Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“And it was on this day, March 21st,1986, 36 years ago, that Hawkins High Cheerleader Chrissy Cunningham was brutally murdered. Her bones snapping in all the wrong directions and her eyes, hollowed out completely.” A couple of the boys grimaced as Dustin continued. “The witch hunt had begun for the suspected killer, Eddie Munson, who went into hiding at a local drug dealers house next to lovers lake. Meanwhile, The captain of Hawkins High’s basketball team, Jason Carver, who was Chrissy’s boyfriend at the time, lead the search party for Eddie.” He paused, looking around at his friends, shining the flashlight at each one of their faces.

“Well? What happens next?” Max questioned, sounding very impatient.

“Oh, this is where it gets interesting, my dear friend.” Dustin replied. “ You see, the search went on for a couple days, but it was abruptly ended when Jason found Eddie, hung from a noose in the forest a mile or so from the lake. The circumstances of his death were suspicious. He had scratches all over his face and arms, he had bruises scattered all down his torso, and even evidence of blunt force trauma on the side of his head. But because this was 1986 and everyone had it out for Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson, his death was ruled a suicide and never investigated further.” Dustin finished and looked around the empty forest surrounding the group before returning back to the faces of his friends.

“Cool story, Henderson, but that doesn’t explain why were out by lovers lake at midnight.” Steve said while staring blankly down at his phone. Dustin Scoffed at Steve.

“I literally told you on the way here, Steve! We’re going to have a Séance and try to contact Eddie from beyond the grave.” Dustin ended creepily as he reached for his backpack and emptied its contents. A couple candles, a newspaper clipping with who Steve supposed to be ‘Eddie Munson’ on it, a board with letters on it and a small egg-shaped disk with a hole in the centre fell out onto the grass in-front of Dustin. “Right, so, I need all you guys to switch off your phones completely, we can’t have any electronical interference.” Dustin’s words Elicited a groan out of the group as he set the board down and placed the candles around the group. “You got a lighter, Harrington?” Steve looked at Dustin for a second before patting down his pockets for a lighter. One soon emerged and he threw it at Dustin, who smiled and caught it. He sat back down once all the candles were lit. “Alright guys, this is how this is gonna work.” Dustin placed the picture of Eddie in-front of the board and pulled a ring out of his pocket and placed it on the picture. “this is a picture of Eddie Munson, and this is one of his prized rings. Don’t ask how I got it, but its genuine.” Dustin looked quite proud of himself for this. “Now, I need everyone to place a finger on the Planchette. And as I start the incantation, you all must keep your hands still. If the planchette moves, let it, and don’t ever take your fingers off until we end the séance. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded and Dustin clapped. “Alright then, gang, let the séance begin. Please put your fingers on the planchette.” 8 fingers touched the planchette as Dustin began the incantation.

“We are reaching out to Mr Eddie Munson. Please join us in our circle tonight when you’re ready.” The group was silent. The only noises were the rustling of the trees and the soft ripple of the water. Steve thought this whole thing was stupid. Of-course nothing was going to happen, ghosts aren’t real. “We are once again reaching out to Mr Eddie Munson. Please join us in our circle tonight when you’re ready.” Dustin repeated, but he was met with only silence once again.

“im going to try one more time, third times the charm.” Dustin muttered. “We are reaching out to Mr Eddie Mun-“ Dustin was cut off by the flames of every candle going out at once. The group gasped in unison, being spooked by the sudden occurrence. The smell of the smoke now very prominent.
“Maybe it was just the wind...?” Robin offered, looking at Steve for confirmation. As she said this however, The flames of the candles roared back to life, completely un-touched and alone.
Surprised shouts and gasps fell deaf on Steve’s ears as he felt a breath on the back of his neck and the ghost of a hand creep its way down from his neck to the middle of his spine, only to disappear when he turned around. Steve immediately stood up and looked around, the woods now seeming a lot more menacing than they were 10 minutes ago.

“Dustin pack your shit we’re leaving.” Steve practically ordered, pushing down his worries for the sake of the kids.

“But Steve! This was going really good! I think he was about to-“ Steve cut him off.

“I don’t want to hear it Henderson. I don’t think anyone wants to be out here anymore after that.” Steve looked back at the rest of the kids, who were all anxiously looking around, minus Mike and Max who were standing nonchalantly, but Steve could tell they were uneasy also. Dustin begrudgingly packed everything back into his bag and followed Steve and Robin back to the car.

The car-ride back to Mike’s house was mostly silent, save for the quiet music playing on the radio as the trees slowly dissipated and the lights of the urban streets came into view. They were nearing the turn off to Mike’s house when someone in the back piped up.

“We should stop at McDonald's.” This was instantly met with shouts of agreement and Steve deadpanned. He looked at Robin for help, but she too was begging Steve to pull over.

“No, im taking you guys back to Wheeler’s,” Steve winced as seven annoying voices basically screamed at him, begging him to buy them food. Steve caved and turned off towards the god-forsaken place. “Fine! But you guys are only getting one ice-cream each, got that?” The kids cheered as Robin whooped as Steven pulled into the drive thru.

Steve pitied the poor minimum-wage employees who had to make 7 ice-creams at around 1 in the morning for giddy children, and one giddy adult, but it’s whatever, it’s their job isn’t it? The lady at the window handed him the ice-cream and he passed it back to Will, who was sitting closest, and he distributed it between the ravenous children. “I swear to god if anyone spills anything in my car all 6 of you are getting kicked out of the car and made to walk home.” The kids all thanked Steve and started to devour their ice-cream as Steve drove them home, the car now full of conversation. As much as Steve complains, he loves those damn kids, and if that meant buying them all ice-cream in the middle of the night after getting the shit scared out of them, so be it.

As he pulled up the Wheeler driveway, the kids all clambered out, thanking Steve for the ride and the ice-cream. “Yeah, Yeah shitheads, Tell Nance Me and Robin say hi,” With that, Steve pulled out and made his way towards Robin’s house.

“Thanks for the Ice-cream, dingus.” Robin said as she bit into the cone. Steve hummed in response and Robin looked at him funnily. “You aright man? You’ve been kinda wack since the séance thing.” Robin questioned. Steve Paused for a second before looking back at her.

“I don’t know man, I guess I’m just a bit freaked out. Thought I felt something when the candles went out.” Robin raised an eyebrow, before smirking again.

“Ooh Steve, maybe the ghost touched you, maybe you’re gonna be haunted by the ghost of a murderer~” She teased. Steve snorted but dismissed her.

“C’mon you don’t seriously believe in all that crap, right? besides it was probably my brain just making shit up.” Robin gasped loudly and slapped a hand on her chest.

“of-course I believe in ‘that crap’, Steve, have you ever watched ‘Ghost Adventures’? realest shit I’ve ever seen my guy.” Robin laughed and Steve chuckled.

“yeah, yeah, whatever. This is your stop Buckley.” Steve pulled into Robin’s driveway. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow for work?” Robin opened her door and hopped out, turning to face Steve.
“Yep, you can tell me all about your adventures with the ghost of Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson when we get there. Robin laughed as Steve scoffed. “see ya Steve, Text me when you get home.” With a wave of his hand, Robin was entering her house and Steve was already on the road back to his house.

Steve got time to actually think about what happened back at lovers lake. He thought about Dustin’s excitement to do a séance, he thought about how all the candles went out, and them lit themselves, and he especially thought about the breath on his neck and the hand on his back. Just what the fuck was that? It can’t have actually been a ghost, right? He tries to be reasonable and convince himself that it was just the wind but there was a tiny prick in the back of his mind that believed otherwise.

Suddenly he was at his house, and he pulled into the empty driveway and parked his car, got out, and walked up to his front door. There weren’t any lights on as he entered, and there was absolutely no noise whatsoever. Normally, this never phased him, as his parents were always away on their stupid business trips, but right now? He felt weirdly uneasy as he stepped in and turned on the lights. He made his was up the stairs and entered his room, switching on the light throwing his keys on his bedside table as he flopped down onto his bed. He was planning on going to sleep right then and there, but something compelled him to open his phone. A picture of him and Robin that Nancy had taken when they were all high at a party a few months back greeted him as he unlocked his phone. In one smooth motion, he opened his web browser and searched for ‘Eddie Munson’ and without thinking, started reading old articles about the case Dustin had told him only an hour or so ago. The kid was practically spot on with his summary, but Steve had learnt a bit more during his search. Eddie Munson was a 20-year-old high school student who was repeating his final year for the third time. He ran a D&D club called Hellfire and Steve recognized that as the role-playing game that the shitheads played all the time. He was also quite eccentric, with both his clothing choice and personality. Another thing Steve noticed upon second glance is that Eddie was unfairly attractive. He had big doe eyes and wild brown hair that sat just past his shoulders. Despite his ‘menacing’ clothing choice of ripped jeans, leather jackets and denim vests, Steve could tell he was a nice person, deep down, he was beginning to believe more and more that there was no way he could’ve killed that girl, not in such a brutally inhuman way.
There was something about Eddie that just clicked with Steve, but he couldn’t tell you what it was, even if he tried. Steve sighed, sending Robin a quick text to tell her he got home safe, before switching his phone off, and rolling over to face the wall to get some sleep.

Chapter Text

Steve looks up and he’s standing in a trailer park. he vaguely recognizes it as the trailer park in Hawkins, but it looks completely different. The cars were way older and there were significantly less trailers. He walks up to the trailer in-front of him and knocks on the door. He can now hear some metal song blasting through the walls, but it soon deafens as the door in-front of him opens, revealing a man with large doe eyes and wild brown hair.

“Hey man, you here for the good shit?” the man asks. Holy shit, Steve thinks. This is Eddie fucking Munson standing Infront of him. Steve hears himself say yes and suddenly he’s standing in the middle of Eddie’s trailer, which he recognizes from the grainy images from the articles he read. Steve asks Eddie a question that he can’t quite hear, but Eddie seems to have heard it just fine.

“Oh! This is ‘Iron man’ by Black Sabbath. Really cool song if you ask me.” Eddie says and Steve replies again, but still can’t hear what he’s saying, but it seems to have offended Eddie, as he dramatically gasps and slaps a hand over his heart.

“How have you never heard of Black Sabbath?! You wound me, Harrington.” Wait, Harrington? Eddie knows his name? “ Maybe you’ll have to come over again sometime so I can show you some of their music.” Eddie winked at him, and Steve felt his cheeks flush. Why was he blushing? Steve asked another muted question and Eddie looked him right in the eyes before speaking.

“We don’t have enough time for that now, its time to wake up Steve.”

Steve’s eyes shot open, scanning around the room, and noticing that the sun had just started to rise. He sighed and as he was about to reach for his phone, his alarm started blaring. This frankly scared the shit out of Steve, as he was not expecting his alarm to go off, but nonetheless, he silenced it and got up out of his bed, grimacing about the fact that he slept in the same clothes as he worse last night.

He walked towards his bathroom and opened his phone to Spotify and shuffled his usual playlist, setting his phone down and beginning to undress. As Steve was about to get into the shower, his lights began to flicker aggressively, and his music stopped playing. He reached out for his phone and as he pressed play, the lights started flickering and his music paused again. What the fuck? Once again, he un-paused his music and set his phone down, but the lights started flickering and his music stopped. Whatever, he thought, he’ll just go without music today.

Everything was a blur until he was parked in Robin’s driveway, watching her lightly jog to his car. She slapped her hands on the bonnet before sliding into the shotgun seat.

“heya dingus” She said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Sup’ Robin,” he replied as he pulled out of the driveway.

“So…” She started. “Are you being haunted by the ghost of a killer from the 80’s?” She teased, starting to laugh, but quickly stopped as she saw Steve’s eyebrows furrow. “Wait, seriously? Did something happen?” Steve saved her a glance while trying to formulate a response.

“I think… I think so?” He questioned. “When I got home, I read up a bit on the guy and when I fell asleep, he like, came to me in my dream?” Steve offered, half expecting Robin to laugh and tease him, but he was only met with silence from her. “I don’t know, I was at his trailer, in the 80’s, and I think I was buying weed from him? I remember something about music. And then he told me I needed to wake up, and then I woke up.” He looked at Robin again, and she was staring at him intently.

“Is that it?” she asked, now quite invested in the ghost story. Steve thought for a few moments before answering.

“Maybe, this could be a stretch but when I tried to play music this morning, every time I tried to play it, the lights would freak out and my music would pause. It happened like, Three times before I gave up?” Steve answered, unsure of himself now that he was saying it all out loud.

“Steve you butthead!” Robin slapped his leg. “The ghost doesn’t like your shitty music!” She laughed, Then thought for a few moments. “You said you heard music in your dream, right?” Steve nodded. “Did you recognize it?” Steve shook his head.

“I definitely didn’t recognize it, but I think I asked him about it, and he told me some song and band I’ve never heard of.” Steve paused for a few moments, trying to remember what Eddie had told him. “uhm, I think it was… Iron man? Like the superhero, that was the song and the band was-“ Robin cut him off.

“Black sabbath?” She offered.

“Right! That’s what it was.” Steve let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Yeah, never heard of them.” Robin mumbled a bit before reaching for her phone. She typed for a couple seconds before reaching to the console and plugging her phone in. Music started playing through the speakers and it only took Steve a couple seconds to recognise it. “Yeah! This was the song I heard.” The song sounded like generic rock music to Steve, nothing to special. Its no wonder he’d never heard of the song before, that’s not his kind of music. “How was this song in my dreams if I’ve never heard it before?” He asked.

“Maybe you heard it somewhere before but didn’t realize?” Robin offered. Steve only shook his head.
“If that’s the case, how did my brain know the name of the song and the band name, even though I know I’ve never even heard of them?” Robin didn’t quite know how to answer this, neither did Steve.

“Maybe when you get home, you should play the song and see if the ghost of Eddie responds or like, gives you a sign or something.” Steve hummed in acknowledgement as they pulled up to the old family video. How that place was still in business was beyond Steve and Robin, all they knew was that they were getting paid to stand around and hang out for a couple hours and occasionally help the poor old souls that came in find some movie from the 70’s that wasn’t on Netflix.

Their day went surprisingly quick. Barely anyone came into the store, save for a few old people and Henderson’s pack of nerds coming in to bug Steve about driving them somewhere in a couple days, but before he knew it, Steve was pulling back into his driveway. In one smooth movement, he was out of his car and walking in through is front door, where he then climbed the stairs and stopped in the middle of his bedroom. Something in the back of his mind told him to start talking.

