Chapter Text
Eddie, of course, knew that he was supposed to be in his chemistry class. He intended on going, he really did. However, as he and Jeff made their way down the hallway together Eddie suddenly remembered exactly what day it was. And it was a very important day. So, he handed Jeff his completed homework assignment, begging him to turn it in for him, and he slipped out a side door to bolt across the parking lot towards his van.
Which is how he found himself pulling up in front of Family Video at one in the afternoon on a Monday.
He hopped out of the van, slamming the door loudly behind him before hurrying up to the door. Whether it was the excitement of seeing his boyfriend or to get out of the early December cold he would never tell. Inside he saw the place was almost completely devoid of life. He would have thought that it was abandoned had it not been for The Last Unicorn playing behind the counter.
Eddie hummed softly as he peered around the shelves. A wide grin broke out over his face when he spotted just the top of Steve's head towards the back of the store. He made his way over, and when he got closer he made it a point to stomp pretty heavily.
Steve must have felt the vibrations under his feet because he lifted his gaze to look right at Eddie as he approached. Fuck, why did he have to be wearing his glasses? He always looked so damn hot with the frames perched on his nose. Eddie shook his head to clear his head of those thoughts before he leaned on the cart in front of Steve.
He was met with a sigh from his boyfriend. "Eddie, aren't you supposed to be at school right now?" Steve asked as he turned to put a tape back on the shelf. Eddie waited for Steve to turn back to face him. When he did, he gave Steve his absolute best, most charming smile.
"How could I concentrate on chemistry when I just had to know how your doctor's appointment went?" Eddie asked, using his hands to sign as he spoke.
Eddie saw Steve roll his eyes but chose to ignore it. He grabbed the cart of tapes and excitedly shook it from side to side, causing at least two of the VHSs to topple to the floor. He quickly crouched down to pick them up off the ground, holding them up for Steve to take from him.
"It went… okay," Steve said softly, placing the cases where they went.
It felt like the air was let out of Eddie's sails. His shoulders slumped as he watched Steve walk off down the aisle. He could tell Steve wasn't telling him everything. He sighed softly as he walked around to the end of the aisle, putting himself in Steve's eye line.
"I have options," Steve finally said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Eddie raised his eyebrows, interest piqued, "What are those options?"
He watched as the muscle at the joint of Steve's jaw flexed under the skin. Eddie knew two things that Steve hated more than most anything else were going to the doctor and asking for help so he was aware that Steve was probably feeling more than a little stressed. He walked closer and reached out a hand to slip two fingers into Steve's belt loop on his jeans.
Eddie tugged a time or two until Steve stepped closer. They were at the back of the store in between two shelves, no one would see them back there.
"There's a surgical option to try and repair the little bones on my ear," Steve explained, his nose scrunched in distaste, "It might not be perfect but they'd expect pretty good results."
Eddie nodded his head encouragingly.
"There's also a group doing a study on a fully digital hearing aid. It's supposed to be able to be programmed to fit what I would need."
Eddie tried to keep his face neutral. He knew this was all Steve's decision, and he would be there to help out in whatever way Steve would let him. "Do you want to do either of those?" Eddie asked, moving just enough to make sure he was closer to Steve's right side.
Steve shrugged, "Surgery… I kind of hate that idea."
Eddie hummed softly as he nodded his head. After what happened to Steve in that interrogation under the mall he had a deep seated fear of any kind of extensive medical procedure or needles. Eddie had jokingly teased the idea of piercing Steve's ear back in October and he was sure Steve almost had a panic attack at the idea alone.
He watched Steve duck his head down as he let out a small sigh. Eddie tugged Steve just a little closer as he grabbed hold of Steve's other hand, running this thumb over the back of it until Steve looked back up at him.
"It's all up to you, pretty boy. If you don't want the surgery that's fine. If you want to try the hearing aid, that's great. One or the other, both, neither. It's your call. I'm just here for support."
Steve's face nearly melted into a puddle of mush and Eddie felt his heart clench beneath his ribcage. A smile slowly painted itself across Steve's face as he nodded slowly. God, Eddie wanted nothing more than to kiss the life out of him.
Without a second thought, Eddie let go of Steve's hand before reaching out to very obviously knock several tapes to their feet. Steve cocked an eyebrow at him and fuck Eddie was so stupidly in love with him. With an unimpressed eye roll, Steve crouched down to the ground.
