Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It had been nearly a month since they had brought Vecna down. It was a relief. Things were different from the previous times. Back then, it was all about pretending things were finally over and trying very hard to get back to normal. Naive, in a way, but then it had also been a ragtag band of mostly kids dealing with things on their own. In secret. This time there was more of a resignation that the Upside Down was part of the known universe. It was a permanent threat that could pop its head up again any time. One that needed to be guarded against, strategized for. Out in Nevada, El had joined her former captures voluntarily to play an essential role in this. After Vecna, she chose to stay with them – on their way to form a secret unit of special forces. And with that, the government no longer went the route of intimidation with those in Hawkins that knew about the Upside Down and everything that came with it. Instead, it felt more like an alliance.

Hidden below a double bottom in a drawer Steve now had a list of phone numbers. A number to call if anything suspicious popped up in Hawkins again. A number to call if he wanted help to process what had happened. An open invitation to come in for an interview about his experiences, so they could study his knowledge to help build a permanent defense against the Upside Down. Steve probably was not going to call any of those numbers, but it felt good to have them.

The others who had been involved had been given lists of secret phone numbers as well. Although Steve suspected not everyone received the same attention and resources. He had pieced together that Nancy had been offered a deal to alter her college major, all expenses paid for, in order to prepare her to be brought on as a resident consultant for the unit. Not too surprising, considering she was smart as heck. Steve wasn’t sure if she was going to take it. Nancy was acting too mysterious about it.

It had been three weeks since Eddie had been cleared of the murder charges and released from holding. During the battle against Vecna they had slipped up in keeping him hidden, and he had been taken to the station to be held there for a while. El joining forces with the government came with benefits for them all, but in Eddie’s case it had been more difficult. Even though the big guys knew it was all supernatural Upside Down shit, the people of Hawkins had also seen gruesome corpses turning up around their town. The big shots considered using Eddie as their fall guy, to wrap it all up nice and neat. ‘He is not important,’ were the words they had used. ‘These deaths, this grief, it requires an answer. He fits the profile. There are outstanding drug charges.’ Nancy, Robin, Steve, Wayne, the kids – oh especially the kids – El herself, and even the Byers had all argued to get Eddie released. And finally it had happened. Some other goon had turned up with ‘overwhelming evidence’ to support his supposed guilt, and soon after Eddie had been set free.

Steve remembered the first time he went through all of the crazy shit. How he tried very much to pretend he was okay (he wasn’t). How he started to disconnect from what he had considered to be his normal life, because no one knew what he knew. Eddie had a little band of misfits, presumably his friends, who might have picked Eddie up again. But Steve heard they were drifting. The school had disbanded Hellfire Club – “too many complaints from concerned parents”. Dustin had complained that he’d tried to rope everyone into meeting in secret – but Eddie had opted out, claiming he didn’t have inspiration for any new campaigns anyway. In fact, Steve heard Eddie often wasn’t around for lunch in the cafeteria at all. Robin had stumbled into him behind the school once. She has kept tabs on him since. She told Steve that she was worried. Told him that outwardly Eddie still acted like himself at school – weaponizing the new insults – shouting things like ‘then worry you might be next!’ after kids muttering ‘murderer’ at him in the halls. But Robin also told Steve that when Eddie wasn’t on guard, he seemed absent.

After a little while, Steve had called Eddie to check up on him, to ask him to hang out. The phone had first been answered by Wayne. Steve had asked how he was doing for good measure as well. Although Wayne hadn’t said it with so many words, Steve understood from the brief conversation he was worried about Eddie as well and glad Steve was reaching out for Eddie. To Steve this just seemed the decent thing to do. Besides, having been through the whole Vecna ordeal together had sprung a bit of a bond. It had been a while since Steve had had a guy his own age to talk to, and Eddie really was a lot nicer than he appeared. Steve thought if he tried, perhaps they could be friends.

Tonight, they had met up at the edge of town, both having driven their vehicles there. After they’d shut the engines off they had landed on the hood of Steve’s car and lit up some cigarettes. To set the ‘buddy’ mood, Steve had brought a six pack of beer and held them up with a playful smile.

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous to drink and drive, Steve,” Eddie teased, before taking one and cracking it open.

“Dangerous? Huh, pretty sure at this point, dangerous is part of my routine.”

Eddie snickered “Must be why you are hanging out with me then: certified freak, drug dealer, and known murder suspect. Danger all around.”

Steve looked at Eddie sideways. But you didn’t do it, he replied in his head.

The momentary silence made Eddie double down on his bit. “No, really Steve, I must insist you start having better regard for your safety. Out here in the woods, imagine what someone like me could do to you.” Eddie grabbed Steve’s arm roughly and looked at him with big, crazed, eyes. He all but said ‘BOO!’ to try to get a rise out of Steve.

Steve didn’t flinch, but instead laughed wordlessly. Of course, Eddie had never failed to attract attention when they were still going to the same school. Yet, still, it stood out that one on one, he could also be quite… intense. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though. The way Eddie acted like a clown was helpful in making everything else feel like it was not that big of a deal. Like how the clown in an actual circus could make you feel that someone sticking their hand in a tiger’s mouth was more thrilling than horrifying.

“Hey, I think I have proved I can hold my own,” Steve said. “Don’t forget, I am also pretty metal.”

