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Chapter Text

In the early hour of dawn, as the rain trickled down from a sheet of grey clouds blanketed over Hawkins, Indiana, Eddie Munson's house phone rang, causing the boy to wake with a jolt. The boy laid in bed for a moment, still hazy from sleep and not wanting to move out of his comfortable position of being face down into his pillows, hugging the one beneath him tightly. He almost fell back asleep when the phone stopped ringing, but it soon rang again a few minutes later. The boy groaned as he threw his covers off himself and rolled out of bed. His hair was unruly, and his sweats were bunched up to his mid-thighs as he walked into the hall of his trailer, where the house phone was.

The tired boy snatched the phone from off the wall and spoke in a gruff morning voice, annoyance laced into his tone, "Whoever this is, needs to get a life."

"Eddie Munson." the voice tutted through the line, causing the hairs on the back of Eddie's neck to stand straight. "Is that the way you talk to your boss?"

Oh yes- Eddie had forgotten. Steve Harrington, of all people, was training him at Family Video this weekend. Eddie wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Being around Steve was enough as it was during the whole Vecna... incident. Why? Eddie Munson had the fattest, most humiliating, most horrific crush on Steve Harrington- a straight guy in love with Nancy Wheeler.

Eddie's had a crush on the jock since Steve was in high school with him. They shared a class during Eddie's junior year, which was Steve's sophomore year. How was Steve out of high school when Eddie was still a senior? Eddie has repeated his senior year three times, but this year was his year. He could feel it. He's coming off the high of defeating Vecna, so why can't he graduate this year- 1986- as a twenty-year-old?

"You're not my boss, Harrington. You're my trainer." Eddie informed, leaning his back onto the wall in his hallway.

"You've got to listen to me while I train you. In my book, that makes me your boss." Steve spoke, voice soft in Eddie's ear.

Eddie took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let it out slowly. He didn't have the energy to argue with the man this early-- 6: 55 to be exact-- in the morning. His patience was thin due to his tiredness. He had Gareth to thank for that. The boy wouldn't take no for an answer when Eddie tried to shut him down on going bar hopping instead of studying- yes, they have fake IDs; who doesn't?

"Harrington, what do you want?" Eddie breathed out, eyes still shut and back leaning against the wall. He honestly could fall asleep like this if he tried.

"I'm calling to make sure you're up for your opening shift this morning." the boy on the line stated like the metalhead should know this already.

"I open today?" Eddie asked as he brought his free hand up to his eye to try and rub the sleepiness away. A small yawn escaped his lips, causing Steve to groan in annoyance.

"Yes. Did Robin not give you your schedule at your interview?"

"She did- she did." Eddie yawned again. "I just- forgot to look, is all."

"Are you trying to get fired before your first day?" Steve asked with a bit of a bite in his tone.

"Calm down, Harrington. I'll be on time."

"You better be."

"Wait- uh- when does the store open?"

"8:00 AM, Munson!" Eddie knew steam was coming out of Steve's ears at this point as the guy seethed the sentence into the phone.

"Okay, okay. I'll be there and on time too." Eddie spoke, finally peeling his eyes open as his Uncle Wayne's bedroom door cracked open. He watched as his uncle made his way to the kitchenette, dragging his slipper-covered feet across the carpet as he scratched at his balding head.

"Please." the voice on the other end of the line begged. "You're the first person Keith is letting me train. I can't have you get fired on my watch."

"Alright, alright. Bye, Harrington. See you at 8:30." Eddie spoke as he took the phone away from his ear. A small yell of, "8 o'clock, Eddie! 8 o'clock!" sounded through the speaker as Eddie finally hung the phone back onto the wall.

"What friend of yours is calling you this fuckin' early?" Wayne asked after popping a piece of bread into the toaster.

"Not a friend." Eddie shook his head, walking into the kitchen. He opened up a cabinet, grabbed a bowl and then a spoon from a drawer.

"We're out of cereal, kid," Wayne informed as he stared at the toaster.

"Seriously?" Eddie groaned.

"Seriously." the older man nodded, eyes drooping with exhaustion.

Eddie put the bowl and spoon back. After, he opened the fridge and grabbed a slice of cheese. This outta hold him 'til lunch.

"You've got to eat more than that, Eddie." Eddie's uncle shook his head. The bread from the toaster popped up then, almost black. Wayne grabbed the slice of toast and placed it onto a paper plate. While buttering it with a spoon, the only silverware that was clean right now, he continued, "You'll be skin and bones if you keep up with that diet."

"Maybe I'm just not that hungry?"

"Maybe if you'd stop snorting whatever the hell it is that your snorting, you'd work up an appetite." Wayne snapped while pointing the buttered covered spoon in Eddie's face.

Eddie sighed, eyes averting to the ground to escape his uncle's intense glare. Nothing ever good came while looking into Wayne's eyes. It made him see his truth- that he was a convict going nowhere. He was 20 years old, still in high school, with a barely escaped murder charge. Who was he kidding by not turning to drugs?

"Fine; if it'll stop your whining," Eddie said, grabbing the slice of toast off Wayne's plate. He took a bite and then walked to his room to get changed, slice still in hand. Wayne could make himself another. 

After shutting his bedroom door, he finished his breakfast and walked over to his hamper. He stripped off his sweats and boxers and threw them into the basket. He walked over to his dresser and grabbed a pair of dark blue briefs. After slipping them on, Eddie opened his closet and pulled down black jeans with no holes-- he's trying to be classy for his first day at Family Video-- and a black shirt with bright yellow and red letters that read Def Leppard across the chest. The shirt was collared- how business-esk of the metalhead.

Once Eddie's clothes were on, he placed his many rings onto his fingers and then his chain that hooked to his wallet and around his belt loops. When this was done, he put on beat-up black boots and laced them tightly. Once dressed, he made his way into his bathroom, brushed his teeth, and brushed his hair, fluffing up his bangs so they didn't lay flat across his forehead. He smiled as he looked himself over in his dirty bathroom mirror, ready to brave the day, prepared to brave Family Video, willing to brave Steve Harrington.

++++++++++

"You look like a drowned rat." Steve laughed as Eddie grumpily made his way under the cover by the front door of Family Video as the jock fished his keys out of the pocket of his blue jeans. He was wearing a raincoat, hair tucked away safely. Eddie, on the other hand, was not wearing a jacket; his hair and clothes were ruined before the day could even start as the rain poured down onto their small town.

"Shut up before I ring my hair out on you, Harrington." Eddie barked, gripping himself tightly to try and keep warm as the wind bit at his pale skin.

Steve rolled his eyes as he finally stuck the store's key into the lock. With a click, Steve opened the door, the bell to the front door chiming loudly. He flicked on the lights and stepped in, Eddie following quickly on his heels. Once the door was shut, Eddie shook his head, water from his hair spraying everywhere.

"Munson! Come on, man! Watch it!" Steve shrieked as he backed away, trying to cover himself.

Eddie smiled in triumph. The boy deserved it after giving Eddie such a hard time.

"If you're done-" Steve gave him a pointed look. "-then follow me to the back so we can clock in."

"Yeah, yeah- I'm done." Eddie nodded with a mischievous grin.

Steve motioned with his hand to follow him as he placed the store's keys down on the front counter. As he walked, the metalhead followed, eyes roaming everywhere in the store. There were so many genres, he didn't think it was possible to learn every movie the store carried all in one day- or like- ever. How did Robin and Steve do it? Maybe his memory was shoddy from his drug intake, but still.

"This is your punch card," Steve spoke, slapping a thick card to Eddie's chest. Eddie grabbed it, shivering as his hand dragged across Steve's. He looked down to see his legal name and birthdate at the top. "You need to slide the card into the machine on the wall to punch a time stamp on your card. This will clock you in."

Eddie looked up and watched as Steve put his clock in card into the machine. Seems easy enough. Eddie mirrored his previous actions when the jock stepped out of the way. A loud click sounded- meaning he had done it successfully.

"When it's time for you to take a break and leave at the end of the day, you'll do the same thing. Got it?" his trainer spoke, already beelining to the front desk.

"Aye aye, captain," Eddie responded as he placed his card back in its slot on the wall.

"Don't call me captain." Steve cringed. "This isn't Scoops Ahoy."

This piqued Eddie's attention. Eddie walked around to face Steve, sliding his arms across the counter as he smiled wickedly at the golden boy of Hawkins. "You worked at Scoops Ahoy? The place that makes you wear... those tight little sailor uniforms?" his voice was laced with sarcasm as an eyebrow raised.

"You know this, Eddie," Steve spoke, side glancing at the boy as he logged into the computer for the day. "The password to log into the system is KeithRules, no spaces- the k and r are capitalized."

"No." Eddie shook his head, placing his elbow onto the counter to rest his cheek in his hand. "I knew Robin worked there. I didn't know about you."

"Yeah, well, I worked there until it burned down."

"I think I should talk to Keith about a uniform change here at Family Video," Eddie spoke, biting his bottom lip.

"That reminds me." Steve slid off the stool he was on, jogging to the break room. Eddie watched intently as Steve's honey brown hair bounced through his movements. That's the one thing he missed about going to school with the jock- seeing him on the track field during PE.

After a minute, Steve returned with a hunter-green vest in his hands that already had a name tag attached to it. He tossed it to Eddie, which he luckily caught.

"What is this?" the boy asked as he held it up in the air; it balled into his fist.

"That's your uniform, Munson. Put it on."

Eddie slid into the vest, a slight grimace on his face.

"What's the issue?" Steve asked, eyebrow raising as he sat back on the stool at the computer.

"This makes my outfit lame." the metalhead grumbled as he looked down at the vest.

"This isn't a fashion show. It's work." the jock argued back. "Suck it up."

Eddie bit his cheek as he looked back up to Steve. Steve had turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. He clicked through browsers, closing all the ones he didn't need.

"Come behind the counter. I need to show you how to look up the returns list for the day."

Eddie rounded the desk and stood next to Steve. He placed his elbow onto the man's shoulders as he leaned over to see what the man was doing. He felt Steve stiffen underneath him, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Make sure once you're on the employee browser that you click on the tab that says returns; got it?" Steve questioned. Eddie nodded. "Next, you're going to type in today's date- April 19, 1986- and then a list will pop up of every single movie that's due today with the customer's name attached."

"Eight films need to be returned today, right?" Eddie asked as he looked over the list.

"Actually, fourteen. There's another page." Steve clicked on the next arrow. The list ended there.

"Oh."

"Please make sure you click the next button until it doesn't let you anymore. If someone doesn't come in today, you click their name, bringing down a drop box. Once it does that, you'll click roll over till the next day. This means they will show up on tomorrow's list, which will charge them more than if they were to show up today, since they are late."

"How much is the late fee?"

"$2.50 a day."

"That's expensive."

"Then people shouldn't be late." Steve shrugged.

Eddie backed off Steve's shoulder then and leaned up against the counter. He lolled his head to the side, boredom starting to kick in. It was only 8:09 AM. His break wasn't even close. How could people do this- work every day? Eddie didn't want to be here, a part of the working class. He wanted to be making music, traveling the country, and hooking up with anybody that would have him. This boring 8-to-7 shit at the Family Video store was pure awfulness.

"Eddie, are you even listening to me?" Steve asked, waving his hand in front of the metalhead's face.

Eddie blinked up at the man, snapping back to the present. "Yeah, yeah. I'm listening. Something about checking IDs and shit."

"Yes. You need to check IDs for rated R and up."

"What if the person looks 50 and wants to rent a R-rated movie, Steven?"

Steve's eye twitched as he looked at Eddie. "Only R-rated movies if they look under 17. Rated X is if they look under 18."

"Who is buying rated X movies at Family Video?" Eddie laughed in amazement.

Steve pointed to the big red fluorescent sign at the back of the store that read ADULT. "Apparently, a lot of people."

Eddie's curiosity got the best of him as he leaned off the counter and walked over to the section blocked by a curtain. He poked his head into the small room and saw a few rows of VHS tapes just like out front. He stepped all the way into the room then and turned his head. This is when he read Amber Rides Through Arkansas in big black letters covering Amber's tits on the tape cover and smiled to himself.

"No fucking way," he whispered as he grabbed the VHS and brought it up to the front of the store. "You weren't joking. We sell porn at Family Video!"

Steve's eyes almost popped out of his head as he shot his arm out and snatched the tape out of Eddie's hands. When Eddie looked confused, Steve motioned his head to the right. Eddie turned his gaze to an aisle with a mom and her toddler.

"Oh, shit," Eddie whispered with a slight laugh.

"Language, Munson." Steve scolded softly.

"Let me put it back." Eddie made grabby hands at the VHS Steve had taken from him.

"Quickly, Munson, quickly. I need to show you how to check this lady out when she's done."

"Yes, sir." Eddie nodded with a stern look on his face. It quickly faded to a smile as his fingers brushed up against Steve's hand as he took the tape. Eddie promptly ran back to the adult area and put the inappropriate movie back on the shelf. When he returned to the front, the lady was just sitting her movie selections down.

"Did you find everything okay today, ma'am?" Steve asked, his voice raising up an octave, which crept Eddie out to no end. Who changes their voice like that? Weirdo.

"Yes, I did." the mom smiled as she held her son on her hip.

"Bambi?" Steve asked, looking at the little boy. "Great choice, little man."

Eddie about threw up in his mouth watching this altercation. He wasn't sure he'd be able to pull this job off after all. He thought the long tedious hours, early mornings, and having to work with Steve all the time would be his main issue. Nope. It was turning himself into a dickhead for the customer- that's what was doing it for him.

"Can I please get your first name?" Steve asked as he clicked onto a tab called check out.

"Barbara Ann." the lady smiled.

Steve nodded and typed the name into the first box on the screen. "Last name?"

"Simpson."

"What is your telephone number and address?"

The lady gave it to Steve, and he repeated it back as he typed it in.

"Alright, and you're checking out Bambi and Risky Business?" Steve asked as he typed the movies into the rental box.

"Yes."

"Okay. You've got to return these by April 26th. Any day after that, the prices go up by $2.50."

"Okay. I'll see you next week."

"Yes. Have a great rest of your day Ms. Simpson."

The lady waved and then walked off with her son and the two movies.

"Easy, right?" Steve asked, turning his attention on Eddie now.

"Yeah. Too easy."

"Great. Then you'll take that guy." Steve smiled and pointed to the door as it chimed. Eddie turned to see who had walked in, and his stomach sank to the floor. When Steve noticed Eddie's reaction, he turned to see who had walked in, not really paying attention before. His stomach sank too.

"Munson? You work here now too?" Chance, a friend of Jason Carver, asked.

"Yeah." Eddie nodded, sucking on the inside of his cheek.

Chance was on the Hawkins High basketball team- the team who tried to hunt down Eddie Munson for Chrissy Cunningham's murder- which he didn't have anything to do with. Vecna was Chrissy's murderer and he was thankfully now dead too. Chance and the rest of the team, after Jason Carver died in the "earthquake" of Hawkins, vowed to make Eddie's life a living hell in honor of their friend and his dead girlfriend, even though Eddie's name was cleared from both deaths.

"Trying something new besides dealing drugs?" the athlete asked, smiling maliciously. "I didn't think you'd sell your soul to a corporate job."

"I'm just trying to get by like everyone else," Eddie spoke, eyes darting everywhere but Chance's face. He didn't want to get scared off and back down.

"Rent something or get out, Chance." Steve huffed as he stood, stepping in front of Eddie a little. Even though the two weren't super close, Steve still protected the metalhead. Eddie was a part of the jock's friend group now, whether he liked it or not.

"I think I'll skip out on it today. I was hoping for that hot chick- what's her name?" Chance paused and then nodded with a smile, "Robin. I was hoping for Robin, anyways."

"God- get out." Steve rolled his eyes in disgust.

Chance smiled at Eddie for a moment and then turned and left.

"What a fucking idiot," Steve spoke under his breath as he turned back to the computer screen. Eddie shivered, watching Chance run through the rain to get to his truck. "You that scared of Chance?" Steve wondered, eyes catching the shiver.

"No, I'm just cold. My clothes are still wet."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Steve frowned. "I don't have any clothes for you to change into."

"It's fine." Eddie slouched, leaning back onto the counter. "I really hate the goddamn rain."

"Why didn't you wear a raincoat or carry an umbrella?"

"It was only sprinkling when I left the house. I didn't think it would turn into a hurricane when I pulled into the parking lot."

"Always be prepared, Munson. Always be prepared." the jock stated as he tapped his head with his pointer finger.

Eddie rolled his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Steve grabbed a magazine to flip through; Eddie exasperated, "This blows, Harrington! How the hell do you and Robin stand here all day without wanting to rip your hair out!"

Steve looked up from his magazine, a bored expression on his face. "Usually, we gossip or read magazines."

"I don't have a magazine, and I'm not gossiping with you like a girl."

"Then stay bored." Steve shrugged as he turned his attention to the article he was reading.

Two hours had now passed since Steve and Eddie's last conversation, with only two customers coming in to make returns, and Eddie was about ready to bang his head against the wall. For the past two hours, to try and pass the time, he had walked down every aisle and read the title of every movie. He now knew every film Family Video had for rent- going against his earlier thought before he clocked in. Now he realizes how Steve and Robin know the movie collection like the back of their hands.

"Is it normally this fucking slow?" Eddie asked, staring out the window at the front of the store. He watched as the rain poured harshly down onto the gravel of the parking lot. The wind had picked up now, causing the trees to violently sway.

"No. It's just because of the storm." Steve yawned as he closed his magazine.

"Why did we have to open today?" Eddie mumbled to himself, but Steve heard it and replied anyways.

"Just be lucky that it's Saturday and you're still in school. Weekends have two openers, and weekdays have one. So Tuesday, I'll be opening by myself- even after our closing shift on Monday together." 

"Are you kidding?" Eddie whipped his head around.

"No- so be prepared for when you graduate in June."

"I'm going to commit murder, for real this time."

Steve barked a laugh. "Calm down, Munson. It's not that bad. It's just because of the weather."

"Is there anything we could do?" Eddie pleaded as he walked back up to the counter. He slid his elbows onto the wood and placed his chin in his hands. "I can't just sit here all day."

"Robin comes in at 2 o'clock." the jock tried to offer.

"Steve, that's in three hours." Eddie deadpanned.

"I don't know what to tell you then. I've taught you everything that you need to know."

"When's my break?"

"Not until Robin gets here. You'll get an hour."

"I quit."

"Oh, shut up." Steve rolled his eyes while he stood to stretch.

Eddie began to pick at his nails, trying desperately to pass the time.

"I'm going to head to the grocery store next door and pick up a few more magazines. Watch the store, will you?"

"Why do you get to go to the store?" Eddie asked, shooting up. He was already turning his body to make a bolt for the door before Steve could reach it.

"I always do when Robin and I run out of magazines."

"Don't leave me here by myself. That's a stupid thing to do, considering today is my first day."

Steve placed a hand on his hip as a scowl painted his face.

"You know I'm right." Eddie pushed on. "Let me go. I'll pick up a few magazines for you."

"Fine." Steve sighed. He dug out his wallet from his jeans and pulled out a fifty. "I want you to get me three. You can pick something out for yourself too."

"Do you not have any smaller bills?" the metalhead's eyes were practically popping out of their sockets.

"No." Steve blushed. He then shook his head and pointed his finger at Eddie. "I better get the correct amount of change back, Munson."

"Yeah- yeah." Eddie rolled his eyes, taking the bill from Steve's fingers. "Can I borrow your raincoat?"

"No."

"Don't be a dick."

"I'm only kidding." Steve chuckled as he grabbed his coat from behind the counter.

After Eddie slipped it on and pulled the front door open, he called out, "Be back shortly. Don't wait up, captain."

Eddie could hear Steve groan as the door closed behind him, which caused him to laugh as he sprinted to the grocery store next to his job. When he made it, he beelined to the card games. There was no way he was going to read a magazine all day. When he got to the game aisle, he grabbed Phase 10 and a regular deck of cards. Afterward, he went to where the books and magazines were and grabbed three different ones with random celebrity faces splattered onto the covers. Once he was checked out, he sprinted back to Family Video.

"Jesus!" Eddie shouted as he tore the hood of the jacket off his head. "Who knew Indiana could get so much fucking rain!"

Steve's eyes went wide, and Eddie looked to his left to see a customer, an old lady, who did not look impressed with his language.

"Sorry." Eddie waved as he walked behind the counter.

"Did you get my magazines?" Steve wondered, hand out, asking for the plastic grocery bag.

"No. I got you a football." Eddie deadpanned.

Steve rolled his eyes and snatched the magazines.

"I already have these three," Steve whined. "See? This is why I wanted to go."

"I guess you're free to play the games I bought." Eddie grinned.

"You bought a game? I said you could buy a magazine." the jock spoke as he narrowed his eyes.

"No." the metalhead shook his head as he took off Steve's coat. "You said I could get something for myself."

"What game did you get, Munson?" the boy was clearly annoyed.

"Phase 10 and a regular deck of cards."

"You bought yourself two games?"

"And here's the correct change." Eddie smiled as he placed the change onto the wooden desk.

Steve gathered his money and shoved it back into his wallet without counting. "Is that everything for you, Mrs. Jenkins?" he asked, turning to the elderly woman as she made her way to the front door.

"Yes, Steve." she nodded.

"See you on the 26th." the jock smiled.

"Yes, dear." she waved as she walked out of the front door.

"You didn't take down any of her information?"

"She's a regular here. She's got an account."

"But, you don't know what movie she rented?"

"It's either Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz. Since she got Oz last week, I'm betting it's the former." Steve spoke as he placed his magazines into a drawer.

Eddie nodded as he opened up the pack of Phase 10 cards. He began to shuffle.

"Hey, I didn't say I'd play with you." Steve shook his head.

"It's either this or read a magazine you've already read."

"What are the rules?" Steve hummed as he turned his attention to Eddie's shuffling hands.

Eddie laughed. "I thought so."

Steve rolled his eyes, pulling his stool next to the counter without the computer so Eddie could stand on the other side and be across from him for the game.

"The object of the game is to win all ten phases. The phases are listed on these cards." he scooted the phase cards towards Steve. "Every round, you have to follow those rules. We start the next round if you complete the phase and run out of cards. You'll be on phase two; if I didn't complete phase one, I'd repeat it. If I did complete it, I'd count the cards in my hands as points and move on to phase two with you. At the end of the game, whoever completes phase ten wins. If we both complete it simultaneously, whoever has the least amount of points wins. That's why you always want to be the one to run out of cards first. Simple enough?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's just play."

Eddie dealt out the shuffled cards.

Time passed on like this for a while. Curses, shouts, laughs, and smacks of arms could be heard throughout the small store as Steve and Eddie played the card game of Phase 10 together. Before they knew it, Robin was walking through the door, raincoat dripping.

"You're cheating, Eddie!" Steve shouted as he slammed his cards down. He had been stuck on phase six for the last three rounds, and Eddie was now on phase eight.

"I'm not cheating; I'm just lucky!" Eddie cackled as he threw his head back. "You're one sore loser, Harrington! A real baby!"

"What are you two dinguses doing?" Robin knitted her eyebrows as she walked to the back of the store to clock in.

"I'm kicking Steve's butt in Phase 10; that's what I'm doing, Buckley!" Eddie smiled as he shuffled the next round.

"Oh- deal me in!" She called as she shrugged her jacket off.

"You'll never catch up," Steve spoke, slumping on his stool. "Eddie, if not a cheater, is fantastic at this game. You'll never win."

"I don't care about winning." Robin rolled her eyes.

"Actually, we have to take a pause on the game. Now that you're here, I've got an hour break." Eddie informed as he pushed the cards to the side.

"You could clock out but continue to play?" Steve suggested. "If a customer walks in, Robin and I can handle them."

"I haven't eaten."

"Grab something from the store and come back?"

"Wow." Eddie smiled. "Harrington's already obsessed with working with me, and I've only been here for six hours."

"Go away. I'll wait." the jock huffed.

Eddie laughed as he brought his hand up to Steve's hair and shook it. "I'm just teasing you, Steve. No need to get your panties in a wad."

Steve's face went bright red, and Robin cackled, holding onto her chest to try and contain her laughter. Eddie grinned in triumph. He loved teasing Steve. Anyone could tell from how Eddie treats the poor fellow.

"I'll be back." Eddie waved again after slipping on the jock's coat, this time without asking. It took him a minute this time at the grocery store, the lines beginning to get long. By the time he returned, he only had thirty minutes left of his break to eat his snack.

"Cereal, Eddie? Really?" Robin asked as she watched him open the box of chocolate pebbled goodness.

"Yes. What's it to you?" he asked. "Shuffle the cards, Buckley."

She did as she was told.

The three started on the game, Robin catching up rather quickly. After thirty minutes, Eddie clocked back in, and Steve clocked out. They paused the game and waited for him to return with his lunch. Once he was back with a salad, they resumed the game. Once 4 o'clock hit, meaning Steve was back on the floor, the three workers had to stop their fun. The rain had finally let up, so they picked up on business.

"No, man. If you're looking for horror, go for A Nightmare on Elm Street for your date." Eddie instructed as he grabbed the VHS tape off the shelf and handed it to the teen, who looked to be fifteen. "She'll be in your arms for sure."

"It's rated R." the boy spoke, looking at the back of it.

"I've got you." Eddie winked. "Follow me up to the front."

The boy followed Eddie to the counter. Eddie sat on the stool and opened up the browser for rents. "Can I see some ID?" Eddie asked, loud enough for Steve to hear but not so loud that it was suspicious. The kid handed him his permit. Eddie looked it over and handed it back.

"Name?"

"Peter Young."

"Phone number and address?"

The kid gave Eddie the information.

"Be back by the 26th, or it's an extra $2.50 a day."

The kid nodded with a broad smile, grabbed the tape, and ran out of the store.

"Was he 17?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at his trainee.

"I checked his ID, Steven." Eddie rolled his eyes, turning to save the information into the computer.

"He better have been 17."

"Yeah- yeah." Eddie waved off.

Sooner than Eddie expected, 7 o'clock settled under the hands of the clock in Family Video. After gathering his things, he clocked out, Steve clocking out after him. Since the rain had stopped, Eddie didn't have to make a run for it to his car.

"How was your first shift?" Steve asked as he fished for his keys.

"Better than I expected. How did I do?"

"Better than I expected."

Eddie pulled his bottom lip into his teeth at the comment as Steve grinned widely at his joke.

"I'll see you, Harrington."

"See you, Munson."

With that, Eddie got into his van, ready to get the hell home and sleep.

Chapter Text

"Seriously, Eddie?" Gareth whined at the older boy. Eddie had flung his backpack into Gareth's face as the metalhead sat in his seat at the back of his English class. "One day, you're gonna give me a black eye, you dickhead!"

Eddie looked up as he bent over, unzipping his bag as it sat on the tile floor of the classroom. "Don't be such a baby, Gareth. My bag's not even heavy." Eddie sat up then, composition notebook in hand with the words Eddie M's English Notes sloppily written into the white box on the cover.

"How would you like it if I slapped my book bag into your face?" Gareth asked with a raised brow. "Better yet, my notebook?" He gripped it in his hand tightly.

"Do it." Eddie edged on with a grin and a raise of his brow.

Gareth reached over then and slapped Eddie across his cheek with his notebook. Eddie laughed, and Gareth giggled- everyone else in the class looked at them with disgust. Through the boys' fit of laughter, they didn't notice the click of heels walking up to their desks. Once the smell of an older lady's perfume hit the two boys' noses, they stopped laughing. The two looked up to their teacher, Mrs. Mayweather, and smiled.

"How can we help you today, Mrs. M?" Eddie lolled his head to the side.

"Detention." the teacher spoke, handing Gareth a pink slip of paper with the word written across it in black ink.

"What about Eddie?" Gareth quizzed, head motioning to the metalhead.

"You did the slapping, Mr. Gareth. Maybe you should use your time in detention to write an essay on what it means to keep your hands to yourself." Mrs. Mayweather spoke with her chin turned in disgust. The rest of the class laughed. "Stop acting like a five-year-old and get to working on the morning prompt." With that, she walked back to her desk.

Eddie bit his lip, trying to hold his laugh the best he could.

"You're gonna owe me for this, Eddie," Gareth spoke as he waved his detention slip in front of Eddie's face. "You're gonna owe me. I don't know what for, but you will."

"I'll let you make the first decision in Friday's D&D game." Eddie smiled as he looked at the chalkboard. He squinted his eyes- no, he doesn't need glasses- and tried to determine what Mrs. M's sloppy cursive writing said. "What the fuck does that say?" Eddie whispered.

"It says to write about your favorite author." Jeff (Eddie's other friend) spoke from the other side of the metalhead.

"Favorite- favorite author? Who the fuck has a favorite author?"

"Mine is Charles Dickens." Jeff shrugged, turning back to his writing.

"Who the hell is that?" Eddie wondered as he tapped his pencil on his desk.

"Have you ever heard of A Christmas Carol?" Gareth asked.

"Yeah."

"That's Charles Dickens."

"Oh."

"You've never paid attention in this class a day in your life, have you?" the boy snickered.

"Hey, I try my best. It's hard to do when your mind is- somewhere else." Eddie sighed on the last part of the sentence.

Eddie's mind seemed to always be farther away than everyone else's. If it wasn't Eddie thinking about his music, D&D, or how to make enough money to keep the lights in the trailer on, it was thinking about his love for men. Sure, he'd screw anyone willing- if anyone was willing- but his heart beats for his same gender. Most importantly, his heart beat for Steve Harrington.

The moment Eddie walked into his junior year French class and laid eyes upon the golden boy of Hawkins, his insides turned to mush, his heartbeat raced, and his brain got sucked into a black hole; the only thing to be seen was Steve's light brown eyes.

Eddie entered his class- almost late like usual- on the first day of his second semester in his junior year of high school. The door to the class slammed open, hitting the wall, causing every student to look up in shock. Eddie's cheeks grew red as he gripped his French composition book tightly. His hands began to sweat as their eyes bored into him.

"Mr...?" the teacher asked, a thick French accent laced behind her voice.

"Munson," Eddie answered.

"Mr. Munson, will you please find a seat. Class is about to begin." the lady motioned to the rows of desks.

"Yes- sorry." Eddie nodded as he turned to find a seat- and that's when Eddie saw him-  Steve Harrington.

Steve sat in the third row, middle seat. Tommy H. was on his right, and Carol Perkins was on his left. The jock looked up to Eddie, light brown eyes wide, as the metalhead began to walk towards the back of the class. It was like time stood still. Eddie and Steve both couldn't look away from one another. Their eyes were glued, not knowing where else to turn. For a slight moment, Eddie felt as if Steve might've felt something deep within himself, like feelings, for the rocker. His lips were parted, his cheeks were rosy, and his eyes were glued to Eddie.

As Eddie approached the third row, Tommy coughed, " Freak ." Eddie watched as Steve turned his head to his friend and laughed. He  laughed . So did Carol and the rest of the class as he made it to his seat, slumping down in it with embarrassment.

"Enough class!" the woman at the front of the classroom clapped. "Le silence!"

The class muffled their giggles. Eddie watched as Steve held out his hand low. Tommy slapped it. Eddie's stomach churned. His fascination would have ended there with the boy, but throughout the rest of the class, Steve eyed him out of the corner of his eye. Eddie thought he was going crazy, but Steve chuckled when Eddie's long-sleeved shirt got caught in his book bag's zipper. He  chuckled . When Tommy asked him what he was laughing about, Steve shook his head and looked back up to the front of the room for the first time in the entire hour of the class.

That's why Eddie's heart still beats for Steve.

"Just write about Shakespeare. That's easy." Jeff spoke, closing his notebook.

"What did he write?"

"Macbeth. Come on, man, even I know that." Gareth shook his head as he wrote in his composition book.

"If you're so skilled with authors, who are you writing about?" Eddie asked, leaning over to look. Gareth moved his book, so Eddie could see better. "Dr. Seuss?" the metalhead scuffed as he sat back in his seat.

"What?" Gareth asked as he turned his notebook back to him. "I loved reading his books as a kid."

"How do you spell Shakespeare?" Eddie then asked as he opened up his notebook to write the date at the top of the blank paper, April 21, 1986.

"S-h-a-k-e-s-p-e-a-r-e."

"His name is William Shakespeare." Gareth chimed in.

"Right." Eddie shook his head as he erased. After rewriting the name, he turned his attention to the blank lines. He met the tip of his pencil down onto the new paper and began writing. As he wrote, his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth, a habit he had when he was thinking too hard. By the time he was finished, and was sort of satisfied with what he had written, the teacher was asking for everyone to pass up their composition books.

"While I grade your morning prompts, please read chapter three of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. We'll discuss it afterward."  Mrs. Mayweather informed as she sat at her desk with the notebooks that had been passed to her.

Eddie reached into his book bag and took hold of the book. He flipped to the third chapter and began to read. "There was music from my neighbour's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and women came like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide..." Eddie's mind began to try to picture the scene the author was trying to convey the best he could. English was one of his worse subjects besides Ms. O'Donnell's math class- geometry. He usually wasn't horrible at math, but the lady's teaching skills were insufferable. Eddie couldn't understand what the hell she was trying to teach- are the triangles on the page congruent? He'd never know- but he was army crawling his way through the class nevertheless.

Once everyone had got done reading, and the discussion on the chapter had ended, Mrs. Mayweather handed back everyone's morning prompts. Eddie opened the page from today and sighed softly as he saw a C- written in the left upper corner of the page.

"Nice, Eddie." Jeff nodded after peering over Eddie's shoulder.

"What did you get?"

"I got an A."

"Plus or minus?"

"Plus."

"Of course you did." Eddie tutted, which caused Jeff to chuckle.

"I got a B- if anyone's wondering?" Gareth pouted as he put his notebook away in his backpack.

"Good boy, Gar." Eddie teased as he roughed up his hair like a dog.

"Get off me." Gareth swatted Eddie's hands away.

Eddie laughed as he put his book and composition book back in his bag. As soon as he zipped up the zipper, the bell rang, dismissing the class. Eddie got up, careful not to hit Gareth as he swung his book bag onto his shoulder. He then made his way out of his English class. As he stepped into the hallway, Robin came up to him, her class only right next store.

"Hey, how was Mayweather's class today?" the girl asked, flipping her hair out of her eyes.

"Boring as ever. Good luck later."

"Prompt?"

"Favorite author."

"Easy. That's J. D. Salinger."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it." Robin shook her head with a laugh. "Did you study for Mr. Kennedy's Human Anatomy quiz for today? It was sorta hard."

"Awe, shit." Eddie groaned. "I knew I forgot to look over something last night after my shift."

"If you need help studying, I can help during art class?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

"No. Besides, Mrs. Franklin is older than dirt. She's not going to notice."

"Thanks, Buckley. I appreciate it."

"No problem." she smiled. She then gave a small wave and stepped into her next class, leaving Eddie alone to walk to the gym. He wouldn't be alone for long, though, because he had this class with Lucas, Mike, and Dustin.

"Why are you always late?" Dustin tutted as Eddie reached his gym locker.

"Mayweather's class is across campus, that's why." Eddie sighed as he opened his locker. He got his gym clothes out and put his backpack inside. He took off his leather jacket, vest, and shirt before replacing his bare chest with a grey shirt that read Hawkin's Tigers. He then slipped off his sneakers and black jeans, replacing them with short green track shorts. After putting his sneaks back on, he closed up his locker and turned to his friends, that were lacing their shoes back up.

"I'm thinking of running the track today," Lucas said as he stood. "You losers can walk and be last- like always."

"Just because you're on the basketball team doesn't mean you have to show off." Dustin rolled his eyes.

"I'm not showing off." Lucas shook his head as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, you are." Mike agreed, stretching out his arms, trying to crack his back.

Lucas only rolled his eyes, knowing whatever he was going to say would be argued against. Eddie sat back from the altercation, not really caring. He just wanted gym class to be over with. He only ever liked it when he got to watch Steve Harrington rub up against other guys while playing basketball. He was thankful he got gym with the man in his second year as a senior. Steve was also a senior that year. The two had gym together, along with Max's brother, Billy Hargrove. Those two used to go at each other like cats in heat- at least Eddie thought.

"You can run all you want, but I'm walking." Dustin shrugged as the group of boys walked out of the locker room together.

"Maybe you should learn to run, chubby boy." Andy, another of Jason Carver's friends, spoke, pushing up against the kid as he walked out of the locker room.

"Hey- I like the way I am!" Dustin shouted back.

"Leave it be, Henderson." Eddie shook his head as he rested his arm over the boy's shoulders. "Andy's not right in the head."

"None of the basketball players are right in the head." Mike scuffed.

Lucas kept his mouth shut. He knew it was true. He'd quit if it weren't his only way to get into college. He had to stay on the team and suffer just to get a scholarship.

The group made it onto the track outside to run- walk- their daily mile. As they walked, the boys thought up new ideas for their D&D campaign for Friday night, new ways to torture Erica throughout the game, and new ways to annoy Max as she recovered in the hospital.

When gym had finally ended, Eddie made his way through a few more rounds of classes before lunch, and then it was a few more until he landed in his last course of the day, Mr. Kennedy's Human Anatomy class. Thanks to Robin's help in the prior class, he got a B+, which was rare for Eddie.

When the final bell rang, Eddie bolted for his van. Once he was in and a good song played, he sped out of the parking lot- since he didn't have to take Robin to work with him tonight (which was now their agreed-upon deal since she helped get him the job at Family Video). Tonight, he worked with Steve. It was his last day of training. Tonight, the two men were closing.

Eddie's fingers tapped on the stirring wheel of his car as he sang to the song seeping out of the speakers. His head bounced along to the beat, nearly causing him to crash a few times since his hair got in his line of vision. Once he made it into the parking lot of Family Video, he turned down his music, parked, and slid into his vest. He had a moment to spare, so he pulled out one of his Camel's and lit it.

Eddie closed his eyes and rested his head back on his seat as he breathed in the smoke. As it swirled around in his lungs, he finally began to relax for the first time today. School was never relaxing- smoking was.

As a soft hum of the radio spread throughout the car, as well as the smoke from Eddie's cigarette, the metalhead started to doze off. Who could blame him, though? He's had so many early mornings these past few days.

What brought Eddie out of his hazy state, was a loud knock on his driver's side window. This scared Eddie, causing his cigarette to fall out of his mouth and onto the floor of his van.

"Shit, shit, shit!" he exclaimed as he bent forward to pick it up. Once he grabbed it, he put it back into his mouth and sat up to see who had knocked on his window. This was when the metalhead was met with the warm face of Steve Harrington. "What do you want, Harrington?" Eddie asked as he rolled down the van's window.

"It's past two. You're late." Steve scolded as his hands landed on the dips of his hips.

Eddie's eyes traveled down and stayed there for a moment. Sometimes he wishes he could know what it would be like to grab Steve's hips.

"School gets out at 1:30 and it is a twenty-minute drive here with traffic, you know this," Eddie spoke, eyes trailing back up to meet Steve's. This was when he noticed Steve's cheeks had the faintest glow of pink spread across them. Was Steve... blushing?

"You would have been on time if you weren't smoking." his voice came out a bit weird, cracking here and there.

"Would you like a drag?" Eddie asked, passing his Camel over. He was so hoping Steve would say yes. Sharing a cigarette was intimate to Eddie. He doesn't just share with anybody. He didn't even share with Gareth or Jeff and they had been his friends for years.

Steve gave the Camel a once over before taking it out of Eddie's hands- a tingle ran up Eddie's arm as their fingers touched- and placed the cigarette between his thin lips. Eddie's eyes dropped to Steve's mouth as he watched the jock take in a long puff of smoke. As he blew the smoke out, handing the Camel back to Eddie, the rocker snapped out of his trance. He took it back with a smile and put the stick between his lips. He tasted... peppermint? Noted.

"You ready?" Steve asked, lolling his head to the side.

Eddie nodded, Camel between his lips, as he rolled up the window to his van. After, he turned the car off and got out. Once it was locked, he followed Steve to the store. After he stomped out the cigarette, he walked inside. He was met with Keith sliding past him to leave. He didn't say a word to Eddie as he walked out the door. What a rude guy.

Eddie tried to shrug off Keith's attitude as he walked to the back to clock on. Once he was clocked in, he sauntered off to the horror section to see what movie he could put in the store's television. He learned that after four, the store plays movies for the customers. It was only 2:17, but he wanted to have some time to check out everything the store had to offer... until Steve rained on his parade.

"You're not picking out a horror movie for the TV, Eddie," Steve informed as he walked down the aisle with a box full of new rentals.

"Yes, I am. The customers will apricate it."

"No, they won't. Here," Steve spoke as he pushed the heavy box into Eddie. Eddie grabbed it. "-unload these for me, will you?"

"Only if I get to play a horror movie."

"I'm your boss. You do as I say."

"Trainer, Steve." Eddie corrected. "You're my trainer, not my boss. Besides, you're just another fellow employee to me after today."

"I'll let you play the movie at eight. That gives you two hours until closing."

"Fine." Eddie huffed as he sat the heavy box down on the floor. He pulled out his pocket knife to open the box. Once opened, he began to restock the horror shelves. When his eyes landed on Carrie, he knew that's what he would play tonight.

Later in the night, as Eddie was putting in a customer's information so they could rent Grease, and while Steve was flipping through a magazine, the front door chimed as a new customer walked in, a familiar customer.

"So, this is what Eddie Munson looks like while holding a job?" Dustin's high-pitched but getting deeper voice asked.

Eddie looked over at Dustin's gummy smile and grinned. He turned back to the customer he was helping and said, "We'll see you on the 28th, or it's $2.50 extra each day your late."

The guy Eddie was helping left, leaving Dustin next in line. He walked up to the counter and put down a tape reading Ghostbusters.

"You're not on the returns list?" Eddie asked, looking at his computer screen.

"I'm returning it a day early. I wanted to see you working." Dustin informed as he pinched Steve's arm to get his attention off the magazine he was reading.

"Hey!" Steve cried as he looked up at his friend. "That hurt!"

"Good! Pay attention to me. You never spend any time with me, Steve."

"Because I just defeated Vecna with you. Give me some space." Steve spoke, rubbing the spot that Dustin had pinched on his arm.

"You're spending time with Eddie." the boy complained.

"That's because we're working," Steve informed. "We're working, Henderson."

"Would you not hang out with me outside of work?" Eddie asked, turning around on his stool to look at Steve.

"Probably not." Steve shrugged.

"But you hang out with Buckley?"

Dustin motioned his arm at Eddie with a head nod as if to agree with his previous statement.

"That's because she's my best friend."

"What the hell am I then?" Dustin asked with knitted eyebrows.

"Yeah, Steve." Eddie pushed on. "What's Dustin?"

"That's unfair." Steve shook his head.

