Archive of Our Own

Steve fumbled with his keys, trying figure out which was the right one based on the feeling of the grooves. It was a dark night, with heavy clouds blocking out any light from the moon, and Steve wished he'd known they were going back to his house that morning, because he would've left the outside light on or something. It wasn't until they were finally stumbling out of Eddie's house, ready to get as far away from the portal as possible, that the kids told them about how the cops were questioning them and that their parents had actually decided to give a shit about what they were doing at the most inconvenient time.

That left Steve's house as the only place left in Hawkins they could go where they wouldn't have people breathing down their necks about being a bloodthirsty cult. Steve finally found what he hoped was the right key, and he tried to shove it in the door, missing a few times.

"Any day now, Steve," Dustin said, and Steve could hear the eyeroll in his voice, the little shit.

"Maybe it would be easier if you weren't breathing down my neck," Steve said through gritted teeth. Dustin was standing right behind him, and Steve elbowed him in the side. Dustin elbowed him back, right in the spine and way harder than Steve had, and he held back a groan; being dragged around the Upside Down by his ankle had not been fun, and he didn't know how his back looked right now, but he could feel the sting of scrapes he knew must be there.

Steve was working as fast as he could, no matter what Dustin thought; he really just wanted to be inside, out of the dark and cold. Their world was a lot different from the Upside Down, considering the air didn't burn his lungs and there was no screeching in the distance, but still. The back of his neck tingled like he was being watched, and he just wanted to get out of the dark.

Steve finally got the door open and stumbled in, immediately flicking on the foyer lights. Based on how fast everyone else piled in behind him, he figured they felt the same creeping uneasiness he did standing outside in the dark. Nancy shut the door behind them and locked it, and even though he knew the lock would do nothing to stop what they were fighting, it still made him relax a bit more.

The kids beelined for the living room, already knowing their way around and making themselves at home. "Don't destroy the house!" Steve called to their retreating backs, and Max raised a hand to wave him off, not even turning around. Steve sighed; the last thing he wanted was to have to straighten up the house for whenever his parents got back. 

"Want to raid the kitchen and see if he has anything edible?" Robin asked, looking over at Nancy. Nancy shrugged and followed Robin to the kitchen. Steve winced, not looking forward to the lecture he was likely going to get later for the lack of food he had for them, but hey, it's not like he was expecting company. They couldn't really blame him.

Eddie sauntered around the foyer with his hands clasped behind his back, his head thrown back to look up at the high ceiling, and he whistled lowly. "Damn Harrington, I knew you were rich, but this is some next level shit." He strolled over to Steve and snapped his head back down, leaning forward so their faces were a few inches apart. "I said I was jealous of you before, but I might just hate you now, dude," he said quietly, one corner of his mouth quirked up.

Steve shoved lightly at Eddie's shoulder, and Eddie staggered back a few steps, clutching at his chest. "Fuck off," Steve said, huffing out a laugh. "This place is good for times like these."

Eddie spun on his heel, walking over and picking up an old statue from the side table. He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it. "So are your parents going to turn us in to the police for supposedly sacrificing people to the devil?" he asked, looking up at Steve through his lashes.

Steve shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. Damn, it was freezing- he couldn't wait until he finally had a shirt on again. "My parents aren't around right now, so we'll be good here."

Eddie tilted his head to the side. "And where are they?" he asked.

Steve shrugged. He walked towards the kitchen and glanced in. Nancy and Robin were in the process of searching through his cabinets, and he winced; he hoped he had something, because he honestly couldn't even remember. "Probably on some business thing somewhere, I stopped asking months ago. The point is, we're safe from the cops for the night."

There was a crashing sound from the living room, and Steve groaned, quickly walking over to the doorway. He saw the kids spin around right when he reached the living room, giving him wide, unconvincing grins. Lucas and Dustin had blankets piled in their arms, and they were all standing in front of an open closet. If he had to guess, they were trying to hide a bunch of shit they had just knocked off the shelves. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Would it kill you little shits to listen to me for once? I don't think I'm asking for much here."

"We didn't destroy anything," Lucas said, the words rushed, and Steve immediately knew he was lying.

Steve just looked at them, raising his eyebrows, and Max sighed. "Even if we did mess something up, we'd fix it," she said, giving him her own exasperated look, which he didn't think he deserved, considering they were the ones destroying the house.

