"Don't worry, I'm okay!" you called out before anyone could even say anything, to Eddie's relief, and he sat down again.

All of his friends were looking at him funny. What was this plot against him, honestly?

"What's going on?" he asked, waving his arms around in annoyance.

"Dude. Use a single neuron. You'll understand," Steve advised, letting out a dramatically exhausted sigh.

Eddie just stared back at them, one at a time, for several minutes. Trying to find the answers in one of his friends' eyes, or just hoping to be scary enough to make them tell him at once.

"I can't do this, he's the dumbest man alive," Jonathan said after a long while in silence.

What were you even doing in the kitchen for such a long time? Popcorn gets ready in like, five minutes.

"He's never been in love before, maybe he just doesn't recognize it," Steve pitched in, and he knew that information because Eddie had told him once.

What did it have to do with anything?

"What does being in love has anything to do with this? Who's in love here? No one's in lov-" he started, and then he stopped.

Thought about your smile, and that funny little laugh you saved only for his stupid jokes. The way you'd hug him tighter and longer than everyone else. The way you and Robin shared perfumes, a fragrance he didn't really like much, but on you he'd love - something about the way it'd interact with your natural skin smell, and it intoxicated him in the best of ways. He thought about how soft your skin was, and how he loved when you ran your fingers through his hair. He thought about how he thought about you first thing when he woke up, and he thought about you last thing before sleeping. How he thought about you even when asleep - how he'd dream of you, and him, your hands clasped together, your lips on his.

"Oh my god, I think I'm in love," he muttered.

"Congrats on being the last one to find out," Nancy answered. He just looked at her, freezing, hands trembling a little. "What are you thinking about so much, just go!" She nodded at the kitchen and, once again, Eddie was up on his feet in an instant.

He practically ran to the other room.

"Steve, your cabinets are a nightmare," you said, back turned to the door as you heard steps.

"Not Steve," he said, and you turned to face him. That smile, the one reserved just for him, on your lips.

"Eddie! Here to help me? Does anyone want something else?"

He just shook his head and walked closer to you. Took your hand on his, and your skin was just as soft as he thought about constantly.

"Is everything okay?" you asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, just came to a realization."

"Care to share with the class?" your words all teasing but your smile was nothing but sweet. He wanted to kiss you.

"I want to kiss you," he said out loud.

Your smile grew wider, "Well, do it, then."

And he did. And it was so much better than in his dreams. Yous lips were soft and tasted of whatever soda you were drinking, and your hands craddled his neck and you sure could feel his pulse going a million miles per second. But he didn't care, because you seemed eager for more, tongue poking at his lips and he let you in, and it was like fireworks exploding inside his head. He feelt fuzzy, and warm all over, and the happiest he's ever been. Because he's in love with you, he realized, and he was kissing you and you were kissing him back.

It felt like years before you separated, both panting a little.

"Oh, man, I like you so much," you mumbled, lips still almost pressed to his so he feelt every vibration in each of your words. It tingled him, head to toe, in and out.

"That's my realization," he responded, and you gave him another peck, and another one, and you were kissing him again when you heard steps behind you.

"C'mon, slow lovebirds, where's my damn popcorn? I wanna watch the sequel!" Robin showed up, picked up the popcorn bowl and her coke before leaving again.

You and Eddie laughed, and you gave him another peck, and another one, and you were kissing him again.

When he took off his shirt to dive into Lovers Lake to find a portal, while Eddie lit up a cigarette you looked away because you saw the way Robin glanced suspiciously at Nancy - honestly, Robin was the only one not appealed by Steve's lack of shirt - and you did not want that kind of glance being thrown at you too. And after Steve was bitted by those fucking demobats, you saw it in Eddie’s eyes how he wished it was him bandaging Steve up instead of Nancy - and you also kinda wished it was yourself. He got way too serious about throwing his vest at Steve ‘for his modesty’ too.

And when Eddie called Steve ‘big boy’, Harrington was not the only one who got flustered, because suddenly your head was filled with many images that were not appropriate for the running-from-the-cops-and-also-from-a-interdimensional-monster situation you were all in. Eddie seemed so proud for making Steve lose his words. You just stood in the back of the RV and tried to ground yourself instead of giving into the little green feeling growing inside your chest when Nancy sat at the seat beside Steve while he drove. You heard them talking about kids, for fucks sake.

And when Steve looked so worried about Nance, did everything he could to wake her from her trance, even started singing a song he thought she liked, and was later so focused on listening to her plan. When he gave you a tight hug right before he left with the girls to the Creel house, you almost melted into a puddle. Then he looked so worried about Eddie, asked him to not play the hero when the actual plan was about to start, you could understand if Eddie's heart skipped a beat because yours definitively did - and you were sure the metalhead wanted to say something else when he called out for Steve, but he settled for ‘make him pay’ instead.

And you actually thought it was a one-sided thing, but when Eddie woke up weeks later in a hospital bed, in a different state, after literally almost dying in your and Dustin’s arms; you, Dustin, and Steve were there to see him wake up, the huge smile plastered on Steve's face was enough to light up the whole room and Eddie's own smile reciprocated. And you looked at Dustin feeling like you were interrupting something. And they shared a hug, and Steve was cautious not to hurt Eddie's tummy filled with bandages and stitches. And you and Dustin said you were going to grab a coffee, and when you came back they looked a little pinker in the cheeks than they were before and their hairs were all out of place - Steve’s hair was never out of place.

So, yeah, you could understand Eddie's crush on Steve. With his brown soft hair, all prepped up with too much Farrah Fawcett hairspray (Dustin couldn’t keep a secret for his life), always smelling so good. And his caramel soft eyes, worried about everything and everyone around him but himself. And his preppy, stupid polo shirts and jeans combo, always ironed - you were pretty sure he ironed them himself. The freckles that went all the way from his neck down his torso and his back, splattered in such pretty patterns you kinda wanted to connect them like dots in a kid’s play. With your tongue, to be more precise.

But! YOU, specifically, did NOT have a crush on Steve. You just understood why Eddie did.

When all dust had settled and you were able to go back to Hawkins - thank god for Hopper coming back from the dead and giving Eddie all the alibis he needed, and thank god for their FBI friends for covering everything up as they did with the mall situation the year prior - Steve was very eager to have Eddie staying at his place while the metalhead (and his uncle, of course) searched for a new home. Because his trailer was destroyed, of course. And he was still recovering from all the injuries, of course!

Steve was very smart when he needed to be.

Not everyone in Hawkins was entirely convinced of the whole made-up story, and some people were still very rude to Eddie and the Hellfire boys on the streets, but Hopper was definitely more respected than Powell. So no matter what some people thought, the truth installed was that Eddie was innocent after all. Everyone just had to accept that.

After a while, as life went back to normal - as normal as it can be when you’ve saved the world more than once and half the town was under restoration because of an ‘earthquake’ - you started noticing how the boys were always together. Like when you’d pass by Family Video to see Robin (to see Robin, okay!) and Eddie was also there, leaning on the counter with a soft smile as Steve registered someone else’s borrowed tapes.

Or when you’d go downtown and see them together sharing a banana boat on the new Scoops Ahoy franchise that opened up again on Main Street. Or when you’d volunteer with Robin and Vickie to help those whose houses were destroyed and both boys were also already there, following each other around on their assigned tasks. Or when you went to parties or threw your own parties and they always came in together, never left each other’s side, and went back home together too, always just the two of them.

One day you went to Eddie’s work at the music store and Steve came in behind him as he stepped out of the ‘employees only’ door.

I mean, there’s only so much someone who’s not an employee can be doing with an employee inside a ‘employees only’ room. We all know that.

“Hey, guys,” you greeted, faking obliviousness as you went straight to the New Wave session that was slowly growing as more bands went famous across the country - famous enough to reach Middle Of Butt-Fuck Nowhere, Indiana.

