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Eddie leant against the counter, watching Steve pulling a tape at random from the shelf next to him.
“Oh, this one’s great. It’s a total Christmas classic,” he promised to the couple in front of him, paused to read its title, and plastered on a fake smile. “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
“What’s it about?” the girl asked.
Steve paused for a second, turned the tape around, and pretended he wasn’t reading the back of it while obviously doing so.
“It’s uhh, a musical! It’s about a family but I don’t want to spoil you too much. And…,” Steve gestured aimlessly with his other hand. “It’s got Judy Garland in it?”
Eddie supressed a laugh and glanced at Robin, intending to share his amusement, but Robin had something of a wistful look in her eye as she looked at Steve even as she smiled.
Surprised, Eddie glanced back at Steve. The customers had taken the tape and retreated further in the store to look at the other movies, but just as Steve sighed and turned to join his friends at the register, another customer started badgering him about Christmas movies too. Even across the room, Eddie could see the brief eyeroll Steve directed against the ceiling before following the customer to another shelf.
“Poor Steve,” Robin said. “I should go save him. But my shift ends in five minutes, and we’ve had that customer before. And holy shit is she picky. I swear every time I end up doing overtime, it’s because of her.”
Eddie cocked his head at the sorry look on Robin’s face.
“I’m sure he can handle her, he’s a big boy. Besides, I still have an hour until band practice, I can keep him company. Act menacing around the store to ward off customers that overstay their welcome. Help around.”
“But do you know anything about Christmas movies?” Robin asked sceptically.
“No. I was kidding about helping around,” Eddie said with a laugh.
“Well, neither does Steve,” Robin said, and lowered her voice. “He kind of hates Christmas.”
“Really?” Eddie wasn’t really that big on Christmas himself, what with some ‘memorable’ holidays with his parents in the past. Ones that usually ended with his dad piss-drunk and his mom smoking alone outside in the cold to avoid everyone, and Eddie in his room wishing he was with his uncle. The holidays improved a lot once living with Wayne, but neither wanted to make a big deal out of it, just eating and spending time together. Eddie never got all the artificial showing off that came with Christmas, the loudness and cheeriness of it all, the need to overdo everything lest the holidays aren’t perfect enough.
But he’d somehow assumed that Steve would like all that corny stuff. He was a total softie under all that sarcasm, that much he’d learned during the summer. But he hadn’t really considered that maybe this was one of those things where he ended up finding something in common with Steve again.
“Because of his parents, right?” Eddie realised.
“Yeah.” Robin sighed. “Not the best company to be around with and pretend it’s all so very cheerful. He said it was pretty fun when he was with Nancy, because he had an excuse to be with her most of the time around the holidays. But then they broke up, and me and my parents always go out of state to visit my cousins because their house is a bit bigger, and we usually stay there until New Year’s. I tried to invite him last year and this year, but he didn’t want to cause any unnecessary drama with his parents by ditching them completely. Which I get. I wish I could hang out with him more, but my cousin just had a baby, so I can’t even convince my parents to stay in Hawkins.”
“Man, that sucks,” Eddie nodded thoughtfully. He wished Steve had someone like Wayne in his life. He deserved so much better than his emotionally absent parents.
He watched as Steve, ever helpful, listened patiently to the customer and tried his best to make conversation about something he didn’t care about. Eddie felt a twinge of warmth and frustration in his chest; he wished he could take Steve’s mind off his parents, but how? Sure, they were friends by now, but would Steve find it weird if he invited him over to him and Wayne’s for some of the days around Christmas? What if he said no? Like Robin had said, Steve would have liked to spend time with his girlfriend or his best friend around the holidays, but Eddie was neither of those things.
Or what if Steve thought Eddie was just pitying him if he attached himself to his side? Sure, he felt bad for him, but it wasn’t all he felt towards him. But that wasn’t something he could tell Steve about, nope. Because then it’d circle back to the ‘what if Steve said no’ -part, and the rejection would be even worse. Yeah, no.
