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December, 1999 - Chicago, Illinois
Eddie regrets not wearing his thick soled Docs as he stands on his toes and attempts to get a good grip on the Christmas tree tied to the top of his Jeep Cherokee.
Why the fuck did I think I could do this by myself?
He unties the knots of the ropes and pulls on the trunk of the tree, probably scratching the shit out of the roof of his baby girl, Cherry. He’ll have to make it up to her with a buff and polish later. Now, he’s got to deal with the very real problem of somehow getting the eight foot tall tree up to his apartment on his own.
Good job, Eddie! Thinking you could be independent.
For the first time in years, Eddie Munson is single for Christmas. A few months back he had finally gotten the courage to end things with his toxic ex, Henry, moving out of their condo and into his very own bachelor pad. He’s determined to enjoy his holidays as a free man, hence his urge to get a real Christmas tree to spruce up his admittedly bare apartment. Henry hadn’t really liked Christmas and had only tolerated a small fake one tucked in a corner.
Eddie still feels like an idiot for not recognizing the way that Henry had manipulated him into a shallow version of himself, peeling away everything that Eddie cared about and replacing all of Eddie’s interests with his own. Henry had made Eddie so reliant on him, had pulled Eddie away from his friends and his band, that Eddie had no one else in his life but Henry.
His major wake up call came right before the break up; after years of telling Eddie how much better he’d look with shorter hair—more grown up and professional—Henry convinced him to cut it. Eddie had taken one look in the mirror and barely recognized himself. And instead of being supportive when Eddie cried about the loss of his hair, Henry had laughed.
Eddie pulls his knitted hat down tighter over his ears, thankful for Chicago’s cold winters giving him an excuse to hide his stupid, short hair. There’s a chill in the air that hints at the upcoming forecast, and Eddie’s glad he picked today to get his tree. It would be so much worse trying to manage the thing with snow on the ground. He pulls at the trunk again, almost falling over as he finally manages to tip it off the roof and onto the sidewalk with a wobble.
“Woah there! Need a hand?” calls a voice from the other side of the tree.
Eddie pushes a branch out of his face to find an impossibly handsome and shirtless guy holding up his arm as if to grab the tree and assist Eddie’s pathetic attempt at moving it.
“Shit, sorry man. Did I get you?” Eddie asks breathlessly, trying in vain not to look at the thatch of alarmingly sexy hair on the guy’s chest.
Chesthair laughs, pushing his swooping hair out of his face. “No, you’re good, I’ve got quick reflexes. So where are we taking this thing?”
This guy clearly isn’t from a big city if he’s so willing to stop whatever the fuck he’s doing wandering around shirtless in December to help a damsel in distress.
And they say chivalry is dead.
“Oh, um, just up there,” Eddie points to his apartment. Thankfully, he’s in an older building on the first floor, so there’s only a few steps up. He definitely wouldn’t have attempted getting a tree by himself if he was on a higher floor.
“I’m Eddie, by the way,” he says, holding his hand out to the handsome stranger.
“Nice to meet you, Eddie. I’m Steve.”
Eddie is immediately disarmed by the crooked smile sent his way as Steve takes a moment to untie a hoodie from around his waist that Eddie hadn’t even noticed—because hello, chest! Hello, arms!—and pulls it over his head.
“Why don’t you take the top, and I’ll grab the bottom?” Steve says, leaning down to grab the base of the tree.
“I usually prefer it the other way around,” Eddie mutters unthinkingly under his breath.
“What did you say?” Steve asks, his brows furrowed as he looks up at Eddie.
Fuck, did I say that out loud?
“Nothing!” Eddie says quickly, trying to reign in his horny thoughts before they grow legs.
He grabs the top of the tree and starts leading the way to the steps of his building. They manage to make it inside and around the corner into Eddie’s apartment with minimal struggle since Steve is doing all the heavy lifting. They’ve lost a fuck ton of pine needles that Eddie’s going to have to clean up if he wants to stay on his landlord’s good side, but other than that, it’s relatively painless.
“Thanks again man, I really appreciate it!” Eddie says enthusiastically as they prop the tree up against his windows facing the street. They’re great for people watching and not so great for privacy, but oh well, the place is all his.
“You don’t have to keep thanking me, Eddie, really, I was happy to help!” Steve says, scratching the back of his neck as he looks around Eddie’s living room.
Eddie has some work to do to decorate the place since it’s pretty devoid of personality at the moment. Thanks to Henry for making him get rid of most of his stuff when they moved in together. Of course, that meant that when Eddie left, he barely had any stuff to take with him. Easier for moving, harder on the wallet for redecorating.
“I’ll have to repay you somehow, though, do you want to—shit!” Eddie’s offer to take Steve out for a drink comes to an abrupt halt when he sees a man in uniform standing by his Jeep. He can not afford a ticket or a tow right now.
“Sorry, be right back!” Eddie shouts at Steve over his shoulder as he runs out of the apartment and down to the guy presumably writing out a fine on his stupid little pad.
“Hey, officer, apologies, I know it’s a loading zone, but in my defence I was unloading something,” Eddie says smiling, hoping he can get on the traffic warden’s good side and talk his way out of a ticket.
No such luck.
