As promised, the Dancing in the Dark scene from the middle of Holding Out For a Hero (name still subject to change, depending on the way the story takes me - it's had some surprises already 😅). The pov changes after the first paragraph from Steve to Eddie because apparently this story is demanding I write from both perspectives, never mind that only using Steve's pov as originally intended would be easier, so just know the whole story will bounce between them.
ETA: new name - I'd Fall For You Twice
Dancing in the Dark
When the last of the gremlins has finally been shooed out the front door, Steve pushes it shut and leans against it for a moment with a sigh. As much as he loves the little munchkins, they can be a lot to handle, especially when attempting to make sure they don’t overwhelm a still recovering houseguest only recently released from the hospital. Running a hand through his hair, Steve straightens and heads back to the living room. He finds Eddie still sitting on the couch where they left him, though now with legs stretched out and headphones firmly against his ears, drawing something in the notebook Wayne had brought to him in the hospital. And although there’s a space at the end of the couch, Steve gently lifts Eddie’s legs so he can sit closer, then pulls them back over his lap, feeling some of the exhaustion ease as he settles in under their weight. He’s about to lean over and ask if he can see what Eddie’s working on when a tinny but unmistakable guitar riff echoing from the headphones catches his attention. He freezes.
Just at that moment, Eddie looks up, some quip about the kids on the tip of his tongue. But when he sees the way Steve is sitting, shoulders up around his ears and breathing shallow, concern immediately replaces whatever witty thing he was about to say. He pulls the headphones down around his neck. “Steve… you okay?”
Steve slowly turns his head to look at him, eyes wide, and, though he’s confused what exactly brought it on, Eddie wants nothing more than to make the panic in them disappear. “Steve?” he asks again, softly, this time laying a gentle hand on the other boy’s arm, and Steve grips onto it like a lifeline.
“That song. That’s, uh, what you played. There. In the…” he trails off.
Eddie’s brow furrows momentarily before it registers just what he’s been listening to. He’s surprised Steve recognizes it and says as much.
Steve swallows thickly. “Kind of hard to forget. We could hear your playing all the way to the Creel house. It was - it was really good, man.” He tries to smile as he says it, but it’s all wrong, doesn’t reach his eyes, and Eddie scoots a little closer, reaches for him with his other hand, still unsure what, exactly, has caused Steve to look like the world is ending again.
Steve’s breathing is still too fast, too shallow. “Don’t think I’ll ever forget it. Those bats, heading for you and Dustin. Knowing I couldn’t go back to help, we just had to keep moving. And then, when it was all over - “ He cuts himself off, lips pressing into a thin line, squeezing his eyes shut.
And suddenly, Eddie gets it. “Shit,” he curses, scrambling one handed for the pause button on the walkman. His finger fumbles over it once, twice, before he finally manages to press it down, cutting off the rhythmic chords leaking from the headphones. Silence blankets the room.
He looks back to Steve. Though he’s still hunched in on himself, his breathing started to slow the instant the music stopped and Eddie sighs in relief. He pulls the headphones off his neck and carefully sets them, the walkman, and his notebook on the floor before swinging his legs down so he can actually slide close enough to Steve to put an arm around him. Without hesitation, Steve turns into the embrace, leaning his forehead on Eddie’s shoulder with a little shuddering exhale. It makes Eddie want to pull him in even closer, hold Steve as tight as he can, until every bit of tension has drained from his body, but he doesn't want to do anything to make his friend uncomfortable, so settles for gently rubbing his back instead.
“I’m so sorry, man, I didn’t even - I forgot it was on that tape and I just kind of tuned everything out and - shit, Steve, I’m sorry,” Eddie rambles.
But Steve is already shaking his head. “No, no, you have nothing to apologize for. You were just doing your thing, I’m the one who - I should be apologizing to you, freaking out like that, over a song, like - that’s crazy, you know? It’s not like the song is what - is what - ” he cuts off, unable to finish the thought.
