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Listen. Gareth is not in love with Eddie, okay? He never has been, not when Eddie plopped down beside him in junior Bio and started making orgasm-organism jokes, or when he helped Gareth make his first DnD character. He definitely wasn’t in love with Eddie when, after the idiot almost died via lava earthquake or whatever the fuck, Eddie had grinned around a million bandages and told Gareth that he liked his new Black Sabbath t-shirt.
And he definitely, one hundred percent, is not in love with Eddie two years later, sharing a three-bedroom apartment in Indy with Eddie and Steve Harrington (yeah, that was an adjustment too, learning how much of a good guy Steve actually is) while Steve and Gareth stumble through college courses and Eddie carries more than his fair share of the rent via his job at a nearby garage.
It’s just that, you know, it’s easy to love Eddie. Not be in love, but. Yeah. Eddie is loveable. Tactile, always able to tell when someone wants a hug or, in Frenchie’s case, a reassuring head pat. Gareth is totally convinced that the reason Eddie had been so ostracized in high school was because people were too afraid of how nice it can be to just be around him.
Even now, Eddie holds their high school friend group together. They don’t go by Hellfire anymore, only slightly because of the court of public opinion. In reality, their group has grown to include more of Henderson, Sinclair, and Wheeler’s friends, plus Steve, Steve’s friend Robin, and even…Nancy Wheeler? Gareth’s not really sure how it happened. But the end result is that the name doesn’t really fit anymore.
He has a few other names in mind, but it doesn’t seem all that important right now.
What is important is the fact that Eddie is, at this exact moment, getting laid. And Gareth isn’t in love with Eddie (he isn’t!!), but he shares one wall with Eddie, and another wall with Steve, and though they don’t seem to find hookups on the same night, it’s just a reminder of how long Gareth’s dry spell has been whenever he can hear either of their muffled moans, the fact that there are distinctly no female voices to be heard.
“Hmmph, yeah, just like that,” Gareth can hear Eddie say. Eddie is always talking in bed, always talking in general, and then there’s the case of the headboard smacking against the wall. Eddie probably doesn’t even realize he’s being loud tonight, he’s usually more considerate than this, so he must really be into it.
Gareth puts his pillow over his face and groans. Resigning himself to his fate, he figures he might as well get some release too. It’s not like he’s going to be able to get any sleep anyway.
His cheeks get hot with the briefest amount of shame, thinking about how his hand trails down and wraps around his dick because of his best friend’s sex life. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just sex noises that turn him on in general, it doesn’t matter that it’s Eddie who’s making them.
And if a little precome spurts onto his hand when he hears Eddie say fuck me harder, it’s only a correlation. No causation there.
(Gareth is taking stats this term; he didn’t know he’d be thinking about it at a time like this).
Gareth, though not technically a virgin by, like, hand and mouth stuff standards, has never done anything involving his or anyone else’s ass. He once had seven minutes in heaven with Louise McDonald where she asked if he wanted to finger her and that had been a pretty good way to figure out that he’s gay, but assplay is still the Holy Grail, or whatever.
So when he thinks about fucking Eddie - or, no, just, you know, someone, anyone, not Eddie specifically - in the ass, it gets him pretty close to the edge pretty fast. Close enough, actually, that it just takes one more twist near the tip for him to be spilling all over his stomach.
And it’s a good thing he still has the pillow over his face, because the groan that escapes his mouth is loud and entirely involuntary. So. That’s great.
He relaxes more into his bed after cleaning himself up, thankful that it seems like Eddie has also finished, no pun intended. He falls asleep quickly after that, though he could do without the totally random dream of waking up beside someone with curly brown hair.
Remember how Gareth had said Eddie is tactile? Yeah, well, Eddie has ramped it up to full-on blanket mode today.
Gareth figures it’s because it’s been a few days since Eddie’s last hookup, and he’s honestly not complaining. Gareth has two older brothers and a younger sister, so the dog piles and movie snuggles are actually pretty welcome. But maybe jerking off to the sounds of Eddie getting fucked had rewired something in Gareth’s brain, because he’s adjusted himself in his pants three times in the past twenty minutes and honestly, it’s getting a little ridiculous.
“Garebear, stop fidgeting,” Eddie says, tipping his head back onto Gareth’s chest. They’re watching meaningless game shows while Steve makes dinner, grilling something on the barbecue on their tiny balcony. Steve had insisted he doesn’t need help, but Gareth is this close to getting up and cutting onions anyway.
First, he’ll try deflecting. “Get your hair out of my face, then,” Gareth says, smooshing down Eddie’s curls from where they’re tickling his mouth, chin, and nose. The combination of Eddie’s tropical-smelling shampoo and musky cologne shouldn’t be nice, but it is, and Gareth gets a good whiff of both as Eddie wrestles Gareth off the couch and onto his back.
