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Eddie knows that logically he should save his hard earned money and drive across town to the grocery store to buy some reasonably priced cat food. But he’s fucking tired. He’s been working at the music store in the mall for a few months now and he’s never seen a rush as crowded as today’s influx of customers. The preteens are really into Madonna, apparently. And their parents are equally concerned with Tipper Gore’s new parental advisory stickers. He’s now way more acquainted with Madonna’s discography than he ever wanted to be.
But Behemoth must be fed so he compromises and stops by the little overpriced boutique pet store in the mall after work.
He doesn’t know what he was expecting…outrageous prices probably. Definitely not Robin Buckley in a pair of cat ears behind the cash register. His mouth screws up, pursing to hold back his laughter.
“Do. Not. Comment. On. The. Ears,” she warns harshly.
They’re not friends per se, but not unfriendly either. Probably not close enough to push his luck. So he nods and puts his hands on his hips.
Steve Harrington slams a fish tank down on the counter between them. Fake dog ears are situated perfectly on top of his fluffy hair. Less amusing and more cute because Robin is not Eddie’s type and Steve is…well everyone’s type. He’s got those big brown eyes, and Eddie’s tired mind is immediately picturing teasing Harrington about the ears while he…nope, nope, don’t go there. Entertaining sexual fantasies about Harrington while standing in front of him sounds like a great way to get his face slammed into the counter.
Steve smiles at Eddie tightly. Oh, he already looks pissed. Maybe he can read Eddie’s expression.
“Robs, can you check the back?”
“Yeah,” she sighs, wandering off.
Eddie wants to blurt out something stupid and flirty like ‘Is there a discount on the cashier?’ and only barely refrains.
“That’s an interesting…uniform,” he says, kicking himself for saying anything at all.
Steve scowls at him. At this rate, Eddie is going to get banned from the store and have to go to the grocery anyway.
“If you’re here to leer and harass Robin about the fucking cat ears-” Steve snaps.
Eddie holds his hands up in placation.
“Whoa, dude! I just need to buy some cat food.”
Steve gives him a disbelieving look, thinking Eddie is making a sly joke.
“Oh, you have a cat now?”
“Yes, actually I do,” Eddie replies sharply, feeling offended and irritated that Steve immediately assumed that he came in to creep on Robin.
“Since when?”
“Since I found her in a trash can,” Eddie blurts out.
“A trash can?”
“Yeah, she was yelling and I- look can you just point to the damn kitten food please?”
Steve’s expression softens, looking confused.
“Oh, ok. It’s this way.”
Steve leads him down an aisle and hovers there while Eddie tries to discern which canned food is acceptable for kittens.
“You actually have a cat?” Steve says, leaning toward him.
“Yes, Jesus.”
Steve cringes.
“Oh, shit sorry,” he says remorsefully. “Our boss made us do this stupid promotion and weirdos have been harassing Robin all week.”
Steve tugs at the ears self-consciously. Eddie grabs a couple cans that look like they won’t put too bad of a dent in this week’s paycheck. He feels bad for Robin, but he’s still a little pissed off by Steve’s snap judgement.
The bell at the entrance to the store jangles.
“Where’s my kitten?” an obnoxious voice calls out.
Steve’s shoulders slump and he rolls his eyes to the ceiling. Eddie peers between the shelves and sees a couple assholes from school. Tommy Hagan is at the lead and the blond guy he came in with is peering around, clearly looking for Robin. Great, exactly who Eddie wanted to get mixed up with at the end of a long day.
While the other jerk wanders around, hoping to catch Buckley, Hagan locates Steve and comes to a stop in their aisle.
Eddie wants to go home. That’s why he fucking came here.
“Get your friend out of here,” Steve tells him.
“Woof,” Tommy replies, laughing.
It’s an unfortunate moment for Robin to emerge from the back. She spots the blond, makes a disgusted face and walks over to Steve. Who Eddie can tell is about ten seconds from blowing up on Hagan. Eddie clutches the cat food to his chest and wonders if he should intervene here.
Blond guy follows Robin to the aisle, leering at her from behind. She ignores him and starts stocking cat treats on the shelf next to Eddie.
