for @corrodedcoffinfest million words celebration!
also on ao3
rated t | 2248 words | no cw | tags: established steddie, band breakup, birthday party, marriage proposal, grieving a loss of a future that never was so the future that was meant to be could exist and other such dramatics
🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻🔺🔻
There’s a million reasons that things didn’t work out for them. They argued about everything, had no money, their van broke down too much, and they never quite understood what sound they wanted as a group to name a few.
But they wanted it. God, did they want it.
Wanting it wasn’t enough.
Eddie always thought if they wanted it bad enough, and worked hard enough, they’d get there. Turns out, you need a lot more luck and hope. And talent. That, too.
He’s not an idiot, or oblivious. He knows they’re good for Hawkins, maybe even Indiana. But they aren’t “go to California on a dream” good. They probably never will be.
And now they won’t.
Steve wraps his arms around him from behind, kissing his neck and then his shoulder, resting his nose against his pulse.
“You should come to bed, babe,” he whispers.
He’s right. He’s barely slept for days, and getting into bed and cuddling up to Steve will help his morose mood. It’s just that he’s twitching to grab his guitar and write something. He’s dying to get in his van and drive to Gareth’s house a mile up the road and come up with a new plan that’s doomed to fail. It’s a habit now, one that’s going to take a while to break now that they aren’t a band anymore. Not officially, anyway.
“Eddie? You okay?” Steve asks, voice louder now, laced with concern. He picks his head up, but Eddie quickly reaches back to tug him back into place.
“Don’t let go,” Eddie tells him. “Stay.”
And because Steve is an angel, and Eddie doesn’t deserve him, he does. He doesn’t ask any questions or try to say anything to make him feel better. He doesn’t push him towards the bed to try to make him sleep. He just holds him.
Eventually, Eddie turns in his arms and cups his face, kissing the corner of his mouth and giving him a small smile.
“Can I play you something?” Eddie asks.
Steve grins. “Always.”
He plays for a while. Too long, going off the yawns Steve tries to hide after a few songs. He’s slowly sinking down into the bed while Eddie strums and hums, occasionally pausing to write in his notebook.
Eddie plays until Steve’s asleep, light snores coming from where he has his face buried in the pillow. When he looks up, he finally notices Steve wearing his cropped Corroded Coffin shirt.
It makes him cry. He’s quiet about it, not wanting to wake Steve and see that worried look on his face again.
He wishes things turned out better for them. He wishes that Steve was visiting him on tour instead of sleeping in a trailer he promised he’d never come back to. He wishes he could say he accomplished what he set out to do, just one time.
—
He writes songs often, but the inspiration isn’t there. It’s harder without Gareth banging on his drums, trying to find any beat that works with the melody Eddie has in his head. They could try Gareth coming up with a beat first, but that’s just not how they do things.
How they did things.
Eddie looks around the record shop. He doesn’t mind this job. The owner’s pretty cool, knows a lot about every genre of music. He plays guitar and bass, too. Sometimes on payroll days, he sets aside some time to jam with Eddie after they lock up.
It’s fun as far as minimum wage, unskilled labor goes.
Jeff comes by every Friday when he’s done with his classes, flips through the new releases, even if he doesn’t like the artists. He just likes shooting the shit with Eddie. They’ve always been like that. Even when they argued about band stuff, they’d find common ground with something else.
Gareth practically lives at the trailer on Sundays, a desperate attempt to escape his own house. His grandparents visit every Sunday and turn it into a miserable place. Eddie doesn’t mind. Steve gives them space for hours before he usually yells for them to come eat. He always gives Gareth a long hug before he leaves, like he knows that Gareth’s grieving, too.
Frankie mostly makes Eddie come to him, but he doesn’t mind. He knows it’s because he had a falling out with his parents and doesn’t want to step foot back in Hawkins if he can help it. He’ll go wherever he has to to see his friend.
But it’s tough not getting together anymore. He wishes they could all just hang out, not as a band, without the pressure, without the commitment. He wants them to be friends again, real friends.
He just doesn’t know how to make that happen.
