Steddie Steakhouse Fic
No one asked for this but it’s been on my mind for days now. Please enjoy 1.8k of soft Steddie on their Anniversary. Steve makes them really fancy dinner reservations but Eddie is very sick.
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The early morning sunlight shone through the blinds of their apartment bedroom. Through a tired haze, Eddie reached out for his partner, but was met with cool sheets.
Eddie brought the heel of his palms to his eyes and groaned, the vocals sending a buzzing up the back of his sinuses. He loosely managed to cover with the back of his wrist before he was jerking forward.
“i’KTCH’ew! Tsschew! Hissh’IEW!”
“Bless you, handsome.” Steve exited the en suite, toweling off his hair.
“Thanks. snff, where’d you go?”
“Just for a quick run.” He pulled on a tee shirt and made his way to the side of the bed. “Happy Anniversary.”
Eddie beamed, “Happy Anniversary, baby.”
Steve leaned down to kiss Eddie, who was now in the process of getting out of bed.
“I’m bummed I have to work today,” The older man said as he pulled on some jeans. “I’ll see you for dinner though!”
“I’m still so shocked I managed to get us a table. This place is slammed like all the time.”
Steve had put in for a reservation at the nicest restaurant in Hawkins about three months ago. He wasn’t expecting to get a call saying he’d made the short list for this evening, but he was thrilled. He’d been wanting to take Eddie out for a nice meal for ages.
“I’m looking forward to it!” Eddie have Steve another kiss on the cheek and then disappeared to finish getting ready for work.
---
By the end of his shift, Eddie was beat. Usually he didn’t mind work all that much - he’d been doing mechanic stuff with Wayne since he was a teenager anyways. But today, he just felt hot and uncomfortable. His throat was starting to hurt and he’d probably sneezed 60 times.
His nose was raw and chapped from continual blowing into whatever bandana or rag he had on him. He just hoped it wasn’t too obvious.
He coughed into his shoulder as he unlocked the apartment door, already disliking the heaviness in his chest. He put on a smile as he crossed the threshold, not wanting to worry his partner.
“Hey! I’m home!” He called out, dropping his bag at their table before heading towards the bedroom.
He found Steve, buttoning up his dress shirt in front of a mirror. Eddie leaned against the doorframe and admired him for a minute.
“How did I get so lucky?”
Steve laughed, “Stop it, you flirt.”
“I’m gonna shower so we can go.” Eddie pecked Steve on the cheek and headed to the bathroom.
He turned the faucet, letting the water heat up, light steam clouds billowing up behind the curtain. Eddie pulled his tee shirt off over his head and paused.
The steam had loosened up some congestion and he could feel his nose starting to run, making it tickle. His eyes fluttered shut as he pressed the crumpled shirt to his face.
“HEH’MPTCH! N’gtCHh! H’MtsCHh’ew!”
He brought the shirt away from his face only to bring it quickly back up as a final sneeze snuck up on him.
“H’iKSHh’IEW! Ughhhhh…”
He squeezed the shirt around his nose and brought it down, removing most of the mess. The shirt ended up in the hamper, being replaced by a handful of tissues for him to blow into.
Despite going through several, the congestion didn’t seem to budge. Giving up on trying, he stepped into the shower to wash off before dinner.
Eddie liked to think he cleaned up nice. Sure, he grew up in a trailer and worked with cars and grease all day, but he could be swanky if he had to be.
He, too, had on a dress shirt and his nice pants, vest waiting patiently for him on the bed. He’d managed to get his hair to cooperate, so he was happy about that.
His nice shoes tapped the floor as he walked out to join Steve in their living room. The younger man looked up from his phone.
“Ready to go? I just called an Uber.”
Eddie nodded, following behind Steve out the front door of their apartment.
---
Twenty minutes later, they were pulling up to the restaurant. The sun had already started setting, and the decorative lights were coming on. A waitress in a short black cocktail dress escorted them to their table, a candle lighting it up.
“Thank you so much.” Eddie smiled at her as he sat down opposite Steve.
He reached out across the table and took Eddie’s hand for a moment. “I love you.”
Eddie squeezed his hand and returned the, “I love you”.
“Can I start you off with the chef’s recommended wine?” The girl was back at the table, dropping off a basket of fancy bread and some butter.
Steve nodded, “Yes please! I’ll try some.”
He and the girl looked to Eddie who had turned to the side, bringing the folded napkin to his nose.
“H’NxT! NxxT! ixxT’chiew! snfSNF Excuse me! I’ll try it as well.”
“Bless you! I’ll be right back with those.”
The girl nodded and turned on a heel, Eddie’s cheeks flushing bright red. “Sorry…”
“Don’t be sorry, Eddie. You sneezed. It happens.”
He blushed even harder, certain that wouldn’t be the only outburst from him this evening.
They ordered pasta to compliment the wine and bread. For a while, Eddie actually forgot about how bad he felt because he was so busy admiring Steve.
