Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Steve was having a massive headache once again, which was really not that surprising anymore 'cause every day was put on repeat. There was lots of searching for a cheap but relatively good apartment first thing in the morning. Then the extremely dull working hours at the store followed by some whining about the whole thing to Robin afterwards.

“What's the point of looking through all these ads if the money I have is only enough to rent a closet?” Steve sighed into the receiver.

“Well hello to you too, my good friend. I guess our ever so understanding boss rejected your request for promotion for what seems like,” Robin paused. “А millionth time," she concluded in a way which totally lacked compassion if you asked Steve.

“I just can't stay in this place any longer, Rob. It's like—the more I live there the more suffocating it gets,” he admitted, saying each word more quietly than the previous.

She knew it wasn't so much about him being an adult now and still living under the same roof with his parents, as it was about almost dying in the apocalypse and needing a fresh start. Taking into account the whole shabang, she kinda had a feeling that he would probably move someplace way farther than downtown Hawkins if it wasn't for how lost he'd been lately. Like Nance who went to Boston to study at Emerson and Jonathan who returned to Cali after they eventually figured their stuff out.

“Yeah, I know, I know—but, um, have you maybe thought about finding someone to share all the expenses with? Of course, this someone needs to be of age and have a job.”

“Hmm, you mean like a flatmate? This—actually might be the solution.” There was a hint of hope in his voice.

“So who do we have in mind?” Robin asked with not so hidden excitement.

“Well, preferably somebody 'we' know well,” Steve replied, making emphasis on every pronoun. “'Cause 'we' definitely don't feel like making new acquaintances.”

“Sure, real easy. Especially when almost everybody 'we' know are children.”

“Hey, you and I could—”

“Nope, no, nuh-uh.”

“But—why? You said it yourself it was time—”

“Just hear me out, will ya? Things are going pretty well for me and Vicky right now, so if I was to move out, I would rather do it for the love of my life, no offense.”

“Alright, I guess it's fair,” he agreed with another one of these desperate sighs.

“What about Eddie!?” she shrieked.

“Um, what about him? I didn't exactly get to know the guy all that well.”

Sure they saved the world together, but the thing was that Eddie got hurt pretty bad throughout the whole ordeal. Which put him into a hospital bed with limited visitation and no one had gotten a chance to actually hang out with him yet or even see him for that matter.

“Dustin spoke to his uncle just the other day. He said the local government is trying to cover up their misconduct of the whole 'let's lock up someone innocent' thing. So, Eddie and he are being given some good money to get back on their feet or something like that.” It seemed like she stopped to get some more air into her lungs to continue. “And I'm pretty sure Eddie's not gonna want to come back to the horrifying trailer after Chrissy's death.”

Steve was no stranger to the feeling ever since Barb had died in the version of his pool in the Upside Down.

“I—I get it. Maybe you're right. I should probably ask him if he'd be up for renting something together.”

“Great! Then stop wasting time and call Dustin. He has to already know when Eddie's out of the hospital.”

“Yeah, alright—thanks by the way.”

“Sure, peace out!”

As soon as he hung up, some unknown feeling started building up in his gut. It suspiciously reminded him of nervousness. Although, there wasn't anything to worry about here now, was there? Maybe he was just a little bit hesitant to propose living together to the newest member of their formed-at-the-weirdest-circumstances family. Because if he was being completely honest, Eddie was something else in a sense that Steve wouldn't know how to even begin to describe him. But if he tried, something in the lines of absolutely extraordinary would do just fine. Therefore, the nervousness was likely due to not knowing which reaction he was going to get from the man. Or was it? 

Chapter Text

The day when Eddie was being discharged from the hospital had finally come. Which sounded more dramatic than it actually was as it'd been only two days since the talk with Robbin, still, that was exactly how Steve felt - 'finally'.

Over their talk with Dustin the other day he’d generously volunteered to be Eddie's chauffeur for the drive home. The kid was over the moon. Duh. Considering how badly he craved for the two of them to get along. 

And there he was, standing in the hospital's parking lot at the crack of dawn with Dustin, both of their gazes concentrated on the doors of the main entrance about ten feet away.

Just a minute later he saw Eddie and his uncle walking out of the building. The former was wearing a simple gray hoodie and black sweatpants, his hair was gathered in a low bun with two loose strands on each side of the face. The whole look was cozy, which was not something Steve had ever seen on him, but could definitely get used to.

Dustin ran over to him with a yell of happiness, practically strangling Eddie once he was in his reach. The moment sparked something warm inside Steve's chest and, without even realizing it, he was smiling ear to ear like an idiot. That, of course, didn't go unnoticed by Eddie as he was staring right into Steve's eyes now. A coy lopsided smile appeared on his face as if he wasn't expecting to see him there.

“Harrington, are we like best friends now or something?” He glanced at Dustin. “Sorry, buddy.” And turned back to look directly at Steve with the same smile he had before.

“I—uh,” he tried to reply. So much for eloquence, right?

“Don't sweat it, I'm just kidding,” he assured, saving Steve from any further embarrassment.

Then Uncle Wayne stepped forward. “Hey, Steve, right?” he inquired firmly and received a nod in return. “Thank you for chauffeuring Ed, I have an early shift today, so you're really doing us a big favor,” he said with the same firmness and just a hint of genuine appreciation.

“'S no big deal, Mr. Munson,” Steve answered, feeling like some semblance of normal human speech was slowly coming back to him.

“Okay, boys, drive safe.” He waved a hand and started walking away.

They all shouted some version of goodbye and awkward silence surrounded them for a few short seconds there while they were watching Wayne walk away.

“Alright, guys, let's get moving,” Dustin announced, clapping his hands. “Or else I'm gonna be late for Maths. And I have no desire to fail this crap right from the bat.”

This was the beginning of yet another school year for the kids. Thinking about it, Steve felt relieved that it didn't concern him anymore, but at the same time he was kinda lost not knowing what to do with his life now. At least getting an apartment seemed like a step in the right direction.

The second they all got into the car, Eddie and Dustin began talking about something extremely nerdy. However, that  wasn't the indication of why Steve couldn't focus on anything they were saying. The thing was, Eddie chose the front passenger seat making it impossible for Steve not to notice how stiff his movements were when he reached for the seatbelt. This brought back the memories of the night when they found Eddie lying on the ground in his own blood, barely breathing… Nope, he was not going to dwell on it now. Instead, he quickly averted his eyes and started driving.

In 10 minutes they were already dropping Dustin off.

“Okay, see you guys later. Can't wait to hang out with you Munson, so don't you dare to almost die on me again, you hear me?” Dustin threatened, getting out of the car and pointing his index finger to Eddie.

“Yeah, don't shit your pants, I'm not planning on it anytime soon,” he chuckled lightly.

They watched quietly as Henderson disappeared into the building. Then Steve put the car into gear to leave the school premises, straining his brains in an attempt to figure out what to say now that they were alone.

“So, um—how are you doing, man?” Steve flinched inwardly, noticing an amused smile on Eddie's face.

“Well, I guess 'peachy' wouldn't cut it anymore,” he began, after exhaling sharply. “Like, I have zero clue how you guys had already dealt with this crap three times before Vecna and still managed to stay sane.” He was now fidgeting his fingers which cued Steve to start remembering all the best tips he had.

“Er—you know, everybody kinda has their own methods, so I'm just gonna speak for myself here." He shot Eddie a glance. “Having a support system does it for me. It really helps when you can rely on someone, especially if this is someone who you have shared trauma with.”

“You see, now we just have to become best friends, man,” he replied sarcastically, but smiling nevertheless.

“I wouldn't actually mind that. Although, you'll have to set some rules with Henderson about that. He got there first, you know,” he entertained the idea to lighten things up.

Eddie gave a hum of approval nodding his head. “Right, territorial this one.”

“Also, I find it kinda hard to plan for the future now, just focusing on getting through a day at a time,” he continued looking in Eddie's direction once again. “Oh, and removing everything that reminds you of all the bad stuff is really helpful, too.”

They were driving past Forest Hills sign now which meant it was only a matter of seconds before they'd arrive.

“It means I should've gotten rid of this trailer like yesterday,” Eddie noted as they were pulling over. His utterly devastated tone made Steve want to burn the damn thing to the ground all of a sudden.

“That's—actually what I was going to talk to you about. Well, not burning your home, obviously, but, uh—”

Now that the car stopped, he turned his whole body to face Eddie, trying to keep eye contact. The man beside him raised his eyebrows, looking back at Steve like he was waiting for him to finish the thought.

“I'm searching for a new place to live in, but I can barely afford like half a month of rent…” he trailed off. “And I've been thinking that maybe you'd be up for renting something with me?”

“Alright, this is the last thing I expected to hear but, um—yeah, why not?”

Steve let out a sigh of relief, banging his head against the headrest. “Thank god. I owe you big time, man.”

Eddie grinned at Steve sheepishly. “Well, it's not like I haven't been planning on ditching this shithole anyway.”

Up until the moment Eddie gave him that green light, Steve'd been all in his head trying to figure out how to approach the guy. And now it was as if the good news instantly made him into a chatterbox. 

“Still, I've been obsessing over it for about a week, so much so, that I've written down every single option that I think is worth checking out.” He was now leaning over to get a crumpled piece of paper out of the glove box, involuntarily touching Eddie's knee with his forearm. “Here,” he said, passing the list over to Eddie. “You can go over it whenever you like, cross out anything you think is not exactly your scene.”

Eddie took the piece of paper with a curious expression.

“And when you do, you can call me to talk it over. D'you have my number?” he started talking even more rapidly. “Guess not, let me get a pen.” He leaned over the man's side to inspect the glove box once again. “There it is, now give me your arm.”

“Okey-dokey,” Eddie said suspiciously, stretching out his arm slowly.

See, normally, Steve wouldn't act like a complete lunatic, grabbing someone's hand to write his number on it, when he'd just taken out a piece of paper that was perfectly suitable for this kind of thing. Now don't get him wrong, this cliché move would be totally fine if it was some girl he was trying to get a date with. Unfortunately, the realization that it was not that kind of situation hit him way too late.

Steve wrapped his left hand around Eddie's wrist, rolled up his sleeve and started scrabbling his number on the inside of the forearm the with his right one. He then looked up only to find the other man somewhat shocked and maybe a little bit flustered, but most importantly, uncharacteristically quiet.

“I—uh—I'll take a look at it,” Eddie mumbled, nodding his head. He took his hand back, slightly folded the forgotten paper sheet on his knees and put it in the pocket of his pants. “And—thanks for the ride,” he provided with a small smile, cheeks still rosy.

The best Steve could come up with still being awkward as hell after pulling the stunt was, “Sure thing.”

Eddie unbuckled his seat belt and reached for the handle. “See you around, Harrington,” he added, getting out of the car.

“See ya!” he shouted back. Then, when he was alone in the car, Steve muttered to himself, “Well, that wasn't a complete disaster.”

During the rest of the day Steve couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about the morning interaction with Eddie. He was having a strange mixture of feelings about the whole thing, however, the one that stood out the most was sheer excitement.

Chapter Text

To Steve's surprise, two days of radio silence was the exact amount of time it took him to go from waiting patiently on Eddie's phone call to agonizing about the chance it may actually never happen.

He recently came back home from jogging that was supposed to help him release some of the built up tension. Apparently, it didn't, judging by the furious expression on his face. To the point that even something as mundane as opening the cold water tap was met with comic cruelty.

Just as he was filling some water in a glass, a loud ringing sound came from the hall. Steve almost smashed the glass against the sink when he rushed towards the phone. Not to mention the struggle of picking up the receiver without juggling it from one hand to the other in an attempt to finally take the goddamn call.

“H—hello?” he answered, panting a little too hard.

“Steve? Are you alright there—or should I call back later?” Eddie asked, voice more amused than concerned.

“Yeah, all good, just, uh—just returned from a morning run, what's up?” he uttered, trying to sound as nonchalant as humanly possible.

“Uh-huh, I see, still maintaining the jock act, good for you,” he replied, humming in approval. “So, I checked the options you'd written down. North Ave and Hill St. are out of the question 'cause I'm pretty sure the owners of the little shops on the streets were the first ones in line to go on a witch-hunt against me.”

“Right, these two are off the table then,” Steve replied suddenly feeling pissed off again, only this time at the righteous shitheads who had made Eddie's life unbearable. “Um, the most remote from downtown is on Jackson St., the only problem is it's a one bedroom.”

“When there’s a choice between a preview of living in a dorm and being hatefully ogled at by the town's people on a daily basis,” Eddie concluded in a sardonic manner. “I'm going for the first one, thank you very much.”

“Fair enough. How about we meet up to hang out and maybe call the landlord while we’re at it?” Steve suggested, thinking that Eddie probably wouldn't mind to get away from the horrible trailer for a while.

“Yeah, sounds good. Where at?”

“Um, my parents are out of town for the rest of the week, wanna come over?”

“Not gonna wine and dine me first, Harrington?” Eddie teased.

Steve snorted. “You wish.”

“Right to business it is then.” And before Steve could say anything else, he added, “Can we at least order pizza?”

“Why yeah, I'm not the savage you think I am.” He could practically hear the long-haired man chuckling now. Which was a good sound if Steve was being completely honest. Just an observation, of course. “Drop by in thirty minutes?”

“Yeah, okay, I'll be there,” Eddie agreed, dialing down on the flirtatious exchange.

