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Steve could barely recall how all of this had started. Perhaps a couple of months ago. Spring and the biggest part of summer had gone by. His wounds had healed up since his trip to the Upside Down, and life in Hawkins had resumed to its usual boredom: working at Family Video with Robin, hanging out with his friends from time to time, which included driving the team of young nerds to the arcade pretty much weekly, and going on dates without any point to them.
About that last part — Robin kept giving him shit for it. Steve was unable to explain why he seemed stuck in this pattern of going on a couple of dates with a girl, and then getting bored and looking for someone else.
“Is it the sex?” Robin even asked once, tentatively, half-whispering, grimacing at him.
“Ew, Robin!” he yelled-whispered back, brows furrowed. “First of all, who do you think I am?”
“A boy?” She snarked at him. “Boys are gross.”
“Fair enough…” he sighed back. “And no, it’s not. I guess I reach a point after seeing a girl for a while where I don’t know if it’s the right thing for me, you know.”
She shrugged at Steve and added, “Well, we’ve been through it before. I wish I could date around as easily as you do.”
“Robin, it’s been literal months. Just ask Vickie out!”
“Steve!” She hushed him, anger in her tone, as her eyes scanned the shop and she grabbed another set of VHS tapes to arrange on the shelves across from her friend. There was only a young duo of customers looking at the titles in another alley, and they seemed busy enough not to have overheard any of this embarrassing conversation.
Steve followed her gaze, and lowered his whisper. Softly, he added: “Look, it’s been a while, and you two are still hanging out despite it being summer break. That’s great, Robin! Maybe, I dunno, try to drop subtle hints and see how it goes, yeah? You ended up telling me about it all, so why not her? She seems like a good friend, either way.”
Robin smiled at him. “Yeah… You’re probably right.” She opened her mouth to add something else, but she was caught off guard by the customers making their way towards the counter. She gave Steve the ‘I’ll get that’ look, and headed to take care of the rental. Steve nodded at her, and then stared blankly out the window.
It seemed that little had changed, despite the hellish spring break they had endured together. Their bickering about their respective dating lives was back where it had all started. He felt himself at a standstill at this point, as if he were walking on a treadmill.
What had even happened exactly? Well, he had found himself flirting with Nancy again, for a while. He didn’t say anything about it, despite being pressed about it from all sides, even by Robin — but she later admitted that she felt jealous because Nancy was definitely adorable. Robin only wished a girl could look at her the way Nancy had looked at Steve during that dreaded spring break week. Steve had felt flattered, for a bit. But ultimately, Nancy flew out to see Jonathan in California, and it seemed that the two had decided to make their long-distance relationship work for a while longer, even if they weren’t going to the same college; and perhaps they’d try to join up next year. Steve recalled that conversation vividly. He remembers how distraught Robin had looked. She definitely had a crush on Nancy, and he could only feel sorry for his friend’s heartbreak.
How come was that? He asked himself again: what had changed?
He awoke from his daydream as the bell from the store’s door ringed. The customers left, and he was now left alone with Robin in the room, on this pointlessly hot summer afternoon.
“Seriously? You just stared into empty space this whole time? Are you okay?” She said, walking back towards him.
“Uh, what time is it?”
“I don’t know, like,” she looked over her shoulder at the clock on the wall, “5:15?”
“Oh my god.” Steve’s eyes opened up like two blue marbles. He grabbed Robin by the shoulders and said, with a slight panic in his voice, “I need to find a movie. I have a movie night tonight. I almost forgot.” He ran towards another section of the shop and started scanning the shelves.
“A movie night? I thought you just said you were calling it off with Rebecca, did I miss something?” She followed him, and was surprised to find him in the horror section.
“Yeah, I am. It’s not with her. It’s with Eddie.” Steve sighed as his hand passed over the countless VHS tapes. “God, he asked me to pick, and I have no clue about horror, but I know that’s what he likes… Should I get multiple tapes and see what he says? I mean, I work here, so I can just do whatever I want, and return them tomorrow.”
“Uh-huh...” Robin raised a brow. “Wow, you should hear yourself. You sound more excited about this than you were about your date with Rebecca.”
Steve scoffed, but didn’t comment.
Maybe he was. Maybe that’s what had changed since spring break. Eddie and him started hanging out more regularly. The two were polar opposites, back in high school: Steve was the typical jock, and Eddie was the typical nerd. They barely had any interaction at all, to the point where he didn’t even know who Eddie was when Dustin first mentioned him to Steve.
