Obsessed with the little reassuring nods Roy gives Jamie when they have their moments.

i’ve been clearing out old screenshots in my camera roll but i have ted lasso brain rot so you all have to see what they made me think of (part one)

Something something AU where Steve has pretty much almost the same Upside Down squad in Hawkins but Eddie Munson lives in Tennessee with his Uncle Wayne and his band Corroded Coffin, the neighborhood girl Max whose brother died in a freak car accident last year (RIP in pieces asshole), and his best friend Cheerleader and southern belle Chrissy Cunningham.

Turns out the upside down isn’t only thriving in Hawkins Indiana but also in Robinson Tennessee.

Cut to a few years after Eddie and his squad fucked with the Upside Down in Robinson for the last time. Chrissy and Eddie relocate to Chicago for Eddie to do a tattoo apprenticeship.

At this apprenticeship he is so blessed (Shout out to you, Satan) to be tattooing a very very very hot man who has…almost the same scars that Eddie does?

Eddie tries to telepathically communicate with this hot ass motherfucker, but That’s Max’s gig…not his.

Thus ensues a comedy of errors of Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson trying to tell each other without telling each other that they know exactly what the other went through, but Those Pesky NDAs.

Cut to Robin Buckley and Chrissy Cunningham in the Corner who had ultimately met because their platonic soulmates are so gone on each other.

Chrissy: “Why don’t they just ask each other about it like we did?”

Robin: “Neither of our dingi are very smart. I’m enjoying this.”

modern steddie where everyone moves off and unless they live near each other, they don’t really talk as much as they used to. robin and steve of course live together in the city on one of the coasts.

robin, like the others, will reach out every now and then and chat with some people from the old group, get coffee when they’re in town. steve, however, has apparently dropped off the face of the earth.

he doesn’t text, doesn’t call, he’s not on social media, nothing. they’re hurt, yeah, but if that’s what he needs to heal, so be it.

but robin IS on social media. and she’s been posting these pictures for the past year and a bit of her and her “best friend” as her captions label them. it’s not steve. it’s a girl. a really pretty girl with these big brown eyes and long, wavy brown hair that she likes to throw blonde highlights in to. she’s got all these freckles and moles and wears the cutest dresses and sandals seemingly everywhere they go.

her name is evie, according to the tagged account evieinthesky. sometimes robin will throw a full “evangeline” in comments and captions.

the rest of the party have seen the photos of evangeline, they even ask robin if she wants to invite her out when they visit but she always has an excuse ready why she can’t.

but then robin gets a comment on a pic of her and evie.

eddieisdead: yo is your friend uhhh,,,🔓???

i was just going thru some notes i have for brainstorming purposes and came across something i forgot ab

picture it w me, if you will:

no upside down modern au, alpha!eddie/omega!steve (bc apparently that's where my brain always goes)

steve is drunk at a party and either billy or tommy (also drunk) takes advantage of him. he ends up pregnant, kicked out, b/t wants nothing to do w any of it. steve's mom (bc we appreciate one good parent in this house) sends him money every month in exchange for pictures and updates of child w/o his dad's knowledge.

eddie meet him at some kind of organization event for underprivileged kids that he volunteers at bc he was that kid and knows how important they are. at first, he thinks steve is another volunteer & is absolutely enamored by him. but once he sees steve's kid run up to him, he decides to back off bc he assumes this means steve is in a relationship. he keeps seeing steve around and silently pines the whole time bc he's accepted that he'll never have him.

until eddie is at the library, hosting d&d. the party joins a few campaigns, and he gets to know them a little. he likes them, they're good kids (teenagers, technically). one day steve brings his toddler to the library bc they like to look thru the picture books on steve's days off. he also knows that the party goes to d&d that day and wants to say hi. when he leaves, eddie asks the party if they know him, and they explain that steve used to babysit them and drove them around a lot when they were in middle school. he uses this as an in w steve, resolved to just talk to him once and maybe be his friend.

he asks ab the kid's other parent simply for small talk purposes, wondering what they're like and why eddie's never seen them around. steve explains that he's a single parent; the kid's father was an asshole that didn't want to face the consequences of his actions.

cue eddie desperately doing everything possible to impress this child so he can prove to steve just how serious he is ab being w them. i like the think of it in the same vein as your moms new boyfriend trying to make you like him, even tho you already do and there's no need for him to try That Hard. but much more ridiculous and dramatic in true eddie munson fashion.

