for @steddiemicrofic march 2026 prompt, "short"
Rating: T | WC: 321 | ao3
Tags: eddie has a crush, flirting, short shorts
The boys’ voices all overlap, along with a subtle ringing in Eddie’s ears as he stares from the bleachers. With spring on the horizon, and the first warm-ish day upon them, Eddie and his friends decided to spend their lunch period lounging by the football field. They weren’t the only ones; plenty of other little pods of Hawkins High students are scattered about.
Eddie isn’t concerned with them. He’s far more interested in the figure who just jogged out onto the track in the single tiniest pair of running shorts Eddie has ever seen.
“Eduardo,” Gareth says, clapping to get his attention.
“You’re staring, dude,” Jeff hisses.
Wait. Shit. I am. Eddie yanks his gaze away from Steve Harrington’s powerful thighs, the ones he so desperately wants to feel under his fingers, wrapped around—
“I still can’t believe you’re into that,” Gareth adds, shattering Eddie’s daydream. “What happened to standards?”
“Shut up, Gare. You had a crush on Tammy Thompson.”
“That was before she opened her mouth!”
“She sounds like a Muppet, right?” another voice puts in, and Eddie’s blood runs cold.
His head whirls around, and he sees that Steve has stopped to stretch just a couple yards from them.
Eddie eyes him, suspicious. Up close, it’s easier to see the smattering of moles and freckles dotted across Harrington’s legs, all the way up to the hem of those ridiculously short shorts of his. It takes every bit of willpower Eddie has to look him in the eye instead of watching the constellations on his skin shift each time he flexes a different muscle.
“You eavesdropping, Harrington?” Eddie says. He prays Steve didn’t overhear too much of the conversation.
Steve chuckles and shakes his head. “You guys are louder than you think.”
Eddie swallows. “You, uh…how much did you hear?”
“Not much,” Steve says. He winks. “‘Eduardo.’”
