Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eddie has always detested jocks. They stand for everything that he hates. Whether they play football, soccer, basketball, hell even tennis, all of them are the same. All cut from the same basic jersey cloth.

They think they are better than everyone else, and for no reason at all, everyone treats them like fucking royalty. Why? Because they throw a fucking ball around for an hour and then get all homoerotic in the locker room together afterwards despite being the most homophobic people around?

So yeah, he hates them.

So when King Harrington, ex-jock extraordinaire himself, became one of his closest friends, it was as much of a mystery to him as it was to everyone else around him.

The absolute last thing he ever expected was to become friends with Harrington. He spent all seven of his high school years abhorring everything he stood for. But he had proved to be helpful in life-or-death scenarios. I mean, Steve was the one to carry his unconscious ass all the way from the upside down to whatever fucking sketchy government building full of white coats had brought him back to life, so that stood for something.

But Eddie assumed it was just going to be an upside-down thing. Two very different people stuck in a scenario together where they otherwise would never even be speaking. But alas, Harrington stuck around. Like a leech, but a nice leech.

Steve had been the one to help Eddie throughout his healing journey, inviting Eddie to come and stay in his guest room so that he could remind Eddie to take his meds, keep him fed, and make sure he didn't open his stitches a million times. Unlike he expected, Steve wasn't afraid to help him with his bandages.

"You sure you don't mind getting all down and dirty with the town freak, Harrington?" Eddie snided.

Steve had been rewrapping his bandages, hands lighting graced his scuffed abdomen, hands delicate to ensure he didn't hurt Eddie, "I think I can handle it, Munson."

But now months have passed, Eddie's red, raw bites now permanent scars etched into his skin. The pain was still there, some days worse than others, reminding him of the bats and Dustin's screams, but he wasn't alone. The town may hate him, but the party didn't. They made him feel less alone.

Steve was a massive part of that.

He was close with everyone else in the party. He had known and loved the kids from day one, welcoming Will, El, and Max with no hesitations as they were as much of a fan of Eddie's theatrics as the rest of them. And as to be expected, Nancy was a gem. Without her, he wouldn't have been able to graduate. It had still happened by the skin of his teeth, but hey, 86 was his year, baby.

And Robin. Well, Robin was an unexpected but welcome surprise. They had clicked instantly, and that didn't usually happen for Eddie. He had tended to be more of a 'he's around so much you just get used to his energy' wasn't type of person. Turns out, there was a reason for that immediate connection. Thanks to Dorothy and her friends, he wasn't the odd queer out anymore.

Steve, though, was an interesting one. On paper, they have approximately nothing in common outside of the kids. Pick a rivalry stereotype, and they have it. Jock and nerd, town king and town freak, prep and rocker, the list goes on.

But after dear old Stevie had nursed him back to health, he just kinda… kept coming back.

He continued to show up for dinner at Eddie's on Friday nights because he and Wayne had unintentionally started watching football together, much to Eddie's demise.

He had opened the door that first night after being cleared by the aforementioned sketchy doctors, "What are you doing here, Harrington? Remember, the doc gave me the all-clear."

Steve stood there, arms crossed, and smile wide, "Wayne and I have a recurring football date planned, remember?"

"Oh, of course, just use me for my uncle."

He had shoved straight passed Eddie, making his way to his spot on the couch, plopping down with the beer that Wayne had apparently gotten out in preparation for him. Steve winked at him and mouthed, "Jealous?"

And that was the precise moment that had led Eddie here. Where was here, you might ask? Crush-on-Steve-Harrington-ville, apparently, because as if he didn't already abandon all of his morals by befriending the guy, he had to go and develop a crush on him as well.

So that leaves him here, in Steve's house, on Steve's counter while he makes them breakfast.

There were nights when he had just started ending up at the Harrington household. Last night was one of those occasions. He had known that Steve was working the midnight shift, and Eddie had parked his van in the driveway by eight past midnight, approximately two minutes before Steve was expected to be home. He had ignored the feeling that having Steve's work schedule memorized had given him and lit up a cigarette just as Steve pulled into the driveway.

Rather than asking or commenting on Eddie's presence in any way, Steve murmured, "Oh, thank fuck, I need a smoke."

