Master of Puppets

Chapter 13

At around 11 AM, the first one to break was Steve. He unlatched himself from Eddie and slipped out of bed, gaining an audible groan of dismay from the other man - mostly against his will.

Steve leaned down quickly, whispering. "Hey, don't get up."

Right, right. Because Eddie definitely only just woke up and hadn't been relishing in the cuddles this whole time. No sir.

Of course, because Eddie never listens to Steve, he sat up on his elbows, squinting. The room was entirely too bright. "Too late. How'd you sleep?" He yawned.

Steve's cheeks flushed a little as he looked away, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, fine. It was nice getting to lay in a bed rather than the floor." He saved, chuckling nervously. "You?"

Eddie caught the blush almost immediately. Did Steve... purposely choose to stay in bed this morning? Had he been awake? "Good. I think I actually got almost 6 hours." He snorted. "Hallelujah."

Steve smirked. "Good. You want some coffee?"

"I assume you're making it?" Eddie asked, gaining a nod from him. "Hell yes." He got up and followed Steve into the kitchen.

Harrington started up the absolutely ancient coffee maker that his parents insisted on keeping. It always made the coffee taste like dirt, but Steve had gotten used to the taste at this point. Beggars can't be choosers, he decided. Eddie slid into a kitchen chair and watched as Steve reached to the top of the cabinets to grab them some mugs; the bottom of his shirt lifted just slightly to expose his midriff and the boxers that peeked out from his sweatpants. He couldn't help but blush as he thought back to Steve breathing into his hair, completely content. He sighed a bit and rubbed his eyes. It was time. Fuck. He really needed to bring it up.

"So... I've been thinking a lot about the other day." Eddie muttered, looking down at his hands as he sheepishly messed with his rings.

Steve turned around when he'd finally picked out two mugs for them. His said World's Best Dad and Eddie's was a Christmas mug that had Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree plastered on the front. It was so... domestic. Harrington's head tilted to the side in confusion as he stood in the golden glow of the window. Fuckkkkkk he was handsome. This was so not fair.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Eddie chewed his lip and shrugged a little, looking away. "You know... the bite."

Realization dawned on Steve's face, which turned a shade of pink Eddie wasn't sure he'd seen before. "Oh. Yeah. Um..." He busied himself with the coffee, pretending it needed his utmost attention. "Right."

Eddie watched as he filled the cups, mixing in sugar and cream for his, keeping it black for Eddie's. "I didn't... um... I didn't do that on purpose. Make it... feel like that, I mean."

The mixing stopped and Harrington paused for a moment. He turned around, a look of surprise on his face. "You didn't?"