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ghosttotheparty · 1 year

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love me softly p17

part 16

Linda is already hugging Steve by the time Eddie gets to the front door.

Steve is laughing softly, hugging her back as she gushes to him, Eddie won’t shut up about you, you’re all he talks about, and Eddie lingers back, his face flushing with heat. Steve’s eyes meet his. They’re shining brightly.

“Hi, honey,” Eddie greets softly when Linda finally lets him go. She goes back to the kitchen, sending them a fond look as Steve approaches Eddie.

“Hi.”

“Alright?”

Steve drops his backpack to the ground and falls against Eddie, hiding his face in his neck. Eddie hugs him gently, sliding his arms around his neck.

“You okay?” he asks softly.

“‘M tired,” Steve mumbles. Eddie tightens his arms.

“Let’s go to Gareth’s room. His floor is comfy.”

“Is that the floor you were laying on when you hit your head on his bed?”

“…No.”

Steve lifts his head, smiling, and he reaches up to touch Eddie’s cheeks, tilting his face down so Steve can kiss his forehead gently.

“C’mon,” Eddie says softly, kissing him chastely before he takes his hand and leads him down the hall.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Gareth greets from his desk.

“Hi, Gareth,” Steve says lightly, watching Eddie collapse onto the floor and sit against Gareth’s bed. “What‘re you working on?”

“Statistics. I wanna die.”

Eddie snorts, holding a hand up to Steve, and Steve takes it, setting his bag aside and sitting next to him.

“You have Murphy?” Steve asks.

“Yeah.” Gareth turns around, straddling the back of his chair and looking at them, his arms crossed over the top of it. “He’s such an asshole.”

“He really is,” Steve agrees. “I don’t think he should have gone into teaching, he doesn’t know how to work with kids.”

“I think if anyone told him that, he’d a conniption.”

“Yeah, his head would explode.”

“Are you good at statistics?” Gareth asks as Eddie is pulling a notebook out of his backpack.

“No, I’m shit with numbers. Tommy’s better than me.”

Gareth sighs heavily.

“Never woulda thought I’d be desperate for Tommy Hagen to show up at my place.”

Steve laughs quietly. Eddie looks over at him, flipping his notebook open, and his eyes flick across Steve’s face. His smile is soft, his eyes just barely sparkling, and the light from Gareth’s overhead light is dim, but bright enough to make him glow a little bit. Steve looks at him.

“What?”

Eddie shrugs.

“‘M in love with you.”

Gareth groans obnoxiously as Steve smiles, and Eddie looks up at him. He’s dropped his head to his arms, his hair falling down like a curtain.

“You guys are insufferable,” Gareth says, looking up.

“Bigot,” Eddie says dryly as Steve snickers next to him.

“I’m not a bigot, I’m single.”

Steve is laughing now, giggling beside Eddie. Eddie just sticks his tongue out at Gareth.

Eddie leans against Steve as he works on his homework, tapping his feet on the floor and humming along with the music Gareth has playing from the cassette player.

Steve plays with his hair while he works, his fingers combing through it carefully. Somehow it helps Eddie focus, like Steve’s fingers are tugging his thoughts from his skull. Steve and Gareth talk a little bit, misting bitching about Murphy.

Eddie only looks up when he hears Tommy’s voice in the doorway.

“Hey, uh. Your mom said I could just come in.”

“Oh, thank God,” Gareth says dramatically, and Tommy blinks.

“Not the reaction I was expecting.”

“I’ve been third wheeling this whole time,” Gareth complains. “I’m in physical pain.”

A laugh bursts out of Tommy, and he looks over at Steve and Eddie. Eddie grins.

“My purpose in life is to be annoying.”

“I’m aware,” Tommy says dryly.

“Also Steve said maybe you can help me with statistics,” Gareth adds.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Gareth moves to the floor as Tommy rummages through his backpack, and Eddie sits up as Gareth explains what he’s stuck with and complains about Murphy’s lack of teaching skills.

