Archive of Our Own

Someone has moved into the shitty apartment upstairs. How do I know? Well... *Twang.*

"Oh, my!" I hear looking up to see an old lady clutch her heart.

I cringe and walk over to you. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. We have a new, noisy neighbour." I say pointing up.

I personally help her around the shop before she checks out with a "Someone should have a word with them. This is a fine establishment, that should not be soilded by... By noise!" She says harshly as if the sounds coming from upstairs weren't put together enough to be music.

I nod. "I'm going to talk to the owner of the store today to see if he can do something about it." She nods politely and leaves.

I sigh against the counter looking over the shelves and shelves of books. The music wasn't particularly bad, just really loud and startling. It happens around the same time every day, just after lunch and lasts for a few hours. I recognise a few songs, from the radio and the kids, even some that I can't quite place.

I wait until it ends. Today, it happens at five, which is early, but maybe they got interrupted. I quickly call the owner of the store and explain everything. A sweet old man, he asks me to try and work it out without having to make a big fuss. He doesn't want to talk to the building owner.

I sigh and agree. That's how I find myself standing at the top of the stairs behind the building five minutes later. The store wasn't busy this time of day and I normally go for a coffee break around now anyway.

I dust off my pants and ring the doorbell. "Hey, I'm coming... I'm coming." I hear mumbled behind the door.

I close my eyes and bow my head slightly as the door opens. "Ah, apologies, but I work downstairs at the bookshop. Could you turn down your music? Or practise at an hour that's... Well... You're scaring the customers."

A few moments go past before I hear a surprised. "Harrington?"

I look up and see a mop of curly hair and a ratty hell fire shirt. I blink a few times. "Munson?"

He laughs. "Nah, I think I'll play louder now." He says trying to close the door.

I slam my hand on the door to keep it open. "Listen here, I can't have my valued customers leaving because some metalhead is holding a grudge!" I say stepping closer.

"Woah, relax Stevie." He chuckles. "It's not just a grudge. I also need to practise; this is my livelihood on the line. I need to make money too."

I shake my head in disbelief. "It doesn't need to be so loud. We have elderly customers come in around the time you always start. You nearly gave an old woman a heart attack today." I say upset.

He frowns. "Also so dramatic. Since when did you start caring about people, King Steve?" He asks adding emphasis on the old nickname.

I scoff. "When I stopped being called that. I'm not a heartless monster, I just hung out with them." I groan and look down at my watch. "Great now I don't even have time to grab a coffee." I look up at him and groan again. "Just keep it down, Freak." I say trying to storm off but failing incredibly as I almost fall down the skinny steps.

"I work at the bar down the street by the way. In case you want to see me play live." He calls out to me, I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"No thanks." I reply reaching the bottom of the staircase.

Unfortunately, it didn't really get better. In fact, he started playing in the morning, too. I groan listening to the now recognisable corroded coffin song play loudly.

"Did you talk to him dear?" I jump hearing her voice, it's the lady from the other day.

"Oh, uh... Yeah, I spoke to the owner, and I even went up to speak to the guy living up there, but... I think I angered him." I say softly.

She smiles kindly. "Well thank you for trying."

I nod and help her out. The rest of my day is usual; you know, if loud music and amps crackling in a bookshop were usual.

'This was such a nice little town. Why did Eddie have to move here?' I groan closing up the shop.

I frown seeing Eddie's van missing, which I had finally realised the other day was normally parked down the alley. 'Must be working.' I sigh and start walking down the road.

I stop and look up at the big, terribly lit bar and sigh. "Maybe I should go in and mess up his job as payback." I mumble, my hand already pushing through the door.

It was still early, but people were here, letting off the stresses of work. The sound of a guitar being fiddled with is heard over the radio music, and I look over at the tiny stage to see the curly-haired freak hunched over his precious guitar. A drummer is standing against the wall, but they're the only two people with only two instruments on stage. I sigh, heading to the bar and ordering a beer before sitting far away from the stage.

I watch as Munson finishes whatever he is doing before nodding at the barkeep. The radio gets turned down before everyone looks over at the metalhead expectingly.

"Uh, hey. I'm Eddie; if you're a regular, you probably know that. I'm going to play now." He says awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

I sit up straight, Eddie was never nervous on stage, even back when his band first started, back when he was like thirteen. He clears his throat and starts to play. I blink at the sound. "That not..." I mumble to myself.

