steddie oneshots

The Night Hides Us

CW: light smut

1985

Eddie sits on his bedroom floor, surrounded by laundry and half-empty soda cans, fingering the pages of his beat-up notebook. A pencil bounces in his right hand, an unlit cigarette hangs between his lips.

It's hot; the middle of an Indiana summer. His curly hair is twisted up into something loosely resembling a ponytail, it's the best he could do in his exhaustion.

Ripped tank top, ripped jeans, a shitty fan sitting across from where he sits. The closer to the ground the better, though it's admittedly not much of a difference. It's mostly for his own focus.

He only ever seems to be in one of two modes: hyper-focused or hyper-distractible. Which isn't great for his grades, but he doesn't have to think about those in July. What he does have to think about is the campaign he's been writing since school let out.

It's been fun, yes, but holy shit is it a lot of work. Worth it for those kids, for his friends. It's just that when the restlessness hits, paired with utter heat exhaustion, it's really fucking hard to put pencil to paper.

Eddie sighs and closes his notebook. He's been working at the music store in Starcourt Mall this summer, and earlier today he picked up a new tape. Sacred Heart, Dio's new album.

He was saving it for after he finished writing, as an incentive, but it's currently 12:46 a.m. so fuck that. He's having his treat now.

Working at the music store has its cons, as any retail job does, but mostly Eddie considers himself lucky. Not only does he get to scout all of the new music that comes in, and some old stuff too, but he also gets to meet people like him.

Not everyone, of course, but a decent amount of people who shop at the store buy music that Eddie loves. He gets to recommend to people, or vice versa. And, it's Starcourt Mall. A place of loud noises and bright lights that make Eddie feel alive.

And... straight across from the music store happens to be Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor, which just happens to have Steve Harrington working at the counter. And that boy in that uniform is a sight to behold between sales.

When Eddie steals stares at Steve across the mall, and catches Steve staring at him, he feels like that uniform is alll for his enjoyment. That Steve's long lashes and pink lips were made to part just for him.

Which is ridiculous, of course. But sue Eddie if the long, lonely summer's got him feeling a little hopelessly romantic.

Eddie pops the tape into his Walkman and fits the headphones over his ears. Or, he tries to. But he can't, because his goddamn hair is piled to thick for the headphones to actually reach his ears.

"Are you kidding me?" Eddie mutters to himself. It's nearly the last straw of today, for some reason that's beyond him. Makes him wanna buzz it all off again. He carefully sets his Walkman on the floor—he's not about to break it twice this year—and stands up to stretch.

He needs to put all this fucking energy somewhere. Why is it always building up when he doesn't want it to? He can't stay still, can't think coherent thoughts, can't put his fucking headphones on.

Eddie exhales and flops onto his bed. Maybe he should just try and sleep. Maybe there's no point in trying to find a solution.

Maybe he's alone, and that's the reality of it.

Just as he's about to close his eyes, Eddie hears a faint tapping noise. He sits up.

And there it is, again. Tapping. Coming from... his window?