— ; Interactions - Blog Posts

rcbinbvckleys·:

⚢

slipping in the front door of eddie’s trailer, robin almost had the scare of her life when eddie called her name from such a short distance. “do you ever speak at a normal volume?” a rhetorical question, for she already knew the answer. eddie always had a lot of energy, it was almost admirable and very infectious. perhaps one of the reasons robin enjoyed his company so much. besides the fact that she didn’t ever feel the need to hide with eddie, which in itself was extremely freeing.

“i’ve been here before, dingus. i remember that mattress of yours, for example.” and how gross it was. flashing a mischievous grin in eddie’s direction, robin joined him on the couch, eyes fixed on watching his hands work at rolling the joint. he was much better at rolling than she was, probably because he’d had a lot more practice. sure she’d been to eddie’s trailer a number of times but nothing could really compare to the first few where they’d literally all been on the verge of death.

“it’s good. no, great!” a barefaced lie and they both knew it. maybe getting high with eddie munson was the release that robin needed right now, but would that really make everything just… go away? sure, for a little while but not completely. “actually, i’ve been kind of distracted recently.”

+++

“huh? what was that?”, he called out, even louder, a wide, toothy, teasing grin on his face. he’d turned up his stereo real loud, not loud enough to cause any of the neigbours to call the cops on him but loud enough so that the muffled sounds of the latest ‘ratt’ record were audible in the living room.

eddie grimaced as she mentioned the mattress, resisted the urge to pull his hair over his face to hide behind it, seeing as he wasn’t particularly keen on having it go up in flames. “oh my god, robin, just let it go. please. i give you plenty enough material for your mediocre jokes as is, let the fucking mattress go.”, he muttered around puffs, brows drawn together. 

but he loved it, their dynamic. hanging out with robin was always easy and comfortable, didn’t feel forced at all. their vibes just .. matched, it was hard to explain. after vecna, after everything had happened and they’d gotten closer, started to hang out more, eddie had often wondered why they hadn’t been friends in high school.

kicking his feet up on the coffee table, he passed the joint to her, eyed her with a frown. “bullshit.”, he said, crossed his arms over his chest. “what’s the matter, what’s going on?”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

“trust me, i would have stayed behind if i knew you that most of you would start fires and get attacked in cemeteries… but i really didn’t have a choice, it was my… great aunt’s funeral.” steve shrugged his shoulders. it was the truth, he shouldn’t have left town for the funeral, after all, he was pretty sure that he only saw his great aunt during christmas and even then it wasn’t for long. also, all of the biscuits she made him were stale, so it’s not like steve had really a connection with her. but his parents insisted that he went, and since he didn’t want to argue with them and risk getting kicked out of the house, he obliged. “you really think i’m a fearless leader, huh?” he asked with a small smirk on his lips, as he looked down at eddie’s bruise carefully.

“you don’t need to act tough with me, trust me, i know how painful it can be. i’m not proud, but after getting beaten up by a ton of people, including russian spies, i know how a painful bruise looks like. i’ll get you some ice.” steve nodded his head slowly. he always seemed to get into fights, whether he put himself in them or if he just got in the way, but the bruises were the worst part of it. he kept his hand on eddie’s hand as they went up the stairs and towards his room. he opened the door and let the other inside with a smile, before turning to look at him. 

“you don’t need to worry, i wasn’t sleeping, but i was almost falling asleep. it’s fine, i’ll be sure to catch some sleep.” he said. “and don’t apologize, you clearly were… disturbed by that whole thing. you can always come over when you want.” he said, remembering everything that had happened in eddie’s place - it was probably hard to sleep after having a portal to the upside down on his room and after seeing chrissy… die like that.

“you’re very lucky… here, i’ll borrow you some of my clothes. but i want them back, so don’t you dare try and run off with them.” he said with a small chuckle, smirking slightly as he turned away from eddie, letting go of his hand, and towards his wardrobe so he could grab some of his clothes. he grabbed some sweatpants and a shirt that he hadn’t worn in a while and placed it on top of his bed, as he looked at him with a smile. he stood there awkwardly for a couple of moments, debating on what to do. should he stay with eddie? or should he just leave him alone? part of him thought that the last thing eddie wanted was to be alone, but then again, he didn’t want to assume anything.

“i’ll…go to the guest room. i’ll leave you alone. if you need the bathroom, it’s just across the hall. and the guest room is right next to it if you… if you need me.” he said as he started making his way towards the door, turning around to look at eddie, as he pondered if he should leave him alone or not. it wasn’t that hard of a decision, but like usually, he seemed to be complicating things.

+++

“oh shit.” eddie frowned, carefully tried to read the expression on steve’s face. though he knew family was a touchy subject for him, with his parents being gone most of the time, he still gave him a sympathetic look, squeezed his hand. “i’m sorry, man.”

steve mentioned russian spies and the like - robin had let him in on all the details of the shit that had gone down in hawkins, starting with will’s disappearance - but eddie’s thoughts were still stuck on the fact that a) steve harrington had very nearly touched his bare skin and b) he was going to sleep in steve harrington’s bed tonight. he felt all consumed with ... just steve. he was all around, eddie caught a whiff of his cologne and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. “thanks.”, he smiled when steve offered to get him some ice. “it’s really not that bad, y’know. i’m tough.” eddie offered him a charming toothy grin. “and yeah, duh. ‘couse i think you’re a fearless leader, stevie. you got roughed up by literal russian slash alien super spies and made it out alive. that’s, like, so hot. you’re a hero, man.”

‘you can always come over when you want’. it made eddie’s heart skip a beat, he blushed, bit down a grin before he tore his eyes away fro steve, opting to look around his room instead.”jesus fucking christ, harrington. are you, like, freakily into geometrical shapes?”, eddie muttered with an amused huff as he let his gaze wander over the wallpaper, the matching curtains. steve’s room looked oddly like some model room, or a page right out of architectural digest. eerily not...lived in. while eddie’s room, their trailer, was the absolute opposite.

steve let go of his hand and eddie instantly missed the warmth and weight of it, his fingers flexed, he began rubbing his fingertips over his palm, nervous habit. “thanks.”, he repeated with a small nod, immediately went to pull off his own shirt and replace it with steve’s. steve’s. it smelled like him, like his detergent and eddie turned his face to hide his grin. oh, he was definitely keeping it. and the sweatpants, too. “jesus, how is your clothig so fucking....soft, man?”, he muttered with a chuckle, hands rubbing along the fabric.

and suddenly, steve had moved to the door, said goodbye for the night and eddie was left just ... standing there. a little on edge, he chewed on the inside of his lip nervously, opened his mouth to say something, anything, even a simple ‘good night!’ but didnt’ manage a single word. he’d come to steve’s house to not be alone, and while he was fucking jumping at the chance of staying somewhere that was so quintessentially steve’s, it still meant he’d spend the night on his own.

but steve turned back around, a curious, unreadable expression on his face, and eddie flexed his hands again. “i - uh. can you...stay?”, he asked, voice meek, brows drawn together, bracing himself for the impact of steve’s rejection. “i ... your bed’s like, big, and i don’t...want to be, uh, alone? yeah.”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve nodded as the other said that water was good, but he didn’t move. for some reason that he couldn’t explain, he didn’t want to leave eddie alone in the room. not because he didn’t trust him, but because he felt like he couldn’t just leave him like that. and he doubted that he wanted to be alone too. so he just stood there, staring at eddie as he waited for him to relax a bit, but it seemed like panic was going to consume eddie and steve didn’t know what to do. he looked at eddie to see the look that he sent his way once steve made the joke, but in all honesty, he was just trying to calm the other down in the best way he could.

“i leave town for a week and you guys… manage to set fire to a whole diner. how is that even possible?” steve asked, knowing that it probably wasn’t anyone’s fault, but he thought that if he were there, that everything could have been avoided. after all, he was a pretty damn good babysitter after all, and he could have prevented the whole thing - that’s what he thought anyway, because he clearly didn’t know what had happened at benny’s diner.

he couldn’t help but to notice eddie’s hand ghosting his own hip, which made him frown slightly. he was hurt. steve didn’t even think about his next move as he grabbed the edge of the other’s shirt and lifted up slightly only to reveal eddie’s bruise. it looked painful, steve thought to himself as he looked back into eddie’s eyes, only to realize what he was doing. “eddie, you should… go to the hospital and get this checked out. it looks… bad.” he said, looking over at him, his face turning slightly red by only looking at eddie’s bareskin, even if it was bruised.

steve kept his other hand, however, on eddie’s shoulder, giving it small reassuring squeezes as he was trying for the other to feel better with just his touch. he didn’t move when he felt eddie’s hand on his own, but it didn’t help with his blushing. he kept his hand there, nodding his head slowly as he heard the other talk. “i believe you, eddie… i mean, it would be stupid not to believe you, we’ve all seen shit… i just don’t know what it could be. we closed the gates. all of them… it can’t be vecna. he’s dead.” he reassured the other, hoping that he wouldn’t end up regretting his words. “you’re not alone, okay? we’re all here for you… i’m here for you, and we’ll figure everything out. you just need to rest or something.” he said, nodding his head.

“i just came back two days ago, it couldn’t have been me, eddie… i’ve been out of town.” he said, letting out a sigh as he grew concerned about people seeing him around town when he clearly was out.

“i’m sure… my parents are out of town again, so it doesn’t matter, we don’t need to worry about them… coming back or something of the sorts.” he said with a small sigh, looking over at eddie with a small smile on his lips. hearing that the other wanted to make sure that he was safe made him smile, nodding his head slowly. “don’t get all soft on me now, munson… i’m fine.” he said with a chuckle. “you can stay in my room, i can stay in the guest room. c’mon.” he said as he finally moved his hand from eddie’s shoulder and grabbed the other’s hand without thinking as he started leading the other up the stairs to his room. “you’re lucky, most girls don’t get to see my room until the third date.” he teased.

+++

“see, you can’t just leave town for a week, harrington. we need our fearless leader.you’re lucky the town still stands, actually.”, eddie muttered, a small grin tugging at his lips - not that he wasn’t spooked anymore, oh no, he absolutely was, but steve’s company did wonders for calming his jangled nerves. and that fact was definitely something to unpack another day. although, thinking about it, there wasn’t really that much to unpack, other than the fact that eddie’s big fat schoolgirl crush on steve harrington was slowly but surely resurfacing. clawing its way to the surface and growing stronger with every day he spent in hawkins.

though, could anyone blame him, when steve went ahead and did things such as yanking his shirt up to reveal his bruise? eddie’s breath hitched in his throat, eyes widening as he glanced between steve’s eye and his hand, fingers not quite touching his bruised skin but ghosting over it, hovering and even that made eddie’s heart hammer in his chest. he gulped, managed a weak smile. “ah, no, no, it’s nothing. nothing to worry about. i’m just clumsy.”, he waved it off with a shrug.

