Day 24: Arranged Marriage/Mating of Convenience & Day 25: Scentmates/Soulmates
“Munson,” Steve Harrington says, standing on his doorstep, because apparently this is the bullshit the universe is throwing at him today.
He sighs, steps outside. Leans against the doorframe with crossed arms and feigned nonchalance. “I don’t sell from home,” he tells Harrington. “You wanna buy, you can do it at the table behind the school.”
“No, I- I’m not here to buy,” he says. Eddie looks closer, realizes the confidence is feigned bravado. He’s scared.
Eddie narrows his eyes. “Then what are you here for?”
“A mating, hopefully.” He sighs, runs a hand through his perfect hair. “Listen, can I come in? Can we not discuss this outside? ‘Cause I know El’s here with Max and if I know them as well as I think I do, they’re spying on us.”
Eddie blinks, flicks his eyes over to the Mayfields’ trailer. Sure enough, a curtain slots back into place.
Eddie narrows his eyes again, but steps inside, holding the door open for Harrington. “Shoes off. How do you know Mayfield?”
“She’s pack,” he says simply, toeing his shoes off just inside the door. “They both are. There’s some boys too, you might’ve seen Lucas before? Sinclair? He and Max are dating. We’re all pack.”
Eddie motions to the couch, sits down. “You said you’re here for a mating.”
Harrington looks down at his hands, clasped in his lap. “Yeah.”
“I think I’m gonna need a little more than yeah, Harrington.”
He winces. “Um. My parents? They’re trying to marry me off to the highest bidder.”
Eddie’s brow hits the ceiling. “You? King Steve? No way.”
He winces again. “Could you please not call me that? I get that you hate me, and you have every right to, but I’m trying not to be that guy anymore.”
Eddie tilts his head in thought, then nods. “Alright. Still doesn’t mean I believe you.”
Irritation flickers over Harrington’s features. “Why the fuck else would I ask you to mate me, dude?”
Eddie shrugs. “A dare? Laugh at the Freak when he says yes? Any number of reasons, really.”
He scrubs his hands over his face. “I was really shitty to a lot of people,” he starts quietly. “And I get that this might be, like… cosmic judgement, or something. But I refuse to mate the person my parents want me to.”
He sighs. “Take your pick, man. It’s a business deal. He made a joke with my dad about, like, smacking me around, and… compliance, or some shit. He doesn’t see me as a person, he sees me as an object. Some… thing to have sex with whenever he wants it. To hell with whether or not I want it. He’s controlling, manipulative, and I know he won’t be faithful. It’ll be a miracle if I don’t get rejection sickness within the first year.”
Eddie blinks, sits back. “Shit, man.” He thinks for a moment. “And you’re asking for a bite because?”
“If I’m mated, my parents have no recourse, legal or otherwise. A bite should be enough to get them off my back.”
Harrington shrugs. “I run, I guess. I’ve got- y’know Robin? Buckley? From band?”
“She’s… she’s my best friend. Like, in the entire world. She knows what my parents are planning. And if it comes down to it, we’ll run. We’ve got some savings tucked away, but it’s not much. But my whole life is here, my pack is here, and my parents aren’t. Much, at least. I don’t want to leave, at least not without my pack.”
“So why not ask her for her bite? She’s an Alpha too, right?”
“She is, but…” he shakes his head. “I can’t. Mostly because she’d do it.”
“And that’s a bad thing because?”
“Because it would fade. Or we’d separate, because as much as we’re gonna be in each other’s lives for the rest of our lives, we’re not… like that. We’re not meant to be together like that. And I can’t put her through that pain and heartbreak, if I have to bite her too.” He quirks a corner of his lips up. “Plus she’s a terrible liar. My parents would see straight through her.”
“And how do you know I’m a good liar?”
Hazel eyes flick over to him. “You were in theater. I took an educated guess.”
