The day was a shocking success. Somehow, everyone managed to have a great time despite the impending insanity that loomed on the horizon. After the events of the past few years, the group had resigned themselves to their fate of saving Hawkins - and by extension, the rest of the world - from danger every time they looked away for more than five seconds. Whatever monster of the week horror show that threatened the town, it was going to have to go through them, the begrudging heroes that they were.
Today, however, they were going to have fun. They'd more than earned a day to just let loose and pretend they didn't have the world on their shoulders. After all, they were all still kids. Eddie, being the oldest of the group, was still only 21. He'd missed a birthday during his five month absence and Robin had insisted they do something for him, but he declined.
"I don't care about birthdays, Buckley." He'd told her. "In my whole life I've maybe celebrated it, what, twice? And 'celebrated' is putting it very loosely, since it literally consisted of Wayne letting me drink a beer with him."
Eddie had laughed it off, and Robin finally just dropped it - but it didn't sit right with Steve. He knew very well what it was like to be forgotten on your birthday. It was always such a toss up with his parents. He'd had birthdays where all of his friends were invited, he'd been showered with expensive gifts, gone out to fancy dinners, etc. They were great parties, at least when his parent's remembered to throw them. More often than not, the day would go by as unremarkable as the one before. No gifts, no birthday wishes, nothing.
As if he'd been completely forgotten.
Steve would have preferred they'd forgotten every single one, so that the sting of getting his hopes up only to be disappointed year after year didn't hurt quite as much. Sometimes, days later, he'd find a card on the kitchen table from his mother. Inside, it contained a hundred dollar bill and a note that said: 'Happy late birthday, Steven. Sorry things got busy. - Mom' and it was so typical. The only way she knew how to show her affection was to buy off her son. Throw money at the wall and see what sticks, as if a hundred dollar bill was going to make it all okay. At least she'd put in a bit of effort, he reconciled, his dad hadn't said happy birthday to him since he was nine.
He wasn't going to let that shit slide with Eddie.
"You think he'll like it?" He'd asked Robin. "You know I'm not good at gifts."
She snorted. "For the fifth time, yes , I think so." When he still didn't seem the slightest bit more confident, she sighed and dropped the gift in his lap. "Why are you so nervous?"
"He's never gotten a birthday gift before, Robin," He groaned, "I don't want his first one to be lame."
"It's not lame. Okay? It's sweet. I'm sure he'll, at the very least, appreciate that you got him anything at all."
It hadn't quelled his nerves, but he'd resigned himself to getting him something better if he caught even the slightest whiff of dissatisfaction.
At the lake, the evening was beginning to settle in nicely. Orange and pink clouds peppered the steadily darkening sky, bathing everything in a warm autumn glow. The water, still warm from the summer heat, shimmered against their skin as they waded in the shallow end, sharing stories, laughing, drinking. Nancy was strict about not letting any of the kids near the alcohol, but Eddie and Argyle had 'accidentally' slipped them a beer or two when she wasn't looking. That turned out to be much easier than they anticipated, because Nancy had elected to go all out and get shit faced on her birthday.
"You maybe wanna pace yourself, Wheeler?" Jonathan asked.
She downed another shot, face screwing up at the taste of straight vodka, and then pointed at him, pausing for just a moment. "Absolutely fucking not."
He held his hands up in defense and chuckled. She'd earned being able to let loose for a change, plus he couldn't exactly tell her what to do since they weren't dating anymore. It had been mutual, thankfully, both had felt the split coming for a while. When it was finally over and done with, they shook on it and promised to stay friends. Robin would be lying if she said she hadn't done the tiniest, most respectful happy dance she could muster the day she found out.
Nancy wasn't the only one who was knocking her drinks back like the alcohol was about to turn, Steve and Robin were doing their absolute best to keep up with her pace, but goddamn could she put them down. It seemed that her tolerance had picked up considerably since that first party at Steve's house all those years ago. Nancy Wheeler was no longer the sweet, soft-spoken good girl from 1983. Now she was the shotgun carrying, no bullshit, woman who threw vodka back like it was water. Steve had quite a buzz, but was nowhere near Robin's level, who was in desperate need of food before she inevitably heaved it all back up.
"I think you should probably put that down." Steve whispered, gingerly taking the fourth? fifth? - they'd actually lost count - shot from her hands.
