Chapter Text
The dark clouds loomed over the open field, blocking out any bit of sunlight that could indicate the time of day. The rain poured down, a heavy drumming against the tiny bus stop that sheltered Steve and Eddie from the rain.
They were supposed to take the bus to meet up with The Party for a DND campaign. Eddie was going to DM, per Dustin’s request (demand) and the bus ended up being delayed due to a surprise thunderstorm.
“Remind me why you couldn’t just drive us to the Wheelers?” Eddie turned to Steve, who was currently sifting through his backpack.
“Joyce’s car won't start.” He states, absentmindedly. “I’m letting her use mine until it's fixed.”
That was always something Eddie noticed about Steve. He’s always putting others before himself, whether it’s his collection of teens or his best friends. He always prioritizes everyone else. It’s sweet, really, Eddie thinks. He just sometimes wonders how Steve’s doing, how he’s taking care of himself if his fridge is always emptied by teenagers invading his house.
“Welp, guess we’re stuck here until the bus arrives, Harrington.” Eddie sighed, scanning the scene around him.
The wide empty field was outlined with the beginnings of a forest, a sidewalk dividing it from the road behind them. The only actual buildings were about a ten minute walk away, but Eddie would rather not venture out into the pouring rain in search of shelter if he was just gonna get soaked anyway.
“Great…” Steve commented flatly, hands on his hips as he looked out into the field.
A few minutes had gone by, but the storm had no intention of stopping anytime soon.
Eddie sat on the bench listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof of the shelter, watching water puddle in the little dips in the field, the zoom of cars passing them.
He glances at Steve to see him fidgeting with his hands relentlessly, brows furrowed.
“Can you think any louder?” Eddie breaks the silence.
“Huh?”
“You’ve fidgeting like crazy. What’s on your mind, Stevie?” Eddie tilts his head innocently, trying to find any hints in Steve’s gaze, but he breaks eye contact to look at his feet.
“What look? I don’t have a look.” Steve denies too quickly, hand coming up to rub his neck. That man is a terrible liar, no matter how hard he tries.
“Don’t play dumb with me now, Harrington.” Eddie smirked. “If you wanna lie to me, you gotta try better than that.”
A few seconds of silence follow, only to be broken by Steve.
“It's…it’s fine really, I care about the kids, really, and I want them to be happy, it’s just…” he trails off, and for a moment, their eyes meet. Eddie can’t decipher what emotion lies behind Steve’s gentle gaze. Eddie raises his eyebrows at him, encouraging him to continue.
“They’re like, always at my house now, since summer started. It feels like I've just let them take over my space, ya’know? I don’t really have anywhere else to go if I need a minute. Everyone either needs a ride, or a place to run a campaign, or money, and I just kinda feel like they’re feeding off of me? I dunno, I'm just being selfish.” Steve pauses, chuckling at the last sentence, as if it’s absurd to feel this way. “and if I hadn’t agreed to let them use my place, we wouldn’t be stuck in the fucking rain.”
Steve doesn’t really look angry, Eddie thinks, just tired. He notices the bags under his eyes, his sagging shoulders.
“I don’t think you’re being selfish at all, man.” Eddie reassures him. “I think you’re just really burnt out after putting so much energy into these kids. you do so much for them, it’s okay to take a break from them every once in a while.
Steve looks back at him, responding with a half-smile. “Guess I gotta be more assertive, huh?”
“Yeah” Eddie chuckles. “for being a mom, you really gotta work on saying ‘no’”
Steve scoffs. “I am not a mom”
“Yes you are.”
“Aren’t.”
“Are.”
Silence falls for a bit, and Eddie can feel the thunder rumbling through his chest, similar to how he could feel the bass vibrate his bones at concerts.
Suddenly, Steve turns around and rummages through his backpack once more. Then he pulls out a fucking cassette player and props it up on the bench, whatever unspoken words left to resurface another time.
“Why the hell did you bring that?” Eddie questions, baffled.
“I’m bored. I wanna be able to at least do something if we’re gonna be stuck here for who knows how long.” Steve states as he inserts a mixtape, unlabeled, from where Eddie could see.
“So you’re gonna force me to listen to ABBA in the middle of a thunderstorm?”
“Yep. You’re stuck here. You have no choice.” Steve mocks a serious tone, grinning.
“You’re a cruel man, you know that Harrington? You’re gonna make my ears bleed.” Eddie let out a loud sigh, hopping up from the bench to examine the clouds, scrunching his eyebrows together as if to try and make the rain stop with his mind. Then he has an idea. Eddie's shoulders bounce in silent laughter.
“What?” Steve questions him, only for Eddie to dart out of the shelter and into the rain in a blur.
“The fuck are you doing!?” Steve screeches in utter confusion.
Eddie’s maniacal laughter was drowned out by the roar of thunder above him.