“Oh, hey babe!” Eddie smiled as he came to your side. “What can I help you with today?”

You pretended not to shiver with the nickname. “Well, aren’t you employee of the month,” you mocked, looking at Steve (still behind Eddie) from the peripheral, whose cheeks just went pink. “Do you have New Order’s latest?”

“Oh, I think I saw it back there!” both yours and Eddie’s heads turned to Steve as he enthusiastically revealed, and if you thought he was pink before, he had just created a new shade of pink just then.

“I’ll go get it for ya,” Eddie gave you a smile trapped between real and fake and left for the infamous ‘employees only’ back room.

You smiled at Steve, your own smile trapped between soothing and teasing, and turned your attention back to the vinyls in front of you. A few moments passed in silence before he decided to talk again.

“You’re going to Robin’s this weekend?” you looked him straight in the eyes after his question. He could not be serious.

His prolonged silence made it clear that he was serious.

“You do realize it’s my house too?” you asked.

“Oh Jesus fuck, yeah, no, of course!” he waved around and you couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I know, you’re siblings and all, I keep forgetting that, ‘cause you’re nothing alike, of course it’s your house, it’s just, I was wondering maybe you had, like, another commitment, maybe a date, I dunno, can’t hurt to ask right!” he was babbling.

God, he was so cute.

No, scratch that. Forget it, you’ve never said that. Forget it right now!

“No plans at all this Saturday except to hang out with you nerds. Don’t worry,” you winked at him and he let out a sigh as he smiled.

Eddie came back from the inventory room, New Order’s ‘Brotherhood’ in his hands and that typical huge smile on his lips. “There you go, babe.”

You rolled your eyes playfully and paid for the vinyl before leaving, waving at them through the huge glass windows of the storefront. They waved back just before you saw them running to the ‘employees only’ room again.

Guess they were in their honeymoon phase.

You were completely fine and not envious at all.

-x-x-x-

Saturday arrived, and as you were serving soda to the kids playing board games on the coffee table in the living room, Steve and Eddie walked in knowing there was no need to knock. You walked past them as you went back to the kitchen to fetch some chips.

“There you are!” Eddie sounded excited, a six-pack in one of his hands while he pulled you in for a tight hug with the other one.

You smiled. “Where else would I be, doofus? Hey, dingus.” You waved at Steve through the cloud of Eddie’s frizz.

The boys followed you into the kitchen to put their stuff in the fridge. Nancy and Jonathan were intertwined leaning on the island and only let go of each other to say hello to the newcomers as you poured potato chips onto a big bowl and went back to the living room. Everyone else came back with their drinks in hand, including Robin and Vickie who were in the garden for some reason, and chatter began.

This was something you tried to do at least once a month, reunite with everyone including the kids - especially since Hopper and Joyce joined forces and decided to stay in Hawkins, god knows why but you were grateful for it.

That month the reunion was set on your and Robin’s house, your parents finding it weird that their adult offspring were friends with so many high schoolers when you explained that what you were having was not a party, but a friendly get-together. They let you host it anyway, even with the weirdness of it all, when you promised to clean the whole house - not just the living area where you’d all be at - afterward. And they went for a date that night, to give you the full house - very nice of them, and good for them, you guessed?

Everyone had been busier, with the younglings busy with high school and the young adults attempting at adulting, but you all felt the need to check in on each other every once in a while, and just hang out together in peace instead of trying to fight bullies, or Russians, or interdimensional assholes. Shared trauma was a great bonding experience!

A few hours later you, Mike, and Erica were fighting to decide which movie you were all going to watch when Steve and Eddie came back from the kitchen with a chocolate pie they had brought and several plates and forks. Eddie cleared his throat loudly and the room went quiet, looking at them.

“I, uh, we wanted to share something…” Eddie said as Steve put everything on the coffee table. You adjusted yourself in the bean bag you were lying on. “Me and Harrington, we, uh. It’s just, like. I don’t know, I don’t think you’ll be mad or anything. I mean, it’s not like it’ll be a first-time thing, I know you’re all cool with it, considering Robin and Vickie, it’s just. Uh.”

“We’re dating,” Steve went right to the point.

There was a loud silence for at least one whole minute before Dustin spoke up.

“Okay, and the actual news is?”

Eddie and Steve blinked at the same time.

“What,” was more of a deadpan than a question out of Harrington’s lips.

“You really thought we were all this dumb?” Lucas asked gesturing around to point at everyone in the room. Everyone was nodding along.

“Neither of you is subtle. Like, at all,” Max wasn’t even looking at them anymore, sharing a She-Hulk comic with El.

You couldn’t hold your laugh any longer and saw the unexpected couple looking at you immediately. “You knew too?” Eddie sounded really offended for some reason.

You laughed louder, almost falling out from the bean bag. “Are you not listening? Everyone knew! I went by your work this week and you came out of the back room together! Your clothes were all crumpled,” you pointed at Eddie and heard everyone giggling along.

“And we saw you coming out of a dressing room in that fancy store Steve likes. Also together,” Mike pointed at him and Will, who nodded enthusiastically, a shy smile growing on his lips.

“Eddie’s not even trying not to flirt with you in front of our other clients anymore,” Robin stated.

“You were licking on the same popsicle when we went to the lake the other day. At the same time,” Nancy pointed out.

“Nothing serving as a barrier between your tongues besides a very thin strawberry popsicle,” Jonathan concluded with a smirk.

Both boys looked actually astonished as if they were so sure they were hiding something. They looked at each other again before sighing and sitting down in the only tiny space left on the couch, Steve almost in Eddie’s lap. You turned your eyes away.

“So is this our celebratory pie? For our fist man-on-man couple of the group?” you asked, already diving in to get your piece. “Here’s to many more to come!” Mike choked on thin air, you pretended not to notice.

The conversation was easily shifted back to the movie discussion, the couple ‘news’ soon forgotten as you all settled back into your domestic routine, pies in hands, beers and sodas being shared (age appropriately!), and screaming about terror versus action. Again.

-x-x-x-

Robin had called your work in the middle of your (and hers) shift to invite you to come with her, Steve, and Eddie to the movies after all of your duties were over. You’ve said yes and thanked the gods you always took a change of clothes with you to work so you wouldn’t have to show up to the theater in your ugly uniform.

Not that there would be anyone there you wanted to impress. Of course not.

As you arrived, the boys were already there, but your sister was nowhere to be seen. “She’s in the bathroom or something?” you asked. They shared a glance.

“I thought you’d talked to her?” Steve questioned. You raised an eyebrow. “She wasn’t feeling so good, so she went home. Said she’s sorry.”

“Something about diarrhea,” Eddie grimaced and you sighed.

“Great, love being the third wheel,” you murmured under your breath. “You wanna go do this by yourselves? We can reschedule. Invite Jon and Nancy next time too.”

“No, we wanna go with you!” Steve stated quickly and Eddie coughed loudly. “We promise not to go overboard, okay? We’ll put you in the middle seat.”

“Also, not everyone in Hawkins is nice. Mostly no one, to be honest. So we’re not adept to PDA anyways,” Eddie concluded, shrugging. “Basically no one knows we’re dating except for you, our friends,” his voice was in a very low tone, almost whispered, to not draw attention.

You empathized, also keeping your voice low. “Yeah, that sucks. Robin and Vickie are always complaining about it, and they’re also not openly affectionate to each other in public places. And honestly, I’m really scared for them sometimes. I know Robs can stand up for herself and Vickie, but they’re also so tiny. Little babies,” you brought your thumb and index finger together, showing how really smol your younger sister and her girlfriend were. “And people are mean.”

“What’re some bigots in comparison to a real-life D&D monster, babe? Don’t worry,” Eddie put his arms around your shoulder, Steve on your other side, guiding you to the ticket booth.