"No, no-" Eddie waved a finger at Steve. He then motioned his hand over to the kid. "-what is Dustin to you?"

"One of my best friends."

"So why won't you hang out with me like you do with Robin?" the younger boy quizzed. 

"She's just... different... I don't know. We talk about a lot of things that you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I get it." Dustin laughed. "You've got a crush on Robin!"

This piqued Eddie's interest. He raised a brow and cocked his head to the side. He knew Robin was a lesbian- but did Steve? 

"I don't have a crush on Robin." Steve laughed a little as he put his hands on his hips. His eyes side glanced at Eddie quickly before returning back to Dustin.

"You're cheeks are getting red, Steve! Yeah, you do!" Dustin shouted as he pointed a finger at the jock.

Eddie bit his lip. Was it true? Did Steve like Robin?

"I don't like her, Henderson! Leave it alone!" the man snapped.

Dustin giggled as he looked at Eddie. He winked at Eddie, which made the metalhead chuckle and Steve stomp his foot like a kid. Steve was cute when he was angry. He was like an angry little kitten.

"If you don't like her, why would you want to constantly be around her?" Eddie pushed.

"We talk about... things." Steve shrugged.

"What type of things?"

"Like the person I actually like." Steve let slip. Eddie knew he didn't mean to say anything by the way his eyes went wide.

"Who do you like?" Dustin practically screamed. "Is it that Brenda girl you took to the pep rally?"

Eddie raised an eyebrow, heart pinging a little.

"No. I don't like her."

"Then who?" the kid asked while wiggling his eyebrows.

"It's none of your business, Henderson," Steve said, eyeing Eddie again.

"Just leave it." Eddie waved. "He's never going to tell us. Obviously, we aren't that important to him."

Steve sighed as he thoroughly looked at Eddie this time. He didn't say anything; he just looked. Eddie started to sweat. Get those eyes off of me, Harrington.

"Uh, Henderson, you owe $4.75 for Ghostbusters." Eddie coughed, turning his attention back to the computer. Dustin gave Eddie a five-dollar bill. Eddie gave him back a quarter. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise." Dustin nodded as he put the quarter into his wallet.

"I think it's time you get home now." Steve waved his hand. "Go on."

"Geez- so mean." Dustin tutted. He then made his way for the door. After waving at Eddie but flicking off Steve, he left.

"That kid needs to be knocked down a peg or two." Steve sighed as he closed his magazine.

"You're telling me." Eddie laughed.

"I think I need an actual cigarette. Can I use one of yours?" Steve asked after a moment. "Dustin made me- need a smoke."

"As long as I can smoke out there with you?" Eddie motioned his head to the front door.

"Someone has to watch the store."

"It's Monday, Steve."

"Come on." Steve rolled his eyes.

Eddie hopped off the stool behind the counter and followed the jock outside. Once they were standing off to the side of the building, Eddie pulled out his pack of Camel's, handed one to Steve, and then took one for himself. After lighting his own, he turned and lit Steve's.

"Thanks, man." Steve nodded. He then sucked in the polluted air. Eddie followed suit. "I haven't smoked in a while." the jock stated after a minute.

"When was the last time?"

"I believe my junior year."

"That was my first year as a senior," Eddie informed. Steve looked over to Eddie, a soft look in his eyes. Eddie noticed this and shook his head. "Don't look at me like that, Harrington."

"You passed all the other grades so easily, so why have you repeated your senior year three times?"

"Uhm-" Eddie sighed, looking anywhere but at Steve's face. "-I guess it's because that's the year I had to start selling drugs- and when I started selling, I started using. I couldn't concentrate anymore."

"Why did you have to sell drugs?" Steve flicked his Camel with his finger before bringing it back to his mouth, with a wondering look in his eyes.

"I needed quick money. Wayne was going to lose the trailer... meaning we would have been homeless."

Steve sucked in a breath as he nodded, looking out into the parking lot.

"I know many people think I'm repeating the 12th grade because I'm stupid, but I'm not- at least not that stupid, obviously, as one can see from my first three years of school."

"I don't think you're stupid." Steve offered.

"Oh, really?" Eddie asked, sucking in another drag.

"No. Not at all." Steve shook his head. "You were one of the first kids in French to start asking to use the bathroom in the language like Mrs. Monet wanted."

Eddie whipped his head over to look at Steve. He was stunned. Steve remembered him from Mrs. Monet's French class? Steve laughed at this.

"What? You didn't think I'd remember you?" he asked, almost sheepishly.

"No. Not at all."

"You almost put a dent in the wall when you slammed the door open on our first day. How could I forget that?" the jock chuckled.

"Is that all you remember about me in that class?" Eddie wondered, swaying a bit from foot to foot out of nervousness.

"I remember more things." Steve nodded. "I remember you tripped on a book once and almost face planted."

"So, you only remember embarrassing things about me?" Eddie shrugged. "How nice."

"No- no!" Steve laughed. "I remember you described your love for music in your end-of-year essay- all in French. It wasn't choppy at all... like mine."

Eddie smiled.

"You remember that?" Eddie kicked his foot out as if to say oh shucks.

"Yeah." the trainer nodded.

"I remember yours too. I think you were talking about your love for... what was it... chocolate?" Eddie chuckled.

"It was the easiest thing to say!" Steve defended with a laugh. This was when both boys said at the same time, "Chocolat!" They both burst into a fit of laughter. Before they could comment on what they had said, they saw a couple walking up to the store. They both stomped out their cigarettes and went back inside. Once they got behind the counter, the couple entered.

"Welcome to Family Video." Steve and Eddie said in unison. They both giggled to themselves.

The couple gave them a weird look and walked off to the romance section of the store. Eddie leaned against the counter, his back facing the front door, as he watched Steve put in his movie choice, Top Gun, since it was now 4 o'clock. Eddie's eyes ran over Steve's body, especially his ass, as the jock climbed the ladder up to the TV that was close to the ceiling, so all customers could see it.

Interrupting him from his fantasies was a cough. Eddie turned and saw the couple. They handed him a tape labeled, Endless Love. He just knew the girl picked this out. The dude didn't look at all interested.

"Can I get a first and last name for the account?" Eddie asked, turning to his computer.

"Gary Watts."

"Phone number and address?"

"I'm not telling you that."

Eddie looked over to the man with a raised eyebrow.

"I have to put it into the system. It's in case you steal the film."

"Can he take my information down?" Gary asked, pointing to Steve as he climbed down the ladder. Steve turned his attention to the front of the store as he did so.

"Can I ask you why Mr. Watts?" Eddie questioned, already having a gut feeling about why the guy didn't want him to hear his information.

"You're the kid who killed Chrissy Cunningham."

There it was. Chrissy's death was never going to leave Eddie alone. Chrissy was his friend. He grieved her enough. Why can't some of the people in Hawkins leave her to rest?

"Hey- he wasn't convicted," Steve spoke, walking up to the front. Standing behind the counter, he continued, "He wouldn't be working here if he was. Now please, let the man do his job."

"No." Gary shook his head.

"Then leave." Steve shrugged.

Eddie felt embarrassed. This was now Steve's second time defending him against customers.

"Fine. I'll take my business elsewhere." Gary huffed.

"Okay." Steve nodded as he snatched the film from off the counter. "I'll put this back for you."

The couple turned and walked out of the door after Steve's words, leaving Eddie red-faced. When Steve returned from putting the movie away, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Eddie shrugged. "Kind of have to be."

"What do you mean?"

"This is my life now. Everyone will think I killed Chris until there's solid evidence that I didn't, which there never will be."

"We should have just pinned this all on Jason." Steve sighed.

"No." Eddie shook his head. "As much of a dick he was, let his name rest in peace."

"You're a really good guy, Eddie. You know that?"

"That one's new." Eddie chuckled.

Steve shrugged with a smile before saying, "I'll let you play your movie after this one."

"I don't have to wait until 8 o'clock?"

"Not tonight."

Eddie bit his lip as he bounced his way to the horror section to grab the Carrie tape so he could place it on the counter.

Their night went on swimmingly after that. They were steady, so it wasn't dull. Soon, the night came to a close, and Steve began to show Eddie how to count the cash register at the end of their shift.

"I really have to do this every night?" Eddie sighed.

"Yes, Eddie." Steve nodded as he closed the register. "Please ensure you count every cent to the best of your ability."

"I'll try."

Steve stood then, gathering his things.

"Meet me outside." the jock stated as he walked to the break room. Eddie nodded to himself and clocked out. After, he waited outside for Steve, as told. After Steve clocked out and made his way outside, he locked the doors and turned to Eddie.

"What's up?" Eddie asked.

Steve held out a ring of shiny silver keys.

"What's this?"

"Your store keys." Steve smiled. "Welcome to full-time employment at Family Video, Eddie Munson."

"Holy shit," Eddie whispered as he took the ring of keys from Steve's hand. "Thanks."

"Use those keys wisely."

"I will."

"I hope I trained you well," Steve spoke softly as he tucked a piece of hair behind his ear.

"You did. I can run the place just fine."

"Your supposed to say great, not just fine."

"Don't worry, Harrington. I've got this." Eddie spoke, poking his thumbs into his chest.

"Okay." Steve chuckled. "Have a good night, Eddie."

"G'night, captain."

"Shut up." Steve shook his head as he turned to leave for his car.

Eddie watched him walk away for a moment with a soft smile before turning and leaving for his own vehicle.

Chapter Text

"I don't know what to tell you, Henderson, but that campaign was lame." Gareth sighed as the Hellfire Club came to a close on their Friday night game.

Eddie looked over to the kid and saw him slump. Dustin had worked super hard to try and come up with an excellent storyline for the club. He'd never been a Dungeon Master before and turned to Eddie for lots of advice, which the metalhead thought helped dramatically with the kid's plan. Sure it was a little tame compared to Eddie's campaigns, but again, this was Dustin's first time leading.

"I think he did well." Eddie shrugged as he gathered up all of the game's pieces. He gave a quick glance to Dustin and saw the kid smile. The kid always looked up to him and his opinions. Obviously, the metalhead would not trash his first-ever game as Dungeon Master.

"I think you did good." Mike agreed.

"It was a little weird in spots, but you can always work on that," Lucas added, patting Dustin on the back.

"I really tried, guys. Ask Eddie." Dustin sighed as he brought a hand up to his neck to scratch at it.

"We can tell." Jeff nodded. "You've just got to get used to leading is all. Don't focus on being embarrassed when doing other characters' voices. Just got for it- like Eddie."

"I don't hold back," Eddie spoke, folding up his Dungeon Master guide. "You know I put my all into a game when leading. I use voices, I show off fake wounds, and I even play fight some of the battles as I describe them. It just takes time, though, to get comfortable."

"I think you need to sit down and give me lessons." Dustin sighed as he slid his elbows onto the table and placed his chin in his hands. "I think then I can finally be a good Dungeon Master."

"You're already good." Eddie smiled as he leaned over and roughed up Dustin's curls. "But if you want to practice, I'll help you out sometime."

"Thanks, Eddie."

The metalhead nodded as he returned to pick up his game pieces. He waved goodbye as he did so to Jeff, Gareth, and a few other members. Soon, Lucas and Erica left with their mom. Not long after that, Mike and Dustin went so they could ride their bikes together. Now, Eddie was alone to clean up the mess. He didn't mind that everyone left him to pick up after them; it just gave him an excuse to not go home.

He didn't have a troubling home life- at least not anymore- but he wanted to stay as far from the trailer as possible. He could only see the aftermath of this past year whenever he was there. Seeing Wayne's grumpy, tired face, angry at Eddie for selling and using drugs. Seeing the plastered-over hole in the ceiling from where Vecna came down and killed Chrissy. The most horrific thing, though, was his room. It was a place full of lonely nights sat on his bed, cleaning his wounds from the bat fight in the Upside Down, looking over at his guitar, feeling empty- not being able to pick up and play, and his bed- not having someone else in it with him.

Eddie stopped cleaning then and sighed. He could feel his bottom lip quivering. He held it between his teeth to try and keep himself together. He felt stupid for crying when his life could be so much worse... it used to be so much worse...

"Eddie- get your lazy fucking ass off the couch and help me move the goddamn TV!" Eddie's mother shouted as she held a cigarette between her lips, smoke filling the living room.

"Mom, I'm trying to study!" Eddie yelled back, trying desperately to figure out his 7th-grade fractions- squinting through the smoke. His eyes watered and turned red as the smoke wrapped around his head. He didn't cough, though. His lungs were used to it.

"I don't care about your stupid fucking school work!" she stomped. "Get up and help! Your family's needs are more important!"

"Mom-" Eddie whined, tears already forming out of frustration. "-I need to finish this. I'm barely passing."

"Edward Munson-" she warned in such a way that Eddie got up, throwing his books to the side, without another word. He knew what would come next if he were to keep up the argument.

Eddie sat down at the halfway clean table and pulled out his pack of Camel's. He sighed angrily through his now running tears and placed a cigarette between his lips. After lighting it, he pulled the smoke into his throat and held it in his lungs. He let it swirl around and sting before he blew the smoke out. At times like these, he wanted to use, but he knew he needed to stop. He didn't want to end up like his mother and father. He didn't want to teach his kids how to be criminals like they did to him. At this point, maybe he shouldn't have any kids. He'd only fuck them up.

Eddie tucked his curls behind his ears as he sat up a little, tears hardly running now, cigarette dangling from his lips, as he piled all of his D&D papers into a small briefcase. He wiped his nose with his hand a few times as he did this, due to it running from his earlier tears. As he got up to pick up and throw away the pizza boxes, cups, soda bottles, and napkins, a knock sounded through the dingy room of the Hellfire Club.

"Come in!" Eddie called out, hoping it wasn't a teacher due to the cigarette hanging from his mouth. To his surprise, it was none other than Steve Harrington. "Harrington? What are you doing here in my little corner of the world?"

"Dustin asked me to swing by after my shift and pick up the math book he left behind," Steve informed as he shut the door behind himself. "What are you still doing here? Didn't Hellfire end an hour ago?"

"It did." Eddie nodded as he continued to pick up trash. "I just like to take my time cleaning up."

"Why is that?" the jock asked, looking over the table through the mess to try and find the book.

"I prefer being here than at home." the metalhead shrugged.

Steve got on his hands and knees to look for the book underneath the table since he had no luck above it. "Why would you rather be at school than at your house, where it's nice and cozy?"

Eddie barked a laugh as his head swung back. "Your house might be nice and cozy, but my trailer is sure not."

"How can your home not be cozy to you?" Steve was crawling under the table at this point, looking under every crack and crevice.

"It's just not. It's humid, cramped, and in no way like your giant bachelor pad." Eddie grumbled as he put out his cigarette.

Steve barked a laugh this time as he came from under the table to stand back up. "My house is not a bachelor pad. It may be big, but it's lonely. No one's there but me."

"You and your parents." Eddie corrected as he picked up the last piece of trash from the floor and put it into a black trash bag.

"No." Steve shook his head, hands falling to his hips as a sigh escaped his mouth. "Just me- now where the hell is Dustin's stupid math book?"

"Have you checked up on the stage?" Eddie pointed. Steve turned as his eyes went wide. He climbed onto the stage to look. As he asked, "Is this the old drama room?" Eddie asked at the same time, "Why aren't your parents at your house?"

Steve looked behind a curtain for the book as he said, "They travel."

"Yeah, this is the old drama room- Where do they go?"

"Sometimes business trips, sometimes just trips to get away from... me." There wasn't even a pause as Steve spoke next, "Why have D&D game nights here? Do you nerds act out fights on the stage?"

Eddie paused for a moment, mid-tying up the trash bag in his hands. It took him a second to realize what Steve said about his parents wanting to escape him. He side-eyed the jock as Steve was looking behind a metal box with the words Extra Stage Lights printed on it. Eddie was shocked that Steve didn't even seem to be phased by the bomb he had dropped on Eddie. The metalhead wasn't sure if he should ask about it or move on. He chose the latter for now.

"We do act out fights sometimes. It makes the game a little more interesting. Don't tell the others this, but sometimes the game can get boring if it's dragged on for too long."

"You-" Steve's face was contorted into a look of stage shock. "-find D&D boring?"

"Okay, that's not what I said." Eddie pointed a finger. "I said it can get boring if dragged out for too long."

"So, you think it's boring?"

Eddie's eye twitched as he looked over Steve's cocky expression. It was rare for Steve to tease Eddie, but it caused the metalhead's heart to swoon when he did. At least he wasn't the only one trying.

"Harrington, don't make me throw this cold pizza at your head." Eddie motioned his hand to the open pizza box.

"What kind is it?" Steve quizzed, peering at it from atop the stage.

"Cheese."

"Pass me a slice?"

"It's cold."

"I don't care. I just got off an opening shift from the store."

"Suit yourself," Eddie mumbled as he grabbed a slice of the cold cheese pizza. He walked it over to Steve, Steve taking it the second he could reach for it.

"Thanks." the jock hummed, pizza already in his mouth.

"Would you ever want to... play D&D sometime?" Eddie asked, kicking his foot a little out of nerves and a little out of embarrassment.

"I'm not a nerd," Steve spoke, sitting down on the edge of the stage, his legs dangling off the side.

"Who says a jock can't slay a dragon?" Eddie questioned, eyebrow-raising. "To me, you'd be able to do it without question. You know how heavy armor is?"

"You know how heavy armor is?" Steve questioned, eyebrows raised to his hairline.

Eddie bit his lip. He sounded like a total dweeb. "Yeah, I know how heavy armor is. I've been to a few shops before that custom make armor, shields, and swords."

"You're a real nerd, you know that?"

Eddie put his hands on his hips as he watched Steve swing his legs back and forth while stuffing his face with his cold pizza. The jock had an amused look on his face. Clearly, he was in a particular type of mood tonight. He was never like this at Family Video, reminding Eddie, "Hey, you're hanging out with me outside of work."

"No, no." Steve waved a finger, swallowing his last bite of food. "I'm picking up Dustin's math book. You just happen to be here."

"Yeah, but you're sat down eating pizza and chit-chatting with me. Where's the book, huh?"

"I can't find it yet," Steve spoke small, a flush of pink rising in his cheeks.

"Because you're too busy chatting me up. I call that hanging out, Harrington." Eddie smiled, proud of himself for taking back the teasing to work in his favor. Steve didn't answer, which only wound up Eddie more. "Cat got your tongue, Steve?"

"Oh, shut up," Steve grumbled as he hopped down from the stage. "Will you please help me look for Dustin's stupid math book? I would like to go home."

"Yeah, I'll help you look." Eddie nodded as he went to look on the bookshelf in the corner of the room. "So, since we are technically hanging out outside of work, care to share that crush you were so secretive about earlier this week?"

Steve sucked in a sharp breath; Eddie could hear it from across the room.

"I take that as a no?" Eddie chuckled.

"I just don't want to talk about it."

"Is it embarrassing? Oh god- you don't like Gareth do you?" Eddie joked, shooting up from his crouched position to look over at Steve, who was back looking at the table. He saw Steve's head snap up, cheeks a deep scarlet.

"I don't like Gareth," he spoke, voice a little shaky. Holy shit. Did Steve like Gareth? Was Steve... gay? No, he couldn't be gay. He's had tons of non-gay experiences with Nancy, Linda, Heidi, Brenda, and more. Could he possibly be... bisexual? Was Steve Harrington bisexual?

"Steve... are you... blushing?" Eddie gasped. A part of him was green with envy over Steve liking Gareth. Eddie's had a soul-crushing crush on Steve for years. He's been waiting for the day for the jock to come out of the closet. If that happened, he wanted to be the first to hop aboard the Harrington Train. Now it was Gareth. Steve liked Gareth, of all people. Eddie's heart sunk to his stomach.

"Eddie, I don't like Gareth," Steve spoke, words smacking Eddie across the face as Steve's cheeks turned almost maroon with embarrassment... for being caught.

"Steve, you're like, hardcore blushing," Eddie spoke, eyes wide.

"Because it's not true!" Steve exclaimed, stomping his foot. Angry kitten. "I don't like Gareth! I won't repeat myself anymore on the subject!"

"Whoa- whoa-" Eddie spoke, putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay. I won't mention your crush on Gareth anymore."

"Eddie," Steve whined, dragging his hands down his face in annoyance.

"Too far?" the metalhead asked, shoulders rising, hands in a question position, and eyebrows raised.

"Very." Steve's eyes looked tired, his face sunken.

"Sorry."

"I think I'm just going to have to tell Dustin to suck it up and buy a new book from the school." Steve sighed, hands on his hips, as he looked off to the side, eyes averted from Eddie. "I can't find that damn thing anywhere."

Eddie nodded as he walked up to the table where the jock stood. He slugged his book bag onto his shoulders and then grabbed his keys, briefcase, and the trash bag. "Walk out to the parking lot together?"

"Sure." Steve nodded. "Here, let me help you," he said, grabbing the trash bag.

"Thanks, Harrington."

As the two boys walked out of the room, Eddie turned to shut off the lights but paused after noticing something sitting on a chair tucked under the table. No fucking way.

"Harrington, did you think to pull out the chairs?"

"What?" Steve asked, already halfway down the hall.

"Come here and check the chairs." Eddie motioned with his head.

Steve walked back down the hall and into the room. He pulled out a chair and looked back at Eddie with an embarrassed expression.

"What's in the chair, Steve?" Eddie asked, cocking his head to the side, amusement laced in his tone.

"Dustin's math book." the jock mumbled.

"What? I couldn't hear you?"

"Dustin's math book, you cocky shit," Steve spoke as he snatched the book off the seat.

Eddie bit his lip as he turned off the lights in the room. Steve walked past him with a huff. Eddie closed the door and locked it. Afterward, he turned and began walking down the hall to the parking lot. Steve threw the trash bag into the dumpster next to the building before beelining to his parked car next to Eddie's van, once outside. 

"See you at work tomorrow?" Eddie asked as he unlocked his car.

"Yeah, see you." Steve nodded with annoyance in his tone, getting into his seat.

Someone's feisty.

++++++++++

"Wayne, please! I'm going to be late!" Eddie shouted as he banged on the bathroom door. He was in dire need of a shower. He would've taken one last night after getting home from Hellfire, but he smoked a bowl and then fell asleep. He woke up late this morning- that's why he was desperately pleading for Wayne to hurry up with his morning shit.

"I'm going to be in here a while, Ed. Should've showered last night." Wayne grumbled through the door.

"Or maybe we should get a bigger fucking trailer!" Eddie cursed as he stomped away from the bathroom to his bedroom. "Fuck it. I'll just douse myself with cologne." He huffed as he tugged off his sweats and boxers from the night before. Afterward, he dressed in black jeans with no holes, an Iron Maiden tee, and black boots. Once that was done, he accessorized with his rings, chained necklaces, chain around his belt loops, and some hair ties wrapped around his wrists. He put his bandanna on to hide his greasy hair instead of tucking it into his back pocket. After spraying a hefty amount of cologne and practically scraping the entire deodorant stick onto his armpits, he grabbed his keys and work vest and ran out the door to his van so he could drive to work.

As he pulled into the parking lot, he was met with a crowd waiting outside Family Video. Eddie looked at his clock and saw it was 8:30. He was thirty minutes late, but the store wasn't open. Where the fuck was Steve?

After parking and throwing on his vest, Eddie turned off his car and ran to the store, keys in hand.

"Doesn't Family Video open at 8:00 AM?" an elderly woman asked as Eddie shimmed through the crowd to get to the front door.

"Yes- we do. It seems the opener didn't show up. I'm very sorry." Eddie lied. "I'll get this place running in no time. Don't you fret." Don't you fret? Who the fuck has Eddie turned into?

"Hurry up, man! I'm trying to bring some movies home for my sick daughter!" Another man shouted.

"Yeah- yeah! I got it!" Eddie called out as the door finally unlocked. He didn't even have time to push the door open before he heard, "Eddie? Why isn't the store open?"

Eddie turned to see Steve's frantic face pushing through the crowd. Nice of him to show up. Eddie didn't answer him. He pushed open the front door and stepped aside so the group could enter. Steve walked in when the crowd stampeded through the door, looking somewhat disheveled. Eddie ignored him, though, and went behind the desk to help the first customer, waiting to make returns.

"Name?" Eddie asked as he quickly logged into the computer.

"Brenda Thompson." the elderly lady from earlier spoke as she set her two movies down on the counter.

Eddie grabbed onto the two movies and looked to see if they matched the screen. "Alright, Ms. Thompson, you owe $9.50 today."

The lady slid him a ten-dollar bill. Eddie gave her back fifty cents. After she left, he turned to the next customer.

"Name?"

"Kenneth Higgins."

"Returning or renting?"

"I'm returning this." the man spoke, handing Eddie a tape named, Sally Takes on a Big C- okay, don't need to read the rest of that title. "$4.50, Mr. Higgins."

Mr. Higgins handed Eddie a ten, and he gave back the correct change.

"Next," Eddie called.

A girl handed over three movies.

"Renting or returning?"

"Renting."

"Name?"

"Rebecca Jennings."

"Phone number and address, Miss Rebecca?"

After typing in the information, Eddie informed, "Return these by next Saturday, which is May 2nd, or it's $2.50 extra a day that you're late."

"Got it." the girl smiled as she took her movies and left.

"Returning or renting?" Eddie asked the next customer.

"Returning. My name is Karen Douglas." the lady spoke, nose turned up to Eddie.

Eddie typed her name into the computer and saw she was three days late on her return of Weird Science. "Uh- Ms. Douglas, your-" Eddie tried, but she scolded him with, "Mrs. Douglas." Eddie apologized with a slight nod, "Sorry- Mrs. Douglas- but you're three days late on your return. Instead of owing $4.75, you owe $12.25 since it's $2.50 daily every day the movie is late."

"I'm not paying that." the lady scuffed.

"Ma'am, you're late. This is the late fee." Eddie spoke, already annoyed with the lady.

"Look, my son rented this movie a little over a week ago without telling me and just now asked me to bring this back. I'm not paying an extra fee for my son's purchase. Take my $4.75 and let me go."

"That's not how this works, Mrs. Douglas."

"Where's your manager?"

Eddie turned his head to see Steve helping a girl around his age find a film in the romance aisle. Eddie smiled to himself. "Steve, dear?" Eddie called out. Steve turned to Eddie, eyes wide, cheeks red. He looked like a dear caught in headlights. "I need a manager." Steve wasn't a manager, but he was the shift lead, so it will do.

Steve excused himself from the girl. Once behind the counter, he asked, "What seems to be the problem?" After Eddie explained the situation, Steve agreed with his employee. "He's right, Mrs. Douglas. You owe $12.25."

"You two are just stupid kids." the lady spat out as she ripped open her wallet and slammed down a twenty-dollar bill onto the counter. Steve kindly took the money and returned her change. Once the lady left, Steve returned to helping the girl in the romance aisle, and Eddie continued checking people out.

The morning went on like that for quite some time. The store didn't become slow until about 12:30 in the afternoon.

"Oh, shit!" Steve groaned as he looked at the computer clock as he clicked through the rest of the returns for today.

"What?" Eddie wondered eyebrow raised, as he unpacked candy bars onto the front counter.

"We didn't clock in this morning!" the jock yelled, jumping off the stool and heading to the back of the store where the clock-in machine was located.

"Oh, fuck." Eddie groaned, following Steve. "How are we going to clock in and still get paid all the hours we worked?"

"Don't tell anybody what I'm about to do." Steve demanded as he began to unscrew the machine with a screwdriver he had hidden in the cabinet underneath it. Eddie watched in amazement as Steve took the machine's back off and rewound the clock to say 8:00 AM. He stuck his card into the machine and stamped the start of his shift into the box that said today's date. He then did the same for Eddie's card. After, he rewound the clock to display the current time of 12:33 PM.

"Steve Harrington." Eddie tutted with a slight shake of his head. "You're a real deviant."

"Oh, spare me." Steve rolled his eyes as he screwed the machine back together. "Would you have rather been clocked in at 12:33 and lost four and a half hours worth of pay?"

"No, I guess not." Eddie chuckled as he returned to the front to resume restocking the candy.

"That reminds me, why the hell were you thirty minutes late this morning, Eddie? We had that big line out front because you were late." Steve scolded as he walked behind the counter.

"Me?" Eddie asked with a laugh. "Why were you late, Steve? You busy shagging a girl in that big house of yours?"

Eddie must have struck a nerve because Steve turned on his heels, walked out from behind the counter, and slammed his way through the front door- the bell chiming loudly as it opened and shut. Eddie watched with wide eyes as the jock stomped his way into the grocery store next door.

Eddie slowly turned back to the candy and finished what he was doing. After, he broke down the candy box and threw the box in the trash can in the hall connected to all the stores on the shopping strip. The corridor leads outside to the collective dumpster of all the stores. When he returned to the front counter, Steve still wasn't back, but a teen boy was roaming the store. Eddie sat on the stool behind the counter and waited for the boy to come up with his pick. When he did, Eddie looked down to see The Shining.

"ID?" Eddie asked.

The boy looked at Eddie with a worried expression.

Eddie usually wouldn't care, but he didn't want to piss off Steve even more today, so he went corporate on the kid.

"You have to be 17 to rent this. It's rated R." The boy took the movie off the counter and put it back. This was when Eddie called out, "If you're looking for an appropriate scare, try Little Shop of Horrors. It's PG-13." When the kid handed Eddie the recommended movie, he asked, "Name?"

"Steven."

Eddie smiled a little at the name. "Last name?"

"Hart."

"Telephone number and address?"

Steve returned to the store while Eddie typed in the kids' answers. He walked behind the counter and put his shopping bag down.

"Return this by May 2nd, or it's $2.50 extra every day it's late."

"Got it. Thanks." the kid smiled, grabbing onto the tape and leaving the store.

"That better not have been a R-rated movie," Steve warned, going through his bag.

"It was Little Shop of Horrors," Eddie informed.

Steve raised a brow.

"It's PG-13, Steve. Calm down."

Steve nodded and then grabbed something out of his bag. After, he walked right back out of the front door. This time, Eddie followed.

"Okay, what the fuck, Harrington? What's wrong with you?" Eddie asked or more like demanded to know.

"Needed a cigarette," Steve spoke in a duh manner as he held up a pack of Salem's.

Eddie let out a breathy laugh as he said, "You could have asked me for one."

"I could've." Steve nodded as he placed a Salem into his mouth. He lit it with a blue lighter- also newly bought.

Eddie didn't say anything; he just took out his pack of Camel's and slid one between his lips, lighting it promptly. The two boys stood in silence for a moment as they smoked. Eddie wasn't going to push Steve on why he was upset. He didn't want the boy to leave his job and go home. He needed him to stay- to work and... to be with him.

To Eddie's surprise, though, Steve answered his worries. "My parents came home this morning."

Eddie turned his attention to the jock, who was already moving onto his second cigarette. Eddie had barely finished half of his own. The metalhead didn't want to push him too far but wanted to ask about the matter. Yesterday's comment, "Sometimes business trips, sometimes just trips to get away from... me." swam circles in his head. So, he asked, "Why would that make you so late? Aren't you one for punctuality?"

Steve sucked in smoke for a moment, not answering. As he blew out the cloud in his lungs, he responded, "My father was angry with me for not cleaning up mine and Robin's dinner plates from last night. She had come over with takeout after her closing shift so we could... talk about shit that's been on our minds. I was too tired after she left to clean up my mess."

"Why did him being angry make you so... angry too?"

"He yanked me out of my bed, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I'm not exaggerating when I say yanked." the golden boy sighed as he glanced over to Eddie. "When I got in front of the sink, he told me to wash everything- using a few choice words that I don't feel like repeating. He stood there the whole time and watched me scrub the plates until they could show my reflection."

Eddie tapped on his cigarette before placing it back into his mouth. A deep feeling of sorrow filled Eddie's chest as he looked at Steve's face. He was trying to hold it together in front of Eddie. Eddie knew this feeling well. He thought about it just last night after D&D. He knew Steve's pain. Who knew Steve Harrington, King Steve, could know pain like Eddie knew pain.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that." Eddie offered.

"I've been dealing with it all my life; it's whatever at this point." Steve shrugged as he tapped his cigarette.

"It shouldn't have to be whatever." the metalhead turned to face Steve as he said this. He stomped out his Camel as he spoke next. "Parents shouldn't treat their kids like garbage and get away with it. It's not right, so don't make excuses for them or accept it. It's unacceptable. The minute you learn that... you're untouchable."

"Do you know what I know?" Steve asked, voice low.

"I do." Eddie nodded. "That's why I live with my uncle."

Steve stomped out his Salem as he nodded his head. Eddie wasn't sure if Steve wanted to continue their talk or not- not until Steve asked, "Head back inside?"

"Sure." Eddie smiled softly, understanding that Steve was done for now. After the two boys entered the store, Eddie asked, "Why the hell was it so busy today?"

"It's not raining."

Chapter Text

"Robin, I'm not sure if you understand me," Eddie stated as he swept the front of the store. There were only thirty more minutes until he was able to clock out.

"What am I not understanding?" The girl asked, head lolled to the side as she popped her gum.

"Vickie is into you. She's totally into you." This topic always came up when Robin and Eddie were together, whether they were working, driving around Hawkins, or just having a good old-fashioned sleepover.

"No, she's not. Just because she broke up with her college boyfriend doesn't mean she's suddenly into me- a girl." Robin sighed as she leaned her head into her hand. Her magazine on the check-out counter was closed so she could focus on the conversation.

Eddie stopped sweeping for a moment to look up at his pouting friend. "You, of all people, should know that Vickie could be bisexual. Why cancel yourself out without actually knowing?"

"You should take your own advice."

Eddie's heart slammed to the bottom of his stomach. He hated talking about his own romantic feelings with others. He was stupid enough to do so with Robin, who he had only told while he was drunk in the back of his van with her the night after Vecna died. He needed a pick-me-up.

"I don't want to talk about that." Eddie shook his head, resuming his chore.

"Eddie, don't be hypocritical." Robin tutted as she slid off the stool she was sitting on so she could walk over to the romance aisle. She had just noticed the new arrival box that she had forgotten about. As she started to unload the box, she added, "Who knows, maybe he's bisexual too."

"He's not bisexual." the metalhead sighed, knowing not to say Steve Harrington's name out loud. It would be just his luck that Steve would be in the shop and overhear him.

Eddie has come to realize that the whole "Steve liking Gareth" thing was nothing but Eddie trying to pull a sexuality out of Steve that wasn't true. The jock was only blushing out of embarrassment for being accused of being gay... not that he actually liked a boy.

"Then Vickie's not bisexual either."

"Robin, I can tell." Eddie groaned as he flung his head back.

"How?"

"Because she stares at your lips when you talk to her, and she laughs at your jokes that aren't funny-"

"-Hey! All of my jokes are funny." the girl interjected.

"Sure they are, babe." Eddie deadpanned. "Anyways, as I was saying... she also gets all red-faced when you bring up the topic of crushes and relationships. She's bi."

"What if I said Mr. Pretty Boy reacts the same way towards you?" Robin pointed as she peered around a shelf to look at the sweeping metalhead.

"Then I'd say you're a liar."

"I'm not lying."

"He doesn't react that way towards me." Eddie sighed as he walked the dustpan to the trash can at the back of the store to empty out all of the leaves, dirt, and trash from the front. "If anything, he's always annoyed around me."

"No, he's not," Robin argued as she stacked movies onto the shelves, trying hard not to be bitter at the sight of the happy couples on the covers of the tapes.

"Oh, please." Eddie laughed. "He's constantly rolling his eyes around me, huffing and puffing at my jokes, and he's got no interest in anything I find fun. Usually, when you like someone, you'll try and talk to them about what they like. He doesn't do that- Vickie does."

"No, she doesn't."

"Robin Buckley- I- you're impossible."

"How?"

"When you and I worked last Sunday together, she came in here- she could have just called- to tell you that The Smiths released a new song. Tell me how the fuck that's not discussing your interests? She doesn't even like The Smiths! She told me herself."

Robin slowly walked out of the aisle she was in to look over at Eddie, whose right hand was on his hip; his other hand was gripping the dustpan tightly. He had a stern look on his face as he looked at his friend.

"She doesn't like The Smiths?"

"No, Einstein."

Robin tried to bite back her smile, but it pulled across her face anyway. Eddie's expression softened as he looked Robin over. Eddie wished he could have that same look of realization hit him about Steve. Oh, what life would be like if Steve was into Eddie. It would be an absolute fairytale because people like Steve don't date people like Eddie. That was the law of the universe, and the metalhead accepted that.

Robin and Vickie, however, were meant for each other, and Eddie knew that. Both girls were in band, understood Muppet references, and were absolutely giddy over each other. They were both giant nerds- perfect for each other.

Steve Harrington was a whole other beast. He was a jock, wealthy, intelligent, and able to hold relationships for longer than a week. Eddie's longest relationship was a one-night stand that stayed one more night. Steve didn't belong to someone like Eddie. He deserved a good girl like Nancy Wheeler, Brenda, or whoever his pretty little head fell for. He deserved a lovely house, six kids, a dog, a goddamn white picket fence, not whatever Eddie had to offer. He didn't deserve Eddie's trailer with smoke-stained carpets, mold in the air vents, and a stained covered sofa and recliner in the living room. Eddie knew this and was okay with it. His delusions of Steve liking him back were just that- delusions.

"I can't believe she doesn't like The Smiths," Robin spoke, pulling Eddie out of his thoughts.

Eddie smiled as he shrugged towards the girl, "Yeah. I'd say you've got a shot with her."

"Should I see if she's going to Steve's party tomorrow night?"

This pulled Eddie back into reality even more. "Harrington's throwing a party tomorrow?"

"Oh." The girl spoke softly, a bit of worry behind her eyes for obvious reasons. "He didn't invite you?"

"No, Buckley," Eddie answered, walking to the breakroom as he did so, trying to shield his face from hers. He was embarrassed by how hurt he looked. He shouldn't be hurt. Delusional, Eddie. You're delusional.

"I'm sure he's going to." she tried to offer as he put the dustpan back into the supply closet.

As Eddie walked back up to the front to grab the broom, he snickered, "Yeah- a last-minute invite- if he even invites me. How fucking nice."

Robin walked back to the aisle she was working in earlier and resumed her work. "I'm sure there was a mix-up. He'll invite you."

"I doubt it," was heard from Eddie as he walked with the broom in his hand to place it into the closet of the breakroom.

Robin didn't say anything after that, meaning Eddie had finally won their dispute. Steve wasn't bisexual, and the boy didn't like Eddie.

After locking up the breakroom, Eddie walked behind the counter after he noticed a customer walking into the store. "Welcome to Family Video." the metalhead smiled.

The girl just nodded her head and walked to the aisle Robin was in.

"Hi, ma'am. Can I help you find anything?" Eddie could hear Robin ask.

The two ladies had a small conversation about movie selections, but Eddie drowned them out as he noticed a familiar car pull into the parking lot. It was Steve's car. The jock was here to replace Eddie. Eddie was the opener today due to having no school even though it was Friday, and Steve was closing with Robin.

The metalhead watched as Steve turned off his engine. The jock got out of his car, stretched, and slid into his Family Video vest before closing his door and locking his car. Eddie smiled- on the inside- at how beautiful the man looked. He'd never smile fondly on the outside for anyone else to see. Those emotions were reserved for Eddie and Eddie only.

Steve laced his fingers around the front door's handle and pulled the door open, the loud chime of the door sounding throughout the store.

"Welcome to Family Video." Eddie joked.

"More like welcome to hell." Steve offered as he walked past Eddie to head to the back. Eddie turned his head and watched the man clock in for his shift. Before Steve could catch Eddie's glance, the metalhead turned forward again to stare at the empty parking lot. Before he could get too invested in the team of ducks waddling their way across the lot, the lady from earlier came up to the front with three movies.

"Can I have your first name?" Eddie asked as he turned to the computer next to him.

"Eleanor."

"Last name?"

"Murphy."

"You're address and telephone number, Miss Murphy?"

As Eddie typed her information in. He watched from the corner of his eye as Robin and Steve said their hellos to each other. After a moment, he turned back to his customer.

"You're renting Sixteen Candles, Splash, and Risky Business?" Eddie asked as he typed the titles into the system.

"Yes, sir."

"There's no need to call me sir." Eddie joked as he side-eyed the girl, who was red in the cheeks. "Bring these back by next Friday, or it's $2.50 extra a day."

"You've got it." Eleanor smiled as she slowly took the movies out of Eddie's grip.

Eddie just nodded back to her with a polite smile. She so wasn't the correct gender. After Miss Murphy left, Steve slid his elbows onto the front counter, making Eddie jump. He hadn't realized Steve was standing off to the side during his interaction with the customer.

"Someone had eyes for you, Eddie." Steve teased.

"Not interested." Eddie smiled before turning to the computer to save the girl's information into the computer.

"You're never interested in the girls that flirt with you."

"Hardly any of the girls that come here flirt with me."

"Yes, they do," Steve argued.

"No, they don't, Harrington. They flirt with you." Eddie pointed as he slid off the stool behind the front counter. He began walking to the clock-out machine as he continued, "Eleanor was the only girl to look at me since I've worked here."

"You're mistaken," Steve informed as he followed the metalhead to the back.

"No, I'm not."

"You're really clueless, aren't you?"

Eddie stopped walking and turned. He looked into Steve's eyes, laced with something he couldn't quite figure out.

"I'm not clueless."

"Obviously, you are."

"How am I clueless, Steve? Enlighten me."

"You don't know- or at least pay attention- when people are flirting with you."

"Because they aren't flirting with me. They'd be weird if they were."

Steve rolled his eyes at this with a shake of his head as he turned to walk away. Eddie swore he heard the jock say under his breath, "Yup. Clueless."

Eddie narrowed his eyes and turned back to the task he was trying to complete before Steve had to go and ruin the rest of his night with his whole "clueless" talk. After clocking out and saying goodbye to Robin, Eddie grabbed his book bag and keys, only saying, "Hope tomorrow's fun for you." to Steve before walking out of the store to get into his van. Through his angry stomping out the door, he didn't notice Steve's confused expression after his farewell.

++++++++++

Ringing. All Eddie could hear was ringing as he was dosing off while trying to study for his geometry test for the upcoming week.

Eddie's eye flickered open as he tiredly looked around his bedroom, ringing still filling the small trailer. The man slowly got up and walked to the phone on the hallway's wall. He picked it up and groggily asked, "Hello?"

"What did you mean by what you said earlier?"

"Harrington?" Eddie wondered as he wiped the tiredness from his eyes. "Why are you calling me at-" he paused, looking to the clock in his living room. It read 11:03 PM. "-at 11 o'clock at night?"

"I just got home from closing," Steve answered, but he didn't let up on his earlier question. "What did you mean earlier when you told me to have fun tomorrow? Are you not coming to my party?"

