Archive of Our Own

Eddie Munson had $23.49 to his name and was barely scraping by when it came to personal affects.

The rift that had opened under his trailer had sucked up the majority of his and his uncle’s possessions - his guitar, his D&D books and all of the prep he had done for upcoming campaigns, his cassettes and Walkman, his records and Wayne’s old record player, Wayne’s mug collection, hell, barely any of his clothes had even survived.

He was able to pull a couple of cassettes from the wreckage, a couple pairs of pants and shirts, and his math homework had somehow survived. Wow, lucky him.

His main source of income had disintegrated before the rift ever appeared. The basketball team had completely boycotted buying weed from him on the grounds of Chrissy’s death and his supposed Satanic involvement, going instead to Reefer Rick’s cousin who up-charged jocks even more than Eddie did. And with the basketball team boycotting him, 75% of his clientèle evaporated over night. The other 25% had parents rich enough to just pick up and leave when the rift opened up and Hawkins went to hell, so by the time the dust from the Upside Down had settled, Eddie was out of a home and out of a job.

The feds cleared up the house part - a new two bedroom house in town, probably bought from someone who wanted to move out and just be done with this god-forsaken town - but they couldn’t really do anything about the home issue.

Yeah, Eddie was grateful to have a roof over his head, there was no mortgage to pay, just utilities and property taxes and all of that bullshit, and it was fully furnished, so Wayne had his own room and bed to sleep on for the first time since Eddie had been dropped on his doorstep and he had switched to the cot pushed to the corner of the living room. But as Eddie looked up at his empty space - empty desk, empty closet, empty gray walls - he knew how much it would take to make this place feel like home and doubted that anyone would give him a job to fund that endeavor.

So when he was sitting in the Wheeler basement and pulled the last slip of paper out of a hat and saw that it said “Steve,” he knew that he was royally fucked.

The kids had insisted on doing a Secret Santa this year for the New Year’s Eve party that they had talked Steve into throwing. Pretty much all of them would be with family for Christmas, so they figured they would wrap up three celebrations in one - Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and a celebration of the Upside Down finally being locked away for good. Eddie had figured he would be in the clear when he agreed to their Secret Santa idea - most of the kids were into D&D and Eddie could write them a one-shot catered to their character or give them a few free re-schedules or Nat20 passes, and Jonathan and Argyle were the only people keeping his weed business even semi-afloat so he could just throw them a few free joints - something easy that wouldn’t cost Eddie money. But Steve Harrington who lived in a McMansion and probably had every one of his needs and wants met since he was a baby? Eddie was screwed.

“Who’d you get?” Dustin asked, shoulder checking Eddie as he walked up to him.

Eddie scoffed and shoved the tiny slip of paper into his pocket.

“No way I’m telling you, Henderson. I’m sure you’re one of those conniving gremlins who asks everyone just so you can figure out who has you. Or am I wrong?”

Dustin shrugged noncommittally, but he had a smirk on his face that told Eddie that he was definitely up to something. “Hey, I was just asking.”

“You’re never only ‘just asking.’”

“Never though you would be one to kill a child’s curious spirit Eddie! I am shocked! Absolutely shocked!” Dustin teased with fake outrage.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Eddie quipped.

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Dustin smirked at him.

Eddie rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile a little.

“So you’re really not gonna tell me who you got?” Dustin asked again.

Eddie risked a glance across the room - Steve was talking with Max, rubbing the back of his neck while he pocketed his slip of paper just like Eddie had. He had a habit of rubbing his neck like that when he felt anxious or unsure, Eddie had noticed. It was still weird to Eddie that he was able to notice Steve Harrington’s habits.

“Nope,” Eddie said quickly to Dustin.

Dustin gave him that mischievous smirk again. “Suit yourself.”

He walked away and left Eddie desperately digging through every corner of his mind trying to figure out something - anything - that he could give Steve that might be an even “just okay” Secret Santa present.

Steve himself pulled him back out of his spiral when he dropped down on the couch next to Eddie.

“Secret Santa, that’s always pretty fun,” he said.

“Yeah,” Eddie hummed. “I have no clue what to get my person though.”

“Me neither,” Steve laughed. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Well, we have to,” Eddie said, “otherwise don’t you know that means we’re bad friends?”

Steve laughed. “So I’ve heard.”

He jerked his head across the room and Eddie looked up just in time to see Max and Dustin high five and laugh.”

“Any idea what the hell they’re up to?” Steve asked.

“Nothing good,” Eddie said, and Steve laughed in agreement.

“You wanna come over tomorrow after my shift? We can watch some movies, smoke some weed?” Steve asked.

“It’s a date, Harrington,” Eddie joked and bumped his shoulder against Steve’s.

===

“Hey, Birdie,” Eddie greeted Robin as he entered Family Video.

“Hey, Eddie. What’s up?”

“Steve and I are hanging out after he gets off of work. Figured I’d walk over instead of him picking me up - I don’t have much else to do.”

“Oh. Steve just ran out actually - he got a call from one of the kids and ran out kinda fast. He said he’d be back by the end of his shift though, so you’re just gonna have to hang out with me until then.”

“Oh, the horror. However shall I survive?” Eddie smirked.

“Hey, I am very good company, thank you very much.”

“Just messing with you, Rob. How’s school going?”

“Ah, fine. It’s a lot of the same kind of classes I had in high school, all that gen ed stuff. Some of it’s interesting, but I mostly just feel like I’m working through them to get them out of the way. My English class is cool though, we’re reading a bunch of classics by female authors, which I feel like we just never did in high school.”

“Sounds like I made the right decision not even trying to keep going with any school, then.”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “you would hate it.”

“At least you still get to keep the Family Video job, make some cash on the side.”

“Only problem is I hate it here too.”

“Aw, come on, you get to watch movies, do your homework, and hang out with Stevie all day. What’s there to complain about.”

