Chapter Text
The door chime jingled as Eddie walked through the doors of the Family Video store, immediately spotting Steve with his back turned towards him, who seemed to not have notice he walked in. Eddie took this chance and walked closer, putting his hands around Steve's eyes and leaning over the counter as he whispered,
"Guess who.."
Eddie said in a singing tone, he grinned as Steve scoffed.
"Oh gee, I wonder who it is."
Steve's words were dripping with sarcasm as he took Eddie's hands off and turned to face him, an eyebrow raised as he looked at Eddie with a look that says what do you want?
"You still haven't guessed who it is, Stevie."
"Oh my— What do you want, Munson? Are you here to mess with me my entire shift?"
Eddie shrugs,
"Tempting, but no. I am here to..."
He reached into his back pocket, "return these."
Steve looked pleasantly surprised as Eddie slid him the movies he rented a few days prior,
"Wow, you actually returned it in time. That's shocking."
Eddie feigns hurt and dramatically pouts,
"Oh you wound me, Harrington, who's to say I can't return things on time?"
Steve shakes his head, a smirk on his face, as he took the movie and putting it in a box.
"Whatever Munson."
"Where's Robin?"
Eddie asked as he hopped over the counter, making Steve yell about not knocking his cases down, but Eddie did knock them down, making Steve sigh.
"There's a door right there..."
Steve picks up the cases on the floor and puts them someplace else as Eddie leaned back with arms crossed. "Robin's out back, she'll be back soon so just be patient."
"Right, of course."
Quietness befell them as Eddie stayed still, leaning back on the counter, watching while Steve put the cases back on the shelf. Small murmurs of bits and pieces of song lyrics can be heard from Steve as he worked, deciding to distract himself from the feeling of Eddie's gaze on him. He swallowed, looking over his shoulder and shuddering upon seeing Eddie so... quiet, and not moving an inch, Eddie wasn't even thumping his feet!
"Like what you see, Munson?"
Steve teases, smirking once Eddie finally moves and rolls his eyes.
"And if I say yes?"
Eddie pushes himself off, standing closer to Steve—who definitely did not have burning bright red ears, and who also was definitely not staring so deeply into Eddie's eyes.
"Ugh, keep it in your pants, Eddie."
Steve's eyes hesitated to look away. Eddie's eyes were just so... so, so, so delightful to look at. It was almost like Steve was being hypnotized by them—if he could, he would let himself be hypnotized—but Steve had to look away before it becomes an internal dilemma for him later on. He peels his eyes away from Eddie, and it felt like ripping velcro off very slowly. Very agonizingly slow.
"Oh my god, just get a room why don't you."
Robin's voice caught their attention as she trudged towards them and gathering her playing cards.
Eddie chuckles at her comment and immediately greets her a hello, before going on about something nerdy—Steve guessed, after all his head is very fuzzy at the moment—he could only hear the slight buzzes of their voices as they spoke behind him while Steve continued to put the cases back, hands slightly trembling and his disoriented mind quickly forgetting the order of the alphabet, causing him to sing it quietly to himself. This was weird, Steve already knows the alphabet by heart because of how many times he had to put things back from A to Z. Without realizng, Steve stopped functioning and started just fiddling with one of the movie cases as he drowned in his thoughts. Thoughts about... stuff, that were definitely not about Eddie or anything related to him at all. Nope. Totally not.
Steve blinked a couple times as Robin shook him lightly,
"Earth to Steve? Helloo?"
Her voice held a tune with her words.
"Yep? Sorry, I was just uh.. thinking.. What's up?"
Robin looked at him confused but she rolls her eyes and asks him if he wants to come with them and get high. Steve thinks for a moment, his face scrunching up and going back to normal in a second.
"Yeah sure, just let me finish this and we can go."