Which of course Eddie had known because Steve always wants a cigarette after work but doesn't smoke them in his car because Robin can’t stand the smell.

They had leaned against Eddie's van for a few minutes, passing the cigarette back and forth in the silence of chirping grasshoppers and street noise.

Wordlessly, Steve butted out the end of the cig with the heel of his work shoe and turned towards the house, grabbing Eddie's arm to pull behind him. He didn’t need to; Eddie knew their routine. Knew that they would walk into the house, that Eddie would go up to the bathroom while Steve grabbed them water, then Eddie would change into one of the many shirts he had left in the few nights before.

He knew the shirt he picked would be washed and smell like Steve's laundry detergent in the most comforting way possible. Knew he would climb into the left side of the bed so Steve could sit closest to the door.

Knew that Steve would come in and change his uniform into some mix of boxers and a t-shirt from high school (because he knew he ran hot and Eddie ran cold) and climb in on his back; because if he slept on his side, his neck would be sore the next morning. Knew Steve would fall asleep first. Knew that he would be able to watch him peacefully for a while.

They knew they would wake up nestled together, and neither of them would mention it, but the pair would lie there for a while, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence, before getting up. Before walking downstairs where Eddie would sit here on Steve's counter while Steve made pancakes and bacon.

And yeah, if he thinks about that for even a second too long, he might just disappear.

"No, it is definitely not better; you are delusional."

Steve shakes his head while flipping the last of the pancakes onto their plates, "No, Eds, I just don’t want to be drinking liquid sugar every time I want a coke.”

“Oh, come on,” Eddie whined, hopping off the counter and grabbing their cokes (Steve’s an original and his a new) and bringing them to the table where Steve placed their plates, “what’s life without pure sugar at 11am?”

Steve passes him the maple syrup, his pancakes lightly covered meanwhile, Eddie was having what could only be described as syrup soup.

He rolled his eyes at Eddie, “You know if it wasn’t for me, I think between your new coke and tsunami of syrup, you’d die in about four hours from a sugar high.”

“Well, at least I'd be having more fun,” as he sticks his fingers through his syrup soup to leave a mark on the side of Steve’s face.

“How fucking dare you, I cook you a nice meal and this is what I get?” As Steve retaliates, grabbing a syrup-soaked pancake and slapping Eddie playfully on the face.

Eddie blinked at him, “Oh, it’s on Harrington.”

Now the two of them were running around, both covered in syrup, sticky from head to toe. Eddie had managed to chase Steve around the whole house, syrup-covered hands mimicking a zombie as they stopped with Steve’s back against the sliding glass door.

Eddie smacked his gooey hands on Steve’s cheeks, “HA! I won! Sucks to suck, Stevie.”

“Won? I wasn’t aware there was something to win,” Steve retaliated, the classic Harrington smirk adorning his face.

Eddie smiled, “There’s always something to win. And I have.”

Steve just threw his hands up, “Alright, alright, you got me.” He sighed, faking upset. Despite the syrup all over his hands and face, he looked as handsome as ever. Stupid Steve Harrington and his stupid perfect hair.

“Alright back off, some of us have places to be,” Steve said, grabbing Eddie by the hips to push him back so he could move past.

Eddie followed, heading to the downstairs bathroom to wash his hands. He heard Steve clattering in the kitchen, “Oh yeah? And where would that be, I know you don’t work today.”

Steve yelled back from the kitchen, “What? You know I can’t hear you, come here.”

Sometimes Eddie forgot about Steve and his hearing. It’s not noticeable most of the time, as Steve still has a majority of his hearing. But, the times where Eddie tries to speak to him from the next room or when he talks too quietly when he is behind Steve, he is reminded of Steve’s hearing loss. It pains him to think of how many injuries he had to have to get to this point.

He had dried his hands on his, no Steve’s, sweatpants, walking back over to the dining room. He grabbed their plates from the table to bring to Steve so he could wash them.

Eddie stood on Steve’s right side, his better ear, “I saiiddd, what are you doing today? I know your schedule, you never work on Sundays.”

Steve continued washing as Eddie dried the plates, “Somehow got roped into taking the kids bowling today, I swear they have some scary negotiating skills.”

