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It's been two days since they escaped from the Upside Down after killing Vecna and Steve's body still feels sore when he's woken up by the sunlight filtering through his curtains. He sits up in his bed, muscles aching with every movement, and eventually manages to get himself into a sitting position.
As he rubs the sleep from his eyes, he catches sight of the bag that's been sitting in the corner of his room untouched. He hasn't dared to open it yet, afraid of the reality he'll have to face once he looks at its contents. He knows that he will have to do this one day. That he can't keep avoiding the elephant in the room that comes in the shape of a green plastic bag.
With a heavy feeling in his chest, he pushes himself off the bed with his hands and approaches the bag slowly, as if it might lash out at him. He's been bitten by a lot of things recently, as the wounds all over his body can attest for, but the physical pain is still nothing in comparison to the heaviness he's felt in his chest ever since they crossed back over to the real world Hawkins. He won't forget anything of what he's seen down there easily, but he's sure that the way Dustin was violently sobbing and shaking in his hold as Steve did his best to drag him back to safety with an arm around his shoulders is something that will be taunting him until his last breath.
Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Steve picks up the bag and carefully peels the plastic away to reveal Eddie's vest. Steve gently runs his fingers over the rough fabric. It's stiff with a mix of dried sweat, blood, dirt and whatever else got on it during their adventure, but there is this hollow in his chest that makes him put it on regardless. He turns to the mirror to look at himself. The image staring back at him is a harrowing one: There are dark shadows under his eyes and his hair is a wild mess. But that isn't the scary thing. The thing that makes him shudder is the cleanliness of his wounded body - a stark contrast against the dirty vest he's wearing. It feels wrong to have this memory of Eddie so dirty and stained. Just like the twisted image that Hawkins still has of Eddie. They think that he's a murderer. A cult leader. The devil himself.
Steve hadn't really bought into the propaganda from the get-go, knowing all too well what kind of things lay beneath Hawkins' clean and happy facade. But even he has to admit, that he didn't entirely rule out the possibility that Eddie might have killed Chrissy in the beginning. He hadn't known Eddie all that well and if it hadn't been for Dustin, he probably never would have bothered too much to get to know him. But once he did, he saw that there was no way that Eddie could have done this. No way this kindhearted, if somewhat weird and nerdy guy would be able to take an innocent life like that. The thought that people still wrongly accuse Eddie of crimes he didn't commit makes Steve shudder with a mix of anger and sadness.
It is then that he decides that he should wash Eddie's jacket. That he should wear it to honour his memory. The memory of a slightly intimidating-looking metalhead with a heart of gold.
Steve turns a little in front of the mirror and slides his hands into the pockets of the vest. That's when his fingertips brush against the corner of something. When he pulls it out, it's a folded piece of paper with his name written on it.
With a confused expression on his face, he unfolds the paper and begins to read the letter
Dear Steve,
I didn’t think I’d ever do this but the last few days have been crazy so here we go.
Chances are that you never even noticed me before you got dragged along by Dustin to help me out, but I noticed you. I mean it’s hard not to, when you look like this. Truth is, I’ve had a bit of a crush on you ever since we were in class together. It was kinda embarrassing really...because why would the King of Hawkins High ever look at a freak like me?
After you graduated, I saw you again a few more times at the Scoops + Family Video...doubt that you even recognised me. In your defense, you were always talking to a beautiful girl, so I don’t blame you.
This is probably all still ridiculous, but after we met again and I saw how much you’ve turned from a famous douchebag (sorry!) into a decent guy who cares, I’ve been thinking about you even more.
I know there's a big fat chance that the cops will get me + that you’ll find this letter when I’m already rotting in jail. But being on the run and dealing with the crazy shit in Hawkins has put some things in perspective for me. Life can be short and we might not get endless chances to say what we wanna say.
So I guess this is my way of shootin my shot.
I like you, Steve.
<3 Eddie
Steve lets the pad of his thumb brush across the little scribbled heart next to Eddie’s name, all written in capital letters.
He doesn’t realise that he's started to cry until a tear drops onto the paper, smudging the ink.