Robin nods and helps Steve out, while also talking to Eddie, she hands him the case and Steve puts it on the shelf. Despite hearing Robin and Eddie talk, Steve could still feel Eddie's gaze. His brows furrowed and wondered if Eddie was just shamelessly staring at him and not even looking at Robin while she's talking—which is considered rude to not look at the person you're talking to—but with Robin talking as her eyes dart everywhere else, it seems like she doesn't even notice Eddie's eyes had laid on someone else.
Steve fishes the store key out of his pockets and turns; sure enough, Eddie was shamelessly staring at him, before sending him a quick wink and averting his eyes to Robin, who was still talking while she flips the light switch off as she made their way out the door, with Steve closing behind them and handing Robin the keys after.
"It's your turn to open tomorrow, don't forget Buckley."
"Yeah yeah whatever, anyways—ooh! Remember when the Russians drugged us that one time?"
Robin laughs with her index finger pointed towards Steve, whose face lights up and nods at the sudden recollection.
"Woah woah, what? The Russians drugged you?!"
Eddie exclaims, hands moving around dramtically as he emphasized his words. His eyes blown wide, like a deer caught in headlights, his brows furrowed and mouth slightly ajar.
"Yep."
Steve said, popping the P,
"Basically, we found this secret Russian underground base where they were trying to open the portal and stuff, we got caught and they put some weird shit into our blood stream."
"It was wild. I even peed myself."
Robib added,
"Which you did not need to know."
Eddie laughs and shakes his head, a hand in front of Robin's face, as if to say she didn't need to say anything else.
"No one could kill me to get me to admit peeing myself."
"It was only a little bit!"
Robin defended herself as Steve shakes his head and chuckles while Eddie tries to stop her unnecessarry oversharing of personal things. Robin was right, he did not need to know any more.
Steve opened his car door and turned on the engine, all while Robin hops in the passenger seat with Eddie in the back. Both not sitting properly. Robin sat criss-crossed while Eddie sat at the edge of the seat, leaning over the space between driver and passenger, his arms rested on both seats—his left hand close to Steve's ears—sometimes Eddie's hand brushes on his ear as he drove towards the trailer park where Eddie lived.
Steve was oddly quiet. He wasn't making any snide remarks or sarcastically say something about what Robin or Eddie had said. His mind was just lost on the road, scrambling and melting all over as Steve tried collecting himself but couldn't. He could, if only it weren't for Eddie playing with his ear, thumb brushing over the top part and then gently squeezing his ear lobe, and then brushing his thumb back up and squeezing—it repeated throughout the entire drive—but Steve shrugged it off. Eddie was the type of person who didn't really get personal space and liked being very touchy. Steve didn't really mind, as long as Eddie wasn't being a jackass, then it's all good. But these days, Steve has been minding it alot. Especially the touching. Steve looked at the rear view mirror for longer than a second, almost swerving off the road as Eddie glanced up and their eyes connected for a moment. Eddie smirks and goes back to talking with Robin while Steve's chest felt tightened and his heart hammering like crazy. His hand held the steering wheel with his life, swallowing hard again as Eddie was still playing with his ear.
Robin exclaims in joy as they arrived at their destination, slamming the car door as she left—dismissing Steve's scolding about not slamming the door before he let his head fall on the steering wheel—Eddie left and went to the driver's side, opening the door and leaning down as Steve turned his head towards Eddie. His hair slightly brushing Steve's cheeks as he spoke.
"You alright man?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a minute, I'll be there."
Eddie smiles and pinches Steve's nose,
"Alright princess, we'll be waiting."
He walked off, his bandana swaying left and right with each step he took towards his front door and letting Robin inside, shooting Steve a worried glance once more before leaving the door slightly ajar. Steve sighs heavily. A feeling of weights being pulled off from his chest and head as he took a moment to collect himself, talking himself up and reassuring himself there was nothing to worry about. Probably. He wipes his face down with his hand and blinks a couple more times, before leaving and closing his car door behind him. All his worries would go away now that he'd get some weed, although it has been awhile since Steve smoked anything else other than cigarettes.
