Chapter Text
“You got this, Eds.” Steve gently ran his fingers through Eddie`s hair, while the older teen stared at the paper cards in his hands. “We`ve studied all night, we got this.”
“I know!” Eddie groaned, turning on his seat to look at his boyfriend. “It`s just… urgh! These are my first tests as a Junior, I`m terrified of messing it up and failing it and then having to repeat Junior year, too, and get behi –”
“Hey, hey” Steve cut him short, holding both his lover`s hands in his. “You`re going to do great. I trust you, okay? We`ve been up all night long studying and repeating every exercise three to four times! You got this, Eds. Okay? I promise you, you got this.” the metalhead sighed, leaning close to Steve and resting their foreheads together.
“It was really hard to stay up all night with you and not even be allowed to touch you. You`re really mean, you know that?” Steve bit his lips in a smile and leaned closer, softly brushing his lips against Eddie’s.
“You can do something about that later, yeah?”
“Oh, I will, sweetheart.” Eddie grinned mischievously, rubbing their lips together, before he gently held the back of Steve’s neck and brought him closer. “I love you.” Steve smiled softly, and Eddie felt like he could stay there, looking into his lover’s eyes all day long, feeling his heart beating faster because of how much love his boyfriend always had in his eyes every single time they looked at each other.
“I love you, too.” Steve pecked Eddie’s lips slowly, nodding once at his boyfriend. “You got this, yeah?”
“Hell, yeah, baby! I got this. I got this!” Eddie clapped his hands twice, grinning confidently.
“That’s the spirit! Come on, let`s go ace this test then.” Steve opened the driver`s door, leaving the car.
“We should talk about getting a prize if I actually do good in this test, huh?” Eddie stepped out of the car and closed the door, before he leaned against the vehicle and wiggled his eyebrows at his boyfriend, who just chuckled and fondly rolled his eyes.
“Didn’t we just do that, Eds?” Steve raised one eyebrow at his lover, who was walking towards him.
“Stevie, my angel, my precious light, no.” Eddie grinned mischievously as he stopped in front of Steve and put his hands on his hips, bringing him closer. “We talked about little old me doing something later about the fact that I couldn’t touch you all night long – not about what I’m actually going to do, huh? Enters: my prize.”
Steve hummed lightly, smiling at his lover’s antics. And trying to ignore how his heart was beating faster while Eddie held him so close – he loved Eddie’s hands on him.
“Oh, right, yeah. So, I’ll guess you definitely already have something in mind, no?” Eddie smirked and nodded quietly, leaning closer to Steve. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, kinda since the first minute we started studying yesterday.” Eddie admitted proudly, rubbing his lips against Steve’s. “I was thinking maybe we co… ” the metalhead frowned, stopping mid-sentence when the sound of an engine roar reverberated through the school’s parking lot. “What the fuck?” he leaned slightly back, and saw Steve frowning back at him, before both of them turned their heads towards the other side of the parking lot, and saw a blue Camaro stopping on the spot in front of where they stood.
“New student?” Steve raised one eyebrow when the Camaro`s passenger door opened and a redhead girl got out, slamming the door shut, before she placed her skateboard on the floor and started skating towards Hawkins` Middle School just as the driver`s door opened, too. “Oh… holy fuck” – Steve whispered in awe, eyes locked on the blond, long-haired, tall boy that stepped out of the car.
“Holy fuck is the correct word, baby.” Eddie turned his head to look at his boyfriend and smirked, seeing how Steve’s cheeks were slightly pink.
The metalhead turned his head back to look at the blond boy, just in time to see him light up a cigarette, while his eyes swept down Steve’s body like he was unwrapping a gift, slow and deliberate, before he smirked and walked towards the school’s entrance.
“You saw that, too, right?” Steve asked, eyes wide as he turned to look at his boyfriend, who had a knowing look in his eyes and a wide grin on his lips.
“What? The guy`s big ass or the way he was looking at you like you`re the hottest person on earth? Because I saw both, baby.” Eddie grinned, leaning close to Steve`s ear. “You got my permission, princess.” Steve felt his knees almost buckle at that, Eddie`s hand going to squeeze his waist. “Come on, we need to get to class, sweetheart.” he pecked Steve`s lips, holding his hand as they walked into the school.
“I don’t even know if he wan –”
“Baby, my love, the light of my cold, dark life, he looked at you like I look at you when we`re horny in the bedroom. I promise you, he does.” Eddie interrupted his boyfriend, squeezing his hand gently, a soft look in his eyes.
