Chapter Text
"Eddie, come on, I don't want to waste my whole summer sitting here watching you stare at Harrington," Gareth complained, tossing his head backwards with a groan.
Eddie, who had twisted some of his hair around his finger and pulled it over his mouth in a self soothing gesture, ignored his friend's complaints. He felt like a fool, sure. He couldn't not feel stupid at the apparent death grip the sight of Steve Harrington in that god forsaken sailor suit had on his soul. And his erection, but that wasn't a conversation for polite company. He also felt like an absolute loser because as much time as he'd spent sitting on the bench directly outside Scoops Ahoy, he couldn't bring himself to actually go in.
He was a freak.
Not stupid.
There was no way in hell that he would be able to go waltzing into that stupid ice cream shop and order an ice cream cone from fucking Sailor Steve. Eddie sighed loudly and slid down further on the bench. The angle of his spine made Gareth wonder if Eddie even had bones or if he was just Gumby in a battle vest. Gareth looked over Eddie's head at Jeff who was sitting on Eddie's other side.
"I'm going to Orange Julius, do you want anything?" Gareth asked as he got to his feet.
Eddie didn't bother to respond.
Jeff shook his head, "No, I'm good."
Gareth stalked off across the food court to stand in the long line at the Orange Julius. He would definitely be gone for a while. Jeff glanced down at Eddie who appeared to be stroking his cheek with the hair he was holding. He then followed Eddie's gaze into Scoops Ahoy. Steve was at the counter talking to some girls. He appeared to be attempting to flirt with them, but it didn't look like it was going well from where Jeff was sitting.
When the girls at the counter walked away, giggling amongst themselves, Jeff spotted a girl popping up in the window behind Steve with a whiteboard in hand. She looked like she was teasing Steve.
"Is that Buckley? Jeff asked offhandedly.
Eddie only grunted.
Inside the store, Steve walked around the counter and through the seating area. He pulled the hat off of his head as he walked out the door. When he passed by where Eddie and Jeff were sitting it looked as though Steve meant to tuck the hat into his pocket but it fell to the ground at Eddie's feet. Steve obviously didn't notice and was making his way towards one of the restaurants. He was probably on his lunch break.
Eddie's eyes were glued on the hat. He slowly slid even further down the bench until he rolled on the balls of his feet and was crouched on the ground. He snatched the hat up and snapped upright before spinning to look at Jeff with an almost manic gleam in his eyes.
Jeff has seen that look many times.
Jeff knew that look meant trouble.
"Eddie, man, whatever you're thinking… don't. Just don't do it."
It seemed, however, that Eddie had already made up his mind. With his fingers clutching tightly to the stark white fabric of Steve's uniform hat, Eddie very nearly bolted in the direction that Steve had walked off in. Jeff nearly leapt to his feet and stared at Eddie's back with wide eyes as he called after his friend.
"Eddie. Eddie!"
The call fell on deaf ears. Or at least ears that could only hear his own rapid heartbeat.
Eddie easily spotted Steve standing in the middle of the food court with his hands on his goddamn hips. Eddie freezes for a moment and just watches. Maybe it's shameless. It's definitely inappropriate. But Steve is the one standing out in the open, wearing those tiny shorts with his hip popped to the side looking good enough to eat. Eddie has to physically shake himself out of that line of thinking less he has a bigger issue than just looking like an idiot.
Clearing his throat, Eddie strode over, "I think you dropped this."
Steve whipped around at the sound of Eddie's voice behind him. His hair flopped delicately over his forehead. The motion of the turn sent a waft of something sweet gently layered on top of something herbal and lightly floral. Eddie was immediately struck dumb and frozen when he locked eyes with Steve, his hand awkwardly held out between them. Why did he think he could do this? Why did he think this was a good idea?
Steve glanced down at the hat in Eddie's hand and he smiled.
Oh, yeah, that's why.
"Oh, thanks, man. They already made me buy two sets of uniforms. If I had to buy another hat I'd lose my damn mind," Steve laughed.
Steve reached out to take the hat from Eddie, their fingers just barely grazing in the process. Eddie felt like his skin was on fire. He nodded slowly as he watched Steve tuck the hat in his waistband. And, oh, that did something weird to Eddie's brain. He shook his head and cleared his throat to try and remind himself how to be an actual human being and not such a loser.
"Y-yeah. No problem, man."
Steve's brow furrowed adorably as he looked at Eddie. "You're… Munson, right? Eddie?" Steve asked, gesturing at Eddie with his right hand. And Eddie felt a little sick. The only way Steve would remember his name is if he remembered how terrible his little sidekick, Tommy, had been to him.
Eddie sighed and nodded once, "Yeah, Eddie. That's me."
"Thank you, Eddie, I owe you one."
"A free scoop should cover it," Eddie responded before he could catch himself.
Steve laughed. His face lit up and his eyes crinkled just so. Eddie felt his face suddenly warm up. Steve continued to smile at Eddie and nodded his head as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Yeah, alright. Stop by sometime, I'll hook you up."
"I'll hold you to that, pretty boy."
Eddie froze as soon as the words left his mouth. What the hell was that? His hands started to shake so he shoved them into the pockets of his jeans. He murmured something about seeing Steve later and turned on his heel to hurry back to the bench where he'd left Jeff.
When he approached, Gareth was back holding an Orange Julius cup in his hand. He and Jeff were standing and seemed to be arguing about something or other.
"I tried to stop him before he did something stupid!" Jeff said loudly. "I tried to run after him."
Eddie groaned and all but threw himself down on the bench. He covered his face with his hands to either hide from his friends or from his stupidity. He wasn't entirely sure which it was.
"You didn't run fast enough. I got over there and said something stupid so I had to walk back here full of shame." Eddie complained, dramatically dragging his hands down his face with an exasperated sigh.
Gareth sat back down next to Eddie, "Does this mean we don't have to sit here while you pine over that dumb jock all summer?"
Before Eddie could answer, he caught sight of Steve walking back to Scoops Ahoy. He had a drink carrier on one hand, with two drinks sat in it, and a bag from Burger King in the other. When he got closer, Eddie caught his eye. For a brief moment Eddie considered drowning himself in the fountain. But Steve smiled warmly and nodded his head in Eddie's direction as he walked back into the ice cream shop.
Eddie sat bolt upright and shook his head, "Oh no, that man owes me an ice cream. We are coming back."