idiot - steddie

Fifteen

Eddie and Dustin were playing around with the makeshift shields they had made for themselves, large arrays of nails hammered into the metal material of rusty trash can lids. They had been brewing up that idea the whole long car ride here, along Eddie's hand thrown across the back of the couch all three of us were sitting on in the back of the trailer, engulfing me into a sideways hug all up until we separated and I went with Robin to the front of the RV, and they went with each other to the bottom of the hill.

Nancy and Max were sitting on old crates we had ran into when Robin parked the camper, jarring us all forward just like she had before, but— as sad as it was— it didn't end in a makeout session between me and Eddie. Just a headache that pounded at the back of my head everytime a loud sound boomed through the air. For instance, Dustin's voice.

I looked away from the lighter I was toying with in my hand at Eddie and Dustin, situated at the bottom of the hill and commuting themselves into a dog fight. I tried to suppress a smile as a breathy laugh trickled down my lips as I shook my head, looking away from the older man and my very own child to Robin, who was looking at me with her lips curved upwards into a smirk, her eyes brows wiggling like tiny dancing caterpillars above her eyelids.

I was manspreading on top of a red cooler, holding out an empty bottle of vodka we had found, half-drank in the previous owners of this RV's fridge as Robin poured gasoline into it, making sure the stream was reaching the mark before she looked up at me, her knees folded against her calves, facing towards me. "So, you gonna tell me what happened between you and Eddie when we were all gone, or do I have to pry it out of you?" She poked at me. I exhaled an airy laugh, looking away from her at a leaf slowly sauntering across the grass in front of us. "Nothing happened. We just talked." I replied as non-chalantly as possible.

It went silent between us as Robin held her free hand to her short, hazel waves, ruffling them up with a sideways scoff. "You mean, having a full-on makeout sesh by slamming each other against walls and receiving.." She retreated her gaze back to me, her eyes roaming around my face, down my chin, and to my neck. "Hickeys." She finished with a long stare. Her eyes bored into my cheek and I looked away from her, the gasoline in the bottle swishing around, signifying it was full. Robin pulled the tank of liquid away from where it was dripping into the glass in my hand, only breaking her stare to set the gasoline down behind us with a loud exhaust from the heavy metal canister. I took my bottom lip into my mouth, bringing the white towel that was whipped across my shoulder to the opening in the bottle, wiping off the extra fluid that had leaked over.

I sighed, looking to the sky as I screwed the lid that was once shoved into my pocket, onto the top of the flask. "Okay, maybe all of what you said is true." I admitted feverishly, and her eyes lit up like never before. Robin smiled ear-to-ear, closing her eyes and balling her fingers into a tight fist, pulling her arm downwards only to shoot it straight to the sky seconds after. "Yes! I knew it." She exclaimed, opening her eyes as I set the booze off to the side with a groan. "I regret telling you now." I told her, though there was still an irresistible smile evident on my face.

Robin rolled her eyes, holding her arms outstretched on either side of her torso. "C'mere, you big dummy." She said, and I chuckled, falling to her arms as I got swallowed into a huge bear hug from the girl in front of me. She wrapped her arms readily against my back, unfolding her palm and slapping it down on my shoulder, rubbing her ringed thumb along my shoulder blade in a back and forth movement. I tucked my nose into her dirty white button-down, breathing in a perfume scent that her and Nancy oddly had both smelt of.

She pulled away from me, her hair retreating back to the sides of her face. "So, what stage are you guys at?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder, her hair whipping against her cheeks as she gazed down upon Eddie and Dustin, who were childishly fighting with their shields. Playful grins were smothered onto both of their faces, tiny giggles and grunts leaving their tinted lips everytime one of them made a move that shocked the other, or one of them failed to even clash their trash can lids onto the latter.

My eyes latched onto Eddie. His dumb, long hair blew in the light breeze that circled through the woods we were all laying low in, those longing eyes that I fell into staring contests with everytime I looked into them. His pale nose, the same nose that had been pressed against mine less than half an hour ago, and his lips. His goddamn lips. The same lips all those teases fell from, the same ones that were pressed against mine, colored a dim pink that curved into a tight smile with every little kiss or motion between me and him.

I looked away from him the second he and Dustin collapsed towards the green grass underneath their feet, panting and laughing as they began talking about something random, their eyes glued to each other as if they were actually brothers having a late night chat while their parents weren't home. "I don't know. All I know is that we crossed the barrier between friends and crushes long ago." I chuckled in response, and Robin shrugged her shoulders upwards, picking up another empty bottle and pushing it into my hands, grabbing her own from the mound of already filled ones.

She held her flask up to mine, a smirk igniting on her face, spreading like a wildfire to her ears as they perked upwards. "To figuring out what the fuck is happening with our love lives." She said, tilting her canister to mine, the liquid inside swishing against the sides of its chipped glass. I snorted, clinking my beaker against hers. "To figuring out our love lives." I repeated, smiling at her as she picked the kerosene tank back up, and began pouring it through the metal funnel and into my bottle.

Author's Note
Two things.

First thing: thank you all so much for the support on this book! I appreciate it lots and it encourages me to keep forward with this project. I really do love seeing comments of people freaking out just by seeing what I interpreted into this story.

Second thing: The next few chapters may take awhile to drop. I'm thinking about a week and a half. Mainly because I not only am experiencing burnout, the next couple of scenes may be a little.. difficult to write if you have watched Vol2 and know what I mean.

Other than those few words, this book will not discontinue, just take a small hiatus while I figure out how I'm gonna write these upcoming chapters. Thank you for your patience and have an amazing rest of your day ❤️