Chapter Text
His heart is beating loudly in his chest, and his shallow breathing is echoing back from the tarp he has pulled over him when he hid in one of the boats. Eddie lies as still as he can, his right hand gripping the handle of the broken bottle so hard, for a second, he’s worried he might burst it. Muffled screaming is coming from outside. There are probably people at the house looking for him.
They can’t find me here. Fuck.
Please leave.
What if the cops already know I’m here?
The boathouse is a good hiding spot. Maybe the people will just leave once they realize Rick’s place is vacant?
But luck is not on Eddie’s side. It never has been. The old floorboards creak under the weight of people entering the shed. They whisper to each other but he can’t make out anything they say. The blood is pumping through his system, his erratic heartbeat echoing in his ears. Eddie presses his free hand to his mouth to keep his breathing as quiet as possible.
There is some commotion and Eddie stiffens automatically. Plastic rustles again and again, as someone continues to prod at the tarp. The voices draw nearer.
They are definitely looking for me! Shit!
Do they know I’m in here? Will they lock me up?
I need to know what’s going on!
Eddie strains his ears and tries to focus, to make out something the voices are saying. “Hey, look… ove.. ..re.” The person sounds young. Maybe they started a search party for him?
Or maybe they started a witch hunt for the satanic murderer who left Chrissy’s mutilated body behind?
“Someo… …s …ere.” The voice is muffled through the plastic sheets but Eddie hears enough to piece it together.
‘Someone was here.’
They won’t give up now.
They’ll keep searching.
There is no way out.
Shit.
Get it together.
You have to fight your way out.
The woods are close. Just get out and run.
Shit!!
Fu- -
The tarp dips right beside him. The quiet rustle is deafening in the silence of the boathouse. Eddie’s breath hitches and he’s glad he has his hand still pressed against his mouth to suppress the sound. The crackle of the plastic covers up any noise that might have escaped him.
Two people are arguing right beside the boat Eddie is hiding in. They’re obviously distracted.
It’s now or never.
Come on Eddie!
He channels all his courage, feels the adrenaline buzz in his system. If he wants a chance to escape, now might be his only chance. He has the element of surprise still on his side.
In a swift motion he gets on his feet, popping the tarp off him.
He registers two people right in front of him. Someone is screaming but his brain doesn’t register who. Eddie simply focuses on the main threat in front of him - a tall guy with a long weapon in his hand. He has to eliminate this guy first!
Eddie grabs the man at his collar and pushes him back. In a swift motion he brings the sharp glass edge of the bottle to the neck of the man, immobilizing him.
They tumble two small steps back until the guy is pinned to the metal wall of the shed. Eddie fastens his grip, pushing his hand against the man’s exposed collarbone while simultaneously shifting the glass edge of the bottle to threaten to draw blood at any movement.
If it wasn’t for the dim light in the shed, he might have seen it.
If it wasn’t for the adrenaline and the fight-or-flight response, he might have felt it sooner.
If it wasn’t for the situation, he might have never done something so thoughtless.
But it’s too late.
He walked right into the flames.
It starts small, like a candle lit in a dark room. Comforting.
Then the flame licks further. It happens fast. A sheet of paper lighting up. Dry leaves.
It’s spreading like a wildfire. A campfire in the woods growing faster and faster. Crackling of burning branches and trees. The feeling is all encompassing, lighting Eddie on fire from the inside. It was wrapping around him like a strong warm embrace that will never let go.
A shiver runs through his body, even though he doesn’t feel cold, not even on a cold spring night in a boathouse with barely any sleep. Small embers burn inside of him, filling him with a warmth he hasn’t felt since his parents had left him behind.
It feels like cuddling up under a bunch of blankets with hot cocoa on the trailer couch while someone is holding him tight. And oh so warm.
Safe and sound.
When the burning sensation flares up at his arm, he barely manages not to flinch. He doesn’t need to check under his long sleeves. Knows what he will find there. Can feel the lingering sensation of the burn. His spark.
He grits his teeth to suppress a hiss due to the pain. Eddie can’t afford to move. Cannot hurt the man in front of him. His soulmate.
Eddie instantly clocks where his hand touches the small sliver of skin. His open palm pressed against the man’s neckline. He can feel the heaving of the man’s chest.
Multiple flashlights come up in Eddie’s peripheral vision. Slowly his hearing comes back to register the person talking - a kid with curly hair and a hat.
“Eddie! It’s me. It’s Dustin.” He talks slowly and in a hushed voice, so he doesn’t spook Eddie any further. Eddie takes a deep breath when he finally registers the freshman. One of his friends. He’s safe for now.
Dustin carefully gestures towards the guy Eddie still holds against the wall. “This is Steve. He’s not gonna hurt you. Right? Steve?”
Eddie turns back to the man in his grasp when he huffs out a low, “Right. Yeah.”
And then everything comes to a screeching halt.
Illuminated by the flashlights he can finally make out the guy’s features and Eddie feels his guts plummet.
As if he needs any introduction to Steve Harrington?!
Golden boy of Hawkins High, jock, and douchebag supreme. Material of wet dreams (including Eddie’s) and resident straight homophobe.
The licking flames and small embers inside of Eddie turn to ice.
He just sparked.
With Harrington?!
