Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You're late, chef," Carmy observed as Sydney entered the kitchen nearly an hour into the dinner service. "That's unlike you."

"I know. It won't happen again, chef, I can assure you."

"It better not. What, was there traffic or something?"

"No, Robin forgot we had work today."

"Robin?" Carmy repeated. "Who the hell is Robin?" It was just then that he realized that Sydney hadn't come in alone.

"Oh, that's me," said Robin, giving an awkward wave. "Sydney said she got me a position staging here. I was the pastry chef at Elysium in New York before the place burned down."

"That's right." Carmy vaguely remembered having that conversation, but his days tended to blend together in his memory, so nothing specific really stuck out. "Well, Robin, your timing is perfect. Marcus is behind on desserts."

"Shocker," Sydney replied with a dry laugh. Marcus Brooks, the pastry chef, was a dear friend of Sydney's, and nine times out of ten he was behind on desserts. In all fairness, though, there was only one of him, and The Bear would often get so busy that it was hard to keep up. "Robin, Marcus is over there, maybe you could give him a hand?"

"Yes, Syd- er, chef," Robin said. This was her first time working alongside Sydney, so she was not yet used to referring to her as "chef." "Before I go anywhere, though, I just wanted to thank you for getting me this position. And Mr. Berzatto-"

Carmy cut her off. "You can call me Carmy. Everyone else does."

"Right. Okay. Well, in that case, Carmy, words cannot express how honored I am to be working with you. You're one of the greatest chefs in the world. You got a Michelin star, for crying out loud."

"I didn't get a Michelin star, Chef, I retained it. But thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a restaurant to run."

"Of course. Oh, and one more thing-"

"I'm not signing autographs until after service," Carmy once again interrupted Robin. "Now kindly get out of my way."

"Yes, chef."
---
(the previous week)

As soon as she got out of work, the first thing Sydney did was power on her phone. Everything these days revolved around technology, so during her time off the grid there was a lot Syd could have missed. Sure enough, she had a missed call from an old friend: Robin Buckley.

Sydney and Robin met years ago, when they were both students at the Culinary Institute of America. Though it had been a while since they'd seen each other in person-- Robin had been in New York working as the pastry chef at the renowned fine-dining restaurant Elysium, while Sydney was the chef de cuisine and part owner of The Bear in her native Chicago-- they texted every day, sharing every minute detail of their lives to each other. Robin suffered from severe anxiety and despised making phone calls, so if she had called Sydney, it was definitely important. Sydney immediately called her back.

"Hey, Syd," said Robin when she picked up the phone. Her voice sounded like she'd been crying. "I'm sorry I called, I know you have your phone off during service, but I just needed to hear your voice."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Elysium burned to the ground." Sydney could hear the grief in Robin's voice; she'd put half a decade of her life into Elysium, so the place meant a great deal to her. "One of the line cooks left a burner on towards the end of service, and nobody noticed until it was too late."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Did everyone get out okay?"

"There were a few minor injuries, but for the most part everyone's in one piece, thank God. I just don't know what I'm gonna do now, Syd. I have no backup plan. I thought Elysium was going to be my endgame."

"Come to Chicago." The words came out of Sydney's mouth almost instantaneously. "I can talk to Chef Carmy about you staging at The Bear."

"I appreciate the thought, but isn't Carmy kind of an asshole?" As honored as Robin would be to work with Carmen Berzatto, who was one of the most famous chefs in the world, she'd heard her fair share of Carmy horror stories from Sydney.

"Aren't all executive chefs kind of assholes?"

"Okay, you have a good point. But where am I gonna find a place to stay in Chicago on such short notice?"

"You can stay with me and my roommate Steve. He's not the most intelligent human being in the world, but he's got a good heart. If a golden retriever was a person, it would be him."

"Sounds interesting," said Robin. "We're doing a funeral for the restaurant sometime this week, but I'll probably be able to get a flight to Chicago for Sunday."

"That works for me. Steve and I are gonna need some time to get the place ready, plus I still need to talk to Carmy about the whole staging thing. I'm sure he'll say yes. You're an excellent pastry chef, Robin, and I'm not just saying that because you're my best friend."

"Aw, thanks, Sydney. I can't wait to see you again."

Sydney smiled, even though she knew Robin couldn't see her. "Me neither."

