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mrsjellymunson · 5 months

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What's His Name Again?

Written for the @steddiemicrofic December prompt ‘pine’ | Rating: T | WC: 508 | CW: Modern AU, fluff, flirting (mild), swearing, inaccurate depiction of a movie’s release date (bc I just had to make this festive) | Tags: Love confession (sort of), Steve’s bi awakening, getting together. A/N: Massive thanks to @steddieas-shegoes and @wynnyfryd for organising these challenges. I learn and/or experience something new every time, from both taking part and reading. Also, apologies if this is stretching the prompt too far 😆

“Thanks for coming with me, dude. I know it’s not really your thing.”

“No problem, man. I know how desperate you are to see it. The kids can’t skip school to see the first showing, and I couldn’t let you come alone like some kind of loser.”

Steve gives Eddie a wry smile. He retrieves their popcorn and they shuffle into the padded seats at the back of the theatre.

“What else has he been in?”

“I told you. The new Star Trek movies, Wonder Woman, some thriller, I forget the name. You’ll recognise him, I swear.”

“It’s a real treat for you, huh? An actor you like, in a film about D&D?”

“Yeah, it’s niche, but I’m definitely not complaining.”

Eddie gives Steve a little smile.

Wait, is he nervous?

Steve says the name in his head again. It’s still not familiar.

“So what is it about this Chris Pine guy that you like so much?”, nudging Eddie’s elbow.

Even in the dim lighting, Steve spots his pinkening cheeks.

“Weeeelll, he usually plays the good guy, but he can play darker too. He’s got cute hair, a super-buff bod, intense eyes. Jesus, those fuckin’ eyes…”

Eddie’s voice trails off, cracking slightly.

Steve looks sideways, and sees that Eddie isn’t looking at the screen. He’s looking straight at Steve.

Oh.

Steve swallows, shifts in his seat. Tries not to make it obvious that he’s hiding the appearance of an unexpected semi.

OH.

They watch the movie mostly in silence, apart from Steve occasionally gaining clarification on D&D-related plot points and them both whooping and groaning at appropriate junctures.

Steve enjoys it more than he thought he would, admitting,

“That Chris guy is pretty good. I can see why you… like him.”

Eddie coughs.

“Yeah, he’s a pretty good actor, if, y’know, that’s your thing.”

Do it, Steve, just fucking do it.

“It’s still early, do you maybe wanna do something else before the kids get out of school?”

Eddie replies enthusiastically, “Sure!” Adding, more nonchalantly, ”I mean, sure, if you wanted to. Like what?”

“We could go back to your place? You could educate me on the finer points of D&D lore?”

A year later, Steve and Eddie are setting up a tree, celebrating their first Christmas in their new apartment.

The kids are coming over for a festive get-together. Dustin’s the first to arrive, brandishing a small package.

Eddie admonishes, “Hey, we said no presents!”

“I don't care. This is special.”

Steve tears the wrapping, revealing a DVD of ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves’.

“Dustin, how did you know?”

“Dude, it was all over the pair of you as soon as you’d seen it! Since Chris Pine is basically your Cupid, we figured you might like to watch it on your anniversary.”

Eddie grabs the DVD, flings it to the sofa, and bundles his boyfriend into a loose hug.

“Don’t need it, I’ve got my very own Chris Pine right here. Cute hair, super-buff bod, intense eyes.”

He stares deeply into Steve’s.

“Jesus, those fuckin’ eyes…”

Thanks for reading! Please consider commenting on and/or reblogging stuff you like, it really does make Tumblr spin.

#eddie munson #steve harrington #steddiemicrofic #steddie microfic challenge #eddie munson fluff #Steve Harrington fluff #steddie fluff #Steve’s bi awakening #Steve Harrington’s bi awakening #D&D: honour among thieves #Chris Pine #D&D #stranger things #stranger things fanfic

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sky-neverending · 10 months

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Steve and Billy isn’t something i personally ship but boy let me tell you Stevie was crushing HARD on Hargrove. like damn if that’s not a plot point i’ve used in at least 4 fics then i’ll eat my hat. when Steve is trying to figure out his sexuality, Billy is the first thing from his past that makes him go “oh. damn it.” (and then tommy, but billy was more prominent) and it’s funny bc i hc Eddie as like an older brother figure for Max. dude really switched to the next thing in that front lol.

Also what’s with Steve crushing on guys he beats up and/or gets beat up by? kinda suspicious of you ask me. ok anyway that’s all

#stranger things #steve harrington #billy hargrove #eddie munson #bisexual steve harrington #steve’s bi awakening

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youre-brilliant · 2 years

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Murray to Steve: We like girls but we don’t JUST like girls…

#stranger things #st s4 #steve harrington #Steve’s bi awakening #murray bauman

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unfinishedslurs · 1 year

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aware of his bisexuality steve (steddie, buckingham)

“Is that a hickey?” Comes out of Steve’s mouth without permission. But there it is, bright purple and red against the slope of her neck. She’s been walking kind of funny this morning, too. He’d assumed her period came early, but… “Rob, did you—“

Eddie fumbles the coffee mug he was pulling down. Chrissy freezes, face turning white with fear. Robin whips around, face bright red, and slaps a hand over her neck.

“Bathroom!” She yelps. “Bathroom now!”

“Wait,” Eddie says, setting the mug down with trembling hands. “It was me. Sorry, man.”

Steve stares at him, unimpressed. Why the fuck would he lie about—

He looks at Chrissy again, who takes a nervous step back, and it clicks.

“Right,” he says, nodding quickly. “You. You gave Robin a hickey. Had totally awesome sex that she didn’t even tell me about.” He directs that last bit at Robin pointedly. He told her almost immediately when he lost his guy-ginity. Traitor. “Yep. Sure. Got it.”

Eddie blinks, confused. Robin buries her face in her hands.

“Oh my god, calm down,” she groans. “That’s not going to work. Steve’s cool.”

“Cool?” Chrissy asks, still looking ready to bolt.

“Super cool,” he assures her. “The coolest. So incredibly cool, even if my best friend didn’t even tell me when she lost her virginity.”

“Steve!”

“Sorry, sorry,” he says. “But I am going to need details, Buckley. We can go over what worked, and what needs more oomph.”

“Oh my god, can we talk about this anywhere else,” Robin groans, at the same time Eddie asks, “What, so you can get off on it later?”

“What,” Steve says.

“You think two girls are hot, is that it?” He’s got a sneer on his face now, but Steve’s more observant than Dustin gives him credit for. Even if he wasn’t, it’d be hard to miss how hard his hands are shaking, the nervous tilt to his mouth.

“Ew.” Steve’s face screws up. “Dude, no. It’s Robin.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Robin breaks in, from where she’s started comforting Chrissy. “You thought I was hot for at least a summer.”

His mouth drops open in betrayal. “We agreed to never talk about that again!”

“Can’t help being sexy,” she coons. Chrissy giggles wetly. “You wanna get married, Harrington? Have my babies? Stay home and raise six little nuggets while I bring home the bread?”

“I hate you,” he informs her. “Hate you so much. We’ll have a nice, heterosexual wedding and share a sad, heterosexual kiss, and you’ll carry me over the threshold of our nice, heterosexual house, and we’ll have boring, heterosexual sex that gives us nice, heterosexual babies, because we are so heterosexual and happy in our suburburban house in our nice little heterosexual town.”

He’s honestly kind of proud of himself for saying heterosexual so many times. Usually he fumbles words with that many syllables, especially after that many times in a row.

Chrissy is outright laughing, now, endearing little snorts making their way between giggles. Eddie is looking between them like they’re a puzzle he can’t piece together. Robin grins.

“I’ll cuck you with the secretary.”

“Not if I cuck you first. You’ll be away all day in that office of yours, and I need someone big and strong to carry all the new furniture I ordered.”

“I knew it! I knew Timmy wasn’t mine!”

“Oh, but I couldn’t help myself,” he swoons. “Mark was just so sweet, with his bulging biceps and hand flexes, all hot and sweaty from helping poor little me while you were away! You know I’m weak to curly hair and brown eyes, Rob, how’s a man supposed to resist?”

“Fag,” she says, not without affection.

“Dyke,” he shoots back.

“Cocksucker.”