Eddie snorts despite himself. “That’s fair, I guess.” He tilts his head, sighs. “I’m still not sure you’re telling the truth, but say I believe you. What would I have to do?”
He works his lip. “It should just be a bite. That should be enough for them.”
He shrugs miserably. “I run, I guess. I go to Robin and we run.”
“And you think you won’t get isolation sickness from leaving your pack so quickly?”
“What other choice do I have?” He bursts out, an angry whine tearing its way out of his throat. “I can’t do what my parents want and if I stay in this town there’s no way for me to get away from them! I probably will end up sick but it’s better than fucking killing myself!”
Steve puts his head in his hands. “I can’t,” he whispers. “I would. I’d find a way to kill myself because I know my parents and I know my dad’s friends. There’s no way I’d make it one step out of the door before they find me again. It’s running or suicide but I don’t actually want to die.” He sighs, long and drawn-out. “Yet.”
Steve peeks up at him. “Okay?”
“I’ll bite you. If your parents want to meet me, you’ll bite me. We’ll find a way to dissolve it after that won’t end up in sickness.”
Steve studies him. “You mean it.”
Eddie spreads his hands. “What gave it away?”
He cracks a smile. “Mostly the lack of any jokes.”
Eddie snickers, stands. “C’mon. I was about to make lunch when you showed up. Hungry?”
“Oh,” he says. “Yeah, actually. Thank you.”
Eddie makes mac and cheese, silently daring Steve to say something about the box, but he just meekly thanks Eddie when he’s handed a bowl.
“Y’know,” Eddie starts, mouth full, “you’re not who I thought you were.”
Steve blinks down at his bowl. “Um. Thank you?”
Eddie grins. “Yeah, it’s a compliment.” He swallows, looks down at his bowl to scrape together another bite. “Thought you were perfect, in the worst sense of the word. You’ve got the hair, the looks, the car… people of every secondary gender lusting after you. What could you possibly not have? Especially that I do?” He shrugs. “Choice, apparently.”
Steve huffs a breath out. Eddie thinks it might be a laugh, or something trying to be one, in any case. “Yeah. Most castles are also dungeons.”
“Shit,” Eddie murmurs, leaning back in his seat and regarding Steve with wide eyes. “You’re kinda metal, Harrington, you know that?”
He looks up at Eddie uncertainly. “Is that a good thing?”
“Hell yeah that’s a good thing,” Eddie agrees, stuffing another bite into his mouth. “You want the bite today? Or was today to just pitch the idea to me?”
“No, I- if I can, if you don’t mind- today, please.”
Eddie leans back, looks at the clock. “You got anywhere to be in… six-ish hours?”
“Cool. I live here with my uncle, and he’s chill, he won’t mind, but he’ll definitely mind not knowing about it.”
“Oh,” Steve says. “Okay, yeah. Makes sense, I guess. So… you want to wait until after you tell him?”
“After we tell him. If you don’t mind telling him.”
“Okay. Until then,” Eddie grins, “I’m pretty sure you should know your Alpha more than just surface-level. Your parents are gonna have questions, right?”
“Probably,” Steve agrees, looking vaguely nauseous.
Eddie tilts his head. “Can I ask a question?”
“You just did,” Steve retorts, then colors. “Sorry. Yeah.”
Eddie snickers. “You’re kinda bitchy. I like it. Do you wear blockers because you want to or because you’re forced to?”
Steve’s breath catches in his throat. He glances at Eddie’s neck, his uncovered gland. “It’s- it’s not proper,” he starts, then bites his lip.
“That what your parents tell you?”
Eddie hums. “I don’t mind. Wayne won’t, either. If you want to take the patches off.” He frowns. “Do you- wear them at home, too?”
Steve sighs, won’t meet his eyes. “I think, maybe, me being an omega is the improper thing.”
“Well fuck that,” Eddie says, grinning and winking at Steve. “C’mon. I’ll show you mine?”
Steve giggles, glancing at Eddie before looking away and peeling the patch off.
