𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐃 [steddie]

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓕𝓲𝓿𝓮

Steve's face changed upon laying eyes on Eddie. An unreadable expression took over him. The smile he had on his face while talking to the pretty blonde had faded completely. Eddie gulped, suddenly wondering if he had made the right decision to go to the video shop after all. He stood by the door, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other, as he was fighting the urge to turn around and leave again. He had to talk to Steve. Sooner or later. Might aswell do it right then. So instead of turning around Eddie stepped up to the register. Steve and him looked at each other for a moment, neither of them saying a word. Then Robin came out of the breakroom and her face lit up in a bright smile as she saw Eddie.

"Eddie!", she beamed and walked over to him, pulling him into a quick hug. Eddie only half-heartedly hugged her back, feeling entirely incapable of returning her smile and her positive energy in that moment. The girl let her eyes wander from Eddie to Steve and back to Eddie, clearly reading the tension in the room. She knew how much both guys were struggling with the situation. She knew how important it was for them to finally talk about it. "You guys can talk in the back. I'll take care of the store on my own for now", she quickly said and pointed to a door behind the register that led to the breakroom.

Steve looked at Robin and then his eyes darted to Eddie for just a split second before he focused his gaze back on his best friend. She nodded slightly at Steve and then busied herself sorting through some VHS tapes. Eddie was playing with the hem of his shirt, unsure of what to do, as he looked at Steve. They had been so close not long ago and now it seemed like there were lightyears worth of distance between them.

How could things have changed so much in such a short time? Eddie swallowed hard and then stepped to the back of the store as Steve motioned for him to follow. Steve closed the door behind them after both men had entered the breakroom of Family Video. It was a rather small space, a table with two chairs, a yellow-ish lighting illuminating the space only dimly. Steve leaned his back against the closed door and folded his arms over his chest.

"Why'd you come here?", Steve asked. His voice was so cold. So much colder than Eddie would have ever expected. Eddie gnawed on his lower lip, playing with a ring on his finger. Where should he start? What should he say first?

"We need to talk, Steve", Eddie said, trying his best to make his voice sound much more confident than he felt in that moment and ran a hand through his hair. He flopped down on one of the wooden chairs by the small table and looked up at Steve through his lashes.

"Eddie, I- I don't know what to tell you", Steve sighed heavily and sank down to the floor, his back resting against the door. Steve pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as he looked up to the guy he had missed so dearly over the past few days. Steve wanted nothing more than to fix what was broken, but he didn't know how it would ever work out if his own parents were so against it.

"Don't you want to be with me anymore, Steve? Because if that's the case at least just say it. I've been wrecking my brain about what you're thinking and what's going on between us for days now. I can't keep on living like this. This uncertainty is killing me", Eddie cried, his voice broke as tears started to fall from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks.

Eddie felt like things were ending right then and there and he didn't know what to do to stop it from happening. Steve didn't seem all that fussed about the situation, didn't seem as sad as Eddie was. Eddie's eyes had been red and swollen from all the crying he had done before he even went into the shop that day. But Steve? Steve hadn't looked like that. Steve had looked just fine. And even now that Eddie was crying once again, with Steve right there, the latter didn't seem to be all that affected by it.

It was silent in the room for a little while. The silence occasionally being disrupted by Eddie's sniffling. Steve still sat on the ground, his face buried in his hands as his mind was running wild. There were so many things that needed to be said, he knew that, but yet he sat there unable to speak a word. Steve knew what he wanted and he also knew what his parents wanted. Both were different things and it was hard for him to decide whether to go with his heart or to go by the opinion of the people whose house he lived in.