Chapter Text
Trying to stay hidden in Hawkins is like playing a never ending game of tag, except everyone but one person is "it". Eddie feels like he's been moving nonstop for the past week, since he can only go by his trailer every few days. If he stays there, and god forbid gets too comfortable, he would be a dead man.
Robin, Nancy and Steve were doing their damnedest to get Eddie's name cleared with the police. He knew the civilians of Hawkins would be harder to convince though. That's the real reason he's hiding, honestly. The people of this town are livid, and if he's seen he could be beaten within an inch of his life. And, surprisingly, Eddie's not known for his abilities in self-defense.
Between his trailer, the woods, and some abandoned buildings near the outskirts of Hawkins, Eddie has done more walking this week than in his entire life. He wonders if that's why for the past three days, he's felt like he's becoming asthmatic. And early April weather has proven itself to be far more temperamental than he would've thought. This week alone he's been rained on twice, swears up and down he saw snow, and got sunburned on his cheeks and nose from trying to stay warm in the sun.
Eddie checked the street to make sure no one was around before he dashed across it, and practically threw open the door of Family Video. It was later on a Thursday evening, pushing on ten o'clock. Eddie was only there because he knew the store would be empty, aside from Steve and Robin. He had checked the copy of the staff schedule Robin had given him so he would know who was working, and when it would be a safe place.
"But, it's honestly not like Steve's ever-" Robin was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Looking up from her conversation, she saw Eddie, standing in the doorway, looking a little worse for wear. And a bit panicked.
Eddie stared forward, frozen. Robin locked eyes with him, looking a little lost on him. Standing in front of Robin, at the counter, was another young woman, wearing a large gray flannel over a pastel blue skirt. Shit. It was just supposed to be Steve and Robin here. He figured it would be empty. He wasn't being careful enough.
The young woman turned around, looking at Eddie with confusion.
"Jesus Christ, Wheeler." Eddie brought a hand up to his chest as if that would bring down his heart rate. "Scared the hell out of me." He tried to clear his throat, but it somehow only made the lump that was lodged there worse. "Didn't uh, didn't recognize you in that jacket. Doesn't seem too much like something you'd wear." Nancy looked down at what Eddie was referring to and pulled it a little closer to her chest.
"Oh," she began, smiling softly. "This isn't mine, I'm just borrowing it. It's Robin's," she said motioning to the girl opposite the counter. "It's not as warm outside as it was when I left earlier." Eddie looked to Robin, who looked to be just a little proud of herself. He squinted his eyes at her a little bit but didn't say anything.
Steve chose that moment to walk out of the back room, carrying a small stack of tapes.
“Munson!” He said in surprise, setting down the tapes on the counter. “Hey, man.” Steve smiled, combing back his hair with his fingers. Eddie felt his chest constricting in a way that was probably just that brand new adulthood asthma kicking in. All those cigarettes. And probably the weed. He breathed out shakily, and he noticed the way his joints started to ache as he stood there.
Robin waved a hand in his face.
”Hellooo… ‘Ground control to Major Tom’?” She called. The room was silent. “Space Oddity? Like the Bowie song? Nothing? None of you?” Robin rolled her eyes.
Nancy and Steve just looked at each other. Robin snapped her fingers gently and Eddie blinked back to himself.
“You back with us, Eddie?” Robin's tone was joking, but her expression was a little confused. Or maybe worried? He couldn’t tell. He’d been staring at Steve for far longer than he intended, breath whistling out of his chest just slightly.
“Shit, sorry,” he mumbled, bringing a hand up to pick through his bangs. “Street life is a tough one, ya know?” he joked, forcing a small laugh, which sounded more like a wheeze than anything else.
Steve’s brows furrowed. He grabbed one of the stools that resides underneath the counter and dragged it out.
“Come sit down, man,” he said, patting the seat. “You look rough.” Eddie put a hand to his forehead and sighed dramatically, long and drawn out.
”You wound me, Harrington,” he teased, though he did take the invitation to sit.
