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#stranger things is a comedy
cinemagal · 2 years
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“CHAPTER 8 - PAPA” STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 (2022)
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bebx · 5 months
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i think the funniest way to do vampire eddie in a no upside down au is to do a modern au where eddie was turned in the 80s and that's why he still dresses like that. like. the party's all gen z or whatever and there's just. baby boomer vampire. dustins like wow you must be centuries old i bet you know so much cool history shit and eddie's like actually i think i went to high school with your parents. eddie's making out with steve and then remembers steve was born in the early 90s and he cringes so hard he turns inside out
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strawberrybyers · 27 days
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they’re so unserious i love them
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anotherwellkeptsecret · 8 months
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To a Stranger: Prologue & 1-5
This comic is based on a true story--about how a lonely waitress by day and artist by night crosses paths with the man who stood up for her when they were children.
This comic does not have a set update schedule. I will draw pages as time allows. Please enjoy!
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hornedqueenofhell · 5 months
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Holiday in... Handcuffs? Pt. 2
Pt 1
“Okay Dustin, tell me one more time why you think Steve was kidnapped.” Hopper says while pinching the ridge of his nose. It’s not that he didn’t believe the boy, it's just, he highly doubts one guy would be capable of taking Steve down easily.
“He told me he was! I heard a struggle, he said kidnapped, I heard the kidnappers voice!” Dustin shrieks while waving his phone at Hopper. Will, Mike and Lucas had come to join him, they were staying quiet though, still in shock. The girls had been skeptical and refused to stop their girls day for what they thought was a cry for attention.
“Did Steve perhaps call you accidentally if he was… busy with someone?” He has caught Steve with his pants down too many times to assume the guy didn’t have varied interests in bed. Dustin just scowls and puts his hands on his hips exactly like Steve does.
“No, he was calling to tell me something. That he wasn’t going to be able to do something and then the struggle started. I heard swearing and panting like Steve was trying to get away, his speaker sounded like it had been hit because all his audio started getting really fuzzy. He was trying to say something about his kidnapper that he was weird or something like that. And then I heard the guy's voice really clearly, he said ‘in you go princess.”
“I understand Dustin, I'm just asking if there are any other possibilities. Steve is an adult man who doesn’t look like he’d be easy to kidnap, on top of that he was on the phone actively talking to a witness which is the last thing a criminal wants. Kidnappers go after people who won’t be missed, who they can convince to get out of the public eye.”
“He said goodbye to me, Hopper. He said goodbye and that he loves me.” Steve normally did this but he just had this gut feeling that something horrible had happened. “If you won’t help me I’ll go looking for him myself.”
“Slow your roll Dustin Henderson. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help, I just need as much information as possible. Did Steve tell you where he was when he was taken?”
“His phone tracking shows him around the corner from the shop when he made the call.” Dustin pulls up the map and shows him the screenshot he took of the dot in front of the corner bodega. “Now the tracking on it is spotty, wherever they’re taking him it has a bad signal, and they’re moving.”
Fuck that’s not good. Hopper stands from his desk and grabs his jacket. “Okay, I’m going to check out where Steve was last seen. You tell me if the tracking ever reappears and what direction it’s heading in, that could help us predict where they may be headed. Stay here. Do not, do anything stupid.” Hopper orders before heading out the door and getting in his cruiser to go by the bakery.
~O~
They had stopped at a gas station about twenty minutes out from the cabin because Eddie wanted s'mores supplies and some beers. Steve was kind of hungry so he picked up some snacks for them too. The two of them giggled and playfully shoved each other until the gas station owner, full of fond exasperation, said that she was going to confiscate their ID’s as fakes if they didn’t stop acting like children. Steve looked concerned while Eddie just snorted.
“Like you haven’t been letting me buy beers here since I was 19 Terry.” He winks and she flips him off. They set their haul on the counter and Steve insists on paying, smacking Eddie’s hands away when he tries to steal the other man’s card. Eventually Eddie just folds his arms over Steve’s shoulders and rests his chin on Steve’s head.
“Shall I give Wayne your best then?” He teases wiggling his eyebrows. Terry scoffs and reaches across the counter to swat him.
“You’ll be keeping your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you Edward Theodore Munson. And thank your young man for buying your groceries, what were you raised in a barn?”
