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The Harrington pool was one of the few blessings that managed to survive the great Hawkins “earthquake”. The Munson trailer and Max’s former abode had been swallowed by the giant pit in the ground. The old Byer’s residence had a “mold” infestation that looked far too familiar for anyone’s comfort, sitting condemned and filled with vines. The Wheeler basement leaks, suffering from burst pipes all over the neighborhood. Dustin’s place seems perfectly fine, but apparently the kids have decided that Steve’s house is far superior, because their bruised and beaten party has been there nearly every day since affected persons were released from the hospital.
Their collection of physical and mental scars seemed to heal just a bit more each day as they basked under the summer sun. Every one of the lounge chairs on the deck was either littered with a teenage body or the copious amount of stuff they carried with them at all times. Towels were either in use or hung to dry over the backs, colorful and mismatched. Novels rested next to miniature character models, sodas mingling with silly cocktails that Robin insisted needed umbrellas. Steve had more leftover pizza in his refrigerator than anything else at this point.
He couldn’t get enough of it. Every burst of laughter from one of the kids or slap of feet against stone was a reminder that they had survived.
Most of them had been lucky enough to get out of the hospital with a few stitches and some pain medicine. Eddie and Max had been locked down for much longer. Literal chunks of Eddie were missing when he carried him back through the gate–
Can’t forget the feeling of Eddie’s liver, feeling a lung flutter against his hand, trying to keep it in place as blood slicked his fingers and every breath became more shallow and curls were caked with viscera and his pulse was slipping slipping slipping.
– but he’d managed to make it back to the world of the living. The scars were deep, cutting through his freckled flesh in tight knots. Steve could see the way his brow furrowed in pain when he reached for something just a little too high, or turned a bit too fast. Some of the most violent red was starting to fade, becoming paler every time his shirt came off to throw a gremlin into the pool. Eddie insists that the rabies vaccines they gave him in the hospital were far worse than some healing skin. Steve was familiar with the lie.
Steve’s ears weren’t what they used to be. The cacophony of prepubescent voices that usually filled his every waking thought were intercepted by a perpetual silence that scared him. He caught maybe every fifth word Dustin spouted from his rambunctious mouth, something about dragons and Suzie and demo-whatevers. He’s had enough of the creatures that want to tear the flesh from his body, even if they haven’t had enough of him. Every knot of scar tissue sparks with anger as Steve rolls his shoulders, sweat running down his pectorals and dropping on to the stone below. There’s a ringing always present in his concussed head, which distracts from the blurry outlines that now encase his friends. Steve had hoped that he’d manage to miss brain damage by not participating in football, but life had other plans.
Despite their one in a million odds, they survived. Destroyed an other-worldy horror, saved the world, and kicked a lot of ass. Sure, their own asses were maimed, but their hearts are still beating in their chests and they can laugh and cry and find solace in each other’s arms. They’re a party, a family, something Steve has craved his whole life. And now, he gets to have it. No amount of tinnitus or scarring can take this precious thing they’ve built.
Steve flips the burgers on the grill with haste. An army of hungry, growing teens is not a burden he’d wish on anyone who hadn’t crawled their way out of hell. Sunglasses push his hair out of his eyes, letting them wander as grease sizzles on the blacktop. Nancy has curled up in a chair with a book that looks thicker than anything Steve’s seen, hair pulled back in a tight bun. Robin has dragged a towel out onto the grass, claiming it makes her feel more at peace with nature or whatever, soaking in the sun like a lazy cat. The Party splashes around in the pool, water guns aimed with deadly precision as Dustin manages to beam Lucas in the face while Mike and Will cackle. El seems happy enough sending waves through the water to aid in the defenses of both sides, refusing to choose.
His cheeks ache with the permanent smile that seems etched onto his face. Steve starts to scrape some of the finished burgers onto a plate, leaving some to get a bit more well done for Robin and Will who do not tolerate blood well, when he hears it.
It’s been months since he last heard the boisterous, beautiful laugh that can only belong to Max. Despite the desperate antics of them all when she was trapped in the hospital, it had been hard to get more than a sarcastic smile from her. Milky white eyes against her pale skin and red hair made most of the town unsettled by her, and most avoided her whenever possible. The kiddos did everything they could to make her feel included, to make sure she wasn’t left behind, but it was hard in the beginning to find an activity that didn't remind them of life before. There’s been countless movie nights turned sour, bike rides that ended in tears, hard conversations with bitter words.
But the Party never stopped showing up, and Max thawed with time as they designated someone to describe what was happening on the screen, made sure they added pegs to their bikes, and found better words with maturity. She maneuvered spaces with ease, finding her way around the Wheeler basement or Steve’s house without help. Everyone stopped hovering over her like she would break. There was a mutual understanding that Max did not need assistance with life, and anyone who wanted to mother hen was at risk of getting a well-aimed punch to the arm. Besides Steve, Steve was allowed to mother hen anyone, even Mike, despite his grumblings.
Chasing down the source with his gaze, Steve is certain he’s never seen a more beautiful sight. The wheels of a skateboard skitter across the stone that surrounds the pool, rumbling in its own sort of giggle. Max’s hair flows in the gentle breeze as she’s pulled along by calloused hands decorated in rings. Eddie’s own curls are tied back, bouncing along with his body as he runs ahead, dragging Max along the deck. Their cheeks are both red from being out in the sun and the clear joy spreading between them. Eddie twirls at the last second, forcing the board to jerk back before he takes off even faster in the opposite direction. There’s a brief yelp from Max as she recorrects, and then their off to the races, speeding around the pool and nearly taking out lounge chairs.
If it wasn’t for the suffocating amount of love racing through his veins, he’d be telling them off for being reckless so close to the water. But he knows Eddie would sacrifice himself a hundred times over before he let anything happen to these scoundrels. Mike and Lucas are cheering them on, clapping and shouting as they make their laps. A flaming halo of auburn whips in the wind, carrying Max’s giggles through the backyard.
All eyes are on them, even as they snag on a rogue towel that sends Eddie and Max tumbling into the grass. Robin lets out an affronted huff, but there’s no taming the smile she’s been trying to hold back. Eddie is flat on his back, chest shaking with voracious laughter as Max lays on top of him, forehead pressed to his shoulder. She laughs so hard that she cries, or maybe that’d been happening the whole time. Ringed fingers stroke through her hair as they bask in their antics, heat drunk and riding the high of mutual destruction. Steve is certain he’s never been more in love.
The beautiful moment is interrupted by a burning smell flooding his nostrils. Looking back at the grill, the remaining burgers have gone from well done to charred. Steve’s nose wrinkles as he tosses them to the side, moving his own patties back onto the grates. He’s happy to indulge in cold pizza if it means his people are fed.
While Bowie sings his final notes, and giggles mix with shouts and splashes, he manages to lock eyes with Eddie, still sprawled out in the grass. The man is gorgeous, Steve has given up on trying to pretend that he doesn’t think that. But here, messy and grinning like a menace, Steve knows he’s in so deep that he’ll drown in the beauty that is Eddie Munson. What a time to be alive.