Parenting the gremlins isn't what it's cracked up to be, it's a lot, like a lot, a lot. Like so exhausting Steve Harrington feels like an overworked, unappreciated single mother of 6 and well, it's because he is.
He hosts birthdays, pool parties and movie nights. Acts as a personal taxi service and sometimes a personal chef, nurse and guidance counsellor. It's a lot. But at least he doesn't have to go about it alone anymore. Thank Christ. Coparenting with Eddie makes things a touch easier. He only thinks a touch because part of the time Eddie is a bad influence, egging the kids on or acting like a child himself; what with his excessive volume and unmatched energy that Steve finds horribly adorable.
The kids, their so-called parents/ not 100% willing Babysitters (Steve & Eddie) and wacky gay aunt (Robin) had all gathered at Harrington House to begin their holiday festivities and my god did they go all out. Christmas music was rolling through the air, the scent of gingerbread accompanying it along with the fresh scent of pine from the tree Eddie and Dustin had managed to drag into the house earlier that morning. Stockings were being hung, cookies were being baked and decorations were being strung.
Everyone had an assigned task appointed to them by El and Max. A rather devious pairing the group had thought. As the others went about their tasks, the girls sat in the living room, giggling while El accomplished all their duties via supergirl powers.
Max of course carried a clipboard with her like she ran the show. Curvy letters and Christmas Checklists, she held a death grip on it as if it was her baby and well, maybe because it also contained some top secret information.
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The house was a bustle of chaos but Steve welcomed it with open arms and a happy heart. It definitely was something he was grateful for nowadays, especially since spending so many childhood Christmases alone in a big empty house. Before the kids and Robin had come along, he'd been alone for Christmas for countless years. If anything, in those years his holidays were a lonely time spent staring at the TV. Mindlessly watching Golden Girls reruns, drinking his fathers whiskey and moping around in the same pyjamas he'd worn since the 21st. The voices of the TV, creaks of the floorboards and rumble old pipes being his only company. He never used to bother with decorations or gifts or a tree for that matter. The holiday season was his opportunity to mope around and feel sorry for himself and that's what he did for several years. He liked to think it got easier as he got older but it really didn't. The childhood hopefulness was replaced with hatred, loathing and the depressing acceptance that, yeah his parents don't really care about -
"Steve!-" Dustin interrupts his depressing reflection, yelling from the kitchen doorway where he's ramming half a bag of chips into his mouth,"-Ja- com t Chri-th-ma?" And somehow Steve's grown accustomed to the ramblings of a teenager with potato chips clogging their airways because he somehow understood that Dustin meant, 'Jake coming to Christmas?'
The question doesn't even phase Steve, the kids know about him, they have for quite some time. He's Bi-Sexual. He kind of makes it his goal to make it a casual topic like any other relationship, so as he's hanging garland over the fireplace he answers back with ease. Even though his answer does sting a touch, "No, we broke up a couple weeks ago!"
"Good, he was an asshole anyway," Mike mutters to himself, sitting glaring on the couch about God knows what. Otherwise a symphony of 'Oh I'm so sorry' and 'that's too bad' floods through the room from the remaining company. Except for one, one uncharacteristically quiet voice, murmurs to himself a single word as his cheeks flush red, "He?"
Steve turns to the direction of the voice. It's Eddie, he's spent enough time with the man to pick his voice out of a crowd. He simply flashes the other man a smile and a nod, confirming his words before he continues his task like he hadn't just turned Eddie's world upside down. Like Eddie hadn't just realized he actually has a sliver of fucking hope with Steve Harrington because- holy fuck he likes guys too? Since fucking when?
Shocked. Blown Away. Levelled. No, those didn't even come close. Eddie felt like he got hit by a train, splattered against the tracks, left to die. He felt like he might puke. But like, also... he was ecstatic. Holy shit man. He'd liked Steve Harrington for so long he can't remember a time when he hadn't. They hadn't even met and Eddie already had a thing for the guy. A thing that spiralled into something intense when they'd first met. Something that continued to snowball out of control when they became friends and actually began hanging out. Something that he knew wasn't going away and he'd just have to fucking deal with because Steve was straight, interested only in pretty girls like Nancy Wheeler and Tammy Thompson ... until he wasn't. Like right now. Now Eddie had a chance. No matter how small, he had a fucking chance with Steve Harrington. He needed to find Robin. Right now.
Trying to not obviously freak out, Eddie practised his deep breathing exercises, hands shaking as he resumed his task of setting out the remaining Christmas decor alongside Steve. He counted to 100 before he allowed himself to calmly walk off to the kitchen to talk to Robin.