After some arguing with the self-important asshole, Eddie moves his precious Cherry to the nearest legal spot he can find—two whole blocks away—and hopes that Steve will still be waiting for him when he gets back.
No such luck.
“And you didn’t get his number?” Robin asks, wiping down the bar after their happy hour rush. Steve’s been telling her all about the cute guy he helped that afternoon between mixing drinks.
They both work at a little bar not too far from Steve’s place. Steve only works there one or two shifts a week, spending the rest of his time working for his father’s company, though he plans to quit as soon as he can work up the courage to defy his old man.
“No! I told you, he had to run out and move his car, and I didn’t want to be late, so I couldn’t wait for him. Plus, I felt weird standing in his apartment alone. I didn’t want to intrude,” Steve responds, but he’s kicking himself for not leaving a note with his number for Eddie. He hadn’t seen any paper or pens lying around, and he wasn’t comfortable snooping through the guy’s stuff.
“Besides, Rob, I basically strong-armed him into letting me help out, it’s not like it was going to go anywhere,” Steve sighs. He’s only recently come to terms with his bisexuality, and he’s still not quite sure how to flirt with guys yet.
“I mean, you did say you thought he was checking you out, right? It could have gone somewhere!” Robin says enthusiastically.
“Ugh, I don’t know, Robbie! I wasn’t sure, and it doesn’t matter anyways. I didn’t get his number, remember?” Steve sighs.
“Okay, well firstly, sometimes you can be a bit dense when people are flirting with you anyways, so he probably was. And secondly, don’t you know where he lives?”
“I can’t just go over to his house, Robin! That would be creepy!” Steve protests.
“Sure you could! You said it's on your regular running route anyways. Just go by tomorrow, maybe he won’t even be home, and you can just leave a note with your number, then the ball is in his court, right?”
“You’re sure it’s not too desperate?”
“I mean, you are kinda desperate, dingus, you’ve gotten all gooey talking about his beautiful brown eyes multiple times,” Robin laughs, rolling her eyes at him.
“Shut up, or I’ll never tell you about my gay crushes ever again,” Steve threatens.
Robin gasps, hand to her chest. “You take that back, Steven Robert Harrington! How dare you threaten to withhold gossip from me.”
Steve groans, resting his arms on the sticky bar top. “What if he doesn’t even like men?”
“You’ll never know unless you try,” Robin says sagely.
“Interesting advice coming from the girl who didn’t even try to kiss anyone until college,” Steve teases.
“Shut up, dingus! You know why I didn’t. Anyways, at least we can be glad that Chicago is a lot more accepting than Hawkins ever will be,” Robin replies. “But yeah, I get why you’re cautious.”
“Exactly. It’s almost a new millennium—it just sucks that we still have to worry so much,” Steve huffs.
“Listen to the baby bisexual worry about homophobes,” Robin laughs at him, though not unkindly.
She’s always used humour as a defence mechanism; it’s better than dwelling on all the times Robin and Nancy have been called slurs when they’ve been out in public together and dared to hold hands.
Steve knows at least part of his worries are based on what his father would say. As much as he tries to not give a fuck about what Robert Harrington thinks, it’s hard to erase the years of not so subtle homophobia that have been engrained in him. He hates that he wasted his 20s trying to live up to his father’s legacy, getting a business degree and working at his father’s company, his whole life charted before him, and he just passively went along with it.
The only good thing about going to college was meeting Robin there. He didn’t remember her from his brief stint at Hawkins High, but she sure as heck remembered him. It had taken him months to wear her down into becoming friends with him when they worked at a shitty little bar on campus together.
Now, over ten years later they are still best friends—platonic soulmates—still having a blast working together, albeit at a different bar. Robin works a couple shifts a week for some extra income, but her main gig is at a small local paper as a freelance film critic. Her girlfriend, Nancy, also works there as a reporter. ‘
That’s another thing that Steve and Robin have in common—Nancy. Steve briefly dated Nancy in college before they realized they weren’t right for each other.
Steve may not need the extra cash he gets from working at the bar, but doing something he actually enjoys is actively keeping him from going insane working his soul sucking job. He supposes it has its perks though since he lives in a very nice apartment and has a good deal of savings stashed away.
He and his father are supposed to have a meeting in the new year to discuss Steve taking on more responsibility at the company as his father nears retirement. That announcement had jolted something in Steve; it had made him realize he’ll be stuck at the fucking company he hates until he retires.
He is done being miserable, he is done living his life for someone else. He is finally, finally, going to stand up to his father. He doesn’t care about the risk of being cut off anymore—he has a nice nest egg of his own, and he’ll figure it out. He told Robin as much, and she’s been incredibly supportive. Even says that her and Nancy will take him in if it ever comes to that.
“You alright, dingus?” Robin asks, pulling him out of his reverie with a pat on the back. “You know I was only teasing right?”
“Yeah, don’t worry Rob, I’m all good.”
The evening rush picks up, and they’re stuck slinging drinks for the rest of the night. Steve’s brain keeps going back and forth on whether he should go by Eddie’s place or just leave it. On one hand, he feels guilty that he left Eddie’s without saying goodbye properly, and on the other, he’s not sure if Eddie even wanted him to stick around.
What would I even say to him?
