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Steve didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this. This second chance at a family.
Maybe he had risked his life enough times protecting other people that his good Karma had been restored, or maybe the universe wanted to apologize for his trauma or maybe…maybe nobody should have to do something in order to deserve not being alone every holiday.
No matter what it had been, saving Steve from spending these times a year on his lonely couch, grieving what the Harringtons could have been had Steve been what they wanted, he was eternally grateful to it. That instead he was here, in front of the fireplace Hopper had put new wood in just five minutes ago, with El curled into his side, tired from eating too much of the incredible dinner.
It was the eighth Christmas of Steve’s life that actually felt like all of those cheesy movies always made it out to be. Considering he was 28 that might have been a little sad, but Steve didn’t have it in him to be sad right now. Not when it was time for dessert, not when he heard Will laughing at the absolute horrible rendition of Frosty the Snowman Jonathan was trying to give with Hopper’s old guitar and couldn’t help but smile, because Will had had to go through so much pain in his life and he was happy now.
Not unlike Steve. He was really content with his life. Something his 16 year old self wouldn't even have dared to dream of. That guy had been so sad and so lonely and he hadn’t even known. It was only when Steve had found out what friendship and family could feel like, that he had realized he’d been lacking it his entire life.
It was when Robin had held him close and whispered “I love you, Steve Harrington” but had not meant it romantically in the slightest and Steve’s heart had returned the exact same feeling, that all of his twisted views of the world had shifted and he’d broken down in her arms because he was seriously loved for the first time in his life and almost couldn’t handle it. The relief that he wasn’t unlovable after all, the overwhelming sensation of not having to prove himself to her in any way in order to keep her.
And then more people just kept loving him and nobody of them stopped. One of his coworkers had even asked once if he really loved his horde of siblings as much as it seemed to and Steve, in all honesty, could reply “I really do, man”.
“Alright,” Joyce clapped her hands twice after she had put the tray with the sweet looking cream-type dessert things down. “You guys know the tradition. You want dessert, you gotta work for it.” She shrugged, a smirk lingering on her lips.
Growing up, working for something like dessert (or even just a pleasant evening with his birth parents if we’re being honest here) had meant Steve had to really achieve something. Be the perfect son, get an A, impress some random “important” friends of his parents or get chosen for captain of the swim team.
Now, working for something like dessert didn’t mean anything like that. It didn’t even mean something like win the first round of the following traditional Christmas charades, or get the first Trivial Pursuit question right. Working for your dessert only meant let Joyce hug you (and if you don’t feel like it, that’s fine too) (but nobody in their right mind would ever say no to a motherly hug from Joyce Byers).
Steve couldn’t believe it sometimes. Most of the time actually. It still felt surreal to him, to actually have this. If somebody had told his teenager self that he’d someday actually think of Jonathan Byers, the guy who, let’s be honest here, kind of stole his girlfriend, as a brother, he wouldn’t have believed them. Hell, he probably would have made fun of them because that was who he had been back then.
But here he was, in a warm living room stuffed with holiday decorations, the air still smelling like dinner, with Joyce’s arms wrapped around him.
They always spent the 25th this way. Hopper and Joyce, their three kids and Steve who…who was their kid too. And not just “in a way”. Hopper had fucking adopted him last year. Like completely fucking officially. He was officially Steve’s father, El was officially his sister…Steve had never cried as hard as he did on December 25th 1993, when instead of a present he found the papers under the tree. Filled in, every spot, the only thing missing Steve’s signature.
Then over the course of the next days everyone else would arrive. The world nearly ended five times in the 80s and fighting inter dimensional monsters together apparently managed to mend the most random group of people into the closest knitted family this fucked up world had ever seen. They loved each other, they were a little codependent (but everyone just barely escaping death a couple times can do that to you) and they used every possible excuse there was to all get together. And Christmas was one of the best ones.
But most of them had at least some sort of biological family who cared about them too, so the 27th and the following couple days it was. They were Steve’s favorite days every year.
_____
The Sinclairs were the first to arrive, because they always were. Erica and Lucas were the only ones with any kind of good time management (which meant Lucas yelling at Erica to get the fuck ready and Erica yelling at Lucas to fucking step on it, you moron so they’d get there in time, but also them having the best time together in the car because they had the exact same taste in music and they actually did love and miss each other very much). They were also the only one’s whose family had been smart enough to just leave Hawkins after the world nearly ended the fifth time, so their drive was a little shorter, since their parents new house was closer to the Byers-Hopper home in the middle of nowhere Illinois.
Nancy and Mike would probably be the next ones, having picked up Robin and Dustin along the way, as they always did, which meant they’d arrive with Nancy and Robin discussing their lives and work and politics and Dustin and Mike discussing comics (because they might grow up, but they would never grow out of being fucking nerds).