“If you’re not gonna buy something, leave,” Steve announces.
They’re both clearly questioning how much they need this job. After his Madonna struggles today, he sympathizes.
“What?! I could be here to buy something,” Hagan complains.
He grabs a random feather toy off the shelf and brandishes it. When the blond guy tries to step closer to Robin, Steve puts a hand on his chest and shoves him back.
“Hey, don’t be a dick. Is this how you treat your customers?” Hagan says.
His hand swipes an array of items off the shelf. Steve scrubs his hand across his face once and then takes a can off the floor and flings it directly in Tommy Hagan’s face. It ricochets off the center of his forehead.
The blond guy says, “holy fuck,” with a laugh, but doesn’t intervene.
Robin grabs the back of Steve’s shirt to yank him away as Eddie sets the cat food in his hands back on the shelf. Hagan’s answering fist hits just above Steve’s right eyebrow, ring slicing open the skin. The headband with the dog ears slips off Steve’s hair and clatters to the floor. Steve stumbles back into Robin. She steadies him before cursing and bolting for the phone behind the cash register.
The blow clearly hit hard because Steve is holding a hand to his forehead and wincing as it bleeds. Eddie sighs. Hagan winds up for another punch and Eddie suspects he might leap on top of Steve in an attempt to pummel him into the floor.
Eddie is scrappy, but he’s not exactly a great fighter. Which is why what happens next is shocking and miraculous. Hagan throws a punch and Eddie somehow manages to catch him by the arm, redirect him away from Steve, place his hand on the back of Hagan’s head, and slam him headfirst into the metal shelf full of dog food.
It’s hands down the coolest looking thing Eddie has ever done and he has no idea how the fuck he pulled it off. The blond guy, apparently convinced of Eddie’s kung fu skills, bolts for the door and abandons Hagan slumped on the floor.
“Holy shit, dude,” Steve says, still pressing a hand to his head wound.
Eddie sort of casually shrugs, trying to play cool. He might not care about Hawkins’ social hierarchy, but he’s not evolved enough to be above wanting to impress a cute boy. As long as Hagan doesn’t get up, Eddie might actually pull it off.
Hagan stands. Clutches at the shelf. Topples it over by leaning too hard against it and sends both himself and a bunch of dog food tumbling to the floor. Nice.
“What in the actual fuck?!”
Eddie looks up to see Hopper standing in the doorway. Ah, shit.
~
Tommy Hagan wants Eddie arrested for aggravated assault. Steve Harrington allows Robin to hold an ice pack to his forehead and lies through his teeth on Eddie’s behalf. Apparently, Eddie just stopped a store robbery. Who knew?
He’s fairly certain that Hopper doesn’t believe the story, but he also clearly doesn’t like Tommy so he accepts it and kicks him out without arresting anyone.
Robin sighs deeply as she looks at the disarray left in the wake of the fallen shelf. Eddie gives them both a sarcastic salute and turns to leave. He only gets a few paces out the door before Steve jogs after him.
“Hey!” Steve says, looking at Eddie from under his lashes with a grin. “Um, thanks for that.”
He holds out a couple cans of kitten food.
“On the house.”
“Thanks,” Eddie replies, grabbing them. “You uh- might want to keep icing that.”
Steve reaches up to touch his forehead. It’s already starting to bruise.
“I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah,” Eddie replies, feeling flustered.
He’s seen Steve throw that blinding smile at other people before, but he’s never been at the receiving end of it. Despite his best efforts, he’s a little dazzled.
~
Regardless of what Jeff thinks, Eddie is not searching for an excuse to swing back by the pet store to see Steve. Behemoth had a very hard life before Eddie found her and he happens to think that she deserves some really nice cat toys. Also, Eddie still feels the need to prove to Steve that he does, in fact, have a cat. And believes that she should have the opportunity to pick out those toys herself.
So, because he’s a responsible cat owner, he puts a harness on her, buttons the tiny black kitten into his jacket, and goes to the mall on his off day.
Purely altruistic cat owner behavior.
