Stevehharringtcns·:

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve loved holding eddie like this. he loved it when the two of them were alone, enjoying every moment of it. they had been so busy fighting rabid dogs and having everyone around them that they barely could find the time to be alone together. and now that they were, steve was going to make sure to enjoy every minute of it. he closed his eyes as he let his head rest on the other’s shoulder for a couple of moments, pulling him closer to him. this felt nice, steve thought to himself. through all of the relationships he had been through, he had never had one like the one he had with eddie. and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t find anyone like him. at least he hoped that eddie was the one for him, but maybe it was too early to talk about it. 

he let out a small chuckle as he heard eddie speak, being dramatic as he usually was. that had been a part of why steve had grown to like eddie so much. he opened his eyes and looked over at him with a smile on his face. he was glad that the other liked the haircut - it would have been bad if he had gotten one and suddenly he lost his boyfriend. it wouldn’t be very good to his self-esteem. “well, i’m glad you like it.” he said, before kissing his cheek.

once they were both settled on the couch, steve watched as the other draped his legs over his lap and smiled as he pulled him slightly closer to him. steve let out a sigh of relief once he felt his knee relax a bit, even if he had just been standing for a bit. it definitely wasn’t the worst injury he had ever had, but it definitely bothered him a bit. he was just hoping that it wouldn’t turn into anything serious. he let his hands rest on eddie’s legs as he slowly caressed them, looking over at his boyfriend. “we need to rest for a bit. i’m not opposed to that either, but… let’s just talk for a bit. you know, i think talking is… important, right? what did you do today?” he asked with a smile.

steve chuckled lightly as he watched his boyfriend shake his head at the thought of him having short hair. “i doubt that you wouldn’t be able to rock it. trust me, i think you would look hot.” he said, blushing lightly. “but you’re right, the long hair does suit you. and i do love it a lot.” he smiled.

+++

a content smile on his face, eddie hummed, tilted his head to press a quick kiss to steve's temple. they hadn't been able to get moments like these lately, just the two of them. the two of them, as happy as can be, considering everything that was going on around them - a little slice of happiness if you will. good for the soul, kept you from going completely mad. he nuzzled his fave into steve's freshly cut hair, greedily inhaled the scent of his shampoo and various other hair products, eyes nearly rolling back into his head.

it wasn't quite cuteness aggression that drove eddie to give into his impulses and tilt his head again to - gently - bite the tip of steve's nose, but it was something along those lines - happiness aggression, maybe? 'being content in your boyfriends arms as you share a small moment of peace and quiet in the midst of a whirlwind that could very well lead to the end of the world, once again' aggression. in any case, eddie munson had never been one to deny himself impulsive actions. with a wide toothy grin he fell back against the couch, giggling to himself. he smoothed steve's nose with his thumb, muttering a quiet 'sorry' into the couch cushions.

he blew a raspberry, taking a strand of steve's hair between his fingers, twirling it around. "fine", he groaned with a playful roll of his eyes. "you're no fun, harrington - but fine, ignore my shameless flirting, let's just talk. talking is good. I agree." and he over accentuated his nod to show just how much he agreed. "what did i do today, let's see... uh, i rubbed some suspicious smelling ointment on this fucker right here." he wiggled his injured foot to the best of his abilities, had to hold back a pained wince as he did so. "re-wrapped it and shit. watched tv. wayne made me some eggs and tea and stuff, all that yucky healthy shit. i get up every half hour or so to walk around, curse my dreadful existence and wait for my handsome soldier to return from the war and come back to me." eddie sighed dramatically, the back of his hand against his forehead before he leaned in to press a quick kiss to steve's lips." and here you are, returned to me at last! i rejoice!"

a suddenly bashful smile on his lips, eddie was sure there was a red tint to his cheeks now and he quickly pulled some of his own hair to cover his face. "oh, stop it - you have to say that, you're my boyfriend. what if i show up rocking a mohawk one of these days? what if I go insane and buzz my hair again huh? id look awful, im telling you." he cringed as he remembered his buzzcut era. no, yeah, he was definitely going to stick to long hair for the foreseeable future." however.... flattery does work with me, stevie, be careful. you call me hot one more time and im afraid im gonna have to jump your bones."

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted that the person in front of his car (and that he had almost ran over with his car) was no other than eddie. he was pretty convinced that he had walked in front of his car on purpose, but then again, he couldn’t really be surprised by that - it was eddie after all. he couldn’t help but to chuckle at the other’s reaction to seeing him. only eddie would react like that, but at least someone was glad to see him. he couldn’t imagine nancy’s reaction when she spotted him, but he didn’t want to think about that right now. “what the hell are you doing, munson? you can’t just jump in front of my car like that, i could have killed you!” he continued his protests, but this time he had a smile on his face, shaking his head slowly as he laughed.

before he knew it, eddie was making his way inside of his car and before he could say anything about it, he was being pulled into a hug by the other, which made him chuckle awkwardly as he patted his back. “alright, alright, munson, don’t get too emotional just by my presence. it’s not like i went anywhere, you’re the one that has been missing from hawkins.” he said, shaking his head slightly as he kept patting the other’s back until he finally was pulled way from the hug.

staring at eddie as he invited himself over to the barbecue, steve thought to himself: it would be better if he showed with someone else, right? it would be less awkward than just showing up on his own and having to deal with the wheeler family all by himself. right? “i don’t think she’ll mind… but it’s not like i can ask her either way, so… the wheeler barbecue it is then.” he said as he started driving again, not thinking twice as he started making his way towards the wheeler house. “what have you been up to, munson? don’t tell me you came back to hawkins, after all this time?” he asked, a smirk showing up in his features as he drove.

