Archive of Our Own

The first time he felt it was as he left his trailer. Stepping out to breathe the brisk morning air of Forest Hills, Steve could feel eyes on him. It had been more than a year since his paranoia had spiked like that, but he shook it off and climbed into his truck; second-hand, a bit rattly, and completely his own.

The second was while he patrolled the school grounds on lunchtime duty. The strange sensation crawled up his back, making him whip his head around in search. When he found nothing, he redirected his focus, rubbing at the discomfort at the back of his neck.

Again as he ran the little league practise after school. Again as he picked up groceries on his way home. And again as he stepped out of his trailer that evening to empty his trash.

"Who's there?" he called, eyes scanning the dusk-lit trailer park. "C'mon, enough. Either talk to me or get lost."

Nothing.

With a huff, Steve turned to his trash can, shoving the bag from his kitchen into it.

The crunch of feet on the road. Growing nearer. Stopping. A beat of nothing, then a quiet, "Hey, Stevie."

Steve whipped around so fast he almost toppled, eyes wide and jaw slack. His body washed cold as he took in the shape before him.

Skinny. Black denim clad. Dark fluff of curls barely falling over ears. Huge dark eyes.

Gripping the rail beside the steps that led up to his trailer, Steve swayed in place as his knees buckled. Heart in his throat, he whispered, "Eddie?"

A tiny sad smile. "Long time no see."

Eddie was dead. The guilt of leaving his body in the Upside Down still ate at Steve's guts. Whoever- whatever this was in front of Steve, it couldn't be Eddie.

"The freaky wizard's dead, right?" Eddie asked carefully, glancing either side of him. "That's why the whole quarantine thing was lifted? Everyone's safe now?"

"How do you know about the quarantine?" Steve blurted out, knuckles white as he gripped the rail. "You were... You were dead by then."

Eddie winced, shoulders rising a little. "I wasn't."

"You were- you are!"

"I'm clearly not." Glancing around again, Eddie huffed, "Can we...?" He nodded to Steve's trailer. "I don't really wanna have this conversation out here."

Steve shook his head. "I just... I need... Fuck..."

"Bit soon for that, Stevie." The humour in Eddie's voice was echoed in the tiny glint in his eyes, but died when Steve just stared at him. "Sorry."

A pause. Steve tried to ground himself with his grip on the rail, breathing slow. "How do I know it's really you?" he whispered.

Eddie's mouth opened, then he snapped it shut, brow furrowed in thought. "Dustin Henderson is your favourite person in the whole goddamn world," he settled on. "You got jealous when me and him got close, but I was jealous of you, because he talked about you all the time like no one else on earth could compare. Perfect Steve Harrington the Good Guy; always there when the kids needed him because he loves them unconditionally." He shifted a little. "Except... Except I haven't been able to find them. Not Henderson, not Wheeler, not Sinclair..."

Jaw tense, Steve carefully hauled himself up the steps to his trailer and opened the door. "They graduated, dude. They're gone." He shuffled inside, leaving the door open, posting up against the counter in his little kitchen with his arms folded and gaze on the floor.

Nothing for a minute, then footsteps slowly made their way inside, the trailer door clicking closed. "Guess they would have," Eddie murmured, toes stopping at the edge of the linoleum delineating the kitchen floor from the rest. "Graduated, I mean. It's been, what, like-?"

"Three and a half years," Steve cut in, unable to looked up just yet. "Three and a half years since you..." Swallowing hard, he shook his head.

Flexing and clenching his hands, Eddie blew out a sigh. "I can explain now. If you want."

"Please," Steve muttered through gritted teeth.

"Okay." A pause, then Eddie checked, "You don't wanna sit down, or-?"

"Just talk, Munson."

"Okay." A deep breath. "You know about the bats and Henderson." When Steve nodded, Eddie began to explain;

"I thought I died there, with Henderson screaming. But then I woke up. White room, beeping machines, sore all fucking over. Some woman called Dr Kay started telling me all this stuff, how they'd been tracking gate activity, then all of fucking Hawkins split open and they ran in to take a look. Found me."

Steve nodded to indicate he was listening.

