like they're telling jokes behind his back. He knows they're not. That they wouldn't. But there's something. And until now, he's never asked, never pushed. Just sat back and worried and tried to ignore the feeling that he'd done something wrong.

"Steve?" He asks, voice low. He hears Steve stop moving.

"Yeah?" He calls, sounding suspicious, or nervous maybe, or like he's been caught doing something he shouldn't.

"You know I'm not stupid right?" Eddie's chest burns, fire crawling up his throat, his eyes burning.

"I- what?" Steve answers, voice muffled, Eddie can almost see him standing in the middle of his room, staring at the door.

"I'm not stupid. I know something's wrong." He presses his finger to the floor, rubs at a knot in the wood, listens to Steve walk closer to the door.

"I told you I'm fine. Really it's-"

"Don't lie to me." Eddie cuts him off, doesn't yell, doesn't even raise his voice. He thinks he hears Steve gasp on the other side of the door. Can't be sure.

"Please just-" he closes his eyes, clears his throat, wills the tears away. He's so tired of crying about this.

"Just talk to me? I know- there's something you're not telling me." He hangs his head, worries at his shirt sleeves, his hands in his lap.

"It's been three years. And I thought it would stop ya know? Thought maybe I was imagining things. Or just, had to get used to the enigma that is YouAndRobin. But that's not it, is it?" He lets his head fall back and hit the wall.

"It's me. It's something I'm doing. Or like, multiple things? And I've tried to stop. Ya know? Tried to figure it out on my own cuz you guys clearly don't wanna share." He sighs.

"But I just keep fucking up. And then you guys give each other those looks, and lock yourselves away for hours, or fucking days, at a time. And I try so fucking hard not to do those things again." His voice is strained now, he clears his throat again, tucks his knees up under his chin and keeps talking, knows if he doesn't say it now he never will.

"But it's fucking impossible to figure out what I'm doing wrong if you won't talk to me Steve. I just- I feel like I'm hurting you somehow and you just- you just fucking sit there and take it and pretend it not happening when it really fucking clearly is! And it makes me feel insane!" He shoves his lips against his knee, tries to hide the whimper that claws its way out of his throat. He closes his eyes, tries to breathe, opens his mouth to speak again and hears the door open.

He looks up, watches Steve look forward and then down, finding Eddie on the floor, his own eyes shining like Eddie knows his are too.

"It's not you." Steve says, whispers really. And Eddie can't help the eyeroll. Or the huff. Looks away from Steve, drops his chin onto his knees and closes his eyes again, pushes the palms of his hands against his eyes.

"You're lying." He croaks, voice tight.

"I know you are. I just don't know why." And he hates it, that whine in his voice. And then Steve is on his knees, next to Eddie, his hands hovering near him as Eddie glares at him.

"I- I'm not. I promise I'm not. It's not you. It- it's complicated. I don't-" he sighs.

"Just say it! Just try!" Eddie's hands flail, his voice desperate as he looks at Steve. He stares for a moment, eyes wide, and then falls to sitting next to Eddie, his own knee tucked up to his chest, back resting against the door frame.

"I watched you die." Steve says, quiet. Eddie frowns.

"I know. And then you carried me out of hell and saved me. I know that. What are you-"

"No. Not- not that time." Steve shakes his head, grimaces when he looks at Eddie. He shakes his head, he doesn't understand.

"Before that. So many fucking times before that. Over and over. You died. No matter what I did. Or what I changed." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, shoved a knuckle into the corner of his eye. He let his head fall back as he looked at Eddie, his hands falling palms up on his thighs, helpless.

"You died. Over and over and over. And everytime. Every single fucking time. I ended up covered in your blood." He closes his eyes, opens them again. Says nothing else.

"I-" Eddie starts, stops, takes a deep breathe, moves one hand over his chest, resting his palm against the scar on his side, a nervous habit he has now. His fingers drum against the thick skin there.

"That's- you're talking about a time loop." Eddie says slowly, and Steve, he fucking laughs. There's no humor in it, just a bark, and a wry smile as he shakes his head at Eddie.

"What? You are, right? I mean that's- why are you smiling?" Eddie flails again, hugs his knees tighter. Steve just shakes his head again, bites his lip to hide a smile.

"Robin told me I should tell you. That you'd understand. Or like, get it. And I knew you would I guess, I just- couldn't." Steve sighs again, gives a little helpless shrug.

"Why not?" Eddie rests his chin on his knees, watching Steve. The tension he'd been holding in his shoulders for what seems like years seems to melt away.

"At first I was scared. That if I said something. It would start again. And then it just-" he takes a deep breath, smiles the saddest smile Eddie's ever seen and says,

"It just hurt too much." He shrugs again, a tear falling down his cheek. Eddie stares, watches his fall onto his shirt, watches it bleed into the fabric.

"Why did it hurt? Cuz of me? Cuz I keep reminding you of it somehow? Right? That's what all those little looks between you guys have been?" He wraps his arms around his legs tighter, his lip wobbling again. He knew he'd been fucking up.

Steve looks at him, brow furrowed, and reaches out, his hand warm when it curls around Eddie's bicep.

"I didn't know you noticed that. And I'm sorry. But no. It wasn't that. I mean maybe a little. Just small things. Like, deja vu, sometimes." He shrugged.

"But tonight it was the song. That stupid fucking song." He sighs, shakes his head and laughs again. The sound hollow in his chest.

"The... song." Eddie frowns, trying to think what song had been on when Steve came through the door. And oh, yeah.

"Oh. Kinda... right on the nose that one. Sorry. It was just on the tape I found. It wasn't even my tape. I think it was one of Dustin’s old ones." Steve squeezes his arm, heads him off before be starts really rambling.

"It's okay. You didn't know. You couldn't have. Cuz I didn't tell you. And I should have. I'm sorry." Steve bites his lip again. Eddie nods, sniffles, untangles his arms from around himself and scoots a little closer to Steve, their legs pressed together.

"Will you tell me now? All of it? Please? I need to know what happened. Kinda really wanna know how you saved me." He feels his cheeks burn, his ears too. He can't look at Steve. Not right now. Knows he'll see too much.

"I'll tell you. But not on the floor." He laughs again, a real one this time, and gets to his feet. He offers his hand to Eddie and pulls him to his feet. Their hands stay together, Eddie's cheeks burn with a fresh wave of color and Steve smiles, tugs him into his room, and tells him everything.

~°~

"A whole year?" Eddie's staring at the ceiling, knows he sounds breathless.

"Yep." Steve says, pops the P.

"And you spent it with me?" Eddie asks, sounds unconvinced.

"Yep."

"And we-"

"Yep." Steve huffs, turns onto his side and looks at Eddie.

"Hey. Look at me." Eddie swallows, isn't sure he can. He let's out a shakey breath and does it anyway.

"Hi." Steve says, smiling, his cheek squished against his arm curled under his head.

"Hi." Eddie echoes.

"You and me?" Eddie asks, his brow furrowed, his throat burning again.

"Yeah. I uh... I wasn't expecting it. Or maybe I was. I'm not sure anymore. But I'm glad it happened." Steve shrugs, reaches out, his finger brushing a curl away from Eddie's face.

"Why didn't you tell me? We could've- I mean I would've-" Eddie swallows, not sure what he would've. Steve smiles that sad smile again.

"Because I'm an idiot. I thought I had to like- let you make your own choices. Not- tell you what you did before. And you didn't remember. Because it- it didn't work, that time. I didn't-" he pauses, clears his throat, wipes at his eyes.

"I didn't save you that time. I lost you. And it- fuck it hurt Ed's. It hurt so much." His throat catches on a sob, his palms shoving into his eyes and Eddie can't take it anymore. He surges forward, wraps his arms around Steve and pulls him close.

"I'm right here. I've been here. I'm not going anywhere." Eddie whispers, presses the words into Steve's hair as he clings to him.

"How many times after that one?" Eddie asks, his hand in Steve's hair, soothing.

"Two. I lost you two more times and then it worked. I woke up by your hospital bed instead of at my house. And you were there. Alive. And Robin was alive. And Dustin and Nancy. Everyone. More or less." Steve's voice is muffled, Eddie can feel his shirt getting wet from his tears.

"Steve I-" he takes a shakey breath.

"I don't know what to say." He sighs, keeps soothing his fingers over Steve's scalp. He pulls back, looks at Eddie, his face wet and blotchy.

"You don't have to say anything. I'm just glad you know now." He shakes his head, sniffles, drops his head back onto his pillow, eyes on Eddie.

"This um... this other Eddie. The one you spent a year with." Eddie draws.

"He wasn't 'another Eddie'. He was you. Just, before we really met." Steve snorts, rolls his eyes.

"Right. Right. So this Eddie you spent a year with." Eddie says, Steve fucking giggles and squeezes his eyes shut, nose all scrunched up. He opens his eyes, blinks a few times.

"What about him?" Steve asks, his teeth dragging over his lip as he smiles. Eddie shrugs, best he can laying on his side.

"Was he... I mean was he really like me?" Eddie asks, his voice sounding, doubtful. Steve hums, thinks for a moment.

"He was. And he wasn't." Steve shrugs too.

"That's very descriptive." Eddie says, voice flat. Steve laughs, rolls onto his back and then back to his side to look at Eddie.

"He was... different. Calmer. Less traumatized. At the beginning anyway. But he was still you. Still stubborn. And loyal. And kind." His shoulder twitches again.

"Was he nice to you? This other me?" Eddie asks, chewing on his lip, eyes locked on Steve's face. His cheeks flush and Eddie feels heat crawl over his skin.

"He was yeah. After awhile. He was... very nice." Steve's voice is soft, low, that little smile tugging at his mouth.

"Did he love you?" Eddie doesn't mean to say it. Not really. But he can't stop it. He has to know. Steve said they'd been together. But it was just a year. But a lot can happen in a year, Eddie knows all too well.

Steve eyes go soft at the question, a fondness in them that Eddie knows well, his stomach flutters at the realization.

"He said he did." Steve nods, scoots a little closer.

"And did-" Eddie swallows roughly, blinks a few times,

"Did you love him?" He asks, voice barely above a whisper. Steve nods, slow, his hair splaying against his pillow, his hand lifting to his mouth, teeth worrying at his thumb nail.

Eddie feels a breif spike of jealousy peak its head up and then feels ridiculous. And then he feels something else, something that blooms in his chest and wraps itself around his ribs warmly. Something he thinks might be hope.

"Do you-" he bites into his lip, hard. His hands shaking on the matress between he and Steve. Steve's hand moves away from his mouth, his knuckles brushing Eddie's before lacing their fingers together.

"Say it." Steve whispers, his eyes shining. He smiles at Eddie and Eddie can't not smile back. Can't not ask.

"Do you love me?" He hears his voice, hears how he clearly doesn't believe that. But Steve nods, a giddy smile on his face.

"You do? Why?" Eddie blurts, and Steve laughs, curls closer to Eddie, his hand cupping Eddie's cheek, thumb moving over his skin softly.

"I'm not sure I ever had a choice." Steve breathe between them.

"I think it was just always meant to be you." Steve moves his thumb over Eddie's lips, then up over his cheek again, wiping at the tear that runs over Eddie's skin.

"But he's not- I mean I'm not- we're not the same person. I don't remember it. I don't remember getting to have you. I did get to have you right?" Eddie asks, his chest shuddering as he tries to keep his breathing steady. Steve nods, crowds impossibly closer, his knee slotting between Eddie's own.

"You had me. You had me then and you have me now. And you are the same person. That's why me and Robin always give each other those looks. Because I told her everything. Anything I could remember. And you do things. Things that you did then. When you were mine." Steve smiles. Eddie laughs out a sob.

"When I was yours." He says, mocking, his voice wet and wobbly.

"Yeah. You were mine. Do you wanna be mine?" Steve's fingertips move over his face, like he's trying to memorize him.

"Pretty sure I've been yours since I woke up to you reading The Hobbit by my bed in the hospital." Eddie smiles, more tears falling.

"Dustin told me it would help." Steve shrugged again his thumb back on Eddie's lips. He nodded, closing his eyes to warmth of Steve's skin on his. 

"I wanna be yours." Eddie breathed, gasped when he felt Steve's thumb press into his lip.

"Yeah?" Steve was so close now, Eddie opened his eyes and he was right there, his nose almost touching Eddie.

"Please." Eddie wasn't sure what he was begging for, but he trusted Steve to give it to him.

"Yeah. Anything you want." Steve sighed, closing the space between them.

His lips hit Eddie's and his whole world tilts. Steve holds his head and kisses him sweetly and everything slams into him at once. Thoughts. Feelings. Memories. Memories that aren't his. Things he's never done. Not with Steve. Not with anyone.

But they crash into him, wash over him like a wave and blend into him like they're his. Things he said to Steve, the way he touched him, the way he loved him, during that year that never was. All of it filling him and becoming his. His and Steve's. Just another piece of their story, another peice of their love.

Eddie gasps, pulls back and finds Steve's eyes on him, wide, his brow furrowed.

"Did you?" Steve asks, his head tilting.

"I remember. Or... I saw it. I felt it. Or like, an echo of it. I love you." He laughs then, breathy and sweet, and Steve laughs back, nearly tackles him back onto the bed, arms curled around Eddie, face buried in his neck.

"I love you too." He sounds giddy. The way Eddie feels. He buries his hands in Steve's hair and pulls him up, so he can look at him. Steve comes willingly, looking down at Eddie with adoration.

"Our lives are so fuckin weird. You know that right?" Eddie asks, his nose scrunching. Steve snorts, bites his lip, and smiles.

"Oh yeah. But would you want it any other way?" Steve asks, his nose scrunching too.

"I'll take it whatever way lets me have you." Eddie says, his finger moving down the line of Steve's nose. He bites at Eddie's finger when he drops his hand on his chest.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to ask. And that you were stuck for so long. Back then." Eddie nods to the side, like that time in '86 is right beside them.

"I'm not. I learned a lot about loving you back then." Steve smiles down at him, pushes his bangs back off his head, Eddie leans into the touch.

"Oh yeah? Well I look forward to reaping the benefits." Eddie says, tongue poking into his cheek.

"Yeah? Well I look forward to taking your virginity. Again." Steve smirks down at him. Eddie squaks, tries to shove Steve off him and gets pinned to the bed instead.

"How dare you! I'm not even- that's- I mean... absolute hearsay!" Eddie stammers. Steve laces their fingers together and straddles him, leaning down over him, that smug look on his face.

"You trying to say you're not?" Steve asks, his tongue moving over his teeth.

"I- it's just- I mean that's not fair." Eddie squeaks, looking up at Steve with wide eyes.

"Seems fair to me. Like a really nice reward." Steve boasts, leaning closer and closer.

"It feels like cheating. Like not that kind of cheating. Just... I've never- done stuff. And you're just... you have. With me. That's not-"

"Hey. I'll take good care of you." Steve breathes, presses his lips to Eddie's genlty and pulls back, settles himself on Eddie's thighs.

"I know. I have the memory. But it's like... I dunno, like it's foggy. Like a dream. I can see it, in my head, but I can't feel it." Eddie sighs, looks away.

"Forget about it." Steve says.

"Oh okay. I'll just forget about the images I now have burned into my brain of you, naked, on top of me." Eddie scoffs, tries to take his hands from Steve's and fails, Steve squeezes his hands tighter.

"Why are you so strong?" Eddie kicks his feet, feigning attempts to break free. Steve laughs, lowers himself back into Eddie's face.

"You can hold tight to that new old memory. Or we can make some memories of our own. Pick one." Steve brushes his nose against Eddie's and smiles when Eddie bucks up into him.

"New memories. Absolutely. We should do that. Let's make new ones. We should do that right now." Eddie nods frantically, lifting up and trying to kiss Steve, both of them ending up sitting, Steve in Eddie's lap, finally letting his hands go to snake his arms around Eddie's neck.

"New memories. Got it." Steve kisses him, sweetly, pulls back, just a fraction of an inch.

"You've got shit memory anyway baby. I'll get rid of those in no time." He breathes the words into Eddie mouth like a promise. Eddie moans and grabs at his back, pulling him closer.

"Holy shit. Okay." He huffs, shivering as Steve presses him down onto the bed again, laughing against his lips.

"I'm gonna take this slow. Be real sweet to you." He peppers kisses across Eddie face.

"You're gonna fuckin torture me you mean?" Eddie whines, his hips jumping and stuttering everytime Steve rolls his down against him.

"Trust me. You'll love it." Steve whispers, his lips ghosting over Eddie's, teasing.

"I love you." Eddie says, both of them freezing. Steve just stays there, looking down at him, his eyes shimmering again. Eddie reaches up, wipes the tears away.

"I love you too." Steve breathes, his body dropping onto Eddie completely, tension leaving as he kisses Eddie, slow and deep, both of them moaning into each other's mouths.

Steve's true to his word. He takes Eddie apart slowly. And then puts him right back together. Three years of longing, and lost time, and impossible memories passing between them. A slow ebb and flow, like the tide, like the ocean and the moon, moving through them both, pulling them together after so long apart.

Steve falls asleep on his chest after, small sounds falling past his lips as he nuzzles into Eddie's skin. Eddie holds him there, one hand in Steve's hair, one moving slowly up and down his back.

He holds Steve close, watches him sleep, and thanks whoevers listening that he gets to have this. Have him. And thanks them again for bringing him through it all, all the monsters, and the time loops, and everything else. Just for him to end up in Eddie's arms.

Eddie's certain it's where he was meant to be all along.

[chelseeebe]

come pick me up.

part one to do you think i have forgotten (about you)

summary: it had always been you and eddie. but one night and a whole lotta unexplored feelings leave you both reeling and you’re not sure if it ever really was you and eddie.

a/n: ermm this is so so long i’m so sorry already LOL i’ve had it in the drafts for so long but i reread it n rlly liked it so i wanna post hehe! side note: there are ZERO pictures of eddie not in that fuckin hellfire shirt D: i can’t have a grown man wearing that now …

loosely based off of the cook/freddie/effy storyline from skins uk if you’ve seen it you’ll know.,,, they’re like in their early twenties n it’s set sometime in the 90s ish tho it’s not rlly mentioned

no use of y/n! smut, 18+. this is more so stevexreader than eddie but they do have a relationship of sorts n it’s a lil’ complicated.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❤︎ ❤︎ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

the sound of a high pitched alarm screaming jolts you awake. still partially in last nights clothes, the grubby feel of makeup on your face. leg slung over eddie’s torso.

you groan, shoving his arm as he’s still very much asleep, ‘shut up,’ grimacing as the noise continues.

he mumbles something, wildly slapping his arm about to turn off the damn thing.

you run a hand over your face, remnants of your black eyeliner on your hand. that horrid taste in your mouth only found after a night of drinking. which seemed to be just about every night at the moment.

