Walkie Talks || Steddie

#no comment

stevehharringtcns·:

dvstybuns·:

WHO: Henderson & @stevehharringtcns· & @eddiemcnson·

WHAT: Dustin needs advice from his dads!

WHERE: Steve’s House 

It was an indisputable fact that Dustin Henderson had the longest lasting relationship of any of his friends. He’d met Suzie Bingham at Camp Know Where the summer before his Freshman year of high school, and had been happily with her ever since. As far as Dustin was concerned, their relationship was pretty perfect. Suzie was the smartest person Dustin knew, as well as the sweetest. Her taste in music was impeccable, and on top of all of those things, she was also stunningly beautiful. She was absolutely amazing. 

And Dustin was worried about being an awkward idiot around her now that they were in person for an extended amount of time. So far, things had been great! But she was living with him at his house with his mother, who had been surprisingly chill about everything, but for how long??? Dustin had already had to hide every incriminating photo of himself in the house, and was constantly worried about Mike, Lucas or Max trying to embarrass him in front of her. All of his Weird Al t-shirts had been thrown away, and the left over can of Farrah Fawcett hair spray he’d used for the Snowball had been generously dropped off on Steve’s doorstep. Dustin was doing his best to seem as cool as possible around Suzie, but it did not feel sustainable. 

Which is why he turned to the two people he trusted more than anyone in the world for some wisdom. Sure, neither of them had had a relationship as successful as his own, but they probably had some good advice, right? It had to be better than Mike or Lucas’, anyway. Sending out a ‘Code Red,’ to both Steve and Eddie on the walkies, he waited patiently on Steve’s front step for them to get there. He would have offered to host, but he was terrified of Suzie or his mom overhearing a conversation like this. 

“Steve! Eddie!” He greeted enthusiastically when they arrived, too nervous to sit still or watch his volume. “Hey! How’s life going? Gee, that’s great,” He bulldozed right through niceties, not bothering to actually check in with either. Dustin saw them often enough that he was sure they were fine. Fine-ish, at least. 

“So, weird question. Totally hypothetical. How the hell am I supposed to date Suzie in person?” Dustin asked once they were inside. “She’s literally the coolest girl I’ve ever met. And I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing here.” 

after being together with eddie over at eddie’s place, steve was taken by surprise that both of them got a code red from dustin on their walkies. it still baffled steve that he was pretty much forced to carry a walkie now, something that he had never to do before he met dustin henderson. sure, it was a nice way to communicate with everyone, much better than a house phone and it was portable! how cool was that? okay, he wasn’t about to freak out over some walkies, but as soon as he heard the code red coming from dustin, telling them to meet him at steve’s place. he frowned, but didn’t waste any time to get in the car with eddie and drive down there.

once they both arrived, steve got out of the car, almost in a rush to get to his place and dustin, but once he saw him standing by his doorstep, steve frowned as he walked towards him, placing his hands on his own hips and looking at him. “henderson! what’s going on? did someone break in my house? because i don’t have my bat with me to beat them up, so maybe you should have called the cops…” he said, shaking his head as he looked over at his house. no windows seemed to be broken and his door seemed normal, so now he was starting to wonder what this was all about.

he was about to answer dustin about how his life was going, but he was quickly cut short once the other asked them how he was supposed to date suzie. letting out a sigh as he moved his hand to rub his eyes, he shook his head. “you… gave us a code red because of that? i thought my house was on fire or something!” he said, shaking his head as he walked past dustin and opened his door, standing by it as he made way for both of them to get in his house. “get in.” he said, waiting for them to make their way inside.

once they were all inside of the house, steve made his way inside of the living room and looked at dustin, frowning slightly at him. it was only fair that he had questions about his own dating life, but why had he asked both him and eddie? did he know something about them? steve hoped not. “right, about suzie…” he said, as he pondered on what to say to him. “well, i think…” he said, as he looked at eddie for a couple of moments as in a way to ask him for help. “the best way is that you take her on dates… you know, watching movies, having dinner together… i mean, at least that’s what i did when i was uh…” he asked, looking at eddie again and then back at dustin. “when i had dates.” he said, nodding.

