Hypotheticals

14-Hypotheticals

Another day, another shift ending. Steve was nearly passed out on the counter. The past two weeks have been so boring, at Family Video. Yes he's happy to see Robin, of course he's happy to see Eddie. The work has just been tedious. Dustin has been at home all week recoverig from a concussion, so he was never around anymore. At least h was going over to Eddie's house after his shift. 

"Any plans later?" Robin asks, making small talk. Steve smiles, thinking of Eddie. "Uh yeah, Eddie asked me to come over after shift." Robin smirks and nods. 

"Do you know, why, he asked?" Steve shrugs. Claims the guy just wants to hang out with a friend. She leaves him be. And with the end of this awkward, short-lived conversation, their shift ends. They pile into his car, and head to Robin's house. The two are tired, and they know the other is, hence the comfortable silence. When they reach Robin's house, she gets out and grabs her bag from the back. 

"Thank you for the ride, Steve, have fun at Eddie's." She smiles large and waves to him. He reciprocates the wave, and drives away. 

Steve finds himself yet again knocking at Eddie's front door. His uncle was still gone, or at least his uncle's car was. Soon, he is faced with Eddie holding the door open. Steve walks in smiling at Eddie. The two have spent an awful lot of time smiling at each other the past week. "Eddie, hey." Steve tosses his jacket aside, flops down on the couch and sighs. 

"I hate work recently, so boring." Before Eddie answers he just admires Steve. He really wants to kiss him. "Yeah it seems like it." Eddie laughed nervously, rubbing his neck. He sits down beside Steve. Was today gonna be the day? The day he tells Steve. the day he spills all the things he's been thinking for the past year and a bit. 

Steve, unexpecting, tries to make conversation. He will bring up a topic, only to recieve a basic, dry answer from Eddie. Another topic, another dry response. He continued trying but nothing would stop Eddie from being dazed. 

"Earth to Eddie?" Steve is snapping in Eddie's face. "What's up? You obviously don't want to talk about my topics. What's going on with you?" eddie gulps with guilt. he looks over at Steve with apologetic eyes. Steve likes the way Eddie's eyes can so easily show his emotions. 

"Are you a feelings person?" Eddie questions. Steve laughs, confused. "A feelings person? Like, what do you mean?" Eddie tries to find his words. "Like, hypothetically speaking, would you know how to identify or understand your feelings, or emotions?"

"Honestly? My life is so confusing and downhill, that I don't even understand my feeling until they are slapping me in the face, rolling around beside me." Eddie felt as if there was more, so he urges Steve to go on. 

"Hypothetically I may have had such strong, unrequited feelings for someone, that it felt like someone set a forest fire in my stomach." He looks at Eddie hard in the eyes while he speaks. "What about you have you ever felt that? Hypothetically of course." Eddie laughs at Steve's last words. 

"Not necessarily. Hypothetically, even knowing someone doesn't feel what I feel, It's like they shoved their hand down my throat, and twisted all my insides into complex knots." Steve dares to imagine who it could be he is talking about, hoping maybe even himself. Eddie thinks of who Steve could be talking about. He has no idea Steve felt like that about anyone. It hits him suddenly.

Nancy. Eddie feels a pang of jealousy hit him like a truck. His smile falters. 

"Hypothetically," Steve smiles "Someone out there needs to know how much I love their wild hair and carefreeness." His cheeks flush fuchsia. Nancy, Eddie thinks, is not carefree. This reinstalls hope in him. It gives him enough to continue their oddly worded, secret confessions. 

"Yeah? Well hypothetically there is a person out there that is so blatantly stubborn and oblivous and annoying, but I never want them to change, ever." It's true. As annoying and Steve could prove to be, Eddie could never- would never get sick of him. He's in it for the long run.

"oh yeah? Well does your hypothetical person have the most mind blowingly attractive sense of style?" 

"In h-their own way sure, I guess. Would your hypothetical person happen to care so deeply about those around them?" 

"I could see that happening." Steve was smiling hard. Eddie was smiling hard. In the back of his mind, a small voice was screaming at Eddie. Did Nancy have good style or does Steve like someone else?

"Could you ever imagine telling someone about your hypothetical person, Steve? Would you tell them?" Steve contemplates this question. Would he? What if Eddie just humiliates him and takes Robin away from him? No. Positive. Be nice. Steve nods. 

"Yeah, I think I could do that, Eddie. Someday." Someday. The word fills Eddie up witha feeling. Is it good is it bad? He can't figure it out. "What about you?" Eddie thinks. Would he ever dare tell Steve. 

"I, I think maybe I could, Steve."

Should I do it? I'm going to do it. He looks at Steve, who is picking at loose threads on the couch, hand close enough to Eddie's that he can feel the heat radiating. 

"Steve I-" His throat becomes dry and the words stop flowing. Steve looks at him innocently. Eddie's stomach knots and jerks around at the look at the beauty in front of him. Maybe he can't do this yet.

"I uh- I need to study for this test oh shit I forgot about it!" Steve feels a small dissapointment. He nods anyway. 

"I'll uh,I'll leave you to it then." Steve stands up and pulls his key out of his pocket. He walks to the door, and Eddie jogs over quickly to open the door for him. Steve walks out teh door and gives Eddie a small wave, which he returns. Eddie closes the door slowly and leans his head on the door with a small thump. He exahales in frustration. On the other side of the door, Steve stands still. He doesn't move to his car for a minute. He wants back inside real bad. 

Steve reluctantly walks back to his car. it feels colder now than it was when he arrived, odd, he thought. Alas, he got in his car and drove down the road of the trailer park, towards the exit. Eddie walks to his room, and slams the door. He lies down in his bed and closes his eyes. He doesn't study for any test, he doesn't have a test. 

Poor Eddie and Steve made a mistake. It wasn't really their faults. But the crunching of the gravel approaching his trailer made Eddie's eyes shoot open. The crunching and the sound of the car were all too familiar.