In just a minute, a new scent starts to filter through the trailer. Peaches and raspberries, and something a little sour from the anxiety starting to show on his face.
Eddie sends out reassurance, calm-happy Alpha scent. He knows from Wayne that it smells like pine and petrichor, and as soon as Steve gets a sniff he begins to calm down. “Oh,” he murmurs, glancing at Eddie’s neck, then back away. “You, um.” His cheeks flush. “You smell good.”
Eddie chuckles. “Thanks. You too. I like fruit.”
“Um,” Steve says, confused, “I like fruit, too?”
“No, ‘cause- ‘cause of your scent? Peaches and raspberries.”
Steve shakes his head, brows furrowed. “Robin says I scent like marshmallows,” he says. “What, um- what do people say you scent like?”
Eddie’s heart slams double-time in his chest. Says quietly, “I’m guessing to you I don’t smell like pine and petrichor?”
Steve’s eyes widen as he shakes his head again. “You scent like the beach, to me,” he whispers. “And, like- sunset? I know that doesn’t make sense, but-”
“No, I- I get it. The moment when the sun goes down and it gets cooler?”
“Yeah,” Steve murmurs, eyes still saucer-wide. “Are we-”
“Looks like it,” Eddie agrees, glancing at Steve’s neck and leaning over, extending a hand, stopping just before he touches. “Can I?”
Steve nods, eyes wide, so Eddie does, rubs their glands together. His eyes widen at the feeling that zings through him. He keeps a tight leash on his scent until he smells the peaches and raspberries bloom, sweet and floral and fruity. His eyes widen even more. “You’re… happy?”
The fruit suddenly turns, goes bad. “Um.”
“No, shit, I-” he scrambles over on the couch, grabs Steve’s hands, lets his own scent bloom and fill out, tangible happiness. “Steve.”
Fruit turns ripe again as Steve’s eyes meet Eddie’s. “You are too?”
“I’m a fuckin’ idiot,” Eddie tells him, “but yeah.”
“Mhm. So is now a good or a bad time to tell you about the embarrassing crush I had on you starting your junior year?”
“No,” Steve gasps. “Really?”
“Yup. ‘Course, I a little bit hated you too, but that’s a separate issue.”
Steve snickers. “Of course.” He softens as he watches Eddie. “I am glad it’s you,” he says softly. “Out of everyone.”
Steve looks down at their hands, still intertwined. “The Alpha my parents chose for me wouldn’t let me make my own decisions. Would decide everything for me. Probably enforce a strict regimen for me. I’d be… nothing to him. He wouldn’t see me as a person. But you will.”
“Of course I would,” Eddie bites out, scent going tar-sharp. “Because you’re a fucking human being.”
Steve shrugs, squeezes his fingers a little. “He wouldn’t see it that way. A lot of people—Alphas, really, especially in the business world—still see omegas, especially male omegas, as… secondary. Sub-human.”
“Which is fucking stupid.” Eddie sighs. “Wayne’s a beta, so he… kinda gets it, y’know? So I kinda get it, like, by proxy.”
Steve hums, shifts. “Yeah. Okay, this is a complete one-eighty, but… I mentioned Robin, right?”
“Okay. She’s my absolute best friend in the entire world, we’re closer than anyone. She’s an Alpha but we’re not, like, together. Is that… going to be a problem?”
Eddie makes a face. “What the fuck? No! Be friends with who you want to be friends with!”
“Oh, thank god,” Steve whispers, sagging against the couch. “We’re basically siblings, except we tell each other everything, and I do mean everything, and-”
Eddie snickers. “You wanna call her and tell her we’re scentmates.”
“Yes!” Steve exclaims, then pulls back. “Unless- is that-”
“It’s fine, is what it is. She’s probably gonna threaten me, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. Uh. She might threaten you. Sorry in advance if she does.”
