The new semester was quick to arrive, though what he hadn't originally considered over the break was his appendix fucking blowing up like some kind of morbid firework, he supposed that missing his first lecture because of his recovery wouldn't be all that bad, after all Steve could quite easily catch up on CPR training after his lifeguard years, the only catch was that he still had to get his assignment done.
He sat on one of the mismatched chairs in his and his roommate Robins living room, skimming through the page of information on both drowning, smoke and the countless other reasons he'd be bouncing on another person's chest. Something caught his eye.
Someone else was reading the document, their place highlighted by a small red tab above the word 'asphyxiation'.
A comment appeared.
'@steveharrington: you know what this means??'
Steve's brow furrowed, whoever this person was was surprisingly outgoing, not to mention informal.
'@eddiemunson: it means suffocation, in this case by smoke'
He attempted to move on, but another comment appeared.
'@steveharrington: so if I decided to flirt with you, I could say you're asphyxiating me, cuz you're smoking hot ;)'
An impromptu rush of air came through his nose, involuntarily making a sort of snorting sound as heat rose across his cheeks, despite the idiocy of the comment. Robin looked at him across the room, peeking over her assigned reading of 'the stand' by Stephen King
"Is something funny or are you choking on your ego again Stevie?"
"Eat shit Buckley"
"You're such a Clown" she rolled her eyes, returning them to her book.
"Yeah and I'll honk my nose at you if you're not careful"
He glanced back at his assignment, managing to complete some of his work before another comment cropped up.
"@steveharrington: you missed your lecture too huh?"
'@eddiemunson: yeah, appendicitis'
'@steveharrington: better than my excuse'
'@eddiemunson: which is?'
'@steveharrington: I got distracted and ended up on the other side of the state'
Steve let a small smile grace his lips, mildly endeared by the dorkiness of this 'Eddie',of course he'd never seen him before, spoken to him before, but he was intrigued by the guy, perhaps a little more than he should've been.
'@eddiemunson: I don't wanna keep bothering Mr Keating, you got a contact?'
'@steveharrington: that depends, do you plan on texting me?'
'@eddiemunson: no I just collect numbers like fucking Pokémon'
'@steveharrington: someone's cranky, you really want me that bad, huh, Harrington?'
'@eddiemunson: you're doing yourself little favour here dude'
Steve smiled when the number appeared on his screen, he punched it into his phone, abandoning his assignment for today and casting his laptop to the table.
He labelled the number as 'docs', he thought that was a fitting nickname, especially since this 'Eddie' guy had a pair of them in his original profile picture, which was quickly changed to a picture of Kyle from South Park (only because Robin was already Steve's favourite character, her picture was Kenny).
"What's with the grin Harrington?" Robin peered at him once again "god if it's another hook up, please tell me so I can stay the night somewhere else"
"No- no, god no-!" He fumbled his words for a moment "I just got someone from school's number"
Robin got the kind of look that Steve never wished to see.
It was horrifying, despicable, an irrevocable swerve to the remainder of his day.
"Tell em i said hi, and that I hope you both plan on using protection"
"I hope a pineapple mistakes your grating voice for a mating call and crawls up your-"
His phone buzzed again and he returned his attention to it, the screen lit up by the Eddie guys words.
[docs: so, what're you training for?]
[firefighter, wbu?]
[docs: 911 responder]
He had to admit, he hadn't expected that answer, he'd expected something about basic first aid training based on what he'd heard from Eddie so far, but who was he to judge, everyone had expected him to sell car insurance.
[docs: you got any nicknames Harrington?]
[not particularly]
Robin swiped the phone from his hand, reading over his text messages for a moment before gaining that signature Robin Buckley grin and typing something in.
[oh he does, he's a liar -R]
[docs: oh? How so 'R']
[personally I like to use, Stevie, bear (he's a hairy fucker you'll understand someday) and smokey-R]
[docs: why Smokey??]
[hes training to be a firefighter, I'm not gonna call him big red truck- R]
Steve snatched the phone back, shooting Robin a glare through the corner of his eye, she only grinned, wandering into her bedroom.
"Robin Louise Buckley you've never called me smokey a day in your fucking life?!"
A cackle issued from her room, muffled by the door, but it was a cackle nonetheless.
[sorry about Robin, I'm sending her to an institute soon I promise]
[docs: getting rid of your girlfriend for me? Little low don't we think]
[it's not like that man, we're not eachothers type if you get what I mean]
[docs: I see, what is your type then Stevie]
[depends, what do you look like?]
[docs: nice try, I'm immune to stupid pick-up lines]
[are you also immune to pick-up times? Cuz I can do 7 tonight?]
Across campus someone went mildly pink, and so what? He's a simple man, leave him be.
[docs: no can do Smokey, concert awaits]
[who're you going to see?]
[docs: the crowd mostly, I'm a bit too on stage to be in it you see]
[you play?]
[docs: guitar yes, guys such as yourself, no]
Steve rolled his eyes and shifted a little, stitches rubbing against the rough feeling of his sweater, making him uncomfortable for a moment before he adjusted. Throughout the rest of the evening the two's phones buzzed back and forth, lighting up eachothers lock screens every few minutes (cough seconds cough)
A year and a half later, they'd still been talking, though a little less now, they both had busy jobs, important jobs.
Six months prior..
The newborn lay in the bassinet to the side of him, he'd adopted her after failing to rescue her family from a road accident fire, he'd felt guilty about leaving her to the system, especially when it failed kids so often.
How the little girl survived? Steve didn't know, but she was his daughter now and he didn't like to think about losing her.
However right now, turning his hearing aid off was his best idea ever.
He rocked Martha in his arms, holding her close to his chest, stained sweater rubbing against the infants face as her eyes slowly dropped closed.
Robin crept through the door, giving Steve a small shoulder squeeze before going into her room to grab something, leaving once again.
This isn't how he'd expected his 21st birthday to go, but he couldn't complain, his shift had been long and he really didn't feel like having a hangover at this point, Robin had left to get dinner, Martha was almost asleep and Steve felt as if dirt was in every crevice of his being.
His phone buzzed.
[docs: happy birthday Harrington, and congrats on the kid, I saw your instagram post]
Steve smiled.
[thank you :) ]
He placed his phone on the kitchen table, carefully placing the baby in the cot that he'd spent an entire day figuring out how to build.
"Steve?" Robin stuck her head through the door as he straightened up, rubbing his eyes. She smiled.
"Foods here Bambi, leave the little one be"
"You're a fucking lifesaver Buck"
"Im aware"
