Sometimes I think about how Steve never had a man in his life who respected him.

His dad doesn't respect him.

Tommy didn't respect him; he was just a hanger-on who would do anything to climb the popularity ladder.

Dustin looks up to him, but it's not the same as having the respect of his peers.

Keith barely tolerates his presence.

And then Eddie comes into the picture and tells him that he knows he's no longer the douchey King Steve who reigned at Hawkins High. Who has real, raw, vulnerable conversations with him. Who sacrifices his life to save Steve's. Who listens to Steve, cares about what he says--not out of obligation, but out of respect.

Idk man. Whether you ship Steddie or you just like them as platonic friends, I think that's kind of beautiful.

“Open up, princess...”

As suggested by @symbioticsimplicity: Feral!Steve.

pride, envy, ao3

Seven Deadly Sins Series (NSFW 18+)

This thing they’d had going on for three months now really had started off fun.

It started out soft and sweet. Stolen kisses in the back of The Hideout, quick, messy blowjobs in the backseat of Steve’s car, booty calls late at night when one or the other couldn’t sleep.

He can’t really identify what went wrong or when. All Steve knows is that the butterflies that he used to get when Eddie came around have turned and twisted into something sharp and heavy. Now when they’re within earshot of each other it's all biting insults and low-blows.

Somewhere along the line, the happiness that Eddie planted in his heart morphed into bitter resentment. But Steve’s nothing if not self-sacrificial, and the sex was too good to give up. Who is he to deny himself of the only good thing Eddie has left to offer him? So now he finds himself shoved into bar bathrooms and left high and dry, bruises mottled up and down his chest and dark bags under his eyes from a fitful sleep. Somehow he’s convinced himself it's better than nothing.