Though to anyone else in the room nothing was calm about Eddie. He dropped the red sparkly Reindeer he'd been moving to set on the mantle by Steve and quite literally ran to the kitchen in a blur of black denim and wild hair. He nearly looked manic by the time he'd reached the kitchen where Robin and Dustin were eating more raw cookie dough than they were rolling out.
Eyes wide with concern, Robin swallowed the heap of gingerbread before she spoke, "Dude, you alright?"
"Right as rain Buckley" Eddie huffs, sing-songy, sounding half nuts, trying to catch his breath from his short sprint. Turning to look at Dustin, Eddie watches as the child who if anything looks a little terrified as he swallows his portion of gingerbread and slides off the countertop to firmly plant his feet on the floor, he continues "Get the fuck out Henderson."
"Jesus Eddie!" Dustin screeches in mock offence
Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have been so hasty. The kid had no idea what was going on in his head. No idea the questions that Steve's carefree little smile and nod just made him conjure. "Sorry little man,-" he winces, realising he sounded like an ass, "-love you. Just need to talk to Buckley. ASAP. So get the fuck out-" he grimaced, "- Please."
Dustin shakes his head, a faint chuckle lacing his words as he begins to walk off, "You're a real asshole sometimes, you know?"
"I'm aware!" Eddie calls back
Robin smacks his arm as they both watch Dustin leave, curly head of hair and another corny hat rounding the corner back into the living room.
"What's wrong with you?" She whisper shouts, striking his arm once again
"Ouch! Dammit Robin!" Truthfully though, so many things were wrong with him he thought, a little depressed, a little anxious, always hyper, always a disorganised wreck, nearly obsessed with Steve Harrington. The latter takes the cake today though. "Why didn't you tell me Steve was into guys."
Robin's eyes widen for a moment but she shrugs, shoving another small chunk of gingerbread into her mouth
"Robin," Eddie looks at her pointedly
"Eddie," her brow quirks, mumbling around her cookie dough, hoping for him to finally get on with it
"I'm serious man," He huffs in frustration, running both hands through his wild hair in an attempt to calm himself. A nervous tick he seemed to develop throughout the years.
"It wasn't my place to tell you, okay?-" She shakes her head, "- But truthfully I thought you knew. Christ Eddie, before he was dating Jake he was throwing himself at you all the time."
He most definitely was not, he would have noticed that, right? "No he wasn't"
She scoffs in disbelief, "You're not that dumb are you? Yes, he was."
He couldn't have been or was Eddie just blind, "No he fucking wasn't Robin. Give me one example."
She couldn't help but cackle, doubling over with her flour covered hands on her knees looking up at him with disbelief, "I can give you many Dipshit."
And she does
She goes on to list the many occasions where Steve was truly throwing himself at Eddie or fawning over him in some way. The gentle brushes of his hand, the lingering touches, the coy remarks and rather obvious flirting. All that he apparently never caught on to. How Steve talked about him non stop since that day in the boathouse, which truthfully surprised Eddie the most. He didn't think a jagged broken bottle to the neck would be the thing to finally win over Steve Harrington's heart but apparently it was. She went on to mention how even while dating Jake, Steve still managed to bring him up in conversation near daily. If that didn't make his little heart feel fuzzy he didn't know what would.
Well, that's until Robin mentioned the hospital. He never really asked about his time in a coma. It was mostly dark space, muffled voices and the occasional hold of a hand that he could hardly sense or even believe to be real. It was depressing to think about so he never really did, until now.
"You know he read to you almost every day? Sometimes all day, right?"
Eddie most definitely did not know that. He shook his head, a feeling of warmth washing over him at the thought of Steve reading to him.
Robin nodded, "When you two shared a hospital room, he wrote to me asking for books to read specifically to you-" she jabs his chest with a flour covered finger, leaving a small white dot in the centre of the black fabric, "- because a nurse had mentioned you may be able to hear. Eddie, he read the most he ever had in his entire life in those three months you guys were quarantined together. You know he's actually quite the fan of Terry Brooks and Tolkien now?"
He was speechless, for once he had nothing to say other than a quiet, "Oh."
"Yeah man, oh is right. When you guys were finally allowed visitors I came in to find him snuggled up in a chair next to your bed, book laying in a mess on the floor and his hands wrapped so tightly around one of yours his knuckles were white"
Again, all he could muster was a simple, hushed, "Oh"
Steve wasn't there when he woke up. No one was. It was an off day that Steve was back at work, the kids were in school and Wayne was at the plant. Though granted he didn't even know Steve was one of his frequent visitors, let alone his roommate for most of the time he was in a coma.
"You get it now?" She asks
He nods sheepishly, "Kinda, I guess."