Eddie had to hold in a laugh at Steve's question. Was the boy mad? Insane? Stupid?

"Steve, you didn't invite me. Why would I be going?"

"What do you mean I didn't invite you? I so did."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," Steve argued.

"The words of you're invited to my party Saturday never came out of your mouth. That means I'm not invited." Eddie argued back.

"Did you check your backpack?"

"What do you mean?"

Steve groaned loudly. "Check your backpack, Eddie."

"Be right back."

"Yeah, sure."

Eddie let the phone hang from its cord as he made his way into his room, confused. He unzipped his bag and began to go through it. After he had taken everything out, he noticed an orange crumpled-up piece of paper. Eddie took the paper out, unfolded it, and read the big, bold letters out loud, "Steve Harrington's Annual Cinco De Mayo Party This Saturday! Don't Be Late Losers!" Eddie sighed as he looked around his room. "Son of a bitch."

Eddie walked back into the hall and yanked the phone up to his ear. "Stuffing a paper into my backpack and expecting me to find it doesn't count as an invite."

"I told you that I put something in your bag last week. It was when you were clocking out, and I was clocking in. We were super busy, so I opted for that instead of talking to you about it."

"Well, you should have asked me if I was coming."

"Robin told me you were, so I didn't think to ask."

Eddie stood silently in his hallway, staring into his living room, unable to think of anything to say. Steve spoke first.

"So, you coming tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Eddie reluctantly sighed. "I'll be there."

"Good- now- go to bed. You open tomorrow morning with Keith."

Eddie devilishly smiled as he asked, "You know my schedule, Harrington?"

No response other than the dial tone sounding through the phone was heard in Eddie's ear. Steve had hung up. Eddie laughed to himself as he put his phone back.

After walking back into his room, he put all his homework away and got into bed, excited for tomorrow- which came way too quickly. It felt like Eddie had just fallen asleep by the time he was clocking into Family Video for the day. Luckily, he and Keith were pretty busy. It only felt like a few hours before the metalhead was clocking out and heading home to shower and change for Steve's Cinco De Mayo party that was being thrown on May 3rd due to the holiday being on a Monday this year.

"I don't think this works," Eddie whined as he pulled off his Judas Priest shirt. He threw it onto his bed, which landed on Robin.

Robin grabbed it and folded it nicely as she said, "Steve's not going to care what you're wearing. He'll just be happy that you're there."

"I don't care what Steve thinks," Eddie spoke, hiding his blush as he went through his closet and dresser.

"Sure." Robin deadpanned.

Eddie pulled a red flannel off one of his hangers and tugged it on. As he buttoned it, he turned to get Robin's opinion.

"Hot." She nodded. "Leave it halfway unbuttoned."

"Like this?" Eddie asked after doing what he was told.

"Yes." she nodded feverishly.

Eddie turned to his dirty mirror and wrapped his bandanna around his head. Afterward, he put on a few silver chains and rings and sprayed on some cologne.

"Are we ready?" Robin asked with a clap as she got up from his head.

"Oh, yeah." Eddie nodded. "We're ready."

The two of them walked out of Eddie's trailer and got into his van. Once they buckled, Eddie drove to Steve Harrington's house. Not long after the drive had started, it was ending. The pair got out of the van after pulling into the jock's lawn. They didn't knock on Steve's bright red front door before entering, they just walked in. That's what you do at large house parties.

Eddie's nose was met with the smell of sweaty bodies, smoke, and spilled alcohol as soon as the front door opened. His ears were met with loud chattering as ear-shattering music boomed through the mansion's walls.

"Is this really what a Steve Harrington house party is like?" Eddie leaned over to shout in Robin's ear. The girl nodded and then grabbed onto Eddie's ring-covered hand. She dragged him through the house and into the kitchen. The metalhead saw various alcohols with a stack of red solo cups there.

Robin let go of Eddie's hand when she reached the counter. She grabbed herself a cup and began to mix her drink. Eddie followed suit. He was not about to go through this party sober.

"Did you see Kimberly's outfit?" Eddie heard from some random party girl as he leaned against one of the counters in the kitchen. He rolled his eyes as he tried to drown out the petty conversation. Who cares what Kimberly's wearing? Get a life.

"Are you going to stand here all night or dance?" Robin asked as she joined him leaning on the nice granite.

"I'm not sure," Eddie admitted after sipping his drink- a nicely made-up concoction of his mom's favorite cocktail, a Moscow Mule. He was a great mixer.

"I suggest you dance. Eyes will be on you." Robin lifted her eyebrow slightly as she said this.

"He's nowhere in sight," Eddie stated, eyes glancing around quickly.

"He may come around when you're least expecting it."

"If I dance, will you leave me alone about this topic?"

"I'll only stop for a week tops."

"Works for me." Eddie sighed, taking Robin's hand in his free one. He guided the smiling girl to the living room, where sweaty bodies were grinding into each other. He laughed a little as he slithered his way through the couples. Why? He was about to partake in an activity that usually leads to a hookup...with a lesbian... while he's gay.

"This spots good!" he heard Robin call as he made it to the other end of the room, closer to the sliding glass doors and a small sofa. Eddie turned to face the girl with a small smile. The two began to sway to the beat of some pop song.

"Whose song is this?" Eddie screamed over the loud thumbing off the bass.

"Blondie!"

"Of course it is!"

Robin laughed as her head swung back, bumping into someone. Eddie grabbed onto her waist to pull her back into him. She flung her arms over his shoulders, spilling her drink a little as she did so, as they both started to work up a bit of a sweat. Their hips synced to the synth beat, moving close against each other.

"You're a great dancer, Eddie!" Robin yelled into his ear.

"Only when I want to be!" the metalhead yelled back.

"Oh my god-" Robin practically choked as she gripped Eddie's hair, tugging it almost.

"Ow! What?" Eddie screeched.

"Eyes are on you!" she motioned with a slight nod.

Eddie, still swaying against Robin, one hand on her waist, the other holding onto his drink, slowly turned his head to glance where the girl had motioned to. His heart almost exploded out of his chest as he met the gaze of the one and only Steve Harrington. The man was sat on his sofa, legs spread a little wide, one arm laid out on the back of his couch, the other gripped tightly onto his solo cup. He took a long sip of his drink as his eyes locked with Eddie. Eddie bit his lip and turned his head back to face Robin.

"Go talk to him." she encouraged.

"I'm not going up to talk to him. He can come up to talk to me."

"You're so hard-headed."

"I am." Eddie nodded with a large grin. Before he could say anything else, a familiar tune sounded through Steve's house speakers. "No fucking way!"

"What?" Robin asked, looking around to see what had gotten Eddie so worked up.

"Do you know what song this is?" He shouted.

"No?"

"It's Rock You Like A Hurricane by the fucking Scorpions!"

"So?"

"So, Steve fucking Harrington knows who the Scorpions are!"

"I do," sounded in Eddie's ear, causing the man to practically jump out of his skin. Eddie let go of Robin's waist to turn and see who was connected to the voice. It was none other than Steve himself.

"Since when do you listen to the Scorpions?" Eddie asked eyebrow raised as he looked over the jock's smug face. Steve's eyes- for a split second- ran over Eddie's body.

"Since you wouldn't shut up about them at work a few weeks ago." Steve shrugged. Eddie wanted to twirl his hair like a fucking schoolgirl. "I thought I'd check them out. Turns out they're pretty good."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Why else would I play them at my party?"

"I dunno," Eddie spoke, cheeks heating up.

"Wanna get another drink?" the jock asked, peering into Eddie's almost empty glass.

"Can't. I'm dancing with Buck-" Eddie tried as he turned around. He was met with no one. His eyes searched the dance floor and soon landed on Robin chatting up Vickie in the corner. Traitor. Eddie turned back around to see an amused look on Steve's face. "I guess I'm free now."

"Follow me." Steve motioned. Eddie reluctantly followed Steve back into his kitchen. Once there, Steve grabbed himself another cup. "What are you drinking?"

"A Moscow Mule."

"What the hell is that?" Steve asked, scrunching up his nose.

"A drink my mom used to make."

"Is it any good?"

"I wouldn't be drinking it if it wasn't, now would I?" Eddie cocked his head to the side, eyeing the jock through narrowed slits.

"Don't be smart." Steve rolled his eyes. "Can you make me one?"

"I guess."

Eddie took Steve's cup out of his hands and then mixed their drinks. When he was done, he passed Steve his cup.

"Holy shit, Munson! This is amazing!" Steve praised after taking a few sips.

"I know." Eddie chuckled as he took a sip from his own cup.

"So, how's the party?" Steve asked after hopping up on his counter. Eddie just leaned his side onto it. He didn't want to assume he could do the same thing. It wasn't his house; it was Steve's.

"It's pretty okay for a jock."

"Pretty okay?" Steve scuffed. "I throw the best parties in town."

"Then you've never been to one of Gareth's kickbacks," Eddie stated with an amused smile. Steve almost seemed offended.

"Gareth's never invited me to one of his parties, so of course, I've never been, but I know his kickbacks aren't better than my house parties. How do you think I was named King Steve in the first place, Ed?"

Eddie had to try with all of his might to skip past the nickname Steve had used on him. He didn't want to make it such a big deal, partly because he didn't want to seem weird for noticing, but also because he wanted Steve to keep using it.

"King Steve is an asshole. Don't brag about that," was the only thing Eddie could muster up to say. It wasn't good conversation, but it's all Eddie's brain could think to do after Steve had called him Ed. All he knew was to through insults.

Steve bit his lip. After a moment, he nodded and took a sip of his drink. The small back and forth had dwindled down into an awkward tension. Both boys didn't know how to get out of the situation- thanks to Eddie's jelly-like brain from the stupid nickname. 

Luckily, Robin saved them.

"Why are you just standing here?" she laughed as she and Vickie waltzed over to the two boys.

"We're just hanging out," Steve said, raising his eyebrows slightly at her. Eddie couldn't understand his facial expression, but Robin nodded, reading his mind.

"Would you kids like to join Vickie and me outside?" Robin asked as she locked arms with the Molly Ringwald lookalike.

"Sure. I could use a cigarette." Eddie nodded. He needed to calm himself down. Steve was overwhelming to him when he was tipsy. Who knows how the boy will be when Eddie's drunk.

The four of them made their way outside onto the pool deck. Only a few people were outside, and the music from inside was a low hum, so they didn't have to scream at each other to talk.

"Can I have one too, man?" Steve asked. "I'm out of Salem's."

"Sure." Eddie nodded as he pulled out his pack. He handed a Camel to Steve and then pulled one out for himself after placing his cup down on the pavement. As he pulled out his lighter, Vickie asked for one, and so did Robin. He kindly gave them both one. He then lit everyone's cigarette. Afterward, he picked up his drink and enjoyed the relaxing nicotine.

"Oh- this is fucking gross." Robin spat as she coughed out smoke.

Eddie laughed, "If you don't like cigarettes, why the hell did you ask for one, Buckley?"

"I wanted to fit in, I guess." she shrugged.

Vickie, Steve, and Eddie were dying of laughter as she chugged back her liquor to get rid of the taste.

"Here, hand it over." Eddie held his hand out to her as his cigarette dangled from his lips. Once the girl passed him her Camel, he placed it into his mouth with the other.

"One at a time, Munson!" Steve laughed.

"I'm not letting this go to waste." Eddie shrugged. He put down his cup again and removed the two cigarettes from his mouth. He looked down at them, and through his tipsy thoughts, he laughed.

"What?" Vickie wondered as she blew out smoke.

Eddie placed both cigarettes in his mouth, one in each corner, and started to suck in as much smoke as possible. His lungs began to hurt a little as he let the cloud settle. After a moment, he blew out a wind full. "I'm a dragon," he stated as the smoke whirled around the group's heads. Because they were all either tipsy or drunk, they all laughed loudly at Eddie's dumb joke. As they laughed, Jonathan Byers approached them with his camera wrapped around his neck.

"What's up, Byers?" Steve spoke through his laughter.

"Can I take your picture? I'm making a scrapbook before I head to college." the boy wondered.

"Yeah, why not." Steve shrugged. "Come on, guys. Pose."

Eddie was on the left, two cigarettes poking out his mouth. Next to him was Steve. He threw a peace sign up with one hand while he held onto his Camel with the other. Robin was next to him, throwing up rock & roll signs. Vickie was next to her, smiling, throwing up a thumbs up. Jonathan snapped the picture. After, he walked away, proud to have taken such a good shot.

"Well, Vick and I are going to go dance. See you, losers." Robin waved as she dragged Vickie off. Eddie was proud of her. She may be super drunk and regret everything in the morning, but at least she was putting herself out there with her crush and having the time of her life.

Eddie sighed as he thought about that. She's putting herself out there with her crush. At least she's trying. This might be because Eddie was getting onto the drunk side of the spectrum, but he turned to Steve and said, "The next time Gareth throws a kickback, I'll invite you."

"You will?" Steve asked, lolling his head to the side with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I will."

Steve stomped out his Camel. Afterward, he reached forward, took one of Eddie's smokes out of his mouth, and placed it into his own. Eddie's knees went weak. He thought he'd fall at any moment. Steve was absolutely wild when drunk. Steve didn't know what he was doing to Eddie. Eddie would dream about this for weeks, while Steve would simply forget about this interaction within the hour.

Eddie watched Steve suck in the smoke for a minute before blowing it out of his lips and into Eddie's face. Eddie wanted to lean in and kiss the smirk off the jerk's face. Why did Steve have to be straight?

"You ready for another drink?" Steve asked, both of their cigarettes burning out.

"Yeah. I need another." Eddie nodded, biting his lip right after.

"Follow me." Steve smiled, grabbing onto Eddie's wrist and tugging him back inside after they both stomped out their dwindling cigarettes. 

Chapter Text

"Just take the apples, Mike. I want your cookie." Dustin whined as Eddie finally sat down at his group's lunch table. From what he could tell, Dustin wanted to trade for Mike's cookie with some apple slices. If Eddie were Mike, he'd say no, but Mike was a sucker for Dustin.

"Fine." Mike sighed as he handed over his cookie. Dustin joyfully shouted as he snatched it out of Mike's hand and handed him a bag of cut-up green apples. Mike softly smiled as he opened the bag and took a bite out of one. "Yup. I'll close my eyes and pretend these are candy."

"You know you don't have to trade with him, right?" Eddie asked, opening up a zip lock baggie of pretzels. He took a bite and then added, "Just let him suffer. He can always buy cookies himself."

"It's not that big of a deal." Mike shrugged as Dustin said simultaneously, "My mom buys the groceries, Eddie."

"Well, ask her for cookies." Gareth chimed in.

"Or at least buy a cookie from school," Lucas added.

"My mom will say no, and I don't have that kind of money lying around." Dustin rolled his eyes. He took a large bite of his cookie and said, through a mouthful, "Let me enjoy my damn cookie."

Eddie laughed as the crumbs came falling out of the boy's mouth. "You're a real piece of work; you know that?"

"I know." Dustin sighed, wiping his mouth and swallowing his enormous bite.

"So, Eddie-" Gareth started. "-when's the next Hellfire meeting?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think we are going to have one for a while." the metalhead admitted as he tried to look away from his friend's wide, wondering eyes.

"What do you mean?" Mike quizzed.

"Are we at least going to play again before graduation?" Jeff asked. "You and I will be gone after this year."

"Not unless I pass. That is why I'm going to hold off on club nights."

"We can always help you study?" Dustin offered.

"Yeah. You know I'm good with English." Jeff smiled.

"Yeah, I know-" Eddie sighed. "- but I need to focus on my own. I need to graduate. I can't be legally allowed to drink and still be in high school."

"Okay. If this is what you need, then fine." Gareth agreed. "We'll wait until you're ready."

"Thank you."

"But-" the curly-haired boy started. "-I'm going to have a kickback this Friday night. Will you be able to make it?"

"I'm not closing, so yeah." Eddie nodded. "But that's it for extracurricular activities until our finals are out of the way."

"You got it." Gareth smiled.

Eddie took another bite of his snack-size pretzels and remembered what he had promised Steve during the past weekend at his house party. Eddie then turned to Gareth and asked, "Can I invite someone?"

"Depends who it is."

"Steve Harrington?"

The whole table shut up and turned to look at the metalhead. Everyone had shocked expressions, even Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, and they knew that Steve and Eddie were somewhat friends.

"You want to invite King Steve to my kickback?" Gareth asked in utter shock. "There's no fucking way, man."

"He's not like that anymore. Would I invite him if he were?" Eddie asked, an almost dead look in his eye as he lolled his head.

"How do you even know him?" Jeff interjected.

"We work at Family Video together." Eddie shrugged. "Plus, he's friends with Mike, Lucas, and Dustin."

"What?" Jeff and Gareth asked in unison as they looked over at the three younger boys.

"Why is King Steve friends with you three?" Gareth's eyebrows were practical to his hairline.

"He dated my sister." Mike shrugged.

"He gives me... life advice," Dustin spoke as he scratched at the back of his head. Lucas nodded in agreement. 

"Life- what the hell?" Gareth's head looked like it was spinning. "This is news to me."

"Me too." Jeff shook his head as he sat back in his seat, arms crossing his chest.

"Look-" Eddie tried. "-Steve's a nice guy now. I promise. I wouldn't try and invite him to hang out with us if he wasn't different."

Gareth narrowed his eyes as he looked at Eddie's pleading face. After a moment, he finally groaned, "Fine! Harrington can come to my stupid kickback on Friday."

"Can we come?" Dustin wondered.

"In your dreams, Henderson." Eddie laughed as he reached over and slapped down the boy's hat.

"And why not?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"You're a freshman." the metalhead deadpanned like it was apparent. "You're fifteen. You are not coming to a party like that... with alcohol and drugs."

"When did you start partying?" the Mike pushed.

"Mike, stop being a little shit." Eddie smiled through his annoyance. He leaned over and whispered, "Do you want Steve to kill me? He'll be there, remember?"

Mike rolled his eyes but left it alone.

Eddie took a bite out of another pretzel. Dustin could tell that one was salty, so he passed Eddie his unopened juice box. "Thanks, kid." the rocker winced as he opened it and took a large gulp to clear the salt out of his throat. After he drank the whole box, he apologized to Dustin and continued eating his lunch.

By the time lunch and school were finally over, Eddie was practically speeding to Family Video. He worked with Steve tonight, so he was excited to tell him the news about Gareth's kickback.

As Eddie pulled into the parking lot, he started to tear off his seatbelt before he could even put his car in park. The second it was, he was turning off his car and speed walking into the store. Once he was in, he didn't see anybody, so he sped to the back and clocked in quickly.

As he waited for Steve to get out of the break room or bathroom, whichever one he was in, a customer walked in. Eddie smiled a guest-worthy smile and welcomed them into the store, "Welcome to Family Video."

"Hi, um- I'm looking for Steve Harrington." A girl asked, a little shy. She looked familiar to Eddie, but he couldn't quite place her. She looked a little younger than him, but he almost remembered her graduating the same year that Steve did.

"Uhm- yeah." Eddie nodded. "Just give me two seconds." The metal head slid off his stool, and went to the break room first to check if Steve was there. His guess was correct. "Hey, there's a girl here for you, Steve."

"Oh, yes- yes," Steve said in a rush as he gathered a hunter green vest and a name tag in his hand.

"What's all of that?" Eddie asked, pointing to the load in Steve's hands.

"We have a new hire." the boy smiled as he walked out of the break room to greet the girl up front. "Carol! Nice to see you again."

"Steve! It's nice to see you too!" Carol smiled as she hugged the jock.

Carol... as in... Carol Perkins- Tommy's ex-girlfriend and Steve's ex-friend? Eddie's face showed confusion. He thought Steve hated Carol Perkins? He did nothing but talk about how he wasn't "King Steve" anymore- so why was he happy that Carol's here?

Eddie stared at the pair as Steve put on Carol's vest for her. He stood with it spread out like a coat and helped her put it on. What. The. Fuck. Eddie blinked up at them- mouth almost hanging open at the sight. Were Steve and Carol together? Eddie wanted to vomit. How disgusting.

"Eddie-" Steve waved a hand in front of the rocker's face.

Eddie shook his head and blinked, "Yes?"

"Customer." He motioned with his head towards the counter.

Eddie looked to the front counter to see an older man with an annoyed expression. Eddie apologized as he walked to his spot behind the checkout desk. "Renting or returning?"

"Returning." The man stated in a duh manner.

Eddie faked a smile and grabbed the movie off the wooden desk. "Name?"

"Connor Montgomery."

"You owe $4.75, Mr. Montgomery."

He slid over a twenty. Eddie gave him back the correct change. After the man left, Eddie turned to see Steve chatting it up with Carol by the romance movies. Eddie's skin would've turned green with envy if it could. He didn't understand why he was so jealous. It almost disgusted him. Eddie turned to face forward toward the door and huffed. This was not the way he imagined his shift going tonight. He was prepared to tell Steve about the kickback and flirt with him. He'd mention how touchy Steve was when drinking, ready to see him blush and get all weird. Now that Carol was here, he couldn't do any of that.

Eddie angrily picked up the tape Mr. Montgomery had returned and stomped off to the comedy aisle to return it to its proper shelf. As he did this, he heard Steve's beautiful laugh. He side glanced down the hall to the next one over. Steve's head was flung back, and his eyes were shut as he laughed.

Pitiful.

"Come on, Carol. I have to teach you the computer before we get busy." Steve smiled as he led her to the machine, hand on her shoulder. Eddie narrowed his eyes at the interaction. Before he could be caught, he turned and headed for the back where all the new shipments were. He took a box labeled "New Disney" and walked it to the correct aisle. As he unboxed the tapes, he closely watched the two sickening workers.

The phone rang as Eddie walked the empty box to the back of the store after putting away all the Disney tapes. 'I've got it!" Eddie yelled as he opened the break room, which had the other phone in it. "Hi. Thank you for calling Family Video. This is Eddie. How can I help you today?"

"Eddie, it's Robin." The girl spoke in a rush.

Eddie sank into the sofa in the break room, almost in tears. A friend. Thank goodness.

"Robin-" Eddie started but didn't know where to go with the sentence. He was just happy to hear her voice.

"Hey- is Steve busy?"

"Unfortunately," Eddie spoke bitterly.

"Oh, man." She tutted. "How's he doing?"

Eddie's eyebrows knitted together in confusion at her tone of voice. "Uh- fine? Why?"

"Fine?" She sounded surprised. "Did Carol Perkins not show up for her training shift?"

This puzzled Eddie even more.

"Uh- she's here?"

"And Steve's okay?"

"Why wouldn't he be okay, Rob?"

"He hates her guts."

Eddie laughed out loud- and loudly too. He couldn't take Robin seriously. Was she out of the loop? If the way Steve treated Carol was considered "hatred," then Steve must want to murder Eddie.

"What's so funny?" The girl demanded.

"From how he's treating her, I'd say he wants to shag her in the back of the store, Robin. He's all over her. It's quite disgusting."

"Eddie, trust me when I say that Steve despises Carol Perkins."

Eddie pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it with a what the fuck face. He shook his head and brought the phone back to his ear. "You don't understand what I see in this store, Robin. The man put her vest on her even though she has two working arms. He laughed with his head back. HE TOUCHED HER SHOULDER AND LED HER TO THE COMPUTER. Tell me again how he hates her?" Eddie was heated now.

"Eddie-" the band nerd sighed. "-Steve is Carol's trainer. He needs to act nice. If not, and knowing what a bitch Carol is, he could get reported to Kieth and fired. Steve begged Keith not to hire her when he saw her name on the interview list."

Eddie's mouth dropped open. He was in a state of bewilderment. Damn, Steve was a good actor.

"He begged for her not to get hired?'

"Yes! You should have been there. It was last week while you were still in school. He and I were working when Kieth came in to interview a few candidates- her being one of them."

Eddie sat back further into the couch in amazement. He couldn't understand. Steve looked in love with the girl. Just as he was about to say something else to Robin, the break room door swung open to a frazzled-looking Steve.

"One sec," Eddie spoke to Robin over the line as he looked up to the boy. "Yes?"

"Who the hell are you talking to back here? You've been gone forever." And that's when Eddie could see it. Eddie could see pure panic, annoyance, and fakeness in Steve's eyes. He was not happy about having Carol work with them. It was destroying him just as much as it was Eddie.

"Robin. She called to check on you." Eddie shrugged. Steve practically ripped the phone out of Eddie's hand.

"Watch the front," Steve demanded as he shooed the metalhead away. Eddie nodded and got up. As he was shutting the break room door, Eddie heard, "I'm not going to make it, Robin. I hate her."

Eddie smiled as he waltzed back up to the front to see Carol tapping her nails on the front desk. She popped her gum as soon as Eddie reached her. "You've got to spit that out," Eddie stated as he sat on the stool by the computer. Robin constantly chewed gum, but technically workers weren't allowed, so Eddie was going to make sure Carol couldn't enjoy herself.

"Steve hasn't said anything?" She spoke, popping her gum again.

"Steve's too nice to say anything." Eddie shook his head, primarily to himself about his new knowledge of how the jock felt about their new co-worker.

"I won't spit out my gum unless Steve says so. He is my trainer, after all."

"It's store rules, Carol. Spit it out." Usually, Eddie wouldn't care about this sort of thing, but this was Carol Perkins he was dealing with. The bitch could be taken down a peg or two.

Carol's smile almost turned wicked as a light bulb seemed to have gone off in her head. "Eddie?" She asked. "Eddie The Freak Munson, yeah? That's who you are. I knew you looked familiar."

Eddie had to bite back his anger as he watched her pop her gum again.

"You think since you've worked here for a while and you have some power... that makes you less of a freak? It doesn't. You're still a freak to your family, this town, and the school. Fuck- I forgot. You're still in school!" She laughed at the last sentence. "You've been too stupid to pass!"

Eddie's fists were balled up. He wanted to punch her, but he knew he couldn't. All he was worried about was getting fired, not how wrong it would be. Fired meant no money, but also, no Steve. He couldn't live without either.

"Too stupid to come up with a comeback?"

"Steve!" Eddie ended up shouting. He couldn't stand that he had to get Steve, once again, to fight his battles for him.

Steve walked back up front after a minute, asking, "What's up?"

"Can I go home?" Eddie's voice was low; his eyes averted to the ground. He felt sick to his stomach.

"Home? You've only been on the clock for an hour?"

"I just need to go home, Steve." Eddie almost gasped when he felt Steve's strong hand grip his shoulder.

Steve squeezed tightly as he asked, "Are you okay?" His voice was soft but firm.

"No. I'm sick." It was a weak attempt, but it was all he could come up with.

"Please- don't leave the shift."

Eddie could hear the begging in Steve's voice. He knew why too, but he couldn't stay. He'd be fired by the end of the shift if he did.

"I feel sick to my stomach." Which wasn't far from the truth at all.

"Just let him go home, Steve," Carol spoke with a snarl.

Eddie looked up finally to her smile still plastered onto her face. He then looked over to Steve, who was now looking at her. He had a look in his eye that Eddie couldn't quite place. Soon, the jock turned his gaze to Eddie, and his whole demeanor softened. After looking Eddie over, Steve sighed, "Okay. Go clock out."

"Thanks, Steve," Eddie whispered as he slid off the stool where he was sitting. He walked to the back and clocked out. After, he grabbed his backpack and keys. As he opened the front door, the bell chimed loudly, and Steve's voice called out, "Feel better!"

Eddie just waved his hand and walked out of the door feeling defeated.

++++++++++

Eddie's home phone rang as Eddie lay in bed, trying to focus on his English paper on The Great Gatsby, feeling incredibly embarrassed from earlier at Family Video with Carol. Eddie groaned since he was trying to focus but got up anyways. "This better not be Dustin." He snapped.

"Good thing I'm not Dustin." Steve laughed. "You sound angry."

"Oh- Steve-" Eddie sighed as he dragged his free hand down his tired face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so upset. I was just trying to write a paper for English."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll call back-" Steve tried, but Eddie stopped him with "-No, what's up? I can talk for a minute." Steve sighed before speaking next. It sounded like he was a little upset himself. "What's wrong?" Eddie pushed.

"You weren't sick today, were you?"

Eddie bit his lip as he looked down to the carpet his bare feet stood on. "Will I get a write-up if I say no?" Eddie joked.

"Eddie-" Steve spoke softly. "-why did you leave?"

"I was sick."

"Eddie-" the jock warned.

"I don't want to say. It's embarrassing." Eddie groaned.

"Was it because of Carol?"

"Unfortunately."

"Trust me when I say I wish I could have gone home sick too."

Eddie chuckled. "That bad for you too?"

"It was like pulling teeth, Eddie."

Eddie laughed loudly at that. Carol was like pulling teeth. She was a despicable human with despicable energy that no person should ever endure. She was like a black hole. She'd suck you dry.

"Carol Perkins is the definition of a bitch." Steve said in a severe tone. "I told Kieth not to hire her, but did he listen to his one and only trainer? No. He didn't."

"Robin's not a trainer?"

"No. Robin didn't want to deal with the stress. She said I was enough at Scoops Ahoy. She never wants to train anybody ever again."

Eddie bit his lip as he imagined Steve in his sailor uniform. God- he'd give anything to go back in time to go shopping at the mall just to see Steve in his outfit. Eddie's mad at himself for being "too cool" for the mall when it was open. Before he could even think, "Do you still have your sailor uniform?" slipped out.

"Uh-" Steve paused. Eddie felt like an idiot... until Steve answered him. "I think I do."

"You still have it?" Eddie smiled, cheeks getting embarrassingly red.

"I do... why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just wondering." Eddie smiled, hand coming up to his hair. He began to twist it.

"Did you want it for some weird reason? I never use the thing anymore."

"No, Steve. I don't want to wear it or anything." Eddie shook his head with a playful eye roll.

"Do you want me to wear it, Edward?"

Eddie started coughing. The air from his lungs seemed to have gotten sucked out of him. Steve calling him Edward was unexpected, and the dangling of the jock wearing the skippy little outfit made him light-headed and weak in the knees. He didn't know how to respond after that.

"You good?" Steve laughed over the line.

"I'm good. I just choked on my spit."

"Okay." The jock laughed more.

"But- Carol's staying?" Eddie sighed after the laughter died out.

"Yeah." Steve sighed back. "If you'd like, I can talk to Kieth and make sure you two don't ever work with each other?"

"No, I couldn't have you do that."

"Why not?"

"I'd be even more of a coward than I was today."

"You weren't being a coward, Eddie."

"I faked being sick, Steve. I'm pretty sure that was a cowardly move."

"What did she say to you anyway?" Steve wondered. "Why did she make you want to leave?"

"I don't want to say."

"I won't make fun of you." Steve's voice was soft as if trying not to scare off Eddie, but Eddie didn't take the bait.

"I don't want to repeat what she said. Just leave it alone for now, okay?"

"Okay." The jock agreed, thankfully not pushing. Eddie could sense that Steve could feel a shift in their conversation, so he tried to end it. "I guess I should let you get back to your homework."

"Yeah, I guess you should."

"Alright. Bye Ed-" Steve tried, but Eddie interrupted with, "Wait!" Eddie's almost sour mood turned happy again when he remembered Gareth's kickback. "I forgot to tell you something earlier at the store." Now was the best time to invite him.

"What's up?"

"Miraculously, Gareth is having a kickback this Friday and invited me. I asked if you could come, and he said yes."

"Did he really say I could come?"

"He did." Steve did not need to know about Eddie begging the junior to let him invite Steve to the party. That would be embarrassing.

"Okay, cool. What time and what's Gareth's address?"

"I could just pick you up?" The words came out so quickly that Eddie didn't even process what he had said until he said it. His cheeks grew scarlet as he twisted his hair in his fingers faster- waiting for Steve's response.

"Sure. It would be nice to ride together." Eddie couldn't quite make out the tone in Steve's voice. It would have helped if he could have seen the man's face.

"Great. I'll pick you up at 8:30 on Friday."

"Cool. I'll see you then, Munson."

"Awesome. Bye, Steve." Eddie smiled.

The line went dead. Eddie sighed, resting his cheek on the fist that gripped the phone. He just listened to the dial tone for a minute as he continued to twirl his curls. The minute Eddie realized he was twisting his hair, he snapped back to reality and slammed the phone into its holder. He quickly made his way to his room and slammed the door shut, making his way over to his essay, waiting for him on his bed. Holy fuck, he has it bad for Steve Harrington.

Chapter Text

"Oh, what a glorious morning." Jeff practically sang as he sunk into his seat in Mrs. Mayweather's class.

"What's up your happy ass?" Eddie rolled his eyes while watching his friend take out his composition notebook and essay. It was due today- Friday.

"I wrote an amazing essay. I'm ready for my A+." The boy grinned as he swayed from side to side like a happy little kid. Eddie felt proud of his friend but, at the same time, felt sour. He knew he wasn't going to get an A on his paper. He just wasn't.

"I think I'm going to get a solid B." Gareth chimed in as he flipped through his essay.

"I'm getting an F." Eddie glared at his one-sided essay. He was never good with words unless they were lyrics to one of his songs- but songs were different from English Lit, right?

"You aren't getting an F, Eddie." Jeff rolled his eyes.

"I have one paper." Eddie deadpanned. "You and Gareth have several."

"Yeah, but yours is front and back, at least." Gareth smiled, but that faded once he flipped Eddie's paper. "Oh."

"Yeah- oh. I'm screwed!" Eddie put his head down on his desk, nose scrunched up against the cool wood.

"I told you I could have helped you." Jeff softly spoke.

"I wanted to succeed on my own, Jeff. If I'm going to graduate, I want to do it right. I don't want to cheat. No one gets anywhere in life by cheating." He spoke into his desk as he thought back to his fight with Vecna. He didn't run like he wanted to. He fought back and killed the ugly son of a bitch. Eddie had scars all over his abdomen to prove it. The metalhead wished to have the same energy with his school work. He wanted to pass. He's been stuck in the cycle of his senior year for so long now. He was tired.

"I get that." Jeff nodded. "It's very noble of you."

"Noble sh-noble." Gareth rolled his eyes. "Have Jeff help you, Ed. I know you want to do it independently, but everyone occasionally needs help."

Eddie turned his head to look at Gareth through all the curls sprawled on his desk. "I want this for myself, Gar."

"Alright, fine." Gareth mock surrendered with his hands in the air. "At least get your head off the desk and do the morning prompt on the board."

Eddie sat up and looked to the board with a squint- no, he didn't need glasses. "What's your favorite thing to do in your pass time?" Eddie whispered to himself. The two things flying into his head were playing guitar and working at Family Video with Steve. He couldn't possibly write about Steve- couldn't he? He tossed it around his mind for a moment before nodding to himself. He opened his notebook and wrote the date at the top corner of the page- May 9, 1986.

Eddie didn't know what writing demon possessed him, but the minute his pencil hit the paper, he couldn't stop writing. He wrote a total of five pages. The words weren't nonsense either. He wrote his feelings out. Something he didn't think was possible for him. It almost came out like a song- now that he's sat back in his chair rereading it. He, of course, didn't put Steve's name anywhere on the paper. He used gender-neutral terms when describing his crush.

When Mrs. Mayweather asked for all the notebooks to be passed up, Eddie was almost proud of himself. His feelings burst when he got his composition book back at the end of the period. He had gotten an A+. This was his first A+, let alone an A in general. Of course, the topic of Steve would cause him to get such a high grade.

"Holy shit, Eddie-" Jeff laughed as he peered at the metalhead's book. "-what the hell did you write about?"

"Can I say it's personal?" Eddie sheepishly asked.

"Personal or not, use whatever inspired you for the morning prompt for your next essay." Gareth encouraged, eyes almost popping out of his head as he looked at Eddie's grade. Eddie smiled as he closed his notebook and put it back in his book bag.

Could Eddie's crush on Steve inspire him to write better essays in class? What if he couldn't channel his feelings into any other book? This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime thing for Eddie. That was until Mrs. Mayweather announced, "Your final essay will be on our final read of the year, Romeo and Juliet."

Eddie felt like he could cry from happiness. He knew death, and he knew death with Steve. He was almost dead, and Steve was nearly gone just two months ago. Plus, Steve was a jock, and Eddie was a freak. He knew the feeling all too well of Romeo and Juliet. He was going to ace his final essay- thanks to Steve Harrington.

++++++++++

Holy fuck- Eddie was going to fail his final essay. He couldn't understand one fucking word of the stupid book Mrs. Mayweather had assigned. The words were hardly English in Eddie's eyes. It was all jibber jabber. Fuck.

The phone began to ring as the boy strained his brain to understand the old literature. Eddie looked at his clock. It read 8:40. Double fuck! He was late picking up Steve for Gareth's kickback tonight. Eddie rushed to the phone. "Hello?" He answered breathlessly.

"Hey, where are you?" Steve wondered. "It's past pick-up time."

"Yes, sorry," Eddie spoke, taking off his pants. He threw them the best he could into his hamper from the hall. He made it. He then took off his boxers, knowing Wayne was not home and wouldn't be anytime soon. "I'm walking out the door, Steve." He let the phone hang from it's cord and ripped off his shirt. After picking it up, he said, "I'll be there shortly."

"Alright. Drive safe."

"Yeah- yeah-" Eddie agreed, hanging up the phone immediately. He ran to his room and put on clean boxers. After, he slipped on black jeans with holes at the knees, a flannel buttoned down to his mid-chest (since Robin told him he looked hot in shirts like these), and his black boots. Once that was done, he pulled his hair back into a bun and put on his rings, necklaces, and bracelets. After, he sprayed on his cologne and then grabbed his keys. Later, he ran out of his room to his front door. Once he had finally reached his car and it was turned on, he sped to Steve's house. He ended up pulling into his driveway at 9:23 PM.

Eddie honked to let Steve know he was there. It was a little rude, but he was late. Gareth's party started at 8 o'clock. He wanted to be fashionably late, not two hours late (it would be two hours by the time the two of them got there).

After a moment, Steve stepped onto his front porch and turned to lock his door. Eddie bit his lip as he looked the jock over. He was wearing dark jeans (a nice change for Steve), black Reeboks, and, did Eddie's eyes deceive him, or was Steve also wearing an Iron Maiden shirt?! Eddie's mouth hung open and, dare he say, watered at the sight of Steve in his favorite band's shirt. He looked fucking hot.

Steve opened Eddie's passenger side door and got into his van after a moment. After shutting it, he turned with a smile to the metalhead. "Do I look appropriate for Gareth's kickback?"

Eddie wanted to pull the man in and kiss his sweet lips. He wanted Steve all to himself. He wanted everything.

"Yeah-" Eddie's voice almost came out shaky. "-you look appropriate."

"Good. Then let's get going." Steve grinned bigger as he buckled his seatbelt.

Eddie pulled out of Steve's driveway without another word. He gripped the stirring wheel tight as he drove to Gareth's house. All he could think about was Steve- Steve in his tight little Iron Maiden shirt- Steve in his van on the way to a kickback- Steve's cologne running through Eddie's veins as he breathed in the man's scent- Steve's hands tapping on his thighs to the beat of the song seeping through Eddie's speakers- Steve's aura of Romeo. Eddie couldn't help but think of his paper for English on the romance book. Eddie did so well channeling the boy earlier today, so why couldn't he do it again? He knew the gist of the book. He just had to talk from experience, and he'd be fine. His story was similar to the star-crossed lovers.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Steve wondered, voice cutting through Eddie's thoughts.

"Oh, just my English paper that I have due." Eddie tried to wave off.

"What's it about?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"That was my favorite read my senior year."

Eddie glanced over to the jock and saw him smiling. "Really?"

"Yeah. Nancy helped me to understand it. Once I did, I loved it."

"Do you think you could help me?" Eddie asked, without even thinking.

"Sure. When?"

"Whenever you're available," Eddie answered in awe. Was Steve really willing to help him?

"I'm available all weekend. When's it due?"

"At the end of the month."

"Oh. You should be fine with the timing. You've read it already, right?"

"Sure." Eddie tried to lie, but Steve laughed, having seen through the lie.

"Eddie!" He chuckled. "You haven't even read it yet, but you want to write an essay about it?"

"The truth is, I can't understand shit when I read it." Eddie sighed. He felt embarrassed. Steve handled Eddie's feelings correctly as he moved his hand over to squeeze Eddie's thigh.

"I didn't understand it at first until Nancy explained it. I got an A on the paper. It's how I graduated. If it wasn't for her, I might have repeated the grade."

Eddie bit his lip. This was his third year of being a senior. He didn't want to go for a fourth. The third time is the charm, right? "I need serious help, Steve. I don't want to fail again. I wanted to do this alone, but I couldn't understand it. I'm so terrified." The metalhead whispered the last word, cheeks red.

Steve looked out of his window for a moment. After he sighed, he turned back to face the road. "Turn around, Eddie."

Eddie looked over at Steve with knitted eyebrows. "Why do you want me to turn around? Gareth's kickback is this way."

"There will always be kickbacks. There won't always be time to pass your class."

"You want me to drop you off so I can go home and read the book?"

"Don't be silly." Steve shook his head, his hand still on Eddie's thigh. "I'm going to help you."

"You want to skip Gareth's kickback to help me?" Eddie asked, his bottom lip almost trembled.

"Yes. Now, turn around."

Eddie did as he was told and turned around. Shortly, the two boys arrived at Eddie's trailer.

"Wow, I haven't been in here since Vecna." Steve softly spoke as he entered Eddie's living room.

"Has it gotten worse or better since then?"

"Better." Steve smiled.

Eddie nodded with a grin as he led Steve to his room. "Welcome to Casa De Eddie."

"Cozy," Steve stated as he looked around.

"Just take a seat on my bed." Eddie motioned with his head as he unzipped his bag to pull out his book. Once he had it in his hands, he sat next to Steve. Steve scooted closer to Eddie once the metalhead was settled. Steve took the book out of Eddie's hands and opened it to the prologue page.

"What are you doing? I need to read that." Eddie pointed at the beat-up book.

"No. I'm going to read it to you. Nancy did this for me. It helped a ton." Steve spoke as he sat up a little straighter.

"Will you at least explain it along the way?"

"Of course, Ed."

Eddie wanted to scream. Steve had to stop calling Eddie anything other than "Eddie" or "Munson." It was killing him. It really was. "Alright. Get on with it, Steve." He tried to collect his feelings as he said this. He hid his blushing cheeks to the best of his ability as he moved his hair to his face to block Steve's glances.

"Alright-" Steve coughed. "Let's do this, shall we?"

Eddie laid back onto his pillows and looked over to Steve, ready to listen.

"Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean." Steve's voice was magical as he read Shakespeare's play. His voice was smooth, silk-like, as he talked calmly and slowly for Eddie to understand. Whenever Eddie had a question, Steve answered it without judgment. It got to the point of peacefulness and trust that Eddie just closed his eyes and listened to the sweet voice of Steve Harrington. 

