Chapter Text
The three men stand in the kitchen. Steve, making himself a sandwich, Billy scrounging around for some sort of snack or flask in every one of Steve’s many cabinets, and Eddie sighing as he lays his back down on the island. It had been two days since Steve had talked to Billy and Eddie about being in a polyamorous relationship, and two days since Billy and Eddie had fucked in the back of Billy’s Camaro. Steve wanted to hang out with the three of them. There wasn’t any particular reason to wanting to, he just did.
“So, Steve, uhh… Basically, the other night, after I left, Billy and I hooked up,” Eddie states nonchalantly. Billy turns to look at Eddie, a hand which was shoving a slim jim into his mouth now frozen. He gives the metalhead an incredulous glare as he debates whether or not he should hit him. If Steve didn’t open his mouth, stopping him from thinking, he guesses we would have.
“What?”
Eddie sits up criss-cross and casually shrugs.
“It doesn’t really matter. I just decided that I should let you know, because I got to thinking. I remember you saying that you wanted the relationship to be more of a triad than a V relationship. I figured, since me and Billy get along fine sexually, we could label the relationship as that? Not that anyone except for us three would know.”
“I… Uhh… Okay, slow down. You two…” Steve looks and points between his boyfriends, eyebrows raised in shock.
“Yeah,” Eddie nods.
Billy drops the slim jim he was munching on and lunges for Eddie, gripping the collar of his shirt and pushing him back to his back on the marble surface.
“No, us two nothing. Nothing happened that night.”
Steve places a palm to Billy’s shoulder, in a futile attempt to get him to calm down.
“Billy, come on, chill. We both already know that you’re gay, there’s no point in threataning Eddie.” Billy just grunts at this, and angrily shrugs Steve’s hand off of him.
“Fuck off Harrington, don’t act like just cause you gave me a few handies or that I sucked your dick a few times, that some switch in my brain is gonna flip from you saying my name.”
Eddie just looks up at Billy with wide eyes, waiting, anticipating for the punch, but it doesn’t come.
It never comes. After a few more heavy breaths, Billy pulls away with one last quick shove to Eddie’s shirt as he lets go, and he picks up the stick of meat. Eddie hesitantly sits back up and looks over at Steve with a look that says “I’m all good.”
Steve then turns to look at Billy, whose glare was fixated at the floor.
“Just… What, just a few handies and blowjobs? There wasn’t anything else?”
Billy just shrugs and rolls his eyes slightly. He silently clamps down on his tongue with his teeth, welling whatever dumb emotions that were bubling up inside him deep down and waiting for Steve to open his stupid mouth again.
“You agreed to go out with me though. You kissed me, and held me in your arms-”
Billy needed something he could say back to that. Anything. He needed to deny.
But no words came, only anger and self-hatred building up within him. He didn’t want to hit Steve. But now, unlike Eddie, he actually had a reason to. He was letting Eddie know things. It was fine if Steve knew things. Some things. But Eddie Munson?
Billy mutters a simple “shut up.” He then turns to face Steve, getting all up in his space and staring him point-blank in the eye, breathing hard, all in an attempt to intimidate Steve. Though he didn’t look intimidated; he looked hurt. Biting his lips together, his eyebrows knotted with uncertainty, Steve finally let his lips part to say something.
“Tell me I’m just grasping for straws.”
Billy breathed in a heavy load of air through his nose, practically growling. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. So instead, he asked Steve a question.
“Does Eddie’s idea make you happy?”
Billy can feel Steve’s breath against his lips stop, and his eyes grow wide. Billy waits for Steve to stir up a response.
“Yeah.”
Billy sighs and pulls out of Steve’s personal space, muttering something about not wanting to eat the slim jim after dropping it again as he picks it up and tosses it.
“Then sure. If it soothes your romantic little mind or big ego or whatever, then I’m down.”
Eddie was still seated on the island, taken slightly aback by the heated interaction he had just watched in on. Were they always like this? Holy shit the sex must have been good between them.
“Well, now that that’s over with, we all good here? Or is whiney little princess gonna throw another tantrum?” Eddie mocks jokingly. If Billy were in any worse of a headspace, he would have snapped again. Alas, he was as calm as he could be in a moment like this.
“I’m goin’ out for a smoke. Catch you guys later,” Billy calls out behind him as he walks over to the front door.
“So wait, you and Billy actually..?”
Eddie chuckles. “Still stuck on that? Yeah.”
“But I thought you were a top?”
Eddie’s eyebrows raise and he nods. “That I am.”
“So then Billy…”
“Yeah. Y’know if the only interaction I had ever had with him was that night, I would have been astonished if you waid he was anything but a bottom, yeesh,” Eddie half-jokes.
The thought of a submissive Billy ran wild throughout Steve’s mind and he couldn’t say he didn’t feel slightly aroused by the thought. Okay Steve, cool it, not going there right now.
“But also uh… About the only people knowing about us being… us… I kinda told one person?”
“What?” Eddie exclaims. Steve raises his hands up in surrender.
“Wait listen- My best friend, she’s a lesbian. I left out names. But she saw the bandana, figured out you were one of the guys I was into. She has no clue about Billy though. All she knows in that im in a polyamorous relationship with you and another guy. But she swore to me she wouldn’t tell anyone.”
Eddie’s hand covers his mouth as he nods, processing. “Okay. So… No harm no fowl I guess. You should probably let Hargrove know about that though.” Steve nods.
“Let Hargrove know about what?”
Both men turn to look at Billy in the doorway.
“Hey! Billy, thought you said you were going?”
“Yeah, for a smoke. I needed to clear my head for a minute. So what’s this big secret we’re hiding from me?”
Steve turns to look at Eddie for help, but he just shrugs and shakes his head. Steve sighs and turns back to look at Billy.
