Rock Steady (Steddie)

Keep Your Pants On, Big Boy

Eddie Munson parked his van next to the BMW 733i parked at Skull Rock. He'd never met Steve Harrington before, but he knew about him. Everyone did. In high school, Steve had been King Steve, popular, good looking, a sports star, on the swim team and the basketball team. And he had been an asshole. His ego and his attitude perfectly reflected his status as Golden Boy. It was no wonder Eddie hated him so much. Steve was everything Eddie despised about Hawkins. And seriously, what was up with his hair?

When his phone rang that morning and it was Steve, asking if he was still dealing, wanting to meet up, Eddie's first inclination had been to hang up. But money was money, and it wasn't something he ever had enough of, so he agreed to meet Steve at Skull Rock, a place they were both intimately familiar with. Eddie lost his virginity there five years earlier and had been back many times to carry on the tradition of Skull Rock being the most popular make out place in Hawkins.

Eddie reached behind his seat and grabbed the lunchbox he stashed his drugs in. He hesitated, hoping that this wasn't some kind of bust. He'd seen Steve with Sheriff Hopper's daughter in the past, before they moved away. But then, Steve hung out with Henderson, Wheeler, and Sinclair as well. And those guys were cool. For freshmen.

Steve's relationship with Henderson was another bone of contention for Eddie. Henderson spoke highly of Steve, all the time, and Eddie didn't like it. Eddie had handpicked Henderson from the crowd to join Hellfire Club. He could tell that they were a lot alike. They were misfits, outcasts, they didn't fit in. And the Weird Al shirt that Henderson had been wearing on his first day of high school, a bold choice in Eddie's opinion, had been a bonus. So, Eddie took him in, protected him, looked after him. And that was why he really didn't like the fact that Henderson looked up to Steve. He just didn't understand what he saw in that pompous asshole. And to be perfectly honest, he was jealous that Henderson had another role model besides himself.

Steve, who had been sitting on a rock, stood up and made an impatient gesture towards Eddie in his van. Eddie muttered a few choice words under his breath then got out of the van. They approached each other slowly, Eddie leery because he had a lunchbox full of illegal drugs in his hand, and Steve because he didn't like or trust Eddie any more than Eddie liked or trusted him.

What Eddie didn't know was that Steve was just as jealous as he was. For years Steve had been the unofficial "babysitter", Dustin's role model. Then he started high school and after the first day he started talking about this Eddie Munson guy and how cool he was and how awesome he was. And how great his hair was. Steve didn't think his hair was all that great. It had always been Steve's job to keep an eye on Dustin and the other kids. Now there was Eddie and both Dustin and Mike talked Eddie up. Even Sinclair liked him. Steve felt like he was being replaced and he didn't like it.

"It took you long enough," Steve muttered. "I've been waiting for half an hour."

"Keep your pants on, big boy." Eddie sat on the rock that Steve had vacated and put his lunchbox on the ground at his feet. "What can I do for you?"

"I asked a drug dealer to meet me in the woods and he wants to know what he can do for me." Steve threw his hands up in defeat. "You're joking, right?"

"If you want to be an asshole..." Eddie stood up and dusted off the seat of his jeans.

"Whoa," Steve said, holding his hands out in a mollifying motion. "I'm sorry." Eddie sat back down. "Look, I don't like you and you're the last person I want to be out here with, but Reefer Rick is in jail, and I just need some weed."

"That's sweet," Eddie said sarcastically. "I don't like you or want to be out here with you either."

"Well, at least we agree on something."