-:-:-:-:-
The next morning, Steve runs past Eddie’s building twice, psyching himself out each time he passes by on the opposite side of the street. He takes a deep breath and pulls his cell out of his pocket, punching in Robin and Nancy’s number.
“Steven Robert Harrington, I swear to God, I already gave you a pep talk before you left your house!”
“But now I’m outside his house Rob!” Steve practically whines, sounding more like a petulant teenager than a 33-year-old adult man.
“Just go drop off your note, if he’s home you’ll look a lot creepier loitering outside!” Robin warns, cackling.
“I’m not loitering ,” he sulks as Robin continues to laugh at him. “Shut up, you witch, I’m going!”
Steve hangs up on her before she can say anything else, turning off his cell and shoving it back into his pocket. He musters up all his courage and jogs across the street to Eddie’s building. The tree is twinkling in the window, absolutely covered in multicoloured lights, lit up even though it’s 11am.
Does that mean he’s home?
Steve’s hand clenches on the folded piece of paper with his number and a simple note that he rewrote far too many times:
Eddie,
Sorry I had to run off yesterday, it would be nice to see you again sometime.
Give me a call,
Steve
He bounces up the stairs, forcing himself to open the door and turn the corner to Eddie’s unit. He raises his fist to knock but chickens out at the last second, crouching down to slide the note under the door instead. He hops up, turning around to make his escape, and he’s almost home free, foot raised when he hears Eddie’s door open behind him.
Shit. Fuckity shit, balls.
Eddie looks at him, eyebrow raised and holding the note in his hand, and chuckles. “Were you just gonna leave this and run off?”
“I—Uh… I didn’t want to disturb you?” The pitch of Steve’s voice rises at the end, more like a question than a statement.
“Don’t be silly Steve, I’m happy to see you! Come in, I’m just making coffee,” Eddie says, leaving the door open as he turns around and pads back into his apartment.
Steve’s gulps at the sight of Eddie all sleep rumpled and soft. He didn’t get the chance to see Eddie’s hair the day before, and his cropped curls are sticking out in odd directions.
Adorable.
He’s wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, slippers, and a worn band shirt with the arms cut off, exposing the pale skin of Eddie’s arms which are littered with dark ink. Steve realizes he’s been standing with his mouth open like a goldfish and quickly snaps it shut as he follows Eddie inside. His brain struggles to form a coherent sentence as his eyes continue to trail over Eddie, watching the other man fiddle with the coffee maker, he forces himself to look away before he gets caught.
Steve’s eyes fall on the tree, sitting proudly in front of the windows in Eddie’s living room, “the tree looks nice,” he says.
Wow Steve, you’re a great conversationalist, would you like to talk about the weather next?
“Is that why you’re here? Follow up inspection?” Eddie says, smiling softly, teasing.
Steve laughs, decides to tease back. “Yep, had to make sure it was well taken care of after I lugged it in here for you, and you ran off on me.”
“Sorry about that, I was trying to avoid a ticket, but the bastard gave me one anyway,” Eddie says, mouth downturned.
“Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t wait for you to get back. I had to get home and get ready for work,” Steve says, once again wishing that he’d just waited for Eddie.
“No worries man, I hope I didn’t make you late.”
“No, don’t worry, I made it on time.”
“So… how do you take it?” Eddie asks, grabbing some mugs from the cabinet above his head, exposing a sliver of his back.
“What?” says Steve, mouth falling open.
“Your coffee, how do you like it?”
This has got to be intentional right?
He’s flirting with me
Oh god, please be flirting with me.
“Oh, uh, a bit of cream and sugar please,” Steve says.
Eddie doctors up their coffees and carries the two mugs over to the couch, putting them down on the old steamer trunk that serves as his coffee table as he settles himself into the corner of the couch, tucking his leg under himself as he faces Steve.
“Hey, this is neat,” Steve says pointing at the trunk as he grabs his mug. “My friend Robin loves eclectic stuff like this.”
Robin is always making fun of Steve’s place, how it’s straight out of a catalogue, but that’s how his mom has always decorated, and since she offered to foot the bill when he moved in, he just let her pick out everything. He hadn’t cared much at the time since the place looked nice enough to him. It was just another item on a long list of things that he had let his parents handle for him as he coasted along, barely participating in his own life.
“Thanks, it was a street find. Someone left it out, so I grabbed it,” Eddie says, looking around his sparsely furnished apartment with distaste. “It’s gonna take me forever to decorate this place, I’m severely lacking in stuff at the moment.”
Steve looks around too. “Seems fine to me, man, but the same friend tells me that my place is completely devoid of personality, so what do I know?” he laughs in a self-deprecating way.
Eddie returns the laugh. “Well, if your friend ever wants to take me shopping, let me know.”
Steve knows Eddie is joking, but it’s the perfect opening to make plans with the guy without completely putting himself on the line to get rejected.
“There’s actually a Christmas market that we go to every year, it’s got a great selection and not everything is Christmas themed. It’s next weekend… maybe you could join us?” Steve asks shyly.
“That sounds nice,” Eddie responds with a smile, “as long as you don’t mind me tagging along as a third wheel.”
Steve laughs. “Actually, you’d be saving me from being the third wheel for once. I always go with her and her girlfriend, Nancy.”
“Oh, so you were trying to trick me into going on a double date then?” Eddie says with a sly smirk.