“Um, Eddie? God this is stupid,” Steve muttered under his breath, then taking a moment to collect his thoughts. What would Henderson do if he were here? “Im, uh, going to play the song you told me about in my dream last night.” Steve almost expected a response, before realising that was stupid. “So uh, if you are here, when I play the music, could you maybe, uh, give me a sign? That you’re here?” He asked anxiously before pulling out his phone and searching up the song.

Music filled Steve’s bedroom as he silently waited for something, anything, if he was being honest, he was glad that nothing seemed to be happening.

There was a moment of peace, but that was interrupted by the light in his bathroom, it had turned on all by itself. “What the fuck?” He muttered as he slowly walked towards the bathroom, however as he did, it flicked off. “What? No, no come back” He found himself pleading. After a moment or two the light slowly turned on and Steve felt a grin spread across his face. With a newfound confidence, Steve started asking questions. “can you flicker the light? Like you did this morning?” Steve waited patiently as the light started to flicker for a few seconds. “Woah, Can- Can you flick the light twice?” and just like he asked, the light flickered twice. Steve felt himself get giddy. “Okay, okay, am I talking to Eddie Munson? One for yes and two for no.” Steve watched as the light flickered once. Steve was now quite frankly creeped out, I mean, he was communicating with a real ghost. Man, Henderson was going to be so jealous. “was that your, uhm, your hand that touched me last night? At lovers lake?” Steve waited in anticipation, eager to know the answer.
The light slowly flickered yes, and Steve felt an unusual feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Okay, can- could you, maybe, do it again?” He asked, unsure of what he was feeling in the moment.
The light stayed still, nothing happening and Steve thought that maybe Eddie had left, not wanting to communicate with Steve anymore when he felt it. He felt a cold hand at the base of his neck again, and it lingered there for a moment before making its way down his spine. Steve felt the tips of fingers linger on the small of his back. He then felt the fingers slide towards his waist and a palm pressed against him. This caused Steve to gasp, it was an entirely new sensation that made him feel really different.
He supposed his gasp scared Eddie, because as soon as it happened, the hand disappeared, and the lights flickered before going out completely. “No! wait! Eddie? Hello? Are you here?” Steve shouted into the empty bathroom. He got no response, neither physical, nor spiritual.
“Goddamn it.” He muttered as he left the bathroom and walked towards his abandoned phone, which had the music paused near the end of ‘iron man’ he doesn’t remember pausing it.

Steve was frazzled and confused, unsure of what the hell had just happened. He had communicated with a ghost through music and lights, and he had even been touched by the ghost. The touch at first sent chills into his spine, the cold air that hardened around him had made his brain numb, and when what he supposed to be the palm of Eddie’s hand pressed into his side, it increased all those feelings ten-fold. He had no idea what to make of everything. He needed to contact Eddie again, but he didn’t know how.
He needed to call Henderson.

“So, you called me out of the blue to take me to KFC, let me get anything I want, and you’ve promised me a night of Star Wars.” Dustin said, while munching on a piece of chicken. Steve nodded.
“Out of the kindness of your heart?” Steve nodded again. Dustin finished what he was eating, and then clasped his hands together on the table.
“I call bullshit.” Steve blinked.

“What? No, is it so hard to believe that I want to… um… reward you! For getting an A on your Spanish test?” Steve offered from across the table.

“Steve, I failed it. What do you want?” Steve sighed and rubbed his face.

“fine. I need your help, Henderson.” He took a few seconds to formulate his next sentence. “Let’s say, hypothetically, I was being, uh, haunted.” Dustin raised an eyebrow. “how do I, like, deal with it?” Steve paused. “Hypothetically.”

“Okay. Hypothetically, if you were being haunted, you would want to cleanse your house, to ward off evil spirits.”

“But what if I don’t want to ‘ward it off’” Steve air quoted.

“…So, you want to keep the ghost?”

“Hypothetically, yes”

“Right.” Silence befell the two. “So, what do you need my help for exactly?”

“… Contacting it?” Steve asked.

“You want to contact a ghost, when just the other night, you were a firm non-believer of the supernatural.”

“Yes,” he paused. “Hypothetically.”

“hypothetically.”

“Right, so you want to contact a ghost. Do you have any ideas of who this ghost is?”

“yeah, its um, Eddie Munson.” Steve mumbled the last part, but Dustin still managed to hear it.

“Oh my god, Oh my god! It actually worked then! We contacted him! At lovers lake! Aha! Yes! I knew it!” Dustin cheered as Steve tried to shush him. “Oh, oh this is good. And he attached himself to you! This is fantastic!”

“Henderson, shut your mouth, can you help or not?” Steve asked, almost embarrassed of Dustin.

“Yes, yeah I can help, I can definitely help.” Dustin looked around and clapped his hand before standing up. “Let’s go, we have work to do.”
Dustin made his way to the door.

“right now?” Steve asked

“Yes Steve! Right now! Let’s go!” Dustin replied impatiently as Steve stood up and rushed out the door and towards his car, unlocking it and hopping in as Dustin slid into the passenger seat. “right, we need to go to my house and get some things, then we go back to yours.”

“right.” Steve replied starting up the car and taking off towards Dustin’s house.

Chapter Text

“Ugh, this thing is so stupid” Steve complained as he placed his finger on the planchette. Dustin had insisted that they use a ‘Ouija board’ as he had called it. Steve didn’t actually believe the thing worked, but he’d been proved wrong about a lot of things he didn’t think were true in the past day or so.

“Now I’m going to place his ring in-front of you this time, as you’ve already had contact with him.” Dustin explained as he places the silver ring in-front of Steve. “can you play the music?” Dustin asked. Steve blinked before pulling out his phone. “Hopefully, the ring and the music will draw him to us, and he should be willing to communicate with us.” Dustin paused. “I hope.” He smiled at Steve and then shifted his focus onto the board. Steve pressed play on the song and placed his phone down. “Alright. Let’s do this.” Dustin took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Eddie Munson are you here? We’re reaching out to Eddie Munson.” As Dustin said this, the lights in the hallway started to flicker. The lights closer to Steve and Dustin started flickering and then, soon enough, the light above them was lightly flickering. “Eddie? Is that you?” there was a few seconds of no response, then the light above them flickered once.

“Oh, oh that means yes, Eddie? We’d um, we’d appreciate it if you use the board here, can you do that for us?” Steve asked, a weird sense of excitement rushed through him. This feeling was soon replaced by surprise as the planchette beneath his fingers slowly started to shift. It slowly made its way over to the top right corner. Yes. Holy shit, this dumb board actually worked.
“Okay, okay um…” Steve looked around a bit before locking eyes with the ring on the ground. He reached over with his free hand and picked it up. “Is this your ring?” He asked. It took a couple moments for the planchette to shift but move its way back to yes.

“oh, this is so cool, Eddie? Can I ask you a question?” Dustin asked, grinning wildly. The planchette shifted away from the top corner a bit but went back to where it was. “okay, okay, Did you play D&D? When you were alive?” Steve sent him an incredulous look, but his eyes were soon glued down to the board as the planchette started to move.

“H, E, L, L, F, I, R, E” Dustin read out the letters that the planchette lagged on. “Hellfire? What’s hellfire?”

“oh! That was the name of his D&D club.” Steve answered. Dustin looked at him funnily. “What? I did my research after I dropped you and the others at Wheeler’s place.” The Planchette began to move again, which took the attention of both boys.

“S, T, E, V, E” Dustin read out.

“Yes? Yes, that’s me, what’s up?” Dustin snorted at his response and Steve shook his head.
+
“K, E, E, P, keep ,T, H, E, the, R, I, N, G, ring,” Dustin read out. This made Steve flush as he slowly grabbed the ring and fiddled the ring onto his ring finger. It fit perfectly on his finger.
As soon as Steve had the ring on, the Planchette sped from where it was resting on G, to over the word Goodbye at the bottom of the board. Dustin removed his finger immediately, so Steve followed suit. The lights above them completely went out, and the music that was playing had been paused.

“woah, that was awesome!” Dustin stood up started to pace around. “This is proof that ghosts do actually exist! This is amazing! Oh my god the original séance actually worked! Just wait till’ the guys hear about thi-“ Dustin was interrupted by Steve.

“You will not tell anyone about this, you hear me?” Steve said, quite stern. Dustin’s face fell.

“Why not? This is the coolest thing to ever happen!”

“You just can’t, okay? At least not yet.” Steve paused and rubbed his face. “Look, just get your stuff and let me process what just happened. I’m driving you home.” The excitement wasn’t gone from Dustin’s demeanor, but he started to sulk due to Steve’s demands. He begrudgingly packed his things into his bag and made his way down to the living room of Steve’s large house.

“Y’know, after that whole ordeal, your house just got 10 times creepier.” Dustin observed, looking down into the dark and empty rooms.

“Yeah, you’re telling me, kid.” Steve said as he walked past Dustin and through the front door. Dustin followed him down the darkened pavement towards the car and jumped into the passenger seat as Steve started up the car. He pulled out of the driveway and made his way towards Dustin’s house. The car was silent for most of the drive, until Dustin deemed it to be too silent.

“But why can’t I tell the guys we contacted an actual ghost?” Steve sighed.

“Because I don’t want you to, okay?”

“but why?”

“cause’ I said so.”

“But why?”

“I need time to process what just happened, Henderson.” Steve paused. “I got the ghost of a potential murderer from the late 80’s attached to me and it’s not just some fever dream, it’s actually happening, and I don’t know how to think about it. So just lay off from telling them for a bit, okay?” Steve huffed and Dustin stayed quiet, save for a mumbled but the guys would think it’s cool. A few moments passed and Steve was pulling into the Henderson’s driveway.

“Sleep well, nerd.” Steve said as Dusting climbed out of the car.

“Yeah, you too, tell me if Eddie does anything else!” Dustin shouted at Steve as he pulled out of the driveway.

“Will do, Henderson” Steve shouted back as he sped off, leaving Dustin in his driveway.

The drive back to the Harrington household was quiet, but not unsettling-ly so. It was calm and there weren’t any clouds in the sky, so the moon was on full blast. Steve couldn’t help but stare at the ring on his finger. It was a silver colour, with the tiniest bits of discolouration at the edges. It was shiny, and it was fully reflecting the moon and streetlights as he drove past them. The sight of it made Steve flush, a pool of warm forming in his stomach.

Steve sighed as he unlocked his front door and stepped in, the whole house dark and cold. Something in the back of his mind told him to talk, so he did.

“hey Eddie, I’m home, are you here?” He asked, projecting his voice into the empty house. It only took a few seconds before the light above him flickered on. He was about to speak but was interrupted by a cold chill on his hip. This made Steve gasp, but he kept it quiet as to not scare away Eddie this time. He was almost relived when he felt the ghost of a hand press a little harder into his side. “Hey, Eddie, I’m-“ Steve interrupted himself with a loud gasp when he felt a breath on his collarbone. He felt like he was on fire as he heard a faint whisper, one he only just managed to hear.

“Steve…” he felt the word on his skin and gasped

“Eddie! Was- was that you just then?” Steve asked. The breath on his collarbone faulted for a moment, before returning with a faint ‘yes…’

Steve felt his mind go numb; this was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and as he thought this, he felt another cold hand on his. Steve’s hand began to rise as a cold chill began to wrap around his fingers, some parts were colder than others, but despite this, he felt warm. The breath on his collarbone faded and Steve immediately missed the feeling. He only just barely heard the whisp of a chuckle as he felt a sudden press of chill on the finger with Eddie’s ring. The sensation quickly dissipated, along with the hand on his waist. He heard a faint
‘Until later…Steve…’ as the light above him slowly flickered out.

“Eddie where’d you go?” there was no response. “Eddie?” Steve sighed and began making his way up the stairs and into his bedroom. Everything felt much colder in his room, which sent a pang into his heart. Now that he had time to think, just what the hell had happened then? Why had he gotten all hot and bothered at the touch of a ghost, a ghost?! What is wrong with him?

Steve made his way into his bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror, his usual flawless mane of hair was now drenched in sweat and his face was beat red. He lowered his face into his hands and sighed. “Come on, Harrington, get yourself together, man.” He slapped his hands down on the counter before quickly undressing himself and hopping into the shower.

The warm water and thick air gave him a sense of clarity as he stood, massaging conditioner through his hair. This had always calmed Steve down, to the point where he would find himself washing his hair whenever he got even the tiniest but stressed. He was nearly put to sleep by this, but was quickly woken up by a figure in the corner of his eye and the flickering of the bathroom lights

“Eddie! I’m showering man! What are you doing?” he turned towards the figure and shouted into thin air, as he said this, the figure was gone and lights stopped flickering, but turned completely off. Steve groaned and stepped out to go turn the lights back on when he had a thought. If Eddie can turn lights off and flicker them, surely, he can turn them on, right? “Eddie! Can you turn the bathroom lights back on?” he shouted once more. A few seconds passed in darkness before they switched back on, filling the bathroom with warm light once again. Score! “Thanks, Eddie!”

Steve finished his shower in peace and slowly relaxed onto his bed, feeling the exhaustion of a long and confusing day catch up to him. He made sure to plug in his phone and send a text to Robin reminding her to sleep tonight and then one to Dustin, about Eddie turning on lights when Steve asked, he doesn’t need to know more, and then Steve finally allowed his eyes to rest as he drifted off to sleep.

Steve blinked. He was once again in Eddie Munson’s trailer. It was a surprisingly nice space, minus the weird collection of hats on the wall, but nonetheless, it was nice. Daylight shone through the windows as he heard movement from another room.

“Eddie? Is that you?” he heard himself call out. From his spot on the couch, he could see shadows moving on the walls coming from the direction of the noise.

“Yeah, darlin’, I’ll be out in a sec.” darling? That was nice, Steve could get behind that. He looked down at his hands, noticing the ring that Eddie had told him to keep, it really did look nice. Eddie then emerged from what Steve presumed was his room. His hair was pulled back in a bun, which put his grinning face on full display. His usual denim vest and leather jacket had been discarded, and only his hellfire club shirt remained. Steve watched him as Eddie walked over to the TV in-front of them, and placed a tape into it, god he’s definitely in the 80’s, the TV was so small, yet so large at the same time, and who even uses tapes anymore?