“Oh trust me Lady Theressa I would like nothing more than to thank him, long and often but he has rebuffed my advances because all of you keep telling him I’m such a scoundrel!” Eddie dramatically swoons against Steve’s back, swooning a little in reality at how easily Steve holds his weight. “My knight in shining armor has rebuked me, leaving me without favor or token to get me through the dark, lonely nights!”
“Are you sure you want to be seen in public with this guy?” Terry stage whispers to Steve. Steve laughs and rubs his hand over Eddie’s forearms, the metalhead squeezing him tighter in response.
“God help me but doe-eyed, curly hair nerds are kinda my type.” That response has Eddie blushing and ducking his head to hide behind his curls against Steve’s neck. He meant it when he said he’d earn that kiss, whatever Steve needed to know his interest was in something real.
“That’s on you then. You boys stay safe out there, got it?” She gives them both an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture as they gather up their bags of snacks and offer her holiday wishes in return as they head out.
Eddie squeezes Steve’s hand once they’re back in the car warming up. Steve’s eyes are glittering and Eddie squeezes his hand again so he doesn’t lean over and accidentally steal that kiss. “If you’re not completely sick of me after this trip, and you’re willing to give this a shot, I’d like to take you to dinner.”
“I think I’d like that.” Steve murmurs. Honestly if Eddie asked he’d definitely kiss him right here and now. No one has made him laugh this much in a while, has listened to Steve talk about the bakery and the youth basketball team he’s an assistant coach for with such rapt attention. He hasn’t felt this seen since Robin, who is the other half of his brain cell, they are two halves of a whole idiot and they do just about everything together. She knows he’s thought Eddie was cute from the first time he walked into the bakery, with a grease smudge on his forehead and his hair tied up in a clip.
“Is there something on my face, you’re staring.” Eddie asks, he’s actually got a smear of chocolate from a cookie on his lip but Steve just smiles and shakes his head.
“Just think you’re beautiful, that’s all.” And as color floods Eddie’s face, prompting him to hide behind his hair again as he turns to watch the road, Steve can’t help but be unrepentantly charmed. It’s silly to think about but Steve feels like he’s fallen into one of those goofy Hallmark Christmas movies. The ones where unexpected circumstances end up bringing you exactly where you’re supposed to be to meet The One or something ridiculous like that. It’s silly he knows but he has a good feeling about this Christmas.
~O~
Most of the shops had closed by the time Hopper got there, the bodega included unfortunately. But there was a pawn shop across the street that was still open. He walked in and went to the counter where a nervous, sweaty little man stared him down.
“H-hello offfficer. What can I do for you?” He dabs at his receding hairline with a stained hanky.
“That camera out front work?” He asks and the man nods.
“Yes, I-I haven’t had many customers come in today and I have all the goods I’ve had sold to me today right over here if you need to see any of them for any reason. I do feel like I should inform you-”
“I don’t care about possible stolen goods at the moment, does that camera reach to across the street?” Hopper cuts him off not wanting to be here a second longer than he needed to. 
“A little. Um, right this way officer.” He scurries over to the door to lock it and switch the sign to closed before taking Hopper to the backroom where the camera controls were set up.
“I want you to show me just before 7 to 7:15 today.” Hopper says and the man is quick to comply. He wasn’t exaggerating about the little, Hopper couldn’t see faces or anything significantly higher than people’s waists. He scanned the footage intently for anything suspicious and then he saw it. An inconspicuous looking black vehicle driving too close to the curb, kicking up sludge as it goes. He sees sharp movements and then two bodies hitting the ground. They’re almost out of frame when the incident occurs but he catches a glimpse of Steve. The young man is indeed on his phone, the device clutched in his hand as a body with its back to the camera lands on top of him. The figure is wearing what looks like jeans and a thick, dark sweater, heavy combat boots and chains dangling from one of the pockets. So definitely not Steve’s usual crowd. He watches Steve’s feet scrabble against the icy pavement before he’s pulled up and out of frame. About a minute later a similar black vehicle drives back in the other direction. 
So that must be the play. Knock them off balance by driving too close, then while the victim is disoriented loading them into the vehicle and taking off back in the opposite direction. Unfortunately this camera angle didn’t provide plate details for the vehicle so that would have to wait until morning. He just hoped Steve could hold on that long.
