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Eddie has more than a few pet peeves but the main one is people blocking the sidewalk because they're on the phone. It's inconsiderate and shitty
The guy he's approaching is a prime specimen. Head completely down and walking full speed with no regard for what or who might be sharing the sidewalk.
So Eddie plants his feet. Its a dick move, he knows, but he figures when the guy gets close enough he'll see Eddie and stop short. Maybe raise his head so Eddie can give him a dirty look before they both go back to their original paths.
It doesn't work like that.
The guy never looks up, plows directly into Eddie. Since Eddie was prepared he keeps his feet but the guy goes stumbling. His phone, knocked from his hands, hits the ground with a sharp crack.
Eddie lunges to catch the guy but that brings them both to the ground and an awkward collapse.
"Shit," the guy says, sniffling.
His voice is thick and wet and Eddie is starting to have a real bad feeling.
"Shit, I'm sorry," the guy says. "I wasn't looking where I'm going, 'm so stupid."
He finally looks up and his face is damp and red, hazel eyes welling up with tears.
Eddie is an asshole.
"Hey, no," he says, getting up and helping the guy to his feet. "Its my fault. I didn't realize I was in your way."
The guy stands up, waving away Eddie's help. "No, this is all me. God, this whole stupid day. Of course, of course this would happen."
He's looking at the ground again and Eddie hears the other man hiccup a sob before crouching to pick up his phone.
It's... Eddie's seen worse. But it's in bad shape.
The guy presses the power button but there's no response. Eddie watches him press it again. Then again. He shakes it and tries again.
Nothing.
"Yeah," the guy says. "Yeah. This is perfect. This is actually exactly what I needed."
Oh no, Eddie is the world's biggest asshole.
The guys moves over and takes a seat on the curb, setting his phone on the sidewalk next to him and pressing his face in his hands.
Eddie... doesn't know what to do.
So he sits down beside him.
"You don't need to be here," the guy says.
Eddie shrugs. "I don't have anywhere else to be and it's my fault your day went to shit." The first part is a lie, and Gareth is gonna be pissed if Eddie doesn't get going, but there's no way he can leave now.
The guy shakes his head and sighs, just one soft huff, before he leans back on his hands, tipping his face up. He's not crying anymore and the red flush has faded to pink around his eyes and high on his cheeks.
He turns to Eddie and smiles, chagrined and tired and beautiful, and Eddie... is sunk.
In the face of that expression Eddie has no other choice. "I knocked youdownonpurpose," he almost shouts into that smile. "I was being a jerk and you weren't looking. I didn't-- I didn't think you would fall. I just... I was an asshole."
And the guy... just... laughs.
Eddie doesn't know how to respond. He murnurs an apology. And the guy just laughs harder. Laughs until he's crying again.
"I'm gonna be honest," Eddie says. "I'm not sure what to do here. Are you okay? Is this, like, a breakdown?"
The laughter eventually fades into a few stuttering gasps.
Eddie pulls the bandana out of his pocket and offers it over. The guy takes it and mops at his streaming eyes, dries his face.
The guy turns to face Eddie. The mad light of laughter is gone but so are the tears. Now it's just... calm.
They're still on the curb in the middle of the city. People are passing by, cars and bicycles and other pedestrians. Noise and light and life all around them.
But this moment with this guy feels like...
When Eddie was a kid he was terrified of storms. It felt like every boom of thunder was the moment his home would come crashing around him, like rain would wash his family away, the lightning would burn them all down.
His mom didn't have any patience for him getting upset, more interested in her own nightmares than Eddie's and going to his dad would just make things worse. It wasn't until he moved in with Wayne that storms changed for him.
The first thunderstorm that came crashing down on their trailer sent Eddie screaming into the little hallway, pressing himself to the wall as the lights flickered overhead.
Wayne found him there, curled in a ball on the floor and immediately sat down beside him, gathering Eddie's gangling limbed form into his own lap and rocking him through his sobs until the storm was over.
Once it had passed Wayne carried Eddie out onto the grass in front of the trailer. Eddie remembers pressing his face into Wayne's flannel shirt, letting the soft worn fabric absorb his tears and all the time Wayne humming and swaying them side to side.
When Eddie was ready he looked up. He expected a field of devastation, trailers thrown around like kids toys, trees uprooted, fire and havoc.
But it was quiet. Calm. It felt like the world had just let out a big breath.
Eddie was back in that moment now. This guy had clearly been through a storm and now he was on the other side.
"You wanna get a coffee," Eddie hears himself say.
The guy smiles. "I, uh, I need to get my phone taken care of."
"We can do that first," Eddie says. "Its my fault anyway and i know a guy who can probably fix it."
"Yeah," the guy asks.
Eddie nods. "Yeah. Um... I'm Eddie. By the way."
The guy smiles again, something like the sunrise breaking put across his face. "I'm Steve."