15. The World Found Only in the Eyes of a Lover

Eddie had led the trail of cars to ball log, Steve riding shotgun with their usual setup in the back. They’d also brought a tent from Steve’s for the others in addition to what Vickie and Gareth were bringing. It wasn’t going to be a big group of people, but Steve and Eddie brought enough alcohol and weed for a small houseparty. Better safe than run out of party favors, and all that. Now, the tents were set up, as well as the back of Eddie’s van, and a small bonfire had been built not far from where everyone would be sleeping. A large boombox was set up near the foldout lawn chairs everyone brought, upbeat grungy music playing out of it. The night could finally commence.

“Pick your poison,” Steve gestured to the cooler of drinks, which was next to a pile of hard liquor. Eddie opted for a vodka soda, caring more about how quickly he got drunk rather than how good it felt going down. Steve made himself the same, taking a sip as he looked out at everyone else.

Robin and Vickie were talking to Eleanor and Kenny, who they’d met at the costume party. Meanwhile, Jeff was chasing Gareth around with a long stick, taking swipes at the air behind him and laughing.

“Ya know, Gareth and Jeff aren’t half bad,” Steve noted, Eddie nodding with an amused smile.

“Yeah, they’re pretty alright,” he mused, watching as Jeff tackled Gareth to the ground, the two rolling around. “Gareth doesn’t even know you were in competition with him.”

Steve smirked over at Eddie. “Was it ever really a competition?”

Eddie breathed into his cup. “No. ‘Specially not with a mouth like yours,” Eddie slid his free hand into the back pocket of Steve’s jeans, the latter leaning into him. He reveled in the way Steve’s eyes blinked and fluttered around every time Eddie managed to fluster him, which was pretty frequently.

Jeff helped Gareth off the ground, clapping him on the shoulder as the two of them laughed while walking over to the drinks. They both smiled in greeting at Eddie and Steve. “Thanks for telling us about this place,” Jeff looked around the clearing, up at the stars. “It’s really… peaceful.”

“Even if it’s currently filled with idiots,” Gareth added with a smile, pouring himself a mixed drink, Jeff doing the same.

“Thank Steve,” Eddie swayed into him more. “King of ball log.”

“Here, here,” Jeff raised his cup, Steve doing the same with a small smile.

“Yeah, well. This place is nice alone, but…” Steve shrugged, looking over at the other four laughing around the bonfire. “Sometimes it’s better with people who will appreciate it.”

“So, uh, Eddie,” Gareth started, looking a bit unsure of himself. “I know you’ve got a lot going on, but the guys and I were thinking of getting together to jam next week. Nothin’ serious, just a casual thing,” he smiled encouragingly at Eddie. “If you feel like it, you should stop by.”

Warmth curled around Eddie’s chest, unable to contain himself from returning the smile. Even after all this time of not keeping in close touch, and everything in the trial, it lightened Eddie that Gareth and Jeff still tried to reach out to him. “Yeah, man. I’ll, uh, I’ll check my work schedule.”

Gareth beamed, “Great.”

“We can move the day around, too,” Jeff said happily. “Afterall, what’s a jam sesh without Munson’s wicked guitar skills.” He playfully shoved Eddie’s shoulder, making him chuckle. What he would give to tell them about playing Metallica on top of his van in an alternate dimension in order to summon a herd of demon bats.

“And…” Gareth looked over at Steve. “Suppose if Harrington wants to see us in action, he could stop by.” Steve looked mildly shocked, his mouth falling open a bit as he looked over at Eddie.

“You did promise you’d play for me,” he smirked lightly.

“Plus, it’ll give Eleanor someone to talk to,” Jeff grinned coyly over at Gareth. “For some unknown reason she’s been coming around to practice more.”

Gareth’s face was red as a tomato as he smiled down at his shoes bashfully. A grin split Eddie’s own face, his hand retracting out of Steve’s pocket to ruffle Gareth’s hair. “Atta boy. You two been hanging out since the party?”

Gareth bit his lip to try and contain his clear enjoyment, bobbling his head back and forth as he gaily weighed his thoughts. “Here and there, yeah, here and there.”

“More like all the time,” Jeff was not taking Gareth’s modesty for a second, clearly determined to expose the love affairs of his friend. “You’re a hard man to get a hold of now.”

Jeff and Gareth devolved into a teasing conversation over Eleanor as they made their way over to the fire pit, where everyone had taken purchase in the lawn chairs. Eddie’s free hand slid over Steve’s hip as he came to stand in front of him. “It’s official,” Eddie simpered. “You’re in with the boys.”

“Boys down, Wayne to go,” Steve said humorously. “Think they’ll get annoyed of me hanging all over you at practice?”

“I guess you’ll just have to keep it in your pants, Harrington,” Eddie said lowly, snaking his hand around Steve’s lower back as he leaned in for a slow kiss, lightly frustrated by his inability to deepen it from their lack of free hands.

