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He’s being a creep and he knows he’s being a creep which is objectively worse. Steve Harrington is sitting in the library with dead eyes, not looking at anything and not even blinking. It’s really starting to creep him out, no one seeks to have noticed. It’s been ten minutes. He’s worried the guy might actually be brain dead after the fight with Hargrove. He’s ready to go check on him when he is pushed to the side.
He’s a bit annoyed by this, but he pauses. He can’t cuss out the chief of police. His uncle will kill him, hell, his dad will. He staying standing though, lurking in listening distance to hear the pair. Hopper looks tired as he brushes his hand on to Steve’s head, who flinches violently before letting out a scream. Eddie moves to hide himself better, staring at the boy who looked terrified.
“It’s me!” Hopper shouts back quickly and seems to be scanning the entire interior of the library. More people should be worried. More people should care. No one seems to though.
“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Harrington says quickly. Eddie can swear tears were at the corner of his eyes even.
“Hey, it’s fine. Are you okay?” Eddie thinks Hopper is the dumbest man alive. He’s only heard that type of scream in a movie and no one seems to be caring.
“Yeah.”
“Nancy called. Said you seemed not okay.” His ex? His ex girlfriend? His ex girlfriend called the cops on him? Not even the cops, the chief of police on him?
“I’m fine.”
“So why are you sitting in the library staring at the floor?”
“Tired.” He looks tired, Eddie could be tired with him.
“But you’re okay?” Eddie doesn’t think Steve looks even close to being remotely okay. The bruises, the dried blood from wounds reopening, the thousand yard stare. Hopper is giving him two pills. Steve downs them without water. Eddie thinks the chief of police should probably be telling him not to.
“Yeah.” He can tell by Hopper’s body language that he doesn’t believe Steve, but clearly isn’t going to get anywhere.
“Okay. Call me tonight. Got it?” It’s not an ask, it’s a command.
“Yes.” Hopper looks at him and sighs.
“I have to go check on Mike now. I’ll hear from you tonight.” Hopper turns away and walks out of the library, Steve still staring.
“Steve?” Eddie slowly approaches him, shocked when Steve looks up at him.
“Jesus.” He jumps some.
“Hey.” Eddie tries to open the conversation, but before he can’t utter the words “what’s up” Steve is cutting him off.
“Listen man, I just want to sit here.” His voice sounds tired. Eddie studies him some as he sits down, debating what’s even going on in his head.
“You know, I’m thinking about skipping the rest of the day.” Steve tilts his head a little.
“Okay?”
“I’m just saying, fallen king, crown off your head. Would you be willing to endure a day with someone like me?”
“Listen, I’m stupid.” Steve says bluntly.
“Do you want to go smoke some pot and skip?”
“I haven’t smoked in a year. Nance doesn’t like it.”
“Well, you aren’t dating Wheeler anymore.” Steve eyes show hurt when he remembers.
“Forgot.” He looks like a cat in a bath tub, confused and pathetic. Unfortunately, it’s making him want to ask even more questions.
“Yeah, so want to dip?”
“I can’t. Hopper drove us.” Who is us?
“Well, yeah, I mean you shouldn’t be driving and you’re just sitting here in a coma. Can someone else tell Hopper you’re home?” Steve looks around, Eddie isn’t sure at what, but Steve takes in the entire library.
“My parents aren’t home.” Steve starts to gather his stuff.
“No?”
“No, they’re in Milwaukee. I don’t remember why. Let’s go.” Eddie smiles, he’s shocked it’s gone this well. He scrawls on a piece of paper a simple: went home, head hurt too bad. Someone drove me, I’ll call you later. He’s shocked Steve actually seems interested in him as he trails after him.
“This won’t piss off your jesters?” Eddie asks as they near the back doors. Steve slipping the note into a locker he thinks might be Nancy Wheelers, scratch that. He knows it is. Steve furrows his eyebrows after he says it, as if he’s deep in thought.
“My jesters? You mean the kids?” Now Eddie is adding to the sheer confusion of this day and conversation.
“The kids?”
“Yeah.”
“Who are the kids?” Steve hasn’t lost that confused expression written across his face.
“Who were you talking about?” Steve pushing out into the crisp November air.
“Hagan.”
“Hagan hasn’t hung out with me in over a year.” He sees Steve stumble a bit.
“Are you okay?” He asks as they reach the van.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“To start, I’m bringing you home.” Eddie could spit out a drink at the statement.
“No, no, my liege. I’m escorting you home.”
“Right.” He buckles and looks over at Steve who has leaned his bruised ahead on the cool glass of the window.
“So, your head?” Steve groans at the question.
“Everyone’s safe, why does everyone keep asking me!” Eddie is more focused on the road than he usually is now.
“Because you’re hurt?”
“I stayed home a couple days! The doctor said I could go when I felt better!”
“Do you feel better?”
“No! But I didn’t last year either!”
