Based on this TikTok
Steveās always said Eddieās fingers are magic. Guitarists fingers. Strong and deft, heās always been better than Steve at anything more precise than getting a basketball through a hoop.
Eddieās the one who mends their clothes. The one who took apart their stereo and got it working again.
Who, now, has to squint hard when he does any of it.
But those skillful fingers are in Steveās hair, now. Scratching against his scalp. Massaging the tightness in his neck. And every time Eddie does this it makes Steve drool. Makes his jaw unlock and dribble spit out of the corner of his mouth, makes his eyes close and his spine tingle because this truly has to be recognized as an eighth wonder of the world.
āFallinā asleep on me?ā Eddie murmurs, above him, and itās all Steve can do to crack an eye open.
āFeel sāgood.ā He slurs, and Eddieās hand shakes as he laughs, adjusting, slightly, to comb a new pattern through his hair.
Steve closes his eyes again. Snuggles deeper into the pillow heād laid on Eddieās lap.
Their pillow smells like nothing, because their homeātheir homeāis so familiar to him he canāt smell it, anymore.
His childhood home always smelled like linen.
Eddieās hand adjusts again, gently twisting hair between his fingers. āYouāve got some grays back here, sweetheart.ā He murmurs, not judgmentally, never judgmentally, he says it as fact. One thatās clear to anyone who looks.
Steve mumbles his affirmation, well aware of the cluster of grays sprouting in full force at the crown of his head. āYāve seen āem before.ā He mumbles, and Eddie hums, continuing to twist the strands between his fingers.
āJust,ā Eddie starts, voice just above a whisper, ādid you ever think it was gonna happen? For us?ā
Steve blinks his eyes back open. Comes to a little more at Eddieās tone and wipes his chin off with his wrist, turning in his loveās lap. The fingers retreat from his scalp and Steve finds Eddieās hand in the dim glow of their living room, squeezing tight, letting them rest on his chest. Itās a comment on their relationship, forged and cultivated through nearly two decades of friendship, of bone-deep trust and more love than Steve ever saw himself worthy of that not a single part of him is anxious when he asks, āwhat dāyou mean?ā
Eddieās free hand comes to Steveās temple. Strokes along the grays he is well aware rest there, too, hidden, at the right angle, by his glasses that now lay discarded on the coffee table.
āThat we would get to grow old together.ā Eddie whispers. And he keeps stroking that cluster of gray, looking as reverently down at Steve now, at forty, as he did at thirty. At twenty. Touches him with all the love heās always had. Always held. All of the love Steve never thought he would find returned to him in kind, never thinking that his love for someone could be matched, could be held for him in return, but here they are. Eddie loving him with his glasses, his hearing aids, the wrinkles that have begun to creep onto his face and the grays sprouting through the hair he still canāt leave the house without styling, marveling at being able to see it at all.
And as much as Eddie loathes to admit it, being the one who always calls Steve the vain one, he can see the beginnings of Eddieās own hairline beginning to recede. The start of wrinkles on his forehead. How his curls have grown wispier. But Steve doesnāt think thereās anything more beautiful than the visible reminder of their years shared.
And yeah. Steve gets it, now. They werenāt exactly counting on a tomorrow for a couple of years, there.
Steve kisses the back of Eddieās hand, the scar tissue thatās still raised and puckered, even after all these years. āIām glad itās with you.ā Steve murmurs back.
Eddieās hand moves again. Begins scratching at the top of his head. āWouldnāt want it with anyone else.ā Eddie finishes.
They donāt say what they both know to be true. That neither of them would have made it here without the other. That without Eddie Steve may never have left Hawkins. That without Steve Eddie would never have made it out of the Upside Down. That either of those fates would have killed them, in the end. That without each other their lives would have followed paths so very different than the one theyāre on. A path that still prickles the back of Steveās neck to think about.
A path that will, thankfully, never happen.
Steve closes his eyes again. Turns into the pillow that smells like nothing while Eddieās fingers resume tracing patterns through his silvering hair.
Tomorrow theyāll both be a day older. They will both have more grays. Steveās back is going to hurt because he spent too long lying on this couch and Eddieās bad knee is going to ache because he scratched the headache from Steveās scalp instead of doing his exercises.
