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Eddie’s never really understood the appeal of celebrating the new year. He stopped going to parties years ago, staying home to watch some sports game with Wayne, quietly, casually saying, “‘S midnight,” when the clock hits twelve, to get a “Happy new year, son,” in response.
But Wayne is in North Vernon visiting his sister (whom Eddie hasn’t seen or spoken to in years), and Eddie didn’t want to go.
So instead of sticking to their (sort of sad) new year tradition, he’s driving his van out into the woods to get high and watch the fireworks, because he’s never done that before.
The woods are eerily silent when he gets there, driving through them until he gets to a clearing and gets out of the van, going to sit on the hood of it. He can hear the wind, the clicking of branches and the rustling of leaves, and he thinks maybe sometimes loneliness isn’t all bad. The world is wide. It doesn’t really matter if he’s a little cold because there’s no one around.
Except there is someone around, which he realises when he hears a car door slam shut. He nearly falls off the hood of his van, fumbling with the joint and lighter in his hands as he startles, and he looks around, finding a car parked a few yards away. Someone’s climbing onto the hood of it. He hasn’t seen Eddie.
Eddie stops, watching for a moment, wondering and curious. Because Steve Harrington is sitting on the hood of his Beemer, in the middle of the woods, on New Year’s eve.
Eddie likes Steve.
He’s dealt with him a bunch of times, and Steve’s never pressured Eddie to give him more than he paid for, which is the bare minimum, Eddie knows, but Eddie thinks it’s pretty good considering who Steve is friends with.
Was friends with, Eddie corrects himself.
Steve isn’t friends with anyone like Tommy H anymore. But he is friends with the kids Eddie’s dragged into Hellfire, which Eddie thinks is pretty cool. They won’t shut up about him, especially Dustin, who seems to think he’s the coolest, most badass guy in the world.
Eddie hasn’t seen him in a while. He hasn’t sold to him in a long while, and he wonders if it’s because of the kids.
Eddie approaches, flipping his lighter over in his hand, holding the joint, and a branch cracks under his shoe as he gets closer. Steve looks in his direction, startling violently with a sharp shout. He falls off the hood of the car, and Eddie claps a hand over his mouth.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”
“Eddie, why?”
“Sorry,” Eddie says again, holding a hand out and helping him up again. He’s breathing hard, squeezing his eyes shut. “Sorry, sorry, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Steve pants. “Great.”
“Sorry,” Eddie says apologetically, watching Steve takes a slow breath, still holding Eddie’s hand tightly. He’s shaking. “Fuck, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Steve says, opening his eyes, nodding. “Sorry, I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to apologise, I’m the one that gave you a fucking heart attack.”
Steve laughs softly, squeezing his hand and taking another deep breath.
“I’m fine.”
He releases Eddie’s hand and climbs back onto the hood of the Beemer, exhaling. Eddie can see his breath in the air.
“You standing a date up?” Eddie asks, following him and sitting a little too close. “She’s not gonna have a new year’s kiss.”
“What are you talking about?” Steve asks, looking at him. “I don’t have a date.”
“No?” Eddie looks him up and down shamelessly, at his slacks and button down, at his blazer that’s hanging open. He looks unfairly handsome, especially next to Eddie in his ripped jeans and stained jacket and ratty scarf. “Then why do you look like you’re going to Olive Garden?”
Steve snorts, looking away again, his eyes scanning over the trees and the darkness like he’s looking for something.
“Because my parents are having a stupid fucking party and they forced me to go.”
“But you escaped?”
Steve nods, his mouth twisting as he stares into the woods blankly.
“Doubt they’ve even noticed I left.”
“Christ.”
“Why are you out here?” Steve asks, blinking and looking at him. Eddie lifts the joint and wiggles it in the air. Steve’s eyes follow it. “Couldn’t you do that at home?”
“I could,” Eddie says. “But I thought… the fireworks, you know.”
Steve nods.
“Smart.”
“My best feature is my mind,” Eddie quips, and Steve snorts, shaking his head. “You disagree? Oh, you wound me, Stevie.”
Steve shakes his head again, smiling softly, but there’s something behind it.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks softly, nudging him with his elbow. Steve stares at the ground for a moment before he shrugs.
“Just kinda feel like shit.”
“Hm.” Eddie nods. “You know what would make you feel better?”