Steve shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, you better," he said, and Dustin gave him a thumbs up. He sighed, walking back out to the foyer. Eddie was still standing there, picking at a crusted spot of... something from the Upside Down on his sleeve.

Eddie looked up when Steve came back. "Dude, who knew Hell was so disgusting? I don't think I'm going to get that smell out of my nose for months," he said, nose wrinkled.

Steve nodded. "I know what you mean." It felt like the air of the Upside Down was still sitting in his lungs, the rancid smell of decay following them out of the portal. "Want to borrow some clothes? We're probably the same size."

Eddie winced, his mouth twisted into a frown. "Oh God, and look like a prep? Like you? I'd prefer wearing clothes caked in demon sludge, thank you."

Steve shrugged, walking by Eddie to the staircase. "Sorry, I forgot you were too cool to wear anything that isn't a t-shirt from a band no one's heard of," he said, starting up the stairs to change his own disgusting clothes.

Eddie laughed, and Steve heard his footsteps following behind him anyway. "Just because you haven't heard of Black Sabbath doesn't mean no one has! I'm telling you, they're a huge deal, you just don't know shit," he exclaimed. 

Steve snorted. "Yeah, okay," he said. Eddie made an offended noise, but he ignored him, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. He knew he was taking the stairs unusually slow, but he was beyond exhausted. He felt slightly shaky, so he kept one hand tightly griping the banister as they made their way up, and he was grateful Eddie didn't mention how long it took them to reach the top.

Steve led them to his bedroom and Eddie immediately started snooping, grabbing some papers on his side table and flipping through them for second before throwing them back down. He walked over to the shelves, leaning in closely to inspect them, and shook his head. "I knew you were a jock, but did you play every sport? Jesus Christ," Eddie said, picking up a lacrosse stick and giving it a few swings.

Steve turned away to his dresser, opening the top drawer and shuffling through it. "Honestly, kind of, or at least tried most of them. There wasn't time for more than swim team and basketball." He settled on a plain, blue t-shirt, pulling it out of the drawer.

He heard Eddie pick something else up. "Yeah? And what sport is this for?" he asked.

Steve turned around and froze. Eddie was holding his baseball bat full of nails, standing in a poor imitation of a batter's position. He swung it in slow motion, putting a hand over his eyes and squinting into the distance as if he was watching a ball fly out of the park.

"Monster hunting," Steve said, and Eddie immediately dropped the bat, jumping away when it bounced for a second before rolling to a stop.

"Gross," Eddie said, staring at the bat. They both stood in silence, the atmosphere suddenly a lot more tense than it had been a minute ago. Honestly, Steve never thought a day would come that he would miss using the bat to fend off monsters, but at this point, he missed being able to just whack the Demogorgon or a demodog across the face to protect his friends. Now, he couldn't help but feel useless, having to watch as his friends fought off an invisible enemy inside their head. He never thought he'd look back at a monster falling out of the Byers' ceiling or demodogs running through underground Hell tunnels as simpler times, but somehow, that seemed easy compared to the shitstorm they were in now.

Steve looked back to Eddie, and he frowned. Eddie's eyes were still locked on the bat, and he looked pale, his eyes far away. "Works better than a couple oars," Steve said, hoping to break him out of whatever train of thought he was stuck in, but Eddie just nodded vaguely, his eyes still not leaving the bat.

"Are you doing good, with all this?" Steve asked carefully, and Eddie's gaze snapped back to him, eyes wide. "I know it's a lot."

Eddie quickly nodded, reaching his hands up to drag them through his hair. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good with this. Those freshmen are good with this, so that would just be embarrassing if I wasn't, right?" he said, laughing a bit.

Steve shook his head. He leaned back against the dresser, sagging his weight into it and bracing his hands on the top. "Not really. Finding out monsters are real and that our town is a portal to Hell is a lot to take in. We've all had a couple years to come to terms with it, and you've only had a couple days. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Eddie brought a hand up to bite at his nails. "Maybe you're right... I've only killed demons in DnD, and you guys are, like, actual demon slaying experts. Like the actual Ghostbusters, or something. You're like Aragorn, and I'm like Frodo in the beginning of Fellowship."

