banananinja136
What A Feeling II
Class finally came to an end and Steve almost jumped from his seat, stumbling past the other students to get the first foot out of the door.
Eli watched this as he packed up his bag slowly, putting his books in carefully as to not fold them. He thought it was odd how Steve just barrelled out of the classroom but he just assumed Steve needed to use the restroom. He was the last one in the room and the silence felt strangely content as the noise of the hallways were muffled around him.
Steve did, in fact, make his way to the washroom but he didn’t have any bodily functions to fulfill. He locked himself in a stall and sat down, gripping his hair in his hands as he tried to calm himself. The pressure of his thoughts gathered around him and he tried his best to gain control. He stumbled on thoughts of Eli as he gritted his teeth in frustration. He had already tried blaming Eli for what he felt but after a while, he felt that was pointless. He blamed himself but even he couldn’t understand why he felt the way he did. He had tried everything, from beating himself up to shutting out his thoughts but he hadn’t had a chance to think about accepting it.
A few days ago, when they were on the roof Steve had begun to understand what he was feeling, although he didn’t want to admit it at the time. He watched Eli stare out at the city and he smiled at the way the lights sparkled against the lens of the smaller boys glasses. Eli was breathtaking to him and he wanted nothing more to tell him that but Steve knew now wouldn’t be the time. Well, in a perfect world maybe but now certainly wasn’t the time. He watched as Eli’s eyelids began to droop heavily, he knew the smaller boy was much more tired than he had tried to cover up. He looked back at the city once more, the lights almost twinkled in the distance. There were so many colors he couldn’t keep count but bright oranges of streetlights stood out the most. They stood like skyscrapers in comparison to the trees that surrounded the city. He sighed as he let go of the things that had been troubling him. He let go of Coach and the thoughts of one-upping Jim, and the moment he tried to let go of Eli, he felt a soft pushing against his upper arm. He looked down to see that Eli had passed out, leaning against him as he slept. Steve smiled warmly as he felt the body heat that Eli produced. A bright red hue was growing across his face. For a long time, he just listened to the way Eli breathed, it calmed him down as he watched the smaller boy mumble in his sleep. He listened contently until he decided they should go home, he looked down to see his watch read 2 AM. He picked up Eli, who curled around him like a small child. He reached into his pockets for the keys he had taken from Coach and unlocked a door that led down to school. The halls were empty and for once Steve felt comfortable, there was a certain vibe the bare walls gave off. With no students in the school, it was almost peaceful as he walked slowly to the exit doors.
It took awhile for them to get back to Eli’s house, Steve had to keep themselves pretty hidden until they got there. Luckily, tonight seemed like a quiet night. Creeping into Eli’s window was even harder as he had to hold a whole other body. It was difficult since Eli wasn’t awake to hold onto Steve, but dropping Eli wasn’t an option. He squeezed through the small frame and stood up straight as he looked around the room. It was too dark to see clearly, but with the streetlight that shone through the window, it was easier to see the outline of the bed. He placed Eli down on the mattress, carefully pulling a blanket over him. Eli shifted in his sleep as Steve tucked him in, a soft moan escaped his throat. Steve decided it was best for him to go before he stared too long.
He couldn’t help but study the shape of the small boys’ lips, Steve knew he wanted to see what they felt like against his. Blushing at the thought, he leaned forward into Eli and stopped himself right above his target.
‘What am I doing?!’ He asked himself in the silence of his mind. He pulled away and headed for the window, he felt so stupid for trying to be daring or whatever the hell he’d even call it. He couldn’t just kiss Eli, it wasn’t right especially if he was sleeping. But not even that, Eli would never know if he’d even been kissed at all. If Steve was going to confess anything, he at least wanted someone to know. He became fearful of the opinions of others but he knew Eli could keep his secret, but even this wasn’t something Eli could probably handle. As Steve left he sighed, he had to come to terms with the things he felt for Eli. Somehow, he just had to.
Steve met Eli down the street from the school, it was quite a far walk but at least it was Friday, everyone would be rushing home by this point of the day.
“Hey,” Eli said as he caught up with the taller boy. Steve held his breath for a moment before he replied.
“H-hey, Pepperjack” Eli could notice the shakiness in Steve’s voice. There was no reason for Steve to be nervous, Eli just assumed maybe something had happened.
“Are you alright?” The question made Steve’s heart stop, a shiver ran directly down his spine.
“Yeah, I’m fine” Steve laughed as he spoke, trying to hide his thoughts behind his smile. Eli knew something was up but he decided to drop it for now. There was no sense in pushing Steve.
They got to Eli’s house a few minutes after 4 PM, Eli rushed up to his room to make sure everything was in its place. Steve grew to admire Eli’s organization, he a place for everything it seemed.
It was quite different from his trashbunk of a room. He walked up the stairs carefully and came up to see Eli making sure his bed was perfectly made. Steve smiled as Eli turned around to face him, watching how nervously the small boy had suddenly become at his sudden presence. No one had ever tried to make anything look nice for him, he didn’t mind that it was purposely presentable. But he also admired the care Eli put into the tidiness of his room.
As hours passed, Steve tried to get Eli to speak more than him. He just wanted to hear Eli’s voice when he spoke about things he was passionate about, even if Steve didn’t quite understand what he was referring to half the time. He didn’t mind, watching the smaller boy get excited about monsters they’d find or what he was enjoying in school was the uplifting part of his day. Although he hid it well, Steve wanted more than anything to say that Eli was extraordinary. There was something about Eli he liked and he brought himself to accept it, or at least part way.