@eddiemcnson··

+++

as much as he loved dustin, that little shithead's code read truly couldn't have come at a worse time. steve and eddie hadn't really talked since the whole... cabin fiasco, as eddie had titled it in his head, and they'd done a pretty good job avoiding one another so far. sure, yeah, maybe eddie did drive by family video, like, every other day to catch a glimpse of steve before ducking behind some cars when the other turned around, but that didn't mean he missed him or something. he definitely didn't. how could he, when the brutal punch of steve's rejection has left a festering, every growing bruise?

no, he didn't miss him and he'd done a swell job trying to convince himself that he wasn't as affected by the whole thing as he truly was. he'd been fine, really. up until steve had shown up at the trailer. his presence alone did wonders of ripping open old wounds, god, the sight of steve's face, the look on it, made eddie's stomach drop. a cruel joke was what it was - steve dropping by, insisting they continue their 'talk'.

eddie had barely gotten halfway through "nothing left to talk about, harrington" when steve's walkie had chimed in, alerting them to a code red, and suddenly all animosity between them was forgotten. they shared a look and practically ran to steve's car, the drive up to his house was silent and charged.

the concerned frown on eddie's face quickly turned into something resembling outrage and annoyance as dustin let them in on why he'd truly called them over. exasperated, he threw his hands up into the air. "no, no, you're shitting me, right, henderson? that's why you called us? jesus christ, man!" he shook his head in disbelief, messy curls flying about as he did so. a nauseating feeling settling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered what had happened the last time he'd been at steve's house. eddie gulped.

"seriously, man! how many times do we have to go over this, code red's are for emergencies only! like, life and death and freaky... upside down monster emergencies, you hear me?" the annoyed tone in his voice started to quickly fade and die down as eddie settled, he shook his head once more, crossed his arms over his chest. this was dustin, after all, so eddie really couldn’t stay mad for long.

pondering his question, he met steve’s eyes for a split second, feeling a sharp tug at his heart. he scoffed at his words, scrunched his nose up. “yeah, steve here got the idea. dates. like, real proper romantic shit. maybe you can even, i don’t know, whisk her away to a romantic getaway. a cabin, maybe! that’s sounds like so much fun, don’t it, harrington?” eddie flailed his hands around as he spoke, slowly pacing around steve’s living room. throwing him a mocking glance as he mentioned the cabin, basically spitting out his words, they left a sour taste in his mouth. “just... i don’t know. make sure it’s just you two, some real nice qualitiy time. don’t want anyone disturbing that, do you? and then you... just tell her how smart and, like, beauitful and everything she is.” eddie shrugged. “i mean, i don’t know, guessing that’s, like, what girls like to hear? i don’t know shit about girls, so maybe that sort of advice from our loverboy steve over here, yeah?”

he clasped his hands together, threw steve another look. “i’m outta my depth here, henderson. so can i go?”

@dvstybuns··

stevehharringtcns​:

“you could have gotten my attention without almost getting yourself killed… we survived all of that stuff two years ago, don’t take it for granted by throwing yourself in front of a car…” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked over at eddie - he was pretty sure he would have never run over eddie, even on accident, he was confident that he was a pretty good driver - he was sure of it, actually. but he couldn’t do much if someone had jumped in front of his car. “so, you haven’t been back for long, i’m assuming? it’s like you forgot how good hawkins really is.” he said, teasingly, letting out a small chuckle as he started driving again, this time actually paying attention to the road and not letting himself get distracted by his thoughts - at least he had eddie to talk to while he drove to the wheelers’ house - he wasn’t sure how people would react to him bringing eddie, but people around seemed to like him.

at the question about him and nancy, steve sighed and shrugged his shoulders slightly. he should have expected for him to ask this, it was all people did when they saw him and he couldn’t blame them, but it was still uncomfortable to talk about it. “huh… there’s not really any trouble.” he lied, he wasn’t even sure how nancy felt after they split, but in his head everything seemed to be alright. “we just broke up… not that long ago. but we’re fine. i think, i really can’t be sure… if we haven’t talked since, you know, we broke up.” he said, as he kept his eyes locked on the road, not daring to look at eddie while he spoke about it.

his lips curled into a smile as he heard eddie talk, letting out a small chuckle as he heard that the other was still wreaking havoc. it didn’t surprise him that he was still doing that. “you know what, it is kind of weird not having you around, so i did kind of miss you, dude. it’s good to have you back, even if it’s just for the summer.” he said with a nod, now looking at eddie for a couple of moments and then back on the road. “well, you know, i’ve just been… working at the video store still. taking a few classes at the community college… not that much fun, as you can see, but that’s hawkins for you.” he said with a shrug.

