Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  "I told you that this was a bad idea." Steve said, crossing his arms.

    They had started going on Creepslayerz patrols after school. Sometimes they would find a stray Gnome or something small, they hadn't run into anything from the big leagues in a while. Not that they were complaining, of course. Okay maybe they had been complaining a little, Steve because he liked punching creepers, Eli because he liked observing creepers. But as long as Arcadia was safe then they couldn’t really complain about the amount of creepers, or lack thereof. Except as of late Steve felt like part of a neighbourhood watch program instead of a Creepslayer. Lately during the scouting missions they just would end up just talking about things completely unrelated to monsters or the Creepslayerz. If they stayed out past sunset- they did so very rarely since sun meant safety (plus Eli’s mom would freak if they were out any later than that)- then they would spend a few minutes to watch it set. If it was a clear night then Eli would point out constellations.

    Earlier that afternoon they had been suiting up at Steve's house since his mother and Lawrence weren't there and Steve had noticed that the sky was starting to become an angry shade of grey. "It looks like it's going to rain." He had so helpfully pointed out.

    "It'll be fine." Eli had dismissed even though he was supposed to be the responsible one.

    They had gone on today's patrol on foot, deciding to do an alley by alley search. Less than an hour later it had started to rain when they were already a fair distance away from his house and no way to get there other than walking. It had started as a drizzle, but buckets began pouring down.

   Hey, Steve was glad for the rain, there has been a small drought as of late, but did it have to rain right at that moment?!

    "I told you." He repeated, trying in vain to hold his backpack over his head to keep him dry. He sighed in defeat and slung his backpack over his shoulder, accepting his fate.

  Eli on the other hand was completely ignoring Steve as he unbuckled his helmet, hands shaking with excitement. He wrenched the thing off his head, water flattening his hair pretty quickly and let out a whoop. It was raining! He didn't have his journal with him so the rain quickly soaking through his backpack didn't bother him in the slightest.

   Steve shook his head trying to keep a grin off his face as Eli twirled around under the downpour, face up to the sky.

  "What the hell, you absolute dork!?" Steve gave in and laughed.

  "It's raining!" Eli simply exclaimed as if that was some sort of huge discovery. Eli really loved rain, okay? Normally he would get incredibly anxious at the thought of his shirt getting wet and just clinging to him, but it was only Steve with him.

  "No shit, Sherlock!" He shouted, having to raise his voice slightly to be heard over the splatter of water slamming against the concrete.

  "Do not use Sherlock's name in vain!" Eli yelled back at him, dead serious.

   Steve broke into a fit of laughter at sight of a drenched Eli attempting to look angry with him.

   "I'm serious!"

  "Alright, alright!" Steve held his hands up in surrender even as he was still suppressing giggles. "Now come on! We have to head hom-to my house!"

  "Oh, come on! My mom never lets me play in the rain!" He protested. "She's convinced that I'll get pneumonia!"

  "Then don't prove her right!" Steve insisted.

   Eli pretended not to hear him and hummed, will twirling under the rain.

   Of all the juvenile- "Aren't you supposed to be the responsible one!?"

    "Nope!" Eli chimed, face split in a dopey grin. He went back to his re-inaction of Singing in the Rain.

  Steve sighed and leaned against the building corner that they had stopped in front of. The roads and shops were devoid of people who had been smart enough to stay inside. He watched Eli act like a complete and utter dork and wondered, not for the first time, why he was dating him. While they had been dating for a bit they hadn't kissed yet, partly because their parents chose the absolute worst moments to walk in, partly because sometimes during their dates a creeper would show up, mostly because they were both awkward little shits who wouldn't make a move. But Steve had already decided that he was going to kiss him soon and was determined as flip. He even had it planned out for one of three options. Either at the beach at sunset, at their next movie date or…in the rain. But not this rain! Like a light drizzle with them sharing an umbrella! Steve was a romantic okay?! And he would kill anyone who knew that. A closet romantic if you will.

    Eli had stopped spinning and was jumping in puddles now and Steve not so subtly kicked water at him when his back was turned. Eli let out a yelp at the cold water splashed against his back and glared at Steve who whistled innocently. Eli kicked water onto Steve's shoes, successfully flooding them.

  Steve gave the other an unamused expression for a total of three seconds before splashing him again, smirking.

  An all-out war broke out, the two Creepslayerz acting like the teenagers they were and running around, splashing each other and laughing and squealing. They had set their helmets and backpacks at the corner of the building so they could run around freely. The rain had also soaked them through, but the splashing left their clothes plastered against their skin and their hair in their face. Even the grease paint was beginning to run a bit.