About an hour into the book, Eddie slowly started falling asleep, coaxes by the jock's sweet voice, as Steve lay beside him, the book held up in the air as he read the pages above their two heads. Not soon after Eddie fell asleep, Steve followed suit, placing the book open on his chest, head falling towards Eddie's, whose face was facing Steve.

The next morning, as the sun rose in Hawkins, Eddie cracked open his eyes due to the blinding light coming from his window. His curtains hadn't been closed the previous night. The boy yawned and began to stretch. He froze almost immediately. He felt a warm body next to him. He slowly turned his head and was met with Steve, still in the same position as last night, face towards Eddie, and book opened up on his chest. Eddie looked over the beautiful boy's face as his heart skipped a beat. If only this was his normal everyday reality. He was lucky, though, with Steve being in his bed. He'd been wishing that since his junior year French class.

Steve, only about five minutes from Eddie, began to wake up. Eddie quickly moved his head to face his ceiling instead of the jock. Steve yawned a moment after he woke up. Then, in the sexiest morning voice, he asked, "What time is it?"

Eddie looked at the clock on his nightstand and read, "6:55 AM."

"We've got to get up. We're opening the store today." The jock yawned again as he sat up. Eddie looked over to him and watched him corner a page in the book before closing it. "Do you mind if I use your shower?"

Eddie's been waiting to hear a question like that pop out of Steve Harrington's mouth for years. What kind of alternate dimension was Eddie in?

"Yeah, sure. I'll lay out some clothes for you too."

"Great." Steve nodded as he got up. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall on the right. The extra towels are in the bathroom closet."

"Thanks." Steve yawned.

Eddie watched the boy walk out of his room. Soon, he heard the bathroom door shut, and the shower turn on. Eddie got out of bed then and laid out clothes for Steve- his only pair of blue jeans, a pair of red boxers, and a Metallica shirt. After, Eddie walked to his kitchenette and made himself cereal. As he ate and watched television, Steve got done with his shower and walked to Eddie's room in nothing but a towel around his waist. He shut the door to Eddie's room to change. When he was done, he walked into the living room.

"You got any more of that?" Steve asked as he peered into Eddie's bowl.

"I left the box, a bowl, and a spoon on the counter for you. The milk is in the fridge." Eddie motioned.

Steve thanked him and then made himself a bowl. After, he sat next to Eddie and watched the program that was on. Eddie didn't know how to feel at the moment. Steve smelt like Eddie's products; he was eating his food and watching TV with him in his living room. He felt lightheaded but tried with all of his might not to show it. He was trying so hard.

When Eddie was done with his breakfast, he washed out his bowl and then went into the bathroom to shower. When he was done, he changed into black jeans with no holes, white sneakers, a white Rolling Stones tee, and a black hoodie. Afterward, he wrapped a bandana around his blow-dried hair, put on his rings, and then his signature chain around his belt loop that hooked onto his wallet. When he was ready, he walked out to Steve washing out his bowl, and the TV turned off.

"You ready to go?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah." Steve nodded. Eddie walked to the front door and stepped onto his front porch once he opened it. As he made it to his van, opening the driver's side door, Steve said, "Oh, shit. I'll be right back."

Eddie watched Steve run back inside as he buckled. A few moments later, Steve came running out, shutting the door to the trailer. There was no need to lock it since Wayne was home. He was asleep, but he was home. Steve then jumped into his side of the van.

"What did you forget?" Eddie wondered as he pulled out of his lawn.

"You're book. You didn't think we'd stop just because we're working, did you?" Steve asked as he flipped through the book to find the turned-down page.

"I guess not." Eddie blushed, biting his lip afterward as he drove to Family Video. Steve started reading right after.

++++++++++

Work was a little busy this morning since it was Saturday. Romeo and Juliet had to wait for now.

"Returning or renting?" Eddie asked a small elderly man.

"Renting." the feeble man spoke as he slid a movie across the wood of the checkout desk.

"Can I get your name, sir?"

"Franklin Grant."

"What's your address and telephone number, Mr. Grant?"

After the man gave out his information, Eddie took the tape and then typed the name of it into the computer. "Please ensure you return Stripes by next Saturday, the 17th, okay, Mr. Grant?"

"Sure, son." Franklin nodded as he took his movie back.

After he walked away, Eddie turned to the next customer. A mom and her teenage son. "Returning or renting?"

"Returning." the mom stated as she handed him over three movies.

"Name?"

"Maxine Lawrence."

Eddie smiled at the name, remembering that he needed to visit Max in the hospital soon. He wasn't able to this past week.

"Alright, you're total due is $14.25."

After the lady paid, she and her son left. Eddie smiled at the last customer that walked up to his counter. "Returning or renting?"

"I'm returning Mr. Mom a day late. Sorry." the girl shrugged as she handed over the tape.

"You're cool with the extra $2.50 for it being late?" Eddie asked as he took the tape.

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Jenna Coolidge."

"Can you spell your last name for me?"

"C-o-o-l-i-d-g-e."

"I still can't find you. Are you at the right store?" Eddie asked, slumping slightly, wanting the interaction to be over.

"I'm positive."

"Could the rental possibly be under a different name?"

"Maybe my boyfriends? His name is Wyatt Wolfowitz."

"Can you spell that too?"

"W-o-l-f-o-w-i-t-z."

"Found you." Eddie nodded. "Alright, you're total due is $7.25 with the late fee added."

"Here you go." the girl slid over a ten. Eddie gave her back her change, and then she left, finally leaving Eddie some time to relax. He slid his elbows onto the cool wood and rested his head in his hands. The store was packed this morning. He just wanted a breather, but Steve didn't let that happen.

"Alright, Juliet, you ready?" Steve asked, grabbing Eddie's book from a drawer.

"Don't call me Juliet." Eddie shook his head, sitting up straight on the stool again.

"Why? You've got the hair like her." the jock teased.

Eddie rolled his eyes and looked out into the parking lot. "I don't know if I'm ready to read right now. I'm tired."

"Last night was a late one." Steve nodded, setting the book down on the counter. "Thanks, by the way... for letting me spend the night."

"Oh, it was no big deal." the metalhead shrugged, trying not to show how much of a big deal it truly was. He knows it didn't matter much to Steve, but it mattered to him. Eddie's cheeks started to get hot as he thought of them together last night, which led him to sweat a little. He removed his hoodie, causing Eddie's shirt to lift.

"I didn't know you had tattoos on your stomach, too," Steve spoke as he looked at Eddie's exposed skin.

"Oh- uh-" Eddie started as he slid his work vest back on, looking down at his v-line, a bit of his happy trail exposed. He tugged down the raised fabric and continued, "-I got some more after Vecna. I didn't want people to focus too much on my scars."

"I get that." Steve nodded, eyes slowly moving from Eddie's waist to his eyes. Eddie felt on fire under Steve's stare. "Do they hurt?"

"My scars? No, not anymore. What about your neck?"

"It's fine- but that's not what I meant. I meant, does getting a tattoo hurt?"

"Oh- uh- they're okay. I have a higher pain tolerance than some people, so a tattoo might hurt worse for you."

"I think I could handle it. I mean- with the pain my migraines bring on, I should be fine."

"You get migraines? I didn't know that."

"I pop painkillers like candy," Steve spoke, scratching at the back of his head.

"Have you always had them?"

"No." Steve shook his head. "I have the Upside Down to thank for that... and the many fights I used to get into."

"Fights? Who did you fight?" Eddie raised a brow.

"Uh- who didn't I fight?" the boy laughed, but it wasn't filled with happiness. "I fought Jonathan- believe it or not, I fought Billy, I almost fought Tommy, I fought a few Russians last year- don't ask, and... you banged me up pretty good at Rick's house."

Eddie smiled sheepishly at the last part. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"You're pretty strong, Munson. I've got to hand it to you." Steve chuckled. He stood on the other side of the checkout counter, back facing the front door, hands resting on the cool wood of the desk.

"I try."

Steve full-on laughed at Eddie's little joke. The metalhead smiled as he grabbed a pen. While Steve talked, Eddie leaned forward and connected the pen to Steve's skin to start a drawing.

"But- getting knocked in the head a lot caused some serious issues." Steve continued, not even phased by Eddie's attempt to give the man a tattoo. "Sometimes, they're so bad I lose my vision."

"In both eyes?" Eddie wondered as he skillfully drew.

"Sometimes, but mostly just one eye. It depends on which side my headache is on." Steve shrugged.

"Don't move," Eddie warned.

"Sorry- uh- sometimes I have to go back and lay down on the sofa during my shift."

"You've never done that with me around?"

"It's only happened with Robin and Keith, thankfully."

"What do you mean by that?" Eddie raised an eyebrow.

Steve chuckled as he said, "I'm not sure I want to leave you alone in the store all by yourself, Munson."

"Hey- I'm actually pretty good."

"You are." Steve nodded. "I especially don't want to leave Carol alone. She might steal from the cash register."

Eddie pulled the pen he was using away from Steve's skin and laughed. "She would do some shit like that- but that's bad. Don't say that. Bad Steve." the metalhead pointed his pen at the jock.

"Bad, Steve?" Steve asked, head cocking to the side.

Eddie bit his lip, brown eyes wide as they looked into the amused orbs of Steve. Eddie shook his head and continued drawing on Steve's lower arm.

"As I was saying-" the jock continued. "I don't ever want to leave you at work alone. The migraines are scary. Robin almost called an ambulance a few weeks ago. It was right after I got done training you. I was throwing up, dizzy, and both of my eyes were stripped of vision."

"Jesus," Eddie whispered.

"Did the Upside Down do anything to you... besides your scars from the bats?" Steve whispered right back.

"I have nightmares." Eddie shrugged.

"What are they about?"

"Vecna, Chrissy, Jason, you, Max-" Eddie spoke, not realizing he had said Steve in the list of names. He didn't even know it until Steve brought it to light.

"Me? You have nightmares about me?"

Eddie stopped drawing. The pen was hovering over Steve's tan arm; his breath was caught in his throat. Shit.

"Eddie?"

Eddie sat back and put the cap on his pen. "Look, I drew my guitar."

Steve looked at his arm and then back to Eddie, "Eddie- don't change the topic." Steve then knitted his eyebrows together and looked back down at the drawing. "Holy shit, that looks really good."

"Really?" Eddie smiled, glad Steve got sidetracked.

"Yeah. You're really good at art."

"Thanks. Robin's always asking for pointers in art class."

"She needs them." Steve chuckled as he looked back up to Eddie. His smile faded then. Damn. "Why am I in your nightmares, Eddie?" he asked softly.

"I don't want to talk about it." Eddie sighed as he got off the stool. He began to walk to the back to grab a new shipment box. Steve followed, however.

"You can't just say that and expect me to not ask about it."

"Steve- leave it alone." As he walked to the horror aisle, Eddie rolled his eyes, box in hand. Steve obviously didn't let up.

"Eddie, I'm not going to stop. I trusted you with my migraines. Trust me with your nightmares. I won't judge you."

Flashes of Eddie's previous nightmares of Steve started to cross his mind as he put the box down on the aisle floor. Eddie's chest tightened.

It was dark and cold in the Upside Down as Eddie stood back to back with Dustin in the man's trailer. He could hear screeching in the distance. The Demo Bats were closing in on something he wasn't sure of, but he knew he needed to distract them.

"I'll be right back, Henderson," Eddie stated, walking away from his younger friend. As he gripped the front doorknob, Dustin spoke up.

"Don't go out there, Eddie. It's too dangerous."

Eddie looked back with a sad smile. "I know, kid."

"Then don't leave me here."

"I'm going to come back. Don't worry- I just- I know something's wrong. I can feel it in my gut. Those bats aren't coming for us; they're coming for someone else."

"Who else could be in the trailer park? Everybody left."

"Eddie!" was shouted into the distance, but the man heard it plummet through his ear canal in a painfully loud roar. The sound buzzed in his head and made him squeeze his eyes closed. Steve.

"Was that Steve?" Dustin asked, looking out the window of the trailer.

"I knew it," Eddie whispered, gripping the knob tighter. "I'll be back."

"Eddie, no!" Dustin shouted, but Eddie opened the door anyways and left Dustin behind. He had to find Steve. Steve could be hurt.

The golden boy of Hawkins kept screaming for the freak's help. He begged for it- but Eddie couldn't reach him. Eddie's movements felt sluggish as he trekked through the Upside Down. No matter how much Eddie tried, he could never get to Steve in time. When what felt like days had passed, Eddie finally arrived at the scene, seeing Steve's lifeless body, bitten and beaten by the Demo Bats.

Eddie dropped to his knees and cried over Steve's body. He was gone, and Eddie let him die. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough, or brave enough. Steve counted on him, and Eddie let him down- typical.

Eddie bent down, picked up a movie from the new shipment box, and placed it on the shelf.

"That's not where that goes," Steve stated as he grabbed and moved the tape.

"Then you unload the box." Eddie huffed, walking away to sit on his stool again. Steve followed. "Steve, leave me alone-" Eddie warned.

Steve didn't say anything. He just stood in front of the counter, hip cocked, hands on his waist.

"Jesus- fine!" Eddie yelled throwing his hands up. "Every time you're in my nightmares, you die! You call my name, beg me for help, hope that I rescue you- but I don't make it in time. I miss you by a few minutes every single fucking time. I'm just not good enough to save you. I'm just not good enough for you." Eddie was angry and crying by the time he finished his rant. He was shaking his head, angry tears falling from his eyes as he looked away from Steve's face. His stupid beautiful face. "I'm gonna go to the break room. Don't follow me, Steve. I mean it."

Eddie quickly turned and walked to the break room, locking the door behind himself after he entered. He sat down on the sofa and laid his head back, sighing. His tears had stopped; he was just angry now. He wasn't mad at Steve but at himself. He hated sharing his feelings with others. Now Steve knew something about him that was supposed to stay deep and hidden in his thoughts forever. Eddie was screwed.

The man shook his head and stood up after a little while. He would have to get this out of the way sooner or later. So, he braved himself and walked back up front. He sighed when he noticed Steve helping out a customer. As Eddie walked into earshot, he heard, "Mr. McQueen, I promise we'll have Vacation back next week. Someone rented the last copy this morning."

"But I called this morning and asked you to hold it for me."

"I didn't know," Steve spoke, turning and meeting Eddie's gaze. "Did a Mr. McQueen call and ask for the Vacation movie to be saved for him?"

"Yes. He spoke with me on the phone."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Steve asked, but his voice was still soft, not wanting to lash out at Eddie from his annoyance.

Eddie opened up a drawer behind the counter and took out the tape he pulled off the shelf after the phone call from this morning. He handed Steve the Vacation movie. "Here."

Steve bit his lip as he took it from Eddie, fingers brushing against the metalhead. Eddie felt tingles run up his arm.

"It looks like Eddie saved it for you. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's fine." Mr. McQueen spoke, taking the film from Steve. "I'll see you next Saturday, Steve?" the man asked after reading his name tag.

"Yes. I'll see you next Saturday."

Mr. McQueen turned and left, leaving the store full of tension between Eddie and Steve from earlier. Steve turned to Eddie and looked him over, eyes soft. "All I'm going to say-" he started, leaving Eddie wanting to claw out his eyes. He hated people knowing how he felt. "Don't be embarrassed about your dreams. We all have them. I've dreamt of you too." Steve turned back around and saved Mr. McQueen's information into the computer.

I've dreamt of you too.

Eddie's head spun as Steve's confession swirled around in his brain, tickling the part that constantly thought about the jock. It made Eddie swoon.

"Now-" Steve spoke, getting up from the stool behind the counter. He grabbed the Romeo and Juliet book and smiled. "-it's time to get back to reading."

Eddie only nodded, not wanting to talk. He knew his voice would shake if he did. He didn't need the embarrassment. Eddie leaned against the counter as Steve opened the book, beginning to read.

A little bit through the act Steve was reading out loud, Eddie grabbed a pen and began to draw again on Steve's arm. He decided to draw some stars around his already-drawn guitar. Steve didn't seem to mind as he continued to read.

The two men stayed like that until Robin came into work, letting Eddie off for his break. 

Chapter Text

After shutting off his blaring alarm clock, Eddie slowly sat up in his bed with a slight shiver. His room was freezing, his ceiling fan on high. The man had smoked too much the previous night, causing him to break a sweat during the night.

Eddie wrapped his arms around himself as he looked over at his clock. It read 8:31 AM. He sighed softly and got up to take a shower. After showering, he dressed, grabbed an apple, and headed out to his van. Today he was going to the hospital to visit Max.

As he drove, he softly hummed along to the Judas Priest song playing through his speakers. It was a new song that he didn't quite remember the name of. All he knew, though, was that it was catchy. By the time Eddie reached the hospital, he was singing very loudly to Van Halen's cover of You Really Got Me that had come on the radio. After he parked, he continued to sing the song to himself as he walked into the building holding Max hostage for over a month

."Oh yeah, you really got me now-" Eddie hummed to himself in the elevator as he stood alone. "-you got me so I can't sleep at night. You really got me, you really got me, you really got me-"

When the elevator finally stopped on Max's floor, Eddie exited and walked down to her room. After she answered his knock, he slowly stepped into her room and shut the door behind himself.

"Hey, Red." Eddie smiled, watching her slowly turn her head towards the door.

"Eddie." Max smiled. "I thought you gave up on seeing me."

"I know. It's been a while. I'm sorry, kid." the man frowned, finally making it over to her bed. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Max smiled as he pulled away. Eddie grabbed a chair, scooted it close to her bed, and then sat down. "How are you feeling today?"

"Every day changes, but better today." she shrugged to the best of her ability.

"Everything's still broken?"

Max chuckled with a nod of her head. "Yes, Eddie. Everything is very much still broken."

"I heard broken legs mean good luck."

"You're such a theater nerd."

Eddie laughed as he looked over Max's cut-up face. His brown saucers searched her skin, hoping to find healing, but everything still looked intense and nasty. He frowned, knowing Max couldn't see him. He hated to see her in such a bad condition. He felt almost guilty for getting away with a few scars on his stomach.

"How's life?" Max asked, resting her head in a better position on her pillow.

"Life's good. My job at Family Video is still going good. I haven't been fired yet, surprisingly."

"Oh my god- yeah. I forgot that you're working with Steve and Robin. Are they treating you okay?"

"I actually fit in pretty well." Eddie blushed.

"My memories a little shoddy-" Max warned. "-but now that you mention Family Video- Steve actually did come to see me last night."

"He did?" Eddie asked, eyes getting a little larger. He didn't think Steve would do something like that.

"Yeah." Max nodded. "And he told me about a weird drawing on his arm. When I asked him about it, he got all shy and weird, like he didn't mean to mention it to me. Does Steve have a girlfriend he doesn't want to tell me about?"

Eddie's heart began to race.

"No. He's single."

"Then why was he so weird about the drawing? He was acting so strange, I can't even begin to explain it."

"I don't know." Eddie shrugged as he lied through his teeth. "Beats me."

"You really like it, though- Family Video?"

"Love it."

Max smiled as her eyes ran over Eddie's face, even though she couldn't see him. After a moment, she asked, "How's the party?"

"You mean, how's Lucas?" Eddie waggled his eyebrows.

"That too." Max blushed.

"Lucas is doing good. He's finally showing up at the lunch table again."

"How's the basketball team treating him?"

"Like shit."

Max frowned as she looked towards the ceiling. "Jason ruined everything for us."

There was a lot of meaning behind her words. Jason caused Eddie's name to be dragged through the mud, Jason ruined Lucas' reputation at school, and Jason was the reason Lucas couldn't save Max from Vecna. Eddie was glad Jason was dead.

"Besides the basketball team being a bummer, Lucas is doing well. Has he not been by to see you?"

"He has, but I know he lies when he updates me."

Eddie bit his lip.

"He thinks I can't handle knowing what's going on. Just because I've got some broken bones and can't see anything doesn't mean I can't handle the truth. That's why I like it when you come here. You don't lie."

"What about El?"

"That's different." Max chuckled, head turning back in Eddie's direction. "She has to tell the truth even when she doesn't want to. Mike beat that into her head pretty hard. Friends don't lie."

Eddie laughed a little. "The rest of the party is doing great, though. Erica is a regular in the Hellfire Club now. She comes to every meeting and every game. Lucas hates it, but everyone else loves it."

Max laughed loudly. "How's school going? You gonna graduate?"

"I think so," Eddie spoke and then gasped, grabbing onto Max's shoulder (gently). "You'll never fucking guess this, Red."

"What?"

"Steve has been helping me in Mayweather's class!"

"Are you serious?" she asked, her glassed-over eyes shaking slightly with excitement.

"Yes! He's been helping me read Romeo and Juliet."

She lolled her head to the side. "Who knew Steve Harrington liked Shakespeare."

Eddie giggled, " I don't know. Beats me."

After a moment, after the laughter died out a little, Max asked, "How's Lucas?"

Eddie's stomach dipped, and his smile was wiped from his face. Eddie bit his lip as he looked away from Max to try and hold in his emotions. He knew she couldn't see him, but it was instinct.

"Lucas is doing good, Maxie," Eddie spoke, coughing a little to hold back the shakiness in his voice.

"How's the basketball team treating him?"

"Great."

"Oh, yay; that's good." She smiled, face looking towards the ceiling again. "I wish I could see him play. I bet he's gotten really good."

"He has." Eddie smiled softly, letting a tear fall from his eye. After a slight pause, Eddie stood. "I've got to get going. I've got mid-shift today at Family Video."

"Oh, yeah! How's that going? Are Steve and Robin treating you well?"

Eddie leaned down and kissed the top of her head again, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. After a few seconds, he pulled away and answered, "They're the best."

"I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you."

"I hope you visit again soon, yeah?"

"Of course. Bye, Red." Eddie waved, even though Max couldn't notice. He then turned and opened the door, shutting it behind himself. He booked it out of the hospital as fast as possible, avoiding eye contact with everyone. He was crying now, and he couldn't stop.

When Eddie finally made his way into his van after slamming the door shut, he let out a blood-curdling scream. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and shook it while he screamed, "Fuck!" It was drawn out and hurt his throat.

"Fuck, man." he croaked out as he looked around the parking garage, wiping his tears away.

Eddie hated Vecna. He hated Jason. He hated Hawkins. He hated the cards he and his friends were dealt. Why did his life have to resemble hell? This had to be hell. He had to have died in the Upside Down- or while he was younger- since his life has always been in shambles. When was his life supposed to get good? When was Max's life supposed to get good? She lost her brother, her sight, and her mind within a few years.

Eddie sniffled as he put his car in reverse. He wasn't lying when he said he had a mid-shift at Family Video today. After pulling out of the parking garage, he went to work. Eddie's frown finally turned into a smile when he saw Robin outside cleaning the windows. At least she could take his mind off the hell going on in Hawkins.

After parking, Eddie walked up to his friend with a small smile, trying hard not to show how upset he was. "Working hard or hardly working?"

Robin looked disgusted as she glanced towards the metalhead, not stopping her chore. "God, go clock in. I did not need to hear that monstrosity today."

Eddie chuckled lightly as he opened the front door, causing it to chime loudly. After clocking in, the girl's bathroom opened, revealing Carol. Eddie was NOT in the mood today to deal with her bullshit.

"Hey, freak." Carol waved as she popped her fucking gum.

Eddie stomped into the breakroom to look at the schedule. To his luck, Carol was leaving since he was replacing her. Thank the heavens. He would have gotten fired today if she had stayed on the clock.

Eddie went back up front to see her grabbing her purse and keys. Carol turned, flicked Eddie off, and then left through the front door.

"Fuck you too, bitch." he mumbled under his breath.

"Thank god she's gone." Robin huffed as she made her way back inside. "She really is a nightmare."

"She wasn't too mean to you, was she?" Eddie wondered as he sat on the stool behind the counter.

"Luckily, no! I can blend in! I learned that from school!" the girl shouted as she put away the spray bottle and paper towels in the closet in the break room. After she walked back up to the front, she said, "Move. I want to sit. I'm exhausted."

Eddie got off the stool and hiked himself onto the counter, back facing the movie aisles and not the front door. Robin seemed to be too tired to tell him to get down. "Has it been super busy today?" the boy wondered, kicking his feet a little.

"Right when we opened, yeah. The past few hours, no." Robin shrugged as she picked the polish on her nails.

"Then why are you so exhausted?"

"Because all I could do was talk to Carol." The girl's eyes went wide as the name left her mouth. "All she wanted to talk about was Steve. It was gross. It was all about if Steve's single, if he's into hookups, do I think he'd hook up with her. It was exhausting, and I did not want to talk about my friend like that with someone like her."

"I ask you those questions sometimes?"

"Yeah, but you're different."

"How?" Eddie wondered, lolling his head to the side.

"You care about Steve's heart. She cares about his penis." Eddie cringed at the same time Robin laughed at herself. "I hate saying that word."

"I hate hearing it come out of you." Eddie giggled, tucking his hair behind his ear. "But I do care for Steve's heart... and his mind. He's quite intelligent, even though he doesn't think so."

"He is. I try telling him that all the time." the band geek nodded. She then slid her elbow onto the counter and rested her cheek on her hand while looking toward Eddie. "He reads people very well. That's why he has so many friends."

"He's great at giving advice. He always knows just what to say." Eddie softly smiled. "Even if I don't like opening up to him, with the little I do share, he always knows just what to say."

"You know, when I told him I was a lesbian last year, I thought he would judge me or say something stupid, but he didn't. The guy kept the conversation going like it was no big deal." Robin smiled, eyes cast towards the floor. "He surprised the hell out of me that day. I've heard the man use slurs before in school, but he really did change."

"He knows you're gay?" Eddie's voice was quiet as he stared intensely at the girl.

Robin's eyes met Eddie's again. She smiled. "Yes."

"I thought he didn't know?"

"Oh, he knows."

"A few weeks ago, I thought he might have liked you." Eddie chuckled.

"What?" Robin laughed. "No. I crushed his dreams long ago."

"So, he did like you at one point?"

"Yeah. He confessed it to me... and then I came out to him."

"Robin!" Eddie's mouth dropped open. "You're terrible!"

"What? I wanted to be honest with him!" she sat up, throwing her arms up with a goofy grin slapped across her face. "If I would have led him on that would have been wrong."

"No, you're right." Eddie sighed, smile still pulled across his face. "Wow- so this whole time, he's known and not told a single soul?"

"Yup." she popped the "p" as she nodded. "Maybe you should tell him about your-" she tried, but Eddie interrupted her, shaking his head.

"Hell no. He might have accepted you, but I'm different."

"How?"

"I'm a dude, Robin," Eddie said in a duh manner, hands motioning up and down his body.

"Why does that matter?"

"He could think I'm coming onto him. I'm very... touchy. Not with just him, though, with everyone. I don't want him to think I'm trying to... you know... make unwanted-" Eddie started to get uncomfortable, and luckily Robin understood what he was getting at, so she raised her hand to tell him to stop. He did.

"Steve is not going to think that, Eddie."

"But he really could."

Robin pulled her mouth into a straight line as she looked her friend over.

"What?" Eddie asked as he adjusted his shirt nervously.

"I think you should give him a chance." she shrugged. "You'll never know unless you try."

"I'll think about it. Does that satisfy you?"

"For now." she nodded as a customer walked into the store. She then turned to face the guest and smiled, "Welcome to Family Video."

Eddie hopped off the counter and walked over to the customer, who looked like a young teenage girl. She was wandering down the horror movie aisle.

"You know, most of these are going to be rated R," Eddie spoke as he leaned onto one of the shelves.

The girl glanced at him and shrugged, "My friends want to watch something scary."

"Are you over 17?"

"I'm 16."

"So close yet so far." Eddie chuckled.

"Can you make an exception? You seem cool." the girl smiled as she flipped her blonde hair.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. "Flattery doesn't work on me." Unless it's Steve.

The girl rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Hey, I don't make the rules." Eddie put up his hands in mock surrender. "I can make a recommendation for you, though? I know my horror movies."

"What do you recommend?"

"I've got two movies for you since you're having a movie night. Why not have a marathon?" Eddie smiled as he walked further down the aisle to the girl. He stopped and grabbed one of the movies. He then kept walking and stopped to hold the other once he reached the end of the shelf. "Try these." he smiled wider as he handed her the movies.

"Jaws and Poltergeist?" the girl asked as she raised an eyebrow. 

"They're definitely scary, and they're both PG."

The girl looked them over for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'll get them. If they aren't good, though, I want a discount."

"No problem." Eddie nodded. "Just make sure you come back next Sunday while I'm working. The other workers won't do that for you."

"Deal." the girl nodded with a smile.

"Alright. Follow me up to the front." Eddie grinned back. He then turned and walked to the counter. Robin was in another aisle towards the back, helping another customer. Eddie was so distracted talking to the girl that he didn't even hear the bell chime at the front door.

Once he made it behind the desk and sat on the stool by the computer, he opened the renting browser and asked, "What's your first and last name?"

"Beth Cun-" the girl started and then shook her head with a slight chuckle. "-Bethany, sorry. Bethany Cunningham."

Eddie froze. His breath was caught in the back of his throat.

"Sir?" the girl asked after Eddie's pause.

Eddie turned to face the girl with blonde hair and asked, "Cunningham? Are you related to..." he paused again. He couldn't say her name.

"Chrissy Cunningham?" the girl asked. She shook her head. "No. We just have the same last name. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded as he turned back to the computer. "Bethany Cunningham," he whispered as he typed the name. "Address and phone number?" After Bethany told him her information, he reminded her about bringing the movies back next Sunday. She nodded and then left. Eddie sat still, eyes cast down to the computer keys.

"Eddie?" Robin asked, hand slightly shaking his shoulder.

"Huh?" the metalhead asked, turning to look at her.

"This nice man has been trying to get your attention for the last minute." she pointed to the customer she was helping earlier. The man had a film in his hand, waiting to be checked out. "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the back?"

"No, I'm okay." Eddie breathed. After a slight pause, he smiled and asked, "Name?"

The older man gave him a weird look but answered, "Jeffery Taylor."

"Address and phone number?"

Eddie just went through the motions, not even fully aware of what was going on. All he could think about was Chrissy. He was still grieving her. She only died a few months ago, right at the beginning of spring break in March. It was only May. Chrissy was Eddie's friend, or at least she would have been if Vecna hadn't taken her life.

After the man left, Eddie turned around, put his head in his hands, and started to cry. He knew Robin was there, but he couldn't help it. Max had already upset him this morning, and now this Bethany Cunningham girl was making him think of Chrissy. Eddie didn't think he could handle much more today. Thank god Carol wasn't working with him right now.

"Eddie?" Robin crouched down to be at eye level with him. "Why are you crying? What happened?"

Eddie just shook his head. He hated this. He hated letting Robin see this side of him. He's already been so vulnerable throughout the whole Vecna incident that he didn't think he could handle showing any more of himself.

"Eddie, please." She whispered, hand coming down to grip his thigh.

Eddie just continued to sniffle into his hands. That's when the front door chimed, letting him know a customer was entering. Eddie stood then, removing his face from his hands. He excused himself from Robin and made his way into the break room. After shutting the door, he sat on the sofa and leaned his head back while he closed his eyes.

"What an idiot," he whispered to himself. How could he be so stupid? Before he could answer that question, the break room door opened. "I don't want to talk about it, Robin," he spoke, not looking towards the girl.

"It's Steve."

Eddie looked over to the boy and then looked back to the ceiling as he sighed. "What are you doing here, Harrington? You're not even scheduled today."

"Robin called me a few hours ago and told me to bring Phase 10. I couldn't come until now."

"What were you doing?"

"I was babysitting the kids."

"They did something without me?" Eddie asked, looking back over to Steve.

"They wanted to go watch a baseball game."

Eddie furrowed his brows. "Huh?"

"Lucas wanted to watch a baseball game, and no one else could devise a different plan." Steve corrected.

"Oh. Okay." Eddie nodded, looking back to the ceiling. After a pause in the conversation, Eddie stated, "I'm still not going to talk to you about what happened. I know Robin must have filled you in."

"And I saw it... when I walked in." Steve shrugged as he fully closed the door to the break room. "I told you before... you can talk to me about anything."

"You said I can talk to you about my nightmares. This has nothing to do with that."

"Does it have to do with Carol?" Steve joked, knowing this wasn't the reason for Eddie's tears.

Eddie chuckled with a slight eye roll. "Not this time."

After a moment, Eddie felt the sofa dip, meaning Steve had sat next to him. Eddie turned to face him and saw Steve was looking towards the ceiling, so Eddie turned back to it.

"Robin told me a girl came in today with the same last name as Chrissy."

"Steve." Eddie breathed, closing his eyes. It took everything within him not to cry again. "Please don't."

"You can't hold everything in all the time, Eddie," Steve whispered.

"But I can't let it out." Eddie's voice was just as soft as the jock's.

"Why?"

"Because if I let it out, I don't think I can ever reign it back in again."

"Sometimes the Earth needs a flood."

Eddie looked over to Steve again. His eyes met Steve's, the man was finally looking at Eddie. Eddie's brown bulbs searched Steve's honey eyes for an answer to all of this. Steve's eyes were soft. They pulled on Eddie's heartstrings way more than Eddie was hoping for.

"I don't like sharing how I feel, Steve." Eddie's voice was so quiet he didn't think Steve could hear him.

"I'm not going to judge you."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true."

"How can I be sure of your word?"

"I'll tell you a secret?"

Eddie motioned with his head to tell Steve to continue.

"I haven't told anybody this yet because I'm terrified of what it means for the rest of my life." the boy started. Eddie's heart raced. "I'm going deaf in my left ear."

"What?" Eddie furrowed his eyebrows together.

"I went to the doctor to talk about my migraines, and they noticed I was having trouble hearing them when they were sitting on my left side. They did some tests, and it turns out... I'm going deaf." the boy shrugged. Eddie could see the intensity behind his eyes as Steve tried not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"Do you know what caused it?"

"The constant beatings I've taken." Steve's lip began to tremble. "It's real karma, huh? I was an asshole in school and now look? I can't fucking hear on this side of my head." he motioned to his left side. "But this is what I deserve, I guess."

"Steve-" Eddie's voice broke. Tears started forming again, but he didn't hate it this time. "You don't deserve what's happening to you."

"But I do." Steve's tears were flowing now. He couldn't stop them, and now neither could Eddie.

"Steve, you've changed from that asshole you were in school. You've saved so many lives. You've saved Will's, Mike's, Lucas', Dustin's, El's, Max's, Robin's, Nancy's, mine, and so many others. Do you remember when we were in the boat on Lover's Lake after finding out that Vecna's gate was underwater?"

"Yeah?"

"You started to get ready to dive in without question. You knew Nancy, Robin, and I were too scared to jump into the water, so you jumped in for us. Assholes and people who deserve to be hurt don't do things like that. Heroes and people who deserve nothing but love do. They're the ones who jump."

"Then why is this happening to me?"

"Heroes get hurt too, Steve."

"They do?"

"You should read a comic book some time." Eddie softly smiled.

Steve rolled his eyes playfully as he moved his head to look at the ceiling. A second later, he looked back at Eddie. "What do you recommend?"

"Spider-Man. You look like a guy who'd like Spider-Man."

"I'll check it out."

"Good." Eddie nodded.

After a pause in the conversation, Steve reminded, "It's your turn, Eddie."

"Oh." the boy sighed.

"Why were you crying?"

"Beth has the same last name as Chrissy." Eddie tucked a piece of hair behind his ear.

"Beth?"

"She was a customer. She rented some scary movies. When I asked for her name, and she told me it was Cunningham, I was hit with my grief for Chrissy all over again, especially since she had Chrissy's blonde hair. She... she brought me back to that night all over again."

"The night Vecna killed Chrissy?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded, biting his lip.

"You know it's not your fault, right?"

"I ran."

"She was going to die anyway, Eddie. If you stayed, Vecna would have killed you too."

"He should've."

Steve sat up then, a small gasp leaving his lips. Eddie sat up too. Steve reached over and grabbed Eddie's hands in his own. He squeezed them tight as he said, "Don't you ever say that fucking shit again, Eddie." Steve looked furious, his eyes blown wide. "You deserve to be here. You fought for Chrissy in her honor. You killed that son of a bitch, Vecna. You helped her the best way you could. If it wasn't for you, Vecna still might be here. Don't you ever, and I mean ever, wish death upon yourself, Eddie. Seriously- fuck." Steve pulled one hand away from his grip on Eddie's and ran it through his hair.

Eddie didn't know what to do. He's never seen this side of Steve before. To be honest, he didn't think Steve had a side like this to him.

"Promise me, you'll stop thinking like that." Steve's voice was soft again as his honey eyes searched Eddie's large deep chocolate saucers.

"I promise." Eddie agreed, not even second-guessing his promise. He never broke his promises.

"Thank you." Steve sighed, head hanging, eyes closing.

"That's not all that got me upset today," Eddie spoke, squeezing back on Steve's hands. His hands were tingling as the jock's cold fingers held his own.

"What else happened?" Steve asked, looking back to the metalhead.

"I visited Max today. I haven't visited her since I got the job at Family Video."

"Was she not doing well?"

"I thought she was... but then she- you know-"

"Forgot the conversation?" Steve's shoulders dropped.

"Yeah." Eddie nodded, eyes blinking back tears. He sighed, bottom lip popping out as he tried to control his emotions. "God, I fucking hate Vecna," he confessed, looking away from Steve.

"Do you wanna go and... scream somewhere?"

Eddie looked back to Steve, who held a severe expression.

Eddie didn't even question it as he said, "I'm working."

"Robin won't mind you taking your break early."

Eddie bit his lip, unsure.

Steve let go of Eddie's hands and stood. "Come on." he waved. Eddie got up and followed Steve to the front of the store, where Robin was reading a magazine. She looked up when she noticed the two boys.

"Geez, you guys were in there for a while," she stated as she looked at Eddie. "Is everything okay?"

"Can Eddie take his break? I need to take him somewhere." Steve wondered as he pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket.

"I mean... I guess." Robin shrugged. "He's coming back, though, right?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded. "I'm coming back."

"Alright." the girl smiled. "Be careful with whatever you're going to do."

Eddie nodded and took off his work vest. "See you later, Robbie."

"See ya, Ed." she waved.

Eddie followed Steve out to his car and got into the passenger seat. After Steve pulled out of the parking lot, he started his drive to whatever place would be able to contain their screams. Steve pulled over and parked when they got to the cliffs at the edge of town.

"El saved Mike's life here a few years ago," Steve informed Eddie as the two men got out of the car. "If Mike's screams weren't heard while he was falling head first down the side of these cliffs, then no one will hear ours now."

Eddie looked out onto the water that spread far across Indiana. He took in a big breath, and then he started screaming. It was a loud agonizing scream. He balled up his fists, leaned over the edge, and just belted out his anger, sadness, grief, and emotions towards Steve. It all came out as he let it roar. As he finally lost his breath, he fell into a sitting position and breathed heavily, trying to pull air back into his lungs. He looked up to Steve and saw his face with an emotion he couldn't quite make out.

"If I wasn't deaf before, I am now." Steve's joke came out of nowhere. It caused Eddie to fall onto his back as he belly laughed. He threw his arms into the air and just shook. His tears of sadness had now turned into tears of joy.

"It's- it's your- your turn." Eddie tried to get out as he motioned to the cliff. "Scream, Steve."

Steve screamed, but it wasn't as loud as Eddie's. It was tame in a way that made Eddie laugh more. Steve sat down next to Eddie then, laughing as well. "Feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah." Eddie nodded, sticking his arm out. Steve pulled him up. "I feel a lot better. Thank you, Steve."

"That's what I'm here for." the man shrugged.

Eddie didn't even notice it happening, but his head fell onto Steve's shoulder as the two boys looked out onto the view underneath the cliff's edge. They stayed like that until Eddie had to go back to work two hours later as time seemed to get away from them. Thankfully, Robin wasn't even mad.

Chapter Text

"I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say." Eddie sighed as he leaned his head back against the trailer's hallway wall with a smile, hand twisting around the cord of his telephone.

"I really don't. Enlighten me." Steve's soft voice trickled through the phone line.

"D&D is a game full of action, adventure, and even a little romance here and there."

"Eddie, you're not skipping out on our study session."

"We can always study after the game."

"Eddie, no."

"Steve!" Eddie whined like a little kid as he stopped playing with the cord of the phone. His hand balled into a fist. "This is one of the last Fridays before graduation where I can play with my friends. Jeff is going to Maryland with his family the weekend before graduation, Gareth is busy next Friday for his dad's birthday, and Dustin is visiting Suzie the week after that. I need to go to Hellfire's meeting this week!"

"You're English paper is due the following Monday, Eddie. You need to spend all weekend finishing Romeo and Juliet and writing your damn essay. I'm not going to write it for you."

"I don't need you to write it for me, Steve." Eddie huffed. "I can do everything you want me to do on Saturday and Sunday... and after the game on Friday."

"Fine, then I'm going with you to your meeting."

Eddie froze, eyebrows furrowed. Steve Harrington wanted to sit in on his D&D campaign?

"Uh- Eddie? You still there?"

Eddie shook his head as he snapped out of his trance. "Uh- yeah. I'm still here." His voice came out croaky.

"If you let me come to your meeting, I'll let you go. I don't want you staying too long."

"Okay- uh- yeah. You can come this Friday." Eddie was pacing at this point- well- the best he could pace. The phone was still connected to the wall by a cord.

"What time is your game?"

"We always start at 4:00."

"What time does the game usually end?"

"Usually around 11:00."

"You'll be done by 8:00."

Eddie bit his lip, his cheeks growing a soft pink. He liked Steve being so dominant. It was a weird change of pace for him, but he was digging it. "I'm okay with that. You'll just have to break the news to the boys."

"I can handle your friends... especially since most of them are kids."

Eddie laughed as he began to twist the cord once more. "I don't know why you say that like those kids aren't your friends too, Harrington."

There was a pause. Eddie knew he had won.

"Well- at least I know how to shut them up once they start whining," Steve stated. "Technically, it's your fault that you can't play for a long time."

"How so?"

"You're the one who's got to graduate."

"I told you I could finish all my stuff on Saturday and Sunday. You're the one crushing everyone's dreams, Stevie boy."

The line went quiet on both ends this time. Eddie's eyes were popping out of his head at the nickname that slipped out of his mouth. Eddie didn't know what Steve thought as he stayed silent. Fuck. Eddie did not mean for this to happen. How awkward.

"I'm not crushing anyone's dreams. It's just a game." Steve spoke what felt like an eternity later. His voice seemed off. Maybe he was weirded out by Eddie's nickname for him?

Eddie swallowed the growing lump in his throat and answered, "But you are. This is the club's escape from life. This is what brings us happiness. You are ripping that away from each and everyone one of them... ripping happiness away from me."

