Chapter Text
He might be dead. Or maybe dying.
All he knows is he feels warm hands on his skin, pushing and moving, and something tightening around his abdomen.
He can’t see. Everything is dark, but there are such pretty spots of light flying by like a reel of film on the backs of his eyes.
If this is what death is, one last eternal trip, Eddie can get down with that.
But, something so far away is being so loud. There’s a ringing in his ears.
“Eddie. Eddie. EDDIE!”
His eyes flutter open. People. So dizzy. Back to the pretty lights.
“We know you’re dizzy Eddie, but we need you to stay awake, man.”
A hand in his. It was so warm. Eddie was so cold.
“Water, get him some water!”
“He’s freezing we need to warm him up; There are blankets in the living room!”
The hand left. And there was cold going in his mouth. He swallowed it. There it was again. He did it again. At some point it occurred to him that this was the water the voices were talking about. It might have been a couple seconds, possibly hours.
He realized that his hands were trying to reach up, to the warmth that the water was coming from; the hand that used to be in his, but his arms were so heavy, and the room was so spinny, and everything felt bad. Then even the water was gone, and in its place, blankets were piled on top of him. And boy were his arms heavy now.
He tried opening his eyes again. So bright. So dizzy. But he could see. There were so many people. The warm hand was on his arm, it seeped through the blankets.
“Hey buddy, can you stay with us this time” the voice was beside him.
He looked over.
It's Steve, pretty Steve. There was so much red on him.
"Red” Eddie said, surprised at his own mouth moving.
Steve just nodded at him, frowning.
“Yeah. Red.”
Then it was back to the pretty lights.
…....
Awhile later he woke up, like, actually woke up. The last thing he remembered was running out into a swarm of demobats in the upside down. He assumes that if he’s waking up it means he didn’t die out there. He didn’t know where he was, but he knew that he was very uncomfortable.
He was lying on his side on something cold and hard. Like a slab of marble. Maybe he really did die.
He could feel something pulled tight around his stomach, like a cold hug. He put a hand to his abdomen; bandages. Not dead then, unless he was mummified.
He tried to move around, get some pressure of the boney places trying to dig into his death bed.
Moving hurts. Moving hurts a lot.
Then there was a murmur in the dark
“Are you actually awake?”
Eddies eyes shot open.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” He didn’t even think that there might be someone else in the room.
“Sorry! Sorry! I’m right here I didn’t mean to scare you.”
It was Harrington; sitting on a little stool, in the dark, wearing Eddies vest, and holding his hands out like he wanted to calm down a rabid animal.
This. Is odd.
“So, guess I’m not dead” Eddie said, still catching his breath. Hands to his chest, he flopped onto his back. At least he can still do that, although he doubts he’ll be able to get back onto his side.
“No. You’re in my kitchen.”
This revelation did little to explain anything. And in fact, confused Eddie even more.
“What?”
“We were scared to move you after we put your bandages on, so you’re on the island in my kitchen.”
Nope. Not making sense.
“Can I... Not be, anymore?”
“Of course. Let me help you up.” Steve stood up and flung the blankets off of him.
Eddie tried again to sit up even just a little bit. Bad idea. Horrible stabbing pain.
“Stop moving you’re gonna bust something” Steve shooed at nothing with his hands.
Apparently, Steve had a very different idea than Eddie about what “Let me help you up” means. He put one arm under his knees and the other under his shoulders and just lifted him off the counter and started walking out of the kitchen. As if it was something they did every goddamn day.
“What the fuck!?” Eddie was not expecting that.
His arms may have flailed slightly, and his hands may or may not have scrabbled at Harrington's shoulders (just for a second). Sources can neither confirm nor deny.
“How about a little warning before you go all Clark Kent on a guy, huh?”
Steve looked very genuinely confused and more than a little exhausted.
“Huh? Yeah, sorry, didn’t think.”