“Carpet—“

“Okay,” Eddie breaks in, clapping his hands. He and Robin both startle, and so does Chrissy from where she’s been watching them like a particularly interesting tennis match. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Robin lost her virginity and didn’t even tell me,” Steve says immediately, like he’s tattling to the principal.

“Steve doesn’t seem to understand the concept of waiting,” Robin retorts.

“I told you when I had gay sex,” he whines, and Eddie chokes. “I hate you. See if I ever give you tips again.”

“Oh, is that what you meant?” Chrissy asks. “Please don’t stop. They were good tips.”

Robin flushes all the way down to her toes.

“You like boys?” Eddie wheezes.

“Oh,” Steve blinks. “Yeah? I thought you knew.”

“You thought I—how would I know?”

The fuck is that supposed to mean? Steve’s been flirting with him for months!

“Robin always says we can sense each other! You sensed her.”

“You told him?” Eddie’s mouth drops open, and Robin looks sheepish.

“She didn’t have to,” Steve snarks. “You’re flagging in Hawkins, man. Was I supposed to miss it?”

“You know what flagging is?”

“Again, in case you missed it, I fuck men.”

“Fuck,” Eddie mutters. “Fuck! Christ, I can’t believe this. You’re, like, the epitome of heterosexual. I spent half of high school having to hear about how much pussy you were getting. Why are you not straight?”

“Wow, Eddie,” he deadpans. “Are you saying just because I like men and woman, I’m not queer enough? That’s kind of homophobic of you, man.”

“Yeah, Eddie, wow,” Robin says. “I thought you were better than this.”

“Fuck off,” Eddie says. “I feel like I need to lie down. My entire worldview just shattered.”

“I have a couch?” Chrissy offers shyly. “Or a bedroom, if you need a minute away.” Fuck, Steve kind of adores her. Especially since she’s apparently vicious n bed, if the five other hickies he counts just from Robin bending down a little to whisper in her ear are any indication. Good for her.

“Don’t worry, Eddie,” Robin says, with a glint in her eye that means he’s either going to love or hate what comes next. “If it helps, Steve’s never fucked a man in his life.”

Eddie’s brow furrows, looking between the two of them. “So…you’re just making fun of me?”

He looks a little angry now, and Steve can’t make heads or tails of this conversation because, “What the hell, Rob, yes I have—“

“Oh, so suddenly you’re the one doing the fucking?”

“Stop making fun of me for taking it!”

Eddie lets out an honest to god moan that he immediately slaps his hand over his mouth to cover up. “Right,” he says fervently. “Okay. I need to lie down, like, for real.”

They watch him stride down the hall, so fast he’s almost running, and slam the door closed behind him.

“I could totally top,” he mutters to Robin as something that sounds vaguely like muffled screaming echoes down the hall. “I top girls all the time. It’s not my fault prostates are a gift from God.”

“Uh, you top because all the girls you fuck are from small town Indiana. If one of them brought out the strap you’d drop to your knees so fast—“

“That’s—I like topping!”

“Your favorite position is cowgirl. Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

“I will show Chrissy your baby pictures,” he hisses. Robin makes a face at him. Chrissy nods excitedly from where she’s still tucked under Robin’s arm.

“Oh what’s that?” Robin practically shouts. “You like being pressed against walls and ravished? You want someone to tie you up and have their filthy way with you? Is that what you said, Steve?”

Another noise from the bedroom. He narrows his eyes at her. “What are you doing?”

“Helping,” she says sweetly. “You’re both hopeless.”

“I told you he’s shy!”

“Eddie?” Chrissy asks. “Shy?”

“Yeah, okay, I was confused too, but I figured it was the romance! He told me he hasn’t actually been in a relationship before, I assumed he was nervous to take that step.”

“Yeah, but dingus,” Robin says sweetly. “You’re missing a puzzle piece here. He thought you were straight. He thought he was flirting with his straight best friend he didn’t have a chance in hell with, and then he finds out that said best friend likes taking it up the ass and men with brown eyes.”

“Oh,” Steve says, realization dawning. “Oh, fuck. What if he doesn’t like me like that?”

Robin smacks the back of his head. “Why are you stupid?”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Chrissy says. “Like, really don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m not coming over tonight,” Robin says. “I’m gonna stay with Chrissy again. Er…if that’s okay?”

“That sounds amazing.” Chrissy beams, and Robin turns red again.

“Yeah, I’m going to stay with Chrissy again tonight. You are going to invite Eddie to stay the night when he gets done with his little crisis, and then we’re getting lunch at the diner tomorrow and you can tell me about it before our shift.”

“Right,” Steve says. “Right, I can do this. I’ve invited guys over before, how hard can it be? It’s just Eddie. But that was hotel rooms, not my house and my bedroom with my shitty wallpaper. And it’s Eddie. Fuck, what if I’m shit at it? Robin, what if I’m actually bad at sex and everyone who’s ever said I was good was lying because they didn’t want to hurt my feelings? Oh my god, I’m totally bad at sex.”

“Woah, dingus, slow down. I think we took the mind meld too far, you’re turning into me.”

“If it helps, I don’t think you’re bad at sex,” Chrissy says. Steve and Robin look at her, and she flushes. “Because of the tips! Not because—I’ve never slept with you, but some of my friends did, and I got three orgasms out of last night, so…”

“Oh thank God,” he breathes. “I was worried for a minute.” Then he raises an eyebrow at Robin, and holds out his hand for a high five. She slaps it, begrudgingly proud of herself, and then takes the hand to pull him into a headlock that’s honestly more of a hug than anything.

“You’re fine,” she whispers in his ear. “You’re great at sex, as you keep telling me. What’s more, you’re funny, charming, handsome, brave, caring—“

“Aww, Robin, are you getting sappy on me?”

“Plus Eddie literally moaned in front of you when he found out you bottomed. I really don’t think there’s a way to fuck that up.”

Steve grins. “He did do that. I’m going to make so much fun of him later.”

“So,” Eddie says with a smirk, “men with brown eyes?”

“Hey man, don’t look at me. Blame Jonathan.”

Now Eddie looks stunned, mouth dropping open. “Byers?” He says, sounding betrayed. “You have a crush on Byers of all people?”

Steve feels offended on Jonathan’s behalf. “What’s that supposed to mean? Jonathan’s a good guy!”

“I guess.”

“What do you mean you guess? He’s sweet, passionate, good with kids, nice eyes. Can pack a punch. I mean, what’s not to like?”

“Uh, didn’t he steal your girlfriend?”

He waves that off. “That was, like, years ago, man. We’re cool now.”

“Right, okay,” Eddie mutters. “Well have fun with Byers, I guess.”

It clicks. “Oh,” he says. “Oooh. You’re jealous.”

Eddie splutters. “Jealous? I’m not—I don’t—you’re jealous!”

“Oh, am I?”

“Yes,” Eddie says resolutely, not looking at him.

“Right,” Steve agrees. “Well, if I am jealous, maybe I should know that I got over Jonathan years ago, and have since moved on to brighter, hopefully more attainable pastures than my ex’s ex.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“A different man with brown eyes?” He suggests. “Who is also good with kids, and passionate, and…” he trails off, suddenly realizing all those times Robin made fun of him might not be based on nothing. “Oh my god, I have a type. Shit, I have to tell Robin she was right.”

“I figured that was a common occurrence.”

“Shut up. Where was I going with this? I had a point.”

“You were telling me how awesome I am?”

“Oh, suddenly it’s you we’re talking about?”

“I mean,” suddenly Eddie looks shy, and Steve can’t help but think even with the change in context he might have been right when he told Robin Eddie was nervous about being in a real, romantic relationship, “isn’t it?”

He feels himself smile, slow and wide and probably more revealing than he means it to be. “Yeah,” he says, in a tone he knows Robin would call soppy, “it is.”

#technically all my bi steve fics have him aware he'd bi but for the purpose of naming we'll call it that #aware of his bisexuality steve au #i am ALWAYS jonathan was steve's awakening truthing #steddie #buckingham #i think that's their ship name?#eddie munson #steve harrington #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham #accidental outing #i'm not really a bottom steve truther but i thought it would be funny for this #stranger things fanfic

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bipunkharrington · 1 year

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I have this tiny little plot bunny in my head of Jonathan deciding he needs to do research because Will comes out to him, so he awkwardly asks Eddie (he heard rumours about his sexuality at school) to take him and Nancy to a gay bar.