Pinning Gareth’s arms and legs while he crouches on all fours, Eddie shakes his head so as much of his hair falls in Gareth’s face as possible. “Oh, you mean, like this?” He teases, and the more Gareth struggles, the more Eddie pins him down, tickles his face. Shit, Eddie can be strong when he wants to be.
It’s not hot.
It isn’t.
With no other options coming to mind, eyes closed against the onslaught of hair, Gareth has no choice but to call out for help.
“Steve! Steve Harrington! Help!”
“Oh, low move,” Eddie growls, and it feels like he’s right next to Gareth’s ear.
Okay, the situation is getting dire now. Gareth is fully hard, straining in his too-loose pants, and the only reason Eddie hasn’t noticed is because of the way he’s still balancing on all fours on Gareth’s limbs.
In true knight-in-shining-armor fashion, Steve picks Eddie up and throws him on the couch with hardly a grunt.
“Alright, break it up,” he says, hands finding his hips as he regards the situation. Gareth scrambles to cover himself up as Steve continues, “Munson, what have we talked about stopping when people tap out?”
“But he didn’t tap out!” Eddie argues petulantly.
Steve looks at Gareth now with a, quite frankly, disappointed stare. It makes Gareth feel like he’s been caught passing notes in class or something. “You called me over before tapping out? Low move, Garebear.”
“That’s what I said!” Eddie says in that same tone of voice, and that’s it, Gareth doesn’t think, just launches himself at Eddie and wrestles him into the couch.
“Hey, hey! Cut it out!” Steve says, but doesn’t grab for either of them this time. Gareth manages to pin Eddie and threaten to drool in his mouth before Eddie wriggles free enough to tickle Gareth just above his hip, and Gareth pulls himself free before anything can result from that.
They’re both breathing heavily, Eddie with a massive grin on his face, when Steve says, “I thought I was done babysitting when I left the rugrats back in Hawkins.” It’s fond, though, and when Gareth catches Steve’s eye he can see a sliver of sadness there.
“Sorry, dad,” Eddie says with a smirk, leaning back against the couch with the nonchalance of a man with total control of the situation.
It’s, of course, at that moment that Gareth remembers he’s hard.
“I’m gonna, um, uh, yeah,” Gareth mumbles while pointing towards the bathroom, and then totally gracefully speedwalks there and shuts the door.
There’s nothing else to be done about it; he jacks off as quickly as he possibly can and, still sort of breathless from his release, flushes the toilet and washes his hands for cover.
Steve is plating up for the three of them when Gareth makes his way into the kitchen, steaks hot off the grill, foil-wrapped potatoes right beside them.
“Smells good,” Gareth comments, because it’s easy and the truth.
Steve, for some reason, blushes and smiles, ducking his head as he cuts into Gareth’s steak to make sure it’s his preferred medium-rare. “Thanks,” he says, like Gareth doesn’t compliment Steve’s cooking all the time. “Honey glazed carrots are on the stove, and Eddie grabbed you a beer.”
They eat over the sounds of the radio, the warmth of the early spring sun coming in through the singular window in their small dining room. As usual, Steve’s cooking is fantastic, much better than Gareth’s best dish, stir fry, and Eddie’s best dish, frozen pizza.
Again, when Gareth says so, Steve flushes as pink as the inside of his steak.
“Anytime,” Steve says quietly before putting a few carrots in his mouth. “Hey, uh, you guys wanna catch a movie tomorrow night? Just- just the three of us?”
He says it like it’s the first time the three of them would do something together. It’s kind of sweet, actually, makes Gareth think about seeing Jeff ask his now-girlfriend Paula out for a smoothie while Gareth, Eddie, and Frenchie hid in some nearby bushes (not that Jeff had known that they had been hiding there, of course).
“Sure, sounds great,” Gareth agrees. “Anything in mind?”
“Willow looks good,” Eddie pipes up, pretty quickly actually. “Just came out.”
“Works for me,” Gareth says as Steve nods, and, uh, why are Steve and Eddie staring right at him? Sure, they look away, but it’s like they don’t even need to check that the other is agreeing to the plans. Like they had already planned it.
Weird.
Gareth and Eddie force Steve to sit and choose a show to watch while they clean up, Eddie tackling the barbecue because, honestly, the guy needs his outside time more than anyone Gareth has ever met.
The rest of the evening passes by nicely. Gareth has an assignment due next week that he should probably finish up, but he has the whole weekend to worry about that.
For now, he’s content with sitting on their cozy couch, between Steve and Eddie, while watching some straight-to-TV movie. Eddie’s arm is draped over the back of the cushions while Gareth kind of leans in to Steve to put his feet up on Eddie’s lap and it’s, like, nice. Still, Gareth can’t help but think that Eddie’s arm is going to fall asleep, and he says as much during a commercial break.
“What, would you rather I put it…here?” Eddie asks, dropping his arm down so his hand lands on the top of Gareth’s head. Eddie scratches Gareth’s scalp lightly and it feels good, feels nice, but shit it feels too nice, and suddenly Gareth is getting fucking hard again.
