Darling [Steve x Eddie]

Chapter 27

"I don't know if I can love you."

Eddie whispered it.

"You don't know if you can or you don't know if you'll let yourself?" Steve asked.

He had to be smiling.

"I'm not sure."

But Eddie knew that he loved Steve.

He just wasn't ready to admit it, not when something could go wrong at any moment.

He didn't think that he could bear the idea of falling for Harrington and then losing him later on.

"I guess I'm just trying to protect myself. And you. Us."

He couldn't stop his voice from breaking.

Steve hummed.

"Then before we try this, let's figure out how to trust each other," he offered eventually.

"But that could take months!" Eddie spluttered. "Why waste your time with me?"

"Because I'm not so sure that I would be wasting my time."

Eddie scoffed. "Oh, you definitely would be. I think I know myself well enough. You'd come out of it with a yawn and nothing gained."

"I really doubt that, Eddie."

Steve sounded resolute.

With a sigh, Eddie softly thumped his head against the door.

"You're relentless, you know that?" he murmured.

"Why do you think everyone calls me "the mom" of the group?" Steve laughed. "It's 'cause I'm so damn insistent. And protective."

Eddie rolled his eyes.

"You know, this is the second time that I've waited for you to open the door in the last three days, and the third time that we've been separated by a door since Friday." Steve observed quietly, maybe even subtly hinting.

"The door's unlocked," Eddie responded without thinking.

He heard the other boy stand up.

"Wait for a minute..." He called.

Then he shifted over and leaned against the bathtub instead, unblocking the entrance.

"Okay, you can come in."

The doorknob spun slowly and Steve slipped into the room.

He simply stood for a moment, staring down at Eddie.

"I'm gonna sit now," he said after a blink.

"Sure."

Steve lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs.

His back was up against the opposite wall to Eddie.

"Tell me a secret," he began when he was comfortable.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, let's get to know each other, in a real way."

Eddie pulled his knees to his chest.

"Okay," he agreed hesitantly.

Steve smiled.

"So... secret?" he prompted.

Eddie cleared his throat. "I've read The Lord Of The Rings trilogy six times."

Steve's smile turned into a small grin.

"I guess we're starting off easy, then?" he teased.

"Yeah, like you've got any shallow secrets."

Eddie extended his leg and prodded Steve with his foot, the grin shared on his own face.

"Actually, I've got too many," Steve revealed. "You're the one with all of the dark, buried skeletons."

"Let's hear something then."

Steve thought for a moment, staring up at the ceiling.

His pose gave Eddie the most devastating view of his neck.

Eddie didn't even want to know how many times in the last hour he'd been transfixed by the pale skin there.

There was a gorgeous mole just below Harrington's jawline, that he very much wanted to kiss.

"I guess... I actually like reading, despite what everyone's said about me. That's a secret. I've got my parents whole library all to myself, so when they're gone, I just... disappear there." Steve blushed as he spoke.

Eddie was embarrassed by how much the whole thing turned him on and he fiddled with his rings again, thinking desperately of things to say.

He was absolutely not thinking about Steve sitting in an empty library, reading a book in an armchair by the fire, blushing cutely and everything.

Maybe even in pyjamas, soft flannel and freckles.

"You reading is something that I have to see," he blurted.

Steve grinned. "Maybe later."

His eyes looked slightly mischievous.

Eddie started worrying that maybe he wasn't hiding his attraction as well as he thought he was, because it looked liked Steve see what was racing through his mind.

It almost seemed like he could tell the hell that Eddie was in.

Nerves shivered up Eddie's spine.

He rolled his neck slowly.

Steve's breath hitched.

"That's fucking hot," he exhaled.

He didn't even bother to hide how turned on he was and Eddie felt his own skin burn up under Steve's obvious gaze.

"Is that one of your secrets?" he asked, already sure of the answer.

Steve shook his head.

"No, I think we both know how plain I'm being about that stuff."

"Yeah."

They sat for a second, just watching each other, half smiles pressed into their skin.

"I think it's your turn," Steve said finally.

"Is it really?" Eddie couldn't remember.

"Yeah."

"Okay, give me a second to think of one."

He began to glance around the room, looking for inspiration, though what he could find in a bathroom that related to secrets was beyond him.

"Take your time." Steve smiled.

A thrill reached into Eddie's stomach, because he knew that the boy was only looking at him.