Author's Note:

Title from Half Life - Djo Seriously this song has such strong Steve vibes! Go listen to DECIDE it came out today and the whole album is amazing!

No One Rides for Free was supposed to be a one shot but I couldn't resist writing more, so now it's a multi chapter fic!

You can also find it as a series on Ao3 under my username weird_witchcraft

You Think These People Really Care For You?

Tuesday, November 6, 1984

Eddie knew he should stop thinking about Steve Harrington, but it was impossible to halt his brain from repeating the events of Halloween night on a loop. It was like a dream that he was desperate to remember all the details of before it slipped away. The only thing was, it had actually happened. Steve's shirt under his pillow was tangible proof that he had not only spent the night with Steve Harrington, but that he had spent the night with Steve Harrington. He still couldn't believe it, his poor brain cells were struggling to make sense of the fact that Steve was actually kind of a good guy after all, and that he was possibly a little gay. Let alone that he was amazing in bed and apparently liked to dirty talk and suck cock.

"Eddie? Eddie? Goddamnit dude forget your coffee this morning?" Margaret said, waving her hand in front of his face and snapping her fingers.

"Uh yeah, sorry, you know I'm useless in the mornings" Eddie said, grabbing a lock of his hair and smiling at her.

She snorted at him "Useless is one way to put it"

Margaret was talking to him about ideas for the one shot he'd agreed to let her DM this Friday. He was excited to actually play a game again, especially since Margaret had been wanting to DM for ages and he could tell she'd put a lot of heart into this adventure. They'd become fast friends when she'd started at Hawkins High in his sophomore year, sitting next to him in home room with her baggy pants, black nails and dark eyeliner. Immediately clocking the lich he was drawing on the cover of his notebook and launching into a discussion about the deadliest monsters in D&D. If he liked women she would be his soulmate.

They still sat together in home room, whenever he managed to make it on time. Which admittedly was not very often. He was miraculously early today, which he could pretend was an attempt to turn over a new leaf and actually graduate this year, but his early arrival was definitely motivated by the off chance that he would see Steve in the halls before class, rather than a newfound love of academics.

Steve had been absent yesterday, and so had Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, Eddie was trying not to be concerned. Steve didn't owe him anything, they weren't even friends, not really. But rumours were swirling around Hawkins High that Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers were seen leaving school together the day after Halloween and they hadn't been seen since. Wild accusations that Steve had commited some sort of double murder suicide over the loss of his precious princess to a freak like Byers were spouted out by that idiot Hagan. Eddie knew not to take anything that group of idiots said seriously but it was hard not to worry about Steve being absent. Especially when Eddie had spent all weekend thinking about him, only to be disappointed not to see him on Monday.

Eddie remembered the stories of the fight that Steve had with Jonathan Byers last year, plus he'd seen what Jonathan had done to Steve's pretty face. At the time Eddie had assumed that Steve had deserved it, especially when Gareth had shared what he'd seen spray painted on the marquee of the Hawk. Eddie had always been cordial with Jonathan, considering they were both freaks. Jonathan was more of a loner, preferring to keep to himself, while Eddie found comfort in his band of merry misfits. Now Eddie wondered what exactly the deal was with Wheeler and Byers, and hoped Steve hadn't gotten into some sort of mess.

He's not yours to take care of, a snide voice in Eddie's head said to him, doubt he's even given you a second thought.

Eddie's downward spiral of dark thoughts was interrupted once again by Margaret, this time she was giving him a shove and telling him he was impossible and if he kept on zoning out she was going to make him play with a character of her choosing. He knew it was an empty threat but he shook thoughts of Steve Harrington out of his head and actually paid attention to her after that.

Eddie finally caught sight of Steve at the end of the hallway after second period. Jesus fucking Christ. Steve had his face halfway in his locker but that didn't hide the massive bruise on his cheekbone, his black eye, wait - two black eyes, and the splint on his nose.

His feet carried him down the hall towards Steve before he could stop himself. He knew people would talk if they saw Eddie "The Freak" Munson talking to Steve "The Hair" Harrington, but he didn't care about appearances. He had to know what happened to Steve and if he was okay.

"Harrington, what happened to your face?" Eddie asked quietly when he reached Steve, his voice laced with concern.

Eddie glanced around, yep, there were definitely people eavesdropping and eyeing Steve's injuries curiously. Seems like they also wanted to know what happened to Steve.

"Don't worry about it Munson" Steve said back, he looked tired, and sore. He winced as he shouldered his backpack.

"Do you want me to carry that?" Eddie asked him, glancing around at the other students and hoping they couldn't hear much of their quiet conversation.

"Carry my books to class for me Munson? What, you think we're going steady?" Steve teased, his voice just above a whisper.

Eddie scoffed at that, "you wish" but Steve smiled at him anyways, and thank fuck all of his perfect teeth seemed to be in place.

"Damn Harrington, I heard Hargrove got you good but Jesus man, you look like you've been through a meat grinder." Some meathead said loudly, pushing his way between Eddie and Steve as if Eddie wasn't even standing there.

"Fuck off Dan" sighed Steve, closing his locker and taking a step away from the jock.

"Heard you were caught hanging out with Hargrove's little sister, what, little miss priss Wheeler runs off with that freak Byers and you had to slum it with a middle schooler? Guess King Steve's reign really is over."