Eddie paid for the tickets - something about a fly, yeah, the bug - and both you and Steve fought for the right to buy the popcorn, but while you were bickering Eddie went and bought those himself too. As you finally went to the screening room and took your seats, Steve was serious about you being in the middle. Eddie went to the bathroom while the trailers didn’t start.

“So that’s what he’s like as a boyfriend? Doesn’t let you buy stuff?” you curiously asked Steve while shoving a handful of popcorn into your mouth. You kept your voice low again so no one would easily hear you talking.

He smiled dreamily. “Yeah, especially since he’s been getting ‘clean money’, as he calls it, with his ‘grown up’ job.” He made quote marks with his fingers. “He’s a really thoughtful guy. I mean, that was already obvious before, but as a partner… it’s different, you know?” you nodded and asked him to continue. He was getting flustered, talking about the boy he liked made him look so cute… You just had to. It was all you would ever get from him, anyway. “He’s very affectionate, as you could guess. He has to always be touching me in some way. I thought I would get annoyed at some point, but it still hasn’t happened and, honestly, I don’t think it will. I like touching him at all times, too.

“He also likes to do everything together, even silly minor tasks like getting groceries or something. Gets me little gifts almost every day, and not always stuff he buys, but things he sees that remind him of me. Flowers that he steals from other people’s gardens, he once bought me a heart-shaped pebble. It’s so stupid,” he giggled.

Giggled!

“And I love it. He’s so kind. People treat him like shit most of the time, and he’s still always as polite as he can. Only fights back the really aggressive ones. Kids are scared of him because of their parents’ closed minds, but he approaches them and tells them not to fear, and plays stupid magic tricks to get them to like him. Helps old ladies cross the streets and shit. He’s probably the best person I know,” he was rambling. Your heart was so full. “And I had no idea, you know. That I could feel like this for another guy. Eddie calls himself my bi awakening,” you both shared a laugh.

“You deserve it, Steve. After Nancy…” you gulped lightly, and so did he. “I didn’t think you would ever get over her. And she wasn’t able to give you the love you deserved, not her fault obviously, but still true. It wasn’t meant to be between you two. But you and Eds really fit together. Pieces of a puzzle, Dingus and Doofus. You give each other the love you don’t give yourselves with those annoying low self-esteem of yours,” you nudged him with your shoulder and he looked down to laugh, but you saw his eyes watering.

After a while, he looked up. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I’m really, really happy.”

His smile was really brighter, and his eyes sparkled more. He looked lighter as if part of the huge hero weight he carried on his shoulders had been lifted. You could imagine that the fact that your lives not being in constant danger helped, but love… Love gets you through anything. And you were really, really happy too - for them.

When Eddie came back from the bathroom, bowing for a girl to walk in front of him to her seat, the trailers were already starting. And the bright light from the screen enveloped him in a kind of aura, and his hair looked so fluffy, and his Motorhead shirt sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, his arms covered in tattoos for show. His shredded jeans, and his chain belt, and his funny wonky walk, and the way he fiddled with his rings. He threw himself at the sit beside you, his arm instantly coming to the rest of your chair behind you while the other reached for the popcorn bowl on your lap, his huge trademarked smile plastered on his face and his beautiful calf eyes looking into yours. You gulped. Something inside your belly swirled.

“Ready for the film, babe?”

Your heart almost leaped out of your chest as you nodded and smiled back at him.

Shit.

You had a crush on Steve.

And you had a crush on his boyfriend.

You were so very screwed.

They gave you a ride home, even though your house was way off their own route, and made you sit between them in Eddie’s van too. Steve’s arm was around you and Eddie’s hand occasionally touched your arm or knee and they let you choose the songs - even though none of you shared musical taste by any means - while you commented on the movie. They even got off the van to give you hugs when you arrived home.

And although you had one of the best afternoons ever, you were also mentally exhausted.

Apparently, finding out you had crushes on two people who were dating each other and then spending your whole day trying not to make heart eyes at their every move was very draining.

Robin was in the living room, a random rom-com on the TV that she and Vickie were pretending to watch, while they were actually attached to each other’s mouths. They let go when they heard the door closing behind you though. Your parents were still not home from their jobs.

“Hey, how was the movie?” your sister asked excitedly. You raised an eyebrow.

“The movie was fun,” not that you had paid a lot of attention. “The being a third wheel part, not so much,” you got closer to them and messed up Robin’s hair. “I actually realized I have a massive crush on both of them and kinda wanna throw myself off a cliff right about now.”

You and your sister had absolutely no secrets between you (that’s how you ended up with her, Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington, a random middle-school nerd and a very sassy ten-year-old trying to break into a secret Russian base under the town mall Summer of ‘85). So it was a no-brainer that you were gonna tell her about your crushes. And you knew she was gonna tell Vickie anyway, so you just said it with her there and then.

Vickie’s eyes widened with your confession, but Robin didn’t seem to bother. “Yeah, honestly, I had that figured out. I know you too well, ya’ know. Can’t hide shit from me anymore. I’m glad you uncovered your truth, though.”

“Fair,” you shrugged. “You look good for someone with diarrhea, by the way,” at that, she did look guilty about, while Vickie laughed loudly, but you wasted no more time before heading to the bathroom.

You needed a long, calming bubble bath to realign your chakras and rest your stupid, stupid little head.

Later that night, contradicting your expectations Vickie went back to her house, and Robin knocked on your door with a PB&J sandwich for you that she left on your nightstand. You were already under the covers, your head buzzing with so many thoughts and feelings that you were no closer to understanding. And apparently, your sister knew that. She laid down beside you, both of you on your sides facing each other.

“How you feeling?” she asked, basically whispering.

You whispered back: “Like shit. I dunno what to do.”

“Do you wanna do something about it?” her hand found yours under the covers.

“I don’t think there is something to be done about it, Robs. They’re dating.”

You both went quiet for a few minutes. You were trying not to cry, but your sister’s caresses on your palm and the warmth of the blankets around you were making it very hard.

“I really thought Steve liked you, you know?”

“What?”

Robin smiled sweetly at you. “Yeah, he would constantly bring you up on random conversations at work. Wanted to include you in every plan we made,” she paused just for a minute. “But, in hindsight… he did that with Eddie too.”

“Well, Eddie reciprocated him faster. And made his move, so there’s nothing I can do about it now. And I’m happy for them, I really am. They look - they are! So happy together. This,” you gesticulated around yourself, “just some goddamn sour grapes. It’ll pass.”

“Yeah, it will,” she got closer to you and hugged you, and you finally let your tears drop.

“Might take some time. Might take some distance,” you sniffled. “But it’ll pass.”

-x-x-x-

You were serious about the distance.

So you tried to steer clear of Family Video, except on days you knew Steve didn’t have shifts on. You thanked every god and the universe that none of the bands you liked released anything so you wouldn’t have to go to Eddie’s work to buy new vinyls or tapes. You’d see them on the streets and take a detour, a longer route home, walked into stores so they wouldn’t see you back.

Robin noticed, of course, she knew you like the palm of her own hand, but she didn’t comment on it. She would invite you to movie sessions with her and Vickie and would hold herself so they wouldn’t be too touchy and accidentally make you feel bad. Not that you would actually care. It wasn’t them you were in love with, your bitterness was not that big.

You even tried to go on dates of your own, tried to force the crushes out of your system. People who’d ask for your number at work, one of your coworkers, even someone that started a conversation about mayonnaise on the market aisle once. But none of them were nice enough, or funny enough, or sweet enough, or snarky enough, or caring enough, or Steve enough, or Eddie enough.

You felt like the biggest idiot in the County.