“Hey!” They heard someone yell from the pit, both of them breaking the kiss to look over at Robin. “Dingus and doofus! Quit your mating ritual for five seconds and join us!” She was smiling widely, holding hands with Vickie between their chairs.

Eddie and Steve chuckled as they looked back at each other. “We’ve been summoned,” Eddie said.

“Guess the whole point of this was to be social,” Steve sighed, his free hand tugging Eddie’s along as he led them over to the bonfire. There weren’t any more lawn chairs, but there was a large flannel blanket spread out on the grass. Steve sat down first, putting his drink to the side. As Eddie lowered himself onto the blanket he didn’t even have a second before Steve was pulling him down onto his lap, causing him to fall clumsily over the man and narrowly avoiding spilling his drink.

“Easy,” Eddie laughed, sitting perpendicular to Steve and draping his legs over the eager man’s lap. “Or this blanket is about to become a lot more flammable.”

“Yeah, well, it’s my blanket anyway,” Steve wrapped one arm around Eddie’s middle, his hand holding around the latter’s stomach while the other fell over the side of Eddie’s thigh. Tingles erupted through Eddie, Steve’s necessity for being close to him never failed to make him feel like he was on the high of his life with no comedown in sight.

“Alright. It’s not a proper night out without a drinking game, right?” Eleanor bit down a puckish smile as she looked out across the group, who gave their various ‘woo’s’ of agreement. She had a small stack of plastic shot glasses next to her, and one of the silver tequilas that Steve brought. “I’m sure we all know how to play Never Have I Ever, but in case you don’t, it’s simple: one person says something they’ve never done, and if you have done that thing, you take a shot. Since I suggested the game, I’ll start.”

Her round, brown eyes rolled thoughtfully as she tapped her chin with a delicate finger, lips pursed as she surveyed the group. “Alright, never have I ever had sex outside of a house.”

Eddie’s amused eyes instantly snapped to Steve’s, whose face was glowing pink in the light of the campfire. Eddie grinned over at Eleanor. “We’re gonna need two shots over here,” he held up two fingers as the group ‘Oo’d’ loudly. Eleanor poured the shots and passed them down the line of people until they arrived at Eddie and Steve. He put his mixed drink to the side and passed a shot to Steve. Eddie held his up with a smirk, “Cheers, m’dear.” Steve tapped their cups together before they both threw back the shots.

“Did no one bring a chaser over,” Steve rasped, face puckered from the alcohol.

“Can’t hang, Steve?” Vickie teased, earning a smile from Eddie, but she was already letting go of Robin’s hand to get up, walking over to the cooler.

“Uh,” Kenny chimed in, raising a bony hand. “I also need one.”

“You do?” Gareth’s eyes bulged over at Kenny. “No fuckin’ way, since when?”

“I don’t tell you everything,” Kenny shrugged his scrawny shoulders simply, accepting the shot from Eleanor before throwing it back, face barely flinching. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, where they had slid down.

Steve and Eddie shared a quiet look of surprise, Vickie returning with a 2 liter of Sprite and a small stack of plastic cups. “Always the quiet ones that are secretly wild,” Steve muttered quietly in Eddie’s ear. Eddie snorted in agreement. Vickie began pouring Sprite into the cups and passing them down the line to people, Steve and Eddie placing theirs next to the mixed drinks after both taking a cleansing sip.

A few more people went, and then Kenny came in with a wrecking ball of a statement that managed to get everyone in the group besides him. “Never have I ever kissed someone of the same gender.” As Jeff and Gareth reached for their shots to be pourn, it was now Eddie’s turn to stare in disbelief.

“You two have?” He asked, incredulous, pointing between them. “When? Where– Who?”

Jeff laughed, Gareth’s face reddening in the slightest. “It was on a dare, with each other. Some party a while back,” Jeff informed.

“Man,” Eddie shook his head in disappointment. “I miss all the good shit!” There were a lot of things Eddie mourned missing out on due to the trial and… everything with Vecna. But for some reason the insignificant, little things were what really made him long to undo time.

“Ya know, if you two were really his friends,” Vickie started, a sly glint to her eye. “You’d recreate that moment for our dearest Eddie.” Eddie’s face brightened as he grinned over at them in excitement, raising his eyebrows in a silent question.

Both Jeff and Gareth were demure, laughing sheepishly as various people in the group encouraged this. Most notably, Steve and Eleanor.

“C’monnn,” Steve dragged as Eleanor chanted “Do it! Do it!” at the same time.

Jeff and Gareth shared a look, both of them wearing abashed smiles. “Neither of us threw up last time,” Jeff shrugged.

“Speak for yourself,” Gareth snorted. “I was hurling into a plant not even twenty minutes later.”

“That’s because you tried to prove you could chase whiskey with hot peppers instead of limes,” Jeff laughed, Steve grimacing at this.

“Allow me to sweeten the deal,” Eddie chimed in, maneuvering himself in Steve’s lap to pull out a joint from his vest pocket, holding it up to the group. “You two kiss and we light one of these. Fair trade?”

