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Steve’s TikTok algorithm gets fucked up after Dustin sends him video after video of this group of dudes playing D&D. He doesn’t even say anything, just randomly sends Steve a video as if Steve cares about that dumb dice game.
Steve doesn’t even watch most of them. He clicks the link, sees the initial shot of the game board, and swipes away with a roll of his eyes. Then he starts seeing the damn game board on his FYP. He never watches those either, but because Dustin doesn’t stop, the videos don’t stop.
So, when he’s scrolling his FYP tonight, he glances away from the screen briefly, missing the intro shot of this video, and looks back at the screen, which fills with a massive dimple-laden mischievous grin.
Steve pauses his thumb from the instinctual flick to check out the guy as the camera pans back. He has dark, curly, shoulder-length hair, but Steve can’t stop staring at the dude’s mouth. Those dimples are like exclamation marks pointing directly at some of the most DSL’s Steve’s seen in ages.
This guy is hot.
Steve forces himself to pay attention to what’s going on in the video. He needs to know who the hell this guy is and if Steve would have even a 1% chance with the dude. He’s not an idiot. He knows not everyone wants him, but… he does know what he’s working with. He’s even used it to his advantage to hook up with a few influencers. He doesn’t have a huge account, but a few hundred thousand isn’t anything to sneeze at.
“Ohh, fuck off!” The guy says while pushing the shoulder of the dude next to him. The other guy also has curly hair, but it's shorter and fluffier.
They're sitting at a table, talking into professional-looking microphones. It looks like a podcast set up, but band posters and other things hang around the walls. Most podcasters have bare walls or some sponsored crap up, but it looks like these guys decorated with the things they like. Steve can even see some kind of action figure, still in the packaging, pinned up on the wall.
The other guy leans forward and makes eye contact with the camera lens. “Eddie refuses to admit his penchant for jocks. His undeniable appreciation for sweaty, athletic airheads. Honestly, the dumber, the better.” Eddie’s rolling his eyes and shaking his head in annoyance. “He boinked a guy who was still living by the, and I quote, gym-tan-laundry life.”
Eddie's eyes go wide. “Shut up, that was like 5 years ago. Jersey Shore was still a— thing?”
The video erupts in laughter. The clip cuts to two other guys joining in and laughing. They must shoot this for YouTube from a wide angle and then cut it up for TikTok.
“No, it wasn’t, you doofus!” The not-Eddie guy says through laughter.
Steve’s chuckling happily because: A. He dated a few guys like that and definitely knows the type. B. Eddie dates guys. C. Steve’s entire account encompasses how much of a jock he is.
He might have a chance.
“Whatever. Like you have great taste, Gareth. Remember that ex of yours who cut up her spaghetti? With a knife and fork.” He says with emphasis.
“Oh,” Steve grunts. That's pretty bad.
“Is that the worst you can do?” Gareth taunts through more laughter.
Eddie presses his lips together and Steve can tell he’s floundering, struggling to come up with another response. It's cute, honestly. “Don’t put me on the spot! Next week, I’ll have a list.”
Gareth snorts in disbelief. “Okay. I guess on next week’s episode, Eddie will have a list of red flags I’ve dated. Like and subscribe.” He says in a joking tone and then sticks his tongue out just as the clip cuts off.
Steve swipes to the profile before the video repeats and sees it’s an account for a podcast named 'Hellfire.' He doesn’t bother reading the description but instead clicks the link in the bio to see if they list each member’s accounts.
It takes another 20 seconds before he’s on Eddie’s page, following his account and scrolling through all of his videos.
It’s late, nearly 1 am, and Eddie’s still awake. Not that that’s unusual or anything, but Gareth is asleep, and they need to get up early to meet with Jeff and Doug to shoot this week’s podcast. So, he should be at least trying to sleep instead of scrolling aimlessly on his FYP. But he is at least in bed, under the covers, and sitting in the dark. That counts for rest.
As he's scrolling his night away, he notices this one account that keeps liking his videos, and he’s starting to get intrigued. It’s late, so not many notifications are coming through, but every time he checks, that account is right there. His activity page is covered with them.
Their profile pic is hard to differentiate what it is because of the smaller size, and their name (@Hair_ington) gives nothing away. Usually, he wouldn’t even notice or pay attention, but it’s been hours since these notifications started popping up. Eddie knows when someone follows his account, his vids will flood their FYP, so it’s normal to get a bunch of likes in a row, but this isn’t like that. This feels more like they're scrolling Eddie's page and watching everything.
As he’s staring at the screen, the glow lighting up his face, another notification pops up, and yep, same account. Okay, that’s it. Eddie needs to check this person out.
He clicks on their account, shifting under his covers to sit up further, and when his eyes drop to the listed videos, he feels his mouth go dry.
Holy. Fucking. Shit. This guy is HOT.
The top row of pinned videos shows the same man in different positions of exercise. The first video’s cover shows a waist-up shot of the guy shirtless, glistening in most likely sweat, with the most perfectly hairy chest Eddie’s seen ever in his entire goddamn life. The guy's hands are on his hips, just above a red waistband, smirking in the most annoyed mom pose ever.
The next video cover shows the guy shirtless between two other shirtless guys. They’re all three on their sides, resting on an elbow, bodies held upright and smiling wide like they’re happy they’re having to use ab muscles.
“Fucking, shit,” Eddie mumbles before clicking the first video.
“Happy?” The guy says, smirking at the video. He rolls his eyes in the most practiced bitchy manner. It shouldn't be doing something for Eddie, but it is. Oh, it is.
Eddie’s happy, very, very happy. For what? He doesn’t know. He glances at the caption and reads, “Maybe now I can post a vid without all of you begging me to take my shirt off.”
Oh, yeah, makes sense. Eddie keeps watching, the guy just standing there smirking when an errant shirt gets tossed at the guy’s face.
“Ew, put your tits away, dingus.” It’s a woman’s voice, a clearly disgusted woman. So maybe his sister and hopefully not his girlfriend. Which is a silly thing to wish, Eddie knows this, but let him live in the fantasy.
The guy, “dingus,” chuckles and starts sliding the shirt over his head. It’s not sweaty. It must’ve been sitting nearby, waiting for him to grab it after shooting the video.
“Well,” he says as he pulls the shirt down his chest. “I guess your fun is over, Robin has spoken.”
Eddie’s too distracted to hear what the guy is saying because he’s busy reading what’s written on the shirt. It says “can’t think straight,” and each word is one of the colors of the bisexual flag.
With a gasp, Eddie clicks out of the video and, like a shiny beacon of hope, sees a rainbow flag snuggled into the man’s profile. Not only is this man hot, he’s a jock, has gorgeously sexy chest hair, and plays for Eddie’s team. Or bats for his team? Is on his team?
Sports are dumb, Eddie thinks with a shake of his head. Then, he clicks the follow button before he even registers the action.
Steve’s been watching video after video of this absolute dork and maybe falling a little in love with him over it. Okay, it’s not love, like love-love, but it’s definitely something. Smitten? Can you fall in smitten?
Eddie’s all over the place with his content. It’s more of a video diary of sorts, sharing his daily life. Steve knows what Eddie’s hair looks like in the mornings. He knows Eddie either can’t or refuses to sit in a chair like a regular person. He knows he plays guitar and wanted to be a famous rockstar. He knows he has an uncle who lives in Indiana. But, the most important piece of information Steve has gleaned from his hours of scrolling is that Eddie lives in Chicago. Chicago! That means that not only does Steve have a chance, but he also has a chance of hooking up regularly. Not just an “I’m in town, wanna fuck?” scenario. And he wouldn’t be opposed to it being more than hooking up, but one step at a time.
Steve smiles at his phone when he sees a notification across his screen. He clicks on his activity and sees @Eddie_capitalf_Freak has followed him back. Eddie is now following him and, oh yes, has, in fact, liked the shirtless pinned vid. That video has served him well, and continues doing so. He originally posted it hoping to get people to stop thirsting after him, but it now serves as a filter of sorts. Especially since he finishes it off by putting that ridiculous bisexual t-shirt on. He didn't realize that was the shirt Robin tossed at him. She'd pulled something from the nearby laundry basket, trying not to look directly at Steve, and to Steve's luck, it was the shirt he bought at Pride two years ago.
He feels a thrill of anxious excitement swoop through him when another notification pops up. Eddie likes the next pinned video. Oh, it’s on.
He’ll wait to DM and let the man soak up his videos. And if the appreciation for jocks is true, Steve expects to see Eddie’s name continue to flood his activity feed.
