Chapter Text
The car ride was loud and noisy. Because just calling it ‘loud’ wouldn’t do it justice, the music was also ‘noisy’ and maybe ‘disruptive’ if Steve was really reaching for adjectives. After everything they had been through, what Eddie had done to save Nancy, defeating Vecna, it was time they had some reprieve. For some reason that involved going to shows with Eddie. This was Steve’s second time tagging along, so thankfully he had some idea what to expect. Eddie had lent him one of his jackets with the patch of a band he had never even heard of on the back, and a couple of bracelets.
Steve hadn’t exactly blended in last time. He was the preppiest motherfucker standing in the corner trying desperately not to be pulled into the pit, but with shows that small, the whole venue was the pit, so he looked like a toddler trying to climb the walls. He and Eddie had agreed that changing up his clothes might help him blend in, and maybe look a bit cooler trying to avoid moshing teens.
Eddie had been playing the last show and didn’t get that much time to stand in the crowd with Steve. This time they were just going to enjoy the show. Well, Eddie would have fun, and Steve would be there. He kept agreeing to go to these sorts of things. Robin had even dragged him to a potluck a week prior. What the hell was Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington doing at a potluck for the animal hospital? God, and Robin, only know.
Steve stepped out of the car, head still spinning from Eddie’s music. In a second, Eddie was by his side, tugging on his sleeve to get inside. The venue was a small empty storage room to a bankrupt department store downtown with a make-shift stage in the back corner. The walls had posters of naked men and women tacked up, and a couple were hanging loosely from the ceiling. Steve made a point of keeping his eyes off of the naked posters, trying to focus on the floor or the multitude of stapled band posters on the walls. He felt a bit woozy looking around, trying to find a point to stare at. Eddie still had his hand on Steve’s arm to guide them. Steve didn’t even realize when they stopped towards the front of the room, still close to the wall.
Eddie tilted his head to Steve. “You okay?” His eyes held so much concern it was almost dripping off of him.
Steve swallowed dryly, feeling a vague sort of guilt at making Eddie worry about him. He was an adult, he didn’t need to worry his friends, he could handle this stuff. “M’ fine.” He slurred out, closing his eyes and balancing on the wall for a minute.
“You sure about that?” Eddie chuckled out a humorless laugh, turning to face Steve and holding both of his shoulders.
Steve nodded and opened his eyes. He was startled by just how close he and Eddie were, sure, it was a packed show, but it was jarring to realize just how cramped they were. And, importantly, how close their faces were. If Eddie spoke again, he would feel his breath on his face. He hoped the weird lighting of the room would hide whatever color was on his face and looked at the stage before them, trying to shake off Eddie’s hands from his shoulders. Eddie let go, but stayed between Steve and the wall, an arm snaked around his waist. Normally Steve would feel a bit weird about that, not that he didn’t like it, there was just a lot to unpack there- but for now it was a relief more than anything else.
The show started a couple of minutes late, Eddie cheering on the group. Apparently they were friends or something, Steve hadn’t really been able to hear what Eddie was trying to explain in the car on the way there. Eddie never really felt like turning the radio down when he was talking, which Steve would find annoying about literally anyone else, but not this boy. No, he even found it endearing. But that didn’t make it any easier to hear what he was saying when he did it, instead he found himself staring at Eddie’s excited face wondering what it’d feel like to run a hand over his stubble or tangle his hands in his hair.
Next to them, a pit began to form and people started pushing around. Eddie tugged Steve closer, which was, unfortunately, closer to the speaker that sat at their side of the stage. The action and the sudden volume of the speaker sent Steve’s head absolutely spinning. He flun a hand out over Eddie’s chest to steady himself, keeping his gaze fixed on a poster of a blonde woman on the wall next to them. He would feel Eddie’s head tilted down to look at him, but he pointedly ignored it, trying desperately to hold onto whatever was left of his pride at this point. In response, Eddie moved the hand that had been around Steve’s waist, to his lower back. Steve almost snorted, that was even more intimate. As if they didn’t look like they were canoodling.
Not that Steve would ever call it ‘canoodling’ but Dustin had a way of changing his vocabulary, usually for the better, with all of his SAT words, but sometimes for the worse. He closed his eyes again and tried to pay attention to one instrument at a time, but it didn’t really help. He could hear a drum solo begin- and he went out cold. Fully limp.