Steve just rolled his eyes "yeah, whatever man, you done? I gotta get to class"

Steve walked away, giving Eddie an apologetic look as he went. Now Eddie had way more questions, along with worrying about the state Steve was in. Hargrove is a psychopath if he did all that to Steve for hanging out with his sister. There was no way that Steve would have taken advantage of some little middle school girl like this asshole was suggesting. There had to be more to the story, but Steve hadn't felt the need to elaborate to defend himself.

Dan turned around, bumping into Eddie with a "watch it, freak" as he walked away. As if Eddie hadn't been there the whole damn time.

Eddie grabbed his bag, rifling through it trying to find a pen, he wrote down his number on a scrap of paper and slipped it into Steve's locker before he could second guess himself.

Hope you're okay.

Call me if you want to talk,

E

Steve should have known that Billy wouldn't have been able to keep his mouth shut about beating the shit out of him. When he arrived at Hawkins High on Tuesday morning the school was buzzing with all the rumours about what had happened between him and Billy. He supposed the state of his face wasn't doing much to help that, but he couldn't afford to miss any more school, not if he wanted to graduate.

His parents had thrown a fit when he'd come home on Monday, not because he hadn't been home the night before with no explanation, and not because he was hurt, no no the Harringtons had appearances to keep up and their son getting in fights tarnished the perception of their perfect family. Especially after he'd gotten his face beaten up last year and did he really want to ruin their annual family portrait with his bruised face again?

Steve was grateful that Hopper had been the one to drive him home and had attempted to smooth things over with his parents. They seemed to be placated for the time being, already talking about the next business trip his father had to go on in a couple weeks. They'd miss Thanksgiving, but Steve didn't care, it just meant he wouldn't have to sit through some pointlessly stiff family dinner.

Maybe he could invite Eddie over again, smoke pot and watch the football game. Does Eddie even like football? Probably not. Steve cringed to himself, for someone who'd helped save the world, again, and got the shit kicked out of him for it, again, Steve was definitely spending way too much time thinking about Eddie Munson.

He'd felt guilty after Halloween, since Nancy had drunkenly told him everything was bullshit, but they hadn't had any sort of proper talk before he was having the time of his life with Eddie. He sort of felt like he had been unfaithful even though Nancy was the one to break his heart. Hell, it still hurt that she had basically said she was pretending to love him. Was he really so unloveable that she'd faked her way through the past year? He tried not to think of it that way. As much as it hurt to have his suspicions confirmed once he saw her and Jonathan together he had pushed his jealousy down and simply let her go. No hard feelings. What good would it do to fight for someone who didn't want him anymore? Nancy had hurt him deeply, but he still wanted the best for her, even if it wasn't with him. He was actually impressed that Nancy and Jonathan had managed to record Dr. Owens and expose the Hawkins Lab's cover up of Barb's death, he hoped Nancy could grieve properly now and stop carrying around so much guilt.

He made it through home room and first period without too much trouble, just a lot of looks from teachers and classmates alike. He should have known that Eddie would seek him out, a small part of Steve had been longing for it, hoping that Eddie cared enough to ask what had really happened instead of listening to the bullshit rumours.

Then stupid Dan had gotten in the way, being a dick as usual, and Steve had to walk away since he was in no mood to start more shit with dumbasses who liked to run their mouths.

Steve was pleasantly surprised to find a crumpled note in his locker before lunch, Eddie's writing was a messy but legible scrawl, his number written on a ripped piece of notebook paper. Steve turned it over and was amused to find cut off notes about pirates and sea monsters, with little doodles in the margins. I hope this wasn't from some sort of book report, Munson.

Steve walked into the cafeteria, once again feeling awkward and out of place. He wasn't going anywhere near the jock tables so unfortunately that didn't leave him with a lot of options since there was no sign of anyone else he could call a friend. He heard a loud laugh and his eyes were drawn to Eddie's table, to Eddie and his friends laughing about something. There were a few empty seats at the end of the table and Steve found his feet carrying him over there before he could begin to think about what rumours would sprout from him sitting at the 'freak' table.

"Well, well, well, lords and ladies the King has graced our meagre table with his presence."

Steve should have known there was no way he could sit quietly at the end of the table and not be noticed. Of course Eddie would make some sort of loud gesture about it, he really was quite a peacock, squawking away for the amusement of his friends.

"Shut up, Munson" Steve snarked, trying to stop himself from smiling.

A couple of Eddie's friends looked offended, apparently they weren't big fans of his, he didn't blame them. But Eddie just laughed.

"Did Billy Hargrove really do that to your face?" One of the friends asked, a guy in plaid with fluffy hair.

Eddie smacked him on the arm "C'mon Gareth, leave Harrington alone"

Gareth looked at Eddie incredulously "since when do you care about Harrington's well being?"

"Since he looks so pathetic, like a kicked puppy" Eddie was smiling, teasing, but his eyes were looking at Steve with far more concern than was necessary.

"Yes, Hargrove beat the snot out of me, laugh it up. That psycho fights dirty. He smashed a plate over my head." Steve laughed humourlessly.

"What the fuck" that came from the only girl at the table, she had long black hair and was wearing dark eye make up.

"Yeah dude, not cool" Gareth said.

"Better me than the 13 year old he was going after" said Steve, he was glad Lucas had made it through unscathed. He hated to think what Billy would have done to him, racist prick.

