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quinns-shadowy-arts · 3 months

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They'll Be Ok, They're Ok

Day 6 of @steddielovemonth ‘s Steddie Love Month Event! Rating: Teen CW: Arguing, Angst Tags: Arguing, Insults, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending. WC: 2,028 Prompt: “Love is giving them space when they need it”; submitted by @lihhelsing

Note: Technically this is late. But it’s only 11ish where I am, and I was swamped with work until after the 12 am EST had already passed. So I’m still going to post this. Also, this has not been edited. So if you see any mistakes, no you didn't. Enjoy!

Things have been…tense, to say the least. Family video has been packed with asshole customers, more so than usual. Robin has been gone with her parents on a trip, which has left Steve working shifts with Keith. The customers have been getting on Steve's nerves and Keith's been no help.

The customers yell and fight Steve every step of the way. It's only renting a movie, the customers shouldn’t be so pissed at every turn, if Steve has anything to say about it. Keith has been avoiding doing his job by locking himself in the back room under the guise of “filing inventory reports”. Steve knows better though. He knows that Keith has been sitting around eating cheetos and generally being weird. Every one of these aspects has been pushing Steve to his limit.

Eddie hasn't been faring any better. The guys at the record store have been really getting on his nerves lately. They've been teasing him for anything and everything. This usually isn't a problem; they tease him, he teases back, and it's all good. But their teasing has turned south. It’s gone from light hearted jokes to cutting remarks. So Eddie feels like shit about himself and everything he’s doing.

This has led to both of them being on edge when they get home. Usually they’re fine with the other one in their space. But today was the tipping point for them both. Eddie’s mumbling around the kitchen is pushing Steve’s final buttons; and Steve’s tense body language and cold glare has ticked Eddie off.

“Can you just stop?” Steve glares at Eddie. Eddie turns around to look at Steve. He’s standing in the entryway of the kitchen, arms crossed and looking down right bitchy. Eddie shuts the cabinet he was digging through.

“Stop what, Steve?” Eddie asks. He hasn’t really done anything. They hadn’t said hello or kissed at the door like they usually do. Eddie’s only been in the kitchen and the hallway. Right when he walked in he kicked off his shoes, threw his jacket onto the back of the couch, walked into the kitchen, and started looking around for something to eat.

“Just, everything” Steve says, he’s still glaring in Eddie’s direction. Eddie leans back against the counter, faking nonchalance.

“Steve, I haven’t even pissed yet. What the hell have I done to piss you off?” Eddie remarks. This was the wrong thing to say.

“Fucking- Everything! You come in here, don’t even fucking say hello, and then come in here and start slamming cabinets and shit. You’re muttering under your breath like a mad man and taking out your anger on my nice shit, Eddie!” Steve shouts. His whole body is tense with stress and anger.

“Well, you didn’t exactly come fucking running to the door, Steve. You could’ve said hello too, y’know!” Eddie shouts back. He’s still leaning against the counter, trying to act like he isn’t as upset as he is.

“Can you just fucking go sit down and be quiet or something!? I can’t fucking handle your erratic fucking movements today.” Steve yells. He knows that Eddie hasn’t actually done anything to warrant that response. But Steve’s pissed and he really can’t handle any extra movement right now. He just needs some peace and quiet.

Eddie feels ice shoot down his spine. Not only has his coworkers criticized him all day today, discreetly telling Eddie that he’s too much; Now his boyfriend is too. Steve’s supposed to love him no matter what. He’s supposed to love Eddie and all of his quirks, overwhelming energy included.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Steve? You ‘can’t handle my erratic movements’ today?” Eddie pushes off of the counter and mimes quotations with his fingers,

“Am I too much for you Steve? Am I too much for the great King Steve?” Eddie knows that Steve hates it when anyone calls him that horrible title. Steve has changed, he really has, but Eddie knows that it’ll hurt.

“Oh, I’m so sorry your highness! Whatever can I do to make it up to you!?” Eddie mocks, clasping his hands together like he’s begging for forgiveness.

Steve’s mouth pulls tight, forming an angry frown. His face has turned red, his heart hurts.

“You can give me some fucking space; That’s what you can do, Asshole!” Steve screams, throwing his arms up.

“Fine!” Eddie yells. He lets his hands fall into fists at his sides. He storms past Steve, shoulder-checking him on his way out. He pushes his feet into his boots, not bothering to tie or zip them up. He rips his jacket off of the couch and storms out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Steve stares after him for a minute. He turns around and walks away from the kitchen.

“He’s fucking ridiculous.” Steve murmurs as he walks into his room. He half haphazardly throws his clothes in random directions as he changes out of his work clothes. Once he’s in some comfortable clothes, he crawls into his bed. His body aches from standing all day.

Steve stews in his anger for a bit longer, but eventually the adrenaline wears off and he realizes what he’s done. Sure, Eddie called him King Steve, but Steve did start the fight. Eddie really hadn’t done anything to piss Steve off as much as he was. Steve knows how stressed Eddie has been. He’s told Steve about how his coworkers have been getting meaner and meaner lately. Shit, he doesn’t even know where Eddie has gone.

