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Steve loved his job. Even better than that, he was damn good at his job. When he looked back on his life before this, he couldn't help but laugh at the strangeness of it. Who would have thought that Steve ‘The hair’ Harrington, high school jock and post high school loser, would go on to become a kindergarten teacher.
Yet, here he was, up to his elbows in paint, glitter, glue sticks, and excited five-year-olds, happier than he's ever been in his life. He loved his kids and they, to his absolute delight, loved him back. Steve never got mad at them, never told them off in a way that sounded like a telling off. On the rare occasions that he had to tell them no for any reason, he always sat them down to explain why he was saying no. He was fully aware that that was his own childhood trauma coming in, hearing his cold, distant parents saying no to any request and never explaining why. He'd sworn that his kids, biological or otherwise, would never experience that cold unfairness.
Clapping his hands, a rain of glitter falling from his yellow sweater Steve got the kids attention.
“All right, everyone, it's almost time to go home.” He paused at the chorus of groans and complaints, secretly pleased that they liked him so much and wanted to stay. “Let's all wash up and get our backpacks and shoes on and line up by the window to watch for your parents, okay?”
Obediently, the children did as asked, forming two neat lines to the little wash basins, patiently waiting for their turn. That made Steve smile, proud his class were so well behaved. He busied himself putting their pictures out to dry, ready to take home the next day, while making sure to keep a close eye on them.
Once all the kids had been picked up, Steve sat down in his chair behind his desk to take a breather before he cleaned up the classroom. The home time routine was always a bit of a hectic one.
As he started to tidy up, hands full of glue and paper scraps, there was a familiar knock on the door.
“It looks like a stripper exploded in here,” Robin commented as she walked in, eyes sweeping the whole room. When they landed on Steve, she started laughing hysterically. Aware that he probably looked as bad as the sparkling carpet right now, Steve chose instead to ignore her and carry on with his task.
He put everything away as neatly as possible and tried, rather ineffectually, to brush the worst of the glitter from himself.
“And to what do I owe this honour?” he asked her, brushing the last of the paper scraps into the trash can.
“Don't tell me you forgot, Steve,” she whined leaning on his desk and pouting at him. He looked at her blankly for a moment, and then rolled his eyes.
“Oh Rob, you can't be serious. Not tonight. I've got school tomorrow.”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that your parents had given you a curfew again,” she sniped. Steve gave her an unfriendly look but she just laughed at him.
“Do you know what it’s like to try dealing with a bunch of five-year-olds with next to no sleep?” he demanded, gathering his things, already knowing he was going to end up giving in to her. He always did when she got that pouting, kicked puppy look in her eyes.
“You promised,” she whined to Steve, clutching his arm. He sighed, rolling his eyes at his best friend and his own lack of a spine.
“Fine,” he declared, throwing his arms up in defeat. “But only for one hour, I've got a school trip tomorrow and I'm not going to be out all night.”
Robin clapped her hands, bouncing off the desk to hug Steve and start dragging him to the door.
“Why exactly do I have to come to this thing tonight?” he asked as they made their way out of the classroom, Steve pausing to check he had everything. Robin was playing hopscotch on the tiles, making him chuckle. She gave him that ‘duh’ look that he knew, and hated, so well.
“Because I need a wingman,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Steve snorted, not believing that for a moment. Robin and Vickie had been all over each other for weeks, she hardly needed his lack of skills to get lucky. He appreciated the generous gesture though.
“Fine, fine. I don't know why I agree to do these things for you, especially when I have work tomorrow.”
“Because you love me,” she sing-songed as she danced down the hallway towards the car. Steve couldn't deny that. Robin was his best best friend in the whole world and he did love her to death, but why he agreed to go with her to some club on a night before he had a class trip, of all things, was beyond him. He knew full well that he'd have to stand there, lonely and pathetic looking, drink in hand while Robin and Vickie played love's young dream. She was going to owe him a whole week of chores for this.