At first Eddie thinks he's saying he wants to go to a metal bar (a special bar... your kind of place, you know?!) and is really confused, but eventually he clicks and then they find a weekend that works for them and he's a little excited to blow some straight people minds.

Cue them showing up to a bar where Robin and Steve are already there having the time of their queer little lives and all three of them having their minds blown instead of just Jonathan and Nancy 😂

#eddie munson #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #robin buckley #bi steve harrington #also bi awakening for nancy and/or jonathan?#steddie #stranger things

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sparrowtapes · 1 year

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Steve having a little crush on Bon Jovi is so funny to me because imagine this,

March 1986, Steve for the past two years stared to listen to more alternative music and discovered Bon Jovi and developed a small celebrity crush on him. Whether it was because of his style, hair or something, Steve knew he was attracted to him.

And then spring break comes around the corner and Dustin getting everybody to look for Eddie before the cops can find him. So they go to the boat house and then suddenly Steve is slammed against the wall by no other than Eddie Munson himself, who looks almost exactly like Bon Jovi.

#and then they just get gayer #steve is a jovi stan #bon jovi #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #the punkification of steve harrington #alternative steve harrington #steve is a bi disaster #steve was thinking some thoughts #they called action and joe kerry heard act gay #Steve harringtons bisexual awakening

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hawkinsbnbg · 2 months

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written for 'pin' | word count: 388 | rated: M | ao3 | @steddiemicrofic

The first time Munson pinned him on a wall, it was an accident fueled by misunderstanding and fear.

The second time Munson pinned him on a wall, it was a result of their playful bantering turned heated argument.

The third time Munson pinned him on a wall, Steve tried to convince himself that the fluttering in his stomach was nothing special.

Countless times later, when Munson became Eddie, and Steve was pinned on a wall again, he grimaced at the spark of arousal flared in his guts.

This is dangerous, he told himself.

“I’m not gay,” he confessed to Robin one night. “But Eddie is…”

“Handsome? Pretty? Groundbreakingly beautiful?” Robin supplied helpfully with a mirthful arch of her eyebrow.

Steve gulped. He recalled those moments when Eddie was too close, when their breath mingled, when Steve thought he was going to be devoured by those too-black eyes only for Eddie to release him from a vice-like grip.

His throat started to constrict and felt dry all of a sudden.

“Intense. He’s too intense and I feel like drowning every time I’m near him,” Steve conceded quietly, half scared and half hopeful about what might happen between him and Eddie the next time they were left alone together.

Robin looked at him for a moment that stretched far too long for his comfort before patting his shoulder gently.

Although she shared no words, strangely, her action was enough to convey her condolences for the death of his heterosexuality.

The realization that he wasn't just attracted to Eddie physically came to him in the form of a song.

Sitting in a chair by the study table, Eddie held his beloved guitar and looked at Steve with something that might be akin to adoration.

“You wrote this for me?” Steve wondered in awe after the song finished.

“Yeah,” Eddie set his guitar aside and cleared his throat slightly. “You don't need to like it, this is just an experiment and–”

“I do like it,” Steve felt his face heated at the sight of Eddie’s blooming smile.

Their eyes met and Steve knew his heart was gone forever.

Later, when Eddie pinned him down on his bed, Steve looked up smugly.

“So you've been down bad for me, huh?”

Eddie rolled his eyes fondly and shut him up with a perfect kiss.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddiemicrofic #sionewrites #eddie is steve's bisexual awakening #gay eddie munson #bi steve harrington #steve: i'm not gay but eddie's sorta–#robin: it's ✨bisexuality✨ my friend

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dwobbitfromtheshire · 7 months

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Eddie: Gotta go! Bi bi! *snickers and then leaves*

Robin: I don't get it. Why is that funny? I mean, it is weird that a grown metalhead is saying bye-bye.

Stevie: *rolls eyes* No, he's saying bi bi.

Robin: That's what I said. Bye-bye.

Stevie: No, it's bi bi.

Robin: Bye-bye?!

Stevie: No, as in bisexual.

Robin: OH! Has he been saying that since he's discovered he's bisexual?

Stevie: Yeah, and he laughs every single time. It's cute. He's very excited. He always thought it was just guys.

Robin: *stares pointedly at her* What do you think made him realize that he's bisexual?

Stevie looked thoughtfully at her nails as she painted them.

Stevie: Chrissy, probably.

Robin: *frowned* I mean . . . It might have been a possibility that pushed him close to figuring it out, but can you think of anyone else?

Stevie: *shrugs* I don't know. . .Joan Jett. . .she seems like his type.

Robin: *sighs* You're pretty today. And I mean that platonically.

Stevie: *grins* Thanks, Robin.

Robin: Really?!

Stevie: What?!

Robin: *grins affectionately* Forever a dingus.

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dreamofbecoming · 10 months

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yeah alright this got away from me. posting in pieces, part one is just stobin, no shippy stuff. steddie and rockie to follow. i'll drop it on ao3 once all 3 parts are done

now on ao3!

platonic stobin

rating: t

wc: 3.5k

---

Robin stopped being surprised by Steve Harrington showing up at her bedroom window months ago. Jesus, there's a sentence her 16 year old self wouldn't fucking believe for a second. The Hair, climbing up the trellis her dad built for the roses her mom planted and then forgot about three months later? Yeah right, as if. But it turns out alternate dimensions and sci-fi movie monsters and Russian conspiracies in Bumfuck, Nowhere, USA are all real, so how surprising really is The King himself, collapsing through her window with all the grace of a baby giraffe, out of breath like he- holy shit, did he fucking run here?

"Dingus, did you run here? What the hell?"

"Had to- hang on, Jesus. Holy shit." He bends over, hands on his knees, panting like he just ran a marathon. Which, she guesses, he almost did.

"You have a car, you lunatic, what could possibly be so important?"

"Didn't think about it. Had to get here."

"Is someone dead?!" Oh fuck, Is the Upside Down back? Oh shit, oh no, it can't be back, right? Superhero girl closed the gates! Right?! Oh god, oh no, oh fuck, it's back, the Russians are back, they realized they couldn't let her live after what she's seen, her parents will never even know what happened to her, and they'll kill Dingus too, and dorky little Henderson, and that menace Erica, oh god, they're gonna die, and Hopper's gone and superhero girl is far away and she doesn't have superpowers anymore anyway, which is frankly bogus because what the hell, Robin never even got to hang out with a real live magic person before, which, ok, that's a selfish thought, but that's ok, we can think selfish thoughts and then set them aside and not act on them, thoughts are not actions, thoughts happen all the time without our consent, they don't determine our character-

"Bobs, you're spiraling. Nothing bad happened, I just realized something and I freaked out and I had to talk to you right away. Forgot to call. Sorry, I should have called. Ran straight out of the house. I don't even think my shoes match, what the fuck?"

She's gonna kill him, she really is.

She loves him so much.

"Jesus, you're insane. Sit, you absolute dweeb. I'm getting you some water, when I get back you can tell me what the hell is going on."

He's sitting on her bed when she gets back upstairs, staring at something in his hands. Christ, his hands are shaking. What the fuck, Dingus?

He takes the water and downs it in one go- ugh, sports guys- then flops onto his back and covers his eyes with a miserable groan.

"I know we've got the whole twin telepathy thing going on, bubba, but I'm gonna need at least a little bit to work with here. Give me something. Is it your parents? The kids? Uh, what was her name? From Thursday? Janice?"

"Janine, and no. Ugh. Here." The arm not covering his eyes flops out towards her, holding- ah. A zine. He had promised to drive up to Indy last weekend to the secret bookshop she told him about and get her some new ones, even though she couldn't go with him because her cousin Randy got caught cheating on his fiancée and her parents made her come with the rest of the family to help him move. Fucking Randy. Maybe he should make better choices, so the rest of them wouldn't have to clean up his messes. Jerk.

Anyway.

"Marked the page." Which, yep, there's a purple paper clip stuck to a page near the middle, because Steve knows how much she hates people who dogear books, even books that aren't really books at all, so he's been training himself out of it, because he's sort of the best. Again, 16 year old Robin would have her committed for thinking that, but here we are.

