LA was a beautiful place, despite the nervousness Steve now felt whenever he stepped outside the safety of their house. Even without Eddie, it felt like people were watching him, and although he recognized the paranoia, it wasn't unfounded because sometimes pictures of him would crop up on Corroded Coffin fan pages. Not that he went searching, but Dustin had taken it upon himself to become Steve's social manager and sent him every article that mentioned his name.

Annoying as it was, Steve couldn't help reading through them, and most of it was utter garbage. The latest rumor was that he had been a groupie during the band's first tour and Eddie had left for him, despite the explanation Eddie himself had put out about Charlie and that Steve was a more recent development. Others believed Steve was the reason Eddie had come back and praised him, which, although partly true, wasn't something Steve was comfortable with. He didn't want praise from strangers, especially not for loving Eddie.

And it didn't help with trying to help Eddie to relax. All this newfound attention was getting to him, too, and Steve had to take his phone away more than once when he started doom scrolling.

After days of being cooped up inside with an increasingly erratic Eddie, something needed to change. With a little help from Jeff, a plan was made. Waking up early the following morning, Steve slipped downstairs to prepare for the day. It wasn't long before Charlie joined him and helped pack the picnic basket to the brim, ready for the trip.

They were set to leave at ten, and Steve had told Eddie that the night before, so he was a little irritated when he finally joined them at the front door with five minutes to spare, looking like he had just rolled out of bed. The feeling lessened somewhat when Eddie scooped Charlie into his arms and asked in mock confusion, "What's going on?"

"We have a date at the park, remember?"

"Oh, of course. How silly of me." Eddie flashed Steve a smile, which he returned only halfheartedly. "Okay, time to go, I think." With a grunt, he set Charlie down and opened the door for her. Once she was ahead and out of earshot, he muttered to Steve, "Problem?"

"You could at least try."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Barely."

This wasn't how Steve wanted to start the day, walking in stony silence beside Eddie to the nearby park. They had both been having trouble sleeping; Steve being a light sleeper meant he always woke up when Eddie started one of his restless fits. For the past three nights, he'd barely slept more than two hours at a time. If he didn't get a good night's sleep tonight… well, maybe he could nap at the park.

It was a good day for a picnic, the sky a cloudless blue and the sound of laughing children growing louder as they approached the park. The playground itself was busy, but there was plenty of space, so they set up a fair distance away from the other parents for privacy. As soon as they were settled, Charlie ran off to join the other kids and was immediately accepted into the sandpit.

Steve focused on setting up their food, trying to ignore the growing silence that had settled in Charlie's absence. He had never been so glad that she was a talker. Now, without her, it felt oppressive. "Are you hungry?" He forced himself to ask, glancing up when he got no response to see Eddie rubbing his forehead, brow furrowed. "Eddie?"

"What, Steve?"

Ignoring the snap, he took a deep breath and asked again, "Are you hungry? You missed breakfast."

"No."

Well, that was the end of that, then. Steve bit his lip, carefully setting the tray of strawberries on the blanket. It took him a few minutes to work up the courage to try again. "Charlie's been looking forward to this all week, y'know. So have I, actually. It's nice to get out of the house."

"I guess."

"You could act like you're enjoying it. Anyone would think I'm forcing you to spend time with me."

Eddie scowled at him and snatched up one of the strawberries to shove in his mouth. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic."

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Steve inhaled deeply, squeezing his eyes shut to keep the flood of emotions at bay. Now wasn't the time to start yelling or, worse, start crying. He didn't want to cause a scene. But he had hoped Eddie would at least want to be with him.

It felt like Tommy all over again, begging for a bit of attention. And Steve had promised himself he wouldn't do this again. He wouldn't feel like a burden, something to be ashamed of. Swallowing back the lump in his throat, he said quietly, "I miss you."

"You say that like we haven't spent nearly a week stuck in the house together."

"That's not what I meant." But before he could continue, Charlie was back and looking hungry. He put it aside, focusing on her instead. At least she was happy to talk to him and spent the meal talking about her new friends and the games they had been playing. He was dreading the moment she finished and left them alone again.

Luckily, Charlie seemed content to stay after eating because her friends hadn't returned yet, and they played a couple of games of I Spy to pass the time. It had the added bonus of getting Eddie to talk again, and his attempt at guessing Charlie's object for over five minutes was amusing to watch.

"I give up, babygirl. What is it?"

"Sand, Daddy!"

"Of course!" Eddie smacked his forehead and caught Steve's eye. His smile was achingly familiar. "Guess I'm just stupid, huh?"

"It was a hard one," Steve admitted.

"Thank you. Personally, I think she's cheating." Eddie booped Charlie's nose when she giggled. "She steals money when we play Monopoly."

"Auntie Chris gave me some!"

"Uh-huh, I'm sure."

Charlie stuck out her tongue before jumping to her feet as someone called her name. "I'm gonna go play now."

"Okay, have fun, and don't eat the sand."

"Ew. Why would I eat the sand?"

"Because it's something I would do. Now shoo." Eddie sighed, leaning back on his hands to watch Charlie run back to the playground. "You know, she's given me an idea."

"That's a first." Steve's smile faded as Eddie's expression became closed. He'd said the wrong thing. "I didn't mean-"

"Forget it."

"Eddie-"

"I mean, you're right. This isn't exactly helping me. Sitting out here, wasting time instead of working on the album."

"Wasting time?" Steve repeated incredulously. They sat glaring at each other, and horribly, Steve could feel his eyes starting to burn with tears. He looked down at the muffin in his hand, reduced to a crumbled mess by his shaking fist, and brushed the mess onto a napkin. "Whatever."

