Exalted

Steve slipped silently out of Eddie’s room and eased the door nearly closed behind him, a smile warming his face at the soft snores slipping through the crack between the door and the frame. He padded quietly back into the living room, picking his phone up from the coffee table and moving into the kitchen to start making calls.

His first report was to Robin and Chrissy, and he could picture them pressed close together on the couch in his apartment, talking over him and each other with the phone on speaker so they didn’t miss a word of what they barely gave him time to say. He filled them in on Eddie’s appetite (getting there, finished his ramen, ate some Twizzlers, wanted a burger tomorrow) his attitude (that was a question from Chrissy, and she was sympathetic when Steve informed her that had recovered that quickly,) and if either of them needed anything (lightbulbs that were warmer and lower wattage. He swore he could hear Robin rolling her eyes.) He also filled them in on the news from the school: Eddie had passed his final project with flying colors, and was released from needing to attend the last few classes of the year. The office had said that they understood the seriousness of his injuries and wanted him to rest and recover without any worries. Steve was cynically sure that there was at least a small part of the marketing department for the school that both wanted to capitalize on the flurry of publicity in the media and also wanted to keep it far away from the school’s name. 

The program head had sent an enormous arrangement of flowers in both their names, and a note that made Eddie flush with pride and also cackle at the postscript, which referenced Steve as his good-luck charm and suggested he ‘formalize that arrangement in whatever manner seems best to you.’ It sounded good to Steve, but he didn’t say anything. He did silently resolve to not just bring her flowers in return, but take her out to lunch. 

He paused after his call with Robin and Chrissy to get himself a beer from the kitchen and poke his head into Eddie’s room and make sure he was sleeping peacefully, with no sign of nightmares clouding his face. Reassured, Steve sat on the couch and called his parents on their house phone - if he could get them both on the line at once it would save so much explanation later, when one of them tried to fill in the other and only created more questions than they answered. 

Ten minutes after getting them both on the line Steve rubbed his forehead, wondering what he’d been thinking. It had sounded like a good idea at the time, but he should have just called them one at a time, on their cell phones, preferably when they were nowhere near each other. He let his head fall back onto the couch cushion behind him, listening to his parents debating on whether they should drive up or if Steve and Robin should drive home, and if they should bring ‘poor Eddie’ with them, and where would they put him when he visited? They could all use some time away, and they could clear out the spare room, but maybe he’d rather stay in Steve’s room, did the air mattress have a hole in it?

Steve interrupted. “When we do come visit - which is not going to be until Eddie’s feeling back to normal - we won’t need the spare room or the air mattress.”

A moment of quiet hung over the phone, just long enough for Steve to wonder if earlier entanglements hadn’t been as clear to his parents as he’d thought, before he heard his mother hiss to his father, the garbled sound clearly coming from her hand over the receiver: “I told you Eddie was his boyfriend. Yes, I know Robin said no, but you know how she is, she doesn’t tell us anything.” His father got back on the phone, speaking over the continuing mutters. “Good, I don’t want to try and shift all that mess your mother has dumped in there. You two take care of each other, now. Get some rest; Robin said you’ve been running yourself ragged. Let us know when you’re coming, and give me Eddie’s uncle’s phone number, would you? You said his name was Wayne? Might as well invite him down, too, when you come.”

“You have to let me know what Eddie likes to eat,” his mother broke in. “And his uncle Wayne, too. I’ll make sure Robin is coming, too, maybe you can all ride down together, that would save on the driving - oh, but don’t let Robin drive, you know how she is.”

Steve cut off the steady flow with a sly smirk on his face. “Tell Robin she should ask Chrissy to come, too,” He said. “She’s Eddie’s adopted sister, and she and Robin… Actually, I should let Robin tell you about that herself.”

The phone call ended rapidly after that bombshell, and he sent Robin a ‘bus is coming into the station; I owed you one,’ message as he tried to stifle his laughter. She was going to kill him, but it was worth it. 