‘why’d you set an alarm, you freak?’ rolling over onto your stomach, perched on your elbows, watching as his eyes slowly open, obviously feeling as shit as you did.

‘i have- had class, you freak,’ he grumbles, looking up at you from the pillow, curly hair fanned out around him.

you scoff, ‘like you were gonna go,’ attempting to rub the rest of your mascara off, sure you looked similar to a wild raccoon.

he hums in response, shuffling under the covers to tangle his leg with your yours, ‘you gonna sort this out for me?’ referring to the obvious morning glory tenting the blanket.

‘you gonna ask nicely?’ you respond, snarling at his crudeness.

whatever he was about to say was interrupted with a knock at the door, ‘we’re coming in, you have five seconds to not be naked,’ robin’s voice echoes.

you look up as robin walks into the room, hand over her eyes until steve gives her a small nudge, indicating the coast is clear, ‘oh good-,’ she sniffs, ‘it smells like weed and sex in here, you’re fucking disgusting.’

‘thanks for reminding me,’ eddie leans over, retrieving the half-smoked spliff from last night and lighting the end.

steve’s eyes are firmly on yours, kinda sad and defeated. he had that same look on his face whenever you and eddie were together, which was often.

you’d sort of always had this.. thing with steve. encapsulated by his presence. there was always something unspoken between you and you were never sure if it was because he hated you or not. small glances and touches that seemed to linger just a bit too long.

you’d sorta taken his best friend from him at one point, coming between their friendship suddenly and with no warning.

steve was intrigued by you too. this mystical, unobtainable persona you presented to the world. something he couldn’t crack. just couldn’t quite understand it.

‘we’re getting breakfast, i was going to ask if you wanted to join but i assume that won’t be happening,’ she raises her eyebrows, noticing your severely hungover state.

they liked to party too, just clearly not as much as you and eddie. both of you had no understanding of when to call it a night, egging each other on til the point of no return.

‘i think we’ll give that a miss,’ eddie’s answers for the both of you. steve’s eyes immediately look down, suddenly interesting in the burn marks in eddie’s carpet.

you’d actually met steve first, on the first day of classes in freshmen year. you went over to a sheepish steve, who looked slightly scared, and obviously lost. offering him the directions to his room.

he’d smiled back, introducing himself to you on the way. appreciative of your kindness. you probably wouldn’t have helped if he didn’t look like that, but still, it was nice.

that’s when eddie had bounded over, all hair and denim. loudly taking over your conversation, introducing himself with a smirk, hand already creeping onto your lower back. that’s when steve had nodded towards him and informed you of their already established friendship.

you weren’t really sure when it became you and eddie. well, it wasn’t. not officially. god, you didn’t want official. he was fun to fuck and even better to party with. maybe the fact he dealt had been a factor in solidifying your strange relationship. maybe not.

robin rolls her eyes, ‘right, well you boring fucks can rot in bed all day, suit yourselves,’ ushering steve out of the door, slamming it behind her.

you blink, hating this awful, guilty feeling steve always left in your stomach. you’d tear a guy like him to shreds, maybe it was for the best.

whatever self-wallowing, steve-centric thoughts you had are interrupted when eddie’s arm snakes around your back, pulling you onto him.

‘i still need a little assistance here,’ he grins from beneath you, running his hand down your back, firmly grasping your exposed ass as you clamber on top properly.

you try your damn hardest to push the reflecting image of steve from your mind. though it doesn’t quite work until eddie’s calloused palm softly taps against your cheek, ‘anyone in there?’

you frown, returning the playful slap as you grind mindlessly against him, his fingers digging into the pliant skin of your ass.

‘you can do that again.’

-

eddie hadn’t shut up about his birthday for weeks. you’d all planned to go to the same bar you went to most weekends, except this time everyone had to go and he got to be centre of attention.

he’d been pissing you off all night. obviously far too drunk, jaw clenching from the copious amounts of shit he’d sniffed. hanging from your shoulder, speaking over you and splashing beer down your top as he slurred through his words.

‘i think we’re gonna head home,’ steve speaks up when you exit the bar, eddie already looking for the next place.

‘whaat? you’re fucking boring,’ he pokes a finger into steve’s chest, far too intoxicated, ‘you’re staying out, right?’ he looks over to jonathan, argyle and nancy who also shared an apartment not far from yours.

‘nah man.. it’s late, it’s been fun though,’ jonathan shrugs as nancy finds a taxi to take them home.

‘fuuuck you guys are really ditching me on my birthday? at least you won’t let me down,’ his arm hooks around your shoulder, yanking you into him.

you pull back, which wasn’t particularly hard in his state, ‘get off of me.. can i get a ride with you?’ looking over at steve, his hands cautiously poking out of his pockets.

he nods sheepishly as eddie practically erupts, ‘it’s my fucking birthday, and you fucking losers are going home?’ he’s screeching, throwing his arms around, making a royal scene in the middle of the street.

robin finds a cab willing to take the group of you home, calling you over to the yellow vehicle, ‘eddie let’s just go home, it’s late,’ attempting to coax him into going with you. you’d deal with his shit in the privacy of his bedroom.

he laughs, turning away from you and walking up the dimly lit street, ‘you.. you can get fucked,’ he slurs, disappearing into a nearby bar.

steve stands at the cab door, watching as you frown at eddie’s back. internally deciding whether to give in and follow him or to leave like you’d originally planned.

you let out an exasperated sigh, ‘he can go fuck himself,’ you spit as you slide into the back of the cab. steve follows, shutting the door behind him, flashing you a small cautious look as the cab pulls off.

-

you collapse onto the sofa the second you set foot in the apartment. completely at your wits end with eddie and his the way he spoke to you.

‘i’m going to bed,’ robin announces, slinking into her own room, leaving steve to awkwardly linger in the living room.

you didn’t want to worry about eddie. he was a grown man who could definitely handle his own. besides, why should you when he’d explicitly told you to fuck off?

steve clears his throat before taking the empty seat beside you, ‘he didn’t mean it.. it’s just drunk talking,’ he nods, attempting to reassure you.

it wasn’t as if you were really upset about it all. more so annoyed that you’d let him treat you that way. continually. over and over again.

whatever the fuck was going on between the two of you had started to wear thin. there were only so many times you could put up with his shit before it got tired.

eddie could be a horrible drunk. it wasn’t often but when that version of him came out you’d prefer to be far far from it. he was cruel with his words, venomous as they rolled off his tongue. then you’d get into a screaming match and then either end up hate-fucking or you’d just both never bring it up again.

‘no, he did,’ you sigh, kicking the shoes from your feet with a thud, ‘i don’t care.. really.’

‘right,’ he nods, not totally believing you, ‘y’wanna smoke?’

a small smile creeps onto your face as he reaches for the small black box eddie kept on the table, pulling out a small baggie of weed, something eddie definitely wouldn’t miss. he didn’t even need your reply, beginning to roll up.

-

perhaps you’d smoked a little too much, sputtering on the final toke of your second or third spliff before handing it back to steve. he sits on the other side, an awful lot closer than he’d been originally.

it was quiet, but comfortable. not awkward at all.

‘y’know..’ he speaks up, looking over at you, ‘actually.. nah,’ changing his mind almost immediately.

‘no.. what? what were you gonna say?’ you furrow your brows, vision hazy, the room full of grey smoke.

he sort of chuckles to himself, stubbing the end of the joint out in the glass ashtray before looking at you again, ‘it’s stupid,’ he warns.

‘even better.. tell me,’ you nod, encouraging him to go on.

he pauses for a moment, a tiny smile on his pink lips, ‘i always thought.. well, that you and me were gonna end up together, i thought you liked me for the longest time,’ shaking his head as he looks down.

your heart thuds. a mixture of your high and the unidentifiable emotion coursing through your veins. there was no questions to being with eddie. it was simple, sex and parties. no complicated feelings involved.

but within a second, steve had completely changed everything. a feeling you’d suppressed since your situationship with eddie had started. completely convinced that the odd relationship you had with steve was just because you were banging his best friend.

‘i didn’t.. i didn’t know you felt like that..’ you manage to get out quietly, watching as he slowly stands up, he doesn’t look at you once. too ashamed, embarrassed that he’d just admitted everything to you so easily.

‘well, now you know,’ he says quietly before disappearing into his room.

you linger on the couch for a moment. unsure of what to think of anything he’d just said. whether you should knock on his door and tell him you’d felt the same or just go off to your own room and wait for eddie to crawl in.

it wasn’t as if you felt nothing at all for eddie. you did, of course. but you didn’t love him. not the way you maybe should’ve. not the way you felt about steve, his gentle nature and soft caramel tinted eyes.

you stand from the couch, feet taking control as you walk to his door. a small slither of orange light peaking from underneath. raising your fist to knock but stopping, arguing with yourself. this couldn’t be a good idea.

before you can even convince yourself to knock, the door opens. steve stands on the other side, his own chest heaving as your eyes meet.

‘i-,’ he croaks, but you cut him off with your lips, pulling back just as quickly as you’d moved forwards.

you stare at him for a few moments, swallowing all the courage you’d just worked up.

‘..now you know,’ giving him a meek smile before walking back to your room. you lean back against the door, heart beating a million miles an hour.

-

a repetitive banging sound forces you awake in the morning. hissing as the sounds of an extremely dramatic moan get louder. high-pitched and obviously put on.

it takes a moment for you to realise just where the noise is coming from. eddie’s room backs onto yours. the headboard colliding with the wall at an alarming pace.

you stumble out of bed, throwing on an old dirty sweater and groggily making your way into the living room.

steve sits slumped over the table, looking particularly miserable this morning. despite what had happened last night. you wondered if he’d told robin who sat scowling at the door. steam practically coming out of her ears.

her eyes widen as you appear in the doorway, rubbing the residual sleep from your eyes, eyes flitting between your frame and the wooden door.

‘well shit, i was about to cuss you out,’ she remarks, astonished that you were stood in front of her.

steve’s whole face brightens when he realises you’re stood in front of him and not in the room making those god-awful, oscar worthy noises.

‘if that’s not you.. who the fuck is in there?’ robin gasps, now utterly bemused by the entire situation.

you shrug, choosing the seat opposite steve, making brief eye contact and flashing him a small smile. would he bring up last night? or was it never to be spoken about again?

relief is written all over his face. obviously under the impression that you’d made up with eddie at some point in the night. not once checking that you were in your room.

‘jesus christ i’m gonna kill him,’ robin fumes, sipping on a mug of coffee. her eyes are narrowed, attempting to set the room ablaze with her mind.

‘it won’t last long,’ you add, reaching over to steal a slice of steve’s buttered toast. he lets you, obviously. letting out a soft snort at your joke.

‘nothing is that good,’ robin shakes her head.

the noises quieten, a shrill giggle coming from the hallway as a scantily clad blonde appears in the doorway, closely followed by eddie, sporting a pair of boxers that hid absolutely nothing.

‘that way,’ he groans, guiding the smiling woman away towards the bathroom. his eyes momentarily meeting yours, total venom behind his glare.

robin jumps up, splashing coffee over the floor, ‘don’t you dare think about fucking in my bathroom,’ she warns, chasing after the odd couple.

you can hear an altercation as presumably eddie slams the bathroom door on robin, her fists pounding against the wood, hollering about her new bath mat.

steve glances at you, searching your face for any type of reaction. he doesn't find anything, instead you smile softly as robin re-enters the room, cursing at the bastard freak. she grabs her bag, slinging it onto her shoulder before stomping over to the door.

'i'm going out, let me know when he's done with his weird exhibitionist routine,' slamming the door as she exits, the poorly built walls shaking as she does.

there's a faint sound of running water, obviously coming from the bathroom, closely followed by a series of questionable grunts and groans. you choose to try and block it out, though engaging in conversation with steve at this very moment seemed almost too awkward.

'did you tell robin?' you pipe up, playing with your fingernails as you just about meet his gaze.

'uh.. yeah,' he grimaces slightly, 'i-i just thought.. well i thought that was you this morning, i was.. confused,' apologetic for his blunder.

you nod, 'i don't care.. i just wanna prepare for the inevitable grilling i'm gonna get,' chuckling in an attempt to ease the tension. it works as his lips curl into a small, playing with the discarded crusts on his plate.

the god-awful noises from the bathroom worsen and your eyes are pulled from steve, looking towards the cause. perhaps this was eddie's way of making you jealous. revenge for choosing to go home and not put up with his drunken assholery.

-

you’re sat tracing patterns into the velvet fabric of the sofa, practically shaking as you wait for steve to get back from campus.

he was your friend for fuck sake. why was this so nerve wracking? ask him to hang out, if he says no then so be it. you’ll deal with the awkwardness of your shared kiss alongside eddie’s misguided anger.

he’s later than you’d expected. becoming far too engrossed in the random soap opera on the tv when he does eventually get back. almost forgetting about what you’d got yourself so worked up over.

‘hey,’ waving his fingers as he comes in.

christ, he almost seemed more nervous than you were.

‘hey,’ not wanting to jump down his throat the second he walked in the door, turning the tv off and running your palms down the sofa.

‘spoken to eddie?’ he asks curiously, slinging his bag from his shoulder and slumping down next to you on the couch.

‘nah.. he went out this morning and hasn’t been back,’ you shrug, wishing that he wouldn’t have just bought that prick up.

he nods, looking down at his jeans, finding a loose thread to play with.

‘would yo-,’

‘d’ya wanna-,’

you both start at the same time, stopping to let him continue except he’d done the same thing. sitting in the silence for a brief moment.

you chuckle nervously, ‘sorry, what were you saying?’

‘i was just gonna ask if you wanted to.. maybe do something tonight? if- if you’re not busy,’ shrugging it off, trying his hardest to play it cool.

‘oh,’ laughing softly, the pair of you were like nervy teenagers, comical, ‘i was gonna ask you the same thing.. yeah i’d love to.’

steve grins, transported back to freshman year of high school, trying to find the gall to ask tammy thompson to the fucking movies. it all seemed so childish, innocent, the way you melted around each other.

‘okay.. i’ll get changed, give me five,’ he nods, leaping from the sofa and speeding off to his room.

you bite down onto your bottom lip, trying to contain your smile. kicking yourself for the adolescent excitement it gave you.

-

the bar was packed for a wednesday night, steve shouldering his way through the crowd with you following closely behind. not brave enough to cling onto his hand, wrapping your fingers around his forearm instead.

‘jesus christ,’ he exclaims when he finds a spot just about big enough for you both to stand. you were close. closer than you’d ever been. at least in public.

you hold onto the glass bottle he’d passed you from the bar, ‘d’ya wanna go somewhere else?’

‘what?’ he shouts, the music too loud to hear you properly.

you lean in closer, lips brushing against his ear, the feeling makes your heart pound, ‘you wanna go somewhere else?’

placing his hand on your arm so he could shout back, the mixture of his cologne and beer filling your nose. it was intoxicating, making your head giddy.

‘i’m good if you are,’ wisps of his hair sweeping against your cheek.

you nod, beaming up at him as you take a swig of the harsh beer. the crowd seemingly disappearing from around you as his eyes focus on you, his own smile overcoming his face.

-

okay, perhaps you’d had a little too much to drink. but a little dutch confidence never hurt anyone.

you’re definitely not complaining when you grab his hand on the way out of the bar, quickly intertwining your fingers as he weaves his way to the door. still as packed as when you’d got there.

you giggle as he trips over the step coming into the bar, sending you flying into his back as he regains his balance.

his hand is quick to steady you, resting on your waist. the street light illuminating the gleam of his eyes, slightly glossy from the multiple beers he’d sunk inside.

a drunk student roars past you, snapping you out of the moment, steve’s hand still lingering on your waist. something that would’ve never happened if he were sober.

‘shall we go home?’ you ask, not breaking from his gaze.

he nods, moving his hand to offer it out for you to grab. leading you over to an empty cab, leaning through the front window to talk to the driver.

the drive home is heavy with tension. sitting in silence as steve makes polite conversation with the driver, fingers still wrapped around yours. heart thumping as you near your street.

the apartment dark and silent when you get in, the only light coming from the old fairy lights robin had hung around the room. there’s no hesitation, your hands grabbing his cheeks, smashing your lips to his the second the front door closes.

it takes a moment for him to realise what was happening, hands quickly finding solace on the small of your back when it clicks properly. it’s greedy and desperate, tongue sliding into his mouth, wanting to touch every inch of him.

hands sliding down his chest, grabbing at the fabric, his leg slotting between yours, guiding you backwards. straight into the coffee table with a bang.

you spring apart, eyeing eddie’s room cautiously, saying a silent prayer and hoping he didn’t come out.

steve’s eager to resume, eyes hungry as they flit between eddie’s door and your face.

you pull back completely, taking your lip between your teeth and hooking your finger around his pinky, leading the way to his bedroom. it was the furthest away from eddie’s and made the most sense.

he shuts the door gently, flicking the small bedside lamp on, illuminating the obvious tent in his jeans. your mouth falling open at the sight of it, rubbing your thighs together to try and satiate the growing throbbing.

you’re quick to resume the kiss, moving on him swiftly, connecting your lips in a passionate kiss. he collapses backwards onto the bed, your body falling on top of his chest, hands caressing his cheeks.

the next moment you find yourself underneath steve, pressed into the mattress as he holds himself above you. eager hands finding the short hem of your skirt and sliding underneath on the soft skin of your thighs. you had never seen him move with such confidence before, normally a little shy in the way he carried himself.

his finger hooks into the waistband of your lacy panties, tugging them down to your thighs. his growing erection digging into your core with every movement. moaning into his mouth when his finger begins circling your sensitive clit. this had definitely killed any and all assumptions that he was a virgin.

it’s as if he had been waiting for this very moment for his entire life, sliding his fingers between your folds and into your already soaking hole, your mouth falling from his as your head rolls back onto the pillow.

‘oh my god,’ a breathy moan escaping from your lips as his fingers pump in and out, his other hand causing a dip in the pillow next to your head.

his fingers slip out of you and begin to unbuckle his belt, barely getting them down and around his legs before his cock springs up. bigger than you ever could’ve imagined, mouth hung open as your peer down between your bodies.

your shirt is pulled off over your head so quickly you weren’t sure if you had blinked, landing on the floor alongside his with a soft thunk.

you draw your eyes back up to meet his once more, ‘you’re sure?’ he reaffirms, pupils dilated, wetting his lips with his pink tongue.