“He`s really hot.” Steve bit his lip, smiling.
“You can do something about that later, pretty boy.” Eddie winked at his boyfriend, letting out a fond laugh when Steve shoved him playfully, his cheeks turning pink.
“You sure?” Steve turned his head to look at him, eyes searching for any sign of discomfort on his lover`s face.
“Baby, remember what we talked about before we got together?” Steve bit his lip, nodding softly. “What was it, love?”
“If we are both comfortable and we both agree on something, then we can do it. But we always need to communicate and be honest about it first.” Steve quoted Eddie`s words from the morning after their first night together.
“Good job, baby.” Eddie smiled proudly, squeezing Steve`s hand. “We`ll talk more later, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Steve smiled softly at him as they walked into the classroom.
.
.
“El?” Steve called as he opened the door, stepping into Hopper`s cabin. Eddie followed right behind him. “We`re here, kid!”
“Steve!” the door to the girl`s room opened, and she ran towards the boy, enveloping him in a hug.
“Hey, kid.” Steve smiled fondly, hugging Eleven back.
“Eddie” El hugged him next, an excited grin on her lips.
“Hey, super-girl” Eddie ruffled her short, messy hair. “You hungry? Stevie made some brownies last night, and, swear to god – best thing you`ll ever eat.”
“You say that about everything I make, baby.” Steve smiled softly, making his way to the kitchen.
“It`s just the facts, sweetheart!” Eddie winked at his boyfriend, who rolled his eyes fondly.
“facts?” El broke the hug, frowning as her eyes moved between the boyfriends.
“Yeah, it`s like, uh… the truth! Facts is like, just another way to say that something is true. It’s a fact.” Steve explained calmly, placing the bowl with the brownies on top of the table.
“Facts.” El repeated, nodding slowly. “Eddie is right. It`s a fact.” Steve chuckled fondly, taking off the lid of the bowl.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m amazing, I know.” he smiled, shaking his head softly, making his way into the living room. “So, what are we doing today, kid?” El smiled brightly, rushing to her room and coming back in a second, holding a small bag in her hands.
“Nails?” Eddie grinned happily. “I love that one!”
“And your hairs.” she looked at Steve and Eddie’s hair, assessing what she would do on the light-brown waves and the messy, dark curls.
“I want braids and the flower clips you got!” Steve raised his hand, and El nodded seriously, taking notes on her mind while she sat down on the floor.
“Oh, I brought this” Eddie remembered, kneeling down to open his backpack, taking a tape from it right after. “I made us a mixtape!” he smiled excitedly, eyes moving between El and Steve.
“mixtape?” El parroted confusedly, frowning softly.
“It`s a tape that has a bunch of music in it. Mixed songs, mixtape.” Eddie explained, handing the tape to the girl.
“I like music.” El smiled softly, taking the tape, so she could look down and turn it around in her hands carefully.
“I know, kid. I wouldn’t hang out with you if you didn’t.” Eddie stared seriously at the girl, who stuck her tongue out at him. Of course, he did the same back at her.
Steve chuckled, throwing a pillow at his boyfriend.
“How was school?” El asked while she scooted closer to Steve`s side, grabbing a piece of brownie from the bowl on the coffee table.
“It was good. Remember that test we had? We did good on it!” Eddie exclaimed, crawling towards the other two, sitting by Steve`s other side and grabbing a piece of brownie, too.
“That`s good.” El nodded, mouth full. “I wish I could go to school. It sounds… metal?” she looked at Eddie, who, despite being proud of the kid`s word choice, froze on the spot, not knowing what to say. Lie to her?
He looked at his boyfriend, eyes begging for help.
“It is metal, yes, but it`s also, uh… tiring.” Steve started, chuckling fondly at Eddie`s desperate look. “But, I`m sure you`ll love it.”
“You think I`ll ever go?” El`s voice was small, hopeful, and her eyes lit up softly.
Steve felt like his heart was breaking on the spot and he just wanted to give her the whole world, because that’s what she deserved.
“Of course you`ll go, kid. You won`t stay home forever. This is just temporary, yeah?” Steve touched the girl`s shoulder, gently squeezing it.
“Feels like it.” El looked at Steve, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“I know, kid. I promise it isn`t, though. Hopper`s just making sure you stay safe, and right now for you to stay safe you need to hide.”
“I know. But I don’t like it.” El shrugged, sighing softly. “But I like that you stay with me.”
“We like it, too, kid.” Eddie smiled softly, ruffling the girl`s hair.
