Chapter Text
Steve had not grown up with parents that liked to hug.
If he was being honest, he grew up with parents that loved each other, and he was just along for the ride.
But as soon as he was old enough, they would leave him alone and it took Steve awhile, but pretty soon he learned that even that ride had ended.
Was he bitter about it?
Occasionally.
Until he found out that girls liked to hug him, would hang onto his every word, and hey, his house was empty this week, you want to come over? That kind of affection was almost the same, almost filled the aching inside of him.
It was so simple for him, so easy, like breathing.
After everything that happened, the dating slowed down and the act of touching someone else became… different.
Dustin, for example. He would sooner slam into Steve with his whole body, yell something at him, and drag him along for some kind of adventure that Steve hadn’t signed up for. The rest of his buddies followed his lead.
After the Russians and their drugs and Robin’s confession to Steve, she was always eager to put a hand on him. Steve wasn’t sure if it was because her parents were as stiff and cold as his own or if it was something else, but he welcomed it.
Nancy was slower to start touching him again, careful around him, but she too came around and Steve mentally put her in the same category as Robin.
Jonathan and Steve rarely touched, never hugged, unless they were high on some adrenaline fueled win against some monster. Then it was okay.
Steve was quick to point out to Robin that it wasn’t because Jonathan was a guy or anything, or even because he was Nancy’s ex. It was because the last time they were close enough to touch, Steve had got the shit knocked out of him. Which, in all fairness, Steve could say he deserved.
Then Eddie Munson was forcibly introduced to their group and the first time he ever touched Steve was a broken bottle to his neck and a furious, shaking hand pinning him to a wall.
Right?
Well, that’s where it gets a little muddled.
***
November 16th, 1983
Steve’s face still hurt.
If his parents were in town, he would have gone to the doctor to get some painkillers, but as it was, he was limping by on Tylenol.
Whatever.
He wasn’t sleeping great and the fact that he was alone in his house didn’t help matters any either. Tommy and Carol weren’t talking to him, Nancy was only giving him those tight lipped smiles, and every time he and Jonathan tried to talk, it ended up stilted and weird.
Teachers were looking at him weird and Steve realized it was because he wasn’t cracking jokes anymore, pulling all the old shit he used to.
It was getting bad, but today took the cake.
The worst was when Mr. Barnett came up behind him during science class when they were supposed to be working on some assignment and touched his shoulder to get him to stop tapping his pen against his desk.
Steve jerked away from him and was on his feet with his hands raised before he knew what he was doing.
Mr. Barnett took a step back and raised his hands.
Steve muttered sorry and shook his head. He bent down and grabbed his shit, left the classroom and there had been so many people whispering behind him that it filled his head with a buzzing noise that wouldn’t stop. It was last period anyway, and there were only ten minutes left in class.
With nothing left to do, Steve went out to his car and threw his bag in the trunk. The bat was still back there, a thank you from Jonathan (or maybe Jonathan didn’t want to see it anymore, now that his brother was back), and it reminded Steve that Dustin had quietly asked for a ride home today since his mom’s car was in the shop.
Talk about awkward.
But Steve quickly agreed, something to do, he told himself and now he was here, waiting for the kid to get out of school.
He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one and paused. He put his hand on the trunk and listened. There it was again, and he had to tell himself that it was just voices, just people ditching in the woods nearby, before he turned around.
Steve was right, but he was also wrong when he heard someone yell and someone else curse. It sounded a little familiar, so Steve closed the trunk and followed the voices.
It wasn’t until he was sliding down the embankment that he realized he had his bat in his hand.
Whatever. At this point, it was more of a safety blanket than anything.
But when he got to the sources of those voices he had heard, what he saw made little sense.
Jonathan was between Eddie Munson, the local town freak, but Steve didn’t give much credit to what people called other people these days after hearing what he got called, and six members of the basketball team.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Steve said, and even to his own ears he sounded pissed off.
The basketball players looked around and when they saw him, they nudged each other and relaxed, smiled at him. Steve wasn't sure how that made him feel, like they knew he wouldn't be bothered by what they were doing. What does that say about him?
“Got a couple losers here, thought we would use them as warm up,” Jason Carver said and smiled broadly, like he was Steve’s kid brother and Steve should be proud of him beating up a couple guys.
Even before everything happened, Steve hated that little fucker. There was something about him, something fake, something plastic, something broken in Jason that made Steve want to punch him in the mouth. And if Steve Harrington thought there was something broken in you – well that just really took the cake, didn’t it?
The whispers were getting louder and sharper in his head and Steve took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew the smoke out the side of his mouth.
“Is that right?” Steve said and nodded at Jonathan.
Jonathan, whose entire body had gone still and tight, nodded back and he relaxed, just a little.
The team saw that look, saw that exchange, and there was a shift of tension in the air that made Steve grip the baseball bat a little tighter.
Eddie Munson was the only one paying attention, apparently, because his eyes were glued to Steve’s bat.
“Can’t have the brother to a fucking zombie just walking around, man. What if it’s catching?” One of the players said.
The team laughed.
“Ha,” Steve said and nodded. He looked over at Jonathan, held the bat out to him. Jonathan took it.
Steve turned back to the others. He motioned the other one forward, the one who had just spoken. Andy? Steve was pretty sure that’s what his name was.
Andy stepped forward, fearless, trusting his captain, and didn’t clock the way Steve’s eyes were a little too bright and a little too unfocused.
Steve punched him in the mouth, once, twice, and the third time sent him reeling back into the arms of the other guys and they seemed to realize that Steve was just a little… off.
“What the fuck!” Andy yelled.
Steve held his hand out to Jonathan and Jonathan put the bat back in his hand. Steve pointed it at the other players, and they glanced at it.
“Is that blood?” One of them yelled.
“Captain of the baseball team, too. Who’s first up?” Steve asked, flipped the bat in his hands and offered them a smile.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Harrington?” Jason demanded.
“You want a go, Jason? You didn’t even make the team last year, not even JV. Want some tips?” Steve asked.
Another show off move, and Steve paced them, kept his back to Jonathan and Munson, and the basketball team turned and fled.
When Steve couldn’t see them anymore, he sighed, dejected. “No one ever wants to learn from the master.”
Steve took another drag off his cigarette and turned around. The bat was over his shoulder and his right-hand knuckles were skinned up.
Eddie was shaking, but Jonathan was squinting at him.
“Hey, man,” Steve said and offered him his cigarette.
Jonathan took it and stared after the guys who had left. “Aren't you worried about your spot on the team?”
“It's funny how things are put into perspective after a near death experience,” Steve remarked.
Eddie glanced between them and Steve could see he wanted to ask what was going on between the two of them.
“What happened?” Steve asked.
“I came out here to buy something from Munson and they must have followed one of us,” Jonathan said.
Steve took another cigarette from his pack and offered another to Jonathan and one to Munson who was still staring at Steve in disbelief. Munson slowly took the offered cigarette.
“Really? I always get mine from Chester behind the bleachers,” Steve said and lit his new cigarette before passing the lighter to Munson.
This?
God, this felt so fucking easy. It felt good.
“Don’t buy from him,” Munson said suddenly, just a tad too loud.
Steve and Jonathan jumped a little and looked over at him.
“That dude is nineteen and goes to the middle school to find girlfriends,” he added.