“I—uh—no! I wasn’t trying to trick you!” Steve stammers, heart pounding at Eddie using the word date.
Eddie throws his head back in a laugh. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Steve. It sounds fun! When can I pick you up?”
Steve manages to regain his composure enough to make plans with Eddie for the following weekend. They chat a bit more as they drink their coffees, and Steve learns that Eddie works at a tattoo shop. Apparently, his tattoo designs are in high demand. Eddie jokes that he started out tattooing himself as a dumb kid in his kitchen.
“Look how far I’ve come, with only a few bad tattoos to show for it.”
Eventually, Eddie has to get ready for work, but he seems to feel genuinely bad about kicking Steve out. They hug goodbye, and Steve feels like he’s floating on cloud nine his whole jog back home. He just knows that Eddie’s spicy smell and his wiry arms around Steve’s waist are going to plague his thoughts for the rest of the week.
His answering machine is flashing with a message when he comes in the door. He presses the button as he grabs a glass of water, laughing when Robin’s voice floods his apartment.
“Dingus! Call me back so I know you haven’t been murdered!”
“Hope it went well Steve!” Nancy’s voice shouts in the background.
He erases the message and grabs the phone to call them back, filling them in on the double date plan next weekend as they squeal on speakerphone.
Eddie’s palms are sweating as he grips his steering wheel on the short drive over to Steve’s place. He’s trying to calm himself down and stop panicking about the date/not date. He isn’t even sure if Steve is interested in him that way , and he is a bit apprehensive about putting himself out there again. If the last couple months have taught him anything, it’s that he’s in dire need of some friends rather than another boyfriend. He can sense the same loneliness in Steve, and maybe that’s why they’d instantly hit it off.
Either way, he’s excited to get to know Steve better and meet the infamous Robin and her girlfriend Nancy. At least Eddie knows that Steve will be a good, safe friend even if there’s nothing there of the romantic variety.
He’ll admit he’s nervous to meet Robin though, since she’s Steve’s best friend, his soulmate but “platonic with a capital P,” Steve had told him. Apparently, they’d had to deal with a lot of people assuming they were dating when they first became friends in college, but that was before Robin and Nancy got together. Steve had also told Eddie that he and Nancy had briefly dated before Steve and Robin were friends.
Steve laughed through telling Eddie the story of Nancy being prickly towards Robin when they first met. Initially, Steve had assumed that Nancy was feeling jealous over seeing another woman get close to her ex, but in reality she was developing feelings for Robin. Eddie was surprised that Steve was so easy going about his best friend and his ex dating, but Steve just laughed about it, saying they worked better together than Steve and Nancy ever had. Basically, Eddie had two important women in Steve’s life to impress today, along with figuring out if there was anything between him and Steve.
The pressure’s on, Munson, don’t get performance anxiety now.
Eddie pulls up to Steve’s address, putting the Jeep in park so he can wipe his sweaty hands off on his jeans as he gazes up at the fancy apartment building.
Jesus H. Christ, is that a doorman?
Steve said he worked at his father’s company, but he left out the part about being loaded. Eddie suddenly feels stupidly self conscious, some old insecurities about growing up in a trailer park coming back full force. He shakes his head to rid himself of those thoughts—Steve certainly doesn’t come off like the shitty rich kids who bullied him in high school. Besides, if Steve was a dick to him about not being rich, then he wasn’t worth his time.
Please let him be worth my time.
He watches Steve exit the lobby, smiling and waving at the doorman as he walks over to Eddie’s Jeep. He looks adorable all bundled up in a grey wool coat and burgundy scarf that brings out the warmth of his brown eyes. Steve bends down to peer in the window and gives Eddie a bright smile before he opens the door.
“Hey Eddie! Thanks for grabbing me,” Steve says as he hops onto the seat, knocking the snow from his boots out the door before tucking his long legs into the vehicle.
“Hey man, no problem,” Eddie responds with a grin.
There’s just something about Steve’s presence that instantly eases his earlier stress. It’s crazy that he barely knows the guy, yet he makes Eddie feel more at peace than he has in a long time.
They chat about their weeks as if they haven’t talked on the phone every other day. Steve doesn’t talk about his corporate job much, but it’s clear how much he hates it by the way his shoulders tense every time it comes up.
Instead, Steve regales Eddie with tales from the bar that he and Robin work at part time. That’s where Steve shines; it’s clear he loves bartending, and he says he doesn’t even mind dealing with rowdy drunks since they make for good stories.
Steve directs them to the parking lot for the market, and it’s such a silly small thing, but Steve is so attentive and always gives Eddie warnings well in advance when there’s a turn coming up. In contrast, Henry was the worst navigator in the world, listening to music or simply not paying attention, constantly causing Eddie to miss turns and then getting mad at him for it. Eddie knows that he shouldn’t fall into the trap of comparing Steve to his ex, but it’s hard not to, especially since he’s had the wake up call of how badly he was being treated for years.
Eddie parks the car in the lot, and Steve insists on paying for the parking since Eddie drove. They stop at the little beverage stand outside and warm their hands on the little paper cups of hot apple cider while they wait for Robin and Nancy to show up. They’ve only been standing there for a couple minutes before two women walk up to them holding hands and waving at Steve. Eddie looks back and forth between them, trying to figure out who’s who before Steve introduces them.
