Chapter Text
The Tongue Piercing
It’s the summer of ‘87, and Eddie feels more adrift than he ever has, including the year before.
“Eddie? You good man?”
His brain finally comes back online, and he tears his eyes away from the barbell spearing through Steve’s tongue. Eddie knew about Steve and Robin’s ever-escalating bets that had started a few months ago, but this was…on another level. Usually they made each other do something mildly embarrassing, but a piercing? He didn’t get it. It was a bit more permanent than taking a bar mat shot at the Hideout or doing laundry for a week.
“Uh, yeah, just trying to wrap my head around seeing King Steve with a body mod. It’s wild, dude. You’re one of the freaks now.”
Steve grins, his swollen tongue poking through the space between his teeth. Eddie really tries not to think about what it would be like to lick into his mouth and taste metal, but Steve always has been his biggest weakness.
“There’th worth thingth to be.” Steve lisps, winking.
Eddie makes himself scarce for the next month, not trusting himself to keep his eyes away from Steve’s full, pink mouth. It’s been all he can think about. He knows he’s gonna have to get over it, keep it in his fucking pants so that he can survive being friends with him, but every time Steve laughs or opens his mouth or—
It’s embarrassing how fast it makes him half hard in his jeans at just a glimpse of silver.
The Nipple Piercings
He’s at the Harrington house for a pool day with the party, and Steve walks out onto the patio with a stack of towels. He’s passing them around to everyone, but Eddie notices he doesn’t have one for himself.
“Not going for a dip, Harrington?” He asks as Steve settles into the lounger in front of where Eddie’s hanging onto the side of the pool.
Steve grimaces. “Can’t.”
Before Eddie can toss out a sarcastic comment about him being on the swim team, Steve gingerly pulls his shirt off by the neck and angles his torso toward him.
Eddie chokes on air, his eyes rounding comically wide as he takes in the sight of puffy red nipples with barbells in them. They have pink heart gems on the ends, and what looks like tiny crowns—
“Munson!” His eyes snap up guiltily from Steve’s chest.
“My eyes are up here, man.” Steve says with a smirk.
Eddie’s face floods with heat, and he dunks himself under the water, trying to will his dick to lose interest. It’s not really working, but there’s kids around, so he tries. At least no one can see it from where he’s leaning against the pool wall.
“Sorry, princess.” He can’t help but toss out after he’s come back up, and it’s worth it to see the flush that colors Steve’s face in return, spreading down his chest almost far enough to reach his pecs. It makes the sparkly new jewelry stand out so much more, and he has to tear his eyes away before he’s caught again.
He notices Robin giving him a funny look, and he’s suddenly paranoid that she might be catching on to his big gay crush. He trusts her with his life, but it’s Steve. Her Capital-P-platonic soulmate. His biggest fear is that Steve somehow finds out and doesn’t feel the same way, and he knows without a shadow of a doubt that they share every little thing in their lives with each other. If she knows…
He tries to play it off as much as possible, getting out of there as casually as he can once it gets a little later. Pride fills his body as he even manages to keep his eyes where they should be. He’s so got this.
The Dick Piercing
It’s three weeks later, and the peak of summer is upon them. The heatwave is making everyone exhausted and grumpy, so they’re all gathered at Steve’s again for movie night to enjoy his sweet, expensive air conditioning. The kids are bickering on the floor, as per usual, Robin sits next to him on the couch leaning over the arm to talk to Nancy, and Jonathan and Argyle are out back enjoying the good California stuff. He’s about to ask where Steve is when he enters from the kitchen, carrying a lumpy towel and a massive bowl of popcorn. He’s walking a little weird, but Eddie doesn’t think much of it until he sits next to him and gingerly places the wadded-up towel in his lap.
It makes a distinct clacking sound, and Eddie wonders why he’s icing his crotch when it dawns on him. Oh, no. Please God, no.