“Oh fuck.” He could vaguely hear the echo of Eddie’s voice under the music, before the ground became a whole lot closer.
When he came to, they were sat outside the venue, backs against the concrete wall. A girl Steve didn’t know was holding three water bottles, and Eddie looked just as exhausted next to him. He attempted to sit up, but his arms were too shaky.
Eddie turned to him, a small smile playing at his lips. “Morning Princess.” He drawled.
Steve eyed the girl, he couldn’t quite place why she was there, aside from interrupting their definitely-not-a-date. He turned his head to face Eddie. “What happened?”
Eddie laughed, full body, relief pouring off of him in waves. Steve couldn’t help but crack a smile at it. “What, man? What happened?” He pressed, smiling at Eddie with his whole heart.
The girl nodded at Eddie and left the water at their feet, retreating back into the venue with a click of the doors. Music was still coming from somewhere behind them, though it was much softer from where they were now. Steve rubbed his temple absently, not expecting to find blood there.
“You collapsed into my arms.” Eddie gestured outward. “Like a fucking maiden.”
Steve let his head fall back against the brick. “Fuck.” He breathed.
“I mean, I tried to catch you, but I failed, and you fell. On your side. Against the wall. I think you tore down a poster with you too. It was a big thing.” Eddie nudged Steve’s side with his elbow. “Hey, on the bright side, I don’t think they’ll ever mess with you again.”
Steve snorted. “Why’s that?”
Eddie took two fingers to Steve’s forehead, pulling them back with blood caught on the tips. “Dude.” He put the fingers in his mouth. “Metal as fuck.”
Steve’s eyes grew about two times larger at having to watch that, but he decided he’d visit that mental image another time, right now he had a giant gash in his head and a fainting spell to work off the embarrassment of. “Great.” He sighed.
“Oh, and she helped me with getting you out of there.” Eddie pulled his fingers away from his mouth, nodding to the door the girl had disappeared behind. “Said she recognized you from high school.”
“Even better.” Steve tried to drag a hand over his face, but it was so shaky it didn’t really feel like he was putting any pressure into it at all. Eddie reached over to grab his hand, steadying it. Steve could still feel the fingers that were wet from Eddie sucking the blood off and he really, really, needed to be focused on the fact that he had just collapsed.
“We were trying to get you to wake up.” Eddie laughed, playing with Steve’s fingers. “If you hadn’t woken up when you did, we were gonna pour cold water on you.”
Steve couldn’t help but smile. “You didn’t even try to break out the sniffing salts?”
Eddie shook his head but kept smiling. “You know, a show like this, we’d probably be able to find something stronger than that.”
“Uh huh.” Steve nodded. “And you decided to pour water on my head.”
Eddie let go of Steve’s hands, putting his own up in surrender. “You’re the one that graduated high school.”
“Yeah, next time, how about you pass out and I’ll be the one that brings sniffing salts and band aids.” Steve begrudgingly took his hands back, hugging his knees.
Eddie mirrored Steve’s position, bringing his knees up to his chin. “Sure, mom.”
Steve laughed lightly at that. This was so far outside of what he usually got up to with the kids. He had just collapsed at a harccore show with Eddie Munson, oh and he was also wearing a bunch of borrowed clothes, because he and Eddie had gone to shows before and they decided that he should wear Eddie’s clothes because that was a normal thing, and he was covered in blood and Eddie had his blood on his hands and- his brain was about to short circuit again.
“Why’d you pass out, d’you think?” Eddie hugged his knees a bit closer, looking out at the blank nothingness of downtown Hawkins.
Steve shrugged, but quickly realized that Eddie wasn’t looking at him. He cleared his throat. “Probably dehydrated or something.”
Eddie turned to him now, looking awfully guilt. Steve hated that he had the ability to make him look like that. “If you’re ever feeling out of it, you can tell me. I’m not going to think you’re like a baby or whatever, I get it. It’s easy to get… overwhelmed by all this.”
Steve looked away a bit sheepishly. “I know.”
“So.” Eddie breathed out heavily. “Are you dehydrated?”
“No.” Steve kicked over a water bottle, watching it roll down to the edge of the parking lot. “I think the car was too much.”
“You’ve gotta tell me that.” Eddie urged, voice laced with something torn between concern and absolute dread. “I don’t ever wanna overwhelm you.”
“I know.” Steve kept watching the water bottle, even though it had stopped on the tire of a truck, he couldn’t tear his eyes off of it.