+++

a wicked glint in his eyes, eddie grinned. “oh, but harrington - ‘to die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die’ “, he half-sung half-spoke the infamous smiths lyrics, watching steve with his brows raised in anticipation, to see if he’d get the reference. “you know? like the song?”

he rolled down the window, jesus it was hot outside, and put one arm behind his headrest, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers in the tune of the before mentioned smiths song. he shut his eyes for a moment, relishing in the feeling of the soft breeze lightly grazing across his heated face, locks of dark brown, curly hair - all frizzy due to the humidity - flying about. eddie nodded, eyes still closed. “yeah, man. just got back yesterday,” and he scrunched up his nose at steve’s comment. “if anything i forgot how much hawkins smells like cow shit.” though there was some truth to steve’s words - eddie had, actually, missed hawkins. not the place itself, but the people still inhabiting that strange little town.

no way. he opened his eyes.“oh shit, man. i’m sorry.”, eddie said,his delivery a little awkward because...well, he sure as shit hadn’t seen that coming. after all that stuff with vecna, wheeler and harrington both risking their lives for one another without a second thought, well, eddie had thought they were bound to stay together, forever, or something along those lines. he shited in his seat, looked over at steve with a frown. “i didn’t know..” of course he hadn’t, eddie silently cursed himself. awkward social situations, not his forte. “do you wanna, like, uh...talk, or something- ?”, he trailed off, grimaced. “i mean, we don’t have to, i usualyl don’t - i’m not realyl good with - “, more wild gesturing before ddie dropped his hands in his lap with shrug. “yeah. whatever. i just mean that i got an ear to lend, steve. just so you know.”

a wide grin spread on his lips, a twinkle in his eyes, eddie dramatically clutched at his heart. “oh, harrington, you big old softie! how those words warm this cold, cynical heart with affection! i missed ya too.” with a laugh he stretched his arms over the seat again, both hands now behind his headrest. he caught steve’s eye, his thoughts momentarily trailed off because holy hell, why did harrington always have to look this pretty?

“you still working with buckley, i assume?” another person he definitely needed to pay a visit to sooner than later. “oh, community college, huh? you know, academic scholars are like, super hot.”, he said with a teasing grin. “what classes?”

walkie talks || steddie

steve: i wasn't, it's just hard

steve: i didn't say that...

steve: do you want me to come over?

steve: i'm...

eddie: but you thought it, didn't you

eddie: my uncle's out till late so if you want to talk then come over. i don't know what you'd want to talk about but... if you do then by all means.

eddie: you're.... what, harrington?

who : eddie munson + open !

where : the shore of lovers lake

Sometimes when he comes home he just likes to do .... this. Sit on a bench near a busy place- near, not, like, in the middle of it, ‘cause in Hawkins he’s still Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson - and people watch. Thinking about how he has miraculously made it out of this shithole, alive. Not made it all too far but he’s managed to get out of Hawkins, Indiana at all, and that amounts to something. To him it does.

So he sits there, closes his eyes for a moment and inhales deeply and - oh, yep, that’s definitely cow shit, isn’t it - just listens to the sounds that surround him. Families having picnics, teenagers sneaking away, people bathing in the sun, birds singing, twigs cracking - hold on. Eddie jolts upright. Oh, fuck this, he’s getting outta here, he’s not in the mood to get roughed up by some high school freshmen who still think he’s put some satanic DnD spell on those students that died two years ago. 

