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artiststarme · 1 year

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Just Another Miscommunication

Based on a prompt given by @i-less-than-three-you! I hope it met your expectations! I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Steve had never been so hurt and offended in his life. After several months of dating Eddie in secret from the rest of the Party, they’d decided to tell them. Things were starting to get serious and they knew it would only be a matter of time before someone found out and spilled the beans to the rest of the group.

Eddie had been a little nervous to come out, this was his first serious relationship in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana, he had a right to be worried. But Steve knew that everyone would take it well, they’d dealt with literal monsters so being gay in comparison had to be a smaller deal than that.

What Steve hadn’t anticipated was how many shovel talks he would receive. He expected the one from Wayne (although that one still hadn’t come), maybe even one from Dustin. However, the rest of them had been a bitter surprise.

His first shovel talk came from Robin. They’d been in the middle of a slow shift at Family Video when she decided to break the comfortable silence.

“Hey Dingus, you know that you have to be careful with Eddie, right?”

“Robin, he’s a great guy. He’s not going to hurt me or whatever else you’re afraid of-”

“No, no, no. I’m saying you have to be gentle with him. This is his first relationship so you have to be gentle with him. You have experience from dating half of the girls in Hawkins, he doesn’t have that. Just, be careful not to break his heart, okay?” She looked at him imploringly until he nodded.

“I’m not going to hurt him, Robin. We’ve been dating for months and we’ve never had a problem before. I’m not going to hurt him.”

“Okay, I just… wanted to make sure. Now, go rewind the tapes. We just got some more returns.” He groaned for good measure but moved along regardless.

The next one later that day was Hopper. He was leaning against the Beemer in the staff parking lot behind Family Video waiting for Steve to get off work.

Steve smiled at him and pranced over to give him a quick hug that wouldn’t impact either of their street creds. “Hey Hop, what’re you doing over here? Did I forget plans we had?”

“Nah kid, I'm just checking in. The kids said that you were seeing Munson now?” He cleared his throat and continued in a whisper. “You know, romantically?”

“Yeah, we’ve been dating for a few months. Why do you have a problem with that?” Steve glared at him while he waited for his answer.

“Of course not! I just wanted to check in with you. And uh, I wanted to remind you that the Munson kid has been through a lot. Just, just don’t hurt him, okay?”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “You’re the second person to tell me that today. I’m not going to hurt him, alright? I love him.”

“Yeah but things change, kid. You feel like that now but you might end up hurting him later. Just be careful, alright?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“Good. Do you want to come over to the house for dinner tonight? I know El and Will would love to see you.” Hopper smiled and nudged his arm.

With his mood thoroughly dimmed, Steve shook his head. “Nah, I have to run some errands and then I’m just going to run home. I’ll see you around though.”

He said his goodbyes to Hopper and ran over to Melvald’s to pick up a prescription and a couple of snacks for his place. While he was there, he saw Joyce and decided to make some friendly conversation.

“Hey Mrs. Byers, how’s Will doing? Is he glad to be back in Hawkins? I know the kids like having him here to DM their nerd game.”

Joyce gave him a tight smile as she rang up his items. “Hi Steve. Yeah he likes it, I think he missed the boys, you know? Him and El weren’t big fans of California.”

“Yeah, I get that. Max always says it’s a lot hotter so I can’t even imagine. How’re you doing?”

“I’m doing well, thanks,” she said while scanning his various chips and snacks. “What’re all of these for?”

“Eddie. He can never choose just one flavor to munch on so I just keep a bunch on hand for him to choose from,” Steve answered, smiling at the thought of his boyfriend.

“You know, I've been meaning to talk to you about that,” she said, glancing around the empty store.

“Have you?” Steve asked apprehensively. He and Joyce didn’t get along super well so he was a little nervous for her to judge his relationship.

“Yeah. I want you to know that I support you guys and you both always have a safe space with me. But I just wanted to make sure that you took it easy with Eddie. That boy’s been through a lot and I know you didn’t always feel… accepting of queer relationships. Eddie is sensitive and you could really hurt him. So just, be gentle with him or I’ll have to send Hopper over to get your head on straight. Are we clear?”

Honestly, Steve was kind of lost but he nodded in spite of that. “Yep, crystal. I’m not going to hurt him, Mrs. Byers. Have a good day!”

Jesus Christ, did everyone think he was going to hurt Eddie? He knew that he made some questionable choices in the past as King Steve but he’d been trying to be better. Why couldn’t anyone see that?

When he got home, he saw various bikes laying all over his front lawn. Now, the kids could just want a pool day to get out of this disgustingly warm summer weather. However, if they were looking to give him yet another shovel talk, Steve might just lose it.

As expected, all of the kids were situated on his couch and turned to look at him when he walked in. They looked like they were staging an intervention for him.

“Okay look, I’m really not in the mood for this. If you want to use the pool, fine. But if this is yet another shovel talk to warn me not to hurt Eddie, you can leave.” Steve crossed his arms as he looked at them and only Max was brave enough to go against him.

“If you hurt Eddie, we’re going to have El open another gate to the Upside Down and feed you to a demogorgon,” she said in a deadpan voice with a blank face.

El snapped her head to look at her then back to Steve. “Steve, I will not. Max, Steve is like my brother. I will not feed him to a demogorgon.”

“What they mean to say is that we don’t want to see Eddie get hurt. If you hurt him, we’ll have to take matters into our own hands,” Dustin continued diplomatically. Both Lucas and Mike nodded but Will just shook his head in panicked confusion.

“Dustin, I thought we were coming here to congratulate him and tell him we supported him! Why are we threatening him? Steve won’t hurt him!”

The other kids argued that he definitely could and actions needed to be taken to prevent that. Will and El just kept trying to jump in and defend Steve.

And Steve just stared at them. “Okay, thanks so much for the threats. Everyone besides Will and El can leave. You can come back when you stop planning different ways to murder me when I hypothetically hurt Eddie.”

Steve gave all of the kids, besides Will and El, one last glare before he walked into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. Maybe that would ward off his approaching headache. He could hear muffled arguing from the living room where Will and El, his new favorite kids, were no doubt defending him. But alas a few moments later, he heard the noise stop and saw El pop her head into the kitchen.

“I am sorry Steve, Will and I thought that we were coming to congratulate you on dating Eddie. We did not know that they would threaten you. Friends do not threaten to kill other friends.”

“It’s alright El, it’s called a shovel talk. Usually a family member gives one to the boyfriend so they know not to hurt them. I got a lot of them today so I’m annoyed,” he explained to her gently.

“But, you will not hurt Eddie. You love him so why do people keep telling you not to hurt him?” She asked him in confusion.