They stop by their shared apartment so that Steve could shower and attempt to get the worst of the glitter off. It took a lot longer than he expected. He didn't remember the glitter going in his hair but, with five-year-olds, you never can tell. He scrubbed and scrubbed until the water stopped being quite so sparkly, then got out and spent an entertaining half hour drying and fussing with his hair to get it exactly as it should be. He wasn’t sure why he was bothering, there wasn’t going to be anyone there he wanted to impress. He didn’t even like heavy metal music.
He could hear Robin pacing in the living room, annoyed that Steve was taking so long, even though the club wasn't open for at least another hour.
“You do realise,” he called through his bedroom door, staring into his tiny closet. “That I'm not going anywhere until I've eaten something.”
Robin whined again, complaining that he was turning into an old man and that she was going to miss all the important parts. Steve held firm as he got dressed, he might be a push over the rest of the time but not when it came to food.
It took him a while to decide what to wear. This was just a casual night out and he didn't need to dress up for it. Slipping on his comfortable, wash worn black jeans and one of his oatmeal sweaters, Steve stepped into the living room. Robin glanced at him and rolled her eyes.
“Absolutely not,” she snapped, pushing him back into his room. “There is no way you are going to dress as an old man! Turn your ass around, go back in there and find a shirt that makes you look good, for God’s sake.”
He opened his mouth to complain and asked exactly what was wrong with how he was dressed but Robin got that look on her face, the one that meant that he was going to do as he was told whether he liked it or not. So about face he went and dug out a dark silvery grey shirt that was a touch too tight for a week day club trip.
“Satisfied?” he demanded as he stepped out of the bedroom for a second time. She swept her eyes over him.
“Well, it's not perfect, but it'll do,” she decided after a moment.
“And exactly what difference does it make what I'm wearing?” he grumped, jamming his phone and keys into his pockets. “I'm literally just standing there guarding the drinks and holding your purse. You know, my life's work.”
Robin scowled at him then laughed and nodded.
“Yeah, I suppose so but it doesn't mean that, you know, you can’t at least make the effort to look nice. You never know who you might bump into. You might make an impression on somebody that likes the weird, glittery teacher type.”
Steve gave her a flat look that spoke volumes.
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he scoffed before demanding food loudly. “I'm not going into any club until I’ve eaten something.”
“Fine fine,” Robin sighed, glancing at her phone. “There's a diner just a few blocks away from the club. We'll go there.” She tilted her head as if to say ‘alright, old guy?’
“I don't care as long as they have food and preferably a milkshake,” Steve said, already heading to the door.
“Oh my god. How old are you again?” she asked incredulously.
“Hey, I had to sit and listen to kids talk about milkshakes, ice creams and cakes, all damn day. Trust me when I tell you that occasionally, I get a craving. Let's go.”
The meal, while nothing fancy, was incredibly satisfying and Steve had two milkshakes just because he felt like it. It also annoyed Robin who wanted to be going, right now, so that was a bonus in Steve’s tally of petty revenge. They walked to the club, bickering good naturedly as they always did, Steve knowing he’d be alone once Robin locked eyes with Vickie. They seemed to be getting pretty serious. Maybe he needed to have ‘the talk’ with her soon.
The club, a small, dark hole in the wall, was practically dead when Robin dragged him in there and he looked at her, eyebrows raised to say ‘really Robin?’ She just looked back and grinned like the demon she was.
“It'll pick up in a bit,” she assured him. “Once the bands start getting set up.”
Steve checked his watch and saw that it was not quite eight o'clock. No wonder the place was dead. Most people hadn't even finished eating yet.
Hiding his long suffering sigh, Steve found a booth off to one side and wedged himself in a corner, Robin perched on the edge, eyes fixed on the door, waiting. He recognised Vickie the moment she walked in, watching how Robin lit up at the sight of her.
“Oh, there's Vicky,” he said in mock surprise. “What a coincidence that she’s here this evening,” he taunted his friend. Robin turned to him, her cheeks bright red and her eyes sparkling.
“Shut up,” she laughed. “You knew she would be here. It’s her cousin’s band.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Steve dismissed, waving a hand. “Just don't forget about me completely. Maybe bring me water in like half an hour when you two come up for air or something.”
