Archive of Our Own ^beta

This is stupid. This is possibly one of the stupidest things you’ve ever done Munson, Eddie thought to himself as he stared up at the diner in front of him.

“Shit, shit, shit!” He whispered to himself, gripping his hair and pulling the curls straight, “Am I really doing this?”

He had driven for nearly three hours to be here, and now he was frozen at the final hurdle. But then again, he had always been good at running away. Eddie had never been good at being brave, at confronting things, but…

He had to know.

He had to know if the boy he had fallen in love with was real.

Eddie scoffed to himself, boy, as though both of them were teenagers still in high school, and not in fact both nearing thirty. Or at least Eddie was. He was here to find out if Steve was too.

They had met online. Didn’t everyone meet that way nowadays?

Eddie had started the online group when his school friends had all moved off to college, him included. As a way for them to keep in contact, and still play campaigns, PuppetMaster85 was born. They had expanded, from the original four members, they had met other people, other players, and had quite the online D&D website now. New players joined all the time, multiple campaigns running simultaneously.

It had been Gareth, with his fancy-ass Business and Computing Degree who had suggested he start subscriptions plans for players. Eddie had been sceptical at first, why would people start paying for something they already got for free?

But he had been shocked when it worked. People subscribing for different levels and benefits, and a healthy amount of money coming in every month. It might not make him into a millionaire, but it beat being stuck in a job he hated.

KingBabySitter was a user who had appeared about two years ago, when the subscription service was still in its fledgling stage, and he and Eddie had hit it off immediately.

Eddie still ran campaigns, and sometimes it took a while to warm up to new players, to see how they approached problems, but KingBabySitter, Steve, had slotted straight into place with the party.

All of them got closer until Steve was invited to join their private campaigns. Made up of the original four, Eddie, Gareth, Jeff and Frank, along with their significant others and close friends. These private campaigns weren’t available for subscription, they were just good friends playing a game they loved.

However, Eddie had wanted to get to know Steve more. Hearing his warm voice and bitchy little comments over the speakers during campaigns never failed to make Eddie smile, resisting the urge to giggle like a school girl when he should have been DM-ing.

It hadn’t taken long for Eddie and Steve to start talking outside of games, trading secrets, watching shared Netflix movies, and talking about everyday normal stuff.

And Eddie had fallen in love.

Head over heels, irrevocably, completely, inevitably in love, with the sweet and snarky man.

And the crazy thing was that Steve felt the same.

It had all come out one night about six months ago, Eddie stumbling over his words after having a few too many beers with Gareth. He had been lamenting all night to his best friend about how much he liked Steve, how cute he was, how funny, how witty, until Gareth got annoyed with him and sent him home in an uber.

Eddie had gotten home drunk, lovesick, and desperate. He had phoned Steve, not even realising how late into the night it was.

“Eddie? Are you okay?” Steve’s worried voice came through his phone’s speaker, “It’s late, what’s happened?”

Eddie frowned at all of the questions, “I’m not okay!”

“Oh my god. Eddie, what is it? What can I do? Do you need the police? An ambulance?”

“No! They can’t fix me… This can’t be fixed. I can’t be fixed,” he muttered.

“Eddie…” Steve’s soft voice crooned through the phone, “You don’t need to be fixed, you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Eddie’s breath caught, “Do you really think that?”

“Yeah.”

“Steve… I… I like you. Like, like you, like you.” He’s not sure how much sense that made to Steve, but it made sense to him.

There was a long pause of silence before Steve’s voice came back with a quiet, tentative question, “You do?”

“Yes!”

Eddie heard Steve’s intake of breath, “Oh… I really like like you too.”

Eddie in his slightly drunken state was stunned and he blinked at the phone in shock, “I like, more than like you,” he clarified, “I like you a lot more than ‘like’, Steve.”

Steve giggled, and wasn’t that just one of the best sounds in the world?

“Eddie please stop saying like.”

“No! I can’t! I like like like you, like, a lot like you!”

The sound of Steve’s laughter through the phone was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. And Eddie lived to hear it.

They had giggled away on the phone that night, until both of them fell asleep, and Eddie had woken up with a fuzzy head, a dead phone battery, and a long-distance boyfriend.

And it had been great. Sharing his feeling with Steve and knowing his feeling were returned was amazing.

Steve was the absolute sweetest boyfriend, always checking in and asking about his day. Talking on the phone all hours, sending him food, or cute little gifts in the post.

All of the deliveries of flowers and chocolates had taken Eddie back at the start. He had had to tell him he didn’t have to lavish him with gifts, but Steve and just responded that he like spoiling Eddie and to please let him have this; And Eddie really didn’t want to turn down the custom D&D dice set that came in a wooden box with red velvet lining, the dice black with silver streaks running through.

It had made him wonder though if Steve had money, perhaps more than he was letting on, because Eddie had sent him a few things. Some cookies as treats, books he thought Steve would like, but he certainly didn’t have the same disposable income Steve seemed to have.