"Oh, shut up." Steve laughed. Eddie felt better hearing that. "The night will be over by 8:00, so be prepared for a short game."

"Fine." Eddie sighed dramatically. "But like I said, you're breaking the news the night of the game."

"I can do that."

"Alright. I'll see you at 3:30 on Friday."

"I thought you start at 4:00?"

"Yeah, but I need to set up. If you're going to sit in and ruin the club's fun. You can at least help set up as well as clean up after."

"You're really pushing your luck with me, Munson."

"I'd never request something I knew you couldn't handle." Eddie smiled to himself. It spread wide across his pale face.

"I'll see you at 3:30 on Friday." Steve huffed.

"See ya."

Eddie hung up the phone with a click. He walked off to his room, satisfied with himself.

++++++++++

"You're late." Eddie huffed as he swung open the Hellfire Club's classroom door to see Steve holding onto two Burger King cups.

"I stopped to get you a soda, ass." Steve scooted past the metalhead.

Eddie narrowed his eyes and shut the door to the room where the club held its meetings. "Did I ask for a soda?"

"I can't be nice?"

"You can... if you aren't late." Eddie fired.

"Then I'll drink both myself." Steve shot back.

Eddie cocked his head to the side and looked Steve up and down. He couldn't stay mad at the jock, especially not when Steve was dressed like that. The man wore tight blue jeans, a white shirt, a red puffer vest, and white reeboks. If Eddie and Steve were together, the metalhead would pounce on him, knocking the sodas out of his hands. Eddie bit the inside of his cheek and carefully took a soda out of Steve's hands, both of them not having straws.

"Sorry. Thank you for the drink, Steve." Eddie spoke calmly.

"No problem." Steve nodded as he set his drink down. "So, what do we need to do to set up?"

"I already did... since you were late."

Steve raised an eyebrow.

Eddie shrugged, saying, "Sorry, but that's why it's done."

"Sorry for being late." the jock sighed as he sat down at the head of the table. "I didn't realize what time it was when I was getting ready. I was having... trouble."

"Why? You look fine." Eddie shrugged. He attempted to be nonchalant. Like Eddie thought before, Steve looked fucking hot tonight.

Steve ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, a small smile resting on his face. "Fine? Just fine?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded and then lolled his head to the side. "Who are you trying to impress? Not Gareth again, right?"

Steve's cheeks turned bright red at the mention of Gareth, just like they did the last time Eddie teased him about the boy.

"God, Eddie- why do you always say him? Do you like Gareth?"

This caught Eddie off guard. Eddie turned and started to walk his straw wrapper to the trashcan in the corner of the room. "No. I don't like him." Steve didn't say anything, but Eddie did hear the pizza box open. He turned and yelled, "Hey, that's for when the game starts!"

Steve chuckled and closed the box. "Geez. I get you a soda, yet I can't have one slice of pizza?"

"You can... once the game has started." Eddie bit the inside of his cheek as he looked over Steve's pink cheeks. For some reason, he really wanted to see them get redder. Maybe his crazed libido arose when he was around Steve, but he didn't care. He wanted the man to blush today. It was payback for looking so good. "But, if you'd like me to answer you're earlier question, Stevie-" oh, Eddie was being evil now, "-you look sensational." Eddie even gave a wink.

Scarlet- no- maroon. Steve's cheeks got so dark from his blush that he looked like he wasn't breathing. Eddie didn't know if this was from embarrassment or if the boy actually felt something from Eddie's teasing. Eddie hoped for the latter- prayed for it, actually.

Before Eddie could tease the man more, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas walked into the room. They all stopped when they saw Steve.

"Steve?" Dustin asked, stopping in his place.

Steve just nodded with a slight wave. Eddie beamed with pride as he looked from the jock to the three nerdy freshmen.

"Steve's sitting in today."

"Why?" Mike asked, with a raised brow as he set his book bag down by the classroom door.

"We've got plans afterward."

"Plans?" Lucas asked, looking just as puzzled as his other friends.

"Can we come?" Dustin wondered.

"No. Sorry, kid." Eddie shrugged. He then took a long sip of the soda that Steve had brought for him.

"What are you guys doing?" Lucas asked as he shimmed out of his letterman jacket.

"He's helping me write my essay for Mrs. Mayweather's English Lit class." Eddie then glanced at Steve and saw him picking at his nails, not paying attention to the group's discussion. So, Eddie decided to break the news himself. "Which means we must stop the game by 8:00 o'clock."

"What?!" the boys yelled in unison.

This caused Steve to look up.

"What the hell, Steve?" Dustin whined, flailing his arm toward the man.

"What did I do?" the jock wondered, eyebrows raised, voice soft.

"We have to stop by 8:00 because of you!"

"Oh- yeah." Steve nodded. "Eddie's got to finish his essay."

"You have all weekend!" Mike argued.

"He still isn't done reading it yet."

The three boys turned to Eddie with narrowed eyes. They were pissed.

"You couldn't have gotten this out of the way earlier in the week?" Lucas wondered.

"I work now, boys. Sorry." the metalhead shrugged.

"Unbelievable." Mike shook his head.

Gareth, Jeff, and a few others entered the room as Mike complained.

"What's unbelievable?" Gareth asked, putting his bag down. "Also- what's Steve Harrington doing here?"

Steve smiled awkwardly.

"He's sitting in." Lucas motioned his hand to the jock.

"And that's why we have to end the game at 8:00." Dustin spat.

"What the hell?" Jeff asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Eddie sighed. "Gentleman, and Erica-" he started as his eyes finally met the girl's. "I am trying to graduate this year. I have an essay due on Monday that Steve is helping me complete. I'm sorry, but- and it pains me to say this- school's more important than D&D at the moment."

Everyone's mouths were open in shock.

"I know." Eddie agreed with wide eyes. "Who the hell ever thought I'd say that? Certainly not me." The group chuckled as Eddie continued. "So, we are cutting the game at 8:00. We can always play during the summer before Jeff leaves for college."

Everyone reluctantly nodded along to Eddie's speech.

"Alright." Eddie clapped. "Are you losers ready to play?"

"Yes!" they all agreed in unison.

Eddie smiled and then made his way over to Steve. After calling the man's name for a moment and getting no reaction, Eddie gripped Steve's shoulder lightly and bent down to whisper in the man's ear. "You're in my seat, Steve. Unless you plan on being the Dungeon Master tonight, move, please."

If Eddie could, he would've leaned in further and placed a soft kiss on Steve's neck, just below the man's earlobe. Steve smelt so good- like vanilla.

Steve's breath hitched as Eddie whispered. A moment later, he nodded and slid out of Eddie's chair. He walked to a chair in the back of the room to overlook the game. Eddie sat down in his seat, a smile plastered to his face. He felt on top of the world at how embarrassed he was making Steve tonight. It serves him right for how hot he's making Eddie feel with his dangerously tight blue jeans. He may have even watched Steve's ass as the jock walked off to his new seat.

"Alright," Eddie spoke as he opened up a spiral notebook, finally ready to start the game. "Let's begin. Take your seats."

Everyone in the Hellfire Club took their seats, ready to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Eddie took a deep breath as he flipped the switch within himself to become the Dungeon Master of the game. The minute the new light was on, he smiled almost wickedly as he began the game.

In a deep voice, eyes searching the excited faces of the Hellfire Club, Eddie began his tale. "Your quest begins at twilight as the seven of you approach a hidden northern village of dwarves that have been massacred." Eddie's head snaps to the right to look at Dustin as he continues his opening monologue. "You only came across this village due to the vile stench that slowly filled your noses as you trekked through the woods for a safe place to rest your weary heads after a long battle." Eddie now looked to Gareth as he spoke. "After stepping over the many bodies of dead dwarves, you see a scroll set neatly in the middle of the village square, next to the grand water fountain of the town. Lady Applejack-" Eddie smiles as he looks at Erica. "-opens the scroll and reads the letter to you all. The letter states that the dwarf king has been captured and imprisoned by a fleet of ogres who want revenge for your team's victory after your latest battle against the beasts."

"What? I thought those ogres died!" Dustin shouted, already into the game's new storyline.

"Yeah! Didn't we kill their leader?" Mike asked eyebrow raised.

"So you thought young, Tayr." Eddie smiled at Mike as he used his character name. "So you thought."

"Oh, I'm going to get these sons of bitches." Dustin groaned as he slammed a fist down onto the table holding the board game.

Steve chuckled from his seat in the back. Eddie looked at Steve and smiled, glad to see the man enjoying himself.

"Nog wants to go after the ogres?" Eddie asks, turning to Dustin.

"I do." Dustin nodes.

"What do you suggest the team does? Shall you rest and gain energy, or shall you immediately start looking for clues as to where the ogres' dungeon is?" Eddie wonders, leaning back in his seat, hands coming to clasp together. He rests his chin there. His eyes are narrowed at the young boy.

Dustin looks over to the rest of the group with raised eyebrows.

"Obviously, sleep, moron." Gareth rolls his eyes.

"Don't call him that." Jeff slaps Gareth's arm lightly. "He's just excited to kill the ogres."

Dustin turns to Eddie. "Sleep to get energy."

Eddie rolls the dice to see what will happen to the game if they sleep to gain energy. After the dice presents a number to Eddie, he slowly looks up at the club and smiles. All their faces turn to relief. "You all get a good night's sleep and wake in peace the next morning, ready to begin your journey of looking for clues."

The club smiles and gets ready for Eddie's next storyline. They're all watching eagerly as Eddie tells his tale of the seven warriors.

Before the club even realizes it, the seven warriors finally come face to face with the ogre's leader, who is clasping the dwarf king in his hand.

"You seven peasants have no amount of strength for me!" Eddie booms, voice low and gruff to mimic the ogre's leader. Eddie is standing on his chair now, eyes looking crazy as he looks over to the scared faces of the Hellfire Club. "You will never destroy me!"

"Shit, what do we do? What do we do?" Dustin looks at his friends.

"Where is Will the Wise when we need him!" Lucas shouts as he looks up to the ceiling, arms flying up in annoyance.

"Hey- I'm a Paladin. I can do something." Mike huffs.

"Well- what?" Gareth stares with wide eyes.

"I'll- I'll-" Mike stammers, but he's cut short when a pair of loud hands clap together. The entire club turns their attention to the back of the room, where Steve is now standing instead of sitting.

"It's 8 o'clock, losers." Steve smiles.

"No!" Everyone screams in unison.

"You can't do that!" Gareth shouts and then turns to Eddie. "He can't do that!"

Eddie sighs and stands up with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I'm sorry, but I can't piss off Steve tonight. He's my chance at graduating this year."

"This is such bullshit." Dustin groans.

"We've got the summertime. Don't worry." Eddie smiles as he closes his notebook after marking where they were in the game.

"You owe us big time, Steve," Mike grunts as he gets up.

"Yeah- yeah, nerds." Steve yawns with a stretch.

As the group huffs and puffs as they gather their belongings, Steve grabs a trash bag to start throwing away the cups and plates of the Hellfire Club so Eddie doesn't have to stay so long after the meeting. Eddie waves his friends goodbye as he starts picking up the pieces to the game.

When everyone in the club has left, leaving Steve and Eddie alone, Eddie finally asks what he's been thinking all night, "So? What did you think?"

Steve smiles but doesn't look at Eddie. He just continues his chore of throwing away trash as he speaks, "You're insane. That's what I think."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Eddie chuckles as he folds up the board to the game.

"I can't decide." Steve laughs with a shake of his head.

Eddie bites his lip, unable to come up with a response to that.

"It's definitely still nerdy, though." Steve nodes as he ties up the first trash bag. After grabbing a second, he says, "I still don't think I'll play."

"Did you not like it?" Eddie frowned on the inside. He didn't want to show his disappointment.

"I did like it." Steve finally stopped cleaning for a moment and turned to face Eddie. Eddie stopped what he was doing and looked over at Steve. "I don't want to play it because I can't focus for that long on one thing, but I would like to sit in again. That was fun."

"That takes focus too?" Eddie tried hard not to smile, but it slowly crept onto his face through his words.

"Yeah, but I can leave at any time I want. I can't do that if I play."

"I get that." Eddie nodded.

Steve looked at Eddie for a moment, eyes running over Eddie's face, before turning to resume his cleaning. Eddie bit his cheek as he turned to finish putting away the game pieces.

When the two were finally done, Steve threw the trash bags in the dumpster outside, and Eddie loaded up his van. After, they both got in their vehicles and drove to Eddie's place.

Eddie unlocked his front door and led Steve to his bedroom when they arrived.

"So, where do we start?" Eddie sighed as he unzipped his backpack.

"With the next act. We only have one more to go." Steve smiled as he took off his shoes. Eddie watched as the man climbed onto Eddie's bed, laying back on one of his pillows. "Toss it over." Steve made grabby hands at the book. Eddie tossed it, and Steve caught it. "Come on." the jock patted the bed next to him. Eddie crawled under his covers.

Steve began to read the next act, stopping for Eddie's millions of questions, but he did it with a smile on his face and his voice soft.

After finishing the book, the two men fell asleep like last time, scooted close, and minds at ease.

Time seemed to move quickly as the boys slept. Before Eddie could even register that he was asleep, his eyes were cracking open. The boy yawned and tried to stretch, but felt something in the way, almost pinning him down to his mattress.

He looked down to see Steve's head nuzzled into his chest. This is when Eddie registered tingles shooting throughout his body. He looked down to the areas that shouted at him the most. He was met with seeing Steve's leg hooked with his own (again), and the jock's arm around his waist.

What. The. Fuck.

The last time Steve had spent the night, just his leg was on top of Eddie's- now however- he was fully attached to the man like his life depended on it.

Does Steve not know that he's doing this- or does he know?

Eddie didn't want to find out the answer, even though he wished for this kind of connection the last time that Steve spent the night. He just wasn't prepared to find out whether or not Steve meant to cuddle into him. So, Eddie carefully slid himself out of bed, not to wake Steve up. He had a bit of a situation going on in his pants and if the jock were to wake up and see, it would just be embarrassing for everyone.

Eddie carefully opened his bedroom door, cursing to himself about how loud the cracking was, before he was tip toeing down the hall to his bathroom to shower. At least in here he could take care of his problem without anyone bothering him.

When his shower was completed, he stepped out, dried off, and then walked back to his room with a towel on his waist. He looked over to Steve, who now was cuddling Eddie's pillow as he slept. Maybe he wasn't aware?

Eddie carefully made his way over to his dresser and picked out a pair of red boxers. He slipped them on quickly and sighed out a breath of relief when Steve was still asleep- not aware that Eddie was changing.

Once Eddie had finally put on jeans and a Scorpions tee, he headed to his kitchen to get a bowl of cereal. There, he was met with Wayne.

"Oh, hey, Wayne." Eddie nodded as he gathered his breakfast.

"Why is there a boy sleeping in your bed?" was all Eddie was met with.

"That's Steve. He was helping me out with my English Lit homework."

"That's all you better have been doing."

"Wayne." Eddie blushed, trying hard not to spill the milk he was pouring into his bowl.

"I'm serious, Eddie. I don't want you sleeping around with random people. You're finally starting to get away from that. It's been months."

"I know it's been months." Eddie sighed, leaning up against his counter. "I haven't used any hard drugs in a while, Wayne. I'm not partying as much and I'm not sleeping with strangers anymore. I want to change for the better. Steve is just a friend. He's trying to help me graduate. I promise."

Wayne looked Eddie over, eyes drooped with sadness. Eddie wanted to pull out his hair. He hated making Wayne feel bad for him.

"Alright. If there's no funny business going on between you two, then I'll shut up about it."

"Thank you." Eddie smiled. He grabbed his bowl and began scooping the cereal into his mouth. "How was the plant?"

"It was okay." Wayne shrugged as he poured himself a cup of coffee, due to the machine dinging that it was ready. "I talked to my boss. He said there's a spot for you once you graduate."

Eddie nodded, casting his eyes onto the ground.

He didn't want to work at the plant with Wayne. He wanted something different for his life. Maybe he wanted to work at Family Video forever? Maybe he wanted to go to a trade school?

With what money? Eddie thought to himself with a shake of his head. He scoped another bite into his mouth. This is when his bedroom door creaked open.

Eddie poked his head out of the kitchen to look down the hallway. Steve was walking towards him yawning and scratching at his bed head. He looked adorable. Eddie turned to Wayne and gave him a look.

Wayne rolled his eyes, but nodded anyways, understanding what Eddie was getting at.

When Steve walked into the kitchen, he froze when he saw Wayne. The man was glaring at him as he sipped his coffee. Eddie softly smiled and Steve and said, "Steve, this is my Uncle Wayne." He then turned to his uncle. "Wayne, this is Steve Harrington."

"It's nice to meet you sir." Steve smiled, extending his hand.

Wayne thankfully shook it and said, "Likewise." Luckily, Wayne followed through with what Eddie had wanted. "I've got to run some errands. So, I'll see you boys later."

"Bye, Wayne." Eddie waved as he watched his uncle walk out of the trailer with the coffee mug still in his hand.

"Bye, sir!" Steve shouted, but Wayne was already closing the door behind him. Steve let out a breath and started rubbing his arms. Eddie could see the goosebumps.

"You cold?"

"A little." Steve nodded.

"I'll grab you a coat." Eddie stated as he put down his cereal bowl. He quickly walked to his room, grabbed a jacket, and then headed back to the kitchen. There he saw Steve making him self a cup of coffee. Eddie handed the jock the coat.

After Steve slipped it on, he thanked Eddie and then took a sip from his mug. "So-" the boy started. "-we finished the book."

"We did." Eddie nodded, picking up his bowl to eat some more of his breakfast.

"Do you feel like you can write the essay?"

"With your help- yeah."

Steve chuckled, "I'm not writing it for you."

"I know." Eddie rolled his eyes. "I just need pointers here and there."

"Okay. We can start now if you'd like?"

"Uhm-" Eddie tried, but didn't know how to finish the sentence. He just turned and began to wash out his bowl.

"What?"

"I kind of wanted a quiet morning." Eddie glanced at Steve, but then turned back to face the sink. "We've got all day."

"Okay. I guess we can do something else. What did you have in mind?"

"I kinda wanted to smoke." Eddie turned off the sink and put the bowl on a towel on his counter. He then turned to see Steve nodding, but Eddie knew Steve didn't realize it wasn't cigarettes he was talking about. "I want to spoke weed."

"Oh, okay." Steve smiled.

Eddie gave him a weird look. "Do you smoke pot, Stevie?"

Steve shrugged and put down his now empty coffee mug. "I smoked a lot in school. I haven't really done it in a while."

"I need to see this." Eddie grinned as he bounced off to his room to grab an already rolled up blunt. Once he grabbed it as well as a lighter, he walked into the living room, motioning for Steve to follow him as he walked past the kitchenette.

Steve and Eddie sat down together on the stained sofa in Eddie's living room facing each other. Steve sat crisscross applesauce while Eddie curled one leg up underneath himself and let his other leg dangle off the edge.

"I cannot wait to see you high, Harrington." Eddie raised his eyebrows as he placed the blunt between is lips. Steve lolled his head to the side with a small smile spread across his face. Eddie lit the blunt a few moments later and then sucked in as much of the drug as he could. He let the pot plunge down his throat and swirl around in his lungs. As he blew out a cloud, he passed the blunt to Steve.

Eddie, with wide eyes, watched Steve suck in the marijuana with ease. The golden boy of Hawkins let the smoke settle in his lungs before he closed his eyes and blew out a cloud larger than Eddie's.

"Holy fuck, Steve." Eddie chuckled as he took the blunt back for another hit. "I didn't think you could smoke like that."

"Thank the Upside Down." Steve laughed.

Eddie didn't want to get into the trauma of the Upside Down right now, so he smiled, "I'll do that later. Remind me." Eddie sucked in another large amount of the drug. As he blew it out this time, his eyes became hooded and his smile grew.

Steve grabbed the pot from Eddie and took another hit himself.

Before the two boys knew it, they were higher than the Rocky Mountains.

"I have taste!" Eddie laughed, head tossing back, body shaking throughout his giggle fit.

"No you don't!" Steve cackled. "Richard Gere, Eddie? You think he's attractive? He's old- like almost 40!"

Eddie laughed louder. "So, what? The guy is top tier."

"I didn't think he was your type though! I get if you would've said Rob Lowe, but Richard Gere? Eddie, come on!"

Eddie's eyes almost popped out of his head. "You like Rob Lowe?"

"Who doesn't." Steve shrugged, laughter dying out a little.

Eddie sat back a little, cocking his head to the side. "When did we get on the topic of attractive men?"

"When you said that Farrah Faucet wasn't the most attractive person in Hollywood."

Eddie's brain was clouded with Mary Jane, but he knew this was a whole different playing field. Steve was actively talking about men that he thought we attractive. What?

"What other men do you fancy, Steven?" Eddie waggled his eyebrows.

"Uhm-" Steve sat back and thought. Eddie could've died right then and there. Was this real life? "Tom Cruise, Tony Danza, Johnny Deep-" Steve stated, but Eddie had to interrupt.

"So you've got a whole list?"

"I mean, yeah?" Steve shrugged. "I've got a whole list of woman too. It's okay to think people are attractive. It's not like it's that big of a deal."

Eddie bit his lip. He didn't know what to think of Steve's statement. Was the man just comfortable in his sexuality, or was he bi? This was the real question, not even if the jock liked him back or not.

"You're right. I find tons of people attractive that I'd never go for or be into."

"Yeah? Like who?"

"I find Robin attractive, but that would never ever happen." Eddie shrugged.

"She's beautiful." Steve agreed. "You're right though. Even though I had a crush on her, that ship has sailed."

Eddie smiled, remembering Robin telling him that Steve used to like her.

"I think that girl- ah what's her name-" Eddie thought. He then snapped his fingers when he remembered. "Brenda! You were sort of dating her and I thought that she was pretty. I'd never go for her either though."

"You thought Brenda was pretty?" Steve asked, resting his chin on his knees as he hugged his legs to his chest.

"I did. You have good taste in woman."

"Yeah- but it's not like they stay with me."

Eddie bit his cheek as he looked over Steve's face. It was a little sad. "Why don't they stay?"

"Who knows." he sighed. "I'm a lot to deal with."

"I don't think so."

"Well, they think so." Steve sighed. "I'm stuck in this weird funk of liking people who don't like me back."

"That person you like-" Eddie raised an eyebrow. "-have you not opened up to them yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Then you don't know if they like you or not."

"It's obvious they don't."

"How so?"

"I'm dropping hints left and right and then they just... ignore them."

"Sometimes people are dumb." Eddie shrugged. "But I get where you're coming from. I like someone too, but I'm too chicken to tell them."

"Why?"

"They- uhm- they're too- too- good for me." Eddie couldn't figure out what to say. He was talking about Steve to Steve himself. He didn't want to give himself away.

"No one is too good for you Eddie."

Eddie's eyes ran over Steve's soft expression. It made his heart tight. If only Steve's crush was on Eddie.

"I think we should start writing that paper now." Eddie spoke softly.

Steve took a second before he nodded his head and stood up. "Let's do this."

Eddie stood up as well and began to walk to his bedroom. His head was filled with thoughts of wanting more with Steve, but never being able to successfully get to that point. It made him sad. He didn't know if he could take it anymore. Steve was acting like Eddie's boyfriend without even realizing it and it was starting to make Eddie go crazy. The man was cuddling Eddie in bed, smoking his cigarettes, taking him on drives to clear his head, opening up to him, flirting with him- yet it was all unintentionally making Eddie fall for Steve harder. The jock had no idea what he was doing to Eddie.

++++++++++

"God, Robin-" Eddie sighed as he hiked himself onto the counter at Family Video. "-I don't think I can take being Steve's friend anymore."

"What do you mean?" she asked, popping her gum as she did so. Carol would've gotten smacked if it was her.

"He's so- so touchy in his damn sleep." the boy shivered.

"What do you mean touchy?" she asked. She then held up her hand. "Backtrack. What do you mean when he sleeps? You two have slept in the same bed together?"

"Uh- yeah?" Eddie nodded like it was apparent. "This is his second time sleeping over at my house. Well- technically third because of last night, since he never left my house on Friday."

"He's still there?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I dunno. Maybe?" Eddie shrugged. "I had to open this morning with you, so I left him asleep in my bed."

"Oh my gosh..." the girl whispered, shock slapped across her face.

Eddie nodded, blowing out air dramatically.

"So... getting back to the touching-" Robin spoke softly. "-you guys haven't...?"

"No!" Eddie shook his head. "God, no. The man doesn't like me."

Robin rolled her eyes, biting back whatever comment she wanted to say. She instead said, "Well, what type of touching are we talking about?"

"He's a cuddle bug."

Robin cackled at this, heading falling back. "A what?" she asked through her laughter.

Eddie shrugged, "It's the only way I know how to describe it. He attaches himself to me in his sleep. I don't think he even knows that he's doing it."

"What do you mean by attaching?"

"Like he throws one leg over mine and nuzzles his nose into my neck. It makes me panic every single time." Eddie's cheeks grew red.

"Are you sure he isn't doing it on purpose?"

"No." Eddie shakes his head. "He's dead asleep every time. He snores... so I know he's asleep."

"Really? Didn't peg him as a snorer?" Robin lolls her head to the side, popping her gum again.

"They aren't bad in the freight train area. His snores are more like... little whistles." Eddie's smile turned slightly sour as he thought of Steve's almost deaf left ear and migraines. Maybe the poor boy had nose damage too.

"What?" Robin wondered, sensing Eddie's changed mood.

He only shook his head. It wasn't his place to talk about Steve's issues without permission, even if Robin was his best friend. "It's nothing. So-" he changed the topic. "-how's Vickie?"

"Not sharing a bed with me; that's a sad fact."

"Shit, I'm sorry, Robbie." Eddie sighed. "I thought things were going well?"

"I think she's scared to admit that she's a lesbian."

"Really?"

Robin nodded as she slumped in her seat a bit. "There are moments between us... like we are going to kiss... and I feel this spark between us when it happens. My stomach drops, my heart races, and my palms get all sweaty. We both start to lean in... and then she backs away and moves on to another topic."

Eddie thought for a moment before his smile returned. "Gareth's having a party after graduation. Why don't I invite Vickie and you? Maybe that could give you some alone time with her while she's a little loose from drinking."

"I don't know if that would help, honestly."

"I think it will. She was super touchy with you at the last party when you got drunk. Maybe she'll open up a little more now that she has a feel for you."

After a moment, Robin nodded. "Okay. You can invite us to Gareth's party."

"Great." Eddie nodded.

"I know you wanted to change the topic-" the girl started, causing Eddie to groan. "-but how have you guys not done anything when you're always cuddling together?"

"I always wake up first, so I'm always out of bed before Steve can realize how close we are."

"Eddie," Robin whined.

"What?" he chuckled.

"Stay in bed. Let him wake up to it."

"Why? It will only make things awkward for us both."

"Or it could open him up to getting closer to you, dingus." Robin smiled as the bell attached to the front door of Family Video chimed.

Eddie got down from the counter and greeted the customer. He whispered to Robin, "I don't know if I want him to know."

"Why not?" she whispered back.

"What if it freaks him out, and he never wants to sleep over again?"

"I don't think that will happen."

Eddie bit his lip as he looked over to the customer. He then leaned in closer to the girl. "Sharing a bed is intimate, okay? I don't want him to get overwhelmed because he's cuddling me in his sleep. He might get embarrassed that it's me he's cuddling."

"Steve trusts you when he sleeps next to you. He's trusting you that you'll make sure he wakes up the next day. He is cuddling you in his sleep because he knows you're there. He knows you're making sure that he's okay. You're safe."

Eddie leaned against the counter to think about Robin's words as he watched the customer go down every store aisle. Eddie wanted to believe Robin. He tried to think Steve trusted him with his life when he fell asleep next to him. Sharing a bed is intimate. Maybe Steve was subconsciously aware that Eddie was there, sleeping next to him, making sure to protect him.

"What is your first and last name, sir?" Robin asked the customer once he came up to the front counter with six movies.

"Peter Bennet."

"What is your address and telephone number, Mr. Bennet?"

Eddie zoned out on the conversation and looked off to the parking lot. He was glad he did. He was met with the sight of Steve pulling into a parking space. Eddie's jaw almost dropped when he saw Steve was in Eddie's clothes. Steve was wearing a pair of Eddie's many black jeans and one of Eddie's Whitesnake band shirts. His hair was pushed back with one of Eddie's headbands too. Eddie could pass out from looking at him.

"Close your mouth, Munson. You'll catch flies." Robin whispered as she nudged him after noticing what the metalhead was looking at. Mr. Bennet was already out the door, so he couldn't hear Robin's comment.

"He's wearing my clothes, Robin." Eddie pointed, still gobsmacked at Steve's appearance.

"You two are like boyfriends without actually being boyfriends." she shook her head. "I'm so jealous."

Eddie bit his lip as Steve entered the store.

"Hey, losers." Steve waved.

"What are you doing here, dingus?" Robin asked, leaning onto the counter with her elbows as she sat on the stool.

"I'm bringing Eddie his lunch. He packed it and didn't bring it." Steve raised an eyebrow as he held up a brown paper bag.

Eddie could've swooned.

"I knew I was forgetting something." Eddie sheepishly smiled as he took the bag out of Steve's hand.

"By the way, I switched out your cookie for a banana. More fruits, Eddie. I keep telling you that." Steve shook his head.

Eddie glanced at Robin, whose cheeks were blushing for him. He'd never give Steve the satisfaction of blushing for him.

"Thanks." Eddie nodded, unsure of what to say. Robin was right. Steve did act like Eddie's boyfriend sometimes. The man, even though constantly rolling his eyes at Eddie, always did shit like this for him. Christ- the man took him to the cliffs the other day to scream out his pain. Steve was such a good- friend- even though Eddie wanted it to mean they were boyfriends.

"So, has it been busy today?" Steve asked, hands going into his pockets.

"No." Robin shook her head, eyes traveling up Steve's body.

Please ask, please ask. Eddie begged as he watched Robin's eyes.

"Who's clothes are those?"

Yes!

"Oh- uh-" Steve stuttered, bringing his hand up to the back of his head to scratch there. "-these are Eddie's."

"Why are you wearing Eddie's clothes?"

"I forgot to pack an outfit for today?" Steve answered, but it sounded more like a question.

"You spent the night at Eddie's?"

"Weekend, actually."  Steve's cheeks were red now as Robin grilled him, already knowing the answers thanks to Eddie.

"Weekend? What the hell were you two doing?"

"Finishing Eddie's English essay, which we did, by the way."

"How do you think it turned out?" Robin turned to ask Eddie.

"Great. Harrington's great at Shakespeare." Eddie smiled as he glanced over at Steve.

Robin turned her eyes back to the jock. "You going home tonight, then?"

"Actually, Eddie and I were going to grab dinner after his shift to celebrate his essay finally being done, so I'm not sure."

Robin got up from her stool then. "Bathroom break." she smiled. As she turned to leave, she squeezed Eddie's arm. Eddie held in his excitement from her oh my god squeeze. After she left, Eddie looked over at Steve. "Where do you want to eat?"

"I say we order pizza?"

"I agree."

"Oh- and uh- my parents left this morning for a week conference in New Jersey. Can you come over to my place for dinner tonight? It would be a nice change in scenery? I've got a pool and everything too..."

Eddie blushed on the inside so Steve couldn't see.

"Okay." Eddie nodded. "What time should I meet you over there?"

"7:30?"

"See you then."

"Great." Steve smiled. He then said his goodbye to Eddie and shouted his goodbye to Robin before turning and leaving the store.

Eddie fell to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest. He was freaking out. He felt like a teenage girl in every romance movie known to man. He wanted to kick his feet, twirl his hair, and flutter his eyelashes at the thought of eating over at Steve's. Indeed nothing would happen, but he could still dream.

Chapter Text

"Hey, Wayne?" Eddie asked, following a knock on the older man's bedroom door.

"Yeah, kid?" the man responded without opening the door.

"I might spend the night at a friend's tonight."

Eddie didn't know if he'd stay the night at Steve's just yet... but the two were comfortable with each other enough that it should be fine if Eddie changed his mind later.

"What friend?"

"Steve. You remember Steve, right?"

Wayne opened his door and peered down at his nephew. "Are you sure nothing is going on between you two?"

"Positive." Eddie almost pouted. "He's straight."

"Eh- I don't know about that." Wayne scratched at the back of his head.

Eddie's eyes could've popped out of his head at his uncle's statement. "What do you mean?"

"He has eyes for you, Eddie."

"Don't lie to me, Wayne. That's a hate crime."

"Eddie." the man rolled his eyes as he walked past his nephew. "I'm not lying to you. I could see it in his eyes. The boy likes you."

"As a friend."

"I don't want to argue with you."

"Because you know I'm right."

"Eddie!" Wayne stomped as he came to a halt. He turned around and glared him down. "Why do you do that to yourself?"

Eddie didn't know how to respond. Seeing Wayne with wide crazy eyes made Eddie's stomach turn.

"Why do you constantly think that no one could love you? People love you, Eddie. Your friends love you... I love you. Why can't you see that?" Wayne was breathing heavily as he spoke. "Son, I know you've had a hard upbringing, but that's not who you are anymore. You've changed and so has the world around you. Know that everything in your life is pushing you towards the life you weren't meant to have. Stop trying to backtrack. It will do nothing for you."

Eddie bit his lip to try and hold in his emotions. Wayne wasn't one for sharing how he felt, so hearing the man yell at Eddie about how much he loved him made the metalhead want to full-on sob. He didn't mean to make Wayne this wound up over him. Vecna killed the last few strings that Eddie had left in his heart. He's been trying hard to project positive energy into the world around him, but maybe he was draining the world dry instead.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like I didn't appreciate you... or other people in my life."

Wayne sighed and placed a hand on Eddie's shoulder. "Eddie, I want you to stop building up walls. You don't have to knock them down all at once per se, but at least create a door, so you can hear when someone's knocking."

Eddie nodded. "Okay. I'll build a door."

Wayne looked Eddie over before turning and heading to the kitchen. Eddie walked towards the front door to leave for Steve's house.

"Have fun at Steve's place," Wayne spoke as his head disappeared behind the fridge door. "Don't be afraid to be nice to the kid."

"I'll try." Eddie half smiled as he opened the door. After stepping outside, he closed the door behind himself. After a moment, he took a deep breath of fresh air and walked off to his van to head to Steve's house.

The car ride to Steve's was much quieter than any of Eddie's typical car rides. He didn't want to listen to music because, for once, he was actually thinking about something other than wanting to escape his emotions. He wanted more. He wanted to build that door that Wayne had suggested. The man was tired of being alone when he didn't have to be.

Ever since Eddie was little, all he knew was how to survive on his own. He knew how to make it to the next day without getting hurt. As he realizes now that he's an adult, being alone with his mind, his sorrow, and his heartache can really damage him- and it has been damaging him. Whenever he does let people in, just for a little while, he always feels a million times lighter at the end of the day. He wants that feeling to be constant now. He's aching for it.

So, when Eddie pulled into Steve's driveway, he was more confident in himself and his emotions than ever before. Sure, he wasn't going to flat-out say he wanted Steve, but he wasn't going to be so scared to let himself go and be himself without holding back.

Eddie turned off his van with one final deep big breath. "You've got this, Eddie." The boy got out of his car and knocked on Steve's bright red front door. Steve was quick to answer. The jock invited the metalhead in with a wave and a smile.

"Shall we swim or eat first?" Steve asked, taking Eddie's bag out of his hands.

"Hey-" Eddie spoke, making grabby hands for his bag.

"I'll put it up in my room for you. Grab yourself a drink." Steve smiled, already walking up the stairs to his room."

"Oh. Okay." Eddie nodded. "And I say swim first."

"You got it!" Steve yelled from the top of the staircase."

Eddie sighed and made his way into Steve's kitchen. He almost laughed when he saw the ingredients to make a Moscow Mule. Steve remembered his favorite drink from the party? Eddie bit his lip to hide his smile as he made up a drink for himself and Steve.

When Steve made his way into the mansion's kitchen, Eddie asked, "You trying to get me drunk, Harrington?"

"Would it be such a bad thing?" Steve wondered as he took the drink from the counter that Eddie had made for him.

"It depends on why you want me to be drunk."

"Guess you'll have to find out. Come on." Steve motioned as he began to walk to his back porch. Eddie's heart was hammering in his chest as he followed the man outside, the sun already setting. The orange hues of the setting sun bounced off of Steve's tan skin nicely as he took off his shirt for the pool. Eddie's eyes ran down Steve's chest. His chest hair made Eddie dizzy. It was a great look on Steve. "You going to swim in all that?" Steve pointed at Eddie's shoes and shirt.

"No, I was just taking my time." Eddie shrugged as he slid out of his shoes.

"Taking your time looking at me?" Steve smirked.

"You wish." Eddie shot back with a smile. He then pulled his shirt off and threw it onto one of Steve's pool chairs. When he turned his attention back to the jock, Steve's mouth was parted as his eyes dragged up Eddie's body. Eddie felt on fire under the man's stare. "You going to swim or just gawk at my awesome tattoos?"

"Swim," Steve answered as he ran and jumped into the pool.

Eddie watched as the boy came up from under the water and flicked his head about to move his hair out of his face. It was attractive, to say the least. Eddie smiled wickedly as he started running towards the water. "Cannonball!" he screamed. He plopped into the water fast and caused waves to move throughout the pool. Steve clapped him on.

"Great form, Ed!" Steve cheered.

Eddie could've screamed from the nickname. He loved it. He really did.

"Thank you, my kind sir." Eddie bowed.

As Eddie and Steve floated in the water, watching the sky change colors, Steve congratulated Eddie on his essay.

"I'm proud of you for sticking with your essay all weekend. I didn't think you'd have it in you at first, but you did it, and it came out great, Eddie. I'm super proud of you." Steve smiled as he tucked his hair behind his ears.

"I couldn't have done it without you. You motivated me so much." Eddie smiled back, mirroring Steve by moving his hair out of his face and behind his ears. "I think I'm going to pass my final for the first time, thanks to you."

"If you fail, I want you to keep that same energy with me." Steve laughed.

"I'm not going to fail... hopefully." Eddie laughed, his head tilting back. "Who knows, we could just be two stupid guys who think we did well only to end up missing the book's point completely."

"No." Steve shook his head. "You understood the book perfectly."

"I did?"

"Yeah." Steve nodded. "Did you have someone in mind when you wrote the paper?"

"Why would you think I had someone in mind?" Eddie wondered, heart fluttering.

"I don't know-" Steve sighed. "-it's just- I felt like you weren't writing about just Romeo and Juliet; I felt like you threw in your own experiences with love, sorrow, and hatred."

"Well- to be honest- I did have someone in mind." Eddie shrugged, thinking about what Wayne had told him earlier. He felt like Steve was knocking, so he wanted to make sure to have a door for him to do so.

"Do you really have that strong of feelings for someone?" Steve almost whispered.

"I do," Eddie answered back just as softly.

"Is it scary?"

Eddie watched as the sun's dim light slowly turned to moonlight over Steve's pretty face. It was hitting every one of the jock's angles just the right way. It was mesmerizing. Talk about scary.

"Totally," Eddie answered back breathlessly.

"How do you overcome the fear of loving someone that strongly?" Steve's voice was still so soft. Eddie wanted to know who Steve was asking about. Was this about Nancy or the person he claimed to have a crush on a few weeks ago?

"I'll let you know when it happens because I'm still terrified."

"Are you terrified that they might not like you back?"

"A little." Eddie shrugged. "But I'm more terrified that I won't be able to open up for them if they ever do like me back."

"I get that."

"How? You're such an open book."

"I try to be for the people I care about, but it can still be hard."

"I'm trying hard to do that for the people I care about too."

"I can tell. You're really trying."

"I try because you push."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

Steve raised his eyebrow.

"You've helped me in more ways than you can even imagine. You've helped me be less terrified for when the day comes- if it comes."

"I'm glad." Steve smiled softly.

There was silence between the two boys as the darkness seemed to swallow them up whole. When Eddie shivered and Steve noticed, Steve called it quits and got out of the pool. Eddie followed. Steve called for a pizza guy as Eddie flipped through the TV channels.

"What do you want to watch, Harrington?" Eddie asked as he made himself comfortable on Steve's sofa after he changed into clean shorts; he was still shirtless- as was Steve.

"I really don't care what we watch. You can choose." Steve shrugged as he typed in the pizza place's number.

"How do you feel about game shows?"

"I love to hate them."

"Same. Game show it is." Eddie smiled as he clicked on the channel.

"Hi- this is for delivery," Steve spoke into his home phone once the restaurant answered. "Do you have any specials going on tonight?"

Eddie chuckled to himself. Steve sounded just like he did at Family Video with a customer. He sounded fake- unlike himself. The metalhead was glad that Steve didn't act like that with him. He used to when they were in school together, but now- no. Now Steve could be real with him.

"No specials? No- that's okay. I'll just take a large-" Steve paused and looked at Eddie. Eddie looked up and raised a brow. Steve mouthed, "What do you want?"

"Anything but olives." Eddie shuddered.

"I'm sorry- just one moment," Steve spoke into the phone. He quickly covered the mouthpiece before saying, "But I like olives."

"How can you like olives? They're disgusting, green or black."

"You just don't have adult taste buds, Munson. Try and be more elite like the rest of us."

Eddie laughed as he bit his lip to try and contain himself. "You know you can always order olives on half of the pizza, right?"

"Oh- yeah." Steve chuckled. "What do you want on your half?"

"Sausage and Pepperoni."

"That's it?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Yes? Do you have an issue with that?"

"That's what the kids eat."

"So, what?"

"Never mind." Steve rolled his eyes playfully as he placed the phone back up to his ear. "I'm sorry about that. I'll take a large pizza, half sausage and pepperoni and the other half everything on it- your supreme toppings."

Eddie made a face at Steve's pizza order. Who the hell wants vegetables on their pizza? Eddie could never.

"I'll pay on arrival- yes." Steve nodded to himself. "Alright. Thank you so much." After Steve hung up the phone, he sat down next to Eddie. "What?" The jock asked as he noticed Eddie's scrunched-up face.

"Why do you eat vegetables on pizza?"

"Why wouldn't I eat vegetables on pizza?"

"Pizza is supposed to be unhealthy- so why make it healthy?"

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I just like vegetables?" Steve raised an eyebrow- and no, Eddie hadn't really thought about that. He wasn't really the healthy type as one could imagine.

"I hope you know that you'll never get me to eat a vegetable." Eddie grimaced.

"I get you to eat fruits instead of candy?"

"Fruit's different."

"How so?" Steve asked, turning his body to fully face Eddie. Eddie turned too.

"Fruits are sweet."

"Vegetables can be sweet."

