“Uh, I’m not letting you go in there alone, dingus, but I will have the emergency button ready on my phone,” Robin insists, gripping a key from her keychain between her fingers as she makes a fist, holding her phone ready near her face. Knowing it’s a battle he won’t win, Steve sighs and nods, before cautiously leading the way into their apartment. He steps around the plant and motions at Robin to keep quiet and not let the door slammed closed behind them.

Steve takes a moment to check around into the kitchen first, which he finds empty, and glances down the hallway toward Robin’s room, considering. If leads them toward his room, he’s leaving Robin vulnerable with her back turned to the potentially dangerous intruder. But if it’s just Dustin, or any of the Party, they’d be in the living room in the opposite direction, toward Steve’s room.

“Turn around and walk back to back,” Steve eventually whispers, feeling a little breath of relief when Robin’s back is near flush against his as they move down the hallway. They turn the corner toward the living room and Steve holds his stick a little higher, just in case, when-

“What are you doing, Steven?”

Steve lowers the hockey stick immediately, but Robin startles and drops her phone. She scrambles to pick it up as Steve’s eyes settle on his father, standing just outside on the balcony.

“I could ask you the same thing, seeing as this is my condo and I haven’t heard from you in months.” Steve answers, icy and harsh, meaning every ounce of shit he’s giving his dad. One of the perks of having made his name for himself is that he doesn’t have to give a shit about hurting the old man’s feelings anymore.

“You heard from me a few weeks ago, when I sent you the gala invitation,” His father steps in from the balcony, and Robin clears her throat to catch Steve’s eye. He gives her a little shake of his head, hoping it assures her that everything is fine and this is not going to be a big dramatic scene even though he’s almost positive his father will find a way to create chaos. “I haven’t, however, heard back from you about it. Which, honestly, Steven, I thought we raised you better than to rudely ignore invitations to private events on this scale.”

“You hardly had a hand in raising me,” Steve bites back, dropping his bag to the floor.

“Watch your tone with me, boy. I didn’t come here to be disrespected further.”

And there’s the Daniel Harrington that Steve’s used to. Demanding and harsh, ruthlessly focused on his own agenda. 

“Right, instead you broke into my home, disrespecting me. I’m allowed to have an attitude.” Steve retorts, watches as his father rolls his eyes, hands on his hip in a pose Steve recognizes from himself and instantly wants to take out of his rotation. They stare at one another in silence for a beat, before Daniel sighs.

“You still haven’t answered me about the gala.”

“And isn’t that answer enough for you?” Steve asks, not understanding why his dad was pushing so hard on this.

“No, son, it’s not. You don’t really have a choice, frankly.”

“Since when?” Steve asks, voice cracking in a high-pitched break. He’s starting to feel like the walls of the condo are closing in around him, and he’s suddenly feeling like the room is hot enough to be mistaken for the middle of summer even though it’s hardly spring.

“Since you launched a war with Billy Hargrove on the ice. I won’t let you ruin the Harrington legacy, so you’ve got some ass-kissing to do. All the owners will be there, along with the Commissioner. You’re going to show up and schmooze until you’re back in good-favor. Hear me?” Daniel asks, and Steve feels his heart rate starting to spike.

There’s another beat of silence, before Robin clears her throat again. Steve holds his hand up, trying to keep her from speaking, but once she’s set her mind to something, he knows there’s no turning back.

“Mr. Harrington, I’m not sure you entirely understand the situation between Steve and Billy,” She says, her voice a bit shaky, but Steve can’t tell if it’s from fear or anger. “You realize your son was the victim, right? Of an unsolicited attack by a psychopath who shouldn’t be allowed on the ice if he’s going to play dirty and hurt people like that.” 

Daniel lets her speak, but scoffs when she goes quiet again. “And you realize that Steve and Billy have been going at it since high school? They’ve always been hot heads on the ice when it came to one another, always taken the competition too seriously.”