Steve and Jonathan made the exact same face of disgust.
“Noted. Anyway, Dustin Henderson asked me for a ride,” Steve said with a scoff and swung the bat around one more time, just because he could. “You guys okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good,” Jonathan said.
Steve put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder and they exchanged a look that no one else could get unless they had almost been eaten by a demogorgon. Then he turned to Eddie and held his hand out.
Eddie seized it and pulled him into a tight hug and Steve waited for some kind of reflex to kick in but -
No.
His entire body relaxed into the touch and Eddie felt it, held him a little longer than needed, and let him go. Then Eddie reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a cardboard matchbox. He held it out to Steve and for a second, Steve stared at his hands, dumbfounded by how elegant they were, how chunky the rings on his hands accentuated that fact -
“A humble gesture of my gratitude, King Steve,” Eddie said and winked. Steve took it.
Jonathan and Steve watched him go.
“He’s weird, right? It’s not just me,” Steve said and looked at Jonathan.
“Yeah, but he’s a good dude,” Jonathan said.
Later that night, Steve opened the matchbox.
There were eight joints in there.
Steve smoked one that night and fell into a dreamless sleep and truly rested for the first time since he had left the Byers’ residence with the bat in his trunk.
Steve never bought from Chester again.
***
Eddie’s entire life was made up of touches.
Casual, easy, touches that kept him grounded.
First his mom. She loved to hug him, to hold him, and she always did that, always made sure that Eddie knew he was loved, no matter what weird stuff he said.
Even his dad, gruff as he was, hugged him. Pulled him into these rough, manly hugs, clapped him on the back, and it usually ended in a round of rough housing.
That, of course, all ended when his mom died, and his dad got sent to prison.
Uncle Wayne was big on the hugs too. Got that from Eddie’s mom, he supposed. Uncle Wayne never shied away from Eddie’s mindless touches, never told him to back off, never swatted at him. It was just the way the entire family was, and no one ever thought about it.
That’s why Eddie always casually touched people. He never thought twice about it, and he liked bringing people into whatever big charade he was performing at the moment, and his friends, his new friends, they always grinned and played along.
The party leaned into him, it always made Max smile, and when El finally got used to him, learned that he was safe, she was the one who would play him up the most.
Joyce was always ready for a hug and Hopper tolerated it with a pat on his back.
Jonathan always seemed surprised, but Nancy leaned into his touches. Robin always hugged him back, held him a little longer, grinned at him more.
Steve, though.
Whoo, there was a land mine that Eddie didn’t know how to navigate. Could he touch? Was he allowed?
After Steve carried his half dead body out of the Upside Down, Steve gave him permission. Explicitly.
***
Oh god, it hurt. It hurt so much, everything hurt.
“Hey, look at me,” someone said above Eddie.
Eddie thought he was.
“Open your fucking eyes, Munson, so help me god I will kick your ass if you just died in Henderson’s arms, you can’t hurt him like that -“ Steve Harrington hissed, and he was close enough that Eddie could feel his breath on his lips.
Wasn’t this the start of so many of his dreams?
You’re goddamn right it was.
“Oh, there you are, see? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Steve said and grinned.
“You can’t kick my ass if I’m dead,” Eddie mumbled.
“Hey,” Steve said and cradled Eddie’s head in his hands. “Hey.”
God, he sounded so fucking sweet and so fucking gentle, Eddie wanted to cry.
Then he realized he was. Eddie Munson was crying, and Steve Harrington was holding him.
“What?” Eddie said and his breath hitched.
“I travel through dimensions regularly; you think death can stop me from following you?” Steve asked, and he was still using that sweet, sweet tone.
Eddie laughed and stopped, groaned.
“Ready,” Nancy said from behind Steve.
The lightning was flashing behind Steve, and it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair that this was the first time that Steve held him like this, and he was fucking dying.
“I promise I will hold you again if you don’t die. If you die, I’m going to kick your ass. Is that a deal?” Steve asked.
“Yeah,” Eddie said and nodded.
“Okay.”
“For how long? Is this a one-time thing, or do I get multiple times?” Eddie asked and his breath hitched again.
“For however long you want. Days, weeks, months. But you can’t die,” Steve said and raised his eyebrows. His hands slid down from Eddie’s face to his shoulders.
He felt hands around his ankles. Another set around his thighs.
“Ready,” Robin said.
“Ready,” Henderson said, and he sounded choked up still.
“For what? What are they ready for, Steve?” Eddie asked.
“Gotta clean out those wounds, have to stop the bleeding,” Steve said and looked over his shoulder. “Ready.”
Fire was poured over his torso. He screamed, his back arched and the hands on him made sense. They had to hold him down. Nancy had poured some kind of alcohol over his wounds and now she was wrapping him up with bandages and pulling them so tight he was having a hard time breathing.
Then he was upright somehow, an arm around Nancy and Robin’s shoulders and wasn’t that kind of rude? Where the fuck was Steve, shouldn’t he be the one carrying Eddie and not because Eddie had a crush on him the size of Texas, but because Steve was stronger than both of them. That is obviously excluding mental and emotional fortitude because there was no match for Nancy I’ll-fuck-you-up-until-you-cry-for-your-mom Wheeler and Robin fuck-all-interdimensional-demons-that-try-and-come-for-us Buckley.
“I’m right here,” Steve said, and Eddie’s eyes focused on Steve. “You still with me?”
“Did I say that out loud?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah. I’m getting t-shirts made for me and Nancy,” Robin said.
Steve turned around and knelt and the girls helped lean Eddie over Steve and Steve grasped Eddie’s thighs, and wasn’t that interesting, those are some big hands you have there, Mr. Harrington and you know what they say about big hands.
Steve shook beneath him. “I’m begging you, dude, please stop.”
Steve was laughing. In the middle of this interdimensional hell, Steve was laughing. Eddie would never stop if he could make Steve laugh, he wanted to write that into their previously made deal wherein one Eddie Munson was promised months of cuddles and Steve better not think that Eddie won’t cash that the fuck in.
“Oh, I bet you will,” Steve said, and stood up, his strides confident and easy, like he was the hero of Eddie’s story, and he was, wasn’t he? I mean, who other than a righteous and good king, dethroned though he may be, would do this for the town freak.
“Don’t talk about me like that. Don’t talk about you like that,” Steve said, and Eddie thought it was cute how Steve’s eyebrows scrunched together like that and how he could read Eddie’s mind.
“You’re saying all this out loud. I’m not reading your mind,” Steve said.
“Let him talk however he wants, Steve, just keep him conscious,” Robin admonished.
God, Steve was barely even breathing hard. What did they even make Harringtons out of? Also, may all the gods bless Buckley from on high, because she is a good, kind, sweet, beautiful creature and Eddie would be in love with her if either one of them were straighter. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Oh, shit, if he was saying all this out loud, he better not. He doesn’t want to make the King uncomfortable, does he? Attitudes being what they were in Hawkins, Steve could get the wrong idea and think that Eddie might be one of those predatory types, but then isn’t that what all straight guys were? Isn’t that how they treated women? So, what if they got a taste of their own medicine?
That was something to think about.
“Your goddamn right, Eddie. What if they did get a taste of their own medicine?” Nancy said.