And then, when they’d all arrived, and already moved into their rooms, gotten ready, started drinking hot chocolate under the tree and filling each other in on what’d been happening in their lives, that was when Max would honk and they’d all gather on the porch to watch her and Eddie arrive in a goddamn convertible Eddie would have rented, just to drive with the top down even though it was fucking freezing, because they were just extra like that.
Right now, though, it was only Steve and Joyce on the porch, with blankets and coffee, smiling wildly and waving at Erica and Lucas who got out of Lucas’ Fiat and waved back.
Joyce and Steve loved to just be somewhere together and talk about the most random stuff, like knitting and hot chocolate and how Steve’s students were doing this season, like two old ladies bonding over their love for bingo. So that’s what they had been doing while they waited for everyone to arrive; the rest of their family was either still asleep or getting ready (and from what it sounded like Jonathan was still trying to tune the incredibly out of tune guitar without any skills whatsoever).
“Hey!” Lucas said, as soon as he reached the porch and immediately went for a hug. Steve gladly accepted, pulled him close and smiled. They were here. They were alive.
Not that they were in any kind of danger with the Upside Down being gone and all, but it was always nice to be reassured.
They swapped after, Erica hugging Steve and Lucas getting his Joyce-embrace, and started talking about how the drive had been and how their family was doing, before the door swung open to reveal El, with a big smile on her face. She was always the fastest to figure out that somebody had arrived, had probably sensed them even a mile away. The older El got, the stronger her powers had become and now she was…well, she could do a lot of crazy shit.
“Lucas, Erica!” she said and immediately pulled both of them into a hug. “Hi.”
Will and Hopper, apparently up now, followed her out of the house and soon everyone was hugging and smiling and there were a lot of “Merry Christmas”, “I missed you”, “Missed you all too”, “Cut the sappy bullshit”, “shut up, you love us”, and before they could even enter the house and get settled in, they heard another set of tires on the gravel of the driveway.
Apparently the Wheelers had been early this year, because there was Nancy, smiling behind the wheel. Robin sat next to her in the passenger seat (Nancy still made good use of her older sibling power, that would never change) and Mike and Dustin seemed to be fighting about something in the back. She parked the car next to Lucas’ and they got out and the Hugging And Saying Hello Fest kept going.
Steve’s smile had widened as soon as Robin had stepped out of that car and she almost ran to him, throwing herself into his open arms. They hadn’t seen each other since Nancy’s birthday party in November, because they had both been incredibly busy with (mostly) work, so Steve couldn’t help but hug Robin even closer now. He’d missed her so much and phone calls just weren’t the same. Sometimes he thought about quitting his job and moving to Denver just to be with her. It wasn’t like he didn’t love his job, he did, really, but he loved Robin more.
“Hi,” he murmured and she chuckled into his ear.
“Hi dingus,” she whispered back and squeezed him once more before letting go. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Rob,” Steve said and smiled and then Dustin barreled into them and hugged both (because, yes, he was an adult now, but annoying Steve and Robin was still fun for him, apparently).
“Ugh, Dustin, I’ve been in the car with you for hours, I don’t want your sweat, we’ve already hugged four times,” Robin said and scrambled out of the hug. Steve just laughed and pressed Dustin close. “Merry Christmas,” he said and then went to hug Mike and Nancy too.
Mike Wheeler had surprisingly really matured over the years and had become much less of a little shit than he used to be. It’d gotten easier for him to actually be vulnerable and he’d learned how to show his emotions more and express his love for the rest of the Party.
It made a lot of things easier. Especially his relationship with Will had improved after The Big Fallout in 1987 and they could be friends now without any further remorse or resentment. At least that’s how it seemed to Steve. They were pretty close again, actually, both living in New York, only a couple of blocks from each other, and Mike got along really well with George, who Will had never officially said to be his boyfriend, but everybody knew was.
Mike also got along great with El. They had formed a more sibling-like type of bond after they’d broken up, grown up more and both realized that Mike had been twelve when he thought he fell in love with her and El had never been in real human contact before, so she kind of imprinted on the first person that had ever been kind to her. It worked way better than a romantic relationship between them ever had and Steve was really just happy they could be there for each other and there was no bad blood whatsoever in his family.
But he figured if he could be fine with Nancy and Jonathan getting married, even be happy for them, after he had felt like her breaking his heart would be the worst thing to ever happen to him back in 84, then El and Mike could be friends.
Speaking of, as if he’d sensed his wife arriving, Jonathan finally joined them on the porch, reached for Nancy and pulled her into a quick hello kiss. Then he registered everyone else and got pulled into hugs from all sides. It was just even more pure chaos after that, with everyone scrambling into the house, getting suitcases from the cars, lunging them up the stairs or through the living room, unpacking, getting a drink from the kitchen and Steve just stood there and smiled for a second, before following Robin upstairs into her and Erica’s designated room to help them unpack.