After the main course, Eddie’s tickle came back with a Vengence. It started out small. He scrunched his nose to try and get it to dissipate, but it only blossomed into a bigger tickle.
“Exchhhhuse me…” his breath partially caught in his throat as he stood up, “I need to use the restrhhhhoom.”
Steve watched from the table as Eddie got up and walked away. Steve swears he saw the older man’s shoulders hunch with a stifled sneeze as he walked.
Eddie had a closed fist pressed to his nose and mouth as he speed walked to the bathroom and went into a stall. He leaned his back up against the wall, pulling some toilet paper as a tissue.
Despite being embarrassed, he knew stifling them would only make the tickle worse. Letting go of any hope of dignity, he held the paper in front of his face and waited for the tickle to overcome him.
“H’eKSHh’EW! ikssh! eKSHh! snf snlorff NG’tchoo! Eh’TSHoo…. H’iKSHh’iew!!”
The tissues he was holding were soggy and falling apart. Throwing them away, he pulled some more toilet roll and blew his nose, folding it over and blowing again.
“h’TSH’iew! Fuck!”
He blew his nose a final time before exiting the stall and washing his hands. As he lathered them with soap, he couldn’t help but make eye contact with himself in the mirror.
He looked sad and pathetic. Nose bright red and runny, pale face with lips parted, bags under his eyes. He looked contagious.
He straightened out his jacket and made his way back to the table pretending nothing happened.
“Sorry about that Steve!” He sat back down.
“No worries. I ordered us some dessert. Everything okay?”
No, I just lost half my body weight in mucus and still feel like shit.
“Yeah, fine.”
Eddie made a face, hearing how congested he sounded. He prayed Steve wouldn’t pick up on it. He was so looking forward to this evening and Eddie would not be the one to ruin it.
Dessert was a slice of chocolate cake. The chef had written ‘Happy Anniversary’ in chocolate sauce at the bottom of the plate.
“Compliments of the chef. It’s on us tonight, congratulations.” Said the waiter who dropped it off.
“Wow, thank you so much!” Steve exclaimed, before turning to shoot Eddie an excited look.
Apart from his brief incident in the restroom, Eddie thought dinner had gone without a hitch. It was only when a shiver ran through his body that his constitution started to crumble.
“Are you cold babe?” Steve asked.
Eddie tried to avoid answering the question, “M’fine.”
Steves blazer was already draped over his arm as they walked downtown. The brunette opened it up and draped it around Eddie’s shoulders, wrapping an arm around his waist.
“Thanks Sthh Steve- H’aKSHuu! H’iTSCHew! …eh’iKSHhIEW!”
“Bless you!” Steve stopped walking, Eddie sniffling soupily against the back of his hand. “Are you okay? You seem really sneezy today.”
“Umm…” Eddie weighed his options in his head before sighing heavily, “Ca’d we actually go hom’be? I feel like garbage and I can’t stop s’deezi’g…”
Steve frowned and put a hand out to Eddie’s forehead. “Aww Eds, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well? You’re really warm.”
“Didn’t wadda ruin our special day.” He pouted in a way that made Steve’s heart flutter.
“You did not ruin it! Come here, I’ll call another Uber.”
Steve pulled Eddie closer to him, the older man leaning his weight against him while he ordered a ride back to their apartment.
---
Eddie had changed into sweatpants and a hoodie as soon as he was back home. Steve had told him to go lay down in bed while he put on the kettle for tea.
When Steve walked in carrying a mug, Eddie was lying down, in the throes of another flurry of sneezes. His head jumped off the pillow with each release.
“iKTSHoo! K’tschH! Heh-KSHoo!… H’iKSHhEW!”
A hand was loosely held in front of his face, but did nothing to keep him from spraying the air above him. His nostrils slurped the mess back in, making Steve squirm.
He set the tea down on the table and put a box of tissues next to Eddie on the bed.
“Blow your nose.”
Eddie coughed in response as Steve padded to the bathroom to fish out their digital thermometer. Steve slipped it under Eddie’s tongue, sitting on the edge of the bed and running fingers through his hair until it beeped.
“This cold sucks.” Eddie whined when Steve removed the device.
“I think you might have a sinus infection, Eds. You don’t usually get fevers with a cold.”
Steve turned the thermometer around to show Eddie a reading of 100.9°.
Steve put the thermometer on the table and climbed onto the bed, spooning Eddie. “I’m sorry you feel crummy.”
“Mmm n’do Steve you’ll get sick too.”
Steve used a finger to turn Eddie’s face towards him.
“You think I’m not going to cuddle you on our anniversary just because you’re sick?? I think I’m willing to gamble with this one.”
With a gentle kiss on the shoulder, Steve could feel his partner slowly ease into the cuddles, small sniffles occasionally punctuating the silence as he drifted to sleep.
Steve pulled the older man closer to him, whispering, “Happy Anniversary Eddie.”
