Work Text:
Plink.
The first tap against the window goes unnoticed. Eddie’s headphones are firmly affixed on his ears, Priest thrumming from the cassette in his Walkman, and he’s bent over his desk with his back to the window and nose in a book.
Plink.
The second tap is louder. Eddie hears a faint noise over the sound of his music. Lifting one side of the headphones off his ear, he leans back in his chair and shouts down the hallway.
“Uncle Wayne?”
“Yeah?”
“You say something?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Eddie shrugs and replaces his headphones. He’s gotten to a really, really good part of the book, right when a pivotal secret is about to be revealed, and he refuses to put it down until he finishes the chapter.
Plink.
Plink.
Plink.
The third tap comes just as the song fades. Eddie finally hears it and looks around. His neck and shoulders protest against the sudden movement after too long sitting in the same position. Everything looks normal in his room—except for his window.
“Harrington?”
Through the open blinds, Eddie sees a familiar silhouette standing just outside the back of the trailer. As he watches, Steve bends down and picks up a rock.
“Alright, alright, Jesus Christ,” Eddie grumbles. He stumbles over random detritus on his floor on his way to the window. He yanks it open with a grunt.
Outside, the sun is setting over the field behind Forest Hills. It casts a warm glow over everything and turns Steve’s summer-lightened hair into spun gold. He’s wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and khakis, like he came straight from work and didn’t bother going home to change.
Eddie leans out the window and raises an eyebrow. “Jesus, man. You know I got a front door, right?”
Steve strides over and leans up against the side of the trailer. There’s a milk crate knocked over in the grass—an essential tool of Eddie’s trade, for sneaking out his window when Wayne is home—which Steve turns over. When he steps up onto it, he’s nearly eye-level with Eddie. He leans against the windowsill.
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”
“Wayne’s home.”
“I know.”
“He’d let you in if you’d just knock.”
“I know.”
Eddie is feigning irritation, but Steve’s stubborn charm is impossible to resist. A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
“What, you got a boombox hidden somewhere? You gonna serenade me?”
“You and I both know that if I started singing Peter Gabriel, you’d push me out the window.”
“Yeah, probably.”
A moment passes in silence. Outside, crickets begin chirping the evening song and a distant engine revs as someone pulls out of their driveway. On the far end of the trailer, Wayne putters around the kitchen, probably getting a start on dinner.
“So, you gonna let me in or what?” Steve prompts.
Eddie stares. “Through the window? Dude, you have legs. Go to the front door.”
“Boo, boring,” Steve pouts. “Give me a hand.”
Still grousing, Eddie offers Steve a hand anyway. Through an incredibly ungraceful series of maneuvers that involves Steve almost clocking himself on the window frame and very nearly kicking over the lamp on the amp beside Eddie’s bed, Steve manages to clamber through the window and into Eddie’s bedroom. Once he gets two feet on the floor, he shakes his hair out and straightens his shirt.
He grins. “See? Like a ninja.”
Eddie rolls his eyes. “Sure, a regular Karate Kid.”
Snagging one of Eddie’s belt loops, Steve pulls him forwards. Eddie trips over his own feet, but Steve holds him steady with a hand on his hip. It’s annoying how much Steve’s moves work on him—showing up unannounced, climbing through his window, being all cute and flirty and shit. It makes him feel like he’s being romanced, and it's fucking working. He knows that the moment Steve kisses him, his faux-irritation will crumble like a house of cards.
Steve’s lips are barely an inch away and he smells like woodsy cologne and Eddie really, really wants to kiss him already, but a shout comes from down the hallway.
“Tell your boy to use the front door next time. Y’all are making a ruckus in there.”
Steve laughs.
“Sure thing, Mr. Munson!”
Eddie groans loud enough to drown out Wayne’s response. He drops his head to Steve’s shoulder.
“Why do I put up with you again?”
“Mm, I dunno. Wanna kiss me and find out?”
Eddie does, if not for any other reason to shut Steve up.