I've got brainrot about 2 idiots from the 80s

What was he thinking?

Nothing. That's the problem. He was not thinking when Steve talked him first into agreeing, then into organising a hotel room and waiting there. Shirtless, Steve had suggested, said the chicks, especially that girl he wanted to bring, were crazy about his bad boy look, his tattoos, that he should show them off, make her see all of them as soon as she entered the room.

And Eddie could not think.

Not with how Steve touched him, first his arm, caressing each bat, then trailing one nail oh so softly over his chest, barely more than hinting at the demon's existence there.

But it was enough to make Eddie short circuit. His ability to create thoughts reduced to providing an assortment of lewd things with Steve as the star and the only shred of being a civilised human that was left solely focused on keeping it in his pants, on not jumping Steve in front of the kids waiting in his van.

So, no, Eddie did not, could not, think in that moment. He's also not sure how, or even if, he got everyone home safely, but he must have or he would have heard from Steve.

And somehow, he thinks, that would be preferable to waiting for what felt like years in this damned hotel room. Waiting for Steve, and a girl Eddie has no interest in, only to get a few more glimpses of Steve, to hear him make those sounds again. That and the hope that, maybe, if Eddie was lucky and careful enough, he'd even get to feel Steve himself this time. Just for a second and it would be worth it.

The door opens, just as Eddie starts pacing again, stopping him dead in his tracks, to look at– only Steve.

Where's the girl and why is Steve looking at me like he wants me?

Erica Sinclair leaned forward in the La-Z Boy and leveled them all with an intense stare.

"We've known each other for a long time, nerds," she began, hands folded in front of her. The plastic jewelry from Claire's that adorned her wrist still sparkled in the low light, and in her lap, there was a grey stuffed kitten. "I don't even remember the last time you invited me to play DnD. Even though my brother is your friend."

Jeff and Gareth winced; she was right. It had been a while since she'd been invited to a session.

"But lets be frank here, you never wanted my friendship, and you're afraid to be in my debt. You're all big, scary guys. Ready to take on the world. And I'm just Lucas' kid sister. You didn't need a friend like me."

They looked down at their feet in shame.

"You come to me and say, Erica. We need your awesome dance skills. You don't ask in respect or friendship. You don't call me Lady Applejack."

Eddie faltered for a second. "Wait. A-are...you quoting The Godfather?"

She leveled him with a glare and folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm proposing an abridged adaptation for the Fall Play at Hawkins Middle," she explained. "It's fresh on the mind."

"Leave the gun, take the My Little Pony," Gareth muttered under his breath.

"Are you here for help? Or not?" Erica snapped at him, and he cowered. She looked at Eddie. "Obviously you're the only smart one here, which isn't saying much. So I'll negotiate with you. You want dance lessons, you've gotta be ready to give up a few things in return."

"What'll it be, kid?" Eddie mimicked her stance, arms crossed, but it was all posturing to make it seem like they were on even ground. However, they both knew she had the advantage here.

"I get to play in the next 4 Hellfire sessions--" she started.

"Done. We were gonna invite you for the next campaign anyway."

"And I roll with advantage on all skill checks where I have negative modifiers."

"I didn't think you had any," Jeff pointed out.

"That's what I wanted you to think," she replied with a sweet little smile that belied her evil genius nature. Her sharp gaze went back to Eddie for a second time.

He grumbled for a moment. Obviously, mastermind Dungeon Master that he was, he didn't want his players to just waltz through to the prize. But, he supposed, he had to give the rest of the guys a fighting chance. And this would only mean he needed to come up with new, fresh, sadistic ideas to challenge them all.

"Fine," he agreed after a beat. "What else?"

"Some day, and that day might never come, I will call on you to do me a favor in return. And you won't be able to say no."

"Seriously, Erica, enough with the Godfather stuff," Gareth scoffed.

"I'm not hearing a yes."

"Fine," Eddie agreed, sending Gareth a scathing glare.

"And..."

"And?!" All of the boys shouted in tandem, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"And, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this the right way," she insisted. "Which means you'll show up on time with all of the necessary accoutrements. 7am on Saturday and Sunday, bright and early. I've heard rumors that you skip gym class; you're gonna have to dust off those uniforms. No jeans, no lessons. Period.

"Legs. Shaved. Hairy legs cause air drag on turns. No tutus--"

"No problem," Dave grumbled.

"--but leg warmers will be supplied by yours truly." She laid a hand over her heart, as though it was an act of charity. "So what do you say?"

The boys all fidgeted as the considered the offer. 7am was a hard sell on a school day, let alone a weekend. But they wanted this. They really wanted this.