But what if he asked for Steve’s help? That’s not something Harrington and his chivalry would turn down so fast. The problem was that he could only think of one idea, and he was pretty sure Steve wouldn’t like it.
“It’s the excessive consumerism of it all. That’s at the core of why Christmas feels so fake. Actually, that’s at the core of many things, but we’re not going there,” Eddie chuckled in the middle of his rant. Steve couldn’t help but smile too. Even if he disagreed with what Eddie was saying sometimes, it was entertaining to watch him as he soared through whatever topic he got himself so worked up about. He never cared if, like now, bystanders in the mall or wherever else they were stared at him. It was something that would have embarrassed Steve in the past, when he still cared about popularity, but now he just found it funny. Admirable, too.
“These sanctimonious sheeple claim that they care about each other, but in reality, they just care about presents. It’s so wasteful,” Eddie continued.
“But that’s like the only good part. The presents,” Steve argued.
“Of course you’d say that, you materialist,” Eddie accused with a smile.
“I’m not a materialist!” Steve protested.
Beside them Robin, who was browsing the books, started singing ‘Material Girl’ under her breath.
Steve rolled his eyes at both of them. “I’m not. I just think it’s fun, getting to figure out what people who are important to you might like. Making them happy, or whatever.”
He didn’t really know how to argue his point, but in the past couple of years, he’d found that buying presents for the people he had chosen to be in his life felt kind of… freeing. The one Christmas tradition that he could claim for himself, at least partly, and through which make his friends happy; even if he had to sit with his parents for Christmas dinner and all the other rituals around it, he got to share something concrete with his friends outside of that.
Although…
“This year it’s not so easy and fun, though,” he sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m real glad that the Byers’ are back, but this year there’s like…”
He started counting the kids with his hands. “So many people to get presents for.”
“See? It becomes performative,” Eddie said, pointing a finger at him.
“Eddie… Is this your way of telling us that you didn’t get us anything?” Robin asked, raising her eyebrow.
Eddie laughed. “Maybe.”
Robin grinned back at him with some embarrassment. “I didn’t get you guys anything either, I’m sorry, I’m broke. But I was thinking we could go to the movies together when I get back?”
“I did,” Steve blurted out under his breath.
“Cool with me,” Eddie said. Then he appeared to register what Steve said. “Wait, what?”
Steve felt his face go warm under the scrutiny of Eddie’s large, brown eyes. He suddenly wasn’t sure if it was weird that he got Eddie a present too. But – screw that, he was important to him. He couldn’t not get a present for him. And he didn’t care if Eddie didn’t get anything for him, he understood his viewpoint. But Steve had some money to spare, and he just… really needed to get something for Eddie. And Robin, of course.
“I said I got you both presents,” Steve said defiantly.
Eddie’s eyes were still round, and his face had gone a little pale. “I, Steve- You didn’t need to.”
“I don’t care.”
“Fine. When am I getting it?” Eddie asked. He was twirling his hair, probably as a distraction, because Steve could swear he was trying not to look excited.
“I thought you hated consumerism?” Steve couldn’t help but tease.
“I do. But I still want my present. I didn’t know I was getting a present,” Eddie defended himself. Then, when Steve didn’t reply, he gave him a serious look. “Steve.”
Steve gave in with a smile. “I don’t know. I’m giving Robin hers before she leaves so she can open it at her cousin’s. But if I give yours early too, can I trust you to not open it right away?”
“You can’t,” Robin said, and drifted further off in the bookstore.
“Shut it, Buckley!” Eddie shouted after her.
Then he turned those big eyes back to Steve, and he suddenly didn’t know how to respond now that they were alone. He wasn’t sure if he was seeing him over Christmas or not.
“You’ll… get it at some point,” he said vaguely, running his hand over the book closest to him. Dying to change the subject, he tried to focus on why they were there. “It was Creature… something? The new book Dustin mentioned once.”
Eddie stared at him for a second, and then shook his head as if to process Steve’s words. “Creature Catalogue,” he replied without hesitation. Trust Dungeon and Dragons to catch his attention.