"Steve-"

He batted Eddie's hand away when he tried to touch his knee. "If this is such a waste of time, why don't you go back then? Don't want to distract you from what's really important."

Eddie's expression hardened with Steve's voice, and he got to his feet with a short, "Fine." looking around, he asked coldly, "Where's Charlie?"

She was on the swing set with another girl, both laughing loudly and kicking their feet. When he looked back at Eddie, some of the hardness had left his face. They looked at each other, and the gap between them lessened somehow.

"Go," Steve said softly. "We'll come home later."

Eddie hesitated, looking to Charlie again. "Okay." He glanced at Steve, an echo of a smile on his lips. Despite the tension, he trusted Steve to watch over Charlie, and although still stung, Steve felt a wave of affection. Eddie had only taken a few steps when he stopped abruptly and turned back to Steve. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

Smiling for real this time, Eddie blew him a kiss before leaving. In his absence, the ache in Steve's chest returned. He didn't know how to fix things, to help Eddie relax and let go of the notion he had to do this alone. Maybe that's what happened after shutting people out for years on end. Maybe he would have been the same if it weren't for Robin.

Sighing, he cleaned up the remains of the picnic, trying not to cry when he found the strudels untouched. Eddie had barely eaten anything, and it almost felt like a waste of time spending hours baking all this. At least Charlie enjoyed it. Steve picked one of the pastries up to take a bite. It reminded him so strongly of Eddie he had to wipe his face when the tears spilled over.

Fuck, he couldn't do this. He couldn't break down in the middle of the day in a park. There was no such thing as privacy anymore, and Steve didn't want this to be photographed. Forcing it back, he swallowed thickly and shoved the rest of the strudels in the bag. He could cry or scream later.

Distracting himself with a book Robin had gifted him about The Vampire Diaries, Steve tried to understand why it was so appealing to the girls. He still didn't get it after the first few chapters, but then, it was a high school romance involving vampires, not really his kind of thing. Then Damon was introduced, and well, Steve had always been a sucker for a bad boy.

"Steve?"

He jumped guiltily, not realizing how absorbed he had been, and looked up at Charlie. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh. But I'm tired, and my friend left. Can we go home now?"

She was rubbing her eyes and looked so cute that Steve's chest ached with fondness. "Sure thing. Let me grab the stuff, and we'll go."

Taking his free hand, they started back to the house. "Did Daddy have to go to work?" Charlie asked after a few minutes.

"Uh, yeah. It was very important, and he said he's sorry he had to leave so quickly. But he'll probably be home now."

"Okay."

Steve felt bad for lying, even more so because Charlie accepted it without question. She trusted him, and he hated betraying that. It would be okay, he told himself over and over, because what else could he do?

The house seemed quiet when they got back, and Charlie immediately ran off to find Eddie, leaving Steve to unpack.

"Where's daddy?" Charlie asked unsurprisingly, returning downstairs to join Steve in the kitchen a few minutes later. She was frowning, almost upset. "He's not here."

"Oh. Um, he must have gone to the studio." Steve smiled reassuringly, trying to hide his own panic. He doubted Eddie really had gone there because he had nothing to show the others. So where was he? Steve didn't know, but his main priority was keeping Charlie calm. "Tell you what, I'll call him and get him to bring some food home, okay? What do you want?"

Immediately, she perked up. "Pizza!"

"Pizza it is."

Once Charlie left him alone, Steve tried to call Eddie and wasn't surprised when it went to voicemail. It didn't stop him worrying. He ended up ordering pizza and waved away Charlie's questions, telling her Eddie was working late, but he hoped she enjoyed the food.

"I miss Daddy," Charlie told him sleepily as he read to her in an effort to distract her. Steve's heart pulled when he set down the book to look at her properly, so small with the covers up to her chin and fighting to keep her eyes open. "When will he be back?"

"Soon." he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I'll make sure he comes to kiss you goodnight."

"Please." when he tried to stand up, Charlie hugged him fiercely and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Steve."

"I love you too. Get some sleep. Eddie will be here when you wake up." Steve squeezed her tight, helping to tuck her in before leaving the room. Out in the hallway, he tried not to cry. It was the first time Charlie had told him she loved him, and all he wanted to do was tell Eddie about it.

Passing the time by working on his lesson plans, Steve waited and waited, but Eddie still didn't appear. He ended up falling asleep at the table, jerking awake when a car horn honked outside. Unsticking a piece of paper from his face, Steve dragged himself to bed.

But Steve couldn't sleep. He didn't even try, knowing it was pointless, and instead stared up at the dark ceiling, wondering where Eddie was and hoping he would be back soon.

Finally, he heard the front door unlock. Sitting up, he listened intently as the door opened and closed, followed by heavy footsteps up the stairs. Flicking the light on, Steve waited, almost nervously, for Eddie to come inside. When he did, Steve's heart sank. There was an unmistakable air of neglect about him, from his crumpled clothes to his messy hair. Even from across the room, Steve could smell the alcohol on him.

Remembering what happened last time, Steve swallowed thickly and forced his voice to remain casual. "Where have you been? Charlie was worried."

"Out, obviously."

Mood clearly not improved. Steve bit back his retort, getting to his feet as Eddie stumbled, trying to take off his shirt. "Careful."

"I can do it myself!" Eddie snapped, yanking the shirt off. "I don't need you to baby me, Steve. I don't need you hovering around me, waiting for me to fuck up. I'm fine, okay?"

"You're not okay. Christ, Eddie, you're drunk."

"So?"

He didn't even know what to say to that. Now he was close enough to touch Eddie, and he reached out a shaking hand to grasp his arm. "Eddie-"

Eddie pushed him away roughly. Struggling out of his jeans, he collapsed on the bed and mumbled, "If it bothers you, the couch is free," before passing out.