Mixed

There’s all this discourse on bi Steve that assumes that either Steve has always known or that Eddie was his awakening. But what about a dumbass Steve whose first kiss was with a guy, but he didn’t clue in until much later? In this essay, I will elaborate on…

Steve, who at age eleven is best friends with Tommy and Carol. They’ve come up with a pact to all have their first kisses with each other (Steve and Carol and Tommy and Carol, obviously), but the day before, Steve and Tommy are scared that they’ll be bad kissers and Carol will tell everyone. So the two boys decide to practice ahead of time. Of course, this is where Steve’s reputation as a Casanova starts. He just has this natural ability.

And as years pass, Steve and Tommy never really talk about it; but whenever something new comes up, they always practice before Carol. French kissing and necking and dry humping. They don’t want to blow their loads too early with their first handjobs with her, so it’s only natural that the first hands on their dicks that don’t belong to themselves are each other’s. When they’re fourteen, Tommy and Carol lose their virginity to each other and Steve fucks her right after. But it changes everything, and Carol actually wants to date Tommy. In an exclusive relationship.

Steve starts serial dating, taking first kisses and virginities all over town. None of the girls feel any different from Carol (or Tommy), so when he’s alone with Danny Mahoney in the showers after a swim meet in sophomore year and it turns into making out and sloppy handjobs, Steve doesn’t expect anything more. A mouth is a mouth and a hand is a hand, right? It’s just guys helping each other out. After all, they’re not doing anything really queer, like blowjobs or anal. At some point, Danny admits that he actually is gay. (It doesn’t bother Steve as much as he expects.)

When Steve is a junior, he starts dating Nancy Wheeler and stops fooling around with Danny (and various girls). Even though it doesn’t really count with Danny, something deep inside him tells him it does. So Steve has a proper girlfriend and doesn’t really think about anyone other than her.

And then Jonathan Byers straddles him in an alley and beats the shit out of him for calling him a queer. Steve isn’t a fan of the fists, but as he feels Byers on his hips, the clouds part and it clicks that he’s being a massive hypocrite and asshole. When all is said and done and the demogorgon is defeated, Steve still stays with Nancy. But now he knows. He’ll never tell anyone, but it really doesn’t matter what gender the other person is. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He’s in love with Nancy and they’re going to be together forever.

Months later though, Jonathan is still wary around Steve and can’t quite bring himself to trust him, despite the new camera. And Steve needs to prove that he’s changed, so makes an effort to get to know Jonathan better. And one night in April 1984, when they’re baked out of their minds in the Byers’ backyard, Steve swears that he doesn’t care if Jonathan (or anyone in his family, for that matter) is a queer, because he himself likes guys. Jonathan is the one who puts a name to what Steve is - bisexual. No one really knows what it means, but David Bowie once said that he was, and if Steve has this thing in common with Bowie, it can’t be that bad.

That winter, when Steve is suffering through a broken heart and Danny is back from Berkeley for Christmas, Steve sheepishly admits that he’s actually into guys the same as girls. Danny rolls his eyes and they fuck all winter break long. Steve is eighteen now and really doesn’t have any real friends to hang out with (at least not until he’s comfortable around Jonathan and Nancy being a couple), so he spends a few Saturday nights in spring up in Indy’s gay clubs figuring out what he likes. And he likes it all.

Well, not quite. In May, after a basketball game, Billy Hargrove corners Steve in the locker room and aggressively kisses him. He then threatens to kill him if he tells anyone. Steve believes him of course, because Billy is a fucking psychopath with issues that run a mile deep.

And no, Steve doesn’t have the chance to tell Robin about himself in the Starcourt bathroom, thanks to Dustin and Erica barging in. But once they’ve been released from the hospital, he sneaks in her window that night and tells her that he gets it.

After all, gender is such an arbitrary factor in who’s hot or not, right?

(Robin says no, boys are gross.)

Eddie and Steve are out on a little lunch date at a diner that Dustin swears up and down by, and Eddie is filming a video to send to Dustin saying that they’re there and they like the food.

He points the camera at Steve and says, “Stevie, what’s your final verdict?”

Steve, who has been distracted almost the entire video is like, “You’ve been clocked.”

“What?”

“Those girls over there. They’ve been looking at you for like, the last ten minutes,” Steve says thoughtfully and then hisses at Eddie when he turns around, “Don’t look!”

Eddie waves and then grins when they’re like ‘that’s really him!’ He tells them, “You can come and say hi if you wanna. You’re not bothering us.”

Eddie will never stop being amused by how eager fans are once you give them the go ahead. He is caught off guard but ultimately delighted when they bypass him immediately and go up to Steve like, “You teach math, right? Can you help us with our midterm?”

Lol so @artaxlivs has this post where Dustin calls Steve the Toddfather of making cookies and it sprouted a head cannon that I don't think I can shake which is that Dustin and Erica both think it's hilarious to declare Steve the Toddfather of random daily activities.

They'll say things like "When life gets you down at least you can remember you're the Toddfather of Parallel Parking."

Like they prefer to say it when Steve is doing something ridiculously corny (re: dad-like) but ultimately super caring or skillful.

And like it can be said sarcastically to indicate Steve is mediocre at something but usually its a way for them to give Steve a compliment without having to be too *gags* sincere, ya know?

So anyways here's this list I made.

Things Steve is the Toddfather Of:

I love it. I see your "Always having sunglasses" (my fav) and raise you:

Jokes on them though, Steve has never felt as loved as he does when they call him the Toddfather. And he's very aware that Erica and Dustin always find themselves standing next to Steve when there's danger. Because he's also the Toddfather of Saving the Day 💙⛵🍨

"because he's also the Toddfather of saving the day"

Yes exactly. Before all this other stuff, he was the Toddfather of

Being the Toddfather of something is akin to that feeling you get when your dad (or other hero figure) does something so mundane but you feel your chest just swell up with so much pride and love and you know 'im gonna do that this way for the rest of my life and this is the moment why'

And when Erica grows up and twists in the driver seat just so, hand on the shoulder of the other seat, so she can swivel into that parking spot, it'll be because Steve was the Toddfather at Parallel Parking so she does it like he does it every single time.