‘so sure,’ nodding encouragingly underneath him, readjusting your legs to loosely wrap around his torso. you’d never been more sure of anything in your life.

he returns the nod, positioning himself at your sopping entrance and without breaking eye contact he slides in with a sharp intake of breath. you can’t contain the whimper that collects in your throat, the stretch of his cock taking you by surprise. the sting felt good, like he was always supposed to be there between your legs.

he’s still, waiting for your encouragement to move. you give it in the form of a squeeze on the back of his neck, clinging on to the skin as his hips move slowly. low, hungry grunts roll from his lips, the bed frame creaking in time with his thrusts.

‘fuck,’ you breathe out, taking your bottom lip between your teeth acutely aware that eddie was only a few doors away and could definitely hear the happenings in the room. even if you could manage to stifle yourself, the undeniable sounds of skin against skin would expose you.

‘is that- is that good?’ steve mumbles, moving slow but hitting deep, nudging against your soft spot, already hurtling you towards your orgasm.

‘jesus christ.. yes, yes,’ beginning to buck your hips back against him, feeling the familiar knot in your stomach. finger nails leaving crescent moon shapes in his skin as tears prick in your eyes.

steve groans as his heavy balls slap against the back of your thighs, pushing himself fully inside, ‘i’m not.. hmph.. not gonna last long,’ arm beginning to buckle with the weight of him.

you clench around him as your high topples over at his words, burying your face into the pillow next to you. unable to withhold the high pitched wail from leaving your mouth, barely managing to muffle the sound.

his rhythm falters, hips slamming into yours for the last few desperate pumps before he pulls himself out. thick ropes of cum spurting out and onto his hand. and the bed. and your thigh. crying out as his chest heaves above you.

‘holy shit,’ his arm gives way and he ends up next to you on the mattress, panting for air as he reaches for a dirty shirt on the floor, using the first thing he could find to clean off his hand.

you turn your head to face him, a lazy smile on your face as he offers the shirt out to you, mouthing a small sorry.

he throws it to the other side of the room, running a hand over his damp face, ‘i uh.. i last way longer normally,’ bashful and doubting his performance. it was only because it was you.

‘steve,’ you smile, grabbing his blanket to pull over your body, ‘don’t do that,’ seeing the shy boy from once before, you much preferred the steve from earlier.. confident and sure of himself.

‘yeah.. sorry,’ his lips curling into a soft smile, turning his body towards yours, arm snaking out to pull you closer, clammy palm resting on the small of your back.

you giggle quietly in response, settling in to your new position, sharing the blanket with him.

your eyes don’t leave each other’s as he begins to babble about something from the bar, clinging onto your skin as if you were somehow going to slip away.

-

you hadn’t even realised that you’d fallen asleep in steve’s room.

so when eddie comes in unannounced in the early morning, you thank your lucky stars that you’re facing the wall with steve’s body hiding yours. shoving your face into the pillow to hide yourself, hair sprawled around you, helping your case.

‘yo.. bro,’ he whispers, stepping into the room and over a pile of clothes, ‘good night?’ he cocks his eyebrow at steve as he turns around, glaring at the interruption.

‘uh.. yeah yeah,’ steve panics, realising what eddie had walked into and the chaos that’d ensue if he figured it out, his arm tightens around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest.

‘sounded like it,’ eddie chuckles, shaking his boot to rid it of the discarded shirt on the floor, ‘look, have you got ten bucks? i can give it back tomorrow,’ he bargains, smiling at steve.

‘yeah.. yeah, my wallet’s on the desk,’ steve nods towards the desk, adjusting himself to make sure he was covering you when eddie stomps over to the desk.

ten dollars was a worthy sacrifice to not have to deal with eddie’s temper tantrum in the morning. it wasn’t like he’d never find out. just not now.

‘thanks bro.. i’ll get it back to you tomorrow, hey,’ eddie rubs his stubbly face, ‘d’you know if dickhead’s in? i knocked but, uh.. no answer,’ quite obviously referring to you.

you have to resist the urge to sit up and cuss him out.

‘uhh.. no, no idea sorry,’ steve shakes his head apologetically, lying through his teeth.

‘alright well, have fun,’ wiggling his eyebrows as he exits, closing the door softly.

you exhale when the door clicks shut, though you stay in the same position, not entirely convinced he’s not stood outside the door listening.

‘don’t speak,’ you mouth to steve, who looks wearily at you until the front door closes and you fully turn to face him.

‘jesus christ,’ you breathe, ‘he doesn’t knock?’

‘usually he does.. i bet he wanted to see who was in here,’ his arm twitches, unsure of whether to keep clinging on to your waist or to remove it.

‘i mean,’ you shrug, ‘he’ll found out eventually, right?’ it was inevitable, especially as you were living together.

‘i s’pose.. you don’t care?’ taken aback by your nonchalance towards the situation.

‘not really.. i just don’t think he needs to know, not yet,’ you croak, he had literally just banged another chick practically right in front of you. any guilt you may have felt about the situation had disappeared.

‘yeah,’ he gives you a tired smile, nuzzling his head into the pillow, all soft and sweet.

‘i dunno about you but i’m going back to sleep, until at least lunch,’ your hand running along the curve of his bicep, mere inches away from each other.

he hums in response, his lingering arm pulling your waist closer, eyes drooping as sleep takes over.

-

you’re awoken again by the slam of the front door, robin leaving for work. letting steve know that everyone in the apartment could hear your late night activities.

steve grumbles, complaining about her heavy-handedness. you leer over at the alarm clock, wanting to get out of steve’s room before eddie gets back from work, making sure there were no possible chances of awkward questions this afternoon.

‘shit,’ you hiss, climbing over his still half-asleep body and grabbing whatever t-shirt you could find, pulling it on over your head, ‘eddie’s back in like five.. i’m gonna get out of here now, saves the aggro..,’ slipping into your discarded underwear.

‘right.. good idea,’ he mumbles, one arm folded underneath his pillow as he comes to fully.

you sprint out of there and into the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal when eddie strolls through the door, whistling some tune to himself. he glances at you before taking a seat at the cluttered dining table.

you don’t say a word, discarding your plan to sit at the table and instead tucking in to your cereal on the counter, pretending to read some flyer.

‘where were you last night?’ he asks, leaning back on the chair to get a full view of you, ‘i knocked on your door but..’ narrowing his eyes.

‘i was probably fuckin’ asleep,’ shoving another spoonful of cereal into your mouth, making brief eye contact with the man.

he squints, trying to figure out why that shirt was so fucking familiar. was it his? were you wearing his shirt in some weird goading way?

steve emerges from his room, shirtless and running a hand from his messy hair. eddie’s eyes flit between the shirt and steve. cogs slowly turning in his brain.

no. no the shirt wasn’t his.

it was the fucking shirt he’d kicked off of his foot when he’d stormed into steve’s room this morning. same boring design printed on the front.

on you.

from steve’s floor.

the night after steve had, very loudly, had a female friend over.

you’re oblivious, focussing on your bowl of soggy cornflakes as steve clatters around behind you. making his own bowl. neither of you looking at each other, making everything ten times more obvious.

‘you’re fuckin’ joking,’ he loudly proclaims, standing from the table, nearly sending the chair flying backwards.

your head shoots up, confused by what he had seemingly angered himself over now, ‘what?’ eyebrows knitted together as he storms over, mouth hung open in disbelief.

‘you fucked him?’ jabbing his finger at steve, ‘my best friend?’ arms flying around in anger.

you look to steve for some help, eddie positively fuming, his jaw clenched at your lack of an answer. in fact, your reaction, or lack thereof, had only solidified everything.

‘no,’ you eventually croak, ‘i- we-, that wasn’t me,’ stuttering for some excuse, though you know he didn’t buy a word of it.

eddie’s face twists up in a mix of anger and hurt, eyes glossing over as his lips tremble, ‘eddie-,’ steve begins, cut off as eddie storms out of the tiny kitchen, grabbing his wallet from the table and pausing when he opens the front door.

‘you deserve each other,’ he snarls before disappearing, shaking the walls with his violent slam of the door.

you stare at steve in silent disbelief, dropping the spoon into your discarded bowl. you’d predicted his reaction to go something along the lines of that, just not expecting it so soon. hoping to have prepared a solid speech in the meantime.

‘shit.’

‘it’s okay.. h-he was gonna find out eventually.. he’ll calm down,’ steve tries to soothe you, well aware that eddie held onto his anger, let it simmered until it all bubbled over and some poor soul got the brunt of months of rage.

you want to feel bad, feel guilty but when steve’s hand sits on top of yours, giving it a reassuring squeeze, it vanishes. his chestnut eyes providing a sense of comfort you’d never felt before.

-

you were used to eddie being out. missing in action for days on end. but by the fourth day of him not coming back to the apartment, the pit in your stomach starts to worsen.

the guilt had caught up to you, as if you were the one who had shoved him out of the door. you had, in a metaphorical sense.

the first few days were, nice. though you felt worse for even feeling that. but, you’d been hanging out with steve more. it was different to before, getting to know his personal quirks, the things that made him tick. something you would’ve brushed off before.

you were friends, sure. you hadn’t really had the opportunity to get to know him like this before. it would’ve felt like some sort of betrayal to eddie. even though in some ways the way it had come about now was much worse.

on the fifth day, you’re sat on the couch with steve. picking the hangnail from your finger, wincing as it started to bleed.

‘d’you think he might’ve gone home?’ you ask, looking up at steve who was spaced out next to you.

they were from the same small town, had started out sharing classes in high school and had since been friends. admittedly growing apart when you’d come into the picture. you’d heard stories from the others about how close they used to be, never apart, according to jonathan.

‘i dunno.. he hates hawkins,’ steve shrugs, seeing the worry spread across your face, ‘but i could call his uncle? see if he’s there?’

you nod, thumb in your mouth trying to pull off more of the sore skin. he gets up to grab his phone, already dialling the number when he comes back into the room.

‘hey! wayne.. it’s steve- yeah yeah, i’m good man.. i was just wondering if eddie was there? oh no, uh- well.. we haven’t heard from him in a few days, y’know what he’s like… sure, thanks man,’ clicking the button and ending the call.

he looks over at you, a pitying look on his face as he shakes his head no.

‘i’m sure he’s alright.. he’s dramatic, you know that,’ he collapses onto the couch, this time closer than before, nudging your elbow with a weak smile.

you were well versed with eddie’s dramatic personality. having dealt with his temper tantrums and storm outs for years now. though, it had never seemed this bad before.

realistically, you knew he was probably crashing on a friend’s sofa. overstaying his welcome and partying too much. he was likely coming down from some insane party as you sat thinking about him.

‘i just.. feel bad,’ you whisper, leaning into steve’s side. his arm reaches around to your shoulder, rubbing softly against your arm.

‘i know..i do too,’ he admits, you and eddie hadn’t been a romantic thing. not even really a thing, if you were being honest. it was sex and partying, getting completely trashed and using each other in an attempt to fill the void inside of you both.

but steve and eddie had been friends for years now. they’d argued over the stupidest shit but never something like a girl. steve had had to genuinely weigh up whether his friendship with eddie was worth losing.

if eddie couldn’t get over it, would steve be able to repress his feelings for you? or would he be fine with losing eddie if it meant that you were together?

when robin gets back from work, she narrows her eyes at the two of you curled up against each other, ‘is this gonna be a regular thing?’

‘would you have a problem with it if it was?’ you ask, watching as she dumps her back and slumps on the empty seat.

‘oh no, i’m just thinking about how much peace and quiet i’ll get if you and eddie aren’t screaming at each other every day,’ kicking her doc martens from her feet and leaning into the cushions.

‘if he comes back,’ you remind her.

she hadn’t really seemed too fazed when he’d stormed out. thankful for no more early morning wake up calls from his wooden bed frame. but you can tell that even she was beginning to feel at least a tiny bit worried.

‘he still not called?’

you shake your head, ‘no one’s seen him, he’s not home.. i guess we’ve just gotta wait til he’s calmed down,’ shrugging, more so trying to convince yourself rather than her.

no matter what, eddie had a special place in your heart. even if it wasn’t love in the romantic sense, there was too much there to disregard that. he was your best friend at one point, how could you?

it’s another five days of fretting and concern before you hear a word from him. your phone rings in the middle of the night and you sit up, feeling along the nightstand for the buzzing plastic. an unrecognised number.

‘hello?’ you speak into the receiver.

steve stirs, waking up at the sound of your voice. admittedly, you’d been sleeping in his bed. sharing kisses and late-night chats about just about everything. it all felt very quick, but just right. like now that’d you’d both realised that you could have this, that anything other than this felt wrong.

‘hi,’ eddie’s voice rings out, recognisable even through the phone.

‘eddie? you’re okay? where are you?’ you babble, steve sits up at the mention of his name.

‘i’m uh- with my dad, i just, listen.. i need you to bring me some shit.. we’re going away and i’ve got nothing with me,’ his voice crackles and you can hear him shift around in the payphone box.

‘what? you’re going where? where are you?’ baffled, unsure if you were still asleep and not understanding him.

‘away, i’m staying in porter.. look, can you do it?’

‘eddie that’s-,’ but you stop yourself, ‘yeah, sure.. when?’

‘tomorrow, i just need some clothes, my watch and my savings.. they’re under my mattress.. tiny box, you’ll see it,’ he rushes, running out of minutes.

‘o-okay, where shall i meet you? i don’t know it well,’ you garble, nodding at steve when he mouths a confused porters?

‘little bar called sam’s.. i’ll be in there, i’ve gotta go, this thing’s running out,’ he sighs, muttering a small, ‘thank you,’ before the line goes dead.

‘he’s at the fucking beach.. wants me to drop some shit for him.. he said he’s with his dad? i-i thought his dad left..?’

‘he did,’ steve looks puzzled, taking the phone from your clutch and looking at the withheld number, trying to figure out if he could call it back, ‘he left years ago..’

-

eddie’s smile falters when he notices that you’d bought steve and robin along. steve dropping your hand the second his eyes meet eddie’s.

‘what the fuck are you doing here?’ the chair scraping the wooden floor as he stands abruptly.

the man you can only assume is his dad looks over, gripping onto the beer bottle, eyes flitting between his son and your trio.

‘eddie.. i asked them to, we wanted to know if you were okay,’ your voice shakes, frowning when he scowls at you. you’ve pissed him off, again.

‘i called you because i trusted you, not him,’ he spits, walking over to where you were stood by the door, ‘where’s my shit?’

‘it’s in the car,’ quickly coming up with a lie, trying to keep him talking for as long as possible, ‘i need to talk to you.. before you.. leave,’ you pout, trying to get him away from his dad.

‘about?’ he hits back harshly, still upset that you’d even dared to bring steve along.

‘about.. everything,’ you exhale shakily, ‘give me five minutes, please.’

he looks back at his dad who checks his watch before shrugging. he couldn’t give a less of a shit as long he got this promised money.

‘fine,’ he says through gritted teeth, storming past a gormless steve and robin and exiting the restaurant.

you glance at steve before following him out, not sure how much longer you could convince him you’d bought everything he’d asked for.

he’s already lighting up a cigarette when you reach the street, perched against the windowsill in days-old clothes. he looked a mess. even worse than his usual gritty self. eye-bags and a sunken face to match.

you breathe out, how do you even start a conversation like this? sorry i fucked your best friend but i actually really like him was probably not the best way to go about it.

‘i’m sorry,’ seemed like the best place to start, ‘it wasn’t fair to you.. what i- we did.. i can’t tell you how shit it makes me feel.. to know that i hurt you.’

he blows the smoke out of his mouth, expressionless, ‘okay.’

is that it? after his great big performance that was all he could say?

‘what?’

‘i said, okay.. what d’you expect me to do? start crying and begging you to love me?’ scoffing as he takes a long draw of the cigarette. his eyes cold, merciless as he glares at you.

‘you ran away.. made everyone worried sick about you.. and all you can say is okay?’

he shrugs, ‘i’m over it.. you’re welcome to each other,’ stubbing the cigarette out on the brick wall, stepping closer to you.

your mouth opens and shuts, flabbergasted by his stinking attitude, ‘shout at me, scream.. fuck- hit me if you want to.. stop pretending like you don’t care.. because i know you eddie munson and i know you do.’

his eyes narrow, intimidating as he towers above, ‘i don’t give a shit, you’re only upset because you want me to.. that’s too bad,’ his adam’s apple bobs, a tell-tale sign that he was lying.

your eyes search his for anything. a glimmer of weakness.

but his eyes are stern, emotionless as his brows thread together.

the door to the bar creaks open and his dad stomps out, muttering to himself, ‘c’mon son, let’s get the fuck out of here,’ replacing eddie’s spot on the windowless ledge and lighting his own cigarette.

he doesn’t break eye contact, ‘i’m gonna take a leak and then i want my shit,’ jaw tense as he barges through the door.

you squeeze your eyes shut, biting onto your bottom lip before cricking your neck. that hadn’t gone exactly to plan. now what the fuck were you gonna do when he realised you hadn’t brought the one thing he’d asked for.

‘i know what women like you do,’ his dad speaks up, taking a long drag on the cigarette, ‘you don’t get to fuck up his life and then happily move on.’

eyes springing open when you realise he’s talking to you, ‘what the fuck did you just say?’

he laughs, a deep belly-laugh, ‘you heard.’

you’d love to smash the smug look from his dirty face. knock his head into the brick wall and drag eddie kicking and screaming back to steve’s cat whether he liked it or not.

‘women like me? the only person who cares enough to drive all the way out to this shithole to save your son? is that what you meant?’ stepping up towards him, as if you were even capable of doing anything.

‘you came to rub it in.. flaunting in with pretty boy there,’ his lips snarl, ‘pathetic really, shouldn’t have bothered.’

eddie comes back out, robin and steve trailing behind, trying to converse with him but being completely blanked, ‘where’s my shit then?’

‘uh.. steve’s car,’ beckoning to where you’d parked somewhere in the distance.

steve flashes you a worried look knowing damn well there was nothing eddie could want in his car. luckily eddie doesn’t pick up on it and instead starts walking in the direction you’d motioned, expecting you all to follow.

‘why’re you in such a hurry?’ you call out from behind, trying desperately to bide time. he was certain to flip his shit the second you reached the car and he figured you’d lied to him.