“While it offends me that you think I’m so easily bought,” Jeff said, a smirk quirking his lips. “You are not wrong.” He looked over at Gareth, raising his eyebrows.

Gareth shrugged. “I was gonna do it for free, but you already offered, so no take backs,” Gareth shared Jeff’s amused look, moving out of his chair to sit up on his knees so he had a better angle. “Bring it here, big guy.” Gareth took Jeff’s face in both his hands, their lips crashing together in a kiss while the group cheered boisterously. The kiss kept going longer than Eddie expected, bringing about another wave of cheers, Steve whistling loudly. As they separated, both of them cringing through a smile, the group racketed their applause.

“That was…” Eddie couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. “Sensational. Well done, boys. Your reward, as promised,” he held up the joint, signaling he was going to throw it. Gareth readied his hands, thankfully catching it. Gareth crawled forward to light the tip of the joint on the bonfire before settling back in his lawn chair.

The joint was passed around as the game continued, Eddie taking it gladly when Vickie handed it over to him. He’d taken three hits when Steve leaned in close to whisper in his ear, making sure to gently tuck Eddie’s hair behind it first, “Plan on hogging that all night or does Number One on the list get a turn?” A shiver slid down Eddie’s spine at Steve’s lips moving against the shell of his ear.

The group was lightly bullying Gareth for something Eddie didn’t quite catch, his head far too wrapped up in Steve encroaching all around him. When he turned his face to look at him, he had to lean back so as not to knock their noses together.

“Open wide, pretty boy,” Eddie simpered, flipping the joint around and holding it up for Steve. Steve didn’t break eye contact, their shared gaze crackling like the firepit in front of them as he tilted his head back to take the joint between his lips. The cherry burned brighter as he took a hit, releasing the joint and blowing out smoke after holding for a second. “More?” Eddie asked, Steve merely nodded and took the joint back between his lips when Eddie moved it closer.

At some point the game dissipated into a natural conclusion, another joint passed around leaving everyone reasonably high and drunk, a comfortable atmosphere hanging over all of them. Eddie was sitting on the blanket still, Steve in front of him in between his legs as he roasted a marshmallow, the group gathered around the fire mostly talking in pairs. Save for Gareth and Eleanor, who were walking along the treeline together, an occasional laugh from one of them carrying over.

Eddie let out a relaxed sigh, his arms coming to wrap around Steve’s middle as he rested his chin on his shoulder. “‘S nice,” Eddie mumbled, body fuzzy and head swimming lightly as he gazed into the popping fire.

“What is?” Steve asked, slowly rotating the marshmallow.

Eddie shrugged against Steve. “Everything,” Eddie was getting lost in the rise and fall of his back against Steve’s chest. “The stars, the privacy,” Eddie tightened his arms around Steve’s waist, pressing a kiss to the base of his neck before letting his chin fall back on his shoulder.

“Our friends,” Our friends. The statement flooded him with a radiance that was unrelated to the fire. Some of them he barely knew, others he was mending a drifted relationship, and a select few he trusted with his life. But he couldn’t deny that he knew the source of that fizzing, overwhelming simmer inside him. “You,” he said finally. “Mostly you.”

He could see the apple of one of Steve’s cheeks rise in a smile with a content snort. The hand not holding the stick craned to entangle in the hair on the side of Eddie’s head, rubbing slowly. “I really don’t wanna move, but we kinda committed to this marshmallow and it’s seconds away from falling apart,” Steve informed.

Eddie released Steve with a reluctant sigh, leaning back on his palms as Steve leaned forward to grab the chocolate and graham crackers. Eddie, unashamedly, marveled the view of his ass as he did so. Maybe it was a mixture of booze and weed, but he was finding it especially hard not to picture all the things he’d like to currently be doing to the man in front of him.

When Steve turned around, Eddie had to drag his eyes up to meet his face. Steve smirked, using his knees to walk himself over to Eddie and kneeling in between his open legs. “Enjoying the show, Munson?” He teased, holding out the stick with the cooling marshmallow on it. “Hold that.” Eddie obliged, keeping one hand on the ground for support.

Steve broke a graham cracker into two squares, placing a block of chocolate on one half and closing them around the marshmallow, pulling it off the stick. “See? And you thought I was too drunk to make s'mores,” Steve smiled triumphantly, inspecting his work in front of his face.

“Well?” Eddie asked, opening his mouth, implying for Steve to feed him.

“I spend all the time roasting the marshmallow and I don’t even get the first bite?” He raised his eyebrows. Eddie simply nodded, mouth remaining open. Steve rolled his eyes with a smile, but placed the s'more in Eddie’s mouth regardless. Eddie bit down, holding Steve’s gaze all the while and pulling off of the s'more slowly, a string of marshmallow sticking to his chin.

“My compliments to the chef,” Eddie’s words were muffled as he tried to keep his mouth closed as much as he could.