“Steve,” Eddie says quietly, “you don’t ever have to apologize for someone loving you so completely.”
“Oh,” Steve whispers, staring at Eddie.
He inclines his head with a small smile. “Phone’s right there. Want me to talk to her after?”
“I- yeah, she- like we said, she’s gonna want to talk to you.” He frowns at Eddie. “You really don’t care?”
“That you’re friends? No.”
“We’re, like- it’s not just friends, though. She’s my soulmate.”
Eddie snickers. “As long as she’s not your scentmate. That would merit a talk.”
Steve smiles. “No, we’re not scentmates. Just… closer than any non-bonded people have any right being.”
“Steve,” Eddie reminds him, “my nickname is the freak. I’m pretty sure you can’t out-freak me.”
“You’d be surprised,” Steve murmurs, walking over to the phone and dialing Robin’s number.
They speak for a few minutes before he calls Eddie over. “Please be nice,” he begs her, then hands the phone over.
“-talking about, I’m always nice,” Robin retorts.
“You’re Steve’s scentmate.”
Robin hums. “How do you feel about it?”
“Honestly?” He smiles at Steve. “Really good. I’m really happy.”
“And he explained how close we are?”
“He apologized for you threatening me, and I told him he never needs to apologize for someone loving him so completely.”
“Oh, shit,” Robin says knowingly. “Did he cry?”
“Almost,” Eddie chuckles. “Listen, Robin, you can properly threaten me later, but he wanted to call you as soon as we found out, so we haven’t really gotten a chance to talk yet. Maybe the three of us could do lunch later this week? My treat?”
“If you’re trying to bribe me out of threatening you, it’s only a little bit working. Lunch sounds good. Tuesday?”
“Tuesday?” Eddie asks Steve, who thinks, then nods. “Tuesday works,” he confirms.
“Tell Robin I’ll pick her up,” Steve whispers.
“Tell Steve he’s picking me up,” Robin says.
Eddie blinks, then bursts out laughing. “You two just said the exact same thing at the exact same time.”
“We do that,” Robin finishes.
Eddie shakes his head. “Damn that’s freaky. Okay, see you Tuesday, Robin.”
“Yup.” She hangs up, so he does the same, then pulls Steve back over to the couch.
“We should probably talk more about your parents.”
Steve groans. “Probably.”
“If- if you don’t want to-”
“No, it’s- I can, just-” he bites his lip, looks at Eddie, looks away.
“What?” Eddie asks softly.
“Can, uh. Like, the hands is nice, but can we-”
“Oh,” Eddie says, catching on, “yeah, sweetheart, come here.”
Steve trills softly as he settles by Eddie’s side, leaning on him, resting his head on Eddie’s shoulder. “So. What do you want to know?”
“I think it’s more a question of what they’re going to want to know about me. I know the type of person you’re talking about. I know I do my best to not associate with them.”
Steve scoffs. “Sounds like a dream.”
“It takes some work, but it’s worth it. You hopin’ to distance yourself from them?”
“I think so. Especially now- I never thought…”
“Yeah,” Eddie murmurs, pulling him in closer, as if he could protect Steve from the thoughts in his own head. “You never think it could be you until it is.”
“Exactly,” Steve murmurs back, then sighs. “They’re going to want to know that you can provide for me. Not because they care about me, because they care about their image.”
Eddie snorts. “They’re going to love the fact that I’m a drug dealer, then.”
Steve giggles. “Probably not. Anything they’re going to want to know about you… they’re not interested in getting to know you. They’re interested only in their status, in how other people see them. In the stories they can bring back to their friends to prove that they’re better.”
“Well ain’t we just a slap in the face,” Eddie mutters, lip quirking up.
“We really are,” Steve agrees. “I don’t care, though. Once we’re bonded… you’re my Alpha. They have no legal recourse.”
“Would they try something illegal?”
Steve sighs. “Maybe. Probably. Depends on how much this Alpha was gonna pay them.”