“You think he’ll like it?” Steve asked as Eddie started leading them towards where he guessed it would be.
“He’ll love it,” Eddie turned his head to grin at him.
Steve smiled to himself. That nugget would never guess he’d actually listened and remembered what he’d talked about a couple of months ago. Now he was able to cross Dustin off his list. Max, too, once he’d bought the new headphones he had in mind for her and some dog treats for Heathcliff.
Eddie found the book quickly from the small assortment of D&D material the bookstore had, but instead of handing it over to Steve, he was holding on to it tightly and looking anywhere else than at Steve, as if he didn’t want Steve to go and buy it. Steve frowned and tried to see Eddie’s face, but his damned hair was in the way.
“Is it… not the right edition or something?” Steve asked.
“No, no,” Eddie said, and, hugging the book, turned slightly to Steve. He looked nervous. “It’s just. I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
Something weird swooped in Steve’s stomach, although he wasn’t sure why. He suddenly felt like looking anywhere else. But he was being stupid.
“Yeah?” he made himself ask.
Eddie sighed. “You know how I’ve been planning that Yule themed one-shot campaign for the kids? On the 26th?”
Steve nodded, confused.
“Well, I really want to make it special, to make it kind of a present for the kids. So, I was wondering if you’d want to take part in it? Not as a player, I know you’re not familiar with that, but you could help me plan the event and voice some of the characters, maybe?” Eddie asked hopefully.
Steve blinked.
“I know the kids would love it,” Eddie added hastily, then looked down. “As would I.”
Steve breathed out. He felt relieved, confused, and nervous all at the same time. “I don’t know enough about D&D. I wouldn’t know how to help you.”
“You wouldn’t need to know the mechanics of it. I’ll explain my idea for it. It’s just that, I know the story I’ve planned is great, but I need help with making it an even cooler experience. Of course, you don’t have to if you’re busy or you don’t want to or...,” Eddie rambled, finally handing the book to Steve and starting to walk towards the direction of the register, giving Steve an out.
Steve thought it over. He had no idea how he could help, but maybe once Eddie explained it, he’d be able to do something. And he’d kind of been curious about Eddie’s campaign, and it’d be a way to hang out with everyone. And he could get everyone pizza or something and help Eddie decorate. That way he could join in on Eddie’s idea of the campaign as a present for the rest of the kids.
And… he’d get to spend time with just Eddie, when usually Robin or Dustin were there with them. He was pretty sure the last time they’d properly hung out was during the summer, when they were both sitting around, recovering and smoking and just talking together. But Eddie had gone back to school in the fall, and Steve wasn’t sure if he was imagining it or not, but it felt like Eddie had been avoiding hanging out alone with Steve. Or maybe they’d both just been busy; lately Steve hadn’t been sure what to think of everything.
But when Eddie cast a glance at Steve behind his shoulder, he knew what he wanted.
“Okay,” he said.
Eddie grinned. ”It’s gonna be great.”
Asking Steve to help him with the campaign was a stupid fucking mistake.
Not because he didn’t know much about D&D – so far, even though he was clueless, he was being really helpful and his questions about the campaign helped Eddie see it as a whole instead of the jumbled mess that was in his head. And it was fun to hang out with him and plan how to make the kids lose their shit with excitement.
It was because of the conspiratorial, soft smiles that Steve gave him when they came up with an especially good idea. The way his annoyingly perfect hair fell around his face and even smelled good when he shifted closer to look at Eddie’s papers. The way he absently played with Eddie’s dice as he listened to him talk. With his stupid, big hands.
And because of Eddie struggling to focus when his heart kept hammering due to the massive, idiotic crush he had on Harrington. The crush he’d tried to stomp down on after the summer, when he realised too late how close they’d gotten. He’d at least been able to distract himself from his feelings a little bit when they were with Buckley or the others or at Steve’s work, but now he had nobody else as a buffer.
