Chapter Text
The taste of Camels and strawberry lip balm went straight to Steve's head. He didn't how much he needed this or what he had been missing out on, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity go by and he moaned into Eddie's mouth. Eddie took that as his cue to maneuver Steve onto his back against the couch cushions, climbed onto to Stevie's hips, and Steve pulled Eddie down on top of him to continue the kiss, deeper and needier this time.
Steve's hands meandered away from the nape of Eddie's neck, through locks of hair, down his back, and over the curve of his ass. Eddie smiled into the kiss, and Steve pulled Eddie's pelvis down into his, grinding their hardened lengths together.
“Baaaaaabe,” Eddie groaned out from his lowest register. He moved his mouth from Steve's lips to his neck, feverishly kissing and nibbling at the skin. Steve appreciated the zeal behind Eddie's actions, but things were moving too fast.
“Eddie, wait.“ He brought his hands up around Eddie's face and guided it so they were making eye contact again. "Please," he said breathlessly, "Let me savor you."
And Eddie pulled away. From Steve, from the couch, from the moment.
“Nope! You do not go to a guy's place to fool around and then pull a stunt like that.” He was pacing now, arms crossed tightly over his chest.
Steve was extremely confused. It seemed like as soon as things had clicked into place, they clicked right back out again.
“I'm not just some chick you can sweet talk and bag, ok?” Eddie continued. “Leave the poetry out of it.”
Fortunately, the words washed over Steve and he understood what Eddie was saying without saying. Unfortunately, Steve smiled and ran his hands over his face and through his hair.
Eddie saw red.
"You come to my house in the middle of the night, wake me up, make it seem like you're going through some bullshit existential crisis, and then you trick me into thinking it'd be a good idea to kiss you? You're the same prep asshole you've always been! Get out!” He pointed at the door with his back to Steve.
Steve got off the couch, knowing he’d screwed up. “Eddie, I am so sorry!” Eddie snapped his head around to look at Steve, the whites of his eyes red and ready to attack. Steve took a step towards Eddie. “I wasn’t laughing at you, I swear.”
Steve took a deep breath and another step closer. “Eddie, I...I care...about you. A lot.”
Eddie took in Steve’s words, but didn't back down from his defense.
"I wish I could give you a better answer than that. You deserve a better answer. But I'm still trying to figure out a lot of stuff, so that's the best answer I can give you right now."
Eddie eased slightly. “It is a lot to figure out.” He looked Steve up and down, arms still crossed, trying to determine how serious he was. “Takes a while too, and it’s not easy.”
Steve tilted his head to the side. “Did you say I tricked you into thinking it would be a good idea to kiss me?” Eddie blinked, not expecting that at all.
“Because that was all you. I couldn’t do that if I tried.” Steve ran his hand through his hair again. “Was a good idea though.”
“And poetry? Nah, that wasn't poetry. That was-" Steve thought about it for a second and then shrugged.
“Spontaneous inspiration?" Eddie asked, pink spreading over his cheeks.
“Yeah! Exactly! See? You’re way better with words than I am.”
Steve finally closed the gap between him and Eddie, their faces inches away from one another. “Who have you been fooling around with that doesn't treat you nicely?"
“No one! It's fine!" Eddie sputtered, trying to look away. "Really, it's fine!"ˆ
Steve put his hand under Eddie’s chin and lifted it until their eyes were level. “No, it's not. I get being horny and wanting to get laid, but do you really expect me to believe that Eddie Munson doesn't want a little affection?”
That made Eddie blush harder still, all the way up to his ears. He sat back down on the couch, nerves shot. Still, he smiled. “I guess I care about you too, Steve Harrington.” He laughed. “I gotta say, I don't think I've ever been this happy to be proven wrong.”
Steve sat on the couch next to Eddie. They looked at one another and burst out laughing, together this time. Finally, Eddie said, “Do you maybe want to pick up where we left off? And also say more nice things to me?”
Steve paused. “That all depends.”
“On what?” Eddie asked.
“On if Edgar has enough Lucky Charms left for two bowls,” Steve laughed.
“Why you sneaky little sonova—“ Eddie pointed to the back of the trailer. “You. Bedroom. Now. Go!”
He smacked Steve's ass to emphasize his point, not expecting Steve's ass to reverberate against his hand. If he hadn't been hard already...
