#secret time: eddie's been crushing on steve since high school | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hitlikehammers · 3 months

Text

a Valentine's-flavoured cuddly-loose-lipped-secret-spilling-hopped-up-on-cold-medicine!Eddie

(and his ever-devoted boyfriend Steve who he's been crushing on since high school but that part's a secret was a secret)

for @thoroughlycollected: featuring the (actually kind of horrible) way schools would sell carnations for $1 or something for Valentine's Day to anonymously deliver to your crush

It turns out that Eddie under the influence comes in a variety of flavors.

High Eddie is languid, touchier than he’s normally prone to which is fucking saying something, and weirdly philosophical. He talks about alternate universes beyond the Upside Down as a meta-something concept. He theorizes how maybe he died in another dimension but some weird particle-subversion-something-something-whatever couldn’t survive re-sublimation in the Right-Side-Up and honestly when the big-brain bullshit skirts the edges of Eddie’s mortality Steve is here for all of none of that part, because Eddie’s heart was beating under Steve’s hands the whole goddamn time, sometimes maybe coaxed by Steve’s hands but from the moment Steve found him and Dustin to the moment he let go at the hospital he didn’t not feel Eddie’s heart beating, and he knew that not least because he would have come apart at the seams if that’s happened, he would have crumbled entirely for losing, or almost-losing, or thinking even close to losing the potential, the promise between them they’d barely skirted but that’d rooted heavy and at home in Steve’s chest already and fuck, fuck—

When Eddie philosophizes in general usually Steve just hangs on his every word, mesmerized by the beauty of him top of bottom, inside and out: somehow all Steve’s. But when his philosophizing leans toward that Steve’s own heartbeat does some weird shit that the weed can’t claim whole credit for and he grabs Eddie hard every time and kisses him until he’s dizzy with it, until they both are, until Eddie’s reduced just to blinking for at least five whole minutes and by that point High Eddie’s on to another topic altogether.

Which is for the best.

By comparison: Drunk Eddie is a lovelorn bastard, a little bit teary with it sometimes even, but always clingy and a touch extra possessive, sappier than he gets on even his most sappy days. One time he told Steve that no, he couldn’t let him go to take a piss because, and Steve remembers this word for word: there’s stardust in my body that’s in your body and that shit’s like magnets, Stevie, like magnets or whatever so my heart’s like pulled to your heart and if you go away without me ever you’ll rip my heart out—because like, a guy remembers that kind of declaration shouted into his ear over the music at a bar that’s safe enough that they’d get away with the excuse that Eddie was plastered, for the way he was hanging on Steve, but thank fuck the lighting was shitty enough that no one could see the flush on Steve’s cheeks, and thank fuck even more that no one could see his magnet-heart and how pounded something wild for the way Eddie draped over him and pressed full against his chest and nuzzled under his chin and made the kind of declarations that Steve had kinda been searching and hoping for all his life.

Drunk or not.

But then there’s another flavor, a specific one: and that’s medicated Eddie. And that Eddie, that cough-medicine-soaked-to-the-gills Eddie?

He’s an adorably giggly little fuck, is what he is.

“I’ll feel better by Saturday,” he lolls his head over to Steve’s shoulder where they sit beside one another, Eddie properly bundled in three blankets with a Sprite in hand. “Pinky-promise,” he slurs a little, but it might just be the stuffed-up nose doing the heavy lifting on garbling his words, and then fuck, of course the dipshit reaches up to seal the deal like the absolutely irresistible goofball he is, and always: snot-coated and all.

“Just rest up, babe,” Steve pulls him close with an arm around around his shoulder, dropping a firm kiss to his forehead: still warmer than Steve would like, in all honesty: “forget about Saturday,” and he means that with his whole chest, because fuck reservations and flowers and boxes of the chocolates Eddie likes best from the city—his boyfriend is sick, his boyfriend is hurting, and there is kinda not a single more important thing than that, than attending to that and making it hurt even the slightest bit less of he’s able, if it’s in his power.

“But we had,” Eddie sniffles heavily, loud and almost painful-sounding; “we had plans,” he whines, and turns toward Steve with overbright-eyes, far too watery:“our first,” he says it like it’s a heartbreak unto itself, bottom little quivering, and fuck.

Steve smiles though he hurts for Eddie right now so hard, want to take all the aching into himself it to spare this beautiful man for a fucking second, just he reaches and traces lilting patters around Eddie’s eyes, his browbone, his jaw, slow down to press soft at his lips:

“You not planning on having many more?” Steve asks soft, a little playful, a little leading: he likes to hear it, and often: that Eddie’s in this as deep and true and Steve is. For the long haul.

“All the more,” Eddie sing-songs sniffily, which is both pathetic and adorable, tugs at Steve’s heartstrings and the corners of his lips alike; “alllll of the more, Stevie-baby,” he draws out in promise, crosses his heart uncoordinated for feeling fuzzy with his cold and being fully cocooned in blankets and again: adorable and pathetic and perfect.

The man’s fucking perfect, even when he’s all stuffed-up and curled sick on the couch.

“Got you the best presents,” he adds on dreamily with a little chuckle, the high-pitched airy kind that float in the air between like bubbles; “so much better than all the other ones,” he adds kinda petulantly, pouts full around the words and maybe it’s the cough medicine, or the fuzziness Steve knows well comes with both the cold itself and the remedies to help alike; he brushes his lips against Eddie’s forehead just to be safe and Eddie giggles a little and leans full-bodied into Steve, unbalanced for the swaddling of most of his frame and that just makes him laugh all the more: he’s no more feverish than he had been, which was admittedly barely, just more than Steve liked, but: yeah.

Yeah, that’s…he kinda guesses it all could combine to have Eddie spewing kinda nonsense, and he probably should just smile and pull his boyfriend closer in his arms and cuddle him some more but he’s both curious and concerned, which turns out to be a potent mix, so:

“Other ones?”

“Mmm,” Eddie hums long and warm as he snuggles up to Steve a little closer, and Steve stretches an arm around him wholly, settles him flush to his chest: “but shh, don’t tell, okay?”

And Eddie sounds breathless, which piques Steve worry alongside the bright flush he finds on Eddie’s cheeks when he looks down: his eyes are fairly clear and…no, forehead’s still the same temperature, not clammy or anything, and Eddie’s just preening as he lazily tips his face up to receive more kisses, mostly unaware that Steve’s attentions serve any other purpose than loving on him.

And , well, no: they really don’t, it’s just the love’s multi-layered here, just now. It’s love, and it’s devotion, and it’s dedication to Eddie’s general wellbeing all wrapped into one. So: yeah.

“Swear,” Steve decides to play along, hoping for clues as to just how loopy Eddie’s ended up for one end of the sick-stick or the other; “what’s up, baby?” he draws circles over the harsh jut of Eddie’s clavicle, little massages that Eddie eats up with a dimpley grin as he sighs, back to the dreamy-tone again:

“Flowers.”

Steve buries a little smile into Eddie’s tangly tresses, because like…

“You got me flowers?”

No one’s ever really gotten Steve flowers.

“Noooo,” Eddie giggles and shakes his head under Steve’s chin as he buries closer into Steve’s chest, stretches Steve’s already mostly unbuttoned shirt out to damn well nuzzle the fuzz of curls beneath, and he makes this fucking…soft little half-whine that’s almost a purr, that vibrates straight through Steve’s ribs and his heart goddamn flutters, fucking hell—

“But that’s a great idea, can you remind Eddie tomorrow?” he pulls back with those fucking button eyes so big, as he talks about himself like he’s another person with such innocence then chuckles, burrowing against in Steve’s chest:

“I’d love to buy you good flowers, the nice kind, not the ones in a ten-gallon bucket sitting getting brown,” and his voice is all frown but…adorable, fuck, he’s such a fucking adorable drugged-up sicko, Steve can’t really handle this shit.

“And it was so sad,” he sniffles against Steve’s chest, and hell if Steve knows if it’s congestion or something like…mounting? Because he’s so sad? “The white ones, because they got brown so fast and, and,” and his words get caught up as his lungs rebel, as he sneezes, shakes from his core and Steve’s hands grab for him, tighten around him fiercely and Eddie gives into that protective instinct in Steve like clockwork, magnetic and automatic and Steve loves him so goddamn fucking much.

He presses his lips to Eddie’s temple as Eddie catches his breath and groans a little; kisses his over-warm skin just because.

“Carnations,” Eddie sniffles once he gets his bearings back enough; “are symbolssss,” he draws out long like a sloppy hiss; “of devohhh,” and he coughs a little, and pouts at being interrupted so he huffs heavier on the last syllable: “shun.”

De…devotion? Fucking…carnations?

Shit, Steve hasn’t seen a carnation, at least not knowingly; not since—

“And white ones mean pure,” Eddie rambles, all nasally but indignant anyhow, somehow; “so white carnations would be pure devotion,” and Eddie untucks himself from Steve’s chest for a second to look at him straight on with a little wobbly grin.

“You didn’t even notice, did you,” Eddie says, and there’s no sadness in it; but fuck, Steve…

Steve might fucking, like, start fucking crying.

Because he knows exactly what Eddie’s talking about, now.

“I noticed,” because it was the fucking carnations, the last time he thought about them: Hawkins High School, where they decided to hold up the horrible preteen tradition of anonymous flowers delivered for Valentine’s Day, so three people could be reminded they were the top of the fucking food chain with a pile of crushed flowers still dripping from their buckets of water, the little colored-paper tags soggy with the writing unreadable, while the rest of the school got to feel less-than when they got nothing, and Steve got more than his share even in the years after he toppled from on high in the social hierarchy, but they’d never mattered to him, they’d kinda made him feel uncomfortable. Except—and he could never explain it, but it was predictable, it happened every fucking year—in the collection of reds and pinks there was always one that stood out, all on it’s own.

A white one; Steve never even caught that they’d gone brown at the edges.

“Every year I noticed,” he exhales, and breathes Eddie in from the top of his head because, because—

Every year? Meant…meant every year. Freshman on up.

“My heart used to do this thing,” Steve murmurs against Eddie’s scalp, kinda; and yeah, it’s basically doing the same goddamn thing right now, a little trippy and dizzy and just…it’d scared him a little.

He recognizes now it’s how his chest feels when what he’s doing, where he is, who he’s with, who he holds inside tight close with him: it’s how his chest feels when what he’s doing is right.

“When I saw the white ones,” Steve whispers, and kisses against Eddie’s hair again, and again, because god; “only one person ever sent those.”

“Sometimes I’d have to run, like, hide in the gym showers so no one would know it was me,” Eddie matches his whisper, almost conspiratorial as he reaches out for Steve hand and Steve’s more than happy to meet him, to grasp tight, so tight; “hated gym, did you know that?”

“Oh, I had no idea,” Steve deadpans as he nuzzles Eddie’s hair, while Eddie goes back to nuzzles his chest, and Eddie’s breathing starts to even out and Steve thinks maybe he’s asleep, but then—

“Stevie?”

“Yeah, baby?” Steve wraps his arm around Eddie a little tighter.

“You’ll remind me about the flowers?” he asks, so goddamn soft; “wanna buy the best white carnations you’ve ever seen in your whole life.”

And Steve promises, yeah, of course—except: he kinda thinks maybe he already got the best ones years ago, again, and again.

He won’t discourage more of the very best, though, so long as Eddie’s the one next to him, handing them to him face to face, no hiding anywhere, just: them.

Pure devotion.

✨ ao3 link here

permanent tag list (comment to be added): @pearynice @hbyrde36 @slashify @finntheehumaneater @wxrmland @dreamwatch @perseus-notjackson

♥️

divider credit here

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #fluff #established relationship #established steddie #domestic fluff #valentine's day #sickfic #but like: eddie's a sniffly-cuddly-bundle-of-cough-medicine #and steve is a doting and caring and adoring boyfriend about it #secret time: eddie's been crushing on steve since high school #high school carnation sales #secret admirer #happy ending #or: happy-SAPPY ending #stranger things

134 notes · View notes

undreaming-fanfiction · 2 months

Text

Okay, so vampire Eddie is a pretty standard trope at this point, but may I offer...Twilight vampire Eddie who is absolutely pissed off about his sparkly existence?

Eddie actually isn't that old, he was turned in the 80s when he was around 20. He lives with his small and not only vampire family. There's patriarch Wayne, his partner Scott who always becomes a teacher no matter where they move, Claudia Henderson and her son that have been with them ever since Scott noticed Dustin being unusually quiet in his class and soon after, Wayne kicked out his abusive father.

The problem with living with a smart man who loves educating people and a man who never received the education he deserved is - they take school really, really seriously. Whenever they move, Eddie usually has to re-join high school, it's all "just so that you have some socialization! Also we need to be able to blend in, so look around and see what's normal with young people! Also I'm pretty sure some of the stuff we know is now obsolete or disproven, so make sure to tell us!". And Eddie loves Wayne and Scott, he really does, but he had trouble blending in even when he was alive, so now? Impossible. As for gathering information, Eddie has been trying for decades to explain to Wayne that even if becoming a vampire healed the wounds from the lynching mob, it didn't do shit for his ADHD, so there. Wayne finds Eddie banging his head into a desk one day and chanting "WHAT-THE-FUCK-IS-TIK-TOK?!"

So yes, Eddie hates being a forever highschooler, but it also means he can run DnD clubs everywhere he joins and he's not even lynched for it like in the 80s, so hey, progress! He gets mostly content with his existence, except that he's fucking sparkly and can't turn into a bat, so what's the point?!

But then a huge group of people moves from the close town of Hawkins, they had a really fucked up earthquake - Wayne told him all about it, he often volunteered in rescue and high risk works, and he's never seen anything like it - and their little town becomes way more crowded. There are high school freshmen just begging to be introduced to his club, Hellfire, although one of them is scary observant and Eddie is really sure that Jane knows he's a vampire.

And then there's Steve Harrington. A young man with the prettiest hair ever who joined Eddie's class, apparently he needs to repeat the last year too because if your school burns down, you can't take final exams. He's stupidly pretty, snarky, bitchy, and even though he could be partying day and night and spending the rest of his time on dates, he prefers to hang around with the freshmen. Lucas tells him one day that Steve got badly hurt when he was digging through the collapsed middle school, finding and rescuing their whole group, and well...Eddie respects that. Dustin absolutely loves Steve and maybe Eddie feels a bit jealous, but he has to admit - the guy is cool.

The problem with Steve Harrington is this - he's seen so much shit that nothing really fazes him. Eddie loves shocking people. Steve is unshockable. It becomes their little game, they get close, Eddie realizes he has an embarrassing crush, all that jazz. He tries dropping hints, he slurps his bloody lunch from a bottle that has a "THIS IS DEFINITELY TOMATO JUICE AND NOTHING ELSE". He wears a cape. He adopts a horrible Dracula accent. Nothing works. Steve always just laughs and tells him that he's weird and that's why he likes him.

Finally, Eddie has enough. They walk in the woods to get high, Eddie decides to break the ice, he scoops up Steve, does his whole dashing-through-the-woods thing, and he hopes that he can finally share his secret with Steve.

Except Steve just pats his back and says "Wow, that was cool, man! You'd be amazing at track. Great core strength too," and Eddie's head implodes.

"Okay, Steve. Don't you think there's something rotten here?" he tries.

"I mean, it's the woods. Of course there's something rotting all the time."

Eddie tries again. "You've noticed something strange, haven't you. I'm inhumanly fast and strong."

"I sure didn't expect that! You must be secretly training. I didn't know this town had a gym."

Again. "My skin is pale white and ice cold."

Steve is watching a nearby squirrel instead of looking horrified. "Yeah, not all people tan great, Robin is like that too. And I told you, man. Your circulation is shit, you need better socks and some gloves too."

"My eyes change color."

"Yeah, I know, I do envy you that you can wear those cool contact lenses. My eyes are too dry for that."

Eddie is growing desperate, he's gesturing at the trees because Steve doesn't listen. "I speak like I'm from a different time."

"80s slashers will do that to you. You basically live on those. But I gotta admit that they're pretty fun. Oh look, she's got an acorn! Clever girl!"

"Very clever. Also I never eat or drink anything."

"Hey, I'm not judging. Some people prefer one or two meals in a day instead of the whole five meal thing."

Eddie feels like howling and he isn't even a werewolf. "I. DON'T. GO. INTO. THE. SUNLIGHT."

Steve's eyes finally leave the squirrel. "Duh. We've already established you can't tan."

And Eddie's had enough. He tears off his t-shirt, marches directly into the sunlight and throws the biggest tantrum of his life. "STEVEN HARRINGTON. PAY ATTENTION. I am 20. I have been 20 for a while now. You know what I am, right? I am a vampire. So ask me the question, what do we eat? That wasn't a fucking tomato juice Steven!!!"

Steve just watches him with quiet amusement, as if he's waiting for something.

Eddie doesn't notice. His monologue is reaching its most dramatic part. "I've killed people before! I'm the world's most dangerous predator!"

Steve snorts. "I saw you trip over your own feet in the cafeteria."

"Not the point!"

"You told a waitress "you too" when she told you to enjoy your meal."

Eddie actually howls now. "THE POINT IS." He spins in the sunlight and sees the reflections of light off his skin. "I wouldn't have minded becoming a vampire, but let me tell you. Being stuck in high school forever? Sucks. Craving chips and throwing them up whenever you try them? SUCKS. And thinking you've become the legendary creature of the night when you're a glorified glitter mascot?! And you can't even fly?! DOUBLE SUCKS."

He points at his bare glittering chest. "THIS THE SKIN OF A FUCKING DISCO BALL, STEVE!"

Steve just laughs and gets up from the tree stump he was sitting on. "Thanks for sharing. I was kinda hoping you'd finally ask me out since this is the first time we've had some privacy, but this was interesting too."

Eddie's sharing mania suddenly stops. He realizes he's shirtless in the middle of the forest, and his yelling has scared off the squirrel. He promptly grabs his shirt and puts in on. "Um. You...you wanted me to ask you out? Because I totally want to do that. Yep. But I thought it would have been unfair to ask you before I told you-"

"That you're a vampire? Dude, I know."

Eddie blinks once. Then again. "Excusemewhat?"

Steve smiles at him and touches his hand. "Look. After what happened in Hawkins, I know the smell of blood. I knew it wasn't tomato juice. Also I've accompanied the kids to enough monster flicks to know."

"Oh." Eddie licks his lips and doesn't really know what to say. "Um. What...does that mean for us?"

Laughing, Steve grabs his other hand too. "Definitely two things. One - you can and should kiss me. Two - you can stop wearing that cape. I got your point."

"Oh okay. Cool. Will do. Both."

And since Eddie Munson is a vampire of his word, he does.

(Wayne is absolutely delighted that Eddie is dating, he watches sports with Steve and discusses the pros and cons of Steve becoming a paramedic. Scott helps Steve with some of the subjects he's struggling with. In return, Steve works with Robin to find a makeup brand that is fully sparkleproof, giving the vampires a chance to walk in the sunlight again. And sometimes, he helps them answer the questions that have been plaguing the Munson-Clarke-Henderson household for years...such as: what is TikTok?)

(oh and also. Turns out Steve really thought Eddie was wearing creepy contact lenses. That one aspect of vampyrism he found very cool)

#eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #steddie #steddie drabble #steddie au #twilight au #look I have no excuse #vampire eddie munson #discoball eddie munson

1K notes · View notes

hsllfirescoopsreblogs · 1 month

Text

╰┈➤ 18+ none of these stories belong to me! this is a masterlist of all eddie munson stories i’ve read and reblogged! just thought it would be nice to have them all in one spot! (if your fic is on here and you wish not to be, please let me know!) some will have summaries if provided <3

MASTERLIST • STRANGER THINGS MASTERLIST • 04/16/24

⚄ @luveline

⚔︎ june baby

⭒ singlemom!reader

⚔︎ is it getting to much

⭒ you finally work up the courage to kiss Eddie for the first time and he can’t cope (even if he claims he can)

⚔︎ dark matter

⭒ You ask your best friend Eddie to give you your first kiss. Eddie's not really in the habit of saying no to you.

⚄ @corroded-hellfire

⚔︎ as you wish

⭒When Eddie isn’t appreciated like he should be, his babysitter feels the need to step in and comfort him.

⚔︎ request

⚄ @munson-blurbs

⚔︎ clueless

⭒Everyone can tell that you like Eddie. Except for Eddie.

⚔︎ boob man

⭒ eddie is a boob man

⚔︎ i want you to want me

⭒ You've been crushing on Eddie since you joined Hellfire Club. Too bad he's crushing on Chrissy Cunningham...right?

⚄ hurt feelings by @munsonson

⚔︎ Eddie breaks up with Reader for being boring, giving her the impression they just weren’t right for each other. Unfortunately for him, he realizes too late how big of a mistake this was.

⚄ red soaking wet by @taintedcigs

⚔︎ you and your boyfriend eddie decide to have some fun in the living room, what you fail to notice is that your boyfriends roommate steve is also awake. and he can’t help himself.

⚄ soft touches by @msgexymunson

⚔︎ you and your dealer Eddie get a little closer than anticipated.

⚄ oops pt2 by @dakotalun

⚔︎ Eddie "accidentally" sends a tasteful pic to his best friend.

⚄ @lovebugism

⚔︎ request

⭒ you get mean when you like someone, so eddie thinks you hate him

⚔︎ drunk in love

⭒ “you're drunk, eds" / "yeah, super drunk. and in the morning, when i'm sober, you’ll still be beautiful… i’m just gonna be too chicken shit to tell you.”

⚄ @eddiemunsons-missingnipple

⚔︎ request

⚔︎ firefighter!eddie

⚄ @ashwhowrites

⚔︎ request

⚔︎ cheerleader cupid

⚔︎ secrets out

⚄ @andvys

⚔︎ no could save me but you pt2

⭒ You couldn't save him in time but you couldn’t let death take him either so you made a bargain that caused you to pay a high price

⚔︎ love will tear us apart

⭒ Eddie convinced himself that he hates the girl that took over his mind the moment he laid eyes on her. The girl that he saved without even knowing it.

⚔︎ i’m begging for you to take my hand

⭒ It's a hot summer afternoon when Eddie's life changes for the better, and two very special people step into his life.

⚄ candygram by @hellfirenacht

⚔︎ It's Valentine's day and you shoot your shot with Eddie by sending him a Candygram.

⚄ you’re clueless you know that by @magicalmysteries777

⚔︎ You agree to accompany Steve to Enzo's for Valentine's Day with only one shared goal in mind - to make Eddie so jealous he has no choice but to have the one conversation he's being avoiding.

⚄ 86’ baby by @strangerquinns

⚔︎ It's Senior Year for Hawkins High School Class of '86. But while most are dealing with the pressure of finales, the threat of the Upside Down looms over you and your friends. But an old friend is soon pulled into the darkness, and all you hope to do is save him while pushing away old feelings.

⚄ driving lessons by @moonstruckme

⚄ the prettiest girl in the room by @obsessedelusional

⚔︎ You shared a secret relationship with Eddie, if that’s what you could even consider it. You wished for more but never could bring yourself to tell Eddie this. What happens when your at a party and he gets dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room?

⚄ @bimbobaggins69

⚔︎ love in the locker room

⭒ you go into the boys locker room with a plan to steal the polaroids your now ex boyfriend took of you to show off to his friends, but the last thing you suspected was to be met with Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson and his very big friend.

⚔︎ dial a thrill

⭒ you and your ex broke up more than five months ago and you’ve refused to start dating again, even the thought of a one night stand puts a bad taste in your mouth but on a lonely night something you thought you’d never be desperate enough to do, becomes as tempting as ever.

⚄ on the outside by @lesservillain

⚄ slip of the lip by @boomhauer

⚔︎ Abandoned by Hellfire on movie night, Eddie finds another way to entertain himself.

⚄ ribbons, cheerleaders, eddie by @weehelers

⚔︎ eddie is surprised to see a hawkins high tigers uniform in a heavy metal shop. but he’s even more surprised to see it belongs to hawkins high’s golden girl y/n l/n

⚄ @ghost-proofbaby

⚔︎ twenty four hours

⭒ in which eddie munson and you absolutely hate each other's guts. what happens when your friends make a bet that you can't spend more than twenty four hours consecutively together?

⚔︎ a simple life

⭒you try to clean your depression room while eddie's over, but he keeps distracting you.

⚄ let me be your goodnight by @eddiesxangel

⚔︎ temporary fix 1D song fic

⚄ knockin on heavens door by @allthingsjoeq

⚔︎ Eddie meets reader when he’s locked himself out of his place, only wearing a towel, and it’s freezing out…

⚄ his hands by @fairyysoup

⚔︎ How do you make getting a haircut an erotic experience? You have Eddie Munson as your hairdresser, of course.

⚄ @galaxy-siren

⚔︎ bad idea

⭒ tutoring Eddie leads to you proving you are more than the teacher’s pet.

⚔︎ twos company, there’s a crowd

⭒ So Dustin ends up meeting a nice girl and smart in the science club (reader), and ends up talking at the lunch table that he has fallen in love with the girl. Eddie becomes jealous when he learns that Dustin is talking about his girlfriend and becomes protective.

⚄ dirty little secret by @mouthfullofmunson

⚔︎ Eddie is in desperate need of a fake girlfriend after lying to his band mates about his dream girl.

⚄ my favorite customer by @loveshotzz

⚔︎ You’ve been buying weed from your new dealer for a few months now. Always leaving it in your mailbox while you’re at work, you two never cross paths until one Friday night when you come home early.

⚄ ahoy by @violetrainbow412-blog

⚔︎ In some timeline, Starcourt didn't burn down and Eddie was able to go to work selling ice cream. He and Steve make a little bet, from which Eddie comes out happy.

⚄ overheard pt2 by @gaybybirth

⚔︎Bringing Dustin's laundry into his room is usually a fairly uneventful task, especially when he's not there. But when he leaves his radio on and Eddie's slurred words sneak through the static, you overhear something you know you're not supposed to. How the hell are you supposed to react the next time you see Eddie after you accidentally overhear him saying he had a sex dream about you?

⚄ @storiesforallfandoms

⚔︎ jason doesn’t know

⭒ jason doesn’t know that his girlfriend and eddie do it in his van every sunday

⚔︎ oblivious

⭒ in which he has a huge crush on the scoops ahoy girl, but she's too oblivious to notice

⚄ the girlfriend experience by @kiwi-bitchez

⚔︎ Eddie doesn’t think he’s cut out for dating. Self-resigned to a life of one and done hookups, you’re determined to make him see that he has the capacity to be a worthy companion… for when the right girl comes around.