Men should never hit on Nancy Wheeler unless she specifically said so. Eddie was almost completely sure that Nancy would tear the head off a fully grown man for looking at her the wrong way and he supported her and all her life’s decisions.
But that was neither here nor there because King Steve Harrington might be one of the rare, good guys, the kind of guy who would take a bat studded with nails to his own basketball team for looking at Eddie and Jonathan the wrong way -
“They wanted to do more than look at the two of you the wrong way,” Steve said, and his trailer was in sight.
Eddie decided to shut up. If all his inner most thoughts were currently being blasted out to the world, he didn’t want Henderson to think badly of him when he might have almost died in the kid’s arms. He wanted that kid to have a good picture of Eddie in his head and telegraphing how horrendously huge his crush on Steve was probably a bad move since Steve was like Henderson’s surrogate dad.
“Dude, you took on a thousand demobats. It’s going to take a lot more than your questionable taste in men to make you think you aren’t an awesome dude,” Henderson said.
“What? Why am I questionable?” Steve asked, still not out of breath.
Good thing they didn’t need Eddie to carry anyone because he had been smoking since he was like ten.
Just as they closed in on the trailer, the door was thrown open and Nancy brought her shotgun up and a guy in a bright yellow space suit stepped out of the trailer.
“Hey, whoa, whoa!” The man said and held up his hands.
Behind him, there was a taller man and surely, Eddie was dead, right? Because that looked like their dead police chief Jim Hopper, who had died in the mall fire the year previous.
“Hop?” Steve said and he sounded so broken, Eddie swore he would always be around to pick up the pieces of Steve Harrington until he could get himself right. Steve needed someone to protect him, and if Eddie survived, he was going to put his application in, first thing on Monday.
“Thanks,” Steve whispered to Eddie.
People began streaming out of the trailer then and there was medical personal, men with guns, though Eddie would always prefer Nancy and her shotgun.
The last thing Steve said before Eddie was taken was, “Remember our deal, Munson!”
Eddie remembered.
He had almost died for this deal.
And he was going to cash it the fuck in.
***
So, really, Steve had no one to blame but himself.
He made the deal, and he wasn’t going to go back on it. That wasn’t the kind of person he was.
Steve was taken to the hospital/labs along with Eddie as were Nancy and Robin, even though all their wounds were superficial.
Steve asked to be put under while they cleaned out his wounds because he could still remember how Eddie had screamed when they had cleaned out his wounds. Steve had to hope that his nightmares bypassed that sound, but it was an unlikely scenario. He only asked that they waited until after he heard that Eddie was going to need a lot of blood but was otherwise okay.
Nancy and Robin were there when they updated Steve and they both looked down at him.
“Don’t forget your end of the deal. He didn’t die, just for you,” Robin said, and she grinned.
She may be his best friend, but he had to wonder if she was also his worst enemy. Of course he couldn't forget. And he might be a little disappointed if Eddie forgot. But he wasn't going to mention that to anyone.
When Steve came to after he was all cleaned out and stitched together, he found that he was in the same room as Eddie.
Eddie was still asleep, and Steve looked over at him.
What a fucking ride.
And everything he had said in that soft, low voice had stuck with Steve.
He reached for the call button and a nurse came in almost immediately, like she had been hanging around, just waiting for them to wake up.
Steve explained what he wanted to do, and the nurse seemed confused at first and then after talking to Dr. Owen, relented.
Steve got into Eddie’s bed and slid an arm under his neck. Steve was on his side, pressed his forehead to Eddie’s hair and closed his eyes.
“You are a man of your word, Steve Harrington,” Eddie murmured, his voice scratchy and Steve felt him wrap his fingers around Steve’s wrist.
“You kept your end of the deal,” Steve whispered.
They fell asleep like that.
***
Eddie Munson was handsy.
Steve letting Eddie cuddle into him did not lessen this fact.
Steve often complained about this very fact to Robin whenever they had a movie night and the next day Steve and Robin had to work. He was always talking with his hands, always messing with Dustin’s cap, always fidgeting with something, never held still, never kept his hands to his fucking self.
Last night, Steve had somehow ended up pinned to a beanbag chair and Munson between his thighs as he lectured everyone about Bladerunner.
“Is that right? Is there something about that in particular that bugs you?” Robin asked in a voice that expressed her disinterest but the potential for a conversation all at once. Both Eddie joining their group and being able to get his hands on Steve whenever he wanted had lost their novelty fairly quickly.
“No! I’m used to it at this point. It’s just -“ Steve huffed. He glared at the counter, ugly, blue and plastic with that fake brown edge that he was constantly picking at. He didn’t think about the way Eddie’s fingers had practically soothed him into a coma. “I don’t know.”
“Is it because it’s not just you? He’s affectionate like that with everyone. Including, say, Jonathan?” Robin asked.
“I don’t know what you’re implying,” Steve said.
He glanced up at the military truck that passed by Family Video.
After their last time in the Upside Down, things had changed. After Hawkins started to break apart, it seemed like there was no way to hide it from people that they were living on top of an interdimensional worm hole or something and there was a demonic vine demon dude with bats and dogs for pets that wanted to take over the world who made his home down there and was currently breaking their world apart in an effort to get up here.
But no.
The government made up some lie about Henry Creel and some kind of gas explosion that caused the fissures but “don’t worry folks, the government is here to save the day!”
He had scoffed when he first heard the lie and he wanted to scoff now. Some people left, but most stayed, and Steve stayed even though his parents offered him an apartment in Boise, Idaho.
Fuck them and fuck Boise.
The only change that affected their day-to-day life was these bridges they had to cross that spanned the length of the fissures and checkpoints when they left town. Steve didn’t leave town often and he was just used to handing over his government issued ID at the checkpoints that had been mailed out, so at this point, life just… went on.
Like it always did.
The military was a pretty well-known presence now, and although it had been a shock at first, Steve and Robin were slowly getting used to the people in fatigues coming and going, sometimes giving them strange looks.
Robin asked one of them what they knew and he had stuttered that it was classified and Steve had smirked. The poor guy asked if Steve still had his bat. Robin had told him it was in the trunk.
The guy left without renting any videos that day.
Now it was just business as usual at Family Video.
Robin hid a smile behind a Twizzler that Steve had bought her, his parent’s credit card burning a hole in his pocket and he had made it clear that it didn’t bother him to spend his father’s money on the people that truly mattered to him.
“Doesn’t bother me. It seems like he needs it, you know? Like after almost being hunted down like it’s the 1800s and he was a young girl that-“ she said.
“You could just say a witch hunt, Robin,” Steve interrupted and sighed. “Yeah, I guess that’s a good point.”
“And look,” Robin said and draped herself over Steve as they both looked up at the TV playing some horror movie that they probably shouldn’t be showing in the middle of the day. “If it bothers you so much, you can always tell him to back off.”
“No, it doesn’t bother me. I just thought -“ Steve struggled for a minute. “I just thought it was weird, is all.”
“It’s not. We all deal with the Upside Down shit in different ways. You became a recluse and somehow adopted a bunch of kids. I became gayer. Nancy became Sarah Connor. Jonathan became a giant pothead. Eddie needs to ground himself in people, especially the ones that went to war with him and carried his half dead body out of that fucked up place and to the hospital,” Robin said, gently teasing him.