Eddie grabs his Van Halen lunchbox, jumps up, ready to make his escape as he bumps into someone - he grabs onto the backrest of the bench for balance, watches the contents of his metal box spill out onto the floor. Well, at least there’s no drugs this time. “Shit”, he curses under his breath, crouches down to collect all the little figurines he’s fucking hand-crafted for the next Hellfire campaing, “Shit, jesus, fuck.” Why did he have to make them this small? “Shit ,ah, sorry. Sorry, my bad. You - you good?”

elevcnhops·:

WHERE ; benny’s burnt down diner WHO ; el &. @eddiemcnson·

of course he was an admired hero in their party - dustin wouldn’t stop talking about him on more than one occasion. even mike had mentioned the other once or twice. eleven just never imagined she would be meeting him in a deserted diner. even more surprising that he was still around after… everything. remembering his absolute panic as the lights went out. and even all the things after. feeling a bit guilty, their experience felt all too familiar. this was probably her fault. the never ending twinge of guilt ever since she returned.

better yet, he was back at the place of their first actual encounter. el’s better judgement leading her back to the diner. the other night with nancy and Hop… but he was there. she could recognize that hair anywhere. she wasn’t the only nosy one in this town apparently.

eleven smelled the ash before she could sense it. sure, the smell of burnt concrete was a grim reminder of the fact.. this place was done for. “ do you see anything? “ she didn’t know his name, only that he was to be trusted. inhaling briefly in the aftermath of the destruction that they brought upon themselves. “ eleven. “ giving him a second of truth as she roamed through the debris. “ and you? “ hiding the rosy tiny upon her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her questioning tone. “ i’m sorry, i should know that. “

+++

it was stupid. it was a horribly, horrifically stupid idea but, staying true to the munson name, eddie actually found himself standing where benny’s diner once had been, just... staring. contemplating, maybe? he didn’t know. didn’t know what had posessed him to hop into his van and drive back there in the first place but there he was, standing in the midst of the burnt down ruins, just looking.

eddie liked to think that he didn’t know what he was looking for but that was a lie,  eddie knew exactly what he was looking for as he absent-mindedly kicked some pieces of gravel through the ash. those ‘eggs’, those freakishly large eggs that had had tears and cracks running through them. and the weird sludge, just... clues. he was looking for clues. upside down clues and he hated the thought of that with a fiery passion. 

“god - jesus - fuck!”, eddie jumped, one heart coming up to clutch at his heart as he whipped around violently, curls whipping through the air like daggers. the frame of ... hopper junior, eddie didn’t know her name, came into view and a shaky yet relieved breath was drawn from his lips. hands on his thighs, eddie dropped his head, took a couple beats to get his breathing under control. “shit, man! you can’t just creep up on people like that.”

after what had happened at benny’s, eddie was even more on edge than usual. he frowned. “no, i...don’t see anything, kid. ‘cept for you, scaring the freaking daylights outta me.”, he muttered, eyes travelling over the site once more. confirming to himself that he was definitely not seeing any eggs or the like.

eddie narrowed his eyes, brows drawn together tightly. “huh? eleven?”, he echoed, looked her up and down. then looked behind her, to see if he’d missed anything. or anyone. “eleven what?”

this exchange was getting weirder by the minute, eddie planted his hands on his hips. “uh, eddie. munson.”, he said after a moment, smiled. “well, i mean i’ve got no idea who you are, hopper junior, so no offense taken.”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve chuckled at eddie’s explanation on why he had thrown him the vest in the first place. at first he thought he was sort of jealous of the things between him and nancy, but he would have never figured it out that he was jealous of nancy. it didn’t matter, the past was in the past. he let out a small chuckle at the other, shaking his head slowly. “i’m sorry if my injuries bothered you so much, next time i’ll just bleed out in the upside down and then you won’t have to look at me.” he said in a teasing tone, tilting his head to the side as he stared at eddie’s lips for a couple of moments. “what was it that you said again? for your modesty?” he teased the other, biting his lower lip for an instant.

bringing eddie closer made steve take a deep breath, feeling a shiver down his spine once he felt eddie’s hands on his arms. he wished the two had been alone on this trip, at least they would have some more privacy and the chances of someone walking in while they were… well, like this, were way few less than right now. but still, he wanted to take his chances as he held eddie close to him.

looking as eddie took the vest, steve smiled as he mockingly wiped the other’s shoulders as he put it on, smiling as he looked at him up and down. “you know what, you definitely look good in it. but maybe next time you can wear it without a shirt on. like i did.” he said with a smile, as he kept looking at the other with the vest on. he did look good in that vest and there was no denying that. “oh, don’t sniff it like that, you… dingus.” he said, stealing robin’s nickname yet again. he did that too often. “if you’re good, then i’ll give you one of my shirts.” he said with another wink. 

the two really needed to talk, but being this close to him, it made it almost impossible to just talk. that’s why he didn’t waste any time in kissing the other back and pulling him even closer, the closest possible to him, as he held on to the other’s vest. he kept kissing the other for a few moments until he finally pulled away and sighed.