It was silent for a moment while Robin allowed Eddie to mull over his realisation that, yeah Steve likes you too you big fluffy haired dumbass
"You're an idiot." She simply states like they both know it's true
Which they do, "You're mean" he answers back
"I'm aware" she smiles, parroting his words from earlier. Waving her hand dismissively she turns back to her mess of gingerbread on the countertop. Robin ends the conversation there snagging a piece of cookie dough, splitting it in two and handing the remaining half to Eddie with an eye roll.
A voice comes from around the corner, growing louder as the person enters the kitchen. "Hey Robin? So is Mission: A Very Stedd-," in steps Max, pulling her clipboard tight to her chest with a muffled wince, bright blue eyes snapping to Eddie with a glare, "-Edward."
Oh his favourite child, (don't tell Dustin), "Red," He smiles
The ginger haired teen looks between the two adults eating cookie dough, flashing them an even more serious glare, "May I have a moment with Robin please?"
Eddie nods, sneaking another piece of dough as he goes to leave the kitchen. On his way he reaches out a ring clad hand, pressing the back of his palm to Max's forehead, as if checking for a fever, "Where'd the manners come from? You sick or something?"
She swats him away, "No Asshat, I just need to talk to Robin about something important."
He smiles, moving his hand to ruffle her hair as he walks out of the kitchen, calling back to Robin, that he'd call her tomorrow, if he remembers. (He doesn't.)
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With Eddie back in the living room decorating and hopefully not breaking anything, the two girls in the kitchen had time to scheme. They stood hunched over the counter top with the clipboard in front of them, resting on crumbs of dried dough and flour as Robin added notes and checked off tasks.
They'd come up with a rough plan after deciding that Mission: A Very Steddie Christmas was definitely a go. They'd try to set the boys up for romantic moments, hoping one of them would be smart enough to make a move. Though they did agree that'd probably be the most difficult part. These boys were definitely idiots when it came to love.
After months of witnessing the back and forth between the pair, The Party, Robin and truthfully everyone else in their little makeshift family was desperate to make the boys realise their feelings for each other or make something of them anyway. Everyone was sick of having the same conversation twice, it almost always ending the same way; them giving advice that never seemed to be heeded. By the time Steve had recognized his feeling and decided to dive nose first into flirting with Eddie, trying to get the man's attention, everyone was painfully annoyed at the fact that the young metalhead never caught on and was painfully oblivious. But apparently he didn't realise Steve was into men, so that explains a lot. After many family meetings and discussions between The Party, it was decided that when Stsve was single (they knew he would be soon because Jake was an asshole,) they'd devise a full fledged plan to get the pair together.
And so, starting tomorrow the plan would be in full swing.
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Their evening carried on in a beautiful storm of broken Christmas decorations, eaten cookie dough and very off key sung Christmas carols.
By the time 10:00 p.m. had rolled around, the kids were exhausted, tangled into a heap of limbs and holiday themed pyjamas, sprawled over the couch and majority of the living room floor. Leaving the young adults the option of a cramped Loveseat or the floor. Though none of them seemed to mind. Well, maybe Eddie.
After popping in the Christmas Story, Steve settled in first, one arm along the back of the Loveseat, welcoming whoever into his side with open arms. And because Robin Buckley is a woman with a plan, she quite quickly settled onto the floor, leaving Eddie the remaining few inches of cushion next to Steve.
The man was obviously nervous, mindlessly twisting the ring on his pinky finger (another early developed nervous tick of his,) cheeks growing red while he looked between Robin's knowing smirk and the little space available next to Steve. Robin shot him a glare and a subtle smack to the ankle hinting for him to, sit the fuck down and quit worrying so much. So, that's what he did or at least tried to do. He inched his way onto the Loveseat, feigning confidence laying his legs across the man's lap once he'd finally settled in. Steve didn't at all seem to mind, just smiled and laid his hand on Eddie's shin, eventually rubbing a thumb back and forth as the night carried on.
'Weird,' Eddie thought to himself. But really it felt so right, like something he could get used to terrifyingly fast
Okay, so maybe he could see this as Steve flirting. Maybe Robin was right, but he'd never tell her that.
As the movie carried on Eddie slumped further down, bending at the knees and leaning his legs against Steve's chest while he nuzzled into the crook of the Loveseat, fighting off sleep. Eventually strong arms wrapped around his knees, pulling them into a solid, muscular chest. Steve sleepily rested his chin on Eddie's knee, fighting off sleep himself one slow blink at a time.
Wanting nothing more than to live in the moment, Eddie stayed still and forced himself to stay awake. No matter how exhausted he was from hours of Christmas decorating, hauling a fucking tree into the house or realizing that Steve Harrington liked guys, he some how managed to keep his eyes open. Steve holding onto him, he wanted to stay in the moment. A moment where he's cuddling (?) Steve Harrington. Was this cuddling? Is this considered cuddling? He thought to himself in minor disbelief
As if Robin could sense his internal dialog she looked back flashing him a smirk and wink.