This time Eddie full on laughed. “You got fight in you, yeah, but you and metal in the same sentence?” he said while getting up and skipping away from the car. “Nope, nope, nope, nope.”

“Is what you said,” Steve piped up. It was out before he realized it. Then he realized what he’d done. He’d wanted to remind Eddie of how he’d complemented him before, but he hadn’t wanted to actively remind Eddie – or himself – about the circumstances of that conversation. “You know, back in… you know where.”

A silence settled over them then. Eddie lost some of his fervor. Re-adjusting his jacket over his shoulders. They drank in silence for a while, a little uncomfortable.

After a while Steve recovered, and decided that he might as well use the slip up to broach the serious subject he’d come here for. He cleared his throat before speaking. “How have you been holding up?”

“Let me see. I’ve seen two people turn into a human piñata, seen a very real version of Hell, spent a week inside a jail cell, and have half the town still act as if I am a murderer on top of everything else they already think of me. And this time I didn’t make it up for a song or a fantasy game. I am A-Okay. Couldn’t be better.”

“Yeah,” Steve said. He sifted through his brain for a good response. He understood Eddie’s feelings, but he didn’t know how to say the right things in a way that made sense to someone who talked with so many layers added on. “I still struggle with saying ‘mall fire’ when I blurt something out relating to being drugged and beaten by evil Russians or fighting a giant melted-flesh monster.”

“RIGHT!” Eddie responded with a wild arm gesture and a little bounce where his feet didn’t quite leave the ground. This guy really felt things with his whole body. It made Steve smile despite the situation.

“That’s the hardest part! The whole world always seemed crazy to me already, but now having to go back to high school – again - and listening to all of the shallow-minded bullshit seems absurd. And now I can’t even crap on it with the guys without risking getting myself locked away again for being insane.”

“I am really sorry about that, you know, that you got locked up,” Steve said quietly.

Eddie settled down on the hood of the car again. He kicked at the dirt a little.

“I always thought it was a possibility,” Eddie said, no bravado this time. “You know, with me dealing drugs and all.”

Again, Steve looked for the right words. In a literal sense Eddie said one thing, but the pain in his voice said another. “That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No…” Several different emotions played over Eddie’s face before he continued. “I imagined I could take it, but the reality was much worse. I was really… scared.” He let the word hang in the air for a moment. “I thought that they were never gonna let me out again because of who I am. I knew I didn’t kill anybody, but they tried so hard to get a confession out of me. Made it feel like they would just keep going until they found enough things on me to keep me there because they loved to see someone like me go down. And they threatened me with… what the system could be like.”

“That’s seriously messed up,” Steve commented. He felt horribly inadequate. He looked Eddie over. If Eddie were a girl, he could have taken their hand and made the touch communicate for him.

After a long silence, Eddie asked: “Have you ever been locked up?”

“No,” Steve said. “I pulled a lot of shit back in the days, but I always seemed to avoid real consequences.”

Eddie drew a sharp breath. It was clearly audible in the night sky. A couple of glances passed between them.

“Nobody touches a monarch, eh, King Steve?” Eddie joked.

Eddie probably meant well with the joke, but it didn’t land right. Steve hadn’t felt like he had been that nickname in a long time, and now it just reminded him of everything that had been left behind. For better and worse. He’d become kinder, for sure, and more responsible. But King Steve had a sense of direction and a light-heartedness that plain Steve missed.

Steve downed the remainder of his beer, and then promptly opened another one. Silence settled over them. The sound of the nighttime bugs reigned supreme.

“We both need to get out of our heads,” Eddie said, staring at the ground.

“Yeah, no shit,” Steve replied.

“Soooo,” Eddie stretched the syllables on purpose as he was clearly still searching for ideas. “Let’s go to a party?”

“Yeah, no, that is gonna be a blast.” Steve rolled his eyes and slumped down. “What are our options, really? Just the same old high school parties again? The looks on their faces when we show up together will be worth it for about three seconds. Then Jason and his gang will be all too happy to get more time to be a dick to you. And I don’t need the reminder right now that I still haven’t found much of a life beyond Hawkins High.”

“Good point.” Eddie slumped back too, staring off into space. Then he piped up again. “I know a place. Not in Hawkins. Can I take you there?”

It had been quite the drive. With the prospect of a little bit of distraction they had returned to an easy-going mood. In the car they had joked about various imaginary scenarios had they gone to a house party in Hawkins. How they could have gone just to bring trouble. They’d bounced several versions of absolutely petty tomfoolery off each other. The wildest thing they’d come up with was to set a live possum free in the house. Eddie swore peanut butter could lure them in like they were puppies. Eddie also joked the others might build a bonfire just for him if they had gone. Pushed the joke right to the edge too – saying they might still give that a go if Steve changed his mind about this party. “Of course, I would perish, but your silhouette would look epic in the firelight.” It shouldn’t have been funny, joking about being burned at the stake, but it was. Eddie really was a weird dude, but not in an off-putting way. Steve saw why Dustin liked him.

Eddie drove the van off the road. He parked it in the woods and looked at Steve.

“Hey, eh, this party really is… different,” Eddie said keeping eye contact with Steve. “Don’t immediately let it turn you off, okay?”

“Something new should be best to get me out of my head, right?” Steve replied, acting confident. “Besides, I’d feel like an asshole if I’d bail on your plans right now.”