⚄ i’ll make it up to you by @stranger-nightmare

⚔︎ Eddie’s been distant and self conscious about his body ever since the bat incident in the upside down, meaning the two of you haven’t slept together for a while, when you finally confront him on it he vows to make it up to you...

⚄ best kept secret by @mysticmunson

⚔︎ eddie munson is hated by every man in town, but secretly loved by all the ladies, and not just for his large personality.

⚄ the freaks by @manicformunson

⚔︎ Reader's friends find out about her crush on Eddie Munson and tease her about it constantly until one lunch period they take it too far

⚄ off limits by @loveronlineee

⚔︎ When Dustin sees something between Eddie and his sister, he forbids them from talking to each other, but that won’t stop them secretly meeting up.

⚄ enough for you by @tbrxnnan

⚔︎ in which you and eddie munson break up. based on the song by olivia rodrigo.

⚄ movie night by @say-al0e

⚔︎ You've been crushing on Eddie Munson for ages. When you finally ask him over to a watch a movie, you learn that your feelings are definitely requited.

hopefully all links work, let me know if not <3

#eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson series #eddie munson smut #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson imagine #stranger things x reader #eddie munson master list

458 notes · View notes

thefreakandthehair · 2 months

Text

we feel a little warmer now.

rating: teen & up | wc: 1.1k | tags: canon-typical injuries, pre-relationship, getting together, fluff, light hurt/comfort | prompt: love is a fire that never goes out @steddielovemonth & a happy birthday gift for @henderdads! title from the woods, by hollow coves.

February in Indiana is still the dead of winter— cornfields are barren, trees sway in the wind without their leaves, and the sky seems to have a sheer layer of grey even on the cloudless days.

Eddie’s always loved winter. The shorter days followed by longer nights, snowy Sundays, watching the smoke from a joint or cigarette dance in the freezing air, and excuses to do donuts in the local abandoned grocery store parking lot. He’s always loved winter, or at least he did until his world shattered at his feet, leaving him with injuries that take ages to heal and scars that leave him perpetually cold.

It’s been difficult to explain, even to the people who’d lived it with him. He can’t fully enjoy winter anymore because the cold seeps into his bones, maybe through the scars, maybe just because of the nerve damage. He’ll never know for sure because Hawkins General doesn’t exactly have a Demobat Specialist on staff so he just keeps it to himself.

Well, mostly. Steve knows.

Hiding anything from Steve has proven impossible. His constant chill, his frustration with the new but still-improving limp, the grief, the guilt, the confusing simultaneous euphoria of survival. The only secret he’s managed to keep is the big fat crush he’s harbored, probably since Steve helped find him in the woods.

Maybe earlier. Maybe since high school. He tries not to think about it too much.

The point is, Steve knows and even if Eddie hasn’t said that it breaks his heart to lose the quiet winter nights smoking on the porch or the hood of his van, Steve figures that out, too.

He must, because Eddie nearly jumps out of his freezing skin when knuckles rap on the front door of his and Wayne’s new trailer. There’s a system these days: check the peep hole, crack the door with the chain still attached to confirm, and only then does Eddie open the door completely. An unfortunate system, but he’s far from the town hero that Steve’s been hailed as, albeit against his will.

Speaking of, through the peep hole, he sees Steve standing on his porch wrapped in what looks like a thick hoodie and winter coat.

“Who goes there?” Eddie asks, cracking the door and peering out with one eye.

“It’s me, you ass. Let me in, I have a surprise.”

The door chain unhooks with a metallic click and Steve enters the trailer like he belongs there.

Because he does, Eddie thinks.

“A surprise? For me? Oh, do tell.”

Steve stands in the living room, a live wire if Eddie’s ever seen one. His hair is a little messy, as though he’s been raking his fingers through it. His nose is pink, complemented by his frosty cheeks, and his eyes are wide and wild.

“If it’s overstepping or whatever, we can pretend I never mentioned it but I know how much you miss winter nights. And I uh, I built a fire pit at my house?” His voice pitches up, as though it’s a question.

“You built a fire pit? Today?”

Steve nods. “Yeah. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be honestly, time consuming but, yeah. I built a fire pit. And I was thinking that maybe with the fire and some blankets and a good jacket— a real winter coat, not just your leather jacket— you might be able to get some of that back.”

Eddie tries his best not to think about Steve lugging brick pavers and forcing them into place, thinking about Eddie and his stupid broken internal thermostat. Wanting to give him back something the Upside Down took. Worrying Eddie would somehow see this as overstepping.

It’s a quick Yes and even quicker drive to Loch Nora, a drive that Eddie’s always found hilarious. How can two neighborhoods exist so close together but feel like different worlds?

The whole way there, Eddie keeps Steve talking. If Steve’s talking, there’s less room for Eddie to spill yet another truth inadvertently, the only one left to spill. Instead, he asks questions about work, and Robin, and if he’s heard from his parents.

(“It sucks,” “she’s great,” “nope”. In that order.)

Pulling into the driveway, Eddie hops out of the car as best he can in one of Wayne’s old winter coats and follows Steve to the backyard. His jaw drops when he sees exactly what Steve’s done. More than a simple circle of bricks, there’s a pit made of concrete blocks in the center of a larger circle filled with wood chips and grey pavers marking the perimeter. Wood logs are already split in a pile off to the side next to two lawn chairs and dear God, Eddie really hopes that Steve bought that already split. He’s still not over him swinging on demobats with his bare hands, and the image of him with an axe is enough to put him down for good.

“C’mon, I’ll get it started,” Steve nudges their shoulders together and walks through the pit to the stack of logs.

Steve gets a roaring fire going, the kind that cracks and burns both red and blue, and passes Eddie an extra blanket. Flames dance beneath the clear sky, speckled with stars that do little to distract him from how unbearably warm he is for the first time in months.

People don’t just do things like this for him, not without expectation or out of obligation. So much of Eddie’s life has felt like a spectrum spanning from pity to transactional with very few exceptions in between.

Then again, Steve feels like an exception to a lot of things.

“Why?” Eddie eventually asks, exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke like a kid seeing his breath.

Steve shrugs and tosses the butt of his own cigarette into the flames. “You lost enough down there, and I know how that feels. If there’s something easy enough to fix, I want to. You deserve that.”

Eddie turns and sees Steve smiling, just a soft upturn of his lips as he looks up at the sky. His face is flushed and Eddie wants to think it’s not from the flames.

“You’re really something, you know that?” Eddie says, scooting his chair over close enough for the arms of their chairs to nearly touch.

Steve looks back from the sky to Eddie, long lashes and the scar on his neck on full display.

“That a good thing?”

Eddie nods. “Oh yeah, definitely. Maybe the best thing.”

They sit outside for hours, eventually sharing a blanket draped around their shoulders and a first kiss that lights him up from the inside.

Eddie’s warm long after the fire burns out.

#steddie #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #steddie fanfiction #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #steddielovemonth #myblurbs #please consider reblogging if you enjoy <3 #also the song really lends a vibe to this and it's one of my favs so consider this a music rec too lmao

382 notes · View notes

bellofthemeadow · 7 months

Note

Harrington!reader, Steve’s little sister. Popular, a cheerleader, first time senior and Chrissy’s best friend. But she has a secret that only her best friend knows. She’s had a crush on Eddie Munson since middle school. She’s afraid to tell him, thinking there’s no way he’d be into her. Until one day in the cafeteria, Jason Carver calls Eddie a freak. She confronts him, and punches him in the face, breaking or spraining her hand/wrist. Guess her little secret is out, and she may never be popular again.

OF COURSE MY DEAR ANON! I am so sorry it took forever to address this request! I have just started my final year of Uni, and with four seminars and graduate applications, I have not had any time to write consistently! But this idea was too enticing to pass up, so thank you very much for sharing it! For those waiting on other fics, I am slowly but surely getting back into the groove of writing more consistently so it should all come out sooner rather than later (hopefully) and I always welcome more fics or one shot ideas! Thank you to y'all for bearing with me, I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU SO SO MUCH ❤️❤️❤️

No warnings excpet for some violence (against Jason Carver so thats fine I think) and some heavy make out session

Word Count: 5.3K

Masterlist

Hit Me Baby One More Time

You had gotten your first taste of popularity on your very first day of middle school, a couple of years ago. That entire week leading up to it had been filled with fear and stress about what people would think of you. Overwhelmed, you had spent the last few days of your summer agonizing over your outfit choice, turning your daily fashion show into a reluctant performance for your big brother, Steve. Despite his huffs and puffs, he had reassured you that everything would go smoothly, but you couldn't help to worry. Eventually, you ended up settling on a cute white dress that reached just above your knees, paired with a soft baby pink cardigan. You had hoped it would be enough to get some of the right kind of attention that Steve always talked about.

In hindsight, you realized that you might have been a tad dramatic as when lunchtime had rolled around, a group of girls had approached you, giggling with excitement. "Are you Steve Harrington's sister?" they had asked-whispered with bright envious eyes. You slowly nodded, and with elated giggles, they ushered you over to their table, where the popular crowd was hanging out. It turned out your brother had quite the reputation, and while you knew he was popular, you hadn't fully grasped the extent to which the name Harrington would impact your social life. For you, Steve was just the idiot older brother who used Farah Fawcet's hairspray to keep his dumb hair in place – But to everyone else, it seemed that Steve was a pretty big deal. So, you were, it seemed, a legacy, and the rest, as they say, was history. And that very day, you also ended up meeting your future best friend, Chrissy Cunningham, who you would grow to love with all your heart.

Five years had come and gone, and now, you were finally well-established into your senior year, ready to graduate in the spring. And while it was true that your older brother might have facilitated your initial entry into the realm of popularity, you had since etched out a distinctive name for yourself. As your brother moved on to new chapters in his life (namely an underpaid job at family video), your own journey through high school took a markedly different path. In fact, your popularity had continued to ascend, like a rising star in the night sky.

Though the Harrington name may have laid the foundation, you had meticulously built upon it, brick by brick. You had cultivated your own unique persona, and it had become a force to be reckoned with in the hallways of your school. No longer living in the shadow of your brother's glory days, you had emerged as a charismatic figure in your own right.

You had become The Harrington sibling who truly counted, especially after the dramatic showdown between Steve and Billy Hargrove during his own senior year. In the aftermath of that clash, your brother's social standing had taken a considerable hit, with much of his social credit being seized by the mullet-wearing bad-boy. The Harrington name, which had once been associated with Steve's swagger, now conjured images of a radiant, saccharine smile, cheerleading outfits, and a personality as pinky-sweet as bubblegum.

While Chrissy indisputably reigned as the queen of Hawkins High, some believed it was only because you had no desire to claim that throne—a belief rooted in truth as you had no interest of being the queen of anything, especially Hawkins High as beyond Chrissy, you harboured little affection for the other members of the popular clique. Whether it was Jason Carver and his cronies or the remainder of the cheer squad, you couldn't help but find them increasingly vapid.

Nestled at the popular table right in the heart of the bustling cafeteria, always donning Hawkins’ green cheer outfit, a nagging sensation of inauthenticity always clung to you. Hitching deep into your soul, making you feel like the fraud you’ve always believed yourself to be as although your elevated social status had smoothed your journey through high school, ensuring a constant stream of party invitations, a steadfast companion, and even a few favors from teachers who were drawn to your preppy smile and sunny disposition, it all felt like a facade, far removed from your true self.

You’ve always known how deep inside, there were facets of who you really were that you couldn't openly share with anyone but Chrissy. She alone knew of your profound love for fantasy and science fiction novels. Nothing brought you more joy than retreating home to dive headlong into the mystical realms crafted by H.P. Lovecraft or to lose yourself once more in the pages of your well-worn copy of "Frankenstein." Yet, these passions remained concealed beneath the veneer you projected: the princess of Hawkins High, painted in shades of pink, sweet, and deceptively perfect.

The idea of letting those hidden, nerdy passions of yours see the light of day felt like a risky bet, one that could potentially leave you feeling incredibly alone at Hawkins High. The thought of losing friends and having nowhere to sit during lunch was a constant source of worry. You had faith in Chrissy's unwavering support, regardless of your social standing, but you couldn't bear the idea of burdening her. She was just so kind, always forgiving even to those who didn't deserve it, and you didn't want to be the one responsible for pulling her down.

As a result, the decision to keep these aspects of your identity hidden weighed heavily on your heart. It felt like an unspoken loneliness, a sacrifice you were making to preserve the fragile balance of the life you'd carefully constructed in high school. Hawkins High had its own intricate ecosystem, and you were very much a part of it. Your place within that system was delicate, and you couldn't afford to disrupt it, fearing that it might set off a chain reaction that could destabilize everything. You had no intention of being the one to upset the frail high school biome of Hawkins High.

Now, however, your situation was far from ideal as you found yourself sandwiched between Carly and Tina during lunch, and today, they were even more exasperating than usual. There seemed to be some sort of fallout from Tina's last party, something involving a boy, and now the two girls communicated exclusively through snarky remarks, making the tension rise with every snip from either girl. A brewing headache was beginning to claw at your temples as you were waiting for the explosion to erupt sooner rather than later.

What was happening in front of you wasn’t any better as you were given a front-row seat to the somewhat uncomfortable sight of Jason Carver deeply engrossed in a passionate kiss with Chrissy. She appeared to be on the brink of embarrassment, her attempts to gently push Jason away carried out with shy reluctance. "Jason, please," she implored, her manicured hand finding its way to his chest, a plea in her eyes. "Not in front of everyone..."

In response, Jason merely rolled his eyes dismissively. "Come on, baby," he insisted, his voice low and unconcerned. "No one's even paying attention to us."

You couldn't help but scowl, unhappiness etching your delicate features as you watched the uncomfortable display unfold before you. Finally, you couldn't take it any longer. You cleared your throat and loudly exclaimed, "Hey, Chrissy?" All eyes turned to you, and you continued, "Do you think we could slip away from lunch a bit early to go over the routine we've been practicing for the upcoming game? I really want to make sure I've got it down perfectly before tonight's match."

Chrissy's sigh of relief was almost audible, and you could sense her gratitude. In contrast, Jason huffed unhappily, clearly irritated by the interruption. He muttered something about leaving you girls to your conversation before he got up and headed to chat with one of his buddies at the far end of the table.

You and Chrissy shared a quick, wordless girl-to-girl conversation. All the words you needed were conveyed through a bombastic side-eye from you and a subtle nod of your head toward Jason. Chrissy responded with a playful roll of her eyes and a slight shake of her shoulder, silently agreeing with your sentiment.

As your eyes shifted away from Chrissy, they unexpectedly locked onto the deep brown ones of Eddie Munson. Two distinct emotions surged from deep within you. One was a rush of excitement as the warmth of your crush enveloped you, causing your face to flush as red as a ripe apple under his gaze. But in an instant, that crush felt almost crushing when you realized that it wasn't you that Eddie was looking at, but rather Chrissy's high ponytail that had captured his attention.

Eddie and Chrissy. Chrissy and Eddie. ChrissyandEddie. It was an undeniable fact that the guy you had the most enormous crush on happened to be utterly smitten with your best friend. It felt almost tragically comical, if you were being honest with yourself. Throughout high school, countless guys had mustered the courage to ask you out, but you had dismissed them all without a second thought. Football jocks, band nerds, potheads, music fanatics – none of them could hold a candle to Eddie Munson in your eyes.From the very moment you first crossed paths with Eddie during your freshman year, your heart had been irreversibly, completely, and utterly captivated by the charismatic and outspoken boy. You were utterly unprepared for it, not like you were out there seeking Cupid's arrow to pierce your heart. You had simply been an unsuspecting victim of one of its whims, but the exquisite pain that followed was worth it. At least, you hoped so.

Thanks to Eddie's recurring attempts at redoing his senior year and your placement in advanced classes, your worlds intersected more than once. One particularly unforgettable encounter unfolded in Mrs. Allen's math class, where the teacher had a peculiar notion that pairing the class's worst student (Eddie) with its best (you) would somehow work magic. You were left a bit shy and entirely tongue-tied in his presence, but Eddie had an uncanny talent for leaning in close and delivering a barrage of side-splitting, utterly inappropriate observations about Mrs. Allen that left you snorting with laughter. For a glorious three months, Eddie was your math partner in crime, and during that time, you dared to believe that something more could evolve from your interactions. If only you could string together coherent sentences without tripping over your words.

However, as fate would have it, the teacher eventually grew tired of her seating arrangement, deciding it was high time to shake things up. This twist in your high school narrative resulted in you and Eddie being separated, an alteration you weren't particularly thrilled about. The new arrangement effectively put a damper on your burgeoning connection.

It was in the midst of this seating shuffle that Eddie tossed a rather loaded question your way, catching you off guard. "Your friend Chrissy," he began, as you felt yourself shrink under his gaze. "Is she still with that Carver douche?" Your gaze faltered as you met his, a nod escaping your lips as a wave of disappointment surged within you. Inwardly grappling with the sting of unspoken heartache, you found yourself clutching the hem of your cheer skirt almost desperately. Without another word, you retreated to your newly assigned seat, a sense of melancholy lingering like a shadow and bitter disappointment coating your tongue.

Even now, your gaze would involuntarily flicker to Eddie whenever you found yourself in the same room. Often, he'd be engrossed in conversations with his bandmates or his D&D group, leaving you on the outside looking in. It was a conflicting sensation, feeling his presence so near yet so far away. If only you could gather the nerve to strike up a conversation with him, but you hesitated. After all, you were the popular girl, the one who played by the rules, and good girls weren't supposed to mix with people like Eddie, no matter how much you desperately longed for it. Perhaps during math class today, you thought, you might find a plausible excuse to approach him. Maybe something as simple as asking about the homework or...

"And what the hell do you think you're staring at, Freak!?" The sudden hush that swept over the cafeteria was palpable as every head turned toward Jason, who had abandoned your table and was now striding purposefully toward the one where Eddie and his friends were seated. A chill coursed through your veins, causing your face to pale. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the unfolding drama as Eddie rose from his seat. While he appeared outwardly confident, the telltale clenching and unclenching of his hand betrayed the nervousness bubbling beneath the surface. It was clear to you that what he was displaying might just be a facade of bravado.

"Did you dribble that orange ball a few too many times, Carver?" Eddie sarcastically chimed in. His words hung in the air, an open challenge that seemed to stoke the flames of Jason's anger. In a fit of rage, Jason lunged forward, grabbing Eddie by the front of his well-worn jeans jacket. The cafeteria held its breath, anticipation hanging heavy in.

A gasp escaped your lips, a sharp, involuntary intake of breath as the dramatic confrontation unfolded before your eyes. Abruptly, you shot up from your seat, causing Chrissy to turn around in surprise. She sent you an uncertain look as you started to stride toward the two boys. It was as if you were possessed by a force stronger than yourself, you couldn’t let whatever was happening continue – you had to do something!

"Don't try to bullshit me, freak!" Jason's voice reverberated through the cafeteria, anger and scorn dripping from his words. "I saw you looking at Chrissy. You think you can just lay your eyes on her, you freak? She isn't yours; you're nothing but trailer trash! Don't you ever dare to look at her again, alright? Or I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!" Jason was so close to Eddie's face that his spittle sprayed across the other boy's features. He shoved Eddie backward, and it was at that moment, as you were making your way between the mass of students that had clustered around Jason and Eddie that you felt a surge of red-hot anger like nothing you had ever felt before.

"Do I make myself clear, freak?" Jason continued, his voice dripping with malice. "Or do I need to send my boys to deal with you and your pathetic group of losers?" Eddie looked incensed, but he cowered under Jason's menacing threat.

"I...wasn't...looking," Eddie enunciated each word through gritted teeth, avoiding Jason's eyes. Jason burst into fake laughter, glancing around at the onlookers.

"Does the freak have a crush?" he taunted, his voice cruel and derisive. "That's hilarious. You honestly think you'd have a chance with Chrissy? Be realistic, freak. What is it now, twice repeating your senior year?" Eddie's face turned a deep shade of pink, shame washing over him as Jason's taunts struck at his insecurities. His shoulders sagged with each insult, and he struggled to maintain his composure.

"Everyone knows anyway that the only way a freak like you could ever get close to a girl is when you and your little cult of Satan practice some sacrifices," Jason continued, his words laced with venom. "I'm even surprised they let people like you in here. Everyone knows what kind of trash your dad was, it ain't surprising that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree…”

You pushed your way through the crowd, determination propelling you forward. Without a second thought, you strode purposefully toward the back of Jason. Eddie's surprised gaze locked onto you as you confidently approached them.

You extended your arm and lightly tapped Jason on the shoulder, effectively cutting off his rant mid-sentence. The abruptness of your action prompted Jason to whirl around to face you, his typically handsome features now contorted into a repulsive mask of anger. It was a stark contrast to the carefully cultivated "cool-guy" image he often projected. But deep down, you knew this enraged countenance was his true face, hidden behind the facade. In fight or flight mode, you recalled your brother Steve's advice about fighting, which you had stored away in your memory, "Sis," Steve's voice echoed in your mind, "when you throw a punch, put your entire body behind it."

And that's precisely what you did. With every ounce of your body weight, you thrust your fist forward directly into Jason's face. The cafeteria was filled with a sharp crack, echoing through the room, followed by a collective gasp from everyone present. An eerie silence descended upon the cafeteria.

Jason lay sprawled on the floor, a violent stream of blood gushing from his nose, while you clutched your hand close to your chest. Tears welled up at the corners of your eyes. No one had ever warned you that hitting someone would hurt like an absolute nightmare! It ] wasn’t like that in the movies!

Your gaze landed on Eddie, and you noticed a peculiar expression take over the young metalhead’s face – His brown gaze held something unfamiliar, a look you had never seen throughout the time you had been admiring him from afar. I was as though he were seeing you – like he was attempting to decipher the mechanics of your very being. It caught you off guard, this intensity in his stare, and you couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

“YOU BITCH! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!!!” Jason roared from his sprawled position on the ground.

Reluctantly tearing your gaze away from Eddie, you redirected it toward the fallen boy who cut a rather pathetic figure at your feet. Curling your lip in disdain, you adopted your most haughty tone and huffed, "You, Jason Carver, are the problem here!"

Jason, still sprawled on the floor with a nosebleed, glared up at you, his anger palpable, "You little—"

Before he could finish his sentence, you cut him off with a stern gesture. "Save it, Jason. You had this coming."

A stunned silence blanketed the cafeteria, every eye fixed on the unfolding confrontation. It was as if time had frozen, and the entire room held its breath in rapt attention as Hawkins' princess unleashed her verbal assault on the school's reigning king.

In that moment, you felt like you had the entire cafeteria in a chokehold, and you were determined not to let this opportunity slip away, not after what Jason had put Eddie through. Gathering your resolve, you continued, your voice dripping with disdain, "Do you honestly believe you can bully and belittle people just because they don't conform to your narrow definition of 'normal'? Well, I've had enough of your toxic attitude! You, my dear Jason, are the most insufferable idiot I've ever had the displeasure of encountering in my entire life! And I am done catering to whatever you and your dumb friends say!”

Jason struggled to get up, wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. Turning back to Jason, you crossed your arms and delivered your final message with authority. "Consider this a warning, Jason. Mess with Eddie or anyone else again, and you'll have me to answer to."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" Principal Higgins' thunderous voice pierced through the otherwise eerily silent cafeteria. In an instant, your confidence evaporated, leaving you feeling pale and exposed. You were caught off guard, unable to process what to do or say.

Before you could even react, a familiar, warm hand firmly grabbed yours, yanking you along as they sprinted in the opposite direction, forcefully pushing people out of the way. It was a grip you knew well, and you didn't hesitate to follow Eddie as he practically dragged you toward the exit of the cafeteria.

The scene you left behind was nothing short of chaotic. The entire school stood in a collective stupor, mouths agape in disbelief. Jason Carver, his face an alarming shade of red, appeared on the brink of an aneurysm as he struggled to regain his composure. Principal Higgins, in his authoritative fury, barked orders at the bewildered students, demanding answers and an immediate end to the commotion.

As you reached the exit and the clamor of the cafeteria began to fade, you couldn't help but let out a giggle of exhilaration. Eddie continued to lead you, now behind the school building and into the dense woods that bordered the campus. The farther you ventured into the secluded forest, the more you appreciated the sudden escape from the madness. Eventually, Eddie brought you to a worn-out picnic table, the wood weathered by years of exposure to the elements. Eddie finally managed to catch his breath. He exhaled heavily and asked, "What the hell... hfff... was that?!"

You leaned against the picnic table, still catching your own breath, and grinned at Eddie. "That, Eddie, was me finally giving Jason Carver a taste of his own medicine. That douchebag had it coming!"

Eddie let out a loud surprised laugh while still trying to catch his breath, his eyes still wide from the unexpected turn of events. "Well, I've gotta say, sweetheart, that was quite the show back there. You really let him have it, you got a mean hook princess." A warm flush of pride swept over you as you soaked in Eddie's praises. How long had you waited to hear him say something like that—to acknowledge you and gaze at you as if you were the most wonderful girl in the world? It was a feeling you had been yearning for so long, and if you were to die right now, you would die happy!

Eddie's warm, chocolate-coloured gaze landed on you, and it felt as though it softly swept over every inch of your being. He spoke, his voice filled with curiosity, "I don't think anyone was expecting Hawkins' princess to come to the defence of the 'freak.' You know they won't let you forget this, right? Why would you risk all that for little old me, Harrington?"

You let out a sigh, the weight of his inquisitive gaze pressing on you. As you closed your eyes briefly, you grappled with the emotions that had been swirling within you since the first time you had laid eyes on Eddie. A small smile crept onto your lips as you slowly opened your eyes, fixing them on the boy of your dreams. "You're worth it, Munson."

Eddie drew in a sharp breath, taking three steps closer to you. His large, warm hands, bearing tiny scars from playing the guitar, gently swept across your cheeks as he gazed intently into your eyes. "Do you mean that, Harrington? Because there's no going back if I kiss you right now—it's you and me, the princess and the 'freak.' You won’t climb back from that fall.”

You glanced at your right hand, the knuckles scraped and the skin raw, with a slight swelling on your wrist. "I think it's a little too late for that anyway," you sheepishly admitted. Eddie smiled warmly, his eyes filled with admiration, before gently taking your hand in his two larger ones. He slowly brought your bruised knuckles to his mouth, planting a soft kiss on each of them, causing your breath to hitch.