Eddie should stop being surprised at how much Steve does for their kids, truly. He loves those kids like they are his own, and he doubts, despite what Steve says, he won’t stop bringing them places even when they start driving themselves.

“Ahh, I see. You have important motherly duties to attend to, I get it.” He joked.

Steve laughed, “Ha ha, that joke is soo original, how’d you even come up with it? You know, you should be a comedian.”

“Oh shut up,” Eddie retaliated, knocking their hips together.

They finished up the plates, Eddie drying off the last fork and putting it back in the drawer.

“What about you, what’re you doing today?” Steve asked.

“Probably the usual, retreat back to the trailer to smoke and keep myself busy with D & D shit until I go stir crazy and come back tonight to bother you like usual,” Eddie quipped.

Steve looked at him without saying anything for a moment before replying, “Okay, first of all, you never bother me.” He started, inching closer to Eddie who couldn’t tell if he was doing it on purpose or if it was an entirely unconscious move.

“Secondly, you should come, the kids would love it if you were there.” He paused, “And so would I.”

That fucking Harrington charm always came back to bite him in the ass, “Well, since you asked so nicely I guess I have to come.”

Eddie abandoned the drying rag he was still holding, throwing it at Steve. “Guess I better go gussy up since I'm going on the town with Steve Harrington.”

Steve laughed, “Always such drama.”

Eddie had just turned the corner at the top of the stairs but peaked back around to look at Steve, “You sure you don’t wanna join me, Steve? We could really get some drama going.” Eddie flirted, in a way where he could be joking but deep down, he knew he meant it.

“Keep it in your pants, Munson. I’m gonna go clean out the car, take anything from my closet if you need clothes.”

It took all of Eddie’s restraint to not make a closet joke.
_______________________

Scouring Steve’s closet was like a preppy kids' wet dream.

It was like staring directly into a Kmart men's section. All polos with ridiculous collars, shirts from sports of Steve’s past, and the occasional plain black t-shirt. Muddled in were some shirts that Eddie didn’t actually hate, like the rare band tee, a pop band but he never expected a band tee from Harrington so he will take what he can get.

But what he had set his eyes on was tucked neatly into a coat bag at the back of the closet. Hidden away and dusty, clearly not having been touched in a while. Eddie had honestly half expected it to be a suit jacket or family jacket because that’s some rich kid shit to have in a fancy bag in the back of their closet.

But alas, it was not. It turned out to be a varsity jacket. It was cream and green instead of the white and green ones of Eddie’s graduating class. Of course, it had the giant green H on the front. And it had the ‘class of 85 written on the sleeve, a basketball on the mirrored sleeve.

The real kicker though is the back. Like every cliche in the book, HARRINGTON was written across the top of the back in the classic Hawkins High green.

For some reason, Eddie kinda liked the jacket. Maybe being around Steve was destroying his brain, making him into a smoothed-brain jock just like him. Or maybe it was his stupidly massive crush on Steve that made him like it. Who knows.

Eddie shouldn't take it, it's in the fancy bag, clearly stowed away for a reason. But Eddie can’t help but think that if Harrington still had and wore his vest, Eddie deserved some severance right? So despite his debatably better judgment, he shoved the jacket on over his black tank. He can’t just go out in the world with just a plain black shirt and jeans, that’s too basic for the ex-suspected-serial-killer persona that he had accidentally curated.

As Eddie walked over to the nightstand to grab his rings, he heard Steve’s bathroom door open.

“D’ya have a nice shower, honey?” Eddie joked, tone playful.

He got no response, as he slid the last ring on his pinky, he turned around.

Steve was standing just in the door, towel around his waist and hands gripping the doorframe. Hair wet, face shiny, and mimicking what he would describe as a cartoon shocked face. He still hadn’t said anything.

“Steve? You see God or something?”

Steve's face gently shook back to normal, “Yeap, no, I mean uh– great yeah.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“No I’m sorry, it's just- uh, the jacket, was uh- unexpected.”

Uh oh. “Yeah, yeah, I get that, sorry.” Eddie started shrugging off the jacket, not making eye contact with Steve. “I just got carried away snooping through your shit and found your jacket. Need to learn boundaries, Eddie, got it.”