He knew that Steve co-owned a diner. The Dice Diner, a board and computer game café. He had told Eddie how the kids he used to babysit, who were now like siblings to him, were the ones to get him into D&D in the first place. They were self-confessed nerds and had encourage Steve to embrace that side of himself too, and so the diner was born. It was 80’s themed inside, with several game consoles at booths that groups can pre-book. There was space for board games to be played, and regular D&D tournaments.

It’s sounded like Eddie’s idea of heaven, and normally he would have been giddy with excitement to be sat outside a place like that, ready to go inside and see Steve, play games, and get to know his boyfriend’s family.

There was just one problem with Eddie’s seemingly perfect long distance boyfriend, with his brilliant diner.

Eddie had never seen Steve.

That is to say, Eddie had never seen him with his own eyes. Steve had a profile photo on his Instagram, and several old posts with photos of himself, good looking photos too. Steve had a cute face, pointed nose, fluffy brown hair, and freckles, oh god the freckles.

Eddie wanted to kiss each and everyone of them. Map them out all over Steve’s body, worshiping him, before devouring him.

But he had never sent Eddie a current photo.

Steve never did videos calls, and there were no recent photos of him posted on instagram, either by himself or in tagged photos.

He claimed he was tech-phobic, and at the start it had seemed plausible, but now Eddie wasn’t so sure. Then Steve had claimed to be shy, and that Eddie could understand more. He wasn’t a shy person by any means, he would happily stand on tables to rant about current events, he does stand on stages to play his music, but when he was with a boy he liked he could be pretty shy himself.

Eddie also gets that not everyone likes all the attention on themselves, but after six months of dating, and being friends for over a year, you would think Steve was at least capable of accepting a video call?

So Eddie had started to wonder.

Was Steve real? Was the boy he was constantly talking to real? Was the man he was exchanging flirty (sometimes dirty) phone calls and text message with, real? Was the man he was falling in love with real?

He had heard about catfishing, and about internet scams for money. He wasn’t stupid, and at this point he was pretty sure Steve had spent more money on him than vice versa. Steve had also never asked him for money, and from the information Eddie did know (ie. The Diner) he looked online and everything seemed to check out. Which begged the question of what was going on? He also didn’t want to end up heartbroken and feeling stupid when it all came out.

So here he was. Sat outside a diner, that he was about 90% sure was where Steve was.

He knew Steve’s home address, or at least the address he had had been given. But even Eddie wasn’t stupid enough to go to a private address when he wasn’t sure of the outcome. He didn’t actually want to be murdered.

Steve owned the diner, with his best friend Robin, and that was where he spent a majority of his time. With Robin, the kids either hung out there, or had jobs as waitstaff, and Steve’s adopted Dad, Hopper, came in for his coffee three (or more) times a day. If everything he had been told was true…

Eddie took in a bracing breath as he stared across the parking lot at the innocuous looking building, “Well, I’ve come this far,” he muttered to himself.

He got out of his van and slowly made his way over to the diner’s doors, the butterfly’s in his stomach doing summersaults. Through those doors he was either going to meet his boyfriend for the first time, or have his heart shattered. He’s not sure what he was more scared of.

Eddie gritted his teeth and pushed his way through the doors, he blinked as he entered into the retro-themed room, there were framed old movie posters of Back to the Future, the Goonies, Jaws, to name a few, hung on the walls, along with other movie and video game memorabilia, and neon everywhere.

Eddie smiled, it looked exactly like the photos Steve had sent him, so at least this place was real. It was also such a cool space, if he wasn’t so fixated on finding Steve he would love to be able to spend more time here relaxing and enjoying the offerings.

“Hi, you wanting a table?”

Eddie spun around at the voice to see a waitress at the stand, she had her brunette hair cut into a short bob, and a polite smile on her face as she considered him, “Or are you wanting one of the game booths?”

Eddie blinked at her. This was Robin. Steve’s best friend and co-owner of The Dice Diner.

“Err… this is going to sound weird, but are you Robin Buckley?”

Robin frowned back at him slightly, “I am. Who wants to know?”

“My name’s Eddie Munson and I’m looking for Steve Harrington.”

Robin’s eyes widened at the same moment a glass shattered. Eddie spun around at the noise and saw a blur with familiar looking hair disappear through a door that was slammed shut behind them. Eddie was pretty sure he heard a lock click into place too.

So it would appear as though Steve existed at least. Even if he did just flee at the sight of him.

He glanced back at Robin who was staring between the shattered glass on the floor and the locked door. She looked back at him, “I don’t think he was expecting you.”

He swallowed, “Um, no…”

Robin suddenly straightened and her frown deepened as he scowled at him, “Why are you here Eddie? If he hasn’t invited you, why are you here?”

