Work Text:
june 27th, 1985
Steve had been stressing out all day. Ever since he arrived at work, he had been overthinking the movie night that would be taking place at his home, with no other than Eddie Munson.
Max had been listening to him stress about this for days, ever since they settled on a date. They found out that the 27th would work best, as they both got off of work at five, leaving Eddie to come over at six. He had asked her so many questions, what should we eat? Should I order takeout or cook? What movie should we watch? What snacks should I get?
Steve wasn’t at all surprised that Max suggested that they watch Rocky Horror . Steve didn’t even protest, deciding that they should just watch it because he wasn’t gonna be able to decide on everything else. Max announced that she would be at Steve’s house while they had their date (“It is not a date, Maxine!”) but that she would stay in her room, not interrupting them.
Steve sighed as he finally got off of work, hanging up his dumb little hat before walking out of the establishment. Robin hadn’t been there today as she had a doctor's appointment, leaving him alone to overthink all day.
He was distracted for most of his ride home, thinking about how he was gonna be spending time with Eddie. Eddie who he thought was incredibly hot, who he wanted to impress but had absolutely no fucking idea what to wear and- oh. He was home.
He sighed and flapped his hands before he turned his key, taking it out of the ignition. Climbing out of the car, he walked up to his front door and wasn’t surprised to find it unlocked. “Max, I’m home!” He yelled from downstairs, slipping his shoes off and placing them by the front door as usual. He heard the familiar sound of the younger girl walking out of her room and down the stairs. He was greeted by a sight of red braids (which he had done the night before,) a long sleeve black shirt, and high waisted shorts.
Max was the one to close the distance between them, encompassing him in a hug. “Hey, Stevie,” she mumbled against his chest.
“Hey, Maxie,” he replied, resting his head atop hers. They stood like that for a moment, basking in each other's company before either one of them spoke up.
“You still stressing out about your date?” Max smirked, earning a playful slap on the arm and a blush rising on Steve’s cheeks.
“It’s not a date, I swear to God,” Steve retaliated as he pulled away from the hug. “It’s just… getting to know each other. And one of us just happens to be very hot, I mean him, by the way. So I’m probably gonna be panicking at least half of the time, like, I’m already panicking about what to wear! I wanna look good!” He rambled as he rubbed his hands across his face. “Shit, Max, what do I wear?” He asked, at a complete loss.
“You have a brown sweater, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Okay, wear the brown sweater and a pair of light wash jeans. They’ll compliment each other well and it’ll just look good, okay?” She explained. Steve nodded, thanking her multiple times as he raced up the stairs to get a shower. However, he forgot to check the time before he got into the shower, not realizing that it was only thirty minutes until Eddie was supposed to come over. As he dried off and put on his clothes, he heard voices traveling from downstairs. Oh shit.
Steve almost tripped over his feet trying to get down the stairs.
“Well, I was beginning to think Harrington had stood me up,” Eddie smirked. Steve felt heat rush to his face, a blush undoubtedly rising on his cheeks. He waved awkwardly, looking at Max who was standing to the left of Eddie.
“Max, can I talk to you for just a second? If that’s okay, of course, Eddie,” Steve rambled, wringing his hands together nervously. Both Max and Eddie seemed to sense his stress, Eddie’s expression softening and Max walking over to his side.
“Of course, I need to use the bathroom, anyway. It’s upstairs, right?” Eddie replied. Steve nodded, mumbling that it was the third door on the left. Eddie’s footsteps began to grow distant and the panic began to fully show on Steve’s face.
“Did you- did you tell him?” Steve stuttered out as he began flapping his hands and flicking his fingers.
“Hey, I didn’t tell him anything. I just told him to be nice and if something happened and you seemed uncomfortable, to come get me. I didn’t say anything about your autism or your bisexuality. I would never out you like that, I promise,” Max explained as she grabbed Steve’s hands, slowing his movements.
“Okay. Okay, I’m sorry for freaking out. I just got scared. I’m sorry,” he mumbled a string of apologies as he ran one of his hands through his wet hair.
