Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

🏀 Steve 😎 

“I just want to know who he’s texting!” Steve groans, shoving his phone back in his pocket and crossing his arms over his chest.  

“Are we ready to admit we’re jealous?” Robin asks, absentmindedly playing with Steve’s hair.  They’re sharing a lounge chair by the pool.  Across from them, Eddie basks in the shade of an enormous umbrella.  He keeps glancing at his phone and grinning, occasionally texting back to whoever is on the other end, before plopping his head back down on the rolled towel he’s using as a pillow.  

“I am not jealous! I’m just worried! What if this new guy is just stringing Eddie along? They haven’t met in person yet, I don’t think.  What if they’re a catfish?!”

“It’s not your problem,” Robin says.  

“He’s my friend, it is too my problem!”

“Steve,” she starts. 

“He’s fragile, ok? I know he doesn’t act like it, but he is.”

His own phone buzzes at him and he snatches it. 

           Eds: yes, mom, i put sunscreen on

He snorts, rolling his eyes. 

           Steve: took u long enough 2 respond, asshole

           Eds: srry, fell asleep for a sec there

He snorts softly again, before shoving his phone in the beach bag.  He hadn’t noticed Eddie dozing off, but it was kind of hard to tell since he was wearing sunglasses, and his dark eyes were nearly invisible behind the lenses. 

“Dingus,” Robin mutters under her breath for absolutely no reason before flopping down behind him, legs straddling either side of his torso. 

He reaches up and pats his head, Robin had somehow managed to braid his hair into two pigtails.  He needed to add getting a haircut to his to-do list, apparently. 

🎺 Robin 🙄

She loves this idiot, she really truly does, but my god, sometimes he’s such an idiot it’s almost painful. 

Ever since the world almost ended and then didn’t, things have gone back to a new normal.  The kids are enjoying the end of summer break, as is Eddie, and she and Steve are set to work at the new batting cages/mini golf course they’re building where Starcourt once stood.  There’s rumor the new facility will have an arcade too, and Steve’s been trying to convince Eddie to take a shift there.  Of course, he won’t say it’s because he can’t bear to be apart from Eddie these days. He thinks she hasn’t noticed, but he forgets she can practically read his mind.

Case in point:

“I think Eddie would cry if you cut it, Dingus.”

“Wha-”

“You know I’m right.”

“Eddie doesn’t care about my hair that much, Robs.”

“Hmph.” 

She reaches up and swats the back of his head. 

“Now I’m gonna cut it just out of spite.”

“And I’ll help,” she replies flatly, closing her eyes and trying to pretend they’re at the beach instead of the Harrington’s pool. 

The last thing she hears before she drifts off is Steve, once again, lamenting over the fact that Eddie’s texting someone else.  

If only he wasn’t so stupid. 

🎸 Eddie 🦇

Turns out it’s a lot harder to get turned into a vampire than they make it seem in the movies.  Being chomped on by half a dozen bats isn’t enough to merit shiny new fangs and leathery wings, bummer.  But he’s, unfortunately, always had the pale, ghostly, skin.  

Unlike Steve, that stupidly beautiful God. 

So he sulks under the umbrella while the kids splash about and Steve absorbs the sun like a house cat. Behind him Robin dozes off.  But Steve’s on high alert, as always.  The only time his eyes leave the pool is to look at his phone. 

           Eddie: pizza?

           Steevee: doordash? 

          Steevee: don’t wanna get up 

He grins to himself before texting back, knowing damn well it’s not laziness keeping Steve glued to his seat. 

           Eddie: yeah, toppings?

          Steevee: robbie says pepperoni, i second that motion

           Eddie: booorrringgg

          Steevee: 🙄

           Eddie: fine 🍕🤤

           Eddie: anything 4 u big boy 😉

He watches as Steve reads his response and chuckles.  Then he watches the way Steve’s hair swishes around his shoulders as he shakes it out of Robin’s pigtail braids.  Then he watches the way the long line of his torso moves so fluidly as he dives into the pool, showering all of them with the spray. 

           Eddie: asshole

Chapter Text

🎺 Robin 🙄

“This is such a fucking relief,” Eddie sighs, slouching even further down in the deck chair he’s reclining in.  

The three of them, Steve, her, and Eddie, are camped out on the Munsons’ back porch.  It’s a tiny little thing, probably not meant for more than one person, but they’ve shoved three chairs and a boombox onto it anyhow.  

“I know, you’ve been whining about this for months,” she says, snatching the joint from his grasp. 

Steve’s in the bathroom; claimed he just had to pee, but is no doubt also fixing his stupid hair.  If this was the fucking 80s, Steve would be the guy who single-handedly destroyed the ozone layer with his hairspray usage.  Which, thank god it wasn’t; she probably wouldn’t be his best friend if he reeked of hairspray all the damn time.  She’s sensitive to perfumes, ok? 