Steve frowned at the marshmallow goo that got squeezed onto his fingers. “Man, you got it all over my hands,” he switched the s'more into the opposite hand, trying to flick off the sticky white fluff to no avail. He looked at his fingers for a second, a goofy smile stretching his face as eyes came back to Eddie, glassy and hazy from the night’s activities. “Heh, ya know what this kinda reminds me of?” He held up his fingers in front of Eddie’s face.

Eddie hated that this made him downright giggle. “Shut up,” he ran a hand through Steve’s hair, messing it up. The man merely laughed, clearly too inebriated to care about his appearance anymore.

He removed his hand from Steve’s hair to instead wrap around the wrist of his soiled hand. Eddie smirked up at Steve impishly. “You know I always clean up after my messes,” and just like that he took one of Steve’s marshmallow-coated fingers into his mouth, sucking slowly and looking up at Steve with rounded eyes.

Steve’s mouth had parted, low-lidded eyes watching on in silence. Eddie moved to the other finger, doing the same just as slowly. It was when he was sucking Steve’s thumb into his mouth that he heard an “EW!” that sounded suspiciously like Robin.

He pulled off Steve’s thumb with a pop, looking over to see Robin in Vickie’s lap, who still sat in the lawn chair. She was looking on with a disgusted face, meanwhile Vickie appeared amused. “This is a public area. You two are like… brothers to me. Go do that nonsense in the van!”

Eddie laughed loudly, meanwhile Steve decided to argue. “You don’t hear us complaining when you shove your tongue down Vickie’s throat!”

“That’s just kissing!” Robin defended. “I have a very detailed window into your sex lives that I would frankly like to pull the curtains on.”

“Such a prude, Buckley,” Eddie tutted with a mockingly disappointed shake of his head.

Robin shook her own head, turning back to Vickie, muttering, “You see what I gotta put up with?”

Eddie and Steve looked back at each other, devolving into a fit of laughter in which Steve drove his forehead into Eddie’s shoulder, careful to keep the rest of the s’more away from him. “We got in trouble,” he snorted hardily as he sat back up. He took a bite of the s’more, nodding his head with a deep hum that had Eddie shifting in place. He was quickly losing the ability to keep Steve’s clothes on and his hands off.

They heard a loud laugh which sounded like Eleanor’s, and then someone shushing her, but it was closer than before. Eddie looked around, Steve doing the same. The treeline was bare, but upon further inspection he saw movement in one of the tents. Gareth’s laughter, which he knew well, followed soon after.

Eddie and Steve shared an entertained look, but there was something sultry behind Steve’s eyes as he bit his lip. “What d'ya say, Stevie,” Eddie grinned up at him. “Wanna get a room?”

An eagerness flooded Steve’s eyes. “I’d say, ‘hurry up and put this in your mouth,’” Steve held up the last bite of the s’more, Eddie quickly pulling it into his mouth and scrambling to stand up with Steve.

“You got your wish, Rob!” Eddie declared, Steve downing the last of his mixed drink before letting himself get tugged along by Eddie. “When the van’s a-rockin’ don’t come a-knockin’,” he sent a wink her way, which she returned with a mixture of distaste and amusement.

Steve turned over his shoulder while being pulled away to add, with a point of his finger, “And do not forget to put the fire all the way out,” he raised his voice as they got further away, stumbling slightly over his own feet. “If we get interrupted by a forest fire, I’m telling you all the places in the video store Eddie and I have done it!”

Eddie heard a cry of repulsion from Robin behind him, followed by “God, it’s the Family Video Store!” This pulled a cackle from Eddie as he got them the rest of the way to the van. While he was unlocking the van, Steve’s hands were already trailing up his sides as he kissed Eddie’s neck.

As soon as Eddie threw the doors open he hopped in and turned around, grabbing a fist full of Steve’s shirt and dragging him in. They laughed drunkenly as Steve clamored into the van, closing the doors behind them.

Steve’s mouth was on Eddie’s in an instant, pushing them down onto the mountain of blankets and pressing sloppy, hungry kisses as his hands started to push Eddie’s outer layers off. Steve broke the kiss to say, “I’ll be honest–” Eddie cut him off by reconnecting the kiss, pulling away as he finally freed himself of his vest and jacket. “I don’t even care if we do anything–” another urgent kiss, followed by Eddie tossing his jacket over the backseat. “I just needed to–” another kiss. “Touch you–” when Eddie smashed their lips together this time he held it, pushing longly into it, as if he were trying to swallow Steve right then and there.

This time Eddie broke the kiss, a string of saliva still connecting them. “You know how well flattery works on me, Harrington,” he grinned wickedly before yanking his shirt over his head, discarding it with his jacket. Steve didn’t wait to do the same, Eddie back on him and sucking kisses onto his neck like a rabid animal. Eddie took a deep inhale, pressing his nose into Steve’s skin just so he could fill every sense with him. Steve hummed as his hands roamed over Eddie’s bare back.

When he got to the junction between Steve’s neck and shoulder, he couldn’t resist, biting down on the skin there. Steve whimpered out a choked moan, hands shooting to Eddie’s waist and gripping so tightly he thought it would leave bruises. Eddie slotted his leg in between Steve’s, who immediately started to buck his hips against him.