‘because i want to get the fuck out of here,’ he snaps back, charging on ahead.

you walk in silence to steve’s car, nervously glancing over at steve as eddie and his disgusting pig of a father walk on ahead. steve reaches over and gives your hand a reassuring squeeze though it doesn’t really do much.

eddie’s spots the car first, striding over and peering into the windows, ‘where’s my shit then?’ turning to glare at you with a disgusted look on his face.

your mouth opens and closes, no viable excuse coming to mind, ‘eddie.. i didn’t bring anything-,’ swallowing as you gain some slight confidence, ‘i’m not letting you go with him.’

his dad completely flips, turning to his son, ‘you’re fucking useless, you know that? how the fuck d’you manage to mess this one up?’ practically foaming at the mouth.

‘dad i told her! this isn’t my fault.. we can still go.. i’ll find the cash somewhere,’ his eyes pleading with the estranged man, he had shrunk back into a scared little boy right before your eyes.

his father shoves him away, snarling at his son, ‘you think i actually want to go anywhere with you? my colossal fuck up of a son? you’re dreaming,’ positively fuming.

‘but.. dad,’ he’s almost begging now, regressing back to the night he watched his father walk out on his mom, feeling the heartache all over again.

steve steps up, getting closer to the pair, ‘you should go,’ placing his hand on the man’s arm.

he jerks his arm from steve’s grip, scoffing at you all, ‘don’t bother trying to find me again.. i don’t wanna know,’ poking his sausage finger into eddie’s chest before pulling himself away and trundling off back to the bar you’d met in.

your eyes immediately turn to eddie who was watching the man leave for the second time, tears pricking in his eyes. your chest pangs with hurt, you’d never meant for it to happen like this.

eddie speeds off in the opposite direction and you have to pull on steve’s arm to stop him from going after the boy, ‘he’ll come.. just.. give him a few minutes,’ nodding reassuringly.

steve sighs before turning to face you, ‘okay, you should go anyway.’

‘yeah.’

deciding that it had probably been enough time, you follow eddie’s path and eventually find him perched on a crumbling stoke wall, aggressively wiping his cheeks when he spots you walking over.

you sit in the empty spot next to him, staring down at the grey concrete. not wanting to break the silence and potentially piss him off more.

‘fuck,’ eddie finally breathes, sniffing and wiping his nose on his filthy sleeve. he clearly hadn’t showered in days and you wonder what on earth they could’ve possibly been doing.

‘i’m sorry,’ you croak. you weren’t just sorry for not allowing him to run off with that wretched man but for the fact that you and steve had quite obviously betrayed him.

you hear him swallow and then a rustling from his pocket. looking up to find him with a cigarette hanging onto his lip. he offers the box out to you, as he usually would.

delicately taking one from the pack and placing it in your mouth, waiting patiently for the lighter.

you sit smoking your cigarettes in the calming silence for a few minutes. gazing out at the horizon, the sky awash with all sorts of moody greys. fitting.

‘are you coming home?’ you ask quietly, standing from the wall with your hands shoved in your pockets.

eddie exhales, his eyes closing briefly before he stands, ‘yeah.. yeah let’s go,’ admitting defeat as he lets go of his dad forever, ready to put an end to his reckless escapade.

robin and steve are leaning against his car when you walk back. there had been a silent agreement to not mention it. just get in the car and go.

you sat in the back with eddie, watching as he stares out of the window, pressing his forehead against the cold glass. you move over into the middle seat, resting your head against his shoulder.

things would be alright.

-

things had been actually sorta alright. eddie had seemingly come to terms with you and steve becoming a thing. at least, if he hadn’t, he’d been keeping it to himself.

you tried to keep things respectable of course, jumping apart when he’d enter the room or going off to your own room and creeping into steve’s when eddie had gone to bed. but he wasn’t stupid. and you knew he wasn’t stupid. it just seemed better than rubbing it in his face.

things were completely different with steve and you’d felt a sense of pressure that hadn’t been present with eddie. steve was soft and kind but you couldn’t be so laidback about everything with him.

when you’d disappear at parties to split a bag with someone, he’d want to know. or when you were upset and stressed out, he’d want to know why, how he could help.

which was fair enough, obviously. it was just different. before, eddie would offer some generic advice and a spliff and be done with it. now, you were expected to actually address your issues head-on, not just bury them with sex and drink.

finals week had been harsh on all of you. the apartment in disarray as you were all working overtime to save your grade and not get kicked out of college.

you’d, perhaps a bit unfairly, taken your stress out on steve. arguing with him about menial shit that you didn’t really care about, just finding any excuse to shout and push him away.

he’d sit there and take it, offering sensible solutions and trying to resolve whatever bullshit you’d made up that day. a stark difference to eddie who would’ve screamed straight back at you.

come friday night, you’d all finished exams, sitting around the table when eddie swanned in, flapping some flyer for a party, going on about how you should all go.

‘we’re finished, free,’ he argued, pleading his case to the three of you.

robin flat-out refused, said she needed to sleep for a solid week and then she’d be ready to party. steve umm’d and ahh’d, settling on staying in but he was down to go out tomorrow.

‘i’ll go,’ you speak up, eyeing eddie from across the table, you hadn’t hung out alone yet. this would be a new feat.

‘alright,’ he shrugs, looking at steve for his permission or straight up denial of you two going alone.

steve just nods, ‘alright, call me if you need anything,’ glancing at you with an assured smile.

he wasn’t worried. not really. you’d shown him plenty of times that you loved him even despite your incessant attempts to push him away. even in the bad arguments, he’d kept his cool and waited for you to come to him, keeping everything on your terms.

you’re nervous though. you and eddie partying together had never been a good idea, egging each other on, getting utterly trashed just because he’d dare you to.

not tonight. you swore to yourself before leaving. pressing a tender kiss on steve’s lips, leaving traces of your sticky lipgloss behind.

-

eddie’s pov

it’s a little after midnight when steve gets a phone call from eddie, asking him to come and pick you up. still waking up as he walks across campus, passing countless drunk students as he finds the thumping party.

you’re incoherent on the couch, steve’s eyebrows raising expectedly as he walks into the room. eddie stood to the side watching as your arms instinctively wrap around steve’s neck. even in your drunken stupor you went straight to steve.

it fucking stings.

he looks on worriedly as steve hoists you from the couch, ‘hey man.. uh, she said some pretty weird things tonight, i dunno.. i don’t think she’s okay,’ recalling your earlier slurred words.

you hadn’t meant to, but you’d spilled everything to eddie. a tequila fuelled rant about how steve was so perfect and how bad you felt that you just weren’t. how you didn’t know how to stop pushing him away, even when you didn’t want to.

steve nods, it wasn’t like he didn’t already know you were on this self-destructive warpath. he just wasn’t sure how to tell you that you didn’t need to do this without sounding like a dick.

your arms lazily flop around his neck, laying your head against his chest as he carried you bridal style through the party and right across campus back to your apartment. eddie trailing behind in silence.

‘thanks.. for calling me,’ steve smiles as he nudges his bedroom door open just as eddie was about to disappear into his own room.

‘course,’ he nods, melancholy as he watches your fingers curl around steve’s jacket, pulling him down onto the bed with you, babbling a chorus of steve’s and love you’s as his door closes.

cursing himself for never being that soft with you. never providing that level of safety.

he lies awake for hours, staring at the ceiling. at some point he hears you tumble out of steve’s room, rushing to the bathroom and subsequently throwing up into the toilet. debating whether to hop out of his own bed and help.

but then the padding of steve’s feet make their way through the hallway, his soft voice helping you brush your teeth and get cleaned up. eddie’s assistance was unnecessary. damn, he wouldn’t have a clue what to even do.

on the occasions that you’d thrown up in the morning, eddie would’ve led in bed and laughed. called you a pussy and waited for you to crawl back to bed in a mood. he wasn’t gentle like steve. that shit came as a second nature to him but to eddie? not a touch of it.

he even hears the soft kiss he gives you on the way back to his room, your appreciative little murmur and the click of his door shutting again. 

and he wants to kick himself. scream and cry and throw a tantrum because in an ideal world, that would’ve been him.

but he can’t blame you, no matter how much he tried. it’s his fault he’s such a colossal fuck up. not yours. not steve’s. his.

he eventually gives up and moves to the couch, not getting much luck at sleeping in his bed. the suns rising when he hears snippets of your hushed conversation.

it didn’t sound angry. or even upset. just barely audible speaking’s about your feelings.

‘i know.. i don’t mean to,’ he can hear, a twinge of sadness in your tone.

‘you don’t need to.. not with me,’ steve mumbles and the blankets rustle, snapping him out of his trance.

he can hear small i love you’s and the sound of lips smacking. but then your muffled breathy moans start and the bile rises in his throat. undeniably he knew what was going on in there, everything being confirmed by the rhythmic creaking of the mattress.

and he knows what you look like. he can see it. feel it. hell, he lived for it at one point

pushes himself from the sofa and straight out of the door. not wanting to hear a second more.

-

you don’t feel as bad as expected in the morning, rough but not as bad as you should be feeling.

robin’s now ready to celebrate, steve agreeing and you almost want to hurl at the mention of going out. eddie sits in silence at the end of the table, he’d been pretty strange this morning and you’d wondered if you said something to upset him last night.

you could vaguely recall the self-pitying spiel you’d forced him to listen to. physically cringing at the fact you’d started crying and wailing about steve to him.

robin suggests having some people over, just a small thing with close friends. maybe if everyone was up for it you could all go out afterwards. that you could agree to.

she rounds the troops, calling the friend you all shared. who all agreed to get there at eight. something small and casual she repeats down the phone.

there’s a few tag-alongs, people you’d met briefly at parties or friends of friends who had been dragged along. so it wasn’t the small gathering you’d pictured with just the gang. but it was okay.

the speaker being turned to max and the living room full of people. everyone in high spirits because finals had finished and were relatively confident that they’d at least scraped a pass.

you edge through the crowd, waking over to steve who was splayed out on the couch, spliff hanging from his fingers. he grins when he sees you, opening his arms.

‘hey pretty girl,’ beckoning for you to climb onto his lap, arms snug around your waist as he passes the spliff to you, still giggling at his pet name.

eddie glowers from behind the couch, huffing before pushing himself up and storming into the kitchen. he hadn’t realised how much he’d already drank, liquor coursing through his veins.

‘watch it,’ someone exclaims when eddie barges into their arm, subsequently spilling his beer onto the boys shirt.

eddie sees red. turning to the boy and snarling as he shoves his chest, sending him to the floor.

‘what the fuck did you say?’ grabbing the boy by the collar before smashing his fist into the side of the poor boys face.

steve hears the commotion, leering over the sofa to see what the fuck was even going on. he shoves you off of his lap, running to go and grab eddie from on top of this boy.

you finally see what everyone had crowded around, watching as eddie’s fist pummels into his now bloody face. only easing when steve grabs onto his arms, gasping for breath as he’s thrown back into reality. realisation setting in about what he’d just down.

people rush to the unconscious boy, somebody screaming to call an ambulance. the music cuts out harshly, silence echoing around the room as you stare at eddie, wide-eyed. terrified.

you’d never seen him like this. so brutal, covered in someone else’s blood. his chest falls and rises, staring back at you with an equally as horrified expression. steve is saying something to him but it’s not registering. a ringing in his ears as the world crashed and burned around him.

the police turn up alongside the ambulance crew. taking statements from whoever hadn’t left and eventually cuffing eddie. muttering about crazy fucking kids and quite forcefully pulling him from the apartment.

his eyes lingering on yours as he’s guided out. steve’s arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling you into his chest, resting his chin on the top of your head. you’re still in disbelief, tears welling in your eyes as you remember how unforgiving and downright cruel he’d been.

‘you wanna go to bed?’ steve asks, chest vibrating with his low voice. fingers combing through your hair, in your own corner of the living room as robin and nancy attempt to clean the floor.

jonathan and argyle are picking up tiny shards of glass, not an ounce of conversation between them. all still reeling from eddie’s outburst. you were sure he was going to jail, there wasn’t any way he could possibly wriggle out of this one.

‘we should-,’ the words getting caught in your throat, ‘we need to help clean,’ pulling back to look at the state of the room, discarded cups and splatters of alcohol on the walls.

‘we’re nearly done.. you should go to bed,’ robin nods, wringing the cloth out into the sink.

even they had come to the conclusion that this was something to do with you. you and steve in particular. the way eddie’s eyes had locked onto you the second steve had pulled him off of the boy.

you knew it. he’d been frosty and unusual with you all morning. with everyone in fact.

-

eddie emerges from his room for the first time in days. looking worse for wear and feeling just as shit. the tag on his ankle restricting him from leaving the apartment freely.

he peers down at the blinking red light, mentally cursing the plastic as he drags his feet along the carpet. he can hear you and steve chatting quietly, not really able to make out what was being said.

not expecting you both to be sprawled out on the couch, your leg draped over his waist as your delicate fingers combed through his hair. the last few days had been so bleak, that he couldn’t really find it in himself to hate that you were sharing these moments with steve.

he sighs loudly, hoping to let you know he’d entered the room. not wanted to be involuntarily including in whatever may have happened next.

you sit up slightly, gazing at him stood behind the kitchen counter, ‘hey,’ it’s quiet, but he hears it. almost deciding to ignore until he remembers how much you’d doted on him and helped him recently.

‘hi,’ but he doesn’t look back, staring into the empty fridge, waiting for something to materialise. but it doesn’t.

‘when’s your court date?’

the words sear in his ear, an unwelcome subject.

‘next tuesday,’ deciding upon a swig of milk straight from the carton, not exactly the five-course meal he was hoping for.

‘okay well, we were.. we’re gonna come, y’know.. for support,’ your eyes are unrelenting, following him around the kitchen.

‘don’t bother, i’m pleading innocent,’ completely monotonous in his response.

he’d already argued with the state provided lawyer about this. a shoddy man who could not care less whether eddie went down or not, just wanting to cash his cheque at the end of it all.

the balding man had called him stupid, ‘there are multiple witnesses.. plead guilty and they’ll probably pity you n’ slap you with some community service or summit.. don’t be stupid son.’

you scoff, using steve’s chest as leverage as you sit up properly, ‘you’re joking? right?’

his eyes finally meet yours, thumping his fists on the marble counter, ‘i am innocent,’ no one could understand where he was coming from, not even the man who was being paid to at least pretend to care and understand.

‘you beat the shit out of him, eddie.. you broke his fucking jaw,’ your eyes are wide, looking at him like he’s an idiot- which he was, but not about this.

‘i was provoked, self defence,’ he says in all serious. he was frustrated, lashed out but at the end of it all, the guy had bashed him first.

‘wh- because he accidentally knocked into you? you really must be fucking stupid.. what are you thinking?’

eddie notices steve, or what he could see of him, tense up, obviously not wanting to anger the violent monster eddie had become in so many people’s eyes.

‘it’s my choice.. i was fucking provoked, saw some stupid shit.. that’s not my fault,’ relinquishing the blame to you.

in his eyes, if he hadn’t seen the disgusting display of affection, he probably wouldn’t have fucked up that boy. but he had, and that wasn’t his fault. so how was he guilty?

‘you’re ridiculous.. i actually can’t believe you,’ your eyes full of disappointment.

the way your face falls, eyes narrowed and sharp as knives makes his heart twist. genuine hurt flashed on your face. almost paralleling the horrified expression you’d held as he was cuffed and dragged away.

‘it’s my decision, i wouldn’t expect you to know a thing about what it’s like to be me,’ kicking the fridge door closed with a loud thump.

you disappear from his sight, flopping back down onto steve’s chest with an exasperated sigh. he rolls his eyes before stomping off into his bedroom. his mood probably wouldn’t be so terrible if he could just leave this godforsaken apartment.

actually, why shouldn’t he? if you were so certain that he was going to jail anyway, what harm was there in going out? fuck it.

so he gets dressed, pulling his denim jacket on and spritzing himself with aftershave. he’d worry about the tag later, surely one of his buddies would have something to hack it off with. hopefully with minimal damage to his leg.

you don’t even look up from steve’s eyes when he comes back out, having had enough of his idiotic attitude for the day.

‘woah, where are you go-,’ steve starts before being cut off with the front door shutting, he was gone, without so much of a look back.

jogging down the stairs and out of this suffocating hellhole.

-

it doesn’t take long for the police to show up, banging their fists on the door and red in the face with anger.

they grilled you and steve for what felt like hours. making sure you hadn’t helped in his escape. tearing his room apart for some sort of clue to where he’d gone.

‘we found the tag at a location not far from here.. could anyone be hiding him? he’s in serious trouble.. we need anything you’ve got,’ the officer pleads, frustrated with having to deal with this bullshit on a thursday night. you don’t blame him.

you shake your head, ‘no.. i-i mean, there’s a few bars down on main but our friends aren’t stupid enough to help him.’

any previous feelings of worry had disappeared, replaced with frustration. you weren’t prepared to spend your whole life trying to find eddie every time he decided to run away. he so obviously didn’t give a shit about what you thought, it was a waste of energy at this point.

the officer sighs, ‘right, well you let us know if he gets in contact or comes back here,’ rummaging in his pocket for a small bit of card, ‘that’s my personal number.. call me straight away.’

you nod, thumbing the glossy card and flopping back onto the couch. steve shows them out, closing the door softly after they leave. he gives you a look, full of pity. he doesn’t say a thing but you know what he’s thinking.

‘i’m done,’ holding your hands up, ‘he can get himself out of this one.. i don’t care anymore,’ surrendering completely.

he nods, looking as just as tired as you felt. sometimes you forget that this isn’t just between you and eddie, steve is right in the middle of it all too, staying quiet and holding back for eddie’s sake.

you’d tried to be courteous and thoughtful with eddie. pulling away from steve when he’d enter the room, trying not to be so overly affectionate in front of him. you felt like maybe you owed him that for how you’d gone about it, but why?

not once had he ever shown interest in being with you romantically, he was the one that’d explicitly said that you and him were friends with some added benefits. screw him.

‘you hungry? i wanna get out of here,’ pushing yourself from the couch and throwing your arms around steve’s waist, cheek squished against his chest.

‘i could eat,’ returning the hug, swaying slightly as his hands roam around your back.

-

eddie’s pov

eddie checks his phone for the umpteenth time.

no new notifications

he was anticipating at least something from you by now. hell, even a pathetic hi would’ve sufficed. the man wasn’t dumb, choosing to hole himself up in gareth’s basement with a six-pack rather than hitting the main spots.

he questions whether the dinghy, dark basement was any better than the confines of the room he’d escaped. supposing that you and steve weren’t next door, anything would be better.

he debates just calling you first. curious to know why you hadn’t called. maybe after the next beer. or maybe now. fuck it, it’s already dialling.

it rings and rings, becoming increasingly concerned with your well-being.