“With Gareth moving, we were totally fucked,” Eddie says, like she hasn’t already heard this lament fifty times. “I know Tory is gonna be great, but, meeting with him in person is just gonna solidify it.”

She just hums in response, letting smoke slip through her lips as she does.  

The night is cool and quiet around them.  The oppressive summer heat is slowly waning, and taking the unrelenting humidity levels with it.  Pretty soon, it’ll be fall, and she’ll be handing out clubs and balls to sticky-fingered children while wearing a pea-green colored polo.  And she thought her Scoops uniform was unflattering.  The one for Bat-a-Rama was even fucking worse. 

“He looks good in green,” Eddie muses, somehow having synced to her and Steve’s hive mind.

She feigns a gag. 

“He looks good in any color.”

“Yeah, and if you weren’t so chicken shit, you’d-”

Eddie interrupts her by tipping his chair too far back and smacking his head on the siding.  As if on cue, Steve appears at the screen door. 

“What the fuck man? I leave for four seconds and you give yourself a concussion.”

“You were gone for like an hour,” Robin groans.

The conversation, as it is wont to do, devolves into a catfight.  

🏀 Steve 😎

“What the fuck kind of name is Tory?”

“A perfectly normal, unisex, human, name,” she groans.

“What decade is this? The 1980s? No one is named Tory!”

“Victoria Benson went by Tory, she was in our homeroom junior year.”

“Yeah, but no one is just named Tory,” Steve huffs. 

“Tory Belleci is named Tory,” she offers.

Steve rolls his eyes and huffs, annoyed. “Do not try to out Myth Buster’s knowledge me, Robin.  His full name is Salvatore.”

He finishes Lysol wiping another bat and aggressively slides it onto the rack behind him.  The stupid batting cages aren’t even done being built yet, but Keith (yeah, the same fucking sleazy guy) demanded they show up early to quote, “Learn the ropes, get the feel of the place, that kind of thing.”  What he really meant was show up and perform slave labor so they could meet their deadline for opening day, since, pretty much nothing was done. 

“Tory wasn’t even popularized until the mid-90s anyway,” Robin says, thrusting her phone into his face so he can see the Google tab she has pulled up. “Why are you even bothering to clean those? No one has even used them yet.”

He just waves her and her phone off and wipes down another bat. Cleanliness is important, ok? 

“I bet Tory doesn’t have OCD tendencies,” Robin chides.

“Tory can suck my dick,” he huffs, racking the next bat with a satisfying clank.

“Maybe he’d like that.” Robin narrows her eyes at him. “Maybe he and Eddie could take turns.”

“Oh and I was the bully in high school!”

Robin shrugs and reclines back in her chair.

“You could help you know,” he huffs. 

“I could,” she huffs back, “But this is stupid, and I don’t want to.”

🎸 Eddie 🦇

           Eddie: is it just me or is steve being weird?

           Rob🧟‍♀️: more than usual or??

           Eddie: u know what i mean

           Rob🧟‍♀️: did u tell him how it went with tory?

           Eddie: no? was i supposed 2?

           Rob🧟‍♀️: i just figured u 2 talk all the damn time

           Eddie: i mean we do

           Eddie: but like, not about band stuff, u kno? Not his thing

           Rob🧟‍♀️: ok but what if it was

           Eddie: 🤨

He could use a smoke, he thinks, chucking his phone onto the bed.  He’s trying to quit, after all it’s the 21st Century, and it’s not exactly cool anymore.  Not that he’s cool.  With his style modeled after all the great rockers of the 80s that he grew up listening to.  His uncle Wayne was a big fan; which was hilarious given the man wore white tube socks almost up to his knees and the chunkiest Nike sneakers known to man.  I mean, the guy was enough of a fan that he named Eddie after Eddie van Halen. Thank god they let Wayne pick a new name when he took custody, since his bio mother (Wayne’s sister) wanted to call him Brad, ew. 

He picks up his phone again, thinking maybe he’ll play Candy Crush until he falls asleep.  Steve and Robin are somehow at work, so he’s bored. 

           Eddie: did u no i was named brad when i was born

           Steevee: y would i know that about u?

           Eddie: i swear i told u

           Steevee: then y r u asking if i know?

           Eddie: … ok, fair point

           Eddie: but like, can u see me being named brad?

           Steevee: who is tory?

Huh??? Way to topic shift, man.  

           Eddie: drummer i met in indy

           Steevee: is he cute?

Uh-huh, so that’s what this was about.  Steve wanted to know if he could date Tory, figures.  Guy could have anyone he wanted and he was going to go for Eddie’s new drummer, before the guy had even agreed to join Corroded Coffin full-time. And no, he wasn’t mad about Steve wanting to date Tory because he was jealous or anything.  It was more like, what if Steve killed Tory’s vibe or something?

