I Can't, Eddie... (Steddie)

11

This is agonizing.

Steve had his hand under his chin, frowning and staring intently at the back of Eddie's head in their morning class. Eddie had walked right past Steve to his seat at the start of the period. No acknowledgement whatsoever beyond a friendly nod in his direction. Steve knew it was for the best, but he already absolutely hated it. Robin kept leaning over and whispering things like "you look like a stalker, moron. Look somewhere else." Steve would jerk up, look around or down at his textbook for about thirty seconds, and then return to his pouty gazing. If this were a typical relationship budding for Steve, he would have thrown at least three flirty notes at Eddie by now. But of course, the goal was to stay under the radar. However, since it seemed like Steve had experienced a lifetime between his last day at school and today, he had started to notice the gossip that innocently floated in and around Eddie. He would casually listen in on giggles and whispered speculations shared behind wide eyes and covered mouths. There was even a quiet slur uttered in Eddie's direction by one of their other classmates as he sat down this morning. Robin had had to physically restrain Steve, and he already had plans to beat the shit out of that prick as soon as possible. Regardless, it was obvious that there seemed to be frequent and numerous rumors that Eddie Munson was gay.

What will people say if we start hanging out in public?

Steve hated himself before the thought even finished escaping his mind.

It doesn't fucking matter. Fuck them all.

He had let so many friends drift away in the last few years it would hardly make a difference to his social status. There were so few people whose opinions he actually respected and cared about, and he had a growing suspicion that most of them would react exactly how he reacted when Robin confessed her sexuality to Steve. Still, his stomach was in knots. He wished he could talk to Eddie.

Just take it a day at a time.

The bell rang and everyone jumped out of their seats. The same kid who insulted Eddie earlier, a total asshole named Paul, kicked his chair on the way out. Eddie looked him in the face and blew a kiss in his direction. Steve didn't know whether to laugh or scream. Robin looked on extremely sympathetically until she suddenly hopped up and ran out of the door. Steve looked around utterly confused and distracted from his rage at Paul. Robin was long gone, so he shrugged to himself and stood up to trail behind.

"I swear I could feel you looking at me, Harrington." Eddie came up behind Steve and the knots seemed to melt away in Steve's stomach. He smiled and fell easily into their flirty repartee.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Steve walked a few feet away but looked back and winked at Eddie. Eddie jogged up to catch Steve and grabbed his arm softly.

"Hey, seriously. Is this — is this going to be okay? I know it's hard," Eddie trailed off.

"Yeah it's not fun at the moment," Steve replied "but we'll get used to it, I guess."

They were making their way through the halls when Robin burst through a door next to them, pulled both of them back through the door with her, and closed the door quickly behind her. They were in what looked to be a large unused storage closet with a single small window providing dim lighting.

"Robin, Jesus Christ. What are you doing? What is this?" Steve exclaimed, looking around at the abandoned cleaning supplies and empty shelves.

"Okay, this is operation Steddie. Through a series of events that are not important at this moment, I have become privy to the knowledge that this room is sometimes used as a secret makeout spot,"

Eddie's silently mouthed the word "Steddie" with pure amusement etched into his face.

"And NO, Steve, that knowledge is not from personal experience so shut your mouth," Robin snapped just as Steve had opened his mouth and brought a finger up to point accusingly at Robin.