Chapter Text
Was he crazy for doing this? He felt like this was absolutely insane. For someone in his field of work and notoriety…this just didn’t seem like what people like him did. No, this was more for influencers or someone with an average job to do this sort of thing to look for love. But him? Eddie Munson? Rockstar?
“Inconceivable,” he breathed.
Then again, normal dating was kind of out of the question nowadays. He couldn’t necessarily go on any of the dating apps—and yes, that did include Raya for celebrities or for anyone that made enough money to have their jaw drop—because most were only after one thing: sex. Actually, two things, sex and money. Scammers really stepped up their games.
Now, Eddie didn’t come up with this idea on his own. Oh no, no, no, this was the work of his bandmates of Corroded Coffin, along with their manager, and one of his best friends, Nancy Wheeler. She heard them good naturedly ribbing in the studio because Eddie’s lyrics had turned even more cynical and depressed about being lonely and not finding love. He couldn’t help that his inspiration had taken a different turn. He wrote about what he was feeling and thinking. It couldn’t always be about D&D, being a misfit, his life growing up, or his sexuality being of the pan variety.
Nancy took it upon herself to set up a meeting with some head executives of a television show. Eddie had innocently and naively thought it was going to be a documentary or some shit, but it wound up being that they wanted him as their new bachelor on their show called The Honeypot. He’d heard about it, but only because Jeff was obsessed with it by being a hopeless romantic. The execs had apparently been sending messages to Nancy for an entire year in hopes of accepting to be the first official celebrity to do the show. And what better of a person for it to be than the hottest metalhead on the charts in the last 8 years?
That meeting had been two weeks ago. He’d given the typical answer that he’d think about it, which he did…long and hard…and he’d said yes. He fucking said yes. What did he have to lose? Well, he had plenty to lose. What if the contestant he wound up choosing in the end said no to him and chose the money? What if they didn’t choose the money and chose him, only to prove that they were in it for the long haul on the gold-digger scale? His thoughts were going wild, and Nancy assured him that the contestants were being vetted for the latter scenario to make sure that that wouldn’t happen.
Eddie nervously played with his tongue piercing on the roof of his mouth. Back and forth, and back and forth…Standing behind the security guards in the proverbial eagle’s nest of the event center, Eddie watched the footage of the crowds entering and filling up the standing room and seats. The reason for this concert was mainly to close out their tour, but it also doubled as the beginning to the show. The contestants were given the VIP package: front row tickets, merch, and the opportunity to go backstage after the show to meet the band. They had no idea that he was their leading man.
The plan was that the contestants were all staying at the same hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana, they were ‘gifted’ the concert to enjoy themselves before the show started in the morning, when really the show started tonight. He wasn’t allowed to know who they were or what their reactions were to finding out their ‘gift’ was a metal concert. Did they appreciate it? Or were they willing to muscle through because it was free and gave them a chance to meet famous people?
Right now, somewhere in all the chaos, 15 people were being checked in and given their stuff. He wished he could see it. Did they know that his pre-concert ritual was hiding out in the security guard area to look at the cameras? He’d done this since the first concert that had a security guard area with footage to even look at. It was his nerves, but it also prepped and calmed him. Nancy probably outed him to the execs that he did this, so the contestants would be off in some blind spot, while he had to wait to catch a glimpse of them in the front row when the lighting effects highlighted the crowd here and there. He would only truly get a good view of them when the concert was over and they came backstage.
Eddie swallowed and sighed. “Good luck tonight,” he told the guards.
“You too,” they both replied.
He walked out of the security room and headed down the hall back to the dressing room. Eddie needed to do a few more things before they went on after the two openers, whose sets were 45 minutes each. It was good because he had time, but it was bad because his nerves couldn’t handle the wait.
Arriving in the dressing room, he plopped down in front of the makeup mirror and picked up an liquid eyeliner pen with a brush tip to do his eyes. After that, it was painting his nails black and red, and after that it was downing some water…then using the bathroom…stretching…bathroom again…etc. When Gareth, Jeff, and Frank all came in, they were carrying food from craft services, and Eddie was laying on the couch staring up at the ceiling.
