Chapter Text
As Eddie pulled into the parking lot of Family Video he had to give himself The Speech. The same speech he had to give himself everytime he would be in the same room/vicinity/area as Steve Harrington, and recently that had been happening a lot. The Speech went something like this: "You will keep your eyes to yourself. You will not stare at him. Nobody wants to be stared at. You will be respectful of his personal space. You wil NOT grab his ass. You will NOT give any indication that you want to climb him like a tree. You can exist in the same space as Harrington without losing your mind and being locked in a loony bin for the rest of your miserable life."
The Speech was pretty specfic to Steve, but was based off of a speech that Wayne had given Eddie shortly after Eddie had moved in with him. They had gone out to dinner and Eddie had been completely entranced by their waiter. Eddie had only been 12 at the time, but he knew he was gay and the waiter was almost unfairly attractive. When Wayne and Eddie had gotten home that night, Wayne had sat Eddie down on the couch and given him a speech about staring too hard at people. He had explained that while it was okay to look, it was not okay to linger. Eddie had been horribly embarrassed at the time, but later had realized that Wayne was only trying to help him. And it had helped. While Eddie hadn't lost his need, his craving, to look at pretty boys, he was better able to pull his eyes away now.
"Dude, what is wrong with you? Are you planning to get out of the van or just sit there and bake to death?" An annoying voice piped up in Eddie's ear, reminding him that he wasn't alone.
Eddie shook his head to clear his mind and refocused on where he was. Sitting outside Family Video with Dustin Henderson staring at him from the passenger seat. "What? Yeah. I'm getting out. Keep your head on." With a shove (the driver's door always stuck), Eddie forced his way out of the van and ambled into the store, Henderson right on his heels.
"No." Steve said without even looking up from the videos he was sorting on the front counter.
"What the fuck?" Eddie asked, stopping in front of the counter and leaning on his elbows. "We just walked in and the first thing you say to us is 'No.'"
Steve finally looked up and made eye contact with Eddie, "I wasn't talking to both of you. I was talking to you, Munson. No." With that lack of clarification, Steve scooped up the tapes and started to put them back on the shelves.
"Why are you telling me no?" Eddie asked in a plaintive tone as he moved to stand right next to Steve. He let his mouth get droopy and his eyes get big, a real puppy dog face. It was one of many goofy looks that he had perfected over the years.
Before Steve could answer, Robin walked out of the back room and came up to the counter. She reached out and snatched Dustin's hat off of his head, twirling it on her finger as she responed to the question, "He means 'no, Eddie, you may not check out anymore video tapes.' You still haven't returned the last THREE tapes and they are seriously overdue. If you want to check something else out you've gotta bring back the tapes and pay your fine."
Eddie gasped dramatically, splaying his hand over his chest and staggering backwards. He purposefully bumped into Steve, knocking the last two tapes out of his hands and completely ignoring the scowl that came his way. Dustin watched the display with a grin on his face, clearly enjoying the dramatics. "What? Late fees? No tapes? What is the point of having best friends who work at the video store if they can't bend the rules for you? This is a complete miscarriage of justice! I have been wronged!" His voice came out in a dramatic tone that he usually saved for the Hellfire table, but it had the desired effect. Dustin was outright grinning, Robin was stifling a laugh, and even Steve had a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
"We can only bend the rules so much, Munson. For you we would have to practically break them." Steve said as he finished up with the tapes. He then walked over to the counter and hopped up on it. Robin immediately reached up to scratch his back with the hand not holding Dustin's hat. Eddie tried to ignore the way Steve's biceps flexed and instead turned to Dustin, who, with a quick grab, finally reclaimed his hat from Robin and was standing with arms crossed and an expectant look on his face.
"Sorry, Henderson, looks like we won't get to have our movie night. Mama Steve says we have to have 'responsibility.'" Eddie put air quotes around the last word and said the whole statement with an air of mock seriousness.
Dustin played along with straight face and terribly fake British accent. "Oh, well, if Mama Steve said it then I guess we have to do it. Responsibility it is. Let's go do our homework and get our chores done. Pip pip, cheerio!"
"Would you guys cut that Mama Steve shit out? I don't even know why that nickname got started. I am not anyone's mother." Steve's cheeks were slightly pink and his eyebrows were drawn together as he glared at Eddie and Dustin. Instead of being chastened, though, the two looked at each other and just started laughing loudly, Eddie going so far as to bend over and slap his knees at the hilarity of Steve's protest.
"Dude, you've got to admit that you have some motherly tendencies." Dustin said before beginning to tick example off on his fingers. "You never start driving unless my seatbelt is on, you're obsessed with making sure we've all done our homework, and you enforce a strict curfew on school nights! Even if we're in the middle of a badass campaign!"