He whips his head forward and stares through the TV the entire movie, brain completely shut down. He cannot imagine Steve with a…no. Not here. He’s barely holding it together, palms sweating and mouth bone dry, trying not to breathe too loud and give himself away.
Steve adjusts, his legs falling open a little wider, and his sweatpant-clad thigh presses against Eddie’s as he leans over to ask him to pass the popcorn.
Eddie hums, not trusting himself to speak. Their hands brush as he hands it over, and he feels like his skin is too tight to contain him. He’s going fucking crazy.
The first piercing, he handled just fine. Maybe not as calm, cool, and collected as he wanted, but at least he could be around Steve still. The second really tested his limits. This one? He has to get the fuck out of here.
As soon as the credits start rolling, he gets up and announces the flimsiest excuse he thinks he’s ever given, avoiding Steve’s sad puppy eyes and Robin’s disbelieving glare. He closes the front door behind him, nearly tripping over the step and into a bush in his hurry to get to the van. He honestly has no idea how he makes it home with how empty his brain is, but he’s glad Wayne is already at work, because his dick is in his hand as soon as the door to the trailer slams shut.
He’s imagined Steve countless times since they’ve met, crying out with his name on Eddie’s lips and guilt in his chest, but he can’t find the energy to feel shame as it happens again. Now that he’s allowing himself to imagine it, his mind supplies all the instances where he’s seen Steve’s piercings. At Family Video, where he stood behind the counter rewinding tapes and rubbing the bar in his tongue along his lips absentmindedly. At Joyce and Hop’s, peeling off his shirt after the kids roughhoused a little too close and made him spill his drink on himself. Eddie had hungrily snuck a peek from the corner of the room at those damn dusky nipples he desperately wanted to put in his mouth.
He wonders what kind of piercing he got on his dick. He doubts Steve would do something as extreme as a Jacob’s ladder. Maybe a Prince Albert? God, Eddie would do anything to see it, to feel it warm up against his tongue. He imagines how it would feel if Steve fucked his mouth, the bar, hoop, whatever catching lightly in his throat. Eddie chokes out a gasp as his balls draw up, come flying out and dripping down his fist.
He hopes Steve heals fast. Eddie can’t survive being constantly reminded of his dick.
Robin
It’s been two months, and her plan for those two idiots is going horribly. She’d been so sure that each of the piercings would break Eddie, make him man up and finally make a move, but poor Steve might be a pincushion by the time that happens. She has to hand it to Eddie, his self restraint is iron-clad.
There has to be something that will get them to stop tiptoeing around each other. She’s shelving movies when she sees it. Now to make Steve lose another bet…
The Skirts (and Secret Panties)
“Boy!”
Eddie sets his acoustic down and trots into the living room, joining Wayne by the front window. He’s about to ask what’s up when he chokes on his spit, coughing up a lung at the sight beyond the curtains.
Pushing a lawnmower, covered in sweat and grime and stray blades of grass is none other than the man he lusts over. The sight alone could feed him for the next week, but that isn’t what makes him nearly suffocate.
He’s wearing a fucking skirt.
It’s a ruffled plaid number that reaches his mid-thigh, and his toned legs flex as he turns, starting a new strip in front of Max’s trailer.
“What fresh hell am I looking at, son?”
Eddie has to drag his eyes away, and meets his uncle’s flabbergasted face with the beginnings of a grin.
“He and Robin like to embarrass each other when they lose bets. I’m guessing he lost again.”
Wayne shakes his head and returns to the recliner, mumbling under his breath about never switching to day shift. Eddie allows himself another moment to glance out at Steve, then returns to his room.
It continues like this all week, and Eddie is impressed at the dedication the jock shows, wearing a different skirt every day and somehow matching it with whatever polo or t-shirt he has in his closet. And he looks good.
He shows up at Family Video on Friday, groaning internally at the knee-length floaty cotton skirt Steve has on and the way it falls over his hips, hugging the swell of his ass as he kneels to put tapes back on the shelf. Two more days, Munson.
