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It wasn’t unusual for Steve to be the center of attention. The basketball player was always goofing off and acting out, lapping up the attention like a cat who got the cream. The girls adored him, the boys wanted to be him, and the teachers regretfully tolerated him because of his family’s money. Every day at school, Eddie saw the King of Hawkin’s High surrounded by people, laughing and joking like high school wasn’t a miserable burden every student had to endure. At least once a week, a new rumor about the guy would circulate. His peers would whisper about his latest conquest, his most recent parties, or the occasional fight.
The best Eddie ever heard, though, was when Nancy Wheeler, arguably the most intelligent girl in their school, had dumped him. And apparently, had run off to be with Jonathan Byers, one of the most isolated loners that haunted the school halls. It made Eddie laugh when he heard it. He’d even given a grand speech about how the mighty fall to his friends, soaking up their energy as it fed his own. Someone had finally put the king in his place.
Somehow, that joy faded as Eddie watched Steve, once again surrounded by a crowd of people, seizing on the gym floor. His eyes were rolled back, open only enough to show a hint of bloodshot white. His mouth was open, but his jaw was locked tight, giving him a nightmarish look. Even worse than that, though, was the way Steve’s limbs jerked uncontrollably, knocking loudly and painfully against the hardwood flooring, sure to bruise and ache later.
Someone was shouting Steve’s name, and the coach was kneeling down next to the boy, hovering unsurely.
Epilepsy.
Eddie knew the word, knew what it was supposed to look like, but he knew nothing about how to care for someone who had it, and by the looks of it, neither did their coach, who looked more spooked than a startled cat.
Someone was dispatched to get the nurse and call the hospital, and Eddie felt oddly helpless. He didn’t know Harrington past reputation and probably couldn’t care less about the guy. But something about seeing him like this was twisting his insides up like a pretzel, and he wondered if anyone else felt the same way.
By the time the nurse came rushing in, rambling about an ambulance being on its way, Steve had fallen still, his eyes fully closed, his hair soaked in sweat, and his basketball shorts soaked with urine. That last thing should have been something to laugh about, but Eddie only felt sick as he was shuffled away with the rest to watch as Steve was placed on a stretcher and carried away minutes later.
There was no grand speech that day of fallen kings but rather a quiet murmuring among the students who wondered about the golden boy. Since when did he have epilepsy?
-
Steve spent a week away from school, and that week's rumors and gossip were enough to make Eddie’s rage boil. While the majority of the school was curious, and some genuinely worried about the king’s condition, others were anything but concerned. Tommy H., who had once been Steve’s best friend and sidekick, used every opportunity to remind people how Steve had pissed himself like a little kid, and the obnoxious group that hung out with him all laughed along like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Some people were also the ignorant type, the kind who believed something was wrong with the guy. Like he was the devil incarnate instead of someone with academically proven medical issues.
And a few, a very small few, scowled and wished that Steve had choked on his own tongue. Because wouldn’t that just be the best? Like all of their problems would be solved if the guy who once showed them up during a game died. Ridiculous.
Their words were enough to make Eddie regret being part of the human race, and his dislike for the guy started to dwindle as he listened to them.
Was the guy really the king if his subjects so quickly dismissed him? Did Steve realize just how many of his so-called friends were ready to stab him in the back?
Maybe he did.
When Steve came back, everything changed. Steve no longer sought out the attention of his peers or his teachers. He sat through biology in his seat next to Eddie and not once made a smart remark. When he saw him at lunch, Steve was sitting by himself instead of his usual group of jocks and chicks. At one point, Nancy and Jonathan approached, which wasn’t too unusual, as their paths did cross occasionally at school. But what was weird was that Steve left the table only a minute later, tossing his lunch, tray and all, into the garbage.
Now, everyone knew that Steve still liked Nancy. Despite being dumped, no one had ever seen Steve dismiss her when they spoke. So something was wrong, extremely wrong if Steve was acting out so unpredictably.
A week passed, and the rumors and comments eased as new gossip flourished, but still, Steve remained quiet and avoided everyone.
At least he’d gone a week without another seizure, though.