If there really was a Heaven this was it, right? A loving family.
About half an hour later Steve was helping Joyce with the dishes and preparing the hot chocolate, softly humming along to Last Christmas, Robin next to him on the counter not helping at all but rambling on about her last date, when he heard it. He immediately dropped the plate back into the sink and dried his hands.
“They’re here,” he exclaimed and just couldn’t fucking stop the smile breaking out on his face. He saw Joyce and Robin sharing a knowing look, but he didn’t care.
The only thing he cared about right now was seeing Eddie.
Because- well. Yeah. So there was the whole Eddie thing.
Well, it wasn’t really a whole thing, it was actually quite easy to break down.
Steve loved Eddie. As simple as that. He loved him and he had for years and it was never gonna go away and he knew that.
So he heard the honk and practically leaped over to the front door, joining Lucas and Mike on the porch, who seemed to have been enjoying some fresh air (they were trying to hide the fact that they smoked the occasional cigarette every now and then) (it didn’t work, everyone knew).
And there they were. Eddie and Max, in that goddamn convertible, with the top down even though it was fucking freezing.
Hair flying in the wind, big grins on their faces. Eddie was wearing sunglasses. He was such an idiot. Steve loved him so much he couldn’t breathe.
“You know, we’re engaged and I’ve been living with her for years but I’m still mesmerized every time she enters a room or arrives somewhere when we didn’t go together,” Lucas said.
Steve smiled and said, “that’s actually sweet, Lucas”, while Mike on his other side made a retching sound. Lucas rolled his eyes and elbowed him in the side.
He made some sort of comment about how Mike wasn’t any different, but Steve could only focus on how he knew that feeling. Of course, he wasn’t engaged to Eddie and he didn’t live with him either but…but fuck, he knew the feeling. He couldn’t take his eyes off the man. If this was a romantic comedy Eddie would be played in slow motion, always.
And Steve would be the one who’s only job it was to stand and stare, jaw dropped, as Eddie flipped his gorgeous hair into the camera and smiled, just in a way that was confident yet not arrogant.
They parked next to Nancy’s car, got out, Eddie grabbed his duffle bag off the back seat, Max seemed to press a button to make the top go up, Eddie put his arm around her shoulder and they made their way over to the rest of them.
He pushed the sunglasses up in his hair and smirked.
“He’s such a rockstar, it’s so annoying,” Robin said from where she had apparently appeared behind Steve. Steve snickered and turned to her.
“Yeah,” he said. “He really is.”
“Ugh, you’re pathetic,” Robin complained but wrapped her arms around him anyways. Everyone else had gathered on the porch too, and Steve subconsciously moved backwards a little, pushing himself behind most of the others, because…
Well, because for some reason Eddie always saved him for last when he said hello and Steve never wanted that to change. It made him feel special.
“Merry Christmas everyone,” Max said, voice loud and excited and El immediately flung herself at her. Max giggled and hugged her back and Steve’s heart grew double in size. It had taken a long time for them to become this carefree again, and of course they all still struggled sometimes, but…but this was just so much happiness and love.
He just stood there and watched them say hello to everyone and hugged Max when she got to him, pressing a kiss to her hair, before she practically melted into Lucas’s side (“ew, you smoked” – “you’ll kiss me anyway” – “don’t flatter yourself”)
And then Eddie got to him. And something in Steve settled.
“Hi,” he said, a wide smile breaking out of his lips because…because this was Eddie and he was here.
“Hey Steve,” Eddie replied, smiling too, in a way that made everything inside Steve feel like he was gonna float away.
And then that smile widened and he pulled Steve close and Steve just…he sighed and melted into Eddie’s strong arms. They hugged a tick too long for it to just be a hello sort of hug, but if anybody noticed, they didn’t say anything. Steve only reluctantly pulled back because, to be honest, Eddie’s arms were just his favorite place to be and he didn’t get to be there often.
“How’ve you been?” Eddie asked softly, still all of his attention on Steve, sort of ignoring everyone else and it made Steve feel so special and good about himself and god, he loved this man. Everything about him.
“Good,” he answered truthfully and couldn’t help but let his brain (and mouth, unfortunately) add, “but I missed you.” For a second he was convinced he’d imagined it, but no, he had actually said that. Out loud.
But Eddie’s eyes crinkled and there was something even softer about his smile now and Steve wantedwantedwanted.
“Missed you, too,” Eddie said and for another second they just looked at each other, a little lost maybe, until Max cleared her throat and pulled Steve out of his trance, reminding him of their presence.
“Right,” he uttered to himself, tearing his gaze off of Eddie (which was a really fucking hard thing to do) and caught Robin’s look. He hated her knowing smile because, god, yes, he knew he was hopeless and it was written on his face in blinking letters how much he was gone for Eddie but…but that smile didn’t change the fact that he was way too much of a coward to do anything about it.