The pamphlet isn't one of the periodicals she sent him for, so he must have picked it up on his own. It looks handmade, just some folded sheets that look like they came out of a typewriter, bound with the kind of twine you can buy at the hardware store. It's called Awakenings. The page he's marked looks like a personal essay, no title, no real signature, just a pair of initials at the end of the page and a half of writing. She starts reading, trying to figure out what the hell spooked Steve so bad.

"I've always been normal. I've always had crushes on men, just like the other girls. There was never a feeling of "I'm different," or "Oh, this is wrong." There was never anything to think very hard about. I'd giggle and blush when the boys looked over at us on the playground, same as everyone else. Later on when I was older I looked at my poster of Harrison Ford, shirtless and hairy and sweating, and I touched myself, and it felt good, just like it was supposed to. I didn't mind thinking of my future husband, and our future kids, and the pretty house with the pretty garden we'd have, just like my parents have, just like they wanted for me. I was normal. Everything was fine.

I thought everything about me was normal. So I didn't understand why the other girls at sleepover parties would giggle and stop and say "Ew, gross!" when we practiced kissing. It felt nice! I wanted to keep going! But it seemed like no one else did. I didn't understand why none of them talked about getting butterflies in their stomach when Laura, who was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, transferred in our senior year, why they seemed so angry at her. Those butterflies were what jealousy felt like, right? So why did the other girls seem to feel so different?

I made my first lesbian friend in college, on the very first day, right across the hall in my dorm. We sat next to each other at Orientation and I thought I'd never have another best friend that wonderful in my whole life, so I'd hold on to her with everything I had. She came out to me the night before Christmas break, hiding under the blankets in my dorm room with the twinkling lights glowing. She was so scared. I held her and told her I loved her no matter what, and she seemed so glad, to have someone to talk to.

When she talked about falling in love with girls, I was so confused. The way she described it sounded like what it felt like to have girlfriends, I was sure. I felt that all the time. I asked her if she was sure she was gay, and she looked so shocked and angry and hurt, and I didn't know how to fix it, so I tried to explain. That what she felt couldn't be liking girls, because I felt that too, and I was normal. I liked boys, so I couldn't be gay. I couldn't be.

I'm glad it was her I said all that to. If someone else had told me about being bisexual, I think I would have hated them. I would have cried, and screamed, and said horrible things. Because I wasn't gay, I was normal, and it was so scary to think that might be a lie. Thank God it was her, my best friend in the world, who I never want to lose. Thank God I listened.

Because I'm not normal. I'm queer. I like men, and I like women. I can love them both the same, but it doesn't matter anymore, because I love her. I love her, and she loves me, and I don't need to be normal anymore."

Robin's face feels wet, which probably means she's crying. She cries a lot, reading these sorts of stories, in the zines she has to keep hidden under her bed, or, these days, at Steve's house. It's never going to be her, she knows. Not here in Hawkins, but it still makes something ache deep inside her, like pressing on a bruise, but in a good way, seeing love happen to other people. People like her. Seeing that it can.

"So?"

Oh shit. Right, Dingus. They're about him right now. Something about this essay in particular freaked him out.

"Uh. It's. A nice essay? I'm glad things worked out for them?"

Stevie lets out a pathetic whine, sort of like back at Scoops when he earned a particularly bad tally on the You Suck board. "Robbiiiiiiieeeee!"

"I'm sorry! I think I'm missing something, what's wrong with this essay? I don't get it, bubba, I'm sorry. I need some context." She does feel bad. Usually she can pluck whatever's bothering him right out of his brain and into the light, where it almost never looks as bad, but she's at a loss right now.

He's got both hands over his face again, and his response is so muffled she can't make out a word.

"Try again in human sounds, please."

"Ugh! I thought everyone felt like that!"

Huh? "Felt like...what, exactly?"

"Like that!" He flails wildly at the pamphlet in her hands. He's sitting up now, hair all askew from tugging at it, and there's a vaguely worrying crazed look in his eye, like right before he tackled that guard. "Like kissing boys and girls both feel nice, and like seeing a handsome guy and feeling jealous of him makes my stomach flutter, and like having friends feels the same as having crushes! I thought that was just how everyone felt all the time!"

Oh.

Oh no.

Poor Dingus! No wonder he panicked and ran here like a crazy person!

"Stevie, can I hug you? Please?" She's not much for physical touch most of the time, but Steve is, and also she's found in the last few months that she doesn't mind so much when it's him. She sort of understands why other people like hugs so much, if they always feel like hugging Steve feels for her. And she really thinks he needs to be hugged, right now.

He nods miserably. She drapes her arms around his shoulders and holds on as tight as she can, hauling him sideways until he's practically laying down on her. He clutches her back and buries his face in her shoulder. She can feel her neck getting wet with tears, a sensation that would normally make her want to claw off her own skin, but this isn't about her. Dingus needs her.

"It's ok, bubba. I'm so sorry. I know how scary this is. When I first figured out I had a crush on Linda Sanderson I cried so hard I threw up, you know? I get it. It's gonna be ok, I promise. We'll make it ok. We faced down evil Russians and giant meat monsters, what's a little sexuality crisis, huh? We got this! We're the goddamn Wonder Twins!"

He snorts at that, which she's pretty sure leaves snot on her neck, which. Ew. Still. Problems for Later Robin.

"We are not, Will and El are the Wonder Twins."

"Uh, nope, no chance, I barely even met them so therefore I am vetoing their application. Sorry kiddos, better luck next time! Find your own nickname, losers!"

Steve sits back, laughing, and she preens a little at being able to bring him back from the brink so easily. She loves him so much she feels like she's glowing with it, sometimes. It almost makes her wish she was straight, because what girl is she ever going to find who loves her this much? But only almost, because. Well. Girls, amiright? Phew.

"So what now, Stevie? You wanna say it out loud? That helps, sometimes. You wanna not say it out loud? You wanna go to a gay bar and find you a boy? You wanna never think about it again? It's totally your call."

"Say it out loud, huh?"

"Hm. It took me like a month, and then the first time I could only say it sitting in the back of my closet with the bedroom door locked and the closet door closed, and I could only whisper it. Just "I'm a lesbian," to myself, like the world's most ironic little goblin. And I had to throw up again after. But it did feel good, once I rinsed my mouth out, anyway. Cleansing, you know? And it gets easier every time." Steve's eyebrows are raised and he's chuckling again, so that's a win. She's not lying, but it is sort of funny, she supposes. In hindsight, anyway.

"Ok. Ok, I can do that. I think. Yeah, I can do that."

She's so proud of him. He's the bravest person she's ever met, she thinks. "You wanna get in the closet?"

"Isn't the whole point to come out of the closet, Robs?" He's smirking at her. Bastard. She whacks him in the shoulder on principle. He may be having a crisis, but he's still a jackass. Her favorite jackass in the whole world, but still.

"Har har, you're a regular Bob Hope. Alright then, bigshot, let's hear it."

A little of that fear creeps back onto his face, and she wishes she could wipe it off, but that's not how this works. They can't make the scary things less scary. He couldn't make the Russians less terrifying, but he could hold her hand and make her laugh and carry some of that fear with her. She can do that for him now, too.

She grabs his hand, and he clutches back tightly. He takes a deep breath.

"I'm...fuck. Ok. Ok, I can do this. I'm...bisexual." The air leaves him in a big whoosh, and he laughs a little. "Yeah, ok, fuck. I'm bisexual. Holy shit, Robbie, I'm bisexual!"

"Hell yeah you are!" She's grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. She's so fucking proud of him.

He's laughing again, a little hysterically, and he hugs her tight again, and she holds him back just as close and thinks oh, he's like me. I'm not alone. I have Steve, and he's like me, and he's mine forever and ever.

When they separate, she looks at him seriously.

"So do you, like, want this to be a thing? Because we can totally make it a thing, and like, get me a fake ID and go to a gay bar and do all kinds of wild shit if you want, but we don't have to, you know? If you need to just, like. Digest this, for a while. It's totally up to you, I just know it took me a while to feel ok with it, and I have no idea if it's different for you but I just want to be what you need, you know? You've been so good with me, and I've never had a queer friend before, so I don't know how, but I want to be just as good to you. You're my Dingus and I love you and I don't know how much of a gay guru I can be on account of, you know, I've never met any gay people besides me and the pretty lady at the bookstore but I couldn't even get real human words to come out of my mouth when I tried to talk to her so I don't think that counts, you know? But I still wanna help! Let me help!"