“Here, man. Got you your favorite,” Gareth said, handing over the plate.
Eddie sat up and gave a thankful smile as he took it. Sweet pork nachos with pinto beans, corn salsa, guac, black olives, and extra cheese sauce. His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t realized he’d been hungry in all of his anxiety. Where would he be without his friends?
Stuffing his face, Nancy entered the dressing room and handed Eddie a napkin.
“Not the best thing for what is to come,” she smiled.
“Maybe not, but it’s comfort. If they don’t like me for what I like to eat or pre-show rituals, then they don’t move onto the next round,” Eddie replied with a shrug.
Nancy nodded. “Exactly. If it’s right, it’s right, if not…”
“Goodbye Felicia,” Frank piped in.
Everyone laughed.
“There isn’t anyone named that, right?” Eddie asked in a panic. “I know you can’t tell me, but that would be cruel if I had to say goodbye to someone with that name on camera. I don’t want them to get hounded.”
Nancy’s expression softened and she patted his head. “No. No one named Felicia. I can tell you that much.” She sighed and looked at the others. “Okay, finish your meals, drink your waters, use that bathroom for the umpteenth time, then we’ll do the final huddle. The 2nd band is on their last song, and then the crew will clear their gear for our main event.”
This was familiar. All of this was familiar, the only thing that wasn’t was the 15 contestants in the audience, the camera crew filming from their hiding spots, and then the after show that began the new season of The Honeypot.
‘Fuck me…’ Eddie thought and stuffed his face some more.
*
The concert went phenomenally well. Eddie was always in his element when he had a guitar and microphone in his hands, moving around the stage like he was a kid hopping around his bedroom listening to the boombox and pretending to do this. Except, he actually was doing this. Yet, the kid within never stopped pretending. He knew that he’d said that in an interview and so many people just fawned over the fact that he didn’t have a major ego of a rockstar, but that he was someone that was still very personable and human.
Eddie knew how to put on a show, whether it was D&D or music, he was golden. The struggle was trying to remember to be himself and still put on a show for The Honeypot that he was being mic’d up for now that the encore was complete. Once more, his tongue moved the ball against the roof of his mouth, but his hands joined the fray by playing with the rings on his fingers. He focused on his breathing and let the television crew do their thing.
“Contestants are in the backstage lounge. Hidden cameramen are in place and the room is set for sound,” someone spoke on their walkie talkie.
His eyes flicked over to them. Fuck, he wished that Nancy was here, but she was busy taking care of the contestants and treating them like VIPs. Gareth, Jeff, and Frank were having their after show drinks and dessert, settling in to watch their friend behind the cameras make his entrance first. No doubt they would tease him later for however he would act in front of 15 people selected just for Eddie Munson.
Oh fuck.
He was about to meet 15 people that he’d have to try to flirt with and date.
“The Honey has a mic and is ready,” the crew stepped away from him.
A woman with short, white-bleached hair, glasses, and a clipboard came up to him with a warm smile.
“You excited? Nervous maybe?” Rachel asked.
Eddie nodded fast and shook his limbs out.
“That’s completely normal. Now, remember, we will be with you every step of the way and make sure that everyone is comfortable. You’re in good hands with Carl and myself,” she assured.
“Yeah…Yeah…that helps. Thanks,” Eddie sighed, glad for the small pep talk.
Rachel motioned for him to walk beside her as they went to his mark outside the door to the lounge room. Eddie’s heart was pounding hard in his chest, his mind raced, and then he remembered that this was how he felt running his first ever D&D campaign as the new leader of Hellfire Club in High school. This was also how he felt when he stepped out on stage the first time with Corroded Coffin, and again when they had their first record deal signing. It was just a new chapter in his life that he would eventually get used to. It wouldn’t be as scary as it was in this exact moment.
He could do this.
Eddie straightened his shoulders and became the confident Eddie that he knew he was outside of his anxious moments.
