Archive of Our Own

Steve drove to the trailer park, staring at the condemned remnants of the Munson trailer as it came into sight. There was debris and dust throughout the trailer park, but Eddie’s trailer was the worst off. Part of it had collapsed inward, and a side of the trailer sloughed off entirely, leaving it partially open.

The sun was just starting to rise and with it, the dust in the air became more visible. Whatever Vecna did had not left Hawkins. It wouldn’t have felt right if it had been a nice day today.

He hopped over the police tape and made his way inside the trailer.

It was a mess. But Steve was still able to identify all these things of Eddie’s. The broken tapes in the corner, ripped up comic books and the beaten up school bag were undeniably his. There was a sticky note on the fridge that read ‘Will Be Home Late — Corroded Coffin Practice.’ His handwriting was large and sloped to the left; Steve had never seen it before. If Steve closed his eyes, he could pretend Eddie was alive.

That was dangerous territory. Pretending would do none of them good. He couldn’t dream up a world where monsters didn’t exist, where Eddie never died, where Max never got hurt, where Barb was alive. All they had was this cold reality.

Steve looked up.

The gate was closed for the most part. There was a small sliver of light that Steve might just be able to fit through if he tried really hard. He stared at the light, transfixed and wondered if he should just go for it.

No. Not yet.

Steve checked his watch.

He was going to be late. He had a funeral to get to.

The service was short and the room was empty. There was half a pew full of people in the whole building. It was in sharp contrast to Chrissy’s funeral, which had been held yesterday; that room had been packed. It made Steve sick.

Chrissy had died horribly. Painfully. But at least she was mourned and remembered and missed.

They’d tried to clear Eddie’s name. Even with government support, and the Hawkins police withdrawing their warrant for Eddie’s arrest, the townspeople still thought he was guilty. It was too easy to believe he’d be the one to do something like this. Eddie with his vicious grin, his carefree attitude, his too-loud music. And it wasn’t just that. Eddie did seem suspicious. He was the last to see Chrissy and then he fled the scene. No explanation would change that — except for the truth which was much more complicated.

People needed someone to blame, and he was the easiest target. Even in death, he was hated.

So it wasn’t a surprise that the only people here were Eddie’s friends.

The funeral was over before he could think of what to say to Eddie’s uncle. The man had aged ten years over the last week — the grief hung on him like a threadbare coat. Steve flinched whenever he made eye contact. The worst part was that he couldn’t even tell him the truth. Steve couldn’t explain that Eddie was a hero, that his death wasn’t meaningless. He couldn’t even explain how he knew Eddie. He settled on a generic, “I’m sorry” and slipped out of the room as fast as he could, making his way to the washroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror, taking in the blossoming dark circles under his eyes and frayed hair. Steve looked like how he felt: like he’d snap apart any second now.

The door swung open, and his eyes shot to the door.

“It’s the men’s bathroom, y’know,” Steve said, when he saw Robin.

Robin shrugged and unceremoniously sat on the floor. “What’re they going to do? Kick me out?”

Steve shrugged out of his black jacket letting it fall to the ground, slumping down against the wall to join Robin on the grimy floor.

Her eyes were rimmed red, too. Funerals weren’t easy on any of them.

Steve knew he should be outside, telling Dustin this wasn’t his fault, comforting Mike and Lucas, saying something meaningful to Eddie’s uncle. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t face him, he couldn’t do this again.

“I can’t believe this is happening again?” Steve said, “How many people have to die like this?”

It was a rhetorical question. They both knew the answer was too many already.

The relief Steve had felt knowing Hopper had never died was dampened by the unyielding grief. Grief that he had barely any right to feel. He hadn’t even known Eddie. They hadn’t even been friends. Well. That wasn’t true.

In those short days they’d spent together, Steve had thought of Eddie as a friend. He was magnetic and easy to like even though Steve hadn’t wanted to. He was funny and clever and so fucking dramatic. Eddie made his chest lighter —- just being around him was enough to make anyone a little happier. He had an infectious laugh and it was just so easy to get along with him Now Steve regretted turning Dustin down all those times he suggested he hang out with Eddie. Would anything have changed if he knew Eddie better? If he could predict that Eddie would do the one thing Steve asked him not to do?

He felt empty inside. Scooped out and hollow, like someone had taken every bit of hope that Steve had. He could no longer imagine a world where monsters were gone for good. It had been a week since Eddie had died and thinking about him was like poking at a new bruise.

Steve ached knowing that he’d never grow up, never get a chance to get out of Hawkins and be better than this. Eddie would’ve flourished somewhere else. Eddie wasn’t the first person Steve knew who was dead. He wasn’t the youngest. But in those few days he'd gotten to know Eddie, he’d really grown to like him. Steve thought they could have been good friends if Eddie was alive right now. Not quite like him and Robin, but something similar. Someone who understood what the Upside Down was like was in short supply and had seemingly become a prerequisite for friendship with Steve these days.

Eddie had a future. He had ambitions and plans. And now all those strings were cut down.

Steve had never thought he could escape Hawkins. It felt unfair that he was the one who survived. Steve had known what he was getting into. He didn’t want to die. But he always knew that it might happen.

Robin sighed. “I’m tired, too.”

Steve sighed and pulled her into his side. Her head fell against his shoulder, and her velvet dress bunched up in between them.

There wasn’t even a body to bury. Everything about this reminded him of Barb. Her death, her funeral, the long months afterwards filled with guilt and reckoning, the lunches with her parents. How was he supposed to face Eddie’s uncle now?

Would Dustin become the same as Nancy had, after Barb’s death? He didn’t want to see that happen. Nancy had never been the same after. She’d taken on the guilt of Barb’s death like a coat, refusing to put it down even years down the line.

Steve hadn’t understood it at the time. But he got it now. This mix of grief and guilt and responsibility was nothing like he felt before. There was nothing he could’ve done for Barb but Eddie he could have saved.

“Do you think his body is still there?” Steve asked, “In the Upside Down.”

Robin hesitated. “Probably.”

“We shouldn’t have left him there.”

Robin nodded. “I know. We didn’t have an option.”

“There’s always an option,” Steve said.

He should’ve insisted on staying with Dustin and Eddie. Or fuck, he should’ve stayed with Lucas, Erica and Max. Nancy and Robin might've been able to take down Vecna on their own? Maybe?

No matter how much thought he put into it, he couldn’t think of one arrangement that would’ve led to both Max and Eddie surviving. Well, Max was alive.

But… they didn’t know how long that would last. They didn’t know if she’d ever wake up. She was in a coma that had no conceivable medical cause. Which meant that there was no medical treatment. Maybe El would be able to help. Hopefully.

Steve wouldn’t be able to take it if she died, too. But there was nothing he could do for her. Steve wasn’t a doctor and he had no magical powers. He sat vigil in her hospital room, brought flowers for her room and drove the kids to the hospital. He listened to her doctors squabble over why she wasn’t waking up, getting no closer to any solutions. Steve felt so useless looking at her, a reminder of the responsibility he had and squandered. He might have been closest to Dustin, but Steve had always felt most protective of Max. Load of good that did.

Eddie was beyond help now. But there was still one thing he could do for him.

“I’m going back for him. I want to bring his body back.”

Robin sighed. “Steve, the gates are closed. We can’t.”

“The gate’s not closed all the way,” Steve said.

“What?”

“There’s a gap,” Steve said, holding his hands out to demonstrate, “I could slide through. Bring him back. Give his uncle something to bury.”

Robin shook her head. “You can’t.”

“I’m going to try. I have to try.”

He’d made up his mind. Once he’d noticed this morning that the gate was still partially open, he knew what he was going to do. He just couldn’t do it without giving Robin a head’s up. She deserved more. She’d stuck with him through everything. He knew he was the reason Robin had even become entangled with all of this.

Steve paused. “If I don’t come back, tell Dustin —”

“Don’t be stupid,” Robin snapped before he could finish his sentence. It was for the best because he wasn’t sure what he would want to tell Dustin that would take the sting off the betrayal he’d feel. “I’m coming with you.”

“Robin.”

She couldn’t come. She couldn’t! It was too dangerous. And this would be them running toward danger, rather than all the times when they’d been running away. And it would be Steve putting her in this position.

“I can’t lose you too.”

“Well, neither can I,” Robin said, her voice rising, “Did you think about that? What would I do if you died, Steve? How could I live with myself knowing I let you go alone? You’re not going alone. How selfish can you be? You’d make me go on without you?”

“I don’t even know if it’ll work.”

“Then we’ll find out together,” Robin said, her voice still sharp with panic, “You’re not leaving me behind.”

Steve’s chest felt tight. This wasn’t what he wanted.

But he recognized the stubborn glint in Robin’s eye. He wouldn’t be able to talk her out of following him. If he went without her, he knew she’d crawl into the gate right after he did.

“Robin, please.”

Robin pulled him into a hug and mumbled into his neck, “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

Steve swallowed down the lump in his throat. “Alright.”

He let himself stay in her embrace for another beat before pulling himself away.

Robin got up, unceremoniously smoothing her dress before holding a hand out to him. “Ready?”

“What?”

“We’re going, aren’t we?”

Steve clasped Robin’s hand, letting her pull him up. “Right.”

There was no reason to prolong this. Sooner was better than later. This should be simple. They were just going into the Upside Down, recovering Eddie’s body and leaving.

They snuck out of the funeral home, luckily unnoticed. They weren’t going to tell anyone else. Steve didn’t know how many more lives he could feel responsible for. He knew there’d be hell to pay when Nancy found out. Though there might not be any inherent danger in this, Steve knew that she wouldn’t approve. They didn’t know how the Upside Down worked.

Steve let Robin fiddle with the radio as he drove to the trailer park. She changed stations every minute or so. Steve wasn’t feeling any more settled than her. His fingers tapped against the steering wheel.

They got there in no time at all.

Steve parked the car. He got out a bundle of rope from the trunk, his trusty nailbat and a handgun for good measure. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Robin ducked under the police tape, looking like she was trying to win a game of limbo. Steve simply walked over it.

He looked at Eddie’s trailer. It looked even worse in the daylight. It was pretty much split in half and the foundation was unsteady. It felt like the ground would crumble beneath them. There was a drizzle of rain, and from the looks of the sky, it was just about to get worse. But it was good. Maybe the rain would wash some of the dust away.

“You don’t have to come,” Steve said, one last time.

Robin rolled her eyes and walked inside. “Can’t stop me now, Steve.”

He followed her, shivering, as he looked around. It was eerie. Especially since he knew this was where Chrissy died. Hopefully, this would be the last time he ever came in here.

Steve threw the rope through the gate, tying it down against the table. He made sure the knots were tight.

“I’ll go first,” Steve said, “And you can toss the bat and gun in after me, and climb.”

“Why don’t I go first?” Robin said, “I’ll probably fit better.”

“Fine! Ladies first then,” Steve said, exasperated.

Robin climbed up carefully, disappearing through the gate. Steve threw the nailbat and the gun, before quickly following her, his heart thudding the whole time.

He fell hard onto the other side, his shoulder bruising against the wood floor.

“Smooth,” Robin said and tossed him his bat.

“Like you did better.”

Steve twirled the nailbat in his hands, it had a reassuring weight.

Robin propped the gun against her shoulder, and they left the trailer. They were ready for anything the Upside Down would throw at them. He didn’t know what new things might be left down there, but he knew better than to be anything but vigilant.

Steve was silent, barely daring to exhale, hoping not to attract any monsters to them. It was pitch quiet, the only sound was their footsteps. They didn’t need to drag attention to themselves.

The Upside Down was empty as always. It was strange to see this not-quite-right version of Hawkins. This was what Hawkins might have been if Vecna survived to carry out his plan.

He’d discussed the plan endlessly in the car with Robin. They were to be in and out of the Upside Down as quickly as possible. Steve didn’t want to bring any monsters back with him or cause a bigger problem than the one he was trying to solve. The biggest hurdle was going to be carrying Eddie’s body. Steve was pretty strong, but Eddie would be dead weight, and he was pretty much his size. He just hoped he could bring him up the rope without too much struggle.

He was dreading seeing Eddie again. It had been hard enough the first time. It would be even harder now, who knew what he’d look like now, what pieces of him the Upside Down might have taken.

He followed Robin back outside the Upside Down trailer, looking down at all the remnants they’d left behind. There was a small trail of blood — must have been his own. There were all the stupid weapons and shields they’d made — load of good that did in the end.

Finally, Steve made his way to where Eddie had been the last time they saw him. There was a splotch of blood on the ground, and Eddie’s guitar was in pieces, so he knew they were in the right area. It was just outside the trailer, so it couldn’t have been far. Steve squinted, looking around the area. This must have been the right place. He was sure of it.

He looked down again, taking in the landscape. This was where Eddie died.

“He’s not here,” Robin murmured.

“What?” Steve said. It didn’t make sense. Where was he? His body couldn’t have decomposed into nothing that fast. And he’d gotten the feeling that the Upside Down was in stasis; did things even break down here? Eddie was supposed to be where they left him.

“This is strange,” Robin said.

It was strange. It unsettled Steve. Did Vecna take Eddie? Was he going to do something to his dead body? Oh god. The thought was horrifying. They never should have left him there. Steve hadn’t been thinking at the time — he’d only wanted to make sure that Max was okay, and get Dustin the hell away from the Upside Down. If only he’d brought back Eddie’s body when he had the chance.

All the possibilities of where Eddie could be were horrifying. Well, none of it was more horrible than what they did know — Eddie was dead, regardless of where his body was.

“Let’s go back,” Steve said, shoulders slumped.

Robin hesitated, but shrugged.

He couldn’t save Eddie, and he couldn’t bring him back. What could he do?

They quickly went back to the gate. He didn’t want to dwell here any longer.

Robin crossed first again, and Steve followed right after her, only glancing behind him once to see the eerie barren wasteland and its unnatural silence.

He was instantly reassured to be back in the normal world. The Upside Down was freaky.

“That was so weird,” Robin said, “Where did he go?”

Steve frowned. “Fuck, it can’t be anywhere good.”

They left the trailer, and started walking back to Steve’s car. They were back from the Upside Down so quickly that they could make it to Eddie’s wake — Steve had thought that this was going to be an all-day ordeal. As much as Steve didn’t want to go to it, he knew he should. Their absence would be noticed. Steve sighed. He was so tired.

Except — wait, where did he park? He could’ve sworn it was right past the police tape, but there was nothing there. Was he going senile already? Steve looked around, searching for his car.

Robin stopped walking. “Steve, something is wrong.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Your car is missing!”

“Maybe it was towed,” he said, though he didn’t believe it. They never towed cars in Hawkins, not unless it was really egregiously parked. And all the police manpower was being used in the relief effort. He just wanted a rational reason for what was happening — he didn’t want this to be another one of Vecna’s plans or some Upside Down problem.

“The flowers outside Max’s trailer were white. Now they’re red.”

“So someone did some gardening.”

Robin shook her head. “No. Everything is a little different. Look!”

Steve looked. He instantly knew what she meant. It was small things like the fact that Mrs. Lowe across the street used to have a lawn chair outside her trailer or how sunny it was now, despite the fact that it had been raining just minutes ago. And his missing car was especially damning.

“This is really strange,” Steve said. Was someone pulling a prank on them? The kids weren’t above it, but they wouldn’t today, of all days, nor did they even know Robin and Steve were here. No one knew they were here.

He couldn’t be in denial any longer. Clearly something was wrong.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Robin said, looking around.

“What? We were never in Kansas. And this is still Hawkins.”

“You know. The Wizard of Oz.”

“Oh, right,” Steve said, “Hey, why do you get to be Dorothy?”

“Well, I’m definitely not Toto.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Steve wondered what they were supposed to do now. He guessed they could walk back to his house. Maybe they could borrow Max’s bike from her trailer, and go to Nancy’s to figure out what happened. There was never a dull moment in Hawkins. Something was always happening. Steve sighed. This was a hard enough day without this added complication.

Robin pulled out her walkie-talkie from her backpack. “Hello? I think we need help or something. Code we need someone to pick us up. Code white? Whatever code it is.”

The device wasn’t making the crackly sound it normally did when it was on.

“I think it’s broken,” Steve said, examining it. There had been no response on the other end, and Dustin was vigilant about the walkie-talkies so Steve knew, if anyone had heard, they would've gotten a response by now. And he’d been good about replacing the batteries lately.

Robin pointed. “Wait, Steve, look at the road.”

Steve squinted. “Hey! That’s my car.”

“Why would someone steal your car just to bring it back?”

Steve didn’t know, but it was definitely freaky. He still had the keys in his pocket. Eddie had taught them all how to hotwire a car though. If one of the kids was playing a prank on them, they’d be grounded for fucking ever, Steve vowed. There was no reason to drag the beamer into this.

The car stopped, not too far from them, but he couldn’t make out who was inside. He held his breath as someone opened the door on the driver’s side.

Robin screamed.

Steve turned to her. “What! What’s wrong?!”

“The driver!”

He turned back to the car. Wait — was that?

No. It couldn’t be.

Eddie?

“Eddie!” Steve called out, his face brightening for a second.

“What’re you doing?” Robin said, “What if he’s a zombie?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Zombies aren’t real.”

“Neither are demogorgons!” Robin said.

That was a good point.

Steve held up the nailbat in front of him.

“What’re you gonna do?” Robin said, mockingly. “Swing at Eddie?”

“You just said he could be a zombie.”

“Well, we don’t know!”

Steve exhaled. “Should we let him bite first and figure it out after?”

“There are options in between doing nothing and killing him on sight.”