"Our noble king, defender of the weak" said Eddie, and fuck if Steve didn't smile at that.

Eddie really was something else, he apparently couldn't help himself, laying it on thick with all the King Steve shit. He hated to admit that the way Eddie's voice went all deep whenever he talked about lords and ladies and kings it made Steve's stomach feel all wobbly.

"Why the fuck would Hargrove beat up a 13 year old?" Piped up another of Eddie's friends, a bigger guy with curly hair, wearing a leather jacket.

The Black guy next to him gave his friend a look "probably the same reason he shoved me last week, guys an ass"

Steve looked at Eddie's Black friend and once again felt sick at Billy's behaviour. "Definitely the same reason, douchebag didn't want his sister hanging out with the 'wrong sort' of people." He did air quotes and gave Eddie's friend a look. He looked furious for a moment, but then held out his hand to Steve.

"I'm Jeff by the way" Steve reached over the table and shook Jeff's hand.

Eddie, theatrical as ever clapped his hands "introductions are in order my good sirs" a cough from the girl and a dirty look at Eddie, "and Lady"

"King Steve this is Margaret the Mage, Gareth the Great, Grant the Greedy, Doug the Destroyer, Richard the Relentless, and you've just met Jeff the Judicious."

Steve waved at them all, "hi" They all waved back, somehow he'd gained their approval with that interaction and they all went back to their lunches.

Gareth, Jeff and Grant started arguing about something Steve couldn't follow, about trolls and orcs. Fantasy shit that the boys talked about and Steve couldn't ever seem to get straight in his head.

Steve ate his lunch, quietly listening to Eddie's friends, even if he couldn't understand half of what they were saying it was nice. They clearly had common interests that they were passionate about, Steve sort of missed that about hanging out with jocks. At least he understood when they talked about sports. It just sucked that hanging out with guys who were into sports usually meant putting up with a lot of bullshit Steve no longer had the patience for.

"I can't believe you still won't tell us who you got the hickies from Eddie" Said Gareth.

"As if I'd tell you, you're more of a gossip than a bored housewife" Eddie laughed.

Gareth pouted but dropped the topic after a stern look from Eddie and they went back to talking about elves and monsters. As much as Eddie liked to poke fun at "King Steve" he was clearly king of this little group, they saw him as their leader, even when he wasn't actively demanding their attention. Eddie must've sensed him staring, his big brown eyes snapped to Steve's, looking him over with concern again. Steve flushed at the attention, he should be annoyed that Eddie was worried about him, but something about Eddie made Steve want to open up, to not pretend like everything was fine for once.

"You okay?" Mouthed Eddie silently.

Steve nodded back, his eyes shifting down to his sandwich. He'd spent all weekend babysitting the kids, it was nice to have someone looking out for him for once.

Steve had wanted to call Eddie as soon as he got home, but that seemed way too eager. Plus his parents seemed to think that he should be taking care of his chores regardless of his battered body. He thought about Eddie while he swept outside, clearing the autumn leaves from the patio. Never turning his back to the pool, it creeped him out way too much to know that in an alternate dimension Barb had died there, was apparently still there. His parents were constantly giving him shit for not swimming in it anymore and for quitting the swim team but he couldn't bring himself to go in it. Maybe one day.

Eddie had been so kind to him on Halloween, driving him home, then giving him the Halloween tape and offering to drive him back to his car in the morning. Steve felt like he was the one being wooed for once, he was the one that was being taken care of, it made him feel warm all over. Thinking about what they had done together made Steve feel a different type of warm all over.

He'd noticed guys before, sure, looked maybe a little too much in the locker room or the showers. Watched Risky Business with Nancy more times than he could count, teasing her about her crush on Tom Cruise and then having amazing sex with her afterwards. Shoulda realized Nance and I were both crushing.

Eddie was a whole different species though, tough on the outside, wearing his "Freak" status as a badge of honour, but secretly soft and sweet on the inside. He'd heard rumours about Eddie before, sure, but you couldn't take much stock in the Hawkins High rumour mill. But over the course of his night with Eddie Steve kept hoping that the rumours were true. Sure, smoking weed made him unbearably horny, but that was only part of it. Eddie was stupidly beautiful, with his big brown eyes, that seemed to see through any walls Steve could try to put up, and his big smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. God, and the way he looked naked, spread out beneath Steve, pale skin and black tattoos, with smatterings of body hair, less than Steve but incredibly enticing.

Fucking hell.

Steve finished up sweeping the patio, put the broom away and told his mom he was going to have a shower. She was making dinner and told him not to take too long, he passed his father's office and heard him talking on the phone so he knew he had a little time at least.

He sped up the stairs and into his room, locking the door behind him before going in the closet and pulling out the shirt Eddie had left behind. Bastard probably left it behind intentionally. Knowing that Eddie still had his shirt turned him on like crazy, would Eddie smell it and think of Steve? Of the night they shared? Steve hoped so since he was about to do the same thing.

His dick was already hardening in his jeans just thinking about Eddie beneath him, all the sounds he was making, the things he said. Goddamnit. Steve liked to be vocal in bed, and more often than not the girls he had been with shied away from saying much, but not Eddie. He had figured out what Steve liked so quickly and had gone all in.