Eddie says he hates all sports but when he walks in on Steve watching a wrestling match, he’s mesmerized by it.

“Wrestling is gay Stevie”

“No it isn’t”

Eddie points at the screen “We literally did that move last night”

“No we didn- oh shit wrestling is gay.”

never underestimate the power of guns and fucking roses. watching that set i feel fucking reborn.

A sort of different type of TikTok Modern AU…

Eddie Munson is a famous rockstar and honestly doesn’t post much on TikTok, but he occasionally finds himself scrolling though the app which is how he finds Steve.

He’s gorgeous. Exactly Eddie’s type with luscious, gravity defying hair, a sharp jaw, pretty lips, and he bets if he had a closer look, Steve would have the most charming eyes. It’s a shame the camera is so far away from him, and Eddie almost wonders why until Billy Hargrove is in the shot.

Eddie’s stomach sours at the sight of the man. Yes, he’s attractive, even Eddie could admit that, but there was something about him that made Eddie feel uncomfortable. Plus, there were a few scandals surrounding the tiktoker regarding previous racist Tweets and comments which he has responded to with a thrust trap to “Nobody’s Perfect” by Miley Cyrus / Hannah Montana.

So yeah. Eddie didn’t particularly like him and the stuff he got away with just because he’s hot.

He tunes back into the video which has him holding his finger to his lips, and Eddie is already rolling his eyes. The caption says, “Pranking my boyfriend, Steve 🤣😱” and Eddie can already tell it has to be fake with all the dramatics that Steve just happens to not see.

But then Billy carefully sneaks behind the couch where Steve is sitting and dumps a bucket full of water and ice onto him which has the man yelling and standing up in shock. He stands still for a minute and then yells, “Why the fuck would you do that, Billy??”

The tone and overall reaction has Eddie actually wonder if the video is fake or if Steve is just a really good actor. But he watches it again and notices that the man doesn’t look toward the camera once and something about that makes him feel really uneasy.

Eddie has to reason with himself, if the man is dating Billy Hargrove then he must not be a great person, and maybe he deserved the bucket of ice water. But Eddie still closes out of the app and tries his best not to think about it.

Steve has graduated. His parents didn’t show up. Nancy was off with Jonathan so she didn’t show up. Honestly, he’s surprised when he hears a single, loud cheer in the audience, but maybe it’s just a sympathy thing.

He doesn’t think much about it until he’s rushing off the football field that begins to flood with proud families and friends. He pinches his nose as he makes his way through the crowd. He shouldn’t have shown up at all.

“Steve!” Someone yells from behind him.

Steve turns around and finds Dustin Henderson staring back at him with a huge, proud smile. He nearly cries at the sight and rushes to hug the kid. “Henderson, you showed up!”

Dustin scoffs and pulls away. “Of course I showed up!” He says as if it not showing up wasn’t even an option.

Steve doesn’t know what to say other than, “Thank you, man. Really. Hey, why don’t we grab lunch on me, and I’ll fill you in on any of your high school questions.”

“Really?” Dustin asks, with that bright smile somehow growing wider.

“Yeah,” Steve replies and throws an arm around his shoulders leading him to the parking lot. “And you can pick the restaurant.”

It’s like he’s somehow made the kid’s day or something, but really, it was the other way around.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I want to join the DnD club,” Dustin announces as Steve takes a large bite out of his cheeseburger and nearly chokes on it. Okay, DnD, not exactly surprising, but Steve knows that’s going to keep Dustin in the social status: outcast.

He looks the kid over and nearly tells him to drop the idea before he takes in that bright, excited expression and decides that popularity is overrated. Look where it’s got Steve. And honestly, popular people can be the worst people - especially in Hawkins.

So, Steve just smiles and replies, “I think you would love it. Just look for a guy named Eddie Munson. He should be standing on tabletops shouting at people, but between you and me he’s not as scary as he looks.”

Love is love is love 🫶

Platonic with a capital "P" [soulmate AU pilot/teaser]

A: Platonic

”Hiding one’s soul mark is a practice exhibited in about 10% of the US population. Among the research group, over 70% prefer to share their mark after forming a relationship naturally. About 15% had lost their soulmate and covered their mark in an expression of grief, and about 10% claim not to believe in soulmates at all.” - A modern look at soulmates, J. Dirk

Robin Buckley hid her birthmark for another reason. She would only show it to someone in the quiet of a bedroom, with no one else to see, to judge. Because while a lot of people believed the universe was never wrong, just as many believed it could. That sometimes, it corrupts you from birth, leaving you with a “broken” bond, a mistake.

