Archive of Our Own

Eddie Munson had nothing but disdain for Homecoming. He hated the weeks leading up to it when green and white paper streamers were strung up all over the hallways and balloons were clustered in every corner. He hated the huge banners announcing the upcoming football game and all the flyers that were posted on the lockers about the day tickets went on sale. He especially hated how all the football players got even more insufferable, if that was even possible, in the weeks leading up to the game, their already over-inflated egos not helped by the way the school fawned over them with a dedicated pep rally on the Friday of the game.

Homecoming was made all the more intolerable considering this was the fifth time around that he was forced to endure it, an extra year of misery. The only bright side, if it could even be called that, was that his dealings picked up slightly in the weeks leading up to the big day with students wanting to buy in advance so they could fool around and get high either before or after the dance. Otherwise, Eddie had resolved himself to spending Homecoming the same way he had the previous year: hopefully selling off the last of his supply and then heading home to either work on his DnD campaign or mess around on his guitar.

It was this distinct lack of enthusiasm for the day that had him rolling his eyes in homeroom as a perky looking cheerleader named Jessica stood at the front of the classroom- in full cheer uniform no less, at this point Eddie was pretty sure the cheerleaders just slept in their outfits- announcing the different themed days for the following week and the Homecoming raffle entry event that would be taking place in the gym later that day. Eddie perked up a bit at the last part. He may have detested Homecoming and the rigid school hierarchy it reinforced, but free shit was free shit and Eddie was really in no place financially to be turning down the opportunity.

“What kind of prizes will there be?” Another student asked. Eddie was silently relieved that someone else had asked. He was pretty sure if he had done so that the cheerleader would’ve just ignored him.

“We have some great prizes this year!” She replied enthusiastically. Eddie wondered if her face hurt from smiling that widely. “There are a couple of game systems, household appliances, and even a pair of Homecoming tickets up for grabs!”

A few of the students started chattering excitedly at that, Homecoming tickets were pretty expensive after all, but Eddie lost interest and slumped down in his chair. He began idly stabbing holes into his large pink eraser with his pencil, leaving behind tiny circles of lead. It’d be nice if one of the prizes was a new set of amps, but he highly doubted that Hawkins High supported students getting into the devil’s music or whatever. He tuned out the rest of Jessica’s speech about Homecoming tickets and the pep rally, instead considering whether basing a flock of succubi on the cheerleading squad in his next campaign would be in too poor taste.

He only snapped back to reality when someone pointedly cleared their throat next to him. When Eddie looked over he saw Jessica now standing beside his desk holding out a white envelope between two fingers with ‘Edward Munson’ written on it. Her expression was screwed up as if she’d just taken a bite of a particularly sour lemon.

“Your raffle tickets,” she said, dropping the envelope on the desk as if she couldn’t bear to hold it for a second longer. “Be sure to write your name on the back. You do know how to write, don’t you?” There were a few snickers from the other students in the room.

Eddie gave her a saccharine smile. “I know enough to write your number on the boy’s stalls for who to call for a good time.”

Her expression twisted further. “Fuck you, freak.” She turned and stormed back to the front of the room, blonde ponytail whipping back and forth angrily.

When she turned back to the rest of the class to give final details about the homecoming dance her face was carefully schooled back into a smile, though Eddie could see some tension remaining in the set of her shoulders. He blew her a kiss when she finally left the room and got another sneer for his troubles.

The homeroom teacher announced free study for the remaining ten minutes of the period, not that anyone moved to get homework or textbooks out. Many of the other students began whispering excitedly about who was asking who or whether they should plan to match their friends on the themed days. No one turned to speak with Eddie, not that he expected them to. Eddie was pretty sure that the only way he’d ever be asked to Homecoming was as a joke.

Instead Eddie ripped open the envelope he’d been given and dumped out the three paper tickets inside. They looked pretty familiar, and Eddie supposed the school had just bought a few rolls of tickets off the local arcade. He flipped the tickets over and scrawled his name on the back of each one, not that he expected to win anything. He was pretty sure that the raffle, like nearly everything else in school, was rigged in the favor of the popular kids since the higher end prizes always seemed to go to whichever kids had the richest parents.

Eddie folded up the tickets and shoved them in his pocket, promptly forgetting about them until the end of the day when he was shoving his books back into his locker. He glanced up at the sound of the commotion and noticed a crowd of students heading toward the gym, all nudging each other excitedly. He caught a snatch of their conversation.

“-of prizes do you think they’ll have?”

“Probably nothing too big. I think most of-“

‘Oh yeah,’ Eddie thought, ‘The raffle was today, wasn't it?’

He briefly considered not going. Though Eddie was happy enough to make a scene in the cafeteria or classroom, he wasn’t particularly eager to subject himself to a crowded gymnasium full of kids bursting with school spirit. He glared at a paper streamer dangling mockingly from the ceiling above him before ripping it down, crumpling it into a ball and dumping it in a trash can. A passing boy in a varsity jacket shot him a dirty look, but he ignored it.

In the end, Eddie decided that it couldn’t hurt to just see what the offerings were. Maybe he could find some prize that less people wanted and actually have a fighting chance of winning. Mind made, he headed for the gym slowly, weaving around clustered groups of freshmen excited for their first high school dance.

The gym was packed and much louder than it had any right to be. Eddie grimaced. The entryway to the gym was framed by a green and white balloon arch and paper banners were hanging from all the folded up bleachers. The gym was lined with folding tables, each holding two or three large clear plastic boxes with a slot in the top for tickets and each accompanied by an enthusiastic member of the cheer team.

Eddie noticed right away that most of the students were crowding toward the back of the gym where the high end prizes were. He couldn’t read any of the box’s labels, but he spotted a game console, a new bicycle and even a high end sewing machine. The most crowded entry box that the Head Cheerleader herself manned looked to be for the free Homecoming tickets. As he made his way through the tables glancing at the offerings, nothing really stood out to him. There was no music equipment, records- hell, not even a Walkman. Eddie shook his head and trudged back toward the entrance where fewer students were gathered.

The prizes at the end were meager offerings indeed. Movie tickets, vouchers for different stores around the new Starcourt Mall, baskets of cheap cosmetics and arcade tokens made up a vast majority of the prizes. Most of the students in the area stayed to drop in a single ticket before heading off to the more enticing prizes. Eddie made a beeline for the most abandoned looking box that only had a couple tickets inside.

“Hi there! Interested in some free ice cream?” The cheerleader near the box asked.

The name embroidered in green thread over her heart read Chrissy. She looked a little nervous, but surprisingly Eddie thought it was more from having to speak in general rather than the fact that she was talking to Eddie specifically. He thought that he’d seen her around before, though she was a year younger than him (or two years given that Eddie was repeating). He’d definitely seen her boyfriend around, hanging with all the other basketball jocks that liked to shove Eddie in the hallways. Questionable taste in romance aside, Eddie had nothing against Chrissy. In fact, she was one of the few cheerleaders that didn’t look at him like he was piece of gum they’d just discovered on the bottom of their pristine, white shoes.

Eddie gave her a smile slightly more genuine than the one he usually offered to high school royalty and glanced down at the handwritten sign in front of the box that read ‘One Week of Free Ice Cream!’ And then in smaller writing below ‘Sponsored by Scoops Ahoy! Located in the Starcourt Mall’.

“Sounds good to me,” Eddie said. It was already late September and Hawkins was starting to feel the temperature shifting, but there was no bad time for free ice cream in Eddie’s book. He ripped apart his three tickets and stuffed them in the plastic box.

Chrissy looked at him, startled.  “Are you sure you want to use them all here?”

“Nothing else here I really want,” Eddie said with a shrug.

“Not even the free, uh-?” She paused.