They huddled together for a moment, all whispering while Erica waited. She leaned over so she could see the TV.

"Ok!" Eddie shouted as they turned back to face her. "You have yourself a deal."

"Who has a deal?" she asked, cupping a hand around her ear.

"You have yourself a deal..." Jeff sighed. "...Lady Applejack."

She grinned and clapped her hands together. "I can't wait to spray you guys with the hose, it's gonna be fun."

They all groaned, but...truly they knew there wasn't anyone else they could turn to.

There were footsteps outside of the living room, and Lucas' voice came from the doorway.

"Eddie? Jeff? Guys?" They all turned to see him there, frowning. "W-what are you doing in my house?"

"Don't ask about my business, Lucas," Erica answered for them.

"Did you make a deal with them?" he asked, then turned to his friends. "Did she? Is it true?"

"Don't ask about my business," Erica repeated.

Steve swallowed. "Yeah. Yes, I am."

Eddie reached out subtly and squeezed his leg under the table.

"So has this passionate romance been going on for a while now? Is that why you, what do they say? Came out of the closet?", his aunt asked.

"Um, not actually? I mean, I guess Eddie and I started dating pretty much right after I came out."

"Have you ever thought of how this might affect your future?"

"Or your parents?"

"What about your job prospects?"

"And you must've heard what the president's said-"

Jonas and Eddie slammed their hands down at the same time, shocking every including themselves. After a brief pause, Jonas started.

"I know you all didn't come here just to interrogate my son. You didn't know until an hour ago that he was dating a boy."

"Steve's parents aren't being 'affected' they're the ones who brought us together", Eddie said, eyes blazing now.

"And of course, Steve is primed to join Jonas once he's ready. That's always been the plan", Diane added. "He still needs to go to college but that part hasn't changed."

"And don't even get me started on what Old Ronnie said", Jonas said with a roll of his eyes. "How this country elected a man like that, I'll never know."

"Jonas you KNOW I voted for Reagan!", Steve's uncle shouted.

It very quickly devolved into an argument on politics now and even some of Steve's cousins started getting in on it. Eddie lost the trail of the conversation up until suddenly all eyes were on him and Steve again.

"What?", Eddie asked.

"Well?", the uncle asked. "What are your intentions with Steve?"

Finally, an easy question. "I intend to love him."

"Eddie...", Steve whispered.

"What-oh." Eddie hadn't ever said it out loud. But it'd been pretty obvious right? Steve must have known.

"Oh", his aunt sighed. "Why that was the most romantic thing you could've said."

Bobby was visibly gagging while Steve's parents looked on with adoration.

Eddie grabbed Steve's hand. "Even if your parents hadn't given me the greenlight, I probably would've worked up the courage to talk to you eventually. They just...accelerated everything."

"You really did get him a steady boyfriend", his uncle said, in a bit of awe.

One of Steve's cousins piped up. "Wait, did Uncle Joe and Aunt Diane pay this guy to date Steve?"

"Of course we didn't", Diane clarified. "We just told him Steve was available."

"Wait....", Eddie said as a realization came upon him. "You Harringtons are loaded. You could have paid me to date Steve!"

"We weren't going to do that", Jonas said. "No need to bribe when you're getting the deal of a lifetime to date our son."

"That's right, Steve's a catch. You should be so lucky", his aunt said.

"Maybe YOU should be the one paying them", his uncle suggested.

"But we wouldn't make you do that", Diane assured Eddie with a pat on the shoulder. "You're practically family now."

"Speaking of, when you two get hitched, you are going to take the Harrington name, aren't you?", Jonas asked.

Diane rolled her eyes. "Sweetheart, not now. We agreed they should take it slow."

"You've got a meeting with that senator's wife next week, I think we should have some things decided now", Jonas said.

"It's not a meeting. It's just a luncheon, and it's not just with her. Other ladies will be in attendance."

"They are determined to marry you off, huh?", Eddie teased while the others continued their conversation.

"They just want me happy. And they know I'm happy with you. So they wanna make it permanent." Steve brought their hands to his lips and kissed the back of Eddie's. "And Eddie Harrington doesn't sound so bad, does it?"

"Not bad at all", Eddie agreed.

Eddie thought about how gung-ho Diane and Jonas were when it came to getting involved in Steve's life. They were meddlers, for sure, but well-intentioned ones. And they knew when to pull back just a bit and let Steve take the wheel. They were definitely some of the most open minded people of this generation that he'd met. Even Steve's extended family didn't seem too put off by the whole thing. Just curious, if not lacking in a bit of knowledge regarding it. It couldn't be understated how much they cared about Steve though.

There were worse families to be marrying into, was all.