“Um, hey, I can hear you,” Eddie said. He looked good. Nothing like Eddie had looked the last Steve had seen of him. There was no blood, and he had no injuries that Steve could see. His face was pale, and he looked tired. But he was whole and alive and just fine.

Steve couldn’t believe it.

It couldn’t be him.

Steve had watched as he bled out. He had held him in his arms. He’d watched the light flicker out of his eyes as his pulse stopped. Steve had dragged Dustin off his body, and forced him to leave the Upside Down. He’d washed Eddie’s blood out from under his nails, picking flecks of him away for days. He’d told his uncle that he was gone.

Eddie wasn’t here.

Was this one of Vecna’s tricks? Was any of this real?

“So can I,” another voice said.

Steve swung to look at him. At himself? He had to do a double take because that was Steve. It was like looking into a wonky mirror. He relaxed the grip on his bat, letting it fall to the ground. What the fuck?

“Oh, this is so weird!” Robin exclaimed.

“Who are you?” Other Steve said.

“Um, I’m Steve,” he said. Wasn’t it obvious?

“Robin,” she introduced, “I think we know who you are, too.”

“Why are there two of you?” Eddie said, looking between them.

“That’s what I want to know,” Steve said.

Maybe this was a dream? He pinched himself subtly. Nope, ouch. Not a dream then. Even his dreams weren’t this strange.

Robin frowned. “I don’t think this is our world.”

“What?” Other Steve said.

“I think it’s you from another dimension,” Eddie said, “And Robin, of course.”

“You came to that conclusion awfully quick,” Robin replied, but she sounded like she agreed with what Eddie was saying. Steve couldn’t keep up. Dimensions? Like how the Upside Down was a different world from theirs? Eddie couldn’t have meant there were even more worlds.

“What does that even mean?” Steve said at the same time that Other Steve started saying, “How would that even happen?”

He startled and met the gaze of the imposter version of him. He looked almost identical to Steve. His hair fell the same way Steve’s did. He was wearing a dark blue sweater Steve recognized from his closet. He had prominent bags under his eyes but Steve felt tired too so that wasn’t much of a difference.

He looked sadder, somehow, than even Steve was which didn’t feel possible.

There was only one difference that Steve could see between them. And that was where Other Steve’s right arm should be, there was air. Steve squinted trying to make sense of it. His sleeve was pinned up high, implying that all of his arm, past his shoulder, was gone.

“It means you’re not in your world anymore,” Eddie said, “Unless… is it time travel? What year is it?”

Robin shook her head. “March, 1986. But we’re definitely not in the future. Or the past.”

“March 1986 here, too. Alternate dimension, it is then,” Eddie said, “How’d you get here?”

Steve could barely take in the conversation. What happened to his arm! Was Steve going to lose his arm, too? Steve used his right hand for a lot of different things. Could one become left-handed if needed?

“Wait, that's not possible,” Steve said, “Time travel isn’t real.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Dimension travel. And none of this should be possible! But clearly the supernatural exists. And demogorgons and mindflayers and Vecna. This is just one more thing. It’s no less possible than anything else in our world.”

Steve couldn’t argue with that. He didn’t understand how the Upside Down worked to begin with. How could he argue with that logic?

“Steve — my Steve —” Robin started.

“You can call me Harrington,” Other Steve said helpfully, “He can just be Steve.”

How magnanimous of him.

“We climbed through a gate and were trying to get back home when we came here instead.”

Eddie frowned. “Not an expert, but I don’t think that’s what is supposed to happen.”

Steve looked back at Eddie.

It was so strange seeing him, knowing that there was a world where he was alive. It just wasn’t his world. If Steve had made different choices, Eddie could be alive. He was living proof that Steve had failed him. Steve had spent hours at night going through everything he’d done. Nancy had reassured him, and herself, that there was no way they could’ve known this would happen, that there was nothing they could’ve done. Clearly that wasn’t true.

Grief hit him like a truck all over again.

“Definitely not what happened before,” Robin said, “Normally the gate just took us between the Upside Down and our world.”

Steve frowned. “Maybe something changed? After Vecna combined all the gates and El tried to close them.”

“Don’t tell me we’re stuck here!” Robin said.

Steve didn’t know. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here. Eddie was alive here. Maybe this was a better world than theirs. Clearly, Vecna still existed here, since Eddie mentioned him, but other things could be different.

But he could never abandon all his friends like that. No one even knew where he and Robin were. Steve couldn’t add on to their grief.

“How different are our worlds?” Harrington asked, before pointing at the space where his arm would be, “Besides the obvious.”

“They have to be pretty different, with how Steve is looking at me,” Eddie said, “What’s wrong with me in your world? Don’t tell me — I’m a serial killer.”

Steve laughed. It came out strangled. “No. You’d never be someone like that.”

“Hey, infinite worlds, infinite possibilities. For all you know, I’m a serial killer in this one.”

“You were a good guy, Eddie.”

“Oof past tense. I’m dead, huh,” Eddie said glibly.

Steve’s face fell.

“Oh wow, actually?” Eddie said, “Yikes.”

Harrington exhaled. “What? How?”

“Demobats,” Robin said, “Like a lot of them.”

Eddie winced. “Ouch.”

“We need to figure out how to get home,” Steve said, because standing and watching a laughing, talking Eddie was giving him vertigo. He couldn’t get used to this and then go back home.

And it was weird to just casually talk about his death. This Eddie might be alive but his Eddie was still dead.

“Let’s go to Nancy,” Harrington suggested, “She might know what to do.”

It was as sound a plan as any. Even if Nancy had no ideas, she’d research until she came up with a plan. And Steve would be more settled if he saw everyone else too — ideally people who weren’t just him and his dead friend.

Steve picked up his bat and watched as Robin swung the gun around to her back. They went back to his car. He watched as Harrington slid into the passenger’s seat. Right. He couldn’t drive, could he? Steve rubbed at his arm, grateful that he had it.

Robin placed her hand on his knee. He leaned into her. Thank god she’d come with him. Steve didn’t know what he’d do in this strange new world without her.

“We’re sure they’re not evil?” Robin whispered.

Steve frowned. “Can you really imagine an evil version of me?”

“Hey, it’s possible,” Robin said.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I might have been an asshole before, but evil was a stretch.”

“I could be evil, anyone could be!” Robin said, “It’s not personal.”

“You could not be evil,” Steve said.

Steve had not totally accepted the answer that they were just in some parallel world. It seemed really similar to their world. Clearly, Vecna had also connected the gates here — the carnage across town was a pretty clear sign. Eddie seemed just as Steve had remembered. And other Steve didn’t seem all that different from him, though the arm was a clear point of difference.

Eddie and Harrington were quiet in the front seat. Steve stared at them through the windshield mirror. Now that he’d had some time to look, he could see that Harrington looked worse than he did. And it wasn’t his vanity saying that, since Steve wasn’t much to look at either right now. But something about him seemed colder, emptier, sterner. More serious than Steve. He felt drained of joy and hope himself, but other Steve seemed even worse off somehow. His shoulders hunched down, where Steve’s were upright. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was more frazzled than Steve had ever seen.

Steve supposed he was probably still recovering from his injury.

“You’re not going to other Robin for ideas?” Robin asked, speaking louder so they could hear too, “She might know what to do.”

“Do you know what to do?” Steve said.

“... No.”

“Well, I don’t think other Robin would either,” he replied.

Harrington’s lips twitched up. “She just wants to meet her alternate self.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Robin said.

“Sorry to disappoint, but you seem pretty much the same,” Harrington said, his voice fond.

“Oh no fair,” Robin said.

“Sorry, did you want your alternate self to be missing a leg or something?” Steve said.

“Not particularly.”

“Similar isn’t a bad thing,” Harrington said, “She’s my best friend.”

Of course she was. Robin would be his best friend in any universe.

“Yeah, yeah,” Robin said, “But imagine how cool it would be if I was a spy or something here.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “You’re too clumsy to be a spy.”

Neither Eddie nor Harrington seemed talkative, so it was just Robin and Steve chattering on for the most part, until they arrived at the Wheeler residence. It looked the same as Steve remembered.

They snuck into the Wheeler’s basement through the back door, and let Harrington go bring Nancy down.

Steve had previously only snuck into Nancy’s room, so this was different.

“Wheeler’s parents don’t like me much,” Eddie said, as he sat down on the couch, “So even if you two weren’t here, we’d have to sneak in.”

Steve winced. “They still think you killed Chrissy?”

“Yup. Any day now and I might be banished from Hawkins,” Eddie said, shrugging like he wasn’t concerned, “They really don’t like me in this town.”

He had never considered what Eddie’s life would be like if he survived. He assumed they’d be able to clear his name but apparently it wasn’t that simple. Still, he was alive which was a better fate than he had in his world.

Steve unraveled his tie and uncuffed his sleeves. If he knew he’d be getting up to so much today, he would’ve worn jeans.

Harrington came back down, with Nancy in tow. She looked the same, no new injuries, though her eyes were sadder than he remembered.

“Steve?”

“Hey Nance.”

“Thought it would be easier to show you than explain,” Harrington said to her.

“Alternate dimension? Or time travel?” Nancy said.

How did everyone come to that conclusion so quickly!

“Alternate dimension, we think,” Eddie said, “They went through the gate — the one at my trailer — came back out and now they’re here.”

Nancy hummed. “Well, this is new.”

“Any idea about how to get us back home?” Steve said, hoping for a miracle.

Nancy shook her head. “No. But we’ll research. We’ll figure something out.”

She always did figure it out.

“It’s good to see you,” Steve said.

“I’m not dead in your world, am I?” Nancy said.

“No!” Steve said. He couldn’t imagine a world without Nancy. What would they do without her?”

“So what’s different in your world?” Nancy said, “There must be a splitting point. Where someone did something different.”

“It seems pretty similar,” Robin said, “We also have the Upside Down.”

“Did Russians invade the mall last summer?” Nancy asked, “Did El go into hiding the year before that? And Will went missing the year before?”

Steve nodded. “Yes to all of that. And then the whole Vecna thing happened.”

“Max was the one who Vecna targeted?”

Steve frowned. “Yeah. She’s in a coma now.”

“Same here,” Nancy said, “Pretty similar then. That’s all the big things.”

“Except I’m dead in their world,” Eddie said.

“And the arm,” Steve pointed out.

“So what happened?” Robin mused.

Nancy said, “No big divergences. Whatever happened to change things was recent.”

“How did the arm happen?” Robin asked, clearly unable to contain her curiosity any longer. The room went silent, “Sorry, is it rude to ask? You don’t have to say.”

Harrington shrugged. “No, it’s fine. Um, where do I start?”

“Did you also go back into the Upside Down to kill Vecna?” Nancy said.

Steve nodded. “Yup. Me, you and Robin went to kill Vecna. Dustin and Eddie were decoys.”

Eddie winced. “Oh.”

“What?” Steve said.

“Here, I went with Nancy and Robin to kill Vecna,” Eddie said.

Harrington cleared his throat. “I wanted to stay with Dustin.”

“And that’s how you lost your arm? Demobats? You didn’t follow the plan?” Robin said. It didn’t make sense. Steve went with Nancy’s plan. He didn’t have anything to prove like Eddie had, he wouldn’t have diverted out of a sense of heroics. But clearly it had worked out here.

An arm for Eddie’s life? That was an easy trade. What had they done better in this universe that Steve hadn’t in his?

Why hadn’t Steve suggested going with Dustin?

He’d just been so sick of being relegated to the babysitter — he wanted to be one of the big guns. Well, that wasn’t it, fully. Nancy had agreed Steve should be with her, as one of the better shots amongst them all. He didn’t have Nancy’s skill with a gun, but few did.

“No,” Harrington said, his voice heavy, “I need some air.”

He got up, and took the stairs two at a time, slamming the door behind him. Steve had never heard his voice sound like that before.

“I’ll go check on him,” Eddie said, following him up.

Steve frowned. “What was that about?”

Nancy sighed, and covered her face with her hands for a second. “No, that wasn’t what happened.”

Before she could expand, Steve heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Was Harrington back that quickly?

“Mike?”

The kid looked terrible. Snot-nosed, splotchy cheeks, in a too big sweater. Steve had never seen him like this before. Did he have the flu?

“I just saw you upstairs,” Mike said, “How’d you get down so fast?”

He sat down on the couch next to Nancy. Before Steve could say anything, Mike continued talking. “Your arm grew back!”

Nancy rolled his eyes. “It’s not our Steve. Arms don’t grow back, Mike. He’s from a different dimension.”

“Oh, my bad for not jumping straight to dimension hopping. Like that’s any less ridiculous than a re-growing arm.”

“Mike, you should go back to your room,” Nancy said.

“Excuse me?”

“We’re talking about Vecna. Go get some sleep. You didn’t sleep at all last night.”

“I want to be here,” Mike said.

Nancy crossed her arms. “We don’t need you to be here.”

“I want to be!”

“Fine!” Nancy said, “Jesus, you’re impossible. Where were we?”

“Talking about other Steve’s arm,” Robin said hesitantly.

“Right,” Nancy said, steeling her voice, “Steve and Dustin were supposed to be the decoys here. They were just supposed to blast music and lock themselves in the trailer, escaping back to the real world once they were noticed. But um… Dustin didn’t follow the plan.”

“What does that mean?” Steve said.

“He heard a scream or something — one of Vecna’s tricks — and crossed back to the Upside Down,” Nancy faltered, “He, um, he decided to leave the trailer.”

Steve didn’t like where this was going.

“Dustin — the bats — by the time you’d been able to get to him, it was too late.”

“What do you mean?” Robin asked, so he wouldn’t.

“Dustin’s dead. I’m guessing he’s not in your world,” Nancy said.

Steve shook his head. No. He wasn’t.

Dustin couldn’t die.

It just wasn’t possible. It wasn’t allowed. Not Dustin. Anyone but Dustin. Steve, all of a sudden, couldn’t get the image of 12 year old Dustin, pulling Steve along to look for Dart. His teeth were crooked and too big, his eyes were pleading and his hair a curly mess. If he’d shut up for a minute, he’d be adorable. He had been tiny compared to Steve, only recently growing taller. Steve had never been so fond of someone before while simultaneously being irritated.

Dustin had changed the course of his life even more than Nancy had. He’d given Steve a purpose and friendship and company to fill the day. Dustin had weaseled his way into Steve’s life and refused to leave. He was smart and he knew it, and funny sometimes, especially when he wasn’t trying to be. There weren’t many people Steve loved more than Dustin.

He was just a kid.

“The demobats kept attacking even after Dustin died,” Nancy said quietly, “Steve wouldn’t leave him, he carried him back to Eddie’s trailer. The blood loss was pretty extensive, and there was an infection so they had to amputate the arm.”

How could Steve let Dustin die?

He’d spent ages kicking himself for Eddie’s death and Max’s injury. It had never occurred to him that there would be worlds where things were even worse.

“Eddie went with Dustin in our world,” Robin said, “He was the one who diverged from the plan and died.”

Mike brushed away a tear angrily. Pressure built in his chest, like it always did before he cried. Steve would cry too if Dustin wasn’t around anymore. But his Dustin was alive, Steve reminded himself. There wasn’t anything to be upset about.

“Are you okay?” Steve said, looking at him.

“Just peachy,” Mike replied, curling under the blanket. Nancy laid her hand on his shoulder and he shrugged her off.

Steve remembered how attached at the hip Mike, Dustin, Will and Lucas were back when he’d been dating Nancy. The four of them would camp out in the basement and play D&D. He saw them bike to school together and sneak into the arcade when one of them was grounded.

And later, after El and Max, Dustin would still fight to make sure they all spent time together. Steve remembered that summer when Dustin came home from camp. How frustrated he’d been that Mike & El, and Lucas & Max were busy. Steve remembered how in Dustin’s freshmen year he’d made all of them sit together at Eddie’s table. How Dustin had called Will like clockwork every Friday evening.

There would be no more of that.

Dustin was dead here.

Suddenly Steve wanted to leave. He wanted to be back in his world, a slightly softer world where kids didn’t die.

But that wasn’t true. Barb had died. Heather and Billy and Fred and Chrissy and Eddie. They were all young too, if not kids the same way Steve thought about Dustin. Barb had been only a couple of months older than Dustin had been.

Fuck, they were so young. Even Steve had been so young when this all started.

They were just kids.

“Any ideas on how we can get back home?” Steve asked.

“I’m gonna do some research,” Nancy said, “You can hide out here till I get back.”

Well, it wasn’t like they had anywhere to go.

Nancy left, squeezing Steve’s shoulder on her way out.

She was beautiful, Steve noted. Some part of him would always find her beautiful. And he loved her. But all of a sudden, he just knew that he loved her the way he loved Robin. He’d gotten confused in the middle, nostalgic for what they used to have.

“At least this is safer than all our other adventures,” Robin said, “No monsters in sight.”

“Don’t jinx it.”

But Robin was right. It could be worse.

Harrington came back in, his nose was red, the same way Steve’s always got when he cried. Suddenly, it made sense why this Steve and Eddie were quieter and duller. Dustin’s loss would be a big difference.

“Oh great, two Steves,” Mike said, though he leaned in when other Steve ruffled his hair as he passed by him.

“It’s interesting how this Mike still has all his hair,” Robin mused.

Steve smiled. “Yeah. I wonder how long that’ll last.”

Mike’s eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding. Tell me you’re kidding.”

“No can do, kiddo. Our Mike started going bald a month ago. From all the stress, I think.”

“I’m stressed!” Mike said, “I don’t want to lose my hair! I’m growing it out like Eddie’s.”

Harrington chuckled. It was the first time Steve had heard him laugh. It stood him apart, as Steve couldn’t go a minute without laughing in Robin’s company. But he supposed Dustin’s death would do that to him.

