#somethinggoodfic

Part 1 || Part 2

▪️▪️▪️

Steve hated Instagram. The upkeep of it was a pain in the ass and he was positive the constant worry about his self image was eating away his mental health bit by bit. If he’d have to have one for his career he’d delete in a second, but it genuinely did help him network and in the fleeting movie industry that was crucial. He never felt comfortable passing it off the his PR manager, Robin. It was still his personal account at the end of the day, even if it was riddled with high quality video promos and magazine photoshoots. But hey, he has access to high quality, plus he was well aware of just how hot he looked in each photo, might as well post them.

Notifications were the worst of instagram for him. He never scrolled, only opened the app to post something Robin asked him to. But after each post he’d get thousands of notifications to the point that turning his phone off was the best solution. Every now and then Steve enjoyed reading comments and would respond to silly ones or genuinely good lore questions. Those Paladin fans had theories like no other, it was cool to be apart of a creative project so heavily inspired by the D&D game the kids he used to babysit played. It was the first time in his career he felt like he made an influence, in a nerdy community of all places, but influence nonetheless.

~ 1 year later ~

Steve took a break from instagram, he hadn’t posted or been active for quite sometime. He was preparing for auditions, looking for a new role but nothing of too much interest appeared. Thankfully he landed a supporting role for a new film, based on a true story about an underdog baseball team. Given his past student athlete career it fit the bill, he was unsure of the other guys cast. Tommy Hagen was very obviously jealous he didn’t have a larger part but other than his general bitchiness wasn’t horrible to get along with. Billy Hargrove, however, is a different beast entirely. The guy was always pissed about something, and surrounded by conventionally attractive women he sent to do anything and everything for him. Hargrove was the star for this picture so Steve just tried to be civil despite the dick measure contests he kept getting pulled into.

Today was the first day of the script reading. His character was very involved in the first 20 or so minutes but then kinda fades to the background during the middle chunk when Hargrove’s character steals the spotlight, gets a bunch of development and what not. The pacing seemed terrible from the few glances he got of the script beforehand so that meant he’d have a huge lull in his day since there wasn’t too much subplot for the rest of the baseball team in the story.

Steve was super focused in the beginning, even though the iffy costars enjoyed messing with him to make the room laugh. Somehow he got through his bits with ease. Immediately after the room took a break to eat bagels and coffee provided by whichever catering company was hired. Steve sat back down at his designated seat, the call to open instagram to kill time grew with each passing second. He succumbed if only to avoid any more conversations with Hargrove and Hagen.

Notifications flooded in for several minutes. Steve gave his phone a second to recuperate and load before truly exploring his messages. Most were fangirls hitting on him, or brands asking if he’d partner with him. One random account stuck out to him, with the most amount of unread messages out of all the spam he got. Curiosity got the best of him, so he opened the account named BatKing. He scrolled to the very beginning. The only thing this person sent him were D&D ideas, DM tips, and lord of the rings memes. Over the course of general scrolling, BatKing didn’t even seem to be trying to get his attention or even care if he opened his phone at all. Steve paused about halfway through the string of messages, not by choice but because instagram glitched and sent him back to the very bottom where the most recent texts arrived. Batking sent a new video. Steve clicked on it right away. It led him to a video that was titled “what your favorite sports film says about you”. “If you like the blindside, you either have a white savior complex or will literally watch anything sandra bullock has ever been in. If you’re favorite is Angel in the outfield you only have green flags. If you liked Ice Princess, hows being a lesbian going out for you… Space Jam is here because how can you not like it, its michael jordan teaching the looney tunes how to basketball.” The shortest cackle escaped Steve, causing a few heads in the chatter filled room to turn to him momentarily. He smiled and waved quickly then went back to the chat. A chaotic force compelled him to reply.

Steve.hrrgtn: Dude, you just made me laugh in the middle of a table reading

Batking: Why are you looking at your phone in the middle of a table reading

Steve.hrrgtn: This script is boring af.

Batking: Got cast for a new sports movie or something?

Steve.hrrgtn: Not all sports movies are boring!

Batking: i cant believe i was right, it is a sports movie. Is it also based on a true story?

Steve.hrrgtn: are you in the room hiding right now? Should i be worried? I have good lawyers.

Batking: im sure you do hot shot

Batking: u dont have to worry about me, im sitting pretty all the way in indiana

Indiana. Steve hadn’t thought about Hawkins in a long time, of course this mystery person was from there. They weren’t coming off as a stalker but the coincidence of them both being from Indiana shook him for a moment. He didn’t chew on the thought any longer, the three bouncing dots distracting him.

Batking: sorry i sent u so much shit. Ill stop now that i know its actually you that has control of the account. I figured some PA was ignoring me

Fascination kept Steve wondering if he even wanted Batking to stop messaging him. It was the first conversation with a stranger he’d had in years that didn’t involve the other person trying to extort him or a crazed fan. It was refreshing.

