Chapter Text
It had been raining all day in Hawkins. The wind was knocking down anything in its path and into the next garden. The drains had completely overflowed, flooding the roads and stopping all movement of the cars. Steve Harrington's included. His parent-bought BMV was currently pulled over on the curb, alongside five others. Steve cursed himself silently for not leaving earlier. He was due to pick up Dustin and Mike from Hellfire Club, held at Hawkins High School. He had been a bit suspicious of it at first, mainly for the fact that its leader was none other than Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. Steve had heard talk of him, of the *things* he got up to. Weed, drugs, alcohol. Not to mention the whole been-a-senior-for-three-years-thing. But Dustin practically worshipped the guy. Constantly he sat shotgun in Steve's car as he dropped him to his house, rambling on how Eddie was so much cooler than him. How he had hundreds of cool rings adorning his fingers. How amazing and cool he was as a Dungeon Master. Steve didn't even know what a Dungeon Master was but he had to admit. It sounded pretty cool. Everything about Eddie was apparently *cool.*
It made Steve incredibly jealous. Not that he would admit that, of course.
Steve had now sworn Eddie Munson as his rival enemy. The Bowser to his Mario. The Maleficent to his Aurora. Hell, the Demogorgon to his paladin Tiefling.
Steve drummed his fingers along his dashboard, willing the rain to subside enough for him to pick up the boys. No divine being was listening to his prayers, however and beacons of lightning started to crack through the air. He rummaged through the glovebox of his car and pulled out a few cassettes. He quickly tossed the mixtape Nancy Wheeler had made for him when they had dated, back into the very back of the compartment in a frenzy. Why did he still have that? He made a mental note to hide them in the bottom of his sock drawer when he got home. Steve was very indecisive and so, closed his eyes and ran his hands over the plastic sleeves, picking a random tape from the pile. 'The Number of the Beast' by Iron Maiden. Steve couldn't remember having bought it, maybe Dustin left it in his car or something. He loaded it into his car, curious of its contents when his heart stopped at the sound of heavy electric guitar. It was Eddie's. Shit.
'Longboats have been sighted, and the evidence of war
has begun, many Nordic fighting men...'
Steve began to tap his foot subconsciously to the beat, his head swinging slowly. It was alright, he thought, closing his eyes.
'In the sun, call to arms, defend yourselves,
get ready to stand and fight...'
Steve was now nodding along, kicking his legs up onto the dashboard. He slowly opened his eyes and as he did, a wet, soggy figure stood at the window and started banging frantically on the car. Steve reached over the gear shift and grabbed the nail-studded bat from the floor of the passenger side, rolling down his window cautiously.
''Who are you? And what do you want?''
He had to shout quite loud to be heard over the crashing of the rain but still, he held the bat strongly in his grip.
''Hey man. It's Eddie. Would you chill and stop waving that... nail-bat in my face?''
''Eddie? Munson? Aren't you supposed to be at the school with Dustin and Mike? Why aren't you? What have you done with them?''
Steve's eyes narrowed as he brought the toe of the bat up to Eddie's throat.
''I'll explain everything, man. Just lemme get into the car. Please.” Steve sighed and lowered his bat.
''Get in. But any funny business and I'll beat you with this.''
He gestured towards the weapon in his hands. Eddie immediately ran to the other side, threw open the door and climbed inside.
“Thanks man!”
Eddie thumped down in the passenger seat and quickly made work of putting on his seatbelt. Steve turned to throw his bat onto the floor of the backseats before starting the ignition to attempt to warm up the shivering Eddie beside him.
“Now tell me, Munson. Where the hell are my boys?”
Eddie let out a small chuckle.
“Who are you? Their mother? God, I knew you were overprotective of the little gremlins but that's going a bit far...“
“Whatever. Tell me where the fuck they are before I strangle you.”
Eddie's eyes widened as he smirked.
“King Steve is threatening to choke me? I think one of my nightly fantasies is finally coming true!”
Steve just rolled his eyes.
“If you have to know, Harrington. Hellfire was... postponed,' Eddie said with a grimace. 'Mike Wheeler... decided to not show up. Something to do with that Byers kid. So I dropped Henderson off at his house. They're both inside probably watching the raindrops fall or... whatever high schoolers do.”
Steve let out a sigh of relief.
“Why wouldn't they call me, though? The school has payphones? Why didn't *you* call me to tell me I didn't have to come out in the pissing rain to pick them up?“
Steve pointed at Eddie's chest, accusingly.
“Listen man. After I dropped Henderson off, my van broke down. Couldn't move. I had to park it back at his house and walk back to the school. All my shit for the campaign is in there so I had to go back for it. I was going to call you from the school but then I saw your shitty ride parked out here and... now we're here? Is that good enough for you? Relax, man. Your kids are fine.”
“Thank fuck. I was shit-scared for a minute there.”
“Your precious little lambs are all safe in their beds. The Wheeler kid... probably not in his own . If you know what I mean,” Eddie said with a flash of a smirk.