Eddie walked back over to the couch and sat next to Steve as the intro to whatever movie they were watching started playing.

“What are we watching?” Steve asked, as Eddie put an arm on the couch behind Steve’s head.

“This, my friend, is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.” Steve saw Eddies face fall a bit. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen it, Steve, I can barely remember it at all.” At this, Steve turned to the TV and all he could see was a blur of semi visible faces and colours while a weird mix of a song was playing behind it.
Steve turned back to Eddie, to find him staring at him with those big brown eyes of his. “Steve, I’ve been living in solitude for near on 40 years, thank you, and I guess your weird little friends, for finding me.” There was a genuine smile on Eddie’s face that made Steve’s heart swell.

“Eddie, I-“ Steve was cut off by Eddie’s hand on his cheek, and the soft press of lips against his. He could feel the cold chill of Eddie’s rings as they kissed, it was nothing sexual, just caring, and heartfelt. They soon broke apart and Eddie touched their foreheads together, grabbing Steve’s hand with the ring on it, and planting a soft kiss over the ring.

“Wait just a little longer for me, okay?” Eddie asked and just before Steve could reply, he woke up.

Chapter Text

“Steve! Where the fuck are you? I know you don’t have a shift, but I do!” Robin shouted as Steve answered his ringing phone. Robin had called him, which had woken him up. He also felt the beginning of a god-awful headache form, but he ignored it.

“Shit! Shit, oh fuck im so sorry Robin! I’ll be there soon, Fuck!” Steve bolted out of bed with a string of curses. How could he have slept in? he thought he had an alarm set. As he rushed towards the front door, lights were switching on behind him, nearly matching his pace, but he didn’t notice as he grabbed his keys and slipped on some shoes that sat by the door. He quickly made his way to his car and jumped in, starting it up in record time and pulling out of the driveway and sped away.

Steve managed to pick up Robin and drive to the video store quick enough for her to make the start of her shift. As she got out of the car and walked into the building, Steve thought back to the dream he had last night.

Again, Eddie had come to him in his dreams. He had thanked Steve and then, Eddie kissed him. Steve could just barely feel his lips against his own. Thinking about it caused his heart to flutter. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands as he smacked his head against it. What was even happening right now? He needed answers, but there was no one to give them. He was confused and scared, but, deep down, he felt happy, a kind of happiness he hadn’t felt In a long, long time. It felt like when he kissed Nancy for the first time, pure happiness, and child-like giddiness, with a twinge of longing. longing for more.

He hadn’t felt that since he and Nancy had broken up for good a year or two ago, and he’d forgotten how it felt. At the time, whenever he saw Nancy, he got butterflies in his stomach and he just wanted to be by her side forever, and now, he’s feeling that again. But it’s different, its new, and it’s confusing. Steve always thought that he’d find the one, the one to make him feel all that again, the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And now, his heart is aching whenever he’s away from home, he misses the comfort of having Eddie there, by his side, even if he can’t see or feel him, Steve knows that he’s there. And this scares him. He wishes they met under different circumstances. Circumstances where Eddie wasn’t dead.

He thought about the dream once more, trying to remember it in full. This was when he remembered the movie that Eddie had mentioned. Oh, what was it called? ‘the Rocky Horror Picture show’? yeah, that was it. Steve pulled out his phone and searched for it. It was a musical film from 1975, but he didn’t read any more about the film. He checked to see if it was on any streaming services but groaned when he couldn’t find it on anything. He thought for a moment about how to pirate movies before realizing where he was. He was parked outside Family Video, a place that sold old movies that weren’t on streamers.

Steve rushed inside the store, bursting through the doors, scaring Robin in the process.

“Jesus, man! You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing?” Robin asked as Steve rushed up to the counter, only now realizing he was still in pajamas.

“The Rocky horror picture show. Do we have it?” he asked staring at Robin intensely. She thought for a moment before turning and walking towards the isles. Steve followed after her intently.

“Damn, Harrington, didn’t know you even knew this movie, let alone wanted to watch it.” Robin said, scanning the isles before finding it, pulling out a DVD of the film in question.

“I don’t know it, never seen it.” Steve said, grabbing the plastic case from her hands and power walking towards the counter.

“god, Steve, slow down, why are you in such a hurry?” She asked, almost concerned as she jumped behind the counter and rung up the DVD.

“Eddie told me about it, in my dream last night.” Steve handed over the money and took the movie, already half out the door before Robin could respond.

Steve barely held a thought as he walked back into his house, DVD in hand, and made his way to the living room. His parents were old-school, and still owned a DVD player, but he wasn’t sure the ancient thing even still worked. He kneeled Infront of it and opened the disk tray, carefully placing the disk into it, and lightly pressed it back into the machine. He switched on the TV and changed to HDMI3, where the movie was already waiting there to be played.

Steve stood back and looked around the house. The early morning light shone through closed curtains, keeping the house dark enough to see the screen, but not eerily so.

“Eddie!” He shouted. “Eddie! I’m in the living room! Can you come in here?” Steve looked around at the lights in the hall, patiently waiting for them to switch on. The light in his bedroom switched on, before moving to the hall, down the stairs, then into living room. The lights turned themselves off save for the one above Steve.

“Now, you told me about a movie last night, in my dream , is this it?” Steve turned towards the TV and pointed at it.

It only took a few seconds for the light above him to flicker ‘yes’ and an unusual rush of excitement hit him, which caused him to smile.

“Okay! Awesome! I’m- I’m going to watch it, Okay? You can come sit down and watch it with me.” Steve paused. “Only if you want to! I can’t force you to do anything.” Steve heard a faint chuckle as the light flickered once.

“Alright, okay, uhm.” He muttered, looking for the remote. “Where is the remote? Um-“ Steve mumbled before being interrupted by something hitting the ground. He slightly jumped at this but still rounding the coffee table to see what fell. Laying on the ground was the remote in question, but it was too far from the coffee table to have naturally fell. It looked like someone had pushed it off the table.

“Was that- was that you? Eddie?” he questioned. The light above flickered once, and Steve smiled. He muttered a quick ‘thank you’ as he grabbed the remote and sat down, pulling a small section of blanket over his feet. He pressed play on the movie and relaxed into the couch. It had been such a long time since he’d sat down and watched a movie, the last time was when he had to chaperone the kids to a showing of ‘Moonfall’, which would’ve been an alright movie if the kids weren’t talking the entire time.

The opening credit song started playing and only a few seconds in, his phone pinged. It was a snap from Robin. Steve opened it and he was greeted with the top half of Robin’s face, ‘Dude r u ok???’ it read. Instead of actually replying to her, he recorded the TV, where a pair of red lips was singing about science fiction and double features, after a couple seconds, he flipped the camera to face him. The filter he last used snapped to his face and he posed for a couple seconds, but before he was about to stop recording, a second dog face snapped on just behind him and licked the screen. Steve stopped the recording and sent it to Robin and turned his focus back on the movie.

The movie was good, albeit a bit confusing for Steve, but he liked it nonetheless. There were a few moments that got a laugh out of him, such as a rock and roll guy named Eddie rolling out of a freezer singing about rock and roll, only to be killed moments later. Steve was glad that Eddie had told him about it, and even gladder that he could feel that he was there watching it with him. It was almost like Steve could feel Eddie’s emotions through-out the movie, feeling an urge to be sad at parts or the exciting nostalgia at certain parts, even if he’d never seen it himself.

Steve had been ignoring his phone during the movie, but checking it now, he had multiple snaps from Robin. The first one was a picture of her face at the bottom of the screen with ‘Iconic’ in the caption. The next was a blurry picture of Robin with a shocked face, ‘OMG!!!!! WAS THAT EDDIE???’ was written on it. The last one was a picture of the back of some old lady, with Robin’s hand in-frame, flipping her off. ‘bro fuck this lady’ and then ‘but bro u sure ur okay???’ Steve shook his head and opened his camera, facing it towards himself. The filter only snapped onto his face, which gave Steve an idea.

“hey, Eddie, look at me.” Steve said, and as he did, the filter snapped onto something behind him that seemed to be turning to look at him. He took the picture and saved it, before writing ‘yea Rob im fine I was just tired lmao’ and sending it to Robin. He felt a weird sense of confusion that seemed to be directed towards his phone. It took him a couple seconds to figure out what was happening.

“Oh, are you confused about this?” Steve asked holding his phone up. The light above him flickered once and Steve let out a small chuckle. “This-this is a phone, Eddie.” He laughed again. The light above flickered twice. “No? what do you mean, no?” he asked, and the light flickered twice once more.

“Eddie this is a phone, well, not the kind of phone you’d know, huh?” The light flicked once.
“Right,” Steve began. “This is like the really, really old cell phone, I think it came out in the 80’s, but its really small? I guess, and it can do so much more than calling people.” Steve held his phone out a little more, slightly tilting it to where he supposed Eddie was.

“You can Call people still, but you can message them as well. You can also take pictures and play games!” Steve felt a presence next to him slowly lean in closer. “Look, I’ll snap Henderson, ready?” he asked as he opened snapchat and angled the camera toward him and where Eddie was and started recording. The filter snapped onto Steve’s face, then to Eddie’s a second later.
“Eddie can you open your mouth?” He asked to the camera, and as he asked, the filter licked the screen. “That was awesome, can you look away for a second and then look back?” The filter turned away for a second, disappearing completely, before snapping back onto nothing and turning towards the camera. Steve stopped recording and saved it before sending it to Dustin.

“That was awesome, Eddie! Now I can see exactly where you are, instead of just estimating.” Steve laughed. “This is, this is cool.” Steve sighed.

“Don’t you think this is weird though?” Steve looked over to the empty space next to him, nearly expecting a response. “I mean, you-you’re dead. You’ve been dead since the 80’s, Fuck! You’re a supposed murderer! And here I am, very much not dead, but spending all my time with a dead person! You can’t even talk back to me! It feels like im going crazy. Y’know, maybe I am going crazy. I’ve been having these terrible headaches lately, maybe it’s a sign.” Steve laughed “I just, I just don’t know what to even think about this, man.”

He sighed, lowering his face into his hands. Even if Eddie could respond, Steve got up before he even could and started walking up the stairs. The lights followed behind him quickly, catching up to him as he walked into his room.

“Relax, Eddie, im just having a nap, that’s all.” That’s all Steve gave as a reply as he collapsed onto his bed, being sure to set an alarm to pick Robin up from work, just in case he slept that long, and felt his whole body crash as he instantly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Steve woke up and looked around, forgetting where he was for a moment, before realizing he was still in his room. He checked the time and realized he’d only been out for an hour or so, as it was now noon. He sighed and sat up, looking around his room once more. It was cold, and Steve was about to lay back down and get some sleep when he saw it. A figure had walked past his bedroom door, and then down the stairs.

This immediately woke Steve up as he rushed to his feet, albeit a bit to fast as he was hit by a wave of nausea. He pushed it down and grabbed his phone, slowly walking out of his room and following the path of the intruder. as he neared the top of the stairs, he saw the back of the figure round the corner and into the living room. Steve was too tired and focused to notice the lights turning on and off.

He slowly crept down the stairs and as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he pressed his back against the wall, gripping his phone. Who could be in his house? During the middle of the day? Steve thought. He is rich, so it would make sense for someone to try their luck at stealing from the Harrington household. He slowly turned his head around the corner and spotted the figure, kneeled down in-front of the old DVD player, inspecting it like they’d never seen one before.

“Hey!” Steve called out, and the figure turned towards him, their curly hair bounced, and their eyes widened in shock. Steve stared for a couple seconds, trying to figure out who was in his living room before it clicked.

“Eddie?” He asked, fully stepping into the doorway. Eddie stood up, eyes still wide in surprise.

“Can you see me?” Eddie had asked, voice still only just above a whisper. Steve blinked a couple time, then rubbed his eyes rather aggressively before looking at Eddie once more, not saying anything.

“Hello? Steve?” Eddie waved his hand. Steve’s eyes tracked Eddie’s hand. “Holy shit, you can see me! Wow, this is-“ Eddie was cut off by Steve walking towards him.
“woah, Stevie, you look really tired, are you alright?” He asked.

“Am I dreaming again? Is this just a dream?” Steve asked, it must be a dream, right?

“I’m pretty sure you’re not dreaming, Stevie.” Eddie laughed, still nearly whispering as he spoke.

Steve stared at him for a few moments before extending his arms and leaning forward. In his tired daze, Steve expected to lean onto Eddie and stay there, but instead, he fell right through where Eddie was standing and fell onto the carpeted floor.

“Oh shit! Steve, are you alright?” Eddie asked, stepping to his right and kneeling down above Steve.
“m’fine,” Steve mumbled, his face still in the carpet. “guess you aren’t really here, then.” Steve looked up at Eddie, only now realizing that his body wasn’t fully opaque. He could just barely see the wall and curtains through him.

“No, Stevie, I’m still very much dead.” He laughed and stood up. “I’d offer you a hand, but…” This got a laugh out of Steve as he slowly pushed himself up off the ground. His head lightly throbbed as he stood up, as a result of smacking it onto the ground.

“So, like, I can see you now.” Steve said.

“Yeah, you can see me.” Eddie confirmed.

“You’re really quiet.” Steve mumbled, rubbing his head a bit.

“Am I?” He hummed “Oh well, at least you can actually hear me fully.” He laughed. A few seconds of silenced passed before Eddie’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you for picking up rocky horror.” He said, “It really has been forever since I’ve seen it, huh?” Steve chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, it wasn’t too bad.” Steve thought for a moment and opened his phone. Snapchat was already open, and he flipped the camera around, facing it towards the camera. Steve frowned. Eddie wasn’t visible on the camera, but the filter appeared on his face almost immediately.

“What? Your weird camera-phone thingy not working?” Eddie asked as he leaned over to look at the screen.
“No, it’s just-you don’t show up on camera.” Steve flipped the camera around to face himself and the filter picked up both him and Eddie, even if he wasn’t visible. He took a picture and send it to his resents.

“that’s kinda expected, I mean, I’m dead.” Eddie opened it arms a bit, miming a curtsy. Steve snorted and thought for a moment.

