When The Sun Goes Down (Steddie)

Wait 'til The Stars Come Out

The next day was the longest day of Steve's life. Nothing he did could keep his mind off Eddie. He kept catching himself staring off towards the trees, lost in thoughts of how Eddie looked the night before, his hair wet and sticking to his strong shoulders, his boxers outlining every crease of skin and muscle between his legs. He fantasized about the way Eddie had bitten his wrist. It had been playful but forceful and Steve wanted to feel it again, in other places, his neck or hip maybe; definitely his thigh. And he definitely wouldn't mind biting Eddie too. He just wanted his mouth on Eddie, to taste him and see if he tasted as good as he looked.

Steve looked down at Robin's Walkman. Sure, he'd picked up on the sexual nature of most of the songs on his mix tape, but after seeing Eddie the way he had the night before, the songs seemed to have new meaning. Because even though he'd always been attracted to Eddie, before last night it was a dream, a fantasy to have Eddie naked. And now he had. Well, practically; for all intents and purposes anyway. That morning, after fishing his spare watch out of his bag, Steve had gotten into the shower. His only two thoughts were 'thank god for private showers' and 'Eddie' as he wrapped his fist around the erection he'd had since swimming in the lake with Eddie.

After his shower, Steve had borrowed the Walkman again because he was now on a mission. He had to guess which song made Eddie think about him. Or he could not even try. The only purpose in guessing at this point was to get out of whatever punishment Eddie came up with for losing the race. But hell, even that might be fun. He didn't know Eddie well enough to know what kinds of things he might come up with. Who knows? Eddie might tell him to eat a pile of mud from the lake shore. Or he might tell him he had to kiss him as punishment. But punishment for who? Steve laughed, shook his head, and focused on the music.

He absently watched the boys play dodgeball as he listened to song after song. Fourteen songs in all and seven of them, exactly half, were all blatantly about sex or masturbation. The other half were all about love. He knew Eddie wasn't in love with him. That idea was ludicrous. So, he mentally scratched those songs off the list and focused on the songs about sex. Steve just couldn't see it, not from Eddie. So what if he fantasized about Eddie in a sexual way? That didn't mean Eddie had the same thoughts as him. So then why did a song about sex remind Eddie of Steve?

"Hey, Steve!" He smiled as Chrissy bounced over to him. "May I join you?"

"Sure." Steve turned off the Walkman and slipped the headphones off. "What are you doing down here? Someone hurt?"

"James Dante took a dodgeball to the face." Steve barked out a sharp laugh then promptly covered his mouth and gave Chrissy an apologetic look. James used to bully his boys with Troy Walsh. He could care less if he got his face smashed in. "He's okay. Nothing's broken. But there was a lot of blood and tears."

"I'm glad he's okay," Steve answered.

"What are you listening to?" She tapped a finger on the Walkman on the picnic table between them. "Anything good?"

"Yeah," Steve said as an idea suddenly popped into his head. He handed the cassette case with his handwritten list of songs to Chrissy. He wanted an unbiased opinion on the songs on the tape. "Check this out. Someone made this mix tape for me."

"Good songs," Chrissy mused as her eyes moved over the list. At the end, she looked up at him. "I don't know the last song."

"I didn't either," Steve admitted. "But I think the title says everything it's supposed to say."

"Yeah, I see that," she giggled. "Who gave it to you?"

"Uhm, I'd rather not say right now," Steve answered, his cheeks turning a soft pink. "But, uh, the person who made the tape said that they heard a song, and it reminded them of me, so they made the tape and gave it to me. I'm supposed to figure out which song it was that reminded them of me." He gave her a pleading look. "How am I supposed to decide?"