He needs to cool it, dammit.
“Ugh, you’re gonna get it all greasy,” Gareth protests instead, swatting away Eddie’s hand and jostling Steve in the process. He sits up a little straighter, straightens his legs so they rest on the coffee table instead of Eddie. He feels colder, less centered like this, but he tells himself it’s for the best.
Something passes over Eddie’s face before he collects himself and smirks.
“Not my fault your hair has gotten as luscious as Harrington’s,” Eddie drawls. “Nice and curly, too.”
Gareth snorts. “Yeah, okay, like my hair could ever live up to the King’s.”
Steve makes a pained noise, not loud but enough to capture Gareth’s attention. He’s looking at his hands in his lap when he says to Gareth, “I don’t go by that, um. You know. Name, anymore.”
Shit, he looks like a kicked puppy. Gareth feels like a horrible person, suddenly. He leans into Steve and puts on his best apologetic smile.
“No problem. I didn’t vote for you, anyway,” he replies.
That gets a soft chuckle from Steve and a loud cackle from Eddie, who closes the space that had opened between himself and Gareth by draping over both Steve and Gareth’s laps. He grins up at the both of them, maneuvering so he can lay face up, and Gareth’s hand involuntarily finds its way into Eddie’s hair.
So, it seems, does Steve’s. Their hands meet near Eddie’s scalp and Gareth almost jerks away, except Steve’s hand (wow, it’s a big hand, Gareth hadn’t noticed before) is partly on top of Gareth’s and keeps it from lifting up entirely. There’s a jolt of electricity that makes its way up and down Gareth’s spine as he and Steve lock eyes.
Damn, Steve really won the gene pool. His eyelashes are crazy long, hazel irises catching all the lights of the room. Gareth chances a millisecond to regard Steve’s lips and they look glossy, as if he had just licked them.
Whatever strange, fragile thing that is passing between them shatters at the sound of Eddie’s voice from their laps.
“Relax, fellas, there’s plenty of me to go around,” Eddie says, grinning.
It’s not tense anymore, then, as Steve and Gareth share custody of Eddie’s mane, petting and combing out tangles as they watch the rest of the movie, one with a plot that Gareth cannot be bothered to pay attention to in the slightest.
And Gareth can blame it on a long day of classes, but in the end it’s the fact that he’s so comfy that he falls asleep with his head on Steve’s shoulder, his hand still buried in Eddie’s hair. He awakens some time later with a crick in his neck and his mouth dry from being partly open, Steve stirring as well when Gareth lifts his head up.
“Wha’ time s’it?” Steve mumbles, squinting at the clock on the wall. Not for the first time, Gareth wonders if Steve needs glasses.
“Just after eleven,” Gareth replies, then yawns. “Should probably hit the hay for real.”
Together they gently jostle Eddie awake, who looks absolutely thrilled to be awoken in the middle of a nap, if his deep frown and desperate attempts to keep them on the couch with him are any indication.
“You wake the Dungeon Master, you carry the Dungeon Master to bed,” Eddie says flatly into Gareth’s thigh.
Gareth and Steve share a look, then a sigh, before Steve extricates himself and moves to Eddie’s feet. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last that Gareth and Steve haul Eddie off the couch and plop him onto bed. Gareth wishes he had a camera to capture the silliness of it all, but really he misses the contact as soon as Eddie’s back hits his mattress.
“Pancakes in the morning?” Steve offers, hand on Eddie’s door, ready to shut it.
“Chocolate chips in mine!” Eddie’s muffled voice declares from where it’s pressed into the pillow.
“Sounds great,” Gareth answers more softly. “I’ll help. Meet you in the kitchen at nine?”
“I’ll be there,” Steve says with that same shy smile from dinner, then closes Eddie’s door. With a soft tap of his knuckles on the frame, he says, “night, Eds.”
“Yeah, goodnight doofus,” Gareth adds just loud enough for Eddie to hear.
“Goodnight, my darling boys!” Eddie calls. Gareth’s cheeks heat while Steve huffs a laugh.
“He sure is something,” Gareth says.
“Yeah, you can say that again,” Steve replies, running his hand through his hair. “Well, g’night.”
And yeah, Steve’s pat to Gareth’s shoulder is comforting. And his eyes glisten in the dim light of the hallway. And he looks at Gareth the way Gareth assumes Steve had looked at all those girls in high school before asking them if they want to go someplace quieter, or whatever smooth, cool guys use as a line to get laid.
But that doesn’t mean that Gareth swallows around his dry throat, unable to meet Steve’s eyes, because suddenly Gareth has a crush on the guy.
It doesn’t.
Gareth used to be a regular wake-up-at-six kind of person, and he actually doesn’t mind taking eight a.m. classes, so his idea of sleeping in is around seven thirty. Sure, if he stays up late, he can push that to nine or ten. But that’s rare.
