steve: c'mon eddie, just... give me a chance to talk
steve: whatever, i just thought i shouldn't show up at your door...
steve: did you mean what you say? do you really think it was just... a joke?
eddie: you had plenty chance to talk at the cabin, steve.
eddie: i don't know why you're doing this, are you like ... mocking me? listen, i get that you're, like, embarrassed and shit, that you regret it. i get it.
eddie: you had your fun, let's just forget it, ok, harrington?
eddie’s tag dump !
colemontgomeryx·:
xx.
Cole usually didn’t get nervous; he had an unearned air of confidence supported by the belief that he could get with any guy. The flirting was no problem, but after that? When the feeling was returned? It had been so long since he’d felt this. Finally, Eddie was reciprocating and moving closer to him, confirming that Eddie felt it too.
Cole breathed in deeply, catching a whiff of Eddie’s cologne mingling with cigarette smoke. A smell that made Cole want to bury his face into Eddie’s chest, so he could smell it on himself the rest of the night. Cole couldn’t drag his eyes away from Eddie’s lips, watching the other run his tongue along his bottom lip.
“We’re in a mall,” Cole repeated, his voice breathy. “There are plenty of places to hide. And I doubt the vandals will notice we’re gone,” he grinned, tugging on Eddie’s shirt as if to say let’s go now.
+++
his thoughts were spiralling, dizzy with how close they suddenly were to one another. a contact high, if you will, eddie thought and nearly chuckled at his own joke that he had cracked, to himself, in his own head. decided against it because he had a strong feeling that that might ruin the mood. and after his love life had been a big heap of, well, nothing, these past few months, eddie was definitely not trying to do anything that could potentially ruin the mood.
eddie watched, enraptured, as cole’s eyes stuck to his lips and is own darted down to cole’s. and man, while he hadn’t taken much notice of him in hgih school, he now wondered why - cole was pretty. like, very pretty. the relevation hit eddie hard, made his breath hitch. shit.
his heart skipped a beat, stopped for a second, he thought, as he felt cole tug on his shirt. he bit his lip as his eyes flicked down to cole’s lips, god, they really had to get out of there, stat. so eddie nodded, hummed in agreement. grabbed hold of his wrist and looked around for a moment before he dragged him off around the corner, pressing him up against a marble pillar.
nervous eyes searching is. “uh...you, uh, sure about this?”
zccming·:
it had been approximately…well, max had lost track of how many days it had been since she’d snuck into lucas’ tent. ever since then, her world seemed to be all out of sorts, like she was constantly running after her brain so she could shove it back into her body. when she wasn’t working, she filled her time with watching plenty of bad television, hopping from friends house to friends house, and lurking in the arcade more than she usually did. with all that was going on in hawkins, the least of her worries was her feelings.
needless to say? when eddie came knocking, she was glad. it was like his eddie senses started tingling and he knew she needed to be spending less time with her real step-brother, and more time with him. despite how grateful she was, a mildly irritated expression was plastered across her face as he dragged her to the roof of his trailer, only letting a smile shine through when he produced a joint from them to share.
“i thought you left for chicago without telling me, asshole.” max teased, snapping twice, then gesturing for the joint. she placed it between her lips, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes. she was grateful eddie interrupted himself before she could even start to get into the headache that was her life as of late. did she start with the weirdo time warp they’d gone into at the lake or the fact that one of her longest friendships was in serious jeopardy? luckily, she didn’t have to figure it out.
instead, she turned her head to face eddie, holding the joint out for him as she curiously raised her brows. she hadn’t seen him this giddy since…well…ever. it was a nice sight. he deserved it after all the shit hawkins had put him through. or, life in general, really. “alright…” max said slowly, nodding a little, as if to say, go on, “what is it?” she propped herself up on her elbows, getting excited as her own theories carried her away, “did you win the lottery? steal something really cool? ooh no, i got it, you were the one who egged hawkins p.d, weren’t you? i knew it.”