“Aww, ever so chivalrous,” Eddie said mockingly. But nevertheless his features softened. Genuine excitement crept into Eddie’s expression.

Steve was glad to see it. He wanted Eddie to feel better, and he was glad going to a mysterious party a forty minute drive away was the price to pay to achieve it. No biggie.

“It’s still a little walk from here. Let’s go.”

After a short trek through the woods, they arrived at an abandoned warehouse. The lights behind the windows at the top floor and the beat of the music gave away that there was indeed a party going on, but otherwise the place didn’t look like it. So this is where the metalheads party, Steve thought. He felt excited about the prospect of getting to know their world. A world of people he wouldn’t have taken in interest in three years ago. His friendship with Robin was definite proof that such a thing could be fun.

Eddie led them inside. The ground floor had been stripped and there was no signage. But Eddie knew the way. They were met by a guy in thick sunglasses with straight black hair in a ponytail reaching halfway down his back. He was seated at the bottom of a staircase which offered entrance to the party. He didn’t pay Eddie no mind, but reached out his arm to block the way when Steve tried to follow him. Eddie turned around.

“Oh, he’s cool,” he said to the doorman. “Just, new.”

The doorman gave Steve another once over, before letting him pass. They went up two flights of stairs before stopping.

“Sorry,” Eddie said. “Should have thought of that. You might be a little… underdressed?”

“Oh,” Steve looked himself over a little stupidly.

Eddie stripped off his vest and held it out to Steve. “You rocked this one pretty well last time.”

Steve took it and put it on over his polo. It went against his instincts to stand out too much in a group. Stand out in a negative way, that is. He ran a hand through his hair and wondered for a moment if he’d agreed too easily to this, and was now in over his head.

Eddie’s face lit up. “You almost look believable.”

“Eat shit, Munson.”

They laughed while running up the remainder of the stairs. On the top floor the word ‘SIN!’ was spraypainted on the wall in big neon letters. Steve took it in briefly, before following Eddie through the door into the party.

His senses were bombarded at once. The music was loud – almost overwhelmingly loud for the small crowd – and outside Steve’s normal bandwidth. The bare concrete walls of the room were decorated with pictures, posters, and colorful paintings. And then the people! He really was underdressed. He saw several people with brightly colored hair, he saw a girl in a latex skirt, a man in a spiked dog’s collar. He saw metalheads, hippies, and people he could only think of as artsy types. Right in front of him passed a girl with six – six! - eyebrow piercings.

“Earth to Harrington,” Eddie cut in. Steve focused his eyes on Eddie again, making the round brown eyes that met him feel incredibly familiar by contrast. “Need a drink?”

“Yeah.”

The bar was a makeshift shelf over some stacks of bricks. Behind it were two small fridges and a couple of crates of clearly store-bought beers. The woman behind the bar had two black pigtails adored with ribbons, on top of an otherwise buzzed head. She was wearing yellow shorts and a see-through shirt. Steve shifted his eyes from her bra to the hand-written list with drinks and prizes.

“A vodka-cola for me,” Eddie said.

The woman’s kind face looked at Steve expectantly.

“Ehm, a beer?” Steve tried.

The woman’s face hardened. “I’m gonna have to see your IDs boys.”

Steve was just about to start making excuses, when she laughed.

“No, don’t worry about it. It’s not like we have a license to lose.”

They turned away from the bar when their drinks had been handed out. Steve looked at Eddie and the strong stuff he was consuming.

“Eh, do you want me to drive us back later?” he asked.

“Usually when I go here, I sleep in the van,” Eddie said. “Or crash at someone else’s place. People here are pretty friendly.”

“Friendly,” Steve stressed with a cheeky smile.

“Wouldn’t you like that?” Eddie laughed. “No, but seriously, if you want to get back home tonight, I can lay it off after this one?”

Steve was no stranger to figuring out where to sleep during the night itself or sleeping at weird places in a pinch. However, with this party, he felt a little out of his depth. His younger self would have had a lot to say about this place and the people in it. Now, he just thought of them as people. But still, it clearly wasn’t his crowd, and he was not entirely comfortable with committing right now to stay out the whole night. “Let’s see how the night goes?”

Eddie nodded.

“Do you come here often?” Steve asked.

“Only sometimes. It’s not like a regular club night. You have to get the info on when it will be happening from the record store in Cartersville.”

Steve nodded. His glance hovering around the room again. His gaze was caught by a colorful painting on the wall. Was that a painting of a giant vagina? Shit. He gulped down half his beer.

“Hey, let’s go outside for a bit? Have a smoke?” Eddie offered. Steve was glad for the break.

Outside was a surprisingly large balcony tucked between two parts of the roof. From the balcony there was a view over the nearby town. The lit-up houses and streets looked charming from above. This was nice. Steve lit up a cigarette and was glad it gave him another way to get a grip on the situation again. He surveyed the other people on the balcony. There was a girl in platform boots, her hair was black with white stripes dyed in, and she wore black lipstick. She was pretty, though. He also spotted some more normal people. They were a little older than himself, but he could imagine them as familiar things in his life: a math teacher, a woman at the supermarket, a barber.

“You aren’t freaking out on me, are you, Steve?”

“No,” Steve said. “Okay, maybe a little. This crowd makes me feel so… sheltered?”

Eddie laughed dryly before taking another drag from his cigarette. “Well, you kind of are? Aside from the monster fighting and international spy drama shit.”