He didn’t even realize that Rachel had left his side. He heard the ‘all clear, go for door opening’ and his hands reached for the handles to open the door and stepped inside the room to see the 15 faces. Eddie smiled wide, watching them all turn to face him in awe, while he registered each person with his own awe before he noticed two familiar faces that had his heart skipping beats.
Chrissy Cunningham…and Steve Harrington.
Not that everyone wasn’t gorgeous, but the two people from his hometown had made it onto the show as dating contestants. When was Steve Harrington even anything but straight?! Like—
“Hello everyone,” Eddie managed to get out smoothly, reciting the line he was supposed to say. “My name is Eddie Munson, and it looks like I’m your Honey.”
The group of non-binary, women, and men all swooned and grew flustered. A rockstar. That’s what the television show wanted, this very reaction to someone famous that was seeking their counterpart from an array of different walks of life. Though, he knew that there were stereotypes that they leaned into. Steve was clearly the rich jock, Chrissy the former cheerleader, but both were from a small town. He wondered what the others were. His eyes landed on a guy that was eye fucking him with a curly, dirty blonde mullet, and some insanely pretty blue eyes. Jeez, that was intense. Not bad, just intense.
“Glad that you all could make it to my show. I wanted everyone to know what my life was like from the audience’s point of view as well as behind the scenes. I’m looking for someone that can fit into every facet of who I am, including, but not limited to, Corroded Coffin,” he smiled. “Now, don’t worry, you’ll still meet the rest of the guys and get things signed and pictures taken. But first…I’d like to get to know your names one at a time. Feel free to continue helping yourself to the snacks and drinks. Nancy, my manager, and best friend in the whole world will let you know when it is your turn to step up to the mic, so to speak.”
He saw Steve look at Nancy. Eddie knew that they had had a past together back in High School. Steve and Nancy were kind of the couple to be for a bit, before they broke up at a Halloween Party and Nancy started to date Jonathan Byers. That relationship also didn’t last too long. Nancy was someone that very much enjoyed running solo, focusing on her work that used to be journalism, but now was managing Eddie’s band. If he hadn’t asked—No…begged her to be his manager in the beginning, he knew she would still have been miserable at her job at the Hawkins Post with those misogynistic assholes.
The doors opened for Rachel and Carl to come in and talk to the contestants, along with some hair and makeup people to double check that Eddie looked great—he could get a little sweaty from a concert—and that the others that he was meeting were refreshed for their closeups. He could hear the mutterings as he was positioned by a red armchair that he wound up sitting on the arm rest of. Everyone was giving him glances and talking to their ‘competition’ about how surprised they were from the twist the night had taken.
“You’re going to do great,” Nancy said, saddling up beside him.
“Did you know?” he asked.
He waited a few seconds, then looked up at her.
“About Steve and Chrissy? Only when they showed up tonight. Kind of surprised they would have two people from the same town, but…then again…they don’t necessarily live in Hawkins anymore,” she replied.
Eddie nodded. They were not the only ones that sought to get out of that town. The only thing was that while Eddie was famous and traveled the world, he still returned to Hawkins for his uncle that refused to leave. Wayne refused a lot of things, wanting a more simple life, while he appreciated Eddie’s successes in life.
“Have you kept in touch with them since we all graduated and left?” he questioned.
Eddie had had to go through senior year 3 times. If he’d graduated when he should’ve, it would’ve been a year before Steve. If he’d graduated the 2nd time, it would have been with Steve. However, he graduated with Nancy and Chrissy on the 3rd round, thanks to Nancy’s tutoring assistance on that one. It was how they became friends. Of course, that was 10 years ago, when Eddie had been 20 years old. He was 30 now…Oh how the time flew by after that.
“I mean,” Nancy paused to inhale in thought before she looked at him and sighed. “Social media? But we don’t really talk.”
He raised his brows, intrigued. “That’s more than me. What do they do? Where did they go?”
Nancy shook her head and gave a soft laugh. “You’re going to find out from the sources themselves.”
Eddie pouted and rolled his eyes with a slight whine. “Oh come on, I wanna know. They’re still busy futzing around with their hair and shit.” He waved his ringed fingers in the direction of everyone else.
He could tell that she was debating on giving into him or not. It didn’t take long for him to grin wide, seeing that it’d worked.