+++
he rolled his eyes at her snapping but passed the joint willingly. unoccupied fingers now drumming restlessly against the side of his thigh. the last time he'd been this excited must've been a few weeks after the events of spring break '86, when he'd rushed home early from school one thursday afternoon to tell wayne that he was finally going to be part of a graduating class this year.
he scrunched his nose up in excitement and relief as max finally asked him what it was about, god, he felt jittery, laughed gleefully as she guessed wrong and wrong again. eddie propped himself up on his elbows, too, took the joint from her hands. pinching it between his thumb and pointer finger he took a few quick puffs and passed it right back to her.
"nuh-uh.", he shook his head, a devious glint in his eyes, and suddenly his current position wouldn't do, he had an unbearable itch to move. with a strained groan he lifted himself further up until he was sat cross legged in front of her, scooting closer. knees moving up and down. "you're never gonna believe it, red, i swear im telling the truth, alright. scout's honor, on my mother's grave and all that jazz.",he'd lifted his hand to rest over his heart for a few seconds, eyes searching max's.
here went nothing. eddie inhaled deeply, frowned as he tried to think of what to say, how to say it. what to say first, rather. how to phrase it. oh, where to begin. blurting it all out at once, somewhat incoherently, seemed to be what his brain had settled on.
"steve!", he simply exclaimed, scrunched up his nose again as he bit down on a grin. hands flexing at his sides. "i mean, I - well, he, or, we, more like - it's nothing.... nothing, like big and official and whatever but.... i mean, we're sort of -" gesturing about wildly, it was impossible for him to get the words out at the same volume that they were racing through his mind. " we're.... uh, i guess we're kind of.... kind of unofficially and as of yet, like, not super seriously....dating? "
Season 4: Chapter Six — The Dive
willthewize·:
Seeing Eddie jump up like he’s on fire, startled by the simple sound of a footstep, is almost saddening enough to overtake the joy Will feels upon seeing one of his heroes back in town. The reminder that even though they were hopefully done with all the shit that gave them nightmares, life didn’t just automatically go back to normal, no matter how much they wanted it to…It was the kind of thing Will tended to push down, save for later (and later was more of a fluid, conceptual thing, than a real time-frame.) So he focuses on the miniatures that had spilled from Eddie’s lunchbox.
“Hey, it’s fine. It’s just me,” he answers the other guy’s muttered apologies as he gets down, not only to be on eye-level and show that he’s no threat, but to help pick up the tiny figures—hand-made and painted with evident care. Will pauses to admire them, turning an inch-tall monster over between his fingers. “These are amazing. Did you make these for the next campaign? Shit, should I not be looking at them?” In the interest of not spoiling the fun of the upcoming Hellfire game for himself, he carefully places the miniatures back in the box and stands, dusting his hands off before holding one out to Eddie to help him up, if desired.
“So, you’re in town! You have a bunch of D&D figures. When’s the meeting?” Will wastes no time beating around the bush. There are few things more exciting to him than the prospect of a Hellfire Club reunion hosted by the one and only, the original, Eddie Munson himself.
+++
“Ah - hey! Byers junior! What’s up, man?” And Eddie instantly, involunatrily relaxes once he realizes that it’s not just anyone it’s Will and hell, he’s glad to see him. A sight for sore eyes, he is - and how could he not be, when Eddie himself had appointed him Dungeon Master upon his exit from Hawkins. He grins, the sight of Will did remind him why he popped back into his hometown every now and again, but his grin quickly fades into a paniced expression, a tring of “Oh, shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” falling from his lips as he quickly - but carefully - gathers all miniatures from the ground and pops them back into his lunch box.
He accepts Will’s offer to help him up, dusts his palms off on his knees, thus leaving dirt on his ripped jeans but hey, whatever. “Well, duh. I’ve not, like, gone into the figurine trading business so yeah, they’re for the next campaign.” And with a grimace, he adds: “And you were definitely not supposed to see them. Well, fuck it.”