“Ha-Ha,” Steve replied sarcastically. Before he could extend on that their conversation is interrupted.

“Eddie!” A lad, no scratch that, a short-haired woman swept in. The girl had short light-brown hair, a trained physique and big bushes of armpit hair peeking out of her loose-fitting tank top.

“Margot!” Eddie said delightfully, before giving her a warm hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be off to college?”

“I was, but it was a real let down.”

Eddie and Margot chatted for a while about her college experience. How disappointed she was by how old-fashioned the whole environment was. That she’d started to feel real down on herself for how unwanted she’d been as a critical forward-thinking woman. That she was now busy trying to put herself back together and finding out what she really wanted. When she talked about how she was fighting off the guilt for needing this time, for not just knowing what her place was, Steve shifted his stance and committed to listening more intently.

“And who is this?” she asked, a moment later.

“This is Steve,” Eddie introduced him. “We went to the same school. Recently became friends cause he showed up for me when I went through some bad shit.”

Steve struggled to keep his face neutral. Is that how Eddie thought about it? That felt way too appreciative for how little Steve had actually chosen to do any of that. He had mostly just been present while the others did the heavy lifting.
His attention snapped back to the situation just in time to spot Margot looking from him to Eddie, to him again.

"So how’s your love life these days, Eddie?” she asked.

“Well, you know me,” he said. “Same old, same old. Got my wires crossed, while also being a hopeless romantic. Bad combo.” He took a drag of his cigarette. “Little prospects.”

Steve gave Eddie a long look. Then Margot. They seemed to be getting something about this that he didn’t. It shouldn’t surprise Steve really – because technically he was out with a friend of Dustin’s – who was always on about things Steve didn’t understand – but it still bothered him.

“And what about you, Steve – right? – you got anything going on?”

That should be an easy question, ordinarily, but right now Steve felt unsure how to respond. It was instinct for him to try to impress the people he talked to. But lacking a severe amount of context on what these people’s point of reference was, he didn’t know how to do that. He shot Eddie another look. But Eddie was entirely unreadable at that moment and therefore of absolutely no help. Steve ran a hand through his hair.

“Who, me?” He finally said sarcastically . “I am just a regular old choirboy. Go to church every Sunday.”

She laughed. Okay! Humor was the right choice!

“You’re a freak, Munson,” she said slyly.

Huh? Just when Steve felt like he had found a thread to pull to win Margot over, she puzzled him again. Why did it feel like this entire conversation was full of trapdoors? Again, he felt himself looking towards Eddie for a clue. But Eddie was looking past him. He turned around to follow the gaze.

“The performances are starting,” Eddie said. “Let’s go inside.” He looked at Steve with a warm smile.

Inside at the far end from the door there was a small stage that Steve hadn’t noticed before. The group, which had seemed to have grown larger since they’d arrived, crowded in front of it. Steve, Eddie, and Margot joined in while the Master of Ceremonies was announcing the performers for the night.

Steve leaned over to Margot. “I really felt what you said, about feeling guilty for not knowing what you want. And I really appreciate you saying we should try not feeling that way about it.”

Margot looked at him, finally some respect in her eyes. “We really shouldn’t, you know.” She then paused to cheer for the announcement of the first act. “But hey, you unsure about what you want too, huh?”

Steve licked his lips, leaning in a little. “Yeah. I’m just hanging around town working odd-jobs and dating around, without any sort of idea what I want and where I want to go. And everyone else just seems to have their heads wrapped around that stuff, you know?”

Margot held up her glass to toast it to Steve’s. “So real. But hey, you’ve come to the right place, to help you figure things out.” With that, she gave Steve a wink.

The first performer came on stage. It was a woman with big curly hair and heavy make-up. A New Wave beat started playing. Margot pointed at someone in the crowd, another friend no doubt, and left in their direction. The woman on stage sang songs about loneliness, heartache, and being broke. It wasn’t too special.

Steve reached for Eddie’s arm. Eddie took his eyes off the stage, and looked at Steve with a warmth and fondness on his face that made Steve feel… like he wanted to protect Eddie from bad things?

“Hey, I’m getting another drink,” Steve said. “You want something?”

Eddie nodded, schooling his features into something more neutral. “You pick?”

Steve nodded back and started making his way to the bar. A few moments later he returned with two drinks. “Two Cuba Libres.”

Eddie took his drink. “Proud of you,” he said while putting his hand on Steve’s neck. He gave it a squeeze while turning back to the stage. Then he let his hand fall off.

The performance lasted a few songs before the MC came back on stage.

“Alright everyone, give it up for Janice!” Janice took a bow and received the applause from the crowd, before turning to leave. “Up next, we have something very special for you. This performer we only know under their stage name Miss Maple.”

Some people in the crowd started cheering.

“Yeah, they know what’s up,” the MC said. “We are sure y’all weirdos will love this one. So we’ll be right back after a small break. Go get your drinks, your smokes, and your lovers, and see you soon.”

“So, what do you think?” Eddie asked.

“She was okay, not too bad,” Steve said .

“Yeah, usually they start with something a bit more middle of the road. But hey, at least it wasn’t Tammy Thompson.”

Steve laughed. “At least it wasn’t Tammy Thompson!”

“Yeah, I heard they brought her out for the championship game, and she was just awful?” Eddie pushed.

“She was,” Steve confirmed.