She smiled, grabbing another piece of brownie.
“This is good.” Eleven looked seriously at Steve.
“I told you.” Eddie winked at her.
“I can teach you how to make these next time we stay here.” Steve offered kindly, grabbing a piece for himself.
“You can?” she smiled excitedly.
“Yeah, of course. Maybe we can make a whole batch together – brownies and mixtapes day. What do you think?” – Steve looked at El, while taking a bite of the brownie. Eddie and El were right – it was, in fact, really good.
“That sounds like the most metal domestic life I’ve ever heard.” Eddie said fondly, a large grin on his lips.
El tilted her head slightly. “Domestic?”
“It means like… cozy, homey stuff, you know? Like baking, doing each other’s hairs, playing music. Stuff people do when they feel safe and comfortable together.” – Steve explained calmly, leaning back against the couch.
El smiled, her eyes softening. “I like domestic.”
They sat like that for a moment – brownies in hand, the three on them leaning against each other, feeling safe inside the wooden cabin.
A few minutes later, an engine could be heard from outside the cabin, and Steve and Eleven looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
“Late.” El mumbled through a full mouth, before she put her hand up, and the front door opened.
“Late.” Steve agreed, waiting while Hopper made his way towards the cabin.
“Hey, kids” the man walked into the cabin, closing the door behind him as he took his hat off. “What did we talk about opening the door? You have to wait for my signal.” Hopper looked pointedly at El, who shrugged.
“Don’t worry so much, old man, we knew it was you.” Eddie grinned at the man, who just looked at him flatly, making him look down and stuff a piece of brownie in his mouth.
Hopper held back a laugh and made his way to the kitchen.
“old man”? Steve raised one eyebrow at his boyfriend, an amused, fond look in his eyes – he knew it came out because Eddie called Wayne that way.
“Shut up” Eddie whispered through a full mouth.
“So,” Hopper walked back into the living room, holding a beer in his hand. “how was school today?” he sat on his armchair, and ruffled Steve`s hair, before taking a sip of his drink.
“It was good.” Steve smiled softly, handing his piece of brownie to Hopper, who accepted it happily.
“And your test?” the man took a bite of the brownie, groaning softly at it. “Jesus, it`s like you`re improving the recipe each time you make this.” Steve chuckled, headbutting Hopper`s knee softly.
“We did good on the test.” Eddie smiled, sharing a look with his boyfriend, who nodded. “We studied all night, so… it was kinda easy.”
“Good, I`m proud of you two.” Hopper told them, a soft smile on his lips. “How was your day, kid?” he looked at El.
“Nice” she looked at Steve, who nodded at her, a small smile on his lips. “I watched TV and painted my nails… was going to paint Steve`s and Eddie`s, too.”
“I want black! Oh, and purple!” Eddie exclaimed, grabbing the small, red bag El had brought with her.
“Did you go with Joyce today? How`s she? And Will?” Steve turned his head to look at Hopper, while El and Eddie went through the bag, picking the colors for their nails.
“Yeah, yeah I did” Hopper sighed tiredly. “She`s worried… Will had another episode last night.” Steve nodded softly.
“Yeah, Dustin told me about it…” he looked down, fidgeting with his fingers. “how`s he?” Hopper sighed heavily, sitting up.
“Owens said he`s going through some “anniversary effect”. He`s been having these episodes because it`s getting close to the date where everything happened.”
“Like PTSD?” Eddie frowned sympathetically, listening to the conversation while El painted his nails.
“Yeah, and Owens told us it`s… he`s probably gonna get worse before he gets better, he`ll probably be irritable, have more nightmares and episodes, maybe have some sort of personality change, too.” Hopper told them quietly, taking a sip of his beer.
“Shit” Steve exhaled softly. “and can we do anything to help?” he frowned concernedly, and Hopper gave him a small smile, moving his hand to card his fingers through the boy`s hair.
“Just be there for him and wait until it gets better… that`s the best we can do, kid.”
“He`ll get better.” El said firmly, eyes confident as she looked up at Steve.
“Yeah, I know he will… he`s strong. This just sucks, and I hate that he’s going through this after everything that happened.” Steve sighed quietly, feeling like there was a rock inside his heart, making it heavy.
“Hey, we`ll get through this with him, sweetheart.” Eddie smiled reassuringly at his lover and extended his hand, taking Steve`s in his.
Steve smiled softly at his boyfriend, before looking back at Hopper.
“How was at the station today?” Hopper snorted at that, shaking his head slightly. “What happened?” Steve raised one eyebrow, eyes slightly amused.