They’d been dancing around this for years now.
Back when the bat scars had still been fresh and Max had needed a wheelchair every day, not just on the really really bad ones, Steve had thought that maybe the longing gazes and lingering touches and the hours they spent together just lying on his bed, enjoying each other’s presence, a hand brushing the other once or twice, would lead to something, that Eddie felt the same overwhelming wave of emotions just by looking at him, that Steve did. And he probably did? But Eddie had left Hawkins as soon as his wounds were healed enough that he could and…and then he had become Eddie Fucking Munson, the legend, and…
Timing had just never been right.
Either Eddie had been touring, which he fucking always was, or Steve had been in a relationship, or Eddie had been in a relationship, or Steve was heartbroken over the ending of said relationship because he had – yet another time – put more love into it than he received. Or than he maybe should have. He just kept overdoing it and sometimes he really felt like he would just always be too much for everyone.
It was just…he knew he could never be too much for Eddie, because it was Eddie and god, did that just make it worse. Because it never happened, they never happened, and the longer it didn’t, the harder it got.
They were so close, talking on the phone a lot, but they barely really saw each other. Every time they did though…Steve was just filled to the brim with wantwantwant and needneedneed and most importantly lovelovelove. It just overwhelmed him more and more, it kept getting worse. Because every time he could feel his heart growing bigger the second he laid eyes on him, and painfully tightening at the same time because he wasn’t his. He kept catching himself staring at Eddie from across the room and staring at his lips when he was close and filled with the need to touch him and just- It was really hard, okay? Really, really hard.
In some weak moments when Steve was alone in his bed, allowing his ptsd to force him to his knees until he was sobbing for hours on end, letting it all out and unleashing his anxiety and trauma fueled brain on himself, he convinced himself that Eddie didn’t even like him back. That he didn’t feel the same anyway.
He was a fucking rockstar, he was touring the world and millions of people would kill to get him to even just look at him. He had the world to choose from and Steve…Steve didn’t have a real fucking shot.
He told himself that if Eddie felt the same, he would have done something about it already. Because the world belonged to him, he could just take what he wanted, he was brave and bold and maybe he just didn’t…he didn’t want Steve like that.
Because why would he? Steve was a high school basketball coach with chronic migraines who exclusively wore turtlenecks because he was self conscious about his scars and Eddie was friends with supermodels, the most important musicians of all time and the literal princess of England. Steve just couldn’t keep up with that.
He knew that was bullshit. He knew, with Eddie, what they had, it was real. Because Steve could feel Eddie’s eyes on him from across the room and his eyes on his lips when he was close and he could see the need to touch him, to be close to him in those exact same eyes.
He knew Eddie felt the same overwhelming emotions when he looked at him. But the timing had always been off and it had never happened and Steve’d kind of lost hope that it would.
But…the way Robin looked at him, right now, the way she smiled and then grabbed his hand to squeeze it once, Steve allowed a small smile back.
Because…because right now that didn’t matter. Right now he was just happy because Eddie was here with him and he could just let himself enjoy that. He could just be. They could just be together without being together. Not think about it.
_____
Steve always woke up early. He was just that kind of guy. The one who went for a morning run, took a shower and made breakfast for everyone else who woke up around noon and just wondered how the hell someone could live that way. Today had been no different and when Steve had cupped his hands around the first coffee of the morning, leaning against the counter, his hair still damp, Will slumped into the room, just like most days.
“Morning,” he greeted and smiled gratefully when he saw the cup of coffee for him in Steve’s outstretched hand. He was always surprised even after years of Steve doing this. “Thanks,” he mumbled, reaching for it and taking a sip. Steve took a sip of his own coffee and smiled.
“Long night?” he asked.
Will smiled back, still blinking slowly but a little more awake already. “Mhm,” he said. “Dustin and Mike fell asleep around two, but Lucas and I talked until, like, four in the morning. So much ground to cover, when you don’t see each other a lot.”
Steve nodded. He knew the feeling. Him, Robin and Eddie had also been up pretty long, even after everyone else had gone to their rooms at least. But he’d fallen asleep on the couch at some point and they must have carried him to bed, because that’s where he’d woken up today. Which still made Steve’s heart flutter and his hands shake, because Robin would have never managed (he loved her with all his heart, but that girl could hardly lift a feather) which meant that Eddie had carried him to bed. The bed they shared, actually (because sleeping arrangements hadn’t changed in the last eight years they’d been doing this, and Erica had asked for Robin in the beginning, which Hopper had greatly supported, because Robin hadn’t been out to all of them back then), which made it even worse. Well better. But that made it worse. Waking up next to him also made it worse. Seeing him asleep, cuddled up in the pillows and sometimes even curled around Steve made it even harder actually getting up and not just trying to slip back into dreamland and let Eddie hold him.