This is important, because Steve is the same way, but Eddie sure isn’t.
So when Gareth gets out of bed to use the bathroom around eight the next morning, brushing his teeth quickly too, he doesn’t expect to hear Eddie’s voice coming from the kitchen.
“Yes,” Eddie hisses, barely loud enough for Gareth to hear. If he hadn’t known any better, he’d think Eddie is hooking up with someone right now.
Rubbing sleep out of his eye, Gareth rounds the corner to see what Eddie is so excited about. He’s about to start giving the guy shit for probably finding a snack when a proper breakfast is only an hour away, when he stops dead in his tracks.
There’s Eddie, back to Gareth, making out with someone.
Oh.
Not someone.
Steve.
That’s Steve’s hair that Eddie’s hands are tangled in. Steve who’s pressing into Eddie’s lips, hands wrapped around Eddie’s sides to move up and down the thin fabric of Eddie’s t-shirt.
Steve, who’s shirtless himself, only in gym shorts.
Gareth is such an idiot. He’s baffled by the fact that it takes him walking in on his roommates making out to realize that they’re together.
He also can’t seem to move from where his feet are planted on the chilly kitchen tile. If Steve just opens his eyes, pulls away for a moment, he’ll see Gareth watching them and…
And their friendship would be ruined.
They’re clearly trying to keep this a secret from Gareth. That’s the only explanation. The only thing Gareth should do is head back to his room as quietly as possible, pretend he never saw anything.
So why can’t he move?
There’s one reason and one reason only: Steve and Eddie making out is hot as fuck, and Gareth is a weak, sick voyeur.
The noises are something all their own, too. It’s like Gareth has stepped right into a porno, Eddie moaning like Steve is doing more than just grinding up against him, kissing along his jaw. Like he’s selling it, just for Gareth’s twisted mind.
Which is ridiculous. Eddie doesn’t even know Gareth is here . Which, again, he very much should not be.
He tells himself that given one more second, he would have backed away. But as it is, Steve’s ministrations against Eddie’s jaw and neck bring him to tilt his head just so, and he opens his eyes.
And then he’s looking right at Gareth, who is still rooted to the spot, eyes wide and getting wider, mouth partly open.
Gareth tries to say something, anything, but he can’t even manage a syllable. A squeak. Anything.
Because sure, Steve had paused momentarily when he caught Gareth staring, but now he’s resumed kissing Eddie’s neck, all while holding Gareth’s gaze.
His eyes are dark and knowing, and he somehow smiles while he continues kissing back up to Eddie’s face, his lips. Pulls Eddie against him and grinds their bodies together, causing Eddie to moan more.
Or, hold on. That’s Gareth who moans.
Oh shit. Oh no.
Eddie spins around faster than Gareth has ever seen him move. His hair is as messy as Steve’s, cheeks as pink as his lips.
And he’s smiling.
“Well, good morning, Garebear,” Eddie drawls. Steve still has a hand around Eddie’s waist, and Gareth watches as it flexes, almost seems to hold Eddie down as Eddie squares himself to Gareth. Like calming a wild animal, trying to keep it from pouncing on its prey.
“I- sorry,” Gareth stutters. Fuck, if only the floor could swallow him up and drag him to the underworld. He’s never felt closer to death by embarrassment in his entire life, and that’s including that time he ripped his jeans and underwear trying to hop a fence while playing capture the flag at summer camp.
He imagines Eddie will play it off as nothing, Steve to be sweet and tell him they’re sorry if they made him uncomfortable.
What he doesn’t expect is for Eddie to smile wider and lean against the counter, bowing his back to show how intently he’s pushing his ass into Steve’s crotch. For the next words out of anyone’s mouth would be Eddie saying, “care to join us?”
“Real subtle, Eds,” Steve mutters, though his hands are back to running up and down Eddie’s sides, like he can’t help but touch Eddie everywhere.
Eddie scoffs, tips his head so it’s resting entirely on his left hand. Pushes some of the hair that’s fallen into his eyes off his face with his free hand while he says, “if I wanted to be subtle, big boy, I wouldn’t have suggested getting up at the ass crack of dawn so Gare might finally take a hint.”
Okay, hold on. Gareth’s brain is very much not keeping up with this conversation.
Case in point, the only thing he can think to say is, “it’s eight a.m.”
“That it is!” Eddie agrees, as if Gareth has proven his point. Then, just as brightly, he says, “so? What’s it gonna be? Gonna lead us to Steve’s room and make this good morning great, or are you going to tell us to stop coming on to you once and for all?”
“You- you’ve been- what?” Gareth says. Did he sleep himself into an alternate dimension?
That springs Steve and Eddie to pull away from the counter, Steve taking the lead to close the space between themselves and Gareth.