"Bullshit. Name one sweet vegetable, Harrington."

"Sweet Potatoes. It says it right in the name, Munson."

"Haven't had it." Eddie shrugged.

"You've never had a sweet potato before?" Steve asked, eyes popping out of his head. "I eat them every year at Thanksgiving dinner."

"All Wayne and I do for Thanksgiving dinner is buy a rotisserie chicken from the store with mac and cheese as our side. Maybe we'll find some cheap dinner rolls if we're lucky."

"Oh, Eddie." Steve frowned.

"Don't feel bad for me. It's a pretty good dinner."

"Maybe I can cook for you some time so you can try my family's sweet potato recipe."

"Can you actually cook?"

"Can I- can I actually- wow- that hurts Eddie," Steve spoke, mock offended. "Of course, I can cook. What else could I do when I'm alone here most of the time?"

Eddie frowned at that, "I don't really know."

"Cook. I cook a lot for myself."

"I'd love to have dinner with you one night- so you can cook for more than just one person."

Steve smiled at that.

The two boys looked into each other's eyes for what felt like hours. The game show on Steve's TV was a blur- something unimportant in their space.

Eddie's eyes ran over Steve's face like he hadn't seen the boy in months. He looked over every freckle, every beauty mark, every facial hair, every eyebrow hair, every speck that littered Steve's iris'. Steve Harrington was beautiful. He was downright gorgeous. His beauty burned Eddie's eyes as the metalhead gawked in the deafening silence that swallowed the two boys whole in Steve's living room. Eddie wanted to kiss Steve at this moment. There are a lot of moments where Eddie feels this need kick in, but right now, he knew this would be the perfect time to try it out. He could feel the electricity pulling at the hairs on the back of his neck. He could feel his heart thumping hard against his lungs. He could feel his whole body going limp with nerves.

Eddie leaned in.

It wasn't fast. It was a slow lean. His eyes weren't even closed. He kept his eyes locked on Steve's as he leaned- worried about crossing some sort of line. To his surprise, Steve also started to lean- eyes focused on Eddie. The metalhead began to hold his breath to get himself to prepare for Steve's lips to be on his. He was ready for it. He's been waiting years to feel Steve's lips on his own. He's dreamed about this moment in time. He never quite knew how it would happen- maybe on a late-night walk together, maybe in the gym locker room after class, or maybe in the Upside Down after they defeated Vecna. Eddie never imagined it would happen on Steve's couch while they waited for a pizza to arrive. The thought of being on Steve's sofa never crossed Eddie's mind. He never thought the jock would like him enough to invite him into his home, into his personal space. This was a wild thing for Eddie to be experiencing.

Right as Eddie and Steve moved in closer, still leaning in slowly with their eyes opened, the doorbell rang, and Eddie internally groaned. The two boys snapped up and looked towards the door.

"I guess I better get that," Steve spoke softly as he got up from the sofa. Eddie just nodded as he watched the boy head to the front door. Steve opened the door and greeted the pizza delivery guy with shock. "Tommy?"

"Hey, Steve." Tommy sighed with a tired smile. "I didn't realize your address was yours until I pulled into your neighborhood. I guess I didn't need to know the exacts when I was here every day."

Eddie looked on from the sofa, trying to hide a little so Tommy wouldn't see him, but also so he could see the drama that might go down between the two ex-friends.

"It's cool- uhm- how have you been?" Steve asked, scratching at the back of his head.

"Better now that Carol and I broke up."

"I'm sorry to hear about the breakup. She told me at work."

"Oh yeah- you two work together now." Tommy sighed, biting his lip to keep in his emotions.

"It's better for you two now that you're apart."

"We were toxic- I know."

"You were." Steve half smiled. "But I'm glad you're finally able to think about what you want to do with your life."

"Pizza delivery boy isn't really the life goal, Steve." Tommy chuckled half-heartedly.

"I know, Tom." Steve chuckled back. "But now that she's gone, you have the time to think of something."

"That's true."

It was then silent, and Eddie could feel the tension seeping into the house. It caused his stomach to twist, so he looked away, ears still perked up to hear the conversation.

Tommy must have noticed Eddie's long curly hair and said, "Here's your large pizza. I know you probably want to get back to your date."

Steve didn't even correct him as he said, "Yeah. We're watching a show."

"The pizza's $12.50."

"Keep the change."

"Thanks, Harrington."

"No problem, Tom."

The door then shut. Steve sighed as he walked into the living room.

"Tommy H, huh?" Eddie asked, looking up at Steve's frown.

"Yeah. Tommy H."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. Let's just eat. I'm starving."

"Sure." Eddie nodded and opened the box that Steve had put on his coffee table.

Eddie could tell that the energy had changed as they ate. Steve didn't want to talk or kiss; he only wanted to eat and watch the lame TV game show. When the boys were done and cleaned up, they headed upstairs to Steve's room since it was so late- plus Eddie had school, and Steve had to open the store the next day. As they lay in bed, though, Eddie finally broke the ice.

"What happened between you, Tommy, and Carol?"

Without a beat, Steve answered Eddie, which made the metalhead internally smile. It meant that Steve considered Eddie someone he could really open up to. Sure he's opened up before, but that was always to coax something out of Eddie. As they lay in bed- there was no gain to be made for Steve by opening up.

"They cared more about themselves than anyone else. My feelings didn't matter to them. I tried forgiving them, but they kept letting me down and making me feel bad about myself."

"How did they make you feel bad about yourself?"

"They didn't like that I was in love with Nancy- the good girl."

"Oh."

"It wasn't just her, though. It was everything I did they didn't like and didn't fit their "vibes" or whatever. It's all just bullshit."

"The popular vibe, you mean?"

"Certainly."

"Not everything has to fit into a perfect mold."

"Yeah. I agree."

Eddie turned to face Steve and saw Steve was already looking at him, but his eyes were half closed. He looked exhausted- mentally drained.

"I hope you know I would never try to put you into a mold, Steve," Eddie whispered as he stayed completely still under the covers. He feared that sudden movements or loud noises would set Steve off- like he'd run away from Eddie and never look back.

"I appreciate you."

"I appreciate you too."

Steve smiled softly as his eyes began to flutter closed.

Eddie couldn't help it as he said, "Use that energy on the person you like, and you'll have them in no time."

Steve mumbled something that Eddie couldn't understand and then he was sound asleep. Eddie smiled to himself as he got comfortable. He turned off his thoughts slowly and slept like the boy next to him.

++++++++++

The following day seemed to come quick as Eddie opened his eyes. They were met with Steve's ceiling fan spinning fast above him. He tried to stretch, and like always, he couldn't. Steve was pinning him down. Eddie turned his head and saw Steve snuggled up close to him. It was sweet. It always was.

As Eddie tried to move from Steve's grip and out of bed, he stopped and thought of Robin. What would happen if Steve woke up and saw himself attached to Eddie like this? Would he be embarrassed? Would he be shocked? Would he even be phased at all? Eddie decided to stay and find out.

Steve woke up only a few minutes later, to Eddie's luck, so he couldn't freak himself out even more.

Steve woke with a yawn as he nuzzled himself further into Eddie's chest. Suddenly, Eddie could feel Steve tense up. Yup. Steve was now aware of what type of position the two boys were in. Steve slowly turned off Eddie and rolled onto his side of the bed. He turned to Eddie, and Eddie turned to him. His face looked bright red and... scared.

"I'm sorry." Steve apologized, cheeks growing darker. "I didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable."

Eddie could see the wheels turning in Steve's head. The gears were grinding hard, so to put the jock out of his misery, Eddie smiled, "You didn't make me uncomfortable."

"Are you sure?" Steve bit his lip.

"I'm sure. You always do that in your sleep. If it's not me, it's my pillow once I'm up."

"Wait-" Steve paused, cheeks now maroon. "-I always do this to you when I spend the night at your place?"

"Yeah." Eddie shrugged.

"And it doesn't bother you?"

"No. I find it cute." Eddie smiled, and then he tried to backtrack. "Like you whistle snoring."

"I snore?" Steve asked, eyebrows knitted together.

"Yeah. It sounds like a whistle.

"Oh- that's interesting." Steve thought and then quickly realized what he ghosted over, "Did you just say my cuddling is cute?"

Shit- shit- shit- shit- shit.

There's no turning back now.

"Yeah." Eddie shrugged.

Steve smiled as he placed his hand on Eddie's bicep while they looked at one another, "That's nice to know."

"Is it now?" Eddie raised an eyebrow, trying hard not to panic at the sudden contact.

"Yes, it is." Steve nodded.

There was silence. It felt the same way as the night before. Like an electric current flowing between the two boys as they looked at each other in Steve's dimly lit room. Eddie wanted to lean in again, but Steve sat up with an eye roll before he could and let out a dramatic huff.

"What's wrong?" Eddie asked, sitting up as well.

"You- that's what's wrong?"

"Me?" Eddie asked, hand coming up to his chest as his eyes widened.

"Yes, you." Steve motioned his hand toward the metalhead.

"What the hell did I do?"

"I'm sick and tired of you not picking up my signals!" Steve yelled as his hands flung about. "Robin is always hinting about how you might like me back, and she's always telling me how much you talk about me- but then when I'm around you, you're so hot and cold that I don't know. I just don't know. Maybe I should just take your advice and straight up ask you. Do you like me or not, Eddie?"

Eddie sat in Steve's bed, absolutely frozen. He didn't know what the hell to do or say. Was he still asleep? Was he dreaming? Was this real life? Was this actually happening? He didn't know what was going on or how to react. To Steve, it probably looked like Eddie didn't like him back since he was so unresponsive.

Eddie was right. Steve shook his head and placed it into his hands. "I knew it. I'm sorry, Eddie. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by dropping such a big bomb on you."

Eddie opened his mouth and then closed it again.

What the fuck is happening?

"I'll just go downstairs and let you figure out what you want to do. I'm sorry." Steve started to get up on the last sentence, and that's when Eddie's brain finally kicked in.

Eddie reached up and grabbed Steve's arm. Steve looked down at him, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Eddie still couldn't speak. His mouth was as dry as the desert. His tongue seemed to stick to the roof of his mouth. All he could do was look into Steve's light eyes with his dark orbs and hope that Steve could understand what he was trying to say.

"Eddie...?" Steve trailed off as he sat back down. "Are you trying to say something?"

Eddie nodded as his heart hammered against his lungs. It hurt. He wanted the words to fall out of his mouth, but everything within him was scared. Even though he heard Steve say how much he liked him, Eddie still didn't think it was real life- that this was actually happening. How could someone like Steve Harrington like someone like him- Eddie Munson?

"Do you... like me...?" Steve whispered.

Eddie bit his lip, unsure, as he grabbed onto either side of Steve's face. This was it. If he couldn't talk, he'd show the boy how he felt because, for once in Eddie's whole life, he was fucking speechless.

Eddie pulled Steve's face close to his, eyes squeezed so tightly shut that he could see multi-colored stars behind his lids, and their lips met instantly. Eddie didn't stop pulling on Steve though, meaning he was now lying on his back, and Steve was leaning over him.

Steve quickly kissed back after the initial shock, his hands falling to Eddie's hips as the two boys fell backward onto his bed. Steve squeezed tightly on Eddie's love handles to keep himself balanced above him.

When Eddie opened his mouth, Steve quickly stuck his tongue in and explored Eddie's warmth. When their tongues met, both boys moaned at the same time. Eddie would have been embarrassed if Steve didn't have the same reaction, so when he heard Steve too, he finally relaxed into the kiss- he was no longer tense.

Eddie moved his hands from Steve's cheeks to tangle into his hair, pulling a little.

"Fuck, Eddie." Steve groaned as he finally got on top of Eddie, straddling the man's waist. His hands started roaming when he was finally on top, moving from their firm grip onto Eddie's hips. They explored everywhere they could on Eddie like he wanted to touch as much as possible before the metalhead disappeared. Eddie's favorite part was when Steve's fingertips would trace over his neck. Eddie was itching for Steve to grab onto it- squeeze it tight- as he stuck his tongue down Eddie's throat.

Eddie's felt like he was on fire through this all. The electricity was shooting into every vein of his body as Steve slowly started to roll his hips onto Eddie's now hard-on. Everything was happening so fast. He didn't think it was possible to feel so overwhelmed by a kiss. Eddie's kissed guys before, obviously, but they never felt like this. Eddie needed to catch his breath before he did something he'd regret.

Eddie slowly put the palms of his hands on Steve's chest and slightly pushed the boy off. Steve was panting as he looked down at Eddie.

"Breathe, Stevie." Eddie chuckled as he reached up and tucked a hair behind Steve's ear. Steve's chest was rising and falling faster than Eddie had ever seen. It was insane. "Are you okay?"

"Hell yes I'm okay," Steve spoke through heavy breaths.

"Shit, if I would've known you liked me this much, I would've kissed you a long time ago," Eddie spoke as he tried to hide his smile, but it wasn't working. The smile was ripping apart his face.

"Same here," Steve spoke, finally catching up with his lungs. "So, the kiss confirms it? You like me back?"

"No, Steven. I kissed you because I hate you."

Steve laughed as he leaned in and placed another kiss on Eddie's lips. It was closed mouth and lasted only a couple seconds. Even so, it still made Eddie's heart leap.

"Fuck, how am I supposed to go to school now?" Eddie groaned.

"You could skip school?" Steve raised a suggestive eyebrow.

"Is Steve Harrington, of all people, my tutor, telling me to play hooky?" the metalhead laughed as he grabbed onto Steve's sides while Steve continued to sit on his lap.

"I mean, maybe?" the jock shrugged.

"My essay is due today."

"Of course it is." Steve sighed as he got off of Eddie. This leads him to completely get out of bed. "I can't wait for you to graduate, Munson."

"You and me both, Harrington. You and me both." Eddie sighed as he got up, too, his situation finally softening.

"Want some eggs?" Steve asked as he opened his door.

"Please."

The two boys made their way downstairs and to the kitchen. Eddie sat on the island while Steve cooked for the two of them. When the eggs were done, they only had some small talk as they ate since they needed to be quick. Once they were done, they raced upstairs to change. When they were done and both walking to the front door, they finally slowed down and talked to each other.

When they reached the front door, Steve's hand on the knob, he asked, "Will I see you tonight?"

"I close." Eddie sighed.

"Would it be weird if I stopped by to see you?"

"Not at all."

Eddie could tell Steve wanted another kiss, so Eddie leaned forward and connected their lips. It was sweet, soft, and tasted like toothpaste. Steve hummed into it before he pulled away.

"Have a good day at school, Munson."

"Have a good day at work, Harrington."

With that, Steve opened the door, and the two boys got into their cars and went their separate ways. 

Chapter Text

"You're really not going to come over for dinner tonight?" Gareth whined as he followed Eddie to his van once the final school bell rang.

"No. I'm sorry, Gareth, but I have to close the store tonight." Eddie apologized as he fished his keys out of his leather jacket.

"You're always working! Where's the old Eddie Munson? I miss that guy." the curly-haired boy whined like a child. He most likely would have stomped his foot if he wasn't walking.

"That guy is trying to get out of this simpleton town as fast as possible by trying to graduate high school and save money from an actual job."

Gareth bit his lip.

"Yeah- you know damn well that I should go to work tonight."

"Okay fine- but you still owe me for completely ditching me at my kickback. That really sucked, man. I told everyone that Steve Harrington was coming, and both of you didn't show. It was humiliating."

Eddie sighed as he reached his van. As he put his key into the lock on the side of the door, he responded with, "I know it was a shitty thing to do- ditch you at the last minute. I just wasn't feeling well, you know that. Plus, Steve only wanted to come if I was going to be there. He's a shy person around people he doesn't know."

"That's bullshit." Gareth pointed. "Steve doesn't have a shy bone in his body."

"He's changed." Eddie shrugged as he opened up his driver's side door. He threw his backpack into the car, landing on the passenger side floor.

"People don't change that much." Gareth scoffed.

"Gar-" Eddie huffed. "-leave it alone, alright? I'll make it up to you sometime, okay?"

"Fine." the boy rolled his eyes. "My mom's going to miss you tonight, though. She was making your favorite."

"She's making her stew?" Eddie asked, mouth-watering. "She makes some good fucking stew."

"I know! That's why we wanted you over tonight, you putz!" Gareth's arm motioned to Eddie as he said this, making the metalhead laugh.

"Tell mama, I'm sorry, Gareth! Her other baby needs a diploma and a check. I will eat her stew in June, once I'm out of high school forever and have normal hours at Family Video." Eddie laughed, head flinging back a little as he did so.

"Alright, alright." Gareth sighed with a soft smile spreading across his face. "Drive safe, you big lug."

"I'll try my best."

Gareth turned around and began walking to the bus. Before he could get too far, he shouted, "Have fun working, you loser!"

Eddie just flicked him off and hopped into his van to head home so he could get ready for his closing shift tonight at the video store.

When Eddie finally pulled into his lawn, he turned off his van, grabbed his bag, and then made his way into his trailer. He threw his book bag onto the sofa and headed to the fridge to grab a soda. He would drink a beer, but he couldn't because he was working later. Before he sat down on his stained-covered sofa to do his homework for the night before his shift, he also grabbed a bowl of grapes.

"Alright, let's do this shit." Eddie hyped himself up as he popped a grape into his mouth. The metalhead got out his Human Anatomy book and started to write down the definitions he couldn't remember for his upcoming exam on Wednesday. After he did this, he quizzed himself for a good twenty minutes. When he was done, he moved on to his history homework, studying the dates of the amendments. Next, he drew a landscape of the trailer park for his art homework, and last, he did his math homework, struggling with only a few questions. "Shit." he sighed as he looked down at the paper. Mrs. O'Donnell was killing him- but he finished the homework the best that he could.

Eddie got up after finishing and threw away his soda. After, he washed out his bowl that once contained grapes. When he was done, he grabbed his book bag, tossed it into a corner in his room, and then began to undress to shower. When he finally got into the shower, his whole body relaxed- slumped even. He had no idea he had been so tense. School would surely be the death of him. Thank god it's almost over.

As Eddie shampooed his luscious locks, he sang a tune he never thought he would, "Welcome to your life. There's no turning back. Even while we sleep, we will find you." Eddie paused, hands still on his scalp, shampoo running down his face. Tears For Fears? Eddie was singing Tears For Fears? There was no fucking way. How? How could this song pop into his head? Then it hit him. Steve.

"Eddie, I don't want to listen to the metal station," Steve whined as the two boys got ready for bed.

"And why not?" Eddie pouted, arms crossing over his chest.

"I don't like metal." the boy said like it was apparent.

"Well, I don't like your dumb synth pop shit. That's not real music, Steve."

"Yes, it is."

Eddie rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up. "Name one fucking song that has real meaning to it."

"Tears For Fears, Everybody Wants To Rule The World." Steve smiled.

"Haven't heard it."

"You don't know who Tears For Fears is?" Steve looked like he was going to have an aneurysm.

"I know the band; I just haven't heard that song. Calm down, Steven." Eddie laughed.

Steve reached into a box on the floor and pulled out a record. "Put this on for me, will you?"

Eddie took the record from his hand and looked down at it. "Songs From The Big Chair?" he questioned.

"Yes, just put it on."

Eddie did as he was told.

"Skip to track three."

Eddie followed the instruction. Suddenly Steve's room was filled with a synth-pop beat, and Eddie wanted to rip his ears off. No matter what Steve said, synth music was not music. None of those songs had any meaning to them whatsoever. At least Metallica and Black Sabbath told actual stories.

"Welcome to your life. There's no turning back. Even while we sleep, we will find you." seeped through the speakers of Steve's record player as the artist started to sing on the track. Eddie's interest peaked. What a strong opening line. Eddie turned to look over at Steve as the jock took off his watch for bed, finally in his pajama bottoms. As the song played, he had a smile plastered on his face, clearly satisfied with himself. Eddie wanted to be mad but couldn't find it within himself. The song was actually kinda good. Of course, Steve Harrington would turn him into a putz- as Gareth and his mother would say.

When the song ended, Steve asked, "What did you think?"

"It was alright." Eddie lied as he and Steve got under the covers once the vinyl was returned. Steve might have won the argument, but he didn't need to know. He'd only get a big head.

Steve frowned a little. "Well, at least you liked it a little bit."

Eddie placed his hand on Steve's thigh and squeezed. When he let go, he said, "Stop trying to win my approval. I think you're a cool dude, Harrington." Eddie turned his head away from Steve to hide his blush. That was brave, but he wanted to feel him- Steve- in this brief moment of happiness seeping through him.

Eddie began to scrub his hair again, sighing as he continued to sing, "Most of freedom and of pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever. Everybody wants to rule the world." Eddie could hear his house phone ringing in the hall as he was about to sing the song again. "Shit." he cursed as he rinsed fast, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time. He still tried anyways. When he was done, he turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around himself. After he stepped out of the tub, he opened the bathroom door and walked into the hallway, shivering and dripping all over the carpet in the trailer. Luckily, he got to the phone on the last ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Munson," Steve spoke through the line.

"Harrington-" Eddie chuckled. "-you've got to stop calling me all hours of the day. I was busy."

"You didn't have to answer."

"What if you were my uncle calling for an emergency, huh? You could've been Wayne... or one of the kids."

"Would you prefer the phone call to be one of them?"

"I never said that now did I?" There was a pause on the line. Eddie smiled, biting his bottom lip. "Steven? You there, sweetie?" Eddie loved how brave he could be over the phone. He didn't have to look into the man's honey-colored eyes this way and lose all of his confidence. Even though the boys had now kissed, that didn't mean Eddie would suddenly get confident when he saw him in person again.

Steve coughed and said, "I was calling to see if you'd come to the store early."

"I'm sorry, but I can't come in early. I'm sick." Eddie fake coughed. He distorted his voice as he said, "My throat is scratchy and everything. I think I might have the plague."

"Eddie cut the shit." Steve laughed. "You're sick now but not for your shift later tonight?"

"Yes, exactly." Eddie smiled, bringing a finger to twist in his wet curls. "Why do you want me in early?"

"Would it be weird to say it was because I'm bored?"

Eddie's cheeks burned red. "If you're obsessed with me, just say that, Harrington."

"Don't go and get a big head, Munson."

"Alright, just let me get dressed."

"Okay. See you in a jiffy."

Eddie pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the phone with disgust. He hung up the phone and stared into the hallway, face still scrunched. "In a jiffy? Jiffy, Steve? Really? Jesus. Who knew I had a crush on a grandpa."

Eddie walked to his room then and changed into dark- not black- jeans, a Black Sabbath tee, a blue flannel, and black boots. He threw his hair into a clip, not wanting to dry it. After, he put on his chains, rings, and bracelets. Then he grabbed his keys and wallet before heading out of the door and to his van. Once he was in his van and blasting some Iron Maiden, he drove to his job, where Steve was.

After pulling into the parking lot of Family Video and parking, Eddie got out of his car and walked into the store, the front door chiming loudly. Steve sat on the stool behind the counter, flipping through a magazine.

"Who's supposed to be working with you today?" Eddie asked as he walked up the jock.

"Carol, but she called in sick at the last minute," Steve answered as he closed his magazine.

"So, you're by yourself?"

"Yup." Steve sighed. "I've been clawing at the wall all afternoon. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't pick up."

"Call Robin?" Eddie joked.

"She's got band tonight. It's Monday."

"Oh- so if she didn't have band, I wouldn't have been called." Eddie nodded, a little hurt.

"I still would have called you first," Steve stated as he got up to walk to the comedy aisle. Eddie bit back a smile at his words. "If Keith keeps ordering movies, I'm going to kill myself." the boy huffed as he returned to an earlier task from what it looked like since the new rentals box was half full.

"Do you want me to clock on or just hang out until it's time for me to work?" Eddie asked as he slid into his work vest.

"You can clock on if you'd like. It's more money in your pocket." Steve glanced over at him as he put the movies onto the shelves. "But you don't have to. I just wanted you here so I could have some entertainment."

"I'm not a very entertaining person."

Steve laughed at that statement. "You're a very entertaining person, Eddie."

"How so?"

"I don't know." Steve shrugged. "You just are."

Eddie chuckled as he walked back up to the front of the store after clocking on so he could sit on the counter. His back was to the movie aisles and not the front door, legs swinging. When Steve made his way back up front after shelving the new movies, empty box in hand, he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Sitting? What does it look like?" Eddie raised an eyebrow.

"Get off of there," Steve demanded as he walked to the back of the store. He threw the empty box into the trash in the hallway that connected the other stores in the small shopping plaza. "If a customer walks in, we'll look unprofessional."

"I do this all the time, and no one cares."

"You do what?" Steve asked, eyebrows shooting up.

"Nothing," Eddie spoke, not getting down. "It'll be fine, Steve. I'll get down when someone walks in."

"You're unbelievable." the jock spoke as he shook his head. Steve made his way behind the counter then and sat on the stool. His eyes soon landed on Eddie's ring-covered fingers.

"What?" Eddie asked, looking down at his own hand. "Is there something on me? A bug?"

"We don't have bugs."

"We could?"

Steve ignored Eddie's comment and asked, "What's that ring? The one on your middle finger?" Then, with no warning to Eddie, Steve grabbed Eddie's hand and ran his finger along the ring he was asking about. The two boys might've kissed this morning, but that didn't prepare Eddie for Steve being so touchy with him. Nothing could prepare Eddie for the tingles Steve's skin left behind on his own.

"It's a hog." Eddie managed to get out. Tingles were shooting up his arm as the boy held his hand.

"Where did you get it?" Steve asked, looking up through his lashes at the metalhead.

"No idea." Eddie tried to breathe calmly. "Gareth got it for me for my birthday last year. I'm very into jewelry if you couldn't tell."

"It's really nice. All you're rings are." Steve smiled, running his fingers along the others that contained a cross and a skull.

"Wanna- uh- try one on?" Eddie found himself asking. "See if it fits?"

"Sure." Steve clapped, letting go of Eddie's hand.

Eddie pulled off the hog and held it out for Steve to take. The jock didn't take it, however. He held his hand out, waiting for Eddie to slip it onto his finger. Eddie bit his lip as he grabbed onto Steve's hand. After a second (he was trying to let the tingles calm down), he slid the hog ring onto Steve's middle finger. Steve pulled his hand up to look at it. He wiggled his fingers, a grin pulling across his face so bright.

"What do you think?" Eddie wondered.

"I love it."

Before Eddie knew what he was saying, he said, "Have it."

Steve looked over to Eddie then, a surprised look on his face. "You want me to have it? Are you sure? Gareth gave it to you. You wear it every day."

Eddie thought it over briefly and nodded. He wanted Steve to have something of his, so whenever the jock would look at it, he'd think of the metalhead. "Have it."

Steve smiled as his eyes softened. "You're so sweet, Eddie. Thank you." Steve stood and wrapped his arms around Eddie. Eddie hugged back, squeezing extra tight. The scent of Steve was overwhelming as his nose buried into the jock's neck.

"No problem, Steve." Eddie smiled. He soon pulled away as the chime to the front door rang. Eddie looked over to see two girls around Steve's age looking at the boys weirdly as they walked off to the romance aisle.

Steve raised his eyebrows; his smile became more expansive at the funny looks the two boys got. This made Eddie's heart swoon. Steve wasn't offended by how the girls acted. Eddie smiled to himself. Maybe Steve was more open to this thing between them than Eddie thought.

Eddie tried not to think about their kiss much today because, well, Eddie had a slight feeling that Steve wouldn't bring it up again. That's happened to the metalhead before. Plenty of straight guys have kissed him just to "feel it out." In the end, the guys always leave because they aren't ready for the type of relationship Eddie has to offer them. Eddie lowkey thought the same thing might happen with Steve. What if the kiss was an experiment? Steve said he liked Eddie, but those feelings could always come and go. Maybe it was just a thing that needed to happen at that moment? That may be it. It was just a momentary fling.

Eddie thought back to Robin and his conversation a few weeks ago when Robin had told Eddie that Steve liked him. The two were fighting about Vickie and Steve. Eddie swore up and down that Steve wasn't interested, especially not in anything serious... but... what if he indeed was?

Eddie looked to Steve, who was now in the romance aisle, trying to help the girls. He watched as Steve cocked his hip to the side, one hand grabbing onto his waist, while the other was motioning to some girly rom-com that Steve preferred to watch (he had told Eddie this last week). Eddie could tell the girls were trying to flirt with him, but he didn't seem to care. Eddie cocked his head to the side in amazement. Could Steve really like him and only him? Was no one else interesting to him? Not even these two gorgeous girls flirting with him? Was Eddie really the apple of his eye?

Suddenly, everything came flying at the metalhead all at once. Steve constantly wanted to spend time with him; he was continually touching him- hugging him, holding his hands, fixing his hair. He took a cigarette out of Eddie's mouth and smoked it. He added a Scorpions song to his party playlist after Eddie talked about liking it. Worst of all, Steve's the one who talked Eddie into applying for Family Video.

Eddie's talk with Robin a few weeks ago slapped him across the face. The whole time he told the girl how Vickie liked her because the signs were glaringly obvious... yet... Steve's signs literally screamed into his face that the man wanted him. Steve even said that Eddie was clueless about people flirting with him.

FOR GOD'S SAKE- THE TWO BOYS KISSED THIS MORNING, AND EDDIE WAS STILL QUESTIONING STEVE'S FEELINGS FOR HIM!

Fuck, Eddie felt like a dumb ass.

Eddie watched as Steve led the girls to the counter. He gave Eddie a look to get off the counter, so Eddie hopped down. The metalhead leaned against the wood instead of sitting on it as he watched Steve check out the girls at the counter. After the two girls left, Eddie asked what he was dying to know now, "You didn't want to flirt back with those girls?"

Steve turned to Eddie with a weird look. "Why would I want to flirt with those girls?"

"I don't know, they're attractive and seemed to have wanted you?"

Steve cringed, "Well, I don't want them." After a moment, Steve's eyebrows knitted together as he looked over Eddie's face. "Are you unaware of what happened between us this morning? Did you fall and hit your head?"

Eddie bit his lip and looked away, "I'm well aware of what happened this morning."

"Then why on earth would you want to know if I was interested in those girls?"

Eddie didn't answer.

"Eddie?"

"Are you sure-" the metalhead started, suddenly aware that his tongue was in his mouth. He didn't seem to know how to talk. "- that I'm right for you?"

"Why would I think that you aren't?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Eddie wondered, turning to finally face Steve, whose face was confused.

"Obviously not."

"Don't you think Nancy is the better option?"

Eddie didn't want to bring her up, but he needed to know if Steve was serious and if this wasn't some sort of fetish that he wanted to explore. Eddie's heart wasn't a fetish; it was a severe organ that needed real time and energy to make it happy. So he needed to ask about Nancy, the girl Steve wanted babies with just two months ago.

"No, she's not a better option, Eddie. Where is this coming from?"

"I overheard you and her talking in the RV two months ago. You said you wanted to marry her and have kids with her."

"I was going through a lot during that week. You can't take anything I said too seriously." Steve shook his head, eyes wide.

"But why marriage and baby talk? Do you still love her?" Eddie wondered, stepping a little closer to Steve. Steve scooted past Eddie and walked to the back, not really knowing what to say. Eddie followed and saw Steve grab another new rentals box. This one was for the adult section of the store. Steve walked through the curtain, so Eddie followed. Steve wasn't getting away from this conversation. "Cat got your tongue, Steve?"

"No- it's just- I didn't mean anything I said to her." Steve shook his head as he started putting the adult films on the shelf.

"You didn't mean anything you said to her?" Eddie furrowed his eyebrows together, purely confused.

"Like I said, I was going through something. I thought she was... my only option."

"Only option?"

"Yeah."

"Please, elaborate."

"Well- I wanted you, but you told me to go after her. I'd be happier with her."

Eddie bit his lip. What a dumbass he was.

"Maybe it's because I thought you would be better off with Nancy because she can give you what I can't."

Steve paused mid-putting a movie on the shelf. He turned his head to look at Eddie. "Why would you think that?"

"Nancy can give you safe love. You'll get married, get a nice job, she'll have a nice job, you'll move into a nice home, have a few kids, and then die happy."

"You can't do that for me?"

"I don't think so, Steve." Eddie's voice was soft.

"What if I said I didn't care about all that shit?" Steve asked, turning back towards the shelf. He placed the movie back that was gripped in his hand. Eddie watched as Steve's chest began to rise and fall quickly.

"I'd say you were stupid," Eddie whispered as he shrugged his shoulders, heart beginning to race. Was this happening? Eddie watched as Steve's lips parted. Oh, this was happening. Eddie licked his lips as the room was stripped from all sounds but the boys' jagged breaths. Eddie's entire body felt heavy. He wanted to take a step toward Steve, but he couldn't.

Steve's chest started to rise and fall faster than just moments before. His words came out shaky when he spoke, "I guess I'm stupid... because I want to kiss you so fucking bad right now." Steve turned then, pupils blown wide.

Even though Eddie's body felt weighted to the ground, feet almost nailed in their places, that's all Eddie needed. He tore through the emotional wall he had thrown over himself, grabbing onto Steve's arm, pulling him close, and then they were kissing. Eddie pushed so hard into their kiss that they backed into a movie shelf, knocking a few films to the ground.

Eddie's hands immediately went to Steve's hair, fingers threading through his locks. The jock's hands immediately fell onto Eddie's waist, gripping him tightly to the point that it almost hurt. Eddie saw spots from how tightly he was squeezing his eyes shut. He felt jittery, body shaking, as tingles spread throughout his body from Steve's touch, from Steve's warmth, from Steve's kiss.

Steve licked at Eddie's bottom lip, invading Eddie's mouth the instant Eddie parted his lips. Steve's tongue roamed Eddie's mouth, rubbing against his own tongue, causing the man to moan. Steve groaned into the kiss as his hands crept up Eddie's shirt, sliding across Eddie's scars on his stomach. Eddie's hands slid down Steve's neck to cup the boy's jaw. He wanted to kiss that jaw.

Eddie broke apart from their kiss, spit lingering as he moved to Steve's exposed skin. Steve practically whined as Eddie began to place wet kisses on his neck. Steve's hands hooked themselves into Eddie's jeans as he pulled Eddie closer to him, clearly turned on by Eddie's licks, kisses, and bites to his throat.

Eddie pulled away to observe his work after a moment. That's definitely going to leave a mark.

Steve unhooked his hands from Eddie's jeans to cup Eddie's face. He pulled him back down into a kiss. This kiss was a little less rough but still filled with a passion Eddie didn't know he had. The boys were hungry for each other.

Absolute pleasure blossomed in the pit of Eddie's stomach. He hadn't ever been this satisfied with a kiss from a person. His whole body felt warm, like he was standing next to the sun.

How could Steve's kisses bring this immense amount of pleasure into his system?

Eddie moved his hands to either side of Steve to grip the shelves Steve was pressed against. He had to balance himself due to his head spinning.

Steve's fingers inched their way into Eddie's curls and began to pull, and dear lord, Eddie wanted to bust just from that. Steve's hot breath ran over Eddie's sensitive skin as he started to get sloppier with their kiss again.

Eddie brought his knee up in-between Steve's legs and could feel the situation taking place in Steve's pants. This caused Eddie's eyes to roll back into his head. Fuck. He never thought he'd get the pleasure of feeling Steve hard against him (this was twice in one day now, holy fuck).

As Eddie let go of the shelves behind Steve and began to run his hands under Steve's shirt, cold rings meeting Steve's warm skin, the front door chimed, signaling a customer had entered the video store.

"Shit." Eddie popped off from the kiss, turning towards the curtain that hid them. Eddie looked down at Steve's boner and then up at Steve's wide eyes and puffy lips. "Stay here."

Eddie backed away from the mess he had created and pulled his shirt back into place. After checking to see if he had a boner, which he thankfully didn't, he took a deep breath and walked out of the curtain and to the main store. He was met by Mrs. Jenkins, the old lady that buys The Wizard of Oz or Gone With the Wind every time she comes in.

"Mrs. Jenkins, hi. You're here a few days late." Eddie smiled, tucking his curls behind his ears since Steve ripped the clip out of his hair when he pulled on Eddie's damp curls.

"I know. I'm sorry, Eddie. I had to go to Florida to see my granddaughter. She gave birth on Saturday." Mrs. Jenkins stated as she passed The Wizard of Oz over to Eddie as he sat on the stool by the computer.

"Oh, that's fantastic. What's their name?"

"Molly."

"Molly, how precious." Eddie sighed. "I'll tell you what, on behalf of Molly, I won't charge you the extra $2.50 for the movie."

"Are you sure?" the elderly lady clapped as a smile spread across her wrinkled face.

"I'm sure." Eddie smiled. "You only owe $4.75."

"Thank you, Eddie. You're a sweet boy- just like Steve," she spoke as she handed Eddie a five.

Steve is a sweet boy. "Thank you, Mrs. Jenkins." Eddie thanked her as he handed her a quarter back.

After Mrs. Jenkins left, Eddie slid off the stool and made his way to the adult section of the store. When he walked back behind the curtain, he saw Steve shelving the last of the movies from the new rentals box with a grin slapped across his kissed-out face.

"It was only Mrs. Jenkins."

"I heard." Steve turned to face Eddie, stopping his chore.

Eddie didn't know what to say to the man he had kissed. Tingles were still pulsing throughout him. His head was still spinning. He still felt heavy. Steve thankfully talked for him.

"So- this is going to be a regular thing from now on- you and me kissing?"

Eddie laughed at this, his body finally feeling normal again. He walked up to Steve and grabbed onto Steve's hands. He pulled them close and placed a kiss on each. "You want this to be a regular thing?"

Steve bit his lip. "I kinda do- yeah."

"Then it's a regular thing, I guess." Eddie smiled as he shrugged.

"Fantastic." Steve pulled his hands away and cupped Eddie's jaw on either side. "You may regret that. I can be quite annoying when I like someone."

Eddie rolled his eyes, "You've always been annoying."

"Because I've always liked you." Steve leaned forward and placed a kiss on Eddie's lips. Eddie smiled into the kiss. Steve tasted like Salem's cigarettes and breath mints. Eddie could taste that all day, but Steve had to return to work. The jock thought this, too, as he pulled away from the kiss. "Damn this job."

"Damn this job." Eddie agreed. He pulled away entirely and bent down to grab the empty rentals box. "I'll meet you up front after I throw this way."

"Okay. Just so you know, I brought Phase 10 with me today when Keith told me Carol called out."

"So, you knew I'd say yes to coming in early?" Eddie raised an eyebrow, trying to be in control, but Steve took that from him with one swift blow.

"Honey, I knew you'd show for me." Steve winked as he walked past Eddie.

Eddie could've passed out.

What was his life right now?

Chapter Text

"You did what with Steve?" Robin asked eyebrows raised to her hairline, eyes wide, gum popping in her mouth, as she leaned against the counter at Family Video.

"Yeah, Rob-" Eddie nodded as he tried to keep in his blush. "-we kissed."

"In his bed and in the store?" she needed him to clarify for her so she'd have the exact details of the two boys' love lives.

"Yes, Robin. How many more times do you need me to answer that question?"

"Until I can fully comprehend that my two hopelessly romantic best friends finally got together after months of trying to casually push them together."

"I still can't believe you hid that from me. Like, what the hell? You could've just told me." Eddie shrugged at the last sentence as he clicked through the computer to see who needed to make returns for the day. "You would've saved so much time between Steve and me that way."

"It wasn't my secret to tell Eddie. Would you really have wanted me telling Steve that you liked him behind your back?" she quizzed, head cocked to the side, eyeing him intently.

"No, I guess not." the metalhead sighed as he turned to face the door. He heard it chime from a customer walking in. "Welcome to Family Video."

"Exactly. So, don't be too mad at me, " the girl whispered as she stood straight while eyeing the lady who walked into the store.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just mad at the situation. We could've figured out this thing sooner if we were just honest with one another."

"True, but just be grateful that it finally happened and that you aren't still waiting."

"I'm very grateful for that, indeed."

"So... are you two going to go on a date now, or what?" Robin asked as she waggled her eyebrows with a sly smile.

"I don't really know. I'm not even sure what we are." Eddie sighed as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "All we agreed to is that we liked each other, and we liked kissing each other."

"Ask him out then."

"And do what? This is Hawkins, Robin. You, of all people, should know that-" Eddie lowered his voice. "-Steve and I can't just go out on a date together."

"You can always go out to Skull Rock or Lovers Lake." the girl shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I've taken too many of my dates to those places. It wouldn't feel special to bring Steve there."

"Then I'd say leave the state. Go to California for a night." Robin joked as she popped her gum.

"Hilarious, Buckley."

"That's the only place in the world that seems to accept people like us," she whispered as she elbowed Eddie with a suggestive look.

"I know. It sucks." the boy sighed. As he said this, the customer walked up with her rentals. "Will that be all for you today, ma'am?"

"Yes." the lady nodded as she got out her wallet.

"Oh, you don't pay until you bring the movies back."

"Oh, okay. When do I need to bring them back?"

"Next Tuesday."

"Can I go then?" she asked, grabbing for the movies.

"Actually, I need your name for the system."

"It's Mary-Kate Blanchard."

"And your address and telephone number?" After the lady told Eddie her information, she took the movies and left. Eddie turned back to Robin to continue with their conversation. "Maybe I should invite him to the trailer when Wayne's not there and, like... cook for him or something."

"You're a shit cook, Ed." Robin cringed.

"Hey- I'm not that bad." Eddie pouted.

"Yes, you are! You would burn water if possible!" the girl laughed as she threw her head back. "You're a terrible cook, so I'd nix that date idea."

"Date? Eddie's got a date?" Carol asked as she walked up to the front after clocking back in from her break. "What weirdo girl is interested in you, Munson?"

"It's not like anyone's barking up your tree, Perkins." Eddie bit back, narrowing his eyes.

"Plenty of guys are barking up my tree." Carol huffed as she walked behind the counter to grab her vest. Once it was in her hand, she asked, "But that doesn't answer my question. What girl is interested in dating you?"

"Is that really any of your business, Carol?" Robin asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not, but I'd like to know who else I should stir clear of. I don't need any more freaks ruining my daily life."

"I'm sure my date won't ruin your life. They don't even like you enough to care to make an impact." Eddie rolled his eyes as he got up to replace some returned movies back on the shelf.

Carol rolled her eyes right back as she slid into her vest. After a moment, she started clapping excitedly.

Eddie looked over to Robin and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged in response.

"What?" Eddie asked the annoying girl.

"Steve just pulled in." Carol pointed with a smile.

Eddie's head whipped over to look out the window. Carol was right. Steve was getting out of his car with a plastic bag from the store next to Family Video in his hand.

"Ugh." Robin groaned. She was happy Steve was here, but not at the fact that now she had to be a part of Carol's bad flirting.