“Not that you would know that first hand, since you never came to those games.” Steve snipes, and then continues before Daniel can stop him. “And actually, no, we’re not going to play this game anymore. Billy hitting me in the face wasn’t an unprovoked attack.” Steve says, then takes a pause to let Daniel react.

“See, you don’t know my son the way that I do. He has a way of getting under people’s skin, I knew he must have done something to make Billy hit him like that.”

“I fucking trusted him,” Steve practically cries out, unable to control his words any better than he’s able to keep himself together anymore. “I trusted him, that’s all I did to make him hit me, dad.”

“What does that even mean, Steven? You’re getting hysterical and not making any sense.” Daniel starts to dismiss him, but Steve barrels through. It’s now or never.

“We were together!” He yells, watches as his father doesn’t react at all. Can see Robin tense out of the corner of his eye, but he keeps going. “Billy and me? We were together, when he was on the Hawks. Not dating, but we may as well have been. And he has assaulted me not once, but twice since things ended, and that’s barely even scratching the surface of all the times he’s checked me into the boards or iced me in games. So, yeah, I made Billy attack me, because I trusted him.”

Daniel doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move for a long moment, doesn’t take his eyes off of Steve. Eventually, though, he lets out a heavy breath and moves toward where Steve and Robin are standing.

Then he steps around them, continues down the hallway, and Steve turns to watch him go, unsure of what he’s even feeling about his dad choosing this as the moment to go quiet and walk out on him. But then Daniel stops in the doorway, after moving the potted plant out of the way.

“I expect you at the gala, Steven. We’ll have a lot to discuss.” He says, looking at Steve with an expression the younger Harrington can’t read, before leaving and closing the door behind him carefully.

“What the fuck just happened?” Robin asks after a few moments, and Steve runs his hand over his face.

