Work Text:
Eddie doesn't have time for this.
He has shit to do! He has deadlines and meetings and house renovations to attend to, and more importantly, a kid to take care of. He doesn't have time to lose his fucking house key and all because he’s been distracted by a beautiful boy.
Especially if that boy is not a boy but a man, a teacher, his kid’s ballet teacher .
But he can’t help it, Steve’s been dancing around on his mind rent-free for months now.
He’s sitting in his car, just outside the house because he’s fucking locked out, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and raking his brain as to where he could’ve dropped his keys. He knows he had them when he left Gareth’s that afternoon, so he lost them somewhere between the dance studio and Wayne’s house.
He’s sure he had them when he went to pick up Demian from class, but doesn’t remember much after seeing him twirling around and laughing with Steve.
Steve is so good with Demian, always managing to bring him out of his shell. Demian adores him, and Eddie… Eddie doesn’t have time for crushes.
When he saw him standing there, Demian had run to him screaming, “Deedee!” and Eddie had crouched to catch and lift him in a hug. He thinks maybe that’s when he lost his keys.
But he hadn’t realized it until two hours later, after a visit to Uncle Wayne, when he got home and couldn’t get in. He debated breaking in but he couldn't risk the alarm ringing and the cops showing up, his new neighbors were already weary of him because of his appearance, and he didn't want to make things worse and ruin Demian’s chance at growing up in a nice, safe and stable home. Plus, the lock and the door were new, it would be such a shame to break them.
Thankfully, Demian was staying the night at Wayne’s, so Eddie was alone in this predicament. And he had no other choice than to check if the dance studio was still open this late at night.
Eddie sighs and turns the car back on, it purrs to life instantly and it was times like these he was glad he gave the Chevy to Jeff after Demian showed up. He loved that stupid van, but it wasn’t a family-friendly car and it always had trouble starting.
He closes his eyes tiredly and images of Steve smiling while spinning Demian in circles bloom behind his eyelids, he smiles dopily before cursing profusely and dropping his head on the steering wheel loudly, making the horn go off and startling himself.
🩰
The first time he’d seen the place, all those months ago, he hated the look of it instantly. It looked so stuck up and prissy, but it had been recommended to him. The studio had a great reputation for talent and high-level education, not that Eddie gave a shit about that, it was suggested to him because of the high pedagogy levels of the institution. Respectful and caring teachers that worked with the children, preoccupied themselves with their students having a nurturing experience.
Because when Demian started showing interest in dancing, Eddie wanted nothing more than to encourage his kid, and Demian deserved nothing but the best. So if this was the best dance institute in town then, he had to check it out.
Thankfully, Eddie’s job as a composer paid handsomely, especially after a few hits in movies. He was incredibly proud of his work, and having his music in the newest movie adaptations of Tolkien’s ‘The Children of Húrin’ was a literal dream come true. And the Emmys didn't hurt. He kinda loved being the kind of famous person who is absolutely not famous and no one recognizes in the street.
Because the school was expensive , he’d told the cute receptionist as much when he went to sign Demian in,
“Jesus, who is the teacher? Billy Elliot?”
“Do you mean Phillip Mosley?” The girl who had introduced herself as Vickie looked at him with an amused smile, “Look sir, it's not about who teaches the class but about the quality of it. We have a vast range of classes, from kinder to adult as well as multiple different styles of ballet and teaching methods plus there’s a team of health specialists, psychologists, healthy and delicious food breaks, and-”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard nothing but good things, don’t need the selling speech again,” he interrupted her rudely and then smiled apologetically as he pulled the papers closer to him to sign them when someone busted through the door.
Eddie turned around to see what was probably one of the most handsome people he had ever seen in his life. And he’s been on red carpets before, he knows some beautiful people but this guy… the guy had big hazel eyes with a big mop of brown, soft-looking hair that was tied in a high ponytail on top of his head, his face was covered in beauty marks and he had the pinkest perfectly shaped lips.
He was tall, as tall as Eddie, and had big shoulders and a slim waist that was completely on display for he was wearing a crop top that showed a toned stomach and delicious-looking hipbones, the baggy sweatpants somehow made the whole look even more attractive.
Eddie just stood there and blinked a few times, was he a student? He had to be a student, there was an adult class, wasn’t there? The guy looked to be at least 30 or late 20s. Maybe he was a teacher?