Steve.hrrgtn: idk why you were sending stuff but if you want to keep doing it i won’t stop you.

Batking: really?

Steve.hrrgtn: really.

Steve.hrrgtn: the d&d stuff reminds me of this derpy kid i used to babysit. Not that i should be saying this to a complete internet stranger but its nice. It reminds me of when i wasn’t famous. So thank you? I guess?

Batking: pleasure to be of service my leige

Steve.hrrgtn: why send me stuff tho? If u don’t mind me asking

Batking: well, i wanted a place easier to reach on instagram to look at saved posts. I figured messaging a celebrity that probably wouldn’t respond was a good solution. My friend keeps raving about paladin so i picked the first name on the cast list

Steve.hrrgtn: have you seen it?

Batking: do u go around asking all strangers you encounter if they watch ur films? Thats not a good look

Steve laughed again, not realizing that the table reading picked up again since he started their conversation. Every stopped to look at him.

“Sorry guys! Continue,” he said quickly. Thankfully the need to get the read through complete meant they picked up immediately.

Steve.hrrgtn: u dick, u made me laugh again. No i dont ask that to every stranger. U clearly love d&d, what did u think

Batking: I havent… actually seen it… yet

Steve.hrrgtn: dude

Batking: sorry not sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Steve.hrrgtn: whatever man, i wont make u do anything but im curious what u think

Batking: why me?