As he was about to take his first arm out of the jacket, Steve stopped him. Eddie wasn’t really sure when he had gotten so close, just as much as he wasn’t sure when Steve had touched him.

“Eddie, no, it’s fine honestly.” He looked up, following the eye line of Steve’s arm all the way to his close, close face.

Steve had looked sincere, his face mirroring the same one he has when he says I love you to Robin or when the kids are yammering in the backseat of his car, “You just threw me off guard, it’s- it looks great, Eddie. Honestly, it's nice that someone is getting some use out of it. It’s just been sitting in my closet collecting dust since I graduated.”

Eddie didn’t really know how to respond to Steve, he instead just did what he always did, “Yeah and you’re practically ancient, I had to mine for it back there,” Eddie deflected.

Steve smiled, “Yeah yeah, Munson, whatever.”

_______________________

They had ended up taking Eddie’s van since Dustin had called him ten minutes before they left that Will, Mike, and El were in fact going to go. Steve was happy they had come along of course, but immediately had said, “These kids, man, I swear. Dustin’s gonna make me go gray at 20.”

But they had arrived safely, Steve driving Eddie’s van here with little to no issues except when they had picked up Dustin first, big mistake.

“Why is Eddie here? And why are you driving his van? He doesn’t let anyone drive his van.” Dustin had asked, face animated with confusion.

“Well, clearly that is not true as I am in fact, driving,” Steve smirked over at Eddie, slyly ignoring his first question. Dustin had looked skeptical but dropped it.

They had gotten two lanes, enough to accompany all of the kids. And of course, because they were predictable, the kids had entered Mom and Dad for Steve and Eddie’s names on the board. They were divided into two teams, Steve with Dustin, Lucas, and Mike then Eddie with El, Will, and Max.

No one here was particularly good at bowling, besides maybe El but Eddie thinks that has less to do with skill and more to do with secret magic powers, but he wasn’t going to be the one to call her out for that.

It was the sixth frame, Steve and Eddie were losing miserably to Lucas and Max who were currently tied for first.

It was Eddie and Steve’s turn up at the lane. Steve winked at Eddie before turning and throwing a strike. Every sense left in Eddie’s body had gone faulty, leaving him to throw a gutter ball.

He felt breath near the left side of his face, “Ohhh, now that’s too bad. Better try again.”

Eddie gathered up any chill left in his body, turning to Steve, “Your confidence is nauseating.”

“Don’t even pretend you don’t love it.”

Before Eddie could stop himself, he looked directly at Steve, “And what if I do?”

And unlike he did many months ago when Eddie had turned up the flirting level from this could pass as bro talk to you’re hot and I'm interested with his beloved big boy line, Steve didn’t seem panicked. He didn’t pull back, didn’t hesitate when he said, “I hoped you did.”

It was Eddie’s turn to panic because Steve just intentionally flirted with him. Like it was outright, not something he looked into or a joke that he would ruminate and think about at 3 am for the next month. No this was on purpose, Steve knew what he was doing.

Steve had winked again before going back to take a seat next to Dustin. Eddie had grabbed a ball, and threw it down the lane, without even looking at the size of the ball or if he got any pins down.

He had walked over to where Steve’s jacket was draped across the back of the chair, grabbing out his wallet. He turned to the kids, “Alrighty guys, intermission.” He grabbed a $20 bill out of Steve’s wallet, “Pizza time. Go get us food.”

He handed the money to Will, the most responsible of the party, before they ran over to the window to order the food.

“Eddie what are you-” He grabbed Steve by the wrist.

“You’re coming with me.” Eddie led them to the men’s bathroom. He had let go of Steve’s wrist, going to look through the rest of the stalls to make sure they were alone.

As he looked through the second to the last stall, Steve spoke up, “Eddie, seriously, what-“

“Will you just shut up for a second?” Eddie finished in the last stall before walking over to the door of the bathroom and clicking it locked. “Wanted to make sure we were alone.”

Steve stood, hands on hips, “What is going on, Eddie you’re scaring me.”