“They care more about Eddie and they think I’ll hurt him,” his words visibly angered him so he backtracked a little bit. “It’s fine El, really. I’ll get over it.”

She moved towards him and pulled him into a hug. “I love you Steve and I do not think you will hurt him. Even if you do by accident, I will not feed you to a demogorgon.”

He barked out a quick laugh in surprise, “thanks El, are you and Will going swimming?”

“No, we are going home to paint miniatures for Will’s new DnD game. Would you like to come with us?” She pulled back from the hug enough to look up at him.

“Nah, I’m just going to relax here but thanks for the offer. Have fun, okay?”

“Okay Steve, thank you!”

Then, Steve was alone. He was emotionally exhausted and hurt. How could everyone, besides Will and El, believe he’d hurt Eddie? He’d changed so much over the years and now he felt like he was right back where he started. How could they have such little faith in him?

~*~*~*~

Eddie was expecting to spend a nice night with his boyfriend after a few long days without seeing him. Between work, spending time with the kids, and practicing with the band, it felt like forever since he’d gotten to spend any quality time with Steve. But when he walked through the ajar door of the Harrington home, he didn’t find a boyfriend that was happy to see him. Instead, he found Steve sitting on the kitchen counter with a troubled look on his face.

“Stevie, you alright? I hope it’s okay that I came in, the door was open,” he stepped closer to Steve and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “What’s going on?”

“Has anyone given you the shovel talk about dating me?” Steve asked him, his eyes staring into his eyes desperately.

“Um no, why? Should they have?” Eddie asked, confused.

“I don’t know, I guess not. Nearly everyone in the Party has given me one. Robin, Hopper, Joyce, the kids. Why haven’t any of them told you not to hurt me?”

“You want me to get threatened?” Eddie didn’t understand why Steve was so upset. Did he think that he was going to hurt him?

“No! I just- why does everyone automatically assume you’ll be the one to get hurt? Why won’t they tell you not to hurt me? That’s just as much of a possibility as me hurting you!”

“You think I’m going to hurt you? And you’re mad that no one else thinks so?” So Steve expected him to fuck this up?

“Yes!” Steve nodded at him.

“I would never hurt you Stevie and I’m upset that you think I would. Why would I do anything to ruin this? You’re so perfect Steve that I would never do anything to mess this up.”

“Ed-”

“No! What’s the point of dating at all if you’re just waiting around for me to break your heart? That’s all I do though, right? Eddie the Freak, destroyer of all things good. Is that it?” All of the happy feelings that Eddie felt when he first walked through the door were long gone now. What, Steve was just waiting for Eddie to ruin everything like he always did? What the hell.

“Eddie, that’s not what I meant!”

“Whatever Steve, I’m sorry that you’ve seen this coming the entire time and I’m sorry you were right. I should’ve known that I would fuck this up too.” With that, Eddie marched out of Steve’s house and directly to his van. Admittedly, he shouldn’t have left. He should’ve stayed and worked this out with Steve.

However, he didn’t want Steve to see the angry tears that streamed down his face on his drive home. He knew deep down that this was all a misunderstanding but Eddie couldn’t get over the fact that Steve was just another person that saw the worst in him.

~*~*~*~

Wayne walked into the trailer to find it completely dark and silent, both unusual for Eddie. His nephew constantly left all of the lights on regardless of whether he was in the room or not, a quirk that took a toll on both Wayne’s annoyance and the electricity bill. And silence was not a commodity often associated with Eddie. The boy was loud in all senses of the word so for the trailer to be quiet, devoid of guitar riffs or excited rambling, was worrying. With a peek out the door, Wayne saw that Eddie’s van was out there which meant that he was home.

When he looked into Eddie’s room, he saw a pathetic lump hidden under the covers with only an unruly mop of curls poking out. The covers twitched slightly as the lump sniffled. “Eds? Y’alright?”

“No,” he muttered, hiding his face deeper into his pillow.

Wayne sighed and kissed all thoughts of coffee and a nap goodbye. Nonetheless, he sat at the edge of the bed and pulled at Eddie’s shoulder until he turned over. His eyes were red and irritated and his skin was flushed. “What the hell happened to you? I thought you were spending the evening with Steve? He do something?”

Eddie’s face screwed up in sadness as more tears welled up in his eyes. “Why do you automatically assume Steve did something? I’m the one who always fucks everything up, Uncle Wayne. Me! Why is everyone threatening Steve not to hurt me?”

Wayne looked at him in bemusement for a moment. “So you did something?”

Eddie made a muffled noise of outrage and pulled the covers back over his face.

“Boy, I can’t help ya if ya don’t use yer words. Tell me what happened and we’ll fix it,” Wayne tried to reassure him.

“Everybody has been giving Steve the shovel talk and telling him not to hurt me. But no one has given me the shovel talk to tell me not to hurt him. So Steve was upset and told me that I would be the one to hurt him and he was offended that no one else thought so. And then he said that I would be the one to hurt him!”

Wayne just looked at him for a long moment before lightly smacking the side of his head.

“Hey, what the hell!” Eddie yelled in surprised anger as he yanked the covers off of himself.

“Don’t be a dumbass then! Steve was trying to tell ya that he was hurt and ya turned it around on him! The kid’s not saying that yer gonna hurt him, he’s saying he wants people to stop assumin’ he’ll be the one to hurt you when he feels so much for ya.”

“So he’s not saying that I’m going to fuck everything up?” Eddie asked quietly.

“I think he’s sad that everyone else is taking your side and assumin’ that he’s going to be the one that ruins things. He just needed ya to listen.”

“What have I done?! How do I fix this? Uncle Wayne, help me!” Eddie jumped out of bed and started pacing in front of him.

Wayne sighed again, he didn’t ask to be roped into these situations. “Look Eds, go to him and say that you’re sorry and you took it the wrong way. Then tell him that I gave you a shovel talk cause if you hurt that kid again, I’m gonna do more than smack ya upside the head, ya hear me? Now get goin’. Ya best stay over there so I can get some rest, alright?”

Eddie laughed and jumped off the bed, “thanks Uncle Wayne! You’re the best! I’ll go fix it and then tell you about it over carry-out later! Love you!”

Wayne shook his head as he watched Eddie run out the door, “love you too, kid.”

Both boys came back to the trailer a few hours later with takeout in tow. Eddie’s smile was beaming once again and Steve looked relieved. He gave Wayne a quick hug and a whispered thank you over the burgers and Wayne knew that they’d fixed things. There would be many miscommunications between the boys in the years to come but as long as they had Wayne to play interference, they’d be alright.