“Can you- are you like, bound to the house, or can you like, go places?” Steve asked, meeting Eddie’s eyes. He pondered on this for a few seconds before answering.
“I’m not sure actually,” He paused. “I haven’t really tried to leave, but when you were at lovers lake, I did kinda just, follow you?” Eddie offered. As Steve was about to start talking, the never ending story theme starting blaring. Eddie was startled by this, not knowing where it came from. Steve laughed and picked up his phone. Dustin was calling him.
Steve answered the phone and put in on speaker phone, holding the phone between Eddie and himself.

“Steve!” Dustin called out.

“Henderson, what’s up?”

“Okay, seeing as I helped you out yesterday, I would like the favor returned.” Steve sighed and rubbed his face.

“Ugh, fine.” He heard Eddie laugh quietly. “What do you need, Dustin?”

“Could you come pick me and the guys up from Mike’s and drive us to the arcade?” Steve furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why don’t you guys ride?” He was met with silence for a couple seconds.

“Steve It’s raining.” It’s raining? Steve walked over to the window sand drew back the curtains.

“So it is raining.” He observed.

“Yeah.” Dustin paused. “Are you gonna come pick us up?” Steve sighed and rubbed his face.

“Yeah, yeah okay give me 10 minutes.” He heard Dustin yell something in the background, then a bunch of cheering erupted.

“Thank you Steve! See you soon!” Dustin hung up and Steve looked back up at Eddie.

“So,” he began. “You wanna come for a drive?”.

Steve opened the passenger side door and watched Eddie hop in. It was still quite weird, as he could vaguely see through him, but he could get used to it. He shut the door and rounded over to the driver’s side and climbed in, plugging his phone into the console, and sticking his keys in the ignition before pausing, turning to look at Eddie.

“You wanna play some music?” He asked, grabbing his phone.

“You definitely don’t have any tapes of the music I listen to, Stevie,” Eddie laughed, “thanks though.” Steve laughed and opened Spotify.

“C’mon, just give me a song, man.” Eddie raised an eyebrow.

“huh, okay let’s see.” Eddie thought, biting his finger just above one of his rings. “Cause you played black sabbath for me, I feel like listening to more of that. It has been like 40 years.” He laughed. “Give me, uhh… Children of the Grave?” He asked. Steve typed on his phone and found the song Eddie was asking for, and pressed play. Steve pulled out of the driveway and Eddie’s eyes lit up as he enjoyed the music.

Steve soon pulled up at the Wheeler’s house and beeped his horn, slightly wincing at how loud it was. Thankfully, Eddie was still seated in the passenger seat, and still jamming out to his music.

“Okay, Eddie? 6 teenagers are about to come barrelling out of that door. Prepare yourself.” Eddie looked at Steve confused, but his attention was stolen by said teenagers running out to the car, trying to not get wet in the process. The back doors started opening and they all clambered in, greeting Steve as they sat down, which he returned with a lazy back-handed wave. Conversation filled the car as Steve spotted Dustin making his way towards the passenger seat.

“Backseat, Henderson.” Steve called out and Dustin paused.

“What! Why not? I always get shotgun when Robin isn’t here.” Dustin whined.

“Just get in the backseat, dipshit.” Dusting grumbled and sulked his way into the back-seat, squishing in next to Will, who was in the middle again. Before he pulled out, Steve quickly texted Dustin, explaining that Eddie was in the passenger seat. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Dustin’s face light up as he mouthed ‘really?’ Steve smiled lazily and nodded before turning to see Eddie leaning over the chair, observing the noisy children.

“So wh-“ Steve interrupted himself with a yawn. “Where am I taking you all again?” 6 voices then shouted ‘Arcade’ at him and he winced a bit, their combined voices hurting his ears.

“Jesus, you all are so loud,” Steve said, starting the drive towards town.

The kids did quiet down, but they were still talking, and Steve drove semi-peacefully towards the arcade.

“Damn, Hawkins has changed heaps since I was last here.” Steve barely heard Eddie over the kids.

“Yeah?” he gave as a response and Eddie looked over at him. Steve spared him a glance and smiled before concentrating back on the road.

Soon enough Steve was parked Infront of the old arcade, and the kids all said goodbye as they rushed out of the car and towards the arcade. Dustin was the last to exit but paused before he got out.

“Bye Steve, Bye Eddie.” And with that, Dustin hopped out and ran towards the arcade, joining his friends and going in. Eddie looked over at Steve who was checking his phone.

“He knows?” Eddie asked confused, Steve didn’t look up.

“Who knows what?” He asked.

“The kid, the one with the hat. He knew I was here.” He said, looking back out the window towards the arcade.

“Oh, Dustin?” Steve finally looked up at Eddie. “Yeah, I told him. I mean, he would’ve cracked the shits if I didn’t tell him why he couldn’t sit in shotgun.” He laughed and put his phone down and started to pull out of the car park.

“How do you even know those kids?” Eddie asked, eyes still focused on the town around them. Steve sighed and thought for a moment before answering.

“Well, a couple years ago, I was dating this girl, Nancy Wheeler.” Steve looked down at Eddie’s ring on his finger, twisting it around his finger before he continued. “Her little brother, Mike, the one with the shaggy hair, had all his friends over one night and Nancy was supposed to babysit them.” Steve glanced at Eddie, who had abandoned looking at the town, now looking directly at Steve as he spoke. “That night, she got really sick. Like, Throwing up every 5 seconds kinda sick. And she asked if I could come over and help her babysit, to which I said yes.” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I spent the entire night trying to stop them from destroying the house, and Nancy thought I did such a great job, that the next time she had to babysit, she called me to ask for help because none of them would listen to her.” Steve chuckled a bit. “For some reason, they all loved me, even if all I did was ‘kill the mood’, according to Wheeler.” Steve glanced at Eddie once more, who was still listening intently. “Dustin took to me the most, it was almost like he was obsessed with me or something,” He laughed again. “and out of all the kids, he was always the one asking me to drive him places or to help him with things.” Steve smiled to himself. “now its been years and those kids have just, like, cemented themselves as apart of my life. They can be so goddamn annoying sometimes, but I care about them, I’d do anything for those shitheads.” Steve smiled more now, and he saw Eddie smiling in the corner of his eye. “Hell, I even bought this car just so I could drive all 6 of them places at once, though I’ll never admit it to them.” he heard Eddie chuckle. “God, and they’re all such brilliant kids, for example, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will won 1st prize at their science fair for creating a little robot thing that could take commands. I was so proud of them, and of course I was there with them that day and I took them out for all you can eat ice-cream after.” A fond smile was now plastered on his face. Steve fell silent for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. “They’re like the younger siblings I never got.” Steve finished talking just as he pulled up his driveway and parked his car, quickly getting out and opening the door for Eddie. Eddie jumped out and stared at Steve for a moment, before lifting his hand up and hovered it just over Steve’s shoulder, sending cool chills right through his arm and down his spine.

“You’re a sweetheart, Steve. Never change.” Eddie smiled and walked towards the front door of the house. Steve felt his heart swell and his face flush. He walked towards the door and opened it, following Eddie inside and closing the door behind him with a smile.

Chapter Text

“Steve what are you doing.” Eddie leaned over and stared at Steve, who was laying in bed, trying to sleep. He blinked at Eddie and turned away from him, now facing the wall.

“m’tired.” He mumbled. “m’goin to sleep.” Eddie Stared at the back of his head.

“But it’s like, noon.”

“And? Still tired.” Steve pulled his blanket up, nearly covering his head. He heard Eddie mumble something and Steve relaxed into his bed. His eyes slowly fluttered shut and he was about to fall asleep, when…

“Steve what’s this?” Eddie spoke, and even if he is quiet, it still woke Steve back up. “Steve.” He repeated. Irritated, Steve sat up and stared at Eddie. He was looking at something on his desk.

“What?” Steve replied, definitely annoyed. Eddie looked back at Steve and then pointed at Steve’s MacBook.

“This, it looks weird.” Eddie said, tilting his head to try and get a better look at it.

“That’s my MacBook, Eddie.” Steve laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, satisfied with his answer. Eddie however, wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“Mac… Book? How is this thing a book? Its got no pages. That I can see anyway.” Steve felt himself get irritated, how could Eddie be this stupid? But then, Steve remembered, he remembered that Eddie had died in 1986. Twenty years before the MacBook was even invented. Feeling bad, Steve got up out of bed and staggered over to where Eddie was.

“It’s not a book, it’s a computer.” Steve pulled it open as Eddie stared at him incredulously.

“How the hell is this a computer?” He asked, watching Steve intently. Steve woke the computer and unlocked it.

“Well, technically it’s a laptop, its like a computer, but mobile.” Steve said as he closed out the tabs he had left open. “you can do pretty much everything on here, Play games, watch movies, make music and art, search the web, Y’know, basic computer stuff.” Steve took a step back and looked at Eddie, who was quite in shock.

“The… Web?” Steve sighed.

“The internet? Oh never mind. It’s like a library, almost? You can find literally anything you could possibly think of on there. For example,” Steve opened Firefox and searched for something, immediately, hundreds of results came up and he clicked on images. Eddie looked over at the screen and was met with grainy images of himself. Steve watched as Eddie’s eyes opened in shock and he leaned in closer to the laptop.

“That’s, that’s me! What? That’s so sick.” Eddie then turned to Steve and smiled. Steve couldn’t help but smile back. Steve then turned the computer off and made his way back to his bed, flopping down and sighing loudly. Steve decided that Eddie was done being inquisitive for now and closed his eyes, trying once more to go back to sleep. Again, just as he was about to fall asleep, his phone pinged. Steve groaned and looked at his phone, feeling even more irritated as it was just a notification from Twitter. This made Steve give up on trying to sleep and he sat up. He tapped his phone and checked the time, it was just passed one in the afternoon and sighed. Robin would need to be picked up in an hour or so, and then he wondered if the kids would need to be picked up later as well and weather or not they were all going to their own homes or-.

As Steve got lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Eddie making his was over to his phone. He didn’t notice Eddie extending a finger towards the screen, much like Steve had a moment ago. And He very much didn’t notice the screen turning on as Eddie touched it.

“Steve.” Eddie said, drawing him out of his thoughts. Steve looked over at Eddie, who was kneeled down next to his bed. “Watch” Eddie tapped the screen again and it waked, slightly buzzing as it tried to read Eddie’s face to determine if it was Steve.

“Holy shit.” Steve said, astonished. Eddie’s face lit up once more. He stared for a moment before getting up and walking over to his desk, Eddie’s eyes following him as he did so. He pulled open a draw and rummaged through it before holding up another phone in triumph. It was the previous model to Steve’s phone, and it worked perfectly fine, so he walked over to Eddie and placed it on the bed next to his own phone.

“How’s about we set you up with your own phone?”

The next hour or so was spent setting up a phone for Eddie to use. Steve taught him the basics of what he can use a phone for, helped him set up a couple social media accounts for him to learn what the 21st century is like, and even paid for a new Spotify premium account so Eddie could listen to music whenever he wanted, and It was especially fun when Steve saw Eddie’s eyes light up whenever he found a song he recognized. Seeing as Eddie couldn’t actually pick up the phone, Steve decided it would be best to leave the phone on his desk, constantly charging, so Eddie wouldn’t have to worry about it going flat. And soon enough, the alarm Steve had set, reminding him to pick up Robin went off. Steve sighed and made his way down the stairs, Eddie trailing behind him.

“You sure you’re good to stay here? You can come with, I mean, we did learn you can.” Steve said, turning to face Eddie, keys jingling in his hands.

“Yes, Stevie, I’ll be fine, I’m not going to get bored if that what you’re worried about.” Eddie laughed. “I’ve got your brilliant ‘phone’ to keep thyself utterly enthralled” He finished with a dramatic flair, which got a laugh out of Steve.

“Alright, then. I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Tops.” Steve walked out the door and towards his car. “Bye Eddie!” he called out, already in his car.

The drive to Family Video was relatively quick, and Steve got there just on time to see Robin walking out the door. He parked and watched as Robin hopped into the shotgun seat.
“Heya Steve.” She greeted, unplugging Steve’s phone from the console and plugging hers in.

“Sup, Rob, how was work?” Steve asked, as Robin opened YouTube music.

“Ugh, boring as shit.” Steve pulled out as ‘summer depression’ by Girl in Red started playing.

“Girl in Red? Robin, you really are a lesbian.” He joked. Robin scoffed as she smiled.

“Shut up mister, ‘I used to have a crush on Tommy H but that doesn’t make me gay’” Robin laughed, and Steve flushed with embarrassment.

“Come on! That was years ago when I didn’t know what bisexuality was.” They both fell silent, listening to the music as Steve drove.

“oh yeah, I’m coming over to yours.” Robin looked over at Steve. “I'm inviting myself because I want drinks, and I don’t have any at mine, and you always have some.” Steve looked back for a moment before sighing.

“That’s valid, Buckley.”

Steve had entirely forgotten about Eddie until he and Robin walked into Steve’s room. Eddie was sat at the desk, very engrossed within his new phone. Steve forgot that Robin couldn’t see Eddie, because Robin paused in the doorway, staring at the phone on his desk.

“You alright Robin?” He asked. At this, Eddie looked up at Steve, and then to Robin, then back to Steve.

“Dude, the phone on your desk is freaking the fuck out.” Robin only looked slightly concerned as Steve laughed.

“Dude, you’re not gonna believe it, but remember the ghost I told you about the other day?” Robin’s eyes widened as she looked at Steve.

“no way… really?” She asked and Steve only nodded, Putting a hand out towards where Eddie was.

“We figured out earlier he can use phones, so I gave him one of my old ones.” Eddie was still looking at Robin, who was staring directly where he should be. He raised a hand and waved slightly.

“Dude, she can’t see you.” Steve said.

“Huh?” Robin asked, thinking Steve was talking to her. Steve fumbled for a second.

“Oh sorry, I was talking to Eddie.” He paused. “Drinks?” he offered.

Not only did He have drinks, Steve also had weed, which he and Robin used. And now, they were both high and sitting on the ground, leaning up against the couch. Eddie was, to Steve’s knowledge, still in his room, messing around on his phone.

“so, you meet any cute girls recently?” Steve asked, turning his head to look at Robin.

“Yeah, she’s so cute.” Robin’s words slurred slightly. “I’m not tellin’ you who though.” Steve dramatically gasped.

“Whatt? Why not? Aren’t I your bestest friend in the whole world?” He teased.

“noo, cause’ you know her, man, like, really know her.” Robin took another hit. “It feels like im betraying your trust.” Steve stared at her for a few seconds before it hit him.