“Chrissy is a cheerleader for the Minnesota Vikings,” Nancy began.
Okay, so she moved northwest from her hometown in Indiana.
“And Steve…Steve’s lives here in Indy. I actually don’t know what he does. He keeps his life pretty private, outside of hanging out with Robin, his roommate, or Dustin, who visits often,” she finished.
A mystery…how interesting. Eddie wondered how Steve got through the screening process. Even more interesting was that Dustin never mentioned that he still hung out with Steve from all the times that Eddie had seen his fellow D&D friend that he’d passed the baton to when he graduated years back. Especially on those video calls or in person Hellfire Club meetings the members had when they found the time. Eddie was still very attached to his sheepies that weren’t so lost anymore, but even with his fame, they didn’t treat him any different than the Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson they knew and loved.
Would these people in this room accept his friends and that part of him too?
As far as Eddie knew, Dustin Henderson had some major explaining to do. He might have to call up the rascal when he got home.
“I didn’t even know that he swung both ways,” Nancy added, breaking Eddie’s mental journey. “Same with Chrissy, actually.”
Eddie nodded in agreement. “A surprise for both of us.”
He did wind up squinting up at Nancy, noticing that he’d heard something in her tone when mentioning Chrissy in that part.
Hmm…
“All right, everyone,” Rachel clapped her hands together with a smile. “Nancy will motion to you, when it is your turn to meet Eddie. In the meantime, smile and—”
“Remember this is a television show! So play it up!” Carl announced.
Rachel sighed and gave Carl a look as he walked out of shot of the cameras. “Enjoy yourselves, is what he means,” she said and followed after.
“Good luck,” Nancy whispered and patted his shoulder before going off to her spot to let Eddie shine.
He didn’t feel like shining, though. He felt like melting into the armrest of the armchair, then sliding to the left to further align himself with the furniture and become one with it. Turns out that dating on a television show was just as equally mortifying as doing it without help from Rachel and Carl that had handpicked his ‘matches’ for him personally.
The meet and greet was kind of a speed run of ‘Hi, my name is…’ and what they brought to the table in the smallest sentence they could manage. It was their time to flirt with him and garner his interest, which was pretty easy to do with most of them. That always made it hard because he’d have to cull down the number by 5 before they were to leave the event center.
“I just think it’d be adorable to see you playing the guitar for our future baby,” Maria from New Jersey said.
A baby. Oh god. That was really fast. Eddie wasn’t sure he wanted to even have kids, but he just smiled and nodded politely.
“Move over, Midge,” the curly haired guy snapped.
“It’s Maria.”
“Looks like the same knocked up discontinued Barbie to me,” the guy retorted.
Maria looked extremely offended and moved aside.
“Billy Hargrove,” the guy introduced himself.
Eddie shook his hand. “Could’ve been nicer. She’s just playing the stereotype for the show,” he said.
Billy shrugged. “I’ll apologize later, I promise.”
The grin Billy gave, along with the squeeze of the hand, and gentle release of their grip had Eddie feeling a little flustered. Fuck, the guy knew how to work the charm.
“I’m from California, by the way. Huge fan. Would like to trade favorite bands and playlists to see just how much our tastes in music are in sync,” Billy continued.
Oh yeah, Billy was definitely dangerous. Eddie kind of liked that…but was Billy just there to bed him or was he there for the long haul? That was the question.
“As long as you’re into metal, I think we’ll be just fine,” Eddie replied with a smile.
“Peachy,” Billy winked.
“If that is an innuendo for his ass, that’s just gross,” Steve piped in.
Eddie turned his attention to the man, the myth, the legend…the former King of Hawkins High back in the day, and he still looked as great as Eddie remembered. In fact, maybe even better.
“Harrington,” Eddie smirked.
“Munson,” Steve nodded back, seeming to be a little detached.
Eddie frowned.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Carl asked, rushing over to them with Rachel. “I swear, it’s like Dawn and Trey all over again.”
“Now, now, let them explain before you jump to conclusions,” Rachel tried to calm the man.
