Chapter Text
Title: Steel Blue Heart
Fandom: Stranger Things
Main Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Tags: m/m, transgender-transsexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, side pairings,
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Netflix. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews and comments are more than welcomed.
There was a lot of things Eddie expected to happen on this very – oh and so-so very – regular Tuesday afternoon.
They had gotten into quite the routine, you see. Steve opened at Family Video, spent the first few hours alone and restocking whatever movies had been delivered and while whatever movie was within reach plays in the background. Then at noon, before his shift at Larry’s Mechanical Shop, Eddie would visit for lunch, bring whatever movie he had ‘rented’ the day before, and keeping Steve company until Robin starts her shift at 12.30. This gave the trio about 20 minutes to chat before Eddie crossed the street and went to work.
Then if Steve was done around the same time as Eddie, they would go to Eddie’s place and watch a movie, get high, and have a good evening until Steve left around 10pm. Or, if Steve and Robin was done at the same time, they would go to Steve’s while Eddie went his own way (usually on ‘business’. He always tried to schedule his sales and appointment to these days – Mondays and Wednesdays, and Saturdays if he wasn’t invited along the pair).
Eddie expected the same to happen again, and in a sense, it did. At least the first part.
“Hello, Harrington.”
“Munson.”
“What? Am I not worth your greetings anymore, princess?” Eddie teased
Steve stayed leaned over the counter as he was rewinding tapes, “I don’t see you bringing coffee.” He replied lazily, not even bothering to make eye contact.
“Ah, am I only worth the coffee I bring?” Eddie complained dramatically,
And Steve’s monotone reply was “Usually.”
Eddie smiled, letting go of his performance, “How will I ever recover?”
Today, of all days, did Robin come in early. She was always on time, never a second before she absolutely had to be at work. Yet on this – so far – very regular Tuesday she was almost 20 minutes early.
She caught their attention by faceplanting on the glass doors, giving the other two time to turn around slowly as she struggled to open the doors (the pathetic struggle with push-pull doors that everyone goes through at least a few times in their lives), before she jogged up to the counter.
“Yes, Rob?” Steve grinned cockily.
She was completely out of breath, threw herself over the counter dramatically after checking if there was any customers aside from Eddie (correction, any customers. Eddie never paid). “She kissed me.”
“That’s great, Robin! How did it happen?”
Robin and Steve’s conversation continued after that, but Eddie couldn’t hear anything else.
It was usual for them to talk about Steve’s poor attempts at finding love, but the subject of Robin’s – hell, even Eddie’s – love life rarely happened. Eddie was aware that Robin was as bent as he was, and assumed that was why. A quite common reason.
Eddie, who hadn’t really thought anything badly about Steve since they met again during the Vecna shenanigans, was terrified on her behalf. Steve Harrington, the Steve who protected 15-year-olds from demons from another dimension and hosted parties for just the few of them, was also the King Steve from high school. Steve “The Hair” Harrington, Hawkins High’s prime example of royalty and popularity. Eddie had kind of just assumed he’d be against his ‘life choices’.
Not that Steve was a cruel person, nor a hateful soul, but he had been on top of the social pyramid, as well as raised by assholes for parents. It wouldn’t be his fault if he did share the same views on these topics.
But Robin came running through those doors, to tell them that she kissed her.
Steve knew about Robin’s sexuality. And not only did he not punch her or out her, even to Eddie, but he was… supportive?
“Eddie?”
Two sets of eyes were on him. Eddie, who’s eyes held a fear neither had seen since the Upside Down and who’s eyebrows haven’t been so confused since they showed him El’s powers, looked at Robin, “He knows?”
She let out a chuckle, “Oh god, I thought something was terribly wrong.” She took a few relieved breaths, “Yeah, Steve knows. He’s the first I told, thought you knew?”
“Yeah, we have no secrets!” Steve said proudly, “Back to Nancy-”
“Just,” Eddie interrupted, “I need a fucking moment.”
Nancy, King Steve’s girlfriend in high school, the Queen of Hawkings, had kissed Robin. Robin from Band, Robin the kind of strange girl who you somehow shared at least one class with, Robin Buckley. And Steve was supportive of it.
“Eddie, Steve’s cool.” Robin placed a hand on his arm, “Like, with anything you might want to tell him.”
Eddie hadn’t come out to either of them. Half-way with Robin, but he hadn’t told everyone about… that. It felt like his binder grew tighter at her words. “I’m gay, Harrington.”
“Kinda figured.” He grinned, the fucker.
“How.” Eddie’s glare didn’t really stick, he was too relieved that his new best friend, his first best friend, wouldn’t punch him or call him a hundred slurs as he’s being thrown out of the shop only to be glared at through the windows for the rest of his Hawkins days.
“I didn’t know at first, but once Robin explained some customs and flagging techniques, it wasn’t too hard to add two and two.”
Eddie forced some half-assed confidence to surface as he tried to hide how terrified he was of where this conversation was headed, “And what flags did you find on me?”