“Fuck,” Steve whispers. He wants to go find Eddie, to apologize and reassure Eddie that no, he isn’t too much. But Steve knows how Eddie gets when he’s mad. He needs to go walk it off. He needs space to yell and cry and calm down on his own. So despite everything yelling at Steve to get up and search all of Hawkins for Eddie, he stays put.

Eddie had gotten into his van and drove off, speeding and breaking traffic laws in order to get away. He knows that he shouldn’t be driving, it’s dangerous to drive when upset. So he pulls off of the main road and onto a smaller dirt road. He follows the trail until he’s at the top of the quarry. He throws his van into park and steps out onto the ground. He walks over the edge and looks out at the water.

“What a fucking dick. I didn’t even do anything to him, fucking asshole.” Eddie rambles on as he scans the ground. He spots a palm sized rock, smooth but rotund. He picks it up, tosses it slightly up into the air a couple of times before turning his attention back to the water. He winds his arm back and chucks the rock into the quarry.

He watches as the rock falls into the water, creating a big splash and an almost never ending ripple. He looks back to the ground, looking for more rocks. He collects three more rocks and throws them out into the water.

After watching the final ripples dissipate, Eddie plops down onto the ground. He sighs out the last of his anger; sadness and a bone deep tiredness takes its place.

“Am I really too much?” He questions. He sits criss-crossed and picks at the loose threads in his jeans.

“Ok, I know he started it, but it wasn’t ok to call him ‘King Steve’. He’s changed, you know he’s changed.” Eddie talks to himself, it helps him debrief after particularly hard situations. Or, any situation, if he’s honest.

“I still love him,” Eddie says, and he does. He really fucking loves Steve. Steve is his favorite person in the world, but what he said really fucking hurt.

“The question is, does Steve love me?” Eddie questions. Even though Steve had yelled at him and picked the fight, Eddie feels it in his bones that Steve loves him. Steve shows that he loves him every single day. He still shows ways that he loves him even when he’s upset. Like last night, where Steve still made sure Eddie had eaten even though he was exhausted and still upset from work.

Eddie wants to go find Steve, to apologize and hear him out. He wants to make sure Steve still knows that Eddie loves him, even though they just yelled at each other.

But Steve asked for space, demanded more like it, but still. Eddie knows that Steve still needs space, Eddie will respect that. He gets up from his spot on the ground and climbs back into his van. He’ll give Steve his space tonight, and in the morning he’ll go over to Steve’s.

Eddie shifts the gear into reverse and turns around. He pulls back onto the main road, turning to head back to the trailer. They’ll figure it out in the morning.

Steve wakes up the next day. His blinds are shut, but he can tell it’s later than he normally would be awake based on the illuminated numbers on his alarm clock. He rubs at his eyes, remembering the night before. He needs to go apologize to Eddie. He opts to skip breakfast and go straight over to Eddie’s, after changing of course.

He rolls out of bed and starts shucking off his pajama pants. He changes into new clothes, a light colored polo with jeans. He slips on his sneakers before stepping into the bathroom. He brushes his teeth and fixes his hair. He doesn’t spend too long styling it, he wants to get over to Eddie’s as soon as possible.

He jogs down the stairs, pulling on his jacket before pulling the door open. He’s about to step out when,

“Eddie?” Steve asks. Eddie is standing on his porch, looking up from where he was looking at the pavement. It looks like he was pacing around before Steve had opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” Steve asks. He tilts his head slightly as he speaks.

“I wanted to apologize.” Eddie straightens out to look at Steve. He looks determined, but genuine nonetheless.

“What, why?” Steve should be the one apologizing, not Eddie. Eddie was right, he really hadn’t done anything wrong. Steve was the one in the wrong.

“I uh, I called you some hurtful things that I didn’t mean yesterday.” He says. Steve shakes his head,

“Eddie, you don’t need to apologize. You were being pretty accurate, man. I was acting like a total dick. I had a really bad day at work and I took it out on you, which I really shouldn’t have. I said you were too much; You’re not. You’re perfect just the way you are. I’m so sorry, Eddie.” Steve looks into Eddie’s eyes. Eddie softens at Steve’s apology.

“I’m sorry too, Steve. I didn’t mean it when I called you King Steve. You’ve changed, you’re kind and loving and nothing like King Steve was. You show me that every single day. I just knew that it would hurt you. Which is, really fucked up. I was hurt from you saying that I was too much, but that doesn’t excuse me from hurting you right back.” Eddie says, reaching out to hold onto Steve’s hands.

Steve smiles softly at Eddie. He holds firmly onto Eddie’s hands and pulls him into the house. Once he shuts the door behind Eddie, Steve pulls him into a tight hug. After a couple of minutes of hugging, Steve pulls away. He looks deeply into Eddie’s eyes, still holding onto his arms.

He leans forward and kisses Eddie on the lips. Eddie grins into the kiss and Steve smiles right back. They’re less kissing and more just pressing their smiles into each other, but it’s the thought that counts.

They both hold onto each other, knowing that they’re ok. They forgive each other, and love each other all the same. They’re ok. They’re ok now and they’ll be ok in the future. There are more fights and apologies to come, but they’ll be ok.

No matter the space between them, no matter the angry shouts and unreasonable arguments; they’ll love each other more and more each day. They’ll be ok, they’re ok.

#steddie fanfic #steddielovemonth #hurt/comfort #angst with a happy ending #they're ok #they still love each other

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