---

(present day)

"Hey, you must be Marcus," said Robin.

"Sure am. And you're Sydney's culinary school friend, right? Robin?"

"That's me."

"It's great to finally meet you," Marcus said. "Chef Sydney talks about you a lot, though, so I kinda feel like I already know you."

Robin tried not to blush. "Really? What does she say? Good things, I hope."

"Oh, all good things. Mostly how cool and awesome and talented you are and how happy she is to finally be working with you."

"Sydney said all of that?"

"Yep. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was in love with you."

Robin had had a crush on Sydney since the day they met, and over time all it had done was grow stronger. Deep down, she had a feeling that saying something would only sabotage the friendship they had, so she had just kept it to herself. "Haha, yeah. What a crazy and outlandish idea."

---
(six months prior)

"So, this is our first time alone together since… y'know." If Marcus had known that asking out Sydney would make things this awkward between them, he never would have done it. He wasn't even sure if he liked her like that-- maybe he was just mistaking the adrenaline of working with her in a high-pressure kitchen environment for romantic feelings-- but he figured there was no harm in shooting his shot.

"Yep," said Sydney, sucking her teeth. "I still feel like dirt about how I handled that."

"No, you did nothing wrong. You were totally right, actually; it'd be better for us to keep it professional. There's no way Carmy would approve of us dating."

"I didn't say no because of keeping it professional, or because of Carmy. And it's not because of you, either. You're great, Marcus, and I really do hope you find someone. But it's not gonna be me. You're… not my type."

"What is your type, then?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but for the most part, not guys."

"Oh, you're a lesbian?"

"I prefer the term 'queer,'" Sydney said. "Less limiting. But yeah, that's why I said no when you asked me out. I know I probably should've just said that-"

"No, no, it's fine. You don't owe me that. I do appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me, though. Means a lot. Does anyone else know?"

"Just my dad. He doesn't fully get it, but he said he supports me no matter what. Literally every time he sees something with a rainbow on it, he shows me, and he's like, 'This reminded me of you.'"

Marcus laughed. "Sounds like the Emmanuel Adamu I know," he said.

"Yep. Now that we've talked this out, I was hoping that maybe, if it wouldn't be too hard for you, we could be friends again."

"I was hoping you would say that."

---
(present day)

"So," said Sydney as Robin got in the passenger seat of her car, "your first dinner service at The Bear. What did you think?"

"It was fun," Robin replied. "Marcus is a good time. Don't get me wrong, we were still very productive, but that brother had me doubled over laughing for pretty much the entire night."

"Yeah, that sounds like Marcus. I'm glad you guys are getting along; you're two of my favorite people."

Robin smiled. "That's sweet."

"It's true. You have no idea how many times I've had to talk myself out of getting on a flight to New York just to see you again because it's just been too long."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," said Sydney. "The only thing stopping me was that I don't have nearly enough money. Not to mention I can't take a day off otherwise all hell will break loose at The Bear. Carmy's just a figurehead; I'm the one holding this restaurant together. I totally would've done it if I had the funds, though. You're, like, my better half."

"I think it's pretty obvious which one of us is the better half, and it's not me, Ms. Chef de Cuisine. I mean, look at us. You're perfect, and I'm… decidedly not."

"Don't sell yourself short, Robin. You're an exceptionally gifted pastry chef. Tonight, for the first time since The Bear opened, we weren't behind on desserts, and that's thanks to you. I wouldn't be surprised if Carmy decides to keep you on staff after your three-week stage is over. But not only that, though, you're an all-around amazing person. I've never met anyone as kind as you, plus you're brilliant. Like, you speak three languages, for crying out loud. That's some super-genius type stuff."

"Almost four, actually," Robin corrected. "I'm at a thousand days of Russian on Duolingo."

"You're literally just proving my point. I only speak English and sarcasm. Remember when we were still in culinary school, and you and I went into New York for the day?"

"Of course I do," said Robin. "How could I forget the best day of my life?"

"It was mine too. I got to spend a day with the most beautiful girl in the world. The entire time, I was fighting back the urge to do what I'm about to do right now. Thank God we're at a light."

"What do you-" Before Robin could finish her sentence, Sydney leaned in, wrapped both arms around the other woman, and kissed her passionately. For the majority of her adult life she had thought she was too busy to pursue romance, but she saw no harm in it now, especially since they'd both be seeing a lot of each other at The Bear.