 “i’ll live.”, he repeated “i mean, i’ve survived worse.” and the memory of the swarm of demobats circling above him made him grimace, slightly, he hoped that steve didn’t notice. eddie leaned into steve’s touch, relaxing with every little squeeze he gave his shoulder. he hummed and nodded, more to himself. “yeah. yeah, you’re right...i’ll be fine.” eddie swallowed. “sorry, i - i shouldn’t’ve come. it’s stupid. i woke you up, didnt i? i’m sorry.”

chewing on his bottom lip nervously, eddie looked up at steve again, considered just...leaving instead of making things awkward. but the look on steve’s face, the smile, suggestes that he hadn’t just offered for eddie to stay simply not to be rude. it seemed genuine - he relaxed, slightly, nodded again. fingers tracing over steve’s hand on his shoulder as if to ground him. 

steve took his hand, led him up the stairs - eddie nearly forgot to breathe as he stumbled up. forgot to walk, too. he’d only ever imagined this scenario in his dreams, though with a vastly different premise and outcome. he grinned, wide and toothy. “well,well, well, aren’t i a lucky gal.”

mmuscles·:

.

thad didn’t take kindly to when people didn’t take kindly to him. in hawkins, it was happening at what felt like every turn, but with this guy? it was different. not only did it bug him that he wasn’t wagging his tail to help him find a bouquet for nancy, but he totally gave thad the creeps. he countered for that by continuing to huff and puff and blow everyone in hawkins down with his ‘charm’ and ‘status’. it probably would have been wise at this point for thad to exit the conversation, and yet, he couldn’t stand to surrender first. “yeah man, ‘cause you’re like, the first person i saw?” thad furrowed his brows, shaking his head slightly as he explained where he was coming from, frustrated. “it has nothing to do with you specifically, in fact, it would’ve been killer if i could have avoided talking to someone like you.” he continued to rant and rave about totally irrelevant information, but the desire to let the other know how much he didn’t care for him was too strong to stop. 

“mike brady? really?” he scoffed, “do you think you’re like, funny or something?” thad narrowed his eyes, taking a step closer, “i don’t like jokes.” he informed. that wasn’t really true, he just didn’t like that joke. still, these directions were the closest thing thad had gotten to help. so he might just have to swallow his pride and take them. “of course i can manage that.” he answered promptly, “you think i can’t?” he asked foolishly, clearly now just looking for a fight. thad tried to reign it in though, he couldn’t show up at nancy’s with a fat lip. “watch your back.” he threatened, with no intention of following up on that. in a final power play, thad spit at eddie’s feet and continued towards this melvald’s.

+++

eddie simply stood there and watched with his brows drawn together, nose scrunched up in what could only be described as digust. “someone like me.”, he echoed, nodded to himself. noted how eerily similar this felt to just about any interaction he’d had with jason carver back in high school. noted how all he ever really got in chicago was a shove to the shoulder on the street, a couple of dirty looks. not someone so clearly unapproving of his life choices that he was looking for a fight.

he’d presses the play button on his walkman before the head of the brady bunch had stopped talking, could hear the music faintly playing over the headphones hanging around his neck. he gave him another look up and down, then shrugged. “back your watch.”, eddie called after him before he slipped his headphones back on and stomped off in the opposite direction, a little faster than before.

colemontgomeryx·:

xx.

Since Adam had died, Cole had been chasing the feeling– the euphoria– of connecting with another. That’s not to say he was looking for a relationship… no, he was too closed off for that. He was looking for a reminder that he was still capable of connection, maybe even love. One day.

And today, this chance encounter with Eddie was exactly the feeling he’d been wanting. He’d always noticed Eddie in school– how could he not, the way Eddie seemed to fill up every room? But he’d never seen Eddie like this: nervous, but sure. In control. And Cole was loving it. 

Cole’s stomach leaped when Eddie took him by the wrist and pressed him against the wall. He could feel the heat coming off of Eddie’s body, he could practically taste Eddie’s words. Fluttering his eyes, Cole looked up at Eddie, hand still gripping the other’s shirt.

“I am. Are you?” 

+++

his eyes flicked between cole’s - jesus, how did he have lashes like that, it was unfair - as if searching for even the slightest hint of uncertainty that would make him pull back, apologize, would make them part ways. but cole’s hand was still in his shirt, he was still so intoxicatingly close and now he had verbal confirmation, too.

eddie looked around one more time, hating how nervous and paranoid he got everytime he went back to hawkins, a shaky exhale drawn from his lungs, the air was clear. and still he felt himself hesitate, eyes meeting cole’s again, and the thought of how bizarre this was, how this wasn’t even the guy he’d spent his waking moments fantasizing about while sat in the back of ms. o’donnell’s class.

no, no, he nipped that strain of thought in the bed, no, this wasn’t the time to dwell on past crushed. to hell with it. eddie gave a weak nod, grin pulling at his lips. “yeah”, he breathed, “’m sure”, and dove in to connect their lips.

backtowheeler·:

— ✎ —

Whatever the hell this….shit is, was gonna catch up to me eventually. Nothing truer could be said for anyone who had ever experienced what went down below Hawkins. It felt too good to be true. It felt too easy to just say yep, that’s a wrap on all the weird shit. It would never be over. No matter how many times they’d defeat it, something would come crawling back whether it be as massive as someone like Vecna or as small as… hatched eggs? Nancy had already started mentally working on her hypothesis. Baby Demogorgons was her top thought, although thinking about Dart and how tiny he had allegedly been, she was starting to think otherwise. They were human sized, carrying something big enough that could possibly only continue growing.

“Still, I was hoping you would get to see an actual crime scene. Not so much… whatever was in there,” she told him, truth in her voice. Nancy didn’t really have a partner to lean on anymore whenever she got some sort of lead. It was part of the reason why she asked Eddie to come. She didn’t want to ask any of their younger friends and considering the two of them never got much one on one time together? She thought it could be a bonding experience. Plus, there was nothing more metal than some blood, gore, and crime, right? It’s what they were always singing about. 

When the keys were unwillingly snatched from her hand, Nancy let out a sigh. “Fine,” she conceded, mostly because of the throbbing pain in her hand. She walked in the direction of where she had parked, blowing on her hand as if that would stop the pain. “Just promise me you won’t crash my mom’s station wagon?” She asked. Nancy had never ridden with Eddie while he had been behind the wheel so she had no indication of his driving, but if she could guess? She figured it was much worse than her own.

+++

eddie clasped a hand over his heart, brows drawn up, lips twisted into a pout. “oh, geez, wheeler - you wanted to take me out to see a crime scene? little old me? oh, i’m touched.” and he wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, then let his hands fall back to his side, grinning. not willing to abandon his theatrics even in the face of impendind doom and evil. ‘cause that’s what this was, eddie thought, a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. this was only the beginning and eddie wasn’t sure if he wanted to stick around to see the end of it.

not running away had nearly gotten him killed the last time around. he nodded, hummed, a pleased little sound when nancy didn’t put up a fight and followed her to the car. “i’ll have you know i’m an excellent driver, wheeler, thank you very much.”, he retorted, swinging the keys around his fingers. though he promptly stopped as they hit his knuckles with full force, cursed under his breath. “pinkie promise. you know, i used to give max a ride to school everyday. gave dustin rides home after hellfire - actually, your brother, too. you can ask him, i’m sure he’ll vouch for my driving skills.”

though he skillfully glossed over the fact that one of the reasons he’d given max a ride to school almost everyday was that max was an absolute menace to society everytime she drove a car, and eddie very much wanted to see her live to graduation. he unlocked the car, quickly hopped in, an appreciative glance around before he looked back at nancy.

“not bad.”, he said, nodding to himself. “i mean, i’d take the van, any day. but not bad.” eddie shrugged, turned the keys in the ignition before his attention was drawn back to her hand. “you should get that checked out, wheeler. looks pretty nasty to me.”

elevcnhops·:

WHERE ; benny’s burnt down diner WHO ; el &. @eddiemcnson·

of course he was an admired hero in their party - dustin wouldn’t stop talking about him on more than one occasion. even mike had mentioned the other once or twice. eleven just never imagined she would be meeting him in a deserted diner. even more surprising that he was still around after… everything. remembering his absolute panic as the lights went out. and even all the things after. feeling a bit guilty, their experience felt all too familiar. this was probably her fault. the never ending twinge of guilt ever since she returned.

better yet, he was back at the place of their first actual encounter. el’s better judgement leading her back to the diner. the other night with nancy and Hop… but he was there. she could recognize that hair anywhere. she wasn’t the only nosy one in this town apparently.

eleven smelled the ash before she could sense it. sure, the smell of burnt concrete was a grim reminder of the fact.. this place was done for. “ do you see anything? “ she didn’t know his name, only that he was to be trusted. inhaling briefly in the aftermath of the destruction that they brought upon themselves. “ eleven. “ giving him a second of truth as she roamed through the debris. “ and you? “ hiding the rosy tiny upon her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her questioning tone. “ i’m sorry, i should know that. “

+++

it was stupid. it was a horribly, horrifically stupid idea but, staying true to the munson name, eddie actually found himself standing where benny’s diner once had been, just... staring. contemplating, maybe? he didn’t know. didn’t know what had posessed him to hop into his van and drive back there in the first place but there he was, standing in the midst of the burnt down ruins, just looking.

eddie liked to think that he didn’t know what he was looking for but that was a lie,  eddie knew exactly what he was looking for as he absent-mindedly kicked some pieces of gravel through the ash. those ‘eggs’, those freakishly large eggs that had had tears and cracks running through them. and the weird sludge, just... clues. he was looking for clues. upside down clues and he hated the thought of that with a fiery passion. 

“god - jesus - fuck!”, eddie jumped, one heart coming up to clutch at his heart as he whipped around violently, curls whipping through the air like daggers. the frame of ... hopper junior, eddie didn’t know her name, came into view and a shaky yet relieved breath was drawn from his lips. hands on his thighs, eddie dropped his head, took a couple beats to get his breathing under control. “shit, man! you can’t just creep up on people like that.”

after what had happened at benny’s, eddie was even more on edge than usual. he frowned. “no, i...don’t see anything, kid. ‘cept for you, scaring the freaking daylights outta me.”, he muttered, eyes travelling over the site once more. confirming to himself that he was definitely not seeing any eggs or the like.

eddie narrowed his eyes, brows drawn together tightly. “huh? eleven?”, he echoed, looked her up and down. then looked behind her, to see if he’d missed anything. or anyone. “eleven what?”

this exchange was getting weirder by the minute, eddie planted his hands on his hips. “uh, eddie. munson.”, he said after a moment, smiled. “well, i mean i’ve got no idea who you are, hopper junior, so no offense taken.”

cassieconrads·:

Cassie looked up from concentrating on her map to take stock of the guy in front of her, who claimed to be Hawkins’ biggest outcast with a disclaimer. She couldn’t imagine why, if Hawkins itself was already an anomaly, that the town decided to pick on one particular resident. Thankfully, Cassie’s temporary residence lent itself to not giving a shit about who she hung out with this summer; she’d be leaving Indiana soon enough. She folded up the map, sticking it in the back pocket of her jeans as she stood to join the stranger on their walk in the direction of the library.