Eddie’s silent for a minute. “I’ll have to talk to Wayne, but it shouldn’t be an issue. Space’ll be a little tight but I’ll find a job, I know the mechanic’s hiring and Bill’s a friend of Wayne’s, owes him a favor I think.”
Steve shifts back to look up at Eddie, brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
Eddie blinks at him. “You moving in.” He waves a hand around. “If they’re gonna try something illegal, it’s gonna be a hell of a lot harder to do if you no longer live in their house.” He pauses suddenly. “I mean, of course, if you’d rather not move in, I get it-”
“You were right,” Steve says, snuggling back in to Eddie’s side, happy omega scent blooming. “You are an idiot. Of course I want to move in with you.” A pause, then, “you’d get a job?”
“Course I would. I need to take care of you, don’t I? Buy you sweet things to make you smile? Your favorite candy just because? A flower because I like the way you blush?” A blush crawls up Steve’s cheeks, and Eddie leans in to nuzzle it. “All those things cost money, darlin’, and dealing is a nice hobby, but it ain’t gonna cut it as my only source of income.” He shifts, shrugs. “‘Sides, uh. I dunno if you want pups? But I know what growing up as the son of a dealer was like, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Steve looks up at him, wide-eyed. “But not- you said-”
“Not Wayne,” Eddie soothes. “He’s my dad’s brother in name only. Dear ol’ Pa, may the devil be tap-dancing on his soul, was the drug addict of the family. Taught me some things, though. Like how to hotwire a car.”
Steve snickers. “Please don’t.”
“What if it’s your car? And you’re right there watching me?”
Steve wiggles around, turning where he sits to face Eddie and cup his face in his palms. “Eddie,” he begins, eyes wide and serious. “My car is my baby. You are not touching her.”
“Noted,” Eddie agrees. “Idea forgotten.” A pause, “your parents’ car?”
Steve collapses in laughter, leaning forward so his forehead rests on Eddie’s shoulder as he shakes with the force of his giggles.
He calms down a few minutes later, relaxing into the feeling of Eddie running a hand up and down in his back. “In all seriousness,” he tells Eddie, “they’ll definitely have you arrested for that. And it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to do what they want with me if my Alpha’s locked up.”
Eddie’s scent sours. “I was due for a pickup in about a week or so,” Eddie says thoughtfully. “I’ll tell Rick I can’t make it, won’t be his gofer any more. We can smoke the rest of my stash, it’s just weed. I’ll talk to Wayne tonight about talking with Bill sometime soon.”
“Steve,” Eddie interrupts softly, shaking his head with a small smile. “I was pretty done anyways. It’s no secret I had to retake senior year twice, and it’s a badly-kept secret that I’m a dealer. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together, even if it’s not right. People weren’t really buying anymore anyways.”
Steve looks up at Eddie. “Why did you have to repeat twice?”
Eddie hums. “Honestly? I kept forgetting to turn in my homework first go ‘round, and the second I decided I just… didn’t really care. This year I stepped it up, turned in my work, actually came to class… hell, I even participated in gym. I want to be the first in my family to graduate.”
“You will be,” Steve whispers. “I believe in you.”
Eddie hides his smile in Steve’s hair. “I’m glad.”
They spend the next hour or so talking on the couch until Wayne gets back, blinking at the boys cuddling on the couch, then moving on to the kitchen. “I’m makin’ grilled cheese, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Sit down,” Eddie calls back, laughing. “That’s your tired meal, old man, you can’t hide from me. And we wanna talk to you anyways.”
Wayne sighs and sits in his chair, nodding at Steve. “Hello.”
“Wayne,” he corrects kindly. “I recognize you.”
“You, uh. You probably know my father.”
Wayne smiles. “Probably. ‘Ve been here long enough, I recognize just ‘bout everybody.” His eyes turn kinder, somehow. “Who’s your father, boy?”