"Who knew that the princess of Hawkins High was Indiana’s future boxing champion," Eddie softly joked, his voice laced with affection. "I just feel bad for this pretty, soft hand – all bruised and battered to protect me, like the prettiest knight in pink armor coming to my rescue." You couldn't help but swoon at his words as Eddie continued to softly kiss your hand, his gaze slowly lifting to meet yours, his eyes filled with… Love? Tenderness? A girl could dream.

A warm smile curved across Eddie's lips, and he leaned in, capturing your mouth with his in a searing kiss. As you both savored each other, Eddie's hand slowly wrapped around the base of your neck, holding you close to him. As you were trying not to faint from the sheer pleasure this moment was bringing you, a flash of remembrance rushed through you, snapping you back from your trance and causing you to break the kiss and catch your breath. You whispered softly against Eddie's lips, "What about Chrissy?"

Eddie nuzzled your face with his nose, his lips brushing lightly against your skin. "What about her?" he retorted playfully. "I mean... I thought... I thought you had a thing for her," you admitted meekly.

Eddie smirked against your cheek. "If I did, I wouldn't be kissing you right now, right?" His voice held a teasing edge as he continued to shower your neck with tender kisses.

You closed your eyes, feeling a mix of contradicting emotions – wanting to keep going to feel more of him, wishing him to stop playing with your heart because you weren’t sure you could take it anymore. "I mean it, Eddie... I don't want to be your second choice."

Eddie stopped his ministrations and returned to your face, holding your gaze with his. "You were always my first choice, Eddie," you confessed, tears gathering at the corner of your eyes. "And I don't think I could handle being your backup plan."

Eddie's whispers were tender as he wiped away the tears that had begun to roll down your cheeks. "Nononono, sweetheart. Don't cry, please," he implored softly. "You were always my first choice." His words held a reassuring sincerity that began to soothe your racing heart. But you wouldn’t be so easily swayed, as much as you loathed Jason Carver, you had witnessed first hand how Eddie seemed enraptured with Chrissy.

You huffed in disbelief, but Eddie insisted, urging you to meet his gaze. "No, it's true. Hey, look at me," he gently encouraged. "I never thought I would ever have a chance with a girl like you. You know, you're like my dream girl, right?" You gave him an uncertain look, still wrestling with your doubts. "You always stare at Chrissy, though. And you did ask me if she was still with Jason, remember?"

Eddie released your cheeks and took a step back, embarrassment tinging his cheeks as he used a piece of his shaggy hair to shield himself from you. "I wasn't looking at Chrissy. You're always with Chrissy, so I was looking at you," he admitted, his voice tinged with shyness. "And I only asked you that because I panicked. I was going to ask you out, but the guys had been teasing me for weeks, telling me I was too much of a coward to do it. I guess they were right because I chickened out."

As Eddie continued, his embarrassment grew, and he took another step back. He held the piece of hair in front of his face, as if to hide himself from you. "I've actually had a crush on you since last year," he confessed, his words shocking you.

"Are you joking?!" you blurted out, astonished.

He shook his head, his warm brown eyes holding your gaze. "Not at all, princess," he began with a soft smile. "It was last year. You were on your way back from cheer practice, and you were in a hurry, holding a huge backpack. It happened so fast that you didn't even realize a book had fallen out."

His eyes sparkled as he continued, his tone becoming more animated. "I saw it lying there, and curiosity got the best of me – I picked it up, and to my surprise, it was a copy of 'The Hobbit.’” He grinned as if sharing a secret. "I was planning to return it to you, honestly, but then, when I opened it, I saw that there was a bunch of notes in the margins." Eddie started grinning even more as he continued “All there in the margins, notes, thoughts, musings. It was like reading your mind with every turn of the page. Your insights, your emotions, your laughter, and even your frustrations were all there in the margins. I knew I had stumbled upon the most precious treasure in the universe – it was a private window into you."

Your breath hitched at his words, and as Eddie spoke, you felt a warmth spreading through you, "It felt like we were close," Eddie continued, his gaze never leaving yours. "I couldn't put the book down. It was like having a conversation with you, even when you weren't around. I realized how much we had in common, how you saw the world, and it fascinated me.”

The thought that Eddie had held onto that copy of 'The Hobbit,' with your notes and thoughts, all this time was both surprising and heartwarming. Damn, he was perfect.

"Fuck, I sound so creepy," Eddie confessed, breaking your reverie. He scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.

But you weren’t creeped out, far from it. For the first time in your life, you felt completely understood by someone – inside and out. "No, Eddie," you whispered softly, your heart swelling with love. "You don't sound creepy at all. You sound... perfect." A sweet cocky grin got etched on Eddie’s lips “Perfect, eh?”

Getting overwhelmed by his stare, you tried to play it cool and diverted his question by teasingly asking, "So you’ve had a big fat crush on me for a while, right?"

Eddie chuckled, taking a step closer to you, his gaze locked on yours. "Don't get too high and mighty, princess," he said with a warm smile, his voice laced with adoration. "From the looks of it, you've got a pretty big crush on little old me too…"

Your heart skipped a beat at his words, and you let out a soft giggle, feeling a delightful warmth in the pit of your stomach. "I can neither confirm nor deny that," you replied in a sing-song voice, your eyes never leaving his.

Eddie's smile deepened, his gaze filled with affection. With a tender touch, he placed his hands on your waist, and before you knew it, he had spun you around. You couldn't help but let out a joyful squeak as you twirled together in a sweet, romantic dance. As he gently lowered you back to the ground, his strong arms remained securely wrapped around your back, pulling you close.

In that intimate moment, it felt as though the world had faded away, leaving just the two of you entwined in each other's embrace. Your breaths synchronized, and you lost yourselves in each other's eyes, the unspoken promise of a beautiful future passing between you.

"Hey, Eddie," you whispered, your voice barely above a breath but filled with affection and longing.

Eddie's gaze softened even more, his eyes filled with tenderness as he held you close. "Yeah, princess?"

With a radiant smile, you leaned in closer to him, your heart singing with love. "I've got a big fat crush on you too."

A soft, contented sigh escaped Eddie's lips, and he held you even tighter as if he never wanted to let you go. "Good." And without another word, he pressed his lips to yours in a bruising kiss. Nothing ever tasted sweeter.

“You gonna be alright sitting with the freaks now?” “As long as I sit with you Eddie, I could not care less.”

The fallen princess and the freak," you thought contentedly, "that has the ringing of a love story for the ages.” And all it took was that punch you threw at Jason Carver's face for you and Eddie to find your way to each other.

#eddie x y/n #eddie x fem!reader #eddie x you #eddie x reader #eddie munson #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fandom #stranger things #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #chrissy cunningham #jason carver

321 notes · View notes

sunflowergirl522 · 6 months

Text

Definitely Not Dreaming

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Harrington!Reader

Request from Anon: Harrington!reader, Steve’s little sister. Popular, a cheerleader, first time senior and Chrissy’s best friend. But she has a secret that only her best friend knows. She’s had a crush on Eddie Munson since middle school. She’s afraid to tell him, thinking there’s no way he’d be into her. Until one day in the cafeteria, Jason Carver calls Eddie a freak. She confronts him, and punches him in the face, breaking or spraining her hand/wrist. Guess her little secret is out, and she may never be popular again.

Word Count: 3401

Eddie Masterlist

Popularity basically came hand in hand with being a Harrrington. When you first started highschool, a year after Steve did and without knowing anyone thanks to the private school you had been in, everyone who had adored him immediately decided to adore you as well. Mostly it was to try to get King Steve, a horrible nickname that you still tease him about, to like them. You weren’t complaining at first, it came with plenty of friends and invites to groups and parties, hell cheerleading basically fell into your lap.

You hadn’t even been looking to join the squad when you first got to Hawkins High, the head cheerleader at the time, Becca, had searched you out after hearing about Steve Harrington's little sister being a freshman. It was some ploy to try to get into his pants but that didn’t make you enjoy it any less. You had never done it before but, and you could blame it on your perky attitude and your energy, you quickly fell in love with cheering. It didn’t matter that it took up a lot of your free time or that most girls on the squad were bitches, it was so much fun and if you hadn’t joined the team who knows if you would’ve become best friends with Chrissy. Robin on the other hand you’re sure you would’ve been friends with either way.

The downside to the popularity, that you’ve complained relentlessly to Steve about, is no one wants to actually get to know you or wants you to actually be yourself. You let one intrusive thought out at a party once and it was like a record scratch moment where everyone in the area looked at you like you were crazy. Since then you’ve kept the real you locked behind this more watered down version and are only really your whole genuine self around Chrissy and Robin, who you were friends with first and will never let Steve forget.

But the worst part about being part of the popular crowd by far was that Eddie Munson avoided you like the plague. It seemed like anytime you tried to approach him he’d veer some other way or seemingly disappear in the crowd of students. It’s not like you could blame him, not completely at least, you’ve seen how everyone treats him. You just wish he’d give you a chance to show him you’re not like everyone else.

You have the biggest crush on the older boy. It started years ago when you attended the talent show Hawkins middle school had to watch Steve. You watched his band perform with stars in your eyes before having to run after a freaking out Steve due to your parents lack of caring. After hyping him up as much as you could and getting him excited all over again you bumped into the big brown eyed boy and talked to him until your brother took the stage. You never interacted with him after that and had almost completely forgotten about the small silly crush until you happened to spot him in the hall your first day of freshman year.

You hadn’t recognized him at first but how could you? It was the first time in three years that you saw him. But then he threw his head back in laughter in the boyish way you used to replay in your head daydreaming about the boy you met once and you immediately knew who he was.

Your crush has since then come back full swing and gotten worse. He’s just so pretty and even though he makes himself seem scary you know he’s still so sweet. The evidence was there when he approached Jonathan when Will was missing to offer him whatever support he might need and more recently in how he’s really helped the kids you’ve come to love like your own siblings feel accepted in their new environment. Both instances cause you to want to let out a dreamy sigh just thinking about them.

Steve makes a joke here or there about the crush you had when you were younger but hasn’t realized yet that it still exists. But really Chrissy and Robin are the only ones who know about it. You don’t keep it a secret because you fear losing your popularity, if they stop liking you just because of who you like then good riddance, no you keep it secret because if it got out to him you think you might just die. To you the idea that maybe he would ever like you too seems completely impossible. A fact that is so funny to you seeing as you’ve literally helped the kids fight monsters. And if that’s not impossible, nothing should be.

“Earth to Y/n!” Chrissy waves her hand in front of your face to get your attention away from Eddie down the hall back to whatever she was saying.

“I’m here, I’m here! What is it?” She laughs as you jump and turn to face her trying to act like you’ve been paying attention the whole time.

“You were not! Stop ogling your boyfriend and start hyping yourself up for the pep rally at the end of the day.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You murmur and take one last glance at the boy laughing with Dustin at the kids locker. “What’s the rally for again?”

“Introducing this year's basketball team and celebrating the football team's undefeated victory.”

“Oh yeah. I’m so excited to cheer for Lucas. He's been so happy about making the team.” He had been over your house almost everyday for a month to play with Steve to get ready for tryouts. And as far as you know you were the first person he told that he made the team. He had been practically giddy with his happiness.

“I just hope Jason doesn’t go overboard with hazing this year like last time.” Last year it had been so bad that two freshmen quit right before the first game. They just barely had a full team for it.

“I swear if he makes Lucas hate the game I’ll kill your boyfriend myself.” You’re already on the brink of hitting him or something with how he treats everyone who isn’t part of the “it crowd”. You’re still not even sure what Chrissy sees in him but that’s a battle you lose every time you bring it up.

“Yeah, I know.” She sighs as she closes her locker not wanting to get into it with you. “Now come on, let’s get to the cafeteria before it gets too crowded.”

You follow behind her. It’s not that the two of you want to beat the crowd for the line, you pack yourself more food than you can eat because Chrissy’s mom packs her basically scraps to eat and you want to make sure she eats more than a handful of carrots. The two of you just hate maneuvering through students holding trays. As the two of you sit down in your usual seats you hope Mike is there early enough it’s easy to spot him so you can give him the lunch he forgot in your car today.

“Mike!” You get up when you spot him walking towards their table with Lucas and head his way, lunch bag in hand. You smile and wave to Lucas as you pass each other so you can stop in front of Mike.

“What’s going on over there Sinclair?” Eddie asks when Lucas sits down nodding his head in your direction. “Mike having issues?”

“What, no it’s just Y/n.”

“I know, Harrington's sister. Why’s that happening?” He motions again to your laughing form and Mike’s smile at being handed a brown paper bag.

“I don’t know man it could be anything. Why do you care so much?”

“I don’t.” He does. Because he cares about if anyone other than him gives Mike a hard time. But also because he remembers the little girl he met all those years ago and how sweet he had thought she was and the big crush he had on her. Kids were cruel to him even back then so you had been like a breath of fresh air and after losing you in the crowd when you went back to take your seat to watch Steve perform he searched for you relentlessly in the halls of Hawkins Middle School just for you to not be there. And then you showed up here your freshman year and immediately joined the crowd that has tried to make his life hell for so long and he thought that sweet girl was gone.

And then he met Dustin, Mike, and Lucas and after hearing them talk about you between themselves he realized you were still a big sweetheart. And has since noticed how you give Chrissy half your lunch almost everyday and how you don’t laugh along with the others when they’re harassing another student and have even just walked away on occasion. Some days when it’s really bad he’s watched you get up and move to sit with the band kids where you look happier and more comfortable.

As you take your seat next to Chrissy again you try not to make it obvious as you look over to watch the table, specifically Eddie, greet Mike.

“Pretty sure he was just watching you again.”

“Shut up Chrissy, he doesn’t watch me.” You groan and roll your eyes before getting your own lunch out and passing half your sandwich over to her. “He avoids me like he’ll catch a disease if we even walk down the same hallway.” She always tries to tell you that he watches you when you’re not paying attention but if that was true he wouldn’t turn as soon as he sees you in the direction he’s heading.

“Hey babe.” Jason greets Chrissy as he sits at the end of the table. “Y/n.”

“Jason.” You hold in your scoff as his neanderthal friends sit down with him. You scooch closer to Chrissy as Andy sits next to you invading your space. You’d be scared of him if you haven’t witnessed Eddie fighting him in the past and how he backs off now as soon as Eddie starts moving towards him.

“Hey doll face.” He leans in closer to you like he normally does. He has the audacity to think the two of you should get together because you’re both best friends with Chrissy and Jason. You just wish Patrick would’ve been the one to get here before him like he’s been trying to do. “How bout you and me go to the drive in tonight?”

“How about no. I think Patty’s free tonight, you should try asking her.” You bring attention to your squadmate who you know has a thing for the idiot next to you.

“Hey!” Patrick squeezes in across from you. “Where’s Lucas at?” That gets Andy’s attention away from you.

“Yeah, where’s the fresh meat?”

“At the freaks table.” Jason joins in as he spots Lucas and you send Chrissy a look knowing that something is about to happen that’ll make you mad. “Sinclair! You don’t belong over there with the freakazoids anymore, you’re one of us now.” Lucas looks over confused and obviously not wanting to leave his friends. With his friends jeering and support Jason gets more arrogant and egotistical obviously enjoying all the positivity he’s getting from the table of cheerleaders and jocks. “If you don’t sit with us, you’re not on the team.”

Lucas’s eyes go wide in shock and he murmurs an unseen apology to his friends before gathering his lunch up and standing to move. You gasp at Jason's threat which goes unheard to everyone but Chrissy, drowned in the cheers and laughter, who shares a stunned look with you and grabs onto your wrist in her shock. Your chair scraping on the ground as you stand up cuts through the noise and brings almost the whole room's attention to you.

“You have to be out of your fucking mind! What the hell do you think you’re doing threatening him like that?” You don’t see it but Robin stands up ready to get you out of there if need be once you step around Chrissy to get closer to the man himself. Eddie gets up as soon as Jason’s attention turns to you.

“It’s my team I can decide who stays on it or not.” You make a failing buzzer noise causing him to flinch.

“Wrong. Last I checked you weren’t the coach and Lucas was already officially added to the team. You can’t just decide he’s off it just because he’s friends with people you don’t like.” Your anger just keeps boiling up in you and your instinct to protect your found family comes front and center.

“Nothing's official until the pep rally announcement, if he wants to sit with a bunch of loser weirdos then he can stay a fucking loser weirdo.” You go to lunge for him but someone grabs your middle to stop you. Jason’s so angry that you even tried to do something that he doesn’t even notice who pulled you back. “You little-”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Eddie steps up so you’re positioned behind him and he’s the one staring down Jason. He takes a step back and Eddie smirks before putting his hands on your shoulders to turn you towards the door. “Just keep walking sweetheart.” He speaks so only you can hear him.

“Yeah, go run off with king freak!” You turn around and swing without thinking twice about it, landing your punch to Jason's cheek before Eddie grabs you and forces you out of the room. “Fucking bitch!” If Eddie wasn’t so focused on getting you away from him he’d punch Jason himself. Robin heads over to collect your stuff glaring at Jason before following the two of you out hoping to catch up before losing you becomes an option.

“Stupid fucking airhead who does he think he is?” You grumble to yourself letting Eddie guide you outside. “Shit that hurt.” You shake out your hand as he has you sit at one of the picnic tables. You were used to swinging bats and shit not punching things.

“Flex your hand for me.” Eddie lightly holds onto your arm right below your wrist while crouching in front of you. You nod and do it the rest of you freezing because wow he’s so close to you right now. And his brown eyes are observing your hand and wrist like it’s the most precious thing in the world. “Good. Can you rotate your wrist? Any pain there?”

“It’s not like a this is gonna hurt in the morning kind of hurt but it is a why the hell would you do that kind of hurt.” He chuckles at your observations and it’s like a whole beehive formed in your stomach.

“You definitely didn’t break anything then, and I doubt you sprained anything either. Can’t imagine a girl like you goes around punching people often so that’s good.” He balls your hand into a fist oh so gently to make sure you can still form one before moving it around to double check. And suddenly the bees are swarming out of the hive and up your chest.

“I remember you, you know.” The words just fall out of your mouth and you have no control over it.

“What?” At this Eddie looks up to meet your eyes with his own.

“From years ago, we were still kids and I was there to watch Steve in the talent show. And I bumped into you at one point and we just sorta talked for a while before he was called onto the stage. I thought you were just the cutest back then, cuter now with all this hair though. Oh God I’m gonna shut up now.” Eddie laughs at your short ramble and lets go of your hand even though he’d like to keep holding it.

“I remember you too.” He rests his arms on his knees as he slightly leans back.

“You do? Then why do you avoid me every chance you get? We could’ve been friends this whole time.”

“When I first found out you were gonna be here for your high school years I wasn’t planning on it. But then you got here and immediately started hanging around the crowd you do and I don’t know, I figured that you would maybe join them in their taunting and teasing.” You go to speak but he puts a hand over your mouth so he can finish. “So I just decided to avoid you completely so my memory of you being so nice wouldn’t get tainted. But then I’d see you help other kids and give Chrissy half your food during lunch and I realized you were still probably the nicest one of them. And then Dustin and his friends started this year and they constantly talk about you among themselves or bring you up in happy memories. I wanted to approach you then but I haven’t wanted to bring you into all the shit they throw at me.”

“Welcome to being a Harrington, popularity just falls into your lap whether you want it and enjoy the people around you or not.” You speak when he finally takes his hand away. “Besides I think I may have just fucked that up for me myself.”

“If you don’t like any of them why stay around them?”

“They aren’t all bad, Chrissy’s my best friend and Patrick is nice when you get to know him. Some other girls on the cheer team are alright too. It’s just the majority that are dicks. I just, I love cheering so much that I’m willing to force myself to be around them.”

“Well you’ll have me and the guys if that’s so.” It’s silent for a minute before Eddie speaks again.

“I tried to search for you, after the talent show. I’d scour the halls between classes and pray I’d spot you.”

“I went to a private all girls school, something about my parents wanting me to be proper.”

“It’s a shame, I had the biggest fucking crush on you sweetheart.” You gasp and before you know it your hands are grabbing his jacket and pulling him up to connect your lips.

“Shit, sorry.” You pull away as soon as you realize what you’re doing. “I just, I had a big crush on you too.”

“Don’t be sorry.” One of his hands cradles your face while the other holds onto the back of your neck pulling you into another, more desperate kiss. Your hands immediately go to his hair that you’ve been dying for years to play with as you match his energy.

“There you are, I grabbed your stuff since you left without it. Woah, I’m definitely interrupting something.” Robin comes out with your book bag in hand, freezing when she sees what’s happening. The two of you part at the sudden intrusion and look at Robin eyes wide. “Oh Steve’s definitely gonna kill one of you.”

“Who’s Steve killing?” Chrissy appears next to Robin slightly out of breath from chasing her down. “Oh.” She takes in the two of you slightly breathless and Eddie’s hands on your bare thighs where they fell to after breaking apart. “Oh.”

“We don’t actually have time for this. Isn’t the cheer squad practicing with the band crew before the rally?”

“Yeah, we gotta go.” Chrissy grabs you and pulls you up to get to the gym.

“Bye Eddie, see you at the pep rally?”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there.” He has just enough time to see you smile at him before the door closes behind you. Robin sighs at seeing his own dopey smile.

“I’ll tell her to meet you after so you can get her number or something.”

“Thanks Buckley! You’re the man!” She rolls her eyes and disappears leaving Eddie to dramatically fall back onto the concrete in disbelief.

“First I actually punched Jason and then that? Chrissy, pinch me I think I might be dreaming.” She does so, making you yelp. “Definitely not dreaming then.” You make a show of pumping your fist in the air causing your friend to laugh before you go back to normal to face the rest of the cheer squad.

Eddie Taglist (31/40): @sadbitchfangirl @notbeforelong @navs-bhat @emotionaldreamer @gaysludge @eddiethesexy @mazerunnerrose @midnightsgetawaycar @mushroomelephant @saramelaniemoon @nojamsonmytoast @vintagehellfire @esoltis280 @spikedhe4rt @siriuslysmoking @toobsessedsstuff @alana4610 @gretavanfleas @sparkletash @aactuaaltraash @spookyemorockbabe @jesssssmaybankk @tlclick73 @eddiemunsonslittlemetalhead @bl4ckt00thgr1n @eli-flower @canyonmooncreations @witchwolflea @emxxblog @chaoticgood-munson

Everything Taglist: @matchamunson @bubsonnobx @practicalghost @katsukis1wife @crustyowos @yourfavdummy @protecteddiemunson4vr @kennedy-brooke @m00nkn1ghts @rory-cakes

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #Eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x harrington!reader #eddie stranger things #stranger things #stranger things 4

373 notes · View notes

brewsterispunkk · 1 year

Text

THE TUTOR

eddie munson x reader

part 1/4

pairing: eddie munson x f!reader, eddie munson x shy!reader (only one use of y/n and I cringed writing it)

rating: 18+ mature! minors be gone!

summary: reader has had a secret crush on Eddie Munson for months, only she has been too scared to tell him. When she’s forced to tutor him, she lets it slip that she feels like she’s missed out on the normal “high school experience.” Eddie aims to change that.

A/N: this has been in my drafts since LAST MAY!!! & i am just now finishing it jfc. this is part one to a series I’m looking to make three parts! I’ll finish it if it’s the last thing I do!

You hated first period. Always had, ever since sophomore year when you’d had AP literature with the juniors and Carol Perkins had made it her life’s work to make your life a living hell.

You didn’t know exactly what you had done to make her hate you so much, but early on in the year, she’d made it abundantly clear that you were going to be her new target. And you, being the only awkward, braces-faced sophomore in the class, had elected to suck it up and take the bullying.

After all, she was telling you everything you already knew; your hair was frizzy, your teeth were crooked, your acne was ugly and awful. The usual things that you, with the same awful self esteem that was characteristic of every knobby-kneed 14-year-old, had already heard and already believed.

Eventually, when your study-buddy and the only other underclassman in the class, Nancy Wheeler, found out about the full extent of the bullying, she’d done something about it. She had just started dating Steve Harrington at that point, and despite his larger than life hair and not so great reputation, he was nice to you by association. He was the one who got Carol to stop.

Still though, you thought that that god-awful year of excruciating first-period classes had ruined them for you for good; conditioned you somehow into expecting the worst from your first class of the day so that now, as a senior, you still dreaded it.

Today was no different.

You tapped your foot distractedly in the back seat of Steve’s car as he pulled out of your neighborhood.

“For the last time, Robin, no you cannot play the new Clash cassette. Put it away—“

“Oh come on, Harrington. It’s good.” Robin sighed exasperated. She’d been your next door neighbor since you were five, and your best friend ever since.

“Oh, oh! Like the new Madonna album?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised as he looked at Robin in the passenger seat.

“Or the Duran Duran one?” You piped in, biting your nails and looking at her expectantly. Immediately, her head whipped back to you, mouth open in a silent gasp.

“Wha—“ she made a choked sound, looking between you and Steve before bringing her gaze back to you, narrowing her eyes. “Who’s side are you on?”

“Uhm, the side of good music.” You countered, playfully sassing your best friend.

“Wow..” she drawled dramatically, interrupting you.

“And right now,” you continued. “Harrington has the better mixtape. Sorry!” You batted her hand away as she reached back to smack your arm.

“Boom!” Steve declared triumphantly, raising his hands from the wheel for a split-second. “Sorry, Robs, we love you but if I have to listen to one more of your mix tapes, I’m gonna—“

“Yeah, yeah! I get it.” Robin was silent for a moment before turning around to glance between the two of you. “You know, every day I remember how it was me that got this little group together, and every day it comes back to bite me in the ass.”

“Oh right,” Steve scoffed. “You’re forgetting, I’ve known y/n since junior year, and I’ve only known you for like, I don’t know, nine months.”

“Okay, but you two weren’t friends.” She gave Steve a pointed look. “It wasn’t until I convinced her to come work with us at Scoops Ahoy that we all started hanging out. So what I should be hearing is ‘thank you Robin.’”

In the rear view, you saw Steve roll his eyes at her antics, a smirk on his face.

“Actually,” you pointed out. “Steve and i hung out almost every day sophomore year.”

“Yeah,” Robin pressed. “But that was because of miss prissy-pants, Nancy Wheeler, not because you two were friends.”

You bristled a bit at your best friend’s name for Nancy. You knew she probably didn’t mean anything by it, but still. She didn’t know Nancy like you did. And Nancy had been nice to you when you didn’t have many friends besides Robin. She’d made it her problem when you were being bullied and did what she could to stop it, when she didn’t have to.

You and Nancy hadn’t really talked much since she and Steve broke up. Even after the whole ordeal last summer, with the mall “fire,” and Russian agents in Hawkins, you two hadn’t really reconnected. But there was no bad blood there. You wished her the best.