Steve... didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but Eddie still wouldn't really meet his eyes, his lips pulled down in a harsh frown. Steve really didn't want him to be mad at himself for not being ready to fight monsters, as if that was something any normal person would anticipate having to do at some point in their lives. "You know, the first time I saw a monster, I freaked out."

Eddie looked at him, his eyebrows raised. "Really? Hard to imagine that Steve Harrington, Mr. Rips Apart Monster Bats with His Bare Hands, actually flinched in the face of danger."

Steve nodded, laughing slightly. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm serious! I even tried to call the police, like they were going to be able to arrest it or something. I showed up to the Byers' house one night- do you know the Byers'?"

Eddie furrowed his brow. "Wasn't that the kid that went missing or something a while back?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, that's a long story I'll tell you some other time. But I showed up to their house, and Nancy and Jonathan- the missing kid's brother- were decked out with all kinds of crazy shit, screaming at me to get the hell out of there, and the lights started flickering, then a monster just fuckin' crawls out of the ceiling."

Eddie took a few steps towards him, leaning forward slightly. His hand was on his chin, his eyes alight with interest. "A monster? Was it like those bat things we saw?"

Steve shook his head. "No, this thing was huge, like seven feet tall," he said, reaching a hand up to try to indicate just how massive it was. "It didn't even have a face, it's whole head was just one big mouth, and it had these big ass claws. We called it the Demogorgon."

Eddie tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. "The Demogorgon? Like DnD? 'The Prince of Demons'? 'Lord of all that Swims in Darkness'?"

Steve shrugged. He'd never really questioned where the name came from- that detail seemed unimportant in the face of monsters actually being real. "Dunno. The little nerds named it, so probably. The point is, I freaked the fuck out, like full on panicking, so don't worry about how you're taking this. This shit is pretty crazy."

Eddie nodded. He didn't seem as stressed as he was before, the furrow in his brow finally smoothing out, and he seemed to really be considering Steve's words. Steve used to be useless at comforting people, but he'd gotten better in the past year or two. Being the default babysitter for a bunch of traumatized pre-teens had given him some experience, unfortunately. 

Eddie suddenly spoke again, making Steve jump and bringing him out of the fogginess in his head. "So, did you listen to them? Did you get out of there?"

Steve reached a hand up to rub at the back of his neck, looking away. "No. I grabbed that bat there," he said, gesturing with his chin to where it sat on the floor, "and I got a few good hits on the bastard before it ran away."

There were a few moments of silence, and Steve looked back over towards Eddie, jumping and clutching a hand to his chest when he realized Eddie had moved without him noticing, now only a foot away from him. He was staring at him with narrowed eyes, his hands on his hips. "You know what's really annoying? I didn't expect to agree with Henderson when I met you, but here we are! How am I supposed to think you're anything other than a badass when the first time you saw a monster you beat the shit out of it with a bat full of nails? Now that's metal, almost more metal than Ozzie, and you better not take that lightly."

Eddie leaned forward, jabbing a finger into Steve's chest. "Where's a flaw, huh? You can't just be perfect, dude, I can't accept that. There has to be a flaw somewhere- do you put your milk in before your cereal, or something? C'mon, work with me here."

Steve thought back to that one Halloween party, in that cramped bathroom when he had his heart broken. He snorted, pushing the t-shirt into Eddie's hands and forcing him back a step or two. "If you look long enough, I'm sure you'll find one, trust me," he said.

Steve turned and bent over to grab some sweatpants from the bottom drawer of the dresser, wincing and holding back a groan as his torso burned at the movement. He grabbed the first pair sitting on top, some black sweats with Hawkins High printed down the leg. He straightened back up, and black spots immediately started dancing across his vision. His head spun, and he stumbled, vision blacking out fully for a second. He flung a hand out, knocking a few things off the top of the dresser before he got a grip on it, falling back against the wall behind him and knocking the air out of his lungs.

"Oh, shit!" he heard Eddie exclaim over the sudden buzzing in his ears. He felt him grab his upper arm, trying to guide him to the ground. Steve tried to slowly lower himself down, he really did, but he ended up more or less collapsing to the ground as his knees gave out. Eddie did his best to slow his fall, grabbing on to his other arm too.