Mike pouted. “You guys are mean.”

“No, we’re just funny,” Robin said.

Mike smiled, but didn’t say anything.

“Steve, in your world, Dustin is alive?” Mike said, half a question, half a statement.

Steve’s breath caught. “Yeah, buddy.”

“Um, when you go back, tell him — tell him that I miss him,” Mike said before mumbling, “And that we all love him. And that I’m sorry I never paid back the $20 I owed him. And that he was right about the thing he said in February, he’ll know what I mean.

Steve didn’t mention that Dustin would be probably really confused if Steve said all this, considering both Mike and Dustin were perfectly healthy in his world.

“I’ll tell him,” Steve said.

“Okay, good,” Mike said, before adding, “He’s happy?”

Dustin was fairly miserable over Eddie’s death. He had only left his house twice over the last week, once to visit Max and once for Eddie’s funeral.

“He’s happy,” Robin said.

The truth wouldn’t have been kind.

Harrington relaxed into the couch. Steve had forgotten he was even there.

They spent the better part of the next two hours sharing lighthearted stories. Other Steve only spoke occasionally, but Mike didn’t seem quite as depressed, which was a win.

Nancy walked down the stairs.

“Good news and bad news,” she said.

“Start with the bad news,” Robin said, “Wait no. Good news first so I can be in a good mood and then the bad news. Or would bad news be better?”

Nancy sighed. “Good news is I don’t think you being here is going to break the space-time continuum. Bad news is that there’s nothing on how to travel between dimensions in any of the books I could find.”

“So we’re stuck here!” Robin said.

“Your best bet is just going back through the gate,” Nancy said, “Hopefully it’ll take you home. Maybe this was a one-off thing.”

Oh, that did not sound like a good plan. They didn’t do anything ”hopefully” these days. That wasn’t even a plan. It was just pure conjecture.

But if that was the only option then they didn’t have much choice. Steve knew they couldn’t stay here endlessly. It would only take one sighting of him to cause endless questions around the town — questions that would have no easy answer.

“Alright,” Steve said, “No time like the present.”

“Come on, Toto, this’ll be fun,” Robin said, “An adventure.”

Steve sighed. “Not loving this reference.”

All of them, sans Mike, headed back to the gate. Steve spent the whole car ride thinking about how stupid he’d been to suggest they go back for Eddie’s body. He’d just gotten Robin roped into another problem. Who knew if they’d ever be able to get home? He almost didn’t want to go through the gate. He didn’t know what to expect on the other side.

Car rides always went faster when he didn’t want to reach the destination, and so he was back at Eddie’s trailer in no time at all.

They stood awkwardly for a moment. Steve shifted on his heels.

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Robin said, looking at other Steve, Eddie and Nancy, “Though I already knew you.”

“You too, Rob,” Harrington said, drawing her in for a quick hug.

“Bye Eddie. It was nice seeing you again,” Robin said, solemnly, before sliding under the police tape (she was getting better at it now) and entering the trailer.

Steve took a step to follow her, but hesitated. He turned back to the group of people he almost knew.

Steve hugged Eddie tight.

He was aware that this was the last time he’d ever see him, or at least a version of him. He had to soak it in. This was goodbye.

“I’ll miss you,” Steve said. Eddie’s hair tickled at his neck and his breath was warm. He was about the same height as Steve, and fit comfortably against him.

Eddie nodded. “Bye, Steve.”

He made himself withdraw and looked at Nancy and other Steve.

Harrington stepped closer to him. “Take care of them.”

Steve didn’t have to ask who “them” referred to.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Steve said.

Harrington laughed bitterly. “Whose fault could it have been but mine? He’s alive in your world.”

Steve didn’t have anything to say to that. He jerked his head towards Eddie. “And he’s alive here. You saved someone.”

Harrington shook his head. It wouldn’t have comforted Steve either.

Steve looked back before he entered the trailer. Nancy met his gaze, but Eddie was looking at Harrington, their hands were interlaced loosely. Steve waved one last time before joining Robin.

“Can I go through first this time?” Steve said.

“Fine.”

He climbed up the rope, hoping this would work. Fuck, he’d done this so many times by now, it was like he was back in gym class.

Robin joined him in the Upside Down, falling with an undignified plop onto the ground.

“Okay,” Steve said, “I guess we just go back and hope it worked.”

“This is stupid,” Robin said, but she climbed once again, this time hopefully to their world.

Steve’s ribs started to pang as he climbed back. He was technically supposed to avoid straining his stitches. Oh well. It would be fine. It didn’t hurt as much as when he’d been laying in the hospital bed, adrenaline washed out of him, as his torso was meticulously cleaned and pieced together.

He pressed a hand against the wound, hoping the stitches wouldn’t reopen and left Eddie’s trailer yet again, narrowly avoiding tripping on debris.

It was sunny, Steve noted. He could hear birds chirping.

He surveyed the area around him and did a double take when he got to Max’s trailer.

“Looks the same so far,” Robin said.

Steve shook his head. “Look at Max’s trailer.”

There were bouquets lined up outside, enough that they were stacked up on each other, forming a loose pile. He could see a few teddy bears scattered around. Blown out candles and picture frames completed the scene. All of a sudden Steve remembered what Barb’s locker had looked like after her funeral: the white flowers, heartfelt notes from people she’d never spoken to, firehazard lit candles everywhere.

The door to Max’s trailer was shuttered, and when Steve tried to peek inside, it looked devoid of furniture.

Robin shivered. “That’s a memorial.”

Oh great. They’d exchanged one world where one of his kids had died for another.

It just reminded him how close things had gotten with Max back home. How they hadn’t really won against Vecna. They didn’t even know if she’d wake up again.

No. Max would wake up. She was a fighter. She just needed time to heal.

“Oh, not again,” Steve said, “This feels like that guy who pushes that boulder. Remember? From English class?”

“Sisyphus?” Robin asked.

“Yeah! That one!”

“Well, this is only the second dimension we’ve been to,” Robin said.

Robin said ‘second dimension’ far too cavalierly. There wasn’t supposed to be anything besides home! Besides their world. There was enough going on back home to keep them occupied without all this.

Two alternate dimensions was two too many. He had not imagined his day being this busy. Steve had plans to lay on the couch and eat too much popcorn, watching corny 70’s action movies. He’d written the day off to just mourn Eddie. And now they were traipsing between dimensions, with no idea of how to get home. He shot a betrayed look at the gate. He thought there were rules to all this supernatural shit. Dustin was always going on about how there were constants in all of this. He’d assumed that the gates would be one of those.

“Should we just go through the gate again?” Steve suggested.

“I mean, I guess,” Robin said, “But aren’t you curious what this universe is like? Don’t you want to find us first?”

Steve had seen the memorial and deduced more about this world than he wanted to know about it.

“No,” Steve said, shooting a look at the memorial, “And hey, what if we’re evil here?”

Robin frowned. “It is possible… But aren’t you the one who said neither of us could be evil?”

“What do I know?” Steve said, “Come on. Let’s just go. Who knows how many times we’re gonna have to go through that gate before we get home? May as well get a head start on it.”

Steve’s car came careening down the dirt road, cutting off that idea.

“Too late,” Robin said.

Steve groaned, but waited for the car to get closer, tightening his grip on his nailbat.

He watched as a long leg stretched out the driver’s side of the car. She had long dark brown hair, blown out like a movie star. Something about the jut of her chin felt familiar. She was tall for a girl, easily as tall as Steve, if not more with her heeled boots. She had a palpable confidence, from the way she flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked forward, to the firm look in her eye when she spotted them.

On the other side of the car, a woman with long frazzled brown hair and big brown eyes stepped out. She wore an oversized band t-shirt, and her nails were bitten to the quick. She was gorgeous. Her hands were adorned with rings, and he could see a tattoo peeking out from under her sleeve.

“Um, Steve,” Robin said, “I think we found you again.”

“What?”

“That’s clearly you,” Robin said, pointing at the woman with the movie star hair.

Steve laughed. “I don’t wear skirts.”

He also didn’t have breasts.

“Well, you could.”

“I’m a girl here?” Steve said. Why not? It was hardly the craziest thing that had happened today.

“You’re hot as a girl,” Robin said, her eyes evaluating.

“Thanks, Robin,” he said dryly.

“I think we’ve gone further from our world,” Robin mused.

“Yup, seems like,” Steve said, trying to adjust to this reality.

This was even weirder than last time. Much weirder actually.

Wait, if she was supposed to be a female version of Steve, then the other woman must be Eddie. Eddie was smoking hot. Not that his Eddie wasn’t attractive! They had a similar jaw, and something about the walk was identical. Eddie walked with confidence, like he wasn’t afraid to take up space. And his hands moved with every word he said, just like the woman walking towards them who was in fierce discussion with the alternate dimension him.

The two women stopped a few feet away from them.

Robin waved. “Hey.”

“You’re from an alternate dimension,” female Steve said.

That was a hell of an opener. She was right, of course. But how did she know that?

“I am,” Steve said warily.

“Wow, female you is scary smart,” Robin said, “How’d she figure that out so quickly?”

“I’m Stephanie. But you can call me Stevie. It’s a little catchier than female Steve,” she said dryly.

The other woman stepped forward. “My name’s Edith technically, but everyone calls me Eddie.”

“Eddie, wow,” Steve said, “You look different.”

“I can imagine,” she said, “So do you.”

Robin smiled. “I’m Robin. Do they have a Robin here?”

“You’re my best friend.” Stevie said, “But wow, that’s trippy. You’re hot as a girl, too!”

“Thanks!” Robin said brightly.

“Ew, don’t flirt with female me,” Steve said.

Robin and Stevie simultaneously rolled their eyes. It was strange to see his expressions on someone who was both so much like and unlike him.

“You’re the one who used to have a crush on me,” Robin pointed out.

Stevie wrinkled her nose. “We don’t talk about that.”

Steve wholeheartedly agreed. Clearly the brain trauma had gotten to him that summer. He loved Robin, so so much, but he definitely didn’t like her like that anymore.

“How’d you know we’re from an alternate dimension?” Steve said, “Took us more to work it out the first time round.”

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Stevie said.

Robin exchanged a look with him. That was ominous. Sounded exactly like something an evil version of him would say before trying to murder them. Steve shot a look at Robin’s gun, hoping she’d get the hint to stay on guard.

Eddie nodded. “Ever since your Eddie came through.”

“What?” Steve said.

His Eddie was dead.

“You didn’t know yet?” Stevie said, “Is this your first stop?”

“Okay, the vagueness is not helping. What in the absolute fuck do you mean?” Robin said.

“Isn’t that why you’re here? Aren’t you looking for Eddie?” Stevie said.

“We’re just trying to go home.”

“Eddie’s dead,” Robin added on, because he couldn’t, “Maybe you’ve confused us with a different dimension-hopping duo?”

Eddie shook her head. “What are the odds of that? About 6ish days ago, a male version of me came through the gate. I’d been here to pick up some clothes and boom he just dropped on the ground, absolutely drenched with blood. I screamed, he screamed, then he explained himself.”

“My Eddie called me,” Stevie continued, “And we checked him into the hospital, under a fake name, of course. They stitched him up good as new. It was surprisingly easy to believe the whole, “I’m Eddie from another dimension”. He was still supposed to stay in the hospital for another week, but he checked himself out a day later. He went back through the gate, trying to get home.”

“That’s not possible,” Steve said, “He died. I watched him die.”

Stevie smiled apologetically. “Don’t know what to tell you. Lots of things that shouldn’t be possible happen these days.”

“Are you sure he’s from our world? That it was our Eddie,” Robin asked, “And not from somewhere else?”

Eddie shrugged. “Occam’s razor. The event that requires the fewest assumptions is correct. What’re the odds he’s not from your world?”

Robin hummed. “I see what you mean.”

“So he never reached home, huh?” Eddie said, “We hoped the gate would take him straight back to his dimension but there was no way to know if it would. Guess it’s not a one-way portal.”

Robin shook her head. “No. We’d know.”

They’d both been back to the trailer too often, to not know if Eddie had returned. There had been no sign that he was alive. How could he be?

But… there had been no body to recover when they’d gone back to check. It was an explanation for where he’d gone, as unbelievable as it was. How could Eddie have recovered? Had Vecna done something to him? Was this an unnatural resurrection? Was Eddie even Eddie still? How was it possible?

Eddie had lost so much blood. Could someone survive that naturally without immediate medical care? Steve wasn’t an expert, he didn’t know, but it didn’t seem likely.

A lot of things weren’t likely but still happened.

Did it even matter how it happened, if Eddie was alive? If he was alive, however it happened, it was a miracle. It was a bonafide marvel. It was a fluke of destiny that for once was in their favor. It was an unquestionably good thing.

So maybe he shouldn’t question it and just accept this for the miracle it was. Nancy and Dustin would have plenty of questions. He knew once they found out, they wouldn’t stop researching the why of it all. Steve didn’t have to contribute.

Eddie was alive! He was alive! And Steve was going to find him. He was going to bring him home.

“He must be lost,” Stevie said, not sounding too surprised.

In another dimension. Jesus Christ.

“It was a risk. We figured you’d be by if he didn’t make it home,” Eddie said, “We’ve been checking on the gate twice a day just in case.”

“Wait? If you didn’t know Eddie was alive, how’d you get here?” Stevie said.

Robin sighed. “We’d just gone to the Upside Down to recover Eddie’s body. He wasn’t there, we tried to get home, ended up in a different, much less freaky dimension, left that one and now we’re here.”

“Oh,” Stevie said, “A little risky that.”

“Hey, it was your idea,” Robin said, nodding to him.

“Course it was,” Eddie replied, “In any universe, Stevie would be the one to get into danger.”

Stevie shot her a fond look. “Like you don’t do your fair share of risk seeking.”

“He’s really alive?” Steve said.

Eddie smiled. “Yup!”

“So, what do we do now?” Robin said, “How do we find him? Should we ask Nancy if she has any ideas?”

“Nancy?” Stevie said.

“Nancy Wheeler?”

“Oh, Nathan,” Stevie said, “He’s a little busy right now. But I have a feeling you’d much rather meet Robin.”

Robin lit up. “Ooh yes, could we do that? We didn’t get to see me in the last world.”

“Shouldn’t we just go through the gate again? Hopefully, we can retrace Eddie’s steps,” Steve said. He was renewed with purpose. Eddie was out there, waiting for them. Who knew the state he was in, if he checked himself out of the hospital too early. He could be hurting, injured, somewhere dangerous.

“A break won’t hurt,” Robin said, pleadingly, “It’s been a really long day.”

Steve looked down at his watch, trying to see how many hours it had been since they’d been gone, but it was frozen on 10:11. That must’ve been when they’d climbed through the gate for the first time.

Steve’s stomach growled. “Alright.”

“We’ll get you some lunch too,” Eddie said as they got into the car, Robin and Steve relegated to the backseat again, “Come on, big boy, Stevie makes a great pasta.”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “Of course, you make me make lunch.”

“Well, if you’d rather we all eat burnt pizza, I’m perfectly happy to make it.”

“You’re a disaster,” Stevie said fondly.

Eddie laughed lowly. Her voice was higher pitched than his Eddie’s but still deep and rich. “You love it.”

Stevie drove, her long red nails, tapping on the steering wheel, but she turned to send a fond look at Eddie.

Robin shot a look at him. “They’re flirting.”

“No way,” Steve said.

But he thought about the way Eddie had leaned into Stevie when they were talking outside, and how Stevie had opened Eddie’s door for her. It hadn’t seemed entirely platonic. Well, maybe Steve Harrington just liked girls in every universe including this one? He didn’t know how the whole alternate dimension thing worked.

But then he couldn’t help but remember the Steve and Eddie of the last world too, and the way their hands had linked as Steve left their world.

He was trying very hard not to think about what that meant. What happened here had no implications for his world. Clearly, things were super different. That just must have been one of the differences between his world and the other ones. Eddie was just his friend. Steve liked him, of course, that was what friendship meant, but not like that.

“Of course, the world where Hawkins had multiple lesbians is the same world where I’m a man,” Robin sighed.

“I’m bisexual actually,” Stevie called out as Robin startled, “Nathan and I used to date.”

“And yes, we are together,” Eddie said, “6 months now.”

Robin flushed. “Oops, didn’t realize you could hear that.”

“You and Stevie are the worst whisperers,” Eddie said, “Hey, if it makes you feel better, you have a boyfriend here. I’m assuming you’re single, huh?”

Robin shot up. “What? Who? Ew. I guess I’m a man here, so I’m still gay, thank god, but super weird thought.”

“Victor. Oh uh, I’m not sure what his last name is,” Stevie said, “Huh that’s weird.”

“That has got to be Vickie,” Steve said, “Helps your chances, huh?”

“At least I’m not single in every universe,” Robin sighed.

“You won’t be single in our universe either, if you’d just ask Vickie out.”

“It’s not that easy,” Robin said.

Stevie shrugged. “I don’t know. Eddie did just kiss me after D&D one day. It was pretty easy.”

“Easy for you maybe,” Eddie said, “I thought you were gonna deck me after. Who knew the Queen of Hawkins could like girls? Head cheerleader, swim team captain, a freaking part-time model.”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “Queen is an exaggeration.”

“Sure thing, princess,” Eddie said, “Like you didn’t literally win Prom Queen.”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “I ran uncontested.”

“Exactly,” Eddie said, “No one wanted to even try running against you.”

Huh. Steve hadn’t been Prom King. He’d been nominated, but it was as a joke. At that point, he’d been pretty far away from the heights of popularity. He hadn’t even bothered going to his prom; Steve had spent the evening playing D&D for the first time with the kids. Dustin had been overjoyed.

