Eddie and Steve were shooting hoops. Steve knew it wasn't what Eddie had in mind when he'd invited him to hang out that night, but they were always hanging out in Eddie's comfort zone. Steve had watched Corroded Coffin perform at the hideout more times than he could count, and Eddie had gotten into the habit of hosting Hellfire's D&D sessions at his place. This time, the ball was in Steve's court.
He chose to take Eddie to an old outdoor basketball court on the edge of town he and Tommy would frequent what seemed like a lifetime ago. They'd smoked on the edge of the court and talked about nothing until the air turned icy then Steve had the bright idea to play HORSE.
Eddie was horrible. Worse than Steve expected, and honestly, Steve hadn't expected much. They'd been shooting hoops for the better part of an hour, and Eddie had yet to get one in. However, he was having fun creating more elaborate handicaps to give to Steve after each layup or swish he nailed.
Hop on one foot, Steve. Turn around five times, Steve. Close your eyes, Steve.
Yes, Eddie sucked, but he seemed to be having fun. Steve definitely was.
"You really are bad at this game, Munson." Steve chuckled as Eddie missed yet another shot.
"Dude, it's not my fault. Gays can't do sports, it's a fact of nature," Eddie huffed, sweat shining off his brow.
Eddie had come out to Steve a month beforehand, and it appeared he was finally finished walking on eggshells around Steve, no longer worried the former jock was lying about how perfectly okay he was having a gay friend.
"That's bullshit, dude. For one, 'Sports' is like a whole subgenre of lesbian," Steve argued, sounding genuinely offended. Robin was great at soccer. She was a closeted jock if Steve had ever seen one.
"And how does Steve Harrington know so much about gays anyway?" Eddie teased, wiggling his brow suggestively as he lined up another shot at the hoop.
Steve panicked. Eddie had come out to Steve, but he had no clue if Robin had come out to Eddie. Oh, Christ, had Steve outed Robin? He couldn't tell Eddie he'd heard about it from a friend. Steve had one friend, besides Eddie, who wasn't a kid, and that was Robin.
"Because I'm queer," Steve responded before he could come up with another excuse. Which solved one problem and created about twenty more.
Needless to say, Eddie missed his next shot and promptly began choking on air.
