One word prompt: Pineapple - sent by @spectrum-spectre | WC: 877 | Warnings: None | Rating: G | Tags: Fluff; Pre-relationship; Eddie's horrible taste in shirts. | [AO3]
The road trip had been Robin’s idea, and Eddie hadn’t wasted a single second before agreeing to it.
“We can use Steve’s car,” Eddie had said, voice laced with excitement at the prospect of getting out of Hawkins in the very near future.
Steve got it; he too wished nothing more than to get out of that town, at least for a little while. After everything they had been through, it would be lovely if they could escape Hawkins a bit and see new places, meet new people, so a road trip sounded awesome but—
“Why are you offering my car?” Steve asked, crossing his arms petulantly and leaning back against the diner booth so he could glare at both his friends properly. “I didn’t agree to anything yet.”
Robin rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to agree, you’re going anyway.”
“And unless you wanna spend days stuck inside my van, your car is the obvious choice here,” Eddie shrugged.
And that had been it. Steve couldn’t really argue with that, and he didn’t even want to; he’d never say no to a road trip with two of his favorite people in the world, but those assholes could’ve at least had the courtesy of waiting for Steve to say yes before making plans about his car.
In total, they spent two weeks planning their trip. At first, the idea was for them to see some states, visit some famous tourist attractions and come back.
But then Robin said she wanted to see the ocean, and Eddie had claimed that if they were to see the ocean then they had to go to California because everybody knew the Pacific Ocean was the better ocean. Steve had no idea if there was even a difference between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean but driving to California was much more appealing to him than driving to Florida, so he ended up agreeing without much prompting needed.
Two weeks of planning, one more week for them to pack and prepare everything they’d need for their trip and then they were ready to go.
Excited as he was to get out of Hawkins, Steve barely slept the night before their trip. When the clock hit six, he gave up any attempt at resting and got out of bed. He’d probably regret that decision later, when they were on the road, but right then Steve was just too anxious to stay quiet.
He checked his bags for the fifth time, just to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything, then jumped in the shower to get started with his day.
A quick shower and some breakfast later, Steve was taking his bags downstairs when the doorbell rang, out of nowhere.
A quick glance at his wristwatch told him it was still too early for Eddie and Robin to arrive; they were supposed to leave around eight, the clock showed that it was barely seven.
Confused, Steve left his bags on the couch and crossed the living room, heading to the front door and pulling it open. Imagine his shock when he indeed came face to face with Eddie, standing right there with his own bags and wearing the most hideous shirt Steve had ever seen; bright pink, with dancing pineapples wearing sunglasses. The hot pink shirt clashed horribly with Eddie’s pale skin.
Eddie’s presence by itself, so early even if they were supposed to meet that morning, was already surprising, but that damn shirt just made it even more surreal. For a moment, all Steve could do was stand there and stare at his friend as his brain tried to make sense of the situation.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Eddie asked when Steve remained quiet for way longer than he should have.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Steve blurted out.
Eddie looked down at himself for just a moment, then back up at Steve with the cutest frown, as if he had no idea what Steve was trying to say there.
As if that horrible pineapple shirt was exactly what he was used to wearing every day and Steve was being freaking weird by reacting that way.
Maybe he was. Steve tended to act weirdly when he was caught off guard, sue him.
“It’s my vacation shirt,” Eddie shrugged, hand smoothing the front of said shirt. “We’re going to the beach, Steve, you didn’t really expect me to wear my usual cool, all black attire, did you?”
“You know we’re only getting to the actual beach in a few days, right?” Steve asked. “Unless you’re planning on wearing that thing the whole time.”
“I know that,” Eddie scoffed. “That’s why I bought a bunch of similar shirts when I got this one.”
“Yeah, that’s not as comforting as you probably think it is.”
A loud laugh left Eddie’s lips, and he punched Steve’s shoulder as he came inside with his bags.
“Dick. You’re just jealous because you don’t have a cool vacation shirt. But worry not, I can lend you one of mine.”
“I’m not gonna wear your horrible shirts, Munson.”
When they finally got to California, Steve was wearing a yellow shirt with palm trees and hula dancers.