He should not be getting turned on at the possibility of this becoming anything, but Steve’s track record dictates it’s a safe bet. He’s also a little giddy to imagine Eddie on the other side of his phone, at this moment, watching his videos while he watches Eddie’s.
"I need a ride tomorrow."
Steve pauses, filling up his water bottle to glance over his shoulder and stare at Dustin, the neighbor kid from 3B who has planted his ass on the bar stool in Steve's kitchen. Okay, "kid" isn't quite accurate anymore, he's 18 and a freshman in college, but Steve's known him since he was a dweeby little middle schooler. So, in Steve's eyes, Dustin will always be that kid. And this kid is eating Steve's Doritos like they had Dustin's name on them.
"Why are you telling me?' Steve asks, then turns back to the task at hand. He just got back from his run and needs to hydrate.
"So you can drive me," Dustin says in a tone that's much too sassy for 9:30 in the morning.
"Why can't your mom take you?' Steve asks as he twists the lid onto his bottle and then takes a couple of large swigs.
"She's got this book club thing. Come on, Steve. It's not like you have a life or anything." This damn kid's tone. It makes Steve want to toss his arm over his head and give him a full-blown noogie. "It's to Jeff's place. One of the guys will bring me home, I just need a ride there. They're shooting the next podcast episode, and I'm allowed to hang out."
Steve rolls his eyes. Does the world really need another podcast from a bunch of random dudes? "What time?"
Dustin smiles wide, bits of chewed-up Doritos stuck between his teeth. "They start shooting at 4:00, so I have to be there at 3:30."
"Fine, but I'm not coming to get you. So you have to be here on time." Then he leans over the counter and points directly at his face. "And do not invite any of your friends along. I'm not an Uber. Now stop eating my snacks." He rounds the counter and snatches the bag from Dustin's limp grasp.
"But look at him!" Eddie flips his phone around to show Gareth and Jeff the absolute sex on legs.
Eddie’s been going through Steve's (the hot guy's name) videos since last night. He finally crashed around 3:00 AM, then woke up and continued his new obsession.
Steve's page is about exercise or well staying healthy, and it's not done in a gym bro-y kind of way. He's not over the top; he just explains what he's doing, gives some adjustment options for beginners or people who may need it and then does the exercise. It's like he just wants to share his knowledge, take it or leave it.
Eddie found out the guy is a middle school PE teacher, so he’s even qualified to share this advice. Not just some rando who bought a gym membership. Eddie’s favorite part of every video is watching sweat gather in the man's clavicle.
“You’re proving my point from last week’s episode, numbnuts.” Gareth throws his hands up and turns away with a dramatic sigh.
“He’s right,” Jeff adds with a cock of his head.
“I know, I know, but still. Looooooook!” He shakes his hand, jostling the image of Steve until he’s a blurry mess.
“Get those hairy pecs out of my face.” Jeff wipes his hand at Eddie, pushing him away. “I’m already self-conscious. I don’t need to see photographic evidence that I’m out of shape. Why do you think my algorithm never shows me jocks? How did you even find this guy?”
Eddie’s staring back at Steve, who’s stretching before one of his daily runs. “Oh!” He jolts up and shoves his hand into Jeff’s shoulder.
“Ow,” Jeff winces and steps back, rubbing his hand over his shoulder.
“Get this! He fucking stalked my page.” Gareth quirks an eye at him doubtfully. “He did, okay, okay. So last night, I was chilling and scrolling, and this account kept liking my shit. Normally, I don’t even notice, but it was one am, and I think I noticed the notifications coming in around 10 or 11. So, for hours, this one account is just liking my videos. And you know, when someone follows you, their FYP gets flooded, but that wasn’t the case. The dude was watching all of my videos… and liking them. All of them. So my nosey ass clicks on the account, and it’s this fucking guy. This fucking guy is spam liking my shit.” Eddie’s vibrating. He’s so amped up now. He was excited last night, but now that he’s saying it all out loud, it’s like someone plugged him into an electrical outlet. “Oh! And get this. The guy? He fucking lives in Chicago. This fine-ass man lives in town. Like, I could go outside and see his beautiful perfect ass bouncing down the street. Right now!” Eddie points his finger at the front door, and there’s a knock on the door as if on cue.
“What the?”
“Fuck.”
“Is that him?” Eddie asks the other two guys.
Jeff rolls his eyes. “It’s probably Dustin.” He pats Eddie’s shoulder while passing him and heading to the door.
Oh, right, they invited Dustin to watch them shoot today’s episode. He likes the kid. Eddie works at this game store, not GameStop, and Dustin and his ragtag group of friends are always there. Dustin recognized Eddie from the podcast one day, and a friendship blossomed. Dustin’s like an annoying little brother. He’s also an arrogant little shit.
“Hey, guys,” Dustin announces with a wave as Jeff leads him to the living room.
“Sorry, dude. No hairy jock for you.” Jeff says to Eddie over Dustin’s head.
Dustin glances over his shoulder at Jeff. “What?”
Jeff chuckles and rolls his eyes. “Nothing. You’ll hear about it later 'cause we’re definitely talking about this on the pod.”
Eddie continues posting new videos over the next few days, but nothing targeted to Steve and no direct contact yet. By Wednesday, Steve’s wondering if he should up the ante and start commenting, but a new video posts, and it looks like a clip from the podcast. He clicks it and realizes it must be a teaser because the guys are mid-conversation.
“But then he walks in here today just proving my point.” Gareth waves his hands dramatically in Eddie’s direction. Eddie’s biting back a smile like he was expecting this. “The first thing out of his mouth this morning was about some dude’s hairy chest. He shoves his phone in our face and practically whines at how hot this jock guy is.”
Steve feels a twist in his gut. Can it be?
“No, no, no. Come on.” Eddie interrupts. “Tell it right. Hairy tits, Gare-bear. Hairy glorious tits.” He says with a groan, tilting his head back and dropping his mouth open.
Steve makes a small sound in the back of his throat. He’s trying so hard to hold back his hope, but who else could he possibly be talking about? (Reasonably, a million people. But Steve wants to live out his delulu fantasy.)
“See!” Gareth points directly at the camera. “Slut for jocks. He doesn’t even know the guy, and he’s already fantasizing about bumping into him while the guy is out for a run. A run, Edward. When the fuck have you ever been on a run?”
It’s definitely Steve, right? It has to be. Eddie must’ve figured out they both live in Chicago.
“Never, but I’d run towards this man’s ass.” Eddie sighs dreamily like he’s imagining the sight.
“Gross!” One of the other guys exclaims before tossing a pen across the table at Eddie’s head. “Please don’t imagine fucking this guy while we’re recording.”
“I can’t help it,” Eddie whines, lowering his forehead onto the tabletop. “I haven’t stopped since I saw his account last night.” His voice is slightly muffled, but Steve reads the scrolling text on the screen and feels his stomach drop.
Last night?
Oh, wait. This isn’t live. When do they record their episodes? It has to be Steve. It has to be.
“Hopeless. Pining after a boy who’s already forgotten who you are.” Gareth reaches over and pats Eddie’s head condescendingly.
Eddie dramatically cries, making an overly fake sob sound causing Steve to burst out a loud laugh. The video ends, and if this isn’t the perfect opening to take this to the next step, nothing is.
Steve confidently taps out a comment on the video with a flourish. Then he sighs happily, letting the video loop and slumping further into his couch.
Eddie knows the new podcast clip must’ve been posted earlier because his notifications are flooded with comments. They have a social media intern that helps them out with the edits and stuff, and he has access to Eddie’s account to post directly.
When he clicks on the video, he realizes he didn’t even watch the edit when they all got a copy yesterday. He trusts the dude. He’s been posting their stuff for nearly a year.
“Oh no.” Eddie can feel his heart rate rise when he realizes what part of the conversation this is from. “Oh no.” Steve’s probably already seen it. “Shit, shit, shit.”
Sometimes when they’re recording Eddie forgets it could impact his real life. Like, they get around that table and forget they’re not just shooting the shit, it’s actively being recorded and shared with the world, including the hot jock in question.
Eddie rushes to the comments and feels the blood drain from his body when he recognizes Steve’s profile pic. He commented on the video, and as if taunting Eddie, it sits directly at the top.
@Hair_ington: or maybe you’re running circles in his mind
“Fuck,” Eddie huffs.
Eddie rereads Steve’s comment fifty more times. He’s flirting, right? This is modern internet flirting. RIGHT??