“Rewind a bit, I want you to print out some of these frames for me.” Hopper says, pulling up another chair.
By the time he gets back to the office he’s frustrated and worried for Steve. And he knows Joyce has got to be getting worried about him too, he should have been home almost two hours ago by now.
The kids have all gone but they pinned a map to a whiteboard they commandeered and drew a trail of dots with each check in point where they could get a signal from Steve’s phone. It looks like the kidnappers are headed towards the mountains which is not a good sign for Steve’s life expectancy. He can’t despair yet though and adds the printouts of the attack to the board. 
Steve is his boy and if these fuckers have hurt a single hair on his head, they’ll never find the bodies. No matter how much his heart and mind rage though there’s no new information to gather right now. He needs to go home, to tell Joyce what happened. He needs her help to figure out what to tell the kids if the worst comes to pass.
~O~
Wayne is standing in the open door as they pull up. Eddie can barely help the child-like grin on his face as he dashes up onto the porch, ignoring the crack of ice under his boots as he pulls his uncle into a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you.” He groans as Wayne squeezes him back just as tight,
“Missed you too son, now get in here so I can meet your boy finally.”
And oh how Eddie’s heart soared at hearing Wayne call Steve his boy, but first he had to tell Wayne the truth about what happened.
“About that Wayne, this is Steve, he’s a friend of mine. Hector won’t be joining us because he decided to be a two-timing scumbag.” Steve, absolute gentleman that he is, has all their bags with him that he sets down before offering Wayne his hand to shake.
“Steve Harrington sir, Eddie has been telling me so much about you.” Wayne returns the gesture with a small grin, so similar to Eddie’s.
“Just Wayne please, you gonna make an honest man of my boy before these knees are too old to walk him down the aisle?”
“Wayne!” Eddie sputters, resisting the urge to throw himself in the nearest snowdrift and just stay there until the spring thaw. He’s burning up so much right now he could possibly melt through the ice on the lake and just drown there too. Steve barely seems phased though and just gives Eddie a soft look.
“Well, we were going to maybe start with dinner. Save the wedding plans for the third date you know.” He winks and Eddie buries his face in his hands with a whine, great they get along too well.
“I’m going to bed!” He declares loudly, he’s had a shit day and the drive up into the mountains always stresses him out. Wayne just gives him the stink eye.
“You drag this boy all the way out here and just plan on disappearing? Show him around at least!” Wayne turns back to Steve and pats him on the shoulder, “I really tried to raise him with manners I swear.”
Steve throws his head back and laughs, looking so radiant and happy that Eddie barely feels his heart slip from his chest and splat down at his feet. Freely offered to the gorgeous man who offered to come here for him, who looks at him like he’s hoping as hard as Eddie is that this thing starting to take shape between them could be something wonderful.
“I think he’s just the way he’s supposed to be.” Steve says, looking at him so warmly. Eddie flushes and reaches for Steve again, craving the way their fingers feel folded together already and starts showing him around the cabin. It’s not massive or really even anything special. Living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom across the way. There’s a little gazebo outside right on the edge of a lake which was why Wayne wanted the place to begin with. There’s boxes of decorations sitting out but no tree, when Steve asks about it Eddie just grins.
“Munson family tradition, we have to go get one. Then we spend the whole day decorating and drinking and snacking on whatever we have on hand. Sometimes we stay inside and just read while Wayne plays his old records. Or I’ll take the kids out to go skate if my cousins are around.”
“That sounds really nice Eddie. I never really got to have traditions like that growing up.” Steve had talked a bit about his cold, lonely upbringing, and how he’d never had people to celebrate the holidays with until Robin and his group of shitheads. Eddie had suspected that Steve had to be at least a bit lonely to volunteer to go to a practical stranger’s house for Christmas but Eddie was really happy he had.
“Then I’m all too happy to share ours with you.” Steve’s lip wobbles a touch as he pulls Eddie into a gentle hug.
“I feel like a horrible person for crying when you’re the one who went through so much today, but thank you for having me.” Eddie wraps his arms around Steve and holds him back just as gently, fingers sinking into Steve’s thick waves.
“Thank you for offering to come. I feel so much braver, facing everything that happened today because I wasn’t going through it alone.” The held each other for a moment longer before drifting back to their own spaces. “Want some cocoa before we head to bed? It’s a queen if you don’t mind sharing, the couch is…” he inhales sharply, “not great.”
