Stevehharringtcns·:

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve couldn’t help but to smirk at eddie once he repeated his words, shaking his head slowly as he held the other close. he remembered that night so well, but not for a moment he thought that eddie was flirting with him. maybe he was just oblivious to that, but considering that he was used to flirting, he should have known. “well, you know, i thought you were interested in… something else.” he said with a shrug, letting those thoughts creep into the back of his mind again. he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe eddie hadn’t been flirting with him during that night, but instead he was flirting with someone else. but he didn’t want to get into detail.

he let out a light chuckle fall from his lips as he heard eddie, his hands never leaving the other’s body. he didn’t want to let him go, he could stay like this for the rest of the night if he could. he smiled at the other, shrugging his shoulders. “that wouldn’t be half bad. i would suggest we go for a swim, but i don’t think lover’s lake is the best place to swim.” he said with yet another chuckle, but the truth was that he really couldn’t stand the idea of going out into that lake ever again.

at the mention of the yellow sweater, steve was a little surprised that eddie remembered it. he didn’t even remember the last time he had worn it, but apparently he had worn it enough times for eddie to remember. “you want my yellow sweater? i’m sorry, but i just love it too much, i can’t let it go…” he said as he squeezed the other’s hips with a smile, teasing him as he kissed his cheek for a couple of moments and then looked at eddie. “maybe… we’ll see. i have tons of clothes you can go through.” he said with a nod.

he kept kissing the other passionately, pulling him closer every second. it felt right to be this close with eddie, but he still felt like the two needed to talk. if not only to know what… well, what they were. steve wasn’t sure about it, but he needed to understand. it wasn’t easy for him to just go around kissing eddie like everything was alright, but in all honesty, steve cared about him. it was obvious that they weren’t just friends anymore. “i just…” he said.

but he was interrupted by eddie speaking. steve wasn’t even sure if he had an answer for that, but he didn’t think all of those things. he let eddie finish and just as he was about to open his mouth to talk, he heard the cabin door opening and his first instinct was to let go of eddie and take a step back from him. he didn’t even think about it or the impact that it would have, especially when eddie had just said all of those things. “wait, eddie…” he said as he took a step forward to get closer to him again. “i don’t…” he said, trying to figure out what to say. “can we talk somewhere quieter?” he asked, now in a whisper, as he looked over at the person who had just walked inside of the cabin and then back at eddie.

+++

eddie furrowed his brows, trying to search the expression behind steve's eyes, he pulled back slightly. "'something else'? like, what, steve? you keep talking in riddles.... hey, you should try dm-ing sometime at hellfire. that'd be hot." eddie gave him a tongue in teeth grin, swaying side to side as he got closer to him again. and despite the warmth of the day cooling down, eddie suddenly felt oddly warm, with steve's arms wrapped snugly around him. it was dangerous, how quickly he'd gotten used to it.

eddie grimaced, gave steve an over-exaggerated full body shiver at the mention of going swimming. yeah, no, all of the kings guards and all of the kings men couldn't get him back into that lake. no matter how hot hawkins got in the summer, eddie would gladly take the community pool or any other body of water over lover's lake.

"no, steve, no offense but your other clothes just won't do. it has to be the yellow sweater.", eddie said, whined almost, and shrugged. "won't settle for less, big boy."

and eddie had leaned back in again, ready for the requested last kiss to smooth the hit of steve's rejection when the cabin door suddenly swung open and steve all but leaped from his arms. with fluttering lids, brows drawn together and his lips parted slightly, he exhaled shakily, watched steve closely as he took a step towards him again. as he did, eddie took one back. pulling his lip in with his teeth, he gave a weak scoff.

"i see.", eddie said quietly, spat almost. he didn't miss how steve's gaze drifted to the side but he didn't bother follow it, eddie couldn't give two fucks about who had just walked in, interrupted their moment. he gulped, scrunched his nose up, eyes darting between steve's. breath going faster, hear threatening to burst out of his chest, but not in the way it had the first time he and steve had kissed, for example. no this was the exact opposite of that happy, excited feeling.

eddie pressed his tongue to the roof of hiw mouth when he felt his eyes water, he'd read somewhere that that stopped you from crying. and he really didn't want to give steve the satisfaction of crying in front of him.