“Not really my scene,” Eddie said smoothly, “Can you imagine me in one of those pressed suits? Hope your boyfriend doesn’t end up wearing powder blue, that’s a nasty trend.”

She laughed, seemingly despite herself. “Jason wouldn’t. I mean, I don’t think he would.” She blinked. “I should probably talk to him to be sure.”

“Yeah, you might wanna do that,” Eddie drawled, “Boys like him are prone to going off the deep end.”

“You…you might be right,” Chrissy said with a grimace, as if she could already imagine her Homecoming photos being ruined.

“I usually am, others just have yet to realize it,” Eddie said, “Any chance you can rig the pot in my favor in exchange for the tip?” He gave her the goofiest smile he could and she laughed again.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, “You’ve got some stiff competition though.” She gestured to the three other tickets in the box.

“Ah well, at least I can say I tried,” Eddie sighed dramatically, leaning on the edge of the folding table and nearly making it collapse. He quickly backed off before it fell, but Chrissy thankfully didn’t look irritated at him.

“Chrissy!” A voice yelled. Eddie and Chrissy both turned in that direction to see an irritated looking boy in a Junior Varsity basketball jacket striding toward them.

“Ooh, your knight in shining armor approaches,” Eddie muttered.

The newcomer walked straight up to the table and wrapped a protective, bordering on possessive, arm around Chrissy. “This freak bothering you?”

Chrissy tried for a smile. “Jason,” she said tightly, “It’s fine.”

“What’s your problem, Munson?” Jason asked, ignoring her words.

“What’s your problem?” Eddie returned, “The lady and I were having a wonderful conversation until you came storming in here like a constipated orc.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason asked, looking torn between angry and confused.

“And they say I don’t read,” Eddie sighed. Jason took a threatening step toward him, but he just held up his hands. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m leaving. Remember what I said about rigging the vote!” Eddie said with a wave toward Chrissy. He felt sort of bad for leaving her to fend off her boyfriend, but Eddie reasoned that him staying probably would have just made things worse for her.

He was out the doors of the gym as soon as he heard the beginnings of, “What the hell was that freak-?”

Eddie strode out of Hawkins High toward his van. He was currently between campaigns, and he wasn’t dealing at any parties that night. He would normally go practice with his band, but Gareth was out of town with his parents on some kind of family reunion trip, lucky bastard. Wayne was working another late evening, effectively leaving Eddie with the whole house to himself. As Eddie turned the key and his van sputtered to life, he wondered if he should be more excited to have time to himself. There were probably dozens of kids in his classes that would kill to have as much free time as Eddie had. He wondered how a house as small and cramped as his own still managed to feel so empty sometimes.

Day 1: Black Raspberry

Eddie walked into school the next Monday with very little in the way of expectations. He went through his first class periods in an exhausted sort of haze. He’d driven up to Indianapolis for a concert the day prior and hadn’t gotten back to the trailer until nearly three in the morning. The good thing about having teachers with little to no expectations of him was that he wasn’t bothered as he got through his first half of the day with his head pillowed in his arms on the desk. He was pretty sure some of the the other students had been trying to flick pieces of paper and eraser stubs into his hair, but Eddie was honestly too tired to even care about it.

By the time lunch rolled around, Eddie nearly grabbed the wrong lunch box out of his locker. As entertaining as their reaction would be, he was pretty sure his teachers would not appreciate seeing him enjoy a well-balanced diet of different strains of weed, and he managed to switch to the lunchbox with actual food before he was sent to the principal’s office again. Calling it a lunch might be a bit generous though, Eddie thought as he strode outside and headed toward his usual lunch spot under the bleachers. All he’d managed to pack that morning was a bag of barbecue chips, a soda and a bottle of ibuprofen.

He decided to start with the ibuprofen. He swore his ears were still ringing from the night prior and the fluorescent lights at school were doing nothing for the steadily building headache throbbing behind his eyes. He downed two of the pills with a swig of his soda before opening the bag of chips. There were probably only like five chips in there, Eddie thought forlornly. 

“Um, excuse me?” Eddie jolted, nearly hitting his head on the underside of the bleachers.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, one hand going to his chest to clutch at his heart, the other unfortunately spilling his bag of chips. And wasn’t that just his luck? He thought bitterly. He turned to glare at whoever had startled him, only to blink in surprise when he was met with Chrissy Cunningham’s embarrassed expression from where she was squatting half under the bleachers next to him. Thankfully she was not still wearing her cheerleading outfit.

“Sorry!” She apologized quickly, “Didn’t mean to scare you!”

Eddie recovered, a sharp grin crossing his face. “It’d take a lot more than that to scare me. Haven’t you heard? I’m in cahoots with the Devil Himself.”

Chrissy giggled. “Right, right. Uh, I just came here to give you your prize.”

Eddie stared at her blankly. “My prize?” He couldn’t remember winning anything in his life, aside from maybe the high score on Dig Dug at the arcade, and even that had only lasted for a couple weeks.

“You know,” Chrissy said, “The raffle?”

“Oh. Oh!” Eddie said, setting his lunchbox aside, “I actually won that shit?”

“Yes!” Chrissy said, passing him an envelope. “Congratulations.”

Eddie let out a low whistle, feeling excited despite himself. “And here I was thinking that whole thing was rigged in the rich kids’ favor.”

“I may have pulled a few strings,” Chrissy said, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Who would’ve thought that I would manage to corrupt you to the dark side first?” Eddie said, shaking his head.

Chrissy laughed before starting to back out from the bleachers. “Sorry for, um, ruining your lunch. Here, since you lost your bag of chips.” She reached into her own lunchbox, a bright pink one with a fancy looking ice pack inside, and handed Eddie a plastic bag full of carrot sticks.

“You don’t need to-“ Eddie began.

She waved him off with a perfectly manicured hand. “Please, take it. I’ll feel bad if you don’t.” Eddie didn’t have time to argue with her any further before Chrissy was gone, already scurrying back toward the cafeteria.

He glanced down at the bag of carrot sticks in his hand. He didn’t even have any ranch to eat it with. Eddie sighed and opened the bag, chomping on some of the carrot sticks like some kind of overgrown rabbit. It was healthier than what he’d been about to eat for lunch. He looked over at his spilled chips that a line of ants were already starting to investigate. At least he had something to make up for it, he thought, glancing down at the white envelope in his lap.

Free ice cream for a week, huh?

The first thing Eddie noticed about his prize when he opened the envelope in his van after school that day was that it wasn’t actually a full week of ice cream, only five days. Maybe they had meant a full school week, but it was still a rip off in Eddie’s book. He rolled his eyes and mentally cursed their cheap school principal who was always happy enough to spend thousands of dollars accommodating the Hawkins High sports teams but managed to cut corners everywhere else.

The second thing Eddie noticed was that the vouchers weren’t even for whatever flavor he wanted, but just the Scoops Ahoy flavor of the day. He made another face at that. What if they had some nasty flavor as their special? Eddie was gonna eat it anyway because hey, free ice cream, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. No wonder no one else had been putting in for these offers at the raffle.

“What a scam,” Eddie muttered, but he still threw his van into drive and trundled down the road to the Hawkins Starcourt Mall.

Starcourt Mall was something that Eddie had heard Wayne go on many alcohol fueled rants about, his uncle feeling very strongly about the way the mall had driven countless local stores out of business and filled their small town with the plague that was consumerism. As much as Eddie appreciated his uncle’s rants normally, he would admit privately that he didn’t really mind the mall’s presence. Of course it was always packed near bursting with mall rats, but it also had a record store that kept the latest music in stock that Eddie had never been able to find at the dusty corner record store.

