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steveseddie · 10 days ago

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slip and slide

Steve waits until Max has disappeared inside her house to start backing up his car.

He always makes sure the kids are safely inside before driving away, but today he’s also making sure that she doesn’t see him steer the car towards the Munson trailer instead of out of Forest Hills.

So that’s why you offered to give me a ride, she’d probably say with a knowing look, so that you could see Eddie.

Which isn’t true, okay? Steve offered to drive her home because he hated the thought of Max riding her skateboard only days after they had taken off her cast.

It just so happens that he can make sure she doesn’t break her arm again and check on Eddie at the same time. There isn’t more to it.

Or so he tells himself as he walks up the trailer steps and raises his hand to knock on the screen door.

The response comes a few seconds later– a loud metallic clang followed by a string of profanities. Steve recognizes the voice behind the swearing as Eddie’s, and worried that he might've hurt himself, he swings the door open and steps inside.

“Eddie? Are you okay?” Steve asks, lingering by the entrance, but when there’s no reply, he ventures in further. The trailer isn’t big and he easily finds Eddie in the bathroom, feeling relieved that he doesn’t look hurt, but also confused by the state of him. “Uh, Eddie?”

His voice makes Eddie jump, and with a wince, he picks up a wrench from the floor as if to defend himself before he recognizes Steve. “Jesus Christ, Harrington!” He releases a whoosh of air, lowering the wrench when he realizes he’s not in danger. “How did you get in here?”

“The door was open and I heard–” Steve lets his explanation trail off, his eyes narrowing at Eddie. “What are you doing? Why are you dripping?”

Standing in the shower, clothes still on and wet just like his hair, Eddie shrugs.

“I was uh– taking a shower.”

Steve’s eyebrow arches. “With your clothes on?”

Eddie’s face twitches into a grimace, but he doesn’t back down. “Yup,” he says. “They were dirty too. Gotta save water, you know?”

As ridiculous as Eddie is, this is too much even for him. Steve crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay, then what’s the wrench for?”

Eddie tries to hide it behind him, but it’s too late. He lets out a defeated sigh. “I was going to take a shower, but the stupid thing isn’t working, so I was trying to fix it.”

“Eddie,” Steve chatises, his hands finding their way to his hips. Eddie might be able to walk and the stitches might be gone, but he hasn’t healed completely yet. He definitely shouldn’t be using tools or attempting to fix a shower by himself.

“I know, okay, Steve?” Eddie says through gritted teeth, his cheeks burning with embarrassment and his eyes flashing with annoyance like they do whenever Wayne or Steve remind him that he needs to be more careful.

Steve sighs. “Did you hurt yourself?” He asks, opting out of giving him that same reminder and getting his head bitten off.

“I’m fine,” Eddie says, slumping against the wall. “I dropped the wrench and it almost fell on my foot, s’all. Turns out I still can’t lift my arms over my head. Makes my sides hurt like a bitch,” he admits, glaring at the tool in his hand.

Steve reaches for the wrench. “Here, let me help.”

“Do you even know how to fix a shower, rich boy?” Eddie asks, his eyebrow cocked petulantly.

Steve rolls his eyes. “Do you?” He shoots back, matching his bitchy tone.

Eddie’s nose scrunches up. “Touché,” he mutters, handing Steve the tool and flopping down onto the plastic chair they keep there for Eddie to sit while he showers. Standing for too long still makes his ankle hurt, even if he refuses to admit it.

As he steps into the shower, Steve tries not to think about a naked Eddie sitting on that chair. He definitely doesn’t think about standing behind him and washing his hair or his back or his chest, his hands trailing lower and lower–

Nope, he’s not thinking about that, even if his white-knuckled grip on the wrench suggests otherwise.

“You know,” Steve says, focusing on the task at hand and shoving all those thoughts away. “This is the kind of thing that you call a friend for.”

Behind him, Eddie lets out a scoff. “Most of my friends are like, three feet tall.”

“I’m not.”

There’s a short silence followed by Eddie’s whispered response. “No, but you’ve already done enough for me, man.”

It’s true that Steve has been driving Eddie to physical therapy, picking up his meds, buying groceries for him and Wayne, often even cooking for them, but Eddie has to know he’s happy to do all that.

In case he doesn’t, Steve decides to tell him. “We’re friends, Eddie. Friends help each other.” He uses the wrench to tighten something that seems loose, hoping that will fix the problem. Eddie’s assumption was right– Steve has no idea what he’s doing.

Eddie sighs, and the chair squeaks, probably from him slumping against it. “No, friends come over for movies and to smoke and hang out, not to fuss over you like you’re useless and can’t take care of yourself!”

Steve turns around and finds Eddie with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the wall. With his hair plastered to his face and his soaked clothes, he looks a little like a wet rat. A cute one, though he doubts Eddie will appreciate the comparison either way.

“I can do that,” Steve tells him instead. “The movies and the smoking. Hanging out with you. I’d like that.”

Eddie cautiously meets Steve’s eyes. “You would?”

“Of course. Eds, I don’t think that you’re useless. That’s not why I do any of that, I just– I like to help,” he says, hanging a hand from his neck. “I know I can be a little too much sometimes–”

“That’s not– you’re not,” Eddie reassures him. “I just don’t like feeling like– like a charity case.”

“Well, you’re not that either,” Steve says. “You’re my friend, or– I want you to be.”

The truth is, Steve would like him to be more, but the last thing he wants is to prove to Eddie that he is a little too much by blurting that out right now.

Grabbing a lock of wet hair, Eddie tugs it in front of his face. *Oh, uh, me too.”

Steve’s heart flutters, and he turns back around, paying attention to the shower again. “First, I gotta fix this thing so you can shower, though,” he says and shoots a cheeky grin over his shoulder. “You stink, Munson.”