His heart flips nervously when he sees Steve leaning over the cashier counter immersed in a magazine. Maybe this was a stupid idea. Steve has (unfortunately) ditched the headband with dog ears and is in a simple green t-shirt with paw prints on it. Still cute though. Probably still straight.
He looks up and spots Eddie before Eddie and Behemoth can make a tactical retreat. And smiles.
“Hey!”
Eddie walks up to the counter and unclasps a few buttons so he can pull Behemoth out and place her on the counter. Steve’s jaw drops in delight.
“This is my cat. Who is real,” Eddie says dumbly.
Steve grins at him and reaches down to let Behemoth bat at his fingers playfully.
“She’s so cute,” Steve gushes. “You got her a harness with skulls on it? Very on brand.”
“Yeah well, Behemoth is a hardcore cat. She was abandoned in a trash can so she’s kinda edgy.”
“Behemoth,” Steve says with raised eyebrows. “Is it a joke because she’s tiny?”
“No, it’s because she’s-”
Behemoth, annoyed that Eddie’s attention is directed elsewhere, lets out a scream in his direction, showing off her tiny incisors.
“-extremely loud,” he finishes.
Steve shakes with silent laughter. Behemoth lets out another long meow, head tilted back dramatically.
“Very metal, my child,” Eddie praises, scratching her head.
Steve rubs under her chin and she purrs.
“She yelled at me until I agreed to come buy her expensive toys, so…here we are.”
“Can I hold her?”
“Yeah, sure. She might scream in your ear though, fair warning.”
Eddie watches Steve scoop her up, staring for a moment at the curve of his jaw and mouth, and makes the painful admission to himself that Jeff is right and he has a dumbass crush on Steve Harrington. Fuck.
“How’s your head?” he asks as they walk toward the cat toy shelf.
“Better. The bruising is finally going down. And we convinced our boss to get rid of the stupid headbands.”
Behemoth reaches up a paw to touch Steve’s mouth as he talks and same, Behemoth, same. Only one of them can get away with that and it’s not Eddie.
Steve presents the toy section to her with a flourish. Eddie picks up a toy fish and holds it up for her to sniff. She chomps on to it.
“I think you should buy her this tiny champagne bottle full of catnip,” Steve says.
“Oh, you’re trying to upsell us?” Eddie jokes.
“No, but look how cute she’ll be holding it in her paws,” Steve counters, placing it in her claws.
He’s right. It’s adorable. They both are. Damn.
Behemoth lets go of the toy and stretches, arching her back and extending her paws toward Eddie.
“What are you doing, you weirdo?” he asks with a small laugh, reaching over to take her before she topples herself out of Steve’s arms.
Once she’s cradled against his shoulder again, she shoves her face into his hair and begins to gnaw on it. Steve snickers and ducks down to retrieve the dropped cat toy.
“Maybe she doesn’t need toys. She has your hair.”
“Yeah, you laugh, but one of these days I’m going to wake up with an awful haircut courtesy of her teeth,” Eddie responds.
Steve laughs and Eddie feels his insides go warm at the sound. God, this is dumb. Eddie should be smarter than to crush on Steve Harrington. He distinctly recalls feeling very judgemental about the poor, braces wearing, trombone playing girl in his music class who held a hopeless torch for Steve for three whole years. And now Eddie is no better than her, in fact he’s worse off because Steve is undoubtedly straight as an arrow and at least she was a girl.
He rests his chin on top of Behemoth’s fuzzy head.
“We’ll just take the catnip champagne.”
“Very fine choice,” Steve jokes.
It’s charming and Eddie hates that it’s charming. He kind of wishes Steve had been a jerk after all. Maybe he would be if he knew Eddie was equally guilty of checking out pet store store employees, just not Robin. Who is he kidding? That’s probably not even on Steve’s radar.
Behemoth meows directly in his ear while Steve checks them out and Eddie cringes dramatically, covering his ear with a hand and shooting her a disgruntled look. Steve grins. Behemoth bites one of his rings with her tiny mouth.
The shopping bag that Steve hands him says ‘Come Again!’
Eddie has already decided that’s probably not the best choice for his heart or his wallet.
