Chapter Text
Two Months
May 27th 1986
It’s been two months since Eddie Munson died.
Two months of Steve crying, of him feeling numb, of waking up shaking from his nightmares, replaying that night in his head over and over again until he passes out on the floor of his bedroom like he always does.
It’s been two months since Eddie Munson died.
Since he was killed by Vecna’s demobats in the upside-down. Since they were forced to leave his body there, unable to both save Dustin and bury Eddie properly. Since Steve had lost the love of his life.
It’s been two months since Eddie Munson died.
His boyfriend, his alpha… his future mate. Eddie was Steve’s everything.
The man’s death had broken him in a way that nothing else had managed to thus far. It ripped his heart from his chest and stomped on it until the omega wanted to join Eddie. He longed to fall asleep and not wake up until he was with his alpha again, whatever that entailed.
Recently, it involved a lot of alcohol and purposely isolating himself from his pack. A six pack is cheaper and quicker than therapy. Less embarrassing too. He found that it’s easier to be numb than to feel everything all the time.
As it turns out though, there’s no amount of drinking that can assuage his survivor’s guilt. Steve can down as many beers as he wants, but he’ll still wake up the next morning alone and depressed. Just with the addition of a pounding headache and urge to puke. Partially from the hangover, partially from the omega's need to apologize to all the people who lost Eddie because of his foolishness and inability to protect the man.
Because none of them had really expected to die when they started their mission. They all knew it was a possibility, they’d spoken about it and took every precaution they could to ensure there would be no losses. The pack made sure their plan was solid, double-checked their weapons, and prepared themselves for a battle.
Steve had even used their last words to ask Eddie not to be a hero, to be safe. He’d wanted so badly to say “I love you,” but since their relationship was a secret, he said it in different words. He’d used his eyes to remind his alpha of the stakes.
And that idiotic, protective man of his just had to do something cute and sacrifice himself. He changed the plan at the last minute, trying to buy them all more time by giving up his life.
Sometimes, Steve hates Eddie for what he did, for leaving him behind in the horrible fucking world that lacks his presence. But most days, he’s just sad.
For being someone he had never even spent more than five minutes thinking about until the fall of eighty-five, the goofy man had quickly gone from being a stranger to being Steve’s entire future in a short amount of time.
All his dreams in life involved Eddie up until two months ago.
From the puppies they talked about having, to the trailer they were saving up for. Steve was prepared to settle down as soon as his alpha graduated high school. They had plans together. Big plans. Ones that didn’t involve him dying.
Hell, they didn’t even get to have sex yet. It was something special they were saving for when they were going to bond. Since they were both virgins, it was a topic they’d discussed early on and decided to wait for, a decision that seemed so romantic at the time.
Now, that would never happen either.
Instead, Steve feels this horrible loss deep in his soul and the pits of his stomach, but with no claim over Eddie to explain it. He wasn’t his mate, they’d never made love, and nobody ever knew about them.
Robin can’t figure out why he won’t get out of bed most days and she’s mostly given up trying to make him. And he can’t bring himself to tell her the reason. It’s been easier to cut everyone off than to acknowledge what he lost and how much he misses Eddie.
When they found Dustin holding Eddie’s body in the upside down, Steve had broken down and fallen to his knees in shock.
His best friend had tried to comfort him, gave him a look that said she knew more than she let on, but Robin was kind. She hugged him, reminded him that they needed to help Dustin, and she kept him from falling apart completely until later than night.
But he couldn’t betray Eddie, even in death. Couldn’t bring himself to confess to their relationship. To finally let the world know about them in the wake of his alpha’s death feels so wrong. If he keeps the love they shared to himself, then there’s one piece of Eddie that he can hold onto. It’s Steve’s alone, his to grasp tight and not let go of.
So, the worst part of it all is that still nobody knows they were even together.
Before, Steve couldn’t exactly go about town bragging about dating a drug dealer and saying he was gay until he was ready to move out of his parents’ house. Even as a male omega, he’d be expected to find some nice female alpha to mate him or risk being disowned.
But that’s not what he wanted. He wanted his dramatic, sweet alpha who took care of Steve in a way nobody else ever had. From their first date onward, Eddie had swept him off his feet, treated him like gold, and made him fall in love. His boyfriend had cherished him and promised him the world. They were gonna make it out of this evil town, together.
And then Chrissy happened. Vecna happened.
