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The music tastes, the fashion sense, the friend groups, the general interests. Nothing in common about all of that between them. At first. Then little things started to overlap, then they got dragged into each others' interests and music, fashion was a one time drunk-switch thing, but they found more and more common ground. Somewhere along that developing friendship, a feeling a little less innocent started clawing its way into Steve's mind. One he had waved off at first as he's had this nag with his other male friends before, but this time it was stronger, more prominent.
"Admit it, Harrington, I actually have you hooked." Steve can hear Eddie's grin through the phone. He tries to ignore the double meaning of those words.
"Yeah, only if you admit ABBA actually produce bangers, no matter your music taste." Steve scoffs, a smile of his own spreading on his face.
"Okay, okay, fine, I can tolerate ABBA now." Eddie feigns annoyance.
"Dancing by the pool is called tolerating ABBA now?" Steve lets out a soft laugh, not knowing how much it melts onto Eddie's ears.
"Yeah. And what would you call blasting Metallica in your car?" Eddie's voice raises an octave.
"I call it you leaving your tape in and me being too lazy to change it." Steve shoots back, matter-of-fact. He rolls his eyes even though Eddie can't see, but Eddie's laugh on the other end makes his face flush.
With each chaste touch from Eddie, Steve's heart fluttered and face heated like a furnace mid-winter, and Eddie touched him a lot. Each laugh that escaped Eddie's lips had him reeling, rolling with his hands to his face like a school girl in his mind. Steve did not let these feelings enter into his frontal cortex. He was determined to keep ignoring all of this as long as he could. Which, admittedly, wasn't very long.
"Jesus, Steve, I've never seen you be this jittery." Robin made a grimace as she bumped Steve with her hip, trying to lighten the mood. It seemed to have snapped him out of whatever trance he was in before.
"Well, we're supposed to have a movie night with Eddie tonight." Steve simply says like that is enough of a statement for Robin to grasp the situation.
She lifts her brow in question. "And?"
"and..." he emphasizes. "I think I am utterly and completely head over heels for him, but I am also deep, deep in denial about it, Robin." Steve rambles on in one breath, greedily sucking air back into his lungs after finishing. If he hadn't done it in one breath he wouldn't have been able to get it out in the open. He stares at the counter he's currently gripping so hard, his knuckles are turning white.
There's a long pause of silence and Steve refuses to look back up at Robin to see her reaction. "Look, forget I said this, I can't-"
"No, no, we are not going to gloss over this." Robin interjects, waving her pointer finger around like a strict parent. "How long have you been bottling this up?" she asks, voice falling into concern.
"I don't know, a coupe of weeks maybe?" Steve shrugs, finally lifting his eyes to meet Robin's. Her eyes grew wide and her face fell into a grimace which suggested she didn't quite believe what Steve was saying. "Okay, okay, fine. I guess it might be longer."
She sighs, but not in any fed up way, more like a tired, but supportive aunt might sigh. "Makes sense."
Steve looks at her quizzically. "What do you mean, I thought you'd be more surprised by this."
"Were you surprised by this?" Robin shoots back. Steve thinks for a moment before simply saying 'no'. "You've been acting all sorts of giggly around him lately, I just thought you had a really bad case of brainworms or something."
Steve shoots her a look, but fights back his laughter as Robin tries to hold back hers.
The dreaded movie night rolled around and Steve was thanking the gods above for Robin being there as his lifebuoy. He knows he'd drown in those warm doe eyes and he's not sure he could stop himself from sinking deep.
Eddie had been the one to pick the movie they would watch and, of course, he chose The Rocky horror picture show. Because what else would he pick? Star wars? Maybe...
Eddie was acting the same as any other time. No change in his demeanor, nor lack of invading Steve's personal space.He certainly didn't cut back on any flirty comment that could be taken either way. And of course all that made Steve stiff as a board, now that he was painfully aware of how Eddie's presence affect him. And of course Steve's realization about his feelings wouldn't affect Eddie, he was in the dark about it.
They were laughing and joking, barely paying attention to the second movie of the night. On the break between movies, Robin had left for a bathroom break and a popcorn refill. Leaving Eddie and Steve alone all against Steve's silent staring pleas to stay. Not that Steve hadn't noticed how close Eddie had been sitting to him, but now, without the presence of his lifebuoy, he felt his skin shiver from their thighs touching. When Eddie casually slipped his hand on Steve's knee, Steve nearly jumped out of his skin, trying desperately to hold on to the train of thought that was supposed to form a coherent sentence. Everything in his system felt like it was short-circuiting.
Neither really listened to whatever words were leaving the other's lips. Eddie's arm rested on the sofa, almost wrapping around Steve, their faces inches apart. All Steve could do was try and fail to not stare at Eddie's lips. Eddie caught the little gesture and grinned, letting out the softest chuckle. Steve could've melted right then and there.
Robin came walking back in and Eddie leaned back in the sofa, leaving a larger gap between, a gap which Steve so desperately wanted to close. As they lay in bed (Steve curses and blesses himself for offering Eddie to sleep over in his room), he know he won't be able to sleep with his heart racing like this. Seeing the way Eddie's hair falls on the pillow, the way Steve's shirt hugs Eddie's shoulders and the way this man looks at him... All of it makes Steve want to just risk it all and close the small, yet ever-stretching, distance between them.