~
The store has been quiet today and Eddie is relieved that the surge of Madonna fervor seems to have come to an end. He’s leaning against the counter in the center of the store, tuning a guitar when the bell above the door chimes.
When he looks up, his doomed mall crush gives him a sheepish wave.
“Hey, you’re not on your lunch break are you?”
“No,” Eddie answers. “I usually just eat behind the counter anyway so I can stay on the clock and get paid.”
He holds the guitar by the neck and props it against the counter. Steve’s eyes follow the motion then flick up to meet Eddie’s gaze.
“What’s up?” Eddie asks.
“Um- Robin won’t shut up about this cassette that she’s been wanting. So I figured I would buy it.”
“Which one?” Eddie says, pointing Steve toward the cassette section and walking him over.
“Heart?”
Eddie gives a surprised laugh.
“Buckley listens to-?”
“Don’t ask me. Her tastes switch up all the time,” Steve sighs. “Unfortunately she’s in charge of my car radio because I’m her ride to work. And I’m getting really tired of Journey.”
Eddie snatches the Heart tape off the shelf and hands it to Steve.
Flipping the tape over in his hands, Steve says, “Hey, so there’s this new coffee shop that opened in the mall. Robin is constantly buying their weird Italian sounding drinks. Would you want to go sometime?”
Eddie’s heart does a little flip in his chest because it almost sounds like Steve is asking him out.
“Are you asking Munson out? Your dating life has really declined since Nancy.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Tommy Hagan is standing in the shop doorway with his arms crossed. Eddie has no idea how the asshole managed not to jostle the bell. Steve’s face flushes pink at the comment and his shoulders tense.
“Are you just stalking Harrington now or-?” Eddie snarks, gesturing between them.
Hagan points to the purple bruise on his forehead.
“I’m here about this, you fucking prick.”
Eddie rolls his eyes and puts his hands on hips. He is almost positive that confronting Eddie about the fight is an excuse. Hagan has always been weird about Steve, everybody knows that. It wouldn’t be that surprising if he really was ducking behind plants with a pair of binoculars.
“Seriously, Tommy?!” Steve cuts in.
Unfortunately for Hagan, Eddie is not going to risk losing his gains from that temporary moment of cool from the pet store showdown. Instead of throwing a punch, he’ll just toss a grenade.
“Hey, Murray!” he calls out.
His manager emerges from the back looking disgruntled.
“What is it?”
Eddie casually points to Hagan who is still hovering in the doorway.
“That’s the guy that tried to rob the pet store.”
Murray turns his gaze to Hagan with an absolutely unhinged expression.
“Oh, you come to rob my store?”
Eddie suppresses a hysterical laugh. Hopper is going to hate this.
Murray reaches behind the counter and pulls out the samurai sword that he bought after the sheriff explicitly told him it was illegal to keep a shotgun in the music store. Steve’s jaw drops and Hagan pales as Murray unsheathes the blade.
“What the fuck man?!” Hagan yells, pitch creeping toward shrill.
“Right to bear arms, motherfucker,” Murray says as he points the tip in Hagan’s direction.
After a moment of shock, Tommy stumbles backward and out into the mall concourse, making a speedy retreat. Murray turns his insane expression on Steve.
“Nah, man. This is a customer.”
“Oh, alright.”
Murray sheathes the sword and tosses it behind the counter before retreating to the back again. Steve’s eyebrows have crept up his forehead.
“What?”
“Yeah, he’s fucking crazy. Ninety percent sure he runs this store because he thinks all the radio equipment interferes with CIA surveillance devices. But he’s a pretty chill boss, all things considered.”
“I guess I owe you two coffees? As thanks for-” Steve says, gesturing vaguely at the shop.
Ah. Right. Eddie is not getting asked out. That was just his (and probably Hagan’s) feverish delusion.
“Don’t worry about it. Getting to watch Hopper and Murray argue over whether the city’s law against firearms applies to an imported katana is more than enough to make pulling that move worth it.”
Steve’s mouth twists a little and he glances down at the tape in his hands.
“Right, sorry. I’ll check you out,” Eddie adds.