“I don’t even know.”

~~~

There’s too many words floating around his head, all coming to him at once, so as soon as he drops Steve off at the airport, Eddie’s back in his studio, raw recording all of his thoughts as he plays the tracks the band had laid back and sings about everything he’s feeling.

A few hours later, he texts Steve back to tell him he’s happy they made it back to Chicago safely. He’s a little surprised to not hear back from Steve right away, but he tries not to be too crazy about calling him so soon. He’s sure Steve is exhausted after traveling, and is probably showering or sleeping. 

Gareth shows up a little while later and is surprised to find Eddie still in his pajamas, but catches sight of the hickey forming just below the other’s ear and immediately understands what’s happening. 

“I’ll order food.” That’s all he offers, staying outside the tracking booth to give Eddie as much space and privacy as he needs to finish what he’s doing.

A few hours pass by like that, with Eddie only coming out briefly to grab containers of broccoli and beef and noodles along with a few extra waters, then disappear back into his creative spiral. 

Eventually, though, Gareth does intervene. “Alright, man, it’s been at least 4 hours, and you’re getting stuck on things that sound way better than you think. Let’s take a break and you can listen to the playbacks in a bit?”

When they’re upstairs in his living room, Eddie takes his hair out of the messy bun it had been pulled up in, but Gareth just scoffs. 

“What?” He asks, confused, and Gareth rolls his eyes.

“Already saw the hickey, man. Guessing date night went well?” He teases, and watching as Eddie flushes, then his cheeks light up bright red. Gareth finds it ridiculously satisfying to see Eddie flustered, since he’s usually the one dishing out this kind of teasing.

“Shut up,” he mumbles, hiding his face behind his hands.

“Look, I’m just happy you two finally kissed about it, that’s all.” Gareth eventually offers. “It’s been kind of insufferable watching you both tease and flirt then stonewall one another.”

“We haven’t been stonewalling one another,” Eddie dismisses, and rolls his eyes when Gareth raises an eyebrow. “Shut up already.”

“I really am happy for you two, you know. All the guys will be.”

Eddie just gives Gareth a little smile, and eventually grants him permission to start sorting through the audio tracks.

Steve FaceTimes him not long after they get back into the studio. “Hey! You did survive your return trip after all, I was starting to worry.” He teases, and watches as Steve huffs out a little laugh.

“We’ve had an interesting day.” Steve says, setting the phone on the kitchen counter as Robin steps into frame.

“We came home to an intruder in the condo.” She says, and Eddie is standing instantly, concerned and not sure how to help but trying to formulate a plan to get himself to Chicago.

“It was just my dad! For fucks sake, don’t scare him like that.” Steve interjects quickly, but it does little to ease Eddie’s concern. 

“What did he want?”

“He still wants me to go to his stupid fundraiser to schmooze the league because he thinks I owe everyone an explanation about Billy.” Steve explains around a shrug, leans closer to the phone while dipping a tea bag into a mug of hot water. 

“Steve even told him about the Billy situation.” Robin adds, earning a glare from Steve, before he mumbles a thanks in her direction as she adds honey to his mug.

“So you came out to him?” Eddie asks, and Steve shrugs.

“Kind of? The whole thing was weird. It’s been a weird day.” He answers, takes a sip of his tea, then rests his chin on his hand. “I miss you. Tell me about your day?”

——

Routine settles back to Steve’s pre-injury normal. Yoga with Robin on the deck, smoothies, rink. By the time the next game rolls around, Steve feels like he’s back on track, even if he still has to wear extra protective gear.

The Blackhawks lose by a goal in overtime, but Steve manages to spot Eddie in the suite with Robin. His flight had been delayed because of the snow, so neither of them was sure he’d make it in time for today’s game, but there were three more over the next five days so there were plenty to observe in the near future.

Steve meets Eddie and Robin at the car and smiles as Eddie tangles their fingers together and tugs him into the backseat. 

“I’ve missed you.” Eddie greets, pressing a soft kiss to Steve’s lips.

“I’ve missed you, too,” 

“I’m gonna puke. What do you want to do for dinner?” Robin shifts the car into drive as Eddie and Steve scramble to close the door.

“Can we just head home and order in? I want to talk to Eddie.” Steve answers once they’re settled in. Eddie’s head quickly snaps toward him, concern visible in his eyes. “Not bad talk, I promise.”

“I don’t know of a single time when that sentence has been said and it wasn’t related to a bad talk, Steve. In fact, the last time someone told me they just ‘wanted to talk to me’ was when Wayne shipped me off to rehab.” 