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hawkinsmodeloff · 11 months

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Who’s the Prettiest Ch. in Stranger Things? - 5.2

Steve Harrington vs Joyce Byers

“Like yeah I'm going with a v v basic answer, but damn dude, vanilla is the base flavour in ice creams for a reason. Him in the yellow sweater?? The hair?? The vibe of general comfort he radiates?? Pretty. Dustin and his friendship showing his ability to be empathetic to people he doesn't relate to as much showing his character growth from being a douche?? Pretty. Like ik i could argue that el and Mike and will and robin and Dustin and Lucas and Max and Eddie are all very pretty with wonderful characters and such, but the first instinct has gotta be steve.”

“I'm gay I'm so fucking gay and I've been in love with Winona Ryder since I saw Heathers in 2009 and honestly Joyce Byers is her achieving max MILF. I'm begging you Joyce is so attractive to me I accidentally outed myself to my mother when Stranger Things first started airing (it was fine). If I woke up tomorrow in the Stranger Things universe I would attack Hopper on sight like a territorial guard dog more out of devotion to Joyce than ACAB, like a 75%-25% thing. I'm very normal I promise I'm so normal it’s just 3 am. This is easily the most embarrassing thing I've ever written for another person to read.”

#hawkins model off #round 4 #steve vs joyce #stranger things #stranger things poll #stranger things polls #st poll #st polls #st #polls #steve harrington #joyce byers #contestants are picked to go against each other with a randomizer

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dcbicki · 1 year

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STRANGER THINGS 2.07 | 4.02

#strangerthingsedit #sthingsedit #mileven #mike x eleven #dailystrangerthings #tvedit #tvgifs #nessa007 #mikesmom #userlix #**#tv: stranger things #ship: mike x el #ch: el hopper #ch: mike wheeler #q

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marthaskane · 2 years

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EL HOPPER & WILL BYERS

STRANGER THINGS (2016- ) ↳ 4.08 Chapter Eight: Papa

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samgelina-jolie · 1 year

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Stranger Things + headlines (5/?)

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wyatthaliwells · 1 year

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MILLIE BOBBY BROWN as ELEVEN STRANGER THINGS: SEASON ONE (2016)

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inej-ruination-ghafa · 2 years

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CHIEF'S DAUGHTER - E.M

Warnings: mentions of sex, mentions of oral, main character death, mentions of trauma, adoption, mention of drugs, being caught during sex, secret relationships, adoption

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Hopper!reader

Summary: you loved your dad but you loved your boyfriend Eddie munson too. So what happens when your dad's out and el and Mike catch you in a compromising position with your boyfriend.

Wordcount: 3k

You had never really felt like you belonged anywhere.

You had been eight years old when you had been adopted by Jim Hopper, two years before the diagnosis came through about Sara.

Your parents had died earlier that month in a shooting and Hopper had been there when it happened. He had felt so guilty about the fact that he hadn't been able to save your parents that he adopted you. His wife had been a bit reluctant to the idea but agreed that you deserved somewhere safe to live.

Sara, who was four years younger than you were, loved you instantly, loving that she had an older sibling to play with.

It all changed in the fall of 1977. You were ten years old, running around with Sara around the park as she kicked the leaves around on the floor when she began to cough. You called out for Hopper and his wife and they rushed to your side, Hopper trying to help with his daughters breathing.

The next few months were difficult for everyone with Sara being diagnosed with cancer and your adoptive parents fighting constantly.

Your younger sister had died in 1978 and in 1979, your parents had split up. Your adopted mother couldn't stand to look at you after what had happened to Sara. she hated that her daughter wasn't here anymore

So you moved to Hawkins and there you stayed, fitting in instalty and joining the community. It was your dad's old hometown so he knew everyone and you joined him, missing your sister and your adoptive mother.

Now it was the summer of 1985 and you sat in your room in the cabin. El had moved in nearly two years ago in December of 1983 and you loved her like a sister. Since she had been exposed to the world, you played it off as Hopper having adopted another daughter around November of last year.

You heard a noise at the window and turned to see your boyfriend Eddie Munson climbing through the window, a smile on his face.

“Eddie!” you exclaimed when you saw him, your heart was pounding out of your chest, you were glad it was just him.

“Sorry princess,” he said with a smirk, slipping through your window as he came to sit down on your bed. He had snuck in here countless times in the last six months when the two of you started dating.

“It's okay, you just scared me,” you said, leaning in, pressing a kiss to his lips.

He chuckled, pulling you over so that you were sitting in his lap. He had never expected to fall for the chief of police’s daughter, especially not the one who was in the year below him at school - however now because he was being held back they were going to spend their senior year together and this time, he was determined to graduate.

“Is your dad home?” He asked, leaning forward to collide his lips with yours again, this time it was a lot rougher and needy.

He knew that your dad would never accept him especially with him being older than you but ever since you had met in September of last year in the woods, he had never wanted to let go of you. You'd gone through a lot at that time with your sister's identity being exposed and hopper legally adopting her but you decided to finally ask him out and you'd been happy ever since.

“No, just El and Mike, I’m supposed to be looking after them,” you said as he moved his lips away to kiss along your neck and jaw.

“You're doing a good job,” he said sarcastically, looking up at you with those big brown eyes.

“Oh shut up and just kiss me,” you said and he chuckled.

“Yes ma’am,” he muttered before pulling you in for another kiss, your hands flying to his hair as you deepened the kiss.

In the other room, Mike had gotten up to change the radio channel when he heard a loud moan coming from next door and some people whispering to each other. He sat back down, his brows furrowed as he tried to work out what it was.

“What's your sister doing?” Mike asked as he looked up at El.

“Probably just watching a film, or calling a friend, it's okay, all her films make funny noises like that,” she said, clearly oblivious to what was going on in the room next door.

She had nearly caught you and Eddie before but you told her the noises she was hearing was just from a scary film you were watching. And it was true, you and Eddie had been watching a scary film but had escalated to much more and the two of you were clearly being too loud.

“Okay, uh-” Mike said before hearing another loud moan, his face heating up as he realised what was going on next door “-Does your sister have a boyfriend?”

“Y/N? No way, dad doesn't approve of any of those boys,” El said, bored of the talk about her sister.

“Why don't we go get a drink, we’ll check if your sister wants one too,” he suggested, eyes darting to the wall when he heard another thud and a groan, someone whispering something.

El shrugged her shoulders, getting up and grabbing his hand and walking out. She knocked on your door but when she received no answer, she pulled it open, confused at what she was seeing. Mike's face went bright red as he realised he was right, you did have a boyfriend.

You heard the door open and gasped, Eddie moving to cover you when he realised that you two had just been busted.

El looked at you confused, wondering what was going on. Eddie's head was between your legs, your hand buried in your hair but he had moved away to cover you up the second he heard the door open.