Once he’s done at the register, he looks back up to Steve to hand him his change. Eddie’s eyes are drawn to Steve’s mouth. He’s gnawing on his bottom lip, leaving his mouth swollen and cherry red.
“When do you usually take your lunch break?”
“Like 12:30?” Eddie answers, slightly confused.
“Cool. So if I brought you a coffee, bitter or sweet?”
Eddie can’t help but smile.
“More on the bitter side. I don’t know what that is in Italian.”
“Ok, great. You like the gross kind.”
“Excuse you, I like it to taste like coffee. Don’t tell me you’re one of those who drink it with three packets of sugar.”
“No, they have vanilla syrup now. It’s delicious.”
“Blasphemous.”
“Whipped cream would ruin your tattooed guitarist image, I get it. Suffering for aesthetics, very noble.”
The comment startles a laugh out of Eddie.
“Hey, it’s not aesthetic. It’s all authentic. I have a fucking sword under this counter, you know?”
“Is the kitten also part of the aesthetic?” Steve teases.
“Yeah, she’s a black cat. You know…so people assume I’m a satanist,” Eddie replies blithely.
He wonders if his dark humor will put Steve off, but Steve replies just as quickly.
“That’s why she has skulls on her harness,” Steve says.
“Exactly. That’s why she has skulls on her harness,” Eddie echoes.
After Steve leaves, Eddie releases a curl that he’s tugged between his fingers and realizes that he had been fussing with his hair like a lovelorn schoolgirl while they talked. Ah, Behemoth help him.
~
Steve really does bring him coffee. He doesn’t just drop it off either. Instead, he elects to spend his own lunch break hanging out in the store. With Eddie.
He even brought his lunch along. They sit on the floor behind the counter together.
“Your girlfriend packs a very neat lunch,” Eddie comments, observing the partitioned food.
“I packed it. And also, I’m single,” Steve clarifies, popping a perfectly rolled tortilla pinwheel in his mouth.
The admission shouldn’t make Eddie’s pulse thrum in the hollow of his throat, but it does.
“Robin used to make fun of me everyday until I started packing one for her. Then she shut up and stopped calling me Martha Stewart.”
“It’s a very working adult lunch box. Meanwhile I’m eating,” Eddie pauses to look down at his sandwich, “a ham and cheese sandwich with Doritos under the bread.”
Steve chuckles.
“You’re still doing better than Robin.”
“Oh, I know. We had home economics together and let me tell you neither of us are domestic material.”
Steve has dimples when he smiles. And the kind of round cheeks that elderly women are probably liable to pinch. Very cute.
At this rate, Eddie might make an idiot of himself just trying to make Steve laugh.
“But I was good at shop though so if you need a table built…”
“You can build the table and I’ll make food to put on it?” Steve jokes.
The domestic fantasy makes Eddie’s heart do a small trill on his chest.
After a beat, Steve asks, “Are you seeing anyone?”
“No,” Eddie says with a laugh.
Just you in my wildest dreams, he neglects to add.
“Oh. Cool. I mean- I thought maybe you had a drummer hidden away or something.”
The only drummer Eddie knows is Jeff, the band mate watching Eddie fall perilously into a full blown crush on the boy next to him.
“Musicians should never date other musicians. It’s bad luck. You get one good breakup album out of it and then the band falls apart.”
Eddie doesn’t know what was charming about the statement, but Steve does look charmed, resting his head on his arms and giving Eddie a smile.
~
And well…Eddie starts actually taking his lunch breaks because Steve keeps periodically dropping by.
They sit behind the counter together and Eddie tries his best to make Steve laugh. He thinks they might actually be friends at this point and although receiving the sunlight that is Steve Harrington’s undivided attention is intoxicating, Eddie is also a little concerned. Because this is not helping with his crush. And he hates to think that he might ruin their burgeoning friendship with his inability to stop glancing at Steve’s mouth while he talks.
He wants to get over it because Steve is funny and loyal and fun to be around. But Steve is also gorgeous. And that really throws a wrench in Eddie’s attempts to keep his feelings strictly platonic. The butterflies simply will not settle down when he commands it.