“Explains why he didn’t join me for our morning run,” Steve said, taking another sip of coffee, trying to get the picture of Eddie peacefully sleeping, soft and relaxed, out of his head. Needless to say it didn’t really work.
“Yeah.” Will chuckled. Then, after a pause, added, “Eddie still asleep, I’m assuming?”
Steve nodded, hating himself a little for not being able to fight his smile thinking about the man. “Yeah, he’s…yeah.”
Will looked at him thoughtfully, sipping on his coffee and then it seemed like he was about to say something but was interrupted when Hopper suddenly walked into the kitchen.
Steve frowned. “What are you doing up, old man? Thought you’d sleep in till, like, noon.”
“Me too, son,” Hopper grunts, reaching for the coffee pot. “But my lovely wife had other plans. Kept kicking me today.”
“Ouff, yeah, I know what that’s like,” Will commented, a little absentmindedly, softly blowing into his coffee.
Hopper snorted. “You should kick that George kid right back.”
Will laughed and nodded. “Right, yeah,” he said quietly. “George.”
Steve narrowed his eyes. What was with the blush? And that shady ass reply?
“You seem tired, too, though,” Hopper addressed Steve, which distracted him from his detective thoughts.
“Hm? Oh yeah, no, I…I’m fine.”
“I warned you not to stay up too late.”
Right, yes. The way Hopper had said “don’t stay up too late” the day before, to which Steve had sort of sarcastically replied, “Okay, dad”. Which had gotten Hopper to pause, turn around to really look at him and add “You wanna start calling me that for real, you do it, okay?”
Steve’d had to try his best not to start bawling right then and there.
“I know you did,” Steve said now, smiling. Hopper nodded. “Alright.” He took another sip of his coffee and scratched his beard. “I’m gonna drive up to the bakery and pick up a cake Joyce ordered. You guys gonna make breakfast?”
“Sure will,” Steve said, looking at Will for confirmation who just nodded.
“Okay, see you guys in a bit.”
“See you, dad.” Steve knew it didn’t come out nearly as nonchalant as he wanted it to, but he didn’t care. Not when he could practically see the way Hopper started smiling from the shift in his back muscles.
_____
The rest of the day passed the same way Steve knew and loved so much. He spent time with his favorite people, ate great food, got to hug and annoy Robin as much as he wanted to, got to be with Eddie.
But then, after lunch and doing the washing up, when the sun started going down again already, because it was winter and dark all the time, when they were all talking and having fun, gathering to settle in the living room on the sofas around the tree, with the fireplace fired up and hot cocoa in their hands, doing a little gift exchange for whoever you’d found something for, as they did every year, that’s when it happened.
Eddie and Steve lightly chatting about something, squeezing through door that separated the living room from the kitchen at the same time, somebody, Dustin or Jonathan or El (or genuinely anyone else, Steve wasn’t really sure), called “stop!” and both of them froze.
Everyone was looking at them. Steve raised his brows. “What?” He turned to Eddie. Eddie just shrugged, the same confusion on his face.
Steve looked back at the others, frowning. “S’going on?”
“Sweetie, I…I think Robin’s new addition to our decoration might have you trapped a little.” Joyce smiled softly.
“What?” Steve chuckled and then he saw Dustin’s serious expression and Robin’s a little scared one and then it dawned on him. No. No, please-
Steve looked up and- yeah. There it was.
Just innocently hanging there, almost laughing down at Steve; the result of Robin’s stupid matchmaking heart seeing something in a store around Christmas time and not being able to help itself — a mistletoe.
And he was right under it. With Eddie. Yes, the same Eddie he was in love with. The same Eddie he’d been wanting to kiss for years, the same Eddie he wanted to hold and never let go, that same Eddie…was standing with him under the fucking mistletoe.
Steve looked down again, catching Eddie’s eyes and he wanted to say something like ‘we uh, we don’t…have to-’ but the words died in his throat.
Because Eddie had gently cupped Steve’s face in his big hands and his eyes looked at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.
It was just a stupid tradition and Steve had thought they wouldn’t…because…they wouldn’t really follow it now, because they’d not done anything about this for years and why would a mistletoe…they wouldn’t really actually kiss now in front of everyone and-
Well, Eddie didn’t seem to think so. Eddie just held his face and looked at him and smiled.
And then he leaned in.
Kissing Eddie was even better than Steve had imagined. It was better than he ever could have imagined. Because Steve, he really had kissed his fair share of different people, mostly girls, some guys, but this. Those people didn’t even come close to this.
Eddie kissed him slow, but deep and thorough and Steve never wanted to be kissed differently ever again. Eddie held him close, kissed him, his index finger stroking the skin between Steve’s ear and his neck which Steve didn’t even know would feel that good, and he kissed him.
