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It’s twenty minutes past when Dustin said he and Lucas would need a ride home from the Wheeler’s. Steve thinks they’re working on something related to the campaign Eddie’s planning, but he has no idea why they needed to come together for the better part of the day to make it happen. Playing chauffeur for the kids is going to come to an end soon. Lucas has already taken a couple lessons from his dad, so Steve figured he’d offer to pick them up while he still can.
The fondness he normally has for picking the kids up decreases the longer he has to sit and wait for them to rush out of the house. Usually, he’d take this time to turn on the charm with their parents and maybe get a snack while he waits. (Ms. Henderson makes the best brownies, but Mrs. Sinclair’s muffins are to die for.). However, no matter how much better things are with Nancy now, it doesn’t mean he feels comfortable trying to make small talk with Karen Wheeler. He can’t quite place it, but sometimes there’s a sharpness to her gaze that sends a chill down his spine.
Just as Steve reaches for the radio to remind Dustin it’s time to go, the front door opens and Dustin walks out with a grin. Lucas has a matching smile on his face as they walk up to the car, hands full of papers. Steve’s face must give away his frustration because Lucas has the sense to look sheepish when he settles in the backseat.
~
Steve somehow manages to hit every single red light after dropping the boys off. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, except his two water bottles have officially caught up with him and there’s an uncomfortable pressure building in his gut. Every time he stops, he shifts slightly. Hoping desperately that he’ll be able to make it to his and Eddie’s trailer in time. It’s not dark enough for him to feel comfortable pulling over to the side of the road, so the only option is to suffer in silence as he drives.
If he wasn’t driving he’d at least be able to cross his legs and try to help with the pressure. Instead, he’s stuck trying to take deep breaths and hoping the tensions in his legs don’t turn into a cramp.
~
He’s just about to make the final turn into the trailer park when a flash of blue catches his eye. Of course he’s getting pulled over today. As long as it isn’t Callahan then he’ll be fine. By the time the cop’s made it to his door, he’s holding out his license and registration in case they try to be difficult. And just his luck, it’s Callahan smiling haughtily while leaning into his window.
Callahan really milks their interaction and Steve’s about ready to burst. A wave of relief hits him when Callahan finally pulls away so he can pull up to the trailer. Now all he’s got to do is make it up the three stairs, unlock the door, and get to the bathroom. The car’s barely stopped when he throws the door open and steps out. Even just standing makes it worse. One large step turns into small shuffling ones when all of the pressure threatens to release with or without his consent.
His hands are shaking when he grabs at his keys, fingers fumbling over themselves as he tries to single out the house key. They fall with a clatter. He exhales quickly and reaches for them, pressure threatening to release when he finally gets them in hand again. This time when he tries for the key, it comes easily.
Now that the door is unlocked, all Steve has to do is make it to the bathroom. Just a few more steps.
He tenses all over again when the door opens from the other side. Eddie’s standing there with a smile, mouth opening to greet Steve like he always does.
And the pressure lifts.
Warmth gathers in his briefs and Steve watches the moment that Eddie realizes what’s happening. His mouth closes and his eyebrows raise, brown eyes focused on the dark patch continuing to grow despite an audience.
“Oh? Have some trouble there, baby?” He can’t bring himself to say anything in response, tears of embarrassment gather in his eyes as the tight circle of his sock becomes damp. The world around him narrows, focus solely on his slowing stream and the slight smirk on Eddie’s face.
“Come on, let’s get inside.” Eddie reaches out with a gentle hand but his smirk doesn’t fade. His steps feel heavier than before, like concrete has been poured into them, but Steve lets himself be guided in.
Eddie leads the way through the trailer, past the bookshelf full of worn paperbacks he treats with the utmost of care, past the softest blanket in the house sitting crumpled on Steve’s end of the couch, and past the fridge covered in little notes and doodles from the kids.
Time slows and even though it only takes a minute to walk from one end of the trailer to the other, Steve feels like it’s somehow been hours. His underwear is sticking to him, tight in all the wrong places, tugging at the hair on his thighs with each step. Eddie moves them into their room easily and sits on the edge of the bed. His brown eyes scan over Steve again, taking time to trace his face before looking at the mess Steve’s made.
When he’d gotten dressed this morning, the lighter jeans were the best match for his purple polo. Now all the light blue wash does is accentuate just where he’s pissed himself. The entire front has gone dark now, with matching trails along the inside of the pant leg all the way down to his shoes. When he goes to undo his pants, Eddie clears his throat and raises an eyebrow.
“Now, I didn’t say you were good to change, did I? I was just admiring your outfit, baby. Come here.”
There’s a demanding lilt to Eddie’s words, one that Steve knows will lead to a good time - he’s just got to follow Eddie’s lead. So he does. Steve closes the distance between them, pants now gone cold instead of the warmth he was surrounded in earlier. Once he’s close enough, Eddie reaches out and loops a finger in the front belt loop of Steve’s jeans, pulling him closer with a tug.