“You know Merril? The farmer?” Steve frowned, before he raised both his eyebrows and nodded. “He called today, accusing his neighbor of contaminating and killing his pumpkins.”
“Shit, did he?” Eddie`s eyes were slightly wide as he shared an amused look with his lover.
“I mean, the pumpkins were definitely dead, but I don’t think his neighbor did that shit – the field was gone, all his pumpkins were rotten..”
“rotten?” El looked up from where she was painting Eddie`s nails, a confused look in her eyes.
“It`s when something goes bad, like you can`t eat it because it`s not good for consume anymore, you know?” Steve explained calmly, turning his head to look at El, who nodded slowly.
“Rotten means something bad, right?” the kid looked at Steve, who nodded softly.
“Yeah, exactly. Something bad..” Steve ruffled the girl’s hair, making her giggle.
“Got it..” El nodded certainly this time, and looked back down to Eddie`s nails.
“So… I mean, maybe someone else did it for him? The neighbor..” Eddie suggested, shrugging slightly.
“Yeah, Merril said the same shit – said Eugene`s guys could`ve done it, but I don`t think so. Eugene`s a nice guy, has always been.”
“What do you think happened then?” Steve furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
“I honestly have no idea, kid...” Hopper leaned back into his chair, taking another sip of his beer.
.
.
“Hey there” Eddie grinned as he got on the bed, lying on top of Steve.
“Hi there” Steve smiled softly, moving his hand to touch Eddie`s hair, gently running his fingers through it.
“Can we maybe get our prize for doing good on the test?” the metalhead kissed Steve`s nose gently, his grin softening when they both just looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, relaxing in the security and peace of the moment.
“Can we talk before?” Steve asked quietly, rubbing their noses together, a soft smile on his lips.
“Always, baby.” Eddie agreed, pecking his lover`s lips, before he rolled to the side and sat on the bed, legs crossed. “Is it about the new boy?” he guessed.
“Yeah…” Steve sat up, copying Eddie`s position, both boys sitting in front of each other, their legs touching. “I`m just…” he bit his lip, looking down to his lap, where he was picking his nails with his fingers.
“Hey” Eddie noticed his boyfriend`s action in a second, and took Steve`s hands in his. “Don’t do that.”
“Sorry” Steve mumbled, inhaling deeply. “I`m just scared.” Eddie frowned, squeezing Steve`s hands gently.
“Of what, my love?” Steve felt his eyes sting.
“Just… of proving Tommy`s point.” he confessed in a whisper.
“Baby.. I`m not following, sweetheart.”
“That I`m a whore.” Steve chuckled wetly, looking up for a second, before back down at their hands intertwined together. “God, you treat me so well and you love me so much, Eds, and I still want to –”
“Stop.” Eddie`s voice was stern. “Look at me, baby.” Steve bit his lip, looking up at his boyfriend, eyes searching for any sign of anger and disappointment, but he found nothing but love and concern there. “Stevie, my love..” Eddie`s warm hands moved up to cradle Steve`s face. “I love you. God, I love you more than anything in this world, baby. And I always want to see you happy. Always.”
“I love you, too, Eds” Steve whispered brokenly.
“I know, baby. I know it with all my heart. And that`s why I don’t mind you having sex or, I don’t know, even getting to know this boy. Because I know, that even if you do that, you still love me. God, you`re just having human feelings. It`s normal. And we talked about it when we got together, remember? About how we would always be open to try and experiment?” – Steve nodded weakly. – “This is something for us to try and experiment. If you have sex with the blondie and you like it, all I`m gonna ask from you is all the details. Explicitly. God knows I`ll have the time of my life with it, baby. Maybe I`ll even get the chance to watch it next time!” Steve laughed wetly, letting his tears fall, and Eddie`s eyes softened, his heart giving a painful squeeze in his chest as he watched his boyfriend cry in front of him. “You are not a whore, sweetheart. Fuck that asshole for saying that, fuck him for just existing. He doesn’t get to tell what you can or can`t do. Neither does he get to tell you what you are or aren’t.”
“Eddie…” Steve whimpered, and his boyfriend gently maneuvered him, bringing him onto his lap to hold him close, wrapping his arms tightly around his body.
“I`m here, baby.” Eddie kissed Steve`s temple. “I`m here and I love you so much, sweetheart.”
“I love you so much, too” Steve cried, hiding his face on Eddie`s neck.
“I`m still gonna kill Hagan one day.” Steve laughed along with a sob at his lover’s words.