And the latter kind liked to congregate in places like Hawkins.

Robin Buckley hid it because she didn’t want something like her own birthmark to out her before she was ready. For someone to see the same pattern on two girls and put two and two together.

Her mark was located on her hip, usually covered by the waistband of her jeans or a shirt, but just to be safe, every morning she would put a band-aid over it for an extra layer of protection.

Recently, she felt like putting on another one. Maybe even wrapping some gauze around it for an extra measure. Sometimes, after a shift at Scoops, when the nights were incredibly dark and the mirror brutally honest, when the guilt and betrayal and wrongness of it all became too much, she would think about putting a razor to her skin, cutting out the offending piece of flesh.

She was betrayed by the universe twice in her short teenage life. Once when she was born a lesbian in a homophobic little town. Again, when it shoved Steve Harrington into her life.

Robin usually avoided looking at other people’s marks. It was rude when she was hiding her own, could rub people the wrong way. She also didn’t like to play matchmaker for straight people, and didn’t like the pang of jealousy she felt when her peers found their soulmate. It was rare to happen at their age, but not unheard of.

And if she sneaked a peek, it was never a dude. She would take glances if she saw a cute girl, sue her. She would if she suspected the other was queer. As if it was a sealed deal then, because if there was another queer girl in Hawkins she must be Robin’s soulmate, right?

So when Steve Harrington arrived for their first shift together in his everyday clothes, she didn’t look. Then he emerged in his sailor uniform, the sleeves longer than in his polos, and she thought that was it.

“Do you think they’ll let me cut it?” he asked a couple of weeks into his employment. Their training was finally done, and they could be left without a supervisor for a lazy morning shift. 

Robin flipped a page in her magazine and gave him an unimpressed look.

“You’re supposed to be working here, not fishing for your soulmate,” she clicked her tongue in disapproval. 

Steve scoffed, taking on his mom stance like he was disappointed in Robin.

“Looking for your soulmate is a full-time job, Buckley.”

“It’s not a job,” she lowered the magazine to properly gawk at his stupidity. “This,” she motioned around them, at the nautical-themed ice cream parlour, ”pays the bills.’’ 

“And this,” Steve points at his shoulder, which Robin thought looked incredibly stupid, “gets me the love of my life.”

Robin rolled her eyes.

“I hope she takes you away from here.”

Steve huffed, turning at the sound of opening doors to see new customers come in.

“Please. You love working with me,” he said before turning towards the counter to do his job, for a change.

Robin scrunched her nose because he was right, she unfortunately did. But Steve’s ego was big enough already, so she would never admit it out loud.

Steve Harrington was nothing like what she expected based on high school tales. He had a bunch of kids following him around, bothering him at work and demanding car rides. His previously famous flirting game was so off it quickly became a joke between them, with a whiteboard score and all. Steve scoffs at it and rolls his eyes and flips her off, but there's a playful glimmer in his eyes that gives him away. How pleased he is to be there with her and bicker. They start scheduling their shifts together, and Robin never thought before that a summer job could be this fun.

She watched Steve do the little dorky handshake with Dustin, and for the first time since she came to terms with her sexuality wondered what was under Steve’s sleeve. She never felt this fond of a boy before. Was she wrong all along?

“Where’s yours?” Steve asked her one day, leaning on the counter with this glazed-over look in his eyes he got whenever he was thinking about his “ten kids and a wife” fantasy. A big family of five just left their store. 

“My hip,” she answered easily. She could give him this much.

He looked down at her waist, his eyes swept fleetingly over her body, and it left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.

There was a moment of silence, Robin letting Steve think about his next words, hoping he’d choose them wisely.

“Have you shown anyone?” A relatively safe question.

Robin was shaking her head before he was finished.

“No.”

“Why?”

She rolled her eyes at his confused frown.

“I’m not a fan of crop tops. Not everyone has such a convenient arm mark, Harrington.”

“Fair,” he shrugged, looking away. If he was trying to coax Robin into showing him his mark, he could murder her right now. Sometimes the marks were shown in obituaries.

Instead of prying, he let out a low chuckle and looked back at her.