“You were there?” Eddie asked.

“Yeah. I used to play for The Tigers, and I had a…,” Steve began explaining. He held up, realizing Eddie probably didn’t care to hear about any of this. “…never mind.”

Eddie looked like he wanted to say something about that. Something judgmental perhaps. But he swallowed it down. An almost wicked smile appeared on his face. “For real, if Principal Higgins had any sort of balls, he would have put me up there with my guitar.” Eddie started playing air-guitar on the spot. And from the looks of it, in his head he heard a really complicated song, something way beyond the National Anthem. “Man, I would have given those fools a real performance! But puh, instead they put Tammy up there, because what, she’s pretty? Shame, real shame.”

Steve giggled. Tammy. The fun he’s already had about it with Robin. The intensity with which he knows Eddie can play guitar. All of that mushed together created a hilarious imagine in his head.

“What a day it would be if they would have you play heavy metal in the gym in the name of school spirit!”

“Would you come watch, Steve?”

“Absolutely!”

Eddie smiled brightly and slapped Steve’s arm. “I’ll put in a request with the principal then.” He squeezed Steve’s arm. “Hey, I’m gonna relief the old bladder. You good on your own for a minute?”

“Yeah, fine.”

***

Eddie pushed past Steve through the crowd. The guy really was better company than he had ever thought. And he was taking being here surprisingly well. It was a good way to test Steve, bringing him here. Yes, he came across as a good dude, yes, he was close with Robin… but Eddie hadn’t forgotten what Steve had done before. The fight he’d had with Jonathan Byers, the way he’d broken Jonathan’s camera, the whole school had known about it. There had been plenty of talk of why they’d fought. It was clear now Nancy had been a big reason. But the meaner rumors, they had said Steve had wanted to give Jonathan a beating for having ‘unsanitary tastes’. Big reason for Eddie to avoid Steve in high school. So yeah, seeing Steve’s responses to this environment? Good way to establish how safe Steve truly was to be around.

Eddie was about mid-stream when someone took the urinal right next to him.

“Well, hello there, boyfriend,” the other said.

Eddie looked up, saw the leather vest over the white shirt, the ridiculously big biker moustache, and the icy blue eyes surrounded by the first beginnings of crow’s feet.

“Hi,” he replied.

“See you finally picked a side,” the man, Joe, continued.

Eddie concentrated on what he came here to do, hoping to finish up faster. “Huh?”

“Your back pocket, sweetheart.”

Eddie drew a pointed breath. His eyes flicked to Joe. He finished up, shook off, and put everything back in its proper place. He ought to treat Joe better than this, but now wasn’t a good time.

“Yes, starting to put both of my feet on the ground, take a walk in the big boy shoes.”

Eddie moved to the sink to wash his hands. Joe followed him a moment later. He crowded in Eddie’s space and put a hand on Eddie’s handkerchief.

“I could indulge, you know,” the man purred.

“Now that is the surprise of the century. Thought you didn’t swing that way,” Eddie said, keeping half an eye on the mirror. Really, this was intriguing. If he had written Joe off too soon, that could lead to an interesting situation. But really, tonight was not a good night.

“Well, when I found you, you were all sweet and innocent,” Joe purred, almost directly in Eddie’s ear. He brushed a few locks of Eddie’s hair behind ear. “You had to be broken in first, you know? But having had that sweet, sweet taste, I’m curious what you’ve learned now.”

Eddie took a deep breath, his hands now gripping the sink.

Joe pulled out the handkerchief out of his left back pocket. “…and perhaps for good old times’ sake,” Joe trailed, while beginning to push the handkerchief in Eddie’s right back pocket.

Eddie slapped his hand away. At the same time, his eyes caught a sight in the mirror. Steve.

***

Steve stood at the entrance of the bathrooms. He looked Eddie in the eyes through the mirror.

“Eh, I needed to take a leak too,” he offered. It sounded like he was apologizing for his presence. Why did he feel the need to justify his being here?

He looked at the scene in front of him. Eddie was at the sink, an older guy standing very close to him. Eddie holding the guy’s wrist in an iron grip. The guy holding a black scarf in his hand. The both of them now looking at Steve with guilty looks on their faces.

“I can’t right now,” Eddie said in a hushed voice. He snatched the scarf from the other guy’s hand and put it in his back pocket.

“Is this guy bothering you?” Steve spoke up. Eddie looked… tense.

“No,” Eddie responded immediately, but he looked none more comfortable.

Steve kept a stern glance at the older man. He didn’t care that he looked like a total yup in comparison to these people, he knew he still brought a fit physique. And he was surely going to use that in his favor to get people to piss off if they might be bothering Eddie. No one was going do that to Eddie right now, not in his presence.

The man stepped back from Eddie, but didn’t leave. His glance travelled from Steve to Eddie, clearly measuring up the situation for himself.

“Aha,” the man said finally.

Eddie stepped out of the way so the guy could make it to the sink to wash his hands. Steve continued to stare daggers at the man until he left. Then he turned his eyes to Eddie, who had taken a lock of his own hair and put it in his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah…,” Eddie began. “Joe is… an old friend. There really wasn’t a problem.”

Steve felt the tension leave his shoulders. He looked from Eddie to the door, as if he might call Joe back through it and look him over again with friendlier eyes. “Sorry. Thought there was trouble.”