“Boring, extra boring, and I only get to hang out with him when you’re not stealing him away from me.”

“Birdie,” Eddie teased, “are you worried I’m replacing you? Trust me, I could never. Steve only has eyes for you.”

Robin looked like she was about to throw a snarky retort back at him when the bell on the door rang.

“Hey, Eddie!” Steve said as he burst into Family Video, panting. “Sorry, man. Thing with Dustin…driving…little shit…didn’t wanna be late…no parking…gimme a minute.” He gasped in between phrases and then ran off to the “Employees Only” back room.

“Asshole. Didn’t even say ‘hi’ to me,” Robin grumbled.

“Maybe I really am taking your best friend spot, Birdie. You jealous?”

Robin snorted.

“Even if you were - which you’re not, Steve and I have an unbreakable bond, thank you very much - would you really - do you wanna be just friends with him, Munson?”

Eddie’s eyes flashed to the door that Steve had just disappeared behind. It was still closed. Steve was still a room away.

He did his best to cover the moment of panic at the thought of Steve overhearing Robin.

“Why wouldn’t I? Steve’s a great friend.”

Robin took a look back at the door, following where Eddie’s eyes had just been.

Confirming the door was still closed, Robin turned back to Eddie, gave him a once-over look, and then shrugged. “Sometimes people start with a friendship and then hope it turns into more. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t, but that can feel like a big gamble for…for people like us.”

She was staring right into his eyes with that intense look that she usually only got when she was panicking and rambling. But Robin wasn’t rambling at all. She said the last part hesitantly, like it was a question rather than a statement.

Eddie let out a heavy breath that had gotten caught in his throat.

“‘People like us,’ huh? Freaks like us?”

Robin smiled. “Yeah, something like that.”

“And he knows? About you being…like that? Is that why you’re ‘Platonic with a capital P?’”

“Yeah. Told him during my first go around with the Upside Down. We were kinda high and…” she shook her head at the memory. “He was…he was really - surprisingly good about it. Took him a minute, but - yeah.”

“Really?” Eddie leaned his arms on the counter.

Robin matched his pose and smiled, their faces just inches apart. “Really.”

“Huh. Who would’ve thought.”

“About Steve or…?”

“Oh, Steve, obviously,” Eddie scoffed. “I mean, I didn’t know about you, but in hindsight, oh yeah, you’re kinda obvious, Birdie.”

She laughed and shoved his shoulder with hers.

“Now, him, I would’ve been much less surprised if you had said he gave you a black eye when you told him.”

Robin gave him that intense stare again. “He isn’t like that anymore. We both know he’s so much better than that now.”

“Yeah.” Eddie chewed on the inside of his cheek a bit. “But you know it’s different for you than…than it would be for me. ‘Cause with you, it just means he can’t hook up with you. But with me, it…guys get freaked out, when they realize that guys can look at them the way that they look at women. I just - things are good. We’re good, as friends. I don’t wanna fuck that up.”

Robin looked back at the door once more and then back at Eddie. “I don’t - I can’t guarantee that nothing will change and everything will be all sunshine and rainbows. There was definitely a minute that just felt like it went on forever when I told him where I thought he was gonna just…I don’t know what, but where I thought I had made a massive mistake. But I think…if I were to guess, I think it would be good if you told him. And I think it might be good for you to know and not just be carrying it around with you. I know how hard it is to keep that with you and just worry all the time that everything is gonna fall apart once they know.”

“Yeah,” Eddie let out another heavy sigh. “Yeah it…I just don’t want everything to change. I don’t wanna lose him as a friend.”

“You won’t lose him.” Robin reached out and squeezed one of his hands in hers. “I promise.”

Eddie tried to give her his best smile, but he could feel that it fell flat. “Thanks, Birdie. Glad to know I..I’m not alone at least. I thought I was the only one of us from here to Indy.”

She squeezed his hand again and smiled. When they heard the door click open behind her, they both pulled back.

Steve stopped mid-step as he was coming out of the back room, seeing Eddie and Robin very suddenly straighten up form their stooped over positions.

“Um…did I miss something?”

“Nah, we were just conspiring to murder you, Satanic sacrifice, you know, the usual,” Eddie shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Dude!” Robin whined, immediately hopping on the bandwagon with him. “Murder never works if you tell the person you’re gonna murder them. Now our plan is fucked.”

“Damn, Steve, really rude of you to ruin our plans. We still hanging out or what?” Eddie asked.

Steve shook his head and smirked at their antics.

“Yeah, we’re still hanging out, dumb-ass. Come on. I had to - there was no parking when I got back, so I’m a few blocks away. So I sort of ran back here - didn’t wanna be late for hanging out. Anyway, doesn’t matter. Good luck holding down the fort, Rob.”

“Yup. Pray that I don’t die from boredom.”

“Will do, but you know I only pray to Satan, Birdie,” Eddie called as he left the store.

“I’ll take what I can get,” she groaned.

===

“So what was all that about?” Steve asked once Eddie had buckled himself into the passenger seat of the beamer.

“What was all of what about?” Eddie decided his best move was playing dumb. He had been staving off the inevitable “I’m gay” confession for months and he wanted to keep pushing it off for as long as possible. He knew Steve would push, but only enough to test if Eddie would give in.

“Dude,” Steve rolled his eyes at him and then pulled out of the parking spot and onto the main road, heading for Casa Harrington. “I’m talking about you and Robin being sneaky co-conspirators. What are you conspiring over, huh?”

“We weren’t conspiring. C’mon, Steve, you give us too much credit.”

“Robin speaks three whole languages - she’ll argue it’s four but everyoneyay ancay earnlay igpay atinlay.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind - anyway, Robin is smart, and you’re conniving, you’ve got that Dungeons and Dragons dungeon dude mind or whatever -”

“You know, that was impressively close to accurate, Stevie,” Eddie cut in.