Stevie turned into the driveway at her house, parking the car just by the hedges. It was a mirror image of his house.

“I thought we were going to Robin?” he asked as he got out of the car.

“Robin’s been camped out here for the last week,” Eddie said, “His parents don’t really mind.”

“Mine never let me stay over at Steve’s overnight,” Robin grumbled.

It was inconvenient since all it meant was that Robin would sneak out two to three times a week and show up at his. He’d avoided sneaking into Robin’s ever since he accidentally tripped their home alarm. That had been real hard to explain to Robin’s parents and the police. They thought that he was dating Robin, which they let them believe. Though it reduced their freedom in some ways, Robin was less scared they’d find out she was a lesbian now, so it was a helpful cover.

Stevie shrugged. “One of the perks of being a man, I guess.”

“Disgusting,” Robin said, and let herself in the house.

Steve took in how similar his house was — sterile white walls, lack of photographs, staged furniture. Just like home. Good to know his parents wouldn’t have been any more loving if he was a girl.

“Robin,” Stevie called out, “We’re home. We have company.”

Male Robin met them at the door. He had Robin’s clear blue eyes, and her wavy caramel brown hair, though his was shorter. He was instantly recognizable. Steve could recognize Robin in the dark.

“More alternate dimension people came?” male Robin asked, as he looked at them, doing a double-take when he saw Robin. “Wait, is that me?”

“Yup,” Stevie said, “Meet Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley.”

“Cool, we have the same name,” Robin said.

Male Robin quirked his head. “I guess it is unisex. You can call me Rob, so it’s less confusing.”

“How’s everyone?” Stevie asked, as she walked inside.

“The children are upstairs still. In your room naturally, even though there are four guest bedrooms,” Rob said, “Lucy just went to bed. El and Willow are still up. Michelle’s still at home, she doesn’t want to see anyone but Nathan’s been keeping an eye on her. Dani won’t pick up the phone.”

“I’ll check on her,” Eddie said, heading towards the phone in the living room. Steve took a moment to connect the names to the people he knew, best he could.

It was midday. Why would Lucy (or Lucas as he couldn’t help but thinking of him) be sleeping? Why did Stevie, Eddie and Rob all get so concerned?

Steve couldn’t believe he forgot.

Steve couldn’t believe he forgot.

Max was dead here.

“It’s only been a week since Max died,” Stevie whispered, “Everyone’s still… coming to terms. I’m sure you know. Lucy’s taking it real hard. She was there when it happened. They were a little on-again, off-again, but Lucy had always loved him.”

Robin shook her head. “Max didn’t die in our world. She’s in a coma.”

“Oh,” Stevie said, face falling. Steve knew how she felt. Like she must have made a mistake if she was alive somewhere else. He didn’t know how to comfort her, even if she was the same as him. Steve had felt a sense of abject failure in the last world when he saw Eddie, perfectly unharmed, walking and talking and alive. Even now knowing that his Eddie was still alive didn’t give him absolution. Steve still felt responsible for him. If he’d been a little faster, if they’d been better at killing Vecna, hadn’t allowed themselves to get stuck in those vines, maybe Eddie wouldn’t have experienced so much pain. Steve knew how much those demobat bites could hurt, and he hadn’t even had a tenth of Eddie’s injuries.

“How did it happen?” Robin asked gently, softening her voice, “Did someone detour from Nancy — sorry Nathan’s plan?”

Stevie shook her head. “No. No, me, Eddie and Robin went to kill Vecna. Nathan was with Dustin, they were supposed to distract Vecna. But it didn’t really work — well it did, he’s dead now. It took too long, Vecna noticed what we were doing. He’d been in Max’s head for too long. His heart just gave out from the stress.”

“I’m sorry,” Robin said.

Stevie groaned. “They’re just kids. They shouldn’t be in danger.”

“I know,” Steve said, “I know.”

“Sorry, you guys must be exhausted. I’ll make lunch,” she said, as she blinked back tears quickly.

They let her have her space. Steve never cried in front of people, so he doubted she’d be all that different.

Stevie made a giant serving of pasta, quickly whipping around the kitchen. He watched as she put exactly the same amount of parmesan that he would too. Steve liked to cook too, but he didn’t advertise it. He learned out of necessity and only cooked for himself. Wasn’t exactly the kind of skill guys were supposed to have. But that was stupid. It was useful, and this Steve seemed to have no compunctions against it.

She pulled a sheet pan filled with cookies out of the oven. Steve hadn’t even seen her make them, but he instantly recognized them as the same ones Carol’s mom had taught them how to make.

“Eddie, can you bring the kids down to eat?” Stevie said.

“Lunch is ready,” Eddie yelled out, voice echoing. Her voice boomed just as far as his Eddie’s did.

“I meant could you go upstairs, but I guess that works too,” Stevie said.

They were really domestic. They worked in unison, weaving around the kitchen comfortably. Eddie snapped a kitchen towel against Stevie’s shoulder, who retaliated by flour-ing her cheek. Just being around them made him more aware of how infernally single he was.

Rob set the table, while Stevie and Eddie brought the food over.

Steve sat down next to his Robin, feeling rather useless. He was so tired, part of him never wanted to get up again, but the drive to find Eddie was bigger than his exhaustion.

A young boy and girl came down the stairs. He squinted, trying to make out who they were.

The boy frowned. “Lucy wouldn’t come down. And she still won’t talk to Eric.”

The short sentences and directness made it clear that he was El. He had the same shorn hair as the El Steve knew, and his eyes were just as bright. He had a cut that split across his cheek, and his knuckles were bruised.

“It’s okay,” the girl (Willow, Steve realized), said, “She just needs some time. She’s sad.”

“I’m sad too,” El said.

“I know,” Willow said, squeezing his arm.

“Um, who are you?” El said, when he finally noticed them sitting at the table.

“Steve Harrington,” he said with a little wave.

“I’m Robin. We’re from a different dimension.”

“Does this mean there are alternate dimension monsters here too?” El said, with a sigh like he was about to get up.

“No. Well. I don’t think so?” Robin replied.

“There better not be,” Stevie muttered.

“Okay,” El said and sat down. He ate without delay, not seeming too phased by their presence.

“Nice to meet you,” Willow added. Even here, she was the only one with manners. Figures. Joyce Byers knew how to raise polite children.

“You too,” Robin said.

The kids didn’t seem too interested in their presence. They only spoke to each other in a hushed tone. Willow’s head jerked up whenever there was shuffling from the floor overhead.

Lunch was a solemn affair. Stevie and Eddie were muted now, in the presence of the kids. Rob still tried to engage them, but to no avail. Willow spent most of the meal shuffling pieces of pasta across the plate, only eating when El started glaring at her.

The two of them left the table once their plates were half empty, only pausing to bring a plate up for Lucy as well.

It made him ache to get back home. He hoped everyone was holding up okay. He hoped they hadn’t even noticed their absence yet. Though that was unlikely. Nancy likely cottoned on by the time they missed Eddie’s wake.

“Hey, how’d you start dating Vickie, sorry, Victor?” Robin asked.

Rob shrugged. “He asked me out.”

“Oh, come on,” Robin said, turning to Steve, “What do I do with that?”

“Well, it just means that maybe Vickie will ask you out. Keep faith.”

“He’s been part of the crew for a bit,” Stevie said, “Heck, even before Eddie joined the rest of us in monster fighting. So it was a natural progression. They started flirting over the walkie-talkies. Passing notes in band. Not that there weren't still hours of listening to Rob pine.”

Rob rolled his eyes. “Oh, like you and Eddie were any better.”

“We weren’t that bad,” Eddie protested.

“Stevie wouldn’t shut the fuck up about how hot you were in D&D. Only reason she even went to Hellfire meetings. We all know she wasn’t paying attention.”

Eddie sent a betrayed look at Stevie. “I thought you just liked D&D.”

Rob laughed. “Well, she certainly liked hearing your voice.”

“You know I like your voice,” Stevie said.

Eddie blushed.

Well, anyone would like Eddie’s voice. He was a singer for a reason.

“I like everything about you,” Stevie said, jostling against Eddie, goodnaturedly, letting their hands intertwine.

This Eddie’s voice was higher-pitched, but still had a bit of gravel in it. Her hands were adorned with rings, but her fingers didn’t seem as long. Her eyes were smeared with black, and her shirt had holes at the seams. She was pretty. Really pretty.

It wasn’t surprising. Munson was an attractive guy, so of course she was pretty, too. Eddie might have been chronically single but it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. There’d always been girls that were into him: the ones who’d purposefully walk past his table at lunch, the ones who’d laugh at him in class but seek him out after school, the girls who’d sigh when he played guitar.

“How long have you and your Eddie been together?” Stevie asked.

Steve startled. He’d been distracted watching the three of them interact. “Oh no. We’re not. I’m not. We’re not together. I like girls.”

“Oh!” Stevie said, “Wow. Just girls?”

Well, Steve had once kissed Tommy H but they were just practice kissing, so that didn’t count. Steve hadn’t actually liked Tommy like that. Besides that, it had only ever been girls for him.

Steve would know by now if he liked boys. If he was gay. Or bisexual. Right?

“Yup,” he said.

Stevie’s eyebrows raised. “Huh. Well, you are from a different universe. I don’t know why that’s what I find surprising and not all the other stuff.”

“I couldn’t imagine not dating you,” Eddie said, “Must suck for him. He’s crazy in love with you.”

“I doubt that,” Steve said, “He’s probably not even gay.”

“Eh,” Robin said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asked.

“Nothing! Just. You know. I think he is.”

“For what it’s worth, so do I,” Eddie said.

“You only saw him for a bit!” Steve said.

“I know myself,” she replied.

“Eddie wears that bandana, remember,” Robin said.

Steve frowned. “A gay bandana?”

Eddie coughed. “That’s one way to describe it.”

“Eddie’s not in love with me,” Steve said. Even if he was gay. Which they didn’t even know! There was no way Eddie could be in love with him. They’d only known each other for a week. Sure, they had been in the same high school, but not even in the same grade. At best, Eddie had been in the peripheries of his life, the same as anyone else in Hawkins.

“I’ve been in love with Stevie since sophomore year,” Eddie said, “Ever since I saw her across the cafeteria.”

“We’ve only been friends super recently,” Steve said, feeling like he had to explain, “It’s not like you guys.”

“Woah, what?” Stevie said, “Eddie and I have been friends for nearly a year now. Who even are you friends with?”

“Robin! And you know, Dustin, Max, Lucas, Erica. Mike, El and Will too.”

“The kids don’t really count,” Eddie said.

“What?”

“They’re 14,” Stevie said, “They have curfews.”

“I guess,” Steve said. It wasn’t like their parents were that attentive to notice something like that. But… he got what they meant. It was a different type of friendship.

“How about Victor?” Eddie asked.

Steve shook his head. “Robin’s friends with Vickie, though.”

Robin nodded. “It’s only been a few months. Steve doesn’t really know her.”

“Janie? No way you aren’t friends with her.”

“I don’t even know who that is,” Steve said.

“Janie Byers?” Stevie replied, “Loves taking pictures? Kinda a loner?”

“Oh! Oh yeah. That’s Jonathan in our world, I think. Jonathan and I are… friends. Kind of. He’s dating Nancy. It’s just a little weird.”

“Why is it weird?” Stevie said.

“Well, you know. Nancy broke up with me. Started dating Jonathan. It was a little… difficult to be around them for a bit. We’re fine now, but he was in Cali this year.”

Eddie smiled. “Ah. Stevie broke up with Nathan here.”

Stevie groaned. “I hate this story.”

“She broke a lamp,” Eddie said, “And made quite a scene at a Halloween party. There were tears involved. Not hers.”

“It’s a little easier to be the one who breaks up with people, in my defense,” Stevie said, “And I’ve apologized. So did Nathan. We’ve talked about it a lot. We’re pretty close now. All three of us. Nathan was the first person I told when I realized I liked Eddie.”

Steve hadn’t really discussed things with Nancy after everything had happened. He was over it, really. Nancy was a friend. He loved her. He always would. But sometimes, he thought about that party, it drifted in his mind at least once a week, and he felt a sharp pinch at his hear

“Oh. No, we aren’t really like that.”

“Sounds lonely,” Eddie said.

Stevie here was clearly way more social than he was.

Steve used to be lonely. After he’d dropped Tommy and Carol, stopped hanging out with the basketball team and had taken to eating lunch by himself, he’d often missed just having someone around. His house had seemed emptier in those months, the days were longer. Steve had taken to watching movies every night just to fill up his evenings. It wasn’t like that anymore.

Steve shot a look at Robin and shrugged. “Not really, I have Robin.”

Robin smiled. “Dingus takes up most of my time as it is. What would I do with more friends?”

Rob laughed. “I can see that.”

“Rob’s my best friend too,” Stevie said, “Though maybe we’re less attached than you guys.”

Steve shrugged.

He didn’t really think he’d want more friends if it meant he’d be any less close to Robin.

Steve stretched. “I think I’m good to go if you are, Robin.”

Robin shot a pleading look at the cookies on the table.

“I’ll drive you back,” Stevie said, “And pack some cookies from the journey.”

“I can make them for you too, y’know,” Steve said.

“What! You’ve been holding out on me,” Robin said.

“Do you want something else to wear before you go?” Rob offered, “I don’t know when you’ll get back and it doesn’t seem practical.

“Yes please,” Robin said, “I hate dresses.”

Robin followed Rob upstairs to change, and came back down, looking more like herself in a baggy pair of pants and a soft sweater.

They got into the car. Metallica blared through the car speakers as Stevie drove them back. His eyebrows rose. It was far from his type of music but it was probably Eddie’s influence.

She dropped them off by Eddie’s trailer.

“Ready for your next stop?” Stevie asked.

“I guess so,” Robin replied.

“Hey, maybe he’ll be in the next world we go to and then we can just go home after,” Steve said.

Robin shot him a disbelieving look. “What’re the odds of that? If there are infinite world’s, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever find him, let alone go home.”

“Too early for pessimism, Robin,” Steve said, “We’re gonna find him.”

“I hope you find him soon,” Stevie said, “Good luck!”

Steve climbed back through the portal, Robin right behind him. They immediately headed back to the real world, no time spent lingering in the Upside Down.

He shot a glance at Max’s trailer. Yellow flowers adorned the front of it. It wasn’t his world. No memorial so she was (hopefully) alive here.

Now that he knew Eddie was out there somewhere, he wanted to get a move on, search the town and get out of here as fast as possible. But they couldn’t actually do that. They needed to avoid being spotted, lest someone catch on that they weren’t supposed to be here. The last thing they needed was any outside attention.

“So do we just wait till a car comes by?” Steve said.

Robin shrugged. “I guess.”

“Oh, there he is,” Steve said, hearing wheels drive on the pavement.

They walked closer to the car. A Steve and an Eddie exited the car — Steve was getting the drill. It was the good set up to a A Man Walks Into A Bar-style joke, but the punchline escaped him.

“Oh god,” Steve said, “What’s wrong with him?”

Robin squinted. “That’s one of the more unusual Steves yet.”

“He’s wearing a sweater vest. He has glasses,” Steve said, “Glasses.”

“His hair is really something,” Robin said.

“It’s awful,” Steve replied, in horror, “It’s flat.”

Tommy’s older sister was the one who taught him how to do his hair properly: how many sprays of Faberge to use, how to hold the hair brush to get volume and when to use conditioner. This Steve didn’t even look like he brushed his hair. What happened? This was the most tragic world yet. Good god, how had they met a Steve with such awful hair.

He was also smaller than Steve. He didn’t fill out his shirt the same way he did, and Steve could swear he was at least an inch shorter. Mom had always said if he didn’t eat his broccoli, he’d grow up short so maybe that was the inciting difference in this world.

Eddie looked great though. He looked the same. Long curly hair, big brown eyes, denim vest.

“What the heck,” nerd Steve said, looking at him, “Who are you?”

“Hell isn’t even a swear,” Steve said to Robin, before turning to his doppleganger, “I’m you. Steve. From an alternate dimension.”

“Like in Men Like Gods or like in The Time Machine?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Steve said, “I guess either?”

“You don’t know who H.G. Wells is?” Eddie asked, staring at him like he was a stranger.

“Uh, no?” Steve said.

“What’s wrong with you?” Eddie asked, wonderingly.

“Um, nothing,” Steve said, vaguely offended at the idea that he was the wrong Steve.

“I’m Steven,” nerd Steve said.

“Steven! Steve isn’t even short for anything,” Steve replied.

“This is so weird,” Eddie said, eyes darting between the Steves. It was even weirder for Steve.

“Not any weirder than Vecna,” Robin said.

Eddie and Steven’s attention was diverted to her. Steven’s eyes watered, the tears looked even bigger behind his glasses. It was a disconcerting effect. He looked… almost delicate.

“Robin?” he asked. Steven pulled her into a swift hug, before she could say anything in response.

“Um,” Robin said, voice muffled by Steven’s chest, “Good to see you, too?”

He clasped her hand tight, when he pulled away from the hug.

Steven’s voice shuddered. “You died 7 months ago.”

Someone always had to die, he was realizing. If there was one constant, it was that someone always died. It hurt no less each time.

He couldn’t even decide which was worse, who he could live without.

Steve couldn’t imagine getting through a week without Robin, let alone 7 months. He felt a burst of sympathy for this strange, geek version of himself. If Robin died, Steve imagined he’d become an entirely different person, too. That could have a pretty profound impact. He wasn’t too sure Robin’s death could drive him to this type of sweater-vest psychosis but he was glad he wouldn’t have to find out.

“Oh,” Robin said, “Ouch. How did it happen?”