“I can handle myself,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, really, sorry. I guess I overreacted.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Now Eddie was smiling again. “It’s cute, actually.”

Steve was non-plussed. Cute? He’d just had a hot-headed reaction based on a misplaced sense of protectiveness. How was he supposed to deal with that being called ‘cute’, of all things?

Soon after they had rejoined the party, people started yelling and crowding to the stage. This Miss Maple character was apparently wildly anticipated. While a rock song that was playing was cut off, a crowd quickly gathered in front of the stage. The song was switched to something catchy that sounded familiar to Steve. No, not just catchy, the song was sensual. It had a long intro, and Steve started humming along before he recognized it. Then it came to him. A few summers ago, he’d had a fling with a girl who always wanted to have that playing when they got down and dirty.

And then Miss Maple strut on stage. Where Janice’s hair and make-up had looked big before, what Miss Maple had going on made that look almost insignificant. Miss Maple had fake lashes and make-up that was bordering on clownesque. Her hair was impossibly big. Steve thought perhaps it was a wig. Another thing that was big about her were her breasts, nearly popping out of her tight button up. She was wearing a black silk skirt and stockings. High black stilettos. And she was tall, towering over everyone from up on the small stage. She also had a jacket on, of which she was flapping the front to the beat of the song.

Suddenly it caught up to Steve what kind of act this was going to be.

He turned to Eddie. “No way!?”

“Yes way,” Eddie mouthed back.

Miss Maple wasn’t wasting any time getting to it. When the first lyrics of the song finally kicked in, she had already teased off her jacket. She was now dancing around the chair center stage. Placing her foot on the seat, showing off her leg. Stroking her body erotically, inviting the audience’s gaze on her body. Inviting it to look at all the places you normally weren’t supposed to look. This was not what Steve had expected from a night out with Eddie Munson. Not. At. All.

With one hand, Miss Maple lifted up the chair and spun it around so the seat was facing the audience. Damn, she was strong. She plumped down on the chair, purposely spread legged so her skirt rode up. It almost allowed a view of her crotch, until she slapped a hand in front of it and made an overdramatic shocked face. Steve heard Eddie let out a short laugh. He looked at him momentarily, seizing his reaction up, before being drawn into the main event again.

Miss Maple had shut her legs, but was now leaning forward sensually. Giving the audience a good view at her cleavage. Then she sat back and began unbuttoning her shirt. The audience began whooping and yelling. Soon she was sitting there in her pretty, lacy bra. Steve sucked in a breath.

Again, she bent forward. This time to unfasten her shoes and kick them off. The appeal here being mostly the promising of freeing her legs up to take off more clothes. The woman stood up and danced over the stage. With her back turned to the audience she shimmied out of her skirt, hips swinging to the beat of the song. Underneath she had a string and stockings attached to a pretty garter. Now, Steve was a boobies man, but that was one beautiful ass on display right there.

Next, Miss Maple put her feet on the chair one after the other to slip her stockings off. Then she sat down on the chair again with her back turned to the audience. Shit. How much more was she gonna take off? Steve was feeling a little hot. There were certain benefits to working in a video store. You could familiarize yourself with all the tapes. Find out which movies had particularly captivating scenes in them. So Steve had seen a version or two of this kind of act, on screen. Though that was nothing like being in the room with an actual person doing it right in front of you. Not at all the same.

Expertly, Miss Maple unclipped the back of her bra. She slipped it off and held it out in the air for a moment before dropping it to the floor. Cruelly, she had the interesting bits shielded from the audience. She turned her head and held up her finger in front of her mouth to signal a ‘sssshhh’. Working up the fantasy that you weren’t watching her with a whole crowd, but that she was just your own little secret. The music swelled and the audience roared and whooped.

She practically jumped off the chair and showed herself to the audience. She was wearing nipple patches, but other than that shook her exposed breasts with a fervor to the now upbeat music. Steve was sucked into the performance entirely.

Miss Maple reached up behind her neck, and then something happened that Steve didn’t understand. It was as if she undid a clip and then she… took off her breasts? Wait a minute. She dropped the piece of flesh to the stage and ran her hands over her now smooth chest. Steve wasn’t losing his mind. Her flat chest was adorned by a pair of human nipples, and a few dark hairs here and there.

She danced around the stage a bit longer like this, before the music came to a stop. The audience applauded and whooped. Steve clapped along, although still dazed.

“Thank you so much!” Miss Maple yelled. She blew kisses to the audience while collecting her things. Then she was gone and the MC came back on to wrap up her performance.

When Steve turned to Eddie, the other was already looking at him expectantly. Amused almost.

“What. The. Hell,” Steve commented. “What did I just see.”

“Miss Maple got naked,” Eddie commented dryly.

Steve’s mouth opened and shut itself a couple times. He was gasping for air. Trying to find words. Trying to compute what he had just witnessed. “But she… she took off her breasts!? How is that even possible.”
Eddie laughed with his head thrown back. Was he amused to see Steve suffer like this?

“Steve, Miss Maple is a man.”

Steve snapped to attention. “No?” He’d heard of cross-dressing. He wasn’t raised that sheltered. But he was sure he would be able to recognize a guy in a dress if he saw one? And this person on stage was really pretty. Not to mention dancing around in a very tight pair of panties. “Couldn’t be! Where was his dick?”

Eddie laughed some more. “Steve, you are really making my night here. It’s tucked back.”

