Chapter Text
If Eddie were honest with himself, he was a fuckin idiot. A stupid, brainless, imbecile. And no, this wasn’t because of last week’s mishap , or the ring that was still stuck to his right hand’s ring finger. Yes, it hurts like a bitch, but that’s not the point.
The point is, he’s so fucking obsessed with a straight man. No one gets dumber than that. Even the band, Jeff included, nearly smacked him upside the head when he told them about this stupid itty bitty crush on the one, the only,
Steve fucking Harrington.
It started in junior year when he saw The King of Hawkins in the halls. Maybe it was seeing his push, countless girls, against lockers and just- He really fuckin ate them up and that’s the only metaphor plausible. It could’ve also been watching Steve absolutely smash in Math class. Out of the 2 classes he had with Steve in a total of 4 years, watching him cockily pull equations and arguments out of his ass with that grin always started a fire in Eddie. But he still didn’t pay attention in Math. He’s happy he passed with a D-.
So yes, if Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson were honest with himself, he had a crush on Steve ‘The King of Hawkins’ Harrington, and he regretted it.
Well, you wouldn’t call it a crush per se, but it’s like an annoying bug or pest that you’re oddly fond of. Comparable to the half-dead bee that lays in the corner of his room, it moves, it grooves, but god does it freak him out. So from the eye-rolling terrible overheard pickup lines to the awful hairdo that no person could not laugh over, Eddie may like Steve Harrington.
But as he walks into Family Video with a nervous grin, he regrets junior year.
The door dings open, “Welcome to Family Video where-“
Steve is sitting on a spiny stool and he’s clicking away on the computer with a judgemental quirk on his brow. Of course, he was playing that game again.
A game entirely surrounding people’s choices in movies and shows. Every customer was different and making bets on whether or not each one had a child or if they were under the age of 45, was the real fun. That’s what Eddie usually came in to start. He’d bet most of his money, sometimes food if he was short on cash, and usually, he’d win. He never told either Robin or Steve his secrets, but Henderson knows and Eddie is quite pumped for when the kid tries it out.
Today he came in out of boredom and muscle memory.
Steve turns to the very anxious customer, “Eddie?”
Eddie smiles, and Robin runs into the room already very enthusiastic.
“EDDIEEEEE!”
Eddie gets nearly tackled as she hugs him, and he’s thankful that he wore only working pins on his jacket rather than the pokey ones.
“Uh... Hi Robin.” He can hear the giggle in his own voice.
“God, I missed you.” She hugs him tighter.
“It’s been literally 2 days since-“
“Let her have her moment.” Steve chimes in, then peers back to the computer. He seems to have made it to the name John in the phone book.
Once Robin finally lets go and untraps Eddie’s arms, she walks to the other side of the counter as Eddie lays his arms across the top. His rings dink against the counter, and his fingers gently tap as he looks at the very nicely stacked candy to his right.
“Don’t. Even. Think. About. It.” Robin nearly growls out.
Eddie gives a charming grin, moves his hand in two deliberate swipes, and the candy falls to the floor. Robin groans and Steve snickers.
“I have no idea what you expected, Robin. Tell him to do something he’s gonna do another, tell him not to do it, he’ll do it.” Steve spins his full body to the front of the counter and squints, “He’s like a cat. A very very annoying cat.”
Eddie sets his head on his palm and with a Cheshire grin he flips Steve off.
Steve rolls his eyes, but something catches his attention on Eddie’s hand. His head tilts, much like a confused dog or lizard.
“New ring?”
Eddie’s brow quirks, then he looks down at his own hand in interest, like he never knew he had rings on in the first place.
“Oh…” He spins his hand around, “I got it, I think, like yesterday when Dustin and I went out to the mall.” Steve looked interested , “Did you know that Henderson likes mint ice cream? It’s an odd choice, a bad one, in my humble opinion. But I think I could get behind chocolate ice cream with mint in it rather than mint with chocolate. To be fair I do think that- Uh anyways.” Eddie caught his ramble and quieted, biting on his knuckles and tracing the wall with his eyes.
At the side of Eddie’s view, Steve had his head tilted on his fist with that look in his stupid eyes. Stupid Steve with his stupid flirting and stupidly good hair and stupid smile and stupid stupid pick-up lines.
“I like mint ice cream.”
Him and his stupid stupid flirting voice, but he wasn’t flirting was he? No, Eddie is being obscene, and ridiculous because there was no way in hell that Steve would flirt with Eddie. Nonetheless, it nearly made Eddie fall to his knees and start worshiping whatever god there might be to make Steve never stop.
Jesus Christ, he is in deep.
“Yeah, I should’ve expected that, Harrington.” He runs his hand across his cheeks, his rings feel freezing compared to his heated face and he holds back a frustrated groan.