Eddie can feel Steve tensing further as he speaks, feel him beginning to pull away, but he is having none of that. Screw it. With a surge forward, he wraps both arms around Steve and tugs him tightly to his chest. With a little surprised oof, Steve falls forward again and, for a heartbeat, he's stiff, like he doesn't quite know what to do with this new position. But it's only a moment before his arms come up and he's clinging right back, his hands clutching fistfuls of Eddie's shirt like he's afraid the other boy will disappear if he lets go.
Eddie holds him, runs gentle fingers through his hair, until Steve's shoulders stop shaking and his breathing has finally, finally, evened out. And then he keeps holding him because Steve hasn't moved away and if he still needs Eddie's arms around him, then by god that's what he's going to get. He feels a huff of air against his shoulder as Steve turns his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck, tightens his hold.
"I'm sorry, Eddie," Steve whispers, voice tight, and he thinks Steve might be apologizing for more than his panic attack.
But Eddie is shaking his head before Steve can get to the second syllable of sorry. "Don't be. I get it, man. The little reminders, they're all over. And it's the worst. I let myself get too cold and I start having a hard time breathing. I look at your neck and all I can think is what if we didn't get through the gate in time. I get it," he says again.
This time, when Steve pulls back, Eddie lets him go, though he doesn’t go far, since he's still sitting pressed to his side.
Steve props his elbows on his knees and hangs his head for a moment before speaking again. "Still, I mean, it's just a song. It shouldn't -"
"But it isn't just a song, Steve, and you and I both know it," Eddie cuts him off emphatically. “I’m gonna burn that tape, first chance I get. Promise.”
Steve just sighs and hangs his head even further. They sit in dejected silence for a few moments, but Eddie can't take it anymore - Steve shouldn't be beating himself up about this, should be smiling, relaxing, laughing with Eddie about the dumb puns Dustin made at dinner. He glances around the room for anything that might help, but there isn't much, just the tv and some photographs and unused furniture and - aha! - his eyes catch on the radio in the corner and he suddenly knows exactly what to do to get Steve out of this spiral of self-recrimination.
Eddie jumps up and that gets Steve's attention. "Eddie, wha-? You need to sit down, you're still not supposed to be too active."
"Some of those restrictions ended today, I’ll be fine," he shoots back over his shoulder as he fiddles with the dial on the radio, looking for the local station Steve listens to in his car. He finally gets it tuned correctly, noting that it's just the DJ talking for now, but it sounds like another song will be starting soon. Perfect. He whips back around and makes his way to stand in front of Steve, hands held out in invitation. "Now, c'mon, I know just what we need. A little dance therapy will fix everything," he gushes, knowing Steve finds it impossible not to laugh at his theatrics.
Sure enough, a hint of a smile is beginning to play around Steve's lips as he looks up at Eddie. "Dance therapy?" he asks skeptically, but he's already taking Eddie's outstretched hands and allowing himself to be tugged off the couch.
"Dance therapy," Eddie confirms with a grin. "Maybe a little karaoke, too. Some lip-syncing. Whatever floats your boat, big boy." He winks and Steve snorts a laugh.
“You’re such a dork, Eddie,” he says, but the utter fondness in his voice takes any sting out of his words.
Eddie acts mock offended anyway, holding a hand dramatically over his heart as he pulls Steve further into the empty middle of the living room. “Me? A dork?” he gasps, then grins. “You know what? You’re right. But you love it,” he smirks, poking Steve’s chest with a finger.
Steve is smirking now, too, about to make some clever comeback, when the opening bars of Dancing in the Dark spill out into the room. His smile grows, real now, his eyes widening as he starts bopping his head. “Dude, I love this song!”
“Then come on, Harrington, let’s do this!” Eddie beams at him, starting to jump up and down to the rhythm. Steve shakes his head at him, but he’s wearing his thousand-watt smile, finally, and he’s beginning to jump along and Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever looked so beautiful. And when he starts to sing, “Messages keeps gettin' clearer, Radio's on and I'm movin' 'round my place, I check my look in the mirror,” squeezing his eyes shut and belting out, “Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face,” Eddie is absolutely mesmerized.