“Anyway,” Steve continued, “she’s smart, you’re conniving, so what the hell are you two up to?”

“I told you already,” Eddie said, smirking, “we were plotting your murder, but now the plot’s ruined, so don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You’re infuriating sometimes, you know that?”

“Stevie, if I had a nickel for every time someone told me that, I wouldn’t have to work another day in my life.”

“I guess you’re lucky you’re cute then. It makes up for the whole being insufferable thing.”

Eddie tried his best to match Steve’s laugh, to keep it casual and act like Steve’s throwaway joke hadn’t made his heart flutter and twisted his stomach into a knot. But he felt his face heating up despite his best attempts.

They spent the remainder of the drive in what Eddie prayed was comfortable silence. For him it was deeply uncomfortable, Steve calling him cute playing over and over in his head while Steve seemed unbothered, easily bopping his head along to whatever Tears for Fears song was playing through the car’s speakers.

The drive to the Harrington house somehow felt easier than Eddie’s walk into town, even though Eddie now lived significantly closer to the downtown area than Steve did. Steve’s smooth drive down the long, slightly curved road, the only bump the one going over the train tracks, compared to Eddie’s walk past the hospital, past the coroner’s office, police lurking outside of the station or slowly patrolling the streets, glaring at him with distrust as he put his head down, hands in his pockets as he finally made that turn onto the block with Family Video. While the walk was always anxiety-inducing, the drive was always calming.

They ended up on the couch, with Steve supplying the movies and snacks and Eddie supplying the weed.

“Are you following literally anything that’s happening?” Eddie asked just over half way through the movie.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Are you not?”

“No! People are getting murdered and they think it’s a good idea to just all split up? Insane.”

“Well they think there’s someone else in the house.”

“There’s definitely not,” Eddie groaned. “They’re all there because they’re being blackmailed. Do they really think some other random unannounced blackmail victim is lurking in the house?”

“They just wanna make sure. I think it’s a fair call.”

“I think it’s dumb,” Eddie whined. “Either figure out who the murderer is, or just wait for the fucking cops to show up.”

He swung his legs over the arm of the couch and then twisted himself until his knees were bent over the back and his head was hanging off of the seat.

Steve chuckled. “Why do you always do that?”

“Always do what?”

“Every time we smoke, you always end up upside down like that.”

Eddie’s brow furrowed. “No I don’t.”

“Do you- ” Steve spoke around burst of laughter, “do you really not realize that you’re doing it? It’s literally every time, dude.”

“I don’t - do I - really? Every time?”

“Every. Single. Time,” Steve laughed.

“Huh. Well it’s fitting for this movie. Look, now the fucking power’s gone out, of course, and they’re all wandering around in the dark, not even sure if their partner is still with them. Super helpful for figuring out who the murderer is.”

“Come on, it’s a fun movie. How are you not enjoying this?” Steve laughed.

Eddie shrugged. “Maybe it’s not a movie I’m meant to watch high. A least Tim Curry is in it. He’s so hot.”

Eddie felt himself go rigid the second that the words left his mouth. A gunshot went off in the movie, another character comically dropping dead, but it only heightened the tension Eddie held in his body. Damn his stupid, high, no-filter brain. It just couldn’t help itself. He decided he might as well just roll with it and blurt something out before Steve decided to try and be nice and either offer him a pity-filled olive branch, pretend it never happened, or do something worse and make all of Eddie’s worst fears come true.

“I’m gay,” Eddie blurted out, “in case that wasn’t obvious from the Tim Curry comment. I wasn’t - didn’t think I was gonna do this this way but - well here we are. And Robin said you’d be cool with it so better not prove her wrong or she’ll probably be pissed. She loves to be right.”

Steve paused for a moment, Eddie’s words probably taking a moment to filter through the haze of weed in his brain. Eddie, on the other hand, had never felt more sober after sharing a joint in his life.

“Yeah,” Steve finally said, his words still a bit slurred from the drugs, “yeah, Eddie, ‘course I’m - of course I’m okay with it. Robin - you talked to Robin about it?”

“Yeah, that’s - that’s what we were conspiring about earlier. She clocked me, noticed I probably wasn’t straight, and she was correct, and told me you’d probably be cool with it.”

“Was that…was that all you talked about?” Steve’s voice was strained and hesitant.

“Oh, she told me - told me about her. That she came out to you during some Upside Down shit and that you were cool about it. Told me you’d probably be cool with me too so - glad she was right.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, his voice sounding a bit far off in thought, “’course - makes sense she told you about - told you about her.”

“You good up there, Stevie?” Eddie asked, and looked up at Steve sitting next to him on the couch from Eddie’s upside-down vantage point. “You’re not freaking out on me?”

Steve looked down at him and there was something a bit wild in his eyes that Eddie couldn’t identify. “No, not freaking out on you,” Steve breathed. “I just was thinking -“ he shook his head a bit and it seemed to clear his thoughts. “That go around with the Upside Down was a lot - just thinking about that. Uh - thank you - thanks for telling me, Eddie. I’m glad you told me.”

“Of course, Steve.” From this position, Eddie could imagine Steve leaning over him, could imagine Steve’s face coming down to kiss him, could imagine - “You’re one of my best friends. I wanted you to know, just - people like - when you’re like me and Robin, you’re always just a little worried how people are gonna react, you know?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, “yeah I get it, uh, Robin’s talked to me about it, so.”

“Cool.”

“Cool.” Steve smiled down at him. “Now, is Tim Curry hot enough for you to suffer through the rest of this movie, or do you really want me to turn it off?”

“Well, you’re enjoying it, and Tim Curry is always hot enough, so you may proceed.”

Steve laughed and settled back into the couch.

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief and let himself fully relax for once.

===

“Okay, the ending kind of made it worth it, I guess.”

“’I guess?’” Steve parroted. “Come on, you gotta admit, the ending was great.”

