Chapter Text
Eddie walked away, hands in his pockets, his heavy boots crunching the snow at rhythm.
Step, crunch. Step-step-crunch-step-crunch. Repeat for infinity.
Or at least until he gets home.
He thinks back to his last words, during his walk. Harrington's puzzled face, eyes searching left and right for a comeback. Probably something angry. Maybe something sardonic.
Eddie starts laughing loudly to himself as he reaches the corner of the townhall.
He had no idea what I meant. I knew if I threw a book reference at 'im, his brain would short circuit, but I didn't expect him to go speechless.
I just hope I didn't hurt him. With the stuff I said before that.
He looked hurt already, didn't he? He was acting like a little shit all day, trying to stir things up with anyone around him.... But.
Thinking back to when I got there, he looked miserable and nothing like he usually did at school. He's usually calm, cool as a cucumber, in charge of everyone around him since the first day of school. Barely fourteen. Already regarded a deity-among the high school. He's never looked like this.
Which was interesting.
It's why I sat down a few rows behind him. Someone had dropped him off at the parking lot and after they drove away, he pulled his hoods up over his head. Looking down at the pavement, he dragged himself toward the townhall. Didn't he usually walk around filled with confidence? Always looking around cheerily for someone he knew to wave at him? He was also wearing headphones. He had watched him from the chair, fiddling with an extra small radio as he sat down.
I wonder what he was listening to? Probably some sports show.... thing. My Uncle likes those when he can't sleep. Speaking of sports....
He had mentioned to his coach that he was there out of obligation, to his dad. I wonder if his old man even asked him if he wanted to go.... That would definitellllly explain his sour disposition. I would think he's being a bit overdramatic, though.... it being a children's play about Frosty's Magic Hat, and not a meeting at the gallows.
Nah, something is definitely up with Harrington.
Eddie turns back around and decides to go watch him again, this time from a little ways away to keep the peace.
When he gets back to the townhall's lawn, there are less chairs to sit at, more kids running around, and at a glance; can't see the guy anywhere.
He keeps walking, the snow is powdery and flat here, his crunchy musical number now lost to the silence.
Then, when he turns to look at the makeshift hot cocoa stand they were setting up nearby, he sees him.
He's no longer wearing the plain blue-gray sweater and hunter green puffy jacket. He's dressed quite nice, adorable actually.
He's wearing a suit. The kind that you'd wear to a special event, not like, a funeral or a wedding or anything boring like that.
He's also wearing a bright yellow scarf, with little flecks of green running through it. He can't take his eyes away.
Eddie's heart feels the rhythm he'd lost, now stepping lightly from the underside of his ribcage. His heart is telling him to head on over there, but his feet are already going in the opposite direction. He's still overwhelmingly curious and smitten, though, which means he has to park himself somewhere close by.
For a little while, he watches him from the crowd of people near the ring toss and horseshoe game. It's easier to hide here, where everyone is watching someone else and making a lot of noise. The best place to blend in, when you don't, is when all of the eyes are already locked on a target.
He watches as his little crush grows, more and more - the winter snow providing the water for the little sprout.
What's he doing now?
Oh. He's handing out little packets of somethin'.... It's hard to see from here, but it looks like little marshmallow treat bags for the kids. When an adult stops by, he hands them somethin' else... A card or somethin'?
Eddie briefly wonders which category he'd fall into if he went up to him.
I guess that's why he's here today, to do the grunt work for his old man.
At least he doesn't look pissed off anymore. Or sad.
He looks alright now. Cheery, even, especially when that little kid points up at him and yells, "Santa!" as he handed her the little packet.
He keeps smiling at people and wishing them a good day.
He keeps reaching up and scratching at the back of his head every now and then. I'll bet that scarf is itchy. Maybe his mom made it and he has to wear it.
The ring toss game has calmed down now that it's getting too dark to see. The play will be starting soon, too. The crowd is definitely thinning, so he'd better get going.
Or....
His heart is still flittering about.
He wants to run in the opposite direction, but instead, he grips his hands against his leather jacket and straightens it out. He then walks straight on over to the hot cocoa booth. The looming darkness must have conjured the courage he's been searching for.
As soon as he arrives, the walls are built back up around him.
Steve's cheery face falls to the floor, and his attitude is thrown right up in front of him.
There it is; His paladin shield.
As the line moves on, Eddie watches him, until it's his turn to walk over and get.... whatever it is that he'll be getting from Steve.
"Hey, buddy, the Christmas cheer looks good on ya..." he says, kindly, and almost as soft as if talking to a little rabbit trapped in a box.
He kinda is, isn't he? Stuck behind this booth and the table.
"Yeah, well, people don't exactly like it when you show up looking grungy." Steve's tone is flat, unbothered.
Was that a dig... at him? Or aimed at himself?
"Are you telling me that... You mean my outfit doesn't scream Merry Christmas to you?" he says while standing back slightly, pretending to be aghast.
Steve snickered.
He looked annoyed with himself for it.
That's adorable.
Steve clears his throat and reaches down to grab something from one of the boxes under the table.
"Here, man. You can have this." He reached out his hand and handed him a nice looking box.
"And... I'm sorry about earlier... I just... I wasn't feeling well and I took it out on you. You didn't even get upset with me, like, at all. And you were right about what you said before you left."
He wasn't looking him in the eye as he said this, he was looking at the box, but then at the end, he did. He looked straight up into Eddie's eyes, then back down again.
"You know what an Oblex is?" he asks, whispery and confused.
"What? No, I meant, like, the things eating me up inside. I don't want that. Ever." Steve says the end with conviction, strong and confident. That's the real him, right there.
"Don't worry about it, we're cool, buddy. It would take a hell of a lot more than that to get under my skin." Eddie says with a warm smile as they both look at each other.
"What's in the box, anyway?" he asks as he shakes it.
"I'm only supposed to give those out to important people. It's got fancy stuff, like chocolate, fudge, and... cashews or something. I dunno." he shrugs his shoulders, then looks him up and down.
"More importantly, it has a hat and a scarf in there and by the looks of it, you might be needing the extra layers." he said this with a little smile and pointed up towards the sky, where large snowflakes were barreling towards the little town.
Eddie's heart had never felt as frozen as it was at this moment.