Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eddie leans against the cafe counter as the guy that has quickly become their regular for their Friday night jam sessions. His co-worker leans next to him pressing into his side with a shit-eating grin.

“Robs, don’t look at me like that.” 

“Jesus, have you even talked to him before?”

“No! At least not at great length. Which is the problem!”

“Okay I didn’t want to make this awkward between us…but he’s my best friend.” She rushes out causing him to cough into his fist.

“Oh god and I’ve been rambling about him to you for weeks,” he puts his head in his hands feeling a blush go across his face and neck. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s cute. I mean you listen to me ramble about Chrissy-your best friend- so what makes it any different?”

“Now that you say that; it really doesn’t seem that different. But you have at least had hours long conversations while talking to Chrissy!”

“Very true, but why haven’t you had a super long conversation? Anyone outside of us would think you weren’t nervous with how you flirt with him.”

“I’m too nervous to have a super long conversation! What if I say something wrong and he thinks I’m a terrible person.”

“Trust me, he might at first seem like he dislikes you, but that’s because he’s deciding whether or not to trust you. I don’t know what happened before we met-because he hates or doesn’t want to talk about it, but that’s changing-so he has a hard time easily trusting people.”

Before the conversation can continue, they notice him pulling out an acoustic guitar unlike usual where the instrumental just plays in the background. Robin playfully rolls her eyes seeing how Eddie practically melts onto the counter at the sight. She locks eyes with Steve giving a soft grin before it turns into a concerned frown seeing the turbulent gaze.

“Good Evening, everyone,” Eddie grins knowing there’s only one customer besides Robin and him. “Hope you guys don’t mind if I change the pace and do one of my own songs that I wrote a few weeks ago.”

“Wow, an original. We must be pretty special sweetheart,” Eddie calls out, noticing how tense Steve’s shoulders are.

“Leave it to you, Eddie. Anyways this is Family Lines.”

                                                                                                            ~~~

My father never talked a lot

He just took a walk around the block

'Til all his anger took a hold of him

And then he'd hit

My mother never cried a lot

She took the punches, but she never fought

'Til she said, "I'm leaving, and I'll take the kid"

So she did

Robin nearly drops the cup in her hand-heart aching so deep in a way that she wasn’t sure it could- hearing the lines and the pain in the admission. Eddie’s eyes go wide and suddenly they realise how lucky they are that there’s only one customer in the building. Steve won’t look at either of them-pointedly looking at his own hands as he plays the guitar- before Robin sets the cup on the counter. Eddie squeezes her shoulder taking his eyes off Steve for a second to see her watery gaze before she sits on the ground preventing Steve from seeing her. He notices how she presses a hand to her mouth tilting her head up as she silently cries.

I say they're just the ones who gave me life

But I truly am my parents' child

Scattered 'cross my family line

I'm so good at telling lies

That came from my mother's side

Told a million to survive

Scattered 'cross my family line

God, I have my father's eyes

But my sister's when I cry

I can run, but I can't hide

From my family line

Eddie’s throat constricts hearing the hint of anger in Steve’s voice as he sings the song letting them know about his past. He senses more than sees when Robin stands up hearing about the sister-they both know who he means-when she leans into his side. He blindly puts an arm around her shoulders tucking her into his side as they bear witness to Steve’s pain.

It's hard to put it into words

How the holidays will always hurt

I watch the fathers with their little girls

And wonder what I did to deserve this

How could you hurt a little kid?

I can't forget, I can't forgive you

'Cause now I'm scared that everyone I love will leave me

Eddie slowly walks to the front door locking it since there aren’t any customers left-the last one left when Robin had dropped to the floor-and no one had come in for a bit now. If his manager fuses at them for locking up early, he’s ready to take the blame because Steve obviously needs to get this out. His voice had gone incredibly soft as Eddie walked towards the front door-his eyes still locked on his guitar- slowly letting his gaze come upwards.

Scattered 'cross my family line

I'm so good at telling lies

That came from my mother's side

Told a million to survive

Scattered 'cross my family line

God, I have my father's eyes

But my sister's when I cry

I can run, but I can't hide

From my family line

From my family line

Eddie feels his breath woosh out as Robin leans back into his side-on the front side of the counter this time around-because Steve’s eyes are shiny. Shiny with unshed tears almost as if he doesn’t know how to let them fall from his eyes anymore which makes his chest ache. To think someone had taught Steve that he couldn’t cry because it was wrong.