Will immediately resumes talking and the grin returns to Eddie’s lips because this? The anticipation and excitement in Will’s eyes? That’s a feeling unparalleled and Eddie lives for it. If making the freaks and outcasts and nerds of the world feel happy was this easy then, hell, why shouldn’t he go and do it? Why would he stop, just because he’s not in school anymore, just because he’s not living in Hawkins?
He nods. “Yup, I’m in town, I got the goods.”, he nods towards the box. “I was thinking maybe, like, next week-ish? Or the week after?”, Eddie shrugs, absent-mindedly pulls the bandana from his back pocket to wipe his hands off the remaining dirt. “I don’t know, I’m here all summer. Any word from Henderson or Mike?”
backtowheeler·:
— ✎ —
“I thought you would enjoy it, okay?” Nancy defended herself, even though she knew Eddie wasn’t being serious with any of his theatrics. A laugh emitted from her lips, somehow being able to find the humor in what they had just discovered and ultimately, destroyed. That was a crap shoot though, wasn’t it? The evil in Hawkins would never be defeated, no matter how many monsters or people they got rid of. It would come back like a plague until Hawkins burned to the ground, taking its hell with it.
Nancy chortled. “That’s not saying much,” she teased, opening the passenger door. “Mike wouldn’t know good driving if it hit him in the face and…” she clicked her tongue. “It’s probably best if Max never gets behind a wheel. I’ve been trying to teach her how to drive and, Jesus Christ, I don’t think she knows where the brakes are,” it was unfortunate, considering Nancy was attempting to teach her so she’d be able to leave Hawkins one day, but that didn’t seem to be anytime soon.
She buckled herself in and turned to Eddie. “Yeah? She gets me around and that’s good enough to me. Thad always tells me that I need to get something better than the station wagon,” she explained. It was a car, a vehicle to drive, and that’s all she cared about. “He calls it an abomination to vehicles everywhere,” she held her fingers up in quotation marks and lowered her voice.
“Oh, this?” She glanced down at her hand, inspecting the damage somewhat. It was nasty. “I’ll be fine. Nothing some Neosporin and a bandage won’t fix. I’ll even have a cool matching scar,” she pointed out, holding up her left hand, a faded mark still etched in her skin from when her and Jonathan had lured the Demogorgon to his house years ago.
+++
"fucking hell, you've got some balls, wheeler, taking it upon yourself to teach that heathen how to drive. I'd fear for my fucking life.", he muttered with a frown, one that turned into a bit of a grimace as he remembered the time he'd allowed max to drive the van. out of the driveway, that was, eddie had very nearly seen his life flash in front of his eyes.
he started the car, carefully and skillfully maneuvering them out from her parking spot onto the road. eddie frowned again. "well it's sure as hell not a limousine but i wouldn't go as far as calling it an abomination.", he said, then, with a quirked brow, added: "thad?"
chewing on his bottom lip, eddie glanced down at nancy's hands before focusing his attention back on the road. "well, if you say so. matching scars are metal as hell, though.", he says with a little grin, an attempt to lighten the mood. "where'd you get the other one? this ain't your first time burning down a beloved family owned diner?"
stevehharringtcns·:
steve smiled at eddie, nodding his head slowly. he let out yet another chuckle as he watched his now boyfriend, taking him all in and staring at him lovingly. “you really were trying to steal my title for best hair… back in high school, right?” he teased with a chuckle. it was still weird to think about how different they were in high school and how they were both still so different from each other, but still had managed to find each other and be together. steve wouldn’t let that change anytime soon. he closed his eyes for a couple of moments when he felt eddie run a hand through his hair, smiling at the touch. he didn’t even want to think about how his hair looked right now. he had been in that hospital for long enough time for it to become a mess and only he knew how much time it took him to get it ready. “right… probably looks like a mess right now…” he said quietly, before letting out a sigh. “i’ve been thinking about cutting it anyway.” he said with a small nod of his head.