Eddie had never been in this part of the mall before though, usually keeping his shopping to the single music store on the opposite side of the building before high tailing it back to his van with his tapes. He looked up at the neon Scoops Ahoy sign in front of him. Jeff had been there a few times and said the ice cream was decent enough, and Eddie wasn’t exactly an ice cream connoisseur, so he was sure it would be fine.

The inside of Scoops Ahoy was unsurprisingly cold, and Eddie was briefly grateful that he’d decided to layer that morning. He glanced around the store to see that the store was pretty small with only a few booths along the right side and a couple of tables crowding the blue and white tiled floor. Off to the left side was a place to start the line and the counter in the back was-

Oh.

For a moment Eddie thought he was hallucinating, that he’d actually managed to get a secondhand high or something just from being in his own van and was now seeing things, but when he scrubbed a hand over his eyes the image didn’t disappear.

“Holy shit,” Eddie muttered, almost involuntarily.

Standing behind the counter was Steve Harrington, the former king of Hawkins High School and still known as the local heartthrob even though he’d graduated the year prior. The hair was unmistakeable even slightly hidden under the uniform. And what a uniform it was. Eddie was sending a prayer of thanks to every god or demon listening for the dark blue Scoops Ahoy sailor’s outfit complete with a white sailor’s hat that read ‘Ahoy’ in jaunty, curling blue letters.

“Holy shit,” Eddie repeated, feeling as though his birthday and Christmas had come early and all at once. He suddenly wished he had that huge camera that one underclassman with the zombie brother was always hauling around so he could capture the moment and stare at it any time he was having a bad day.

Steve Harrington had yet to look up and notice Eddie blocking the entryway, too busy arguing with someone else through a tiny window to the back room, but it was the way Steve yelled an irritated, “Shut up, Robin!” That got Eddie’s feet moving again. He shuffled toward the counter like a man possessed, eyes locked on the stupid hat on Steve’s head.

Steve finally turned, hearing the sounds of Eddie’s boots against the tile floor. “Ahoy sailor,” he said. And wasn’t that just the icing on the cake, or sundae in this case. “Are you ready to set sail on a sea of flavor- Munson?”

Eddie’s grin that he didn’t even realize was on his face widened as Steve’s expression went from shock to fear to a resigned irritation. “No, no finish your speech, Your Highness,” Eddie said, “Or should I say ‘Captain’?”

Steve’s mouth opened and closed a few times as his cheeks burned red. He finally spoke, “Alright, haha, you’ve had your laugh like everyone else in Hawkins. What do you want?”

“Now is that any way to talk to a paying customer who’s about ready to set sail on your, what was it again? Your sea of flavor?” Eddie asked, smiling as obnoxiously as possible as he leaned forward on his elbows on the counter.

Steve frowned down at him but didn’t tell Eddie to get lost. “If you’re a customer then order something.”

“Maybe I’m thinking about it,” Eddie said flippantly.

“You don’t need to smudge the display case to do that,” Steve said.

“Au contraire, being a public nuisance helps me think,” Eddie said.

“Steve, who are you talking to-? Oh, Eddie?”

Eddie straightened up from his slouch on the counter as someone walked out of the backroom, someone Eddie quickly recognized as a girl from Hawkins High’s marching band. What was her name again? He glanced at her name tag. Oh, Robin. Robin Buckley, that’s right.

“The lady Buckley,” Eddie said with an exaggerated bow.

“What are you doing here?” Robin asked, though her tone held no bite. She just looked genuinely confused, which was a better reaction than half the current school gave him.

Eddie sighed. “Why does everyone assume I’m up to something?”

“Because you usually are,” Steve deadpanned.

Eddie put a hand to his chest, as if stung. “I didn’t realize King Steve watched us regular folk that closely. I’m honored-“

“Pick. A. Flavor.” Steve grit out.

“Your wish is my command, my liege,” Eddie said, pulling the stack of vouchers out of his back pocket with a flourish and handing one to Robin, “Unfortunately your former kingdom’s empty coffers have left me with a limited choice.”

“What?” Steve said, now looking more confused than angry.

“You won the Flavor of the Day Homecoming draw?” Robin asked, quicker on the uptake than her co-worker.

“The very same,” Eddie confirmed.

“Wait, what’s that?” Steve asked.

Robin rolled her eyes. “Do you even listen when people talk to you, dingus? Tom explained it this morning. Scoops sent a week’s worth of ice cream vouchers in for the Homecoming raffle.”

“And you won?” Steve asked, clearly catching on as he turned to Eddie.

“Truly, your wit astounds me,” Eddie drawled. He dropped the bit as Steve’s expression edged back toward irritated. “It’s not even a full week, just five day’s worth, but that’s the gist.”

“Principal Fitz is a cheapskate,” Steve said, almost unconsciously.

A laugh was startled out of Eddie that he quickly cut off. “Uh, yeah,” Eddie said, raising an eyebrow. “I think he’ll just tell people to put him straight in the ground when he dies to save on funeral costs.”

Steve actually snorted at that, which threw Eddie for yet another loop. Huh. Who would’ve imagined the former king of Hawkins High would ever laugh at one of his jokes. “So what kind of flavor do you want then, since I guess we owe it to you.”

“Whatever the daily special is,” Eddie said.

“It’s Black Raspberry,” Steve said, brow furrowed. “It’s pretty sweet, man, and I mean in the tooth-rotting way. Are you sure?”

“No, but that’s what the offer says,” Eddie said with a shrug. “Hit me with it.”

“Your funeral,” Steve said. He pulled an ice cream scooper out of his apron and twirled it around his fingers with expert familiarity- Eddie did his best not to be impressed- and reached into the freezer to scoop some ice cream that was an offensively magenta color. Steve popped the scoop on top of a plain waffle cone and handed it to Eddie. “Enjoy.”

“Now Stevie,” Eddie said in a tone that had Steve scowling, “That doesn’t sound like the corporate mandated line you're supposed to give me.”

“And how would you know what the corporate mandated lines are, Munson?” Steve asked, staring at Eddie hard enough that he could’ve probably melted the ice cream in Eddie’s hand from the force of his gaze.

“A little bird told me,” Eddie said airily, mentally apologizing to Jeff for referring to him as such. Eddie and Steve engaged in a brief staring match. Neither was willing to back down, Steve out of sheer embarrassment and Eddie because he hadn’t had this much fun in weeks.

“They had to do this stupid little greeting,” Jeff had said back when Eddie had asked him about Scoops Ahoy. Something about setting sail on a sea of flavor or whatever.”

“No way,” Eddie had said then, “Poor bastards.”

“They also had to say something when I paid,” Jeff added, “Something like-“

“Thank you for embarking with us on this voyage today,” Steve said back in the present, looking as though each word pained him, “We hope you set sail with us again soon.”

Eddie cackled as Steve fumed behind the counter. “Believe me, Captain,” Eddie said between laughs, “The pleasure is alllllll mine.”

“I’m going on break!” Steve announced, ripping the sailor hat off his head and storming into the back room. The door swung shut behind him with a loud slam.

Robin looked entertained by the whole encounter. “So you’ll be coming back the rest of the week then?”

“Buckley,” Eddie said, wiping tears from his eyes, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

The black raspberry ended up being as sweet and unpalatable as Steve had promised. Eddie only managed to make it through a few bites before his teeth started aching from the amount of sugar and his tastebuds feeling ready to fall off, but he powered through it because even if his uncle may have raised a fool, Wayne sure as hell didn’t raise a quitter. By the time Eddie was popping the last of the cone into his mouth with a loud crunch and wiping the excess crumbs on his jeans he was already planning what he might say to the former king of Hawkins High the following day.

Day 2: Birthday Cake

Eddie was in such a good mood the next day that not even the algebra test he’d received with a large red ‘D’ circled at the top could dampen it. Wayne would probably be less than pleased to hear about it, but he’d end up encouraging Eddie to study more in the rough but endlessly patient way he had. Eddie didn’t dwell on that for too long though, brain occupied by thoughts of Steve Harrington as they had been for the past evening.