“You are late!” Vickie interrupted Eddie’s thoughts, talking to the angel that had just walked in.
“I'm not!” he said and went around the counter to kiss Vickie’s cheek, “I'm a wizard.”
The receptionist cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her nose cutely, “What?”
“You know, cause a wizard is never late or whatever”
“They are just in time” Eddie couldn't help but say. Gorgeous and knows The Lord of The Rings? He’s perfect.
Vickie rolled her eyes and smiled again, “You're spending way too much time with Dustin,” she told him, and then looked at Eddie, “Steve, this is Eddie,”
Steve smiled at him and extended his hand giving him a once over when Eddie took it, “Hi! Nice to meet you, are you here to.. Take a class?” He guessed, his small smile turning into a teasing smirk.
Eddie blinked a few times before answering because ‘ his lips’, “No, no, I'm here to sign my kid to the kinder class”
Steve raised his eyebrows excitedly and looked around the room, going so far as to check behind Eddie as if he was hiding the kid back there. It was really cute and it made Eddie chuckle, “Oh he’s not here with me, which is kinda weird now that I think about it, I should’ve brought him,”
Steve chuckled and looked at him through his lashes, and as he opened his mouth to say something, Vickie interrupted him, “Baby, you are not actually a wizard, you know that right?”
Steve opened his eyes wide, “Shoot! I’m late, it was nice meeting you Eddie! I hope we see each other again!” he said and quickly ran inside a hallway behind the front desk.
And see each other again they did.
Because that boy, that man, that angel was apparently the super-recommended ballet teacher he’d been told about.
So every Tuesdays and Thursdays Eddie got to watch him and his kid interact in a way that made his heart feel like foam, big, fluffy and so fragile.
And if he always came by a little earlier, and left later than the rest of the parents, well then, no one seemed to mind. Watching Demian stand on Steve’s feet as they moved around the classroom or Steve lifting him up in the air as Demian laughed louder than he’d ever heard him laugh before. Seeing Steve poke Demian’s nose whispering ‘boop’ until Demian stopped pouting whenever he got upset because he didn't want to leave yet.
Really, Eddie never stood a chance.
🩰
When Demian first came to live with Eddie, after his father had shown up on his doorstep with him and told him he couldn’t be bothered to raise another one, (as if he had ever had any input on raising him. Eddie had been raised by his uncle) Eddie had spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of music Demian liked because music was Eddie’s passion and love language, he had thought, what better way to bond with his little brother than through music?
But Demian didn’t seem interested at all, no matter the type of music, rhythm, or language, he just didn’t care. It kind of broke Eddie’s heart, and he felt really lost at first but in the end, he didn't need an excuse to get close to him, because Demian was soft and sweet and had taken a kinship with Eddie right away. He was quiet and shy and sometimes he looked at things like he understood everything. He was the cutest, wisest, most loving boy in the world, and Eddie loved him more than anything.
It happened two years after he got full custody of Demian. Eddie was working on a new soundtrack, for a space movie, he wanted to take inspiration from ballet music and then translate that into the movements of the ships fighting in space for the final battle scene, it was a bit out there but that's what had gotten him a name in the industry, doing weird things that worked against all odds.
He was watching an American production of swan lake, enjoying the performance, impressed with the dancers, when he noticed out of the corner of his eye, Demian watching beside him, transfixed on what he was seeing, unmoving and almost unblinking, and then- humming. As if he had heard it before.
Eddie had never heard Demian sing or hum, it shook him to his core. He almost fell off his seat when Demian started to try and copy the movements the man on the screen was doing, which were too complicated for a 6-year-old but he was lifting his little feet and moving his hand in the air.
He started looking for dance schools the very next day.
Almost eight months had passed since that day and Eddie had learned a lot about Steve, ballet, and Demian himself in that time.
Like, for example, Steve used to be a professional, really successful ballet dancer. And the way he found out was when a few weeks after Demian had started taking lessons, he was watching the same production of swan lake that got him into dancing in the first place, as Eddie worked on his music in his home studio when Demian pointed at the screen at said, “Steeb”.
Right, because that was also a thing, Demian, refused to say Steve’s name correctly. In the same way, he refused to call Eddie something other than ‘Deedee’. He said it made Steve smile when he said it like that, shorter but with a longer pronunciation of the “e”. Steve, in turn, called him “Little Devil” because when he had asked Demian where he got his pretty name, Demian had proudly stated he was named like that after the son of Satan. This got Eddie a lot of weird looks from the other parents but a giggle out of Steve, so he didn't feel too bad about it.
