Take the Money and Run by thisapplepielife

@thisapplepielife

Rating: Explicit

143,931 words, 22/22 chapters

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Tags: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gay Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Recreational Drug Use, Eddie Munson Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Season/Series 04, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Good Uncle Wayne Munson, Cover Art, Canon-Typical Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Road Trips, Internalized Homophobia, Slow Burn, Falling In Love, Top Eddie Munson, Bottom Steve Harrington, Switching, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, optional future epilogue with kids, can be read without the epilogue

Summary:

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call shotgun

Eddie rubs his hands over his face and presses the heels of his palm into his eyes.

Im such a piece of shit. God, how could I just do that.

He’s pissed at Steve for not saying something sooner, for waiting until Eddie had something good in his grasp. But he’s angry with himself too.

How stupid is he, really? Did he really not notice until it all came face to face?

He has Adiel’s number memorized, but he knows which of Steve’s beauty marks form constellations.

Mostly, hes confused. His feelings are a jumbled mess and he’s never been good at sorting them out. Naturally, he turns to music. Dio has serenaded him these past few days. Wayne has steered clear of his shit show.

How do you feel right now?

What do you see?

Where would you be right now?

Hey angel what about me?

Jesus fucking fuck. He attempts to run his hand through his hair only it doesn’t get too far, rings snagged in his tangled hair. He can feel the oil built up on the strands and knows it’s time to get his ass out of bed. He doesn’t.

“Angel, Angel, angel. You were my angel. Just not anymore.” He mutters to himself long after the track has finished and another song plays. He’s learning to let go still, even after he’s ended it.

You know what really makes him feel like a dickhead? That Adiel got hurt because of him. He didn’t deserve to get caught in Eddie’s bullshit.

Guilt eats him alive.

His conscious hurts and his heart trembles, tumbled in his chest, but he doesn’t feel the heartbreak the way he should. That world-on-fire and breath burning feeling. He can’t find it.

Like a masochist he wants for it, desires it, deserves it like sinner.

Those last few weeks were enough for his feelings to settle, for his heart to make a decision with or without his input. He tried—god fuck I tried—to feel that skipped-beat flutter when Adiel smiled his way. Could almost convince himself he could. That Adiel’s interlocked hand in his still felt an extension of himself instead of something foreign.

It used to feel like I belonged at his side. Why did it have to stop?

He’s wronged a friend who trusted him to keep his heart safe. A friend who had already been through so much. And Eddie added to that lifetime of hurt because he couldn’t figure it out himself.

Because he was too stupid to see and too stupid to know.

He thinks of Steve’s lips, like he has now for days. Weeks. His heart twists, rung out. That skipped-beat flutter that betrays him.

Fuck. Fuck, man.

He has to stop yanking at his hair like he can train himself out of feeling it.

Do your demons, do they ever let you go?

When you've tried, do they hide, deep inside

Is it someone that you know?

You're just a picture, you're an image caught in time

We're a lie, you and I.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he tells no one because he needs to say it until he can forgive himself a little. Until he can make himself believe that Adiel will forgive him, in time.

“I’m so sorry,” this time says it to himself, covers his face with his hands and finally cries.

Against his fucking will he cries, can’t hold onto it anymore. Ugly retching sobs that can only come from mourning an almost.

Finally, after days of like solitude, Wayne creeps in un-intrusive as a shadow. His hand on his shoulder may be the only thing that keeps Eddie from disappearing.

“I could’ve loved him, Wayne. I could’ve—I did. I think I fucking loved him and I didn’t know until—until I didn’t anymore. And then—and then I just couldn’t again.”

I wish he got to know that. That even for a short time, I had loved him.

Wayne, ever a man of few words, sits with him and lets him have his silence.

———

It’s a little over a month after that that Steve pays him a visit.

He’s smart enough to show up when Wayne isn’t home, looking sheepish as he shuffles on his front step. At least he has the gall to look him in the eyes.

All this is because of you, he thinks. His dark under eyes, his pallid skin. The rage in his blood. The almost that he had.

“Why are you here?” He looks taken aback, almost shrinks in on himself.

“I… the boys said that you, well.” Steve rubs the back of his neck, his hair longer than when Eddie last saw it. It slips through Steve’s fingers. “You never came by again and I wanted to see you. To talk? Can we talk? Can’t… can’t I come in?”

Having Steve in his home, in his space, is dangerous.

Those eyes are deep, soften by tired shadows.

“No,” his swallow is audible and steels himself, “Why should I want you in my home, Steve?”