“Gonna take a quick shower, but I'll leave the door open, just in case.”

“Gotcha.”

As soon as Steve hung up, he felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Surely, it must have been for the fact that he got one step closer to moving out. Surely. Certainly not because Eddie didn't change his mind. Or actually called back. Or was practically flirting half the time. Or that Steve flirted back. He shook his head to stop the train of thoughts because there wasn't anything behind it if he did say so himself. Also, he really needed to order the pizza and get cleaned up before Eddie arrived.

By the time Eddie's van pulled up in front of Steve's house, the latter had managed to make his hair only kind of presentable, half of it still damp at the ends. So, when there was a loud sound of Eddie's voice coming from the first floor, Steve rushed out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to quickly throw on the first two things in his sight.

“I'll be down in a sec,” he yelled, already walking down the stairs hurriedly.

He entered the foyer to find Eddie standing patiently by the door and looking at the family pictures on the walls. Today his hair was in a bun just like the other day, only this time there was also a black headband bandana and only one strand of hair hanging by the left side of his face. He was in his trademark ripped off black jeans and a maroon henley shirt underneath a leather jacket. The metal rings on his fin- nope, Steve'd already paid more attention to the guy's outfit than he should have.

In the next moment, Eddie averted his gaze from the photos and looked him up and down, a wide devilish grin stretching on his lips.

“Nice shorts.” 

“Oh, shut up!” Steve pulled a face, instantly regretting the amount of time spent on the hair instead of the choice of an outfit, which consisted only of his old basketball shorts and a simple white t-shirt.

Eddie smirked and raised his hands up in a surrender like manner.

“Just—come on.” He led the way into the kitchen, embarrassment still creeping up his cheeks.

“That's one hell of a house you've got there, Harrington.” Eddie whistled as he followed the younger man. “Are you sure you wanna move out?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Um, yeah, trust me, you wouldn't wanna be constantly alone in this 'one hell of a house'. Becomes actual hell after a while. Like, at one point, I even started sleeping in the living room 'cause I felt more in control of what was going on downstairs. That's why one bedroom seems more practical in the sense,” he finished thoughtfully and, once they entered the kitchen, asked, “D'you want anything to drink?”

“I see, not a fan of huge spaces.” Eddie noded with a hint of worry crossing his face. “A coke would be great.”

Steve took two cans out of the fridge and threw one of them in Eddie's direction, asking, “So, should we wait for the pizza delivery or call the landlord right away?”

“Man, if we're really gonna live together, we need to set some rules, okay?” The long-haired man looked expectantly at him. “Rule number one.” He lifted a finger in the air. “Food is always the priority.” The ridiculous seriousness of his voice made Steve roll his eyes but smile anyway. If anything, Eddie was more like himself today, all chatty and radiant.

“Alright, no argument here—” Before Steve could finish the sentence, the doorbell rang loudly through the hallway. “It must be the delivery. I'll answer the door, make yourself comfortable.”

“Yes, sir!”

In a couple of minutes Steve returned to the kitchen where Eddie was sitting on one of the bar stool chairs, long legs hanging in the air, elbows on the counter.

“How much do I owe you?” he asked.

“Uh, this one's on me, you can get the next one.” Steve shrugged. “Wanna watch a movie while eating?” Steve suggested, swaying the pizza box in his hand.

“Sure thing, but, please.” He pointedly made a pause. “Nothing about highschool.” Eddie slipped off the stool taking both of their drinks from the counter and followed Steve into the living room.

“Back to the future it is then.” Steve put the pizza box on the coffee table and inserted the vhs into the player. “What's up with your graduation, by the way?”

“Well, I legitimately intended to finish school last year. And there were like a few months left before graduation, right? Clearly, luck's never been on my side 'cause the next thing I knew, there was some fuckin' sci-fi Domesday going on!” Eddie exclaimed as they sat on the opposite sides of the couch facing each other, both of them folding one of the knees to get more comfortable. Although, for Steve, it was a bit more complicated since the indecent shorts happily rode up the thighs at every movement he did. Steve figured that trying to pull them down would draw too much attention, so he just decided to leave them be and looked Eddie straight in the eye. The curly haired man's eyes, on the other hand, were darting all over the place.

“And, uh, as I was saying.” Eddie cleared his throat. “Here I was, thinking that I'd failed yet another attempt at saying farewell to this refined place of torture,” he continued in this highly charismatic manner of his. “Boy oh boy, was I wrong!”

Steve widened his eyes, a silent 'oh?' left his lips.

“Yep, you know how some schools will promote a guy because he's a good athlete? Sometimes a kid is so much trouble they'll promote him to get him out of their hair just as well. Turns out, being a 'satan worshiper' has its perks after all.” He smiled smugly.

“That's great, man! Not the satan part, but you know what I mean,” Steve mumbled. He felt wholeheartedly happy for Eddie, although, in Steve's humble opinion, he deserved a lot more than just the handouts from the authorities. “Got any plans?”

“Becoming a rock star has always been at the top of my list.” He grinned widely. “But, first things first, we gotta get us an apartment and I also kinda need to find a job, ideally that doesn't suck ass.”

“Oh, I can see it, you’ve got the looks to be one. And, if my memory serves me correctly, your guitar skills can save people, so that's saying something,” Steve acknowledged, picking a slice of pizza from the box. He quickly glanced back at his new friend, who sort of froze there for a second with an unreadable expression.

“I—yeah, thanks, man.” He repeated Steve's action of taking a slice.

Then, Steve turned up the volume and they shifted in the seats to face the screen. For the next one and a half hour they concentrated their full attention on the film, only occasionally making some comments about the plot. Since Steve had seen it before, he allowed himself a handful of stolen glances at Eddie. For no apparent reason, he just couldn't focus on the story for more than 10 minutes straight, being distracted by every little move the guy made. He ended up blaming it on his general curiosity. So what if it was their first time hanging out together and he was acting like a complete creep? At the end of the day, he was making a new friend, hence it was perfectly fine to be interested in the person. 

As the end credits began to roll, Steve was struggling to remember anything he could say about the movie.

“Fun fact, the first time I saw it I'd been drugged by Russians.” Was the only thing he managed to come up with after not paying any attention to the movie whatsoever.

Eddie, who was stretching his limbs, stopped halfway, looking back at Steve, surprise written all over his face. “Damn, I remember Dustin telling me about your last year's adventures at the Startcourt, but I don't recall anything about this particular part.”

“Right, it's probably because he's still pissed that Robin and I sneaked out when we were supposed to blend in with the crowd.”

“Was it when you escaped from the underground lab?”

“Yep, I don't remember a lot, just some bits here and there. I guess it only started to wear off when we were sitting on the restroom floor afterwards.”

“Yikes! Are you for real?” He cringed.

“Well, it was better than lying, which we'd also done,” Steve admitted sheepishly. “Truth is, it wasn't all that bad, I've never had a deeper conversation than the one that happened on the disgusting floor.”

“The mighty drug.” Eddie regarded him in astonishment. “You've been through so much strange shit, man.”

“It's not like you haven't,” Steve replied with a soft smile.

“True, but come on! Supernatural shit AND evil Russians?”

“I know, right? Never gets old.” Steve shook his head in disbelief. “Anyway, shall we make the call?”

“Sure, let's do it.”

They got up from the couch and headed towards the phone.

“Do you have the number?”

“Oh, right, wait a sec.” Eddie took out the piece of paper Steve had given him the other day. “Here.”

Steve dialed the number and it only took five seconds before he heard a voice on the other end of the line.

“Hi! I’m calling about the one bedroom rental on Jackson Street. Is it still available?” he asked, nervously looking at Eddie. The other man seemed to sense his agitation and gave him thumbs up. “Yeah, tomorrow is great! At 5pm? Alright, we'll be there. Bye!”

Steve put the receiver back and threw his fist in the air. “We have a showing tomorrow!”

Eddie leaned against the wall. “That's awesome, dude!” Eddie said marrily. “Do you think we'll get it?”

“Dunno, the guy sounded a bit desperate, though. Like we're the first to show interest.”

“Hope so.” The two of them spaced out for a moment there, pondering whether or not they were going to get it. Then, Eddie hesitantly added, “I should probably get going.”

“Um, sure, see ya at the showing?” Steve asked as they made their way to the door.

“Yeah, see ya there.”

And that was the moment when neither of them appeared to know what to do next. Were they supposed to hug already? Or was it too much too soon? Steve decided that a little hug wouldn't hurt and he stepped closer to Eddie, throwing his left arm over Eddie's shoulder. The other man stilled for a moment, but then returned the gesture, pressing himself against Steve further into the hug.

The next moment he was gone and Steve was left standing there in a haze caused by the lingering scent of Eddie's cologne that, in combination with the contact, thoroughly fogged his mind. And only when he finally unfroze, it occurred to him that after each interaction with the man, there were always all kinds of feelings tingling all over. This time, for instance, he was extremely overjoyed to see him but also so undeniably disappointed when he had to say goodbye.

Chapter Text

The following day a thrilling sensation was boiling deep inside Steve's stomach. In all honesty, the chance of anything dampening his spirits that day was nearly down to zero. After all, he was about to see Eddie and maybe even rent an apartment. Yep, those plans were placed in descending order of importance.

This time though, he was going to rise to the occasion and pick out his outfit carefully. Nothing special per se, but fully covered limbs were already a way to success. We're not talking prude style either, so tight blue jeans and a warm yellow sweater seemed like the right option.

It didn't take him more than 15 minutes to get to the destination as the roads were relatively clear and the speed limits were broken a couple of times due to the growing anticipation.

A familiar looking van had already been parked in front of a four-storey brick building by the time he got out of the car. As he was putting away the keys into the back pocket, the door of the van opened and there came Eddie with a beaming smile. Which, evidently, was enough for Steve to become mister clumsy and drop the said keys to the ground. He waved his hand at the man and then bent over to grab the treacherous things.

Getting back up he was met with Eddie standing right in front of him, looking better than ever. His wild locks of curly dark hair were falling over the shoulders. The sight was something Steve only just realized he had missed. A lot. His eyes searched the rest of Eddie's look head-to-toe without so much a second thought that he could easily be caught doing so. Today he was wearing leather combat boots, tight gray jeans with a metal chain hanging on the right side of the hip and a brown suede jacket.

“Do you want some fashion tips or does the look on your face mean general appreciation for my polished gourmet?” Eddie asked, looking smug as hell, that was a little bit unfair since he didn't miss his chance to check Steve out as well.

“Yeah, yeah, you clean up nice.” Steve rolled his eyes, yet he didn't even try to cover up the whole 'wow looking good' vibe coming off of him. What was the point anyways? He was caught straight away.

Putting all the smugness aside and leaving just a lopsided smile, he nodded. “Not so bad yourself, man.” 

“I—uh, are we done complimenting each other?” Steve was suddenly taken aback by how easily Eddie returned the attention. He demonstratively glanced at his watch. “It's 10 to 5, let's roll.” He clapped the long-haired man on the shoulder and led the way towards the building.

“Bossy much, are we?” Eddie replied, but followed him nonetheless.

Just then a middle-aged man walked out of the front entrance to greet and invite them to come in. The man, whose name was Bill, made a good impression on the guys. Hе was kind enough to come down just to welcome them and then showed every little thing in the apartment with great enthusiasm about it.

The apartment itself was a bit shabby with occasional scratches on the wooden floors and chipped paint walls. In spite of that, the open concept living area with a fitted kitchen looked rather inviting. The bedroom was quite small, but light-filled and cozy. And, somehow, the guys were so charmed by the tiny apartment, both of them could instantly imagine what it'd look like decorated with their own stuff. And the fact that it was on the top floor and provided good views didn't hurt either.

That's why they were following Bill around the place wide-eyed and slack-jawed, listening carefully to everything he had to say about the place. And once the showing came to an end, they hastily looked at each other with the same decisive look on their faces.

The thing was that when people started massively leaving Hawkins due to the whole Upside Down situation, there was loads of real estate up for sale, the same went for rental properties. It hadn't changed much since then, so the guys were lucky enough to get the apartment straight away. After signing the tenancy agreement and paying the deposit and next month's rent in advance, they were handed the keys and were left to their own devices.

“Have we just fuckin' got it!?” Eddie exclaimed as he lifted his hand up in the air in pure amazement.

The corners of Steve's lips stretched into a smile. “I know, right? And it's fully furnished!”

“Could you imagine if we had to combine your posh-ass stuff with my crappy-old junk?” he laughed out loud.

“Yeah, my parents wouldn't allow me to take shit, so it'd be just your junk and my polo shirts,” Steve joined him in the burst out.

They flipped on the couch near them as standing up and cracking up was not an option anymore.

“Although we do need to decide what to do about the king-size bed,” Eddie said as he calmed down.

“We could leave it as it is for now and then replace it with two queens,” Steve proposed.

“I'm on board with the idea 'cause I definitely wasn't planning on doing heavy lifting any time soon,” Eddie agreed, nodding his head. “But what about moving in, are we doing it today? You'd better say yes,” he quickly added the last part, his poking a finger at Steve's chest.

“Calm down.” He pushed the hand away jokingly. “I have a shift tomorrow, so yeah, we can head back home now to pack everything.”