“What?” Steve asks quietly, looking at him, and Eddie holds the joint up to his mouth. Steve looks at it and his smile widens before he parts his lips for Eddie to place it in his mouth, and Eddie lights it for him, clicking the lighter and blocking the flame from the wind. They’re too close together. Steve inhales slowly, reaching up to take the joint away, and he coughs roughly, holding the joint out for Eddie to take. Eddie laughs, taking it and hitting Steve’s back a few times as he coughs into his elbow.
“You good?” he asks when the coughing subsides.
“Fuck,” Steve says. His voice is quiet and rough, and it sends something down Eddie’s spine. “Haven’t smoked in a while.”
“I can tell.”
Steve sighs heavily as Eddie takes a hit, looking at the sky.
“Why didn’t you go somewhere nice if you ditched your parents?” Eddie asks, blowing smoke at the sky.
“Dunno,” Steve says softly. “Got some offers from like… The Wheelers. ‘Nd Robin. But I…”
“Buckley?” Eddie questions. Steve nods, smiling.
“She’s my best friend,” he says fondly, and Eddie’s never believed someone so fast. “But I just… I don’t know. Don’t feel like being around people right now.”
“Want me to leave you alone?”
“No.”
“…Okay.”
“You ever have that?” Steve asks softly, almost whispering. “Where you like… wanna be alone, but you also just… can’t stand it.”
“Yeah,” Eddie says. “All the time.”
Steve sighs. Eddie holds the joint out to him, and Steve takes a slow drag, but he coughs again. Eddie laughs quietly when Steve mutters, “Eddie, no,” and holds it back out to him.
“Christ,” Steve says weakly.
“You ever shotgun?”
“Yeah.”
“C’mere.”
Steve leans closer, smiling softly, his eyes trained on the glowing end of the joint that brightens as Eddie takes a long drag. Eddie touches his chin, leaning in and blowing the smoke into his mouth.
He pulls away after a moment, looking at Steve’s closed eyes, watching him hold still and he holds the smoke in his lungs, and then Steve looks back at him, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and he blows the smoke across Eddie’s face. Eddie grins.
“Good?” he asks softly.
“Mhmm.”
Eddie touches his chin again before they pull away, and he can just manage to see Steve’s cheeks darken. He wonders.
“So why don’t you have a date for new years?” Steve asks after a moment. Eddie scoffs.
“Not many people that’d wanna date me.”
“Come on,” Steve says. “There’s gotta be girls that are into your whole… punk freak thing.”
Eddie clicks his tongue, holding up a finger.
“First of all, I’m metal, not punk,” he says sassily. “So watch yourself.”
Steve snickers. Eddie knows he said it on purpose.
“And second of all,” he continues, taking a short drag off the joint, “doesn’t matter if girls are into it. I’m gay.”
“Oh.”
Eddie waits for a reaction.
“There’s gotta be some gay guys in Hawkins,” Steve says finally. Eddie smiles at the ground.
“There definitely are,” he says. “But they don’t really want a relationship that goes beyond blowing each other in janitor closets.”
“You’ve done that?” Steve says, grinning.
“Oh, yeah,” Eddie says, grinning back. “‘S fun. But that’s all I get.”
“He’s not into counting down the new year together?”
“Nah,” Eddie says, holding the joint out to Steve. “He’s probably making out with some girl by the punch bowl. Or doing a keg stand.”
Steve snorts, taking a drag and coughing weakly.
“You don’t seem too upset,” he says after exhaling.
“Guess I’m not,” Eddie says, looking at the sky. “I get it.”
“Get what?”
“I mean…” He sighs. He can see his breath in the air, like every breath is smoke. “If we go out, and people see us, or find out… His life is over.” He pauses. “My reputation can’t get much worse.”
“You’re pretty cool, Eddie,” Steve says.
Eddie looks at him.
“Are you high?”
“My tolerance has gone down, asshole,” Steve says, passing the joint back to him with a smile. “But no, I just think you’re cool.”
Eddie’s cheeks flush with warmth. It’s nice in the cold air. He looks away.
“You know, your kids won’t shut up about you,” he says after taking a hit.
“My kids,” Steve murmurs.
“Sinclair, Wheeler, and Henderson? Henderson especially, the kid worships you.”
Steve grins again, laughing softly.
“Right. My kids.”
“They told me you’ve played D&D with them a few times,” Eddie says, smiling, missing the brief confusion that flashes across Steve’s face before he covers it with a smile. “Steven the Selfless, Steven the Strong.”
Steve looks away, smiling bashfully.
“Forgot that’s what they call me,” he says quietly.
“How could you forget that?”
“I’ve had four concussions, Eddie,” he says, his voice too light for the sentence. “I forget a lot of things.”
