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Chapter Text

I'm Odds and Ends - 8/7/2K22
Chapter One: But I'll be Stumbling Away

Eddie got home from another Seven Cruel Hours Of His Life. School. Well, it’d be Schohl if you really spelled it out. Close enough. He rushed to his bedroom door, kissed his pointer and middle finger, and strummed his beloved guitar, Sweetheart. The Hellfire sticker on the bottom left shone due to the shiny glaze on top of it and the LED lights he put around where his instrument stood. 

“Sorry I didn’t skip today, Sweetheart. I had to show up for Mr. Bitch-droff’s stupid-ass history test. At least it’s Friday, so I can stay with you all weekend!”

Eddie felt constantly bothered by a certain nagging in his brain. His mind thought it’d be a great idea to force him into doing stupid ass shit for stupid ass reasons. His least favorite in particular was “Put back that one thing to make the price the right number at the checkout” which caused him to lose at least 5 limited edition d20s and sweet neon rainbow guitar strings. Or maybe pausing in the middle of doing something for 5 or 10 seconds and freeze, the WORST possible thing that could happen when he was practicing for the Corroded Coffin. Or the time-

He could have made a whole list of shit he hated about the new update that came in his brain. He did and… burned it. It was decent fire kindling and a surprisingly good way to relieve stress.

He always brushed it off with “It’s just my ADHD or Anxiety” but it never really felt honest. 

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Beep! Beep! Beep!

“Steve? Steeeeeve?? Pick up, pick up, pick up…”

“Eddie, I swear on my actual left testicle I can and will shit on your pillow if you wake me up by calling again.”

“Wow, someone’s crabby…” Eddie flicked a pin on his jacket 5 times. 

“I am sharpening my knife as we speak.”

“Okay, okay. I need help with something.”

“Shoot.”

“Um, so, do you know what it means when your brain makes you like, do things that you don’t wanna do and you feel shitty if you don’t?”

Eddie’s eyes stung, like the feeling before crying. 

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. WHY did I tell my fucking crush about my goddamn brain issue. And WHY cannot I not think things through?! Oh, yeah, ADHD. I’m going to KILL a MAN!!

“I don’t know but to my knowledge-” Steve paused to take a drink of water “-that is very not good and perhaps bad. Ask Dustin, I guess. Sorry, man.”

“Thanks, Steve. Talking to you is nice on its own.”

“Yeah. By the way, do you want to um- like- uh- whatever, do you wanna go get something to eat with me later? I want to get out of the house.” 

“Sweet! That sounds cool… Do you still have the discount for working at Scoops Ahoy or-”

“No. I literally quit last year. What is your deal , man?!”

“Can we go there? That place was really good and the unifo-.”

“Speak another word about those goddamn uniforms and I am going to kill a man. Other than that, fine. See you at three?.”

“Bye-bye, Stevey-Wevey boo-boo bear!”

“Toodle-fucking-loo, Munckin.”

Click.

Yeah, that last part Eddie couldn’t have explained well. It was Hanukkah night of last year and they were trying to impersonate their grandmas, which somehow turned into their sign offs for calls. 

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Eddie popped Take on Me into the dashboard’s Cassette deck. Rediscovering New Wave music really wasn’t that bad, surprisingly, but metal would always hold a more special place in his heart. This song was just a soft spot for him. His engine started up right on beat, which was a compulsion he didn’t hate too much. His quiet humming and occasional drawn-out mumbling of “Taaaake onnnn meeee” echoed through the car. He made his way over to Starcourt Mall, while only running red lights two times and getting honked at once. 

He walked into Starcourt, greeted by Scoops Ahoy just 3 shops down from the door. The blue, white, and pink color scheme always made Eddie giggle from deep down. It was something nobody else needed to know.

“Hey! Stevie! Hey. Hey.” Eddie leaned on the table he was sitting at, resting his chin on his hand. His heys got quieter as he came closer to the table. “Ooh, you know what?! I just had the perfect idea for a nickname, but since you don’t work here more I guess it doesn't really apply. Here me out-” He sat down and rested his palms down on the table, his rings making a little sound “-Cream Boy.”

“You know what, Eddie? I will not be your ‘Cream Boy’” Steve did big quotation marks in the air for extra emphasis. 

“You know I’m still going to call you that, right?” Eddie grinned, somehow extra goofy this time.

“Yes, I do, Munson. I always know there's no hope after you say ‘I have an idea,’ let alone ‘hear me out.’”

Eddie opened his mouth to say something while simultaneously lifting his hand with his pointer out directed across the table, which Steve gently pushed back down onto the table.

“You know what? That’s fair.” Eddie chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “So, want to order?”

“Sure.” Steve got up and pushed his chair back in, which surprisingly didn’t make that god-awful scraping sound. Eddie followed suit, making his way towards the counter, stopped by the shock of Steve’s hand on his shoulder.

“Wait. Eddie. Before you speak a single word of your order, I just want you to know that the pistachio ice cream tastes like hell on earth.”

Eddie smiled back at Steve. “You know that can’t stop me, Cream Boy.”

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After four hours of doing whatever they could think of, Eddie and Steve arrived at a hill overlooking Hawkins. It was beautiful to see the sun set over the shithole that it was. They both sat on top of Eddie’s van, opening bottles of Faygo. Eddie ran short on money to get actual drinks, so Faygo was always his next best bet.

“Rock ‘n’ Rye? Seriously?” Steve looked at Eddie, with that smug grin on his face.

“Sorry, Steve, I left the bitch flavored one at home.” Eddie took a sip and moved a bit closer to him.

“You bastard.”

Eddie’s thoughts weaved together to form a tight stress in his chest as Steve’s hand touched his own, even if it was just a moment.

“Um, hey, man? Can I tell you something?” Eddie turned to him at the second half of his sentence, setting his drink on the side of him. “If this makes you feel a different way about me, just.. Forget this ever happened, ‘kay?”

“Alright..” Steve changed positions, bringing one leg up onto the roof of the car, making his Blundstone touch his knee in a sort of triangular way. He was actually facing Eddie, who was now realizing this would probably be scarier than DMing for five angry teenagers after they’d lost all their platinum pieces to a charismatic bastard of a bard.

Eddie took a breath in. “I.. I’m gay.” 