“Do you know why I applied here?”

“Because you wanted a job, and we were conveniently hiring?” she quirked an eyebrow. Steve elbowed her, but she moved fast enough to avoid most of the impact.

“Well, yes, but also… It might sound dumb,” and oh, Robin never heard him shy before. Even when the girls were ignoring him, he oozed confidence and just moved from one flirting attempt to another. She didn’t like where this was going. “My mark looks kind of like an anchor. It felt like a sign.”

Robin froze all over. She was so bad at controlling her face, at hiding her emotions. That's why she was such a shut-in. One wrong gesture or word, and she would be outed, a pariah, and shit, Steve’s eyes were widening, she was so fucked. He rose his hand to his left arm.

“Do you wanna see?”

Instead of answering, she took a look around the empty parlour and grabbed his wrist to pull him to the backroom. 

“Steve-” she started, turning towards him. He was pulling up his sleeve, and she made a distressed sound, covering her eyes. “Steve!” She was panicking now. Because she knew what she was gonna see. A wonky crossbow that could be interpreted as an anchor. Her eyes prickled, and her heart thudded hard in her chest.

Steve was the opposite, his voice soft and dreamy, infuriatingly calm as he was spouting love-drunk nonsense about Robin, of all people. And there she had her answer, because it sounded wrong, gross even. She wasn’t into men. Never could be.

She was pressing down on her eyes so hard, the pressure was starting to hurt.

“Rob,” Steve said softly, and she wanted to cry. “Look at it. That’s all I ask.”

She took a shuddering breath, and she told him, instead. She told him about Tammy Thompson, and he was so shocked he forgot about the mark. Robin lowered her hand and saw it, and she hated it, hated the universe. Hated herself, even if it was not her fault.

“But she sounds like a muppet,” Steve winced jokingly, and Robin let out a wet chuckle. She loves him, but not the way he needs. He forgot all about the mark, but she can’t, and she probably never will. Not with the guilt of stealing Steve’s picket fence dream away from him.

She goes to the library and finds articles about unconventional soulmate bonds she had no idea existed. How the revelation of soulmate siblings decades back turned the whole soulmate belief upside down. How a follow-up study provided huge statistics for soulmate twins. For multiple soulmates, or multiple marks. That settled Robin’s nerves a little. She felt less wrong for existing and for loving Steve.

What kept truly bothering her was lying to him, but she was too scared of the truth, and what it could do to him. Never before had she felt this bad for not reciprocating someone’s feelings, for not being straight. 

She looked at the mark in the mirror and wanted nothing more but to get rid of it. Give Steve back what he deserves. A girl who’d love him, give him a bunch of kids and warm his bed. She felt like the worst kind of friend.

“Did you know you can have more than one soulmate?” she said casually a couple of weeks later. 

Steve looked at her quizzically. They’ve been avoiding the soulmate topic ever since she came out, Steve rightfully assuming it was a touchy subject, albeit for the wrong reasons. 

“Really?” How does that work?” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“You know, some people are in polygamous relationships,” she explained, hands shaking as she cleaned the counter. “Or their first soulmate dies, and they find another one,” she wished that to none of them. “Or, or- You have a different relationship with them.”

“Since when are you a soulmate expert?”

She avoided his gaze as if he could just scan through her clothes and see it.

“Since I saw half a documentary on it this weekend,” she lied easily. The truth of spending evenings at the library would give too much away. “Did you know a lot of twins are soulmates?”

“Huh. That’s actually super cool.” He grinned at her. “So, like, you can have both platonic and romantic soulmates at the same time?”

“Yes!” she beamed back at him, overenthusiastic at how easily Steve was digesting the information. He seemed genuinely interested, too. It made her feel like she could tell him. Betraying her best friend like that made her lose sleep at night.

Steve hummed, leaning on his palm.

“Rob, you gotta shut up or else I’m gonna get greedy for more than one soulmate,” he joked.

Robin wished him all the soulmates of all kinds that he could handle. 

“Do you know how many people there are in the world? Statistically speaking, there must be more than one for you, or else you’d never find each other in the same country,” she added, letting her tongue repeat what’s been on her constantly.

So what if that made her feel a little bit better, too?

Robin was bruised, bleeding and dizzy. She was half a step from passing out, and it felt like the worst moment to come out to Steve, to tell him everything. He was telling her how much he loved her, not afraid of the word any more now that they barely escaped death at the hands of Russian soldiers. 