“Y/N?” she questioned, her voice loud and accuser as she looked at the scene in front of her.

“El! Get out!” you exclaimed, embarrassed that your sister had caught you in such a compromising position.

Mike grabbed El’s hand, his face red as he ushered his girlfriend out. You could hear the two of them talking loudly in the kitchen and knew that El was going to have so many questions.

Eddie pulled his head back up to look at you, wiping his mouth slightly and you shook your head, “You're disgusting,”

“I'm sorry baby, she was gonna figure it out eventually,” he said, passing you your underwear and jeans, watching as you pulled them on.

“Oh God, she's gonna tell dad!” you exclaimed with a groan once you'd gotten changed, realising how bad this was going to be.

“She won't tell him, we’ll just bribe her,” he said, grabbing your hand and pressing a kiss to it. He wanted you to calm down, it wasn't as bad as you were making it out to be and he just wanted to help you out.

“My sister doesn't understand what bribery is,” you said, hiding your face in your hands, “She doesnt understand what sex is,”

“She’s 14, how does she not know what sex is?” he asked and you groaned, telling him it was a long story. You wish that this night had never happened.

You sighed as you walked out of the room, Eddie standing taller behind you. Mike and ell turned to you and you saw where they sat, next to each other on the dining room table. You looked back at Eddie and he nodded. You both sat opposite the two teenagers, the silence in the room awkward.

“Hey El, Mike,” you said, trying to break some of the tension in the room.

“Hey Y/N, who's the guy?” Mike asked, his voice cocky.

“Mike, El, this is Eddie Munson. Eddie, this is my sister El and her asshole boyfriend Mike,” you introduced everyone. Eddie held his hand out and El glared at him before she shook it, still confused as to who this boy was that had been near her sister.

El loved you as a sister and saw you as one and she didn't like the idea that you had a boyfriend that you were hiding from everyone. She knew that their dad wouldnt react well to it but she still wished that you would have told her.

“We just wanted to talk to you about what you saw,” you said, hands clasped in front of you.

“Was he hurting you, you seemed pretty distressed,” El said, her face blank and hard to read.

She was very protective over you and just looking at Eddie, she was unsure if he was the right guy for you. Now she understood how Hopper felt about her and mike.

“No, no, no,” you reassured, your voice almost too fast. You didn't want her to think he was hurting you.

“Although she does like that,” he muttered, forgetting where he was for a second.

“Munson!” you exclaimed and Mike snickered. You leant over, hitting the boy on the back of the head. He placed his hand on the tender spot, glaring up at you.

“Listen El, when two people love each other then they hang out and kiss a lot,” you explained, unsure how to navigate this conversation.

“Like me and Mike,” she said, beginning to catch on.

You nodded, “A bit like you and Mike, but if I ever catch you two doing what I was doing then you better expect to see Mike stuffed up our chimney,” you said, glaring at Mike because you knew he would understand.

He sighed and Eddie chuckled at the boy. It was clear to him that Mike knew what the two of you were doing but for some reason, your sister didn't understand.

“I don't understand, why can you do whatever that was and I can't?” she asked, almost like she was intrigued.

“Because I’m older El, it's something that adults do,” you explained.

You knew that she needed to learn what sex was eventually and you would probably talk to your dad about him explaining it to El because you did not want to do that.

“I still don't understand what he was doing to you,” she said, her brows creased as she glared at Eddie.

She was still convinced that the sounds from her sister was one of pain and Eddie felt slightly intimidated by the gaze of this fourteen year old.

“He was kissing her somewhere other than her mouth,” Mike said with a snicker.

“Mike Wheeler if you keep talking I will rip out your oesophagus and hang you with it,” you said, pointing a finger at him.

Hopper had heard the last two sentences and he kicked the door open, his face red as he looked at the scene in front of him.

The four of you all jumped in shock, looking at Hopper as he stood at the door, clearly angry with what was going on. He took in the scene and then noticed Eddie had pulled his hand away from your thigh the second the door opened.

“What's going on here?” he asked, giving you all a chance to explain first.

“Dad, you're home early,” you said, a shaky tone to your voice as you realised you'd been caught.

Growing up you had always been troubled, constantly ending up in detention because you misbehaved. He blamed it on himself and you just wanted to show that you were as strong as him. But you recognised that look of disappointment and anger in his eyes as he realised you were with eddie.

“What's going on here? And who is this?” he repeated, waiting for you to explain yourself

“Hey Hop, this is just one of Y/N’s friends from school,” mike said with a snicker. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong and loved watching you get told off.

“Yeah, I know who he is. I've busted him for multiple things, speeding, suspicion of drug dealing, loitering, underage drinking,” he said.

“Hi Chief, I was just dropping over some study materials,” Eddie tried to play it off but he was sweating bullets as he realised he was going to get caught. He didn't want hopper to break the two of you up, he had never loved anyone more than he'd loved you.

He loved you in the way that meant he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you in his arms, that he wanted to marry you and have a few kids and live in a nice house away from hawkins.

“Studying my ass! You two are in so much trouble,” Hopper said and you winced at the idea of your dad punishing you for it.

Mike laughed and I glared at him again and he shut up. Hopper had the same glare directed at Mike and in any other situation, Eddie would have smiled at the cute similarities between you and your dad.

“Mike and El, you will go to Els' room, leave the door open,” Hopper said, not looking at them as he still glared at Eddie whilst the two ran off.

Hopper could already tell that Eddie was a bad influence. He was 19 year old and had tattoos and long curly hair and was in a rock band. That was not what he had expected from his little girl. But really, all he wanted was someone who would treat you right and it would hurt him a bit if it was a delinquent like eddie.

Eddie reached down, his hand lacing with yours and it calmed you down. The show of solidarity made you smile and you knew he loved you and wasn't going to let anyone ruin this.

“Eddie Munson, do you care to tell me what you were doing with my daughter?” Hopper asked, his gaze focused on the older boy next to you.

“Dad, I can explain,” you tried to interject but hopper held his ground.

“No, I want him to explain,” he said and Eddie sighed.

He wanted to prove himself, he wanted to prove that he was good enough for you, “I was in your daughter's room and we were talking. We've been together for six months now sir and I'm in love with her,” he explained, his voice steady but his hands were sweating and his foot was bouncing up and down.

“Just talking?” Hopper questioned “I hope you weren't doing what I was thinking, Mike said kissing other than the mouth,”

“We might have been sir,” he said, holding his ground.

“You're using protection?” he asked.

Hopper liked the way that Eddie was standing up for himself and for you. He respected that in a man and was seeing a different side of the delinquent he frequently busted and tried to arrest for distribution of drugs,

“Yes sir,” Eddie confirmed, a faint blush on his cheeks.

