The air was cooler when you finally made it back to the boathouse and you were glad of it, sweat seeping through your shirt and coating your body with a thin layer of moisture. Your feet hurt and you were feeling cranky, but as you knock the door to the boathouse and push it open, the soft glow of a lantern surrounded by two bowls of steaming liquid makes you stop in your tracks.
"Oh, thank Christ it's you." His voice startles you as he peeks out from his hiding place behind one of the shelving units, a quiet chuckle rumbling in his chest though it settles quickly as he notices your bewildered expression.
"What's that?" You gesture to the bowls, trying to keep your stomach from growling with how hungry you were from the walk. At your query, a bashful smile creeps onto his lips as he stutters out his response, "Well, uh... I guess it's dinner? It's not much since food is short though - just some tomato soup."
Stepping closer to him, you resist the urge to smile back at him, a teasing edge to your tone, "He can cook? Wow, what a catch you are."
"I know, right? On the run and still able to provide a decent wine-and-dine. I'm surprised I'm not married already," he says, grinning.
"Yeah, absolutely. But - where's the wine for the dine?"
His mouth drops open as if to speak, but it's a long, long moment before his response comes out, "Okay, rain check on the wine."
You break into a laugh and he matches it, gesturing to the blanket on the floor beside the lantern and you step onto it, sitting down across from him and pulling one of the bowls into your lap. You weren't too fond of tomato soup in all honestly, but food was food and your stomach would be grateful for anything you put in there right now. "Thank you, Eddie. You didn't have to make me dinner." You say between mouthfuls.
"I know. I, uh... I wanted to. Can't ask you on a real date when I'm in hiding, can I?"
So he thinks this is a date? You ask yourself, stomach fluttering as you fought the urge to blush. God, you were such a mush lately.
"What do you mean? I just adore wanted criminals who make me soup in creepy boathouses while there's a supernatural entity on the loose killing teens. It was my answer for 'What is your ideal date night?' at all the Miss Indiana pageants I won." Your sardonic tone earns you another laugh from him, a real laugh that was so relaxed and carefree. It was nice to see Eddie not worrying constantly and taking a break from the anxiety of the moment just to laugh. You hide your smile behind the bowl of soup as you lift it up to finish it off, the hunger in your stomach satiated for now. "Thank you, though," you continue, "I was so hungry."
"How did it go today? Cops find another body or something? That was a lot of sirens earlier."
You nod, settling back against the boat and clearing your throat, the memory of the boy in the road clouding your vision. "Yeah. Vecna got another, so Steve and the kids went to check out the school counsellor since both he and Chrissy were seeing her. Robin and this girl we met Nancy, they went off to check a hunch. I know it's not exactly much to go off of, but hopefully they find something."
He shakes his head, a trembling hand running over his face and covering his eyes. There goes the stress-free moment. "It's never going to fucking end. We're not going to beat Vecna and I'm gonna go to jail just like everyone always said I would."
"No," you say, lifting your hands to tug his own away from his eyes, your thumb tracing the dips of his knuckles as you attempt to comfort him. "It's going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Natural or supernatural. Promise."
"Right. Forgot you were Superwoman." You snort and there's a beat in which you're just looking over him, watching a smirk grow wider and wider with each second and then he's standing quickly, extending a hand to you, "Enough of all this depressive shit. This is supposed to be a shitty date sure, but not that shitty. C'mon, (Y/N)."
Your curiosity wins over and you slip your hand into his larger one, the warmth of it enveloping you as he pulls you to a stand. "Boat," he mutters and you comply, stepping into it silently and looking up at him to try and gauge his plans. You weren't prepared for a date by any means so you were a little nervous about where he was going with all of this. Still, you couldn't help the smile on your lips as he unties the boat, or the giggle that slips from them as he pushes the boat away from the boathouse, oars sinking into the water as he rows you out onto the lake.
At some point during dinner, the sun had begun to set and now the stars were becoming visible, like twinkling lights on a blanket of darkness above you both. He stops rowing when you're out far enough and lets the boat just float on its own, though it wobbles as he comes closer to you. There were rolled up blankets on the floor of the boat and he unravels them, laying them down how they were when you'd slept in the boat the previous evening.
Eddie carefully settles himself down on the blankets, laying back with a hand outstretched towards you and you're grateful of the help as the wood creaks and sways beneath your feet. If I fall in, I will die from the embarrassment alone , you think. Luckily, that doesn't happen and you lay yourself down beside him, your (y/e/c) eyes hooked on the scene above you. "Wow." It's barely a whisper, a ghost on the tip of your tongue.
"Nice, right?" His voice cuts through the cool night air. "When it's really late it's even prettier, but this'll do."
"Does me having powers not weird you out?" Your question takes him by surprise and you feel his head shift to look at you, though you can't bring yourself to peel your eyes away from the stars in case his response is not what you'd like. "I just mean... I don't know. I know it's weird."