“We both worked at Scoops,” Steven started, eyeing them for familiarity. He nodded to indicate that they had been the same. “We had figured out that the Russians had invaded the mall and we got caught entering their base. They injected Robin with this drug to get her to talk, but she had a bad reaction to it. She died before anyone came to find us. It was awful.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve said, “I don’t know what I’d do without Robin. She’s my best friend.”

“We weren’t that close,” Steven said, “But we were friends. I saw her die. She was the first person I saw die.”

Steve stared at him aghast. “Robin wasn’t your best friend? Do you — have any friends?”

“Oh, Eddie’s been my best friend since we were kids,” Steven said.

Eddie nodded. “Boyfriend now, but that’s a new development.”

“And y’know, there’s Gareth, Frank, Jeff, Doug and the rest of the Hellfire Club gang,” Steven continued, “Plus, of course, all my friends from robotics.”

“Boyfriend,” Steve repeated. Wow. Three times in a row.

He couldn’t even focus on all the other stuff Steven was saying.

How was Eddie his boyfriend here too? Wasn’t this some sort of statistical anomaly? It just seemed like an awfully common thing to be present in three separate universes. Maybe it was just a fluke.

“Are you not dating your Eddie?” Eddie asked.

“No! I — I’m straight. I’m not dating any boys, anyone for that matter. Eddie and I are friends! New friends.”

“Wow,” Steven said, “I’ve had Eddie since we were five.”

“Oh,” Robin said, “That’s why you’re such a nerd. It’s his influence in your life.”

“Hey!” Steven said.

That explained a lot of things. It must have been kind of sweet to grow up with Edde.

A very different childhood than the one Steve had. Steve had friends as a kid, lots of them, and of course he had Tommy, his then best friend. But he’d always been a little guarded around them, careful to protect any possible weakness. He’d been good at fitting in — joining the basketball team at the start of high school had helped, but even before then, he’d been popular with ease.

But he was sure none of that would’ve been the case with this world’s Steven. Eddie had been a weird kid — Steve remembered him running around the playground and declaring himself a wizard. He’d always been wholly himself. If Steve had been friends with him, he knew he wouldn’t have felt the urge to change. It would’ve been easy to be open with him.

But he still couldn’t envision himself becoming the person he saw in front of him. He squirmed. It was hard being confronted with all these versions of him, these images of who he could’ve been if he made different decisions.

Sophomore year, Steve’s English teacher had asked the class if they were all being the best versions of themselves. At the time, Steve hadn’t a clue what he was speaking about. Honestly he’d thought it was a really pretentious question to be asking a bunch of 15 year olds. But now, it was on his mind, though he’d come no closer to answering her question.

“It’s true,” Steve said, “You even look like one.”

“Do not!” Steven protested.

“Listen dude. I have some advice that’s going to change your life. Start using Faberge Organics on your hair, shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair is damp spray four puffs of Farrah Fawcett spray. It’ll do wonders.”

Eddie frowned. “I like your hair as it is.”

“Thank you, Eddie,” Steven said, shooting Steve a dirty look, “Plus, I’m not the one who’s single.”

Ouch.

Well he tried. He was clearly beyond help. Being in love must have shrouded his brain, and occluded his ability to use a mirror, or brush his hair.

Steve couldn’t fix everything.

“You didn’t happen to see another Eddie around, did you?” Steve asked,

“No, definitely not,” Eddie said.

“He looks the same as your Eddie and would’ve come through the gate?” Robin said, and held her hand up above her, “About this tall?”

“No one has been here but you,” Steven added, “I would’ve noticed a second Eddie hanging around.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Did you lose your Eddie?” Steven asked, eyes boring into him accusingly. He wasn’t even his Eddie. He was just an Eddie from Steve’s world who he was sorta-friends with. And Steve wasn’t even the one who lost him. Eddie had gotten himself lost, if anything.

“I didn’t lose him!” Steve snapped, “He’s missing.”

“We didn’t even know he was alive, in our defense,” Robin added.

That didn’t really help their case much.

“What?” Eddie said.

“Not the point,” Steve said, “Anyway, we better be going if he isn’t here.”

The two of them crept back to Eddie’s trailer. Steve was itching to get away from this version of him, who was as different as it could get.

“I don’t know what I’d do without my Eddie,” Steven said, “I hope you find him.”

Back into the gate they went, in search of the world Eddie was in.

“We’ve been here for half an hour.”

“This universe’s Steve is slow,” Robin said.

“Hey, maybe it’s this universe’s Robin’s fault. You're the one who’s late for class most mornings.”

“Maybe we should just walk to your house,” Robin said, shooting another look at the empty road. They hadn’t had to wait long in any of the other worlds. Someone had always come by within a few minutes of their arrival. Their good luck had run out.

“Alright,” Steve said, “Guess it’s better than just standing here.”

They trudged on towards the road. The walk from Eddie’s was arduous — there was a reason everyone biked or drove in Hawkins. It wasn’t a long town, but things were spread unpleasantly far apart. Nancy used to gripe about urban planning in Hawkins, but Steve didn’t know why it was like this. They totally could have designed the city better. Steve had never missed his car more.

“Nancy’s is closer,” Robin said, when they were only halfway there, “I’m exhausted.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “We’ve only been walking for half an hour.”

Robin groaned.

“This is why you should jog with me.”

“I am not waking up at 6 in the goddamn morning to run,” Robin said.

“I’m just saying, it would help with your endurance…”

“Oh, like you’re not panting too,” Robin replied.

He was only a little. In his defense, it had been a really long week even before this misadventure. His injuries had never fully healed and it wasn’t like he’d been eating three round meals a day.

The rest of the walk to Nancy’s was done in silence, only interrupted by the sound of their feet hitting the pavement and the occasional complaint. Once this was all over, Steve was going to enjoy sitting on the couch for a solid 3 days.

He’d never been so happy to see Nancy’s house. They made their way up to her porch.

Steve rang Nancy’s doorbell, hoping neither of her parents would open the door. Mrs. Wheeler still liked him a little too much even after their breakup and speaking to her always soaked up so much time.

He perked up when the door swung open, but faltered when he saw who it was. He hadn’t seen that red hair or those glasses in an awfully long time.

Steve gasped. “Fuck! Barb?”

Barb looked back unimpressed. “Harrington.”

“Is Nancy here?” Steve asked, rattled.

So Barb was alive here. That was… strange. She looked different than Steve remembered. She was a little taller, her hair was slightly longer, it grazed her neck. She was older than she had been when she died. She had a chance to grow up here.

The look in her eye was familiar. Steve was well acquainted with her judgment of him. Barb had never liked him.

“Nancy,” Barb called out, “Your weird ex-boyfriend is here.”

Steve heard footsteps, as Nancy rushed down the stairs. She came to the door, looking just the same as the Nancy he knew.

“Steve?” Nancy said warily.

“Hey Nance,” Steve said, relieved by her presence.

“What’re you doing here?”

“Uh, well, funny story, but we’re actually from an alternate dimension. Like time travel but not.”

“That’s not funny,” Nancy said, “What are you talking about? There’s no such thing as time travel.”

“Just to be clear, this isn’t time travel,” Robin said, “It has to do with the Upside Down. Something happened with one of the gates, it’s a long story. We’re just here to ask if you’ve seen Eddie Munson, really.”

“What are you talking about?” Nancy asked, brushing her hair out of her face quickly, “Who even are you?”

“Robin Buckley? Uh — we had class together for like ten years. We’re in the same grade? I was at your eighth birthday party?”

“Why are you here?” Nancy said, her tone cold and biting. Steve had never heard her sound so abrupt, not even directly before they broke up.

“Can we just come in and talk?” Steve said, “I can explain. It’s a bit of a long story.”

“I haven’t spoken to you since Jonathan’s funeral, 3 years ago. And now you want to talk? Go to hell,” Nancy said.

They’d never been to a universe where they weren’t believed before. Nancy, Steve, Eddie, Robin, in every world were in the know about the Upside Down. Did this mean the Upside Down didn’t exist here? Was this just a more peaceful world?

No, that couldn’t be right. Steve had seen the scorched trailer and debris lining the roads. Vecna had struck here, too. Jonathan must have died instead of Barb, if Steve was doing the math correctly.

“You didn’t happen to see Eddie Munson, did you?” Robin asked.

Nancy slammed the door so hard that he could hear photo frames inside rattling.

Steve lingered on the doorstep, contemplating knocking again and explaining himself (faster this time, before she could slam the door) when he heard the click of the lock. Yikes. The Wheelers never locked the doors.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Robin said.

“What do we do now?”

“Let’s visit you,” Robin said.

“If Nancy doesn’t know about the Upside Down, then I definitely don’t.”

“You don’t know that,” Robin said, “It’s worth a shot.”

Steve sighed. “Fine. But I hope I’m not all weird here, too.”

Robin sighed. “You have to get over the glasses, Steve.”

They were really ugly glasses. If he was going to get glasses, couldn’t he at least get something cool?

“His name was Steven. Steven.”

“Eddie’s influence, I guess.”

“I guess it could’ve been nice if we were friends growing up,” Steve said. But he couldn’t really imagine it. Steve liked who he was. He didn’t really want to be anyone else, even if that person was a lifelong friend of Eddie.

“You certainly seem to be liking every Eddie we’ve met.”

“He’s easy to like.”

“Uh huh,” Robin said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!”

“Robin.”

“Nothing. I’m saying nothing.”

“You’re saying something.”

“I guess I’m saying that maybe it means something that you and Eddie are so… close in every world.”

“It’s a coincidence,” Steve said.

“Like it’s a coincidence that we’re always friends?” Robin asked.

Well that was different! Of course it meant something that they were always friends. They were like platonic soulmates.

“It’s only happened 3 times. Doesn’t mean anything.”

“Alright,” Robin said, “Whatever you say.”

“It’s not like that for me, at least,” Steve said, “Maybe I’m an anomaly.”

Robin shrugged. “You could be.”

“I’d know if I liked Eddie.”

Wouldn’t he?

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Eddie as a person or as a friend. Because he did! A lot. A lot for someone he barely knew.

As much as he hated it, Dustin was right. Eddie was funny and endlessly cool and clever and easy to talk to. Steve didn’t like D&D much, he’d given it a try two summers ago, but he might’ve liked it more with Eddie as the DM.

He thought, given time, they could be close friends.

But that was a far cry from a crush.

If Steve was a girl, he might have a crush on Eddie.

Or if he was gay.

But he wasn’t!

Steve liked girls. He liked the shine of their hair and the way it swayed in the wind. He liked the curve of their necks and waists and breasts. Steve liked their laughs. He remembered the way he used to fixate on Nancy; the shape of her lips, the way she said “amazing”, her bright eyes, the way she knew she was smart, her drive. He definitely knew he couldn’t be gay.

He’d never thought about guys like that. Not beyond the typical amount. Because of course he’d had the occasional thought about Tommy’s arms or Jonathan’s hands, but it was fleeting, just a stray thought that he could blink away.

But that was normal. Everyone had those thoughts sometimes.

They walked to his house, Steve unnaturally pensive and quiet for the journey there.

Steve couldn’t put this thought out of mind. This was different than before. He did think about Eddie’s hair, and his hands, and his long fingers with their bulky rings, his laugh, his expressive face. But it didn’t mean anything. It didn’t. It didn’t, it didn’t, it didn’t. It couldn’t.

Steve heard loud music blaring before they even reached his house. He saw Tommy’s car outside and could practically smell beer already.

“I’m throwing a party,” Steve said.

He hadn’t done that in… years really. Not since early senior year. He didn’t know enough people who were his age to throw a party. He envisioned a party with just Robin, Nancy, Jonathan and Eddie and muffled a laugh. That would’ve been a really awkward party.

“You don’t think…”

“What?”

“Well, if Barb never died, then… you might just be different here.”

Steve thought about that. Barb did set off a series of events. She was the reason Nancy had gotten entangled in the Upside Down mess, which was the only reason that Steve had, too. And it was his relationship with Nancy that made him realize he didn’t like the person he’d become.

Nancy used to get frustrated with him. She thought he didn’t care that Barb was dead. Of course, it wasn’t the same for him as it was for her. Barb had never liked him; he had been largely ambivalent about her. But he’d never forgotten about her. She died in his backyard and he’d boarded up his pool ever since. The guilt kept him up — he never spoke about it. Who could he have told? Definitely not Nancy. He had barely been able to keep that relationship afloat without divulging all his too messy feelings.

“Oh no.”

“Don’t freak out yet,” Robin said.

“I’m going to be an asshole here.”

He could already tell. It was the natural outcome.

“Well just in case this Steve doesn’t know about the supernatural, maybe you shouldn’t be the one to talk to him. You might give him a heart attack,” Robin said.

“Right,” Steve said, “Good luck.”

Steve hid in the bushes while Robin bravely walked up to the porch.

She rang the doorbell. It was a couple of awkward moments before Steve came to the door.

“It’s open,” he said, standing by the ajar door, motioning for her to come inside. He didn’t seem confused by her presence. Maybe they were still friends here, somehow? Steve hoped this would be true, because then he wouldn’t be that bad.

This was the most normal version of himself that he’d seen. The most similar to him, he meant.

“Hey Steve,” Robin said.

“Um. Hey,” King Steve replied, “Come on in. The kegs in the backyard. Just make sure you vomit in the bathroom only and upstairs is off limits.”

“Oh! I don’t want to join the party.”

“Why are you here then?” he asked, baffled.

“You don’t happen to know anything about alternate dimensions, do you? Or like, monsters or the Upside Down?”

“What the fuck is that?”

“I’ll take that as a no,” Robin said.

“First Eddie Munson, now you?” asshole Steve said, “What’s with all the weirdos at my house today?”

“Eddie came by?” Robin asked.

“Yeah, and he seemed just as crazy as you,” he said, “He was, like, drenched in blood and talking about how he knew me? Like, no shit, I know him. We went to the same high school. I don't know what he was on, clearly he was dipping into his own supply a little too much.”

“Yikes,” Robin said.

“I know,” Steve laughed, “He wouldn’t leave. I wanted to call the cops but he looked so pathetic I didn’t bother.”

“Where did he go after he left your house?”

“Why would I know that?” asshole Steve said, inching away from the door, “I need to get back to my friends.”

Steve extracted himself from the foliage and met Robin at the base of the driveway, picking leaves off his jacket.

“Hey, remember that thing I said about how we can’t be evil? I take it back,” Steve said.

“He’s not evil,” Robin said, “He’s just not self-actualized.”

“He’s an asshole.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “He’s you, Steve.”

“That’s the most offensive thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington is a part of who you are! King Steve was part of your foundation.”

“At least his hair looks normal,” Steve said grudgingly.

“Do you think Eddie’s still in this world?” Robin said.

It would have been so much easier if Eddie stayed in place. But he had no way of knowing that they were looking for him too.

Steve shrugged. “Where would he even go?”

“To find himself?”

“Where would this Eddie be?” Steve asked, “His trailer is destroyed.”

“Maybe he’s staying with Dustin?” Robin said.

Steve frowned. He really doubted Claudia would have allowed that, though it would not be above Dustin to try to sneak Eddie inside despite her disapproval. The Wheelers were a little more hands-off parenting-wise but they knew Eddie wasn’t there.

He smiled. “Well, it is his business hours, right now. I know exactly where he should be.”

Eddie normally sold on Friday nights outside the liquor store, when people were most desperate for a supply, and he could jack up the prices. He had a real sense for business. Steve had experienced this many times, and had learned to always purchase from him on a Thursday.

They walked to the liquor store, and he exhaled when he saw Eddie skulking behind the alley. Good thing he really was here, or Steve didn’t know where to go next.

He looked harder than the Eddie he knew. Steve didn’t know how to describe it, but there was something about the way he stood straight up when his Eddie slouched, and the hard angle of his jaw. Steve wasn’t scared of much anymore, but if someone called Eddie scary, he would understand. He couldn’t seem any more unapproachable. The biggest difference was how short his hair was, almost shorn down to the scalp.

Steve approached Eddie warily.

“What do you want? It’s $10 for a gram,” Eddie said.

“That’s a rip-off,” Steve replied, distracted, “That’s not why I’m here.”

“What do you want, then? I have K, shrooms, and acid too, but anything stronger than that, I don’t keep on hand. I’d need to deliver it to you in an hour.”

“No, none of that. Um, did you see someone unusual recently?”

“What’s it to you, Nancy Drew?” Eddie asked, his eyes hard.

His Eddie was different from this. Kinder, softer, sweeter.

Steve couldn’t help but feel for this one too.

Robin stepped in. “We’re looking for our friend. Maybe you saw him?”

“I might have.”

“About your height,” Robin said, “And uh, with longer hair. And the rest of your features.”

Eddie’s shoulders dropped down minutely and his fists unclenched. “He came by a few hours ago. Said he was me from a different world. I wouldn’t have believed it except he looked exactly like me. It was crazy. I thought I was tripping. I drove him back to my trailer, and he climbed into this portal thing.”

Robin groaned. “We just missed him."

“It’s okay,” Steve said, “We’ll find him.”

“You’re looking for him then. Are you his —”

“We’re friends,” Steve said.

Eddie nodded. “He said as much. Guess I didn’t believe him. Couldn’t imagine a world where I was friends with the king.”

“Your Steve is different,” Robin said.

“I’ll bet,” Eddie said, “This one doesn’t fluff his hair nearly as much. Less confidence.”

“Is that a good thing?” Steve asked.

Eddie smiled, close-lipped, “Might be. Shame you’re not going to stick around. No chance to find out.”