The mall bathroom seemed like the worst place to tell him, the tiles cold under their asses and the smell of pee poorly covered with citrusy detergent.

“You’re so smart and funny and yes, at some point I hoped we’d be soulmates but this is good, great even, and I wouldn’t exchange our friendship for anything else.”

“Steve-” she choked out, unshed tears straining against her eyelids.

A beat of silence passed and Steve audibly gulped, the sound loud in the empty stall.

“We are friends, right?”

He sounded so frail, so vulnerable and unlike Steve, Robin shot up to look at him in alarm. The motion made her dizzy again, and she leaned on the nearest wall. Have they never established it? Had she, a band and language nerd, never told former jock and king of high school, that they were friends? That was on her.

“Of course we are,” she scoffed. “We’re soulmates.”

Steve stared at her, wide-eyed. Has she said something wrong? That’s what he wanted to hear, right? That they were-

Oh.

“We are?” his voice was barely a breath, and his face was too fucked up to say exactly what he felt. Was he angry? Disappointed? Or was he happy to be a platonic soulmate with someone like Robin? She did what she was best at and kept talking.

“Yes, and I am so sorry Steve, I didn’t know how to tell you. I was so afraid you’d hate me because I know you dream of a perfect wife and kids and I kinda ruined it, didn’t I? Being bonded to a lesbian, that’s just… cruel, and I wish the universe had someone better for you, a pretty straight girl, and I want you to be happy, Steve because you are my friend and-”

She didn’t realize she was crying until Steve’s strong arms around her pushed out a choked-out sob from her chest.

“Robin,” he stopped her, and he didn’t sound angry, so she took another anxious breath. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m so happy to be bonded to you.” And oh shit, he was crying too. “Because now, you can’t escape me, you can’t leave me like, like…” he wheezed, and it wasn’t happy crying anymore. She squeezed him tighter. “Like Nancy or like my parents,” he choked out, burying his face in her shoulder. “I’ll be the most annoying soul twin you could have, you’re fucking stuck with me.”

She laughed faintly, wet and strained. 

“No, you’re stuck with me, Harrington!”

They burst out laughing before clinging harder to each other and crying some more.

And that was how Dustin and Erica found them. Crying like two drugged babies overwhelmed with happiness, relief and adrenaline.

Steve has always been curious about soulmate marks. Even when it turned out he wasn’t going to get his own, not a romantic one at least, it was still something he often wondered about. If anything, the discovery of platonic soulmates made him and Robin dive deep into the world of unconventional soulmate bonds and the surrounding science.

So he was curious, sue him. 

It’s been months since Eddie almost died, and Steve kept waiting for the right moment to ask. There was never going to be one though, and he knew that, so at some point, it wasn’t about the right moment and more about being high or drunk enough to ask.

Steve hoped the time was now.

“You know, after the first Upside Down shindig, I signed the permission to list my mark in an obituary. You never know which of the demo freaks is gonna get you.”

Eddie hummed at his words, sucking on his joint. He was splayed on the floor between discarded articles of clothing and some magazines.

“What about you?” Steve prompted, frowning at the ceiling. He wanted to look at his friend, but he didn’t want to seem too eager to get an answer.

“Did I consent to get my soul mark printed in the local newspaper when I keel over? Hell no,” Eddie scoffed. This made Steve flip on his stomach and peer down at him from the bed.

“Why not?”

“People point fingers at me already, they don’t have to point at some poor bastard that they were bonded with a town freak. Besides, I don’t know,” he shrugged, “finding out that your soulmate is dead is kinda shitty. I think it’s better if they don’t know and keep looking.”

“Huh,” Steve slumped a bit, gazing at his friend. He made a good point. “So you wouldn’t want to know if your soulmate was gone?”

Eddie leaned his head to the side, considering his answer.

“Dunno. I’ve read a bit about it, and it doesn’t seem that important to me, you know? Like, if I find my soulmate, then lucky me! It cuts down the courting time,” they both snorted. “But I don’t like, count on it. I’m not gonna wait for ‘the one’,” he made quotation marks in the air. 

Steve hummed in thought.

“Yeah, I think I know what you’re saying.”

Suddenly, Eddie was sitting up and getting all up in his face.

“You’re into the soulmate stuff, though, aren’t you?”