‘what?’ your voice rings out after the fifth or sixth ring.

he’s taken aback, ‘hello to you too,’ taking another swig of beer, his knees pulled up to his chest.

‘what d’you want?’

christ. you really weren’t falling for it this time.

‘nothin’.. just expected to hear from you by now, that’s all.’

he can hear the eye roll through the phone, your tiny almost inaudible little tut, ‘i’m not saving you this time.’

‘i didn’t ask you to.’

‘so why’d you call then? i’m busy.’

‘you with steve?’ he doesn’t even know why he asked, of course you were.

‘yeah, i am.. is that what you wanted to hear? or were you hoping i was out searching for you with the police?’

ouch. you’d called him out. figured out his silly game and threw it straight back in his face.

‘i didn’t- you just had to rub it in, didn’t you?’ anger rising in his throat, ‘you always do.’

‘you think i’m doing this to make you jealous? this isn’t about you anymore.. you need to get over yourself,’ you sigh, empathetic about the harsh words that’d just spilled out, ‘i love him, eddie.. you’re gonna have to deal with that.’

and with that the phone clicks. you’d hung up. you had hung up on him, no grovelling or pleading for him to come back home. that was it. the harsh truth and now he had to just sit with it.

his head falls back against the cold brick, staring up at the damp covered ceiling, weighing up his options. he knew he’d fucked up. best case scenario, he’d get a couple extra months on his sentence. worst case, they’d throw the book at him for wasting their time.. not to mention the already hefty sentence for the assault.

you had completely and utterly exhausted yourself trying to support him and even you had had enough. he only had himself to blame for that. maybe jail would be a good thing? he could get his head straight.. get over you, maybe even find some purpose in his life.

he pulls another beer from the pack, cracking it open and taking a long swig. exhaling as the bitter liquid seeps down his throat. there was only one way out of this fucked situation and he knew that.

-

eddie perks up when he hears your key in the door, sat on the couch for what seemed like hours waiting for you both to get back.

your face drops the instant you see him, gripping onto steve’s hand as you walk into the dimly lit living room.

eddie stands, holding up his hands, ‘i’m gonna hand myself in.. i just-,’ he exhales deeply, ‘i wanted to say goodbye,’ jaw tense as he looms between you and steve.

‘you are? do you want me to call the sheriff? i- he gave me his number..’

‘no, no.. i’m gonna go down there.. it’s easier,’ eddie motions towards the door, shaking his head.

you stand dumbfounded for a second before nodding slowly, chewing on the inside of your cheek, ‘it’s the right thing to do..’ the lump in your throat growing as you look back at the pathetic man in front of you.

steve gives him a weak smile, patting his hand on your arm. there’s a brief moment of silence. the three of you all staring back at one another in awe of the fucked up mess you’d wound up in.

‘c’mere,’ steve motions to eddie, walking over to the boy with arms outstretched. he pulls him into a bear hug, clapping his palm on eddie’s back.

from the look on eddie’s face squished against steve’s shoulder you can tell he needed it, ‘i’ll miss you man..’ he breathes into his best friend’s sweater.

‘we’ll come and visit.. you’re not getting rid of me that easy,’ his laugh is shaky as he pulls away, smiling proudly at his friend.

you stand slightly behind steve, watching on with tears brimming in your eyes. even though steve had tried to reassure you, you couldn’t help but feel so guilty that this had ultimately all happened because of you.

eddie walks over slowly, throwing his arms around your body, gripping his fingers into your arms knowing that this may very well be the last time he ever got to hold you like this.

your arms cling around his waist, cheek pressed against his chest, ‘i’m proud of you..’ was all you managed to croak out, tears wetting his dirty t-shirt.

he sniffs, swallowing the lump in his throat, ‘thank you.. for everything,’ because truly, you were the only person to never give up on him, even if he had made it incredibly difficult for you.

you lift your head off of his chest, staring up at him with sodden cheeks, bottom lip quivering as you let go of him. both physically and emotionally.

he puffs his cheeks out, wiping his face with the back of his hand before clearing his throat and nodding at the pair of you, ‘you take care of her..’ eyebrow raised.

‘aye aye captain,’ steve gives him a tight lipped smile and a half-assed salute, watching as the man he had grown up with walked out of the apartment, head held high and a newfound spring in his step.

the end of the beginning.

[gayofthefae]

People act like they don't understand the fundamentals of TV show duos but Mike and Will are a TV show duo. Straight up. Full stop. They're a duo on the show. They are given screentime as such, they are treated by characters as such, they are marketed as such.

Dustin and Steve are another one of these duos. Dustin spends season 1 without Steve entirely. He spends a lot of season 4 with focus on Eddie. Does this mean he and Steve are less of a famous "duo"? No! And we all know that.

This is an example of when it gets to arguing these types of things, you discredit yourself. Mike is straight and loves Will but has been made more of a monster-fighting duo with Will, as he and El have not teamed up since season 1, is a thing you can argue.

But he is not a duo with El. He just isn't. They have a one on one relationship, they have one on one scenes. He is no LESS a duo either than, say, Dustin and Lucas - who spend a great deal of time together and collaborate, even having many singled out scenes together over the seasons, but have their respect default people they partner off with. We see this directly at the Creel house when they all split off. We understand what character duos are. We understand that it isn't an insult to say someone isn't. We understand these things.

Mike and Will are the duo. Mike and El fought in a group in seasons 1 and 3 but had relationship arcs. Mike and Will fought together singled out in seasons 2 and 4. They're on all the posters together. I really don't need to keep arguing this.

Now I'm gonna get counterintuitive to what I seemed to be saying because, of course, this IS Byler proof when elaborated on and I will, but really what I'm saying is that denying its existence when being a duo does not UNIVERSALLY mean romance, as with Steve and Dustin, that is an admission that it does for them.

And the argument that he is a duo with El is actually the only reason it DOES mean romance for them. If this were about the prioritizations of friendship, there would be no fight. To keep the comparison, Steve in season 4 has Nancy as a love interest but it does not make him paired with her more than Dustin in the overall show perception. She is simply seen as a love interest. It is the attempt to claim Mike and El are a duo that seals the deal for Byler.

Mike is a duo with Will. If it were platonic and they were prioritized, it would have been framed as him fighting the monsters with his friend while he is sometimes with his girlfriend in the group and sometimes she's off fighting other battles because look at my independent girlfriend go. That is absolutely fine and that casual separation of love interests when the focus is friendship happens PLENTY in shows. Take Shawn and Gus from Psych if you know them. Shawn and Juliet are not a duo and never have been. That is fine, though, they are no less of love interests and their slowburn is no less juicy for it.

But it's the mutual exclusiveness we've talked about so much. And it's the repeated fact that it is entirely possible to write what people claim is happening and that is NOT how it was executed.

Will and Mike are a best friend monster fighting time. Mike is with his sister. Together, they fight to get her back. Together, they fight to keep her safe. Together, they fight without her but are happy when she appears again. Whichever season you picture.

What DOESN'T work is the dependency of Mike's romance with El on being a duo with her. If the claim is that whoever he's a duo with is his love interest, you're claiming Byler. The claim is that he will spend season 5 with her, that they are already a team, etc. They know the couple parallels, of course, so they're claiming them.

But it's that claim that pushes Byler. Mike is repeatedly framed not as having a best friend he focuses on and a girlfriend he maintains but rather a choice to make between who is his "partner in crime". It would not be an argument if he had made that choice onscreen either. You're right, though common enough to be clear, it is not 100% consistent enough. Neither are Dustin and Steve, as mentioned, but unlike them, they are never mutually exclusive with one consistent relationship.

Time after time it is framed as EITHER Mike has a relationship with Will OR El. This is illogical. It should not be a dilemma of who he saves the world with. It should be secure enough that he is even ABLE to choose Will when he needs him with no threat to his romance in the same way that El would be able to choose Max.

Mike behaves himself by pushing himself in those ways, communicating to us that to be romantic with El, he cannot be a "duo" with Will. This is untrue, we've seen Dustin and Steve. They are always a duo and THEY know it. Steve resents it at times while he's struggling with his own jealousy of Eddie for Dustin's admiration, but he still says "we're just always partners". Tone aside, that's self-awareness of it. Mike refuses that acknowledgement. Mike refuses that Will is his person.

Dustin is the other half of Steve's duo. Steve still has a romance with Nancy. Steve is the other half of Dustin's. Dustin still has a relationship with Suzie.

You CAN be a platonic duo and still have romantic relationships, even with a fellow main character. In seasons 1 and 2, Joyce's focus is much more on Will than Hopper, but they still have their moments. In season 3, Max is focused on El, but she and Lucas remain together (they actually do throughout the season, they don't break up when El dumps Mike and all their referenced breakups are offscreen and she is referred by Mike as his "girlfriend" still in 3x06 - common mistake). Very very easy and very very common to have some sort of focus on a platonic pair that may even seem exclusive to the love interest at times but not cut them off in any damaging way, just in screen time.

It is very possible, easy, and common in both TV and life to equally maintain a romantic and platonic relationship while giving more focus to the platonic.

"I was focusing too much on El" is a statement you can make to a friend about a romantic relationship in that context. Completely normal and valid. Is not a claim that he should stop being with her in any regard. He could have continued to focus on Will in compensation for that behavior and focus on El offscreen as Dustin does with Suzie.

That is not what Mike and Will do. That is not what Mike does. He attempts to switch, force, and lie about who he is a duo with despite that being defined by quantity of one on one screentime, not character claims. Because he himself sees romance as something he has to treat as exclusive in that way. In the way that he treats Will. HE denies that Will is his partner because of how HE is defining it again.

It's happening again. Yet another example of how all of Mike's words and behaviors WOULD have been normal...had they not been delivered in the manner and context they were. Will said Mike hadn't called. Will compared it to someone he HAD kept in touch with. Normal. MIKE defined that as deeper than it was. He always does. And he reacted accordingly.

It is 100% possible to have a focus on a duo even when the members of said duo have love interests and have the duo itself be platonic and not with those love interests but keeping them as endgame relationships. It is 100% plausible to argue that that is what Mike and Will are relative to El. It is not plausible to argue that Mike and El are a romantic duo. It's just untrue. They are a romance. That part is fair game.

BUT Mike is the one who doesn't think that. I've said before and I'll say again, when Mike is with Will while in a relationship with El and becomes defensive, he behaved as though he thinks he's cheating on El. Even though everything he's doing is above board.

Mike and Will can be just friends and focus primarily on each other. In concept. Except for the fact that...Mike doesn't think they can. Mike doesn't think they are. And he behaved as such. So he signals the audience as such.

And THAT is why people argue that Mike and El are a duo when they aren't. Not because a platonic duo with a separate love interest can't exist. But because it has been clearly communicated to them that Mike views whoever his partner in crime is as his love interest. That was established after it was made clear that he viewed Will as his partner in crime. But they don't like those two facts to coexist.

If somehow they weren't romantic, they'd still be a duo. We know that even from leaks.[spoiler warning] They're spending the season together, much one on one, and without El. [Leak references over]. That would be completely in character of a concept...had Mike not established how he views his attentions and partnerships.

Honestly? This came to me because I realized: if Milkvan were somehow endgame. Everyone would be way more relaxed about admitting they were a duo all along. A

team

And the revelation of how much they would admit if Byler weren't endgame just shows what they think of as PROOF.

Everything they deny is something they think of as Byler proof. It's shocking how small and how canon some of those things can go.

[steddieunderdogfics]

Precipice by Peachesandpears

@pearynice

Rating: Mature

26,526 words, 4/4 chapters

Archive Warning: No Warnings

Tags: Future Fic, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Camping, Pining, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Good Babysitter Eddie Munson, Soft Steve Harrington, Soft Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Are Best Friends, Underage Drinking, Recreational Drug Use, only weed tho, Rockstar!Eddie Munson, Corroded Coffin Concert (Stranger Things), theyre not really famous yet though, Disabled Eddie Munson, Disabled Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Protective Robin Buckley, hand holding, Nostalgia, Matchmaker Nancy Wheeler, Cryptids, Chronic Pain, Hand Jobs, Brief Mentions of HIV/AIDS

Summary:

In the spring of 1989 Dustin Henderson calls one Eddie Munson to invite him to the Party's graduation trip. It's been two years since Eddie has seen any of them, and what follows is Eddie's reckoning with what he left behind, and what he wants from his future. —— "But it was a little obvious that Steve wasn’t ready for whatever they were crawling towards. That, as he had every right to be, he was scared of the feelings that were ballooning between them. So Eddie left, despite knowing that the cliff’s edge they had been balancing on might not be there when he came back. And his mind reminds him of that now, as Alex Trebek announces the daily double, that the precipice might still be there. That he’ll see Steve again and be able to find his spot as easily as he did two years ago, right on the edge. That tomorrow, for better or worse, he’ll know."

Written for Lex’s Spicy Six Summer Challenge!

Thanks for the rec!

This rec is a part of Theme Weekend. The theme this weekend is Graduation Fics.

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!

[wheneverfeasible]

Girlie, I'm gonna need some abo recs. Steddie and otherwise. You've got me intrigued

(lowkey browsing your blog for more writing)

Oh! Yes! Hello!

First off, I do want to point out that when using the initials, it’s best to use slashes in-between (a/b/o) as the term without those is actually a slur against the Australian indigenous community. Just something to think about, no hate or anything! ♥️

As for recs, I’ll just stick with Steddie for now as that’s my brainrot ship…

Honestly, anything by @lexirosewrites is fantastic. My personal favorites tho are:

Bad Bet wherein Steve is a secret omega and bet by Tommy to take alpha and freak Eddie Munson to prom as a prank, only to fall for the strange alpha.

Online, Offline (Out of My Mind) where famous actor and secret omega Steve finds his scentmate through an online dating service thanks to Robin.

Bandaids for the Heart where Steve is a pediatric nurse and Eddie is a single dad whose kiddo might be trying to play matchmaker.

And the Sun Will Rise which has Steve as a packless omega suffering through isolation sickness during the zombie apocalypse, until a certain alpha and his pack take him in.

Baby Mine wherein Eddie discovers he’s pregnant and because of past trauma assumes Steve will expect him to get rid of it, so it’s definitely angsty but with sweet comfort and a happy ending.

But really all of their stuff is fantastic.

As for other fics, I heartily recommend Look For the Boy With the Broken Smile, Ask Him if He Wants to Stay Awhile by Eenselwig_98 ( @sunlight-and-moonshine) and honestly it might be time for another reread of this fic for myself too. But Steve is an omega who’s been hurt so many times that he thinks he’s only good enough to fuck and not mate, except Eddie is head over heels for him.

And can’t forget Whatever you want it to be by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation where omega Eddie is slipped a heat triggering drug by Jason who plans to assault him but he’s saved by Steve who offers his assistance with the after effects of the drug.

Build a Life With You by StarsHideYourFires ( @starshideurfics ) which is a historical omegaverse where omega Steve has a secret that leads him to abandoning the socialite life to become a mail order bride to an alpha he never met in a small rural town. (The author has a lot of fics I enjoy, actually, but I’m only sharing finished fics here, but do please check out the other stuff too!)

the potential of us by emchant3d has both enemies-to-lovers and former hookups fake dating as omega Steve and alpha Eddie try to get their besties off their backs about dating each other. Side ship Buckingham.

feel forever its soft fall and swell by hejustlikemefr which is another historical omegaverse that is an Organ Trail kind of au, young omega Steve and older alpha Eddie have a marriage of convenience to help protect Steve.

The Unbearable Horniness of Steve by @fkinkindagauche has that delicious angst of the classic friends-to-lovers and some classic misunderstanding. (The author also has a Harringrove fic called Goldilocks for all you Billy lovers out there.)

It’ll be fine. Probably. by @stevieschrodinger which is a modern au with an omega Eddie who finds out he’s pregnant and returns to Hawkins where he runs into high school crush and current librarian, alpha Steve Harrington. I love this version of Eddie so much.

Good Omega by Batty4Steddie and @spicycinnabun is another excellent omega Eddie fic where alpha Steve is in the band with him and flirt on stage and Steve is ready to finally claim Eddie as his while Eddie…assumes Steve is straight.

And then we have my lovely @katyawriteswhump with so many wonderful offerings that I can’t even attempt to list them, each one full of angst, fluff, humor, and feels.

Honestly there’s so many I loved and enjoyed but I would say these fics and authors are a great place to start. Many of them inspired my own writing so every single one of them is worth checking out. Each have their own style and it makes for such a lovely exploration of a beloved trope.

And I know that there’s more out there, but this is getting a bit long already, so maybe I’ll do another rec list one of these days lol.

Now off to work I must go! I hope you find joy in these favorites of mine just like I did, my dear anon!

Love to all these fantastic and marvelously talented creators! I’m definitely rereading some these rn 🤭

[madelynraemunson]

You can answer this privately, but a few weeks ago I was thinking about if Reader was trying to make Eddie jealous with the song I kissed a girl in the background making out with some girl on the stage you know. Or tryna make him want her more lol.

def need to catch up tho

ooooh a lil toxic lovin’ i see i see 😏💋 thank you for helping with the possessive!eddie dirty talk and reactions, my sweet.

from the CMWYW universe

timeline: shortly after chapter 013

𝐈 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐌𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭 18+

a collaboration with @emsgoodthinkin 💌

modern!strip club owner!eddie x modern!fem!exotic dancer!hargrove reader

CW: jealous!eddie, wlw, possessive!eddie, boyfriend!eddie, biting, degrading kink, eddie calls us a slut lmao, bratty shy girl, dom!eddie, sub!shy girl, lmk if i miss anything

[WC: 2.0k]

“I just think you’re getting a little too into it.”

It’s crazy to think Eddie would draw the line at Gareth and not Steve. Yet here you two are, arguing in the dressing room mid-shift because Eddie realized his D&D friends — who are regulars at his D&D themed strip club — have eyes and money. 

“Babe, this is GARETH we’re talking about here,” you emphasize. “Gareth!”

You’re talking about the Gareth who’s gamer tag is ‘Gareth the “Gare Bear” Emerson’.  The same Gareth who still uses the bunny ear method to tie his shoes. The same Gareth who gets upset when his food touches. Aside from his now relatively toned build, clear skin, and knowledge on self-care and personal hygiene, Gareth Emerson is still the same guy. And that guy is a fucking dweeb.