“I…” He could feel the stinging in his eyes and he tried to blink it away, but Robin’s glare was boring into him and he choked out, “I needed to know if it was real!”

“What?” She looked taken back at his reply, and probably at the state of him. He tried shaking his hands to stop them from trembling.

“Look, I’ve never met Steve in person. I’ve only ever seen photos. He’s never even been on a video chat with me! And I care about him a lot. I might even be falling for him, but I don’t know if he’s real! I needed to know. And I’m sorry. I don’t want to upset him, or make him uncomfortable, but you hear about this stuff online and I just needed to know it wasn’t happening to me! I don’t want my heart broken…” He finished with a whisper.

Robin’s face had soften as he ranted and she gazed back at him with a sad look, before she sighed, lifting her hands to drag over her face, “Oh Steve, you dingus,” she groaned before looking back at him, “C’mon, I’ll give you a seat while I talk to him.”

She led him over to one of the booths, thanking the lanky teenager that was brushing up the broken glass as she passed.

“You want a shake while you wait?”

“Err… well Steve did say the chocolate one was to die for.”

Robin smirked, “He’s right.” She turned to shout over the counter, “El, can you bring out a chocolate shake for table three please?”

She turned back to him, “I’m pretty sure I know what’s happened. But I’ll go talk to him. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

Eddie nodded. He watched as Robin made her way over to the locked door and knocked. She leaned in and was obviously talking, but he couldn’t hear over the rock ballad music playing. It took a few minutes but eventually the handle moved and Robin was able to slip in through the tiny gap before the door shut again.

Eddie frowned, he still wasn’t sure what to make of all this, but clearly Steve didn’t want to see him for whatever reason. He tried to bite back the hurt he was feeling. Maybe he shouldn’t have turned up unexpectedly, maybe Steve was painfully shy like he said and really didn’t like surprises.

He was startled from his stare off with the door by a glass being slammed onto the table in front of him, the chocolate shake spilling down the side, but the whipped cream and cherry staying perfectly in place on top.

Eddie followed the hand that was still holding the glass up to meet a scowl coming from a red-headed teenage girl, flanked by another teenager with a shoulder-length brown hair. She was giving him a suspicious look, but with not quite as much hostility as red.

“What did you do to Steve?”

He blinked, “What?”

“Steve. Why did he run away from you?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured, glancing at the red-head’s name-tag, “Max.”

Her frown deepened, and he shook his head, “Really. I think I maybe surprised him? And I think he maybe doesn’t like surprises?”

The girl next to her, El, according to her name-tag, answered, “He doesn’t.”

“Right… noted for the future. No more surprises. Or surprise visits.”

Max’s frown softened a little, “Just… don’t hurt him. Or I’ll hurt you.”

“I believe that.” He answered honestly, she was genuinely terrifying, “I don’t want to hurt him. And I hate that I’ve made him run away… I don’t know what to do.”

El seemed to pity on him, “Wait for Robin. She will know what to do.”

Eddie looked at her, she seemed sweet as she flashed him a smile and Eddie remembered everything Steve had told him about the kids. He gave her a small smile back.

What had he done? It seemed as though Steve had been telling the truth about everything, his friends, his family, the diner. But there must be something. Unless it’s Eddie. Maybe Steve just didn’t want to see him.

He sipped at the chocolate shake, it really was sinfully good. Yet another thing Steve had told the truth about. Eddie just wished he was enjoying it with the man himself and not alone.

He’s not sure how long he was there, shooting glances at the closed door, but the shake was long finished and cleaned away by Max before Robin emerged with red-rimmed eyes as though she had been crying. The door closed behind her.

She came over and took a seat opposite him, “Hi.”

“Hi.”

Robin seemed to brace herself before talking, sucking in a deep breath before gazing back at him with sad eyes, “Steve’s my best friend, right? He’s my platonic soulmate. I love him to the moon and back, right?”

“I know. He’s told me.”

“Good.” Robin nodded, “That doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s an idiot sometimes.”

Eddie eyebrows raised in surprised, but then again Steve had always said that Robin would say things how they were.

“Steve’s real. His feeling are real. He’s not catfishing you, he’s far to earnest and genuine for that, I don’t even think it really occurred to him before I pointed it out that that’s what it would come across as.”

“Okay. Well, that all sounds good. We’re both real, and we both care about each other.”

“Yeah.”

“Then… what’s the problem?”

Robin sighed and her gazed dropped to the tabletop, “There is something he hasn’t told you. That I thought he had, and he probably should have told you before now,” Robin bit her lip and when she looked up to meet his eye a couple of tears slipped out and slid down her cheeks.

“Robin?”

Her voice was wobbly as she spoke, “He talks about you all the time. It’s always Eddie said this, or Eddie did that! He… he smiles so much when you message or call him …and he hasn’t smiled like that for such a long time…”

She sniffed and wiped at her face, “He’s gone home. He’s slipped out the door at the back. He didn’t want to do it here. But… you know his home address right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Go there. He’ll tell you everything.”