"They patched me and kept me. Ran tests on me. Kept asking me questions about the Upside Down, and I kept telling them they got the one guy who knew the least about all that shit." Eddie rolled his shoulders a few times, fingers fiddling with his rings. "They just kept me. Like, I was shut in a room and fed and shit, but I wasn't allowed to leave or call anyone..."

"The Upside Down is gone," Steve said lowly. "We kicked that all in the head two years ago."

"Yeah, I know..." Rubbing both hands down his face, Eddie sighed, "It was six months after that the feds found me and let me go."

Steve's gut went cold. "You..." Head darting up, he snapped, "You've been out for eighteen months?"

"I couldn't come back," Eddie said quickly, eyes wide. "I wasn't allowed, not for, like, a year. Feds had to fix everything with my murder charges and shit, make sure I wouldn't get killed for coming back." With a scoff, he added, "Apparently, me being held prisoner was unlawful, and if I'd come back to Hawkins only to be hunted down like a fucking witch, it would've looked bad in their reports."

Steve took a slow breath through his nose. "Chrissy's murder case was wrapped six months ago," he said quietly. "Police made a statement, the whole town was horrified. Story is some rogue military type was camped out in the woods near Forest Hills, and Chrissy and Fred were victims of his experiments with new torture tactics."

One of Eddie's thumbnails made its way between his teeth. "Yeah, they told me," he mumbled.

"Six months ago." Jaw tense, Steve prompted, "Why didn't you come back then?"

Exhaling slowly, Eddie switched back to fidgeting with his rings, eyes on his hands. "I'd been gone some eighteen months by the time I was finally let out of that place. I couldn't come home, so I just... travelled. Worked a couple of jobs. Did auto repairs with a guy called Jimmy for a couple months, got a few bartending gigs as I moved around." He audibly swallowed. "Then, when the feds finally told me I could come home, I didn't know how."

"What?" Steve hissed, both hands gripping the counter behind him.

"You guys... I'd been gone for three years," Eddie explained, voice strained. "Far as you knew, I was dead. I didn't... I didn't know how to come back and turn that all on its head. None of you needed me. You moved on. You grew up, all of you." Scuffing his foot against the cheap carpet, he added, "And I'm a coward."

Steve shoved himself away from the counter, pacing the tiny stretch of linoleum. "You have any idea how fucking hard losing you was?" he sniffed, turning a watery glare Eddie's way. "I told you- I told you not to be a hero! And then you went and died in Dustin's arms and fucking ruined him!"

Shrinking a little, Eddie tried, "I wanted to protect him-"

"You might as well have killed him!" Steve screeched, throwing his hands up.

"I just wanted to be more like you."

All the fight drained from Steve's body, squeezing his eyes shut and sniffing hard to force back tears.

"I fucked up," Eddie acknowledged softly. "And I fucking paid for it. But I made you guys pay for it, too, and that's part of why I didn't come back. I knew it'd hurt everyone all over again... Henderson, Wayne..."

Refusing to open his eyes, Steve muttered, "You're staying with him."

A pause, then Eddie hummed his confirmation. "He said you guys hang out."

"Watch the basketball together," Steve nodded, swallowing the wobble in his voice.

Eddie cleared his throat, then sniffled, and Steve peeked his eyes open to find him blinking back tears. "Thank you," he croaked. "For taking care of him."

Something in Steve's chest snapped. He lurched forward, throwing his arms around Eddie in a tight hug, face buried in his shoulder. Forcing a few breaths to steady himself as Eddie slowly returned the hug, Steve mumbled, "S'good to see you."

With a choked half-laugh, Eddie whispered, "You too."

Just breathing the smell of Eddie's shirt, one of Steve's hands crept up to grope at Eddie's curls. "What happened to your hair?"

Eddie's arms tensed. "When I woke up in that place... they'd shaved my head."

Silently, Steve clutched him harder.

"They kept it that way," Eddie continued, voice a miserable little squeak. "Every two months, they came back with the clippers."