And when Dustin finally figures out that Steve's popcorn is the best because he uses a wok to pop the corn and he makes the movie theater butter because really it's just coconut oil and salt anyways, that's how he makes it himself for his own kids.

And while Scoops Troop might have the most context for the joke, you better believe the other kids get in on it.

And Will always has sunglasses in his car. El can make a perfect batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch without ever looking at a recipe. Max never forgets sunscreen, always has a towel. Lucas uses wood chips to start his charcoal on the grill and it lights beautifully every time and when Steve declares he's 'too old to roll logs', Lucas is always in charge of the campfire too.

Even Mike grows up to give the best hugs and every time someone compliments him on it, he thinks of the time Steve hugged him after their final run in with Vecnas, broad arms tight and a wide hand, stationary but firm, between his shoulder blades. And he tells them "oh yeah, my babysitter. He was the Toddfather of hugs." And he laughs and never explains the joke because it's funnier to all of them that way.

Saw the Barbie movie the other day and Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For" (click the song title to listen to it lol) hit so fuckin different good lord. Anyway, it's perfect for Steve angst with a dash of platonic Stobin and romantic Steddie fluff so ;)

---

Steve is five when he learns that he was made to keep his parents together. At least, that's why his mother made him.

He learns it one night when his father is staying late at the company (before his mother started accompanying him all the time, leaving an empty house and Steve behind; Steve can confidently say his presence did, in fact, fix their relationship: it gave them something to unite against). His mother is three large glasses of red wine in, draped inelegantly on the couch and slurring her words with a glassy film covering her eyes.

"Steven, you were supposed...supposed to make him stay," she says, her fourth glass of wine dangerously close to spilling across the white rug. "An-and he's still gone! What did we do wrong?"

Despite the use of "we," Steve knows very well (even at the age of five) that his mother means "What did you do wrong?" He doesn't have an answer for her--he never will--and that seems to be just one more thing she holds against him.

Steve is seven when he learns that he was made to keep the family name strong and respected. At least, that's why his father made him.

He learns it when his father brings him to work, his stern expression and tense shoulders telling Steve to behave himself, to be seen and not heard the entire day (he did, and it worked a little too well; after falling asleep on the couch, his father had forgotten him at work, leaving him to spend the night in the locked office). His father is sitting at his desk, expensive pen in hand and phone just hung up after a tense conversation that ended with the most genuine smile Steve has ever seen from him.

"Steven, I hope you've been paying attention today," he says, placing the pen on the desk and fixing him with a suffocating gaze. "You'll be working here one day, and I expect you to make something of yourself when you do. You're to be a model man, someone I can proudly introduce to others."

When his father says proudly, Steve knows he means that he can't do that now because Steve has yet to make something of himself. Steve nods once, says a firm but not too loud, "Yes, sir," and his father goes back to work.

I think yall are seriously underutilizing the actual "will help u without judgement" hero of the show when it comes to these sexuality discussions in fanfic.

Mr Clarke.

Like, I bet, without hesitation, Scott Clarke would help a bitch through figuring out their sexuality in a calm and safe environment.

He'd talk you through it, give you the facts, explain the differences between sexualities, and he's a man of science, he'd KNOW about them all, probably got curious one day and curiosity voyaged himself into being the actual gay yoda of Hawkins, whether he's gay or not, he just knows about it. It's just another thing he knows he can help kids with, knows he can help them feel safe and accepted.

Let's be real all the party kids have been in middle school. He'd KNOW them all, including Robin, Steve, and Eddie

Eddie doesn’t say a thing, still hidden under the blanket.

Steve, the brilliant thinker he is, pokes it, because that went so well for him the first time.

“You didn’t die, did you dude? Cause I really can’t handle someone biting it in my car. She’s my baby.”

“Shut up Harrington.” Eddie says, but it's wobbly.

The same tone Max tends to get when she’s furiously trying not to let on that she’s crying.

This leaves Steve two choices.

The first is to pull the blankets off Eddie, which will reveal him to the world at large, possibly exposing him to any passerbyers (not that anyone is likely to jog by but Steve takes no chances anymore) and very likely piss him off if not make the panic attack he’s denying having much worse-

Or, he can do what he does with the kids.

Debates for a second if this is a Henderson or Wheeler Jr situation, before landing on Wheeler. He and Eddie both have that same tendency to screech and wave their arms instead of whining and sulking.

Steve grabs the blanket, lifting it up so it covers both the floor and the seat, and then crawls under the blankets with him.

“What the fuck-” Eddie sputters, wrestling for a moment and making things difficult, until Steve manages to get into a somewhat okay position.

Chest hugging the backseat, the blanket lifted up enough that he can see Munson’s face, water bottle next to him and within reach.

Knows he looks absolutely fucking ridiculous to any passerbyer with his feet hanging out the open door.

“Hi.” Steve tells him, and wow is it crammed back here. “Thought I’d join the blanket fort."

He does not get a response.

The blanket was big enough to cover both his seat and a good chunk of the floor (purchased on purpose so as many of the gremlins could fit under it as necessary)

Red rimmed eyes stare back at him, Eddie looking all too like a cornered, feral cat.

Feeling an awful lot like he’s repeating the Tew’s Stuck in the Cabinets situation, Steve prepares himself for the long haul, rummages around in his pocket where he know he keeps a coin for this exact joke, and says;

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Eddie lets out a noise that might have been a laugh, if someone also choked and sneezed at the same time. “That was fucking terrible Harrington.”

