#stuadholidayexchange

[thefreakandthehair]

Selfish as he may want to be, and as badly as he wants Steve there with him, he can’t stomach the idea of Steve pushing through just because he feels he has to. Sure, Eddie might not be the best at making friends, and maybe this isn’t just friendship on Eddie’s end anyways, but whatever it is, he doesn’t want Steve to be uncomfortable. It’s a cardinal rule, really.

He’s halfway through his thought spiral when Steve wiggles his fingers a few inches across the countertop, landing on top of Eddie’s right hand and gently clasping around Eddie’s fingers. Squeezing, just twice, just enough for Eddie to know it has to be intentional. The pad of Steve’s thumb is a bit calloused against the inside of Eddie’s pinky, probably rough from all of the hand washing at work, but the way Steve touches is so achingly tender. He can’t even imagine what the rest of his touches might feel like.

Eddie’s eyes flicker from their connected hands to Steve’s face, still looking down, and back again before Steve responds.

“Coming here to hang out with you and eat pie filling is all that got me through the day. Being here helps. You help.”

When Eddie was younger, Wayne used to call him a great little helper when he’d fix something around their trailer, or hold the flashlight just right beneath the hood of a car Wayne was fixing for a neighbor. He’d done something concrete, done a task, and felt helpful. But sitting here in the diner with Steve’s fingers wrapped around his own, nothing he’s done is a tangible help. All he’s done is exist in the same space with Steve and Eddie’s never felt like his presence is soothing. Always too much, too big, too loud.

He doesn’t know what to do with Steve wanting to be with him, or with their hands clasped together, so he just stays the course.

“Well, shit. Good. That’s, yeah. That’s good to know. Ready to test some cherries?”

read the rest of what's mine is yours (to leave or take) here on ao3!

@tboyeddie I'm so so so sorry this is like, a solid week late but COVID got me and ate an entire week of my life. I hope you enjoy!! 🎄✨

[starryeyedjanai]

All things end and all things change.

Steddie | 23k | Explicit | Read on ao3

written for @patchworkgargoyle for the server gift exchange! 🥰 this is also a fill for @thefreakandthehair's winter challenge

Summary: 

When Eddie took over Robin's room, Steve made a promise to himself that he wouldn't scare Eddie off, that he wouldn't do anything to let him know that he’s still carrying a torch for him this many years later—because Steve feels like Eddie had to have known in college.

He had to have seen it every time Steve looked at him for a beat too long, every time he looked to Eddie first when told a joke, every time he wore his feelings so loudly because he’s never had to reign them in before.

And now he’s doomed to spend more than a week letting Eddie show him glimpses of his life that he’s never seen before, parts of him that he’s kept to himself up until now.

Steve feels like the more he gets to know Eddie, the more ingrained these feelings for him become.

But, you know, other than all of that, what could possibly go wrong?

Or, Steve was planning to spend the holidays alone, but there's no way Eddie's going to let that happen.

-

excerpt under the cut!

“Hey, are you going to be in town for New Year’s Eve?” Eddie asks as Steve walks out of his room, bleary eyed and barely awake. “I told you I’m visiting my uncle Wayne for Christmas, but I can be back in time for New Year’s Eve if you’ll be here.”

“I’ll, uh, I’ll be here,” Steve says, his voice still scratchy from sleep.

“What are your plans for Christmas now that Birdie’s gone home with Chrissy?” Eddie asks, dropping the curious act and getting to what he really wants to know.

It’s too early for this.

Eddie knows he has less of a filter when he’s just woken up, so this is a targeted attack.

He’s been avoiding answering the question when Eddie’s asked what his plans were before, but Christmas is in a few days and it looks like his hemming and hawing around an answer—‘I might go with Robin and Chrissy,’ and ‘I’m not sure yet’—won't suffice anymore.

Robin left yesterday with Chrissy to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with her family, her first time taking Chrissy home to her parents, and Steve obviously didn't go with them.

He hums and takes the cup of coffee Eddie pushes into his hands when he takes a seat at their kitchen table. He takes a sip, trying to formulate a way to not say outright that he’s staying here alone.

He shrugs his shoulders and says, "I’m not doing much. I’ll be in town for New Year’s Eve though,” because his brain is still mostly offline and he’s hoping Eddie will leave it alone. (He knows that he won't, but it’s a nice thought.)

Eddie asks, “How are you getting to your parents’ place? Or are they coming to town?”

Eddie knows Steve isn’t super close with his parents just like he knows that he hasn't spent Christmas with them since he graduated college—he and Robin have spent it together since she and her parents aren't big on Christmas as a whole.

They did visit Robin’s parents the first year after college and spent the holidays there, but since then, they’ve just had Christmases at their apartment, getting each other a couple gag gifts and a couple real ones and opening them in front of their comically small Christmas tree. The only reason they aren't spending it together this year is because Robin’s parents want to finally meet Chrissy.

He gulps down more coffee before saying, “I’m not going to Hawkins.”

“Steve, work with me here. Are you or are you not spending Christmas with your parents?” Eddie asks, leaving no room for ambiguity or ‘misinterpretations’ of his question.

So he just sighs and comes clean.

“My parents are in France for Christmas, so I’m just hanging out here for the holidays,” he says, not looking Eddie in the eyes. His parents did invite him to come along, but his passport is expired and he didn't want to stress about getting it renewed in time for the trip.

“Hanging out here alone?” Eddie asks.

Steve nods, still not looking at him, fiddling with the handle of his coffee mug.

“And how’d you get Robin to leave without you?” Eddie asks, suspicion in his voice.

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, playing dumb.

“I mean there’s no fucking way she’d let you spend the holidays alone, first Christmas taking her girlfriend home or not. So what did you tell her you were doing for the holidays?”

Steve sighs, so worn out all of a sudden. He wishes they weren't having this conversation at 8 in the morning—well, he wishes they weren't having it at all, wishes Eddie’s ADHD would have let him forget to ask what his plans were before he left for his uncle’s place.

“I may have said I was spending the holidays with you,” he says sheepishly, finally looking up at Eddie.

Eddie levels him an unimpressed look and then, in an even voice, he says, “Okay. So you’re coming home with me.”

“No,” Steve says. “No. I swear I’ll be fine. It’ll be nice even. Relaxing, having some time to myself.” It sounds weak even to his own ears, so he’s not surprised when Eddie doesn't let up.

“Uh huh, sure. You come sit by me when I’m doing my virtual D&D sessions even though you don’t play because you hate being alone for that many hours, but you want me to believe you’ll be alright being alone for more than a week over the holidays?”

God, it's so not fair bringing up how needy Steve is right now. Steve only pretty recently realized how codependent he and Robin were. They spent almost all of their free time together before she started dating Chrissy and when she moved in with Chrissy and Eddie took her bedroom in their apartment, he had to actively stop himself from monopolizing all of Eddie's time because he doesn't deal well with being alone.

He keeps finding himself almost meandering into Eddie’s room first thing in the morning because spending any amount of time without someone’s voice filling his ears is unbearable to him. Even just having someone in his presence, even if they weren't talking, is better than being alone.

He tries to save face by saying, “I swear I’m fine being alone—“

“Nope, you’re coming home with me,” Eddie says, cutting Steve off, his voice final. “It’ll be a tight squeeze since my uncle’s place is pretty small, but he’ll be glad to have someone to talk sports with, so—you’re coming.”

And this is why Steve has been trying to avoid this conversation so hard for weeks now, skirting around the truth with half-answers and changing the subject because he knew Eddie wasn't going to drop it once he knew.

He really has no choice but to accept or else Eddie won't shut up about it. Or worse, he’ll tell Robin and she’s definitely not going to drop it. And she’ll be disappointed that he lied and she’ll make him drive to her parents’ house and threaten to come get him if he refuses and it’ll spoil her Christmas with Chrissy and her parents. And he doesn't want that, obviously.

This is the first time Robin’s been serious about someone and all he wants is for her to spend her Christmas in love and happy and not worrying about him.

So he says, “Fine. Fine, I’ll go home with you.”

As much as he doesn't want to insert himself into someone else’s holiday plans, he doubly doesn't want to ruin Robin’s Christmas.

“Great. We leave tomorrow afternoon.”

The triumphant smile on Eddie’s face doesn't lessen the growing guilt and unease in stomach.

He really was going to be fine, spending the holidays alone. It would have been quiet and he would have hated every second of the silence, but he could have handled it.