Steve looks down. Eddie tightens his hold on Steve’s shoulders. “Richard Harrington.”
Wayne hums. “Yeah, I know ‘im. Knew ‘im, more like, left soon as he was able. Came back with a pretty little wife from the big city.” He leans slightly, catches Steve’s eye. “In this house, we don’t judge based on who your daddy is.”
“Thank you,” Steve whispers.
Wayne leans back, nods. “Now. Eddie?”
Eddie shakes his head. “It’s his story, Wayne. What I can tell you…” he looks down at Steve, smiles. “We’re scentmates.”
Wayne inhales sharply. “Well then,” he says, smiling at Steve again, “welcome home.”
Steve immediately tears up. “Shit,” he mutters, pawing at his face. “Sorry, I’m- thank you, I’m sorry, I don’t-”
Eddie shushes him, pushes his hands down, gently wipes his face. “Hey, sweetness, it’s okay. A little water never hurt anybody.”
Steve sniffles. “Hurt the wicked witch of the west.”
Eddie giggles. “Then it’s a good thing no one here’s a witch, huh?” He pushes out comfort, and Steve relaxes into him, letting his eyes flutter shut as Eddie wipes underneath them with his thumbs. “You’re home,” he whispers. “Wanna tell Wayne why?”
Steve looks up at him with hopeful eyes. “Can you?”
Eddie holds his gaze for a minute, then pulls Steve back in. “Sure I can.”
He tells Wayne what led Steve to the trailer earlier that afternoon. Wayne stays silent, then when Eddie’s finished, he nods. “Alright. So what’s for dinner?”
Eddie immediately looks to Steve, who shakes his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m not picky.”
“Steve,” Eddie tells him, “you’re both a guest and my mate. You get to decide.”
Steve’s eyes sparkle. “Then I decide that I don’t want to decide.”
Eddie narrows his eyes at Steve just as Wayne bursts out laughing. “You’re gonna be good for him, kid,” Wayne tells Steve, who grins back. “Grilled cheese sound okay to you?”
“Sure,” Steve agrees. “I can help?”
Wayne shrugs an unaffected shoulder. “You could,” he says. “Or you two could go into his room an’ make it official. And do whatever comes after that.”
Steve blushes at the implication, but can’t argue that he’s practically itching for Eddie’s bite. He turns to ask Eddie and is arrested by the look in his eyes.
“Up to you,” Eddie murmurs, hungry eyes tracking Steve’s every move.
Steve nods, stands, and approaches Wayne. He pitches his voice low as he asks where Eddie’s room is, and after Wayne tells him—also quietly—he glances back at Eddie, just once, before taking off.
He hears Eddie laugh behind him as he scrambles off the couch. “Oh, you fucker!” Eddie yells gleefully, chasing him into his room and tackling him onto the bed, laughing along with Steve up until he pushes his nose into Steve’s scent gland and inhales.
Steve whimpers loudly and pushes at Eddie’s chest. “The- get the door, please, Eddie-”
Eddie rolls off the bed with a half-hearted grumble and shuts the door before jumping back onto the bed, bracketing Steve with a grin. “Hi.”
Steve settles his hands on Eddie’s waist. “Are you?”
“Almost,” he admits. “It feels a little weird, biting you before kissing you.”
A slight tug on his hips. “We can change that.” Steve leans up a little, nudges their noses together. Eddie pushes in until Steve’s laying down again. Eddie slides his nose off to the side, landing on Steve’s cheek as his lips barely brush Steve’s.
The grip on his hips tighten. “Don’t tease,” Steve begs, and Eddie acquiesces.
He pushes in harder, locking their lips together in a kiss that goes from zero to one hundred in less than a second as Steve parts his lips on a moan.
Eddie licks in between them with no hesitation. His aim is sucking Steve’s soul out from between his teeth, and based on the whimper that escapes, he’s successful.
He pulls back to pant out, “fuck, where’ve you been all my life, sweetheart?”