“So, I’m trying to include elements of Christmas without making it about Christmas. That’s why mistletoe keeps popping up in the story. It has often been believed to have healing properties,” Eddie explained, shuffling through the books on folklore that he’d borrowed from the library instead of looking Steve in the eyes. “But in classical mythology, mistletoe was often also a way to enter different realms.”
“Oh,” Steve said excitedly, “are you going to use that for the twist? When the party finds the gateway?”
Eddie nodded proudly. “What they have been using as a tool to help them will later plunge them into dark and unknown depths.”
Steve nudged him with his shoulder. “Have to admit, that’s cool.”
“Uh-huh,” Eddie said, and took a desperate sip of his beer.
“Have you thought about where to host the game? Here?” Steve asked, when Eddie didn’t continue.
“Oh, I’m not sure,” Eddie said, eyeing the trailer. “I think we can fit all of us here, but it’ll be tight.”
“Well, I was thinking, if you want to, I could ask Keith if we can hold it at Family Video after closing hours? It’d be better than hosting it at one of the kids’ houses, because we’d have time to set it up without them being in the way. I agreed to take some unpopular shifts during the holidays, so Keith kind of owes me one. I wouldn’t tell him we’re playing D&D, just that it’s like a group meeting type of thing. I think I could get away with it.”
“You’re going to convince Keith?” Eddie asked with suspicion.
“What, you don’t think I’m charming enough?” Steve laughed.
Oh, you’re plenty charming, Eddie thought. “Not for Keith.”
"He’d be screwed without me. I think I can manage it,” Steve said.
Eddie pictured them, sitting around the spacious, dimly lit Family Video. They’d be able to hide props behind the counter, maybe even a radio if he wanted to play some sound effects. Use the height for added drama, if he wanted to stand up on it.
“That could work. But do you really want to stay up and clean at your work for free?” Eddie asked.
“I have the opening shift on the 27th anyway. Nothing ever happens in the mornings; I’ll just clean up while clocked in.”
“How rebel-like of you,” Eddie said with awe. “Look at you, defying authority.”
“We killed Vecna this summer. I think I’m allowed to host a party at my workplace,” Steve replied.
“That’s the spirit,” Eddie said, and clinked his beer bottle against Steve’s.
The owners of Family Video had implemented a mandatory ‘there must be Christmas songs playing in the store every day leading up to Christmas’ policy, which meant that Steve usually shoved the cassette in only once the customers really started pouring in and tried to tune the music out for the entirety of his shift.
Lately he didn’t mind so much, though. Yes, he felt annoyed about all the cheery songs about family time, and when 'Last Christmas' came out a couple of years ago, it had just reminded him of his heartbreak over Nancy. But now, although those feelings about Christmas hadn’t disappeared, he found himself humming absentmindedly over them as he planned the D&D party between serving customers.
El and Max weren’t going to play, but were still coming. Best order one more pizza, just in case. Steve wondered whether Argyle would be able to get him some kind of group order deal if he called him. As for seats… he could snatch the pillows from all the patio chairs that weren’t in use during winter without his parents noticing they’re gone and complaining about it.
“This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to someone special,” Steve hummed and found himself smiling.
He was dying to tell Eddie that Keith had agreed. Only two hours until his shift ended, and then he’d drive over to the Munsons’. Maybe pick up some takeout on the way.
“Greetings, adventurers,” Steve repeated, trying out different voices for the mysterious stranger whom the party would meet, ‘happening’ to sell wares on the road they were taking. But Steve couldn’t quite decide whether he wanted to go for a friendly or insidious tone, and each result made him laugh until he was giggling over each line he was practising.
And every time Eddie met Robin’s eyes, he could tell that Robin knew. How could she not, when he couldn’t help but smile fondly at Steve every time he tried the lines Eddie had written?
But he couldn’t bring himself to care. It was too much fun, sitting together in Eddie’s room, goofing around and eating popcorn before Robin had to leave the next day. So what if Robin knew? She’d keep his secret.
“I so wish I could see Steve acting his heart out,” Robin cackled, after a particularly horrible attempt from Steve.
