#cute little savage erica sinclair destroying nerds

[justrambles]

(Beauty and the beast steddie)

No.5 — Door

Eddie hesitates in front of the closed door. With the the hallway lights now turned on he can see that the door is heavily scratched, especially around the doorknob.

Dustin told him that this was Steve's room. He also told Eddie that this mansion was Steve's house originally, so Eddie wonders why he doesn't stay in the master bedroom that Eddie's staying in right now. He gathers up his courage and knocks.

"Hey, um, Steve? This is Eddie, the guy who came to your house last night. Hi, uh- Can I come in?"

He hears someone stumbling behind the door. He waits for a minute, and then asks again.

"Steve?"

"No."

It's almost a shout, and Eddie is taken aback by the fierceness of the response. The rejection is so different from the welcoming responses of the other kids in this house, it seems a little strange. But hey, everyone's different. Maybe Steve doesn't like people.

"Alright, sorry about that. I just wanted to say thanks for... for the meal. You didn't have to. Didn't have to do anything. I'm only a stranger passing by– and honestly, I would've understood if you just made me stay off your house. But you didn't, so... Thank you, man. You're a really nice person."

There's a silence between them. As Eddie accepts that Steve is not going to answer and is about to go back to his room, Steve's voice comes through the closed door.

"The boys like you. Uh, I mean that I should be thanking you, too. They haven't been this excited for a while. Dustin talked my ears off today about how you seemed like a really cool guy. And it's no trouble. You can... stay as long as you want to."

Steve sounds nervous, and Eddie gives him a sheepish grin even though he knows Steve can't see it.

"Thanks, Steve. Dustin told you I seemed cool?"

Steve chuckles at the smugness in Eddie's response.

"Yeah, the little shit don't usually admit that kind of thing, it's a real compliment."

"That's nice. For the record, I think Dustin's a cool kid, too. Smart kid. You his brother?"

"Brother? No, it does feel like it, though. They're all the kids I babysit. Well, used to, I guess."

Steve's voice sounds a little pensive, so Eddie does what he's good at doing: he spins out a tale to get Steve's mind off whatever he's thinking —it's probably about being cursed and stuck in time— and talks about befriending freshmen who get lost in the social hierarchy of high school and the troubles it caused. He can't see what's going on behind that door but imagines Steve being attentive to his story, hopefully finding it amusing.

After the story, there's another silence, but it's a more comfortable one than from before. Eddie realizes the time is quite late, he didn't notice it getting much darker.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go back to the room now, it's late and you should rest too."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so... Goodnight, Stevie."

"...Goodnight, Eddie."

***

What he sees as he enters his room is a black kitten padding on his stuff. It's so much smaller than the other kids that Eddie guesses the kitten is younger than them. And the little kitten looks so fluffy with the softest fur, with bright eyes... Eddie can't help himself but let out an "aww".

"If you 'aww' at me again, I'll bite your ankle off so hard you'll lose your foot."

Okay, he did not expect that.

"The nerds were all acting like you were some kind of a hero, so I came to see what this was about. Turns out, you are a nerd, too. Well, even a bigger nerd. No wonder why they like you, nerd."

He was so not expecting such comments. Eddie gapes, trying to come up with a rebuttal—

At the same moment, Lucas scurries in and shouts, "Erica!"