His parents were never super into the Christmas spirit part of Christmas anyway. They never had traditions or decorated the house or anything. Growing up, Christmas was mostly about the gifts—not that he was complaining. He always had the newest toys or video game consoles, so for the most part, he was happy enough to skip the rest of it.

It was only when he was dating Nancy and saw how her family gathered for the holidays and spent time together that he realized that his Christmases were always kind of lonely even when his parents were around.

So after college, when he and Robin moved in together, they started to make their own traditions for the holidays, decorating their apartment and wearing matching pajamas and FaceTiming Robin’s parents on Christmas morning.

This would have been the first Christmas since he started having actual Christmas traditions that he’d be spending it alone. So yeah, it would have sucked, but it would have been worth it if it meant Robin got to have her Hallmark Christmas movie moment.

And now he’s apparently going to the Munson’s for Christmas.

At least now Robin won't actually kill him when she gets back and finds out what he did for the holidays.

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[sentient-trash]

Drawn for @stobinesque for the STuad Server Gift Exchange 🫶🫶🫶 !!1!!!

Censored nsfw drawing of a high make out scene between jargyle and Steddie below

I think that they should all hold hands and kiss

[puppy-steve]

i'll be yours if you'll be mine

steddie | E | 1.9k | ao3 link

my fic for simon (@sentient-trash) for the STuad server gift exchange 💙 i took your secret relationship prompt and combined it with the "wearing the other's clothes/jewelry" trope. i really hope you like it!!

tags: hand kink, spit kink, (light) daddy kink, secret relationship

It starts with Eddie's hands.

Steve can't be blamed for this, of course, because Eddie has really nice hands. And fingers. Adorned with chunky rings and chipping black nail polish and calluses from years of playing the guitar, that feel really good when they're inside him--

He's getting off track.

The point is, this whole thing starts because they're cuddled up on the couch in the trailer watching TV, his back to Eddie's chest. Eddie has his arms wrapped around him and Steve is playing with the rings on his left hand. He twists them around, slides them on and off, fits them on different fingers like they're circular puzzle pieces. Steve doesn't even realize he's doing it until Eddie says something.

"Having fun there, baby?" he asks, amused.

Steve just snuggles down into his hold and laces their fingers together, kissing the back of Eddie's hand. "I like your rings," is all he says, spreading Eddie's fingers out and tracing over each of them.

Eddie watches in fascination as Steve kisses each ring on his finger, the show on the TV now serving as background noise. His mouth goes dry when Steve slides his rings completely off and kisses the bare skin, each individual tan line like they're something to be worshiped.

[corrodedbisexual]

It was only a kiss

Steddie | M | ~5.3k | AO3 link

Written for @starrystevie for the STuad server gift exchange 🥰

Featuring: Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Fluff and Humor, Mild Smut, Light Angst, Drinking to Cope, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Insomnia, Coming Out, Feelings Realization, Banter, Dialogue Heavy, Laughter During Sex, Minor Steve Harrington/OFC, Minor Eddie Munson/OMC, POV Eddie Munson

Steve and Eddie's nighttime coping with the horrors of their past brings them close in ways Eddie never would have expected. But that's all it is. Moments of mutual comfort, a fun distraction from the endless string of nightmares. …Or is it?

[sidekick-hero]

to the rhythm of eternity

(steddie | explicit | 16.8k | tags: Modern Setting, Meet-Cute, Established Relationship, Long-Distance Relationship, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Smut, Christmas Fluff)

This was written for the STuad server gift exchange as a gift for @scarcrossdlvrs 💜 I hope I did your 'Long Distance' prompt justice, Bee!

December 2023

"I can't wait for you to get here, Stevie."

Eddie's voice sounds muffled through the headset, almost too quiet with all the noise around him. The video quality is shitty too, because while it's not even noon for Steve in Chicago, the sun has already set in London and Eddie is walking to the Phoenix Theater to start setting up the sound for the evening show. Steve can see the streetlights in the background casting shadows across Eddie's face. It's a busy street Eddie's walking down and people keep bumping into him, the chatter around him mixing with the sound of passing cars. From the looks of it, it must be Piccadilly, which means Eddie is almost at his current place of employment.

"Me too. God, I miss seeing your stupidly pretty face outside of a tiny screen with a shitty solution." Steve's sigh is tinged with longing instead of annoyance. It's not Eddie's fault that he had to cut back on the bandwidth for their video calls when he was out. The six-hour time difference only made it more difficult for them to both be home with decent broadband to talk. Or do other things.

Eddie grinned down at the screen, and even with the poor solution and bad lighting, Steve could see the pleased expression on his boyfriend's face. "Aww, you think I'm pretty? Stevie, I had no idea." Eddie coos, making it sound like a joke. Steve knows it's not, not really. Which is stupid, because Eddie is one of the most attractive guys Steve has ever seen, with his big brown doe eyes and full lips and interesting nose, tattoos littering the skin of his lithe body. If Steve were there right now, he would grab Eddie and kiss him silly, showing him exactly how pretty Steve thought he was.

"Baby, you know how beautiful I think you are. And how sexy and sweet and funny..." Steve teases, keeping it light, while reassuring his boyfriend that for Steve, Eddie is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

"Okay, okay, big boy, I get it. I guess I just need you to show me when you get here." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively and winks, looking like the biggest dork in existence with his giant headphones and his nose red from the cold and that beloved toothy grin that Steve needs to kiss, like, yesterday.

He quickly scanned the hallway outside his office to make sure no one was coming in before lowering his voice to that deep, seductive tone he usually only uses when they're both under the sheets with their cocks on their hands. "Oh baby, believe me, when I finally get my hands on you, I'm going to show you as many times as you can take it. And then some if you're good."

His words have the desired effect, as Eddie pauses for a moment to put a hand to his face before pressing his phone to his chest and turning the screen black. Steve can make out the faint "jesus h. christ" over the noise, probably because he knew how Eddie would react after two years with him.

Eddie doesn't stop for long though, pushed forward by the crowd around him. "You're a menace, Harrington. A bloody menace, I tell ya."

"Oh, baby, I love it when you talk British to me." It's said in a teasing voice, but there's some truth to it. Eddie's accent had been one of the first things that had piqued Steve's interest when they first met. It's no secret that he loves it when his boyfriend uses it to rile him up even more.

"You've got some weird kinks, Stevie."

"Only for you," Steve says and then adds with a voice that is only for Eddie's ears these days, "I can't wait to show you all the dirty things I think about when I'm alone in bed with my hard cock in my hand, wishing it was your hand or your mouth or, fuck, your ass gripping it tight." He doesn't have to play up the moan that follows, because it's been five months since they last saw each other, and Steve is almost certain he's going to come in his pants the moment Eddie gives him a hug.

"Bloody hell, I'm in public! You can't just... There are rules, Steven. Rules." Judging by the edge of desperation in Eddie's voice, he's not alone in his need.

"Guess you'll have to punish me then, huh? Show me my place."

"Oh, look, I'm at the theater. My place of employment. Guess we'll have to table this lovely discussion until you get here and we have some privacy to talk this over more thoroughly."

"Can't wait, baby. Love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Only one more day before he can hold Eddie in his arms again. Despite all the dirty talk, that's what Steve is looking forward to the most. He can almost feel the comforting weight of Eddie against him, the solid and warm body wrapped tightly in his arms, Eddie's breath on his neck and Steve's nose buried in his dark curls.

With another longing sigh, Steve looks at the clock on the wall before picking up his pen again to go over the remaining paperwork on his desk. Eight hours until his flight to London, he might as well get some last minute work done before he takes the rest of the year off to stay with Eddie.

READ THE REST ON AO3

[inairbinad]

you take me the way I am

Steddie | Explicit | 7.6k | Read on AO3

Written for @corrodedbisexual for the STuad Server Gift Exchange!! I hope you enjoy it friend 🥰 tags: domestic fluff, homoerotic wound care, cuddling for warmth, nerdily named cats, Good Boy Eddie, which probably warrants a Soft Dom Steve too, mild praise kink, hand kink, unprotected sex

Summary: Eddie tries his hand at skiing to try and impress Steve. It goes about as well as one would expect, and Steve’s got to take care of him (and keep him warm) in the aftermath.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee roused Eddie from a deep, sound sleep. Before he even opened his eyes, he felt the warmth of one furry cat curled up against his hip (probably Crowley), and heard the other meowing for breakfast in the next room (definitely Aziraphale). Peeking out his bedroom window, he found a gray, rainy day brewing outside, as the wind whipped whatever was left of the bare trees’ fallen leaves through the air. The weather was finally changing to something that resembled winter.

