Chapter Text
“Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth. But either it was different in blood—”
Eddie watched transfixed. He had never really enjoyed theater, but something about this play was different.
No, not the play, but the guy playing Lysander.
Luke.
Eddie would be lying if he said he was paying attention to much of anything other than Luke.
The two had met through Bloomington South’s theatre program their sophomore year. Eddie had decided to participate in the stage crew, though that only lasted one show due to him fucking with the woodsaw too often.
But during that show, he met Luke Moore.
He was a member of the cast, and Eddie had run into him while sweeping the stage one day.
Luke had come to scope out the set, that year they were doing their fall musical: South Pacific. He had scored the lead role as Emile de Becque.
But their first real conversion happened when Luke needed to get mic’d up, and Eddie was futzing around with the set.
“Judas Priest, nice.” He had said once in passing. Eddie’s head whipped up embarrassingly fast, and for the first time, he really saw Luke.
He felt his face heat as he pulled a piece of hair in front of it. “Thanks, man, you listen?”
“Yeah, totally obsessed with Living After Midnight,” Luke said, walking back towards Eddie, abandoning the task of getting mic’d.
“I agree, though I was worried their new album wouldn't live up to Hellbent For Leather musically. I mean, the guitar on Killing Machine? Mythical.” Eddie realized he was rambling to someone he barely knew, but when his eyes met Luke's, he was smiling. Like, really smiling.
“Sorry, I get carried away sometimes.” Eddie continued sheepishly.
“I don't mind, I like talking to passionate people. That's why I'm in theatre. I’m Luke.” He stuck a hand out for Eddie to shake.
“Eddie.”
“Nice rings, Eddie.” He said with the same warm smile.
Eddie felt his stomach flutter as he held the handshake for just a little too long. Hoping that Luke wouldn't notice. Or rather, that he would notice and not care.
“We should hang out and talk about music sometime,” Luke suggested, finally pulling away from the handshake.
“That’d be really cool. My house is like, always empty.” Before Luke could respond, their director, Mrs. D, was shouting.
“Luke! Mic check was fifteen minutes ago, you're a sophomore, you should know better.” Her voice cut through the relatively noisy auditorium.
“Talk later.” He whispered with a smile, making his way to the lightroom to be mic’d.
From that day on, their conversations only got longer, their hangouts later, and their friendship deeper.
That was until a particularly hazy night in the summer of their junior year. Eddie had scored some weed from his father's lazily hidden stash and decided to light it with Luke. He said it would build a stronger connection between the two, and in a way, it did. Just not in the way he had expected.
“I’ve smoked before, y’know.” Luke laughed. Eddie noticed that, though he had taken a few puffs, his eyes were still completely white.
In all honesty, Eddie had always been scared to try it. He saw what it did to his dad, how many times he had been arrested, fights he had started with his mother over dealers. It wasn’t something he was well-versed in, actually using, only peddling.
“No fucking way, man!” Eddie responded, taking the joint from Luke's hand, savoring the feeling of their fingers brushing each other.
“I thought theatre kids were supposed to be losers!” He laughed, while Luke only shrugged, passing the joint over to Eddie.
He didn’t realize how shaky his hand was as he lifted the joint to his mouth, attempting to be as natural as Luke was. As soon as he inhaled, the smoke came bursting out of his mouth in a fit of coughs.
“Relax, man.” Luke laughed, tenderly taking the joint back.
“Fuck,” Eddie tried, still hacking beside him.
“Wanna try another way?” Luke questioned earnestly, looking at Eddie in a way that made his face burn from more than just the smoke.
“Sure.”
“It's how I first started, freshman year. Some chick I can’t remember taught me.”
Some chick, Eddie felt himself deflate at the words.
He knew Luke was straight; everything about him, other than the theatre, screamed it. And in all honesty, the way he kissed the female leads in every show solidified it. But part of Eddie hoped, prayed, Luke was different. He so badly wanted Luke to be like him, and maybe more so, be into him.
Before Eddie's thoughts could spiral further, Luke was grabbing his jaw.
“Is this alright?” He asked softly.
Eddie felt his head spin, “Yeah, it's alright.” He tried to sound as calm as possible while Luke explained what he was going to do.
“...then I blow the smoke into your mouth, a lot easier than normal.” Eddie seriously doubted that but nodded nonetheless.