"you know what, harrington? spare me your... explanations, apologies, whatever. i’m not mad, promise.", accentuating his words with exaggerated gestures, hands flying about. "i don't really care what this was for you, steve. some... experiment, a little joke with your jock friends or... i don't know, releasing some tension after wheeler dumped you. whatever." he shrugged. "i don't.... care, steve, really. but.... i thought we were friends. you didn't have to be so fucking mean about it."

voice a little shaker now, eddie let out a sad chuckle, scratched the back of his neck. "see you around, king steve.", he whispered, averted his gaze and walked past steve out the cabin.

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·:

.

steve smiled at eddie’s reaction, and he couldn’t blame him. steve himself was a little surprised that he was dating eddie. he was dating him. that was real. king steve wouldn’t believe it either if this had happened during high school, but he was too busy being an asshole to eddie. to everyone. it was weird to think about how he used to do that. he didn’t like looking back to high school and be remembered of all of that. while in the end of their friendship he had blamed tommy hagan and carol for everything, the truth was that he was as much to blame as the two of them. he didn’t even know why eddie had chosen to forgive him for allowing his friends to torment him, but… this was definitely going well for the two of them now. they were dating. and for as long as steve could predict, there was nothing that could separate them. and steve liked the idea of that - with nancy, there had always been doubts. with eddie, there was nothing in their way.

he had been lost in his thoughts. he kept his eyes glued to eddie. it was addicting to look at him and he couldn’t get enough. he was glad that no one else had access to his thoughts, because he was pretty sure people would make fun of them. but steve really did like looking at eddie - and before all of this, he would do it when no one was watching. or at least, when he thought no one was watching. and now he was all his to look at for as long as he wanted. a small smile formed on his lips, not leaving his face for a long time as he watched his now boyfriend so close to him.

“i am not… a dork, eddie munson. i was popular because i was… co-captain of the swimming team and i was also in the basketball team. and… i had and still have great hair.” he said with a small chuckle, looking over at eddie with a smile. “i would have never joined hellfire club back then… but now, maybe… i would. for you. and you know, i would have to say that it was because of dustin too, or else he would be jealous.” he said with a small chuckle again, holding on to his chest for a few moments as he took a deep breath and looked at eddie. “speaking of… dustin… have you talked to him? he seemed… pretty upset last i saw him.” he said with a sigh. the two cared too much about the kid, he was family for both of them at this point and they both hated when he was down, although it was sort of impossible not to be after what happened.

steve didn’t like talking about his family, in fact, he hated it. he knew that eddie had meant well when he had brought it up, but he couldn’t help but to be a little sad about it. he knew that most parents would visit their kid if they were in the hospital, but steve’s parents weren’t like most. but that was another story for another day. he didn’t feel like talking about. he looked over at eddie as he talked about wayne and his casserole, a small smile forming on his lips again as he heard him talk. steve knew that eddie’s parents weren’t that present either, but at least eddie had wayne. and wayne was a sweetheart, from the interactions steve had with him. nodding his head with a smile, he looked at the other. “i… i would like that a lot, eddie. you can tell him… but only if it’s not… a burden to come visit me or whatever. i don’t want to bother him.” he assured the other with a sigh.

+++

eddie waved it off with a dramatic eyeroll. “yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself, man. though i gotta agree with the great hair part. can’t deny it, much as it wounds me.” a melodramatic sigh, it soon shifted and made way for a light-hearted chuckle as he lifted his hand to gently card his fingers through steve’s hair. awfully careful, so as not to pull too much and end up hurting him. “i’m afraid that best feature of yours has seen better days, sweetheart...”, he muttered, lips twisted into a pitying crooked smile as he absent-mindedly scissored his fingers to detangle a knot in his hair. “but i got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. don’t you worry, we’ll get you back that title of steve ‘the hair’ harrington in no time.”

he kept his hand there for a moment, contuing to detangle steve’s hair, eddie grinned, all wide and toothy. “you would willingly join hellfire, huh?” the thought alone seemed outlandish, with a stifled chuckle eddie recalled the wheeler’s bbq, when steve had sat on his lap, looking all sorts of lost while eddie had attempted to explain the rules of dnd to him in hushed whispers. “you know, there’s no need to sweet talk me anymore, harrington. already got me wrapped around your finger.”