“I don’t mind,” she assured him, “I’m just here for the summer, crashing at the Wheeler residence.” It was getting old, having to introduce herself as the new girl, but she supposed that it was better than a ‘freak’, as her companion had so described himself. “May I ask how you acquired that title, or is that too intrusive for a singular block into our walk?”

+++

he pressed his lips together into an awkward smile, shoved his hands into the pockets of his denim vest, nodding for her to come along as they set off towards the library. he felt himself visibly relax once she mentioned the wheeler’s - if she was staying nancy and mike then he was definitely safe with her, or rather from her, even if a stray angry hick decided to expose just why he was deemed the town freak. 

“the wheeler’s.”, he said and hummed, nodded in acknowledgement. “they got a pretty nice pad. are you one of nancy’s college friends? or...” eddie looked at her, eyes narrowed. “ .. or in some dubious connection to mike?”

at her question eddie gave a shrug, steered them to the right to turn onto the main street. “well, for starters i don’t really look like your average small town prom king.”, he said, blew a lock off her from out of his eyes. “and i was, uh, head of the dnd club at school. mike was in it, too, actually. then the ‘satanic panic’ spread over ‘murica.” eddie wiggled his fingers, raised his brows before he dropped the theatrics, chuckled.

“i don’t know, people are werid, started saying we’re not actually playing dnd but worshipping satan.”, he shrugged.  “i’m eddie, by the way.”

zccming·:

WHO: max mayfield & @eddiemcnson· WHAT: eddie is worried and max is suspicious!!! WHERE: the hawk movie theater (june 19th-ish)

having a summer job was maybe one of the most mind numbing things max mayfield ever had to endure, and that was saying something considering she’d tried to sit through the boys’ campaigns once or twice. it wasn’t so bad though, when she didn’t have any customers at the ticket counter, she could usually get away with reading a magazine or two, and if it was really slow, she’d even pop on her walkman, then kick back and relax. 

this afternoon just so happened to be one of those days where max mayfield looked like an extra from any high school movie set ever. she chewed gum and blew bubbles until they popped while she feasted her eyes on the february edition of Right On! magazine, and listened to iggy pop’s Lust for Life album on her walkman. every second she spent overstimulating herself to avoid remembering what happened at the border the other night was a heavenly illusion that life right now was good. 

her dreamscape was shattered at the sight of eddie approaching the ticket counter. minorly confused, max slid her feet off the ticket counter, set her magazine down, and slipped her headphones down around her neck, “eddie?” she squinted, “the fuck are you doing here?” max reached for her magazine again, then rolled her eyes, “if there was anything good out, i would have told you.”

+++

nearly two days since hanging out with nancy wheeler had turned into a supernatural investigation followed by arson and eddie had not known a moments peace since. had barely slept, aside from passing out from exhaustion for a couple of hours, the events of the night kept replaying in his head. and while he wasn’t exactly sure just what it was they’d stumbled across, eddie knew one thing.

it was back. that weird, creepy alien-y part of hawkins was back, the impending doom looming threatingly over the town, turning the air sour. it was back and eddie wished desperately that he was anywhere but hawkins, indiana. anywhere but the epicentre of evil. he couldn’t do it again, fuck now. his need to not run away had nearly gotten him killed last time around, so this time eddie was going to fucking book it if push came to shove.

last time. vecna. the name still sent icy shivers down his spine, his stomach dropped at the thought of someone else who nearly hadn’t made it out alive. and without a second thought eddie went and grabbed his keys, hopped into the van and drove. he knew max wasn’t home, he basically knew her schedule by heart. and as much as he didn’t want to bother her at work this couldn’t wait.

 overwhelmed with a desperate need to make sure the other was safe, a feeling usually only reserved for siblings, he jumped out of the car, approached the ticket counter fast. a wave of relief rushed through him - she was there, safe. she was okay, by the looks of it.

“shut up.”, eddie snapped, brows drawn together, he leaned forward on the counter. “i know this might seem, like, .... weird but where were you, like, two days ago? notice anything weird since? “

murray-baumans·:

who: murray & @eddiemcnson·

where: the music center

After the semi-successful investigation at the border, Murray decided to treat himself to a relaxing night in– he’d cook a lasagna, pour some wine, and unwind to some jazz. In particular, he was looking to replace his George Benson record; he’d discovered earlier that day that he’d left it in Illinois. So, Murray found himself a the Music Center, which must have been run by a middle schooler because the organization was completely senseless.

Approaching who he assumed to be an employee, Murray cleared his throat to make his presence known. “Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of your jazz collection?” he asked, investigating the button’s on the young man’s jacket. “You a metalhead?” he wondered aloud.

+++

the music center was one of his more frequented places, eddie made sure to stop by at least once when he came back to hawkins. though vastly different from the record store he worked at in chicago - which was more specialised on alternative music and the sort - he enjoyed browsing through the stacks of vinyls and tapes, spending time rummaging through the bargain bin. it reminded him of his childhood and early adolescence. really, eddie had spent hours on end in the store, some days only leaving if he was explicitly asked to do so.

today, however, he’d simply come in to take his mind off things. off the ‘tragedy at benny’s diner’, more specifically. he wanted to browse through some new releases, see if they got any heavy stuff at all. drop by to make sure that cole was okay, too - they’d left things on a rather....awkward note, too, having had their encounter in the mall cut short by max’s arrest. 

“sorry?”, eddie’s head popped up from behind the shelf, he threw the other a puzzled look. eyes narrowing as the man in front of him mentioned the words ‘jazz’ and ‘collection’. “uh, i don’t....work here, man. sorry.”

eddie stared at him for a moment, wondering if his question was, perhaps, a trap of sorts. and because, quite frankly, he was an odd looking fella. “uh, yeah. sure am. what gave it away?”, he asked jokingly and laughed, gesturing down at his buttons.

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve could tell that eddie was clearly nervous, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. once they were both inside the house, steve plopped down on the couch next to the other, his eyes never leaving eddie as the other spoke. “do you need like a… water or something? you look like you’ve seen a ghost and that you’re about to throw up all over my carpet. please don’t do that, my mom would kill me.” he said, although by the time his mom returned, he probably would have had the time to buy a new carpet and replace it before she even noticed. it wasn’t that hard, considering he had done it before after he forgot to take away the carpet during a party.

he was hanging out with nancy? why was he hanging out with nancy? were they friends? they probably were, after everything that happened two years ago, but steve couldn’t help but to think that it was a little weird that they were hanging out. were they a… thing? no, right? nancy would have told him. eddie would have told him too. maybe that was stupid to think about. “i saw the newspaper about the attack, but why did you went and investigate? i thought it was just some… old ladies fighting over waffles or something.” he said with a small chuckle, a little too proud of his joke, before he got serious and looked at eddie.

steve looked at eddie as he stood up from the couch and started pacing around. he looked over at him as he talked about what had happened, shaking his head as he tried to process everything the other was telling him. “there was a fire? you were in a fire?” he asked, concern was clear on his face. he almost felt sick when he heard the words upside down. “wait, a monster? like… demogorgon? or… vecna? are you… are you sure?” he asked. “what the shit?” he asked, frowning at him.

his first reaction was to stand up again and walk towards eddie. he could see the other was clearly nervous, so he placed his hand on the other’s shoulders and looked at him. “listen, we’re… we’re going to be fine. whatever it is that’s… out there. i don’t know what it could be.” he said, shaking his head as he squeezed the other’s shoulders.

once eddie mentioned something about the cemetery, he frowned. there it was again. someone had seen him at the cemetery but he had been out of town for his great aunt’s funeral and had only recently returned. how come people were saying that they saw them. “i… i wasn’t at the cemetery… i just came back to town recently, but… who fell in the graves?” he asked, frowning at the thought, but his features quickly softened when eddie mentioned that he didn’t want to be alone. “you…uh… you can stay here if you want. my parents are out and probably won’t return for a couple of days.” he offered, hoping that the other would take his offer. “you’re safe here, eddie.” he nodded.

+++

he nodded, rushed, frantic. “yeah. yeah, water’s good.”, he said, chest still heaving. eddie clasped a hand over his heart where it was threatening to burst out of his ribcage at any given moment. edde glance up, frowned slightly as he saw the gears turning in steve’s head. probably shouldn’t have mentioned nancy, he thought to himself, chewed nervously on the inside of his cheek. perhaps it was still a sore topic for steve. he huffed. staying true to his nature, eddie had managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, as always.

eddie threw steve a sharp look, as if punishing him for his joke - certainly ill-timed- though he had to bite down on a grin. no, no time to swoon at steve’s loveable antics now, this was serious. his mind was still racing, thoughts running by too fast, unable to grasp a coherent string of thought. eddie dug his nails into the palms of his hand, the dull ache grounding him somewhat.

“yeah, a fire. whole fucking thing went up into flames, it was insane, man. but we, uh, we ran. all got out okay i think.”, he swallowed, hands absent-mindedly ghosting over his hip where a nasty bruise was forming. “i knocked into a couple of chairs and all but i’m fine. i’ll live.” 

a shaky inhale, he nodded again, muscles in his neck straining. “yeah, not...not vecna, i don’t think so, i...it was really dark...”, eddie trailed off, he had to stop for a moment, feeling his bottom lip tremble. “but definitely like freaky, hell-ish, upside down monster shit, steve, i’m sure. like, a hundred percent. we all saw it, it was...it was, bad, man. it was big.”

just as he thought that his looming panic attack was finally going to consume him whole, he felt the steadying, grounding weight of steve’s hand on his shoulder. and, before he knew it, eddie reached up to cover steve’s hand with his own. he was shaking, ragged breaths rocking through his body. “you think? ‘cause i don’t...i don’t know, man. i can’t go..through all that shit again, i can’t.”

his voice cracked, broke, forcing him to stop. “someone said...whatever. i don’t know who it was..”, he trailed off, though suspicious, he discarded that train of thought. he hadn’t been at the cemetery himself, after all. he couldn’t be sure - perhaps someone had simply thought that they’d seen steve there. it was a problem for another day.

he looked up through his lashes, met steve’s eye. “uh...are you sure?”, he asked cautiously, though, fearing that steve might take back his offer, he quickly continued. “yeah, yeah i - if that’s ok with you i’d..love to stay. i haven’t slept, not really. trailer’s a lot scarier now that that thing might be back”, he explained, the memory of chrissy cunningham floating to the ceiling made him grimace. “and i..i don’t know. wanted to make sure you were, uh, safe.”

mmuscles·:

.

“the fuck is your deal?” thad responded in turn. there were some people he could feel were up to no good, and there were some he could just tell. well whoever this random was fit the bill to a t. he let go of the stranger’s shoulder, shoving him back slightly on release, then folded his arms across one another, laying them flatly over his puffed out chest to prove that he was not one to mess with. from the other guy’s hair, to his clothes, and even the look in his eyes, thad wasn’t going to let him detect any sort of weakness. 

it didn’t help that almost immediately after, thad was all but laughed at. which really pushed at his buttons. “what’s funny about that?” he asked flatly, nose twitching. “i’m trying to buy my girlfriend flowers, sure you know all about that, pal.” he breathed out. unsure of why he was even listening to this guy’s suggestions, thad still looked around. where was melvald’s? what was melvald’s? uncomfortable with the whole situation, but wanting to walk away with something suitable for nancy. reluctantly, thad asked, “what the fuck is a melvald’s? where is it?”