Demian liked to go out of his way to make Steve smile, it was incredibly cute. It made Eddie want to squish his cheeks and shake him up. Which he had been told was a perfectly normal reaction when you saw something cute, and just as long as he didn't actually shake the kid, he was fine.
Eddie hadn't been paying attention to the dancers when he was watching the video for inspiration but when Demian pointed it out his jaw hit the ground because there, dancing like he was born for it, was Steve. His movements were fluid and sure, his frame hypnotizing, his face angelic, he made dancing feel like watching a miracle unfold. It was like a religious experience and Eddie was not religious at all.
He had wanted to ask so many times why Steve had stopped dancing in order to teach but could never really find a time where it didn't seem rude to ask.
And Eddie couldn't fuck this up for Demian, it was clear that he idolized Steve, had taken a liking to him almost immediately, and clung to him every time Eddie went to pick him up.
So it wasn't just about not having time, it was about not ruining this for Damien that Eddie tried to keep his feelings for Steve close to his chest and not all over the place like they threaten to whenever he saw him.
🩰
When he got to the studio, Eddie saw the lights were on and sighed, relieved. The door was open so he let himself in, but no one was at the front desk. He could hear music coming from one of the classrooms and he walked in, curious.
And saw something he would never forget.
There, illuminated by the moonlight and creating a beautiful silhouette against the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was Steve, dancing, and oh god how he danced.
His hands and fingers stretched and his strong legs bent and snapped in perfect synchrony with the music. He truly was something out of this world.
He recognizes the song, it was Unintended by Muse, a good song, now made perfect by Steve’s take on the melody.
You could be my unintended
Choice to live my life extended
You could be the one I'll always love
Eddie watches him mesmerized. Steve, with his tights and his shorts and his big shirt tied on over his belly button, looks delicious .
I'll be there as soon as I can
But I'm busy mending broken
Pieces of the life I had before
The lyrics feel painfully proper and he can feel his heart strain in his chest as he watches him.
He wishes for a moment he had a camera on him or that he had any talent for painting so that he could save this striking scene for posterity, how ethereal Steve looks, how otherworldly and magnificent.
As the song is coming to an end, Steve makes an impressive twirl and jump but then, when he takes a step forward he falters and grabs his knee, losing his balance. Eddie moves quickly inside the room and catches him by the elbow.
“Eddie! I didn’t hear you come in” Steve says and smiles at him gratefully, patting his shoulder and turning around to fully face him.
But Eddie just stares back at him speechless like a weirdo. He can’t hold back how he feels right now. He wants to burst into a song about him or something. Which, objectively, would be a lot weirder.
Steve grabs a towel and pats his face, then places it on his shoulders. Eddie has the weirdest desire to be that towel,
“Steve, that was…” But he doesn’t continue, he’s just at a loss for words. How do you describe something so beautiful without losing your mind? He feels like he should’ve turned into stone. He stared at Medusa right in the eyes.
Steve seems completely unaware of what's going on in Eddie’s head, he just smiles bashfully and scratches his neck,
“It's… nothing. The other teachers convinced me to do a solo for the school’s end-of-the-year presentation,” He shrugs.
“Oh, you decided to bust that out? And put a spell on the audience?” Eddie says and immediately cringes, because what the fuck is he talking about?
Steve just blinks at him and cocks his head to the side cutely, probably wondering the same thing, but there’s a faint blush covering his cheeks right now.
Eddie clears his throat and shakes himself, trying to put that awkward moment behind them, “I- sorry. I think I dropped my keys here.”
“Oh right! I should’ve asked what you were doing here,” Steve chuckles. And Eddie wonders what it means that Steve just accepted the fact that Eddie was there, no questions asked.
They go looking for his keys, but Eddie spends more time looking at Steve than looking for them. At one point Steve sighs and Eddie freaks out thinking Steve is going to say something about him being a creep but Steve says,
“Car accident.”
“What?”
“I know you wanted to ask. Why I don’t dance professionally anymore.” Steve answers looking at him with a smirk.
“Sorry, I-” Eddie begins but Steve interrupts him,
“No, it’s fine. It’s normal to be curious and I could tell you’d been wanting to ask for months but didn’t want to offend me, it’s cute.”