So he wasn't very surprised when about a week later, he got a call from Diane while he was relaxing around the trailer.

"The luncheon went well~", Diane sang into her end. "So we should probably get the ball rolling on that proposal."

A month ago, rushing into a marriage would have been a red flag to Eddie. Forget the fact that gays couldn't even get married. But now, craning his neck to look into his room and seeing Steve snoozing away, half dressed, the thought didn't scare him so much.

"Alright, Mrs. H. Let's talk rings."

END

Whew! Thank you for following me on this! I just think this idea would be the funniest rom-com and I'm surprised I haven't seen anything like it (if you know of another fic or even a movie with this premise, pls tell me!)

Normally this is where I plug other similar fics but in all my other stuff Steve's parents are assholes LOL

I guess if you want something light and family oriented, check out Turkey Day

Anyway, thanks again!

Tag Team

“Yeah, no shit.” He heads over to Steve’s car and cocks his head at the case. “Are you trying to uh, trade? I’m cash only, Harrington.”

“Ha ha,” Steve says flatly. “No, it’s—you know Robin, right? She’s in your year.” At Eddie’s blank look, he adds, “Robin Buckley,” trying not to sound judgemental. It’s just now that he knows her, he can’t imagine how it’s possible for anyone to not know her. It’s Robin.

Eddie glances at the case again; the penny must drop, because he says, “Oh. Yeah, duh, she’s the one in band? Fluent in, like, everything?”

Steve smiles. “That’s her.” He hands the case over. “Thanks, man, she’s gonna freak when she realises she doesn’t have it. They’re practicing for the game, so—”

“Swiftest of deliveries, got it,” Eddie says, and he actually manages a little salute while holding the trumpet case.

Steve almost laughs.

He doesn’t think any more on the exchange until he’s picking Robin up again. He’s temporarily locked Family Video—what Keith doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Thank God he’s out of town for Spring Break; Steve’s counting down the days. A whole week of just him and Robin, and whatever movies they want to throw on and enthuse about. He’s already picked out his choices, though he still needs to check if the store has them or if he should go through the tapes he’s got at home.

He brings out a notepad from the glovebox and scrawls a reminder to do just that before he sees Robin walking out of school, trumpet case swinging by her side.

She spots his car without him needing to use the horn—claps her free hand to her forehead, and he shakes his head, smiling. It’s a gesture they keep doing at each other, especially when making mistakes at work, getting more and more stupidly exaggerated each time. Then she switches to a thumbs up which Steve returns enthusiastically with both hands, as she opens the door to the backseat and puts the case back inside the car.

“Glad the delivery was successful,” he says, craning his neck to try and meet her eye.

“Yeah, it—” The clunk of the door being shut, soon followed by Robin opening the passenger door and sliding in, still talking, “—was all good, I just, um—ooh, you have gum in here! Great, thanks—what was I—? Oh yeah, I think I confused him?”

“You confused him?” Steve echoes with amusement: an incontrovertible fact of Hawkins High is Eddie Munson’s talent for confusing other people.

“I didn’t mean to! It’s just—okay so, he showed up, like, ten minutes into first period, but you know how Taylor’s stressing about the pronunciation of—basically Rebecca said fam-eel instead of fam-ee—”

“Quelle horreur,” Steve interjects wryly.

Robin snorts, then nods in approval. “Très bien, see, you sound great! But, like, poor Rebecca, she lost her shit—Miss Taylor, I mean, though Rebecca was—anyway, the point is Taylor’s so incredibly strict about talking in French the whole time. I mean, the whole time.”

“The whole time, got it,” Steve says as he reverses out the parking lot. “Wait, the whole time? What if—”

“Whatever you’re about to say, I guarantee you Taylor doesn’t care. Unless someone’s actually dying, and even then—”

“Okay, but what if there’s—like, what if someone’s gotta get pulled out of class—”

“No-one interrupts Miss Taylor,” Robin says gravely. “No-one has dared try.”

Steve starts to grin. “I see where this is—”

“So, Eddie Munson—Taylor always shuts the door but I see him coming, and he’s, like, looking through the window, and I’m trying to wave without being obvious about it so Taylor doesn’t murder me, and I guess I don’t do it great ‘cause he’s looking at me like…”

There’s a pause. Steve huffs a laugh, knowing that Robin’s probably doing a not all that faithful interpretation of what Eddie looked like.

“Rob,” Steve says patiently, managing a brief side glance, “I’m driving.”

“Right, okay, basically he looked like he thought I needed medical attention. And then he’s lifting up my trumpet case, and I’m trying to, like, signal with my eyes like, yay, great! Please just leave it outside the door if you wanna get out alive, but he doesn’t get it, so he knocks and Taylor. Just. Goes. Silent.”