He went inside the trailer, front door closed while Steve spots Eddie and Robin on the couch, eating some cold pizza and a movie starting.
"Look who decided to join us! Steve The King Harrington! Come come,"
Eddie pats the space next to him, beckoning Steve to sit next to him. Steve rolls his eyes but complies, getting a slice for himself before putting his feet on the table. Eddie begins to rummage from under the table and fishes out a baggie filled with weed, setting it on the table as he rolls up a blunt, holding it up.
"Anyone wants to go first?"
Robin and Steve looked at eachother,
"Eh might as well."
Steve shrugged and took the joint, placing it between his index and thumb. Slowly inhaling, eyes watering as he tried his bestest not to cough while passing it over to Robin. Steve was not new to this, but also not an expert, with him working almost everyday he couldn't find any time to atleast smoke a cigarette—which he is also banned from doing because Robin loathes the smell—Steve just wanted to get off high and atleast, for a couple hours, relax.
"So.."
Robin starts off, "I have something to tell you guys..."
"What is it?"
Eddie asks, puffing out smoke as he passed the joint to Steve who was looking at Robin with raised brows.
"Um.. I may or may not have a thing for someone—but it's not a big deal! Don't make it a big deal, Steve."
"Wha- Why me? I didn't even say anything!"
Robin shuffles and faces Steve, her arm resting on the back of the couch. Eddie takes the oppurtunity to grab the joint and smoke while the two have a talk.
"Because I know you're probably gonna make a big deal out of it if I told you who it is and I just... don't want to hurt you or you get mad or—"
"Rob, just get to the point."
Steve sighed exhasperatedly.
"It's Nancy."
Eddie's mouth opens in shock, eyes slightly wide, smoke coming out of his mouth.
"What?!"
Robin furrows her brows and observes Steve's expression. His brows were knitted together and his mouth opened and closed a few times, Robin had expected him to freak out because she had a crush on his ex.
"Steve? Did you hear me? I said I like Nancy?"
"Yeah I heard you."
Steve said in a deadpan tone, "What, is that—like, should I congratulate you or..?"
"Are you okay with it? With me, y'know, liking your ex girlfriend..?"
Robin leaned closer, emphasizing the ex girlfriend part to make sure Steve really heard her.
"Why shouldn't I be?"
Eddie scoffs and grabs him by the shoulder,
"Uh, maybe because Nancy is your ex girlfriend? A lot of people find it weird when their friends date their exes."
Robin immediately reacted while Steve still looked confused.
"Woah woah, who said anything about dating? I just like her!"
Steve shrugs, his face held a soft smile towards Robin as he said he didn't care at all. Afterall, who was he to be weirded out by it? If his friend is in love with a girl he used to be in love with, then he shouldn't be the one to say if it's okay or not.
Steve loved Nancy. She was everything to him, until she wasn't. They broke up because of differences, sure Steve was a little hung up on her but he moved on. He tried looking for someone else, a girl he could finally settle down with and love forever, but it just didn't work out—not like how he wanted it to. So now he found himself prioritizing himself and his friends, finding potential girlfriends comes second to his list.
Eddie passes the joint to Robin and rests his arm on the back of the couch,
"So like, does she like you back or is this a case of you crushing on a straight woman?"
Robin shrugs, sighing heavily while shaking her head.
"I-I don't know, I mean hopefully she likes me back but it's kinda impossible, you know? I mean, she did date Steve before.. and also Jonathan."
"Well she's not dating anyone now right?"
Steve asked, crossing his arms and turning to look at Robin, slightly leaning back on Eddie.
"Yeah, but—"
"But what? She's single and you're single, what's there to be hesitant about?"
Robin cocks her head and narrows her eyes,
"Yeah. We're both single, and we're also both girls. Not everyone likes girls, Steve!"
"Yeah Steve, not everyone."
Eddie echoes in the background as he shook Steve gently, a smirk on his face hoping Steve would catch the hint—unfortunately, he didn't.