He looked back at Steve who had a neutral yet surprised expression. Eddie kept trying to hide by turning away, and covering his face with bits of his hair “I’m sorry- I can go, I’ll drive you back to your place. Sorry, I’m just really tire-” 

Steve grinned at Eddie, and chuckled a bit before giving him a tight hug. Eddie sort of fell into it, and accidentally caught a mouth full of his own hair. Eddie closed his eyes after getting the hair out of mouth, which was a slightly difficult process since Steve had an iron grip on him. 

“You absolute buffoon. Did you not realize that I’m bi? Literally-” Steve let go slowly, displaying an embroidered hydrangea with pink, purple, and blue color scheme on the pocket of his short-sleeved button up. 

Eddie couldn’t help but smile as he held Steve in his arms. 

“I love you, man. You’re just.. Such a good person. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Same, you bastard, same.”

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I'm Odds and Ends - 8/8/2K22
Chapter Two: Slowly Learning that Life is Okay

 “Hey! Dustin! Fancy seeing you here!” Eddie leaned against a bookshelf at the Hawkins Library. The particular smell made him wonder why all libraries smelled the same. The glossy bar codes on the books reflected light all around the shelves like stars, but exceedingly less elegant.
 “Eddie, you literally called me here like an hour ago.” Dustin threw his hands up in the air, brushing against his signature ‘Thinking Cap.’ “What do you need help with researching, because ‘the thing when it’s in your brain and it does things’ was not very helpful.” Dustin did big finger quotes, something he surely picked up from Steve.
 “Okay, okay. Um, It’s ‘inda personal, so can we move over there?” Eddie gestured to some reading chairs that were probably better quality than his own bed.
 “Sure,” Dustin moved over to the chairs, facing Eddie when he sat down.

 “So, ok,” Eddie paused to swallow. “In my head, my brain tells me to do random things that I don’t want to do. When I don’t do them it makes me feel really bad. And usually they’re about numbers, like if I tapped something I have to tap it a specific number.” 

 Eddie knew Dustin was probably the most trustworthy person that he knew, but he was still a bit scared of everything falling to shit. 

 “Oh, okay. That was really brave of you, to tell me, you know? Thanks, Eddie.” Dustin reached for a hug, smiling. He was really happy his friend trusted him that much. Eddie was happy too, that his friend cared about him that much.

“Also, I think I know a bit about what you’re saying. It might be something else, like, different from what I’m saying, but Suzie has that too. Sometimes they have to do things in specific numbers, and organize things in certain ways. I think they said it’s called OCD.” Dustin explained, straightening his hat since the hug had messed it up a bit.

“I see,” Eddie couldn’t help but crack a smile, just a bit. He’d come to quiet down a bit so he could let Dustin help him, without him talking about a billion different things at once.

“So, I think that the best way to go about this now is to write down your symptoms from what I know might relate, research OCD with books here, and then see if the results are scarily similar enough to talk to Ms. Kelly about it.”

 That last part made Eddie giggle, as he watched Dustin take out a legal pad with doodles of lightning bolts on the brown back of it, followed by various colors of gel pens.

 “Before Dustin Therapist mode activates I need to tell you something,” Dustin said that with a straight face, making Eddie do his stupid little grin again. “If you lay a finger on my babies,” Dustin gestured to his gel pens. “I will smite you.”

 “Dustin, you are five-foot-five.”
 “Eddie, you are asking for my help.”
 “W- Oh, yeah. True. True.”

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“Do you have any mental health conditions or disorders?” Dustin wrote the date and title of the page; Eddie maybe has OCD - 7/6/’86 

“Well, let’s see,” Eddie took out his fingers to count, “ADHD, Anxiety, Atypical Depression, and maybe SPD but not so sure yet. And a lot, and I mean like a whole-ass double decker cake of trauma.. Ooh that’s a lot of fingers, I don’t think that’s good.”

“Okay…” He was quickly scribbling down everything he said, including a poorly drawn cake with the word “Trauma” on it in cursive. “Do you feel stressed when things are out of place?”

“Yeah, but my room is really messy. I think that’s just an ADHD thing, but, man, I get really anxious when Sweetheart isn’t the right way or something like that. And sometimes I feel like I have to clean shit like my life depends on it. Like, I’ll be doing something and then hit in the head with ‘go organize literally everything in your room.’”

“Mmmhm…” Dustin switched pens from a sparkly electric blue to a fun pink color. “Do you have numbers that you feel a strong connection to? Like counting or touching, things like that.”

“I think five and ten are the biggest. Sometimes four and eight. I also have a pattern, it’s from a dance, and it goes like left, right, right, then left, and then right, left, left, right. I always tap on things or order things with that pattern.”

“I see, I see…” Dustin changed to a cute light purple color. “What happens if you don’t do what your brain tells you to?”

“Well, that’s the thing. I’ve never really not done what my brain tells me to, since it tells me that bad things will happen. Like, if I get told ‘go tap that thing 10 times’ and I’m like ‘come on man, why?!’ it's like ‘this friend will be really sad and have something bad happen to them’ and then I just do it since I don’t want bad things to happen, ya know?” 

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 After what felt like a billion years of Dustin researching and Eddie making dick jokes about psychology author’s last names, Dustin came to a conclusion; Eddie should probably see Ms. Kelly after Summer Break.

 “Dustin, I cannot montage my way through this. Maybe studying this, I could have, but not going to Ms. Kelly. She scares me.” Eddie folded his arms and looked away, with a childish pout on his face.
 “Oh my god-” Dustin sighed at put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “If you want this to get better, go fuckin’ talk to her, man! I really don’t think she would care if you saw her after break. It’s literally her job.” 
“Fine, but what do I do in the meantime? And what if Ms. Kelly tells my Uncle? And what if h-” Eddie stopped himself and buried his face in his hands. “Ugh.”
 
 Dustin wrapped his arms around Eddie. “It really is gonna be okay. Just tell her when the break's over.” 

Eddie hugged him back, smiling. It really would be okay. 
 
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Chapter Text

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I'm Odds and Ends

Chapter Three: Today is Another Day to Find You

Steve’s greasy hair stuck to his cheeks when he woke up. No matter how much shampoo he poured onto his hair, instead of luscious locks, he was always Steve “The Hair” Harrington. Ugh.

