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Eddie is a touchy guy, has been his whole life. It’s second nature to him, to sling his arm around a friend’s shoulders, grasp hands when walking side by side, give bear hugs, all of it. So after the whole “end of the world” ordeal a few months back that ended with Steve dragging his sorry ass out of the upside down, it was only natural that the two of them became close.
Eddie noticed it for the first time when he had dropped by Family Video one day. Although technically he did have a movie to return, his primary goal was definitely just to visit Steve, maybe get him to blush in that adorable way he does whenever Eddie plays his cards just right.
Steve had been focused on something on the computer when Eddie had walked in, brow pinched in concentration. When he looked up, his features had immediately softened into a warm smile, a look that Eddie never tired of seeing.
“Munson! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Steve stands from his stool and leans against the counter.
“Strictly business, Stevie,” Eddie sets the borrowed tape in front of Steve.
“And here I was thinking you missed me,” Steve smirked.
Eddie’s heart flutters in that way it always does whenever Steve playfully flirts with him. He knows it doesn’t mean anything to Steve, that he’s just matching Eddie’s energy, but his traitorous heart hasn’t seemed to get the message.
Eddie leans across the counter slightly. “You caught me. Can’t seem to get you off my mind.” He winks at Steve and revels in the pink blush that spreads over Steve’s cheeks as he clears his throat.
“Either way, at least you’re saving me from dying of boredom, Robin’s off and it’s been criminally slow all day.”
Eddie flings his hand to his chest and stumbles back dramatically as though he’s been shot. “Tragedy! Steve Harrington, bored? We can’t have that!”
Steve tries and fails to stifle his smile.
“C’mon, let’s look through the returns and see who can find the worst movie.” Eddie reaches across the counter to grab Steve’s hand to lead him toward the pile of returns.
As soon as Eddie’s hand makes contact, Steve jerks his hand away from Eddie’s touch. Eddie instinctively takes a step back at the movement.
“Shit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—” Eddie begins to apologize before Steve cuts him off.
“No, don’t apologize, I just— I mean, I didn’t mean to—” Steve sighs deeply and presses his thumb in between his eyebrows, closing his eyes tightly. “It’s not you, I’m just…” Steve huffs a bitter laugh and trails off, not finishing his thought.
Eddie bends his neck down slightly to try and meet Steve’s downturned eyes. “Hey, it’s totally fine, Steve, you don’t have to explain. I shouldn’t have just grabbed you like that, that’s my bad.”
Steve makes a small sound of irritation and meets Eddie’s eyes. “I said it’s not you.”
“Okay, not me. Either way, I’m sorry.”
A beat of silence passes between them. Steve breaks it.
“You… like touching people though.”
Eddie searches Steve’s face. “I mean, yeah, I guess so.”
Steve’s frown deepens. “Then it’s fine.”
“What? No, it’s not. Steve, if you don’t want to be touched, I’m gonna respect that.”
A pained look comes across Steve’s features. He opens his mouth as if to speak then closes it once more, chewing on the inside of his lip.
“How about this, Stevie,” Eddie begins, sensing Steve’s unease. “You lead, and I’ll follow.”
Steve looks a little confused. Eddie continues to explain.
“Let’s say you decide it’s okay for me to touch… your hand or something. You can tell me it’s okay by touching mine first. Until then, I’ll stay out of your personal bubble. And if that never changes, that’s totally fine too.”
Steve seems to relax at this and shoots Eddie a small smile.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you.” His voice is soft and uncertain, and Eddie wants to reach out and touch him for reassurance. But he won’t, not until Steve shows him he’s comfortable with it. They do end up rooting through the return bin together, taking turns showing each other cheesy romance movies and making up pretend plots for the ones neither of them have seen. Eddie can’t get the image of Steve flinching away from his touch out of his mind. If Steve notices that he’s acting even more dramatic than usual, trying with all he’s got to make Steve laugh, he doesn’t say anything about it.
About a week had passed since that day in Family Video, and Eddie had only seen Steve a handful of times since, but always made sure not to crowd him or mindlessly reach out to touch him. It had surprisingly taken a fair bit of mental effort on his part, seemingly always drawn into Steve’s orbit without even realizing. But regardless, Steve’s comfort comes first, always.
Besides, usually Robin is around when they see each other anyway, and although she’s not always the biggest fan of hugs, she’s usually the one who reaches for his hand first to fiddle with his rings while they’re talking, or links their arms together when they walk.
