Chapter Text
He was bone tired by hour 12 of the drive, all the time since practically being torture. Could he have split the travel into two days? Absolutely. But then he’d have to either pay money he doesn’t have to stay in a motel or be on guard all night in his truck at the side of the road. Since that would only result in him being even more exhausted, a one-day road trip it was.
He had hugged his uncle Wayne goodbye, the older man telling him just how proud he was. He waved goodbye with a smile on his face, but then had to pull over to cry a few minutes in. He wiped his eyes and set off once more.
He was excited, of course. When his small college announced that they were cutting the video game design program a month into his second year, he thought he was well and truly fucked. But somehow, at least in part attributed to how much Eddie’s grades spiked once he was actually studying something he cared about, he thought he had a decent shot at getting accepted to somewhere a bit more than decent. Unexpectedly he’d been accepted to the school he’d applied to with the full expectation he’d be rejected, but spontaneously thought he might as well apply to anyway. So there he was, driving all the way from Ohio to the University of Southern California.
He’d texted his new roommate at the last stoplight, letting him know he was nearly there. It didn’t take too long to find his designated parking spot. He was immediately thankful for its reasonable size, having feared it would be one of those asshole parking lots that are basically just made for smaller cars like the red Honda Accord next to his. He got out, desperate to stretch. The smallest twist to his spine gave a satisfying pop.
“Hey, you made it!” He jumped at the call from behind him.
He whipped around to see a man he recognized from their Zoom call. Voluminous chestnut hair, only a bit longer than most guys would typically wear theirs. Broad shoulders that weren’t out of place on his frame. An undeniably handsome man in a henley with black sweats walking toward him with a grin. “Yeah, barely.” He said, leaning back and earning not one, but two pops.
The man he knew to be Steve Harrington lets out a hearty laugh. “Well let’s get your shit upstairs before you drop dead on me.”
He hadn’t expected the guy to help him take his bags upstairs, especially since Eddie knew he wouldn’t be pulling in until well past midnight. Just drop him the keys and go back to bed. But the last time they’d chatted the day before, Steve had insisted over text. Thank god the room came furnished, all they had to deal with was all Eddie’s stuff.
It wasn’t like he had a lot, but between his music shit, bags of clothes, boxes of dnd stuff, a separate small collection of nerd shit, and all of his actual school-related materials, it was a few trips. At the end of the second, Eddie dropped his boxes at the foot of the bed, rubbing at his eyes. The building was great, from everything he’d seen so far. The only real issue was the lack of elevator. It wasn’t a huge deal, they were only on the third floor. Not his favourite thing, but when he originally signed the lease, he knew he could manage. Yet, those couple flights of stairs felt like a mountain at times like these.
He half stumbled through the doorway, blinking hard. “Dude, why don’t you sit down for a minute. You’re beat, I can get the last few things.”
Eddie shook his head, “Nah, s’alright. We’re almost done.”
Steve walked over. Eddie wasn’t sure if they were actually pretty much the same height, or if all the hair was closing the distance. “It’s cool, there’s only like three more bags.” He put his hand on his hip and pointed to the couch. “It’s comfy, I swear. Gimme the keys, I’ve got it.”
Eddie looked over to the couch. It really did look comfy. Still sort of plush but the brown leather also looked all well worn and soft. And sitting down for just a minute before everything else he had to do for the night sure sounded nice. He assessed the other man, he looked wide awake. Seemed to have energy to spare. “You sure?”
Steve nodded with a grin. “Yeah, it’s no sweat.”
So Eddie handed over the keys to his van, and Steve promised to lock it before coming back up. Eddie sat himself down. He sent Wayne a quick text, letting him know he’d arrived safely. He blinked slow as he set his phone down on the arm of the couch beside him. Slower. Until his eyes just didn’t open again.
All the lights were off when he jolted awake, breathing heavy. He looked around, disoriented as his eyes adjusted, made easier by the light of the moon and the leather against the back of his arms. Right. The new apartment. He moved to raise his hand to his face, but the movement was aborted as his hand was caught under something. He looked down, seeing a dark-coloured plush blanket thrown over him.
Oh. That wasn’t there when he fell asleep.
He looked around more, only now noticing the objects atop the side table: his keys, a glass of water, and a granola bar. His gut churned with unease, but he shoved it down. This was nice. Such a nice, considerate thing for his new roommate did for him. He opened the bar and took a bite, not being able to read the label in the light but immediately recognizing it as caramel, chocolate, and nuts. Steve had insistently asked about allergies on their initial call.
He wolfed it down, took a few sips, and headed off in what he was pretty sure was the direction of his room. He accidentally found the bathroom first, but took that as a win when he realized how bad he’d had to piss. He regrettably had to turn on his bedroom light so he could sort the bed out, squinting and blinking to adjust to the too-bright light. As soon as he could see clearly, he let out a whine. Black sheets were on, pillows in position, blanket places with even edges.
It was a credit to Wayne for insisting on properly labeling everything. Each box written on, each bag with a tag. Things he’d need right away were especially well-identified. Steve wouldn’t have needed to rummage through much to find the things.
He knew he’d like the other man, at least as well as you actually need to like your roommate. They didn’t have much in common, but Steve didn’t mind how loud he’d be playing his guitar and Eddie didn’t mind Steve’s self-declared party and hookup habits. As long as neither earned a noise complaint, they were golden. But the fact that he was nice and helpful? Even if it was just to make a good impression so he could slack off later, it was appreciated.