Eddie’s never done this before, met someone, or even messaged someone he was interested in through his account. Most of his socials over the years were filled with other nerdy dudes talking about DnD or WoW or literally any other video game shit. There wasn’t flirting happening. No one was sliding into Eddie’s DMs. He’s flirted out in the wild. Brought guys home from the bar, but this??? This is a new level, and Steve’s clearly 50 levels above that.
He doesn’t even know who he can ask about this. The guys will give him shit and he’s not asking his uncle. Wayne barely replies to his texts with full sentences. He’s not going to provide any advice on flirting in the comment section of TikTok.
He’s scouring his brain for a reasonable person when a lightbulb goes off. DUH!
Eddie: hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
Chrissy: you have my attention
Eddie: I need heeeeeeeelp
Chrissy: I don’t have enough money for bail
Eddie: not that kind of help. It’s boy help. I have a hot boy flirting with me or at least I think he’s flirting, in my comment section. I DONNT KNOW WGAT TO DO 😩Chrissy: awww, so you came to me? I’m honored. Who, what, where, when, why?
Eddie goes into detail about the whole situation, sending links and screenshots, and he feels like he’s going to crawl out of his skin while waiting for her reply. She’s one of his best friends and has been there through thick and thin since their senior year of high school. They were an unlikely duo, but it was a match made in heaven, and he doesn't know what he would do without her.
Chrissy: oh this boy is very much flirting. And might I add 🔥 If you don’t snag him I might have to
Eddie: keep your tiny mitts off him cunningham MINE
Chrissy: so you want to know what your next step is?
Eddie: yes, do I dm? Or reply to his comment? Am I getting thirsty on main???
Chrissy: don’t say that. I think you should flirt back, but casual like. Meet his level
Eddie: BUT WHAT AN I SUPPOSED TO SAY?
Chrissy: what about, commenting on his latest video?
“Oooh.” This is why he went to Chrissy. She’s a genius. It’s a simple answer but completely legitimate.
Eddie: you are a bonafide smartie 👖 I’m going to watch it and let you know if I need your guidance 🫡
Chrissy: good luck
Eddie grabs a can of Dr Pepper from the refrigerator and the opened bag of Oreos from the kitchen counter to go to his bedroom.
He’s got an Oreo between his teeth while pulling up Steve’s profile. “Oooh, a new one.” He bites the cookie in half and gets comfortable on his mattress, shoving a pillow behind his back.
“Today, I think I’m going to do something… different.” Steve’s holding his phone instead of propping it up or positioning it on a stand, and Eddie enjoys the view. He wants to bite this man’s cheek directly over the perfectly placed double moles. “We’re going to work on glutes, and so you all can get a really good view of my form, I’m going to prop you up riiiiight,” he drags on while lowering the phone down, down, down. “Here.”
Eddie’s staring at Steve’s ankles.
This is weird.
Then the video cuts and now Steve is mid-squat, with a bare back, wearing teeny tiny, itty bitty green shorts. He’s close enough to the camera that Eddie can’t see the man’s upper torso or head, but that’s a-o-fucking-kay.
“Holy shit,” Eddie slides his legs up, crossing them, holding his phone over his lap, and gawks. Gawks.
Steve grunts and moves up, ass nearly disappearing from the screen, but luckily for Eddie, Steve stops while the bottom curve of his ass is still in view. Drool has to be sliding down Eddie’s chin because those damn shorts don’t hide the beautiful cheeks of the hottest man alive.
“Oh god,” Eddie groans as Steve starts squatting back down.
The nearly obscene, tautly pulled fabric stretches the lower Steve goes. Eddie’s eyes are locked on the stitching being yanked apart over what Eddie assumes is Steve’s ass crack. He’s holding his breath, embracing for impact.
“See how I push back as I go down?” Steve says as he bounces his hips, ass wiggling from the movement.
“Oh, I see,” Eddie murmurs, pulling his phone closer to his face.
“You need to keep your hips over your knees,” Steve grunts softly as he pushes himself upward. It’s a sound that makes Eddie all warm and fuzzy, craving to nuzzle his face directly into Steve’s neck (ass).
Eddie gets lost in the rest of the video as Steve moves up and down. He clearly sped up the video, making him bounce faster. Eddie cocks his head and wonders… he slides his phone closer to his crotch and positions it directly over his dick.
“Oh, shit, yes.”
That is a beautiful sight. If Eddie squints, it looks like Steve is bouncing on his dick. Then the video starts over, and Eddie’s shocked out of his fantasy. He yanks his head back, glancing around the room like someone might be hiding in the corner, judging his perverted ways.
Now that Steve’s ass isn’t bouncing perfectly in Eddie’s line of sight, he can read the caption: building glutes worthy of being run after.
“Uggghhhh,” Eddie groans, shoving his palm against his dick. “You gorgeous asshole.”
He is going to fall madly in love with this man. It’s a done deal.
“Bastard,” he grunts.
Now he has to come up with the perfect, most epic comment worthy of making this sex god crave to suck Eddie’s dick.
@Eddie_capitalf_Freak: 🏃💨
Okay, it’s not Shakespeare, but it gets the point across.
Steve will never admit he squealed when he saw Eddie’s comment. Sure, his ass is going viral, but whatever, it's worth it. Robin thinks he’s a dingus squared since he didn’t just message the guy, but this is a story they’ll tell their grandkids. Because obviously, this is leading to a hilarious rom-com.
Yes, I hit on your Pops by pretending to ride his dick with a thinly veiled glutes workout.
It’s been four more days of hidden-in-plain-sight flirting videos and comments, and maybe people are noticing, but Steve doesn’t care.
“Are you watching that again?” Robin kicks Steve’s feet off the coffee table, causing him to slip forward. Then she steps over his legs to plop on the couch.
“Maybe,” Steve murmurs, getting his feet back into a comfortable position to prop his phone onto his knees. The volume is turned down, but Steve can still hear Eddie’s timbre.
“Just message him,” she whines and nudges her socked feet against his thigh. “I can not keep getting videos of you hornily flirting with this giant geek on my FYP. You do realize we all can see them, right? You’re not privately sending them back and forth to each other.”
“I know, that’s part of the fun.” He smiles as Eddie winks into the camera.
“And wouldn’t it be more fun to, I don’t know, flirt with him directly?” She continues nudging her feet into his leg.
It would, and he knows this, but… he’s nervous. It’s dumb, and he knows it, but insecurity was never reasonable. He squeezes his eyes shut before tipping his head toward Robin. “I know,” he sighs heavily. “I’m worried that we have nothing in common.”
She pulls her legs back, crosses them, and leans toward Steve to regard him with a squint.
“Okay, I guess I kinda see that except,” she draws out the moment, raising her eyebrows. “You love nerds. You collect us like Funko pops. I don’t know if it’s some fascination with our culture—”
“Culture?” Steve interrupts.
“Yes, our fine established culture of gay fanfiction and anxious human interactions. It’s very prestigious. Regardless, you shouldn’t worry about that. Clearly, you’re attracted to each other, so why don’t you see if you connect? Just message him so you can put those stupid shorts back in your dresser drawer, hidden away from view, where they belong. Why do you even have them? They’re way too small.”
“I know. That’s why I have them.” They hug his ass in the best way possible. “Okay, I know you’re right. I should just do it. I should message him. I’ll send something simple. Nothing too forward. What should I say?” He pulls his eyes back to his phone, the video of Eddie still playing.
“When have you never known what to say? You don’t want my help on this. I’m still stumbling through talking to Vickie, and the school year’s almost over.”
He shrugs. She has a point.
“Oh, shit, what time is it? I’m supposed to take Dustin and his friends to that nerd store.” He pushes himself off the couch and slides his phone into his back pocket.
Robin rolls her eyes. “Don’t let on that you like driving them around or anything.”
“I don’t,” he mumbles. Yes, he does, but he won’t say that out loud, even to Robin.
“And I don’t think Natasha Lyonne would fall in love with me if she met me.” She doesn’t bother to glance up, keeping her nose in her phone, but her tone is sarcastic, and Steve loves her for it.
“You do love a redhead. I’ll be back later.”
With a huff, Steve follows behind the four teenage boys into the small, cramped, independent nerd store. The bell attached to the door jangles when the glass door shuts behind him, catching his attention and causing him to lose track of the teens when they duck down an aisle.
He feels out of place here, not uncomfortable, just slightly lost. The last time he bought a board game, Robin whined in Target’s toy department about owning Scattegories. She guilted him by describing some imaginary situation where having a board game would help her get laid. So, of course, he bought it.
Now, he’s dragging his finger along the edge of a shelf, reading labels on boxes of games he’s never seen before. Usually, he drops the kids off here because they stay to play some game, but today, they’re only here to shop. They were amped up to purchase the release of some whatever.