"Don't be jealous that the hottest guy in Hawkins is obsessed with me and not you." Carol laughed as she stuck her chin up, a snooty look clear across her face.

"What makes you think he's here for you?" Eddie asked, biting back a smile. Oh, the poor girl.

"Why else would he be here on his off day?"

"Maybe to hang out with his friends? You know, me and Robin?"

"Hardly." she huffed.

The door chimed just then, and in walked Steve.

Carol ran from around the counter and flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and shouted, "Hi, Steve! How are you?"

Steve's face was clearly in a state of disgust as he hugged the girl back. "Hi, Carol. I'm okay. How are you?"

"Great, now that you're here." she smiled as she pulled away.

"Awesome." Steve smiled tightly as he looked around for Eddie. Once his eyes landed on the metalhead, his smile turned real. "I brought you something," he spoke, looking towards Eddie, jiggling the bag around.

"What did you bring?" Carol wondered.

"Oh, uhm-" Steve coughed, looking down to speak to her. "-I brought something for Eddie."

"Oh." Carol nodded, scratching at the back of her head.

Robin had to hold in a laugh. She turned her head and bit her lip to compose herself.

"What did you bring, Steve?" Eddie asked, lolling his head to the side with the brightest smile stretching across his face.

"I saw you were out of cigarettes last night when we were working, so I went to the store to stock up your stash drawer."

Eddie would've blushed if Carol "The Witch" Perkins wasn't invading the two boys' love bubble.

"Oh, thank you. You shouldn't have." the metalhead thanked as he took the bag out of Steve's hand.

"I wanted to." Steve shrugged, a small smile peeking out as he looked over Eddie's face. "Wanna break open a pack?"

"If the girls don't mind?" Eddie asked, looking over to Robin and Carol.

"I'm cool." Robin smiled.

"Sure, whatever." Carol waved off as she walked to the breakroom, undoubtedly embarrassed at the turn of events.

"Alright, then. Let's go." Eddie spoke as he took a pack out of the plastic bag. He placed the load on the counter for Robin to put away, and then he and Steve walked out of the store.

"Why don't we go out back instead of standing up front?" Steve asked as he zipped up his jacket.

"Sure." Eddie nodded.

The two boys walked to the back of the building that faced a bunch of trees. Once they were out of sight, Steve tugged Eddie over to himself by the arm and planted his lips onto Eddie's. Eddie kissed back for a moment, completely entranced by the seduction of Steve Harrington's plump lips, but soon he pulled away, out of breath.

"Steve!" Eddie whisper yelled. "We're still in public!"

"We're behind the building. No one can see us." Steve laughed.

Eddie pulled out a cigarette as he chuckled. "You're so reckless."

"Only when I'm with you." the boy shrugged.

Eddie looked up then, cigarette dangling from in between his lips. "I make you reckless?"

"Oh- for sure." Steve nodded as his hand went out as if to ask, can I have one?

Eddie handed over a cigarette and asked, "Is that a bad thing?"

Steve lit his cigarette while shaking his head. After he took a puff and let it out, he said, "Not at all. I like that you make me feel like taking risks. I haven't felt this way in a long time. This is how I used to be. I used to be so... fun."

"You are fun, Steve." Eddie smiled as he lit his cigarette. He then took a big hit of the nicotine and let it swirl around in his lungs until it burned. He then blew out the smoke.

"No-" the boy shook his head with a laugh. "I used to be so different. I used to climb into girls' bedroom windows when their parents were home in the middle of the night. I used to go to parties and get drunk. I used to smoke weed regularly. I used to be... carefree." Steve sucked in a puff of the dirty air, and then he let it out in a cloud above his head after a minute. "Now I'm the babysitter, you know?" he shrugged.

"I don't see you as the babysitter," Eddie spoke softly as he flicked the bud of his Camel.

"What do you see me as?"

"This sexy, joy-filled, overly enthusiastic, drama queen guy that I really like."

Steve bit his lip as he looked the metalhead over. "You're making it almost impossible to control myself."

"You can kiss me on our date tonight." Eddie boldly stated as he placed his cigarette back in his mouth to take another hit.

"Date?" Steve laughed. "We have a date tonight?"

"We do now."

"Where are we going?"

"To my place? I want to cook for you."

"Cook? Do you even cook?"

"Robin said the same thing." Eddie rolled his eyes as he blew out smoke. "I can cook some things. Don't worry. I won't poison you. I haven't done it to myself yet."

"Okay." Steve smiled while nodding. "I'll come to your place tonight so you can cook for me."

"Stop by at 6 o'clock since I'm off at 5:00."

"Why such a short shift?"

"Ask Keith that. Apparently, it will be a thing now that we have so many workers."

"Or he could just fire Carol?"

"Bad, Stevie." Eddie laughed as he stomped out his Camel.

Steve laughed as he stomped out his own. Before Eddie could walk off, Steve grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "Can I at least kiss you goodbye?"

Eddie sighed with a lazy smile, "If you must."

Steve grabbed Eddie on either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Their lips molded together perfectly as they danced upon each other in the dim light of the forest behind the video store. Eddie hummed into the kiss as his eyes seemed to roll back into his head.

God- Steve tasted so good.

Steve pulled away first with a dopey smile spread across his face. "I'll see you at 6:00, yeah?"

Eddie hummed as his eyes stayed half-opened in a daze.

Steve leaned in and quickly kissed Eddie's mouth one more time before letting the metalhead go. After, he walked back to the front of the building. After Eddie pulled himself together (which took a minute or two), he was finally able to walk back up to the front of the store. When he reached the front, he saw Steve's car turning out of the carpark. So, he reached for the door of the store and walked in.

"Welcome to Family Vid-" Carol started but stopped when she noticed it was only Eddie and not a customer. "Oh- it's you." she snarled.

Eddie flipped her off, and he went to walk behind the counter.

"You know, smoking is a bad habit. You smell disgusting."

"Tell that to your boyfriend, Steve." Eddie smiled wickedly.

Carol only rolled her eyes in response. Eddie knew he had won.

"Did you two...?" Robin whispered as she walked behind the counter where Eddie was standing.

"Yes." Eddie nodded quick.

"Was it good?"

"Fuck yes, it was."

Robin held her hand out low, and Eddie smacked it.

++++++++++

"Fuck!" Eddie cried as he slammed his wooden spoon down onto the kitchen countertop. He had burned himself from the bubbling marinara sauce in his pot on the stove.

Eddie was trying with all his might to cook spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread for Steve and his date tonight, but nothing was going right. The spaghetti noodles were stiff, the sauce was bubbling up, and the bread was burnt. Eddie had failed at this like Robin and Steve had predicted. Eddie hated the fact he couldn't get this right. He never could get anything right.

In the middle of his breakdown, there was a knock at the trailer's front door.

"Shit!" Eddie yelled as he looked at the clock that read 6 o'clock. He then looked down at his outfit. He was in his work outfit, not showered, and covered in the dinner he was trying to cook. He looked like a royal mess. The boy groaned, placed his face into the palms of his hands, and shook his head. Worthless. How was Steve supposed to continue liking him if this was Eddie's "great idea" for a first date?

There was another knock.

Eddie had to face the music, so he walked to the front door, took a deep breath, and opened it. He was met with a smiling Steve, dressed in slacks, a button-up shirt unbuttoned to his mid-chest, and black dress shoes. He went all out, and here Eddie was, covered in sauce, still in his work outfit.

What a fucking mess!

"Shit, is this too much?" Steve asked, wide-eyed, as he looked down at his outfit.

"No, you look perfect!" Eddie rushed out. "I just lost track of time."

"Well, if you want to change, I can wait. If not, I'm cool with you covered in sauce." Steve laughed at the last part. "I see the chef's been hard at work." he smiled as he walked into the trailer.

Eddie closed the door behind the jock as he said, "You have no idea."

"What are you making, chef?" Steve asked, looking over the stove at Eddie's mess.

"Don't call me a chef." Eddie shook his head. "I don't deserve the title."

"Yes, you do. It looks great and smells delicious too."

"Don't lie to me." the man sighed. "I burnt the bread, overcooked the noodles, and the sauce is more on me than in the pot."

"I like stiff noodles with hardly any sauce. I ate Hawkins High food for years." the jock tried to joke, but Eddie didn't have it.

"Steve-" he sighed. "-I'm sorry, but this is just awful."

"Hey-" Steve smiled softly as he cupped Eddie's cheeks in his hands. "-this isn't awful. This is something we'll remember forever."

"Cheesy, Harrington. That was so cheesy."

"Sue me," Steve whispered, voice raspy as he leaned in to kiss Eddie.

Their lips met instantly, and Eddie no longer cared about his mess. For once in his life, while beating himself up over the simplest of mistakes, someone was there to comfort him instead of criticize him. A warm feeling for Steve exploded through Eddie's chest as he melted into their kiss.

Steve's hands that were cupping Eddie's cheeks snaked their way to the nap of Eddie's neck as his fingers tangled their way into Eddie's curls. Eddie pulled Steve close to him as his arms wrapped around the boy's thin waist.

Eddie went to deepen the kiss when he suddenly realized he was rubbing his sauce-covered clothes all over Steve's nice outfit. He looked down in horror when he realized he had rubbed sauce all over Steve's nice shirt.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Steve." Eddie apologized as he grabbed a rag.

"It's okay, Eddie." Steve waved off.

Eddie began to try and rub the sauce out of Steve's white shirt, but to his surprise (not to Steve's), the sauce spread, and the stain got worse.

"Jesus- what is wrong with me?" Eddie huffed as he threw his arms up in exhaustion.

Steve shook his head in amusement. "I was planning on these clothes getting ruined anyways tonight," he shrugged.

Eddie's mouth dropped open. Was Steve planning on sleeping with him tonight? Eddie wasn't complaining, but damn- he wasn't prepared for that bomb to be dropped on him.

"Steven- Steven-" Eddie tried but shook his head. "-what's your middle name?"

"Otis?" Steve spoke in a questioning tone.

Eddie opened his mouth but closed it promptly to process what Steve had just said. "Did you just say your middle name is Otis?"

"Yeah. It's in honor of my granddad, Otis Harrington. He was a world war two veteran."

"Was he really?"

"Yeah. He was stationed in Iwo Jima." Steve began to scratch at the back of his head, "I actually wrote an essay about him when I was trying to get into college." He paused with a sheepish smile. "It was obviously shit since I'm here instead of Yale."

Eddie nodded to process the information even more before he said, "Steven Otis Harrington, were you trying to get into my pants tonight?"

"I didn't know if we'd go all the way, but I expected some making out and maybe a little touching." Steve shrugged. When he saw Eddie's wide eyes, he laughed. "Oh, come on! I've been getting teased by you since spring break- actually- before that, when we took French together. I've wanted you for a long time now, Munson."

Eddie pulled Steve in and kissed him hard.

Steve moaned into the kiss as the two boys backed into a wall, Steve the one against it. They just couldn't get enough of each other. Kissing each other gave them life force like in the millions of video games Eddie played at the arcade. Steve was saving him from the darkness he was destined to walk down- every kiss at a time.

Before they could get too wild, the phone rang.

Both boys groaned but pulled apart. Eddie walked into the hallway and answered the phone with, "This better not be you, Henderson."

"It's Gareth." the boy laughed.

"Oh- Gareth- hi." Eddie smiled as he looked over to Steve who was untucking his shirt from his pants. Steve mouthed can I borrow some clothes? Eddie nodded and mouthed back yes. Steve thanked him and walked into Eddie's room to change- leaving the door open. What a tease.

"I was hoping you weren't too busy?" Gareth spoke through the line.

"Why? What's up?" Eddie asked as he watched Steve unbutton his shirt. He could see Steve's chest hair poking out, making the boy's mouth water.

"Mom is heating up the stew from last night and wants you to come over and eat it. You know how she feels about leftovers."

"Uhm- Gar- I-" Eddie started, but the boy interrupted him.

"You better not say you're studying or about to head into work. Mom's been asking to see you for months. Why can't you come over and see the poor woman?"

Eddie laughed at his distraught friend. "I'd love to come, but I have a friend over."

"You can bring them."

"You don't know who it is, Gar."

"Your friends are literally my friends." the boy spoke confidently, but then his voice changed into annoyance, "Unless you're with Steve Harrington, your new best friend."

"Yes, I'm with him, and no, he's not my best friend; you are."

This got Steve's attention. He looked up after sliding into a pair of Eddie's sweatpants.

"Yeah, why are you staying with him and not coming over to eat stew with me?"

"I'll come if he comes." Eddie shrugged. "I can't just kick him out. We had plans to eat dinner together tonight."

"You already ate?" Gareth groaned.

"No- uhm- I ruined the food. So, we haven't eaten yet."

"You cooked for him? Why did you do that?" the boy laughed.

"I don't know? I wanted to?"

"Look- if it's really necessary, you can bring him. Mom won't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, then we'll head over. See you in a little bit, Gar."

"Yeah. Bye, Ed." Gareth sighed as he hung up.

"Where are we going?" Steve wondered as he tied the strings to the sweatpants he borrowed from Eddie's closet. 

"We're going to have our first date with Gareth and his mom," Eddie spoke as he took off his shirt to start changing.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Uhm, what?"

"Gareth's mom really wants to see me. She made my favorite meal and wants me over. She doesn't mind if you tag along."

"Are you sure this is okay? I can always go home?"

"No- you're not going home," Eddie said as he slipped out of his pants. "Tonight was supposed to be our first date, and god dammit, tonight it will be."

"Okay." Steve laughed. "Should I change into jeans then?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded and walked over to his closet in nothing but his boxers. When he turned back around with his and Steve's clothes in hand, he saw Steve eyeing him intensely. "Keep it under control, big boy." Eddie laughed. "We can't be late for Gareth's place."

"This is going to be complicated." Steve sighed as he took his outfit from Eddie.

"What is?"

"Keeping my composure around you."

"How so?"

"Now that I know how you feel about me, I want you all of the time." the boy shrugged as he continued to get dressed.

Eddie just stood there. He didn't know what the fuck to do. What do you do when someone as hot as Steve Harrington says something like that to you?

"You going to get dressed, or is it okay to wear your underwear over to Gareth's place?" Steve asked smugly as he looked over Eddie's shocked face.

Since when did this man get so brave?

Steve was right about Eddie changing him.

"Very funny." Eddie fake laughed as he got dressed.

When the two boys were ready, they locked up the trailer, got into Eddie's van, and made it over to Gareth's place. Once they arrived, they parked in the boy's driveway and knocked on the front door.

"You made it!" Gareth smiled as he opened the door. His smile faded just a little when his eyes landed on Steve. "Hi, Harrington."

"Hi, Gareth."

"Come on in. Ma's getting ready to plate." the boy spoke, stepping out of the way.

Eddie and Steve stepped into the home and were hit with the delicious smell of Gareth's mom's homemade stew reheating.

"Holy shit, it smells so good." Eddie smiled as he led Steve into the kitchen. When the boys arrived, they saw Gareth's mom stirring the stew in the pot. "Hey, mama." Eddie waved.

Gareth's mom turned around and smiled widely when she saw Eddie. "My bubbeleh!" the woman shouted as she held her arms out for Eddie. Eddie smiled and walked into her hug. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed his head. "How are you, bubbeleh? I haven't seen you in ages."

"I've been pretty good. I've been working and studying a lot for school."

"I heard." mama spoke as she let go of the hug. "Gar-Bear has been telling me how hard you've been working. Maybe the third time really is the charm for graduating, yeah?"

"Hopefully, it is." Eddie smiled warmly as he looked over the lady's sweet face. Gareth's mom was basically Eddie's mom. She's the only older female remodel he's ever known. She's always been there for him.

After a moment, mama turned and smiled at Steve, "And who might you be, dear?"

"Steve." the boy smiled. "I'm Steve Harrington, a friend of Eddie's."

"Well, any friend of Eddie's is a friend of mine." mama smiled as she took Steve into a warm hug. He hugged her back.

"That's good to hear, Mrs.-" Steve tried, but Gareth's mom stopped him.

"There will be none of that formal name-calling in my house. I am mom, ma, or mama to any and all of Gareth and Eddie's friends."

"Okay." Steve chuckled.

"Now, let's eat, my sweet boys!" Ma clapped as she turned to grab the bowls for all of them. After she dished out the meal, they all sat down at the dining room table and began to eat. "How does it taste, bubbeleh?"

"Amazing, mama. Thank you for making this for me." Eddie smiled.

"No problem." she smiled back. "Steve? How do you like it?"

"It's fantastic. You're an amazing chef Mrs.-" Steve started, but when he saw Gareth's mom's eyebrows raise, he stopped and said, "- Ma."

"Thank you, sweetie."

"You should taste my mom's brisket if you think this is good!" Gareth spoke as he sucked down the stew. "My mom has the classic Jewish touch when she cooks."

"I can tell." Steve smiled.

"Maybe we'll have to come over soon and eat some of that, mama." Eddie nodded as he took a sip of tea. "I haven't had your brisket in a while."

"I'll make it sometime soon for you, babbeleh." Gareth's mom spoke loudly and happily. She turned to Steve, "Sorry if I'm being too loud, honey. It's just my schtick, ya know?"

"It's okay. I like it." Steve laughed. "My house is way too quiet."

"Why is that?" Gareth asked, resting his elbow on the table to rest his cheek in his hand.

"My parents travel a lot." the jock shrugged.

"Are you by yourself a lot?" Mama asked.

"Sort of?"

"Isn't your mom, like, super well respected around town? Doesn't she work for the city of Hawkins?" Gareth wondered.

"Yes to both of your questions." Steve nodded. "Eddie's been keeping me company while they're away, though." He smiled across the table at Eddie, who was smiling sweetly at him.

"Aren't you nice for that?" Ma smiled.

"Yeah." Gareth nodded, his expression softening finally when looking towards Steve.

"Maybe you two could stay here tonight?" Mama suggested.

"What?" all three boys asked in unison.

"I mean, it would be fun, wouldn't it? I know it's a school night, but maybe it could give Steve here a night that's not so silent. We're a loud bunch." the lady smiled sweetly.

Eddie looked over to Steve to see what he'd say. It was their date night, after all. He did say that he wanted to... mess around tonight.

"I'd like that if Eddie and Gareth are on board," Steve spoke, surprising the hell out of Eddie and Gareth, too, since his mouth was hanging open a little. "Guys?"

"I'm cool with it." Eddie smiled with a shrug as he turned to Gareth. "Gar?"

"It's cool." the boy nodded as he closed his mouth.

"Great." Ma clapped her hands together. "That means you boys will need dessert."

++++++++++

"This is my drum set." Gareth pointed as he showed Steve his garage where his and Eddie's band, Corroded Coffin, practiced weekly for their sets at The Hide Out.

"Wow, these look really nice." Steve admired it as he leaned over the instrument.

"They were costly. My mom saved up forever to get me these."

"Do you want to hear us play something?" Eddie asked as he walked over to one of Gareth's electric guitars.

"Would your mom not mind?" Steve asked, turning to Gareth.

"The garage is soundproof, so no." the boy shook his head as he sat behind his drum set.

"Alright. Then I'm all ears."

"Great." Eddie smiled. "Be prepared, Harrington."

Steve stepped out of the way to get a good view of Eddie and Gareth. Eddie smiled at his situation (he didn't know what to call Steve) as he began to strum the guitar in his hands. As he played, he could see on Steve's face that the jock actually knew the song he was playing.

"You know it?" Eddie asked.

"Of course. Who doesn't know who AC/DC is?"

"A lot of people." Gareth laughed as he beat away at his drums.

"This is Highway to Hell, is it not?"

"You know your songs, Stevie." Eddie smiled as he strummed.

Eddie didn't notice the weird look Gareth gave him.

When the song ended, the boys put away their instruments, and Gareth led his guests to the guest bedroom not a moment too long after. "You can borrow clothes from me in the morning, I guess." Gareth sighed as he turned on the light in the guest room. "You know where the bathroom is, Eddie, so direct Steve that way if he needs it. Have a good night, boys."

"Night, Gar." Eddie waved.

"Goodnight." Steve smiled with a nod of his head.

When Gareth left, shutting the bedroom door behind him, Eddie sighed as he looked over to Steve. "What a first date, eh?"

Steve laughed, "Are we still considering this as our first date?"

"Hell yeah." Eddie nodded.

"Alright, then yeah, that was a hell of a first date. We got great food-" Steve listed off, "-you played music for me, and don't forget when we dipped into Gareth's mom's wine collection after she went to bed. What a night, huh?"

Eddie walked up to Steve and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. "I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Our second date will have to be out of this world to top tonight."

"There's going to be a second date?" Steve bit his lip.

"Of course." Eddie smiled as he leaned forward and pecked Steve's lips.

"Bubbeleh?" Steve questioned as the kiss ended. "What does that mean? Why was Gareth's mom calling you that?"

"Oh, it's just a nickname she has for me. It's a Yiddish term of endearment. It means, like, sweetie, or something like that."

"Oh, okay."

"What, are you jealous that she calls me bubbeleh?" Eddie laughed.

"No." Steve chuckled. "Although, it would be sweet to call you a cute nickname."

"Oh god." Eddie huffed. "You aren't going to name me mittens or sweetie pie, are you?"

"Mittens?" Steve barked a laugh. "There's no way in hell I'm calling you mittens!"

"Good." Eddie chuckled. "What have you got then?"

"Maybe I should just go with the generic "baby", yeah?"

"Oh, no." Eddie shook his head. "If you're going to give me a nickname, go big or go home. I'm down to be called sweet cheeks, maybe even hottie or tiger. Oh, tiger; I like that."

"Okay, lover boy- calm yourself." Steve laughed as he playfully pushed Eddie's chest.

"Lover boy?" Eddie cocked his head to the side. "I kinda like the way that sounded."

"Lover boy?" Steve smiled. "You like it when I call you lover boy?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded as he wrapped his arms around Steve's waist. "It sounds pretty coming out of your mouth."

Steve leaned forward and kissed Eddie's lips. Eddie hummed into the kiss. "You always taste so sweet."

"Don't get me riled up in Gareth's house," Steve whispered as he started to kiss Eddie's neck.

"You're the one doing it to me, sweetheart." The nickname sorta slipped out from Eddie, but Steve softly moaned when he heard it, so Eddie rolled with it.

"Okay- okay." Steve backed away. "I'm not doing anything while we're here. Let's change so we can go to bed."

"Okay. I agree." Eddie nodded.

The two stripped into their boxers and then climbed into bed. It was cold, so they snuggled up close together.

"Goodnight, lover boy," Steve whispered into the darkness over the soft hum of the ceiling fan.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Eddie whispered back, breath ghosting over Steve's face.

Eventually, the two boys fell asleep after a few soft kisses and delicate tracings of fingers over smooth skin.

Chapter Text

When Eddie sat down in Mrs. Mayweather's class the following day from spending the night at Gareth's house with Steve, he wasn't expecting total distance from Gareth. The boy seemed to want nothing to do with Eddie, no matter how much the metalhead poked at his best friend.

"Gareth, why won't you talk to me? What did I do?" Eddie wondered, stress spreading into his happy mood.

Gareth turned away from him, writing down his morning prompt in his composition notebook.

Eddie turned to Jeff for help. "Jeff? Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"No, sorry." the boy shook his head slightly.

Eddie sighed and turned back to the curly-haired boy. "Seriously, Gareth. What's wrong? What could I have done since last night that upset you?"

"If you don't know, you're a shitty friend," Gareth spoke, still not looking over to Eddie.

"Just tell me so I can fix it." Eddie practically begged.

"I thought we told each other everything." Gareth shook his head, still not paying attention to his friend as he continued to write in his notebook.

Eddie sat back at his friend's comment.

What the hell did that mean?

Eddie did tell Gareth everything.

Eddie looked at the board then to see what his morning prompt was. After he squinted to read, he read that he needed to talk about what he planned to do during the summer.

Fuck Steve. Eddie joked in his thoughts. It made him laugh a little. He obviously couldn't write that, but he could talk about his relationship (or whatever it was) in code. He just wouldn't say Steve's name. Maybe he could also talk about working all summer, playing D&D with his friends, and just relaxing for the first time in a long time because he was happy for the first time in forever. Life was going fantastic. Well... Gareth's attitude was ruining his mood.

What could that guy possibly be upset about?

Eddie shook his head with a sigh as he began to write about his upcoming summer with his friends and, most importantly, Steve.

Then it clicked.

Holy shit- did Gareth find out about him and Steve's situation?

Double shit.

Now he felt terrible.

It wasn't like Eddie was purposely not telling Gareth about it because he didn't want Gareth to know. It was more about Steve's privacy. Gareth knew Eddie was gay, but it wasn't Eddie's place to out Steve as bisexual. That would be completely wrong. Surely Gareth should understand that- he just had to.

Eddie bit his lip as he looked over to his pouting friend.

How was he going to talk about this without betraying Steve? Outing someone is cruel, especially in this day and age and in this town. Jesus- if Steve's parents found out, he'd be a goner.

Eddie swallowed the fear building in the back of his throat as he continued working on his morning prompt.

When the bell finally rang, he quickly picked up his bag and books so he could follow Gareth out of class.

"Hey- wait up!" Eddie called as he grabbed onto Gareth's shoulder in the hallway.

"Go away, Eddie." the boy shrugged him off.

"No, I want to talk about why you are upset."

"Do you know why I'm mad? Did you finally figure it out?"

"I think so, yeah."

Gareth looked at Eddie before tugging him off to the men's restroom. They both looked around to see if anyone was in there, and when the coast was clear, Gareth blurted out, "How could you not tell me about you and-" he paused and then whispered, even though no one was in the bathroom, "Steve."

"Steve's not out to anyone but Robin and me," Eddie whispered. "I didn't think it would be right to tell someone about his sexuality."

"But I'm your best friend, Eddie. You always tell me about your hookups, even if they aren't out."

"Yeah, well, Steve's different, Gar."

"How so? Is he the best screw you've ever had or something?"

"No- uhm- we actually haven't done anything yet."

"I call bullshit." Gareth laughed.

"No, I'm serious." Eddie shrugged. "Steve and I haven't done anything besides kiss."

"So what, you two just talk when he comes to your place?"

"Actually, yeah."

"Are you two like boyfriends or something?"

"Yeah- well, I don't know what we are. We haven't really discussed it." After a second, the metalhead followed up with, "How did you even know?"

"You called him "Stevie" last night when we were playing music for him in the garage."

"So? I call you Gar?"

"Eddie, you don't call people nicknames unless they're your best friend- and last night on the phone, you made it clear that that position was still filled by me."

"Maybe we're just close?"

"Eddie- I saw him wearing the hog ring I gave you."

Eddie bit his lip.

Damn.

He didn't know what to say to that.

"I also walked into your room this morning when you were both still asleep," Gareth confessed as he scratched at the back of his head. "I was looking for my boots. I thought I might have left them there from when I bunked there that week the pest guys had to spray my room for ants."

"What did you see when you walked in on us?" Eddie wondered. They were asleep, so, what the hell could the guy have possibly seen?

"Steve was cuddled into your chest with his leg was thrown over your waist. You seemed... content about it."

Steve and his stupid cuddle bug-ness.

"Steve always clings to me in his sleep. If I'm not there, he cuddles pillows. I wouldn't take that with a grain of salt."

"But- you are together, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." Eddie sighed. He hated this. Steve should be the one telling Gareth, not him.

"Eddie, it hurts that you seem so bothered by this. I'm not going to tell anybody about Steve. You know I wouldn't do that."

"Not even Jeff?"

"No." the boy shook his head. "If Steve and you are serious, no."

"We're serious. I really like him." Eddie whispered the last sentence. "It's scary. I've never had a boyfriend before."

"I thought you two weren't official?"

"We aren't, but I feel like we're there?" Eddie started to play with his hair. "I mean, we've spent so many nights together, talking, kissing, and expressing our feelings. I mean, I've shared cigarettes with him, Gareth."

"Are you serious?" the boy whispered in shock. "You never share your cigs."

"I know." Eddie nodded with wide eyes. "I just don't seem to care about anything but him when we're together."

"You're falling fast, my friend." Gareth reached out and patted Eddie's shoulder. "Dare I say- I think you might be whipped."

"I think you're right." the rocker laughed. "I hate that you might be right."

Gareth smiled softly as he retracted his arm.

"So, are we good, Gar?" Eddie asked, holding out his hand.

Gareth shook it. "We're good, Ed."

The two boys let go of each other and headed off to their following classes; for Eddie, it was gym. As he walked, he thought about having to tell Steve about his and Gareth's conversation. Hopefully, it wouldn't cause a fight. One bad thing happening today was enough. Eddie didn't need any more worries for his fragile heart. He wanted it to stay happy.

++++++++++

"You can go home tonight, Eddie," Carol spoke as the boy walked through the door of Family Video after his long day at school.

"I'm not going home. I work tonight."

"I want your shift."

"Well, you can't have it." the boy rolled his eyes.

Carol pursed her lips as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I already asked Keith, and he said it was fine. So, go home."

"Why do you want my shift so bad?"

"No reason, really." Carol shook her head. "I just need the money."

"No-" Eddie shook his head as he looked at the schedule by the clock-in machine. "- I see that Steve is coming in tonight to close with me."

"Okay?" the girl huffed. "Who really cares, Eddie?"

"Obviously you do, Carol."

"Why can't you just let me have this? I never get alone time with Steve."

That's because he tells Keith he doesn't want to be alone with you...

"Instead of whining to me about it, whine to Keith." Eddie sighed as he clocked in.

"No! Why would you clock in, you ass!" the girl stomped.

"Because I need the money, Carol. It's not my fault that the schedule came out like this. Now, clock out and go home. Your shift is over."

"It's over when Steve clocks on."

"Or you could just leave me alone? I can handle the store for two hours by myself."

"Eat dirt, Munson. No way." the girl rolled her eyes as she put a piece of gum into her mouth.

Eddie chose to ignore it today.

"Then stop talking to me and do your job. Go put out some new rentals or something?"

"You don't tell me what to do."

"Technically, I've been here longer than you have."

"Technically, you're a no-good freak." she snapped.

Eddie drew his lips into a thin line to keep his comments to himself. He quickly turned away and decided to put the new movies out himself. After he was done with that, he restocked the candy. After that, he swept the floors, cleaned the windows, and dusted the shelves. He did all this while Carol sat on her ass and filed her nails.

When 3:55 pm hit, Eddie was jumping for joy. Steve would be here in five minutes, and Carol would have to go home.

A customer walked in as Eddie waited for the clock to tick down.

"Hi, welcome to Family Video." Eddie smiled. Carol was in the back, not caring about anything upfront.

"Hi." the lady smiled. "Can you help me pick a movie for my son's sleepover this weekend?"

"Of course." Eddie nodded as he walked from out behind the counter. "How old is your son?"

"Danny's 14."

"Okay. What is he into?"

"What do you mean?"

"Does he like comedies, horror, flicks, action?"

"I'm not really sure." the lady frowned with a sigh. "The boy hardly talks to me. You know how teenage boys can be around their moms."

"Sure." Eddie smiled softly. "Well, if he's having a sleepover with a bunch of other 14-year-old boys, I'm sure he'd want to appear cool in front of them, right?"

"Right." the lady nodded.

"I think I know just what to give you." Eddie smiled as he walked off to the action aisle.

"What are you thinking, sir?"

"My boy-" Eddie started and then coughed to try and confuse the women with what he was trying to say. "My friend- uh- he loves this movie. He says it's a true classic for guys."

"Okay, I'm getting excited."

"Here it is," Eddie said, grabbing the tape off the shelf. "Top Gun starring Tom Cruise."

"What's it about?" the lady asked as she took the tape from Eddie to look it over.

"I think he said it's about piolets in the war, but I'm not too sure. I know it's PG and action-packed, something I'm sure your 14-year-old son Danny would love."

"Great. I'll take your word for it." the lady smiled.

"Okay, great. Follow me to the front so I can prepare you for when you are ready to bring the movie back next week.

The two of them walked back up to the counter. Eddie sat on the stool by the computer while the mom slid the tape over to him.

"Okay, what's your name?"

"Donna Foreman."

"Okay, Mrs. Foreman, what's your address and telephone number?"

As the lady told Eddie her information, Steve walked into the store. Eddie looked up and smiled at him for a second before he turned back to the computer to finish typing in her info.

Once Steve was clocked on, he came up behind the counter and smiled happily, "Oh, you're renting Top Gun! I love that movie!"

"You must be the friend this gentleman told me about that convinced me to get the movie." Mrs. Foreman smiled.

"He is." Eddie chuckled as he handed over the film to the lady.

"You'll love it." Steve encouraged.

"It's actually for my son's sleepover this weekend."

"Even better than, ma'am! You won't regret it."

"I hope not." she smiled as she started to turn for the front door. As she waved, she said, "Thank you, boys, so much for your help."

"Of course." Steve waved back. When the lady left, the door closing behind her, Steve turned to Eddie. "Hello, Love-" he started, but Eddie covered his mouth with his ring-covered hand.

"Carol's here," he whispered.

Steve rolled his eyes but nodded.

Eddie let go of Steve's mouth.

"When does she leave?"

"She's supposed to be leaving now."

As if right on cue, Carol strolled into the main room with a smile.

"What are you smiling about, Perkins?" Eddie asked.

"Keith said all three of us are closing tonight."

"What the hell?" Eddie could've popped a blood vessel.

"Why?" Steve asked more calmly.

"Apparently, there's going to be a big storm this weekend, so he expects many people to want rentals."

"It's only Wednesday?"

"The storms rolling in tomorrow afternoon."

"And I bet we still have to come to work." Eddie smiled tightly, his eyes being a dead giveaway for his sarcasm.

"Yeah, probably." the girl shrugged. "I'm off, so it doesn't matter to me."

Steve bit his lip as he stayed silent, not knowing how to act around Eddie now that Carol was remaining on the clock.

"Hey, Steve?" the girl then questioned.

"Yes, Carol?" he replied.

"Want to rent one of these movies and come to my house tomorrow?" Carol batted her eyelashes. "I think it'd be fun."

"Sorry- I- uh- I'm busy tomorrow."

"Doing what?"

"Working."

"You're not on the schedule?"

"On my house." Steve scratched at the back of his head. "I'm working on my house all weekend. My dad wants me to tidy things up before he comes home on Monday."

"I could always come over?" she waggled her eyebrows.

Eddie thought he was going to be sick.

"I can't have anyone over when they're not there."

"You've never followed that rule before? Do you not remember your many nights with Nancy Wheeler when your parents were away on business trips?"

Eddie was really going to get sick now.

"Yeah, well, my dad made it pretty clear when I got caught to not do it again last time- so- no."

Eddie could see that that last statement wasn't a lie in Steve's eyes. He felt bad for spending the night there while his parents were away a few days ago.

"Fine." Carol sighed as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "I guess we'll have to hang out some other time."

"Yeah." Steve nodded with a tight smile.

An hour after that awkward conversation, Carol's break finally came, meaning the two boys were alone in the store since she left to grab dinner. This meant Eddie could finally break the news about Gareth knowing about Steve and his relationship.

"Steve, we've got to talk." Eddie sighed as he hiked himself up on the counter, back facing the shelves and not the front door.

"Oh god- what?" Steve's eyes went wide in panic.

"Try not to freak out too much, okay?"

"Eddie, that's not a good way to start telling someone bad news."

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry- it's just, it sounds bad, but he won't tell. He hasn't told anyone about me, so he won't tell anyone about you."

"Eddie, what are you talking about?" Steve knitted his eyebrows together.

"Gareth knows about us."

"What?"

"I didn't tell him, I swear." the metalhead surrendered his hands. "He found out because he walked in on us cuddling in his room this morning."

Steve sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"He's not going to tell?" the jock asked, his hands falling to his hips as he looked at Eddie.

"No. I promise. He's known about me for years and hasn't told a soul."

"Well, as long as you trust him. It's okay."

"What?" Eddie asked, shoulders slumping in relief. "You're okay with him knowing? Really?"

"If you trust him, then I trust him."

"Oh, thank god you're not upset with me." Eddie smiled as he reached forward and cupped Steve's cheeks.

"Upset with you? Why would I be upset with you?" Steve chuckled as his hands landed on the counter, supporting Eddie's weight.

"Being out to someone you don't want to know about you can be a horrible experience."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell Gareth. He figured it out on his own."

"That's true." Eddie sighed as he lazily smiled at the man.

After a moment, Steve asked, "Wanna go to the breakroom for a minute? I need help replacing the printing paper."

"That damn printer." Eddie tsked as he shook his head. "Always getting jammed when you try and change it out."

Steve smiled and helped Eddie down from off the counter.

The two boys walked to the back and cracked the door behind themselves so they could hear when a customer walked in. When they finally stopped to look at each other, Steve was the one to lean in first and crash their lips together.

Eddie hummed into the kiss as a smile spread across his face. Steve's taste was like dope to him. He couldn't get enough of the boy. He might've been addicted, but who cares? Isn't this what new budding relationships feel like? He wouldn't honestly know since he's only heard about it in songs and seen it in movies, but if this is what it's supposed to feel like, he was in trouble. Steve's tongue rubbing against his felt so good.

Steve tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. Sweet due to his toothpaste and bitter due to the Salem cigarette he had just smoked before he clocked in. It was fucking sexy.

Eddie reached down and grabbed Steve's ass as he turned his head to deepen their kiss. Steve's little groan in his ear made the man tingle. Eddie's hair stood straight up on his arms and on his neck. Steve's sounds were a close second to his taste.

If Steve's kissing was anything like his screwing, Eddie was fucked (literally, he was hoping for shortly).

"Jesus, Steve-" Eddie panted as he placed sloppy kisses on Steve's puffed-out lips, "-we've gotta stop soon. I can't take much more of this."

"Oh, come on, lover boy," Steve spoke softly. "We've barely started." With that, the jock bit down on Eddie's lower lip and softly pulled on it.

If not at work, Eddie would've destroyed the boy right then and there. Steve wouldn't know what hit him. Eddie, however, knew he had to compose himself.

"No, we need to stop." Eddie sighed as he backed away a little more.

"Oh, don't let my presence stop you, fairies."

Eddie and Steve stopped dead in their tracks. They both turned their heads to the doorway. Their eyes met with Carol's.

"How are you here? We didn't hear the door chime?" Eddie asked, chest rising and falling rapidly.

"I came in through the back door-" she said and then paused. She wouldn't. "-I'm sure you two are familiar with that reference?" Oh, she did.

"Carol- this isn't-" Eddie tried, but she interrupted.

"It's not what it looks like?" she laughed. "Oh, be fucking for real, Eddie. You and Eddie are a couple of queers." She then raised a hand up as she realized something. "That's why Steve doesn't want to fuck me. He's fucking gay!"

"Carol, shut your damn mouth." Eddie puffed out his chest. Apparently, he was the only one that would be doing the talking right now. Steve just stood behind him in silence.

"Or what? You can't hit me. I'm a girl."

"I can get Robin to hit you."

"She doesn't have the guts."

"She would if she heard about this. Nancy too."

"I'm so scared."

"Carol!" Eddie hollered. "You can't tell anyone. I don't care about me, but-" he softened his voice as he looked to Steve. "-it would ruin Steve's life."

"So, what?"

"Carol, if you cared about Steve at all, truly, you wouldn't tell anyone."

"Steve's never truly been my friend. Why would I do him any favors?"

"God, you're such a bitch, Carol."

"Sure, I'm a bitch. At least I'm not a sin." With that, Carol turned and walked away.

"Steve- I-" Eddie tried, but the phone started to ring, interrupting them.

Steve silently walked to the phone. After taking a deep breath, he answered, "Hello. Thank you for calling Family-" and then he paused.

Eddie sat there, hands on his hips, tapping his foot, waiting for the man to get off the phone so he could talk about what had just happened to them. He wanted to prepare him for what was to come. There would be name-calling, fights, loss of friends, and loss of family members. Steve wasn't ready for that in Eddie's mind.

When the phone call ended, Steve looked pale as he hung up.

"God, what?" Eddie asked, stepping toward his friend. "Who was that?"

"That was Mike."

"Okay? What's wrong now?"

Eddie wasn't prepared to hear what Steve had to say next.

"Max fell back into her coma."

Chapter Text

Time seemed to stop as Eddie's body went numb upon hearing about Max falling back into her coma. She was just fine two weeks ago when Eddie saw her. Sure, her memory was all over the place, but she wasn't anywhere near bad enough to slip back into unconsciousness.

She was just okay.

She was just okay.

What the hell happened?

"What the hell happened to her, Steve?" Eddie asked, choking back his tears to try and compose himself. He was not about to break down in Family Video. He couldn't do this. Not here, not now.

"I'm not sure." he shrugged, looking just as numb as Eddie felt.

"We should go. We need to see what's wrong." Eddie nodded as he started making his way to the breakroom door to walk back into the main store.

"Eddie, we're closing. We can't just leave."

"Carol wanted to close so bad; now she's going to." the man huffed as he walked up front. He grabbed his car keys, Steve's car keys, and his backpack.

"Where the hell are you going, Munson? You're still on the clock."

"No, the hell I'm not." Eddie rolled his eyes. "Steve, clock me out!"

Carol turned her head and saw Steve clocking the both of them out.

"What the fuck? You can't just leave me here when we're about to get slammed!"

"Deal with it." Eddie huffed as he opened the door to the front of the store, the loud chime ringing throughout the store as he did so. "Let's go, Steve."

Steve quickly made it to the front of the store and then slid his way past Eddie through the door.

"Have fun, Perkins." Eddie smiled, and then he closed the door behind himself.

"Give me my keys, Ed."

"No. You aren't driving. Get in my van."

Steve didn't say anything. He just rolled his eyes and walked off to Eddie's van. Eddie quickly followed on his heels. Eddie unlocked it when they got to the car, and then they hopped in. The metalhead started the van and then sped off to the hospital.

On the way there, Eddie couldn't bring himself to turn on any music or even talk to Steve. Everything was tense around the two boys, with what happened with Carol and what happened to Max.

Today was just not Eddie's fucking day.

As Eddie drove to the hospital, the silence was almost deafening. All he could hear was the cars passing him by, his heartbeat, and Steve's breathing. It caused Eddie's anxiety to rise. Nothing about the situation was okay. For all he knew, this could be it for Max. This could be her last day on this fucked up planet. He didn't want their previous interaction to be their last. It was a heartbreaking interaction.

When Eddie finally pulled into the hospital's parking garage after an agonizingly long car ride, the two boys got out and booked it up to Max's room. When they got there, everyone was there.

"Steve, Eddie, you made it." Joyce smiled warmly as she got up from sitting in one of the hospital chairs in the lobby just outside Max's bedroom. She reached over and gave the two boys individual hugs.

"Hi, Mrs. Byers." Steve sighed into her hug.

"How are you holding up?" Joyce asked as she rubbed his back.