He didn’t bother finding his toothbrush, just unpacked his pockets onto the rickety bedside table, stripped off until he was just in his boxers, and flopped into his bed. He didn’t even find his way under the covers before he was out again.
He woke with sunlight on his face streaming through the space where he still had to hang a curtain. It sounds like it should be peaceful, but it was truly a violent and cruel experience. He groaned, burying his face in the pillow. He tried to force himself back to sleep but this time it was no use. He was awake for good. He checked his phone for the time. Eight am. Disgusting.
He peeled the blankets off of him, warm in the residual heat of California summer. He shuffled around his room, going for the bag he’d specifically packed of things he’d need right away but had ignored entirely the night before. Grabbed his toothbrush and all the shit he’d need to have a quick shower.
He threw his long hair up with a black hair tie and stepped into the hot water. Washing off the long drive was a relief. He felt so disgusting it almost gave him the motivation to attempt to rewash his sheets after sleeping in them all night. Not quite, but almost. He stayed in for far longer than he actually needed to, cheap pine soap already rinsed down away, but not ready to let go of the soothing pound of the surprisingly good water pressure.
Still, he unfortunately had shit to do today aside from pruning his fingertips. He hastily dried himself off, throwing the towel around his waist. As he stepped out of the shower, he smelled something entirely delightful that made his stomach growl. He thought back to the last time he’d eaten anything, remembering the last few of the McDonald's fries he’d scrounged up from the bottom of the bag around when he’d crossed through Arizona. Unfortunately, groceries were one of his main tasks for the day. He’d have to hit another drive-through in the meantime.
He wanted to go for his black jeans, but knew he was not at all acclimatized enough to avoid sweating to death by noon. His leather jacket would have to stay packed away until probably October at the earliest. Instead, he opted for the shorts he’d cut to just above his knees and his old worn Metallica tee. He removed the hair tie, shaking his hair around until it looked decent in the cheap IKEA mirror mounted on the otherwise plain wall.
The lovely smell was even stronger as he moved in the direction of what had to be the kitchen. In there, he found Steve. The man was standing at the stove, grey t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders as he flipped something in a pan. His new roommate looked at him right away, smiling as he did. “Morning!” He greeted Eddie, far too chipper for before nine in the morning.
Still, Eddie smiled back, just with less enthusiasm. “Morning.”
The man looked back to his pan. “You sleep okay?”
Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I did. Thank you for that, by the way. You really didn’t have to do all that.”
Steve shrugged. “No worries. I had a coffee at like ten last night, I was still kind of wired. And you looked like you needed the sleep.
Eddie laughed. “You got me there. Well, Thank you. I slept like a baby.”
“Good. You hungry? I’m making pancakes.”
His stomach growled his answer for him, though he covered it up as he said “That’s okay, I’m not stealing your breakfast.”
Steve chuckled. “Nah, not stealing. I heard you get up to shower so I made enough for both of us. They’re blueberry.”
This time, he didn’t protest. Guilt still took up space in his gut, making him feel almost full. But who was he to refuse when the only food he’d had since the day before yesterday was shitty fast food or from a gas station? Especially when Steve served them up a couple each. They were so fucking good he couldn’t repress his groan of satisfaction at the first bite.
Steve chuckled as he swallowed his own bite. “Glad you like them.”
“Dude, you could sell these.” He said before licking a little of the syrup at the corner of his lip.
Steve stabbed at his own piece, holding it up. “Oh yeah, totally gonna drop out of school and start my pancake empire.”
They chatted over breakfast. Steve explains that he’s accidentally been trained to be an early riser as he usually works the opening shift at the campus gym, comparatively he’d slept in today. Eddie yammering on about the shit he had to do before classes started in a few days. Steve offered that they should go to campus together for their textbooks and so he could give Eddie a bit of a tour.
The degree that Steve was so helpful felt unsettling, telling himself it was only because he wasn’t used to it. Wayne was the best, obviously. Took him in when he really didn’t have to. Kept him even though Eddie was an angry eleven-year-old that Wayne hadn’t seen since he was toddling around in diapers. He tried not to think of where he’d be without the man. But Wayne was his parental figure. He literally signed up for it, going through the full process to legally adopt him a year in.
And it wasn’t like Eddie was completely friendless. That no one ever did things for him. It’s just that usually back then, people wanted something in return, and those friends sure didn’t stick around after what happened during his super senior year.
Those girls who he’d get to take on a date only ever used him to piss off their conservative dads. Even his first real relationship in college didn’t last long because of all she wanted from him. He wasn’t quite sure what Steve expected from him in return. He’d try really hard to stay on top of his dishes and other cleaning shit in the meantime until he figured it out.
He rejected Steve’s offer to go grocery shopping with him, agreeing to only the campus help the next day. Steve brushed off the rejection with an easy smile. “Okay, cool. Well, I’m gonna go hang out with Rob for a while. Let me know if you need help with unpacking later.”
Eddie assured him he’d be fine. He thanked him again for breakfast as he washed their plates of his own insistence as Steve headed out, aviator shades thrown on giving him the effortless California cool look.
While grocery shopping was easy enough, expensive as expected except with some of the produce being cheaper. It wasn’t until he was back in the apartment, Steve free for the first time, that Eddie regretted turning down the unpacking help. As he sat dejected next to his only quarter-filled closet, he knew. He was in for a long day. He hoped Steve was having a good time with this Rob guy, whoever he was.