But theyāll always do it together.
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after the events of season 4, steve just wanting SO BADLY to be friends with eddie. just LOVING the idea of them getting closer and having eddie as a friend because hell yeah! a close male friendship with someone that is actually my age, and who i donāt have a weird history with involving bruised eyes and love triangles? count me IN! and eddie is FUN, he is actually hilarious! the way they share the same glances of understanding when dustin is being an absolute shit head, rambling on and on about some obscure topic, expecting everyone to always be on the exact same page as him. of course. and, although steve suspects that eddie actually probably is keeping up with everything dustin says, much better than he ever could, he knows that above it all eddie can appreciate the antics for what they are, and roll his eyes with steve at dustin, i concur, you dustin henderson, are a total butthead.
steve just about junps RIGHT IN to being friends with eddie. hey man, whatācha up to tonight? wanna watch a movie? get drunk, smoke a bit? hey eddie, how have you been, man? he starts calling eddie up on the phone regularly just to check in, shoot the shit, he loves it! he loves having this new friendship with eddie munson and he loves how much the other boy has surprised him with how much he actually enjoys being around him. heās not a freak, really, well ok maybe he is a little bit, but only in the best ways. heās kind, thoughtful, and is always looking out for the people he cares about, which is something steve can really respect in a dude. but heās also so funny? steve never couldāve anticipated just how much eddie has managed to make him genuinely LAUGH over their short amount of time spent together. and heās really, out there? with the way he presents himself, the way he takes up space with these big THEATRICAL movements, leaving no room for regret or shame or god forbid embarrassment. steve isnāt even sure munson is capable of feeling it at all.
eddie munson is a good dude, and steve could use a bit more of that kind of person around him. he loves all of his friends, the weird little bonded family heās found himself apart of, and they are all good people, but it never hurts to have afew more added in here and there. it never hurts to know there are more good people out there to find.
so steve is all over eddie, it seems.
at least, from where eddie is standing. nobody else seems as phased as eddie does at this sudden change in steveās demeanour, in his interest in what eddie munson spends his time doing these days. it seems like, to everyone else, to steve, itās just a natural progression in their relationship, after being sort of role model figures to the same group of kids, both being the two single dudes, who fought the same monsters together last spring, it seems nobody questions too much that theyād start casually hanging around eachother more. especially since eddie has found himself to fit into his own special spot as one of the group now after it all, after he unwillingly became tangled in this whole upsidedown-superpowers-supernatural-monsters and demons debacle, and tangled quite dramatically at that, the rest of the group thatās been with this since the beginning seemed to find no trouble in taking him in and seeing him as āone of themā now.
so, steve asking eddie to smoke, to watch movies, to go for a drive with no real end destination, itās not really something that earns them too many double takes. dustin makes a comment or two in the beginning, because steve since when did you like hanging out with eddie? you guys are like so opposite, you donāt like any of the same stuff he does? and steve barely gives a shrug and a dismissive yeah yeah whatever man in response, with a signature eye roll, and dustin had said it seemingly also not too seriously, poking fun at steve wherever he can, not really meaning anything by it, as he fidgets around and rambles in the backseat of steveās car, eddie riding up front. after that, though, heās dropped it. itās never brought up again. part of eddie thinks, too, that dustin would actually be enjoying that his two older friends are becoming friends themselves.
robin seems to be the only other person to look a bit harder at their situation, lingering stares at their interactions, all squinted eyes and eyebrows raised, though from her all this seems to be almost always and only ever directed at steve. eddieās not sure what to make of that. isnāt he the weird one? i mean, heās the one that stands out, right? heās the odd denominator that makes their friendship strange. why would steve harrington want to hang out with Him? HIM? but robin doesnāt spend her time studying eddie to try and search for what about him could possibly have piqued the interest of cherished steven harrington, no, shes always looking at steve. like sheās seeing him differently, almost. eddie doesnāt even think that steve notices it, either, because he doesnāt seem to be questioning or doubting anything odd or strange or out of the ordinary with their newfound time spent together. and maybe, maybe robin is seeing him differently. eddie knows he definitely has been. seeing him more, intensely. deeply. human. seeing the person that steve is, as just steve, not this idealised version of a boy that eddies starting to question ever really even existed at all, or if everyone around him just needed to believe that he did, and who was steve if not happy to comply to the wants of the people around him for who he should be?
