[Thank you to @avi17 for beta services, any remaining whoopsie-doodles are my own]
Steve Harrington pulled out his pack of cigarettes and placed one between his lips. He dropped the pack back into his pocket and then patted around himself for his lighter.
Fuck. He sighed.
It didn't matter how many gas station lighters he bought and stuck into the pockets of all his clothes, he somehow always ended up losing them immediately.
Talking around his cigarette, he turned to Eddie.
"Help me out here, man. Light me." He aimed the unlit cigarette at his friend.
"Yeah, gimme a sec," Eddie said as he put his acoustic guitar to the side and patted his own pocket. He pulled out a lighter and then reached over and plucked the cigarette from Steve's lips and placed it between his own and proceeded to light it. Then, once lit, he removed it and placed it back between Steve's lips.
Steve just stared, shocked.
What the hell was that? Who lit someone's cigarette that way?
By this point, Eddie had already gone back to messing around on his guitar, didn't seem to notice Steve's reaction at all.
"What was that?"
"You asked me to light your cigarette, I did," Eddie shrugged.
"You could've lit it while it was in my mouth."
"Consider it paying the toll."
Steve laughed at the audacity and got back to digging through Eddie's cassettes as he smoked.
That was the first time. But then it happened again. And again. And eventually it was just the natural way Steve smoked. More than once Steve had realized he did in fact have a lighter, right after Eddie had lit his.
And then once, Steve felt the lighter in his pocket and asked Eddie to light his anyway.
After that, he just stopped trying to carry lighters.
It wasn't until months in, when the habit had well and truly formed, that it happened in front of someone else.
Of course it was Nancy. Why wouldn't it be Nancy?
It was a momentary lapse in judgment. He was running on autopilot. Cigarette goes in mouth, ask Eddie to light him, Eddie takes his toll and puts the cigarette back in Steve's mouth. That's just how Steve's cigarettes get lit.
But then as he was taking his first drag, his eyes happened to catch on Nancy and the look on her face made his blood run cold.
With a barely detectable nod leftward from Nancy, Steve knew his presence was requested for a chat.
He let Eddie know he was helping Nancy get something down from a high shelf and would be right back, and then followed Nancy up to his dad's home office and shut the door quietly.
"What the hell was that!?"
"What, he was just lighting my cigarette," Steve said defensively.
"Are you two dating?"
"What? No!"
"It looked rather intimate."
"I mean, yeah, I guess it is. I dunno, it's just how Eddie lights people's cigarettes."
"He does this to other people?"
"I assume so," Steve shrugged, realizing he had only ever imagined Eddie lighting other people's cigarettes that way after the very first time. After that, he hadn't really circled back to the the thought but now that it was back, Steve found he didn't much like this mental image at all.
Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face because Nancy gave him a look dripping with kindness and a sprinkling of pity.
"You like him."
"No."
"You like him."
"I don't."
"Steve. You like Eddie."
"...Shit," he cursed, looking off to the top of the bookshelves. Then he looked back at Nancy, seemingly miserable.
"What do I do, Nance?"
She thought about it a moment then shrugged. "Date him, I guess."
"I mean, clearly I'm gay for him, as you just rudely forced me to realize. But I don't even know if he would be willing or interested in dating men. Well, not men, just me."
"I think he is interested. He lights your cigarette in his own mouth."
"Yeah, but that's just paying the toll, Nance! It doesn't mean he likes me! You gotta tell me what to do soon or Eddie will think we are doing something up here. Come on, use that big nerd brain."
Nancy rolled her eyes, but smiled in amusement. "Fine. A simple experiment. Next time he smokes, you do too. See what he does when his lips are already busy. See you this evening, don't be late or we'll miss all the trailers."
And with that she grabbed a pack of printer paper and left the office. He heard her say goodbye to Eddie and then leave.
The rest of the day was spent waiting for Eddie to smoke, and as they say, a watched pot never boils.
Eventually, it was time to head out for the theater. Steve was on edge from trying to act like he was just hanging out with his friend in a normal way instead of obsessively watching him for clues and waiting for him to smoke.
Finally, when Eddie climbed into the passenger seat, he cranked the window a bit and lit his own cigarette. Steve waited a moment while waiting for the car to warm up, then pulled his own out and placed it to his lips.
"Light me?" Steve asked.
"Yep, I got you."
Eddie placed both hands on the edges of Steve's jaw and brought their faces together. Steve's heart nearly burst out of his chest thinking Eddie was going to kiss him, but then he realized Eddie was trying to position their cigarettes tip to tip. Steve snapped out of it and used his lips to help aim, then they both puffed in and out quickly a few times to pass the flame.
He cursed the flammability of thin paper wrappers when his cigarette caught and Eddie released his face. Steve felt fluttery from how unbelievably intimate and sensual that had felt. Not only had Eddie cupped his jaw, fingers bracketing his ears and fingertips in his hair, but it was also very easy to convince yourself someone is looking at your lips instead of your cigarette in such close proximity.
He took a moment to breathe, overwhelmed.
"Steve?"
"Yeah, should be good, just making sure the engine was warmed up." He threw the car in gear and backed out of the drive.
When they arrived, Nancy and Jonathan were waiting out front, huddled for warmth or because they were in love. In a Midwest winter it was hard to tell sometimes.
As soon as Nancy was in view, she and Steve had a nonverbal conversation with their eyes. She questioned, he answered, she looked exasperated, he shrugged.
As soon as they got their seats, Steve threw his coat down next to Eddie and announced he'd grab everyone's snacks if Nancy would help carry. Eddie and Jonathan both offered but Steve and Nancy shot them down and dashed off to chat.
"Wow, really?"
"Yeah! I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat, I'm a changed man, I'm never going to recover from that. I'm never going to let him smoke alone, either, even if this doesn't mean anything, at least I could relive that moment again and again!"
"I really think he likes you, but if you really want more proof, I'll think of something…"
After the movie, the four stood out back behind the theater, chatting about the film. Nancy watched Steve and Eddie talking excitedly to each other, unintentionally ignoring her and Jonathan. They were quite clearly so intimately comfortable with each other, there was no way they wouldn't be the perfect fit.
And then an idea came to her and she grabbed Jonathan by the shoulder and pulled him down to whisper in his ear.
He glanced nervously over at the two and then back to Nancy, then pulled out his cigarettes which had a lighter stuck down the clear foil, clearly visible, realized and shoved them back into his pocket awkwardly and fumbled to pull a cigarette out with the pack in his pocket.
"Hey Eddie, light me?"
"Sure," Eddie shrugged, tossing his lighter to Jonathan in an underhand throw, barely sparing the man a glance. Steve waited a very conservative five seconds before leaning in to kiss Eddie and Nancy was both pleased and embarrassed that Eddie responded by pressing Steve up against the wall by the dumpster.
