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Steve never was a fan of the holiday season growing up, which lasted even into high school. Sure he celebrated with Nancy during his junior year but that was more because she invited him to celebrate with her family. He just didn’t see a point in it, his family never celebrated it when he grew up so why would he bother celebrating it by himself?
It’s not like he had any traditions either, or traditions that people would like. All he ever did every year was eat a homemade burger and watch Wizard of OZ, as a child he had wanted to be Dorothy’s friend so badly.
All of this changed in his senior year when he made friends with Dustin. That Christmas Dustin bothered him almost every day till he would agree to celebrate with Dustin’s family. He tried to say no, he really did, but Dustin was endless so he did give in eventually.
Dustin had told him all about his traditions, from watching Star Wars to chatting with the party on the walkies, to the gag gifts he and his mom would give each other as jokes.
The following year Steve had found a Platonic (with a capital P) soulmate who he’d do anything for. So when she asked him to come over for Christmas it was an easy yes. He had tried to pretend he was busy but she could easily read him so it didn’t take long at all.
“Dingus” was all she had said, as her eyes did the real talking. Her eyes were pleading with him to just say yes and to let her into the little bubble that she knows he puts himself into.
“Okay sure, but I’m not getting you a gift,” he had said knowing that she could tell he was lying, as he had let out a little laugh afterward.
She had just shaken her head laughing and said “Same Dingus, my gift to you is letting you be in my presence.” Which had caused the two of them to die of laughter, and of course, she had been lying as well.
On Christmas day he had given her a beautiful necklace of a robin bird, while she had given him handmade matching bracelets. And somehow he no longer hated the idea of Christmas if it meant celebrating with her every year.
This would be a tradition he’d love to keep up, he feels like he finally gets the hype about traditions that Dustin tried to teach him last year.
Then in 1986, he was no longer in Hawkins, and he could truly say he was happy. With Eddie, Robin, and Nancy having graduated the four of them moved out to Bostin. Nancy was going to Emmerson, Robin was going to Boston University, Eddie was working at a tattoo parlor and was in a band on the side, and Steve well he was trying his hardest at a community college in Boston and was working part-time at a mall with Robin.
By part-time he means he works at different booths at the mall every shift, but now that it’s the holiday season, Robin and him had been assigned to help with the Meet Santa Station in the middle of the mall. They were dressed up as elfs and had the stupidest pointy hats that had bells on them, had the shortest shorts (somehow shorter than the scoops ahoy shorts which felt illegal to both of them), and thigh-high green socks.
The two had agreed to always change outfits outside of the small apartment that the four share, not wanting their partners to see them dressed up as Santa’s little helpers.
As it got closer to Christmas the four of them did eventually discuss plans for the actual holiday season. All four of them one way or another were going back to Hawkins, even if for some it would be shorter or longer. Despite that, the four agreed to go back together in Eddie’s van to try and save some money together. Robin and Nancy would celebrate Christmas with their families in the morning, before leaving to celebrate with the rest of the party at the Byers who were hosting a Christmas dinner for everyone.
Steve this year was going to celebrate with Eddie and Wayne before the three of them would head out to celebrate at the Byers. That trip in Eddie’s van would be happening in only a few days times, and it seemed like everyone was really busy in the last few days.
This is how Steve and Robin find themselves being able to change into the uniform at their actual apartment. As Nancy was staying up way too late at coffee shops studying for her finals and Eddie had lots of last-minute gigs with his band. This meant their partners always got back to the apartment after them and wouldn’t wake up till after they had left for work.
This is how he found himself at their little apartment cooking cookies in his uniform. He needed to make sure that he made enough for the entire party back in Hawkins. Which meant he didn’t have time to get changed. As he needed to make a batch for the Henderson family, Sinclair’s, Mayfield’s, Byers/Hopper’s (he knew it was only a matter of time before El and Hop move in with the Byer’s), Wheeler’s, Buckley’s, and a batch for Wayne.
Technically the last batch for Wayne is more for him, Eddie, and Wayne but he didn’t want to think of himself as a Munson just yet, marriage still seems a bit too far off. He and Eddie hadn’t even been dating for a year. His thoughts are interrupted when he hears the front door open and hears a gasp.