The song was very clearly not his usual metal or rock. This is Calm Dad Rock. "It's fucking Nickleback." I say in disbelief.

I watch him sing and play, while slowly sipping my beer. He's relaxed slightly, but this is definitely not the same Eddie Munson; his stage presence is all wrong. Song after song he looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here. My beer is finished after the third song but I don't move to get another one.

Finally, I see him take a deep breath and smile, like a kid able to get his reward for being patient. The drummer gets up and leaves as Eddie starts playing. "Master of puppets." I mumble. I knew the song and I knew Eddie knew it well.

It was his party trick, the one thing I didn't tease him about when I saw him practising it all those years ago. Because even as a fifteen-year-old, fumbling and messing up the song, he looked dedicated, and I admired that. I never told Eddie I saw him practising every day, but I watched with pride as he pulled out his guitar at a party one day, perfectly executing the tricky song.

Eddie looked just as excited to perform it tonight as he did back then. And no one was even looking. I glare at everyone around the bar, they're all just chatting or watching the muted TV. I sigh and sit back in my chair, watching the metalhead.

Once he was finished, I walk up and put my glass on the bar before walking over to him. He's packing up.

"Can't you let that song go?" I ask with my hands in my pocket, startling him.

He looks up at me and smirks. "Stevie." He says standing up and moving closer. "Enjoy the show?" He teases.

"Not really. What was that?" I say disinterested.

He rolls his eyes and turns back to his guitar. "What was what?" He asks.

I shrug. "I don't know. I've never seen you so..." I pause. "Where was your stage presence? Your confidence? Why the fuck was The Eddie Munson playing Nickleback?" I sigh.

He turns back to me and sighs back. "It's the job man."

I look around. "You want to play for these people who didn't even bat an eye when you flawlessly performed the entirety of Master of Puppets by yourself?"

He shrugs. "As you said, I'm a one-trick pony. They're probably used to it by now."

I frown. "Haven't you only been here for like two weeks?"

"Steve, I've been working here for a year. Twice a week. I only just moved into the apartment, but even then, I've been there a month." He says seriously.

"You mean you've been in town this whole time and I didn't even know?" I shake my head in disbelief.

He chuckles lightly. "To be fair, I didn't know you were here either. But we can definitely make up for lost time, big boy." He says winking with a smirk.

I roll my eyes. "You're not funny Munson."

He stands up and steps closer again, grabbing my elbows and smiling. "I don't know, Stevie; I've always thought you had a little crush on me." He teases. "I mean, I wouldn't be caught dead with you in Hawkins. I had a reputation and all that, but we're not in Hawkins anymore." He says leaning in and whispering the last part.

I take a step back and take my hands out of my pockets. "Hey, relax." I say putting my hands up, blushing slightly.

He sighs and pushes his mess of hair out of his face. "Then why are you here?"

I shrug again. "I was walking home and thought I should pay you back for chasing away my customers but I guess I didn't need to. I mean they made you play Nickleback." I whisper chuckling.

He rolls his eyes. "Hey, at least it's not like Taylor Swift or something. It's close enough to rock for now. Plus you didn't have to stay for the whole show. Were you worried about me?" He smirks.

"Oh yeah, deeply." I say sarcastically. I turn to walk away. "I'm gonna tell Dustin about this."

"Wait, Steve." He steps in front of me. He smiles. "I don't care what that twerp or anyone else thinks. But, did you actually enjoy the show? I mean, it was probably more your kinda speed, right?"

I sigh and look at him. "No, I was too distracted by how uncomfortable you looked." I say honestly.

He puts his hand over his heart and smiles. "You do care."

"I'm going home now Eddie." I say pushing past him.

"What no kiss goodbye, Stevie boy?" He teases. I just flip him off and walk away. I can hear him chuckle. "Love you too." He jokes before turning back to his equipment.

Surprisingly the next day, no music was played. My regulars pointed it out; I hadn't even noticed that normally, at this hour, we'd be three hours deep of metal music.

I sigh as the store empties once more, almost time for my afternoon coffee break when I hear the door open and see the culprit of my pain.

"Stevie!" He coos walking over to the counter.