You couldn’t hide from them forever, though. You couldn’t hide from them at your monthly get-together. Especially when it was being held at the Munsons’ new apartment - mostly financed by government hush money.

And you were avoiding Steve, Robin - his other soulmate - wasn’t. Therefore, it wasn’t a huge surprise when he pulled up on your driveway to give you and your sister a ride to his boyfriend’s house that night. You tried your best not to act like an asshole, but as you sat in the backseat you knew you were quieter than normal. You could feel Steve’s eyes on you through the rearview mirror at every stop at a red light. He didn’t ask, though. He just kept listening to your sister’s rambles.

But, after he rang the intercom and Eddie opened the gateway and Robin ran up the stairs, you tried to follow her but Steve stopped you with a weak tug on your arm. You turned to him.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his hazel eyes filled with worry. You softened.

“I’m good Stevie, can’t wait to see Eddie’s apartment, shall we?” you tried to get past the conversation, but he didn’t let go of your arm.

“You know you can talk to me if something’s wrong, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. Seriously, don’t worry. Let’s go, Eddie must be wondering where we are already,” you pulled your arm with strength enough to be released from his grip and went up the stairs without waiting for an answer. You heard him sigh, though.

When you reached Eddie’s floor, he was standing in the doorway. “There you are! For a second I thought you’d bail on me, babe,” he said, and if you had ever heard him call Steve babe you could swear he was talking to his boyfriend. But he only ever called you babe.

He pulled you in for a hug, and you squeezed your eyes shut at the smell of his cologne, the way his hair tickled your nose, the way his cold rings felt against your warm skin, and how he was tracing circles with his thumb on your shoulder.

This was way too hard.

You gently pushed him away, ending the hug faster than you really wanted it to end, and looked at his face. “Give me the tour, will you?”

He grinned widely at you, but you didn’t miss the questioning look he threw Steve behind you before he turned and started showing you the apartment. Dustin, Max, and the Sinclairs were already there - Steve picked them up before he did it with Robin and you.

It wasn’t a huge apartment, but it was enough for Eddie and Wayne. They had a fairly big living/dining room, separate from the kitchen, and two bedrooms now. Eddie’s room was already filled with posters on its walls and ceiling, the usual mess the boy used to make already scattered on the floor. Sweetheart had her special spot on the wall too, looking as beautiful as ever.

As you went back to the living room, complimenting and congratulating Eddie on the house, Nancy arrived with Mike and the Byers siblings. As a heartwarming gift, you had all agreed to participate in a campaign that day, even Steve, Max, and Nancy went for it - after lots of bribery, but still. You had always been curious about it, so it didn’t take much to convince you too.

So you all gathered around the dining room, pulled out your character sheets - the kids helped you create your own characters along the month - and settled for what you knew were hours of adventure. And some (a lot of) bickering.

The one-shot campaign was a success. Eddie was a great DM - not that you knew a lot about that, but it felt like he was a great DM. He said he had some insights from Will, who looked very proud of the help he provided. Everyone seemed to have a good time, even Nancy, Steve, and Max who reluctantly smiled their way through the campaign. Dustin had a blast that his favorite humans were together and enjoying the same things at the same time. Your characters saved the day in the end and it felt rewarding.

Mr. Sinclair had passed by and taken both his kids, plus Dustin and Max, home. Vicky was on her way there to get Robin and you. Nancy and Jonathan, in the living room talking to El, were waiting for their brothers, who were in Eddie’s room talking to both him and Steve.

As you were coming back from the bathroom, you couldn’t help but listen to the conversation.

“…so yeah, Will, it’s absolutely okay to like boys,” Eddie’s voice wasn’t loud, but you were just by the door so it was clear enough for you to hear.

“And how did you know you liked both?” Mike asked.

Steve cleared his throat and before you could pry even longer into their conversation, you passed by to the living room, sitting beside your sister on the couch, arms crossed.

“Okay?” Robin asked, and you nodded. El looked at you in that curious stare she had, and Nancy pretended not to notice. Jonathan was staring at the wall. Probably high out of his mind, and missing Argyle.

You poked on your cuticles until the LGBT lecture for the baby gays was over, and the four boys walked out of Eddie’s room. You smiled as sweetly as you could at Will and Mike - Will smiled back, but Mike seemed kinda shocked and so his smile was more of a grimace. Poor boy needed time to settle into his self-discovery, apparently.

“Shall we?” Nance asked and El and Jon got up from where they were sitting on the floor. They all said their goodbyes to Steve and Eddie before getting out.

A few minutes passed by in awkward silence, you and Robin sitting on the couch, the boys standing up in the middle of the living room, no sign of Vickie. You could see your sister and Steve having a weird telekinetic conversation, you knew he was the other third of her soul, and was already fearing for your life because your sister was known to make stupid-ass decisions.

“I’m gonna take a wee!” aaand there she goes.

She got up way too fast and you couldn’t hold her arm to force her to stay, and so you saw yourself alone with. The boys you liked. It was like your body was preparing itself to ignite into explosive inside-out combustion, a mantra rolling in your head repeatedly ‘calm the fuck down, breathe in-breath out, calm the fuck down!’, not helping very much but you still tried.

Eyes closed, you felt the couch sinking as they both sat beside you. You took a glance and Steve was directly to your right, Eddie beside him, both of them sharing another silent conversation before Steve turned back to you.

“So-” your attempt at cutting the ice was cut out.

“I like you,” Steve blurted. Your eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

“Steve, what the fuck, Eddie’s sitting right there,” you discreetly pointed at the other boy, your voice somehow caught between a yell and a whisper. Eddie wiggled his fingers at you.

“Yeah, he’s part of the conversation?” Steve answered, sort of asked, and you couldn’t be more confused.

“What.”

“We both like you,” Eddie joined, scooting closer to Steve, making Steve scoot closer to you, making you scoot a little backward.

What the fuck was going on.

“You. Both? Like me?” they just eagerly nodded. “Well, that’s fucking weird. Like, not normal. At all.”

“Is it, though?” Steve asked, no malice in his voice, eyes full of affection. “You like the both of us. Is that weird?”

“WHAT-how-what-no?! What! ROBIN?” your eyes went straight to the little corridor leading to the bathroom where your apparently betrayer of a sister was, and you could swear you heard some thumping coming from that direction.

Steve stretched out his arms, ready to touch you before he gave up. You couldn’t decide if you felt grateful or sorrowful. “No, your sister didn’t betray you. She didn’t have to tell me, I can tell when people like me.”

“You couldn’t tell with me,” Eddie pitched in, and you suddenly remembered he was there. Quieter, probably for the first time in his life. Why was he so quiet?

Steve rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s remark. “Yeah, okay, I said people, not big ass confusing nerds.”

“Are you telling me they’re not big ass nerd?” Eddie pointed at you, but you were still in too much shock to even process what he was saying.

Steve looked at you again, his eyes going back to that affection you saw before, and he called your name sweetly, and you had absolutely no idea what that conversation was and what you were supposed to tell them because, yeah, you liked them, but what? They liked you? And what the hell were you all supposed to do with that?

You didn’t have to answer, though, because Robin got out of the bathroom and Wayne walked in through the front door, and Steve and Eddie scooted backward again, and you got up faster than your sister did with her ‘wee’ whatever.

“Robin let’s fucking go goodnight mister Munson nice to see ya bye boys what the fuck!” you didn’t stop to hear any of their answers, nor for Robin to catch up to you, nor to take a fucking breath, and just bolted down the stairs.

You had a lot of thinking to do that night, wrangled up in your sheets, a PB&J sandwich by your nightstand, Robin probably cuddled up to you.

What the fuck.

-x-x-x-

Two whole weeks passed by.