"I should've asked first," Sydney said once she and Robin separated from each other. "I know consent is important and stuff-"

"Don't worry, Syd. You definitely had my consent. You've had my consent to kiss me since… well, like, always. I had no idea you liked me like that."

"I didn't know you did, either, so what I did just then was kind of a gamble. I'm glad it worked, though. Maybe you'd want to grab coffee tomorrow morning or something? I dunno what normal people do on dates. But it'd be nice to make it official."

"Would it be okay if I had tea instead? I don't mess with dirt water."

"Yeah, sure. Of course. I do just want to make one thing clear, though: nobody at work is to find out about this thing we have, least of all Carmy. This stays between us. And possibly also Steve, since he lives with us and it's gonna be pretty difficult to hide this from him. But mostly us. Do I make myself clear?"

Robin smiled, kissing Sydney again. "Yes, chef."

Chapter Text

(the previous sunday)

"So, here we are," Sydney said once she returned to her apartment after picking Robin up from the airport. Due to the fact that the apartment was very sparsely decorated and had a lot of windows, it felt a lot bigger than it actually was. "Home sweet home."

"No offense," said Robin, "but how do you live like this? This place is, like, empty."

"Yeah, it's a bit… cavernous. Steve and I are barely here, though, since we both work, so this is mostly just the place where we sleep."

"Fair enough. When am I gonna meet this Steve guy, by the way? You keep mentioning him, but I'm not entirely convinced he exists."

"No, he does," Sydney said. "He probably has his boyfriend over. That guy's, like, always here; I don't understand why he doesn't just move in at this point. But that's irrelevant. Want me to go get Steve?"

Robin wasn't completely on board with the idea of bothering Steve while he was with his boyfriend, plus she was kind of exhausted after having flown for almost three hours, but the people pleaser in her refused to let her say no. "Uh, sure."

"Okay." With that, Sydney went into Steve's room, and sure enough, there he and Eddie were, lying together watching something on Steve's laptop-- probably Outer Banks, since Steve was obsessed with that show-- while Eddie kissed Steve's neck. Syd thanked God that was all they were doing; she'd walked in on much worse before. "Yo, Harrington, she's here."

"Who's here?" Steve asked.

"Robin. Our new roommate. Any of that ring a bell?"

"Oh, right. I should probably go introduce myself or something."

"That's literally the reason I'm here, Steve. Ed, are you coming too?"

"Nah, I'm good," the long-haired man replied. "I'm too exhausted to move. It's been a day, man."

Sydney was very tempted to point out the irony of Eddie, who had no real job aside from playing the bass in an indie metal band whose quality was highly debatable, talking to Sydney, who worked her ass off in a kitchen seven nights a week, about exhaustion. However, she was almost certain that this would lead to a fight, and after five straight hours of listening to Carmy verbally abuse underpaid college-aged line cooks, she was not in the mood for a fight. "Okay, suit yourself," she said. "You can always meet Robin another time; knowing you, you'll definitely be here again in the foreseeable future. C'mon, Steve."

"Coming. I'll be right back, baby. This shouldn't take more than a couple minutes." Steve gave Eddie a peck, then got up and followed Sydney into the living room.

"So he does exist," said Robin.

"He sure does. Are we talking about me right now? 'Cause that's what I thought, but I just want to make sure we're all on the same page here."

"Yeah, she does mean you. Steve, this is Robin, my friend from culinary school. Robin, this is my roommate, Steve."

"Nice to meet you, Robin," Steve said. "Is this your first time in Chicago?"

"Mhm. I'm from Indiana originally, but I went to school in New York and then worked there for years, so New York's more of a home to me than Indiana. What about you? Are you from here?"

"Yeah, I've lived here all my life. I've been to other places on work trips, but I can't imagine living anywhere else. Chicago just sort of has this magic to it. You're gonna love it here, Rob. Can I call you Rob?"

"Sure. Plenty of people call me Rob."

"Cool. In that case, welcome to Chicago, Rob. I may be biased, but it's a fine city. Can I go back to my boyfriend now, Sydney?"

"You don't need my permission, Steve. Go get your man."

"I don't have to be told twice," Steve said, going back to his room. "'Night, guys."