“Ouch,” Steve says. He knows that type of silence well—thinks namely of Mr Mundy’s ire whenever he showed up late to math.

“And Eddie opens the door, and Taylor just speaks the most rapid French at him, and he basically does the world’s most startled mime act, like, pointing at the case then at me, and he’s got these eyes, Steve—”

“Woah, he has eyes? Hadn’t noticed.”

“—that are just begging you for help. And I’m trying to talk for him, in French, obviously, but I’m trying to widen my eyes like, dude, leave, but he just looks even more confused, but then it must click ‘cause he stammers out Bonjour, and Taylor’s staring him down, it’s so—”

“Sounds painful.”

“I mean, it was kinda worth it in the end.”

Steve chuckles. “Really? How?”

“A: I got my trumpet. And B…” There’s a giggle rising in Robin’s voice as she says, “Eddie Munson might not know much French, but he does know how to say Monsieur Harrington.”

“Bullshit, he didn’t say that.”

Silence, quickly broken by Robin’s hiccuping laughter—which, of course, means Steve starts laughing, too. Much later, he’ll recall just how much he smiled; how he told himself he didn’t quite know why.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes!” Robin says. It’s more of a squeak. “He even tried to make your name sound French, oh my God, I can’t breathe—”

“I mean, doesn’t it sound pretty French already?” Steve says, already planning how he can keep this going; maybe he’ll steal Robin’s beret when she isn’t looking. “Don’t I have that je ne sais quoi?”

“Oh, you are so corny, it’s unb—and don’t act like you don’t know it’s all anyone would talk about after, the whispers.” Robin’s voice rises comically. “Did he say Harrington? As in Steve, Steve Harrington?  Oh, my cousin was in his year, he’s so—”

“Shut up,” Steve says fondly. Then, faux smug, “Told you I’m still cool.”

They’re stuck behind a little build up of traffic, just before the turn off to Family Video—and just as Robin starts to reply, she cuts herself off.

Steve gives her another sidelong glance. She’s trying to slide down in her seat.

“… What are you doing?”

“Shh, Steve, he’s right there!”

“Who’s right—oh.”

Eddie Munson must be walking home today, because there he is on the sidewalk. He’s not noticed them, he’s just readjusting the strap of his bag across his shoulder.

Robin keeps wriggling.

Steve snorts. “Jeez, what’re you so scared of? He’s not gonna turn you to stone.” He thinks about it. “Well, actually, there was that one time where—but that’s just ‘cause one of the Murphy twins freaked at—”

“I’m not scared, I’m just mortified, Steve! I’ve basically ruined his life.”

“Uh-huh, totally. Look at him over there, that’s a broken man, all right.”

The traffic starts to move.

“Oh no,” Robin says. “Oh no, no, no.”

Steve grins mischievously. “I’m gonna say hi.”

Robin sounds like he’s just suggested they go rob a bank. “Steve, don’t you dare—”

“What? I like honking the horn, sue me!”

Which is true: whenever he stumbles upon one of the kids—when he’s not actually giving them rides—he loves seeing their reactions when they spot his car. He’s still got a warm glow from passing by Dustin and his mom on his way to work at the weekend, their enthusiastic waves.

They catch up to Eddie, and Steve sounds the horn in a short rhythmic group of three, like a little song.

He glances over in time to see Eddie’s eyes widen in recognition, a red flush creep up his neck. His hand lifts and hovers in the air like he doesn’t know whether to commit to a full wave or not.

Robin, evidently still panicking, winds down the window. She shouts wildly into the wind, “Merci!”

Steve makes it to the parking lot before he loses it.

“Merci?” he wheezes with laughter, as Robin frantically slaps him in the chest. “Merci?”

“I panicked!”

“Oh my God, really? No-one would know.”

“He’s gonna think I’m a total—”

“Freak?” Steve cackles. Robin socks him in the arm. “Ow!”

“That did not hurt. Ugh, maybe—maybe he didn’t know it was me?” A beat. “Steve.”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t realise you wanted me to lie to you.”

This time Steve avoids the punch, gets out the car and retrieves Robin’s work vest from the back. He tosses it to her over the roof of the car, shakes his head with exasperated affection.

“Rob, seriously, relax. Eddie Munson’s probably just praying he never sees us again.”

Robin rolls her eyes. “Oh, well, in that case.”

But she does relax as she puts on her vest; she’s already enthusing about the movies they’ll watch over Spring Break by the time Steve unlocks the front door.

“You need to pick some, too, Steve.”

“Dude, I have a whole list, it’s in the car.”

“Très bien, Monsieur Harrington.”