  "Can you even see, Pepperbuddy?!" Steve shouted to Eli. His own vision was flooded, and he kept having to push his hair out of the face.

  "No!" Eli answered honestly. He needed to the install windshield wipers on his glasses and his messy hair kept getting in the way which didn't help. He kicked up some water at Steve.

    "Aw, ew! It's in my mouth!" Steve yelled in disgust, immediately spitting and making gagging noises.

    Eli almost collapsed laughing. He might feel bad about it later but currently it was hilarious. "It's just water!"

  "It is muddy rainwater!" He argued, still gagging.

  "Fine then, let me-" Eli started walking over to Steve, couldn't see the curb with his flooded glasses and tripped, falling into a muddy puddle with a surprised about of "Whoa!"

    "Eli!" Steve immediately went over to him and crouched down beside him. "Are you okay?" He asked, checking him over with his eyes.

  "I'm fine." Steve helped him sit up. There was mud covering the front of his shirt and splattered on his cheeks. He looked down at his sorry state and laughed. "Okay, maybe we should start heading back."

  Steve shot him a look that clearly said 'I told you so' but didn't say anything and helped Eli up.

   Eli beamed up at him, expression bright and eyes shining as if they had the stars in them.

   He swallowed, suddenly finding his throat dry. He hadn't let go of Eli's hands yet and the other hadn't made a move to let go either. Eli's cheeks turned rosy and Steve knew that his face was a mirror of his own. No, scratch that, his face felt a thousand times hotter than Eli's looked. Crap. Steve was overthinking this, he knew that he was overthinking this, but he couldn’t get his body to move, to close the painfully small gap between them.

    Eli on the other hand could and did move, standing up on his tip toes in an effort to minimize the height difference between them. In any other situation the act might have made Steve laugh, now it just made him aware of his heartbeat thudding in his ears and how tense he was. And holy flip Eli tilted his head a touch more and that finally made Steve lean down.

    There was a bright flash across the sky and a booming crack of thunder followed less than two seconds after.

    "YEAH WE SHOULD REALLY HEAD BACK!" Eli shouted, letting go of Steve's hands and hurrying to grab their stuff, his flaming face the only evidence of what had almost transpired. He thrust Steve's backpack and helmet into said boy's hands before grabbing his arm and running.

    Steve snapped out of it and raced along with Eli, another explosion of lightning echoing in the angry grey clouds behind them.

Chapter Text

  They quickly made it to Steve's house and he unlocked the door, practically shoving Eli inside before following him in, throwing the door shut. They stayed with their backs against the door for a moment, panting as they caught their breath, absolutely soaking the carpet. The roar of thunder echoed from outside, incredibly loud.

  "Da-Lawrence?!" Steve shouted once he caught his breath. "Mom?!" As if on cue the house phone rang making them both jump. He hurried to pick it up, silently groaning at how he would have to clean the carpet later. "Hello?"

    "Steve, finally!" Lawrence's relieved voice came over the phone. "Are you and Pepperjack okay? It really started pouring all of a sudden."

    "We're fine, just got caught in the rain momentarily. What about you and mom?" Steve asked.

   Eli was still awkwardly standing by the door, unsure of what to do.

    "We're alright, there's a parent-teacher meeting today, remember? We're stuck at the school since there's too much rain to drive safely."

  "Oh right!" Steve recalled facepalming. That's how Eli had been able to sneak out for patrol since his mother was at the meeting too. But Lawrence hadn't even asked if Eli was with him yet so how would he know to not tell Eli's mom-oh.

    As if reading his mind Lawrence spoke, a trace of a smile in his tone. "Don't worry, I won't tell Ms. Pepperjack that her son is with you without her permission. And this better be the last time you have him over when there aren't any adults."

    "Yeah, thanks." Steve muttered, face flaming. The only reason why he didn't shout at Will for that last part was because he didn't want Eli to know what he had said. "Talk to you later."

    "Stay safe." Lawrence said like he always did, somehow even with all the times that he said that it sounded sincere every time, not monotone like how most greetings and farewells became with time.

    "You too, bye." He hung up the phone and turned back to Eli who was still shuffling from foot to foot at the doorway. Steve smiled and shook his head a bit at the boy's drenched state. "Lawrence and mom are fine, they're at the parent teacher thing." He informed him. "Now, shower time."

    Eli looked like he was going to argue for a second but changed his mind when he looked down at his muddy clothes. "My bag is in the same place as always right?" He asked.

    "Yeah, in the hallway closet." Steve nodded. For some time now Eli had a bag with spare clothes at Steve's house for either last minute sleepovers or to change after Creepslaying.