“Well…” Steve looked away, feeling his face heat up. “Yeah, it sounds nice to have someone out there suited just for you.” Even if that ball’s out of the park already.

“Wanna see mine?”

“Huh?” Steve looked back at him and Eddie was smirking, wide and teasing.

“You didn’t just ask for no reason, right? You want to see my mark.”

Steve’s cheeks were now positively red. 

“I mean if you… If you don’t mind,” he murmured. It wasn’t his initial reason behind asking, but he was naturally curious about marks and liked to see their variety on other people, on his friends and family.

Eddie only patted his cheek, Steve reeling back in surprise, and turned around. He gathered his hair to flip it over his shoulder and expose his nape.

“See these?” he tapped the left side of his neck. “If you connect these bad boys, they make a perfect pentagram.”

Steve frowned at the exposed skin. All he could see there were a few moles, each perfectly round and evenly distributed.

“No way.”

“Yes way,” Eddie said, leaning away. He rummaged through the mess on his desk. “I thought I didn’t have one for a while, but my uncle pointed it out to me one day. Some marks are really fucking subtle. None of your fancy anchor shit,” he grinned back at him, and Steve rolled his eyes. Eddie scooted back to the bed and handed him a pen. “Some scientists claim the more elaborate the mark, the stronger the bond.”

“And you believe that?”

“I believe the bond is only as strong as the work put into it. People should stop making the universe do everything for them. C’mon, connect them,” Eddie nudged his arm and turned around, revealing his nape once again.

Steve was too stunned for a second, surprised by the wise words he just heard from someone who didn’t put as much weight into soulmates as him. Maybe he had been putting too much pressure on some grand mystical plan he had no control over. Was that why his relationships didn’t work out? Was he not putting the effort in just because his date wasn’t the “chosen one”?

Steve looked at the tiny birthmark spots and the pen in his hand. He huffed. 

“Ugh, wait.” He sat up, legs sliding on each side of Eddie’s form. His left hand landed on the side of his neck, and with his right hand, he connected the moles into a simple star.

“Huh,” he smiled, surprised when the shape was done. “It’s very fitting.”

“Right?” Eddie laughed. “My soulmate is probably also a metalhead or a fantasy nerd. Or maybe a Wiccan.”

“Wiccan?” Steve asked, handing him the pen back.

“A modern-day witch. Since the pentagram is a magic symbol of protection.”

“What if they’re not? What if they’re boring?” Steve frowned. He was a prime example of not getting what he expected.

“Nah, man,” Eddie threw the pen back on the desk and joined him on the bed, leaning on the pillows lazily. “No way my soulmate is boring.”

It was later that day, Steve had just gotten out of the shower and stood stark naked in front of his mirror, wondering if any of his moles could be a soul mark. Well. Five of them, precisely.

A particular cluster on his inner thigh was hidden from anyone other than a lover. He knew of it, but he never thought of it, never studied it. A hunch made him grab a pen from his drawer. He connected the dots.

A wobbly five-point star mocked him from his mirror.

Steve loved hugs.

He always did, ever since he was little. He parents indulged him when he was a toddler, cuddling him close and petting his back. Steve could still remember the stiffness of his father’s shirt collar against his cheek, and the smell of his mother’s perfume when he buried his face in their necks and hung on for all he was worth. He could also remember when the hugs stopped.

For his father it was when he turned 8. When Steve held his arms up for a hug, he saw his father’s smile tighten, then his arms gingerly wrapped around Steve. He didn’t pick him up, or pet his hair. Instead, he patted Steve hard on the back and stepped away. Steve didn’t understand, but he knew something had changed. He adapted though, he’d do anything to please his dad. So he went along with it.

His mother hurt worse. For her it was when he was twelve. He’d come home from school, held out his arms for his usual hug and she’d winced. Steve pretended he didn’t see, as she held him gently, then stepped back quickly. From them on, he gave her a cool air kiss next to her cheek, just the way she liked. He’d do anything to please his mother, so he went along with it.

It got better when he started dating, most of the girls loved his hugs. When they were alone they giggled about King Steve being a secret cuddler. Steve understood why they did. Men were supposed to abhor such affection; it was odd for someone like him (popular, jock, ladies-man) to enjoy soft affection, or worse, seek it out. So he’d smile at the girls and playfully ask them to keep his secret.