A customer interrupts their lunch by wandering in and Eddie abandons his food to talk to the preteen boy who is looking for a guitar.
“I want one that has some zing to it, you know? Like a unique sound that makes the guitar stand out.”
Eddie snatches one off the wall and brings it over.
“It’s a bit pricy, but this one has a good kick,” he tells the kid.
Eddie slides his hand across the neck into a playing position and plays the introduction to Master of Puppets with a grin. The kid’s eyes light up.
Unfortunately when he sees the price, his face falls.
“I’ll be back! Don’t sell it to anyone else!”
Eddie gives him a salute and wishes him luck on acquiring the money. When he turns back, Steve is staring in his direction with a piece of celery resting against his bottom lip like he’s forgotten to bite into it. Then he blinks and comes back to himself, looking down at the celery with a frazzled expression.
“I’ve never heard you play before. I’ve just seen you tuning them. You’re really good.”
Eddie grins at him.
“Got any requests, Harrington?” he says, dropping back down to sit next to Steve, guitar still in hand.
“Yeah, can you play some Madonna?” Steve deadpans.
Eddie’s head falls back as he laughs.
“Fuck off. Get out of my shop. You’re banned from this store.”
“Nooo, anything but exile,” Steve jokes. “I’ll listen to your punk music and everything.”
Steve leans over and rests his head against Eddie’s shoulder as he speaks. Eddie’s heart does a traitorous flip in his chest.
“Did you just refer to metal as punk music? That’s two strikes.”
The press of Steve’s cheek against the bony ridge of his shoulder is warm. Eddie hopes the blush on his cheeks isn’t as bright as it feels.
~
“Ok, fine. If all my pop albums are trash, what am I meant to be listening to then?” Steve challenges him after Eddie gives him a long suffering look over a Duran Duran cassette.
And oh, this is a wildly dangerous choice, but Eddie grabs his wrist and drags him to the listening kiosk. He puts on an AC/DC album for Steve and very carefully places the headphones over his ears, mostly as an excuse to briefly touch Steve’s hair. To his surprise, Steve takes them back off and pulls Eddie into the narrow booth with him, situating the headphones between their heads.
The booth is tiny. It’s really only meant for one customer. The end result is Steve and Eddie pressed shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. Steve’s golden locks brush against his dark curls. Eddie can’t quite breathe properly. If he turned his head to look at Steve, they would be in kissing distance. The soft, plush invitation of Steve’s lower lip is only one very stupid mistake away.
It’s a shame that AC/DC doesn’t have a song that goes, “hey, you dumb homosexual, keep your hands off that jock unless you want to get sucker punched,” because Eddie could really use the reminder. Highway to Hell will have to work for now.
Then Steve turns to him and mouths, “It’s good.”
Eddie’s gaze goes straight to his mouth and they hover there for a long moment while the guitar twangs through the headphones. He nearly has a heart attack when the bell clangs and Hopper steps through the door yelling for Murray. Eddie abandons the booth, clutching a hand to his chest.
Murray emerges and whatever the moment was, it’s ruined by the ensuing heated argument about constitutional rights that goes down. He should probably be grateful.
~
It’s a good thing that Eddie has never done cocaine because clearly he has a very tenuous grip on his self-control. And his wallet.
Unfortunately for both, Robin Buckley is his cashier today and he’s bought $8 cat food for nothing.
He tries not to say it, he really does.
“Steve’s not working today?”
Robin gives him a look that suggests he’s as transparent as the store’s marketing ploys.
“No, he got into a fist fight, so he’s licking his wounds today.”
Eddie straightens immediately.
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, I guess he and Tommy finally officially duked it out. For what it’s worth, I think he won.”
Tommy Hagan, you son of a bitch.
Robin gives him a keen look and says, “Actually, can you drop off his sweater for me?”
~
This isn’t weird. Robin is the one that gave him Steve’s address. Plus, someone should probably check on him and make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.
If Eddie presses his face into the sweater to briefly smell Steve’s cologne, that’s between him and the devil. And Behemoth. Who Eddie decided should tag along to soften the blow, in case Steve does think Eddie showing up at his house is weird.