“Stevie James Harrington please tell me that I’m not dreaming right now and that my prayers to Lord Lucifer have been answered,” his boyfriend says as he rushes to the kitchen pulling him into a big hug and a deep kiss. Steve lets out a small chuckle at his boyfriend’s antics.
“Ed’s what are you doing back so early? What happened to that gig at that gay bar you were excited about?” Steve says as he finds himself caressing his boyfriend's face in his hands worried that something bad happened.
“HMMM, don’t think you’re getting away with this princess,” Eddie starts with a wink, “It was nothing you need to worry about. Seriously just bad communication between the bar and us. Now come on princess where have you been hiding this sexy get-up,” Eddie finishes as he firmly grips Steve on the ass, causing Steve to let out a small moan.
“It’s nothing, just an outfit Robin and I have to wear for work at the mall,” Steve says throwing Robin under the bus as well. If he was going to have to suffer Eddie’s teasing then she would have to suffer Nancy’s. And heaven knows that Eddie tells Nancy everything and vice versa. The two are almost as close as Steve and Robin are at times.
“Oh Stevie this is not just an outfit, it’s utter heaven,” Eddie says as he slaps Steve on the ass again causing him to moan again.
“It is not Eddie, it’s utter hell. Seriously these shorts barely cover anything and look at this hat.” Steve says as he grabs the hat from the counter and he shakes it a bit causing the bells on it to ring a little bit and make sounds.
“Stevie, I didn’t see that hat, is there anything else I’m missing, maybe something I can’t see right now?” Eddie flirts with him as he sees Eddie’s eyes trail down to his shorts.
Steve snorts and says “No just my normal boxers there Eddie. Sorry to disappoint.”
“Stevie nothing about this is disappointing. Like I said Utter heaven, you are the sexiest thing right now. I take back what I said about your Scoops Ahoy outfit being the sexiest uniform you’ve worn, 'cause clearly, I was wrong princess.” Eddie says and Steve can swear he sees a bit of drool leave his boyfriend's mouth.
“Ed’s you were wrong about that and you’re wrong about this. Nothing about this is sexy as hell. Seriously what about elf’s do you find sexy?” Steve asks and immediately regrets it knowing that he’s about to hear a long rant from Eddie.
“Well Princess I might not find elf’s sexy, but I do find you sexy in anything you wear. These shorts really show off your thighs which just kills me, Princess. And those green thigh-high socks you are wearing are a beaut.”
Steve finds himself blushing and can only quietly say “You really think so?”
“Of course Princess. Why’d you hide this from me so long huh? I may tease you about this later, but I seriously do love how you look. It’s doing things to me, Princess, seriously look.” Eddie says in the softest voice as Eddie’s eyes quickly dart downwards at the end. And Steve does look and see’s well evidence that he’s having an effect on Eddie in this outfit which is well a big confidence boost.
“Really?” Steve asks with a small laugh at how ridiculous he finds this.
“Oh Princess, you know I wouldn’t lie to you about this. The image of you on your knees being a good girl for me is driving me crazy.” Eddie says as he gets Steve into a grip and starts to push him down to his knees. All of a sudden the alarm he set up earlier starts to go off.
“OH SHIT! The cookies are done” Steve practically yells out as he gets out of Eddie’s grip, stands up and puts on gloves, and gets the cookies out of the oven. Steve is checking on the cookies to see how they’re doing when his thoughts are pulled out by his boyfriends’ voice calling for him, so he turns around to face him.
“Hmmm? Why are you making cookies babe?” Eddie asks him with genuine interest in his voice. Something he still doesn’t quite understand is how his friends and boyfriend are always genuinely interested in what he does. Heaven knows he appreciates them though.
“Oh well it was supposed to be a Christmas surprise, but I’m making a bunch of cookies for everyone. I already made all the other batches for everyone else, so this is the last one,” he tells Eddie not expecting anything but a dumb reaction. Something like, ‘ah princess you’re so thoughtful’ or ‘ah princess you’re the only sugar I need’. Instead what he see’s in Eddie's eyes is pure love. It’s the look he see’s on Eddie’s face when they first said ‘I love you’ to each other, the look when he talks about his favorite songs and bands, and the look he gets when he talks about the party.