I sigh and sit down. "What do you want Eddie?"

He leans his face closer to mine. "Is that any way to speak to a customer?" He says faking offence.

"I didn't know you knew how to read." I say bluntly. "I mean you were a senior for three years."

This time he actually gasps. "Okay, hurtful." He frowns. "I thought I'd check out this place, since you know I live above it." He says looking around. "Is the store empty right now?"

I nod as he looks back at me. "We normally have a dead period in the afternoon before the afternoon rush."

"Oh yeah, you said something about coffee when you came to yell at me that day. Am I interrupting your break?" He asks leaning further into the counter.

I look up at the clock. "I guess not. It's not a required break."

"Why don't you come up to my place for a coffee? I mean, I only have instant; I hope your rich taste buds don't mind." He chuckles.

I roll my eyes. "I guess, but technically, it's not time for my break yet. We sometimes get a customer around now on her rush home from school. I tend to wait for her."

"Oh? Is she cute?" He asks, not quite sounding like teasing.

I chuckle and shake my head. "She's adorable but it's not like that. She's twelve."

"A little young, don't you think, dude." He says the teasing back in his voice. I roll my eyes. He taps the counter and stands up. "Alright, I'll take a look around then while we wait." He says, walking down an aisle.

The girl does come in, about three minutes later. "Stevie!" She cheers excitedly. "Is it here?" She asks looking up at me.

I chuckle and grab a fresh out-of-the-box next volume of the manga she's been reading, holding it up for her.

"Yes!" She cheers. "I just finished the last one and I couldn't wait to get here. Oh my gosh, it's so cool. And Nekoma did this thing where-" She pauses in surprise.

I look over at Eddie, who's now leaning against the counter again, smiling at her. "Eddie, you're scaring her."

"You know him?" She whispers.

I sigh and nod. "We went to school together." I whisper back.

She smiles. "Hi, Stevie's friend." She says waving.

He puts his hand on his heart and pouts jokingly. "I thought I was the only one who called you Stevie!"

She giggles and looks at her phone. "Oops, I gotta go home. I'll tell you all about it later." She says slamming her money on the counter, exact change like always. "Bye Stevie, bye Stevie's friend." She says rushing out.

"Well, she's lively." He chuckles.

"Exactly. But you see why I had to wait for her?" I say getting ready to close the shop for a while.

He nods and moves to the door. "So, you coming for that coffee?"

"Yeah, sure." I say, grabbing my sign and hanging it on the door. "Let's go." I hold the door open for him and let him walk through it before turning off the lights and locking the door behind us.

We walk down the alley and up his stairs before he opens the door for me. "This way." He mumbles.

The apartment was weirdly separated. A dark hallway with a door on either side, bedroom and bathroom I'm guessing, that opens up into a kitchen/lounge area. He leads me into the kitchen and starts making the coffee straight away.

I walk over to the big window. "Wow, the street looks so different up here."

I can feel him roll his eyes. "Stevie... Don't act like you're sheltered. It's not that impressive." He sighs. "Sugar?"

"Uh, yeah. Two please." I say turning back to walk to him.

"Here." He hands over the cup and takes a sip of his own.

I take a sip and sigh happily.

"Dude, you're being really dramatic today." He says putting his mug on the counter before jumping to sit next to it, picking it up once more.

I shrug. "Coffee is coffee; as long as it's not burnt, it's good."

He chuckles. "You know, I think this town has made you a completely different person."

I look at him and shake my head. "Nah, it's just no one here knows me. I can just be myself without disgracing my family name."

"I know you." He mumbles looking down into his coffee.

I shrug. "True, but you never really cared about stuff like that. And you know how I was with the kids, can't really hide that from you." I say taking another sip.

He chuckles again. "Why a bookstore? Doesn't really seem like a Steve Harrington thing to do."

I shrug again. "It was originally just so I could get my footing in town, but the owner is old, and I'm the only employee now. Plus I couldn't leave my regulars without their reads."

"You've gone soft." He mumbles looking up at me through his hair, cup hovering in front of his face like he's trying to warm up.

"That wasn't because of the town." I say referring back to our mutual younger friends.

He laughs and pushes his hair out of his face, placing the cup down. "You would have so bullied yourself back in school."

I shake my head. "I'm a different man now. I bet I could probably beat the shit out of that Steve though." I say proudly.