Eddie folded his arms and popped his hip. “Steve Harrington and I go way back. We were in High school together, same with Chrissy over there, and Nancy.”
Chrissy took that as her cue to step up beside Steve, joining the conversation fully.
Carl sighed. “Have any of you dated or spent any nights together in an intimate setting?”
“Nope,” Eddie replied quickly about both of them. “We didn’t run in the same circles.”
“But I’m familiar with his tabletop speeches in the cafeteria during lunch,” Steve said, crossing his own arms. “Always about forced conformity, right?”
Eddie licked his lips and smiled with a breathy chuckle. Steve remembered.
“Even though we didn’t talk, I admired that he could always be himself around everyone,” Chrissy stated. “That year we were in the same grade and graduated together, you inspired me to be more confident in what I wanted and who I wanted to be as a person.”
Blushing, Eddie lifted a hand to play with his hair coyly. He had no idea he had such an impact.
“That’s good. We can use this. Did you get that?” Carl asked the camera man who nodded. “Good. Good. No one is disqualified, continue!”
Rachel and Carl went back to their spots behind the camera to let this new discovery unfold for the story of the show.
“I hope you both enjoyed the show. You never seemed like the metal type, more the pop scene than anything,” Eddie commented, flicking his attention from Steve to Chrissy and back again.
“It was amazing. My favorite is ‘Song of the Bat’,” Chrissy replied.
He raised a brow.
“That’s from the first album.”
“Couldn’t get your band name out of my head since Junior High. Can you blame me for wanting to check it out when I saw it in New Releases?” she smiled warmly. “If anything…it was nice to see you again, Eddie.”
She slipped past them to join the others that had already spoken to Eddie, but Steve stayed behind…and was staring at Eddie’s mouth. He must’ve noticed the tongue piercing.
“And you?” Eddie asked with a smirk.
Steve blinked and met his eyes, sighing and shrugging. “It was okay. It’s noisy and very bodily when you play and sing.”
Eddie stepped in closer.
“Do you have a favorite song?”
Steve stared back into his eyes, but he didn’t back down from the closeness.
“Good Hair Day,” Steve answered. “Thought that was interesting. Sounded a bit different than the other stuff.”
Oh fuck. Steve liked the song that was entirely about Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington. Eddie pursed and puckered his lips with a nod, trying to act as casually as he could while his insides were bouncing up and down screaming.
“What can I say? I like diversity,” Eddie managed to say coolly.
He noticed how Steve gave a considering expression before sliding off to the side. The second Steve wasn’t in front of him and looking at his face, Eddie couldn’t help the little roll of his eyes in disbelief before widening them in ‘I’m going to die with my biggest crush ever in the running’ kind of way. Eddie saw the camera pointed at him, and he groaned softly.
Shit. Right. Everything would be captured on camera and put into the show. Good thing Steve wouldn’t see this until it aired some time from now. Would Steve make it to the end?
The rest of the candidates went by pretty fast after that. Admittedly, he was stuck inside his own head, which he felt bad for, but he paid enough attention to them to know who he didn’t jive with and who he wanted to get to know better. After he went through everyone, his bandmates came in to meet the contestants and things moved more into familiar territory: photographs and autographs. Easy. Good. Not at all intimidating to be pressed up against the ones he was interested in as they smiled for the camera that was printing off professional photos and giving links to digital forms to give out…courtesy of The Honeypot, of course.
All said and done, it was time to do the first elimination. Taking up the obscenely large, and highly impractical guitar picks that they made for the show—they were the size of a donut, colored black and red with ‘Eddie’ written on it in white—he inhaled deeply and waited for the cue to begin. Everyone was getting their final touch ups after the entire meet and greet before getting into rows to wait to hear who would get chosen to stay.
This was a horrible idea. Fuck, why did he do this? This was so mean. How could he just eliminate people so fast? It was so superficial. Oh god, he’d conformed in a way he didn’t see coming. He’d joined a dating show and was judging based off of first meetings. Now he had to say goodbye to those names he was about to say out loud? In front of 15 people, plus crew, plus his band off to the side, and Nancy, and…an unimaginable amount of audience members that will watch this recording whenever it airs. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. OH F—
“Action!” Carl shouted.