Steve pressed impossibly closer. "I'm sorry, Ed." Sucking in a deep breath, he peeled himself back to look Eddie in the eye. "It's growing back, though," he murmured, petting at the curly fluff that fell to just above Eddie's jaw. "Remind me to get you some conditioner. Me and Henderson did a lot of experimenting and found a really good one for his curls, I bet it'd do wonders for yours." By now, both of his hands were in Eddie's hair, petting and flattening to learn its shape, twisting a lock around his finger to find its natural curl. "Not the same kind of curly, obviously, but it's hard to tell when it's so dry." Holding Eddie's face in both hands, he gently turned his head to inspect his hair from all angles. "It'll grow back," he added softly, finding himself gazing into Eddie's eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Eddie whispered. Unmoving, he asked, "How come you live in the trailer park?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, too wrapped up in Eddie's, Steve murmured, "Wanted to do something on my own. Got the coaching job, wanted to prove I didn't need my dad's name or money to live. Train the kids, teach the high schoolers, bought the trailer... Came here because it reminded me of you."

Eddie was still, just his eyes looking between Steve's, then slowly brought his hands up to hold Steve's wrists. Though he looked as though he wanted to speak, no words came. Instead, he leaned just a little into Steve's space, tilting his chin up in a silent question, eyes full of fearful hope.

Everything he had felt over the past three and a half years crashed over Steve's head. Every what-if, every wistful evening, every replay of Will's speech at the Squawk, every failed date... One conversation under the stars with Dustin that cracked his chest wide open and still didn't scare his best friend away.

With Eddie's face cradled between his hands, Steve dipped in and pressed their lips together.

He'd kissed before. He was Steve "The Hair" Harrington. But even kissing Nancy hadn't flooded him with such an intense sensation of home, and certainly not from such a soft, careful introduction of lips. He chased for another, then another, his heartrate spiking when Eddie's ringed fingers curled into his hair to hold him closer. A relieved sigh fell between them, then the softest little moan, then Steve had Eddie backed against the wall of the trailer, his tongue lapping insistently at Eddie's lip until he opened up for him. He pressed right in close as his tongue explored Eddie's mouth, welcoming the eager hum that rumbled in Eddie's throat. His control slipped, finding Eddie's teeth in his lower lip until they separated, panting hard into the minimal air between them.

"You were following me," Steve said breathlessly, trying to meet Eddie's gaze but too close to actually do so.

"Just wanted to see the wholesome little life you've built for yourself," Eddie murmured, brushing his nose against Steve's tenderly. "To see you were okay."

"Now I'm okay," Steve mumbled, stealing a chaste kiss. "I've been... I've been thinking for years about what we might have been," he admitted, fingers flexing in Eddie's hair. "I wanted to celebrate with you. You were s'posed to come out of the Upside Down with us and give me that stupid grin so I could kiss it off your dumb, beautiful face, but you..."

Pressing his lips to Steve's cheek, Eddie whispered, "No point worrying about what never was, Stevie. What's important is what we can have now."

"No, you don't... You don't get it." Pulling back enough to properly meet Eddie's gaze, Steve told him, "Dustin fucking spiralled. He was acting out, trying to get himself hurt, maybe killed. It took us eighteen months to sort it out, and every time we talk about you it's like... It's like neither of us totally know what to do. We fought Vecna's big old Mind Flayer thing together to avenge you, for you, and you're still... You're still here..."

Eddie's thumb swept under Steve's eye, catching a tear he hadn't noticed falling down his face. "Where is he now?"

"Massachusetts," Steve sniffed, leaning into Eddie's hand at his cheek. "MIT. Kid's too smart for anything else."

"Ain't that the truth." Petting at Steve's cheek with his thumb, Eddie admitted, "Fucking miss him."

Steve's eyes ticked up. "He's back tomorrow."

Jaw falling open, Eddie spluttered, "He's what?"

"Winter break," Steve nodded. "All the kids - I mean, they're not really kids, but they are - are coming back for a family Christmas. His flight lands tomorrow morning."

Eddie tipped his head forward to lean against Steve's shoulder. "Can I see him?" he asked quietly.

"I'd kill you myself if you said you didn't want to." Catching Eddie's half-hearted laugh in the crook of his shoulder, Steve sighed, "I'll bring him here. We're supposed to go straight from the airport to the Wheeler's, but I can't... He's gotta see you first, and I can't do that to him in front of everyone."

Eddie nodded against Steve's shoulder. "Y'think the others will wanna see me?"