Steve bit back a groan and grabbed the offending hand, pulling Eddie along with him, down the hall and then a sharp turn into the bedroom. Eddie fumbled with the lock on the doorknob even though they were already alone.
Something about that act made it real- that they were truly in their own bubble. Eddie turned back around to face the room, smiling, only to see Steve staring at his shoes.
"Hey, hey," Eddie called softly as he took Steve's hands in his and rested his forehead against the other's. "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to, or if you're not ready."
"It's not that." Steve shook his head slightly. "It's just, uh, I mean, is it safe? Are you...healthy?"
He didn't realize what he was asking while he was asking, but as soon as he did, Steve took a few steps back.
"Oh God! That came out wrong! I am so sor-"
"Yes Steve, I'm healthy. I got tested after my last little dalliance," Eddie wiggled his fingers to emphasize the final word. "Everything checked out. Then there was this whole world-almost-ending thing that happened. Oh, and finals too."
That made Steve laugh. "How are you not constantly up to your neck in dick all the time?"
Eddie screwed his eyes shut. "I ask myself that question every day!"
Steve laughed again, and Eddie took that as his cue to approach, placing a warm hand on either hip. "Are you healthy, Steve Harrington?"
"Yeah, yeah I am. I've always been careful with stuff like that. And if there was any doubt, well I wouldn't put anyone in that position, but especially not..."
Steve let the rest of his sentence drop as he looked into Eddie's eyes.
"Same to you, big boy," Eddie said while giving Steve's hips a squeeze. "Now, do you have any other questions? Because it's totally cool if you do, and I'll answer them the best I can."
"Yeah, about, um...so I know how things are supposed to go when it's guys, but how does..." Steve trailed off again. One, because he didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to say. Two, because most of his blood was far away from his brain. "How do you decide who does what, and where? And when? And then how often?"
"So first of all, there is no one way things are supposed to go. This is just you and me here. We decide how things go, alright? Together. But I know what you're getting at. And the thing about that is, that requires preparation. At least it does if all parties want to have a good time. And preparation takes patience. I don't know about you, but I'm not feeling very patient right now. We can talk about who does what to whomst later, but that's up to us too, ok?"
"Sorry. I'm really out of my depth here. Still learning the ropes and all."
"So what do you know? Like, do you know the hanky code? I'm curious."
"I know about the hanky code. Why, what does yours mean?"
"In Hawkins? That I'm a wishful thinker.”
“So we’re the only guys in Hawkins?”
Eddie snorted. “Of course not! But it’s Hawkins, not San Francisco. Not exactly the loud and proud scene.”
“Like who though?”
“I don’t know who all is into what! If anything, you’d know more about than me.”
Steve was totally lost. “And how who I know that?”
“Steve. Stevie. Steven. Esteban.” Eddie gave Steve’s shoulder a shake with each punctuation. “You work at a video store.”
“Well yeah, but it’s not like I keep track of what everyone rents. As soon as they’re out the door I forget.”
“Nope, I’m not talking about rentals. Is there anyone who seems, how should I put this, particularly invested in keeping their VCR clean?”
Steve thought about it. “Well Mr. Wheeler picks up some cleaning solvent every once in a while. Always makes a big show of ‘with the amount of money I spent on the damn thing, it better work.’”
Eddie hummed and nodded. “So it runs in the family. Does he ever rent anything?”
“No, he says our prices are highway robbery. But what does that have to do with-“
“That solvent? Yeah, you can use it to clean your VCR heads. But you can also use it as a muscle relaxant. Muscles that are typically clenched all the time. It’s not my thing, but I’m hardly one to judge anyone’s chemical use. Just as long as no one’s making mustard gas.”
Steve looked more lost than ever. Eddie cradled his face in his hands.
“Are you ok? Was that way too much information all at once?”
“Kinda. But I also really don’t want to think about Ted Wheeler when I have a hard on.”
“Fair enough!” Eddie laughed. He pulled Steve in close and wheezed into the crook of his neck, and then sighed. "Jesus, you're cute."
"Yeah you think I’m cute."
"You'd look even cuter on my bed."
"Hwha?" was all Steve was able to get out as Eddie gave him a firm shove to the shoulders, knocking him backwards onto Eddie's full-sized mattress.