𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨

Smoking At Lover's Lake (Steddie)

TW- smoking (obviously), lil bit of suicidal thoughts
(also I know Eddie wasn't in season 2 but shut up I can do what I want)

Steve sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Another night completely alone. He didn't want to go home- the empty house, bare of any pictures of him and instead replaced with pictures of his parents and their vacations, was depressing. So he just sat in his car for a while, watching the lights blare from the Snow Ball of Hawkins Middle School.
He was happy that his childr- friends- were able to have some fun and enjoy themselves at their school dance, but he felt so alone. He wasn't a chaperone, partially because he didn't know if he could restrain himself from punching a twelve-year-old straight in the face, partially because it would be lame as fuck so see 'King Steve' telling kids to make room for Jesus, or whatever.
He searched through his tapes, trying to find something depressing but not too depressing that people would look at him weird. He settled on Boys Don't Cry by The Cure.

I would say I'm sorry if I thought that it would change your mind
But I know that this time
I have said too much, been too unkind

Steve gripped his steering wheel, not exactly sure where he wanted to go. Just… away. Somewhere where he couldn't hear the laughs and chattering of people happier than him.

I tried to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I tried to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry

He turned the corner, driving through a shadowed road he didn't take often. He was a little bit worried he would crash, considering his eyes were getting blurry and it was dark out. But maybe that would be okay, actually, to have everyone worrying about him.  Everyone caring about him.

I would break down at your feet
And beg forgiveness, plead with you
But I know that it's too late
And now there's nothing I can do

His breath got a bit more ragged as he tried desperately not to start crying. But driving helped. The Cure helped. His tight, almost painful, grip on the steering wheel helped.

So I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't-

Steve finally stopped, pulling into a spot at Lover's Lake. He didn't really know how he ended up there. Hell, he barely remembered turning on his car.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to slow his rapid flow of thoughts. He looked around a bit, trying to distract himself. And he spotted a figure, in shadow, standing at the edge of the lake.
He squinted. He didn't recognize her. He could only see her from the behind, and it was only a silhouette. But he could see long hair, and two fingers raised to her lips. Smoking, he guessed.

Then the girl turned around, and Steve paused because it wasn't a girl. It was Eddie Munson.
Eddie "The Freak" Munson. Eddie gave him an awkward wave, then turned back around like he expected him to leave.
But Steve didn't. He opened the door to his car, and hopped out. Eddie must've heard the crunch of twigs under his feet, because he glanced at him.
Steve shivered a bit. He sort of wished he'd brought a coat or jacket or something. But he was just wearing a dark red sweater and jeans, and was regretting his decision.

He stepped towards Eddie, hands in his pockets to stop them from shaking.
"Hey." He said quietly. Eddie lowered his cigarette and blew out the smoke.
"Hey." He said back, tossing him a light smile.

"Uh… how are you?" Steve's voice cracked slightly, and he blushed with embarrassment.
Eddie chuckled. "You can get right to the name-calling, Stevie, no need for pleasantries."
Steve chuckled. "I'm not gonna… do that."
"That's new."
They stood in silence for a while, Steve still catching his breath.

"You okay, man?" Eddie nudged his shoulder.
Steve smiled quickly. "Yeah. Fine."
"You're breathing, like, super weird."
"Just… sort of… having a shitty day." Steve mumbled. He didn't really know why he said it. But it was true, at least. It was one of those days where he tried to call his parents, but they didn't even bother to pick up. They were both too busy forgetting they had a son.

"Wanna talk about it?" Eddie shrugged.
Steve shook his head. "Not really."
The other boy broke out into a sudden grin, reaching into his pocket for something. "I know what'll relax you."
He handed Steve a pack of cigarettes. Steve hesitated for just a moment, before taking it.
"Thanks." He fumbled around in his pockets. "You got a lighter, Munson?"

Eddie smirked. "Yeah, Harrington." He tossed him one, and Steve stumbled not to drop it into the deep lake. He had really lost his touch.
"..thanks." Steve said again, lighting his cigarette.

Steve exhaled and sighed a bit, rubbing his temples.
"I hate my life." He said quietly, almost to himself. Eddie's head cocked. "Huh?"

"Everyone sees me as this perfect ladies man who has everything he wants. But I don't. I mean, sure. I've got admiration and a huge-ass house and more money than I know what to do with. But I don't have anyone who cares about me. Who loves me. Sure, plenty of girls love being kissed by me, but they don't care about me. I'm just a fucking trophy. And my parents? Don't even get me started on my parents. They're never home. Fucking never. But it's almost worse when they are. They may as well just never come back, they ignore me anyways. It's just… everything is fucked." Steve shook his head. He was aware that he rambled, and Eddie probably thought he was weird as hell, but he didn't even care. It felt nice to just say those words out loud.

He felt something warm in his hand, and looked down at Eddie's fingers laced with his. Normally he would've panicked about looking gay, but not now. It felt nice, and that was all that mattered.

"You are resilient as fuck." Eddie said softly. Steve snapped his gaze up to Eddie's face and raised an eyebrow.
"I mean it," Eddie said when he saw Steve's expression, "I would've screamed at them by now."
Steve barked out a laugh. "Thanks, Eddie. You're… you're pretty cool."

Eddie grinned. "Damn right, Harrington." He detached their hand and slung his arm over Steve's shoulders instead.
"You're not too bad yourself."