eddie likes having steve as his friend, too. donāt get it twisted. he loves how unexpectedly expressive steve is about everything, even really small things. steve LOVES to raise his voice, rest a hand on his popped hip, scolding the kids for something stupid with no real heat or malice behind it. and steve is, like, kinda bitchy too. eddie knew he had the capacity to be a real asshole when he wanted to be, thatās all he knew steve for back in the day, when he was back in high school, hanging around tommy h and the basketball boys, the jocks. eddie would spend his days hearing only whispers and gossip in the hallways of the parties at king steveās house and the fights king steve had started and won on the court or out in the fields, only ever getting as close as a shove into a locker with the guy at the time, but eddie knew how it could go. he knew all about what steve had done to jonathan, what heād said to him, the words heād used. eddie knew it all. heād seen enough, and been through enough himself, to know how these guys acted in response to guys like him, like jonathan, people who were lower on the social food chain. so, eddie knew about steveās āmean streakā, if you will, but this kind of snarky bitchiness was something new to him. harrington was almost, sassy, when he wanted to be. it was less so cruel and more just, just sass. if heās being completely honest it kind of blew eddie away, at first. he thought steve was one of those dull headed jocks who thought with their fists more than their actual brains, but that couldnāt have been farther from the truth. steveās insults were well thought out, they were FUNNY, he was smart with his words. and silly. oh my god steve harrington could be so fucking silly, real honest to god goofball when the moment called for it, when he felt comfortable enough. eddie had caught on multiple occasions steve mimicking lightsabers to play fight with dustin, or the stupid fucking shit he would do or say just to make robin laugh, singing along to a song playing on the radio with a funny voice.
it was all a little, intoxicating, to watch. eddie didnāt know what gave him the right to be in on this now, to get to see this side of steve and better yet to be at the other end of some of his best qualities. it was fun, all the time they spent together, but there was always something else tugging inside eddie everytime they spent close time together, too. something, he knew steve wasnāt aware of. something he knew steve wasnāt equipped to deal with. something he knew, was him. was him, making things something more than they should be, because, nobody seemed to be questioning that they could become friends, so why ruin that? why disrupt it?
- robin and steve
āSteve.ā
ā-but then like, it wasnāt that I didnāt want to watch it I just thought, hey, yāknow, letās try something different for a change, but then he- oh my god he honest to god TACKLED ME Robin ā I mean, it was so fucking funny and it happened so quick ā and all over a fucking Tom Cruise movie-ā
āSTEVE.ā Robin lightly slammed a hand onto the counter. She had been standing behind it for no short of 20 minutes, watching Steve as he paced around, supposed to be stacking tapes onto shelves, but ended up spending the whole time going on and on, and ON, about how movie night went with Eddie last night. She thought she was badā¦
Steve jumped, almost running into a shelf and knocking down his hard work, and seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had found himself in after starting to tell Robin a story about something funny Eddie had done last night.
āShit, sorry. Sorry, what were you saying? Were you- were you saying something?ā
To this, Robin just rolls her eyes and letās out a laugh, āYou, sir, are goddamn hopeless.ā
āSorry. How long was I talking for?ā Steve wandered his way over to lean his arms onto the counter from the opposite side.
āOh, I dunno Steve, just about half an HOUR?ā
āThat is an over exaggeration Robin, itās only been like-ā
āHonestly, man, iām concerned for you. You are like next level OBSESSED with Eddie. Eddie Munson. You do realise this right??? You are obsessed with him, Steve.ā
To this Steve sputters, lazily waving his hands back and forth.
āNo, Robin, what the hell are you talking about? I am not OBSESSED. No need to be jealous, alright, Stevie-Boy here can have more than one friend. Your spot in my heart isnāt any less special now that itās beginning to be shared by another.ā He bats his eyelashes up at her, holding both hands over his chest as if to cradle his heart.