He feels awkward standing between Eddie’s spread legs, knees bracketing him in place. The hand not tangled with his belt loops comes to rest on Steve’s hip, fingers dipping under his shirt to trace along the skin. Like always, Eddie’s hands are cold, something that comes in handy when Steve’s feeling hot in the summer, but now it just tickles.
“What happened, baby?” Now both of Eddie’s hands are creeping up Steve’s shirt, cool fingers grazing over his ribs, up his chest and back down again. Eddie fiddles with the button of Steve’s jeans for a moment before nudging Steve to take a step back. Once Steve does, Eddie edges off of the bed and kneels at Steve’s feet. He only looks up for a moment, eyelashes fluttering when he winks and then Eddie’s undoing the laces of Steve’s shoes. They give easily and soon he’s lifting one foot at a time as Eddie pulls the shoes off. The bottom of his socks aren’t damp when he rests them on the floor.
“Stevie?”
“Well, uh,” and the embarrassment in his gut wells up and he has to swallow before continuing, “ Dustin asked me to pick him and Lucas up today from Mike’s.” Eddie nods encouragingly, standing and moving towards their dresser. “Like always, he was later than he said he’d be. But things are weird if I go into their house, you know?” The furrow of Eddie brow says that he does not, in fact, know about this, but Steve doesn’t want to focus on that right now. “And in the time it took for them to come out, I’d drunk all of my water bottle.” The water bottle in question was actually a gift from Eddie, something easy for Steve to carry around to help him drink more water. (It only took Eddie a couple months into their relationship to make the connection that some of Steve’s headaches turned migraines were from dehydration.)
“Mm, good job drinking your water, baby.” Eddie rewards Steve with a kiss to the temple before herding him into the bathroom. “Anything else happen?”
“I almost made it home in time, but Callahan decided to pull me over at the entrance of the park.” Eddie scoffs and even with his back to Steve, he knows that he’s rolling his eyes. The shower starts with a whistle and then quiets, water spraying against the wall.
All of Eddie’s focus returns to Steve, pajama pants and T-shirt he grabbed earlier set on the back of the toilet. Steve knows the shower is for him, knows he should be peeling off his jeans and taking off his polo. But he can’t. He’s fixated on his reflection in the mirror instead, eyes drawn to his mussed up hair, flushed face, and then finally, damningly, on his soaked jeans.
Eddie steps behind him, hands rubbing over Steve’s sides and then under his polo, lifting until he’s able to toss it on the floor. A gentle kiss is pressed against Steve’s bare shoulder before that same mouth nips at his neck. Steve lets himself be spun around and Eddie makes quick work of the button of his jeans. It takes a moment–Eddie has to peel them down the length of Steve’s legs. His underwear come off too, and Eddie presses another kiss against his hip before nudging Steve towards the shower.
A cloud of steam greets Steve when he peels back the shower curtain. The water is nice and warm when he steps in and it chases the stickiness from before away. Eddie follows him in shortly after, nudging Steve further under the water so that he can steal some of the warmth.
It’s hard to see Eddie with water dripping into his eyes so Steve squints and smiles when Eddie pushes his hair back.
“Gonna let me take care of you?”
All Steve can do is nod, eyes already fluttering closed as Eddie runs his fingers through his hair. His face is cradled for a moment, and then there’s a quick press of lips against his forehead. Eddie pulls away with a dramatic smack of his lips.
~
Steve doesn’t care that his hair is still a little damp from the shower, he’s tired and the bed is too inviting to ignore. Fresh detergent fills his nose when he turns onto the pillows and he groans.
“What?” Eddie’s voice is tinted in laughter, bed dipping with his weight as he crawls in beside Steve.
He doesn’t want to admit it’s because the sheets don’t smell like Eddie anymore, a hint of licorice and smoke that follows his metalhead boyfriend. Now they just smell like detergent. When he doesn’t answer Eddie laughs and pulls him in close. Bare skin meets his face and Steve peeks his eyes open to trace over the tattoos across Eddie’s chest. He’s close enough to kiss at the legs of Eddie’s spider, so he does. Sleep tugs at Steve and he yawns, settling into the crook of Eddie’s neck before giving in. Just a quick nap and then he’ll make them some dinner, maybe watch a movie.
~
Their bedroom door is lighter than all the other doors in the house, which means when one of them pushes it open with a bump of their hip it likes to slam against the wall. Luckily, this isn’t the only sound Steve wakes to; instead he’s greeted with Eddie’s mumbled curses as well.
Eddie’s bedside lamp is on, bathing the room in warm, yellow light. Steve rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up. There’s two bowls in Eddie’s hands with silver spoon handles sticking out the sides. Steve’s able to make out that it’s two bowls of cereal, but if his stomach growling is any indication, it doesn’t matter what he eats for dinner as long as it’s something, and soon.