—
“Cake is in the oven. Wayne will be here in ten to help me set up the tables and chairs. Robin’s got beer. Don’t ask me how,” Steve shakes his head as he runs down his checklist for Eddie’s birthday party. “Dustin might be late. Said he’s bringing his girlfriend and she takes forever to do her hair.”
“Sounds familiar,” Eddie teases, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist and kissing his neck. “You want any help?”
“It’s your birthday, you’re not allowed to help.” Steve turns to kiss his cheek. “You should go get changed, though. Pretty sure Gareth said he was coming early to avoid his grandma asking if he’d found a wife yet.”
“But he doesn’t even have to lie anymore!” Eddie groans, throwing his hands up. “Fine, fine. I’ll go. You wanna help me?”
“You don’t need my help to get dressed,” Steve rolls his eyes.
“But I could use help with…other things…” Eddie wiggles his brows and winks. “You said for my birthday we could-“
“I know what I said. I meant after your party,” Steve’s face is bright red as he looks back down at his list. “Plus, I’m not wearing that under these clothes. I’ve got too much to do still.”
Eddie smacks a kiss to his lips and rushes off to get ready for his party.
Everyone’s coming.
Even Frankie.
It’s not the first time they’ve all been together since the band broke up, but it’s the first time it’s happening under Eddie’s roof. It feels like there’s more potential for something to go wrong here.
It’s the biggest party he’s ever had for himself, but 30 is a big number according to everyone who cares about him. There’s a cake that Steve made sitting on the table surrounded by cards and gifts from everyone who loves him.
Jeff, Gareth, and Frankie are all standing together on the porch. They’re not arguing as far as Eddie can tell.
He joins them hoping it stays that way.
“There’s the birthday guy!” Jeff slaps his shoulder, nearly spilling the soda in his cup when he does. “Heard we’re cutting the cake in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, Steve’s got a pretty strict schedule for that apparently,” Eddie rolls his eyes fondly. He’s never been much for a schedule, but it makes Steve happy and he’s a big fan of that. “Enjoying the party? Need anything?”
Gareth snorts. “It’s your party. We don’t need you to take care of us.”
“I know, but-“ Eddie freezes. He swallows back the sudden lump in his throat.
The final thing, the one thing out of the millions of things that ruined their band, was no doubt that Eddie could be a little overbearing and overprotective about them. He wanted things to work so badly. He pushed on things he shouldn’t have because he thought it was best for all of them. He turned down things that the others wanted to do because he thought it wouldn’t be right for their sound. He fought with Frankie to protect Gareth, he fought with Gareth to protect Jeff. He fought with Steve to protect all of them.
In the end, he tried to be too in control.
Happens to all the greats, right? It’s just not a good story when you aren’t great first.
“I know.” He says again. He gives them a smile before he rushes off to find Steve. They don’t stop him. He’s sure his realization was written all over his face.
When he finds Steve, he’s pacing the kitchen floor, Wayne trying to calm him down about something quietly. It’s a bit unnerving for a birthday party, especially when everyone’s outside.
“Steve?”
Steve’s head snaps up and over to Eddie, eyes widening comically. Wayne mumbles something about idiots and walks out the back door to rejoin the party.
“Hey. Everything okay? Cake in a few minutes,” Steve says, plastering on a fake smile. Eddie steps closer, watching the way Steve’s hands are shaking as he tries to shove them in his pockets.
“I’m good. Are you okay?” Eddie cups the side of his neck, searching his face for any other clues about what could possibly be wrong. Could he be sick? He mentioned a headache yesterday, but he seemed fine this morning.
“I’m good! I promise,” Steve reaches up to wrap his fingers around his wrist, smile changing to something more comforting and real. “Are you happy?”
The question isn’t entirely unusual, but it still makes Eddie worry again.
“Of course I am. You brought everyone I love together and made my favorite cake. And we’ve got naked plans tomorrow. How could I not be?” Eddie tries to push his worry away as Steve leans in to kiss the corner of his mouth.