Robin gave him a long look, her sharp eyes seeing something that Steve couldn't even guess at. She squeezed his arm, warm and kind, before jumping up to rush over to the girl that she'd been waiting for. Steve sighed, fishing his phone out of his pocket. He could at least plan a few more lessons while he was there and before it got too loud. Maybe, if he was really lucky, he'd be able to slip away from Robin and her girlfriend before it got too late. He didn't want to be an old man about it, but he did have to chaperone a bunch of five-year-olds on a trip to a music centre the next day and he really didn't want to be up all night with a headache the metal music was sure to cause.
There was a clatter from the direction of the stage and Steve, being attuned to that kind of noise thanks to his training, looked up to see what was going on. Under the stage lights was an angel. He blinked, rubbing his eyes and looked back. The image had changed to a man with long wavy, dark hair setting up a guitar on the stage. He wore black skin tight jeans, a mesh shirt that gave tantalising hints of tattoos and there were flashes of silver around his waist, wrists and on his fingers. When a man turned, he flashed a smile at someone and Steve was hypnotised, unable to look away.
He watched in rapt admiration as the dark haired man set up guitar, bass, drums, microphones. Then more people spilled onto the stage, taking up their instruments as the man took up the awesome electric guitar and began tuning it. Steve couldn’t tear his eyes away from the long, dexterous fingers as they flew over the fretboard. The man was grinning, tongue out as he flashed devil horns at the rapidly filling dance floor. Steve’s mind took a sharp swerve into the gutter.
Robin reappeared from somewhere, holding two water bottles and looking slightly concerned by Steve's rapt expression.
“Hello? Earth to Steve? What the hell are you looking at?” She followed his gaze to the stage. She looked back and forth several times before grinning slightly, eyes dancing. “Oh, I see you've noticed the act for this evening, well, the opening act this evening. That's Corroded Coffin. Remember me telling you about them?”
Steve had a blank look, completely out of it, unaware that Robin was even talking. He couldn’t look away from the dark angel on stage.
“Corroded Coffin, Vickie's cousin's band?” Robin prompted him, jabbing his arm. “Do you not remember anything? Seriously, Steve, how did you make it as a teacher? Things just keep falling out of your head,” she continued to tease, seeing her best friend blink several times, his big, brown eyes coming back to her, slightly dazed.
“Rob,” he muttered, struggling to focus. “I'm sorry, what? Vickie's cousin's band?”
“Yeees,” Robin said slowly, aware Steve was being a bit slow this evening. “That's her cousin, the guitarist. That's Eddie.”
“That's Eddie?!” Steve squeaked, quickly covering it with a cough and a hasty drink. He’d heard Robin talking about Eddie before. Vickie usually called him the freak, but in that same fond, playful tone Robin used when she called him dingus.
He glanced at the stage again as the band finished tuning up, once more caught by the wide, brilliant smile on Eddie’s face as he laughed with his band.
“Maybe I'll stick around for a bit, see if they're any good. And to support Vickie, of course,” he said quickly, snatching a look at the time. “But then I really have to go. I mean, I've got work tomorrow and everything.”
Robin nodded, hiding a grin behind her hand as Steve’s eyes drifted to the stage again like magnets.
“Sure, sure. Just let me know so I can come and rescue my purse or whatever.” Steve nodded absently.
“Yeah, yeah. Absolutely,” he murmured, distracted again. Robin went to tell Vickie the new development.
Steve couldn't take his eyes off the band and he definitely couldn't take his eyes off the guitarist, Eddie, his mind supplied helpfully. The man was smiling, a huge, bright smile that lit up his entire face and made his dark eyes sparkle like gems.
Steve was not adverse to an attractive man. He was bisexual, he'd been out since he was in his teens. He dated plenty of women and men, and he had a certain type. After his last relationship crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, Billy being too angry to hold a relationship of any kind, he’d sworn off dating for a while, focusing on his career.
But now, oh dear. Now, his type stood on the stage strumming a guitar with effortless ease and grinning for the whole world. Steve couldn't stop looking at him. He didn't even really pay attention when the music kicked in. He wasn't really a fan of heavy metal but from what he could tell, the band was pretty good. Eddie had quick, deft hands that ran along the guitar with swift, sure moves. It made slightly pornographic images run through Steve's head and he shook those away quickly. Now was not the time.