“You like Nancy? That’s awesome! Man, im very happy for you, Nance’ is great.” Steve slumped back into the couch and Robin laughed.

“You’re not upset? I mean, she’s your ex-girlfriend.” She asked, and Steve looked at her, dumbfounded.

“What? Of course not! I don’t like Nance’ like that anymore, I haven’t in ages.” Steve then looked at Robin, giving her a genuine smile. “You do what makes you happy, man.” Robin smiled back.

“Thanks, Dingus.” Silence befell the two, but only for a moment. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Steve’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“You meet anyone that’s, tickled your fancy, Harrington?” Robin nudged his shoulder with her elbow.

“Eww, Robin don’t say it like that.” He grimaced, before thinking for a moment. “Maybe? I’m not sure. It’s weird.”

“Weird, how?” She asked.

“Well, im- I don’t even know how to say this,” Steve buried his face in his hands. “I think I like the ghost.” Robin almost didn’t hear him, but she did.

“You like the ghost. Eddie Munson. The supposed murderer from 86’.” She stated. Steve groaned.

“I know it sounds weird, but, like,” he paused once more. “There’s something about him, I can’t explain it. I get so, calm, when he’s with me and I feel, safe? I get these butterflies in my stomach whenever he looks at me.” Robin watched patiently as Steve talked. “He’s also very pretty, like, even if he isn’t entirely opaque. He even comes to me in my dreams! He kissed me in one! I don’t know, Robin.” She passed him the blunt and he took a hit. “Sometimes he touches me, and it sends these almost other-worldly chills all throughout my body. Especially when he breathes on my neck. It’s so cold, but it’s a nice cold?” He offered, looking at Robin, who was still listening to him. “He also listens to me, all the time, and stares at me like im his entire world. Not even Nancy did that.” Steve then looked over at Robin, a frantic look on his face. “I'm not saying Nancy is bad! She’s great, she was awesome!” Robin laughed at his panic. “Eddie’s just, different.” Steve finished at looked down at his hands. Neither spoke, letting Steve calm down a bit.

“Look, Steve, it’s not my place to tell you what’s wrong and what’s right when it comes to love, and from what you said to me, it sounds like you have genuine feelings for him, and that’s great. But, to tell you the truth, this is a real Romeo and Juliette situation.” Steve groaned and Robin sighed. “Just, don’t pull a Teddy Hyde and fuck the ghost, okay?” She laughed and Steve stared at her, eyes wide and mouth wide open.

“…What?”

“Y’know, Teddy Hyde? Sex with a ghost?” Robin laughed as she saw confusion all over Steve’s face. “im having sex with a ghost, cause she knows im alone,” She sung terribly. “She’s a freak in the sheets, play it cool,” She continued, before Steve groaned and pushed his hand into the side of her face.

“Shut up, Robin” He laughed, smile soon turning to disgust as she turned her head and licked his hand. “Robin! That was so gross!” Robin’s head flew back as she cackled. “I have to wash my hand now, who knows where your mouth has been.” Steve mumbled as he got up, leaving Robin in the living room.

Unbeknownst to Steve, however, Eddie was seated at the top of the stairs, with a smile plastered on his face.

Chapter Text

Steve awoke with a jolt, looking around, he saw Robin splayed out across the couch across from him, where he was laying on the floor. Robin slowly started to wake and stared at Steve.

“Dude, answer your fucking phone.” She growled, before shutting her eyes again. Steve looked down and saw his phone ringing. He didn’t even check who was calling before answering.

“Hello?” he spoke groggily.

“Steve!” it was Dustin. “Just making sure you’re still good for today?” he asked, and Steve’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Today? What’s today?” He replied, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“you said the party could use your house for our D&D campaign? Remember?” Steve did not remember.

“What? I don’t remember you asking me that.” Steve slowly pushed himself off the ground, instantly feeling nauseous.

“we literally came into your work the other day to ask, and you said yes.” Dustin paused. “Is it still a yes..?” Steve sighed, pushing down the nausea and blaming it on the drinks from last night.

“… What time are you guys planning on getting here?” Steve picked up a couple empty cans off the floor.

“Ten, which is…” he paused again. “In two hours.” He affirmed, excitedly. Steve sighed again, trying to rub away a forming headache.

“I suppose you guys still can.” Dustin cheered from the other end of the phone. “Do you intend to make you drive you guys back home after?” Dustin pondered for a moment.

“Could we maybe… stay there for the night?” Steve could practically hear the puppy dog eyes through the phone, and even if he couldn’t actually see them, they still had the same effect.

“Fine, but I have work tomorrow, so you all better not complain when I make you get up at six thirty.” Dustin cheered once more, and Steve had to pull the phone away from his ear for a second.

“Thank you! Thank you Steve! See you in two hours!” with that, Dustin hung up, and everything was quiet again. Steve binned the cans and walked up the stairs towards his room.
It came as a surprising shock to see Eddie, still hunched over the phone, his full attention on it.

“You really like the phone, huh?” Eddie jumped almost two feet in the air at the sudden appearance of Steve.

“Jesus, Harrington, you nearly scared me to death.” Steve deadpanned as Eddie realized what he’d said and started to crack up. Steve walked over to his dresser and pulled out some clothes before making his way to the bathroom.

“Did you learn anything interesting yet” He asked, not entirely focusing on Eddie.

“Yeah! There was heaps of cool shit to look at, although there was some things that weren’t fun to find out.” Eddie’s smile dropped.
“Aw, no, what kind of things?” Steve started brushing his teeth.

“Did you know meatloaf died? That’s really sad, I loved that guy.”

“Never heard of him.” Steve said, still not entirely in the conversation.

“You don’t know- Never mind,” Eddie cut himself off. “he played Eddie in Rocky Horror.” Steve hummed in response, spitting into the sink, and rinsing out his mouth. He turned to Eddie.

“Now, I need to have a shower, so if you would kindly,” Steve flicked his hands a little, indicating for Eddie to leave the room.

“Aww, but Stevie, what if I wanted to watch you?” He teased, causing Steve to blush profusely.

“Eddie!” he only laughed before turning to leave the room. Steve huffed as he shut the door, leaning against it for a moment and taking a breath. He them turned on the shower, allowing the hot steam to fill the room.

Steve concluded his shower with out a hitch and walked out back into his bedroom, seeing Eddie, once again, hunched over the phone. Steve huffed and walked over, pulling out the charger and grabbing the phone before walking swiftly out of the room.

“Hey! What the hell, Steve?” Eddie called out after Steve, quickly getting up and following him.

“I need to clean before the shits get here, and I don’t want you skulking around my room the entire time.” Steve answered, walking down the stairs, and rounding the corner into the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I’ll plug it in at the island in the kitchen, I’m not taking It off you.” Steve plugged the phone into the kitchen island and sat it on the bench, Eddie soon sitting down and turning it back on.

“Are the kids coming over?” Eddie asked, looking up at Steve, who was ducked below the counter, pulling things out of the cabinets.

“Yes, they’re coming over to use my house for a ‘campaign’, I think that’s what Dustin called it anyway.” Eddie’s eyes lit up as he continued. “it’s supposed to last for hours from what I know, so that means I have to play mom for the whole night and feed them.” Eddie hummed in response.

“Those kids play D&D? That’s awesome!” Steve’s head popped back up from under the counter, staring at Eddie for a moment before realization hit him.
“that’s right, you had a D&D club, Hellfire, right?” Eddie nodded, a smile present on his face.

“Yeah, Hellfire. It was so awesome. We would meet up every weekend or so and play, we had our own room in the school” Steve watched Eddie as he spoke, leaning on the counter a little. “Some of those douche-bags would call us freaks, or Satan worshipers because of it, but I never let them get to me.” Eddie’s eyes flicked down to his ringed fingers. “What I’d give to be able to play again.” Steve hummed, leaning in closer, a faint red blushing his cheeks.

“Maybe you should play with the kids tonight.” Eddie smirked and leaned in a little closer as well.

“Oh yeah? And how do you suppose I do that?” He asked, voice low, looking directly into Steve’s eyes.

“You could… Give them a scare, maybe?” Steve leaned in closer, now being able to feel the oh so familiar chill of Eddie’s breath on his lips. Eddie was about to say something before he was interrupted.

“Uh… Steve? What are you doing?” Both Eddie and Steve jumped, turning to see Robin standing by the fridge, holding a bottle of orange juice. Steve pulled back almost instantly and cleared his throat.

“I was uh, Talking to Eddie.” Steve’s eyes flicked back over to Eddie, who was watching Steve intently. “The kids are coming over soon, so if you want you can take a shower or something while I clean up, I’m sure you have clothes here somewhere.” Steve offered, giving an awkward smile to Robin, who only stared at him.

“I will, and I do. I’ll be back down later, when all your hot water is gone.” Robin smirked, and walked up the stairs, Steve giving her the middle finger.

Steve grabbed his phone, and opened Spotify, shuffling his playlist as he grabbed a trash bag and walked towards the living room where he and Robin were drinking. ‘Keep your head up’ by Djo filled the room and Steve hummed along to the beat. This only lasted a couple seconds before the music suddenly paused, confused, Steve looked back into the kitchen, where he saw Eddie messing with his phone.

“Eddie! Did you pause my music?” He shouted, with his hands on his hips.

“No…” Eddie responded, similar to a child being scolded. Steve sighed.

“Whatever, Eddie.” He grumbled before turning back to cleaning. He supposed that he made Eddie feel bad, as he soon heard his music start back up.

The next two hours went by in a blur. Steve had cleaned up his house, went to the store and bought food and drink for the night, and dropped Robin back at her house, as she didn’t particularly want to be around the kids for an entire night. By the time that Steve could sit down on the couch and relax, The party was already arriving. In came Dustin and Mike, then The Byers twins, then Lucas and surprisingly Max. Steve thought that the guys had convinced her to play, peer pressure was a real epidemic these days. Within seconds of arriving, they had already set themselves up at the dining room table. Thank god Steve’s parents were rich enough to buy a table that seated 8 for a family of 3. Surprisingly, not one of the kids noticed the phone on the kitchen island seemingly scrolling twitter on its own. Steve made his way to the kitchen and sat down next to Eddie, letting out a long sigh. Eddie looked over and smiled.

“So, who are all these gremlins you talk so highly of, hm?” Steve smiled as they both turned to face the kids, who were getting into the start of their ‘campaign’.

“Well, you know Henderson already.” Steve laughed a little before continuing. “Next to Dustin is Lucas,” He pointed out Lucas, who had his head in his hands. “Next to Lucas is Will, and next to him is his sister, Jane.” Will was leaning over towards Jane, pointing at something on the table. “The red-head there is Max, and Honestly? I think she’s way to be cool to be hanging with those nerds.” Eddie chuckled and Steve smiled at that. “Then at the head of the table there is Mike.” The shaggy haired boy in question said something, which caused the entire party to groan, maybe minus Max. “Those are my kids, Eddie. I wont ever say it to em’ but I’d give my world if it meant they’d be happy.” With that, Steve got up and rounded the island, opening the fridge and beginning to take out ingredients.

“Whatcha making, darlin?” Eddie asked, watching Steve flush a little.

“Well, these kids have to eat, Right?” Eddie laughed.

“Eh, I don’t think they have to.” This made Steve laugh a little before continuing.

“I’m making them some club sandwiches, they’re easy to make and taste good.” Steve began preparing the ingredients. Eddie groaned, which caused Steve to look up in concern.

“Ugh! I miss eating food! It’s been like, 40 years since I’ve had anything to eat!” Eddie smacked his head down on the countertop, and even If it made no noise, it still made Steve wince a little, but start laughing.

Hours passed and the kids were deep into their campaign, the crumbs of sandwiches and cups with varying amounts of juice adorned the table. Steve was now seated in the living room, which meant he could now hear the kids as they played. He drowned out their voices by putting on some trash TV, and Eddie was drawn to the show that was playing, and had joined Steve on the couch, only occasionally asking questions. Eddie had begun looking over at the kids, watching them with a mischievous glint in his eye. Steve looked over, sipping on some expensive wine he found in his mother’s wine cellar.

“if you’re gonna go scare them, just don’t scare them too badly, alright?” Steve turned his direction back to the TV, giving Eddie the confirmation he needed. He jumped up out of his seat and made his way over to the kids, Steve looking over to watch what Eddie decides to do.

“the party comes across a dark cave, it seems to be the only safe space to hide from the angered council, do you enter?” Mike spoke, and the group immediately started discussing. Eddie was circling the table, like a lion stalking its prey. The group decides to enter the cave and start exploring. They decide to go down a dark path that leads deeper into the cave, and Eddie can tell where Mike is taking this, I mean, they didn’t call him the best DM for nothing. Eddie positioned himself Between Dustin and Lucas, extending his hand out towards one of the empty glasses. He looked up at Steve, silently asking for permission. Steve locked eyes with Eddie and nodded. A large grin came across his face as he waited for his cue.

“And as you all are discussing weather or not to continue onward, you hear a loud bang rin-“ Eddie somehow managed to knock the glass with enough force to send it flying off the table. It collided with the wall and shattered into a million pieces. All the kids jumped and screamed at this, sending Eddie into a fit of Hysteria. Steve snorted as he got up and walked into the dining room, one hand on his waist and the other still holding the wine glass. He looked at the kids, who were mortified, and then looked at the shattered glass on the ground.

“Who the hell did this?” Steve asked, pretending to sound angry. The kids all started to talk over each other, trying to defend themselves and explain what happened. “The glass flew off the table and into the wall? By itself? Yeah, Likely story.” Steve tried hard to suppress his smile as he watched the kids protest what he said. Eddie was still cracking up as Steve pretended to get more agitated. Steve grumbled something about cleaning it up and walked towards the laundry room to grab the dustpan.

After Steve cleaned up the glass, he gave the kids one more hour to play before they had to pack it up for dinner. He was met with short lived protests as Steve said if they didn’t, he wouldn’t make them all Tacos for dinner. The kids were fully packed up as Steve finished up preparing the food. As he was cleaning up the few dishes he left behind, Dustin walked into the kitchen and slid onto the stool In front of the kitchen island.

“Steve, was that Eddie who threw the glass off the table?” He asked with a hushed voice. Steve snorted.

“What? No… what makes you say that Henderson.” He said with a smile.

“aha! I knew it!” Dustin cheered.