“Four?” Eddie says, looking at him, wide-eyed. “Jesus Christ, Steve.”
“Yeah,” Steve laugh lightly. “Two from the old man, one from Billy Hargrove, and one from…” he trails off, staring off into the distance, his breath clouding the air in front of him. “…Something I can’t talk about.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Eddie asks softly.
Steve keeps staring, his lip twitching, his jaw working, until he says quietly, “Both.”
Eddie passes him the joint, and Steve takes a long drag, holding his breath as he passes it back before he exhales it all to the sky, closing his eyes. Eddie pauses for a moment, staring. He’s beautiful. His skin is golden even in the moonlight.
“What time is it?” Eddie asks after a moment. Steve opens his eyes and lifts his sleeve to find his watch. It's a digital watch. It looks like Dustin's.
“Almost eleven.”
“So close,” Eddie whispers dramatically. Steve smiles at the ground. “What do you wanna do?”
Steve sighs heavily.
“Should probably go back to my parents’,” he says softly.
“You don’t have to,” Eddie says, wrinkling his nose.
“What do you wanna do?” Steve asks.
“We could always crash the party.”
Steve giggles.
“I’d love to,” he says, “but I don’t really feel like getting disowned today.”
“Doesn’t have to be obvious that it was us,” Eddie says.
“I’d like to key all their cars,” Steve says thoughtfully. “But I keyed my dad’s car when I was fourteen, I think it’d be too obvious it was me.”
“…You’re pretty cool, Steve.”
Steve giggles again, scrunching his nose. Eddie’s stomach flutters.
“What else could we do?” he says. “Something subtle. Just to fuck with them.”
Steve hums quietly, looking at the sky.
“Could shut off the power. But I don't know how to.”
Eddie raises his eyebrows.
“We could,” he says. “I know about electrical shit.”
“You do?”
“Mhmm. Odd jobs and shit.”
“Okay,” Steve says, grinning. He looks away, his tongue sliding over his lip. Eddie watches it. “We could… We could shut it off so they miss the countdown,” he says.
Eddie’s face lights up, and he jostles Steve excitedly.
“Now you’re thinking. Raise hell, Steve Harrington.”
They finish the joint together, and Eddie puts it out on one of the buttons of his jacket. Steve watches almost sceptically, but his eyes flash with something when they meet Steve’s.
They take the Beemer to the Harrington house and park around the back. The front driveway is packed with shiny cars. Eddie wants to key them too.
Steve leads Eddie to the breaker panel. It’s in the basement, and they have to find it in the dim light, finding their way around storage boxes and old furniture that Steve says he wants to burn. Steve finds it and calls Eddie’s name quietly.
“What time is it?” Eddie asks him softly when he comes over. Steve checks his watch.
“Forty-seven.”
“Should we wait until it’s closer to midnight?”
They barely even have to whisper, standing so close together.
“We can,” Steve says. “We’ll have to bolt, though.”
“‘Course.”
Steve is smiling, and his eyes flick across Eddie’s face.
They both stand in silence, listening to the party above them. Even the music is pretentious.
“God, I hate rich people,” Eddie says quietly.
“Tell me ‘bout it.”
“You are rich people, Steve.”
“That’s all daddy’s money,” Steve says, repeating Eddie’s own words back to him, raising an eyebrow. “Gotta feeling he’s gonna take it all back from me.”
It sounds like he cuts himself off, looking away.
“Why?” Eddie questions softly.
Steve looks at him, hesitation on his face for a moment before he says quietly, “Because I’m not who he wants me to be. And I’m never gonna be.”
Eddie looks back at him.
“Your dad’s a royal dickhead,” he says. “…I’m glad you’re you.”
Steve smiles softly, his cheeks darkening, and his eyes flick across Eddie’s face again before he looks at his watch and looks back up with a grin. They move around each other so Eddie is closer to the breaker panel, between the wall and a stack of boxes. Steve’s hand presses to Eddie’s back and trails across it as they move, and Eddie’s eyes widen, his breath caught in his throat.
It takes Eddie a moment to figure out the panel, and as soon as he shuts it off, the basement goes dark and there’s a scream. Steve bursts into muffled laughter, covering his face, and Eddie turns to shove at him as there’s a commotion upstairs.
“Go, go, gogogogo!”
They struggle to wind around the boxes in the dark, laughing and shushing each other. A box falls as they get closer to the door, and something inside it shatters.
“Oh my god,” Steve says breathlessly as they’re driving away. Eddie is laughing almost deliriously in the passenger seat, covering his face. “That was so stupid, why am I so excited?”
