music project - steddie

11

steve:

steve woke up sweating and silently panting. in panic he looked around in the dark, unfamiliar room. well, almost completely dark. steve sat up on the mattress and turned around to the dim green light behind him. it was eddie's watch which read 4.23am. steve sighed and got up with shaking legs still traumatized from the pictures he saw in his dream. cold sweat started to run down steve's spine when he just thought about it. he tried to distract himself by looking for a flashing light when his eyes got stuck on the peacefully sleeping eddie. his breathing was slow but deep and his hands were tucked behind his head while his long curls were spread all above the various pillows.

the sight was comforting.

steve felt his own body relax and his legs stopped shaking uncontrollably. he didn't know for how long he actually just stood there next to eddie's bed, watching how the young man breathed in and out with just a hint of slight snoring. even though if was hard, after a while steve tore his eyes from eddie and made his way as silent as possible out of the room which sounds way easier than it was since all over eddie's floor were scattered empty coffee cups, a smoking pot, dnd books and random papers. steve held his breath while tip toeing his way to the door. he slowly opened the room's door just as much to slip through the gap and steve already breathed out in relief when his foot kicked against a cup filled with lots of different dice which happily and with a loud "klack" spread on eddie's floor.

"shitshitshit", steve quietly cursed and immediately checked if he woke up eddie. however, eddie just moved a little, murmured something incomprehensible and went quiet again. steve took a deep but silent breath out of relief before closing eddie's door.

"alright, now where's the bathroom", steve whispered to himself before spotting two doors on his right and left side. as quiet as possible he opened the one on the right. the sight offered a bed standing right in the middle of the room with uncountable shelves all around it. he couldn't spot a single bit of the walls since the shelves filled up to the ceiling. the shelves themselves were filled with variations of dusty books, boxes, multiple binders, empty cigarette packages, empty as well as half filled beer bottles, clothes which stuck out and more unrecognizable things.

while steve's eyes wandered through the room which was probably from eddie's uncle, his eyes got stuck on one thing. it was a children's toy, a teddy bear. without a second thought, steve let his intrusive urges win and entered the room to walk straight to the shelf with the teddy bear. it was on the top shelf, almost completely hidden behind two black binders. at the teddy's foot hung a little sign. steve reached for it and turned it around. the paper was all yellowed and crumbly but in very small and messy handwriting "edward" was written on it.

steve didn't understand why and maybe the lack of sleep made him more emotional than usual but he felt like crying right there in the messy and dusty room. finding something from eddie's childhood made eddie seem so fragile.

"steve?", a sudden voice behind steve said and he turned towards it. eddie leaned against the door frame wearing one of his band shirts.

"eddie", steve said, his voice just a whisper since he almost choked on the upwelling tears which steve didn't allow to flow until now.

eddie went with quick steps towards steve and pulled him in a hug.

"what are you doing here and especially at this time", eddie asked before moving a little backwards to look in steve's eyes. but they were focused on something else and after following steve's eyes he spotted the teddy bear. steve could hear eddie gulp before reaching for the toy and pulling it out between the binders.

"he kept it", eddie mumbled while steve tried to read eddie's expressions. "i told my uncle to get rid of it at least five years ago, but he kept and hid it", a sound of disbelieve added to eddie's words before he put the teddy bear back in the shelf. "let's go to the kitchen", eddie stated and pulled steve on his shirt with him to the kitchen. while steve sat down, eddie leaned against the kitchen counter. silence spread in the room while both of them were deep in their own thoughts.