“I feel like we’re going about things in a very weird order. Haven’t kissed, haven't been on a date but going straight to sharing a bed. Yeah, cocoa sounds nice.”
“It’s from a packet so temper your fine artisanal drink crafting expectations.” Eddie says tugging Steve into the kitchen, 
Steve just shakes his head and giggles, “Just how pretentious do you think I am?”
Wayne watches them from his seat in the living room, two of them wrapped up in their own little world of new romance as they stand hip to hip in the kitchen, sipping hot chocolate and watching each other with stars in their eyes. They might actually start discussing marriage before their third date.
Pt 3
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steviesbicrisis · 11 months
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Some will tell you it’s Ron Swanson and Jean Ralphio but me and Fellow intellectuals know that it is actually Jim Hopper and Steve Harrington.
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chirpsythismorning · 11 months
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S3 is underrated bc it comes off so meaningless the entire time, when in reality it’s the opposite. The jokes in particular were top notch and it’s because most of them went over everyone’s heads. Like, do people even know that they hinted at Robin being lesbian right at the start of s3???
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mov24 · 8 months
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imfinereallyy · 1 year
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Everybody thinks Steve is a morning person but he really isn’t. It’s just that when they see him in the morning…the truth is he has been up for hours. He actually never went to sleep. With school no longer confiding him he can just sleep in the middle of the day (when he’s not working) like the night owl he is. When he works opening shifts? He’s the biggest bitch on the planet. When he actually does go to bed at a normal hour and wakes up with the sun? Well everyone just thinks he’s being a dick because he’s Steve Harrington, he’s up earlier than any of us he must just be in a bad mood. Not even Robin has picked up on the why in regards to his mood pattern.
It isn’t until Steve becomes friends with Eddie Munson after the Upside Down that someone figures out. Eddie finds Steve doing a jog around Loch Nora at 2 am when he goes for a drive because he can’t sleep. He almost crashes the car seeing Steve shirtless.
Steve is embarrassed at first, feeling like he did something wrong being up so late. Eddie doesn’t mind it though, takes the opportunity to spend more time with Steve. It’s nice that Eddie gets to see a side of Steve no one else does. And Steve learns he doesn’t mind the company of Eddie Munson.
Steve gets a late night buddy after all.
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bebx · 8 months
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Henry would 100% unironically say this 😭😭😭
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Someone is eager to see Mafia Mamma and that someone is me. So anyway.
When a twenty-two year old Steve Harrington gets the call, he isn't in the best spot in his life. Sure, he survived all the Upside Down crap, but his parents finally had enough of his so-called trauma ("the earthquake was bad, Steven, but you can't let that influence your life forever! It's like you're not even trying!"). He didn't get to college and his love life is abysmal, but hey, at least he does something useful now - he's training to be a paramedic and he lives in a small, old flat, regularly calling Robin and his gaggle of kids and hanging out with Eddie whenever possible. So maybe it's not the best spot in life, but it's his.
Well, apparently his great-uncle that his mother never really talked about died and asked that Steve takes over the family business in his will. Family business that is in Italy. Cool.
Look, Steve likes first aid, saving lives and all that, but, after the second shared joint with Eddie, admits he's curious. No one said it has to be forever, but maybe it would help him to try something else for a change. Eddie absolutely approves, squeezes Steve's shoulder, but - a little sadly, it seems to Steve - admits he's going to miss the only person who went through all the shit and stuck around. He even jokes he'll hide in Steve's suitcase and will go to Italy with him. "You know, somewhere far away from the Satanist rep. Well, Vatican is there so that's not ideal, but maybe with no murders and levitation this time, I'd just pass as the weird American?" And without thinking, Steve blurts out: "Come with me."
They land in Italy with almost nothing, Eddie with a beat up backpack and his guitar ("not even death or other fucked up dimensions will us part, Steve!"), Steve with a sports bag full of clothes and graduation pics of his kids plus Robin and Nancy, and his trusted hair spray. He really, really wanted to take his spiked bat, but apparently that would be a hazard on the plane. Go figure.