"Bobbie! Bobbie breathe, you're gonna pass out. I don't think I need a gay guru, I just need a gay best friend, and I have that, so I promise I'm good, ok? Promise. Also I love you too.”

She takes a deep breath, following his lead the way they worked out in the horrible days after Starcourt, when she couldn't sleep without him next to her, warm and alive and breathing, and even then she would wake up in the night with her breath coming short and her vision tunneling and Steve would hold her hand against his chest and breathe slowly, in and out, until she could follow him, and the world wasn't so terrible and scary and loud anymore.

She still thinks about that awful hour underground, thinking she was strapped to the corpse of a boy she never let become her friend, but Steve is always there now when she needs him, and he never complains when she grabs his wrist or puts her head on his chest to make absolutely sure that big, stupid heart is still beating.

When she's breathing normally again, he drops their joined hands down between them, toying idly with the chain linking her ring to her bracelet. "I think...I think I'm glad I said it, and I'm glad we talked about it, but can we maybe just...put it away, for a while? Like it's not...ugh. I guess this is kind of shitty to say, so like, hit me if you want, I guess, but I kind of don't think it matters right now?"

"No no, that makes perfect sense! Like, you still like girls, right?" He nods. "And you don't like. Have a crush on any boys right now. Or do you? Oh man if you do you have to tell me though, it's platonic soulmate law. It's in the bylaws, Steve, don't make me soulmate fine you!"

He laughs and shoves her face away. "Jesus, Rob, no! I don't have a crush on any guys, who would I even crush on in this town? We're not exactly swimming in eligible bachelors. I don't have a crush on anybody at all, I'd tell you, I swear. I know the rules!"

"Oh phew, good. You have to tell me when you do, though, I'm way excited to get you back for making fun of Tammy."

"It was the God's honest truth, Bobbie! She sings like a muppet!"

"Oh my god, shut up, Dingus! Ugh! As I was saying, you super duper have to tell me when you do, but for now, I think maybe you don't have to think about it really at all if you don't want. I mean, practically speaking, it's not really relevant to your everyday life, so we can totally revisit when that changes, but you don't have to like. Join a pride parade tomorrow, you know? You are you who are no matter what. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, especially not to me, not ever."

He leans his head on her shoulder, and she scritches her nails through his hair. It really has no right being as soft as it is, with the amount of hairspray he uses. It's frankly rude, is what it is.

"Thanks, Bobs. I think I'm just gonna put it away for now. It just...another thing to know about me, you know? Like, I'm bad at fighting people but good at fighting monsters, all my best friends are kids except you, I'm bi but it doesn't matter because there aren't any boys to date in Hawkins anyway. Plus my dad would kill me if he found out. Like actually kill me, not "oh geez I missed curfew, my dad's gonna kill me" type kill me, like I think he'd actually try and beat me to death. So there's really no reason to talk about it right now, you know?"

There's a pit of ice in her stomach, and she tightens her arm around him like she can keep him safe just by holding on tight enough. She hates how casually he said that, just like she hates how casually he always talks about how his parents treat him, like he honestly believes it's normal. "Jesus, Dingus. You know you can come here if you need, right? My parents love you, they already think we're getting married. They'd make you sleep in the guest room, but I could sneak you in here easy."

He snorts again. "We're totally gonna end up married for tax reasons anyway, we're never beating the rumors." That makes her snort, too. He's not wrong, though. She isn't going to be allowed to have a wife anytime soon, and if she has to choose someone to be her next of kin, it's always gonna be him. They're planning to move in together when she goes to school next year anyway. No one is ever gonna believe them that they aren't dating, but that's...fine. Honestly, there are worse things. Better to have Steve by her side than not, and if no one else understands them, well, they understand each other, don't they? That's more than enough.

"Yeah, I know I can come here if I need, Robs. It's fine mostly, I swear. They're not home until Christmas anyway."

He takes another deep breath, like he's settling himself. "I'm just glad we talked about it. I feel better now."

She cards her fingers through his hair again, basking in the feeling of her favorite person so close, and so content. "I'm glad, Dingus."

They're alive, and they're together, and they're queer, and neither of them is ever going to have to be alone again.

"Hang on, did you say you've kissed girls and boys?!"

part 2 part 3

#stranger things #platonic stobin #steve harrington & robin buckley #steve harrington #robin buckley #bisexual steve harrington #steve's bi awakening #my writing #robin calls steve bubba and steve calls her bobbie and i will die on both those hills #you can pry their weird nicknames from my cold dead hands #autistic robin buckley #it’s subtle but it’s there and it’s important to me #also her parents are therapists i’m sure of it

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your-stranger-halfblood-things · 10 months

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"And that's how I met your dad"

#their children are totally not traumatized #stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #and thats how i met your dad #its getting hot in here #bisexual awakening #bi steve harrington #gay eddie munson #at least he's used to getting thrown against walls for when they have rough make out sessions

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discocandles · 6 months

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Anytime I think about Steve, Eddie, Chrissy or Robin as famous musicians, I have to hold myself back from adding a shit ton of Lady Gaga references.

Like in the 2010s Lady Gaga appeared for an mtv music award show as this rugged, unkept greaser type character she made up named jo calderone. He's kinda known as "Lady Gaga's boyfriend that is also lady Gaga in drag". Steve Harrington, teen popstar trying to get away from his overbearing label would show up to the red carpet in drag as Amanda Miller, the girlfriend his label chose for him. She is dressed how they have their other popstar darling, Chrissy Cunningham dress. Amanda Miller later shows up in one of his music videos after he leaves the label. Both appearances of Amanda Miller cause mass bi panic online.

Speaking of fellow teen popstar Chrissy Cunningham, she starts openly thanking God and the Gays for the successes in her career. The label hates it, but they deal or else she's not gonna thank God either, causing problems with her religious fanbase(the impact of only letting her make ultra clean love songs for years). Also the idea of Chrissy disrespecting the interviewers who disrespect her is so healing. Think about it. Like yeah she ate that guy's script, and she'd do it again if he asks about her diet.

For rockstar eddie? So in Lady Gaga's song government hooker there's a spoken bit(not the jfk line the "back up and turn around" one). Those lines are spoken by Gaga's bodyguard Pete, who has a very thick Dutch accent after Lady gaga suddenly brought the idea that he be the "pervy robot voice" up during production.

Like Eddie would so do this, as I think creating songs gives him a lot of almost maniacal energy. Also for this one, the bodyguard is Italian Steve, but he's Jeff's bodyguard who Eddie's been constantly flirting with. That's perfectly fine by Eddie's actual bodyguard, who needs "a damn second to fucking breathe, you hyperactive bastard".

Indie rock vocalist Robin Buckley would have an album where she sings in like four different languages outside of English like lady Gaga did in born this way. And also sing in other languages fairly often. It's most often in French(like lady Gaga does), but every time Robin starts singing in a language that isn't English, the fans will scramble to figure out what tongue she's singing/speaking in now and what is she saying? What does google translate say she's saying?

There's paparazzi photos of vocalist Robin standing next to Jeff from Corroded Coffin but she's chatting in Italian with... his body guard? Apparently they met as teenagers on a trip abroad and became best friends then pen pals after. But we guess it evens out as robin's makeup artist/one woman glam team was best friends with Eddie in high school? And she won the prom queen tiara that CC wears in their iconic album cover. I dunno, just something that's been haunting my brain.

#yeah that last paragraph has nothing to do with lady Gaga it's just the au idea.#if anyones asking who of them wears the meat dress pls know it'd be Chrissy.#Eddie would volunteer to jump off the top of a football stadium to start a set but no one even proposed that as an idea.#Robin would also play an infinite amount of instruments at the drop of a hat but gaga is only really seen w/ pianos so it didn't fit as wel #do I think in a modern au jo calderone would be Steve's bi awakening? hell yes I do. rewatchs the yoü and I mv just for the cornfield shots #steddie #buckingham #popstar steve harrington #popstar chrissy cunningham #rockstar eddie munson #singer robin buckley #polyglot robin buckley #bodyguard steve harrington #italian steve harrington #makeup artist chrissy cunningham #i dunno what Robin and Eddie would be in the teen pop stars Steve and Chrissy au but I do know #I can't have more than 2 of them as popular musicians in the same au #I also don't know how I'd involve the party in there either. but eh I kinda like the other one more.#lady gaga #stranger things #chrissy cunningham #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #st

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steviesbicrisis · 2 years

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Living with Steve is an absolute nightmare, Robin would say. it's not about regular roommates' stuff: Steve is tidy, cleans up after himself, and is a great cook. She could only complain about him taking too much time in the bathroom for his hair routine, but it could be worse.

