This was originally just supposed to be a one-shot but people on AO3 wanted mor so the details might be bit wonkey
Steve stared at the slip of cardboard in his hand, tapping his foot rapidly against the cheap linoleum floor of his, Chrissy's, and Robin's kitchen. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, Eddie just wanted to catch up. Eddie who he had fantasized about kissing before he was even cognizant of his attraction to men Eddie who with his doe eyes and dark curly hair was just his type. Eddie who had forgiven him so quickly and flashed a toothy grin that made his knees go weak.
It had been 3 days since they ran into each other at the club and Steve still hadn't worked up the nerve to call him. He took a deep breath, grabbed the phone off the wall, and dialed the number.
The ringing seemed to go on forever until finally, a familiar voice picked up on the other end.
"You've reached Eddie Munson who's calling?"
"It's uh Steve, Steve Harrington, we ran into each other in Indie, you gave me your number so we could…catch up." he stammers out.
He hears a chuckle and turns to see Robin in the doorway "Smooth moves King Steeve." she stage whispers.
Steve jerks his head from the phone placing his hand over the receiver and makes a face at her. "Chrissy, six months," he replies. She makes a face back and walks away.
He pulls the phone back to his ear "Sorry bout that, Robin was being a menace." he laughs
Eddie chuckles from the other end. "Listen if it's a bad time I can…"
Steve cuts him off, "oh oh no you weren't interrupting, um I moved in with her and her girlfriend after I got disowned. my folks didn't like the whole kissing boys thing."
There's silence from the other end before Eddie lets out a low hiss" Christ, I'm sorry, that sucks about your folks. Uncle Wayne always said they were no good but I didn't realize they go as far as disowning their only kid for liking boys".
"Yeah well, like your uncle said, they're no good," he replies after a moment not sure how much to reveal In this moment.
"If it helps my dad waSteve stared at the slip of cardboard in his hand, tapping his foot rapidly against the cheap linoleum floor of his, Chrissy's, and Robin's kitchen. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, Eddie just wanted to catch up. Eddie who he had fantasized about kissing before he was even cognizant of his attraction to men Eddie who with his doe eyes and dark curly hair was just his type. Eddie who had forgiven him so quickly and flashed a toothy grin that made his knees go weak.
It had been 3 days since they ran into each other at the club and Steve still hadn't worked up the nerve to call him. He took a deep breath, grabbed the phone off the wall, and dialed the number.
The ringing seemed to go on forever until finally, a familiar voice picked up on the other end.
"You've reached Eddie Munson who's calling?"
"It's uh Steve, Steve Harrington, we ran into each other in Indie, you gave me your number so we could…catch up." he stammers out.
He hears a chuckle and turns to see Robin in the doorway "Smooth moves King Steeve." she stage whispers.
Steve jerks his head from the phone placing his hand over the receiver and makes a face at her. "Chrissy, six months," he replies. She makes a face back and walks away.
He pulls the phone back to his ear "Sorry bout that, Robin was being a menace." he laughs
Eddie chuckles from the other end. "Listen if it's a bad time I can…"
Steve cuts him off, "oh oh no you weren't interrupting, um I moved in with her and her girlfriend after I got disowned. my folks didn't like the whole kissing boys thing."
There's silence from the other end before Eddie lets out a low hiss" Christ, I'm sorry, that sucks about your folks. Uncle Wayne always said they were no good but I didn't realize they go as far as disowning their only kid for liking boys".
"Yeah well, like your uncle said, they're no good," he replies after a moment not sure how much to reveal In this moment.
"If it helps my dad wasn't keen on the whole kissing boys thing either." Eddie's voice is soft and a bit sad. "It's not like he was ever a good dad, it's just… he's still my dad and it still hurts you know."
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Steve feels a warmth rising in his chest and a blush forming on his cheeks.
They sit in silence for a moment and Steve briefly worries that Eddie it's about to hang up until he makes a little coughing noise.
"You said you moved in with Robin and her girlfriend, is she… like us, you know, a friend of Dorothy?"