“I don’t know, Robs,” Steve interjected. “I think she gets bragging rights for knowing me longer.”

You laughed at that.

“Oh whatever,” Robin shook her head, leaning her elbow on Steve’s open window, bopping her head to the music pouring through the speakers.

“Good god, I don’t wanna be going back there.” She groaned as Hawkins High came into view. “It’s not too late to skip you know.” She craned her head back to look at you, a hopeful look in her eyes.

“I’m highly considering it.” You bounced your knee, trying to relieve some of the tension in your limbs.

“Ugh, no I can’t.” Robin exasperated. “My moms gonna kill me if she finds out I skipped again.”

There goes my chance, you thought, knowing there’s no way you’d skip without her.

“Yeah, I do not miss this place, gotta say.” Steve mused as he pulled into the parking lot. Robin rolled her eyes at him. You chuckled. They fought like an old married couple.

“I have Ms. Taylor first period,” you groaned at the memory of the stern, mean older woman who you had for home room this semester.

“Oh god,” Steve laughed. You smacked his shoulder. “Well, good luck with that. I’ll see you two at 3.”

You and Robin begrudgingly exited Steve’s car, facing the pit of despair known as Hawkins High School.

Thank god this was your last year, you thought to yourself.

As you eyed down the beige brick building, you could’ve sworn you felt a bit of your soul get sucked out. It may sound dramatic, but it was true. You felt yourself retreat into yourself the closer you got.

Something about Hawkins high just did that to people. Made them retreat and put on whatever mask they had to go get through the day. You were no exception.

“Let’s get this over with,” Robin mumbled beside you, beginning to walk toward the doors.

“Let’s.” You sighed back.

- - - - - -

There was one aspect of first period English with Ms. Taylor that you considered a saving grace—not that you’d ever admit it out loud.

Eddie Munson.

You weren’t sure why it started, if you were honest with yourself.

In fact, at the beginning of the year, you, like everyone else, were actually a little bit terrified of the lanky, tall metalhead that the rest of the school had dubbed “the freak.”

Before this year, you hadn’t really had many encounters with Eddie Munson. You’d known of him, sure, but never really interacted with him. Besides the few random outbursts he’d have in the cafeteria, and one time when you’d given him a pencil in your art elective freshman year, you’d kept your distance. Most of what you’d heard about him came from the kids; which meant they were lies, at worst, and exaggerations at best. You could tell they admired him from the way they spoke of him—Dustin in particular, who had spoken of Eddie in the way he’d only ever spoken of one person before: Steve. But that was the extent of your knowledge.

Eddie had been two years ahead of you technically, although now he was a senior, same as you, and stuck in the same miserable first period English class with Ms. Taylor.

It had started out innocent enough, you liked to tell yourself. You weren’t always swooning over him and his leather jackets or studded rings. It had just snowballed.

It had begun like this: it was the first day of your senior year, and to add to your nerves at a new dreadful year, Ms. Taylor had given you, and all your classmates, assigned seats.

Great, you’d thought. Just great. Now you had to sit next to a complete stranger while also being a complete ball of anxiety all class.

You were early. Much to your chagrin, Steve had insisted on picking you and Robin up earlier than usual because it was your first day, and what if you have trouble finding your classes. Completely ignoring the fact that you and Robin had gone to Hawkins High for three years and knew it like the back of your hand.

Still, it had gotten you here, 15 minutes early to the first bell, trapped in a room with no one other than Ms. Taylor, and Eddie Munson himself.

“You’ll be right there, beside Mr. Munson.” Ms Taylor had drawled monotonously, eyes focused on a stack of papers on her desk.

You froze, looking over at Eddie, who was scribbling down in a notebook in the second to last row of desks from the back. He looked up at you for a moment before going back to his writing.

“Did you hear me?” Ms Taylor said your last name. You snapped out of it, smiling over at her and gripping the strap to your backpack before making your way to the seat.

“Yeah. Sorry, Ms. Taylor.”

You sat down rigidly, looking anywhere but at Eddie. Ms Taylor left the room to refill her coffee cup in the teacher’s lounge, leaving you and him the only people in the room.

You felt your hands begin to shake at the impending doom of first period rolling around. You knew it was dumb; it’d been two years since the first-period-from-hell, and you still couldn’t shake your fear of home room. You clasped them together, folding your fingers on top of each other on the desk, trying to calm your breathing. Your heart pounded in your ears.

“Look, you can relax, okay,” Eddie’s annoyed voice beside you snapped you out of it. “I won’t bite.”

You looked over at him, his face looked impatient, though if you looked closely, you thought you could detect a little bit of hurt there too. Your eyebrows furrowed, before you realized what he must have been thinking.

He thought you were scared of him.

It made sense, though that was far from what was going through your head.

“No,” you began quietly, before clearing your throat. “That’s not what I—that’s not—that’s not it.”

“Whatever you say,” he mumbled, eyebrows raised as he continued writing.

That was the day it started. The watching him.

It’d begun as a way of coping; a way to distract yourself from Ms. Taylor’s droning on about Shakespeare, or the whispers of the two mean girls who sat at the front and liked to glance back at you and snicker.

Your therapist had mentioned the method to you a few months before, a way to maybe cope with your anxiety in anticipation with the upcoming school year. It was a method that your shrink had described as a way of ‘hyper-focusing’, or concentrating on one thing until the anxiety wore away.

And in the haze of your first day, you’d focused on Eddie.

But eventually, as the year wore on, it developed into something different.

You began to notice his hair; how it would fall over his face as he frowned in concentration at whatever he was writing in that book. His hands, big and flanked with gaudy silver rings. You began to wonder how they’d feel on your skin, running through your hair, over your stomach.

It was almost a type of game you played with yourself; a form of escapism. On days your anxiety got too much, the days your hands would sweat and your feet couldn’t cease their tapping, you could look beside you and focus on Eddie. And it would all fall away.

You supposed that’s why you kept your little obsession a secret; it was embarrassing.

Not the fact that you were infatuated with him, but the fact that you’d been using practically a complete stranger to talk yourself down from anxiety attacks. You hadn’t even told Robin, the person you shared everything with. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you knew that this wasn’t some little crush or admiration—it was more than that.

But you refused to admit that to yourself, because there was one huge, glaring problem. That being that Eddie Munson hated you. You were sure of it.

It was as if after the awkward encounter you’d shared at the beginning of the year, he avoided you like the plague. Not looking, talking, or even so much as breathing your way once. And the one time when you’d gotten the nerve to ask him a question, he’d barely grunted out a response before the had rung and he was gone.

That had been the first and last time you’d attempted to talk to Eddie Munson. Your crush was doomed, you knew it. Not only were you convinced he couldn’t stand you, you also were almost positive that he still thought you were scared of him, like he did at the beginning of the year.

Which, to be fair, you were. Just not in that way. As far as Eddie was concerned, you were scared of him in the judgy, superficial, ill-intentioned way that the rest of Hawkins was, not in the butterflies, tongue-tied, make-your-hands-sweat way that you truly were.

Besides, even if you were the most confident person in the world (you were far from it), and if Eddie didn’t, for some inexplicable reason, hate you, you were sure that you would have absolutely no chance with him anyway. Because why would Eddie Munson, all crooked smiles and sure steps and kind eyes, be even the least bit interested in you? It was inconceivable. Because you were shy and scared and binary and everything he was not.

So, you’d deduced that you were doomed to wait out this life-ruining crush the same way you’d been doomed to wait out countless other things in your high school life: silently.

- - - - -

Today was no different than the other nearly insufferable first periods you’d endured this school year, aside from the fact that today was Monday, which brought with it a more tired you, and a much, much more irritable Ms Taylor.

She’d assigned two detentions so far this period, to Bradley Green and Doug Mitchell, two boys from the basketball team that had been throwing spitballs and harassing Eddie, who merely smirked at them in response, effectively egging them on.

You glanced at the clock, tapping your foot subconsciously on the off-white tile below your feet.

5 minutes left, you reminded yourself, watching the clock tick down. Your hands started to clam up. Perfect.

You let out a shaky breath. A few rows in front of you, Pam Simpson and Diana Fiorelli glanced back, eyes zeroing in on you, before Pam snickered and leaned over to whisper into Diana’s ear.

This wasn’t new; they always had some off-color remark or an unnecessary eye-roll to throw at you ever since they found out about your close friendship with Steve Harrington, former king of Hawkins High.

How two nerds like yourself and Robin Buckley had managed to bag someone as popular as Steve the hair Harrington as a best friend seemed to be beyond them, and they sought everyday to punish you for it.

The truth was: Steve had left all of that behind. From the wake-up call that was his break-up with Nancy, to the whole fighting-monsters-from-another-dimension thing, he didn’t really care about it anymore. He’d found better friends in you guys. The whole Russians-in-Hawkins, and Starcourt “fire” helped too.

It was true what they said about trauma: it brought people together.

You tried to ignore their whispering, like Robin had encouraged you.

She was absolutely livid when she’d found out that Diana had “accidentally,” spilled her yogurt parfait over your new blouse last week. It had taken a whole five minutes of both you and Steve talking her down from her stupor to stop her from marching straight to the gymnasium, interrupting cheer practice, and giving Diana a black eye. After though, when you’d managed to calm your best friend down, she’d gone off—trying to convince you to stick up for yourself, to say something. If not to the mean girls themselves, then to Ms Taylor at the very least.

But that was the difference between you and Robin; where she would act, you would listen. Remain passive. It was a trait that served you well when it came to retaining information or solving upside-down-related issues, in situations like these, it kind of screwed you over.

You turned your head from the front of the classroom, blocking out Ms Taylor’s lecture on T. S. Elliot and instead turning your head to the desk beside yours. Eddie’s desk.

He was hunched over, head on his hands, which were crossed and folded on top of the desk in front of him. His chin rested there, and his dark eyes were focused on the board, squinting, as if trying to make out what it said.

He seemed to be trying to pay attention, a stark contrast to how you usually saw him hunched over around his worm notebook, scribbling or drawing.

He wore dark blue jeans today, instead of his usual black ones, and a Quiet Riot band T-shirt . His leather jacket was draped over the chair behind him, as Ms Taylor’s room was hot today. His hair fell messily over his back and in front of his face. His ringed fingers tapped on the desk—he was evidently as anxious for the class to end as you were.

You knew he had trouble focusing. You’d picked up on as much throughout the school year, watching him try and try and try to stay locked in to whatever Ms Taylor was teaching.

So many of your classmates had written him off: cult leader, satanist, idiot, freak, but you saw something different. The Eddie you knew (well, not really knew, more like observed) was none of those things. He was different, yes. Flamboyant, sure. But he was not an idiot. Nor was he evil or freakish or anything of the sort.

The ringing of the bell snapped you from your thoughts. You jerked your head back to your desk as your classmates began to pack up and bustle out to their next classes, the sound of backpacks zipping and chatter filling the classroom.

Per usual, Eddie was the first out of his seat, already packed and ready, before leaving the classroom with long strides, eyes trained on the floor, narrowly avoiding your gaze.

You shoved your notebook into your bag, bending over to zip it up and run like hell out of the classroom. You hoped to avoid any unnecessary contact with Pam and Diane. Ms Taylor cleared her throat, before saying your name.

“I’d like to see you for a moment, please,” she said monotonously, eyes focused on the grade book in front of her. A shot of anxiety spread through your stomach.

“Yes, Ms Taylor?” You asked quietly, noting that you were the only two people left in the classroom.

“You have one of the top grades in the class, second only to Mr. Levy, did you know that?” She asked, still not looking up. You puzzled. So you weren’t in trouble?

“Uh-I-no, I didn’t, actually.” You mumbled, brows furrowed.

“Indeed,” she hummed. “I also have been made aware that you are lacking an extracurricular for graduation, is that correct?”

Shit, you thought. She was right.

Last summer, you’d been set to take a summer gym elective; the ones that the school offered during the school year were too crowded and made your anxiety act up, so you and Robin had both signed up to take summer gym. However, the upside-down and the Russians’ presence in Hawkins at Starcourt had had other plans, so both you and her had failed the class, due to bad attendance. And while Robin had made sure to complete her gym credit last semester, you’d completely forgotten about the whole debacle until now.

“Yeah,” you breathed, in shock that you’d managed to forget about something so important when graduation was only months away. “I-I forgot—“

“I figured as much,” Ms Taylor cut you off, finally looking up at you. “Well, seeing as it’s too late in the semester to sign you up for any electives, it would seem that you’ll be having to repeat your senior year.”

Your breath left your lungs.

No, you thought, no, no, no. The last thing you could handle was another year stuck here. In this high school, in this city. You felt your breathing stutter at the thought.

“Luckily for you,” Ms Taylor continued, refocusing you on the moment. “I have a solution that may just save you from that.”

You blew out a breath between your lips, looking at her anxiously.

“Yes,” you breathed out. “Anything— I completely forgot about—“

“I trust you’re familiar with Mr. Munson?” She interrupted you. Your brows furrowed. What did Eddie have to do with this?

“Yes.”

“Well, then I’m sure you’re aware that this will be his second time repeating his senior year.” Ms Taylor looked up at you now, her beady eyes laser-focused. “If he fails again, the school won’t be giving him another chance. It would seem that this class is one of the only things standing between him and a one-way ticket out of this school.”

“I dont think I follow—“ you began.

“You will tutor Mr Munson.” She clarified, face stoic as ever. “From now until the end of the spring semester. If you do this, and if I see improvement, I will make it count as your extracurricular. You’ll be able to graduate on time, and he will get the hell out of my classroom for good.”

You were stunned—not only by the fact that you’d be forced into proximity Eddie Munson for the rest of the year, but the fact that Ms Taylor would speak so candidly about a student.

“I—I-“ you tried to articulate what to say next, but found you were unable to gather your thoughts.

“I can’t,” you finally managed, dumbly. Ms Taylor raised a thin eyebrow at you.

“Well,” she said. “It seems that unless you want to repeat your senior year, you don’t have much of a choice.”

“But, Ms Taylor, I—“

“Look,” she sighed your name. “You’re a smart girl. Mr Munson may be… a handful, but I promise he’s harmless. You will be fine. You can even meet on the school premises, if you’d feel better about that.”

Dear Lord, you didn’t know how to tell her that the reason why you couldn’t tutor him was not because of his reputation, or that you were scared of him, it was because you could barely form a coherent thought in his presence.

“Are we clear?” She asked, arms crossed. You tried to speak, but your mouth was dry. You just gulped and nodded.

“Good,” she smiled tightly. You sighed, turning to leave, already knowing you’d be late to your next class. She called your name as you began to exit, your hand on the door handle.

“Just know, I will be checking weekly with Mr Munson to see how tutoring is going. So don’t think that if you fail to show up I won’t know.”

You nodded, shutting the door behind you as you left.

Great. No escaping it. What if you embarrassed yourself? What if he really did hate you? What if—

“Hey.”

You jumped, too caught up in your thoughts to even notice the tall, lanky figure leaning up against the lockers next to Ms Taylor’s classroom.

“Jesus, sorry.” Eddie looked at you with wide eyes, an arm coming to steady you on your shoulder. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

When you just stared at him, he cleared his throat, removing his hand from your shoulder. A part of you mourned the loss.

“So, uh,” he began, looking down at his feet as he walked alongside you. You tried not to notice the faint scent of his cologne that sent a thrill through your gut. “So I guess she told you? About the tutoring?”

When his curly head snapped up to meet your eyes, you quickly faced forward, realizing that you’d been ogling his side profile while he was stumbling over his words. You nodded in confirmation.

“Ok,” he said, rubbing his hands on his legs. “Ok,” he repeated, stopping and turning to face you. “I’m just gonna cut the bullshit: I really, really need the help in this class.” His eyes were a bit wild, panicked. Like he thought you were going to run away from him the moment you got a chance. “Like, ‘really,’ as in, if I don’t pass, I don’t graduate. And I know you really don’t wanna do this, and she’s forcing you, and that you hate me, and you’re scared of me, and all that, but if you could please—please— just help me get through this class, I will make it as painless as possible spending all the time with me.”

By the end of his little speech, he looked frantic, like he was pleading—and you suppose he was. And before you could stop yourself, you just nodded, looking at him dumbly, before remembering to speak.

“I’ll help you pass.” Was all you could manage.

He sighed a breath of relief, running a hand down his face.

“Thank you,” he said, and you could’ve sworn it was the most sincere you’d ever heard him. “Thursday after school in the library sound good?”

- - - -

You arrived early, because, of course you did.

To say you were nervous would be an understatement; you were terrified. Mostly of making an even bigger fool of yourself than you had earlier in the week.

You’d spent the better part of the last three days poring over your last interaction with Eddie in the hallway, when he’d begged you to tutor him, and you’d gotten about five words in edgewise.

He’d practically accused you of hating him, and instead of correcting him—like you’d been dying to do for the whole semester—you stood there like an idiot.

You wished you’d told him then and there in that hallway that he was wrong; that you weren’t scared of him, and that you didn’t hate him. That you were just shy and awkward and he unnerved you. So, you decided to do just that.

Last night, while finally talking through the whole situation with Robin, you’d decided that the first words you’d say to him would be: “I’m not scared of you and I don’t hate you.”

It was a bit abrasive and to-the-point, you knew that. But, you also knew that if you let him get a word in before that, you’d lose your nerve. At least this way, you got your point across.

Your eyes ran over the page of your book for what felt like the fiftieth time. You sighed, throwing the worn novel down on the table.

There was no way you’d be able to get any reading done, not with your nerves eating you alive.

The book wasn’t that good anyway. You had no clue what Robin meant when she said Hemingway was ‘profound.’

You sighed again, eyes finding the clock in the library.

He was five minutes late.

You felt something deflate inside you. Maybe he’d been bluffing about the whole thing, or maybe he’d changed his mind and wouldn’t show. Your mind ran with the possibilities.

The library was sparse at this time.

It was just past three, and most students had already rushed out of the building. It was Thursday, which meant that the town was just waking up for the weekend. It wasn’t uncommon for friend groups to have small get-togethers, or even for one of the bigger cliques to throw a party.

In fact, Steve had managed to convince Robin and yourself to attend one later that night. Which was a feat, because you didn’t make a habit of going out.

It was at Darren’s house: one of the few friends from high school that Steve actually kept up with after, y’know, everything.

Robin was hoping Vicky would be there. You were just hoping to let loose a little.

With all this business with Eddie and your impending (maybe) graduation, your nerves had been through the roof. A party was just what you needed to calm down.

“Sorry,” he appeared out of nowhere, and before you could stop yourself, you jumped.

“Sorry!” Eddie rushed out, slumping down in the chair across from you. “Really, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to scare you all the time. Sorry I’m late.”

You stared at him.

God, he was pretty.

His hair was big and frizzy, per usual, and fell around his face as a halo. His brown eyes were wide and almost doe -like, and his cheeks were rosy with exertion.

He must have been running, you thought. But why? He wasn’t that late.

“Were you running?” You blurted before you could think. Your brows furrowed as you looked at him.

“Uhhhh, yeah,” he drawled. “Yeah, I ran into some trouble getting here.”

“What trouble?”

“The usual.” Eddie rubbed his eyes, and for the first time since he’d sat down, you noticed how disheveled he looked.

His white tee shirt was stained on the shoulder with what looked like… fruit?

“Is that… food on your shoulder?”

“Shit,” his gaze snapped to his shoulder. “Yeah, uhm. It’s jello.”

Eddie looked… embarrassed. For the first time in the time you’d known him, he looked sheepish.

“Was it Jason?”

“That obvious?” He laughed mirthlessly. In fact, it was a little menacing.

“He’s a dick.” You said without thinking.

Eddie just nodded, staring down a place on the table.

“Are you okay?”

He looked at you, dark eyes guarded.

He seemed to be sizing you up, eyes following you up and down. But his usual playfulness was gone. Instead, he looked almost… forlorn.

“Uh, yeah.” His lips lifted into a humorless smile. “Just done with this bullshit, I guess.”

“Hmm,” you hummed.

“I’m tired of people looking at me like I’m a freak. I’m tired of not behind able to fucking walk to class in peace, I’m tired of people being fucking,” he slammed his hands on the table in front of you. When you jump, he throws them up. “Scared of me!”

You stay silent for a moment, letting him stew and collect himself. After a few seconds, Eddie sighs.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t—“

“I’m not scared of you, and I don’t hate you.”

“—mean to—what?”

“I’m not scared of you.” You repeated, wiping your clammy hands on your jeans. “And I don’t hate you, like you said on Monday. I’m Im just,” you stopped to take a breath. “It’s just hard for me sometimes. With… new people.”

“You sure? Because you look scared to me.”

“You aren’t helping.”

Eddie shivered, rubbing at the jello-colored stain on his shoulder.

“Do you… want to change?” You asked shakily.

“What?”

“Nevermind,” you rushed out, shaking your head. “It’s nothing. You just—looked cold. I have an extra sweatshirt.”

“And you think it would fit me?”

“I like to wear them a few sizes too big.” You added lamely.

Eddie contemplated you for a moment, before sighing.

“What the hell,” he said half to himself. “Why not?”

After he pulled the lilac crew neck over his head, he smiled.

“Okay,” he chuckled. “I’m sorry. Thank you for doing this. I know it can’t be great for your…image.”

You snorted at that.

“Yeah, my image isn’t exactly suffering.”

“Yeah?” He leaned forward, setting his chin on his fists.

God, his forearms. You forced yourself to look away.

“Yeah. Not exactly prom queen here.”

“Eh, prom queen is overrated.”

You laughed, your own crinkling eyes meeting his. You thought you saw his eyes soften as they looked at you. The vision of him there, in front of you, made your stomach flip.

You cleared your throat, turning to your notes in front of you.

“So,” you straightened your notebook. “Ready to talk about T. S. Elliot?”

- - - -

The party was loud. Mötley Crüe boomed through the speakers that Darren’s rich family had in what seemed like every room.

You silently thanked Darren for having good music taste. The party would have been unbearable otherwise.

You sighed as you walked out the back door of the house. The inside had gotten a bit too stuffy for you, and with Robin trailing after Vickie and Steve reconnecting with one of his old flames, you were flying solo for the time being.

You brushed your jeans with your hands before sitting down on the back step, a lukewarm rum and coke in the solo cup in your hand.

You felt yourself deflate.

As a senior in high school, this was the closest you’d come to actually living.

While Robin had had her fair share of secret flings and parties and Steve had lived a wild four years of high school, you were just… there.

At eighteen years old, you felt like you’d missed out. Been robbed. The Upside Down had something to do with that, you supposed. Fighting for your own and the kids’ lives from Russians and other-worldly demon creatures tends to do that. Still, it didn’t stop your friends from living. You felt like you’d let your teen years pass you by, but mostly, you felt pathetic.

Sure, you had the grades, but rather than that? You had nothing to show for your time at Hawkins High.

“Hey tutor,” the smooth drawl came from the side of the house. You’d know it anywhere.

Eddie rounded the corner of the house, approaching where you were sitting on the back step.

He wore the same black jeans he wore earlier today, but his jello-stained shirt and your lilac crew neck were gone, replaced by a t-shirt with what looked like Judas Priest’s logo. His arms were crossed over his chest, covered by the black leather he wore more often than not.

“Hey,” you offered lamely, rubbing your hands together.

“What ya doing out here all alone?” He came to stop in front of you, his chunky combat boots taking up your line of vision.

“Just…taking a breather.” You smiled up at him, tight-lipped.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “Scoot over, then. It’s a little too… preppy for me in there.”

You obliged, scooting over a few feet so he could sit next to you. As he dropped down on the concrete step next to you, he was close enough that you caught his scent.

It was deep, some kind of cologne, mixed with cigarette smoke and a hint of what you knew was weed.

“So…” Eddie bumped his shoulder into yours. “Thought this wasn’t your crowd?”

“It’s not,” you pressed your hands between your knees. “Robin and Steve dragged me here. I thought it would help me… unwind.”

“Robin… she’s in band right?”

You nodded.

“And Steve… I don’t think I know that one.”

You chuckled.

“You definitely do,” you peeked over at him, eager to see his reaction. “Uh, Steve Harrington?”

Eddie looked at you like you grew a second head.

“The hair?” He asked incredulously.

“The very same,” you nodded.

“God, sweetheart.” Eddie shook his head. “I’m beginning to question the company you keep.”

Your heart leapt at what he called you. Sweetheart.

“I know, I know,” you held out your hands. “He was an asshole. But he’s different now.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“He is!” You turned to Eddie defensively. “I wouldn’t be friends with him if he was still the way he used to be. He isn’t like…”

“Jason?” Eddie raised an eyebrow at you. “Like Pam and Diana?”

“Exactly.” You nodded. “He’s still… peppy. He just lost all the bad parts.”

“Hmm,” he crossed his arms. “I’ll take your word for it.”

A moment of silence passed between the two of you, the only sounds being your breath and the roar of the party inside. Your breaths swirled in the chilly air around you.

“Why are you here?” You spoke finally. “You said this wasn’t your scene.”

“It’s not,” he shrugged, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little baggy filled with green substance. “I’m, uh, supplying the party favors.”

You snorted at that.

“These things good business?”

“You have no idea.” He nodded to the inside of the house. “A lot of these kids’ allowance is more than what my uncle makes in a week.”

You hummed, content to just sit in silence.

Eddie tilted his head at you, leaning his chin on his hands again like he did earlier in the library. He tilted his cheek toward you, an easy smile on his lips.

“So, why are you really out here, tutor-girl?” He looked at you curiously. “You look upset.”

You drew a heavy breath, before sighing.

“It’s dumb.” You picked at your nails.

“Try me.”

“I feel like..” you looked up, before turning to Eddie. “I feel like I’ve missed out. I’m a senior, I’m graduating this year, and I have done nothing.”

Eddie’s eyebrows furrow, but he doesn’t move to interrupt you. He only leans further toward you, spurring you to continue. The alcohol gave you the rest of the confidence you lacked.

“All my friends have had their little rebellions. Their flings, all of it. And I have done nothing, except drink shitty booze and nearly lose my mind.”

You blew a deep breath once you’d finished. Somehow, you felt even worse—more pathetic—now that you’d vocalized it.

But Eddie didn’t look at you like you were pathetic. Instead, he looked pensive, hand on his chin as he contemplated. It was your instinct to backtrack.

You moved to stand

“Sorry. That was a lot. Nevermind. Let’s just forget I—“

“No, no, don’t apologize.” He grabbed your arm and gently pulled you back to sit beside him. “Especially after what I dumped on you earlier.”