“Eddie! Just who I wanted to see! Big kid party at Steve’s tomorrow, you’ve gotta come.” Robin looks at him expectantly from where she’s leaning over the counter, and he flashes her his biggest grin.
“Who do you take me for, Buckley? I’ve got a reputation to maintain, I can’t go to a boy’s house without a chaperone!” He places the back of his hand on his forehead and swoons mockingly, reveling in the sound of Robin’s laughter.
“Be serious for one second, you goofy ass! You coming or not?”
He sobers quickly, taking one of her hands to kiss. “My lady Robin, I would be delighted.”
She snatches it back with a snort, wiping it on her vest. Steve finishes up and strides over, placing a lingering pat on Eddie’s shoulder in greeting. His skin burns beneath his shirt, and he does what he does best when he’s flustered. He bullshits.
“My liege, I’ve been invited to your royal ball tomorrow eve! I never thought I’d see the day a lowly peasant such as I would be permitted into the castle.”
Steve huffs a laugh, shaking his head fondly. “Dude you’ve been to my house, like, a million times. And we had a ‘big kid party’ two weeks ago.”
Eddie waves his logic away, just happy that his distraction worked.
“In any case, of course I’ll be there. Wayne has poker night with his buddies tomorrow, so I probably would’ve crashed anyway.”
Because that’s a thing they do. Ever since things died down, the three of them always find one excuse or another to always hang out. It was nice, Eddie thought. Having people in his corner that had the same trauma he does, not getting judged for sleepless nights or being jumpy. They had accepted him in all his touchy-feely codependent weirdo ways, and he was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were the exact same.
It was a bit of a shock the first few times, the two of them piling onto the couch on either side of Eddie while he was still healing, throwing on a movie and getting comfortable. Their limbs would tangle, heads dropping onto shoulders, leaving Eddie reeling and trying to remember a time where he felt so surrounded by casual love.
That’s how he finds himself the next evening, pleasantly buzzed and sandwiched between Robin and Argyle. Jonathan and Nancy are on the other side of the coffee table, facing the couch, and Steve sits strategically on the recliner, crossing his ankles just so to remain modest in his pink pleated miniskirt. Eddie swears he doesn’t hope for a slip up. He doesn’t. He tries to follow along with the group’s conversation, but his mind is elsewhere, his body slow and floaty.
“Kissing is just so nice, man. Like, two people just connecting and being intimate is…so rad.” Argyle must have been pregaming before he’d gotten there. Lucky bastard.
“I’ve never had the chance, my Cali comrade.” Robin laments, her hair tickling Eddie’s neck where she rests against his arm.
“Dude! Nah, we can’t abide any longer, Robbie. Jonathan! My man, will you lend us your empty?”
That’s how everyone gets roped into seven minutes in heaven. Argyle says making out is life changing, but Eddie could beg to differ. All the kisses he’s had to sneak from closeted boys in school were disappointing at best. He finds he wouldn’t mind kissing anyone here, at least he genuinely cares for them.
Well. With the exception of one.
He prays he doesn’t get Steve, can’t even fathom how much irreparable damage it might do to his carefully placed walls if he had to touch lips with the boy he’s embarrassingly smitten with.
Nancy goes first, landing on her boyfriend and giggling all the way to the coat closet. Eddie closes his eyes and leans his head back, trying to enjoy his buzz while it lasts. Time passes. He doesn’t know how much, enough for a couple turns at least, until an elbow nudges him in the ribs.
“Your turn, man!”
Eddie breathes. Spins. He can’t look, can’t let anyone know how anxious this really makes him. Argyle says something incredibly dumb, and the entire group is laughing and he almost forgets to check where the bottle lands.
He holds his breath and peeks.
His eyes follow the neck, over and up to the recliner where Steve is already staring, pink blooming delicately across his nose. He smiles, uncrossing his legs to stand, and walks into the closet without even looking back to see if Eddie will follow.
He’s frozen in place until Robin smacks his arm.