Eddie died a hero. He left Steve alone.
Nothing else matters now except that he screams Eddie’s name in the dark every night, hoping he’ll answer back.
And the one time, he does.
Troublemaker
September 24th 1985
It all starts with Dustin asking for more rides than usual. Steve hadn’t understood why starting high school magically made him go from playing at the arcade to staying at the school later all the time, but as his honorary big brother, he didn’t ask questions beyond asking what time to be there.
He doesn’t like Dustin or the rest of the party biking anywhere. Not after Star Court. Not when he knows all the things he knows. Now he has to keep them all safe. His pups need him and he’ll be damned if he lets something else happen to them. Even if that involves chauffeuring them around constantly.
After a few rides though, Steve starts to notice something unusual. In addition to the other members of the Party exiting the building with Dustin, there were a few upperclassmen along with that one guy. What was his name again? Edgar. No- Eddie? Yeah, Eddie. He was like a third time senior now from what Steve knew. And a drug dealer if the rumors were to be believed (he knew damn straight they were true since he used to tag along to make Tommy buy their party supplies from him).
And that was not acceptable.
How could he, in good conscience, allow his pups to hang out with a drug dealer? They were still kids for God sake! Drugs could mess them up, make them do stupid things or even get hurt. He can’t just stand by and let it happen.
So, to Dustin’s sheer horror, Steve gets out of the car that day.
“Hey, Munson!” The alpha’s last name slides off his tongue, apparently hidden somewhere in the back of his mind for just this moment.
The guy looks over at Steve with confusion, turning away from his other, older friends.
“Harrington,” he nods. Eddie takes a few steps forward to meet the angry omega halfway between his BMW and the door they’d just exited.
“Don’t you Harrington, me. Why are you hanging around my kids, Freak?” The alpha’s eyebrows shoot up into his bangs, looking very confused. Steve flusters a bit, aware that the statement didn’t quite come out like he wanted it to. “I- I mean, what’s a troublemaker like you doing around a bunch of freshmen? They’re good kids, man, don’t pull them into all your, like, drug shit and devil worship or whatever.”
He crosses his arms, attempting to look intimidating. Steve is a hair shorter than the older boy, but he’s in decent shape still and can be mean when he wants to be. Before everything with the upside-down, he’d had a reputation for it.
Eddie snorts, a hand shooting up to cover his mouth. His body shakes, like he’s holding back laughter. It just serves to piss Steve off even more.
The omega opens his mouth, ready to give him another piece of his mind, when Dustin runs up next to him, tugging at Steve’s hand frantically. “C’mon, Steve. What’s your problem with Eddie? He’s been really nice to us!” He doesn’t look away from the older boy, staring him down and refusing to budge until he has a good answer. “This is so embarrassing, dude. Let’s go.”
“Dustin, I’m doing this for your own good,” Steve sighs, giving the pup a soft look. “You don’t need to be getting mixed up in drugs. Your mom would literally kill me, buddy.”
The kid gives him a horrified look, his eyes darting between Eddie and Steve before he too bursts into laughter. It makes the alpha double over and the two of them fill the parking lot with their amusement.
And now Steve is pissed.
“You guys think this is funny, huh? How funny is it gonna be when you both end up in federal prison?” He huffs, resisting the urge to stomp his foot for emphasis.
Dustin’s face freezes and he looks at Steve with surprise now. “Oh, man, you’re actually being serious right now? Holy shit, Steve. How dumb are you?” His heart stings at that, but he continues to listen. “I’m not selling drugs you idiot, we’re playing Dungeons and Dragons after school. Eddie is our DM.”
The older boy also calms his laughter, holding out a confident hand to Steve now. His smile is blindingly charismatic when he says, “It’s nice to meet you, mama Steve.”
He’s sure it’s meant as an insult, but the omega doesn’t take it that way and he doesn’t shake Eddie’s hand. Afterall, his goal in life is to settle down and have a huge family. So he’s protective of the kids he looks after, that’s not a crime. Besides, he has to stop them from doing drugs before they-
“Wait, what?”
“Contrary to popular belief, angel, I do more than just sell drugs. I also shepard in the dorky new kids and give them a club to join where they can make friends. It’s all part of my evil plan to convert them to my Satanist cult and make them into drug-runners for me,” Eddie declares with a deadpan look on his face.