If Steve had ever doubted that Eddie was the love of his life, there was nothing left now. Steve realized what felt so different about this.
Eddie kissed him like he loved him. He kissed him like it was the greatest honor of his life to get to do this, to kiss Steve, and he would do it right.
How foolish of Steve to ever let his brain tell him he wasn’t loved back. How incredibly selfish to let his brain bury him in self pity when in reality Steve was just a coward who was scared of being treated right.
Because Eddie did love him. It was the easiest thing right now, to understand that. He loved him, all of him and this…this kiss, this stupid mistletoe kiss, meant the world.
Eddie fucking loved him and Steve wasted all this time not being with him.
He didn’t know how long they just stood there, wrapped up in each other. It could have been seconds or hours, Steve had no idea. But when they eventually separated, Steve let out a tiny little involuntary whine and opened his eyes reluctantly.
Eddie looked at him, only him, his hands still holding Steve’s face, his right thumb gently stroking his cheek and it meant so much, fuck. Steve almost started to tear up. After a couple more seconds of them just staring at each other, Eddie seemed to realize where they were. He cleared his throat and when he looked away from Steve, that seemed to break the spell for him too. Steve loosened his hands, dropped them from he’d apparently fisted them into the fabric of Eddie’s hoodie and Eddie took a step back. “Right,” Steve uttered under his breath and blinked a couple times to really settle back into reality.
“What now?” he asked, his voice rough but quiet and when he looked at Eddie he couldn’t immediately make out what he was thinking and that hit him in the chest like a train.
“Now we…open presents, I guess,” Eddie said and Steve just nodded, stepping back too.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, that was the plan, right?”
They both sort of avoided everyone’s eyes, just pushing past them into the living rom area to the tree and the couch. Steve took a deep breath, steadying himself and then reached for the present he got for Erica. He needed to distract from this.
And he knew that nobody would even dare to mention this happened, were Eddie and him not going to mention it first.
And he needed a second to process it before they talked about it. But they would talk about it. Steve wouldn’t let it be ignored. Definitely not. This happened, it did, Eddie and him kissed and it might have only been because of a stupid mistletoe, but it was anything other than stupid. It was the only thing that mattered. He loved Eddie. And Eddie loved him back. And they would address it, for god’s sake.
It was just…after the kiss and opening presents and all of them spending the evening together everything was so packed. They had so much to do, still so many people to catch up with and suddenly it’d been a whole day before Steve even caught Eddie alone again. Or rather Eddie caught him.
Steve was on the porch swing, with a blanket and a book. Joyce had just said good night and left to go to sleep. A lot of the others were already sleeping too, though Steve was pretty sure Jonathan, Nancy and Max were still up in the kitchen talking. But he just needed a moment.
“Whatcha readin’?” The deep voice almost startled him, but only almost. Because it might have been a deep voice out of nowhere but it was Eddie’s deep voice out of nowhere so it just radiated comfort.
Steve looked up at him and smiled. There he was. “The book El got me,” he said. “Gotta be honest I’m not really sure I understand it, but I did only start five minutes ago, so…” He shrugged.
Eddie smiled. “So maybe it just takes a while.”
“Yeah,” Steve breathed, a heavy feeling on him suddenly. “Yeah, maybe it just takes a while.”
“Well, I don’t want to disturb your peace for long, then.”
“You could never disturb me, Eddie,” Steve said quietly, almost to himself, as he got up because Eddie was there and Steve’s body just couldn’t not get closer to him, it was genuinely impossible. Usually he’d have waited for Eddie to just sit down next to him, but apparently he was impatient today. Maybe it was because of the kiss. That’d really changed everything and nothing at the same time.
Eddie smiled even wider and pulled his hand from behind his back. It was holding a little present, very badly wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper with a green bow on top.
“It was a little hectic yesterday and then…then I couldn’t catch you alone. But uh…I got you something too, Harrington.”
His eyes sparkled and Steve almost melted at the spot. Eddie was the sweetest thing in this world.
“Really?” he asked and Eddie playfully rolled his eyes.
“Nah, I got an empty box just to mess with you.”
Steve would even love an empty box. Would read too much into it, some kind of hidden meaning, some kind of I love you, probably. Especially because he’d waited for them to be alone to give it to him.
Eddie took Steve’s hand and placed the present into it. “Come on, open it.” His voice was gentle and quiet and Steve could hardly look away from him.
But he managed, somehow, and started peeling off the wrapping paper. He could feel Eddie’s eyes on him, intensely and it made it a little harder to breathe.
It got even harder when he’d shed the layers and stared at Eddie’s gift. Because that…looked suspiciously like…
Steve was still holding the small box but Eddie lifted his hands and then he pulled the lid open, so the actual present could scream into Steve’s face. At least that was what it felt like for a second.