He said a raspy hello to his boa constrictor, Te’enah. The name meant “Fig” in Hebrew, since if you looked at her brown scales in the right lighting, they looked a bit purple, like a fig. Eddie had taken part in the naming a few months ago, and since he was banned from names in English due to his extended knowledge of synonyms for ‘balls’, he chose Hebrew. Eddie knew a surprising amount of names for fruits. Steve loved the name Te’enah. It reminded him of Eddie.

Speaking of Eddie, Steve did a lot of thinking about what he told him. Telling him he was bi. Steve really never opened up so much, except to his closest friends.

He turned to face the mirror, which was a mistake. He’d been given a makeover by Robin which she forced him into. He looked like what he imagined when she tried to explain periods to him.

“Shit.”

Great way to start a morning.

Even better than getting hit in the shoulder by a pebble .

“Ow, what the fuck!?”

He heard a giggle echo from his open window. 

Fucking Eddie Munson. 

Steve flipped him the bird and shut his window. 

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After Steve nearly waterboarded himself enough to get Robin’s makeup that she must have applied with superglue off, he put on his favorite shirt. It had a little blue butterfly on the pocket, and the majority of the shirt was a baby blue color with the exception of the white highlights. It was so cute.

He rushed downstairs and out to his yard, seeing Eddie. It was suspiciously dark outside, but Steve just thought it was ten or eleven at night since he fell asleep around nine. 

“Well, look who’s up! Hello there, princess!”

“What do you want, Munson?” Steve sighed and leaned on one of the walls to his home. Thank god his parents were away. 

“Wow, Harrington. Up so early? The sun hasn’t even risen.”

“W-.. What the fuck are you doing at my house at-” He checked his watch. “Fuckin’ four am?!”

“I’m booooored-uhhh… And I know you wanna hang out again!” Eddie said it with such a bad teasing tone that Steve covered his face in his hands. 

“Fine. Where does your chariot full of gay rockstars and grease await us?” 

He really had nothing else to do. Except for cursing out Robin. 

“About that. I biked here.”

Steve questioned what the hell he was doing. He invited Eddie fucking Munson into his car since he was actually stupid enough to bike to his house. Oh, well. His brain always seemed scattered when he was around him. 

“So, Steve, can we go to Lover’s Lake? We can watch the sun rise.” Eddie rubbed his eyes, as he’d woken up at three just for Steve.

.“Sure. W- Wait. What the hell am I doing, Eddie?” Steve started the car and quickly clicked it off, turning to Eddie. “Why in Jesus Christ’s long luscious locks am I going to Lover’s Lake at four a.m.?!” 

All Eddie gave Steve was a shit-eating grin. It made him blush. Wait, what? No. He wasn’t blushing. 

“Fine. I’m playing music this time, okay?!” Steve elbowed Eddie in the shoulder, making the both of them chuckle.

Steve fished around his glove compartment and put in Take on Me. Eddie sang along, off-key as hell. The roads were empty and the streetlights illuminated bugs dancing around the light. It smelled like dew and flowers. 

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“We’re here, Eddie.” Steve tapped his shoulder, making him open his eyes before rubbing them. “Aww, you tired?” Steve snickered him as he stood up, pushing him jokingly in the shoulder. 

“Fuck- Okay.” Eddie danced around to wake himself up, as they were walking the distance from the parking lot and stray few buildings to the lake. Eddie loved those buildings for no reason. Behind the back of the convenience store held many memories for him. 

“Here she is, Eddie. Fucking gouregous.”

“Holy shit.”

The sun hadn’t even risen yet, so the area was still illuminated by the moon and stars dotted across the sky and lake surface like the stickers on the wall of Eddie’s room.

The pair of them sat at the pier built on the edge of the water, feeling the slight shake set out across it by Steve taking off his backpack. 

“Mm, whatcha got in there?” Eddie was too distracted to look at what he had by the second most beautiful thing in his fucking life. First was Dustin crying after he played Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah on Sweetheart, obviously.

“Somethin’... for you…” Steve had a shit-eating grin on his face as he handed Eddie a little cup of pistachio ice cream from Scoops Ahoy he’d snagged last time he was at the mall.

“No. No you did fucking not. My beloved Cream Boy, you did not.” Eddie turned to Steve and looked at him with fake disappointment, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Oh. Oh yes I fucking did, Munchkin. I fucking did.” Steve laughed and pushed Eddie’s shoulder playfully.

“No way I am eating that, you bitch.” Eddie leaned a bit backwards with his arm supporting him. 

“Fine.” Steve sat closer to Eddie, their shoulders brushing against each other. 

Steve had put back the pistachio ice cream, and Eddie took out two beers from his backpack to replace the ass-tasting green gooey soup. 

They took in the beauty that was Lover’s Lake. The dock they sat on was right about at the very bottom of the heart, so they had front row seats to watch the sun come up from between the two curves of the top. 

“Hey, Steve? Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah, sure.” 

“So, there’s this person I like. I just.. I can’t tell them I like them without fucking up our friendship, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that.” Steve tossed his head back and took a swig from his beer, while wrapping a shoulder around his friend. “The best thing you can do about that stuff is just wait it out, I guess. Try to understand your feelings before you say something to her- him. Sorry.”

“Oh, no worries. It’s cool.” Eddie blushed, just a bit. No- wait. He wasn’t. No reason to, obviously. “I also have something else on my mind, um, can I keep talking?”

“Yeah, of course.” Another sip.

“I feel like I’ve not been enough lately, and I just feel so pressured to look strong. I don’t understand why, I just feel like I can’t cry.”

“Eddie,” Steve set his drink down and moved his arm to touch Eddie’s shoulder with his hand. “You can fucking cry. I mean, nobody is around for a while , anyways. I won’t judge you. I love you.” Steve opened his arms for a hug.

Eddie’s eyes stung and filled with salty water as his face flushed red. “Fuck. What the fuck did I deserve to be friends with you.” He held onto Steve like a lifeline. Their bond felt unbreakable. 

Steve hugged him back and swayed a bit from side to side, matching with the soft push of the water against the shoreline. He held Eddie’s head and brushed his lips against his curls. He could tell Eddie was taking better care of his hair, since he could pick up a faint fruity smell, his shampoo or conditioner or something. He thought it was cute.