You continued on your ‘avoid them at any costs’ plan, even though Robin was all up in your ass bugging you to talk to them, even though you told her you didn’t know what to say, even though she practically gave you a scripted speech, even though she tried to convince you it couldn’t go wrong, even though she was most probably right, even though she kept saying Steve and Eddie were in sour moods, even though you felt like shit for making them sour. Because you still had no idea what to say.

But you were also in a sour mood, because you missed them, and because you didn’t understand but you wanted to understand, and because your crush was probably more than a crush, and you really wanted to see where all of this could go even though you have never heard or seen anything like this. Deep down in the confusing fortresses of your heart, you were willing to be a pioneer on that matter. Even if you very likely wouldn’t pioneer shit.

And so when your feet automatically walked six blocks from your work to Family Video on a random Tuesday after your shift, and your heart unclenched a little bit when you saw both Steve’s bimmer and Eddie’s van - and no sign of Robin’s bike -, and when you walked in and saw it with our very own two eyes that even though they were clearly happy to be around each other - Eddie bugging Steve in his closing shift - it felt like something was missing there, and you desperately clung to the idea that what was missing was you.

“How’d you talked about this?” you asked, their heads turning to the sound of your voice, Steve instantly letting go of the broom he was swiping the floor with, Eddie instantly standing up from where he was all slouched over the counter.

“This… what?” Steve asked, his eyes avoiding yours for a second to look outside from the glass doors. You turned around and switched the plate from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. Fuck Keith if he complained Steve closed half an hour earlier.

“This. You liking me. How did you get to that subject, and then decided to bring it up with me?” you pointedly looked at Eddie. He was way too quiet last time. You needed to hear him saying.

He apparently understood you just fine, “I brought it up. Even before we agreed we were each other’s boyfriends, I asked Steve something similar, how did he know he liked me, and he told me how confused he was because he liked both me and you,” he said.

You gulped and tried not to deflate.

“And Eddie said, quote-unquote, ‘fuck yeah they’re the best, I really think I like them too’. And we didn’t do much about it, because we didn’t think there was anything to be done, and soon we were serious about each other. Until Eddie took us to a gay bar he used to go to in Indy,” you think you remembered Robin talking about this to Vickie someday, their plans on going too.

“And we talked to some of the people I knew from other times, and we ended up talking about you a few drinks down, and. Apparently, there are people who date more than one person. And it’s okay,” Eddie shrugged as if it was nothing, a shy smile on his lips, and you hadn’t noticed but you were all a few steps closer to each other. Steve’s broom forgotten on the floor, both of the boys’ eyes on you, adoringly, sweet as fucking candy, a whole conversation they had about you with strangers at a gay bar in Indianapolis.

“I need to sit down.”

Steve brought you a cup of water, and Eddie was sitting beside you on the ‘employees only’ room couch in the back of Family Video. Fucking ‘employees only’ back room. Eddie wasn’t sitting too close, but he wasn’t far, and that was comforting.

You gulped down the water in practically one go and settled the cup on the side table. Scooted a little closer to Eddie, patted down on your other side, Steve followed your command and sat down too. You couldn’t look at them, though, not yet.

“You did your research”, your voice was quieter than you wished.

There goes being a pioneer, you guess.

“We weren’t even looking for it, the information just literally landed on our laps,” Steve said.

“We were just rambling on and on about the person we both like. A lot,” Eddie smirked, but there was no real danger in his smile, never was. Your shoulders decompressed a little, and it was like they were both waiting for that to scoot a bit closer. Eddie’s hands just beside your thigh, Steve’s arm draping behind you on the couch.

A few minutes passed by, your mind a whole mess of a race, but they waited patiently for your next question. “How would that even work?”

“Like any other relationship. Except it’s three of us instead of two. And we can have dates, no one will know it’s a date besides us, it’s what Eddie and I already do, people think we’re just two guys being bros. We will look like three friends hanging out, but we will know.”

“And we can sit next to each other and hold hands, hidden under the diner table, we can have a whole schedule,” Eddie joked, you chuckled, and he held your hand. You let him. Squeezed his fingers with your own. “And sometimes we can go to Indy and we don’t have to hide there.”

“Or we can have home dates, and Eddie can cook, and I can bake, and you can just sit there and look pretty as you do,” Steve’s fingers grazed on the nape of your neck. You got goosebumps.

“Are you saying I can’t cook?”

“Well, last time your lasagna was not that good-” you let go of Eddie’s hand to swat at his thigh, and he laughed out loud. “Just kidding, babe, it’s just cause we wanna treat ya,” you quickly held his hand back.

“You know how Eddie likes to treat the ones he cares about,” Steve said, and you remembered your conversation at the movie, that day.

“Did you plan that movie? When Robbie had ‘diarrhea’?” Steve’s cheeks turned instantly pink, and you and Eddie both snickered at that.

“Stevie might have begged your sister to leave,” there was so much fondness in Eddie’s voice, and you noticed just then, how much fondness was in the voice he used to talk to you, too. “You make him nervous, you see.”

Steve’s ramblings made more sense.

“You make him nervous too, he’s just the weird kind of nervous,” Steve remarked, and now Eddie’s quietness the other day made more sense too.

God, you had been oblivious.

“And we can make this work? You really think we can make this work?” you asked, still unsure. Okay, you weren’t a pioneer, but you still had never heard of this before.

“We can totally make this work, babe. I swear to you is not as complicated as it seems. Is just-” he interrupted himself, thought for a second, his eyes staring intensely into yours, vulnerable, a little pleading, decided to go with it: “Well, it can be just love.”

Eddie’s words echoed in your head for what felt like a long time. Not a fucking crush, oh no. You knew them too well for that. You knew yourself too well for that. All of the fear washed in a wave out of you, and you sighed a happy sigh.

Just love.

Felt right.

“Feels right,” you said, feeling Steve’s forehead thumping on your shoulder, his fingers getting lost in your hair, he was closer than before.

Eddie was closer than before, you looked at him, his nose touching yours, his breath tickling your skin, suddenly his lips on yours, and your whole body collapsed into him, your fingers still tightly holding onto his, your free hand searching behind you for Steve’s hand, Eddie’s free hand in your face, cradling your jaw, so gentle, his lips so soft even though you knew he had a habit of picking on the skin there, but he was so soft, so soft, so soft.

Steve’s lips were on your neck, and suddenly you switched it up, let go of Eddie’s lips, turned your head, now Eddie’s lips on your neck, your lips on Steve’s, he was soft, you knew he liked Chopstick, he was real soft, but his fingers on your neck, tugging on your hair, his hands on yours, he was a bit frantic, not as slow, not as gentle, just as sweet, sweet as fucking candy, and you were going into a sugar-coma, head spinning, breath caught, couldn’t wait to do this over, and over, and over, and hiding in a diner, and in a gay club in Indy, and in your house, and their house, in their beds, or your couch, and over and over and over again, dizzy with all the expectations because you felt it, right through those kisses: you could make this work.

You would make this work.

It was working already.

“Looks good,” he complimented, and you hummed in appreciation, finishing off the last details, uncurling your spine and handing Steve the doodle before jumping to sit beside him.

Who cares if you were standing with your backs to the door? The store had a bell for that reason.

Steve carefully folded the doodle and placed it on his back pocket, like he’d do with every drawing you gave him. You gave him every drawing precisely for the fact that he kept them all - you saw them, once, when you drank too much and passed out in his couch after a get together. You woke up in his bed, all your drawings glued to the wall beside some Polaroids of your friends and the children you babysat - barely children anymore, but whatever.

You didn’t mention them once you went down the stairs and found him, Robin and Eddie in a huge hangover in the kitchen. But you could tell he understood the fondness in your eyes.

“We should play a game,” he said, after a few minutes of silence. He always did that, you were just waiting for the suggestion to come.

“Which one this time?”

“How ‘bout, Fuck, Marry, Kill?” you sneaked a sideways glance at him, not missing the smirk on his lips.

