"Where is it? Where the fuck is it?"

Steve stepped foot in the Munson's trailer, eyebrows raised at the mess inside. Eddie was a messy guy, as it was, but this took it to another level. Stepping around, the clothes and books littering the floor, he almost had to climb to make it to Eddie's room, which looked like Vecna's gate had torn through again.

"Eddie? Where are- shit!" Steve slipped, falling into a pile of old sheets that smelled sixty years old. "Ugh!"

Struggling out, Steve managed to climb onto the bed and looked around the sea of detritus in bemusement, finally spotting Eddie's leg sticking out from under the desk. After a moment's deliberation, he kicked Eddie in the ass, grinning when he heard a yelp in response.

Eddie emerged, glaring at Steve as he crawled to the relative safety of the bed. "What was that for, asshole?"

"I called your name, and you didn't answer! That's what you get for ignoring me." Steve pouted, trying not to smile when Eddie kissed him. "Better."

"Sorry, baby, I was distracted."

"I heard. And saw. What did you lose?"

"Something for you." And with another quick kiss, Eddie dived back in.

Deciding to leave him to it, Steve set to poking through Eddie's things. Some of the junk was old, stuck together with god knows what, and he quickly decided not to investigate further. In the second pile, he found a journal and flicked through it. It looked old, so Steve was surprised to see his name a few pages in.

"Uh, Eddie, what is this?"

Eddie hummed and looked over, eyes wide, when he saw what Steve held. "N-nothing! Gimme that!" He made a wild snatch for the book, but Steve held it out of reach. "I swear to god, Steve, you give me that right now or-"

"You'll what, kick me out? What is this thing anyway?"

"Just an old book. Come on, I wrote that shit when I was like fourteen years old, it's embarrassing."

"What, you've had a crush on me that long?" The way Eddie blushed made Steve pause. "Holy shit, you have. Is this… is it some sort of confession?"

"Oh, what, like I thought I had a chance with you back then. Come on, Steve, as if you even knew I existed before Vecna."

"That is not true!"

"No?"

"I remember seeing you perform at the talent show in middle school. My, uh, dad was the one who started the petition to get you kicked out."

"Charming."

Steve rolled his eyes, grabbing Eddie's shirt to pull him onto the bed. "I remember my first day at Hawkins High. You had posters on the lockers, trying to recruit for your club. Your hair was shorter."

"Mhmm. Go on?"

"That day, you got busted for smoking even though it was me, but Principal Higgins blamed you. Did you even know I was behind the bleachers?"

Eddie's eyebrows rose in surprise. "No."

"See, maybe you're not as attentive as you thought either."

"Okay, okay," Eddie laughed and fell beside him on the bed, grinning wide. "I'm sorry."

Tossing the notebook on Eddie's chest, Steve rolled his eyes. "Maybe I've had a crush on you for ages, too."

"Oh yeah, since when?"

"You gave me free weed once. After Hargrove. It was like you cared."

Eddie's expression softened. "I did. I still do."

"I know." With a sigh, he patted Eddie's knee and looked around the mess again. "So, what are we looking for?"

"A ring box." He laughed when Steve stared at him incredulously. "Not that kinda ring. Well, it is for you but I'm not proposing. Could've sworn it was on my desk, but I couldn't find it."

It took another hour to sort through everything and find the box under Eddie's bed, hidden behind a box of DnD manuals. With a victorious huff, Eddie wriggled free and held it out to Steve.

Taking it carefully, Steve opened it to find a ring similar to the one Eddie wore. In fact, he looked closer at it and realized they were identical.

"My mom bought two. One for her and one for me." Eddie's voice dropped to something reverent as he picked up the ring and examined it. "So we'd match, and anytime I looked at my ring, I would remember her. That was the plan anyway, but… yeah. She died."

Steve nodded, squeezing his hand.

"Anyway, it shouldn't go to waste, right? Now, when I look at my ring, or you look at yours-" And he slid the ring onto Steve's finger with a big grin, kissing his knuckles when he was done. "-we can remember that there's someone who does love us, no matter what."

"No matter what," Steve echoed, kissing him properly. "Love you, Eds."

"Yeah, I love you too. Now help me clean up."

"It's your mess!"

"For better or worse, Stevie."

Eddie tapped the ring and cackled, jumping up to scoop his clothes into a drawer. Sighing, Steve got up to help, unable to hide his smile. "For better or worse."