And of course, the "family business" is full of black suits, guns, rapid Italian threats and on top of that, the other families know that the old head of the family is gone and they smell the blood in the water. Especially when the new leader is barely an adult who looks more like a model than a criminal. And his friend who looks like a criminal? That one looks more like a petty thief or vandal than an actual mafia member. Now is their time to strike.
Turns out, that wasn't the best idea. Not when the doe-eyed metalhead grabs the nearest chair and smashes it repeatedly over the assailant's head while yelling "I-DID-NOT-SURVIVE-BEING-CHEWED-ON-TO-DIE-TO-A-FUCKING-BULLET-YOU-MOTHERFUCKER!" while the new boss reaches for the nearest lamp and, like a bloody ninja, renders three assassins unconscious, then setting down the bloodied rod (goodbye, lamp shade and light bulb) and tells his advisor that he wants a baseball bat, a hammer and a bunch of nails. For...reasons.
They gradually settle in. Steve excels in keeping his family in line by adopting his best mom pose, hands on hips, while sternly uttering "What did we say about excessive violence, Francesco? Hm? If you start there, what do you do when you need to escalate? Why do you start with the worst? And they call me dumb." When his bodyguard cocks his gun and asks who called him dumb and where do they live, Eddie snorts into his coffee. (also Steve later apologizes to Francesco for calling him dumb, but also adds that rules are made to be followed, especially those that save a lot of blood and pain)
As for Eddie, without the academic pressure he becomes and unstoppable language student. He's like a sponge, being semi-fluent while Steve struggles with basic phrases. They study together and Eddie begins feeling more confident, takes up more languages and slowly starts functioning as Steve's interpreter and teacher in one. Also a bit more, when they have to evade another assassination attempt and Steve finds himself laying on top of Eddie, on the ground where he pulled him to save him from a nasty punch, and no one comments on it when they get up a few seconds too late, their lips and faces red.
Eventually Steve becomes fluent as well and that's when Eddie experiences the best time of his life - when they walk together in a market, bodyguards giving them just a little bit of privacy, and someone spits on the ground behind them - "stupid American." But before Eddie can react, Steve throws a bitchy look at the offender and says in perfect Italian: "and you look like a poorly shaved goat, yet I'm not judging."
Eddie howls in laughter and nudges Steve's side. "Careful, Stevie. I might think you don't need a teacher anymore."
Steve wraps his arm around Eddie's waist. In here, surrounded by the bodyguards and his family, he can finally do that. "Maybe not. But I'll always need a boyfriend. Wanna apply?"
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fae!steve who, practically the moment he learns what he can do, sets up a trap curse for his parents. if they ever kick him out and disown him, then the second he exits their threshold he'll take all their luck with him. he'd feel bad about cursing his parents, but the point of a trap curse is that it doesn't activate unless the targets of the curse do something to meet its requirements. if his parents were just good people, good parents, then nothing bad will ever happen to them.
but they really can't seem to help themselves. steve guesses he saw this coming.
he tells eddie about it, when eddie comes to pick him and his one allowed box of clothes and shit from the harrington house. eddie'd offered to curse them, 'might as well make good on my whole evil satanist reputation', but steve told him he already had it covered. told him about the trap. he's never seen eddie look so proud and so sad at the same time.
and sure enough, all good luck leaves the harrington household when steve does. a random irs check reveals harrington sr's years of tax fraud, and his business goes bankrupt trying to pay the fines. someone leaks pictures of one of mrs harringtons senior aides on a drug filled bender in the city, ruining both her campaigns squeaky clean image and her chances at reelection in the fall. several of mr harringtons former secretaries sue for sexual harassment, while seemingly every other woman he's ever come in contact with simultaneously sues for child support.
and steve just watches. he's happy now, living with eddie in a small apartment with their cat and the various small woodland creatures eddie keeps trying to sneak in (so far steve's had to kick out three raccoons, a possum, a skunk, two bats, and a coyote. they've all been very understanding when he's explained the situation to them but eddie still acts like a kicked puppy every time he does it). eddie keeps a little shoebox under their bed with newspaper clippings of every terrible thing to befall the mighty harringtons, says it's in case steve ever wants the reminder that he got one over on them in the end. a reminder that steve's happy and they're not.
steve doesn't need it. he feels it, every time the curse does something to them, something clicking in his chest like one of those alarm clocks with the flaps that flip over from one minute to the next. he wonders if it'll ever feel like too much. if he'll ever think they've been punished enough. they've had a rough couple years, it's sort of only a matter of time before something happens that's unlucky enough to injure or kill them.
steve thinks if he was human, maybe he'd care. maybe he'd look at that shoebox with the guilt eddie seems to be half-expecting every time he brings it out. but he's not, so he doesn't. he set the trap, but his 'parents' are the ones who sprung it.
they really should have known better than to cross a changeling.