Once upon a time, Eddie would have pulled a pillow over his head and rolled over, unwilling to wake up at a civilized hour—especially on cold days when he didn’t have to work. 

But now he had Steve to look forward to in the mornings. So Eddie all but leapt out of bed, spared a scratch for the still sleeping Crowley, and padded out to the kitchen.

“G’morning, sweet cheeks,” Eddie greeted his boyfriend around a yawn. He thought it was a particularly fitting moniker, considering the way Steve’s pajama bottoms hugged his ass. Steve smiled to himself at the pet name and flipped the omelet he was making before replying.

“Morning, beautiful,” he said, his eyes so earnest and full of affection that it made Eddie’s heart tumble around in his chest like it’d been knocked loose. The only thing that kept him grounded was Aziraphale bonking into his shin to say hello before returning to his food dish. “You sleep well?”

“Like a log,” Eddie admitted before wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist from behind. He closed his eyes as he notched his chin into the dip of Steve’s shoulder and breathed deep. Eddie thought he could probably slip back into a peaceful sleep just like this. “You?”

“Same,” Steve hummed, then nodded towards the cat. “Only reason I got up was to feed everyone.”

“You’re good that way, babe,” Eddie smiled and pressed a kiss behind Steve’s ear. “We’d all starve without you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve grumbled good-naturedly. “Coffee’s ready. Go sit and I’ll bring your plate.”

Eddie did as he was told, pausing only long enough to grab a mug and the sugar bowl on his way to the kitchen table. He sat back and watched Steve work on plating up their eggs and toast, content as ever. Just as Steve put their food down, though, his phone rang.

Steve sighed as he checked the caller ID, then gave Eddie an apologetic look before leaning back against the counter.

“Hey, mom,” he answered the phone in his cheery, talking-to-family-voice. Eddie gave him a sympathetic smile before taking a giant bite of his breakfast and groaning obnoxiously loudly at how good it was. Steve laughed and flipped him off, probably without missing a word of whatever his mom was saying.

“Oh that’s nice,” Steve said half-heartedly. Eddie figured “nice” had to be code for “boring as shit” once Steve started examining his cuticles as he listened. Eddie knew he wouldn’t eat while he was on the phone with his mother of all people—that was a big faux pas in Harrington Land.

“Well we were supposed to go see Eddie’s uncle—uh huh. Oh really?” Steve’s voice kicked up into a surprised register that instantly set alarm bells off for Eddie. All of a sudden, the kitchen smelled of in-laws meddling with each other.

“What—” Eddie half-whispered, but Steve was already waving a hand at him to shush.

“So we’re all spending Christmas together,” Steve said, recapping for Eddie’s benefit. “And Wayne agreed to come along so no one gets left out?”

Eddie heard a somewhat exasperated yet amused, “Yes, Stephen,” through the phone. He stopped listening so he could focus on wondering why the hell Wayne wouldn’t run something like this by him before agreeing to it, though.

Unless he just wanted to be a smartass, which was as likely an explanation as any.

Before he realized it, Steve was off the phone and sitting beside him at the table.

“Looks like there’s no getting out of Christmas with my parents now. Apparently Wayne happily agreed to come along,” Steve sighed. The look on his face showed that he knew all too well exactly how Eddie was already working himself up into a panic.

It wasn’t that Eddie and Steve’s parents didn’t get along, exactly. The Harringtons were always perfectly polite to him, and at times he even felt like they were bonding over the years. But he still always felt mildly uncomfortable in his skin around them, like he had something to prove just by virtue of the fact that he had tattoos and grew up in a trailer park.

If Mrs. Harrington was willing to head them off at the pass and invite Wayne first, though, maybe he was overthinking things.

“It’ll be fine, Stevie.” Eddie knew he sounded like he was still trying to convince himself. “Hell, your dad and Wayne will probably be best friends once they start talking about baseball.”

It was a mildly terrifying thought, but Eddie kept that to himself.

“It will be fine,” Steve agreed before sipping his coffee. There was still a line of worry burrowing its way in between his eyebrows, though.

“Why do you look worried, then?” Eddie prodded.

“Well,” Steve hedged, then placed his mug down before speaking gravely. “They want to go skiing for Christmas.”

“And…” Eddie fumbled around for why that might be such a bad thing. “You’re more of a snowboarding kind of guy?”

“No,” Steve rolled his eyes. “It’s more that I can already tell you’re worried about impressing them somehow. At a ski resort. When you’ve never skied in your life.”

It took Eddie a minute to catch up with what Steve was implying, but once he did, he snorted.

“You think I’m gonna bust my ass trying to impress your parents by strapping death blades to my feet?” Eddie asked in his best incredulous voice, even though the thought had absolutely already crossed his mind. It was less about impressing Steve’s parents , though, and more about trying it out as a nice gesture for Steve . He felt like Steve always got caught in the middle of the somewhat chilly relationship Eddie had with his family.

“I think that’s exactly what you’ll wanna do, and I’m begging you not to. There are a million other things we can do at the resort. I promise.” The tone Steve had slipped into was much too inviting for Eddie not to indulge it.

“Like?” Eddie asked, quirking an eyebrow up playfully. Steve wasted no time taking the bait as he stood and moved closer, before plopping himself right into Eddie’s lap. On instinct, Eddie’s hands moved to rest on Steve’s hips.

“Like, sneaking into the hot springs after hours,” Steve suggested in a low tone. He dipped his mouth closer until his breath skirted the sensitive skin of Eddie’s neck just enough to send a small shiver through his shoulders. “Spend a romantic evening in front of the fire, spend a night getting wine-drunk at the bar before heading back to our cabin…”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of plans for not spending time with your parents,” Eddie pointed out, but very much enjoying the sound of it.

“Oh, that’s the Harrington Way,” Steve assured him with a coy smile before moving to kiss along the column of Eddie’s neck. By the time Steve was running his tongue along the shell of Eddie’s ear, he’d completely forgotten what they’d been talking about. “So, no attempts at skiing?”

Lost in the sensation, Eddie would have agreed to just about anything at that point. “I promise, Stevie.”

“Good,” Steve grinned and then tilted his head teasingly. “I was thinking after breakfast we could go back to bed?”

“Oh, breakfast can wait, sweetheart,” Eddie promised. “I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“Oh really?” Steve asked in a mildly offended tone.

“Well, not for eggs at least.”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Eddie had a plan. Maybe it was silly and unnecessary—or maybe even stupid—but once he got an idea in his head, he wasn’t going to quit until he’d at least tried .

And all plans, regardless of their cleverness, called for the input of a good friend.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Chrissy asked, her brow raised skeptically as Eddie clicked his boots into the skis she’d loaned him for the afternoon. Of everyone in his life, Eddie was grateful that his best friend was a certified snow bunny—and someone willing to entertain his whims. “I’m sure Steve wouldn’t want—”

“Me to feel like his family won’t like me if I’m not the perfect skier?” Eddie cut in, waving her off. “Yeah. I know. But I still want to try. So teach me to shred some powder, Cunningham.”

“I was going to say ‘wouldn’t want you to get hurt,’ but,” Chrissy leveled him with a look that almost made Eddie feel bad, but not quite. It’s not like he was as clumsy as Robin, for Christ’s sake. He could handle this. Chrissy sighed and trudged on, seemingly reading his mind. “I know your stubborn face when I see it.”

“Good,” Eddie grinned widely at her acquiescence, or at least her reluctance to argue with him. “Now be a dear and take a photo while my hair still looks intentionally windswept instead of like I got caught in a blizzard.”

Chrissy laughed even as she rolled her eyes and began to search for her phone in one of her many pockets. While she patted herself down, Eddie shuffled into a better pose at the top of the small hill they’d come out to for practice. When he’d asked Chrissy if she could teach him to ski, she laughed at first, but eventually agreed to get a feel for if he could even try to learn or not. Chrissy had loaned him an old pair, and agreed to show him the basics on a hill that even little kids could handle with a sled so that he didn’t break his neck.

It was a perfect day for it—Steve was at work, a fresh snow blanketed most of the town. Now it was only flurrying lightly to add some sparkle to the air. There weren’t many people around to witness him potentially embarrassing himself, and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds, giving the occasional illusion of some warmth trickling through the crisp wind.