“Feeling naughty, Stevie?”

“Shut up,” he snickered. “Okay, you first since I came up with the idea. Michael J. Fox, Tom Cruise, Jude Law. Go.”

“You came up with that way too fast,” you joked, and he shrugged, not looking at all embarrassed. “Okay, I’d fuck Jude Law, I mean, have you seen him? Michael J. is the marriage kind, so dreamy! And I’d kill Tom Cruise, I’m not into military propaganda.”

“Valid,” he answered, laughing a little bit. “You also came up with those answers way too fast.”

“What can I say, I’m a made-up-mind kinda gal. Okay, your turn: Molly Ringwald, Carrie Fisher, Jennifer Grey.”

“That’s a hard one,” you nodded in agreement. “Uh… Fuck Jennifer, she probably has the nice flexibility thing to her body. Marry Carrie, she’s the nicest one ever. I’d have to kill Molly. Sorry, Molly. She reminds me of Carol too much, so I don’t actually feel that bad. Not into the preppy girl type anymore.”

You both laughed and continued the game for a few more rounds. You had to chose between names such as Van Halen, Bowie, Sting, John Taylor, Keanu and Ralph Macchio; and made Steve chose between Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett, Geena Davis, Kate Bush, Olivia Newton-John and some others.

It was fun. Steve Harrington was a fun guy. He’d always come up with ways for you to spend time and make it pass by faster in your Tuesday shifts, and you were always thankful for that.

“Okay, I’m going nuts now,” he announced after a quiet time. “How about… fuck, marry, kill: me, Eddie and Jonathan?”

Your eyes almost poppet out of their sockets.

“Stephen! I can’t answer that, ew, no!” you screamed, and he laughed at your antics as you got out of the counter.

“Why not, C’mon, don’t be a coward!”

“I’m not being a coward, but you’re all my friends, I can’t choose! Even less in front of you!” you were only 50% freaking out, the other 50 was finding the whole thing kinda funny.

But you really couldn’t answer that. Oh, no, that would turn the conversation into a completely awkward one.

“Oh, so if it was Robin or Nancy asking, you would’ve answered?” he accused, in a knowing tone, smirk playing at his lips. Bastard.

“Well, yeah, maybe okay? Don’t look at me like that!” you pointed a finger at him and he put both his hands up as if in surrender. “It’s just, it’s a basic sleepover play, yeah?! We’ve all been there.”

“So you’ve played this already at a sleepover, is that what I’m hearing?” he cackled. “Did you answer then?”

“Doesn’t matter, Harrington, if I answered it then, ‘cause I’m not answering it now!” with crossed arms, and fighting not to let a smile out, you stood your ground.

“Okay, you’re a coward. Okay,” he also jumped off the counter, and leaned into it, hands on his hips - his usual mom stance. “Okay. I’ll go then! Between the three of you-”

“STEVE! I don’t wanna know!” you all but yelled, you should leave, really, afraid his answer would actually harm you, but you couldn’t because you also wanted to know.

“I DON’T CARE!” he yelled back, laughing. “I’d kill Robin, obviously, I can’t pick any other choice, I’d fuck Nancy-”

There it was.

“Ugh, you’ve already fucked her multiple times, it doesn’t count,” you murmured, rolling your eyes, suddenly all the humor in you evaporating.

“Woman, listen to me, I’d marry you!” he came closer, his hands in your arms in a firm but soft touch. You almost didn’t notice, but he was shaking, just a little bit. “I would marry you.”

Suddenly, he wasn’t joking anymore. I mean, yeah, there was still a gleam of humor in his eyes, but there was also… honesty. He was being painfully honest.

Your arms uncrossed all by themselves, standing loose on your sides, your eyes wide and your mouth dry.

“What are you saying?” you asked, teary-eyed, afraid you were misunderstanding.

“I’m saying I would marry you, because I know you, and I wanna get to know you even more, because I l-like you, and I wanna grow that feeling, because I can see a future with you by my side and I’m sorry if that’s way too forward, but I wanna be honest here, and I’m sorry that was the only way I could come up with, with something to break the ice first, but. That’s what I’m saying.”

His cheeks were flushed, and you connected the dots between his love marks with your eyes, and you connected the words he said to the way he was looking at you, all tenderness, as if you hung the moon all the way up in the sky, and he was beaming - beaming like the fucking ray of sunshine you knew he was, and Steve. Liked you.

He liked you.

Feeling like walls were tumbling down inside of your chest, you couldn’t help but throw yourself into him, hugging him tightly by the waist and he wasted no time before tangling his fingers in your hair and kissing your forehead with the gentlest of touches.

“I like you too, Stevie. Didn’t ever wanna say it, afraid you wouldn’t say it back. But you light up my Tuesdays. And all my days,” you were saying it pressed to his Family Video vest, the smell of laundry softener and expensive cologne and hairspray and the smell of Steve invading your senses. “Thank you for being braver than me and saying it first. I don’t wanna be nowhere else but beside you.”

You could swear you heard him sob, but you closed your eyes before you could check it, giving space between you, just enough space so you could cradle his face in your hands and kiss him. He tasted faintly of strawberry, and you knew he used just a little bit of ChapStick every morning to keep his lips moisturized - and, goddammit, it worked. He had soft, velvety lips that wrapped around yours gently, savoring the kiss as if he was savoring the most delicious of meals. His hands now in your hips, holding tightly, not willing to let you move, to let you go.  He shouldn’t worry about that. You weren't planning on going anywhere.

You kissed for what felt like ages, making up for the lost time, for all the time you had been his, he had been yours, and you both had no idea about it. You only split up when a car seemed to stop outside - you remembered a Xanadu tape, scheduled for return that day. You caressed his cheek and opened your eyes, foreheads touching, catching your breath, and he was looking at you with so much adoration in his eyes you could’ve sworn you were melting.

“Who would you fuck, after all?” he asked, probably understanding the implied answer that you would marry him too. You chuckled, giving it a thought.

“Hm. Jonathan.”

“Sweetcheeks,” he called you, making you swoon internally. “Come in, come in, I’m gonna get the popcorn ready.”

You followed him in, left your bags near the couch before meeting him by the kitchen counter. He was searching through the cabinets trying to find the popcorn, his wet hair dripping and dampening his shirt. You rested your head in your fist over the counter, couldn’t help but watch him as he moved frantically all over the place. His high energy levels, so contrasting to your own calm demeanor, felt so… right, somehow.

He stopped suddenly.

Turned around slowly, a pot lid in his hand, and faced you with narrowed eyes.

Sniffed the air, like a goddamn dog.

“Is this you?” he asked. You felt like a deer caught in headlights, afraid your heart eyes were too obvious.

“Is what me?”

“This smell, it’s- Is it you?” he came closer, set the lid down in the counter, went around it and sniffed your hair. “It is you!” pointing an accusing finger at you, eyes wide now, as if you had done something wrong.

Maybe you did. “Do you hate it?” you asked, voice low, clutching your hands together and looking at the bag by the couch where you knew your new perfume was in, the source of all your problems, the demise of your life, the fall of your empire-

“Are you insane, it smells amazing!” he pulled you into a tight hug and buried his face in your neck, pulling in a deep breath.

You got instant goosebumps, your arms immovable from the strength he was hugging you, breath caught in your throat.

“Jesus fucking Christ, sweets, where’d you got this?” his voice was raspy, and right next to your ear, and you gulped hard, trying not to freak out at his closeness.

Yes, Eddie was a touchy guy. You’ve always known, it was an obvious trait of his. From the pats on Steve’s shoulders and back, to the ruffling of Robin’s hair and the hugs he gave Dustin by the end of every Hellfire session; Eddie’s love for his friends was always shown through touch. With you it was no different - he would hug you hello and goodbye, would stretch his arm around you on the couch, would lay in your lap and beg you to run your hands through his hair.