Steve threw popcorn at her.
“Shouldn’t leave, then,” Steve accused jokingly.
“You make a compelling point,” Robin laughed, and threw popcorn back at Steve. “But no.”
Steve shot a look at Eddie with a cheerful glint in his eye, and Eddie thought he was going to make a remark about being stuck with Eddie, but instead he unfurled his fist and threw popcorn at him in a surprise attack.
“I’m making your character a troll for this,” Eddie threatened. “Buckley, give me some of that popcorn.”
The phone rang early on the morning of Christmas eve. Steve was barely out of bed when he heard his mom answer it, and, judging by the poorly hidden sneer in her voice when she called to Steve, he could already guess it was one of his friends. His parents were probably never getting over the fact that he hung out with a bunch of ‘freaks’ and nerds instead of whatever they thought appropriate.
“Are you free today? And can you climb trees?” Steve heard Eddie’s voice ask as soon as he’d said hello. “Oh, and good morning.”
Steve tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
“Trees?”
“I’ll explain in the car. If you’re free – you said something about your aunt? Later today?” Eddie said hesitantly.
“Oh, God, yeah,” Steve groaned.
One of the infuriating traditions they had was going to Aunt Caroline’s for a ‘family’ party, but since she’s in business too, it’s mostly his dad and Caroline’s work friends or other people with money and no personality, mingling and sucking up to each other. Usually, this performance had included his parents showing Steve off to everyone and trying to familiarise him with their peers to ensure he would have connections in the future. But the last few Christmases it had just felt even more awkward and forced than ever, feeling more like his parents were shaming him for his ‘lack of success’ by making him talk about his Scoops experience to their CEO buddy or whoever while everybody got just the polite amount of drunk on expensive champagne.
“Well, it shouldn’t take all day,” Eddie said after Steve’s silence. “I promise I’ll get you back for the party thing.”
“Promise me you won’t,” Steve muttered quietly, only for Eddie to hear.
“Explain,” Steve said as soon as Eddie got in the car, a hint of sleepy grumpiness in his voice even though he’d readily picked Eddie up without delay.
“The interactive element,” he said mysteriously to wind Steve up.
“I need breakfast,” Steve complained. “Pancakes.”
“So, how’d you convince your parents to let you slip off today?” Eddie asked some moments later in the diner, mouth full of pancakes that he’d stolen from Steve’s plate.
“Told them I had to go to work to cover someone’s shift. Claimed you know Keith and that he’d been trying to call,” Steve said with an eyeroll. “They didn’t even question the fact that my shift can’t last that late in the evening. But honestly, this year they’re probably just as relieved to not have to take me with them as I am to not go. Not worth the embarrassment.”
Eddie glanced at him hesitantly, not wanting to push Steve to talk about it if he didn’t want to. “Well, if we’re done with our quest too early, we can watch movies or something for the rest of the day.”
“And what is our ‘quest’?”
“We have lights, stuff to make the place cozy, but I want them to be able to feel the story,” Eddie explained while waving his fork for emphasis. “I was reading up about mistletoe last night, and a species of it grows here in the States. And there was a map, and there should be some of it growing somewhere along the borders of Indiana. And I have nothing to do today, so. We’re going to find some so we can use it as a prop.”
Steve stared at him.
“It’ll be cool! We can hang it around the store and hand it to them as a real item when they find it in the game. And we could also cut some spruce, for the smell, so Max can also know the effort we put in their present.” Eddie tried to convince him.
“Is this where the tree climbing comes in?” Steve asked.
“Yeah. Mistletoe grows reeaally high up.”
Steve started to laugh into his coffee. “Sounds stupid, but okay.”
“Beats your aunt’s lame party though,” Eddie pointed out.
Steve hadn’t realised how much he’d needed a half-pointless road trip. The last time he’d driven with a goal of finding something, it had been about the Upside Down and charged with a sense of dread and a feeling that they were running out of time.