Okay, it sounds like Steve doesn’t pay attention, but he tries. He really truly tries, but they never give him the full story, jumping in almost mid-thought. They talk to him like he’s an idiot, and maybe he is when they’re using words he doesn’t recognize, but he has a hard time retaining information without context, which includes why they’re at this store and what the boys are buying.
“Hey,” Dustin comes up behind him. “Do you have room in your trunk?”
“Depends,” Steve turns, crossing his arms and waiting for whatever bomb Dustin’s about to drop. “What will it need to hold?”
“Well, Mike wants to get this set of storage boxes, and Will is picking up a couple of new tabletop games, and y’know I’m getting the new release, so is Lucas—“
“Does he?” Mike’s panting as he rushes around the corner, nearly careening into Dustin’s back. “Shit, sorry. Jeff’s checking with Eh—“
“I’m asking!” Dustin interrupts. “I said I would ask.”
Then, both young men turn their attention to Steve. Their staring makes Steve feel like he has to say yes. They’re so intense for a couple of 18-year-olds.
“There’s nothing back there except a baseball bat, so there’s probably enough room.” They may drive him crazy, they may never say thank you, but he would do anything for these kids.
Mike rolls his eyes and makes an annoyed noise from his mouth. Well, Steve would do anything for the other three kids.
“What’s your problem?” He just gave them free rein of his trunk and the kid is thanking him by being annoyed?
“Jocks,” he huffs like it explains anything.
Dustin puts his hand on Mike’s shoulder and shakes him gently. “And you only heard the edited version of that conversation. I was in the room.”
“Gross,” Mike says, and then both boys turn and walk away, leaving Steve bewildered.
Steve shakes his head and tugs his phone from his back pocket. Teenagers.
Out of habit, he’s opening TikTok. When his screen loads and sound blasts from the speaker, he quickly turns down the volume while whipping his head around. He doesn’t want to be one of those assholes.
When he feels clear of judgment from potential strangers, he looks down and sees Eddie glancing back. It’s like his phone has stopped fighting it and just auto-loaded what he wants to see. He built his FYP brick-by-brick.
He tucks himself against a shelf and pulls his phone closer to his face, to enjoy watching Eddie gesticulate over some issue with a FedEx shipment. Apparently, it was a massive fuck up, and Eddie’s fuming. He’s really cute when he’s pissed off. His nostrils flare every time he narrows his eyes.
“What are you watching?”
“Shit,” Steve gasps. It’s Will, one of the boys. Steve’s warned him before he should wear a bell. The kid is so quiet.
“Sorry,” he smiles apologetically. “You just look happy.”
“Hmm,” Steve can embarrassingly feel heat rising up his cheeks. “It’s nothing. It’s just this—guy.”
They know Steve’s bisexual. He hasn’t hidden himself away from them. He just doesn’t talk about his relationships with them since they’re barely 18 with zero experience. Dustin would argue that he has more experience than anyone since he’s been dating his long-distance girlfriend for two years, which he loves to remind Steve is longer than any of his relationships.
“Your boyfriend?” Will’s arms are crossed over his chest protectively, but he’s leaning forward, clearly interested in the topic.
“Oh,” Steve flusters. “No, uh, no.”
“But you want him to be?”
Will’s gentle, earnest facial expression makes Steve want to scream out an affirmative, but there are way too many uncertainties to do that. “Maybe,” he says instead. “It’s just flirting right now. Um, did you find what you were looking for?” Sharp change of subject will hopefully get Will off the scent.
“Mhmm, just waiting for him to find the right box. Some shipping issue, so the stockroom is a mess, I guess.”
Steve cocks his head; maybe there were major system issues at FedEx he hadn’t heard about.
“You should ask him out.”
Steve raises his eyebrows, “What?” Maybe he got lost in thought longer than it felt.
“The—” Will points toward Steve’s phone. “The guy. You should ask him out.”
“Okay?” Steve chuckles cautiously.
Will shrugs. “I haven’t seen you smile like that since… Nancy.” Zing. Okay. That was three years ago. Has Steve really not been happy for three years? That doesn’t feel right. “You deserve to be happy,” Will says gently.
“Damn, dude.” Steve felt that hit him in the middle of his chest—a direct emotional hit. “Okay. I’ll ask him out.” And he means it.
“Oh my god, he just messaged me.” Eddie’s standing in Jeff’s hallway, halting traffic flow toward their recording studio.
“Dude,” Gareth shoves Eddie’s back. “Get out of the way.”
“Shit, sorry.” He keeps his eyes locked on his phone screen as he stumbles into the room.
The guys flood in behind him, taking their usual seats but Eddie’s still standing near the doorway, frozen in place.
“What are you doing?” Jeff asks concerned.
“He messaged me. Steve. There’s a— I have a— oh my god.”
“What does it say?” Jeff stretches his neck, trying to look over to Eddie’s phone screen from his chair.
“No, we don’t have time for this. We gotta record. I have to get home.” Gareth’s been in a bad mood since the shipping disaster at work this weekend.
“Come on, dude. He’s been flirting with the guy all week. I want to hear what it says.” At least Jeff’s on Eddie’s side.
“I kinda want to know, too.” Doug pipes in.
“Well, I don’t. So, let’s get this shit over with, and then when I leave, the three of you can giggle and kick your feet all you want.” Gareth huffs, scoots closer to the table, and motions toward the empty chair.
“What’s your problem?” Jeff swivels himself around as Eddie slinks to his seat.
At least Eddie’s not the only one noticing Gareth’s pissy mood.
“I’m over this whole thing. It’s stupid. Let’s go. I’m fucking exhausted.” Gareth’s avoiding eye contact with all of them like he’s one hair trigger away from exploding.
“Why are you being such a dick?” Jeff sneers.
“Because, dude, it was some joke, and now it’s playing out all over my fucking phone. Eddie’s hijacking our shit with his dumb flirting. He’s a stupid jock. Like, fuck that guy. Do you honestly think you have a chance with him? He reminds me of all those assholes from high school. He’s so full of himself.”
“Fuck you, man.” Sure, Eddie’s been feeling insecure about it, and maybe he’s gotten swept up in the possibility that this gorgeous man might be into him, but he didn’t think his friends wouldn’t support him.
“Yeah, clearly he likes Eddie.” Doug waves his hand in Eddie’s direction.
“Oh yeah?” Gareth says sarcastically. “Like he’s not getting engagement on his videos or anything? I’m sure he hasn’t gained any new followers either.”
Eddie didn’t even consider that possibility. That realization feels like a rock plummeting in his stomach.
Is it possible Steve’s engaging in this back and forth for the creator fund of it all?
Jeff and Doug’s silence says they also hadn’t considered that fact. Now they’re staring at Eddie with pity in their eyes.
“Whatever,” he dismisses. “Let’s record.”
Then he clicks his screen off and sets his phone face down on the tabletop. Maybe Gareth’s right. A joke that lasted too long.
Steve’s bouncing his leg, waiting impatiently for Eddie’s response. It’s been hours. Much longer than he anticipated having to wait for an answer. He thinks he figured out they shoot the podcast on Sundays, so now, at 10 PM, Eddie should be home. Right?
He’s staring at Eddie’s profile, refreshing the page, hoping to see some activity. His stomach drops when the ring lights up around the profile image, indicating Eddie’s going live.
His thumb hovers briefly as he fights over whether he should look. When he realizes he’s never going to sleep if he doesn’t, he clicks the image and watches his screen open to Eddie, scanning his screen silently. It’s a little unnerving to see him looking so intense yet quiet. He’s chewing on his bottom lip like he’s fighting something internally.
After 20 seconds or so, Eddie’s eyes go wide, and he sits up a little straighter. He’s pulling his eyes away from his screen and taking deep breaths. He looks nervous. Something is clearly wrong.
The anxiety of waiting for Eddie’s message and all the concerns about what happened fade immediately, and Steve suddenly gets worried.
@Hair_ington: are you ok?
More and more fans are joining the live and people are starting to message in the chat, but Steve’s betting on Eddie recognizing his profile pic. Steve catches Eddie reading his message, but instead of responding, he chews his lip harder, furrowing his brows.
“Hey, y’all.” Eddie’s clears his throat and continues reading the messages scrolling on his screen. “Pod will be out on the regular schedule. No, I just…needed some advice. But—“ he pauses and glances at the camera lens. Steve pulls back, surprised at how close it feels to eye contact. “Actually, you know what…? Nevermind— It’s not real, anyway. Sorry guys, have a good night.”