He knew he shouldn’t be so amused (and yes, it was just amusement) by Steve Harrington being reduced to slinging ice cream when Eddie himself still hadn’t graduated high school, but it was different in Eddie’s opinion. Eddie was trailer trash that no one had ever expected anything out of. Steve, on the other hand, was the one that everyone had expected to succeed. Harrington’s dad owned half the town and Steve had grown up in a near mansion with the promise of inheriting his father’s enormous company one day. He’d been at the top of the high school hierarchy with girls clamoring to go on dates with him and boys wishing they could be him. Eddie had to say, seeing the golden boy of Hawkins fall from grace came with no small amount of schadenfreude.

He did admittedly feel a little bad for his glee at Steve’s expense, but then he’d remember how Tommy H. would shove him into walls whenever they passed in the hallways and how Carol had always stage-whispered about him in the cafeteria, all the while Steve looking mostly indifferent to the antics of his friends. Were they even friends anymore? Eddie was pretty sure Steve’s two former friends had begun orbiting Billy Hargrove around town in recent weeks after some big fight between Billy and Steve that they’d both come out of looking considerably worse for wear. Rumor had it that they hadn’t spoken since they all graduated.

Maybe it was unsurprising then that Steve had gotten a job at the mall as a way to avoid running into either of them. Eddie found himself snickering quietly at the thought of Steve in the stupid Scoops Ahoy outfit once again, earning him a sideways glance from the girl next to him in History. Eddie couldn’t bring himself to care, instead glancing up at the clock mounted on the wall and willing the day to go faster.

“Ahoy sailor,” Steve said, looking half-asleep leaning on the counter. “Are you ready to set sail on a sea of flavor with me today? I’ll be your captain, Steve.”

Eddie grinned as he took in Steve’s dumb uniform and the way the hat sat lopsided on top of his head, flattening the other’s much envied hair. Oh yes, the sailor uniform was just as glorious as he remembered. Eddie could tell the exact moment when the other finally processed who was in front of him as Steve quickly straightened from his slump, hitting his knee against the counter in his haste.

“Shit,” Steve hissed.

“Language, Harrington,” Eddie sighed, “What would all the mothers with young, impressionable children say if they knew you had a sailor’s mouth to go with that cute little outfit of yours?”

“Shut up, Munson!” He snapped, though the venom of his tone was tempered by the way his cheeks flared red. It was a good look on him. “There’s no one else here anyway!”

Eddie glanced around to find that the restaurant was indeed empty as Steve had said. He shrugged. “You’re right, we should just let loose.” He drew in a big breath. “FUCK!” He yelled.

“Munson!” Steve snapped, horrified.

“Looks like you were right, Harrington, no one around to hear us,” Eddie said.

“What was that?” A voice called from the back room.

“Nothing!” Steve said loudly. Eddie winked at him while Steve gave him a rude gesture in response. “My boss is here right now, man!” Steve hissed.

“And what would your boss say if he knew I’d been here for three whole minutes and still hadn’t been served?” Eddie said, leaning forward onto the display case and making sure to smudge the glass.

Steve looked like he was seriously considering just reaching over the counter and smacking Eddie with his ice cream scooper. He visibly reigned himself in though, and let out a long breath. “What can I get you?” he said without any inflection.

“I’m back for my daily special,” Eddie said, handing Steve a slightly crumpled voucher. He’d been stowing them in his glove box for safekeeping, but they were already starting to look slightly worse for wear. The one he used on the fifth day would probably be ripped to shreds. “What is it today?”

“Birthday cake,” Steve said, already getting busy scooping from a tub with white ice cream that had rainbow colored specks in it. “This one is pretty sweet too.”

“I imagine they are, Stevie,” Eddie said, “This is an ice cream shop.”

Steve frowned. “Why are you calling me that?”

“What? Stevie?” Eddie asked, “It’s your name, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s-“ he huffed. “Whatever. Here.” He handed over the ice cream and Eddie noticed that the other’s ears had gone red once more. He grinned. Interesting.

“Thank you very much, Stevie,” Eddie said, testing the waters and pleased when Steve’s ears seemed to darken further. He turned to leave and got halfway to the door, when he suddenly turned back dramatically, startling Steve and nearly dropping his ice cream. “I almost forgot!” He said, grinning, “Where were my parting words?”

“Munson,” Steve warned, voice low.

“Harrington,” Eddie said, cocking a hip expectantly. “Don’t you want me to feel like a valued customer so that I continue frequenting this lovely establishment?”

Steve stared holes into the counter. “Thank you for embarking with us on this voyage today,” Steve said, not making eye contact, “We hope you set sail with us again soon.”

“What was that? I can’t hear you when you don’t look at me,” Eddie said.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Steve said, eyes snapping up to Eddie with a scowl. “Like biologically or whatever.”

“I failed biology, Harrington, you should know that,” Eddie said.

Steve sucked on his teeth. “Thank you for embarking with us on this voyage today. We hope you set sail with us again soon.”

Eddie laughed. “Ah, music to my ears.”

“Get out, Munson.”

Eddie was gone with one last cackle and a two finger salute over his shoulder. Birthday cake was just as sickeningly sweet as the black raspberry, but Eddie finished every bite once more. He was usually a once every so often kind of guy with sweets, only indulging whenever he or Wayne could afford something cheap and processed from the grocery store, but he was pretty sure this was a flavor he wouldn’t get sick of.

Day 3: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Eddie’s third day at Scoops Ahoy began with a bit of shock as he found the restaurant to not be empty this time. He knew he shouldn’t have been so surprised, this was a place of business in an otherwise busy mall, but for the past two days the place had been all but deserted the entire time Eddie had been there. That time though, the front counter was being crowded by five children- middle schoolers maybe?- while an irritated looking Robin was snapping at them all to calm down.

“Dingus!” Robin yelled, pounding on the metal door to the back room, “Your kids are here!” Eddie raised an eyebrow at that.

“I literally just stepped into the bathroom!” Steve yelled back.

“Piss faster then!” Robin snapped. She turned back to the kids. “You heard him. It’ll be a few minutes.”

“Probably fixing his hair or whatever,” one of the kids, a boy with black hair muttered.

“It’s no use,” the boy with a trucker hat said, “There’s no saving it with that hat.”

“I think he looks fine with the hat,” a boy with an unfortunate bowl cut said.

“You’re too nice, Will,” the boy with the trucker hat said. “Steve looks like he’s going through several mid-life crises at the same time.”

“Can you all go sit down or something?” Robin asked, “You’re blocking the counter.”

“There’s no one here!” The boy with the hat said, only to nearly jump when he turned and saw Eddie standing behind him. “Ah, god! Where did you come from?!”

“The parking lot,” Eddie said, laughing at the way the boy’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh shit,” the boy with black hair said, staring at Eddie’s appearance with thinly veiled curiosity, “Sorry man.” The kids hustled off to one of the tables, three boys wedging into one side while the remaining two, a black boy with a striped shirt and a girl with bright red hair squeezed into the other.

Eddie turned to Robin with a questioning expression. “Those are…?”

“Steve’s,” Robin said with no small amount of exasperation. Eddie wasn’t sure what kind of expression he was making but she laughed and clarified, “Not literally. Just a bunch of middle schoolers that follow him around.”

“Huh,” Eddie said, “Who would’ve guessed the king of Hawkins High was also a babysitter?”

“He’s changed a lot these days,” Robin said, sounding a tad defensive.