Moving in his skis didn’t feel nearly as foreign and awkward as he’d expected it to, and Eddie felt a pleased smile work its way onto his face at the thought. He could do this.

Except that he couldn’t.

In his attempt to look good for a photo, Eddie did exactly what Chrissy had told him not to, and leaned a little too far forward on his skis a little too close to the edge of the slope. In an instant, he lost his balance and was tumbling forward and down the hill at a faster clip than he’d been ready for—which was none at all.

“Shit shit shit shit shi—” Eddie’s panicked curses became muffled as he tumbled off his feet and onto his front. He ate a mouthful of snow in the process, and went from being vaguely able to feel his cheeks to not knowing which direction his face was even supposed to be pointing.

Eddie kept hurtling down the hill, ass over tea kettle, until his skis popped off and he finally landed in a heap at the bottom, with all the snow he’d accumulated on his way down still clinging to him.

Vaguely, he noticed Chrissy rushing towards him, looking graceful and not at all like an idiot as she skidded to a stop beside him with her concerned face on.

“Eddie!” she yelped, and he already felt guilty for worrying her.

“I’m okay—” Eddie tried to assure her before she could even speak, but he barely got it out before he coughed up some melting snow like something out of a cartoon.

“Yeah, you look it,” Chrissy deadpanned as she kneeled down to check him over for wounds. “Anything hurt?”

“Besides my pride?” Eddie quipped, and drew a small smile from Chrissy. “I don’t think so.”

“Your face is cut,” she pointed out, then gently dabbed his cheek with her glove. He was surprised to see it come away with a small blood stain. “And you’re covered in snow, and—Jesus, really Eddie?”

“What?” Eddie asked, starting to feel the shock wear off and the cold set in. Snow pants were helpful at keeping that feeling of frozen wetness at bay, sure, but not perfect by any stretch.

Especially when they’d slipped off a little on his way down, effectively soaking his underwear.

“You didn’t even put your gloves on yet?” Chrissy asked, exasperated as she took in Eddie’s shaking hands. They were already red and stinging from grasping for purchase in the snow.

“I was trying to look good for the picture?” Eddie tried, and Chrissy clicked her tongue at him.

“Can you stand?” she asked. “We need to get you out of this cold.”

“You mean I can’t try again?” Eddie asked, already letting her help him stand up. When he put weight on his left ankle, though, he winced.

Of course Chrissy didn’t miss it.

“ No ,” she admonished. “And even if you weren’t hurt the answer would be no.”

“You’re no fun,” Eddie grumbled, but dutifully hobbled off with Chrissy’s arm looped around him.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

“For the last time, Chris, I’m fine ,” Eddie insisted again, plopping down into the safe cushioning of his couch at last. “I’m just sore and cold.”

“Right,” Chrissy said, not sounding at all convinced as she went off to make him some tea. Crowley came over to greet him then, but promptly gave him an offended look when he felt Eddie’s cold fingers scratch his chin.

“Well sorry ,” Eddie grumbled, and Crowley gave him a brief lick on the arm before disappearing to warmer climes. At least he cared enough to try to clean Eddie up, if only a little.

If he was being honest, Eddie’s ankle hurt pretty bad, but he could still walk on it well enough. But all he wanted at this point was to warm up and live down his humiliation in peace.

Naturally, Chrissy wasn’t going to let that happen. Once Eddie was sipping his tea, she gave his hurt ankle a gentle squeeze, palpating like she knew what she was doing. Eddie tried to hide a pained whimper behind an annoyed grumble, like her fretting over him wasn’t needed.

“I wish you’d go get this looked at,” she sighed, but carefully lowered his foot back to the floor. “I don’t think it’s broken, but if you wake up with a fat, purple ankle tomorrow and Steve has questions—”

“Questions about what?”

For the first time he could remember, Eddie winced at the sound of Steve’s voice. Because of course Steve was here to witness this embarrassment that Eddie’d been hoping he could take to his grave. Steve tilted his head in question at the scene before him, the look on his face growing quickly more concerned as he took in Eddie’s state. Eddie was pretty sure he looked something like a drowned, half-frozen rat.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked after what felt like an eternity of silence, eyebrows pinching together when his eyes finally landed on the bloody cut on Eddie’s cheek. Then he was by Eddie’s side in a second, kneeling beside Chrissy and putting her nervous fussing to shame. “What the hell happened?”

“Well, see,” Eddie fumbled for an excuse. He wasn’t prepared to come up with a story yet, thinking he’d have hours before Steve got home. Not that Eddie wanted to lie to Steve. He just didn’t want to worry him, either. “I tripped.”

“Down a mountain?” Steve asked, incredulous.

“Pretty close,” Chrissy mumbled, and Eddie gave her a soft kick with his bad leg and regretted it immediately. “He tried to ski.”

Steve’s eyes locked on Eddie’s with a look that was somehow equal parts pity, concern, and also somehow finding Eddie to be the most endearing thing in the whole world.

Even though it was still half-frozen in his chest, Eddie felt his heart clench.

“He what?” Steve asked, calmer than Eddie expected. Steve was speaking to Chrissy, but didn’t take his eyes off of Eddie.

Eddie gave him the best sheepish smile he could muster.

“You know the big hill all the kids like to sled down? Just up the road?” Chrissy asked. Steve just nodded. “Well. He wanted me to teach him to make it to the bottom.”

“Seems like you made it, one way or another,” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Ha ha,” Eddie groaned. “Now will you stop mocking me and help me? I’m injured here.”

“I tried to take him to the hospital but he refused,” Chrissy added, making sure she tattled on Eddie in every way she could.

“ Eds ,” Steve chastised, but he was already rushing to take care of Eddie himself. He moved to slip Eddie’s coat off and found a thick blanket from the couch to replace it with, to start.

“Can you throw some of his clothes in the dryer for me, Chris? Warm them up a little?” Steve asked, and Chrissy was already moving towards the laundry before he’d finished the question.

“I’m fine, Stevie, I swear,” Eddie tried.

“You just admitted that you’re hurt, so hush. You’re bleeding, you’re soaked—” Steve paused just long enough to brush his hand against Eddie’s cold cheek, warmth blooming across Eddie’s skin from his fingertips alone, “—god, Eds, you’re freezing . Come here.”

Steve wrapped the blanket even tighter around Eddie’s shoulders, then pulled Eddie into his arms—surprisingly warm, always strong and inviting. Eddie sank into the embrace, and even though he was still wet through, he was happy to stay there for a little while and absorb some of Steve’s warmth.

“Clothes are in, including your fuzzy penguin socks,” Chrissy informed them as she made her way back into the living room. Those were Eddie’s favorite pair, and he was suddenly very glad that Chrissy knew it. “I trust you’ve got him from here?”

“I do,” Steve assured her. The deep rumble of his promise echoed through Eddie’s cold bones, sending another shiver running through him. “Come on, let’s get you out of these wet clothes.”

“Is that a come on?” Eddie asked, smirking and unable to help himself.

Steve rolled his eyes, but bit his lip all the same. Eddie only heard a muffled snort come from Chrissy as she slipped out the front door.

“Pants off, Munson,” Steve ordered once he’d helped Eddie into the bathroom. He left Eddie leaning against the sink as he got the hot water going in the shower, then he gave Eddie two pain pills and urged him to take them for his ankle.

“You know,” Eddie said once he’d swallowed. “If you wanted to get me naked so badly, you could have just said so this morning. Might’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

The exasperated sigh that escaped Steve’s mouth turned into a low chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair. The look he gave in return left Eddie feeling closer to warm than he had for hours.

“I’m serious, Eddie,” Steve nodded at Eddie’s zipper as his voice dropped even lower. “Off.”

Eddie couldn’t help but note the promise in the way Steve was turning bossy already.

“My hands are much too cold to be of any use, Harrington,” Eddie crowed, surprisingly grateful for how this was turning out. “You’ll have to help me.”

Steve didn’t look too displeased at the prospect, either. He stepped towards Eddie with a little more hunger coloring his eyes now, beyond just the worry. Eddie thought maybe his flirting was going a long way towards convincing Steve that he was alright.

Steve paused after undoing Eddie’s snow pants and pushing them to the ground, looking surprised. “You borrowed my long underwear?”