“Don’t,” Steve whispered, pleaded a little. The feel of Eddie’s nearly dead body in his hands hadn’t faded like some of the other memories had.
“I’m not making fun,” Robin amended. “I’m just pointing out that maybe you don’t think it’s a big deal, but Eddie probably sees why Dustin and all the others brag about your bad-assery. Because you are. And you showed him. And he appreciates you for it.”
Steve sighed and reached back, tore the remaining Twizzler from her mouth and shoved it in his own. She made a sound of protest but didn’t try to take it back.
“Besides. It’s been said that I am handsy and you don’t seem bothered by it,” Robin added and Steve couldn’t argue with her, the way she always draped herself over him, whether it was her legs on his lap, leaning into him, curling into shoulder as she fell asleep during their movie nights.
It wasn’t just Eddie that demanded affection from Steve these days. It was fucking everyone, including El who had fallen asleep after a particularly strenuous day with Dr. Owens and Steve had had to carry her out to Hop. Hop had made a funny face when he saw Steve carrying his daughter, but he hadn’t said anything, just pressed a rough kiss to Steve’s head and waved him off.
Mike had actually hugged him last night, and the look that Dustin and Lucas exchanged must have been mirrored on Steve’s own face, with the way that Eddie had to turn away to hide his laughter.
It could be a little bit too much at times, with the way that people seemed to hang on to him. There was a part of him, still, that wanted to jerk away from their hands, but there was a smaller voice inside of him that reminded him of all those days and all those nights when he was alone and needed someone. If those nights came back, and he was alone once again, then maybe he could reach back for these memories.
“So what’s the difference between Eddie and me?” Robin asked.
“You aren’t as loud,” Steve pointed out.
“Uh-huh. Is that all?” Robin asked.
“I don’t care if he’s gay, if that’s what you are saying,” Steve said, sounding a little offended.
When Eddie had announced to the entire Upside Down that he had a crush on Steve that was the size of Texas, it had taken root in Steve’s brain and now it was just a fact.
Robin was gay.
Eddie was gay.
Steve was… something.
Robin pushed herself away from Steve. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”
Steve frowned up at the slasher killer guy in the TV and turned back to her. “Then what are you saying?”
“Nothing at all, my darling, dear friend. I will be in the back, doing things. Back there. In the back,” Robin said.
She left him alone with his own thoughts.
Steve huffed and shook his head at her retreating back. Sometimes he understood her without either one of them saying a word and sometimes he had to wonder if he would ever understand her at all.
He turned to the front, because, if nothing else, the street was good for people watching. Family Video was across the street from a diner that took up an entire corner and Steve watched people go in and out, softly naming the people he knew, and paused when Hop came out of the diner with Owens and a woman with blonde hair, in a white blouse and navy blue skirt. Her hair was pulled back sharply from her face in a bun at the base of her neck and Hop led them to a dark colored vehicle.
They were talking to him and he was nodding, and Steve watched them closely, until Owens and the woman got in their car and left and Hop got into his truck.
“That’s weird,” Steve said.
He was about to call Robin from the back to tell her what happened, but as he turned, he saw a familiar van pull up and Will jumped out of the passenger seat and Eddie followed him into the store.
“Steve!” Will said and behind him, Eddie grinned, slow and sure. There was that feeling again, that made Steve’s chest go tight and made him question everything that he previously thought about himself. He hadn't yet been able to put words to it, but he knew that feeling, he used to get it when he would see Nancy walking down the hall toward him.
But this was different. It seemed more, somehow.
And everything he had seen was immediately forgotten.
***
“How did I end up pulled into this fiasco? I don’t even like children, I would have you know,” Eddie said and held one hand out to El and she placed her hand in his and he twirled her around the grass like she was a ballerina in a spring play. Her laughter was a balm to his ears and he would be the most ridiculous man in the world if it meant El would smile a little bit more.
Max and Hopper trailed after them as they walked through downtown Hawkins. The day was warm, the sky was blue, and (currently) all was right with the world.
“You are the only one that I know that knows a goddamn thing about tattoos. And I don’t want to walk into a place blind,” Hopper said.
“Fine, but only because you are a man of the law, Hop, and I am but a humble citizen of your fair town,” Eddie said and he twirled next and El laughed louder. She bumped into Max and Max slung an arm around El’s shoulders and they laughed together, heads pressed close as they shared a secret.
Eddie put his hand on Hop’s shoulder. “Really, Richie is a great guy and I stopped in here a few days ago to talk to him. I told him that El had some issues with her parents before you adopted her and one of them was being tattooed way too young. I gave him the heads up not to ask too many questions about her past and he swore that he wouldn’t. He looks rough, but I promise you, this guy has a soft spot for kids that have had it rough.”
Hop nodded. “Thanks, Eddie. I wouldn’t have even thought about this before and when I brought it up-“
Eddie saw that Hop wasn’t going to finish that sentence. He didn’t need to. When Eddie had seen the tattoo, he had wanted to find Brenner himself and show him what pain really was.
Fuck Papa.
The tattoo shop was cleaner than it had been the day before and Richie was sitting in the back, ready for El. The usual pictures of scantily clad or naked women were either covered up or taken down altogether and Eddie couldn’t help but notice that all the people in the shop were women.
God bless Richie.
When they walked in, Richie smiled and waved. “Hey, are you Jane?”
“Yes,” El said and for the first time, she hesitated. She looked around and flinched at the buzzing of the needles from another artist and reached for Eddie’s hand. Eddie took it and looked over at Hop. He nodded and Eddie stepped forward, let El hang back behind him for a minute.
Her big brown eyes were glued on the artist and the woman she was tattooing. They were talking and laughing quietly and El looked up at Eddie.
“She is not… hurting her?” El asked and that quiet voice of hers almost broke Eddie.
“No, not at all. Hey, Tawny, I have a young, inquisitive mind here. Can she come survey your masterpiece?” Eddie asked from a respectful distance.
“Hell yeah, come on over,” Tawny said and the woman lying on the chair waved them over.
“It is a fish?” El asked, her eyes darting from the tattoo in progress to Tawny.
“A koi fish,” the woman in the chair said. Tawny was working on her thigh and she wiped away some of the bright ink.
“It is beautiful,” El whispered.
“Just like your new one will be. Richie does the best work in the state,” Tawny reassured her.
El seemed to gather her courage from her words and nodded. They went to Richie and El sat in the chair and even though Eddie knew she could tear this whole place apart with just her mind, she seemed so small in that chair.
Brenner was lucky he got a shot with a high powered rifle, Eddie thought viciously.
“What did you decide on, little lady?” Richie asked, his sketch pad ready.
“A flower that is in the middle of blooming,” El said, each word sounding like it was carefully selected. Maybe it had been.
Richie pursed his lips, thought for a second, and nodded. He bent over his sketch pad and within minutes, he had a sunflower blooming on the page in front of him.
“Sunflowers symbolize loyalty and adoration,” Richie informed her.
El’s eyes widened.
“It is beautiful,” El whispered, a little entranced.
“You mind if I show Hop?” Eddie asked.
El nodded, excited.
Eddie showed him and he nodded, his eyes bright with tears. Max was holding his hand and she patted it. “Come on, dude. Man up.”