“are you sure…?” he asked, taking a moment to lick his lips and then looking at eddie. “it’s better if we talk… about… you know.” he said. he had never been good with words, not even when he was together with nancy and everything seemed to be easy. he was at a loss for words. “i just don’t know what to say.” he said, as he leaned forward slightly to kiss eddie’s forehead.

+++

he winced, groaned, sqeeuezed his eyes shut for a moment. "for your modesty", eddie echoed with a nod, digging his fingers further into the material of steve's shirt. "and to think you didn't know i was flirting with you, pretty boy. come on, that was like, shameless." really, in eddie's head the words 'for your modesty' had sounded more like 'stop flirting with your ex and kiss me already'.

feeling his cheeks flush and become hot, eddie quickly averted his gaze, cursing steve for that damn lip bite and pulled the vest back on. it still fit snugly, of course, though it didn't feel.... right anymore, in a way. like it was his anymore, at least not full, truly. "you know, steve, if you want to see me without my clothes on you could always just ask. slim to none chance i'll say no.", he grinned teasingly, mirroring steve's lip bite for a moment.

though his teasing, cocky demeanor quickly faded as he caught steve's wink and for a second eddie nearly let his eyes roll back in his head. "yeah?" sounding a little more breathless now, his gaze dropped to the other's lips for a split second. "so if im like, super good, you'll let me have that little yellow sweater of yours?" not that yellow was his colour, or any colour he'd ever seriously consider wearing, but the sweater was something so uniquely steve's that eddie truly wouldn't mind.

he sighed into the kiss, arms wrapped around steves neck as he felt him draw him closer by his vest. hands tangled into steve's hair, not caring whether or not he messed it up or if they got caught. let them, he thought as one hand came down to softly cup steve's face.

he chased after his lips when he felt the other pull away, pouted at the sudden loss of contact. sighing, he dropped his head a little, leaning into steve further. "what.... d'you want to talk about?", eddie muttered, lids fluttering shut as steve pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

it was too nice, almost. being with steve, it felt too comfortable, too familiar. too nice. and nice things didn't just happen to eddie munson. he softly swiped his thumb across his cheek, basically clawing at steve's shirt with his other hand.

"you don't have to say anything, steve. i feel like I know what you're gonna say, anyway...", he muttered, pressed his lips together, as if that would hide the way his face fell. voice lower now, weaker. eddie sighed. "... so can I, like,... kiss you again before you push me away and decide that you're bored with and, I don't know, disgusted by me? listen i get it, im the freak and all, and im a guy, too, it's... a lot. but... one last kiss? please? and then i promise I'll get out of your hair, never bother you again."

stevehharringtcns·:

.

standing by the door as he looked at eddie, steve felt a little too naked for his liking. sure, he was used to walking shirtless around his place, but of course he was alone, and now, having eddie standing in front of him and staring at his bare chest made him feel… something. he didn’t feel uncomfortable, it was eddie after all, but he definitely felt something once he felt his eyes on him. he was almost sure that his face had turned into another shade of pink, but he was hoping that eddie wouldn’t realize it.

it was getting a little bit too awkward just standing there, but he didn’t know what to say. he was just waiting for eddie to finally say something and that’s when eddie finally spoke about eggs. eggs? steve wasn’t sure if he had heard that correctly, but he didn’t say anything until the other was done with his sentence.”why don’t you… come inside? it’s probably for the best if you just don’t stand there talking about… eggs.” he said as he moved away so the other could make his way inside. once the two were both inside, steve closed the door behind him as he started making his way to the living room - something that wouldn’t happen if his parents were home, but luckily for him, he was alone.

“make yourself at home.” steve offered, as he motioned towards the couch, before looking at the other and crossing his arms over his chest.. what was this about? why was eddie in such a hurry to see him and why did he seem so nervous? “what… what’s this conversation about the eggs… and fire? did you eat some bad eggs at benny’s? because that wouldn’t be that surprising.” he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

steve couldn’t help but to notice that eddie really seemed nervous about whatever was going on, but he didn’t know what to do. “just take a seat, eddie and… breathe or something. what’s going on?” he asked yet again, waiting for an answer. everyone seemed to had gone through something lately and steve wasn’t even in town to see it. had he really missed that much just by being gone?