Eddie felt his whole body slump as he sat down, muscles finally relaxing for the first time in a while. His head was too heavy for his neck, and a dull throb had worked its way into his temples. He was no doubt dehydrated and doesn’t remember the last time he ate a meal comprised of something other than dry cereal or a stale hot dog bun. Now that he was thinking about it, he was feeling a little more than woozy.
Robin and Nancy went back to their conversation, talking quietly amongst themselves. Steve whistled softly, a tune Eddie vaguely knew, but couldn’t place. For the first time in a few days, Eddie felt comfortable. Or as comfortable as he could be. He wasn’t necessarily a social person, but the past few days alone had been hard. He liked the company.
The bell on the door chimed. Eddie felt him shoulder being grabbed and shoved back behind the counter, and he let out a soft noise of surprise. Steve stood over him, holding a finger to his lips, telling him to stay quiet. Eddie nodded, hugging his knees to his chest.
Eddie could hear Steve talking to the customer, asking him if he needed help finding anything. Definitely his way of asking him to hurry the fuck up already, which Eddie appreciated. He felt a burning in his chest, and was now struggling with the effort it was taking not to cough. He took shaky, concentrated breaths.
After what felt like an eternity, the customer left, and Eddie climbed out from underneath the counter, barely making it to his feet before he was overtaken by a painful fit of coughing. Steve, Nancy, and Robin all exchanged alarmed expressions, and Steve guided Eddie back towards the stool he was sitting on.
“Jesus, Eddie, breathe,” Steve said, giving him a firm pat on the back. Nancy pulled a water bottle she had on her out of her bag, and handed it to Steve, who in turn handed it to Eddie. He tried to push it away, but Steve pushed back harder, practically shoving it into his hand. Reluctantly, he sipped the water, realizing how fucking thirsty he was. He resisted the urge to drain the rest of the bottle.
"Is he okay?" He heard Nancy quietly ask Robin.
"Thanks," he mumbled when he felt like he could breathe again.
"You alright there, Munson?" Steve asked, removing his hand from Eddie's back. The latter nodded, swiping a bead of sweat off his brow.
"All good, Harrington," he breathed. "Smoker's cough, or something like that." Steve looked Eddie up and down, not quite believing that was the case. If Eddie's whole demeanor wasn't entirely different than it typically was, he would've.
For the first time since Steve had met him, Eddie Munson looked… small. His shoulders were slumped, and he kept his arms and hands tucked towards himself, rather than out and demanding space. His body seemed to close in on itself, as if he were protecting himself, or trying to get warm.
Eddie looked from Steve to Nancy, to Robin, all of which were giving him looks he didn’t like. He felt like Nancy’s gaze was a little too much like pity, which, he knew she meant kindly, but he didn’t take to it well. Robin’s looked at him, with confusion, but also a mild concern. Steve, however, looked like he had Eddie entirely figured out before he’d even said a word.
Robin stepped closer to Eddie, leaning down a little to get a better look at him. She noted how exhausted he looked. His eyes were glazed over and had dark circles underneath them. She was pretty sure his cheekbones were a little sharper than the last time she’d seen him - probably a sign he wasn’t eating much.
She looked at the way his hands shook slightly, and the way his breathing whistled a little bit, the same as it had earlier. Her expression changed to one he couldn’t read, and before Eddie knew what was happening, her palm was underneath his bangs and smoothed over his forehead.
”He feels kind of warm,” she observed, lips pursed. As her hand moved, it was replaced with Steve’s bigger, and somehow warmer hand. Eddie felt his stomach constrict, but he didn’t dare to show that emotion on his face. Steve’s expression twisted a little.
”Hmm, it’s hard to say,” he concluded, removing his hand after a moment. Eddie almost sighed at the loss of touch. If he said it didn’t comfort him, at least just a little, he would be lying.
He almost laughed out loud at himself. Steve Harrington bringing him comfort. It felt bizarre to even think it in passing. But it was true, wasn’t it?
His brain was too fuzzy to really think about it too hard.