Boys Don't Cry - Steddie

Chapter 11

Okay, so maybe Steve was more well-versed in a few things than Eddie was. For the first time since the hospital, Eddie slept through the entire night, since two in the morning anyway, without a problem or alcohol to aid him. When he woke up, Steve's arm was still around him and it felt refreshing being close to him, being intimate like this. His hold on Eddie had loosened with sleep, but somehow he still felt just as secure. Steve hadn't taken his arm away, it seemed like he didn't move at all, actually.

He wanted to turn around to look at him. It wasn't necessarily that he wanted to watch him sleep... Yeah, definitely not. That sounded creepy and invasive. But he just wanted to see him. He wanted to map out his freckles and moles in his mind so that he would never forget anything about him. He wanted to see him in that peaceful state that you always hear about, fast asleep and blissfully unaware of the world. He just sighed and stayed still, not wanting to wake him up. He didn't know if Steve was a light sleeper or not, so he stayed still and waited.

Eventually there was a yawn from behind him, and he could feel Steve shifting around a bit. "Steve?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Mm?" The response was a hum against his back that made him feel weak.

"You awake?"

"Mhm," he was lifting his arm up now, like he knew what Eddie was thinking. His eyes were still closed when Eddie finally got himself turned to face him. Steve let his arm fall back down, settling comfortably around Eddie again. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah... thank you."

"Well, you know, I'm more than just a pretty face. Isn't that what you said?" Finally his eyes were open and looking at Eddie, a playful smirk on his lips.

"That is what I said," he confirmed. "Good memory."

Steve hummed to himself and let his eyes shut again.

"Not a morning person?"

Steve shook his head.

"You've been getting up around this time for like the last week?" Steve could hear the amusement in Eddie's voice. He could picture the teasing smile on his face, too.

"I didn't..." He stopped himself from continuing his explanation, opting to turn his face towards the pillow and offer a muffled, "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"Nope. You gotta tell me now. I'm invested," Eddie brushed his fingers through Steve's hair gently, smiling at the contented sigh he earned in return.

"I didn't know what time you usually woke up. And I didn't want you to be alone and I wanted to make sure there was food for you."

"Like my own personal housewife," Eddie mused.

"Shut up. Let me sleep."

"But I'm hungry."

"No you're not."

"You're right."

That was the end of the conversation, and Steve fell back asleep a few minutes later. Eddie resigned himself to carding through Steve's hair, watching as he slept. They got out of bed at a decent time. Maybe Steve wasn't exactly a morning person, but he didn't sleep until noon either. They had toast for breakfast. Steve asked if it was on Eddie's list of five things he could make without the threat of immediate fire.

It wasn't. That was when Eddie decided to enlighten Steve on his lists. There were five things he could make without the threat of immediate fire: pasta, cereal (Steve said that didn't count. Eddie said that was bullshit and it definitely did), Spaghettios, canned soup, and sandwiches. The next list was things Eddie could make that could very well become a fire hazard. Examples included toast, anything that needed to be put in the oven, and popcorn. 'But not that fancy microwave stuff you have, Harrington. We don't have a microwave.' Steve thought it was probably for the best. Eddie probably would have burned down the trailer by now from the sound of things. The last list was things that Eddie simply could not make. It was almost everything else in existence.