“You love my daughter?” Hopper asked with a slight shake to his voice.

He wasn't expecting the day to come so soon where you didn't need him anymore and that you had found someone who made you this happy. He could tell that from the way that Eddie turned to look down at you, a smile on his face.

“More than anything in the world,” he said, his eyes meeting yours.

Hopper was a bit emotional at the way that he was looking at you, like you hung the moon and the arts but he held in the feelings. He looked down and saw your hands intertwined, his finger brushing against the blue hairband on your wrist that belonged to Sara - you and El had one each.

“Munson, next time you come in through the door like a normal person and like El and Mike, the door will be open 3 inches, always,” Hopper said, a slight smile on his face, “And no being alone in this house, especially not with Mike and El next door,”

Eddie turned to Hopper, shocked that he had actually approved og him dating you. He had a smile on his face, his heart pounding.

He had only had one girlfriend before you and the relationship[ only lasted about two months and he definitely didn't meet their parents, that wasn't his style. He had a few hookups but nobody could ever compare to you.

Hopper held his hand out and Eddie shook it, a smile on his face, “Thank you sir, and trust me, I'm never gonna hurt her, never,” he promised.

“You better not, now scram,” he said and you both got up.

You walked him to the door and he grabbed your face in his hands, “I love you baby,” he said, meaning down to kiss you.

You smiled against his lips, “I love you too Eds, now you should probably go,” you said, nuzzling your nose against his.

He walked out, blowing you a kiss before walking to his car that he had parked far far away so that your dad hadn't caught onto it. You closed the door before turning back to see your dad smiling at you as he sat at the dining table, looking at the giddy lovesick grin on your face.

“You really like him don't you?” he asked and you nodded.

“I love him dad, I really do,” you said and he smiled, pulling you in for a hug.

“I can tell,” he said before pulling away, looking down at you, “But if he breaks his heart i will kick his ass,”

“He won't, don't worry,” you said, a smile on your face as you leant against your father's chest. You didn't want anything to change. You were so happy with your dad, your amazing sister, the best boyfriend in the world. You wanted it to stay like that forever.

Here, in Hawkins, surrounded by the best people you had ever met, you finally felt like you belonged.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson #eddie munson st4 #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things eddie munson #stranger things eddie x reader #eddie stranger things #stranger things eddie #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #eddie munson x hopper!reader #hopper!reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #mj writes nonsense

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hbyrde36 · 2 months

Text

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7

Chapter 8: Master of Puppets

WC: 5053 | AO3 link

Eddie woke to the sound of a phone ringing in the distance and his head throbbing.

He rolled over, cracking one sore and puffy eye open to find himself surrounded. The two boys were already up—Max and Erica too. A graveyard of empty cereal bowls lined the coffee table in front of them, while Saturday morning cartoons played quietly on the TV.

Despite how miserable he felt, something about seeing these kids just… being kids, filled him with a surge of renewed affection for the little shits, and reminded him of all the countless reasons he had to not fuck this up again.

He drug himself up off the couch, grunting with the effort like a 90 year old man with aching bones and deteriorated joints, and made his way to the kitchen—called by the siren-smell of good strong coffee. Steve appeared in the doorway as he approached, watching the scene just as Eddie had with a fond look in his eyes. He held two mugs, handing one off with a lopsided grin.

Eddie looked down at the drink, finding it pale with too much cream for most people’s preference, but exactly how he liked it, and could almost smell the tooth-rotting sweetness of the excessive amount of sugar. It was perfect. How did Steve know?

“I love seeing them like this.” Steve said quietly, taking a sip from his own cup. Eddie didn’t need to look to know his was black. Blasphemy. “They don’t get to do it enough.”

Eddie offered a sad smile, humming his agreement. He looked back over his shoulder at the kids, and could only imagine how three years of fighting interdimensional monsters had cut pretty severely into each of their childhoods. Steve’s too, really. They often got caught up in worrying about the younger teens but Steve would have been what, 16 or 17 when this started?

Babies, all of them.

He turned back to say as much, but Steve tipped his head towards the kitchen, beckoning Eddie to follow.

“That was Joyce on the phone.” Steve began, standing close—too close for so early in the morning when Eddie’s defenses were down, speaking low to make sure no one else overheard, the rumbling tone of his voice threatening to set Eddie’s skin on fire.

“Owens’ people are sending a car to pick them all up, today.”

“What about Hopper?” Eddie whispered.

Steve sighed. “Well, she had to tell the Doc a little about our situation to explain why she was contacting him.”

“How’d that go?”

“She said he was weirdly accepting of the whole time loop thing, almost like he wasn’t surprised? Which, I guess they do research all kinds of weird shit in those labs, and he’s worked with kids like El for years, so maybe it just wasn’t all that unexpected. He knew some things about Vecna—Henry, whatever. Once they got talking she decided to tell him about the ransom note too, figuring he might have the resources to get Hop out, and they certainly owe us at least this much. He said they would handle it.”

He shrugged, clearly trying to appear unconcerned, but suddenly wouldn’t meet Eddie’s eyes. Eddie knew him too well by now to be fooled. Something was bothering him about all this, even if he was trying to pretend like he was fine.

“It’s okay if you’re worried. I know you don’t exactly trust these people.” Eddie said.

Steve tried to turn away, but like muscle memory Eddie reached out to lay a hand on his upper arm, giving him a knowing look.

“It’s stupid.” Steve said.

Eddie tightened his grip around Steve’s bicep, squeezing reassuringly as he rubbed his thumb back and forth. “I’m sure it’s not.”

“First I was worried about her going out there, and now—I know she’s right, they probably have ways to get to him that are much safer than her and Murray just fucking off to Alaska to meet with god-knows-who, and I’m happy that it’ll keep her out of the line of fire…”

“But?” Eddie prompted.

“But, if anyone can bring someone back from the presumed dead, it’s Joyce Byers. I don’t know how much you remember from back when Will went missing, but she never gave up. Not when they found a body in the quarry, or when the whole town treated her like she was crazy for believing her son was still alive. Against all odds she fought for him, went into the Upside Down and brought him home. I just… Hopper deserves that. Someone who cares enough to bring him home no matter what.”

This time Eddie couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around Steve. At least now the other boy knew they’d been close before—friends. Friends could hug.

As he had so many times before, he wished he could tell Steve that everything would be okay—but he just didn’t know, and he couldn’t bring himself to lie and offer false words of comfort.

