first line.
rating: teen & up | wc: 1.8k | tags: alternate universe- hockey, pov eddie munson, hockey player!eddie munson, hockey player!steve harrington, linemates to friends to lovers, idoit4idiot, slight pining, getting together | written for week one of @steddiesportsau
All Eddie’s ever wanted is to play hockey.
Sports have never really been his thing, not in the general sense that they seem to be for most athletes, but hockey?
Yeah, hockey’s definitely his thing.
Maybe it’s the sense of belonging, maybe it’s the fighting, maybe it’s just the fun of strapping blades to his feet and zipping around the ice like he’s still ten years old again with Wayne telling him to slow the fuck down.
Or, maybe it’s the chemistry that he’s never seen anywhere else, specifically his chemistry with Steve Harrington.
Okay, that can’t be the reason he’s always wanted to play hockey because he only meets Steve during their time together on the Saginaw Spirit, but it certainly doesn’t help sway him to other avenues. He doesn't expect for them to hit it off the way they do— Steve is a certified Sports Guy, a multi-sport athlete who had his pick of the pros and chose hockey over both baseball and basketball— but then Steve cracks the glass off of Eddie’s pass at their first practice together and breaks the ice, so to speak.
There’s a running joke that the OHL is a little bit of a cult and Eddie can’t deny that claim, so when he and Steve end up attached at the hip, no one questions them for a full two seasons.
Two seasons of carpools to the rink, alternating playlists, and memorizing each others’ coffee orders. Two seasons of being seatmates on the plane, of weird little rituals, of pregame naps with Eddie as the little spoon that Eddie maybe enjoys a bit too much. Two seasons of being roommates in just about every hotel across the OHL, of being actual roommates who celebrate every win and suffer every loss together just hoping for their chance.
It all comes to a screeching halt when Steve’s selected second overall in a loaded draft class, and the only surprise as far as Eddie's concerned is that Steve doesn't go first overall.