Eddie had to laugh, “I’m scaring you? Seriously, Steve, out of all the things that just happened, why would I have pulled you into the bathroom alone?”

“I don’t know, Eddie, just tell me.”

Eddie paced around, fucking Harrington. “I don’t know, Steve. I’m mostly afraid the fucking upside down is making a comeback because that seems more logical than you flirting with me.”

Well, there’s no going back now. “What?”

Eddie laughed again, “Oh, don’t act coy. I know what you’re doing. And listen, I know you might think this is all fun or whatever. But you can’t just fucking flirt with me like that, okay?”

He continued to pace around, spinning the rings on his fingers, “Seriously, it is like majorly uncool to fuck with a guy like that I mean, really. It’s all fun and games for you, but for people like me that shit isn’t a fucking joke.”

Steve’s face softened, from confusion to something Eddie couldn’t quite read, “What makes you think it’s a joke to me?”

“Listen, Steve, it’s been fun hanging out with you and everything. But I can’t handle this okay? I can’t handle my emotions being fucked with or your casual flirtation okay, it's just too much.”

Steve was closer now, almost the same distance he was when he felt his breath on him not three minutes earlier, “Eddie, look at me, please.”

Eddie didn’t move his gaze, eyes still glued to the floor. “Eddie.”

He huffed, giving in and looking at Steve. Now this face he could read. Desperation.

Steve slid up his hand to grab onto Eddie’s face, his touches gentle and comforting, “I’m sorry if you thought I was just messing with you, but I swear on Dustin’s life that I am 100% serious. This isn’t a joke to me either.”

Eddie didn’t say anything, couldn’t slow down his thoughts long enough to form something cohesive. Steve took this as an invitation to continue, he let go of Eddie’s face, instead choosing to lean back against the sink behind him, mirroring Eddie.

“With everything going on with The Upside Down, I thought the biggest thing I had to worry about was like my scars or figuring out my next steps. But actually, I just came out of that whole situation with a fucking sexuality crisis, because why wouldn’t that happen? I had talked to Robin about everything with,” he gestured between the two of them, “this, and I figured out that I’m bisexual. I just didn’t- I didn’t know how to go about telling you. You are the first guy I’ve had a proper crush on. And it's honestly kind of embarrassing because I'm ridiculously obsessed with you. So no, Eddie, this isn’t a joke to me. Not in the slightest.”

If there was one thing Eddie didn’t expect today, is to be in the Hawkins Bowling and Family Fun bathroom while Steve revealed his crush on him. Definitely not something that was on his agenda.

For once in his life, he was shocked into silence. “I don’t, I-”

Just to check, “You’re dead serious?”

“As dead as the demobats I killed.”

Eddie let out a small laugh before turning towards him, “Not the time for jokes, Harrington.”

He threw his hands up, “Well you hadn’t said anything in like five minutes, I needed to lighten the mood a bit.”

Eddie wasn’t really sure how to proceed from here, honestly. He spent his entire high school existence being the weird D & D obsessed metalhead, which wasn’t exactly making him the object of anyone's affections. Sure, he had flirted with just about everyone around, but that’s just who he was. He was used to platonic flirting, just because that was his personality. But this was real, watching Steve give him the most hopeful eyes while he waited for Eddie to respond to him pouring his heart out.

It’s as good a time as any to be bold, it wasn’t like he had anything to lose, Steve had already confessed. He walked over to Steve, placing his hand on Steve’s arm, his skin shook slightly from the cold touch of Eddie’s rings.

“Well, in case it wasn’t already clear, I’m kinda obsessed with you too.”

Steve laughed, throwing his head back a bit as he let a hand fall to the waistline of Eddie’s jeans. “Just kinda?”

Eddie glared at him, “Really? That’s what you are going to focus on?”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

He leaned closer, into Steve’s space. His hand came up from Steve’s arm, joining his other at the nape of his neck. Before Eddie could manage to say anything, he heard a whisper, “Can I kiss you?”

“Hey, that was my line.”

Steve chose not to reply, instead pushing in the last bit until their lips met. It wasn’t like what they describe in the movie, no fireworks. But he could feel his heart rate pick up, getting faster when Steve moved his fingers along his jeans or pulled him closer by his belt loops. He could feel part of Steve’s mustache, from the places he missed this morning when he shaved.