It’s probably nothing. Steve’s a bit worried that the weather won’t hold up for them and he doesn’t want everyone in the house, so maybe that’s what he’s so riled up about. Wayne was probably just offering to help bring stuff inside if the storms start earlier than they’re supposed to.
“Good. That’s all I want,” Steve kisses him again before he leads Eddie back outside.
He brings him over to the cake and yells for everyone to come sing. He didn’t think people did that for adults, but he goes along with it because it’s entertaining watching a bunch of mostly tone deaf adults try to sing together. He’s beaming by the end, almost forgetting he needs to blow out the candles until Steve nudges his arm.
When he blows them out and turns, Steve’s not there.
Well, he is there.
He’s just not standing up.
He’s on one knee, holding a very simple silver band. Everyone around them is quiet.
“I knew you weren’t just throwing a birthday party!” Eddie laughs, leaning down to tug Steve up off his knee. It’s his bad knee, because he’s an idiot. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“I’m fine,” Steve rolls his eyes. “Let me say this.”
Eddie grins at him. “Carry on.”
“I know life’s been different than what you wanted. You hoped to be the next big rock star and it didn’t work out. You didn’t wanna stay in Hawkins. You probably didn’t even think you’d end up with me, but here we are,” everyone laughs as Steve smirks. “I think we’ve got a pretty great thing going here. Even when it’s not perfect, and when we still hope for more, we’re together. That’s enough for me. And I’m hoping that maybe that’ll be enough for you, too. We can’t file the papers to make it legal, but Wayne’s already got a speech ready for us to get married right here in this backyard someday if you say yes.”
Eddie wipes a stray tear from his cheek. “You have to ask me first.”
“What?” Steve’s brows raise before he realizes. “Oh. Right. Eddie, will you please spend forever with me? Wherever that may lead us?”
“Yes. Of course I will. I’d follow you anywhere.”
Everyone cheers. They kiss. It’s like a movie if movies ever showed the kind of love they have.
“Best birthday ever?” Gareth claps him on the back. His girlfriend is standing off to the side. She looks like she was crying. “Guess that puts more pressure on me, huh?”
“Guess so. Surprised you needed any,” Eddie jokes, turning to give him a hug. “Surprised she’s waited this long.”
“I’ve got a way with my hands, what can I say?”
Jeff playfully shoves him and fake gags. “Sure you do. Congrats, Eddie. Steve’s been stressed about this for months.”
Eddie turns to see Wayne hugging Steve close, patting his back.
“He should’ve known I’d say yes,” Eddie smiles fondly as he turns back to them.
“He’s just worried about tying you down for real,” Frankie says as he steps closer. “You’ve never been much for staying in one spot forever.”
“I don’t mind if it’s with him,” Eddie admits. He’s not even lying.
Saying yes doesn’t really change anything for them. They’ll wear rings, have a little ceremony in their backyard, maybe they’ll refer to each other as husbands with their friends. But they’ve already been living together for years, seen each other through so much. They make plans together, they pay bills together, they struggle and win together.
He doesn’t think he’d have that if he had become a rock star. Sure, Steve supported him while he tried. He probably would’ve stuck around for a while if they’d made it. But who knows what would’ve happened a year down the road. Two.
There’s a million reasons why things didn’t work out for the band.
One of them is so he could have this life, this future with Steve.
Prompt: Knot | Word Count: 586 | Rating: E | CW: Sexual Content | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: AU, Omegaverse, Alpha Eddie, Alpha Steve, Alpha/Alpha, Freak 4 Freak
Eddie wants to know what it's like.
He can't really know, he knows that. He's not an omega. His body isn't going to give, not in that same way, but the desire to take has slowly scrambled his brain. It's all he can think about. And he needs to find someone, some other freak, willing to try to knot him. Now.
He scans the options from his spot at the end of his high table. Eyeballing every alpha that walks by, he knows they are all no good. Not for this, not for anything. There's nobody in this senior class he'd let anywhere near him.
Then, his eyes catch on a familiar head of hair.
Well, maybe one.