"Shit, Steve, are you- are you good, man?" Eddie asked, his voice loud and panicked. He squeezed Steve's arms, and the pressure helped ground him.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine, I'm g-good," Steve said, but his voice sounded far away to his own ears. He propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his head, chin to his chest, just trying to breathe. He felt a cold sweat break out across the back of his neck, and the tips of his fingers tingled. He screwed his eyes shut so he couldn't see the way the room swam slightly.

Steve wasn't sure how long he sat there, taking deep breaths and clinging to consciousness, but eventually, the lightheaded feeling started to pass, and he cracked an eye open, sighing in relief when the room stayed firmly in place. He saw Eddie crouched next to him, one hand raised to bite at his nails and the other still griping at his arm, glancing back and forth between the doorway and Steve's hunched figure.

Eddie did a double take when he realized Steve was looking at him, and his eyes were wide. "Jesus Christ, man, are you okay?" he asked.

Steve nodded his head slightly. He noticed he'd dropped the sweatpants about a foot away from where they sat, and he grabbed them, holding them out to Eddie. "Here, you can change into these," he said.

Eddie blinked at him for a second, before he grabbed the sweatpants and tossed them carelessly over his shoulder. "Screw the clothes, you just scared the shit out of me! Are you sure you're okay?"

Steve waved him off. "Yeah, I've had worse, trust me, it's not a big deal."

Eddie narrowed his eyes. "That's supposed to be comforting? Way to ease my mind! 'Yeah, don't worry, having a pound of flesh gnawed off is nothing compared to last time.' Jesus, man." 

Steve shrugged, smiling slightly at how worked up Eddie was. "Yeah, well, just a Russian interrogation, nothing exciting. Anyway, here's your clothes, you can change now, unless they're not cool enough for you." Steve thought for a second, before he winced. "Should probably shower first, though."

Eddie just stared at him like he was crazy before he sighed, shaking his head. "You go first, man. No offense, but I think you need it more." His eyes trailed down, and he grimaced. "We should probably change that, too."

Steve followed his gaze. There was some blood spotting through the cloth Nancy had tied around his torso, and he frowned. "Fine," he breathed out, too tired to argue. Plus, a shower really did sound like a godsend in that moment. Eddie held a hand out, and Steve took it, his pride be damned, because he really wasn't sure if he'd be able to get up without the help now that he'd finally sat down. 

Eddie pulled him up, and thankfully his vision only tilted for a second before it straightened itself out. He slowly made his way to his bathroom, pausing for a second to look back at Eddie. "Don't look through all my shit," he said. Eddie gave him a half-hearted salute that didn't really mean anything, considering he was already going over to Steve's record collection. Steve snorted, shaking his head, but he just turned and went into the bathroom.

Once the door was shut, Steve sighed, letting Eddie's denim jacket slide off his shoulders to the ground. He braced himself for a second before starting to untie the knot Nancy had made, biting his lip when he accidentally knocked his hand against his side. It took a little too long with the way his fingers shook slightly, but eventually he got it. He unwound it, wincing when the fabric stuck to the wound before finally pulling away.

Steve avoided looking in the mirror, not really wanting to see how it looked. He flipped the shower on, waiting for it to heat up before he finished getting undressed and stepped in. The water felt like heaven, as long as he kept it pelting his back instead of his torso. He could feel the grime washing off of him, and he tilted his head back, letting the water run through his hair.

Steve kept the water as hot as it would go to try to chase away the chill that just wouldn't leave his bones, but he had to turn it down a little when the steam started to make his head spin. He scrubbed his body, but he still felt like he could feel dirt covering him, even though he knew it was gone. He took his time washing his hair, making sure to get all of the grime out. By the time he switched the shower off, his legs were shaking slightly, and he sighed. 

Steve dried his hair a bit so it wasn't dripping before wrapping a towel around his waist. He opened the bathroom door, a billow of steam flooding the room. Eddie had a record on, Bowie's crooning filling the air, and he was laying on the ground on his back near the record player, looking at the album sleeve. He glanced up at Steve when the door opened. His eyes widened, and he scrambled up, knocking over a nearby sports trophy.

Eddie just stared at him, and Steve narrowed his eyes. "You make fun of my hair, and you're dead," Steve said, reaching an arm up to push back his hair where it was flopped over his forehead.

Eddie's eyes followed the movement before he quickly shook his head, putting his hands up in surrender. "Hey, you're going to see me with my hair un-styled too, so that'd be pretty hypocritical of me."