Your cheeks were red, you could tell. Whether that be because of the combination of the alcohol and the confession, you couldn’t tell.

“Hmm,” Eddie hummed, still thinking. You snuck a glance over at him and noticed a wry smile on his face. “Let’s fix it then.”

“What?”

“We have til May, don’t we? That’s eight months. Your senior year isn’t over yet.”

You laughed nervously.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that—“

“You’re not! I’m offering. Consider it payback for all the hours you’ll be tutoring me in Taylor’s class.”

“Okay…”

“Okay.” Eddie smiled. “It’s a deal, then .”

#eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie stranger things #eddie x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things 4 #stranger things #steve harrington #robin buckley #hawkins indiana #eddie munson fem!reader #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction

1K notes · View notes

sp0o0kylights · 1 year

Text

Part One: Merry Crisis

It’s also on A03 (this chapter will go up too but not for a bit bc I have stupid adult work to do)

Five days after New Years and Steve Harrington was haunting Eddie’s head.

This time at least, it was consensual.

Mostly.

“I thought you said New Year's resolutions were a total waste of time and a conformist’s mmrrph--” Gareth cuts off as a ringed hand claps (gently) over his mouth, Eddie’s glare burning a hole in the side of his best friend’s head.

“No one asked you to comment.” Eddie informs him darkly.

“He’s got you there, Eds.” Jeff teases, seated on a bin in Gareth’s garage, friends occupying the couch across from him. “It is one of your yearly rants.”

“New Years Resolutions are just a convenient way for normies to understand my quests.” Eddie sniffs, ignoring the fact that he’d been going on about this since he showed up, several hours ago.

He releases Gareth’s mouth, springing up to pace another circuit round the garage. “I refuse to repeat another year in this god-awful high school--and!”

Spinning on his heels, Eddie flings a hand in the air, the exact same way he had when he auditioned for Sherlock Holmes in Hawkin High’s performance of Hounds of Baskerville. “It is my duty as Hellfire’s DM to figure out what the hell those freshmen are wrapped up in with Harrington!”

“Rii-iiight.” Gareth remarks. “I’m sure your obsession with this has nothing to do with those, what did you call them?”

Grant covers a laugh with a cough as Gareth pretends to think before saying: “Harrington’s big ol’ puppy dog eyes?”

Eddie’s face goes red. “I told you, I’m not crushing on Steve!”

“Bro.” Grant says, expression calling out Eddie’s lie better than words ever could.

“The entire planet knows you have a crush on him, Eds.” Gareth adds, leveling his best friend with a knowing look. “Frankly I’m amazed Steve himself hasn’t figured it out.”

“Shut it!” Eddie hissed, face aflame. “This is about everything else! What he’s hiding! Why the kids--”

“--worship him.” Jeff, Grant and Gareth all finish as one, their impromptu chorus deflating Eddie like a sad balloon.

“We know.” Grant says. “You think Harrington and the kids are wrapped up in some kind of crazy conspiracy that's eating them all alive and because you have a compulsive desire to solve every mystery put in front of you, you can’t leave it alone. This is starting to become something you should really like, work on man.”

Eddie turns his glare on Grant.

“You need to drop out of that AP psychology class.” He demands with another sniff. “It’s rotting your brain.”

“Uh huh.” Grant says, voice dripping in sarcasm.

“You;’ll see.” Eddie mutters as he resumes his pacing. “You’ll all see when I finally figure it out. You’ll be all,” Eddie straightens, clutching his hands together and squeezing them against his chest, “Oh-my-gawd, Eddie, holy shit, you were so right, they were hiding a huge secret!”

“Keep dreamin’ bud.” Jeff says flatly, prompting laughs from Gareth and Grant.

Eddie takes off a shoe and throws it at him.

(Jeff swears it was worth it.)

xXx

10 days after New Years and Steve Harrington was right there.

Right.

There.

It would be easy to walk across the parking lot, strike up a conversation. Hell, the kids' presence makes it even easier, Eddie knows all he has to do is talk about them before Steve drives them home.

He just--has to do it.

"You do know the first step is actually talking to him right?" Jeff teases, leaning against the school’s doorway.

Eddie startles, flushing scarlet.

"Shut up!" He snaps, turning around to run his hand over his face.

God why was this so hard!?

He's talked to plenty of people. Hell, he's talked to Harrington before. Talking was the thing Eddie arguably did best and suddenly he just fucking…couldn't!?

"He's waving at you." Jeff observes.

Eddie whips back around to face the parking lot--to find that Harrington wasn't even facing their direction.

Jeff chuckles.

"Oh screw you!" Eddie shoves his shoulder into Jeff’s, glowering.

Jeff playfully nudges him back. "Just go talk to him man. He didn't bite at the party, and he left you that note, so he's clearly open to it."

"I know.” Eddie grumbles, moving so he could lean against the opposite side of the doorway.

“So what’s holding you back?” Jeff turns to look at him now, as Eddie tangles a finger into a few strands of his hair. “It’s not like you hesitate instead of jumping into something head first.”

Eddie hides in his hair for a moment, unsure of how he wanted to handle this question.

Jeff knew he was gay. All the Corroded Coffin guy’s knew he was gay, after the first (and last) time he tried to buy product from a supplier that wasn’t Rick.

(Eddie was smart, but he’d been young back then. Hadn’t caught on to the fact the weed he’d been sold was laced with who-knew-what.

What he did know was that when he and the boys tried it out; Grant had given a very emotional speech about love and acceptance, Jeff wouldn’t stop hugging people, Gareth ended up crying over gender issues and Eddie had admitted he was flamingly gay.

He never bought from another supplier again, even if he did technically owe the guy who’d brought him and his best friends closer together.)

Being gay wasn’t exactly the issue.

It was being gay, and having a blatant crush on Steve--the guy who the Hellfire kids loved. The guy who had surprised Eddie by being decent and downright fun.

The guy who kept insisting he and Buckley were “Platonic with a Capital P”and even with Robin climbing all over him like a lemur, he had in fact kept his hands and eyes to perfectly respectable places.

Who was practically built to appeal to Eddie, between his stupid sexy smile and the weird mystery he was wrapped up in, the same one that caused his smiles to drop the second he knew no one was paying attention.

Add in the fact he’d played D&D once before and it was like God had made Eddie’s perfect match.

Of course because Eddie’s relationship with a deity of any kind was agonistic at best, they’d made Steve not only the straightest man to ever rule a high school, but also dangled him in front of Eddie constantly.

Like a treat he could never, ever have, but will always crave.

“Oh he’s actually waving at you this time.” Jeff says, and despite the high chance of this being another joke, Eddie looks anyway.

Sure enough there was Harrington, dumb little grin on his face, waving his hand.

Eddie managed to get his brain to function long enough to wave back.

“Wow Eds, you actually waved at him. That’s a lot of progress for you.” Gareth chimes in, appearing in between his friends with a smirk.

“We’re proud of you buddy.” Grant adds, standing behind Gareth.

Eddie groans aloud. “I hate you all.” He mutters, trying to keep a smile on his face for Steve until the guy turns back to herald the children into the car.

“No you don’t.” Gareth sing-songs, to the snickers of Jeff and Grant.

And no, he doesn't--but fuck if Eddie didn’t want to wring all their necks.

xXx

January 13th, Eddie finally gets his first resolution breakthrough.

It came in the form of Sinclair’s girlfriend, oddly enough, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“I’m not Lucas’s girlfriend.” The redhead spat, which Eddie thought was a hell of a lot of anger for someone who he had not been formally introduced to but had flung herself into his passenger seat anyway, with a declaration that he would drive her home.

(He, of course, had been about to protest until Max reminded him with a glare that they were neighbors--which had the effect of making Steve look relieved, like Eddie was doing him some kind of massive favor.

A favor Eddie wanted.

“For totally normal non crush related reasons Gareth, god!”)

Currently Max is staring out the window as Eddie drives home, arms crossed and in a full sulk.

Eddie recognizes it in her the same way he recognizes it in himself, and knows intimately that he has a chance to be to her, what Wayne was to him.

Someone who didn’t just see the problems he had, but acted on them.

That began with a conversation.

“So not that sitting in awkward silence isn’t totally fun, but uh, why am I driving you home instead of Harrington?” Eddie asks, watching Max out of the corners of his eyes.

She doesn’t even flinch. “What, and miss the chance to ride in the drug mobile?”

He expects the snappish response but has to give Max credit--she is absolutely the most vicious of Steve’s kids.

“Ok fair,” He says, because getting angry back was what she wanted. Or at least, what Eddie wanted, back when he was in Max’s shoes. “But don’t all you kids like, worship King Steve? Thought you’d want your beloved babysitting to drive you home..”

Max’s shoulders hunch immediately, her jaw clenching. “Don’t call him that.”

“Babysitter?” Eddie questions.

“King Steve, you ass.” She bites back. “If you like him like Lucas and Dustin swear you do, then you wouldn’t be an dick.”

Quieter, she mutters, “He hates that nickname.”

“Hate to break it to you, but Steve gave himself that nickname.” Eddie says, if only to buy time while he swallows the fact that the kids have decided he and Steve aren't just cool with each other, but like each other.

Obviously not like-like, as in romantic like, because they weren't psychic, but--

'Focus, idiot! Max is still talking!'

Max rolls her eyes, huffing angrily as she finally tears her gaze away from the window. “You don’t get it.”

“I sure as shit don’t and won’t.” Eddie agrees easily, and has to look away to keep the laughter off his face at the confused look it nets him. “Not unless you want to clue me in.”

She chews over that for a moment, before apparently coming to a decision. “You’re annoying.”

“Oh come on Red, if you’re gonna insult me at least do it right. Annoying is boring.” Eddie fakes a yawn, and this time does laugh at Max’s outright offended face.

Thankfully, the antics get him exactly what he wants.

An answer.

"Steve saw the real world and decided he wanted to be a better person. To grow up and leave all the stupid high school petty shit behind." Max says, and for a moment it's almost like she's speaking to someone else.

Likely the person she really is mad at, Eddie assumes.

"Calling him King Steve just takes all that progress away, and for what? Cause you're jealous?"

She's on a roll now. Eddie remains silent, knowing Max needs to get this out.

That this rant isn't aimed at him.

"You're mad that things were easy for him? Because newsflash, they weren't. He put in the effort to be a good guy, could even," Max fakes a dramatic gasp, "--apologize!"

An idea takes shape, both of the unsurprising source of the younger teens' hurt and frustration, and why she at least defends Harrington so hard.

Eddie may not know how exactly Max fits into "The Party" (or even who all is included within it) but it's clear she's just as close to Steve as the rest.

Maybe even a touch moreso, in a way that's eclipsed by Henderson alone.

Max is still going. "Steve's a genuinely good person and he's earned the right to be acknowledged as one!"

Her eyes are wet when she finishes and Max angrily swipes at them with her sleeve.

Eddie knows better than to comment on it, but does take a moment to think her words over.

"Have you seen it too?" He decides to ask. It's the part that sticks out to him, so it becomes the thread he decides to pull.

Max blinks. "What?"

"The real world. Have you seen it too?"

"Yeah." Max admits, after a long moment of silence, chewing on her lower lip. "I did. And I wish I hadn't."

"Sucks huh?"

"You don't know half of it."

"I might not know the exact parts you saw," Eddie agrees, as he pulls up in front of his trailer. "But I have seen plenty of other nasty bits and bobs."

He puts his van in park. "Just because the monster changes shape doesn't make it any less of a danger, you know?"

Max sits with that for a moment. Eddie sits with her, his music on even if he has the volume turned down low.

Waits to see if she'll say more, or if this is all he's getting.

There’s a slight hesitation--as if for a moment, Max considers opening up--but something in her balks and she opens the door instead.

“Thanks for the ride.” She grumbles, quiet enough that he almost doesn’t hear, before slamming the door and walking fast to her trailer.

The lights are off, and the car he knows belongs to her mother isn’t in the driveway.

It’s not unusual to be home alone at this hour. Not for Hawkins kids, and especially not for trailer park kids like them, but for the first time, Eddie finds himself wondering how often she’s alone.

“Hey, Red!” He calls, as he makes his way out of the van.

She turns to look at him, and Eddie realizes he must be getting a glimpse of what every adult used to see in him. Fury and discontent, all rolling over a sadness that’s bone deep and afraid to face daylight.

“You ever wanna explain it to me, you’re welcome to come over.” He says, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at his own trailer.

“Whatever.” Max says with an eye roll, before storming to her front door.

Eddie waits for the lights to go on, before retreating back to his own house, feeling like he at least established something.

Even if it was just proof that he wasn’t going to blow up or brush her off like everyone else.

xXx

January 13th's luck didn't end there.

A few hours after Eddie made sure Steve's attack chihuahua child made it home safe, a car pulls up in front of her trailer.

Curious (and nosey as fuck) Eddie peers out the window to spot Harrington’s Beemer flick its lights off, owner crawling out and up to Max's front door with an arm full of takeout.

Steve stands there for a while, alternating between knocking and not-quite yelling, before finally putting the food down.

Eddie knows now that Steve's some kind of pseudo parent to these kids, that the intent he has towards them is a combination of brotherly and maternal.

Can't help himself from the opportunity that arises when Harrington moves to peek into one of Max's trailer windows, though.

"Damn Harrington," Eddie calls out, after quietly slipping onto his front porch. "Didn't know you were the kinda creep to stare into teenage girl's windows."

Steve spins, startled, and nearly goes down on the gravel while doing so.

Eddie laughs--it's like watching Bambi on ice--but regrets it immediately when the younger man trots over to him.

Puts his hands up and is about to defend himself out of sheer habit.

"Is she okay?" Steve asks, trotting up the two steps so he can lower his voice.

Eddie wiggles his raised hands in a “maybe” sort of gesture before lowering them.

“She’s fine right now, but she’s definitely upset.”

Steve hums, peering worriedly at the opposing trailer, takeout food sitting innocently by Max’s door. “

“She’s been upset for a while. I just…” He trails off, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do for her, you know? She’s not as easy to figure out as the others.”

Which isn’t the least bit surprising. At least, it isn’t to Eddie.

While he can’t speak for their missing fourth member, the remaining three freshmen are the kind to wear their emotions on their sleeves, in their own ways. Mike and Dustin compete for loudest but even Lucas, the most likely to let things go, eventually explodes.

All Harrington has to do to handle any of their issues is simply see that something is wrong, and then ask about it.

The drive from the high school to the trailer park took less than fifteen minutes but in them, Eddie knew immediately that Max was far more like himself at heart. Angry at everything and everyone, using insults or humor to distract from her real problems.

Eddie now was better than he was, the eleven year old kid who’d been dumped on his Uncle, extremely wary of adults and furious at the world at large.

Like recognizes like though, even if he’s made progress.

“I think the best thing you can do is keep being there for her.” Eddie admits quietly, because this is an area he can actually provide some insight for. “That all that anger isn’t going to push you away. Just don’t be surprised if it takes her a while to understand you won’t abandon her like everybody else did.”

“Huh.” Steve says, and Eddie shouldn’t be surprised that Steve is taking him seriously. Not after the not-Christmas party, but he is.

That’s part of the mystery of Steve Harrington, after all.

The way Steve never quite reacts the way Eddie thinks he’s going to.

“If she doesn’t take the food can you let me know?” Steve asks, and he sounds so sad about it that Eddie couldn’t possibly refuse, even if he’d wanted to.

“Sure thing man.” He agrees.

Harrington watches Max’s door for a moment longer before heaving himself off the porch with a sigh

“Oh,” He says, turning around partway to his car. “ We’re gonna have a movie night next Friday night. You should come.”

‘Bing-fucking-go.’

“Well how could I say no to the King himself? Tell me the time and I’ll be there.” Eddie says, and then watches Steve’s face as he winces.

Apparently, Red was right.

Steve doesn’t rip his head off for the nickname though. Plows right on ahead, as if Eddie hadn’t called him it at all.

"We were planning on making it just the adults--or at least, not the freshmen.” He nods towards Max’s trailer.

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Oh I’m sure they’re just delighted to be left out.”

"You’d be surprised.” Steve says with a long-suffering look. “I've been informed I need more adult friends."

Eddie can’t help but tease, though he softens his voice and grins to take the teeth out of it. "Band geek and a bunch of fourteen years olds not good enough for you?"

"You’re forgetting my ex girlfriend." Steve adds, with his own self deprecating tone.

“Well damn Harrington, guess the town freak might actually be a step up for you!” Eddie says, loving that this version of Steve is willing to banter like this.

“I dunno man, I think that nickname might be overhyped.” Steve says, and there’s that grin back on his face, the one he wore when he was stealing meaningless corporate trophies out of his father’s office. “I don’t think you’re that freaky at all.”

He dips down in a movement that takes Eddie a moment to realize is him mimicking the curtsey he had given Eddie at the Christmas party, before getting in the Beemer.

Then he’s gone, leaving Eddie trying to recover on the porch, wondering if the last part of that conversation actually happened or if he just wanted it so badly he dreamed the whole thing.

(When he looks back over to Max’s trailer, the takeout by the door is gone.)

xXx

20 days after New Years and Eddie didn’t know what he expected from a movie night at Steve’s-- but it wasn’t getting his ass kicked at beer pong.

Of course, this may have been his fault.

It started when Steve, three beers into a home recording of Animal House, made an off comment about Nancy Wheeler once putting all of Hawkin’s to shame at a party.

(“Her aim has always been insane.” He'd added, as Nancy rolled her eyes and tried to hide her pleased grin behind a hand.

Eddie had been a little surprised to see Steve hadn’t been kidding about Nancy coming--but also realized that Steve might have been serious when he’d joked about not really having a lot of friends.

In Eddie's head, a miniature bat version of himself donned a detective's hat and cape, whipping out a notepad to dutifully write down; ‘Clue one: Steve has very few friends.’

“You, Nancy Wheeler, beat out four teams of dumb jocks…at beer pong?” Eddie asked, in total disbelief.

“I did.” Nancy told him smugly. “And I could do it again.”

“Really?” Eddie had said and it hadn’t been intended as a challenge, but it was taken as one.)

Three games in, the beer having a long run out (they were actually playing “Vodka Shot Ball") and Eddie has to concur.

Nancy Wheeler was in fact, god’s gift to throwing small orange balls into cups.

“How are you doing this!?” Eddie yells, throwing his hands in the air as Nancy sinks her last shot, Robin shrieking in victory behind her.

Hand on her hip, Nancy gives him a lazy, smug smile. “I suppose,” She says, tilting her head, sounding for all the world like a cat who’s caught a canary, “--it would be my incredibly good aim.”

Robin, who previously had been paired with Steve before insisting they switch (and who is more than a little drunk), shouts; “Take that Munson!” before grabbing Nancy’s wrists, pulling her into a dance.

Laughing, Nancy goes with her, their celebration a stark contrast to the other half of the table where Steve is leaning heavily on his elbows.

"Alright. Maybe, you do have some ungodly skills." Eddie admits, putting his hands on his head. “Forgive me for doubting you, oh Queen of beer pong.”

"Oh, now you admit it?" Steve mutters playfully, head hanging low. "Couldn't have done it before I ran out of beer?"

"Hush Harrington, you enjoyed it." Eddie grins knocking a hip into his teammates

He too, is more than a touch drunk, despite having been on Nancy’s team for the prior two rounds.

Vodka-Shot Ball, as it turns out, is enough to really mess a person up if you miss enough.

"Did I?” Steve moans, before hiccupping.

(“Harrington you’re a jock, are you missing on purpose!?” Eddie had asked early in this game, when Steve’s shots had gone from fairly decent to fucking abysmal.

“He’s two shots in, Eddie.” Robin had spoken for her soulmate, as she aimed a ball at a cup. “All those concussions don’t play nice with hard alcohol. Why do you think I switched sides?”

“I’ll remember this betrayal, Rob.” Steve grumbled in response. “See if I ever do your hair for you again.”

Batective Eddie promptly scribbled; ‘Clue Two, Steve has had a lot of concussions and can no longer handle a lot of hard liquor’ down on his notepad, puffing on his little old-timey pipe. ‘Also he does hair.’)

“Now that Stubbornson over here has finally admitted defeat,” Steve says, “Can we please go lay down? We're way too drunk for another round.”

“Speak for yourself, Lightweight. I’m fine.” Eddie tells him, walking towards the door to the kitchen.

Of course life cannot tolerate him being smooth and so Eddie walks dead-on into the closed glass door rather than the open one next to it.

He staggers back and loses his balance, falling hard on his ass.

“Shit!” Someone curses.

“You okay Eddie?” Someone else asks.

“Yeah.” He moans, rubbing at his head.

Wheeler appears next to him, shooing his hands away from his face so she could examine him.

“You’re an idiot.” Nancy informs him calmly, hands expertly checking his head. Her touch is professional, but Eddie's surprised by it anyway, “But I think you’ll live.”

Eddie squints up at her. “How come you’re not drunk?” He asks, and okay, yeah, he definitely hears the slur in his voice this time.

"I only had three drinks across all three games." Nancy informs him sweetly. "None of them were vodka."

"I hate you." Eddie moans dramatically, before opting to lay down on the porch.

“No you don’t.” Nancy says confidently, and then pats his head, before getting up from her crouch. “How are you doing Steve?”

“Kill me.” Comes Harrington's voice from across the patio, sounding very pathetic.

Eddie wishes he could pet his head.

“Denied!” Robin calls out. “Don’t even joke about that dingus, you got too close last summer as it was.”

(Batective Eddie, swaying a little with a beer bottle in his paw, tries to write that down.

He somewhat succeeds.)

Nancy disappears for a moment and Eddie wills himself to sit up--or at the very least roll to where Harrington and Buckley are.

"I'm going to drive myself and Robin home.” Nancy announces as she reappears, alongside a hovering bottled water.

Gratefully, he takes it.

With a tone that’s only this side of too-sweet, she asks; “Eddie? Would you like a ride?”

He considers it.

On one hand, that means he leaves his van here. So someone else has drive him to get it back in the morning (unless Harrington drives it to him and while Eddie finds himself weirdly unopposed to that idea, he doesn’t want to impose.

…Or inflict the current sad state of his van’s interior on Steve before he knows the guy better.)

On the other hand, he’s clearly too drunk to drive, which means more time with a drunk Steve Harrington.

That’s gotta be good for figuring out clues, right?

(In his head, Batective Eddie shoots him a thumbs up from where he lays, facedown on the floor.)

"If I get into a car I’m going to hurl." He announces. “So I’m gonna pass.”

Nancy makes a very unlady like noise, and Eddie grins, finally managing to lurch up to his elbows. “Nancy Wheeler was that a snort!?” He teases gleefully, as she rolls her eyes.

“Maybe.” She says, then holds out a hand.

Eddie slaps his in it, but does his best not to pull on her. Instead he mostly uses her for balance as he works his way to his feet.

“You guys get home safe okay?” Steve says, voice uncharacteristically serious as Robin helps him up from the pool chair he'd collapsed in. “Check in when you do.”

That’s weird--Eddie half expects it to be some sort of inside joke or macho, alpha man type comment but instead both Robin and Nancy nod seriously.

“We will.” Nancy promises. “Thank you for inviting me, Steve. Nice meeting you properly, Eddie.”

She gifts him with a smile, an honest one, before guiding Robin out the door.

Who screams; “Bye losers, love you!” as she exits.

(Eddie thinks this might be another moment for Batective Eddie except he’s sort of getting a headache and kinda just wants to sleep rathe than envision his Sherlock Holmes styled bat-self.)

They follow the ladies in, Eddie beelining for the first cough he sees.

“You can sleep it off here.” Steve tells him, zombie-walking to his fridge. He pulls out a soda and chugs it as Eddie falls face first into couch cushions, taking a moment to let his stomach settle before adjusting to a better position.

"Nah I'm just gonna close my eyes for a second." Eddie mumbles. “Be fine in a ‘lil bit, promise.”

Does so, and enjoys the sweet, sweet darkness that envelops him.

He jerks awake a moment later, blinking hard in the dark. A blanket has been draped over him, and his shoes kicked off, though judging from where they landed Eddie thinks he’s done that part himself.

A glance at his wristwatch reveals it's 1 AM, and Eddie goes to scrub his eyes with his hands.

Shit, he hadn't intended to stay this long.

Harrington’s creepy Christmas shit’s all gone, replaced by walls so blank they look almost sterile.

It creates a different, quieter vibe that's almost more spooky than the Santa-themed tomb Eddie had previous seen. The large windows throw shadows across the open space, like elongated fingers. It covers parts of the room in thick darkness, giving the appearance than anything could be hiding within them.

There's blankets on the couch catty-corner to Eddie’s. They're rucked up, and the sound of running water abruptly clues Eddie in to where Steve might be.

A golden glow erupts from the kitchen, then off again, before repeating the pattern.

( Batective Eddie returns with a squeak, frantically waving a sign.

It reads ‘Steve is afraid of flickering lights, remember!?’)

The noise in the kitchen has gone eerily quiet. The bad kind, that makes the hairs on his neck stand up, and Eddie rolls off the couch and to his feet, making his way to the kitchen.

Comes around the corner to see Steve frozen halfway to the stove, his head craned upward at the ceiling lights.

Eddie knew that whatever had happened, a clear trigger for all those involved (the kids, Harrington, hell even Nancy Wheeler that one time in the library--) was electrical issues in lights.

He clears his throat, the sound coming out like more of a growl. He coughs to clear it, then sidles closer.

Steve has a stillness to his body that Eddie doesn’t clock until it’s too late, his hand already reaching out to tap the taller man’s shoulder.

"Hey, uh Steve?"

Gets the shock of his life when Steve yanks his shoulder away, spinning back and around like he's been burned.

Eddie gets a flash of wide brown eyes, glassy and wild, before a frying pan is swung at his head.

"What the hell Harrington!" Eddie yelps, falling down on his ass and scrambling backwards, pan missing his head by inches.

(Envisions in his head his Batective self throwing his notes in the air, taking flight with a startled “Fleeeee!”)

Harrington stands over him. Looks just like Wayne did that one time a car battery caught fire and exploded near the trailer.

Like he was somewhere else, and prepared to do what he had to in order to get back.

Chest heaving, Eddie put aside all thoughts of stupid bats and did what he did best.

Talked.

xXx

20 days after New Years, Steve almost takes Eddie's head off with a frying pan.

Doesn't realize he's swung it like a weapon until he hears the surprised shout, his brain too steeped in adrenaline and old fears.

Freezes, because the shout sounds like one of the kids but he doesn’t remember them being here...

"--eve?"