But he's not an idiot. Steve Harrington isn't gonna fuck another alpha. Especially not one that's such a freak. Not when he has all the omegas in their class throwing themselves at his feet. The stink of them is a cloying cloud that follows Harrington everywhere he goes.
Eddie flexes his ass, clenching, squirming in the cafeteria seat. This is ridiculous. He is a freak. At least his cock is, as it's currently getting all horny over another alpha.
Steve lifts his head from his tray, nose flaring, swiveling like a goddamn owl until his eyes lock on Eddie's. A knowing smirk curls on his lip.
Well, fuck. Just kill Eddie now.
Eddie gets cornered outside the school in the alley between the buildings, and it's fucking stupid. Everybody knows not to corner another alpha, especially not one their age. Young, dumb knotheads. All of them.
But Steve Harrington didn't seem to get that memo, and Eddie melts back against the brick. He doesn't want to fight Harrington. He wants to fuck him.
Correction: He wants to be fucked by him.
Eddie spreads his legs tilting his hips upwards. It's obscene, and forward, but Harrington seems to react to it positively.
"Yeah?" Eddie asks, and Harrington's eyes are blown wide as he scents him, extensively.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Steve wraps a big hand around both their cocks, stroking hard as Eddie looks around this very plaid room.
"Fuck," Steve says, "I love your cock. You gonna pop? Let me feel your knot against mine?"
God, he's a freak, too.
Eddie nods, frantically. Absolutely. He still wants. But they can start here.
He feels the beginnings of Steve's knot, and it just fuels his own.
Somehow, Steve's hand fits around them both, and he's jacking them both off, hard. Knots sliding together, getting bigger, catching against each other in a way that Eddie's never felt before.
Fuck.
Eddie comes, making a mess all over both of them. Steve follows, and they are just absolutely slick with it as Steve squeezes both of their knots, gently pulsating his grip. Eddie comes again. Groaning.
Eddie's knot starts going down first, and when Steve feels it, he loosens his grip, allowing his own to deflate as well.
Flopping onto his back, Eddie slings his forearm over his eyes.
Steve does the same, arm brushing Eddie's.
"That what you wanted?"
Eddie laughs, the sound vibrating throughout his chest.
"What?" Steve asks.
"I wanted you to knot me."
"But you're not — oh."
Eddie's humiliated. He rolls onto his belly. He can't look at Steve.
The hand touching his ass cheek startles him, and he jumps.
Steve's wet thumb brushing against his hole is like lightning shooting up his spine.
"You think it's gonna fit?"
Eddie laughs, unhinged. Wouldn't you know it? Freak finds freak.
If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇
written for the @corrodedcoffinfest June microfic challenge
prompt: knot | wc: 586 | pov eddie | rated: T | tags: pre steddie, background robin/chrissy, eddie has a crush on steve, subtle flirting, eddie hates camping - until steve changes his mind | also on ao3
Eddie made a lot of bad choices in his life but this one might be his worst yet. Letting Chrissy talk him into a fucking camping trip with Buckley and Harrington, a whole damn weekend spend out in the wild, sleeping in tents and all, ugh.
There's a reason why Wayne looked at him like he'd grown a second head when he told him about the trip, knowing too well that his nephew is not made for the outdoors. They tried that once, when Eddie was 12, and agreed to never do it again for both their sakes.
He should’ve stuck by that, but here he is now, sitting uncomfortably on a log, swatting at mosquitoes, feeling bored and itchy and useless. He offered to help the girls get the cooler from the van (‘No, Eddie. We do not have to hunt or fish for food,’ thank fucking god for that!) but got the hint when Chris said they're fine on their own.
So he sits there and mopes, watching Steve pile up twigs and newspaper scraps to build a fire, and as much as he hates to admit it, is impressed by how quickly he gets it started.
"Where d'you learn that?" he asks honestly curious, his heart skipping a beat when Steve turns to him with a proud, gorgeous smile.
"Oh, uh. Summer camp. When I was 13," he replies and shrugs it off like it's nothing.
Of course. Fucking rich kids and their fucking fancy Summer time activities.