It was a shame. Steve thought he could like this Eddie, too. Something about the upward tick of his lips, or the hard gaze of his stare made Steve want to stay here. It was silly, he didn’t belong here, of course, he wasn’t going to stay. But he wanted to know if Eddie would like him if he got to know him.

“Yeah,” Steve said, “Nice to meet you.”

They left Eddie behind. Steve looked back once, startled to see Eddie was still looking at him, his eyes dark and intense. Steve made himself look away.

Robin shot him a knowing glance that Steve shied away from.

“We’re getting closer,” Steve said, “At least Eddie was here too.”

“Who knows where he is now?” Robin said.

“We’ll find him, Robin,” Steve said.

They climbed back through the gate, Steve hoping the whole time that they really were getting closer to their Eddie. Or at least that in the next world, they didn’t have to walk around town. He missed his Beamer.

Robin sneezed. “This is definitely the dustiest world we’ve been to.”

Steve looked around, trying to judge what time of day it was. It was hard to tell. The smog in the air was cloudy enough that you couldn’t see more than 4 feet ahead in any direction.

He looked around. The trailers that he could see all looked worse for wear. Max’s trailer had a notable dent in the top, and Mrs. Caldwell’s trailer was nearly falling apart. Maybe this universe experienced an earthquake?

He didn’t know what else could explain all this destruction.

The roads were quiet.

He was having a bad feeling about this world.

There were three bikes, stashed along the side of Eddie’s trailer. No flowers around Max’s trailer. There didn’t seem to be much grass even. What little plant life he could see all seemed wilted.

“Well, at least we don’t have to walk,” Robin said, kicking the bike grudgingly.

“Just for once,” Steve said, “I’d like to have my beamer. Is that too much to ask for?”

“A shower is too much to ask for,” Robin said, “Let alone a luxury like being able to drive.”

Robin tried to pull the bike upright, shaking some of the dust away. Steve sighed. This was nominally better than walking.

Before he could get on the bike, he heard footsteps.

“Robin, do you hear that?” he said.

Robin nodded, squinting to try and make out who it was. Steve adjusted his grip on his nailbat.

A flashlight shined in his eyes.

Steve held a hand out, blocking the light. “Who is that?”

“Steve?” Nancy said, shining the light down, “What’re you doing here? You’re supposed to be at Dobson & Finch right now. Robin, this isn’t even your day.”

Nancy’s hair was tied tightly back, and her face was wan. She looked easily a year older than his Nancy. She was wearing beige clothes, not dissimilar from a military uniform, though not camo. Hopper was standing a few feet behind her, hands firmly clasped around a gun, similarly attired.

“What?” Steve said.

“Something’s not right,” Hopper said, raising the handgun towards them. His eyes were stern, like he was actually going to shoot them. A pang of fear shot through his body.

“Oh my god, what are you doing?” Robin asked in one breath, the words stumbling together.

Steve took a step back. “Jeez, Hopper, can you point that somewhere else?”

Hopper didn’t reply or shift away. Steve angled the nailbat towards Hopper, load of good it’d do against a bullet.

“Where did we go for our first date?” Nancy asked, ignoring their questions. Steve’s mind blanked over the nonsensical question. They never talked about their failed relationship, especially not about the good parts.

“To the movies?” Steve replied, “Uh, why?”

They’d watched Fast Times, and Steve had held Nancy’s hand for a solid 30 minutes towards the end of it. He didn’t remember the movie much, but he’d never forget that day.

“He’s not an imposter,” Nancy murmured to Hopper, “But you’re not Steve.”

“I am,” Steve said, “I’m just from an alternate dimension. It’s a whole thing. We climbed through the gate and —”

“ — Listen, it’s a long story, we’re just trying to find Eddie Munson,” Robin cut in, “The one from our world went missing. Have you possibly seen an extra Eddie here?”

“No,” Nancy said, before ducking abruptly, “Get down.”

Steve hunched down, pulling Robin along with him.

In one smooth motion, Nancy pulled out a gun and shot a demobat that was inches away from where he’d been standing just before.

Steve exhaled noisily. That would have taken a nasty bite out of him.

There weren’t supposed to be demobats here. There weren’t supposed to be any Upside Down creatures in the real world.

“We gotta get under cover,” Hopper said, “Can’t be talking out here.”

Nancy nodded. “Let’s go.”

They both got onto their bikes. Steve tried to follow suit and hopped on one of the stray bikes on the ground. They took off, heading to the woods, instead of the main road like Steve expected. It was harder to ride the bikes here. It got stuck on all the tree roots, plus the uneven terrain slowed them down.

“Hurry up,” Hopper snapped, when he saw how much further Steve and Robin were from them.

Steve tried to pick up the pace, but he was clearly not as fit as either of them. Robin was similarly struggling behind him.

Eventually, they made their way into a clearing in the woods. There was a long path leading to a metal building in the center of it. The building reminded him of a factory.

They got closer, and Steve startled as the lights turned on around it automatically. He exchanged a look with Robin. This was so weird.

Nancy pressed something on the door, typing in a few numbers, before the door slid open. He peeked past her to look in. It seemed… like a normal house on the inside. He saw a hallway leading to some rooms.

Nancy shrugged off her jacket, leaving it on a hook by the door. She dropped off her gun in a bucket by the door that was full to the brim with artillery.

It was large and spacious on the inside, though there were no windows. There were lots of people sitting in what Steve assumed was the dining room, though he didn’t recognize anyone at a glance.

Nancy moved past the dining room, to a smaller room in the back. They followed her, ignoring all the looks they got on the way.

There was a whiteboard propped up against the wall. El was writing something on it that Steve couldn’t decipher. It just seemed like a strange mix of numbers and letters to him. Nancy collapsed into a chair, calling El’s attention away from the board.

“You’re back early,” El said.

“We have visitors,” Nancy replied, waving her hand at Steve and Robin. Robin waved back.

El squinted at the two of them.

“You’re from a different dimension,” El said.

Steve wondered if El had read his thoughts or had just deduced that. He decided he didn’t want to know.

“Yup,” Robin said, sitting in one of the chairs.

Steve sat down, too.

“Why are you here?” Nancy said.

Steve was firmly exhausted at having to explain this, but he knew Nancy wouldn’t accept being brushed off. He was sure she wanted to know every detail to categorize what was happening.

“We’re looking for Eddie,” Steve said, “The Eddie Munson from our world got lost, in an alternate dimension. We’re just trying to find him.”

“He didn’t come here,” Nancy said, “We’d know. We have trackers by all the gates triggered to alert us when something comes through.”

“Oh,” Steve said.

He really thought they were getting closer to finding Eddie. But it was like for every step they got closer, Eddie took two steps back. He didn’t know how they were ever going to catch up to him.

“How’s your world different?” Nancy said.

“Uh, well for one, we don’t have demobats flying around,” Steve said.

Sure, sometimes they had a sudden burst of dead wildlife to worry about followed by a stray demodog. But that was far from a regular occurrence, the way it seemed to be in this world.

“Just no demobats?” Nancy asked, “How often do you have a demodog or mindflayer sighting?”

“There have been four separate incidents over the last three years. Like a week or so each time, before we could close the gate. We had a situation with this guy named Vecna recently,” Steve said, “But that was the last thing that happened and El defeated him, so we should be good, I think.”

“Four incidents over three years? That’s it?”

“Well, there were multiple monsters each time,” Steve said, “And Vecna killed a lot of people. Gruesomely.”

Nancy laughed. “Steve, we kill at least 4 demodogs a day. And that’s just demodogs. If I counted everything that came from the Upside Down in a day, it would easily be 30 different creatures.”

30 a day? That was insane!

“Why are there so many?” Robin asked, “What happened to Hawkins?”

“The gate opened,” Nancy said, “And we couldn’t close it. Now there’s constant migration from the Upside Down to Hawkins. The monsters are most numerous the closer you are to a gate.”

Well, that was horrifying.

“Constant migration?” Robin said.

“They just keep coming,” Nancy said, “We set up traps next to the gate, to kill some of them, but it’s far from foolproof. Luckily, they don’t seem to evolve. And we’re coming up with new ways to kill them every day.”

She sounded way too excited about that part.

El nodded. “And one day, we will close the gate.”

It didn’t seem like they knew quite how to do that, but Steve didn’t want to crush their optimism. El managed to close the gate in their world so surely it had to be possible here too.

“Did the government help, at least? Did they send troops?”

“The government?” Nancy laughed, “No, they just dropped off a bunch of weapons and helped people who wanted to leave find somewhere to go. They just wanted everyone to evacuate.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Steve asked.

“And abandon Hawkins? This is my home,” Nancy said, “Families with young kids moved away, so did most elderly people. But everyone else stayed. No one is giving up on Hawkins. And one day, we’re going to win. For good.”

Steve didn’t doubt it for a second. Nancy could do anything when she was determined.

“I’m sure you will,” Steve said.

“We’ll tell you everything we know,” Robin said, “In case anything we did can be useful.”

“Appreciated,” Nancy said.

Steve tried his best to recall everything he remembered in regards to the Upside Down. It was hard because he was mostly on the front lines. Nancy was the one who came up with plans and had theories on why things were the way they were. And El was the only one who knew what it meant to close the gate. He had no clue how she did that.

Still, he dutifully explained everything that had happened, from Will’s kidnapping all those years ago, to Vecna’s demise.

Robin filled in the details he missed, while Nancy diligently took notes.

“Hopefully, that’ll help,” Robin said.

“Can’t hurt to know more,” Nancy said.
Steve heard the sound of the door opening.

“Hey Nance, what’s the situation?” he heard a voice say. Steve looked up to see his own face. That would never stop being eerie.

“Woah, that’s a trip,” Eddie said, as he walked in, “There’s two of you.”

“Alternate dimension,” Robin said, pointing to him.

“Oh, sure, why not,” other Steve said, “Alternate dimension.”

“Guess it’s not the craziest thing we’ve seen this week,” Eddie said, pulling off his hoodie. Steve had to do a double take.

“Your hair,” Steve said, stupidly.

“What about it?” Eddie said

“It’s gone,” he said, in shock. Eddie had a buzzcut. His long, beautiful hair was shorn off. How could he? He still looked good without it but it was strange to see.

His eyes seemed impossibly bigger now. Eddie seemed older like this, his cheekbones sharper, like he’d lost baby fat. He had more muscle on his arms.

Fuck, he was hot. Steve pushed down that thought to deal with it later.

Other Steve looked different too. He had a nasty scar that split across his right cheek, and his hair wasn’t styled.

“Yeah, I shaved it well over a year ago when the water supply was compromised,” Eddie said, “Couldn’t justify the extra shower time needed to wash it.”

“That is so tragic,” Steve said.

“I think he looks good like this too,” other Steve added before pecking Eddie on the cheek.

“Thanks, babe,” Eddie said, “Hey El, add 6 more to the tally.”

El obligingly added 6 more checkmarks to Eddie’s column on the whiteboard. They seemed to be tracking who killed the most monsters. Nancy’s column had the most checkmarks, though Steve was pleased to see that he seemed to be in second. Though Lucas seemed to be closing in on him.

Nancy whistled under her breath. “Not bad for a night's work.”

Steve met Robin’s eyes, and took a moment to be grateful that this wasn’t the world they lived in.

“We should be going back to the gate,” Robin said.

“Our search for Eddie continues,” Steve added.

Nancy nodded. “You can take the bikes back to the gate. It should be safe now, patrols haven’t indicated any more Upside Down creatures that came through. We stash bikes at all the high risk spots. In case anyone needs to get away quickly. So you can just leave it where you found it.”

“Thanks,” Robin said.

“Alright,” Steve said, standing up, “It was nice meeting you all.”

He tried not to let his eyes linger on Eddie when he said that.

“Likewise,” Eddie said.

Steve and Robin swiftly left the apocalyptic world, for once grateful to reenter the Upside Down.

“Alright,” Steve said, “Let’s do this again.”

Robin mustered up enthusiasm. “An adventure!”

Steve was getting sick of this.

He had met so many different Eddies he’d long lost count: rockstar Eddie, basketball Captain Eddie, illicit tattoo artist Eddie, high school dropout Eddie, an Eddie who had been born Edith but was just as much of a man as his Eddie, an Eddie that was inexplicably Nancy’s brother (Steve still didn’t understood how that happened), vampire Eddie, undead Eddie and camp counselor Eddie were just some of the highlights.

But he hadn’t found his Eddie yet.

In the vast majority of the worlds, he was friends with Robin or set to befriend her. And in more than half of them, he was dating Eddie.

Steve didn’t know what to make of that. It was just strange that it happened so much. There was only one world where he’d been dating Nancy!

“This better be the one,” Robin said, climbing back through the gate, “Or else we’re taking a break here.”

“The last one wasn’t too bad.”

“I had a perm, Steve. It was bad. And a fake tan.”

“I thought you looked startling,” Steve said.

“Not a compliment.”

That had been a particularly strange world where Robin had been the one to go to Murray’s and had ended up dating Nancy in the process. That universe’s Steve didn’t seem too phased by it — probably helped that he’d been in a relationship too — but Steve hadn’t stopped jokingly giving her shit for dating his ex. Robin flushed a little every time he brought it up, which only encouraged him.

Of course, it wasn’t as bad as the world where Robin and Steve had briefly dated before Robin came out. That world was by far the weirdest and grossest one Steve had been to. They didn’t talk about that one.

Steve perked up at the sound of wheels on the gravel road. The universes they went to where no one drove to Eddie’s trailer were the worst.

He peered into the car. Eddie was in the driver’s seat — that was typical when there was a Steve who was injured — but the passenger seat was empty.

No alternate Steve this time. Hmm, that wasn’t typical, but if Steve had learned anything it was that anything was possible. Anything.

“Hey Eddie,” Steve called out.

Robin sighed before pivoting into the 2-minute spiel they’d perfected, talking at breakneck speeds. They were trying to expedite the process as much as they could “We’re-from-an-alternate-dimension-and—”

Before she could finish her run-on sentence, Eddie barrelled forward, his eyes fixated on Steve. Steve hesitated, clutching at his nailbat, wondering whether he was supposed to use it. Eddie hadn’t attacked them before. Before he could decide, Steve could feel Eddie collide against him. It took him a moment to realize what was happening.

Eddie pulled him into a fierce hug. Steve reflexively squeezed back, feeling Eddie’s hair tickle his neck.

“Steve?”

“Hey,” he said. That was a stronger reaction that he normally got. Could it be — Steve didn’t want to get his hopes up so quickly.

“It’s really you?” Eddie asked, the words frenzied and desperate.

“Yeah, yeah Eds, it’s me.”

Eddie didn’t say anything but Steve could hear his huff of relief.

Steve laughed in relief. “We finally found you.”

He’d gotten a little worried that maybe they never would.

Even after Stevie had told them his Eddie was alive, some part of him hadn’t been able to believe it. No matter how many worlds they’d been to that Eddie had also traveled in. But here, holding Eddie, feeling his warm skin and the heft of his body, he knew Eddie was alive. A weight lifted from his body.

Eddie was alive!

The hands holding onto him faltered. Eddie leaned back slightly. “I’m not… your Eddie.”

“What?” Steve said, “Not again.”

He exchanged a look with Robin.

He didn’t know how many more times he could do this.

“I have him! He’s at your house, actually,” Eddie continued, “I just — can’t believe you’re here. Wow.”

“Uh, not to interrupt this… reunion but why the dramatics if you're not even the right Eddie?” Robin asked, peering over Steve’s shoulder.

Eddie frowned. “Well, I’m not a wrong Eddie either. Oddly hurtful thing to say. It’s just been a while since I’ve seen Steve, is all. Missed him.”

“Where’d he go?” Steve asked.

Eddie startled. “Um.”

“Oh no,” Robin said.

Steve had been down this road enough times to know what was coming next. He wished he could just fast-forward this part.

“He’s dead,” Eddie said mournfully.

“Figures,” Robin muttered, “We haven’t seen that yet.”

“Sorry, we’ve kinda been doing this for a while,” Steve said at Eddie’s shocked look, “The whole ‘oh no, someone’s dead here’ thing has lost its sting.”

They’d really run through all the possibilities by now, it had just been a matter of time before they’d met a world where he was dead. Really, it was surprising that this was the first. Steve could count at least five near-death experiences he had recently.

“Not to be cavalier!” Robin said.

Eddie shot wide eyed glances at the two of them. “You’ve been doing this for a while, huh?”

“Buddy, you have no idea,” Robin said.

Steve didn’t want to count up how many days they’d been away from home. Time had lost meaning; it was hard to keep track since they were never anywhere for long. There were few universes where they'd spend the night, and the sleep deprivation had started to wear on him a little bit. Each dimension they visited wore on him a little, made them both a little more tired. He could feel the strain of his not-fully healed injuries being stressed too. It was rare when his chest didn’t hurt.

“We’ve been to a lot of different universes,” Steve said, “Infinite universes, infinite possibilities, right? Trust me, this isn’t even close to one of the sadder worlds.”

“Hey, I’d be really sad if you were dead,” Robin said.

Steve frowned. “But objectively, there have been sadder things.”

“You’re right,” Robin said, “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be distraught. Nothing would ruin me like that.”

“Yeah, she’s a wreck,” Eddie said quietly. He didn’t look great either, now that Steve looked at him a little longer.

Well, that was awkward.

Eddie inhaled sharply. “So, uh, I’ll drive you to your Eddie?”

Steve went along with the obvious change of subject. “Yes, please.”

They slid into the backseat of the car. Steve was nearly limp with relief. This whole journey had been more tiring than fighting Vecna and the mindflayer combined. He was never dimension traveling again if he could help it. Hell, when he got home, he might not even leave his house for a solid week just to recuperate from all this.