No, Robin's problem with living with Steve is dating. As if being a lesbian in the late 80s isn’t hard enough, every time she manages to get a date and brings her home, Steve ruins it. Most of her dates would be put off by his presence, accusing her of being a straight girl having a "fun adventure", a few thought they were in an open relationship, and once one of them even flirted with him in front of her.

The only one having fun in this situation is Eddie, their neighbor: he lives next door with his bandmates in a two-bedroom with one tiny bathroom like Steve and Robin's apartment -probably the reason why he spends so much time at their place- and never loses a chance to make fun of Robin's disaster love life.

«Robin you have to forgive him, he's just too charming, aren't you pretty boy?» he had said after Robin's latest date had been kicked out for flirting with Steve. Steve had a smug smile on his face and Robin had daydreamed of punching them both in the face.

That's why when Robin miraculously snatches a date with Nancy, one of the smartest and most beautiful girls in her class, she has no intention to ruin it.

They decide to go to her place after class, drink something, and then go out, and Robin panics after she remembers Steve had switched work shifts and he would be home.

Once they get to her building, she makes a terrible excuse about tidying the place up and enters before her. Steve is in the kitchen.

«Steve! you're gay, gay! be gay Steve! Be. Gay.» she whisper-screams at her best friend.

«What? be gay...?» he doesn't have the time to ask but once Robin welcomes Nancy into their apartment, he understands. He wants to punch Robin for making up such a terrible plan.

«Hi, you must be Steve, Robin's roommate» Nancy greets him with a smile.

«Yeah, friends call me Gay Steve!» he immediately cringes and sees Robin's shocked expression behind Nancy.

This is going to be a train wreck.

----

No matter how hard he tried, he wasn't selling it.

Nancy looked confused and really unconvinced by Steve's attempts at "being gay", especially since Robin left them alone to go change. Nancy was trying to get to know him, and he kept giving her terrible answers like "oh I like every pink drink you know, pretty gay" or "you love Madonna? me too, well all of us gays love her" and even "Robin is great, I love her! but not like love, love her, you know? I totally never flirted with her before finding out she's a lesbian, why would I? I'm too gay for that".

He's desperate when Eddie enters the apartment.

«I got us some booze, baby!» he shows the six-pack of beer as a greeting, failing to notice Nancy's presence from the entrance. Eddie had always called him pet names without any particular meaning, but Nancy doesn't know that. Steve decided to take the opportunity he is given so, without thinking too much about it, he reaches out to Eddie, puts an arm around his middle, and kisses him.

Eddie is shocked, his eyes wide open comically.

«Uhm, thanks for bringing the drinks, Eds» Steve is a little shocked as well, not expecting to like the brief kiss as much as he did.

«Oh- well, uhm- you're welcome I guess...? yeah» Steve grins at Eddie's reaction, not expecting to like that as well.

Robin emerges from her room at that moment, Eddie still in Steve's arms. She exchanges a few glances and a very meaningful silent discussion with Steve before her brain can conceive anything to say in front of that absurd scene.

«Oh, hi Steve's boyfriend!» she should really work on her improv skills with Steve «we're just going out! you can have the place all for yourselves!» she takes Nancy by her hand, who waves them goodbye «so yeah, be gay, do crimes!»

The apartment is silent. Steve hasn't moved his arm away.

«So, was that Robin's date?»

Steve nods, Eddie whistles.

«Did she ask you to pretend to be gay?»

«Oh yeah, and I was doing a terrible job before you arrived» Steve chuckles, making Eddie laugh. Steve tells him about all the terrible things he came up with -"Gay Steve" included- making them cry with laughter.

When their laughter dies, Steve's arm is still in the same position, keeping Eddie close.

«Okay, Gay Steve, I think you can drop the act now. For sure they aren't coming back up.»

«What if this isn't an act anymore?»

Eddie's eyes widen once again «what?»

Steve frowns «would that be okay?» he suddenly feels nervous.

Eddie stares at him silently, looking for any signs that would tell him that Steve's actually joking. He finds none.

«It would be more than okay,» he says, his tone trembling.

Their lips meet halfway.

---

Both Nancy and Robin are surprised to find them curled up on the couch, Steve with no shirt on, and Eddie sprawled on top of him.

Nancy chuckles and rests her head on Robin's shoulder «I feel so stupid, I thought he was pretending to be gay for some reason!»

Robin smiles at her, nervously «well, about that...»

Loosely based on New girl, episode 4x7 - Goldmine

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stobinesque · 10 months

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Make Me Write: SNIPPET

The people have spoken and the people want Jeff to be Steve's bisexual awakening! I now have ~1.7k words written of this fic that had previously been a vague outline in the back of my head. Full disclosure, though: the "awakening" part of this is going to take a good long while for our beloved Steve.

I'm tagging everyone who explicitly requested this for WIP Wednesday (I counted each request as 3 additional sentences to my total count). But I'm going to hang onto the asks and use them for future motivation!

SNIPPET BELOW!

The return to school is a rocky one. The worst of the bruising has faded, and Steve can finally make it through most of a day reasonably alert—at home, at least. But there’s still a persistent ache throughout his whole body, and the fluorescent lights at Hawkins High are suddenly audible in a way he doesn’t remember them being just a couple weeks ago. About halfway through second period he develops a splitting headache that only gets worse as the hours tick by, and he feels seconds away from losing a breakfast he didn’t eat.

And that’s just the physical stuff. Returning to the social feeding frenzy of a small-town high school stuffed with teens with nothing to do than stick their noses all the way up the asses of everyone around them after getting his lights knocked out by the shiny new guy… Max may have knocked Billy out, but Billy’s not the one who had to take a week and a half off. Billy’s not the one with yellowing bruises splashed across his face. Billy’s had time to fashion himself a little amateur PR campaign, with Tommy Hagan as his own personal town crier.

It’s not like Steve had any particular interest in continuing to hover at the periphery of the circles he’d once been the ringleader of. But with Nancy tucked firmly into Jonathan’s side, and staunchly avoiding his gaze, and without the blandly polite interest of any of his other “friends,” Steve is just…adrift.

And on top of all of that, somehow a grade 3 concussion has not managed him a get out of jail free card for the stack of problem sets, papers, and tests he missed while he was out. Steve’s not totally convinced that a couple teachers didn’t tack on additional assignments out of spite.

“Mr. Harrington.”

Steve freezes with one foot in Mr. Donovan’s classroom. “Yes?”

“You’ll be making up the test you missed at the end of last week.”

“Didn’t I also miss the lessons for that test?”

“It’s not my fault if you didn’t have someone to take notes for you while you were away.”

“Away? I had a concussion.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you’ll think twice before getting up to whatever nonsense resulted in that unfortunate accident again. But that does not change the fact that you have a test you need take before you can continue in this class.”

Steve works his jaw, tempted to pull out the ‘my parents will be hearing about this’ card. He probably could get his mom to kick up enough of a fuss to get him out of the test. If he played his cards right, he might even manage to rile his dad enough to get Mr. Donovan fired. But either option was a devil’s bargain, and Steve has had quite enough of hell and its denizens to last himself at least two lifetimes.

Steve swallows down a retort—if he’s not going to try to manipulate his way out of this he’s certainly not going to dig his hole any deeper—and crosses to the front of the room to grab the test from Mr. Donovan’s hand.

***

Almost all of the tables in the small library are full by the time Steve shuffles through the door right on the heel of the final bell. The only one free is the rickety wooden table near the back that has one leg about half an inch too short that always wobbles whenever someone so much as looks at it. Steve sighs, but he resigns himself to sneaking a book thin enough to wedge under the table leg off the shelf while Mrs. Miller is looking away.