           Eddie: i think he’s a techno goth or something, not ur type

That was a total lie, Tory was a metalhead through and through. But there was a little piece of him that wanted to cut the Steve-to-Tory pipeline off here, and so that’s what he was going to do.

Chapter Text

🎺 Robin 🙄

“Stephen, sit down.” She hates having to use her growly mean voice with him, but sometimes she’s left with no choice.

Steve looks at her in the reflection of the mirror where he’s poised to do something dumb, one hand on his hip and one clutching a weft of pink hair extensions. 

“I can’t let Eddie think I hate his new boyfriend just because he’s a techno goth!” 

With an exasperated groan she throws herself down on Steve’s bed, burying her face in his memory foam pillow and using it to suppress her strangled screech. 

“He needs to know I’m an ally!”

“Stephen! Eddie knows you’re gay, so how would he think you’re anything but an ally?” 

“I don’t know!” 

He flaps his arms, the pink hair in his fist waving like a vestigial tail. 

“He made a point to tell me Tory wasn’t my type, why would he say that if he didn’t think I’d have an issue with how Tory dresses?” 

“Maybe he doesn’t want you to think Tory dresses nicely.”

Poor Steve, his face scrunches up in confusion as he mulls that over.  It’s like watching an old PC reboot after an update.  

“Did Eddie tell you how he met Tory?”

“He’s a drummer from Indy, that’s all I know.”

“Who is joining Eddie’s band,” she says slowly, “To fill in for Gareth, who’s moving to Wyoming.  And is Eddie dating Gareth?”

“No! Don’t be ridiculous, they’re just best friends and bandmates.”

“Ok, so, why are you assuming Eddie’s dating Tory?” 

Steve doesn’t answer, just lets out a disgruntled noise and flails his arms again before falling face-first onto the bed next to her. 

“If he’s not dating Tory, then who is the mystery man he’s always texting?! Whoever it is, Eddie’s obviously smitten; he’s always doing that crinkly-eyed smile at his stupid phone.”

“I don’t know, Stephen,” she groans, “Maybe you should just ask him.”

“I don’t want him to think I’m being weird about it.”

“It’s a little late for that,” she huffs, pulling his ridiculously thick duvet over her face and pretending she’s a caterpillar. Being turned into goop and emerging as a beautiful butterfly sounds mighty appealing right this moment. 

🎸 Eddie 🦇

          Garth Brooks: wyoming sucks balls, i miss indiana

          Garth Brooks: words i never thought i would say 

          Eddie: nooo i wanted u to come back n take me with u, i’m dying here

          Garth Brooks: y??? is tory actually a piece of 💩???

          Eddie: no, tory is fine, it’s… steve

          Garth Brooks: fuck

          Eddie: yeah

          Garth Brooks: so u told him?

          Eddie: fuck no

          Garth Brooks: so????

          Eddie: he thinks me n tor are a thing…

          Garth Brooks: fuuucck

          Eddie: yeeahhhh…

          Garth Brooks: 

          Eddie: u know what? I don’t miss u, fuck off

          Garth Brooks: 

🏀 Steve 😎

He’d styled his hair exactly the same way for six years and yet today he couldn’t seem to get it to look right.  It was like his fingers didn’t remember how to sweep the pomade through his strands and get it to hold his locks up how he wanted them.  He briefly considered hacking at it with the craft scissors in his desk drawer, but decided that was likely a terrible plan, and chose to FaceTime Robin instead. 

“I need help.”

“Good morning to you too, assbutt.”

“I look like a drowned rat.”

Robin squints at him. 

“How am I supposed to confidently ask Eddie about his boyfriend later if I look like this?!”

“You look the same as always,” Robin sighs.

“I do not! It’s too… floppy!” He gestures wildly at his hair with his free hand.

“Put a hat on?” Robin suggests, yawning. 

“Robin Michelle Buckley, absolutely not.”

“You are such a drama queen, geez.  It’s a wonder no one ever pegs you as gay the moment you open your mouth.”

“That’s homophobic, Robin.”

She squints at him again. 

“What do I do?!”

“I’m patching in an expert,” Robin says.

“Wait, what-”

He barely has time to react before Eddie’s face pops up next to Robin’s on his screen. 

“What the fuck?” Eddie groans, bleary-eyed and beadheaded. 

“Yeah, Robin! What the fuck!”

Robin just shrugs and hangs up, leaving the two boys staring at each other. 

“What’s going on, Stevie?” Eddie asks finally. 

“I have to leave for work in twenty minutes and my hair isn’t cooperating,” he says lamely. 

“Fucking fuck,” Eddie groans, “I have to go to school because I’m a delinquent and you’re cutting into my beauty sleep, for that?”

“To be fair, Robin called you.”

“Put a hat on!”

“Absolutely not!”

He hangs up on Eddie and decides to just leave it the way it fucking is because he can’t be damned to try and fix it again.