Steve was still suspicious. Eddie was frozen in place, and he was just staring at him. "What, then? Is it my music? Does it not stand up to your expert opinion?"

Eddie cleared his throat. "I didn't know you cared about my expert opinion. And it may not be what I listen to, but who in their right mind can really knock Bowie?" he said, laughing awkwardly. Steve just raised an eyebrow at him, and Eddie sighed, dropping his head. He reached his hands up and scrubbed them through his hair a few times. "Alright, whatever, moving on..."

When Eddie raised his head back up, he looked more serious. His gaze locked onto Steve's torso, and he grimaced. "Dude, that... doesn't look good. Do you need help with it?"

Steve followed his gaze down, wincing at the sight. It looked much uglier in the harsh light of his room compared to the dull haze of the Upside Down. There were bruises along the edges of the ragged wounds, and they were already starting to bleed again. "Do you know how to do that stuff?" Steve asked, looking back up at Eddie.

Eddie shrugged. "Not really, but it can't be that hard, can it?" he said.

Steve thought about it, but Eddie wasn't really wrong, so he nodded. "Lemme just grab some clothes," he said, walking towards the dresser.

Eddie side stepped in front of him, making him stop. He held out the t-shirt and sweatpants Steve had grabbed for him earlier, pushing them into Steve's chest. "Just use these," he said. "Don't need you passing out on me again, Harrington."

Steve rolled his eyes, but he took the clothes anyway. "Didn't pass out," he mumbled, turning back to the bathroom and ignoring Eddie's laughter behind him. He shut the door behind him, and when he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he paused, walking closer to get a better look. He had honestly somehow forgotten about almost being choked out; sure, his neck hurt, but it paled in comparison to his torso. Looking at his neck now, there was a cut slicing across the middle, but what was worse was the smattering of light blue that covered his entire neck. He knew from experience that it would only continue to darken, and he didn't want to know what it'd look like by tomorrow morning. There was no chance he'd get anyone off his back then.

Speaking of his back, he turned around and glanced over his shoulder to get a look at it. His back was covered in shallow scratches from when he'd been dragged across the rough ground, and now that the adrenaline had fully left his system, he noticed the ankle he'd been grabbed by twinged a bit when he put too much weight on it. He sighed, tearing his gaze from the mirror and slipping on the sweatpants. He left his shirt off and grabbed his first aid kit off the counter.

When Steve walked back into his bedroom, Eddie's back was turned as he flipped through his records, but he jumped and turned around when Steve tossed the first aid kit on his bed with a loud clatter. He walked over and popped it open, whistling lowly. "Damn, man, this is one serious first aid kit. You gearing up for war?"

Steve lowered himself onto the bed with a sigh, glad to finally be sitting down, not that he'd admit it out loud. He leaned back on his palms, giving Eddie an incredulous look. "Is that a serious question you're asking?"

Eddie stared at him blankly for a second before his jaw dropped slightly, realization dawning on his face. "Oh, okay, you're right, I deserve that one. The whole fighting monsters thing." He sat on the bed next to Steve, and Steve pulled one leg up on the bed to angle his body towards him. Eddie looked between Steve and the first aid kit, reaching towards Steve twice in an aborted gesture, his hands flitting over him, before he sighed harshly. "Dude, I don't even know where to start."

Steve smirked at him. "What, Munson? You nervous?" he said, leaning towards him a bit. Eddie just stared at him, and Steve laughed at his wide-eyed look; it seemed like Eddie couldn't take his own game. "Probably just start with my torso before it bleeds everywhere," he said when it was clear Eddie wasn't going to say anything.

That seemed to unfreeze Eddie, and he scoffed, shuffling around in the first aid kit. "I think I found a flaw, you cocky little shit," he said, pulling out some antiseptic wipes. He ripped them open, scooting closer. Steve wanted to retort, but he took a deep breath instead, bracing himself for the pain he knew was going to come. He raised his arms up out of the way, tangling his hands in his hair.

Eddie leaned in close, holding up the antiseptic wipe, but he paused right before he started, looking up to meet Steve's eyes with a silent question. Steve nodded slightly, and Eddie pressed it to the first wound. Steve sucked in a sharp breath, clenching his jaw tight. He screwed his eyes shut, and he couldn't hold back a pained groan.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Eddie muttered under his breath as he worked. Steve tried to keep his reaction to a minimum, but he couldn't stop the pained noises that slipped past his lips every once in a while. He brought his hand down to his mouth, biting down on the side of his palm to muffle the noise. It felt like forever, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or two before Eddie leaned back. Steve let the air whoosh out of his lungs, and his chest heaved with short, shallow breaths.