“Robin… what-“

“I can’t,” she cut him off with a shake of her head, “I’m sorry. It’s not my story to tell.”

“Okay…”

He stood up from the table, but before he could move he heard Robin’s voice again. “Eddie?”

He paused and looked down at her as she stared up with pleading eyes, “Eddie, Steve’s secret… you’ll understand why he’s like this, once you know. And you… you’re allowed to be mad at him - god knows I’ve just told him off - you’re allowed to be mad. But please don’t be cruel.”

Eddie frowned at her and shook his head, “I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t be cruel to anyone, least of all Steve.”

She nodded, “Good.”

He gestured at the register, “How much for the-“ but she waved him off.

“On the house. Don’t worry about it.”

He nodded and turned to leave the diner, with possibly more questions than he came in with.

Eddie drove the short distance from the diner to Steve’s home address. It was a cute little two story with a porch at the front and a garden full of colourful flowers. Steve had always said he liked to garden.

Eddie parked outside and sat there staring at his steering wheel for a long time. He really didn’t know what to do next. There was obviously something going on with Steve, something that meant he didn’t want to see Eddie face-to-face.

But… everything he had said to Eddie was true, everything about his job, his friends, his family, his feelings… nothing had been a lie, or a trap. Unless the entire diner was in on it, but Eddie kinda doubted they were after him for his money, and definitely not after seeing his beaten up van in the parking lot.

So Steve clearly had an issue, and Eddie turning up out of the blue might have just been his worst nightmare coming true. Maybe Eddie had been approaching this all wrong and should have just given Steve the choice to begin with. On his terms, not Eddie’s.

Making a decision he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapping the screen until he found Steve’s grinning face in his contacts and tapped the call button.

It rang for a long time, but eventually Eddie heard the sharp intake of breath and then Steve’s voice, quieter and more timid than he had ever heard before, come out of the speaker, “Hi.”

Eddie hated how scared Steve sounded, “Hi sweetheart,” slipped out without a thought. He heard Steve’s throat catch at the nickname and he carried on, “I owe you an apology.”

“What?”

He sighed, tugging at a lock of his own hair, “I did this all wrong Steve, showing up unexpectedly and crashing into your space, when I should have just asked you like a grown up. So I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is you’ve kept from me, but it’s clearly something you’re not ready to share, and that’s okay. So if you want to go back to what we’re doing, phone calls and texts, then I’ll wait for you. I just… I just needed to know that what I was feeling was real, that the guy I was falling for was real. And now that I know, I can wait for you, for as long as it takes.”

There was silence over the phone when he finished his little speech. It went on for so long he pulled the phone away from his ear to glance at the screen, he was still connected. Then there was a sob.

“STEVE?! Steve are you okay?”

“M’sorry, I’m sorry,” he sobbed down the phone and Eddie’s heart broke for him.

“Steve it’s okay, whatever it is, we can work through it right?”

“I’ve lied to you.”

That was the first time someone had confirmed to him that there had been a lie and he tried not to panic as he took a shaky breath in, “Okay. Can you tell me why you lied?”

Steve paused for a second, and maybe Eddie’s question should have been ‘what was the lie?’ But to be honest he wanted to know the why more.

“I… I lied because… I was scared, at the beginning. I didn’t want anyone to know, online. All my family know and they’re okay, but everywhere else I go I get treated differently, except online, because people don’t know. And when I found the group and I got to know you… I kept wanting to tell you, especially after we got together, but by then it had been too long, and then… I didn’t want to lose you. You mean too much to me.”

“You mean a lot to me too.”

It felt like both of them were dancing around the ‘L’ word, but now was not the time to be dropping that bombshell.

“I err… I’m parked outside your house. Robin told me to come by.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Eddie wondered if Steve was watching him from the window, if he could see him sat in the van on the street, “I meant what I said Steve. If you’re not ready to tell me, I can go. I can wait.”

“You’re too good to me.”

“Steve…”

“No, I’ll tell you. You deserve to know. And then… then you can leave if you want.”

Eddie frowned, he couldn’t imagine much would make him drive away without looking back, “Okay.”

“The photos I’ve sent you, the photos of me online, they’re not…” his breath hitched, “They are me. But they’re the old me. There was an accident, and I got injured, pretty badly. And it left me with scars, inside and out. That’s why I never sent photos or videos.”

“That’s it?! Shit! Sorry. I did not mean that to sound so fucking insensitive!”

Steve actually let out a wet sounding chuckle, “It’s okay.”

“No. I really am sorry. It’s slipped out. It’s just, I had been thinking all sorts of worse case scenarios, and you having a few scars wasn’t one of them. That’s why you’ve been hiding from me? Because of your injury’s?”

Steve sniffed, “They’re bad. And extensive.”

“Steve…”

“I’m blind in one eye. I have damaged hearing. I’m missing a leg. I’m disabled Eddie. It’s a lot to take on without knowing.”