He hauled himself off the couch, limbs feeling leaden as the night crept on, and peeked into the bedroom again. Eddie had turned in his sleep, one arm over his stomach and the other at his side, the hand loosely curled. His face was turned to the door, and the dim glow of the living room light washed over his skin, warming Eddie’s usually pale coloring to a creamy gold. Steve leaned against the doorframe, watching as Eddie’s eyes flicked beneath their lids, taking stock of the stitches decorating his hairline and the fading bruises. It hadn’t just been his skull that had almost fractured, his cheekbone could have as well, or even his eye socket, and his black eye had been alarming. 

Eddie snuffled in his sleep, wiggling further into the covers, and Steve eased the door almost closed again, draining his beer before returning to his seat on the couch. He and Wayne had traded numbers while Eddie was in the hospital, and had been in touch almost hourly until he was released. Some of those calls and texts had been updates on doctor’s reports and what he was eating, and others had been Wayne confirming the status of Steve and Eddie’s relationship. Those calls usually sounded like: “Boy, are you sure you know what you’re doing? He’s my kid and I love him more than the rest of this earth, but I swear I’m ready to wrestle those nurses for the pleasure of sedating him.” Steve had laughed, knowing Eddie was playing up the ‘sweet angel patient’ routine when he was around, but loving it, anyway.

Wayne picked up almost immediately, sounding tired, and Steve apologized for calling so late. “That’s fine, that’s fine. I’m just sitting outside, enjoying the stars,” Wayne told him. “How’s the patient?”

Steve chuckled. “Sound asleep. He ate his whole dinner, and we changed out the lightbulbs to be better on his eyes. The school sent his degree through the mail; I’ll make him take a picture with it when it gets here.”

“You do that,” Wayne agreed, and Steve could hear him moving. ‘We still on for fixing that dent this weekend?”

“Looking forward to it,” Steve said, smiling. “Eddie should be able to sit with us and supervise, and learning how to fix dents is a useful skill to have with Robin around.”

Wayne snorted. “I saw that picture of the car when she hit your parents’ garage; you’re going to need more than a little bodywork to keep your car running with her at the wheel. Better make her get her own. One of those big land yachts from the 70’s, maybe. The ones that had the steel bumpers.”

“Do you know how to fix garages, too?” Steve laughed. “She’ll take down the whole wall if she’s got one of those.” Wayne’s bark of laughter came through the phone and warmed Steve with its sudden resemblance to Eddie, and he wondered what Wayne had been like when he was young, before he’d taken in his nephew and work had worn him out. “My parents are going to invite you down to visit sometime soon,” he warned him. “They want me and Robin to bring Eddie and Chrissy, and you’re invited, too.”

“Long as it’s on a weekend, it’s fine with me,” Wayne said casually. “It’ll be good to meet the in-laws.”

The blush ran up Steve’s face as he sputtered into the phone, and Wayne laughed again. “You go get some sleep yourself,” he continued. “Thank you for calling, and you tell that brat I love him and to listen to you.”

“I will,” Steve promised. “Take care of yourself.”

“Don’t you worry about me.” Steve could hear more rustling. “I’m just getting ready to call it a day.”

They ended the call after saying their goodbyes, and Steve turned out the lights behind him as he made his way to Eddie’s room for the final time, changing as quietly as he could in the dark and sliding into bed. Eddie rolled over and snuggled into him immediately, as if he’d been waiting, and Steve gently arranged the covers so he wasn’t tangled. 

Eddie gave a contented sigh and mumbled without opening his eyes: “Did you report to the rest of the troops?”

“I did; Robin and Chrissy said to not be a brat, my parents want you to come visit, and Wayne said to tell you he loves you and to listen to me.”

Eddie huffed a laugh. “Good luck with that,” said through a yawn. “Night, Stevie. Love you. Steve blinked in the darkness, and felt Eddie tense up all over. “Okay, timing was bad on that, I think, maybe.” Eddie said, backpedaling.

“Could have been better,” Steve agreed. “But we can wait on the show part of show and tell, and just settle for the tell part right now.” Steve nudged Eddie’s chin up and kissed him gently. “Love you, too. Now go to sleep before Wayne lectures us both.”

Eddie laughed. “Don’t get him too mad; my old man’ll kill you.”