Chapter Text
It’s not my first rodeo, kids. I just need to grab something at my house.
Yeah, sure. He did know how to ride out his heats no problem. He had to have one out of four yearly heats, otherwise his suppressants might hurt his reproductive system. Even though his parents had not been pleased to discover their only son was a male omega, they still wanted grandkids and had therefore paid top dollar for the healthiest and most efficient dynamic control medicine. So, Steve could handle a heat quickly and discretely…
…when there weren’t monsters chasing him and his increasingly strong scent.
He had dropped both Max and Robin at a rendezvous point decided by Chief Hopper. Buckley had insisted to come with Steve, really insisted. She was a beta, she knew him best, she could distract him and bring him food and blankets and “Whatever else you want, dingus. You need me, you can’t stay out vulnerable and alone!” It was actually very nice of her. But Steve had a plan. Well, a possibility of a plan.
It all depended on one other person.
Robin had suggested he ask Nancy for help, to which Steve had objected because:
1. Nancy was with Jonathan.
2. These last few months, Nancy smelled… off.
Steve had first noticed it before the portals opened. It had worried him, so he had tried to get closer to her, to discover what was wrong, to help if he could. What if the upside down had gotten inside her like Will or Billy? What if she was wounded or sick and hid it from him? The omega found no trace of trouble, no reason for the repulsion he felt towards her pheromones. She didn’t smell bad but she didn’t smell good either. Her scent was still strong and alpha, determined, dominant, bright, but it was faded, like an old perfume or one you had used too much and didn’t like that much anymore. He had never experienced such change in someone’s scent. She was his first alpha ex-girlfriend with whom he still hung out though, so maybe it was just a defence mechanism to forget broken bonds. Theirs was barely ever a bond and it had still hurt like hell to break.
And Steve knew for sure that the problem didn’t come from him, because the other alphas still smelled the same. El and Will smelled like pups to him, they would always. The same was true for Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Erica and Max. Hopper, Mr Wheeler, Argyle, they all smelt the same as they had always. Everyone smelt the same except Nancy and Eddie.
Eddie Munson wore cigarettes, weed and iron as his signature, yet Steve had grown to like it. The jacket Eddie had lent him had been a comfort after the demobats attack. But the more time Steve spent with the youngest Munson, the more attracted he was to his distinctive alpha musk. It didn’t help that the metalhead had turned out to be a pretty decent guy. Steve loved his conversations with Eddie; he looked forward to their friendly banter even when he knew Robin would join in and he’d have his ass handed to him. There was no stopping these two when they wanted to embarrass “King Steve”. On patrol, when it was just him and Eddie, he caught subtle hints at what was going on in the alpha’s head. The need he felt to always be good enough for everyone – everyone that mattered – was something Steve understood on a personal level. So, the Harrington boy had deemed it his mission to keep reminding Eddie Munson of all the good he did, to tell him that he was brave, and funny, and talented, and welcoming, and a strong role model for the pups.
He’d make a good dad. If he ever wanted kids. Dangerous thoughts.
Which led to the plan. “I’ll need the talkie. In case something happens.”
Dustin was with Eddie – Was he ever not? – when Steve had tried to reach him while driving around some more, just to keep the beasts away from camp in case they were still following the car. Henderson, bless him, didn’t have other questions once he was assured that Max was indeed alive and safe. He gave the walkie-talkie to his Dungeon Master and took off.
“What can I do for you Harrington?”
“Could you bring some food to my parents’ house? Nothing fancy, just enough to survive four days. And I wouldn’t mind one of your jackets if that’s okay.”
“Are you planning a stake out?” He sounded confused yet amused.
“Something like that. You’ll… You’ll choose if you want to stay when you get there. Over.”
And there he was. Eddie “the freak” Munson, at the end of his alleyway, carrying a duffle bag from which at least two articles of clothing were spilling.
The Harrington residence had been dangerously close to the demogorgon’s hunting territory, however there had been no sighting of demomonsters near that area since the four gates Armageddon. Steve was positive he would be secure there as long as he locked himself up before his heat bloomed. That was the reason he could welcome Eddie outside his front door instead of ushering him in.
“Don’t- get too close yet.”
Eddie was stopped by Steve’s outstretched hand. He gave the omega a gentle smile.
“I brought you a set of clean clothes for when it’s over.”
He opened his mouth, as if to say something more, then lowered his gaze, one hand coming up to play with a strand of hair.
“I also… brought one for me.”
“Oh.”
Steve’s breath caught. He wanted to hurry and say something else before Munson took his silence the wrong way, but he found it suddenly hard to speak. So he smiled, cheeks red, and gestured to the open door. The message was received clearly. When the metalhead went past him to enter the living room, Steve heard him take a deep breath in and sigh contently. It made him feel a bit giddy, knowing that Eddie liked his scent.
They didn’t talk until they entered Steve’s bedroom, only stopping for Steve to replace the rug he had folded to insulate the front door then the bedroom door. The window shutters had all been rolled down for extra scent-proof protection.
Eddie dropped the bag onto Steve’s bed and started emptying it, making two piles of clothes, one neater than the other. He then turned around holding the clothes he had cared to fold.
“You should keep them in another room.” So that they don’t smell, he didn’t say.
“Yeah, good call.” God he was nervous. He wasn’t usually this nervous before sex; Eddie was intimidating. Not in a macho alpha kind of way, rather in a overwhelmingly gentle way. His movements were slow, easy to predict, like he was being careful not to spook the omega. It was obvious that he was keeping his pheromones in check, only letting out a relaxing fragrance of autumn dirt and sunkissed wood.
“I, I need to know. I mean I need to hear it. Can you say that you’re, hum.”
“There to help you with your unplanned heat that Max provoked?”
“Yeah.”
Be courageous, be sexy, be most eligible bachelor Steve Harrington goddammnit. Steve swallowed around the lump in his throat and took a step forward. The expression on Eddie’s face changed. He was still smiling, the smile was just as small, but it had lost its shyness. And his eyes, his eyes had darkened. Like the air trapped in a popped balloon, Eddie’s scent exploded into the room, hitting Steve and getting a fullbody shiver out of him. The alpha took his own step towards Harrington, and when he talked, his voice had a teasing edge to it.
“What exactly do you want me to say big boy? That I will bring you food and water and cuddle you on your preppy expensive sheets? Or that I will knot you on said sheets over and over until you have to throw them away?”
The alpha let out a low growl as he pronounced the last words so close to Steve’s face that the latter could taste them. He looked Steve over and softened his features a bit.
“Honestly, I could do one or the other. Or both. Or I can leave if you changed your mind, it’s alright.”
“I want you to stay!” Blurted the other in a panic. The hold he now had on Munson’s forearm was unintentional but comforting. “And I want all that. Both. I want you there.” He took his lower lip inside his mouth for a second, worrying it with his teeth, then looked straight in Eddie’s eyes. “I want you to fuck me.”
Warm lips met his own before he had time to see Eddie move.