"Robin's a lesbian, yes."
"Oh okay cool"
"You probably know who her girlfriend is too," Steve reveals.
"Really who is it?"
"Well. you know those rumors that Chrissy Cunningham ran off and became a lesbian? Well, they're true."
"Chrissy Cunningham? Really? I never got those vibes from her. I always thought she and Jason, whatever his name is, would get married and live that whole 2.5 kids white picket fence life till she realizes she was too good for him and runs off with her yoga instructor or something."
Steve laughed, he had forgotten how descriptive Eddie could be.
"I think that's what she thought too, you know minus the yoga instructor bit, how do you come up with stuff like that?"
"Come now Stevie, I was the leader of the Dungeons & Dragons Club in high school coming up with elaborate stories off the top of my head is in my bones."
"Funny you should mention a couple of kids I used to babysit are part of that club now."
"Really?" The other man seemed genuinely intrigued.
"Yeah they're good kids, they're juniors actually it's crazy to think that they're going to graduate next year."
"Well, I'm glad my little club is in good hands."
"I'm sure they would love to meet you, you know provided you'd be interested."
"I would be honored to meet the young padawans carrying out my humble tradition "
That's a Star Wars thing, Steve knows that now.
"I'll talk to them next time I see them" he replies, " listen I actually have to go now, me and Robin work at the Scoops Ahoy in the mall maybe you could swing by sometime and we could chat after I'm off work."
"Sounds good, are you working on Thursday?"
"Yeah from when I get off at six maybe we could head out to the food court and chat over dinner?" Steve is trying desperately to make sure this doesn't seem like a date even though he kind of wants it to be one.
"Sounds like a plan Harrington see you then."
"I'll hold you to that Munson."
Steve wanted to hang up before placing the phone back against his ear hoping Eddie was still on the other end.
"Before I hang up those things I told you about Chrissy and Robin, those are in confidence, you know that right? I only told you because I got express permission so you can't say anything to anyone about it."
"Of course Harrington, my lips are sealed, Lady Buckley and Lady Cunningham don't have to worry about me "
"Good, see you Thursday."
"See you Thursday."
With that Steve hangs up for real and leans back against the wall with a dopey smile on his face and the phone still pressed against his chest.
He can't wait till Thursday.
Eddie's beat-up old van looks almost comically out of place amongst the station wagons and sedans that populated the Starcourt Mall parking lot.
The same could be said for him, Eddie reflects as he enters the mall and checks the map to see where Scoops Ahoy is. Soccer moms shoot him dirty looks. Popular high school girls point at him whispering and giggling behind their hands, no doubt dissecting everything he's wearing. A small group of mall goths stares at him with an odd mix of judgment, admiration, and fear on their faces. Being stared at for simply walking around wasn't any more pleasant when they did it but at least they seem to respect his right to be here.
When he reaches Scoops Ahoy Robin and Steve are preoccupied with customers. Eddie sits down and watches them work. Their uniforms are ridiculous bright blue imitations of sailor suits but he has to admit it Steve somehow makes it work.
The former jock looks up from his work and spots Eddie at the table, a dazzling smile spreading across his face, "Hey Eddie, I'll be able to leave as soon as my replacement is done clocking in time I just wait a couple minutes okay?"
Eddie nods and Steve returns to his work.
A few minutes pass and Eddie has started to zone out a bit when felt someone tap his shoulder.
Steve is standing next to the table still in his uniform and Eddie's brain goes blank for a moment. He hadn't noticed it as Steve's lower half had been blocked by the counter but the uniform apparently included a pair of bright blue shorts that fit tight against Steve's muscular legs, they leave a bit more to the imagination than those tiny basketball shorts used to wear in high school but not much.
"Hey Eddie," Steve said with a wave, "Let's get going, I'm actually starving."
"Um…Yeah." he manages once his brain gets back online, "sounds good, lead the way".