"'Night."

"He's a character," Robin said to Sydney once she was sure Steve was out of earshot.

"Totally," Sydney agreed. "Never a dull moment with him."

"Where did you even find that guy?"

"Online. He needed a roommate and I wanted to get out of my dad's house, so it's a win-win situation. I remind myself of that on the nights when I can't fall asleep because he's in the next room fooling around with Eddie."

Robin wrinkled her nose. "Oh my God, that sounds like torture," she said. "Is tonight gonna be one of those nights? I sure hope not."

"Given how seemingly exhausted Eddie was when I was in the room, it doesn't seem like it will be. Anyway, this apartment only has two rooms, so if you want you can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

"I'm not making you give up your bed for me, Sydney. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Are you sure you'd be comfortable?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Or, maybe-- and you can totally say no, I'm just spitballing here-- maybe I could sleep in your bed with you. If you think that that'd be weird, that's fine. I'm not above sleeping on a couch."

"No, it's not weird," said Sydney. "I'd actually be okay with that. C'mon, let me take you to my room."

Sydney's room was roughly the size of a large closet, and much like the rest of the apartment, there were no signs of life save for the framed photo on the nightstand of a young woman and a small child. "Is that your mom?" Robin asked. When Sydney talked about her family, she would bring up her dad, but never her mom. Up until this moment, Robin wasn't even sure if the other woman had one.

"Yep. That's one of the last pictures I have with her. She died when I was four."

"Oh, wow, I didn't know that. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be. It was a while ago. I do sometimes wonder how my life would be different if she was still here, but it's not an open wound anymore."

"Makes sense. Still, I can imagine losing a parent is hard. Loss in general is kinda the worst."

"You've got that right," said Sydney as she got into bed. "I hate to cut this conversation short, Rob, but I had a long day at work. I need to sleep."

"Me too, minus the work part." Robin climbed in next to Sydney. "Goodnight, Syd."

"'Night, Rob. It's great to have you here in Chicago."

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be leaving any time soon."

---
(present day)

Sydney couldn't remember the last time she'd done something that was purely for herself. These days, the only things she'd had time to do were work in kitchens and sleep, and it had been like that for years now. Romance was something she hadn't even thought about, especially not with a coworker-- she'd made a rule for herself about not dating coworkers-- but for Robin she was willing to let that rule bend a little.

"This is nice," said Robin, taking a sip of her oat milk matcha latte. "Just hanging out with you. No Steve, no Carmy, just us. Takes me back to when we were in school."

"Yeah, for sure," Sydney said. "I don't know why I didn't make a move sooner."

"Me neither, but better late than never, I suppose."

"Exactly." Sydney kissed Robin on the cheek. "I have a good feeling about this whole thing, Robin."

Robin smiled and blushed. "I do too."

"Chefs, what the hell is this?" When Sydney first heard it, she thought it must be a trick of the mind, but sure enough, when she turned around, there he was: Carmy.

"No Carmy, huh?" She said to Robin, making sure to sound playful. She knew Robin often struggled to understand tone.

"How was I supposed to know he'd be here?"

"Don't worry, Rob, I'm not mad at you. I just think it's funny that you said 'no Carmy,' and now here's Carmy."

"Yeah, that is funny," Robin agreed. "What brings you here, chef?"

"Meeting an old friend," said Carmy. "An ex, rather. Claire. Things didn't exactly go great the last time I saw her, so I'm hoping I can clear the air a bit."

"Ooh, nice," Sydney said. "Let me know how that goes tonight, would you?"

"I'd rather keep my work life separate from my professional life. But since we're off the clock right now, I gotta ask: when did this whole shenanigan with you and Robin start? Is that why you wanted her at The Bear?"

"Well… yes and no," she answered honestly. "I liked her all along, but I never acted on it until last night. This is our first real date."

"I see. Well, congratulations, chefs. Be careful, though; the last relationship I was in ended with me stuck in a walk-in fridge on the opening night of my restaurant."

"That sounds like a personal problem, Carm," Sydney said. "We're not like you and Claire. No offense."

"None taken. It's clearly a very different situation. Anyway, I'll leave you two be. Enjoy your date."

"I'm sorry, did he say 'stuck in a walk-in fridge?' Is that a metaphor for something?"