She also had tears in her eyes. Eddie didn’t point it out because he was a good friend, but he tucked the knowledge away for later use. His own throat was a little tight when he understood the gravity of what they were doing. This was the last of it. The last of those labs would be buried under green and yellow ink, under a symbol of loyalty and if that didn't speak volumes of what she had been through, Eddie wasn't sure what did.
Eddie held El’s hand as Richie covered her old tattoo with the healthy green of the sunflower stem.
“Hey, Richie, did you know Jane is my hero?” Eddie said.
“Is she now?” Richie said, playing along.
“Steve, too! Don’t forget about him. He is also a hero,” El said.
Eddie put a hand to his heart. “I could never forget about the most beautiful King in the land.”
***
Two days later and after everyone had seen El’s new tattoo, Steve and Eddie were getting ready for a night out, with only the older teens invited. The younger group had complained loudly, but there was no getting around the fact that none of them were legal adults.
“Look, I know we are talking about evil scientists and demons and other dimensions and all that shit, but what kind of asshole tattoos a little kid?” Eddie asked Steve.
“I don’t know,” Steve replied.
“See, that’s what I said. Where is the line, dude?” Eddie asked.
Steve had his eyes closed as Eddie traced a line over his eyelid and he had to use every ounce of self-control not to jerk away.
“Dude relax,” Eddie murmured and took Steve’s hands from where he had them crossed over his chest.
“I am relaxed. I want to sneeze, but I’m relaxed,” Steve said, proud that there was no tremor in his voice when Eddie put Steve’s hands on Eddie’s thighs.
Upper thighs. Steve didn’t know what to think about that -
That was a lie.
Steve knew exactly what to think about that and they were thoughts he had in detail, but now was probably not the time to entertain those thoughts.
“I’m not sure I need makeup though. You’re the one on stage, right?” Steve said.
Steve was sitting criss cross on his bed and Eddie had his legs casually draped over Steve’s as he used eyeliner on him.
“You want to fit in, right? Then trust me,” Eddie said softly, and he was so close Steve could smell the cheap strawberry chapstick he had stolen off Robin earlier.
“I trust you,” Steve said.
“Damn right, pretty boy,” Eddie agreed and used the pencil to stroke over Steve’s eyelid.
“Argh,” Steve said and gripped Eddie’s thighs.
“Dude,” Eddie admonished.
“Tickles,” Steve said and forced himself to loosen up.
Steve was trying not to think about how close they were and how his pants were getting tighter and tighter and this whole thing was a bad idea, really, he was going to look stupid, only bad ass metalheads like Eddie looked good with makeup, who was Steve kidding-
Then Eddie cupped Steve’s face and gently ran his thumbs over his eyelids, artfully smearing the black liner.
“All right, my King, let me see,” Eddie said.
Steve opened his eyes, blinked, and stared at Eddie.
Eddie swallowed. “Yeah. I mean- you know. If you go for the hot guy with gorgeous eyes. Like, if that’s your thing, then yeah. Yeah. You’ll do.”
“Yeah?” Steve asked and smirked. “You think I’m hot?”
“You know I do. After everything I said while you carried me out of the Upside Down? You know I have a bit of a soft spot for you. And I am but a simple man, who can be easily wooed by pretty boys and their pretty eyes,” Eddie said and with a complicated twist that somehow didn’t end with Steve getting kicked in the head, Eddie rolled off the bed and jumped to his feet.
“I have to get ready,” Eddie said and practically ran from the room.
Steve frowned at his sudden exit but went downstairs and found Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and Argyle all in a deep discussion.
“Dude!” Argyle said. “Bitchin, as El would say.”
“Yeah?” Steve said and frowned. He was wearing Eddie’s tight jeans, some old scuffed up black Chucks that he thought he had tossed out, and a tank top with dozens of safety pins keeping it in one piece that Eddie had made for him. Over that was Eddie’s vest that Steve refused to give back and Eddie had even given him a few necklaces and two rings.
Robin and Nancy were staring at him and Jonathan had his mouth open, like he was trying to find a way to insult Steve, but he didn’t know how.
Eddie had artfully messed his hair up and now it hung in soft waves over his forehead, occasionally falling into his eyes.
“I mean -“ Robin started and stopped. She stared at Steve like she had never seen him before. Her mouth was open and she shook her head slowly.
“Steve -“ Nancy said. There was a pretty flush on her cheeks and Steve grinned, proud that he could still stun her speechless from time to time.
“Dude, you look fucking hot,” Jonathan blurted out. He glanced over at Nancy and Robin, like he was expecting an admonishment, but they were still staring.
Steve grinned. “Thanks.”
Jonathan’s face went red, but Steve liked compliments and would take them from whoever was handing them out.
“God, he’s like my own masterpiece, right?” Eddie said and tumbled down the stairs after Steve and slipped his arm around Steve’s waist. He gave Steve that wide open smile that not even Vecna could take from him.
“You do good work,” Robin muttered.
“All right, all right, let’s go,” Steve said and picked up his keys.
Steve kept getting glances throughout the night, and he took count of them, but none of them mattered as much as the ones he got from the front man of Corroded Coffin.
Especially in the middle of a song, when Eddie leaned over the stage and grasped Steve’s chin and tilted his face up as he sang about black and red nightmares, blood everywhere, death dancing him along a cliffside edge, and a strong hand that interrupted their dance.
***
They were all at Eddie’s for once and the kids were outside, chasing each other with squirt guns and screaming.
“Lucky for them that Nancy doesn’t have a gun. She’d take them all out,” Jonathan said.
Nancy nodded. “Wouldn’t even break a sweat.”
Steve sat next to Eddie on the couch as he painted… something. It was a creature of some kind and this was the stillest he had ever seen Eddie. His entire concentration was focused on this one small thing in his hand and Steve couldn't look away. Eddie’s tongue stuck out of his mouth, barely peeking out between his lips, and Steve had to chalk it up to the weed. That's all, right? It was the weed that was making him think this way. The creature came to life in his hands, blues, greens, and purples vibrant. It had more than two arms and more than one head. Eddie had tried to explain but gave up when he saw Steve silently shaking his head.
Steve didn’t feel too bad because Eddie had shrugged and given him a smile.
“Hey, Eddie, mind if I get a beer?” Jonathan asked. He had come inside from manning the grill and he was wet from either the kids or sweat because it was unforgivingly hot out there. It was hot inside the trailer, and Steve wondered how they ended up here and not at his house. But even as the question floated through his hazy mind, he dismissed it. It didn't matter. They were here now.
“Help yourself,” Eddie said and set the little creature down on the table, satisfied with his work.
Steve stared down at it, mesmerized. It had too many arms and too many eyes, and was probably a monster, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit of affection for the slightly ugly thing.
“What should I name him?” Eddie asked.
“Mud,” Steve said promptly.
The colors were so vibrant that naming him something so simple as Mud made Steve and Eddie cackle.
“Mud it is,” Eddie agreed.
“Eddie, where do you hide all your candy?” Robin asked from the kitchen. Her cheeks wear red from the heat and her eyes were glassy and a little unfocused and she flailed all around the kitchen. For some reason she had a spatula in her hand and she pointed it at Nancy. None of it made sense, but it was so endearingly Robin that Steve grinned.
“I’m almost done cooking!” Jonathan protested.
“In my room, the closet, Harrington’s blue sweater,” Eddie called back.