"What?" He asks, the ringing slowly easing as his tunnel vision does.

He'd heard the growl, saw the lights flicker…

A gentle hand presses into his bicep, and he finds himself staring into Eddie Munson’s eyes.

The guy has a sort of look on his face that says he's trying his best not to freak out, but then Steve blinks and it's gone.

Replaced with something gentle, if cautious.

"You wouldn't mind if I just," Eddie trails off as his ringed fingers slowly stroke down Steve's arm, before carefully taking hold of the pan’s handle. "--took this, aye love?"

It's the nickname that brings Steve back fully, and he loosens his grip on the pan, surrendering it to Munson.

"Thank you Steve." He says, leaning to put the pan back on the stove, far out of Steve's current reach.

Then his hands return to Steve's wrists, and he finds himself staring at them in confusion.

Not because he doesn't know what happened--he does.

It's more that he's shocked Eddie is still willing to touch him after he nearly brained him.

"There's egg on the floor." Steve says, because it's the easiest thought to have at the moment.

Easier than apologizing.

Definitely easier than explaining.

"We'll clean the egg up later." Eddie says firmly, and Steve's never heard him use that tone of voice before. Firm and unyielding, like he has all the answers.

It's the kind of voice Steve can surrender his anxiety to and he finds himself almost sinking into it.

If Munson asked him to walk over a cliff just then, he would be more than a little tempted.

"Let's go sit down, just for a few minutes." Eddie tells him, a gentle tug on his wrists and Steve finds himself breathing out, his body shivering with the release of stress.

He nods, unable to speak, and allows himself to be maneuvered out into his living room, then down on one of the loveseats.

Eddie sits next to him, his thigh a line of grounding heat pressed against Steve's leg and he focuses on it to keep himself in the present.

"You back with me?"

Steve works his throat, hyper aware of how dry it is. "Yeah." He says.

Then adds, "sorry."

"Don't apologize, man. I've done plenty of trip sitting in my day. I know a panic attack when I see one."

Steve vaguely wants to ask what the hell trip sitting is, but finds himself unconsciously leaning towards Eddie instead.

Somehow he doesn't mind, even though Steve's practically squished up against him. Not that Eddie's ever been one to care about personal space, but Steve knows there's a difference between a teasing joke and whatever this is.

Eddie's thumb begins to rub gentle, grounding circles into the meat of Steve's wrist.

It gives his eyes something to track and gratefully Steve does, so he doesn't have to look Eddie in the face.

Isn't sure he can clear the tears trying to wet his eyes in time to brush this off.

Claim it's nothing serious.

"You wanna talk about it?" Eddie asks and somehow Steve didn't account for how direct the metalhead could be.

The tears strengthen and for a moment his vision blurs with them, before he sucks in a shuddering breath and forces himself back under control.

'God Steven, toughen up.' His father's voice rings out in his head, the memory branded into Steve's very being. 'It's ridiculous how much you cry. Do you think anyone wants to put up with that?'

Steve had answered no then, tone wobbling.

"I--" He starts, "--signed an NDA."

Which is not, at all, what he meant to say, but too late now.

"The cops and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, your secrets are safe with me." Eddie says, entirely unphased.

Which ghosts a smile over Steve’s face at least, even as he finds himself totally lost.

How exactly is he supposed to explain this?

The Upside Down, the Russians, hell even the way he's become hyper vigilant?

That certain words or references act like bullets, sending him to the floor in a spiral of burning panic?

Nevermind his finely honed instinct to use anything as a weapon when startled.

Sensing his discomfort, Eddie hums quietly before making a suggestion. "How about you tell me a totally fake, very unreal story?"

Steve croaks a laugh.

"I'm a really bad story teller." He warns.

"Practice makes perfect." Eddie tells him, leaning his shoulder into the taller man's.

Grateful--and feeling more than a little pathetic--Steve finds himself seeking out the touch.

"Okay." He agrees quietly, with a jerky nod of his head. "A--completely untrue, over exaggerated story. I can do that."

So he does.

xXx

The story Steve tells in halting, fumbling bursts of words involves monsters, the supernatural, government secrets and coverups.

The latter half of which doesn't even surprise Eddie--anyone with half a brain could see the sheer number of incidents that happened one after another was a cover up for something big-- but he can't help himself from trying to detangle reality from fiction.

Monsters he gets. It's easier to pretend the bad guy is an evil creature than a real person, to distance yourself from it in such a way it feels fake.

The supernaturally gifted girl is a little harder, but if you replace superpowers with some poor kid involved in some kind of shitty, abusive government program, then he can buy it.

What Steve never explains, is what set him off.

Eddie tells him so.

"I told you I was a bad storyteller." Steve says in response, which isn’t an explanation but then, Eddie realizes he is pushing awful hard for a guy who he barely knows to bare his soul--and who, in turn, barely knows him.

Not really anyway.

Not outside of rumors and old wounds.

"Is there anything that ever helps you feel safer?"

"People." Steve says immediately. "People always help but ah, well." His smile is pained, self deprecating. "I can't exactly ask for sleepovers every night, can I?”

He shrugs. “So I just keep a few things close.'

"A few things?"

"My nailbat."

"Is the nailbat a bat…with nails in it?" Eddie hedges, desperately attempting to keep a calm, straight face because what the fuck?

But this was a no judging zone, and it wasn’t as if a bat with nails in it was the weirdest thing Eddie had ever encountered. Not since Uncle Wayne’s friends informed him they had at minimum, seventeen guns hidden in their own trailer across town.

‘Things are happening at night, kid. Bad things. Don’t go too far into the woods looking for trouble.’

"Maybe." Steve admits.

"How about instead of hugging a nail bat to sleep, if things get bad you come over. Wayne works the night shift and I have insomnia anyways."

"Really?"

Eddie can’t blame him for sounding surprised.

"Yeah man. No skin off my nose, though you will be stuck hearing my beautiful sweetheart. She's a guitar sent from heaven. "

"I can handle that." He says, a smile ghosting across his face.

Then; "Thanks Eddie."

Eddie presses his shoulder against Steve’s. "Anytime, big boy."

(Crisis over, Batective Eddie returns, swooning.

Eddie mentally squashes him under his own notes.)

#I wasnt gonna write more of this but ya'llk talked me into it #Eddie doodles batective eddie everywhere #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve needs a hug #steddie fluff #0o0 fanfics #I guess this would be the new years special #god does that mean I should finish it with valentines day #nancy and eddie friendship supremacy

506 notes · View notes

syddsatyrn · 3 months

Text

Chapter 1⛤Chapter 2 ⛤ Chapter 3 ⛤Chapter 4 ⛤ Chapter 5 Masterlist

⛤Pairing: - Eddie Munson x FemReader

⛤Warnings: Swearing, drinking / smoking, drugs, fluff, friends to lovers, kissing, a little angst if you squint.

⛤Words: 2.7k

⛤Song: "Photograph" By Def Leppard

⛤Summary: Moving away from Hawkins was the biggest mistake of your life. You left your best friends and forgot to stay in touch. Years later, you decide to hit up your good friend Steve. Its time to make a plan and make amends. The one thing you didn't expect was feelings to resurface when you saw your old high school crush.

⛤Notes: This series is 18+ Minors scram. I've got a super extra long chapter for you guys today! @hellfiremunsonn is my faithful beta reader and assists me so much. Thank you guys for making my come-back series a fun one. My next chapter will be the end of this series.

⛤Chapter: 4 "Subtle" Chemistry Star court mall is always at least a little crowded. The lively hum of conversations, laughter, and distant music formed a vibrant backdrop. Storefronts beckoned with their displays of trendy fashion, electronics, and enticing sales. Shoppers meandered through the wide walkways, their bags filled with many treasures. Neon signs buzzing, the occasional sounds of a cash register, and the scent of cinnamon drifting through the air. It was just like you remembered it. You had a blast hanging out with Robin. She picked out a brand new pair of ankle length combat boots. You both decided to get ice cream and take a break from walking around. The food court wasn’t super crowded, it was the perfect place to chat. “Can I tell you something? It’s a secret so dont go telling Steve.” “Ohhhh is it secret time?” I won't tell Stevie boy, I promise.” Robin raises her right hand, “Scouts honor.” “Okay. Uhhh…well…I slept in Eddie’s bed last night. He came home from tour in the middle of the night.” Your face turns redder with every word. “Oh shit. Wow Y/N, I didn't think you had it in yah.” She chuckles and puts another spoonful of strawberry ice cream in her mouth. “We didn't do anything!” You affirm your tone a little on the defensive side. “What!? I’m just saying you guys have been madly in love with each other since sophomore year and neither of you have had the audacity to tell each other for some unspoken reason…until now.” She's not wrong, Robin has always been one to spell it out for you loud and clear. She never holds back, it's something you’ve always appreciated about her. Robin has been telling you to come clean for ages now.

“Look, I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I don't want to screw up my friendship with Eddie. Also, he's like a big rockstar now, I doubt he has any time for stuff like that.” You explain as you sink into your chair. "He probably has some cool metalhead girlfriend I don't know about.” You take a bite of your vanilla ice cream. It's so fitting for this conversation, vanilla ice cream for a vanilla person.

“God it's been years and I still can’t wrap my head around your stupid self doubt.” Robin says, shaking her head. “Eddie doesn't have a girlfriend. When you left he moped around his trailer for weeks. No one could get him to come out, not even Dustin. One time I went over to his place to check on him and he was sloshed out of his mind. He told me, "The songs he sings don't mean a thing if you’re not there to hear it.”

“He didn't say that.” You scoff.

“Oh but he did, and he keeps a photo of you in his wallet.” Robin says teasingly.

“You know about that too?!” It's becoming apparent that everyone knows this except you.

“Of course I do. It's me, I know everything.” Robin says with a cocky tone.

You and Robin decide to float around the mall a little longer. A small department store was calling your name. The story had low lighting and they were playing some classic rock on the radio. Robin's goal was a pair of shoes, your goal however, was a hot outfit for tonight's party at the hideout. It honestly didn't take you long to find the cutest black skirt with chain embellishments, you picked out some new stockings too. —-------------- After the girls left Eddie felt like he could finally breathe. He finishes his coffee and breakfast, then falls backwards onto his bed. He stares at his ceiling as he finds himself lost in the intricate dance of thoughts that revolve around you. Images of you smiling genuine and heartwarming, flashed like snapshots in his imagination. Casual conversations, stolen glances, and the subtle chemistry that lingered in the air when you were near. The anticipation of his next encounter with you and the sweet nervousness that comes with it. The soft glow of the afternoon sun is casting a warm hue across his room. Steve and Dustin went grocery shopping, the apartment was silent. Eddie pulls himself out of his thoughts and shakes them off. He grabs a pre-rolled joint and lights it, Eddie is nervous and he knows it. All these years and he still can't tell you the truth. His life has changed so drastically for the better ever since he signed that record deal. But there was always something missing, something he was holding out for. Of course many girls are interested in him, but he's not interested in many girls. He promised himself after you left that next time he sees you, he is gonna tell you. If he misses this opportunity, he might lose you entirely. He almost completely gave up on you after a year of no contact. But every time he opened his wallet, he saw a glimpse of your face, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of you or the photo. Eddie puffs on his joint, each inhale making him a little less anxious. He tries to think about something else. It will be nice to hang out at the hideout again. That was where he played his very first gigs when the band was just starting out. They barely had any attendees and the band definitely sounded rough. Then Eddie recalls you being there for every single show. Your smiling face in the crowd, cheering him on after every song. “Uhgg, get it together, man.” He says under his breath. He finishes his joint and decides to get dressed. —--------------- When you returned with Robin, Steve was putting away the last of the groceries. “We’re back!” Robin announces. Dustin is reading on the couch, when you look down the hall, Eddie’s bedroom door is open. “Welcome back, we will head to the bar when I finish this. I also need to get dressed. Eddie is out, said something about dropping off some equipment with Gareth. He’s gonna meet us there.” Steve says. Honestly, you were a little bummed. You were hoping he’d be around when you got back. But you shrug it off and take your stuff to his room. Robin follows you and shuts the door behind her. You both change into something a bit more stylish. You had a cropped Def Leppard shirt that you paired with the new skirt. This outfit would go well with boots and stockings. Robin didn't change anything really, just her shirt and shoes. You put on a couple of layered chain necklaces, a few rings, and a pair of small silver hoop earrings. “I am astonished really.” Robin says with a smile as she looks you up and down. You tilt your head in response and she laughs. “Eddie is gonna have a full on heart attack when he sees you.” Your face feels a little hot and you laugh nervously. “Do you think so?” “Oh yeah. No doubt.” She smirks. “Someones lookin’ to get lucky.” “Shut up!” You place your hand over her mouth. She does the unthinkable licks the palm of your hand. You give her this horrified face followed by both of you hysterically laughing like a couple of hyenas. ---------------

The sun was setting and the sky grew darker with every passing minute. There is a chill in the air, which makes you shiver when you open the door. Steve drove to the hideout, it wasn’t far, maybe ten minutes away. When Steve pulled into the parking lot, you looked out the window and saw Eddie’s van. He’s already here, and you start to feel a bit anxious. The Hideout had not changed a bit. The neon signs in the window buzzed as you walked inside. Posters, fliers, and rustic decor filled the walls. You hear the low hum of chatter and the clinking of glasses, the place has a warm glow to it. You used to watch Eddie play here all the time. It felt like your heart was swelling, it's that bittersweet feeling again. You turn the corner and see Eddie and Gareth sitting in a booth. Eddie waves and one by one you all walk over and pile into the same booth. You sit across from Eddie, you can see his face getting a little red. “You uh…look really good, Y/N.” Eddie says with a half smile. He reaches over and adjusts one of your chain necklaces. Robin sees this and covers her mouth, trying not to laugh at how embarrassed you are. But you had to pull all that on hold for now. Nancy and Johnathan walk up and greet the group. You practically climb over Robin and wrap Nancy in a tight hug. “Oh! Y/N? You’re here?! When did you get into town?!” She hugs you back just as hard. “The other day! It's so good to see you, Nance.” Nancy smiles and fights back tears, she didn't expect any kind of reunion. The thing is, You both grew up together. Your mom was friends with Mrs. Wheeler. You spent a lot of your childhood with Nancy and her brother Mike. When you left, Nancy thought she lost you to the city for good. “Don’t cry! I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long.” “They are happy tears, it’s fine. I’m just so happy to see you.” Everyone in the group is touched to see two best friends reunite. Robin looks like she might start crying too. You give Jonathan a hug as well, It's nice to see him doing well. He wasn't always full of smiles and you’ve wondered how he's been over the years. You remember Jonathan used to take photos of the gang, half of the polaroids you have were probably taken by him. A bartender comes by and takes our order. Eddie ordered whiskey and so did you. Vodka soda for Nancy and Robin, Steve and Jonathan order beers. The clinking of glasses, the occasional burst of laughter, and the subtle hum of the other patrons deep in conversation created a soundtrack to this shared experience. You updated your friends on your new life, and once again apologized for being an awful friend. Everyone was so happy to see you that it didn't matter anymore. “You better not leave and go back to ignoring us.” Robin says. --------------------

The sun was setting and the sky grew darker with every passing minute. There is a chill in the air, which makes you shiver when you open the door. Steve drove to the hideout, it wasn’t far, maybe ten minutes away. When Steve pulled into the parking lot, you looked out the window and saw Eddie’s van. He’s already here, and you start to feel a bit anxious. The Hideout had not changed a bit. The neon signs in the window buzzed as you walked inside. Posters, fliers, and rustic decor filled the walls. You hear the low hum of chatter and the clinking of glasses, the place has a warm glow to it. You used to watch Eddie play here all the time. It felt like your heart was swelling, it's that bittersweet feeling again. You turn the corner and see Eddie and Gareth sitting in a booth. Eddie waves and one by one you all walk over and pile into the same booth. You sit across from Eddie, you can see his face getting a little red. “You uh…look really good, Y/N.” Eddie says with a half smile. He reaches over and adjusts one of your chain necklaces. Robin sees this and covers her mouth, trying not to laugh at how embarrassed you are. But you had to pull all that on hold for now. Nancy and Johnathan walk up and greet the group. You practically climb over Robin and wrap Nancy in a tight hug. “Oh! Y/N? You’re here?! When did you get into town?!” She asks and hugs you back just as hard. “The other day! It's so good to see you, Nance.” Nancy smiles and fights back tears, she didn't expect any kind of reunion. The thing is, You both grew up together. Your mom was friends with Mrs. Wheeler. You spent a lot of your childhood with Nancy and her brother Mike. When you left, Nancy thought she lost you to the city for good. “Don’t cry! I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long.” “They are happy tears, it’s fine. I’m just so happy to see you.” Nancy says between sobs. Everyone in the group is touched to see two best friends reunite. Robin looks like she might start crying too. You give Jonathan a hug as well, It's nice to see him doing well. He wasn't always full of smiles and you’ve wondered how he's been over the years. You remember Jonathan used to take photos of the gang, half of the polaroids you have were probably taken by him. A bartender comes by and takes our order. Eddie ordered whiskey and so did you. Vodka soda for Nancy and Robin, Steve and Jonathan order beers. The clinking of glasses, the occasional burst of laughter, and the subtle hum of the other patrons deep in conversation created a soundtrack to this shared experience. You updated your friends on your new life, and once again apologized for being an awful friend. Everyone was so happy to see you that it didn't matter anymore. “You better not leave and go back to ignoring us.” Robin says.

“I wouldn’t even dream of it.” You reply.Hours slipped away unnoticed as the night unfolded, a mosaic of laughter, camaraderie, and the shared appreciation of the moment. Eddie could help but sneak glances at you, it was hard not to. He’s been trying to keep his cool all night, he had several shots of whiskey to build up some liquid courage. The world outside the café window dimmed as everyone delved into stories and life updates.

Eddie hands you his pack of cigarettes, silently asking if you’d like to go outside with him. You take one and place it between your lips. You and Eddie excuse yourselves from the group and head outside, the cold air sent a shiver up your spine.

“Brr! I forgot how cold it is when the sun goes down. I should have brought a coat.” You offhandedly say as Eddie lights your cigarette for you. Eddie removes his leather jacket, leaving him with a thick black hoodie. He drapes it around your shoulders and you are immediately much more comfortable. Your face gets a little red, he’s always been such a gentleman. You both lean up against Eddie's van. His thoughts are a symphony of emotions, dancing between hope and uncertainty. The evening was filled with a serene ambiance, and even in the quiet moments, you still felt comfort in his presence. “Y/N…” Eddie finally pipes up. “Yeah?” “I think we should talk. Y’know…about where we stand with each other.” Eddie admits. Your eyes widen, this is finally happening. The anxiety sets in and you try to swallow your nerves. Eddie stands in front of you, looking at his feet. “Do you remember, right before you left, that time we got high in my van next to lovers lake?” “Yeah. I do.” You answer quietly. “Do you remember me telling you that no one could ever replace you in my life?” He asks and you nod. You remember it like it was yesterday. It was a sunny day, the light glistening along the top of the water. You and Eddie passed a joint back and forth. You gave him a small wallet sized photo from picture day. “I still have that photo, I keep it in my wallet. You told me to keep it as a reminder, so I don't forget you. The thing is, meeting you was like finding my favorite song in a world full of noise, and I can't stop hitting replay no matter how many times I hear it.” Eddie takes a deep breath. It's like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. You were stunned, absolutely speechless. In that moment, the unspoken became words, there was no going back now. Eddie moves a few inches closer, pinning you between himself and van. Under the glow from a nearby streetlamp, the air was charged with tension. You met his gaze with a gentle smile. Without another word, Eddie cupped your face in his hands. Time seemed to slow down as Eddie leaned in and pressed his lips against yours. You kiss him back, It spoke volumes with no words at all. Eddie presses his body against yours and you wrap your arms around his neck to bring him closer. You can't stop shaking, your nerves combined with the cold air made it impossible to be completely still. Eddie finally breaks away from you and opens the back doors to his van. “Hop in, you’re freezing to death.” Eddie says, you take his hand as he helps you into the van then he climbs in after you and shuts the door. You take a seat on an upside down milk crate while Eddie starts the car and cranks the heat. You still can't believe what just happened, you’ve only ever dreamed of this moment. Eddie grabs his acoustic guitar and sits on top of a large amp. He took a deep breath, fingers gently caressing the strings of the guitar, and he started to strum. “I feel so stupid for leaving you alone out here.” You say while looking down at your hands. “If anyone deserves an apology it’s you. I just assumed you moved on and didn’t need any reminders.” “Don’t worry your pretty little head, I forgive you.” He chuckles. “Besides, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?” You recognize the tune he's playing, you��ve heard it before. “What song is this?” You ask, it's so familiar. “Photograph by Def Leppard.” He answers with a half smile and you smile back at him, your eyes widen as you recall the lyrics. He played this song for you before, but you ant remember how long ago.

“Y’know, I still haven't figured out how to sit across from you and not be madly in love with everything you do.” You reply, hearing him play was actually really calming, you’ve missed this side of him. The guitar became an extension of his feelings, his voice carrying a sweetness to it, like warm honey. ♫“I see your face every time I dream

On every page, every magazine

So wild and free,

So far from me

You're all I want, my fantasy

Oh, look what you've done to this rock 'n' roll clown

Oh-oh, look what you've done

Photograph~

I don't want your photograph

I don't need your photograph

All I've got is a photograph

But it's not enough”♫ As the last chord resonated. Eddie sets the guitar against the wall of the van. You spring into his arms, tears stinging the corners of your eyes. You bury your face in his shoulder, you didn't expect to get so emotional. You’re so happy but you still feel so guilty, you question why anyone would leave this feeling behind.

Eddie pulls you into his lap. “Are you crying?! Oh shit, no don’t cry…”Eddie squeezes you a little tighter. “Shhh…it's okay, sweetheart.”

You took a deep breath, “I love you, Eddie.” The words spilled out. “I love you too. I’ve always loved you.” Eddie says, when you look back at him he smiles and brushes a few strands of hair away from your face. “Do you want to go back to mine?” He asks, it's like he read your mind. You nod in response and Eddie chuckles. “Let's get out of here.”

76 notes · View notes

piratefishmama · 1 year

Text

For One Night Only | Part 2

Eddie remembered a lot about Steve Harrington, so to get this fresh new perspective on him… it was wild. He remembered a jock, the king of Hawkins High, the king of Hawkins in general, women wanted him, men wanted to be him, or in some cases men also wanted him. Rich, popular, kind of a jackass at times but never mean enough to warrant dislike. Would have never associated with Eddie’s kind, but yet there he was, comfortable on Eddie’s hotel bed, one long leg crossed over the other as they moved on from pleasantries to business.

Steve wasn’t there as a social call, no matter how fun it might have been to catch up. He had a job to do, and Steve was good at his job.

“Alright, considering our history, or what little of it we have, it might be a good idea to use it if asked on the carpet how we met, I can spin a story about us being secret high school sweethearts who recently reconnected as friends if you want, really big you up to the paps.”

“As lovely as that idea is since high school me would have been thrilled to have been your secret sweetheart” Steve grinned “shut up, I was a nerd with a crush leave me alone” the snigger that followed only made Eddie smile, it wasn’t a hurtful laugh, and Steve’s smile was just to radiant to be mad at. “I said shut up!”

“Shutting up” the smile stayed though as he mimed zipping his lips. Adorable bastard.

“Anyway, as lovely as that idea is, too many people knew us in high school, if the press got word that it was a lie from one of our mutual past acquaintances, eh it’s a hornets nest I don’t wanna poke. Too many what ifs, but we could say that we went to school together, it’s true, we could say that we reconnected recently and… y’know, hit it off…”

“We are hitting it off.” Steve mused, tapping his finger to his chin in thought. “I like it, easy, close to the truth, very little room for mistakes. So I’m to be your date, not just a friend joining you for the evening?” That was what the invite had requested but… Steve was clearly amusing himself by making Eddie squirm a little.

“Mmmhm, yep. Steve Harrington, my date, Can time travel just exist already?”

“Haha, why?”

“Teenage me could do with a visit right this second to tell him Steve Harrington is gonna be our date someday.”

Steve covered his mouth as he laughed so sweetly, the picture of perfection as always. His nose scrunching just a little as he laughed. “Were you always this cute, Eddie?”

“Mmhm, once upon a time, I was even cuter, I swear.”

“I’ll believe you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“I know, thousands wouldn’t, but I’ve always been a sucker for cute brunettes with big ol Bambi eyes, can't help but believe everything they say.” Eddie hadn’t felt his cheeks warm in years and yet there he was, hiding behind his hair, his complexion turning as red as a fire hydrant, stupid pale skin.

Speaking of brunettes, and incredibly convenient subject changes for the safety of his own composure. “Wait, YOU’RE who Nancy knows!”

“You know Nance?”

“She’s our manager now, man, gets us all the best shit! I met her in a bar after she totally blew off the journalism thing, something about sexist work environments and bosses who wouldn’t know a real story if it slapped them directly in the face. They kept giving her fluff pieces.” Nancy Wheeler, a fluff writer, the audacity of anyone who ever made that assumption. “Now she’s the most badass manager in metal history. I swear to god she’s made many a producer pale in fear at the very mention of her name.” She read all the fine print, with a goddamn magnifying glass. She’d made a grown men cry multiple times, it was badass. “She’s the coolest.”

Steve’s smile was so fond Eddie could have swooned just having it aimed at him, even if the fondness wasn’t for him, it was beautiful enough for it to be swooned over anyway. “She is, cool. I’m glad she found her people.” Even if they no doubt made a funny looking group, little not so primp and proper Nancy Wheeler among a bunch of metalheads. It fitted, in a strange kind of way, she’d always wrangled Mike easy enough.

“How did you uhm… y’know… it’s probably none of my business and I keep changing subjects so stop me if I keep jumping around I’m still a little flabbergast from seeing you at my door but uh… how’d you—y’know… what’s this uh… the whole thing like?” Steve tilted his head like a confused puppy and Eddie just kind of wanted to melt into the floor. “The escort thing.” He added on, for clarification.

“Oh, uhm. Chrissy? Chrissy Cunningham, cheer captain of ’86?”

“I know her, she and Gareth have this—”

“Thing! Yes, she talks about him regularly with Robin.” Robin? He doesn’t think to ask, Steve and Robin, Robin… who would be associated with Steve a Robin whom Steve would just mention as if expecting him to know. He only knew one Robin from those days, and he didn’t even really know her.

Just kind of… existed near her in band for a few months until his style of music pissed the teacher off enough to kick him out. Couldn’t be that Robin, right? Not important.