“You look worse.”
“I’m fine.” They pull in and Steve gets out, staring at the door.
“What’s up?” Eddie asks and Steve turns to face him.
“It’s messy.”
“You should see how I live.” Eddie tries to lighten the mood.
“Don’t judge me.” Like Eddie has any room to judge anyone really. Not when he feels like he’s taking advantage of Harrington right now. He doubts Steve would usually just let him inside. It’s not bad. Some prescription bottles lay askew across the counter, a baseball bat with- holy shit. Blood??? He guesses a baseball bat with blood on it lays near the door. Steve picks it up as he walks by, as if this is a normal and natural thing.
“What’s up with the clothes?” He sees Steve flinch again as he looks back. He’s trying not to fall over as he gets his boots off.
“I forgot they were there.”
“What’s all over them?” He bends down.
“No! No! No! Don’t touch them.” Steve looks a little wild and Eddie puts his arms up in response.
“I won’t touch them. Sorry.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I freaked out.” Steve looks genuinely remorseful.
“I’m eighteen, I should know not to touch other people’s stuff.” Eddie tells him, trying to calm him down.
“I’m sorry. I need to check the house.” Steve tells him, baseball bat still slung over his shoulder, in what must be a painful position.
“No problem. Where should we smoke?” He taps his lunch box and Steve smiles as best he can.
“You can head up to my room. We can crack the windows all open. First one up the steps on your right.”
“Thank you.” He calls as he starts up the steps. He sees pictures of a growing Steve, smile wide in younger pictures. At the top of the steps he makes his way to Steve’s door, no expression that it’s Steve’s room hangs on it.
Opening the door feels like Narnia. Unexplored, uncharted, undiscovered. Quickly it’s not though. Polaroids of Steve and Nancy still hang in the room, even one from before the party he remembers where Nancy and the guy split. The same outfit is being worn, no stain like he recalls Ms Wheeler achieving. Maybe it is a different day. Books that look worn, read, and loved litter the dresser.
He wants to think this is his personality, but the room is lacking for that. He’d guess jock stuff, but instead a race car and books. While snooping he takes note make the Knick knacks are his, they clearly have to be. Curiously a D&D monster manual is laying open on his desk, opened to the demogorgan. He’s trying to come up with every scenario possible as to why he has a D&D book out. He’s so engrossed in his somewhat stalker moment he jumps when Steve opens the door.
“Didn’t mean to scare you. House is clear.” Steve walks to the dresser and is pulling out something.
“I should have been listening better.” Eddie shifts the blame despite Steve not agreeing clearly as he carries pajamas into his bathroom. He finally sits on Steve’s bed then, looking at his blood stained and possibly soaked pillow and pillow case. He plays it cool, he doesn’t comment immediately despite wanting to desperately.
“Hey, thanks, I’ll pay you.” Steve climbs on the bed in his pajamas, laying next to Eddie and looking up at him. Eddie starts rolling as Steve moves the blood stained pillow to himself to lay on. He can only guess how often his face has broken open.
“Well, I mean, you look like a pathetic wet cat.”
“I do not!”
“Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately?” Steve at least laughs.
After about twenty minutes he figures Steve must be asleep, he’s been so quiet. Eddie slowly dipped below the covers with him, shocked when Steve hadn’t said a word about it. It was a blissful silence, he finally looked over and saw Steve’s eyes wide open.
“Steve?” Eddie questions, slowly going to touch Steve’s face.
“You know the phrase man eater?” Steve’s officially lost it.
“Yes.”
“Why are we so mean to animals who hurt people? Aren’t we the most deadly?” He feels Steve perch on his shoulder, almost cuddling into his side.
“What?”
“We’re the most deadly creatures so why do we call animals hunting us man eaters?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s not fair for the tigers. They deserve to eat us.” Eddie holds back his laughter.
“What made you think about this?”
“Just, everything, you know? It makes me sad.”
“Well, let’s try not to be sad.”
“What do you think the worst right side up creature is? To like eat you or kill you?”
“I don’t know what you mean by right side up.”
“This world.”
“There’s another world?” He’s thinking about D&D now, how the book is laid open not even ten feet from him.
“I mean, theoretically there is. You’re a nerd, you should know that.”
“I guess maybe an elephant? No I lied. Crocodile.” Eddie answers.
“Oh! When we went to gator land when I was little we watched a crocodile or alligator, I can’t remember, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, we watched one do the death roll! It was so cool.”
“What’s your animal?”
“The worst thing to kill me? Here? Um, maybe a whale? Don’t they cause like compartment syndrome due to crushing?”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“My mom likes things like that. I think being gored to death, by like, a bison would also be terrible.”
“Really? Bison?”
“Or feral people.”
“What the hell are feral people?”
“You know. In the caves.” Steve makes a weird noise and mimics slashing him in the chest.
“I’ve never heard of feral people.”
