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It was just past six, and the day was already unbearably hot. Staying indoors was not an option, not without the swamp cooler on full blast and with the rolling brownouts hitting each county in Indiana on a loop, there was, unfortunately, no cooling to be had on this disgustingly humid armpit of a day. Even the movie theater, usually a beacon of dark, chilly reprieve was out of commission in the name of energy conservation (and wouldn’t open for another four hours) so the lake was the only option left.
Eddie slipped out the side door of the government-issued bungalow he and Wayne now occupied, not letting the screen door creak too loudly as he stepped down the porch and trudged along the dirt path in his converse, a tank, and a pair of cut-offs with a rolled bandana wrapped around his head, keeping his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. There was a bike lying in a neighbor’s front yard, asking to be plucked up off the brown grass and Eddie obliged it, whistling as he kicked off down the road, heading towards Loch Nora.
Steve didn’t answer the doorbell, so Eddie let himself in using the key Steve kept stashed under a turtle statue on the front steps. He made sure to shuck his shoes on the indoor mat and crept up the stairs, avoiding the second to last step that always groaned under his weight. He peeked around the door of Steve’s room and took a moment to indulge in the sight before him: Steve, barechested and spread out like a starfish on his mattress, the sheets kicked to the floor and a muscled arm tossed over his face. He snored softly in the dark room, the sound of his breathing a soothing balm to Eddie’s constantly frayed nerves.
After Vecna, they all lived in each other’s pockets, bonded by collective horror, and unwilling to detach themselves from the other for longer than a day. Robin and Nancy were the first ones to peel off the theoretical band-aid of their insular life, heading off to Chicago together to attend Northwestern this past fall. But Steve had stayed, and with him, stayed Eddie. He couldn’t imagine anyone else ever understanding him as well as Steve did, and visa-versa. Even their scars matched, slashed across their torsos like brands from a battle they couldn’t unload the true damage of and one they never wanted to relive. Seeing Steve breathing and warm and alive was something Eddie would never take for granted. Steve had mentioned something similar to Eddie when he’d finally woken up from a 4-month-long coma strapped to a hospital bed.
Eddie knew Steve would never think of Eddie the way Eddie thought about him, with a low-simmering desire to claim and possess and worship, but being Steve’s stand-in for Robin was enough for Eddie. He relished the need Steve felt for him, even if it didn’t match his own in shape or magnitude. Eddie knew how to settle for less and with Steve smiling at him every day, it wasn’t really settling at all.
Creeping into the room, Eddie placed a hand next to Steve’s on the bed, linking their pinkies. Steve’s reaction to this simple touch sent Eddie’s ego soaring when he saw the small smile cross Steve’s lips and watched him curl towards Eddie in his sleep, his body reaching for him on instinct. Without thought, Eddie slipped onto the warm mattress, pulling Steve onto his chest and petting his hair.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” he whispered, daring to press a kiss to Steve’s crown.
“S’too early.”
“We’re going swimming.”
Eddie felt the immediate tension in Steve’s body and cursed under his breath, shushing Steve back to peace. “At the lake,” he consoled. “Just you and me.”
“Coffee.”
“Anything for you, my prince.” Eddie allowed himself one more squeeze before slipping off the bed and out of Steve’s room, padding down the stairs to the kitchen.
Within twenty minutes, they were strapped into the Beemer, cruising down an abandoned access road along the county line towards a lake just outside of town. Lover’s Lake wasn’t an option for any of them anymore, too many memories, and all of them awful. Eddie had found Sloan’s lake last year while cruising for a spot to smoke that didn’t cause his PTSD to send him into a screaming spiral of relived horror.
Beside him, Steve sipped his coffee out of a thermos, his hair blowing in the breeze from the rolled-down windows. He’d let Eddie drive. “Sloan’s?” he asked, knowing the answer.
Eddie nodded, exhaling a drag from his cigarette. “The one and only.”
“I think it’s actually a reservoir.”
“So?”
“Meaning it’s county drinking water. You’re not supposed to swim.”
Eddie shrugged. “I like the solitude.”
“Me too.”
They drove on, only stopping when the road ended and a sandy trail emerged between two trees, pointing them on a path forward. Back at the house, Eddie had thrown towels from Steve’s linen closet and a cooler with beer from Steve’s fridge in the back of Beemer. Steve carried the cooler and Eddie carried the towels slung over his bare shoulder as their feet crunched on the pine needles.
The first dip into the mirrored surface of the water caused Eddie to groan so loudly, it echoed out over the peaceful lake, disbursing a dule of morning doves from the nearby trees. They cooed and flapped overhead, filling the peach-pink sky with sound. Eddie watched, delighted by the surprising beauty, and then dove in, head first, having abandoned his bandana back on the small, grassy shore. Surfacing a moment later, he pushed out a stream of blissfully cool water from his lips like a spouting fountain.