“Don’t be a weenie, Munson!”
Now or never, he guesses.
The closet is dark when he pulls it closed behind him. It feels like he’s gonna explode if they just stand here in silence the entire time, so he starts bullshitting with Steve to try and ease some tension. His soft giggles spur him on, and he’s shifting forward, goading Steve when he trips on what must be a shoe. His arms flail forward, catching Steve’s hips as he steadies himself. He’s catching his breath, rubbing his thumb on lacy—
His brain backfires.
Steve doesn’t have lace anywhere on his outfit, Eddie should know. He’d been strategic with his staring all night. The only thing that would make sense is…
“Are these…” He can’t even finish his sentence. Steve makes a questioning noise, and Eddie pulls the elastic back, letting it snap onto his hips in answer.
“O-oh. Um. Yeah, it was part of the bet.”
Eddie would give almost anything to see the dark red he knows is staining Steve’s skin, and even more to see what color panties he’s got on. His hands tremble with the effort of restraining himself, of diving headfirst into devouring Steve goddamn Harrington.
“The whole week?” His voice is rough, even to his own ears.
“Yes.” Steve sounds breathless, like he knows Eddie is moments away from snapping. And maybe he is. He remembers each time he’d seen Steve strutting around, legs out for the world to see, secretly wearing panties while shelving movies, helping Joyce get things down from the attic, mowing grass mere feet from his windows—
The hands gripping Steve’s hip bones tighten, and Eddie pushes Steve into the wall behind him.
“Tell me no, Steve.” Eddie crowds close, feeling hot puffs of air on his face as Steve pants. “Tell me not to and I’ll back off. I swear I will.” It’ll kill him, but he would.
Steve doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even move, and the resolve inside him finally breaks.
Their lips smash together, and it’s not the most skilled kiss he’s ever executed, but Steve adjusts and it makes Eddie’s eyes roll back at how fucking good it is. Distantly, his brain tells him Argyle was kind of right. Steve’s lips are warm and firm, and his tongue swipes expertly against Eddie’s, making him groan at the feeling of his piercing across his teeth. He’s already half hard, hands inching lower, pushing up under Steve’s skirt to grip at his ass. It’s already leagues better than any kiss he’s ever had. Way better than he could’ve imagined.
Hands pull at his hair, and his mouth opens on a moan, lips slick as they slide over Steve’s. He pulls him in by the hips slowly, experimentally, breathing hard as Steve brazenly closes the distance to press his crotch to Eddie’s.
They’ve got to be nearing the seven minute mark, but he wants this to go on forever. Thinks he’ll probably murder anyone that interrupts, now that he finally has Steve hard and wanting under him, but he wants Steve to keep his dignity even more.
He pulls back, resting their foreheads together and sharing air.
The moment between them is thick, heavy with the realization that they’ve done something neither of them can come back from. Couldn’t, even if they wanted to.
“Stay. When everyone leaves. Can you…will you stay?”
Eddie knows exactly what he means. Doesn’t even dare consider saying no, even if he’s terrified.
“Yeah. Of course.”
They stay there, connected, for a few more seconds before pulling back to set themselves to rights. Eddie feels shy for some reason. His hookups were always utilitarian, over and done with as little fanfare as possible, but with Steve…he wants to savor it. Wants this experience to coat his insides like the funky wallpaper he sees in old houses, mesmerizing and impossible to remove.
The door opens, flooding the small room with too much light. Eddie squints, looking out at Robin.
“Hey, uh…we kind of forgot you guys were in here. Everyone’s getting ready to go.” Her eyes flit between them, assessing. Can she tell?
He fakes a yawn. “Mind if I crash here, Stevie? I’m beat.”
The boy shrugs like he hadn’t been just as affected as Eddie, making the first move to leave. Sure enough, the rest of the group are gathering their things, and Nancy offers Robin a ride home. They say their goodbyes, and the sound of the door closing is deafening in the quiet foyer.
He’s finally alone with Steve.