"Nope," said Sydney. "Carmy was supposed to call the fridge guy about the broken door handle, but he was too distracted by his relationship with Claire, so on opening night the handle broke off with him in the fridge. While he was in there, he said some stuff about not deserving nice things, and who overheard his little rant but Claire."

"Not to be a sadist gaining pleasure from someone else's misfortune, but that is hysterical. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Slipped my mind. But this date isn't about Carmy, it's about us."

Robin rested her hand on Sydney's shoulder. "Us," she repeated. "We're an 'us' now."

"We sure are."

---
(the previous month)

"Hey, baby, do you have any plans for our anniversary?"

"When's that again?" Eddie replied, half-asleep. He and Steve were snuggling on Steve's couch. Eddie spent more nights at Steve's place than at his own these days; Steve's roommate Sydney was a chef and worked seven nights a week, so nights were generally a lot quieter there than they were in the Munson-Jerimovich household, which was full of people and almost always had some kind of fight going on.

"Did you seriously forget our anniversary?"

"No. Okay, yes. In my defense, though, there are two different days that could be considered our anniversary. We didn't go on our first date for, like, two and a half weeks after we first met online because you were on some business trip, remember?"

"Yeah, I do. But obviously I mean our first date, in which case our anniversary is, like, next month."

"Next month. Got it. Did you, uh, have anything in mind?"

"I was thinking maybe we could go to The Bear. I've never been there, but Syd's always telling me about the stuff they're adding to the menu. I didn't know I could crave something I've never had before, but God, man."

"The Bear?" Eddie repeated. "Babe, be so for real. I live in my uncle's basement and I'm in a band that hardly makes any money. There's no way I could afford to take you to The Bear."

"Who said you'd be the one taking me? You're forgetting I work in finance, Eds. I'm more than capable of paying."

"Even with that sorted, that place still has a wait list a mile long. Carmen Berzatto's this, like, famous chef; people are coming from all over the country to eat at The Bear. Getting a reservation is near impossible." Eddie knew all of this because Richie Jerimovich, one of the many relatives he lived with, happened to be a maitre d' at The Bear. Eddie himself had worked there as a line cook back when it was still the Original Beef of Chicagoland, but he hadn't set foot in the establishment since the rebrand.

"I think it's far enough away that we'll be able to get in. I'll talk to Syd about getting us a reservation."

"No, you don't have to bother Sydney. My cousin works there, and he owes me a favor anyway, so I'll talk to him about it eventually."

"Sounds perfect," Steve said. "This is gonna be our greatest anniversary yet."

"Baby, it's our first."

"Which means it's gonna be the best by default."

"This is true. God, Stevie, I love you so much."

Steve nuzzled his head in the crevasse between Eddie's neck and shoulder. "I love you too, baby."

---

(present day)

Sydney was used to having packed nights at The Bear, but on this night it seemed even busier than usual, especially for a Tuesday, which tended to be The Bear's quietest nights. Every time she thought she had even the smallest moment of free time, Carmy would start barking orders at her again. It was a lot, even for Sydney, who was used to a lot.

"Hey, guys, we've got a person of note coming in." Richie, who wasn't Carmy's cousin in any biological sense but still considered the other man a cousin, was in charge of the front of the house and would periodically notify the kitchen staff of any important information about customers. "My cousin's here with his boyfriend for their anniversary."

"Boyfriend?" Sydney repeated, glancing at Carmy. "I didn't know you swung that way, Carm."

"Me neither," said Marcus. "Happy belated pride month, chef."

"Different cousin, chefs." Carmy and Richie said it at the same time.

"Yeah, I knew he didn't mean you, chef," said Sydney. "I was just giving you a hard time. While we're on the subject of your love life, though, how did it go with Claire today?"

Carmy's entire face went beet red. "Chef, I believe I said something to you earlier about keeping our work lives separate from our personal lives?"

"Heard, chef. Anyway, Richie, where's this cousin of yours sitting?"

"Table 86. The reservation's under the name Eddie Munson."

"Wait a second," said Sydney. "Did you just say Eddie Munson?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because I know that guy. His boyfriend is my roommate."

