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Eddie felt like a winner. This was supposed to be his year, and even though for a while everything had pointed toward it ending in a complete fucking disaster, in the end, he’d won.
He graduated high school (thanks to Nancy Wheeler’s stubborn determination and her study flashcards).
He survived the attack of some paranormal psycho who had tried to frame him for poor Chrissy’s murder.
He hadn’t been crippled, and the stitches and scars only added to his charm (in his humble opinion). Sure, he still needed crutches to get around, but the worst part of rehab was already behind him, and he figured that in a few weeks he wouldn’t need any help at all.
The government had made him sign a mountain of paperwork full of confidentiality clauses, but in exchange they paid him a pretty generous settlement. Thanks to that, Eddie and his uncle could finally afford a small house on Cherry Lane (though it also helped that people were fleeing Hawkins in droves).
His name had been cleared, and the government had fed the press some cheap little story about him being kidnapped but managing to escape while saving Max in the process, so he probably wouldn’t have to worry about finding a job once he could stand properly and drive again.
For the past three weeks, he’d been running a new campaign, and the famous Will Byers had joined his little flock of sheep. Will wasn’t nearly as shy as the other kids described him, but he was definitely quieter and more put-together compared to the rest of the boys.
Honestly, everything had fallen into place so perfectly that Eddie felt like howling at the moon like some damn werewolf. Even Steve Harrington had stopped being a thorn in his side. Of course, Eddie had to admit he’d been wrong about him back during all the Upside Down mess. But even so, Eddie couldn’t give up the little friendly rivalry between them. A rivalry that, in Eddie’s opinion, had ultimately ended in his favor. Because now he could say with complete confidence that he was Henderson’s favorite! And even Harrington had to feel that.
At least, that was the impression Eddie had... right up until the next campaign.
“Munson” Harrington greeted him.
He pulled into the driveway of Eddie and Wayne’s new house right on time at six, as always. He knocked, but didn’t bother waiting for an invitation before walking inside to help Eddie carry everything they needed for the campaign.
It had become their routine for a while now. Steve had offered to help on his own, and Eddie hadn’t exactly resisted. After everything with the Upside Down, he had to admit to himself that he genuinely trusted and liked Harrington. Though sometimes he got the feeling the beta didn’t quite return the sentiment.
“As always, great to see you too, Harrington!” Eddie answered cheerfully, because lately nothing could ruin his good mood. Not even the tense expression on Hawkins High’s former King’s face.
Eddie really didn’t understand that guy sometimes. One moment they were bickering and teasing each other like children, and the next Steve was looking at him like Eddie might bite him. And well… maybe that wasn’t too far from the truth, but Eddie knew a beta like Harrington definitely wouldn’t appreciate that, so he limited himself to regular jokes and the occasional light, platonic elbow jab here and there.
“Bad mood again?” he asked while stuffing the last notebooks and point sheets into his bag. Once he was done, he handed it over to Steve, who took it without a word so Eddie could keep his hands free for the crutches.
“Just tired.” Harrington slung the bag over his shoulder, grabbed Eddie’s house keys to lock up behind them, and headed out first so he could hold the door open for him.
It always surprised Eddie how perfectly Steve fit into the role of caretaker. Whether it was with the kids, his other friends, or apparently now Eddie too. He did it so naturally that Eddie’s alpha didn’t feel threatened in the slightest. Then again, Eddie would never call himself a stereotypical alpha. He’d never call himself a warrior, even if he liked leading people and taking care of them. But it wasn’t the same kind of care Harrington surrounded people with.
“Work or the kids?” Eddie asked as he climbed into the BMW with some difficulty after Steve opened the car door for him too. Inside, the car smelled like Robin and some of the kids. Betas didn’t have scents of their own, but their skin worked like a sponge so they could be marked just like alphas or omegas.
“Both.”
Harrington had never hidden the fact that he liked the way the kids left their scents on him, or their clothes around his house and car. Eddie also knew that whatever Steve and Robin had between them was strange, but completely platonic. Though they’d managed to fool him at first, because the two of them were so perfectly in sync it almost looked like they could read each other’s minds. But after spending more time around them, it became obvious they were closer to siblings than lovers. For some reason, that realization had made Eddie absurdly happy. Buckley was definitely too cool for Harrington anyway, right? That had to be it, even if Eddie himself wasn’t interested in Robin.
“Should I be scared of tonight’s campaign?”
“I don’t know, Munson. Maybe I’m the one who should know something? I’ve spent the whole week listening to the kids talk about how you led them straight into a vampire’s lair. You killed Will’s character. He had to make a new one.”
“Those are the consequences of their choices! I hinted that they weren’t dealing with some ordinary aristocratic vampire, but a genuine highborn snob. Besides, little Byers didn’t seem especially upset. He saved the rest of the party, and the others discovered the catacombs beneath the city. It’ll be easy to introduce a new character there.”
“Will wasn’t the problem. Mike, on the other hand, is apparently planning a solidarity suicide at the start of tonight’s session, if I understood correctly,” Harrington grumbled irritably.