Eddie sets his notebook and pen on his lap and stretches his arms up, groaning quietly before he lets one of his arms drape over Steve’s shoulders, pretending to be subtle. Steve laughs quietly and leans against him.

“You okay?” Eddie asks quietly, pulling Steve’s hair back. Steve nods, letting his head fall to Eddie’s shoulder.

“‘M tired.”

“I know, baby.”

Steve sighs, shifting closer, his eyes fluttering shut. He draws his knees up, curling into a ball against Eddie, tucking one hand between them and setting the other on Eddie’s belly, holding his shirt in a loose fist. His head shifts to Eddie’s chest, and Eddie carefully pulls his necklaces out of the way.

“You gonna take a nap?”

“Maybe,” Steve mumbles.

“You’re gonna fall asleep to Twisted Sister?”

Steve exhales sharply, too tired to laugh.

“‘M gonna fall asleep to your heartbeat.”

Eddie blinks.

“Oh.” His throat gets tight. “Okay.”

He keeps working as Steve dozes off, and he can feel the moment Steve falls asleep, can feel his body relax and go heavy, can feel his head shift as he nuzzles into Eddie’s chest. Eddie wants to tell him he loves him, but he wouldn’t hear it. (He probably would say it anyway if they were alone.)

Steve’s hair is soft between his fingers, and his breathing is steady, and even as Eddie works slowly through short answer questions and listens to Tommy explain statistics to Gareth, he feels like he could cry with how in love he is. Steve feels warm beside him, and small, like he shrinks down every time he lets himself be vulnerable like this, small enough to fit in Eddie’s chest.

Eddie sets his notebook aside when he finishes, and he carefully slides his hand over Steve’s. Steve sighs, pressing closer, his arm sliding farther across Eddie’s torso.

“Jesus, that makes sense,” Gareth says, his voice dripping with awe. “You ever think about being a teacher, Hagen?”

Tommy laughs lightly, shaking his head.

“Professor Hagen,” Eddie quips quietly. “Gotta ring to it.”

Tommy and Gareth both look over and find Steve asleep, cuddled against Eddie.

“How is he asleep right now?” Tommy asks, wide-eyed.

“He’s used to me playing metal all the time,” Eddie says fondly. He rubs Steve’s forearm gently. It’s soft.

“Are you turning him into a metalhead, Eds?” Gareth asks fondly. Eddie grins.

“He likes Judas Priest.”

“Nice.”

“What’s Judas Priest?” Tommy asks hesitantly. Gareth looks at him and grins excitedly, which makes Tommy recoil slightly in fear, but he still watches curiously as Gareth dives for the basket of tapes that’s stored under his desk.

Linda comes in as Gareth and Tommy are looking through the tapes.

“Uhm.”

They all look up at her. She’s holding a bowl of fruit.

“I thought you were doing homework.” She raises an eyebrow at Gareth, who blinks.

“We finished?”

“Hm.”

Her eyes find Eddie and Steve, and her expression changes, softens, before she places a hand over her heart.

“Ain’t he pretty, Mrs Gareth’s Mom?”

Tommy mutters Mrs Gareth’s Mom under his breath, and Gareth complains, “He’s been calling her that for, like, five years.”

“Very pretty, Eddie,” Linda says lightly. She flicks a grape at Gareth, who lets out a quiet indignant noise, catching it against his chest.

“Finish your homework,” she tells him.

“I did,” he says adamantly. “Tommy helped me with statistics.”

She looks at Tommy with grateful relief.

“Aye, thank you.” She tosses him a grape too.

“Your mom’s pretty cool,” Tommy says when she leaves.

“She’s something.”

Tommy keeps looking through the tapes, murmuring band names to himself. It occurs to Eddie that Tommy has had zero exposure to any of this except the Satanic stereotype, and that he doesn’t look particularly judge-y right now. Just curious.

“Megadeth?” he says after a while, raising an eyebrow. Eddie grins. “That sounds ridiculous.”

