The Sound of Love // Steddie

Chapter 10 - Steves' POV

As soon as I shut the door to the bathroom I burst into tears. I can't exactly tell why I'm crying; is it because of the nightmare? Or was it because of what Eddie said to me? I wipe my face angrily, annoyed at myself for breaking down, especially at someone elses house. I walk over to the sink and turn it on, splashing cold water on my face to get the puffiness to go away. I know I shouldn't feel ashamed, Eddie obviously didn't judge me for crying in front of him, but I can't help but cringe at the interaction.

I check the time on the digital clock sitting on the counter. It reads 9:30 am. I sigh and wipe my face on the hand towel by the sink. I dread having to go back out there and face Eddie, to talk about my feelings or whatever. A mixture of embarrassment and guilt makes me feel sick to my stomach. Feeling this way, these emotions, this isn't who I am. Or rather, this isn't who I want anyone to know. I'm supposed to be strong and brave, capable of dealing with anything the world throws my way. But all I feel right now is weak and vulnerable, and that isn't a feeling I want to get used to.

I take a deep breath and shake off the negative emotions, looking at myself one more time in the mirror. I plaster a smile on my face and open the door to walk back over to where Eddie sat on the couch. As soon as Eddie sees me walking towards him, he jumps up, speeding over to meet me halfway.

"Harrington, you okay man?" he asks quietly, as if he's afraid he'll scare me off. I feel another pang of guilt in my chest.

"Yeah yeah I'm all good, no worries. Just a stupid dream you know? How'd you sleep last night?" I rush to change the subject.

"Not too bad. I forgot to close the blinds so I woke up to a face full of sunlight this morning." he chuckles lightly to himself, "how was the couch? Not too uncomfortable I hope?" As he's speaking he begins walking to the kitchen, shuffling around in the cabinets.

"It was actually pretty comfortable. I really appreciate you letting me crash here. You're a lifesaver." I watch as Eddie finds a mug in the cabinet and he begins pouring coffee into it, walking back over to me and gesturing for me to take it. "Thanks-"

"No problem, I was gonna make you a cup earlier but you were still asleep so..." I go to grab the mug out of his hands and my fingers brush against his briefly. My eyes widen as what feels like electricity flows through fingertips, disappearing as soon as our fingers separate. I look up at Eddie to see if he felt it too, but he's staring intensely into his mug as he brings it up to his lips to take another sip.

I try not to think too hard about his lack of a reaction. Instead I begin to panic, because the last time I felt something like that...I clear my throat to interrupt that thought, making Eddie jump.

"Sorry." I mumble, still standing next to the man across from me awkwardly. He shakes his head and walks back over to the couch. He plops himself down and places his mug on the small coffee table in front of the couch, motioning for me to sit next to him. I follow his lead, placing my mug on the coffee table as well.

We sit there quietly for a couple seconds before Eddie speaks up, "Hey you don't have to work for a couple hours right? Do you wanna watch a movie or something? I mean, if you wanted to stay. You don't have to, it's-"

I cut him off, disrupting his rambling. "Yeah I'd love to watch a movie. Did you have anything in mind?"

Eddie smirks, "Well, I do have those horror movies I rented from the video store?"

I roll my eyes, "It seems a bit early for a horror movie Munson, but I'm down."

With that, he jumps up and heads over to the TV set, shuffling through the VHS tapes he has sitting on the TV stand. It seems his normal Eddie enthusiasm has returned. I smile to myself, glad I didn't make the entire morning into awkward silence.

As soon as he finds the right movie, he pops it into the VCR and presses play. He collapses back down onto the couch and throws his arm around the back, right behind me. I stiffen for a moment. Despite the fact we aren't actually touching, I feel that bolt of electricity once again. Slowly I relax my body and lean against the back of the couch. As soon as I do so, Eddies arm moves forward to rest against my shoulders. A small smile works its way across my face.

We stay like that throughout the entire movie, until I have to leave to pick Robin up from school. She didn't stay the entire day since she worked, so I picked her up at lunch time. Around 11:45 I look at the clock and curse under my breath. If I didn't leave right now I'd be late to pick her up, and she would never let me hear the end of it.

"Hey Munson, I gotta go pick Robin up from school and get ready for work." I begin to stand as Eddie gets up to turn the TV off. I grab my keys and look around, realizing that's all I had with me, besides my wallet which was already in my pocket.

Eddie sees me looking around and laughs.

"What's so funny?" I question him jokingly as I stretch, feeling a bit cramped from sitting for so long.

"Nothing man, maybe you can stop by your house and bring some of your clothes over so you won't have to wear that outfit for the third time in a row tomorrow." His eyes get wide and he begins to ramble again, "I mean, if you wanted to spend the night again, I don't know why I assumed-"

"Don't worry Munson, if you insist on wanting me around. I'll be back later, after work okay?"

He smiles, "Alright. Don't miss me too much at work today princess."

I can feel my face turn red. I roll my eyes and turn to the front door, flipping Eddie off as I walk down the steps to my car.

(A/N - sorry updates have been so slow, for some reason I keep getting stuck at certain points of the story and I have to push myself through. But anyway, I rlly wanted this chapter to show the awkward aspects of a first sleepover until you settle in. Sorry if its hard to read, awkwardness is fun to write but painful to read sometimes akdjsjd, I've already started the next chapter so that will be out tonight hopefully. Thanks for reading!)