"My parents went on a trip to Paris and didn't trust me to stay home alone."
No, actually? Fuck Steve's parents for going on vacation without him.
"What, like, some boy scout thing or something? Where they teach you how to tie knots and stuff?" Eddie jokes and Steve laughs, says "Yeah. Something like that."
Seemingly satisfied with his work, Steve takes his attention away from the steadily crackling fire and sits down beside Eddie.
"Had my first kiss there, too," he fake-whispers, leaning in like he's sharing a secret the trees and birds around them aren't supposed to hear.
Eddie's ears are burning, but it's definitely from the heat of the fire, not because Steve is suddenly so close now, their knees are touching.
"Oh, really? Did you sneak into the girls' quarters at night?" Eddie laughs weakly, feeling just a tiny bit jealous for reasons he’s not willing to give any thought right now.
"Hell no!” Steve huffs out, “The counsellors threatened to put anyone they caught breaking the rules on cleaning duty. Do you know how nasty the wash rooms were? Scarred me for life, man." Steve shakes his head and scrunches his nose in disgust, then his lips curl up into a cheeky grin. "Luckily, I didn't have to sneak out." Steve winks at him and it takes Eddie a second to get what he’s implying. "His name was Alex."
Oh, okay. Yep. That’s- great.
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Eddie says, acting casual when on the inside, he's having a minor (major) crisis.
"Mhm, yeah. Learned a lot at camp."
Steve stands, picking up some logs to feed the fire with, looking back over his shoulder when he suggests, "I could show you, while we're here."
Eddie swallows roughly.
He has the sinking feeling Steve is not talking about showing him how to start a fire, or how to tie a knot.
And suddenly, the thought of sharing a tent with him doesn't seem so horrible anymore.
rated t | 481 words | no cw | tags: enemies-ish to friends to use your imagination lovers, steve has a crush on eddie he just doesn't realize it, ambiguous ending
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Every time he thinks he's figured out how to be a good person, something comes up that makes him realize he still has some work to do. Robin insists that everyone has things about them that they could change, but for him...well. He just wishes that he didn't have to have something so shitty happen for him to realize what he needs to work on.
This time, it's his stupid pride.
He likes being right. Who doesn't?
He really likes being right when he's arguing with Eddie.
There's just something about Eddie that makes him grit his teeth and stamp his foot in the ground. His father used to call him stubborn, his mother called him stuck in his ways. Eddie won't call him anything anymore, probably.
He went too far. He sees it now. At the time, he was frustrated and kept forgetting the words he needed to explain himself and then he couldn't just admit he was struggling so...now they aren't talking.
It's not like they've been super close since everything with Vecna. They all hang out together sometimes, but never one on one. They didn't even get gifts for each other for Christmas.
They're just so different. The bonding he did with all the kids and Robin over everything is totally different with Eddie.
He makes Steve's chest hurt.
He feels a little like a divorced parent waiting outside his car for Dustin and Max to come out of Eddie's trailer. He's got his arms crossed over his chest, his legs crossed in front of him, and sunglasses pushed on top of his hair. He doesn't want to be here and he's been waiting for too long. He's biting his tongue until it bleeds because it'll make him a better person.
Just as he's about to go knock on the door for the third time, it opens.
Eddie comes out, humming, as if he doesn't have a care in the world.
Steve waits a second to see if Dustin and Max are going to follow. When they don't, he throws his hands up.
"Where are they?"
Eddie nearly trips coming down the steps. "Where are who? What are you doing here?"
"Max and Dustin told me to be here to pick them up," Steve is sure he didn't mix up the days. He wrote it on his calendar the second they called. "Are they not here?"
"No..." Eddie is only about a foot away from him now, looking him up and down. "Surprised you even offered to get them since you can't stand the way I-"
"I didn't mean that." Steve interrupts. "You annoy the shit out of me sometimes, but. I didn't mean that I hate anything you do."
"Oh."
"Can I come in?" Steve asks.
Eddie nods.
Hours later, when he leaves Eddie's house with a smile, he's glad he sucked up his pride.