+++

eddie nodded, still unable to form a coherent sentence because holy fuck, steve harrington had opened his door shirtless, wearing only shorts, and eddie would save that image and treasure it forever, lest he might never see it again. “yeah. yeah, inside. inside is good.”, he muttered and pushed past steve, thinking to himself that his pattern of speech oddly represented that of hopper’s kid and -

- yeah, that was another thing to unpack. because eddie could’ve sworn he’d seen her open the door to the diner with... well, what exactly, that was the question. not her hands, no, it seemed like it had been her... mind? perhaps eddie was losing his mind here.

he let his gaze wander around the entry way, the living room, couldn’t help that his eyes widened at the sight of steve’s home. because damn, he’d known that steve’s family was loaded or whatever. but he’d never been in a house as big as this. it was ridiculous. he plopped dowon on the couch, hands shaking, fidgeting with his rings. “i ... fuck. i don’t know.”, he muttered, nervously chewed on his bottom lip. foot tapping restlessly. eddie buried his face in his hands for a moment, trying to calm himself.

“i was hanging out with wheeler - nancy.”, he clarified, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment as he tried to recall that night’s events. “and, like, a bunch of other people and she took us to benny’s. which was shut down, there was this fight and...well, we went into investigate, or whatever, and there..then the flashlights, and they...”

eddie trailed off, restless, he couldn’t sti still anymore. he jumped up, began pacing around the room. leaned his back against the wall for comfort.”you know the freaky shit that happened two years ago?”, eddie said and gulped, feeling the phantom burning of his scars hot under the material of his shirt. “it’s back, harrington. it’s back. we saw some shit in there, man, like some...some fucking alien...monster...upside down eggs. they had tears in ‘em, steve, and... i don’t know. the diner burned down. “

eddie looked up at him, felt the prickling of hot tears in his eyes, brows pulled up, face twisted into a grimace. “it’s happening again. i can’t...are you ok? someone said you were at the cemetary and that...people got pushed into graves and all, i just...wanted to check on you.” he averted his gaze to the ground. “didn’t want to be alone.”

where: the roof of the munson trailer

what: some quality sibling time

who: @zccming​​ + eddie

it had been approximately twenty-two hours since steve and eddie had been subject to an unlikely relationship counseling session, deep in the woods surrounding skull rock, orchestrated by one murray baumann. approximately twenty hours since steve had left his trailer - not that eddie was counting. he was. and eddie munson was for all intents and purposes ecstatic. he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this happy, this light-hearted. his thoughts had not wandered off to the upside down once in the last twenty-two hours, the ever-present threat lingering in the air all but forgotten, replaced entirely by steve, steve, steve.

really, eddie munson felt wonderful. fantastic. about himself, the world. god, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about what the upside down would throw their way next. with steve by his side, he was sure he could conquer anything. eddie was happy, extremely happy, but most importantly, he was fucking itching to tell someone, anyone.

well, not anyone. one person in particular came to mind with whom he wanted to share the happy news first. max mayfield - sister from another mister. and.... mother, too, but eddie couldn’t think of an adequate rhyme for that one. sib from another crib. anyway.

eddie had bolted out the door, knocked on max’s trailer and all but abducted her, the two of them now comfortably laying on a blanket on the roof of eddie’s trailer. eddie toyed with the joint between his fingers as he leaned back on his elbows, a dumb smile on his face. a stupid little lovesick grin. eddie felt like he could burst.

“max, what’s been goin’ on with you lately? what’ve you been up to?”, he asked, tilted his head to the side to face her. “ok, no, wait. i need to tell you something first. something.... major.”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve could tell that eddie was clearly nervous, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. once they were both inside the house, steve plopped down on the couch next to the other, his eyes never leaving eddie as the other spoke. “do you need like a… water or something? you look like you’ve seen a ghost and that you’re about to throw up all over my carpet. please don’t do that, my mom would kill me.” he said, although by the time his mom returned, he probably would have had the time to buy a new carpet and replace it before she even noticed. it wasn’t that hard, considering he had done it before after he forgot to take away the carpet during a party.