“Little Mermaid,” Steve called him with his hands on his hips, still standing only up to his thighs back near the shoreline. Eddie winked and ducked under only to shoot up and flip his hair back, spraying Steve in the process. The sound of Steve’s laughter filled Eddie’s soul, only to be shocked when Steve lunged for him, tackling Eddie underneath the surface, the two of them wrestling and tickling, legs intertwining. They gasped for breath and chased each other through the shallows, never going beyond the dark drop-off point in an unspoken rule of avoiding the unknown.
They tired each other out with races and splashing like idiot kids and laughing so hard, Eddie’s belly hurt before he crawled out of the shallows on hands and knees, landing on his towel in a plop, exhausted and happy. Steve lay beside him, their arms touching, his left leg overlapping Eddie’s right. Without thinking, Eddie raised his knee, caressing the inside of Steve’s calf with his own, their water-logged skin feeling cool and heavy.
The easy affection the two of them shared started after Eddie woke in that hospital bed with Steve’s hand curled around Eddie’s and his temple pressed to Eddie’s hip as if it were a pillow. He’d been asleep and Eddie had the privilege of witnessing the beauty of Steve’s face in sleep for the first time that day. He was so shocked by the sight he thought he was dreaming. Eddie's want to touch, and the need for it, the grounding feeling it gave him, letting him know he was present and alive, had never lessened, and Steve seemed to intrinsically know that, always placing his hand at the small of Eddie’s back, or draping his arm over his shoulder, keeping him close. Their intimacy had only grown since, though Eddie still burned with a need to lay his body across Steve’s and feel the whole of him under his own weight. Eyes squeezed shut like the coward he was, Eddie curled inward, feeling as Steve mirrored his position. When he opened his eyes, Steve was right there, waiting for him, a question on his lips.
“Can I comb your hair?”
Eddie grinned. “‘Course.”
Steve sat up, leaning back against a tree. He patted his leg and Eddie raised an eyebrow at him, teasing.
“Shut up,” Steve rolled his eyes. “Just come here.”
Not needing to be told twice, Eddie twisted his body to place his head in Steve’s lap, flipping his hair back over his legs and settling in against the firm weight of Steve’s thigh. He sighed, closing his eyes, his hands folding over his belly, his mind at rest. They were in the shadows of the trees, the sun not yet cresting over the canopy of the forest around them and Eddie’s skin prickled in the breeze. He shivered.
“Cold?”
“Nah. Feels good.”
Nails dug into his scalp, scratching lightly and Eddie moaned. Steve chuckled over him, combing through his curls with blunt fingertips, pulling every once in a while on a tangle.
“M’jealous of this hair.”
“Look who’s talking, Hair-ington.”
Steve tugged gently in retaliation, causing Eddie to hiss. Eddie winked one eye open, glaring at Steve, only to see a sweet smile cast down at him. His fingers stilled and Eddie resumed his repose once more. Delicate yet determined, Steve's hands carded through Eddie’s curls, draping each ringlet back over his legs as he finished untangling them. They’d both let their hair grow out, with Steve’s dripping down along his shoulders and Eddie’s now hitting the middle of his back. There was an unspoken pact they’d created with the other, the length of their hair measuring how far beyond the nightmare of the past year and a half they’d come, a physical indicator of progress forward.
Every once in a while, Steve’s fingers would scratch down along the nape of Eddie’s neck, causing him to hiss or shiver and Eddie could feel the hum of humor in Steve’s body at eliciting such a response. If only Steve knew what he was doing. When he tugged a little harder than necessary, Eddie’s back arched, his teeth biting into his lip, stifling a moan.
Steve’s hands stilled in Eddie’s hair, and Eddie was too terrified to open his eyes. He lay there, breathing heavily, hoping the wet weight of his cut-off jeans hid the betrayal of Eddie’s body from Steve’s eyes.
“Like that?” Steve asked. He sounded hesitant, almost secretive.
Tears prickled at the edges of Eddie’s eyes and he turned his head into the warmth of Steve’s lap, his cheek pressed close to the crux of his hip. He nodded, too embarrassed to speak yet too turned on and desperate to deny himself this one indulgence. He could have sworn he felt his hair being wrapped around Steve’s fist as he internally screamed at himself for giving it all away. But then, Steve deliberately pulled again as a small grunt escaped from his mouth.