He blinked and took a deep breath and blinked again. He wasn’t sure his eyes were to be trusted right now.
Because that was-…was that really…?
“Is that…?” a ring, he had wanted to ask the obvious, because yes, fuck, it was a ring. A plain silver band, nothing too fancy, but knowing Eddie and his bank account it was probably fucking platinum. And it looked like…well, it was a silver band, you draw your own conclusions.
“It’s a promise,” Eddie interrupted him and when Steve looked up to see Eddie’s honest, dark eyes he saw the promise mirrored in them too. He saw the promise and the admiration, the love.
He was incredibly overwhelmed. Didn’t even know what to think because was this…? Did they finally get it right? Was this when it would…He couldn’t even form a coherent thought.
“What, I-”
“I love you, Steve,” Eddie said. Just like that. “I’ve known that way before the kiss yesterday, I’ve known it for a long time and it’s been hurting me for a long time because we never really got the timing right. But I don’t care about timing anymore. I just wanna be with you.”
There it was. The bold, brave Eddie that Steve’s anxiety brain had told him didn’t want him, because if he wanted something he would take it. We ask for forgiveness not permission, just like Jon had quoted Nancy once. But this…this was that exact Eddie. This was him taking it.
Steve could just look at him. “Are you real?” he just couldn’t stop himself from asking and- yeah maybe it was a valid question, because Steve couldn’t even fathom the way he had a family, and now…now what, he was actually about to get Eddie too? Eddie loved him back and he had told him. He had done something about it, had even bought him a goddamn ring.
Eddie laughed softly and it was a drug to Steve’s soul. Then he smiled and reached for Steve’s hand and asked, “So? You want my promise?”
“I…” Steve laughed too, a little, smiled widely, bit his lip but wanted to bite Eddie’s. And then he realized he could. “I love you so goddamn much, Eddie,” he said and it was the truest thing Steve had ever let come out of his mouth. He really did love Eddie, he loved him so. goddamn. much.
Eddie beamed. Then, he took the ring out of the box and lifted Steve’s hand. Steve almost felt like he would pass out from happiness when Eddie slid it on his finger. He then gently put his hands on Steve’s waist and pulled him closer and holy fuck, Steve had never in his life felt this way.
He took Eddie’s face in his hands and pulled him into a kiss. He bit his lip, softly and leaned into it and Eddie wrapped his arms around him and held him close and kissed him back, even moaned softly into his mouth and Steve wanted to stay there on the porch, with Eddie, in his arms until the end of time.
“I love you,” Steve said, again, when they pulled apart, because he just couldn’t not do it. He’d waited so long to finally say it, he was gonna waste all of his breath just for that. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
“I love you too, Steve,” Eddie whispered. “I can’t believe I get to have you like this.”
And that just…it just short-circuited something in Steve’s brain.
“Will you marry me?” he murmured against Eddie’s lips. Then he froze, realizing what he’d just said.
“What?” Perplexed, Eddie pulled away a little and for a second Steve thought shit, I ruined it, I was too much, again. He was certain he’d messed everything up, had put in too much, had moved too fast.
But then he remembered that this was Eddie . And the look on his face didn’t mean ‘what the hell, Steve’. Okay, maybe it did, but in a good way. It didn’t say what the hell, Steve, we haven’t even dated and you’re fucking proposing? , it said what the hell, Steve, we haven’t even dated and you’re fucking proposing!
So, “will you marry me?” Steve repeated.
“You’re serious?”
“Hey, I’m not the one who bought a ring,” Steve said, and Eddie just kept staring at him and then, after about five seconds, a smile broke out on his face.
“You’re serious,” he said. “You…you wanna marry me?”
“I mean…it wouldn’t be legal,” Steve replied. He shrugged. “But it would be real to me.”
“It would be real to me too, Steve,” Eddie said, immediately, without a single trace of doubt and Steve loved the way Eddie said his name. He loved everything about the man.
“So?”
Eddie laughed, kissed Steve again, laughed a little more, his hands tangled in Steve’s hair. “There’s nothing I’d want more, Steve. Let’s get married. Please, fucking hell, baby, let’s get married.”
And Steve didn’t know if it was the fact that Eddie had called him baby, or the fact that Eddie had agreed to marry Steve when they hadn’t even fucking dated, but Steve just couldn’t handle himself anymore.
“Eddie,” he breathed and leaned against him and Eddie seemed to know exactly what he needed.
“You want to take this to bed?” he whispered back and Steve just nodded, eyes screwed shut.
“Want me to fuck you?” His voice was low and soft and so fucking sexy Steve felt like he could almost hear the tension in the air.
“Please,” he sighed and kissed Eddie, more desperately than he had ever kissed anyone but Eddie just pulled him even closer and kissed him back with just the same amount of needy.