“Fuck,” he rasped out as Eddie lapped his tongue over the bite mark. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Eddie.” Both of them were already breathing heavy, the van alight with panting and wispy moans, mostly from Steve.

“Oh, yeah?” Eddie smirked against his shoulder before coming up to look at him with patronizing eyes. “Why’s that?” He dipped his head to the other side of Steve’s neck, nibbling there and relishing in the way Steve writhed underneath him.

“Because I love you so fucking much I don’t know what to do with myself,” he rushed out, still breathless. Eddie froze solid, all of his movements halting. Did he hear him right? Steve also went still underneath him, so he must’ve.

He pulled off of Steve, eyes feeling wider than they ever had been as he looked at the man’s face. It was stalled in utter panic. “Shit, I’m sorry– that’s– that’s a lot,” one of the hands on Eddie’s waist moved to cover shield his eyes, Steve’s mouth pulled back in a tight wince. “I know it’s really soon, you don’t have to say–”

Eddie crashed his lips into Steve’s, eyes squeezing tight from how much desperation coursed through him. Because I love you so fucking much I don’t know what to do with myself. The sentence exploded in his chest, his lips moving slow but crucially, as if the moment he broke the kiss he’d suddenly snap awake to an empty trailer and realize all of this had been one long, crushingly beautiful dream.

But when he pulled away Steve was still right there underneath him, looking up at Eddie with wide, shimmering eyes that searched his own. “Of course I fucking love you, dumbass,” Eddie chuckled out, but was too stunned to pair it with a smile.

His hand came up to brush over the side of Steve’s cheek, holding it as his thumb ran over the planes of his face. This time a smile did spread his face as he laughed deliriously, his forehead dipping down for a moment as he tried to get a grip on the fact that this was reality.

He beamed down at Steve, meeting his eyes once more and unable to tear his own away from the sight. Steve was looking at Eddie in a way he’d never seen anyone look at him. Like he was delicate, but not fragile. Something worthy of being gentle with. Something you choose to handle with care, not because you had to for fear of breaking.

There wasn’t a poet or scholar skilled enough to put the way Steve made Eddie feel into words. No amount of prose or rhyme and meter could capture the universe that swirled inside Eddie when he looked at the man below him. Much less the words of an inebriated twenty-one year old, so Eddie decided to leave that task for another day. For now, he did what he knew how to do, and kissed Steve. This time just as gentle as the boy looked at him.

Eddie smiled against Steve’s lips. Considering the close proximity of the van to the rest of the tents and the way sound traveled in the clearing, he had a feeling Robin’s window was about to get a whole lot bigger.

+++

“Go easy on him, alright?” Eddie pleaded with Wayne, who brought the platefuls of food over to the coffee table for their dinner with Steve. “He’d hate if I told you this, but he’s really nervous about making a good impression.”

Wayne gave Eddie a far too innocent shrug. “Only gotta be nervous if there’s somethin’ to hide,” Wayne brought his beer to his lips, taking a long sip as he raised his eyebrows at Eddie.

Eddie gave him an unamused look, a knock at the door gaining both of their attention. “That’s him,” Eddie made his way over.

“Least he’s punctual,” Wayne muttered.

Eddie looked over his shoulder at Wayne, lowering his voice to say, “Can you at least try to be normal?”

Wayne gave a roll of his eyes, making the sign of the cross before holding up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“That’s not the scouts’ salute, and you’re not even religious,” Eddie stated simply, but opened the door nonetheless. He could practically see the frayed nerves firing behind Steve’s wide eyes, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile fondly.

“Uh, hey,” Steve held up a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 whiskey. “I didn’t know what to bring… so I brought this.”

“You didn’t have to bring anything,” Eddie smirked, opening the door wider for Steve to enter. Wayne was watching them over the rim of his beer, scrutinizing Steve from his spot in the chair.

“Mr. Munson,” Steve greeted. “It’s good to see you again. I, uh, didn’t know what sort of drink you like so I brought a whiskey.” Steve handed over the bottle, Wayne taking it to inspect. He looked up at Steve in silence, eyes flicking to Eddie. Eddie rounded his own behind Steve, mouthing ‘be nice.’

“Not the worst taste I’ve seen,” Wayne said gruffly, setting the whiskey on the table. “Eddie, why don’t you bring us some mugs so we can give it a whirl?” Eddie nodded, stepping into the kitchenette to grab three mugs. “Have a seat, Stephen.” Eddie watched out of the corner of his eye as Steve shuffled to sit in front of one of the plates, which Eddie had already filled with food. He knew Steve well enough that he’d be on time, and not have to worry about it getting cold. Especially since Steve had been worrying nonstop about tonight since before they’d even had a date set.

Eddie returned with the mugs, sitting on the couch next to Steve and between Wayne in his chair. “Hope you like stir fry,” Eddie pursed his lips into a smile, racking his brain for a way to cut the tension in the room.