One woman has shoulder length curly brown hair and is wearing a wool beret; she’s also wearing a long houndstooth skirt with leather boots, and her cute nose is tipped in red from the cold. Her pretty blue eyes flick between him and Steve as they approach. The other woman is wearing an oversized coat and is bundled in a huge handknit scarf, wrapped around her neck so many times Eddie can barely see half of her face. Her light brown hair is cropped in a short bob with bangs that are blowing in the winter wind. She scowls as she holds down her hair and stomps over to them, knocking snow from her combat boots.
“Hey guys, this is Eddie,” Steve says, giving Eddie’s arm a squeeze with his free hand. “Eddie, this is Robin and Nancy.”
“Hello ladies, nice to meet you,” Eddie says, giving them both his most charming smile, but wait—
“Oh my god, Eddie Munson?” Robin practically shrieks, Eddie almost didn’t recognize her at first with her huge scarf but now that she’s right in front of him he recognizes his old friend from the Hawkins High School band.
“Robin Buckley?” Eddie gasps, because what the fuck. It’s crazy to run into someone from high school in general, let alone on some kind of random double date.
“You two know each other?” Steve asks, confused, as Nancy’s mouth quirks in an amused grin at her girlfriend’s enthusiasm.
“We went to high school together in Hawkins,” Eddie responds, pulling Robin into a hug and ruffling her hair. “Hey, band geek.”
“Wait, you’re from Hawkins?” Steve looks like he’s about to combust. He continues before Eddie can ask what’s wrong. “We went to high school together?”
“ What?” Eddie says, completely shocked.
How did he go to school with Steve and not even remember him?
“Steve was only at Hawkins High for a year,” Robin explains. “I only remembered him because I had such a big crush on Tammy Thompson, and she only had eyes for ol’ Steve-o here,” she laughs, giving Steve’s arm a punch.
“Yeah, and you held one hell of a grudge against me over that,” Steve laughs back.
Eddie’s brain is still whirling, trying to keep up with this new information. He stares intensely at Steve, trying desperately to place him in his memories, but comes up short. To be fair, Eddie didn’t have the best attendance record in high school, hence his ‘third time’s the charm’ approach to graduating.
“Wait, Buck, you had a crush on Tammy Thompson? ” Eddie says with a gag. “She was the worst , always talking about what a big star she was going to be!”
Robin swoons, batting her eyelashes at Nancy. “What can I say? I like my women with big hair and even bigger dreams.”
Nancy blushes, poking Robin’s side with her elbow. “Hush, you."
“I’m sorry I didn’t remember you Eddie,” Steve says sheepishly, playing with the ends of his scarf. “We moved around a lot when I was a teenager, I didn’t really have a chance to put down roots.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Stevie,” Eddie says. “I don’t remember you either, and you’d think a guy wouldn’t forget a pretty face like this,” he playfully chucks Steve on the chin, watching with amusement as Steve’s cheeks get pink.
“Okay, you two can flirt inside, let’s get out of the cold shall we?” Robin says, linking her arm with Eddie’s and pulling him towards the entrance before he has the chance to gauge Steve’s reaction to Robin accusing them of flirting.
“I can’t believe it’s really you, Eddie! What a wild coincidence. If I was more into astrology, I’d say it was fate! Maybe mercury is in retrograde or some shit,” Robin says with a laugh. She quickly reminds Eddie of her tendency to ramble as she continues on, “Though, if it was fate, you would have been at the reunion a few years back. I brought Steve as my date since Nance had a deadline… plus, you know how Hawkins is about—” she glances around theatrically and mock whispers, “ lesbians.”
Eddie laughs. They’d never been close enough in high school to divulge those secrets, but he had wondered about her, and maybe she’d wondered about him too. Now he wishes they’d been closer friends—they could have teamed up and terrorized Hawkins together, two nerdy, gay kids fighting against heteronormativity in their small midwestern town.
“Well, you know, the whole senior, senior, senior thing meant that no one was really sure which reunion to invite me to, plus being labelled as ‘The Freak’ for my six years of high school didn’t make me too eager to go back,” Eddie tells her. “Anyways, my uncle retired and moved down south, so it’s not like I’ve had any other reasons to return to Hawkins.”
“I understand, Eddie, don’t worry, I almost didn’t go… but the look on Tammy’s face when she saw Steve there with me was worth the trip.” Robin throws her head back in a cackle.
Eddie glances over his shoulder at Steve. He’s talking quietly to Nancy, their heads tilted together until Steve catches Eddie’s stare and gives him a little grin.
The market is in a huge community centre filled to the brim with local craftsmen and artisans selling their wares. Eddie and Robin are still arm in arm as they begin wandering around looking at all the different stands. There’s quite an assortment of things available, and Eddie quickly finds himself with a couple of shopping bags filled with pieces to decorate his place. He’s eyeing up some pottery when Steve slides in next to him, grabbing a fruit bowl from the table and tilting it to examine the deep blue glaze in the light. Eddie’s more partial to the other one on the stand with a marbled red and black glaze, so he says as much.
“You should get that one then,” Steve says. “It feels more you. Then I’ll get this one, and we’ll be bowl buddies.”