He felt the months of tension between them collapse into this desperate kiss, neither of them wanting to let each other go, not wanting to shatter the moment.

But alas, oxygen was needed so they pulled away, both breathless and giddy. “Holy fuck.”

Steve nodded, “Holy fuck.”

“Well, that was… intense.”

He hummed, “Guess six months of flirting really builds up, huh?”

Eddie kissed him again, this time shorter, just a peck because he can, “Hell yeah it does.” A few minutes went by, trading short kisses between the two of them, fully indulging themselves.

“As much as I want to do this for the rest of the afternoon, we do have to get back to the kids at some point.”

Eddie shook his head, “Kids? I don’t remember any kids.”

“Come on, Eds.” He pulled away, heading towards the door. Eddie had jokingly whined but followed anyway. Steve unlocked the door to several men standing just outside, clearly waiting to get into the bathroom.

They awkwardly pushed past the guys, Eddie thinks he heard Steve murmur some half-assed excuse to explain why the bathroom was locked, but he heard absolutely none of it. He was still too focused on trying to make sense of what happened in the bathroom.

The kids were sitting around one of the tables, having mostly devoured the four pizzas they bought.

Of course, Dustin immediately spoke up, “Where were you guys? We thought you ditched but the van was still here.”

Steve responded instantly, “Line for the bathroom. Some assholes had it locked up.” He grabbed two pieces of pizza, handing one off to Eddie, smirking only at him.

_______________________

The rest of the day went decently normal outside of their makeout session in the bathroom. Eddie was pretty certain that the kids suspected something was up, but they always think something is suspicious so he didn’t think too much into it.

They had just dropped the last kids off at the Byers’ home, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since the kiss.

Eddie had been worried the whole drive that Steve would finally change his mind or reveal that this was just some elaborate scheme.

Instead, the second the door closed on Eddie’s van, Steve reached over to grab Eddie’s hand to intertwine them on the center console. He said nothing, didn’t feel it necessary. Just enjoyed the ride and the pleasant silence between them.

Not thirty minutes later the two of them were curled up in Steve’s bed. The instant they walked in the door, they were all over each other once again. Exchanging turns to litter each other with marks and hickeys, long kisses as they made their way up the stairs slowly. They had fallen into bed together, instantly hanging off of each other, hands everywhere, touching from chest to toe.

“You know, you should keep it.”

Eddie tilted his head towards Steve, “Huh? Keep what? You? Because I was already planning on doing that if that wasn’t clear.”

Steve smiled, pressing a sweet kiss to Eddie’s jaw, “Well, me too. But no, I meant the jacket.”

“Why should I? From it's fancy little bag, I assumed you wanted to like, preserve it or something.”

Steve shrugged, or as much as he could lying down, looking over at the closet, “Nah, that was my mom's idea. She said I needed to have it ‘in safekeeping’ or whatever. But I never wear it and it just reminds me of shittier times. At least this way, it means something.”

Eddie grabbed Steve’s jaw, turning his head back towards him, “Hey, no getting in your head. This is happy times, we aren’t talking about stupid high school bullshit or parents for that matter.”

Steve grinned, “Yeah I know, I’m good. Promise.”

“Good.” He kissed him, more teeth clashing due to their smiles.

“Just tell me you’ll take it?”

Eddie pulled back a little to look at him intently. Steve’s face was earnest, with no indication of anything other than sincerity. “Yeah, Stevie, I’ll take it. As long as I can make it my new patchwork project, because I could handle the preppy look for one day but there’s gotta be some customization done to make it an Eddie Munson staple.”

“You can do anything you want to, it’s yours.”

Eddie still felt skeptical, “Pinky promise me you won’t get mad when you see it covered in Black Sabbath patches.” He held out his pinky, extending it to Steve.

Steve placed his pinky in the crook of Eddie’s finger, wrapping them around each other. “Go for it, Eds.”

_______________________

So here Eddie was four days later, the jacket in front of him. He had his collection of patches, pins, and badges all gathered from various shows he went to, ones Wayne had bought him over the year, and the ones he had stolen from various other places.