"I'm hanging by a thread at this point."

Joyce pulled away from the hug with a small, understanding smile.

"Have you all heard anything about her yet?" Eddie asked, looking towards Chief Hopper.

"No. All we know is that she slipped back into her coma." Jim shrugged, a frown on his face.

Eddie looked to Lucas then, his head resting on Dustin's shoulder. He was staring into the distance, unaware that Steve and Eddie had arrived. Eddie frowned at the sight. The poor kid. The love of his life was hanging onto her life in this hospital, and all he could do was sit around and wait to see if she'll pull through again.

Eddie watched as Steve left his side to sit next to Robin. Once he was seated, he leaned over and hugged her. She hugged back, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so.

Eddie wanted to rip his hair out.

He couldn't imagine losing Steve like how Lucas might lose Max. Steve and he were barely an item, but he knew he'd be in such a deep hole; and he may never climb out of it. The man was his life.

Eddie pulled himself together and walked over to the empty seat next to the jock, which also happened to be next to Nancy. He sat down.

"Who's watching the store?" Nancy whispered as she looked over to see Eddie in his work vest.

"Carol Perkins."

"Oh, what a witch."

"Tell me about it." Eddie chuckled softly.

Nancy then leaned her head over on Jonathan's shoulder and squeezed his hand since she was holding it. Eddie itched to hold Steve's hand right now. He could really use the comfort, but Steve was occupied with Robin. They were best friends after all.

As Eddie hung his head in sadness that no one could reach out to him to make him feel better, to his shock, Steve reached his hand over and grabbed Eddie's ring-covered hand. He laced their fingers together and squeezed. Eddie looked over to the boy subtly so no one would think twice about what was happening between the two boys. All Eddie saw, however, was Steve's head resting on Robin's shoulder with his eyes closed. Eddie smiled as he started to rub his thumb softly on the back of Steve's hand while he waited in the hospital room. Eddie slowly looked around the room as he did this and saw everyone holding onto someone. Girls holding girls' hands, boys resting on each other, and girls and boys leaning into one another. Eddie felt a warmth spread in his chest. He felt like part of their family. He may be new, but he felt at home.

++++++++++

Eddie must have dozed off because the next thing made no sense to him as he felt like he was in a daze. Steve was yanking him up by his hand and suddenly pulling him into a different room down the hallway without any explanation.

"What the fuck is going on?" Eddie asked, rubbing his free hand on his tired eyes as he stood in a room with a tub.

"You know how El has powers?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah?" Eddie replied.

"She's going to try and see if she can talk to Max. Maybe she can get her to wake up." Mike spoke as he helped El into the warm bathtub.

"How the hell is she going to talk Max into waking up?"

"She can go into her unconscious state and talk to her," Will spoke softly. "She's done it to me before."

"When you went missing?"

"Yeah." the timid boy nodded.

Eddie shut his mouth after that and watched as El tied her scarf around her eyes. Eddie wanted to question what she was doing, but according to everyone else's faces, this seemed to be a part of her process. This seemed to be normal to them.

El then laid down in the tub and started to lightly hum to concentrate on where she wanted to go. Eddie squeezed Steve's hand tighter. He didn't know why he was clutching onto him, but all he knew was that it slightly put him at ease. Especially when Steve started to squeeze back.

"Max?" El whispered.

"You see her?" Lucas asked, eyes wide. He grabbed onto Erica's hand tightly.

"Max?" El asked again.

"Can you talk to her? How is she? Is she going to make it?" Lucas quizzed.

"Honey, hey, calm down." Joyce soothed as she reached out to squeeze Lucas' shoulder. "Remember, you can't hound her with questions when she's like this. We can only encourage her on."

Lucas let out a breath as he nodded, trying to calm himself down.

"Hurt? You're hurt?" El asked.

Eddie and Steve squeezed each other's hands tighter at the same time.

"We can't lose you, Max," El spoke softly.

"No, we can't lose you, Red," Eddie said allowed.

Everybody looked over at him. Some of them were surprised and some of them just held soft smiles on their faces.

"You're a- a fighter." Eleven spoke with a little bit of force.

"You're the strongest person we know," Robin spoke. She looked around at the others to help. Maybe they all could talk to Max. Maybe Max needed an army to keep her alive. They'd be that army for her, no questions asked.

"You're a badass, Mayfield." Nancy pitched in. She then looked at Jonathan.

"You should wake up and prove it," he spoke sternly.

Joyce smiled as she nodded along. "Prove to everyone how strong you are."

"Please, Max. You need to listen to us." Lucas begged.

"Who's supposed to rip on us when we're being losers?" Dustin asked.

"Who's supposed to teach me how to skate?" Mike asked.

"Who's supposed to go see scary movies with me?" Erica wondered. "The only way I can go is if Lucas goes, and he only goes when you go. So, wake up, Max."

"Wake up, kid." Hopper joined. "El needs her best friend."

"We all need our best friend," Steve finally spoke.

"Wake up for us, Max," El spoke softly into the room as she floated in the tub.

Suddenly, the lights in the room began to flicker. Everyone looked up, fear in their eyes. They couldn't tell if that was a good or bad sign. Not a moment later, El sat up fast, water splashing everywhere as she took in a gasp of air and ripped off her scarf from her eyes.

"So?" Hopper asked. "Is she awake, El?"

"She's awake." Eleven smiled with tears in her eyes.

Everyone turned and booked it into Max's room. Eddie and Steve were in the room first and smiled when they saw Max sitting in her bed.

"Red!" Eddie yelled.

Max looked toward the door, eyes glassed over like usual, and smiled. "I heard you calling."

"Of course you did!" He shouted as the group rushed in behind him. The best they could, everyone gathered around Max's bed, and the group hugged her. It didn't matter what they were clinging onto, her foot, leg, hip, arm, stomach, head, whatever- it was great, it was Max.

When everyone pulled apart, Lucas grabbed onto her face and kissed her. Max smiled into the kiss, and soon they pulled apart.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Lucas smiled as he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Me too." Max nodded. "I wasn't ready to go yet."

"None of us were ready," El confessed.

Eddie looked around the room in amazement that he was a part of something like this. He was a part of saving Max's life. Who knew life could be so unique and precious? Nothing could ruin his bond with these people, no matter what negative thing was happening in his life. Nothing could ruin this moment of saving Max. Not even the Carol situation. This did, however, bring Eddie into the mood to talk about what happened.

Eddie turned to Steve and looked at him with a look that only the jock could understand. It was an I need to talk with you about earlier look. Steve sighed but nodded. The two boys made a quiet exit out of the room without anyone noticing. They slowly walked back into the private lobby by Max's room. Once they were there, they shut the door behind them.

"Steve, we've got to talk about what happened earlier with Carol at the store," Eddie spoke softly.

Steve didn't respond; he just sat down in one of the chairs.

Eddie sat right next to him.

"Steve, I want to be able to prepare you for what's to come if Carol blabs."

"I know what's to come," Steve spoke, looking over to Eddie.

"Do you know?"

"Disownment of my family. I'll be completely cut off."

"Yes." Eddie frowned. "But that's not all. You'll be called names, boys will want to fight you, and you may even lose some friends- not just family members."

"I couldn't imagine those people in there-" Steve pointed to Max's room behind him. "-would disown us for being together."

"I couldn't imagine it, but it's Hawkins in 1986. You never know their thoughts on two men being together."

"They accept Max and Lucas when half the town doesn't," Steve whispered. "Max's stepdad and brother didn't accept them, but our friends did."

"Then, hopefully, they'll be able to accept us." Eddie smiled tightly as he reached over and gripped Steve's thigh. "How are you going to handle the name-calling and fighting?"

"I know how to fight."

"I don't want you going deaf in your right ear, too," Eddie spoke, tucking a strand of hair behind Steve's ear. He massaged it a little as he said next, "Your health is important to me, sweetheart."

Steve closed his eyes, and he leaned into his touch. "I know you'll be there to help take care of me if that happens."

"But we can avoid it from happening."

"Maybe, but if not, let it be."

Eddie sighed, knowing Steve wasn't going to let this go. "Are you ready for your family to discover you are bisexual?"

"No, but I'm already not close with them."

Eddie frowned, "We'll get through this together."

Steve opened his eyes and looked into Eddie's dark orbs.

"Why do good people have to go through so much all the time?" the boy wondered.

"Who knows?" the metalhead shrugged.

"You don't deserve the cards you were dealt, Ed. You're such a good person. I wish your parents would have been there for you."

"You didn't deserve to have neglectful parents either, Stevie. You deserve rainbows, sunshine, lollipops, and fucking kittens."

Steve laughed lightly.

"Max doesn't deserve to be fucking blind," Eddie whispered.

"Those kids don't deserve to see death repeatedly," Steve answered.

"Joyce and Hopper deserve to be happy together."

"El and Hop deserve a normal father-daughter relationship without loss and hurting."

"Nancy and Jonathan deserve to go to college together."

"Robin deserves a girlfriend."

"We deserve each other," Eddie spoke, bringing his hand up to cup Steve's cheek.

Steve smiled.

Eddie leaned in.

The two boys' lips connected quickly as they melted into one another's presence and warmth. This kiss was something they both needed. They needed a jolt of light brought back into their lives. This kiss was going to give them that.

Eddie was the first to lean in, so he was the first to pull apart.

"We should get back to Max's room before people come looking for us."

"Okay." Steve sighed as he stood.

Eddie followed.

When the two boys returned to Max's room, Robin seemed to be the only one to notice they were gone. She gave them both knowing looks when they stood close to each other at the back of the group, laughing about whatever Dustin and Mike were arguing about.

Life returned back to normal right there at that moment.

Everything suddenly felt okay again.

Eddie was happy to have this feeling floating about in the air between him, his friends, and Steve.

Chapter Text

"I'm freaking the fuck out here, Robin," Eddie spoke on the phone as he paced the tiny hallway of his trailer. "I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do on these things."

"Didn't you and Steve already go on a date?" the girl laughed through the line.

"Sort of. I mean- no. We were going to go on a date, but then we ended up going to Gareth's place for dinner and spent the night there. So, we weren't alone."

"You're alone with Steve all the time. What's the big deal about tonight?"

"Because this is an official date, Buckley. This is the first time I've been on an official date. What if I screw everything up and make him disinterested in me?"

"Steve's not going to become disinterested in you, Munson. Be for real." Robin snickered.

"It could happen, Rob. He could find me repulsing by the time the date is over."

"Eddie- get what I'm about to say through your thick skull." the girl huffed. "Steve will not leave you if your date doesn't go as planned. I promise he likes you enough to stick it through until you eventually do something so bad that he breaks up with you."

"What makes you think I'm going to be the one that screws this relationship up?" Eddie asked with a hint of hurt in his voice.

"I don't know, but I feel like it will be you." Robin joked light-heartedly.

Eddie sighed as he started to twist the phone cord in his fingers. "Robin, I'm petrified about tonight."

Robin spoke softly and less sarcastically, "Eddie, honey, everything will be okay. I promise."

"Okay, I'll just take your word for it."

"Good. Now- hang up and go pick up your date."

"Okay. I'll call you tomorrow with the details."

"You better," Robin said, and then she hung up.

Eddie sighed as he put his home phone back on the wall. He then gathered his keys and wallet from his room and made his way out of the door to his van so he could pick up Steve.

When Eddie was finally on the road, he turned on his music to calm himself down from his worries. He knew Robin was right. He knew there was absolutely nothing to worry about. He was being dumb. Steve made it very clear how much he liked Eddie. Eddie just needed to remember that.

When the metalhead finally pulled up to Steve's house next to a car he didn't recognize, he got out of his van and knocked on Steve's door. When Steve answered the door in beat up jeans, a hoodie, and a teary face, Eddie thought he might have gotten the day wrong for their date tonight.

"Hey, Eddie? What are you doing here?" Steve sniffled as he looked Eddie up and down.

"Uhm- I thought we had a date tonight?"

"Oh, fuck." Steve sniffled as he looked back into his house and then back to Eddie. "I- uhm- I can't go out tonight."

"Steve?" Eddie spoke softly. "Are you okay? What's happening right now? Why are you crying?"

"My- my parents-" the boy tried to speak, but it was interrupted by a booming voice calling Steve's name.

"Steven, will you hurry up at the damn door! Our conversation is not over with!" a man, who was most likely Steve's dad, yelled.

"Steve, what's going on?"

"They know." was all Steve said before he closed the door softly in Eddie's face.

Eddie stood in shock on Steve's front porch. He didn't know if he could move. His whole body felt like it was falling into itself. He knew this was coming but didn't think it would be tonight. Tonight was supposed to be perfect between the two boys. Tonight was supposed to be the night that everything would fall into place.

Eddie wanted to puke.

When the boy felt it come up and burn his throat, he ran to the side of Steve's house to throw up into a bush. When he was finished and wiping off his mouth, he paused. He heard someone yelling. When he slowly looked up, he saw a window slightly cracked open just a little ways over from where he stood. It was a window into Steve's house. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he really wanted to know what was being said to Steve so he could pick up the damage later on.

Eddie crept to the window down low so he wouldn't be seen by anyone inside the house.

"Gay, Steven? You're gay?" Mr. Harrington asked, voice bouncing off the walls of their mansion. "Tell me this isn't true? Tell me Mr. and Mrs. Perkins were lying to me."

Steve was silent.

Eddie peeked into the window and saw his boyfriend wrapped in a blanket, sitting on a sofa in his dad's office, facing towards where Eddie was looking, eyes puffy and distant. He looked wholly checked out. Steve's dad had his back to the window as he yelled at Steve. The boy's mom was in tears as she stood to the side, looking at her son.

"Answer me, boy!" Mr. Harrington shouted.

"I'm not gay." Steve's voice was soft, mouse-like.

"So they were lying?"

"I like girls... and boys."

Oh, Steve.

"No son of mine will like boys, Steven!" the man stomped as he balled his hands into fists. "You'll forget all about your little boyfriend Carol saw you with, and you'll go back to dating girls. That's what's right. That's what's in the bible."

"Dad, you can't change who I am."

"Like hell, I can."

Steve shook his head as new tears began to roll down his cheeks. "It's who I am."

"If you want to stick with being a fairy, then I want you out of this house."

"You're kicking me out?"

"Of course, I'm kicking you out! I can't have a sinner living under my roof."

"Mom? Do you want me out?" Steve asked, turning to the crying woman.

She didn't answer but just cried harder.

Steve huffed as he turned back to face his father. "When do you want me out?"

"Tonight."

"You're only giving me tonight?"

"I'm only giving you an hour."

Steve bit his lip due to it starting to quiver. Eddie's stomach dropped. He felt sick all over again.

Steve nodded, dropped the blanket onto the sofa, and left the room. Eddie's guess was to pack.

Before Eddie could get caught, he slipped past the window and ran to the side of the house Steve's bedroom was on. There was a ladder near his window, so Eddie climbed it. When he reached the part of the roof where he could stand up, he got off the ladder and walked to Steve's bedroom window. He tapped softly on it as Steve grabbed a bag from his closet.

Steve looked up and tried to tell Eddie to go away, but Eddie wouldn't go. So, the boy walked over and slid his window up.

"What, Eddie?" the boy whisper yelled. "If my dad catches you here, he'll kill me... and you."

"Lock your door. I'll help you pack."

Steve thought it over for a second but ended up nodding and walking to his door to lock it. When it was, Eddie climbed into Steve's bedroom.

"What do you want to bring back to my place?"

"Your place?" Steve paused as he walked to his closet.

"Yeah." Eddie nodded. "Wayne will let you stay once I tell him what happened."

"You want me at your place?"

"Where else would you go, Steve?"

"I- I uhm- I don't know." the boy sniffled as new tears started to form.

"Hey, enough of that," Eddie whispered as he hugged his boyfriend. "Stop crying. It will be okay, sweetheart. Everything will be okay."

"I knew they would be like this," Steve spoke into Eddie's neck. "I knew they'd disown me. I don't understand why I'm crying. We were never close in the first place."

"It hurts to get thrown out by people that are supposed to love you. Trust me, I know."

"I wish you didn't know this feeling." the boy sniffled. "It fucking sucks."

Eddie pulled away from Steve a little. "It does suck, but you've got a place waiting for you that will keep you sheltered and safe. Wayne doesn't tolerate hate towards people like us, not since I came out to him when I was younger. He'll protect you for the rest of your life, Stevie."

"He will?"

"I promise."

Steve nodded as he wiped his tears away.

"Now come on; we've only got an hour to pack up your whole life."

"How do you know that?"

"Your dad's office window was cracked open."

Steve nodded as he walked over to his closet to gather his things. Eddie walked over to the boy's dresser. The two of them worked hard to pack Steve's essentials into different bags. When the hour was up, and they were done, Eddie kissed Steve's cheek before crawling back out of his window to wait for Steve to come out of his house to load all of his things into his car and Eddie's van.

When the loading of the cars was done, Eddie sped off (after telling Steve to meet him at his trailer) before Steve's parents could put together that he was there.

When Eddie returned to his trailer, he saw Wayne's truck outside. He sighed and went into his house to explain the situation to Wayne before Steve arrived.

"Hey, back from your date with the snooty rich boy already?" Wayne joked as he watched a baseball game on the television. When Eddie didn't answer, Wayne looked over to him, and his smile turned into a frown. "Jesus, what happened?" he asked after seeing Eddie's red tear-filled eyes.

"I have to cry now so I can be strong for Steve." Eddie sniffled.

Wayne got up then and hugged his nephew. "What happened, Eddie?"

"Carol Perkins saw Steve and I kissing, and she told her parents. Her parents told Steve's."

"Did they kick him out?"

"Yes." Eddie sobbed into Wayne's shoulder. "I don't even know why I'm crying. It's not like I was the one that got screamed at and kicked out."

"But you were there before," Wayne whispered. "You've dealt with this before. I'm sure it's bringing up many bad memories for you."

"I guess it is," Eddie said as he pulled away and wiped his tears. "It's making me think of mom and dad throwing me out. I only started to get to this dark place when I was helping Steve pack up his whole life into backpacks and duffle bags."

Wayne's frown deepened.

"You're a good kid, Ed. Don't go back to that place. You know you weren't the problem."

"I know..." the boy trailed on.

After a moment, Wayne asked, "Is he on his way here?"

"Is that okay?"

"Of course." Wayne sighed as he looked around the trailer. "I can bring out the cot bed so Steve can have a more comfortable place to sleep besides the sofa."

"Wayne." Eddie looked towards his uncle, a little red-faced. "He can sleep in my room."

"Edward, I don't want funny business in my house."

"Steve's slept here many times before, and we've never done any funny business."

"That was before you were dating."

"Wayne, I promise I won't do anything with Steve under your roof. I know, Steve. He's going to want to sleep with me to calm his anxiety. He won't be able to sleep out here all alone."

"Fine." Wayne sighed as his hands came to rest on his hips. "I'll let it slide for now."

"Thank you."

There was a knock on the trailer's front door.

Eddie turned and opened the door. Steve stood there on his front porch. "Hi."

"Hey, Steve." Eddie sighed; tears dried up, thankfully. "Want to unload your stuff now or later?"

"I'd prefer to do it now."

"Okay." Eddie nodded as he stepped outside.

Wayne followed the two boys to help bring the bags to Eddie's room. When the three of them were done, Steve asked if he and Eddie could take a drive. When the metalhead agreed, the two of them left.

Eddie decided to take them to the cliffs. Steve might need a good scream.

"The cliffs." Steve smiled softly as he looked to where Eddie had taken him.

"Is this okay?"

"It's perfect."

Eddie pulled over, just under a hanging rock. After a moment of silence, the two boys spoke simultaneously. Eddie asked, "Are you okay?" while Steve said, "I brought beer."

"Are you sure you want to drink right now?"

"I'm sure." the jock nodded as he reached to the ground and pulled out two cans of beer. He handed one to Eddie, which the boy took.

After cracking open the beer and taking a sip, Eddie asked again, "Are you okay?"

"I guess."

"It's cool if you need to scream it out." Eddie pointed to the cliffs.

"I don't want to scream anymore. I just want to sit."

"Anymore?"

"I screamed enough on the way to your house." Steve chuckled softly.

"I'm sorry, Steve."

"There's no reason for you to be sorry. This isn't your fault."

"We were only caught because we were kissing at work."

"I'm the one who initiated it. I initiated everything in our relationship. Everything that happened tonight is my fault, not yours."

"Steve, don't put all the blame on yourself. You'll only end up hurting yourself in the long run."

"Maybe I should hurt." Steve shrugged as he took a sip of his drink.

"No. You shouldn't be hurt for who you are. I learned that a long time ago."

"Is that why you're not afraid to stand up on lunch tables?" Steve joked.

"Exactly." Eddie chuckled. "You've got to forget what people want to see you become. You need to become what you think is best for yourself."

"All I know is that I want to be with you," Steve spoke, looking toward Eddie.

"And I want to be with you too."

"Eddie, I never would have admitted to liking boys to my parents if it wasn't for you. I want to be with you no matter what people think, even if it does hurt me."

"Oh, come on." Eddie laughed softly. "If you had met any other guy, you would've done the same for him."

"No." Steve shook his head. "It's you. It's always been you. Everything I do, you're in the back of my head. I've met many other attractive guys in Hawkins who wanted me, but none of them were you, Eddie."

"What other guys?"

"Tommy had a major crush on me."

"What?"

"Yeah." Steve nodded as his voice was soft in the darkness of Eddie's van. "He confessed it to me after I broke up with Nancy. I thought he was attractive, but I couldn't see myself with him. Same with Billy Hargrove."

"Billy's into dudes?"

"Only when he's drunk."

"How did I not know any of this? I'm the town gay."

Steve laughed, and loudly too. "I don't know, Eddie. I guess people are just intimated by you."

"Are you intimated of me?" Eddie whispered.

"Not at all," Steve whispered back.

Silence fell between the two boys as they sat in the van, the moonlight seeping in. Eddie wanted to lean over and kiss Steve, but he knew he shouldn't. Today's been hard enough on the boy. He didn't want to erase all of his pain without more time to process what Steve had been through.

Steve could almost sense what Eddie was thinking about. "If you want to kiss me, kiss me."

"You've been through a lot today. It wouldn't be right." Eddie shook his head.

"Eddie Munson, I knew this was coming. It was inevitable. All that I want right now is you. Can you please give me that?"

"I can give you that."

"Then kiss me."

Eddie leaned forward to Steve and connected their lips together. Eddie brought his hand up to rest on Steve's cheek. He wondered when Steve's lips would stop filling him with absolute light and pleasure. He's never felt the way he does from Steve's kiss from anyone else, and it scared the living shit out of him. He didn't understand his feelings for Steve and doesn't think he ever will.

The kiss the two boys were sharing was initially supposed to be soft and quick, but Steve's mouth started to move hungrily against Eddie's, and Eddie couldn't find it within himself to pull away. He wanted to give in to the pleasure that always seemed to get interrupted. He wasn't going to let that happen this time.

"Want-" Eddie started to talk through their kisses, "to-" kiss "take-" kiss "this" kiss "to" kiss "the back" kiss.

Steve didn't speak but only nodded. The two boys let up for a moment and climbed into the back of Eddie's van. When they were laid down, Steve in the bed of the van, Eddie on top of Steve, they reconnected their lips. Eddie slid his knee in-between Steve's legs so he could get even closer to the boy as they kissed in the dark. When he did this, Steve's hands gripped the hair he ran his fingers through. It caused a tingle to run down Eddie's spine and a gasp to leave his mouth. This allowed Steve to stick his tongue in Eddie's mouth, which Eddie happily let happen.

Eddie's hand slowly crept up to Steve's neck. He held onto it as he kissed the boy. He didn't squeeze, at least too hard, but just had it there as his tongue rubbed up against the jock's tongue. Steve tasted like beer and Salem's cigarettes, and Eddie wanted to move this make-out session along faster so he wouldn't come undone embarrassingly fast.

Eddie pulled away from Steve's lips to attach his mouth to his throat. The metalhead tugged at Steve's shirt to have more room. When the room was given, he started to suck on the soft skin just below Steve's ear. Steve bucked his hips into Eddie's leg that was between him. Eddie moaned at the satisfaction of Steve squirming beneath him. He wanted to hear Steve's moans for the rest of his life; they were such a turn-on.

When a bruise finally formed on Steve's neck, Eddie lapped his tongue over the mark, causing Steve to shake with pleasure underneath him. Eddie sat back then to look down at Steve's flushed face. Was this really going to happen tonight?

"Eddie, I want this," Steve answered, reading Eddie's mind again. It would have freaked the metalhead out if he didn't want to continue on with their night so quickly. He needed Steve just as bad as Steve needed him.

Eddie grabbed onto the hem of Steve's shirt, tugged it over the boy's head, and threw it into the abyss of the empty van. Eddie yanked his own shirt off before crashing their lips together again. He just couldn't get enough of Steve's plump lips. God, they're so good- he could just- Eddie bit down on Steve's bottom lip. To Eddie's pleasure, Steve's eyes seemed to roll into the back of his head. Eddie grinned wickedly as he bent down and tugged on his bottom lip again. Steve was a squirming mess beneath him. "Fuck, Eddie." Steve moaned.

Steve brought his hands to Eddie's waist and gripped tightly. He began to grind his hips against Eddie's. Eddie closed his eyes and tried to stay calm enough to not come undone. Eddie moved from Steve's mouth and began to bite at the soft skin of his neck, on the opposite side from the hickey he had left. After leaving a few bites, the metalhead pressed a slow but firm kiss over each one. Eddie's hands began to travel down to Steve's body, fingers tickling Steve's skin as he trailed down to his jeans. Eddie unbuttoned the jock's jeans then and crept his hand into Steve's boxers. When Eddie's hand wrapped around the girth of Steve's dick, Steve's lips parted as his head leaned back, arousal clear in his eyes as his mouth hung open.

Eddie started to run his hand along Steve's hard-on while he looked upon the boy's face, satisfied with the reaction he was getting out of him. Steve seemed to sink into the floor, eyelids heavy as Eddie stroked him. Eddie smiled as he leaned forward and gently kissed Steve's throat. "How does it feel, baby?" Eddie asked, not being able to control the pet name that seeped from his mouth. He knew more was to come.

"It's- it's so good, Ed," Steve whispered through his moans. His voice was almost an octave higher.

Eddie continued to palm Steve as he said, "Do you want me to go faster?"

Steve nodded.

"Or would you prefer my mouth on you?"

Steve snorted, "I think you know which I'd prefer, Munson."

"Use your words," Eddie smirked as his thumb went over Steve's tip.

"Uh- fuck-" Steve whined as his head flung back. "Mouth- I want your mouth."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Eddie teased as he lazily continued to stroke Steve.

"Eddie, please blow me!" Steve shouted, rutting against the man's leg. "Please. I need your mouth on me!"

Eddie tugged Steve's jeans down but left his boxers on. He bent down and kissed Steve's dick through his shorts. Steve whined as his back arched. "God, please, Eddie. Please. Stop teasing me."

Eddie dragged his hands down Steve's thighs and soon began to palm him through the light green fabric. Steve pressed his lips into a tight line as he tried to control the bubbling sensation he was feeling in the pit of his belly. "Eddie, I don't think I'll last much longer like this."

Eddie slowly tugged the boy's boxers off of him and smiled at the sight. He could tell Steve really was aching to be touched. His mouth watered at the sight. Eddie bent down then and licked a long strip up the man's aching cock.

"Oh, shit-" Steve panted. "Shit- shit- shit-" he just couldn't stop the words from spilling out of his mouth as Eddie took his whole length. Steve could feel himself hitting the back of Eddie's throat, and he loved it.

Eddie didn't have a gag reflex, so when he went down on someone, he went down. He didn't let up on Steve until the boy was coming down his throat. Steve wanted a blow job; he was getting a fucking blow job.

"Ah-" Steve shouted, back arching, head flinging, toes curling, as he came into his boyfriend's mouth.

Yeah, the two had to be boyfriends by the end of tonight.

Steve rode out his high as Eddie sucked him dry. It almost hurt as he withered beneath the metalhead.

"Fuck, Steve." Eddie moaned as his mouth popped off of him. "You taste so good."

"Oh, Jesus- stop." Steve groaned. "You'll get me hard again."

"You don't want more?" Eddie asked, running his hands down Steve's shaking thighs.

Steve bit his lip as he found himself nodding. "I want more. I don't know how much more I can take, but I want more."

Eddie reached into the abyss of the dark van and got a condom from an old hoodie of his. "Can you do this much more?" he asked while holding up the condom.

"I can." Steve nodded eagerly.

Eddie practically growled as he tossed Steve the condom. "Open it," he spoke as he undid his black jeans. He yanked them off as well as his dark blue briefs in one go. When Steve tried to hand him the opened package, Eddie smirked and said, "Put it on me."

Steve's cheeks flushed as he leaned forward to do what Eddie had asked. Eddie bit his lips as they began to tremble from Steve rolling the condom onto his hard-on.

"Christ, Steve," Eddie panted as Steve began to jack him off with the condom now secured onto him. "Stop, or I'll come from just this."

Steve smirked as he let go and laid back down onto the van's floor.

Eddie picked up Steve's legs and placed them onto his shoulders. He brought his fingers to Steve's mouth, and without asking, Steve began to suck them. He pushed them into Steve's opening when they were good and wet. Steve let a moan escape that Eddie's never heard before as the metalhead stuck his fingers into him. It caused the metalhead to bite his finger to calm himself down. He needed to see this through like he wanted. He needed to finish right.

When Steve was finally ready, Eddie lined up with Steve and soon pushed into him. As he thrust in and out of the jock, Eddie watched Steve's face scrunch up in pleasure. Eddie panted at how swollen, and red Steve's lips looked from their kissing. He could see sweat building up on Steve's forehead, his hair sticking there too. It was such a beautiful sight to see.

Steve held on tight to Eddie's forearms as the man continually slid in and out of him, Eddie's own sweat dripping down onto Steve's chest, matting his hair together. Doing all of this in Eddie's van might have been a slight mistake. It was so hot and muggy.

"I'm so close, Eddie." Steve panted, eyes squeezing shut as he tried to hold on for a little longer. It just felt so fucking good; he didn't want it to stop just yet.

"Me too, baby." Eddie moaned. "I'm right there."

Steve gripped Eddie's arms tighter, knowing his organism would be much more intense this time around. He was ready for it, ready to power through the intensity of it.

Both boys could feel the roller coaster of their organism hitting the top, about to drop- falling and crashing down so hard they might pass out. As Steve's fingernails started to dig into Eddie's skin, surely cutting him open, Eddie hit Steve in just the right spot, and both of them fell. The roller coaster was crashing fast- their bodies shook as they rode their highs.

When they finally reached the bottom of the ride, Eddie almost fell on top of Steve as he tried to catch his breath. When he caught it, he rolled off of Steve. Their heavy breaths were the only thing that was heard through the van.

Once he could finally see straight, Eddie sat up and grabbed his shirt. He turned and began cleaning up the mess on Steve's stomach. Steve smiled up tiredly at his helpful lover.

"Thank you."

"Of course, sweetheart." Eddie smiled.

"I love you, Eddie," Steve whispered as Eddie started to dab the sweat away from the boy's brow. Eddie paused and looked over Steve's tired face that still held a soft smile. "You don't have to say it back, but it's just how I feel."

Eddie opened his mouth and then closed it. He continued to clean off Steve's sweat from his face silently. Steve kept his smile as he shut his eyes. Eddie could tell the boy was starting to drift off when he started to clean himself off. When he was done, he took a blanket from the back of the van and covered them up as he laid back down.

Before he drifted off to sleep, he whispered, "I love you too, Steve."

Eddie closed his eyes then.

Steve cracked open his eyes and turned to Eddie. His smile grew more prominent before he turned his body into the metalhead and snuggled up close to him.

Chapter Text

The birds seemed to be chirping as Eddie's eyes slowly cracked open to his fan spinning round and round in his bedroom. He could tell he was smiling, even in the haze of the early May morning. He knew his chest filled with warmth as he brought his hand up to Steve's hair, as the boy cuddled into Eddie's chest like he did every morning. Eddie began to comb through the messy locks as he let himself wake up. He even let a soft yawn escape his lips as he stretched his legs out from their curled-up position. After a moment, he allowed his eyes to focus on the clock next to his bed and realized that he had beat his alarm clock.

He took five minutes before the alarm went off to ensure he was ready for the day. He looked around his room the best he could without waking Steve. He saw his dress pants, button-down shirt, tie, socks, and nice dress shoes splayed out onto a chair in the corner of his room. Steve did that, even after Eddie said that was his one good funeral outfit.

"Steve, this suit is for funerals. I'm not wearing this tomorrow." Eddie whined as he watched Steve lay out the outfit. The boy had spent all day ironing the shit out of the clothes so they'd look nice for the graduation ceremony.

"You only graduate once, Eddie. I want you to look nice for the photos." Steve scoffed as he stepped back to look at the outfit. He then turned to look at Eddie, a smile spread wide across his face. "You'll look so handsome tomorrow at the graduation, love."

"Maybe I should skip it?"

Steve's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Don't you even think that shit, Eddie. We did not spend weeks reading that Romeo and Juliet book for you to skip out on your graduation. That's not how this is about to go down." Steve had a firm tone as he tapped his foot and placed his hands on his hips. He clearly couldn't tell that Eddie was joking.

"Sweetheart, I'm kidding." Eddie smiled. Steve softened up a bit. "I just don't want to wear these fantasy clothes."

"You'll thank me in the future, Eddie. You really will."

"I can't see myself doing that, but okay."

"So, you'll wear the outfit?" Steve asked, hopeful.

"I guess." Eddie groaned.

Steve made his way over to Eddie and kissed his lips quick. He pulled away with a clap and then skipped out of the room, happy he won, glad he had Eddie wrapped around his finger.

Check on the outfit. Eddie thought. He then turned and looked at Steve's outfit laid out. Check. His eyes then traveled to his cap and gown. Check. Then to his desk, which had three tickets placed near a notebook. One was for Wayne, one was for Steve, and one was for Max's mom. Check.

As Eddie finished his checklist, his alarm clock went off, stirring Steve awake. Eddie turned the alarm off and then kissed the top of Steve's bedhead. "Good morning, sweetheart."

"Morning, Ed." Steve yawned as he stretched out. "Sleep well?"

"Always do when I'm next to you."

Steve smiled as he leaned up and kissed Eddie's cheek. He then pulled away and sat up, stretching even more when he did so. His back muscles were prominent as he stretched, causing Eddie's mouth to water.

He'll never get over Steve's beauty.

"Close your mouth, or you'll catch a fly." Steve snickered without even looking toward Eddie.

Eddie closed his mouth with an eye roll. "I wasn't looking at you. You've got quite the big head to think that."

"Oh, shut up." Steve laughed as he turned to face Eddie. "I know you better than you know yourself."

"No, you don't," Eddie spoke as Steve said the same thing, mirroring him. "Okay, knock it off." Eddie laughed. "You don't know everything about me."

Steve crawled onto Eddie's lap then and sat facing him, arms wrapped around the metalhead's neck. "Try me."

"What's my favorite color?"

"Black."

"Favorite snack?"

"Pretzels."

"Favorite band?"

"Black Sabbath."

"Favorite Singer?"

"Ozzy Osborne. Come on, Eddie. These are all easy."

"What's my middle name?"

"Wayne. You were named after your uncle, your father's favorite brother."

"Oh- you don't know everything." Eddie huffed.

Steve smiled as he leaned in and kissed Eddie's plump, soft lips. Eddie hummed into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around the boy's waist, his hands sprawling out onto Steve's bare back. His callused fingers felt good against Steve's smooth skin.

Steve started to rock his hips a little as he turned his head to deepen their kiss. When Eddie groaned, Steve stuck his tongue into the rocker's mouth, licking every inch he could. Eddie gripped Steve's sides, trying to hold himself steady.

When things were about to get heated, there was a knock on Eddie's bedroom door.

Eddie pulled away from his kiss with Steve and asked breathlessly, "Yes, Wayne?"

"I'm just making sure you got up with your alarm." Wayne's gruff morning voice sounded through the wood of the door.

"We're up. Thank you." Eddie replied as he smiled at Steve.

Steve bit his lip as he smiled back.

"Alright. Make sure you shower and eat quick. All three of us must get our time in before we pick up Susan Hargrove."

"Okay, Wayne. Got it!"

The man walked away from Eddie's room, and a minute later, the boys heard the shower turn on.

"Can we get a quickie in before Wayne gets out of the shower?" Steve whispered as he began to rock against Eddie again.

"You know I promised Wayne no funny business between us under his roof."

Steve almost cackled at Eddie's response.

"What?" Eddie wondered.

"Babe, we broke that rule two nights after me staying here."

"I know, but I feel bad after I promised Wayne." Eddie shrugged. "Besides, you were the one that wouldn't get off of me that night."

Steve opened his mouth in fake shock.

"Oh, shut your mouth, Steve. You were so horny for me that night."

"Because you rocked my fucking world two days before that, I needed to feel that again."

"And do you need to feel that again right now?"

"I really, really do."

Eddie pulled Steve's head in and connected their lips roughly. He needed this to be dirty, and he needed it to be quick.

With the way Steve was moaning into the kiss, Eddie knew it would definitely be quick.

++++++++++

"Does this look alright?" Eddie asked as he tried to tie his necktie.

"Not at all." Steve laughed.

"Then help me." the metalhead huffed as he let go of the tie.

Steve walked over to Eddie and undid the tie. A moment later, the tie was redone and fixed, looking perfect.

"Thank you, Stevie."

"Of course, Ed." Steve nodded as he walked back to his side of the room to continue getting dressed.

"God, I can't believe I'm graduating today," Eddie spoke softly as he sat on his bed to put his socks and shoes on. "I never thought this day would come, you know, with the constant failing senior year debacle... and the Vecna incident."

"Well, believe it, Eddie. You did it. Be proud of yourself."

"I am proud of myself." the boy nodded. "I'm really proud."

"Well, graduate-" Steve started as he walked over to Eddie. He held his hand when he reached him. "-you ready to do this thing?"

Eddie reached up and grabbed onto his hand. He then stood up and nodded. "Fuck, yeah."

The two boys leaned into each other for a quick kiss before they left their shared room and met Wayne in the living room. When they gathered their things, they all piled into Eddie's van. When they buckled, Eddie backed into Max's mom's lawn and honked. Susan made her way out of her house and into the van not a moment later. Then, the four of them were off to Eddie's graduation.

When the four of them arrived at the ceremony, the adults left Steve and Eddie alone so they could get good seats, knowing Eddie and Steve would take a while to get inside. Before Eddie had to check in with the school, he and Steve decided to open up the back of the van and sit with their legs hanging out, so they could share a cigarette.

"Make sure you watch where you're going while walking the aisle. One of the girls almost tripped last year at graduation." Steve chuckled as he blew out a puff of smoke.

As Eddie took the Camel out of Steve's hands, he laughed, "I won't trip. I'm not that big of a dumbass."

"You sure about that, dingus?" Robin asked as she rounded the van, getting into view of the boys.

"I'm sure, Robin." Eddie flipped her off. He then smiled as he looked her up and down. "It's not often I see you wearing a dress."

"Thank my mother." the girl pouted as she fixed the cap on her head.

"I think you look great, Robin." Steve smiled. "Very pretty."

"Oh, stop!" she groaned.

"I have to agree, Robbie," Vickie stated as she walked up to the group, sliding her arm around Robin's waist. She lifted her free arm and fixed the tassel on Robin's cap. "You look stunning."

Steve and Eddie's mouths dropped open.

"What?" Robin giggled.

"Since when did this happen?" Eddie quizzed, moving his hand back and forth between the two girls.

"Last month." Robin shrugged.

"You've had a month to tell me that you and Vick got together and didn't share the information with me?" Eddie almost screeched. "You bitch!"

Robin and Vickie laughed at Eddie's pouting face. Steve laughed, too, as he placed his arm around Eddie's shoulder, squeezing him in close to give him a side hug.

"It's not really our business, is it?" Steve asked. "Robin's sex life is her sex life."

"But I share our sex life with her."

"How much do you share?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

Eddie blushed and turned away from Steve's glare. "Not much."

"Come on, Romeo's." Robin waved as she began to walk away with Vickie. "It's time to graduate."

Eddie and Steve hopped out of the van and closed their doors. Once it was locked, they headed into the building. The two boys got stared at as they walked close together. Carol's parents had promised to keep the Harrington family's secret of Steve being gay on the down low, but that didn't stop Carol from whispering here and there. Steve and Eddie really couldn't care less now that they both would be skipping town in the next few months.

When the group got into the building, Steve squeezed Eddie's shoulder and left them be so he could sit next to Wayne, Susan, and the rest of his friends and family to watch Eddie, Robin, Vickie, and Nancy graduate.

"Hey, Jonathan." Steve smiled as he sat next down in his seat. "When did you get back from California?"

"Last night after my graduation." the boy spoke softly as he searched the auditorium floor for Nancy.

"She's over there." Steve pointed. "Next to Vickie."

"Oh, thanks, man." Jonathan nodded as he started waving.

Nancy waved back when she noticed him.

"God, this is really happening," Eddie whispered to Jeff once he sat down next to him.

"I still can't believe you actually passed your exams." Jeff chuckled. "I was a little worried there for a while, man."

"Piss off." Eddie nudged him.

Jeff just shook his head and continued laughing.

As the ceremony started, Eddie reached for the necklace he had put on special for today. It wasn't his usual guitar pick. Today, he wore Chrissy Cunningham's class of 86 necklace. No one knew he had it, but right before she died, she gave it to him for the first half of her payment for the drugs that she wanted. He has kept it ever since. He wore it today so she could walk down the graduation aisle with him. She wanted to be out of this town just as bad as he did.

"Eddie Munson." the principal spoke into the microphone. An eruption of claps from one part of the auditorium sounded through Eddie's ear. Eddie looked up and saw a small group of people in the back of the room clapping and cheering. Of course, most of Hawkins didn't clap due to his accusations, but he didn't care. His friends and family were all that he needed.

Eddie stood from his seat then and walked to the stage, clutching his class of 86 necklace. As he walked up the stairs to the stage, he felt nervous as hell, but when he heard Steve continue to cheer with Wayne and Dustin, Eddie smiled and lifted his chin up when he reached the top step.

Eddie walked across the stage proudly. When he reached the principal of Hawkins High, he shook the man's hand, grabbed his diploma, and turned to face the crowd. He could see Steve waving at him, smiling brighter than ever.

Eddie knew right then, at the moment, that he no longer had to army crawl through his life. Everything would be okay now. Everything would be safe and sound.

Eddie waved back at Steve before leaving the stage to sit back with his fellow class of 86 classmates with a smile on his warm face, ready to brave this new chapter of his life.