Steve cracked his eyes open, and Eddie was looking at him, a crease between his eyebrows and a frown tugging at his lips. "Do you want a second before I wrap it?" he asked when he noticed Steve looking at him.

Steve gave his head a small shake. "N-no, get it over with," he said.

Eddie reached for the roll of gauze, wasting no time winding it around his torso. Steve gasped sharply as Eddie wrapped the gauze tightly over the wounds, and he saw Eddie wince at the sound. Thankfully, it was only a few seconds before Eddie was carefully tying off the ends, and he slumped forward as soon as he was done, taking a second to breathe through the pain.

After the pain finally receded from a sharp stabbing to a dull ache, Steve raised his head back up, opening his eyes. Eddie was watching him carefully, biting his lip. "Well," Steve said. He cleared his throat. "That sucked."

Eddie deflated at that, laughing slightly on his exhale. "God, tell me about it," he said. Steve gave him a look, raising an eyebrow, and Eddie put his hands up between them, waving Steve off. "I'm sure it sucked more for you, man, but hell, for the record, I hated doing that."

Steve rolled his eyes, but his small smile took any the bite out of the action. "Wow, thanks for toughing it out," he said, sounding less sarcastic than he meant to. He sighed, scrubbing a shaking hand through his hair. "That was the worst part, at least."

Eddie nodded. "Small mercies," he said, rooting around the first aid kit again. He pulled out another antiseptic wipe, scooting closer to Steve so there was barely any space between them. He raised it towards Steve's neck, and Steve tilted his head back a bit to make it easier. Eddie leaned in close, his face less than a foot from his neck as he dabbed gently at the cut. Steve glanced down at Eddie's face and forgot how to breathe for a second; he had to quickly look away, staring up at the ceiling instead.

Steve didn't know why he felt so nervous all of the sudden. His heart was in his throat, and he hoped Eddie couldn't tell how fast it was suddenly beating. Eddie was so close that Steve could feel the barest hint of his breath ghosting across his neck. Steve had to focus on trying to keep his breathing even, because Eddie was so close that he was sure he would notice the change, and he had no idea how to explain it if Eddie asked. 

Eddie said something, but Steve was so focused on trying to act like a normal human being that he completely missed his words. Steve swallowed hard. "W-what was that?" he asked.

Eddie, thankfully, seemed focused enough on his task that he didn't notice how weird Steve was acting; that, or he was just polite enough not to mention it, but Steve desperately hoped it was the first one. "I said sorry for threatening to slice your neck open with a broken bottle. Not a good first impression," Eddie said. Steve risked another glance down at Eddie's face; his brow was furrowed, and that was enough to distract Steve from his weird internal panic. 

"Honestly, I wasn't happy at the time, but I get it. I understand being careful after something like this happens- trust me, I took that bat with me everywhere for about two years," Steve said. Eddie finished cleaning the cut and leaned back, and Steve wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He tried not to think about it too much- it'd been a long day, and he was too tired for his brain to work properly. 

Eddie scoffed, shaking his head. "You just had to be such a good dude, huh?" he said. And Steve... for some godforsaken reason, Steve looked at Eddie and fucking winked. He immediately wished he could take it back; he was going to blame it on the blood loss. Clearly, there wasn't enough blood getting to his brain- he wasn't thinking straight. Eddie stared at him for a second, two, and just when Steve was going to cut his losses and get the hell out of there, Eddie smirked at him. He reached forward and lightly flicked Steve on the forehead. "Definitely cocky," he said.

Steve let out a relived breath, glad that he didn't weird Eddie out. He rubbed at his forehead, even though it didn't even hurt. "You're going to do that to the injured guy?" Steve said.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. He propped his arm on the bed and leaned on it, letting his head flop to the side. "So it's 'not a big deal' until its convenient, is that how it is?" he said. He raised his chin a bit, one corner of his mouth quirking up. "Alright, so where else are you injured, injured guy? Because you look like you're about to fall over in the next five minutes."