Eddie opened his mouth to refute that, but closed it again. He had to admit, Steve Harrington did seem different from what he’d been like in high school. Despite the fact that Eddie had been harassing the other for going on three days now (and Eddie knew how annoying he could be when he put his mind to it) the other still hadn’t punched him in the face or called him a freak. Granted the bar was pretty low by that standard, but there were plenty of people willing to limbo under it. He wondered, not for the first time, just what had happened since the other’s fight with Billy Hargrove.

“So who’re the brats?” Eddie asked, gesturing to the kids. They’d all been staring at him since they’d noticed him, eyes darting from his hair, to his Metallica shirt, to his rings, to his tattoos and back again.

Robin sighed. “The one with the black hair is Mike, the one with the hat is Dustin, the girl is Max, the kid next to her is Lucas, and the kid with the bad cut is Will.”

“That is a bad cut,” Eddie said sympathetically. It reminded him of the one time that Wayne had tried to cut Eddie’s hair back when he’d first moved into Wayne’s trailer. The older man hadn’t known what to do at the time and Eddie had ended up with a jagged, lopsided hairstyle that had taken months to grow out. Then he frowned. “Wait, like Will Byers? The zombie kid?”

“He doesn’t like being called that,” Robin said quickly, glancing over at the booth to make sure none of the kids heard. She relaxed slightly when it appeared that none of them had noticed.

“Really? Shit, my bad,” Eddie said, “For what it’s worth, I thought that was a pretty badass nickname considering he came back from the dead and all that.”

“Apparently there was a lot of trauma,” Robin said, lowering her voice, “In and out of the hospital for months or something like that.”

Eddie grimaced. “Yeah, I can see how that’d suck.”

“Anyway,” Robin said, “You’re here for your free ice cream, right?” She was already reaching for her ice cream scoop.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, squashing the teeny tiny part of him that was disappointed that Steve wasn’t grabbing it for him (what even the fuck). “What’s the special today?”

“Peanut butter chocolate chip,” Robin said. “One of our better flavors.”

“Thank god,” Eddie said, “I thought my teeth were about to fall out.”

Robin laughed. “Yeah, there’s a lot of sugar in this stuff.”

“What’d I miss?” Steve’s called, walking out of the backroom. Eddie ignored the way his heart jumped in his chest at the sound of the other’s voice. He blinked as soon as his eyes landed on Eddie. “Munson?”

“Hey there, Stevie,” Eddie said, savoring the way Steve reflexively flushed, “Didn’t know you’d decided to babysit half the town.”

Steve sighed. “I didn’t ‘decide’ to do anything. They just kind of… showed up.”

“They just showed up?” Edide asked.

“It’s a long story,” Steve said.

“One I’d absolutely love to hear,” Eddie said.

“Your ice cream,” Robin said, shoving a cone in Eddie’s face. Her eyes narrowed as she looked between Steve and Eddie.

Eddie grinned back at her in response as he took the cone. “Thank you, my lady.”

“Steve!”

Eddie jolted as he realized all the kids had abandoned their table and were swarming the counter once more. One of them was already tugging on the door that led behind the counter impatiently.

“Let’s go!” Dustin said, “The movie starts in ten minutes! We’re already missing the previews!”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You brats just use me for the backroom, don’t you?”

“I thought it was obvious at this point,” Max said primly, though she was smiling.

“Just unlock the door!” Mike huffed.

“Guys,” Will tried. “We don’t want to get him in trouble.”

“That’s it, Byers is my favorite now,” Steve said decisively, “Henderson, you’re dead to me.”

“Wh-!” Dustin protested, “Come on, man! Is this because I didn’t say thank you last time?”

“You don’t say thank you any time,” Steve said, lifting an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Just unlock the door!” Mike snapped.

“Since when do you-?”

“Move,” Max said, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair, “I can pick locks.” Lucas looked at her with something close to awe.

“Where did you even-?” Steve spluttered, “No, fine, let me unlock it. I’ll be screwed if you break that in the lock.”

Steve pushed past the girl who was muttering that she ‘wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake’. He quickly unlocked the door to the back room, throwing it wide open. Eddie could see a bit of hallway behind it that he imagined led to other areas of the mall. The kids quickly rushed through the doorway with a few whoops.

“Thanks, Steve,” Will said, the last one through.

“No problem, kid,” Steve sighed, “I wish your friends all had your manners.”

Will gave him a crooked smile, nodded to Robin and oddly enough even gave Eddie a final glance before heading down the hallway and out of sight. Steve shook his head and shut the door behind the kids, locking it once more.

“You gonna eat that or let it melt there?” Robin asked.

Eddie blinked and looked at the ice cream in his hand to see it was, in fact, already starting to melt slightly. He quickly chased a few of the drops with his tongue before it could spill onto his hand.

He turned back to Steve with a smile. “Well, well, looks like the king now gets ordered around by a pack of middle schoolers. How’s that feel?”

Steve looked like he was actually considering Eddie’s words for a minute before replying. “Honestly? Better than how I felt in high school.”

Eddie stared, stunned. There was a beat of silence, a beat that Robin took advantage of to slide from behind the counter and start wiping down tables to avoid the awkward tension. Part of Eddie wished he could do the same, but a larger part was fascinated by every new tidbit he managed to uncover about Steve Harrington the longer he talked to him.

“Really?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah,” Steve said, taking the sailor hat off and running his fingers through his hair, before seemingly giving up on trying to make it look nice. Much to Eddie’s dismay, it still looked good even when slightly disheveled. “Back in high school it just felt like no one actually bothered to get to know me, not really. They were always looking at my house, or my money or even my fucking hair. The kids don’t care about all those things. It’s kind of refreshing.”

“Huh.”

“You know, the first thing Dustin asked when he saw my place was whether or not I could host their nerdy little DnD nights so they could stop hanging out in Mike’s basement,” Steve said, looking unbearably fond. “It was the first time I actually wanted to invite people over rather than feeling like it was something I was just expected to do."

Eddie tried to ignore the way Steve’s brutal honesty made him feel, instead opting to say, “They play DnD?”

“Yeah, have you heard of it?” Steve asked, “Will’s probably the most into it, but they all play. Well, except Max. She just calls them all nerds, but she hangs out on game night anyway.”

“Have I heard of it?” Eddie asked, “Steve, you may have been the king of Hawkins High, but I am the master of its dungeons.”

Steve stared at him blankly. “We have dungeons?”

Eddie sighed. “It’s a DnD term, Steve. How do you not even know that much?”

“I don’t stay for their little sessions!” Steve said, throwing up his arms, “I usually just drop them all off at the Wheeler’s place or babysit Mike’s little sister!”

“Steve, Steve, Steve,” Eddie said, shaking his head melodramatically, “I have so much to teach you.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “How about you teach them instead? If your such a good, uh…”

“Dungeon Master,” Eddie supplied.

“Yeah, that,” Steve said, “I’m sure someone as seasoned as yourself would have a much better time teaching kids who at least know what you’re talking about rather than some newbie.”

“Ice cream!” Robin called over her shoulder.

Eddie sighed and took an enormous bite of his ice cream to ward off any spillage onto the floor. Steve looked at him with a vaguely horrified expression, which made the imminent brain freeze worth it.

“I thought you were about to unhinge your jaw and swallow that whole thing,” Steve said, still looking disturbed.

“I’ve had practice,” Eddie said with a wink, only slightly regretting it as he watched the cogs in Steve’s head visibly turn.

“Wh-?”

“Anyway,” Eddie continued on as if he hadn’t said anything, “I run an after school group for DnD. I guess I could allow your brats to stop by and see some real DM’ing. It’s called Hellfire.”

Steve perked up. “Oh, I remember hearing about that! It’s where all the fr- uh.”

“Role-players,” Eddie said challengingly, thought they both knew what word Steve had been about to say.