“Oh my god don’t tell me that and expect me to keep it a secret that’s brutal of you.”

“God, tell him, please, I didn't even know who he was but she keeps talking about him and waiting for him to ask her out. Eventually she’s just going to pin him against something and kiss him so—”

“Tell her to do that but god wait until I have a camera please!” Eddie Munson was not against begging, his grin wide and eyes shimmering with gleeful mischief. “It’s reciprocated, totally and completely one hundred percent reciprocated, he is so gone on that girl, it’s adorable.”

“I will let her know, at least now I know he's one of yours and a good guy." Gareth was the best guy in Eddie's opinion, like a brother to him, not that the others werent too, but... Gareth had known he was gay since Hawkins High. Just him and Uncle Wayne in the know, and he'd always been there to support him, Gareth was good. "Anyway… we ran into each other in this café that I’d gotten a part time gig at in Indy, she looked good, healthy…” he didn’t need to say that Chrissy had had a problem. But she had, and that problem began with ‘M’ and ended with ‘other,’ hers to be specific. “She was already doing it, loving it, I was dubious, asked if she was okay, if she needed help, but no she was loving it, thriving actually, and well… I like making people feel good, both emotionally and physically” oof that was a tone that went straight to a place it shouldn’t do “why do it for free, y’know? She got me set up and the rest is history.” He enjoyed himself.

He loved his job, his love language had always been acts of service, he liked making people feel good, liked making them feel wanted, feel loved, feel seen and heard. Eddie couldn’t help himself “ever do anything… y’know…?” He really wished he could help himself sometimes.

“Sex related?” The red in his cheeks only deepened, Steve didn’t seem offended, or upset, in fact his smile only warmed, eyes crinkling at the corners, gods above and below he was beautiful, how did anyone survive after a night with him, having to let him go? “Sure, like I said, if I’m good at something, why do it for free?”

“Even with…” Eddie motioned to himself

“You?”

“N-No! No, Men—wait sorry—that’s—that’s none of my business” he turned away to move, to pace, so much energy in his body suddenly there with nowhere to go “none of this is any of my business, I don’t usually ask these kinds of—I mean it’s really wrong of me to even ask this sort of—" Steve was just there so fast, hands on Eddie’s biceps, holding him in place, Eddie hoped he couldn’t feel him almost vibrating out of his skin.

“It’s okay, Bambi” Eddie’s eyes snapped up to meet Steve’s, his wide and unblinking, like a deer in headlights in the face of Steve’s so warm and understanding, Bambi really did suit him, Steve thought, his left hand lifting to rest on Eddie’s cheek as if to ground him, it worked. God it worked. “Ask all the questions you like, but maybe save some for later, we don’t have long before we have to go.”

“…Later you’ll be leaving though...” he didn’t want Steve to leave. He didn’t want his next time seeing Steve to be part of a lottery, would he come next time? Would someone else who Eddie didn’t recognise appear in his place?

“We’re hitting it off, remember? I’m sure there’s going to be an afterparty we can both be caught sneaking away from to hang out, right?” Eddie kind of felt like he was flying. He felt like a teenager again, a nerdy, virginial teenager. He refused to acknowledge that little goblin voice telling him that Steve was actually probably just doing his goddamn job, he was on the clock dammit. He just wanted to have this. “You can ask me questions then, I promise I’ll stay.” He didn’t have anywhere else he needed to be.

“…Yeah… if that’s okay with you.”

“More than. Now how about you introduce me to the rest of Corroded Coffin, we all need to be on the same page before we get there.” Work now, catch up later. “Sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can ditch the after party to hang out.” Eddie giggled, an honest to gods little giggle. He really did feel like a teenager again, only Steve was looking at him. Holding him. Grounding him. Steve Harrington was seeing him.

Teenager Eddie would have shit a brick.

“Alright, I’m warning you though, I think you let Tommy H. stuff Jeff into a locker once so don’t expect a warm welcome.” Steve grimaced a little but nodded. He was a different person now, but that wouldn’t erase the mistakes he’d made as a stupid teenager. Plenty of bridges to rebuild and apologies to give. Jeff wouldn’t be the first or the last.

“Bring it on, Bambi.” Eddie could only hide behind his hair again, bashful and flustered.

Part 4

#For One Night Only #PirateWrites #Steddie #ficlet #Stranger Things #no upside down au #Escort!Steve #Rockstar!Eddie

382 notes · View notes

xoxoavenger · 2 years

Text

Hide Away

pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

summary: Y/N loves Steve, but when he starts dating someone else Y/N falls sick with Hanahaki Disease. She hides it away from everyone until the very end, when it’s too late.

word count: 4009

warnings: mentions of blood, angst

series masterlist main masterlist want to be on the taglist?

She was sick.

In all fairness, she had been sick since 1983, when Steve Harrington began going out with Nancy Wheeler. It seemed like the day that Steve had admitted his feelings for Nancy, Y/N's days were numbered. She didn't even know that a disease like this could last this long, and some days she wished it would just swallow her whole because the pain was unbearable.

It was supposed to be rare. It was supposed to be easy to cure, easy to get rid of, especially if you barely even knew the person. Hardly anyone died from it now, with the cure that had come out and the slow-acting way it nestled into lungs. It was easy to change your feelings before time ran out. But there she was, laying on Eddie Munson's mattress, coughing up full flowers as everyone screamed around her.

Y/N had Hanahaki Disease. All because she was in love with Steve Harrington, a feeling she couldn't seem to shake.

It started slow. She didn't even know what was happening at first, why she suddenly felt like her lungs were restricting and her chest became tighter. She thought it was a panic attack as she left second period English.

Until she saw Steve following a giggling Nancy out of the bathroom, both of their faces alight with happiness and not a care in the world. That's when she knew she had Hanahaki Disease. Right then.

She could practically feel the flowers grow as she watched them kiss before going into the classroom late, even though she knew the flowers had yet to even sprout. All this time, she had thought that Steve had really had secret feelings for her, the girl next door. Steve was over at her house more than he was at his own - emphasis on was, because Y/N hadn't seen that Steve in a long, long time. She wasn't even sure that Steve still existed, because this Steve was a player and a bit of a douche and he barely acknowledged her unless she was in her cheer uniform. And yet, she had been naive enough to think that maybe Steve liked her back, since she hadn't caught the disease in the year that she had been harboring her crush on him. Maybe she just hadn't admitted it, or maybe it didn't count because she hadn't fully admitted it to herself. Whatever it was, she knew she was down for the count. And at this point, Steve wasn't the same boy she had once known, so would it be so bad to get the cure and forget him?

"Y/N," Steve startled her as she was leaving her house. She was on her way to get the cure, before it was too painful, before Steve found out.

"Steve," She muttered, feeling her chest constrict lightly. "What're you doing here?"

"I came over to apologize," He rushed it out, but he was looking straight at her, making her heart race even though she couldn't look at him fully. "I know that I've been a dick, and you didn't do anything to deserve that. I shouldn't have acted like I didn't know you, like we weren't friends." He sounded so sincere, and it almost made her heart break. She tried to remind herself that she was on her way to forget him, to get rid of the disease he had practically planted in her chest.

"It's alright. I mean, it's not like I made much of an effort either." She shrugged, holding her hands close and continuing to look down.

"No, it's my fault. I just, I should have been nicer. I've been a dick all throughout high school." Y/N wondered what was making Steve say this, what made him realize this. And then she looked up and saw the bruises on the left side of his face.

"What happened?" She asked, completely forgetting about the conversation they had been having.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, and even if you did, it's a long story." Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. Y/N paused for a moment, trying to come to terms with what she was about to do.

"I've got time," She stepped to the side to let Steve into her house, watching his eyes widen.

"Weren't you just about to go out?" He gestured to her shoes, and she shrugged as she kicked them off.

"It was just some shopping. I can go tomorrow." She smiled, opening the door even wider as Steve walked in.

She didn't get the cure, but she got a chance at a new friendship with Steve. And maybe she could learn how to love him in a completely, unromantic, platonic way. A way where she could still have Steve Harrington in her life, even if it wasn't the way she wanted.

But as she glanced at him, at the way he was leaning against the arm of her couch, passed out with his mouth open as the light from the movie that had been long forgotten bounced off his skin, Y/N knew that she would always love Steve, even if it meant death.

It wasn't a big deal for a long time, since the disease was so slow. It was almost like torture, the way she would forget about the flowers growing in her body until a violent attack where she would begin coughing up small petals dotted with blood. It happened more and more often as time went on, going from once every few months to once and month to once a week, up until almost the year mark, where she was sure she was going to start throwing up full buds soon.

And then everything eased.

It didn't stop - she still threw up petals, still coughed blood, but it wasn't as bad. The attacks were bearable, and she was able to breathe through them a bit. Maybe it was because Steve had been spending even more time around her, but she knew it was likely because he and Nancy had broken up for good.

It was easier to hide, being out of high school and having more freedom even during work, but it was also harder when she was with Steve and the kids, when she would have to wear dark shirts to cough into and hope that the petals were small enough to hide. No one seemed to notice anything, and for awhile, Y/N wondered if she could live like this, occasionally coughing out small petals until she finally got over Steve Harrington.

But the other shoe had to drop at some point, and the Universe probably hated her.

The disease began to progress again, even though Steve was having trouble with girls. Y/N knew that this was all borrowed time, that she should cut her losses and get the surgery to cure her, even if it meant forgetting Steve. She knew that it would be the smart thing to do, the only way to live. But she didn't want to forget Steve, especially since they had become best friends again.

The first person to actually notice was Robin.

"Hey, I know you're on your break, but if you-" Robin had rushed into the backroom of Scoops Ahoy! just as Y/N had coughed up a couple large petals, their light pink coloring splattered in the dark red of her blood, which was also on her lips. Looking at the petals, it was obvious Y/N was close to full buds even without the tightness in her chest.

The look Robin gave her made Y/N almost cry.

"It's Steve, isn't it?" Robin walked over to Y/N, knowing immediately. It wasn't obvious to everyone, since no one else had ever noticed, but Robin watched the way Y/N smiled at Steve, the way she followed the boy around with her eyes all the time. "How long?"

"It's been over a year at this point. Actually, almost two." Y/N answered, getting up and tossing the petals into the garbage.

"Holy shit," Robin whispered. Fear struck her heart as she realized what this meant. "Normally people only survive a couple years with it, Y/N," Robin was worried, because if Y/N had really had the disease for almost two years, then her time was quickly running out. "You have to get that surgery." Y/N was shaking her head as Robin spoke.

"No," She crossed her arms and looked at the frosted glass windows where they could faintly hear Steve trying to flirt with some customers. "I don't want the surgery."

"But if you don't, you'll die! You understand that, right? I know you may feel invincible right now, but this shit kills people. And you haven't lost feelings yet, so you're running out of options!" Robin was yelling, and Y/N was shushing her as Steve came into the back.

"What's going on?" He asked, eyes flitting between the two girls.

"We were just arguing over which cone is the best." Y/N picked up the two bags of cones - waffle and cake - that she was planning to restock.

"Right," Steve obviously didn't believe her, but he didn't seem to care very much, because he was complaining about his uniform two seconds later.

Y/N didn't miss the glares Robin threw her way,

It was awhile later when the next person found out that Y/N was sick.

By the two year mark, Y/N was feeling it a lot worse. The vines were beginning to grow up, she could feel them, and every so often she would cough up a bud. Still no full bloomed flowers, but she knew it wasn't far away. As the months dragged on and she tried to focus on work and a couple of college classes, she felt burnt out all the time. She could barely stand through her shifts, could barely stay awake during classes that used to excite her.

"Hey, Y/N," She lifted her head at Steve's voice, realizing she had fallen asleep while sitting at the front counter. Shit.

"Sorry," She muttered, trying not to look at Steve's concerned face.

"What's going on with you?" Steve put the tapes he was holding down as he took in the bags under her eyes, the way her whole body seemed to sag. He was scared out of his mind for his friend.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She lied with a fake smile, but Steve wasn't buying it this time.

"You've been saying that for months but I know you're not fine. Talk to me, Y/N. Is it nightmares?" He asked, and Y/N dumbly shook her head. She had been through a period of time where she couldn't sleep due to the nightmares that plagued her dreams; nightmares from the Russian base, from fighting the Mind Flayer, from Steve laying on the ground motionless. And once the nightmares had finally be over, she felt like she was never able to sleep enough. Always tossing and turning all night, having to get up multiple times to cough up petals and buds and blood.

"I mean," Y/N started, realizing she should have just used the nightmare excuse. "I just can't sleep lately, alright? But it's not a big deal. I'll figure it out." She tried to smile, but Steve was having none of it.

"Are you sick?" He asked, causing her to freeze up. He was getting too close, and she needed to keep him far, far away for what she was going to go through next.

"No, no, I'm fine," She answered entirely too quickly. "It's probably just, ya know, allergies," She shrugged before grabbing the tapes that Steve had set down, walking around the counter to go put them away.

Steve didn't believe her, but he let it go.

Only a week later she found herself in the kitchen of the Wheeler house, the rest of the group in the basement as she felt like she was about to cough up her whole lung.

"What the hell?" Of course Max Mayfield would be the one to see her on the first day she coughed up a full flower. Max was staring at the fully blossomed flower that she had watched Y/N throw up.

"Max," Y/N's voice was rough, since the flowers were close to suffocating her.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Max seemed hurt that Y/N had kept it to herself for so long - she knew almost no one else must know because it wasn't talked about, but she also knew that Y/N had to have been suffering for awhile at this point, because that flower was fully blossomed and although Max didn't know much about Hanahaki, she knew that Y/N was in the final stages.

"I can't," She was quiet, and Max suddenly realized what was going on.

"Who is it?" Max walked closer to Y/N, because she was going to get to the bottom of it. "It's either Jonathan or Steve, and you can tell me who it is or we can walk back down there and I'll try and pretend I don't know." Max really wanted Y/N to pick the first option, because Y/N had been suffering alone for too long and Max wanted to help.

"You already have enough going on, Max." Y/N smiled sweetly, and Max wanted to rip her hair out.

"I don't care about me!" Max slammed her hands down on the table, making Y/N jump. "I want everyone to be okay when I'm gone and I don't want to die knowing that you're close behind." Y/N's eyes widened at Max's statement, and she was going to say something when Lucas came barreling in.

"Why are you talking about dying?" He asked, face hurt. Y/N quickly turned and threw the flower away, trying to ignore the itch in her throat and the tightness in her chest.

"No one is dying," Steve said as he walked in, followed by Dustin. At the sight of Steve, Y/N's heart constricted, as if the vines growing in her lungs were wrapping around her heart and making it squeeze out all her blood. She felt lightheaded, not able to breathe either.

This was common when she was around Steve, hence why she had been upstairs.

"Y/N, you alright?" Steve was next to her, and she was going to throw up again and all she could do was make eye contact with Max, who blurted out the first thing she could think of to cover her friend.

"It must be Vecna!" Max watched as the boys freaked out, not knowing what to do.

"Shit!" Steve yelled, grabbing her shoulders as if that would do anything.

"Give her some room!" Max forced Steve to back up, and Y/N began breathing a little better, but as she wheezed Max knew that Y/N wouldn't be breathing well again until she sorted out the disease. "You owe me." Max whispered as Y/N began to look more grounded.

"Max," She whispered, tears in her eyes. Max hugged her, trying to hide her own tears and hoping that she died before Y/N would, because it was obvious the older girl wouldn't be getting the cure and she wouldn't be losing or changing her own or anyone else's feelings.

And then the worst happened.

Y/N wasn't sure how long she had left, but she knew she wouldn't be able to function soon. And yet she still went through WaterGate immediately after Steve, before anyone could say anything. Robin went in next, because she knew Y/N was not going to make it alone in the Upside Down with Steve.

And she was right, because it took about ten minutes before Nancy was fixing up Steve, and almost as immediately Y/N was throwing up flowers.

"Oh, fuck," Eddie muttered and Robin took in the full flowers that were a stark pink in contrast to the dark ground of the Upside Down. It stuck out like a sore thumb, the red of the blood dotting the grey ground. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," Eddie's hands were pulling at his hair, because this chick was in the Upside Down and she had Hanahaki and from the looks of it there was a large chance she wasn't getting out.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, making his way over to where Y/N and Robin were kneeling.

"Nothing," Y/N tried to get up, but she fell directly back against Robin. All of her energy was gone, and she knew she shouldn't have gotten on the boat. It wouldn't have changed anything, though. She still wouldn't get the cure, and Steve still wouldn't love her, and she was still going to die.

"Are those flowers?" Nancy whispered, eyes locked on the pink blossoms on the ground. A horrible feeling rushed through her chest as she realized that if Y/N had Hanahaki and Steve was the lucky guy, she had been practically aiding in killing Y/N this whole time.

"Fuck," Y/N whispered, letting Robin hold her close. She was wheezing, eyes closed, so she didn't see Steve's eyes widen.

"It's not Vecna?" He muttered, and everyone could tell he was hurt that Y/N had lied to him.

"We need to get her back and to the hospital." Nancy went into planning mode, taking charge of the situation. Robin shook her head.

"She doesn't want the cure." She was trying not to cry at the thought of her friend dying. She had known for awhile that this day would come, and she knew that it was coming soon, but nothing could prepare her for the actual thing.

"Who is it?" Steve asked, causing Robin to roll her eyes.

"Probably some douche." Eddie muttered, crossing his arms. Everyone shot him a look, but Eddie just shrugged. "What? You see those full flowers. She's been sick for years."

"How did we not know?" Steve asked, his heart dropping at the fact that Y/N had been struggling for so long and he didn't even notice. Even when he did realize something was wrong, he never pushed. God, if only he had pushed...

"We have to go," Y/N muttered, struggling to stand on her own. Eddie came over to help Robin, and together they supported almost all of her weight as she stumbled to the Wheeler house.

And now, she was laying on Eddie's mattress, looking up at her friends who were still in the Upside Down. Once they had found out how to get back, it was then a race to figure out how to get Y/N through the portal in the ceiling. Eddie and Steve supported her as she grabbed onto the rope with all her might, but she had hit the mattress hard after going through. She couldn't move now, lungs barely inhaling. Blood was coating the inside of her mouth, and she knew this was it.

She wasn't making it to a hospital even if she wanted the cure.

"Y/N," Dustin was crying, trying to get her up but he couldn't. Lucas and Max helped, and soon Y/N was laying on Eddie's couch, light headed.

"Jesus Christ," Eddie muttered as he landed and got up, going over to where Y/N was laying. Robin was there too, pushing her hair back.

"Y/N!" Steve flipped over and was at her side quickly, ignoring Robin's look. "We need to go to hospital." He was about to scoop her up himself when she smiled and shook her head.

"No time," She muttered, wheezing now. She was afraid to suffocate to death, but she was with her friends and Steve and it was going to be okay. She had been preparing for awhile, and now she could finally tell Steve how she felt, because what was there to lose?

"No, no, no," Steve had tears in his eyes, and Y/N wanted to scoff, because why did he care now, when she was bout to die? "Who is it?" He asked, realizing Y/N didn't want the cure - it was someone who she knew very well, someone she thought was worth dying for rather than forgetting.

"Steve," She whispered, hand reading up to hold his face. Her eyelids were heavy, and she knew her chest wasn't expanding enough. "It's always been you," She let her eyes close.

"What?" He was panicked, his hand gripping her wrist tightly. "Me?" He looked over at Robin, who nodded as tears streamed down her face. "No, that can't be right," He felt light headed, like all the air had been knocked out of his body and all the blood drained.

"Y/N" Max's cry caused everyone's heart to break. Steve was shaking his head, grabbing Y/N's hand tightly now.

"Y/N, I do love you!" He was pleading now, hoping that it wasn't too late for him to admit it - for himself and for her. "I've loved you for years and I know that it's too late now, but God, thinking about you suffering because I was too afraid," Steve cut himself off, tears falling quickly as his throat closed with emotion.

"It's okay," She could barely speak, but Steve was shaking his head.

"No, you gotta believe me! Please! I was afraid of getting Hanahaki. It was easier for me to live in denial and serial date because that way I wouldn't have to live in a world where you rejected me. But I would have rather gotten it than this. I would do anything to go back and tell you years ago, to stop this. I love you. I love you. I love you! Please don't leave," He put his head down on her stomach and cried, loud, ugly sobs. Everyone was crying as they watched Y/N breathe slowly, waiting for the moment her chest motions would stop.

"You couldn't have said that two years ago?" Y/N muttered with a cough. She was slowly regaining energy, as if her whole body had been plugged into a power plant suddenly. Oxygen filled her lungs, inflating larger than they had been able to in years.

"Oh, thank God," Steve brought their heads close together and let out shaky breathes. "I thought I lost you," He leaned in for a soft peck, one that had both of their hearts racing.

"You idiot!" Robin pushed Steve away, wiping her tears as Steve let out a chuckle. "I almost lost my best friend because you couldn't admit your feelings!" Robin grabbed onto Y/N tightly, the two girls sharing a heartfelt embrace.

"I thought I was your best friend." Steve frowned, and Robin just shook her head as she pulled away from Y/N.

"Not anymore!" Once Robin was far enough away Max came over, giving Y/N a large hug as soon as the older girl was able to stand.

"I'm not leaving you," Y/N whispered, knowing Max wouldn't be able to say anything.

"Thank you," The younger girl was trying to keep in her tears, but one slipped out as Y/N squeezed. They let go, and Y/N glanced at the group, who all seemed relieved.

"I"m glad you're okay," Nancy stepped forward, hand on Y/N's shoulder. Y/N pulled her in for a hug. Nancy hugged back hard, and Y/N knew that Nancy had felt guilty, and would have blamed herself if Y/N had died.

"I'm glad we're friends," She said, hoping that would encompass everything she wanted to say. She felt Nancy nod, and then the two parted.

"I can't believe you didn't get the surgery." Steve said once he was able to step up to Y/N again, everyone talking amongst themselves to figure out how to defeat Vecna.

"And forget you?" Y/N asked, a hand on his face. A stray tear fell down his cheek, and she brushed it away. "I'm okay, Steve." She brought him in for another kiss, this one a bit longer.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize until it was too late." Ah - he blamed himself.

"You realized eventually. And I didn't want anyone to know - Robin figured it out herself." Y/N moved a hand to squeeze Steve's hand, smiling at him so that he would smile back. "None of it is your fault. Beside, after we defeat this son of a bitch, we have the rest of our lives."

tags: @fujiihime @starl1g4t @tvandfanfic @sunflowersturn @sadbitchfangirl

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve stranger things #stranger things #stranger things x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x reader angst

1K notes · View notes

hellfireloserclub · 5 months

Text

written for @thefreakandthehair spicy six winter challenge prompt: prompt 40 -If I hear this song one more time, I’m going to jail.-

Also on Ao3

Little Drummer Boy

It was something straight out of a shitty Christmas movie.

Eddie wasn’t convinced that some higher being hadn’t sent down the whole damn situation to torture him.

Had he not earned a break from the relentless torture that society insisted on dragging him through on the daily?

Hell, he had died for this godforsaken town and this was his reward?

Steve motherfucking Harrington walking around looking like Mr. December in a charity pin up calendar, right in front of his poor besotted eyes.

He had only taken this job over the holidays to save up enough to actually move out of Wayne's, god knows his uncle deserved to have his own space. Wayne didn't need his deadbeat nephew under foot any longer, but between working on his GED and the few questionable side hustles -aka anyone that would employ a high school dropout who was accused of murder- his options had been few and far between.

Joyce Byers had been left in charge of the Hawkins festive festival, and like the absolute angel she was she had put him to work alongside Robin and Steve as the general dogsbodies. No job too big. No job too small.

However, this almost constant presence of Steve was hard-wiring Eddie's brain to sit constantly at a state of half horny half stupid. Sometimes he couldn't hide the frustrated grunt that shot out of him as he banged his head on the counter. It happened whenever Steve walked past with his stupid ruddy cheeks doing something dashing and noble and endearing himself even more to that really weak part of Eddie's psyche.

So far in the last few days since they had set up, he had been a witness too, in no discernible order a thousand tiny acts of Harrington heroics.

Steve had shimmied up the enormous Christmas tree in the town square to fix one of the blown out lights. The view had been spectacular, his stupid handsome grin shining almost as bright as the plastic angel that was lit up on top of the finest spruce the town had to offer. Various cheesy Christmas hits interwoven with carols filling the air as Steve had meticulously twisted each light one at a time.

Eddie had held the ladder as Robin taunted him relentlessly about his stupid crush under her breath.

“Come they told me Pa rum pum pum pum A newborn king to see Pa rum pum pum pum”

Eddie loudly sang along to the music coming from the speakers in the town square, hopefully drowning out her words enough that Steve couldn't hear her from his precarious perch. Robin looked too smug in her knowing glances and her eyebrow wiggles.

Eddie almost regretted letting Robin in on his dirty little, very confusing, secret, but it felt right at the time. Even if he couldn't quite get his head around the idea that he might be attracted to another man. He stupidly figured Robin would know where he was coming from, even if it was from the opposite direction, so to speak. Robin hadn’t asked for specifics, but it wasn’t hard to guess who his life-changing revelation was over. It wasn’t as if there were that many people in their immediate friend circle.

But Eddie dared anyone not to fall a little in love with Steve Harrington, Demobat slayer. He was charming to a damn fault, nobody was immune to it, he even had Hopper wrapped around his little finger. And that was all it was, the charm. He wasn’t having very new, very frightening feelings over one of his best friends. The man who had saved him.

Blah blah blah it was like some stupid typical pulp fiction trope, right down to the hairy chested man boobs, torn shirts and epic scars, just make it gayer. Even so… Eddie… he wasn't gay, at least he didn't think he was? Right now staring up at Steve leaning over to flick at a dud bulb his tongue poking out between pink chapped lips, Eddie wasn’t sure how long he could keep telling himself that.

When Steve's feet were firmly back on the ground, he had quizzed them on what was so funny.

Eddie had gone bright red and deflected but Robin had just said something catty about Eddie enjoying the view.

It didn't help his cause when he helped Steve put the damn ladder away, following behind holding the other end of the rungs trying to look anywhere but at the picture perfect view of Steve’s ass in blue jeans.

“A newborn king to see Pa rum pum pum pum” Eddie muttered under his breath, singing along to distract his stupid mind. Steve watched him quizzically as he propped the ladder up against the wall.

“That song gets stuck in your head right?”

“Yeah something like that.” Eddie was glad when the walkie on his belt burst to life asking them to come help set up the candy cane village.