Eddie quickly followed suit.
Both of their heads disappeared from over the shelves. They were practically invisible. Eddie smirked as he lifted his hands to grasp at the sides of Steve's jaw, thumbs pressing into his cheeks. Steve let out a small snort but allowed himself to be pulled closer until their lips met. He could feel Steve relax as his lips parted and his hands grabbed onto Eddie's leather jacket.
There was a soft sigh between them but Eddie honestly couldn't be sure who it had come from. He pressed closer to the kiss, wanting to devour Steve's lips as well as the rest of him. Although at the added pressure, Eddie could feel how unsteady Steve was as he was crouched and balanced on the balls of his feet.
Steve slowly pulled away from the kiss and had the dopey little grin that Eddie adored on his face.
"You should go back to school," Steve said in a low voice.
Eddie scoffed, "Why in the actual fuck would I do that?"
"Because the semester is almost over. You're doing so well and I don't want you to blow it and tank your senior year again."
"Hm. I'd rather blow something else," Eddie said as he wagged his eyebrows at Steve.
Steve rolled his eyes with a fond sort of smile, "Maybe that could be arranged if you get back in time for Spanish."
"You drive a hard bargain, Harrington," Eddie laughed as he released his hold on Steve.
He picked up the movies that he had unceremoniously pushed off the shelf before standing up. He carefully returned them to their rightful places and turned to see Steve was also standing again. Steve grabbed hold of Eddie's elbow, turned, and began to tow him along through the store towards the front door.
Eddie whined behind him, even if Steve couldn't hear him. Sometimes his theatrics were just for him. Steve came to a stop right in front of the doors before he looked back at Eddie with his eyebrows raised. The look was not totally dissimilar to the look he'd given Wheeler and Henderson two weeks ago when they'd broken a glass during an argument about the best spells to stock before a big standoff.
"Go to class. I get off at six tonight so you can come by my place around seven tonight if you want," Steve said as he folded his arms over his chest.
Eddie smirked filthily back at him, "And then we can revisit the blowing conversation?"
He'd be lying if he said he didn't love the way Steve's face flooded with such a pretty pink color whenever he blatantly flirted or made dirty comments. Eddie laughed and shook his head. "Fine, I'm going. But I want dinner and a movie," he said, batting his eyelashes way over the top.
Steve chuckled softly, "What movie?"
Eddie glanced around, his eyes landing on the screen behind the counter, "The Last Unicorn."
"Okay, fine. Now go back to school," Steve laughed as he playfully shoved at Eddie's arm.
Shaking his head, Eddie turned so that his back was flat against the door but he hadn't put any pressure on it to open it. He smiled warmly at Steve, feeling his heart skip a beat and his stomach flip happily.
"I love you," Eddie said as he held up a hand with just his middle and ring finger tucked down into his palm.
Steve blushed a deeper shade of red. He bit his bottom lip gently as he rolled his eyes at him. "I love you too, Eds," he said in a soft voice.
Eddie extended an arm so that he could press his thumb quickly against Steve's, giving him a wink. He then pushed back against the door, throwing it open, and spun out into the cold winter air. He cursed under his breath as he jogged back to his van, desperate to get the heat turned on.
He looked up once he was in the van to see Steve still at the door. Eddie gave him a small wave before he put the van into reverse so that he could pull out of the spot he'd parked in.
The drive back to school was fairly quick. It seemed that he had planned his little midday field trip pretty well, seeing as soon as he got out of the van he heard the bell ring. He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and all but ran back towards the school building. He wasn't watching where exactly he was going. When he threw open the door, he almost immediately ran right into Jason Carver.
The shorter boy shoulder checked Eddie, sending him stumbling to the side until he caught himself with a hand on the wall.
"Watch where you're going, freak," Jason sneered at him.
Eddie rolled his eyes, "Excuse me, your highness."
He walked away quickly, ignoring whatever Jason and his crowd of idiots were saying. Eddie just had one more class and then he could leave. He could go have band practice at Gareth's house. And then he could go have dinner with Steve. He took a deep breath as he walked into his Spanish class, all but throwing himself down into his chair.
Class, practice, Steve's.
Three things.
He could do this.