+++

he shrugged. “had to get your attention somehow, didn’t i?” wide beaming smile fixed on his lips, eddie settled into the seat with a sigh, lifting his hips to pull the bandana from his back pocket. perhaps the hug had been a bit much, he thought to himself as he patted away a sheen of sweat on his forehead. he gave steve a sheepish smile. “sorry, man, didn’t mean to get all...”, he gestured between them with his hands, then dropped them in his lap. “it’s just you’re, like, the first friendly face i’ve come across here, ‘cept for my uncle, of course. and that means a lot, at least in hawkins, you know.”<7small>

although steve and eddie were... well, friends - bound together by that fucking whacky shit they’d gone through two years ago - eddie’s brow still twitched in anticipation as he awaited steve’s reply. he was still afraid of rejection, even after two years of keeping in contact. platonic rejection, though - yeah, no, eddie was pretty damn sure steve was as straight as they come. he’d put the moves on him during their time fighting vecna, really, come to think of it he’d never flirted as shamelessly with anyone else. dropping hints left, right and center, to no avail. until he’d moved to chicago and, well, had been forced to give up pursuing steve, for his own good.

but whatever. eddie noticed the sudden shift in tone as steve talked about nancy and cocked an eyebrow, buckling th seatbelt as he spoke. “huh? trouble in paradise, harrington? are you and wheeler, like, doing okay, or...?” a sort of open ended question, leaving it to steve to fill him in on the details he wanted to share.

he stretched his arms above his head, slipped his bandana back into his pocket. “oh, i’ve been up to all sorts of things. y’know. wreakig general havoc here and there, same old, in true munson fashion.”, he said and gave him a grin. “god, no, i’m only back for the summer, stevie. why? did you miss me?”

“you been up to anything fun, harrington?”

“Living after midnight, rockin’ to the dawn. Lovin’ ‘til the morning, then I’m gone. I’m gone.”

JOSEPH QUINN as TOM | MAKE UP (2019) Snuggly sleepy boi

stevehharringtcns​:

“you could have gotten my attention without almost getting yourself killed… we survived all of that stuff two years ago, don’t take it for granted by throwing yourself in front of a car…” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked over at eddie - he was pretty sure he would have never run over eddie, even on accident, he was confident that he was a pretty good driver - he was sure of it, actually. but he couldn’t do much if someone had jumped in front of his car. “so, you haven’t been back for long, i’m assuming? it’s like you forgot how good hawkins really is.” he said, teasingly, letting out a small chuckle as he started driving again, this time actually paying attention to the road and not letting himself get distracted by his thoughts - at least he had eddie to talk to while he drove to the wheelers’ house - he wasn’t sure how people would react to him bringing eddie, but people around seemed to like him.

at the question about him and nancy, steve sighed and shrugged his shoulders slightly. he should have expected for him to ask this, it was all people did when they saw him and he couldn’t blame them, but it was still uncomfortable to talk about it. “huh… there’s not really any trouble.” he lied, he wasn’t even sure how nancy felt after they split, but in his head everything seemed to be alright. “we just broke up… not that long ago. but we’re fine. i think, i really can’t be sure… if we haven’t talked since, you know, we broke up.” he said, as he kept his eyes locked on the road, not daring to look at eddie while he spoke about it.

his lips curled into a smile as he heard eddie talk, letting out a small chuckle as he heard that the other was still wreaking havoc. it didn’t surprise him that he was still doing that. “you know what, it is kind of weird not having you around, so i did kind of miss you, dude. it’s good to have you back, even if it’s just for the summer.” he said with a nod, now looking at eddie for a couple of moments and then back on the road. “well, you know, i’ve just been… working at the video store still. taking a few classes at the community college… not that much fun, as you can see, but that’s hawkins for you.” he said with a shrug.