“The hair,” Steve fiddled with a cassette, “a few of your patches, I finally listened to the lyrics of some of your devil songs, and your-” he blushed a bit “Eh, your… your earrings.” He settled on.
Because Steve – as regular and straight as he may seem – was well aware of what that handkerchief meant. And it hadn’t been Robin who explained it to him. But dearie Stevie was still very much closeted, both sex wise and sexuality wise. Perhaps closeted wasn’t the best term, he was unsure and uncertain and definitely not open for anyone to know.
“My earrings, huh?” Eddie smirked, he looked at the clock on the wall, “Shit I gotta go”
“Oh yeah,” Steve nodded, “I’ll see you later?”
“Of course,” Eddie smiled, before leaving the two of them behind.
As he was changing both the brake pads and fluid on a Mercedes w123, Eddie struggled to focus on the soft metal that his boss and coworkers allowed him to put on as he worked.
It was actually a great place to work, Larry’s, at least for Eddie. They didn’t care shit about rumors, as most of them were middle-aged white men who had ended up there because of reasons of their own – two of them met in Vietnam and found each other in jail 10 years later. They traveled together for a while before they managed to find work here and have been here ever since – so Eddie wasn’t much more of an outcast than the rest of them. He even had his own station, got a list of cars to work on at the beginning of each week – perhaps an extra here and there some mornings – and got his paycheck on the 20th every month. There were five others; Oliver and Jake from Vietnam/jail, Hansson, a Scandinavian-ish gentleman called Matteus, and the boss Larry. Hansson told Eddie to put on some music one day, Larry told him to tone it down a bit, and Eddie presented a bit of a softer side of Metal. He’s been in charge of the music ever since.
But now he couldn’t focus much. It was even Dio playing, he recognized as much, but he simply couldn’t get his mind of Steve. Steve “Kinda figured” Harrington, who kinda figured he was gay, didn’t say anything, let him come out when he was ready, and didn’t punch him in the face afterwards. Steve “best friend with lesbian Robin Buckley” Harrington, who was best friends with Robin Buckley, the lesbian.
Had Eddie had time to process that Steve knew Robin preferred women, he could have the time to panic over Steve being biased; a lot of straight men were okay with two girls kissing, finding it hot even, but the thought of a man liking them would repulse them. No, Eddie didn’t even get to have that panic, because Steve kinda figured he was gay and Eddie couldn’t even pinpoint when he had started treating him differently, meaning that Steve hadn’t treated him differently after finding out, meaning that Steve was literally completely okay with Eddie being into men.
“Munson, you’re slow today.” Oliver rounded the corner and leaned on Eddie’s tool cabinet
Eddie, who was working on his knees, relaxed onto his thighs and let his hands rest with the tools in his lap. “Yeah, sorry… a lot on my mind.”
“Anything I can help with?”
Well that depends, can I talk to you about homophobia or will you call me a slur? “Don’t think so.”
“A girl?”
Eddie smiled, “Sadly no, if only my problems were as easy as romance.”
“What?” Oliver walked over and crouched down besides him, “Romance ain’t your biggest problem, son? What sort of single 20-year-old are you?”
“One that gets laid plenty.” Eddie grinned as he rested his chin on his shoulder, staring at the man from a comfortable distance.
“I see,” Oliver playfully shoved him a bit, “so what is troublin’ ya?”
Eddie sighed, “Just a friend of mine, he said something I didn’t expect.”
“He a fairy?” he grunted. Eddie didn’t say anything, hoping he would elaborate. Oliver stood up, “I knew a few fairies in Vietnam. They’re usually nice enough, not like the news describe’em. Sure it’s that Aids thing they carry, but I hear it’s like Herpes – it has to be sexual and all that. There’s no need for that to ruin your friendship, if he’s a good one that is”
He thought Eddie had a problem with it? There was comfort in Oliver standing up for a stranger's sexuality, so he went for it “And if I’m the queer?” Eddie held his breath.
Oliver stood there for a bit, he shifted his weight to his other leg as he looked down at him. He changed his bite as his jaw tensed, “then I hope he’s a good one.”
Eddie smiled up at him, “He is.”
“So what’s the problem, son? You in love with him?”
Eddie looked back at the open wheel and the caliper, suddenly forced to face a train of thought he had pushed down for almost seven months.
He likes Steve.
Steve was a good guy, though he didn’t believe it until after they went to the Upside Down together. Steve was kind, considerate, and threw a hundred get togethers and parties for the lot of them, mostly because he didn’t want to be alone in the big, soulless house, but also because he liked to host. Steve liked to be useful, he would often spiral if he felt useless and unwanted, and Eddie swears his love language is acts of service, no matter how many times Steve complains about driving the kids around.
Steve who will spend hours listening to Eddie’s music, will spend hours listening to Eddie talk about things he’s passionate about, spend hours in Eddie’s car just for Eddie to get to that specific store in Indianapolis that sells the clothes he likes to wear, spend hours holding Eddie after nightmares, spend hours on opening Eddie up to him so Steve can get to know him better than anyone ever has.
Yeah, he likes Steve.
“Intensely.”