he was hanging out with nancy? why was he hanging out with nancy? were they friends? they probably were, after everything that happened two years ago, but steve couldn’t help but to think that it was a little weird that they were hanging out. were they a… thing? no, right? nancy would have told him. eddie would have told him too. maybe that was stupid to think about. “i saw the newspaper about the attack, but why did you went and investigate? i thought it was just some… old ladies fighting over waffles or something.” he said with a small chuckle, a little too proud of his joke, before he got serious and looked at eddie.

steve looked at eddie as he stood up from the couch and started pacing around. he looked over at him as he talked about what had happened, shaking his head as he tried to process everything the other was telling him. “there was a fire? you were in a fire?” he asked, concern was clear on his face. he almost felt sick when he heard the words upside down. “wait, a monster? like… demogorgon? or… vecna? are you… are you sure?” he asked. “what the shit?” he asked, frowning at him.

his first reaction was to stand up again and walk towards eddie. he could see the other was clearly nervous, so he placed his hand on the other’s shoulders and looked at him. “listen, we’re… we’re going to be fine. whatever it is that’s… out there. i don’t know what it could be.” he said, shaking his head as he squeezed the other’s shoulders.

once eddie mentioned something about the cemetery, he frowned. there it was again. someone had seen him at the cemetery but he had been out of town for his great aunt’s funeral and had only recently returned. how come people were saying that they saw them. “i… i wasn’t at the cemetery… i just came back to town recently, but… who fell in the graves?” he asked, frowning at the thought, but his features quickly softened when eddie mentioned that he didn’t want to be alone. “you…uh… you can stay here if you want. my parents are out and probably won’t return for a couple of days.” he offered, hoping that the other would take his offer. “you’re safe here, eddie.” he nodded.

+++

he nodded, rushed, frantic. “yeah. yeah, water’s good.”, he said, chest still heaving. eddie clasped a hand over his heart where it was threatening to burst out of his ribcage at any given moment. edde glance up, frowned slightly as he saw the gears turning in steve’s head. probably shouldn’t have mentioned nancy, he thought to himself, chewed nervously on the inside of his cheek. perhaps it was still a sore topic for steve. he huffed. staying true to his nature, eddie had managed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, as always.

eddie threw steve a sharp look, as if punishing him for his joke - certainly ill-timed- though he had to bite down on a grin. no, no time to swoon at steve’s loveable antics now, this was serious. his mind was still racing, thoughts running by too fast, unable to grasp a coherent string of thought. eddie dug his nails into the palms of his hand, the dull ache grounding him somewhat.

“yeah, a fire. whole fucking thing went up into flames, it was insane, man. but we, uh, we ran. all got out okay i think.”, he swallowed, hands absent-mindedly ghosting over his hip where a nasty bruise was forming. “i knocked into a couple of chairs and all but i’m fine. i’ll live.” 

a shaky inhale, he nodded again, muscles in his neck straining. “yeah, not...not vecna, i don’t think so, i...it was really dark...”, eddie trailed off, he had to stop for a moment, feeling his bottom lip tremble. “but definitely like freaky, hell-ish, upside down monster shit, steve, i’m sure. like, a hundred percent. we all saw it, it was...it was, bad, man. it was big.”

just as he thought that his looming panic attack was finally going to consume him whole, he felt the steadying, grounding weight of steve’s hand on his shoulder. and, before he knew it, eddie reached up to cover steve’s hand with his own. he was shaking, ragged breaths rocking through his body. “you think? ‘cause i don’t...i don’t know, man. i can’t go..through all that shit again, i can’t.”

his voice cracked, broke, forcing him to stop. “someone said...whatever. i don’t know who it was..”, he trailed off, though suspicious, he discarded that train of thought. he hadn’t been at the cemetery himself, after all. he couldn’t be sure - perhaps someone had simply thought that they’d seen steve there. it was a problem for another day.

he looked up through his lashes, met steve’s eye. “uh...are you sure?”, he asked cautiously, though, fearing that steve might take back his offer, he quickly continued. “yeah, yeah i - if that’s ok with you i’d..love to stay. i haven’t slept, not really. trailer’s a lot scarier now that that thing might be back”, he explained, the memory of chrissy cunningham floating to the ceiling made him grimace. “and i..i don’t know. wanted to make sure you were, uh, safe.”