“You’re such a dork,” Eddie laughs but picks up the red and black bowl. It really is quite pretty, and it’s a good size for a variety of things, not just fruit. “Alright, bowl buddy, let’s pay for these and find the girls, I’m ready for lunch.”
-:-:-:-:-
Eddie can’t remember a time when he’s laughed this hard. Robin is telling a hilarious story about Steve making an absolute ass of himself knocking over a stack of glasses when they first worked together, complete with a startlingly accurate impression and flailing limbs. Eddie has to beg her for mercy as he leans over the table, gasping for air with his cheeks sore from how hard he’s smiling.
“Glad to know you can all laugh at my misfortune,” Steve sniffs haughtily as if he hasn’t been laughing along just as hard with the three of them.
“Oh c’mon, dingus, we tease because we love!” Robin says, pointing at him with a french fry. “Besides, Eddie needs to know what he’s getting into if you’re going to”—she winces, cut off by an elbow to her side from Nancy and an intense look from Steve—“going to be friends,” Robin finishes lamely, and Eddie has to hold back from rolling his eyes.
These three are about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Clearly, he had no reason to be worried about Steve’s interest in him since he’s caught no less than five attempts of Robin and Nancy’s wing womaning throughout the day. Eddie doesn’t mind, though, since he finds Steve very attractive, and not just for his pretty face. The more he gets to know Steve, the more his feelings grow despite the niggling little voice in the back of his brain that’s warning him not to get too attached or let himself get in too deep too fast.
“So Eddie, you mentioned your uncle moving away from Hawkins. Will you go visit him for Christmas?” Nancy asks, ignoring Steve and Robin who’ve now started trying to throw fry bits in each other’s mouths.
“Oh, no… couldn’t really afford to make the trip down with the hike in flight prices over the holidays, plus I have a lot of work to catch up on, so it’ll just be a quiet Christmas for me,” Eddie answers. Normally, it would be embarrassing to admit that he can’t afford to visit his only family, but he already feels so at home with the three of them.
Nancy smiles softly at him, reaching out to rest her hand on his arm. “That’s too bad you can’t go see him, I won’t be seeing my family this year either,” she sighs. “My dad… he still has a tough time accepting that Robin and I are together.”
“Oh Nance, I’m sorry,” Eddie says as he tangles their fingers together and gives her small hand a squeeze.
“It’s fine, Robin’s family is great! We usually go there for Christmas,” she says with a wet laugh, lifting her free hand to wipe a finger under her lash line.
“And what about you, Stevie?” Eddie asks, turning in the booth to face Steve. “Big Christmas plans?”
Steve clenches his mouth into a thin line before responding. “Yeah… the company throws this big Christmas party, it’s awful, and I’m expected to be there.”
Robin laughs. “It really is horrible, I can’t believe you convinced me to go that one time.”
“Yeah well, I won’t be subjecting anyone I like to the whole stuffy affair again, especially not after you got drunk and started arguing about politics with the head of HR,” Steve laughs.
Robin throws her head back in a cackle. “Well, if they didn’t want people to get drunk, they shouldn’t have had that huge bowl of rum and eggnog out!”
Nancy rolls her eyes fondly at her girlfriend. “Anyways… Eddie, if you don’t have plans for New Years, you should come to our party!”
“Oh yes! Please come, Eddie! I promise it’s a good time,” Robin joins in enthusiastically.
Eddie cocks his head over to Steve and smiles at the hopeful look on the other man’s face. “Yeah, sure. I’ll come.”
“Dingus, will you quit pacing before you wear a hole in my favourite rug,” Robin barks at him, but Steve pays her no mind and continues his circuit around the living room.
“Robbie, what if he decides not to come?” Steve says, his voice edging on panic. “He’s been busy with work, he’s got such a long waitlist of people that want him to custom design their tattoos, and he said on the phone yesterday that his wrists are starting to cramp up. What if he just wants to stay in and doesn’t want to come to our stupid party?”
“Okay, first of all,” Robin says, holding up a finger, “it’s not a stupid party, you tell us yourself every year, when you get drunk and tell Nance and I how much you love us.” She holds up another finger. “Second of all, you talked to him yesterday , you two have been on the phone with each other constantly for the past few weeks, not to mention the numerous hang outs. He clearly likes you, he’s not going to pass up the perfect opportunity to kiss you at midnight.”
“Steve, really, why are you worrying about this? Eddie said he’s coming, he wouldn’t just back out,” Nancy says, carrying a tray of cheese and crackers into the living room and setting it on the coffee table.
Steve flops down on the couch dramatically, rumpling the pillows that Nancy fluffed ten minutes before and earning a whine of protest from her. He sighs and sits up, smacking the pillow to appease her.
“I just really like him,” Steve says desperately.
It’s ridiculous how fond he’s grown of Eddie in such a short time, especially since it’s the first time he’s really had feelings for another man. He feels like he’s consumed by this crush in a way he hasn’t been since he was a teenager.
Robin and Nancy aren’t helpful at managing his expectations because they’re both crazy about Eddie too, and keep telling Steve to ‘ make a move already!’ Since their outing at the Christmas market three weeks previously, they’ve all hung out as a group a few more times, along with various one-on-one hang outs, but they’ve had nothing that Steve would consider a proper date. Eddie has fit almost seamlessly into their lives, like a puzzle piece that they didn’t know they were missing, and now Steve is having trouble working up the courage to actually ask Eddie out for fear of messing up the easy friendship they’ve all formed.
