Eddie was rummaging in a box of old stuff stored in the attic to find one of his old albums. It had been years since he'd thought of it but now he had, he wanted to listen to it. Still, he'd gone through three boxes of Steve's stuff now and it was starting to get annoying.
Why on earth did Steve need a box full of old trophies and medals anyway?
He pulled out some sort of swim medal achievement, followed by a basketball trophy and snorted. Steve had been such a preppy jock back in the day. It was still hard to believe they ended up together. The metal head and the jock.
At the bottom of the box, there was an old cassette tape, worn with the years and the writing illegible. Curiosity won out and Eddie scrambled for the player he'd already unearthed, praying it still worked. The slightly static sound of Judas Priest's Love Bites filled the air and Eddie smiled, humming along as he continued digging.
As Head Over Heels started playing, he paused to listen. This was not a normal cassette tape.
The front door opened and closed, followed by the sound of Steve calling, "Eddie?"
"Up here!"
Steve found him sitting underneath the attic hatch and frowned. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to find my Black Sabbath vinyl."
"Right. So why are you listening to Tears for Fears?"
"It's a mixtape I found in your stuff." Eddie cleared a space for Steve to sit. "You recognise it?"
"I dunno, what was the first song?"
"Love Bites." Steve turned red and Eddie looked at him curiously. "So you do remember the tape?"
"It's uh, the first one you ever gave me. You know, they're all love songs."
"Oh." Eddie felt himself blushing too, remembering how much effort he put into choosing each song. "I was so nervous giving it to you. I can't believe you kept this?"
"It's special! It's not just the first tape you gave me. It was playing when we..." He trailed off but Eddie knew and reached out to entwine their fingers.
"When we what, hmm?"
"You know what."
"I wanna hear you say it."
Steve closed his eyes and leaned closer. "The first time we slept together, this was playing. Do you remember?"
"Very well." Eddie started humming the next song, Crazy for You by Madonna just before it started playing. "I thought the tape broke?"
"Too fragile," Steve whispered back. "But I suppose once more can't hurt." He stood up suddenly, pulling Eddie to his feet. "Dance with me?"
Who was he to say no? Holding each other close, they revolved slowly on the small landing until the tape finished. Eddie was reluctant to let go of Steve so he could safely store the tape away again. When he was done he immediately came back and wrapped his arms around Eddie.
"I'll make you a new one," He promised.
Steve laughed and kissed him gently. "Thank you."