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“Steve, I think you should know…” Dustin started, his eyes are still red, but he swallows and continues.
“Eddie, he… he told me he liked you, he was going to tell you but…” Dustin didn’t finish his sentence, his voice caught in his throat as tears welled in his eyes. Steve pulled him into a tight hug. Eddie’s death was still fresh, too fresh. Will always be a sore spot for any of them.
Steve laid in bed, his eyes were still sore, his stomach hurt and he felt numb. He felt something swell in his throat as his thoughts knitted together into a mess of wishes and regrets.
I wish I knew you wanted me.
He should’ve guessed. All the eye contact and the you're not who I thought you were and the like. The tenderness in his eyes. Steve felt like he was going to throw up.
He sobbed into his pillow for the tenth time that night, wishing he could wake up in a world where Eddie didn’t die, where he got to graduate, where Steve had the opportunity to tell him he loved him.