When The Sun Goes Down (Steddie)

Let's Spend the Night Together

"Hi," Steve whispered as he eyed what looked like a sleeping bag that Eddie had brought. "What's with that?"

"Oh, the sleeping bag?" Steve just nodded. "I don't know. In the woods in the middle of the night? It just seemed appropriate." Eddie picked up the beer and handed it to Steve, then hefted the sleeping bag up and hoisted it over his shoulder. "Want to go out to the lake? I brought towels this time."

"Okay, sure." Steve followed Eddie through the trees back to the same spot where they'd been swimming the night before. When they got there, Steve stood to one side as Eddie unrolled the sleeping bag, zipped it out to full size, then spread it on the ground. Rolled up inside it was a pair of shorts, two towels, and a long rectangular box. "What's in the box," Steve asked, trying to sound casual.

He was curious about the box, but he was also picturing Eddie undressing and changing into the shorts he'd brought. He tried to push that thought away. Eddie was with Billy. This was never going to amount to anything between them.

"That," Eddie said, peeking up at Steve from where he was kneeling on the ground by the sleeping bag. "That's your punishment. Unless, of course, you figured out what song on the tape made me think of you." He winked at Steve and flashed him a flirty smile. Steve felt his stomach flutter and his heart skip a beat. "I'll give you three guesses, but if it takes you more than one, then you have to take the punishment anyway."

"How is that fair," Steve asked indignantly.

"Simple. If it takes you more than one try, then you're just guessing." He stood up and came around to stand in front of Steve. Steve's eyes dropped and he watched Eddie practically swish his hips, cocking them to one side, then the other, making sure that he had Steve's attention. "I don't want you to guess. I want you to know."

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure. Anything for you." He leaned in so close that Steve felt his next words against his lips more than he heard them. "Big boy." He lingered for just a fraction of a second that seemed to stretch into an eternity as Steve tried not to take comfort in his body heat. He caught a whiff of something faint, like cologne. It wafted from Eddie's hair as he stepped back, that big, goofy, adorable grin on his face. How could anyone think this beautiful boy was a vessel for the devil? Steve pictured him more as rolling around on the floor with a fluffy black kitten named Satan. "Want a beer?"

"Yeah, thanks." Eddie opened two beers and handed one to Steve.

"I brought a couple of joints. The good stuff from my private stash," he said. "Not the skunk weed I sell to dumb kids." He took a quick sip of beer. "Not that our kids are dumb. But yeah, I'm sure you already realized how bunk that baggie was." Steve only nodded. "So, what did you want to ask?"

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Uhm, not that it's anybody's business, but no."

"I heard something today . . ."

"Oh, fucking lovely." Eddie rolled his eyes then went over and flopped back on the sleeping bag. "Sit." He patted the empty space next to him. "Tell me what the Hawkins rumor mill is spreading about me now." Steve sat down next to Eddie, as far away as he could without sitting in the grass and dirt. Eddie glanced down at the space between them then scooted closer, so that their shoulders touched. "What's up?"

"I heard that someone caught you and Billy Hargrove in the locker room at the pool." Steve couldn't look at Eddie, so he let his eyes drift out over the moon reflecting off the lake. "They said you were . . . You were giving him . . ." He swallowed hard.

"That I was sucking his dick?" Steve nodded. "That, my friend, is unfortunately not a rumor." Steve stood up, walked several feet towards the lake, then stood there, drinking his beer while Eddie watched, considering him and his intention behind bringing this up. "I'm queer, Steve. Is that a deal breaker for you? Can you be friends with a fag?"