Steve wanted to argue, but he knew he'd just look stupid; he felt like he was about to fall over, and he saw how shit he looked in the mirror earlier. "Just my back, but it's honestly-" Steve started, and Eddie climbed onto the bed, crawling behind Steve, "... not really a big deal," he finished lamely.

"Starting to not believe you when you say that, dude," Eddie sing-songed. Steve heard him rustling around in the first aid kit, and he jumped when the cool antiseptic wipe touched his back unexpectedly, holding his breath for a second before letting it out. "What, Harrington? You nervous?" Eddie said in an obnoxious mockery of Steve's own voice.

"Oh, fuck off," Steve said, but he was laughing, and Eddie joined in. They sat in comfortable silence broken only by Hunky Dory coming from the record player as Eddie cleaned the shallow cuts, putting band aids on the deeper scrapes, and Steve thought about how weird it was that it didn't feel weird. There was just something about fighting for your lives against interdimensional monsters that brought people close together incredibly fast; it'd happened with the little gremlins, with the Byers, with Robin. Considering all the people he became close to in the last few years, Eddie Munson wasn't really that far out there. 

Eddie Munson wasn't someone that he ever really thought about; of course, with how loud and attention-grabbing he was, Steve had heard of him in high school, but they never really had a reason to cross paths- they lived in completely different worlds. But, it seemed like the universe had been forcing him to cross paths with people he never thought he would for years now- a bunch of nerdy pre-teens, a band chick he never really noticed in high school, a girl that was way too smart to stay with him.

And as much as Steve had wanted to hate Eddie after Dustin had mentioned him, he found that he really, really didn't. It was nice, laughing together in his room, forgetting for a few minutes that they were fighting a wizard from Hell with an obsession with clocks and hurting their friends. He didn't expect to get along with Eddie, but, well- here they are.

Eventually, Eddie patted Steve's shoulder. "Voila," he said, jumping off the bed. He gathered up all of the wrappers and tossed them in the nearby waste bin, clicking the first aid kit shut. He reached his arms up over his head, shutting his eyes and stretching his arms to each side, groaning as his back popped. Steve's eyes trailed to the small section of Eddie's midriff that he could see where his shirt rode up, before he quickly looked away.

Steve distracted himself from whatever the hell was going through his head by pulling on his t-shirt, sighing as it brought a bit of warmth. He heard drawers opening, and he looked over; Eddie was digging through his dresser. He pulled out a pair of plain black sweatpants and moved on to the top drawer. He rooted around in Steve's shirts, wincing at his options, and settled on a gray t-shirt. "Please, make yourself at home," Steve said.

"You're so kind," Eddie said, ignoring the sarcasm in Steve's voice and turning toward the bathroom. He paused at the doorway, spinning around and pointing a finger at Steve. "I didn't make fun of your hair; remember that when I get back."

Steve waved him off, and Eddie disappeared into the bathroom. Steve knew that Eddie wasn't going to be gone that long, but still, it was just too tempting- he let himself flop over on his bed, adjusting until he found a position on his side that hurt the least. He'd just rest his eyes until he heard the shower turn off. The music petered off, the record needing to be flipped, but Steve was too exhausted to go do it, so he let silence fill the room.

Steve shoved his face in the pillow, and his body felt heavy as he sunk into the bed. He was asleep within seconds.

Someone grabbed Steve's shoulder, and he shot up, clutching at his side as it screamed at the sudden movement. He blinked to get the sleep out of his eyes, trying to find the alertness he'd need to deal with whatever shitstorm was happening now. 

His eyes landed on a figure next to the bed, and it took him a second to recognize the person as Eddie. Eddie didn't look like he was about to tell him that the world was ending or that they needed to gear up- he looked slightly surprised, but there was no panic on his face, and Steve felt his shoulders relax. It was still dark outside the window, so it couldn't have been that long since he fell asleep.

"You almost just headbutted me. You good, man?" Eddie said, and Steve took a second to actually look at him now that he wasn't convinced they were under attack. Eddie had seemed worried about how his hair would look after he showered, but it didn't look that different; it was more limp, his bangs a bit mussed, but it didn't look bad at all. What did look different was his outfit. It was funny to see him dressed so plain, so ordinary. 