Then shit hit the fan, he lost his crown (not that he gave a shit), and found himself at Scoops Ahoy meeting his best friend. Robin wasn’t very physically affectionate, but she could read Steve like a book and soon hello and goodbye hugs were a part of their friendship. It was nice, but it wasn’t the bone crushing squeeze Steve really wanted, and worse, there was no one who could give it to him.

Then he met Eddie. The first time they hugged demo-bats were lurking and Steve was begging Eddie and Dustin not to be heroes. He was walking off, then Eddie called his name and strong, leather covered arms were wrapping around him. It was…delightful. Steve hugged him back, squeezing harder than was probably appropriate for a friend but he didn’t give damn. Eddie propped his head on Steve’s shoulder and it felt natural to press his face into Eddie neck.

He didn’t like to think about the next time he held Eddie after that. The blood, Dustin’s screams. Grabbing Eddie under the arms as Nancy and Robin grabbed his legs and they half carried, half dragged him out of the upside down. They way Eddie’s held flopped loosely on his neck- No Steve hated thinking about that.

The next time they hugged, Eddie was on crutches fresh out of the hospital and standing next to Steve’s car. Steve opened the door form him and was patiently waiting for Eddie to maneuver himself inside. Instead Eddie propped his crutches against the car and wobbled his way into Steve’s space. Before Steve could open his mouth, Eddie’s arms were around his waist and he was half hugging, half leaning on Steve.

Of course Steve hugged him back, nice and gentle, and if he pat Eddie’s hair sue him. They’d both nearly been eaten by bats, they deserved some comfort.  

“Thanks,” Eddie mumbled, lips brushing against Steve’s neck.

Steve shivered. Eddie’s arms were still around his waist and it felt so natural to leave his own wrapped around Eddie’s shoulders.

“No problem, Eddie. If you need a ride anywhere just gimme a call. Do not try to drive until all your stiches are out, okay?”

Eddie chuckled and pulled back. “Not thanks for that, Stevie.” His eyes were warm on Steve’s face. “Thank you for getting me and Dustin out. I would’ve been a gonner.”

Steve smiled, “Of course, Eddie. Leaving you was never ever going to happen.”

Eddie’s gaze softened and drifted to Steve’s lips. Steve held his breath, heart hammering in his chest. A car turned into the hospital car park and the moment was broken.

Hugs became a part of their friendship then; hugs hello, hugs good bye, arms over shoulders when they sat next to each other, a place to hide when the movie Eddie picked made Steve jump out of his skin, mock hiding places when Robin teased Steve and he demanded Eddie defend him. Eddie was just the same, in fact he initiated more hugs than Steve did. It was bliss.

And if one of those hugs lingered in the doorway of Eddie’s trailer. If arms tightened, eyes met, and then lips. If Steve’s heart was soaring as Eddie kissed him like he was the most precious thing in the world and Steve kissed back like Eddie was everything to him. Well Steve wasn’t going to complain.

Growing up, food is always a bit of a sore spot for Eddie. Of course, Wayne does his best to make sure that Eddie never goes to bed with an empty stomach, but growing boys need lots of fuel. And while there always is food, there often isn’t much food. But it’s fine, Eddie knows Wayne is trying so hard, picking up all the extra shifts he can. Eddie would never hold it against his uncle, he knows how much Wayne already frets. And even though Eddie’s stomach growls every now and then, he learns to ignore it. Learns how not to be hungry.

While other kids experiment what herbs might go best with pasta sauce and how to caramelize sugar without burning it, Eddie tries to find out how to water down soup and stretch stew for days. Figures out how to make rice with beans still taste good on day five. Hunts down coupons and keeps an eye out for discounts so they can have hot dogs on the fourth of july and candy on Halloween. Food is never really pleasure or indulgence. Only something neither he nor Wayne try to worry about. Some days it’s easier than others.

It’s not really until after the upside down, after he has been discharged from the hospital and off the murder accusations, not until Steve that food becomes more than just another annoyingly human need. Thanks to the government hush money and Eddie picking up a mechanic jobat the local garage they don’t need to worry about food anymore. 

But it’s still just means to an end, there is no luxuriating in it, no big cravings, Eddie still cuts out coupons. Steve offers them to host Hellfire at his house and Eddie offers to buy snacks. It’s the least he can do if Steve is letting them into his mansion. But Steve declines, says he’ll take care of it. And he does. 