He’s still holding one of Steve’s hands, but he reaches for the other one so they can jump and twist together. And then Steve starts spinning him and Eddie’s hair is flying around his face and they’re both breathless with laughter and singing and dancing and Eddie thinks maybe he could live in this moment for the rest of his life.
Too soon, the song begins to slow and fade, each “dancin’ in the dark” softer than the one before. Their movements become less and less until they’re just barely nodding their heads along and Eddie realizes exactly how close they’ve moved to each other. If he wanted to, he could count each individual eyelash ringing Steve’s wide, honey brown eyes, and now he’s breathless from more than just exertion. When he licks his lips nervously and Steve’s eyes dart down to his mouth then back up, Eddie can feel hysterical giggles starting to bubble up in the back of his throat. This cannot be happening. I’ve gone insane, finally, truly lost it. But he can’t let it out, can’t make a sound, because then Steve might realize exactly what he’s doing, might stop looking at him like that and Eddie doesn’t think he could bear that, could deal with Steve pulling away, could handle losing -
“Can I kiss you?”
It’s no more than a whisper, Steve’s words as breathless and unsure as Eddie feels. And dammit but Steve has knocked him for a loop again, doing exactly the thing that Eddie least expects him to do. He’s frozen, staring at Steve, hopeful, beautiful Steve, who is staring back like Eddie is the only important thing in the entire world.
“Eddie?” Steve asks, the tiniest quiver in his voice, and Eddie can finally move again, nods frantically until Steve puts a gentle hand to his cheek, stilling him. And then Steve is moving forward, both their eyes slipping shut, and Steve’s lips are on his and Eddie doesn’t think anything has ever felt so right in his entire life.
It’s soft and sweet and one of Steve’s hands is tangled in his hair and the other is on his back, drawing him closer and his whole world has narrowed to the single bright point in the universe that is Steve Harrington. Eddie wouldn’t be surprised to open his eyes and see the entire room lit up like a blazing summer afternoon.
Slowly, Steve pulls back, breaking the kiss, but not drawing away. If it’s possible, he’s holding Eddie even tighter than during his panic attack earlier, as if letting go might shatter this little bubble of happiness they’ve found themselves in.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Steve confesses softly, pressing his forehead to Eddie’s.
Eddie huffs a laugh. “Probably at least as long as I’ve wanted you to,” he confesses back.
The moment is delicate and hopeful and Eddie never wants it to end. So of course his doubts choose exactly then to come knocking. He tries to push them away, to keep basking in the warmth of their embrace, but he hears himself asking, almost fearfully, “So, uh - this. Us. We, uh, we gonna be a thing now, Stevie?” And his heart is pounding so loud that he's certain Steve could hear it from across the room, never mind with Eddie nearly in his lap.
Steve leans back just a little, just far enough to gaze earnestly into Eddie’s eyes. “I want us to be. If - if you want, that is.”
And there’s that trademark Steve Harrington knock-him-for-a-loop routine again. Because despite Steve’s normal self-assurance, the tiniest quaver of doubt is tucked into his words and that, more than anything, soothes the million what ifs swirling through Eddie’s brain. He grins. “I want. Oh, do I want.”
Steve’s answering smile is dazzling and Eddie doesn’t think he’ll ever get enough of being the reason for it. “Cool,” Steve declares, before he’s leaning into Eddie’s space again and making him melt all over.
Okay, there it is for now, folks. Only one, albeit lengthy, scene. But believe me, I have a lot more running circles in my brain. 😅
Also had a couple people ask to be tagged when I finished Holding Out for a Hero - not sure if I should tag them in this, since it's just a preview scene and not the finished product, but I'm gonna. I'm proud of this bit here 😅
@my-heart-is-stopped, @wonderland-girl143-blog
Also gonna tag my roomie @steddiehawkins because I gotta ensure the Steddie brainrot stays, heh, steady in my home (I'll see myself out)
40 notes
·
View notes