the mention of dustin brought that same worry wrinkle to his brows that was seemingly ever present on steve’s face, he nodded. “i’ve seen him, yeah. he came by. he’s - he’s alright, i think. seemed fine. considering.” he twisted his lips into what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, yet eddie couldn’t completely shake his worries off. the second he’d seen him and suzie go into that tent his heart had dropped, a feeling he’d not forget too soon. there was no parallel universe where eddie wouldn’t worry about dustin. there was none in which he wouldn’t care. there was a running joke, about how steve and later eddie had sort of adopted dustin. eddie didn’t have any siblings, or none he knew of, but he rather thought that this was how one felt about a younger brother. a son, even, if you will.

eddie mirrored his smile, nodded too. “i’ll let him know. it’s on his way, anyway. and he offered, so.” a shrug, eddie fell silent for a moment, simply looked at steve. it was as if he could feel his heart swell, and he wondered if it would always be like this when he looked at steve. when eddie spoke a couple of beats later his voice was soft, low. “you’re so beautiful, steve.” and, adding a pained timbre to his voice, he added: “i was so worried. i ... still don’t - i’m afraid this isn’t real. does that make sense?”

walkie talks || steddie

steve: i wasn't, it's just hard

steve: i didn't say that...

steve: do you want me to come over?

steve: i'm...

eddie: but you thought it, didn't you

eddie: my uncle's out till late so if you want to talk then come over. i don't know what you'd want to talk about but... if you do then by all means.

eddie: you're.... what, harrington?

zccming·:

WHO: max mayfield & @eddiemcnson· WHAT: max checks in with eddie. WHERE: forest hills trailer park.

if max had to guess, she’d say she got a solid half hour of sleep in her twenty-four hours at the hospital. and that had been when she was waiting to get her hands stitched up per steve’s request. eventually, she checked on everyone one last time for the night, then peeled out of the hospital and straight for the trailer park. she was banking on eddie having been released and if he hadn’t yet? she was fully prepared to burn hawkins p.d to the fucking ground. it was like as soon as max ticked one concern off her post-disaster checklist, five more got added to the bottom. she didn’t have enough sleep on her side to keep up with it all, but she was trying. and in all fairness? it got infinitely easier to do when she ran out of tears to cry at around five o’clock in the evening that same day. 

skating from the hospital to the trailer park was a fucking trip and a half. max had learned that the hard way back in ‘86 when she stubbornly insisted she could still skateboard home with a broken arm. luckily for her, a car full of her friends who knew she was being stupid about the whole thing followed close behind to pick her up when she gave up less than halfway into the journey. max’s hands might have been bandaged, and her mind might’ve been a little broken following the warped record of what happened in the past twenty-four hours, but this time, she made it the whole way. it was the one place it made sense to go to first, share the news about steve.

carelessly, she chucked her board somewhere in the yard on her arrival, and willed her tired body to sprint up the steps and bang on the door. when eddie opened it, relief washed over her as she hugged him and refused to let go for a long minute, a minute where she didn’t think about how bad it was out there, and live in the space where she was happy she hadn’t lost another brother. when max stepped back she croaked up at him, “how fucked are you?” then she nodded a little, “don’t sugar coat it, munson.” she demanded. standing still, max suddenly felt jittery and couldn’t wait for his answer before interrupting him again, “wait, first, sit down.” she started barking orders the moment she got out of the house of mirrors, and hadn’t stopped since. figuring eddie hadn’t had the sense to eat, because she hadn’t, she beelined for the kitchen and got to fixing them…bowls of cereal. while she was digging in the fridge for milk, she called out to him, “you can answer now.” it took her about five minutes after that to sit down with their bowls that were most likely going to remain untouched. 