“Nope, no need to apologize. You don’t do anything wrong,” Max replied as she pulled the older boy into a hug. “Now, go get ‘em tiger,” she winked.
Steve let out a groan and rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, shithead.”
“You know you love me,” Max called as she ran up the stairs, nearly running into Eddie along the way.
“Yeah, I do,” he smiled back although she couldn’t see him.
Eddie looked back and forth between the door that Max had just disappeared into and Steve, raising his eyebrows but deciding not to ask. When he reached the final step, he took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Your sister is scary as hell,” Eddie laughed, his smile reaching his eyes. Steve thought he might be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Yeah, she really is. Did she threaten you with my nail bat?” Steve replied with a smile, watching Eddie’s eyes go wide.
“I’m sorry, your what?” He asked tentatively as Steve led him to the kitchen.
“My nail bat. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a baseball bat with a shit ton of nails stuck in it,” Steve explained. “Coke or water?” He asked as he pulled one of each out of the fridge.
“Coke, please,” Eddie replied as he took the drink from the other boy. “Why exactly do you have a… nail bat?” He asked as he popped his soda open.
“Protection, obviously. Rabid dogs and shit, especially in the country,” Steve lied. It seemed to do the job considering Eddie nodded along as they walked into the living room. “So,” he began. “I have food here that I could cook, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to do that or order pizza. Whatever you’d prefer,” Steve explained, his eyes darting around as eye contact was just too much at that moment.
When he finally did take a moment to look at Eddie, the curly haired boy was smiling fondly at him. His tongue was poking out between his teeth just slightly and Steve wanted to kiss him then and there. “It’s not a real movie night unless you order pizza, obviously,” Eddie replied.
Steve smiled. “I agree. You can order, I’m fine with whatever but I’ll be the one paying,” he said. “Phone is over there,” he pointed, “You can order whenever.”
Steve watched as Eddie jumped up from his spot on the couch and ran over to the phone, obviously knowing the number to the pizzeria by heart as he dialed it without issue. He found himself staring at the boy's outfit, which consisted of a cut up Pink Floyd shirt, a blue jean jacket, those same black pants he was wearing the week prior, and boots, though they had been discarded by the door upon arrival. He had chains attached to his pants, connected at the belt loop and the pocket. Steve thought they might have been the best thing ever.
He was pulled out of his trance when he heard Eddie hang up the phone. “They said it’ll be twenty minutes. Did you wanna go ahead and start the movie or…?”
It took a moment before the words registered in Steve’s mind, suddenly realizing that Eddie was talking to him. “Oh! Yeah, sure,” he replied with a bit more enthusiasm than he should have. He got up from his spot as Eddie sat down, walking over to the VCR and putting in the VHS. “You can thank Max for the movie recommendation, by the way. I’ve already seen it with her like, six times, but it's her favorite,” Steve rambled as he started the tape. Eddie’s eyes went wide as the opening credits began to play.
“Holy shit , am I dreaming, or am I watching Rocky Horror with Steve Harrington ?” Eddie teased, making Steve blush in reply.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t cream your pants,” Steve grinned, which earned a look from Eddie.
As the movie continued through the first few minutes, Steve found himself staring at the man beside him, taking in every aspect of his being. He noticed the way his bangs had begun to grow into his eyes, the longer strands perfectly framing his face. He looked down, noticing all of the rings on Eddie’s hands. On his left pointer finger, there was a cross with skulls in all four corners. On his middle, there was a pig's head. On his ring finger, there was a skull. All of them were silver.
Steve glanced over to his right hand, noticing that there was only one ring on that hand. It was placed on his ring finger and both the metal and stone were black. He found that one the most fascinating, as it all had small red gemstones surrounding the large black stone. He found himself staring at it for longer than he should have, only being snapped out of his thoughts by Eddie calling his name.
“Hello? Earth to Harrington?”