Steve unzipped his jeans and pulled them off quickly, palming his erection through his boxers as he walked over to his bed holding Eddie's shirt to his battered face and inhaling. A few days had passed and he'd had to change his sheets since he'd gotten blood on them, so his bed didn't smell like Eddie anymore. He was grateful that Eddie had left his shirt behind, smelling of weed, smoke, fresh soap and the musky natural scent that was just him. Steve groaned, laying back against his pillows, slipping his hand into his boxers to stroke himself fully as he breathed in Eddie's smell.

He thought about Eddie's perfect mouth wrapped around his cock, he fantasized about Eddie's hands on him, about Eddie beneath him, moaning his name. Fuck he was getting close already. He wanted more, so much more, he wanted to stretch Eddie out and fuck him, tenderly at first, then hard and fast.

He'd read about anal sex in a skin mag that Tommy had lent him, he'd even tried a finger in a girls ass before, but never his dick, and fuck if that was all he could think about. How pretty Eddie would look under him, how it would feel to push into his tight wet heat, and watch him come undone. Steve's hips lifted at that, gripping his dick ridiculously hard as he fucked into his hand roughly, biting Eddie's shirt to stop himself from moaning too loud and cumming into his boxers.

He lay like a puddle for a few moments coming down from the high of his orgasm. He wiped his sticky hand on his shirt and carefully moved Eddie's shirt out of the way with his clean hand, tucking it under his pillow.

After discarding his soiled clothes he hopped in the shower, letting the hot water rain down on him as he thought about Eddie more. It had been nice, sitting with his friends today, their tentative acceptance, even if he felt a little pathetic joining their table because he didn't have other friends to sit with. His thoughts kept drifting to Eddie throughout his shower and while he got dressed. He was going to need to get a hold of himself, he had no idea where he stood with Eddie, and they couldn't really talk at school without everyone trying to listen in.

It seemed so stupid to get dressed again for dinner but his mom would make faces and snipe at him if he wasn't dressed appropriately for their first meal together in a month. His parents went away on business trips fairly often, now that his father's company had gone national and Steve was old enough to take care of himself. Most of the time they didn't eat together, but his mother had insisted on having dinner together as a family.

Steve should have known it was an ambush.

"Martha phoned while you were in the shower Steven, she wanted to ask how you were doing, seems to think you've gotten yourself into trouble" his mother sniffed, clearly annoyed that Steve had the mothers of Hawkins breathing down her neck.

"Mom, I don't know what else to tell you, it's like Hopper said-"

"Chief Hopper" his father cut in, the man was all about titles.

"Yes, Chief Hopper, it's like he said when he brought me home. I was just trying to protect those kids from that asshole."

"Language Steven" his mother snapped.

"Sorry"

"Regardless, you've gotten yourself into a pointless fight again. We expect you to be on your best behaviour for the rest of the school year. No parties, no fights, good grades."

Steve sighed, he knew better than to argue with her. "Yes, mom"

"The neighbours will be keeping an eye on you when we're out of town later this month." Said his father, a clear threat.

Big brother is watching you.

"Yes, sir."

Steve suffered through the rest of the meal in silence, then did the dishes like the well behaved son they wanted him to be. He felt like he was suffocating under their expectations. He'd managed to rid himself of the friends that wanted him to behave a certain way but he couldn't get rid of his parents, at least not yet. Only a few months left and he'd be free, off to college and away from them.

Finally when the kitchen was tidy, dishes were done and put away, Steve retreated up to his room. He closed and locked the door, just in case, but his parents didn't usually check on him before they went to bed. He pulled out the scrap of paper with Eddie's number on it, checking it again before dialling.

"Hello?" Eddie answered on the third ring.

"Hey Eddie… it's Steve"

"Hey there Stevie! So you got my note then?"

Steve blushed at Eddie's enthusiastic greeting, "yeah, you sure you don't need this page man? It's got some notes about pirates and sea creatures on the back."

"Nah that's just from an old campaign I ran last year"

"Campaign?" Steve asked, he hated feeling stupid and not knowing what Eddie was talking about.

"Dungeons and Dragons, have you heard of it?"

"Oh yeah, the boys play that, you fight monsters and play with dice right?"

"Steeeeeeve Harrington you're full of surprises. What boys are these? Do I need to be jealous that you're hanging out with other nerds?"

"Hah, no, they're the kids I was babysitting this weekend, when Billy beat my face in."

"First of all, I still can't believe that Richie Rich Steve Harrington needs pocket money for babysitting, but we'll come back to that." Eddie teased, he was right though, and it wasn't actual babysitting requested by parents and paid. He was just looking out for the twerps and protecting them from monsters, other worldly and human but he couldn't exactly tell Eddie about that.

"Second of all," Eddie continued, his voice softening, "are you okay? Really? Because you were wincing a lot, and your poor face Steve. I can't believe that fucker did that to you."

Steve felt his stomach swoop at the concern in Eddie's tone, it made him wish that Eddie was there, gently holding him. Fuck that's sappy.

Steve sighed, he wasn't sure how much he could really tell Eddie, or how to dance around the Upside Down bits of the story, but he did his best.

"So then Billy shows up at the Byers, and this poor kid is absolutely terrified of her brother, so I tried to hold him off, but the kids are so dumb they were all looking out the window and he saw Max. Jesus Christ he barged in the house and pinned poor Lucas up against a shelf. He was throwing him around like a rag doll, I was so scared that Billy was going to kill him."