Steve.hrrgtn: u started this technically

Batking: caught on a technicality, typical

Batking: ok deal. Ill let u know what i think

Steve.hrrgtn: deal

Steve closed the chat, deciding it was probably best he started trying to pay attention to the reading since he was technically on the clock. Every part of him craved more banter with whoever Batking was. There was an undeniable pull he felt that with any luck wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

~~~

Update: Part 3

@theteapotofdoom

...obviously I was not NOT gonna do something after bringing it up. C:<

Plus. 

People wanted a kitty Tomura.

I give you two Kitty Tomuras. 

To those who need an explanation: I drew a gift pic for her fic Something Good (it’s amazing you should totes read it if you haven’t already) and I mentioned there how my Reanimate-verse’s Tenko would react if he met the awkward squishy from her story. 

I decided to make KittyTomura’s look be based on the one chapter where he has a ponytail and is covered in paint. 

...Yup. 

Tomura, you’ve officially become Reanimate!Tenko’s honorary lil bro. *throws confetti* Go ahead, join Midoriya and Hitoshi on the playground 

I think poor SG!Tomura would probs be a lil intimidated by R!Tenko, given he’s a grumpy cat who’s so DONE being kidnapped and having to tell stalky supervillains to go fuck themselves.

Something Good (c) theteapotofdoom

Shiggy (c) Kohei Horikoshi

Part 3 || Part 4

▪️▪️▪️

For the first time in years Steve found himself free on a Friday night. Between working, going on press tours, doing stupid interviews, making appearances at bougie Hollywood parties and, on occasion, attempting to go on dates, his time was always occupied by something. Filming had yet to really pick up since there were some permit issues getting a hold of time and space for shooting at Wrigley Field. Another plus to getting his role, with the rewards yet to be reaped. Playing baseball on Wrigley Field. So his morning was merely scheduled training with the other cast members, training as a baseball team to better act as one made sense. That also meant he got home to his way too big and too empty house in Malibu just before roomie dinner should the stars align to have one. Robin, despite her being his extremely talented PR manager, was also his roommate and best friend. She had her night filled with organizing press tours and interviews for the new movie, but he had an inkling it was more to do with Robin wanting to spend more time with LA Times Journalist, Nancy Wheeler.

“It’s just a business dinner! Don’t you want someone who will actually ask good questions for once and not shit like ‘what hair products do you use’ or ‘what diet are you on?’” Robin exclaimed as she fumbled putting on her boots.

“Yes, but at this business dinner,” Steve air-quoted, “you should really ask her on a normal date. Take her to a museum or something.”

“It’s not that easy,” Robin retorted.

“It is. The worst she can say is no, and even then I don’t think she will.”

“Ugh, I’m leaving now. Call me if you need anything but wait til after dinner.” She said as she walked out the front door.

“Have fun! Don’t work too hard!” Steve shouted as she closed it making sure to quickly stick her tongue out at him before she did.

And that was that. He was on his own for the first time in years and he had no idea what to do with himself. All the events, all the work, were distractions from his lonely life. He didn’t mind leaving Hawkins, getting the hell out of dodge when the opportunity came. His parents signed him onto a few commercials as a kid and didn’t think anything of it until some random talent scout called the house when his parents happened to be home, for once. They agreed to whatever was discussed and practically shipped him away. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t recall the last time either of them called that didn’t involve asking him for money or a favor. At least he was finally 22, so getting a random case of red wine delivered was no issue, not that getting any type of alcohol or drugs was hard to do for a rich young celebrity in LA.

He settled in his living room the best he could, the Tuscan style house provided some form of coziness, but the tiled floor made sure that regardless of the warm orange terracotta an underlining coldness was never out of reach. Steve never really knew how to live in his house, he bought it for the ocean view and Robin loved the hot tub in the backyard. He had the money, so it was bought. The flatscreen hung above a luxurious fireplace that was never used, because why the fuck would he need a fireplace in California but it was still pretty. Thankfully the remote was on the wooden coffee table and he doom-scrolled through all of the streaming services, cringing anytime he caught a glimpse of a shitty B-movie he appeared in. Part of him missed babysitting more and more, the other part did enjoy having money that was his own, but money couldn’t buy genuine company. He refilled his glass for… shit how many was that? Three? No four. Wait, three. Three glasses of wine.

He gulped down much too large of a sip, ready to let the wine take him entirely when his phone buzzed. Steve fumbled to get it out of his pocket, forgetting entirely that he was still in jeans. A single Instagram notification appeared so he opened it, happy to see a recent message from Batking.

Batking: so I watched Paladin…

Steve.hrrgtn: and?!

Batking: woah, was not expecting a response that fast. Arent celebrities supposed to be busy on friday nights?

Steve.hrrgtn: u caught me on a rare occasion.

Steve.hrrgtn: so utilize it, you have my full attention. Whatd you think?

Batking: …

Batking: it was amazing

Steve.hrrgtn: thats it? Tell me more!

Batking: what do u want to know?

Steve.hrrgtn: everything! You clearly play d&d or at least know a lot about it. Was it accurate? Idk, what did you enjoy?

Steve was overcome with a giddiness he hadn’t felt since his first kiss. Sure it was for a tv show he was in for a few episodes but exciting nonetheless. He waited as Batking typed their response.

Batking: It was the most accurate movie portrayal of D&D ive ever seen. Im thoroughly impressed, and I’m a hard man to impress.