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strawberrybyers · 27 days
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“noah schnapp in the car still buckled in”
“THE BIG REVEAL”
“you’re in the shot, noah”
“he was shot through the lungs… he has a crater in his chest, i don’t know how he’s still talking”
“they’re going to drive over him”
IM SORRY BUT THIS WILL NEVER NOT BE THE FUNNIEST COMMENTARY LMFAO
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henrysglock · 2 years
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Can we all, just for a moment, sit and think how much of a menace Will and Mike are going to be in s5?
Will is 200% snarkier now than he was before. Mike is a known menace already. I need to see some quality judgmental tag-teaming. I need them to share Looks™ and make Comments™. I need to see them piggyback off each other to roast the shit out of people.
Will "Friends? What friends?" Byers and Mike "Cursed out his teachers at age 13" Wheeler.
Will "😐🙄🫢" Byers and Mike "🤨😪🤢" Wheeler.
They're 15-17 years old. They're finally back together. Both of them are bored and quarantined in Hawkins. sheeeeeeesh.
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hornedqueenofhell · 5 months
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Holiday in... Handcuffs? Pt. 4
Pt 3
They didn’t bother with any space between them that night, Eddie lays his head on Steve’s shoulder because that’s where it belonged, the same way Steve’s fingers belong on his lower back, tucked under the hem of Eddie’s hoodie. Their legs tangled together as Eddie trails a finger over Steve lips and asks to kiss him.
“Ask me again in the morning sweetheart. I don’t want to be half asleep when I taste you.”
Eddie groans at that, hips shifting against Steve’s, “Baby you can’t say shit like that to me and expect me to go to sleep.”
“Watch me.” He tips Eddie’s chin up and tugs his lower lip between his teeth, scraping until the tender flesh snaps back and leaves Eddie whining and arching under his hands.
“I’m going to fucking ruin you the second I get you in my bed princess.” He hisses and Steve laughs in his face.
“Try that one again when you can stop grinding against my thigh helplessly…princess.” Steve purrs right back. “Until I say so, you’re at my mercy and I’m going to enjoy it.”
Eddie wants to make him eat those words, wants to place his lips everywhere else since Steve’s own mouth is off limits. But Steve’s eyelids are drooping and he can feel a yawn behind his teeth, so he just presses a kiss to Steve’s forehead and whispers, “Enjoy it then big boy. Good night.”
They drift off tangled together while Steve’s family plans a raid on the Munson cabin first thing in the morning.
~O~
The Hopper-Byers house woke up solemnly and got dressed, their living room floor full of sleeping bags and piles of blankets. The kids were riding with Nancy and Jon in the station wagon while Joyce and Hopper took the cruiser. Robin was out of town and no one wanted to stress her out until they had safely gotten Steve back home.
Nancy was loaded down with her handgun and sawed off that Hopper was pretending not to see at this moment. Lucas was fiddling with his wrist rocket while El, Max, and Will talked quietly amongst themselves. Dustin had used his spare key to get Steve’s home defense bat which was tucked between his knees, hands gripping the end until his knuckles go white. Mike had been strangely silent since the news broke, guilt over everything he’d said to Steve eating him alive.
“We’re going to get him Hop, one way or another.” Joyce swears, their backseat has enough supplies in the back to make sure that the corpses of Eddie and Wayne Munson are never found again. They’d send Steve back with the kids, let them take care of him back at home base. Hopper would get his testimony later, after Joyce had put some good meals in him and let him rest off the trauma.
And then they’d get Steve whatever help and therapy he would need depending on what he’d had to live through. They would offer him all the support and love that his family had never been able to. Joyce would call Steve her son the way she’d always hesitated to, afraid she had been overstepping. Hopper would ask if Steve would like to change his last name, had wanted to since the Harrington’s had disowned him for being bisexual.
