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Steve Harrington found his way into TikTok fame after Max’s New Year's Eve video of Dustin, Mike, and Lucas lighting fireworks to ring in the new year. Shocking absolutely no one, Mews the Cat was not a fan of fireworks. So not a fan in fact, that when he snuck outside with everyone else, he managed to scale the tallest tree in Dustin’s yard and get stuck. Now, part of the appeal of that video may have been Dustin screaming at the top of his lungs for his neighbor Steve to get Mews down before his mom gets home. But the comments section? Full of thirsty men, women, theys, and thems lusting after Steve, home from his latest shift as a Hawkins EMT. Max may or may not have zoomed in on his ass a few times as he climbed the tree to try and coax Mews out of the tree. Of course, him passing Mews to Dustin and then hanging from a branch with his muscles bulging, just added more fuel to the fire. Dustin eventually got him to get his own Tiktok account and then his content expanded.
Eddie Munson’s favorite pastime is doom-scrolling on his tour bus. He gets to turn off his brain, laugh his ass off, learn something new, and apparently find his new favorite account. Fourth of July weekend was his off-weekend, thank god. He was traveling to the next location where the band would be staying in a hotel for a few days before their next concert. He’d tried to go home to Uncle Wayne, but he was on his second honeymoon aka his fishing trip with Hopper and couldn’t be bothered. He knew he was likely the last one left awake and could feel himself nodding off when all of a sudden he heard him.
“Your bun is looking a little toasty, would you like me to turn down the heat?” Eddie jerked and opened his eyes so he could boo and hiss at the horrible dad joke, but then he saw the most attractive man he’d ever seen in his life. Shirtless, his tan skin was covered in little freckles and moles. Eddie wanted to bury his face in his chest hair as he continued. “That was terrible, but now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about Memorial Day.” The camera pulled back to reveal he was standing in front of a grill. “Never leave your grill unattended. That’s how fires start and suddenly I show up.”
“What if I want you to show up?” Eddie whispers.
“I know I’m cute and all, but come on. Don’t ruin our Memorial Day, baby.”
Eddie’s jaw dropped. He knew he wasn’t talking to him, but, still. He watched as Steve grabbed a hot dog off the grill. He can’t stop his look of horror as Steve squirted ketchup and mayo on his hot dog.
Steve glanced up at the camera, “Don’t knock it until you try it.” He picked up the hot dog and opened his mouth with his tongue slightly poked out. Slowly, he raised the hot dog to his mouth and before it could touch his lips he smiled a devilish smile that practically made Eddie’s toes curl. “Don’t choke.” He took a bite and Eddie watched as his jaw flexed as he chewed, mayo covering the corner of his lips. He swallowed his bite and grabbed a bottle taking a quick sip. He glanced down at the bottle, noticing the mayo on the rim. He lifted the bottle and his pink tongue slipped out and cleaned the rim of the bottle with a wink. “And don’t make a mess.”
The video replayed and Eddie just stared at his phone in shock. Who the fuck was that? Eventually, his brain came back online and he searched through Steve’s account finding many different holiday themed thirst traps. He’d even posted one today in honor of the upcoming holiday.
“I know, it’s 4th of July weekend and all you really want to do is shoot off fireworks, but don’t make me come out there.” Steve lifted a bucket full of water. Eddie couldn’t help but watch his arm muscles flex with the weight of the bucket. “Always keep a bucket of water close by, you never know when your firework will go rogue.”
He watched very carefully as Steve squatted down to place a firework on the ground. The man had an ass that he could bounce a quarter off of. He lit the firework and quickly stepped away watching it go off. “73% of firework related injuries occur the week before and after 4th of July. Do you want to be a statistic?”
“Does it mean you come to my house?” Eddie answered.
“You may want to kill your brother on a daily basis,” The video cut to a girl pointing a firework at an older guy. “but you should never point a firework at someone else. Okay, Erica, put the firework down.” Steve glanced back at Erica and noticed something in her hand. “Erica- wait when did you get a lighter? Erica, no!”