“Steve likes them,” Eddie says.

“He does?” Gareth asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, we made out to Peace Sells once.”

Gareth blinks, and Tommy looks at Gareth, probably because he doesn’t know how to react.

“How?” Gareth says, clearly judging. Eddie shrugs as best he can without moving Steve.

“We were distracted.”

“Alright,” Tommy dismisses, tossing Gareth the Megadeth tape. “Show me.”

Gareth beams.

They listen to music for a while, talking and laughing and teasing each other, and Eddie listens happily. After a while Steve stirs, pulling Eddie closer, pressing his face against him, and Eddie looks down at him, murmuring a soft, “I got you.”

“Wha’s time?” Steve mumbles sleepily. Eddie runs his hand down Steve’s arm and lifts his hand a little bit, looking at his watch.

“Almost seven.”

Steve groans, pushing his face against Eddie before he sits up.

He squints over at Tommy and Gareth talking, smiling softly before he squints started Eddie. Eddie touches his chin.

“You okay?”

Steve just looks at him for a moment, his eyes shining with an odd sort of blankness that Eddie doesn’t think is just his sleepy state. Eddie tilts his head, runs his thumb over Steve’s skin.

“‘M fine,” Steve says quietly before Eddie can ask again. He looks at his watch, pulling away from Eddie, and Eddie drips his hand. “Should probably go.”

“Can I walk you to your car?”

Steve seems to hesitate before, “Yeah.”

Tommy and Gareth say goodbye, and their eyes linger on Steve as he leaves. They seem to see it too.

Linda stops Steve on his way out, and he inhales as he turns to look at her, like he’s steeling himself, but she just puts a Tupperware container in his hands and tells him he can come back any time.

Steve looks at the container as he heads outside.

“That’s how she shows love,” Eddie says. “Feeding people.”

Steve smiles softly.

Eddie watches as Steve puts his bag in his car.

“Hey,” he says quietly. Steve looks at him. He looks tired. The setting sun is golden on him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Steve says. Eddie looks at him.

“Steve…”

“I’m fine, Eddie.”

Eddie blinks, almost startled. It’s not like he said it meanly, or angrily, but he still… snapped.

Eddie looks at the ground awkwardly, not knowing what to say, or what to do. Steve is quiet, and Eddie almost expects him to just get in his car and leave, but after a moment, Steve’s fingers find Eddie’s.

Eddie looks up at him, and Steve looks back almost intently, lacing their fingers and squeezing tightly like he’s trying to tell him something he can’t say out loud. Eddie squeezes back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Steve says. Eddie nods. He wants to kiss him, but just holding his hand is risky out here. Steve’s eyes flit across his face. “I love you,” he says softly.

“I love you too,” Eddie whispers. Steve stares at him, leaning forward slightly before he stops himself, taking a breath, and Eddie smiles, squeezing his hand.

Gareth is sitting upside down on his bed when Eddie goes back inside. Tommy looks up at him.

Eddie sits in the floor again.

“Is Steve, like…” He pauses, looking up at Tommy, who looks like he knows what Eddie’s going to ask. “Okay?”

Tommy sighs.

“Yeah, he just… gets like that when his parents are in town.”

“Like…”

“Tired,” Tommy says. “All the time. Distant, kind of. He won’t talk about it, but after they leave he goes back to normal. Gets better.”

Eddie nods and looks down, touching the carpet on the floor.

“He’s gonna be okay, Eddie,” Tommy says gently.

Eddie nods again.

read the whole thing on ao3 tagging: @thehumblefigtree @seths-rogens <3 comment to be tagged in part 18 :)

#dont! worry!#also i finally have the rest of this story plotted out #its going to be 22 chapters and an epilogue that I've already started writing and is already longer than anticipated #god bless #very stoked ab this #sorry updates are taking longer im working on so much stuff and uni is actually uni-ing now #rip me #anyway love u guys #mwah #steddie #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #love me softly

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