#and now for a version of eddie that has absolutely none of the experience I've been talking about in the meta stuff

[laundrybiscuits]

(purify our misfit ways tag | AO3)

When he wakes up, Eddie’s stretched out next to him, still clutching his book, snoring a little. Steve waits for the panicky feeling to come back, looking at Eddie and looking at the way the morning sun is bright on his skin, but it never hits. It’s just Eddie. Strange, clever, funny, kind.

It’s weird to think how Steve hasn’t known him all that long, but it already feels like Eddie’s a part of him now. More a part of him than high school or prom king or Scoops Ahoy; maybe about the same as monsters and a backyard pool that he doesn’t ever use anymore. 

He feels kind of dumb, not noticing something like that about himself. He thinks it’s probably not the kind of thing that comes out of nowhere, but he doesn’t like thinking about anything he might’ve missed in the past. 

It’s not like it matters, probably, because Eddie hadn’t been offering anything last night, so it’s just Steve here by himself in this. It sucks, because if he’s going to have a big gay revelation, he should at least get to fool around with a guy about it. Maybe he can still do that, though—there are bars and stuff, right? He lies there for a little while, just looking at Eddie, trying to remember every stray rumor he’s ever heard about homosexual lifestyles. He’d never thought it would be important to know, but he guesses now he’s got to learn all the rules. 

Obviously he can still go with girls, or at least he will as soon as this dry spell’s over; it just seems like kind of a waste not to try this new thing out, now that he knows it’s an option. Maybe it’s easier with guys or something. Guys usually want sex more than girls, right? So it seems like it would probably be pretty simple to get laid, if you knew for sure a guy liked other guys and you wouldn’t get decked for asking. 

Would Eddie deck him for asking?

Steve’s stomach picks this moment to remind him that this is a lot of complicated thinking to take place before breakfast, and he eases off the bed. It’s not like they’re even touching or anything, so it’s not that difficult to get up without waking Eddie. 

He stands there for a second, just looking at the way Eddie shifts a little to stretch into the warm place where Steve used to be. 

Steve’s shirt looks and smells like it was dragged through a bush, which isn’t too far from the truth, so he swaps it out for a shirt he finds on the floor which doesn’t smell too bad. It smells a little bit like Eddie, actually, which is kind of cool. That’s probably a benefit of dating a guy that he’d never thought of before—getting to wear his clothes, or getting him to wear yours. Well, maybe some girls wore their boyfriends’ shirts, but not as regular clothing, and it’s not like Steve ever got to wear his girlfriends’ stuff. 

He leaves before he can get sidetracked thinking about that too much, and runs right into an old guy making coffee in the kitchenette. 

“Uh,” he says. 

The old guy looks him up and down, and Steve’s heart starts to pound. If his dad had caught some guy coming out of his bedroom, wearing his shirt…

“Sit yourself down, have something to eat,” says the older guy. “You can call me Wayne. I’m Eddie’s uncle.”

“Yessir,” Steve says, automatically, and sits down. 

Wayne grimaces, and Steve realizes that he’s seen that same expression on Eddie’s face. “None of that, now. Just Wayne’ll be fine. You okay with cereal, son?”

“Cereal’s great, Wayne,” says Steve. Being polite to parents—or, well, parent-type people—is like muscle memory at this point. He used to be good at this. “Really appreciate it, thanks. I’m Steve Harrington.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Steve Harrington. Hope I didn’t interrupt you running out on Eddie.”

“Running—um, no sir. I mean, Wayne. It’s not like that, I swear.” 

Steve feels like he’s been bracing for a punch to the jaw and suddenly he’s getting his knee kicked out from under him. So far, being into guys is turning out to be a lot like being into girls: getting cornered by stern parent-type people wanting to know his intentions and assuming the worst, while Steve pretends like he wasn’t thinking what he was thinking a few minutes ago. 

He takes the cheerios that Wayne hands him and tries his most winning, parent-pleasing smile. “I’m a friend of Eddie’s who got a little too tired to drive last night, so he let me stay over.”

Wayne snorts. “Heard that one before. Okay, Steve Harrington, I’ve got to get to my shift. Help yourself to coffee, and you better not leave before saying goodbye to my boy.”

“Yessir,” says Steve. 

As the door swings shut behind Wayne, the words heard that one before ping-pong around Steve’s brain. Does that mean—it could just be a turn of phrase, or it could mean that Eddie’s—that there have been—

Wayne didn’t seem all that surprised to see a boy coming out of Eddie’s bedroom. It’s not solid proof of anything, but Steve’s worked with less. And now that he’s got most of a bowl of cheerios in him, he’s pretty confident that even if Eddie’s not interested, it’s not like Eddie’ll take a swing at him or anything. Plus, Robin would definitely take Steve’s side in this, and it’s not like Eddie’s going to ditch Robin too. 

Huh. That’s another good thing about this whole situation, he realizes: it’ll be something he has in common with Robin. She’s probably going to be stoked to hear it. And he still likes girls too, so that’s double the things they have in common. 

He washes up and grabs a mug that reads ROANE COUNTY 4-H FAIR ‘77 from a shelf. It has a llama wearing a hat on it. He’s just pouring a nice hot cup of coffee when he hears shuffling footsteps from the direction of the bedroom. 

Eddie’s standing there, still barefoot and in boxers, looking sleepy and confused with one side of his hair all messed up. Steve feels a little shot of adrenaline go through him, just a nice little buzz, like the feeling he always got before a swim meet or a basketball game. Not nerves, exactly, just his body letting him know it’s go time, that there’s something big coming up just ahead, right in front of him. 

“Hey,” he says.