Eddie immediately got up saying, “Alrighty then, why are we still here? Chop-chop.” He stood opposite the couch to extend his right hand to Steve.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm coming.” He grabbed the hand pushing up from his seat. At the same time, the other man pulled him up a bit too strongly, causing their bodies to collide. It took everything within Steve to pretend not having felt neither Eddie's breath on his cheek nor the man's hips against his own.

“Woah, easy there, tiger,” Eddie provided, stepping back and letting go of Steve's hand, which was rather unfortunate if you asked him.

“I—” Steve flushed at first, but since these little flirty exchanges were happening more and more frequently now, he managed to get used to them, and quickly collected himself. “Come on, I can't wait to phone my parents and tell them I've officially stopped relying on them.” He continued as they were heading out.

“I bet they're gonna flip their shit. But, you know, in a good way,” Eddie said, walking down the stairs beside Steve after they locked the apartment.

Steve shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno, my dad kinda wanted me to go to college and ever since I rejected the idea, he hasn't given me more than a second glance. Don't think there's anything that will make him happy now.”

They went outside and stopped on the lawn, facing each other. It was one of those warm days in fall when leaves hadn't fallen off yet, but the change in color was already visible.

“If it'll make you feel any better, at least you have parents to disappoint. My mom kicked the bucket because of being an addict and, I think, I've already told you about my jackass father who’s currently in prison,” he said in a completely casual voice, the only thing that gave away his actual state of mind was the staring at the ground and the shuffling of his feet.

Steve's head snapped up with an incredulous expression. “Eddie, I'm so sorry—” He tried to say something comforting, but Eddie interrupted him, not allowing to finish the sentence.

“Nope, we're not gonna have a pity party about it, Harrington. It's been a long time since the subject'd been a sore one. I'm alright now.” He finally tore his gaze away from the ground and looked Steve in the eye. “That's why I live with my uncle by the way.”

“Wayne does seem like a good man.”

“Yeah, he's a solid dude. Always been on my side, never doubted shit.” There was a short moment of contemplation before he went on, “I guess, I just wanted to cheer you up a bit by saying that having shitty parents is better than having none, but um—yeah, poor choice of words.” He winced.

“Well, it definitely worked. And it was the first time you shared something personal, which is kinda mandatory when you're on the verge of becoming friends with someone.” Steve smiled softly.

“Yeah, yeah, communication is the key.” Eddie returned the smile. “That means you're next in line to open up, though.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Uh, maybe later.” He pretended to be reluctant.

“So, I don't really know how much time it's gonna take me to pack everything and come back here,” Eddie said.

“Me neither, let's just do it at our own pace and get back here whenever we're done packing.”

“Alright, see ya later then.” He patted Steve's shoulder and started walking to the van.

“Yeah, bye,” Steve let out weakly, clearly pouting at the fact that they didn't hug goodbye this time around. 

On the way to his parents' house, a lot of Eddie related thoughts were running through his mind. The fact of the matter was that he couldn't come up with a single reasonable explanation as to why. Of course, being oblivious at times didn't help either.

Chapter Text

It took Steve about 2 hours to find some old boxes in the garage and gather everything he owned. It turned out that he didn't have much, the boxes contained only his clothes, some clatter from the desk and shelves, and toiletries.

He was standing in the middle of his bedroom, hand on the hips, looking around for anything he could've accidentally forgotten. That was when he suddenly remembered about bedding sets and kitchen necessities they'd definitely need before they would be able to afford to stock up on their own. He also decided to pack some spaghetti leftovers from the night before so they wouldn't have to cook.

By the time he was done packing, the only thing left to do was to call his parents and announce the news. They'd already known about his intention to move out, so it didn't surprise his mother when he made the call. It seemed that she was even glad to hear it, which wasn't the case for his father who didn't miss the opportunity to patronize him once again. To him, it would be much more sensible if Steve focused on his education and, subsequently, career.

The conversation literally sucked the live out of him, so when it ended, he took a long breath and concentrated on how he was gonna feel the second there's Eddie around him. The man whose personality shone brighter than the sun, making Steve feel warm from the inside out. The thoughts were enough for him to snap out of it and start eagerly loading the carton boxes into the car.

It was already pretty dark outside when he pulled up in front of the brick building. The time on his watch said 8.15, but there was no sign of Eddie's van yet.

He'd managed to bring almost all of the boxes into the apartment by the time Eddie arrived. Steve was going back outside when he spotted him opening the backside of the vehicle.

“Hey, how'd it go?” Steve asked, walking up to the man.

“Chaotically, to say the least. Wanted to get out so fast, didn't even take time to sort or fold shit, just dumped everything in heaps,” he replied.

“Yep, used the same technique. Gonna make it pretty hard to unpack though.” He assessed the inside of Eddie's van. There were also a couple of boxes, some duffle bags and a guitar case. “Uh, I'll be done with my stuff in one more go and then I can help out with yours.”

“Sure, sounds good, man,” he said, picking up two bags and placing the straps over the shoulders.

Steve went to grab the last box from the car, that contained some plates and silverware, and followed behind him into the building. He realized his mistake the second they started climbing up the first flight of stairs. Right in front of his eyes there was Eddie's round ass accentuated by those shameless fitted jeans of his, a short glance at which made him trip on the steps and almost drop the box and crush everything inside it. The sound of clattering caught Eddie's attention and made him turn his head around to check what was going on.

“Is everything good back there?” he asked with a curious expression on his face.

Steve practically choked at the way his brain interpreted the question. At this point, he was so dumbstruck, it wouldn't be surprising if he blurted out a pick-up line about how good the view from the back indeed was.

“I—uh, fine, I'm fine, don't worry,” he mumbled instead.

“Uha, just mind your step there, pretty boy,” Eddie said casually and continued his way up.

Steve's eyes widened at the nickname. He struggled to understand where it came from, but don't get him wrong, he wasn't complaining. Not in the least. Although he did make sure to be always ahead of the man on the next several rounds of bringing up Eddie's belongings.

When everything was finally brought up into the apartment, they were both a bit sweaty and panting. Not in a fun and satisfactory way, unfortunately. Eddie took off the jacket the second they locked the door. There was a black metallica t-shirt with cut-off sleeves underneath it which revealed his toned arms covered in a peculiar ornament of bat-bite scars that went right up the neck. Somehow, everything and anything about the guy always seemed to be fascinating to the core. It would've been fine if it hadn't been so painfully distracting all the time. Steve found the willpower within him to tear his gaze away and got rid of the sweater, too, tossing it onto the couch.

“I say we take a break and dig into the food I've brought,” Steve suggested, searching for the pasta container in the 'kitchen' box.

“Hell to the yes! How are you so considerate? All I've brought is some cigarettes and weed stash.” Eddie looked beyond impressed.

“They don't call me a mother of six for no reason, you know.” He took out the food and a few forks, gesturing to the small kitchen island.

“Oh, I've heard this one from the kids. Although you might wanna share the title now that I'm back.” He joined Steve on one of the barstools, brushing his knees against Steve's thighs and giving him shivers along with it. “The little shits can't get enough of me” he said, the corner of his mouth stretching into a pleased grin.

“I have nothing against co-parenting if that's what you mean.” Steve mirrored the grin. “Here.” He handed one of the forks to the amused man next to him.

“I hope you don't mind eating from the same container?” Steve asked, pushing it between them.

“Jesus, Harrington, we've just moved in and you already play your macho tricks on me.” He clicked his tongue. “Has the Lady and the Tramp thing actually ever worked with anybody?”

“Wanna try and see it for yourself, Munson?” Steve asked, daring the other guy.

Eddie was already taking the first bite. “Oh, I'm definitely trying it, but don't flatter yourself, I'm just starving.” 

Needless to say, there was no recreation of the iconic scene from the movie. The guys were kind of preoccupied devouring the pasta like it was their last supper on the Earth, fighting with their forks to get as many noodles as they could in one go.

“Now I just wanna grab a quick shower and hit the sack,” Eddie said in a tired voice once they were done eating. He leaned further against the countertop, resting his chin on the palm of the right hand.

“I mean, the unpacking can wait. We're exhausted and I have an early shift tomorrow.”

“Yeah? I can take the couch tonight then,” Eddie offered.

“Um, thanks. You can shower while I handle the bedding then.”

“So gracious of you, m'lord.” Eddie bowed as he hopped off the stool.

“Oh, just go already,” Steve answered in pretend annoyance. He watched as the long-haired man took some stuff out of one of the bags and disappeared into the bathroom.

Steve finished getting everything ready for the night in the living room just in time when the bathroom door opened.

“All yours.” Eddie gestured to the door.

Breathtaking was the first word that came to Steve's mind. Which was absurd, considering that he had never used this adjective to describe a guy before. However, he wasn't gonna fight it when Eddie stood right in front of him, drying his wet hair with a towel in nothing but а pair of gray pajama bottoms. From that angle, Steve could make out that there was no bandage around his torso to hide the same pinkish scar tissue that decorated his arms and neck. He figured that the areas of the skin had probably healed during his time at the hospital. There was a lot more to examine in the guy's physique, but he was staring too much once again and it was the signal to pick his things and do some freshening up, too.

After nearly combusting right then and there, he closed the bathroom door behind him and froze for a second, trying to remember where to start. Finally, he brushed his teeth, had a cold shower, just to be on the safe side, and changed into his own black PJs and a white tee.

By the time he came out, Eddie was already lying on the couch with a comforter thrown over his shoulders.

“Thanks for setting everything up,” he said, flicking a glance at Steve.

“No problem. Imma turn the lights off?” 

“Go ahead,” Eddie answered as Steve reached for the switch.

“Oh, and, uh, Steve?” Eddie raised himself up on one elbow.

“Yeah?” Steve stopped halfway, turning towards him.

“D’you mind leaving the bedroom door open? Don't know if I'll be able to fall asleep otherwise,” he admitted in a quiet voice like it was something to be ashamed of.

“Sure. Wasn't planning on closing it anyways.”

“Thanks,” Eddie replied, resting his head against the pillow once again.

Steve hummed in response and finally turned the lights off.

The bedroom door was opposite the living room. This way, lying in bed, Steve could see almost everything outside it. The realization was comforting to say the least. Especially so when he had to spend his first night at a new place while also having a history of struggling with nightmares.

“Good night, Steve,” Eddie whispered into the darkness.

“Night, Eddie.”

Chapter Text

After they turned in for the night, Steve figured that the tiredness he felt after this long day would make him drift away pretty fast. He got the idea that it wasn't happening when an hour of restless tossing around had passed and there wasn't even a hint of getting a good night's sleep. He sighed audibly, laying on the back and staring at the cracks on the ceiling.

“Steve? Are you awake?” Eddie asked in the same quiet voice as before.

“Yeah, can't seem to fall asleep,” he whispered back. “Maybe it's the new bed or the busy day. I dunno.”

“I bet it’s both,” he assumed. “Why are we whispering by the way?”

Steve chuckled. “Hell if I knew.” Then continued in a normal voice, “And why aren't you asleep?”

“Um, I kinda have this strange ordeal with my dreams,” the long-haired man took a pause for a second. “It's almost like an arrangement with my mind that I don't remember having.”

Steve waited patiently for Eddie's explanation, sensing it was some Vecna related messed up shit that he'd possibly need help with.

“If I have a couple of good nights in a row, there's like zero chance they won't be followed by one or two pretty fuckin' horrible ones.” He sighed. “And I know for a fact, I've run out of the good ones by tonight.”

“Well, that's—awful. I mean I do have nightmares every once in a while, too, but they're not like scheduled or anything,” he spoke, feeling itchy all of a sudden. “Is there anything that helps to avoid them?”

“I—nuh, man.” The stumble in his words was so obvious, Steve didn't even have to see his face to know he hesitated to say what he was about to say.

“You know, you can trust me, right?” Steve said in the most reassuring tone he could manage.

“Yeah, alright.” Eddie took a breath in. “It's a lot better when there's someone else in the room and—and I thought that the open door would help, but as soon as I started drifting away, there was this cripping horror enveloping my mind. So, yeah, not sleeping tonight.”

Steve thought for a second there, trying to come up with a solution. He felt terrible for Eddie, knowing how much he'd been through and that he still couldn't break out of it entirely. The only thing that came to mind was—

“Come over here,” Steve invited before he had a chance to talk himself out of it.

“Um, are you sure?” Eddie asked dubiously.

“Yeah, man, whatever works. The bed's big enough anyways,” he answered in a sort of even voice.

“Okay, but don't make it weird,” Eddie agreed.

There was shifting on the couch and then Steve saw the man's silhouette. He was carrying his comforter and pillow.

“Wha—how would I make it weird?” Steve huffed in offense, rolling to the side of the bed to make some room for Eddie.

“Well, you know how it is.” He came up to the bed and started arranging everything. “We might end up cuddling and I don't want you to freak out and go all rosy cheeks on me first thing in the morning.” Eddie was clearly making fun of him. He climbed into the bed, lying on his side and facing Steve.

“And here I thought I've done the right thing with this offer.” Steve let out an annoyed sigh, when, in reality, he couldn't be offended even if he tried. All due to seeing Eddie get comfortable around him instead of shying away at the preposition.

“Sure you have, just warning you.” He grinned, clearly happy with himself.

“Shut up, will ya?” Steve outstretched his hand to shove Eddie's shoulder.

“Sleep tight,” Eddie chuckled and closed his eyes.

“You too.”         