When Eddie and the rest of Hellfire show up the dining room table (Steve has a dining room Jesus H. Christ) is filled with all kinds of snacks. It’s everyone’s favorite kinds of snack. And not the store brand knock off snacks, no, it’s the real fancy shit. Or well as fancy as pringles and mountain dew can be. But it doesn’t stop there. 

Once the game is over, the kids help clean up, but none of them rush to get their shoes back on or slip into their jackets. Instead, they pile into the kitchen, dragging Eddie and the older kids of Hellfire with them where Steve is already handing them steaming plates of lasagna. 

“You running a soup kitchen, Harrington?” Eddie can’t help but tease as a  plate is pressed into his hands. 

There is a blush creeping over Steve’s face and Eddie instantly regrets his comment. It’s just the snacks, the dinner, it kinda makes him feel inadequate, like he was bad at hosting Hellfire because he never brought snacks let alone dinner.

It takes Eddie a while to understand that Steve doesn’t do it to show off, but simply because he enjoys cooking. He always provides snacks when they are at his house, be it Hellfire, movie night, or pool parties. There is always home cooked food and often even homemade dessert too. The day he bakes a bunch of lemon meringue cookies is a horrible day because those cookies are to die or fall madly in love for and Eddie can feel his stomach swoop. He ignores it like he has ignored all his cravings over the years. And it works for a while.

Until one golden autumn afternoon when Eddie is early and the kids are still at school. Eddie offers to drive around the block a couple of times, but Steve just laughs, tells Eddie not to be stupid. He leads Eddie into the kitchen and motions for him to sit on the counter.  Talks about how he likes company while cooking. The radio in the corner of the kitchen blares pop music loudly and Steve turns it down, no need for it to longer fill the oppressive silence. Eddie hops on the counter, dangles his legs and watches Steve cook. It’s so obviousthat he loves doing it. The way he hums quietly, sautees onions and garlic, stirs in herbs and spices, tastes his sauce, frowns and adds more salt. It’s horribly endearing and cute and dangerous and Eddie can’t tell if his stomach is growling or filled with butterflies. 

“Have you always loved cooking?” he asks, desperate to keep his thoughts from spiraling. Steve laughs again in response and the sound kicks up another storm in Eddie’s stomach. 

“God no,” Steve says and stirs his sauce. “I couldn’t cook for the longest time. Lived off tv dinners and take out for some years.” 

The soft smile of his lips faints slightly. Eddie knows what a bitter taste loneliness can leave in your mouth. Knows that while Steve never had to worry about food, he also never had someone to share it with. 

“Found some cookbooks inthe attic a few years back,” Steve continues. “Tired out some recipes, asked Claudia and Mrs. Wheeler for advice when I couldn’t get something right and well here we are.” 

“Here we are,” Eddie echoes, unable to tear his eyes away from Steve. He looks gorgeous in the golden afternoon light, a dorky apron that says Kiss the cook on it and god how Eddie would like to oblige that order. Steve catches him staring, but doesn’t call him out on it. The corner of his mouth twitches up as he dips a wooden spoon into the sauce, holds a hand under it and turns to Eddie.

“Taste this for me?” he asks, stepping closer, until he is bracketed by Eddie’s thighs. Eddie can just swallow and nod, not sure how to cope with Steve being this close. Steve lifts the spoon until wood touches Eddie’s lips. He parts them hesitantly, lets Steve push the spoon into his mouth, licks the sauce off it. All while looking in the gold honey and caramel of Steve’s eyes. Eddie wonders if Steve's lips would taste of spun sugar too. 

“It’s good,” he rasps once Steve has lowered the spoon. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

Steve smiles and god if smiles had a taste, Steve’s would be Eddie’s favorite flavor. The kind of flavor that would teach Eddie indulgence. The same way Steve indulges in his cooking, lets all the time and care he puts in his food speak for how much he loves the people he prepares food for. Because for Steve food is more than just sustenance. It's love. 

Steve goes back to the stove, stirs some more and begins humming again. Eddie continues to watch him. And for the first time in years, Eddie allows himself to be hungry. 

.   

Eddie, only just starting to grow his hair out and trying to make 3 in 1 work for him, bumping into baby freshman Steve, who recommends a few options and one is on the dirt cheap end and actually works. He lies when Eddie asks why he'd offer help, saying that if Eddie is going to have long hair that he "might as well have the decency to do it right".

rockstar eddie gets invited to the met gala and brings that one guy with him

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