“Eddie and I,” Steve starts. “We hook up sometimes. Thought you knew? Anyway, when I asked Eddie if he wanted to go on a real date, you know, with me, he kinda turned me down. Said…”
“Said that as much as I’d love to, that I’m also kinda gone over my best friend,” Eddie finishes for Steve. Then he doubles down, as if Gareth’s brain isn’t filled with static. “And that, if I had the chance, I’d like to date both of you.”
“Oh,” Gareth says. He swallows, shakes his head. It isn’t getting any warmer in here, so the heat Gareth feels must be entirely his own. “Hold on. Me?”
With wide eyes, Eddie reaches up, his fingers ghosting over Gareth’s cheek. It feels like butterfly wings, like the softest fabric. It feels like a million pounds, weighing him down and lifting him up at the same time. “Yeah. But I don’t think we’ve been direct enough, so now we’re asking. You in?”
Gareth should probably ask what exactly saying yep, I’m in means. But the shock of the moment has unlocked everything Gareth has repressed, pushed down, ignored. So really, there’s only one thing to say.
“Yes. Yeah, I’m in.”
Eddie and Steve both smile, Steve’s a soft grin, Eddie’s like the Cheshire Cat.
Eddie’s lips find Gareth’s not a moment later. And Gareth knows that Eddie has a soft side, but when he had imagined their first kiss (of fucking course Gareth has imagined their first kiss, he’s been in love with the guy since they first said hello), he hadn’t ever dreamed it would be this tender, like right out of a rom-com.
Eddie’s hand moves around Gareth’s face to hold his neck, and he tilts Gareth’s head slightly to deepen the kiss. It makes sense that it wouldn’t stay chaste for long, given the frankness of Eddie’s proposition, but it still takes Gareth by surprise when Eddie licks in past Gareth’s teeth, coaxing Gareth’s tongue out and a moan as filthy as earlier to escape Gareth’s lips.
It’s not clear how long they make out for. Gareth doesn’t really care about that. But Eddie’s lips are addicting, holy shit. He can’t get enough, and he’s straining in his pyjama pants when Eddie pulls back, a string of spit connecting their lips before Eddie flicks his tongue out to break it.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” Eddie says roughly. He tilts his head to Steve, and sure, Gareth hadn’t exactly forgotten that Steve had been standing there, but it startles him how close he is.
“I think our boy is feeling neglected,” Eddie notes lightly. His hand is still behind Gareth’s head, but it loosens just a touch.
Steve tucks his lower lip into his teeth, an unexpected display of shyness. “I - you know, I think we could make this work if you just wanna be with Eddie, like-”
Since Steve isn’t wearing a shirt, Gareth’s only choice is to pull him in by his shoulders. He crushes their mouths together, relishing in the fact that Steve presses back, makes a little noise of his own.
He’s kissing Steve Harrington. He had just been kissing Eddie, and now he’s kissing Steve Goddamn Harrington.
If this really is an alternate universe, Gareth never wants to find his way home.
“Oh, this is hot,” Eddie says, and for some reason that makes another wave of heat hit Gareth, makes him step forward to close the minimal space between him and Steve to press their bodies together.
And holy fuck, Steve is hard, Gareth’s hard, and their dicks rubbing against each other is dizzyingly good. Eddie runs his hands up Gareth’s sides before placing his palms against Gareth’s ass, pushing him against Steve in a rhythm that keeps up the friction. Gareth is totally encompassed by their touch, their heat, and now that he’s gotten a taste, he’s greedy for it. Can’t get enough.
He’s trying to wrap his mind around how he could maybe make out with both of them at the same time when Eddie kisses the angle of Gareth’s jaw and whispers, “wanna watch me suck Stevie off? I know you liked watching us, before.”
“Don’t tease him, Eds,” Steve admonishes.
“Teasing each other is basically the foundation of our relationship, though,” Eddie argues before planting a wet kiss to Gareth’s cheek. Gareth turns and captures Eddie’s lips, nipping at the lower one with his teeth. He’s grinning, turned on more than he’s ever been in his life , and something about what Eddie just said makes it feel like they can just have fun together.
“Yeah, I wanna watch you take Steve,” Gareth says, going for honesty. “But I want you to take me, too.”
Eddie’s pupils blow wide before he says, “that can be arranged.”
There’s not much else to be said, then. Eddie somewhat roughly pushes Gareth and Steve toward the latter’s bedroom, somehow getting naked at the same time. Gareth and Steve tumble to the unmade bed, laughing, landing simultaneously and bouncing from the springiness of the mattress.
Eddie stands over them, his lean frame on perfect display. Gareth has seen bits and pieces over the years, but Eddie has often kept a shirt on. His body is covered in scars from the earthquake, but there’s a beauty in it. Like Eddie could withstand so much, physically and emotionally and whatever, and still stay…Eddie.
He’s beautiful, though Gareth won’t say that out loud. At least, not yet.
Plus, with Eddie having stripped himself naked, there’s something else for Gareth to hone in on. Eddie’s dick is long and slender, like the rest of him, standing to attention and curving just slightly. Gareth wants to touch it so fucking badly.