It didn’t mean it was easy for you. It was actually very, very hard. Every. Time.

Because he would always smell so good, a mix of mint shampoo and weed smoke, and his skin callouses would tickle and scratch you just right, and you would fall just a little bit more every time. At some point, one of these days, you would have to stop calling it a crush and name it properly, admit to yourself that you wanted your best friend to be so much more. That you wanted those already intimate touches to grow even more intimate, that you wanted to feel his skin against yours with no other barriers between you, that you wanted to know the taste of his tongue on yours.

You spiraled down into all those thoughts and barely noticed the pressure of his hug softening until he no longer had his nose glued to your neck. But the gentle blow of his breath hitting your cheek set your vision back into focus, and his face was not as nearly as far away as you wished it was. Which, of course, just made it all harder.

“You okay there?” you asked, voice unsteady, eyes trained to keep looking into his, to not give in to your wishes of looking at his lips. Not sure if you were asking him or yourself.

“You. Smell. So. Good. It’s not fair,” was his answer, and unlike yours, his eyes were traveling all over your face.

“I got a new perfume at the mall today.”

“Hm, did you, now?” his smirk looked like trouble, it always did, and this time you couldn’t help but stare at it. “It was a good choice. I don’t think I wanna let you go, from how good you smell,” his fingers tightened around your hips, his eyes closed and he took a deep breath once again. “I want that smell all over the house, sweets. I want it all over my clothes. This shit’s more addicting than nicotine.”

You giggled, “Stop that. I can buy you a bottle too if you like it so much,” your hands toying with the hem of his shirt.

“Fuck no, it wouldn’t smell as good. It’s your skin, what makes the combo,” his eyes still closed, he shortened the distance between you again, his nose running up your cheek, his hand running up your arm, in such sweet caresses it almost made your eyes water.

“Eddie…” you pleaded, the lack of distance between you numbing your senses, you wanted him so bad, and he had no idea what he was doing to you.

“Yeah, baby?” the new nickname, whispered so softly right next to your ear, was the drop of water to break the dam. You gently pushed him back, causing him to open his eyes at last, those huge brown eyes of his that could make you do anything for him.

“I-I’m sorry, I can’t do this. You can’t do this to me, Eddie.”

“What are you talking about?” he tried to come near you again, but you took a step back. Small - you didn’t want to distance yourself from him, but his closeness was making you dizzy. He seemed hurt.

“There’s no way you don’t know what I’m talking about. There’s no way you don’t know the effect you have on me,” trying your best not to let your voice fail, not to let the frustrated tears fall. Eddie seemed genuinely confused, though.

“I have an… effect on you?! As in like, a sexual effect on you?” his eyes were cartoonishly wide, and you almost laughed at the way he was phrasing his words.

“No! Well, yeah, that too, but that’s not the main thing-”

“Excuse me?!”

“Eddie, let me finish!” he mimicked zipping his mouth closed and throwing away the key, but you could see that, despite his fake calm demeanor, his hands were shaking. “I am… in love with you. Okay?” you decided to rip off the band-aid all at once. “I’m in love with you and this that you’re doing, that you do constantly, is not helping me. And it’s not your fault, it really isn’t, because the way you’re so obsessed with physical contact is precisely one of the reasons that made me fall in love with you, but it just makes it harder for me, because I fall harder for you with every single touch.”

You let it all out in basically one breath like you were exorcising it out of you, not that it was a bad thing per se, but it was consuming you and all of your thoughts and driving you slowly insane.

Eddie had zipped his mouth closed, but it was now open in a shocked expression, those huge brown eyes even huger and he was not moving at all. It was honestly kind of scary.

“Look, you don’t have to change your ways, I’ll just distance myself, and you don’t have to say anything, I know you don’t feel the same way so you don’t have to say it back or anything, anyway I’ll just see myself out, I’m so sorry I ruined movie night-” you couldn’t stop the tears anymore as you headed to your bags by the cough, to get the fucking perfume that triggered all of this mess in the first place, you were kidding about your falling empire, but losing Eddie because of your stupid, unrequited feelings really felt like a tragic fucking story.

“NO!” he grabbed you by the arm when you passed through him on your way to the door, him finally snapping back into reality. “What, no, what are you talking about, I don’t feel the same? Fucking god up in the fucking sky, baby, how can you be so oblivious?”

You were the one shocked this time, as he took your bags from your fingers and delicately set them back on the floor beside your feet, hands cupping your face, touching your foreheads together.

“I’m entirely, unreservedly, far gone, topsy-turvy, head over heels, à corps perdu in love with you. How do you not see it?” As he said it, you saw it. In the way his eyes gleamed towards you, the way his cheeks turned pink, the way he was drawing circles with his thumbs against your skin - so softly, as if he was afraid he’d break you like porcelain.

Of all the times he’d hug you hello and goodbye, just a tidbit longer than he would hug everyone else. Of all the times he’d stretch his arm around you on the couch, touch your shoulder with just the tip of his fingers, thread them at the base of your neck in such a gentle caress you could almost not feel it. Of all the times he’d lay in your lap and beg you to run your hands through his hair, the hair he’d spend products and hours to make look like it was effortlessly styled in that rockstar wavy aura, the hair he wouldn’t let anyone else touch.

You were as blind as a mole. That made you laugh.

“I’m gonna say it right the fuck back, baby. I love you too,” he said it right back, before his lips found yours, the scent of your new perfume building up your new empire, not an empire, a home for him right in the center of your heart.

And maybe, just maybe, he’d see your sexy lacy lingerie set sooner rather than later.

---

You still didn’t want to open your eyes.

“Outside-”

“I know, baby, outside clothes. We have a change for you,” Steve interrupted you before you could complain. You chuckled and heard Eddie chuckling too as he closed the door to the room. “Eds, come on.”

“Coming, dear,” you giggled again at Eddie’s response to Steve, the ironic but still tender tone of his voice.

Steve was still holding your waist, your own hands still on his shoulder helping with your balance as you felt Eddie opening your pants and pulling them down your legs. He gently tapped each of your legs, one at a time, to pull the pants out and replace them with a pair of his boxers. Then, he also gently pushed you to sit down by the edge of the bed, making you let go of Steve in the process. But you could still feel the warmth of his closeness. Eddie pulled your shirt up your arms and replaced them with one of his own, and you didn’t open your eyes to see which band it was about, but could still smell the cheap but still fresh scented fabric softener Eddie used in his laundry, and it was comforting.

“Can lie down now, love,” he said, and carefully pushed you until you had the back of your head on a pillow. “Be right back.”

You felt his departure, heard as he and Steve changed their own clothes, the soft sound of fabrics folding, the opening and closing of drawers, Eddie tumbling into something by the floor and holding onto his cabinet to stop the fall. Heard as they mumbled things to each other, terms of endearment slipping out of their tongues with ease, could feel the love - so much love - surrounding the three of you in Eddie’s tiny space.

Steve’s house, room, and bed were bigger, but you - the three of you - felt much more at home at Eddie’s where you could be pressed to each other as tightly as physics would allow.

And Steve and Eddie came to each side of you, the bed under your body moving as they stumbled across the mattress, careful not to disturb you. And they did just that - they pressed themselves against you as tightly as humanly possible, and you could hear, smell, feel every inch of their bodies glued to yours.

“How you feeling?” Eddie's voice was low, not his usual, by your left. You mumbled something in response, not entirely sure what, something about being tired but comfortable. “We’re gonna wake you up in a couple of hours to take your medicine, okay?” he asked again, and you just nodded.

Steve had your right hand in his, giving you a massage through your fingers, helping you relax. Eddie started humming to you, a song he hated but knew you loved, and you could almost cry from so much tenderness.