+++

eddie’s brows shot up, looking the other up and down with a bemused and bewildered expression on his face. everything about him screamed ‘preppy’ and eddie scrunched up his nose. a scoff drawn out of him as he was shoved back. not that he was too surprised, of course, still plenty enough people in town who’d love for him to meet a gruesome end, he was sure. but he’d never seen this... perfect carbon copy of a ken doll around town before. eddie thought he even saw the other puff out his chest and he snorted.

“well...no, i don’t know ‘all about that’ but i don’t see how that’s, like, relevant here ? “, he asked cautiously, pressing ‘stop’ on his walkman. “i mean, you’re the one who approchaed me, in need of my services. but whatever.” as much as he liked to press people’s buttons, rile them up, he wasn’t looking for a fight, either.

“melvald’s. it’s a store, mike brady.”, eddie said and frowned. “down the main street, turn left when you see the church. think you can manage that?”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

standing by the door as he looked at eddie, steve felt a little too naked for his liking. sure, he was used to walking shirtless around his place, but of course he was alone, and now, having eddie standing in front of him and staring at his bare chest made him feel… something. he didn’t feel uncomfortable, it was eddie after all, but he definitely felt something once he felt his eyes on him. he was almost sure that his face had turned into another shade of pink, but he was hoping that eddie wouldn’t realize it.

it was getting a little bit too awkward just standing there, but he didn’t know what to say. he was just waiting for eddie to finally say something and that’s when eddie finally spoke about eggs. eggs? steve wasn’t sure if he had heard that correctly, but he didn’t say anything until the other was done with his sentence.”why don’t you… come inside? it’s probably for the best if you just don’t stand there talking about… eggs.” he said as he moved away so the other could make his way inside. once the two were both inside, steve closed the door behind him as he started making his way to the living room - something that wouldn’t happen if his parents were home, but luckily for him, he was alone.

“make yourself at home.” steve offered, as he motioned towards the couch, before looking at the other and crossing his arms over his chest.. what was this about? why was eddie in such a hurry to see him and why did he seem so nervous? “what… what’s this conversation about the eggs… and fire? did you eat some bad eggs at benny’s? because that wouldn’t be that surprising.” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

steve couldn’t help but to notice that eddie really seemed nervous about whatever was going on, but he didn’t know what to do. “just take a seat, eddie and… breathe or something. what’s going on?” he asked yet again, waiting for an answer. everyone seemed to had gone through something lately and steve wasn’t even in town to see it. had he really missed that much just by being gone?

+++

eddie nodded, still unable to form a coherent sentence because holy fuck, steve harrington had opened his door shirtless, wearing only shorts, and eddie would save that image and treasure it forever, lest he might never see it again. “yeah. yeah, inside. inside is good.”, he muttered and pushed past steve, thinking to himself that his pattern of speech oddly represented that of hopper’s kid and -

- yeah, that was another thing to unpack. because eddie could’ve sworn he’d seen her open the door to the diner with... well, what exactly, that was the question. not her hands, no, it seemed like it had been her... mind? perhaps eddie was losing his mind here.

he let his gaze wander around the entry way, the living room, couldn’t help that his eyes widened at the sight of steve’s home. because damn, he’d known that steve’s family was loaded or whatever. but he’d never been in a house as big as this. it was ridiculous. he plopped dowon on the couch, hands shaking, fidgeting with his rings. “i ... fuck. i don’t know.”, he muttered, nervously chewed on his bottom lip. foot tapping restlessly. eddie buried his face in his hands for a moment, trying to calm himself.

“i was hanging out with wheeler - nancy.”, he clarified, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he tried to recall that night’s events. “and, like, a bunch of other people and she took us to benny’s. which was shut down, there was this fight and...well, we went into investigate, or whatever, and there..then the flashlights, and they...”

eddie trailed off, restless, he couldn’t sti still anymore. he jumped up, began pacing around the room. leaned his back against the wall for comfort.”you know the freaky shit that happened two years ago?”, eddie said and gulped, feeling the phantom burning of his scars hot under the material of his shirt. “it’s back, harrington. it’s back. we saw some shit in there, man, like some...some fucking alien...monster...upside down eggs. they had tears in ‘em, steve, and... i don’t know. the diner burned down. “

eddie looked up at him, felt the prickling of hot tears in his eyes, brows pulled up, face twisted into a grimace. “it’s happening again. i can’t...are you ok? someone said you were at the cemetary and that...people got pushed into graves and all, i just...wanted to check on you.” he averted his gaze to the ground. “didn’t want to be alone.”

backtowheeler·:

𝐖𝐇𝐎: Nancy Wheeler & @eddiemcnson······

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Post-Benny’s shenanigans

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Outside of Benny’s while it burns <333

So, that happened. Nancy Wheeler started a literal fire and now she was watching as Benny’s bursted into flames. She told herself it would be fine, the damage wouldn’t be that bad, and it’d give the owner a reason to update the place but fact of the matter was it still happened. And they still agreed to let it burn down instead of calling for help. She backed away from the building, splitting off from the group as they decided it was time to clear out before anyone showed up. Nancy walked down the paved road, quick on her feet. “Hey, hey,” she jogged over to Eddie, who was only a few paces ahead of her.

“I’m really sorry for dragging you into this,” I didn’t think it was anything serious. Instead, there was goo and eggs and arson. Not the Nancy Drew mystery she had expected to solve. She had seen how spooked Eddie was and rightfully so. He had been to the Upside Down, even experienced the horrors of Hawkins once before, but this was entirely different. They were supposed to be safe. “Let me drive you home?” She asked, reaching into her pocket and grabbing the car keys to her mom’s station wagon, wincing at the pain she felt in her right hand from the burn she had gotten which was surely starting to blister. “As long as you don’t mind a one handed driver.”

+++

eddie was still in the process of catching his breath, hands braced on his thighs, leaning a little forward as he stood there and watched. watched benny’s burn down to the ground. the events of the night re-playing in his head like an episode of ‘unsolves mysteries’. he took another moment, then turned to head out, too.

seriously questioning and doubting his sanity. because what. the . fuck. had just happened. and how had he managed to get himself into another heap of hawkins shenanigans again. as if nearly dying in an alternate dimension while half the town thought you were a cold-blooded murderer wasn’t enough. no, apparently, the upside down had decided to introduce overly large ... eggs into the mix, too. typical. he should’ve figured. figured that this wouldn’t be a normal, happy, carefree summer.

he jumped slightly, startled, still spooked, as nancy called out and caught up with him. eddie shrugged. “not really your fault, wheeler, is it? i mean, whatever the hell this....shit is, was gonna catch up to me eventually.”, he said and managed a weak smile. “though, gotta say, not what i imagined when you asked if i wanted to hang.”

though what had he expected, exactly, from nancy ‘i have guns, plural, in my bedroom’ wheeler ?  eyes glanced down to her hand, concerned frown appearing on his face. eddie quickly snatched the keys from her hand, careful not to brush her injured hand. “uh, no, no way, wheeler.” he was about to suggest that he drove her home instead and then walked back, but remembered how long it had taken to bike back to his trailer in the upside down - and he really wasn’t keen on walking through hawkins alone, at night.

“how about i drive myself home and then let you take over? so you only have to be a one-handed driver for the last leg of the journey. and when you’re not responsible for two lives.”

cassieconrads·:

WHO: cassie conrad & @eddiemcnson· WHERE: near town hall

Ever since Cassie had seen her, the cheerleader, in her mind, it was all she could think about. She hadn’t even seen the girl’s face, really–Cassie had become her, and the thought of who it could have been had been racking her brain every waking moment (which there were many of, since she hadn’t slept). She finally had the chance to sneak out of the Wheeler household and head to the library, where she could maybe find some more information. Asking Nancy seemed too risky–she didn’t want to worry her about some weird vision that she had at the cemetery just yet, not until it seemed important enough. With Thad in town, she had enough to worry about.

Looking like a lost tourist with her folded map again outstretched, Cassie sat on a bench outside the Town Hall, looking for her bearings. It seemed like the library had to be close enough to where she was, but it was too hard to tell on the dated map. “Hey! Would you mind, um, giving me some help with this map?” she asked the guy passing her, thankful that she finally found someone to help. “Sorry, I know this one is from a few years ago, and I’m trying to find the library, but every street … looks the same.”

+++

eddie was a little disgruntled, seeing as he found himself on the second walk through town this week. walkman clasped to his belt, headphones tight and secure over his ears, he just needed a little fresh air to clear his head. after the disaster at benny’s. the fact that hopper had been there at least meant he didn’t need to worry about the cops busting down the trailer door to arrest him for arson - if it was going to be pinned on anyone, eddie was sure it’d be him -  but the other aspects of their investigation just didn’t seem to leave him.

well, granted, how could he hope to get some peace of mind when they had stumbled across those freakishly large eggs - hatched eggs, he thought to himself and grimaced - and had set the freaking diner on fire, too. it was hopeless. coming back to hawkins, that cloud of threat and doom always lingered above them. some people went as far as saying that hawkins was cursed. eddie thought that they were absolutely spot on right on the money.

“huh?” eddie jumped a little, pulled down his headphones so they hung around his neck. he glanced down at the map, frowned, looked back up. “uh...you know what, i’m like, headed in a similar-ish direction. wanna tag along? i mean, i gotta warn you i’ve got a bit of a reputation as the town ‘freak’ ‘round here, so you might get some, uh, dirty looks.”

dvstybuns·:

WHO: Dustin Henderson & @eddiemcnson·

WHAT: Just a lil check-in after they both got ouchies <3

WHERE: Eddie’s trailer 

The most horrible thing about the Upside Down was that no matter how hard Dustin tried, he could never know everything about it. Just when it seemed like they’d figured shit out and defeated evil for good, some brand new horror would escape and they’d start this horrifying cycle all over again. Honestly, after Vecna, Dustin had thought that they might be done for good this time; it had been quiet for two years, after all. But that was clearly not the case. 

Once the adrenaline had begun to wane after the night of their encounter with the creature, Dustin wanted to check on everyone. Especially Eddie, considering that he’d really only faced off against the Upside Down once, and they had barely lived to tell the tale. He’d gotten to get out of Hawkins, away from all this shit. He probably wasn’t thrilled that it was all starting back up again now that he was back. 

“This is so fucked, dude,” Dustin announced once he’d sat down on Eddie’s couch. His feet went up onto the coffee table reflexively; when had Dustin ever cared about manners? “I mean, seriously. You’re never going to guess what happened to me, Max, Will, Mike, Joyce and Murray at the border. Some seriously fucked up shit.” He ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed. “Can I have a beer?” It was worth an ask, and after the last few days, Dustin felt like he deserved it. 