“Yeah, but Gareth is conventionally attractive now,” your boyfriend points out. “And somebody who’s had no choice but to build their charm from the inside out is a dangerous person.”

Projecting, are we Munson? You think to yourself. You couldn’t believe the audacity of your boyfriend. Ever since you two became exclusive, Eddie has become extra protective of you. You didn’t mind it. You actually preferred it because it means he cares. But really, at work? The place you clock in every day (not only to see him but) to make a living?

“You left scratches on his back last time.”

“He paid me to make a girl jealous.”

“And let’s not forget whatever the fuck that was that you did with Creel,” Eddie adds refusing to hear you out. 

“Henry PAID me for a lap dance,” you hiss. “He was lonely, I was doing my job. He came in and spoiled me and your business on his off day, babe.”

The heat dissolves from Eddie’s cheeks when he hears his pet name. Albeit flattering, this conversation between you two wasn’t over just yet. 

Eddie knew what he saw. He knows that blank, fucked out stare from anywhere, and it was prominent when you were giving Henry a lap dance, using the crinkle of his pants to get yourself off.

There’s no arguing there. But you were single when that happened and Eddie at the time made it really seem like he didn’t want anything with you. None of this was taking away from how ridiculous Eddie was being.

“Okay,” you sigh, still choosing to honor his wishes. “No more dances for Gareth.”

“At least for tonight,” Eddie barters, issuing you a fake pout. “Feeling a little bit jealous, but I’ll get over it.”

Stay away from Gareth, or men in general tonight. You can definitely do that. 

Eddie’s a happy camper now. He watches as you do your thing at Vecna’s Lair, cock twitching eagerly in his pants as you swing down the pole and sink your pelvis onto the stage. The men douse you in ones, fives, tens, twenties. And you let it rain down on you with ease. 

But why is Eddie still so jealous? He can’t help but turn green with envy when he sees you smile at your patrons. When you lock eyes with them as you speak. And the way they gravitate towards you and your pheromones like some magnets on a fridge. 

You seem to be unbothered by everything, unbothered by his presence in a room full of other gentlemen. Eddie needs to test the waters. Eddie needs to know you care.

So he decides to grab a beer and approach the first customer of the opposite sex who happens to spiral into his periphery. It happens to be good ol’ Stephanie tonight. 

A regular during the beginning days of the week, this kind hearted, very approachable redhead welcomes Hellfire’s owner with a smile, offering her beer bottle to Eddie for him to give her a clink, hello. 

“Hey!” he chimes. “How uh, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing well, and yourself?”

Eddie grins. “Not too shabby.” 

Performatively studying her with his eyes, he decides to ask her an innuendo-filled question. “You enjoying yourself tonight?”

“What’s it to ya?”

“I always like to make sure my customers are satisfied.”

Her brow does a fruitful quirk upwards.

“So you’re the owner huh? Already so young and successful. That’s quite impressive.” 

“D’aww,” your boyfriend’s hands clutch his chest. “I appreciate that.” 

You can’t help but look over, stomach warped into knots.

Eddie told you to stay away from guys. So why is he flirting with a girl? Specifically a customer you’ve interacted with before. Not that Eddie would know that, since he’s always in his office when Stephanie is here.

Eddie knows you see him now and that’s all the satisfaction he needs. Knowing he got the reaction he wanted, he excuses himself from Steph, strutting back over to his office to disappear for a while and let your mind wander.

But your mind is already two steps ahead. When Stephanie catches a glimpse of you, her eyes sparkle. You wave her over.

“You just keep coming back for more, don’t you?” you infer as she strides towards you. 

Stephanie chuckles. “You just can’t seem to keep me away, Shy Girl. I owe Vicky and Robin one for putting me onto this joint.”

You swing your legs over so you can divert your attention to your stunning regular. She seems to be receptive to your flirtatious nature. And conveniently, the DJ transitions into a very fitting song:

“How are you doing tonight?” you assess her.

Stephanie shrugs. “I’m doing okay. The chick I was telling you about last week stood me up. So I’m here just trying to make myself feel better.”

“OMG I’m so sorry dude.”

But she brushes it off. “It’s okay. The loneliness will die down. I just gotta feel sorry for myself first.”

You rest a consoling hand on your shoulder. Before becoming exclusive with Eddie, you knew the feeling of rejection all too well. 

“You’re welcome here anytime. Even if you just wanna talk. Girl to girl, we can even do a private room for an hour.”

Just then, Stephanie reaches into her bra and pulls out a twenty dollar bill with the smuggest look on her face. 

“What about center stage? You tryna kiss it all better?”

You could’ve… and would’ve done it without the money. But knowing Eddie is in for the plot twist of his lifetime, you’ve rendered the deal priceless. Happily obliging, you accept the money Stephanie insists you take from her and extend your arms out.

“Bring it in, chica.”

It’s not what I’m used to. Just wanna try you on. I’m curious for you…

And then it happens. It starts with a timid smack of the lips to feel out both your comfort levels. The feeling of safety and trust propels you both further into realms of intensity you wouldn’t have thought of exploring with one another before. She tastes of cherry, with a hint of minty coconut. 

You let out a satisfied hum. It registers as a vibration against her full, vivacious chest. Dancing your fingers in her wavy hair now, you pull her closer to your chest as your lips lock in tandem. 

“WHEW!” you can hear Argyle shout all the way from the kitchen. “GAH DAMN!”

…I kissed a girl and I liked it. The taste of her cherry chapstick…

The uproar creates a chain reaction and soon all the gentlemen at Hellfire are hooting and hollering at the relatively unscripted act of affection in front of them. Soon, the money follows. Grinding your hips against her torso now, you chase the feeling of self-indulgence as you unravel yourself onto Stephanie. Right in time for Eddie to see.

I kissed a girl just to try it. I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it.

Floored, confused, and just a tad aroused, your man stands at the foot of Vecna’s Lair with his hands curling at his sides.

It felt so wrong. It felt so right. Don’t mean I’m in love tonight.

His stiff cock protrudes at the posterior ends of his zipper, boxer briefs shamefully laced with the salty spouts of his leaky tip. Fuck, he’s so hard. But still, oh so very pissed.

I kissed a girl and I liked it. I liked it.

Standing where you knew he’d be, you shoot him a wink, letting him know that you’re well aware of his foiled plan. And after you and Stephanie thank one another for each other’s time, you prance off to the dressing room with mountains of bills in your hands.

———

“You think Eddie’s gonna like this green set?”

There’s an itch to burn the cash you got tonight, so you find yourself browsing the internet for lingerie on your phone.

“Oooh,” Nina coos in approval. “Yes girl. You’re gonna look like a sexy dragon of sorts.”

“Mm. And what about this g-string?”

“Yes, get it. I have the same one and it’s so flattering and comfortable. Look!”

Just then the door shoots open.

“Eddie, what the hell?!” Nina shrieks, quickly donning her cloak to cover up. “Knocking, fucker. Ever heard of it?”

You turn towards the entrance to find your flustered man at the door, scowling at you briefly before turning to apologize to Nina.

“Sorry, Neens,” his gaze softens sincerely. But Nina is already storming out. “I was dumb for that.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” you tsk.

You two wait until your colleague is out of range to engage in what you both know is about to be some pretty reckless behavior. When all is clear, Eddie wastes no time, pouncing on you, pinning you by the wrists to the drawer of your vanity, leaving love bites at the crook of your neck just keen enough to draw blood. 

Pathetically, you love it. Your dripping cunt swells for the intensity — the fury of his rough hands — the vampiric blows to your hot pulse points — the rugged buckling of his hips as he digs his claws into the tender indents of yours.

“Eddie…” you whimper.

“This familiar?” he demands between breaths. 

“Rings a bell,” you muster, tracing his large display of excitement with your trembling palm. “Though it seems like you don’t necessarily…have a problem with it.”

A sinister laugh escapes his throat.

Eddie huffs. “Think you can be a smart aleck with me without repercussions?”

As swift as they come, Eddie flips you around, easing you safely onto the desk portion of your vanity by the your neck. You squirm around like a brat, whining and kicking at him with your heels in playful retaliation. His fingertips then tightly enclose around your thin lacy bralette, causing a minor tear of the sparkly chrome fabric.

Too far. Grabbing him by the wrist, you eye him in disapproval.

“Eds!” you hiss at him, seriously this time.

“You’re buying new sets anyways,” he shrugs indifferently. “You know, with the money you got for being a needy little slut.”

You issue a low grumble as Eddie sinks his body atop the small of your back. The softness in Eddie returns again when he presses delicate kisses around the tip of your chin.

“Mine, remember?”

He spins you around again, ordering you to your knees with an authoritative snap. You oblige a little too quickly, but you don’t care. You’re at the mercy of him tonight and always.

“Yours…” you breathe, knowing he’s about to fuck you and your mouth to spit and tears. “Yours only…”

He smirks, satisfied with himself. You bite your lip eagerly as you watch the King of Hellfire — and your heart — unbuckle his belt, ushering his pants down to line his pulsing cock up against your lips. Desperate for more already, your tongue peaks out to say hello. The deep lines of his snarky face concave further.

“Pucker up, sweetheart.”

💞 valentine’s divider by @saradika-graphics 💞

happy valentine’s day, sweethearts 💌

tag list: @chrrymunson , @the-fairy-anon , @ali-r3n , @corrodedcoffincumslut , @bebe07011 , @mmunson86 , @eddiesguitarskills , @chelebelletx , @imonhereforareasonsadly , @eddies-trailer-babe @mediocredreams , @motherfckerr , @jxpsi , @lindseyj23, @sidthedollface2 , @manda-panda-monium , @elvendria , @micheledawn1975 , @hereforshmut , @siriuslysmoking , @nymphetkoo , @m-chmcl-rmnc , @justinelittlewoodsworld , @ahoyyharrington , @keepittoyourselftellnobodyelse @kellyxo1 @emsgoodthinkin @winchester-angel @chloe-6123 , @redbarn1995 @angietherose @kiyastrf94 , @purplewitchcauldron @kellsck @joyfulfxckery @munsons-mayhem28 @dragonfire @emma77645 @drivelikenina @livosssblog @thinkingth0ts @hugdealer @ellielunamckay

[once-upon-an-imagine]

You Keep Me Hangin' On - Steve Harrington

A/N: sooo, apparently it worked 😂😂😂 thank you to everyone who voted, I might keep this up since it helps me focus on a specific story😊 I mixed three different requests here so I really hope it makes sense, this one is mostly angsty but I am planning on a part two, so let me know what you think  

Requests - dawninparis​ asked: is this how you request something? i don’t know i’m a bit new to all this 😳 anyway i saw you were accepting st request so i was thinking maybe steve and reader are in an established relationship but with all the stuff happening in s4 and reader not being aware of all the supernatural stuff she gets jealous of all the time he spends with nancy and the fact he is hiding everything from you just to protect you and just basically a lot of angst (bc i like to suffer) and ending however u like even tho my heart is easily broken with sad endings 

- Anonymous asked: I would like to request a Steve story that takes place in season 4 where him and reader are dating already. Reader has noticed how awkward he has been around Nancy and vice versa. How they’ve been talking a lot more (good thing Eddie was there to keep them company😉). [full request here]  

- Anonymous asked: Hello babes, I'm not sure if you want to write this but may I request for a Steve Harrington angst to fluff fic? Haha! I just want to torture myself again with all these angsty stories. Somewhere around, reader is pining for steve and thought that she have a chance with steve but the latter thought that maybe he's still not over nancy. Reader felt hurt / embarassed by this and decided to date someone else, when she did steve realizes that she's the one that his heart has been longing for the whole time and not nancy. Thanks

Warnings: pretty angsty and Steve is kind of an asshole but also a jealous asshole xD and Jason (he deserves his own warning) let me know if I missed anything 

Disclaimer: I don’t own Stranger Things :) gif isn’t mine :D  

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

You Keep Me Hangin’ On

Set me free why don't you, babe Get out my life why don't you, babe 'Cause you don't really love me You just keep me hangin' on

You had known for a long time now. You had just, for some reason, held on to a stupid little hope that kept you hanging to this stupid little crush. Although it wasn't that little. And that voice in your head that kept you hanging sounded an awful lot like Robin insisting that Steve felt the same way you did.

You tried to believe her. You really did. Steve was very caring and affectionate towards you. You remembered the first time you drove him home, drunk, and he asked you to stay with him. And you did. And he said it felt nice to not wake up alone. And then, it became a natural thing between the two of you. He would call you whenever he needed you. And you would call him whenever you needed him. And he showed up. He always showed up. Which made you believe Robin when she said he felt the same way you did. But neither of you spoke about it. You hugged. You kissed. You did more than kiss. You couldn't imagine your life without him. But you weren't entirely sure if he could do the same. You feared that he could. He could live without you.

And right now, it was more evident than ever. You instantly dove into the water when he was pulled back into the lake. You pulled the bats off him and fought them with whatever you could find before Nancy, Robin, and Eddie also appeared to help. You were about to help him stop the bleeding right before Nancy ripped off the bottom of her blouse and started patching him up. And you saw it. You saw the way Steve looked at her.

"You're bleeding" you were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard Eddie by your side.

"Huh?" you asked, confused.

"Your arm" he pointed out. "It's bleeding" he repeated and you looked down to see that he was right. You hadn't even noticed. You were bleeding. Badly.

"Holy shit!" you panicked a little, not really knowing what to do.

"Here" he said, gently grabbing your hand and taking the black bandana out of his back pocket.

"Oh, I don't want to stain your bandana. I know that's your favorite one" you told him, not really noticing the smile that appeared on his face when you did.

"Don't be ridiculous, princess. It's just a piece of fabric" he insisted, grabbing your hand and cleaning your wound gently. You lifted your head from your arm to watch Eddie as he worked on tightening his bandana around you. You found yourself smiling a little at how careful he was being. He did not seem like the loud, careless guy you always saw in school. "How's that? Is it too tight?" he asked, worriedly.

"N-no. That's perfect" you smiled. "Thank you, Eddie" you told him.

"You know, it was pretty badass, w-what you did" he chuckled.

"It was?" you asked, feeling a little nervous for some reason. You never really thought of yourself as badass enough to get that credit from Eddie Munson, who you considered to be one of the most badass people you knew.

"Yeah, I mean, jumping in the lake and fighting those bats. That was metal, princess" he smirked.

"You also jumped in the lake and fought those bats, Eddie" you reminded him.

"Yeah, but after all of you ladies did" he insisted.

"Well, you still did" you told him. "And that says a lot" you smiled.

"So, uh" Eddie cleared his throat, pulling away from you a little. "This place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?"

"Yeah, pretty much" you nodded.

"Wait, watch out for the vines" Nancy said as Robin started walking around. "It's all a hive mind" she explained.

"It's all a what?" Robin asked.

"All the creepy crawlies around here" you told her. "They're, like, one or something" you told her. "Step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat" you instructed. "You're stepping on Vecna" you finished.

"Shit" Eddie said, next to you.

"But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people?" Robin asked.

"As far as I understand it, yeah" Steve said.

"So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate" Robin suggested.

"I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin" you told her. "But guns, yeah, sure."

"Well, we don't have to go all the way downtown for guns" Nancy added and everyone looked at her. "I have guns in my bedroom" she shrugged.

"You, Nancy Wheeler" Eddie started. "...have guns, plural, in your bedroom?"

"Full of surprises, isn't she?" Robin asked, excitedly.

"A Russian Makarov and a revolver" Nancy explained.

"Yeah, you almost shot me with that one" Steve said.

"You almost deserved it" Nancy smirked back at him.

You tried to hide your upset expression but Eddie seemed to notice before he threw his jean vest at Steve and he glared back at him a little.

"For your modesty, dude" he said, making Steve roll his eyes before putting it on.

"Hey, are you okay?" Steve asked, walking closer to you.

"I'm fine" you said with a firm smile.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he questioned, looking at your arm.

"Yeah, but don't worry. Eddie fixed it" you told him.

"Oh" Steve said, not entirely loving that part. "O-okay" he sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a scratch" he said, trying to make you laugh.

You barely smiled before you followed Eddie and Robin who were climbing on trees and rocks, careful not to step on the vines. When Robin accidentally stepped on a vine, the five of you felt the Earth moving under you when an earthquake happened. Your instinct almost made you run to Steve, but you saw he quickly grabbed Nancy, who was closer to him, and he pulled her to his side. You couldn't even register the whole thing before you felt two arms grabbing you and making you fall to the ground with him as you felt Eddie's arms tighten around you.

"Holy shit!" you heard Robin, not so far from you.

"So guns seem like a pretty good idea to me" Eddie said.

"Yeah, me too" you said, feeling your cheeks burn a little at how close you were to the metalhead and not noticing a pair of eyes glaring your way. "Uh- um" you cleared your throat. "Thanks" you smiled shyly.

"Don't mention it, princess" he said, helping you up.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

As the five of you walked to the Wheeler's house, Steve could barely register what Nancy was telling him. His eyes were glued to Robin, you, and Eddie walking ahead of them. Specifically between you and Eddie Munson. He noticed he was trying to make you laugh because he could see the worried look on your face. And the worst part was that he was succeeding. He didn't like the feeling he got whenever you laughed at something Eddie Munson said. He didn't like that you had his bandana on your arm. He didn't like that he was walking a little too close to you and the worst part was when he saw his hand trying to reach for yours.

"Uh, yeah, Nance, hold on a second" he said, not even trying to understand what she was talking about as he ran over to the trio in front of him.

"Hey, Eddie" Steve said, catching up with you. "Uh, could I... talk to you?" he asked, making Eddie look at you a little confused. You simply shrugged and Robin pulled you away to go join Nancy instead, leaving the two boys behind.

"What's up, Harrington?"

"Hey, man. Uh... Listen, I just, uh... I just want to say thanks. For saving my ass back there" he smiled.

"Shit. You saved your own ass, man" Eddie told him. "I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there!"

"Ozzy?"

"When you took a bite out of that bat. Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? He bit a bat's head off onstage" he explained as Steve looked at him confused.

"I don't-"

"You know? Doesn't matter" he shrugged. "It's very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying" he told him.

"Thanks" Steve smiled.

"Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact" he explained.

"Henderson said that?"

"Oh yeah" Eddie nodded.

"Shit!"

"Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It's kinda annoying, to be honest" he mocked Steve. "I don't even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve" he smirked. "I guess I couldn't accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way" he chuckled. "That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine" he explained, making Steve laugh and roll his eyes a little. "Still super jealous as hell, by the way. Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh... normal circumstances. Nope. Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that's what I've learned about myself this week" he muttered the last part.

"Give yourself a break, man" Steve insisted.

"See? The only reason I came in here was 'cause those ladies came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind" he explained. "But, your girl, right there" Eddie said, pointing at you, walking ahead of them. "She didn't waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in" he told Steve as they stopped walking for a moment and Steve looked at you while you walked with Robin. "Now, I don't know what's going on or what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would not take her for granted, man. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen" he told her. "And if you let her go, someone else might not be so stupid" he informed him.

"Are you talking about... someone in specific?" Steve asked, glaring a little at him.

"Maybe" Eddie shrugged, patting his back. "I'm just saying, Harrington. Don't be the douche I always thought you were" he said before he walked away from Steve.

As soon as you all got to Nancy's place, she, Robin, and Eddie started making their way upstairs. You were about to follow them when Steve gently pulled you back.

"Hey" Steve said, smiling nervously at you, a few steps down. "Uh- I just... um, I wanted to ask if uh-" he said, running a hand through his hair as he always did when he was nervous. "If w-we're okay? I mean, are you- uh are you feeling okay?"

"Are you?" you asked, a little confused.

"No- yeah, uh I'm fine" he sighed. "I just wanted to check if you were also... fine?"

"I'm fine" you said with a firm smile before you turned around and you tried going upstairs but Steve stopped you again.

"It's just um... you got hurt" he said, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb as he looked at the bandana wrapped around your arm.

"So did you" you told him. "And I think yours is... much worse" you said, looking at Nancy's blouse wrapped around him.

"No, it's fine" he insisted.

"Great. So, you're fine. I'm fine. We're both..." you sighed. "Just fine" you said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, frowning.

"Uh- nothing" you quickly said. "We should... get up there-"

"No, what did you mean by that?"

"Steve, this isn't the time or the place-"

"But you're upset!"

"No, I'm not, I just told you, everything is fine!" you insisted.

"Really? So, if everything is fine, why are you spending so much time with Munson?" Steve asked, accusingly.

"Ohh, you noticed that? I figured you'd be too busy with Nancy to even pay attention to anyone else!" you replied.

"Wait, is that what this is about?"

"No! I didn't mean to ugh-! Just... forget about it, okay? We have bigger things to-"

"Shhh!" he shushed you, holding up his finger.

"Um, excuse me?"

"Did you hear that?" he asked, looking the other way and walking away from you.

"Hear what?"

"Henderson!" he said, walking around the empty room.

"Well, it finally happened. He snapped" you muttered under your breath.

"HENDERSON!"

"What's going on?" Nancy asked, walking over to you with Robin, and Eddie.

"I don't know. He thinks he can hear Dustin-"

"I don't think! I can hear him! HENDERSON!"

And then, you heard it.

"Oh, my God! DUSTIN!"

"There has to be a way for them to hear us!" Eddie insisted as the five of you tried to look around the room.

"Wasn't there a way that Will communicated with Joyce when he was here?" Steve asked you, pointing his flashlight at the light in the middle of the living room.

"THE LIGHTS!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Robin, for the fifteenth time, I'm okay" you replied as you two tried to grab anything you could use at the War Zone.

"It's just that you and Steve have barely spoken since-"

"Since he decided to stay back at the UpsideDown because Nancy was cursed by Vecna and he now refuses to leave her side?" you snapped a little. "Sorry" you sighed. "There's just... a lot going on right now" you told her.

"I know that, but... well, you and Eddie on the other hand-"

"What?" you asked, confused.

"Come on, you can't tell me that there's nothing there-" she chuckled.

"There's literally nothing there" you laughed. "I don't think Eddie likes me that way" you rolled your eyes.

"Do you like him that way?" she asked, curiously.

"N-no" you said, nervously. "I don't know. Like I said, there's too much going on right now. And Eddie has been nice to me. He's always nice to me and... I don't know this isn't the time to focus on stupid guys, okay?"

"Love, it's never the time to focus on stupid boys" she laughed, making you laugh a little too but she quickly stopped when she spotted Vickie on the other side of the War Zone with her boyfriend.

"Rob" you said, feeling sorry and placing your hand on her arm.

"Have you ever felt like someone just ripped out your heart?" she asked, looking back at you.

You smiled sadly at her and then looked past her. "Yeah, I... have an idea" you said silently and she followed your stare to see Steve laughing with Nancy at something she had said. "Aw, well that's fun for me" you smiled, sarcastically. "I'm gonna go over there, okay?" you quickly said, walking away from Robin as she rolled her eyes and walked over to Steve, punching his arm.

"Ouch! What the hell, Buckley?!"

"Well, I wouldn't expect to find you here" you turned around hearing that dreadful voice.

"J-Jason" you said, nervously. "Yeah, well, it's just... scary times" you smiled. "Uh- I'm... sorry about Chrissy" you told him.

"Want my advice?" he asked, getting closer to you. "Shotguns are not good for much of anything past killing small birds" he said. "I mean, they got power, sure, but not much range" he said, as you stepped backwards, creating space between the two of you but he got even closer. "And that's just gonna force you into close-range combat, then someone can just grab that barrel like this..." he said, grabbing the weapon from you. "...and redirect it" he said, smiling, making you feel uneasy. "Well, you look nervous" he chuckled.

"Uh -like I said" you tried to smile. "Scary times" you told him. "Could you let go, please?"

"Sorry?"

"She said 'let go'" you heard Steve behind you and you let out a sigh of relief.

"Harrington" he said, letting go of the gun. "Didn't see you there" he said, stepping away.

"Well, now you do so..." Steve said, nodding his head so he would take the hint.

"Lovely seeing you" Jason said, before turning to look back at you.

"Hey, you okay-?"

"We need to go, now" you said, grabbing his hand.

"But-"

"But nothing" you said, pulling him with you. "Eddie's outside" you whispered.

"Right" Steve muttered a bit upset. Munson.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Hey" you were snapped out of your thoughts when Eddie sat down on the grass, next to you.

"Hi" you smiled.

"So... I guess this is a dumb question but... how are you feeling?"

"Funny, I was just going to ask you the same thing" you smiled.

"Me? I'm having the time of my life, princess. Are you kidding me? We're about to go to the UpsideDown and fight for our lives, really... it's where I pictured my life at this point, he chuckled, making you laugh a little.

"You know, you don't have to do this, Eddie" you insisted.

"Are you trying to rob me of my hero arc, princess?" he said, making you laugh, which you didn't know how was possible with how anxious you were feeling. "I was just going to tell you the same thing" he told you.

"It's just... you've been through a lot in like... what, 48 hours?"

"Yeah, it's been intense but... well, you being here kinda makes it better" he admitted.

"It does?" you asked, feeling your cheeks burn.

"Yeah" he insisted. "I mean, if... it were up to me, I wouldn't want the situation of us hanging out to be in a creepy world fighting this... monster but... I guess it's pretty badass" he chuckled.

"Well, if it involves you I would assume it would have to be badass" you smiled, making him blush a little. "So... if it were up to you... what would the situation be? U-us hanging out?"

"Well- uh-"

"Hey, Munson!" Steve said, suddenly appearing and interrupting the two of you. "Um... Henderson's asking for you" he said.

"Um- sure" Eddie said, looking back at you. "Sorry, princess. Raincheck?"

"Sure" you smiled as he got up and he helped you up too. "See you in a bit" you told him before Steve replaced his place.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" you asked, confused.

"You and Munson?"

"We were just talking" you shrugged.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"What? What are you talking about, Steve?"

"I just find it interesting that every time I look at you he just happens to be there" he said, glaring at you a little.

"Well, maybe we were just talking about our part of the plan, since you made me stay back with him and Dustin!"

"I knew you were upset about that! Nancy and I just decided this was the best way to make the teams!"

"Oh, what a lovely coincidence that you get to go with Nancy!"

"And Robin!" he added. "Why does that make you so upset? Because you don't get to come and physically kill Vecna with us? I need you to stay back with Eddie and Dustin!"

"Why? Because you don't trust me as much as Nancy!? You don't-" you stopped yourself before you could say 'You don't love me as much as you love Nancy'.

"Nancy knows what she's doing!"

"Oh, and I don't? We were all down there, Steve! And in case you didn't notice, I was the first one to jump when you were dragged back into that lake! Not Nancy! I am just as capable as she is-!"

"I didn't say you weren't but I just..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I need you to stay back with Dustin and Eddie okay?"

"Fine!" you said, reluctantly. "I can't do this anymore Steve" you sighed.

"Sweetheart, I know it'll be hard, but we have this plan and-"

"No, not that! This!" you said pointing at him and yourself. "I am tired of just being your option when Nancy is not around!"

"That's not true and this isn't the time to-"

"Right... it's never the time" you sighed.

"Well, not when we're about to go face Vecna in the fucking UpsideDown!"

"You're going to face Vecna with Nancy and Robin! I'm staying back with Eddie and Dustin!"

"That's not how it is!"

"Yes, it is! That's the plan that you two came up with! Together!"

"Look, what do you want from me? It made more sense this way!"

"Just admit that you still have feelings for Nancy and be done with it so I can just... I don't know, move on!"

"M-move on? From us?"

"There is no us, Steve! Is there?"

"Why would you say that?"

"I don't know, Steve! I'm tired! I'm tired and I can't do this anymore! It's not fair!"

"Ugh! I'm not trying to make you feel like this on purpose! I don't have feelings for Nancy, okay? Why does everyone think that I still have feelings for Nancy?"

"Oh, really? Everyone thinks so? So, I'm not the only one then!" you said, feeling your heart starting to break.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! Nancy is my friend! Okay! That is it! I care about her and I don't want her to die!"

"Nobody wants her to die, Steve! But you keep following her around like a lost puppy-!"

"How would you even know since you decided to stay with Munson every chance you get?! I can't believe you're being this dramatic over Nancy. SHE'S MY FRIEND!" he snapped. "Look, I don't want to fight with you, we are all on edge, and... I just... I need to do this, and I need you to stay with Dustin and Munson!"

"I don't want to fight with you either, Steve, and I know this is probably the worst possible time, I just-"

"Hey, guys!" Dustin shouted, interrupting you. "Time to go!"

Steve sighed, tiredly and looked back at you, not really knowing what else to say, so you did.

"You know what? You're right, we have more important things to deal with right now" you smiled with tears in your eyes and you placed your hand on his arm. You were about to follow Dustin but Steve pulled you back, pulling your hand.

"Listen, I care about Nancy, yes. Of course, I do. But, I swear, she's just my friend" he told you. "And I care about you too. I do, a lot" he said, nervously. But something wasn't letting you believe him anymore.

"As a friend?" you asked, with your voice breaking a little.

"It's... complicated" he said, making your heart break into little pieces. "And I swear we'll talk about it, after this, I just-" he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Something was telling you that he would never love you as he did Nancy. That little voice was becoming louder than Robin's telling you he loved you just as you loved him. And you felt your eyes watering. And you knew he could see it, but he didn't say anything. Because you knew time was running out and you had to follow Dustin. So you just smiled sadly at Steve and cupped his cheek with your hand.

"I love you, Steve" you whispered, having the strangest feeling in your heart that this may be the only chance you would get to tell him this, so you kissed his cheek. Like you always did and you gave him the saddest smile Steve had ever seen on someone. "And I really hope you get her back someday."

To Be Continued

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Part 2] 

A/N: sooo, I am definitely not evil enough to just leave it there :D this is definitely going to have a part two... so let me know what you think xD (and also, who you think she should stay with) 

[somuchwatersoclosetohome]

okAY welcome back to episode 4 of stage/fright watchalong... writing this on the day where i've lost an hour's sleep thanks to british summer time feels apt...... episodes 5-6 (and maybe 7) AKA SEASON FINALE this week..... wtf

sorry this is sO LATE

4 times and there's still new stuff i'm noticing!!! everyone bow down to the kings

firstly so fun to meet @donotbelasagne (thanks to a sale of @wintersoulwitch's ticket hehe)!!! thank u for sharing tales of other rs interactions and also bringing the amazing text post printouts for R&S to sign (aka troll you given that they both signed a different one) hahaha

charlie n i also deliberated what we're all gonna do with our lives between next sunday and the putative autumn tour and concluded it's just gonna be going back to watching the blue ring for approx 5 months

spoilers for stage/fright 28/03 evening show below!!

le general observations

ok well my observation re hyped up audiences being crucial to the show was confirmed....

this was a friday night and the crowd was good but where was the whooping and hollering at the beginning?? where was hugo's applause for the elements song???

if charlie and me had been sat together maybe we would have brought the house down but as it was i wasn't going to be the one losing it in the front row lol

many of these observations are new because front row adds a whoooole new perspective to the show

anyway it's still amazing and the cast are having a blast and just ❤️❤️❤️

i'm actually going to write an insanely long read about the whole production once the run is over because i have Too Many Thoughts

act 1

reece's character in the opening theatre scene (haig? i'm gonna call him haig bc house divided) actually gets so angry at angus and is mouthing all kinds of shit at him in that first scene

also literally the first hint of physical comedy from rs comes with that ridiculous cross and uncross of legs that he does i mean like pls

someone in the front row started clapping at the "chekhov's pun" line when steve tries to rile up the crowd and steve just looks down at him and shakes his head like "nah that's too much" lol

BCDR was pretty much the same as the last times i've seen it - tho i'm p sure reece flubbed the drake and shelby line a lil bit... we'll blame fucking little toby xox

danny baker as hostage tbh went way over my head but the boys seemed to be having a ball..... danny was pretty funny being like "you only said i'd be on for one fucking minute", "i was on bbc one, not that you'd have any fucking idea about that" lmao

reece/tommy/eddie went SO OTT on the picking up the phone bit, like literally got right up in danny's face

i feel like it's not even anything to especially highlight now but yes reader, you guessed correctly, reece spends like 90% of this part corpsing

steve is dialling up the celery bit up like 10% every single time now so it's even more absurd than the last time and is just the last straw for reece hahaha i cannot WAIT for how they do this on closing night

i have thought this every time obv but not explicitly called it out - reece singing brown bottles is?? so wonderful???

interval thoughts

reece's eyes are SO BLUE i'm literally shaking buy him brown contacts pls

act 2

ok so i kNEW that in this seat would be exceptionally close to (1) hugo's whole wheelchair scene and (2) marcus when he's crouched down watching the trepanning..... and these scenes were highly enjoyable at such close range!!!

i've already declared my love for hugo but i'll do it again. hugo i love you

finally spotted how they do madam cragg's gubbins!! it's always been too quick for me to suss it out before

HAHA oh my god in the scene where marcus is giving everyone notes you literally see in the notebook he's holding that he has 'marcus' with two massive ticks written next to it

i still maintain that honestly one of the scariest moments in the whole show is when abby is filming the auditorium and then it cuts to the empty seats.... the collective gasp of the audience is always so dang sweet

i mean shout out to the whole cast OBVIOUSLY but special mentions this time go to

1. bhav joshi, who obviously doesn't have that many lines (hur hur) but he is so fking good as the warden.... also if u watch him in the scene when they bring all the techies on, the way he's glaring at them is honestly hilarious

2. anna francolini the actress that you are..... in the first (fake) curtain call she is actually crying!! like full tears running down her cheeks!!! masterful

stage door

there was generally less going on this time and also r had somewhat dialled down the life-threatening levels of cunt-serving to normal levels (i.e. he wasn't in that dark ensemble) so i had maybe 2% more composure this time

my sharpie was being a little temperamental and i did notice that steve still spent an extra second or so making sure he could still do his signature 'X' as part of his sign..... love u steve, the man understands fan service

i'm still in awe that they do this basically every single night and make a point of signing and talking to everyone..... for those who saw my much ado about nothing stage door experience this is actually so rare and we are very lucky 🙇

these posts are honestly becoming more of a diary for me than anything else LOL so props to u if you read them

[katyawriteswhump]

Of mermaids and soulmates 💖

For @steddiebingo prompt, “Mermaid,’ and @stmonstercalendar Mermay week 1 prompt… ‘Mermaid.’ I also plundered the Mermay bingo prompt list for inspiration and used storm, washed ashore, cave and... whump (okay that was going to be in there whatever I wrote, I fear, but the others got me going on this, thanks.)

Rating: M, WC: 3700; Tags: O!Steve, A!Eddie, mermaid Steve, fairytale au, some sexual content, pining, minor angst, hurt/comfort, sick fic, snuggles, fluff, tooth-rotting fluff, very literal happy ever after. Summary: Life was tough for Eddie and his fisherman uncle, Wayne. Then Alpha Eddie goes and makes it tougher, by falling in love with an Omega mermaid called… Steve?!? Read on AO3

The healing herbs are from amazing designs by @moonjelly69 and can be found in posts here and here. Thank you for letting me borrow them. They def leaked through from a far better place.

💖💖💖💖💖💖

Eddie found his Omega the morning after a really nasty-ass storm.

He woke with a gut-churning shudder that told him somebody he cared for was in danger.

Wayne was fine, tho’. He clattered in the cottage kitchen, which pumped out odors of fresh bread and bacon that would be their only meal today. The storm had lost them the profits of a whole night’s catch. Eddie grabbed his jean jacket and nudged past Wayne with a mumbled, “Not hungry,” then straight out onto the shingle shore.

“Eddie? What’s wrong?” called Wayne, from their doorstep.

“Nothing,” said Eddie, attempting a goofy grin and a flippant wave. Only that I’m going out of my mind. Like I do every day.  “Back in a sec.”

Eddie followed his nose, clambering between the debris, tracing that tiny wisp of salted-caramel and seagrass sweetness that threaded its way through the seaweed and brine.

He found Steve hunkered by a rock, curled into a ball. If it hadn’t been for his scent, Eddie might’ve missed him. A veil of wet hair covered his face, and he’d wrapped his arms tight around his shivering bare torso. His beautiful fishtail was folded in, and completely tangled in a segment of ugly orange trawler net.

Eddie absorbed this in a single heartbeat, hurried forward and crouched down. He gently touched the mermaid’s shoulder, who looked up with a very Omega squeak.

“Hey?” said Eddie, “Steve, it’s me, Eddie. You know me?”

“Uh… like we’ve not been fucking for weeks, dipshit?”  Steve’s voice shook with trembles them broke up altogether. “My tail… It’s all tangled up. Please help me?”

Eddie draped his jacket over Steve. “Christ yeah. I owe you one, remember?”