Eddie winced involuntarily. Mike was a real pain in the ass whenever things didn’t go his way. At first Eddie had found it funny. Now? He had to personally knock every stupid idea out of the young alpha’s head, because Mike refused to listen to anyone else.
“What for, when Will already has a new character ready? I’ll talk to him before the game starts. He doesn’t need to make things difficult. As the DM, I was fully prepared for the possibility that the entire party could die at this point in the story.”
“Great. Then you can explain that to Dustin too, because he and Mike have spent the last week doing nothing but blaming each other for ruining the campaign. One more day like this and your next Devils and Demons night is happening at your place, including the sleepover.”
“Someone’s had a really rough week. Also, it’s Dungeons and Dragons. But your little wordplay proves you’re actually aware that devils and demons are two completely different species of monsters. You should know that’s not exactly common knowledge, and definitely not obvious to everyone, so I’ve gotta give you credit for that, Harrington, you impressed me. Probably by accident, but still. Unless it wasn’t accidental, in which case, you know, there’s always...”
“Munson, shut up,” Steve sighed, and Eddie could swear he heard pure resignation in his voice. “Please, just stop talking. And fix the mess you made.”
“I promise nothing!” Eddie snickered, fiddling with the radio knob.
“No. Music. Today.” Harrington practically hissed, slapping Eddie’s hand away. “Let me sit in silence for a while.”
“You know, if this is really such a problem for you, we don’t have to host DnD nights at your place, Harrington,” Eddie said seriously, shifting in the passenger seat. He knew when the jokes ended and a real problem began. He wasn’t about to tease Steve when he could see the guy was genuinely irritated. Eddie wasn’t cruel — but he was curious.
And this wasn’t the first time Steve had acted like this. But Eddie always ended up wondering the same thing. Has the beta’s sour mood caused specifically by Eddie, or was it just a general dislike of having an alpha around the kids?
When he’d asked Dustin about it recently, the kid had given him a strange look before saying that Steve got irritable whenever something hurt, but didn’t want other people to notice. But Eddie wasn’t stupid. He recognized jealousy when he saw it, because it was a feeling he knew well.
He remembered how, back during the whole Upside Down mess, he’d told Harrington about the way Dustin praised him to Eddie every chance he got. Steve had lit up like the goddamn sun, all happiness and disbelief.
A lot had changed since that conversation. Mainly the fact that Eddie had nearly died saving Henderson’s life, and it had apparently triggered some kind of baby duck syndrome in his little sheep, because Dustin barely left his side afterward. Well, Eddie couldn’t lie, he had absolutely loved it for the first two or three months.
Alright, he still loved it.
Harrington was going through exactly what Eddie himself had gone through during the first months of his senior year - being second place fucking sucked. Except Eddie didn’t want Steve to feel like that anymore. Or to hate Eddie because of it.
Hell had frozen over. Eddie Munson actually cared about King Steve’s feelings.
But it was true. Harrington mattered to him just as much as the kids, Robin, and Nancy did.
“You could just bring the kids over to my place. My uncle works late, so we wouldn’t bother anyone. It’s not like you have to...”
“The kids don’t bother me.” Steve cut in sharply, and Eddie grimaced. Great. This conversation was going worse and worse. Congratulations, Munson.
“That’s not what I meant. I know the kids aren’t the problem. I am.”
At first, Eddie used to joke that he and Steve were like a divorced couple sharing custody of the kids. Harrington would roll his eyes, but never comment on the jokes. Now they were actually closer to friends who spent time together because they wanted to, not because they were forced to tolerate each other for the kids’ sake.
At least, that was how Eddie felt.
He didn’t want Steve to feel ignored or rejected just because the kids paid more attention to Eddie. But he also couldn’t force Harrington to keep spending time with him if he didn’t want to.
The car stopped at a red light. They were literally one turn away from Steve’s neighborhood. An absolutely terrible moment to start an argument. The kids were probably already waiting at Harrington’s house - it was summer vacation, and ever since it had started they’d been treating his place like their personal headquarters, even when he wasn’t home.
But the words had already been said, and now there had to be consequences.
Harrington was staring at him with those dark eyes, his brows drawn together so tightly he almost looked… surprised? It was the same expression he made whenever Dustin started explaining something completely insane and nobody else understood him.
“I don’t have a problem with you, Munson,” Steve finally said, sounding like he couldn’t believe he actually had to say it out loud. He kept looking directly at Eddie for another moment, like he wanted to make sure the words had actually sunk in.
“Suuuure,” Eddie agreed, though he must’ve sounded far more bitter and sulky than he intended, because Harrington sighed.
Sighed.
The exact same exhausted sigh he used whenever he was done arguing with the kids and finally gave in to one of their stupid plans or demands.
Eddie almost felt offended, because he was genuinely trying to make Steve feel comfortable in their weird shared-parenting situation with a pack of teenagers, and somehow his efforts only seemed to annoy Harrington even more.
“I have a problem with your scent, okay?” Steve explained irritably, like he was confessing some unfortunate inconvenience.
As if Eddie hadn’t just heard that he apparently smelled awful.