“Yeah, yeah, stir fry’s uh, stir fry’s perfect,” Steve assured, followed by a clearing of his throat. “Thank you for having me,” he directed this mostly at Wayne, who was pouring all of them their whiskey. Eddie noted he gave Steve far more, sliding the mug across the table with his ever analyzing stare. Steve’s eyes widened slightly when he peered into the mug, but he didn’t say anything. Eddie bit back a smile. As much as he felt for Steve, he couldn’t deny that he was enjoying his overly jittery nature.

“So, Stephen–” Wayne started, but Eddie cut him off.

“You can call him Steve,” Eddie said pointedly, but Steve rushed to interject.

“No, no, h-he can call me whatever he wants–” Steve shifted his gaze to Wayne, giving a meek smile. “You can call me whatever you want.”

Wayne’s silence lingered a moment longer as he looked at Steve, face unreadable. That is, to people who didn’t know him like Eddie did. He could tell Wayne was mad with power, enjoying every bit of this. “So, Steve,” he picked up his fork and began mixing around his stir fry. “What are your intentions with Eddie?”

“Jesus Christ…” Eddie muttered, running a hand over his face to hide his embarrassment. “I promise I told him not to do this,” he looked over at Steve earnestly.

“What?” Wayne shrugged. “‘S a simple question.” He funneled stir fry into his mouth, gaze locked on Steve as he chewed.

“No, it’s okay,” Steve assured. “Uh… well. My intentions are… pure, I promise. I’d never do anything to hurt him.”

Wayne’s eyes narrowed on him slightly. Eddie could hear the gulp from Steve, who glanced off to the side briefly, clearly sweating under Wayne’s survey. “You ever cheated on anybody, Steve?”

“Uncle Wayne,” Eddie immediately scolded. “You can’t just go around asking people that.”

“Well, when they’re not datin’ my only nephew, I don’t,” Wayne retorted.

“No, uh, it’s a– it’s a fair question,” Steve provided, even though it most certainly was not a fair question. “And, no. I haven’t cheated on anyone.” Eddie’s eyebrows quirked up, the corners of his mouth downturning briefly as he took in this information for himself. He wasn’t going to lie, that was kind of a surprise to him.

“That so?” Wayne stated more so than asked. “You got quite the reputation around town, ya know.”

“Okay, no,” Eddie shut down. “He came here for dinner, not an interrogation.”

“I made no such promise,” Wayne stated simply, bringing his mug of whiskey to his lips as he leaned forward, zeroing in on Steve once more.

“Really, it’s okay,” Steve said to Eddie, looking him in the eyes. They were fearful, but there was something resolute there as he turned to Wayne. “The truth is, I know what people say about me. And I’m not gonna pretend like I didn’t earn it at one point but…” Steve pressed his lips together, looking down at his plate momentarily before meeting Wayne’s gaze with severity. “I think I’ve changed a lot since then, for a lot of reasons. And I think your nephew is…” he exhaled lightly, shaking his head a bit, as if he were in awe. “The most amazing person I’ve ever met. Honestly I can’t believe he keeps me around,” he smiled sheepishly. “Like I said, I’d never do anything to hurt him, and if I did, frankly I think I’d show up for a beating from you personally.” Steve gave a weak, uncertain chuckle.

Despite this being hell for Steve, and a bit for Eddie, the latter couldn’t help but smile over at him. Steve met his look, giving a tight lipped but genuine smile of his own in return.

Wayne leaned back in his seat again, eyes still narrowed on Steve as he took a long sip of whiskey. He stayed silent as he put the mug on the table, Eddie looking between them as he ate his stir fry in silence. It felt like he was watching reality TV.

“Good answer,” Wayne said plainly, and Eddie watched as Steve sagged in his seat, deflating in relief. He took a gulp of his own whiskey before tearing into the stir fry, giving Eddie the impression he was too anxious to even think about eating until now.

“Wow,” Steve said after chewing his first bite, pointing at the plate with his fork. “This is really good. Did you make this?” He looked over at Eddie.

Wayne scoffed hardily. “Please. Eddie couldn’t cook his way out of a life-or-death situation if he had a five-star chef directin’ him through every step,” Steve and Wayne laughed, Eddie shooting Wayne a glare.

“Laughin’ a little too hard there, Stevie,” Eddie said flatly, brow lowered. “You said you liked my eggs.”

“A-and I do!” Steve blustered, eyes flicking between Eddie and Wayne. Wayne raised his eyebrows in amusement at Steve, as if to say ‘uh oh.’ “I think you’re a… great cook.”

“That was a long pause,” Eddie deadpanned. “I’ll remember this, Harrington.”

“Didn’t mean to get ya in trouble,” Wayne smirked into his mug. The tightness that hung around them slowly loosened as the dinner went on, Wayne asking if Steve played any sports and Steve offering his background of basketball and swimming. Steve even managed to make Wayne laugh with a joke about some football players, which completely went over Eddie’s head.