“Steve, I…” Eddie didn’t know what to say, but his heart went out to Steve. He obviously was still affected by what had happened, and he didn’t mean just physically. He was glad that his friends and family obviously cared and supported him a lot.

“I think… I think the other reason I didn’t tell you was because I liked being normal again. I liked you treating me normal, and I know that was selfish of me to do that to you, and I’m sorry.”

“I… I understand Steve,” he could understand wanting to be treated normal. It was completely different to what Steve had gone through, but he had always been considered weird at school, odd, loud, alternative. When he had found his friends, the misfits and the freaks, it had been nice to be treated normal. Eddie could only imagine what it felt like for Steve, he was gorgeous in his photos, the stereotypical all-American jock, Eddie could imagine that he was popular in school, probably was confident and friendly. Until a freak accident took it all away.

Eddie could hear Steve quietly crying on the other end of the phone and his own eyes started to water at the sound, “Steve, what do you want me to do?”

“W- what?“

“Hearing you cry down the phone is breaking my fucking heart, and I just wanna come inside and wrap you up in a hug until you feel better. But I meant what I said, no more surprises, if you want me to drive away I will. But I’m not leaving unless you tell me to go away. And even then, I want to stay on the phone with you to make sure you’re okay.”

There was a long pause before Steve hiccuped, “I… please come in.” His voice was barely more than a whisper and Eddie’s breath caught. He was going to get to see Steve, the real Steve.

“Okay,” he stayed on the phone as he got out of the van and made his way up the driveway to the front door.

Eddie could hear Steve’s harsh breathing on the phone as he worked himself up and he hated how upset he was, and he realised what Robin meant by not being cruel. Had that happened before? Had people judged Steve for his looks? His injuries? The thought of Steve being hurt made him feel sick.

He watched the handle slowly move and the door start to swing inwards, Eddie looked up and finally met Steve’s eyes for the first time, and he smiled.

Objectively, the scars on the left-hand side of Steve’s face were horrific, Eddie couldn’t even begin to imagine the amount of pain Steve had suffered; from the cut that started in the middle of his forehead and ripped through his eye, leaving his left one cloudy and unseeing. His cheek was pulled at the top, from where flesh had gone missing and Eddie was guessing surgeries had tried to repair the damage, resulting in the left corner of his mouth being pulled slightly to the side. The scars went down Steve’s neck and under his collar from what Eddie could see, and Steve’s left hand that was holding onto the door wasn’t unscathed from the damage.

But when Eddie met Steve’s scared gaze, his one tear filled hazel eye staring back at him, Eddie just wanted to pull him close in a hug and take away all the hurt he had suffered through. Steve was beautiful.

“Hi Steve,” he murmured.

“Hello Eddie.”

“It’s really good to see you.”

Steve’s face twitched as though he was going to smile, but was fighting it.

Eddie realised he was still holding the phone to his ear and blinked, “I’m gonna hang up now.”

Steve snorted softly and the corner of his mouth did twitch, and suddenly Eddie wanted nothing more than to make Steve smile. Really, truly smile. He was pretty sure the sight would bring him to his knees.

“Do you want to come in?”

“Please.”

Steve stepped back to let him into the house and Eddie followed him through into the living room, both of them taking a seat on the sofa. It didn’t miss Eddie’s notice that Steve sat with Eddie on his right-hand side, the unscarred side of his face angled towards him.

Steve gazed at him, his eyes, one white, one hazel, were big at they stared at him, “I’m sure you have questions.”

Eddie frowned a little, “I do, but… you don’t have to tell me anything. It can wait if you want.”

“..No. You deserve to know.”

He didn’t argue, but he frowned harder at the phrasing.

Steve sighed and looked down at his hands, one perfect and normal, the other thinner, with white scars running over the back, “So, the official story is that I was babysitting the kids in one of the parents' cabins in the woods, and there was an animal attack and I fought it off.”

Steve glanced back up at him and Eddie tilted his head in thought, “Does that mean there’s an unofficial story?”

“There is… but I had to sign an NDA.”

His eyebrows shot up, “Seriously?”

Steve nodded, “Seriously. What would you say if I told you that the US government has a lot of secrets, as in world ending secrets, and that they keep them quiet?”

“I’d say I knew it all along.”

“I’m legally not allowed to tell you… but I can tell you the story of a paladin who was protecting his party when there was a rip in the universe, which led to another land that was similar to ours, but bad. Like an upside down version of our world. And this rip, this gate, let through monsters… and the party needed protecting.”

Eddie stared back at him, could that be true? What would be the point of Steve lying? He was attacked defending his friends – the kids? - from a monster, “Steve... fuck...” he ran his hands through his hair, “That sounds like something out of one of our campaigns.”

Steve flashed him a humourless smile, “That why I love your campaigns so much. Sometimes it’s nice… because it’s just a story.”