Robin nodded sloppily and let him have it. "Yup. Good call." She swayed a bit, listening to the story Nancy was animatedly, albeit drunkenly, telling. Robin's eyes were wide open in an attempt to show that ' no, she wasn't drunk, she was very much alert here and listening to every word' but it only served to make her look absolutely insane. Eddie caught eyes with Steve and grinned, both of them sharing a laugh at poor Buckley.
And oh how many glances they'd shared today. It started out as a friendly competition, mostly on Eddie's part. Everytime Steve would pull a classic Harrington move like cornering Eddie at the grill to talk one on one, letting Eddie 'accidentally' catch him staring only to smirk and look away, Eddie would go out of his way to one up him. It escalated from quips and one liners (Munson's specialty), to touching Harrington's thigh to get his attention, or offering to get his back with sunscreen. It wasn't entirely clear if Steve was in on the game, but Eddie was having the time of his life and he was not going to lose.
"God, you two are so weird." Mike had said when Eddie fished a leaf out of Steve's hair, and Steve reciprocated by trying to bite his finger.
"They've been like that all day." Lucas snorted. "The wedding is in July."
This got a slew of laughs from the kids. Will, a little more nervously, but the only one not laughing at all was Dustin Henderson.
He'd been watching the two since they got there and noticed almost every micro interaction they had. He knew what fuck boy Steve looked like, how he acted when he wanted to get a girl's attention. Eddie though? He'd never seen Eddie act like this. If anything, Munson was aggressive and dramatic with his friends. He was loud, obnoxious, endlessly entertaining, but with Steve he spoke quieter, had more patience, smiled more. It reminded him so much of how Suzie and he interacted. Loud apart, quiet for each other.
Dustin watched as Eddie laughed and shoved Lucas under the water. He also watched as Steve chuckled nervously and tried to hide his blush behind his hand. A blush. From Steve. Because of Eddie Munson. Something was totally, absolutely, definitely going on.
Will nudged him a bit. "You okay?"
Dustin blinked, finally peeling his eyes away from the pair to look at his friend. "Huh? No, yeah. All good." He muttered. Whatever it was… maybe it wasn't his business. Maybe he was definitely going to put his detective hat on and get to the bottom of it (Henderson's curiosity was, at times, completely unmatched), but he'd keep it to himself for now. It wasn't his secret to tell. He gave Will a smile and nodded towards the cooler. "Think we can sneak another beer from Argyle?"
Will grinned and stole a look at Nancy to make sure she was occupied. She was, of course, far too gone to pay them any attention, so they snuck off in that direction, gaining a tiny thrill from getting to drink not one, but two whole beers . They were practically criminals now.
Steve broke up the two as Lucas and Eddie descended into a full on wrestling match, splashing anything and everything within a ten foot radius. "Okay, okay, that's enough!" He shielded his eyes as Eddie made one final attempt to splash the living hell out of Sinclair before they laughed and called a truce. With a fistbump and a karate bow, they parted. War over, just like that.
"I'm gonna go take a leak." Munson announced as he stepped out of the water. The lifeguard shorts clung to him, soaked and dripping with water. He looked good, Steve thought. It was a major achievement he was able to stop staring at his ass for long enough to re-engage with the conversation at hand.
Robin leaned, no, practically fell into Steve as she whispered a little too loudly. "You've got it bad, Harrington."
He jumped at the suddenness of it, but chuckled nervously and looked around. Thankfully, everyone was too wrapped up in their own side conversations to notice. He leaned down and whispered. "Inside voices, Robs."
She clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered again, somehow even louder. "Sorry!" Steve just winced as she hissed in his ear. She cupped his ear so that no one could eavesdrop. "You gotta go talk to him."
"What?" He whispered. "Why?"
"Becaaause," She drawled, "you like him and you've been eyeballing him like he's dinner all night. It's gross."
Steve snorted and raised his eyebrows at her. "You're one to talk."
"Uh-Uh. No." Robin shot up a finger as if she was disciplining him. "At least I haven't been flirting with her in front of everyone and their mother... S'like you wanna get caught."
Steve blushed, a pit forming in his stomach at the thought. "You don't think anyone noticed, do you?"