Before he knew it, the band had finished their set , the crowd roaring their appreciation. Steve jumped up and cheered too, clapping loudly. He nearly swallowed his tongue when Eddie’s eyes swept the room and seemed to land on him for a long, electrifying moment. That smile, warm, engaging, stunning, nearly blinded Steve. The band hustled off stage and the moment was lost. Steve sat down for a moment, needing to catch his breath. When he caught sight of the time, Steve swore venomously. He looked around for Robin in the, now crowded, club. He managed to spot Vickie’s shock of red hair in the crowd and the strobe lights.
Gathering their things, Steve made his way through the crowd to give Robin her purse. He felt unbalanced, thrown off by his own attraction to the stranger on the stage.
“Hey Rob, I'm really sorry, but I have to go,” he shouted over the music. “It's so much later than I thought.”
Robin, sweaty, smiling and thoroughly enjoying herself, threw her arms around him and gave him a huge hug.
“Wait wait wait!” she cried, hanging on like a limpet. “Two more seconds before you go. I want to introduce you to someone.”
Steve tried to pry her off, tried to beg that he had to go, he was going to be ruined for tomorrow if he didn't leave right now, but Robin being Robin wouldn't listen. She was also alarmingly strong when she wanted to be.
Steve was dragged through the crowd and into a corridor, Vickie hot on their heels and Steve felt as if he'd gone deaf as the noise cancelling door shut behind them. The sudden silence made his ears ring. It was worse than when the school fire alarm went off. Robin dragged him down the corridor, ignoring his moaning and complaining that he had to leave.
Why was she doing this to him? Bouncing and bubbly as ever, she dragged him further into the depths of the club.
“Yeah, yeah, you can go in a minute. Let's just say hi to someone first,” she trilled in that faux innocent tone that Steve had come to dread.
“Who do you want me to…” he began to ask as a door opened and there, much closer than Steve ever expected him to be, was the angel of the stage, Eddie.
He was sweaty and still smiling, throwing his arms open wide. Steve nearly died as the mesh shirt pulled tight across his chest and rose to flash a strip of bare stomach. He started counting glue sticks in his head.
“Vickie!” Eddie shouted, sweeping the small girl into his arms and hugging her as she laughed, batting him away, complaining that he was getting her all sweaty. “Robin!” he cried with equal exuberance, hauling her into a hug and making her laugh even more.
“And this is my friend, Steve, I was telling you about,” Robin said and Steve shot her a look, a very expressive and annoyed look. Why exactly was she discussing him with Eddie? Oh, for God's sake, this was gonna have to be another one of those conversations that they had whenever Robin thought she could steer Steve's life. She was on bathroom and laundry duty for a month.
Remembering his manners, Steve held out his hand, careful not to look into Eddie’s eyes in case he couldn't look away.
“H..Hi, great set. You guys are really good,” he said, kicking himself for stammering. He was a teacher for God's sake. He knew how to address people. Well, small people. Eddie beamed.
“Thanks, man. You really enjoyed it, though? Judging from the look of you, I'd say it's not really your scene, huh?”
Steve kind of half laughed, shuffling his feet.
“Yeah, I’m really more of a Wheels on the Bus kind of guy.”
Eddie gave him a confused look, which was unfairly cute dammit, and Steve rushed to explain.
“Oh! I’m a kindergarten teacher. I don't really get to listen to much outside nursery rhymes.”
These days people tended to have mixed reactions to Steve's job. Some thought that it was weird for a man to be a kindergarten teacher. Some people dismissed him as not being able to get a job as a ‘real’ teacher but Eddie nodded enthusiastically.
“Whoa, cool! Teaching the new generation. Very cool. Hey, do you want to stay and get some beers or chill out with the band backstage?”
Steve was sorely tempted. Eddie was very attractive, friendly, welcoming and Steve was drawn in by that smile, that easy nature.
“Normally I'd say yes in a heartbeat,” he sighed regretfully, making the grown up decision. “But I have school tomorrow. So, I have to get home to bed otherwise chaperoning a bunch of five-year-olds is not going to be fun. They can sense weakness like sharks smell blood and they’ll eat me alive.”