Oops, he may have spoken too soon, Eddie realized as he glanced over in biology and saw Steve’s hands shaking. Panic spiked in his chest, and he waited with bated breath for Steve to start seizing.
But he didn’t. Steve just sat there, eyes flicking over the blackboard as he smoothed a crease in his book and set his pencil down before tucking his shaking hands under his armpits. That… worked? Somehow Steve didn’t end up on the floor, and although the incessant tapping of his foot that started up was more than annoying, Eddie was grateful to not witness another episode he’d have no way of stopping.
-
Now, Eddie still didn’t like Steve or know him enough to care, but he felt that at least one person in their school should know how to help if Steve had an episode. So he went to the library, checked out every medical book with epilepsy listed in their index, and spent the weekend reading over them.
The next time Steve started seizing, Eddie wasn’t going to be stuck feeling helpless.
It took a while for that next time to come, though. He tried to keep an eye out for any early warning signs, but he only had gym, biology, and lunch with him, not to mention that he clearly wasn’t Steve’s babysitter, so he wasn’t going to be devoting his every second to looking after him.
When it finally happened, it wasn’t in biology, gym, or lunch. Instead, it happened at a school assembly reviewing things like safety measures and fire drills. Eddie was going out of his mind with boredom, so when a commotion started a couple rows away, he was grateful for the break in the monotony. Until he realized what the fuss was about.
Steve was seizing again, and from the panicked cries, it was bad.
In seconds, Eddie had vaulted over the legs of the student next to him, rushing to Steve’s side and yelling at people to stand back. He was surprised when they actually listened. Steve’s eyelids were fluttering, and as he started jerking around harder, a slight whine left his mouth. Eddie quickly clocked his watch and snapped at someone to help him, and together he and one of the band geeks had Steve lifted out of the chair and placed on the ground in the gently sloped aisle. He wasn’t close enough to hit any of the chairs now, and Eddie stripped out of his jean jacket, folding it up and slipping it under Steve’s head to cushion it as it started whacking against the floor.
“It’s alright, Harrington. It’ll be over soon.” He murmured, soothing him gently as the boy whimpered in pain. He wasn’t unconscious this time, and Eddie almost wished he was, if only to not have to listen to his cries. He kept talking to him, paying no attention to the sound of the other students being shooed out of the room or the teachers as they talked about ambulances and notifying Steve’s parents.
A puddle grew beneath Steve’s body, soaking into the ugly school carpet, and Eddie shushed him as he whined. “Shh, shh. It’s okay. Nothing to be embarrassed about, Steve. I promise.”
The seizure lasted just past three minutes, and Steve managed only a drowsy incredulous glance at Eddie before he fell asleep from pure exhaustion.
-
Surprisingly, he was right back to school the next day, and no one was more shocked than Eddie when the king came up to him. “Uh, hey.”
“Hey.” Eddie echoed slowly, closing his locker. “What’s up, Harrington?”
“I just… Thanks, man. For yesterday.” Steve said, looking awkward and fidgety.
Was he expecting him to mock him after the fact? Eddie just shrugged, smiling as he patted Steve’s shoulder. “Anytime, Harrington.” He moved to walk away when Steve grabbed his arm.
“How did you know?” The basketball player asked. “No one else knows how to help.”
Eddie nearly didn’t give him a straight answer, but then he reconsidered. Ever since that first seizure, Steve had been labeled as a freak, and if there was one thing Eddie refused to do, it was to further isolate a fellow outcast.
“I read up on it. Someone should make sure you don’t break your head open against the gym floor.” He told the king, and the way Steve looked at him with such surprise was almost heartbreaking. “Really, anytime, Harrington.”
-
Somehow, that started a new friendship that Eddie never ever expected to form. They weren’t immediate best friends or anything, but now they shared amused glances in biology, teamed up for dodgeball in gym, and occasionally conversed with each other in the lunch line, even though they didn’t sit at the same table.