The video shook heavily and fell to the grass as Steve raced to take the lighter away. The video feed was upside down, but in the bottom corner you could see Steve with his hands on his hips shaking his head. “You’re grown adults and you know better. How am I supposed to get people to not blow themselves up if you guys are trying to kill each other with fireworks?”
“I should not find him scolding his friends so hot. What the fuck is wrong with me?”
A voice spoke up beside Eddie’s head. “If I knew, I’d get you fixed.” He yelped loudly and tried to raise up, bumping his head on the top of the bunk.
“Gareth, what the fuck is wrong with you?” He rubbed his forehead and groaned.
“You’re being so damn loud! I can’t sleep. Scooch over, whatcha watchin?” Gareth shoved his way into Eddie’s bunk and that was just the beginning.
It’s not unusual, now, for Eddie to spend his free time on his following page waiting for more Steve content. Reaction videos were his bread and butter. Yes, he’s that guy shaking his head at things people want to shove up their asses. Who wouldn’t want a sexy man shaming them when they “joke” about the Octo Citrus Reamer?
Imagine his surprise when doom-scrolling in his bed at Uncle Wayne’s the night before Thanksgiving, he sees Steve’s latest Holiday PSA. Steve is in his bathroom shirtless, drying his hair. “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have to work. So to ensure that I have a very boring holiday, I want to give you a few tips so you can avoid seeing my handsome face.”
Eddie scoffs as Steve begins shaving his face. Of course, he has one of those fancy brushes with the bowl. Eddie knows it so he can get a good lather, but it’s so- he watches Steve rub the brush against his jaw. Ok so it’s hot. Really, fucking hot. “Number one, be extra careful when deep frying your turkey. Wanna do me a solid? Don’t do it. Stats say 60 people a year injure themselves. Just cook it in the oven. I’d still eat it.”
Eddie is so distracted he ends up tuning him out as he talks about cooking tips. His uncle does all the cooking, thank you very much. They both know Eddie’s true skill set lies with take out menus. He watches as this beautiful man shaves his chiseled jaw.
“Number three. This is that time of year where all of your relatives will be around with their shitty opinions. You matter, you are valid, and it’s ok to leave when your peace is being disturbed. It is not ok to punch your uncle in the nose. That’s how I get involved.”
The video jump cuts to Steve styling his hair. Jesus. This golden retriever of a man is shouting over his hair dryer. “I love people. I would love to visit for the holidays, but not in my work clothes! You don’t want to see me in my work clothes!”
Eddie grumbles in disagreement.
The video skips ahead to Steve getting dressed. He pulls over his shirt and a few pieces fall in his eyes. “Last but not least, if something is falling, let it fall. Especially if it’s a knife. You don’t want to see me tomorrow.” He winks at the camera. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Eddie stitches the end of the video. He’s sitting at his desk with notes. “Instructions unclear. I will be exploding a deep fried turkey and catching all the falling knives to see you, big boy.”
He doesn’t think about the fact that he’s Hawkins’ own Eddie Munson as he snuggles into his bed, falling into a deep Steve-filled sleep. He doesn’t think about the fact that he’s famous at all as he sleeps blissfully unaware that anyone else would actually see that video.
Thanksgiving morning Eddie is rudely awakened early by Gareth calling. “You absolute dumbass.” Eddie makes an unintelligible sound. “Your EMT saw your video.”
Suddenly, it hits him. He stitched Steve’s video with his own face last night on his own account. He hangs up immediately and opens TikTok. Right away he sees Steve’s face and realizes that he stitched Eddie’s video directly from the passenger seat of the ambulance.
“Baby, if you want to see me so badly, call me. You don’t have to risk bodily harm.”
Eddie opens his DMs and squeals. Steve sent his phone number. Wayne and Hopper knock on the door, poking their heads in. “Ed, you alright?” Wayne asks, almost afraid of the answer.
Eddie doesn’t say anything and shows them the video. Hopper sighs and heads to the kitchen. “We’ll set another plate out. You better not punch your uncle, we watch his videos too.”