stolen kisses • steddie

30.

30.

A few weeks had passed since Steve was in the hospital, and he had been learning to adjust to everything slowly. Robin and Nancy helped him learn some basic sign language to communicate, and Robin had also been teaching Eddie. Steve was grateful to have such a good support system, and friends that were there for him. Not to mention his amazing boyfriend who only wanted the best for him.

Since Steve's parents had officially left again, for god knows how long, he decided that he wanted to have everyone over to his home, due to lack of room in Eddie's trailer. He had missed hanging out with everyone and he missed his annoying children.

Steve was laying out snacks for everyone, and Eddie was trying to help, but Steve kept pushing him out of the way. "I've got it, Eds. It's okay."

"You sure?" Eddie rested his hand on Steve's shoulder, pressing a light kiss to his cheek.

"I'm sure. I'm almost done anyway, and the kids will be here any minute," Steve nodded, setting everything on his family's large dining room table. "Go find Nancy and Robin."

"Fine, but if I find them in the middle of doing anything sexual to each other, I'm leaving," Eddie said jokingly, and Steve rolled his eyes.

"I think they're sitting out by the pool," the Harrington boy gestured to the door leading to the pool.

Eddie saw the two girls outside, just talking, by the pool. They saw him walk up and sit down, and he joined their conversation effortlessly.

Steve watched their interaction and smiled, he liked watching everyone he loved getting along so well. He was especially happy for Nancy and Robin, his best friend had finally found someone and they seemed to be very happy together. He just hoped that Nancy didn't end up hurting Robin.

Eddie caught Steve's gaze from where he was sitting, and grinned, signing 'I love you' to him. This made Steve blush slightly and he signed back 'I love you more'. Eddie smiled some more and turned back to rejoin the conversation with Nancy and Robin.

The doorbell sounded, slightly startling Steve, but he shook it off as he went to answer it. The front door was opened to the sight of Lucas, Erica, Dustin, Mike, Will, El, and Max. He spotted Jonathan and his friend Argyle driving away, and waved to them before inviting the kids inside.

Jonathan and Argyle had been invited, but Jonathan declined. Steve guessed it was because of Nancy being there with the person she left him for. Steve understood his reasoning.

"Damn, this is the mother lode of all snacks!" Dustin shouted, making Steve shake his head.

"Save some for everyone else please, you assholes," he teased, getting a middle finger from at least three of them.

"What's up, dorks?" Steve heard Eddie's voice from behind him, and watched as he high-fived every single one of the kids.

"Eddie! When's the next campaign?" Mike questioned, shoving chips in his mouth.

"You young sheep need to have some patience," Eddie shook his head, stealing chips off of Mike's plate.

"Nerds," Max spoke up, getting an eye roll from Eddie.

"I don't know, Red, you might actually have fun at a Hellfire meeting," Eddie raised his eyebrows, and laughed as Max shook her head.

"Not with these dumbasses," She gestured to the group of boys around her. The group protested all at once and the room became loud again.

Steve watched as everyone interacted, and it made his heart happy to watch everyone smile and laugh together. Since everything with Jason had happened, Steve felt like he wouldn't feel very happy for a while, just because of everything he had to adjust to, but Eddie made it impossible for him to be unhappy. The kids also gave him reasons to smile, and he couldn't thank them enough for the impact they had on his life.

Steve felt a hand on his back and turned, meeting Eddie's gaze. "You okay, Steve?"

"I'm okay, Eds. Just observing," Steve nodded, and Eddie sat next to him, resting his hand on Steve's lower thigh.

"So, when the hell did this start?" Dustin gestured between Steve and Eddie rapidly, making Eddie laugh.

"A few months ago. I think it was Wheeler's party?" Eddie looked to Steve for clarification.

"Yeah, Nancy's party. He drove me home and spent the night in my car with me," Steve explained. "Then we just started to hang out more."

"And he couldn't resist my good looks and my charm," Eddie nudged him gently with his elbow and Steve rolled his eyes.

"Something like that."

"Steve, when did you figure out that you liked him? Or liked guys in general?" Will spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him.

"I guess I realized that I felt different about him, and I was just happy to be around him," Steve shrugged. "He's the only guy I've ever liked so I'm still very new to it."

"I'm just happy I got twenty bucks out of it," Max teased, nudging Mike as he rolled his eyes.

"That was my entire month's allowance, so you're welcome," Mike grumbled, getting a laugh from everyone else.

"Why would you bet your entire month's allowance on Steve and I dating?" Eddie raised his eyebrows, grabbing more snacks.

"Because he's stupid," Lucas chimed in, getting a light slap on the arm from Mike.

Robin and Nancy made their way inside, and the group decided to play Monopoly. The house erupted in chaos as the party all fought over properties and made each other go bankrupt. Steve wouldn't have had it any other way.

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"Bye, dorks!" Eddie waved to the kids that were left as they piled in Nancy's car. Jonathan had been there a few minutes before and had taken the Sinclairs and Will home.

The kids, Nancy, and Robin waved as Nancy drove away, and it was just Steve and Eddie left in the Harrington's fancy house. Steve's head hurt from all of the noise, but it was worth it to see everyone.

Steve started to pick up the snacks and leftover Monopoly pieces that were scattered along the dining room table, but Eddie stopped him. "I've got this, you go to bed. I'll be there soon."

"Are you sure? It's my house, I can clean up," Steve started to pick stuff up again, but Eddie led him away from the mess.

"I've got it, I promise. Go get some sleep, and please take your meds," Eddie gave him a stern look after the last statement, and Steve nodded, sighing.

He made his way up to his bedroom and changed into more comfortable clothes. There was a fresh glass of ice water that Eddie must've left there for him, right next to his pain and sleeping medication. He smiled slightly before taking the pills and basically falling into bed.

Eddie made his way into Steve's room a few minutes later and shut the door, changing into more comfortable clothes as well. Steve just watched and smiled lovingly at the boy in front of him.

"What are you looking at, pretty boy?" Eddie raised his eyebrows, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"You, doofus," Steve teased, and Eddie rolled his eyes before getting into the bed, pulling Steve into his arms.

"You seem like you enjoyed yourself tonight," Eddie said softly, lightly rubbing Steve's back.

"I did. It was good to see everyone and I needed some distraction from all of the changes that have been happening," Steve nodded, letting out a soft sigh.

"I'm glad you were able to have a good time. All I want is for you to be happy," Eddie pressed a small kiss to Steve's forehead.

"As long as you're here, I don't think that will be a problem."

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a/n: thank you for your patience on this chapter! it's a wholesome one to make up for the last few traumatizing ones.

hope you enjoyed it, next one out soon!

- jj