“How have you been, by the way? I’m sorry I haven’t come by sooner or anything. Just been busy with work and now being chased by a creature from another dimension. The fucking usual.” 

+++

albeit horribly and riddled with nightmares, eddie had slept after the disaster at benny’s. in fact, he’d passed out the minute he’d gotten back to the trailer, probably due to the adrenaline wearing off and the many injuries he’d sustained that night. which were still aching, a dull sort of pain, when he woke up.

he glanced at his radio alarm clock - it was noon, he realized, shit, he’d slept through most of the day. and now he’d woken up to the sound of pounding ont the front door. with a groan, eddie forced himself to get up, pulled a shirt over his head, pulling on a pair of shorts on his way to the door. 

“dude, what the hell?”, he’d said, all bed-head, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and blinking, in confusion, when he ‘d realized that it was dustin who’d knocked, not wayne who had forgotten his key or something. exchanging lazy yet excited greetings, he’d stepped away from the door, closing it behind dustin with a yawn.

fixing himself a cup of coffee, eddie concentrated hard on taking in dustin’s rambling. the kid’s chatter was a welcome noise, though. he’d missed him, of course he had. “what the hell are you on about?”, he mumbled, making his way to the couch to sit beside dustin.

“yo! get your damn feet of the coffee table, you heathen.”, he said with a scoff and a shake of his head. the shake of his head also indicating that dustin getting a beer wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. eddie dragged a hand down his face. “hold up  - wait - can you just, like, walk me through what happened and where? slowly, henderson ? “

stevehharringtcns·:

even if steve’s parents had just recently gotten home, it wasn’t long until they were out again. his dad seemed to have another business trip, and his mom would always go along with him. he wasn’t sure why, but by now he had been used to being alone. in years before, he would have thrown a party, but as years went by, steve just realized that would imply having to throw a party every other week. and sometimes it was for the best if he was by himself. even if he was alone, steve still liked to confine himself in his room. it was just his safe place.

he had just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet as he put on some shorts and he was ready to get in bed. there was nothing better to do and he was tired after spending the day standing on his feet at the video store. he was about to sit on his bed when he thought he heard a car on the driveway, but that couldn’t be possible. and that’s when he heard the knocks on the door.

raising an eyebrow as he got out of the room, not even bothering to put a shirt on, steve made his way downstairs as he heard the banging on the door. he was about to make a detour to grab one of his baseball bats, he didn’t want to try his luck with whatever was out there, and that’s when he heard eddie’s voice coming from the outside.

he frowned, rushing towards the door to open it, only to realize that he was standing shirtless in front of eddie. whatever, it didn’t matter. “eddie, what the hell are you doing? it’s late!” he said, but he couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t a tiny bit relieved that it was eddie and not someone else. he wanted to see him, but he hadn’t gotten the time after he came back and now there he was, standing at his door. “what are you doing here? what’s wrong?” he asked, slightly concerned about the other as he remembered that he was practically begging him to open the door.

+++

there were many strings of thoughts rushing through his head at lightning speed once he opened the door. eddie felt relieved, fucking hell, at least steve was alright, or seemed to be, at first glance. he was safe, from what eddie could tell, and he released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. 

relief however mingled with shock, surprise, and a sharp pang of... something very warm in his stomach. slowly, torturously slow, his eyes travelled down from steve’s face to his bare torso. the sight knocked the wind right out of his sails, eddie’s mouth fell open as if he wanted to say something but no sound escaped his lips. he blinked in disbelief, had to force himself to tears his eyes away fro steve chest. gaze quickly dropping to the floor, he suddenly felt extremely hot, wondered if the temperature had somehow risen in the last two minutes. his cheeks were burning, he was certain that he was sporting a nice, brigt blush.

“uh....”, it took him a moment to assemble the scrambled words in his head into a coherent sentence. he thought back to their first trip to the upside down for a moment, back to how he had nearly forgotten to fucking breathe when steve had taken off his sweater to jump into lover’s lake. how he’d tossed him his denim vest some half hour later, simply because he couldn’t stand the sight of shirtless steve anymore, it was making him all dizzy and disoriented. 

and it seemed that it still had the same effect now. eddie swallowed, frowned. think, munson, think, for god’s sake. “ i, uh. eggs. “, he suddenly blurted out, looked back up to meet steve’s eyes. “in benny’s diner. eggs, they , uh, they, like, hatched and...then there was this fucking fire, and it, it burned down and -”

where: the harrington residence

what: panik ! ( u ok ? )

who: @stevehharringtcns​ + eddie. 

see, eddie had tried really really hard to just... go home, go to bed, fall asleep after whatever the fuck had happened at benny’s diner. the night it happened had been relatively easy to sleep through, seeing as he was absolutely knackered and bruised from bumping into random objects all night. but the night afterwards... eddie was laying awake, staring holes into his bedroom ceiling. shifting in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep but well, how could he when he himself was uncomfortable all over, after what they’d seen the day before. he looked to the sight, the digits of his radio alarm clock telling him that it was nearly 12. he should just shut his eyes, think of some nice little scenario and get some fucking sleep.

but he couldn’t. so, with a whine and a groan, eddie got up. got dressed and, without thinking, really, he climbed into his van, turned the keys in the ignition and started driving. without a set destination, really. or so he’d thought - for, about a quarter of an hour later, he found himself in steve harrington’s driveway.

god fucking damn it. why had his brain subconciously lead him here? perhaps it had something to do with the fact that, in every little scenario eddie thought of to help drift off into dreamland, steve was there, occupying some sort of role.

well. he was pretty much always part of the main cast but eddie pushed the thought away, that was something to figure out another day. again, without thinking, eddie hopped out of his van and sprinted towards the front door, furiously ringing the door bell, knocking, pressing his face against the little opal glass plane. praying to god that harrington’s parents were yet again on one of their infamous work trips.

“steve? steve, are you up?” eddie started knocking, pounding rather, on the door, too. “harrington! please!”

where: eddie’s trailer

what: wtf is going on??? let’s get zooted

who: @rcbinbvckleys​​ + eddie.

“robin buckley!”, eddie called out and, despite everything, there was a wide grin on his face, as he made his way from his room to the ‘living room’ area of the trailer after hearing the soft lick of the front door. he’d left it standing wide open for robin to get in, probably not the best idea with half the town still thinking he was a satan worshipping serial killer but oh well. spared him an extra trip to the door, didn’t it.

“i welcome you to my humble abode. casa del munson! or...whatever.” he shrugged. he’d taken spanish in high school but had rarely ever used it since. and he’d rarely shown up for the classes in question, either, so. 

eddie plopped down on the sofa, muffled sounds of the latest metallica emerging from his room, he rolled the joint between his fingers, admiring his work. despite his calm and carefree exterior, eddie was on edge. who knew hanging out with nancy ‘i have multiple guns in my bedroom at all times’ wheeler would end with them standing in front of benny’s, watching it go up in flames. watching....whatever alien supernatural halloween monster upside down crap that had been in there, burn to the ground, too. hopefully. it was all too much to wrap his head around.

he desperately needed a distraction. equally, he desperately needed a friendly face around him. eddie placed the joint between his lips and lit it. “how’s it going?”

zccming·:

.

max squinted in eddie’s direction, communicating all she didn’t say. the main take away being, are you stupid? “i do do this for myself, like most nights out of the week.” her mom worked the night shift most days, it had been that way for years, max had learned how to fend for herself. sure, it wasn’t always a hot homecooked meal, but she did know how to feed herself, and she definitely knew how to use a knife without nearly losing a finger. “but you have a point.” max sighed, carefully avoiding the words you’re and right. “next time i’ll cook for us.”

at the end of the night, it didn’t matter whether or not eddie had made a five star meal or the inedible mush on their plates. the principal of sit down dinners was never about the food served, or each participants etiquette. they were about spending quality time with one another, and making an effort to connect. 

she hadn’t grown up with the most functional family and max never had a halting revelation that she wasn’t miss american pie and they weren’t the brady bunch. it was known in the same way she learned to walk or talk. she was born into chaos, from her parents divorce, to having billy hargrove and his insufferable dad as her new family members, then moving to hawkins. max seemed destined to walk a rocky path, but with eddie around, the idea of family stopped feeling so painful. it wasn’t how she always pictured it to be, but it felt nice when there were nights like these. 

unsolved mysteries prompted max to wonder if all of them were real, but that wasn’t of concern right now. she dismissed eddie’s thanks man with a, “shh! … you’re welcome.” as her eyes glued to the screen. it was going to be a long wait for their food if she couldn’t immerse herself into the show. at eddie’s assessment of incompetent law enforcement, max gave him a look, “if it seems that way then it definitely is that way.” she rolled her eyes, “we’d know living in hawkins… did you know they tried to give me a traffic violation for skateboarding on the side of the road?” groaning, max had to admit, “i’m so jealous that you don’t live here anymore. and you know, it’s only getting worse the older i get.”

+++

eddie rolled his eyes, over-dramatically but hummed in agreement, carerful not to let his pleased grin show because thats what he’d hoped max would suggest. not that he wouldn’t help her prepare the mayfield-munson-found-family-tv-dinners, he’d definitely help! just not...do them all by himself. because, as it turned out, he sucked at it. 

he settled further into the couch, idly sipping on his beer, dragging his upper lip mindlessly across the rim of the can as he let himself be engulfed by the storyline. eddie was a bit of a restless spirit, always fidgeting, never quite able to direct his attention on one sole thing for more than a few minutes. always looking for another distraction. it had been like that for as long as he could remember, though it had worsened significantly after their trip to the upside down.

as if on cue, he felt a phantom burn where his scars were located. a constant reminder that he’d been through hell and survived. “huh?”, he frowned, tore his eyes away from the screen to look at max. “for skateboarding? jeez, man. whats next, tickets for walking down the street? breathin?” eddie threw his hands up in theatrical mock outrage. “alas, we keep being oppressed by the man! sickening.”

he took a pointed gulp of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “you know, you can always get outta here, max.”, he said, mood a little sobered now. “offer still stands, kiddo. come back to chicago with me. i mean, yeah, my apartment’s like half the size of this trailer and a fucking shithole but we’ll make do. we can figure something out.”

colemontgomeryx·:

xx.

As redness overtook Eddie’s cheeks, Cole took another drag of his cigarette. “Yes, I’m gay. You can say it,” he confirmed, his voice remaining low. Cole was sure Eddie would never out him, partially because that wasn’t Eddie’s character, and partially because of mutually assured destruction.

It was exhausting to have to keep such a large part of him a secret, and Cole was frustrated by it. Maybe that’s why he told Eddie (other than, obviously, trying to hook up with him). When Cole went to college, he was able to be himself more freely; he wasn’t out, per se, but he was much more comfortable discussing his sexuality. He wondered if Eddie had a similar experience in Chicago, and was now, like Cole, struggling to reconcile all the different parts of himself.

Cole grinned, noting the change in Eddie’s demeanor. Cole finished his cigarette and reached behind Eddie to throw it away. He brushed his arm against Eddie’s and took advantage of proximity this move afforded him. Glancing up into Eddie’s eyes, Cole’s own twinkled mischievously. “Well, that’s too easy. What about foreplay?” his voice was barely above a whisper. 