AU wherein Steve is a completely random teacher who ends up working remotely during the pandemic.

He’s told stories about his husband to his classes for years, so much so that Mr. Harrington’s wacky husband is school lore (as is Steve’s love for Corroded Coffin, due to the signed poster he had above his desk he insists was given to him as a joke) but no one connected that his spouse is international hall of famer metal band front man, Eddie Munson until he literally pops up behind Steve while he’s teaching.

As time goes on the kids get an insight to the fact that a) all the stories are true, Eddie is a hilarious, chaotic mess, and b) the most random selection of people just casually walk into Steve’s house like they own it.

This ranges rom famed scientist and influencer Dustin Henderson, to the lady who owns Hawkins only skateboard shop, Mad Max’s.

1) Erica Sinclair  “Alright, can we all see my screen?” Steve asks, having already pulled up the website that tracked Pews, this class’s “adopted” Emperor Penguin. 

“Since we’re starting our unit on environmental changes, I’ve started a list of some challenges Pews might be facing. We–” 

“Coach Steve, a lady just took a shitton of your pots.” One of his kids interrupts, because Steve still hasn’t quite figured out where the hell the mute all button is. 

“Language.” He corrects automatically, even as he looks over his shoulder. 

Then; “Erica put those down, I gifted you your own set last Christmas!”

“Yeah, and I told you an aged cast iron skillet is a better cast iron skillet. It’s not my fault you don’t listen, Steve.” Two-time Emmy award winning talk show host Erica Sinclair responds, a stack of Steve’s precious cookware in her hands. “Besides, I need these for my show.”   

“Oh my god, do you know who that is!?” Another kid shouts, as Erica comes into view.

Gasps echo through his speakers, followed by several eighth graders screaming over each other and the chat box to the left exploding with horribly misspelled, emoji filled text.

This, Steve thinks, is what he gets for agreeing to let Eddie renovate their home office. Two weeks being stuck in the dining room means he has no defense from the crap that his original batch of children inflict on him daily.

Knowing damn well no one was going to hear him in the chaos, Steve mutters; “I should have let the Russians take you.” 

Louder, he adds: “Please tell me you did not seriously fly to Indiana to take my cookware.” 

“Erica, is it true you and Dustin Henderson once broke into the Natural History Museum in New York!?” 

“Did you really choke out Elon Musk with an American flag!?” 

“What’s your favorite type of bear!?” 

Steve glances down at the printed out list of instructions that had been his lifeline the last two months, finally figuring out the correct button to punch in order to silence his over-excited kids.

He loves them, as much as he loves being a coach and a social studies teacher, but that didn’t stop him from occasionally looking in the mirror and asking himself why he went with teaching eighth grade.

Erica struts over, pots, pans and skillet firmly in her clutches (and out of range of Steve.) 

“Yes, yes, panda bear, and of course I did Steve, I believe in making high quality shows for the public.” She answers rapid-fire, while carefully setting her stack down to the side.

Erica straightens, then hip checks Steve’s rolly-chair out of the way of his webcam (and him with it.) 

“Now you know I love the youth of America and since I am already here, I am happy to speak to your class about way more interesting things than a penguin.” 

She makes a gesture that Steve knows means “get me a chair you peasant” as his kids begin jumping up and down in their seats, spamming the chat with “SPEECH SPEECH SPEECH SPEECH.” 

Control of the situation firmly lost, Steve pinches the bridge of his nose. “Keep it PG-13. Please.” He hisses in defeat, before rising to go and get Erica a chair. 

She simply sends him her best, award-winning smile. 

(It’s the same one she uses on air before ripping an opponent in two verbally, and Steve doesn’t buy it for a second.)

Steve and Gareth as Cousins, no longer a warm-up and now called Lifelines, part three! I’ll throw it up on A03 when I finish the fourth part. 

Prior parts can be read here: Part One / Part Two 

First things first, the most amazing @ sereinpetrichor managed to track down the OG Twitter thread this runaway train is based off of! 

It was this thread by @gatorthots, the Tumblr version of which can be read, here.  All blame for this idea firmly rests on their brilliant, plot bunny inducing shoulders. 

The other, follow up thread I mentioned was this one by Silas, whose tumblr name I do not know. 

As always and forever, shout out to the most amazing @chalkysgarbagefire​ who helps me edit/plot/pats my head while I’m crying in their inbox bc the words aren’t wording right. 

Warnings: Steve and Robin are canon (S3) drugged. I took a slightly (kinda sorta) more realistic approach. Vomit mention, canon threat of violence/guns (the Russian guards) Mention of pantsing/past bullying, Steve and Robin’s drugged asses not understanding personal space, Dustin’s canon…Im gonna go with assholishness? but like, I think its more than he’s a young kid and doesn’t quite have the emotional growth/awareness yet in this kind of insane situation to know how to react to the whole address/torture bit (really who does)/its a defense mechanism–and Gareth sort of has a panic attack. 

Whatever the hell they had been drugged with, Steve and Robin went from ‘giggly happy fun time’ to 'vomiting into toilet bowls while loudly wishing for death’ awfully fast. 

Gareth was not an expert on drugs. He knew Eddie wasn’t either (the guy never dealt anything stronger than your average psychedelic–had some agreement with his Uncle about only selling “the 70s basics”) and repeated looks towards him proved Eddie was still trying to figure out what Steve and Robin were on. 

Answers hadn’t exactly been forthcoming–Eddie’s gently made attempts at ferreting out information had only caused more confusion.

Like why the two of them were so freaked out about a gate, or what had made Robin gasp, and then laugh so hard she cried when Steve had made a particularly rough noise then muttered; “Even that sounds better than Tammy Thompson.” 

Either way, Gareth was mostly trying to figure out what the hell they were going to do, because sobering up in a busy, public mall wasn’t exactly the best idea. 