“Yes?” Eddie asked more than answered. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m glad you did,” Steve chuckled lightly as he played with the waistband between two fingers. “Some of my favorite parts of yours would’ve frozen off if you hadn’t.”

“Oh? Like what?” Eddie asked, unable to help himself.

“Oh, you know,” Steve shrugged. Slowly, Steve worked his hands around to cup Eddie’s ass and squeezed, drawing Eddie in closer as he did. Steve just barely pressed one thigh between Eddie’s legs, creating just enough friction on Eddie’s dick to grab its attention.

Eddie let out a small gasp, but Steve kept moving along.

“I expected you to be a little more apologetic, really,” he mused as he pushed Eddie’s underwear to the floor. Steve deftly ignored the way Eddie’s half-hard cock bobbed as he did, and moved on to peeling Eddie’s shirts off next.

Eddie tilted his head to the side, watching Steve’s face as he started to feel the steam from the shower defrost his stinging skin. “Why’s that, Stevie?”

Steve didn’t answer at first, instead grabbing a towel off the hook and running it through Eddie’s damp hair. It felt so good, the way he massaged Eddie’s scalp as he gently wrung the melted snow from his curls, that Eddie almost forgot he’d asked a question.

“You broke your promise,” Steve sighed, sounding almost hurt about it, but still resigned. Like he knew all along that this was exactly what Eddie would do, one way or another. “You hurt yourself, made me worry about you.”

Steve brushed Eddie’s hair over one shoulder, then just barely brushed his lips against the skin of the other. Eddie felt his muscles contract at the gesture—and felt the burn of probably having pulled one or two of them as he fell—and gained new resolve to fix things.

Because Steve was right, Eddie had broken his promise.

“Let me make it up to you?” Eddie suggested.

Once more, Steve didn’t respond right away. Instead he moved around to towel down Eddie’s front, taking his time to trace along each curve of Eddie’s torso and make sure not a drop of cold water was left clinging to him.

Then Steve dropped to his knees, and Eddie bit back a gasp as he watched Steve dry off each of his legs, slow and deliberate, taking extra care around his sore ankle. Steve propped that foot up on his own thigh for a moment, giving Eddie a much needed break from putting any weight on it. He ran the towel between Eddie’s legs last, sending another shiver up Eddie’s spine from just the barest touch of his cock.

“I don’t know if you can be that good, Eds,” Steve murmured, then pressed a kiss to the inside of Eddie’s thigh.

“I’ll be so good for you, Stevie,” Eddie retorted quickly. “I—”

“Promise?” Steve finished for him as he drew himself back up to stand, his eyes skeptical.

Eddie gulped, regret and anticipation coursing through his veins and fighting it out for dominance. So he just nodded, hoping his gaze would impart the pleading he felt in his gut as he locked eyes with the man he loved—the one he regretted hurting more than he did hurting himself.

Steve smiled, a dangerous, beautiful thing, then drew Eddie’s bottom lip between his teeth and sucked. “Show me.”

“What do you want me to do, sweetheart?” Eddie asked, happy to comply with whatever Steve wanted.

“Wait here,” Steve smirked as he drew back from Eddie, leaving a gulf of empty space in his absence as he opened the door and left. Eddie heard the distinct thunk of the dryer door opening and closing before the machine started up again. Steve thankfully returned nearly as quickly as he’d gone, holding up a clean robe for Eddie. “Put your robe on.”

“But—”

Steve raised an eyebrow in challenge, and Eddie swallowed his retort. He chose to rephrase it in the form of a question.

“Aren’t I supposed to be getting in there?” he asked, nodding towards the shower.

“Nope,” Steve said simply, guiding Eddie’s arms into the warm, fluffy robe as he did. Eddie melted into the softness of it, thinking maybe the clothes dryer was a contender for the greatest invention of all time. “Just needed the steam to help warm you up.”

“Why just steam?” Eddie asked, hearing the way his voice had melted and finding it hard to care. “Why not actual water?”

“Because going from too cold to too hot too fast will just make it worse,” Steve explained patiently as he tied the robe around Eddie’s waist. “I’ve gotta warm you up slowly.”

“I have a few suggestions for that, you know.” Eddie wiggled his eyebrows, and not-so-subtly nodded at the tent he was sporting in his robe.

Steve looked down and bit his lip, but still didn’t touch. It was already driving Eddie mad.

“Only you could get that hard at a time like this,” Steve pointed out.

“Hmm, I think you’re selling yourself short, sweetheart,” Eddie said, just as he palmed Steve’s dick through his pants. Sure enough, Steve was sporting the start of his own hard-on.

Eddie grinned like he’d won a prize.

“I need to wrap your ankle before you get any more of those ideas, Eds,” Steve said. His words didn’t quite match the way he was running his teeth along the underside of Eddie’s jaw, though. Or the searing grip he had around Eddie’s hips.

Eddie wanted to argue, wanted to say that his ankle was fine, that all he needed was Steve to touch him for real —but more than anything he wanted to be good for Steve, to reassure him, to be everything he needed in that moment.

“Okay,” Eddie hummed, and Steve steered him to sit before getting an elastic bandage from the medicine cupboard.

Steve kneeled back on the floor and got to work, starting at Eddie’s toes and working his way up as he wrapped the bandage just tightly enough for Eddie to feel the relief of it. By the time he was done, Eddie’s ankle barely hurt at all.

Sometimes he swore Steve’s hands were magic.

Like he’d read Eddie’s mind, Steve ran his hands up Eddie’s still bare legs, slow and steady, before stopping to squeeze Eddie’s thighs and slot himself between them. Seemingly out of nowhere, he produced a tube of ointment and dabbed a small amount on Eddie’s cut cheek.

“You’re still cold,” Steve remarked as Eddie leaned into his touch. Their faces were so close, Eddie could almost feel the heat of Steve coming off him in waves. He wasn’t sure he even remembered what feeling cold was like anymore.

“Nuh uh,” Eddie argued. “I’m warmer than I’ve ever been. Feel like I’m on fire. You fixed me, Stevie.”

“Mhmm,” Steve mumbled, clearly unconvinced as he leaned in to press a soft kiss against Eddie’s lips. It was too quick, though, before Steve was talking again. “I���ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Show me?” Eddie asked, echoing Steve’s own words. Steve smiled again just as the dryer beeped to signal its finish.

“Glad to,” Steve agreed, and once again was on his feet and out the door.

Eddie did his best to keep his complaining to a minimum as Steve put more clothes on him instead of less—especially considering how nice his fuzzy penguin socks felt coming straight from the dryer.

Still, he had to say something.

“Stevie,” Eddie half-whined as Steve slipped a thermal shirt over Eddie’s head, “aren’t you going a little overboard?”

“Definitely not,” Steve gave him a stern look and put his hands on his hips. Now that Eddie was fully clothed and cared for, Steve finally turned off the shower, but the lingering steam still left his skin more flushed than usual. Eddie found it mesmerizing to look at. “Now are you going to behave and get in bed yourself? Or do I have to carry you?”

“Oh, you definitely have to carry me,” Eddie grinned at the prospect.

In an instant, Steve hoisted Eddie up and draped him over his shoulder, like he barely weighed anything at all. All Eddie could see was Steve’s back, entranced by the way his muscles worked beneath his t-shirt as he carried Eddie into their bedroom. It was all so surprising, even though he’d asked for it, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh wildly.

“So much for being good,” Steve muttered under his breath, but Eddie could feel his shoulders bobbing with laughter as well.

“I am, Stevie, I swear!” Eddie said, his own giggles interrupted by a snort.

“Gonna need some more proof,” Steve said just before he dumped Eddie onto their bed. Despite Eddie’s flailing, he managed to do it gently, and Eddie felt like he’d landed on a warm, soft cloud.

Eddie didn’t know how or when he’d managed to do it, but Steve had piled at least three more blankets than usual on their bed. There was an indent in them that was distinctly cat-shaped, which Eddie thought was probably vacated when Steve discarded him on the bed. Apparently neither of the cats cared to stay and find out why one of their dads was tossing the other around the house like a rag doll.

“In you get,” Steve nodded as he pulled the blankets back.

“Aren’t you getting in with me?” Eddie pouted just enough to still be taken seriously and get his way.

“Figure I don’t have much of a choice,” Steve smirked as he stripped down to his boxers. “You’ll need the extra body heat.”

“Damn right,” Eddie agreed and moved to take his socks off before slipping his feet between the covers.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, and Eddie stopped his movements.