“What?! What’s wrong with it?” Eddie demanded, immediately sniffing at his clothes. “I shower! And I wash my stuff fairly regularly!”
“For fuck’s sake, Munson, I mean your alpha scent. It’s too intense! And when you’re around the kids? It’s a fucking disaster. It’s like they rolled around in a swimming pool full of your pheromones. My whole house smells like you.”
“Oh.”
Eddie froze.
“Oh. I— oh, shit, sorry? I. I didn’t know? I couldn’t take blockers with the pain meds, too strong of a combination, so… I. I’m really sorry.”
Suddenly, Eddie felt unbelievably embarrassed.
He was a fucking idiot.
“I know. Trust me, I know,” Steve said immediately. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. It’s not your fault.”
“But it’s still rude. Lately I’ve only really been at home, the hospital, or your place, so it honestly never even crossed my mind that I might be causing problems for you.” Eddie admitted weakly, covering his eyes with one hand.
“I was the one who offered. My fault. And you stayed downstairs like I asked you to, so everything’s fine.”
“I thought that was Dustin’s idea. Besides, moving around on crutches is hard enough already, so even if I wanted to snoop around the royal Harrington bedrooms, it wouldn’t exactly be possible.”
“Yeah, but I agreed to it. And please don’t go into the rooms upstairs. Not now, not later.”
“Right, right. But can I ask something?”
“Go ahead, Munson. Spill whatever’s rattling around in your head.”
Eddie couldn’t stop himself from smiling at that.
Steve had already parked in the driveway, and the kids’ bikes were scattered across the lawn in front of the house. Only four tonight. Jane had said she wasn’t playing DnD with them again until Max felt well enough to rejoin the group.
Harrington didn’t get out of the car. He just waited patiently for Eddie to continue.
“My scent. Is it bad-bad… or just too much?”
Steve didn’t seem surprised by the question. Maybe he’d expected Eddie to keep digging once the truth finally came out.
“I didn’t think it bothered you before. You wore my vest, remember? Besides, Robin’s an alpha too, and so is Mike, and I can smell them around just as clearly as I smell myself,” Eddie added.
Steve seemed to understand exactly where Eddie was going with this.
Pack.
They were a pack.
Not the kind described in biology textbooks, but the kind soldiers formed during war. A trauma bond wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to compare it to, but for months now (ever since all the Vecna bullshit) it had brought Eddie a sense of peace and comfort.
And Eddie considered Steve part of that pack.
Without Steve, Robin, and Nancy, Eddie wouldn’t have survived the demobats attack. But it was more than gratitude or shared trauma. There was trust between them.
Eddie trusted everyone involved in the whole Upside Down mess. He trusted them, and he wanted them to trust him too.
“It doesn’t bother me” Steve admitted at last. “You’re not a stranger, Eddie. But there are days like today, when I’m tired, my head’s pounding, and everything irritates me. Guess I’ve been hit in the head too many times or something.”
“Okay, so this is strictly a health issue? No bad blood between us?”
“No bad blood. But stop rubbing your scent all over Dustin when you know he’s sleeping over at my place.” Steve snorted, rolling his eyes.
Eddie giggled.
“What? So you are jealous?”
He allowed himself a little teasing while they were still alone.
“Jealous? Of what? Everyone knows I’m Dustin’s favorite,” Steve shot back with a smug smile.
It was the first genuine smile Harrington had given him all day, and Eddie had no intention of stopping there.
“Maybe once upon a time, but now? I’m at the top, baby. The kids follow me around like I’m their duck mom!”
“And you’re so proud of that, aren’t you, Munson?” Steve mocked, though he was still smiling, so Eddie figured they were safe to continue their usual bickering.
“What happened to ‘Eddie,’ Harrington? Don’t think I didn’t notice that!” he yelled as Steve got out of the car and walked around to open Eddie’s door for him.
Harrington shook his head with fond exasperation, so he’d definitely heard the shouting.
“Besides, the kids love when I mother-hen them! Especially Henderson!”
“Especially Henderson” Steve confirmed, helping him with the crutches. “But I’m the one he crawls into bed with every night when he has nightmares, so maybe tone down the scent-marking, please.”
“Even that won’t help you steal my title as favorite parent!” Eddie continued dramatically, though he made a mental note to keep his scent under control during tonight’s campaign.
If Dustin shared a bed with Steve during sleepovers and brought Eddie’s scent along with him, then honestly, that was just unethical. If Steve were an omega, he could interpret Eddie’s behavior at worst as an attack, and at best as flirting or a protective instinct. An omega’s nest was sacred.
“Keep dreaming, Munson. Or keep trying to fight a battle you already lost” Steve mocked once Eddie was standing on the driveway on his own two feet and crutches.
“I couldn’t deny the King this tiny bit of entertainment when he’s so confident.” Eddie replied, attempting an exaggerated bow toward the beta.
Steve lightly smacked him on the shoulder instead and guided them both toward the entrance.
“Remember, you insisted.” Steve warned before they stepped inside together.
Dustin and Mike were already arguing.
Yeah.
Eddie was a fucking winner.
And this was his year.