Work Text:
Eddie made a lot of bad choices in his life but this one might be his worst yet. Letting Chrissy talk him into a fucking camping trip with Buckley and Harrington, a whole damn weekend spend out in the wild, sleeping in tents and all, ugh.
There's a reason why Wayne looked at him like he'd grown a second head when he told him about the trip, knowing too well that his nephew is not made for the outdoors. They tried that once, when Eddie was 12, and agreed to never do it again for both their sakes.
He should’ve stuck by that, but here he is now, sitting uncomfortably on a log, swatting at mosquitoes, feeling bored and itchy and useless. He offered to help the girls get the cooler from the van (‘No, Eddie. We do not have to hunt or fish for food,’ thank fucking god for that!) but got the hint when Chris said they're fine on their own.
So he sits there and mopes, watching Steve pile up twigs and newspaper scraps to build a fire, and as much as he hates to admit it, is impressed by how quickly he gets it started.
"Where d'you learn that?" he asks honestly curious, his heart skipping a beat when Steve turns to him with a proud, gorgeous smile.
"Oh, uh. Summer camp. When I was 13," he replies and shrugs it off like it's nothing.
Of course. Fucking rich kids and their fucking fancy Summer time activities.
"My parents went on a trip to Paris and didn't trust me to stay home alone."
No, actually? Fuck Steve's parents for going on vacation without him.
"What, like, some boy scout thing or something? Where they teach you how to tie knots and stuff?" Eddie jokes and Steve laughs, says "Yeah. Something like that."
Seemingly satisfied with his work, Steve takes his attention away from the steadily crackling fire and sits down beside Eddie.
"Had my first kiss there, too," he fake-whispers, leaning in like he's sharing a secret the trees and birds around them aren't supposed to hear.
Eddie's ears are burning, but it's definitely from the heat of the fire, not because Steve is suddenly so close now, their knees are touching.
"Oh, really? Did you sneak into the girls' quarters at night?" Eddie laughs weakly, feeling just a tiny bit jealous for reasons he’s not willing to give any thought right now.
"Hell no!” Steve huffs out, “The counsellors threatened to put anyone they caught breaking the rules on cleaning duty. Do you know how nasty the wash rooms were? Scarred me for life, man." Steve shakes his head and scrunches his nose in disgust, then his lips curl up into a cheeky grin. "Luckily, I didn't have to sneak out." Steve winks at him and it takes Eddie a second to get what he’s implying. "His name was Alex."
Oh, okay. Yep. That’s- great.
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Eddie says, acting casual when on the inside, he's having a minor (major) crisis.
"Mhm, yeah. Learned a lot at camp."
Steve stands, picking up some logs to feed the fire with, looking back over his shoulder when he suggests, "I could show you, while we're here."
Eddie swallows roughly.
He has the sinking feeling Steve is not talking about showing him how to start a fire, or how to tie a knot.
And suddenly, the thought of sharing a tent with him doesn't seem so horrible anymore.