"What the fuck kinda question is that?" Steve scowled, pressing a firm kiss into the fluff of Eddie's hair. "Course they will, idiot."

"'Kay." Pulling himself back together with a few slow breaths, Eddie lifted his head, his lopsided smile gracing his face and showing off his dimples. "Wasn't expecting this when I came over," he murmured, looping both arms around Steve's neck. "But I'm not about to complain."

Trying to smother his answering smirk, Steve huffed, "If you'd come back earlier..."

Sadness tinged Eddie's smile. "Earliest I could've been here was six months ago, sweetheart."

"That's six whole months."

Eddie chewed the corner of his lip for a moment, then sighed through his nose. "I didn't want to come back straight away. Imagine what people would've done if Chrissy's murder suddenly wasn't pinned on me anymore and I miraculously came back from the dead a few days later." With a meek little shrug, he admitted, "I was having a hard time believing I was allowed to be here again."

Though Steve wanted to say something reassuring, Eddie's words settled like a cold weight in his gut. He pressed a heartfelt kiss to his lips instead, leaning their foreheads together to breathe the reality that Eddie was here. In Hawkins, in Forest Hills, in Steve's trailer, faces pressed close and insecurities filling the air between their mouths.

"I should go," Eddie said softly, making no move to leave. "Wayne's gonna worry-"

"Stay." Arms wrapped tightly around Eddie, Steve whispered, "Just... a bit longer. Please."

Eddie was already nodding, allowing Steve to pull him over to the couch. There, Steve sat them side by side, cautiously threading their fingers together and leaning his head on Eddie's shoulder. When Eddie's head tipped to lean against his own, Steve let his eyes slip closed, holding tight to the impossible man beside him.

Dustin's wide grin lit up the arrivals terminal as he ran to Steve, throwing his arms around him. "Steve!"

The noise of Indianapolis International Airport dulled in Steve's ears, wrapping Dustin up in a firm hug. "Hey, bud."

"Man, I can't wait for spring break," Dustin sighed, face squished into Steve's chest. "We gotta go on another roadtrip. College is great and all, but I miss you."

Steve's throat squeezed hard. "Yeah, man," he whispered. "Looking forward to it." He couldn't help but smile when Dustin pulled back and beamed at him, ruffling his best friend's curls before slinging an arm around his shoulders. "C'mon, we gotta get going."

"It's been way too long since I've seen everyone," Dustin sighed, tugging on the straps of his backpack, secure over his shoulders.

"Only as long as the semester." Steve sighed through his nose, listening to Dustin chattering away about college and his new friends, through the airport, into his truck, and all the way from Indy to Hawkins.

"Uh, Steve," Dustin finally frowned as Steve drove them towards Forest Hills. "The Wheeler's are on Maple Place." He pointed back to a turning Steve had passed.

"I know."

Frown deepening, Dustin pressed, "Sooooooooo...?"

Swallowing hard, Steve kept his gaze out the windscreen. "I gotta show you something first. At my place."

The slightest smile appeared on Dustin's face. "Your shiny new trailer."

"Not specifically," Steve murmured.

"Hey, I'm super keen to see your new baby, man, but we're gonna be late."

"Look, I..." Steve braced himself with a deep breath. "This can't wait, okay? I really need you to see this, then we'll meet the others, okay?"

Dustin narrowed his eyes in Steve's peripheral vision. "Okay..." He eyed Steve's profile for the rest of the trip, suspicion rolling off him in waves.

When they arrived, Steve climbed stiffly out of the driver's seat of his truck and led Dustin up to his trailer, nerves coiling in his gut.

"Oo... I like it," Dustin grinned, eyes darting around the trailer's interior as they stepped inside. "We're gonna rule the road in this thing."

"Yeah..." Deep breath. "Okay... Henderson, I need you to look at me."

Dustin did so, his smile fading slightly. "What's going on?"

Planting a hand on Dustin's shoulder, Steve explained, "I needed to do this here, with just you, before we go see everyone else. You... You deserve this first." When Dustin's brows furrowed, Steve squeezed his shoulder, then stepped over to the closed door beside his little kitchen that led to the bedroom. He knocked twice, then returned to Dustin's side.