Steve.hrrgtn: is that so?

Batking: you’re damn right it is.

Batking: you really did crush it. To see the paladin go from being in his element on the battlefield to getting completely stripped of everything with nothing left but his values to keep him going… wow. It kept me on my toes, wondering if he’ll getting beaten down enough to break his oath. But NO! The conviction you display, the way you would get up after every failure, every obstacle, im mesmerized. You were mesmerizing

Steve became extremely aware of his cheeks after that message. He couldn’t tell if he was actually blushing or if all the wine raised his body temperature. Either way he was flattered. He watched as three bouncing dots danced next to Batking’s profile picture, a doodled vampire bat with an itty bitty crown inbetween its ears on a lined piece of paper. He clicked on the picture, leading him to Batking’s profile where he carefully read each element of the guy’s bio.

🦇Welcome to Hell 🔥 you have entered my domain… you have been warned

There were a few links below: Spotify, Youtube and one for DMGuild. Steve didn’t know what the last one was but he was planning on checking it out later anyways. As he scrolled down most of the dude’s pictures were of friends, guitars and other musical equipment, stray cats, random craft/construction projects, D&D battlemaps and poorly designed posters by local bars for open mic nights he would be playing at. Not much of the guy himself from what he could tell until he came across one of a slender guy in a white and black baseball tee with a red skull and yellow horns that ready Hellfire Club. The guy was sticking his entire tongue out and held up both hands in the rock and roll fist. It was from several years ago and the caption read: Welcome to Hellfire! Each new member gets to make their own original t-shirt. Meet me in the art room after school this friday @3:30pm.

Steve smiled, but sadness crept in. He wondered if Dustin ever got to meet this guy, they’d get along so well he could feel it. Steve was about to scroll through his contacts to see if he could find Mrs.Henderson’s number but a banner notification from Batking distracted him.

Batking: i dont think i blinked the entire time. Maybe i just forgot to? I cant tell. Im higher than i expected tbh

Steve.hrrgtn: can i trade u? I have wine

Batking: red or white?

Steve.hrrgtn: red

Batking: pass. It all tastes the same to me

Steve.hrrgtn: does it matter? Itll get u drunk either way

Batking: if you want weed so bad why don’t you get some? Dont u live in California? Am i to sit here and read your messages as you squander your well deserved paladin money on wine instead of weed. Tsk tsk tsk

Steve laughed, a true LOL. What he wouldn’t give to just meet this person. No one made him laugh besides Robin.

Steve.hrrgtn: how are you this funny?

Batking: what can i say? I’m but a humble court jester put on this earth do one thing only.

Steve.hrrgtn: what would that be, sir jester?

Batking: to entertain royalty. Royalty such as yourself.

Steve.hrrgtn: i thought that was my job? What is acting if not being paid to entertain

Batking: fair point

Batking: wait if im not a jester what does that make me?

Batking: dont tell me that the Steve Harrington is about to trigger an identity crisis. At least send me cali kush first 😭😭

Steve.hrrgtn: sorry, best i can do is 11 bottles of Cabernet sauvignon

Batking: great. now you have a sense of humor!? You need to come with a warning: rich, attractive, decent personality AND funny.

Steve being too infatuated and tipsy to stop himself replied:

Steve.hrrgtn: 😊

Steve.hrrgtn: wait! Decent?

Batking: I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. Forgive me for being just a tad skeptical. This thing we got going is still a little unfathomable.

Ok fair. Steve nodded to himself, Batking had a point. He was getting a little carried away with just how comfortable he was acting toward this guy who he still didn’t know the real name of. Speaking of which…

Steve.hrrgtn: what’s your name

Batking: not so subtle change of topic

Steve.hrrgtn: sorry

Batking: it’s ok. Wine?

Steve.hrrgtn: your name is wine?

Batking: hahahahhaha no

Batking: …why do u want to know

Steve.hrrgtn: u know mine

Batking: true. Ok I’ll tell you, but under one condition

Steve.hrrgtn: ok????

Batking: if u remember a Dustin Henderson at all, it would mean the world to him if you gave him a call. Even just messaged him. He sings praises of u. I couldn’t believe him, not until this. And look i have no filter rn and im probably being way more vulnerable with u than im comfortable but i’ll tell you my name if you promise me you’ll try to reconnect with him. Just please for my sake, don’t let him know i didn’t watch paladin until you told me to.

Curse the wine, he shouldn’t have finished a bottle by himself without dinner before this. Tears of joy streamed down his face, a burst of feeling that filled his empty husk. Feeling what? Everything? Anything? Maybe it was knowing his silly babysitting gig is actually the most important job he’s ever had, that it’s the job that has fundamentally made him, him. Maybe it’s knowing from this near complete strangers that yea he does know Dustin, that the kid was left in good hands. Maybe that Dustin remembers him and still thinks about him, that the door there is open. Maybe it’s the kindness and courage of Batking to be vulnerable with him not born of manipulation but out of authentic compassion.

Steve.hrrgtn: i promise

Batking: pinky swear

Steve.hrrgtn: what?

Batking: u heard me! Pinky swear!

Steve.hrrgtn: geez! Ok! I pinky swear

Batking: good. Im holding u to it.

Steve.hrrgtn: thank you

Batking: for?

Steve.hrrgtn: idk. For treating me like a person

Batking: you are one, aren’t you?

Good wasn’t that the truth. He is one, but Robin seemed to be the only person that acted that way towards him. That is until… wait this fucker still hasn’t told me his name.

Steve.hrrgtn: i am a person. One that still wants to know your name.

Batking: damn, was hoping i could distract u

Steve.hrrgtn: 🤨🫴name pls

Batking: its Eddie