“Yeah, fine,” Eddie conceded. “The end was cool. The three different options thing was pretty solid. Also, again, Tim Curry, in the one where he’s the bad guy the whole time? I bet even you could admit, pretty hot.”

“Yeah,” Steve laughed, “I agree, pretty hot.”

“So,” Eddie said, trying not to get his hopes up and quickly moving on from Steve’s comment, “what did the gremlins have you running around doing today?” Steve groaned. Eddie twisted around so he was sitting upright again and pulled another joint from his lunch box, lit it, and took a couple of hits.

“Freaking Dustin,” Steve started, “like, I’m happy to drive the kids around, happy to do them a favor, and Dustin’s like a little brother to me, you know that, you get that -“ Steve paused as Eddie handed him the joint and took a hit from it before handing it back to him. “It’s just - he can’t rely on me all the time, and every time he acts like it’s the end of the world. We went through the actual end of the world, and he knows that, but when he calls me freaking out and begging me to drive him, because he promised Lucas and it’s cold, and his tire has a leak so he can’t bike there and yada yada yada - it’s just so hard for me to say no to him - to all of them really. I just feel like I barely have time for stuff like this now -“ he gestured around him to the living room and then took the joint from Eddie again, coughing slightly around the two hits he took. “Like just hanging out and living my life with the people I care about, having fun and not having any fucking responsibilities for five minutes. And then Dustin is calling me to drive across town for him.”

Eddie took a couple more hits from the joint. “Tell me how you really feel, Stevie,” he chuckled.

“I just - sorry I don’t wanna just complain all the time. I’m happy the kids look up to me, and god knows I never had anyone like that who was willing to help me out at the drop of the hat if I needed it when I was their age. If I was stranded at school after the last bus left, well, sucks, better start walking. But I just - I’m tired, man.”

Eddie took another drag from the joint and passed it back to Steve.

“Your folks didn’t hire you a private chauffeur or something?”

Steve laughed, then took a hit and passed the joint back, shaking his head.

“Nah,” he breathed the smoke out around it. “They bought me the beamer and, trust me, I know that’s lucky as hell, and I’m grateful for it, but before that, fully on my own once I was old enough to not need a babysitter. If it was money they needed to shell out, yeah, no problem, they’d drop all the money I needed on me. But like actually caring? That was in short supply. The first time I missed the bus, it was middle school, and I used the pay phone to call my dad’s work, and my mom picks up - she’s a secretary at his office - and I tell her I need someone to come get me, and she basically says ‘what do you expect me to do?’ My dad was in a meeting or something, so she can’t interrupt him. They drive together, and what if she leaves to pick me up and then he gets done with the meeting and is stranded until she gets back, all these reasons why she can’t get me. And, then, I remember this line clearly, then she says ‘We all have responsibilities, Steven, and one of yours is getting on the bus to get yourself home.’ Then she told me to call her again when I figured out how to get home, and hung up.”

“What’d you do?”

Steve shrugged. “Lied to the lady at the front desk who gave me money for the pay phone and said my babysitter lived down the street and my mom told me to walk there. But I didn’t have a babysitter at that point anymore, so I just walked the whole way back to my house. Did my best not to miss the bus after that, and if I did, you bet your ass I didn’t call to ask someone to pick me up.” He laughed darkly. “But I don’t want the kids to have to do that. Their parents do their best, but Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Mayfield - Hargrove? - whatever, you know who I’m talking about, they’re both single moms; Mrs. Byers has Hopper now, but they both work full time; and then Mrs. Sinclair and Mrs. Wheeler do their best, but sometimes things come up. I just want the kids to have happy high school years after all the shit they’ve been through. I just I feel kinda responsible to help, and I know I’m not, but then I also feel so selfish when I say I need a break from them asking me for shit.”

“It’s not selfish, Steve. You’re not their parent or their babysitter. You’re their friend. Doing things for them shouldn’t feel like a chore.”

“Well, sometimes it does. It’s whatever, though, like I said, don’t wanna bother you with all that. How was your day?”

“No, I - Jesus, Steve, you’re not bothering me. We’re - we’re friends, right? Isn’t that what friends do? Listen to each other talk about their problems?”

“Exactly,” Steve smirked, “so tell me yours now.”

Eddie rolled his eyes but let Steve steer the conversation away from himself.

He gave Steve the sugar-coated version of his troubles. The new house was good, he was just still adjusting to it feeling like home. Money was tight, but he had a couple of job leads that he was hoping would pan out soon. He just didn’t mention how the house felt cold and empty most days and how the “leads” he had on jobs were all probably dead ends.

Eddie was thankful that Steve took his complaints at face value and didn’t ask for many details. They commiserated about the job search process and Steve promised to ask Keith if they might be able to add another person to the Family Video staff and squeeze Eddie in. Eddie thought it would work out probably as well as all of his other attempts did, but he thanked Steve for the help nonetheless.

Steve put another movie on after that - some action flick that he told Eddie he had put on last week at Family Video and swore up and down had a surprisingly good plot - and Eddie rolled his eyes at Steve’s enthusiasm but smiled despite himself.

Eddie squirmed on the couch trying to get comfortable again, but ended up just tucking his legs into himself and deciding to accept the discomfort.

“You good, man?” Steve asked the moment that Eddie stopped fidgeting.

“Yeah, just, I don’t know, feel like I need to stretch out or something.”

Steve nodded but didn’t say anything and just turned back to the movie.

A few minutes went by before Steve spoke up again.

“You can stretch out on my lap.”

Eddie’s weed addled brain short circuited. “Huh?”

“Your legs, I mean. You wanna stretch out, so - you can just put your legs on my lap if you want.”

