The Boy Next Door - Steddie

10

As if the world was against him the day ended as soon as it started. After school Steve felt a terrible feeling in his stomach when he walked towards his car and his friends were standing beside. He completely forgot that he was their ride which made the situation even worse. Eddie was leaning against the car as he watched Steve come closer, a smile made it's way onto his face even though Steve was out of line.

Steve didn't know what to say to them now that he was in front of them. Nancy and Robin were waiting for a response while surprisingly Eddie didn't seem bothered by any of it. Steve scratched the back of his neck as the atmosphere became awkward because of the silence.

"Um...I apologize for how I acted earlier it wasn't fair to you guys." Steve said out loud for all of the to hear. He looked at Eddie with his thoughts already putting together what he should say to him but he decided it would be too much for him at this moment. Steve got into the car quickly and they followed after him making themselves comfortable in the seats.

The car ride was silent for a few minutes when Steve pulled out of the school's parking lot. Steve made quick glances at the rear view mirror keeping an eye on Eddie who was looking out the window. His eyes concentrated on all the houses that passed by or counting the dotted lines that were painted on the road. Steve couldn't keep his eyes off Eddie just like the day they first met he was definitely mesmerized by him and there wasn't a reason why, that was going to be to be a tough answer for Steve to get.

"Today was easy, well as far as class goes." Robin said trying to lighten the mood. Steve quickly looked away from the mirror once Eddie met his eyes from the backseat. His heart started to beat fast like he just finished running a race with thousands of people watching him get close to the finish line and all his anxiousness was building up inside him every second.

"I agree. The teachers were pretty cool today." Eddie added on. Steve could hear a change in Eddie's tone that wasn't the same tone from their previous encounters. Maybe Steve's words really did affect him and he was trying not to show it in front of the girls or Steve. Eventually he was going to give Eddie a sincere apology the only problem was that he didn't want to relive that moment again especially when he brought up Chrissy which was an unnecessary thing to do.

"Yeah today went by pretty fast." Nancy said while looking out the window. Steve couldn't form any words and he thought it would be best to keep his mouth shut before he said something stupid. The car fell silent again between each stop at the girls houses until it was only Steve and Eddie in the car. Eddie managed to find his way into the passenger seat when he got the chance. Steve felt a lot of pressure come onto him as he drove down the road that was going to lead him towards their neighborhood and he figured that now was the perfect time to finally say something. Eddie knew that Steve was thinking about the situation that happened earlier just by the way his entire attitude changed drastically.

"Look, about what happened today I'm genuinely sorry. The things I said was terrible and it shouldn't have came out no matter how upset I was." Steve blurted out. He should've done this when he wasn't in a closed environment where he couldn't get away from Eddie or try to avoid him in any way. Eddie raised a brow at what Steve said and now he was curious about what made him upset earlier.

"Well first off I forgive you even though it stung a little," Eddie was too calm for Steve and his face reddened at how his voice became softer. Steve let the embarrassment settle in him once he realized that he really hurt someone that he wanted to consider a friend. Eddie smiled to himself when he noticed Steve tried to hide his face but like always he failed. "But if you don't mind me asking why were you upset earlier? Was it something I did?"

Now Steve had another thing to worry about when it came to talking to Eddie. The tape that he watched made him do things that he never would've considered doing if it weren't for Eddie buying it in the first place. Steve's anger wasn't Eddie or anyone at all he hated that he enjoyed what he was watching and every thought that was going through his mind to stop he ignored all of them. Steve sighed deeply before speaking trying to get himself together.

"It was because of the tape you gave me. I don't know if you gave it to me as a joke or maybe it was a mistake-"

"No. I gave it to you on purpose and it definitely wasn't a joke either." Eddie focused on Steve with a smirk on his face. Steve had a feeling that Eddie was lying to him even if his tone matched what he was saying. He found it hard to believe that Eddie didn't buy the tape just to tease him about or make him apart of a twisted joke.

"You're not being serious right now. There's no way you bought something so explicit willingly." Steve shook his head in disbelief. That made no sense to him and would that mean Eddie has watched stuff like that before too. Eddie let out a small laugh out of nowhere making Steve look at him with concern. This wasn't a laughing matter since Steve was really freaking out about every decision he's made in the past few days.

"So you watched it?" Eddie asked while smiling but it wasn't a sweet smile it was darker than that. Steve froze in his seat when he realized that he said too much and ended up exposing himself. His body was on fire as Eddie continued to look at him with that stupid smile like there was no shame in what he was doing. Steve couldn't think straight when the images from the tape replayed in his head and the feeling he got from it rushed through his body.

"T-that's not the point-"

"Harrington, did you watch it?" Eddie was being direct and Steve couldn't handle it. The short answer being 'yes' was already bad but if Steve told Eddie that he watched the entire thing while touching himself this conversation was going to end on a weird note. His face gave him a way with a deep blush coming across it and Eddie loved every second of it. Steve hesitantly nodded his head wishing that he could be anywhere else on the planet. "Did you watch all of it?"

"Yes... I did. God does it really matter right now?" Steve started to burn up after admitting what he's done. Luckily the car ride was coming to an end when he drove through their neighborhood and Eddie's house was coming up. Eddie leaned back in his seat obviously pleased with the information he's been told.

"It actually matters a lot, Harrington. Did you like it?" Eddie asked this time he didn't look at Steve meaning he missed the absolute horror that was on his face. Steve shook his head a little too quickly and he wasn't convincing anyone not even himself at this point. He slowed down the car in front of Eddie's house hoping that a miracle would save him.

"N-no why would I like that?" Steve said turning towards Eddie. He didn't expect to see Eddie looking back at him with such an intense gaze. That feeling in Steve's stomach was becoming too much for him to just ignore it. Steve could say he was breathless by the way Eddie made it his business to invade his personal space but he didn't mind it.

"I don't know. It's a shame though because I thought I picked one of the best ones," Eddie gave Steve a soft smile before taking off his seat belt. Before fully getting out the car Eddie leaned over the armrest and was dangerously close to Steve's ear making his hot breath tickle against the sensitive skin. "Next time I'll pick something a little more hardcore, yeah?"

"W-what-"

"Pick me up in the morning and don't be late. See ya, Harrington!" Eddie waved his hand at Steve and ran into his house. Steve was going to pick up Eddie in the morning too, add that to the very long list of Steve's problems. His drive to and from school was the only time he could avoid being flustered while thinking about him also. Steve pulled up to his house noticing that his parents were still home which was odd because they usually worked during the week. He opened his front door to see his parents standing behind it with a mixture of disappointment and anger on their faces.

Steve didn't feel like arguing at the moment but he couldn't avoid his parents forever no matter how hard he tried. He prepared himself for the lecture that would go on all day until it was time for the sun to come back up.

"What is it this time?" Steve asked while crossing his arms. They were shocked by his blatant disrespect and their faces were changing into complete anger. His mom brought up something that she was holding in her hand. At first Steve didn't know what he was looking at because the object was blurry in his vision then it was clear to him, Steve's eyes widened when the object turned out to be something that was familiar to him.

The tape.

"Steve, what is this?"

Oh.