Eddie let out an occasional sob, which was muffled by Steve’s chest. Steve knew that Eddie had a lot of struggles with his mental health and just in general. It was okay. He accepted that Eddie had those struggles. 

Struggling is okay.

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“Oh, fuck, man.” Eddie wiped his eyes as he sat back up, and avoided Steve’s gaze as much as possible. “Wow, that was a lot of tears. Fuck.”

Steve smiled and looked out onto the lake. “It’s okay. I cried a bit too.”

“It’s nice to know I’m not alone. I mean, I’ll never be when I’m with you. Thank you so fucking much, Steve.” Eddie took a sip of his beer.

The sun started to rise. It was swift and elegant. Steve took a lot of photos with his polaroid, blowing all his film. It kind of looked like butter slowly coming up from behind on two pancakes when the sky turned yellow, reflecting on the water. 

Eddie started mumbling something under his breath as he touched his Magen David and Chai necklaces. It sounded like something in Hebrew. Steve assumed it was one of the prayers Eddie said sometimes. It was short and nice to hear him sing.

“Sorry, that was Shema. I just wanted to say it well, you know, I’m Jewish and the sun’s rising. As in you’re supposed to say it when the sun rises.” Eddie kept his eyes on the sun as it rose into the sky.

“Don’t apologize, man. I love hearing you be happy about stuff like that. Plus Hebrew’s a fucking bad-ass language.” Steve snickered and smiled. Eddie’s cheeks blushed, just a little bit. 

“Thanks, Steve. I also wanted to tell you that I kind of figured the thing I was calling about a few days ago? The thing where your brain makes you do shit you don’t want to do, I know what it’s called now. The name’s OCD, which stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It’s pretty ass but at least I’m a little prepared. I’m also talking to Ms. Kelly after Summer Break about it.”

“What?! Fucking awesome! I’m so proud of you man, c’mere!” Steve hugged Eddie hard, which left him surprised and relieved. 

“I love you, man”

“I love you too.”

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I'm Odds and Ends

Chapter Three: Today's Another Day to Find You - Part Two

“Wait, it’s not weird if we sleep together, right?” Steve was done setting up the make-shift bed in his car, which was just folding down the seats to make a lumpy, awkward, mass that was barely better than sitting up to sleep. 

“Um, yeah. Totally.” Eddie started to take off his battle jacket and his black combat boots with unusually tall heels. The extra height helped make Jason fuck off from fucking with his little fucking shrimp. 

“Okay, good to know.” Steve followed Eddie, taking off his boots and sweater to reveal a t-shirt with some design on it that said “I HEART (Moby) DICK” 

“Nice shirt there, big boy.” Eddie laughed to himself and he shuffled underneath the covers, smirking at him.

“Oh- Fuck you! Robin gave me this!” Steve folded his arms and got underneath the one comforter after shutting the door. Eddie forgot his, so he shut his side's as well.

“I talked to Uncle Wayne through the phone at one of the buildings over there about sleeping here with y- here.. And he says yes.”

“Cool. I don’t think my parents would care, since, you know. Business trips.”

The two boys were facing away from each other, not really sure what to say or do. The buzz of the radio and the loud fucking bugs was a filler for their pause. Steve hummed quietly along to Hungry Eyes, which half annoyed Eddie and half pulled him closer to sleep.

“The music video for this is so weird.” Eddie mumbled and turned towards Steve, which he could tell from the way the comforter moved and sounded.

“Mmm, is it?” Steve faced Eddie, having his arms folded behind his head as some kind of cushion. 

“Yeah, it's just several scenes of almost making out and then a sax solo.” Eddie chuckled softly, before sitting up “I made a makeshift pillow, and I guess I can make it big enough for the two of us, I mean, if you’re okay with that.”

Steve nodded, his hair brushing against his forehead before he sat up as well. He helped Eddie spread a thin, somewhat scratchy blanket over his battle jacket which was now accompanied by Steve’s sweater.

“There we go.” Eddie laid down and came closer to Steve. 

“Um, also, are you sure, like sure sure that you’re okay with this?”

Steve’s heart raced and the tangle in his chest grew tighter.

“Don’t sweat it, Stevie. I’m comfortable.” Eddie gave a reassuring smile. 

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A few minutes went by of them changing sides they were sleeping on and trying to find positions that didn’t absolutely demolish their backs. All of their attempts were useless. 

And of course the radio went on ad break, playing Greased Lightning just to pour salt in their wounds. 

“Steve. Your car sucks ass a bed. Those reading chairs at the library are ten times better than this.”

“Thanks, Eddie. Let me just go to the dealership and get a new car.” 

The pair smiled at each other's shitty jokes.

“I’m cold.” Eddie announced, coming closer to Steve. He knew he was BSing him, but he was too tired to deal with it. Summer in Indiana wasn’t that hot, but it was never cold.

Eddie swaddled Steve in his arms. He could hear Harrington’s heart beat pick up and run away as he giggled in his mind, resting his cheek on his chest.

Steve cautiously hugged Eddie back, his arms were loose around him. Eddie closed his eyes and occasionally smiled when he had thought about who’s arms he was in. 

The sun illuminated Eddie’s face and hair. Some stray particles floated peacefully, visible due to the dark sides of the car and the golden light from outside. He looked like an angel. The stray hairs poking out from his curls were dotted with rays. It looked like a halo. A messy one. It fit him, so, so well. 

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A pair of combat boots leaned off the edge of the car as Steve opened his eyes. Take on Me had been playing on repeat for a while, the synth was a surprisingly peaceful thing to wake up to. 

He pushed open the car door, seeing Eddie just staring blankly at Lover’s Lake. It took him a second to realize Steve was there.

“Hey there, cream boy. We slept til’ ten.” Eddie was holding something in his hand, and it had a few chains that escaped his fingers. “I got you breakfast at the convenience store, but it’s not the best. Here.” 

Eddie set his chained mystery item down, which looked like a blob thing that was a deep shade of blue and then a lighter, sky colored one closer to the middle.. His eyes were still adjusting, so the dark blue was like a slap in the face for him.

He slid a soda and a breakfast sandwich over to him, which smelled pretty good. 