Eddie wasn’t sure if it was the weed and the discomfort or if, subconsciously, he wanted to see how stable the boundary line of his and Steve’s friendship actually was. His mind swirled with Steve calling him “cute” in the car, Steve agreeing that Tim Curry was hot, Steve zoning out and his wild eyes after Eddie came out to him. No matter if he thought it was actually a good idea or not, Eddie stretched his legs out across Steve’s lap and leaned his torso further into the back of the couch. Steve’s arms fell over his legs, holding them close to Eddie’s stomach, and the spots where they touched burned with the anxiety of Eddie’s stupid crush.

“That better?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. Thanks, Stevie.”

Steve smiled, looking a bit strained, and it was only the haze of weed that kept Eddie from spiraling over what that look could mean.

Instead, he spiraled about the Secret Santa gift. Steve was wrong, the plot for the movie wasn’t that good, so it was easy for Eddie to zone out and desperately claw for ideas. There wasn’t much in Steve’s living room that could inspire him - it was clearly decorated by his parents who had an eye for decor that was so gaudy you had no choice but to assume it was chosen only for the ability to demonstrate wealth. Eddie had only seen Steve’s room once or twice, and it unfortunately had just about as much personality as the rest of the house did. Steve had mentioned that his mom had picked it all out on one occasion when Eddie teased him about the plaid wallpaper and mumbled about how he didn’t think he was allowed to change it, even at 19 years old.

So, decor-based inspiration was out of the question. Eddie knew Steve cared about his appearance still - he was always dressed well and his hair was done - but he doubted that he had the money needed to afford whatever products he was using. On top of that, he would need to snoop through Steve’s bathroom to even figure out what products to buy, which was creepy at best.

Maybe he had mentioned something in conversation? Eddie tried his best to sift through his memories of conversations since he had pulled Steve’s name from that damn hat. He kept getting stuck on the last few hours of conversation and Steve rambling about how frustrating the kids were being. Maybe there was something there? There had to be something there. Maybe gas money, or Eddie’s help working on Steve’s car the next time he needed it? Hell, maybe he’d just take Dustin off of Steve’s hands completely and start offering to drive the little twerp himself. One free I-O-U for Eddie to drive - that’s it.

The idea finally took shape and clicked into place. Steve was always doing things for literally everyone else. And it wasn’t just for the kids. Steve drove Robin to work every day, even if he wasn’t working the same shift as her. He had helped out the Byers-Hopper family with dinners for a while during the time all five of them were crammed into Hopper’s tiny little cabin. Hell, there had even been a few times that he had let Eddie host D&D at his house and provided snacks and dinner for everyone completely unprompted. Everyone in their little band of misfits knew they could ask Steve for pretty much anything if they needed to. Who did Steve ask for help?

By the time the movie ended, the weed had worn off and Eddie had a fully-formed idea for his gift to Steve. It would be cheap, but Eddie hoped he could make up for that in effort. He knew Steve was a pretty sentimental guy, so he hoped he would appreciate it, but it still felt like a risky roll of the dice.

They cleaned up their snacks and Eddie’s supply and bundled back up in their coats, hats, scarves, and gloves before braving the Indiana winter for Steve to give Eddie a ride home. It was just as easy of a drive back to Eddie’s house as it was on the way to Steve’s, but instead of the easy calm, Eddie felt the anxiety of knowing he was going back to a dark and empty house pooling in his gut. It was only staved off by his excitement of putting his Secret Santa plan to action.

When Steve parked at the foot of Eddie’s driveway, Eddie gathered his lunch box and turned to thank Steve for the ride and wish him a good night when Steve stopped him dead in his tracks.

“I wish we could just hang out all the time and you didn’t have to go home.”

It was something you would expect a little kid to say at the end of a play-date, but had no hint of humor, only sincerity. Eddie’s mind immediately flashed to an image of middle school Steve arriving home to an empty house, alone even on the days that he managed to catch the bus. He wondered if Steve’s house felt as empty as his own did.

He imagined long days and nights, arriving home only for Steve to walk in minutes later, cooking and eating together, going to bed together, waking up to see Steve smiling back at him, getting ready together and going to work only to come home and do it all over again. The idea of that kind of routine used to scare Eddie, but now he found himself craving the comfort of stability. He knew that even in the middle of chaos, he would find the most comfort with Steve.

“I wish I didn’t have to go either,” Eddie confessed, deciding to be brave. “Maybe - maybe one of these days I can stay over? Show you the delicacies I can make with just a can of SpaghettiOs and ambition?”

Steve laughed. “I’d like that.”

The way Steve smiled at Eddie through the darkness made his stomach do flips. If he were a girl, he imagined this would be the part of the night where Steve would make his move, would lean forward and kiss him. Maybe Eddie would let Steve know that no one was home, and Steve would park his car around the block and then follow Eddie inside and to his room, and then climb out the window in the morning.

But Eddie wasn’t a girl, and Steve Harrington wasn’t gay, and this wasn’t a date.

So, like they always did, Eddie thanked Steve for the ride and Steve waited until Eddie had unlocked the door to the house and waved before he drove away.

Eddie cooked up a pot of pasta for his own dinner and for Wayne to come home to once he got off of his shift at the factory. He portioned Wayne’s into a bowl and stuck it in the fridge before eating his own straight from the pot while sitting on the floor of the kitchen.

Steve Harrington was straight.

Eddie Munson was gay.

And Eddie Munson just needed to get the fuck over his crush before he messed up and lost his best friend.

He filled the pot up with water and decided it was fine to leave it to soak overnight. He wrote up a tiny sign on a piece of scrap paper that read “WAYNE - DO NOT CLEAN THIS OR ELSE” and went to bed.

His dreams were a confusing mix of Steve’s smiling lips calling him cute in the darkness and Tim Curry sweeping Steve up into some kind of waltz and dancing him far away from Eddie.

===

The next morning, the pot and Wayne’s bowl were sitting next to the sink, clean and left out to dry.