A guy who frequently laughed when outcasts like Eddie were pushed into lockers while being called “queer” or worse.
The universe really has it out for him, doesn’t it?
First a girl dies in his trailer by some paranormal phenomenon, then he’s on the run, he gets found out, and then it turns out his soulmate is the straightest man Eddie has ever had the displeasure of meeting.
The whole word has shifted on its axis.
Eddie is not sure if he wants to laugh or cry or maybe do both.
His head is reeling. His mind conjures up a picture of Steve smashing Jonathan’s camera with a sneer on his lips. In Eddie’s ears rings the echo of the breaking glass.
Pervert
Queer
Freak
Eddie’s breath grows more and more erratic, cold sweat runs down his spine, and he has to clench his teeth to fight down the bile rising up his throat.
He sees Tommy Hagan slamming him into the locker, accompanied by Steve’s cruel laughter in the background. Billy Hargrove tripping him in the cafeteria, his tray slipping from his fingers.
Freak
Freak
Freak
It’s no longer an armor protecting Eddie, it’s a curse, running through his veins, dark and unnatural.
He sees the disgust in the eyes of his parents before they turn their backs on him for good.
Freak
Frea- -
A loud clatter rips Eddie out of his thoughts when the wooden oar lands on the floor. Instinctively Eddie tightens the hold against Steve, who draws in a harsh breath.
The glass edge of the bottle pierces through, drawing a bit of blood. Steve quietly groans at the pain.
“He’s cool! He’s cool.” Dustin frantically tries to reassure Eddie, waving his hands in front of him in a pacifying manner.
Eddie is close enough that he can hear Steve grind his teeth, then the guy wheezes “I’m cool, man. I’m cool.”
And isn’t that the truth? Steve is cool.
But he’s not so cool with gay people if Eddie remembers, so he’d rather not take any chances. He turns to face Dustin, not loosening the hold on Steve.
“What are you doing here?” He asks.
“We’re looking for you.” Dustin responds, desperately.
“We’re here to help.” A girl with a brown bob chimes in. She seems familiar.
Dustin steps forward and continues to explain. “Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band.”
Ah, right! Robin!
The girl does a very nervous imitation of playing the trumpet. It looks so absurd, Eddie nearly laughs, despite the whole predicament he's in. Dustin points to a redheaded girl on his other side who reluctantly gives Eddie a small wave. “This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D. Eddie. We’re on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?”
All of them affirm Dustin’s statement in hushed voices. Eddie studies all their faces but no one seems threatening. Even Steve just looks scared. The jock hasn’t tried to get away or hasn’t made any move to attack Eddie, yet.
I could really use any help I can get right now…
Hesitantly Eddie lets go of Steve who grunts as he slumps back against the wall, muttering a small “Jesus Christ…”
Eddie tumbles a few steps away from the group. The adrenaline is leaving his system fast. At this point he is so tired and confused. He holds onto the boathouse wall for support but his legs feel like jelly, so Eddie decides to sink down against the wall, sitting on a plank.
The events of the last 24 hours come crashing down on him. He feels so lost.
Dustin comes to kneel by his side. “Eddie. We just want to talk. Okay?”
The boy reaches for the broken bottle in Eddie’s hand, but Eddie shies away. It might not be a good weapon against the paranormal thing that’s levitating people, but it does a good enough job with real people. Eddie’s eyes instinctively flick over to Steve.
“We want to know what happened”, the girl with the bob chimes in. Robin, right. She crouches down so she’s on Eddie’s eye level.
What am I supposed to tell them?
I was there when it happened and I don’t believe it. Why would they?
Every fiber in Eddie’s body is screaming. The cold from the spring night is finally catching up. Eddie’s clenched fingers tremble and he’s shaking all over.
He feels so helpless. Even though he’s finally not alone.
Eddie sniffles quietly. He can feel his eyes starting to burn as tears are threatening to spill.
“You won’t believe me”, he manages to croak out.
The redhead steps forward and crosses her arms. She cocks her head to the side and says “Try us.”
And Eddie does.
He spills it all.
For some weird reason, they believe him.
Apparently this is not the first paranormal incident in Hawkins?
By the time Dustin finishes explaining, Eddie’s head feels like it could explode. Eddie feels heavy, his eyelids start to droop. Exhausted from the onslaught of information, tired from the events the past couple of hours.
At some point Steve takes mercy on him and ushers the others out, which opens up a whole other jar of emotions, because since when is Steve so perceptive and kind?
Not now, Eddie.
They all make Eddie promise to not leave his hiding space and hand him one of the walkies. They assure him they will check in as soon as they can, and come back for him when it’s safe. Just like that they're off and he’s alone again.
With the quiet come two realizations.
Firstly: Monsters are real.
And secondly: Steve seems surprisingly unbothered by it all. Neither by the (what did Dustin call it?) Upside Down, nor by the fact that he has a queer soulmate.
But then he’s struck by an earth shattering conclusion: Steve hadn’t touched him. Sure, the guy patted his shoulder when they were leaving, but Eddie had his jacket on, so no direct contact.
Which means Steve didn’t spark.
Maybe it can stay that way.
Maybe Eddie doesn’t need to face the disgust if Steve never finds out.
Maybe he can pretend it all never happened.
Maybe if he never talks about it, it’s not real.
Maybe he’s not a…
Freak.