Everyone was making silent promises to apologize, to hold, to talk, to give Steve all the things they realized they’d been holding back or neglecting. Because it was either they got the chance to or they’d be begging forgiveness at Steve’s grave.
Joyce consulted the map they’d brought with all of the satellite dots from Steve’s phone as they passed a gas station about half an hour from their destination. “They stopped there according to the map, the last one before they got to the cabin.”
Hopper squeezes her hand quietly, “One way or another.”
~O~
“I know it’s not much because I’m afraid I don’t know you very well yet son, but I didn’t want you to be here empty handed so this is for you.” Wayne says as he nudges a box across the coffee table to Steve.
“Wayne, you didn’t have to.” Steve carefully slipped off the paper, something Eddie found so endlessly endearing. He looked forward to watching Steve do this with the rest of his gifts once they got back to town tomorrow. And then Eddie was ordering take out and making out with Steve in the other man’s apartment until Steve kicked him out.
The box contained a pair of slippers and a soft bathrobe, not Steve’s normal style but probably a soon to be necessity if he didn’t want Robin to murder him if Eddie ever stayed over. “I get the feeling this will be very useful soon. Thank you so much Wayne.” He offers sincerely as Wayne reaches over to pat his knee fondly with a warm smile.
“You’re welcome Steve. I’m so happy to have met you, and how happy you make Eddie… it warms this old man's heart.”
“You’re not even that old Wayne.” Steve snorts, making them all laugh. He shifts back against the sofa to tuck under Eddie’s arm, eyes closing with happiness as Eddie’s lips press to his temple.
“Do you want another cup of coffee?” He asks and Steve nods gently so Eddie gathers up their mugs and heads into the kitchen.
“Go get your boy.” Wayne encourages him with a wink. Grinning Steve hops up and follows Eddie into the kitchen. He grabs some snacks for them to nibble on while Eddie refills their mugs. Before he can step back into the living room Steve stops him.
“Look up sweetheart.”
Eddie looks up and sees a sprig of mistletoe taped over the doorway, “Really? Really Wayne?” 
Wayne just laughs at him and waves them off, “Just kiss the man Eddie, I’m sick of whatever weird mating dance you two are doing.”
Eddie looks to Steve who is grinning at him with his own little eyebrow wiggle, he grips Steve’s hips and reels him in close. “May I Steve, may I kiss you?”
“Yes, please Eddie kiss me.” Steve whispers against his lips, hands coming up to cup his face and tug him down until their lips finally meet.
And then the cabin door bursts open.
“Freeze!”
Steve and Eddie’s lips break apart, whipping towards the door in sync as Eddie’s arms tighten around Steve.
“Release him now!”
This time the voice registers and Steve’s jaw drops open. “Hop?”
“Steve! We came to rescue you!” Dustin bursts past Hopper branding his bat and swinging wildly.
“Rescue me? What the hell are you talking about?” Steve studies all their tense faces as he carefully moves Eddie behind him.
“Wait was this all a joke? Were you just playing a prank on Dustin, pretending to be kidnapped?” Mike spits, getting defensive now that they are on the backfoot.
“Kidnapped? Dustin, were you even listening when I called you? I told you I was staying with a friend for Christmas. I specifically said I wasn’t being kidnapped.”
“Your phone was breaking up, I heard a struggle. I heard the horrible thing he said to you!” Tears beaded in Dustin’s eyes as he gestured wildly at Eddie, “I thought I was never going to see you again.”
“Oh Dusty, come here.” Dustin drops the bat and sprints across the room, throwing himself into Steve’s arms with a sob. Steve squeezes him tight and lets Dustin wail with relief as he holds fistfuls of Steve’s sweatshirt.
“Thank you for coming to rescue me Dusty bun. You were so brave.” Steve tells him as he starts to calm down, he turns them slightly and offers a hand out, “Dustn, I’d like you to meet my friend and supposed kidnapper Eddie Munson.”
“...Hi,” Eddie offers gently, he awkwardly holds out a paper towel for Dustin to dry his eyes with, “Steve tells me you’re his little brother.”
“This is sweet and I’m sorry to interrupt but could the lot of you stop letting the cold in and maybe see if my front door can still close?” Wayne interrupts and the rest of Steve’s family blushes before shuffling into the cabin and doing their best to close the door. The handle was completely fucked but the deadbolt hadn’t been pushed so they just used that to hold the door closed. The frame was ruined but at least the draft was minimal.