"At this point, Stevie boy - " She slurred. She never called him that, which was just further proof she needed a very large glass of water. " - I think they'd be blind if they didn't. But that's jus' me."
Oh. Great.
Steve sucked in a breath and nodded. He hoped he'd actually been more subtle than he'd imagined. After several drinks, he tended to get very flirty and now he knew that around Eddie, that was a dangerous combination. After a minute, he stood up, made some excuse about looking for something in his car, and then made his way to where he'd seen Eddie disappear to.
Steve wasn't exactly sure why he was trying to find Eddie, or what he was even going to say to him when he did. All he had to keep him walking in the direction of the tree line was the liquid courage from the alcohol that kept his mind swimming with 'eh, fuck it'. Walk now, think later.
He was barefoot as he trudged through the underbrush, stepping over tiny rocks and pine straw. Of course he'd forgotten his sandals, because only a sober person who wasn't blindly being led around by his dick would think to keep his feet from getting sliced and diced in the forest. That last shot was really kicking in now.
As he walked, he hummed the tune to 'We Built This City'. It'd been overplayed to hell and back already, but he still loved it. Everytime he heard it he thought of that day he drove Eddie to his uncle's trailer. Of that first bite. How it felt in his skin and how Eddie had looked, cheeks flushed, eyes shot and glazed over.
"That your favorite song or something?"
Steve jumped, snapping his gaze up to meet Eddie standing about ten feet back. He had an eyebrow raised and that same feral grin he always sported as he tied the drawstring on his swim trunks. A bullet necklace hung at his chest and he'd pulled his hair into a messy, loose ponytail. Eddie had also remembered to bring sandals. The fucker.
"Huh?" Steve muttered, dumbly.
"You're always humming it." He smirked. "I could tell it was you coming up from a mile away."
Steve blushed and snorted. " No, it's not. It's just catchy. You'd never be able to guess my favorite song."
" Please , you're so predictable. What, is it Beach Boys? The Carpenters?" He teased, and then added, "Cyndi Lauper?"
"No, no, and no. Swing and a miss, Munson." Steve chuckled as he approached, a little relieved with his drunk brain's ability to quip when everything was getting wobbly.
Eddie sighed dramatically and put his hands on his hips. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll figure it out." He gave Steve a wink as he moved to walk back to the group. "I'll give you some privacy."
"Uh. Wait." Steve said quickly. "I actually wanted to talk."
Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Talk?"
"Yeah. To you."
Eddie put a hand on his hip and tilted his head a little. Steve couldn't help but think he looked like a Greek statue at the moment. Contrapposto and all.
"About?" He chuckled.
"Um…" Steve realized he still had no idea what he came here to say. Walk now, think later. He'd forgotten to actually do the thinking part. "Uh… Gotta be honest. Haven't really gotten that far."
"So…" Eddie ventured, clearly amused, "you came out here to talk, but you have nothing to talk about. Am I getting that correct here?"
Steve raised his hands as if to explain, but raked them through his hair and chuckled instead. "Shit. I think so. I'm a tiny bit drunk."
Eddie squinted at him. "Are you flirting with me right now? Because if so, drunk Steve is bad at it."
Steve laughed and covered his face with his hands. He shook his head. "I don't even know anymore. I lost track of who was winning an hour ago."
"So you were playing! I knew it!"
"Don't act all smug, you were so obvious!"
Eddie gawked at that and took a step towards him, playfully poking him in the chest. "Okay, Mr. 'Here Eddie, let me grab you a drink', 'Oh 'scuse me, you're looking a little tense, lemme rub your shoulders.'"
Steve rolled his eyes. "That doesn't even sound like me."
"That was a perfect impression. I'm incredibly talented."
"No, you're ridiculous- " Steve leaned forward. Before he could say anything else, Eddie reached up and grabbed Steve's chin, grin turning a little delighted at the shock in Steve's eyes.
"Let's run this back a little, shall we?" He had the mischievous glint of a dungeon master cornering his players in a trap. "You came all the way out here just to 'talk'. You're barefoot,"
Dammit. Steve was hoping he hadn't noticed.
"You're a little drunk, and ever since we got here, you've apparently been on this crack mission to be the most obviously horny person in a ten mile radius, but I'm the ridiculous one here?"
