[ Eddie's not even sure why he's being so nice to Steve. He doesn't usually go out of his way to make sure his potential long term customers get home safe or any of that bullshit, and here he was taking care of Steve and letting him stay way longer than he usually liked. Even smoking from his own personal stash.

But even without walking in Steve's shoes in the literal sense, he has an idea of what it's like. Maybe Eddie should have ignored Steve, but there's something about him that has caught Eddie's interest and now he's hooked. He wants to know what's been scaring him to the point where he had been trembling over a flickering light.

And a tiny bit of him maybe wants to keep Steve safe. ]

Yeah, I don't have to, but I want to. [ He hesitates for a moment, thinking of leaving it at that, but the weed has loosened his tongue a bit more than he'd like, and so he continues on. ] I know what it's like to be utterly and completely alone, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. So sue me, you look like you could use a friend. And yeah, you can pretend you don't know me when we go back to school tomorrow, but-- [ If tears are stinging his eyes, he's just going to blame it on the weed. ] Maybe I could use a friend, too.