Steve smirked. "Yeah, I'm good, I just didn't recognize you at first without all your rockstar shit on," he said, running a hand through his hair in a poor attempt to tame it. He knew his hair probably looked absolutely insane right now, especially after his nap flattened half of it, but fixing it just seemed like too much work in that moment. 

Eddie scoffed, resting his hands on his hips. "I know you think you're making fun of me, but I take 'rockstar' as a compliment. At least I don't dress like a wannabe Ferris Bueller," he said.

Steve hauled himself off the bed with a groan, pausing for a moment when his vision tilted before righting itself. "You've seen that movie? I thought you would only watch nerd shit."

Eddie shut his eyes and turned his face away from Steve, tilting his chin up. "Just because I play DnD doesn't mean I'm only allowed to watch Star Wars or something. I'm a man of culture," he said.

Steve tilted his head, thinking for a second. "Star Wars? I think the little gremlins made me watch that once, but I fell asleep halfway through."

Eddie's head whipped back towards him, his eyes wide. A hand flew to his chest, griping at his heart. "I can't believe you just said that to me. I thought this was going well before that comment, so I'm going to forget you said that for my own sanity." He ran his hands through his hair, and Steve watched as his curls sprang back into place. "Anyway, the girls ordered pizza, and it just got here."

Steve resolutely ignored the way his heart jumped when Eddie said he thought it was going well, because nope, he wasn't going to deal with it right now. Instead, he gestured for Eddie to lead the way, following him out of his bedroom. With everything else going on, Steve had kind of forgotten that eating was something they had to do, but now that Eddie mentioned it, he realized he was starving. Thankfully, it didn't take as long as to go down the stairs as it had taken to go up them; his legs still trembled slightly, but the nap had chased away some of the bone-deep tiredness.

As they walked towards the dining room, Steve could already hear everybody, between the kids' loud voices and Robin trying to talk over them. It was weird, but nice, to have excited voices echoing in his usually silent house. They entered the dining room, and it was the most lively he'd ever seen it. Usually, it was empty, going unused except for maybe three times a year, but now, almost every seat was taken, with three pizza boxes spread across the table. One pie had already been ravaged, and Dustin and Lucas were arguing about something, Max rolling her eyes next to them but still smiling a little.

Steve took the seat next to Robin, and she immediately slid him a plate full of pizza. "How are you still alive?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

Steve smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Well, a group of crazy people jumped in the portal after me and fought-"

"I'm talking about the fact that the only thing you have in your kitchen is ketchup, and you know it," Robin cut him off, pointing at him with her slice of pizza. She looked at him for a second before placing the slice down, eyes locked on his neck and leaning a bit closer with a wince.

Steve knew she must've noticed the darkening bruises in the bright light of the dining room, and he waved her off before she could start rambling. "It's fine, Eddie took care of it already."

Robin's eyebrows shot up, before she waggled them a bit, smirking. Steve furrowed his brow, and Robin opened her mouth to say something. While he didn't know exactly what she was going to say, based on the smug look on her face, he knew it was going to be something he didn't want to deal with in front of everyone. He kicked at her ankle under the table, and she sent him an annoyed look, but thankfully shut her mouth.

Steve tuned back into the conversation going on around them just in time to hear Eddie say his name. "Dustin, how do you talk Steve up all the time when he fell asleep during Star Wars? That's blasphemy," he said.

Dustin sighed, placing his half-eaten pizza down and looking over at Eddie with a grim expression on his face. "Yeah, we don't talk about that. Steve is tasteless when it comes to those things."

Dustin, Lucas, and Eddie all stared at him from across the table, and he paused in his chewing. "What?" he said, mouth still full. "It was boring."

Max made a disgusted face, and the other three all immediately started talking over each other, probably trying to explain to him why such a boring movie wasn't actually boring, but their voices all blended together and were easy to tune out. He heard Nancy say something to Robin that made her laugh, and Steve shoved another bite of pizza in his mouth, nodding along to whatever Dustin was saying to make him think he was actually listening. 

They were such a random group of people, but Steve was happy they were all here together; he wished it were under better circumstances, but still, it was nice. It was nice that they could take this moment to breathe and relax in between fighting for their lives and saving the town, possibly the world.

Steve didn't know how exactly they were going to defeat Vecna, but in that moment, sitting in his house surrounded by everyone's excited voices, with Eddie smiling across the table at him, he knew they would figure it out.