"Oh right, sorry.. But we never know? Just try and hang out with her more, maybe she does like girls and you two end up dating,"
Steve suggests, and then remembers something from the past, "I did catch her staring at Olivia John-Newton a bit too intense when we were watching Grease..."
Eddie perks up and leans closer, his chin resting on Steve's shoulder.
"Oh my, you just might have a chance Buckley!"
"Ugh! You guys are no help. I'm going home."
Robin stood, not before giving one last drag from the joint and getting her shoes ready. Steve calls out and asked if she needed a ride, Robin looked at him and then at Eddie and shook her head.
"It's alright I can walk, my place isn't too far from here."
"Okay, be safe! Call me when you get home! Use Eddie's number!"
Robin waves over her shoulder as Steve yells when she walked out the door.
A split moment of silence came and surrounded Eddie and Steve once more, not before Eddie broke it and spoke.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Harrington."
"Yep, just you and me."
They continued watching the movie—Steve had long forgotten what the title was, his mind wandering around when he could hear Eddie's breathing so close to his left ear, they weren't pressed up against eachother but they were still so close for comfort. Eddie's arm still on the back of the sofa, Steve leaned back in an attempt to seem cool. Attempt? Steve furrowed his brows, since when did he need an attempt to seem cool? He was always cool, cool was his middle name. Steve "Cool" Harrington. He didn't know why being so close to Eddie made him... not cool. His eyes glided to their knees, only a mere inch apart! He dared not to move, afraid of what it would bring up inside him when they actually touch. He blinked more times that he could count, trying to focus on the movie or anything else for that matter, because Eddie's voice, his chuckle, his mumbling being so so so close to his ear made it so unbearable for Steve. He focused on focusing too much that he didn't even notice Eddie adjusted in his seat, making their knees touch.
Who was he kidding, of course Steve noticed! The moment Eddie even moved, the moment their knees touched Steve had to manually breathe. His eyes glued on the TV screen, even when at times he could feel Eddie staring at him, his eyes didn't budge. No words were spoken, they sat in a comfortable silence—even with Steve slightly panicking—he was comfortable being with Eddie. A friend. Eddie was his friend who he was comfortable with being alone.
"You alright Harrington?"
Eddie's voice crawled through his ear and inside his mind, his mouth slightly brushing on his ear as he leaned closer.
Steve hummed, not quite catching what he said. Eddie chuckles—and god what things did that do to Steve—and asked the question again.
"You alright? You look so... intense, and before you say you were focused on the movie, this movie is boring as hell. So speak truthfully, Harrington."
"Maybe I don't find the movie boring? What if I find it interesting?"
Steve turns to look at him, brows slightly raised and his arms crossed in an attempt to put a barrier between them, "Okay yeah, this movie is boring. I'm alright Munson, just.. thinking, I guess."
Eddie angles his body towards Steve, his leg on the couch pressing up on Steve's thigh and his head slightly cocked to the side with his arm still on the back on the couch. His eyes gazing at Steve, almost as if he could see through the facade Steve put up.
"And what are you thinking in that pretty head of yours, hm?"
Nothing. Steve was thinking about absolutely nothing. He was convinced his mind just turned to mush as he heard Eddie say pretty head of yours. He couldn't say this of course, so he shrugs and breathes out a small laugh.
"What, you trying to get in my head Munson?"
"What if I am? You just look so focused on whatever you were thinking about, curiosity got the best of me."
Eddie smiles, his fingers playing with the hair on Steve's nape, "I can't be concerned about what's got my friend looking like this?"
Eddie mimicks what Steve apparantly looked like, and he looked horrifying. Steve bellows a laugh, saying he didn't look like that ever.
"Was that a laugh, Harrington? Did I, Eddie Munson, make Steve "The King" Harrington laugh?"
Eddie teases, leaning closer.
Steve glared at him but his smile betrayed him, he could only muster a shut up before looking away from the eyes that might just be the cause of his death.
"You really won't tell me what's got you so quiet?"