Steve scoffed, turning a little red. "I-I am not horny - "
"Oh really? I could have sworn - now stop me if I'm wrong here - but I could have sworn that when I fed from you this morning, I saw - "
"You saw what?" Steve interrupted, eyes locked with Eddie's. They were inches away now. Eddie's eyes flicked down to Steve's lips as the man wet his tongue over it just slightly, breath hitching. Steve could make him squirm too. "Go ahead. What'd you see?" Eddie cracked a tiny grin, he looked back up to meet Steve's eyes once again.
"Maybe I don't know what I saw."
Steve's face flushed. Eddie wasn't phased in the slightest. He cleared his throat and tried to regain the upper hand. "What, are you shy now?"
Eddie chuckled lowly, the laughter rumbling in his chest. "Are you embarrassed?"
"No."
"I don't believe you." He stroked Steve's cheek with his thumb, almost absently, like he was barely paying attention, but there was ferocity in his grip. He was magnetizing. "Did you want me to see it?"
Steve stared up at him but said nothing. Eddie tilted his head as if to say 'come on, out with it'. He was entirely too pleased with himself at the effect he was having on Steve. The man's eyes were glazed over a little, studying the features on Eddie's face. His nose, his eyes, his mouth. When it was clear Steve wasn't going to give him what he wanted, Eddie moved his thumb over to the man's lips and pressed in, parting the teeth, and trailed it over Steve's tongue.
TPK. His mind was in shambles, knees threatening to give out. Steve closed his eyes as a soft moan escaped his lips. He wrapped his mouth around the thumb, sucking as commanded, tongue curling around it. His eyes met Eddie's once again as the man pulled his finger out, a trail of spit still connecting them.
"Did you want me to see it?" Eddie asked again.
Jesus Christ. Steve stared up at him. "Yes."
And that was all he needed. He didn't get a chance to say anything else before Eddie crushed their lips together, grip still tight on his chin. Steve made a noise of pleasant surprise and brought his hands up to cup Eddie's face, feeling the soft stubble beneath his fingers. Eddie hadn't shaved in a few weeks and it was starting to show. Steve thought about how he liked this rough look on Munson, how it fit the metal aesthetic.
The momentum of the kiss had Steve stumbling backwards until Eddie pinned him up against a tree. He gasped softly when his back hit the rough bark, causing Eddie to mutter a few quick apologies. Steve couldn't help but smile against his lips and laugh at that. He didn't know why. There was just something so charming and funny about Eddie Munson sticking his finger in his mouth, pinning him to a tree like an animal, and then apologizing for shoving him a little too hard.
"I've been thinking about you all day." Eddie groaned in between kisses. He hiked his thigh up in between Steve's crotch, both hands splayed beside Steve on the bark. Steve's breath shuddered a bit as he rolled his hips against Eddie's leg, a little too greedy already.
"You have?" He breathed, threading a hand through thick curly hair. Eddie just nodded and moved his lips down his chin, peppering his neck with wet, sloppy kisses.
"Ever since this morning. Thought about what that second bite did to you."
"Yeah?" Steve was breathless, head swimming, barely latching on to what Eddie was saying. He felt Eddie lap his tongue over a vein, teeth nipping just barely at the skin, and now it was his turn to shudder with anticipation, want.
"You can." Steve mumbled, shivering.
Eddie hummed in response, a question.
"You can drink if you want. Go ahead."
Eddie drew back to look at Steve, eyes a little wary and uncertain. "I already drank from you, Stevie. You'll lose too much blood." He was right, draining him for a second time in one day would only make him weaker and take much longer to recover. Steve wasn't thinking about that, though. His mind was still stuck on what he'd called him. Stevie. It was a nickname, almost like a pet name. Why the hell was that making his brain do backflips?
"I want you to." Steve finally said, hand trailing to cup the back of his neck like he'd done so many times before. Eddie just smiled and shook his head.
"I can't. It'll hurt you." He leaned in and stole another kiss. Slow, gentle this time. "Trust me on this one, eh Harrington?"
Steve sighed against his lips but nodded. The pace remained slow for a moment, soft. Steve can't think of anyone he'd rather be kissing right now and it's throwing his mind for a loop. A few weeks ago he didn't even think Eddie Munson was still alive, and now here he was, pinned against a tree, seriously fighting the urge to rip all of his clothes off.