~~~

Update: Part 5

This one’s for you queen @beckkthewreck

Would yall want an extended fic on ao3 ? Im considering if i want to keep posting parts here or if i should do both. Would that be good for yall?

Update: Now on AO3

▪️▪️▪️

Eddie hated Instagram. He hated it kept him doomscrolling for so long wasting precious hours of time like it was nothing. Unfortunately for him he got too many D&D tips, new bands to listen to, and lord of the rings memes to fully bring himself to delete it. It also didn’t help that the best way to communicate to the rest of Hellfire after finally graduating was through Instagram. So to make peace with himself he used the little amount of self-discipline he had to only scroll on the shitter, a few minutes in the morning when he woke up or during his breaks at the dingy liquor store on the outskirts of Indianapolis.

Every now and then he’d save a post that was impossible to find later, and navigating where the hell Instagram kept them was only mildly infuriating. For Eddie, however, that mild infuriation lingered in the back of his mind the entire rest of the day. He tried sending posts he wanted to save to friends but god forbid he ever find it again after the dozens of slam messages he receives in return any time he tries.

He was in the middle of prepping a mini campaign for Hellfire for over Thanksgiving and Christmas break. It was the usual crew of course and the freshman now sophomores he adopted from his final senior year. Dustin was relentless in his communication which Eddie appreciated since he had a habit of being a terrible responder but everytime he opened his phone he’d have at the very minimum 10 missed notifications from the kid alone.