“I promise, I’m not sending you to rehab,” Steve tried to joke, lifting his hand to cup Eddie’s jaw and brush his thumb under the other's lower lip. “You can pick whatever we order, and if you feel like it turns out to be a bad talk, I’ll buy you ice cream or a new guitar or something.”

“This feels wildly unfair to me, why does Eddie get to pick out what I’m having for dinner?” Robin asks, glancing at Steve in the rear view at a stop light. Their eyes meet and Eddie can almost hear the silent conversation they’re having, even though he doesn’t understand the language they’ve built. The light changed and Robin sighs heavily but doesn’t protest further.

Once Eddie secures their halal dinner, he tucks his feet under himself as he sits on the sofa beside Steve and pulls a piece of chicken off a kebab skewer. “Ok, what is it you want to talk about?”

“I told you my dad was here the other day.” Steve starts, and Eddie frowns, stops mid-chew to try and get a read of his body language. He can’t, though, so he swallows hard.

“…yeah…”

“So. I think I want to go to the gala.” Steve says, scooping rice onto his fork. “And I want you to come, too. As my date.”

Eddie takes a few beats to process. Steve keeps eating, like this isn’t a huge deal, and Robin is staying surprisingly quiet from the arm chair she’s occupying. “Aren’t, like, the commissioner and a bunch of other important NHL people going to be there?”

“Yeah,” Steve shrugs. “Kind of the point I want to make.”

“You want to come out?” 

“Already told my dad. The world didn’t end. Can’t see how it could get any worse than Billy smashing my face in, really.” Steve’s lips turn up into a smile, turning his hurt into a joke, but Eddie knows it’s a front.

He inhales, thinking. “You don’t think it’ll make you a target on the ice?” 

Robin’s eyes move to Steve, the most acknowledgement she’s given to their conversation yet. Steve actually gives a genuine smile at that.

“It’s like you two talked about this already without me knowing,” he huffs. When Eddie raises an eyebrow, Steve explains. “Robin asked the exact same thing. I think it could. I think it could mean I get benched.. There’s a lot of things that could happen, and there’s no way to know what sequence of events will cause what. But I’ve already been thinking about coming out for a while now, and I would prefer I be the one to tell people. On my terms.”

“Okay.” Eddie says, gives a little nod and starts eating again. “I’d like to go to your family’s gala with you.”

Steve smiles back at him, bumps his knee against Eddie’s gently as they settle into the sofa.

“I still get to come, right? Even though Eddie’s your date?” Robin asks, and Steve laughs.

“You still get to come. I’ll RSVP for both of us, and Eddie’s our plus one. I’d tell you to bring Nance, but…”

“Everyone would assume she’s with you, negating the ‘Eddie-being-your-date' thing. I get it. One of the many cons of dating your ex that I have to live with.” Robin said, catching Eddie’s full attention.

“Oh my god, I totally forgot you dated Wheeler Senior in high school!” He said, making Steve roll his eyes. 

“Please don’t become another person who psychoanalyzes my dating history.”

Robin snorts at that. “He’s just upset that he has a type and has been called out on it.”

“A type?” Eddie asks, raising an eyebrow. “How the fuck do Nancy and I fit together?”

“Have you seen yourself?” Robin asks, incredulously. “If I didn’t know better, I’d assume you were cousins, if not siblings. Between the hair, big doe eyes, you know? I told Steve about this when he called you hot in that TikTok!”

Eddie considers this longer than he should, and Steve hands him a piece of flatbread and shoves the hummus toward him. “Stop overthinking it. I don’t have a type.”

“No, dude, you totally have a type,” Eddie teases, leaning over to press a kiss to Steve’s cheek. “Kinda, at least. Badass curly tops of any gender. But I like that I fit into this category.”

“Ew, don’t call me ‘dude’ like that.” Steve frowns, shouldering Eddie back to his side of the sofa gently, earning a laugh from Eddie.

“Sorry, would you prefer ‘baby?’”

“I would prefer to eat my dinner without the gag fest, thanks.” Robin voices. “Also, we’re still getting ice cream, right?”

___

Steve curls into Eddie’s side as they lay down for bed, resting his head on Eddie’s chest, which earns him a soft chuckle.

“You’re going to cuddle me to death, aren’t you?” He teases as Steve hums in agreement, eyes closed and smile painted on his face.

He can’t help but feel content, maybe for the first time ever. Steve brings a hand up to Eddie’s chest, fingers tracing over his tshirt where he knows there’s a tattoo on the skin beneath. Eddie, in turn, runs a nearly too-soft touch from a finger along his cheek, tracing the edges of the still-healing scar there. It makes Steve a little self-conscious, but nowhere near as much as he would have been years, or even months, ago.

“You don’t have to go,” Steve eventually says, turning his chin up to look at Eddie through his eyelashes. “To the gala, I mean. It’s okay if you don’t want to go.”