“Thanks, Eds. If you want, I can pay you back.” He smiled sweetly towards Eddie, making him grin as well.

“Oh, no, I just grabbed some stray change I found all over your car.” 

“You dick!” 

The two chuckled as they looked at the lake. It wasn’t as gorgeous as it was when the sun rose, but this lake could never lose its beauty.

“Whatcha holdin’?” Steve was halfway through stuffing his face with his sandwich. 

“Oh, it's just something I carry around. It’s a Jew thing.” Eddie explained, holding the blobby looking thing in his hand. “Here’s the Nazar Amulet, it wards off evil, and also brings good luck.”

“That’s cool. Isn’t Henderson Jewish?”

“Yeah. I try my best to talk about being Jewish enough around him. It’s kind of isolating to be the only Jews in Hawkins, especially for a kid.” Eddie sighed and restrung his necklace. He picked up his words since he knew Harrington didn’t have anything to say. “Where to now?”

“Good question. I don’t know.”

“As always, Harrington, as always.”

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I'm Odds and Ends

Chapter Five: Shying Away

Eddie sat down on Dustin’s desk’s chair. After he stopped swiveling around since it pissed Dustin off so much, he finally buckled down and listened up. 

“So, Eddie, here are the rules for when you talk to Suzie-Poo,” He had brought his whiteboard out and dramatically flipped it, which had several rules displayed in bright blue and red marker. Eddie couldn’t hold back a little giggle at the name “Suzie-Poo.” He wished Dustin picked up something cool like “Suzanna the Heart Destroyer.” 

“Number one, do not swear. Do not, under any fucking circumstances, swear. Number two, do not make me sing. I don’t want to sing. Number three, their family is really religious and, um, doesn't like ‘non-believers.’ Suzie is religious but not crazy about it, but they really don’t mean bad if they say something weird, since, you know, family shit.”

“Okay.Thanks. I think I can do this. ”

Dustin went to work on contacting Suzie, and found a channel that was clear. 

The hand-made poster of the NJB above Dustin’s desk made him smile. The NJB were a fake band composed of Izik, Leyvyy, Dayvyd, and Aeusher. NJB stood for Nice Jewish Boys, and they were a new-wave and synth-pop band that made songs about Jewish holidays. Eddie’s favorite album was Highschool Havdalah and his favorite song was Apples, Honey, You’re so Funny.  

“This is Dusty-buns, Suzie-poo, do you copy? Over.”

A few moments of static passed by.

“Yes, Dusty-buns, I copy! Over.”

“Suzie-poo, I have a favor. My friend, Eddie Munson, needs help with something. We went to the library to study his symptoms and we think he might have OCD. Can you help him? Over.”

A blush crept over Eddie’s face as he sat down on Dustin’s bed. He felt a little embarrassed, and his chest felt like it was on fire. He clasped his Magen David in his hand and ran over the points with his finger. 

In his mind he kept repeating “Do it for Steve.” It was forgien, and he never thought he would be doing something hard for a greasy ex-jock that was cute beyond belief. No, no. Not cute. He just admired Steve’s natural beauty.

A couple of clicks of Dustin’s radio snapped Eddie back to reality from dreaming about his… friend.  

“Sure. I would like to talk to your friend, Mr. Munson. Over.” 

“Okay, let me ask him. Over”

Eddie gave a nod to Dustin, and a thumbs-up for good measure. He waved Eddie over, and held the walkie in his hands. 

“Hi, Suzie.. Oh, Over.” Eddie’s hands were shaking a bit and it took him a few fast deep breaths to get them to stop quivering.

Dustin gave him a big goofy grin and a thumbs up, with a little stupid dance at the end, which made Eddie smile. Dustin could tell Eddie was really nervous to talk to Suzie, so he did his best to cheer his friend up. 

“Dusty-buns, I find him acceptable. Over.”

Eddie handed the walkie talkie to Dustin, so he could respond. “That’s great! Thank you so much, Suzie. Over.”

“Oh, sorry. My father says it’s dinner time. I’ll see you sometime later? Over.”

“Of course, over.” Dustin looked to Eddie to confirm, and he was met with a tiny nod.

“Goodbye, Dusty-buns and Mr. Munson! Out.”

Dustin gave a big dumb smile to Eddie. 

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫♪♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The pair of them were a couple hours into their sleepover, and were just sitting around, hanging out, and listening to some miscellaneous cassettes Dustin had neatly displayed on his shelf. Crocodile Rock was on, and Dustin hummed to the little annoying-ass la la las that came on, and mumbled along to the rest of the lyrics, occasionally taking pauses to continue reading his fantasy book about sexy gay wizards . 

“Dustin,” Eddie’s big brown eyes peeked over the magazine, which had a bunch of white guys on the front in shitty fake leather jackets and skinny jeans, paired with knock-off Doc Martens “Do you have anything else? For music, like, do you have any metal?”

“Obviously!” Dustin said that like Eddie was stupid, even though he’d been playing the same four Elton John songs for the past hour.

Dustin hopped up to his shelf full of tapes, browsing around for something good.

“I have some Quiet Riot , Metallica, Mötley Crüe, M etal Health, Queen, Blondie… A couple more but I have the most of those.”

“You have Hanging on the Telephone?”

“Yup!” Dustin brought it over to his deck, popped it in, and grinned at Eddie. “Can you play it?” 

He picked up that snarky-ass attitude from Steve. Eddie could sense his sass from a mile away.

“You bet your ass I can.”

Dustin quickly grabbed his baby blue guitar from under his bed, and handed it to Eddie. He got into position after Dustin gave him a pick with a d20 on it.

Dustin was about to click play, but paused when Eddie said something. 

“Want to sing it?” His stupid grin and teasing tone went though the room as Dustin evil-eyed him. 

“Yes.”

Dustin clicked play, and started a bit too early, but caught onto the lyrics right. He stood by the deck on the little table next to his door, recalling the lyrics perfectly. Eddie played back-up singer for him, crooning the “haaanging on the teeelephone” parts. His deep voice synthesized well with Dustin’s slightly scratchy and higher pitched singing.

Dustin peeked over to Eddie, who gave him a big smile, encouraging him to keep going. He put more chutzpah into singing, getting a little lightheaded, but it passed easily. 