Eddie pushed, his voice a soft tone just to make sure Steve wouldn't get angry at him for being nosy.
"Well, if you really wanna know.."
Steve racked his mind to talk about something! Anything! Steve groaned internally as he realized there was one topic he could talk about.
"I guess just life, in general. With the whole Upside down thing, it always made me feel unsure? Ever since I got involved in it and with it coming back, I guess I became unsure if I had the time for living life.."
Steve glanced at Eddie, his eyes looked at him in a way Steve can't quite explain. The quietness made Steve regret ever talking so he backtracked.
"Sorry, you probably didn't wanna hear that—"
"Don't apologize, Steve."
Eddie ran his hand through Steve's hair, "I get what you mean. Actually, I find it comforting to know I'm not the only who who feels that way."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I can only imagine what you feel, since you've been doing this whole thing longer than me, I mean it's only been months since we defeated Vecna and look at me, I've been having nightmares and shit because of it!"
Eddie chuckled while shaking his head, his fingers still tangled up in Steve's hair. "Do you think it'll get get better, Harrington?"
Steve stayed still,
"Maybe. Maybe it doesn't. But right now, I definitely feel better than I ever have in the last few years.."
Eddie continued playing with his hair—seeing as how Steve seemed to enjoy it—the joint they were smoking before has been long put out, they seemed to have forgotten the reason they were together was to smoke, but now it seems like that was not a priority.
Steve's eyes drooped slightly, feeling tired with how late it was and feeling fuzzy from the physical contact. And for the first time in awhile, he managed to hold eye contact with Eddie. Their eyes seemingly had a lot to say more than their mouths, their closeness held them comfortably and as if they were safe from anything else in the world. Steve blinked and swore he saw Eddie glance at his lips before looking back up again, Steve felt a small twist in his stomach. He took a deep breath in, feeling Eddie's hand rest on his nape and rub small circles.
"Eddie, I—"
The phone rang. Making them flinch in shock, before they shared a small laugh together. Much to Steve's disappointment, Eddie took his hand away and stood up, answering the phone.
"Munson residence. Uhuh. Totally, just hold on for a second Buckley."
Eddie turned to Steve, hand covering the mouth of the phone, "It's Robin."
Steve stood and took the phone from him, Eddie leaned over so he could also hear what Robin was saying.
"Hey Robbie, got home safely?"
He heard Robin scoff,
"No, I got kidnapped and my kidnappers let me call you. Yes, I got home safely Steve."
Eddie snickers as Steve waved him off,
"That's good. Don't forget you open shop tomorrow alright? I don't wanna have to wake you myself when I come to pick you up."
"Yes mom, god."
Robin says unenthusiastically, "I better get going now, before my mom notices I smell like the devil's lettuce. Say hey to Eddie for me."
The line went off as Robin hung up.
"She says hey."
"So I've heard."
Steve put the phone down and gathers his work vest from the couch. Eddie watches him move around his trailer, getting his belongings before turning to face Eddie.
"I should go too. It's late and uh, I still have work tomorrow.."
Steve rubs his neck, already missing Eddie's touch.
"Of course. Don't wanna be the reason why you're late to work,"
Eddie opened the door for him and dramatically bows, "Until next time, my Lord."
"I have a feeling that next time is tomorrow when you come in for your daily routine of pestering me at work."
Steve walks out the door and muses.
"Are you anticipating my visits, Harrington?"
Eddie crosses his arms and leans on the doorway, his ankle also crossed over the other.
"And if I say yes?"
Steve had no idea where the confidence came from, but it was worth it with how Eddie looked stunned, his cheeks slightly red.
"I'll see you tomorrow Munson, good night."
"Yeah, good night Steve.."
Steve walked and got in his car, starting it up. He looked over and saw Eddie still leaning on the doorway, watching him. Steve waved a small goodbye before he left, his eyes going to the rear view mirror once he was far enough, to still see Eddie's distinguished figure standing outside and waiting for his car to be out of view.