“Wow.” Steve turned his back to the stage. His eyes searching a quiet spot in the back of the room. He was… shocked. Impressed. Enthralled. He noticed that the back of the room had a projector set up, which was displaying what he now registered as softcore porn on the wall. That wasn’t helping the situation at all.

Eddie shifted closer to him. “There’s just all sorts of people and things out there, Steve. Certainly a lot more than what ‘Respectable’ people want you to know about.”

Steve gave him a look. Somewhere between confused and ‘no shit’. Of course he knew there was more out there than what his parents raised him on. He had been fighting supernatural monsters for years now, thank you very much.

“Yes,” Eddie acknowledged. “We’ve all come to know that there is a whole world behind our own regular world, with monsters and shit. But there is also another world hidden in the cracks of our own… with people who found out there is more to life than grow up, job, house, wife and kids. You can do whatever you want really. Do drugs, put on a dress, make love to whoever you want. It doesn't have to fit in prefab boxes. It’s all just up to your own imagination.”

Steve nodded and thought it over for a moment. His brain was a little foggy. He was nearly at the bottom of his second strong mix of the night. And that on top of the beers from earlier. But it made sense, in a way. He looked at Eddie again, now in a different light. Eddie suddenly seemed more interesting. Experienced. A gateway to new and exciting things.

They got more drinks after that. Smoked some cigarettes. Talked to some more strange and beautiful people. Steve reclined against the balcony’s edge listening to one of Eddie’s acquaintances telling a story. Eddie pressed up to his side. He felt less awkward now. The alcohol and party buzz made everything seem more pleasant. Dulling his mind to voices that told him what to care about.

Eventually, the final performance of the night was announced. Steve would have been okay with just hanging out outside in the warm spring night. However, it was a rock band and Eddie was really excited about it. So they went back inside to watch the performance.

The band got the crowd going with a mix of covers and original songs. Eddie jumped around and shook his body along with the music. It really wasn’t Steve’s thing but he was drunk and feeding off of Eddie’s energy. So he bobbed along too. Things seemed carefree. Life seemed good.

“Alright kiddies! That was our last performer of the night. Normally we’d close shop, but you’re such an amazing crowd we say we keep partying till the cops show up. Whaddaya say?”
The crowd cheered and a moment later electronic music with a pumping beat was blasting over the speakers.

“Let’s dance?” Eddie suggested.

“Eh, yeah!” Steve said before grabbing Eddie by the arm and dragging him along deeper into the crowd. Normally he wasn’t a big dancer, but he felt so free tonight he just went for it.

Eddie was a sight when he danced. Part of it was exactly what you would expect of him: wild and violent and a little unhinged. But then sometimes he unexpectedly switched it up with appealing moves, trying to get attention. Then he was sensual in a way, and almost girlish. Swinging his hips from side to side on the beat of the music, while holding your gaze. Doing a little twirl.

It was hard to unify with the Eddie Munson he knew from school. Eddie had always had antics, and shy really wasn’t how anyone would have labeled him. But there he had been an outcast, unwanted. Here, he was in his element, and he seemed to be used to people looking at him in that way.

Steve threw caution to the wind and shook his shoulders and hips to the beat. He threw in a few mock-Elvis moves. He knew they looked more comedic than endearing, but he also knew that there was a strong charm to them in that way. Heck, he wasn’t going to have his thunder stolen by Eddie Munson.

Margot was back, also clearly drunker than before. She pressed up against Steve’s back and wrapped her hands around him in a tight embrace. They moved together to the rhythm of the song. Her hands travelled from his stomach up to his chest, and back. Not an ounce of shyness there.

Then she laughed and spun around him. His hands were in her hands as she pulled him with her. She was dancing backwards until her back was pressed against Eddie’s front. He received her gladly, quickly putting his hands on her hips.

Margot pulled Steve towards her until he was crowding her space. Eddie’s hands moved to her stomach, and without thinking about it, Steve’s hands landed on her hips. The three of them danced to the beat like there was no tomorrow. Steve’s eyes were on the body of the sweaty young woman in front of him. She shook her curves with no modesty at all. Forward-thinking indeed.

In order to brush a lock of hair out of his face, he raised his head up. He looked Eddie right in his eyes. Their faces were really close together.

“Damn,” Steve breathed.

“Damn,” Eddie returned with a smile.

Then Margot slipped out from between them. Steve followed her with his eyes. She gave them a little wave before disappearing in the crowd.

“PIGS!” someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Shit, Steve! Run!” Eddie grabbed his hand to drag him along, the flashing blue-and-red lights through the windows and the whole situation not immediately registering with Steve. Then his legs started thinking for him.

They fled through a different door than the one through which they’d entered. They ran through several anonymous rooms, before storming down a different flight of stairs. Outside there were a couple of cop cars and two officers posted just on the other side of the building. The mass of people fleeing in all directions gave them coverage as they bolted for the woods.

They ran at top speed for what felt like a solid ten minutes without looking back. Then Eddie stopped and spun them around a tree, into which he crashed to catch his breath. Apparently, they’d held hands the whole time. Steve bent forward to catch his breath too.

“I think we’re in the clear,” Eddie said.

They held each other’s gazes for a long time while catching their breaths. Steve’s heart drumming in his ears and while the adrenaline rushed around his head.

“That was sick,” he finally said.

“Yeah,” Eddie confirmed, still a little out of breath.