Eddie drove, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel the whole time.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Eddie said, “I was thinking that I’d need to fake having a hidden twin to explain having your Eddie in this world.”

“Couldn’t imagine explaining that in Hawkins High,” Robin said.

“Ha,” Eddie said, “They probably would’ve made Eddie repeat all of high school again ‘cause they didn’t have a record of him in this world.”

“Then he could be a super super super senior,” Robin said.

“That would actually be hell on earth,” Eddie said, “Can’t wait to get out of this city. Now that you’re taking him with you, I can finally leave. He was my last loose string here.”

“Where are you going?” Steve asked.

Eddie shrugged. “Anywhere? I don’t know yet, for sure, but listen as long as it’s not Hawkins, it has to be better.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Robin said. Hawkins was uniquely awful.

Eddie kept stealing glances at his rearview mirror though there were no cars behind them. Steve could feel him looking. He shifted self-consciously. Eddie stared at him like he was drinking him in, with an open hunger. Steve didn’t know what to do with that.

“Sorry if I’m staring,” Eddie said, holding his gaze, “Been awhile.”

“That’s okay,” Steve said.

“I just really missed you,” Eddie said.

“I um, missed you, too. Well, not you exactly but —”

“I know,” Eddie said, “It’s not quite the same. Your Eddie said that you two aren’t dating?”

Oh, this again.

“No, Eddie and I are just friends,” Steve said, apologetically.

Eddie smiled. “Sometimes I wish we’d never dated. Would’ve been easier to get over you if I’d never loved you.”

Steve frowned. That was probably true but really sad.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said.

“It’s not your fault,” Eddie said, “It’s just nice to get the chance to see you again. I know you’re not the same as my Steve, but getting to see any Steve for a few more minutes is something I never thought I’d have.”

Steve didn’t know what to say to that. The intensity of Eddie’s emotions, the depth of his grief scared him.

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Steve said finally.

Eddie just smiled, and kept driving, his eyes finally staying on the road. Steve felt Robin’s shoulder knock against his reassuringly.

“We’re here,” Eddie said, though he didn’t need to. Steve’s house looked the same, and he almost opened the door before Eddie came to a full stop.

Steve got out of the car quickly, making it to the porch in no time at all.

“Slow down,” Robin said, laughing but caught up to him, equally in a hurry.

He hesitated before pushing the door in. He couldn’t believe they were this close. That Eddie was really here! He was finally, finally going to see him.

He didn’t have to stumble far before he saw him.

It was Eddie for sure. He was holding onto his ribs with a pained look, though he dropped his hand when he saw Steve. His eyes were wide with surprise, and it was a few beats before he split into a grin.

“Steve?” Eddie said.

“You’re my Eddie?” Steve asked, before correcting himself, “I mean, the Eddie from my universe?”

He’d seen enough Eddie’s to know he needed to verify before he got his hopes up. The Eddies all looked too similar at a distance to know that way.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, “Finally.”

“It is so good to see you,” Steve said. His chest was lighter, like a concrete block had been lifted off it, and he could finally breathe.

“You, too,” Eddie said. "It’s been a while.”

“Yeah it has been,” Robin said, taking a step forward.

“Good to see you too, Robin,” Eddie added.

“I didn’t think I’d ever make it home. I must’ve seen at least 30 different universes, and obviously none of them were home. I was about to give up! Just start up a new life in one of the better worlds. My only hope was that one of you would realize where I was and come bring me back.”

Robin shot him a wide-eyed look. “Well, we don’t actually know how to get back.”

“What? What was your plan?” Eddie asked.

Steve shrugged. “It was a bit of a two-parter. ‘Step 1: Find Eddie’ has just been accomplished so I think we’re doing pretty good.”

“Eh, we’ll figure it out,” Robin said, “Stepping through the gate hasn’t failed us yet.”

“It has though,” Steve said, thinking of the many pitfalls they’d encountered on the way here. It felt like a miracle they’d managed to happen upon Eddie at all. He got dizzy when thought about just how many different universes there must be, and how vast each one was.

“Just trying to be positive,” Robin said, “We may never get home. Who knows?”

Eddie sighed.

“Cheer up, Eddie,” Robin said, “You’re not dead.”

Eddie frowned. “Wasn’t aware I needed to be concerned about that.”

“Well, we all thought you were dead,” Robin said, matter-of-fact.

“What? Then how’d you get here?”

“Went looking for your body, you were missing, etc. etc.,” Robin said. They were all getting a little sick of this conversation.

“Right,” Eddie said, “Huh. So everyone thinks I’m dead? Like actually dead? Even Uncle Wayne?”

“Yup, everyone,” Robin said, “But you aren’t! So yay!”

“Yikes,” Eddie said, “That’s grim.”

“Imagine how great it’ll be when they realize you’re alive,” Robin said.

“It’s the best gift you could ever give them,” Steve said, “Real emotional high after that.”

“Still would’ve preferred they didn’t think I died in the first place.”

“Yeah, well,” Robin said, “We all would’ve preferred that.”

“What is it with people being presumed dead in Hawkins?” Steve said, “Will, Hopper, now Eddie. Man, I’m never gonna trust a funeral ever again.”

It was nice that dying in Hawkins only gave you a 50% chance of staying dead, but all of this was going to give Steve crazy trust issues in the future. Well, hopefully now that Vecna was defeated, they weren’t going to have nearly as many funerals in the future.

“Sheriff Hopper’s alive?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brow.

“Right, you don’t know,” Robin said, “Wow, you actually missed quite a lot.”

“We’ll fill you in when we’re back home.”

It had taken a solid 2 weeks post-Vecna for Steve to get properly caught up with the whole Hopper being alive/El getting arrested/Henry Creel being El’s pseudo brother stuff. And he still didn’t totally understand how Hopper got to Russia. Or how he got back. It would have to be even more confusing for Eddie who hadn’t been a part of everything that had happened.

“If we get back home,” Eddie said.

Robin rolled her eyes. “We got this far. We’ll make it home. Probably.”

“Come on,” Steve said, “Let’s go back to the gate.”

“Finally,” Eddie said.

“I’ll drive you guys there,” other Eddie said.

Steve had forgotten he was there, in the midst of his excitement at finding Eddie. Other Eddie was staring at them with a wistful look, a few steps back from where they were, watching the reunion.

“Thanks,” Steve said, “For everything.”

“It was nice having you here,” other Eddie said sincerely to his Eddie, “You were good company.”

“You, too,” Eddie said, in response, “One of my favorite me’s I’ve met.”

Huh, Steve hadn’t been ranking his alternate versions like that. Stevie was probably the coolest one he’d met though, if he was being honest.

They all squeezed into the car. Robin took shotgun as was her god given right, leaving Eddie and Steve in the backseat.

Eddie threw a hand over his shoulder, leaning into Steve’s side. Eddie’s fingers tickled at his collarbone. Steve didn’t shift lest Eddie move away. He wanted Eddie to stay just the way he was. He was warm, was all, and it was chilly out. It was just a practical choice.

Plus, letting Eddie get away has historically led to a lot of problems. It was best to keep him nice and safe, close to Steve.

Steve never realized how warm Eddie ran. He was like a furnace.

“How are your injuries?” Steve asked.

“Not bad,” Eddie said, “Only hurts when I move half the time.”

“We have got to get you to a hospital when we get home,” Steve said.

“Ugh, not another hospital!”

“We can’t let you die of sepsis after going through all this work to find you,” Robin said, “What would the point of this all be then?”

“Yeah, Dustin would really never forgive you then,” Steve said.

“Ah, the kid’s gonna be pissed at me, isn’t he?”

Steve thought the relief at seeing Eddie alive might win out over anger, but he couldn’t say for sure. Dustin did nurse anger like no one else, and seeing Eddie die had been especially traumatizing for him. There was a chance he’d make Eddie work at earning back forgiveness for diverting from the plan. Even Steve had been pretty mad about that one, but it had been hard to maintain anger against a dead man. Now that he knew Eddie was alive, all Steve could feel was relief. He couldn’t promise Dustin would think that way though. Even if Eddie turned out okay, things were pretty rough in the middle until they found him.

“A little,” Steve said, “He’ll get over it. Eventually.”

“Uncle Wayne’s gonna be really mad,” Eddie said, “I don’t even know how I’m going to explain all this.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Steve said, “Even I don’t get everything that happened and I lived through it. Well, I barely lived through it. More like I just somehow stumbled my way through each time and managed not to die.”

“Oh, come on, you’re a pro at this,” Eddie said, “A regular monster hunter.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I never know what I’m doing.”

“Well, you found me,” Eddie said, “That was pretty impressive.”

It wasn’t like there was much skill to it. He and Robin had just traveled from dimension to dimension, randomly with no way to center their search. They were just lucky they found him, nothing impressive about it.

“Yeah, you owe me now, Munson,” Steve joked, “Lifetime supply of free weed?”

Eddie laughed. “Maybe I’ll start charging you the non-jock price now.”

“I knew you jacked up your prices!” Steve said.

“I had a sliding scale model,” Eddie said, “You could afford it.”

That he could.

“It’s okay, maybe you’ll even get the friends & family price now,” Eddie said.

“Oh, are you saying we’re friends now?” Steve said. Although he’d considered Eddie a friend, they hadn’t actually spent much time together. And before all of this happened, Steve had always felt like Eddie disliked him. Probably because of all the times back in high school when Eddie would stand on tables and talk about how much he disliked the basketball team…

“I’d say we’re getting there,” Eddie said, smiling at him.

Steve smiled back. He looked forward to solidly being friends with Eddie. He could see them becoming close — maybe even somewhat like how he and Robin were.

“Good,” Steve said, “Some of the Eddies I’ve met along the way were pretty cool.”

“The Steves were way cooler,” Eddie said, “Did you meet Stevie? Now, she was impressive.”

“I’ve met a few Stevies by now,” Steve said.

“The one I met was crazy impressive,” Eddie said, “She was a cheerleader before, but she quit the team after she broke up with her version of Nancy, and learned how to fight.”

“I think I met her too,” Steve said.

“Oh yeah, she was hot,” Robin said, from the front. Steve hadn’t even realized she could hear them.

He rolled his eyes. “Not fair that I’m only hot as a girl.”

“I think you’re hot as a guy,” Eddie said.

Steve valiantly resisted a flush from coming to his ears. “Thank you, Eddie.”

“Just the truth,” Eddie said casually.

Was he flirting with him or was Steve’s sleep-deprived brain reading too much into this? He had to assume it was the latter because Eddie had never flirted with him before, right? Just because a lot of the other Eddies and Steve’s had been dating, didn’t mean that this Eddie liked him at all.

“We’re here,” Other Eddie announced from the front of the car.

Steve looked up, startled. He hadn’t even noticed the journey passing him by.

“Great,” Robin said, “Let’s finally go home.”

“Can’t wait,” Steve said, getting out of the car and stretching his arms. Fuck, he was tired. Once they brought Eddie safely home, he was going to crash for 15 hours straight.

“We’re good to go?” Eddie asked, wincing as he took in how destroyed his trailer was. There was no repairing it.

“Yup!” Robin said, walking towards it.

“Wait!” Other Eddie said, holding on to Steve’s arm.

Steve paused, waiting for him to say something.

Other Eddie looked at Steve for a few weighted seconds. Finally he just sighed. “Goodbye, Steve.”

“Goodbye, Eddie,” Steve said, staring at this sadder, lost Eddie.

“Hey, listen. Before you go — there’s just one thing —” Other Eddie said.

“What is it?” Steve said.

Eddie flushed, the tips of his ears slowly turning red. “You don’t have to! You can totally say no, I mean I get it if your Eddie would be mad about it, hell maybe I would’ve been if things were reversed. It’s just the last time I’ll ever see you, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop kicking myself if I don’t ask and —”

“Eddie! What are you talking about?”

“Will you kiss me?” Eddie asked, a little too loud. The conversation at the other side of the road died down instantly. Steve didn’t have to look over to know Robin and his Eddie were staring at him. “I just, it’s been a long time since the last time. He was bleeding out, dying, and he tasted like blood. I always wished our last kiss was a better memory than that.”

Steve’s heart ached. That was downright tragic. Eddie’s “death” had been hard on him and they were just friends. He couldn’t imagine how much harder things would’ve been if they’d been in love.

“Of course,” Steve said.

Eddie’s eyebrows rose. Steve heard a choked noise from the end of the room and valiantly forced himself not to turn.

“Just like that?” Eddie asked.

Steve shrugged. “Why not?”

Maybe he should’ve considered it for longer. But c’mon, it was just a kiss, it wasn’t going to mean anything. It wasn’t like he was sleeping with Eddie. And he was helping out a friend at very little inconvenience to himself. It would be strange if Steve said no to this. What kind of heartless person could turn down this request?

He’d kissed plenty of people previously so what was one more? Everyone else had been girls but what difference would it really make that Eddie was a boy? A kiss was a kiss and this wasn’t even for Steve’s benefit.

Eddie took a stop forward, putting a hesitant hand on his cheek. Steve waited for Eddie to kiss him, but he didn’t move forward.

Steve leaned in, and gently placed his lips on Eddie’s in a chaste peck.

It was weird at first. His lips were chapped, and firmer than most of the girls he’d kissed. And Eddie was decidedly a boy, there was no give to his waist when Steve squeezed it. Steve kissed him again. If this was going to be Eddie’s last memory of him, he wanted to give him something good to remember.

Steve got a little closer, opening his mouth slightly. Shivers raced down his spine when Eddie licked into the seam of his lips, suddenly moving with practice, clearly experienced and confident. Eddie nipped his bottom lip, and Steve couldn’t help but press back. Eddie was warm, so hot that he was burning Steve up. Steve let his hand trace Eddie’s shoulder, slowly crawling up to lock into his hair for grip.

Eddie pulled away slowly.

Steve took a step forward, dazed, before remembering himself. It was just supposed to be one kiss.

Fuck, Eddie was a great kisser. That was one of the better kisses of Steve’s life. And it was with a man. But that fact didn’t diminish the kiss for him. It was different than kissing a girl but not any worse. Definitely not worse.

“Thanks,” Eddie said.

“No problem,” Steve replied, his voice hoarse.

Woah.

Eddie reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair behind Steve’s ears. His fingers were calloused and rough against Steve’s skin; he couldn’t help but twitch at the slight contact. How would his hands feel if they were caressing the back of his neck, or sliding down against his back?

“Um, time to go!” Steve said, “We should really get going.”

“Yup, time is ticking,” Robin said, tapping at her empty wrist.

“Bye, Steve,” other Eddie said, as they walked away from him.

Robin mouthed the words, “We’re totally talking about this later.”

“Nothing to talk about,” Steve mumbled.

“What was that?” his Eddie asked.

“Nothing!” Steve said.

Robin shot him a pointed glance but didn’t say anything.

Steve thought about the sensation of Eddie’s lips against his and valiantly tried to suppress the feeling. Fuck, was this going to haunt him for a while. He shouldn’t have agreed to just one kiss. Everyone knew you couldn’t have just one of anything without wanting more.

It was just… a really, really good kiss. Maybe Eddie just had a talent for kissing or something? That’s why Steve couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was just confusing. He hadn’t expected to like it as much as he ultimately did.

They walked towards the trailer. It was a handy diversion from Steve’s thoughts. They were going to go home.

All three of them were practiced at this. They must have gone through this gate dozens of times each. Steve stepped over a piece of rubble and he opened the door to Eddie’s trailer. They slipped in, one after another, until they were all stood underneath the pulsing gate.

“Who’s first?” Steve asked.

“I think it’s my turn,” Robin said.

“Alright,” Steve said, despite knowing she’d said that the last three times.

Robin crawled up the rope, with practiced ease, pulling her body up.

“Here’s hoping we never have to do this again,” Robin said, as she popped on through.

Steve didn’t know if it would be that easy. He didn’t want to get his hopes up like that. He hoped somehow, it would just know to bring them home. As long as he stayed with Robin and Eddie, it would be okay, though. They’d figure it out.

“Little scared I’m going to be stranded again,” Eddie said as he looked at the gate.

The thought occurred to Steve too, but it wasn’t like they knew how any of this worked. No one had come up with any other options for getting home. And it wasn’t like anyone else knew how this worked. It was almost like the gate had a mind of its own. He wondered if it sent him and Robin to an alternate dimension on purpose, so they’d know that Eddie was alive but missing. Or was it silly to think the magical portal had thoughts and free will?

“I’d find you anywhere,” Steve replied, too open, too obvious.

Eddie just beamed in response. “I know you would.”

“See you on the other side,” Steve said, squeezing his hand.

He watched as Eddie pulled himself up and into the Upside Down. Steve quickly followed after him. He fell into a heap, right on top of Eddie. That was one part of the process they never streamlined. His whole body was a bruise by now.

“Oh, good,” Robin said from where she was standing to the side, “We all made it.”

Steve untangled himself from Eddie, not letting his hands linger on his body.

“Now to make it back home,” Eddie said, looking up.

“Fucks sake, this is such a convoluted process,” Robin said, as she climbed upward on the rope, “I never had this kind of arm strength before.”

Yeah, the whole climbing into and out of the Upside Down was stupid, but sadly it was the only option they knew of. All the other gates (thankfully) had been closed. When they made it back home, he’d have to ask El to properly seal this one off too, lest any other Eddies go missing.

“Maybe you’ll be able to beat Max at arm wrestling now,” Steve said.

Robin scowled. “She only wins because she’s a cheater.”

They made it back through the gate.

They gingerly made their way outwards. Steve looked around. The sky was gray with ash, the flowers outside Max’s trailer were white and his car was right where he remembered leaving it. Everything looked right. As it should be.