There was no denying it as he watched the way Eli smiled when he spoke, talking about his plans for more Creepslayerz missions.
“Steve, are you listening?” Eli asked placing his hands on his hips. Steve jumped slightly at his question as he realized he hadn’t really been fully paying attention.
“Y-yeah, I’m listening” he replied and Eli narrowed his eyes, lowering his eyebrows into a slight scowl. Steve smiled as it reminded him of the first time they had become friends.
“You don’t seem to be invested. In fact, you haven’t really said a word this whole time” Eli’s tone was harsh and made Steve’s heart drop.
“Sorry, I’ve just been thinking about…stuff” Steve’s tone became nervous as Eli studied him.
“What kind of stuff?” Eli asked curiously. Steve swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to think of something else to say other than what he was actually thinking.
“Just…ugh… you know, like Creepslayerz stuff. What our next move is going to be” he answered uneasily.
Eli could tell very well that Steve was lying, but he knew there was no real reason to cover up anything unless it was in fact something. Eli decided not to let it go.
“What’s wrong, Steve?” he asked as he sat down on the floor in front of the taller boy.
Steve just sat in silence as he stared at Eli. He began to panic as he knew he couldn’t very well keep lying, Eli had caught on.
“N-nothing really” he replied as he stared into Eli’s green eyes. Steve could make out the dark strands that defined Eli’s iris, they almost danced around in a beautiful twisted abstract pattern.
“Steve, you don’t need to lie to me. Friends don’t lie to each other” Eli said as his eyebrows lowered with empathy.
Steve sighed at the tone of Eli’s voice, no one had really ever cared to ask it the way Eli did. He felt a hand on his knee and he looked down at it as a lighthearted smile came to Eli’s face.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone” he suggested as Steve cleared his throat.
“Well, there’s…It’s been…I’ve had my mind on someone.” Steve half admitted the truth as Eli’s interest grew.
“On your mind?” He questioned.
“Yeah, like… I think I have a…crush” Steve admitted with an anxious smile.
“Oh neato, who do you have these undeclared feelings for?”
“Well, umm… they couldn’t be described by words really”
“I just need a name, Steve”
“But that’s my point. They are so incredible they surpass the use of their own name” Steve danced around the question as he tried to distract Eli.
“Is it Claire?” Eli questioned and Steve gave a sour look in return.
“No, it’s not Claire” he laughed boldly “ I don’t know if my feelings are even real right now, Eli. I don’t really want to tell you their name because they are just so… full of life and the way I smile when I’m around them… it’s just something I’ve never felt before”.
Steve’s words sat with Eli for a moment, he tried to think of something to say. So Steve was in love, probably, which would make sense to why he was acting so weird.
“What are they like?” Eli decided to humor his lovesick partner with a question that may give him some clues to who Steve was speaking about.
“Well, they’re adorable. I mean everything they do, like when they smile it just brings a deep warmth to me. The way they talk about things just makes me want to listen to them, even if I don’t understand what they’re really even speaking about, I just like to hear them talk” Steve sighed contently into his hand. Eli felt it was a very vague description but he tried to change the question.
“What do they look like?” He asked.
“They have this shy smile that they sometimes try to hide. I hate it when they do that. They have dark brown hair, and it just falls a certain way over their head. Maybe it’s just me but it would be hard for me to put how I see them into actual words. They’re just so unique… words just don’t do them justice” Steve replied with a soft smile as he stared directly into Eli’s eyes.
He tried to think of everything he could see inside of Eli but he knew the last part was the truth. He didn’t know how to describe Eli other than the obvious features he possessed. But to Steve it wasn’t the way Eli looked, it was the way Eli was as a person. It was the way his smirk rose at the corner of his lips or the way he became excited over something that was barely important. It was how Eli scribbled on his hand when he was bored, mindless doodles but not overlooked. It was the way Eli saw the effort of others and how sensitive he actually was on the inside. It’s what made Eli a wonderful friend but it had been what made Steve attracted to him. The certain wallflower charm that bloomed around the smaller boy made Steve grin widely. His dopey smile showed as Eli became confused.
“What’s up with that look?” Eli asked suddenly.
“Hmm? Sorry, just started thinking about them again” Steve laughed to himself as he gained control of his expression “just thought about the way they have to push up their glasses when they ride too far down their nose”.
Eli thought that was an odd statement but at least it gave him one clue, the person wore glasses and had dark brown hair. He scrolled through a memory bank of faces, trying to figure out which girl with glasses it could be. He decided to leave the thought for later, he’d just have to study Steve’s interactions with others over the next few days to find out.
“Well, whoever it is, they sound amazing,” Eli said, trying to be positive. He knew Steve would tell him when he was ready but it didn’t hurt to find out before it came to that point, Eli’s curiosity had been sparked.
“Eli, you have no idea” Steve laughed as he stared deeply into the eyes of the very person he was speaking about.
-To Be Continued
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Well, here is the second edition of the fanfiction of Steve and Eli.
Shout out to @glassnail cause I don’t actually know how to tag people.
wisdomchiechan
paperbooart
clairelutra
crusanite
gattoskeep
illmamnim
ruinedchildhood