Steve finally broke his eyes away from the ring, moving to look at Eddie’s face. His eyes are beautiful.
“Whatcha staring at, big boy?” Eddie smirked, making Steve’s stomach leap. Steve could feel the heat rising on his face.
“Your rings. I- uh, really like the one on your right hand,” Steve mumbled, embarrassment lacing his tone. He looked down, beginning to play with the bottom of his sweater to keep himself from nervously stimming. He felt Eddie shift beside him, not looking up until he saw Eddie’s hand on his knee.
“Hey, what’s got you so nervous?” Eddie asked, tone serious.
Steve swallowed harshly, finally looking up at Eddie. “I dunno, I just don’t wanna be weird or make this hangout weird, which I think I already am. I still feel terrible for everything I did in school, and I guess I’m really just trying to prove that I’ve changed,” Steve rambled, his mouth moving faster than his brain. “If you wanna leave, I completely understand. I can be a lot and I talk too much, I’m sorry,” he continued, moving to get up and lead Eddie to the door.
However, Eddie’s hand caught the small of his wrist. “Stevie. Calm down. Don’t I get a say in this, too?” He asked, eyes full of concern. Steve felt the tension release from his shoulders, realizing that Eddie wasn’t too upset with him. “C’mon, come sit back down.”
Steve did as he was told, sitting cross legged in front of the other boy. Eddie spoke up before Steve had a chance to. “Harrington. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you had changed. I knew from the moment you walked in my store that you were different. King Steve wouldn’t be caught dead buying metal records for his little sister, but Steve Harrington would,” Eddie explained, making Steve smile slightly.
“So… you’re not mad at me? You don’t think I’m weird?” Steve asked, voice small.
“Harrington. You do realize who you’re talking to, right? I am the poster child for being weird. I’m the town pariah. The resident freak, if you will,” Eddie joked, his smile so wide that there were crinkles below his eyes. Steve couldn’t help but smile back.
“You aren’t a freak. You remind me of someone, actually. I have a friend- Dustin. He’s away at camp right now, but he’s such a nerd. I would die for him, honestly. You’d love him,” Steve’s heart swelled as he talked about Dustin, the boy he viewed as a younger brother.
“Well, you might just have to introduce me to him, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Their conversation came to a halt when the doorbell rang, signaling that their pizza had arrived. Eddie stood up to pause the movie while Steve walked to the front door, grabbing his wallet off of the table in the foyer. He kept the conversation with the delivery guy as short as possible, never particularly enjoying talking to people he wasn’t familiar with. Soon enough, he was carrying three boxes of pizza into the kitchen.
“Holy shit, Eddie. Did you plan on feeding an army?” Steve joked as he lined the boxes up on the counter.
“Hell yeah, man. I got cheese, supreme, and pineapple and ham,” Eddie explained. Steve shot him a wild look, absolutely shocked by the fact that he just said pineapple.
“I’m sorry, did you just say pineapple ?” Steve questioned, placing his hands on his hips and raising his eyebrows. Eddie looked him up and down, trying to stifle a giggle as he replied.
“Yes, mom, I did. It’s a delicacy. Now, where are your plates? I’m hungry,” Eddie said, motioning to the boxes on the counter.
“Cabinet above the microwave. They’re glass, I ran out of paper. I’m gonna go tell Max we got food,” He announced, walking away as he heard Eddie place the plates on the counter. He walked up the stairs slowly, making sure he was calm and collected before knocking on Max’s door.
“ Come in,” she replied through the wood. Steve cracked the door open, poking his head in.
“Hi.”
“Hey, asshole.”
“Pizza’s here.”
Max sat down her book and swung her legs off of the bed, walking over to the door to open it all the way. “How are things going?”
Steve sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hands. “Wonderful, thanks for asking. I just had a borderline panic attack on him, apologizing for overcompensating and being weird. I offered for him to leave if I was making him uncomfortable or if he didn’t trust me, y’know, school shit,” he explained, flapping his hands and bouncing on his heels as he did so. “And! He caught me staring at his rings. Max. I’m gonna out myself if I don’t calm down, and then he’s gonna hate me.”