To his surprise Steve hugged him back, tentative at first, but he quickly melted into Eddie’s embrace as though he were starved for touch. It felt wonderful and devastating all at the same time to touch Steve like this—and to have Steve’s arms around him again too. It was a painful reminder of all that he’d lost, but still he refused to be the one to let go first.

“Thank you.” Steve said, pulling back and roughly clearing his throat.

All at once Eddie realized how quiet it was. Steve’s headphones sat down around his neck, which wasn’t weird in itself, it was something Eddie had seen Max and Chrissy do whenever their ears needed a break too, but they never let the music stop. Steve's song wasn’t playing at all, and Eddie couldn’t handle watching him be taken like that again.

He reached up, lifting the earpieces back over Steve's head, fingers itching to caress his cheek as they brushed by. He clenched his fist instead.

“Your tape stopped.” Eddie said, breathless, his heart hammering inside his chest.

Steve’s wide eyes never left his face as he nodded absently. There was a sudden tension in the air stretched perilously tight between them and Eddie had to force himself to take a step back before it snapped.

Shaking himself, Steve finally looked down, popping the tape out of his walkman to flip it and begin again, the volume set as low as it could be, and still be heard.

Eddie took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together. “So, what’s on the agenda today?” He asked, managing to sound almost normal.

“The kids should probably go home or something, spend time with their families and stuff before things get worse. We’re still going to need to stock up on weapons, right? Even if El gets her powers back?” Steve asked.

“Yeah.”

“Feel like doing some shopping today?”

Eddie shouldn’t have been surprised. It made sense for all the same reasons that it had in the last loop. The War Zone was closed on Sundays, and there hadn’t been a single murder yet in town to raise the alarms with the public or the Hawkins PD. Still, he felt a shiver make its way up his spine at the idea of the past repeating itself. Thinking not only of the store, but what happened after.

He did his best to push those thoughts way, way down.

“Sure. I’ll let you break the news to your children.”

“Our children.” Steve corrected, grinning.

Fuck.

Eddie gulped, backing his way out of the room, stammering, “I-I’ll go tell Robin and Chrissy t-to get ready.”

Predictably, the kids fought back, having no interest in being separated now. As before, they all decided to go to Mike’s together, and it wasn’t until Steve picked up the phone to call and let Nancy know the plan that Eddie realized she and Mike hadn’t come back this morning the way they did last time. Funny how some things changed while others stayed the same, without obvious rhyme or reason.

The trip to The War Zone went smoothly and pretty much as Eddie recalled. He’d racked his brain on the drive there, wondering if there was anything they could have used more or less of. Fire seemed to be the most effective weapon against the creatures of the Upside Down, so the molotov cocktails were still a good choice.

If only they could source an actual flamethrower.

Ultimately he didn't think any different number or type of weapons would be what turned the tides. This thing would come down to a battle of wills, he’d bet his life on it.

Nancy got quiet as they were unloading the supplies after returning from the store, and Eddie could almost hear the gears turning over in her mind. It was no surprise to him when she eventually spoke up.

“I want to go look for Fred.” She began, holding up a hand before anyone could argue. “And I know what you’re going to say. If we couldn’t find him last time what’s the point—but you said his body turned up in the trees behind his house right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie replied. “Sometime overnight or early in the morning they found him.”

“Okay so, that’s a clue we didn’t have before, and a place I’m sure I wouldn’t have looked.”

“How about this—the three of us,” Robin jumped in, indicating Nancy, Chrissy, and herself, “can go for a fun-filled hike in the woods, and we’ll leave you two here to hold down the fort in case Joyce or Eleven calls.”

She met Eddie’s gaze, winking at him like she was doing him a favor. He grit his teeth and scowled. How she’d caught on already that there was anything going on between him and Steve, he had no idea.

…Not that there was anything going on since he was doing everything in his power to stay far far away from that possibility right now.

Steve didn't seem to notice their little exchange, thankfully, and was only watching the three girls with obvious concern. “If that's what you want to do. Just… be safe, okay?”

“Always.” Robin said, giving Steve a pat on the shoulder before getting back into the car with Nancy and Chrissy.

The anxiety Eddie had already been soaking in all day reached a critical level as he and Steve were left home alone together, and more than once he found himself obsessively staring at the spot on the kitchen floor where he’d first held Steve, as he fell apart after Vecna had so ruthlessly attacked him on this same afternoon in another life.

He had to find some way to distract himself or he was going to lose it.

There was only one surefire way to settle at least some of his nerves, but Eddie was too afraid to go outside and smoke—afraid to let Steve out of his sight for even a second actually, and so when he wandered away from him—for the dozenth time—to the living room, Eddie had no choice but to follow. As he did he recalled the bag of tapes he knew was stashed in the entertainment center—bingo.

He moved to the cabinet and pulled it out, digging for the only decent film among the bunch, not caring that he’d just watched The Goonies a week ago. Ironically, he thought the familiarity of it might even offer him some comfort. He glanced back over his shoulder to ask Steve if he minded, only to find him with his headphones off and silent, again.

“Dude, how many times—” Eddie stomped across the room, his concerned frustration at Steve's carelessness spilling over to rage.

How hard was it to keep a fucking tape going?

He reached for the walkman clipped to the other boy’s waistband and yanked it off him—huffing as he popped the tape out, flipped it over, and shoved it back in, jamming his finger into the play button so hard he almost broke the damn thing, before shoving it back into Steve’s hands.

“It needs to be playing to work, asshole, and you really need to start keeping those on your ears more.” He flicked the hanging cord of the headphones as he leveled Steve with a hard glare.

“It’s–they–they’re uncomfortable.” Steve mumbled in half-hearted defense of himself.

It occurred to Eddie suddenly that this had never been a problem for Steve before. He’d never forgotten to keep his tape running, and never once had he complained about having to wear the headphones.

He narrowed his eyes. “Really, Harrington? Because I’m finding it hard to believe that you can’t deal with a little mild discomfort to keep that fucking monster at bay after all the other shit you’ve endured.”

“Okay, fine. Just… listen, If Vecna doesn’t attack me before we go after him, how can we be sure I’ll be on his radar—that he’ll take me as bait?”

“Wait, were you–were you leaving the music off on purpose so he could get to you? What the fuck, Steve?!” Eddie shouted.

“What was your plan then, huh? To make Chrissy play the lure? How is that fair?!” Steve yelled right back.

Eddie honestly hadn’t thought it through that far yet, and maybe Steve had a point. He certainly didn’t relish the idea of poor Chrissy being put on the chopping block again, but this certainly wasn’t the answer.

“It’s not fair to you either!” Eddie growled. “It’s not fair, period!”