“Jesus.” Steve scoffs. “Was that supposed to be an impression?”

“No! Eddie was more like…” Robin does an incredibly odd movement with her jaw, as if preparing herself.

Steve flinches back in mock horror. “Oh my God! Never mind.”

“Now, Monsieur Harrington—”

“Uh, no. That is not becoming a nickname.”

“Pass me those tapes, please.”

“No.”

“Whatever you say… Monsieur Harrington.”

"I know what you're gonna say", Eddie started. He'd known since he looked himself in the mirror. He wear wearing a flannel shirt and blue jeans with no rips in them. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and to Steve's disappointment there were zero rings on his fingers.

Steve crossed his arms. "If you know, then why would you do this?"

"Just toning it down just a bit. I do want your family to like me."

"Aren't you always going on about forced conformity. And how we can't keep following societal norms when they can be so harmful?"

Eddie's eyes got big. "Babyyy", he grabbed Steve by the hips and pulled him in close to kiss his pout. "You are listening when I go on my rants."

"You're kinda hard to ignore, Eds. Now please tell me you have a change of clothes."

"I do. Help me change so we can be quick?"

Steve was normally helping Eddie undress in a hurry, not the other way around, but it wouldn't take long for someone to realize he was missing and see Eddie's van in the driveway and make the connection. So he went with him to the back of said van and helped him into something that was more 'Eddie' than what he currently had on.

Of course, hands wandered just a bit, they couldn't help it. But both were pretty focused on the actual task at hand.

Suddenly the doors to the back of the van opened and there was a 10 year old boy, catching Steve in the act of zipping (up!) Eddie's black, ripped jeans.

"Be cool, Bobby", Steve said.

"Mom!"

Not the best first impression to make with such impressionable eyes. But Steve ushered his cousin back inside, Eddie right behind them and the whole family right there as they came in through the front door.

"Hey, everyone", Steve greeted. "This is Eddie. My um-", he paused to clear his throat, feeling like he needed a drink. "He's my boyfriend. Eddie, this is everyone."

It felt like the longest silence of his life. And having so many eyes on him had never made Steve feel so vulnerable before.

"Oh", one of his aunts said. "Well your parents never told us-when you said you were dating someone we assumed-I-Diane?"

"Eddie's been very good to our Steve", Diane said. "So no one scare him off."

Eddie's new outfit had jeans with more personality, and a shirt with a band Steve knew about two songs from, neither that he'd play in front of this current crowd. His hair hung wild down his shoulders and his rings were back where they belonged. He was purely himself and if these people weren't into that, well, Steve had the full support of his parents at least. He just hoped the rest of his family would understand.

Diane was putting some pies in the oven for later when her sister approached.

"So you're fine with not having any grandchildren?"

"Steve and Eddie could adopt." Of course, she was mostly talking out of her ass. Gay marriage wasn't legal (yet) so gay adoption probably wasn't on the table. But she and her husband knew people who knew people.

Jonas was having his own conversation with his brother-in-law.

"I mean I sent my boy to boarding school from the 6th grade on and he never came home with a boyfriend. Somehow managed to sneak a girl in there too. And somehow in the middle of America, Steve found a-"

"A nice guy like Eddie?", Jonas interrupted while flipping a burger. "He's quite a find, but Steve can't take all the credit. Diane and I were actually the ones to find him."

"You found Steve a boyfriend?"

"We found Steve a steady boyfriend", Jonas emphasized. "You should've seen him going through girls like tissues, right Di?"

Diane was coming by with some more things for the grill. "Oh it was like a circus and Steve was driving around with a never ending clow car of girls."

"That bad, huh?", the uncle asked.

"Oh the girls were fine. It was just so many and he wanted him to get serious with someone."

Jonas nodded. "He and Eddie have been going strong since summer started."

"Guess it's a good thing if you don't need to pay a dowry. Who even is the girl in that relationship?", the uncle asked while watching both young men carrying tables to set up outside when the food was ready.

Steve could tell his parents were taking the brunt of the initial questioning and he promised to give them the best presents for the remainder of holidays of the year for it. He was able to introduce Eddie to his cousins. There were only a few as it was just his mom's side of the family with them this time. The youngest was Bobby and the oldest was just a year older than Steve.

After setting up the tables it was finally hot enough to justify jumping in the pool, which most of them did. As the resident captain of the swim team, Steve put on his trunks and performed his life guarding duty for the family while the adults cooked and set up other things while catching up, mostly about him.

Eddie was still fully dressed in his t-shirt and jeans, lounging on a pool chair while the rest of them splashed around. But he offered Steve a wolf whistle when he came out, dripping wet.

"Not even James Bond could resist", Eddie teased.