“So… what happened?” He asks him, choosing to ignore the fact that Steve just called him cute to keep what remains of his sanity.
Steve’s smile drops, “It was my fault,” he says, suddenly looking small, hunched over, and hugging himself, “I was driving, talking on my cell phone… Doctors said I was lucky I survived and for a while there I wished I hadn't. But then this happened,” He says, looking around the classroom warmly, and then turns to look at Eddie and smiles.
He can tell Steve loves teaching, loves his kids, and that he’s not lying and is actually happy now, but he can’t think of anything decent to respond to such a personal statement, so he just smiles back at him. Steve bites his lips and chuckles,
“Look what I just found!” he says and dangles Eddie’s keys in front of him.
Eddie comes closer to him to grab them, and he means to say thanks but instead what comes out is,
“I have a crush on you,”
Steve’s eyes go wide and he opens his mouth to speak, but Eddie shakes his head and stops him,
“No, don’t- say anything. I just needed to say it out loud at least once, needed to get it out of my system” He takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, smiling at Steve. He feels like he just got a huge weight off his chest.
“I have a crush on you. But I shouldn’t,” he continues, putting a hand up to stop Steve from talking back, “Because of Demian. I don’t want to take a chance of ruining this for him. He cares about you a lot, he likes coming here and it’s been so good for him, you’ve helped him so much and you’ll never know how grateful I am for it. So I’m not risking it.”
Steve doesn’t say anything, he just looks at him for a beat and then smiles sadly and nods. Eddie had no idea what he was expecting to happen but all in all, it’s not the worst outcome. It still hurts like a bitch.
He walks him to the door and when they get there, Steve leans over the doorframe and says,
“You should’ve let me talk,”
Eddie blinks, “What? What do you mean? What were you going to say?” he stammers.
And Steve smirks and shakes his head, “No. No, you are right, if you don’t think this is good for Demian, then…” And then he just shrugs and closes the door in his face.
When he gets back to his car, Eddie bangs his head against the steering wheel again.
🩰
The end-of-the-year presentation is rapidly approaching, so the mood in the studio is tense. Eddie got used to it pretty fast, seeing people running around frenetically whenever he comes by to pick Demian up is a common thing lately, and thankfully it doesn't seem to stress or bother Demian at all.
But today there’s something wrong with the energy. He didn’t see Steve in the classroom when he picked up Demian. Not that he’s worried about it, he knows Steve isn’t avoiding him. Things between them are not weird right now and it’s purely out of Steve’s stubbornness, he keeps acting like nothing happened, even if sometimes his looks linger more than usual, so Eddie just goes along with it.
They are just walking out when he sees Steve. He is standing near the door and from the looks of it, he’s arguing with someone.
It’s not pretty. The man is screaming at Steve and he’s just standing there, arms crossed and looking at him intently.
Vickie is behind her desk with her hands over her mouth and eyes watery looking at Steve’s back like it pains her not to reach out for him. It worries Eddie, he frowns and moves Demian behind him because he doesn’t like what’s going on, the screaming is getting louder and more intense and he takes a step forward, but when Vickie focuses on him, she shakes her head no.
He looks back at the man, wondering why shouldn’t they intervene, why not stop this asshole from screaming at Steve? Who is he? A parent? A former teacher? He’s positive he’s never seen him before and yet there’s something strangely familiar about him.
His attention gets drawn to Steve then because he suddenly stands straight. And the thing is, Steve usually slouches, not in a lazy way, but he always has one knee bent or his hip cocked to one side and he hugs himself a lot, shoulders down and into his chest so when he stands up straight is kind of impressive.
He always forgets Steve is just as tall as him. And his shoulders are wide and strong accentuated with how fucking tiny his waist is.
Steve, standing at his full height and straight as a board with a stoic face, looks imposing and threatening when he tells the man to leave.
The man gasps offended, and says something like ‘You dare disrespect me like this’ and if he wasn’t so worried about what was happening Eddie would laugh because it sounds so dramatic and theatrical, something Eddie would’ve said as a joke, except this man is being completely serious.
“I said. Leave.” Steve says in a deep voice that leaves no room for discussion. The man takes a step in Steve's direction,
“You are a fucking disappointment, and your mother and I never loved you. You are worthless,” he snarls before he turns on his heels and walks to the door, slamming it on his way out.
