Eddie emerged from the bathroom some time later, mortified at himself. He had spent ages in there, smoothing out his hair, adjusting his rings, and splashing cold water on to his face. His eyes were no longer red and puffy, but still felt raw from his tears and a horrible sense of shame settled in his stomach.

He gripped the edges of the sink and stared at himself for a long time, pulling faces in the mirror. Despite his best attempts to calm down, he was still shaking head to toe, his heartbeat quickening with every shaky breath. He opened the cabinet above the sink, scanning it hastily. A small container on the top shelf read Xanax in big bold letters. Popping the lid open, he took two and threw them in his mouth, followed by a splash of water from the tap. He paused, then took a couple more and shoved them into his pocket. He would use them if he had to.

He turned to face himself in the mirror once more.

Jesus, Eddie, in front of Steve fucking Harrington too.

He had cried enough tears to fill Lover's Lake whilst clinging hopelessly to Steve's arms, rocking back and forth like a hysterical child. The thought of it made him clench the bathroom sink and grit his teeth, glaring at his reflection in the mirror.

"Get a grip on yourself," he snarled.

He had wanted to hide, stay locked inside the bathroom forever and never leave, never show his face to Steve again. But eventually, he swung the door open and marched out, determined not to show any sign of weakness again.

Steve was waiting by the landing, leaning against the wall. His eyes were worried and tense and he looked up quickly when he saw Eddie approaching.

"Hey," said Eddie, the slightest tremor still visible in his voice as he spoke.

Steve raised his eyebrows, surprised by his sudden change of character.

"Everything okay now?"

Eddie hesitated, feeling himself shrink once again as his anger bubbled away, gone as quickly as it had overpowered him.

He felt shy and embarrassed again under Steve's watchful eyes, all the defences he had carefully set up, tumbling down just from the way the boy looked at him.

"Yeah, everything's good. Thanks, uh, for what you did back there."

Steve smiled, a small sad thing.

"I care about you Eddie, and I'll always be here if you need me," he said quietly, before his eyes lit up and his mouth broke into a proper smile. "Come on, the movie's probably over by now," he said, taking Eddie's hand in his and leading him down the stairs.

Eddie tried to ignore the fluttering in his stomach as they walked towards the living room. He figured Steve was probably right about the movie ending because the house appeared silent. No noisy television blaring, or Robin's snoring.

Eddie frowned.

Robin wasn't snoring.

They opened the door and he could hear Steve gasp beside him.

Robin and Nancy were sitting on the couch, Robin's hands cupped on Nancy's face as she kissed her affectionately.

"What the hell is going on!"

Nancy screamed. Robin nearly fell of the couch. Steve was staring, open-mouthed at the two of them.

Eddie was silent.

"Jesus christ, Steve!"

"We weren't doing anything, I swear-"

"Sure looked like something to me!"

"Do you guys even knock?"

"How were we supposed to know you guys would be eating each other's faces off, we thought you were asleep!"

"Gross."

"Come on, man."

"Yeah come on, Steve," chimes Eddie, and he can't help the smirk that stretches across his face, even when Steve turns to glare at him.

Robin sighs, ruffling her hair and perching herself nervously on the edge of the couch. Nancy smiled sheepishly, her ears going a bright red as she went to sit next to Robin, taking her hand.

Steve still stood at the doorway, dumbfounded and shaking his head in disbelief.

Eddie, seeing that everyone had seemingly run out of things to say, took this opportunity to clear his throat and take a step forward.

"So, uh, you guys mind explaining?"

Nancy and Robin looked at each other, exchanging worried looks.

"We're not mad or anything, just surprised. Right, Steve?" Eddie said, turning to face Steve, who was still frozen on the spot, eyes wide.

He blinked rapidly, his own face going red.

"Y-Yeah! Of course! I'd never be mad at you guys for this..." he trailed off uncertainly, brow furrowed. "Um... what is this exactly?"

Robin sighed.

"You guys might want to take a seat, this is going to take a while."