Eddie reached out to grasp Steve’s hand with both of his own, Steve looked up and met his gaze, “Steve, I am so sorry that happened to you. But… I’m glad my campaigns helped.”

“They did. It took a while to heal, and I didn’t leave the house for a really long time. And whenever I did… people stared, and I knew the stuff they were thinking. So it was easier to just not leave… I think I would have done something bad if it hadn’t been for Robin and the kids.”

Eddie’s heart clenched at the thought. Steve had told him over the phone about how he had been in such a dark and depressed state for a long time, but Robin and his adopted family had dragged him out of the darkness and given him a purpose, the Diner. And then he got into online gaming with Eddie’s website. His story just had more details and context now.

Eddie squeezed his hand, “I’m glad they were there for you. And I’ve seen the Diner with my own eyes now, and let me tell you that place is badass. If I’d not known you and just stumbled across the place I don’t think I would have left! I’ll be dragging everyone I know there, when I get the chance!”

Steve flashed him a small smile, “I love all the old 80’s merch, and the kids love the retro games. I basically filled it with everything me and the kids love, it’s just good that other people like it too.”

“That’s because it’s a great idea!”

Steve looked at him for a long moment before his eyes went glassy, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

He frowned, “What?”

“I lied to you. You should be shouting and screaming at me.”

“Steve, it wasn’t that bad-”

“I lied to you!”

“You sort of omitted the truth more than lied.”

Steve snatched his hand back, out of Eddie’s grasp and he tried not to mourn the loss, “Stop trying to defend me!”

“Stop trying to punish yourself! Jesus Christ Steve, when I turned up today I didn’t know if you were even real or if you were some sort of scam! I came today, fully prepared for the possibility of having my heart broken. I had to know if the man I was falling in love with was real! And if this is what’s been keeping us apart we can work through it, I know we can.”

Steve was staring at him with wide eyes and Eddie blinked back wondering what was going on beyond the swirling pool of hazel in his eye.

“You’re falling for me?” Steve whispered.

He faltered, he had not meant to reveal that, but it had slipped out so naturally and he didn’t want to take it back, “I... yes.”

Steve’s eyes widened and he stared back at Eddie, “I don’t look like my pictures.”

Well, go big or go home, “I didn’t fall in love with your pictures. I fell in love with you.”

Both of them froze for a moment before Steve launched forward and kissed him. Eddie squeaked before kissing back. Steve’s lips were warm and chapped against his own, but it felt so good to finally kiss Steve after all this time.

Eddie had spent months fantasising about it, dreaming about wrapping his arms around Steve and pressing his lips to every bit of skin could reach.

Then he realised his face felt wet. He opened his eyes and drew back slightly to see tears slipping down Steve’s cheeks.

“Steve?” He asked as his hands came up to cradle Steve’s face, “What is it?”

Steve hiccuped, “M’sorry I just, I didn’t- I didn’t think I’d get this. I was so scared that I’d lose you when you knew the truth. That you wouldn’t want anything to do with me and it would’ve been my fault!”

“Hey, hey Steve, it’s okay. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere,” He pulled Steve closer and wrapped his arms around him as he cried silently, his tears dampening Eddie’s top. But it didn’t matter, all that mattered was that Steve knew he was here.

Yes, it was a shock, Steve didn’t look like his photos. But he was still the same person, he was still the person Eddie had been talking to for a year, a person he had been dating for months. The person he had shared secrets and thoughts with. Steve was still that person, he just looked a little different than what was expected. And Eddie meant what he said, if this was the thing that was keeping them apart then they could find a way to make this work.

Steve leaned back slightly wiping at his face, his eyes red as he sniffed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Steve rasped, “It’s just a lot. For you and for me. Do… do you want to stay for dinner?”

Eddie smiled, “I’d like that.”

Steve gave him a shaky smile back, “I would too. How do you feel about pizza?”

“Love it.”

Steve sniffed and pulled out his phone, “Chicken BBQ, right?”

“You remembered?”

“Of course I did.”

Eddie watched him as he ordered the pizza and they settled in for the night. He looked around for a moment before grinning, “You got any candles?”

Steve frowned at him, “What?”

“Do you have candles?”

“Um… yeah, there’s a few around here and I have some in the cupboard. Why?”

Eddie grinned as he picked one up from the side and used his lighter to light some candles around the room, turning the main light off and leaving the lamps on, giving the room a soft, warm glow.

“This can be our first date 2.0!”

Their first date, had been over the phone obviously, but they synced their Netflix and watched a movie together, both of them ordering pizza as they talked and giggled over the movie, and it had generally been a fun night.

Steve gazed up at Eddie now as thought he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, before smiling and nodding, “I like it.”