+++

despite his various run ins with the law over the years, eddie had only ever been arrested once before, when some nosy nelly had caught him with a joint in gareth's garage freshman year, and had promptly reported them. moving to chicago had made him clean up his act, or rather hide his act more proficiently. he wasn't dealing anymore, hadn't been since graduation, and when the cops once again raided one of the bars he frequented he was the first to pluck that bandana from his back pocket and book it.

returning to hawkins for the summer, eddie had been prepared for lots of things. dirty looks burning into his back, sneers, maybe even a couple pushes and shoves here and there. but he'd expected to be relatively safe, seeing as he'd planned to lay low, anyway. and now? now it was like '86 all over again. the upside down had undeniably snuck its way back into their lives, eddie felt the effects weigh heavy on his mind as he absentmindedly rubbed the burns that officer callahan's handcuffs had left on his wrists.

just like 86, when he'd woken up chained to a hospital bed until hopper and some dubious government agents had come through with a cover story, clearing him of all charges. just like 86, when he'd looked up from where he'd been pushed to the ground by callahan, he'd caught the curious bystander's looks. accusatory glances as he was manhandled to the back of the police car. 'that's him', they seemed to whisper among themselves, 'that's that deadbeat satan worshipper that killed all those kids' 86. no wonder he's responsible for this, too. '

he'd been home for approximately an hour or two when max had come knocking at his door. eddie hadn't slept a wink and it showed, lids threatening to flutter shut at any given moment, palms nearly bloody from how he'd nervously scratched at them for hours. when max had come knocking he'd simply opened the door, no 'hello', no 'thank fuck you're okay', not even a nod, he'd stepped aside to let her in. closed the door, then followed her order to sit down, the sofa felt weird underneath him, a sharp contrast to the rough, hard bench in the prison cell.

his eyes focused on nothing in particular, eddie coughed, mouth feeling awfully dry. when was the last time he'd had a sip of water? max's hands carrying the bowls came into view, he frowned. "what happened to your hand? are you hurt?"

colemontgomeryx·:

xx.

Instinctively, Cole’s hand snaked around Eddie’s neck, a desperate attempt to pull him closer. Cole sighed into Eddie’s lips, allowing his chest to rest on Eddie’s. Tilting his head, Cole brought his other hand to Eddie’s face, cupping his jawline and stroking his cheek.

It had been a while– a few months, at least– since Cole had been kissed, and the clandestine nature of their meeting didn’t help the fluttering in his stomach. He knew he and Eddie would never be together in any real sense, but right here, right now, the future didn’t matter. As far as he was concerned, the future didn’t even exist.

Cole pulled away, just for a moment to catch his breath, and ran his thumb over Eddie’s lips. Lifting his gaze to meet Eddie’s eyes, Cole’s mouth twisted into a smile. “You’re pretty good at this, Munson,” he remarked, pulling his face back to Eddie’s– daring him to lean in again. 

+++

he melted into the kiss, well, eddie had expected ole to be a good kisser but this ? this blew his expectations. so differet from the encounters he’s had in chicago, all rushed and messy, and oddly...cold and distant where it should be intimate and warm. kissing ole was a welcome change to that, the way he softly cupped his cheek, leaning into him.

eddie chased his lips when they pulled apart, a dazed, glossy look in his eyes. he blinked, lips parted and swollen, breath shallow, his heart beating so fast it was threatening to burst out of his chest any second now. a  grin tugged at his lips. “yeah, well, i can only return the compliment, montgomery.” his hands found cole’s waist, drawing him in closer.

and while there was certainly a different person in the back of his head, eddie noted that kissing cole felt vastly different than how he imagined kissing steve to be. and maybe that was a good thing. maybe that would actually ground him, in a way, bring him back to the realms of what was possible and what was seemingly destined to play out in his fantasies only. this was cole, not steve, eddie repeated to himself. it was cole and it would likely never be steve. and right now, that was more than okay.

because kissing cole was maybe the best thing he’d felt in a long time. “don’t let it go to your head, though.”, he grinned, took hold of cole’s chin and drew him in closer. his lips found cole’s easily now, they moved together in a steady, comfortable rhythm.

eddie munson in stranger things s04e01 ↳ chapter one: the hellfire club, “’86, baby!”

