Chapter Text
It’s three years later. 1984. Senior Year.
First of many senior years for Eddie with his current grades.
Despite his complete and utter lack of school smarts and popularity, he’s still managed to make a name for himself around the school. Mainly because he was now a drug dealer on top of supervising the record store.
The fact that he’s a drug dealer is the reason why he’s at this stupid Halloween party right now.
Eddie is not a fan of parties. At all. On the odd chance he gets invited to one, he will usually refuse.
Today is different, mainly because it’s Halloween, and someone as metal as Eddie staying in on Halloween is likely criminal. Plus, he can make some quick cash by overcharging drunk people for weed.
He’s not even wearing a proper costume, just some stupid ass cat ears he found in an old box of things at his trailer. Ironic that someone who loves Halloween as much as him doesn’t have a costume.
Despite the party in full spin, Eddie feels completely chill sitting on the couch. Sure there’s a couple practically having sex on him, but it’s better than being in the crowd of people ‘dancing.’ There’s a possibly Eddie is only chill because of how much he smoked earlier.
The girl sitting on the other side of him gasps as she turns her head towards the door. Steve Harrington had just arrived, and he was looking incredibly hot in his suit. Eddie didn’t even know who he was meant to be.
Eddie couldn’t help but agree with the girl next to him.
Despite not speaking to Steve beyond the one time at the store, Eddie has not been able to shake his crush. And he still gets butterflies when Steve looks at him (or past him, most likely.)
It’s worse now that Steve is incredibly popular and a known straight guy. It’s also worse because Eddie has been crushing for a solid five years by now.
It’s even worse when you account for the fact that Steve is here with his girlfriend.
He and Nancy do look great together, which is awful because if Steve at least had an ugly girlfriend, Eddie wouldn’t feel bad about his daydreams of snatching Steve away.
Eddie needs a smoke. And a drink. He waits for an opening to sneak through the crowd to the kitchen. He aims for a beer, which are sitting on the counter. It’s warm but it’ll do.
Steve is there too, and Eddie pretends not the notice the harsh whispers between him and Nancy.
A drink is spilt, and the pair run off to the bathroom.
Eddie loves drama as much as the next person, but for some reason his stomach feels uneasy hearing Steve’s pleads for Nancy to slow down. He decides against the beer.
He tries to sneak off to the back garden, where there’s far less people because of the crisp air. He’s getting tossed around trying to walk through the house, but he at least makes it to the front door, and he’s happy enough with that even if it’s not where he wanted to be. Eddie is about to leave when he’s shoved again, this time right into someone’s chest.
“Fuck, sorry dude,” he says, turning around to see who he had run into. He’s met with a teary eyed, red faced Steve. “Oh shit man, are you okay?”
Steve nods, or tries to. He starts tearing up again. Eddie’s heart hurts.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay. Let’s go outside.”
Steve is surprisingly compliant as Eddie grabs his hand and they walk to the back garden. He can hear Steve crying behind him. There’s a porch swing in the back lawn, so Eddie leads Steve there.
Once he’s sat down, Steve starts sobbing. Eddie stands awkwardly.
“Uh, yeah let it out. You’re okay, it’s okay,” Eddie says, sitting down next to Steve and resting a hand on his back. “Do you need anything, Steve?”
This makes Steve cry harder. Eddie startles, and starts shushing him in the nicest way he can. He’s unsure what to do with his hands, and he settles on a hug.
Eddie tries to be reassuring, keeping his mouth shut and rubbing a hand down Steve’s arm until his crying subsides.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Steve mumbles. He repeats it under his breath, putting his head in his hands and rocking in place.
His breathing starts to quicken, and Eddie may be stupid but he’s not dumb and he knows what a panic attack looks like.
“Oh shit. Shit! Steve, hey man, you gotta calm down. Oh, sweet Jesus.”
Steve is looking at him with wide panicked eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, but only a croak comes out.
Eddie pulls Steve sideways, into his arms, and ignores the way his heart is fluttering at the thought of holding him because now is absolutely not the time. He takes slow, deep breaths, coaxing Steve to do the same. Eventually, Steve’s breathing slows to a normal pace, and it doesn’t sound like he’s choking on his lungs anymore, so Eddie pulls away.
If Steve looked disappointed at that, Eddie pretended not to notice.
“Are you okay, Harrington?”
Steve nods. He presses his lips in a thin line as if debating whether to speak.
“I’m sorry for this, I should just get going,” he decides on.
He stands, and Eddie grabs his hand to pull him back down. “Sit back down,” Eddie says. “You need to chill for a sec.”
Steve sits. The air feels heavy, and the silence is even heavier.
“Do you wanna smoke?” Eddie asks to cut the tension.
***
Eddie is laying in the wet grass, his face inches away from Steve’s. Their feet are in opposite directions, with their heads together, almost like yin and yang. In a way, Eddie supposes they are yin and yang.
Steve is staring at the stars with such intensity, he doesn’t notice Eddie’s longing gaze towards him. They were both much more chilled out now, weed flowing through them. Steve starts laughing, and Eddie hums in question.
“This isn’t how I expected my night to go. Sobbing in front of Eddie Munson and then smoking weed with him.”
“How did you expect your night to go?”
“Well I didn’t expect to get broken up with. Or cry. Or smoke weed. So basically anything except how this night actually went.”
“Broken up with?” Eddie asks gently.
Steve nods. He swallows, and Eddie watches his Adam’s Apple bob.
“I’m bullshit, apparently. It’s bullshit, I’m bullshit.”
Eddie is quiet. He doesn’t quite know what to say.