The bags under his eyes were easier to see this close (and boy were they close. Eddie became suddenly conscious to the fact that he didn’t have a shirt on, and neither did Steve, just his vest and both of their bandages separated them. He could feel the warmth of Steve’s body around him. He could see the stupid little spit-stache on his lip). He looked like he hadn’t showered in about 5 years, that’s on par with the last time Eddie had seen him though, but there was something new, something red and crusted all over him.
Blood, Eddie thought. Probably mine.
A solid concrete brick formed in his stomach. The reality of his situation, and the whole night really, finally crashed down on top of him.
He almost died.
He almost died in Dustin’s arms. Presumably, Steve and the gang dragged him out of there, bleeding out, and bandaged him up themselves on a kitchen goddamn counter. Because he couldn't go to a hospital. Because he’s still wanted for murder (and also “he got attacked by demon bats in hell” isn’t exactly what the fine people at the emergency room like to hear).
“Oh, Fuck.”
Steve glanced down at him and frowned.
“What?”
“Uh, you look like shit this close” Eddie improvised.
He got a tiny, exhausted laugh from that.
“Yeah, well, it’s been a long day.”
Apparently, they arrived at a couch because Eddie was lowered onto something olive green and so very soft. It was a very comfortable couch, and he was very thankful to be on it. He could feel himself sink into it. The aches and tension in his joints and muscles relaxing one by one. He still felt like shit, but at least he could relax.
“What time is it anyway?” Eddie asked.
Steve looked around for a clock, and finding none, just shrugged.
“Probably like 4 or 5 in the morning.”
“Shit, man. And your still up?”
“Someone needed to look after you, we weren’t just going to leave you there to die in your sleep.”
“So, you were just sitting there? Staring at me? How long? Have you gotten any sleep at all?”
Steve wouldn’t meet his eyes, not really. He put his hands on his hips. Apparently, Eddie had touched a nerve. He couldn’t help but find it funny that Steve was so defensive about this, but Eddie thinks his smirk just made Steve more agitated.
“I wasn’t just staring at you Munson, I was... monitoring you, ya know, making sure you were still breathing and shit. “
Steve started pointing at him, suddenly convicted.
“And you should be glad that I was here when you woke up, you might have busted a stitch trying to get up on your own.”
“Your right I’m sorry,” Eddie put his hands up in surrender, “The good nurse Steve has saved me once again. Please accept my humble thanks”
Hands back on his hips, he looked like he had just won an argument. What argument, Eddie didn’t know.
“You're welcome”
Then he pulled up an ottoman and sat right in front of Eddie again.
“Come on man, you just gonna keep staring- monitoring me?”
“Obviously” Harrigton answered too fast.
“You need to get some sleep. And I’m pretty much up now-”
“Thats worse.”
“Ouch”
“I didn’t mean-” Steve sighed and ran a hand over his face, “I’m here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid and get yourself hurt. The chances of you doing that increase, like, 10 times if you’re actually awake. So, I’m not going anywhere” Steve said, elbows on his knees. Looked like he was trying to burn a hole right through him with his eyes.
Don’t do anything stupid and get yourself hurt. He figured Harrinton would be mad about his stunt back in the upside down (sorry if Eddie wanted his friends to have a bit more time, and maybe was sick of running away from everything). But was that really why Steve was out here? Guarding him?
“Can you at least try not to loom over me like a gargoyle?”
“No” Steve did not move.
Eddie let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling. He needs a minute to process everything that’s going on. Everything hurts. His arms and legs ache. His guts feel like they’ve been spilled out and jammed back together like jigsaw pieces in the hands of a toddler. Apparently, he got stitches at some point. He highly doubts that was a neat, professional job, and Steve- Steve Harrington- is staring over him and has been for God knows how long.
He tries to remember what happened after he went dark in the upside down.
Bright. Room spinning. So cold. Pretty lights.
“Did everybody else go home?”
“No, it wasn’t till pretty late that we got you all,” Steve waved his hand at Eddie's whole situation “ya know. So, Robin, Nance, and Dustin are all crashing here.”