Steve gives a breathless laugh. “Right here, apparently, if it weren’t for my parents.”
“Fuck ‘em,” Eddie agrees. “Wanna bite you, baby, wanna show ‘em, give you my mark. Can I?”
“Fuck,” Steve breathes out, writhing. “Please, want it, Eddie, want you-”
“Yeah, I gotcha, baby, I gotcha, gonna mate you, omega-”
He latches his teeth into Steve’s skin and he goes boneless. “Alpha,” he whispers, horny and reverent, fingers pressing flower petal bruises into his hips.
“C’mon, ‘mega,” Eddie whispers back, blood in his teeth and sliding down his throat like honey. “Want your bite too, wanna complete it. Want you to feel me like I feel you.”
“Yeah,” Steve whispers, leaning up. “Yeah, please, wan’it-”
“Take it,” Eddie whispers, and slots his mark into Steve’s mouth.
Steve bites down and moans, and then Eddie moans, and he nudges his hips into Steve’s one last time—when had he even started?—and comes as Steve stiffens up, also coming.
Eddie collapses onto Steve, nudging his nose into Steve’s gland, as they both get their breath back.
“Fuck,” Steve breathes. “Shit. I didn’t know it could be that good.”
Eddie snickers. “And we haven’t even done anything yet.”
Steve looks at him mock-seriously. “I might actually die.”
Eddie laughs and starts sucking a bruise into Steve’s jaw. “Nah,” he pulls back to say. “I’ll be careful with you.”
“Fuck,” Steve mutters. “Eddie, can’t go again this soon.” He pushes ineffectually at Eddie’s shoulder, and Eddie moves away from his jaw, kissing up his cheek and over to his mouth instead.
“I wanna say something crazy right now,” he tells Steve.
Steve’s eyebrows raise. “I doubt anything could be crazier than asking an Alpha you barely know to mate them.”
Eddie crawls up Steve’s body and rolls them over on the their sides. Says into Steve’s hair, “I love you.”
Steve pulls back to see his face. “You do?”
Eddie nods. “I know it’s insane, and way too soon-”
Eddie’s heart drops somewhere into his left thigh. “Baby?”
Steve cries harder, but he’s still scenting sweet as pie, and Eddie is thoroughly confused.
He decides to give Steve a few minutes, and eventually he calms down, wiping at his face and sniffling. “Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Eddie tells him softly. “I’m just confused.”
“I just…” Steve waves a hand around, laughs at himself a little. “I fall fast, and I fall hard, and I’ve never… I’ve never met anyone who falls like I do. And it’s always me getting left with the broken heart. So for you to say it first, and after, like, three hours… I mean, yeah, it’s insane, but holy shit, Eddie, I love you too.”
“Oh,” Eddie says. “Good.”
Steve giggles, pressing back into Eddie’s chest. “Yeah. Good.”
Eddie sighs, wraps Steve up in a hug. “Now there’s just one thing to figure out.”
Eddie hums. “It’s not really an if Wayne heard us. These walls are ‘bout as thick as paper. So the question is, do you think we can sneak out the window, escape to North Dakota, and change our names?”
Steve giggles again. “Change our names? Who’d you be?”
“Hm,” Eddie thinks. “I always liked the name Joseph.”
“Oh, shit!” Eddie laughs. “No wonder I like it!” He nudges Steve’s cheek with his nose. “What name would you choose?”
Steve sighs, settles back into Eddie’s chest. “I like the name Elias,” he admits softly.
Eddie’s quiet for a few moments. “Can I say something else crazy?”
“I like Joseph Elias. As a baby name.”
Steve’s arms tighten around Eddie’s waist. “Yeah,” he breathes out. “Me too.”
A little over a year later, Steve holds Joseph in his arms as Eddie watches. “Our North Dakota boy,” Eddie murmurs, petting over Steve’s hair.
“Ours,” Steve agrees quietly, smiling up at Eddie.