Then the image freezes, Eddie’s profile, eyes pointed down and shoulders slouched.
What just happened?
Steve continues staring at the screen, his mind flipping through questions. That previous worry is blossoming into something larger, making Steve feel he should do something. But he doesn’t know what. They’re not friends. Eddie hasn’t even responded to Steve’s messages.
The longer Steve stares at his phone, the more he thinks this is his fault. He doesn’t know how, but it feels like there’s a high probability. It could be anything, though. Maybe Eddie’s having a bad day, or something happened on the podcast. But Eddie’s words ring through Steve’s ears, causing a terrible knot in his stomach.
It’s not real, anyway.
Eddie still hasn’t opened Steve’s messages.
It’s been 13 days.
He could see Steve’s first message from his activity screen. A singular introduction of ‘hey.’ He assumes there’s more after that, some additional dialogue to potentially continue their banter. But Eddie doesn’t know. He’s too chicken shit to look.
Gareth’s words hit him harder than anyone could’ve anticipated. Especially himself.
He had spent so much of his life building walls—protecting himself, his friends, and his heart—and, for the most part, it had served him well, but a single week of online flirting with a complete stranger had nearly unraveled all of that. How ridiculous was that? He understood now how people fell into those parasocial traps, how easy it was to feel connected to someone he’d never met. Watching Steve’s videos, catching glimpses of his personal life, it felt so intimate, so real. For a moment, it seemed like something bigger. But Gareth was right. It wasn’t. It was stupid.
…
Right?
It doesn’t feel stupid, though. Maybe Eddie’s the stupid one. Because try as he might, he misses Steve terribly. He’s the one refreshing Steve’s profile, hoping for a glimpse into the man’s life. But…
It’s been 13 days.
Steve hasn’t posted a single video. Nothing. Radio silence. And Eddie knows it’s his fault utterly and completely. The timing makes that blatantly obvious. He could probably fix it, read the message and fucking finally reply, but it won’t change anything.
It’s been 13 days.
Except this morning, when Eddie opens the app for the first time that day, he’s blocked when he tries to check Steve’s profile. Steve’s videos are gone, or at least not visible to Eddie, and he can’t follow him again. It stings like a crisp slap to the face.
One week of silly flirting. One week of knowing the man existed. One week of feeling butterflies and excitement and something akin to hope. And now it’s over. Just as quickly as it began. There should be a sense of relief, something like a door closing, but it feels empty.
Eddie closes his eyes slowly, takes a deep breath, and forces himself to reinforce those protective walls that surround his fragile heart.
He shouldn’t be upset. They weren’t anything. It wasn’t real.
Then why does it feel like there’s a hole in his chest?
“I did it,” Steve mumbles.
He’s standing at the arm of the couch, dragging his finger back and forth across the floral pattern. The shirt he slept in is inside out, the collar overstretched and hanging loosely off his shoulder.
Robin looks up from her phone and immediately crawls across the cushions to move closer, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight. “You okay?” She’s worried, but she doesn’t need to be.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” He smiles, something tight and forced in an attempt to ease her concern.
He’s not lying. He will be fine. It just sucks right now. Robin has been supportive over the last couple of weeks. She hasn’t teased him or made him feel like a fool. No, Eddie did that enough for the both of them. He would’ve understood if she had, though. How Steve got so wrapped up, so quickly, with someone he didn’t know. Robin had every bit of ammunition to pile on, but she never did, and he loves her for that.
She’s been suggesting Steve block Eddie basically every single day this week. She’d catch him on the couch, rewatching a video, and grab his phone, plucking it from his fingers and yelling at him to stop the madness. He couldn’t do it, not until today. Not until he woke up, and the first thing he did wasn’t open Eddie’s profile. He had to wait until the last flicker of hope was snuffed out.
“You want to do something today? We could go to the movies or the farmers market downtown. Then we can check out that art gallery.” She rubs her thumb across his knuckles comfortingly.
“Sure, whatever you want.” He doesn’t care either way. He’ll take any distraction. “I’m going to take a shower first.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” He gives her hand one more squeeze before heading down the hallway.
Eddie finally feels like himself again. He’s been in a funk since—since Steve. But now, a few weeks from it, he feels normal. He’s at Jeff’s, helping move furniture around. They’re setting up for a one-shot to shoot for an extended YouTube video. It’s been a while since they’ve done one of these, and he’s excited about it.
Jeff’s moving his mom’s breakable objects out of the room when there’s a sharp knock at the front door.
“I got it,” Doug steps around the coffee table and opens the door, revealing a brightly smiling Dustin.
“Hey!” His arms are full as if he’s bringing all the supplies he owns, and Eddie can’t help but chuckle at the kid.
“Moving in?” Eddie jokes while dragging a chair from the dining room.
“I wanted to be prepared.” He glances over his shoulder and motions with his head. “Come in, man. Don’t drop them!” Doug steps back, letting someone pass the door frame. “I brought cupcakes.” Dustin says, with a shrug toward a man holding two plastic totes in his arms.
“Hey, uh, where do you want these?” The guy asks.
Eddie’s halfway across the room, straightening the chair he just dragged over, when the voice stops him cold.
It’s familiar—too familiar. That kind of déjà vu you can’t place right away. Slowly, his gaze drifts upward until his eyes land on the man standing in the doorway, holding two plastic totes of cupcakes.
Steve.
For a second, Eddie wonders if this is some sort of glitch in the universe. His brain is scrambling to make sense of what he’s seeing. How? Why? Here? It feels like a cruel twist, the kind of coincidence that only happens in bad sitcoms or nightmares. And yet there he is, unmistakably Steve, standing in Jeff’s living room like he’s been dropped in straight from one of his videos—except this time, it’s real.
Eddie feels his body sag, like the weight of the moment is pulling him down, rooting him in place. Then, as if in slow motion, Steve’s eyes sweep across the room—and land on him.
Eddie sees the exact second recognition blooms in Steve’s expression, lighting it up for a fleeting heartbeat before it’s gone and replaced with something darker. Fear.
Eddie’s stomach twists. The room is suddenly much too small and suffocating.
“Steve?” Eddie whispers.
Doug and Jeff, who are still rearranging the room, as if the world didn’t just tilt on its axis, nearly snap their necks to see the stranger that Eddie just called the same name as his ex-crush.
“Um, h-here,” Steve fumbles to shove the totes of baked goods into Doug’s hands.
Doug, slack-jawed and in shock, barely gets a grasp on the containers before Steve bolts through the door.
“You know Steve?” Dustin asks Eddie, face contorted in confusion.
And you know what? “No,” Eddie doesn’t.
But he suddenly really wants to.
His feet drag him around the table, nearly stumbling from the weight of his shoes, to push him into a run through the room and out the door.
“Steve?” Eddie nearly trips down the porch steps as he desperately scans the surroundings for Steve. He catches a flash of hair ducking around Gareth’s car in the driveway. “Steve! Wait, wait! Shit,” he grumbles when the toe of his shoe catches on the rim of a flower pot, spilling dirt everywhere. “Steve?”
A layer of desperation claws up his chest as he tries to catch up. It feels like he’s about to lose something that’s keeping him alive.
He lied.
(If you can’t tell.)
He hasn’t been feeling better. He’s been sad, heartbroken, and feeling like an utter piece of shit. He’s an idiot, he knows that, but he thought there wasn’t anything he could do to fix it. He lost Steve. It was his fault. He made that dumb dumb choice, and he was living with it.
But he couldn’t stay away. There’s been this string, this pull, this connection that grew and solidified over those few days and he’d been keeping it to himself. He didn’t tell the guys how much it sucked. He didn’t tell Gareth that it felt like a broken heart. He also didn’t tell anyone that he made a new anonymous account, just to see Steve. He’d missed him so much. Seeing Steve’s smiling face every morning would wake him up more than the caffeine from five cups of coffee, and when he lost that, the world seemed a little dimmer, and everything felt less special.
And now the real physical touchable human being is running from him, like he can’t escape Eddie fast enough.
“Please? Just wait.” Eddie’s voice cracks as he reaches his hands out trying to get closer.
Steve’s rounding a car, headed towards the driver’s side, when he looks up and makes eye contact with Eddie. A spark of lightning bursts between them; Eddie can feel it, and Steve must feel it, too, because he pauses. He stands still, holding eye contact, while Eddie fumbles toward him. The pounding of Eddie’s heartbeat hammers loudly in his ears. When he makes it to the trunk of the car, he’s breathing heavily, and grips the edge of the car tight to hold himself up.
“Wait— please.” Eddie huffs, willing his heart rate to slow down.
“Steve?”