Incredibly excited to reveal my project for my first ever @steddiebbang
Slaying Dragons in the Dark is a hurt/comfort fix-it fic that follows Steve and Eddie as they hide away and heal in House Harrington after the events of Season 4. It's part fix-it fic, part "make these characters confront their trauma" fic, and I'm very excited to get to talk about it now!
Also so happy to have @staymagical as my wonderful artist this year. Those book binds? Divine. I also have @spectrum-spectre as my magnificent beta.
Want a preview? Check out my summary and a snippet below:
Eddie Munson died. Heart stopped, bled crimson on the ashen ground of the Upside Down until he was ripped through the bony fingers of the Reaper, gasping for breath and writhing in pain. These new friends, new acquaintances, had adopted him as one of their own, and they refused to let him go gently into that good night. But when wounds get patched, and reunions occur, how do you move on when that same hell is still threatening to burst forth around you? When nightmares of teeth and tails and terror still haunt your sleep? When half of the town thinks you're Satan himself and most of them think you're dead? When the terror whose minions you died to and who your allies failed to kill is still lurking in the dark, growing stronger every day? When you are healing alongside a man that, quite literally, snatched you from death's clutches, dragged you out of hell, and made you the best damn cup of coffee you've ever had?
1986 may not be the year Eddie graduates, but it's sure as hell going to be the year he stops running, the year he grows, the year he survives. If not for himself, then for others. Because he has a whole new network of support, and they're hauling him kicking and screaming, hiding him away in the Harrington house as he heals from wounds both physical and mental. Maybe, in the middle of all this madness, he can find time to heal his heart, too. Or maybe, he just goes insane looking at the same handful of boring rooms every day with only Steve Harrington for regular company.
"You…you're all…you," Eddie starts, sad, wet eyes glancing up at him, head still drooped, "And I…I can't even sleep without being scared. How are you not scared?"
Steve stilled for a moment, brow furrowing in thought as he contemplated Eddie's question.
"I'm not scared," Steve started, Eddie huffing out a bitter laugh before Steve continued, "I'm fucking terrified."
At Steve's admission, Eddie lifted his eyes to meet Steve's, searching for an answer in his green-brown hazel eyes, "Every time, I think it's going to be over finally, and it keeps coming back. And at this point, I feel like Penhurst would have a field day with my brain."
Eddie grinned at his admission, lopsided where the gauze and tape limited movement, before it fell from his face, looking at Steve with such sadness, "Each time it's more of the same, but also each time it's different. It always builds and builds, and you'll have some weird fucking fears."
Eddie tilts his head in confusion, brows knitting together, "You aren't doing much to reassure me there, Harrington."
"You know the Byers can't put lights on their Christmas tree anymore?" Steve asked Eddie, who shook his head no before Steve continued, "Joyce…she used them to communicate with Will when he was in the Upside Down the first year, back in '83—had 'em all over her house. I saw it when Nancy and Jonathan set a trap for one of those monsters, kids call it a demogorgon. She had some ouiji board type shit on the wall with the alphabet, and strings of lights all along the ceilings."
Steve let out a shaky breath before continuing, "They…the lights flicker when those things are nearby. When Nancy pulled a gun on me to chase me off from the Byers' house…I was standing at my open car door, about to haul ass out of there. When I looked back…it was like a strobe light was going off. I could hear Nancy and Jonathan yelling, and some awful sound. I was fucking terrified. But I couldn't…knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had just left them, you know?"
Eddie flinched at that, looking away, "Yeah, well, I did run, Harrington. After Chrissy…I fucking ran."
"The thing is…I did too," Steve rasped, voice dripping with disdain for himself, "Before Nancy could scare me off by pointing that gun at me, that thing…it dropped out of the ceiling and cornered us in Jonathan's bedroom. When it disappeared, Nancy yelled at me to leave again, telling me it was going to come back, and I fucking ran."
Steve looked up, eyes focused and piercing as he met Eddie's gaze, "Yeah, we both ran. But think about what you saw, what I saw? That's some horror movie bullshit that neither of us prepared for, that neither of us could do anything about. But after that, neither of us ran."