Today though, it’s not just the three of them, Nancy and Jonathan have joined them, everyone lounging around the pool in Steve’s backyard. Eddie is sitting up against a tree, having moved into the shade to hopefully avoid getting sunburned (and if it just so happened to give him a better view of Steve, he’s not one to look a gift horse in the mouth). Eddie leans his head back against the trunk, closing his eyes behind his sunglasses for a moment. The grass moves as someone walks up beside him. He opens his eyes, turning to see Jonathan.
“Mind if I join you?” Jonathan asks.
“’Course. Mi patch of shade es tu patch of shade.” Eddie pats the spot beside him. Jonathan chuckles, plopping down next to Eddie. He pulls a joint out of his pocket, raising his eyebrows in a silent question.
“Hell yeah, Byers, you know the way to a man’s heart.”
Jonathan smiles and lights up the joint, passing it to Eddie after taking the first hit.
The two begin to smoke and chat, watching the others by the pool from afar. After a minute, Steve notices the two of them and walks their way. Jonathan shoots Steve a lazy smile as he approaches.
“California’s finest.” Jonathan offers the joint to Steve as he sits next to Eddie. He nods appreciatively and joins them as they all chat easily.
Jonathan takes the last hit and crushes the butt in the grass beside him. As if on cue, Robin’s voice rings across the yard.
“Steve!” She draws out the vowels in his name. “Nancy doesn’t believe my story about the guy with the top hat, you have to tell her you saw him too! Come back!”
Steve chuckles. “Guess that’s my cue. Thanks, Jon.”
“Any time.” Jonathan is on his back in the grass, he shoots Steve a thumbs up.
Steve stands, brushing a few stray pieces of grass off his legs. He hovers beside Eddie for a second before reaching out and giving his shoulder a light squeeze. He turns and walks over to Robin and Nancy.
Eddie feels the touch like it’s burned into his skin. Shoulder, got it. He lays in the shade with Jonathan for a while, feeling warm and tingly, and not just because of the weed. They lie there long enough that the sun begins to set around them.
Eddie sits up, deciding to go grab a drink from the kitchen. As he passes Steve, he reaches his hand out as if on instinct, and returns the soft squeeze from before. Steve turns his head up to Eddie and smiles softly, and it’s the most beautiful thing Eddie’s ever seen.
Every time Eddie sees Steve after that, he’s always touching Steve’s shoulder. A soft squeeze in parting, tracing patterns mindlessly when sitting on the couch, even once pressing his forehead against Steve’s shoulder when standing side by side. And Steve had been doing the same, although much less frequently than Eddie. He always hesitated for a second each time he reached out, but Eddie didn’t mind in the slightest.
It's about a week later when it happens next. Eddie and Steve are watching a movie together at Eddie’s place, and Eddie is very aware of exactly how much space is between the two of them on the couch. Eddie wants nothing more than to kick his feet over Steve’s legs, or lean into Steve’s side, but he holds back. Once, his leg naturally drifts towards Steve’s, and he notices just in time to pull it back.
“Dude, you okay?” Steve asks a few minutes later, turning his head to Eddie. “You’re like, bouncing over there.”
Eddie looks down and notices he’s been bouncing his leg. “Shit, sorry dude.”
“No, no, you’re fine, just wanted to make sure you’re good.” Steve smiles. They turn back to the movie. Sure enough, Eddie starts bouncing his leg again a few minutes later. Steve silently moves a little closer to Eddie and presses their legs against each other. Eddie feels the tension seep out of his body. He turns and smiles at Steve, who returns the expression a hundred times brighter.
They continue like that for a while, Steve slowly showing Eddie more and more ways he feels comfortable with touch, and Eddie gratefully taking them in and adding them to his repertoire. A hand laid over his, an arm looped through his elbow, a hand pressed against his back, Eddie savored them all. Unfortunately for Eddie, this also meant that his feelings for Steve were getting harder and harder to ignore. It’s one thing when the hottest guy you’ve ever seen is your asshole classmate, it’s another thing when you find out he’s a badass, kind-hearted guy, but it’s another thing entirely when that same guy starts holding your hand and smiling at you in the sweetest way you’ve ever seen. He’s fucked.
When he gets to Robin’s place later that evening, they naturally start talking about Steve.
“There’s no way!” Eddie hollers with laughter.
“I swear! It was like watching a lion catch a deer, he went like full ‘bitchy suburban mom’ on this guy.”
“Damn, I need a man who’ll protect my honor like that if some dude hits on me.”
They both chuckle. A beat of silence passes between them.
“Hey, speaking of Steve,” Robin starts, “he told me about the whole ‘touch thing’ you guys have going on. It’s really cool of you.”
“He told you?”
Robin leans back in her chair. “Yeah. Well, ‘pried it out of him’ might be slightly more accurate, but it was Steve, and he was letting someone touch him. It was weird.”