“That’s where it went,” Steve said. He was a little high, not too far gone, but just enough for him to not be irritated at his missing sweater.
“Listen to this part,” Eddie said and put the joint to Steve’s lips and let him inhale before he took it back.
Eddie tapped out the beat first on his own knee and then on Steve’s, before leaving his fingers there, warm and rough, against the inside of Steve’s knee, tapping rhythmically.
Steve put his arm around the back of the couch and began following the beat too, tapping it out against Eddie’s shoulder and he tipped his head back and smiled.
The kids were screaming and laughing and the music was playing in the background. His friends were all around him, happy and safe.
This was what he had almost died for. And he would do it again, a thousand times more.
***
“What are you doing tonight?” Robin asked and hip checked him in the Western section.
“Going to a movie with Eddie. Want to come?” Steve asked and put Silverado back behind its display case.
Robin was quiet for a moment and when Steve looked over at her, he could read the expression on her face. She was gearing herself up for another talk with Steve. “Wait, no-“
“It’s just that you guys spend a lot of time together and we know that Eddie is…” Robin raised her eyebrows.
“Yes, I know,” Steve said and let out a sigh. “Does that mean we can’t hang out and be friends?”
Robin stood on her tiptoes and looked around the store. “No, of course it doesn’t mean that. What I am trying to point out to your oblivious face is that maybe you should consider the fact that you might not be the person you thought you were.”
“I don’t know what kind of person I am,” Steve said and went over to Action/Adventure with Commando in his hand. “If I was who I thought I was, then I would be in Chicago, working at some firm for my father, snorting coke or something.”
Robin followed him. “Why would you be snorting coke?”
“I think I’ve watched too many movies or something,” Steve muttered.
“What I’m trying to say, Steve-“ Robin began and Steve sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“I know what you are trying to say, Robin. I hear you. Loud and clear. And I’m not doing anything on purpose to be an asshole. I’m not, don’t look at my like that. I’m just saying…” Steve glared at Day of the Dead and went over to Horror.
Robin followed.
“What? What are you trying to say?” She asked, but instead of being annoying and pressing for an answer, her tone shifted to something more kind. Gentle, even.
“I don’t know. I mean, me. As a person. I don’t know who I am anymore. I wouldn’t recognize me from three years ago,” Steve admitted.
“Okay,” Robin said and leaned against the shelf. “And what are your thoughts on that?”
Steve stared down at Enemy Mine, another Action/Adventure. More sci-fi, in his opinion, but he only worked here.
“It makes everything harder, you know? What do I like? What do I want?” Steve asked and looked up at Robin, like she would know.
She shrugged.
“Exactly. So what do I do?” Steve asked.
She shrugged again.
“So you see where I’m at,” he said.
“And we’ve all been there. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It’ll happen when it happens. And you’ll know what you like, what you want, and then three or four months from now that could all change,” Robin said.
Steve stared at her, exasperated. “That doesn’t help at all! In fact that makes everything worse!”
Robin nodded, her eyes soft and kind. “I know.”
***
“Would you ever learn some fighting moves like Danny?” Eddie asked later that night.
They were leaving the theater and Steve tossed a popcorn at Eddie. They joined the crush of people that were already on the sidewalk. Steve was surprised at how many people were out on a Monday night, but then he remembered that it was summer and the kids were going to be out now.
“Nah, I got my bat,” Steve said.
“Fair point, but according to Robin and Dustin, you don’t always have your bat,” Eddie pointed out.
“They told you about the Russians, huh?” Steve said.
“They did,” Eddie said.
Steve threw another popcorn at him and he caught it in his mouth. He apologized to a girl he bumped into and she giggled, waved him off.
Steve and Eddie exchanged a look.
They did make quite the pair, with Steve wearing his baby blue polo and jeans and Eddie in a Black Sabbath t-shirt and ripped black jeans. They looked like they shouldn’t be friends and here they were, hanging out. Steve knew there were whispers, even his mom called to ask why he was hanging out with “those kinds of people”. But Steve learned the hard way that you just couldn’t live for other people. You had to make yourself happy first, otherwise the rest of it was shit.
“I won that fight,” Steve pointed out.
“Do I have to point out the other things they told me?” Eddie asked and raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, come on. That was before I became -“
“Hey!” Someone yelled from across the street.
They both ignored it. The streets were packed and they weren’t the only ones out there. It was summer, the nights were still cool enough to be bearable, and the shops were staying open late. People brushed past them, gave them a few odd looks, but there was nothing to worry about.
The monsters were all locked away.
That’s what Steve told himself late at night anyway.
“Munson!” The same person yelled and Eddie looked toward the voice.
He groaned. “I’ll meet you at your house, okay?”
“What? Why?” Steve said, confused.
They had had some confrontations before, Steve had been there for a few, but this felt different. Maybe it was in the way Eddie looked over his shoulder wary at whoever was approaching them. There wasn’t a lot of fear in his face, but there was some caution.
Once a person dealt with Vecna and his Upside Down bullshit, it was hard to find humans that scary anymore. Even if they were out for blood.
Caution was always recommended, though.
Steve caught sight of three guys, green letterman jackets making them stand out because it was fucking summer, who fucking wears jackets in the summer?
Douchebags, that’s who.
“Munson, come on, let’s talk!” Jason called to them.
“That’s why,” Eddie said and pointed at them.
The people around them glared more at Jason than at Eddie and Steve knew that it was because Jason had almost led them on a manhunt to kill Eddie and some of them felt a lot of shame about that. Especially after the cover up featured beloved Chief Hopper not only exonerating Eddie but giving the story that Eddie had helped in the investigation of the serial killer, Henry Creel.
“You think I’m leaving you here?” Steve scoffed. He put his popcorn on a nearby windowsill and dusted his hands off. He went over to Eddie’s side and watched the other three come closer.
“Harrington?” Jason said, scorn clear in his voice when he saw Steve.
“Yeah it’s me,” Steve said with a heavy sigh. “Haven’t we already done this?”
“Hey, you should tell your new friend to keep it in his pants. You don’t want to catch what all of them are passing around,” one of the jocks next to Jason sneered.
Steve frowned at him and looked at Eddie, who looked just as confused. “Weird thing to focus on. Why are you talking about Eddie’s junk?”
The jock opened his mouth and shook his head and looked over at Jason.
“Harrington, we just want to talk to Eddie. Alone,” Jason said, ignoring his last question.
Steve pursed his lips like he was thinking about it. “No.”
It was scary how quickly Jason could change moods. Steve hoped that Chrissy had never been subject to this side of him.
Jason stepped close and poked Steve in the chest. “You aren’t King Steve anymore. You’re just a washed up has-been working a shitty job in a shitty town that doesn’t even want you around anymore.”
“And you were too weak to save Chrissy,” Steve said easily and gave Jason a winning smile.
It wasn’t true, not really. There was no way Jason could have saved Chrissy, a guy like him would have died in the first minute of trying to fight Vecna. But Steve was so fucking sick of hearing this guy put Eddie down, that he wanted to lash out at him, wanted to show him words could devastate.
Jason was speechless, and Steve left him that way before turning to his friends.
“Oh, and this is the guy that attacked Erica,” Steve announced loudly and pulled Andy forward by his jacket. Andy stumbled, unprepared for Steve to reach out for him. “You keep great company, Jason, with the guys that like to beat up on middle school girls.”
