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Eddie is 14 years old and the woods are full of stories.
There’s an entire kingdom lost among the trees, a world hidden away from the unbelievers that walk the streets of Hawkins, Indiana.
The beech trees that tower overhead are giants in disguise, silent watchers over the woodland wanderers, while trolls hide beneath the soil and the leaf litter, feasting on worms and bugs.
Steve snorts and Eddie loses his train of thought.
They were sitting together in the back of some old car that was left abandoned deep in the woods behind Forest Hills. Its rusty bones propped up by crumbling bricks that had been there so long they were covered in moss and mushrooms, all four wheels long lost to scavengers. The front driver door was missing, and neither of the back windows wound up.
They’d found it when they were 12- the month before Eddie’s birthday, when they were still the same age. At first it had just been somewhere to meet up before they went off on woodland adventures, collecting bugs and tadpoles in jars and daring each other to jump over the streams that popped up in the rainy season.
Now, it was their palace . The castle reigning over a kingdom of life.
There was an old radio on the dash, pilfered from the mysterious Harrington House that Eddie had never even seen . A milkcrate full of comics and fantasy books stuffed onto the floor of the backseat, bulky and in the way unless one of them put their feet up on the seats.
Bits of bottle glass and old wind-chimes hung from the rearview mirror, tinkling and glinting prettily on sunny days.
Now, they got to be 14 together for a whole month until Eddie’s 15th birthday. The day is warm and the sky is grey, and Steve is laughing at him.
“What?”
Steve shakes his head, not looking away from the Archie comic in his hands. “No, nothing, keep going please.”
“Excuse you-” Eddie hunches over to grab the first thing his fingers brush - a twig - and throws it through the open window. It bounces off of the edge, and disappears somewhere inside the car. Steve moves his comic to arch an eyebrow down at his lap before picking up the twig and flicking it back through the window.
It hits Eddie’s arm and he immediately acts as if he’s been shot, staggering back and letting his knees buckle so that he ends up sprawled on his back in the leaf litter. There are sticks and other hard bits digging into his back, and bubbles of laughter fizzling through his tummy and chest, but he refuses to give up the charade too early.
A drop of something cold and wet landing right in his eye makes his body jolt in surprise, before he forces himself to relax again. If anything, the rain adds an extra layer of drama, and Eddie is nothing if not committed to the bit.
The rain steadily increases, until it’s an even and unstoppable force sighing through the woods around them, slowly drenching him and his clothes. Steve’s voice carries over the short space between them, warm with exasperation.
“Eddie, oh my god, get off the ground.”
Once again ignoring all the sharp bits poking at him, Eddie props himself up on his elbows. Steve’s still safe in the car, not even poking his head out through the window, but his eyebrows are doing that you’re-so-weird-i-like-you-so-much thing they always tend to do around him.
He gets up, second-hand sneakers slipping on the leaves and almost sending him back down until he throws his arms out and gets his balance back. Once he’s settled, he bounces like he’d meant to do it, and climbs back into the car. It takes a little manoeuvring before he’s kneeling with his arms crossed over the back of the driver's seat, dropping his chin onto them. “Now I don’t even remember what I was saying.”
Steve laughs at that, properly, all glittery eyes and a smile that shows his teeth. “You’re dripping all over the upholstery.”
“ Upholstery.” Eddie mocks, clambering over the gearstick to get into the backseat, wet shoes slipping again before he manages to catch himself on Steve’s knee. Steve barks a laugh and tries to save him from falling on his face, until Eddie’s finally sitting next to him, breathing slightly too hard and attempting to blow his hair out of his face.
He leans into Steve’s side, not caring about the way his friend whines about being dripped on, and takes a peek at what he’s reading. He wrinkles his nose.
“Why is everyone always kissing?”
“‘Cause.” Is Steve’s eloquent reply and Eddie leans in closer, really trying to take in the little panel of Betty and Jughead locking lips. They’re surrounded by dinky little hearts and Eddie hums.
“I don’t get the hype.”
Steve sniffs primly and flips the page. “That’s because you’ve never been kissed.”
Eddie shoves him, something in his chest lighting up at the way Steve huffs and whacks him back with the comic. “You’ve never kissed anyone either.”
Steve pauses to take that in, and then he’s giving Eddie a look Eddie’s never seen before. Eddie wrinkles his nose. “What?”
“What if we gave it a shot?”
“Gave what a shot?”
“Kissing.” And then he shrugs like he didn’t just change the whole game. Eddie blinks, swallows then blinks again. It’s not raining hard, but the steady pattering across the roof adds to the brewing atmosphere. Suddenly, the world feels impossibly small. Like there’s nothing but this shitty broken down car, and the sound of Steve’s breathing. The heat of him pressed against Eddie’s arm.
“You want to kiss me?”
Steve shrugs again, then nods. “Why not?”
Eddie could think of a million reasons, but…they’re in their castle. Their sacred space out in the woods, a kingdom of their own making. And suddenly, Eddie remembers what he was on about earlier, but it’s not important anymore.
It’s not important because he and Steve are about to kiss, and maybe neither of them have ever done it before but maybe that doesn’t matter when it’s your best friend.
It’s nice. A little bit weird, but not weird- weird just new- weird. Steve’s lips are squishy and a little bit waxy because he’s started using chapstick recently, but he’s warm and smells nice and Eddie thinks it would be nice to kiss him again. When they pull back a few moments later, Steve licks his lips, blinking his eyes back open.
For a moment it’s quiet between them, and then Steve cracks a grin and laughter bubbles out of Eddie and then they’re both giggling like little kids.
“I can’t believe you took my kiss virginity.”
Immediately, Steve shoves him. “Don’t say it like that, oh my god , Munson.”
“Why?!” Eddie cackles, trying to wriggle away even though there’s nowhere to go . “That’s what happened!”
He shrieks when Steve digs his fingers into his ribs, pinning him down to tickle him mercilessly. Eddie’s stomach burns from laughing, the sound loud and brash in the small space of the car, some spilling out and ringing through the water-logged trees.
Finally Steve relents, probably sick of being slapped at, and flops back into his seat. Eddie’s still trying to catch his breath, giggling on every exhale, when Steve goes back to reading his comic, smiling down at the pages with flushed cheeks and messy hair.
When he feels like he can move again, Eddie hums softly under his breath and sits back up to reach over the front seats, fiddling with the dials and the antenna until it manages to catch a signal. He turns it up.
– iss, your kiss is on my list
Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in life
(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list –
Eddie bursts into laughter all over again.