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The nights were always the hardest.
It had been two weeks since he was pulled out half-dead from the Upside Down, and Eddie was still afraid of the dark. Him, Eddie Munson, had the fear of most children.
After tossing and turning for the millionth time that night, he flops hard onto his back and covers his face with a pillow. He needs to talk to someone. Every time Eddie closed his eyes, he was back in that hellscape. There was no way he was going through an evening of nightmares again.
Eddie contemplates his options, swinging his legs around to the edge of the bed with a sigh. Dustin? No, it would just make him upset. Kid held him as he almost died; no need to bring it back up. Nancy? She’d listen, sure, but she wouldn’t completely understand. Robin would answer the phone with an overly groggy voice, ask if they could talk about it in the morning, and hang up. There was only one option.
Steve.
Steve was the only other person who the bats had attacked. Steve had carried him out of the Upside Down. Steve would understand the nightmares and feelings of constant terror. Not letting himself overthink it, Eddie releases another heavy sigh and begins dialing.
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Steve cracks his eyes open and squints at the clock. Two-thirty. Who the hell is calling me at two-thirty? Realizing only someone he knows would call this early, Steve pulls himself out of bed and over to the phone. “Yeah, hello?”
The person on the other line doesn’t answer for a few seconds, unsure. “Hey, Harrington, it’s Eddie. Sorry for calling so late… or early.”
Steve masks the surprise he feels. “Oh, yeah, hey, man. What’s up?”
More silence, then, “This is going to sound weird, but uh, do you think I could stop by? I know we aren’t that close, but I’ve been having trouble sleeping and need to talk to someone.”
It’s Steve’s turn to be silent. “Is this about what we went through? Because it’s normal to have nightmares and stuff-”
Eddie cuts him off sharply. “Can I just come over? Please?” God, he hates how desperate he sounds.
“Sure, dude. And don’t worry about trying to be quiet when you get here; there’s no one else home.”
Eddie tries not to think about the sadness in Steve’s voice at that last line as he hangs up. He tries not to think about how sexy Steve’s morning voice is on the way to his house. And most of all, Eddie tries not to think about how excited he is to see him as he walks up to the front door.
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A very disheveled Steve Harrington opens the door, and Eddie does his best not to gawk; he’s never seen Steve’s hair looking less than perfect, even in the fucking Upside Down. He fights a grin at the privilege. The King of Hawkins High suffered from bedhead- who knew?
“Earth to Munson. You coming in or what?” Steve waves his hand in front of his face, and this time Eddie does grin.
“I’m coming; chill out.”
He follows Steve into the house that’s ten times bigger than his trailer. “You really live here? Man, it must be nice to spread out. And is that a pool back there?” He lets out a long, low whistle.
“Yeah, well, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Big houses echo.” Without another word, Steve leads Eddie up the stairs to his bedroom. “Make yourself at home. That’s what people normally say, right?”
“Shit, dude, I wouldn’t know.” He smirks as Steve rolls his eyes.
“I’m getting some water. You need anything?” The guitarist shakes his head, and Steve exits. When he comes back, he finds Eddie looking through some mix tapes.
“You got anything worth listening to on these, Stevie Boy?”
“In your opinion? Probably not.” Steve pats the spot next to him on the bed. “Now sit your ass down and talk,” His voice softens. “Because I’m listening.”
With an almost reluctant sigh, Eddie does as Steve says. As much as he wanted– no, needed –to talk, he felt awkward doing it on Steve’s bed next to Steve. He’d thought they’d talk in the larger-than-life dining room or something. “Okay, um, sorry.” The guitarist clears his throat. “I haven’t been sleeping. And whenever I actually manage to drift off, I just have nightmares about that, that-”
“Hell?” Steve finishes for him.
“Yeah. Hell. I know it’s been weeks, but I can’t seem to get over it-” Then, to Eddie’s surprise, Steve snorts incredulously.
“Dude, really? ‘I can’t believe I haven’t been able to recover from massive amounts of trauma in 15 days.’” Steve mocks in a high-pitched voice. “No shit, you haven’t been sleeping. In case you’ve forgotten, you were almost dead when we brought you out of there. That isn’t something you just get over.”
Deep down, Eddie knows Steve is right. If only he could get the not-so-deep-down part of him to know it, too. “Do you have nightmares?” Eddie asks, slightly hesitant.
Looking down, Steve’s voice weakens, becoming almost tender. “I… I haven’t really stopped having nightmares since I was first roped into this whole mess. It’s scary shit.” He whispers. “It got better, for a little while, until Vecna showed up in all his terrifying glory, twisting kids left and right.” He sneers, his face riddled with hurt and disgust.
Eddie visibly flinches, and Steve recoils from his insensitive words. “Shit, Chrissy. Sorry, man. I wasn’t thinking. Do you… do you blame yourself for that? Because it wasn’t your fault.”
The boy runs a hand down his face. “Fuck, dude, I don’t know. She was at my place. Maybe if she’d stayed away from me-”
Without thinking, Steve reaches an arm out and grips Eddie’s shoulder. “No. As much as it sucks, Vecna would have gotten her no matter where she was. What happened wasn’t your fault, okay? It wasn’t.”
Eddie nods, doing his best to believe it. “It gets better, though, right? It can’t be like this forever.” He pauses, then whispers, “It can’t,”
“You trying to convince yourself or me?” The corner of Steve’s mouth quirks upward, forming a half-grin. “But yeah, it’ll get better. Eventually.”
The two boys sit in silence that Eddie initially thought would be wildly awkward, but instead, he found it… comforting? He couldn’t believe he felt safe with Mr. Popular, the one and only Steve “The Hair” Harrington.
Steve is the first to break the silence. “Would you want to stay here? For tonight, I mean. You might sleep better in a different environment.” Steve forces himself to believe that that was the reason he wanted Eddie to stay.
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Thanks.” Another pause, this one definitely awkward. “Is there, like, a guest room or something?”
The past king of Hawkins High ignores the pang of disappointment he feels at Eddie wanting to sleep in a different room. Of course, he wants his own space. What’s wrong with you? Pull it together. Snapping out of his head, Steve answers, “Yeah. The sheets and stuff should be clean. It’s across the hall, two doors down. The bathroom is on the left. Raid the kitchen if you need anything.”
Eddie turns to leave but stops and faces the other boy. “Hey, Harrington?” He pauses, not sure where exactly he’s going with this. “...thank you.”
Steve nods. “Yeah, anytime.”