Eddie’s eyes flew open. He looked up, spotting Steve’s chest, rising and falling with his breaths, his skin flushed pink, his eyes dark and blown wide. He was staring down at Eddie with a look of pure, undeniable need and fuck if Eddie’s mouth didn’t water at the sight of it.
“Holy shit,” Eddie said, realization dawning. His eyes dropped lower as he tilted his head back, taking in the state of Steve’s lap. A very definitive outline of a very thick, erect cock stared back at Eddie through damp red trunks. Eddie couldn’t help it, he licked his lips. The hand in his hair stuttered, almost as if he was pushing Eddie closer. Eyes snapping up to Steve, he blinked at him, too scared to ask.
“Please,” Steve begged, matching the single syllable with a tug of Eddie’s hair, and something inside Eddie died at the sound of that word on Steve’s lips.
Without a second thought, Eddie pressed in close and open up, mouthing over Steve’s clothed cock, breathing, hot humid air over the chilled fabric. Above him, Steve’s entire body clenched, including the hand in Eddie’s hair and Eddie hissed against Steve’s crotch, nuzzling his nose into his heat. He flattened his tongue and lapped at the red trunks, soaking the fabric just as it’d begun to dry, relishing the little thrusts Steve gave of his hips every time he closed his mouth around the thick head, humming as if he were lapping at ice cream.
Steve released Eddie’s hair from his taut grip, running his hands through it again. Eddie was turned partially onto his shoulder, arching his neck to work at Steve’s cock, but it soon became clear that he needed better leverage. He flipped himself onto his front and draped his body over the length of Steve’s legs, pressing his own erection into the grassy earth beneath their towels, and placing his hands on the waistband of Steve’s shorts.
They hadn’t spoken since Steve had said please, but Eddie looked up at Steve from between his thighs, his arms braced over the tops of his legs, his back arched and mouth open and waiting. Steve nodded at the unasked question, lifting his hips just enough for Eddie to pull down his trunks, revealing his perfectly pink cock.
Feeling driven by a feral need, Eddie didn’t even take a moment to process the magnitude of what was happening, he dipped his head and took Steve almost immediately down to the root, pressing his nose against the damp dark curls of Steve’s pelvis and breathing in sharply through his nose. Eddie loved the feel of a cock pressed deep into his mouth, though he’d had very few experiences with getting to indulge in such gorgeous depravity. Having Steve inside him, in any capacity, was enough to make him lift his hips back off the ground, not wanting to come like some over-eager teenager in his pants.
Steve tasted of salt and humid skin, and smelled like sour sweat and summer heat. As his throat constricted around the head of Steve’s cock, Eddie’s eyes fell shut, overcome by too many incredible sensations occurring at once. Remembering himself, Eddie hallowed his cheeks and sucked, and Steve full-out sobbed a “yes!” which echoed out across the surface of the lake, his body bowing forward. His hands came back to claim Eddie’s hair and Eddie nodded in the affirmative, humming hungrily, yes, please pull as hard as you want. Steve obliged, tugging and twisting, holding Eddie’s hair back in a knot as he guided his head over Steve’s cock. Between the paradise of Steve’s thighs, Eddie felt used and desired; he never wanted to leave.
Steve came quickly, his hips stuttering and his come slipping out the side of Eddie’s mouth. He struggled to swallow it all while lying on his belly between Steve’s legs, but caught what he couldn’t drink down in his hand and slipped his fingers into his mouth beside Steve’s cock, feeding it back to himself like the whore he’s always known himself to be. Above him, Eddie heard the soft curse of, “Jesus,” slip from Steve’s mouth, and Eddie was too far gone to feel ashamed of his actions, he’d only wanted to savor the gift that had been given him to the fullest.
Eddie kept Steve’s cock in his mouth long after he finished, suckling at the sensitive head and nuzzling at his curls. Gentle hands ran through his hair as they both came down from a high neither of them had expected to experience. Eddie could almost admit to himself that he was too scared to pull away, in case this all was some sort of fever dream brought on by the heat and when he opened his eyes, Steve would be gone and the warmth he felt on his tongue and under his hands would be nothing but wadded up terrycloth and sand.
“Hey,” Steve said and Eddie finally let his soft cock slip free. Daring to look up, Eddie blinked at the sight of a sated Steve, his lazy smile, his drying hair curling at the tips. He looked happy.
“Hey.” Eddie’s voice was raw.
“Can I kiss you?”
The realization that the last ten minutes hadn’t been a dream hit Eddie across the face like a slap. He nodded and scrambled to his knees, throwing them on either side of Steve’s lap and wrapping his arms around his shoulders, pressing his body close.
“Please do,” Eddie whispered against Steve’s lips and was rewarded the next second when Steve licked into Eddie’s mouth.