It was late. Steve was late. He was in so much trouble.

He'd lost track of the time at Eddie's, distracted by the music, company, weed, and… well, everything Eddie. Safe to say, their secret relationship was starting to affect his daily life, which included picking up the dorks from the arcade. Grouped in the darkened entrance, all four looked both parts relieved and annoyed when Steve pulled up beside them.

"About time," Mike complained, climbing in first, Will and Lucas quickly following whilst Dustin took the passenger seat. "It's freezing out there!"

"Sorry, sorry, I was busy."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lucas sniggered. "Your hairs a mess."

Steve quickly pulled down the visor to check. Groaning, he did his best to fix the damage, but Eddie and his damned rings had left their mark. Giving up with a huff, he snapped the visor up and put the car into gear. "Whatever. I'm here. That's what matters."

"What are you wearing?" Dustin asked incredulously.

Glancing down, Steve was surprised to find it wasn't his polo that he'd worn to Eddie's but a band tee with spiky font he couldn't read. "Uh…"

"Dude, that is not yours."

"It's laundry day!" Steve was not about to reveal what he'd been doing with Eddie and the real reason he'd picked up the wrong T-shirt.

"Is that Eddie's?" Will asked, and a deafening silence fell.

Resigned to his fate, Steve answered, "Yes."

"He's gonna be so pissed."

"Why are you wearing Eddie's shirt?"

"And is that a hickey?"

When they continued incessantly, Steve braked sharply. "Oh my god, shut up, we're dating!" Another prolonged silence before Steve continued in a restrained voice. "Alright, shitheads, no interrupting. Yes, it's Eddie's shirt, I was with him before I came to get your asses. I picked up the wrong shirt because I was in a hurry. No, I'm not going to tell you what we were doing. If you have a problem with it, the doors are unlocked. Have fun walking home."

Nobody moved.

"Steve, we don't care that you're dating Eddie."

"Yeah. It was kind of obvious?" Lucas shrugged when Steve looked at him in surprise. "You get that sappy look on your face whenever Eddie's in the room."

"So gross," Mike complained, and Will laughed. "Can we go now? Mom will be pissed if I'm late, and Will's supposed to be staying. If he has to go home because you were late picking us up, I will never forgive you."

He could almost hear Eddie teasing him. "And you want six of them?"

"Oh, super gross, don't think about Eddie now!"

"Take us home!"

"Okay, okay!" It was a relief to get rid of them when he pulled up on Maple Street. He got a jumble of goodbyes and a blast of cold air before he was almost alone again—one more trip.

Dustin had spent most of the ride giving Steve a shit-eating grin that promised pain. Sure enough, Dustin opened his mouth the moment he started to drive. "I can't believe you didn't think we knew. You're not subtle, you know. I mean, you kinda were at first because Eddie started acting weird around you, but then you were so obvious. Like, cartoon heart eyes obvious."

"Yeah, I get it," Steve grumbled, somewhat relieved that it had been more of a shock to him that they knew than the other way around.

"It's still kinda cool. You're not gonna break up, are you? Because that would suck. My parents are divorced, and I don't wanna be shuttled between you guys because you can't be in the same room together."

"We're not going to break up."

Dustin scrutinized him for a very scary, very long moment and then nodded as if Steve had passed some test. "Okay. But I get to be the best man."

"That's Robin."

"Who said for you? I'm Eddie's."

"Good luck telling him that. I'm pretty sure if you mention marriage, he'll panic." Still, Steve couldn't help smiling. It was nice not having to hide it anymore or how serious he was about the relationship. If he could, he would marry Eddie.

"Nah, dude's had an embarrassingly large crush on you for years," Dustin said confidently. "Jeff told me. As long as he's known Eddie, Eddie's always been head over heels."

And that… was news. Eddie had admitted he used to have a giant crush on him, but not to that extent. Steve could feel his face warming again but couldn't stop himself smiling. "Thanks, Dustin."

Dustin nodded, letting Steve off the hook. "Don't be late next time!" He told Steve warningly outside his house before running off.

Steve waited until Dustin was safely inside before driving back to Eddie's, already knowing he was going to laugh his ass off when he found out how the kids figured them out. But now, Steve had his own ammunition and couldn't wait to tease Eddie back. It was going to be a long, and enjoyable night.