“You never had a rebellious phase, did you?” Eddie asks, taking a breath, looking at him, slumping in his seat. Steve is grinning.
“Did when I was fourteen,” he says. “Dad beat it right out of me.”
“Well it’s back,” Eddie says, swallowing the anger that rises in his throat when he thinks about Steve’s father beating up a child. “And you get to keep it.”
Steve's grin widens.
He pulls the Beemer up right next to Eddie’s van when they get back, and after turning off the car, he looks at his watch.
“Wanna watch the fireworks?”
“Yeah.”
They get out and sit back on the hood of the Beemer. Steve looks at the sky. Eddie looks at Steve. He watches his breath for a moment.
“Wait here,” he says, getting up and going to the van. He finds another jacket in the back. He drapes it over Steve’s shoulders, and Steve smiles, pulling it tighter around himself.
“Thanks, Eddie.”
They’re sitting closer together. Eddie’s side feels warm, almost pressed to Steve.
“They probably have the power back on by now,” Steve says quietly. Eddie snorts.
“It was still fun.”
They’re looking at the sky. Eddie looks down when he feels Steve’s hand on his arm, his fingers gripping Eddie’s jacket.
“Think this is the best new year I’ve ever had,” Steve says softly. Eddie suppresses a smile.
“What about all the ones you got to kiss pretty girls for?”
“This is better.”
“You don’t miss it?”
“What, new year kisses?”
“Yeah.”
They’re barely whispering.
Steve looks at him, his eyes shining and lidded, scanning over his face.
“Maybe a little,” he breathes.
Eddie swallows his nerves.
“You want one?”
Steve’s eyes are on Eddie’s mouth, and he takes a breath.
“Yeah.”
They’re closer now. Eddie didn’t even realise they’ve been leaning toward each other, but Eddie could count his eyelashes if he wanted to. (He kind of wants to.) Steve’s hand tightens on his arm. Eddie nudges their noses together before pulling away to look at him.
“You realise how gay this is, right?” he asks hesitantly. Steve’s lips curve into a smile.
“Gayness isn’t the craziest thing in the world,” he murmurs, pulling at Eddie’s arm.
“What is?”
Steve’s eyes are reflecting the moonlight. His tongue slides over his bottom lip. Eddie might be dying.
“Monsters,” Steve whispers.
His watch beeps.
Eddie leans in and their mouths crash together.
Steve’s hand jumps from Eddie’s arm to his face, and Eddie shifts to wrap his arms around Steve’s waist, but they startle apart when fireworks burst in the sky, wide-eyed at the loud cracking.
“Jesus,” Steve breathes. “Second heart attack of the night.”
Eddie laughs breathlessly, looking at Steve. His eyes are shining, reflecting the flashes of redorangeyellowbluegreenpurple, and he’s smiling, his cheeks rosy, every breath glowing in the air. His fingers are in Eddie’s hair.
Eddie realises he’s staring when Steve looks at him again, grinning. Steve leans closer, nudging their noses together. His breath is warm.
“Happy new year,” Steve says softly.
Eddie smiles, pressing his hand against Steve’s back to draw him closer.
“Happy new year,” he murmurs.
Steve tugs him into another kiss, grinning as he bites at Eddie’s lower lip, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s neck and moving to swing a leg over Eddie’s legs so he’s sitting on his lap. Eddie hums softly, and it briefly occurs to him that Steve’s suit is getting creased, but Steve doesn’t seem to care, his hands sliding from Eddie’s hair to his neck, tucking under his scarf.
His fingertips are cold, but his palms are warm, and Eddie pulls him closer, harder, his jaw dropping so Steve can lick into his mouth. He can hear the soft noises Steve is making, quiet whimpers and hums, even over the loud snaps of the fireworks exploding. (It’s Eddie’s new favourite song.) Eddie’s never been kissed like this before.
“Holy shit,” he gasps when they part, breathing hard. Steve is beaming, heavy on Eddie’s lap, fingertips pressing into the sides of Eddie’s neck. “Think I get the tradition now.”
Steve giggles, his forehead pressing to Eddie’s.
“Good way to start the new year,” he whispers. “Fuck.”
He kisses Eddie chastely, shivering. Eddie reaches up to his scarf, pulling away to unwrap it and then setting it over Steve’s neck, using it to pull him into a lingering kiss before he murmurs against his lips.
“Eighty-six, baby.”
Steve smiles again, tracing his fingers over Eddie’s now exposed neck before he kisses him again, holding him tight under the sparkling night sky.