When he gets to work for his first official shift and has to wear a beret, Robin is gleeful.

Chapter Text

🏀 Steve 😎

It turns out that Tory is…. gorgeous. He Googled what techno goths looked like, and this? This guy is not that.  

No, were it not for Eddie, Tory would be Steve’s wet dream and worst nightmare.  

He could understand why Eddie was trying to buck him off the trail, because it only made sense that Tory should end up with someone like Eddie. 

Brown almost black hair, curled just so, bright green eyes fringed with full lashes, and plump lips decorated with a thin silver hoop to each side. 

Yeah, Steve got it.  

Didn’t mean he wasn’t a little hurt, though. 

“I thought you said Tory was ugly,” he hisses under his breath, bouncing on his toes next to Eddie.  

Eddie, who, as usual, needed a ride to band practice, because his van was once again on the fritz. 

“I assure you that’s not what I said,” Eddie shoots back. 

“You could have just said he was your type, not like I’m going to try and snag him from you.”

Eddie groans, “Can we not have this conversation here?” 

“Why? Afraid Tory will overhear-”

“Overhear what?” Tory asks.

When had he stepped away from the rest of the band??

“Hey! You guys ready to pick back up again?”

Eddie stubs his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe and looks at Tory expectantly. 

“Oh come on, man,” Tory says, shoulders sagging, “I want in on the convo, I hate feeling like an outsider.”

“I’m just trying to figure out who Eddie’s mystery man is,” Steve blurts before he can help himself. 

And Tory? Tory does something Steve didn’t see coming at all: he doubles over and laughs.

🎸 Eddie 🦇

A silent plea to the sky doesn’t change his situation: he’s still stuck in Jeff’s parents’ garage, listening to the laughter pour out of Tory’s stupid mouth, because Tory knows. 

Pretty much everyone knows.  

He’s never been that subtle.  A coward? Sure. A prick? Absolutely. But subtle? Not one of his main traits. 

“What’s so funny?” Steve demands, hands on his hips, right eyebrow cocked to the heavens. 

“You’re hilarious, man,” Tory says, slapping Steve’s shoulder. 

“Yeah yeah, that’s why we keep him around.  Which, not to contradict myself, but you can go now Steve.  I know you have better things to do than stand there and listen to us for another hour.”

“I-”

“Have so much to do! I know!”

He all but shoves Steve toward his car, hoping and praying Tory has read the situation and keeps his stupid mouth shut until he leaves. 

“I really don’t mind waiting,” Steve says, expression slightly wounded. 

“I know,” Eddie says, “I um… I just need to talk to the guys, ok?” 

Steve’s eyebrow is arched again, but he nods. 

Eddie watches the Beemer pull away before turning back toward his bandmates.  He makes sure to shoulder check Tory on his way over to his guitar.  

“What the fuck man?” Tory grumbles. 

“Rule number one of band practice: we don’t talk about Steve,” Jeff warns. 

“As if it’s not fucking obvious,” Tory mutters, plopping back down on his stool. 

Eddie, very maturely, resists the urge to impale said drummer with one of his sticks. 

🎺 Robin 🙄

Four pencils, four little slips of paper, check and check.

“Ok, there you go!” She says cheerily to the kids in front of the desk. Once their backs are turned, she slouches and peers at Steve through the archway into the other room. 

          Robin: walk me thru it again

          Dingus: there’s nothing else to explain, robs 

          Dingus: he just kicked me out, it was so weird! 

          Dingus: it’s not like i said anything that bad, tory thought i was joking 4 some reason 

          Robin: so eddie still hasn’t told you who he’s been texting

She sighs to, wishing she could just fucking tell him herself. 

          Dingus: no! How come everyone but me gets 2 kno???

          Robin: maybe he’s embarrassed? 

          Dingus: eddie? Embarrassed? Haha

Another family comes in and she sets her phone down to tend to them.  The little girl picks a neon green colored ball and Robin beams at her choice. 

“That one is my favorite too,” Robin says, handing her the little golf pencil for her score sheet. The kid is probably not old enough to keep track on her own, but, whatever. 

“Kenzi, if I get pink then we have Cosmo and Wanda balls!” her little brother says excitedly. 

And hell if that doesn’t make her grin even wider.

          Robin: stevie is an average kid, that no one understands

          Dingus: thanks so much for getting that stuck in my head

          Robin: u kno u love me

She looks at him through the archway again and notes his slouched shoulders.  Poor guy. 

          Robin: he thinks u r mad at him, pls fix this, just FUCKING tell him!