A minute later, Steve is cycling through a large stack of very small books when he’s startled by someone speaking from behind him. “I’d go with The Awakening.”

“Huh?” Steve doesn’t even turn around, singularly focused as he is on making this table passably usable for taking the goddamn Chemistry test.

“The Awakening? Kate Chopin? Perfect profile for wedging under there.”

Steve scans the spines of his pile until he spots the book. Fishing it out, he sees that there is a small indent on the front cover that looks suspiciously similar to the shape of the table feet. Sure enough, it settles into place easily, and winks the wobble into nonexistence.

“Perfect, thank you.” Steve finally turns enough to catch sight of his savior. It’s another kid from Donovan’s fifth period Chemistry, but Steve can’t recall his name. If he puts his mind to it and casts back far and wide, he can maybe conjure an image of a darker-skinned teen sitting at the same cafeteria table as Eddie freaking Munson, but there’s a strong chance Steve’s just extrapolating based on the fact that the guy is currently wearing one of the silly “Hellfire Club” t-shirts. Not that knowing his extracurriculars helps at all with remembering what to call him. Steve’s never been the best at names and faces, but he’s starting to think Billy knocked something loose up there when he knocked him out (that’s basically what a concussion is, right?), because he can usually at least come up with some vague impression of a sound even if it’s off. His head is totally blank on this one.

Trying to recall the guy’s name just leaves him awkwardly staring into the middle distance, though. So when Hellfire Guy drops into one of the chairs at the table, it startles him into following suit. Hellfire Guy drops an identical packet to Steve’s on the table.

“You too?” Steve asks.

Hellfire Guy just kind of stares at him with a confused smile. “Why’d you think I was here during our shared class, Harrington?”

Steve flushes. “I didn’t really think before I spoke, to be honest.”

“Well at least you’re honest.” His new tablemate flashes a more genuine grin. “I was out with strep last week. Frankie grabbed my assignments for me, so I just have to make up this stupid test.”

Steve nods, pretending to know who Frankie is, and refusing to wish that he’d had someone willing to grab his assignments while he’d been out. It’s not like he could have done anything about them when he was sleeping two-thirds of the day away.

Steve settles at the table, and as he moves to start writing his name at the top of the page, he realizes that’s the perfect way to figure out Hellfire Guy’s name without seeming like a total jackass. He flicks his eyes across the table to try to catch a glimpse of what the other kid is writing. But Steve’s ability to parse other people’s handwriting is lackluster on a good day. Throwing in the additional obstacles of trying to read something upside down from a foot away and he may as well be trying to read French. He can’t get even a halfway decent look without having to strain himself awkwardly—which he nearly does, forgetting that the whole point of this exercise was to be discreet.

Hellfire Guy looks up to meet Steve’s gaze, and he looks a tad irked. “You trying to cheat off of me, Harrington?”

“No, no, I—” Steve cuts himself off, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t remember your name,” he says. The Steve of a year ago wouldn’t even care about whether or not he knew some nerd’s name. He doesn’t want to be that guy anymore, and yet he’s still right here in the same exact place. Only now he does care, and the fact that he can’t remember the name of a guy who’s sat two rows over from him for the last three and a half months is just embarrassing. “But I didn’t want you to think—” Steve blows out a sharp breath. “It seemed stupid to ask.”

Hellfire Guy blinks. “My name’s Jeff,” he says, without any hint of judgment or annoyance shading his tone. Jeff tilts his head and looks at Steve with an intent sort of squinting look. “Hargrove really did a number on you, huh?”

“Oh.” Steve hadn’t been expecting that response. “Yeah.” He paints a charming smile onto his face. He doesn’t want to talk about this. “We should probably stop talking before Mrs. Miller starts to think we are cheating.”

Jeff opens his mouth as though to say something, but then glances over the front desk. Mrs. Miller is talking to another student, but rather than call Steve out on his obvious deflection he just shrugs and returns to working on his own test. Steve lets out a slow steady exhale of relief and continues working on his own.

It doesn’t take long for the headache that’s been building all day to bloom into something distractingly painful. Even if parts of the test didn’t reference material that he entirely missed while he was out, all of the questions about stuff that he does recognize are about things he’s been struggling to grasp. The multiple choice section was fine—even if he’s not particularly confident he knows the answers to more than three of the questions, at least he can just guess and move on. But he’s thoroughly stuck on the segment of the test where he has to balance equations.

“Are you okay, man?”

Steve jolts in his seat and looks up at Jeff, who’s staring at him with what Steve takes to be genuine concern—as out of place as that should be on a nerdy junior whose name he didn’t know remember less than thirty minutes ago. Beyond that—what was Steve doing that even prompted Jeff to ask? “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“Dude, you’re ripping your hair out, and you sound like a dying lawnmower.”

Steve immediately drops the hand that he didn’t realize had been tugging at his roots from his head, and flushes red. Maybe Billy punched a few holes through his filter while he was doing his best to cave his face in. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. You stuck on something?”

Steve scoffs a bit. “All of it.” He runs a hand through his hair again, but this time to try to reverse some of the damage. “I hate balancing equations.”

Tagging: @eriquin @inairbinad @delta-piscium @steventhusiast @bifuriouswaterbender @xenon-demon @steves-strapcollection @spicysix

#steve harrington #jeff stranger things #bisexual steve harrington #read writes #jeff is steve's bi awakening au

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vyncentevelyn · 1 year

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Update: I wrote Part 1.

I’m at work. And I will write this at some point, but I have to vent about it now. It may even appear in my longer work. Who knows. But anyway…

I’d say we’re post S1. So Steve and Nancy are already kind of on the rocks. And in this version Nancy decides to try out for the school play, Romeo & Juliet.

She of course gets the role of Juliet.

But our Eddie, well he was born to play Mercutio.

And just imagine Steve going to see Nancy play Juliet but then is just captivated by Mercutio.

And like he knows who Eddie Munson is but it’s the first time he sees him as not just a dealer, not just “The Freak.”

And after opening night, Steve goes home and he can’t sleep. He stares at his ceiling. Tries to forget about the older boy in red stage lighting, smirking before he challenges Tybalt. And only falling asleep after he gets out of bed and forces himself to do push ups until he exhausts himself.

And Steve tries to tell himself he’s just being a good boyfriend when he attends every performance. Tells himself and anyone else, he’s there for Nancy. (Of course, he’s there for Nancy.) But he can’t ignore the way he waits in nervous anticipation for the scenes with Mercutio.

The way his stomach somersaults every time Eddie saunters onto the stage. The way his heartbeat picks up during his scenes. How blush blooms across his cheeks and down his neck when Eddie scans the audience and locks eyes with him at least once during every show. How goosebumps rise on his arms every time Eddie’s voice drops to a ravaging baritone to deliver the lines, “Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm…” How he wishes he could be Romeo when Eddie cups the actor’s cheek just before he exits the stage…

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resident-gay-bitch · 1 year

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seven minutes in heaven? more like seven minutes to question my entire existence.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve being content in his bisexuality because after Robin came out to him he started researching and questioning and having deep dark conversations with her.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie having no clue he was gay because of course he wasn’t. And anytime a whisper of that terrifying question popped into his head he blocked it out because he couldn’t be anymore of a Freak, or a disappointment to his father. And he really couldn’t let Wayne down after all he has done for him.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve and Robin being sure Eddie was gay and often talking about it together, and about Steve’s definite crush on him and about this game of cat and mouse the pair were playing. Steve was just waiting for Eddie to make the first real move, because he was sick of playing the ‘guy’ in the relationship, and he was sick of doing the chasing, and Eddie was bold and confident and liked to tease.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie having no clue Steve was bi, or that Robin was gay, or about anyone’s sexualities or anything because he just didn’t think about that stuff. He didn’t need to.