The second try was a lot more efficient as the both of them at last were able to fall asleep. Also, Eddie didn't seem to have any bad dreams throughout the night. Or at least none of those that make you scream from the top of your lungs. It was Steve's first thought when he opened his eyes the next morning a few minutes before his alarm clock would go off. Smiling to himself, he counted that as his own achievement.

The next thing he noticed was a bunch of long messy curls fanned around his pillow, tickling his neck. The scent of freshness and earthiness reminded him of apple shampoo mixed with musk. He was lying on his side facing Eddie's shoulder blades, the space between them barely existent. He suddenly felt disappointed that Eddie's prediction about the cuddling hadn't come true. And unless he wished to dwell on it any longer, it was his signal to get up. 

Steve quietly slipped out of the bed and tip-toed out of the room, throwing one last glance at Eddie who was sleeping soundly on his stomach now. The bare shoulders lifting slightly with each breath, the hair still all over Steve's pillow.

Yep, it was about time he admitted he might be developing some romantic feelings towards the man. It was no less than nerve-wracking, but not because Eddie was a guy. The thing was, Robin had had a lot of opportunities to educate Steve on the topic of sexuality. That being the case, it wasn't gay-awakening crisis, to be exact. That is to say, he already knew that it was a spectrum and, more than that, he was 99% certain that the thing he'd had with Billy a while back had not just been rage-driven. Realizing that, he'd accepted that he probably liked both men and women. Yet, it didn't change the fact that his heart was ready to jump out of his chest at the thought of confessing anything to Eddie. The trauma of unrequited love towards Nancy was still fresh in his memory. It messed a lot with his head. To the extent of believing they could've had another shot when the world had been crushing down not so long ago. Thus, experiencing it all over again with anybody new just didn't seem bearable.

An hour later he entered Family Video, racking his brains about whether or not to let Robin in on his newly acquired crush.

“Hey there, how's it going?” she asked, examining his face like there was something on it.

“Um, I've got some good news and bad news, which one do you wanna hear first?” He crossed the room and leaned against the counter, perching his chin up on the palm.

“Okay, I think I can probably guess the good one.” She took a pause. “Eddie agreed?”

“Not just that.” He smiled sheepishly. “We moved in yesterday.”

“You—what? And you're telling me this just now?” she yelped, her head slightly dropping forward in shock.

“It all happened literally in two days.” He raised a hand to stop whatever she was about to yell at him. “And you're the first to find out.”

Robin narrowed her eyes at him, looking less pissed now.

“Alright, if it wasn't for that, I'd smack you across your stupid face, Harrington.”

“I love you, too.” He rolled his eyes. “Imma go change, and you can try and guess the bad one while I'm at it.”

“It's about you being so insufferable that Eddie wants a new roommate,” she shouted after him.

“So, am I right? You didn't get along after all?” she asked when he returned from the backroom.

“Nuh, it's—the opposite.” Steve avoided her gaze, taking some unsorted tapes from under the counter, intended on placing them back on the shelves.

“Wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying?” She put a hand on his forearm to stop him in his tracks.

“Maybe. Depends on what you think.”

“Steve.” There was a staring contest for a couple of minutes there before Robin suggested carefully, “Are you into Munson?”

“Uh,” he started, looking at her swiftly, noticing how her eyes got bigger with every passing second. “Yeah?”

“Wow.” She let go of his arm. “You're freakin' killing me with all these revelations today, man. What's next? You're pregnant?”

“You—don't joke about this, I'm kinda in a pickle there, you know,” he retorted. “We've just become friends and, all of a sudden, I'm having all these slightly less friendly feelings towards him. And what am I supposed to do now?”

“Just chill, it's—okay, everything's okay,” she tried to reassure him, her expression softened a bit at the confession. “How do we wanna approach it?”

“By totally ignoring it and then dying from the dry spell.”

“Ha-ha, we both know you don't have enough willpower for that.”

“Honestly though, what if Eddie's straight and I just screw everything up by hitting on him?” he whined, sitting down on one of the cashier chairs, throwing the tapes back where he took them from.

“Indeed, that'd be a shame.” She took a seat opposite him. “And that's why we need to find out whether he's into guys, too. Or better yet, if he's into you.”

“I'm not asking him,” he quickly concluded.

“No way, dipshit.” She gave him a mean grin. “I was gonna suggest a more subtle strategy.”

“Which is?” he drugged the last word.

“You throw a housewarming party without the kids. Get some snacks and beers. I'll observe the two of you throughout the night and then render a verdict. Easy-peasy.”

“What are you a psychic?” He scoffed.

“It's called gaydar, Steve. Trust me, I'll see it if it's there. Casual setting and some alcohol is all it takes.”

“I guess, we're throwing a party then,” Steve agreed, shaking his head. “But it better work, Robin, 'cause I honestly don't know how many more nights I'm gonna survive sleeping in the same bed as him without embarrassing myself.”

“You slept—goddamn it, Steve! I really am gonna punch you if you don't tell me everything immediately.”

Chapter Text

In between serving customers and restocking the shelves, they were chatting about Eddie nonstop that day. Steve told Robin about every encounter they'd had, and how with each time it had felt like a new layer of feelings towards the man was gently unraveled, up until the point it'd become impossible to deny his affection anymore.

He was also extremely glad that Robbin was gonna help him figure out if he even stood a chance with Eddie, using whatever gay-woodoo shit she knew. And since their working schedule was 2/2, they agreed on throwing the party tomorrow night after their second shift. This way, even if they drank a little too much, it wouldn't be an issue. The only thing left to do was to see whether Eddie would be on board with the idea.

Some intense metal music was blasting when he opened the door of their apartment. They had this kind of entranceway that was separated from the rest of the apartment, but didn't have much space. That's why there was only a slender wooden bench used as a storage space for shoes and four lined-up hooks for clothes above it.

Steve kicked off his shoes, took the jacket off, and entered the living area, instantly catching sight of how different the place looked. There was no dust lying around on any of the surfaces, the floor was shiny and the aroma of a home-cooked meal quickly filled his nostrils, making his stomach growl. The next thing he took in was how personalized the space was. There were some heavy metal magazines placed on the coffee table, a bunch of horror tapes put in the TV stand and a couple of old movie posters pinned to the walls. Eddie's iconic electric guitar was on a stand in the left corner and, on the opposite side of the room, the bookcase was filled with an impressive collection of comic books.

Steve smiled to himself, thinking how incredibly homey it was gonna look once he unpacked his own stuff and put it alongside Eddie's. His thoughts were interrupted by the said man walking out of the bedroom, shaking his head to the beat of the music, making his wavy locks bounce from side to side. Steve was relieved that the guy had the modesty to, at least, wear a sleeveless black tee instead of walking around half naked like he did yesterday. Honest to god, he didn't think he'd have the strength to deal with it on a daily basis.

“Oh, hey, you're back!” Eddie's eyes widened when he stumbled upon Steve a second later. "Hold on." He reached for the tape recorder on the windowsill to turn the volume down a notch.

“Yeah, it's me. I'm back.” He flinched inwardly at the lamest reply in the history of human communication. “The, uh, place looks great.”

“Thanks, man.” He smiled, looking around and assessing everything proudly. “Had a lotta time today, decided not to waste any second of it.” Then his gaze landed on Steve. “Wow, that sounded a lot like something a responsible adult would say, didn't it?”

“Right.” Steve snorted. “Welcome to the club.” He felt cocky all of a sudden, quickly forgetting that he was an awkward mess just a second ago. And that was the thing about Eddie, he was so unapologetically himself all the time that it was only natural to be comfortable around the guy.

“Hey, just because you have a job doesn't make you superior, big boy,” he teased, walking past Steve to the kitchen. “Especially not when I made us this sophisticated supper,” he finished the last two words in a British accent, sounding incredibly silly and hilarious at the same time.

He followed Eddie into the kitchen area where the man was hovering over the stove. Steve stood about ten inches behind and looked over the other man's shoulder.

“Smells good. What's in there?” he asked as Eddie was opening the lid of the frying pan.

“Ta-dum,” he sang, glancing over his shoulder to have a look at Steve. The proximity of their faces and the position itself was a little too familiar. It reminded him about that one time they had to steal an RV during the Vecna apocalypse. That exact time when Eddie was hot-wiring it while Steve was standing behind him just like now. Only now Steve was utterly enamored with the guy. And boy oh boy did it show in moments like this one, when his mouth was slightly agape and all the dumb blinking was in full mode.

“Could you look any more surprised that I can cook eggs and bacon?” Eddie asked, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“No, uh,” Steve struggled to find words, so he took a step back, thinking it'd help him to come to his senses.

“Just kidding, don't sweat it, man,” he offered back, chuckling faintly. “So, are ya hungry or what?”

“Yeah, I'm starving, man,” he cleared his throat and headed to the sink to wash his hands. That was when he noticed that the kitchen was also equipped with everything he'd brought the day before.

“Oh, I hope you don't mind that I unpacked the kitchen box, needed something to work with here, you know,” Eddie said, taking the plates to serve the food.

“Sure. I wouldn't've minded even if you'd unpacked my stuff, too.”

“Here you go.” Eddie handed one of the plates to Steve. “You know I could've, just wouldn't wanna see you embarrassed or anything if I'd found some thingies,” he continued with a shit-eating grin, making Steve's stomach coil with something that, this time around, didn't resemble hunger in the slightest.

“Like what?” He bent an eyebrow. “I'm not the one who had handcuffs on the wall of my previous bedroom.” Steve mirrored his grin as they sat down at the counter. “And please, tell me you're not gonna put them in our bedroom, too.”

“Well, I wasn't exactly hiding them before and I'm definitely not gonna start now,” Eddie answered, meeting with Steve's bewildered expression. “What? It's only for decoration purposes,” he added in the most innocent voice.

“Yeah, a questionable choice if you ask me,” Steve provided, turning away and poking the food with his fork to distract himself.

“I knew you were too vanilla for the shit,” the long-haired man scoffed, instantly feeling Steve's elbow in his ribs. “Ouch.”

Wearing the same serious expression, they squinted at each other before breaking into smiles. After that, they commenced another one of those contests where they tried to take bigger bites and eat faster than the other.

“So, how was your day?” Eddie asked with a mouth full.

“Not bad actually, thanks to Robin,” he managed to say after swallowing his own bite. “Oh, and, uh, do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

“Nuh, I don't think so, except for maybe calling up on some job offers.”

“Great. Robin suggested we throw a housewarming party tomorrow night. Well, demanded is the word.”

“We can do that.” He shook his head approvingly. “Who'd you wanna invite?”

“Yeah, about that. Can it just be the adults? Robin wanted to come with her friend Vicky and you can invite your band buddies. It's just that there's going to be booze and stuff, and you know how the kids are. They're definitely gonna coax us into giving them something to try, and I just don't think I'll have the heart to tell them no.”

“Sure thing, can invite them next time. I'm working on a new campaign for them anyway. Pretty sure, the nerds will appreciate this kind of party a lot better.”

“You've just come back and they're already giving you the shits about this D&D thing?”

“Nuh, it was my idea.” He smiled sheepishly, getting up to put the plate in the sink. “Obviously couldn't help making an 'I missed you' present to the little dickheads.”

“Oh, that's nice of you, dude,” he noted, feeling warm all over. Point is, he knew Eddie was a badass metal head with a heart of gold, but finding out that he was a sucker for it was, for sure, a new development.

“Yeah, I know, I'm the best.” He beammed. “Gotta work on it a bit more though, so I'll be on the couch.” He gestured to the living room.

“Okay, thanks for the dinner, by the way.”

“Uh, don't mention it.”

Steve finished his plate shortly after Eddie exited the kitchen and went for a quick shower to wash away the remains of the day. Standing in the stall, he was deep in his thoughts. One of them was how, despite still feeling a bit worn-out, he wanted to unpack his own stuff as an excuse to hang around Eddie some more before turning in for the night. And that was followed by how badly he wished for falling asleep together again. Provided that he was lucky enough for it to happen the second night in a row.

Only turning off the tap, Steve dreadfully realized that he'd forgotten to take a change of clothes from the bedroom. He sure as hell wasn't gonna put on anything he wore throughout the day, so the only option was to exit the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around the hips. It wasn't like he felt bashful about nudity, because if school sports teams had taught him anything, it was that he constantly had to shower and change around a lot of people. And he wasn't about to do either of those around Eddie, but somehow, even walking past him now made his skin tingle.

Taking a deep breath, he shrugged away his thoughts and opened the door. Eddie was half-lying on the couch, his back against the arm rest, legs stretching out along the seats. He was preoccupied with scrapping something with a pencil, music still playing in the background. There was a good chance he wouldn't be spotted, nonetheless, the whole way to the room, Steve was staring at the other guy's back. He was one step away from disappearing into the bedroom when Eddie turned his head, saying—

“I put the rest of the boxes in the bed—” he faltered for a moment, eyes scanning Steve up and down. “Room.”

A loud sound of a pencil's lead cracking under pressure filled the air.

“Uh, fuck,” Eddie huffed out, turning away from Steve to examine the damage.

“Are you alright, man?”

“Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?” he let out hastily, gazing back up.

“Alrighty then,” Steve replied with a crooked smile, finally entering the bedroom.

Changing into his comfy clothes from the night before, Steve couldn't help but ponder about Eddie's reaction. Could it really be? Truth be told, he knew he was easy on the eyes, but then again the whole thing could've been his vivid imagination or, rather, wishful thinking.

