Work Text:
Eddie heaves a heavy sigh. The view is glorious, he’ll admit, but he’s in mourning.
Steve looks over at him, one eyebrow raised. He’s wearing Eddie’s jacket, had steadfastly refused to give it back after Eddie had so kindly lent it to him in the upside-down. To be fair, he hasn’t tried that hard to get Steve to give it back to him, especially since he’s taken to wearing it over his own clothes in a way that makes Eddie feel tender and wildly possessive all at once.
He and Steve have been hanging out a bit since everything over spring break. It’s not really helpful for his ongoing crush on the guy that had come roaring back to life when he’d realised that not only was Steve Harrington stupidly hot, he was also kind of an real life hero. A real life hero who has stolen Eddie’s jacket.
“I really liked that jacket man,” he says. “I worked hard making it look that cool.”
Steve just carries on staring at him. Eddie wonders if, now that he’s brought it up, the other man will offer to give it back to him. He doesn’t really know if he wants him to or not.
“I’m not giving it back,” Steve says, bluntly.
Apparently not then.
“You can have one of mine though,” Steve continues, gesturing towards his closet. “As a trade, like in your nerdy dungeon game.”
He’s not really sure where Steve got that idea from, but he’s not going to bother following it up right now, because Steve’s just offered him something he didn’t even know he wanted until right this second.
Because the sight of Steve in Eddie's denim jacket feels just a little too familiar. It's something Eddie's seen before, walking the halls of Hawkins High, that kind of claiming. And if Steve's walking around unknowingly announcing to the world that he belongs to Eddie Munson, then it only seems fair that Eddie should be able to do the same thing.
“You know there's only one thing in here that'd be a fair trade right?” he asks, reaching into Steve’s closet.
Steve nods and just watches as he pulls out the green and white letter jacket. It’s objectively not a great look, made of a weird sports fabric, and the green, white, and yellow colouring isn’t doing it any favours either. But it’s got Steve’s name on it, big bold letters, and he wants that. Wants it with a ferocity that’s kind of startling to him. The thought of people knowing exactly who’s jacket it was, exactly who had given it to him, makes him feel a little wild.
But.
“I’m gonna mess with it,” he says. “I wanna like- it’s gonna be like the one I gave you, I’m gonna like, sew shit on it and you won’t be getting it back.”
“I kind of figured,” Steve says. “Four years ago I’d probably have been pissed at even the suggestion but right now? Go to town man, do whatever you like, just promise you’ll show me when it’s done.”
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Eddie sits and stares at the green and white jacket on his lap. It’s been a couple of days since Steve had let him walk out of his house with it tucked under his arm. He knows he’s been stalling but he’s kind of waiting for Steve to change his mind and ask for it back. He hasn’t though, and he’s still got Eddie’s vest, so fair’s fair probably.
The thought of messing the letter jacket up is both terrifying and thrilling. Terrifying for the prospect of Steve being mad about it, but thrilling for the thought of getting to take something that’s such a status symbol in this town and making it his . It’s a similar feeling to the one he gets when he looks at Steve wearing his jacket. Steve Harrington, the King of Hawkins High, wearing Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson’s clothes.
It’s kind of like how he wants to mess Steve up a little too, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
He decides he’s just gotta rip the band-aid off, as it were. He’s sat on the floor of his room with all his sewing supplies and a collection of badges and patches so he’s just gotta go for it. If Steve’s mad then he’s mad, it’s his fault for giving it to Eddie in the first place.
He starts with the sleeves, which is- drastic. To say the least. But he likes having a vest, something he can wear over his leather jacket as well as just his other clothes if it’s colder. He leaves the ends a little ragged, tufts of white at the shoulders. The fabric doesn’t really fray like denim does but it seems to look okay.
Now that he’s made the biggest change he feels far happier making the rest. It’s not like he can do anything worse, he can’t reverse what he’s already done and Steve’ll just have to deal with it.
He adds patches and buttons from his collection, half covering the yellow 'H' on the chest but leaving Steve's name clearly visible. He does find a little metal bat pin though and puts it right next to the embroidered name, thinks it's funny even if only he and Steve'll ever get it. He sacrifices a Metallica t-shirt to make a patch for the back too. He'd liked how Dio had looked on the last one, but after the most metal concert in the history of the world he figures it's only fitting.
By the time he's done, the jacket doesn't look much like the thing he started with. It's still recognisable though, and it still has Steve's name on it, in big bold letters.
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Steve’s eyes go huge when he sees Eddie’s work. He’d been standing behind the counter at ‘Family Video’ chatting with Robin when Eddie had walked in.
“Okay then big boy,” he says, spreading his arms out, putting himself on display. “Thoughts, opinions, what do you think?”
“Oh my god,” Robin laughs, “Steve is that-”
“Eddie and I need to go and have a conversation,” Steve says, grabbing Eddie’s arm and towing him towards the back room.
He winks at Robin as Steve tows him past, but honestly he’s a little worried. Steve seems really intense, not really like he’s mad exactly, but Eddie’s not sure how to read him. He wonders if Steve’s dragging him off to yell at him about ruining the jacket.
Steve manhandles him into the back room, shutting the door firmly behind him. He turns to face Eddie and then crowds up into his personal space, still with that super intense expression on his face.
“Holy shit Eddie,” he says softly. “Holy shit look at you. You look so- Fuck. It’s really-”
He reaches out and strokes gently across the spot where his name sits emblazoned on the fabric.
Oh.
Eddie was not really expecting this kind of reaction, but he’s one hundred percent on-board with it.
“You like it huh?” he says, stepping a little closer, leaning in a little. “Now you know how I feel when I see you in mine.”
“Eddie-” Steve says in a desperate kind of voice, and then hauls him in by the lapels and kisses him.
Eddie kisses back, slipping his fingers into Steve’s belt loops and pulling him closer. Steve makes a frantic little sound against Eddie’s mouth and deepens the kiss. Eddie’s kind of delighted by how into it Steve seems, because when he pulls back for air Steve just leans forward and starts pressing kisses against his jaw, his throat, anywhere he can reach apparently.
He startles a little when a knock sounds against the door and Robin calls out.
“Guys, are you like, okay in there? Because Steve, you really shouldn’t murder Eddie over a jacket.”
“Buckley, save me! Please, he’s gone crazy!” he yells dramatically while Steve muffles his laughter in his shoulder.
“Seriously guys? Steve you’re supposed to be working,” she huffs. “Play around with Eddie later, we’ve got customers.”
Steve presses another lingering kiss against Eddie's mouth, then draws back a little and goes to walk back out to the front of the store. He looks back at Eddie, a question in his eyes, so Eddie follows him out.
“I’ll see you at mine later then Steve,” he says grinning. “You know what to wear.”