Eddie’s scrap paper had been flipped over and in his shaky script Wayne had written “OR ELSE WHAT?”

Eddie just shook his head and dried the dishes off with a towel before putting them away. He started a pot of coffee, downing his own mug quickly and leaving the rest for Wayne to re-heat if he wanted it and bundled up before walking into town.

He purchased a small pack of children’s rainbow construction paper and a permanent marker from Melvald’s, got an uncomfortable look from the cashier - he could only assume because of the cult nonsense - and rolled his eyes once he had paid and taken his things to start the trek back home.

He grabbed the scissors and some twine from the kitchen junk drawer and then spread his project out on the kitchen table. He tore out all of the red and green pages from the book in an attempt to make it look festive, and then cut them each into smaller squares. He took fifteen minutes to scribble out a list of ideas and then, as neatly as he could, he started writing out I-O-U coupons on each small square. A lot of them were easy ideas, like the five that he dedicated to driving the kids, the one for driving Robin, and the two for home-cooked meals. Others felt a bit deeper, like the one for a free vent session, any time of day, no questions asked and no judgment, or the one free cry on Eddie’s shoulder - which he added a note on the back to say that it was redeemable indefinitely, with the “one” being one per-visit to Eddie’s shoulder. He was particularly proud of that one, knowing that Steve had a habit of holding all of his shit in and making himself deal with it alone and hoping this might encourage him to do otherwise.

Eddie hesitated with the last three pieces of construction paper - two red and one green - wanting to take a leap but not knowing if it was worth it. Steve Harrington was straight, right? He would have told Eddie if he wasn’t. Eddie had no chance with him. Against his better judgment, he decided to write the coupons out and just leave them out of the booklet, instead tucking them into his wallet. Whether he was keeping them to give to Steve later or just for the satisfaction of having had the courage to write them, he wasn’t sure, but he felt content knowing they were in his pocket.

Wayne came out of his room as Eddie was punching holes into the sides of the coupons using a push pin and a small piece of styrofoam - also pulled from the junk drawer.

“Workin’ on somethin’ for your dragon game there, Ed?” he asked while he starting re-heating the coffee pot.

“Nah,” he replied, slowly starting to thread the twine through the coupons, careful to not tear any of them. “The kids roped me into a gift exchange thing and I’m going the homemade route.”

“Well that’s nice. I remember growing up me ‘n your dad always did homemade gifts for our folks. Wasn’t a lot of money to go around. Always felt more personal. You used to do that for me too, you remember?”

“Hmm? What, like my drawings? Those were hardly gifts.”

Wayne walked over and clapped a hand on Eddie’s back, grabbing his shoulder. “They were beautiful and you were so proud of them. I wish had been able to salvage some of them after the quake. Saved your mug, though. Think you made that for me in, what, fifth grade?”

“You saved that?”

“Yup. Had to dig around through the rubble a little bit, but I found it. Still holding my pens in my room.”

“I - that’s really cool, Wayne. Thanks. I - I really want this gift to be special, but I can’t really afford anything right now so - I’m just really hoping he likes this.”

Wayne craned a look over Eddie’s shoulder, then hummed in affirmation before going to pour his mug of coffee.

“That for that Steve fella you’re always with?” he said after he took his first sip.

Eddie tied off the first strand of twine before starting to thread another one through the second set of holes in the coupons.

“I - yeah, I pulled his name randomly out of a hat. And he’s a good friend, so.”

“Mhm. So is there somethin’ in there about you finally askin’ him out, or are you just gonna keep waitin’ ‘till he makes the first move?”

“Wayne it - it’s not like that,” Eddie balked.

“Mhm.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Whatever you say, kid. I’ll be in my room.”

He walked away to let Eddie finish his project. Thankfully, none of the coupons had torn by the time Eddie tied off the second piece of twine, and the booklet was done. He dug around in his few items and found a small box and put the booklet inside, cushioned with newspaper. He wrapped the outside with the funnies from the most recent Sunday paper and stared at his handiwork for a long time, deciding he had to be done with it since he had no ribbon or fancy decorations to his name.

“Here’s hoping for the best.”

===

Snow had been falling in Hawkins all week leading up to New Year’s Eve, covering the ground in a beautiful white blanket to ring in the new year with. It felt good, like something was finally healing in Hawkins, white clean snow adorning the new year and leaving behind the memories of the toxic, ashy snow, dark clouds, and blood-red sky that had accompanied the Upside Down invading their town.

Eddie drove himself over to Steve’s house, going out of his way to pick up Max, who had returned to living in the trailer park with her mom.

“So, you super excited?” she asked, smirking at him, a few minutes into the drive.

“Uh, yeah, excited to be done with ‘86 and hang out with all of you nerds.”

“Anything else you’re excited for?” Max pushed.

“Is there something else I should be excited about?”

“Nope. Just wondering.”

Max was still smirking, and Eddie was nervous enough about his gift for Steve that he didn’t think digging into whatever mischief she was up to would help him at all.

The party was in full swing when Eddie and Max pulled up. They added their gifts to the pile under the tree and Eddie felt better seeing that Max’s was wrapped with a grocery bag from Melvald’s.

Steve hugged Eddie and brought him over to the kitchen to show him all of the food that he’d made for the party - pasta, green beans, garlic bread, and three types of pies. Others had brought other snacks and deserts, but Steve was clearly proud of how much work he had put in to cooking and baking all day.

“These look fucking delicious, Steve. I can’t remember the last time I had a homemade pecan pie.”

“Well, I hope it tastes as good as it looks.”

“I’m sure it will.” Eddie smiled back at Steve.