“I guess I won’t be able to go home?”
The silence that fell then, was almost unbearable.
Eddie couldn’t look at Steve, already knowing the answer. Just because he almost died in a secret evil magic world and wants nothing more than to just curl up in his own bed and forget everything, doesn’t mean he’s not still in danger of more human threats.
“We’ll all talk about it in the morning, when everyone’s awake.”
We’ll discuss where to stash me next, so I don’t get arrested or end up on the bad end of a game of Bash the Freak.
“It’s gonna be alright, Eddie. We’re gonna get the charges cleared and make sure everyone in the town knows you aren’t a killer, I promise.” He sounded so sure. It was almost cute.
“Meanwhile-”
Eddie looked over at Steve, he was pointing a finger in his face like a mom trying so hard to be stern with a kid who just refuses to eat his vegetables.
“You need to focus on resting, and healing, and laying low.”
“Y’know I’m not one of your kids, Harrington.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re not ruining all that work I put into getting you here tonight, alright Jerk face?”
“Jerk face? I don’t think such strong language is warranted.”
“Shut up, jerk face.”
Eddie put his hands up in surrender again, unsure of what else to do.
“And they are not my kids” Steve sounded so exasperated like he had to explain that 5 times a day.
“Someone should tell them that.”
“I try, they never listen to me.”
“No, they never listen to anyone.”
He smiled. Some comradery returned between them.
Steve smiled too. Just a little bit, almost invisible in the grime and exhaustion, but he did.
The silence was a little more comfortable this time.
…...
The next time Eddie woke up it was to the smell of coffee. He took a deep breath of it, wanting to bury it deep in his lungs, and opened his eyes.
Harrington was on the floor in front of the ottoman passed the fuck out. His famous hair messily splayed-out on the floor, his head on his hands, and his mouth open and probably drooling.
Eddie smiled at that.
It's nice to see a king so far from grace.
“At least he finally got some sleep.”
It was Nancy wheeler coming with 2 coffee mugs. And what a beautiful sight those mugs were.
“I hope one of those is for me" Eddie put on his biggest most charming smile.
It worked.
“Can you sit up on your own to drink it?”
“Well, I would like to, but I think the warden over here might get mad if I try” Eddie said gesturing to Steve on the floor.
“Don’t even think about it, Munson” came a slurred order from the floor.
Eddie shrugged.
“Well then give me that back for a sec.”
Eddie handed her the mug and Nancy put them on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Then she came back, carefully walked around Harrington's semi-unconscious body, and wrapped an arm under Eddie's shoulders.
“Okay, ready?” She asked.
“Ready.”
She hoisted him up into a seated position. He felt much more like a person up here, less like a plank of wood. Nancy returned with the coffee and sat across from him on the couch.
“Thank you” Eddie said, meaning more than the coffee and hoping she’d get it.
“You're welcome” It seemed like she got it.
“Do I get any coffee?” Steve asked, still on the floor.
“You have to get up to get it.”
“Aaaaaugh” was Steve's reply.
Robbin walked in from somewhere upstairs, wearing what had to be some of Steve’s clothes. Interesting. Eddie didn't think Steve was Robin's, um... Type.
“Hey Eddie! Welcome back to the world” she said on her way to the kitchen.
Eddie gave her a little 2 finger salute.
“Glad to be back Buckley.”
She looked at Steve on the floor and stopped in her tracks.
“Steve still alive?”
“I’m fine, Jesus.” Steve finally stood up.
“Did you fall asleep out here?” Robin asked.
“Shut up. Want some coffee?”
“Yeah definitely”
They both walked into the kitchen. Eddie stared after them, mildly perplexed.
“So, how are you feeling today?” Nancy asked sipping her coffee.
“Uh, kinda like I’ve been hit by lightning, but without the luck.”
“That makes sense. You looked awful when we got to you. I’m surprised Steve got you out in one piece.”
“Harrington carried me out?”