+++

final confirmation, eddie swallowed, blinked nervously as the words fell from cole’s lips. he nodded, a nod that said ‘me too’. as if eithr of them needed to state the face that they were both interested in men again. getting old at this point, eddie finsighed his own cigarette, felt his lips twitch, hands shaking a little.

you got this, munson, you got this. he wasn’t like this, usually, when flirting with guys. antsy and nervous and downright freaking out. he just needed to pull himself together, pretend like this was just any old other encounter in a bar or somewhere back in chicago. 

his lips twisted into a smile as he thought about the fact that the last time he’d been this nervous about flirting with someone, he’d gone and called steve harrington ‘big boy’ as they’d hijacked a goddamn rv. 

suddenly cole was much, much closer than before and eddie gulped, his eyes flicked down to meet cole’s, momentarily lingering on his lips. for maybe just a tad too long. he swiped his tongue across hi bottom lip, feeling it had suddenly gone extremely dry. eddie discarded his own cigarette, burshing up against cole, bringing them even closer. 

“well...”, he breathed, raised a brow. “we’re in the middle of a mall, in the middle of, like, vandalising said mall...what do you have in mind that won’t get our asses kicked?”

zccming·:

.

“okay…” max began her amendment with plenty of attitude, “don’t blow up my shithole trailer.” satisfied with her new answer, she added, “please.” and flashed a sarcastic smile. she glanced to his hands, wondering if he’d scathed them. though she figured, if it was really that bad, he’d probably say so. 

with the weight of eddie out of the kitchen, max finished up her cleaning. although she was irritated she had to do it in the first place, she forced herself to stop and be appreciative. eddie was only here in hawkins for so long, and they were having their substitute family dinner. no time for grouchiness. it wasn’t lost on her that he didn’t have to come back and visit, but she was always grateful he did. while their experiences in hawkins were vastly different at points, she still felt like he understood her. he understood the feeling of being alienated (more intensely than most at that), and generally speaking, he understood, by some miracle, what max always needed.

she stopped, glancing to eddie from the kitchen. she never did stuff like this with billy. their routine when they were alone typically consisted of billy rushing to dump her off his hands at the first chance he got, usually scaring her with harsh words or reckless driving in the process. eddie, on the other hand, was sat on her couch, making up for his mess in the kitchen by finding them a decent show to watch. despite the fact she ordered him to, max was sitting in the feeling of gratitude.

if they were here together and the most pressing matters in hawkins were the unsolved mysteries that robert stack narrated on her television, she couldn’t be all that annoyed. in fact, she’d go as far to say she was happy. 

 now both were nestled with their plates, that happiness quickly became muddled by her momentary aggravation, “i didn’t think you could either, but this is nasty.” she told him, lips pursed. max watched as eddie took a bite and she maintained an unwavering expression of i told you so. “you really shouldn’t need a recipe to make pasta, you know. that’s like…baby stuff.” she then rose from the couch, “pay attention to the tv you’re going to have to fill me in!” max made it clear she was invested in the program. 

it really wasn’t a huge deal. it took all of fifteen minutes and a very oblivious restaurant employee to get their food ordered. when she wrapped up with that, she grabbed them each a beer from the fridge, and for hopefully the final time for a while, max plopped down beside eddie. sighing, she informed, “here.” she handed him his beer, “give the food like an hour. hope you’re not hungry.” her eyes flicked to the screen for a moment as she took a sip of beer, then asked, “what’s this one about? is it a real mystery or another case of the incompetent coppers?”

+++

“ ‘baby stuff’ ?”, he echoed with feigned outrage. “max, i nearly lost a finger in there. cuttion onions and shit is like, hard.” with a proud grin, however, eddie leaned back, folded his arms behind his head. “but i didn’t even cry. ‘cause i’m hardcore. if this is such ‘baby stuff’ then why don’t you do it yourself, smartass?”

well, it was eddie who’d wanted to do something nice and thoughtful for the both of them. and as disappointed and frustrated as he was with himself that he couldn’t even cook a simply pasta dish, he was equally happy and glad that they could joke about it now so easily. 

eddie had grown up alone,  his uncle cared about him, of course, more than his parents ever had, but he’d been working his ass off to keep a roof over their head so eddie had grown up alone. lonely, sometimes, too. but looking over at max bitching about his cooking, mumbling to herself incoherently, jumping up to go order delivery. eddie sometimes wondered if, in another life, he’d been destined to be a big brother, growing up in a household filled with laughter and chatter and not a moment’s peace.

this, however, this was nice, too. he’d gladly do it all over again if it meant he got to end up watching unsolved mysteries with max in her trailer, feeling a sense of belonging he didn’t even feel with wayne. eddie smiled fondly, took the beer from her and craked it open. “fuck, you’re an angel, maxine. thanks, man,” he muttered, eagerly took a sip. 

“not sure yet. it’s called ‘sons of sam’. looks pretty incompetent copper-y so far, but you never know.”

rcbinbvckleys·:

⚢

“i should be the one checking on my eyes! wait, you’re definitely actually you, right?” logistically speaking, this could be an elaborate trick from the upside down to lure robin to her doom. okay no, this was real and she really had to stop thinking like that. physical contact was usually something she avoided, but eddie was someone she was comfortable with — although she barely had any time to react, so just had time to put one arm around him to pat his back. “it’s gotta be one hell of a campaign to stick around all summer.” if robin were given the opportunity for a responsibility free summer, she would most likely want to travel, not return to her hometown.

“i’m just, toeing the line. college. and i’m still working at family video! i’m saving up.” it was true, the glass jar shoved in the top of her closet was filled with bills. but what exactly was she saving for? the multitude of escape plans she had come up with in the past had never worked out. something was keeping robin in hawkins. maybe it was the fear of being out there in the world, alone, with no one to turn to or rely on if it all went to shreds. or maybe a minuscule doubtful piece of her mind had convinced her that one of the creatures they’d encountered in the past would follow her wherever she went. “and you, you haven’t made it big yet? i was hoping i’d already have a tape with your face on it!”

+++

he nodded, grinned, did a little spin for her. “as he lives and breathes. eddie munson, in the flesh.” some days he couldn’t believe his own eyes, when he caught his reflection in the mirror, blinking at him, staring with that confused and surprised look on his face. couldn’t believe that he was still here, among the land of the living. because that day in the upside down, he’d said his finaly goodbyes to the world, thinking that that was it. here he was, back in hawkins after all those years, 

he was alive, and so was his unlikely little group of friends that still hung about in that godforsaken town. “oh, trust me, it is a sadistic campaign, the likes of which hellfire club has never seen before.”, eddie explained, a glint in his eyes but he stopped himself from rambling - they’d be here all day once he got into the logistics of his campaigns. “chicago gets crazy and busy during summer. thought i’d escape to...a different kind of crazy.” he threw her a knowing glance. “besides, had to check up on all of you guys, see how you’re doing now the talk of the town’s moved away. tragic, i know. spare me your tears.”

eddie nodded and listened, recognized himself in her. he, too, had saved every penny, having scratched together just enough to fuck off immediately after graduation. “still working with harrington? how’s he doing? oh and keith, right? is he still, like, you know....as weird?” seriously, eddie had often wondered why the town had branded him a ‘freak’ just because he listened to metal and played a fantasy game, and not keith with...well, with his whole thing. it made eddie grimace.

so did robin’s comment, he waved it off. “don’t ya worry your pretty little head about that, i’m still a rockstar in the making. i’ll make it, i’m sure.” and he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince here. eddie looked around, as easy as talking to robin felt, he still didn’t feel exctly safe with so many people around.

“hey, do you wanna maybe get outta here? i got some, uh, pretty good shit from chicago that’s calling our names.”

colemontgomeryx·:

XX.

Cole felt bad, but he laughed at Eddie’s inability to accept what he was told. It was a defense mechanism, he assumed, after many years of having to keep this part of him secret. For a moment, Cole was grateful for Adam– grateful he had someone to share it with; in a way, it made this whole ordeal easier. More natural.

“He was my boyfriend-boyfriend,” Cole explained. “As in, we fucked,” he took a drag of his cigarette, granting Eddie time to take in what he said. “Sorry to be so explicit, but wasn’t sure what else to say,” Cole explained, though he wasn’t really sorry. Part of him liked seeing Eddie squirm. He liked the effect his words had on the other.

Cole smirked, letting his eyes linger on Eddie’s lips. He figured it would never happen, but he was open to all possibilities. Especially possibilities that looked like Eddie. “Well, I’m a gentleman. I’d take you out to dinner first,” he winked, taking another drag of his cigarette.

+++

“oh.” eddie just continued to stare, stupidly, until his eyes widened, brain finally catching onto what cole had just admitted here. shit. so hawkins wasn’t as prim, proper and heterosexual as he’d been made to believe all this time. eddie licked his lips, blinked. wracking his brain on what to say next. nearly choking on his own breath when he said ‘we fucked’ and oh, his cheeks immediately lit up, stained a deep red colour. he nodded.

“so you’re....”, he trailed off, browd furrowed, giving cole a meaningful look before he dropped because shit, what else did he need, here? cole had just said he used to have a boyfriend, whom he quote unquote ‘fucked’ - or the other way around? he tried not to think about it, it was getting hard trying to concentrate as is -  what other confirmation could he possibly need to know that cole was into guys?

he didn’t miss how cole’s eyes slipped to his lips and his tongue darted out to swipe over his bottom lip. shit, why was he this flustered? getting hit on in chicago eddie usually wasn’t this squirming and blushing mess of a man. but hawkins? whole ‘nother story. not that he was totally suave in chicago, either, but at least a little more in control. here, he felt powerless. 

however, he straightened his back, took another drag. however, he thought, it didn’t need to be that way. if he pulled himself together. “oh yeah?”, he questioned, brow raised, a grin forming on his lips. “yeah? well, what if i -” and he actually couldn’t believe he was going to use a line this corny but here went nothing - “ well, what if i wanted to skip straight to dessert?”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve couldn’t quite wrap his head around on whether eddie was flirting with him or not. he couldn’t be, right? after all, eddie had never mentioned anything about being… you know. or given him any sighs, so he didn’t want to risk it. what if he ended up insulting him in some sort? either way, steve shook his head as in a way to shake those thoughts away, letting out a small chuckle. “you know, you’re not actually the first person to tell me that! apparently the girls love looking at my face, but that’s it, they actually give up after the first date… i wonder why that is.” he said, as he thought to himself and thought back on the failure that was his love life. and even know, it didn’t seem like it was going to get better.

rolling his eyes slightly as eddie brought up the conversation about dungeons and dragons, steve sighed as he stared at the other. “you know what, you’re starting to sound exactly like henderson. maybe i should call him so you can… annoy him about that game instead of me. full offense.” he said with a small smirk forming on his lips, before shaking his head and leaning forward on the counter as he looked over at eddie. at the invitation to join the game, steve immediately shook his head. “first of all, i do have fun, i just don’t have fun playing games that make no sense and that take up most of the time. and second, no, i’m not going to join your little club. but you guys have fun, i’m sure it’ll be fun.” he said with a small chuckle, before running a hand through his hair - it wasn’t going to get any messier than that either way.