          Eddie: what good is it going 2 do me? it’s not like that 4 him 

          Robin: i keep trying to 2 tell u, i think ud be surprised 

          Eddie: if he wanted 2 make a move he would have, he’s steve fucking harrington

          Robin: 🙄

          Robin: u and i both know who he really is

          Eddie: yeah, and thts exactly y i really don’t want to lose him

Chapter Text

🎺 Robin 🙄

Eddie may have been worried about losing Steve as a friend if he admitted his crush, but she wasn’t the least bit worried about losing both of them as friends.   It was starting to feel like dying at the hands of slimy Russian spies might have been a more humane death than this.  The slow, painful, dredge of whining she was having to endure.  Summer was well over, leaves crunched underfoot, and she should have been indulging in fair foods and enjoying the crisp air.  But instead she was stuck inside at work, or stuck inside at Steve’s, or stuck on the Munson’s too-small deck.  With either one or both of the whiney twats she originally thought were her ride or dies.  Now it was the latter only. 

“What’d that pencil do to you, Bucks?” 

Eddie snaps her out of her embroiled thoughts by showing up at her desk.  She glances at the tiny yellow pencil that’s threatening to snap in her grasp and drops it with a sigh. 

“What do you want, Eddie?” 

“Just thought I’d check out this fine establishment for myself,” he muses, tapping one shoe against the rack of child-sized clubs. 

“Eddie, you’ve been here every weekend since we opened.  And once before that.”

Eddie just rolls his eyes and starts tampering with the gumball machine. 

“What do you want?” she repeats. 

“I can’t visit my favorite employee?”

“Steve is your favorite employee, try again.”

“I uh,” Eddie scans the room for any excuse but comes up empty.

“Edward William-”

“It’s-”

“Edward Whateverthefuck Munson, I really don’t want to have to do this, but you two are driving me fucking nuts.  If you don’t stop prevaricating around each other, I will sign you up for Grindr and-”

“You wouldn’t dare! You know I have eyes for one man and one man only! And Steve cannot find out!”

Someone behind them clears their throat, and she thinks it's Keith, so she prepares herself for the lecture about ‘not working at work, but then she notices the way Eddie’s eyes light up and-

“You’re supposed to be off today, Steve,” she says over her shoulder. 

“Yeah but Allie called out sick, so here I am.”

“I was just going,” Eddie sputters. 

“So you’re just never going to tell me who he is,” Steve sighs, “Robin gets to know, even fucking Tory knows, but not me.  What’d I do, Eds?  You know I’m not going to make fun of you.”

“You most definitely will,” Eddie sighs. 

“Can we not do this in my lobby?” Robin asks. 

“It’s here or not at all,” Steve huffs. 

🎸 Eddie 🦇

He should have seen this coming.  Robin had warned him that Steve was getting more mad than sad about his theory that Eddie was seeing some secret guy on the side.  He kept trying to look at Eddie’s phone and see who he was texting.  Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else.  There never would be, probably. 

Because if he had it his way, Steve would never know he was the one making Eddie smile like an idiot at all hours of the day.  And Eddie would go on being miserably, and secretly, in love with his best friend.  The idea of ruining their friendship over the possibility of fornicating just didn’t compute for him. 

“It’s not just you, Steve, Wayne doesn’t know either.”

Robin scoffs at him, which, fair, because that was a blatant lie. 

Steve’s arms are crossed so tightly over his putridly colored polo that the sleeves look ready to rip off at the seams.  An image of Steve in one of his muscle tees flits through his mind but he shakes it off, because sharing clothes isn’t something they’ll ever do. 

“You know what? Fine.  I’ll go back to having one friend.  Maybe that’s all I deserve.”

“Steve-”

“How am I supposed to be your friend if you don’t trust me! I just want to support you, Eds.  And instead I feel like there’s this wedge between us, and I don’t even know why, because up until Tory showed up I thought we had a really good thing.”

Tory, who had put a name to a face that didn’t exist.  Because again, there was no mystery man.  

There was only Steve. 

“So should I just lock the door and put the closed sign up?” Robin asks, clearly not wanting to participate in their unrequited lovers’ quarrel. 

“Robin,” Steve hisses, “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side here?”

Robin sets her hands on her hips.

“I refuse to be on the losing team, and that means I can’t be on either side of this.  Figure your shit out or go away! And people say women are dramatic!”

He shifts nervously from one foot to the other.  His gaze flicks between the two of them.  His best friends are arguing with each other, he’s arguing with them, and over what?  He’s worried about losing Steve, but he is losing Steve. 

Swallowing hard, he reaches into his pocket and fishes out his phone. 

“You want to know who I’ve been texting? Fine. Go ahead and look. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

🏀 Steve 😎

He really hadn’t meant to cause a scene in the middle of Bat-a-Rama.  But stupid Allie called in sick, and so he got woken up by Keith, and he was in a mood.  

Robin was supposed to fix it, but he’d walked into his fortress of solitude and been surprised with Eddie, who was currently his arch nemesis. 

He kind of feels bad about snapping at the guy, because he’s got this pained, kicked dog-esque look on his face.  His outstretched hand is shaking, threatening to drop his already beat-up phone.