When the pizzas arrived they did as they suggested, snuggled up on the sofa, a blanket over their legs and shared pizza slices together, giggling at the stretchy cheese getting sauce on their cheeks. After a few awkward moments at the start, their conversation started to flow in a familiar way, the laughter and Steve’s snarky comments tentatively coming back. And this was what Eddie had wanted, to know that they were on the same page. That their countless dates on the phone, watching movies, talking about their hopes, and dreams, had all been true. That they were real.

It was dark outside and Eddie glanced at his watch, it was late. If he was heading home it would take him until the early hours to get there. He smiled at Steve and murmured, “It’s getting late.”

Steve blinked and glanced at the clock, his face surprised when he realised the time, “Oh,” he turned to look back at him, “I... Do you want to stay?”

Eddie blinked in surprised, “I… are you sure? I don’t want to like, invade your space.”

Steve dropped his gaze and stared down at him own hands, fiddling which his fingers, “I’m sure... I’d rather you weren’t driving for several hours in the dark, but I won’t stop you. I… I like having you here.”

He looked so unsure as he frowned down at his hands and Eddie smiled, reaching out to graze his fingers on the back of Steve’s hand until the other looked back at him. When he met his gaze Eddie gave him a soft smile, “I like being here too.”

Steve stared back at him for a long moment, one eye that beautiful hazel colour, the other a white milky, but still beautiful, and Eddie wondered how many times Steve had been rejected, or let down by people because of his looks. It made his heart hurt to think about it, Steve sat home alone hearing the different excuses people gave to leave, and him knowing deep down that he won’t ever see them again.

Eddie didn’t want to ever do that to Steve. Now that he knew the truth he never wanted Steve to doubt how he felt, or feel like he was being abandoned.

“I’d love to stay.”

Steve gave him a tiny smile before getting to his feet, and Eddie followed him as they made quick work of blowing out the candles. Steve then grasped his hand and started to lead Eddie up the stairs.

Steve led him into the master bedroom, the room was big and had a comfy looking king sized bed with a deep blue comforter on top. They stood there at the foot of the bed and Steve looked unsure again as he shuffled on the spot, chewing his lip, “Um, do, you want a change of clothes?”

“Well, I can sleep in my boxers, but a T-shirt would be good? And if you have any sweatpants I can wear them, but don’t go out of your way.”

Steve let go of his hand and shuffled over to his dresser at the side, going through a couple of drawers, before turning back to him with two pairs of grey sweatpants and a couple of worn, comfy looking, T-shirts. Eddie took a pair of pants and a shirt with a thanks.

Steve paused then, staring back at him for a moment, “Um, I’ll just-“ He gestured over his shoulder at  the open door on the opposite wall and Eddie caught sight on the en-suite, “I’ll just get changed in here.”

Eddie nodded and watched Steve disappear into the bathroom, and Eddie could understand, it had probably been a really long time since Steve has had someone in his space who wasn’t family. He knew just from their phone dates over the last few months that Steve hadn’t dated seriously in years – and now he knew why.

He quickly shucked off his jeans and top, pulling on the sweatpants and T-shirt Steve gave him. He sat on the end of the bed whilst he waited for him to come back  out. He didn’t want to be presumptuous, and if Steve asked him to go and sleep on the couch downstairs, he would do.

It was a while before Steve came out of the bathroom, and Eddie had started to wonder if he should check on him before he heard the handle move and the door cracked open. Steve paused for a moment in the doorway, just looking at him, his eyes slightly awed, before he moved. He came to sit on the bed next to him and Eddie watched as he took in a deep breath, “I... I was scared to come out of the bathroom… I was worried I’d dreamt you up, that you had never come here… or worse, that you had come and you were looking for a chance to leave.

“Steve...” He hurt just thinking about it and Eddie reached out to grasp one of his hands, “Steve, look I’m not perfect, and I’ll probably sometimes do or say stupid things, but I can promise to always be upfront with you. I would never be so cruel to just… disappear without a word. I told you, I’ll stay unless you tell me to go away.”

Steve was staring back at him, a fragile, hopeful, look on his face and Eddie gave him a small smile, “I… look, I know nothing in life is guaranteed, but I really think we have something here. The last few months of us dating long-distance have been amazing. And I’m hoping it’s y’know, something for the long haul?”

“I hope so too,” Steve whispered in a tiny voice.

“Good. So, no more secrets from either side. We’ll just have to promise to be upfront and honest with each other from now on.”

“That sounds good.”

Eddie snorted, “Oh god, I sound like my Uncle Wayne. I’m turning into him!”

Steve giggled, “He sounds wise.”

“Oh he is. Like a wise old wizard! He just needs a cloak and staff, and he’s there!”

Steve laughed and Eddie grinned at the sound, finally. That cute laugh that he had been hearing over his headphones for months was so much better to hear in real life, “God I love your laugh.”

Steve looked over at him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I always loved it over my headphones, but the real thing is so much better,” He leaned in and kissed Steve’s cheek, the one closest to him, his left one.