Eddie scoffed at that, drawing an annoyed glare from Steve, "No, you don't get to downplay yourself like that, Munson. You could have stayed in that boat when the vines dragged me through the portal, but you jumped in after us."
"Yeah, cause I was too scared to stay there alone," Eddie spat, voice filled with self-loathing.
"And when you went through the gate? Saw those bats eating me alive. You didn't run. You fought them off, alongside Robin and Nancy, with a fucking oar. And you saw what they did to me, how terrifying that place was. And when we planned to go right back in there to fight the thing that killed Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick? You were the second one through that portal."
Steve looked to Eddie, who was staring a hole through a spot on the comforter, chewing the nail on his thumb. Steve leaned into his vision, hand going to Eddie's shoulder to push him back gently, forcing him to make eye contact.
"You saved Dustin, man," Steve asserted, admiration and appreciation clear in his voice. "He told me what happened, how the bats came through the vents. They would have poured through that portal, gotten both of you. It would have blocked the rest of us from getting out. So yeah, I guess if you're being technical, you ran then. But not because of fear, but purpose."
Steve watches Eddie try to fix his hair after they see a concert.
Steve sits on Eddie’s desk chair and watches across the hallway as Eddie wrestles with a wide toothed comb at his bathroom sink. He’s feeling good—tired, but not like the night should’ve been over hours ago—and despite the drying sweat and sobering up, he thinks he’d be happy just endlessly hanging out, drawing lines up and down Eddie’s body with his eyes, zoning out to the tendons in his hands.
Eddie had backcombed his hair earlier, because he wanted it BIG for the concert. That was good—he and Eddie had stayed at the edge of the pit. He’s a natural wall, and Eddie lit up like a dog chasing a car as he got to shove people. When Steve found a loose shoe and handed it to a tall guy, Eddie had caught his eye and beamed at him like he was being useful and fitting in. It’s easy, somehow. He was worried, looking like himself, in line at the thing, but there were other guys who looked regular too, and he’s not that preppy these days. Dressing for monster guts had changed him.
Eddie’s using oil on the knots in his hair. If he just got in the shower and used conditioner it’d go better, but Steve’s not going to suggest that because then he would have to find something else to look at while he simmers pleasantly under the echoes of their night out. Eddie’s gonna have to shower anyway, he’s not going to want to go to sleep with all the cooking oil in his hair, but that’s later. Maybe Steve can time it so he suddenly has to piss when Eddie’s in there and then maybe they can hang out, like he and Robin do, with the curtain shut tightly but trusting each other to be cool.
Watching Eddie work at his hair is not like watching Robin get ready, though. He doesn’t stare her down from wherever he can and catalogue the cut-out of her body like he does to Eddie—like he could take scissors and take him and put him on top of whatever picture he wanted to.
He could make a whole book of Eddie. Cut-outs of any second like a freeze frame in a movie and he could—
“Jesus FUCK!”
Steve jumps up and has to take a few breaths, watching Eddie’s frustration—boiled over; pasta water all over the stove—before he can swallow down his heartbeat and go into the bathroom.
“Alright. I’m taking over,” he declares, Coach style, like he never does with his friends but Eddie just gives him big eyes and holds the comb out. “Take off your shirt.”
Eddie eyes get even bigger but he does, flinging it across the hallway to the corner where his laundry basket is buried under dirty clothes. Maybe later Steve will declare something about that too.
Steve surveys the bathroom and takes Eddie’s wrist for no good reason, guiding him into the kitchen with its big sink.
“Run the warm water,” he says, lingering until Eddie nods, and even then he waits until the air gets awkward before he lets go. “Not too hot.”
He grabs conditioner and a towel, folding it to cushion Eddie’s naked back against the counter.
“How do you want me?” Eddie grins, toothy—funny. Steve wants to bend him face down and fit his hips to his ass, sink his fingers in his hair. That’s how.
“Face up, I’ll be careful.”
Eddie lays himself back, waiting, and Steve’s mouth fills with spit with anticipation.