“Ah ah,” Eddie says, taking a step back when Gareth sits up to do just that. He’s got his damn Dungeon Master smile on, like when the party is trying to decide whether to fight or flee and Eddie just knows they’re going to choose to fight. “Gotta get naked if you wanna play.”
“Oh, is that all,” Gareth replies easily, ripping off his t-shirt and then shimmying out of his pyjamas and underwear quickly. He doesn’t care if it looks fumbly or awkward or whatever; Eddie says he likes him, he’s going to be himself.
Case in point, the moment Gareth is naked, Eddie launches himself to pin Gareth to the bed. Gareth can only somewhat register that Steve has stripped himself of his shorts beside him because Eddie is, he must clarify, pinning Gareth down in the exact same way he had done the day before while they wrestled.
“You have no idea how much I wanted to kiss you when I had you like this yesterday,” Eddie says, leaning in close. His hair tickles Gareth’s face but it doesn’t matter, nothing matters except for Eddie on top of him, Steve watching them not an inch away. “I could tell you were hard. Do you know what that does to me?”
It feels rhetorical. Plus, all of Gareth’s blood flow is prioritizing his dick, so he doesn’t have much left for his brain. So he simply says, “kiss me now, then.”
Eddie growls and it should be funny but it’s fucking hot . Still pinning Gareth’s arms down, Eddie lays flat on top of him and brings their lips together.
And it feels like they’ve done this a million times already, tongues moving against each other while their dicks line up against the other’s hips. Gareth’s arm may be held, but he can still extend it to touch Steve’s shoulder. He wants to feel encompassed again, wants to feel both their bodies against him, however he can get it.
Shit, he’d consider giving up his lifelong dream of fucking Eddie if that’s what it takes. Considers what it would be like to have Steve fucking in to him while he and Eddie make out like this, and some precome spurts onto Eddie’s hip.
“Yeah, touching Steve has that effect on people,” Eddie says when he feels Gareth’s dick twitch. They both turn to look at Steve, who has his own dick in his hand, lazily stroking it as he watches them back with a fond smile.
The next thing Eddie says rocks Gareth’s world.
“You know, he sometimes likes to be called daddy.”
Both Gareth and Steve make a choked off noise. Gareth doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t really know how he feels about that. Maybe not bad? When he thinks about it, Steve is kind of a daddy. Definitely a dad vibe, at least.
Okay, Gareth’s going to spiral if he thinks about this too much, and Steve seems to catch on to that because he says, “just Steve is fine too, you know.”
Eddie leans just his torso over and presses a few sweet kisses to Steve’s nose, cheeks, lips. “Of course. Steve is great. Just letting Garebear know his options.”
Steve rolls his eyes. He’s so pretty. His light hair falls against the sheets, framing his face like a model in a magazine that Gareth used to buy in high school. He would hide them between his mattress and the box spring, imagine what it would be like to wake up next to someone like that.
He doesn’t have to imagine anymore. He brightens at the thought, sees that joy reflected in Steve’s hazel eyes.
Gareth tilts forward to put his forehead to Steve’s and whispers, “do you want him or should I take him back?”
“Hey!” Eddie exclaims, bringing himself back over to kneel above Gareth. “I will not be spoken of as if I am not present.”
“Oh, my apologies, your highness,” Gareth drawls. “However may I repent?”
“If you guys are going to keep talking like you’re playing Dungeons and Dragons, don’t expect me to keep up,” Steve cuts in.
Eddie reaches over and gives Steve’s dick a squeeze. “You keep up just fine, babe.”
Steve keens into it, bucking his hips to get Eddie to continue. Gareth uses the opportunity to use his now-free hand to pull Steve in for a kiss by his ridiculously soft hair. Eddie starts rocking his hips again and there , just like that, Gareth feels that perfect amount of encompassed, kept.
They continue like that for a while, the friction not enough to get Gareth close but it feels damn good anyway. He knows Steve would be a practiced kisser purely based on his track record, but it’s truly an honor to be taken apart by Steve’s mouth.
It’s Steve who breaks the kiss first, and Gareth has an instant where he’s nervous that he’s not doing a good enough job before Steve’s hand flies down to push Eddie’s arm away.
“Okay, okay, I’m gonna come if you keep that up,” Steve gasps.
Eddie pulls away petulantly, sticking his lower lip out in a pout. “Fiiine,” he whines, “guess I’ll just have to blow you. But we need something for Gare to do.”
“I-” Gareth starts but cuts himself off.
Eddie and Steve snap to attention. “Go on, share with the class,” Eddie says.
“Yeah, no bad ideas here,” Steve adds, then furrows his brows. “Well, um. I guess we’ll see.” He laughs a little, and fuck, he’s so sweet. And hot. Gareth is a lost cause, and it’s all their fault.