Whatever that was, it lifted his mood in a matter of seconds, so much so, he quickly unpacked the boxes with his clothes and put it all into the dresser and the wardrobe next to Eddie's, taking notice of how different their fashion choices were. He didn't mind it a bit because, at the end of the day, opposites attract, right?

By the time Steve joined Eddie in the living there were only two boxes of clutter left to deal with.

“So, um, what kind of job are you looking for?” Steve asked, starting to arrange his own tapes.

“At this point, literally anything would do,” he answered, closing the notebook on his chest. “You know how it is, the second they see my face, I'm out the door. It'd be a fuckin' miracle if someone hired me.” He covered his face with the forearms.

“Don't say that, man. They cleared your charges, there's nothing to hold against you anymore. And—and even if someone refuses to hire you, it'll be their loss,” he tried his best to comfort the guy, moving on to the bookcase to add the few books that he had to the collection.

“Ugh, I don't think they'd see it that way,” he groaned.

“Listen, bottom line - nothing works and then I'll just convince Kieth to hire you at Family Video. He owns me for all of the double shifts anyways,” he offered, finishing up with the last box.

Eddie hoisted himself up on the elbows, doe-eyes looking straight into Steve's soul.

“Would you really do that?”

“Hell yeah, I'm not planning on letting you sell weed for the rest of your life, you know.”

"Thanks, dude, it means a lot." Genuine gratitude and maybe even a glimpse of fondness was written all over his face.

“That's nothing, really, but if we bed tonight again, I guess, we'll be even,” Steve said, catching up with the implication of the words only a moment later. “Yeah, sorry, that's not how I meant to phrase it.”

“Oh, that's too bad.” Eddie clicked his tongue. “Shouldn't lift a guy's hopes up like that, Stevie.”

“You're a menace, you know that?”

“Trying my best, darling, trying my best.”

In spite of the fact that Eddie wore his heart on his sleeve, it was still hard to differentiate his goofiness from the real attitude towards things most of the time. That’s why Steve was doing his best at not taking any of the flirting seriously, no matter how badly he needed it to be true.

Chapter Text

“Anyways, I'mma go to bed now,” Steve announced, cheeks a shade of pink after the exchange they'd just had.

“Good, I'll, uh, join you in a bit,” Eddie nodded, standing up from the couch.

Steve hummed and walked into the bedroom to settle down, feeling entirely satisfied with the way they'd spent the evening. It reminded him of all the best parts of being in a relationship. The excitement of seeing someone after a long day, the playful banter that followed and, most importantly, the peaceful feeling of home they provided just with their presence.

He took the same side of the bed as the night before, silently claiming it his. As Steve's head hit the pillow, his eye-lids were instantaneously heavy, the weight of the day crushing down on him and sending him into the sweet tranquility of slumber. His mind was entering the nothingness full speed when he felt the mattress dip right next to him. It was nearly impossible to decipher any sounds through the haziness, yet something along the lines of 'night, pretty boy' seemed to accompany him into oblivion.

Judging by the looks of how Steve woke up the next morning, at least one of his prayers had been heard. He didn't remember how or at what point throughout the night it happened, but his chest was currently tightly pressed against Eddie's bare back. Not only that, he apparently hadn't missed a chance to smother the guy with an embrace and bury his nose into the beautiful disarray of curls. The smooth skin of the other man's upper body and the steady rise and fall of his chest under Steve's fingertips sent all kinds of buzzing sensations through his body. At that point he knew that, no matter how heavenly the whole thing was, if he didn't disentangle himself from Eddie right away, he would embarrass himself big time.

He slowly tried to push back from the warm body, but was abruptly met with a dissatisfied mutter from Eddie who at the same time trapped his arm as a form of protest, not letting him slip away any further. Either intentionally or not, the man was not pleased with the loss of contact.

Weighing his options on how to do it more stealthily, Steve made another attempt at his escape. He returned to the same position he woke up in - firmly holding Eddie down, sinking his nose deeply into his hair, gently brushing his fingers over the man's pecs. The trick seemed to work, Eddie melted at the manipulations in a flash and relaxed the hold of Steve's arm, giving him a chance to quickly free himself and get up. The moment he got to do that, the metalhead started shifting in his sleep, flopping on the back and stretching his right arm, seemingly searching for Steve all while still being unconscious. Just the sight of him made Steve groan with frustration of all sorts. He threw his head back, looking at the ceiling to distract himself and try to get his shit together.

It was getting more and more impossible to hide his crush, so he really needed to remove himself from this sleeping together arrangement until Eddie woke up earlier one day and, god forbid, got weirded out.

At 8pm, when their shift was finally over, Steve and Robin didn't waste any time and hit the liquid store, picking Vicky up on the way. Eddie and his friends, Jeff and Gareth, were tasked to deal with the take out from this new burger place downtown and head to the spot, too.

They all gathered at the place round the same time, squeezing into the tiny entry with laughter and loud chatter.

“Could someone please move into the living room just a bit faster until we all suffocated in there together?” Eddie asked dramatically.

“Could this maybe be you?” Robin scoffed behind him, pushing his shoulder blades.

“Oh, wow, is that how you usually treat people who invite you to their homes?” He glanced over his shoulder, taking mock offense.

“That's how she treats people in general, dude,” Steve huffed out a laugh as they all finally relocated into living space.

“On that note.” Eddie caught everyone's attention. “Guys, these are Robin and Vicky. Ladies, these two are my good friends from high school, Jeff and Gareth. And, of course, y'all know my mate Steve here.” He threw an arm over Steve's shoulder, giving him a tight squeeze.

While the group was exchanging their 'hey's and 'nice to meet you's', Steve allowed himself to revel in the contact. They hadn't really been on tactile terms before, well except for the unplanned cuddling this morning. Strangely enough, it made Steve want more in an instant, turning him into some crazed touch starved man. And a handful of stolen glimpses at Eddie didn't help either. It seemed like the face-framing layers of his hair were strategically placed around the face to help accentuate his features: the sharp line of his jaw, the high cheekbones and the entrancing hazel eyes. He was wearing a pair of very flattering leather pants and a red short-sleeved shirt with a white paint splash pattern.

It was a long shot, but Steve couldn't help but wonder whether Eddie ever watched him in the same appreciative way.

First thing they did after getting acquainted with each other was a traditional 'home-welcoming' tour around the apartment. It didn't take long since the place itself wasn't huge and, more crucially, everybody was pretty much starving.

Eddie put some neutral music on while Steve took out some wine glasses for the girls from the cabinet. Everyone else was busy placing the food and alcohol on the coffee table. The couch was only big enough to fit Robin, Vicky and Jeff, so they threw some cushions on the floor on the opposite side of the table for the rest of the guys who joined them a second later.

In the next half an hour they busied themselves with consuming the take out, casually chatting about how their days went. Before long, everyone was getting along with each other pretty well, finding mutual interests and stuff to talk about. It did help a lot that the girls'd been band dweebs back at school and the guys were the members of Eddie's heavy metal band, Corroded Coffin. On top of that, they were all a bunch of dorks and nerds which was the real glue of this blossoming friendship.

“Hey, Eddie,” Steve whispered not to interrupt the crosstalk between Gareth and Vicky about the best music instrument. “Have you called up on those job offers?”

“Oh, yeah, I might've actually found a place that's willing to take me in.” He gave Steve a sidelong glance.

“Wha—That's awesome, man! What is it?”

“RadioShack of all places.” Eddie smiled coyly. “Greg, the manager, said they were in desperate need of someone who's good with electronics. So, I'mma go there tomorrow, see if it's gonna work out.”

“I'm sure it will, though.” He gave Eddie's shoulder a squeeze, catching Robbin's swift glances and not so subtle grinning that made it difficult for her to keep up with the ongoing conversation and back Vicky up on the matter.

“So, is anybody up for a little game time?” Robbin clapped her hands once everyone finished eating and got a little light-headed from the beers and wine.

“Do you mean like board games?” Jeff asked, receiving the most incredulous expression from Eddie right away.

“Erm, I was thinking of something more like trash party games.” She smiled politely. “Never really got a chance to party in high school, you know, being the unpopular kind and all.”

“Oh, yeah, we all get it. Well, besides Steve maybe,” Gareth provided suspiciously, looking at him briefly.

“But hey, it only means we're lucky to have an expert among us, doesn't it?” Eddie answered with a forced smile, bumping his friend's shoulder which could easily be interpreted as 'shut the hell up, dude'.

“I guess. So d'you have anything in mind, Steve?” Gareth inquired.

“Uh, we could play 'never have I ever'.”

“Oh, that's gonna be great!” Robbin nodded, mischief crossing her face. “Now, who wants to go first?”

Steve looked straight into her eyes with his own panicked ones hoping it was somehow going to save him from whatever ploy Robbin was considering to unravel.

“I can start,” Jeff said and continued once all eyes were on him, “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

Steve was the first to take a sip from his bottle, and was joined by Vicky after a moment of hesitation, which caused Robin to drop her jaw.

“I mean, Harrington here used to live in a castle with his own pool. No offense to this place, but where did you do it?” she asked.

“Um, me and a couple of girls from the band sneaked into the community swimming pool at night last summer.”

Eddie's friends seemed to get a little flustered at that, Eddie, on the other hand, was far more chill and uninterested if you asked Steve, then again his observational skills were shit at the best of times.

“I absolutely need to hear this story later in detail,” Robin stated, getting a couple of chuckles from Vicky. “But now it's my turn.” She looked across the room. “Never have I ever had a crush on any of my friends.”

And that's when Steve realized what her plan here was: to put them into a provocative situation and examine any reaction that followed. While it was a smart way to help him with his Eddie problem, it also put him on edge. Especially now that he had to comply with the rules of the game and drink since, technically, he checked all the boxes with this one. And then his train of thoughts was stopped at the sight of Eddie lifting his bottle to bring it to his lips.

“Yeah, lucky you, I guess,” the long-haired man concluded before being the first to take a sip of his drink at the statement.

Chapter Text

At that point Steve didn't know whether he was graciously blessed or completely doomed. Who was this 'friend' person? Could it be him? If it was any indication, Eddie was purposefully avoiding Steve's eye contact.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat. “Eddie's right, that shit sucks,” Steve said, nipping at his own beer with a semblance of a straight face.

Jeff hummed in agreement, joining them, too, which helped to ease the tension and made it all look as if it was something mundane everyone had experienced at some point in their life, and not at all a fragile situation that rocked Steve's entire world.

He decided to stop drinking once the game was over, otherwise keeping the distance between them tonight would fly out of the window. And he was determined to choose the couch for the sake of his own sanity this time around.

The group continued playing for what felt like another hour. The revelations were pretty much passable, nothing too scandalous or provocative, which, in all honesty, did not prevent them from having a great time and poking fun at one another at every chance they got.

“Alright, guys, I think we're gonna head out,” Robin announced, getting up from the couch in sync with Vicky. “But I need you to promise me we're gonna do it again. And soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, we promise, no need for the glaring,” Steve started, briefly locking his eyes with Eddie only to receive a soft smile in return. “Um, do you need a ride? I've only had like three beers and it's not even remotely enough to be fucking with my tolerance—”

“Nope, nuh-uh, no one's driving tonight,” Eddie interrupted him.

“We can walk you home,” Gareth proposed and Jeff eagerly nodded in support of the idea. Poor guys, thought they had a shot.

“Uh, yeah, why not, thanks.”

After saying their goodbyes, Steve and Eddie showed everybody out. It was around midnight, so they were about to call it a night when Steve remembered that he could not give into the temptation and spend another night alongside Eddie. Especially not when his composure was presently cracking under the weight of his fast-growing crush. He simply could not afford losing this friendship they built unless he was 100% positive the guy felt the same. Hopefully, Robbin had enough room for observation tonight and would have the 'good' news for him tomorrow. But until then he had to play it cool and try to respect everyone's personal space.

“I can take the couch tonight,” he said, helping Eddie to clean everything up.

“Uh, you—” he startled, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Sure, man, whatever you want.”

Now Steve could blame the reaction on the struggle Eddie was having with the trash bag if it wasn't for this awkward energy that was promptly surrounding them.

“You’re not out of the 'good nights', are you?”

“No, no, I'm good. Don't ya worry your pretty head about little ol' me.” He put on a smile that was way far from his usual radiant ones. It was forced, bitter even.

And now it was Steve's turn to be bamboozled. Why would Eddie be upset about the sleeping situation? Sure, being awfully traumatized left them both with a bunch of involuntary reactions that needed to be worked on. Occasional nightmares and the fear of being alone in a room were only the tip of the iceberg. So, yeah, it was nice to share the bed, but they couldn't possibly continue doing that for more than a couple of times if they only identified as friends, dysfunctional but still, friends. 

“Okay then,” Steve resoluted, taking the glasses and plates to the sink. “I'll do the washing up.”

“Uh-huh,” he responded, tying the trash bag in jerky movements. It was like he was teetering on the edge of saying something. “I'mma go take a smoke outside.” He jiggled the bag as if it was the reason he needed to get out here so badly.

“Sure.”

Finishing up the washing and prepping the couch were done in some sort of trance after the exchange. The uneasiness of it all didn't let him drift away until he heard the hinges of the door creak. And then he was lulled off into the dreamland with the only thought - 'Eddie's home'.

