The Big Three
Part 1
"And that my friends, is how you finish a great game!" Eddie smiles widely, having just finished their latest campaign. He's half seated on his chair's arm, observing the game board and pieces scattered about.
"I can't believe it's over." Dustin blinks, pressing his hands against his head.
"Best to believe it. Eddie, man, this was the best one yet." Gareth says, starting to clean up his area.
"Thank you, Gareth, The Great." Eddie mock bows. "It's an honor to serve you all as Dungeon Master." He smiles at the club members. "Now pack up ya shit and get ready to leave." He chuckles, closing his DM notes. The group of them laugh and do as he says.
"There he is, I thought I was gonna have to call you soon." Dustin exclaims, making it known that Steve is walking in.
"Calm down Henderson, I had other shit to do before coming here." Steve scowls at him. Dustin makes a face, then goes back to assisting in the cleanup.
"Hey." Eddie beams at him as Steve approaches the throne. Steve offers him the worse excuse for a smile, which concerns Eddie a little.
"Hey assholes, hurry up." Eddie bites back at them. They give him grief for being pushy, but he ignores them. He wraps an arm around Steve's shoulders and pulls him off to the side.
"What's going on, babe...you look really down."
"I...Eddie...we've got a bit of a situation." He says, which just about makes Eddie's guts twist into a knot.
"Is someone hurt? What's wrong? Is it Wayne?" He says seriously, tucking his arms into himself and stepping closer.
He shakes his head, "No one is hurt...before I say anything else..." He glances back at the kids, "I kind of want us to be alone."
"Oh, alright...well give me a second." He says and turns back to the group. "Hey, Wheeler, can your sister drive Dustin home? Stevie and I have to do something important."
"I wish you'd stop calling him that...but yeah." Mike sighs, shoving his bag down into his chair. Eddie goes to turn back to Steve, but Dustin has already weaseled his way between the two and is now standing in front of Steve.
"What's going on? I knew something was wrong the second you walked in."
The older boy braces a hand to his friend's shoulder, "Nothing, Dustin. Nothing is wrong that concerns you, alright buddy?" Steve sighs.
"Henderson. Go back over there." Eddie frowns, pushing him over to the table. He pulls out his van keys and hands them off to Steve. "Here, baby. Take these and go start her up. I'll meet you out there in a few." He says and grabs Steve's head to pull it in for a quick kiss. He lets his boyfriend go and urges everyone to hurry up. Nancy comes to pick up the boys and once everyone is gone, Eddie finds his van in the parking lot. The exhaust billows out of the tailpipe in a gray cloud, perfectly visible through the crip early spring weather. He can hear his music softly playing from inside. He pulls open the back door, startling Steve in the process.
"Sorry Princess, should have knocked." He winces, climbing in and shutting the door. Steve had already made himself at home. His shoes were off, there was a blanket around his shoulders and his head was tipped back against the wall of the van.
"It's alright..." He sighs, closing his eyes.
Eddie nods, putting his stuff to the side and sitting cross legged in front of Steve, "So, what's going on, buttercup?" He reaches out and rubs Steve's knee.
Steve hesitates, but then digs into his pocket for something. He hands it over to Eddie, then sits back again and closes his eyes once more. It takes the metalhead a solid minute to understand what's he looking at.
"Are you serious?" Eddie questions, grasping the little white stick with all his might. He blinks up at Steve with huge, watery doe eyes and waits for his other half to respond.
"Pretty serious, yeah...I haven't gotten it confirmed by a doctor yet, but yup...I took it with Robin before I came here. I was so sure it'd be negative, but...clearly, I was wrong." Steve sighs, motioning to the positive pregnancy test in his boyfriend's hands.
"Fuck, Princess...I'm...I don't know what to say." He swallows hard, looking down at it again. "I mean...what should I say?"
"I dunno...I don't want to make this a huge deal either. I get it if you don't want to be involved or anything, but-"
Eddie perks up at his words, "Whoa, Stevie, hold on. I didn't say that. Of course, I wanna be involved. That's my kid you've got in there...that you're planning on keeping, it sounds like?" He cocks his head, pointing with the stick. Steve sits up and snags it from him. He falls back into the wall of the van and stares down at the bright pink plus sign in the middle.
"I think so...if it's confirmed, then yeah. I want to keep it." He shrugs.
Eddie nods, hugging his knees to his chest, "Alright...um...I still need to graduate. I'm almost at a C in history. Chrissy has been really helping me." He explains.
"I'm not stopping you from that...in fact, I rather you focus on that for now and not this. You're really close, but I didn't want to keep this from you. You had a right to know." He explains.
"I appreciate you telling me, babe...I do. This isn't going to distract me anymore than I already am by you though." He winks with a little giggle, not minding that Steve isn't in a joking mood. "But I know what's at stake here and I'm trying my best to remain calm."
"Look...I'm gonna try to find a clinic tomorrow to confirm with an ultrasound or something. I'll keep you posted, alright?"
"Sounds good, honey." He nods and waits a moment for Steve to say something else. "...Are you alright? Do you wanna talk about it?"
The younger man falls silent, "Are you upset with me?" Steve gulps, not bringing his eyes up from the test.
"Upset with you?" Eddie's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. He quickly makes his way over to Steve and pulls him into his chest. "Oh, Stevie, I could never be upset with you. Especially about this!" He exclaims and Steve crumbles into a fit of sobs and fat tears. "Please don't cry, babe. It's gonna be alright." Eddie sighs sadly, squeezing Steve against his side. He kisses the top of his head and continues to try to comfort his boyfriend to no avail.
"I don't want you to hate me." He sobs.
Eddie can't help but laugh, "Who said I was gonna hate you?" He questions, pulling back and lifting Steve's wet chin. "Huh? Who said that?"
"I...might have convinced myself you would." He sniffles hard.
"Oh, sweetie...no. I could never. I love you way too much, you hear that? I love you! Do you want me to get out of this van and scream it from the roof top cause fuck it, baby, I will." Eddie says, starting to migrate to the door. Steve breaks out into a wet laugh and grabs Eddie before he can get to the handle.
"Eddie, no! Jesus, don't embarrass yourself." Steve chuckles and pulls back on him. Eddie is beaming at his boyfriend again, happy to see the tears clearing up through his smile.
"I'm never embarrassed to express my love for you. You know that?" Eddie says, getting on his knees and pulling Steve's face into his hands. "You are the most amazing human being to grace this planet, Steve Harrington. Don't you ever forget that. I love you and this baby with my whole heart." Eddie says, staring into his eyes. He presses little kisses all around his face until Steve is fighting to break away.
"I love you too, you weirdo." Steve laughs, wiping away at his cheeks.
"You better." Eddie smirks and pulls Steve down with him, so that he can lay on his chest like he always does. Eddie brushes fingers through Steve's hair, getting caught up in spots that have been extra hair sprayed and whispers sweet affirmations to him. Steve wraps his arms around his boyfriend's waist, pulling tight and taking a deep shaky breath. He's feeling more relaxed than he ever has in his entire life. He attributes it to the relaxing thump of Eddie's heartbeat in his ear and the comforting warm scent of his body. He's not sure this would have gone as well with anyone else he's ever been with and he's so grateful it's with Eddie having now seen the way he took the news. He couldn't ask for a better partner to start a family with.
"We'll figure it out, Princess...don't you worry." Eddie whispers, closing his eyes. Steve nods into his chest and holds on a little tighter to him.
"Okay." Steve whispers back. "I trust you."