“Stevie,” Eddie starts as he puts his hand on Steve’s face and it sits there for a few seconds and for the first time Steve thinks Eddie’s out of words till he starts up again, “You know you didn’t have to do that right?”
“I know Ed’s, but I wanted to give everyone something nice, and come up with a fun tradition since you said I needed to.” Ed’s smile somehow gets even bigger and Steve feels the string on his heart pull out of love.
“Princess when I said that I meant something like watching a Christmas movie every year or something dumb like that,” Eds says with a small laugh at the end of it. Steve feels a little embarrassed though and closes his eyes.
“Oh okay,” he says feeling embarrassed that he somehow messed this up as well. Of course, he did, when didn’t he mess up anything, that’s all he ever managed to do. Heaven knows his parents remind him of that enough. Ed’s somehow being the perfect boyfriend he is seems to tell what Steve’s thinking and tells him to open his eyes, and after a few seconds, he does.
“Stevie, I didn’t mean it’s a bad thing, it’s not. It’s actually very sweet and amazing. I’m just constantly surprised at how much love you have to give others.” And fuck does that make Steve fall 10 times more in love with Eds. Steve doesn’t even think and just feels himself pulling Ed’s into a deep kiss.
“I love you Ed’s.” Steve says as he pulls out of the kiss looking deeply into Ed’s Bambie-like eyes.
“I know, and I love this outfit of yours,” Eds says with his signature smirk that he knows drives Steve wild in bed.
“Well babe I love the effect it has on you, and well I know we were interrupted earlier by the cookies and that I still have to put them away, but do you think we have enough time before the girls come back to have some fun with it Eds?” Steve asks his boyfriend in a sultry voice trying to put all the lust he’s feeling for his boyfriend into it. And just as he sees Eddie’s mouth open he hears a small cough that’s clearly coming from the front door.
“I’m sure he’d like that very much but sadly we’re back,” Nancy says at the front door with a huge smile on her face clearly enjoying the situation. Alongside her is Robin who’s also still wearing her work outfit as she had a longer shift than Steve today. She has a small teasing smile on her face, but her figure is also shrunk in on itself, probably due to Nancy seeing her in this outfit.
He doesn’t have to do much guesswork to figure out that Nancy probably finished up studying early or something else happened, which is bad for the both of them of course.
“Well, I’m sure we can still have some fun talking about these amazing outfits, right Wheeler?” Eddie teases right back at Nancy with the smile never leaving his face.
Steve looks at Robin and the two instantly look at their bedrooms and somehow their partners can read their thoughts as they find themselves being held in a huge hug.
“Robbie don’t you want to be a good girl for me, and listen to me talk about how you look in this outfit?” Nancy says in the ‘I’m going to get what I want’ voice that she has that works perfectly on Robin. And Eddie doesn’t bother saying anything to Steve, because he knows that Steve will sit through it if Robin does. After all, he wouldn’t let her suffer alone.
“Steve are those cookies??! And are those SNICKERDOODLES!!! You know I love Snickerdoodles! Please let me have one Steve???!!” Robin practically yelled out loud as she rambled about her love for snickerdoodles. He doesn’t have to tell her to be quiet as she’s stopped from her rambling by Nancy who kisses her and makes a gesture to Robin to lower her voice.
“These cookies were supposed to be a surprise, Robin. I’m making everyone in the party’s family a batch of cookies, and these are yours. So you can have them right now or wait till we get back in Hawkins.” Steve says and laughs a bit as he sees Robin’s reaction. Robin who looks like a kid who has to choose between two pieces of candy, each of which she clearly loves. Evidently, the decision is made for her by Nancy.
“Robbie if you start eating now you’ll eat all of them and none will be left for your family and Steve will have to make another batch. You don’t want him to do more work do you?” Nancy asks Robin, and the two share a look with each other, the two are excellent at being able to communicate like that with each other. In the past few months Eddie, Robin, and Nancy have each taken it upon themselves to teach him about self-care and about knowing when to take breaks. Though he would be willing to do more work in this case, he does love seeing Robin smile after all.