Steve rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Eddie took the opportunity to sidle up next to him and give the puppy dog pout another try. "Now that you've taken away our afternoon entertainment, how are you going to fix it? I simply hate being bored. And you know how much trouble I can cause when I'm bored. Factor Henderson in and that's a bonafide recipe for disaster."
Steve looked into Eddie's face for a moment before his eyes darted away and his cheeks grew even pinker. "Not sure I know how to keep someone like you entertained, Munson."
"Oh, I'm sure someone as experienced as you could come up with something." Eddie responded, trying to hide his glee at having made Steve blush. As giddy as he felt, though, he knew he had to rein it in. If he wasn't careful he would give himself away and then where would he be? Alone. Again. "Well, if you ladies will excuse us, Henderson and I are going to go be 'responsible.'"
With that he swept out of the store without a glance back.
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Two days later and Eddie found himself in the almost exact same situation sans Henderson. He was sitting in the parking lot of Family Video giving himself The Speech. After a moment of reminding himself what he had to lose (being in the presence of Steve Harrington, and wasn't that just pathetic), he grabbed the overdue tapes off the passenger seat and shoved his way out of the van.
This time, when he walked into the store he started talking before anyone could tell him no. "I've got the taaaaapes!," he sang out. He waggled them in the air as the few customers who were browing the aisles turned to look at him. Steve, however, didn't even look up from where he was helping an old man check out. This didn't deter Eddie; he just got in line behind the man, bouncing on his toes as a rush of nervous energy filled him. He didn't usually come to the store when Robin wasn't also working. He much preferred to have Buckley as a buffer. Instead, he would have to settle for the few customers to keep him from doing something he would regret.
The old man finally finished up and shuffled his way to the door, so Eddie slid up to the counter and placed the three overdue tapes in front of Steve with a flourish and shit-eating grin. "I believe you requested these, milord."
Steve looked at Eddie with a deadpan expression before beginning to key them into the system. "I believe I asked for them four weeks ago, Munson."
Eddie leaned closer, "Well, they're here now! So, can I check out new tapes?" He started tapping his fingers on the counter in a little rhythm, hoping to channel some of his nervous energy out that way.
"Not until you pay your fine. That'll be $7.63." Steve looked at Eddie expectantly.
Eddie let out a gasp that brought the attention of the now one other customer and then smacked the counter for good measure. "That is highway robbery! I've returned the tapes, why should I now have to pay a fortune?"
"You have to pay because you didn't return the tapes on time. That's the policy, Munson, and you know it. Now either pay up or go to Hawkins Video to rent your movies." Steve named the other video rental store, which was honestly condescending because Eddie knew that Steve knew that Eddie had been banned from Hawkins Video after a little incident involving hairspray, rat traps, and a balloon. The fire and resulting explosion hadn't even been that big!
"That's cold, Harrington." Eddie pursed his lips as he tried to think of some other way of riling Steve up. However, before an idea came to mind he caught Steve glancing down at his mouth and then quickly away as if he was worried he would be caught. Eddie's brain short circuited. There was no way that Steve "The King" Harrington had any reason to look at his lips. Unless.
Deciding to test his new theory out, Eddie reached out and brushed a thumb over his Steve's cheek. "Dude, you've got an eyelash."
Instead of flinching, or batting Eddie's hand away, Steve closed his eyes for a beat longer than normal and a soft pink flush stole into his cheeks. Eddie knew it wasn't concrete evidence, and definitely wouldn't hold up in court, but he had never been one to try all that hard to rein in his impulses.
Eddie's heart started to beat faster as realized there was a chance Steve might be like him. Wanting something he didn't think he could have. It was only the barest of chances, but Eddie knew that if he didn't take this chance he would regret it for the rest of his life. To hell with The Speech.
Eddie leaned a little further over the counter, getting closer to Steve, making sure that Steve had to tilt his head to look him in the eye. "Maybe there's something else I could do to pay off the charge."
Steve blinked once. Twice. "Something else? Like, manual labor? I don't think Keith would go for that."
"No, dummy. Use your imagination. Is there anything, anything at all, that I could do for you so that you'll erase the fee." This time Eddie let his voice drop half an octave, let his words flow smoothly. While he might be a complete D&D nerd, he had a little experience, and even some success, in flirting successfully and if this wasn't the time to use it he didn't know when would be. He let his lashes fall halfway closed as he looked up at Steve who was now full on blushing.
Steve cleared his throat. "Um, I have no idea what you might be referencing, Munson. You're gonna have to be a little clearer."