Eddie said hello to everyone who had congregated - the whole Upside Down crew, minus the adults like Hopper and Joyce - and mingled happily, snacking and catching up with everyone who he hadn’t seen in a while. Nancy was enjoying her first semester at Emerson College, but was happy to be home for winter break and seeing everyone. Eddie saw Jonathan and Argyle a lot when they were buying week from him, but Jonathan always seemed in a hurry - which made a lot more sense when he told Eddie that he was going to the local community college in addition to working at a local restaurant part-time with Argyle. Robin was able to elaborate more on school, filling Eddie in on everything both exciting and mundane going on and filling him in on the aspects of social life at the college that Jonathan had left out. He saw the kids enough with their weekly Dungeons and Dragons sessions that he didn’t need to catch up much with them, but they still looped him into their crazy antics and discussions all the same.

Once dinner had been eaten and then had started serving the deserts, Nancy announced that they were going to start unwrapping the Secret Santa presents. Eddie was so distracted showering Steve with his praise at the delicious pecan pie and watching Steve blush, that he completely missed her announcement until Steve was ushering him toward the living room. Steve insisted that Eddie sit next to him, and Eddie set his pie on a side table, his stomach already rolling with so many nerves he knew he wouldn’t be able to finish it until they were done with the gift exchange.

El started, opening up a bag to reveal a mix-tape in a sleeve decorated with bright rainbows and incorrectly guessed Max as her Santa before correctly guessing Jonathan, who promised he would listen to all of the songs with her and tell her about the bands and why he thought she would like each one. Jonathan didn’t show his gift to anyone, but Eddie could smell the weed overtaking the minty smell of the Altoids tin the second he opened it. Most of the kids were confused, but the older teens weren’t when Jonathan immediately and correctly guessed Argyle as his Santa. Eddie’s consciousness drifted away as Argyle opened his gift, a delicately wrapped box containing a new Hawaiian shirt and some psychedelic-looking socks, and struggled to guess who his Santa was. Jonathan eventually coughed and whispered “Nancy,” no doubt recognizing the careful handiwork that went into wrapping it, but Eddie was barely in the room anymore he was so lost in his own thoughts.

What if Steve didn’t like his gift? What if he thought it was dumb? What if his first thought was how cheap it was and all he felt was pity? What if there was still some “King Steve” in there after all and all he could focus on was how poor Eddie must be to only be able to get him a stupid paper coupon book like a child? What if he thought it was thoughtful and sweet? What if he thought it was so thoughtful, that he realized Eddie had a crush on him? What if he didn’t want to be friends with Eddie anymore? What if he somehow found the extra coupons that Eddie left out? What if -?

“Wait,” Mike said, drawing Eddie out of his spiral, “is anyone left then?” Eddie looked over at him and saw a beautifully painted canvass laid out in front of him, with different scenes collaged into one piece - two boys on a swing set, another with the same boys in a fort made of sticks, another with a wizard and a knight in an embrace - it was clearly Will’s handiwork, and the boy way blushing scarlet sitting next to Mike.

It had apparently been some time since Eddie had lost focus, because almost everyone had an unwrapped gift laid out in front of them. Everyone except -

“Steve and Eddie,” Max and Dustin said in unison. Everyone turned to look at Steve and Eddie, and sure enough, they were the only two with no gifts in front of them.

“Wait, what?” Eddie chimed in. “Everyone else went?”

“Yup,” Max said. “Just you and Steve left it looks like.”

“Which means you must have each other,” Dustin added. “What a weird coincidence.”

Dustin’s tone - the one he always got when he was lying and Eddie had been telling him he really needed to work on - told Eddie that it was anything but a coincidence. Eddie remembered when they had pulled the names out of the hat and how nosy Dustin had been, how he and Max had high-fived for seemingly no reason, how weird Max had been on the drive over to Steve’s house.

“Meddling kids,” Eddie mumbled to himself.

“Uh, rock-paper-scissors?” Steve suggested. “Loser has to open theirs first?”

“Uh, yeah, sounds fair enough.”

Eddie lost - playing scissors to Steve’s rock, and pulled a beautifully wrapped gift box from under the tree. It was thin and flat, but large, kind of like a picture frame.

He delicately untied the ribbon, feeling all eyes in the room on him, then tore into the paper and pulled the lid off of the box.

Inside were two patches laid down for easy viewing. One, Eddie immediately recognized as a cloud of demobats. They were more of a tornado, with a few bats painted in intricate detail to demonstrate clearly what they were. The other was Eddie, holding his lost guitar in his hands, black bandanna tied around his head, clearly posted in a moment during his rock concert at the end of the world.

“I - how did you -“

“I hope it’s okay,” Steve cut in quickly. “Obviously, that was horrible, but you made it, and Dustin just kept telling me how cool you were, and I thought maybe you might want to commemorate that - you know, doing it and surviving? So I asked Dustin to describe it, and I commissioned Will -“

“But Steve did most of it, really,” Will interrupted. “I just did the rough outlines and some of the detail touch-ups at the end. It was all Steve.”

“’All Steve’ is a bit of an exaggeration, but, yeah, Will made me do most of it. Said it would be more meaningful if I did it. I just hope you think it’s bad ass and not traumatizing. They’re meant to go on your vest, on either side of your Dio patch. I’m pretty sure they’ll fit there.”

“Steve, this is - this is so fucking cool. Thank you, for real, I - I have no words. God, now mine is gonna be super lame,” he laughed.

“I’m sure you’re wrong,” Steve laughed in return. “I - I’m really glad you like it.”

The moment was broken as Steve went to get his own present from under the tree and he once again realized that all of the eyes in the room were on the two of them. Eddie could feel himself blushing as it creeped its way up his neck and onto his cheeks.

Steve unwrapped the present with much more care, clearly trying to avoid ripping any of the paper. He looked confused at first, but then his eyebrows raised as realization of what the present was seemed to sink in. He flipped through a few of the pages, smiling, and then chuckling at a few of them.

“What is it, Steve,” El asked, breaking the silence.

“It’s - it’s like a coupon book, right, Ed?” Steve said.