    If Steve could be known for anything it would probably be his (previously obnoxious but now tolerable) level of confidence. That certainty that he carried with him, the ability to just do things without questioning it? It went out the window with things like this. What was he fretting about?

   Hot chocolate. Stupid hot chocolate.

   The stupid cocoa powder wasn't dissolving right and was just a wet clump stuck to the spoon. Steve glared at it before mixing again. Please, Life, please let this work out for him, he'd already been robbed of a ki-nope thinking about that was just going to make him want to hide under a rock even more than he already did. He had already been robbed; couldn't Life just allow the powder to dissolve like it was supposed to?! How-!

    Crap.

  Hot chocolate, hot. He had forgotten to heat up the milk. "I give up!" Steve declared. You win, cocoa!

    "You give up what?" Eli asked, entering the kitchen, still drying his hair with a fluffy towel. He had gotten his pajamas from his emergency bag, not his usual clothes. Not that Steve could blame him of course. The fluffy alien printed pants and gray t-shirt definitely looked much warmer than his cargo shorts ever would have been.

    "Damnit Eli! I was trying to surprise you!" Steve shouted, jumping out of his skin at the sudden intrusion before sighing. "The stupid cocoa powder isn't working."

  "Did you heat up the milk?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit in question.

  "The shower's free right?" Steve asked instead.

  Eli bit the inside of his cheek to try and keep from smiling, receiving the only answer he needed. "Yeah, it's all yours."

  "Right, I probably drip dried at this point though." He shook his head like a wet dog.

   Eli laughed as he held up the towel to shield himself from the offensive water.

   Steve chuckled and ruffled Eli's head. "Are you in a sport or binder?" He asked pointedly, even if his voice was soft.

    Eli rolled his eyes; he was never going to admit that Steve's asking was incredibly thoughtful of him and pulled at his heart strings every time. "Sports, don't worry. Now go take a bath, no hugs until you do."

    Steve went off to shower, not even surprised that Eli would try to bribe him with hugs or with the fact that such a bribe would definitely work. It almost took his mind off of how soaked the carpet was getting. Almost. The squelching beneath his feet helpfully reminded him. Crap! And he had forgotten to take his shoes off too! He stifled a groan and snagged some clothes from his room before heading into the bathroom. Screw it, he’d deal with it after Eli was home or even better, tomorrow. It was only once he stepped into the tile floor did he realize just how cold he was. Steve quickly stripped out of his clothes which fell to the floor with comical sounding wet plaps and stepped into the shower. He turned on the water and sighed blissfully. A hot shower had never been more welcome.

    His arms had splatters of mud on them and he could only imagine that his face was the same or worse. It had to be worse with the black grease paint. Steve had spared himself the horror of looking at the mirror upon first entering the bathroom. The thunder continued to boom from outside and he showered quickly. Steve would have taken some time to bathe and unwind but the thought of the power going out while he showered had quickly erased that option. He absolutely loathed the dark.

    He had opted to wear some pajamas as well instead of his everyday attire. His pjs consisted of plaid pajama pants and a blue t-shirt with Arcadia High's mole mascot on the front. Seriously, out of all the animals they could have had as a mascot, why a mole? He pushed the thought away of the mole indirectly symbolizing the blindness of the town in regard to what lied beneath their feet.

    Steve resisted the ridiculous urge to pull finger guns at his reflection and threw his dirty clothes into the hamper basketball style before. Feeling refreshed he made his way back to the kitchen to continue his fight against the cocoa powder. Except upon entering the kitchen he found Eli finishing up the hot chocolate with whipped cream. And while he was somewhat miffed over it, Eli's shy smile had him smiling as well automatically.

    "I know you wanted to do it but..." Eli trailed off, shrugged.

    "It's perfect." Steve said, wrapping a hand around Eli's waist and kissing the top of his head. While they hadn't had their first "official" kiss yet there had been many exchanges of cheek and forehead peeks. Steve never got tired of seeing Eli's cheeks go red whenever he kissed his forehead and it helped that Eli was the perfect height for him to do so.

    "I set up a movie for us to watch in the living room." Eli continued, handing Steve a mug.

    "Some nerd movie?" Steve teased accepting the mug and taking a small sip. The chocolate was rich and silky and-oh! Eli had added some mini marshmallows! Score! He wiped away the moustache that the whipped cream had left.

    "No!" Eli denied, marching to the living room pointedly, hot chocolate in hand. Steve rolled his eyes, chuckling, and followed after. Eli was seated on the sofa and had already started the film: Gremlins.

    "Definitely not a nerd movie huh?" He smirked only to be get shushed by Eli.