“You know I hate wearing socks to bed, Stevie,” Eddie said.

“Humor me?”

Eddie left the socks on. Steve’s small smile as he climbed into bed was worth it.

Steve laid back against the pillows and held his arm out—an invitation for Eddie to tuck himself in. Eddie thought about protesting, about throwing a leg over Steve’s waist to straddle him and kiss him until he forgot whatever his plan for the rest of their night was. It was tempting, but so was finding out what Steve had in mind.

And based on the look on his face, it was more than cuddling.

So Eddie complied, laying on his side and burying himself in Steve’s arms. Steve folded around him easily, happy with the responsibility of being the big spoon for now, and pulled the blankets up around them in a cocoon of warm coziness.

“You know, I’m still a little chilly,” Eddie murmured without an ounce of sincerity. “I think skin to skin contact would be much more effective.”

“Oh I bet you do,” Steve laughed, but obliged by taking his own shirt off. Then he prodded Eddie to sit up, and slipped his off next. Eddie took the opportunity to quickly kick his socks off, as well.

“You know I am capable of undressing myself—”

“Shh,” Steve hushed Eddie as he pulled him back under the covers. For a while he just held Eddie and let the steady beat of his heart warm them both. Eventually Steve started to massage Eddie’s sore shoulders. He hadn’t even realized how tight they were before Steve’s strong hands were working out the knots, then moving on to Eddie’s arms, his hips, his scalp. By the time Steve slid his fingertips across the line of Eddie’s collarbone and down his chest, Eddie was turning to mush in his hands.

It also had the added bonus of leaving him feeling hot all over.

“Stevie,” Eddie sighed, somehow in a daze of contentment and yet getting unbearably excited again. He could feel each slow, happy thunk of his heart reverberating through his ribcage.

“What, baby?” Steve asked, voice quiet and full of innocence.

“Please,” was all Eddie said.

“I know,” Steve hummed as he pulled one of Eddie’s nipples between two fingers. He couldn’t help but arch into the contact. “You’ve been so patient for me, letting me take care of you.”

“I have,” Eddie opted to give himself a little bit of credit, and Steve rewarded him with a low chuckle.

“What do you want, Eddie?” Steve asked, just like he always did when Eddie let him take the lead.

“Don’t care,” Eddie said, because it was true. He just needed Steve to touch him, to love him the way only he could.

“Then you can’t want it that bad,” Steve laughed.

“ Steve .”

“ Eddie ,” Steve matched his tone. “Tell me.”

“Want you to fuck me,” Eddie admitted around a whine. “Just like this, with you holding me.”

For a moment, Steve’s presence at Eddie’s back disappeared, and Eddie felt the loss like an ache. But then he was back again, this time pressed closer still, and slowly pushed the waistband of Eddie’s sweats down his thighs. He continued his slow movements, massaging Eddie’s hips, his legs, his ass, leaving no part of him feeling unloved or uncared for.

Eventually, Steve withdrew his hands for a moment, just long enough for Eddie to be surprised at the cold feel of lube trickling against his hole.

“Ack, that’s cold !” Eddie gasped, even though the temperature swing felt kind of nice. All the same, Steve pulled away and began warming the lube with his fingers.

“You usually like that part.” He placed a single, soothing kiss against Eddie’s shoulder.

“Well I’m more sensitive since I became a human snowball today,” Eddie retorted quickly.

“Sorry,” Steve assured him, but his quiet laughter let Eddie know he wasn’t sorry at all. Eddie was proven further right when Steve started humming Frosty the Snowman into the crook of his neck.

“Stop that, you assho— ohh ,” Eddie’s laugh morphed into a moan as Steve finally slipped his fingers inside. He stretched Eddie open just how he knew it would frustrate Eddie the most—with just enough of a burn to leave him needing more, and now .

Eddie pushed back onto Steve’s fingers, dragging his aching cock against the sheets for some much-needed friction as well. Steve laid a hand over Eddie’s hip to still him just as he pulled Eddie’s earlobe between his teeth.

“Stay still, babe,” Steve instructed, and it took all of Eddie’s willpower to comply. Seemingly reading Eddie’s mind—or body, or both—Steve slid one arm beneath Eddie’s head until he could press his hand against Eddie’s chest, then pulled him back until he was flush against Steve’s. The position had the added benefit of holding Eddie still, while also making him feel the safest he’d ever been. “You ready for me?”

“Fuck, sweetheart, beyond ready,” Eddie said, practically panting already.

Steve pulled his fingers free, leaving Eddie clenching with anticipation. Then, ever so slightly, he felt Steve line the tip of his cock up with Eddie’s hole. And then he waited.

“Please, Steve.” The plea was barely out of Eddie’s mouth before Steve pushed deep inside in one hard thrust, the wet sound of it filling the room alongside Eddie’s gasps. Eddie tensed at the sensation, pleased and relieved and aching all at once.

Steve rubbed soothing circles into Eddie’s hip with his free, still lube-slick hand, and began pressing more kisses into the now overheated skin of Eddie’s shoulders.

“You feel so fuckin’ perfect, Eds,” Steve groaned, setting Eddie’s senses further alight. “Doing so good for me.”

The praise went straight to Eddie’s dick, already twitching and leaking precum all over the sheets. Eddie only managed a whimper, desperate for Steve to move, to touch him, for anything more than he was willing to give in that moment.

“You wanna touch yourself?” Steve asked, eyeing the way Eddie’s cock was clearly in need of attention.

“Y—yes,” Eddie managed weakly. “Can I?”

“Not yet,” Steve said lowly, then took Eddie’s hand in his own as he started to move his hips. He set an agonizing pace, slow and deliberate so that he could coax every bit of pleasure out of Eddie’s prostate with the tip of his cock and sheer willpower alone. Eventually Eddie managed to hook his leg up and over Steve’s behind him, deepening each thrust so deliciously that Eddie couldn’t tell where his body stopped and Steve’s began.

For what felt like ages, Steve dragged Eddie right to the edge and then back, picking up the pace and slowing it again, like a pendulum of pleasure and denial. Steve’s free hand kept roaming, too, teasing Eddie’s sweaty skin with what he might do next—whether that was pinching Eddie’s nipples, or pressing into his taint, or just barely teasing the nest of hair at the base of  his cock before pulling away again.

“Goddamn, sweetheart,” Eddie gasped, feeling like he might fall apart at the seams as Steve set another particularly punishing pace. “I— fuck .”

Steve stilled his hips, filling Eddie up completely and staying there until a torturous kind of pleasure trickled up Eddie’s spine and spread through his limbs. Then Steve finally wrapped his hand around the base of Eddie’s cock and squeezed , leaving Eddie seeing stars and desperate to thrust into it, desperate for any movement at all.

The sight of Steve’s hand on Eddie’s cock alone was enough to drive him crazy—from the slight sheen from the lube and precum on his fingers, to the way he enveloped Eddie fully, or how the veins between his knuckles strained against his skin.

It was electric, the way every inch of Steve could make Eddie fall apart, and it was reaching the limit of what Eddie could handle.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Eddie chanted, grabbing a handful of sheets so he didn’t immediately come all over Steve’s perfect fist.

“Who’s my good boy?” Steve asked. His lips brushed Eddie’s ear as he talked, hot and breathless yet entirely in control.

“ I am ,” Eddie all but screamed, pleading for it to be true. “I am, Stevie— please . I’ve been so—fuck— good .”

“Have you?” Steve asked, his teasing bordering on unbearable at this point.

“Yes!” Eddie cried, squirming in Steve’s talented hands now as he babbled. “I swear I have, I’ll do whatever you want baby, please, please, fuck don’t stop.”

“Anything I want, huh,” Steve mused, voice playful, then licked a stripe up the side of Eddie’s neck. “What if I want to stop?”

Eddie actually managed to laugh, but it was a pained little sound. “I’d probably cry, but I’d do it. For you.”

“For me?” Steve asked softly, all traces of teasing gone from his voice now, leaving nothing but want in its place.

“It’s all for you, baby,” Eddie nodded frantically. “I’m only good for you…please, I swear. Shit, please let me come, Steve.”

“Well, since you asked nicely,” Steve purred, and Eddie could’ve come from the sound alone. Steve swiped a bead of precum from Eddie’s tip, then brought it to his mouth and licked his fingers clean. Eddie groaned loudly at the sight, barely able to hold it together before Steve even touched him again.