“I regret,” Robin tried to say, in-between gagging. “I regret–hrk–" 

"Me too.” Steve moaned, head resting against the stall wall. Gareth, still caught up in panic, had been permanently regulated to door guard while Eddie alternated between sweet talking, rubbing backs and offering quietly whispered advice. 

“Let’s go back in time and ignore the whole silver cat thing.” Robin continued, slumping back down onto the floor. 

“Wouldn’t have mattered.” Steve muttered. “Dustin would have figured it out without us. Kid’s too damn smart." 

"So?” Robin grumbled, quietly thanking Eddie as he once again brushed her hair out of her face. 

“So he would have gone down there anyway, which means I’d be down there anyway.” Steve concluded. “We shouldn’t have gotten you involved though." 

He shakily pushed himself up, staggering to his feet and looking like bambi on ice while doing it. 

Eddie quickly came round to offer his help, hands spread as Steve groaned out a curse and clutched his head.  

The older took a step forward right as Steve lurched back, unbalanced and shaky. 

 "Oh shit.” He said, eyes wide as he crashed backwards into Eddie, the latter catching him with a grunt. 

Despite the entire situation, Gareth found himself stifling a laugh as Eddie wrapped his noodle arms around Steve’s chest, trying to hold the other up without falling himself. 

“Come on big boy, why don’t we just siiiit back down.” Eddie said, slightly breathless as he helped guide Steve back to the floor. “There we go…”

Keep reading

eddie's impression of steve harrington only really begins to turn around not because of henderson's constant insistence that he's a really cool dude now, but because of his brief interactions with robin goddamn buckley.

he first realises that she's affiliated with him when she pokes her head into hellfire club one day. she asks henderson if he's seeing 'the dingus' tonight, and when henderson confirms that he's picking them up, she tosses a green vest at his face. asks him to give it to him, since he's working an opening shift and left it at hers. eddie only realises later that she was talking about harrington, and the implication that he'd stayed overnight had him reeling. buckley was a weirdo. a band geek. what was king steve doing associating with her?

it only gets weirder. he goes to one of sinclair's games, and ends up a few rows behind harrington. he's whooping and cheering and so goddamn excited for the kid when he gets to play. when the band performs, he screams robin's name during the applause. she finds him in the crowd and sort of wiggles her shoulders excitedly in response. after the game, he sees him scoop her up in the biggest goddamn bear hug and kiss her on the cheek. not the kind of couple he'd expected, but they were cute. he supposed.

but then the kiddies stop her in the hallway a week or so later, asking something about a movie night at harrington's. eddie can't really help himself, he was a curious thing.

"so, buckley," he begins, leaning against a locker. "i'm dying to know how a band geek like you landed king steve as a boyfriend." to his side, henderson sighs, heavy and dramatic. robin gets the most genuinely disgusted face.

"oh, god. ew." she says, emphatically. "i am not dating steve. gross." she fucking shudders at the thought. eddie can't keep his jaw off the floor.

"no?" he asked. "but- the game, the other week. he kissed your cheek." she nodded. he gestured wildly in lieu of response, begging for more information.

"stevie and i," and eddie has to fight the urge to roll his eyes. because, seriously? stevie? she expects him to believe they're not together and she calls him stevie? "are strictly platonic. with a goddamn capital p! people can express platonic affection even if they're different genders!" henderson mocks her quietly, to which she whacks him on the arm. she turns back to eddie. "i think if anyone should understand, it'd be you, handkerchief."

eddie feels his stomach drop. robin's giving him a look. a knowing fucking look. arms folded across her chest, one eyebrow raised. surely not.

"you?" he asks. she nods. "so harrington-"

she cuts him off. "knows." and wow. wow. colour him fucking surprised. "was the first one to know. he's-" there's a pause. "he's cool. so fucking cool." she was so fond, smiling a little. "he's a really good guy. i love him to death."

and well... he believes her. truly fucking does. it's only then that he finally allows the walls he'd built around his opinions of steve harrington to falter, to allow himself to think maybe- just maybe- he is actually is a good dude.

the nickname 'evie' wasn't one steve ever imagined getting, nor liking, but robin had a weird little wormy brain and one day steve became stevie and then stevie became evie; and steve found he kinda loved it. mostly because, well, it was always said with affection. even when she's scolding him, his heart warms at the fact someone cares enough for him, feels close enough to him, to craft him a loving nickname. one that isn't said with vitriol or fake awe.

it becomes second nature to reply to it. plus, robin becomes 'rob' or 'robbie' and they both find it sort of funny that they're basically swapping genders. sometimes they play into it when they're bored- robin putting on this macho, overly masculine persona and steve fluttering his eyelashes and acting ditzy and helpless. (shut up, robin, he's not always like that!)

so when the party are hanging out at steve's sometime in the summer, everyone basking in the post-vecna victory bliss, neither really think twice. robin cups her hands around her mouth and screams, "EVIE! DRINK!"

everyone glances around, wondering who the hell she could be talking to. steve waltzes out of the kitchen, a coke in each hand. tosses one to robin.

"thank you, darling!" she coos. he just rolls his eyes and meanders over to where the kids are splashing about.

"what did you call him?" nancy asks, looking at her over the top of her sunglasses. eddie leans in, as does jonathan, to the conversation.

"hm? evie?" robin asks. they all nod viciously and it's the first time she realises that having a nickname like that for guy like steve probably isn't very expected. "oh, well. y'know, stevie-evie." she waves a hand. "im rob, he's evie."

the other three eye each other. she gears herself up to get stroppy. her and steve are best friends, obviously they have nicknames. and she can tell he likes them, and she does too, so they can keep their opinions to themselves! only she doesn't have to, because nancy looks to where steve is with the kids. smiles warmly and leans back into jonathan's chest.