The lead was finally letting loose, holding his eyes tightly shut as he intoned to the melancholy lyrics. He was doing some silly dance to the “I can’t control myself” part, pointing at the imaginary audience as some giggles escaped his month. He joined Eddie for the final lyrics, singing together to end the song.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Dustin was laughing and waited for Eddie to take off the guitar strap with a certain white, pink, and blue flag on it, then ran to give him a big squeeze

“Oof- Woah there, big guy.” Eddie hugged him back, after the surprise passed. 

“Your mandatory Hellfire singing class really paid off.” Dustin laughed as he remembered the first couple times Erica was forced to memorize the lyrics to a remix of Master of Puppets about the campaign. It was fucking hilarious to see her actually get into it and sing the full eight minutes in full seriousness. 

“Hah! That was the first time I’ve ever seen Steve sing, too.”

Eddie sat down on Dustin’s bed, as he fiddled with the guitar some more.

“Do you want to watch a movie? My mom just has a bunch of rom-coms. And Labyrinth.”

“Oh my god, Labrinth ?! Dude, David Bowie in that movie was my gay awakening. ”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫♪♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The pair were knocked out cold on the couch, Dustin held loosely in Eddie’s arms. They had eaten so much fucking candy and their teeth were going to hurt like hell the next day, well, technically today, judging by the oven’s bright green clock. 

Oh well.

A comforter with a starry sky design was laid over them that tinged the air with the smell of Claudia’s perfume to cover up whatever it smelled like before. 

Eddie’s eyes flickered open as he saw Dustin’s curly hair reflect a little moonlight from the big kitchen window. It looked like a halo. 

He picked himself up off the couch, trying not to wake up Dustin, which was exceedingly difficult since he’d fallen asleep on Eddie’s chest.

After pulling Dustin up the stairs to his room and resting him down on his bed, he pulled the covers up to his shoulders and ruffled his hair. His bedhead would cover any evidence of the action, but still. A gay dad’s gotta do what a gay dad’s gotta do.

He looked over to his nightstand to check if his Vecna song was there for any Vecna-mergencies. It was a little off angle, which prompted him to adjust it to a perfect rectangle. He’d never listened to Neverending Story, and he really hoped he wouldn’t have to. Well, not for Vecna uh-ohs, but on his own time, sure.

“I love you, Dustin. You’re fucking awesome.”

Eddie smiled, falling back onto the mattress moved into Dustin’s room from the guest bed.

There was no reason for it, but he couldn’t believe his fucking luck. He was stuck with a stupidly big grin on his face.

He was accepted by so many people for being gay. And he had so many gay friends. He loved them, and they loved him.

Love made the world go round, and who could tell any of them that they were loving wrong?

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫♪♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Dustin had to press his lips together and hold back every type of laugh as he sipped on some Faygo, which of course, he called Gaygo. He was writing down everything Eddie said in his sleep as his mom made pancakes downstairs. Don’t Let Me Down was on, which somehow didn’t wake Eddie up with the screaming parts. This man often slept through metal, so Dustin wasn’t even that surprised.

His list consisted of “No more monkey kisses,” “Dustin, I wanna be a frog too!” and the coveted “Steve, stop making cloud soup. I don’t like the guitar chip cereal. Stop it.” 

Dustin snickered as he took another sip of Faygo, and the bottle reflected the golden sunlight streaming through his window. He always felt like sometimes the lighting was just too beautiful for no reason. He would have snapped a billion pictures of his bottle of creme soda, but his polaroid was out of film.

Oh well.

Eddie finally surfaced from under his green sleeping bag, his head popped up with his curls over his face like Cousin Itt.

“Turn off the light, its soooo fucking bright.”

“Eddie, that’s the sun, I can’t turn it off.”

“Fuck.”

Eddie sat up and rubbed his eyes, laughing a little to himself. 

“So, what about those famous Henderson pancakes?”

Claudia had always promised to make the boys pancakes whenever they slept over at her home, but somehow she was always out of one ingredient. This time, she came prepared. Eddie was finally going to taste pancakes in getting to level twenty on Dustin's Atari level greatness.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫♪♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Chapter Text

I'm Odds and Ends
Chapter Five: I’ll Be Coming For Your Love, Okay?

⊱ ────── {.⋅ 𝄞 ⋅.} ───── ⊰

 Eddie dialed up Robin, and the moment she picked up, ‘Call Me’ by Blondie blasted out of the receiver.

“What is it, bozo?” 

 “Robs, I’ve got a… um, predicament.” Eddie was pacing around the room, the telephone cord nearly wrapping around his body. 

 “What is it this time?”
 
“I like Steve. Like in the gay way.”

“First of all, ew, second of all, he liked ripped jeans. A lot. To, like, a concerning degree. And big hair, but you knew that already. Let out your inner Kirk.”

Eddie smiled and let his grip around the phone go, just a little. 

 Robin’s makeup and jean ripping tutorial made Eddie feel ready to take on the world and hopefully get a real boyfriend in the process. Maybe. Hopefully. Possibly?

The end call tone made Eddie smile. This was possible.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ 𝄞 ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Eddie pressed the last number on the plastic dial, the clicking sound was drowned out by a loud Led Zeppelin record.

“Stevie. Take me to Scoops Ahoy.”
“No.”
 “Yes.” 
 “No.”
 “Yes.”
 “Fine.”
 
 Eddie hung the phone up, hopping into his van to break all traffic laws known to man, with the Ramones blasting so loud the ground shook from twenty feet away.

Steve opened the door, wearing light blue jeans, yellow shirt, and a jacket that Eddie had bought for him right before the Vecna battle. Even if it was so conflicting with Steve’s pretty boy look, he certainly looked like a rock star. It made Eddie smile.

“Wow, dressing to impress, hm?” Eddie elbowed Steve jokingly as they walked down the driveway, getting in the van.

“Oh, fuck off!” Steve elbowed him back, smiling at him.
 Eddie turned the radio on, a familiar drumline making him crack a smile. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was on full volume in a Harrington’s driveway. 

 “Fucking god.” Steve’s hand fell down his face, pulling his cheeks down with them.

 Eddie sang the song the whole way to the mall, replacing ‘I just wanna get some chicks’ with ‘I just wanna kiss some BOYS!’ 