---

(eight months prior)

It had been almost a week now since Sydney had moved out of her dad's house and in with Steve Harrington, a man who lived in an apartment within walking distance from The Bear and happened to have a spare room. Naturally, her father had had some reservations about her moving in with a stranger from the internet, and she knew how it could end, but based on the minimal interactions she'd had with Steve, he didn't seem like a serial killer. Given that he left for work long before Syd was even awake and was usually asleep by the time she returned home from The Bear, the roommates didn't see a lot of each other on an average day, so naturally it came as a shock to her when she arrived at the apartment to find Steve on the living room couch in the middle of a makeout session with a person who Sydney hadn't seen before, and even more so when she realized that this other person wasn't a woman but a man with long hair.

"The hell is going on here?" She said.

"Sydney, I'm a grown man and this is my apartment," said Steve. "I'm allowed to spend some quality time with my boyfriend if I want to. Who do you think you are, my mother?"

"Relax, Steve. I'm not stopping you or anything. I just wasn't expecting it."

"What, you didn't think I would have a love life? I work in finance, Syd, not a monastery. That's where monks go to monk it up, right, babe?"

"I wouldn't know," his boyfriend replied. "I'm Jewish."

"Fair enough. But you know what I mean, Sydney. Why is it so surprising to you that I'm in a relationship?"

"It's less the fact that you have a partner that surprised me and more that that's your type," Sydney replied. "No offense, uh…"

"Eddie," said Steve's boyfriend. "Eddie Munson. Remember that name; you'll be hearing it a lot once my band becomes famous, whenever that may be. And no offense taken. If I'm being perfectly honest, I was pretty surprised myself when I saw him on Grindr. Like, what was a guy like Steve doing on that app? A part of me thought he might be a catfish. I have never been happier to be wrong about something."

"That's nice," Sydney said, taking note for the first time in a while of the fact that she not only was single, but that that had been the case all her life. She knew she didn't need to be in a relationship to be happy, but maybe there was a small part of her that wanted one. Maybe there was a hole in her heart that needed to be filled. "I'm Sydney Adamu, Steve's new roommate. I work at The Bear. It's a new restaurant a few blocks down from here, used to be the Original Beef of Chicagoland but Carmy moved back home and decided to give the place a facelift. Anyway, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll leave you two to keep doing what you were doing before I interrupted."

"'Night, Sydney," said Eddie. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you. You seem like a nice guy."

"'Night, Syd," Steve said. "Sleep well."

"You guys too."

"Oh, we won't be sleeping any time soon," Eddie called after her as she retreated to her room. Indeed, they did not end up going to sleep for a few hours after that, and as a result of this, neither did Sydney.

---
(present day)

As soon as Sydney was able to go unnoticed by Carmy (which didn't take long, since he and Richie were once again at each other's throats), she stepped out of the kitchen and made her way to table 86, where Steve and Eddie had just sat down. "Why didn't you tell me you guys were coming tonight, Steve?" She asked.

"I wanted to surprise you." In truth, Steve had been meaning to tell Sydney that he and Eddie had a reservation at The Bear, but kept forgetting. It was rather difficult for them to find the time for a conversation, anyway, since their schedules were so out of alignment with each other.

"Gotcha," said Sydney. She had a feeling that surprising her wasn't Steve's intention, but he just never got around to telling her, but she kept that feeling to herself. "I should probably get back to the kitchen before Chef realizes I'm not there and goes ballistic-- more so than usual, anyway-- but as soon as I found out you were here I knew I had to sneak out to wish you guys a happy anniversary."

"That's thoughtful of you, Syd," Eddie said. "Say hi to my cousin for me, would you?"

"He may still be fighting with Carmy by the time I get back, but I'll try. Enjoy your night, boys."

"Yes, chef," Steve replied.

---

(on this day, the previous year)

Steve hadn't thought that anything would come out of him downloading Grindr. It was an impulse decision he'd made around the time he'd first started questioning his sexuality, to see what it would be like in a space with just queer men. He quickly learned that Grindr wasn't the most suitable app for someone like him, someone who was dating to marry, given how steeped it was in hookup culture. Steve wasn't too surprised at his lack of success with Grindr, given that he didn't have the best track record when it came to online dating (or dating at all, for that matter), and he'd meant to delete the app, but with all the distractions life kept throwing his way he never got around to it. He'd actually forgotten he'd ever downloaded the app in the first place until the day he got the notification that would forever change his life: "You matched with Eddie."