With a deep breath, knowing he might be making a big mistake but unable to stop himself, Eddie leaned in so that his mouth was right next to Steve's ear and said, "I think you can use your imagination and come up with something, pretty boy." As he pulled away, Eddie got to witness a sight that he had never hoped to see. Steve's pupils were blown wide, his mouth was slightly parted, and the flush on his cheeks had spread down to his neck. Then, before Eddie really had a chance to appreciate Steve's speechless face, his expression turned to one of steely determination. This was a look that Eddie had seen before, several times. Usually when Steve or one of the kids was in danger and Steve was going to have to do something dangerous to save them. Eddie was seriously regretting his life choices when Steve finaly spoke, only to just say, "Follow me." Eddie would be damned, though, if he was just going to stand there or start asking questions. So, he followed Steve to the backroom where Steve pushed the door open to reveal his boss, Keith, sitting in front of a small TV. "Keith, I'm taking my break now. Go cover the front." Keith glared up at Steve, clearly about to protest his command, but he must have seen something he didn't want to argue with in Steve's face because he just let out a groan, turned off the TV, and left the room. Steve pulled the door shut behind him and then turned to look at Eddie.
Eddie just stood there, some of his bravado from earlier gone. He knew how to flirt, and he knew how to rile people up, but Steve was looking at him with an expression that made him feel like he was in over his head. Like maybe he hadn't thought this all the way through.
"I'm going to need you to be very specific with me right now. No bullshit." Steve said in soft voice, his expression earnest. "Were you hitting on me just now?"
Eddie choked, coughing as his throat tightened. "I'm sorry? I was ju-"
"No." Steve cut Eddie off. "No bullshit. Were you flirting?"
Eddie looked at Steve, really looked at him in a way he had never been able to allow himself to look, and realized that the flushed skin and blown pupils hadn't gone away. If anything, they were more prominent. Eddie had seen this look before, but only ever in the few pretty boys he had managed to pick up in bars far away from Hawkins. If he wasn't wrong, and he hoped to Jesus H Christ that he wasn't, Steve was turned on. Eddie suddenly felt desperate to touch him, but knew he had to answer Steve's question. Had to explain. "Yes. Yes, I was flirting. I'm sorry if that was too mu-"
Steve cut Eddie off for the second time, this time with his mouth. Eddie stood there for a second, shocked, as Steve "The King" Harrington pressed his mouth against Eddie's, one hand buried in his hair and one hand pressed into his hip, holding him tight as if Steve was scared he was going to try and run away. Then, as the shock wore off, Eddie reciprocated. He realized that Steve had come at him at an awkward angle, so he tilted his head to fix that. Eddie brought his hands up to press against Steve's back, pulling him closer. Then, he just let himself fall into the kiss. It was hotter than he had dreamed it could be, both of them pressing and pulling at each other. Finally, feeling like he couldn't stand it if he didn't get closer to Steve, Eddie opened his mouth and pressed his tongue to Steve's lips. Steve immediately opened his mouth with a groan and then their tongues were twining, rubbing in and out of each other's mouths.
Eddie finally pulled back slightly to get some air and was rewarded with the sight of a kiss drunk Steve: heavy eyelids and red, spit slick lips. He chuckled and wiped some of the moisture away with his thumb, chuckling again when Steve nipped at the digit.
"God, Munson, why couldn't you have flirted with me earlier?" Steve said in the same tone he used when Henderson did something incredibly stupid.
Eddie stared at him, suddenly confused. "What do you mean earlier? You would have kissed me before today?"
Now it was Steve's turn to stare at Eddie in confusion. "What the fuck are you talking about? I've been trying to get your attention for months now! Buckley finally told me that I should try to move on because clearly you weren't interested. You really didn't notice?" Steve's hands had moved from Eddie's hair to Steve's hips and Eddie tried to resist the urge to grab them and put them back.
"Obviously I didn't notice. If I had noticed before, then this wouldn't be the first time we made out in a closet!" Eddie whisper-yelled. For some reason his mind could comprehend the idea that Steve might randomly decide to want to make out, but not the idea that Steve might have been wanting to kiss him for a long time.
Both Steve and Eddie jumped as the door swung open and Keith appeared. "Jesus, Keith, knock much?" Steve asked.
"Uh, I didn't think I needed to knock to tell you your break is up. Get back to work." Thankfully it didn't look like Keith had noticed, or cared about, anything.
Eddie followed Steve back toward the front of the store, trying to figure out what to say. Before they got to the counter, though, Steve spun around and looked at Eddie. "Come to my house tonight. My parents are gone and maybe we can watch a movie. Or something."
"Well, I like the sound of 'or something,' so I'll think about it, Harrington." Eddie tried to play it cool, but he didn't quite manage it based on Steve's smirk. With an over the top grin and bow combo, Eddie skipped out of the store, practically bursting at the seams with new energy.