Frustrated over what? Maybe it’s the stupidly attractive man sitting 2 feet from him, or maybe it was the fact that that same man would never once look at Eddie as someone other than a friend or acquaintance.
And God did that make him really want to chuck someone into a wall, hopefully through it if the day was particularly good.
He twirled his rings, and played with the idea of daydreaming good scenarios, right here, right now, in fucking Family Video of all places. Mostly in front of Robin and Steve of all people.
Beloved friends and one of them makes him snarl the word. A simple standard set of 7 letters just knocks the balls off his granny walker, and feeds his need to be constantly angry at the world because doesn’t god love to play impractical jokes on even the friendliest of foes?
This feels like a big slap in the face.
Maybe a god damn wake-up call to stay in my lane.
He must be pouting at the wall because Robin comes back up from the floor with a smirk on her face.
“You good, Eds?”
“Peachy.” A lie freshly grit from his molars, “Finish the stack?”
She seriously looks closer and closer to murder every time Eddie plays the cat card, and he loves it.
He ain’t a sadist for nothing.
She nearly pushes a remark out before she shakes her head and walks back into the back room, leaving Eddie alone with Steve.
He doesn’t remember Family Video having a clock, or even seeing it now, but he hears it clicking and he knows it isn't Vecna. Though, a part of his wishes it was because maybe death would be more freeing than this shit.
Just make conversation. It really isn't hard.
“So uhh…” Wow, great work Eddie doing real good, “ What name you on now?”
Steve checks the computer, “John Millers, and get this, he adores Indiana Jones at age 52.”
At least he's right about something.
“I thought you didn’t have their ages on there?” Eddie’s head clears instantly, and god why is that just so easy for Steve to do to him?
“We don’t,” Steve unwraps a red lollipop and places it firmly on his tongue. God is testing the fucking waters with that one.
“But I talked to him when he came in to get Indiana Jones 2 The Temple of Doom~” He did a wobbly mocking frightened voice, then deadpanned Eddie, “For the eighth time.” Steve made sure to add his trademark (patent pending) eye roll.
Then Steve switched the cheek the lollipop sat in, his tongue twirling along with it, and for a split second, Eddie could see his tongue flip out to his lips and lightly dampen them. Eddie nearly popped a vein or an artery. To be completely honest, he didn’t pay much attention to either science or health class, but hey they always gave out free condoms and when didn’t he need a free condom?
“Eddie?”
Eddie blinked, once, twice, “Oh, were you talking to me?”
“Uh…” Steve looked around half haphazardly, “Not really, you just looked really…out of it.”
Eddie dislodged the lump in his throat, “Well, you have my attention now.”
Eddie smiled down to where Steve sat, a toothless grin full of mischief. Steve’s eyes widened ever so slightly and he turned away quickly, probably to give Robin, who was walking back to the counter, a look.
“Well, I…uh…I was wondering if you’d like to go to Joseph’s party with me.” Eddie tilted his head as Steve’s tone went from oh so cocky and confident to wobbly and sporadic in a mere matter of seconds.
How curious.
Eddie’s eyes flickered between Robin and Steve, stopping on Steve every other look then sighed. “I’d love to go, but don’t you know what crowd they are compared to me?”
“Nah man, it's uh…” His eyes went back to Robin. Confirmation . “It’s all covered and not too many people will be there anyways. It’s mostly only close friends of Joseph and a few plus ones .”
Eddie’s brain short-circuited, “Wait what?” His face was nothing less than flabbergasted. “You’re telling me that you had a plus one and you used that on ME?!? OF ALL PEOPLE?”
Now Eddie was pacing back and forth, with a smile on his face and arms rapidly swinging about. Eddie’s face flipped between both excited and scared all at once. He looked up to Robin and she had a knowing smile on her lips, and Steve was very obviously panicking.
“HOW ABOUT ROBIN?” His arm flew out to point at her, and he knew he looked like an angry toddler. “OR A GIRL? You love women Steve, and honestly, then you’d get LAID!”
“Eddie,” Robin laughs softly to herself, “he didn’t make this choice alone.” Steve nodded quickly.
“Yeah, she had plans with Vickie, the chic flair I have has, admittedly, run thin.” Robin smiled to herself. She fuckin knew something Eddie didn’t. “And..Uhm…I think we should hang out more often.”
“Well-I- uh- Yes.” Eddie nodded, heard the stutter he so wonderfully and totally pulled off, and promptly headed for the door.
Before he walked out Steve chirped, “It’s tomorrow by the way. I’ll pick you up around 3.”
“Thanks,” He threw up a peace sign and walked to his van, totally prepared for a scream and/or cry sesh but he was totally fine when he was 2 blocks away. He barely even remembered starting the car or clicking into his seat belt.
But he was really fucking happy.
And scared.
But very excited.
But Jesus Christ, Eddie Munson was downright, horrendously, horribly, fucked.