The haziness was coming back, your brain starting to shut down to a much-needed rest, and you didn’t have to open your eyes once but could still feel your boys all around you, caring for you, singing to you. Their arms over your middle, their hands intertwined on top of your skin, Eddie’s fingers lost in your hair, Steve’s lips caressing your swollen cheeks. You felt like heaven.

Months ago you had trusted them with your life, and now you continued to trust them with your eyes closed - figuratively and literally - as they kept taking care of you, choosing you over and over again just the same as you chose and kept choosing them.

“It’s happened before?” he questioned.

“Yeah. With me in it, two times already. I’ve heard it from five other neighbors too,” you said, remembering how much Ms. Durvall from sixth floor yelled when she complained about it. She gave you the creeps. “You’re new here? Or visiting?”

“Uh, new. Moved in with two friends, we just got to the city a week ago. We’re from a- what are you doing?” he stopped his life story when he saw you sitting down.

“I’ve pressed the help button,” you nodded to a little button pressed all the way in the control panel. “Don’t know what it does, maybe it calls the fireman? But, anyway, it’s gonna take some time. Maybe a few hours.”

“A FEW- Jesus, Robin’s gonna kill me,” he hid his face behind his hands, and you had to suppress a giggle at how adorable his whine sounded.

“Don’t worry, your girlfriend will understand when she finds out you had no choice but to stay stuck in an elevator,”

“I’m not so sure, she’s terrified of elevators, told me to get the stairs. She’ll probably be all like, ‘oh, I told you so!’. Ah, and not my girlfriend. She’s actually dating our other roommate,” he said as he sat down too, pressed against the other metallic wall, facing you.

“What floor are you guys in?”

“Eight.”

“And she goes up the stairs every time?” You didn’t know whether to be scared or admired.

“Yeah. Got some killer calves,” he smiled. “We have a terrible history with getting stuck on elevators. I worked my ways through… well, a lot of therapy. Now I can ride them again after a few years, but she never got past it. I can understand why.”

He said it in such a way that you didn’t feel like prying. There was something else in that story, something he probably didn’t wanna talk about, so you didn’t ask.

“You guys from around here?” you asked instead. You were going to be stuck for a while there, it wouldn’t hurt to make some small talk and get to know your pretty new neighbor.

“No, actually, we’re all the way from Indiana. Small town,” he shrugged.

“Why San Francisco?” you asked, and he searched for something in your eyes, your face, before answering.

“It’s safer,” he answered only, again not giving you space to ask further. Maybe he didn’t find what he was looking for. “You’re from here?

“Born and raised, yeah.” You went quiet for a little while, trying to come up with something to talk about. Then, you noticed: “I don’t know your name yet.”

“I don’t know your name either.” He smirked. “I'm Steve.”

You introduced yourself and Steve asked more about you. You lost track of time talking to him, learning how charming he could be, but also really funny — in a bitchy way. He talked about Robin, his best friend and platonic soulmate, and their friend Nancy, who he used to date but now they’re great friends (you got the impression that Nancy was the other roommate that Robin was dating, but didn’t ask, not wanting to make him uncomfortable). He told you about two other friends of theirs who lived back in Sacramento, one who lived in LA, and a bunch of other younger friends who were scattered around the country all chasing their dreams. Talked about his work as a school counselor, how it took him some long years to figure out what he wanted to do professionally.

You told him about yourself too, answered everything he asked honestly and openly. Talked about your job, your own roommate, your other friends and family. Gave him tips on the best places to visit and shop in the city, ways for him and his roommates to contour the ‘new citizens’ weird phase. You talked about music, movies, books, food, your favorites and the ones you hated, anything you’d come up with.

He was sweet and charismatic, and always found new topics for you to talk about. He read you like a book, figuring you out in no time and swerving the conversations so easily. Flirted a lot too, which was great for your self-esteem.

He came closer at some point, sitting beside you, and then you faced each other more closely. And from that distance you could see every little detail in his pretty face, studied him with precision. You could look at him for however long, to be honest, and you wanted to memorize every tiny inch of what made him, him. The curves of his hair defying gravity, the scars on his forehead and nose, every little green spot in his hazel eyes. Count every and each one of his eyelashes, and get blinded by the way he smiled.

More than that, you could talk to him for however long, and you wanted to. Wanted to learn about all of his many friends, who he talked about with so much love in his voice, who all sounded like a big family to him. Wanted to learn the story with the elevator trauma, wanted him to trust you and open up to you, and wanted to do the same back with him.

It was weird to you, you’ve never felt this way before — so magnetically pulled to someone’s orbit. But Steve’s voice was like a Siren’s call, and there was a funny bubbling in your stomach that wanted and wanted and wanted him.

You never thought you’d be disappointed with the sounds of the elevator’s gears running again, and yet you hid a frown when the doors opened to show you a fireman, the building’s janitor and a tall, skinny girl with a strawberry blond bob pacing anxiously behind them.

“Steve! Oh, my god, Steve!” she said when she noticed you and Steve sitting on the floor, and she wasted no time getting past the other two men to throw herself at the one by your side. Robin, you figured. “You fucker, I told you to use the stairs!” you heard her saying, a little muffled from where her face was buried into Steve’s neck.

He looked at you over her shoulder and you smiled at the way he was right about her.

“I’m okay, Robs, I had good company. Didn’t even have time to get stressed,” he said, running his hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture, his eyes still on you, his smile just for you.

Robin sat up and looked at you, and you introduced yourself and she did the same. She thanked you for being there for Steve, as if it hadn’t been a total random accident, but you were also happy that you’ve met him. More happy that you could say out loud.

You all got up from the floor, left the elevator, and you offered a day to throw them a welcome diner, you’d invite your roommate and they could call their other friends. Robin seemed excited, all big gestures and loud voice. You liked her.

Goodbyes were said, you were going back to your place — through the stairs this time, thankfully you lived on the second floor — and they were going grocery shopping. Robin walked to the front door of your building, but Steve stayed planted in front of you for a while as you looked at each other and you tried not to smile too wide.

“Can I take you out on a date?” he asked after a while, fingers twitching and you wondered if he wanted to touch you. You wanted him to touch you.

“First one in the city?” you teased and he huffed a laugh while running his hand through his hair.

“One of many with you, I hope. No one else caught my eye, if I’m being honest.” The man was straight forward. You felt you cheeks burning, couldn’t hold back the wide grin anymore.

“You’ve been here just a week, Steve,” you said, warned him almost, because you wanted so much with him, and you were afraid of were this could go if it went wrong.

“Meh, it took me a while and some bumps to the head, but now I’m pretty good at knowing what I want. Don’t gotta search for so long anymore.” His eyes were staring deep into yours, and you felt his hand coming to find yours to hold.

You bit your lip and his eyes traced the movement, and there was a butterfly party in your stomach.

“Someone told me there’s a great restaurant just at the end of the street,” he said, referencing one of the tips you gave him early.

You laughed. “Yeah, okay. Take me out on a date, Steve. Next Friday?”

“I’ll be counting the days.” He took a step closer, his thumb was tracing patterns on the back of your hand and your skin was tingling. “Can’t believe I’m glad to have gotten stuck on an elevator. Well, create good memories to overlap the bad ones, I guess.”

“I’m looking forward to create other memories with you,” you almost whispered, because being that open was scary, and the way you wanted him so much was scary, but he smiled at you again and it was blinding in the best way.

“Me too, honey. See you around,” he said, before pressing a kiss on your still burning cheek, and you could smell his scent of soap and fabric softener, hairspray and fancy cologne, and you had to hold yourself back not to get buried in his skin.

God, it was pathetic how far gone you already was.

He walked away still facing you, holding your hand until the very last possible second before letting go, and you could hear Robin laughing in the background but you only had eyes for him.