    "This is not a nerd movie; this is a classic." Eli corrected. He had taken a blanket from the hallway closet as well and was snuggled within it. Steve took it upon himself to enter the warm fort as well, wrapping the blanket around the two of them.

    Steve rolled his eyes once more but didn't interrupt again. He couldn't argue with that, besides it wasn't as if he had already seen it with Eli at least ten times before. And Gizmo was pretty cute even if his offspring were little bastards of terror. Eli stated (not for the first time) that he wanted Gizmo as a pet and Steve replied (not for the first time) that they had been in charge of a goblin for a bit and that was pretty close. Eli always got insulted as to how Steve could dare to compare the adorable Mogwai to the traitorous goblin. Steve debated making some popcorn or something but decided against it when he realized he would have to get up for that to happen. He was perfectly cosy right here with Eli with or without snacks.

    The rain continued to pelt down outside with the force of hail and flashes of lighting lit up the windows every so often so it was no surprise that it took Steve a few moments to realize that Eli kept fidgeting, twisting his hands this way and that. He paused the movie, one of the gremlins ugly mugs stayed frozen on the screen. "Hey, you okay?"

    Eli nodded but Steve wasn't buying it and kept silent, waiting for Eli to tell him what the matter was. "It's just-it's something stupid." His face was pink up to his ears, partly due to being caught in his thoughts.

    "Eli, nothing you say would ever be stupid unless you say my name." Steve reassured.

   Eli snorted.

   "Come on, what is it? Are you worried about the rain or-?"

    "Why haven't we kissed?" He blurted.

  Steve's face turned red so quickly he felt slightly dizzy from the head rush. "Um...W-well I uh I-I..." He tripped over his words, stammering to give an excuse that he didn't have.

  "S-sorry…sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Eli apologized, looking down, cheeks flushed as well but more from shame rather than mere embarrassment. "Let's just go back to the movie." He offered, forcing a smile.

    "What? Jesus, Eli, no!" Steve shouted, finally snapping out of it at the sight of Eli's poorly masked hurt. "It's -I- damnit- I am not good at this." He groaned, burying his face in his hands.

    "Steve, really, it wasn't the right time to ask that, I get it if you don't want to." Eli reassured.

    "What?! Of course I want to! Are you kidding me?!" He uncovered his face. "I really really want to and It's scaring the flip out of me because I don't want to mess it up and it deserves to be perfect because you're perfect and I had all of these ideas of when to do it and I didn't even know if you wanted to and I didn't want to do it without knowing if you wanted it!" Steve was rambling now but he didn't care, he needed to get this out.

   "And I was worried that I would suck at it or do something wrong and then you'd be grossed out of something and I've heard all these things about how the first kiss is supposed to be spontaneous but I've been thinking about this a lot in case you haven't realized but then you look all cute and all the plans and ideas I have just leave and god why is this so difficult!?"

  Steve could feel that he was red up to his ears and Eli's blush mirrored his.

  "You think I'm cute?" Eli finally said in the quietest voice.

  He groaned and hid his red face once again momentarily. "Yes Peppers, you're flipping adorable if you haven't noticed."

  "Oh." Eli was looking at him with wide eyes as if he had just discovered something.

  Steve sighed. "I'm not good with words, I'm a man of action, s-so-" his voice tripped despite the sureness that he was desperately trying to display. He took a deep breath. "So..." He ignored the way his hand shook slightly and cupped the side of Eli's face. "This is how adorable you are." He leaned down slowly, giving Eli enough time to push him away if he wanted.

    Eli met him in the middle, hand finding its way to the back of Steve's neck and pulling him closer as their lips finally met. Fireworks exploded in their minds, or maybe it was just the lightening outside, whichever it was they didn't care. Steve stomach did flips, and he was just wondering why he had waited so damn long for this. His hair was still slightly damp, but Eli didn't care and tangled his fingers into Steve's hair, kissing him slightly harder, as if needing to know that it was really happening, that Steve was really there.

    It wasn't the sunset, movie, or cheesy in the rain kiss that Steve had been planning but he  realized, perhaps just a bit too late, that it didn't matter to Eli where the kiss took place as long as it was with him. And Steve found that it didn't matter to him either. They both pulled back at the same time, holding their breath for a moment, fearing that it would be an illusion that would crumble if either moved too quickly.

    Steve of course was the first one to speak. "Did I suck? I didn't suck right?"

  Eli dissolved into a mess of giggling. Of course he would ask that. "No Steve, it was great."

  "Oh. Oh! Right yeah, I knew that. It was great for me to uh-hey let's put the movie back!" He said, pushing play on the movie. The power went out. "OH COME ON!"

    Eli broke down laughing.