This time his 10 minute break was soaked up by the tidal wave of d&d memes sent his way from the entirety of the hellfire group chat. Some were genuinely funny, others useful so in an attempt to save anything with the hopes of finding it again he figured he’d find an account to message from someone who definitely wouldn’t respond. What was that one fantasy movie Dustin won’t shut up about? He wanted to base his next character off the main character. Eddie moved over to Google, searching for recent fantasy movies. The first one in the list was titled Paladin with the portrait of a fully armored Knight, helmet and all staring down the camera. Not a bad poster, it was bold, the armor design looked historically accurate while the knight’s crests and blue aura eliminating from behind him gave it an element of magic. He skipped the synopsis and picked the first name that appeared in the cast to find on Instagram, Steve Harrington. The guy’s account was pristine and filled with professionally taken photos all promoting his movies, his “boy nextdoor charm”, or general sex appeal for “Hollywood’s new rising star”. No way this dude posts himself, its probably some poor unpaid internship or PA.

Eddie began sending saved posts to him. It was great to be honest. No response ever and an easy to find account. Sure his algorithm started showing him more clips of Paladin and Steve’s other movies that he, to the best of his ability, tried to show minimal interest in despite Dustin’s nonstop yapping about them. Eddie made the mistake of asking the kid why he was so obsessed with Steve. 3 hours later Henderson finally finished his genuine retelling of meeting the guy at a Con and supposedly Steve used to be his babysitter but hadn’t heard from him since his career blew up but still remembered him when they had their meet and greet. Eddie didn’t fully believe the kid but Mike and Will vouched for him, and if Will agreed then he couldn’t find it in himself to question Dustin’s story anymore. That knowledge simply faded in the back of his mind over the remainder of the summer and fall.

The string of months worth of saved posts existed in the internet realm that is the Steve.hrrgtn and Batking instagram messages. What started out as simple DM tip saves grew into nerdy memes, and videos eddie held close to his heart. Funny little videos that he liked bcuz they were meaningless and only made sense to him. Some were tips for improving his picking on guitar or ways to remember to eat food throughout the day, all sent to Steve Harrington.

Part 2

Part 4 || Part 5

▪️▪️▪️

Eddie woke up to a single buzz emanating from underneath one of his pillows. He threw them aside with no luck. Maybe his phone weaseled its way under the black dragon squishmallow with purple shiny wings and matching mohawk that was added to his bedding after graduation. Hellfire deemed him a psycho for only having one pillow the first time they saw his room at Wayne’s trailer. It wasn’t a pillow or bedding per say but fuck were those things comfortable.

He grabbed the dragon’s face, “A-Ha! There you are!” Eddie snatched his phone with his freehand and double-taked before chucking the black dragon on the floor. He instead, opted to squeeze it and gently set the stuffy back down.

His phone buzzed a second time, lighting up his dark room with two Instagram notifications. The light was nearly blinding and thanks to his black out curtains there was no telling the exact time of morning it was. 7:14am he read as he squinted forcing his eyes to adjust despite his grogginess at this ungodly hour.

Steve.hrrgtn: Eddie, nice to officially meet you

Sent at 12:23am

The timestamp has to have been a glitch, because otherwise that means Eddie spent several hours, no wait… 4 hours, 4 whole hours of only messaging Steve. He scrolled to the more recent text.

Steve.hrrgtn: sorry, i might have passed out last night. I hope you have a good morning

Sent at 7:12am

What has the world come to? What even is reality? Eddie stared at the message in utter disbelief. In what universe did the gods decide it was ok for him to receive good morning texts from Steve fucking Harrington. Jesus H. Christ.

“I’m reading a good fucking morning text from Steve fucking Harrington,” Eddie whispered to himself, a maniacal laugh escaped him, “This is it. Im officially going crazy.” Shit, I should respond. He bit his thumb nail, the hardened keratin made ragged and soft against the strong bite of his teeth.

Batking: good morning mr. wine hangover. How’s your headache treating you?

Steve.hrrgtn: awfully, it’s treating me awfully

Damn that was fast. It was early for him, but Steve was on California time, so he was up at 4? Holy shit, 4am.

Batking: chug some water, eat some fruit

Steve.hrrgtn: thanks doc. What’s next? Should i take medication? How bad am i?

Batking: tough to say without seeing you, but you’re pretty bad. If you don’t take Excedrin soon, you may die

Steve.hrrgtn: that’s not reassuring

Batking: nope! Not at all! But it is my professional medical opinion

Steve.hrrgtn: well in that case, i better get myself some meds

Steve.hrrgtn: wait, what are you doing up so early?

Batking: i could ask you the same thing

Steve.hrrgtn: work. Baseball training 😩 i rather be in bed.

Batking: i don’t know why im awake. My body hates me i guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Batking: Good luck at practice?

Steve.hrrgtn: haha thanks. Time to clock in.

Steve.hrrgtn: talk later?

Batking: i work later fyi but sure :)

~

Steve didn’t text him later. The day dragged on and on, the time barely passing between checking his phone. Minutes became days and hours became years. Nothing.