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, do me a favour and take these to the table.” Steve slid over some glass bowls that contained the taco fillings and Dustin took them to the table, Steve following behind with the rest. He called the kids to the table and within seconds, they were all seated at the table, filling their plates with tacos.

Eventually, All the kids had settled down, and they were all watching some superhero movie that Steve didn’t know the name of. Jane and Max were huddled on the couch, laughing at something on Max’s phone. Lucas, Will and Mike were deep in conversation, and Dustin was in his sleeping bag, calmly watching the movie. Steve sighed, he was tired and ready for bed. He said goodnight to the kids and made his way up to his room, not forgetting to bring Eddie’s phone back up with him.

Steve plugged his and Eddie’s phones in and he changed out of his day clothes and into pyjamas before collapsing onto his bed.

“Goodnight, Eddie.” Steve called out, drowsiness already lacing his voice. He heard Eddie chuckle.

“Night’ sweetheart.” And with that, Steve let himself fall asleep.

Chapter Text

Headaches greeted Steve as he woke up in the morning, his head pounded as he sat up. Eddie was seated at the desk once more, mindlessly scrolling.

“Mornin’ Eddie.” His sleep slurred slightly, trying to fight off the nausea as he made his way to the bathroom.

“Hey sweetheart, how’d you sleep?” Eddie turned to look at Steve, who was now standing in front of the sink, already getting his toothbrush out.

“S’fine,” Steve yawned before groaning, “I have a shit headache tho,” Eddie frowned, getting up and walking into the bathroom.

“Oh, that’s no good, do you have any meds you can take?” Steve felt Eddie’s breath on the back on his neck. Steve hummed and ducked down and opened the cabinets. He pulled out a small box of pills and shook a few into his hand. Steve quickly finished brushing his teeth and swallowed the pills.

“Eddie im getting in the shower.” Steve made his way over to the shower and looked over at Eddie, who was walking out of the bathroom.

Thick steam filled the bathroom as Steve relaxed into the water. The Steam helped clear his head, even if it didn’t do much for his headache.

When Steve emerged back out from the shower, Eddie wasn’t on his phone, he wasn’t even in the room at all. He frowned and made his way down the stairs. Eddie was seated in the living room, watching the kids back up their sleeping bags and discuss the previous night.

“No im telling you! It was a ghost!” Dustin was holding his bag in one hand, talking to Mike and Will.

“No way, there’s no way im believing that.” Mike spoke, “You probably knocked it off accidentally or something,” Mike huffed and continued rolling up his sleeping bag.
“I believe you,” Will offered, watching Dustin sigh in relief.

“Thank you! I guess they don’t call you Will the Wise for nothing,” Dustin nudged Will’s shoulder a bit, as Mike feigned offense.

“Will! You’re supposed to be on my side!” Will only laughed as Steve walked down the stairs.

“Mornin’ guys,” Steve called out into the living room. “Its six, im proud of you guys.” Steve said, walking in the stand behind the couch that Eddie was seated in.

“Well, we would’ve slept in if someone hadn’t have gotten a call from his girlfriend at five-thirty.” Max sent a glare to Dustin, who immediately stood up straighter. Steve chuckled before making his way to the door.

“Well, seeing as you guys actually did as I asked, how about we get McDonald's for breakfast?” He asked, immediately wincing at the uproar of excited children. All 6 of them were now barrelling out of the door, sleeping bags in hand, and booking it towards Steve’s car. Eddie had gotten up off the couch and walked up behind Steve.

“You wanna come or are you staying here?” Steve asked, turning to face Eddie. He thought for a moment, before he grinned at Steve.

“No, King Steve, as gracious as thy offer is, I shall remain here and defend Castle Harrington whilst you are away.” Eddie bowed dramatically and Steve giggled.

“Alright, suit yourself, I’ll be back around five, okay? That’s when I finish work. See you then, Eddie” Steve walked out onto the porch and grabbed the door knob, waiting for Eddie to reply.

“Farewell, my love, I eagerly wait for your return.” Eddie blew a kiss to Steve before disappearing back into the house. Flushed, Steve placed a few fingers against his lips as he shut the door and walked towards his car, where the kids were already situated in their seats, somehow always in the same spots. Steve plugged his phone into the console and shuffled his playlist. Lizzo’s ‘about damn time’ filled the car as he pulled out onto the road.

“Steve, you listen to Lizzo?” Max asked incredulously. Steve looked at her in the rear-view mirror before replying.

“uh, yeah? She’s a queen. Icon.” He was met with groans and a threat from someone to ‘never say that again’, and Steve laughed.

And there they were, sitting in a McDonald's, quarter past 6 in the morning and Steve wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else. It was the small, domestic moments like this which really made Steve happy. The moments where the kids were carefree and enjoying themselves, just being kids, were the highlights of Steve’s day. He supposes its because of his iffy childhood and his absent parents, but he tries not to let that get to him, and to make sure none of the kids ever feel neglected or alone. Even in death, Steve would find ways to help them.

They soon packed it up and clambered back into the car, Steve deciding to tune out the voices of the kids for the sake of his still present headache. It didn’t take long for the kids to be at their respective houses, and Steve to be parked out the front of Robin’s house, waiting for her to get in so he could take them both to work. She soon arrived at the passenger side door and hopped in.

“morning Robin” Steve greeted, already on the road.

“Mornin’” Robin yawned. Looking over at Steve lethargically.

“How are you so,” She thought, “Awake? At like 7 in the morning?” Steve chuckled.

“Kids.” That was the only explanation Steve needed as Robin completely understood. The two soon relaxed into a comfortable silence as they drove, the soft music on the radio accompanied by the clicks of Robin’s phone were the only sounds in the car. They soon pulled up at Family Video and got out, unlocking the front doors, officially starting their shifts the moment those doors were open. Steve sat himself behind the counter as Robin disappeared into the back to get the money for the till.

Steve groaned into his hands, his headache still raging on, even throbbing a little.

“Steve, you alright man? You’re looking kinda…” Robin appeared next to him, money in hand to put in the register.

“Yeah I just have a really bad headache.” Steve rubbed his temples as Robin frowned.

“Just tell me if you need a break, okay?” Robin Ruffled Steve’s hair, earning a groan before continuing what she was doing.

As the day continued, Steve’s headache only got worse. He tried his hardest to focus on work and to get through the day, but it just wasn’t working as well as he’d planned. Customers were far from many, only about 3 people coming in within 7 hours and Steve was just not having it. It was about two In the afternoon when Steve started to feel nauseous. Again, he tried to ignore it like he’d done in the past, but it wasn’t working. He soon felt the sick feeling in his stomach and the loosening of his jaw, and he booked it to the staff bathroom, well, he tried his hardest to get there. Steve stumbled into the bathroom, nearly walking straight into the wall. His hand stayed clamped to his mouth up until he was positioned above the relatively clean toilet bowl, when he immediately threw up, emptying his entire stomach, miraculously getting it all into the bowl. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as he threw up again, burning his throat as he did so.

Three panicked knocks came from the door, startling Steve.

“Steve, you alright in there?” Robin called, concern lacing her voice. Steve barely had the strength to blink, let alone answer her. She knocked again, somehow even more frantic as Steve emptying his guts once again. Robin discovered that the door was in-fact, not locked, as she busted in, seeing Steve completely out of it, practically laying on the ground with an arm extended out, grabbing onto the rim of the toilet.

“Steve, holy shit.” Robin knelt down in-front of Steve and put her hand on his shoulder, holding him up slightly. Steve watched with half-lidded eyes as Robin panicked, trying to figure out what to do. “Okay, okay, Steve?” Steve looked up at Robin. “I’m gonna call Nance’ and get her to come pick you up and take you home, okay?” Steve nodded before keeling over the bowl again.

It took Nancy a total of 6 minutes to get to family Video and to be in the staff bathroom, slowly helping Steve up of the ground.

“Robin, do you have any trash bags here? I don’t particularly want him throwing up all over my car.” Nancy asked, carefully leading Steve out of the bathroom and towards the entrance. Robin bolted to the staff room and came back a couple seconds later, a purple trash bag in hand as she followed Nancy and Steve out the door. Robin helped Nancy get Steve into the car, handing him the bag and telling him to throw up into that if he needed. Steve furrowed his eyes and looked at Robin.

“But what about my shift? I can’t leave you here alone,” Steve said, throat still raw. Robin only laughed at this before shutting the door.

“Steve, it’s fine, don’t worry about me.” Robin gave a thumbs up to Nancy and she immediately started driving.

Steve had to admit, being in a car while being physically sick wasn’t the best scenario to be in, but he still tried his hardest to not puke again. Steve was exhausted, he supposed that he was exhausted enough to not notice when he and Nancy pulled up at Steve’s house. As Nancy tried to help him out of the car, he refused, wanting to get into his own house without help. Steve only got a few steps out of the car before his legs started to give out, and if Nancy wasn’t there to keep him steady, he would’ve hurt himself badly.
Nancy helped him into the house, struggling to unlock the door but soon succeeding.

“Bedroom or couch?” Nancy asked, wanting Steve to be as comfortable as he can be. Steve nodded towards the stairs and Nancy quickly helped him up the stairs, albeit with a struggle once again, but they soon made it to the top of the stairs, slowly entering Steve’s bedroom and setting him down on his bed. He relaxed into his mattress as Nancy fussed about, searching his room or something for him to throw up in. Her eyes soon met a paper bin next to the desk and grabbed it, shoving the purple trash bag into the bin, and placing it next to Steve’s bed before disappearing down the stairs. Steve looked around, locking eyes with a stunned Eddie, who was seated at the desk once again. With his existence finally being acknowledged, He jumped to his feet and rushed over to Steve, kneeling down next to his bed.

“Steve, Baby, what’s going on? Are you alright?” He asked, very concerned. It took a couple seconds for Steve to respond, his voice hoarse and raspy.

“M’ Sick, Robin made me go home.” He mumbled. “Nance’ drove me here, dunno’ where she went” Steve looked at Eddie lethargically and smiled a bit. Eddie smiled back and extended his hand towards Steve’s cheek.

“God, you’re so warm, even I can feel it.” Steve shuddered, the cool of Eddie’s hand sending chills down throughout his body. Eddie went to remove his hand and Steve’s hand shot out to grab his wrist, forgetting that Eddie wasn’t corporeal, and couldn’t grab on, no matter how hard he tried. Eddie got the hint, however, and returned his hand to where it was before, a smile gracing Steve’s lips as he felt his face cool down tremendously. Steve hadn’t noticed Nancy enter the room, a glass of water and pills in hand.

“Steve?” He looked up at her, concern written all over her face. “I need you to sit up, can you do that?” She asked. Steve nodded, slowly pushing himself up onto his elbows. Nancy walked over and handed him the glass of water. He graciously accepted it and raised it to his lips, Nancy’s hand stalling at the bottom, guiding it as Steve slowly sipped.

“Now I want you to drink the water, but slowly, okay? And When you feel better, take these,” Nancy flashed the pills before setting them down on the bedside table, slowly grabbing the glass from Steve’s hand and doing the same. “When Robin finishes work, we’ll be back to check on you, alright? But I need to go now.” Nancy looked quite guilty as she watched Steve lay himself back down.

“bye, Nance’. Thank you.” Steve spoke his eyes seemingly unable to hold themselves up.

“Feel better, Steve.” With that, Nancy left the room. Steve looked over at Eddie, who was still knelt down next to him. Steve tapped his cheek a couple times, indicating to Eddie to put his hand back. Eddie complied, and Steve revelled in the cold air that flushed his face, soon letting the exhaustion get to him as he closed his eyes and drifted off.

Chapter Text

Steve opened his eyes to a dark room. The only light coming from Eddie’s phone on the desk, which was half blocked by Eddie’s body. Steve groaned as he sat up, instantly alerting Eddie to his presence.

“Hey, Steve, baby, how are you feeling?” Eddie rushed over to Steve’s side, ghosting a hand over his forehead. Steve hummed at the feeling, closing his eyes.

“Yeah, I feel alright.” Steve smacked his lips before looking up at Eddie. “How’d I get here? I was at work like a second ago,” Eddie sighed.

“Steve, you got really sick at work today and Robin and, some girl? I didn’t get her name, came and dropped you off here.” Eddie then motioned to the bedside table, where a fresh glass of water and some pills sat. “They came back a couple hours ago to check on you, but you were fast asleep.” He chuckled, before pulling his hand back, Steve whining in protest. “I need you to take these pills and sip some water, okay?” Steve nodded before slowly reaching a hand out to take the glass. His hand shook significantly as he raised it to his lips, taking a small sip. He then grabbed the pills and popped them into his mouth, taking another small sip before swallowing.

“What’s the time?” Steve asked quietly, his throat still hurting. Eddie leaned over and tapped Steve’s phone.

“Uhh, Seven-Thirty.” Eddie replied, smiling at him. Steve returned the smile and sighed, shifting in bed to get up.

“Woah, Stevie nicks, where do you think you’re going?” Eddie asked, stepping back a bit, hands out wide as if to catch him. Steve looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m going to the bathroom? I want to have a shower.” Eddie clicked his tongue.

“Nuh-uh, you are going to stay in your bed and rest.” Steve snorted.

“What are you going to do to stop me, huh? It’s not like you can.” He teased but was only met with a silent stare. “Sorry, Eddie, I’ll- I’m gonna- I’ll lay back down.” Steve pulled himself back into bed and under the covers. He turned to Eddie, who had now sat down next to the bed. “Hey, Eddie?” He whispered. Eddie looked up at Steve’s eyes, any hint of irritation now gone.

“Yes darlin’?” Steve flushed a little and looked away.

“…That night,” Steve paused, and he could feel the chill of Eddie’s hand on his shoulder. “Did you do it? To that girl?” He heard Eddie sigh, and Steve turned to look at Eddie again. Silence befell the two once again, waiting for Eddie to talk.

