My sweet prince
“Good morning, Cutie,” Steve said, snaking his arms around the metalhead’s apron-clad waist before placing a peck on his cheek. Eddie’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as he smiled ear to ear. “How about you and I go see a movie tonight when we get off?”
“Oooo! Sweeney Todd’s playing at Majestic,” he batted his eyelashes, earning a groan from his boyfriend.
“I hate horror movies.”
“Yeah, but this one’s also a musical, so it’s right up your alley…please, Stevie,” the sun-kissed man was always helpless to his puppy dog eyes.
“Fine, but you have to cuddle me when I have nightmares.”
“Deal!”
“Mr. Harrington,” a bellowing voice filled the break room just before a blue tie was draped over his shoulder. “You have been requested in the dining hall with the Hargroves in 30 minutes. Change and do not be late.”
The stern look Murray gave him was a little troubling. He nodded as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat.
“Good,” the older man sighed. “Alright, get to work,” he yelled at the rest of the room that had been standing there staring at the young brunette.
Shrugging, he quickly leaned in to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek before they parted for the day with an “8:30” on their lips.
🌈
Voices sang throughout the private room in the dining hall. It took everything in Steve’s body to not turn around and run. Billy Hargrove wasn’t the kind of company he wanted to keep, not anymore anyway. As a child, he was a good friend, but that all changed one day. And now he was pretentious, vain, and an asshole. Shoving all of that aside, he took a deep breath and walked into the room where he was greeted by the whole Hargrove clan, Billy and Max and their parents along with Lucas and a few people with nice suits and gleaming white smiles.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Murray said, annoyance lacing his tone, but he pushed him further into the room.
And with a small stumble, he was at the mercy of the biggest douchebag he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting.
“Hi, Stevie,” Billy smiled, while Steve tried to contain his face. Only Eddie was allowed to call him that. It sounded wrong coming out of anyone else’s mouth. A strong hand on his lower back pulled him out of his head, “You know mom and mother.”
He smiled at them with a nod, earning a wave from each in return.
“And Max and Lucas.”
A smile found Steve’s lips at the younger boy who returned the favor with a “Hey, man.”
“This is Tom Holloway, Bruce Lowe, and Matt Golad. They’re IU board members.”
Oh shit, Steve thought, but he regained his composure in one swift move, leaning out to shake each of their hands with a “Lovely to meet you.”
Soon after, a roasted chicken breast covered in gravy with a few mushrooms on top was placed in front of him with a side of mashed potatoes also covered in gravy. It looked delicious. A nice conversation ensued, and Steve was happy when the three men began asking Lucas questions about basketball. But of course, Billy had other plans.
“Steve also plays basketball. He’s a man of many talents,” the curly-haired man caressed Steve’s bicep as he talked. It made him sick.
“Oh, what position do you play,” Tom asked.
“I-I’m,” he cleared his throat. “The shooting guard.”
“Oh, come on, don’t be modest,” Billy butted in because of course he did. “He holds Hawkins High’s record for most points scored in a single season.”
“Wow,” one of the other men chimed in, although Steve didn’t remember his name.
“He also plays baseball. Third base, right Stevie,” he asked, not allowing any time for the man to actually answer the question. “And he’s the captain of the swim team while maintaining a 3.8 GPA.”
How the hell did Hargrove know his GPA?
“Only a 3.8,” the blonde man asked, voice oozing sarcasm and boredom, but the denim-clad man didn’t notice.
“It would be a 4.0, but everyone can’t be good at every subject. And English isn’t Stevie’s best friend.”
Every time that name came out of his mouth, Steve had to physically restrain himself from reaching over and strangling him on the spot.
The three men glanced at him, so he had to respond, “Who likes reading stuff written by dead white men?”
The trio laughed heartily, and some of the anxiety in his chest faded away.
🌈
The cast list came out later that day with rehearsals starting ASAP. Jane posted the list in the break room, while Will put one up on the bulletin board outside of the auditorium and one on the door to the dance studio.
Several people crowded around, while others manned the tables and the bars.
“Stacee Jax?” Eddie questioned as he scraped a couple of plates into the trash can.
Gareth nodded with enthusiasm before noting the rest of the list. He made his way over to his friend with a solemn expression.
