Work Text:
“Happy Halloween!"
Steve grinned happily as he arrived at their designated meeting spot. The other three of their little group were already there in their costumes.
Robin's idea to dress up as each other had been amazing. Maybe even the best she'd ever had.
At least that was what Steve had thought until he saw Eddie in a skirt.
Eddie had gotten Nancy, and he was owning it! He had managed to tame his hair just enough to bind a few strands back, and- was that makeup?
Steve was certain he wouldn't make it through the night.
Not only was his current crush remarkably looking like his ex, there was more... The way Eddie wore it looked too effortless. How the shirt framed his arms and the lipstick brought out his soft lips.
"Nice rings," Eddie smirked.
Completely forgetting himself, Steve looked down at his hands, before he remembered. "Oh, yeah. Can't be Eddie Munson without the rings."
"And where did you get the shirt?"
"Bribed Lucas. It's honestly scary how quickly these little shits grow."
"Alright then, Dingus, should we get going?" Nancy asked.
Robin shook her head in disappointment. "That is not at all what I sound like."
"It's pretty close," Steve shrugged. Apart from the fact that Robin usually wasn't the one that reminded them they had to be somewhere.
"It's nowhere near me."
"Eddie has to be the one that reminds us we have to go, since he's me now."
"Do we have to do this?"
"Yes," Robin and Steve answered at the same time.
With a deep sigh, Eddie rolled his eyes, then changed his posture to be straighter. "Alright then, we probably should go on if we don't want to miss this bullshit."
Nancy only cackled, shaking her head in amusement before leading the way to the busiest area this time of the evening.
Their plan was to adapt a yearly ritual Steve had begun during his time of being friends with Tommy and Carol. Every Halloween they would sit on the low wall near the Crawford house, drink booze and judge the costumes of the Trick or Treaters.
At some point, Tommy had started stealing candy from everybody passing them, but that part they could simply skip.
Steve heard Eddie giggling behind him and turned around to see what he was laughing at. To his surprise Eddie was looking right at him, or, more precisely, at his ass.
"What's wrong? I'm pretty sure I didn't shit myself," Steve said, trying to get a look at what Eddie found so funny.
"Sorry. Sorry, man, I just saw your handkerchief."
"Oh, yeah, you always carry that cool pirate one around, and I couldn't just leave it out, and the closest thing I had was this blue one."
Slowly calming down, Eddie cleared his throat, placing one warm hand on Steve's shoulder. "I think I need to give you a talk here, Harrington."
Steve got the feeling that he had done something very meaningful without intending to.
"Sooooo, you know I'm gay, right?"
"Yes?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows, turning his head slightly in Eddie's direction, trying to read his facial expression. He still seemed purely amused, but not mad, or offended. Steve really hoped he hadn't done anything incredibly homophobic.
"And, well, there's a certain symbolism between gay guys to communicate what we're into without having to approach strangers and risk getting our asses kicked."
Slowly but surely, Steve put the puzzlepieces in his mind together. "So, that handkerchief that you're always wearing is like a secret code?"
"Exactly. And then the meaning changes, depending on what color it is, and which side you're wearing it on."
Steve felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. He was scared to ask the question, but he simply had to know. "Wh- What does light blue mean?"
An evil grin spread on Eddie's lips, barely contained. "The way you're wearing it? It means that you like 69ing."
"Oh, okay." Steve relaxed visibly. Nothing offensive after all.
Eddie walked faster, stopping before Steve to look him in the eyes. "Why aren't you more freaked out about this?"
"Why would I be?"
"Because this is telling the world that you like sucking dick."
"So?"
"So??? Most straight guys would probably burn the thing."
A small smile played around Steve's lips. "Probably," he agreed and stopped walking to keep Eddie from walking blindly into traffic.
"But you don't." It couldn't take him much longer to figure it out.
"Apreantly I'm not most straight guys."
"Because you're not most guys?"
"Or..."
"Or because-" With great pleasure, Steve watched as understanding crossed Eddie's face, then doubt, then panic, then incredibility. "Are you gay?!"
"No. I'm bisexual. I think. Robin introduced me to the word, and I feel like it fits me pretty well,” he shrugged.
Eddie stood before him, mouth gaping, eyes unblinking.
After a few seconds Steve started getting somewhat nervous. Most people - by that he meant Robin, because she was the only one that knew so far - had shown a reaction.
"Ed? Are- are you okay? Are we cool?" he waved his hand before the other guy's eyes, getting him to finally blink.
"Yeah. Of course. I mean... You like men. We both like men... Hey, we should go out some time. To like... meet cute people. We could be each other's wingmen."
Steve raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Why was Eddie being so weird about this? Had Steve fucked things up between them? Maybe it was better to not say anything in the future.
"Er... Yeah, sure." Before things could get even more awkward, Steve turned on his heels and followed Robin and Nancy.
Steve didn't dare look at Eddie for the rest of the night, too scared to make things even worse. They still had fun - Robin and Nancy were enough buffer for them. They watched the parade of kids and teens, rated their costumes, and judged them based on how full their buckets were. It was great. Steve’s favourite part of every halloween.
Still, there was always that feeling in the back of his chest that something was going to happen at some point. Something that couldn’t be reversed.
But it didn’t. And nothing kept happening for the better part of the night.
Only a good while after midnight, when they had emptied the leftovers out of the buckets before the houses, and escorted the girls back to their houses were Steve and Eddie alone again.
"So... about earlier..."
"We don't need to talk-"
"I was an idiot."
Steve stopped so abruptly in the middle of the street that Eddie couldn't stop himself in time and walked right into him.
"Ouch. Shit, dude," Eddie complained, rubbing his nose and stepping back just a little to not stand too indecently close to Steve.
"So… you don't think that I'm gross, and should just make up my mind?"
"What? No! That's crazy. I don't care who you go out with. I mean, I do, but- urgh, fuck!"
Steve raised an eyebrow and watched as Eddie started walking around on the empty street, the light of the streetlamps catching in the little charm on Eddie's necklace.
Eddie breathed in the cool night air before stopping, his back turned to Steve. "I just gotta figure out how to deal with the knowledge that the hottest, and coolest guy in Hawkins could potentially like me back."
In his chest, Steve felt his heart skip a beat, and then began racing. It felt like he was falling down a never ending flight of stairs. Somehow his legs managed to move forward, and his arm raised itself, touching Eddie by the shoulder.
The man's body stiffened, like he was holding a breath.
"Kissing you would be a lot easier if you turned around."