As I'm walking to the back of the store I feel a little pang of guilt in my chest. Normally I wouldn't feel bad about not acknowledging Eddie, I rarely ever do. But the way he looked at me, his warm brown eyes staring into my soul...it has been a couple weeks since I've seen him. Has he always looked at me that way? I shiver, pushing the thought out of my head. What the hell is wrong with me?
I glance back at Robin and Eddie standing at the front counter. Robin is rambling on about God knows what, and Eddie is watching her closely, nodding every once in a while to show he's still listening. I chuckle lightly to myself. I do the same thing.
I direct my attention away from the pair and start organizing the movies on the shelves. I let my mind wander a bit...what if Eddie and I became friends? I mean, we did basically save the world together. Plus, he doesn't seem all that bad. He's a bit weird, but isn't everyone?
My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Robin and Eddie walking in my direction. I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
"Hey Steve, Eddie wanted to take a look at some of the horror films we have in right now, do you wanna go man the front?" Robin asks, subtly giving me an out, assuming I wouldn't wanna hang around Eddie.
"Nah I got this Rob, you can go ahead. I think the candy needs to be restocked up front anyway."
Both Robin and Eddie look at me questioningly, shooting each other a confused look as well.
"You sure man?" Eddie questions, "You don't have to help me out if you don't want to, I'm pretty familiar with the organization back here anyway."
"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help." I try my best to make sure he knows I'm being genuine. I kinda feel bad I've made him feel so hesitant to be in the same general area as me. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, but I'm seriously questioning why I avoided him in the first place.
"So, what kind of horror are you into? Psychological, thriller, gore?"
"Dude, gore all the way." Eddie laughs. My heart rate picks up a bit for some reason. Why do I feel nervous around Eddie Munson?
"Right, cool. We have a couple new titles that seem pretty gnarly. Take your pick." I gesture to the shelf on my right. As Eddie assesses the descriptions on the VHS covers, my eyes trace over his face. He twists a curl around a finger, holding it up against his lips. His eyebrows furrow a bit in concentration. I realize I've been staring and quickly look away, glancing around the store. My gaze meets Robins and she gives me a weird look, but the expression is gone almost as quickly as it appeared. As I start over towards her to ask why she gave me a funny look, Eddie grabs a VHS and holds it up to me.
"I think I'll take this one, thanks for the help." He smiles and winks at me, making a light blush spread across my face.
"Uh yeah yeah, no problem. You could take that up to Robin and she'll check you out." I stumble a bit on my words, shaking my head lightly. Before Eddie can say anything else. I start making my way to the breakroom.
"Hey Robin, I'm gonna take a quick smoke break. Take care of Eddie will you?"
As she begins responding, I walk into the breakroom and out the back door, leaning against the wall. I take a look around and pull the pack of Marlboro reds I have in my pocket out and place one between my lips, lighting it quickly and taking a long drag.
I stand there silent for a minute, trying to figure out why I felt the need to, essentially, run away the way that I did. I wasn't scared of Eddie. Sure, he's a freak but not in an intimidating way. I knew from fighting with him against Vecna. I knew he was a lot more sensitive than he let on to anyone else. I couldn't wrap my mind around what had caused me to have that feeling, especially so quickly. I take another pull from my cigarette and put it out against the wall. I shrug to myself. It's probably just because we don't know each other well enough. I wouldn't say I'm an introvert, but most of my friends are teenagers or, well, Robin. So maybe my social skills are a bit rusty. Yeah, that makes sense. I just need to get to know him better and everything will go back to normal. With that last thought, I pull open the back door and walk back inside.
YOU ARE READING
The Sound of Love // Steddie
FanfictionA few weeks after beating Vecna, Steve finds himself struggling with nightmares. Again. Little does he know, Eddie is in the same boat. (A/N: Its a bit slow at first, but after the first couple chapters it'll speed up a bit. Thanks for reading!)