The door clicked, slowly squeaking open, but revealing nothing on the other side. A beat of anticipation, then Eddie stepped out, head down, before shyly glancing up at Dustin.

Dustin's jaw hit the floor, eyes round and glassy. His body froze, barely breathing, just staring across the trailer.

Tugging anxiously at the ring on his thumb, Eddie ventured, "Hey, Henderson."

A violent sob, then Dustin dissolved into tears, still frozen in place. His eyes darted up to Steve, desperately pleading.

Steve, throat tight, gave him a tiny nod.

A whine left Dustin's mouth as he threw himself at Eddie, scrabbling to clutch at his clothes, sobbing and shaking, buried in Eddie's chest. With a handful of Eddie's shirt, Dustin gave an anguished wail, Eddie wrapping him up tight in his arms as Dustin's knees buckled. They sank to the floor, clutching each other, and Steve's heart broke. "E-Ed- Ed-die..." Dustin blubbered, wheezing in shattered breaths.

"It's me," Eddie whispered, a few tears escaping down his face as he glanced up at Steve helplessly.

"Y-you're not... You're n-not de-ead."

"I'm not." Pain twisted Eddie's features. "Fuck, I'm so sorry, Dustin."

Dustin choked on more sobs, clawing closer to Eddie than was maybe possible. "I-I tried... I c-couldn't-"

"It's okay," Eddie sniffled, begging Steve with his eyes. "It's all my fault, okay? I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm really fucking sorry."

Climbing onto the floor with them, Steve pressed in close to Eddie's side, curling a protective arm around Dustin's back as he shook violently with sobs, leaning over to prop his chin on Dustin's head. "You had to know first," he said quietly. "You needed this most. I wasn't gonna do this to you in front of everyone else."

Though he didn't speak, likely couldn't past his crying, Dustin grabbed the shoulder of Steve's jacket and clung hard.

"It's okay," Steve cooed, rubbing Dustin's back. "You're okay. We're all here now. All alive and breathing, no matter how stupid we might've been."

Dustin sniffed hard, hiccuping a muffled, "You're not stupid."

"Wasn't actually talking about me." Steve flicked his eyes to Eddie, who just silently cried, biting his bottom lip to control himself.

A tired sob, then Dustin beat his fist against Eddie's chest before clinging to him again. "Y-you asshole."

"Yeah, I know," Eddie croaked, tipping his head forward to push his nose into Dustin's hair, his forehead resting against Steve's cheek. "I know, I know, I'm sorry."

No one moved, Dustin crying himself dry, until finally their little huddle fell silent. Dustin's hand groped higher to reach Eddie's curls. "Your hair's shorter," he commented, voice raw.

"The people who quote-unquote 'saved' me cut it all off," Eddie mumbled. One of his hands found Steve's hip, squeezing gently. "It'll grow back."

A few moments of quiet breathing.

"You..." Wriggling until he could peel himself back from their huddle, Dustin scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "You found Steve first."

"I wasn't strictly looking for him," Eddie explained, swiping his own tears quickly. "I came to find Uncle Wayne first. Then I saw Stevie, here, around the trailer park the next day."

Dustin looked to Steve, blinking as he tried to read his face. With a sniff, he asked, "PB and J?"

With a soft snort, Steve cracked a smile. "Yeah," he nodded. "PB and J."

A wobbly, emotional grin filled Dustin's face. "Gross."

Steve huffed a laugh and tugged Dustin into a quick hug, ruffling his hair. He shook his head a little when Eddie met his gaze with a confused little frown. "C'mon." Giving Dustin a pat on the back, he gestured to the little bathroom of the trailer. "Go clean up, then we'll go see everyone else."

Shuffling to his feet with a nod, Dustin spared Eddie one last teary, relieved glance before heading into the bathroom.

"So... what's with the PB and J?" Eddie prompted, nudging Steve's arm.

"Us." Leaning his head on Eddie's shoulder, Steve murmured, "We were out one night, me and him, lying in the grass, talking about you. He said I'm peanut butter; pretty universally liked, hold things together, a staple... And you're jelly. People aren't so keen on you on your own, but you're good, better than people think, and you stick around despite people's opinions." Finding Eddie's hand to fiddle with his rings, he whispered, "Then he said we'd have been really good together. Like a PB and J. A weird combo that just... works."