This time Eddie complained about everything that was playing on the radio, rambled about the campaign in the passenger seat, and gave Steve completely inaccurate directions because he was looking at the road map wrong. And it was perfect.
Steve took a deep breath in, trying to preserve the moment. The wintry early morning light was bright and crisp, and the fields and forests were covered with a layer of frost that made everything look calm and quiet. And they didn’t have to hurry anywhere. The end of the year made him feel like he should be doing more, figuring out what to do with his life. Probably because this was when his parents were the most obnoxious about the topic. But being away from them for a moment helped him remember that their opinion wasn’t the only thing that mattered.
He glanced at Eddie, who was frozen mid-explanation of something.
“Earth to Steve. Don’t drive us into a ditch,” he said, when he noticed that Steve had accidentally neglected to listen to him.
“Sorry. Was just thinking.”
“About?” Eddie asked earnestly.
“This year and everything that came with it, and the next year,” Steve admitted.
Eddie hummed in agreement. “This year sure was something.”
“Hey,” Steve poked Eddie’s shoulder. “You just graduated though!”
“I didn’t say it was all shit,” Eddie said with a smile, eyes flicking over Steve’s face in a way that made Steve snap his eyes back on the road.
He was right, it hadn’t all been shit. Steve didn’t know how to express his gratitude over the two of them becoming friends. Mostly because Eddie was a complicated matter; even though Robin had helped him figure out he was bi that summer, he hadn’t dared to factor Eddie into that. It had been easier to understand it in a more general sense first, but now, whenever he let his thoughts dwell on Eddie, it wasn’t so easy to ignore his importance. Honestly, he didn’t want to ignore it anymore, but he didn’t know what to do with those feelings.
Especially when he didn’t know what was next.
“Have you thought about what you want to do now that you’re done with school?” Steve asked, dreading the answer.
“Yeah,” Eddie replied.
“Oh?” Steve said warily.
“I mean, I’ve thought about it. But I have no idea. I used to think I would want to run as soon as I graduate and leave Indiana, but... this year has made me realise that I don't want to run, all the time. I don't know what I'll do, though. Maybe see if Corroded Coffin gets anywhere. Be a menace to Hawkins as revenge for persecuting me. Bother you and the kids. I don't know. But I'm staying put for now,” he said, his hand tugging at the strands of his hair as if he was nervous.
“Good,” Steve found himself saying out of relief.
Eddie snapped his head around to look at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Steve said, looking back at Eddie until he felt his face go warm.
“How… how about you?” Eddie asked. His expressive eyes went round, then narrow again with some emotion.
“I don't know either. I can't get into college, and I don't want to. And I don't want to leave or get a job somewhere just because my dad thinks it sounds better than working in retail with my best friend. I care about everyone here,” Steve muttered, saw that Eddie’s cheeks had gone a little pink too, and turned his gaze resolutely at the road before he really did drive them into a ditch.
It took them far longer to find any mistletoe than they expected: the map that showed the range of the plant had been more like an estimation than a direction, and they had to park the car several times to walk around and see if any of the nearby woods had trees that grew them, but only finding spruce. They got hungry again and dined on gas station snacks in the car, in no real hurry to complete their quest. And by the time they found a clump of trees that had something growing up them, it was getting so dark that they almost missed it.
Eddie ran up to the trees, his breath clouding in the frosty air.
“Oh, shit, that’s actually far higher up than I imagined it,” he said, and shot a worried look at Steve when he started eyeing up the branches. “We don’t really even need it, don’t break your neck for it.”
“Pfft,” Steve waved his hand dismissively. “It has lots of branches to grip, it’ll be fine. Hawkins’ basketball team was worse than this, this is just a small climb.”
“You jocks are crazy. How is this comparable to basketball? I thought they just throw shit in that sport?” Eddie protested, but Steve was already hoisting himself up the tree. “You idiot, at least take my pocketknife.”
Steve reached down to take it and continued his climb, eyeing the prize above him. It really was pretty high up, but he had a sudden need to show off.