Eddie turns toward the voice, and it’s Dustin standing a few feet behind him, worry and confusion strewn across his face.
Steve raises his hand in an attempt to calm the boy down. “I’m okay,” he says before turning his attention back on Eddie. “Don’t worry about it. I gotta go.”
And then he’s climbing into the car, turning it on, and driving away.
Eddie can hear Dustin approaching but he doesn’t risk looking away, in case Steve turns back.
“What was that?” Dustin asks.
When Steve’s car finally disappears, Eddie spins around and practically yells at the boy. “How do you know Steve?” Dustin steps back nervously as Eddie moves closer. The adrenaline rush has shifted and is now directed at Dustin, who has answers that Eddie needs. “Tell me!”
“He’s my neighbor, my—my friend. How do you know Steve?”
“Oh, god,” Eddie gasps, his mouth falling open while glancing around. His brain feels two steps behind when reality slams into him like a semi-truck. “It was real.”
The front door slams open, and Steve can hear Robin screech, calling out to someone. Soon, pounding footsteps come down the hallway then his bedroom door flings open, and Dustin stands there, hands on hips, and glares.
“You were the guy?”
Steve sighs and looks up from his phone, as if it’s taking all his energy to move. “What?”
He knows exactly what Dustin is talking about and expected him to show up to confront him about it. But he’s refusing to give the kid any satisfaction. He’s still shaken up over today’s interaction with Eddie.
He was right there—in the flesh.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Why didn’t you tell me?” Dustin steps into Steve’s bedroom, hands flying at his sides and clearly worked up.
With a heavy sigh, Steve swings his feet over the edge of his bed and slowly blinks at Dustin. “Tell you what? That I flirted with some… rando on the internet? Why would I tell you that?”
“Not that part,” the kid says in a tone that implies it’s obvious. “That it was Eddie? You didn’t even say anything when we were at the store a couple of weeks ago. I’m the one that was sending you their TikToks.”
“What are you talking about? The store?”
“Dragon’s Lair is where Eddie works. He was there,” Dustin moves closer to Steve’s bed. “I didn’t even see you two talk.”
“He was there?” Steve doesn’t remember seeing any employees that day. Let alone the bounce of curly dark brown hair. “I didn’t know that. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” Steve pushes himself to his feet just as Dustin flops onto the mattress. With an annoyed huff, Steve throws his hands up and scrunches his face. “What are you doing?”
“It was your hairy chest.” He says thoughtfully. “I would’ve never guessed.”
“I don’t want to talk to you about this.” Steve firmly crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the small desk positioned on the opposite wall.
“Well, too bad, Steve. I want to talk about the fact that my two older male friends somehow fell in love and never told me.”
Steve nearly chokes on his own spit. “Love? No, there was no love.” That’s hilarious, considering they never even corresponded directly. Eddie all but told Steve to get lost.
Dustin sits up, his hat slightly shifted on his head. “The photographic evidence says otherwise.”
“It’s not a big deal. We flirted, I asked him out, he rejected me, and it’s over.” Steve shrugs through the lingering pain, schooling his face as best he can.
It’s been weeks since the entire Eddie debacle, and Steve had been basically over it. Dustin doesn’t need to get his grubby little hands involved to make the entire situation even more uncomfortable. The fact he has any awareness of the situation is mortifying in itself. But Steve has been rejected before, and he’ll be rejected again. Eddie’s not special on that front. He needs to leave this conversation immediately, so he storms out of his room, hoping Dustin will follow.
“Wait,” Dustin jumps off the bed, and Steve is grateful to hear him stomping down the hallway two steps behind. “You asked him out?”
A headache is building behind Steve’s eye. He can feel the familiar tingling behind his eyelid and Dustin isn’t helping. “Yes, and he rejected me. Can we never talk about this again?”
Robin is curled up on a barstool, one leg tucked to her chest while the other stretches onto the second stool, nose in a book. Steve catches her eye from over the cover, rolling his eyes in an expression that seems to say, “Can you believe this, shit?” She raises her eyebrows in a silent question, asking if he needs reinforcements, but he just shakes his head and walks purposefully to their front door.
“But, Steve, that doesn’t make sense.” Steve ignores Dustin’s prattling and opens the door, revealing the empty hallway. Dustin, on autopilot, walks through the doorway, pauses to glance back at Steve, then continues speaking. “After you left, he was kind of intense. He basically drilled me for 15 minutes, asking all kinds of questions about you. It took the guys dragging him back inside to get him focused on the one-shot.”
So, Eddie asked Dustin a bunch of questions. That’s not surprising since it probably looked like Steve was stalking him. What kind of weirdo shows up after you ghost him?
“Yeah, okay.” Steve drags his hand down his face in frustration. “Well, I don’t know what to— Go home, Henderson.” Steve shakes his head, motioning down the hallway with a loose hand wave. What is he supposed to say to that?
“But? Steve,” Dustin urges. “You have to fix this.”
Steve recoils slightly, a scoff escaping his lips. He has to fix this? First of all, fix what? Second of all, Steve’s not the one who did anything needing fixing.
“Go home,” he says instead of telling the kid to shove it. It takes so much effort, but he’s supposed to be the adult.
Just as Dustin’s mouth opens to protest, Steve shuts the door in his face. The click of the lock emphasizes his point.
“What was that about?”
Steve presses away from the door with a sigh. He didn’t tell Robin what happened when he got home. He was too embarrassed and slightly humiliated to say that he saw Eddie irl, especially since Eddie looked freaking cute as shit and it’s making Steve want to claw his brain out of his skull.
“Dustin knows Eddie.” He keeps his eyes pointed toward the floor as he sulks into the kitchen.
“What? How?” She slams her book shut and leans forward.
He can see her shifting in his periphery. “I don’t know.” Which is true. He has zero clue how those two met, but Steve connected all the dots, and it’s clear they’ve known each other for a while.
It’s funny. Steve could’ve run into Eddie at any point in the last two years. All he had to do was go inside, one time, when he was dropping the boys off for a game night at Dragon’s Lair. It’s kind of poetic how it happened instead. As if the universe wanted to tease him.
“Did you see him? Was he there?”
Steve finally looks up but can only bring himself to nod in response.
Robin gasps, covering her mouth like this is the craziest thing she’s ever heard. “What did he say? Did he say anything?”
Steve shuffles to the empty stool by Robin’s side and plops down with a huff. “Nothing, really. I ran out of there the second I realized that’s who he was.” She reaches out and rubs her hand gently over his shoulder. “It’s stupid,” he shrugs. “When I first saw him, like for a tiny millisecond, I was really happy. Like that feeling you get when you see someone who’s been away on a trip or something. But then… y’know. I, uh—, so I left.”
“Did he recognize you?”
“Yeah,” he pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and chews on it briefly before continuing. “He kinda ran after me.”
“What?” She squeaks and pushes his shoulder hard.
“Ow,” he exaggerates. “Abuse.”
“He chased you? Like ran after you? Like—like in a movie?”
“It wasn’t like that. An orchestra wasn’t growing to a crescendo or anything in the background. He probably wanted to know what the hell I was doing there. I mean, it looks crazy, right? Like I’m stalking him.” It feels gross even coming out of his mouth.
“You weren’t stalking him. I’m sure Dustin explained. Or is that why he came barreling in here?” She pulls her feet up, tucking her toes under his thighs, and shifts her stool closer.
“Dustin just found out all those videos were about the two of us. So y’know, he had to put his nose in it.”
Robin doesn’t say anything for a minute. He can feel her wiggling toes under his thigh, probably trying to coax him into talking further. He wants to forget the entire thing happened instead.
“You okay?” She asks gently, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, trying to tug him closer. It’s an awkward hug, but he’s not complaining.
“Honestly? I don’t know. I was over it. Or so I thought,” he takes a slow, deep breath and leans into her. “Why did he have to look so cute?” The question comes out mumbled but whiny.
Robin chuckles, sits back, and bops him gently on the cheek with her fingertip. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s so pathetic.” He whines louder before plunking his forehead down onto the countertop. “I never realized how big his fucking eyes were. Giant doe eyes. Just—just staring at me, in his nerdy t-shirt about… I don’t know, superheroes or something.” He tilts his head, pressing his cheek against the counter to look at her. “I think we’re the same height.”
When he’d had that realization earlier, it generated a mental image of him having to duck down to capture Eddie’s perfectly pouty lips into a soft kiss.
He feels so stupid.
Why did he have to offer to carry the damn cupcakes inside?