Steve winked at him and straightened his jacket out. He turned back to Jason.
“Still want to talk, Carver?”
“You used to be somebody, Harrington,” Jason bit out and stepped forward, putting Steve between him and Andy.
Figures, Steve thought.
“And you never had the chance to be one. Which one of those is worse?” Steve asked.
Jason was confused by the question and it pissed him off. He grabbed Steve by his shirt and threw him up against the wall.
“The freak won’t always have you to stick up for him, will he?” Jason sneered as he pressed closer to Steve.
“Hey, let him go -“ Eddie’s words were cut off abruptly and Steve saw Andy and the other guy grab him and start to drag him down an alley.
The crowd around them stared. No one moved to help.
Typical.
Steve didn’t want to fight, he really didn’t, he had a terrible track record, but none of that gave him a moment’s notice when his friends were in trouble. He swung at Jason and Jason ducked.
Right into Steve’s knee.
Steve grabbed him by his hair, smashed his face once more into his knee and then pushed him aside, pushed through the crowd, and to the alley where the guys had dragged Eddie.
He spotted the three figures struggling and Jason’s friends clearly weren’t prepared for the fact that Eddie could fight and he would.
Eddie swung, missed, and one jock punched him in the stomach. The other one forced Eddie up and before Steve could get there, he had hit him twice more. Eddie fell into the wall and gasped, and they descended on him. Steve ran for them and he heard people behind him, that fucking crowd that wasn’t helping, follow him into the alley.
Steve grabbed Andy by his hair, tore him away from Eddie and the other guy spun around and swung at Steve’s face. It was a wild swing, but his class ring caught Steve’s lip and Steve tasted blood. Then Andy recovered, grabbed Steve by his shoulders, and spun him around to face Andy and Jason.
Jason’s face marred by blood. He stood behind Andy, wiping his nose and mouth.
“You’re going to pay for that comment,” he swore and Steve grinned.
“That’s what they all say,” Steve said.
Andy pulled his fist back and Steve stepped back, ready to launch himself at the guy.
When there was a horrifying scream, one that made Steve look around for El and made Andy pause, and then there was a blur of someone else, someone who crashed into Andy, knocked him backward, and made Steve stumble.
Steve couldn’t see who it was and when he turned around, he saw Will and Mike running for them, Max and El behind them.
Mike jumped on the guy’s back who had Eddie and Will punched him in the face and immediately winced. Mike got one arm around his throat and jerked back, landed on those long legs of his.
Max ran past Steve, and jumped on the blur that had caught Andy and Steve realized that the blur was Lucas and he was beating the ever loving shit out of Andy.
For a brief second, Steve thought Max was going to pull Lucas off Andy, but he should have known better. Max would have heard from Erica what Andy tried to do and Max joined Lucas in beating Andy bloody.
El joined them and glared at Jason.
“El, El, don’t kill them,” Steve said, wiping his face and stepped between the others and El.
“They hurt you. They hurt Eddie, they will hurt more,” she said.
“But they aren’t like Vecna. Let Hopper -“
“You really jumped on the freak train, didn’t you, Harrington?” Jason said.
Steve turned to him, exasperated. “You can never just shut the fuck up, can you Jason? You’re friends are getting beaten up by a bunch of freshmen and you still can’t shut up.”
“Let her do her worst to me. She’s just some girl,” Jason said.
Steve and El exchanged glances, eyebrows raised. It would have been so sweet to give into that kind of temptation. Steve kind of wanted to know what El’s worst would be
Behind them, Mike screeched as the guy bit him, and Steve turned to see Will kick him in the nuts. The guy crumpled and Mike and Will started to kick him some more.
“Steve said to shut the fuck up. You do not speak anymore,” El said quietly and stared at Jason.
Jason opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He put his hands to his neck and looked around at everyone, panic rising in his entire body, but his friends were too busy getting beat up to notice.
El tipped her head at him.
Steve watched as a patch around his jeans grew darker and bigger and bigger.
“Dude, is Jason Carver pissing himself right now?” Mike said loudly and wiped at his arm.
Steve heard the crowd shift to stare at Jason.
“-god, he peed on himself!”
“-so scared, he wet himself!”
“-have to tell everyone!”
Steve went over to Mike and Will, where Eddie was slowly standing up. He helped Eddie the rest of the way. the guy that Mike and Will attacked was still on the ground, rolling in pain.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Hopper demanded from the back of the crowd.
The crowd parted.
“Steve? Eddie? Jane?” Hopper said, his mouth halfway open.
“I can explain,” Steve said.
“You’re goddamn right you can explain,” Hopper muttered and pushed past him and Eddie to Lucas and Max. He bent over, picked each of them up in one arm, pulled them off Andy. He turned and glared at Steve.
“The station. Now.” Hopper marched away with Max and Lucas.
“Henderson is going to be so mad he missed this,” Eddie said.
Steve nodded. “Robin too.”
***
Eddie watched Steve go into Hop’s office with Joyce.
“Is Steve in trouble?” El whispered at Eddie’s side.
Eddie had an ice pack to his face and Nancy was pressing gauze to his eyebrow. His ribs ached but he wasn’t going to say anything because that was a one way ticket to the hospital and he didn’t have that kind of money.
“I don’t know,” Eddie said.
“Are we in trouble?” El asked.
“Maybe Lucas and Max. But not you. No one saw you do anything,” Eddie said.
Mike hissed when Jonathan applied a cotton ball soaked in alcohol to the bite on his arm. Will had his own ice pack around his fist.
“You did not hurt Chrissy,” El said.
“No.”
“Then why does he keep trying to hurt you?” She asked and Eddie glanced down to look at her. She had that look of polite confusion, like she was sorry for asking so many questions, but she wanted desperately to understand everything that was going on. Eddie frowned and thought about it for a moment and looked back at Hop’s office. He didn't always understand himself why people were cruel to the point of banality.
Eddie kept his eyes on Steve’s back. He looked relaxed and unbothered as Hopper paced the room and yelled, pointed at Steve and then pointed at their group.
Joyce turned to Steve and Steve said something to Joyce and she turned back to Hopper and Hopper went quiet.
“Because when people lose something precious and good, for no reason at all, they want to make someone pay for it. And I’m an easy target,” Eddie said.
“No, you’re not. He just thinks you are,” Nancy murmured from above them. She pulled the gauze away from his eyebrow. “You really should get stitches for this.”
“I’ll be fine, Nance. I promise,” Eddie said.
Of them all, Lucas and Max had no injuries. They were a little dirty, but nothing more than that as they sat across from Eddie and the others. Max looked bored and Lucas was falling asleep on her shoulder. Eddie studied them and saw that he was mistaken. Both of their knuckles were skinned up.
“Hey,” Eddie said and tapped his foot at them. “Go wash that stuff off your hands.”
Max looked down at her hands. “Didn’t even notice.”
She stood up and Lucas slumped over and then sat up straight. “Huh?”
“Come on,” she said.
It was another half hour before Hopper let Steve out of his office.
“Munson!” Hopper snapped. “Get your squirrely ass in here.”
Eddie took the gauze patch from Nancy, whispered his thanks, and gave El a reassuring smile.
