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The sun was beating down on the overly crowded theme park one July afternoon as Steve Harrington sat under an umbrella enjoying a Mickey Mouse-shaped pretzel.
“This is so stupid!” he muttered to himself.
The trip to Disney World was supposed to be a graduation present for Robin, but the girl had brains. She got an early acceptance to Colombia, and she started classes this summer. Steve decided to still take the trip since he’d already taken the time off work. He thought he’d enjoy some alone time away from the kids in the sunshine-filled state of Florida.
The only good thing that came from Robin’s absence was that he could enter the Single Rider lines and get through the rides faster. He would just have to suffer through some uncomfortable small talk with a stranger until the rides take off.
Steve marched his way up to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster where he was seated next to a pale, skinny man with wild curly hair and lots of tattoos. He was wearing a Metallica tank top with black skinny jeans and chains. His hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with some strands hanging to frame his face. He was pretty. He had big, brown eyes and a lopsided grin.
“Hey!” the man said when Steve sat next to him.
“Hi!” Steve replied.
“I’m Eddie.”
“Steve.”
“Well, Steve what brings you to the most magical place on earth by yourself?”
“Maybe this is where I go to pick up pretty guys with big, brown eyes,” Steve said with a wink.
Steve thought what’s the harm in flirting with the pretty boy that he will probably never see again after the ride was over?
“Pretty, huh?” Eddie responded with a blush of pink across his cheeks.
“I said what I said,” Steve said confidently.
Eddie, in turn, blushed even more. The pink traveled down his neck underneath his shirt. Steve wished he could see how far down the pink went. He wanted to see if he could turn Eddie an even deeper shade of red. Steve was then pulled from his thoughts as the roller coaster attendant came by to check their seatbelts.
Eddie began drumming a beat on his legs with his fingers as they waited for the ride to start.
“Scared?” Steve questioned.
“A little nervous. I always am before take off,” Eddie said with a small smile that was so adorable it made Steve want to squeeze his cheeks as if he were that overly affectionate aunt at family Christmas.
Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Steven Tyler started screaming a countdown. Then they were off accompanied by Aerosmith.
The noise of the music was deafening, and the flashing lights mixed with the high speed made Steve feel like he was going to pass out. The next thing he knew was that he was holding Eddie’s hand as they went upside down for a brief second.
“Did I pass out?” Steve thinks to himself.
A couple of moments later the ride was finished, and he was still holding Eddie’s hand.
“Are you okay?” Eddie asked with a genuine look of concern.
“Fine,” Steve said.
“You sure? I’m pretty sure you passed out back there, and…” Eddie raised their joined hands.
“Sorry about that. I swear I’m fine.” Steve pulled his hand away, but Eddie did not look convinced. “I’ve had some serious head trauma in the past, and I guess the lights and sounds just kind of didn’t mesh well with it.”
“Serious head trauma? Jesus H. Christ, Steve!” Eddie yelled as they made their way off the ride along with the two passengers in front of them who were dressed in a similar aesthetic to Eddie. “Let’s go get you some water and somewhere in the shade to sit and rest for a bit.”
“I’m not going to ruin your trip because of some lasting symptoms of the past. I’ll be okay.”
“Who said you were ruining anything, big boy?” Eddie questioned, and Steve wasn’t sure if it was the pet name or the close proximity to Eddie, or the heat but he felt kind of dizzy again.
“You coming, Eddie?” a guy in a red and black cutoff flannel hollered as he and a guy in a Corroded Coffin shirt were walking towards the next ride.
“You go on ahead! I’ll catch you later,” Eddie yelled back.
“Eddie, your friends are waiting,” Steve pleaded.
“I am not going to leave a damsel all alone when she is in distress, so suck it up! You’re stuck with me,” Eddie explained as he took Steve over to sit in the shade. “I will be back in two shakes!”
He returned a couple of minutes later with two bottles of water and some nachos.
“Thanks,” Steve said with a light blush appearing on his cheeks.
The two men sat and talked for some time. They learned that they were the same age and were from the same part of Indiana with Eddie living just three towns over from Hawkins. Eddie plays in a band, but he works full-time as an apprentice tattoo artist. After a little while, Steve decided he is feeling much better.
“It was really great to meet you, and thanks for the food and water,” Steve said saying his goodbyes, but Eddie had other plans.
“Trying to get rid of me, Stevie?” And there goes that dizzy feeling Steve was experiencing earlier.
“Not at all,” Steve said trying to halt the fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “I just figured you’d want to get back to your friends.”
“And who says you can’t join us?” Eddie questions with a devious grin growing across his face.
With that, Steve starts to turn red. “I’d -uh- like that. I’d like that very much.”
“Great!” Eddie grabs Steve’s hand as they head to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to meet the other two guys.
“Hey, man!” the one in the band tee hollered as Steve and Eddie walked hand-in-hand towards them. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Steve. Steve, this is Jeff and Gareth.” Eddie said pointing at the man in the band tee and then at the one in the flannel.
“Hi!” Steve said awkwardly.
“Stevie here will be joining us for the rest of today, and maybe tomorrow?” Eddie said with a grin and a questioning look on his face.
“Yeah! That sounds like fun!” Steve said with that fuzzy feeling coming back.
The four men had fun joking around and going on a few other rides before calling it quits for the night. They would be back tomorrow to catch all the stuff they didn’t get to today. Jeff and Gareth were talking about a campaign of some sort while they waited for the bus to take them to their hotel while Steve and Eddie decided to make the 10 to 20-minute walk to their separate hotels.
“Hey,” Steve said kind of shy.
“Hey there, princess,” Eddie said with a tint of pink spreading across his cheeks.
“Do you think there’s a chance that pretty guy from earlier would give me his number?”
“With a face like yours? I’m sure any guy would give you their number!” Steve chuckled a bit at that. “Unlock your phone,” Eddie said with a grabby motion.
Steve did as he was told, and he handed Eddie his phone. The man typed away before a slight ding was heard. Steve must’ve had a confused look on his face because Eddie responded with “Well, I need your number too!”
The two walked for a couple more minutes in comfortable silence before coming up to Steve’s hotel.
“Well, this is me. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Steve asked just to double check he didn’t misunderstand.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, sweetheart,” Eddie said with a smile that slowly started to fade.
“What are you thinking about, Eds?” Steve asked, and to that, Eddie gave him a quizzical look.
“Eds?”
“You’ve given me loads of nicknames today! What I can’t give you one?”
Eddie chuckled. “I suppose I could allow it. BUT only for you!”
Steve stood there feeling like a tomato from how much he was blushing. “What were you thinkin-”
“Can I kiss you?” Eddie cut him off.
“Please do,” Steve said almost too quickly.
Eddie responded even quicker by smashing their lips together.
They kissed for what seemed like hours but also like seconds. It was too much and not enough at the same time. Eddie kissed Steve as if he was thirsty and Steve was the last glass of water on earth. They felt like they were floating until a familiar voice started playing overhead…”Love in an elevator! Livin’ it up when I’m going down…”
“I guess you’ll have to exchange your Metallica shirt for an Aerosmith one,” Steve laughed.
“I guess so, big boy,” Eddie kissed Steve again. “I guess so.”