Steve goes through various scenarios in his head, each one more flustering than the previous one. All while staring shamelessly at Eddie.
"What's behind those pretty eyes of yours, Harrington?" Eddie smiles softly, the way that makes Steve crumble to pieces and be completely at this man's mercy.
Steve's face heats up for the hundredth time that night. "Nothing. I just..." you look so pretty. I want to kiss you... Steve presses his lips tight, trying hard not to let those words slip.
Eddie lifts his eyebrows, smile not fading. "I know I'm a real heartthrob, Stevie, but try to get some shut-eye, yeah?" He winks. Winks. And Steve's heart goes jumping again.
They had started having phone calls nearly every night. Eddie would call him after having nightmares at first. Then he'd call just to check in. Then the calls became a regular thing, where Eddie would just talk about something that happened that day or about his new D&D campaign. Sometimes Steve would call first. The first few times he did, Eddie teased him to no end.
Miss me that much, Harrington? Steve could practically hear the grin on Eddie's face.
Pleasant surprise, King Steve. Couldn't bear a day without this pretty voice?
This time Eddie didn't tease. Steve had not been able to sleep that night. Usually it's because of nightmares, but this time his thoughts revolved around Eddie. He didn't know why he decided to call the man that was the reason he was having sleepless nights, but a decision was made. It was almost routine for them to call when either couldn't sleep. This would be no different, Steve would just...not tell the entire reason why he's awake at an ungodly hour.
The dial tone rang for longer than usual, Steve had begun to think this may have been a bad idea. Eddie picked up before Steve could chicken out. His voice was a little groggy like he had just woken up.
"Hey, pretty boy, what's going on?" Eddie calling Steve pretty boy made his heart jump to his throat. He swallowed hard and tried to steady himself.
"Hey, Eds," Eds? Really, Steve? "sorry, did I wake you?" He scrunches his nose.
"Don't worry about it, accidentally took a long ass nap." He took time to register what Steve had called him. "Wait, did you just call me 'Eds'? You sure know how to make a man's heart throb." There it is, the light laugh that almost always follows a comment like that. The reason there are doubts in Steve's mind. "I like it." and there is the soft, affectionate tone that jumbles Steve's thoughts and gives him hope of the feelings being reciprocated.
"So, what's got you up at this time?" Eddie's tone fell from playful to careful. "Was it another nightmare?"
Steve shook his head even though Eddie couldn't see him. "No, no, I just couldn't sleep." Steve bit his lip. "Kind of have this...crush," oh god no. No no no no, shut up!
Eddie sits quiet for a bit and Steve, against all his curses for his stupidity, rambles on. "I didn't want to admit it at first, but now it's all I think about. And I can't sleep because they're on my mind like all the time. It's really, really stupid, what I'm doing right now, but I don't think I can keep it to myself any longer."
"It's not stupid, come on, spill it. Who is the lucky one graced by King Steve's affections?" Eddie was laughing, not in his mischievous way, in a slightly trembling way. The anticipation was practically dripping from his tongue.
Steve takes a sharp breath and closes his eyes as if that would lessen the impact of Eddie's reaction.
"Eddie, it's you... I really like you." Steve could hear his pulse, he could feel the pounding against his reddening cheeks. He laughed softly to fill the awkward silence. With the lack of answer, he tried again. "I like y-" He was cut off by the dial tone ringing loud.
His heart dropped to his heels. Steve can already feel the regret flooding over him. Eddie hung up on him. Was Eddie disgusted by him now? Did he make the wrong move? God, does Eddie hates him now? For a moment Steve had forgotten how hostile the world is towards those different than most. He understood Robin so well now. Shit, he's really ruined this whole thing with Eddie. He should've kept his mouth shut and just tried to get over this crush. Steve thought back to all of the times Eddie's hands lingered on Steve for a bit longer than with anyone else or the vulnerable calls they'd share, the emotional closeness... Had he misread everything?
Steve collapsed to the floor, back to the wall, phone hanging beside him by the cord, distant dial tone still mocking him. He banged his head on the wall, silently cursing, feeling his hands begin to shake and, instead of his cheeks, his eyes started to burn, clouding his vision with tears.
A loud whir of an engine pulled his attention. The lights pouring through the window form the driveway made Steve stand up and walk to the door. His heart once again speeding up with anxiety. He opens the door and before he can even react, Eddie pushes himself towards Steve, pulling him into a kiss. Eddie's leather jacket creaks as he pulls Steve closer by the waist. The kiss is rough and needy, but it sends lightning streaks throughout Steve's body. They pull away and the gasp from Steve almost makes a sound he'd rather stifle.
Eddie is standing there, grinning at him with the same sweet smile that made Steve's knees buckle. Steve smiles, still processing what had happened. As if to confirm that this is all real, Steve leans in for another kiss. This time gentle and soft, but just as needy as the first one. They pulled away briefly, Eddie holding Steve's face, tracing his cheekbone with his thumb.
"Hey, pretty boy." Eddie smiles against Steve's lips, in turn making the other boy break into a smile as well. "Sorry, couldn't wait to finally kiss you."
"I assume that means you like me back?" Steve said rhetorically between small kisses. His heart settling into a glee.
"Head over heels, Steve." Eddie buries his face in Steve's neck, pulling him closer by tugging on his shirt. Steve runs his fingers through Eddie's hair, smiling like a goof.