Steve stands there lips parted and hands clenches at the bottom of his sweatshirt, eyes shined over. Eddie takes the chance to step forward. Everything inside him is too much.

“Don’t you understand what you did? I was happy. And you, fuck, you ruined it! Steve! You!” He out of the door way now and Steve steps back, back, back.

Steve’s face is red in shame. Eddie’s in anger. His pointed finger jabbed at his chest, accusing.

“You couldn’t just let me be happy? Why? Why did you kiss me, Steve? Why then? Was it because you couldn’t stand that I finally had someone? Say something!”

Steves eyes overflow, “Yes! I could stand it because I love you, asshole! I thought, I don’t know—I thought you loved me, too. Okay? Me. We both felt it—tell me you felt it too, Eddie? It wasn’t just me, right?

“You were everywhere and everything. You’d smile at me and it was the sun. So close, always right there and it was like we were—we were teetering on the edge of something amazing. And I was so happy, Eddie. So happy that day ‘cuz I thought, it was just us, right? Me and you. Just us. Together.

“But then you saw him and your weren’t even listening to me. You didn’t hear a word I said, did you? You only had eyes for him. You left me there and I didn’t know what to do with myself ‘cuz suddenly all you’d talk about was him. Every day and every minute we were together. After thinking, after thinking you loved me too.

That I had you.

So yes! Okay? I kissed you because I was selfish and I needed to know. I needed to know if any of it was real. If there really was nothing there.”

Steve’s breathing hard by the end of, words a wavering wet string of rawn vulnerable pulled out of his chest. He’s looking at the floor, hair covering his eyes, and shoulders trembling as he hiccups.

Then, everything feels still. Calm inside. For the first time in ages, Eddie feels like he can take a deep breath and not fall apart. He closes his eyes for a second and just breathes. The fight escapes him with the last breath.

“You ruined me, Steve. You ruined me in a way that even I didn’t understand. I didn’t know, not until that night, about how you felt. And I’m sorry if it was my fault, if I did and said things to make you feel that way, okay? But I didn’t… I didn’t feel that way about you. Not then. Not when you kissed me.”

“And now? Eddie? Do you… could you feel that way for me, now?”

“If it weren’t for you,” he begins, “Adiel and I… we could’ve had something great. But then you—and I— I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wondered so much on why you kissed me that night, replaying every moment together, to see what you saw. And ended up feeling… feeling what you felt.”

He takes the chance to move forward the last bit of space to reach to him, have him look him in the eyes. Both of them mirror images of despair.

“You ruined me, Stevie. Everything was different. It wasn’t perfect anymore, I couldn’t make it perfect again. And I couldn’t be who I had been with Adiel knowing that I couldn’t find in me what we had before. That maybe, this has the chance of being something amazing, too.

I stopped seeing you everyday, so I saw you in everything. I stopped speaking to you, and you became the voice inside my head. It was maddening.”

Eddie laughs and wipes away the tears from Steve’s eyes, they fall faster when he smiles a weak and small but real thing.

“Adiel and I, we fit together; we were good together. But despite that, I didn’t want him anymore. I didn’t know why, I think I still don’t, but… I don’t need to know. I just need feel it, Stevie. And I feel it. I want this. Me and you. You have throughly ruined me, for anybody else.”

This time the kiss is different. It’s shared elation, wet and salty on the tongue, and clumsy as they try to fit into each other. Disappear in one another.

“Are you still mad?”

Those brown eyes don’t resemble gems of green, but they’re filled with incredible warmth and Eddie sees home in them,

Sees a life with them,

It’s own kind of precious.

And he laughs.

“So much, Stevie. I’m mad and heartbroken and falling jn love and happy and so so sure of us. I think, I think I still need some time, I’m really fucked—no, no, shouldn’t cry anymore,” he says as Steve’s face scrunches and it’s so unbelievably cute if he wasn’t blaming himself for it all.

“I just want to make sure I do this right this time. And if I, if I invite you in… I won’t be able to.”

Steve rests his forehead against his, there is heat between them, “But I have you, right?”

“Yeah, took me a while to figure it out but… yeah. Yes. You have me, Steve. God, and I have you. And tomorrow, tomorrow you’re going to come over and pick me up at 6 in the evening so we can eat shitty pancakes at the diner.

And then we’ll figure this out together.”