Steve came over to sit next to him, knowing the look in Eddie's eyes meant he was fighting every urge to get his hands on him. He grabbed a towel and dried his hair off a little.

"Any chance I'll see you in the pool? I've got extra trunks."

"You'll have to work a little harder than that to get me wet~", Eddie said in a low tone, their heads inclined together. Then Eddie remembered where they were and was about to pull back when Steve grabbed him by the back of his neck. "Stevie, people are probably looking."

"My nosy parents? Definitely. And anyone else can close their eyes if they don't wanna see."

And without anymore preamble, Steve brought him closer for a kiss. A quick thing, just a peck of the lips but still the most he'd gotten today with so many new people around them. Eddie was in a daze afterwards, it always took him a second to recover from Steve's kisses. When he did though, he remembered where they were and who could be watching.

Sure enough, when Eddie tore his eyes away from Steve's lovely face there was a whole crowd watching them, having stopped in whatever they were doing.

Eddie felt like he had ripped a bandaid off but was still bleeding underneath.

Part 8 FINAL

Tag Team

Steve rolled his eyes. "The mob jokes weren't funny with my parents and they're not funny with me."

"I think your parents are funny", Eddie smirked.

"You wouldn't think so if you knew they thought of setting me up with some mafia guy. Ritchie or something." Steve wrapped up the half of his sandwich that he didn't eat. "Anyway, do you wanna go? It's a big step for us but-"

Eddie put his own on the dashboard. "Can we go back to the fact that your parents wanted to set you up with a mobster? Should I be worried?"

"According to my folks, he's a numbskull, so no. And they like you, so I wouldn't worry about anything. But I get it if you don't wanna be thrown to aunts and cousins. I mean I haven't even told the rest of my family that I'm...you know."

Steve hadn't even really thought about coming out to his extended family. Coming out to his mom and dad had been such a spur of the moment thing.

"Steve, if they're anything like Diane and Jonas, they'll have arranged a 'Steve is Gay' parade for you", Eddie smiled.

Steve covered his face. "God, you're right. I'm pretty sure I saw my mom starting a wedding scrapbook."

"A what-?!", Eddie squeaked.

"A nothing!"

Eddie cleared his throat. "On second thought....This family event sounds like a tall order for me. I think you need to convince me a little, make it up to me baby. I'm about to put in some heavy work."

Steve's response was to look Eddie up and down slowly, they move into the back of his van. Before they had gotten together, it had been a sparse area with little knick-knacks from things Eddie had hauled in the past. But since officially getting with Steve, Eddie always made sure to have a thick blanket and a couple of pillows at the ready.

They were currently parked near the quarry. It was nice, considering they didn't have a lot of places that they could be out publicly.

"Eddie~", Steve sang once he got back there, prompting his boyfriend to practically pounce on him.

"And ho~w exactly do you plan on making it up to me, hm?", Eddie asked as before pecking Steve's lips.

Steve chuckled and petted Eddie's hair, then pulled it away from his ear to whisper in it. "I'm gonna make you cum in your pants."

Eddie collapsed on top of Steve with a moan that was only a little exaggerated. From the moment he saw him walk into the music store, he wanted to get his hands on him. And every day that was able to was like a dream.

Steve flipped them over and kissed his lips, pulling back with a bite. Steve never got tired of kissing him. Any time they were alone his lips were on Eddie within five minutes. That one time, the two of them really had been looking at magazines before starting to grind on each other in his bed. Well now it was time to finish the job.

After nibbling on Eddie's lips a little more, Steve sucked at his neck. He could feel it warm in his mouth and could help but bite into it. Eddie was a biter himself and it had infected Steve. He tugged his shirt down a bit and kissed at his collarbone. Steve dragged his hands down Eddie's chest and sat up, straddling his hips.

Eddie let out a grunt. He was already at half-mast thanks to Steve's promise.

"You really want me that badly?", Steve whispered.

Eddie nodded quickly. "Always do."

Steve started slow, dragging his lower half from the top of Eddie's hips all the way down to the bottom of his crotch. Eddie whimpered every time their groins lined up. His hips jumped but it was clear he was holding back. Steve smiled and kissed his lips. Eddie was good at that, restraining himself because he didn't want to scare Steve off. He let Steve set the pace. And seeing how much Eddie desired him but still waited for permission was such a turn on.

He groaned as he pressed his own hard on against Eddie's. Steve fisted the blanket underneath them and started to get lost in the feeling. Eddie finally grabbed his hips, then his hands trailed down to Steve's ass, a cheek in each hand.