However, soon the conversation got to how Eddie was as a kid, and he was severely missing when Steve was the topic of discussion. “I’ve never seen a child fall down more than Eddie,” Wayne grinned, Steve looking on with intrigue, shooting a quick, teasing look at Eddie. “And I wasn’t even the one primarily taking care of him at the time. Can’t imagine the shit he got into on the daily. Ya know,” Wayne sat forward more, a gleam to his eye as he talked to Steve. “He used to run around butt-ass naked, beggin’ for someone to chase ‘em around. Lord knows why, think he just liked the thrill–”

“Alright, we can move on from this anytime–” Eddie tried to interject, face already bright red as he’d heard this story a million times, but Wayne wasn’t having it.

“And so one time he ran out down the street– they lived in a little house at the time– and ran into one of the neighbor boys his age–”

“Okay!” Eddie clapped his hands together a few times. “Very funny, we can stop now!”

“Wait, I wanna hear,” Steve waved at Eddie, eyes rounded at Wayne as he waited for him to continue.

“I’m talkin’ crashed right into him, knocked ‘em over on the sidewalk an’ everything,” Wayne’s mouth turned up in a devious smirk. “Now, I knew long before Eddie told me that he liked fellas, and how he acted around this neighbor boy was how I knew. Every time I visited he was goin’ on and on about ‘em. He wudn’t even that old, either. Maybe five or six.” Steve looked over at Eddie in absolute hilarity, his poorly hidden laughter only deepening when he saw the displeased look on Eddie’s face. “I was chasin’ him down the street of course, tryin’ to wrangle him back in because I was left in charge, and I come out to see him crawlin’ off the boy, and Eddie just starts wailin’ at the top of his lungs. Absolutely mortified–”

“Yeah, feeling something real similar right now,” Eddie urged, voice pitched high but his words muffled as he had his face in his hands. His skin was so hot he thought he might give his fingers third degree burns.

“He gets up to run over to me, and–” Wayne smacked his hands together, chuckling. “Faceplants directly onto the sidewalk. Starts cryin’ even harder. Whole time this neighbor kid is just watchin’ on, probably confused outta his mind.”

Steve started laughing, but pressed his lips into a tight line when he saw the daggers Eddie was side-eying at him. “Oh, c’mon,” Steve broke, grin plastered to his face unashamed. “That’s a great story.”

“And he didn’t stop crying for an hour after,” Wayne added mirthfully. “Kept sayin’,” Wayne pitched his voice into one that was squeaky, “‘Jake doesn’t like me anymore.’ Would’ve broke my heart if it weren’t so damn funny.”

Steve laughed harder as Eddie groaned, flopping back against the couch. “Glad both of you sick fucks get a kick out of a child suffering.”

“Oh don’t give me that,” Steve smiled over playfully. “Just last week a kid ate shit in the store and I had to make you go in the back room because you were laughing so hard.”

“Okay, glad both of you get a kick out of my suffering,” Eddie corrected, Wayne and Steve sharing a look of horribly hidden levity. “Now if you don’t mind, I think it’s time Steve and I start the movie,” he looked over pointedly at Wayne, who held his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright. No one wants the old man around, I get it,” he guilt-tripped lightheartedly, Eddie rolling his eyes with the faintest smile.

“You could always watch it with us?” Steve offered, glancing at Eddie for approval.

“Uh, no he cannot,” Eddie informed. “You guys have ganged up on me enough for one night, thank you very much.”

“Eh, I can join you two another time,” Wayne said with a sigh, pushing himself out of his chair. “Way past my bedtime anyway.”

He started to gather the plates, but Steve was up in an instant. “Here, let me take care of these,” he stated, taking Wayne’s plate and stacking them with the others. “Least I could do for having me over.”

Wayne hesitated for a moment, Eddie watching on in curiosity. His uncle was very heavy-handed in drilling in the importance of being a good host, not letting your guests do any work. So it was a shock to Eddie’s system when Wayne nodded, grabbing his mug of whiskey from the table. “Suit yourself,” he took a long sip of his drink, observing as Steve brought the plates over to the sink and began washing up. “I’ll try to stay out of your hair, but, uh, remember,” he looked at Eddie, pressing his lips into a line and raising his eyebrows before he said, “‘S a small trailer. Walls are thin.”

“Ew…” Eddie groaned out. “Yup– nope– got it. Goodnight, Uncle Wayne,” he shook his head with a grimace, not missing the amusement in Wayne’s eyes as he threw back the last of his drink, placing the mug on the kitchenette counter.

“G’night, boys,” Wayne said with a long sigh, making his way to his room. He stopped in front of the kitchenette. “Oh, and uh, Steve,” Steve paused his dishwashing to turn over his shoulder. “Good havin’ you over.”

A bashful but genuine smile stretched Steve’s face. “Yeah, good being here.” Wayne gave a single nod before disappearing to his room, the faint click of the door shutting behind him.

Steve looked over at Eddie with wide eyes, mouth open in pleasant surprise. Eddie grinned as he got up from the couch, coming to lean against the counter next to Steve and crossing his arms.

“I think that went well,” Steve beamed, continuing his scrubbing of a plate.