Robin and Nancy sit down either side of him on the couch, both of them patting his back as they all nibble on the snacks that Nancy’s put out.
“Steve, I know you’re nervous, but really… you’re never going to know unless you try! And I really, honestly think Eddie likes you too, so you’ve just got to go for it, okay?” Robin says gently, giving his shoulder a rub.
“Yeah, okay, thanks Robbie,” Steve says, reaching for another cracker and yelping as Nancy smacks his hand away.
“Save some for our guests,” she grumbles, getting up to putter around in the kitchen some more. She always puts out a ridiculous amount of food when they host a party, yet complains when she has a ton of leftovers.
Steve checks the time. It's 7:45, and they told people to come any time after eight. He excuses himself to the bathroom, not wanting to sit and stare at the clock, willing it to move faster and for Eddie to show up. He splashes water on his face to calm down and runs his hands through his hair, fiddling with it until it sits perfectly. He knows he’s not a bad looking guy, but he can’t help but compare himself to Eddie’s handsome ex. The last time he was at Eddie’s place, Eddie had been telling Steve all about one of his favourite books and had offered to lend it to him. When Steve had opened up the book to look through it, an old photo strip of Eddie and his ex had fallen out of it. Poor Eddie had gotten so uncomfortable, apologizing multiple times as he told Steve that he’d forgotten that it was in there and quickly threw the photos in the trash.
That was another reason Steve was being cautious; he wanted to respect that Eddie had just gotten out of a long term relationship, one that hadn’t been very healthy from the brief moments that Eddie had talked about it. Steve had wanted to give time for them to get to know each other a little bit before jumping into anything because he already knew that if they started dating, he would be all in. That was something he was self conscious about, feeling like too much in a relationship. When he was younger, he had freely handed over his heart a few too many times and gotten it crushed.
Steve perks up at the sound of the buzzer—the sound of their first guests arriving—and he gives himself a harsh look in the mirror, willing his heart to calm down before he exits the bathroom.
“Hey Eddie… Steve, Eddie’s here!” Robin calls out.
So much for remaining calm
Steve rounds the corner from the hallway and takes in the sight of Eddie as he pulls off his coat and hands it to Robin. He’s wearing ripped jeans, a shirt with some band name on it that Steve’s never heard of, and a thick, red flannel over top. He also pulls off his knitted hat, running his hand through his hair in a way that makes his curls stick out in all directions.
It’s so fucking cute, and Steve loves it, longing once again to run his own fingers through Eddie’s locks. He notices that Eddie is decked out in silver chains tonight, one on his wrist and a couple around his neck, along with rings on his fingers. Steve never knew a guy could look so goddamn sexy wearing jewellery, but he finds everything about Eddie sexy, so it’s not much of a surprise.
“Hey Stevie,” Eddie says with a smile, before he envelopes Steve in a hug. So what if Steve holds on to him a beat longer than strictly necessary? Eddie gives a great hug.
“Hey Eddie, find the place okay?” Steve asks.
There I go again, dazzling him with my wit and conversational skills.
“Yeah, no problem,” Eddie says, looking around Robin and Nancy’s place with interest. “Can I help with anything, Nance?” he asks when he spots Nancy in the kitchen.
“Oh god, don’t try to help her, she's way too particular about the snacks,” Steve whispers to him.
“I heard that, Steve!” Nancy shouts. “I’m fine, though, thanks Eddie.”
“C’mon Eddie, I’ll give you a tour while I put your coat in the bedroom,” says Robin, pulling him away.
“Robin Buckley! Are you trying to get me alone in your boudoir?” Eddie gasps with faux innocence, making Robin laugh and smack him.
Steve chuckles as he walks over to the stereo to pick out some CDs for the party, sifting through Robin and Nancy’s collection as he decides which ones would get the honour of going in the five disc player first.
“Please tell me you are not about to put that Backstreet Boys CD on Stevie, I might vomit,” Eddie says into his ear, making Steve jump and drop the CD in question.
“What’s wrong with the Backstreet Boys?” Steve asks as he bends to pick up the case.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask me that for the sake of my sanity,” Eddie responds, shoving Steve over with his hip as he grabs the CDs from Steve’s hands. “You clearly cannot be trusted with the music.”
Eddie flips through the cases rapidly, plastic clicking as he sets aside a few that seem to please him and grimaces at some others. “Buckley, I expected better of you. Some of your music is trash!”
“I’ll take the fall for that, Eddie,” Nancy says, coming into the living room with a plate of cookies that she shoves onto the corner of the already full table. “Robin’s always going on about how Steve and I have such pedestrian music taste.”
“She’s always trying to get us to listen to alternative music, but it sounds like a whole lot of noise to me,” Steve says with a laugh. “Remember that time she dragged us to that show at that horrible dive bar, Nance? God, it felt like my ears were bleeding!”
“It’s not my fault you two don’t appreciate anything original,” Robin shoots back, peering over Eddie’s selections. “Looks like I’ve got a new bestie to go to shows with.”
