Darling [Steve x Eddie]

Chapter 22

"Jesus H!" Eddie spun around blindly, knocking against a potted plant with careless arms. "What the fuck are you doing here, Steve?"

From far away, he watched as Harrington slipped closer.

"Why shouldn't I be here?"

"Because I went to the bathroom."

Steve smirked.

"But you didn't, did you?"

"Smart ass." Eddie felt another wave of dizziness.

He reached out and gripped onto Steve's arm.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

His fingers pushed into Harrington's sweater.

"It's fine." Steve pulled him closer. "Getting into a bad habit of saving you."

"I want to say shut up, but I don't have the energy."

Steve laughed softly and his voice was so much closer to Eddie's ear than it had been before.

"Jesus, Steve," Eddie murmured. The room was still buzzing.

Steve's arms were wrapped completely around him and he managed to make all of the space between them disappear.

"Better?" Steve asked.

Eddie nodded. It was. "Yeah," he whispered back.

He rested his chin on Steve's shoulder and began to focus on the boy's breathing, making his own the same. Their ribs brushed against each other's.

After a couple of minutes, he closed his eyes and let Steve take over.

"I'm going to let you help me, but never again."

"We'll see."

He could feel Steve's smirk.

"I mean it, Harrington," he promised.

"I don't know if I trust anything you're saying right now, but okay."

Steve gently moved so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Eddie, who groaned at the absence of skin.

"Just for a moment," Steve said in response to the sound. "I'm going to bring you upstairs to Robin's guest bedroom."

Eddie let his eyes open into thin slits, shying away from the kitchen light.

"Isn'-she gonna wonder why we'reboth gone?" he asked.

His tongue felt thick and the words slurred as they spilled out of his mouth.

Steve smiled at him.

"No, she fell asleep on the floor after you left. I don't think she'll be waking up anytime soon."

"Tha's-good." Eddie's teeth felt heavy.

"Close your eyes," Steve murmured. "Don't worry, I can guide you up the stairs."

"I don'-trust you."

Eddie tried to stay upright, but he ended up leaning more onto Steve as they shuffled down the hallway.

He must have blacked out for a couple of minutes, because suddenly he was swaying at Steve's side at the top of the stairs.

"Wha' happened?" He stumbled forward.

Steve caught his wrist and reeled him back in.

"You got dizzy or something."

"Huh." Eddie couldn't think of anything else to say, his brain was all fuzzy.

"Yeah," Steve smiled with concern. "Now let's get to the guest room."

"Whatever you say, Stevie."

He felt Harrington pause, but then they started walking again and he forgot that it ever happened.

When they reached the entrance to the room, he allowed Steve to help and nudge him over to the bed, and then he fell back-first onto it.

Steve stood awkwardly beside his legs.

"Um, I guess if you need anything, I'll be in Robin's room."

"Why?" Eddie couldn't understand what Harrington meant.

"Why what?"

The other boy looked just as confused by him.

"Why will you be in Robin's room?" He clarified with a clearing shake of his head.

"Oh, because it's free." Steve shrugged.

Instantly, Eddie realized that he couldn't be alone. The idea of Steve leaving him now was too much.

"No."

He shifted over and patted the rumpled space next to him.

"I've got space."

Steve gave him a long look.

"Don't do that," Eddie warned softly.

It was always the way that Harrington stared at him from under his lashes that got to Eddie in the end.

Steve blinked. "I wasn't doing anything."

He looked genuinely confused again, so Eddie brushed it away.

"Doesn't matter, just lie beside me."

Steve looked worried.

"I can honestly just sleep in Robin's room. You need your spac—."

"Don't." Eddie tugged on Steve's arm. "It's fine."

He pulled him onto the bed, allowing himself to be half crushed by the other boy's fall.

Steve quickly rolled all the way off of him and lay on his back as well.

Even from the brief contact, Eddie was breathless and already missed the feeling of Steve's body against his.

All the lights were off, so together they stilled in the darkness of the room. He took a deep breath.

Then he reached his hand out along the covers and brushed it against Steve's fingers.

"Next time I'm saving you," he whispered.

Steve allowed his hand to be taken.

"Alright, but I'm not done with you yet," he mumbled back sleepily.

Eddie tipped his head towards him and grinned up at the ceiling.

"I'm okay with that."

Steve was half asleep.

"G'night, Stevie," Eddie whispered.

"Night, Eddie," Steve murmured, squeezing his hand.

Eddie closed his eyes.