Sal threatened to fire him, Eddie was so unreasonably dazed. Why? Why is he so irritated? Steve is just a celebrity, who is extremely busy, something has to have come up. It didn’t make Eddie any less annoyed, but then again later was a relative term. Ugh, the nuances of understanding what someone’s definition of later means when said person is famous is even harder to calculate.

Eddie groaned and pulled out his phone yet again. No new updates.

“Don’t make me threaten your job again Munson! Put that shit away, I’m not paying your phone bill.” Sal yelled from across the store. Fucker must be watching me on the security camera.

“Actually, you technically are paying my phone bill. Since, you know… you pay me.” Eddie shot back.

“You’re lucky you’re the only employee that shows up consistently because I really rather not,” Sal made his way towards him. They were busy for a Saturday and it was just the two of them there after they got two call outs, “go stock the fridges, we’re low on tall boys.”

“Careful Sal, Im beginning to think you might actually like me,” Eddie said as he turned off his phone and Sal took his place at the register.

“Shut it kid,” Sal said before very kindly greeting the group of Frat guys that came in looking for shitty Beatboxes to pre-game with before their crazy house party. Eddie purposely restocked them last so they settled for buzzballs instead.

What he wouldn’t give to get hammered at a house party tonight, make out with some random closeted guy looking to experiment and move on. That would surely fix his problems, getting railed in a frat house bathroom instead of mindlessly checking for instagram notifications, as if that wasn’t the definition of self-destruction. At least he could find joy watching Sal give 19 year olds a hard time when they came in with fakes. He had yet to see Sal get fooled, probably the only redeeming quality the guy had.

Apparently the house party the frat guys were talking about was close by because there were a lot of 19 year olds tonight, trying to impress their shitty friends with bad alcohol. Sal was ruining a lot of kid’s nights that was for sure, but at least he got them to buy snacks for wasting his time. Eddie overheard one of the groups mention the address, if anything the thought of being a fly on the wall there was enough to distract him from thinking about Steve and the lack of promised messages. Maybe he could get some extra bud from Reefer Rick, sell some dime bags for the night to make some extra cash after his shift. The party starts at 10pm anyways, he’d be right on time. A quick in and out.

The temptation grew the more he thought about how much money frat parties have made him, but the risk was also high. Cops got calls for noise at those parties all the time, not that he hasn’t evaded them before. What am I thinking? He tried stopping himself from reasoning his way into going. Why? Because Steve Harrington hadn’t messaged him back? Don’t be rash Munson. Get it together. You turned off your phone, maybe he did text after all.

Eddie headed to the bathroom after he finished stocking the snack aisle. He turned on his phone again, tapping his foot as he waited for his shitty service to connect. Again, no messages. Nothing from the guys, or Dustin specifically. So Steve hasn’t called Henderson yet either. Anxiety planted the seed of doubt within Eddie, “Goddamnit. I came on too strong.” He opened his chat with Steve and reread everything.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck, why did I tell him that? I directly asked him to text Henderson. He probably definitely thinks im a stalker,” Eddie dragged a hand over his face, trying to physically pull away the cringe he was feeling over his past high self. Didn’t matter that Steve texted him that morning, he had to have told someone what he said. That person probably told Steve he shouldn’t talk to him anymore.

Batking: hey, sorry if i was weird last night. I know Henderson because i recruited him for the hellfire club my last senior year of high school. He doesn’t shut up about you tbh.

Delete!

“Nope, no, nope,” he shook his head as he paced around the bathroom stall, the floor sticky beneath his shoes.

Several loud bangs hit the door, “You finished in there? My girlfriend really needs to pee!” A deep voice shouted scaring the shit out of him.

Eddie pocketed his phone, flushed the toilet he didn’t use then washed his hands. “One sec!”

He quickly left the bathroom, the guy was waiting with his girlfriend directly outside the door. He apologized and made his way back to the front just in time for Sal to ask him to count the til. Clocking out no later than 10:30pm on a Saturday was a new record for him, and still no messages. He called Gareth.

“Yooo, the guys are hopping on Baldur’s Gate tonight. Want to join? Oh thats right, you can’t because you hate fun.” Gareth answered.

“I chose not to play on principle. I like my d&d how it is, on paper,” Eddie retorted.

“You are such a boomer.”

Eddie could hear his friend’s eyes roll through the phone, “Whatever, d&d is not why I called.”

“Don’t tell me… rich boy troubles already?”

“He said, he’d message me later, this morning but hasn’t. Ive been checking my phone all day and nothing! Zip! Zilch!” Eddie projected a little too loud while he walked back to his apartment, his voice echoed in the empty ally he was cutting thru.

“Chill out. He’s probably just busy. Why do you care?”

“Great question Gare. That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out.” Eddie powered as much sarcasm as possible into his reply.

“No need to get snippy with me. I’m the one helping you here, and against my will might I add.”