“Okay,” Eddie said and kissed him.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Eddie said and kissed him.
“I love you,” Eddie said. And kissed him.
_____
“Hey, today you ditched me, Steve, I had to-is that a hickey?”
Steve was way too tired for this. He turned, slowly, realizing that for the first time in years, he wasn’t wearing a turtleneck. In front of other people. Well, Lucas, but still. It was a strange feeling. His left hand came up to cover his neck but…
“Other side, baby,” Eddie said, a smug smile on his lips and Lucas’ mouth fell open.
“Wait,” he said. Then again, “wait.”
Eddie’s smile just deepened and he stepped closer to wrap himself around Steve and bury his face in his neck, right behind that mysterious new hickey. “Yeah,” Eddie said.
“You figured your shit out?”
“That we did,” Eddie confirmed and before they knew it, Lucas took three big steps and was hugging them.
“I’m so happy for you guys,” he whispered and even though he was sweaty as fuck after his run and this hug was kinda gross, Steve felt his eyes welling up. Shit, he loved all these people so much. “You deserve this. If anyone deserves this it’s you.”
“Thanks, Sinclair,” Eddie said. Steve just tried not to cry.
“So, that’s why you’re up so early, dude, I was confused. Borderline worried,” Lucas chuckled into Eddie’s direction, when he pulled away again, a big smile on his face. A big smile that was for Steve and Eddie, Steve realized. Lucas was genuinely so, so happy for them.
“Yeah, man,” Eddie replied, grinning, his eyes shining with something and his arm still tightly wrapped around Steve’s waist. “Just couldn’t get enough of this one.” He pressed a kiss to Steve’s neck and Steve just melted into the touch, his eye falling shut for a second. It felt too good not to entirely enjoy it. And because it was Lucas and Lucas was in love with love and just as much of a romantic sap as Steve was, nobody even made a “gross” comment (Steve was sure they’d get enough of those later anyway).
No, Lucas just smiled and patted Eddie on the shoulder and smiled even more. And then he said, “Okay, I really fucking need a shower but this…I mean…” he was still smiling wide. “Best news ever. Thank fuck for mistletoes, huh?
He left the kitchen with that comment and Steve just turned to Eddie and whispered, “yeah, thank fuck for Robin, huh?”
Eddie frowned playfully. “Hey, she’s not the one who bought a ring,” he protested, echoing Steve’s words from the day before and Steve just chuckled, pushed closer into Eddie’s embrace and whispered, “well, then, thank fuck you love me.”
“Yeah, that I do,” Eddie rasped out before crashing their lips together.
_____
Dustin screamed, Robin squealed, Joyce cried a little and Max did too. No seriously. Max. Hopper gave Eddie the shovel talk, Nancy gave Eddie the shovel talk, Dustin and Max gave both of them some kind of shovel talk and everyone else commented something along the lines of “fucking finally” or “took you long enough”.
Steve had never been happier in his life.
And when everyone started leaving again to go back to their lives, to get back to work, to get back to college, Steve didn’t feel the longing kicking in how it usually did. No, this time he waved and hugged them all goodbye and smiled at the cars leaving the driveway. This time, when it was time for him to be leaving too, he felt Eddie’s arms around him on the porch and could hardly fathom how it wasn’t a goodbye. How they would be leaving together. How Hopper would drive them to the airport, how they would get plane tickets to the same fucking destination, how Eddie would stay with Steve for a couple weeks or maybe even longer because they didn’t have a tour scheduled for a while now.
How they would figure it all out.
Together.
Because they were together.
After all this fucking time, all these years of pent up longing and pining, they were finally a couple, a real couple. Steve could kiss Eddie. He could call him baby. He could have Eddie call him baby. He could turn around in his bed and Eddie would be there, like Steve had been dreaming of for so long now.
Only that it was real. It was real.
When Steve had thrown the last bag onto the backseat of Hopper’s truck, he reached for Eddie, he pulled him close. Eddie went easily, melted into their embrace. Steve gently brushed his bangs out of his face and pressed a kiss to Eddie’s forehead.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I can’t believe I get to take you home with me.”
Eddie took a stuttering breath, his eyes closed, his smile changing from soft to even softer. “Steve, baby,” he breathed and cupped his face. “Wherever the fuck you go, I’ll follow you. I love you so much.”
Steve felt like crying. They’d finally, fucking finally, gotten it right. After all these years.
“Alright, lovebirds, say the goodbyes to the family and then get in the car, you have a flight to catch,” Hopper disrupted their little moment, but even he couldn't hide the little pleased smile.
God, everyone had been waiting for this.
“He’s right” Eddie rasped in Steve’s ear. “So how about we go fly to your place now, have lots of sex and start plannin’ that wedding?”
Steve smiled, chuckled softly, kissed Eddie.
“Sounds perfect to me.”