But it turns out that fighting demons in the Upside Down makes you bond with people in a way that high school just doesn’t. If there was any proof of that, it was the wonderful friendship Steve and Robin had built. And much like it, his friendship with Eddie evolved naturally, and the two had started hanging out regularly. They didn’t have many interests in common at first, but they started sharing things with each other; mainly around hanging out with the kids at the arcade. A couple of times after that, they ended up hanging out together, just the two of them, sharing a few beers, and sometimes a few joints, too. And it was nice.
But none of this helped him pick a movie.
He stood up and sighed. “Okay, I have no idea. Last time we had a movie night, he insisted we watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I had nightmares, Robin. Nightmares. It was cool and all, but I want something a bit more… easy on the stomach. Could you help me out?”
Robin smirked. “Why are you in the horror alley if it gives you nightmares, Steve?”
“I dunno, he likes horror movies, so I’m trying to…”
“Impress him?” Her smirk had widened into a gigantic, almost fiendish smile. Steve looked blankly at her, and she burst into laughter.
“Hey, not funny, Robin.”
“Hey, yes funny, Steve.” She calmed down her cackling. “You’re literally behaving like you’re preparing for a date. I know you two hang out a lot nowadays, but if you don’t like horror movies? You should pick a movie you like, for a change.”
“It’s not that I don’t like horror movies,” he gestured frantically, “it’s that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a bit much for me. I mean, I watch horror movies sometimes. They're great to watch with girls, because they make for nice cuddles, you know? But when I’m the one who’s scared, and the only person to cuddle is a metalhead guzzling down a can of beer, it’s a bit more complicated.”
Robin wanted to keep teasing, but she tamed her giggling and took a deep breath. She actually started thinking about it, and finally came up with an idea. “Why don’t you do that thing that you always tell me to do around girls?”
“What, to tell them when you like them?”
“Yes. I mean, no!” She couldn’t help but notice that Steve looked pensive, even a bit embarrassed. This was new, and a bit hilarious, to her. “I mean, be yourself. If you’re spending that much time with someone, you should also share what you like. Why don’t you pick a movie you genuinely like?” She casually hit the horror shelf with the palm of her hand, and continued: “Plus, let’s be honest, he’s probably seen more than half of these. He’s a nerd.”
“Yeah,” Steve admitted, “you’re right.” Eddie was a nerd. A very quirky, genuine, and kind nerd. Steve found himself blushing just thinking about it, but kept it all to himself. He looked at Robin and her smug smirk. Couldn’t she cut him some slack?
He passed her by and she allowed him. He rushed toward another section, and seemed lost in thought for a bit. Robin was slowly figuring out what was happening. Poor, poor Steve. This wasn’t something he could rush his way out of figuring.
“Ah-ha!” Steve blurted. “Maybe he hasn’t seen this. Have you seen this? It’s really good.” He waved the VHS for Dog Day Afternoon.
“Oh yeah, I remember you recommending that to me! Haven’t gotten on it yet, sorry. But yeah, that’s great! Maybe grab an alternate or two in case he’s seen it, and you’re good to go.”
Steve smiled and gave her a thumbs up. A minute later, he had plucked two other movies off the shelves, and put them put them behind the counter in case other customers thought of renting them.
The clock made its way to the end of their shift, and the afternoon ended as lazily as it had started. They changed out of their uniforms, and headed for Steve’s car so he could drive Robin home. She didn’t dare to comment further the Eddie situation, but she could tell that it was the only thing on Steve’s mind. He seemed distracted, a bit nervous, but also happy. It was very cute, actually.
“You know,” Steve ended up saying as they got closer to Robin’s house, “I’m sorry if I’ve been pressuring you into talking to Vickie. I know it’s not that easy.”
Robin was taken aback by the suddenness of the remark. “Oh, don’t apologize. You’re mostly right. I overthink things. A lot.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m not kidding when I say we should trade places for a day. I’m sure even if you were in my shoes, your confidence would do the work. And I wish you could find someone you enjoy spending a lot of time without getting bored.”
Steve sighed as he pulled into the driveway. “Yeah. It sure is complicated.”