“Yeah, who knew all you needed to bond was my humiliation,” Eddie pursed his lips, Steve chuckling. He rinsed off the final dish and set it on the small drying rack before coming to place his hands on Eddie’s hips, stepping into his space.

Steve shrugged, eyes amorous as they scanned Eddie’s face. “Maybe don’t be so cute when you’re humiliated and I’ll enjoy it less.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but there was a smile pushing his cheeks that he couldn’t hold back. “Shut up,” he muttered, quickly cut off by Steve’s lips gently pressing to his. His hands came to tangle around Steve’s neck as he moved his lips languidly against Steve’s. Steve broke the kiss, dragging his nose over Eddie’s cheek before placing a kiss there, then another on his jaw. He pulled back just enough to look at Eddie.

Time seemed to stand still as they observed each other. Looking into Steve’s eyes was unlike anything Eddie was used to. The closest he could compare it to was actually what it felt like the first time he crawled into the Upside Down. Maybe the fear he felt was different, but the sense of abject disbelief and wonder that something so complex and magnificent could exist all this time without Eddie ever even realizing, that was all the same.

When it came to fear, Steve made Eddie realize there were two different kinds: the good and the bad. Steve was endless possibilities, a new world for Eddie to stumble through and discover all the intricacies of. What scared him wasn’t what he would find, rather that the world would be looking right back at Eddie, figuring out all the beautiful and ugly parts of him. But Steve is who helped him realize that there was beauty to find, and that not everyone runs at the first sign of choppy water.

There was so much brimming inside Eddie, he knew for certain he’d explode if he didn’t at least try to let it out. And more than that, in this moment he wanted nothing more than for Steve to know how much he meant to him. “You were right in front of me this whole time,” Eddie’s hands came to cup Steve’s jaw, thumb brushing over his temple and cheekbone. “I won’t pretend that I didn’t have a stupid, small crush on you in high school,” Steve’s eyebrows raised at this in tandem with the corners of his lips, but he stayed quiet, letting Eddie continue.

“But that was different. You were… unobtainable. Barely knew who I was. And I didn’t see,” Eddie glanced him up and down briefly, giving a light shake of his head as his eyes settled back on Steve’s. “All of this. Who you actually were, or could be. Between the kids, Robin, and you… everything matters so much more to me now. Like… I was just waiting for the lens to focus.”

Steve’s eyes pierced him with an intense ferver, one that undid Eddie and stitched him back together all at once. Eddie gave a soft snort, chin dropping as he looked down at the space (or lack thereof) between them. “Sorry, that, uh, probably sounded stupid. And like I was miserable before. I wasn’t, not really. At least not until…” Eddie trailed off, swallowing as he let his hands fall onto Steve’s shoulders, thumbs stroking over the skin of his neck. He didn’t need to think about that right now. He steadied himself in Steve’s eyes instead. “I guess… I just didn’t know what I was missing out on.”

“None of that sounded stupid,” Steve was quick to assure, brow lowering in sincerity. They both were speaking in quiet tones, this conversation for them and them only. Eddie could’ve sworn they were the only two people on Earth. “Eddie, the way you face the world…” Steve worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Even when it’s so cruel to you, you never stop caring for people. Never act out of spite. The fact I’ve only seen you really, truly mad once… I dunno. It gives me hope that there’s… more to all this,” he gave a shrug, rolling his eyes in a gesture to the space around them. “Seeing how much you mean to people– mean to me– it just makes me think we all have something to offer.”

Steve’s head dropped a bit, eyes looking away from Eddie’s for the first time in what felt like an eternity. “That I have something to offer. And I’ve… never felt that way before,” and just like that his gaze snapped back to meet Eddie’s. “So thank you, Eddie.”

Steve’s words nailed him to the spot, the backs of his eyes prickling. His hands snaked up to grab Steve’s face again as he pressed a long, greedy kiss to Steve’s lips. Two tears broke free as he worked his lips slowly against Steve’s, rolling down his cheeks as a weightlessness like no other overtook him.

He broke the kiss to look at Steve with watery eyes. “I love you,” Eddie whispered, voice straining to contain the happiness that threatened to burst through him like he were a poorly constructed dam holding back a tsunami.

Steve pressed his forehead to Eddie’s, eyes squeezing shut as his own hands came to hold either side of Eddie’s face. Eddie let his own eyes fall closed, jaw clenching as a smile quivered his lips. Steve took in a deep inhale before pushing it out, slowly. “Good. Because I don’t think I’m ever lettin’ you go, Eddie,” he whispered, voice cracking with a short, exhaled laugh, as if from disbelief rather than humor. The only thing in Eddie’s mind was Steve’s voice as another tear fell down his cheek. “Not unless you make me.”

Eddie knew one day this feeling would have to end. The other shoe would drop once more. Whether it was Steve leaving, or simply another thing life threw in his path. But at that moment, Eddie couldn’t care less. A lifetime of a thousand tragedies would be worth it for even a single blip in his timeline with Steve Harrington.