“I can handle it!” Steve bellowed, smacking himself in the center of his chest. “And if it’s gotta be someone—why not me, huh? At least I have experience with this stuff! At least El knows me a little! If this whole thing winds up hinging on her piggybacking in someone's brain again, isn’t it better—easier if it’s someone she knows?!”

Again Eddie was brought up short. He shook his head—he couldn’t argue with the bulk of Steve’s logic, but–

“You don’t know what you're signing yourself up for! You have no idea what he’s capable of! Steve, don’t do this to–”

“Why does it matter so much to you if he takes me anyway?!”

Eddie recoiled, feeling the force of Steve’s words like a slap in the face. “What? What do you mean why? Steve, you’re my—” He snapped his mouth shut, fighting to retain control of himself even as he spiraled further into panic.

“We’re friends. I care about you.”

Right in front of his eyes, Steve’s face hardened into a cruel mask.

“Friends,” Steve mocked with a bark of laughter, mouth twisting into an unfriendly smile. “We’re not friends, not really—you do realize that right? If you hadn’t gotten yourself caught up in all this, I would have never said two words to you. Why would I?”

All the blood drained from Eddie’s face. It felt like he’d been kicked off the edge of a cliff.

It wasn’t anything he hadn’t thought of himself. A nagging fear in the back of his mind, that any feelings Steve was developing for him were circumstantial at best, nothing that would stand up to any sort of test—that it wasn’t real. That Steve had only clung to him because he was there—convenient and willing.

He’d thought, after the kiss–

Well, he’d started to hope he was wrong. Almost believed it when Robin gave him so much shit for doubting Steve when they’d spoken in the woods. But here it was in front of him. Proof that he’d been right to worry.

“Honestly,” Steve went on, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I’ve only been pretending to be nice to you so you’ll help us. Why else would I ever want to be associated with Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson?”

“Wh–what are you saying?”

Eddie’s eyes grew wet, hot tears threatening to fall. Oh god, what an idiot he’d been.

“Poor thing,” Steve cooed at him, all pouting lips and false sympathy. “You should know, when you told me you were gay?” He paused, shuddering. “I was completely repulsed. I had to pretend otherwise of course, so you’d cooperate, but it made me sick having to lay next to you night after night.”

“Wait, I didn’t…” Eddie breathed, a barely audible whisper. “But, that didn’t happen this time.”

Something was very, very wrong here.

He started to slowly back up, eyes darting between the doorway to the kitchen and the hall leading to the front door, trying to calculate his best move.

“You’re not Steve.”

“Not quite.” The thing that wasn’t Steve smirked, folding his hands together locked behind his back. “Hello, Eddie. We meet at last.”

He was still wearing Steve’s face, but the voice coming out of his throat was becoming something deeper, darker, and far more dangerous.

Any relief Eddie felt for the fact that it hadn’t really been Steve saying those awful things to him was overshadowed by the terror of meeting his enemy in person for the first time, and in his own domain no less.

“Fuck you.” Eddie spat, projecting a bravery he absolutely did not feel.

Steve—Vecna began to pace a slow circle around him. “I don’t know how you’ve managed this trick, sending yourself back in time over and over again, but it’s no matter. I’ve seen what’s in your head now. I know what you and Eleven and all your little friends have planned. It won’t work.”

A guitar riff Eddie would never forget, even if he lived a thousand lifetimes, began to fill the air around him. Someone, somewhere was playing Master of Puppets for him—trying to pull him out of this place. Trying to save him. Hope blossomed in his chest as he thought about what Chrissy had described seeing the first time he’d successfully pulled her out of her trance, and searched around frantically for any signs of an opening or portal.

Either unable to hear the music or uncaring that Eddie was in the process of being rescued, Vecna kept taunting him.

“Of course, you already know that, having failed so many times before. I wonder why it is you even continue to try and fight the inevitable. This is your fate, Eddie, and his.” The monster gestured to himself, to the suit of familiar skin he wore, drawing Eddie’s attention back.

The eyes—Steve’s beautiful hazel eyes that Vecna had stolen to use against him rolled back and began to bleed. With a loud crack his jaw dislocated, hanging loose, mouth gaping open in a silent scream. Another snap and his arm bent back the wrong way, broken.

Eddie choked back a sob, his heart shattering into even smaller pieces as he witnessed first hand what he already knew Steve had gone through, knowing he'd never be able to scrub the image from his mind.

“The sooner you accept that, the sooner your suffering will come to an end.” The words spilled forth from the gaping maw that Steve’s mouth had become.

Eddie cried out, screaming his pain wordlessly.

The music picked up suddenly, getting louder as the song reached its middle, giving Eddie the strength to look away—and finally he spotted it, a faint glow like the promise of sunshine coming in through an open window, emanating from somewhere behind Vecna, through the doorway to the kitchen.

He took a few stumbling steps back, the disfigured visage of Vecna-Steve following his every move, and faked a run for the front door, pivoting at the last second to switch direction down the hallway, entering the kitchen from its other side and dove into the hazy mirage head first without hesitation.

Eddie came-to with a shuddering gasp. He was on the floor, headphones shoved over his head and Metallica blasting in his ears. Strong arms circled him from behind, rocking him gently as a soft voice mumbled the same three words over and over again.

“Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.”

“Stevie?” Eddie wheezed, out of breath and a little disoriented from his sudden fall back to reality. Which was saying something, considering he’d died and come back as many times as he had. He reached up, hesitantly pulling the headphones down around his neck.

“Oh my god.” Steve let out a rush of breath, sounding relieved as he slid himself around to Eddie’s side, still cradling him in his arms. He looked Eddie up and down, as if assessing him for physical damage, a haunted look in his eyes.

“You’re okay?” Steve said. Part statement, part question.

When he didn't answer right away Steve pursed his lips, concern evident on his face as he raised a hand up to gently brush the tears from Eddie’s wet cheeks. He hadn’t even known he was crying.

Eddie blinked up at him, caught between wanting to bury himself in the other boy’s chest, and the instinct to shove him away. He had Vecna’s vicious words stuck in his head now, replaying over and over again.

He knew it wasn’t real. Steve hadn’t said those things, would never have said those things. They weren’t his thoughts or feelings even if they were said with his voice. Eddie knew all of that, but still it was enough to taint what little comfort he might have allowed himself to take from Steve’s embrace.

That bastard had stolen Steve's face and used Eddie’s own insecurities against him, and it’d worked like a fucking charm.

He sat up slowly, pushing Steve away with a firm hand on his chest. Steve frowned, actually tried to push back for a moment, to keep holding Eddie, before realizing what he was doing and backed off to give him space.

“Is that… that was Vecna, right?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, it was him.” Eddie pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes hard enough to see stars. If only it would erase the image of Steve’s broken form from his mind.

“I’m so sorry.”