Eddie barks out a loud laugh. “Fuck off, Harrington.”

Steve tinkers with the shower a little longer, feeling Eddie’s eyes on him the whole time. That, and the fact that it’s the middle of the day and the trailer is a big metal box with no central AC, means that he starts sweating very soon. He pauses a few times to brush his sweaty hair away or wipe the sweat from his face with his shirt– and every time he swears that he can hear Eddie curse under his breath. He’s probably affected by the heat too, but Steve wistfully entertains the idea of Eddie being affected by the sight of Steve working in front of him. He makes sure to show off a little just in case he’s right.

When he’s out of things to tweak and tighten, he spins around to face Eddie, whose eyes quickly snap up from where he was staring at– Steve’s ass? and attempts to blink innocently at him.

“It’s done. I think,” Steve says, biting his lip around the smug grin threatening to break across his face. He was right to put on a show.

Eddie clears his throat a few times, a blush rising to his cheeks. “Alright, big boy, moment of truth,” he says, pushing himself off the chair. “Let’s see if you have a future as a handyman.”

He grabs the shower handle, twists it, and–

Nothing happens.

Steve’s bottom lip juts out in a pout. “Guess you were right. I don’t know how to fix a shower,” he says, his shoulders slumping with disappointment. “Sorry, man.”

“S’alright, you tried,” Eddie says, knocking their shoulders together. The shower is small, and with the chair taking up half of the space, they’re standing very close to each other. “I’ll just ask Wayne to take a look at it later.”

For a moment, neither of them moves. They should probably get out of the shower, and Eddie should probably change out of his wet clothes so they can hang out– is that still on the table?

“We– uh, we can still watch the movie. If you want,” Steve says, running his hand through his hair.

Eddie blinks at him. “Yeah?” He asks, his mouth ticking up at the corners. “Even if I stink?”

Steve ducks his head with a laugh. “You don’t.”

“Hm,” Eddie hums. “Even if I was a dick to you for trying to help?”

Steve meets Eddie’s eyes. “I’m used to it,” he teases, getting another laugh from Eddie in return.

“Very well, Harrington, let’s get out of here so I can change and we can– Shit!”

Eddie’s socked foot slips on the wet tiles mid-sentence, and he curses as he loses his balance and almost faceplants on the floor.

The only reason he doesn’t is because Steve grabs him by his elbows, steadying him and keeping them both on their feet, their faces end up only inches apart. Like this, it’s impossible to miss the way Eddie’s eyes dart down to Steve’s lips, only a breath away from his.

“You okay?” Steve asks, his hands sliding to Eddie's waist instead.

He hears his sharp inhale, and when his eyes snap up and Eddie realizes that Steve caught him staring at his mouth, he starts to panic a little. “Aye! All good, Your Majesty, thanks to you!” He says, his voice coming out an octave too high. “What a mighty friend you are, saving me from a most painful fall!”

He’s too busy squirming and trying to free himself to notice the fond amusement in Steve’s face.

Steve holds him tighter, both because he doesn’t trust Eddie not to slip again and because he doesn’t want him to run away, not when he thinks they might be on the same page after all.

When Steve doesn’t budge, Eddie makes a hmph noise. “Steve, what–”

“I lied,” he says, feeling Eddie go still in his arms.

Raising an eyebrow at him, he asks, “I do stink?”

A low chuckle slips past Steve's lips. “No. Eddie, I– don’t want to just be your friend.”

Hope flickers in Eddie’s eyes before he shoves it down, staring cautiously at Steve instead. “Then– then what–” He starts, but Steve doesn’t let him finish, closing the small distance between them and pressing their lips together.

There’s a surprised, muffled squeak from Eddie and a split second where he just stands there frozen before he eagerly kisses Steve back, pushing him against the tiles. Steve can feel the shower handle digging into his spine. It hurts a little, but he doesn’t care, he’s too busy kissing Eddie harder, one of his hands tangling in his curls as he licks into his mouth until–

Until there's a rickety noise from the showerhead above them, quickly followed by water raining down on them.

The water is cold and unexpected, and it effectively puts a stop to their kiss as they both pull back, cursing.

“Of fucking course that’s when the stupid thing finally works!” Eddie groans, throwing his head back to glare at the shower, which only results in the water hitting him right on the face, making him splutter.

Steve can’t help but laugh, feeling the water plaster his hair to his face and soaking his clothes. Eddie attempts to pout at him, but it doesn’t last; he starts laughing too, his head tipping forward so his forehead rests on Steve’s shoulder.

“Hey, at least I fixed it,” Steve says once their laughter has dissolved into giggles, his hands running up and down Eddie’s drenched shirt.

Eddie snorts, nuzzling his face into Steve’s neck. “You sure did, sweetheart.”

When he pulls back, he’s grinning widely, his dimples popping. His hair is flat against his head, no curls in sight, and his bangs are plastered to his forehead, making him look like a drowned rat once again. But droplets of water have also caught on his long eyelashes, and when he flutters his big eyes to get rid of them, it almost looks like they’re sparkling. So, drowned rat or not, Steve thinks he looks pretty like this. He doesn’t quite want them to dry up just yet.

So, “Still feel like taking that shower?” Steve asks with a playful smirk.

Eddie’s face lights up with interest. “Depends. Feel like joining me?”

Steve pretends to think it over as if that isn’t exactly what he wants. “Well,” he says, his lips stretching into a grin. “Gotta save water, right?”

Eddie’s boisterous laugh echoes through the bathroom as he grabs the shower curtain and draws it closed.

Then he pulls Steve in for another wet kiss, grabbing him by the lapels of his soaked shirt.

#self reblog!#steddie #steddie fic #steddiebingo2025 #:)

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