There’s a heavy silence that follows and Steve’s face looks carved in stone, no emotion in his pretty eyes until the sound of a car speeding out of sight reaches them, then his eyes start to water and he crumbles and falls to the ground and covers his face with both his hands.
Eddie startles when suddenly Demian bumps him on his way to get to Steve, with all the commotion he forgot the kid was watching the whole thing too.
When he reaches him, Demian just throws himself at Steve and hugs him and Vickie and Eddie just stare at each other, not knowing what to do. Vickie smiles wetly at him because she knows they are both fighting the urge to join in on the hug.
Steve quickly composes himself, standing up and taking Demian with him, sitting him on his hip, he smiles at him, “I’m fine little devil”, he tells him and boops his nose. Demian chuckles and does a very sloppy job of cleaning Steve’s tears. He smiles and looks like he’s going to cry again but he hugs Demian close, his little head on Steve’s shoulder, and swings him from side to side.
He looks at Eddie and mouths ‘Sorry’ and Eddie wants to scream at how frustrated and useless he feels. He wants to hug Steve too, he wants to clean his tears and kiss his cheeks and tell him he has nothing to apologize for. He wants to beat the living shit out of that man, who he assumes was Steve’s father, for making him think he should apologize for crying over hearing something so horrible.
He wants to do many things, but not all are good. In the end, he settles for, “Coffee?”
Steve seems to think about it for a second before nodding slowly. He looks at Vickie and she smiles at him, “Don’t worry. I’ll tell Robin something came up.”
He smiles and blows her a kiss, “Thank you, baby”
Eddie opens the door for them and points to his car, Steve follows and only lets go of Demian to put him on his seat. He fastens him in and Demian boops his nose making him laugh.
The ride there is silent, Demian is nodding sleepily, Steve is staring outside with his head on the window and Eddie is trying to keep his foam heart from blowing out the window. No biggie.
He takes them to his favorite place, a small ‘mom and pop’ kind of place with a nice patio with room enough for Demian to run around in.
Demian gets a warm glass of milk with a little chocolate submarine for it to melt inside, the Cafe’s specialty. And they both get coffees, with cream and sugar and Steve blushes prettily when the waitress says ‘Same orders, must be destiny’ and winks at them.
They talk about the presentation and how well Demian is doing, making sure to include him in the conversation and ask him if he’s excited. Once he’s done with his drink, Demian plays with some pigeons on the patio, throwing small pieces of croissants on the floor for them.
Steve stares at him with an endearing smile and Eddie? He stares at Steve.
After a moment he gathers up some courage and places his hand on Steve on the table. Steve looks at him,
“Are you ok?” Eddie asks him, rubbing his thumb in a soothing motion.
Steve nods and smiles at him,
“Remember I told you about my accident? That I was on the phone when I crashed? I was talking with him.”
Steve tells him, he looks at Eddie but then seems to get overwhelmed and looks back at Demian, who is out of earshot, and keeps talking, “I wanted to quit dancing. It was too much pressure. I wasn’t eating, I wasn't sleeping, I felt like I was wasting away and I couldn’t even remember why I liked dancing in the first place. But he just kept pressuring me. So I was fighting with my dad over the phone when it happened. He heard it all from his end and he. didn't. care. When he came to see me at the hospital he was mad at me for crushing my leg and ruining my career. I quit the company and I never talked to him again after that.”
Eddie squeezes his hand, not knowing what to say and Steve squeezes it back and looks at him again,
“I was in real bad shape when I got out of the hospital, I mean obviously- but I mean… mentally. Robin was there for me every step of the way, she and Vickie got me out of it long enough to convince me to open up the school with the money from the insurance, but what actually made me happy again, was teaching,” he smiles and one single tear falls from his eyes, Eddie catches it and runs his thumb over Steve’s cheek once before taking his hand away. Steve bites his lip and shakes his head before turning serious again,
“He must have heard about the school doing well. He wanted monetary compensation for putting me through school” He snorts.
Eddie frowns, “He wanted you to pay him for being his son?”
“Basically,” Steve shrugs.
“You know, I write music for fantasy films, where good and evil and actually a thing, and I’ve never heard of someone as fuc-”
Steve cuts him off with a laugh. It actually distracts him, how beautiful the sound of his laugh is.
He feels another wave of hate over the man that made the most beautiful person he’s ever met feel less than. He wants that fucker dead.