Eddie opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, obviously plotting out his next words. Steve let him. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why didn’t you tell me? You know I’m not gonna to rag on you for it.” Eddie let his legs fall out on the pavement, leaning back against the wall, eyes fixed on the side of Steve’s face.
Steve slammed his eyes shut and breathed a couple of times. They were doing this now then. No more putting it off. “It’s important to you.”
Eddie barked out a laugh. “It’s important to me?” He pointed a finger at his chest.
Steve’s eyes flew open and he shot Eddie a glare. “Yes, asshole, because it means something to you. I didn’t want to flake because I know how much all of this shit means to you, and it’s not the worst thing in the world to feel a little out of it, and I like it. I like being here. With you.” Steve sighed again, this time pushing out all the air in his lungs. “It’s worth it to feel a little shitty if it means I get to be here with you.”
“Shit.” Eddie flung his eyes back out into the parking lot.
“I’m sorry if that was-”
“No, no.” Eddie waved him off. “Don’t do that. I don’t want you to do that thing where you backtrack because you think I’m gonna be an asshole.”
“Are you?” Steve asked incredulously, trying to find Eddie’s eyes.
Eddie turned to him suddenly, closer than before. “Absolutely not, but you’re sapply as fuck for that.” Eddie scooted even closer, so that their sides were pressed together. “For the record, if you told me you were overwhelmed, I wouldn’t have just gone by myself. We could have stayed home and watched a movie or some shit.” Eddie grabbed one of the water bottles by their feet and took a long sip.
“I’d still be up for that.” Steve let his head fall on Eddie’s shoulder.
“I think you’d better be, because holy fuck, I need something calming after that shit.”
Steve straightened up to look at him. He supposed he could say something to that, he probably should. Apologize or make a joke or something, but he lost all the words on his lips when Eddie looked back at him. He expected Eddie to find his eyes, look for the words he was waiting for, but he didn’t. When Eddie looked back at him, their faces were maybe a couple of inches apart and Eddie was staring at Steve’s lips. Full on staring. Steve swallowed and licked his lips.
“Eddie?” Steve said his name with a soft reverence to it.
“Yeah?” Eddie slowly dragged his eyes up to Steve’s eyes.
Steve bit down at the edge of his bottom lip. “Are you going to take me home?” Now it was becoming hard for his gaze not to linger on Eddie’s lips, or the rest of his face, just getting to take him in from up close.
“I’d sure like to.” Eddie smiled, looking almost drunk, though Steve knew he wasn’t.
Steve felt his eyes widen for the second time that night, but this time there were no flashing lights to keep Eddie from seeing him blush. He didn’t want to look away either, so he’d have to live with the repercussions of that. Eddie reached a hand up to cup Steve’s cheek.
“You’re fucking adorable.” Eddie slurred, resting his forehead against Steve’s, his eyes closed tightly.
Steve shook his head and chuckled softly. “You repeat that to anyone, you die.”
“Oh, don’t I know it.” Eddie pulled back, still far too close and holding Steve’s face, but far enough to watch him squirm from up close.
Steve kept tracing the outline of Eddie’s jaw, back and forth, before settling on his lips and tracing them over and over until he couldn’t stop from inching closer. “Just kiss me, you coward.” He whispered, not bothering to look in Eddie’s eyes.
Eddie closed the distance, his other hand coming to grip his vest on Steve’s back. The kiss was bruisingly fierce. Steve knew his lips would be swollen tomorrow. It was different from the girls he’d kissed before, this was harder, passionate. Needy. And he didn’t mind it at all. Eddie pulled away panting and wiping at his mouth with the back of his sleeve. Steve drank in the sight.
“You’re the coward, Harrington.” Eddie pulled him into his lap.
Steve snorted. “I think we’ve graduated past that.”
“I haven’t-”
“Oh shut it, dropout. I meant last names, you don’t have to call me that.”
Eddie tilted his head back on the brick and sighed loudly. “You’ve opened a can of worms there, sweetheart.”
“Yeah?” Steve laced his fingers behind Eddie’s head.
“Yeah. I’ve got a whole list of things I’d rather call you.”
“How about you get me home and we can try out some more.”
Eddie let out a surprised noise and gaped back at him. “Jesus Christ.” He brushed a hand over his face. “I mean yeah, yes, definitely, let’s go.” He helped Steve to his feet and they were bound for his car, both practically running.