There was one exception though, which was the black and purple Black Sabbath patch Steve had gotten him yesterday.

Eddie had asked him about twelve times over the last four days if Steve was sure about letting Eddie iron patches onto his jacket. Steve had assured him a hundred times over that he had no problem with it and in fact would like it better if Eddie would do it. But Steve could tell that Eddie was still overthinking so yesterday before he came by to have dinner with Wayne and Eddie, he had gone to the record store at the edge of Hawkins and bought the patch.

He had given it to Eddie and even offered to iron on the first patch so Eddie knew he was dead serious.

Eddie had really appreciated the gesture but, “Hell no. I love that you offered but fuck if I am letting you do that.”

Which is why he was here now at 4 p.m. on a Thursday getting ready to fuck Steve’s varsity jacket up for life. He had chosen today to do it as it was Steve and Robin’s weekly hang-out day and he knew that Steve would be unavailable and therefore unable to distract him.

His patch assortment was mostly made up of rock band symbols like Metallic, Black Sabbath, KISS, and other random ones he had gathered over the years. Mixed in were also some pins from Hellfire that Will had designed for them, the talented little shit, and other random ones that just had some sayings he liked on them (his personal favorite being the one that just said FREAK on it).

Eddie had already laid out where he wanted to place the patches, as patch placement was key to showing who really put effort into their jackets, rather than the ones who just did it to try and be different.

He started with the Black Sabbath patch Steve got him, ironing it on the bicep of the right side of the jacket. He was in deep now.

As if he wasn’t already in deep. This was going against everything Eddie had believed in. The fact that he was going to be wearing his boyfriend's varsity jacket, his last name printed in big letters across the back. Eddie two years ago, hell eight months ago, would vomit in his mouth at the idea.

But he knew that he really wanted this. To have a piece of clothing that so deeply represented Steve and Eddie, not just them as individuals but also them as Steve&Eddie.

And he knew that this definitely meant something to Steve, even though he didn’t say it in so many words.

Eddie was keenly aware that Steve was, to put it nicely, disappointed about the person he was in high school. Because yeah, that Steve was a piece of shit. The Steve who would call people homophobic slurs the minute they weren’t some shitty meathead jock or didn’t run in their hypermasculine posse. Eddie knew that Steve. He had hated that Steve.

But Eddie knew his Steve. The Steve that spends most of his time hanging out with a group of fifteen-year-old nerds, driving them around and dropping anything the moment they need him. He knew the Steve who loved Robin so deeply, who treated her like his little sister and would die for her in an instant. He knew his Steve who since Sunday had treated him like Eddie shot fucking gold out of his ass.

Steve who had bought him a goddamn Black Sabbath patch to iron on his jacket. Steve hated Black Sabbath, but he bought it because Eddie loved them.

His Steve deserved to be rid of that Steve of the past, to lose the imagery of past Steve. Because Eddie wasn’t certain of much but he was sure that Steve had changed. He proved it time and time again. And if this Steve wanted to see his high school varsity jacket be customized by his boyfriend, then that is what he shall get.

A few hours later it was completed. The sleeves were mostly covered in patches, littered around in a semi-organized manner that made the whole jacket feel cohesive in a messy way, his goal achieved. He had filled in a few of the empty spots on the breast of the jacket with pins, placing them where he felt needed some extra spice.

He finally tried it on after all his hard work. Eddie felt a little silly as he had on a random band tee and his red flannel pajama pants, but alas it was about the jacket, not the full outfit.

He observed it in the mirror. It looked good if he said so himself.

It felt solid as the jacket was made of very high-end material, but the patches had stuck well and fitted to the fabric nicely. The dark patches stood out against the cream color of the jacket’s body, even contrasting with the green of the cuffs and details. It looked good.

Eddie had walked out of his room to go look at it in the bathroom mirror, but he ran into Wayne first.

He stopped, posing a few times before saying, “Well.. what d'ya think?”

Wayne looked as Eddie turned, giving him a full view of the jacket, “S’nice.”

He knew that Wayne was a man of few words, but, “That’s it? It’s nice?”

“No, son, I mean you did a great job on the patches. I’m sure Steve’ll love it.” He said as he poked the Harrington name on the back of the jacket.