They started talking with each other before school started and sometimes sought each other out after if they weren’t busy with their extracurriculars. Then a random comment about Eddie's bike had Steve picking him up for school most mornings. Eddie ragged on Steve’s music choices in the car, and Steve picked on his in return when he brought his own cassettes to listen to. Before long, Eddie was completely comfortable calling Steve a good friend, a close friend even, as Steve started to open up about his epilepsy and the struggle to find the right medications and dosage.
Eddie started to better recognize the signs of a seizure and the varying degrees of severity they appeared in. He helped Steve through one particularly rough patch where a new medication wreaked havoc on him and most days left him feeling sick and weak.
Steve started to join him and their fellow ‘freaks’ at lunch, and even though he didn’t care about their DnD discussions, he didn’t mock them for it. In fact, he admitted that the kids he babysat were obsessed with the game, so he knew more about it than anyone expected him to.
He became good friends with most of Eddie’s lost little sheep, and soon he became someone that all of them could count on when the mockery directed at them became biting and harsh. He might not have jumped into a fight with fists flying, but he had a sharper tongue than Eddie ever thought to give him credit for and a penchant for knowing exactly what buttons to push to shut someone up. Eddie took notes of his best comebacks to use for his latest campaign.
-
Their friendship was unlikely, but Eddie soon considered him his best friend. So when Eddie walked into the locker room after basketball practice, brushing shoulders with Billy Hargrove in the doorway, he was quick to recognize the signs of a seizure in Steve.
His friend was sitting on the bench, staring off into the distance, gaze blank. His hands were twitching just slightly, and Eddie moved to sit down next to him. It was just a small seizure, nothing major to worry about, and not the type of seizure he could do much about. But he could keep his friend company.
But the seizure didn’t stop after a few seconds like these kinds usually did, and Eddie started to grow worried. “Steve? Hey, Steve? Come on, big boy. I don’t like this.” He said, moving to get in front of Steve, setting his hands on his shoulders. “Snap out of it, Steve!”
He did. With a jerk, Steve inhaled sharply. His eyes finally met Eddie’s, and he blinked a few times before speaking. “I’m okay.”
“You’re okay?” Eddie repeated, and when Steve only nodded, he threw his hands up in the air. “Then what the hell was that?!” He shouted. “You’re not supposed to seize that long with that kind!”
Steve suddenly looked tired, running a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t an episode, Eddie. Geez, stop yelling, will you?”
“Then what was that?!” Eddie asked, still too loud, judging by Steve’s flinch. He toned it down. “Seriously, man. Are you okay?”
Steve nodded, but his hand was shaking as he lowered it. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little…” He made a vague motion with his hand.
“Wow. That’s very aptly said, Harrington.” Eddie snarked and relaxed a little when Steve responded by giving him the stink eye.
“Billy Hargrove was just being a jerk, okay? I overreacted to something he said, that’s all.” Steve explained when Eddie didn’t break eye contact.
“What did he say?” Eddie asked. Steve wasn’t known as someone who took a bully’s threats to heart, and if Billy managed to send him into some sort of panic attack over something, then it had to be something bad.
Steve was quiet for a minute before answering. “He said the next time I showed him up on the court, he’d give me more than just brain damage.”
“More than just… Steve, are you saying..?” Eddie didn’t want to believe it, didn’t even want to say it.
“Yeah, it was him.” The former king answered. “That fight I got into after Halloween? Everyone thought it had to be Jonathan because of Nancy and all… But it was Billy. It’s what started the seizures and everything.” He said with a sigh.
“Man, that’s…” Eddie slowly sat back down. “That’s like legitimately horrifying, dude.”
Steve huffed a laugh. “Yeah, yeah, it is.” He agreed, sounding close to tears as he covered his face.
Eddie was quiet for a moment as he let Steve regain some composure. “So what are you going to do? Because I think that after everything he’s done to you, you should give him hell.”
Steve looked at him, and a corner of his mouth lifted just a bit. “You know what? I think I’m going to do just that.” He decided, and Eddie grinned wickedly as he clapped him on the shoulder.
“That’s the spirit, Harrington!”
-
When Steve dribbled circles around Billy in the next game, the entire Hellfire Club was in the stands, cheering him on. And if, after the match, Billy Hargrove came after Steve, well, Eddie would make sure that he regretted it.