I'm late to the party. I'm always late. But I brought Coca Cola, so hopefully no one is too upset. I knock on the door and after a beat, it opens and Steve's face greets me. He's smiling, and he smiles a little wider when he sees me. "Welcome to the party," he says.
"Sorry I'm late," I say, moving past him and into the foyer.
"Actually you're right on time," he says. His hand falls on my shoulder casually as he guides me into the living room. Everyone is here already— my cousin and his group of troublemakers, minus Sinclair and Max, but Erica is here, and she's locked in an animated conversation with Eddie. He's perched on a chair, both sneakered feet firmly on the cushion, and if he leans any farther forward, he'll pitch face first into the carpet. Nancy and Jonathan are on the couch and Robin is sitting ridiculously close to Nance, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"Is this it?" I ask. "This is the party?"
Before Steve can answer, Eddie is climbing over kids. "Other Henderson!"
I'm guessing he means me, he's heading this way.
He pushes Steve aside and takes his place, a leather clad arm going around my shoulders. "I was telling these brats that you would be perfect in my new campaign."
"Jesus, man," Steve mutters as Eddie takes me away from him and into the middle of the room.
I hurriedly pass the soda pop off to Steve before I'm too far away, offering him a sympathetic smile and a mouthed sorry. "Oh? What new campaign?"
He looks at me, a devilish expression on his face. "You'll just have to wait and see, other Henderson."
I huff. "I have a first name, asshole." I knock his arm off my shoulder and plop down on the couch next to Robin. I can feel his eyes still on me but I don't look over. We saved the world together and he still can't call me by my first name; it irritates me.
Steve crams into the couch a few minutes later. His thigh is pressed against mine; i feel heat rise in my cheeks. Ever since the Upside Down I've been harboring feelings beyond friendship for him—I haven't said anything about it. I glance toward the kids and see that Eddie is watching me. His gaze makes me uncomfortable because I always feel like he can see into my mind.
The younger party members head out to the pool and Eddie produces a bag from his vest. "Look what I have." He shakes it at us. It's weed.
"You're joking, right?" Nancy asks.
Priss.
"Why would I joke about weed, Wheeler?" Eddie makes a face at her. Jonathan is up on his feet, peering at the baggie.
"I'm down," he says. Figures.
Robin shrugs. "Why not."
Steve makes an indignant noise. "Really? With the kids here?"
"Relax, Harrington. They're not getting high with us." Eddie winks at him. "Other Henderson?"
"Yeah, alright, man, I'm in."
"Jesus Christ, open a window," Dustin declares. It's been a couple hours now and I look up to see my cousin gawking at us, the other kids directly behind him. Mike looks amused, but El looks puzzled, and Will and Erica are rolling their eyes. Steve and Robin are dying of laughter and passing a joint back and forth. Eddie is flat on his back with his feet up on the couch; I'm laying next to him, in the exact same position, and he hands me the blunt. He waves a hand at Dustin.
Nancy looks at the kids. "Why don't you guys order pizza or something, take it down to the basement?" She might be high, but she's got her thoughts more collected than anyone else I've ever seen.
"You're buying," Mike states. "And I won't tell Mom that you're smoking."
Nancy climbs over us and drags Mike into the hall, the others trailing after them. I can hear her telling him that there's cash in her purse and that they need to order enough pizza for everyone. I tune the noise out after a moment and take a long drag from the joint before handing it back to Eddie. I blow smoke in his face. "You're a bad influence, Munson. You got Princess Nancy herself smoking pot." I tug on his sleeve— he's wearing that damned Hellfire Club shirt; they must have played DnD earlier. "Do I get one of these if i join your campaign?"
"Sweetheart, everyone gets one." He smiles at me.
I punch his shoulder. "Don't call me that."
Nancy comes back into the living room a minute later and whatever moment Eddie and I are having is lost as she trips over his legs.
About an hour later we're all still high, but pizza has been eaten and beer has been drunk, and the buzz is wearing off. Robin picks up an empty bottle. "We should play a game." She looks sly. "We should play spin the bottle."
Steve sits up. "Rob-"
Eddie cuts him off. "That's a great idea, Buckley." He slams the pizza box down in the middle of the floor and sets an empty bottle on top of it. "Nose goes."
There's a flurry of people hurriedly touching their noses, but Jonathan isn't fast enough. Eddie claps his hands gleefully. "Byers! You spin and then we go clockwise from there." We adjust our seating arrangements so we're in a circle— Jonathan, Nancy, Eddie, Robin, me, Steve.
Jonathan flicks the bottle and it careens around wildly on the top of the box. It lands on Nancy. She smiles and they kiss and Eddie says, "this is rigged."
