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Steve laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was searching for answers to questions he wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. He thought about everything that’s happened since spring break. The ways everything has changed. It was overwhelming, yet he’d never felt this calm in years. The upside down was gone for good. The Byers moved back, Hopper was alive, and Eleven had her dad back. Eddie managed to survive, but it had been touch and go for days. Steve had been in the hospital beside him, beds on other sides of the room together. Down the hall was Max, and all Steve could do was worry about her. But now she was doing better. Her bones had healed, and she was blind now, but she was just as lively as ever. The town had managed to piece itself back together. Steve’s parents swore they were never coming back to Hawkins and gave Steve the house, fully washing their hands of the town. Eddie’s name was cleared, Max was doing great, and Steve was head over heels for Eddie.
Once Eddie was discharged from the hospital, Steve had opened his house up to Eddie and Wayne. They hadn’t gotten a new home yet, and Steve had extra rooms. Wayne had requested to be put on shifts at the plant that were during the morning instead of all night. So, when Wayne was away for a shift Steve took care of keeping an eye on Eddie. He was careful changing the bandages that covered most of Eddie’s body. The two had a system. Eddie would make jokes while Steve changed his bandages for him before moving onto his own bandages, at which point Eddie would begin flirting with Steve heavily. Slowly, the little comments started to build up outside of when bandages were being changed and wounds were getting cleaned. Steve would comment on Eddie’s dimples whenever he’d smile with his hair up, Eddie would gush anytime Steve came out the bathroom from a shower without his hair styled. Eddie liked to sit in the kitchen anytime Steve cooked and talk about everything that consisted of nothing, and Steve enjoyed having someone to test his recipes on. They’d wrap a plate up for when Wayne got in and would put the rest up before continuing their new routine.
When Wayne would return around dinner, that was when Steve had time to sit with Max. At that point, the rest of the party wouldn’t be able to fill the room as their parents wanted them home. So Steve spent his nights in the hospital, sitting with Max and reading the books her mom dropped off. Susan would always tell Steve how appreciative she was that Max had him to look out for her. She spent as much time as she could in the hospital, but her job still kept her away. Once Max finally woke up, Steve was there beside her. He got the nurses to find the doctor quickly before going right back to Max’s side. She still had to let her bones heal, and the doctors wanted to run some different tests now that she was awake. Every second that was happening, Steve was there. It was a long night, but every moment was worth it. The doctor’s determined that Max was fully blind, and that it wasn’t something that would go away. They just had to wait on her bones to fully heal before they would discharge her with a wheelchair and scheduling physical therapy sessions to help her regain mobility.
When the time did come for Max to leave the hospital, Steve and Susan figured out an arrangement. Steve had suggested that he could bring Max to and from her therapy appointments since Susan would be working during her appointments. Steve had also offered for Max to stay at his house. He’d explained that the roads by his house were undamaged by the earthquake, and that the smoother drive should hopefully be easier on Max. He also pointed out that he had no problem taking care of Max, that he was used to the other kids being around too, so it wasn’t an issue looking after just Max. He’d also expressed that Wayne and Eddie were more than willing to help Max as well, meaning that she’d have three people making sure she was okay while Susan handled the hours her boss was assigning her. The first thing Steve did when Susan agreed was have (yet another) spare key made so Susan could come by at any time to spend time with Max. He’d dropped Max off at his house while Wayne was there, and went with Susan to pack up Max’s things. Soon, an old guest bedroom on the ground floor was transformed into Max’s room.
With Steve bringing Max to her therapy appointments, that meant he and Eddie were getting out of the house more. Eddie, while having his name cleared by both the government and Hopper, was still wary of going into town. He was grateful that so many people believed the narrative that Jason was actually a Satanist wearing Christianity as his disguise to gain the trust of the people and most of the town no longer hated him. But there were still a few who didn’t believe what the government had come up with. As time went on, though, Max needed less therapy and Eddie was more comfortable going into town.
Wayne eventually decided on a new plot for the government-provided trailer, and let Eddie know there would always be room for him there. Steve thanked Wayne while Eddie had his arm around Steve's waist. The two waved as he drove off in his truck before turning to their home. While one less person was living there, Steve couldn’t help but think about the way it had felt to realize it actually felt like a home now. He’d been overwhelmed, shocked someplace he used to find so cold was suddenly filled by warmth.
Steve had laid on his bed while Eddie went to take a shower. The days of bandages were long behind them, Max was heard walking through the house, and they were safe. This was a weird feeling to Steve, but one he never wanted to let go of. It was different and new, but it was far from being strange. It was the most normal thing ever to him. Eddie stepped out of the shower, pants slung low on his hips and scars proudly on display. He scrubbed his hair dry with a towel before finding a shirt to pull on. He laid beside Steve for a moment, pressing kisses all over his face until Steve couldn’t help but smile. Steve returned the favor, letting his lips linger against Eddie’s until the doorbell rang. Pulling apart, the two went downstairs. Eddie went to the dining room table where he’d set up for the campaign earlier today while Steve opened the door for the rest of the party to come in. He settled into the living room with Eleven, Max, and Robin after the other kids rushed past him to the table.