Eddie was silent for a moment, then kissed the top of Steve's head. "You guys talked about me a lot?"

"Yeah," Steve admitted easily. "Was hard talking about you with other people, but Henderson just... gets it, y'know?"

A nod into Steve's hair. "Guess we should get up, too," Eddie supposed, climbing to his feet and offering Steve a hand. "C'mon, peanut butter."

Steve snorted, allowing Eddie to haul him up, brushing down his clothes.

"So... If I'm jelly and you're peanut butter..." Smirking slightly, Eddie asked, "What's that make Henderson?"

"Marshmallow fluff."

Eddie threw his head back in a cackle, grin bright and wide and filling Steve with joy. "No hesitation," Eddie snickered, "you've thought about that."

"Maybe," Steve shrugged, unable to completely smother his smile.

"Okay, c'mon," Dustin said decisively as he strode out of a bathroom, face clean and the pink tinge in his face from crying slowly fading. "We're already late."

Steve quickly poked his head into the bathroom to check his face, then nodded and ushered both Dustin and Eddie out of the trailer.

"So, what made you swap your precious beemer for a truck?" Eddie asked conversationally as they climbed into Steve's current ride.

"Well," Steve sighed, buckling his seatbelt and starting the engine. "First, I drove her through a gate, and straight into some gross fleshy wall. Then she was apparently sucked out into space. So..." Waving a hand at the dashboard, he shrugged, "New ride."

"Into... space?"

"Yeah, man, you missed a lot," Dustin piped up from the back seat. "The Upside Down wasn't another world; it was a bridge between the material plane and the abyss."

Eddie's eyebrows shot up, twisting in his seat to stare back at Dustin. "The abyss?"

Nodding eagerly, Dustin explained, "Vecna's whole deal was to drag the abyss into the material plane. He wanted the world to end. But," he added with a wide grin, "Steve came up with the genius plan that got us into the abyss so we could kill Vecna and the Mind Flayer, and we got everyone out to safety before the Upside Down collapsed and..." His smile dimmed a little. "Almost everyone," he corrected quietly.

Throwing Steve a worried glance, Eddie pressed, "Almost?"

"Eleven," Steve murmured, keeping his eyes on the road. "And her sister, Kali."

"Wait, Supergirl?" Slumping into his seat, Eddie muttered, "Damn."

"Yeah... You woulda loved her, man," Dustin sighed.

A hum, then Eddie sat up, clearly changing the subject. "By the way; congrats on graduating."

Dustin's smile crept back in. "You're looking at Hawkins High's valedictorian of '89."

Huffing a laugh, Eddie nodded, "Course I am. Never doubted it for a second."

"Wait, I wonder if Jon's got the tape," Steve said suddenly, toes curling in his shoes. "You gotta see his graduation speech, Ed, it ruled." He grinned back at Dustin in the rearview mirror. "Woulda been so fucking proud."

"Yeah, bet."

The wistful tone in Eddie's voice had Steve pausing a moment. "Where we you?" he asked carefully. "Were you bartending in May?"

Eddie cleared his throat, then nodded. "I'd just hit New York in May. Stayed there a while... Found a good spot where I could help protect the lost sheepies there."

The truck fell into silence, which lasted the rest of the ride to Maple Place, Steve pulling up outside and killing the engine. "Ready?" he asked Eddie quietly, reaching over to grasp his hand as Dustin scrambled out.

"I dunno..." Offering Steve a weak smile, Eddie whispered, "I think so? I'm just..." Pain flickered across his face. "None of the others are gonna react like Dustin, right?"

With a fond shake of his head, Steve assured him, "That's a Henderson special. C'mon."

Climbing out, Steve and Eddie hurried to the door that Dustin was already knocking on, the three of them huddled together against the rising wind.

"Dustin," beamed Karen Wheeler when she opened the door, ushering them inside. "And Steve, how are you?"

"I'm doing good, Mrs W," Steve nodded, already kicking off his shoes inside the door.

Karen tipped her head curiously, eyeing Eddie as she closed the door behind him. "You seem familiar..."

With a dumb nod, Eddie whispered in awe, "Killer scars, Mrs Wheeler..."