Eddie sucked in a breath at that, "fucking hell man, I mean Billy is obviously a psycho but c'mon you defending a kid is pretty metal."

"Metal? How is it metal?"

"Dunno man, just bad ass, like I know you're a jock Harrington, but defender of the weak? That's some knight in shining armour shit."

Eddie was laying it on pretty thick, but Steve was also flattered.

"Oh, you like that huh? You want to be a damsel in distress and I'll come rescue you?" He flirted, hoping he didn't sound too cheesy.

Eddie let out a sort of squeak at that, apparently the right amount of cheesy then, and said "fuck… yeah kinda"

"Too bad Halloween's over, I could have dressed up as a knight"

"Goddamnit Harrington now that's going to be stuck in my head."

"Yeah, you want to imagine me in armour, Munson?"

"Yep, yep, yep, that's going in the ol' noggin for further examination at a later date."

Steve grinned at that, he knew what Eddie meant but he played dumb.

"Examination? You want to examine me?"

"I'd love to examine you again Stevie" Eddie said, voice full of promise.

"Fuck, Eddie, you have no idea how much I've been thinking about it"

"I think I have some idea, considering how much I've been thinking about it"

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah Steve, that pretty face of yours has been haunting my every waking moment all weekend. I'll admit I was eager to see you yesterday and then you weren't at school, I was worried about you…"

"Sorry sweetheart, at least now you know why, can you find it in that big mushy heart of yours to forgive me?"

"Yeah baby I suppose I can"

Fuck if Eddie calling him baby didn't send a zing right down to his dick. Usually he was the only doling out pet names, it made him blush to be on the receiving end.

"Fuck, I wish I could have you over again soon but my parents are home and they're being assholes about me getting in another fight."

"What? Didn't you tell them what happened?"

"Yeah, and Hop told them too but it didn't really matter, appearance is everything to them and my appearance is kind of shit right now." Steve chuckled at that, but Eddie didn't join in.

"That's fucking stupid," Eddie said, sounding annoyed. "And who's Hop? Hopper? The Chief of Police?"

"Yeah he gave me a ride home yesterday after he took me to the hospital"

"Jeez you really are a good boy aren't you, buddies with the chief of police"

Steve let out a choked sound at the way Eddie called him a 'good boy', he tried to cover it by clearing his throat but the chuckle that came through the receiver told Steve that Eddie was on to him.

"So, good boy, do you want to be baaaaaad?" Eddie teased.

"What do you have in mind?" Steve asked

"Sneak out and meet me at Cornwallis and Kerley, I'll pick you up in 15 minutes." Eddie said in a rush.

"Y-yeah, okay see you then" Steve said, a jumble of nerves as they hung up.

Sneaking out wasn't a big deal, he'd done it plenty of times before without getting caught, but sneaking out to potentially have sex with a very sexy metal head that he couldn't stop thinking about? That was new.

Steve grabbed his jacket off his chair, grateful that it was upstairs and not down in the hall closet where he normally left it. Would it be too presumptuous to bring condoms? Better safe than sorry he thought, pocketing a couple condoms and the small bottle of lube from his bedside table. He put on a thick sweater as well, since it was damn cold out. His reflection in the mirror was a bit disappointing with his black eyes and the bruising on his cheekbones, plus the stupid brace on his nose, but at least his hair was looking okay. It'll have to do.

He wasn't too worried about his parents checking on him but he still went through the motions of arranging the pillows in his bed to look like he was sleeping in it. He shut off the light and opened his window, popping out the screen and tucking it off to the side. Steve always got a rush from climbing in and out of windows, maybe that was just his mischievous side. I can be bad too Munson, just you wait.

Steve lowered himself off his roof onto their fence without a problem, he took one last look around to make sure no one could see him before he jumped down and took off through the trees between their house and the neighbours. He grinned as he ran down the street, it was nice to be running towards something fun instead of away from something life threatening. His body ached from the fight and running around in those fucking tunnels, but it felt so good to move that he didn't care.

He wasn't exactly sure where Eddie lived or what direction he'd be coming from so he ran in long looping circles around the deserted intersection for a few minutes while he waited, enjoying the burn of the cold autumn air in his lungs. He heard Eddie's van before he saw the headlights come around the corner, so he ran towards it.

Eddie's window was down as he slowly pulled up next to Steve, "hey pretty boy can I take you for a ride?" Eddie gave him a positively dirty look, eyeing him up and down.

"No one rides for free sweetheart" he said, winking at Eddie, big grin still plastered on his face as he trotted over to the passenger side and hopped in the van.

"Hi" Eddie said, smiling at him sweetly, all previous bravado gone.

"Hi" Steve smiled back, he wanted to kiss Eddie senseless but he didn't want to start and have to stop so they could drive away. So he just buckled up his seatbelt and said "let's blow this popsicle stand"

Eddie laughed and drove off into the night.

"So where are you taking me, stranger?" Steve said coyly.

"I know a spot we can hang out, it's pretty secluded"

Steve felt a thrill go up his spine at that, fuck he was practically vibrating with anticipation.