Steve was standing behind the van. The backdoors of the vehicle were open, while Eddie was rummaging around inside it.

“Here are some blankets and pillows,” he handed the pile off to Steve. “Now if I just move this stuff out of the way…”

Not too long after that they had a decent enough makeshift bed set up in the back of Eddie’s van. They crawled inside and shut the door. The moon only provided a little bit of light. Two pairs of worn sneakers were kicked off. Eddie took off his jacket and shimmied out of his jeans before settling in. Steve took off his jeans as well, and shrugged off Eddie’s vest too. He was being clumsy about it, plenty drunk after the night of drinking, and somehow he swayed and lost his balance. He came crashing down half on top of Eddie.

“Wow. Easy there, big boy,” Eddie whispered, a little breathlessly.

Steve giggled. “You’re really warm,” he commented, before blundering to find purchase to push himself off.

“So are you,” Eddie huffed.

“Yeah, haven’t you heard? I’m the hottest bachelor around town,” Steve joked.

“Oh, alright, lord of the drunks,” Eddie said. “Am I glad I’m not having you drive us anywhere tonight anymore.” Eddie finally helped to push Steve off.

Steve rolled on the floor of the van next to Eddie. It was a little hard, even with blankets on it, but otherwise it was okay. He settled in with his face to the wall, turned away from Eddie. He was boozed up and satisfied and close to drifting off to sleep immediately.

“Night, Stevie.”

“Night, Eddie.”

Steve cracked his eyes open. Just a few inches in front of him a set of bare shoulders. They were adorned by locks of long dark hair. Nice, his brain supplied. Then he noticed his raging headache. He moved around a little, his foot hitting a curled-up rope, his eyes started taking in the rest of the surroundings then. That helped getting his bearings on what the situation was: He went out partying with Eddie last night, and was now curled up in the back of the other’s shitty van – with a heavy hangover. The back of his shitty overheating van, at that.

He sat up to shrug off his shirt. Perhaps if he wasn’t so hot, he could still cram in some more sleep. Maybe then he’d wake up with less of a hangover.

“Well, well, well, waking up to Steve Harrington taking off his clothes was not on my 1986 bingo card,” Eddie croaked. “But then again, actually fighting a real life Vecna wasn’t on it either. I’m gonna rate this one above you taking off your clothes while we’re in a little boat out at Lovers Lake, which was also cute, but that time I was almost shitting my pants.”

Handily, Eddie’s jean vest was right in Steve’s line of sight. He threw it at Eddie’s head. “Shut up.”

“Aww, someone a little cranky in the morning?” Eddie continued talking right through the vest.

Steve flopped back down on the thin blanket. “Someone a little cranky with a hangover.”

Eddie picked the vest off his face then. There was a twinkle in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. They were just lying by each other’s sides in the glowing morning sun for a few moments. Steve felt his eyes slipping closed a few times. He almost regained hope that he could catch some more sleep.

“I got just the thing for that,” Eddie piped up and struggled himself out of his blanket. “Actually, several things. But I am… hmm, I don’t think I am going to corrupt you that much that fast.” He began rummaging through his things. “Good old Stevie from the cul-de-sac.”

Steve sat up and pressed himself against the wall of the van a little to avoid things falling on his feet. “Seriously, how are you awake less than five minutes and already this energetic? Don’t you ever shut up?”

“Nope. Never ever ever,” Eddie hummed. Then he spun around and held out a bottle of water and a non-descript pill to Steve.

“Ehm,” Steve began. He tried to pull the blanket up a little further, but it was stuck. His eyes searched for his clothes. He preferred not being in his underwear if he wasn’t going to get any more sleep.

“Relax,” Eddie said. “It’s just a regular painkiller from the store. I wouldn’t slip you anything without telling you.”

Steve could still feel Eddie’s eyes on him as the took the pill and swallowed it with a large gulp of water. He caught Eddie’s gaze when he handed the bottle back, although Eddie focused on something else lighting quick.

“Here,” he held out Steve’s shirt to him. “I believe you were looking for this.”

On the drive back Eddie initially left Steve alone, thankfully. Instead, he drummed on his steering wheel and sang songs under his breath. As Steve looked out the window, it occurred to him that he wouldn’t mind if they would just keep driving for the rest of the day.

They looped through the nearby town and bought breakfast and coffee at the gas station. This helped boot up Steve’s brain, and halfway through the drive companionable silence – as silent as it could ever be around Eddie – turned into light conversation.

They returned to where Steve’s car had been parked overnight. Eddie turned off his engine, despite there being no reason for him to do so.

“Well, see you,” Eddie said, a little quietly.

Steve stepped out of his seat, but hesitated before he closed the door. Eddie looked at him so expectantly. Steve didn’t know what Eddie was expecting, but he himself didn’t feel quite ready to slam the door and cut off the little world they’d had. That was it, wasn’t it? They’d been off in their own little bubble for the last fourteen or so hours, and out here real life was ready to come crashing in again.

“Hey?” Steve said.

“Yes?”

Steve could have sworn Eddie bent towards him in his seat.

“You took me to see some of your world, how about I take you to see some of mine next?”

Eddie nodded, his messy curls bobbing up and down around his head.

“That sounds good,” he said. “I would like that.”

“Great!” Steve replied, feeling excitement bubbling up. “I’ll call you in a few days with the details.”