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.

loverboymontgomery·:

who: Cole & @eddiemcnson·

where: the shores of Lover’s Lake

What a weird fucking night it had been. It was already weird enough for Cole to come to an open-invitation camping trip. Add onto that that Adam, his resurrected boyfriend, was helping to plan it. And then everything that had actually happened in the lake. Ninety percent of Cole was internally screaming at him to go home– but he wanted to be a good sport and a supportive boyfriend, and besides, whatever ‘injury’ he had earlier was now gone. 

Still, Cole needed a reprieve from the crowd; apparently shit had gone down in the cabin, too, and Adam was being the usual Good Samaritan and helping some stragglers put their tents together. So, Cole slipped away back towards the lake. He was certainly going to keep his distance from the water, but something about the scene and the sun setting on the lake’s horizon was enough to calm his fears from before. 

As he rounded the corner and heard the chatter behind him die down, Cole spotted a figure closer to the shore. That hair was unmistakeable, and a grin broke out onto Cole’s face. “Hey, Munson!” he called to announce his presence. Though they hadn’t spoken much since that day in the mall (and they hardly spoke that day either, to be fair), Cole felt incredibly comfortable with Eddie. Like they’d been friends for years. “You hoping to find the Lochness monster down here or something?” 

+++

god, it had been an eventful six-ish hours at the lake,and eddie was more than ready to just fuck it and go home again. he'd even debated sleeping in the van but after what had went down he wasn't sure if he'd be brave enough to be on his own tonight.

a nice, simple, fun, relaxing camping trip had sounded like a hell of an idea, once he'd found out about it he'd been all game. not to say that the fact that they were camping at lover's lake didn't make him uneasy, oh god it did. everytime his gaze fell on the open water he gulped, a ghastly shiver running down his spine as he remembered the events of spring break '86. watergate. the upside down.

still he'd come along, because what else was there to do? soon enough the fun had turned sour, when adam and cole had been dragged down in the water, when dustin had started acting weird, apparently some shit had gone down over at the cabin, too, but he could barely even wrap his head around what had happened at the shore. in true hawkins fashion, the paranormal apparently couldn't take a day off.

he needed a break. he needed some time to clear his head, so eddie had split from the group. to breathe, have a smoke, be alone with his racing thoughts for a moment. though the solitary didn't last long.

a lopsided grin, eddie awkwardly waved at cole, cigarette between his fingers. a faint blush rising to his cheeks as memories of the day of the mall protest flooded his mind. "nah, not here for nessie. just.... needed a break. from all this." he shrugged, took a drag. "how's your ankle, montgomery?"

where: the hospital

what: a sleep-deprived, traumatized eddie visits an unconcious steve

who: @stevehharringtcns​ + eddie

despite max’s insistence to wait until the morning, get some shut eye and straighten himself out, eddie found himself wandering the hall so hawkins’ hospital. the circles under his eyes darker then his messy, tangled and frizzy hair, a worry wrinkle on his forehead that hadn’t gone away since he’d seen jack foreman knocking steve out. it was tempting to say that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this awful, but that would be an outright lie. oh, eddie remembered. only then, the roles were reversed - with him waking up in a hospital bed, though chained to it, and steve probably wandering the halls, pacing up and down the corridors. 

he blinked rapidly, his eyes felt weirdly dry and strained from the harsh led lights above him him. max had told him what room steve was in, and so far eddie had managed to successfully sneak by various nurses and guards unnoticed. finding the room was another question, eddie could barely make out the numbers on the doors clearly, and in his sleep-deprived states, all corridors looked the same to him. like an endless maze.

another left turn, then a right, eddie was right back where he started and every step was nauseating, he felt heavy, every inhale getting more and more difficult. so when he finally reached steve’s room he didn’t even bother looking left and right to see if he was beinf watched, eddie bursted through the door,  letting it fall shut with a semi-loud ‘bang’. 

lips trembling as his eyes settled on steve. laying in his bed, his hospital bed, with all sorts of monitors hooked up, beeping deafeningly loud. eddie exhaled shakily, drew his brows together tightly, he swallowed as he approached the other’s bedside. fingers absent-mindedly ghosting over the bruises - burns, more like - that officer callahan’s handcuffs had left on his wrist. “.....steve?” voice meek, eddie nearly choked on a sob. there was time to cry about all of this later, he scolded himself. first he had to make sure that steve was ok. “can you hear me?”