okay, now eddie was definitely acting weird. steve could have sworn that he was blushing, but then again, he was too. he wondered if eddie had noticed that and what he thought about it. maybe he hadn’t thought that much about it as steve was, but seeing him blush meant that he still had the old harrington touch in him, capable of making anyone swoon over him. he liked that, in a way. “tattoos? nah, i don’t think i’m the type of guy who can get tattoos and rock them. you definitely are though, really.” he said with a smirk, nodding his head slowly. this didn’t count like flirting right? at the comment about girls liking it, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. “i mean, i wouldn’t know, i don’t think girls… pay that much attention to me anymore. it’s really not the same as before.” he said, deciding to let that stay there, not sure if he should continue talking or not.

letting out a laugh at eddie’s comments, steve just shook his head. he really liked the other’s company, so much that he grabbed the keys from the video store from his back pocket and looked around for keith before calling out for him, tossing him the keys. “you’re closing today, an emergency came up.” he said, before turning around the counter and grabbing eddie by the shoulders and leading him out of the store. just touching him felt like electricity, but he wouldn’t say anything. “see, you should feel even more special now, i got off work sooner because of you.” he said as he almost started running still grabbing eddie by the shoulders as they got out of the store. he probably would get in trouble the next day with keith, but he didn’t care about that right now. “c’mon, get in the car, munson.” he said with a smile as he unlocked the car and got in quickly.

+++

see, eddie didn’t know whether to be incredibly frustrated that steve kept pushing his advances into a platonic light or if he should be grateful that he was talking to him in the first place. maybe it was for the best. not that steve would be the kind of person to bash his brains in if he found out about his ‘preferences’, but that didn’t mean that steve wouldn’t be weirded out or feel alienated by him. and with the whole summer left to spend in hawkins eddie couldn’t afford to lose another friend.

however much steve kept discarding his advances as platonic, he didn’t seem particularly uncomforable by them either. which gave eddie a sudden boost of confidence. “don’t let it get to you, player.”, he said and reached out to give steve a comforting pat on the back. “girls are stupid. they don’t know what they’re missing here.”

steve leaned forward and eddie blinked nervously. “ hold up - this was definitely not an invitation, harrington. you’d bring down the whole vibe and - well, quite frankly- “, it was his turn to lean a little closer now, he looked steve up and down skeptically “ you’d suck at dnd. full offense.”

without realising, eddie had mirrored steve’s movements, running his hand through his own hair, fingers getting tangled in the frizzy mess of curls. and he foolishly allowed his mind to wander, imagined what it would be like to run his hands through steve’s hair, always shiny and soft and big. god fucking dammit. their dynamic was off, he suddenly realised. in the past it had always been eddie who showered steve in compliments, watching his face light up as he accepted them graciously. now it was the other way roun, all twisted and upside down. and quite frankly, eddie was way out of his comfort zone here, reduced to a blushing squirming mess. he just wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of a compliment.

“well, i’d hope so. almost got a full sleeve going on, would be a shame if i only now figured out i wasn’t the type to rock tattoos.”, he said and, with something that resembled a bow, added: “compliment accepted, harrington.”

steve’s next comment made his eyebrows raise, he straightened up, his interest piqued. feeling bolder now, which was perhaps foolish for him but hey, if it turned sour he could always say it had been a joke all along. “well, as i said, girls are stupid if they don’t see you for what you are, stevie - a fine, fine piece of local man.”, eddie said with a chuckle, he bit his lip. “and well, i wouldn’t know either, ya know. girls have never payed me much attention but i guess that’s...reasonable.” he was toeing a very fine line here, eddie knew. looked up at steve with that deer caught in the headlights look.

and next thing he knew there was that laugh again - fuck, he could listen to that sounds for ages - and suddenly his shoulders felt all hot because steve was touching them, ushering him out of the store. it was over as soon as it had begun but eddie had leaned into the touch and when steve’s hands were gone there was still static and a fait buzzing where they’d been. eddie grinned, climbed into the passenger seat eagerly. “oh, you sure know how to make a gal feel special, stevie.”, he laughed, fingers drumming nervously on the dashboard, waiting for him to start the car and drive away. “if this is only the beginning then shit, i can’t fucking wait to see where this date’s going.”

colemontgomeryx·:

xx. 

Cole didn’t waver under Eddie’s gaze. If he was correct, Eddie’s behavior made sense. Cole felt it too, the fear of being found out by someone who wasn’t safe. It was the reason Cole and Adam snuck around for the three years they were together– to avoid the football jocks and the band geeks and the teachers berating them and calling them names. Only it never stopped there; it often got physical, violent. Of course Eddie was afraid.

It was like they were playing chicken, like they were standing in front of a train for as long as possible and pulling back at the last second– exhilarating, maybe, but not satisfying. Something about being in the mall, all his thoughts about Adam… it was the perfect concoction for a confession. “I like guys,” he said, meeting Eddie’s eyes again. “Adam was my boyfriend.”

And then: relief. Cole felt like he’d recovered part of himself, like he’d regained a phantom limb. He hadn’t been able to talk about his feelings this openly since, well, Adam. It was refreshing, rejuvenating even. “If you want, I’ll prove it,” he teased, giving Eddie a once-over. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so open about it, but what’s the worst that could happen?

+++

see, cole could’ve hit eddie flat in the face with a giant metal sign that said ‘i’m into guys’ and he still wouldn’t have taken the hint. just...the thought of someone else in hawkins that was like him. surely not - or well, they just wouldn’t come right out the gate and say it. no, being...different, whatever kind of different, and living in that godforsaken town - for some people that was comparable to a death sentence.

still, his eyes widened, blinking at cole with that ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look as he hastily in- and exhaled the smoke. not that that did anything in terms of calming him down. on the contrary, eddie just started to fidget more. “as in....you like them or...like, like like them....” he felt like a fucking middle-schooler. but he just continued. “your boyfriend. you mean like when ... wheeler and buckley or like, i dunno, girls call each other ‘girl-friends’ or like....like if...like, when wheeler called harrington her ‘boyfriend’ when they were still a thing?”

as confused as eddie was about the whole situation he apparently still had it in him to blush and get insanely flustered at cole’s....suggestion? if that’s what it was? lips parted, mouth dropped open slightly, he took another drag. his eyes never left cole’s, only once to go look around them, see if anyone was in earshot. negative. “h-how....”, his lips formed around words he didn’t say, a thousand scenarios flashes in his head. eddie blinked.”...how would - you, uh, prove....it?”

stevehharringtcns​:

.

steve let out a small laugh at what eddie said about his ego, shaking his head slowly at the other. “my ego is just the right size, thank you very much… but you could have just been honest that you wanted to see me instead of creeping around the store. i’ve noticed you’ve been coming here a lot lately, i didn’t know you were such a fan of movies.” he said with a smirk, as he looked at eddie for a couple of moments.

shaking his head slowly, steve sighed. “i know it’s called dungeons and dragons, but i really don’t know what it is about. i usually shut off when henderson talks about that shit, unless, you know, it’s important to save our lives and the town.” he said - unfortunately, that had happened way too many times for steve’s liking. he still thought it was weird that every once in a while, creatures would emerge from the ground and put everyone at risk. but after two years of quiet, steve had to admit that it was too quiet for his liking. he just had to admit that they could all finally have some peace. “you’re still playing that shit or what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other.

seeing eddie’s reaction to his compliment made steve smirk slightly, nodding his head slowly as the other talked. “i think it looks good now, so don’t worry about that.” he said, his eyes now moving to see the other’s tattoos, especially the one that eddie made sure he showed once he pulled down his shirt collar. maybe steve looked for longer than he liked, but could anyone blame him? there was something about eddie and steve couldn’t just wrap his head around on what it was. did he find him attractive? he definitely did… but he wasn’t sure how eddie would feel about that if he knew, so he just smiled at him. “those look pretty sick, munson, i have to say i’m impressed.” he said with a small laugh escaping from his lips as he placed his hands on the counter, watching as the other leaned forward.

eddie’s reactions were making steve laugh like no other, but then he realized. had he just asked the other on a date? it couldn’t possibly be a date, they were just two friends hanging out. nothing special was going to happen, right? it was just two friends hanging out, he kept repeating in his head as he looked down at eddie. he was a bit at a loss for words. “uh… i think, we could just uh… watch a movie. that sounds like a plan.” he said with a small nod, before clearing his throat as he looked at eddie with a smile on his face. “just a movie it’s fine i think… and don’t worry, i don’t kiss on the first date. sorry to disappoint.” he said, regaining some of the confidence he usually had, as he looked at eddie. they were just friends. just friends.

+++

eddie bit his lip, felt his cheeks heat up. he quickly averted his gaze, shit. so he hadn’t been as inconspicuous as he thought he’d been. great fucking job, munson. he looked down, finger starting to play with his rings, twisting them around, moving them from one finger to another. fidgeting. “see, i’m not a big movie guy but i am a fan of looking at that pretty face of yours. withotu having to hear you talk.”, he teased with a chuckle, though he still felt a little nervous and that ‘witty reply’ of his had taken entirely too long.

he shifted his weight from one foot to another. as steve mentioned dungeons and dragons he, again, let himself fall against the counter, actually slid down, pretending to claw his way up as he got back upright. “dost thine insolence never stop?”, he said with a shake of his head, a deep sigh. “ and see, that’s exactly why i took the spot of the ‘designated a ltitle weirdly older best friend’ and replaced you, stevie. henderson worships you but the dissing dnd part? not cool, man.” eddie proudly rose his chin, give steve a stern nod, curls flying about as he did so. “’course i do, i’m doing a little hellfire reunion campaign this summer, too. it’s fun, harrington, wouldn’t kill ya to have some every once in a while, hm?”