"Do you know I can smell when your blood runs faster?" Eddie mumbled, tongue slipping into Steve's mouth.
Steve returned the favor by biting his lower lip. "You can?"
"Mhm." Eddie ground his leg against Steve, eliciting a shiver and groan against his lips. "Smells like copper. Rust. It gets stronger when your heart beats faster." The pace was picking up again, both men becoming feverish. "Everytime I looked your way your heart just beat faster and faster." His hands traveled up Steve's waist, clawing up against his back, Steve arching it in response. He couldn't get enough of how Eddie tasted, how his lips felt against his own. "Fuck, Steve, I could barely keep my hands off you."
That's when Steve noticed, no, felt how hard Eddie was. His breath was hot against his skin as his hips rolled with Steve's. It was awkward, completely uncoordinated, but neither of them cared about that. They had to touch every inch of the other person as if they were going to forget how it felt the moment they parted. Eddie slid his hands down Steve's chest and pressed his fingers into his hips before sliding them into the waistband of his swim trunks. He lingered there for a moment before pulling his lips away, barely an inch.
"This okay?" He whispered.
Steve's eyes fluttered open, a little breathless. "What?" Both of their lips were bitten red, faces flushed. Eddie nodded down to his hands. It took a few moments for the gears in Steve's brain to start turning again, but it finally clicked and his eyes widened a little. " Oh , oh shit." He muttered.
Eddie pulled his hands away. "It's okay, we don't have to do anything you don't-"
Steve quickly took his wrists, shaking his head. "No, no, I want to, I do, I just…" He frowned a bit as he tried to formulate his words, but his mind was all over the place. "I think I want this. I just…" He sighed. "I've… never done this before. With a guy I mean… Can we just take it slow?" He hated saying those words. It made him feel small and pathetic and childish.
Eddie's brows knitted together and he nodded. The expression was so quintessentially Munson. Earnest and genuine without fail. "Yeah, of course, whatever you want. You tell me what you're comfortable with."
And it was how he held Steve that had his heart in his throat. Eddie's hands, though calloused from years of playing guitar, stroked Steve's face and held his hips and it was so soft. So gentle. Eddie Munson. The gentlest person Steve's ever known.
Steve turned his head to kiss Eddie's palm and closed his eyes. "I like this. I like… kissing you."
Eddie watched him with this bewildered, lovestruck expression. He chuckled softly and shook his head. "This is crazy right? You and me."
For once, Steve was right there with him. Knew exactly what he meant. "Yeah." He whispered. They shared the quiet moment. Comfortable silence. After a minute, Eddie finally broke it.
"Well," He smiled, "We can do that for as long as you like. I'm in no hurry, Stevie."
There it was again. Stevie.
And they did, for a while. Just kissed, talked, explored each other. In all of his other relationships, hookups, flings, etc. it had always been go go go, get to the finish line. Get laid as quickly as possible. With Eddie it felt like they had all the time in the world, there was no rush. It wasn't until the both of them realized just how dark it had gotten that they left to make their way back to the group. It was going to be difficult to explain where they'd been, but for some reason that all seemed like a distant worry. Miles and miles away.
When they got back, though, all the kids were gone. Argyle had taken them home in his van and had cleaned up most of the food and drinks. Steve would have to remember to thank him later. Jonathan watched as the two men approached and waved them over towards the fire. "Hey, I was about to call a search party."
"Sorry, bud." Steve clapped him on the back and sat down on a lawn chair. "Got lost."
"Very lost." Eddie smirked as he sat, earning him a smack on the arm.
Jonathan looked between the two and chuckled to himself. Steve wanted to explain, to clarify, but Jonathan just shook his head, offering him a wink instead. He got it. He knew.
"I think everyone had a good time." He said, looking off into the tree line. "It was good for the kids, you know. Being able to just be kids, have fun."
Steve nodded, looking off as well. "Yeah. They don't get many of these days do they, huh?"
"Not enough."
"Where are the girls?" Eddie asked.
Jonathan nodded his head towards the shore. Just barely visible under the glow of the moon, Robin and Nancy were laying by the water looking up at the stars, their fingers interlaced. Steve smiled a bit. Good for them. He knew Robin was happy.
And maybe, he thought…maybe he was happy too. Just for today. Just for this one moment where everything felt like it used to.
Steve was happy.