“It’s not like it isn’t true. I am bullshit. Everything about me is so fucking constructed to make other people happy.”
“I don’t think you’re bullshit, Steve.”
Steve looks at him, finally. “I am though, Eddie.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Steve is quiet this time. He’s thinking.
“I don’t think I’ve been happy in a long time. And there’s something about me that I can‘t tell anyone, and I think that it’s actually eating me from the inside out,” Steve says. “Actually, I think the last time I felt happy was… nevermind.”
“No, go on. I’m still listening.”
Steve shakes his head. “No, it’s way too fucking embarrassing.”
“I’m a walking embarrassment, Steve. I’m sure there’s nothing the great King Steve can say that’s more embarrassing than anything I’ve done.”
There’s a bird chirping in the distance, and wind blows gently over them. It’s calm.
“Do you remember like, four years ago, I came to the record store, and you recommended me that REO Speedwagon album?”
How could Eddie ever forget?
“Always.”
“That was it. The last time. Listening to music with you in the back of the store. Listening to the album once I got home.”
Eddie almost chokes on his spit. He coughs.
“If you felt like that, why didn’t you ever talk to me?” Eddie asks.
“I couldn’t.”
“But why?”
“Do you know the song on the album, Take It On The Run ?”
“Yes, Steve, I do know the most popular song on the album.”
“Don’t be rude,” Steve says jokingly. “That’s me. I’m under the gun.”
“Under the gun?”
Eddie thinks of the lyrics of the song. It’s about cheating, hence the album name, but he doesn’t think Steve is the kind of guy to cheat on his girlfriend. Steve feels under pressure? He’s hiding something big, big enough to swallow him whole?
“What’s your secret then?” Eddie asks.
Steve laughs lightly. “If I told you it wouldn’t be a secret anymore.”
Eddie reaches over and flicks him on the forehead.
“If you don’t tell someone, you’ll die holding it in. Who better to tell than some random metal head you’ve talked to three times in your life?”
Steve sighs. He scrubs a hand over his face. He doesn’t answer Eddie. They sit in the quiet again. The clouds are moving fast, covering the moon every once and while. The stars seem to dance just for them.
Eddie doesn’t know how long they lay there before Steve speaks again.
“Eddie?”
He hums in return. He can hear Steve start sniffling again, and he sits up quickly, turning to face him.
The tears on Steve’s cheeks glisten in the moonlight, and oddly, Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone so beautiful.
“Eddie, I think I’m gay.”
It’s safe to assume that’s not what Eddie was expecting him to say. He doesn’t care, of course, not in that way. Hypocritical, if he did.
Eddie takes to long to respond, because Steve is hoisting himself up, dusting off his hands on his pants.
“Okay, let’s pretend I didn’t say that. It’s gone, nothing happened,” Steve says, walking away.
“Wait!” Eddie pulls himself up, chasing after Steve, who’s walking at a relentless pace.
“No, we’re good, Eddie. You’ve done enough for me. I’ve gotta go home.” He’s making a beeline for his car, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
Steve is quick, but Eddie is quicker. He jumps into the passenger seat before Steve even realizes.
“You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to hide, Steve. Believe it or not, I do like you, even though you and your friends are always shoving me around calling me names. So you don’t have to hide, not from me. I’m still just the boy from the record store, and you’re still the boy with a secret.”
Steve is gripping the steering wheel, hard. There’s hardly any cars now, mostly everyone has gone home as the moon sunk lower in the sky. There’s no one around to gawk at the great Steve Harrington sitting with Eddie the Freak.
Eddie doesn’t even comprehend when Steve grabs his face, pulling him across the middle compartment, kissing him softly on the lips. Eddie doesn’t move, and Steve is about to pull away before he kisses back, wrapping a hand around Steve’s neck to keep him in.
Eddie did not imagine his first kiss to be in a car with Steve, but he supposes Steve was right when he said this night was unexpected.
They keep kissing, hands exploring where they can reach. It’s slow, and gentle, and deep, and Eddie has massive butterflies swarming his stomach. They kiss until the front door opens, and drunk girls come stumbling out followed by a presumably sober boyfriend.
Steve pulls back quickly at the noise, resting his hands back on the steering wheel.
“Sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You didn’t mean to passionately makeout with me in the front seat of your car?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Are you stupid, Steve? You don’t have to lie. I liked it. I’ve dreamed of it, actually.”
Steve turns to him, eyes widened in surprise. “Dreamed of it?”
“I’ve had a massive, raging crush on you since middle school. Like a giant, obvious one.”
Steve looks startled. “I never even noticed.”
“Probably because you’re too busy calling me a fag with your buddies in the hall.”
There’s silence, and Eddie regrets what he said.
“I only do that because they can never know. They can’t know about me. It’s not right of me. I can’t be gay.”
“If it’s not right for you, then that means you don’t think it’s right for me,” Eddie says blankly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You did though. Just without trying to.”
Steve is tearing up again. Eddie doesn’t think he can stand seeing him cry again.
“Steve, I think you need to sort some stuff out, yeah? And when you’re ready, you can come back to me.” He grabs a spare piece of paper from the floor, messily writing his number. “Call me when you feel like you’ve out run the gun, yeah?”
Steve takes the number, looking forlorn as Eddie opens the door to the car.
“Eddie?”
He hums.
“Thank you.”
Eddie gives him a salute, walking to where his van is parked. He can still feel the butterflies in his stomach. He touches his lips gently, remembering the feel of Steve kissing him.
Now he really can’t think of Steve. Not until Steve sorts himself out. Eddie decides to blast his music to drown out his thoughts.
He doesn’t see Steve again until he’s running from the cops in 1986.