"cute." she says, "i like it. suits him. he always liked pet names." it should probably be awkward, talking about her ex that way, but jonathan just hums in agreement. eddie's eyes sparkle, grinning at the new information.

"you can use whatever you want, munson." she warns, already seeing where his mind was going. "but evie is my one. come up with your own."

murray just... narrowing his eyes at steve and robin. because what the fuck is going on over there? they act like they're gonna keel over and die if they're more than five feet from each other at any given moment, but there's no romantic energy coming from them. they hold hands and have sickening nicknames and seem to telepathically communicate, and he can't figure them the fuck out, and it's killing him.

murray just... narrowing his eyes at steve and robin. because what the fuck is going on over there? they act like they're gonna keel over and die if they're more than five feet from each other at any given moment, but there's no romantic energy coming from them. they hold hands and have sickening nicknames and seem to telepathically communicate, and he can't figure them the fuck out, and it's killing him.

one day in Family Video Robin and Eddie are talking about films, some gay, some not and Steve is half listening but he eventually decides to join in because hey he’s watched a film with a gay couple in it before so that counts right? He tells the others this, feeling quite proud of himself and they both look kinda incredulous and so Steve, feeling helpful, is like I’ll go find them hang on, we should have copies

and Robin is dumbfounded because the only gay movie Family Video, because it’s right there in the name this place is mainly for families, have is The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Robin is pretty sure that’s because Keith didn’t know what he was ordering in because he admitted he’d never seen it but her and Eddie watch Steve trot off to the sci fi section, sharing confounded looks and waiting for him to return in silence

Steve comes back clutching three tapes to his chest and proceeds to drop the Star Wars trilogy onto the counter in between Eddie and Robin, he looks so proud of himself as he leans into Eddie for a moment blinking his big cow eyes at him, like he’s waiting for approval, Eddie decides for once in his life to keep his mouth shut until he’s figured out just what he’s supposed to say

Robin has no such qualms though and just states a fact for them all ‘this is Star Wars, Steve’, ‘yeah! kinda crazy, right?’, ‘sorry, where is there a gay couple in Star Wars? I know you and Dustin watch them a lot but I feel like I’d have noticed’, Steve’s expression drops slightly and Eddie feels so bad because Steve looks like a sad sad puppy and Eddie wants to wrap him up in a giant cuddle

‘are the robots not gay?’ is what softly breaks the momentary silence that has settled between the three of them

‘they sure are’ Eddie blurts out, determined to keep Steve happy and it works because a smile blooms across Steve’s face again and he nods to himself, leaning against Eddie again instead of on the counter like he normally would, Robin stares and Eddie narrows his eyes and then she’s nodding along too, ‘oh yeah, yeah, how could I forget about those funky little guys? they’re definitely married’

and the conversation moves on, Robin recalling Steve and Dustin’s nerdy handshake which makes Steve press his face into Eddie’s shoulder to hide his burning cheeks when Eddie crows in delight and they only send each other a little smirk the next time the Party is watching Star Wars with them and 40 years down the line Eddie sends Steve a tweet about R2D2 and C3PO having gay vibes and Steve starts cackling in the middle of his 9th graders history test and they all demand an extra five minutes because he distracted them all

Steve likes taking care of people, has done it since he was a child and his mother would retreat to her room under the excuse of migraines quite frequently. Steve would bring her some aspirin and water, later if she was up for it some toast he had made for dinner for both of them.

Most of the time she would take the pills and the toast and make a shooing motion for Steve to leave again. And he would as quietly as a shadow sneak out of her room and into his, hoping she'd be doing better tomorrow. On some days though, she'd gently cup his cheek, ruffle his hair and whisper, "Thank you, Stevie."

She'd pull her blanket aside for him to curl up next to her and nap with her for a while. Steve had thought that maybe, those few days would be enough, enough to make her stay.

It wasn't, still, Steve likes taking care of people. He comes over to Robin's when she has a cold with several bottles of pills and coughing syrup (because she is a hypochondriac who thinks every cough might be her last) makes her herbal tea and curls up with her watching old movies. Her parents will invite Steve over for dinner once they come home and he stays, carries two trays of food up to Robin's room, opens the windows for some fresh air and makes sure they are not getting any crumbs on the bed. She technically doesn't need him to take care of her, but she always appreciates the company nonetheless.

Eddie is more fussy when he is sick, hates being trapped in a bed for too long, hates how the sheets grow sweaty and how sleep seems impossible after an entire day of just lying in bed. So Steve helps him move to the couch in the trailer, fluffs up his pillows and brings him blankets that are keeping him just the perfect temperature.

While Eddie recovers from the journey to the couch Steve goes into the kitchen, grabbing all the ingredients he needs for chicken soup. It's Claudia's recipe with some adjustments from Wayne and some little changes made by Steve. He personally likes the faint hint of bay leaf but he knows Eddie can't stand the stuff. While the soup simmers until all the flavor has been brought out Steve returns to the couch. Eddie likes to read when he is sick, but his eyes are heavy and his hands week. So Steve gently nudges Eddie until Steve can sit down and pull Eddie back against his chest, takes the book from Eddie, and begins to read out loud. He isn't the best reader, tongue often stopping, refusing to smoothly curl around certain words like Eddie's does and he isn't that good at doing voices either. But for Eddie it seems to be enough. He hums sleepily and just snuggles closer to Steve until the soup is done.

Steve knows that Dustin only takes cough syrup if it's mixed with apple juice and that neither El nor Will like swallowing pills. He knows that sometimes Max will get headaches and the only thing that'll help her is sleeping through the afternoon and not letting anyone bother her. He knows that Nancy hates the smell of vickvaporub but loves elderflower cough drops. He always has ginger tea in his house because Mike tends to easily get an upset stomach and keeps heating pats around because Lucas had a sports injury the last year of middle school and it likes to act up.