“Woah, he’s not gonna hate you, Stevie. If he didn’t think you’d changed, he wouldn’t be here,” Max replied.
“Yeah, he said the same thing,” Steve mumbled back.
“Well, how about you try believing someone else for once, yeah?” She coaxed. Steve nodded in reply, bringing his hands to a stop. “Now come on, I’m hungry.”
She all but pulled Steve down the stairs, met with the sight of Eddie standing patiently at the bar, waiting for the other two to emerge. “Ah, there you are. Was starting to think you’d abandoned me, Stevie boy,” Eddie smiled, making butterflies appear in Steve’s stomach. “Mayfield, m’lady,” Eddie bowed, holding out a plate for her. Max giggled as she accepted in.
“Thank you, sir Munson. Ever the charmer,” she winked, Eddie ruffling her hair in reply.
“Here you go, big boy. Promise to try at least a bite of the pineapple?” He begged, bringing out the saddest puppy dog eyes Steve had ever seen. How can I say no to that?
“Ugh, fine. But if I hate it, you’re finishing it,” Steve groaned, grabbing one slice of each and walking to the living room. “We’re eating in here, by the way,” he yelled, making sure he was loud enough for them to hear.
He made himself comfortable on the pallet in the corner of the room, the one that he and Max used on movie night. He didn’t bother unpausing the movie just yet as he wanted to spend time with both of them.
Soon enough, the redhead girl and curly-haired boy came walking around the corner.
“Can I eat in here too, Steve? I can go back upstairs if you want,” Max asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“Dude, you’re fine. I wanted to spend time talking to both of you, anyway,” Steve replied with a soft smile. Max smiled back, moving to sit beside him on the floor. Eddie was in front of the two of them, making the arrangement look like a triangle.
“So,” Steve mumbled, a bite of pizza still in his mouth. He waited to swallow before continuing. “How do you two know each other?”
The other two shot each other a look, a silent do you wanna go? Eddie spoke up first.
“Well. It was October of ‘84. I had just started my second senior year. My uncle was gone, I was bored. So, I went to the arcade. When I got there, I saw that my scores had been defeated by this… MadMax . I was impressed as hell when I saw the numbers. And when I looked over at DigDug, she was playing. I walked over to her, made it clear that I was not a pedophile, just impressed by her scores. Since then, we’d meet there and play together about once a week. She also comes to visit me at the record store,” Eddie explained, smiling wide as he told his story.
“I beat his ass every time we played, too,” Max replied, mouth half full.
“How’d you meet her?” Eddie asked Steve. He quickly came up with a lie.
“Remember the kid I was telling you about earlier, Dustin?” Eddie nodded. “She’s a part of their friend group. I would haul them to the arcade and stuff, but I just felt a need to… protect her? I guess? So I basically adopted her as my little sister,” Steve said, stopping every few seconds to take a bite of his pizza.
“My step-brother is an asshole, so Steve wanted me to know what a good big brother is like,” Max smiled.
“He a good one?” Eddie asked as he took his last bite of pizza.
“The best,” she whispered back. Steve felt a blush rise on his cheeks.
Eddie looked back at him, a slight grin on his face. He glanced down at Steve’s plate, his eyes becoming comically large. “You liked the pineapple, huh?”
Steve glanced down at his plate, realizing that all three pieces of his pizza were gone. “Huh. Guess I did,” he shrugged, wiping his hands on his napkin. When he looked back up, Eddie was smirking at him. It made Steve feel some type of way.
“How long has Max been hanging out around here?” Eddie asked no one in particular. Max spoke up before Steve got the chance to.
“Since February. He gave me my own room in March. He picks me up from school most days so I don’t have to go home and deal with Billy, so he just helps me with homework and we hang out,” she explained happily. Eddie could tell that Max was happy in the small family that she and Steve had built.