Eddie drove through the outskirts of Hawkins, past the old Hess farmhouse, he turned down a dirt path that Steve had never noticed and stopped the van in the woods overlooking the fields of the farm, bathed in the light of the almost full moon. Steve knew that the Hess family had sold the farm but it didn't look like anyone had planted any crops or had any animals there. Once upon a time Steve would have thought the deserted farm was peaceful, but it gave him the creeps now.

"C'mon I've got blankets in the back", said Eddie, kicking off his shoes and climbing between their seats, tripping on tapes as he went. Steve took off his own shoes followed and him back, trying to be careful of his footing but Eddie had random crap all over the floor.

Eddie had a thin mattress laid out in the back of the van and a pile of blankets and pillows, he was trying to rearrange them to sit on but Steve didn't care, he wanted his mouth on Eddie now. He pushed Eddie over and straddled him as he closed the gap between their mouths and kissed Eddie hard.

"Ow! Fuck!" Steve pulled back, in his haste to kiss Eddie he'd completely forgotten how fucked up his face was.

"Oh shit Stevie your face" Eddie reached up and cupped his chin gently but he was trying and failing to hold in laughter. "Why'd you go and do that you idiot?"

Steve laughed too, "I just wanted to kiss you, I couldn't stop thinking about it" Steve blushed, embarrassed at his blunder and his confession but Eddie just smiled at him, his eyes soft in the moonlight, and brushed his thumbs over the unbruised skin of Steve's face.

"Here baby, lay down and let me take care of you"

Jesus, this man will be the death of me.

Steve rolled himself next to Eddie, being more careful of his tender face and body this time.

Eddie hovered over him, his face shadowed in the dim light, before he slowly and carefully leaned down and kissed Steve softly on the chin.

"You're still so beautiful even when you're bruised" Eddie whispers into his neck, his fingers lightly dancing over Steve's chest.

His heart was thumping as Eddie kissed him softly on his neck, his collarbone, whispering praises as he kissed all the skin that he could reach. Then Eddie moved down his body, lifting his sweater and licking a trail down his stomach.

His whole body felt like it was on fire, his dick hardening in his pants as Eddie's chest brushed against it.

"Can I?" Eddie whispered into Steve's belly button, his hand ghosting over the button of Steve's jeans.

"Please" it came out in a whine, his hips lifting and pushing his erection into Eddie's palm.

Normally Steve was the one who was making girls beneath him squirm, but Eddie brought out a whole different side of him. It felt so good to have someone else be in charge for once.

Eddie made quick work of undoing Steve's pants, pulling them off gently, and throwing them over his shoulder. He palmed Steve's dick through his boxer briefs, tracing his fingers up the base of it and making Steve whine again.

"Please Eddie"

"Patience big boy, I've been thinking about this all weekend."

"Yeah? Did you think of me and touch yourself?" Steve asks, desperate for the answer.

"Oh Stevie, Stevie, Stevie" Eddie tuts at him, "I've been doing that for years."

"Oh fuck" Steve gasps at the confession and at Eddie squeezing his dick through his boxers again.

"Were you a naughty boy Steve? Did you touch yourself and think of me?"

"Ye-yes!" Eddie's hands on him are driving him wild, he keeps switching between feather light strokes and firm grabs, giving Steve no relief and making him squirm.

Eddie finally pulls down Steve's briefs, kneading his legs, thumbs teasing at the crease of his thighs, still not fully touching his rock hard cock.

"When?" Eddie asks, smirking up at Steve.

He's never been teased like this before and fuck if it isn't making him crazy being at Eddie's mercy.

"Eddie, please!" Steve gasps as Eddie's thumb lightly caresses the bottom of his balls.

"Tell me, Steve, then I'll give you what you want, you naughty boy"

Steve whines again, he'd be embarrassed acting so desperate with anyone else but he was getting the distinct impression that Eddie liked turning him into a begging mess.

"This afternoon, before dinner, fuck," Eddie's thumbs are gently stroking him now, the light tickling touches are too much and not enough all at once.

"You are a bad boy Steve Harrington" says Eddie, his voice deep and rough as he looks up at Steve. "Luckily for you I happen to like bad boys"

Quick as a flash Eddie has his hand wrapped around the base of Steve's cock and the head in his mouth. Jesus fucking Christ. Steve can't help the full body spasm he has, shouting out as Eddie's free hand holds down his hips.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Steve cries out in a high pitched whine, sounding like many of the girls he'd bedded, but he doesn't give a shit, not when Eddie's tongue is swirling around his dick like that.

"Fuck, Eddie, you're the naughty one. Goddamnit. How are you so fucking good at this?"

Eddie's hand slips from Steve's cock and fondles his balls gently, before his fingers slide down and start teasing his taint. Steve thinks he's going to start seeing stars if Eddie keeps doing that, but unfortunately for him Eddie pulls back, Steve's cock falling on his hip with a wet 'plop'.

"You are such a fucking tease Eddie Munson" Steve groans, making Eddie laugh darkly.

"Just you wait Steeeve Harrington" Eddie mutters before his mouth is back on Steve, this time licking and sucking at his balls before taking one into his mouth and swiping his tongue over it. And fuck if that doesn't make Steve see stars.

Eddie spreads Steve's thighs wider with his hands and licks downward, lapping at Steve's taint in the most tantalising way and then moving farther south to-

"Woah!" Steve exclaims

"Woah, good or woah bad?" Asks Eddie, his breath making Steve's wet flesh tingle as Eddie's hands hold him open.