“Just admit you like him better than me. I get it.” Eddie laughed, faking upset.

“I like him, sure.” Wayne responded, “He’s good to you, right?”

Eddie grinned, “Yeah, he’s real good to me.”

“Well then,” he patted Eddie on the shoulder, “as long as it stays like that we won't have anything to worry about.” Wayne asked into his room, “Goodnight, kid.”

“‘Night, Wayne.”

_______________________

“Your eyes are still closed, right?”

He looked over at Steve who did in fact still have his hands over his eyes, “Yes, babe, complete darkness over here. Come on, hurry up, I wanna see it.”

Eddie had come over to spend the night with Steve, as it was a rare Friday where there was no football game so Steve was all his for the night. They had planned a night in to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as Steve had claimed it was ‘a crime against humanity‘ that Eddie hadn’t seen it yet. Eddie figured it was mostly payback for making Steve watch all three Star Wars movies in one night.

But Eddie was also using this as his opportunity to debut the finished jacket to Steve. And yeah he might have been delaying it slightly because he was a little nervous. Not because he thought Steve would suddenly be upset about it or anything, Steve had assured him he wouldn’t. He just wanted it to live up to his expectations.

Steve had been wearing Eddie’s vest for months and Steve clearly loved it. So this was Eddie’s chance to reciprocate the gesture.

He slid the jacket on after taking it out of the coat bag that Steve had let him use, he glanced over all the pins to make sure they were all facing the right way.

Deep breath, “Alright, you can open them.”

Steve had opened his eyes and immediately gave him a few once-overs. Eddie felt a little like a girl on prom night, waiting for her date to approve of her outfit.

He had initially stayed silent, letting Steve look over and touch the patches but Eddie was never good at being quiet for too long, “Okay you gotta give me some indication of how you feel, I’m feeling a little in the spotlight here, Stevie.”

Steve squeezed Eddie’s wrist, a gentle but grounding hold, “I mean it’s amazing, Eddie. I’m just a little flabbergasted.”

Edddie rolled his eyes, “Flabbergasted? What, are you 80?”

“Shut up. Turn, I wanna see the back.” Steve lightly guided Eddie’s arm for him to turn around.

“Babe, I didn’t do anything to the back, there’s nothing to see.”

Steve hummed, “I beg to differ.”

Eddie obviously couldn’t see Steve, but he felt a hand come to trace over the letters at the back of the jacket. They stood like that for a few minutes, neither of them breaking the silence. Then all at once, Steve turned Eddie around and kissed him hard. Pushing him back against his closet door, running hands up under the body of the jacket, up Eddie’s sides.
They continued for a few moments before Steve started kissing down Eddie’s cheek to his jaw and down his neck. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Really, Harrington, all it takes for you to get hot and heavy is a jacket?”

Steve moved only millimeters away from Eddie’s neck to say, “‘S not the jacket.”

“Akright then, babe, what else is it? Did you get possessed by a sex demon or something? What’s up?”

Steve groaned, moving away from Eddie’s neck fully now to look at him, “It's dumb.”

Eddie laughed, “Even if it is, I wanna know.”

“Fine,” Steve sighed, his hands coming to rest on the top of Eddie’s back, fingers moving at the top of the jacket's neckline, “It sounds cheesy but I like that the jacket feels like us. Like with your patches and the stuff you like and then my name on the back.”

Eddie smiled, “Aww, that’s so cute, babe.”

“Oh, shut up. I told you it’s stupid.”

“I don’t think it’s dumb,” Eddie whispered, pressing a kiss to Steve’s jaw, “I think it’s endearing.”

Steve groaned this time, “I think that’s worse than you calling it dumb.”

Rather than responding, he just kissed him again. Carding his finger through Steve’s hair. The hair he spent so long glaring at in the back of their sophomore classes. He can hear Tears for Fears playing downstairs where Steve had put the record player on downstairs.

Never did he think he would be here. In Steve Harrington- no. His boyfriend's house, making out against the closet like two horny teenagers while he wears a fucking varsity jacket. But after 1986 was his year, baby, and apparently, that meant all of those things were true. He'd never been happier to kiss a jock.