"Eddie~ Ah, uhn~"

Steve's breaths were starting to pitch and Eddie knew what that meant, knew what his love needed. One of Eddie's hands drifted upwards, all the way until he was caressing his cheek.

"Open up, baby."

Steve's lips parted and Eddie slipped two fingers between them, letting his boyfriend suck to his heart's content while they rutted against in the back of his van. It was fucking heaven. Steve moaned around his fingers, so greedy for it that he grabbed Eddie's wrist as if he would ever take them away.

Eddie was looking up at an absolute vision. It was like Steve was using him to get off. And that thought had Eddie bucking into him as he came, certain the van was rocking now. Steve looked down, moaning at the sight of the wet spot in Eddie's pants. That pushed Steve over the edge and he bit down lightly on Eddie's fingers as he did.

The air was filled with their panting while they came down from their high."

"Mmm", Eddie moaned as he took his fingers from Steve's mouth. "Got any other family obligations? A wedding? A graduation?"

"You lookin' to book another appearance already?", Steve grinned.

"If my compensation is like this, I'll be as regular as a fiber pill."

Steve couldn't choose between laughing or kissing so he did both, pressing his lips to Eddie while giggling through it.

Part 8

Tag Team

Steve sputtered and milk dribbled down his chin. "You told them about Eddie?! About how I-I'm...?"

"No, not yet. But I told Elaine that you might have someone special to introduce everyone to, you know, if Eddie wanted to come and I don't know why he wouldn't..."

"You know why he wouldn't", Steve said.

Diane put on an exaggerated pout and batted her eyelashes.

"Mom...", he sighed.

She let out a little whimper like a sad puppy.

"You are a grown woman", Steve pointed out. "And you're setting a bad example for your son."

Jonas came in, shielding his eyes with his hand as he walked by. "I heard the pouting from outside, whatever it is, just give it to her."

"You're enabling her", Steve said.

"I bet Eddie gives you everything when you show this face. You inherited it from me", Diane said.

Steve let out another heavy sigh. "Alright, I'll ask him if he wants to come."

"You're bringing Eddie to the barbecue?", Jonas asked.

"Apparently everyone will want to meet him, despite not knowing of his existence yet."

"It's not like we're asking him to come to cotillion-"

"Which he's years late to", Steve said.

"Or to escort you to a debutante-"

"I still think your dad's sore that Steve didn't go to one", Jonas said.

"And why would Eddie be escorting me? Why am I not escorting him?"

"You know, we had a similar question regarding your wedding", Jonas said, completely missing the 'cutting' motion his wife was making.

"My what?!"

"Just as a hypothetical", Diane said quickly.

Steve played with his cereal. "You guys get me a boyfriend...you want him to meet the family...why does it feel like you've got a church picked out for August?"

"Who said we got you a boyfriend?", Diane asked at the same time Jonas said, "Who'd get married in August?"

"Eddie told me how you guys 'orchestrated' this whole thing", Steve said. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It had nothing to do with your confidence Steve. We just wanted to help however we could", Diane said.

"So...you guys really like Eddie?"

"Like him? He's great", Jonas said. "A little odd, but that's what makes people interesting."

Diane smiled. "He has such interesting opinions, I could talk with him for hours. Actually, who does his hair? I would love to take him to the salon and-"

"Whoa there, if I didn't know better, I'd think you two were in love with Eddie", Steve said as he stood and took his empty bowl to the sink.

"Oh, is it wrong to adore our son's boyfriend?", Diane teased.

Steve kept his back to them, his silence betraying the redness in his face right now. He didn't point out that his parents were never this welcoming towards any of his past girlfriends. He knew there was something different about Eddie, and they knew it too. He was definitely 'long-term, introduce to extended family' material.

Part 7

Tag Team

Steve felt himself being set on a hard surface and knew he was on the kitchen counter. But whatever else was going on melted away as Eddie nibbled on his lips. Steve's hands got lost in his hair and he dove in deep to suck on his tongue. Eddie let out the sweetest whimper and pawed at Steve legs.

Every sound he wrung out of Eddie made him feel so powerful. Like he could ask him to commit murder and Eddie would only say 'right away'.

This man was a dream come true. Except for when he was pulling away.

"We gotta-we gotta stop, Stevie."

"Why?", Steve asked, not even ashamed of how whiny his voice came out. This wasn't the first time Eddie had done this. Just when things were getting to the good part, Eddie put a pause on things.

"Because I'm about to lose control."

Steve couldn't help but pout. He removed his hands from those dark curls and instead gripped Eddie's shirt. "What if I want you to lose control? What are you afraid of?"

Steve expected any number of responses. Afraid of falling too deep, of scaring him away, of being too much, of what society might think. But instead, after a long pause, Eddie said this:

"Your parents."