The car stopped, but Robin didn’t get out right away. She let the silence sink in awkwardly before blurting out: “Look, Steve. I think I know what’s going on, but I’m not gonna say anything, okay? Because I don’t wanna jinx it. So I’ll just say this: you’re going to hang out with Eddie, and it’ll go great, just like it always has, right? Just be yourself. Use some of your own advice. He’s, you know — if there’s one person in this town who won’t ever give you shit for being whoever you are, it’s him. So don’t worry and have fun.” She gave him the biggest grin before opening the door and getting up.
“Yeah. Thanks, Robin.” He smiled back. He knew she meant it, and it felt very comforting. “I will. See you.”
“See you,” she said almost closing the door, “you’re doing great!” She gave him a thumbs up, and slammed the door.
Steve exhaled the biggest sigh in his life. He closed his eyes, waited to hear the front door of the house being closed shut, and glanced at the back seat, where the VHS tapes were staring right back at him. Robin was right about it all. Part of him hated that — but it was all his own advice, after all. And either way, he was so glad to have a friend like her.
***
Okay, yeah, he had to admit it to himself: it was a bit suspicious. He had showered, shaved, cleaned the house, and gotten beer and some snacks to prepare for movie night. His parents weren’t coming home tonight. He had even gotten the ashtray ready, all too knowing of Eddie’s habits. The whole thing was set up like a date. He could hear the ghost of Robin whispering into his ear: ‘Impress him?’
He shook his head, and just like that, he heard the hellish sound of Eddie’s van in his driveway, and the freakishly loud music that came with it. The engine stopped first, and so did the frantic guitar solo playing over its radio, as the door opened. It was him. Steve’s heart skipped a beat and before he knew it, the bell door rung.
He went to open it, and was a bit starstruck by Eddie’s wide smile, tongue out, and the arm that bumped his shoulder.
“Harrington! What did you get us?” He said excitedly, bringing his hand back to his mouth, and taking a hit on the cigarette he had been smoking.
“Hey! Well, I got us a little selection of my own favorites, this time,” Steve replied, smiling back, playing it as cool as he could. He widened the door opening, and took a step back to hand the ashtray to Eddie.
"Great! I'm eager to see what you got us." Eddie took one last hit on the cigarette butt, before crushing it into the tray. He smiled and made his way into the living room. “And I also brought a lil’ something extra myself!” He said, turning around to Steve, and taking out a little plastic ziplock bag out of his jeans’ pocket. The weather was hot enough for him to have given up his classic leather jacket, and he was simply wearing a band tee-shirt, his usual ripped jeans and chains, a style so simple and yet so enticing for Steve, though he wasn’t clearly admitting it to himself.
“Oh,” Steve ended up blurting as he looked at the green color inside the bag. He took a second of hesitation and ended up nodding in a laugh, “I think I could use some, yeah.”
Eddie laughed right back. “What’s going on, Harrington? Feeling a bit stressed out?” Eddie snickered as he grabbed a chair in the dining room, sat at the table, took out a grinder and rolling paper, and he started preparing a joint right away.
“Yeah, I guess a little,” Steve started fumbling for his words. What was he stressed out about? He couldn’t tell Eddie that Eddie was the thing he was stressed out about. He quickly caught himself and figured out a topic to segue into. “Well, not exactly stressed out, but tired, maybe? The summer heat is killing me. I could definitely use some winding down. And I ended up calling off a date, so, there's that.” He shrugged. God, it was a bit ridiculous how confident he could seem, compared to how nervous he felt. “Trying to take my mind off of that.”
“Uh-huh,” said Eddie’s all-knowing voice. There was sometimes a ring to his speech, as if he were a fantasy character in real life. A devilish trickster who knew too much and said too little. “Calling off a date with — who is it this time? Rebecca?”
“Yeah,” Steve laughed. “I know it’s hard to keep up. Robin’s been telling me that. Maybe I should, just, lay off the whole dating thing for a while. It’s not really going anywhere.”
Eddie half-laughed as he listened to Steve. He finished rolling the joint, licked the paper to close it — Steve caught himself staring, and lowered his gaze when Eddie looked right up at him with his playful eyes. He handed the joint to him. “Yup, you do sound like you need some help, buddy. Patio, yeah?”
Steve grabbed the joint and led Eddie out the back door, where they sat on garden chairs. Eddie handed him the lighter as well, and waited for Steve to take his first few hits. As expected, it quickly started to help. Steve’s worry left his mind, and all that was left was the entire evening ahead of them, and the cute boy staring right back at him.