“You know, some of the kids are going to be annoying about the mistletoe, have you considered that?” Steve pointed out when he saw how, surprise surprise, mistletoe-like the plant looked. He wanted to be annoying about it, and his heartbeat picked up when he thought about Eddie below him, and that moment in the car.
“I… kind of hadn’t,” Eddie admitted, almost too quiet for Steve to hear. “We can pry them off each other with the spruce sticks if they get too obnoxious,” he suggested more loudly.
Steve laughed, and almost lost his grip on the branch.
“Steve! This idea really was stupid, don’t die,” Eddie complained.
“Shut up, I won’t,” Steve yelled back at him. He was too invested now, finding it less stupid the more Eddie found it so.
It was difficult to stay balanced while cutting the plant when he finally reached it, but he managed it. His hands growing stiff with cold, he made his way back down slowly, but stumbled a little on the last step down.
He fell on his ass and started laughing at Eddie’s alarmed face.
“I’m fine,” Steve said, the fall not having been bad at all. Eddie’s hands were stretched down towards him, probably to help him up. Steve pressed the mistletoe to Eddie’s right hand, and, after not having thought of it as much as he maybe should have, took Eddie’s left hand and pressed a quick kiss to the back of it. “Your mistletoe, my lord.”
“I… did you hit your head?” Eddie asked weakly. His face had gone a funny colour combination of white and red, but he definitely didn’t seem upset.
“No,” Steve said and got up by himself – Eddie hadn’t moved.
“Okay,” Eddie said only. Then he blinked, seeming to will himself to movement. He clutched the bunch of mistletoe in his hand, looked at it, looked at Steve, and turned around, but Steve was sure he saw him smile before his hair swished in the way. “Let’s get back before we freeze.”
The car smelled like spruce when they drove back in the dark, and they were both tired after a long day of adventuring. Eddie was a bit quieter than usual, but still talked a little about the campaign on the way back. Steve didn't broach the topic of what he'd just done, as it had been light-hearted enough to be seen as a joke if they wanted to. And he didn't feel like hurrying the conversation or whatever followed. A part of him was hopeful, and another really scared of rejection, but the mixture left him calmer than he might have expected. Maybe because Eddie kept smiling when he thought Steve wasn't looking.
He ended up dropping Eddie off at home, not feeling the need to join him for a movie as it was pretty late.
“Can we leave all the stuff in the back of your car?” Eddie asked when they were outside the trailer.
“Sure. But take this with you,” Steve said and removed Eddie’s present from the trunk.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you,” Eddie smiled. But before he accepted it, he broke off a small twig from the mistletoe bunch and offered it to Steve. “To protect you from boredom tomorrow.”
Steve smiled as he put it in his pocket.
Eddie tore into the wrapping paper as soon as the clock hit midnight.
Something soft and black met his hands, and a note.
I've noticed you eyeing my sweaters even though you claimed they were hideous. So you’re getting one too, but in black. -Steve
Eddie laughed. Oh, Steve. He hadn't stared at his sweaters because he secretly wanted one, he’d stared because they were on him. But all the same, he wriggled into the warm sweater.
Steve looked around the store moments before the kids were going to arrive. It was his workplace, but it looked and felt completely different. They’d dimmed the lights and even lit some candles, and it smelled like a forest in there. And like pizza.
And he felt excited, even though he still didn’t really understand D&D. Yesterday hadn’t been fun, as Christmas with his parents never was, but it hadn’t been that bad this year when he’d had this party to look forward to. Or maybe the mistletoe really had worked.
Eddie was chewing his pen as he went over his notes for the last time. He looked cute in his new sweater, and he smiled when his eyes met Steve’s briefly.
Or maybe the holidays didn’t suck this year because of the people he’d surrounded himself with. And maybe, even though rejection was a scary possibility, he could take his happiness into his own hands instead of worrying about what he was supposed to do.
“Eddie?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you want to hang out with me on New Year’s Eve?” Steve asked.
“Yeah,” Eddie said without pausing to think. Then he did think for a few seconds. “Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to help me hang some of this mistletoe up?”