Something proud filled Karen's face, her fingers finding one of the slashing scars across her chest. "A mother will do what a mother has to do." Her eyes wandered to similar colouring on Eddie's jaw. "You seem to have fought some battles of your own."

"Similar battles," Steve informed them both, watching the exchange carefully.

Eddie's eyes widened slightly, one hand absently drifting to his left hip. "Right... Well, they look metal as hell," he told Karen with an affirming nod, then let Steve take his hand to lead him through the house.

"Guys, guys!" Dustin could be heard calling out, audibly smothered in hugs. "Guys, no, wait, look!"

Steve squeezed Eddie's hand, then guided him into the Wheeler's living room. He watched shock wash across the gathering of his friends, a mix of disbelief and awe and-

"Eddie?" Will half-laughed, face filled with surprised joy.

Eyes wide again, Eddie huffed an amused noise. "William...." His eyes flicked to the boy by Will's side, the only person in the room Steve didn't recognise. "And Connor." Gaze darting around the room, his mouth dropped open in an understanding that apparently only he could find. "Oh... You're... You're that Will. Their Will." He gestured to Mike and Lucas, neither of whom had moved yet. "Oh!"

"How the hell do you know Will?" Dustin frowned, looking back and forth between Eddie and Will as though he were watching a tennis match.

Waving his hands at Mike and Lucas some more, Eddie told Will, "They're my last flock! I ran D&D for them at school-"

"You're Eddie Eddie?" Will blurted out, slapping one hand over his mouth.

"Will someone," Steve piped up loudly, shooting Eddie a look, "please explain what the hell is happening?"

"Right, right." Eddie raised both hands in surrender, then made a rewinding motion with them. "Right. So. New York." He gestured to Will and - apparently - Connor. "The new place I was protecting lost sheepies."

Connor rolled his eyes fondly. "We're not sheep, but sure. You can just call it a gay bar, Eddie."

With a wince, Eddie glanced in the direction of the kitchen, where Karen could be heard chatting with her husband as she cooked. "We're a bit more careful about words like that in little ol' Hawkins, Connor-boy, but fine, you've said it. Yes, the gay bar."

Jonathan jolted up from his seat on the couch, a warning finger aimed at Eddie. "If you've been letting my underage brother drink, Munson, I swear to-"

"No!" Eddie blurted out, horrified. "And by the way, Byers, if I'd known he was your brother, I woulda been way more careful about what I was saying."

"How about we move on from that and focus on you actually being alive?" Nancy suggested, tugging Jonathan's sleeve hard to park him back in his seat.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Connor frowned.

Steve stepped up, pointing a finger at Nancy and shaking his head. "Later." He glanced to Robin, who was vibrating where she stood, eyes full of tears, and gave her a nod.

With permission, Robin bolted across the room and punched Eddie hard in the shoulder, ignoring his yelp of pain as she threw her arms around his neck. "Screw you, asshole," she sniffled.

Slowly, Mike and Lucas shuffled over, too, worming their way into the hug, followed shortly by Max and Erica. Nancy sniffed defiantly against her own tears as she made her way over, too, piling into the reunion and throwing a confused glance at Steve.

"What's happening, Coach?"

Steve turned to Derek, sat by Holly's side on the carpet. "Just..." Watching Dustin join the others smothering Eddie, Steve cleared his throat. "We thought we lost Eddie in the earthquakes," he said carefully, hoping Derek would pick up on the meaningful look he was trying to express.

Holly gasped. "That Eddie?" She shoved Derek's shoulder. "Hellfire Eddie."

Face lighting up, Derek rushed out, "Wait, aren't you, like, the greatest dungeon master of all time?"

Despite an offended little grunt from Mike, Eddie peered through the group around him to find Derek. "It's been said."

"So, all those stories you were telling us about running D&D in high school... You meant Hawkins High," Will realised, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're Eddie Munson, head of Hellfire Club."

"How did you not know?" Erica asked incredulously, dragging herself out of the huddle to scowl at Will. "He's been in New York all this time and you never said anything!"

"I didn't know!" Will raised his hands in surrender, Connor moving in close to his side. "You don't talk about that sort of thing in a place like that."