“Yeah. She’s sarcastic as shit and an asshole sometimes, but I love her,” Steve said, making Max flip him off in reply. He stuck his tongue out at her, vaguely hearing Eddie giggle in the background.
“Well, I’ll go put your plates in the kitchen so you can continue the movie, yeah?” Max suggested as she stood up from her spot on the floor. Steve and Eddie both thanked her, handing her their plates. “Let me know if you need me, okay?” She whispered softly to Steve. Only the two of them could understand the gravity behind that statement. Steve nodded at her, a silent thank you .
Soon enough, it was just the two boys left in the living room. Eddie moved to unpause the movie while Steve watched his movements carefully. He made himself comfortable on the pallet, leaning against the pillows as Eddie walked back over and did the same. They laid together for a while, singing the songs together and quoting the movie by heart, as they had both seen the movie several times.
During one of the songs, closer to the end of the movie, Steve couldn’t help but watch as Eddie sang. The other boy had a smile on his face, his nose scrunched up and crinkles below his eyes. He had long since tied his hair into a ponytail so it wouldn’t get in his face. Steve thought- no, Steve decided that Eddie Munson was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. He forced himself to look away, not wanting to get caught again like he did earlier.
They finished the movie, neither of them moving as the credits rolled on the screen. Steve heard Eddie take a deep breath beside him and turned his head to the side to look at him. “Harrington, I can’t believe I just watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show with you. The king of Hawkins High,” Eddie joked, but Steve felt his heart clench at the use of his last name. It must have shown on his face, because seconds later, Eddie was moving to sit up and place his hand on his knee again. “Hey, I was just joking, trying to be funny,” he assured calmly. Steve shook his head.
“Mm, no, not that. I would also be shocked if I watched Rocky Horror with the most popular asshole in school,” Steve chuckled nervously. “It’s just- you keep calling me Harrington. It reminds me, um, of my dad. He’s like, a shitty person, so can you maybe- uh, maybe not call me that?” Steve whispered, afraid of making Eddie upset.
“Oh, of course. I can call you whatever you want me to call you, big boy,” Eddie winked, making all of Steve’s worries and fears disappear. Steve smiled back, moving his hands to place them on top of Eddie’s.
“I had a really good time tonight, Eds. We need to do this again, soon,” Steve admitted. When he looked back up at Eddie, the man was smiling wider than he had all evening. Steve felt himself smile as well, completely and utterly content with his life at that moment.
“Yeah, we do. Next week, same time?” He asked quietly. Steve nodded in reply, mourning the contact with Eddie removed his hand from Steve’s knee and moved to stand up. “Thank you for a wonderful evening, Sir Stevie,” Eddie bowed dramatically, making a loud laugh erupt from Steve.
“God, you’re so weird,” He laughed, Eddie joining in on his laughter.
“Well, someone has to be. See ya next week, pretty boy,” He winked as he walked out of the front door, leaving Steve standing shell-shocked in the foyer.
Apparently, Max had heard the front door close, as she appeared at the top of the stairs seconds later. “So, how’d it go? Did you kiss?” She smirked.
“Shut up, shithead. No, we didn’t kiss, we just had an old-fashioned, friendly movie night,” Steve replied as he smiled softly. He moved into the kitchen to place the leftover pizza in the fridge, met by the sound of Max following him.
“You’re happy, yeah?” She asked quietly.
Steve gave a half smile as he closed the fridge. “Yeah. I’m really, really happy, Maxie,” he replied as he walked over to stand beside the younger teen.
“Good.”
They turned around to head back upstairs, Max only a couple of steps behind when she spoke up. “I threatened him when he first got here. Told him that if he hurt you, I’d make sure he regretted it.”
Steve sighed. “Well no wonder why he told me that you’re scary!”
Max laughed loudly in reply, walking over to her bedroom door. “Just looking out for my big brother. Love you, Stevie,” she said as she disappeared into her room. Steve just smiled and shook his head, walking into his own room.
He had a feeling things with Eddie were gonna work out just fine.