Steve had the decency to look embarrassed. “Right. Role-players. It was once a week, right?”

“Every Thursday evening,” Eddie confirmed. “Right after school until eight. They won’t let me have the room any later.”

“Okay, yeah, uh, that’s cool,” Steve said, “Are you sure you’d be okay with that?” Even though Steve had been the one to initially suggest it, he now looked uncertain.

“Stevie, I am always happy to corrupt the minds of the youths these days,” Eddie said with a smile he’d been told was the opposite of reassuring.

“Good, that’s good,” Steve said obliviously, and then seemed to process his own words, “Wait, shit, I mean-“

“There, there, don’t get your sailor shorts in a twist,” Eddie said, “I’ll make sure not to teach them too many Satanic rituals.”

Steve actually laughed at that, and Eddie’s heart did a flip. “Thanks, man. They can be a handful, but they’re my handful, you know?”

“I’m starting to see that,” Eddie said. He lifted the remainder of his ice cream and crunched through the cone. “Thanks for the free ice cream. See you tomorrow.” He made no move to leave though, instead drumming his fingers on the counter expectantly. His rings clacked noisily against the chipped surface.

Steve looked confused for a minute before he huffed. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack,” Eddie said solemnly. “Do it for the kids.”

Steve lifted his eyes heavenward as if asking for divine aid, but when none came he lowered his eyes back to Eddie and recited in a tone that wouldn’t be out of place in a funeral viewing, “Thank you for embarking with us on this voyage today. We hope you set sail with us again soon.”

Eddie pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “Ah, that never gets old.”

“I’m banning you from the store,” Steve said, even though it looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“Not until the week’s over, Stevie,” Eddie said with a wide smile, “I haven’t gotten my fill yet.”

Day 4: Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich

Eddie was close to whistling to himself as he stepped out of the bathroom, wiping his still wet hands on his jeans (the towel dispenser in the boy’s room was out, as it always was). He’d felt re-energized ever since his last trip to Scoops Ahoy, and no matter how hard he tried not to dwell on why that might be, he knew it was because he’d come to actually enjoy seeing Steve Harrington, sailor outfit and all.

At first it might just have been the gratification of karmic comeuppance, but Eddie had come to see that for better or for worse, Steve Harrington had changed since his time in high school. Could it all be an act? Perhaps, but Eddie doubted it. For one, who would pretend to have a change of heart for Eddie’s sake? No, it looked like against all odds Steve had genuinely become a better person, one that was friends with a band nerd, drove around middle schoolers and seemed hellbent on making Eddie’s heart flutter despite his own best efforts..

Eddie shook his head. Two weeks ago if someone had told him that he’d be excited to see Steve Harrington of all people, Eddie would have just laughed at them and asked what strain they were smoking because he needed to get in on some of that. Now though, Eddie was practically rushing to grab his lunchboxes and bag from his locker and head toward his van.

The hallways were pretty empty already, most of the buses already having left or cars peeled out of the parking lot. Eddie often hung back from the crush of the final bell crowd since his van was usually too big to maneuver through the cramped parking lot easily, and he didn’t want to tempt fate by running into one of the sports teams on their way to the gym or outdoor fields. Just because Eddie taunted the jocks didn’t mean he was a fan of getting his nose broken.

Eddie made his way down the hallway, humming ideas for a guitar riff under his breath and considering whether or not he should pop some of the balloons still dangling around the hallway on his way out, when he heard the sound of stifled sobbing coming from one of the classrooms across from the gym. They were high pitched, a girl most likely, and they didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. He paused, silently debating with himself whether he really wanted to get involved. He took two steps down the hallway before angrily swiveling and stalking back toward the classroom.

“Stupid idea, Munson,” Eddie muttered under his breath, even as he was reaching for the doorknob, “You’re just going to make everything worse again.”

He still twisted the doorknob open, the door flying backward and banging against the wall. Eddie looked into the classroom and paused as he saw a lone figure sitting at a desk in the middle of the room, who jumped in her seat at Eddie’s arrival.

“Chrissy?” Eddie blurted.

“Oh, sorry, I’m,” Chrissy said, hastily gathering herself and wiping her eyes on the sleeves of her cheer jacket. Her mascara was running and eyeliner was smudged. “I’m, I was just leaving-“ She hurriedly grabbed the pink backpack at her feet and began to shove notebooks and writing utensils that were lying on the desk into it with little regard for the crumpling papers or loose pens and pencils.

“Are you alright?” Eddie asked, the words falling lamely out of his mouth. He regretted them almost as soon as he said them since it was plain that the girl wasn’t. He tried again, “Are you, uh, hurt?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no, I’m fine. Just fine.”

Eddie grimaced wondering if he should say what he was about to say, but a feeling deep in his heart went out to this girl. There was something about the look in her eyes that was familiar, something he’d seen before in the eyes of women in the trailer park who wore long sleeves in the summer, who knew the exact amount of foundation it took to cover a black eye or who had no marks at all but hunched inward every time they raised their voice above a whisper.

“Was it Jason?” He asked lowly.

Chrissy jolted. “No! No, no, Jason is fine! We just… had a disagreement. He only raised his voice a bit. He didn’t even touch me.”

Eddie frowned.

“He didn’t. Really,” Chrissy said, “Couples fight all the time, right?” Her eyes plead for Eddie to agree with her.

“I…” Eddie said. He couldn’t deny that his own parents had always been prone to fighting, though it had usually been with him rather than each other. Chrissy’s expression crumpled at Eddie’s lack of response.

“I like him,” she said, a bit forlornly, “I know he can seem a bit rough around the edges, but that’s just because he cares a lot, right?” She said the words with the kind of inflection that came from repeating another’s words.

“Chrissy…” Eddie began.

“Nothing happened,” Chrissy said, “I- I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Eddie sighed. “Fine.” She looked inordinately relieved that Eddie wasn’t pressing any further. Eddie made a mental note to check in with her on a later date, but for now…

“Do you like ice cream?” Eddie asked out of the blue.

Chrissy startled. “What?”

“Ice cream,” Eddie said, “Do you like it?”

“Wh- I don’t, I haven’t had ice cream in a long time,” Chrissy admitted, “My mom says it’ll make me fat.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow at Chrissy, who looked like she might weigh only a little over a hundred pounds soaking wet. “Well, look at me,” he said, “I’ve eaten ice cream every day this week, and I look fine.”

“You’ve been- oh, the vouchers!” Chrissy said, finally smiling. Eddie internally cheered that he managed even that much. “Have you really been going every day? Aren’t you sick of it?”

An image of Steve in his sailor uniform popped into Eddie’s head and he grinned. “It’s grown on me. Let’s go get some ice cream. It’ll make you feel better. Promise.”

“Promise?” She stated, tone disbelieving.

Eddie put a hand over his heart. “On the soul of the Dark Lord himself that everyone is so convinced that I worship.”

Chrissy laughed again. “In that case, how can I refuse?” She glanced out of the classroom toward the gym where Eddie could hear the squeak of basketball shoes against the court floor.

“He gonna be mad?” Eddie asked, not wanting to put Chrissy in any more danger.

Chrissy bit her lip before squaring her shoulders. “He might be, but that’s his problem.”

Eddie smiled widely, “Well then, your chariot awaits, my lady.”

“Oh, you drive that big van, don’t you?” Chrissy asked, looking a bit hesitant.

“Hasn’t broken down on me in five years yet,” Eddie said, “You’re in good hands.”

“I guess I’ll trust you on that then,” Chrissy said, letting Eddie lead the way toward the parking lot.