In the offline world, Eddie Munson was by no stretch of the imagination a person with whom Steve's path would cross. Sure, they were both Chicago natives, but Eddie's life was very different from Steve's; while Steve worked a corporate job and more or less conformed to western society's idea of a successful life, Eddie lived in a family member's basement, spent the majority of his nights out at underground clubs, and was technically unemployed save for his band, who were still waiting for their "big break." Unlike Steve, Eddie hadn't been looking for something serious, but with Steve away on a business trip in London they couldn't exactly meet up, so they messaged every day for the two and a half weeks Steve was out of the country. It was Eddie's first time entering a relationship without going right to the physical aspect, and he had to admit he found it refreshing. This Steve guy was far from his usual type, too, at least on the surface level, but the more Eddie talked to him the more he saw that he wasn't just a finance bro looking for a good time like he'd assumed. Was he hot? Yes, undoubtedly, but that wasn't the only thing that had made Eddie attracted to him. Steve was sweet, funny, and made him feel like he could let his guard down. Hell, he didn't even realize he'd had a guard up to begin with. Now that Eddie knew what it felt like to be cared for, to be loved, he couldn't get enough of the feeling, which is why he'd stayed in contact with Steve so long and, once the other man had returned from across the pond, met up with him at his apartment.

"A sight to behold," Eddie remarked as he entered Steve's apartment. He'd checked the address multiple times on the way there, and he was fairly certain he'd come to the right place. Seeing the other man made him even more certain.

"You don't have to say that. I know the apartment looks like crap. I'm hardly here 'cause of work, so I haven't really had the time to decorate."

"I meant you, Steve. Your place isn't too bad either, though. More or less where I'd expect a finance bro to live."

"Finance bro," Steve repeated. "That's a new one."

"Funny you should say that, because that was my exact thought when I came across your Grindr profile. I don't exactly see a ton of your kind on there."

"That tracks. I'm not exactly like other finance bros, as you would call us. I only really got into finance because my family wanted me to do something 'respectable.'" Steve put air quotes around that last word.

"I know what you mean," said Eddie. "When I told my family I didn't plan on going to college because I didn't need a degree to be a musician… Well, they were disappointed, but not surprised. I never was that interested in school to begin with. Some of my relatives are still on my back about getting a real job to this day, but screw them. I love what I do, even if the pay is nonexistent at the moment."

"You're definitely stronger than I am in that respect. For me, it was either I'd go into some kind of corporate job or I'd become a doctor, and I don't think I would save many lives."

Eddie laughed. "Well, what if those weren't your only options? What would you have chosen otherwise?"

"I don't even know. Finance is honestly kinda rotting my soul, but it's not like I have a backup plan."

"Who needs a plan? Those are so overrated. And I know you're an adult and it's not my place to pass judgment about how you choose to live your life, but you are way too young to be stuck in a job you hate. This isn't living. You're 28, Steve. You should be in the club."

"The club? Why would I go to a club? I have work tomorrow."

"See, this is what I'm talking about. You're so boring, you don't even know how boring you are."

"If you think I'm boring, then why are you here?"

"Because I think we're a good fit for each other," Eddie replied, taking a step closer to Steve. "These last couple weeks, talking to you… you've made me feel things I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. Before you, I was the type of guy who'd hook up with guys whose names I didn't even know, then sneak out of their houses the next morning while they were still asleep. I think I was just afraid of letting people in, letting them get too close to me, putting myself in a position where I could get hurt. But you… you're a whole different story, Steve. I wanna be around you every second of every day. I wanna get old with you, wanna make memories with you. I know how cheesy that all sounds-"

Steve cut him off. "It's not cheesy, Eds," he said. "I actually know exactly what you mean. I know it hasn't even been that long that we've been talking, but I can see a future for us. And I'm totally with you about us being a good fit. Maybe you could help me be less boring."

"I'd be down for that," said Eddie. "I can take you to some of my favorite spots, maybe even introduce you to the band. But for now, I'd be down to just hang out with you. I know you've gotta go back to your life as a finance bro tomorrow, but I've been waiting for two and a half weeks to see you, so I wanna make the most out of tonight."

Steve smiled, pulling Eddie into a deep kiss. He'd wanted to do that for a while now, and to say that it was worth the wait would have been the understatement of the century. "Say less," he said.