“Is this about his relationship with Will?”
Eddie immediately sat up in his seat.
“You're actually alright with that?”
Steve tensed up and came to his eye level.
“What the fuck do you mean? Of course I'm okay with that. I swear to God, if you're one of those homophobic dicks I'll kick your ass.”
“That's not what I meant. I meant it in a questioning King-Steve-Is-A-Supporter way. I literally wear this hanky in my pocket. How could I of all people be against it?“
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, Stevie. You're new to all this. It's better if you don't know. People of your kind don't tend to like it.“
“What do you mean, 'my kind?”
“Straights. Non-gays.”
Steve mumbled a response but it was barely audible.
“What was that? Didn't quite catch you there?”
“I said how do you know I'm not.”
It was Eddie's turn to tense up.
“You're gay?!”
“Not gay, no. I'm... bisexual. It's where you like both. Girls and boys.”
Eddie's face dropped in astonishment.
“No way. There's literally no way.”
“Well it's true. Whether I like it or not.”
“How did you know?”
“Billy Hargrove. I was on the basketball team with him. We had a few encounters in the showers. Just generally talking. But they always ended with him walking away and me hiding in the lockers trying to rub one out.”
“God, man. Where's your decency?”
Steve chuckled and rubbed his neck, before stopping.
“Wait. Didn't you say... 'your kind?' Meaning you're...”
“Gay. Yeah.”
“Cool, man. I'm sure you're used to all the experiences 'n shit, then?”
“What, sex? Yeah, I guess you could say I'm pretty... experienced. The hanky says it all, though.”
“So are you gonna tell me now what it means, then?”
“Are you sure you want to know, Harrington?”
“Hit me.”
“Bingo.“
Steve looked puzzled.
“Basically I'm a top who‘s into S&M.”
“What's S&M?”
“Oh man. That's a whole different road. I like hurting people during sex. I like watching their faces when they're in pain. Helps me get off, you know?“
Steve blushed from his head to his toes.
“You're really missing out, man. It's a whole new side to sex. A side you couldn't have seen with Nancy Wheeler. Would it interest you, though? It's not like a common thing to be into but its kinda common in the gay community.”
“I dunno. I don't think I would wanna hurt anyone. But...“
“You would wanna get hurt?”
Steve shrugged.
“I don't know.”
“You know, Harrington. This isn't how I pictured my day would go. Talking to you about your kinks in your car. I mean, I'm down for it and all. Just unexpected.”
“Honestly, I don't even know where I would find anyone to... experiment with? It's not as if we can be open about it in Hawkins. Especially not me. Like just someone I could work things out with. Casual sex.”
Now, Eddie was inaudible.
“Huh? Didn't hear you.”
“I said... I would be down.”
“You... want to have sex with me?”
“I mean... if you do... I wouldn't be opposed to it.”
“Uh, yeah. I uh-“
“Just think about it. I'm not pressuring you or getting my hopes up. I'm just suggesting myself for you to experiment?”
Steve thought about it for all of about three seconds. Eddie was hot. He had to admit it. He hated to admit it. But yeah, the man was gorgeous.
“Sure. Yeah.”
“Wait. You want to have sex? With me? The school freak?”
“Well, yeah? You're hot and I'm horny so...“
“Alright. Cool. Great.”
“Calm down, Munson. I can practically hear your thoughts,” Steve said putting his hand on Eddie's shoulder.
“Oh you wouldn't want to hear those, Stevie. Not yet, anyway.”
What had Steve got himself into?
“Anyway, I'll take it you need a ride home, then? Where do you live?”
“Yeah, man. I live in uh, Forest Hills Trailer Park. You know it?”
“Course I do. I'll take you home.”
The rain decided to subside and Steve started up the car and drove. The rest of the journey was filled with a tense but excited atmosphere. Steve's mind was whirring with questions he probably didn't want to know the answer to, while Eddie's was full of plans. After ten minutes, they had reached Eddie's trailer.
“So, uh. When are we doing it?” Steve asked, nervously.
“I was thinking maybe tonight? Seven? I'll make it to your place somehow?”
“Sounds good. My parents aren't home this week, anyway. They're practically never home, though. So we can be as loud as we want. If that's a thing you do...?“
“Oh, baby. This is gonna be good.”
And with that, Eddie slammed the car door and unlocked his trailer before climbing in. Steve just sat staring at his steering wheel for a minute, watching for Eddie getting in safely, before driving off.
The last of the song played,
'You'd better scatter and run
The battle's lost and not won...'
Steve drove for a lot longer than he needed to. A ten minute drive turned into an hour drive to the beach into an hour drive back to Hawkins. The silence of the car was shared with the sound of Iron Maiden and some other band... Black Sabbath? They weren't that bad. But during the ride back, Steve was beginning to feel nervous. He knew he needed to shower but what did he need to do? He couldn't ask Robin... too personal. She wouldn't understand, anyway. Lesbians were completely different. As he sat dumb in his car staring at the wheel, Steve knew.
He was royally fucked.