So yeah, Steve really likes taking care of people. But no one ever really takes care of him. Which is fine, Steve is a big boy and can take care of himself, always has. It's not like his parents were around to call school when he got sick. Or to make sure food was in the house, to run him baths, or to give him cold compresses to break his fever. Steve managed all of that on his own, knew how to fake being healthy enough for none of his teachers to send him home, knew how to drag himself to the store, to change his own pjs and sheets, to manage with whatever cold medicine his parents had left behind. Ans it's fine, it has always been fine, Steve has managed.

Only that after their fourth run-in, things have been less fine. Steve has been getting these killer headaches, that make his vision blurry and his stomach turn. He keeps telling himself that it's fine, doesn't need to ask for help, doesn't want to, doesn't know how to. He doesn't want to bother anyone, also what would they do anyways? Hold his hand and tell him it's all going to be fine? Steve doesn't need them to do that, he'll just pop his aspirin the same way his mother used to do and soldier through it. Gritting his teeth through the skull-splitting pain is still better than asking for help. And it works, has always worked, until it doesn't.

One moment Steve pops some aspirin and grabs his keys to pick up Robin, the next his face is smushed into the cold tiles of the floor and his vision goes dark.

When he wakes up again he no longer is on the floor. He doesn't quite now where he is, opening his eyes still hurts, just that he is somewhere soft and warm. There is a hand gently playing with his hair and he leans into the touch.

"Back with us, baby?" he hears Eddie whisper and it's such a lovely sound.

Steve tries to shift, to sit up but his entire body aches and he can't help but whine.

"Woah, take it slow," he hears Robin's voice from a bit further away and a pair of hands gently pushes him back into what he assumes must be his bed. "I got you some painkillers and water," Robin says and he can feel a pill being pressed into the palm of his hand. He guides it to his mouth and a glass of water is pressed to his lips to help him swallow it.

"That's it, just keep your eyes closed, we got you," Eddie murmurs and keeps gingerly stroking Steve's hair. There is something delightfully cool pressed against his temple an ice pack probably, Steve figures before he falls back asleep.

The second time he wakes his headache has finally disappeared he manages to open his eyes. He is in his bed, curled up between Eddie and Robin, both still snoring gently. Eddie wakes up next, gives Steve a tired smile and a quick forehead kiss before he tells Steve to stay put and disappears downstairs to make some breakfast. By the time he is back up with orange juice and strawberry jam on toast, Robin has woken up to.

"Do you get migraines like that often," she asks eventually as she nibbles on her toast. Steve just shrugs, tries to downplay it all.

"Every now and then," he lies. The only problem is that Robin and Eddie know him, know his tells, know when he is lying, know that he sometimes thinks just his existence is a burden. Eddie cups his cheek and looks at him with so much sadness in his puppy dog eyes.

"It's okay, baby, you can tell us," he says and even though it's hard Steve nods, gives in, tells them about the frequent migraines, how he doesn't want to bother anyone.

Eddie and Robin tell him that it's fine that they don't mind, that they are here for him. And they prove it the next time he has a migraine and the next time and the next time. After that Steve still likes to take care of people. But he also doesn't mind if they take care of him.

“And how many languages do you speak, Dingus?”

Steve never answered the question. He’d given her a sarcastic look and gone out to sling ice cream, but he’d never given a verbal answer. The truth was something she never would have believed, anyway.

Steve grew up with a different nanny every few years through his entire childhood, until he turned fifteen. Each of them spoke English as a second language. He knew Spanish before he knew full sentences in English. He’d learned Italian by the time he was five. French wasn’t a stretch from there, and he’d picked up Portuguese by his thirteenth birthday. Nobody knew how many languages he was actually fluent in, and he wanted to keep it that way.

When Steve wakes up, he is very confused. His room looks very different and unfamiliar- but he knows it's his. It still has the plaid wallpaper his mom had picked out for him (he hadn't liked it, but there was a lot of lines and pretty colors).

The toy car his babysitter, Sarah, had gotten him for his fifth birthday isn't on his dresser anymore. He knows that she'd left it there for him last night, playfully insisting that he couldn't play with it until his actual birthday.

He'd been so excited to play with it. He wants to cry, and wail. He wants to run to his parents and scream until they give it back.

But they aren't home. That's why his babysitter had been over the previous night. They have a very important business trip that they aren't allowed to miss, not even for Steve's birthday.

The pictures in the hall look different too. Sarah had put up some cool pictures for him. She'd done the same for his fourth birthday. They had to take them down at the end of the day, but it had been nice to have family pictures up. Even if it was just for a day.

Sarah isn't downstairs.

He almost does scream this time. She'd promised that she'd stay the night, sleeping on the sofa, so he could have pancakes for breakfast. It's one of the many things that he can't, or isn't allowed, to make on his own.

His cake isn't in the fridge either. He even pulls a chair over so he can climb on it, to see if she'd hidden it on one of the higher shelves.

He sits on one of the dining chairs, watching the clock, and waiting.

After two hours pass, he gives up any hope he has.

Sarah, just like his parents, is probably too busy for him. He reasons that she probably just forgot to tell him. His mom had done that one time- it had stung, but he couldn't blame her. He forgot lots of stuff, even if it is important.

The only cereal in the pantry is some plain, corn brand that he doesn't recognise. It tastes just as bad as it looks, but there isn't a lot of food anymore.

At least, not a lot that he can make.

He has a second bowl, putting a few spoons of sugar in. It's not much better, but he doesn't feel so hungry anymore.

The TV looks different too. There's weird and new things playing. It's fun, interesting, and distracts him well enough that he's able to keep himself from worrying about how long he'll have to be alone again.

The next day goes the same.

The third day, he risks cooking. It ends up a little burnt, but it's better than cereal all the time.