“Steve, I- I didn’t kill her,” Eddie took a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “That night, she did come to my trailer, she was-, she was buying drugs off me.” Steve just watched as Eddie’s eyes dropped to the ground. “I offered to drive her home, but, she said she didn’t want to bother me, she said she would walk.” Eddie sounded like he was biting back tears. “I should’ve- I should’ve pressed her more, I should’ve insisted to drive her, but I let her go.” Steve watched as tears pooled in his eyes. “I suppose that some,” Eddie stuttered, thinking of a word. “Maniac had gotten her, and I- I was too high to even help her- I-“ He paused, trying to calm himself down before continuing. “The sicko must’ve been watching her that day, because he- he left her,” Eddie’s head dropped against the mattress, hiding his face from Steve. “ He came into my trailer, and- and left her. On the floor, in the middle of my trailer. And I heard- I heard the fucker in there! I just- I was high, and I thought it was my uncle coming home.” Steve heard the sobs in Eddie’s voice. “Later, when I came out of my room, I saw her.” Steve’s heart ached as he heard Eddie, wanting nothing but to reach out and hold him. “But I didn’t- I didn’t call the police, I… I ran. I ran away. Which almost definitely made things worse for me. But I wasn’t thinking clearly that night.” Eddie lifted his head, facing the roof as he blinked away tears. “My buddy, Reefer Rick, as we called him, was in the pound at the time, so I camped out at his house. Every second I was there, I couldn’t get the image of her body out of my mind.” Eddie looked at Steve with tears in his eyes. “Those few days I spent in hiding were the worst days of my life. Fuck the bullying, fuck my parents leaving me, they took the cake. But it didn’t last long, as Jason Carver,” He said, with sarcastic fanfare. “And his team of fuckwits found me. At first, I tried to run, and I got a good mile from the house before they caught up to me. It was an unfair fight. They all had weapons and I,” he paused. “I had nothing. They beat me senseless, and before I knew it, a baseball bat to the back of my head knocked me out.” He breathed a dry chuckle. “When I woke up, I was laying on the ground. And, I felt all, floaty? N’ shit.” Eddie then sucked in a long breath. “ I looked up and, there I was. My body, hung from a tree.” Steve sat up on his elbows now, patting the bed, indicating for Eddie to come up, which he did. Eddie now sat on the edge of Steve’s bed. “ At first, I panicked. I ran all the way back to the trailer park. There were police everywhere. That was when I fully realized I was dead.” A sombre look crossed Eddie’s face. “When my own uncle looked right through me.” Eddie looked Steve directly in the eyes. “You shouldn’t ever have to experience that.” A stray tear slid down Eddie’s face. “ after that I just, left. I returned to where I died, back at lovers lake and just, existed.” He laughed and turned away. “In the whole 40 years I was there, I only saw a handful of people. Could count on my hands.” Eddie then put 8 fingers up, pulling a small laugh out of Steve. “It was so lonely. I wanted nothing more than to well, Die. Or the ghost equivalent of dying. I didn’t want to exist.” Eddie wiped away a tear with this thumb before it could leave his tear ducts. “But then,” He turned to face Steve, his eyes gleaming in the dark. “You came along. You and your little friends, the first people to even attempt to contact me, and I guess I latched on to you specifically, because…” He paused and looked away.

“Because?” Steve asked quietly, trying not to scare Eddie away from his feelings. Eddie turned to Steve again, a wide grin on his face.

“Because I thought you were really pretty.” Eddie laughed genuinely at this, and Steve flushed, laughing away his own tears.

“Eddie! C’mon man, be serious.” Eddie gasped.

“I am serious, Stevie! You are the prettiest damn boy I’ve ever seen! Its true!” They were now both laughing. “other than that,” He began. “You have been so kind to me these past few days, and I-, I cant thank you enough for that.” Eddie had a bright smile on his face now, leaning in a bit closer, his hand ghosting over Steve’s, which sent chills down Steve’s spine. “You’ve shown me a kind of love I never got to experience in life. Sure, my uncle loved me, but not like this, not like you, Steve.” Eddie’s eyes shone and Steve would rather die then tear his gaze from Eddie’s.

“Eddie, the last few years for me have been hard” Steve began. “Having you here has made my life less lonely. And I mean- I do have the kids, and Robin, and Nancy, but.” He paused. “Like you said, its different, a different kind of loneliness... A different kind of love.” Steve’s eyes teared up a little. “And it hurts. It hurts so much.” Eddie’s eyes grew in concern. “All I want to do is hold you, and comfort you, but I can’t. I just cant.” Tears began to fall from Steve’s eyes, but he quickly swatted them away. “But that’s okay. I’m okay with that. I know it’ll never happen, so I’m making do with what we’ve got. Sure, I’ll miss what could’ve been, but that wont stop me from living in the present. Here, with you… Eddie, I love you.” A dumb smile formed on Steve’s face as he watched Eddie’s eyes light up.

“Steve, I- that, was,” Eddie formulated his sentence. “Oddly poetic, I didn’t even know you new words like that.” Steve snorted as Eddie cracked up, the atmosphere clearing up between the two

“Eddie! I'm trying to be serious!” Steve’s eyes narrowed at Eddie, who looked back with the same expression. They lasted about three seconds before they both started laughing again. “Eddie, im- I think im gonna-“ Steve laughed even more.

“Gonna what, darling?” Eddie asked, laughter slowly dissipating.

“I'm gonna- heh, im gonna puke.” With that, Steve leant over the edge of his bed and quickly grabbed the waste bin, making good on his word. Eddie panicked and sat up, fumbling with his hands, not knowing what to do.

“Steve, are you alright?” He asked as Steve lifted his head. He nodded and pulled himself back up, slowly reaching over for the water on his nightstand. He slowly sipped as Eddie sat back down at the edge of the bed, extending his hand to brush against Steve’s forehead Steve smiled at Eddie before yawning.

“Eddie, im tired.” Steve yawned again. “All those feelings exhausted me.” Eddie laughed as Steve laid himself back down.

“Then go to sleep, pretty boy. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” Steve hummed and closed his eyes, then extended a hand out to his right and patted the empty space next to him.

“Come lay down with me.” He demanded. Eddie chuckled and complied, slowly shifting to lay on Steve’s right. Almost immediately, Steve felt Eddie’s breath on the back of his neck and his entire body relaxing. “Thank you, Eddie.” Steve whispered, as he succumbed to sleep.

Forest and trees surrounded Steve as he sat on a park bench, a small metal lunchbox sat on the bench, and on the opposite side of the bench, was Eddie. Again, he didn’t have his usual leather jacket and leather vest, only his Hellfire shirt sat on his shoulders as he stared at Steve.

“Hey,” Steve spoke quietly, watching as Eddie leaned in a little closer.

“Hey.” He chuckled. After that, they were both silent, save for Eddie humming an unfamiliar tune.

“What are you humming?” Steve asked, trying to break the silence.

“N.I.B, Black Sabbath, again.” Steve laughed, and Eddie looked offended. “What? Black Sabbath is one of my favorite bands?” Steve giggled into his palm and shook his other hand.

“No, no, it’s cute. You’re cute.” Steve smiled and looked up towards Eddie through his eyelashes. Eddie sent him an incredulous look.

“Me? Cute? No way!” Eddie pushed himself off the bench and rounded it towards Steve. “ I think, King Steve Harrington, Esteemed member of Hawkins, Indiana,” Eddie was now standing over Steve, effectively pining him up against the bench. “That you, pretty boy, are the cute one.” Eddie placed a finger on Steve’s lips as he leaned in a little, his dark curly hair now tickling the sides of Steve’s face. Eddie’s finger dropped from Steve’s lips, and he hummed in response, now slowly raising his hands to rest on Eddie’s cheeks. Steve then pulled Eddie in, closing the gap between them. Although he could barely feel it, Eddie’s lips were soft and warm against Steve’s as they kissed, Eddie’s hands finding their place on his hips, holding Steve in place. Steve was the first to pull away, staring into Eddie’s eyes as he did so. His hands slipped around Eddie’s neck as he got pulled in for more. Their bodies pressed together as the kiss gained more heat, Eddie’s hands slipping under Steve’s yellow sweater, and Steve’s hands messing with the wild mess that was Eddie’s hair.

If it were up to Steve, he could stay here forever. In the small clearing surrounded by trees, sitting on a park bench, with Eddie Munson, Hands in hair and on backs, the only sounds being the birds in the forest and the uneven breathing of the two boys. But Steve knew he couldn’t stay here forever. He knew that this was just a dream, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying it, if this is what could’ve been, then Steve is okay with living the moment through his dreams

Chapter Text

Steve’s eyes slowly fluttered open, his senses slowly coming to him as he woke up. Rays of sunlight shone through closed curtains as he felt Eddie’s breath on his neck. Steve buried himself back into bed, content and warm. Steve didn’t think Eddie could actually sleep, but he supposed he was asleep, due to the even breath on his neck. Moments like these were what Steve craved the most, Domesticity and just pure love. He slowly reached out an arm towards his phone and checked the time. It was seven thirty, which made Steve panic a little. He should’ve been at work half an hour ago! It was only when he grabbed his phone to call Robin that he noticed a text.

‘don’t worry about work today, I called in sick for you. Feel better soon dingus.’ Steve smiled a bit, Robin could be so nice sometimes. He heard Eddie groan and smack his lips a bit.

“Mornin’ doll. How are you feeling?” Steve had never heard Eddie’s morning voice, the raspy deep sound of it making him flush.

“I’m alright , love. How was your sleep? Did you actually sleep?” Steve asked, turning to face Eddie, who had propped his head up with an arm. Eddie chuckled.

“Yeah, I can sleep, I just don’t do it often. Hey, I might be dead, but I can still get nightmares.” He smiled before continuing. “I slept well, sweetheart. How about you?” Steve smiled and relaxed further into his bed.

“Yeah, I did too. Best sleep I’ve gotten in ages.” He hummed. “Had a really nice dream, too.” He smiled even more, looking up at Eddie through his eyelashes. Eddie smirked.
“Oh, really? Wanna tell me about it?” He asked, voice slow and raspy.

“hmm,” Steve thought for a moment. “Nope.” And with that, Steve quickly got out of bed, still a little unsteady on his feet. He laughed as a shocked expression appeared on Eddie’s face, before twisting into a smile. “Robin got me the day off, so I’m going to have a shower and then clean up properly. I didn’t get the chance too yesterday.” Steve made his way to the bathroom, still a little weak in the knees. Eddie got up and followed him in.

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t you be resting?” Eddie asked, concern lacing his voice. Steve batted the air.

“nah, I feel fine now, just a bid wobbly,” as If to prove a point, one of Steve’s legs gave out slightly and his hand shot out to grip the counter. Eddie once again had positioned himself to catch Steve, which only made him chuckle a bit. “I’m alright, I’m okay,” he reassured, steadying himself.

Steve then hopped in the shower, Eddie leaving him be, and decided it was a better, and safer idea, to sit down, and as Steve sat down, he thought about the last couple days. They had been some of the best days of his life, but there was something wrong. He’d been getting sicker and sicker these past few days and he didn’t know why. Small, occasional headaches soon turned to persistent aches, and then that turned to nausea, resulting in yesterday’s fiasco and now, now he was finding it hard to walk. His brain was foggy, and the steam wasn’t helping so he shut off the water and climbed out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist, and making his way over to the sink and pulling out his toothbrush. Maybe he’d feel better if he got the gross taste out of his mouth.

Steve soon emerged from the bathroom and looked around. Eddie was now hunched over the phone, his eyes completely focused on the screen as he tapped away. Steve rounded and looked over Eddie’s shoulder and at his screen, which displayed various pictures which he vaguely recognized as something D&D related.

“Whatcha looking at, hon?” Steve asked and Eddie’s head turned to look at him, a smile present on his face.

“I’m looking at dice sets, there’s so much more detail and design in these than what I had back in the 80’s” Steve hummed as he back off and walked towards his door.

“I’m heading down to make something for breakfast, I’m starving.” Steve nearly tripped as he walked out the door, quickly grabbing onto the door and laughing. “You can come down and join me if you’d like.” Steve made his way down the stairs, albeit with more of a struggle this time, but he soon rounded the corner into the living room. The kids had, weirdly enough, left it pristine when they packed up, there wasn’t a crumb on the ground. Steve smiled and walked int the kitchen to prepare his breakfast.

It wasn’t long before Eddie made his way down stairs, sitting at the island counter just, watching Steve as he cooked.

“I can feel you staring, Eddie.” Steve spoke, looking over his shoulder at Eddie, who was resting his head on one of his hands.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just, you’re so pretty, Steve. Beautiful.” Steve’s face turned bright red as Eddie chuckled.

“Hey! I mean- you, you’re quite handsome yourself, Munson.” Steve turned away again and returned to cooking. Eddie quietly stood up and made his was over to Steve, standing behind him as he cooked. Steve gasped as he felt a cold chill wrap around his waist and a breath on his neck.

“Eddie! Stop! You’re distracting me” Steve laughed and turned around to face Eddie.

“What are you going to do about it, princess?” He leaned in closer to Steve. “You cant touch me, remember.” Eddie’s voice was low against Steve’s ear, sending chills through his body.

“Oh, Eddie,” Steve sighed. Eddie looked back at Steve’s face and smiled.

Steve’s mind went numb, His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to look at Eddie. His vision was blurry, and the lights were now blindingly bright.
“Eddie?” He couldn’t hear his own voice, and he couldn’t hear any response from Eddie. He could no longer feel the cold of Eddie’s hands as he felt increasingly woozy. He called out to Eddie again, although it was in vein as his legs gave out from underneath him and he fell, blacking out in the process.

Eddie was panicking. Steve had just collapsed practically in his arms, facing going ghostly pale as he hit the floor. Eddie didn’t know what to do.

“Steve, oh god, Steve? Steve!” He knelt down and put his hand on Steve’s forehead but was met with no response. Eddie was now frantic, trying to think of what to do, he needed to help Steve, but he couldn’t. Steve was blacked out on the kitchen floor and Eddie couldn’t do shit. “Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! Shit! Oh god…” Eddie was now pacing, biting down hard on his knuckles as he racked his brain. If he didn’t think of something, then, well, Eddie didn’t want to think about that. He paused and took one more look at Steve before running up the stairs and into his bedroom, racing for Steve’s phone. If Eddie couldn’t help him, maybe someone else could. He rapidly opened Steve’s phone and searched through his contacts before finding Robin. He considered calling her, but that wouldn’t work, She wouldn’t be able to hear him, so he opted to text her.

‘Robin’ He typed. ‘Steve has collapsed in the kitchen’ Robin read the message ‘Please help him.” He typed out as a small bubble appeared in the corner.

‘what??? Steve are you okay??’ She replied.

