To Heal All Wounds

The Morning After

But instead of sweet nothings, Steve arrived downstairs to see Chrissy leaning over Eddie's sleeping form. He had been in the bed with her, albiet over the covers, and Steve almost choked. He watched with a mixture of envy and shame as she pressed a gentle kiss into Eddie's cheek and lingered there longer than necessary. She ran her hand soothingly over his mussed hair, smoothing down what she could of the wild black mane.

She stood, turned, and jumped when she saw Steve. Steve forced a smile and returned to his descent down to the steps.

"Sorry to intrude," he muttered, setting the plates around what he assumed to be the kids' old DnD table. "but I thought maybe you'd be hungry, so..." he gestured to the spread, ignoring the gnawing feeling in his gut. It wasn't Chirssy's fault that Steve was nothing more than a lovesick puppy. She shouldn't be punished for it. And the way that she smiled at Steve made it hard to stay mad at her. The smile he returned was genuine.

"Are you," he asked, gesturing to the food. "Hungry, I mean?"

Chrissy seemed to consider the food for a second, touched her stomach, and looked back at Steve, her face splitting into a smile.

"Yeah... I guess... I guess I am."

"I imagine being dead for two years works up an appetite, doesn't it?"

Chrissy laughed and Steve sort of understood why Eddie would choose her. Hell, he'd choose her if he were younger and less aware of his... preferences... She was pretty, sweet, and seemingly all smiles. When she sat down, she crossed her ankles delicately and smoothed down her uniform, even though, Steve noticed, it was still caked in blood. He winced and realized that they should have had them both change last night. But aside from the gore dried onto her clothing, Chrissy was the epitome of delicate femininity.

And on top of it all, she was nice. Steve wanted nothing more than to dislike her, but she was looking at him like they'd been friends forever and took her plate with an emphatic "thank you." And she laughed when he told jokes. They were awkward and hesitant because Steve was nervous as hell and still confused, but her laughter was genuine.

"You know, I get it," Chrissy nodded suddenly, slicing her pancakes into delicate pieces. Steve cocked his head but Chrissy didn't elaborate right away. She flicked a drop of syrup away from her lips with the pad of a finger first, cleaning her face further with the corner of a napkin, seemingly drawing out Steve's anticipation endlessly.

"I get why Eddie likes you so much," Chrissy finally grinned.

Steve only huffed through his nose and nodded.

"Yeah, well," deflecting was what Steve did best, after all. He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, dodging all of the implications that couldn't possibly be true, no matter what that cord that seemed to be anchoring him to Eddie was singing to him. "We've been through some shit together, I guess. I'd never counted him as a friend while we were in school but... he's a reliable guy. I'm glad he feels the same about me."

Now it was Chrissy's turn to cock her head to the side, her delicate little eyebrows pulled down low over her confused expression.

"Anyway," Steve changed the subject artlessly, "people should be showing up here any minute. Then we can start working on a plan."

"Oh, um..." Chrissy glanced down at her empty plate, "actually, I was going to go..."

It stunned Steve into silence, his own breakfast only half finished. He glanced behind her at Eddie, still asleep on the bed, sprawled out on his stomach like a child.

"I know," Chrissy answered the question that Steve hadn't asked. "It's just... I don't know how long he'll sleep and... my parents must be frantic... I need to go."