Scoops Ahoy was back to being as empty as Eddie remembered, no group of screaming middle schoolers or anyone else for that matter. Robin looked up as Eddie walked in, eyebrows shooting up even higher as they landed on Chrissy, still in her cheerleader outfit. Chrissy had done her best to fix her makeup in the tiny, cracked mirror of Eddie’s sun visor, but there were still a few smudges of eye shadow and faint tracks on her cheeks from the mascara. She still walked with her head held high though, and Eddie felt an odd sense of pride seeing that.

“Didn’t know you two were friends,” Robin said, glancing between Eddie and Chrissy.

“We’re bonded by battle,” Eddie said.

Chrissy giggled. “We just met up after school.” She blinked. “Oh, you’re in the school band, aren’t you? Trumpet?”

“Uh, yes, I am,” Robin said, flushing slightly under Chrissy’s scrutiny. Eddie’s own eyebrows went up at that. He tilted his head slightly toward Chrissy, and Robin froze, eyes wide with some unnamed emotion that Eddie recognized nonetheless.

A memory bubbled up to the surface, one that had always left a bad taste in his mouth. It reeked of copper and rain, the scent of too much alcohol on his father’s breath and the feeling of fraying canvas under his fingertips on the day that he’d shown up at Wayne’s trailer with only a single backpack stuffed close to bursting with all the clothes, books, and tapes. The only things he’d managed to grab on the way out. The scar on his arm itched under the tattoos even though it had been years since he’d scraped it falling out his window.

“I’ll, uh, Steve!” Robin yelled, voice going up half an octave and snapping Eddie back to the present.

“What?” Steve said, coming out of the back room, “You said I could go on break- Eddie?” Before Eddie could say anything else, reassure her maybe, Robin was pushing past Steve into the back room. “Wh-Robin?”

“Steve Harrington?” Chrissy blurted, getting Steve’s attention.

“Oh shit,” Steve said, which seemed to be a knee jerk reaction he had to people saying his name. “Uh, sorry, I mean. Yes. I’m Steve.”

“Oh my god,” Chrissy said, covering her mouth, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- it’s just, people still talk about you at school, you know.”

“Hopefully good things,” Steve said, though his smile looked a little forced, “Billy manage to ruin my reputation before we graduated?”

“What? No!” Chrissy said, “People still think you were, um, are amazing! My boyfriend-” She blanched. “Um, h-he…”

“Your boyfriend?” Steve asked, looking toward Eddie with steadily widening eyes.

Eddie abruptly realized what conclusion Steve had come to, and quickly waved a hand in front of him. “Not me,” he said, “Different, much less attractive guy.” It might have been his own wishful thinking, but Eddie thought Steve looked a little relieved at that.

“Oh,” Steve said, “Much less attractive, huh?”

“Blonde hair, blue eyes, rising star of the basketball team,” Eddie said dramatically, “How ever will her parents approve?”

“Sounds like a real Romeo and Juliet situation you have going there,” Steve said dryly, though he was smiling at Chrissy now.

Eddie was just delighted that Steve was finally starting to play along with him. “Indeed, very star-crossed and tragic. Speaking of tragic though, what horrifyingly sugary concoction are you going to force on me today?”

“Huh?” Steve said. He blinked as Eddie waved his voucher in Steve’s face. “Oh, right. Uh, it’s an ice cream cookie sandwich.”

There was a long moment as Eddie stared blankly at Steve, who grew steadily more uncomfortable under his gaze. Chrissy looked back and forth between the two of them, uncertain whether this was something she should get involved in. “That’s such a rip off,” Eddie finally said.

Chrissy let out a startled laugh. “It is, uh, pretty underwhelming.”

“They’re big ice cream sandwiches!” Steve protested, “Here, I’ll show you!”

He walked into the back room and returned a minute later with a plate that had what looked like vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two large cookies. To Steve’s credit, the sandwich was the size of one of those hefty burgers they used to sell at Benny’s before the owner passed, a respectable size for such a plain treat.

“How about that?” Steve said, setting the plate on the counter proudly.

Eddie laughed. “Don’t act you spent any time making that, Stevie.”

Steve flushed. “I didn’t, but still! Not as small as you thought!” Eddie just let that statement sit there until the penny dropped and Steve flushed further. “I didn’t- I mean-“

Eddie guffawed as Steve struggled to justify his word choice to Chrissy, who looked like she was suppressing tears of laughter at Steve’s expense. “Nice one, my liege,” Eddie managed through his laughs.

“Just go sit down, both of you!” Steve snapped, stalking to the backroom and leaving the counter completely unmanned.

Eddie and Chrissy continued to laugh, but Eddie did eventually take the plate and take it over to a booth. He grabbed a plastic knife on the way over and used it to cut the ice cream sandwich in half, offering half to Chrissy.

“Only half the calories,” Eddie said.

Chrissy smiled. “You know? I think I really don’t care about that right now.”

Day 5: Banana Split

Friday was near unbearable for Eddie, the school hopping with so much nervous energy about the Homecoming game that evening that Eddie was feeling slightly nauseated from it. While it was nice to get classes cut short by the pep rally that afternoon, Eddie couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it much when he had to spend hours watching the football team strut around like a bunch of prize roosters at the state fair.

The only bright side to the whole affair was when he and Chrissy met eyes and she sent him a small wave of her pom-poms. Eddie gave her a smile in return and waved back, but she soon had to turn back to the rest of her cheer squad to lead their fight song, the lyrics of which Eddie still didn’t know. Though they made eye contact a couple more times over the course of the afternoon, and Eddie managed to pull a laugh out of her by making a face, the rest of the rally was pretty boring.

He did see Robin in the marching band as they played their way through a few school songs and reinterpreted radio hits, but she paled quickly and turned away when she locked eyes with him. He’d have to go talk to her some other time, Eddie resolved, sometime when they weren’t in danger of being overheard by anyone else. He felt a little bad that she seemed so nervous around him. Maybe he’d have time to talk with her that night if she was working at Scoops Ahoy after the Homecoming game. Of course, thinking about Scoops Ahoy inevitably got Eddie thinking about Steve and then time seemed to fly by as he fell down that particular rabbit hole.

Students flooded out of the school after the principal’s final announcements, all racing to go home and change in time for the game that evening, some making plans to get dinner beforehand. Eddie, for his part, let the gym mostly empty before slipping out with the last dregs of the crowd. He waited longer still in the bathroom until most of the noise in the hallways died down. By the time he was striding across the parking lot toward his van the area was mostly devoid of people.

Eddie drove to Starcourt to find the mall also uncharacteristically empty. He guessed it made sense considering most of the families in Hawkins that had kids in school and would likely be attending the game that evening as well. He enjoyed the relative silence as he headed toward Scoops Ahoy and was delighted to see a familiar face working at the counter. He’d never admit how he picked up his pace to cross the store’s floor faster.

“Well, well, Stevie, we meet for the final time,” Eddie said, leaning against the counter.

“Munson,” Steve said, though he was smiling slightly, “And here I’d finally gotten used to seeing your ugly mug darkening my doorstep.”

“It’s fine, you can say you’ll miss me, Stevie,” Eddie teased.

“I’ll miss you,” Steve said without hesitation, bringing up Eddie short.

There was a moment where the only thing going through Eddie’s mind sounded like white noise (or maybe himself screaming) as he stared blankly at Steve, wondering if he’d misheard him or perhaps died and been transported to another universe.

“Uh, what?” Eddie asked intelligently, all higher function gone.

“I said I’ll miss you,” Steve repeated, though his ears were turning red, “I mean, I don’t see a lot of people my age around here, man. It was nice to have someone else to talk to who isn’t twelve or Robin commenting on how I can’t get a date these days.”

“Oh,” Eddie said, trying to get his heart beating again, “Glad to help then?”

Steve smiled. “Daily special, I assume? You’re in for a treat. It’s Banana Split today.”

