Again

Chapter 15

That night Steve dreams.

Not nightmares, not something he will forget when he wakes, not a troubling memory.

He dreams.

It's weird, vibrant and makes no sense, but when he rouses, he smiles before he even opens his eyes. As suspected, his one arm is in-between numbness and pins and needles, but to his delight, he can still feel Eddie's warmth against it. He can also feel that the covers have been thrown off, probably due to the heat generated between them snuggled up in the heat of a summer night. Though he notes they aren't exactly as they were, Eddie is further away. No longer against Steve's chest but still in his arms. His hands are not in their homes, but he wonders if he can snuggle over there and put them back where they belong. He wishes he could bottle that moment from last night, when things felt right, when everything just fell into place, when a flurry of memories returned to him, and get drunk on it forever. He dares to open one eye to see if a replay is on the cards, but the first thing he sees is Eddie looking right back at him.

"Mornin' Handsome," Eddie says quietly before brushing some hair from Steve's eyes and tucking it behind his ear. He should feel disappointed, right? Eddie, thwarting his plans like this, but somehow this was even better. It makes Steve feel unusual. Steve should hate this, feeling vulnerable, soft and small. And under any other circumstances, he would, but he relishes it rightly or wrongly under Eddie's hand. "Sleep, ok?" Steve sleepily nods in reply, wondering how long Eddie has been watching him, and sends him a dopey smile before the throbbing in his head starts. He sucks in a breath and raises his hand to his eye in pain, "Ah, there it is, hangover kicking in now? Right?" Eddie chuckles and then raises a hand to his own head, making them both laugh more, pulling pained groans from them.

"Once I regain some feeling in my arm. I can make us some coffee and breakfast. That ok, or do you have plans?" Steve says quietly, trying to flex his fingers to get the feeling flowing to them again.

"No plans, and even if I did have some, I don't have them now. So consider them cancelled" He smirks and then suddenly arches his body away from the mattress, "Hey! Stop that", Eddie giggles. It takes a moment to register what has happened.

"Oh my god! Are you still ticklish?" Steve exclaims, immediately regretting his loudness.

"No!" Eddie defends unconvincingly.

"Oh, so if you aren't ticklish, you won't mind if I do this then?" Steve quickly brushes his fingertips against Eddie's ribs and sides, trying to find where the spot was, and soon Eddie is trying to wriggle away, in-between fits of laughter.

The way Eddie moves under his fingers teamed with how his face is all scrunched up in laughter and annoyance, makes Steve's brain do that channel flip thing, but this time it's a rapid repeated switch back and forth. One channel is now, the other, Eddie has his long hair, and it's dark where they are, but Steve just about makes out the bedding. It's his own old room. The fact that this has happened before urges Steve on, almost like he's trying to draw out more memories through it. With this new revelation, a new set of questions fall into Steve's mind. So far, he'd only really remembered them at Eddie's place or the food truck, and although he doesn't remember heaps, the feelings he gets when his mind sends him back to The Munson's trailer are of belonging and homely. Why would they have been in his shell of a house? Were they just giving Wayne a break? Nothing could have happened before. Eddie had said last night that was their first kiss, but that memory feels...dangerous? Maybe something almost happened?

"OK, OK! Thats enough! You should stop before I make you stop!" Eddie says, giggling, trying to catch his breath and as his attempt to escape is intercepted, he falls back down onto the bed, and Steve's tickling becomes merciless as he looms over him from the side. Looking down on Eddie like this, laughter spilling out of him, his dimples deeply puncturing his cheeks as the corners of his eyes crease, Steve feels alive. He hasn't felt this sort of playfulness in such a long time, not since the kids were little, and in response, Steve is laughing back despite the pain. Not in that reserved way he usually does. It's free from any rules or responsibilities. Steve pauses briefly to allow Eddie to catch his breath, but as soon as he does, Steve starts again. If you keep going, maybe something else will come back . But all he can see is the channel flip between two slightly different-looking Eddies reacting nearly the same way.