𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐬

TWENTY-SIX: psycho killer.

RHYS FELT AS though he was on fire, the band's performance was going pretty well and then when it was over, Luna had came over to the stage to say a few things but the moment she stepped up, Rhys got up and grabbed her by the waist, then kissed her.

From where they stood, all of their friend's eyes land on Eddie who had been smiling earlier at something James said but was no longer smiling now. Luna had started kissing back in an instant, his arms slinking around Rhys' neck as Avery looked over at Silas and Nora, the bass player and singer shrugging. The crowd that was once cheering and whooping grown quiet, mostly the ones who thought they had a chance with Rhys in the first place, others still cheered, the men whooped and cheered him on while the women giggled and clapped.

In their eyes, it was "romance" and for Rhys, it was purely built up lust as he pulls back, an arm staying around Luna's waist while she chuckled, patting his arm. "Okay, blondie... chill out there before your fangirls go all psycho killer on me." She whispered before walking over to the mic and talking to the crowd.

While she does this, the band went down to the bar and patted themselves dry of sweat with cloths as Andy looks at them with a small grin. "You did amazing, babe." He said as he came to Nora's side, kissing her temple as Rhys rolls his eyes, turning the other way just as Eddie and the others approached him.

"Hey guys." Rhys acted normally as he always did, smiling at them. "Hey." Eddie greeted him first then glanced at the others who all instantly started gushing about how good their band was, especially Rhys on drums except for James who waved over Luna then asked her for two more shots and another beer.

Rhys watched him as he got showered in compliments before looking at the others, smiling. "Thanks you guys. It was so nice to look out at the crowd and see some familiar faces. Have you guys met Nora, Avery and Silas?" As the others talked with the band and caught up since they knew Avery and Silas in high school, Eddie went to James.

"Don't you think you've had too much?" He whispers and James turns to look at him. "I guess you're right..." He shrugs then downed one of the shots as Eddie sighs. "Can I at least have the other one?" He asked and James shrugs. "Go for it..." He says and watched as Eddie drinks the shot before turning towards James. "Give it a break now, alright?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die, Munson." He says and Eddie frowns. "Don't say that." He cups the side of James' face and the Hopper sighs. "It's just a saying, relax, Eds." He leaned forward and the shorter's face burned bright. "Let's join the others." He pulls his hand away, turning around and James sighed.

"Okay..." They stood with the others as they all caught up but the whole time James just wanted to keep drinking. And all he had was his beer so he sort of rushed himself to finish it until all he felt was a bit woozy. He likes being drunk. After a while of talking and catching up with one another, the group all went their separate ways, Nora, Avery, Rhys and Silas all say goodnight to them, Jonathan goes with Argyle back to the Byers-Hoppers, Nancy and Robin headed out to Robin's place for the night as her parents weren't home tonight.

And then it was just Eddie, Steve and James on the side of the road in front of the bar. "What could... the three of us do?" James turned to the other two and Eddie glanced up quickly. "Hm? Oh, I'm kinda tired... just wanna head home." He says as James stares at him then glanced at Steve, smiling faintly at him.

"What do you wanna do, Harrington?" He asked and Steve looks over. "Oh, I--I don't know. Whatever's cool with me, I guess." He says and then Eddie glanced between them. "James," he says quietly before he stepped closer, leaning in to whisper into his ear as Steve just stood there, blankly staring.

When Eddie pulls back, James just looks at the shorter, furrowing his brows before looking at Steve. "Right. Uh, nevermind on hanging out, I wanted to head home too... I can drop you both off?" He offered and Steve quickly nods. "Oh, yeah, sure..." He says quietly and the three made their way to the car.

"Jamie?" Steve says when Eddie's already in the car, in the backseat. "Can you... drop off Eddie first? I wanted to talk to you for a bit like one-on-one... I haven't really gotten a chance to since you last stayed the night at my place." He says and James nods. "Yeah, sure..." He smiles and Steve smiled back.

James got in first as Steve stayed by the passenger side door, sighing deeply. "I'm dropping you off first... Steve wanted to talk." James says, glancing back at his lover in the backseat who sat up a bit too quickly. "We should just tell them all at this point." He says and James shrugs. "I don't think that's a good idea..." He says and then Steve hops in. "I think it'd be a great idea." Eddie says, basically worried that if Steve didn't know James was his again, he'd use Eddie's advice. To smooch the fuck out of his boyfriend.

Admittedly, it's pretty shitty, because he did promise Steve he'd matchmake them. But... you know, Eddie couldn't help himself. "What's a great idea?" Steve turns to the two who are now having a non-verbal conversation with looks as Eddie now sighs, rolling his eyes and turning to look the other way and James frowns. "Do you guys have mind powers or something? What's going on?" Steve asked.

"Stevie," Eddie moved to the middle, holding onto both of the chairs in the front as the vehicle begun moving because James drove off now. It was probably not the best idea for him to drive under the influence but it was his vehicle and he had to act like he was going home after dropping off the two in his car, despite actually heading to Eddie's after.

"Yeah?" Steve looks at Eddie who tilted his head down a bit. "If you had a secret that you knew your friends would actually be perfectly fine with, you'd tell them, right?" He asked and Steve furrows his brows. "Define secret?" He asked and Eddie shrugs. "You piss sitting down? You sleep with a nightlight on? Something someone would be ashamed of." He says and James quickly looks over. "I'm not ashamed!" He says and Eddie looks at him as if making a face that says prove it then.

"You'd tell us right? Me and the others?" Eddie quickly turns his attention back to Steve who just shrugs. "I--I like to keep private things private." He says quietly and Eddie sighs when he can practically sense the smug smile coming from their driver who he now looks at. "Whatever. This has nothing to do with you anyway." Eddie said quickly, dismissing it.

"Doesn't it, though?" James said, glancing at his lover as if to say you're acting jealous and Eddie squints his eyes at him. "Eyes on the road." He says and Steve looks at them. "So... does it have anything to do with me or not?" He asked and Eddie looks at him qucikly. "No. It's just a hypothetical. Nothing that would ever happen... right Jamie?" He said, looking at the driver's rearview mirror now.

"Yeah... exactly."

authors note
as strongly as i love jeddie, i gotta keep in mind they can't exactly work out because they're not the endgame in this so like... yk, trouble in paradise and whatnot