“It's been weird, I guess. The days just fly by, and the cycle just seems to repeat itself. I was just talking about it with Robin today, actually. But I’m glad we started hanging out. Everything feels less lonely, you know?”
Eddie grabbed the joint, took a few puffs himself, and kindly replied: “Yeah, it does. If someone had told me a year ago I’d see your fancy hair at one of my band’s gigs, I would’ve probably flipped ‘em off. Yet here we are. I’m finally out of school and officially unemployed, for better or for worse, and sharing a joint with Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington.” He humored, almost singing: “Life does find a way after all.”
He took another another hit, and passed the joint right back at Steve. The sun was setting at last, and a peaceful evening was creeping its way into the quietness of their tangled lives. Steve allowed the smoke to uninhibit him. It seemed as if Robin’s voice echoed back into his mind, again. ‘Just be yourself.’ He looked back at Eddie, who was relaxing on the lounge garden chair. Their legs were almost touching. But Steve wasn’t feeling nervous. Robin was definitely right. Eddie was a good friend, and someone he felt he could trust, no matter how this was gonna turn out.
So he made his first move.
“And what about you?” Eddie opened his eyes to look into Steve’s. “You’ve heard me whine about my love life enough, haven’t you? I’m just realizing I don’t know much about yours.” Steve smiled his way through a casual hit, and passed the joint back.
Eddie laughed. ‘Ah, so this is where we’re going,’ he thought — and it was all written on his face, too. “It’s easy, dude. All I have to do is listen. You could talk about it for days if I let you. That’s why I started suggesting movies, and inviting you, and stuff,” he said as he took another drag. “You really looked like you could use some time off thinking about it.”
“Don’t give me that,” said Steve while playfully pushing Eddie’s arm. “You’re not escaping it this time. I’m serious, dude. How have you been?”
Eddie elbowed Steve’s hand right off. “Well, if you must know,” he said with a coy smile, “I was seeing someone these past few months. But, um, that person is moving out of state for college. We weren’t really a serious thing, anyway, so it’s fine. Nothing really exciting, you know.” He looked away shyly, as he sometimes did when he was talking about himself. “Not much to say compared to you.”
Steve had listened attentively. He wanted to reply back right away: ‘Person?’ But he knew better than that. He casually laid back in his chair and said: “Nah, it’s something, man. Breaking up out of circumstances like that, it sucks.”
Eddie was still looking away. “Yeah, well, you’re right. It kinda does.” He released a big puff of smoke between the two of them, and his hand appeared out of the smoke in front of Steve’s face to pass him the joint back. It was slowly nearing its end. “And I’m not exactly the most popular guy in town, so I’m not plagued by the same problems as you.” Steve laughed in good faith. He enjoyed Eddie’s kind mocking.
“Well, still. We’ll share the misery of being single together for a while. Trust me, it doesn’t even seem that bad from where I’m standing. It’s a time to reflect and what-not.” He took a short pause to smoke again, and passed the butt of the joint to Eddie as he exhaled. He was pretty high by this point. “Hell, maybe we’d have better luck if we teamed up. I’m a great wing-man! Although I haven’t really landed Robin anyone yet.”
Steve scoffed, and Eddie smiled, a bit softer this time, as he finished the joint and destroyed it in the patio’s ashtray. “As I said, don’t worry about it.” His face was hidden behind his hair at this point. “I don’t know if you could help out.”
Steve’s smile vanished off his face. He tried to find Eddie’s eyes behind his curly hair, to no avail. “What do you mean?”
Eddie got up suddenly. “I’m not really into your field of expertise, Harrington.” Steve looked up, dumbfounded. Eddie laughed and clarified. “I’m not really into girls, is all I’m saying.”
Steve’s heart was going to explode out of his chest. It was as if the cloudy headspace that the joint had created for him suddenly took him into the sky. He felt a rush of blood to his head, and hoped to God he wasn’t blushing, but he most definitely was a bit. And Eddie had noticed, but was trying to not read too much into it, and just awkwardly waited, hoped Steve would react positively, because he had just come out to the jockiest of jocks he had ever known.
