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“You know, I kind of wish it had fallen into the void like most of the town did.” Eddie grumbles, sitting on the trunk of the bimmer, crutches leaned against the side of the car.
“Oh, absolutely. That would’ve saved me from Mr. Denson’s bullshit chem final.” Robin sighs, legs crossed beneath her where she’s sat beside Eddie.
“Hey, at least you passed Dickhead Denson’s final, Buckley.”
“You did too!”
“I didn’t pass shit and we all know it.” Eddie falls onto his back with a thump that makes Steve wince, but Eddie waves him off. “They just took pity on me after three tries and, oh, I don’t know, forming a witch hunt after me.”
Robin throws her head back and groans loud enough that several people milling about the lot turn toward them. Steve glares at the gawkers where he’s leaned against the side of the car until they all turn away.
“There was no pity involved, you piece of shit. You had the grades before the spring break from hell. All Hopper did was,” Robin wrings her hands in her lap, cocks her head, “kindly tell them that you had clearly shown your intellectual prowess enough to get your diploma.”
Eddie chuckles. “Hopper? Kindly? Yeah, next time you wanna lie to my face, Buckley, choose better adjectives.”
“Munson, I swear–”
“I just can’t believe they still forced finals on everyone after everything.” Steve squints against the setting sun, arms crossed across his chest. “You’d think the town, I don’t know, splitting open and, like, a quarter of the student body just,” he throws his hands up, makes a poof gesture, “disappearing would make them waive the rest of the year, or whatever, for everyone.”
“You have far too much faith in the American education system, my dear Stevie.” Eddie laments.
They fall into silence, staring at the school that they’d spent far too many years, and, for Steve, far too much Upside Down related bullshit, in. People are slowly drifting out to their cars, laughing, hugging, talking about summer plans, which Steve finds kind of laughable himself considering summer in Hawkins has never been anything to celebrate, and even less so now with the state of everything. He watches as the cars pull away one by one, until all that’s left are the three of them and a few displaced graduation caps and tassels across the lot.
Steve turns to look at Eddie, the setting sun casting him in a beautiful shade of orange. “You did earn your diploma, by the way, Eddie.”
“Oh, don’t you go lyin’ to me too, now, sweetheart.”
Robin laughs. “Oh, yeah, he’s not. I think he’s basically incapable. He’s like, so bad, it’s honestly hilarious. There was one time, Jessica Randal came in asking him on a date and–”
Steve slams his hand across her mouth. “Robin!”
Eddie perks up, props up on his elbows. “Oh? Do tell, Buckley. What did our dear Stevie do when faced with the visage of Jessica Randal?”
“I will buy you both your celebration dinners if you shut up right now and never bring this up again.” Steve spits out, glaring at both of them in the process.
“Is my, what was it, ‘intellectual prowess,’ only worth a singular dinner, sweetheart?” Eddie hums. “I don’t know, this Jessica Randal story seems to be worth a bit more than that.”
Steve sighs. “What do you want, Eddie?”
“From you? Oh, Stevie, you have no idea.” Eddie chuckles, his tongue slipping out to wet his lips. Steve tracks the movement almost subconsciously, watches as the oranges and yellows of the sunset glisten across Eddie’s lips, making them, like, goddamn sparkle, or some shit. Eddie chuckles, catches his eye.
Steve swallows thickly, tries to will back some of his former confidence in his response. “Ye–yeah? Care to enlighten me?” Yep, super confident there, Steve. Good job.
Eddie’s eyes glint as he pulls himself up to sitting. He leans forward, snakes a finger through Steve’s belt loop, and tugs slightly. “Oh, I’ll enlighten you any night of the week, big boy.”
Just then, Steve feels something hot and wet on his hand, followed by teeth sharp enough to make him jump back with a yelp. “What the hell?”
Robin wipes her mouth off on her gown. “Can you two not obnoxiously flirt in front of me? At least let me rack in that free post-grad dinner first.” She jumps down, walks over and opens the passenger door, chucks her graduation cap and gown into the floorboard.
“Uh, wh– flirting?” Steve stammers, looking between them. Robin stares back unimpressed. Eddie smirks.
“Yes, Steve, flirting, which you two can do over dinner, because if you don’t put food in me right now, I think I might explode. Why is graduation so long?” Robin slumps into the car, slamming the door behind her.
“Don’t slam the fucking door just because you’re mad at graduation!” Steve yells. Robin flips him off through the window.
Eddie laughs, grabs his crutches, and drops down to the ground. Steve helps him to the back door, moves to open it, but Eddie stops him. Steve lifts his brow in question.
Eddie leans forward and hesitantly kisses Steve on the cheek. “In case it wasn’t clear, I am 100% flirting with you, sweetheart. Have been, in fact. You gonna do somethin’ about it?” Eddie pulls back, a shaky grin to his face as he opens the door and slides into the backseat, crutches tossed into the floorboard with his cap and gown. Robin and Eddie immediately launch into a debate over where Steve should take them to celebrate.
Steve shuts the back door, a dazed look to his eye as he moves to the driver’s door and slides into the car. As he leaves the lot, Hawkins High nothing more than a memory, he catches Eddie’s eye in the rearview mirror and smiles.
Maybe there’s some things worth getting excited for this summer, after all.