It felt like home, something in his stomach settled. He hadn’t even realized how uneasy he’d been all along, like the feeling of coming to shore after a long boat ride.

He just couldn’t believe anything working out for them so easily.

“I don’t want to jinx it,” Robin said, “But…”

“Are we home?” Steve said.

Please let them be home.

“I think we might be?” Robin said, “I think.”

“Things never work out that easily for us,” Eddie said.

“It’s probably just some weird parallel universe where everything is slightly worse,” Steve said.

They’d seen so many of those by now. It made Steve feel a weird sort of gratitude for his fucked-up home.

“You’re both so fucking dramatic,” Robin said, “We are not the main characters of a horror movie. We’re not doomed to never go home.”

“Speak for yourself, Robin,” Eddie said, “I very much feel like the main character of a horror film.”

Robin scoffed. “At best you’d be a side character who died halfway.”

“Hits a little hard, considering you all thought I was dead.”

“Steve would die in the opening scene, if that makes you feel better.”

“Well, it doesn’t make me feel better,” Steve cut in.

“Just the truth, Stevie-boy,” Robin said.

Steve heard a ticking sound and looked down at this wrist to confirm. “My watch is working again.”

“What time is it?” Robin asked, “Actually what day is it?”

“Watches don’t tell you the date.”

“That was a separate question,” Robin said primly.

“Uh, but apparently it’s 10:13 AM? I wonder if —”

“What?” Eddie said.

“Wait a second,” Steve said, before walking over to the closest trailer that wasn’t a wreck. Ah, perfect. If there was one thing that kept working in Hawkins rain or shine or Vecna attack, it was the mail. Steve picked up the newspaper that was rolled up in front of the house. March 30. That was the same day as Eddie’s funeral.

He walked back to Robin and Eddie, holding the newspaper out. “It’s still March 30.”

“You’re telling me time didn’t pass when we were gone?”

“That’s really freaky,” Eddie said.

It was about 10:00 when they’d entered the Upside Down the first time, Steve recalled. It was insane that they’d experienced so much while no one in Hawkins knew otherwise.

Steve knew the rest of The Party was going to be fascinated by all of this, and resolved to remember as many details as he could, so they could analyze how the Upside Down had worked. It felt like it had some level of sentience, like it knew that Robin and Steve had gone to look for Eddie, and had taken them to different worlds on purpose. And when they were reunited, the Upside Down had taken them home. Maybe the Upside Down itself wasn’t evil… Steve didn’t know though, and he’d leave the theorizing up to Nancy.

“Hardly the weirdest thing we’ve experienced in the last while.”

Robin smiled. “Wait, you know what that means?”

“What?”

“We have a funeral to crash.”

“We’re going to give Eddie’s uncle a heart attack,” Steve said. They couldn’t actually be considering just showing up with Eddie, right? He remembered how shocked he’d been finding out Eddie was alive, and he’d been eased into it comparatively.

“In a good way!”

“There’s no such thing as a good heart attack.”

Eddie shrugged. “I’m on board.”

“Oh, fine,” Steve said, “Let’s go freak out all our friends.”

They walked towards his car. Steve took a moment to appreciate the sight of it. His reliable friend. Oh, it was so good to finally have her back again, all to himself, not having to share her with any of the alternate Steves.

He got into the driver’s seat, relishing the feel of it. The dashboard was dust free and his car smelled just like he remembered. He relaxed into the seat. He was definitely ready to be the one driving again.

Steve caressed his steering wheel. “I missed you.”

“Um, what’re you —” Eddie asked.

Robin shushed him. “Trust me, you don’t want to question it.”

Steve started driving towards the funeral home, thinking about how much had changed since they’d left it.

This was a much better outcome than they could ever have asked for. When he’d left this morning (technically) all he’d wanted was to bring Eddie’s body back. He would’ve been content with that outcome. But now they had Eddie himself in the backseat, talking and laughing and undeniably alive. It was a miracle.

“Isn’t it strange knowing we live in the best universe?” Steve said.

Robin hummed. “It’s really messed up that it is the best one.”

“Yeah,” Steve said. But none of them could deny how lucky they were. No one had died as a result of the final confrontation with Vecna, which wasn’t something many other universes could claim. And now they were all back and together. Steve had renewed faith that Max would wake up, and recover from her injuries soon. He knew she was going to be okay. In this daylight, it felt like only good things were possible. Good things were possible in Hawkins. He just didn’t know he was supposed to be grateful for everything that hadn’t gone wrong until now.

“Y’know, in one of the dimensions I was in, I was one of the popular kids,” Eddie said, “That Steve and I had been friends since junior year and I got onto the football team, somehow.”

Steve laughed. “I can’t imagine it.”

“That’s nothing,” Robin replied, “We went to a universe where you and Steve had been friends since childhood and Steve was a total nerd!”

Eddie laughed. “Now that I’d want to see.”

“Robin,” Steve said, miming for her to stop talking. He wanted to forget about that one. That was one of the worst Steves, only second to the Steve that had never grown out of his asshole phase. And at least asshole Steve had made sense to him. Nerd Steve was an alien creature.

“Not quite as fun as cheerleader Steve though,” she continued, “Now that was a fun universe.”

“Can’t imagine Steve in one of those cheerleading uniforms,” Eddie said, staring at him speculatively, like he was imagining it. Steve shifted in the seat, focusing on the road, his ears starting to turn red.

“It was a genderbent world,” Robin said, “You both were girls.”

“What was I like as a girl?” Eddie asked.

“Oh, you were smoking,” Steve said, before flushing. That probably wasn’t what he wanted to know. But that was very much his first impression. That Eddie had been as hot as all the other Eddies he’d met.

Eddie grinned. “I’m glad you think so.”

“You weren’t too different,” Robin said, swooping in before Steve could say anything else stupid. Steve shot her a look of appreciation. He just knew if he kept talking, he would’ve dug himself into a deeper hole for sure.

“It’s pretty weird to know all the ways my life could’ve been different,” Eddie said, “With just a few different choices.”

“You were a bonafide rockstar in one of the worlds,” Robin said.

“Well, that’s actually inspiring. It’s nice knowing that’s even possible. Maybe Corroded Coffin can get there too eventually,” Eddie said, “It would be nice to even get a paying gig.”

“I’m sure you will,” Steve said.

“Thanks,” Eddie said, with a tinge of surprise.

“A lot of the worlds were different because of external factors,” Robin said, “I’m not sure it comes down to making different choices as much as being given different opportunities. It’s more like seeing all the different versions we could have been if different things happened.”

Huh. Steve thought about that for a moment.

Steve could see the logic but thinking about the mechanics of how any of the dimensions existed was enough to give him a migraine.

“Deep,” Steve said.

“Shut up,” Robin replied.

“That was very philosophical,” he said.

“That’s not even a word,” Robin muttered, “And you know what, Nancy would’ve found my comment interesting.”

“She’s going to have a field day with this,” Steve said, “She and Dustin too, are going to be so obsessed with scrutinizing all the details of the alternate dimensions.”

“Not looking forward to that part,” Robin said, “Dustin is far too meticulous. We’re going to be talking about this for days until they have all the details they want.”

It was a small price to pay to be home again. Steve was beyond relieved that they made it back here. Somewhere around the 10th world they went to, he started seriously doubting whether they’d ever make it home. He missed all of his friends. The version of them he knew was the one he loved the most. He loved Hawkins exactly as it was, monster free (most days). He loved knowing what to expect from the people around him.

Steve slowed the car down, as he turned into the street outside the funeral home. They were finally here. He looked at the backseat, still awed to see Eddie so spectacularly alive.

Steve parked on the road outside the funeral home. It felt like well over a month had passed for them. It was hard to accept that barely any time had actually elapsed here.

“Let’s go,” Robin said, “I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces.”

They left the car quickly, making their way to the entrance.

Steve paused before the big doors to the funeral home.

“Ready?” Steve asked.

“Incredibly,” Eddie said.

He swung the door open and walked into the room. The door hit the wall with a bang, effectively drawing everyone’s attention. Eddie really did have a taste for drama. He couldn’t have planned that better.

The room was silent for a second before it burst into noise. Everyone talking over each other, scrambling to get to Eddie. Steve was quietly grateful for the small attendance to Eddie’s funeral. He didn’t know how they’d explain Eddie’s alive-ness to people who weren’t in the know about the Upside Down, so it was for the best that there was only an intimate group here now.

They’d have to tell Eddie’s uncle the truth, he supposed, and his Hellfire Club friends, but that should be easier to do. Especially now that all the danger had passed them by, it felt safer to let outsiders know what had happened without worrying for their safety too.

Steve stayed to the side, as everyone took in the sight of Eddie, alive and whole and mostly unharmed.

Eddie was quickly engulfed in a sea of hugs. Uncle Wayne had him locked in an embrace, and Eddie didn’t seem like he was itching to get away. Dustin burst into tears. Really, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The room was chaotic and loud. Steve couldn’t hear much over the screams and questions. He didn’t blame them. Steve would’ve had a heart attack if Eddie had just shown up earlier. Even knowing how he survived, and helping bring him home didn’t dull his amazement that Eddie was alive.

Steve couldn’t help but grin at everyone’s reactions.

He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. Steve felt content with himself. He’d done something good today (this month? Time had lost all meaning). Steve felt for a second, that bringing Eddie home was the best thing he had done in his entire life.

This was definitely the best funeral he’d ever been to. No competition.

Steve sat aside with Robin, giving everyone time to talk to Eddie. He’d already had his turn with him.

But Steve couldn’t stop his eyes from flickering to look at Eddie, every two, three, four seconds, making sure he was still there. They couldn’t lose him again.

It felt like well over an hour had passed by the time all the limbs were disentangled from Eddie and he was given a chance to breathe. All the explanations had been passed around, and Steve knew Nancy would soon be hard at work investigating alternate universes and all that could entail. Steve wasn’t too curious about it now that he was back home and they’d recovered Eddie. Some things could remain mysteries.

Eddie came over to him. “Don’t think I’ve ever had so many hugs before.”

Steve laughed. “Gonna have to get used to it. You were missed.”

“It's a little strange to be at my own funeral though.”

“It’s more like a party now,” Steve said, “Happy you’re home.”

Eddie being alive had to be the best news any of them had heard in a hot second. The room itself felt lighter now — he could now see the sun shining through the small windows. The building was loud with laughter and delight, expressions of relief on everyone’s faces. He could see their incredulity. It would take some time for this to sink in properly.

Eddie sat next to him, watching everyone fondly.

Steve’s eyes flickered over to see Eddie’s face.

Eddie was already watching him.

“So y’know there’s one thing I noticed about all the universes I went to,” Eddie said.

Oh god. Steve really thought they weren’t gonna bring it up. He knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence that he and Eddie had been dating in so many universes, but it was hard to think through the implications of it. Steve didn’t know if he believed in soulmates, but the universe was making a very compelling case right now.

It was just… awkward to think about. Eddie probably thought Steve liked him, just because all those other Steves had. And well… okay, so maybe Steve did sorta kinda maybe have a crush on Eddie. Kissing him certainly hadn’t helped matters. But talking about it here? Now? In front of everyone? He wasn’t sure about that.

“Let’s not talk about it!”

Steve was not strong enough to have this conversation right now. He just couldn’t.

Eddie frowned. “You don’t want to talk about how you and Robin were pretty much always friends? Just making conversation, man.”

“Oh. Yeah, never mind. We can talk about that.”

“What did you think I was going to say?” Eddie asked.

Steve cringed. “Y’know.”

“Do I?”

“Um. Us,” Steve said, waving his hand in a wide circle, trying to encompass everything without saying it.

“Oh,” Eddie said, before shrugging, “Don’t worry. I know that doesn’t mean anything. Just because we’re dating in some universes doesn’t mean anything.”

“What? Why not? You don’t think that means anything?”

“Well, you’re not gay.”

“I could be,” said Steve.

“What?”

“What?” Steve said, aware of the hole he was digging himself into.

He should just let the conversation die. He’d been avoiding having this very conversation for so long. But now that Eddie was so willing to let this go, Steve couldn’t.

He just couldn’t believe Eddie thought it meant nothing that they’d been dating in nearly every universe. Didn’t that speak to some next level compatibility? A sign that they’d found each other in nearly every world? Now, Steve didn’t claim to know what it meant, but it surely meant something.

“You’re gay?” Eddie asked, his brows scrunched up like Steve was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

“Well no,” Steve said, “Um. I’m bisexual.”

It was the first time he’d ever said that. Or even allowed himself to think it fully. But as he verbalized it, he knew it was true. Steve was bisexual.

He’d been aware of this on some level ever since he’d met Stevie. And he couldn’t deny that he’d been attracted to every Eddie he’d met. The most damning piece of evidence, however, was the kiss that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. He’d wanted it to go on. As much as he tried to tell himself he was doing that world's Eddie a favor, it was hard to believe it when he’d liked it so much. He wasn't sure who had really done who the favor.

“I didn’t know that,” Eddie said.

“Well, neither did I.”

“So, you’re bisexual.”

“Uh huh.”

“And I’m gay.”

“You are?”

Eddie snorted. “You don’t have to fake the surprise.”

“Yeah, I did kind of figure you were,” Steve said.

Come on. Eddie not being gay would’ve been crazy. He’d been gay in every single universe. Steve didn’t think he’d be so unlucky that this world would be the difference. There had even been rumors about it, back in the day, not that he had any proof of their veracity back then.

“And I like you,” Eddie continued on, in the same explanatory voice, like he was listing off yet another fact.

“You — what?”

“I like you,” Eddie said, “And y’know normally I wouldn’t just say that but I’ve been giving this whole bravery thing a try. And I figure I have a good chance considering how passionately you kissed that other Eddie – which was a crazy bold move, by the way. But you’re not saying anything so maybe I just made a horrible, horrible mistake, and now the next couple decades of our life will be horrendously awkward and we’ll have to avoid each other at every social gathering and wedding and reunion and graduation our mutual friends have and —”

Steve took a step forward and kissed Eddie, cutting him off. It was really just a peck, nothing like the kiss before, but it was no less sweet. He felt Eddie kiss back, his chapped lips pressing against his for two heartbeats. It was a perfect official first kiss (he was discounting the one before, because it wasn’t with the right Eddie). He felt like he had just leaped head first into something and the exhilaration of the unknown was intoxicating.

Steve drew back quickly, aware that he was in an open room with most of his friends, but couldn’t stop a smile from splitting his lips. Eddie looked shell shocked, touching his lips absent-mindedly after, as if to preserve the sensation. Steve wanted to bottle this moment up, preserve it for himself to remember over and over again.

“I like you too, Eddie.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. What am I going to need to do to prove it to you?” Steve asked, frustrated.

Eddie winked. “Oh, big boy, I have a whole list of things you could do to prove it to me.”

Steve coughed, taken aback by Eddie’s forwardness. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Eddie wasn’t known for his subtlety. Still, he hadn’t quite expected Eddie to flirt with him. He liked it.

“Well, we’ll have to take a look at that list,” Steve said.

Eddie laughed.

Steve stared at him for a second, drinking him in. He was so thankful that they’d even been able to find him, thinking about how many things could’ve gone wrong was dizzying. Now that he’d been to all those different worlds, Steve could honestly say he preferred his for all its faults.

“When I thought you were dead,” Steve said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about what a missed opportunity it was that I was never going to get to know you. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything you had said to me, replaying your words in my head, thinking about how if I listened to Dustin all those times, we could’ve become friends. I didn’t even know why I was upset when we were barely friends. I think I’ve liked you for longer than I even realized.”

“I’ve liked you since my senior year,” Eddie said, “The first time around.”

“What? But I was an asshole then.”

Eddie’s first senior year, had been Steve’s junior year. It had not been his finest year. Even people who liked Steve, didn’t like him that year. Steve didn’t like himself that year.

“Yeah, I used to think I had questionable taste in men,” Eddie laughed, “There I was insulting jocks and preps at the cafeteria and mooning over you at the same time. Jeff thought I was ridiculous. But then… you changed. You became quieter, you stopped speaking to your friends, you were showing up to class with bruises on you. And I was so curious. I’d stare at you all day, trying to decipher what was happening. And then later, much later, when I met Dustin, Mike and Lucas, they’d tell all these stories about you. It was non-stop comments about “Steve did a campaign with us” or “Steve took us to the arcade” and lemme tell you, you come off really well in Dustin’s stories. That kid worships you. And I just fell for you even harder. I thought it was a completely unrealistic crush though. I never would’ve thought we’d even speak, let alone any of this.”

Yeah, Steve wouldn’t have predicted any of this either. He didn’t think the 17 year old version of him could have imagined dating Eddie Munson in his absolute wildest, craziest dreams. The 17 year old version of him couldn’t have imagined dating a man at all. Even being friends with Eddie would have been impossible for him to comprehend.

This was better than anything he could have dreamed up.

Steve smiled. “I didn’t think any of this was possible either. But I can’t wait to see what happens.”

In every universe that they’d been to, for all their differences, Eddie had always been there in Steve’s life. In most, they were lovers and in few, just friends. But in every world, they orbited each other like a moth to a flame. Steve knew they could world. He knew he liked Eddie and that Eddie liked him.

Steve was grateful that all the dimensions he’d been to had been set during the same time period as home. He didn’t have any sneak peek into what would happen next. It would’ve felt like cheating to know where this was going to go. He wanted to experience it for himself. He thought that this next adventure was going to be the best yet.

Steve slid his hand into Eddie’s, lacing their fingers together.

Steve didn’t know exactly what was in store for his future. None of the alternate dimensions shed light on what was yet to come.

But he had a strong feeling that Eddie would be in it.