All of my pain and all your excuses

I was a kid but I wasn't clueless

(Someone who loves you wouldn't do this)

All of my past, I tried to erase it

But now I see, would I even change it?

Might share a face and share a last name, but

(We are not the same)

Eddie can understand the sentiment of that last section with his own parents-hence why he lives with his Uncle-but that’s a thought for a different time. He distantly feels Robin gripping the back of his shirt in a death grip when he locks eyes with Steve.

Scattered 'cross my family line

I'm so good at telling lies

That came from my mother's side

Told a million to survive

Scattered across my family line

God, I have my father's eyes

But my sister's when I cry

I can run, but I can't hide

From my family line

From my family line

Steve’s voice trails off as he stares at the two of them before Robin rushes forward gripping Steve in a tight hug. Eddie catches how he gives a trembling smile before burying his face in Robin’s shoulder. When they pull apart, Robin puts a hand to Steve’s face before softly saying something to him as Eddie moves to head behind the counter. Making drinks will give his hands something to do while his mind keeps going a million miles an hour. However, Robin grabs onto his arm pausing his thoughts.

“Eddie, go sit with him. You don’t have to talk, but please sit with him.”

“I can make the drinks, Rob. Give you and him some time to talk…” he trails off when she shakes her head.

“I know that I’m going to cry if I sit with him and that’s not what he needs right now. So, I’ll make the drinks and calm down in the meantime.”

He nods before heading to the table that Steve has buried his head on top of. He silently takes a seat noticing how Steve shifts just slightly to peek up from his arms before Eddie gives a soft smile. He pillows his head on his arms mimicking Steve’s position; happy to see a soft grin from the other man. He doesn’t say anything, just silently waiting to see if Steve wants to talk, especially since he can see tear stains on Steve’s face. Whether they’re voluntary tear stains or not, he doesn’t particularly care since it seems the other man has bottled up a lot.

They stay in the same positions until Robin comes with the drinks she made for them. Steve gives her a grateful smile wrapping his hands around the mug while Eddie shifts his chair so she can pull another one up. He takes the cup sipping as Robin grabs her chair sitting with it turned backwards making him snort.

“Did you guys lock up while I was singing?” His voice is rough from crying but they ignore it knowing if they draw attention it will only upset him more.

“Yeah, the last customer ducked out and they were the only ones there for the last two hours. So, I locked up early. Seemed personal and like it took a lot for you to finally sing the song so I didn’t want someone to be a dick about it. It takes a lot to open up about information like this.”

Eddie catches the fleeting look of understanding that goes through Steve’s eyes before he takes a sip of his drink. Robin looks between the two causing Eddie to lean his head on his hand staring into his drink.

“You guys won’t get in trouble for that will you?”

“Steve, that doesn’t matter. I highly doubt we will, but us getting in trouble for closing early doesn’t matter.”

“I just don’t want to cause you guys any trouble.”

“No trouble at all, sweetheart. No need keeping the building open if there’s only one customer for 3 hours straight and no one else coming in during that time. Plus, I’m pretty close with the owner and can tell them the reasoning behind it. They won’t be upset about it. So, don’t stress yourself about it.”

Robin snorts into her cup causing him to roll his eyes at her. However, she sends Steve a soft look that he misses by staring into his cup like it’ll give him the answers to the universe. 

“What were you planning to do tonight, Steve?” She softly asks and he shrugs causing her eyes to flicker to Eddie.

He raises an eyebrow at her causing her to give him a pleading look. He flickers his eyes to Steve giving a hint of a nod causing her to give a relieved grin.

“Come back to our apartment for a little bit? You can say no of course.”

“Maybe for a bit. Only because I know you’re worried and if I go home you’ll stay up all night.”

“Guilty as charged!” She says with a trembling grin.

                                                                                                                 ~~~

Eddie unlocks his and Robin’s apartment toeing his boots off while the other two come in. He pulls his hair down shaking it out breathing a sigh of relief at being able to have his hair down after hours of being pulled up. He can hear the sound of Robin stifling her laughter turning his head slightly to see her bent over hand over mouth while Steve’s eyes are wide. He quirks an eyebrow but neither say anything so he shakes his head.

“I’m going to change,” he mutters, heading to his room.

“Wow Steve that was incredibly subtle,” she snickers out causing him to put a hand to his face.

“Shut up, I know that. Give me a break Robs. My poor heart is going to stop.”

“The two of you are insufferable! Help me pick out a movie.”