at the other’s question about joining hellfire club, steve couldn’t help but to smile and shrug his shoulders slightly. “listen, i wouldn’t join for… the game. or whatever it is. i would join so i could look at you.” he said, a smile on his face, a charming one for that fact. if there was something that time or that explosion didn’t take away from him was his natural charm, or at least he thought so. but that was only focused on eddie now. he didn’t want anyone else. “i mean it, ed… i would join just for you. even if… i’m pretty sure i wouldn’t know what’s going on… most of the time.” he said, pausing for a bit to take a breath, nodding his head slowly.
while steve had been pretty jealous that dustin had been hanging out with eddie more and more when they had first met, steve was glad that dustin had eddie as well. dustin needed them, or at least that’s what he liked to tell himself. he was glad that eddie cared so much for him that he would keep an eye out for him. it was clear that the two were worried about him, especially with everything that had happened. he pursed his lips together, as he let out a sigh. “i’m glad… he’s okay. he goes through too much…” he said, shaking his head slowly. he thought that all of the kids went through too much for their age, but yet again, they were at the age where steve had burned down those tunnels. hawkins definitely wasn’t a good place to live in. “i know you will, but take care of him… okay? he needs someone there for him.” he said with a smile, knowing that eddie wouldn’t fail him.
he was touched when eddie had offered wayne to stop by with some food. steve was glad that he had someone from his family that cared for him like this. he nodded his head. “okay… that sounds nice.” he said simply, as he looked at his boyfriend. they sat there in silence for a couple of moments, steve smiling at him the whole time until he finally spoke. he let out a small chuckle that only hurt his ribs slightly, but he didn’t show it. “i’m… i’m real. we’re real, eddie. we’re… dating, you know?” he said, smiling at eddie. even with everything, steve was glad that he still had that. he wouldn’t let it go. “kiss me again? i like kissing you.” he said with a nod.
+++
eddie snorted. "back when we were in high school together, you mean? nah, man, my hair looked like shit back then, that weird growing out phase after i buzzed it." he'd sported a mohawk for a week or two, before he'd decided that that looked too punk-y for him and that he was a metalhead now. "you know", he said, moving his hand out of steve's hair as gently as possible to take a strand of his own hair between his fingers, inspecting and then twirling it, "a lot of hard work and dedication went into these locks." a lot of arguments with wayne where he refused to acknowledge his split ends, his uncle trying to talk him into getting that 'wild mop of hair of his' under control. eddie smiled to himself, pulled his hair over his face for a moment before letting it fall to the side again.
"are you for real right now? you want to cut it?" he pursed his lips, eyes squinting and his head tilted to the side as he tried to imagine steve without his signature gravity defying hairstyle. he hummed a question. "whatever you want to do, sweetheart - but the offer still stands. I'm a master of detangling hospital bed induced matting."
eddie chewed on his bottom lip, gave a weak nod but looked away, blinking to fight the oncoming tears. there'd been enough crying today. "i will. you know i will.", he paused for a moment, let out a shaky breath. "don't... don't talk like that, man." like he wasn't going to be around for much longer. like he was passing the torch of care to eddie.
how eddie had talked to dustin, when he'd had his head in the boys lap, drawing shaky, ragged breaths, the sting of his wounds slowly fading as he himself had faded into a blissful oblivion. "you're sticking around, harrington." it was a demand, if anything. "you *have* to, now. you can't ask me to be your boyfriend and then kick the bucket. nobody would believe me. id look like some pathetic loser going around telling everyone steve harrington was actually my secret boyfriend all along." cope with humor. he let out a dry chuckle.
and he nodded in confirmation, a smile playing at his lips. "yeah, we sure are." eddie thought about how he'd never dated anyone, not seriously, not as long term as this was going to be - because there was no chance in hell that eddie was ever going to break up with steve. And by the looks of it, the look that steve had in his eyes as he looked up at him, asked him for another kiss, it seemed like steve had no intention of doing so, either. the upside down was going to have to pull its biggest stunt ever if it wanted to separate the two of them. and eddie wasn't going to let it.
he grinned, all wide and toothy, and bent down to give into steve's request. connecting their lips in a sweet kiss, lips lazily moving against one another. there was no rush here. eventually, they'd have to face the fast pace of life in hawkins again, gave whatever the universe was going to throw their way next. but not now.
when eddie pulled back he placed a short peck on Steve's forehead, brushing some hair out of his face. "im getting you some ice chips, stevie. go rest a bit. that's an order." and with a wink, he detached himself from his boyfriend and walked out the room, feeling like he was floating.