○°○°○●○•°○•●•○°○○•●•●°○°○•●•

Steve saving the baby Jesus was unexpected.

An epic hero moment, saving the son of God from the jaws of the stray dog that had kidnapped the thing from the nativity scene outside the church.

Eddie had seen Steve take down three Demodogs with one swing of a bat, however it paled in comparison to watching Steve dive head first into action mode to chase a Jack Russell Terrier into the dumpster behind Maldives. He had returned victorious hoisting the little plastic doll above his head until he passed it on to old Mrs. Stevens to put back in it manger.

Robin was forced to listen to how her ‘nice young man’ had saved the day for the rest of the shift and Eddie had wound her up relentlessly. Sweet revenge for the inner turmoil she had inflicted on him.

“Robie and Stevie sitting in a tree…” Eddie teased as they watched Steve getting force fed sugar cookies from the women of the church guild.

It earned him a punch in the arm so strong it nearly knocked him off the fence where he was sitting. “It's not me who wants to be sitting in a tree-” She was about to go on a rant…

“ Our Finest gifts we bring, ” he jumped down from the fence “ To lay before the king pa rum pa pum pum So to honor him ” Eddie sung as he plucked a hot chocolate from the stand he was supposed to be manning and skipping over to Steve he presented him with his stolen bounty.

“What's this for?” Steve asked, looking down at the festive paper cup.

“You just saved the son of god, my good sir. That deserves the finest vittles.” Eddie joked, bowing low. “Plus, you need more sugar to wash down all that sugar, sugar.”

“That's a lot of sugar.” Steve beamed at him. Cheeks flushing.

“Sugar and spice and all things nice, Stevie.” He knew his own face was reddening, even more so when he realized they had an audience. The ladies of the church guild were watching them both, eyes wide.

“I am a poor boy too. ra pum pa pum pum I have no gift to bring.” Eddie sang slinking over to the woman standing next to Mrs. Wheeler and gently taking the effigy of the baby Jesus and bolting the tiny fence to secure the thing into its manger with a zip tie. Then because ‘tis the season ‘ replacing the swaddling around it with all the care of a new father, tucking in his firstborn.

Rattling out a drumming rhythm on the wood before he straightened up, he gave a rousing chorus of the song that was well and truly stuck in his head.

“And to think we thought you were a serial killer.” Mrs. Causey from the post office offered a sugar cookie like she hadn't just said the most bat shit crazy thing a woman in a knitted two piece wearing a pink bobble hat had ever said.

“I never thought you would have done the things they said you did Edward.” Ms. Roberts said, nudging Mrs. Causey in the side. “I know your dad, Al made some stupid choices, but he’s a big old pussycat. Mad as a box of frogs, but wouldn't hurt a fly. I very much doubt any son of his would do such awful things.“

Mrs. Causey looked like she was about to say more, but Ms. Roberts hushed her up. To be fair, it was nice to hear someone say good things about his old man for a change. But he was holding off on the mad as a box of frogs until next week when he went to see his Dad on visitation. Last time he had spoken to him he was trying to persuade the guards to let him do a nativity play for the other inmates. It probably hadn’t ended well, Al Munson’s big ideas never ended well. That was why Eddie was with his Uncle Wayne after all.

Eddie smiled his most shit-eating grin in the general direction of the good women of Hawkins, “Ah, Yeah dad has the flair for the dramatics, and I'm afraid the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But I’ve got Steve to keep me on the straight and narrow. Isn’t that right Stevie?” He jumped the fence again, this time landing with a wobble right in front of Steve. The other man reached out to steady him, with a flourish so as not to spill his hot chocolate. “Ah, my hero, you see this ladies? You need to watch your daughters, he will sweep them off their feet next.”

“I think we need to watch out for the pair of you Mr. Munson, you’re both quite the catch.” Ms. Roberts grinned as she started walking away. “Charming and resourceful. Quick thinking with the zip tie, maybe next year we should handcuff the baby Jesus down, less chance of a canine abduction”

Eddie was suddenly aware that Steve still had hold of him by the waist, he jumped away as if burned. It was one thing to be close behind closed doors, quite another to be like that outside and in front of the damn Nativity scene of all things. Eddie clocked the quick look Steve shot towards his handcuff belt, and ached to make a joke but Robin came to save the day. Demanding that they come and help with a spillage on the ice rink.

Still Eddie couldn’t help but feel that every time he looked up to talk to Steve, he caught the man quickly turning away, like he was already looking at him and had gotten caught. Eddie was finding it hard to believe that the redness in Steve’s face was all to do with the cold.

○°○●•°•●○○°○○○○○○°••○○○

Christmas eve snuck up quickly. And with it Robin’s relentless teasing somehow increased.

Every time she walked past now she would sing the stupid little drummer boy song, but now she had alternative words for the damn thing, and every time Eddie heard it over the speakers it instantly reminded him of Steve’s existence. Because Robin was a cruel and evil being sent to drive him to his own despair.

“Don’t stare at Steve’s bum, pum pum pu pum pum” Robin sang as she rounded him on the outskirts of the candy cane village, dressed as a jolly little elf arms full of mystery gifts for the meek and mild, or whatever it was kids were supposed to be, he hadn’t been paying attention in that part of the class. Thankfully, Steve was busy perfecting the piles of presents, attempting to make them stay in neat stacks, it would have been easier if he wasn't struggling with the stupid elf costumes Joyce had bullied them all into. He kept tugging the ill-fitting trousers from where his butt cheeks were trying to consume the itchy material. Eddie wasn't fairing much better but he at least had less to deal with in the ass department. It was hard to pull out a wedgie when you jingled all the way.

On the plus side, they had gotten off lightly, Hopper was currently dressed as a very unconvincing Santa Claus, and the rugrats had been roped into dressing as Angels and were currently caroling next to the tree- the lights kept flickering and they all kept exchanging worried glances, or at least they had until El glared the bulbs into submission.

To make matters worse, Steve started to sing the song under his breath all the damn time now. Eddie was getting some sort of twisted pavilion response to the tune. He was like a mouse looking for a treat. Whenever he heard that man offer his little drumsticks up to the little baby king he perked up and automatically sought big King Steve. And he was pretty sure Steve had cottoned on to him. Because whenever the song came on the festive rotation, right between Wham and David Essex, Steve was within viewing range of Eddie's new superpower.

It was hopeless he was hopeless, and right now he couldn't escape, not the same 24 Christmas songs on repeat or Steve and his peachy bum bu bum bum - fucking Robin!

The sound of bells jingling signaled Robin's return just as the telltale drumming started up through the speakers .

“If I hear this song one more time, I’m going to jail.”

Eddie nearly knocked himself out spinning on the spot. He hadn't expected Steve to sneak up to him when he jingled and jangled more than any one man should. Eddie hadn't noticed that the crowd had thinned, it must be time for Hopper's grand entrance. At least they only had to man the grotto and the sugar heart attack that was the line. Argyle and Jonathan were manning the slay.

“I thought you liked the little drummer boy?” Eddie rocked back on his feet trying not to look like Steve hadn't scared the ever living shit out of him.

“I do, but we hear it like sixty times a day, not including the wonderful remixed version you and Robin seem to have penned in your downtime.” Steve cocked an eyebrow, “Who knew Steve and bum could be used in so many creative ways?”

Eddie nonchalantly looked across the square, pretending to watch the Santa procession. He felt Steve step towards him, this time he jingled. He must have been ninja as fuck to get the drop on Eddie, because every minute movement was like crisp Stereo sound right now.

“Oh, come on Eds I totally set you up for that one, not even a ‘that's what she said’ joke? You're probably already on the good list, I mean saving the world has to be worth at least that right.” Steve's voice quietened towards the end, as if something had caught his attention.

He chanced a look at Steve from below the rim of his elf hat that he had pulled down further both to hide from Steve's questioning gaze, and protect himself a little more from the snow that had begun to gently fall. Steve was ignoring him now watching the white flecks falling, the first of the year. It wasn't the same now, not when it looked too much like the particles that had engulfed them and blocked out the sun. The haunted weary look crossed Steve's face and Eddie wanted to do anything to replace it with that content smile he had seen for the last two weeks.

“I write you a ballad about that peachy ass of yours, and all you do is complain.”

“You missed the ra pum pa pum pum” Steve pointed out, but the frown was gone, replaced with a smirk. He looked like the epitome of a bad idea. But bad ideas were something Eddie excelled at.

Eddie suddenly felt brave, there was a first time for everything.

“Ass doesn't fit the rhythm. It's got to be bum or butt, Dustin's A big butt head pa rumpa pum pum. See, fits the pattern. Has Weird Al taught you nothing?”

“I mean he's taught me how to make a damn fine sandwich.” He shrugged, shuffling forward and flicking the bell that hung on the end of Eddie's elf hat.

It rang out its happy little tune as Eddie focused on that and not the fact that Steve was up close, right in his personal space. Like how was he supposed to function with this blatant discard for his boundaries? If Eddie’s brain would like to send his body an answer on a postcard, he was happy to receive its feedback.

Was it hot in here? Had someone turned on the space heater? Had Eddie or Steve accidentally set fire to their stupid polyester and wool crimes against fashion?

Was it just him? Was he having a stroke? Was this some dormant form of upside down rabies? If it was, Robin would kill him. He had bitten her only last week when trying to stop her stealing the remote at Steve's place. She had bitten him first; it was only fair. But if it was rabies at least death by Robin would be a quicker way to go, then whatever was making his heart drum in his chest like the warm-up act to Megadeth.

Steve tapped the bell on the end of Eddie’s hat again, he was trying to do it in time to the jolly HO HO HO of Hopper over the speakers, but he failed miserably. Still Eddie watched every little movement, like he was about to sit a SAT on Steve Harrington and he had to pass or there would be grave consequences for his immediate future.

“You're the musical one okay. I haven’t got a musical bone in my body-” Steve was grinning at him now, a bright thing that made his eyes sparkle in the twinkling rainbow lights of the sugar plum grotto. One eyebrow was sneaking dangerously close to his hairline, it was like he was waiting for Eddie to finish his sentence, or catch up to the joke. Unfortunately for Steve Eddie’s brain had taken a mini sabbatical, it had to go somewhere to send him that postcard after all.

“Ok what’s up, that’s the second terrible sexual innuendo I’ve set you up for and you failed me dude, where’s your head at?” Steve tapped the side of his face and Eddie turned to look at him. Nobody should look good dressed as a bloody elf, but Steve was somehow pulling it off.

Oh shit, he was talking again and Eddie hadn’t heard a word of it. Staring at Steve’s chapped lips should really make it easier to follow the situation, but when had anything worked out right for Eddie.

Just then the speakers kicked in and the dulcet sounds of George Micheal filled the little room around them.

“Maybe next year I'll give it to someone special”

The Santa parade must almost be over, soon this little bubble between them would be filled with sugar-filled hoodlums. But right now it was just him and Steve and in any second …

“Would you look at that, it's the song about my bum.” Steve wiggled his eyebrows and the bells on his hat jingled, but that wasn’t the thing that caught Eddie’s attention.

The feeling of Steve’s nose brushing his own was the only thing he could grasp as real. Steve was too close. He tried to focus on him but it was making him cross-eyed.

Why was Steve so close?

Anyone would think he was trying to- oh…

“Please don’t hit me.” Steve whispered as his lips softly pressed against Eddie’s, there was a moment's hesitation as Eddie’s brain got the memo, and Steve started to pull away. Probably thinking that he was about to get up close and personal with Eddie’s rings to his face. He was, but not from a punch, Eddie somehow found the cognitive function to get his body to do what he wanted. A hand coming up to grab Steve’s face and pull him back in for a kiss, and the other one finally getting to grips with Steve’s right butt cheek. It seemed to be all Steve needed to press back in and drag Eddie into him till there was no doubt that this was what they both wanted.

Steve made a content noise as he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against Eddie’s, filling the space between them with a chuckle.

“Did you just pat my butt in time to this song?”

“Maybe?”

“Does that make you the little drummer boy?”

“Ah, less of the little, big boy try before you deny and all that. Stevie the real question here is are you the king, the gift or are you my drum… pum pa pum pum” Eddie dropped his other hand to Steves other cheek tap out the beat in time to the song.

That got a dirty snort of a laugh, and it was one of the best sounds Eddie had ever heard.

Suddenly Eddie felt like he was the bravest man in the world.

“So, am I visiting you in jail? Do they still do conjugal visits?” Eddie asked, nudging Steve's nose with his own “Do I have to start wearing dresses so I can fool the guards and have my wicked way with my jailbird of a lover?”

“I mean, what I want to do to you would probably get me arrested in at least five states.” Steve glanced across the snowy square. The sound of the Christmas hoard moving towards them with Hopper guiding the way growing ever nearer.. The bubble of whatever the fuck this was was getting smaller by the second “But since I get to do this now-” Steve lent forward and gave Eddie a soft quick kiss, “Hopefully, whenever I want. I won't feel like I'm crawling out of my own skin when I hear this song… ra pum pa pum pum?”

“Hey, that one almost worked!” Eddie grinned as the first of the visitors to Santa's grotto could be heard crunching up the gravel Oohing and ahhing at Rudolf and his cohorts. Hopefully nobody looked too close and realized they were actually just donkey's with fake antlers-it was dark and well the magic of Christmas was doing a lot of heavy lifting (no animals were harmed in the making of this magical wonder-but Robin had almost been kicked, more than once.)

Eddie, feeling bold, snuck in another quick kiss before they were thrown headfirst into the chaos of Christmas eve. They aimed for casualness as the first kids stormed around the corner to join the line.

Robin's face was too knowing when she walked up to join them.. But Eddie was pretty sure nobody had seen anything untoward.

“What did I miss, dingus squared?”

Robin placed herself between them and started untangling the hats from their jingling and jangling entanglement. The dangling ends of the Elf hats joined Eddie and Steve and It was obvious they had to have gotten a little up close and personal for that to have happened, “Did a Christmas miracle happen?” Robin teased as she bounced both bells back off their owners' nose.

“Santa’s Elves can go on the naughty list you know,” Steve tried to stare her down with the same look he shot at the gremlins, but it hadn’t worked on Robin before and it wasn’t about to start doing so now.

“Steve! Do you copy?” The walkie talkie on all their belts crackled into life with the sound of Dustin, throwing Robin and her accusations off track.

“Yeah butt head what is it?” Steve sounded annoyed but his face read as fond.

“Fido’s back for round two, You forgot to say, over. Over.”

Steve looked out across the square and the snow that was now bleaching down.

“Did Fido get through the cable ties? Over.” Eddie radioed back wondering how the dog had got past his fool proof retaining method.

“The manger is halfway down the street. Over.”

Robin looked at the line of kids waiting to go into Santa Hop, then looked at Eddie and Steve. She looked torn, and Eddie knew she was trying to decide if she wanted to tell Dustin to stuff it, or if she could last till the shift was over before getting the juicy gossip.

“Go. Do your stupid action hero thing,” she barked at Steve. She grabbed Eddie by the wrist stopping him from following Steve on his biblical quest. “But you stay here, I need emotional support against the heaving masses,”

Steve saluted her, bouncing on his feet. He nudged Eddie with his hip as he passed. “So little drummer boy. If I don’t get back, mine after work?”

Eddie tried not to be too enthusiastic when he nodded aware that Robin’s eyes were on him.

She looked like she was about to say something when the doors to the grotto opened and the kids in the front of the line started jostling for position to be the first to see the big man in red.

Eddie started taking the tickets as he watched Steve dart around the waiting kids and head out into the snow. He tried not to stare at Steve's ass as he slipped on the snow but he knew he failed when Robin started ra pum pa pum puming at his side.

“Did you tell him?” He whispered accusingly as he helped up the line with his little red rope.

“I didn’t tell him anything. You sing out loud, you big goof.” Robin didn’t have to look so smug,

“I might have nudged him in the right direction. He wasn’t sure he had heard you right, you know I was just doing my bit, making sure that you were both barking up the right pine tree, being a good samaritan”

“I didn't know Steve was … you know?” Eddie muttered under his breath.

“He's not, well he is… a bit. Enough to flirt with you in front of the infant king and half the ladies’ auxiliary.” Robin took the next bunch of kids tickets and waved them through the velvet rope of hope. They all looked drunk on sugar and dazed in the lights. Eddie knew how they felt.

○°●•●•●°●○•○○○°●••●○°○•●°°○

They got to the end of the long line with Eddie in a haze. Steve did not return to them until shortly after Hopper had stormed off complaining he needed at least an entire bottle of whisky to deal with the amount of kids who had asked him for a Ninja Turtle..

Steve hastily locked up the grotto and started toward the car, Robin charging ahead calling shotgun. she narrowly avoided the snowball thrown at her by Steve as he yelled at her to wait up. She pointedly ignored them slipping and sliding in the snow till she got her position at Steve's passenger side.

“It's ok Bucks, I know my place in the pecking order.” Eddie grinned as he slid into the back seat, however he leaned forward to interrupt the silent conversation happening between Robin and Steve. He would never understand the semaphore that was their eyebrows, but he could interrupt the signaling.

As soon as they were outside Robin's. Eddie scrambled through the gap in the chairs to steal her place in the passenger seat. She affectionately rolled her eyes as she turned to say goodnight.

, it’s my gift to you ra pum pa pum pum. Now you can touch Steve’s bum ra pum pa pum pum ” She sang before she slammed the door closed, flipping them both the bird.

“She's going to try to take the credit for this, you know?” Steve said as he snaked his hand over the center console, searching out Eddie's knee to squeeze.

“I mean, credit where it's due, I think we can blame Bing Crosby and David Bowie and their dedication to creating the most annoying earworm that rhymes with your bum.” Eddie watched as Robin pulled the door closed behind her with a wave and a thumbs up. He glanced around the street checking that nobody's curtains were twitching, all he could see was softly falling snow and HOA approved fairy lights. So he took matters into his own hands and twisted his fingers in with Steve’s, tugging him closer, unable to wait any longer.

Steve's lips met Steve's with no resistance, he sunk into the warmth, the feel of Steve's chapped lips moving against his own, it would be easy to get lost in it. He was getting lost in it, right until a snowball hit the windscreen and shocked them apart.

Battle mode activated and the two of them looked for the threat, only to see Robin standing in fluffy pajamas on her porch, waving at them to get a move on.

Heart racing from more than just the shock of the snowball, Eddie flipped her off as Steve put the car into drive and the radio kicked in, the song that had started it all playing quietly as they pulled the corner towards Steve’s house.

“Then He smiled at me pa-rum pum pum pum. Me and my drum Me and my drum.” Eddie sang as he tugged playfully at Steve’s hat, the bells ringing in time to the music, Steve’s smile lighting up the snowy night.

He was living in a cheesy Christmas movie, but for once Eddie Munson was more than happy with that.

#spicysixwinterfanworkschallenge #steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #steddie fic

82 notes · View notes

smolkiwi98 · 1 year

Note

Hi! If it's okay, i have a request. Reader's good friends with steve and eddie (maybe childhood friends with one and they all got close later on) and now she's dating billy but they've been hiding it and not sure how they'd react giving their history with him. Anyway, she's been neglecting herself lately, not sleeping or eating well and she won't listen to them, but they're shocked to find her with billy and he's being all loving and soft and even kinda strict in order to take care of her

Okay! I'm sorry this took so long, but here ya go! I'm sorry if it seems rushed.

WARNING! mention of depression, anxiety, insomnia, getting bullied (just quickly mentioned), mother not really liking kid (not detailed...just quickly mentioned), fluff, angst(?), not eating, not sleeping, and I think that's it. Oh! not proofread!

requests open > here

masterlist

Secret Love

“Why would you sell to him!? He’s an asshole!” Steve exclaimed “Steve, it’s not that big of a deal. I needed some money and he wanted to come back and buy some stuff.” Eddie said casually. You sighed and sat there quietly on the couch as you watched the two, “Eds…you know what he was like in high school. Why would you want to continue to sell to him?” Eddie just rolled his eyes at Steve “Maybe because it’s my job?” He said like it was obvious…which it kinda was. “Billy needs to just find someone else. He was an ass to me and you.” Steve said, sitting down next to you. You hated when these two would bicker. Sometimes it was funny, but when it was over something like this it was annoying. Eddies a dealer…he’s going to encounter people we don’t really like, but Billy is different. Steve and Eddie had their reasons for hating Billy but you had nothing but love for him!

You and Billy had met in high school. Junior year and you immediately turned into the other girls and drooled over him. His blue eyes, thick eyelashes, the way his jeans fit him…he had a chokehold on you and the other girls in the school. But unfortunately your two friends had beef with the guy. You’ve known Eddie since you were about 9 when you moved into the trailer park with your mom. The two of you became best friends almost immediately. Then 8th grade hit where the two of you met Steve. Eddie was a little jealous of Steve at first because he felt like he was losing his best friend which wasn’t the case at all. After a month or two Steve and Eddie were bonding over…well everything that 8th grade boys like. Except for the music and movie taste. They were still complete opposites when it came to those subjects. And then high school happened…and then Billy happened. In the beginning Billy had no idea Steve and Eddie were your best friends…brothers really. All Billy thought was some jock was going to get in the way and some freak dealer. Eddie hated meeting with him, but he paid well. The only thing they found they had in common was their love for Metallica. Steve and Billy? There was nothing there. Seemed like nothing but hate was there for those two…which meant Eddie had an issue with Billy. Steve and Eddie knew you had a little crush on him and they picked on you all the time about it, but at the same time wished you wouldn’t have a crush on him. Which is why they can never find out the two of you were dating. It’s been two years in your relationship and you were happiest you’ve ever been! Keeping it a secret was annoying, but Billy was the one who suggested it back in senior year. With your friends and his father, it was just best to keep it on the down low.

You were zoning out completely now while Steve and Eddie continued on going back and forth about the meeting with Billy. Recently you’ve been feeling very overwhelmed. Work was getting to you and living with your mother as an adult isn’t the best thing right now. When you were younger you had a good relationship with your mom, but when 17 hit all of sudden you were her enemy. You got anxiety, depression, and even insomnia from it. And things at school were never too great, you dealt with your fair share of bullies. You thought once you graduated everything would stop, but boy were you wrong. You haven’t been sleeping or eating properly. Going to bed at 5:30 in the morning just to wake up at 7:00 wasn’t good and skipping breakfast wasn’t helpful either. You knew this, but with everything going on…you just didn’t care. Right now peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are your go to meal. “Sweetheart!” Eddie said, snapping you out of your trance “Hm? What?” You asked, looking at him. Eddie was kneeling on the floor in front of where you sat on the couch, “Steve asked if you were okay.” He said looking at you concerned. You blinked a few times and looked at him and then Steve “Yeah I’m fine. I’m sorry.” You said and then let out a small sigh. Eddie squinted his eyes examining you “Are you sleeping?” He asked, “Of course I am, Eds.” You lied “What about eating?” Steve asked you “Yes I’m eating.” You lied again. You didn’t want to lie to them, but you didn’t feel like getting lectured either. Steve and Eddie looked at each other, but decided to shrug it off “Well…are you going to stay for the movie?” Steve asked. You shrugged “I don’t know. I gotta clean up around the house before the mother gets home.” You said while standing up, “But we can have a movie night at my place Saturday.” You said with a small smile. “We’ll be there.” Eddie said, smiling wide and pulling you into a hug, “Go clean!” He said jokingly as you walked out his trailer. One good thing about the trailer park…you lived right next door. The only flaw…sneaking Billy inside.

~Saturday~

“Billy, they’re going to be here soon. Please just drop it.” You groaned. Billy did nothing but roll his eyes “No, Y/N.” He said, crossing his arms, “You’re lying to me.” He added. You looked at him confused “About what?” Now it was his turn to let out a groan “Don’t act clueless. You’re not sleeping or eating.” “I am! I told you I am. I’m perfectly fine.” You argued. Billy just nodded his head “Okay…then why do you bag under your eyes? They’re darker than before which means you’re not sleeping. You’re also a lot more shaky which means you’re not eating properly either.” Billy was a good observer, this was obvious. Years of living with Max he could tell when something was up. You thought you could hide it from him like you do with Steve and Eddie, but for some reason Billy could see right through you.

Billy stepped forward and gently grabbed your arms, which got your attention and looked directly at him “Are you eating?” You nodded your head “What have you been eating?” He wasn’t mad. Just worried and he wasn’t being rude, but he was being stern. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” You mumbled. Billy then nodded, which was him giving you silent praise “And are you sleeping?” You looked at him and then down at your feet “Nu-uh. Look at me.” He said lifting your head up by your chin “I am…but I’m getting about an hour of sleep.” He sighed and leaned his forehead on yours “What have I told you when you start to feel like this?” He questioned you. You stayed silent. “Y/N.” He said in a quiet but stern voice “What did I tell you to do?” He tried again, “You told me to call you.” You said in a soft voice “And why didn’t you call me?” You sighed “I didn’t want to bother you.” You answered. Billy didn’t say anything, instead he just pulled you into a tight hug. His arm warped around your waist while his other hand on your head, “You’re never a bother. I want you to be okay.” He whispered. You closed your eyes and felt the tears swell up in your eyes “I’m sorry.” You said through a shaky voice. Billy shook his head and pulled away making you look at him again “You don’t have to say sorry. I just want you to tell me when you’re feeling this way. So I can help you. Be with you.” He explained while brushing some tears off your cheek with his thumb.

“I don’t think he’s the asshole like we thought he was.” You heard a whisper, “Well to us he is.” You and Billy pulled apart and looked towards your bedroom door. Steve and Eddie were standing there with snacks, sodas, and movies. You nibbled on your bottom lip and sniffed while wiping your face, “How much did you hear…or see?” Billy asked them, “All of it.” Eddie answered with a smile. “How long have you two been seeing each other?” Steve asked looking at Billy and then you “Since senior year.” You said. The look on both their faces made you smile a little bit “You were dating this guy the whole time!?” Eddie said shocked “We thought you were just sharing some crazy fantasies!” Steve said right after. “Fantasies?” Billy said looking at you with a smirk, “I might have described our dates like they were daydreams.” You admitted shyly.

After a long talk about the relationship you have with Billy and why you kept it a secret for so long, the three of them made up! You were happy to see your two best friends and your boyfriend to get along and finally become friends. What was even better was you watching them talk and get along…you didn’t even realize you were eating the snacks already. The boys didn’t point it out to you, they just let you continue snacking and watching them talk. Seeing you smile and finally eat multiple things was enough to make them happy. All that’s left is getting you to sleep…which shouldn’t be too hard since the three of them are staying the night to watch these movies with you.

222 notes · View notes