The next day, Steve woke up around noon, taking a second to remember why the hell he was sleeping on the couch and, more importantly, why it was so white-noise quiet in the apartment. The cool air that fanned over his skin once he got up, giving him goosebumps, only added to the confusion of being awake.

He decided on dealing with the problems one at a time. First, he looked for Eddie, who was nowhere to be found. Next, checked on the radiators, which seemed to have stopped working for some reason. And then called Bill who promised to do something about the inconvenience right away.

The unpleasant fog of irritation because of the way the day had started for him quickly faded once he spotted a note on the fridge saying 'off to the shack, fingers crossed. be back around 3'. A light bulb went off in Steve's head when he realized it was the perfect time to call Robin and question her on her skillful gay assessments. He almost flopped on his ass running back to the phone across the kitchen.

Whether it was Steve's impatience or Robin's slow reactions, but it literally felt like the dial tone was going on and on for ages before she finally answered.

“Hello-o!”

“Robin, hey! Can you talk?”

“Sure, what is it?” she inquired in a calm unbothered voice.

“Come on, you know why I'm calling. Spill it,” he hissed.

“Alright, alright, gosh,” she giggled. “So, I've either overestimated my gaydar abilities or Eddie's pretty hard to read.”

Steve groaned, knocking his head against the nearest wall.

“Hold on, dude, that's not all. Figuring out what his sexuality is was only half the deal. I also wanted to see whether he was specifically into you 'cause, you know, sometimes feeling attraction towards someone doesn't necessarily depend on your initial preferences.”

“So? Is he?” he cried out hysterically.

“Okay, listen, from what I've seen… there might be a good chance he is.”

“Might be? Jesus, you're killing me here, Buckley!”

“Look, he didn't leave you side the whole night, the two of you looked like you were literally joined by the hip. And then remember the way he threw his arm around you during the acquaintances? It was as though you're his trophy wife or something. He was showing you off, man! And you were no better by the way, placing your hand on his shoulder at the table, whispering something one-on-one instead of engaging in the group discussions,” she remarked. “Like, Vicky shamelessly declared flute to be the best music instrument and there was no argument on Eddie's side. In fact, I'm sure he was so preoccupied with making eyes at you that he didn't even hear it. And the whole protective thing was just soo over the top. The murderous glare at Gareth when he implied that you're not one of us freaks. How he cut you off at the suggestion of driving us…” she trailed off. “What I'm trying to say is that all his actions last night screamed 'mine, mine, mine'.”

“Huh, I really didn't see it that way,” he confessed, feeling sort of enlightened. “But what do I do now?”

“Duh, you need to make a move, dingus! Or, if it's too much, you can just make a hint at the fact that you're into guys too and wait for him to make a move instead. It's a Vicky proven technique, so it must work,” she concluded.

“Yeah, I don't know, I might've pushed him away a bit yesterday,” he sighed, a pang of regret creeping in on him. “So, no matter what I do now, I'm probably gonna look like a lunatic.”

“Wh—Steven, what did you do?”

“I chose the couch and he got pretty damn upset about it. I didn't trust myself not to invade his boundaries again, so I wanted to be on the safe side in case he didn't feel the same.”

“Oh, but that's not a problem at all, my dear friend, because, the way I see it, that only proves that he's harboring the same crush for you as you are for him.”

“I mean, it kinda does, doesn't it?” He could hear his voice trembling with excitement. “And I think I even know how to approach him now.”

Chapter Text

You see, Steve Harrington was naturally good at courtship or at having a game, call it what you want, but he knew how to score (no matter how much Robin preferred to differ).

Now, to begin on any romantic journey, he ought to follow quite a few procedures. First, the looks had to be polished, not just the hair, but strategically chosen clothes were a must. So, right after he'd finished the conversation with Robin, Steve washed up and made sure he looked good in his tight-so-that-it-hurts blue jeans, military styled bomber jacket and white nikes. The woody aftershave he applied had a smoky, leathery smell to it and accompanied the effortless and cool vibe he was originally going for.

Second, there always should be some kind of present, nothing too outrageous so that it didn't seem out of place, but rather a nice little something-something to start the swooning process. That's why, when he was done getting ready, he headed straight to the record store downtown. The assistant there swore Sleyer's latest album was a metal masterpiece, and, not knowing the scene whatsoever, Steve just believed him blindly.

Third, he needed to think of an itinerary for their date. For the obvious reasons, he wasn't gonna show any signs it was one, passing the whole rendezvous off as an outing with a friend that, completely unintentionally, might give an undertone of a date. Hence, he couldn't really take Eddie to a restaurant without blowing his cover, and, at the same time, going to a diner would be just lame. Period. To make it seem smooth and not let them both starve, he picked up some fast food take out and came up with something else entirely.

On his way to RadioShack, Steve was thinking of the last item on his imagery list of 'seduction', which was the hint-dropping. It would've made sense to work out the actual words he was gonna put it in, had he known what turns their conversation was gonna take. As a result, he figured that the last part of the plan would certainly have to be pure improvisation.

Eddie mentioned he was going to be back around 3pm, meaning he'd finish at 2.40ish. Steve intended to surprise-meet him outside the store right after.

He parked on the opposite side of the Shack so that Eddie wouldn't notice him from the glass windows straight away. It didn't help that he was half an hour early and there was really no escape from the anxiety building up in him. He thought getting out of the car to lean his lower back against the hood and breathe in some cold fresh air was the best thing he could do to calm down his nerves. 

Some time later, the shop bell rang and Steve turned his head to be immediately met with Eddie's warm brown eyes across the street. Startled, the guy stopped in his tracks. Steve waved at him with a dopey little smile that must have been even more confusing, hoping he didn't have hearts for eyes too. Eddie, showing a smile of his own, unfroze and headed in his direction, checking the traffic. Today he looked nothing like his usual self, stripped from everything that made him the 'Eddie'. No chains, no rings, hair put away in a neat low bun, black denim without infamous rips, a simple gray sweater with a leather jacket on top, which was probably the only thing that stayed the same. And the miraculous thing was - Steve was digging it just as much. The truth was, Eddie could've worn a potato sack and he'd still be the most beautiful thing Steve'd ever laid his eyes on.

“Hey there, what's this?” Eddie asked curiously, moving his eyebrows, corners of the mouth slightly lifted.

“Uh, hi.”

It was bizarre how quickly he was at loss for words each time the guy was around. He'd been preparing excuses for the unexpected outing the whole drive here and they were all easily forgotten the moment he started speaking.

“I, uh, just wanted to be the first to know how it went,” he stammered out.

“Right,” Eddie stretched the 'i' while examining Steve suspiciously, and clearly not buying it. “You know you'd be the first to find out anyways since we're kinda living together and all.”

“I know, I know, just—also wanted to celebrate if it worked or—drown our sorrows if it didn't,” he tried, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Eddie's eyes raked up and down his body, the narrowed eyes searching for a catch. Not having found any, he changed the subject.

“Well, I'm usually not this lucky, but I've officially got a job now.” He grinned from ear to ear.

“You do? That's—congratulations are in order then!”

Steve reached out to wrap Eddie up in a tight hug.

“Thanks, man,” he huffed near Steve's ear, returning the hug with the matching intensity, almost lifting him off the ground all while whispering pointedly, “Now I'm waiting on the celebration part to kick off, you know.”

“Right, yeah, hop in,” he said when they separated after what seemed like a couple of moments, or centuries, he couldn't really tell.

“What about the van?”

“Uh, we'll get it on the way back.”

“Yes, sir,” he answered, getting into the car. 

“So, where are we going?”

“Uh, you'll see, don't wanna ruin the surprise.”

“I mean I do trust you with my life, but what's all this secrecy for?”

“Can't you just sit back and relax?”

“Alrighty, Mr. Answering a question with a question, but it's better worth it.”

“It is, just—tell me about the job, will ya?”

Jokingly pouting at the unfairness of the affair, Eddie crossed his arms and obeyed the request.

“So the boss man, Mark something, showed me around today, explained what I have to do and all the job-related specifics.” He freed one of the hands to wave it in the air, drawing the supposed specifics. “I'mma need to memorize all the product models, but that's nothing. Oh—” he snapped his long fingers, which were gonna be the death of Steve, or the death of them both if he wouldn't start paying at least some of the attention to the road. “And I'll need some time getting used to working on the cash register.”

“Um, it's not that hard, I can show you all the tricks if you stop by Family Video on my next shift.”

"Nuh, I'll figure it out. But I do need tips on how not to scare customers away. Like, by the looks on people's faces they could still shoot me right in the head at any given second, or maybe I'm just paranoid," he exhaled sharply.

Steve tore his eyes away from the road once again to examine the guy. His right hand now resting on the side of the door, left one on the thigh anxiously drumming the fingers against the fabric of his jeans.

“Is that why you look like a 'socially approved' version of yourself today?”

“That obvious, huh?”

“I mean, you look great regardless—” Steve cut himself short as Eddie's eyes opened a bit wider. “But, uh, is it necessary? Like, is there a dress code? 'Cause if there's not, you shouldn't have to do it for the sake of those righteous shitheads.”

Eddie flashed him with a self-deprecating smile. “Just a vest, kinda like the one you have to wear at the store. I guess, I just didn't wanna give any reasons not to hire me. Gotta be a responsible adult and shit.”

“I see.” Steve pursed his lips in annoyance. “It's just fucking mental how big of a deal they make out of every little thing that sticks out. Why can't everybody be themselves, let everyone else do the same, and be civil about it?”

Eddie snorted at that, amused at Steve's outburst. “That's some good existential question we've got here now, don't we?”

Steve hummed and turned the car off the smooth black road and to the gravel path that was barely noticeable through the thick woods surrounding it. And so as the Beamer made its steady way along, with the light igniting the hues of each passing tree, the scenery took on an almost meditative quality.

“We're almost there.”

Chapter Text

The secret winding path through the forest was so rarely used that, at some point of the way, you just had to get out of the car and walk a mile east. Eddie's reaction to that was borderline scandalous.

“So, I guess, that's your idea of celebrating, huh? A hike in the woods?” he asked mockingly as they were going up yet another one of the hills along the way.

“Listen, it's a great spot, I'm sure you'll regret making fun of me once you see it, alright?” Steve insisted. He was overly enthusiastic about the place, making wide steps, left hand clearing bush branches out of the way, right one swinging the take out bag.

Ten more minutes of Steve's energetic steps and Eddie's breathless dragging being led them to the most serene, the most magnificent view the quarry could offer. They were at its highest spot, where a piece of land surrounded by countless trees of every color met with the edge's terrifyingly captivating steep cliff. The gold and red leaves that carpeted the ground in haphazard order were glowing in the direct sunlight. Here, the early fall air was biting at their skin with a special kind of persistence, but the picturesque landscape made up for that, too. On the side, there was a log, probably intentionally brought out by someone to appreciate the scene just like they were about to.

“Is this one of the Harrington's infamous date spots?”

“No,” Steve responded so quickly it was painfully unconvincing. He knew Eddie was just joking, but he wasn't wrong. Not in this case.

“Don't get me wrong, I dig it.” He stepped closer to the edge, hand on the hips, undoubtedly enjoying the sight that was out of this world. And so was Eddie. Steve feared he wouldn't be able to memorize the moment to the details 'cause this right there, this was what he was obliged to capture with his eyes and put away in the palace of his most precious memories.

“Then sit down and eat already. Can't stand another second of your rumbling stomach.” Steve gestured to the log, corners of the mouth twitching up. “After you.”

“Okay, okay.” Eddie tore his eyes away from the horizon and flopped down, snatching the bag out of Steve's hand.

“The party last night was fun,” Steve began, attempting to ease into the inevitable conversation about his feelings.

“It sure was. Seems like we've finally found ourselves a group of friends we can have 'adult' parties with,” he answered, passing the bag over to Steve and simultaneously taking a bite of his burger.

“Right? And, um, the game was fun, too,” he pushed further, unwrapping his own food.

“Oh, yeah, dug out some juicy revelations.” Eddie bumped his shoulder against Steve's. “Like the one about you having a crush on one of your friends. It's Robin, isn't it?”

It was convenient he had yet to take his first bite, otherwise he would've been choking on it just about now.

“That's—not untrue,” he provided, regretting it right away when he noticed the guy's blank frozen expression. “I mean, I once thought we could be good together, but, uh, let's just say we're beyond incompatible. This time around it's someone else entirely.”

Steve turned away, feeling embarrassment creeping up his ears from taking another step to revealing who he'd actually been lusting after. He distracted himself by opening his soda and taking a long gulp.

“Right, she's definitely out of your league, dude,” Eddie chuckled tightly.

Steve hummed in agreement, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, still not ready to look his way.

“So, is it like your thing, pining after your female friends?”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the line that did it for him, his head snapped right back up. The hurricane of irrational thoughts was momentarily taking charge, giving him the courage to spill it all out. It was now or never kind of moment that he wasn't gonna blow. No, sir.

“For your information, it's not a girl,” he muttered, each word coming out quieter than the previous, all bravado gone the second he opened his mouth.

Eddie's face was changing emotions so fast now it actually looked like he was having a seizure. The kaleidoscope went from amazed to concerned to thrilled in a matter of seconds. 

“My, my, Steve Harrington, are you saying what I think you're saying?” he asked with a devilish grin, apparently settling on thrilled.