“Yeah, I - uh - sorry it’s kinda lame, but -“

“No, it’s not lame at all! This is so thoughtful, Eddie, thank you,” Steve said.

“What does it do?” El asked.

“So, Eddie has written out coupons for me, basically for favors that I can cash in when I need them. So, like this one says he’ll drive you guys around some time when you guys need a ride and I’m, you know, busy or tired or something like that. God, this is just, like, the most thoughtful gift ever, Eddie, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Steve. Thank you. I mean, shit, ditto, this was so thoughtful of you.”

Eddie sat in the warm glow of Steve’s smile, wanting to ask him for a needle and thread to get these patches sown onto his battle vest as soon as possible.

“Hey, uh, we should get some drinks poured, right guys?” Robin asked, breaking the silence. “We’ve got, like just a couple minutes.”

“Someone turn on the TV for the ball drop,” Lucas said.

“Hey, Eddie, can we go outside real quick?” Steve whispered.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing.”

Anxiety filled Eddie’s stomach again as he worried that Steve was actually uncomfortable or didn’t like the gift and was just hiding his true feelings in front of the group. The two of them quickly pulled on their jackets while the others poured drinks and got ready for the countdown. Eddie turned to look at them and Robin gave him a smile and a quick thumbs up before he followed Steve outside.

“Sorry for pulling you into the cold,” Steve said once the door was shut behind them. “I just um - I really wanted to thank you, and it felt kind of weird in from of the whole group.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“For the coupon book? Steve, really it was noth-“

“Don’t say it was nothing. Please. That - really, it’s one of the best presents I’ve gotten ever. All of that stuff - you were able to make it because you really actually listen to me when I talk, and I just appreciate that so much. I appreciate that you want to listen to me, and you remember what I say. So, just, thank you.”

“I - I mean you’re welcome. I - I love being your friend, Steve, of course I wanna listen to you. And than you so much, those patches are amazing, I wanna get them on my jacket right now,” he laughed. “I have half a mind to ask you for a needle and thread right now.”

Steve grinned, his classic dazzling smile. But then his smile fell into something more hesitant and anxious.

“I, um, there’s something else I wanted to tell you too,” Steve said, “since you were so - you shared something personal with me the other day. Um, I’ve been talking to Robin and, well, I guess it turns out I might not be straight either. Uh, Robin called it bisexual, that I like both, so, yeah, just wanted you to know.”

Eddie’s jaw dropped in amazement. He had to reprocess of the thoughts that had been running through his head over past few days - every moment with Steve that he thought but what if.

“I - uh - wow, that’s awesome, Steve. How the hell did you figure that out? I always thought you were just a ladies’ man.”

“Well, there’s, uh, someone that I’ve been hanging out with a lot. A guy. And he just got me thinking, you know.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s how I figured it out too. A guy. You know, um, about your gift -“ Eddie reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“I did - uh, there were a couple of coupons that I, uh, I didn’t know if you’d want them, and I didn’t wanna - well, I was worried you wouldn’t want them, and if you still don’t that’s fine, just tell me. But, uh, I’m kinda getting the impression that maybe - that maybe you might want them? So, here.”

He fished two red pieces of construction paper out of his wallet and thrust them forward at Steve. He took them from Eddie’s hands and looked down at them, taking them in.

Eddie couldn’t see the words, but he knew exactly what they said. The first read “One date. Dinner and a movie (or other date-ish activity).” The second simply read, “One Free Kiss.”

It felt like Steve was staring down at them for an eternity, reading them over and over again. Suddenly, they heard the The Party starting to count down inside of the house.

“Ten!”

Steve’s head snapped up and back to look toward the voices in the house behind him.

“Nine!”

He looked back down at the coupons in his hands.

“Eight!”

He looked up at Eddie. “I want - wanna cash one of these in, please,” he said. “This one,” and held a slip of paper out for Eddie to take back.

“Seven!”

Eddie looked down and took the paper from Steve’s hand, so sure what it was going to be, but also in utter disbelief. Things like this didn’t happen to Munsons. Good things didn’t happen to Eddie Munson. But, sure enough, the paper he held in his hand said “One Free Kiss,” written in his best attempt at neat, legible handwriting.

“Six!”

“Right now?” he asked Steve.

“Five!”

“In a few seconds,” Steve responded, a smiled tugging at the corners of his mouth. He took a step forward into Eddie’s space, the fog of their warm breaths in the cold air intermingling.

“Four!”

“You’re sure?” Eddie asked. He was searching Steve’s eyes, looking for doubt, worry, anything that might tell Eddie this was a mistake and what they had, the friendship they had built, was about to change for the worse.

“Three!”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, whispering. “I’m sure.”

“Two!”

Eddie nodded, speechless. Steve reached his hands up and pushed a thick curl back before cupping Eddie’s face in his hands.

“One!”

Steve angled his head down oh so slightly, leaned in, and then…

“Happy New Year!”

Eddie Munson had kissed his fair share of people: girls when he was younger and still figuring out that he didn’t like girls, back before he’d been branded as The Freak; a boy once on a dare - the boy had immediately pretended to gag and Eddie struggled to catch up and understand why the other boy was acting disgusted; boys like him and men in some clubs and bars he had found when he had linked up with some metal scene people in Indy. But Eddie Munson had never received a New Year’s kiss. And he had never had a kiss that came anywhere close in comparison to a first kiss with Steve Harrington on New Year’s Eve.

“Maybe - maybe I could stay over tonight?” Eddie asked when they pulled back.

Steve laughed. “Yeah, yeah I’d like that a lot. Or - maybe you could just stay over forever?”

Eddie grinned. “You know, you might not believe it but -“ he fumbled with his wallet pulling out a piece of green construction paper, “I have a coupon for that.”

They laughed together, their laughs making fog clouds in the cold, until Steve pulled them back into the party, coupon in one hand and Eddie’s in the other.