Which is what Eddie comes back to find them doing, he heads into the kitchen grabbing three mugs reaching for a familiar container. He can hear the two of them softly conversing in the background as he reaches into the fridge grabbing what he needs. He mindlessly makes the drinks letting their voices fade into the background as he works diligently.

“Is that hot chocolate?” A voice asks, causing him to whip his head around to which Steve puts his hands up.

“Jesus Christ, give a guy some warning Stevie.”

“You seemed super spaced out so we wanted to tell you that the movie’s set up.”

“Cool, if you grab one of the mugs I’ll bring the other two into the room. Robin most likely will fall asleep like twenty or thirty minutes into the movie. She opened and then the other barista who was supposed to close with me called in. I tried to get her to leave for a few hours to nap, but she’s stubborn.”

“Oh yeah. She’s stubborn about her friends having to do things by themselves. She means well by it. She just doesn’t want you to get overwhelmed.”

“I know that, but I don’t want her burning herself out and getting sick because of it. What do you do when you aren’t with Robin or at one of our weekly jam sessions?”

“Oh, I’m surprised Robin hasn’t told you at this point. I’m a piercer at the local tattoo shop.”

Robin grins seeing the way that Eddie’s steps falter for a second before he continues forward with a sickly sweet grin. She practically beams when he hands her the cup of hot chocolate that she eagerly takes.

“You Rob are a little shit,” he whispers so Steve won’t hear causing her to stifle her laugh.

“Love you too,” she murmurs before Eddie takes his usual seat on the couch.

If Steve is on the next cushion over then it’s just a coincidence-one that has Robin softly rolling her eyes at them. She’s curled up in the recliner like she normally does on their movie night and not long after drinking her cocoa she’s fast asleep. Eddie grabs a hold of her mug so she won’t drop it in her sleep-if he takes everyone’s mugs at the same time then no one but him and Steve will now-he sets them in the sink for cleaning later. He picks Robin up careful to make sure he won’t wake her as the movie murmurs in the background heading to her room. He huffs when her nose scrunches in her sleep as he pulls the blanket over her-otherwise she’ll complain about how cold the apartment is and how it woke her.

He snags some blankets from the pile in the corner of the living room before taking his seat back. He drops a blanket on Steve’s lap causing him to owlishly blink when he drags his attention from the movie. His eyes move over to where Robin was before his brows furrow seeing her gone.

“I put Rob in her room because otherwise she’ll sleep in that recliner all night before complaining all morning.”

Steve snorts before something happens on the movie that grabs his attention causing him to focus on it again. Eddie double checks his alarm is on for in the morning-closing and then opening the next morning sucks so much- before paying attention to the movie.

                                                                                                          ~~~

Eddie rubs his eyes hearing his alarm going off near his ear before hearing a grumbling. He blindly turns off the alarm, confusion flooding his body before memories of last night flood his brain. He cracks open an eye to see that sometime in the night he and Steve had shifted. 

Somehow they’d gone from sitting next to each other with Steve leaned into his side to both of them laid across the couch. Steve’s cheek is pressed into his chest right where his heart is and his hand is laid in between Steve’s shoulder blades. Their legs have somehow tangled with one another’s and Eddie can already feel how his neck is going to be aching during his shift. However, he can’t find it in him to car right now seeing how at ease Steve is while asleep.

He’s broken out of his thoughts hearing a snort causing his eyes to flicker to Robin who’s sat on the counter sipping a cup of coffee. He makes a noise in the back of his throat seeing her which is what wakes Steve up. He doesn’t move barely breathing as Steve slowly wakes up taking a few minutes to realise he’s not in his own apartment. When he realises this, he quickly takes stock of where he is letting out a breath recognising Robin’s living room space. After that comes the recognition that he’s laying entertained with someone incredibly warm. He quickly tilts his head enough to catch sight of curly hair from the corner of his eye before hearing wheezing from the kitchen. He yelps before attempting to sit up feeling his face burn causing the wheezing from the kitchen to become even louder.

“Morning Dingus and Ed. Sleep well?”

“I’ll remember this when Vickie comes over,” Eddie threatens before swinging his legs off the couch to head to his room.

Robin gently places a cup of coffee in Steve’s hand before Eddie’s coming back pulling his hair back into a bun. He ruffles Robin’s hair before taking the to go cup of coffee she passes to him.

“Go back to sleep Rob! You deserve it after yesterday, especially since you’re off today. See ya later, Stevie!” He calls as he’s heading out the door and then he’s gone.