“I’ll always remember,” whispered Steve. Then he slumped forward against Eddie, completely out of it.

Eddie opted not to tell himself this couldn’t be real. Seeing was believing, huh? He lowered Steve’s head down onto soft sand and set about untangling his fishtail. He kept his hands steady—despite his fury—while using his penknife to remove the plastic cutting between Steve’s beautiful multi-color scales and fluttering tailfins. Then he scooped the fairly hefty mermaid into his arms and began his trudge back along the shore.

He was sick with worry.

If Steve hadn’t been hurt, however, he would be howling his joy to that wisp of a daytime moon. Finding his mermaid made a whole lot of sense, as if his whole life clicked suddenly into place. Plus, Steve was even cuter in real life than in his dreams.

He had seen Steve with his waking eyes before, only once.

He’d been fifteen and after endless bugging, Wayne had agreed to let Eddie assist him on the fishing boat. One night, a giant wave had swept Eddie from the deck, and the icy waters gobbled him deep.

He flailed, attempted to pull for the surface. Too late. His lungs burned. Panic blindsided him. In the inky darkness, the bubbles of his breath seeped from him, white light strobed before his eyes, and then…

…the kiss.

Okay, it was a kiss of life. Eddie was in no position to find it hot.

Still, after the first injection of lifesaving air, he noticed the softness of his rescuers’ lips. Then he saw a guy around his age with a floaty lion’s mane of hair, who wrapped a solid arm around him, and pulled for the surface.

The other boy appeared to have a fishtail.

Lack of oxygen sent you loopy, right?

They’d emerged among the choppy waves, yards from where Wayne leaned over the side of the boat, holding a lifebuoy and yelling his head off.

The mer-boy shoved Eddie forward. Wayne grabbed Eddie’s hand, hauling him to safety, while those other arms around him slipped away. “H-help the other k-kid,” gasped Eddie, flopping onto the deck.

Wayne gave him a look. The one that, in his kind-natured uncle, stood in for calling Eddie out for being dumb. From the corner of his eye, Eddie glimpsed a flicker of that fishtail between the foamy white horses, silvered and glittering with all the colors of the rainbow.  “Don’t worry, Eddie. He’ll be okay.”

Wayne believed in mermaids. Merfolk? Whatever the heck they were called. As for Eddie, he wanted to believe. Didn’t stop him wondering if they were both crazy.

A couple of years later, he presented Alpha and dated a few Omegas. None of them rocked his world, until Steve the mermaid—oozing adorable Omega vibes and bitchy as fuck—began starring in Eddie’s dreams. Which were as hot and horny as they were wet and sticky.

Also, heart-achingly real, which was… Yup, crazy.  In his dreams, he was fucking Steve, who for sure seemed to possess some kind of snug Alpha-dick lovin’ hole. But how could he fuck somebody who literally had a fishtail?

And who other than a crazy guy, not only banged mermaids in their dreams, but also snuggled and exchanged pillow talk after? One of Steve’s favorite topics was the songs that Eddie blasted from the boat while he and Wayne worked. He wanted to know everything about them, from the names of the groups to the kinds of instruments they played.

Apparently, Steve really liked Queen: “Don’t get me wrong, Eddie, I dig the thrash metal shouty shit—and ACDC hit some awesome resonances that send the whales cuckoo—but that Freddie dude can really sing.”

Finally, and maybe craziest of all, what kind of mermaid introduced themselves as Steve? Eddie wasn’t sure what sorts of names mermaids should have. It would be nothing as ordinary as Steve, right? Steve also explained that he was a mermaid— “Yeah, a mermaid, like is that a problem, you stupid mouth-breathing land-hugger?” 

He was also an Omega.

Eddie was fine with all of that and had never harbored any doubts about the latter.

At least, in his dreams.

During the day, Eddie had been pretty damn sure he was either going cuckoo as those metal-loving whales… or that his mermaid was totally stalking him.  He regularly caught a wisp of that caramel and sea-grass scent and was damn sure it was Steve, because it usually gave him a semi. There’d also been the mysterious gifts turning up randomly on deck—including a solid silver skull and crossbones ring that must’ve belonged to a pirate boss. Finally, there’d been that time his ghetto blaster skidded overboard. It’d been slid back beneath the ship rail, soggy, useless and with his Black Sabbath cassette ruined.

Hey, it was the thought that counted.

Now, here he was, carrying the guy of his dreams—a limp and senseless mermaid—home to Wayne. Who stood at the door of the cottage and ushered them in with a mumble of, “Ah yeah, makes sense. What a damn shame. I’ll get extra blankets, throw a log on the fire.”

Eddie lay Steve down on his own bed and stared.

Jesus freakin’ Christ!  Was he real? He was real! Steve whimpered desolately, and Eddie snapped his gaping mouth shut to lie down and gently wrap his body around Steve’s.

The mermaid’s torso was somehow soft and Omega and muscular and sturdy—all that swimming, Eddie supposed. Steve whimpered and rolled closer, and Eddie gently enveloped him the best he could, rubbing his cheek against Steve’s ridiculously soft fluffy hair, dropping kisses. Steve’s tail nestled into Eddie’s legs and their bodies notched together as if they were born to snuggle this way.

Eddie’s heart ached and he gulped back totally un-Alpha tears. Had he found Steve only to lose him.

No. He point blank refused that.

Wayne returned with the blankets, and also a first-aid kit and bandages, which he used to carefully clean up and tend to Steve’s tail. When Steve hissed and moaned in his sleep, Eddie pressed the mermaid’s head to his chest and rocked and stroked him.

Eventually, Steve’s trembling subsided. He sighed a few times, snuffling against Eddie’s throat, as if Eddie’s scent might revive him.

Then he slipped into a deep sleep.

“Eddie,” Wayne whispered from the doorway, a short while later. “C’mon, son, you can leave him for a moment. You gotta eat. I saved your breakfast.”

Eddie bit back a snarl. He didn’t want to leave Steve, not for a second, tho’ Wayne talked sense. He reluctantly unwound himself and joined Wayne in the kitchen.

Wayne’s worry was etched deep in every line on his brow.

“What is it?” asked Eddie.

“Listen, his injuries are infected. We need to act fast. I know the right herbs to cure him—thryssil, a sharp leaved water-plant with healing saliva, and blunova, dark blue berries that grow deep in cool sea-water caves. They’re rare and getting rarer. Hard to find these days.”

“We can’t buy something at the chemist?”

Wayne gave him another of those placid looks. “Mermaids are magical, Eddie—he’s a sprite of the ocean’s deepest magic, and the modern world has polluted him. We must find those natural medicines then… Look, you know better than I that he’s an Omega. The herbs alone won’t cut it unless an Alpha nurses him through the worst. And when you save his life, you’ll be bound to him. While he lives, you’ll never be able to mate another Omega. He would perish of rejection and grief.”

Eddie let the bombshell blast through him.

He got it. It should scare the bejesus out of him. What would happen when he went into rut? Did Steve have heats? Would they ever be able to have pups?

What would be the point of a mate if they couldn’t actually mate?

Yeah, the bombshell blasted through him. In its aftermath Eddie found he was totally ready to take the plunge with Steve, whatever their future may bring.

Screw being ‘bound’ to each other, as if it was something unwanted. He knew in that moment that Steve was his soulmate.

“I get it,” he told Wayne, with a shrug. “I honestly do, and it’s all fine. Where do we look for these herbs?”

They took turns sweeping the shoreline and every cave they knew. Wayne searched for longer. Steve slept more easily when Eddie snuggled him, than when Wayne sat with him, mopping his burning brow and holding his too-pale hand. The Omega’s fever grew worse, and he sniffled weakly, sweating and shuddering. Then the fever broke, and he settled, horribly quiet.

Two days passed, and he still hadn’t woken. His pulse grew thready and faint, his breaths horribly shallow.

When Eddie stroked his face, and begged him to wake, his lashes barely flickered.

His fishtail turned a bruise-like purple, spreading upward from the bandages he kept bleeding through.

“Stay with me, Baby,” whispered Eddie, “Please, Stevie, please?”

A putrid fishy scent began drowning the last shreds of his Omega sweetness, and Eddie sobbed shamelessly.

If Steve died, Eddie would be free to find an Omega he could have pups with. Apart from he wouldn’t. In his heart of hearts, he knew he could never take another mate, and that he’d only ever be happy with Steve. Then, as his tears disintegrated into snarls of vengeance against whoever dumped that nylon net, Wayne burst into the cottage:

“Eddie, I got them.”

Eddie unwound himself from Steve, reluctant but also dead keen to aid his uncle, who looked dog-tired, his wiry frame drooping. They mixed the blunova berries with the thryssil saliva and applied them in a poultice to Steve’s tail. The leftovers went into a cordial for him to sip when he awoke.

Wayne said ‘when,’ not ‘if.’  Eddie clung to that quiet optimism, as he slid back beneath the blankets to snuggle Steve.

The next few hours proved truly magical. Color returned to Steve’s face, and his breathing grew deeper and even. Eddie slid a hand beneath his head and lifted it, trying to coax him into sipping the cordial. At first, Steve barely opened his eyes, but hitched his lip and muttered, “too sleepy, get lost.”

Yeah, that was Eddie’s snarky little mermaid.

When he finally tasted the blunova, tho’, he sucked his lower lip, and whispered, “Yum.”

Soon, Eddie caught a hint of Steve’s sweetness returning. It mingled with the fruity medicines and Eddie’s own Alpha scent, which pumped madly as if trying to form a protective cloud around his Omega.

Finally, Eddie’s tension melted away, and he too drifted off into a deep sleep. When he gradually wandered toward wakefulness, something that felt like warm trickly honey was gliding down his chest.

His eyes flew wide and locked with Steve’s. Who was tucked cosily under his arm, and… Ooookay, yup, taking advantage of that position to lick Eddie’s chest, which was inked with many nautical and totally metal tattoos.

“Hey,” said Steve, jerking back, startled.

“Someone’s feeling better, huh?” Eddie beamed down at Steve, who’d retreated toward Eddie’s armpit, plying Eddie with large curious hazel-brown eyes and a surprisingly bashful smile. “How do I taste?”

“Not gonna lie. Could lick the salt off your skin forever.”  Eddie worshipped Steve’s playful smirk, then the way he swiped his tongue around his soft and super-kissable lips. Steve in turn flitted his attention to Eddie’s mouth. “There’s somewhere I’d like to taste more.”

“I reckon we can arrange that, Babe.”

Eddie hoisted his helplessly beached mermaid up a little, then leaned down for a tinglingly sweet and chaste kiss. Soon, Steve was parting his lips, whining for more. Eddie indulged him, offering a bit of tongue and working the kiss tenderly. As it lingered, he carefully blanketed himself around his Omega.

Eddie already needed Steve, like the air he breathed. They’d make this work. They had to. He ran his hand down Steve’s spine, kneading gently at the seam between his torso and his fishier parts, while Steve’s arm crawled tentatively up around Eddie’s neck.

They settled down beneath the covers for a lengthy sleep-in. Eddie left Steve only to fetch the food Wayne had left. He felt bad that Wayne had gone out fishing alone, and they’d lost several days earnings caring for Steve. His worry for his uncle and how they’d make ends meet, was one of the few things that clouded his happiness.

When Steve awoke, he asked Eddie to take him down to the sea. He was pretty sure it would make him feel better. Eddie wrapped him in fuzzy blankets and carried him to the softest sandiest dunes, where they settled to watch a stellar orange-pink sunset.

Eddie blasted a mixtape out of his new second-hand ghetto blaster, and they chatted like they’d known each other forever. Steve discovered he liked Bowie nearly as much as Freddie. All the same, they both knew they had to talk about serious stuff.

“So, yeah, I’m an Omega,” said Steve.

“I’m super aware of that.” Eddie’s whole body vibrated with Steve’s adorable and very Omega purrs, while Eddie’s hand wandered lower than before to caress the rounded curves of Steve’s hips and mermaid butt. The Omega purred harder for a moment then stopped altogether: “Now you’ve saved my life, you’re bound to me. Like I’ve been bound to you, since I performed those totally awesome heroics and saved yours.”

“Huh?” A sea breeze whistled around them. Eddie made sure no cold air leaked between, while the Omega’s tale made his chest pang.  Since Steve saved Eddie’s life, Steve had been ‘totally, idiotically obsessed’ with him:

“I followed your boat pretty much every day. Then my pack moved on, while I was chasing after you, and I never found them again. I presented Omega a few moons ago. It was scary at first, and I was going out of my mind with loneliness. Till I found I could get into your dreams. Being magical is pretty freakin’ cool, huh?”

“Pretty freakin’ hot. Why didn’t you pop up and say hi?” Eddie stroked the Omega’s hair from where it kept blowing across his face. Then he grinned and crossed his own eyes. “I mean, I kinda knew I had a creepy obsessed fan following the boat.”

Steve curled his lip. “I’m not creepy.”

“You’re creepy-cute?” Eddie cackled and Steve pouted. Damn, that was adorable.

“Look, it’s complicated!” Steve flipped his hand, giggling anyhow. “It’s not like I totally hid but I had to be careful! I mean, you seemed nice, I loved your vibes and the music, and your scent sent me loopy, but I heard stories about you leggy morons. You can be complete a-holes, tho’ after I’d managed to get in your head—”

“Clearly, not a creepy thing to do,” snarked Eddie, rewarded with that pout again.

“After I visited your dreams for a chat—oh, and literally got you off, you’re welcome, a-hole—I was pretty sure we were soulmates. I was psyching myself up to say hello, okay?”

“Okay,” said Eddie, grinning dopily. “Seriously, can you read what I’m thinking now?”

“Only works when we’re apart and you’re asleep, I think. I can guess, tho’.” He rolled his eyes then narrowed them. “Something Alpha-ish, like… you’re conflicted about what to do when you go into rut. You don’t want to ditch me. You also want pups badly. Listen, so do I. Mermaids and humans have been mating for centuries. I think we’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” Eddie could live with that. “Any idea how exactly?”

“No! When they taught sex ed to all the other little mermaids, I was probably off mooning over your sorry ass. When the right time comes, the magic of mother nature will show us a way, I guess. Anyhow, as much as I’d luuurve you to bang my fishy bones for real… I’m, ya know, getting over nearly being dead. My tail’s still kinda numb.”

Eddie could definitely live with waiting. They curled together into a cosy ball of purrs and growls, while night crept slowly across the beach.

Steve grew strong again quickly. After a few days, he came out to sea with Eddie and Wayne and swum alongside their boat. Eddie totally loved watching Steve swim, the swish of that magical tail, and those sexy shoulders and solid biceps, though he was already worrying about Steve getting tangled in their relatively eco-friendly net.

“Do I have to turn vegetarian?” asked Eddie, grimacing at their wriggling haul. “I’m mean, you’re kinda fishy, and now it seems—”

“Don’t sweat it,” said Steve. “It’s only the same as you eating other mammals.”

“I guess.” Eddie still felt uneasy, though fishing was his and Wayne’s livelihood.

“Oh! Almost forgot,” called Steve. “I know where there’s a ton of that sparkly shiny crap you humans get all wet and bothered over.”

After chugging their little boat along a white-water channel between some sabre-tooth rocks, Eddie and Wayne followed Steve into a hidden cave. Wayne streaked his flashlight across a glittering array of gold and silver treasure, literally spilling from a dozen old wooden tea-chests.

“See?” Steve bobbed between the boat and the treasure and tossed up his hands with a splash. “It’s where I found your ring. Figured you might have a use for the rest.”

“Yeah,” said Wayne, sounding choked. “Yeah, I think we might.”

Eddie was choked too—with a profound relief that the uncle he loved might be able to take life easy for the first time ever. For him and Steve, too, the future now seemed limitless, family or not.

The same night, as a full moon rose, Eddie felt it—that stir of heat in his blood that meant he was going into rut. Wayne had gone out to treat his girlfriend to a meal, and Eddie had just carried Steve back to their bed. He’d been looking forward to snuggles, and now…  Ugh!  He was gonna have to sleep by the hearth.  Or not sleep, more likely. By midnight he was gonna be humping the furniture, and he was troubled about what he might do if he totally lost it.

He was soooo hungry for Steve, and also mighty curious about how they were going to procreate. If it was rubbing against Steve’s tail or something, or fertilising eggs? Damn, they’d make it work, but Steve was still slightly fragile.  What if his inner beast took over and he rutted too hard while his Omega still healed?

With his heavy dick aching beneath a pair of loose jogging pants, he peeped around the door to see Steve tucked up in bed. Far from asleep. He was sitting up against the pillows, arms folded, and his head tilted, smirking.

Eddie was in too much of a hurry to ask why. He squeezed tight words from between his clenched teeth. “Listen, Babe, I reckon it’s best if I go spend the night on the beach.”

“It’s cold outside, numbnuts. Also, you reek of sex, and I dig it. You’re gonna come straight over here and get into bed with me.”

There was something in Steve’s wide, hopeful, giggly eyes that Eddie simply couldn’t refuse. Seconds later, he was sliding under the covers, vowing to himself he’d give Steve a quick squeeze and go.

Then he froze.

Steve rolled toward him and hitched the knee of what felt like a pretty darn human leg onto Eddie’s thigh. And between? Steve was already very wet, and a wave of his sweet perfume accompanied a fresh gush of slick. A loud rumble escaped Eddie before he could help himself—a groan of relief mingled with a hungry growl.

“Told you mother nature would provide,” whispered Steve.

Eddie slid a hand down to lightly finger absolutely everything required to satisfy an Alpha in rut. Steve smiled, kinda smug, and wrapped all four of his limbs around Eddie, nuzzling Eddie’s scent gland.

“Is this because of the full moon?” breathed Eddie, nudging his already epic boner between Steve’s spread thighs. If this was only once a month, he’d take it.

“Nope. It’s because I’m ready and you’re ready. I got an idea it’s gonna happen a lot.” Then he turned deadly serious, cupping Eddie’s face. “I love you, Alpha. Please, fill me with our mer-pups?”

“Don’t beg, Sweetheart. I’ve waited my whole life for this. Gonna fill you with our mer-pups and gonna love you all. Love you so much.”

They melded then, like ripples on the water, and as Eddie’s waves crashed into Steve, Steve surged back against him. And they fucked and fucked and fucked.

Eddie and Steve moved to a glittering pink castle by the sea. They raised their pups with the help of Great-uncle Wayne, and they all lived happily ever after.

💕💕💕💕💕

my steddie fic on AO3