-On The Road- (A Steddie and Ronance Story)

The Confession

The two sat in silence, not sure exactly what to talk about, if anything. They really hadn't interacted much, aside from the various issues with Vecna and such. Beyond that, they were quite different people, which lead to them not really bonding as much as the other two. However, the silence wasn't exactly awkward. Just.. quiet. The two had become somewhat lost in their own writing, seeming to forget they were even with another person to begin with. It was just them and the world around them, nothing more, nothing less.

"Hey Eddie?"

He looked up, coming back to reality.

"What's up, Wheeler?"

"Can I ask you to read this? I'm not great at poetry and stuff, but.. I don't know, I wanted to try it out."

"...Sure, I'll give it a read. I'm not sure I'm exactly the best with it either, but anything to help out." He replied, a little confused, but not wanting to shut her down either. She passed over her notepad, and he began to read.

She brought me somewhere today.

It was peaceful,

It was quiet.

And with it,

Came her.

She was bright,

She was loud.

And today I learned,

Even the most polar of opposites

Can be beautiful.

Eddie paused, reading it a couple times over. She was writing about a girl. Nancy, the girl who he mostly knew as Steve's ex. Maybe there was more to her then she let on.

"Is.. is it that bad?" She asked, and Eddie quickly looked back at her, handing the notepad back and shaking his head.

"No, no, I just.. Wasn't expecting something like that from you, Wheeler." He replied, and she nodded.

"I guess that makes sense."

"Is it.. About Robin?"

He didn't want to push her to say anything she wasn't ready to, but he couldn't help but be a bit curious.

"Oh yeah! She's just very pretty, and I wanna be like her." Nancy replied, and Eddie nodded. He remembered saying similar things, before he figured it all out. He let out a quiet chuckle, deciding to let her find out on her own.

"That's quite lovely, Nancy."

"Well, I mean, you seem to find her quite pretty too. Or am I reading things wrong?" She asked, and Eddie tilted his head, not sure he was connecting the dots right.

"Are you asking if I have a thing for her?"

"Yeah, I mean, you guys have seemed to really hit it off."

"...Can't say that I do, no, Nancy. She's.. Really not my type." He replied, sighing. How many times was he gonna have this conversation? Was he not being obvious enough?

"Oh, sorry, don't mean to make assumptions. I just thought you two looked really cute together!" She said, and Eddie rubbed the bridge of his nose. Should he say something? After all, she seemed to be on the verge of making a discovery of her own, so it didn't seem like she would react poorly. And after all, he would probably have to tell her eventually. So why the hell not?

"Yeah, I'd say I'm definitely into more.. Masculine people." He said, deciding to rip the band aid off. She looked over at him, nodding.

"Oh I understand! Like, athletic girls and such? Or like, the more angsty, punk kinda girls?" She asked.

"No, no, like.. Super masculine."

"Like... DnD girls?"

"No, like.. Not girls."

"So.. Do you just not date or something? I mean, I haven't seen you with any girls or anything, can you just not find anyone-"

"Wheeler. I'm gay."

She paused. Eddie felt his heart begin to race, he shouldn't have said anything, that was a dumb idea. She was gonna hit him or something, this was such a bad plan.

"Oh, that's cool. I think my brother might be gay."

...what?

"He talks about his friend Will all the time, honestly he kind of sounds like I did in middle school when I had a crush."

"..so you're cool with it?" Eddie asks, still processing what just happened.

"Well yeah. I'm not a dick. I just.. Don't know a lot of gay people, so I'm learning. But I can't imagine being gay is all that different from being straight, so I don't see any reason to not be cool with it." She said, very matter of factly, as Eddie just looked at her, confused.

"You don't make sense to me, Wheeler."

"I don't make sense to a lot of people, Eddie." 

(Sorry, I know it's short! And I know the title is a bit misleading, but I love me some good slow burns y'all. Next chapter is gonna be some fun Steve and Robin stuff though, so hope y'all are ready for that!)