‘i think it looks good now’. damn his body for releasing that swarm of butterflies in his stomach, eddie thought and swallowed. well, if somebody had told eddie like, five years ago that he’d one day be a squirming, blushing mess because steve harrington complimented his hair? he would’ve thought them clinically insane. and the butterflies were apparently dead set on staying, viciously swarming as he caught steve’s eye slingering on his exposed chest for just - a - tad - too - long. he felt dizzy, adjusted his collar again. he grinned, a stupid little lovey grin. “thanks, man. you know you should get some of your own. it would make you, like, ten times hotter.” still grinning, though wavering a little as his mind caught up with what he’d said. eddie’s eyes widened. “i mean, like you know. the chicks would dig it.”

great fucking save, munson. he had to fight the urge to squeeze his eyes shut in embarrassment. god, what was it that steve did to him that turned him into this mess of a person. he mirrored steve’s nod. “just a movie, then. very sensible. i’m in, harrington.” as if that wasn’t fucking clear enough. 

okay, but at this point, it was steve’s fault as much as eddie’s that eddie couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought. because the minute he’d said the word ‘kiss’ that’s all he could think about - kissing steve. his tonge darted out to wet his lips and he had to physically tear his eyes away from where they’d dropped to steve’s lips. god fucking dammit. he blinked. “aw, shucks, stevie. and i was hoping to get to second base with you during the especially scary parts. man. you’re such a tease.”

zccming·:

as eddie yelped in pain, max cut in, “geez! watch it! i can’t afford to pay for your burn treatments right now.” the state of the kitchen stirred enough concern in max that she crawled off the couch and stood guard at the threshold, watching eddie. “don’t blow my house up.” her words of encouragement, obviously, weren’t helping, but she couldn’t seem to bite her tongue. the effort from eddie was sincere, and max did appreciate it, but at the end of the day she was a little shit who couldn’t keep her mouth shut and the idea of her mom coming home from a long shift to this mess was enough to get her antsy. 

eddie miraculously finished the meal and max stared at the aftermath skeptically, “i don’t complain.” she whined in refute. “now you go sit down, find us something to watch.” max prompted, mostly urging him out of the kitchen. while she had been very vocal about not helping him clean up, once she got him sitting, that’s exactly what max did. she swept the vegetables off the floor and did some of the dishes she could before making a plate for eddie and herself, then pouring then drinks to match. maybe this would work out to be a nice gesture after all. 

“here.” she handed him his food first, then sat with her own. eddie signaling max to try first didn’t bode well for the final product of this dish. willing to be somewhat optimistic, she took a bite, then immediately frowned. she managed to choke it down, then looked at eddie, “eddie,” max levelled with him, “this is burnt.” before he could ask what part, max clarified, “like, all of it.” she tapped her fork onto his plate, “you eat it and try to tell me this is edible.” she set her plate down, shaking her head. “idiot. i told you.” 

eddie had made enough choices about dinner that max was finally taking matters into her own hand. she marched into the kitchen and pulled out various take out menus from a drawer. calling to eddie, she asked, “do you want enzo’s, takeout from the bar menu at the hideaway, or something else?” and while she was at it, might as well add, “i hope you found something worth watching in the meantime.” 

+++

eddie scoffed, “this is hardly a house”, and turned on the tap, holding his hands under the cold water. he doubted this would actually help the blisters that would most definitely form on his palms in the near future but, oh well, better than nothing. 

next thing he knew he was being ushered out of the kitchen and eddie knew better than to protest. not that he was particularly keen on having to clean up, either. so he just rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch, straining his arm to reach for the remote because once eddie sat down he was sat. he’d rather perform an acrobatic stunt that get up again, not after what felt like hours he’d spent slaving away in the kitchen. he chuckled. sounded like he was a housewife or something.

he aimlessly zapped through the channels, hooked on a dallas plotline for a moment before changing the channel yet again. dynasty? definitely not. zap. oh - he sat up straighter. now, this would do. eddie grinned, looked over his shoulder at max. “found our evening entertainment. unsolved mysteries.” eddie wiggled his eyebrows. “sorta ironic if you ask me. but it’s so good, max.”

what was, apparently, not as good was the food he’d cooked, as even eddie himself stared down skeptically at the plate she’d handed him. “what? come on, don’t bullshit me, you can’t burn pasta.” and to reiterate his point he did take a massive bite and soon found out that it was, in fact, very possible to burn pasta. he nearly choked, grimacing as he chewed and then swallowed. frowning, he set the plate aside on the side table. “god damn it. son of a bitch must’ve given me the wrong recipe.”

blame someone else, always a good tactic. sheepishly, eddie looked at max, gaze following her as she went to get the take out menus. “’m sorry. i fucked up.” and really, eddie was quite mad at himself. good for nothing. couldn’t even cook them a nice meal. shit. “um, enzo’s sounds good?”

stevehharringtcns·:

steve couldn’t say that he had ventured out in flirting with men before, at least, if he had done it, he couldn’t tell that he was doing. it was part of his personality to be naturally charming - he thought to himself. and it wasn’t like eddie was bad looking, there was definitely something about him. he wasn’t sure if it was the hair or the tattoos, but steve definitely liked what he saw whenever he looked at eddie. a smile showed up on his face and he let out a small chuckle. “so, you’re here to see me, is that it munson? you could have just told me that, i know i’m great company.”

once he was done rearranging the cases on the shelves, he started making his way towards the counter and passed on the other side, knwoing that eddie would follow him. his company was definitely better than keith’s, he thought. he could stay with eddie all day and he was sure that the day would pass on faster than it normally did. opening his mouth as he was offended, he let out a small chuckle. “i am definitely not a nerd, but yes, you are… didn’t you play that dragons and dungeons game or whatever it was called? i’m not even sure if i know what that game is about.” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head slowly as he leaned forward against the counter and stared at eddie, a smile on his face. he really was attractive… steve hadn’t seen that before. i mean, he definitely had noticed it, but it wasn’t like this before.

“oh, uh…” he thought a little about the type of movies he liked. “i really don’t have a type. i just kind of like… everything.” he said, clearing his throat as he did. “but horror’s pretty cool, i think. but i think our life has been enough horror as it is.” he said with a small chuckle, feeling himself turn red at eddie’s compliments, mentioning his hair and face. “thanks, man… and it’s a secret, i can’t just reveal that to anyone.” he said with a chuckle. “you’re not so bad yourself… you definitely could be a great contender to be the best hair in town if i weren’t here.” he said with a smirk on his face. “and the tattoos are sick, man.” he said with a nod.

he stared at the other, feeling himself still blushing before he just shrugged his shoulders and looked over at his watch. “do you have plans for after this? my shift ends in about twenty minutes, we could do… something.” he suggested with a small nod.

+++

“and that’s exactly why i didn’t tell you. your hair’s big enough, your ego doesn’t need to be the same size.”, eddie said with an overexaggerated sigh, grin still playing on his lips. all said in good fun because, well, in all honesty eddie wouldn’t mind being ‘round steve all day, paying him compliment after compliment. just to watch his cheeks take on that lovely pink colour.

he followed steve through the store like a lost puppy, stumbling over his own feet every so often. he feigned a look of outrage, one hand clutching at his chest, he let himself fall dramatically back against the counter. “oh, you wound me, harrington! pretending as if you do not even know what the sacred game is called - pain! “, he wailed dramatically, then got back upright, chuckled. “it’s dungeons and dragons, pretty boy. and well, why don’t you go and think real, real hard for a moment what a game called ‘dungeons and dragons’ could be about, hm?”

eddie watched in delight, a dazed glint over his eyes, as steve blushed at his compliments. which was very dangerous because now there was no stopping him, the compliments would fall freely from his lips. but when steve actually returned the compliment, in a way, and smirked - eddie gulped, audibly, smiled nervously. his heartbeat had increased rapidly. “oh, this frizzy mess? looks way tighter in chicago, trust me. hawkins is too fucking humid.”, he waved it off - eddie had never been particularly good at receiving compliments, though when steve gave them to him he did feel all sorts of buzzy inside. “and yeah, some sweet old tatties, hm? actually got a couple more. see?” and, feeling particularly bold, he pulled down the collar of his shirt to expose his inked skin.

and then steve asked him what he was doing after his shift, actually suggested that they do something together and his stomach flipped, in a good way, pulse speeding up. fuck yes, he didn’t have to be the one to ask. eddie blushed, nodded eagerly. “hell yeah, man.”, then, considering he might’ve come on to strong, he shrugged. “i mean, yeah, whatever, let’s do it.” god, he wished he could’ve been a touch less of an idiot when talking to steve. he leaned against the counter, tilted his head to the side. “thought i’d never see the day where steve ‘the hair’ harrington, king steve, asks me out.”, he said teasingly with a smirk. “it’s a date, then. how about....well, we could do the classic approach, dinner and a moive. or, if you’re that sort of girl, the drive-in straight away. bit....”, he wiggled his brows suggestively, “...racy for a first date but you do have a reputation ‘round town,”

zccming·:

WHO: max mayfield & @eddiemcnson·

WHERE: mayfield residence

sure, max was just about as grounded as her mom could get her, but she still valued tradition. it wasn’t like there were many of those in the mayfield household anymore, so the ones max did have were gripped and guarded with the utmost care. every time eddie came into town, they’d have their semblance of a “family” dinner. it had been this way since max was in high school, and if she had it her way, it would be this way until the day she died. it took some shuffling to actually figure out when the best time would be, but when susan picked up a graveyard shift, max set the plans into motion. 

she was a touch skeptical when eddie said he wanted to actually cook verses ordering takeout or the ever reliable heating up of a frozen dinner. but hey, maybe he started up with cooking classes in chicago. max laid on her couch, flipping through the three channels they got, repetitive and impatient. filling the role of whiny younger sister well, she called to the kitchen to complain, “there’s nothing good on!” max sighed, then turned, and continued cycling through the channels anyhow. sitting up, she now peered into the kitchen, “what’s taking so long?” she glanced at the mess surrounding eddie, then let him know, “i’m not helping you clean up.”

+++

see, it wasn’t as if eddie was a horrible cook. there was that batch of cookies he’d made in ‘75 for the middle school bakesale that had not turned out terrible. and sometimes when his roomates in chicago - one of them a cookery student - were out, he cooked his own meals, too. in fact, eddie was really, really decent at cooking rice or frying eggs for just the right amount of time. 

but, like, actually...nutritious dinners that involved preperation and recipes? not really his forte. what was a recipe, anyway, if not a bunch of rules to disobey, as was in his nature? still, coming back to hawkins meant mayfield-munson family dinners in front of the tv and this time he was actually going to make an effort. he’d watched his roommate cook - figured how hard could it be, anyway ? - and with both of them embarking on their own seperate life journeys who knew when they’d get the opportunity to do this next? besides, they’d both been through so fucking much in that hellhole of a town, eddie thought as he wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead, they deserved something nice.

so probably the opposite of what eddie was currently prepearing. the kitchen was a mess, bits of chopped vegetables had fallen the floor, he had three pots and one pan on the tiny stove. this was enitrely too fucking difficult. eddie cursed under his breath, quickly took one of the pots threatening to overcook off the stove - and then held it in his hands for a moment, unsure of where to put it down. “ow, fuck, son of a bitch!” naturally, the handles started to heat up - he distantly recalled himself from an hour ago saying something along the lines of ‘fuck oven mitts,do i look like a grandma, i can handle this’ - and he rushed to put it down on a coaster. eddie  went back to check on the other things on the stovetop - he turned off the stove completely - and stirred everything aimlessly. 

“fuck off.”, he shouted back, rushed to throw the chopped vegetables that hadn’t fallen to the ground into what...could be considered a sauce. stirred again. they’d have to order take out, he thought with a sigh. he drained the pasta, stirred it again, then carried both the pot and the pan over to the dining table. “voila. “ eddie wiped his hands on his jeans, then looked over at max. wondered if it was going to be edible. “now stop complaining and eat. “ - he made a welcoming gesture with his arm, inviting her to dig in first - “ after you, of course.”