The night of the events of Starcourt, Steve lies about his parents being home because he doesn’t want to impose on anyone else. So he says his parents are waiting for him back home and Joyce drops him off to get some rest.
Steve gets home and immediately realizes it’s a horrible idea, he’s concussed, confused, alone, scared, and in pain.
He panics and ends up walking through the woods alone where Wayne finds him when he’s getting home from work.
Wayne freaks out over the injured sailor boy that looks like he hasn’t slept in days and who is confused about how he got there.
He convinces Steve to come in for coffee, but when they get inside Steve starts looking around fascinated by every little trinket. he ends up in Eddie’s room,
“Where am I?” he wonders and even through the questions and fears it makes Wayne chuckle,
“This is my nephew’s room” He answers looking at Steve walk around with stars in his eyes at the mess.
“He must be really cool,” he tells Wayne.
Wayne nods and smirks but then Steve catches his own reflection in the mirror,
“is that me? Jesus no wonder you look so worried, I look like shit”
And he says something that breaks Wayne’s heart a little, “I’m sorry,” and he looks so sad too, and so honest like he really thinks him not looking okay is a problem for Wayne. Like Wayne would get mad at him for not being ‘presentable’.
“I should leave,” Steve says.
Wayne raises his arms in mock surrender,
“Woah, no kid, it’s fine, you don’t look that bad, I was only worried because you look tired. When was the last time you slept?”
Steve thinks for a while and frowns, “I don’t remember…”
“Why don’t you rest here in this cool room,” Wayne asks him with a kind smile, “and then will get that coffee, ok?”
Steve agrees and falls asleep the second his head hits the pillow.
Wayne sighs and leaves the room, he sits on the couch and sees on the tv the news about the fire.
It’s an explanation, not the whole truth but it’s something. Clearly, Steve was there but that doesn’t explain the bruises, the confusion, the fear. He feels like something else might be going on.
And why on gods earth was that kid all alone?
Eventually, he falls asleep too.
So when Eddie gets home from spending the night at Jeff’s after a gig, he finds his uncle sleeping on the couch and doesn’t find it weird at all, he tiptoes to his room for a change of clothes and there he finds the fucking former king of hawkings wearing the skimpiest sailor uniform sleeping on his bed, and for a second he thinks 'is it my birthday?’ but then Steve turns in his sleep and Eddie sees his face and thinks 'shit’
He is instantly worried, no matter how much he dislikes jocks, no one deserves to be brutalized like that.
And to ruin that beautiful face? A crime.
Once more he tiptoes into the hallway and goes where his uncle is slowly waking up. He gets close, real close so when Wayne opens his eyes the first thing he sees is Eddie blinking at him.
Wayne jumps a little and bites back a curse, “Jesus kid!”
Eddie chuckles, “Sorry, Wayne. Might telling me about the little sailor in my bed?”
Wayne sighs and tells him.
When Steve wakes up a bit later is to the sound of Eddie’s acoustic. He’s sitting in his desk chair, plucking a sweet and soft melody,
“Morning goldilocks,” he tells him with a smile.
Steve, who had a bunch of excuses and apologies lined up already frowns, and inclines his head, “Goldilocks?”
“I found you sleeping in my bed, didn’t I?” Eddie answers sweetly.
Steve blushes, he can’t help it, and once more instead of getting up and leaving he gets distracted by Eddie’s whole deal.
“I’m not even blond” he argues.
Eddie bows his head at him, as if to say he got him there, but then says,
“You have locks of hair that look golden in the sun, goldilocks”
Steve really hopes the bruises cover his blush, he really, really hopes. But judging from Eddie’s smile, he can’t tell it’s not the case.
“I should leave,” he says moving slowly to the edge of the bed.
Eddie places his guitar on the desk and turns to fully look at him, “You don’t have to. If you don’t want to,” he points to something on the bottom of the bed, “Look, clean clothes and my fluffiest towel, why don’t you take a shower and then we drink that coffee my uncle promised?”
And Steve’s heart hurts with how much he wants that. He doesn’t want to be alone, he wants to stay here with the kind wonderful man he met last night and Eddie, who played guitar for him while he slept and thinks his hair is golden, but still…
“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose”
Eddie snorts and mouthes 'impose’ to himself before leaning closer and looking Steve in the eyes,
“I’m sure, Goldie. Go, shower. I’ll go put the kettle on”
And steve can’t do much more than nod and smile shyly at him.
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