“Has he always been like that?” Eddie asks.
“As long as I’ve known him, yeah. I think he’s weird about touch because of his parents, y’know?”
Unfortunately, he does know. Steve doesn’t like to talk about them much, but from what he has told Eddie, it’s fair to say Eddie’s not the biggest fans of the Harringtons. It would also be fair to say they’re at the top of his ‘would hit with a chair’ list.
“Yeah,” Eddie agrees. “Don’t doubt that.”
“Y’know, the first time I hugged him he like completely froze? He just went like, totally stiff. We never talked about it, but we never did it again.” Robin laughs. “Even with the kids, its usually not more than a hair ruffle or something.”
She pauses for a second, thinking, then turns back to Eddie. “I’m glad he’s getting more comfortable with it because of you. He desperately needs more platonic touch in his life. You know he held my hand the other day?”
Eddie tries and fails to listen as Robin continues, as his mind locks onto that one word: platonic. That’s what this is to Steve, right? Just a platonic friend showing platonic affection. Eddie feels suddenly guilty about his feelings. Steve is trusting him, reaching out to him of all people, and here Eddie is, pathetically hoping each touch could mean something more. It’s fine, he’s just gotta keep that buried down as far as he can. Steve’s comfort always comes first. He can do this.
Turns out, he can’t do this. Eddie feels like he’s going to explode with every new way Steve is initiating touch. He knows it’s just his mind playing pretend, but Steve’s touch seems to slowly be progressing past what most people would consider purely platonic touch. Interlacing fingers, a hand on his knee, lips pressed to the back of his hand, each one is driving Eddie insane. It isn’t until one night when Steve’s dropping Eddie back at his trailer that Eddie can’t keep it in any longer.
Steve pulls Eddie in for a hug at the door, something they’re both used to by now, but when he pulls away, he brings his hand to Eddie’s jaw, brushing his thumb against his cheek. Eddie’s eyes close involuntarily and he feels himself melt into the touch. They’re standing so close, Steve caressing Eddie’s face like he’s something special. Like he’s someone Steve could—
Eddie takes a step back suddenly, stumbling slightly as his heel bumps against the step.
Steve’s hands drop to his sides instantly. “I-I’m sorry—”
“No,” Eddie cuts him off. “don’t apologize, I just—” Eddie lets out a heavy breath in frustration.
“I didn’t mean to—” Eddie cuts Steve off by grabbing his hand, holding it between his own.
“Stevie, there is literally no way you could touch me that would make me uncomfortable. That’s… kind of the problem.”
Steve furrows his brow.
Eddie takes a deep breath. “I’m… falling in love with you. And I know that’s probably weird to hear, and I know you don’t feel the same way, but when you touch me like… that, there’s a part of me that believes you could feel the same way. I know this probably changes things, like, if you don’t want me to touch you at all anymore, I get it, but I just need you to know.”
Steve doesn’t quite meet Eddie’s eyes, staying silent. Shit.
“I’m sorry, Stevie.” Eddie’s voice is just above a whisper. He drops Steve’s hand. It swings lifelessly at his side.
“That… does change things, actually.” Steve says slowly. Eddie’s heart drops. Part of him braces for a punch, despite knowing that Steve wouldn’t be the type to get violent.
“I should…” Eddie gestures to the front door behind him, insides clenching with rejection as he begins to turn. Steve’s hand shoots out to grab Eddie’s wrist before he can turn all the way. Steve meets Eddie’s eyes, and he sees that same nervous hesitation in his eyes he gets before showing Eddie a new touch he’s comfortable with. Steve quickly closes the small distance between them and presses their lips together.
Eddie’s brain feels like a fork in a toaster. Holy shit, Steve is kissing him. He doesn’t even have time to process it before Steve is pulling away, his eyes anxiously searching Eddie’s face. Eddie can feel the smile spreading across his face as he reaches up to Steve, cradling his jaw exactly how Steve did to him. He brushes his thumb against Steve’s cheek and leans in to kiss Steve properly this time.
Their lips meet, this time sliding together perfectly, as Eddie feels electricity surge between them. It’s even more amazing than Eddie had imagined, and he’d heard all the rumors in high school about Steve’s ‘magic lips’. Steve is the one to deepen this kiss, and Eddie thinks he sees God for a second. Turns out God has deep hazel eyes and knows how to do sinful things with his tongue. They finally pull away to breathe, keeping their foreheads pressed together. Steve grabs Eddie’s waist and pulls him closer.
“I thought it was just me.” Steve whispers.
Eddie chuckles softly. “So did I.”