Eddie let his held in breath out slowly and went into the deep end, asking people to step forward and if they’d accept his ‘pick’—that made him want to vomit with how cheesy that was. When it came time for Billy, he wound up feeling flush from the way Billy showily played his tongue along his back molars and winked at him. Chrissy was sweet. Of course, he saved the last pick for someone special. He could see the remaining 6 people waiting and wondering what name would come out of his mouth. 5 of them would be going home.
“And the last ‘pick’ goes to…” Eddie swallowed nervously, fiddling with it in his hands and dropping his eyes to it.
He could do this. He could say Steve’s name out loud. What if Steve didn’t take the ‘pick’? It almost seemed like Steve didn’t want to be there from how they spoke, but, at the same time, Steve had to be there for a reason. Right? Was it someone that had talked him into it? Was there some interest in Eddie that he didn’t know about, despite not knowing who The Honeypot would even be? Or was Steve there to try and get the money that was also a reason why people joined the show? Honey or money.
Eddie guessed he’d find out.
Looking up again, he locked eyes with Steve Harrington.
“Steve,” Eddie said, the others hitched their breath in disappointment. “Will you accept my ‘pick’?”
He held it out, hoping and wishing that Steve would say yes. Eddie noted the surprise on Steve’s face, followed by confusion, and glancing at the 5 candidates that were going to go home and not him. Had Steve really thought that Eddie wouldn’t pick him?
“I…” Steve stopped and swallowed.
“Say yes,” Nancy whispered.
Eddie shot his eyes to her. She was smirking and hugging her clipboard to her chest. She was enjoying this moment a little too much. He wouldn’t hear the end of this for a while.
Steve glanced at Nancy with a frown, but he nodded and stepped forward. “Yes.”
His chest loosened and his body visibly relaxed at that answer. Steve was moving onto the next round. Eddie smiled as Steve returned to his spot, then remembered that he had to say one final piece to those going home.
“Thank you for being a part of this with me. It was nice to meet you and spend time with you at the concert and after. Unfortunately, this is where our tour buses split off,” Eddie said, hating that that was the agreed upon line from the show that was also the least horrible and corny of the other options.
There was some hugging and waving…and some tears…but those eliminated were escorted out of the room to leave the event center. Eddie was left with the 10 remaining contestants.
“All that is left is to have you go back to your hotel rooms to get some rest. Room service is on us, and tomorrow…you’re checking out and coming with me on the road in our own Honeypot tour bus, Corroded Coffin style,” Eddie grinned wide.
The excited noise from everyone had him wincing a bit, but chuckling all the same. The camera cut, and Nancy came over to him.
“You did great,” she praised.
“That line was horrible,” Eddie groaned.
“We can always choose another one,” she countered.
Eddie made a face. “The others were worse.”
“Then we stick with this one.”
“Why can’t I come up with something on my own?”
Nancy crossed her arms and stared at him in a challenging way. Could he do better than the writers for the show? Probably not. He could think fast on stage, on a cafeteria table, while writing a song, or playing D&D, but with something like this? Nope. He’d probably wind up sounding like a nutcase or a creep…a Freak.
“Try not to overthink things. I could tell that you were doing gymnastics up here too much,” Nancy said and gently tapped his forehead.
“Seemed pretty calm and collected to me,” Rachel smiled, coming up beside them. “You were perfect, Eddie. Great job. The first episode is always the hardest and most awkward, but you’ll find your groove before you know it. It gets easier.”
He hoped so. Especially because the contestants were no doubt thinking that they’d be travelling home with him to a fancy condo or a mansion. In reality, they were going to be thrown quite the twist. That was something that the show had turned to doing since the Paris, Texas fiasco last season, instead of Paris, France like the contestants had thought. The Big Twist. Though, technically Eddie himself was the twist, but it’s always about doing more, more, more. One twist wasn’t enough.
This next one would really put the contestants to the test, but, in the end, it’d reveal who really was in this for the long haul with Eddie Munson.