Eddie glanced over Steve’s shoulder where the chalkboard clearly read ‘Cotton Candy’ as the Flavor of the Day in large letters. Steve saw where he was looking and quickly reached up a hand to smear the letters unsuccessfully. 

“Banana split,” Steve said firmly, as if Eddie hadn’t just seen him do that.

“Um.”

“Have a seat,” Steve said, ignoring Eddie’s surely dumbfounded expression, “It’ll be a few minutes.”

Eddie slowly walked over to one of the booths, wondering if he was in a dream that he would soon wake up from, maybe to find that one of the football jocks had managed to knock him out in the school hallway or that he’d crashed his van into one of those stupid Homecoming balloon arches in the parking lot. As he slid into the vinyl booth he pinched himself lightly. Nope, not a dream. Which meant…

His eyes trailed back to Steve, who was humming lightly and slightly off key to himself as he layered scoops of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla on top off two bananas in a large glass dish.

‘What the fuck,’ Eddie thought, the words playing on a loop in his mind like a scratched record. Was it a joke? Was Steve messing with him somehow? No, Eddie was sure the other wasn’t like he was in high school anymore, so then where did that leave him? Maybe Steve was just mistaken?

“Order up,” Steve said, snapping Eddie out of his daze and sounding a lot closer now than he did before. Eddie nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked up to see Steve sitting right across the table from him and an oversized banana split, dripping with chocolate sauce and a shiny red cherry sitting daintily on top, between them.

“You really went all out for this,” Eddie said, his voice devoid of any teasing for once. He tried for a sly smile, “Trying to impress me?”

“Maybe,” Steve said, so utterly genuine that it made Eddie’s head spin.

“What?” Eddie said, because really what else could he say to that. People like Steve Harrington didn’t try to impress people like Eddie. The only kinds of people Eddie ever had managed to impress were starry eyed freshmen and the school outcasts.

“Maybe I wanted to impress you,” Steve said, “And also maybe I wanted to apologize for being a dick in high school.”

“You weren’t really one to me,” Eddie said, “You were just kind of there while your friends were being dicks.”

“But I didn’t help you either,” Steve said, “I remember how Tommy treated you. That was shitty, and I’m sorry I didn’t do anything then.” His brown eyes were so wide and sincere that Eddie felt like he was having trouble breathing. If he had been shocked by Steve trying to impress him, then he was absolutely dumbfounded by the other apologizing to him.

“Uh…apology accepted,” Eddie said, feeling as though he’d stepped into the Twilight Zone.

“Good,” Steve said, looking honestly pleased.

Eddie leaned back in the booth and sighed heavily. “You’re making this really hard for me, Stevie. I’m supposed to hate guys like you, that’s kind of my thing.”

“I’m glad to know it’s possible to throw off even you, Munson,” Steve laughed. “I know that a single banana split isn’t enough to make up for who I was in high school, but I’m really hoping I can make a better impression on you going forward.”

Something inside of Eddie snapped, something bitter and insecure and scared of getting burned again. “What are you playing at?”

Steve looked confused at that. “I’m not playing at anything…?”

“Don’t tell me that you want to actually be friends with a freak like me?” Eddie asked, “Is this all some kind of twisted game to you? Or do you think I’m some kind of charity case?”

“What the fuck? Eddie, no,” Steve exclaimed, looking shocked. Eddie tried not to show how much Steve using his name affected him. 

“Then what is this,” Eddie asked, waving to the banana split, “What do you want from me, Steve?”

“I don’t want anything,” Steve said, still looking baffled, “I just… want to do something nice for you, I guess. And maybe keep talking to you in the future, if you want.”

“But why?” Eddie pressed, needing to hear the answer.

Steve floundered for a moment, mouth opening and closing. “Do I need a reason?” He finally asked. “I just want to.”

There was a beat of silence as Eddie studied Steve’s face, looking for any sign of deception, any indication that the other would lean back and laugh in Eddie’s face like so many others had. He couldn’t find any, and staring too long into Steve’s eyes was seriously not helping the way his heart was racing from both fear and something even more terrifying like hope. He curled his hands into fists before he did something stupid like lean over the table and kiss Steve fucking Harrington.

“Fine,” Eddie said.

“Fine?” Steve asked, visibly confused.

“I believe you for now, I guess,” Eddie said, “That you’re actually trying to be a better person and all that. And that this banana split has no ulterior motives.”

Steve grinned, and Eddie hoped his hair was doing enough to cover the flush on his face. “None whatsoever. This banana split is completely scheme-free,” he said, mock serious in a way that should have been goofy but ended up endearing.

Eddie internally bemoaned the fact that he was starting to develop a crush on Steve Harrington just like everyone else in Hawkins High that he used to mock. ‘I’m such a fucking cliche,’ he thought. The smart move would probably be to stop those feelings right now, to take preventative measures and distance himself from Steve as much as he could before he fell too deeply. As Eddie watched Steve snicker at his own barely-a-joke he realized just how impossible a task that would be, and Eddie himself would be the first to admit that he’d never been particularly smart.

“You’re killing me,” Eddie finally said. He reached for the spoon stuck into the banana split. “You’re dangerous, man.”

“I really don’t think I am,” Steve said. “Have you seen the outfit I’m wearing?”

‘God have I,’ Eddie thought miserably.

“I don’t know,” Eddie said aloud. “I’ve heard looks can be deceiving. Like mimics.”

“What?”

“DnD?” Eddie said. “Come on, man, you still haven’t done any research?”

“I don’t even know where to start!” Steve said.

Eddie shook his head. “Your hopeless.” He spooned some of the ice cream into his mouth. 

From there the conversation turned to DnD, then music, then school, all much safer topics than what Eddie had been thinking about previously. He’d open that box again once he was safely back home and had time to parse out just how his life had gone so sideways. For now though, he was happy talking with Steve, who eventually got up to get a spoon for himself after more time passed with no one coming in. They worked their way through the ice cream monstrosity that Steve had created, not even noticing how late it had gotten until the bell above the door jingled.

They both looked over to see Robin walking in. She froze in the doorway, still in her marching band outfit and cheeks red with cold from the game while Eddie and Steve stared at her like deer in headlights. For a moment none of them spoke until Robin’s eyes moved down to the banana split, now nearly completely demolished under Eddie and Steve’s spoons.

“I didn’t think that was the special today,” Robin blurted. Her eyes glanced toward the chalkboard that still had a half-smeared ‘Cotton Candy’ written under the Flavor of the Day special.

“It is,” Steve said, flushing, “It was, uh, the last day special on the voucher.” Eddie couldn’t even remember handing Steve the voucher. In fact, he was pretty sure it was still in his pocket. 

“I… see,” Robin said slowly, eyes darting between Eddie then Steve and back again. “I’ll, uh, be changing in the back then.”

“Wait!” Eddie said, stopping the girl, “Uh, Robin. I just wanted to ask… if I could talk to you sometime? About, uh,” his eyes darted toward Steve meaningfully.

He could practically see the gears turning in Robin’s head, her expression going from its intial fear to shock to elation. “I, uh, yes! We should do that! I’ll get changed first and then, you know!” She sped into the backroom.

Steve turned to Eddie with wide eyes. “What was that about?” He asked, bewildered.

“Don’t worry about it,” Eddie said, waving his spoon idly. “Just a question about ice cream I had.”

“I know a lot about ice cream,” Steve pouted, and Eddie’s heart melted a bit.

“I’m sure you do, Stevie,” Eddie said and oh, there was that flush he’d come to enjoy. “Don’t worry, I’ll probably be stopping by to ask you about it too.”

Steve perked up. “You’re going to keep coming here then? It was the banana split, right? That’s everyone’s favorite.”

Eddie grinned. “I think it’s certainly something worth coming back for.”