Eddie’s hanging over a palate in the stockroom of Dragon’s Lair, trying to tug the cling wrap free from the corner, when he hears raised voices floating in from the front of the store. Gareth is manning the desk, and he can handle himself, but both voices sound upset, so Eddie sets his clipboard down and heads toward the noise. He instinctively slows down when his ears recognize the second voice, it’s Dustin.
“…don’t understand. Steve’s not an asshole!” Dustin nearly screeches.
Eddie tucks himself around the doorframe to stay out of sight. Eavesdropping is kind of a shitty thing to do, he knows this, but he’s too curious where this conversation is going to give a shit about manners.
His brain has been spinning since Steve sprang up out of nowhere yesterday. The man looked like a dream come true. Dustin didn’t give up much. He was too confused and Eddie didn’t want to admit he’d been a dipshit so he didn’t explain the whole story to the kid.
“Right, cause he didn’t use Eddie for clout.” Gareth’s words bite, and Eddie feels them clench in his chest. Or maybe that’s guilt he’s feeling instead.
“Clout? Steve doesn’t even know what clout is. Do you? His followers aren’t the same people that follow Hellfire. So what could he have gotten out of it? You don’t even know him, dude. When my mom was… when my dad left, he fucked us over, but Steve was there. Steve offered to pick up groceries and let me crash over at his place when I couldn’t listen to my mom cry anymore. I had to get out of there, and he never turned me away. Steve helped Lucas get on varsity when he was only a sophomore. He was there for Will when he was scared to come out. So you don’t know shit about Steve.”
Eddie hears Dustin slap his palm on the countertop, which feels like a shot to Eddie’s heart. He knows Steve is amazing, but every time he learns something new, he sinks further into the realization that no one will ever be as good as Steve, and Eddie fucked up by epic proportions.
“But why am I telling you? Where is Eddie?”
“He’s…, uh.” Gareth stutters briefly. “He really liked Eddie?” This time, Gareth’s voice comes out softly, as if he’s discovering something life-changing.
“Not that it matters to you, but Steve doesn’t ask people out that he doesn’t like.”
Wait, what? Ask out?
Eddie scrambles around the corner, his shoes scraping across the tiled floor, as he interrupts them, wide-eyed and frantic. Gareth and Dustin both pull back, surprised, and slightly frightened at the sudden appearance of their friend in question.
“What did you just say?” Eddie asks breathlessly.
Dustin’s hands slide to his hips while a scowl grows across his face. “There you are!”
“No—no, no, no, what did you just say?” Eddie hip-checks Gareth out of the way, splaying his hands across the counter to get up into Dustin’s space. Gareth grunts but stays out of the way. “Asked me out? Steve asked me out?”
Steve asked him out?
“And you rejected him, which I don’t understand. Why am I always surrounded by imbeciles?” Dustin emphasizes with a dramatic sigh.
“Rejec— I didn’t…oh shit,” Eddie shifts his eyes to Gareth. “This is your fault.” He groans. That’s what he missed by not opening those DMs for 13 fucking days?
“My—?” Gareth scrunches up his face.
“Yes, you!” Eddie’s voice comes back stronger as he steps into Gareth’s space. “You got that shit in my head. That day,” he waves his hands. “When he DMed me. You were an asshole and made me—, FUCK, Gare!”
“I didn’t—,” Gareth’s face falls and Eddie watches the consequences of his actions screw up across his face. “Shit, I’m sorry man.”
“So you did this?” Dustin points an accusatory finger in Gareth’s direction.
“I—I thought he was…” Gareth stutters. “You turned him down?”
“I didn’t even fucking open them!” Eddie dives his fingers into his hair and wants to rip handfuls of it out. “Goddamnit!” He groans and stomps out of the room back toward the stockroom. “Now I’m fucking blocked and he’s never going to talk to me again.”
There’s a small cardboard box resting on the floor. Eddie pulls his foot back and kicks forward, smashing the toe of his shoe into the side of the box, sending it flying into the air and pinging into the wall.
Fuck his life.
Steve’s scrolling through his FYP but not watching any videos sliding across his screen. His mind is a million miles away when he gets a notification for a new message.
He clicks over to his DMs and feels his stomach drop. He has a new message from @idrumbetterthanu, who he doesn’t recognize, but the profile picture is Hellfire’s podcast logo. He hates that he recognizes it.
He clicks on the message before he can overthink it.
@idrumbetterthanu: hey, man. I’m Gareth, Eddie’s friend. We’re on the pod together. Hear me out. Please don’t block me.
He doesn’t know I’m doing this, so please don’t get mad at him. This whole disaster is my fault. Not his. When you messaged him, we were about 20 secs from shooting an episode and I was in a pissy mood. It was shit leftover from work and crap going on at home and I took it out on Eddie, but really I took it out on you. I put some bullshit into his head, and made him think you didn’t really like him and he took it to heart.
I feel like an asshole. I judged you which is hypocritical since I get pissed when someone does that to me. Dustin reamed me a new one and I found out you’re the furthest thing from an asshole. Eddie feels so bad and I hate seeing him so hurt because I messed up. He deserves to be happy and based off all the stuff Dustin said, so do you.
Please, if there’s any chance you still like him, talk to him. He was too scared to even open your messages last time. Especially after the shit I put in his head. I’m an asshole but Eddie’s not.
And if you decide it’s too late, I won’t tell Eddie anything. I don’t want to mess up your lives even more than I already have.
Steve’s heart is racing as he finishes reading Gareth’s messages. His mind is flooded with questions: What did Dustin do? What did Gareth say to Eddie? Is Eddie really upset? Did he not think Steve was stalking him? And what is he supposed to reply?
“Rob?” He calls out. He knows she can hear him through their shared bedroom wall.
“Yeah?” Her voice is muffled.
“Uh, can you come here?”
“Can I bring my yarn?”
Steve sighs before chuckling softly. “Sure, bring the disaster you’re claiming is a scarf.”
He hears her grunt, probably shuffling off her bed, just before her bedroom door creaks, and she appears in his doorway. Her arms are clutching a bundle of green yarn, two knitting needles sticking out of the top.
“What’s up?” She asks while plopping onto his mattress.
He watches her unwind herself before answering. “Read this.” He shoves his phone at her, she fumbles with the knitting needles to grab the device.
She scrunches her eyebrows together as she reads Gareth’s messages. Steve occupies his hands by grabbing a stray strand of yarn and rubbing it through his fingers.
“Oh,” Robin gasps under her breath, her eyes scanning across the screen.
“Yea,” Steve sighs.
It doesn’t take long before she’s lifting her eyes, mouth slightly agape. “Wow. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” He drops the stray piece of yarn then shifts to cross his legs, lean his elbows on his knees and sighs. “I have a million questions, though.”
“You could probably ask some of them.” She shrugs and hands his phone back.
He plucks it from her fingers, glances at the screen then shrugs. “How am I supposed to respond to this? So— Eddie does like me?”
She raises her eyebrows. “That’s what that looks like. Also, technically, it looks like he didn’t reject you.”
He can’t help but let his mind drift to the memory of Eddie’s face when Steve saw him at Jeff’s house, standing on the other side of the room. He looked nearly starry-eyed with how surprised he was to see Steve in person. Steve’s heart had jumped into his throat at the sight just before plummeting to his stomach.
He wants to be smart about this, doesn’t want to get sucked back in. He does miss seeing those dimples pop up out of nowhere on his feed, though, let alone the rumble of Eddie’s voice or addictive laughter.
Eddie hadn’t blocked Steve back in retribution, so there have been days when Steve couldn’t help himself. He’d flick over to Eddie’s profile and scroll through the new videos, trying to figure out what he did wrong to lose Eddie’s interest. By the sounds of Gareth’s messages, however, Steve did nothing wrong. He just got caught in the crossfire of two friends.
“Do you think he’s lying?” There’s still a flicker of doubt rolling through him that he needs Robin to help squash.
“Who? Gareth?” She pushes the bundle of yarn out of her lap to cross her legs and position herself before him.
“Yeah, like, a joke or prank or something? I don’t know.”
She cocks her head and chews on her bottom lip. He hates how easily he can read her expression. “No, I don’t think he’s pranking you. Especially after Dustin’s visit yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kid laid into them.”
“True,” he can be a shithead but he’s Steve’s shithead.
“You should tell Gareth, thank you. He didn’t have to do that.”
Steve drops his eyes back to his phone. “True.”
“What are you going to do about Eddie?”
“I don’t know.” He’s still a little raw from being rejected the first time. Even if he knows now he wasn’t rejected.
“Want to be my yarn bitch while you think about it?” She scoops the bundle into her arms and tosses it into his lap.