 He did get awfully close to Steve when the ‘oh baby’ part came, but it couldn’t mean anything, right?

 They both knew the drill, don’t get pistachio, get Steve strawberry and a full banana splits for Eddie. They both knew no sharing would be happening, not this time at least. 

 The pair were walking around the mall, up to their regular shenanigans. Laughing at dumb outfits, playing characters, and Eddie flashing his ‘Hellfire Face’ at white cishet couples. Life was good.

 “Oh, wow, looky here, Stevie. They’ve got a roller rink in the basement.” Eddie nudged Steve with his shoulder, grinning at him.

 “My god, Munson, you’re gonna be the death of me.” Steve smirked back at him walking down the stairs to the neon-splattered, UV-shining, and weed-smelling rink.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ 𝄞 ⋅.} ───── ⊰

 “Oh, hey, baby!”

 Eddie ran out onto the court spinning mid-way, taking Steve’s hands. He’d been clinging to the wall, afraid of falling on his ass, and the change was unfamiliar. He had no choice but to lean against Eddie. 

“Hey!” Steve was mentally folding his arms, because he knew full well if he did physically he’d fall. 

“Hey what? Hugging the wall isn’t fun.” Eddie smiled, tucking a bit of Steve’s hair behind his ear. 

“You know what I mean!” Steve held onto Eddie’s hands, deciding to grab onto his shoulders. In response, Eddie put his arms around Steve’s waist.

 The Freak of Hawkins making such a move on Steve the King attracted many stares. Eddie didn’t care, and Steve’s face was nearly covered by how close to his chest he was, so he couldn’t see.

Steve looked down to see Eddie’s stance, trying to copy him. Wait, what? There were two big gashes along the inside of his thighs on his jeans. It gave him an opposite reaction, his legs turned to jelly as he held on for dear life and tried to avert his eyes to anywhere except for his jeans.

Eddie grinned and kept his arms around his waist. His cleverly ripped jeans were working! No boy in a twelve mile radius could resist the secret Muson ripped jeans technique. 

 “How do you, like, stand? I don’t get it.” Steve pulled himself a little bit further away, afraid he was being watched by Tommy. Or his parents. Why would they be at Starcourt in the weed skating rink?

 “Just try it, I’ll hold your hands, ‘kay?” Eddie’s eyes glinted in the minimal lighting, and Steve took just a little too long peeking at them.

“Okay,” He held onto him, unearthing some sort of footing from his basketball days.

“See, princess? Not too hard. Can I let go?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got it!” Steve hesitantly let go, his fingers touched Eddie’s for a bit too long. He looked up at him under his bangs with those sweet doe eyes Steve could look at for hours.

 Eddie’s grin and gleam in his eye meant something was up. Fuck, not again. 

 “My god, Munson, I know that look. What is it this time?”

 “I slipped a C120 of the Ramones into one of the shitty new-wave stacks in the DJ booth. I saw them stoned in the bathroom, they’re not coming out for a while.” That smirk came over his face as Surfin’ Bird came on. Steve shook his head and folded his arms.

 Eddie shook his hair and head around hard, singing along loud to the lyrics for everyone to see. Some straight couples turned their heads, but fuck them! Their perms and painted nails held no match to Eddie’s all-natural Jew curls and guitar-stricken fingers.

  It really, really, wasn’t Steve’s taste. Or he just didn’t want it to be. He had to be a squeaky clean personality-less image for Mr. & Mrs. Harrington, no “punk buffoonery” in sight of his character. It was a kind of charm he wasn’t used to, and he wanted more. He wanted to headbang like Eddie and scream out the lyrics and be brave. He wanted the few privileges that came with being “The Freak,” to be able to do what you want and ignore what everyone else says about it.

 “Don’t you know about the bird?” Eddie called out, sticking his tongue out and holding his hands out to Steve.

 “Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!” Steve responded, shouting out for the whole rink to hear him. He banged his head and gripped Eddie’s hands, spinning in circles and smiled till they got near the middle of the rink. They had a mutual love for the fact no kids at a birthday were here.

 “Oh, Stevie, do you like the Ramones?”
 “Maybe.”
 “Uncle Wayne has, like, all of their discography on vinyl. You wanna come over sometime?”
“Oh, absolutely.”

Steve still held Eddie’s hands, even though he could balance fine. He didn’t want to let go.

They could see people leaving the rink, their death stares at them making both of them laugh. 

“Oh, wow, it looks like we’ve got the whole place to ourselves.” Eddie peered around the place, seeing only a couple of young teens going crazy on the left side of the rink. Good, they were learning.

The two continued to shout back and forth as people continued to leave, dancing and gliding up and down the court, both waiting for the song to crescendo. 

 “Surfin’ Bird!” They screamed into the almost completely empty rink. Eddie made all the weird noises, just like his uncle made when they listened to this song as a kid. 

 Steve joined in, mostly laughing at the faces and dances Eddie was making. He flung his body and voice around, just like Eddie. He might have fallen on his ass a few times, but god damn, if he didn’t look hot as hell doing it. 

 They yelled and screamed in perfect sync, their voicing bouncing back at them when the song had faded out. 

Eddie was catching his breath. 

“Steve. That was fucking majestic. I bestow the title of ‘Freak’ onto thee.”

The other smiled so wide his cheeks hurt. It felt good to be a freak.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ 𝄞 ⋅.} ───── ⊰

 Eddie and Steve pulled up at the same hill they came out to each other. It was a place with a forest on top, a jagged fringe of dirt, gravel, and stone trailing down to Hawkins. The little alcove in the trees at the very top had a lunch table, about six feet from the very edge of the summit. A little garbage can that somehow was always empty sat near it, which was surprising since the spot was only seconded to Skull Rock.

 They sat down at the lunch table, boots hanging off of the edge of it as their hands touched. Eddie looked up at the shining moon, cracking a little smile. He got off his backpack, showing two Rock ‘n’ Ryes. That bastard.

 “I hate you so much.”

 “I love you too, idiot.” Eddie tugged on Steve’s collar, bringing him close. He grinned as he let go. Steve turned to face the trash, totally not to avoid contact with the man who just made him blush harder than any girls he could remember. Just to examine what wonders could be in the empty garbage can at a make-out spot.