He laughs again. "Yeah, King Steve was a pussy."

He reaches over and grabs my shirt pulling me closer. I stumble slightly but let him till I'm standing between his legs, putting my mug down next to his so as not to spill it on him.

He puts his arms around my neck. "I wasn't joking about making up for lost time." He says softly looking into my eyes.

I blush lightly remembering his teasing from last night. "Oh. Yeah, I mean..." I say looking away.

He sighs. "I wanted you to come yell at me again. If someone else came to tell me to turn it down, I probably would have, but I wanted to annoy you." He says ignoring the fact I didn't really respond to him.

"Eddie, I-"

He makes a face and starts talking. "I know Steve. Imagine that, the Freak is in love with his tormenter, the King. It's dumb. But I'm being serious, not flirting just to mess with you like always."

I look at him with a blank face. "Was this your plan the whole time? Did you legitimately go down to the store just to ask me to have coffee with you so you could confess like some high school girl?"

He grins. "You don't seem mad." He gently runs his cold fingertips through the hair at the base of my neck. "You also never denied having a crush on me."

I sigh and roll my eyes. "I think you're the tormenter now." I rest my hands on either side of his hips.

He leans in and smirks. "You are avoiding the main topic here." He teases.

"Yes, I am." I say truthfully. "Are you going to stop being obnoxious with your practice?"

He shrugs. "Are you going to admit you like me back?" I shrug mimicking him, causing him to chuckle. "Fine, yes. I'll keep it down, and only play during your slow portion of the day. But only if you have coffee here every day instead of going to the coffee shop."

"But the coffee shop has better coffee." I whine jokingly.

He gasps. "What happened to 'coffee is coffee'?"

"That was before I realised this was a trap." I say shaking my head.

"Steve! Stop avoiding it." He whines, I'm unsure if his pout is legitimate or not.

"Fine, but not every day." I sigh.

He grumbles. "Steve." He pulls on my hair.

I frown. "Fine, yes. Whatever, I like you too."

He smiles again and pulls my face closer. "Gotcha now, big boy." He whispers against my lips.

I roll my eyes but lean in to kiss him properly, a short but sweet kiss. I pull back and chuckle. "I'm not coming here for coffee every day." I whisper.

He pouts and sighs. "Okay fine." His fingers continue to brush through the hairs on my neck.

"Your hands are cold. Are you nervous?" I ask.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Maybe a little but they've always been cold."

"I bet the rings don't help with that."

"The rings are purely aesthetic. And... Maybe I've heard that some people like the feeling of ring-adorned hands on their bare skin." He says in a sultry voice.

I chuckle. "You keep your deathly cold hands away from my bare skin."

"Or what?" He asks smirking as he moves his hands from my neck.

I grab his wrists stopping him as his fingers reach the bottom hem of my shirt. I pull his hands away as he laughs.

"I'm serious Eddie. It's like you're made of ice." I joke.

He shrugs and rips his wrists out of my grasp and wraps his arms around my waist. "And you're like a portable heater. You can warm me up." He smiles, pulling me impossibly closer.

I rest my arms on his shoulders. "You're very clingy."

"I know." He smirks before moving his hand under my shirt.

I jump slightly and lean into his chest to get away from his hand. "Dude, you suck." I say. I rest my head down into the crook of his neck as my skin slowly adjusts to the coldness pressed to my back.

He chuckles. "Oh, I can do more than just that, Stevie boy." He teases.

I blush. "Shut up." I mumble.

He rubs my back with a soft chuckle. "Come on, our coffees are going cold, and you've gotta get back to work, right?"

I sigh and nod, leaning back. My arms are still on his shoulders; I lean in to peck his lips one last time before he lets go of me, and I back up, grabbing my coffee. I sip my coffee and lean against the counter next to him.

"You seriously don't want to come here every day?" He asks his mug back in front of his face.

I laugh. "Don't pout, I just have to keep a professional relationship with the coffee shop. We have a lot of the same customers and advertise for each other. It's expected of me to go there. Plus then you don't have to make me coffee."

He fakes gasps. "What's wrong with my coffee?"

I take a sip. "Well, my rich taste buds just aren't used to instant coffee." I joke.

He pushes me gently. "Ha ha very funny." He rolls his eyes.