“Yarn bitch? Is this a union gig or am I a contractor? Do you offer benefits?” He’s looping the yarn over his arms and fighting back a grin.
She nudges him with her toe before grabbing her needles. “You’ll be lucky to get a lunch break.”
Eddie groans as he stretches his arms high over his head. He drops a hand to his chest, scratching aimlessly while grabbing his phone from his nightstand. Out of a stupid amount of habit/addiction, it only takes 10 seconds before he’s opening TikTok.
It’s just before 10 am, so he has time to waste before getting up and getting ready for work. He’s rubbing sleep from his eyes when the first video loads and… wait… is he still dreaming?
“Hey, everybody.” It’s Steve, smiling softly and wriggling his fingers. “I got a message earlier from someone apologizing for something stupid they did. And they suggested second chances. Which made me think.” He glances down briefly before bringing his gaze directly to the camera. Eddie feels his heart stop. Looking directly into Steve’s eyes feels otherworldly. His hair looks soft and fluffy, like it’s product free, and Eddie desperately wants to run his hands through it. “Sometimes when I’m working out I don’t always have the perfect form, or put as much effort into it as I can, and I feel crappy about it later. But today is going to be dedicated to second chances, and if anyone wants to follow along, I’m going to redo my glutes workout from a couple months ago. I didn’t push myself or put my back into it like I know I can. But first, I should stretch. Don’t want to… tear anything. It’s supposed to burn in a good way, not hurt in a bad way. Right?” Then Steve winks just before the clip cuts, causing Eddie’s brain to stall but somehow his dick is still paying attention.
Did Steve…? Was that…? Those were layered double entendres, right? Like, he was laying those innuendos on thick, or is Eddie losing his mind? Also, who messaged him and why is Eddie’s account unblocked?
He doesn’t have time to answer those questions because Steve’s perfect, beautiful, luscious, biteable ass fills Eddie’s screen and it feels like coming home. Eddie tucks the phone under his nose and wiggles deeper under his blankets. He’s not getting out of bed anytime soon.
Those fucking tiny ass green shorts are back but this time he’s tugged up the legs even more, hitching them in the bed of his thighs and hips. Eddie’s mouth waters from how desperately he wants to bite this man. How is he seeing this video? Why is he seeing this? What demon does he owe his soul to for one of Steve’s videos to sneak through a block?
Steve grunts as he lowers his body down, and Eddie gawks as Steve’s hands slide in a smooth motion around his hips to his ass where he digs his fingertips into his cheeks just before pushing himself back up.
“Jesus christ,” Eddie murmurs. His dick isn’t just paying attention at this point it’s standing awaiting orders.
When Steve lowers himself down again, he moves slower, like he wants everyone to savor it. “What’s something you would do over again if you had a second chance?” Steve’s voice over asks before the clip ends and the video starts over.
Eddie’s too scared to click off the screen. He thinks if this is some weird glitch he doesn’t want to fuck it up. He watches the video so many times that he loses count. The last time he does pause it, right when Steve’s fingers grip his ass cheeks, to masturbate furiously at the heavenly sight. Can you blame him? The man is suggesting stretching himself open to get railed. And Eddie wants to rail him within an inch of his own damn life.
But the shame seeps in after the orgasmic glow, and he risks losing access by clicking on Steve’s profile. Right there, smack dab in the middle of the screen, is the most beautiful thing Eddie’s ever seen: Follow Back. He clicks the button before it miraculously changes and realizes… wait, does this mean?
He nearly fumbles his phone switching to his DMs and holy fuck it means they’re back.
Steve’s messages are back.
A tiny squeak of joy comes from Eddie’s mouth as he FINALLY clicks on the messages Steve sent too long ago.
@Hair_ington: hey
I got some really good advice today, and figured life’s too short not to take chances.
Would you be interested in going out with me sometime? I won’t make you run for it but I might make you work for it 😉
“Uggghhh,” Eddie rolls onto his back, drops his phone onto his chest, and kicks his feet like a petulant toddler. He’s such a jackass.
He could’ve spent weeks with this man. Honest to god, weeks seeing his gorgeous face in person, within touching distance. He probably could’ve sucked Steve’s soul out of his dick countless times by now. How many souls does one have when it comes to dick sucking? Eddie really wants to find out.
Oh, but wait. Now he’s supposed to actually respond. Steve’s giving him the second chance, telling him in that video to take the second chance, but say what exactly?
How can one reply calmly and like a respectable human being when all Eddie wants to do is beg, beeeeeeeeeg Steve to use him? Make Eddie pay. Make him be a good boy who will never mess up again. He’ll be Steve’s service top for the rest of his life and, if Steve wants, into their afterlife. If Steve wants to push Eddie down and be pissed off and ride his dick while he makes Eddie apologize over and over and over again, sign him up, captain.
But that’s probably too much for a first message.
Right?
As he’s contemplating his life choices and his dick’s life choices, he gets a text message from Gareth.
After the Dustin incident at the store the other day, Gareth’s been overly apologetic, and Eddie appreciates it but also knows he’s the one who made the choice, so he doesn’t wholly blame Gareth. Even though he did kinda say it was his fault. They’ve talked about it, and they’re cool, but Gareth’s still trying to make it up to him.
Gare: take the second chance, man
Eddie narrows his eyes, either there’s a webcam installed in Eddie’s room and he should be getting a cut from the sales of whatever they’re selling, or Gareth talked to Steve.
Eddie: did you talk to him?
Gare: yeah, I apologized and told him what happened. He was cool about it. He’s actually a good dude.
Eddie: so he’s not mad at me?
Gare: no, but a little groveling won’t hurt. You deserve to be happy, man. Go get your guy
The sun is too fucking bright out here. Steve drops his sunglasses onto his nose and like a miracle can see his phone screen better. He doesn’t even realize he’s smiling as he watches the latest clip from this week’s Hellfire episode. Eddie’s throwing his hands around, arguing with Jeff about something Steve doesn’t truly understand. He’s distracted so he doesn’t notice someone coming up behind him until he feels a familiar squeeze on his ass. He jolts instinctively but relaxes when soft plush lips find their way to the side of his neck.
“Were you waiting long?” Eddie murmurs, dragging his lips down Steve’s skin. The gentle touch still makes Steve shiver even after months of getting familiar with the touch.
“No,” he slips his phone into his back pocket, and turns around to wrap his arms around Eddie’s neck. “Missed you.”
Eddie raises an eyebrow with a smirk. “Oh yeah?” His arms settle on Steve’s hips, tugging him in closer.
“Behave,” Steve says quietly before leaning in and closing the gap between them.
Eddie sighs, like he does every time Steve kisses him, and the sound makes Steve melt, like he does every time Eddie kisses him.
Before they can get lost in each other, Steve pulls back, relishing in the sound their lips make on release. He’s smiling when his field of vision fills with the smile that drew him in in the first place.
And those lips. Steve was right that first time. They really are perfect dick sucking lips. Eddie’s been using them to, as he says, suck Steve’s soul out of his dick in reparations for his stupidity. Steve forgave him ages ago, but the man refuses to give up his penance. When his boyfriend is on his knees begging to suck his dick, Steve’s not going to argue.
“You ready to go in?”
“Unless we can find somewhere to sneak off to.” Eddie grins wickedly. “Maybe we can find a folding chair tucked into a janitor’s closet, and you can ride me so I can forget our families are meeting today.”
“You know, I can’t walk by Frank when he’s pushing that bucket around campus without blushing?” Steve pushes Eddie’s hair off his shoulder.
“Does the smell of disinfectant turn you on?” Eddie’s giggling when he presses more kisses to Steve’s neck. “Should we recreate that night? Get you all worked up and excited until you can’t take it anymore and you have to rip my clothes off and fuck yourself silly?”
That’s pretty close to what happened. The girls won their volleyball championship game that Steve was coaching, and Eddie was in the stands cheering them on. Even though he doesn’t understand much about sports, he still supports Steve. Steve was trying to make it back to his office, honestly, but then the janitor’s closet called his name. So he yanked Eddie inside and pushed him down, eagerly yanking their clothes off, desperate to get Eddie inside of him and they fucked. Whoops.
“We don’t have time. Wayne will be here soon, and Rob texted me that she’s nearly here. Plus, do you really want to leave them alone with Dustin?” Steve slides his hands down Eddie’s arms, gently tugging them away from his hips to intertwine their fingers and pull him towards the restaurant. “Come on, lover boy. Let’s go tell everyone we’re getting married.”
Eddie lets out a quick, soft giggle as he eagerly follows behind Steve. “Lead the way, fiancé.”