"Woah good…woah very very good" Steve exhales, chuckling a bit. "Goddamnit, Eddie you're full of surprises"

"No one's ever eaten your ass before, sweetheart?"

"Nope, definitely not, definitely n-noooooot" Steve loses the ability to speak when Eddie's mouth descends on him again, the flat of his tongue sweeping over the ring of nerves, making Steve buck his hips against Eddie's hold.

Eddie swipes his tongue over and over as Steve whines and moans his fingers clenched tight in the blanket beneath him.

"Eddieeeeee, ohmygod," Steve pants, trying to catch his breath as Eddie lifts his leg over his shoulder and begins stroking his dick while his tongue continues to lick and swirl around Steve's rim.

"Jesus Christ Eddie, and you call me a bad boy, holy fuck"

Eddie chuckles as he lifts his head up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Eddie gives the meat of his thigh a nip, chuckling darkly when Steve yelps, "You love being my bad boy"

Steve's brain goes a little cloudy at Eddie's possessive words, "y-yeah, yeah I do"

Eddie bites Steve's other thigh, groaning into it "Fuck Stevie I want to finger you so bad, can I? I've got lube in the glovebox."

"Holy fuck yesssssss" Steve hisses, and then he remembers the bottle he put in his jacket pocket. "Funnily enough I also came prepared" he grins and holds the lube out to Eddie who's smirking back at him.

"You're such a boy scout Stevie"

Eddie takes the bottle and squirts some lube on his fingers, he waits for Steve to give him a nod to continue before he slides his hand between Steve's legs and lets his finger trace the edge. Eddie pushes in slowly, letting Steve get accustomed to the feeling before he pumps his finger in and out.

It feels weird at first, but not in a bad way, Steve's just never had anything up there before and he's not sure how it's supposed to feel. That is until Eddie pushes in farther and curls his finger, brushing a sensitive spot that has Steve crying out.

"Gotcha, big boy" mutters Eddie as he hits the spot again making Steve squirm.

As Eddie tortures Steve with his finger he takes Steve's cock in his mouth again, alternating between curling his fingers and bobbing his head up and down. It's an onslaught of sensation and Steve feels like he's being tackled as his orgasm charges into him. He practically screams Eddie's name as he cums in Eddie's mouth. Amazingly, Eddie manages to swallow it down, releasing Steve's spent cock, removing his fingers, and wiping them on the blanket before collapsing next to Steve.

Steve scoots close to Eddie and pulls him in for a soft kiss, trying to be careful of his face this time. He tastes himself as they languidly twirl their tongues together and fuck if that isn't hot. He drags his hand down Eddie's chest, tweaking his nipple on the way, down to the button of Eddie's jeans. He quickly undoes them and pulls down the zipper, desperate to return the favour, to make Eddie feel as good as he did. He wraps his hand around Eddie's hard cock, his grip firm as he strokes up and down.

"Oh fuck Steve" Eddie gasps into Steve's mouth, "just like that. I'm so close."

Steve sets a punishing pace as Eddie moans.

"You like that baby? This is how hard I was jacking myself off earlier, thinking of you, how sexy you are. The things you do to me make me crazy Eddie."

"Jesus Christ, I love your dirty mouth"

"I wish it was on your dick right now"

Eddie whines at that, and once again Steve curses his ruined face. He continues his rapid pace on Eddie's dick, watching Eddie's face as he bites his lip and moans. Steve loves this part, giving his partner pleasure, especially Eddie, since he's so fucking expressive. Maybe Steve has shed his jock persona, but he's certainly still a people pleaser.

"Oh fuck, fuck, Steeeve" Eddie groans as he comes undone in Steve's hand.

He wipes his hand on the blanket, and tries to clean Eddie up a bit as he catches his breath. Steve sits up and grabs his boxers and pants from where Eddie threw them, lying back down to pull them on then cuddling back into Eddie.

"Well I know what I have to write on the bathroom wall at school tomorrow" says Eddie, wrapping his arm around Steve.

"What's that?"

"Steve Harrington is a sex god"

Steve bursts out laughing and squeezes Eddie around his middle, fingers digging at his side. "You know not to brag but I think something similar is already written in one of the girls bathrooms."

"Of course it is" Eddie laughs back, "King Steve reigns supreme"

"Ex-King, I've been dethroned, remember?"

"Whatever, you're still King in my fantasies"

"What does that mean?" Steve asks curiously, it's incredibly flattering to know that Eddie has fantasies about him, but Steve hopes they're not about him at the height of his "King Steve" era when he was so desperate to be liked that he was acting like a total prick all the time.

"Oh just like, you're the king and I'm a bard entertaining your court" Eddie mumbles, clearly embarrassed.

Steve thinks back to the way Eddie was talking about lords and ladies at lunch and feels a little thrill go up his spine. Of course Eddie would fantasize about him being an actual king.

Steve giggles, "What, like some mediaeval bodice ripper that the housewives love?"

"Shut up, they can be pretty steamy sometimes, and the cover art is hot" Eddie throws his arm over his face and groans. "I can't believe you know my deep dark secret"

Steve laughs again, "Eddie if reading romance novels is your darkest secret then you're definitely not the freak that people make you out to be"

"I will torture you if you breathe a word of this to anyone" threatens Eddie with a smile on his face.