Part 3 <💛 End, thank you for reading and for all the feedback!

steve gets a bellybutton piercing when he loses some bet. the boys make sure it’s a sparkly one too, maybe even with some pink in it. he doesn’t think much of it, especially since he’s no longer in hs locker rooms. but the one boy who never did gym, never saw it till now.

it’s a simple thing too, shirt riding up on his stomach slightly when he stretches to grab a box off the top shelf. eddie’s eyes hone in immediately, the big gem catching the light.

steve tries to hand him the box but alas, he seems distracted and looking at- “oh, yeah, that basketball team made me get it. guess you did miss out on something in the locker rooms,” he laughs.

he tucks his shirt up a bit more, and eddie’s still looking, and steve watches him seemingly gulp.

interesting.

“you thinkin about getting one?” eddie snaps out of it, meeting his eyes.

“wha- no,” he clears his throat and leans on the counter, trying very hard to look unassuming. it’s cute. “just uh. never noticed it before, ‘sall.”

“that’s what they all say,” steve hums.

eddie’s a bit taken aback, but the red face tells him all he needs to know. “you like it? does it suit me?”

eddie huffs, “sure, it’s cute or whatever. you’re just fishing for compliments.”

steve raises his brows, “me? no, i would never. besides, with all that staring you at least owe me my dues.” eddie lets out an undignified guffaw, staring a reply before quickly cutting himself off.

crossing his arms, steve continues to smirk at him. he’s still got it.

“sorry, what was that? didn’t quite hear you munson.”

“it’s cute, okay? it’s hot. it’s kinda doing it for me.” he can practically see the silent prayer eddie sends to some other worldly being to open the ground beneath him and swallow him whole.

it’s incredible.

“well gee, you sure know how to make a guy blush,” steve claps eddie’s shoulder, “i will say this though, buy me dinner first next time.” and he promptly walks out of the room.

it takes eddie a solid minute to chase after him.

Such good friends✨

A little something for @azrielgreen's Scorpio Skies.

steve and eddie rough housing in the living room on christmas eve night. wayne only chuckles and shakes his head bc the trailer hasn’t been this lively on christmas since eddie was a little boy.

however, he does eventually have to tell them to knock it off bc they’ve almost knocked the tree over twice and steve’s got eddie in a headlock, demanding he say uncle, and eddie has a mouthful of steve’s arm and growling like a rabid dog with no signs of letting go.

they are dating.

this is old but here ya go

steve harrington - american teenager (ethel cain)

And then they left the upside down and lived happily ever after 😤

One of my patrons requested a wounded Steddie piece and I was happy to oblige ✨ If you’d like to make sketch requests, my Patreon link is in my bio! ♥️

playing around with brushes 🖌️

“Ooh Steve, careful you could get sick too.”

“I know… I don’t care”

This made my heart happy to do. A commission for the lovely @rosehavencomic

I was thinking about post S4 Dustin finding some songs that Eddie wrote and he decides he's going to record them as like, a memorial. But on the day he's too upset to do it, so Steve steps in and does it for him.

And it's only meant to be for the Party, but people hear it and the lyrics are good and Steve has a nice voice, so it gets on really local radio. Which leads to a bit more attention and then a bit more.

People want to interview Steve about it, this singer-songwriter from the town that was just destroyed by an earthquake.

But all Steve wants to do is explain how they're not HIS songs, they're Eddie's songs. Except! Everyone thinks Eddie is a murderer, so he can't say whose songs they are, just sort of talks around it. And it accidentally sounds like he's talking around them having been written by an ex boyfriend.

Some people who read the music magazines are like GASP that boy who sings those songs is queer! Like us!! And then he gets a FOLLOWING.

He truly has no idea how any of this is happening, but everyone from Hellfire is so happy that Eddie's songs are getting heard that he just kind of keeps going. Plus he's making money from them, which he can give to Wayne.

(Eddie obvs gets out of the Upside Down and is like, why have you POP SONGED my lyrics??

Steve like, um excuse that's rock. Also I think I've fallen in love with you via singing your songs. That's chill, right?)

The triumphant return of my beloved iylo, and the honor of being asked to draw art for this chapter and this pivotal moment. The full piece will be out later this week bc it’s a spoiler so, hurry and read it!

This chapter was well worth the wait, welcome back @toburnup 🥰😘😘

Steve Harrington gifs 19/?

bossy steve is my favorite steve

Eddie needs Steve to be a little more understanding. This is a lot, okay?! He's in some weird ass dimension and is being attacked by creepy creatures after a huge traumatic thing happened to him and now STEVE IS BEING HOTTER THAN EVER? Just drag him down to the depths of hell at this point, Eddie is done. This is TOO MUCH!!

you may decide whether they're staring at each other (longingly), or if steve's staring at eddie staring at something else like;

eddie: 'it's beautiful'

steve: 'yeah' (talking about eddie)