āOh my GOD! You even SOUND LIKE HIM!ā, she playfully slaps his shoulder. āSteve. You are obsessed.ā
āI am not obsessed! Heās just a really great guy, alright-ā
āBlah blah, yep whatever you say, lover boy.ā Robin quips, plopping down onto the chair chair infront of their staff computer, turning herself to face it.
āWha- what? Lover boy? What the hell Robin, that is not- that doesnāt even make any sense!ā
She is just smiling at him now, enjoying seeing him spiral like this. Steve letās out a sigh as he puts his hands on his hips, and shakes his head, looking at her right back.
He opens and closes his mouth afew times, like heās really thinking about what he wants to say next. Or like he has no idea what to say next, and his brain is not moving fast enough to formulate the next sentence his mouth knows he wants to say. He wasnāt obsessed. Thatās not- thatās like- no. No he was not, Robin was just playing around with him, she knew how to get on his nerves. Get him all wound up over little things just to see him react like this.
After a minute or two, Robin realises Steve was not going to reply anytime soon, so she turns fully back toward him. Saving him from his spiral.
āSo, what are youāre plans for tonight Steve-O?ā
He lets out a chuckle and walks around the counter till heās behind it with Robin, leaning his back against it so he can stand across from her and face her.
āWell, not really sure. Parents arenāt home, no early shift tomorrow, might drink afew beers, listen to some music, āā
āSee what Eddieās doin?ā Robin finishes for him, quirking her eyebrows up and down as she does it.
āOh shut up!ā Steve just laughs and softly throws a tape from the counter at her chest. āAs a matter of fact, yeah I will see what heās up to. Because we are friends now, Robin. Is that a problem? Actually I was also gonna ask you what you were up to after work, too, but you know what after this Iām having second thoughts, I mean, the way youāve been treating me lately-ā
āOh my god, you are the worst. Yes, Iām free, of course Iāll hang out with you dingus. You and your tweedle dee.ā
Steve laughs at this, then tilts his head.
āWait, does that make me dumb? Tweedle dumb?! Thatās how you see me?ā
āYeah it is actually, got a problem?ā
āOh wow, sheās feisty today. Canāt believe you think Iām dumb, Robās. When you come knockinā tonight, do not expect a warm greeting at my front door.ā
āYeah, yeah, Iāll take my chances.ā
- later. steveās house. to be continued?
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thinking about married teacher steve and rockstar eddie.
steveās students like to poke fun at him for ānot being coolā or ātrying to be coolā, and steve just feeds into it and plays up his cluelessness to modern things and whatās āhipā nowadays. he always just tells them they have no idea, and theyāre gonna eat their words one day when they see how cool he really is, but all the kids just laugh and think heās being sarcastic.
one day a group in his class is talking about the popular rock music star eddie munson, about his music and how much they love him, and steve joins in, asking them about eddie and what kind of music he makes and so on. he says something like āoh yeah, i think i know munson. yeah heās cool, makes good stuffā and the kids are like āas if you know eddie munson, mr h, there is no wayā. steve just chuckles and says āif you say soā
meanwhile eddie EATS EACH STORY UP when steve comes home with a something new to tell him all about what his kids were saying to him today
honourable mention but eddie also is WEAK for steveās teacher outfits, the button ups, the vests, when he wears a tie WITH his glasses consider eddie a dead man.
on the last day of class for the year steve has given his class almost a free period of sorts to just chat and muck about being that itās so close to vacation and all, and ofc the topic of steveās uncoolness comes up again, and heās just all laughs and smiles not even trying to fight back while they poke harmless fun at him, just looking smug as shit knowing these kids are in for a treat.
the bell goes and they all start to pack up their things to leave, and steve calls out to get their attention, remember the homework, stay safe, have a good break and all that, but THEN who else walks through the classroom door but eddie. munson. heading straight towards steve telling him āhey babe, ready to go?ā
āyep, just let me grab my stuffā steve says back, and the class is stunned silent. eddie walks over to steveās desk and puts a hand on his back as steve is leaning over it putting books and pages into his bag, āyou guys are all free to goā he looks up to the class, smug as ever.
as he and eddie head towards the door, steve stops and turns around back to his class one last time, whisper shouting over his shoulder āwhoās cool now?ā
eddie is laughing infront of him as they walk out together, listening to the classroom theyād just left erupt into chaos.
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