Work Text:
Steve crouched down, sorting through video tapes when he heard the bell on the door go off. He stood with a stiff stretch and cracked his back, then put on his best smile for a bad day, and made his way to front of the store. He was about to start his best spiel when he saw who'd come through the door. Eddie Munson.
Eddie, who leaned on the counter, gave Steve his cheekiest smile in return.
"Hey Harrington, just came to check in on you since you're all on your lonesome in here. Robin in class?"
"Where you should be!" Steve hissed back. It didn't stop him from tangling his fingers with Eddie's over the counter. He had to admit, seeing Eddie in the middle of the day was definitely a pick-me-up that he needed. The gloom of being on his own was starting to give him too much room to think about things he especially did not want to think about.
"Yeah I could be... I could be," Eddie responded, and dipped his head to concede to the idea. "But really I'd still just be here in my mind with you Harrington. So I just decided to skip the middleman and come see you."
"You're going to end up repeating senior year again," Steve warned him, and Eddie rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah yeah yeah, I'm actually doing great in this class you know. English. I acted this role, even for Drama. You can't tell me more about Hamlet that I don't already know." Eddie put his hand in his cheek and bit his tongue at Steve, who was still looking mildly unimpressed. He couldn't really hide the sag in his shoulders. Or the way his eyes shone duller than usual, because Steve noticed the way that Eddie was looking at him now. The charm and drama had disappeared, but those deep brown eyes still held their attention on him.
Sometimes, someone's eyes undress you more than their hands ever could. In this instance, Eddie could look into Steve and see the cracks in his ribs, and the shadows in his heart.
"Hey," Eddie said softly, reaching across the counter to rub the knuckle of his index finger on Steve's cheek. "What's going on in your world Steve? You can talk to me you know. I'm not just a pretty face. I've got a brain in here, a heart. I'm a plain ol' Wizard of Oz, Harrington. You need to borrow some of my courage?" He kissed his boyfriend's palm.
"I think you should really go back to your English class," Steve taunted with the edges of his smile beginning to show again. "That was terrible. Cheesy as hell Munson." Steve hated how no matter how terrible he was feeling, Eddie could drag a smile out of him. It wasn't lost on him that even when he felt his hands shake too hard, or his nightmares became too much, Eddie would come over for him. If Steve called him, Eddie would show up at 1 am with whatever snacks he could lift from the gas station on his way over, and a movie. Last time had been The Wizard Of Oz.
Eddie had suspected that Steve was not doing quite as well as he was letting on to the rest of their friend group. Robin had noticed that Steve didn't joke as much, Dustin had noticed that Steve always seemed busy with nothing to do. Eddie never felt bad sacrificing his time to make sure that someone out there was seeing Steve. Really seeing him. Not the version he put on display for everyone that was okay. Steve always showed up with a smile, with humor, and with a sort of sunshine that Eddie couldn't get enough of.
"I'm not going anywhere baby," he told Steve finally, giving his palm another kiss. He continued to peer up at Steve with that atrociously beautiful expression, caught somewhere between adoration and compassion. "You're stuck with me, you know that Harrington? Like gum on the bottom of your shoe, like smoke in your lungs baby, I'm here forever."
"You're insane," Steve shook his head, closing his eyes to keep Eddie's sincerity from piercing him any deeper. He nearly fell over backwards when Eddie hauled himself up on the counter, swooning at him before he kissed Steve's cheek. The TV in the background was off in favor of the radio, and he'd recognized the song as one of Steve's favorites.
"Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere--" Eddie belted out, making the boy's cheeks go bright red.
"Munson-- Munson get down! I swear to god!" Steve tried to tug his boyfriend's arm, but Eddie sprung up and struck a pose, flinging his arms wide as he planted his feet.
"Can't tame me now Harrington!" He put his whole heart into performing the next verse of Don't Stop Believin' by Journey, he didn't spare the air guitar, or singing along to the beat when there were no words. Eddie truly put his entire being into that performance as if he was at his own Corroded Coffin concert, doing his best to entertain those four drunks in the meager crowd. Steve couldn't help the way it pulled a grin out of him, his whole face deepening into a tomato red.
"Oh my god," he murmured into his hand, waving with slight embarrassment as some potential customers backed their way out of the store. Eddie did not stop, or hold back until the song was over, and Steve was smiling. There was a brightness back in his eyes that Eddie adored seeing. When he hopped off the counter, Eddie threw his arms around Steve's waist and picked him up to spin him in a hug.
"That's more like it Harrington," Eddie grinned at him, coming in to kiss him with his own laugh pouring into Steve. Steve grabbed Eddie's vest and allowed himself to be leaned back into laughter and their lips connecting in messy kiss after kiss. "I guess I shouldn't ravish you on the clock... You're a working man, but damn if it isn't impossible to resist those lips when you smile at me that way."
"One of these days you're going to get me fired, then it won't be a problem." Steve teased.
"Well, aren't I a lucky, lucky man," Eddie responded, and smiled wider when Steve slapped his shoulder.
"You're a pain in the ass, Munson."
"Yeah," he agreed, and stole another affectionate kiss off Steve's lips. "But I'm your pain in the ass."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Steve admitted, and maybe he was relieved at the insistence of a love drunk Metal Head.