It doesn’t matter though as Robin simply nods and they let him put the cookies away. The four of them stay in the living room all night, Steve and Robin enduring the teasing from their partners, and Steve can’t help but think that this is another tradition he’d like to keep.
In a few days, the whole group is packed into Eddie’s van and heads to Hawkins, it’s a long drive and sadly for Steve and Robin, they have to endure teasing about their work outfits the whole time. Despite the teasing, It’s still a lot of fun, and Steve hopes this is another tradition they keep every year. When they do arrive in Hawkins, Nancy is the first dropped off and Steve gives her the batch of cookies he made for her family.
“Thanks, Steve, I’ll make sure Mike doesn’t eat them all.” She says with a small smile causing all of them to laugh, knowing that Mike would if he was allowed to.
They then go and drop Robin off and he gives her the batch of cookies which she eagerly grabs and opens eating a snickerdoodle.
“Fank you Deve! Fove You!” She yells out in a mumbled voice as she eats the cookies running to her house. Steve thinks about yelling at her to try to save some for her family but just sighs and stops, causing Eddie to laugh a little. But instead of going back to Wayne’s trailer they go and drop off the rest of the cookies at everyone else’s place.
“Uh, Steve what’s this?” Dustin asks him confused as he looks at the box in front of him.
“It’s a gift for your family dude, aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?” Steve jokingly asks as he tries to ruffle Dustins’ hair but can’t as he dodges his hand.
“I know that but what’s inside the box?” Dustin asks as if it was obvious that’s what he meant the first time.
“Just open the box Henderson,” Steve says feeling his brain get more tired of the conversation, not ready for Dustin’s huge amount of questions after the long drive they just had. Luckily Dustin opens the box and as soon as he sees his favorite cookie immediately eats one before pulling Steve into a huge hug and thanking him.
“Yeah Yeah, you’re welcome, just make sure you’re mom gets some alright, and don’t eat all of them at once,” he says as he puts his hand on his hips and puts on his stern voice. Which causes a small crackle from the van, and causes Dustin to roll his eyes as he says yes mom, before saying goodbye.
They head to the rest of the houses and nothing too notable happens. Lucas and Erica are pretty happy about the cookies and their parents are nice about it, Joyce is amazing about the cookies and even tries to pay for them but he refuses and he has to threaten to drive away if she keeps trying to pay, and the Hoppers were grateful with Jim telling Steve’s he’s a godsend for the cookies since El kept eating all the one’s he buys and there’s never any left for him.
They finally head back to the trailer park where Eddie heads on in to talk with Wayne, while Steve heads over to Max’s house. Where Max’s mother is gone working a job or getting drunk, but Max is still there. He gives her the box of cookies and tells her she’s the only one that got a box for herself and tells her not to tell anyone.
He knows Susan is trying to be better but until she manages to stop drinking he isn’t getting her anything, even something small like cookies. She promises not to tell and hugs him tightly saying she missed him and he says it back. The two remain like that for a few minutes before the two say goodbye and he walks back to Eddie’s Van and gets his suitcase out and grabs Wayne’s cookie batch.
He enters Wayne’s Trailer to see Wayne sitting on the couch with Eddie the two sharing a beer with each other.
“Ah speak of the princess and he shall appear.” Eddie teases as he flashes a smirk at him, causing his face to redden.
“You talking about me Ed’s? Didn’t think I was on your mind that much?” Steve teases right back at him with a small wink. Before the flirting can continue Wayne lets out a small cough, reminding the two he’s still there.
“Ah Wayne, I made us this for Christmas. You don’t have to eat any if you don’t want to, it’s okay I’d understand.” He finds himself rambling as he heads over to Wayne and hands him the box full of cookies. Wayne takes the batch and opens them and he takes a cookie and takes a bite.
“Thank you for making these for us Steve, this is great.” Wayne says after he finishes eating the cookie, and next to Wayne Eddie flashes him a small smile, almost like he’s saying ‘see I told you he’d love them’. And of course, Eddie was right, he shouldn’t have ever doubted him on this. He’ll be sure to treat Eddie for being right, after all, he did make sure to bring his work uniform for him.
All Steve knows is that the smiles he saw on everyone’s faces from the cookies let’s him know he’ll be making this a tradition.