In time with his thrusts, now, Steve wrapped his hand around Eddie’s cock and jerked him off in long, graceful strokes. There was nothing slow about the way Steve moved now, with each roll of his hips getting sloppier as he chased both of their orgasms like he meant it, this time. Every push inside sent a shockwave roiling through Eddie’s whole body, every roll of Steve’s palm over the head of his cock seemed to splinter time itself. Barely holding on, Eddie grasped for whatever purchase he could find, reaching behind him to thread his fingers through Steve’s hair. Steve let out a broken whimper when Eddie gave it a tug, and Eddie wasn’t sure life could get better than this.

“Go on, Eds,” Steve said, his own voice sounding wrecked now. “Wanna watch you come for me.”

That was all it took—all Eddie ever needed, really.

“ Fuck ,” Eddie nearly howled, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears as his orgasm tore through him like wildfire. He could barely hear Steve follow him soon after over the blood buzzing in his veins, but Eddie felt the hot, wet spray of Steve coming inside of him. It sent another spark of arousal shuddering through him, and Eddie made a desperate, keening sound as his body contorted around it. He wasn’t sure if it was moments or hours later when he finally gasped out a raspy little, “Goddamn it, Stevie.”

“Good?” Steve asked, and all Eddie could muster was a weak laugh.

“Incredible,” Eddie corrected. “Some of your best work.”

Steve’s small, proud smile at the compliment was enough to set Eddie’s heart all aflutter again, like some kind of lovesick teenager. But that feeling never really went away where Steve was concerned, and Eddie never wanted it to.

“Do you still want that hot shower?” Steve asked eventually, once they’d caught their breath and the sweat started to cool.

“I’d probably just drown,” Eddie said simply. “Couldn’t move if I tried.”

Instead, Steve opted for the quick clean up with a warm washcloth. Then he helped Eddie shift, bonelessly, to move one of the dry blankets beneath them for now.

“You’re too good to me,” Eddie purred as Steve finally curled his body back around him like it was exactly where he belonged. Eddie believed wholeheartedly that it was.

“Here I thought you were the good one,” Steve said as he settled in closer and pulled the covers tight around them. Eddie twisted in his arms so that they were face to face.

“Oh, I am,” Eddie assured him with a kiss on the nose. “But you can be, too.”

“Oh phew,” Steve grinned, pretending to be relieved. “Are you warm enough?”

“Positively toasty,” Eddie said. Then a wicked thought occurred to him. “Maybe I should totally fuck up at skiing more often.”

“Don’t you dare ,” Steve warned, just barely letting his amusement shine through his stern face. He still wasn’t actually annoyed enough to stop running his fingers through Eddie’s hair, though. He sighed, seeming thoughtful for a moment, so Eddie didn’t interrupt. Instead he let himself get caught up in the feel of Steve’s hands in his hair, their legs a tangled mess, the way he felt warm through, and more than just on a physical level.

“You know you don’t have to change anything for me, right?” Steve finally said, a whisper filling up the narrow space left between them. “Whether you know how to ski or not isn’t gonna change how much I love you, or how I wanna spend the rest of our lives together.”

The words settled in Eddie’s chest and crackled like they were flames and Eddie’s heart was the kindling. He swallowed thickly, not sure how to respond right away no matter how many times Steve said something so earnest like that.

Even though Eddie knew he and Steve were in this for the long haul, sometimes it still knocked him off his feet to be reminded.

“I know,” Eddie said softly, grabbing Steve’s hand in his own and bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss. Steve seemed pleased to hear it, his brown eyes gleaming. Still, Eddie had a question. “Isn’t the point of sharing a life with someone to grow together, though?”

“Well, sure,” Steve nodded, then shifted until he settled further into his pillow, close enough for them to bump noses now. Then he grinned. “But in ways you actually want to, Eds. You don’t need to force yourself to become a human snowball for my benefit, is all I’m saying.”

“But you would’ve thought it was hot if I showed up at the resort and kicked your ass on the way down a mountain,” Eddie guessed, because that was the mental picture that had driven him to insanity. He still thought the idea of surprising Steve with a triumphant kiss at the bottom of even the smallest of slopes would’ve been a nice Christmas present.

Steve seemed to be picturing it as well, because after a moment’s contemplation he admitted, “Yeah, okay. That would’ve been hot.”

“I rest my case,” Eddie said, and sealed it with a lazy, slow kiss—like they both knew they had time to savor one another.

“ This outcome was pretty hot, too, though,” Steve pointed out when they pulled apart, and Eddie couldn’t really disagree.

“I knew you love it when I’m a damsel for you,” Eddie said, preening just to see the affectionate way Steve rolled his eyes. “Either way, I made the right call today, I think.”

“You’re not gonna stop until I agree, are you?” Steve guessed.

“Nope.”

“Fine,” Steve relented, but then he cupped Eddie’s cheek the way he always did when he wanted something. “Can we just agree not to try winter sports again, though? Otherwise I might just let you freeze, next time.”

“If you do, you know I’ll have no choice but to haunt you mercilessly,” Eddie pointed out. To his surprise, all that drew out of Steve was a blissful smile that Eddie couldn’t help but return.

“Is that a promise?” Steve asked.

“You bet your sweet cheeks it is, Stevie.”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Eventually, as Eddie started to drift off into sleep, he glanced out the bedroom window. He found the snow was falling outside once more, accumulating along the edges of the sill like it was stopping by for a visit.

Pretty as it was, Eddie was more than grateful to be inside, warm and safe in Steve’s arms.

[tboygareth]

stay right here (till this world is over)

pairing: mafia!au Vinlow (OMCxOXC) | rating: E | word count: 2176

tags: somnophilia, off-screen kink negotiation, frottage, nipple play, vaginal sex, multiple orgasms, cunnilingus, squirting

written for the STuad server gift exchange as a gift for @steves-strapcollection

Willow didn’t expect their first Christmas with Vinny to be anything special. In retrospect, they realized they… probably should have, but… maybe Willow was still dealing with some feelings of inadequacy with Vinny in comparison to Keziah. The relationship Vinny had with Kez just seemed so much more real to Willow than their own relationship with Vinny somehow, even after all these months.

And that was all on Willow—Vinny had been doing everything in his power to really show Willow that he cared just as deeply for them as he did Kez. He put in the effort to see them or talk to them every day, he brought Willow lunch at the clinic more days than he didn’t, and he went out of his way to really remember the things that Willow told him. He was devoted and loving and affectionate.

But Keziah was better suited to Vinny’s lifestyle. Ze understood Vinny in a way Willow feared they would never be able to.

Willow’s therapist had been telling them for months now that they really needed to process and work through those feelings but it wasn’t easy. Not when Vinny and Kez were attached at the hip the way that they were, or when Vinny was still being so secretive about Willow with his family. 

It was hard. 

But then Vinny did the things like treat Willow to an entire night designed to make them feel special in a way they’d never experienced before. Treated them like royalty, and bought them designer sweaters and bespoke suits, and worshiped Willow’s body on his knees in the shower and… and the way Vinny talked to them sometimes, especially late at night when it was just the two of them and Vinny, for some reason, felt safe enough to be vulnerable with Willow.

Last night after Vinny got home from midnight mass with Kez and his family, he’d picked Willow up from their condo and brought them back here to his luxurious high rise overlooking the city, and made love to Willow all over the house. And that’s… that’s what it was, last night. Maybe more so than it ever had been before—making love.

And now, here it was: Christmas morning. Vinny laid beside Willow in bed, facing away from them and snoring gently, the slope of his bare shoulders loose and unguarded. Willow was overcome with… something. Desire, maybe. Or an urge to give back to Vinny what he’d given to them the night before. They were still wet from the night before; growing wetter at the thought of touching Vinny now, like this, while he slept.

As they turned over in bed to press their tits to Vinny’s bare back, their hand sliding silently beneath the waistband of his boxers, Willow was reminded of high school sleepovers: anxiety-charged touches between friends sharing a bed, fingers dipping into panties; panting breaths and quiet whimpers in the dark.

This wasn’t like that at all, really. Because Vinny meant more to Willow than the girls that used to whisper right there into the silence of Willow’s bedroom before clenching their thighs around Willow’s fingers and gasping through an orgasm. 

That was dangerous, back then.

This was dangerous, too, though. Because Vinny was a dangerous man, with dangerous weapons hidden beneath his pillow. And a reaction time that often rivaled even Keziah’s.