“Are you okay with this?” he asked back, looking more gobsmacked than he'd intended.

“What, are you serious?” Eddie lifted one of his eyebrows.

“I dunno, 's not something one can go shouting about to the world.”

“Alright listen, why would I, Eddie the banished, bully anyone into thinking there's something wrong with them?” he started in the most genuine voice of his. “And, since we're sharing, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me. If you know what I mean,” his voice cracked at the last part, showing he was as vulnerable saying that out loud as Steve was.

“Oh.” It was Steve's turn to collapse at his friend’s confession. “I guess, that's fair then,” he tried to recover after what he just heard. Steve's head was spinning so fast that he downright lost his ability to comprehend what was happening for a while there. Ultimately, he should've been creaming his pants at the great news. Yet, it was like he didn't even register that Eddie being also interested in guys gave him a shot. Instead, he was full on spiraling, thinking about all the worst case scenarios where it didn't change anything between them because Eddie was simply not attracted to him, or because he'd already had the hots for someone else.

“Aren't you gonna tell me who the lucky bastard is?” Eddie coaxed with a smirk, angling the topic back at Steve, which helped to snap him out of his thoughts.

“Ha, no, I've—said enough already. 'S your turn to spill the guts about your 'special' friend.” Steve wiggled his eyebrows goofily, hiding the fact he was absolutely dying inside at the implication it could be some other dude he was friends with.

“Yeah, fine. This person—I was pretty goddamn surprised that we became friends in the first place, being too different and shit. But there's been stuff we've gone through together and maybe, somehow, it's let us see each other in a different light of some sorts. I don't know, does that make sense?”

“Hell yeah it does,” Steve replied slowly. It must've been him, right? He couldn't have hoped for a more coherent clue on the matter. But, whatever the case was, he didn't want to get his hopes high should he be mistaken. “Are you gonna act on it?”

“Well, I've ju—recently found out I might have some itty bitty chance, so yeah, we'll see.”

“Cool, hope it works out.”

“Oh, me too, can't wait to see the day.”

They were so invested in the conversation, neither of them noticed how they'd finished the food and got cold in the limbs. The only evidence was the empty paper bag and their red noses.

“It's getting chilly, d'you wanna go home?” Steve offered.

Eddie quickly got up, rubbing his hands together to warm up. “Yep, the fuckin' wind is killing me, man.”

“Let's roll then.” Steve followed after him.

Chapter Text

As they were making their way back to the car, neither one of them made any attempt at carrying on with the topic. Eddie seemed lost in his thoughts, eyes not focused on anything specific, a thin line between his furrowed eyebrows made a couple of appearances every now and then. As for Steve, he was no better, overanalyzing everything that had been said up there to the point his head felt like it was gonna explode into gazillion little pieces. In fact, the thinking was so intense, he almost walked past the car, which, in his defense, should've been a lot further down the hill.

Swinging down into the seat, Steve's mind suddenly went to the gift he'd plainly forgotten about.

“Hey, um, there's something I've been meaning to give you.” He angled his body to properly look at Eddie. “You know, kind of a present for your, uh, employment.”

Steve reached over to the glove box, brushing his right forearm against Eddie's knee, just like that time he was looking for a pen and something to write his number on on the day he picked him up from the hospital. Funny enough, Eddie looked as puzzled as that other time.

“I mean, if I'd known you were such a generous fella, I would've become your friend a lot sooner. Like in a previous life or something.”

“And how would y—wait, don't tell me you actually believe in this shit,” Steve said, returning to his seat.

“So what, you're saying reincarnation is nonsense and some evil fuckin' wizard from another dimension is an ordinary phenomenon?” he asked rhetorically, eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Okay, that's some legitimate argument I'm not debating against.”

“Good choice,” Eddie concluded, locking eyes with Steve, who got immediately lost in the warmth of the amber color.

“Yeah, so, here it is,” he cleared his throat, outstretching his arm to give Eddie the bundle he'd made out of some gift wrapping paper.

The man took it and began unwrapping the thing with the eagerness akin to a ten-year-old's on a Christmas morning. Once he got a peak of the album's cover, his eyes went wide, a contagious smile playing on his lips. Truth be told, more often than not all of his smiles were.

“No way, man,” he uttered, looking back and forth between Steve and the present. “Just so you know, Jeff insisted their new album was one of the heaviest and most influential thrash metal albums ever. He's been literally begging me to listen to it as soon as possible. And now I can, and I will.”

“I'm glad you like it, 'cause, honest to god, choosing it was like a shot in the dark. I mean, the shop assistant helped a lot,” he started mumbling. “He looked a bit like you, so I thought you'd have the same taste in music. Not like there's anyone who looks like you—”

He was cut short by Eddie embracing him in a tight hug.

“Thanks, means a lot,” he whispered into Steve's ear, sending a million little goosebumps down his neck. “Though, you might wanna stop spoiling me, or else I'm gonna get very greedy very soon.”

“That's fine by me, was planning on making a habit of it anyways,” Steve whispered back, the level of flirtation dialed to one hundred.

“You're one hell of a mystery to me, Harrington.” Eddie pulled back, shaking his head, but obviously pleased with everything he'd just heard.

“But like, in a good way?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely in a good way. Now stop fishing for compliments and strat driving, please.”

“Alright, alright, God you're impatient.”

“Uh-huh.”

On the way back to the store to pick up the van, Steve became aware of this simmering kind of tension between them now, the one that builds up gradually and is inevitably resolved when it reaches its highest point. Eddie not-so-secretly eyeing him only confirmed that he must've been experiencing it, too, and that they were, in fact, in the same boat.

“Is there something on my face?” Steve asked as they exited the forest and returned to the road.

“Nuh, just, uh, enjoying the view from your window.”

“Come on, what's on your mind?”

“Was just wondering when you found out, you know, about yourself, 'cause like—I wouldn't've pegged you for anything but straight as an arrow,” he gave in, drumming his fingers against the thigh closest to Steve restlessly. Even his peripheral vision was enough to estimate how perfectly easy it would be to just grab it and intertwine with his own.

“Uh, I guess, it's always been there, but I hadn't been paying much attention to it until recently.” He pointedly glanced at Eddie's fidgeting fingers that stopped moving the same exact second, being placed flat against the denim-clad in compliance. “It's not like I'd been in denial about it or anything, it's just that everyone I'd been attracted to back at school happened to be girls.”

“And Nancy was one of them, or should I say the one?” he asked carefully, making the emphasis on 'the one'. 

“Yeah, she was,” he agreed. “Man, I was such a mess when we split up, was desperately trying to replace her with right about anyone, but, uh, nothing clicked. Even when Robin kindly pointed out that I should probably try to explore the limits of my sexuality.”

Eddie let out a whistle which made Steve break into a smile.

“Thank God for Robin, honestly.”

“You—it wasn't anything like you've just imagined, alright? I couldn't exactly go out there and start picking up guys, you know. Not exactly safe in a small town like that.”

“Oh, no, I get it.” He bobbed his head, the loose strands of curls bouncing at the motion.

“Anyways, then we got Vecna'ed and I figured that maybe I'd been so miserable at dating because I was still hung up on Nance.” He tightened his grip on the wheel, reliving the worst time of his life through the memories. “Even considered reconciling the whole thing after we'd delt with the fucker, but I finally came to my senses, so that wasn't the case.”

“And after that?”

“Uh, I've fallen for this guy and can't stop thinking about him ever since.”

“Huh.”

“What about you?” He bent an eyebrow, eyes flickering back towards Eddie.

“Me? Oh, I can relate on the swinging both ways topic, but, uh, I've never been especially lucky in the dating department,” he replied, bouncing his leg in the same jittery manner as he had not long ago with his fingers.

“What's with the twitching today, man?” Steve asked and, before he could closely analyze his actions, he placed his hand on the guy's left knee, squeezing it a little before letting go. Eddie drew in a shaky breath at that and chuckled in response.

“Probably had too much caffeine in the morning,” he announced in a slightly high-pitched voice. “Yeah, that should be it.”

“Okay,” Steve said slowly, not believing the excuse one bit. “So, why no luck?”

“Well, clearly, not for being bereft of wanting, or trying for that matter. 'S just kinda hard to find someone being a resident nerd who then upgraded to a resident cultist.”

“I see, no one was brave enough to explore the mystery that is Eddie Munson.”

Eddie barked out a laugh. “Oh, I love the way you put it, makes me sound all sophisticated and stuff.”

“But you are!” Steve smiled widely at him. “As Erika would say, just the facts.”

The rest of the drive was quiet as they seemed to get lost in their thoughts after every personal detail they cared to share with each other. Steve's reasoning, though, was that he needed to calculate his next move. If he couldn't shoot with anything way too straightforward before, now was the time when settling on subtle little actions was just not gonna cut it, so game on was his strategy of choice this time around.

Chapter Text

“Okay so, I can hit a grocery store on my way home to grab some snacks and maybe a couple of beers, too,” Eddie suggested when the Beamer pulled over at the Shack.

“Sounds good, we could watch one of the dozen tapes I’ve temporarily stolen from Family Video,” he supported the idea, making Eddie huff out a laugh.

“Handsome and enterprising,” Eddie teased in the kindly manner which left Steve gaping like a fish thrown out of the water all the while the long-haired man was getting out of the car. Fighting the urge to scream, Steve followed him with his gaze to the van instead.

Tonight, he thought. He was going to say everything he'd been bottling up tonight.

Back at the apartment, while changing into a white tank top and a pair of gray joggers, Steve noticed how the radiator situation had only gotten worse since the morning. Come to think of it, it wasn't necessarily a setback to his plan of spending a homey slash intimate evening with Eddie, but quite the opposite actually. More reasons to keep close if you know what he meant.

“Man, why does it feel like the North Pole up in here?” Eddie asked once he came home, setting an impressive carton bag on the counter. "And why the hell are you wearing this, are you trying to develop a high cold resistance or something?" He glared at Steve's tank top with a moderate apprehension instead of the oh-wow-nice-arms-and-chest-hair-dude appreciation Steve was hoping for. Still, the concern was charming too, heartwarming even.

“Uh, shit, forgot to tell ya, there's something up with the heating today. Bill promised to fix it as soon as possible, but I guess, 'soon' is a relative term.” He shrugged his shoulders, coming closer and checking the containings of the bag.

“I see.” He frowned. “Well then I'mma take a shower real quick and you, sir, will need to get us the warmest comforter we've got here.”

Comforter. As in singular, Steve processed happily, already seeing how it was going to work out in his favor.

“Will do.” Steve saluted, being the dork he was, and went looking for something soft to cover themselves with.

When he managed to dig out a blueish fluffy comforter from one of the drawers, he unpacked the bag, placing all of the munches and the cans on the coffee table, and began sorting through the video tapes. Picking a movie now seemed like a pretty useless task since he wasn't planning on paying much attention to it anyways. He literally could have put on the worst, goriest film and he still wouldn't be able to concentrate on a single thing in it. Hence, a random newly came out slasher was up to the test.

Eddie joined him shortly after everything'd been set, a pleased sigh was let out as soon as he sat thigh to thigh next to him on the couch, in all likelihood trying to draw away Steve's attention from how amazing he looked even in his home attire that was a black band t-shirt and matching sweatpants.

“Alrighty, let the relaxation ritual commence,” he announced theatrically and reached for the comforter to put it over their legs.

Just as Steve'd assumed, being engrossed by the plot was out of the question. It was specifically so due to the fact that sitting near Eddie was becoming exceedingly unbearable with every passing minute. A handful of reasons were the evidence of that: a. reaching for chips, their hands just kept on brushing electrifyingly every single time. b. Eddie licking his fingers one after another when he was done almost sent Steve into a cardiac arrest.

Since there had to be something done to ease the tension, or to add up to it, depending on how you looked at it, Steve decided to throw his right leg over Eddie's left, immediately content with the warmth of the tight mussels beneath him.

“Comfortable much?” Eddie inquired stupefaction dancing in his eyes, his left hand simultaneously finding its rightful place on Steve's thigh.

“What you're not?” He failed at not spreading his lips into a wide grin at the thought of how it must've affected the other man as his words didn't quite match the actions. 

Another 15 minutes flew by before Eddie himself shifted so that his head would rest against Steve's shoulder.

“Comfortable much?” Steve reiterated the man's line from before.

“What you're not?” he murmured back innocently at what Steve replied in a hum, beware of how gravelly his voice could sound now.

And then Eddie tried adjusting his lower body that was currently trapped by one of Steve's legs.

“What's wrong? Wanna move?”

“Uh, it's just—my feet are so cold,” Eddie grumbled.

“Let's move,” Steve offered and sat up, manhandling Eddie to the edge so that he could lie down behind him along the length of the couch, and then pulled him at the waist into the same position, drawing a high-pitched sound out of him. Risqué, no doubt about that, but oh-so-delightful.

“Come on, bend your knees and put those feet between my cuffs.”

“Ha, that's uh—very generous of you,” he stumbled over his words, yet obliged.

“Is that better?” Steve hugged him closer so that there was not an inch between them.

Eddie puffed out, “Yep, no complaints over there.”

The rest of the movie went in a complete blur of a bliss for Steve. This couch was miraculously the best place to be at. Warm, cozy and safe. The trio he wouldn't trade for anything in the entire world. Although, he might've gone delirious because of Eddie's dizzying smell and how perfectly he was slotted into Steve's body.