Eddie nodded, laughing as he shrugged slightly. Was it Steve's imagination or did he look a little bummed out by that? Or was Steve so affection starved that he was seeing things that weren’t there?
“Sure, sure. I understand, dude. Wouldn’t want the tiny cannibals to get a taste for human flesh too early. Hey, hopefully, you can come see us play on the weekend or something?”
Steve found himself nodding readily, a blush creeping up his neck at his own eagerness.
“Yeah, absolutely, I'd love to,” he was practically gushing. From the corner of his eye, Steve saw Robin looking between the pair and beaming like an evil mastermind. Steve subtly kicked her in the ankle to get her to shut up.
“It was great to meet you. And again, congrats on the show, the crowd seemed to really love it. I have to go.” He was rushing to get away before he said something stupid like marry me. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to Robin's cheek and whispered into her hair that he'd never forgive her for this manipulation. She laughed, slapped him on the shoulder and waved him out the door.
If Steve needed another shower when he got home and it took a little longer than he intended, that was nobody's business but his and the water company. And if he struggled to sleep that night without dreaming of long, dark hair, dark sparkling eyes, clever fingers, stroking that fretboard with such dexterous ease, well, nobody needed to know about that.
**
The following morning, Steve was sandy eyed and grumpy, not even his bucket of coffee was helping. He never took it out on the kids though. It wasn’t their fault he'd been out late on a school night. Shaking the tiredness away as best he could Steve greeted the class, thanked the parents, took the register and made sure everybody was buddied up and ready for their trip to the local music store.
Usually, the classes didn't do anything especially musical, though they had a few old instruments, tambourines, triangles and, on one awful occasion, recorders that a well meaning parent had donated. The kids could make drums out of anything too, yoghurt pots, tables, Steve's eardrums. But today, they had made a special trip to the local music store so that the kids could try out Rhyme Time, an introduction to music for four to six year olds.
Steve was so busy herding children into the store, counting heads, making sure everybody was holding their buddy's hand, making sure that nobody got anything trapped or knocked anything over on the way in that, at first, he didn't recognise the person standing behind the counter. The person with long, wavy dark hair, swept up into a messy bun, rings on every finger and dark eyes that sparkled as he smiled that huge, welcoming smile.
“Hey! Welcome to Munson's Music. I'm Eddie and I will be your conductor into musical paradise,” Eddie greeted jovially, his bright eyes scanning the little crowd. All the kids were instantly enchanted by him, clustering forward to get a better look at this mythical creature. As Eddie’s eyes roamed on, he saw him, right at the back, wearing blue jeans, a sunny yellow shirt and a denim jacket. Steve, the man he'd met just the night before, with beautiful mahogany hair and eyes like pools of melting chocolate that Eddie wanted to drown in.
Aware that maybe this wasn't the time to be gazing like a love sick teen at this practical stranger in front of a group of tiny people, Eddie returned his attention to his captive audience.
“All right, kids, follow me. I have a selection of the finest instruments for little dudes and dudettes.” And like the Pied Piper, Eddie led all the little children to another corner of the store with a huge selection of instruments for them to play with.
Trying as he might to keep his focus solely on the children, Steve found his attention did wander. He invariably found his eyes landing on Eddie. The man was good with kids and the kids seem to really like him. They all clamoured for his attention, wanting to show him how they could handle their instruments and what tunes they could make. Eddie made sure that he gave each and every child their own little bit of attention, listening and encouraging, giving advice when needed. At no point did he ever lose his temper or tell them they were doing something wrong, making too much noise, being too loud.
As Steve watched him interact with the kids, his kids, his little charges, he felt something inside him slide into dangerous territory and he swallowed hard. Oh no. Moving to the back of the group, Steve lowered his head, needing to have a moment to himself. He let his eyes slide back to where Eddie was helping one small boy lift up a ukulele, which looked like a full-grown guitar in his hands, and strum a few notes.
As he watched Eddie's big fingers play across the little strings and the little boy smiled up at him Steve felt his own heartstrings tug quite violently. He was gonna kill Robin when he got home.