But beneath Willow’s palm, Vinny’s cock began to stir and come to life. His breathing, still even in sleep, didn’t change. And yet WIllow’s heart pounded against their ribs.

They’d done this before, but not like this; Willow had woken some mornings to Vinny’s mouth on their tit, his cock hard against their thigh, his fingers deep inside their cunt. Willow had woken before on the brink of release and had let Vinny have his way with their body like that. 

They’d done this before, but they’d always done it the other way around. Touching Vinny in his sleep like this was new and exciting to Willow in a way they’d forgotten sex could be. It made their cunt clench, their dick grow hard; and when they slid their leg over Vinny’s to try and maneuver him to his back without waking him, Willow could feel the way their slick clung to their pubic hair and smeared against Vinny’s thigh.

Vinny was on his back, his face still miraculously slack with sleep as Willow drew his cock out from the front of his silk boxers. Willow carefully straddled him, lowering themself onto Vinny—not taking him inside yet, but grinding their wet dick along the hard length of Vinny’s cock.

Willow kept their movements slow, smooth, determined not to come or get Vinny inside them until he woke on his own. Grinding against him like this, Willow’s own dick throbbed, and the noises, Christ. Willow was so fucking wet, and Vinny was beginning to leak. 

Lightheaded and forgetting themself, Willow couldn’t stop the whine that crept up the back of their throat from escaping.  

They leaned forward to brace their hands against the headboard, their hips twitching and jerking as warm arousal licked up their spine with every drag of their dick against Vinny’s; letting out small ah, ah, ah noises as their cunt slid wetly against Vinny’s cock. Beneath them, Vinny began to stir, his hips waking first and thrusting against Willow’s body as his hands slid slowly up the expanse of Willow’s thighs to grip their ass and press them forward.

Vinny’s eyes were still closed, his body coming online before his brain, and his voice was low in the back of his throat as he groaned. Willow sped the pace of their hips a little more, unable to hold back the curse hissing through their lips. The pressure in Willow’s cunt was building rapidly, pleasure pulsing and surging along every nerve ending in their body; they weren’t going to be able to hold back their release for much longer. 

Vinny’s eyes opened to Willow's tits swinging heavily in his face. He grabbed one of Willow’s tits in his hand and squeezed, his thumb glancing over the hard bud of Willow’s nipple. He surged upward, taking Willow’s nipple into his mouth and sucking hard, teeth pressing sharp into sensitive flesh, and Willow cried out, grinding their dick hard over the stiff head of Vinny’s cock.

“Fuck, Vinny,” Willow whispered.

“Feel good, baby?” Vinny’s voice was gravel rough with sleep. “Want me to fuck you like this, gorgeous?”

He thrust upward, shoving his cock harder against Willow’s soaking cunt, slick noises filling the silent room. Willow nodded frantically, begging Vinny to press inside and fuck them, but he held their hips still instead, grinding grinding grinding—if Willow could just regain control of the rhythm they could finally come.

But Vinny wasn’t having any of it. It was exquisite torture, Vinny’s slow thrusts; his commitment to dragging things out.

“Please. Vinny, babe… I need you inside.”

“Should have thought about that,” he smiled, drawing Willow’s face down to meet his in a kiss.

Vinny's mouth was warm, his tongue soft and wet when it sought entrance to Willow’s mouth. They moaned together, Vinny’s dick twitching against Willow’s, and he bit down gently on their bottom lip as he shifted to slide his cock inside their cunt at last.

Willow, still a little stretched and sore from last night, sighed heavily when Vinny entered them, the muscles of their cunt clenching around the stretch.

“So hot, sweetheart,” Vinny whispered. “So hot for me, so wet. Take what you need, baby, c’mon.”

And Willow took. They swiveled their hips and sank down on Vinny's cock as deep as they could get him, dragging the length of him along their inner walls and against their g-spot. Vinny’s thumb found their dick, stroking little circles over it to make Willow cry out. 

The heat built and coiled in their gut as Willow thrust against Vinny with abandon. The bed shook beneath them with the force of Willow’s movements—chasing their release as it hovered just out of reach. 

Vinny took their tit in his mouth again, tongue swirling and teeth pressing into their nipple as Willow’s voice—loud enough to drown out the wet slapping of skin against skin—came out high and urgent, babbling Vinny’s name and begging for more, harder, deeper, faster. Vinny’s thumb, still stroking Willow’s dick, was precise and rhythmic, and Willow’s release was coming quick. Willow grew louder, louder, chanting “Yes, Vinny, yes yes yes baby I’m so so close c’mon right there right there right there fuck!”

Willow’s muscles tensed, their thighs locking up and quaking around Vinny’s hips as the first orgasm rushed through them.

And Vinny just kept fucking them through it, his pace unrelenting even as Willow’s voice grew louder and hoarser with delicious overstimulation. 

Vinny grabbed them by the tits again, kneading the flesh and rolling their nipples between his fingers. Willow gasped and shook as they finally began to come down from their orgasm. Willow rolled their hips again, and Vinny moaned. He was giving Willow control back, letting them thrust against him, and every noise that punched out of him brought both of them closer to coming. Willow would absolutely come again like this, and Vinny was getting to the point where he was mumbling, babbling, clutching at the sheets beneath him.

He was getting close too.

“Come on, baby, just like that,” he murmured, his voice quiet and urgent.

Willow focused as hard as they could on keeping the rhythm that Vinny liked, this quick pace that would have him coming inside them if they kept it up. It was hard work, Willow’s breath came in short hard pants and the muscles of their thighs burned with exertion.

Vinny’s fingernails dug into the soft flesh of Willow’s thighs as he held them down, thrusting upward hard, and he whined. Warmth flooded Willow’s cunt as Vinny filled them with his cum. 

Everything went still. Vinny breathed a deep sigh and gently laid Willow on their back, repositioning himself between their thighs as his softening cock fell free from their body.

He dragged kisses down their neck and shoulder, pausing to suck at their tits again before continuing their journey downward. He kissed Willow’s tummy and hip, his hands pressing their thighs to spread them further for him.

This was always Willow’s favorite part; whenever Vinny came inside them he took his sweet time cleaning them up with his mouth, dipping his tongue inside and sucking their dick into his mouth to bring them off again like that.

And this time was no different. 

He started slowly, pressing chaste kisses to their bush before licking the slick off his lips. He teased with little kitten licks at Willow’s dick, smirking at them a little before Willow took him by the hair and guided his face where they wanted it.

Vinny moaned into Willow’s cunt, tongue lapping inside, slurping messily at them before focusing his attention on their dick. He wrapped his lips around it and sucked hard. Willow arched off the bed with a cry. With a filthy moan, Vinny pressed forward even further, tonguing at Willow’s hood and bullying his fingers into their cunt. It sounded wet and messy, the quiet squelching noises making Willow flush a deep red from their cheeks to their chest.

Vinny released Willow’s dick with a little pop, working the hood back with his tongue to tease Willow’s frenulum. Willow jerked and cursed, and their fingers tightened in Vinny’s hair as they shoved his face harder against them. It only urged Vinny on more, and he crooked his fingers with perfect precision to stroke at Willow’s g-spot as he sucked hard on their dick again.

Willow was shaking, the muscles of their abdomen taut with the strain of trying not to come yet, and their hips rocked against Vinny’s mouth with abandon as his moans of pleasure encouraged them.

“Right there. Fuck. Jesus,” Willow heard themself whisper frantically, and Vinny fucked his fingers in and out of them, focusing on their g-spot as he added the perfect amount of pressure and suction to their dick. “Yesyesyesyes fuck I’m coming.”

There was a hot gush as Willow came, and Vinny’s groan was wet and satisfied, like Willow’s release was nectar-sweet, the only thing he ever wanted to taste again.

When it was over, they kissed deeply.

“I love you so much,” Vinny whispered. “You know that, don’t you? That I love you so much it makes me feel guilty and afraid?”

Willow searched his face. For what, they weren’t sure.

“Why guilt?” they asked, matching Vinny’s whisper. “Why fear?”

“Because you deserve a better life. A safer life than the one I can offer you.”

“I don’t want better. Or safer. I walked into this with my eyes wide open, babe. I know the risks. I’m here because I love you, too.”

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

Vinny wrapped Willow into a soft embrace. Outside, a fresh layer of snow was falling upon the city. Inside, Willow was warm. Willow was loved.