Nancy spins and it stops on Robin. She leans across the circle and kisses her cheek but once again Eddie speaks. "Kiss her on the mouth! Rules, Wheeler." Robin giggles nervously but Nancy shrugs and kisses her quickly before sitting back.
We go around the circle, spinning and kissing. Eddie gets Jonathan; he grabs his face and plants one on the side of his head. Robin gets Eddie and she kisses his cheek quickly. "Ew ew ew ew ew—"
My turn. I spin and it stops at Robin. I make a whooping noise and I lean over to kiss her. It's quick but she still blushes and starts to ramble afterwards. Steve takes the bottle, laughing at Robin's reaction and he spins it quickly. It lands on no one and he has to respin— it ends up pointing at me. He turns his body sideways and takes my face in his hands, his lips barely brushing mine before he's pulling back and proclaiming that it's once again Jonathan's turn. I try not to be disappointed.
Nancy goes again after him. Now it's Eddie again.
"We should spice this up a little bit," he says. "How about this and seven minutes in heaven?" He wiggles his eyebrows.
"Why not?" Nancy says. "It could be fun."
Eddie spins the bottle with much dramatic flair. It spins and spins and spins and stops—right between me and Steve. Eddie grins and shows a few too many teeth; he looks feral. "Where's the nearest closet, Harrington?"
"Hall," Steve says. "There's coats in there."
"It'll do." Eddie stands and offers me his hand. I stare at him for a moment before taking the offered hand and he pulls me to my feet.
"You know we don't have to do this," I mutter.
"You don't want to?"
"I don't really care," I say. "But I didn't think that I'm your...type."
Eddie arches an eyebrow. "Sweetheart, everyone is my type." He turns back to the group and looks pointedly at Steve. "You coming, big boy?"
"W-what?" Steve looks like a deer in headlights.
"Bottle landed between you and other Henderson. You're coming too."
There's silence as Steve gets to his feet. We follow him to the hallway and he opens the closet door. "It's kinda small," he mumbles.
Eddie winks and pats his face. "It'll work."
We step into the closet and as the door closes, Eddie yells, "start the clock!"
I can hear Robin laughing, I hear her say, "did you see his face?" But then my attention goes to Eddie as his hand slides over the side of my face. I feel the cool metal of his rings on my skin, and then his mouth is on mine. My back is against Steve's chest, and I'm pretty sure I can hear his heart beat, but maybe it's just mine.
Eddie kisses me and his tongue flicks over my bottom lip. Steve is as stiff as a board behind me, he doesn't know what to do, that much I can tell, and somehow Eddie knows it because he grabs Steve's arm and drags it around me, pressing Steve's hand to my breast. "Goddamn, you're acting like you've never made out with someone, Harrington. Touch her." Eddie is bossy, and I kinda like it. He pushes me against Steve and Steve stumbles, his back slamming into the wall. Coats surround us like a giant noise cancelling blanket. I'm sandwiched between the two of them, no space anywhere, and everything is touching, everything. I feel Eddie slide a hand over my side, under my shirt, and he's grabbing my waist, fingers digging into my skin, and I moan involuntarily. He breaks away from my mouth as his hand slides around to my back and his fingers slip under the waistband of my jeans. His other hand grabs Steve's chin. "C'mere, Stevie," he mutters.
His mouth slams into Steve's and my hand grips Steve's leg. My free hand is holding on to Eddie's belt and I dare to run my fingers up under his shirt and over his stomach. I can feel his scars, the ones he got when the bats attacked him, and for a second my stomach churns as the memory resurfaces—Eddie bloody and dying. But we'd saved him, he was fine, he was here. He tenses and I feel goosebumps rise on his skin.
I bury my head in his hair and I press kisses to his neck while he's preoccupied with Steve; he smells like weed, we all do at this point, but the scent of cheap cologne is also present.
Eddie pulls back as much as he can for a moment and he turns me around, forcing me to face Steve. It's too dark to actually see Steve's expression clearly, but his breathing is ragged and I can feel his chest heaving. "Kiss her, Steve. I know you want to." He pushes me into him and presses himself against my back. Steve cups my face with his hands and kisses me like he's dying and I'm the only thing that will save him. It's tongue and teeth and God I've wanted this.
Eddie moves my collar and presses his lips to the place where my shoulder meets my neck. "Nat," he breathes, and I realize that this is the first time he's used my first name. "I wanna touch you, can I touch you?" His words are so quiet but I hear them. I nod.
He slides his hand between me and Steve, finding the zipper of my jeans and then he's in my pants, in my underwear, fingers gently touching me. Steve moans against my mouth, and it sounds like Eddie— that's when I notice that with the way Eddie is touching me, the way we're positioned, he's also simultaneously touching Steve through his pants. I move my hand down Steve's stomach and press my palm to his crotch; he's hard. Behind me, Eddie is pressing his crotch into my ass and I can feel him too, just as hard as the other boy.