“Don’t you know it,” Eddie says, raising his hand to give her a high five as they death stare at Steve and Nancy.
Nancy looks over at Steve. “Oh god, should we be worried about that?”
“They’re already so in sync, it’s a little freaky,” Steve says with a smile.
“Don’t get jealous, Stevie, we can come up with our own little secret handshake if it’ll make you feel better,” Eddie says, walking over to Steve and holding his hand out.
Steve goes to shake Eddie’s hand, pulling him in close before surprising the other man by putting him in a headlock and giving him a noogie.
“Oh god! What are you, twelve?” Eddie protests, pulling at Steve’s arm and laughing.
Steve releases him and darts away, heart pounding as Eddie chases after him. He stupidly runs into the kitchen where there’s no escape, and Eddie easily corners him by the fridge, both of them panting from the little burst of exertion. Eddie’s big brown eyes are alight with mischief and prettier than ever.
He’s so gorgeous, I just want to kiss him
Steve reaches out to push a curl out of Eddie’s face, noticing how Eddie leans in to the touch, and fuck it Steve thinks as he sways forwards, planning to finally, finally , close the distance between their mouths.
But then the door buzzer goes off and makes them both jump, breaking the moment.
The guests start arriving, and the party picks up quickly. Steve is enjoying introducing all of their friends to Eddie; there’s even a couple people that used to be in band with him and Robin that he’s catching up with on the couch.
Once again, Steve is struck by how well Eddie has fit into their lives, and he just knows he’s got to tell Eddie how he’s feeling and ask him out on a proper date. Steve is caught up in a conversation with a guy named Fred that Robin and Nancy work with at the paper. Fred’s a nice enough guy, but he can be a little intense and opinionated, so Steve just lets him go off on a tangent, humming occasionally in agreement. It’s not Fred’s fault that Steve can’t seem to take his eyes off Eddie, especially now that he’s shed his flannel and is waving his tattooed arms around while talking to Vickie.
Nancy comes over with a plate of puff pastries and saves Steve from Fred’s monologue. He takes the opportunity to beeline it to the stereo, determined to fuck with Eddie by putting on the Backstreet Boys CD. He manages to get the disc in the player while Eddie’s still deep in conversation with Vickie and pushes play. Steve darts away from the crime scene just as Larger Than Life comes on and tries not to laugh as Eddie jerks his head around, searching for Steve and glaring when he finds him. Steve laughs at Eddie’s furious expression and starts mouthing along with the words. Eddie’s lips pinch as he tries not to laugh at Steve’s ridiculous lip syncing, eventually rolling his eyes as he turns his attention back to Vickie.
Every time a Backstreet Boys song comes on in the shuffle of music Eddie grimaces at him but doesn’t make a move towards the player to remove the disc. Eventually, they’re both in the kitchen again, refilling their drinks, and Steve is pleasantly buzzed.
“Eds, you gotta admit the Backstreet Boys have something special,” Steve says, just to be a little shit.
“The only thing I’ll admit is that Brian and Nick are hot,” Eddie says petulantly.
“Ah-ha! You know their names! That counts for something!” Steve says, raising a finger at Eddie. “Besides, the album is called Millennium , it’s kind of essential to listen to at a New Years Eve party in 1999,” his finger pokes Eddie in the chest to punctuate his point.
“Stevie, if I don’t know who all the hot celebrities are, my gay card will get revoked,” Eddie jokes.
“Who’s going to revoke it? The gay police?” Steve laughs back.
“You never know,” Eddie says sagely. “Best to keep myself at a moderate level of homosexual at all times.”
“Oh yeah, how do you maintain that?” Steve says, his voice dropping flirtatiously.
Eddie leans in closer, eyes darting to Steve’s lips. “Usually by flirting with ridiculously attractive men.”
Steve flushes with pleasure at the compliment and reaches out to touch Eddie’s arm. His thumb strokes over the cluster of bats there as he looks into Eddie’s eyes.
“And what if these men flirt back?” Steve says quietly.
“Then I’d think those men are asking to get kissed, wouldn’t you?” Eddie replies with a smirk, leaning further into Steve’s space.
Steve barely has time to respond, “ fuck yes,” before Eddie swoops in, capturing his mouth in a heated kiss as he pushes his hands into Steve’s hair.
Steve holds back a groan at the feeling of Eddie’s mouth on his, cool and tasting of the beer he was drinking. Steve wraps his arms around Eddie’s back, pulling him in closer as their mouths move together in the most delicious dance. When they finally separate for breath, Eddie’s pupils are so blown out his dark eyes look almost black.
Steve smiles and bites his lip. “I’ve wanted to do that for weeks now,” he admits shyly.
“Me too, Stevie,” Eddie replies, tucking some hair behind Steve’s ear. “Thanks for showing up as my shirtless knight in armour.”
“Anytime,” Steve breathes and gives Eddie another quick peck before his attention is drawn away by Nancy’s announcement that the countdown is starting soon.
-:-:-:-:-
They kiss again at midnight, and Steve knows he’s read somewhere that the person you kiss on New Years Eve is a sign of good luck in love for the coming year. And yeah, the year 2000 already feels pretty lucky when he’s starting it with Eddie Munson in his arms.
Digital Collage for "This World You Wrapped For Me" created by me on the Shuffles app