Cheering for Us [steddie AU]

9

Despite everything he and Nancy—and then he and Robin—talked about the day before, Eddie wakes up in a procrastination mood on Monday. Nancy said Steve usually needed time, right? Waiting one more day couldn't hurt.

"So your conversation was helpful?" Nancy asks him on the way to school.

"Yeah, it was. Both of you have helped a lot," Eddie says. "I mean really, Steve and I only officially met because of you."

"You would've seen him at the competition anyway."

"I hated him, Nance. Maybe I still do, but—"

"You find him hot anyway," Nancy finishes, smiling.

"Like you don't understand exactly where I'm coming from," Eddie says.

"It happens to the best of us. You think you'll resist the Harrington charm by convincing yourself he's a pretentious narcissist, then you're making out with him in an empty bathroom."

A grin spreads across Eddie's face, half in shock. "Nancy Wheeler! And you had me thinking you were above such acts."

"Yeah, well." Nancy smiles, almost embarrassed. "You don't know everything about me."

"No kidding," Eddie says. "I feel like you know me inside out, and to me you're still a mystery."

"My master plan, obviously."

"So what, you're gonna pull Robin to the dark side? Take her to all the best bathrooms and like, commit crimes? I don't know if her innocent heart could take it."

Nancy laughs, smacking his arm. "Stop, that sounds terrible! I'm not that rebellious."

"Oh no, of course not. Only I know that kind of peak rebellion."

"Okay, get out of my car, Munson."

Eddie opens the door, then stops, and leans over to kiss Nancy's cheek. She looks at him, confused, but then smiles.

"What was that for?" She asks.

"I don't know. You make me happy," Eddie says. "Robin was telling me about how she and Steve are really physically affectionate, but like, totally platonic. Got me thinking about how I might like that sort of thing, I was just ignoring it because I thought it'd be weird, or something."

Nancy stares at him a minute. Was that too much? God, he's so bad at this real relationship stuff. Then, she smiles again. "That's really sweet, Eddie. And I don't mind. I want you to be comfortable around me. We're friends."

"I should go before we both risk tears, huh?" He asks, smiling back.

Nancy laughs. "Probably. Let me know when you talk to Steve, okay?"

"Was planning on it. See you later."

"Bye."

Maybe he'll wait another day to talk to Steve, but probably not longer. Eddie's not a big fan of unknowns. His thoughts won't fully settle (at least as much as usual) until he clears things up. What if he shows up and Steve's changed his mind?

***

Eddie walks into cheer practice on Tuesday with renewed pride for the squad. There's a lot of the school year left, but this win was a great start.

"Eddie!" Some of the squad says in unison. Eddie grins and flips his ponytail dramatically.

"That's right, it's me. Captain of the winning squad!"

A bunch of them cheer, and the rest of the squad enters the gym. Practice runs smoothly. It feels good to do it again, to get lost in a different kind of rhythm. Eddie finds himself searching for steady rhythm everywhere he goes: the hum of his car engine, guitar chords and drum beats, bouncing his leg when he's nervous or working on a cheer routine.