Steve's hand is under my shirt and he shoves my bra up and suddenly he's squeezing my breast and then pinching my nipple between his fingers. His tongue is in my mouth. Eddie grabs my hair and pulls my head back, pulling me away from Steve. He bites my neck and then grabs Steve's head so he can kiss him again; I take the opportunity to put a hand in Steve's hair, which is something I've wanted to do for so very long. I'm immediately jealous of the softness.
Eddie's fingers are still touching me and I'm arching into him; Steve is whining and desperate, his hips buck into my hand. i lean forward and drag my tongue up his neck before peppering kisses over his skin. I put both of my hands on his hips before slipping them under his shirt— I realize he and Eddie have matching scars as I run my fingers up his sides. I pull his shirt up with only a small amount of difficulty and I kiss his chest; Steve's hand clamps around my arm and he squeezes. I hear my name, concealed in a breathless whisper, and Eddie laughs. He presses harder against me, his hand still in my pants, and then he chuckles again, a low rumble in the dark. "Jesus, Steve, are you having fun?" His hand shifts slightly and I can tell he's now purposely dragging his knuckle over Steve's clothed erection.
Steve curses at him. My legs start to tremble and Eddie stops what he's doing; he turns my face so he can kiss me. "I'm not going to finish you so unceremoniously in a closet," he mumbles against my mouth. I don't say anything, I just kiss him harder. Steve's mouth is on my neck, right on top of my pulse point—shit, he can probably feel my heart pounding away—
And then suddenly I hear Robin's voice yelling that our time is up, get out of the closet, and I let my head fall back on Eddie's shoulder with an exasperated sigh. He chuckles as Steve lets out what can only be described as an angry growl. "I guess we're gonna have to finish this up another time, big boy." He pats Steve's face with the hand that was in my jeans.
We hurriedly straighten clothes and emerge from the closet; Eddie somehow looks almost entirely unphased by the encounter, but I see him discreetly adjusting his jeans. Steve looks a mess, his face flushed, hair a wreck, pouty lips kiss bruised. I assume I look the same.
I'm so caught up in Steve that I don't realize we have an audience until I hear Mike Wheeler. "Jesus Christ." He's staring at us like we each have three heads. Eddie shoves him playfully.
"Mind your own business, little boy."
Robin is giggling when we walk into the living room. "Oh my god, you look horrendous. Did you have fun?"
"Did they have fun?" Erica is standing in the doorway. "Who cares if they had fun, it's disgusting. No one wants to hear the things that I just heard," she states. "And I heard everything." She mouths the last word again. Everything.
"One day, Lady Applejack, you'll be old enough to be in a closet, and you won't think it's that disgusting then," Eddie states.
Erica immediately retorts with some biting statement, and she and Eddie start to argue.
That seems to signal the end of the party. The rest of the kids have come up from the basement as they're speaking and Nancy yells over the noise, telling them to round up any trash they have. Steve tells her to forget about it, he'll clean up tomorrow; she protests but he just waves his hand at her. "Nance, forget it. I'll take care of it and I'll make the kids clean up next time."
Dustin laughs. "Yeah, right." Steve pushes his hat down over his face in response.
Somehow they manage to make it out the door, Steve trailing after them, bickering with Dustin and Erica, and I'm left in the room with Eddie. He starts picking up the empty beer bottles and I help, and by the time Steve comes back, it's almost entirely cleaned up. He rubs the back of his neck. "You didn't have to clean up; I was gonna do it in the morning."
"No way, man." Eddie shakes his head. "We're not letting you clean up on your own." He leans down and picks up his jacket, slinging it over his shoulder. "You need a ride home, Other Henderson?"
He remembered I don't have a car— "please," I say. "I don't wanna walk home at-" I glance at my watch "-11:30 at night." I grimace internally. The last thing I want to do is go home to an empty house; like Steve's parents, mine are also out of town
Steve speaks up. "Or you could stay." Eddie and I both turn to look at him. His face is flushed. "You could stay. If you want. There's a guest room, and a couch in the basement, and it wouldn't be a problem, besides it's late and—" he's rambling like Robin does when she's nervous.
Eddie reaches out, grabs two fistfuls of his shirt, and kisses Steve to shut him up. Steve makes a surprised noise, his eyes wide open, but he closes them a moment later.
I'm staring. I can't help it.
Eddie breaks away and laughs at Steve before turning and laughing at me too. "Jesus, you two are killing me. Two little deer in headlights." He runs a finger over Steve's jaw and then does the same to me. Suddenly he grins. "I'll take the couch."