The fourth day, he can't eat the food he tries to cook. It smells too nasty. He has to have cereal again. The sugar helps.

The fifth day, he doesn't risk cooking. His parents have never left him alone, without a babysitter, for more than a week, so he'll have a nice meal soon.

The sixth day, he checks their voicemail. There's a few odd messages from grown up sounding people, asking about how he's feeling, but he doesn't recognise any of their voices. He doesn't know what numbers he should try calling. He hopes they try calling again.

The seventh day, he sits at the bottom of the stairs. He stares at the front door, ready to jump up and give his mom and dad a warm welcome home.

The eighth day, he's starting to worry. Surely his parents will remember to call a different babysitter?

The ninth day, there's a key in the door. He almost misses it, sat in the kitchen, glaring at his cereal.

"Steve!" Someone calls. It sounds like one of the nice, unfamiliar grown ups who left a voicemail message. "Stevie! You here? How are- oh my god."

"Hi," Steve greets. He waves, tries giving his most polite smile. He almost forgets to keep his lips shut- his dad told him that his teeth don't look nice enough for a grin that big yet. "You're one of the nice people who left me a message, right?"

She stares at him for a long moment, mouth hanging open. "Steve?"

"That's me! What's your name?"

"Robin."

He sticks a hand out to her. "I's nice to meet you Miss Robin!"

Eddie is having a boring summer day.

He could go to the mall if he wanted to, but it's hot outside, and he really doesn't want to deal with people at the moment. Plus, the last time he went, he's pretty sure he saw Steve Harrington in a sailor's uniform that made him feel a certain way. But he's pretty sure he hallucinated that.

He hopes he hallucinated that. Especially the part where he felt attracted to him. Like full-blown, he wanted to set sail on an ocean of flavor with him, or whatever stupid line he had said when he passed by the ice cream parlor.

So, yeah, the mall is not an option for him at the moment. But maybe it'll burn down or something and he'll never have to see Steve's face again.

A knock on his trailer door breaks him out of the slight trance, and Eddie rushes to answer it. He hopes it's not Jeff asking for his-

All thoughts stop when the door swings open and he finds Steve Harrington on the other side. In his sailor's uniform.

What the fuck?

Please be hallucinating.

"Hey," Steve says as if they've talked more than a handful of times over the past few years of passing each other in the hall.

Eddie swallows hard. "What are you doing here?" he asks, trying so hard not to eyefuck Steve.

"I was wondering if you were still selling weed?" Steve says.

Eddie sighs and gestures for him to come inside. Might as well get this over with so he can get closer to screaming into a pillow.

Once Steve is in his trailer, he closes the door behind him and rushes off to his room, grabbing his metal lunch/drug box quickly before looking in the mirror and quickly trying to clean himself up a bit. He stops when he realizes he's doing this for Steve Harrington for Christ's sake.

He opens up the little box and doesn't look at Steve and his damn beautiful hair as he pretends to look for his weed.

He isn't prepared for Steve to say, "I should warn you that I haven't gotten paid yet, so I was wondering if there was any other way I could pay for this?"

Severely neglected component of modernish rockstar Eddie fics is Robin deciding to become an internet hater for Eddie. Like she finds out Eddie is semi/famous and is like "oh, you know what'll be hilarious?" And makes a twitter account dedicated to dissing him. You cannot convince me she wouldn't. Eddie knows she runs the account (it's not even negative it's just to rag on him. Tweets like "Eddie Munson seems like the kind of guy who would tell his friend he'll get her dr pepper and then get some bullshit knockoff. What the hell is a peppo" and "Eddie Munson has probably gotten so distracted by his SO that he walked into a wall and then was still so distracted said SO thought he was concussed." Or "Jeff is actually the best member of CC Eddie probably walked on cafeteria tables in HS" And of course "everybody says I hate on Eddie too much but they don't know he woke his SOs bff up just to ask if there was any peppo left. Twice.") But he can't do anything about it. It's a bit of a meme, because the account never says anything actually mean about Eddie, or his music. Just. Bizarre hypotheticals. (They are not hypothetical)

People are like "how do you feel about EddieMunsonh8r at twitter dot com"

And he has to grit his teeth and say people can have their own opinions about him, ignoring the fact that Robin was literally sitting beside him poking him when she tweeted earlier that day about him wiggling his fingers and saying he'd like to have a little morsel (in reference to cheezies).

When asked why she does it she just says "to keep him humble. And also it's funny to see if people believe he would do this stuff."

Gareth proposes one of them make an account like that about Steve, semi famous stuntman who's doing some more acting now, and the next day Robin tweets "CC seems like the kid of guys who'd make a fake hater account about Steve and use actually silly billy things he does as content" (Jeff tattled)(Eddie groaned)(Steve and Robin cackled)

I’ve never been to New Mexico

“Hey mom.” Steve is leaning against the fridge, wrapping the phone chord around his finger. He already wants this conversation to be over.

“Hi Steve,” she grimaces back, as if he’s already done something wrong. She says something about New Mexico, and a business conference and how it’s unbearably hot and Steve is doing what he always does during these phone calls, emotionally detaching so the sting of his parents words don’t cut into his skin.

“You would hate New Mexico.” That snaps him out of it.

“What?” He chokes out. He pretends it doesn’t hurt.

“We’re in the desert, and you can see all these stars from the house we’re staying at and it’s so boring.”

Steve swallows.

Steve wonders how his mother can take the stars in the sky and turn them cold.

And also how she’s so far from knowing him, the real him, that its almost laughable.

“It’s just dreadful here - oh look your fathers home! Don’t get into any trouble Stev-”and the line clicks dead.

Steve shakily sets the phone down and inhales. Part of him wants to rip it off the wall and smash it into a million tiny pieces. He never wants them to contact him again.