“I wanna fuck you, Eddie,” Gareth says plainly. Holds Eddie’s side as he does it, involuntarily moves his fingers through Steve’s hair.
Eddie’s eyes glaze over slightly and it’s like a dream when he replies, “yes, hell yes, I’ll get the stuff.” He scrambles to the side table, throwing himself once more on top of Steve, and retrieves a bottle of lube and a condom. He throws the condom down onto Gareth’s chest and Gareth grabs it quickly, because then Eddie is planting himself between Steve and Gareth’s supine bodies, holding out the lube while sticking his ass in the air.
“Steve‘ll show you how I like it, won’t you Stevie?” Eddie says, snuggling his face into a pillow while Steve comes up to his knees. Gareth does the same, putting the condom down on the free pillow. Steve takes the lube from Eddie and puts some on his fingers, then holds the bottle out where- holy shit, Eddie’s spreading his asscheeks with his hands. Anyway, Steve holds the bottle open and drizzles some right over Eddie’s puckered, pink hole.
“He likes it messy,” Steve mutters, like it’s a secret. It is, Gareth figures. A secret he’ll hold nearest and dearest to his heart, all the way to the grave.
And then Steve puts a single finger into Eddie’s hole with no other preamble and Eddie grunts, fingers straining on his skin. Gareth doesn’t think, just pushes Eddie’s hands away and replaces them with his own.
“Yes, please,” Eddie says, muffled slightly by the pillow. “Just like that, Steve, Gare.”
And there’s something about holding Eddie like this, watching as Steve fingers him open, being totally at their mercy but also in his own realm of control. He could live in this moment forever.
Steve adds a second finger and scissors them, just a little. It looks…Gareth doesn’t know what he wants more. To be the one fingering Eddie open, or to be the one being fingered open by Steve.
“Watch this,” Steve says, then pushes and curls his fingers just so, and on the second twist, Eddie jerks up in a near-convulsion.
Steve does it again, making Eddie moan. Gareth wants to know Eddie this way, this intimately. He has a good feeling that he will soon enough, and that makes him giddy.
Eddie’s squirming more as Steve adds a third finger, making Gareth work a little harder to hold his cheeks apart. Gareth’s nails on his right hand dig in deeper than he means to but then Eddie’s moaning his name, and that just does something to him.
“You like that?” He asks, pushing the nails of both his hands just that little bit more into the meat of Eddie’s ass.
“Uh-huh,” Eddie replies, half slurred.
Gareth doesn’t know where the idea comes from, above or below or somewhere in between, but he’s leaning forward and running his teeth along Eddie’s skin, his cheek brushing against Steve’s wrist.
“Do it.” It’s not Eddie who says it, but Steve.
So Gareth bites down, not hard, but not a nip either. It makes something click into place, deep inside him, and Eddie pitches forward and then back into Gareth’s face like it burns but he can’t get enough.
“Again.”
It’s Steve again. And yeah, Gareth was already going to do it a second time, but there’s a warm fuzziness that courses through him at the control Steve holds, offers, something Gareth can dive into and bathe in, give himself over to.
Gareth bites a second time, just down from the first. No harder, but he holds on for longer. His right hand slips and he takes it as a sign to reach around and grab Eddie’s dick, and Eddie flings himself away at the touch.
“You stay there another second and I’m gonna spill before I get either of you inside me,” Eddie rushes out.
“Both…of us?” Gareth asks dazedly.
“Yeah, both,” Eddie says, and without turning around, he grabs Steve by his free arm and pulls him forward. “Stevie, you come lay down so I can blow you. Garebear, you try doing what Steve just did and then I want you to fuck me, and fuck me hard.”
What Gareth should probably say is yes, Eddie, I would love to do that, thank you for the opportunity, but instead all he says is, “shit, fuck, okay.”
It takes all of three seconds to maneuver themselves to where Eddie deems acceptable, Gareth’s feet just touching the end of the bed while Steve is half up his headboard. Eddie’s right there between them, excited energy coming off him in waves.
“Tap twice if you need a break,” Steve says evenly, and though Gareth is fairly certain he had been talking to Eddie, Gareth nods all the same.
Then Eddie’s tipping forward and taking Steve in his mouth, and Steve’s head falls back against his headboard. Gareth half-wishes he could continue just watching the two of them together, it’s gotta be better than any porn out there, but Eddie’s hole is right there in front of him and, really, it’d be a shame not to use it.
Gareth grabs the condom first and rolls it on, dick twitching in his hand now that it’s been neglected for the past few minutes. He then drizzles some more lube over Eddie’s hole, the smallest amount over his own fingers.
His vision is almost blurry with how much he’s turned on. He doesn’t waste time with one finger; he goes straight to two, determined to do just what Steve had done to find Eddie’s sweet spot.
It doesn’t take long, and Gareth’s ego takes a boost as Eddie’s breath hitches, and he must do something else because Steve moans too. It’s a beautiful chain reaction that Gareth started.