Steve patted his shoulder as they passed. “I’ll wait for you.”
Eddie went into Hopper’s office and sat down in the seat that Steve had just been sitting in. Joyce stayed where she was and she brushed his hand away from where he was holding the gauze. She peeled it back and winced.
“You should get stitches,” she said.
“I’ll be fine,” Eddie said.
Joyce went behind Hopper’s desk and pulled out a first aid kit.
“What the fuck happened out there?”
Eddie explained what happened after their movie and Hopper listened. He didn’t interrupt, he didn’t question, he didn’t say a word. Joyce bandaged his eyebrow shut and sighed.
“Do they come after you a lot?” Hopper asked.
Eddie shrugged. “Whenever they see me, I guess.”
Hopper was quiet and his eyes were distant.
“We didn’t mean for the kids to get involved. Really, Steve and I just -“ Eddie gestured helplessly. “We did what we had to do. And then the kids showed up.”
“Well that asshole Andy got what was coming to him,” Hopper muttered. He tapped his fingers against his desk. “The crowd said that Jason started it and Steve egged him on and only really started fighting when they dragged you away. The Carvers will deny it and I don’t want to touch Steve’s family with a ten foot pole.”
“Which leaves me. Lucas. And Max,” Eddie said and leaned back in his chair and groaned. “Always the ones that could least handle it. Always us.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Hopper said irritated. “Nothing is going to happen to you. But I am going to have a word with the Carvers about their kid and what he’s been up to. I am going to put a restraining order on Andy so he can’t go near any of the Sinclairs or Max again. He would be a fool to do it anyway, but we have seen they don’t have a lot going on upstairs.”
Oh.
Eddie wasn’t… in trouble?
“Don’t look at me like that. You didn’t do anything. Go on, get out of here, keep those bandages on,” Hopper advised.
Eddie stood up to leave but Joyce caught his hand.
“Sweetie, don’t forget, we have family dinner on Sunday. Steve said he would bring dessert,” Joyce said.
“Steve can’t cook and he certainly can't bake,” Eddie said, bewildered.
“We know,” Hopper said, meaningfully, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah, uh. Okay. We will be there,” Eddie said. He figured he would have to find some kind of recipe from somewhere so he could cover for Steve.
Joyce squeezed his hand. “Stay out of trouble.”
***
“Concussion?” Steve asked.
“No, just the eyebrow. And my hand,” Eddie said and showed him his swollen knuckles.
Steve made a face.
He drove them back to his own house without even asking if Eddie wanted to stay. Steve realized it was kind of presumptuous, but they had just been in a fight together. That was almost a guarantee they would both have nightmares that night.
When they got inside, Steve went upstairs and Eddie followed. Steve went through his drawers, tossed Eddie some shorts and t-shirt, before going into the bathroom to shower. Eddie went in after him and Steve went downstairs to wait for him.
While he waited, he made popcorn, got some soda, the first aid kit, and went through his movies. He settled on Terminator, popped it into the VCR, but didn’t press play. Eddie hated it when he started movies without him, even though they had both seen Terminator a dozen times.
Eddie joined him a few minutes later, tissue pressed to his eyebrow that was bleeding again.
Steve patted the cushion next to him and pulled some butterfly bandages out of the kit. Eddie turned to him and Steve got on his knees so he could push Eddie’s hair back and apply the bandages.
“Note to self, never mess with a Sinclair,” Eddie said.
Eddie put his hands on Steve’s waist to steady him as Steve leaned closer. Steve felt himself flush at the touch, but he had to admit, he liked it and found more than a little comfort in the fact that Eddie was still here and able to do that.
They had all heard about the stories of what these rich guys did to people that weren’t the carbon copy of them. Tonight could have ended a lot worse for Eddie than any of them had a chance to consider.
Steve grinned. “Lucas was just waiting for his chance.”
“Him and Max both,” Eddie agreed.
“Andy will think twice before putting his hands on another girl, I think,” Steve said.
Eddie chuckled and Steve pressed the bandage to his skin. He reached for another one.
“Do you think Jason will be able to talk again?” Eddie asked.
Steve shrugged. “I don’t think it’s such a huge loss if he can’t.”
He sat back and looked at his work. He frowned and nodded. “Good thing scars are hot.”
Eddie blinked at him, tried to open his mouth and then sat back. He tried to hide the wince on his face, but Steve knew him too well by now. Steve stared at him while Eddie tried to avoid looking at him.
“All right, let’s see it,” Steve said with a huff.
“See what?” Eddie asked.
“Take off your shirt, Munson.”
“Buy me dinner first.”
“I took you to a movie and defended your honor. Strip.”
Eddie tipped his head to the side and studied Steve. “I guess you’re right.”
Eddie took off his shirt and Steve glanced over his tattoos and scars, before settling on the giant bruise over his lower right side. He inhaled sharply and looked up at Eddie.
“Don’t say it,” Eddie said.
“Dude,” Steve said.
“It looks worse than it actually is,” Eddie said.
“I’m calling Owens,” Steve said and stood up.
Eddie stood up and tackled him back on the couch. He held Steve down by the shoulders. “No.”
Steve stared up at him and he didn’t know what kind of expression he had but Eddie sat back, considered him thoughtfully.
“You do know you can’t hold me down, right?” Steve said.
Eddie didn’t move. He was sitting on Steve’s thighs and Steve had to force his thoughts to stuff that wasn’t sexual. The shorts he was wearing weren’t doing him any favors, especially with Eddie shirtless and on his lap.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” Eddie said quietly.
“And I don’t want you to die in the middle of the night,” Steve said.
They regarded each other for a long moment and Steve realized he had his hands on Eddie’s bare waist.
“I’ll call Owens, ask what to look for, and if something goes wrong, I’m dragging you to the labs, deal?” Steve said.
“Fine,” Eddie huffed.
Steve reached behind him for the phone and grabbed it. He dialed Owens’ number from heart and told him what had happened.
“Are you sure you can’t get him to come in? If I could just look -“ Owens said.
“He said no. A lot,” Steve replied, irritated.
Owens sighed, also irritated. “How big is the bruise?”
Steve put his hand over Eddie’s side, and spread his fingers. “Eight inches, give or take.”
“Jesus. Okay. Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, blood in the urine. Any of that happens, you hog tie him if you have to and get him here. Are we clear, Mr. Harrington?” Dr. Owens said.
“Yes, doc,” Steve said and glared at Eddie.
Eddie shrugged.
Steve hung up and told him what the doctor said.
“I’ll be fine,” Eddie said and reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote. “With my knight in shining armor, nothing can hurt me.”
Eddie pressed play and Steve swung his legs up on the couch and opened his arms for Eddie. He situated himself and laid down, his head on Steve’s chest, and immediately sat back up.
“Sorry Harrington, no cuddles tonight,” he said.
“Then what use are you to me?” Steve said and rolled his eyes. He scooted up to the couch so that he was laying against the arm of the couch. “Turn around.”
Eddie did and leaned back against Steve’s chest. Steve put his hand over Eddie’s heart where it beat steadily against his palm. Friends didn’t do this. Friends didn’t lay like this and fall asleep together in hopes that they could fend off each other’s nightmares. Steve knew that.
Steve also knew this was more than that.
They fell asleep pressed together, as Sarah Connor ran from the Terminator.