It takes Steve’s brain a moment to catch up. His processing time has been a bit worse since Star Court. Enough hits to the head over the years will do that to a guy.
“Are you messing with me?” He tries not to sound so hurt, but he knows his voice comes out whinier than he intends it to. Eddie’s friends burst out into noisy laughter, the kind that says Steve’s the one being made fun of. It makes his face burn and his stomach hurt.
He just wanted to keep his pups safe. And now they’re mocking him for it.
“Sorry, I- I just- um…” Steve struggles to form a sentence, just wanting to leave the embarrassing situation as quickly as possible. “C’mon, Dustin,” he mumbles, turning to lead them back to his car.
“Hey, no, wait!”
He’s only taken a few steps when Eddie stops them, grabbing at Steve’s shoulder. The omega flinches hard, tripping, and almost hitting the pavement in reaction. Barely righting himself, he catches the horrified look on the alpha’s face.
Eddie’s holding his hands up in a gesture of peace and it just causes him to be even more humiliated, but touch is a sensitive subject for him. From the pups or Robin, it’s fine. From a stranger, an alpha? Absolutely not. Not after Star Court. Not after hours of getting the shit kicked out of him by Russian alphas.
“Fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to- listen, can we talk for a minute?” Eddie glances at Dustin before clarifying, “Alone.”
The pup rolls his eyes, but grabs Steve’s car keys from his hand and goes to wait in the BMW.
The omega looks over and realizes that Eddie’s friends are leaving, along with the rest of the Party. It’s just them and the kid waiting in the car, blasting loud music from Steve’s radio (he’ll have to yell at him for it later).
Steve’s eyes find his shoes, locking his gaze there, hoping to avoid any more humiliation today. “What’s up, man?”
“I’m sorry. Like, honestly, that wasn’t a funny joke. I could tell you were getting distressed about it and I was a dickhead for laughing at you. It’s obvious you care about those kids and that’s not something to make fun of you for. It’s actually, like, really sweet that Steve Harrington is a good dude, at least according to what Henderson’s told me.”
He looks up from the ground, meeting Eddie’s eyes hesitantly. The alpha seems genuinely apologetic. Steve gives him a soft smile in return, he’s always been too forgiving.
“It’s okay, I just- I don’t want to see them get mixed up with trouble, that’s all. I shouldn’t have assumed, but my instincts went a little crazy.” He lets out a self-deprecating chuckle.
After everything those kids have been through with the upside-down, the last thing they need is to get in legal trouble too. They’d survived missing friends, demogorgons, demodogs, mind flayers, death of family members, and evil Russians. No need for anything else to hurt them, they’d grown up enough.
“Totally understandable. Seriously, I have a lot of respect for someone who cares about kids like that. But I would never pull those pups into my little business, that’s just a side hustle anyway. I don’t like to deal anything hard, y’know?” The alpha looks at him earnestly, like he needs Steve to believe him.
It’s far too endearing for the omega to ignore. Despite the few interactions they’d had in school together, he’d never noticed Eddie. Not like this anyway. The older boy is handsome and his smile is sweet. It’s difficult not to relax around him now that he’s not putting on a front.
“Yeah, I- I really appreciate you looking out for them too. They’ve-” Been through a lot, he wants to say. But that’s not common knowledge. The upside-down stays between a select few groups of people. “They just need some guidance sometimes. They’re young and dumb.” Also true.
“Right. I get that.” Steve smiles awkwardly and begins to walk away. It feels like the end of the conversation, even though his inner omega is asking him to stay. Eddie seems like a nice guy, he’s good looking, and he’s an alpha, it’s hard not to notice him. “Wait- um, Steve, this is maybe gonna sound bad…”
Eddie seems nervous now, catching his attention. He can’t imagine what the guy could possibly have to say to him beyond his apology. They’ve never spoken before today without Tommy there to facilitate their drug deal. “But would you maybe want to go out sometime? I know it’s a long shot and you don’t even know me-”
His heart beats fast in his chest and he answers quickly, trying not to sound overly eager and failing miserably. “You can pick me up on Friday night for milkshakes. Do you know where I live?”
Eddie’s eyes go wide and his face turns red. When Steve raises an eyebrow to prompt him to answer, the older boy nods his head frantically. “Yeah, I do. Friday... Is seven okay?”
The omega shoots him a smile on his way back to his car. “Yup.”
“See you then, angel.”