When the credits rolled for a couple of minutes and neither of them moved, Steve figured he'd better check on the man beside him.

“Hey Eddie?” he whispered near his ear, touching his shoulder. “Eds?”

“Huh?” he answered in a sleepy voice.

“We should probably turn in for the night.”

“Now you didn't say we must, so is there a chance we stay like this?”

“I mean, there's literally no room for the both of us to get a good night's sleep.”

“Alright, if you insist,” Eddie made what felt like the most disappointed sigh Steve'd ever heard. “I'll stay here tonight, 's your turn to take the bed.”

“Um, actually, I say we both take it tonight, cause like, it's getting chilly with the minute, and, uh, we've got to keep ourselves warm at all costs, you know.”

The offer was met with silence as if Eddie was weighing his options, which caused Steve to fully experience the meaning of the 'heart in the throat' phrase.

“Well, count me in,” he abruptly agreed. “Chop chop, man, you’re letting our warmth slip away.” He disentangled himself from Steve and fled directly to the bedroom.

They got under the covers, close, but not touching, only facing each other. Now, Steve thought, now was the time to show his cards, to come clean, to confess his everlasting affection. Every encounter they'd previously had had been leading to this exact moment. However, before he found the courage within himself to form the words into coherent sentences, Eddie's whispering voice echoed in the room.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember owning me one personal revelation from the day we moved in?”

“I do,” Steve stretched out the second word carefully. “But I also do remember sharing quite a lot just today,” he laughed restlessly.

“No, I know, but—could I please have one more?” he asked, eyes shining pleadingly.

“Uh, okay, spill it out.”

“So, who's this guy?”

Here it was, the golden opportunity to do it, more than that, Eddie explicitly wanted to know now.

Steve switched on the bedside table lamp and sat up straight on the bed, propping his hands behind his back, throwing the head to look at the dark ceiling.

“Promise me, you're not gonna freak out on me?”

“Fuck, is it really that bad? Is he like seventy?”

“What? No! Just—if it's too much, swear we're gonna pretend like the conversation never happened.”

“I'm really starting to lose my shit here, man, just say the name already.” He joined Steve in his sitting position, searching for something in his face.

Steve took a deep breath, his heart beat once. Twice. Next thing he knew, he spoke in the most indistinct way.

“It'syoujesus.”

“Eugene?" Eddie sounded incredulous. "What kind of name is that?”

“What?” Steve turned his head to meet Eddie's face.

“Sorry, I guess I just haven't met a lot Eugenes in Hawkins,” he muttered, the defeated expression on his face made Steve flabbergasted at how the scenario was unraveling.

“Who the hell is Eugene? And what does he have to do with me being mad about you?” he yelped almost hysterically.

At once the realization was glinting in Eddie's eyes. “Wait… Oh. ”

Chapter Text

If Steve had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown half a second ago, now felt like the breakdown finally arrived, taking him on the 'self pity' ride two hundred miles per hour.

“Um, that's not how I hoped it'd go, I think I need to clear my head.” He began climbing out of the bed, escaping what felt like the worst heartbreak ever.

“No, hold on.” Eddie shifted to the edge of the bed, grabbing Steve by the wrist to stop him. “I guess, I just have trouble—registering what you've said.”

Standing at the foot of the bed, Steve felt his arm being tugged on, compelling him to turn around, which he did unwillingly, determined not to look Eddie directly in the eye.

The metalhead exasperatedly carried on with the explanation, “I mean, our whole relationship's been so damn confusing ever since we’ve moved in. Like, imagine sharing the bed with someone for a couple of nights and happen to innocently snuggle this one time, and then the next day they choose the couch. As if—we've crossed some sacred friendship line.”

At the momentary pause, Steve looked down at the sitting man, not sure whether his hearing was still working right. He made eye contact with Eddie to see if the confirmation was to be found there, in the soft glowing ambers of his.

Still grasping at Steve's left wrist, he resumed speaking, “So, naturally, I wasn't expecting anything like that ever happening between us again. And here I was, wrong again, because you were apparently very much into dudes and, not just that, there was one particularly special dude. And I thought, huh, that's probably the reason. He just doesn't want to be intimate with anybody else, even if it's friendly intimate. Although, I could swear that this,” he swirled his spare hand between them. “Felt nothing like friendly. And god almighty, I would've fought another Vecna battle for it not to be.”

Presumably, Steve wasn't going deaf all of a sudden as Eddie was, by all means, infatuated with him just as much. It made his heart swell double the size. He took the man's other hand into his own, caressing his thumbs over the rough skin of Eddie's knuckles.

“I'm sorry for sending you mixed signals this whole time.” He grimaced. “I totally should’ve dealt with the couch thing differently but I—I sure as hell wouldn't've been able to keep my hands to myself for much longer otherwise and, you know, I had to be sure you were at least a tiny bit interested.”

“Oh, but I was—no, am interested, tremendously so,” Eddie admitted, a gleeful kind of smile dancing on his lips. “But, um, am I really this irresistible?”

“You don't even know the half of it,” Steve retorted, mimicking the smile as he stepped closer to find himself in between Eddie's spread legs.

They were now looking intently at each other, not uttering another word. To be fair, the air had already been cleared, which left them swimming in nothing else but sheer anticipation. On a related note, Steve didn't have a clue as to why they hadn't kissed yet, his eyes were flickering all over Eddie's face non-stop, each time lingering on his cherry-red plush lips a millisecond longer.

“Can I—” Eddie began in a shaky breath when Steve beat him up to it. Leaning down, he crossed the remaining distance between them, cupped the man's cheek and pressed their mouths together.

Steve wouldn't have recalled any of his first kisses for the life of him. The reason was fairly plain - not a single one of them came even close to being as significant or as long-awaited as this one. And no matter how cheesy the concept was, he solemnly promised to commit the moment to the memory till the day he died.

And as though the time froze, it started out in the most fragile way possible, only with the smooth movement of lips gliding over lips. Soon enough, Eddie disentangled their hands to grab on Steve's sides, coaxing him to straddle his hips, which immediately morphed the aesthetic of the kiss into a more desperate one. Now that the angle changed and more areas of their bodies were touching, it was a lot easier to push and pull at one another.

Eddie's left hand was on his lower back, the right one holding tightly at the neck while Steve's fingers were dug into the man's luscious hair, scraping at the scalp. The sensation drew a little groan out of the man underneath him and let Steve to deepen the kiss by swiping his tongue inside. He swirled their tongues around before capturing and sucking on Eddie's viciously.

The long-haired man made his way under Steve's tank top, massaging the tight stomach and all the scars along with it. Steve had to shortly break off the make out session with the string of saliva to take the thing off and give Eddie more room to explore. Getting the gist right away, he placed one of his palms right back against the golden warm skin, the other hand out behind him to have a better look at the boy on top of him. The vulnerability of the moment was suddenly spiking Steve’s mind with self-conscious thoughts, one of them being the epiphany that it, most likely, was not an appealing look. 

Mortified, he blurted out, “Nasty, am I right?”

“Hell to the no, sweetheart,” Eddie reassured, his expression mesmerized rather than appalled. “Metal is what it is.” The level of seriousness in his voice didn't allow any room for hesitation. “D’you wanna see mine?”

Receiving a nod along with some shallow breathing as an answer, Eddie began slowly pulling off the tee, revealing the uncanny signature inch by inch. The pattern, however, varied from Steve's own whether in size or placement. On top of the fact that those battle marks suited Eddie's whole appearance, they were also the undeniable proof of their triumphal victory. So, it did convince Steve that it was indisputably metal to have them. He grazed the warm silky lines with his fingertips, from the shoulders and gradually down the man's pecs, abdomen and sides. He could swear both of their breaths hitched at that pretty much innocent exploration.

“You're, uh, right. They're badass. And hot.”

Eddie's lips curled into a smile as he reached for Steve to bring him into another hot-blooded kiss, leaning back to lie on the mattress.

As a result of not having been touched by anyone for almost a year now, Steve was so incredibly touch-starved that when he lay down onto Eddie, legs on either side of his hips, upper bodies plastered against one another, he gasped at the skin on skin contact.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh, never been better, 's just a bit overwhelming.”

Eddie eyed him firmly. “You know we don't have to do anything tonight? Can make out for a while and drift off.”

“Oh, no, I'm up for anything you want, really. It's just—been a while for me. Besides, there’s like zero chance I’m gonna be able to fall asleep after that.”

“Yeah, same here. I suggest we keep all the advanced stuff for the next time, but still have some fun now.”

“D'you have something in mind?”

“A couple of things, yeah. They all require you to take these off though.” He playfully pulled at the waistband of Steve’s joggers and slapped it down against his lower back.

“No problem,” he mumbled, feeling nothing less than heady.

He rolled off of Eddie and concentrated on the task. Even though he purposefully wasn’t looking at the man next to him as a means to not get overexcited way too soon, he could feel him shuffling, busy with the undressing part, too.

It was incredulous how it seemed not to be freezing in the apartment anyone. Evidently, not by virtue of the radiators having finally been fixed, but rather for the reality of them being immensely turned on at that point.

Eddie propped himself up on one of the elbows and turned his head to face Steve, whose sheepish little smile was replaced by slackjaw the second Eddie's eyes started tracing down the south. Being fully stipped down both literally and figuratively was reasonably dizzying in the best kind of way. Steve couldn't help but copy the action of enjoying the view that was the man beside him. Eddie was no one like Steve had ever had a chance to be with before, still, this exact notion made it even more desirable. His body reminded Steve of a beautifully painted canvas, the disarray of black-inked tattoos interwoven with the scars and soft-looking body hair. He looked leanly muscular, nimble. The enticing happy trail led to the trimmed dark pubic hair and the absolutely graceful dick, which, just to be clear, was not a word Steve would've even used to describe someone's junk. Yet, here he was, infinitely captivated by its nice curve, the bulging veins, the slightly darker plush head. He had to suppress a pathetic whimper that built up in his throat just from the sight of him all. Eddie, on the other hand, was not afraid to make any noises of appreciation.

“Look at you, just—gorgeous,” he murmured into Steve's ear, laying his hand across his stomach then moving it down and stopping inches away from his cock, that, unsurprisingly, was already achingly hard and leaking precome onto his lower abs. “Wanna try something, baby. Can you turn your back to me?”

Steve hummed, turning away a bit with Eddie's hand still on him, and felt how the man aligned them so that the planes of his body were flashed against Steve’s. He was hard between Steve's ass cheeks, but wasn’t making any grinding movements just yet. Instead, he concentrated on leaving wet-sucking kisses along the column of Steve's neck while also finally leading his hand down to take him at the base. Steve moaned at the touch of the calloused fingers gradually going up and then caressing the thumb over the tip of the head to gather the wetness before starting to pump it down in the same agonizingly slow manner. Never breaking off the assault on the neck, he repeated the action once, twice, thrice, and said, “Hey, Stevie, I need your hand for a second there. Can you stretched it back for me?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” he replied, completely out of it, but managing to comply.

“Good boy,” he praised, voice laced with lust. “Now, I want you to take my dick and put it in between your thighs.”

Hearing Eddie give him orders mixed with pet names made Steve the way he'd never been during sex - soft, yielding, outright pliant. He snaked his arm further behind, grabbing Eddie's length and drawing out a low grunt out of him. He angled it down for the man to glide it between his inner thighs with an easy thrust of his hips a second later, and used the same hand to take a hold of Eddie's ass cheek to press him even closer.

Steve squeezed his legs together to create more pressure on the dick, feeling the sleek wetness of it on his skin. Eddie, still painstakingly stroking him, began smoothly moving in and out, panting at Steve's neck. With every passing second of their bodies moving in unison the air around them was getting thicker and thicker. 

Eddie set up a steadily growing tempo of his hips slapping against Steve's butt in rhythm with the jerking off of his cock. Moaning uncontrollably, Steve threw his head back, giving Eddie the chance to connect their mouths once again. The perfect addition to the ecstatic motions of their bodies. Distracted, they fucked up the pace a couple of times, but then the feverish kissing became more messy and the intensity of Steve's lower body hitting Eddie's renewed.

Steve could sense his orgasm building by the way his cock swelled up and was throbbing in Eddie's hand. “I'm gonna—”

“Yeah? You're gonna come for me, darling?” he asked throatily, tightening his grip around Steve.

These few words was all he needed to come undone, to let out one final groan of satisfaction and shoot his load in long white stripes onto the sheets. In rapt fascination, Eddie milked him until the last drop, his own orgasm following right after. He came hard between Steve's thighs with a shuddery breath, face tucked into his neck.

Eddie gently maneuvered him to lie on his chest before speaking, “Hey, Steve?”

“Hmh?”

“I guess, the sleeping arrangements are non-issue anymore.”

“Yeah.” A smile surfaced on his lips at the realization. “'Сause I'm keeping you in this bed forever.”

As they were lying unmovingly in a blissful trance, Steve realized that he gained substantially more than anticipated by moving out from his parents. Namely, his initial plan had been to turn over a new leaf and find a place he could call 'home'. By good luck, home was no longer a space with walls and a roof over the head, but rather a person who he’d been through a lot with. Who was gonna love and accept him unconditionally. Who he was most comfortable being his absolute self with. Who longed for his affection in return and allowed Steve to treasure him in the way he deserved.

The End