"Are you kidding me?" He asks, shifting his body to lay on his side so he can look at you properly. "It's awesome... Weird, sure, but definitely awesome as well." That makes you snort out an echo of a laugh, your cheek hitting the cool blanket beneath you as you finally turn to look at him.
"You think so?"
"Hell yeah. It's badass. Although - You said you found me using a picture-? How, and where, did you get a picture of me?"
Your lips purse to stifle the guilty smile that threatens them, "I may have... broken into your trailer for it... I'm sorry. I had to find you, but I get it if you're mad."
"Not mad. Wouldn't be here with you if you didn't, I'm more just... embarrassed, I guess. It's hardly a mansion."
It shattered you how he avoided your gaze at that and that he thought you might judge where he lived. You didn't care at all, hell you'd never had a room of your own since the lab, let alone a whole house to live in. "I literally live out of my car and motel rooms. Your place is a palace compared to that."
"Was it at least a decent picture of me?" He asks, clearly trying to change the topic but you didn't mind. His question makes you chuckle, shaking your head. "You looked pretty young in it. Stood with a man?"
He nods, clearly understanding which picture you meant. "Do you have it on you now? 'Cause I want to burn that sucker."
"No!" You're giggling, an accusatory finger resting against his chest, "I don't have it on me, it's in the car, and you're not burning it anyway. It's a great picture." Eddie rolls his eyes in defeat, slumping back against the boat with a groan. "Fine," he says, "Keep it."
The longest moment passes with you just laid there, a grin on your lips just looking up at the stars in a comfortable silence. The sky darkens even more while you're out there and a chill takes over, making you shiver. Eddie notices and pulls up to sit, shucking his jacket off and laying it over you. "Let's head back," he mutters and moves to get the oars, but a big part of you didn't want to go back. You wanted to stay in this moment, calm and content, away from all the bad shit that was happening.
You knew though that you couldn't, so with a sigh you push to sit across from him as he rows, his jacket draped over your shoulders. "Was that a sigh?" he teases, tone overdramatic as he continues, "It's getting late, Miss Indiana. Your parents will kill me if I get you home past curfew."
You snort. "They can do that from beyond the grave?" Okay, it was a joke in poor taste. Very poor taste. But it made him laugh, which made you laugh, so... It was fine. Right?
When you reach the boathouse once more, he helps you out of the boat and stands in front of you, face inches from your own. He smelled like old cigarettes and dirty clothes which was totally to be expected, but not entirely unpleasant. He looks like he might lean in closer, and your heart races, panicking. "Want to go for a swim?" you ask as his lips have almost met your own, mentally kicking yourself for ruining the moment.
Eddie doesn't seem mad, though. He simply steps back and begins taking off his shirt. Right. Swimming means getting undressed. Remind me how I thought this would help?
Clearing your throat, you follow suit and he turns around as you undress, wanting to remain as respectful as he could. You could see the dark lines of his various tattoos and had to catch yourself from staring at them. He uses the wooden platform of the boathouse to slip into the water, making a noise as the coolness of it hits him. You're in your underwear, toes dipping in to test the temperature - which was entirely too cold.
Fuck it. You take a few steps back before running and jumping into the water, tucking your legs beneath you before you hit the icy depths. When you resurface, Eddie is laughing hard, choking on the water you'd just sprayed all over him. "What a delicate flower you are," he says, making you laugh as well as you rub water from your lids.
Once you'd settled into it, the cold water was quite refreshing. Not to mention it was giving you a chance to wash all the gross sweat off of you from earlier that day. You sigh in relief as it soothes your sore muscles and your eyelids flutter closed, basking in the sensation. When you open them again, Eddie is in front of you, legs occasionally brushing your own as they kick to keep afloat.
His cheeks are flushed, a stark contrast to the paleness of his skin and his dark eyes work overtime looking over your face, taking in every inch of it like you're some kind of prized new species. They settle on your lips and you recognise the look he gives you. You know what he wants. You wanted it too, and find yourself edging closer to him, the steady rise and fall of his chest against your own as you both fought the urge to be the one to make the move.
"Can I-" He begins but you cut him off by finally closing the distance between you, pressing your lips to his own. He makes a sound low in his throat, kissing you back and coiling an arm around your waist beneath the water as his lips claim your own.
You're breathless when you pull away, cheeks hot with a blush. "Can you what?" You ask coyly, and his only response is the briefest of smirks as he pulls you back in, lips pressing to your own once more in a heated kiss that promises everything you could ever want. Your heart was hammering in your chest, your head feeling light as you get lost in the sensation of him. His mouth on yours, his tongue seeking entrance into your mouth which you gladly oblige, the way his fingertips gently brush the skin of your hips underwater making you shiver in his grasp. You were entirely lost in it all.