“Dude. What wrong with me? Ive been checking my phone all day waiting, its been a day! A single day!” Eddie made it to his building, climbing the fire escape to get to his unit. As sketchy as this back way was, it was faster. Faster to get back meant faster to change his clothes meant faster to pick up some product from Rick meant faster to crashing the frat party.

“I don’t know! What makes you think I have the answers? Im only 17.”

“Gareth please. Im being serious.”

“Ugh, fiiiiinnneeeee. You shouldn’t live on your own this long. Its going to drive both of us crazy,” he sighed, “so you’ve been thinking about him all day? When was the last time you… you know? Had sex?”

“Really?”

“Yes dude. It sounds like Steve Harrington out of all people on the face of the earth, is the only man as of recently to give you any form of what attention? Affection? Interest? -I don’t know, you pick- in how long?” Gareth explained.

“Well it has been a while,” Eddie trailed off.

“See, youre probably just pent up or something and its getting directed weirdly at your celebrity penpal. Download grindr or something.”

“Oh, right. That actually makes sense.”

“Am I being detained, or am I free to go?”

“Fuck off. Go play Baldur’s gate nerd.”

“Nerd!” Gareth shouted, then hung up, not allowing Eddie to shout back anything else.

He climbed one more level up and got to his window, left unlocked so he could easily slide in. His couch broke his fall as he rolled inside. Time to call Rick, sell some drugs and with any luck get laid. Fuck Gareth was right.

~~~

Update: part 6

Part 5 || Part 6

▪️▪️▪️

Practice was absolutely atrocious. They were not warned that the coach of the original baseball team the movie was about would be running their Saturday morning sessions. The guy was a hard ass, which made for a bad day and even worse time to have a hangover. Steve hadn’t pulled shit like this since he actually attended High School. He made the unfortunate mistake of giggling to himself as he thought, I must be a method actor now. Which earned him and the team three extra laps.

“Are you serious Hopper? He was the one being unfocused, why do we have to run?” Hagen complained.

“You come up to me again and I’ll make you run the rest of practice. And that’s Coach Hopper to you.”

Coach Jim Hopper, the man himself, seemed disinterested in everything but the opportunity to give out sprints as a punishment. Steve respected him, the guy demanded respect, even with his silly coffee mug that read “Mornings are for coffee and contemplation”. He leisurely sipped as he made them suffer.

But the most noticeable thing about the morning was the lack of Hargrove entirely. How he got the main role is beyond Steve, considering he is the least known for being a team player which is necessary for team sports. Coach Hopper simply started without Billy and whispered something under his breath as he took a sip from his mug. Steve couldn’t make it out over the pounding of his head, so he decided to use the five minutes before they officially began to text Eddie.

To his surprise the guy answered fast. If he was being honest, daydreaming about texting Eddie on his personal number got him through the grueling drills. The happy little idea that maybe in time Steve could ask for his number followed by Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, on repeat. It made him sluggish compared to his performance the rest of the week. He needed to ask the other guys on the down low to re-explain the drills to him. He didn’t catch shit, his passes were too high or too low. It was noticeably bad, but Coach Hopper resorted to shaking his head and momentarily looking down whenever he caught Steve lagging. Disappointment or annoyance were better reactions than extra drills, but the bitter taste of leaving a bad first impression would haunt him for the rest of his life. Steve was off his game and it was obvious but he pushed through, too distraught yet unwilling to turn off his Batking-centric stream of consciousness. I get to text him later. Just make it through the morning so you can message him.

What was supposed to be an early morning 3 hour practice became 6 hours, when Billy finally decided to show. Coach Hopper was rightfully pissed and decided the best way to handle the situation was to make all of them start practice from the beginning.

One of the other guys, Patrick, sat down next to Steve as Billy showed up. He leaned in, “You better get your shit together Harrington. He’s gonna rip you a new asshole if you don’t.”

Steve rolled his eyes and gulped down a huge portion of water, “Thanks for the tip.”

“I’m serious dude. I like you, you’re skilled. But Billy acts like you fucked his mother in front of him or something.”

“I’ve never met him before this job. I don’t know why he has it out for me.”

“I believe you, but for all our sake. Get it together man.”

“I will. Do you know where I can find any excedrin or some sort of pain medication?” Steve stood, stretching his arms to limber up from sitting.

“Probably at the med tent. Why?”

Steve began to jog over, but turned backwards to look at Patrick, a smile overtook his otherwise gloomy mood, “Doctor’s orders.”

Patrick just shook his head confused but amused all the same.

~

“What the fuck Hargrove?! You broke my fucking nose!” Patrick shouted, promptly putting an end to their practice.

Hopper was attempting to make them scrimmage to end the day. However, that gave Billy the opportunity to pitch fast balls directly at Steve's face when he came up to bat, thankfully he shaped up enough to just barely dodge, and swung just fast enough to tip the ball low on the ground. But in a blind rage trying to kill Steve who safely made it to base, Billy hit poor Patrick in the process. He was guarding first base for Hargrove’s team too. The entire group just watched him play out the very definition of the phrase “there’s no I in team”.

Bright red blood dripped down Patrick’s jersey, Steve got some spots on his as he helped him to the med tent. Hopper called it for the day and beelined it to Billy on the pitcher’s mound who stood there laughing.

“Oh what? Come on. It’s not my fault Harrington dodged, what’s his face should’ve been ready to catch.” Billy shouted, only Hagen seemed to be on his side.

“How you got this part I’ll never know,” Coach Hopper was face to face with Hargrove, “You may be the star of this Hollywood bullshit, but on this field you listen to me.”

“Stay out of my way old man,” Billy spit.

Hopper laughed, “I can’t wait to break you like a wild horse.”

It was the first time any of them saw Coach Hopper be threatening, more specifically threaten Hargrove directly to his face. Billy was just as shocked by the notion as everyone else, because it effectively shut him up, mostly. Steve didn’t think it was in him to give anyone the last word.

“Screw this. I’m outta here.” Billy scoffed and marched off the field.

It was week one of this. Week one! Steve almost couldn’t believe it. Anger. Annoyance. Frustration. That’s what Billy made him feel. For what? No reason? Was he trying to make a point? Steve couldn’t recall when he got thrown into whatever game Hargrove was playing and it definitely wasn’t baseball.

He sat with Patrick as the nurses worked their magic. Guilt found the cracks in his dam and began to flood the surrounding land where his other emotions grazed. Inescapable and all consuming.

“I’m so sorry Patr-“

“It’s fine,” Patrick cut him off.

“I pulled it together, barely. But it didn’t matter,” Steve continued.

“It’s fine,” His teammate sternly repeated.

“Please if you just let me apologize-“

“It’s. Fine. Steve. Thank you. Please just go. Ok?”

Steve nodded. Was that it? Was Billy trying to make the others hate him? Was that the game? An unspoken battle for the attention of everyone they came across. He didn’t want to be a part of it but given the circumstances, if he wanted to survive this job backing down wouldn’t be an option either. Steve left the med tent, head hung low.

Exhaustion began to set in as he still refused to leave the field until he knew Patrick was ok. He became so lost in his own pity he didn’t notice Coach Hopper sit next to him until the bench creaked under the new weight.

“Don’t beat yourself up kid,” he patted Steve on the back.

Steve didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say, he just shrugged.

“Patrick will forgive you. There’s nothing for him to forgive, but he will.”

“How do you know that?” Steve asked, not yet willing to look at Hopper. He kept his gaze glued to the grass.

“Look at that, he speaks,” the Coach set his mug down beside him, “You were sloppy this morning, but you are athletic. Have you played before?”

“Ya, a little bit in High School when I still went. Baseball, swimming and basketball were my sports.”

The Coach nodded, like Steve as a person made more sense to him. “So what’s the deal with you and Hargrove?”

Steve scoffed and leaned back, arms folded, “The hell if I know.”

“Right. Well, whatever his deal is, forget about it.”

“What?”

“You know you remind me of Jake Barstow. You’re character, well the person, that is.”

Steve perked his head up, “How?”

“You both have empathy. You want to succeed but as a team. Hargrove, he’s a brat. I do not want to know what’s going on in his head, but that’s why he’s Drew… his character or person or whatever. Troubled, made it everyone else's problem. Granted they weren’t Hollywood stars, but they butt heads.”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“If you want to get through this, you’re going to have to play clean. Drew did but not at first. He was hot headed and went rogue but came through when it mattered but only because Jake was the one who never kept his eye off the ball. Not saying you have to be friends with Billy but keep your eye on the prize and ignore him. I may be a washed up old guy who only took this job for the money but if there is any advice I have for you, it’s ignore Hargrove and focus on the team. Your cast or co stars or whatever they are.” Hopper patted Steve’s back, making sure to grab his coffee as he stood then left, “See you next week.”

~

To be continued…

I asked and the people have spoken! This ficlet will officially be getting an extension on AO3! I will be posting chapters soon, so stay tuned.

I officially named this fic “Something Good”! Follow the tag #somethinggoodfic for updates || Inspired by this post @kingdomvel || I will be updating this with all parts

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Something Good - Modern AU

Actor Steve Harrington & Normal Guy Eddie Munson

Steve blankly stared at Robin when he hung up with Eddie. Despite the ever growing pit in his stomach at his slip up in calling their future evening a date, Steve felt an underlying reassurance keeping him from completely spiralling. Our date, Eddie said our date.

When he went too long without saying a word, Robin finally chimed in.