Eddie is careful, smiles softly at Steve as he considers his response before speaking; something he’s not super familiar with. “I would love nothing more than to get you in front of everyone at the gala and plant a big ole messy kiss right on your lips.” He continues to tease, pleased with himself when Steve snorts and hides his face in Eddie’s shirt. “But seriously. I want to go. I’m happy you invited me. I just want you to be sure this is what you want to do.”

Steve goes so still then, Eddie’s almost convinced he fell asleep. But he eventually lifts his head again, rests his chin on Eddie’s ribs, and nods. “This is what I want. It’s what I’ve wanted for a long time, but I was scared. And I don’t think I’m as scared anymore.”

“Well then,” Eddie grins, hooking a finger under Steve’s chin and pulling him forward into a soft kiss. “I think we’d better get me some gala-appropriate clothes, because I’m pretty sure my leather jackets aren’t going to cut it.”

“I actually think my mom might faint if you rolled up in a leather jacket.” Steve laughs against Eddie’s lips, then nuzzles into his neck. “And as hot as I think you are in your leather jackets, I think you’ll clean up nice. I’ve seen those award show outfits. We can get you into a fitted suit, I know it.”

“And you’ll spend all night looking at my ass.”

Steve can’t help but snort. “Well yeah, how else will I make it clear that I’m definitely into you.”

“You’re totally right, it’s the only way.” Eddie laughs, rubbing a hand over Steve’s back. “Now go to sleep, you have another game and you’re not blaming me for not getting enough rest.”

Steve mocked him in a high pitched voice, but rearranged himself so he was more comfortable, head resting on Eddie’s chest again, and sighed softly. “Good night.”

“Night.”

And if Eddie stays awake for an extra 30 minutes, fingers gently combing through Steve’s hair and soothing him to sleep, that’s nobody’s business but his own. Steve lightens when he drifts off, and Eddie secures an arm around him, keeping him close, before he falls asleep as well.

In an almost exact reversal of the night prior, Eddie wakes up to Steve gently toying with his hair. He stills as Eddie’s eyes open, a soft pink shade settling over his cheeks, before he bites at his lip.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Eddie closes his eyes, smiling, then peeks through one squinted eye at Steve. “10 more minutes?” He asks, wrapping both of his arms around Steve’s waist and pulling their bodies flush together. Steve laughs, tossing his head back in a display of joy that has Eddie opening both eyes to fully take in. Then, Steve’s bringing their foreheads together and resting a hand on his jaw.

“You could go back to sleep for another 10 minutes, sure,” Steve says, through a smile. “Or, you could kiss me.”

“Well, that’s an offer I can’t exactly turn down.” Eddie chuckles, sliding a hand up Steve’s back to his neck and bringing their mouths together.

What’s definitely more than 10 minutes breezes by, Eddie’s sure it’s been more than that, though he has no other concept of the passing of time until Steve’s alarm goes off. Eddie blindly reaches to turn it off, but Steve pulls away and sighs heavily. 

“We can snooze it.” Eddie assures, sitting up to chase after Steve. He ends up peppering kisses along his collarbone and up to his neck. 

Eyes sliding closed, Steve turns off the alarm and drops his phone back onto the bed beside them. His fingers tangle into the hair at the base of Eddie’s neck and he hums softly before tugging Eddie up to bring their mouths together again.

It’s more, somehow, this time than it was before. Than it has been, each time they’ve kissed. It hasn’t been a lot— no where near as much as either of them would like it to be. But Eddie feels himself melting into it, letting Steve take the lead.

Then, Steve’s got Eddie gasping; he hadn’t even processed the kiss ending before Steve’s teeth sink into the dip of skin where his shoulder meets his neck.  He soothes over the mark his teeth leave with his tongue as Eddie whines, grips tighter at his hip, and that’s when Eddie feels Steve’s lips twist up into a smile against his skin.

“You-“ Eddie’s onto him instantly, but his words are broken into a moan as Steve sucks on the skin he’d been teasing. 

As soon as he’s able to get his limbs working in coordination with one another again, Eddie flips them over so Steve is under him. His legs straddle Steve’s thighs, but he sits high and cautious, eyes locked on the others below him. Steve’s wide-eyed, huffs out a heavy breath with the quick movement, then licks his swollen lips and Eddie’s grateful he can even go through the process of saying words.

“How long before you absolutely have to leave?” He asks, hovering close to Steve’s face, but just far enough that they’re not kissing again.

“About 70 minutes.”

“Oh, that’s an eternity," Eddie grins.

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