“Fine,” he says, snatching it from Eddie’s grasp.  May as well get this over with, right?

At first, there isn’t anything in Eddie’s saved messages that clears up the matter at hand.  All of his texts are from the usual suspects: Hellcheer, his bandmates, Wayne, his cousin Frank, Argyle, him, and Robin.  

But then he clicks on the text chain with Robin and he’s even more confused. 

          Rob🧟‍♀️: i don’t know why u think steve would be anything other than flattered

          Eddie: if he was going to make a move he would have

          Rob🧟‍♀️: no bc he’s as chicken as u are. come on eds, this is ur chance to grow a pair

          Eddie: the munsons are not known for having large cajones

          Rob🧟‍♀️: i didn’t need to know that

“See?” Eddie says, twisting a lock of hair in front of his face. 

“I don’t… I don’t get it.  Where are all of your other messages? What the fuck is Robin talking about? What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” 

“No!”

“You’re the mystery guy, Steve.  You happy now?  I fell in love with my best friend, and I know that’s fucking weird, and I didn’t want you to find out.  Ok??”

He can feel his jaw overextending as the words pour out of Eddie’s mouth.  Because as much as it’s adding up, it also isn’t adding up at all. 

“You-you love me?” He asks dumbly. 

“Miserably so,” Eddie says before stuffing a curl in his mouth. 

“But you’re always texting… someone who makes you smile like, like-”

“Like they’re my whole world? Yeah. Because they are. You are.”

Chapter Text

🎸 Eddie 🦇

Ok, so, in retrospect, he could have tapped the brakes just a little bit.  But in his defense, he’d been keeping in his feelings for Steve for so long that when the dam broke, it busted. 

So much so that the force of it all turned Steve into a myotonic Capra aegagrus hircus.

Which could have been cute, flattering even, were it not for Steve’s prior concussions.  CTE is not a romantic gift for a loved one. 

Robin, so unmotherly and yet so devoted, reminds him as much on the way to visit Steve in the hospital.

“If he starts losing his shit that’s on you,” Robin says with a scowl. 

“Gee thanks, Robs.  Not like you’re not to blame here at all. You’re the one who kept pressuring me to tell him!” 

“Yeah! Like, sit him down, tell him how you feel, Lady and the Tramp some pasta, smooch, voila! Not kill him!” 

“He’s not dead!” Eddie retorts. 

“Yet!” Robin shoots back. 

Her gaze is fixed out the van’s passenger side window, but he can still feel her eyes burning into him via the reflection.  

Hawkins wizzes by them, the clusters of houses eventually giving way to the long stretch of road out of town.  They hop on the turnpike and start following the blue Hs toward Deaconess.

“Do you think he even remembers I told him?” Eddie asks as he takes their exit. 

“Dunno.” Robin shrugs.

“If he doesn’t, I’m not gonna tell him again.”

Robin reaches over and pats his thigh.

As they pull in to Lot J, he can’t help but feel like maybe it would be for the best if Steve didn’t remember…

🎺 Robin 🙄

Aren’t you supposed to feel joy when your best friends find love? 

Because Robin is feeling a lot, and none of it is joy. 

There’s a little disgust, from having to call Keith to cover the end of her shift.  

Gratitude, from Meiko immediately agreeing to cover for Steve. 

Relief, from Steve’s cousin Janelle texting that Mrs. H told her Steve’s going to be ok. 

But mostly? Mostly there’s frustration, from the months of her two best friends being idiots.

Vexation that the climax of said idiocracy resulted in one of the aforementioned best friends ending up hospitalized from pulling a Gone With the Wind-esque fainting spell, and her having to chauffeur the other aforementioned best friend to the hospital. 

Beside her, Eddie’s strangling the steering wheel like Lennie Small coping a feel.

She hasn’t told him Janelle texted; she’s letting him stew in his own anguish. 

“Are we going to go in, or did we drive her just to take a look around Deaconess’ parking lot?”

Eddie shoves a lock of hair into his mouth in lieu of answering. 

“If it's any consolation, even if he doesn’t remember you proposing, he’ll probably still remember being in love with you. So, at the very least, you’re in his good graces.”

“I didn’t propose, Buckley.  Even I know that would have been too much too soon.”

“Sure,” she sighs. 

“As if I’d propose to Steve in a mini golf lobby.”

“He’d say yes if you popped the question in a gas station bathroom, holding a paperclip.  That man is a goner for you.  No idea why, but he is.  And I can say all of that now that you’ve admitted your feelings, and Steve fainted thusly, inadvertently, admitting his.” 

Eddie nods slowly.

“Alright, come on, Romeo, let’s go check on your Julio.”

“They both die at the end, you know,” Eddie retorts, finally opening the door to get out. 

“Yeah, well, that might not be too far off for the two of you,” she sighs.  