"I think I like you brand of torture though"

"Yeah? Does King Steve like to be punished?"

"Maybe a little… it's more… I like that you take charge. That I don't have to be the one guiding the way. Like you said, you took care of me."

Eddie gives him a kiss on the head, "I like taking care of you Steve, seems like you need it sometimes"

Steve doesn't want to think about how that makes him feel, to have someone actually care about him and what he needs instead of putting their own expectations on him and getting upset when he doesn't live up to them. His parents certainly weren't the warm and loving caregivers that other kids had. He'd given up on trying to get any form of affection from them long ago. Sometimes he had felt cared for by Nancy, but a lot of their relationship was pretending, on both of their parts. He always felt like he was the one that had to be strong for Nancy, to get them back to their normal teenage existence, and move past all the demogorgon shit. After their second encounter with the Upside Down he felt stupid for thinking that they could move on and forget about it. He'd seen things that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The poor kids had seen things that would haunt them too and all he wanted to do was look out for them. Damn he should have checked on them today, he'd call Henderson tomorrow and see if he was doing alright.

Eddie was stroking his long fingers up and down Steve's arm as he got lost in thought, he appreciated that Eddie was content for them to just lay there in silence in the back of his van, moonlight streaming through the windows. They laid like that a long time, until Steve's arm between them got numb and he checked his watch, fuck it was late.

"I better get home so I can sneak back in" Steve sighed, he wanted to stay the night with Eddie, cuddling in the back of the van. He was sure he was going to have nightmares, and his parents always gave him shit in the morning if he woke them up with his screaming.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to get in more trouble, bad boy, let's go"

They crawl to the front of the van and hop in their seats. It actually was pretty nice out here, with the trees and the fields, the old farmhouse in the distance, thinks Steve. Wait, was that light on when we got here? But Eddie starts the van and they leave the field behind, and head back to Steve's street. He wonders when he'll get to see Eddie like this again, where they can talk and be themselves without worrying about the narrow minded people of Hawkins.

"Hey, uh, do you have something I can write my number down on? I mean, in case you want to call me?" Steve says hopefully.

"Yeah sweetheart I'd love to call you, but, what if your parents answer?"

"Hah, I guess that's the benefit of being a Harrington, I have my own line"

Eddie whistles at that, "Fancy schmancy, must be nice"

"Yeah, sure" Steve says, he doesn't want to tell Eddie that it's just because his dad didn't want his business line clogged up by girls calling for Steve, he wasn't lying about that note in the girls bathroom.

They pull up to the corner where Eddie picked Steve up from, idling for a moment so Steve can write his number on the notepad that Eddie pulled out from the mess on the floor.

"Here you go hot stuff, I'll be waiting by the phone" Steve jokes.

"See you tomorrow pretty boy" Eddie croons, clutching Steve's number to his chest.

"Pshh, not so pretty anymore" Steve says, gesturing at his purple face.

"You're as gorgeous as ever Steve" Eddie says softly, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips gently.

Steve flushes at the compliment, the way Eddie's said it with so much conviction makes Steve's heart squeeze.

"Okay bye cheeseball" Steve sticks his tongue out and gets out of the van, closing the door on Eddie's laughter.

He sprints back towards his house, ducking through the trees again, the lights are off in his house, good. He gets in his bedroom with minimal noise, standing still and listening intently once he's in his bedroom. Thank fuck. He gets ready for bed, cuddles under the blankets, and so what if he snuggles up to Eddie's t-shirt before he drifts off to sleep.

Eddie is trying not to fall asleep during Mr. Carmichael's physics lecture, the man is so dry and boring Eddie has no idea how anyone can follow what he says. Eddie's notes are a mess, they barely make sense, random words with doodles swirling around them. He sighs, he knows he needs to pay attention but Carmichael is too far into whatever he's talking about for Eddie to catch on. So instead Eddie thinks about Steve, who gave him a wave in the parking lot this morning, that smile lighting up his purple face. Maybe Steve will sit with them at lunch again, even if they can't really sit next to each other and hold hands like Eddie wants. Damn, I'm sappier than a freshman girl.

He flips to a new page in his notebook, sketching a knight in armour, a little griffin on the breastplate, helmet tucked under his arm. Eddie sketches Steve's face from memory, erasing bits that don't quite look right, until he gets a likeness that he's satisfied with. Steve the Steadfast. The bell rings and he grabs his bag, heading out into the busy hallway. He rips the page out of his notebook, folding it up as he walks. Steve isn't at his locker so Eddie slips the drawing inside, hoping that Steve thinks it's cute and sweet and not super creepy.

When he walks into the cafeteria at lunch he's surprised to see Steve already sitting at their table, talking to Jeff and smiling. Oof.

Eddie walks over and claps Steve on the back, "Well well well the King is slumming it at the freak table again"

"I dunno," Says Steve smiling up at Eddie "I was thinking of demoting myself to a knight"

Author's Note:

I think it's safe to say we all hate Steve's parents. I didn't want to get too deep into spending time with them because they suck.

Just wanted to add in that little nod to the fact that the Russians were doing shady shit at Hess farm around this time.

I'm not sure when and what I'll write next in this series, it'll probably skip forward a bit. I have some ideas but suggestions are welcome! I'm terrible at writing angst with these boys so expect mostly fluffiness.