“You want me to kill him? I kind of want to kill him,” he says apropos to nothing.
Steve laughs a bit louder and Eddie feels his foam heart grow in size when Steve takes his hand in both of his. Steve's hands are so big and so, so soft.
“I like you Eddie, I would hate for you to go to jail.” Steve tells him, “It’s fine, I’m fine. Don’t mind him,”
They keep talking until the sun goes down and Demian gets bored enough to take him home, about Eddie’s work, about Steve’s best friend and Vickie’s partner, Robin. About life, but in reality, Eddie had stopped listening after ‘I like you’ .
🩰
On the day of the presentation, Eddie feels definitely more nervous than Demian, but he’s trying not to show it. Demian is quiet and concentrated, fixing his little suit constantly and murmuring steps under his breath and Eddie is sweating so much he had to change shirts three times before leaving the house. He ends up with a silk black button-up and hopes it’s good enough or consequently, not too much.
He buys a bouquet of red roses for Steve on the way and when they get there, he takes Demian backstage where Steve is organizing the little ones, he’s wearing his usual tights with shorts and a large shirt, and his hair tied, most of it falling off and framing his face, he looks beautiful and his smile when he sees them it’s seared into Eddie’s mind.
Demian goes running toward his classmates, leaving them alone,
“Hi,” Eddie says, eloquently.
Steve chuckles and moves close to him, fixes the collar of his shirt,
“You look good,” he tells him, “Real handsome”
Eddie’s raking his brain for a good enough answer, but he never gets to say anything because another teacher calls Steve over. He smiles apologetically at Eddie and says,
“Sorry, duty calls”
So Eddie goes back to his seat, Wayne already waiting for him, camera in hand. Wayne is so excited, it’s really fucking cute. Eddie knows he used to get like that when he came to Eddie’s recitals back in high school but it’s really something else seeing it from up close.
It makes Eddie emotional, and he is suddenly worried about his reputation. If he feels like crying now, he is probably going to bawl when Demian comes up on stage.
The show starts and the first group comes out, it’s one of the advanced courses and they put on a wonderful performance. And then Steve comes on stage.
He’s changed, wearing a dark blue suit now that hugs his frame in all the right places and Eddie can't help but sit up a little straighter.
“Welcome everyone, good evening. I’m going to keep this short, after all, you are not here to see me,” he winks, getting a quiet laugh out of the audience, “Thank you for trusting us with these beautiful people’s education. These next dances are the fruit of our hard work, so please, enjoy.” He claps once and then bows and leaves the stage.
“Uhg, I miss him already,” Eddie lets out and Wayne chuckles next to him and points the camera at him.
“Why are you filming already? Get that out of my face,” he chides him and points the camera back to the front, making Wayne full-on laugh now.
And then it’s time for Demian’s group and Eddie has to resist the urge to stand, he sits at the tip of his seat, and his legs won't stop bouncing.
The music starts and the little ones come out, the audience coos. But he can't see Demian anywhere.
Eddie turns to Wayne questioning and his uncle shrugs but then he gasps and points to the stage.
Demian comes out last, but he’s looking somewhere to the left of the stage and shaking his head no, and then he sees a hand appear behind the curtain and take Demian’s little one.
The group starts dancing, Demian doing all his moves perfectly, but with one hand still holding what Eddie knows is Steve’s hand.
He immediately starts crying and chuckles wetly when Wayne knocks his shoulder against his.
When Demian moves closer to the center of the stage, Steve comes with him, still holding him, and the audience ‘awws’ and claps and Steve smiles bashfully. He stays pretty still, just following Demian around and occasionally doing a hand movement when some of the kids look at him for direction.
The whole thing is beautiful and incredibly cute. It's almost unbearable and Eddie can’t stop crying.
The song ends and everyone stands and claps, and right before the next song starts he sees Steve kneel in front of Demian and say something to him, booping his nose before standing and leaving the stage.
Demian stays this time and when the music starts he performs perfectly. Or as perfect as a six-year-old can. The second they finish their choreography the kids bow and go off running and Wayne immediately points the camera back at him, catches Eddie wiping his face. He groans and covers it with his hands and Wayne laughs at him.
After a few minutes, Demian comes running toward him, the kids being escorted by Vickie to their respective parents and he hugs him and peppers his whole little face with kisses and Demian laughs and laughs,
“Did you see me?”
