Again

Chapter 16

Steve leans back on the reclined sofa. The TV is on, he's looking at it, but he's not really watching it. He doesn't even know why he switched it on. He has all the entertainment he needs right here in his lap. He's still wearing what he slept in and the t-shirt Eddie was wearing yesterday.

Eddie throwing his t-shirt from the day before for Steve to wear the next morning had become a daily habit. Steve glances at the clock creeping into the afternoon now. His one hand gently rests on Eddie's chest. The other is absentmindedly playing with his hair as he lies back on Steve's thigh. The gentle beat of Eddie's heart and the rumble of his voice explaining the plot of the book he's reading reverberates against Steve's palm and fingers. Steve files it away as one of his favourite symphonies. It's a small file. He only has two more in there. Steve can remember the last time he felt this at peace. The night they brought home Corey.

Jenny was understandably exhausted, but Steve had prepared everything she needed to relax and hopefully get some rest and everything he needed to take care of their newborn and five-year-old until she felt up to joining them. Mackenzie had gone to bed, and it was just Steve and Corey. His tiny baby boy. Steve cradled him in his arms as he put on an old basketball game he had recorded and talked him through the game. His little hand moved and lay against Steve's chest, and he was unnecessarily worried his scratchy chest hair might irritate Corey's skin, so he reached to move his hand. As he did so, Corey's little fingers wrapped around Steve's finger, and he melted completely.

"I'm here", he whispered, "Just don't want you losing your hand in there" He smiled hugely down at his son and manoeuvred his hand away. "I'm always gonna be here. Nothing is ever gonna hurt you. We're gonna keep you safe. "

Steve tunes back into the present. He knows the book Eddie is talking about. He just has yet to focus on everything he said, "So, is there a movie of this book? Sounds like there should be."

"Oh, but there is. There have been, like, animated ones, but new ones are coming out, and the trailers. My God, Steve. The fucking trailers!" Eddie says, hands stretched towards the ceiling.

"Do you need to read the books to understand it? Could someone like me watch it?" Steve asks. There is a pause, a silence, and though the vibration of Eddie's voice is missing from his fingertips, his heartbeat is a little faster, harder.

"You wanna watch it?" Eddie asks, and Steve can hear the surprise in his voice.

"If I didn't go and see a movie based on my boyfriend's favourite book, what kind of boyfriend would I be?" Steve says in mock alarm. "What if someone else asked him to watch the movie, then they'd have little secret in-jokes I wouldn't get and then bond over it, and I'd be left out. And then what if they fall in love and get married, and I'm just sitting at the back of the church like, damn, if only I went to see the movie, I could be the one with pointy ears on and ribbons and flowers in my hair, getting married to my love by a pretend Wizard?" he amps the horror in his performance, and Eddie is shaking with giggles. "Glad to see you find my potential heartbreak amusing, honey."

"I'm only laughing because you think you're an elf. You are from the realms of men, Steve, sorry." Eddie delivers the terrible news holding back his laughter.

"I could be a fucking elf, alright? I'm graceful as hell, I'm tall, I've got great hair, and I'm super stealthy. So I'm an elf, Eddie."

"You keep being grumpy like that, you'll end up an angry little dwarf, but you are not an elf. At least not in my mind. You aren't." Eddie jokes ending on a coy note.

"Oh yeah? Been thinking about me in one of your fantasy stories, have you" Steve teases, but Eddie doesn't get a chance to respond as the doorbell chimes. "Did you order food or something?" Steve asks, looking down at Eddie.