 The sodas were cracked open, and Steve’s was bubbling up over the top, but it simmered down fast enough.

 “We should go skating again. That was really fun, Cream Boy.” 

 Steve elbowed Eddie, rolling his eyes. “I thought we were over ‘Cream Boy.’” Those big air quotes came back, making Eddie smile.

 “You may be, but you’re still my little scooper trooper.” Eddie laughed as the street light shined down on his face. 

 They looked up at the stars. They were both out of it, in a sense, mesmerized by the bright lights of cosmic gas and other space shit in a forever abyss. 

 “Hey, Steve, do you think that some things are always connected? Just, meant to be, you know.” Eddie took a moment to process what he just said, and let a laugh break loose from his mouth. “That sounded so dumb. Fuck.” Eddie rubbed his eyes, getting a bit tired from the long day. 

 “No, man, I get what you mean. I think so. Yeah.” Steve curled his fingers around Eddie’s, hitting the cold soda. Eddie could feel his wrist graze a bit of his own showing from under his green flannel. 

 “I mean, there’s no way we’d have been so close without... Fucking... I don’t know. Space gods and sexy wizards controlling our fates, or something.” Steve squeezed Eddie’s hand and smiled at him.

 “Man, I don’t know who the fuck was in charge of controlling my fate, but, wow, they certainly fell asleep at the wheel for like, ten fucking years.”

 “I get that.” Steve tightened his grip around Eddie’s fingers. “I’m not letting you go, though. Never.”

 The two boys blushed, both thankful that the dark sky and little light helped hide it. 

 “Thank you, man. That really means a lot. Especially since fucking obsessive balls disorder is kicking my ass. Like, I do not want to touch my door frame a billion times to make sure I touched it evenly. Like, with my left and right hands and with the same number. It’s supreme bullshit.” 

 “That sounds shitty.” Steve turned his head to face Eddie. He put his arms around Eddie, giving him a little squeeze. “Let me know if I can help.” Steve moved to rest his head on Eddie’s shoulder, and his hair swept against his neck as he looked up into the stars.

 Eddie’s face felt like it was on fire, and the silence hung for a few seconds so he knew he could talk without his voice cracking into a million pieces. “Th-That’s the thing. Nothing helps, really. I mean, it’s really just me versus myself. It’s like a sword fight but the action is equivalent to that of doing very boring paperwork that’s somehow tedious. Woah, I just turned into an English major. I used a fucking synonym. Mrs. O'Donnell would be so proud.”

 “I love you.” Steve whispered through his chuckles, making it hard to hear, unless you were just a couple centimeters away from pecking him on the cheek.

 It took Eddie a bit off guard, but he liked it nonetheless. He had some special feelings for Steve, some that he wanted to scream out to him but kept inside.

 “I love you too.” Eddie whispered, using his free hand to stroke through Steve’s hair. He brushed some of his locks over his cheek and lips. It was getting longer. He loved him so bad, it fucking hurt. 

 “Hey, um, Stevie? I’ve gotta tell you something.” Eddie’s back started to straighten like good posture would save him, but was careful not to bug Steve. His stomach felt like an endless pit.

 “Yeah?” Steve sat up, fiddling with a piece of string he found in his pocket. Eddie’s tone sounded like there was something to worry about.

 “I love you. Not, not in just the friend way. I love you. Romantically.” Eddie looked up at the cosmic abyss, half wishing some meteor or other space ball came and knocked him out right then and there. He kneaded his hands like bread, like he could undo what he told him.

 “I love you. I love you because you really get me. You really understand me. I... I can’t even begin to explain this shit, man. I just fucking love you. And I know, I know, this is fucking cliche. I hate cliches. It’s-It’s fucking stupid.” He nervously laughed, his face tightening up in a cringe as he turned the other way. His mind filled with curses at himself as he felt what seemed like a hundred waves of anxiety wash over him. 

 Steve had a smile on his face, something you only see a couple of times from somebody. It was just too good to be true. Too innocent for this world. He slid his hands onto Eddie’s cheek, who turned back to face him. 
 
“Me too.”

He really couldn’t believe it. Eddie’s face softened as he touched Steve’s hands, trailing down to his back to pull him nearer.

Both of them leaned in to embrace each other. They felt the world stop around them as their minds felt empty and held each other in their arms.

There were tears, sure. But who knew Steve’s first time kissing another boy was going to make him sob. Who knew Eddie’s first time kissing a boy he knew he really loved was going to make him bawl his eyes out. 

 They were looking at a void as they wept in each others arms about kissing someone they loved. A void with some planets and stars, and whatever else was out there. It wasn’t just too good to be true, it really couldn’t be real. Not in Hawkins. 

 Eddie had found somebody he really loved. Not just someone he met at a gay bar on the outskirts of some town. Someone that knew who he was, suspected murderer and gay dad, or whatever pieces that made himself up. Those pieces felt like they had a purpose now, not just a glued-together jigsaw puzzle that only somebody desperate would care about. 

Those pieces had a meaning. Good or bad didn’t matter. Conventionality didn’t matter. He was kissing a boy on the top of Hawkin's make-out hill with the taste of Rock ‘n’ Rye still in his mouth. Tradition was the last thing he’d thought about at that moment. His damn pieces finally made sense.

He was Eddie. He was Eddie, and he was a gay dad to seven kids. He was Eddie, and he was the Freak of Hawkins. He was Eddie, and he was a trans and gay man who finally felt like he could be himself. He was Eddie, and he lived in a shitty trailer with his Uncle. He was Eddie, and he was kissing the man he knew he’d love as long as the stars still glowed and the wind still blew and the water still flowed. He was Eddie, and he could love. 

Steve knew who he was now. He wasn’t “The King” anymore. He wasn’t his parents' little doll anymore, he was Steve. He was Steve and he knew who he loved. He loved men and women. And he loved Eddie, just so fucking bad it hurt. Eddie made Steve complete. A part of him felt missing for so, so long. It had been Hawkin’s Freak for so long. But he just never knew it.

Who cares if some straight couple coming to the hill at two a.m. were going to ask why there were two boys kissing and crying on the top of the lunch?

Love made the world go round, and who could tell them that they were loving wrong?

⊱ ────── {.⋅ 𝄞 ⋅.} ───── ⊰