“They’re terrifying man. They invade to steal the women, they live in caves, they have no sense of modern society.” Eddie laughs at him.
“So? In another world?” Steve’s breathing nearly stops.
“What about it?”
“Well, apparently D&D is your thing now.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a game… you play it as a group?”
“Oh! The kids I babysit are into it.”
“What so you’re telling me that…” he trails off, looking intensely out the window at nothing.
“What?” Steve completely unlatches now, sitting up.
“Do you see that?” Eddie sits up higher than Steve, it’s a little unbelievable one joint could make Steve so scared.
“See what?” He felt Steve press into him.
“In the woods.”
“What did you see?” Steve sits up, away from Eddie.
“I think I saw a flower head looking thing.” He’s trying to mock Steve for his apparent fear of the demogogran he saw on the desk, but he thinks it’s a bad idea very quickly when Steve’s breath picks up beyond recognition.
“Get down. Get down! Off the bed! Fuck I have blood on the bed! Fuck!” Steve is shoving him, rushing about.
“What are you doing?” Eddie laughs in confusion as Steve manages to shove him off the bed before rushing to the blood covered bat Eddie had managed to forget about.
“Follow my fucking orders!! Get out of my room. Go to the closet,” Eddie is shocked when a walkie talkie is shoved at him, “channel four is Hopper. Code red. Channel six is the answer for this problem. Kids are in school.” It’s a well worked out concept, he’s shoving Eddie.
“Hey man, you’re scaring me.” Eddie admits to him. He almost screams when he sees Steve break open his lips again, rubbing the blood across his face.
“I know it’s scary. Please, closet. Please.” He looks like he’s begging, still rapidly turning his head to see outside.
“Steve.” Steve might kill him. He’s acting like he’s actually seen a real D&D monster.
“Why won’t you listen to me!” He feels Harrington hit him, not hard, more desperate for him to move.
“Hey! Hey! Steve! I was joking.” He feels like a dick now. More fear warps over his face somehow.
“I don’t believe you.” Now Steve looks like he’s ready to spare with him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Steve hesitantly reaches for him and Eddie closes the gap, ignoring the blood still on Steve’s face and hand.
“You’re warm.” Steve looks confused.
“Yeah, man, I’m alive. I thought you were scared of the demogorgan in the book you have. I didn’t think bringing up the demogorgan would cause whatever this is.” Steve slams his hand over his mouth.
“You can’t say that word.”
“What? Why?” Steve seems to relax a little, but neither of them are sitting down yet.
“Get in the shower.”
“Excuse me?”
“Go get in the shower. Only hot water.”
“I’m not boiling myself alive.”
“That’s what he would say.”
“Who is he?”
“I’m calling Hopper.” He walks slowly around him.
“Steve. It was a joke, why are you being so weird?” Eddie looks at him as if he’s a feral animal, considering how he’s circling its uneasy.
“What?”
“A joke. A prank. I wanted to scare you a bit, that’s all. It’s all okay.” He reaches his hand out and Steve drops the bat.
“What period did we share gym last year?” Steve asks and Eddie isn’t sure why it’s suddenly twenty questions about this stuff.
“Third. Before lunch.” Steve completely relaxes now, rushing Eddie and hugging him.
“Oh thank god.”
“Are you crying?” What the hell happened two weeks ago?
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. Hey, you do have to breathe though.”
“I thought it was happening again.”
“What happened?”
“Barb went missing.” He says it through tears and now Eddie really does feel like a massive asshole. He forgot Barb Holland probably got eaten by a bear apparently, he knows it’s never been said but it makes sense. He forgot it happened at the Harrington house.
“I’m so sorry.” Eddie finally gets the guy to sit back down.
“I can’t do it again.”
“You won’t. I didn’t see a bear.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” The tears haven’t stopped yet.
“Holy shit. I know why Tommy hates me smoking weed.” Eddie can’t help but laugh at the sentence.
“Why not?”
“I can’t stop crying. Holy shit.” Steve seems to be asking whatever God was there as he looked to the ceiling.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know man.”
“No. It’s fine. It’s fine. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. You can go.” He’s curling in on himself.
“Hey, no, it’s fine. It happens.”
“God, I’m such a loser.” Steve finally laughs now, he leans into Eddie.
“You said it not me.” He smacks him.
“We were having fun too.”
“I was learning a lot about feral people.” He tries to pivot to the comfortable position they were in earlier.
“You didn’t even know them.”
“No, I didn’t, you know anything else weird?” Steve laughs again, clearly forgiving Eddie, sliding back down in bed.
“Unfortunately I don’t want to lose anymore of the illusion of that I’m cool.”
“Nah, it’s more lame to try to be cool.” He lays down too.
“Teddy Roosevelt believed in Bigfoot.”
“Do you believe in Bigfoot.” Steve laughs again.
“Up for debate.” He should have done this years ago, Steve Harrington is actually a weird guy.