THE END
zccming·:
.
it was weird enough that eddie had stopped by during her shift, but his entire demeanor was enough to send a jolt up her spine. shut up. max looked physically taken aback, “what gives?” she asked in return, but eddie would up answering her with a string of paranoid questions. wondering how he might know, max shifted in her seat behind the counter. his sense of urgency was suddenly adding up and it seemed worth her while to pay attention.
to max, eddie was so blatantly wondering about here whereabouts because he went through something, at the same time. she scooted a little closer to the counter, “i was with the boys, well not lucas, but the rest of them. will’s mom…” max started, a distant look glossing over her eyes. apparently, it wasn’t going to get any easier each time she disclosed this information, “we went to the edge of town,” she mustered up the courage to glance back up at eddie, “something tried to get us, but we made it out.” the way she put it wasn’t exactly comforting, but she thought finishing it off with a little sarcasm might make it better. max tilted her chin up to reveal a bandaid, “so stoked to have another scar!” she flashed a sickeningly enthusiastic smile, then her expression dropped along with her chin.
maybe the fabrication of an unaffected demeanor would rub off on eddie. her hopes weren’t high, but she had to try something to chill him out before he lost all his marbles. “nothing weird since,” she hummed, “except you, right now.” figuring that this conversation might be best continued privately, max exited the booth the counter sat inside, grabbed eddie, pulled him back inside after her, then sat him down in her chair while she pulled the blinds down in the windows. this warranted an early lunch break. after a couple of quiet moments spent gnawing on her cheek and staring at eddie, max asked, “so? what happened to you two days ago? that’s why you’re so freaked, right?” max had been at the border, heard about the cemetery from lucas, and now this. truly, how much worse could it get?
+++
he listened intently, brows drawn together in concentration. and he felt his stomach drop as max affirmed his suspicions - something had happened. something weird. to her, too. whatever the fuck had been going on in hawkins since, well, seemingly since the dawn of time, it was back. it was happening again and eddie was, quite frankly, absolutely terrified.
“something.”, he echoed, brows pulled into a nervous frown. “’something’ tried to get you. not someone. something.” and his voice pitched up slightly, the way it did right before it got all loud and panicky, so albeit unexpectedly, startling him, max pulling him back into the booth was a welcome gesture. giving him the opportunity to take a couple calming breaths in the process.
if he hadn’t been on the brink of the second or third nervous breakdown in two days, eddie would’ve snorted with laughter at the way max drew the blinds and sat him down - like a scene right out of a film noir, where the detectives finally sit their subject down and interrogate them. he cleared his throat.
“i was....hanging with nancy.”, he said, and that statement alone was odd enough for his tastes. it was about to get even weirder. “we, uh, that’s hopper and his kid, nancy and i. well, we went..we were investigating and we sorta, uh.” he looked up at her, sheepish smile on his face. “long story short we burnt down benny’s.”
a moment of silence, eddie’s eyes darted around as he tried to gather his thoughts, remember what was important. “long story a little longer - there were eggs. in the diner. big, big, freaky alien eggs that have hatched, max.” and his voice went shaky and breathy and intense at the last two words. “there was this, this goo on the ground and we thought it was blood but! but it wasn’t. and then - the eggs and. yeah. burnt it down. went home. as if nothing happened.”
he cleared his throat, purses his lips as he exhaled, deeply. “it’s happening again, isn’t it.” it’s not really much of a question. “i can’t fucking believe this.”
“Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn. Lovin’ ‘til the morning, then I’m gone. I’m gone.”