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“At this point,” Dustin says, pacing around the trailer, “you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
He spins on his heel and points at Eddie, who was sat on the counter tending to Steve’s brand new head wound. “Even then, you’re going to be seen as guilty anyway.”
“Loving the enthusiasm, Henderson,” Steve sighs, hissing as Eddie presses the damp rag—soaked in rubbing alcohol—onto the bloody cut on his forehead.
“Next time, don’t fall flat on your face,” Eddie mutters. He pulls away after a moment and wipes away some of the leaking blood before pulling out a massive band aid out of the box on the counter and slapping it on Steve’s forehead. After smoothing out any trapped air, he slowly pushes Steve back by the shoulders and smiles at his handiwork.
Steve gently presses his fingers onto the band aid and winces, but returns Eddie’s smile all the same.
“I’m right, though! The entire town is on a—on a fucking witch hunt for Eddie!” Dustin groans dramatically into his hands and throws his head back. “Who is innocent! ”
“Watch the language, Henderson,” Steve scolds, moving to stop the younger boy, only to get stopped by Eddie’s firm hand on his shoulder. “What?”
“Sometimes it’s best to let him stress,” Eddie says, “I wanna see where he’s going with this.”
Steve pauses before going back to leaning against the small kitchen counter next to Eddie, shaking his head slowly.
Dustin sends a heated glare at Steve before launching back into his rant. “We can’t even get fresh clothes without the cops on our asses. We can’t stay here—they’ll check here first I bet—“ Stopping for a split second, he glances up to the ceiling where the portal lies and flips it off. “—and how are we supposed to explain the demon portal to Hell in the ceiling!”
“Maybe if they see the portal, they’ll believe Eddie is innocent?” Robin suggests, coming in from a room in the back with Nancy behind her. They’d changed into some of Eddie’s clothes since theirs were ruined. Robin was wearing some jeans and a band shirt, and Nancy was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. They looked extremely comfortable for people who were fighting off the end of the world.
“I thought Erica told you guys the town thinks you’re a… vessel of Satan, or something,” Nancy says.
“She did,” Dustin confirms, shooting a wary look to the bathroom where Erica was washing up, “Which doesn’t help at all.” He looks up again, seemingly asking a higher power for advice. Eddie laughs slightly at the exhausted and exasperated expression on his friends face. “I think if murder was legal, I’d kill Jason.”
“If murder was legal, we wouldn’t be in this situation, Dustin,” Robin reminds him. Dustin responds with a slow nod of his head and a defeated collapse to the floor. Nancy throws one of the couch cushions at him.
“It’s not all bad,” Eddie says into the sudden silence. His hand closes over the emergency tape in his pocket. Paranoid by Black Sabbath was his pick for favourite song—just in case Vecna got him. Everyone in the room stares at him incredulously. “I mean, I probably—probably won’t…” He clears his throat and grins shakily. “So, it’s not like they’ll be able to do anything, since I won’t be around.”
“You won’t what?” Dustin asks, his voice full of childish innocence and confusion. Eddie feels a lump grow in his throat and shakes his head.
“No, Munson,” Steve says, pulling Eddie’s attention to him. He was frowning, with a fearful glint in his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Eddie chokes on a nervous laugh, forces himself to stare anywhere but Steve Harrington’s eyes. “You know what I mean, Harrington.”
A beat passes.
“I don’t,” Steve replies quietly. A quick glance across the room tells Eddie that nobody else but Robin understands either. He stares at Robin for a moment, feeling guilty for the amount of worry she was radiating.
“I probably won’t make it,” Eddie concedes, lowering his voice slightly. “I’m the most likely to die, right?”
The silence that fills the room afterwards is so suffocating that Eddie would rather be back in the Upside Down. At least in there, there was the screeching of the demobats and the rustle of the uncomfortably warm wind through the trees.
“You’re the most likely to die?” Steve echoes. Eddie doesn’t dare look at him, so he shrugs and nods.
He didn’t expect Steve to grab him by the face and force him to stare into those stunning hazel eyes—and Eddie finds himself in shock at the intensity behind them. “Steve?”
“Eddie,” Steve begins, pulling Eddie’s head down so they were eye-level with each other. “You’re not going to die. I promise that you’re not going to die.”
“You can’t know that for sure, man.”
Steve shakes his head and brings Eddie closer. The elder notes that their noses are almost touching and he has to steady himself on Steve’s shoulders to stop himself from falling forward. “You’re not listening to me, Eddie. I’m not going to let you die. Can you read between the lines there? I’m promising to protect you .”
Eddie tries to pull back, but Steve’s grip on him tightens and he lets out a pained sigh, focusing on a freckle on Steve’s cheek. “You can’t promise that. You really can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You have Dustin, Robin, Nancy. That redhead, Lucas. You need to protect the people you know , Harrington,” Eddie murmurs. “Not some freak —some drug dealer—who still hasn’t graduated high school.” He feels Steve’s grip on him loosen and he takes the moment to pull away.
When nobody else speaks up, Eddie shifts slightly on the counter and jumps off with practiced ease, landing lightly on his tip-toes. He silently walks to the door and moves to open it, only for his wrist to be wrenched away from the handle and twisted back in a way that causes his entire body to turn along with it.
All of a sudden, he was being pinned against the wall by Steve Harrington. He mentally marks this moment as the second time in a day that King Steve has done something that’s made his stomach do a funny flip. “Take me out to dinner first, Harrington—“
“ Eddie. ”
“Sorry,” he apologises quickly.
Steve sighs and releases Eddie’s wrist, but doesn’t move from his place in front of the other boy. “I’ve said this already, but I’m not going to let you die.” He holds up a finger to Eddie’s mouth to keep him quiet. “I don’t know you too well, but that doesn’t change the fact that I know you mean a lot to the people around me. You—you made the kids feel safer in school. You gave Dustin and Mike and Lucas a space where they can be themselves and—and if you die, what is left for them?”
“I’d be leaving soon anyway,” Eddie mutters. “They’re the future of Hellfire.”
“That’s not the point,” Steve snaps, “The point is they’d have to live without one of their friends being there at a phone call or—or a doorbell ring. That shit is hard on you man.” Eddie notes how he spared a quick glance at Nancy before turning back to him. “And I… I protect the people I care about and somehow, Munson, you’ve managed to worm your way into my heart. I want to get to know you better, and I can’t do that if you’re not around anymore.” Steve takes a step back and examines Eddie, before tacking on, “So I’m not letting you die, shithead.”
“How eloquent,” Eddie teases, his voice thick with unshed tears. “Ending that lovely speech with an insult, you really know how to—to do it to ‘em, Stevie.”
He looks up and makes eye contact with Steve and smiles at him, eyes watering. Steve tilts his head, “Stop with the dramatics. Do you understand now?”
Eddie wipes his eyes and nods firmly, not missing the sighs of relief from around the room. “I think I got it.” He moves past Steve to the kitchen, feeling the need to have a drink of water. On his way past, he taps Steve’s arm and mumbles, “I’d like to get to know you too, Harrington.”
Maybe they could get through this.
Maybe.