From there he adds a third, but now the end goal seems so close that it’s really only to ensure that Eddie’s stretched enough, that he’s ready. Still, Gareth takes a second to pet along the inner walls, really center himself in the moment. Breathe, and all that.
When he lines up, Eddie lifts off of Steve to say, “come on, Gare, wanna feel every inch of you.”
Well, no argument here. Gareth pushes in to Eddie, closing his eyes to really feel all that tight heat and slick walls and yeah, Gareth has imagined, dreamed, whatever you want to call it, but nothing could have prepared him for the glory and pleasure that is fucking Eddie Munson.
“Oh my God,” Gareth breathes as he gets closer and closer to bottoming out.
“Doing so good,” Steve says, and Gareth opens his eyes to meet Steve’s own, and they’re dark like they had been earlier in the kitchen, maybe minutes or maybe hours earlier. Shit, in this universe, maybe it’s been years.
“Don’t stop,” Steve says, and again it’s hard to tell if he’s speaking to Gareth or Eddie. Either way, they both listen, and then Gareth is bottoming out, feeling Eddie like a vice grip from which he never wants to escape.
Gareth groans, closes his eyes again. “Gonna - gonna fuck you now, Eddie,” he says, swallows around a lump in his throat. Shit, he needs to hold on to something.
Eddie only moans around Steve’s dick again, and then the most serendipitous thing happens. As Gareth pitches forward to hold Eddie’s hair for something to ground him, Eddie’s moan causes Steve to reach for the same place.
And then Steve and Gareth are holding hands while holding Eddie’s hair, and it’s so much like the day before but also completely different. They share a look, something burning and knowing and sweet passing between them as they lock their fingers tighter together, right against Eddie’s scalp.
“Better get on it, Gare, cause I want us to finish in him at the same time, and I’m - fucking - close,” Steve groans. Takes his lower lip in between his teeth again as if it’s taking all his restraint not to come in that moment.
Gareth sure as hell isn’t a masochist, or a sadist, or whichever the fuck likes to cause pain to others (or maybe he is? The biting may have put all of that into question) so he pulls out halfway and fucks into Eddie, starting a rhythm that has him seeing stars between this breath and the next.
It’s fast and it’s hard and it’s Steve’s hand and it’s Eddie’s hair and it’s friendship and it’s fun and it’s everything Gareth has ever wanted but had been too scared to ask for. Most of all, it’s mind-blowing and has Gareth close faster than he had thought possible.
“Gonna come,” Gareth warns, maybe for Eddie, maybe for Steve.
“Get Eddie off, too,” Steve says with what sounds like his final ounce of control.
“Yes, daddy,” Gareth says, and he has no braincells left to devote to why the fuck he just said that, just reaches around and jacks Eddie once, twice, and then he’s coming in Eddie’s ass, and Eddie’s spilling in his hand, and Steve’s swearing up a storm, and it’s light and heat and beautiful, wonderful release.
It’s everything and it’s more.
When Gareth comes back down from the stratosphere, still floaty and loose, Steve is smiling at him so fond and…and proud.
“That was unreal,” Steve says.
“I concur,” Eddie declares, having pulled himself off of Steve’s dick and wiping away some come from the corner of his mouth. “Man, I need a shower. And at least two more hours of sleep.”
Gareth pulls out, at a loss for words, but feeling no pressure to speak. He’s going to be replaying this morning through his mind for a long time, maybe forever.
Eddie arranges them so Gareth’s in the middle, Steve’s head on Gareth’s chest while Eddie lays on his back with a hand behind his head. Steve’s bed may be the biggest of the three but it still isn’t huge, so their legs all tangle together, sheets a total disaster on the floor.
It’s nice.
“This is nice,” Gareth comments.
“That it is, Garebear. That it is,” Eddie agrees.
“We still seeing Willow later?” Steve asks, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, sounds good to me,” Gareth says, then furrows his brows. “Wait, yesterday. Was that you guys trying to ask me on a date?”
Both Eddie and Steve laugh loudly, though it doesn’t feel like teasing.
Eddie kisses Gareth’s temple. “Yeah, babe, glad you finally caught on.”
Gareth shoves Eddie half off the bed, cackling at Eddie’s indignant noises. “Dick,” Gareth says.
Eddie gets back on the bed, the corner of his mouth turning up when Steve says, “Eds, whatever retaliation you’re thinking of right now, drop it. Just come cuddle.”
“Fine, daddy,” Eddie replies with a wink at Gareth.
But honestly, all of Gareth’s shame went out the window some time around his worldview-changing orgasm. So he doesn’t even flush when he kisses the top of Steve’s head and says, “thanks for defending me, daddy.”
Steve sighs. “You two are going to drive me into an early grave.”
“And what a fun drive it’ll be,” Eddie replies.
And, well, there’s a lot to discuss. A lot to figure out in their future, both near and distant. But Gareth’s sure about one thing:
Eddie’s right about it being fun.