“When I blow, you breathe in. Alright?” Luke asked, waiting for confirmation as he finally took a hit of the blunt.
Eddie nodded again as his mouth fell open.
Luke leaned in as close as possible without actually touching his lips to Eddie’s.
Eddie inhaled as soon as Luke let the smoke escape his mouth. And maybe it was because Eddie's mind was short-circuiting from the proximity, but his throat burned far less than before.
He hoped Luke thought his blush was from his coughing fit, and that every time he had looked at his lips, it was just to see when he’d blow the smoke into his own mouth.
“See, much easier,” Luke responded, still quiet.
Eddie let his head fall back against the couch as he tried to regain his bearings.
He looked back at Luke, whose eyes hadn’t left his frame.
“What?” Eddie said, a lazy grin spreading across his face.
Luke only laughed in response, throwing his head back before falling into Eddie's lap. This only sent Eddie into a fit of laughter at his antics.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, laughing at nothing until tears were trickling out of both their eyes. But as a quiet fell over them, something had changed.
Eddie could have sworn he saw Luke's eyes dart to his lips, though it was hard to tell with his head in his lap.
As if Luke could read his mind, he sat back up, much closer than before, eyes not breaking contact.
Eddie shifted under his gaze. A familiar heat pooling in his stomach. He began to fidget with his rings.
“Luke?” He questioned.
Luke only responded by grabbing Eddie's chin like he had before, but with no intent to take another hit from their shared joint. And neither of them were high enough to blame that on the weed.
“Is this okay?” Luke asked for a second time that night, and for a second time, Eddie said yes.
Luke's lips gently met Eddie's as his hand began to tremble.
This was uncharted territory for both boys, and Eddie was sure he was somehow hallucinating or dreaming the entire thing.
“Are you sure that's alright, because I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything,” Luke said quickly as he pulled away from the brunette.
“No, no, it's fine. It's great actually.” Eddie responded, almost too enthusiastically.
Luke smiled, leaning in again for another kiss.
From there, the two began hanging out even more frequently.
Making excuses to their parents as to why one would have to spend the night with the other, though Eddie rarely had to argue, as his parents were consistently gone.
Eventually, they had decided to give it an official title, at least, it was official to both of them. They were boyfriends, as silly as it sounded. And though Eddie could no longer help with the stage crew, something Luke never let him hear the end of, he was always at every show.
It was finally the spring play, and that was why he was seated in the front row at their school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Privately, Eddie abhorred Shakespeare. He dreaded every English unit that included him, but something about Luke breathed new life into the work.
Call him biased, but he was captivated.
“You were fucking amazing!” Eddie gushed once he finally got Luke by himself. He was holding four bouquets and had spent twenty minutes posing for photos with family and friends.
“Eddie! You two, get together!” Luke's mother shouted, and the boys laughed before pressing together for an awkward photo.
“That's enough, Ma! Let me talk to Eddie in peace.”
“You’re going to thank me for capturing these memories one day. I might not be there to feel your appreciation, but I'll know!” She spoke dramatically before turning away to find her husband.
“You know she's where you got all your talent from, right?” Eddie teased as Luke gave him a playful shove.
“You really thought I was good?” He asked earnestly. “You’re not just saying it because you’re my friend, right?”
“No man! Honestly, I don't give two shits about Shakespeare, but you really made it come alive. I mean, you captured me.” Eddie responded enthusiastically, hand extending every opinion he had.
He watched as Luke's eyes hit the floor, a smile on his face as well as a light blush ghosting his cheeks. That only made Eddies grin wider.
“And here I thought I was supposed to be playing king of the fairies, sup fags!”
Luke's posture stiffened immediately, and Eddie's grin faded. David, who had played Oberon in the play, and who only joined the theatre for the ‘chicks’ (Most of whom Eddie privately suspected were lesbians), came between the two.
His stage makeup was dripping off his skin, which Eddie found absolutely repulsive.
“Just congratulating my friend, but it looks like security is clearing out the auditorium anyway. See you later, Luke?” Eddie questioned, removing a damp arm from around his shoulder.
“Yeah, later,” Luke said with a weak smile as Eddie turned to exit the auditorium. A cold feeling replaced the once-warm feeling in his stomach as a pit of fear began to split open.