He hears Steve laugh as he twirls around in the storm. He’s already soaked head to toe, his long curls clinging to his face. Eddie turns around to see Steve standing at the edge of the shelter, just under the tiny awning, hands on his hips.
“I thought the plan was to not get wet!” Steve calls out, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Eddie stops, and then smiles wickedly, eyeing Steve, who seems to immediately realize what he’s planning.
“No. Don’t.”
Then Eddie walks back to the shelter, and grabs Steve’s arm. “No, Eddie, no! Nonononono-“
Steve protests as Eddie drags him into the rain, laughing maniacally, “what happened to waiting for the bus?” Steve complains, now soaking wet himself. Eddie almost feels guilty as he sees Steve’s usually perfect hair now dripping wet.
“C’monnn lighten up, Harrington!” Eddie teases “can’t handle a little rain?”
“A little?” Steve repeats, vaguely gesturing around him.
Eddie chuckles and pulls his hair out of his face to lock eyes with Steve, and puts his hands out in front of him. Steve looks down at Eddie’s hands, then back to his eyes, then to his hands again.
“What is this?” Steve asks, confused.
Eddie rolls his eyes. “Take my hands.”
Steve thinks for a second, “Oh.” Before resting his hands on top of Eddie’s. He can feel the warmth radiating off of him, transferring to his own. Eddie tightens his grip and allows himself to tip to one side, causing Steve to lean the other way. Eddie shuffles his feet to keep the two upright and they spin together.
The rain makes it hard to see Steve’s face, but Eddie can make out the gleam in his eyes, the way his smile contorts his face, god, Eddie wants to make Steve smile like that more often.
The weight of Steve’s hands holding his is somewhat grounding. Every now and then, when they almost tip over, Eddie can feel Steve’s grip tightening. He feels like he’s on a tightrope, carefully balancing the weight between the two of them and spinning like a pair of acrobats. Just the two of them, performing for themselves like they’re the only people in the world.
Then suddenly Steve grabs Eddie’s shoulder and dips himself back, catching Eddie off guard, causing him to almost drop him. He quickly grabs Steve’s waist to keep him from flopping on the ground.
“Gotta give me a little warning next time, Stevie!” Eddie grins.
Steve looks up at him like he just hung the moon. Rain falls on his cheeks and runs down the side of his face. Eddie wishes he had a camera, so he could capture this moment and keep it forever. The gleam in Steve’s eyes burns into Eddie, making his heart pound.
…Oh.
He pulls Steve upright, and for a moment, the world went quiet. The two just stand there for a bit. Their hands haven’t moved, Eddie’s is still firmly wrapped around Steve’s waist. Steve’s hands are still draped around Eddie’s neck.
“Uh…hi.”
Eddie snorts. “Hi.”
He steps back, offering his hand to Steve in a bow. “May I have this dance, Harrington?”
Steve rolls his eyes, “You’re a dork.” and takes his hand anyway.
The two stumble their way through a mock-waltz, tripping over each other’s feet. It looks nothing like those fancy, planned out waltz scenes on TV, but it’s theirs. They make it work.
Eddie tries twirling Steve, but he spins the wrong way and they end up entangling themselves in each other's arms, both falling to the ground in a fit of laughter.
The two are nose-to-nose, faces inches from each other with Steve beneath Eddie. Eddie can see Steve’s face heat up, his ears turning a pretty shade of pink. Eddie’s swallows. He tries to get himself to move, but his muscles won’t budge.
Steve wraps his hand around the back of Eddie's neck, his eyes half-lidded. It sends warmth and electricity up Eddie’s spine and makes his head feel fuzzy. Suddenly, he can’t hear the rain anymore. He can just hear Steve.
Just Steve. Just his Breathing, Just the feeling of his chest pressed against his. The world around them is quiet, peaceful.
Slowly, Eddie lowered his face down to Steve’s. They were so close he could feel Steve’s breath on his lips, the heat of his face radiating onto his.
Eddie inched his face lower and lower until their lips softly pressed together, sending sparks into his chest. His eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds, then he pulled away. Just a bit.
Steve’s eyes slowly opened too, and Eddie almost wanted to die because of how perfect he was. The moles scattered down his face and neck looked like constellations, and Eddie wanted to tattoo them on his body. His hair, usually well kept and neat, was soaking wet and strands of it clung to his face.
“Did you know how pretty you look like this, Stevie?” Eddie murmured, softly, which only made Steve’s face flush more.
“Did you know you’re a dork?” He returned, though his tone was endearing.
Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, actually, I think you’ve told me that before.”
Steve rolls his eyes and pulls Eddie back down, lips crashing together messily. Their teeth accidentally clang together and they giggle into each other's mouths.
The heat of the moment paired with the rain drumming on his back sent goosebumps down Eddie’s arms. He felt the hairs on his arms stand on end, and… the air felt staticy.
Heart pounding in his chest, he looked down as Steve’s face twisted from awe to fear.
Suddenly, the world flashed white.