“Oh, uh,” Steve ended up blurting out. “That’s — hey, I don’t care what you’re into. I mean! I care, but I also don’t. I can definitely be a wing-man to help you with guys, too. Sure, I’m not as experienced as with girls, but I’m a guy, I can guess what guys like, can’t I?” He was looking for words as if they were scattered on the floor in front of him. He got up to follow Eddie back in. What the hell was happening? They were standing up, facing each other, at an awkwardly short distance. Eddie’s eyes looked a bit scared, and his shoulders a bit tense, which Steve was quick to pick up on, and definitely didn’t want. “Look. I know other people at school have given you shit for just about anything, maybe that included. That’s not going to happen with me, ever. I want you to know that.”
Steve was very relieved to see Eddie slowly lower his guard. “Yeah, not many people know about it.” A cute playful smile crept back on his lips, and he covered Steve’s mouth with a finger, nail painted with black polish — not quite touching Steve’s lips, but almost. “So let’s just keep it that way, alright? That’s all I ask.”
‘Fuck, you’re cute,’ Steve thought. He caught himself before his inebriated mouth spoke those words instead of replying to Eddie. “You don’t need to worry about that,” he said, putting one hand up in the air, the other on his heart, as if taking a vow. “I’m not telling anyone.”
Eddie took his hand away and shyly hid it behind his back as his head tilted to the side, playfully. He widened his smile at his friend. “I trust you. That’s why I told you.” He didn’t leave Steve any time to reply, and opened the door to head back into the house.
Steve stood there motionless for a bit, as his vision blurred into stars. Was this the weed? Or was he crushing on Eddie?
‘Shit,’ is all he could think as he followed him into the house.
As they stepped back in, the mood changed completely, as if the previous topic of conversation had been completely forgotten. Eddie yelled: “Jesus Christ, I am hungry! What about you, Harrington? Are we getting something?”
Steve replied, “Well, we could get pizza. Or make sandwiches, or something. I already have some beer in the fridge. And if the hunger is something urgent…” he passed Eddie and led him into the kitchen to point to a bag of potato chips on the table. “Basically, we’ve got options.”
“Pizza sounds great, actually,” said Eddie. “Do we order and go pick it up? Or ask for delivery?” He hunched his shoulders and played with his rings like a little gremlin. “I sold a bunch of drugs the other day, so I can pay.”
“Pff,” let out Steve, “I’m inviting. Save that dirty money. I gotta use my pay for something, right? Let’s order.” He gave Eddie’s shoulder a pat as he reached for the phone. “Just invite me next time.”
There they were, weirdly close again. Steve tried to play it cool, but his thoughts were rushing again. He didn’t know if he hoped Eddie was picking up on all of this, or not. He passed him the pizza menu on the counter and immediately went back on the topic of food. “What say you, Munson?”
Eddie scanned the menu, and certainly didn’t seem uncomfortable about this new sharing of their physical space. Steve caught himself having a thought starting in a ‘What if…’, but it was suddenly cut short by Eddie’s voice. “The one with mushrooms. Always.” He handed the menu back to Steve. “And alright, I’m inviting next time.” He took a step away, and grabbed a strand of his hair to hide behind. “Do I also get to pick the next movie? Is that a whole thing now?” He snickered.
Steve rolled his eyes and laughed. “Yeah, but tone it down on the blood and guts, please, that’s all I ask.” He grabbed the phone before Eddie could protest, and made the order. Once it was done, he added, “Alright, just gotta wait now. Beer?”
“Beer.”
The fridge opened, the bottles went out, cap came off, some foam escaped, they cheered, Steve put on the radio on a station that Eddie had told him about, and they sat on the couch lazily, one across from the other. Eddie had since taken off his shoes and cozily sprawled his legs on the couch, while Steve was slouching on one of the armrests. They commented the music a bit, considering that Steve ended up liking rock and metal a lot more than he initially thought he did, and Eddie loved handing out recommendations, so it was a good match on that end. A silence naturally formed in their conversation, and Steve ended up turning towards Eddie after taking a good gulp from his beer.
“Hey, um —” he took a breath, still not able to look straight at Eddie, “if you don’t wanna answer, that’s cool, you don’t have to… But how did you figure it out, man?”
Eddie looked genuinely confused. Had the alcohol and weed already gotten to his head, or was Steve asking what he thought he was asking? Either way, he played dumb. “Figure what out?”
Steve fumbled for words. “That you like boys. I — look. I know girls who are into girls, but not guys who are into guys. Well, until now.” He finally dared to look at Eddie, who gave him a very bored gaze.