Steve nods and begins to walk out of the store and Eddie follows him. They walk in silence for a bit and Eddie swears he catches Steve sneaking glances at him out of the corner of his eye but he brushes off the thought!, why would Steve Harrington, even dethroned as he was, be so invested in looking at him?
"What have you been doing since graduation?" Steve asks
Eddie looks over at him and the other man smiles at him warmly and genuinely, it makes his stomach do a little flip. "I'm still trying to make it big with my band but in the meantime, I'm a mechanic actually, Uncle Wayne got me an apprenticeship with a buddy of his once I was done with school"
"That's actually really cool man, I know the basics about maintaining and fixing cars since I can't really afford to pay someone else to do it at the moment but maybe you could teach me a bit more about it." Steve laughs lightly and scratches the back of his neck.
A hot guy is asking Eddie to teach him how to fix cars, just casually as if that's not a huge goddamn fantasy. His brain short circuits for the third time in less than 15 minutes and he starts to wonder how Steve Harrington of all people has this effect on him.
"Um yeah, definitely I'd love to teach you the tricks of the trade." He says bumping Steve's shoulder with his playfully.
"How about your band, how's that going."
" Really good actually. We've been able to play in some decent venues and not just The Hideout."
"Really? That's great."
"Oh yeah we played for like 100 entire people last week, we even got paid to do it" Eddie laughs.
"Wow, didn't know I was in the presence of a rockstar." Steve shoots back.
"Come on, don't tease me."
"I'm not, I mean it, I'm glad you're doing well you deserve it" Steve says softly placing his hand on Eddie's forearm.
The world around them blurs for a second as the two men lock eyes, some sort of tension in the air and all Eddie can think about is Steve's hand on his arm and how easy it would be in this moment to just lean in and...
No!
No, snap out of it Steve had just gotten out of a relationship! Eddie shouldn't be thinking like that. They were here to catch up, that was all.
"Umm." he said, breaking the tension "God we've been talking all about me and I haven't even once asked about you. So what about you? What has King Steve been doing since he passed on his crown?"
Steve shakes his head a bit and clears his throat, " oh umm, besides Scoops I actually work part-time at a daycare, I want to be a teacher but right now I'm just saving up some money for college while Robin and Chrissy work on their education."
Eddie's heart swells; he can see the way Steve's eyes take on a new shine when he talks about his daycare job and future in education and was reminded briefly of the small handful of actually enthusiastic teachers who had made School bearable to him.
"That's great!" he responds "The world could use more good teachers"
Steve flashes the same face-splitting grin from earlier.
"Thanks, man that means a lot."
They continue to chat through the walk to food, through standing online and ordering their food, and become so wrapped up in their conversation that they sit in those cheap plastic chairs long after their food has been eaten. Steve is in the middle of a story of a crazy adventure he Chrissy and Robin had gotten into when the intercom crackles to life and informs them that the mall will be closing in 10 minutes.
Bitter disappointment pools in Eddie's stomach.
"I can finish the story as we head out to the parking lot," Steve says after a moment.
Eddie nods and gets up, grabbing the tray from both of their meals and dumping the contents into the nearest garbage bin placing the trays on top then following Steve through the mall.
They end up pausing outside the doors and continuing to chat until the cold becomes too much to handle.
Steve's about to walk back to his car when Eddie grabs his wrist to stop him, "Hey listen, man, my band's playing a gig out in Indy over the weekend I'd love for you to come." he says pulling out one of the folded up makeshift flyers the band had been carrying with them and handing it to Steve.
Steve smiles softly eyes crinkling at the corners, "Sounds great Eddie, see you there."
"I look forward to it," Eddie says and the odd tension is back " I should really get going now though it really is cold out here "
Steve said goodbye and then headed off Into the night.
When Eddie's within the privacy of his own and he places his hands in the driving position on the steering wheel forehead resting on the space between them dumb smile playing on his lips.
Steve Goddamn Harrington, who knew?
ok so up next the obligatory steve watches Eddie perform scene.
I'm gonna try to bring the younger teens into this since steve and Eddie co-parenting them is one of my favorite things