They’ve already conquered interdimensional demons with no fatalities, surely they can conquer romantic endeavors with a similar outcome… right?

🏀 Steve 😎

He could play this one of two ways: 

Option one, feign amnesia.  He remembers nothing from today. Tada! He’s off the hook.  He can go back to pouting over Eddie Munson. 

Option two, milk this concussion for all its worth and fall into Eddie’s warm embrace.  

And while the second option sounds nice, he’s not sure it’s realistic.  Because surely there’s no way Eddie was serious.  A guy like Eddie being in love with a guy like him? Surely not.  Surely it was just meant to be an ego boost, a crumb tossed at his feet to get him to stop sulking.  

Except, there’s this tiny pellet of hope lodged in his slightly concussed brain. 

Because he’s suddenly aware of all the pet names tossed his way, and how Eddie’s knack for invading everyone's personal space seemed to be at its peak around him.  

That, and the way Tory had laughed at the suggestion Eddie was lusting after Tory himself.  

There was really only one way that was hilarious, which was if Tory wasn’t in the realm of Eddie’s type.  

Which also meant that Steve might be. 

Robin comes in after his parents and favorite cousin, Janelle, have left.  He’s glad it was still early enough in the day for visitors outside of just family.  

“Ok, tell me the truth, how bad does it look?” he asks. 

Robin squints at him. 

“My hair, Robs.  I just know it's all flat in spots from lying here, plus they checked me all over for wounds and bruising.”

“It looks like shit,” Robin says with a shrug, “You look like someone leafblowed you.”

“Oh my god,” he groans, “Fix it then?” 

“For what?” 

He can feel his mouth involuntarily frown. “Is Eddie not coming?” 

Robin barks out a laugh, which only makes him scowl.

“I just figured he might stop by!” 

“I know, I know,” Robin says gently, “He’s waiting in the hall, dingus.  Didn’t want to overwhelm you.  I didn’t tell him that the docs already gave you the all clear.”

“Robin! Why not?” 

“Because he’s put me through months of anguish listening to him bemoan about his unrequited love for you, dingus.  Which is also exactly what you’ve done, and so therefore I’m not playing hairdresser.  You can talk to the love of your life the way you’ll look when he rolls over next to you in bed for the next century.” 

“Oh that’s low,” he shoots. 

Robin just shrugs. 

“Well, can you tell him I’m fine then? I’m just waiting for them to discharge me, but they’re in the midst of shift changes.” 

“Oh lover boy!” Robin shouts toward the hallway. 

Eddie’s solemn face appears in the doorway.  

He looks like he hasn’t slept in months, which is somehow depressing and hilarious at the same time. 

When Eddie’s mournful eyes lock with his, his heart does a weird little flippy thing.  

And, fuck it, he’s not pulling the amnesia card. 

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

🎺 Robin 🙄

The ground outside is crunchy under her feet; the first frost of the year had settled in last night, leaving the air damp and cool this morning.  She never thought she’d be grateful for the goddamn tundra that her hometown became once a year, but after what they’d seen in the Upside Down? Pure white snow was a welcome sight.  

There’s absolutely no reason for her to be trudging into work right now, with the sun just barely infiltrating the sky.  People don’t mini golf when they can see their breath in the air.  But, Keith’s an idiot, and if he wants to pay her to sit in a spinny chair and play with the tiny pencils all day? Well, she’s not about to say no to an easy paycheck.  

She walks into the office to find Steve at her desk, Eddie sitting on the glass display case, a plethora of pamphlets between them. They’re so engrossed in their conversation they don’t even hear her come in.

           Robin: they’re on a mission again

           Nance in ma Pants: ffs

           Robin: i spy university of toronto in the pile

           Nance in ma Pants: are they dumb???

           Robin: uh, yes?

           Nance in ma Pants: maybe we should just tell them we already agreed on IUI

           Robin: nah, this is way more fun

           Nance in ma Pants: robin

           Robin: 🐦

           Nance in ma Pants: first of all that's a cardinal 

           Nance in ma Pants: second of all if we don’t tell them they’re gonna end up 

                                         missing the application deadline 

           Robin: would that be the worst thing 4 us??

           Nance in ma Pants: idk, would u survive without stephen?

She smirks down at her phone but she’s interrupted mid-reply by Eddie finally noticing her presence.

🎸 Eddie 🦇

“Robin! Thisbe to my Pyramus-”

“First of all, they both die.  Second of all, I’d argue you’re Thisbe.”

“Fair enough,” he says, throwing his hands up in defense.  He can tell Robin isn’t in the mood for jokes, which, he gets it.  It’s too damn early for much of anything, but Stevie needed a ride in this morning. It was nice to be on the giving end this time around.

“You can take Toronto off the list,” Robin says, unwrapping her scarf and laying it on the counter. “Really all of those.”