He didn’t think anything of it, even as he felt the uneven skin under his lips, but when he drew back and took in Steve’s wide eyes and shocked look he realised that he had kissed his scarred cheek. Steve looked away as his lips curled up into a smile.

It was only a few moments later when Steve spoke again, clearing his throat, “Should, um... should we, go to bed?”

“Yeah.”

They both stood and Eddie walked around to the side of the bed, lifting the duvet to get under the covers and then he looked over at Steve. He had sat on his side of the bed, his back to Eddie, and Eddie could see him rubbing at his left knee.

Of course, his leg. Now that Eddie was looking he noticed a crutch in the corner, on the other side of Steve’s bedside cabinet.

“Steve? Is everything okay?”

“Yes… it’s just my leg.”

“Are you hurting?” He sat up and shuffled closer to Steve, had Steve been suffering and not said anything?

Steve left out a soft huff of amusement, “No, it’s not hurting. It’s just… I have to take it off.”

“…okay..?”

“It’s just… it’s one thing for you to know, it’s just something else for you to see it.”

Eddie moved closer to Steve, leaning around to meet his good eye, “Hey, upfront and honest right?” Steve side-eyed him and nodded, “Your prosthetic is part of you, and I get if you’re not comfortable with showing it to me yet, but it doesn’t bother me, if that’s what you’re worried about. And when you are ready, I would like to know more about it, and learn how to help you take care of it.”

Steve’s gazed back at him for a moment, “I love you.”

Eddie blinked, “Steve...”

“You’ve been so brave, coming here and telling me how you feel, and being so good. Even with everything I’ve dropped on you… so, I just- I love you.”

Eddie smiled and leaned in, “I love you too. And we’ve got this, together,” he pressed a kiss to Steve’s lips.

When they drew back Steve was smiling, “Together,” he said in awe, before he turned and reached for his knee. He pulled the pant leg up, to reveal his prosthetic and where it met his real leg just below his knee. He pressed a concealed button and then twisted the socket part of the prosthetic off. The shin part had beautiful artwork all over in deep blue and purples in a space background, with a detailed sword and shield over the top. Steve slipped his boot style slipper off the foot and Eddie saw the metallic joints that looked high tech and sleek.

“Steve?”

He glanced up to see Steve watching him look, “Yeah?”

“First off, that artwork is badass! I love it and wanna know how you got it, and second, I’m not an expert, but this look sort of high tech?”

Steve was giving him a soft smile as he rested the prosthetic on his lap and stroked down the limb, “When it first happened I was just given a basic prosthetic. But... a while after everything happened, the government gave us a payout for ‘emotional and physical damages’. And to keep us quiet.”

He looked down at the artificial limb on his lap, “Now, they’ve never admitted it, but I was the one with the worst injuries and I’m pretty sure the others threatened hell with the officials and got more for me. I got a lot of medical support and access to advanced prosthetics. I got this one custom made a year or so after everything went down. It’s more comfortable, and moves a lot easier. Will designed the art for me.”

Eddie looked down art the art, the shield and sword so detailed as they wrapped around the leg. Eddie could see the amount of love put into the design, the design he created for Steve, “He’s good.”

Steve smiled, “He is. He did most of the artwork in the diner too.”

 Steve placed the leg down next to the bed then sat back up. There was a neoprene style material with a pin at the bottom still on his knee and he peeled that off too, “This is the liner. I position my limb on the bottom before rolling it up my leg. The actual prosthetic attaches to the pin at the bottom.”

He put that down too and reached for a tub of moisturiser resting on his bedside cabinet and started to rub the cream into the skin, “I have to stop the skin from getting irritated or drying out. But you can only apply the moisturiser at night, or at least you can’t wear the prosthetic after applying it.”

Steve was methodical as he rubbed the cream into the scarring on his knee and the short stump underneath, “I’m lucky really, that I still have my knee. It’s much easier to relearn to walk with your own knee.”

Eddie nodded as he listened, “I lost my foot in the attack… and the lower part of my leg. My artery was severed and I would have bled out in minutes… but Nancy wrapped her belt around my leg and created a tourniquet. She saved my life. She blames herself that she put the belt too high and that if she hadn’t they may have been able to save more.”

He looked up at Eddie with a smirk, “But I told her that a couple of inches shouldn’t make a difference if you know what you’re doing.”

Eddie barked out a laugh at the unexpected joke before he could stop himself and slapped a hand over his mouth. Steve was grinning back at him, his gaze amused.

“Seriously?” Eddie asked.

He nodded, “In my defence, I was high on painkillers at the time.”

Eddie fell back onto the bed laughing and Steve joined him, curling into him and Eddie gladly wrapped his arms around him to pull him close.

When he had set off from his house this morning he had been terrified that he would end the day with a broken heart. Instead he was in bed with the guy he loved as they giggled in each other’s arms.

Eddie was so glad he was brave for once and decided to risk heartbreak, because this moment was worth it all.