As people slowly peeled away from him, except for Robin, Eddie nodded, "He's right. Where you're from, full names, any kind of identifying history... You keep that to yourself. It's not about who you were, it's about who you are."

"And who I am is Will, living happily in New York City, finally allowed to feel how I feel without worrying the people I love are gonna hate me for it." With a rueful little smile, Will pointed out, "And no one in New York calls me Zombie Boy."

But Lucas shook his head. "You saw photos of him."

Will cocked an eyebrow at him. "Barely. Any pictures of him were ripped down or defaced."

"Even his headstone," Dustin muttered, drifting back to Eddie and clutching his arm.

"I feel like I'm missing a pretty huge piece of the puzzle here..." Connor's hands slipped away from Will. "I can go upstairs if you guys wanna-"

"No." Will grabbed Connor's hands. "Wait, I don't..."

A soft smile spread across Connor's face, one that reminded Steve an awful lot of Joyce. Lifting both hands to hold Will's face, Connor assured him, "I'll just be upstairs. I'm not running away. Promise." He pressed his lips to Will's forehead, then wove his way out of the room, his footsteps disappearing up the stairs.

"The military was monitoring Upside Down activity and pulled me out," Eddie said quickly, almost as though he'd been holding his breath to keep the words in. "I was kept at some base the other side of the state, and they only let me out when the Upside Down disappeared. I couldn't come back until the Feds cleared my name for the Chrissy thing, and then I was too scared to come charging back into everyone's lives when they'd moved on. But then..." Eddie's eyes flicked to Will. "You and Connor were talking about going home for the holidays, and it made me miss my Uncle Wayne so bad. I just wanted my family back."

Will nodded slowly. "You're welcome, I guess," he chuckled, earning a snort from Eddie. He chewed his lip, eyes darting between Eddie, Steve, and Robin. "Your stories make sense now," he said softly. "Thank you for sharing them."

"Yeah... Looks like they might have a different ending," Eddie murmured, glancing to Steve. He reached for his hand, smiling when Steve easily gave it, then pressed his lips to Steve's knuckles.

Robin shifted to wrap an arm around both Eddie and Steve's waists, dragging them in to sandwich herself between them and whispering, "I love you guys."

A long pause, then Jonathan spoke; "So you and Nance never would've worked anyway."

"Christ, Byers, it's called bisexuality," Eddie sighed with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "The world isn't black and white."

"We won't say anything," came Holly's sweet little voice from the floor, she and Derek watching with wide-eyed interest.

"Not at practise or school," Derek nodded vigorously.

Something squeezed in Steve's chest. "Thanks, guys," he said quietly, briefly wondering why that fear hadn't stuck him.

"So... what happens now?" Erica asked, folding her arms. "Does Eddie just go back to New York?"

Steve's heart lurched, but Eddie squeezing his fingers settled him a little.

"I've gotta go back so I can leave." Eyes moving back to Steve, Eddie murmured, "I wanna be home."

As Erica gagged animatedly, Nancy commented, "People around here might still be a bit... shocked. Your name's been cleared, but it was dragged pretty deep through the mud for three years."

"It's fine," Eddie shrugged. "I'm used to being the freak."

Understanding settled over the room.

Taking a deep breath, Steve looked to Will. "You wanna bring your fella back down so we can actually meet him?"

The grin that spread across Will's face lit up the room. "Yeah," he breathed in a laugh, already making his way towards the stairs.

"How's your mom like him?" Robin asked as Will passed her.

"Mom loves him," Jonathan sighed, waving his brother up the stairs. "Hopper... gave him the shovel talk and scared the crap out of him."

As the group resettled in the room, Steve sank to the floor with Robin on one side and Eddie on the other. Will returned with Connor, and Erica began drilling Dustin on everything he was learning at MIT while Holly and Derek launched into explaining their D&D campaign to Lucas and Max. Watching the room full of his adopted family fall easily back into its natural patterns, Steve let his head fall to Eddie's shoulder, relaxing into his side when Eddie's arm wrapped around his waist.

"I thought I lost this," Eddie whispered.

Turning his head just enough to press a kiss into Eddie's shoulder, Steve murmured, "They want you here, jelly."

Eddie snorted, giving Steve a squeeze. "You're not getting rid of me, peanut butter."