Nancy nodded.
“No offense, but we kinda thought you were, well, gone. But Steve picked you up and wouldn’t let go until we got you here”
A warm hand in his
“Huh”
Eddie sipped his coffee. It tasted like liquid gold. He had to fight himself from chugging the whole cup.
“Nancy, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”
She just laughed.
“I bet you’re just thirsty; you lost a lot of blood. Probably wouldn’t hurt you to eat something either.”
Now that she mentions it, he is pretty fucking hungry.
Eddie decided to just yell in the general direction of the kitchen,
“Uh, could there be breakfast coming up soon by any chance?”
“Working on it, Munson!” Steve’s voice yelled back.
Eddie smiled and kept sipping his coffee. Nancy kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
“What happened out here last night? After the rest of us went to sleep?”
Eddie shrugged.
“I woke up some time late, or early in the morning really, and Harrington helped me over to the couch.”
“So, he was just out here?”
“Yeah, he was looking after me, did no one ask him too?”
Nancy shook her head.
“You woke up last night, after we bandaged you up. You were talking and moving your hands, only one word at a time, but still, after that we were pretty confident that you would be alright through the night. Despite that, Steve refused to go to sleep. When I came out here awhile after we all went to bed, he was just sitting by the counter and staring at you, occasionally, he checked your pulse. He didn’t do that all night did he?”
Steve made it sound like he was appointed to the post of Eddie Guard for the night, but did he just do that? For no reason?
Robin and Steve re-entered the room with plates of toaster strudels and scrambled eggs.
“So,” Robin started, biting into a toaster strudel “We need to talk about where Eddie is gonna stay while we straighten everything out.”
“Do you think we should talk about this before Dustin gets up?” Nancy asked.
“Oh, he’s definitely up, I heard him talking to himself in the bathroom mirror as I came down the stairs.”
“Oh great. He’s scheming” Steve grumbled. Settling down at the foot of the couch, right under Eddie. Eddie tried to take the strudel out of Harrington's hands, but he slapped him away.
“Ow! I’m not sure just how helpful Dustin would be to this discussion anyway” Eddie said trying to sneak up on the strudel in Steve’s hand again. He's really fucking hungry, ok, and he can’t reach the plate.
Steve rolled his eyes and just handed him the pastry. Score.
“Thats a good point” Nancy conceded.
“I don’t think much of a discussion is needed. Eddie can stay here” Steve said.
“Steve-” Robin started.
“What? I mean, God knows when my parents are coming back, so he pretty much has the whole place to himself, plus, someone here to make sure he actually recovers. No one would come looking for him here; no one even knows that me and him know each other. It’s the perfect place” Steve got himself another strudel and bit into it.
“I’m cool with staying here if Harrington is.”
He took a bite of his own pastry and oh my god. He had never had these things before, but he’s seen commercials on t.v. They were right, it was the most amazing piece of food he’s ever put in his mouth. He practically inhaled the rest of it.
“See? Eddie’s cool with it” Steve said, sipping his coffee like everything was decided.
The girls looked at each other and then at Steve. Clearly something weird is going on with the Former King of Hawkins High.
Nancy was the first to break the silence.
“It is a good plan, and if Eddie’s comfortable with it...” she shrugged.
“So, I guess that’s it. Eddie stays with Steve” Robin said. She was still looking at Steve warily.
Dustin came blundering down the stairs and he boldly declared.
“I think Eddie should stay here with Steve while he recovers!”
“Cool.” Steve said.
“And-What?” Dustin asked, amazed that Steve gave in so easily.
“Eddie’s staying here” Steve replied easily.
Dustin stood, Dumbstruck by the lack of argument.
“Now eat your breakfast. The eggs are getting cold.”
As Dustin tucked into the scrambled eggs like a single starving Pirahna, Eddie looked down to meet Steve’s eyes. Eddie raised his mug to him, and Steve returned the motion. There was something like a smile playing on his lips. He’s an intriguing character, Harrington.