“Okay, look. I kinda told my best friend, whose also queer, that I’m daiting you guys. I left out names, and even if she did know, she would take it to the grave.”
It’s like they were just looking for as many ways to piss off Billy as they could tonight.
“What- Seriously Harington!?” Billy shouts incredulously.
“Yeah but she seriously has no clue-”
“That doesn’t matter! She could have seen us talking or something! Put shit together!”
“Hey, Hargrove,” Billy turns abruptly to look at Eddie, curious as to what he would add right now. “She knows about me, okay? It’s been two days, nobody else heard about it.” Eddie’s tone is calm, direct. Though that really didn’t do shit for Billy’s racing thoughts.
“And how would you know? Even if the whole school knew, nobody would give a shit to talk about it. Hell, there’s been rumor that the freak is also a fag since freshman year! Any other talk is nothing new for you. Newsflash, nobody even knows your name. I’m the king of Hawkins High, yeah? It matters if even one person speculates something like that about me!”
“Dude, you’re rambling, here-'' Eddie starts, hopping off of the countertop and walking over to Billy. He places a steady hand on his elbow and looks at him calmly, eyes wide. Billy just gives his same blank, pissed off glare back at him.
“Take a seat, smoke another cigarette. I have a tape on me, I can play some Metallica if Steve has a player?” Eddie turns to Steve at that last part, brows raised in a silent ask for Steve to go fetch a cassette player. Steve nods, getting the silent plea and rushing to the other room to go grab it.
Billy nods and pulls away from Eddie. He plops down on the couch and with a hand trembling with anger--and a hint of unknown fear to the other men--pulls out a pack of camels and a lighter. He catches one of the sticks on fire and brings it to rest between his lips. With closed eyes and a trembling breath, Billy takes a long draw from his cigarette.
Steve runs the cassette player back to Eddie, who puts in his Metallica mixtape into the machine. The familiar hum of The Thing That Should Not Be filled the space, and Eddie placed the cassette player on the arm of the L-couch that Billy laid on, near his head. Billy was sitting with his legs outstretched, one over the other, over the smaller part of the couch. His arms were crossed over his chest, one propped up to hold his cigarette in place.
Steve ended up making the choice to try sitting next to Billy. When he didn’t react to the creak of the couch, or the feeling of his presence, Steve assumed he was in the clear. So, hesitantly, he laid his head down on Billy’s shoulder, and draped one of his arms over Billy’s chest. Eddie smiles at his boyfriends--plural? That includes what they decided on, right?--and decides to sit on the other side of Steve, resting a hand over the latter’s knee.
They spend a while just like that as Billy calms down. Eventually he opens his eyes and turns slightly to look at Steve. Steve’s head stirs to look back at Billy, and he smiles up at him. Billy doesn’t smile back, though Steve knows that he isn’t pissed off anymore.
“I don’t want this getting around. If you’re gonna tell anyone, you leave my name out of it, and it has to be someone you’re 100% sure won’t tell a soul. That goes for you too Munson, got it?”
“‘F course. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first Billy,” Steve says, his words slurring slightly. Eddie just nods.
Billy sighs and decides that he doesn’t want to leave this moment. It was nice. Nobody was judging him. So, he closes his eyes and cocks his head to the side again, so as to let Steve rest his head on his shoulder once more.
It was about a week later. Steve had been over at Dustin’s house since neither of the guys had anything better to do, and they hadn’t hung out one-on-one in a while. Steve laid on Dustin’s bed, downing a can of coke as he listened to the boy sitting on his chair ramble on and on about his long distance girlfriend Suzie.
“So what about you? Any new passengers on the Harrington dream boat?” Dustin asks jokingly, but genuinely curious. Steve playfully hits Dustin on the shoulder, causing the boy to bubble up with laughter. Steve smiles, deciding he can trust Dustin with his secret.
“Actually, since you mention it I… I’m uhh… God this is tough, I’m bisexual.”
Steve clasps his hands together, jetting his index fingers out and covering his mouth, tapping his lips in wait for his friend’s response. Dustin just looks at him with wide eyes, nodding like he’s processing the information.
“That’s… Surprising…”
“What, am I not one of your role models anymore?” Steve half-jokes. He really hopes that Dustin will accept him. Steve figured that he would, he thought he knew Dustin that well. His mom was religious though, so who knows.
Dustin just chuckles lightly. “Of course not. You’re always gonna be like a big brother to me Steve. You liking guys isn’t gonna change that. So, does that mean you have a boyfriend?”
Steve smiles giddily, stoked that he was able to get that off his chest. It was his first time coming out to a straight person, and it went well. He was over the fucking moon right now.
“Well, it’s a bit too complex for you to understand…”
Dustin scoffs. “Try me.”
Steve stays silent. Dustin rolls his eyes with a sigh. “C’mon Steve, I’ll get it. I won’t judge you or anything if you’re worried.”
“Okay… I’m… Well, are you familiar with the term polyamorous?”
Dustin scrunches his eyebrows together and shakes his head.
“I figured as much. Basically, It’s when someone’s romantically attracted to multiple people at once. I… I’m into two different guys. And we’re all sort of dating each other… All at the same time.”
Dustin nods slowly, gathering all the information.
“Okay… Well, I’m glad that you’re happy man. And that you told me.” Dustin gives Steve a reassuring smile which the latter returns.
“Yeah. And if you wouldn’t mind, could we maybe keep this between just us?” Dustin nods. “Of course. Anyways, am I gonna help you with math or are we gonna talk about your boyfriends?”
Steve scoffs. “Please, like you weren’t just gabbing about Suzie for an hour.” Dustin erupts with laughter again, and Steve smirks before flicking a pencil at Dustin.