Whatever you do, don’t think about the party having a sleepover in Mike Wheelers basement, sleeping bags strewn about the room and snacks everywhere as they played a game of seven minutes in heaven, reduced down to three because they couldn’t be bothered waiting that long for the next turn.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie spinning the bottle and landing on Steve and doing a little pump of his eyebrows because it was Steve, and Eddie was always like that with Steve, they were best friends.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve standing up with a massive grin and grabbing Eddie by the hand and practically dragging him into that little basement bathroom because he thought this is it. Its finally happening. Months of chasing back and forth and this is where Eddie was going to make his move. Steve was sure of it.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie taking a laid back seat on the porcelain sink as Steve eagerly slammed the door shut behind them. He lent back against the mirror and started thinking of a fun story or secret to tell Steve because that’s what he did with Dustin, and Max, and El, and Argyle, and even Robin who made it clear they weren’t kissing, he didn’t want to kiss her anyway.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve walking over to Eddie in his tight little basketball shorts with a grin and strawberry glossed lips and placing his hands on the sink on either side of Eddie, leaning in close so Eddie could make his move.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie trying to avert his eyes because Steve was so close and ohmygod was it hot in here?

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve getting a little confused because Eddie was trying to make normal conversation and wasn’t looking him in the eye.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie not understanding anything he was feeling right now because Steve was not supposed to be making him feel like this.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve looking at Eddie’s watch and realising they only had one minute left and Eddie still hadn’t kissed him and he was awkward and nervous and looked kind of uncomfortable and maybe Robin and Steve had it all wrong. So he took a little step back and straight up just asked Eddie if he was gay.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie turning red and getting all flustered and trying to tell Steve “No. No, no. I’m not gay, definitely not gay. I’m not, I’m sure… I’m, I can’t be. I like girls… I only like girls. I don’t think… guys are just… they don’t… I’m not…” and trying to convince Steve -himself- that he wasn’t gay.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve squinting his eyes at Eddie because Eddie was just so… dramatic about it, and he wasn’t getting offended he was just trying to tell Steve he wasn’t, and he noticed there were only ten seconds left before one of the kids would swing open that bathroom door now.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie feeling a lump in his throat and like he wanted to cry as he tried to talk but just couldn’t get convincing words out and Steve was looking at him weirdly and it just made everything worse.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve taking a few fuck it steps forward and grabbing Eddie and kissing him, hard, slipping in a little tongue.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie not kissing Steve back because whatthefuckSteve?! but the moment he felt Steve’s tongue poke into his mouth, his own tongue was licking against it like a reflex and he started to kiss Steve back.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve pulling back the moment he felt Eddie start kissing him, a smug smile on his lips as he stepped backwards, one, two, three times.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Max swinging the door open, right on cue and letting Steve walk past her, all smug and proud and grinning, and she looked at Eddie who had pink cheeks and wide eyes and strawberry lip gloss smeared against his lips and he was all flustered and she rolled her eyes, murmuring a little “ew”.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie sitting across from Steve in the circle for the next five turns of the game, legs crossed and pink cheeked and his head hung low when he wasn’t staring.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve still smugly smiling because he made Eddie a flustered, quiet mess, and he was very obviously whispering to Robin all about it because they kept looking over at Eddie and smirking.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie not being able to sleep that night because Mike Wheeler’s basement smells like teenage boy, and had constant snoring echoing through the walls, and Steve’s glossed up lips were on his mind.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Robin and Steve laying beside eachother, giggling and whispering all night about their stupid crushes because that’s all they talked about these days.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie getting frustrated with himself and getting up to go have some milk or something, maybe to step outside for a smoke to just clear his head because he wasn’t gay.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve noticing and following him up in his little shorts, and popping on some more strawberry gloss, just in case, and walking up the stairs to find Eddie drinking water and looking out the window because he didn’t want to touch the Wheelers fancy fridge and fuck it up.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie still not understanding anything he was feeling, and why he was thinking about Steve’s lips so much, and the taste of his lipgloss, and the feel of him so close.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve walking up to Eddie and leaning back on the island behind him, and asking if Eddie was okay.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie almost jumping out of his skin at the sudden sound of Steve’s voice that also happens to give him goosebumps in more ways than one, but promising Steve he was fine.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve apologising for overstepping because Eddie didn’t seem fine in the slightest, and maybe he and Robin were wrong. So, so wrong and maybe Eddie was gonna hate him now.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie telling Steve, out of the blue, that he sure as shit wasn’t gay. He couldn’t be. It was impossible, he liked girls, he was sure of it, they were pretty.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve wanting to cry, but forcing himself not to.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie looking up at Steve with glossy eyes in the dark of the kitchen, and the faintest whisper leaving his lips as he said, “I wish you were a girl”.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve’s heart skipping a beat at that, and the silence lingering in the air as they just looked at one another.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie letting a singular tear fall because he was just so overwhelmed with everything and didn’t know what else to do.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve walking up to Eddie, grabbing his shoulders softly and turning him back around to face the window, whilst Steve jumped up to sit on the counter, pulling Eddie between his legs and holding his hands, telling Eddie that he would probably make a very pretty girl if Eddie needed.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie smiling as Steve applied some more of his lipgloss and smacking his lips, and pretending to flick a long strand of hair back from his shoulder, and tweak his voice to sound more feminine as he asked Eddie if he looked pretty. And Eddie said yes, a little too quickly.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve slinging his arms over Eddie’s shoulders and asking if he wanted a kiss.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie tentatively holding Steve’s waist as he lent in to kiss him, slowly moving closer, calculated, swallowing, a nervous wreck.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve closing the gap that little bit faster and smiling against Eddie’s soft lips, gloss smeared between the two.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie melting into the kiss because apparently he did like kissing boys now, or maybe it was just Steve. But he liked it, and he gripped Steve’s hips and pulled him in closer until their chests were flush and Steve’s hands were in Eddie’s hair and their mouths were wet and tasted like strawberry lipgloss.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve pulling back for a breath of air and to check if Eddie was okay because he cared and he felt another tear slip into their mouths.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie chasing Steve’s lips the second they parted, leaning over with his fingers digging into Steve’s sides hard and not letting the kiss stop because he never wanted to stop kissing Steve.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve wiggling even closer, and Eddie’s hands dropping to his ass to hold him there, just for a moment and in that moment Steve let out a little whimper of satisfaction.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie pulling his hands back to Steve’s hips because this was all so new and he didn’t want to take it too far yet, whatever it was, but he’d keep that little sound in mind and would remember to put his hands there later.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie gripping Steve’s waist a little tighter because Steve tugged on his curls to deepen the kiss and it made him feel crazy, and he pressed himself harder into Steve because it all just felt so right for once, unlike all the times he’d kiss girls and couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve wrapping his legs around Eddie’s waist and locking his ankles together to keep him in place.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie pressing chase little pecks to Steve’s lips and whispering thankyou between each one, more tears slipping from his wet eyes.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve wiping those tears away and pulling Eddie back in for another long and needy kiss because he was just as intoxicated by it as Eddie.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Max waking up with the need to pee, but Mike was taking forever in the basement bathroom so she wandered upstairs and heard some weird, wet slapping noise and silent little whimpers and she thought it might be a Demogorgon or something so she peaked around the corner to get an eye full of Eddie sucking Steve’s face off, and she stopped, and scoffed and rolled her eyes and muttered a little “ew”.

Whatever you do, don’t think about both of them turning around red faces and terrified to look at Max, scared she was gonna cry bloody mary.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Max shaking her head and turning for the bathroom and throwing her hands up with a groan and the word “Finally” being shouted.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie turning back to Steve and asking what this meant now, because he was scared and confused and didn’t understand anything.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Steve sweeping hair back from Eddie’s face and soothing his anxiety’s away, and promising Eddie this could be whatever he needed it to, and that he wasn’t alone, he never would be again.

Whatever you do, don’t think about Eddie kissing Steve again because it’s all he could think to do now, and he cried into the kiss because things finally felt like they were clicking into place, and this giant weight was being lifted off his shoulders.

Whatever you do, don’t think about the pair heading back down stairs and curling up under Eddie’s sleeping bag, nimble fingers tracing over Steve’s chest as Eddie kissed his collarbone and neck in the dark.

Whatever you do, don’t think about the party waking up in the morning to find Eddie and Steve tangled up together, Steves strawberry gloss sticky and stuck to Eddie’s cheek and somehow marking his own neck, and then not thinking anything of it because everyone thought they had been dating for months and were glad they finally felt comfortable enough to show it.

Whatever you do, please think about Eddie adding a little rainbow rectangle patch to his battle vest a week later.

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