‘this isn’t Steve, he’s collapsed in the kitchen and not waking up please help him.’ Eddie was now on the verge of tears, can’t Robin hurry the fuck up?

‘Eddie? Oh shit’ she replied. ‘ok ok I’ll call an ambulance’ Eddie breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Nance is with me and she’s gonna drive us to you we’ll be there in 5’ She finished, and Eddie raced back down into the kitchen and sat down next to Steve, who was still blacked out on the floor.

The five minutes that it took for Robin and Nancy to get there were the longest five minutes he’d ever experienced. Eddie had kept his hand on Steve’s forehead the whole time, silently crying as he bided the time.

Robin crashed through the door and her and Nancy rushed into the kitchen, and seeing Steve collapsed onto the ground sent them into a panic. Robin sat on the ground and pulled Steve into her lap as Nancy checked if he was breathing, and Eddie watched as the girls breathed a sigh of relief. Robin then lifted her head, looking around the kitchen before speaking.

“Eddie? Steve is still breathing, and the ambulance should be here any moment.” She spoke into the air and Eddie sighed, feeling the panic slightly leave his body. He slightly chucked as Nancy looked at Robin weirdly. “Thank you, Eddie. If you weren’t here we wouldn’t have known he collapsed.” Robin then noticed Nancy looking at her weirdly. “Steve’s ghost boyfriend.” She elaborated. “It’s a long story, but he’s real.” Nancy only nodded before everyone fell silent.

If he could, Eddie would’ve punched a hole in the wall already. The ambulance was taking way to long to get here, but as he thought this, the deafening squeal of the sirens made its way down the road and before he knew it, paramedics were now filling the kitchen. They asked Robin and Nancy questions before they lifted Steve up onto a stretcher and wheeled him out into the ambulance. Eddie was quick to follow the Paramedics, hopping into the Ambulance and watched as Robin and Nancy quickly followed them out.

“You go with Steve, and I’ll follow in my car, alright?” Nancy spoke as she walked with Robin towards the ambulance.

“Are you sure?” Nancy put her hand on Robin’s cheek.

“Yes, Rob, they said there’s only room for one in there and you can’t drive. I’ll meet you at the hospital, okay?” Robin nodded and they shared a quick kiss before Robin rushed towards the ambulance and hopping in the back.

The ride to the hospital was stressful, Eddie stood over Steve the entire time, with his hand on his cheek. Robin was in a seat on the side, rubbing her face with her hands and sighing. She was still in her work uniform, meaning she’d left halfway through her shift to come help Steve. It was sweet, really, how much Steve’s friends cared about him. A sad feeling washed over Eddie as he thought that, as his friends would never have done something like this for him, they didn’t even help him when he was on the run. Eddie quickly swatted away the thoughts and focused on Steve, who still hadn’t woken up yet.

Before Eddie knew it, they were in the hospital. Steve was now laying in a bed, hooked up to a couple machines that were beeping, Eddie didn’t know what they did of he was being honest. Robin and Nancy were seated in chairs that they had dragged to sit next to Steve’s bed. Eddie was Standing in the corner of the room, but still close to Steve. He didn’t want to intrude on Nancy and Robin, even if they couldn’t see him.

Eddie was torn up. Why had this happened? Why had this happened to Steve of all people! It made Eddie nearly ill with the thought that he couldn’t do anything to help Steve when this happened, He couldn’t even help catch him or cushion his fall! Eddie was pulled out of his thoughts when Robin spoke.

“I hope he wakes up soon.” Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. Nancy grabbed her hand and rubbed it with her thumb, trying to comfort her. “I knew he was sick, he’s been out of it for like, maybe a week now. And after yesterday I thought he was going to be fine, but-“ Nancy interrupted her.

“Hey, Steve’s going to be fine, okay? It’s Steve Harrington we’re talking about. That man would crawl out of his grave if one of us were in trouble, he can survive anything, yeah?” Robin Nodded, wiping away forming tears. “We just need to be here for him.” Nancy pulled Robin into a side hug as they fell silent.

Eddie looked away from the two and back at Steve. Yeah, Robin. Eddie hoped Steve was okay too.

Chapter Text

Bright lights were what Steve’s eyes were met with as he woke up, slowly blinking and looking around. Where was he? He slowly looked at the end of his bed and spotted Eddie, who was leaning on the mattress, arm crossed, and head turned away from Steve.

“Eddie…” He mumbled, taken back by how hard it was to talk. Eddie’s head snapped towards Steve, his eyes instantly brightening, and a large smile formed on his face.

“Steve! Oh you don’t know how happy I am to see you awake!” Eddie rushed towards Steve, lowering a hand to his cheek. Steve faintly smiled and turned his head to the side, where he spotted Robin and Nancy asleep in some chairs, Nancy’s head was on Robin’s shoulder and Robin had an arm around her.

“They only fell asleep a couple minutes ago.” Eddie commented, seeing Steve looking at the pair. Steve looked back at Eddie.

“What happened? I don’t remember anything past making breakfast.” Eddie sighed and stoked Steve’s cheek, Steve humming in response.

“You collapsed and blacked out. You’ve been out for,” Eddie paused and looked at the clock before returning his gaze to Steve. “Three hours.” Steve sighed and pushed his head back onto the pillow. “I messaged Robin and her and Nancy came and called an ambulance for you. They said that they’re doing bloodwork’s to try and figure out what’s been causing you to be so sick lately.” Steve locked eyes with Eddie once more.

“Thank you for being here, Eddie.” Eddie clicked his tongue.

“Of course I’m gonna be here, darling. I’ll stay here as long as you’re here.” He paused. “It’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go.” Steve laughed quietly as Eddie grinned. Steve then started noticing exactly where he was. His Bed was next to a window that looked out on a small courtyard where birds rested on trees and workers walked around. There was a small TV in the corner on the wall that was currently playing some random game show Steve could barely recognize. There was expensive looking machinery surrounding his bed, some of them slowly beeping. Robin and Nancy’s chairs were seated close to Steve’s bed, but still in front of the door, where doctors and nurses walked past. Steve hummed as he looked back at Eddie.

“I should probably wake up the girls, Hm?” Eddie chuckled as he nodded.

“Yeah, probably.” Steve slowly reached out a hand towards Robin and lightly planted it on her knee, shaking it side to side a little.

“Robin, hey, Robin” Her eyes slowly fluttered open, locking eyes with Steve. It took her a good five seconds to realize what was happening before she shot up, walking up Nancy in the process.

“Steve! Oh my god I’ve never been so glad to see you!” Robin then threw herself at Steve, Hugging him tightly as he slowly patted her back.

“Hey- Robin, it’s alright man, I’m okay.” Robin pulled back, her hands still in Steve’s shoulders. She then smacked his arm, pulling them back to cross her arms over her chest.

“You Dingus! You had us all worried!” Robin laughed dryly as she tucked her arms back into her chest. Steve then looked at Nancy, who was stood next to Robin.

“Hey, Nancy.” He offered a smile to her, which she returned.

“Hey, Steve.” She replied. Steve looked between the girls, then back at Eddie.

“Thanks, guys, really. I mean it.” Steve looked down into his lap and fiddled with his hands.

“You’re alright, Steve. I mean, not physically, right now, but its good, man. Like, you’re always here for us, so, we’re gonna be here for you.” Robin spoke, rambling a little, which made Steve laugh. They all fell silent for a moment before they heard rapid footsteps make their way down the corridor, startling all four of them.

Dustin skidded around the corner, desperately grabbing onto the door-frame to keep himself from slipping. He paused in the door way, slightly panting before literally throwing himself at Steve.

“Steve! Oh my god Steve! You’re okay! I hope you’re okay! Are you okay? Robin said you were in the hospital, and we rushed here as quick as we could!” As he said this, the rest of the kids all filled into the room, all completely out of breath. Steve just patted Dustin on the back.

“Hey man, I’m alright, I think.” Dustin glared at Steve as he laughed a little, trying not to hurt his throat. “Just had a little fall, that’s all.” Steve noticed Robin giving him a look but chose to ignore it. He wasn’t going to make these kids worry more.

“Aw man, does that mean I can’t call you for rides or bug you at work for a while?” Dustin complained, Steve sending him an incredulous look.

“Oh, I see how it is Henderson.” Steve crossed his arms. “You only care about me when it’s for your own benefit.” Everyone laughed as Dustin started to look increasingly panicked.
“No! Steve it’s not like that! We’re bros! I just- I always- you’re usually-“ Dustin interrupted himself with a groan as Steve laughed.

“Relax, Henderson, I’m joking man. I’m very happy you all came to see me.” Steve then flicked the brim of Dustin’s hat, sending it flying across the room, earning a frustrated groan from Dustin as he went to retrieve it. Steve’s eyes flicked over to the faces of the kids, all of them had concern written in bolded letters all over their faces, and Steve felt a pang go through his heart. “Hey, gremlins. Stop worrying about me. I should be out of here in a day or two. Tops.” He gave them all a smile. “When I get out of here, I’ll take you all for ice-cream, alright?” Steve heard a couple sniffs from the group, and they all nodded, still too winded to speak.

Several hours had passed, and it was only Robin and Dustin left in the room, although Eddie was now seated next to Steve on his bed. The kids had left a while ago, Mike and Will staying the longest, but still inevitably left for home. Dustin however, refused to leave, accompanied by Robin, the two sat in the chairs by Steve’s bed, talking for hours about nothing.

“No, No, Steve listen, they were siblings the whole time, their dad was the bad guy.” Dustin explained, hands wide in exasperation.

“Wait, no wait, but didn’t they kiss? Siblings don’t kiss, Henderson.” Dustin groaned as Robin laughed.

“They didn’t know they were siblings! They were separated at birth!” Steve squinted at Dustin, still trying to figure out what he meant.

“I still can’t believe you’ve never watched Star Wars, Stevie” Steve heard Eddie speak from behind him, and turned to face him.

“Well, I just never got around to it. Hell, I promised Dustin I’d watch them with him, but we haven’t done it yet.” Eddie just smirked as he watched Steve speak.

Robin and Dustin had almost gotten used to Eddie’s presence, still finding it slightly weird whenever Steve would pause mid conversation and look behind him, only to start up a completely new conversation seemingly by himself, but they managed. If it weren’t for Eddie, They wouldn’t have known that Steve collapsed, which gave the ghost in question a good amount of credit. Suddenly, Robins phone pinged, and she looked down at it before frowning.

“Nance’ is gonna be here in a couple minutes to come get us.” Robin slapped a hand down onto Dustin’s shirt, making him wince. “Come on, snotface, we’re gonna meet her in the carpark.” Robin Stood up and walked over to Steve, leaning down to hug him. “see ya Dingus. I’ll drop by tomorrow to see you.” Steve hugged her back and soon let go, only just barely preparing for Dustin to tackle hug him.

“Bye Henderson, I’m assuming I’ll see you tomorrow?” Steve asked, almost Rhetorically as Dustin nodded.

“Yep, I’ll ride down here and be here,” Robin then grabbed his collar and started dragging him out of the room. “Bye Steve!” He called out as he was dragged out, Robin sending him a wave as they both disappeared out of sight. Steve sighed and slumped back into his bed.

“Something on your mind, Sweetheart?” Eddie asked, laying a hand on the side of Steve’s face.

“I mean, it’s just weird.” Steve paused, Eddie looking at him concerned. “It’s weird being the one to be looked after, It’s usually my job. I’m Steve Harrington, Hawkins number one babysitter.” Steve laughed and Eddie only looked at him.

“How does that make you feel, Steve? Being looked after by all of them?” Steve locked eyes with Eddie and thought for a moment.

“Well, I don’t like it that’s for sure.” His nose crinkled in disgust as Eddie laughed. “I don’t know, Eddie. I just don’t want to burden them.”

“Steve you could never burden them. They all care so much about you its crazy. I’m sure Henderson hopped on his bike and rode all the way across town as soon as he heard you were in hospital, and the shithead refused to leave for hours! So did Robin!” Eddie smiled as Steve listened.

“yeah, I guess so.”

“No, I know so.” Eddie confirmed, leaning in closer to Steve, watching as a light flush washed over his face.

“Eddie,” Steve whispered, looking up through thick eyelashes.

“Yeah, Darling?” Eddie whispered back.

“Thank you for being here, again. You’ve made my life so much less lonely, and I couldn’t thank you enough for that. Honestly.” Steve smiled as he watched Eddie flush a little.
“Aw, Sweetheart, I love you too-“ Eddie was cut off by a sharp knock at the door. Steve turned his head and saw a man standing there. He supposed it was a doctor, as he was in a white coat and held several documents in his arms.

“Mr Harrington. May I have a moment to speak with you?” The man asked. Steve nodded and pulled himself up little.

“Yeah, yes, of course, what’s up Doc?” Steve chuckled to himself for a second before stopping immediately. The doctor took a seat on the chair next to Steve’s bed, taking a moment to look down at the papers in his hand, before looking back up at Steve.

“The results of your bloodwork came back, and…” The doctor paused. “We need to run some more tests to make sure, but it seems that your entire body has begun to shut down. There seems to be no cause at all and we’re not quite sure how to even treat you. Your condition is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, and it’s almost as if your body has completely given up.” As the doctor spoke, Steve felt his mind go numb. What?

“I’m- What? Am I-,” The doctor cut Steve off.

“I know this is a lot to take in, but we will do our best to try and help you. Now, I have a little more information about your condition if you’d like to hear it.” The words almost didn’t reach Steve, but he slowly gave a nod in response. “Alright, well, as I said, we don’t know much, but it seems your brain is the main target at this current moment, specifically the frontal lobe. It seems to be fast acting and spreading quick.” The doctor paused again, and Steve felt like he was about to faint. He tried desperately to fight off a panic attack, focusing on steadying his breathing. He calmed down a bit when he felt Eddie’s hand on his back.

“How- how much longer.. How much longer do I have left?” Steve breathed out his response. The doctor sighed and rubbed his head a little, reading over his papers once more.
“Well, we’re not one hundred percent certain, but based on how quickly its affecting you, I’d-“ The doctor paused. “I’d give you a week. maybe two. But we are actively looking into ways to prevent it or stop the spread.”

Steve felt his entire world crash down around him. The news had hit him like a tidal wave, he wasn’t sure if he could even believe it. He so desperately wanted to go back in the past, back a few moments to before he was told.

Steve Harrington had two weeks left to live.