“Yes, we did! You were perfect, magical, amazing, incredible,” he tells him and Wayne nods,
“You did good kid,” he says, smiling.
“Are we staying to watch Steve?” Demian asks, neglecting the seat that was saved for him and sitting on Wayne’s lap and taking his cap to put it on himself.
“Yes, of course,” he answers him and moves the cap backward on his head.
As the show goes on, Wayne starts nodding off, but Demian looks very attentively at every dance.
And then the first notes of Unintended start playing and once again Eddie finds himself at the tip of his seat, only this time Demian is sitting on his lap now and digging his knees on Eddie’s legs, “Ouch imp! Ok, time to sit in your own seat,” he tells him and places him right beside him. Demian goes easily but immediately grabs Eddie's shoulder excitedly, and shakes him a little. Eddie huffs amused but then his jaw hits the ground and all coherent thought leaves him when Steve appears on stage once more.
He changed again, he's wearing black tights, and his ballet shoes are covered with something that looks like leather and goes just right below the knees, making it look like he’s wearing boots, and he’s wearing a tight sheer dark deep blue shirt with embroidered ornaments in black that look like roses over the shoulders, his make up is black and blue too, it looks perfectly messy, and covers his eyes and fringe, like a mask. He looks like a rockstar. He looks like an angel. He looks like a demon. Eddie’s not sure. Definitely, some kind of otherworldly creature that’s here to kill him. Of that, he’s sure.
The dance is absolutely beautiful and impressive, it carries a melancholy that is palpable through the movements of his body, which follow the song as if it was made for him. It's breathtaking and Eddie’s heart stops beating for a moment when Steeve does the jump he saw him falter on that night, but it's flawless and the audience cheers and claps when he lands, and Eddie can see from his seat a little smile on Steve’s face.
The song ends and suddenly he’s back in the auditorium surrounded by deafening applause and not in some sort of limbo where only he and a dancing Steve live.
He whistles loudly and then lifts Demian up since he’s trying to climb him, so he can clap and scream, “Steeb!!!”
When Steve sees him he smiles so big his eyes crinkle and he waves back at him, “He saw me Deedee!”
Eddie chuckles but ends up choking a little when Steve turns his eyes at him and throws him a kiss.
He laughs at Eddie's reaction, then bows one final time and leaves the stage.
After a minute the rest of the older students, the ones that had their presentation last, come back on stage, the teachers show up, then Steve comes back, delivers a small final speech and Vickie presents him with a big bouquet of flowers. Eddie stares lamely at his little bouquet of roses and feels a bit inadequate.
All standard end-of-the-show things and then everyone is on their way, saying hi to their families or going backstage to change.
“Are these for Steeb?” Demian asks, looking at the roses too.
“Sure are!” Wayne says, “Why don’t you two go give them to him?” and gives Eddie a little push and a wink.
Eddie rolls his eyes at him but complies, taking Demian’s hand in his.
Steve is still wearing the ballet outfit when they see him, Demian comes up behind him, holding the bouquet with both hands and walking slowly as if he’s holding a glass of water filled to the rim and not just flowers, and calls to him. Eddie, a few feet behind, sees when Steve turns and smiles, he kneels down to Demian’s height and points at himself and Demian nods, carefully giving him the bouquet.
Steve takes them with one hand and with the other he hugs Demian and picks him up, kisses his cheek with a loud smack and Demian hugs Steve’s neck, and then they both turn to look at Eddie.
And Eddie sees them standing there, Steve holding his boy, the bouquet of roses, and his heart. Sees them there, after all the emotion from the show, of seeing Demian dance, of seeing Steve dance. After seeing how much Demian loves Steve, how much Steve loves Demian, and how fucking much Eddie loves them both.
Time stops while he looks at them and Eddie just blurts out “Marry me,”
Steve blinks surprised and blushes and Eddie blushes four times harder, and then Demian screams,
“Yes! Steve! I mean Steeb- You have to say yes!” he says, kicking his little feet.
Steve recoils from being screamed at next to his ear but laughs, puts Demian on the floor, and gives him the roses, “Hold these for me, please”
And then he walks up to Eddie, fixes the collar of his shirt again, calmly lays his hand over it to flatten it only to grab him by the lapels and pull him in for a searing kiss.
A wonderful, passionate, but short kiss, since they have a bit of an audience.
“Take me on a date first,” Is the answer he gets.