“I dunno, Harrington, how did you find out you liked girls?” He drunk from his beer.
“Exactly,” said Steve, “I didn’t really have any figuring out to do. But guys? That’s different, isn’t it? Like, you can’t just walk up to a guy and ask him out. People give a fuck about those things. They really shouldn’t, but they do, so…”
Eddie just shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess it just is what it is, and I’ve simply had to deal with the cards I was handed. It’s not like I chose.” He paused to think a bit, and added, “I’m sure I just do the same that you do, except I don’t have the pretty face and the athletic body.” He noticed what he was saying a bit too late. Oops. Well, that cat was out of the bag now. He didn’t linger on it, though — didn't want to leave Steve enough time to pick up on it. “It’s just about being yourself, and sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.”
Steve was staring into empty space. Eddie’s words were definitely playing back into his head on a loop now. He came back to earth before it was too late. “Yeah, I guess it is.” He was playing with the label on the bottle, trying to rip it off bit by bit. “I don’t know. It feels more complicated than it probably is to me.”
Eddie lowered his head to meet Steve’s eyes, smile as wild and wide as the Cheshire cat’s. “What’s going on? Is this an identity crisis or too much weed?”
Steve was taken aback. He couldn’t escape Eddie’s playful eyes anymore. “Both?” he finally dared. Eddie’s smile was ever widening, so he continued. “I don’t know. I’ve always found some men handsome, but I thought that was normal, you know? But apparently not.” He gestured at the VHS on the table between the couch and the TV, and pointed at the cover. “Like, Al Pacino is definitely a very good-looking guy. He's handsome.”
Eddie was very much silently laughing at this point. He looked at Steve, then at the cover, then back at Steve. “Yes, Al Pacino is hot. I can attest to that.”
Steve’s cheeks were tomato red at this point, and Eddie playfully pushed him with his toes, which only made the matter worse. “Yeah, well, I’m just not used to this, okay? Sorry I’m a bit late to the party.” Steve took another gulp from his beer. “Not only that, but I figured, it's either one or the other, isn't it? Maybe I can’t like girls and guys at the same time, you know?”
“Why not?” Eddie was quick to reply, not giving Steve too much time to get lost in his thoughts. “It really doesn’t matter. Attraction isn’t something you can overthink. And I can tell you that a lot of men would be embarrassed to admit that Al Pacino looks good.” He took a pensive breath and added, insisting, “Would you have admitted that to anyone?”
Steve realized. “No. I did it because I feel like I can trust you.” He finally locked eyes with Eddie. They both smiled at each other, and the door bell rang. “I’ll get it,” finally said Steve.
As he walked to the door, it all started making sense to him. He already knew that he had been very foolish around Robin, and thinking it was simpler than she thought it was. She was on his mind right now, and he just wanted to give her a big hug. He was very glad that he was surrounded by loving and accepting friends, and that Eddie had the patience to sit through this with him. And yeah, maybe the alcohol, or the weed, were speaking a little, too. But he felt good, and it’s all that mattered in that moment.
He grabbed the pizza from the delivery person, paid for their meal, and brought it back to Eddie, along with another beer. They ate while listening to music, Eddie commenting about a Led Zeppelin solo that was playing on the radio. Eventually, they kept some leftovers that they agreed to munch on while starting the movie, and Steve threw the VHS tape in.
He sat back on the couch, remote in hand, and felt an electric shock as a warm presence took place on his shoulder. Eddie was resting his head on Steve’s shoulder. It took him a while to register what was happening.
“Have you figured that part out? Is that fine? Can I stay here?” Eddie asked, cheeks getting a bit red from the alcohol of his second beer.
Steve stood motionless for a bit, and finally wrapped his arm around Eddie’s shoulder. He too felt the alcohol rise to his ears a bit, and was actually thankful for it. It felt right. “Yeah,” he stroked Eddie’s shoulder kindly, “Yeah Eddie, you can.”
Eddie giggled and kissed Steve’s neck, sending an electric discharge all throughout his body. Steve pulled him in closer, and dropped a kiss back on the top of his head.
As the credits were rolling, Eddie mumbled into Steve’s ear:
“Next time, we’re watching Alien. Or Suspiria. I haven’t decided yet.”
Steve’s smile widened. It didn’t matter what horror movie it was. He knew he could cuddle up with this cute nerd if he felt scared, now.
He was glad he had taken his own advice, for once.