Eddie grins as he passes a bowl to Steve and he sits at the end of the bed with his legs crossed to prop up his own bowl. When Steve looks down, a bowl of Honeycombs greets him. While Eddie’s bowl has a lot of milk in it, cereal floating dangerously towards the edge, Steve’s cereal looks nearly dry. He pokes with his spoon and the cereal shifts to show just the tiniest bit of milk in the bottom of his bowl.
Steve mentioned once that he doesn’t like soggy cereal, would rather eat it dry than worry about each bite being mush. He hadn’t thought Eddie would ever remember that.
So this is what it feels like to be cared for.
He has to blink a few times to clear the sudden tears from his eyes. Eddie sets his spoon down with a clink, ducking his head into Steve’s eye line. His eyebrows are pinched but Steve stops his question with a shake of his head.
“This is a whole lot of special treatment.”
“It’s just some cereal?” Eddie tilts his head in confusion and looks down at his bowl like it’s going to explain what’s going on in Steve’s head.
“No, it’s not. It's not teasing me when I come home and literally pee right in front of you. It’s-”
Steve can hear the shakiness in his own voice. A couple tears make their way down his face despite trying to fight them. Eddie sets his bowl on the ground, his Honeycomb changing shades as it soaks up the milk. Steve’s own bowl is taken from his lap and set on the bedside table before Eddie continues.
“You pee in front of me all the time.”
“You know what I mean.” His words come out more petulant than he intended, but Steve doesn’t back down from meeting Eddie’s eyes. There’s an exasperation there that makes Steve wish he hadn’t even tried bringing it back up. He just admitted he’s all sorts of soft for all of the ways that Eddie shows he cares, but now he’s stuck swallowing shame when Eddie takes his hand.
“I don’t think I do. Explain it. You pee in the bathroom while I’m brushing my teeth all the time.”
“But that’s different. We’re inside the house and-”
“And you do it because we trust each other, right? Remember when we first started dating and if we were at your house you’d go all the way upstairs just so I wouldn’t hear it? But now, you don’t mind doing it because it’s just another part of our morning routine.”
“You held it as long as you could, baby, and then when you saw me you let go. How does that not show you trust me?”
It’s hard to argue with Eddie when he’s making sense. He’s right. Steve did hold it the whole way home, even while he dealt with Callahan. It wasn’t until he dropped his keys and Eddie came to the door that he gave in.
“You know I like getting to take care of you, right?”
Just those few words and the dam breaks, tears completely blurring his vision. Eddie’s quick to pull him in, one hand holding the back of Steve’s neck and the other arm hugging him close. He shudders and coughs wetly, trying to tamper the tears down. He feels like a little kid. All awkward angles and gasping breaths.
“Hey, breathe for me Stevie. It’s alright, I’ve got you.” Eddie takes a couple exaggerated breaths, hand rubbing down Steve’s back. It takes a couple tries, but finally, he’s able to take a full breath without choking. He pulls away just slightly, reaching up to swipe roughly at the tears on his cheeks. Eddie stops him though and wipes his tears away himself with a gentle swipe of his thumb.
Quiet settles while he catches his breath. A soft tapping sound comes from the string on their fan shaking with its movement. He makes eye contact for a moment. Eddie’s brown eyes are soft as he rubs the last of Steve’s tears away. His stomach feels tight with embarrassment.
“Can I tell you something?” Even though he whispers the words, it feels like Eddie’s shouting, begging Steve to listen. He barely gets a stiff nod in response before he continues. “One of my favorite things about you is how much you care about everyone. Did you know that?” It’s clear he’s not looking for an answer from Steve. He lets go of Steve’s face to hold his hands instead.
“Even before I got to know you, I could see how much you cared for Nancy. Followed her around like a little puppy, even stood up to Carol and Tommy’s teasing on her behalf. First time I ever saw King Steve stand up for someone.” His words make Steve look down in shame, wishing like always that he’d been strong enough to stand on his own instead of being sucked into popularity.
“But you still did it. Could’ve just let them tease her and then try and make things up behind closed doors. But I heard you shut them down and then take her out of the situation. Then you changed. Didn’t really hear or see much of you for a while. Not until I met the kids, and all they could talk about was how much they adored you. Which, you already know my feelings there. But that’s when I first got to see who you really were. The man behind the mask, you know? Next thing I know you’re swearing on Dustin’s mother while I’m a centimeter away from slicing your neck open in a panic and now here we are.”
“You hear me? Here we are. I’m in love with you. You’re not going to be scaring me away any time soon.” Eddie’s leaned into Steve’s eyeline again, hands squeezing in reassurance.
“I love you too.” Eddie grins at his words and lets go of his hands to scoot forward. He’s practically in Steve’s lap when he finally leans in and presses a kiss to each of Steve’s cheeks then his mouth.
“Plus,” and Eddie backs up, grin turning mischievous, “I wouldn’t be opposed if it happened again. It was kinda hot.” And then he grabs his bowl before leaving the room in three quick steps.
“What?! No, come back here. You can’t just say that!”