Steve squeezes his thigh. “What? Why?! Did you not-”

“We decided on IUI,” Robin says, “You’ve got a month to apply, dingusi.”

“Robbie I could kiss you,” he says, leaping to his feet.  He’d been dreading the idea of trudging cross-country to follow Steve wherever the next few years took him.  College hadn’t even been on the table for him, but the government hush money meant he could at least think about it.  And Steve, his sweet Steve, had pointed out that maybe Eddie could take some management classes to, “better keep the gremlins in line.”  Plus, he was sure that any campus would benefit from a DnD club, if they didn’t have one already. 

“I’d rather you didn’t, I know where your mouth has been.” Robin shudders. 

He can’t help the wicked grin that crawls over his face.  Because, yeah, she probably does.  

He’d been planning on begging at the foot of Steve’s hospital bed for his forgiveness, or praying that perhaps Steve would never remember what lead to him ending up there in the first place. But instead, Steve had him all but on his knees proposing, right there on the sterile white linoleum. 

Since then they’ve tagged all the bases and then some.  No crack or crevice unexplored. 

“You mean it?” Steve says beside him.

“Yeah, turns out Nancy doesn’t want to be that far from her ‘idiot brother’.  Plus, we’re 99% certain we’ve all got a sureshot of getting in, so, IUI it is.”

He can feel the tension leave Steve’s body.  Knowing he will be in easy driving distance from the kids has got to be a huge relief.  

“You’ll be plenty close to Wayne,” Steve murmurs. His hand finds Eddie’s and squeezes. 

“Ok, now get your ass off my display case, Munson,” Robin hollers, clapping her hands together. 

“Robin, you know no one is going to mini golf today,” Steve says haughtily. 

He stifles a laugh as Robin puts her hands on her hips, mocking Steve’s patented stance. 

“Go makeout with your boy toy at your own desk,” Robin growls, turning her gaze to Steve. 

He clasps his hands over his heart.  “Buckley! We would never disgrace these hallowed halls!”

“Mmhmm, sure,” Robin scoffs, “So we’re just not going to talk about last week when-”

🏀 Steve 😎

Robin shouldn’t even be allowed to complain about how often he and Eddie engage in PDA.  For one, she’s dating his ex-girlfriend.  And for two, it’s her own damn fault he and Eddie got together in the first place.  If she’d never encouraged him to explore his sexuality, or promised him that there was a chance Eddie reciprocated his feelings, none of this would have ever happened!

He knows she can basically read his mind, because her gaze settles on him and her mouth sets into a thin line.  

“We’re not going to talk about last week,” he says flatly. 

“Only if you’re going to stop being petty that I’m dating your lesbian ex-girlfriend.  Who you knew was a lesbian!”

Eddie looks between the two of them frantically. 

“Fine,” Steve says, folding his arms over his chest and getting up off of Robin’s stool.

“Fine,” Robin says too. 

“Uh, so, shall we reconvene at your desk, Stevie?” 

Eddie’s already on his feet, stuffing pamphlets they no longer need into his pockets.  Why he’s wearing cargo shorts when it’s fifty-something degrees out, he has no idea.  Eddie doesn’t start wearing shorts until August, and apparently refuses to retire them until the first snow. 

He chuckles to himself, helping Eddie to gather the papers, before moseying through the archway into the adjoining room.  

“So, IUI,” Eddie says, perching on the display case next to Steve’s desk. 

“IUI,” he hums, “Braniacal enough for the girls, close enough for us to not feel homesick.”

“Braniacal isn’t a word,” Eddie says, though it almost sounds like a question. 

“Hence why I didn’t include myself in that category,” he sighs. 

Eddie swings his feet, heels gently tapping the glass behind them.  Steve sets all his stuff out on his desk how he likes it, even though he’s sure no one is enough of a diehard to show up for batting practice on a day like today.  

“I’m really glad I won’t be alone next year,” Eddie says softly. 

Something catches in his throat when he looks up and sees Eddie’s bashful expression, pink cheeks partially hidden by unruly curls. 

“Me too,” he replies, “And I’m even more glad I won’t be celibate.”

Eddie’s blush fades as he barks out a laugh. 

“I can’t wait to let loose in Indy together,” Eddie says, “It’ll be different there, I bet no one will even bat an eye if we walk around hand in hand.”

“No one really does here either,” he says with a shrug.

“Yeah, but, I think it’ll be way more progressive,” Eddie starts.  

Settling onto his stool, he props his chin on one palm and his elbow on the countertop.  It’s a good thing it’s sure to be a slow day, because he’d rather sit and listen to Eddie ramble about the politics of queerness in all fifty states than hand out baseball bats any day. 

There’s no jealousy pingponging around in his heart anymore when he looks at the man before him, all chaos and ripped denim.  Now it’s only admiration and love, which, maybe it had been from the start. Hard to be jealous of someone taking something you don’t want, right? 

And yeah, he definitely wants this.