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Steve told himself he wasn't going to hover by the door during the countdown to Eddie's arrival back home.
But here he is, doing just that. Hovering.
Hands clenching and unclenching in anticipation, nibbling at his bottom lip, ears listening out for sounds of his mate returning.
Eddie had been away for two weeks. Isolated out in the woods in some friend's cabin with his band, writing away at what would be their next album. Steve had been invited along, but he'd turned down the offer this time - the bakery he ran with Robin was having a special charity event, and he hadn't wanted to miss it. There would be plenty more writing sessions he could tag along on, after all.
But he'd missed his alpha like crazy.
The upside of writing in the middle of nowhere, Eddie had explained, was the peace and quiet, the lack of distractions, the forced focus it brought. But the enormous downside was the lack of any sort of phone lines - hence, it had been two weeks since Steve had even heard his alpha's voice.
He'd spent plenty of time of Robin while Eddie had been away. At the bakery, movie nights, dinner at Benny's diner. And he'd had a lot of fun, he loved every minute he ever spent with his best friend, just…he wanted his mate.
Headlights flood the kitchen. The sound of Eddie's van pulling into the driveway, the door opening with a creak, Eddie's footsteps up the path.
Steve's heart thuds. He yanks the door open.
And flings himself into his alpha's arms.
Eddie laughs, lifting Steve off his feet, nosing into his neck. "Hi, sweetheart."
"Hi," Steve breathes, eyes shining.
His nose twitches, scenting…too many people on Eddie.
Gareth, Jeff, Freak, and a couple of unknowns - people he'd been staying with, Steve assumes, and he knows there's nothing wrong with that, except…
Except his alpha doesn't smell enough like Steve. He was going to have to fix that.
Huffing, Steve takes him by the hand and pulls him inside abruptly. Eddie chuckles softly, knowing exactly what Steve's issue is.
The omega kicks the door closed behind them, and plasters himself on Eddie. Nuzzles into the scent gland on his neck, nips at it then licks when his alpha hisses, kisses his throat, his chin, his lips. Rubs over him like a cat, brown sugar and sea spray scent covering Eddie, a possessive blanket that screams mine!
"Sweetheart…" Eddie murmurs, smiling as Steve takes his wrist, brings it up to his own neck, holds it against the scent gland there. Eddie indulges him, pine forest scent enveloping Steve in return.
Finally, with the alpha smelling of Steve and only Steve, the omega is satisfied. He steps back a little, hands still settled on Eddie's waist, and smiles up at him. "You had a good time?"
"Uh huh. Got a lot of writing done. Gareth went off to 'find himself' in the woods one morning and fell in a creek, twisted an ankle, that kind of put a dampener on things but otherwise…pretty fruitful."
Steve snorts. "Sounds like Gareth. Do you have any of the lyrics on you? I want to read them."
The lyrics are Steve's favourite part of Eddie's music. Partly because the actual music itself was loud and chaotic enough that it sometimes triggered his migraines, and partly because the more smug side of him knew a lot of the songs were about him. The lyrics are poetic, often soft in comparison to the wild guitar riffs and heavy drums that accompanied them, and Steve loves anything that Eddie writes.
"I have them in my bag, I'll grab them out for you soon. But how was your charity event? I wanna hear everything." He takes Steve by the hand, leads him to the couch.
Steve flops half into Eddie's lap, head settling on his chest. Eddie's fingers tangle in his hair, soothing over his scalp, chuffing when Steve begins to purr.
"My cakes sold out in like…less than an hour," Steve tells him excitedly. "There was a line of people all the way down the street. Robin dropped a custard creme all over Chrissy's mom and tried to make out like it was an accident but it definitely wasn't."
Eddie huffs out a laugh into Steve's hair. "Good, that lady's a miserable cow."
"Yeeeep. She got what she deserved. And we raised nearly two thousand for the children's ward through sales and donations."
Eddie kisses the top of his head, then cups Steve's cheek, tilts his head to kiss him properly. Steve sighs into his mouth, bathes in the attention of his alpha. "That's fucking awesome," Eddie whispers. "Proud of you, sweetheart."
Steve chirps, nips at Eddie's lower lip, kisses him again. "I'm happy you're home."
"Me too. It was a good trip, but I missed you every second." Eddie sniffs at the air, turns his head towards the kitchen. "You got something cooking?"
Steve grins at him. "I thought since you missed the event at the bakery, I'd make your favourite."
Eddie's eyes light up all over again, and he wriggles out from under Steve, making for the kitchen.
"Hey!" Steve calls after him, but he's smiling. "Forgetting something?"
Eddie scuttles back to him, kisses him on the mouth, sloppy and heated. "Thank you for the pie, Stevie."
Steve grins. "You're welcome. There's ice cream too."
Eddie groans, the sound sending Steve's blood pumping hotter through his veins. "I love you," Eddie announces, before striding back towards the kitchen again.
Warm all over, surrounded by the scent of his alpha, Steve smiles so wide his face hurts.
The evening is spent in front of the fireplace, the two side by side and indulging in an enormous shared slice of apple pie while Eddie shows Steve the lyrics he'd written. As usual, most of them of them were about him, and that warms the omega right down to his toes.
Pine, brown sugar and freshly-baked apple pie fill the room, and it smells like home.