Eddie dropped his hands from his face abruptly to stare at the other boy. “What do you have to be sorry for?” He asked, incredulous.

“You tried to tell me how bad it was and I–I argued with you. That was the most terrifying few minutes of my life, and I was going to force you to watch that—again! How many times did you have to watch it happen to Chrissy? To me? I’m such an asshole” Steve closed his eyes, sniffling as he shook his head. “I’d still rather it be me than you, or Chrissy, or any of the kids, but it was… selfish of me to put you in the position to have to save me again on purpose. So, I’m sorry”

“It’s not—you’re not selfish, and you’re not an asshole either.” Eddie sighed heavily. “And I hate to admit it, but you may have had a point. We can’t bait Vecna with something he doesn’t want, someone he isn’t actively after. I guess now that someone’s gonna be me.”

“How will that work? You’re just as much of a stranger to El as Chrissy is.”

Eddie tightened his jaw, readying himself for another fight, but Steve quickly raised his hands in surrender. “I'm not–I'm not trying to—I'm just raising a concern.”

“I’m not letting anyone else go through that if we don’t have to, ok? We’ll ask El about it when we can, and go from there.”

Steve nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”

Steve searched through his closet and dug up his old walkman for Eddie to use since he’d given his own up for Chrissy. There was nothing wrong with it, just an outdated model. A new pair of batteries and he was all set.

They made Eddie’s tape in relative silence, save for the music itself which they kept turned low to save his head—a side effect of the Vecna attack being a massive fucking headache.

The girls returned a few hours later, looking completely dejected and exhausted. They still hadn’t been able to find Fred.

Nancy didn’t stay long, wanting to get back to her own house to keep an eye on the kids, and it wasn’t until she left that the other two noticed the change in Eddie, and what he now wore over his head.

Chrissy came up to him first, throwing her arms around his shoulders and resting her cheek on his chest. “Oh no, Eddie, you too?”

He hugged her back, and as bad as the day had been, he couldn’t help smiling to himself a little. He’d been so sure that he had ruined any chance of friendship with her this time around, but the easy affection gave him hope that it wasn’t a lost cause just yet.

“I’m okay, Chris.” He assured her as they separated. “Harrington had my back.”

In a bid for normalcy, and while they had nothing better to do, Steve ordered some takeout for all of them to share while Eddie put his movie on��hours later than intended, but better late than never.

He tried to enjoy it—the food, the conversation, hanging out with these people he’d come to care for like family—but his heart was in the past. Instead of the TV screen in front of him he saw Steve fighting off a grin as he’d watched Eddie flutter around the kitchen cooking for them. In place of the drink in his hand, he felt the warm press of Steve’s palm in his, remembering the way he’d laced their fingers together and held on all the way upstairs that night.

Giggles coming from the other side of the room were what brought Eddie back to the present, and he glanced over to see that Chrissy and Robin had drifted awfully close to one another on the couch they shared, even resting their heads together as he watched.

Not thinking he nudged Steve's shoulder with his own to point it out, wondering when they themselves had gotten this close, and tilted his head in the girls direction.

Steve glanced over, smiling at first but then his body went visibly tense, eyes guarded as he looked back at Eddie.

Oh.

“You don’t have to worry I–” Eddie only barely managed to stop himself from coming out, though he wasn’t sure why, and changed course mid sentence. “I'm cool with—Robin. I just think it’s sweet that they’re getting close again.”

Steve took him at his word, relaxing immediately. “Again?” He whispered back excitedly.

Eddie nodded and went back to watching the girls, glad that this particular thing was a staple of the loops.

Once the credits rolled and the girls made their way up to bed, Eddie helped Steve clean up, picking up trash and carrying their few dishes to the sink. He fled as soon as they were done, saying a quick goodnight before rushing to the downstairs bathroom to change and laying himself down on the couch, the big one this time. Dustin had been right, it was a lot more comfortable.

He assumed he’d gotten away with it, that Steve had already gone up the stairs, but less than a minute later Steve came striding into the room carrying two blankets. He tossed one to Eddie before wrapping the other around himself, and settled down on the other couch.

“What are you doing?”

“Sleeping.”

“Steve.”

They both sat up, staring daggers at each other from across the room.

Steve broke the standoff first. “I don’t think you should be alone. What if something happens, or your tape runs out? Since you seem to have something against sleeping in a bed with me again, I figured I'd just join you down here. It’s fine.”

“Fuck’s sake.” Eddie grumbled.

So much for keeping this one boundary, but he’d manage somehow. He suspected Steve still felt like he must have done something wrong before, and Eddie couldn’t live with him feeling guilty over something that wasn’t his fault. And, he supposed, there was no use in both of them sleeping on couches when there was a perfectly good bed upstairs.

Eddie reluctantly got up, flinging a throw pillow at Steve’s smug face as he did. “Come on then, big boy. Lead the way.”

In the familiar comfort of Steve's room, Eddie laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling, hugging his side of the bed to keep as much space as possible between them. He was exhausted from the attack, from the day in general, but his heart pounded as he found himself surrounded by all things Steve. His scent on the sheets, his pillow under Eddie’s head, his clothes strewn about the room.

He breathed it all in deep, and, still keeping his eyes pointed forward, finally dared to ask the question.

“How did you know what song to play for me?”

Steve shifted around, turning on his side to face him.

“It was the tape from your Walkman. The kids took it out last night after they made Chrissy’s and left it sitting out on the table. It was a lucky guess, really. I just hoped that whatever you had been listening to last would work.”

Eddie’s breath caught in his throat. He’d survived by simple chance and dumb luck, and sure he was old hat at dying by now, but it didn't make the idea any less scary. He turned too, meeting Steve's eyes through the dark.

“Thank you, that was… good thinking.”

“I was so afraid it wouldn’t work. One second we were screaming at each other and then you went so still. Your eyes rolled back and–” Steve’s voice cracked, unable to finish.

“I know.” Eddie whispered. And he did know, far too well, what it was like to feel so powerless.

He started to reach out, wanting so badly to cup Steve’s cheek or pull him close, but let his hand drop to the bed between them mid-motion. Steve slid his own hand closer, inch by inch until their pinkies touched, and then oh-so-slowly, he tucked his whole hand under Eddie's, entwining their fingers and gripping him tight.

“I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t worked.”

Eddie swallowed a whine, praying Steve couldn't hear it, and squeezed back. He didn’t have the strength to pull away, though he knew with every touch came the potential to break him beyond repair.

Chapter 9

Special thanks to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader.

Reblogs are always appreciated and if you want to be tagged, just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

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#steddie fanfic #time loop #pov eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #steve x eddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steddie fic #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham

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