The funny thing is that yesterday, Nance, Rob and Eddie had all come over to help him plan their summer road trip. They took some of Erica’s left over My Little Pony stickers and mapped everything out. There was currently a pink pony placed carefully next to Santa Fe on the map. Eddie and Steve had watched as Nancy and Robin launched into an argument about which route they should take and they both ended up covered in unicorn stickers. Eddie and Steve shared a knowing look.

They all needed a break from the upside down. From what happened during spring break. So when Jonothan suggested that the kids spend the summer at Argyles family’s beach house in California, Joyce and Hopper didn’t put up much of a fight. Nancy, Robin, Eddie and Steve were going to meet them and spend the rest of the summer bugging the kids to put on sunscreen and heard them from activity to activity.

Steve loves the kids, he does. He loves the way Dustin always comes to him with his scientific discovery of the day, he loves Erica’s sense of humor, although some manners wouldn’t hurt, he loves the way Will always quietly says thank you, how El says bitchin’, how Mike can always find a way to trip over air. He loves Lucas’s high pitched laugh and the way Max rolls her eyes at Steve when he makes a lame dad joke. But the month long break had been nice. It gave him time to focus on other things.

He was actually looking forward to New Mexico.

His parents always assumed he hated the outdoors because he spent the summers of his childhood locked away inside trying not to bother anyone while his parents fought, or his mom drank too much, or when they inevitably left. Steve wasn’t exactly going to summer camps like other kids his age. Didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

Steve places his hands on the kitchen island and takes a steady breath. He isn’t going to let her get to him.

“Honey I’m homeeeeeee,” Eddie calls out from the entryway. “You would not believe what happened at practice, Gareth had the audacity to fuck up the one so- Eddie freezes and gives Steve a once over. “What’s wrong?”

“Mom called.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What’d she say?” Eddie steps around the kitchen island and takes both of Steve’s hands in his own. Steve fidgets with Eddie’s rings.

“That I would hate New Mexico,” Steve whispers not even bothering to look up at Eddie.

“She doesn’t even know you, how would she know that?”

Steve’s silent. He wants to travel across the entire country with Eddie, do it all. And secretly he hopes that maybe one day they’d somehow have a family and do it again. Maybe every summer.

Eddie brings Steve’s hands to his face and kisses his knuckles, the sensation grounding him.

“She doesn’t deserve you Stevie.”

Steve gives Eddie a soft smile. Eddie always tells him that. Steve never fully believes him.

“They don’t deserve you,” Eddie leans his forehead against Steve’s when he says it.

“Also, the girls are coming over, we have a surprise for you.”

“What?” Steve says looking up. Eddie just raises an eyebrow and an epiphany crosses his face.

Steve watches as Eddie pats himself down till he finds what he’s looking for. He pulls out his black bandana with a smirk and motions for Steve to turn around.

“Is now really the time?” Steve muses.

“Shut up.”

Steve lets Eddie tie the black bandana around his eyes so everything is pitch black. Eddie carefully guides Steve by his shoulders till they’re standing in his front lawn.

“Eddie what the fuck.”

Eddie giggles.

“Just wait.”

Steve huffs as his boyfriend wraps an arm around the nape of his neck and pokes at his frown till it turns into a smile.

Steve suddenly hears a honk.

A very loud honk that‘s getting closer and closer. Eddie absentmindedly runs his thumb in circles on the back of Steve’s neck.

He hears a pair of footsteps on the hot pavement. “Dingus!!” Steve feels a crash of weight on his side and tries not to let that startle him. He can tell it’s Robin from a mile away.

“What are you guys doing?” Steve says, bandana wrapped tightly around his eyes as Robin squeezes his hand.

“Hey Steve!” Nancy’s voice rings out from across the lawn. He‘s faintly aware something’s jingling in her hand.

“Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you-”

“Robin,” Steve says exasperated.

“I’ll take that as yes.”

“Ok guys on the count of three,” Steve hears Eddie say.

They all inhale and in unison Robin, Nancy and Eddie start counting.

“One. Two. Three.” The bandana comes off.

Parked right in front of Steve’s house is a brand new, state of the art RV. Steve is kind of having trouble breathing.

“Guys…” he trails off.

They all look at him waiting for his reaction.

“Who’s RV is this? It’s really nice.”

Robin groans, Nancy hits her shoulder lightly.

Eddie’s hand is still resting on the back of his neck.

“It’s yours,” Eddie finally says.

That seems to snap Steve out of his daze.

“What?”

“Guys this is too much. I mean look at it!” Steve motions with his hands.

It’s the newest model. Big enough to fit the entire party and more.

“So Steve,” Robin begins, looking up at him hopefully.

“You know how Owen’s gave us all hush money? Well we talked to the kids and we were talking about how much we love you and how much you do for us, and how we want to spend as much time together as we can before the kids leave for college, and you know before we all move and everyone gets separated and how we should start doing family vacations and basically-”

“Robin,” Steve sighs.

“Let me finish! Basically we decided that we want to do family road-trips… every summer.”

Steve drinks in the words “family road-trips.” Sweat is prickling his skin from the Indiana heat.

“And we decided to all pitch in and get an RV, it’s in your name by the way, we want you to have it.”

Steve is at a loss for words. Robin is still waiving her hands around in excitement, Nancy‘s looking at him expectantly and Eddie’s palm is now cemented on his shoulder.

“Why me?”

“Because we love you dingus, duh.”

“Plus we gotta make room for those six little nuggets huh Stevie,” Eddie whispers into his ear with a smile.

Steve lets their words wash over him. He loves them so much. He doesn’t know what he did to deserve them but he’s grateful nonetheless. Steve breaks out into a wide grin and catches Eddie’s gaze.

Robin makes a gagging noise as Nancy presses the RV’s keys into his free hand. The key is dangling from a unicorn keychain.

She smiles. “Wanna see the inside?”