“Thank you, now someone explain to me why my nephew is being accused of kidnapping.” Everyone continues to fidget awkwardly until Wayne gestures for them to sit.
Wayne has one armchair while Steve and Eddie share the other, Dustin leaning against Steve’s legs. Joyce, Hopper, Nancy, and Jon all squeeze together on the couch while the other kids scatter on the floor. There’s still wrapping paper from their gifts scattered around.
“Why didn’t any of you just call me to ask if I was kidnapped? Or Robin for that matter, I texted her everything about where I was.” Everyone winces at the mention of Robin since they’d left her out of the loop for her own safety, turns out she was the loop.
“Since you didn’t reach out again after the kidnapping message we weren’t sure if you or your kidnapper had the phone and we didn’t want to risk them getting angry and killing you.” Hopper says taking lead on this debacle. Joyce is squeezing his thigh tightly so she doesn’t run over and snatch Steve into her arms.
“I texted Dustin a picture of the cabin yesterday after we finished decorating.” Steve points out, Dustin hasn’t released his sleep pants since they sat down.
“With the other evidence we had gathered it looked more like you trying to help us find you.”
“Other evidence? I’m sorry but what fucking evidence are you talking about?” Eddie snaps, more scared than angry. This man burst into his home and pointed a gun at him so he’s a little on edge right now, even with Steve’s hand in his.
Hopper clears his throat uncomfortably and holds his hands up in surrender, “Sorry, sorry. When Dustin reported the abduction I went to the ‘scene’ and there was some video footage of what appeared to be a large black vehicle driving too close to the curb, and then you pushing Steve to the ground. You went out of frame but another camera shows you driving another black vehicle with Steve in the passenger seat shortly after.”
Eddie huffs, looking very much like he wants to go one one of his tirades until Steve leans more into him and Eddie deflates. This is Steve’s family, who thought they were protecting someone who means a lot to them. Eddie can be justifiably angry for feeling profiled and accused but he won’t take it out on his not quite boyfriends loved ones.
“There was a truck,” Eddie says through gritted teeth. After another glance at Steve he manages to take a deep breath and the words come out a little easier, “it was taking the corner too fast and kicking up a lot of icy road slush. I pushed us both out of the way so we wouldn’t end up soaked. And last I checked, owning a black vehicle wasn’t a crime.”
“It’s not honey and we’re so sorry that this happened.” Joyce speaks up, intervening and diffusing the attention with her genuine warmth, “This was all an unfortunate misunderstanding but what matters is that Steve is okay and that you’re both happy. And we’re sorry for messing up your sweet moment.”
This time Steve and Eddie were the ones blushing, Steve’s entire family had burst in on the two of them kissing after all.
“Could we maybe start over?” Joyce continues, “Would you all like to come over for Christmas dinner? And we can have a repair guy come out and fix your door tomorrow.”
Eddie and Steve glance at each other before looking at Wayne who just shrugs, “I’ll follow along with whatever you boys want.” They turn back to each other and Steve offers him a small smile.
“I know it’s a little fast, and certainly not how I would have planned for this to go. But since I’ve met your family, would you like to meet mine?”
Eddie lets out a snort laugh and squeezes Steve’s hand, lifting it to press a kiss to his knuckles, “Sure Stevie. At least this time I don’t have to worry about somehow making a worse impression than the one that’s already been made of me.”
“They’re going to love you, I know they will.”
With the new plans set Steve, Eddie and Wayne go get dressed while Hopper uses the tarp they brought the tree in with to try and keep the elements from seeping into Wayne’s cabin. Steve’s family goes back to their cars with the exception of Dustin who choses to clamber into the Range Rover with Steve and the Munsons. 
“Is Eddie your boyfriend Steve?” He asks bluntly as they head out, their vehicle taking up the rear of their little caravan.
“Not yet, but I think we’re getting there.” Eddie throws him a cheeky wink as he flicks on some low music to fill the background.
“Cool, hey is that a dungeons and dragons tattoo?”
The older man grins and with a faux annoyed groan Steve settles back in his seat as his family starts to get to know his soon to be boyfriend. This might be the strangest Christmas Steve has ever had but it’s also one of the happiest.
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