“I take it Steve is not Constance,” the metalhead sighed, earning a headshake from the boy.
“Steve got Sherrie, and Billy is…”
“Are you kidding me? He doesn’t even work here,” Robin yelled as she finished reading the list, noting she and Chrissy got the roles they wanted.
Another ticket printed out with a loud roar from the machine in the angry silence. Eddie was the first to go back to work.
No cast readthrough would be allowed since the employees can only miss so much work for their performance. The leads of the show were told to meet right away in the auditorium for blocking, so Steve and Billy did as they were told.
They made it through the first act of the show before they caught a break. Steve was under the impression that they were almost done, so he shot off a text message to his boyfriend.
S: Running a little late…be there shortly
Eddie was sitting in a cafe across the street from the movie theater with Robin and Chrissy who were planning on seeing “Enchanted,” per the blonde’s request. He sighed, reading the message. He wasn’t exactly great company tonight. It had been a rough day at work. A waiter ran right into him, spilling a tray full of various appetizers all over him, and then the cast list incident. Now his boyfriend was late for a date. It’s not like it was officially a date, but he just wanted to wrap up into his arms and decompress a little.
Steve’s arms were what took him to the place where he could always be happy.
Hawkins was especially cold in February. It was almost like winter gave the town a big fuck you before dissipating into a horrendous back and forth between spring and winter during the month of March.
It was the couple’s first Valentine’s Day together, and Steve was bound and determined to make it the best date they’d ever had. After buying flowers the day before, he got to work on dinner, trying to remake his Nona’s lasagna. While it was in the oven, he got ready in the jeans Eddie loved and a soft pink sweater. Flicking the lighter in his hand, he lit the two candles on the table right as there was a knock at the door.
Eddie dressed in his new black and white checkered pants with a black button down and suspenders. It was a little dorky, but he looked so cute.
“Umm…Stevie…” he trailed off, pointing to something behind his boyfriend.
Turning to look at what the other man saw, he was greeted with the sight of flames.
“Shit!” he yelled, running into the dining room. The tablecloth was on fire, no doubt from the damn candles that were a last-minute decision.
The fire extinguisher was loud as it blasted a white smokey substance all over everything. He watched his boyfriend put out the blaze, and something stirred in his nether regions. Now was not the time for that.
“You really know how to make an entrance,” Steve joked, moving to try to salvage the rest of the night. He reached for the vase with the flowers in it, and just then he realized they were dead. What the fuck?
The metalhead chuckled, saying the thought was nice. They cleaned up everything and sat down at the breakfast bar instead of the table to eat. As soon as the first bite hit Eddie’s tongue, he had to school a grimace. He really tried to chew it, but he ultimately opted into just swallowing it whole.
Steve was spitting into a napkin and apologizing profusely.
“I’m so sorry. Nothing is going as I wanted it to…fuck! I’m so sorry I ruined your Valentine’s Day,” he sounded so defeated as he ran to throw the dishes on the kitchen counter before heading to the bathroom. There was nothing Eddie could do at the moment. The whole thing was cute and kind of funny, so he tried to salvage the night to make his hazel-eyed boy feel better. About 20 minutes later, Steve came out of the bathroom with red eyes only to find his boyfriend making a pillow fort in the living room. A knock at the door grabbed his attention.
“Eds, who’s at the door?”
The metalhead held up one finger before answering the door. He hollered into the living room, hiding something in his hands.
“Make yourself comfy. I’ll be there in a sec.”
A couple of minutes later, the metalhead appeared with plates and glasses in hand. Steve was sitting inside the fort, and he was stunned when he saw the items. Eddie ordered pizza and soda. It wasn’t just any soda either. It was root beer, Steve’s favorite. As his boyfriend sat down, he clicked on the TV which had “10 Things I Hate About You” ready to go. That was the tanned man’s favorite movie. In less than 30 minutes, Eddie was able to take the worst Valentine’s Day and make it the best. He loved him so much. They spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms, recapping the havoc and laughing.
Eddie smiled at the memory.
“We gotta go,” Chrissy smiled sadly at him.
Glancing at the time, he knew Steve wasn’t going to make it, so he said fuck it. “Sweeney Todd” would wait for no one, so he paid for his burger and fries and took himself on a date.