Well that was one way to lose a boner.

"My...my what?"

"Your mom. And your dad."

"What do they have to do with this?"

"They um-", Eddie's mouth snapped shut as he realized Steve might not even know the smallest of involvements that his parents had in all this.

"They what?"

"They're the ones who gave out your house's number so I could call you. Remember when we first met at my job?"

"Yeah?", Steve rose a brow.

"Before I rang you up, your dad uh, well he uh, vouched for you."

"I can't believe this!", Steve got off the counter. "My dad told you to talk to me?"

Eddie nodded and now Steve was running through that first interaction in his mind. He had felt terribly awkward as Eddie had laid on the thick flirtation. He'd thought Eddie had just been making fun of him somehow. So he'd been shocked to receive his call. Steve hadn't even questioned how he'd gotten the number.

"Did they tell you to ask me out too? Did they...", Steve's brow furrowed as he thought about his boyfriend and parents having secret conversations. "Did they tell you to not have sex with me?"

"They didn't tell me to ask you out", Eddie said holding his hands up. "They only told me that if I did, you'd probably say yes. And I have NOT discussed anything sexual with them, Jesus Christ Almighty."

Steve started to pace around the living room. Because that meant Eddie was still talking to them about some things.

"Is that why you took me out to Le Petit's? Because they told you to?"

Eddie let out a groan. "That was the worst. I should've never listened to them that time." He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.

Steve sat next to him. "Eds. Tell me everything."

----------------------------------

Jonas sat across from his wife in a cafe. Both of them had some coffee. They'd come to terms with the fact that they had been giving Eddie conflicting advice.

"I thought the whole point of this was to get Steve on the straight and narrow." Jonas cleared his throat. "So to speak."

"Yes", Diane agreed. "But it seems we're on different pages of what that means. Do you not like Eddie?"

"I like him. He's just not, well he doesn't look ready to settle down, is all."

"Steve is nineteen. He shouldn't be settling down."

"But he should be getting ready to."

"Jonas, you and I didn't get married until we were in our twenties."

"After dating in high school", Jonas reminded her.

"This is Steve's first boyfriend", Diane whispered the last word.

"But not his first relationship. I like Eddie, I think he can do right by Steve. But-"

"But his image isn't clean enough? Goodness, you sound just like my father. Remember when he didn't want me dating some dirty greaser?"

"I cleaned up my image for you."

"You still use more hair products than my father ever did, still read motorcycle magazines, and I highly doubt he would have ever entertained the notion of me romancing a woman."

"So am I like your father or not?", Jonas asked.

"We need to let Steve find his own way. He already looks more serious with Eddie than any of those girls he dated. Maybe they will get married. Maybe they won't."

Jonas let out a sigh. Even he had to admit Steve looked happier. Maybe it was just a nice summer romance, maybe it'd be a forever thing. But they had to let Steve and Eddie figure it out.

"Hm, not that I think of it, I'm not even sure what a gay wedding would look like. Would they both wear tuxes?"

"Well, I'm sure they'd-", Diane paused as she thought about it. "You know, I don't know. But if anyone should wear a dress, it's Steve. He's got the figure for it."

"Hold the phone, the gays can't even get married", Jonas said like a great epiphany.

Diane's eyes got wide as she realized it too. In the chaos of finding their son a boyfriend and trying to set them up properly, they had forgotten the true politics of their situation at large.

"Jonas, can't you speak to someone?"

"The highest person I know is Don at the bank. What about you? Who's that gal who's always in the salon with you?"

"Mary Ellen, that's right! She's on the city council. How hard do you think it would be to get a bill started?"

Jonas swirled his cup around. "I'm sure it can't be too hard. Lobbying's going to put a dent in our savings though."

"Well, Steve's not going off to college yet, his fund can help foot that bill", Diane said with a wave of her hand. "Eddie can consider it his dowry."

"I thought we weren't rushing them into marriage?", Jonas grinned.

"No.... but maybe we should invite Eddie to dinner in the meantime."

Later on, when the two of them returned home, their son's car was the only one in the driveway, yet they could tell he wasn't alone the moment they entered the house.

"Steve! We're home!", Diane called out. She shared a knowing look with her husband when they heard a shuffling upstairs and what sounded like someone falling.

Jonas was the one who went up the stairs and opened the door to Steve's room.

Steve was lying innocently on his bed, reading a sports magazine. "Dad, you of all people should know that you can't walk into a dude's room without knocking."

"Oh I know plenty", Jonas said. "Would Eddie like to stay for dinner? We're having salmon."

Eddie stuck a thumbs up from under the bed. "Sure thing, Mr. H."

Part 6

Tag Team