He lets out a sharp breath and knocks on the door. Behemoth purrs against his chest.
Steve yanks the door open and blinks rapidly at Eddie in surprise, clearly expecting someone else. He’s all bruised up, but the bedhead and worn athletic uniform really soften the look. Instead of a fighter, he has the appearance of some poor kid who fell off the slide. Steve Harrington has never been the intimidating type. Someone has put a superhero bandaid on his knee.
They speak at the same time.
“Uh, Robin asked me-”
“Hey!”
Steve flushes and runs a hand through his hair.
“To bring your sweater?” Eddie finishes. “Also, I thought a cat might make you feel better?”
He feels like an idiot as soon as the sentence leaves his mouth, and he holds Behemoth up like an offering.
Steve breaks out into a grin. His dimples make Eddie’s heart catch.
“I didn’t have anyone to shove Tommy’s face into a shelf this time,” Steve says, taking hold of Behemoth and giving Eddie a sheepish look. “Robin sent you?”
“Yeah.”
“Want to come in?”
~
He’s watching a movie on Steve Harrington’s couch. Which would feel very much like a date if it weren’t for Behemoth climbing back and forth across the back of the couch to slam into them with her head affectionately.
Instead of sitting at opposite ends, they’ve managed to end up next to one another. Behemoth chews on his hair as he thinks about how easy it would be to pull a cheesy move and sling his arm over Steve’s shoulder.
He glances at Steve and they make eye contact as Steve glances back at him before they both rapidly look back at the TV. Steve is gnawing on his bottom lip again and Eddie has lost all sense of where they are in the plot of Terminator.
After Steve pops into the kitchen and returns with popcorn, Eddie takes the opportunity to ask, “So what the hell was up with Hagan?”
“Ah, well…” Steve hedges, messing with his hair, “he just said some stuff that kinda pissed me off.”
Eddie sinks deeper into the couch, examining Steve’s expression. Behemoth slips down from Eddie’s shoulder into his arms dramatically and Steve seems to relax slightly.
“It’s a shame you didn’t have a can of cat food handy to chuck directly at his forehead this time.”
Steve dissolves into laughter. Then his mouth twists slightly and they sit in silence for a moment.
“If he says anything to you…I mean, I guess it’s technically true, though,” Steve murmurs, still nervously tugging at a curl.
“The rumor about me being a Satan worshipper?”
“No.”
“The one about me being a cult leader?”
“No.”
“The story about me eating a crayon on a dare in kindergarten?”
Steve snorts and sinks down into the couch and pulls the neck of his shirt up to his mouth. His face is flushed.
“The one about me trying to ask you out. Although, his version had more slurs in it.”
Eddie’s heart does a wild leap in his chest. Behemoth meows and they both look down at her. His mind is generating the sound of dial-up modem loading.
“He’s considerably less cool about the bisexuality thing now that we’re no longer friends,” Steve says, looking flushed and embarrassed when Eddie doesn’t immediately respond.
Oh fuck. Oh my god.
“When were you trying to ask me out?” Eddie ekes out.
“In my defense, no one has ever pulled out a samurai sword while I tried to hit on someone before. That was really a curveball.”
Eddie presses a hand to his mouth, feeling his face go red.
“The coffee?”
“My first time trying to flirt with a guy is really crashing and burning. Please let me down gently. I’ve already been beat up,” Steve says, pointing to the bruise on his cheek.
Eddie lets out a wheezing laugh.
“Fuck off. You think this freak needs expensive cat food? She eats plastic,” Eddie declares, brandishing Behemoth at Steve.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I have no justifiable reason to shop at the store where you work other than the cute cashier.”
“Robin?”
“No, the one with the dog ears. He has dimples and everythi-”
Steve leans forward and cuts him off by pressing their lips together. Eddie reaches up to cup his face and kisses back.
Behemoth meows inquisitively.
Eddie glances down at her and then tells Steve, “I might have gone bankrupt buying cat toys. Do you understand the kind of financial danger your face put me in?”
Steve kisses him again and Eddie’s eyes flutter shut at the softness of his mouth. Well, it was worth the price, anyway.