+++

a wicked glint in his eyes, eddie grinned. “oh, but harrington - ‘to die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die’ “, he half-sung half-spoke the infamous smiths lyrics, watching steve with his brows raised in anticipation, to see if he’d get the reference. “you know? like the song?”

he rolled down the window, jesus it was hot outside, and put one arm behind his headrest, absent-mindedly drumming his fingers in the tune of the before mentioned smiths song. he shut his eyes for a moment, relishing in the feeling of the soft breeze lightly grazing across his heated face, locks of dark brown, curly hair - all frizzy due to the humidity - flying about. eddie nodded, eyes still closed. “yeah, man. just got back yesterday,” and he scrunched up his nose at steve’s comment. “if anything i forgot how much hawkins smells like cow shit.” though there was some truth to steve’s words - eddie had, actually, missed hawkins. not the place itself, but the people still inhabiting that strange little town.

no way. he opened his eyes.“oh shit, man. i’m sorry.”, eddie said,his delivery a little awkward because...well, he sure as shit hadn’t seen that coming. after all that stuff with vecna, wheeler and harrington both risking their lives for one another without a second thought, well, eddie had thought they were bound to stay together, forever, or something along those lines. he shited in his seat, looked over at steve with a frown. “i didn’t know..” of course he hadn’t, eddie silently cursed himself. awkward social situations, not his forte. “do you wanna, like, uh...talk, or something- ?”, he trailed off, grimaced. “i mean, we don’t have to, i usualyl don’t - i’m not realyl good with - “, more wild gesturing before ddie dropped his hands in his lap with shrug. “yeah. whatever. i just mean that i got an ear to lend, steve. just so you know.”

a wide grin spread on his lips, a twinkle in his eyes, eddie dramatically clutched at his heart. “oh, harrington, you big old softie! how those words warm this cold, cynical heart with affection! i missed ya too.” with a laugh he stretched his arms over the seat again, both hands now behind his headrest. he caught steve’s eye, his thoughts momentarily trailed off because holy hell, why did harrington always have to look this pretty?

“you still working with buckley, i assume?” another person he definitely needed to pay a visit to sooner than later. “oh, community college, huh? you know, academic scholars are like, super hot.”, he said with a teasing grin. “what classes?”

zccming·:

after starcourt–

after billy, it wasn’t uncommon to find max tucking herself away from the rest of the world. of course, she did that before too, but it came to a more extreme head in the following years. eventually, it developed into part of who she was. jaded, distant, sad. of course, she was a lot of other things, but tonight max was feeling like she was only those. she leaned back against a store front, staring at her half empty cup. it should’ve been you instead. vecna was only trying to get even with you. she didn’t remember a life before those thoughts decided to act up and rattle against her skull religiously every once in a while. max also found  that the memories of billy’s face, his lifeless body, and the chilled feeling in her feet liked to pair themselves with her guilty mantras. all these thoughts came with no solutions to permanently soothe them, and if there was an instruction manual, she was too stubborn to read it. her beer looked like blood in the dark. rather than moping, she should have anticipated that eddie at some point would come to check up on her, but she didn’t. 

jumping slightly at his approach, she sighed, “much fun as i can.” deflect, deflect, deflect. “you couldn’t have brought any crowd pleasers with you?” she teased in reference to his very obviously personal tunes blaring throughout the mall. “seriously, i can’t tell if it’s the beer, your music, or those upcoming hawkins high school seniors that are giving me this headache.” the words were harsh, but she managed to smile over at eddie when she asked in turn, “you having fun?”

+++

eddie rolled his eyes, lightly and playfully shoved her. “shut up.” he knew her well enough to know that max wasn’t a champion at talking openly about her feelings and what was bothering her - but then again, neither was he. and pressuring her into talking about something that triggered even more painful memories was the last thing he wanted. so he just shrugged, let her deflect all she wanted while he stood idly by. his presence and gaze screaming ‘ i am here, if you need me ‘. 

he dug in the inner pocket of his denim vest and pulled out a mixtape, shoved it at her. “here you go. nothing but crowdpleasers. top of the fucking pops.”, he grumbled, made a fake gagging noise and then threw a sly grin her way. “i came prepared, butthead. but so far no one’s complained about my tunes so...”, eddie trailed off, then narrowed his eyes and threw her a dirty look. “ - ‘cept for you! traitor.”

the mention of said hawkins high seniors made him involuntarily flinch, he clutched his beer tighter, eyes darting around the mall to spot the familiar green, white and yellow varsity jackets. they were kids, he tried to reassure himself, just kids, too young to have been part of the angry mob led by jason carver who had initiated the witch hunt. ‘ hunt the freak ‘. and to think that wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened that year. eddie hurriedly shook his head, as if trying to shake the thought out of his mind.

he turned back to max. “i should have an ibuprofen somewhere in my van. d’you want me to go get it for you? or, alternatively, you could always stop drinking that god-awful beer. tastes like straight up piss.”

stevehharringtcns·:

even if steve’s parents had just recently gotten home, it wasn’t long until they were out again. his dad seemed to have another business trip, and his mom would always go along with him. he wasn’t sure why, but by now he had been used to being alone. in years before, he would have thrown a party, but as years went by, steve just realized that would imply having to throw a party every other week. and sometimes it was for the best if he was by himself. even if he was alone, steve still liked to confine himself in his room. it was just his safe place.

he had just gotten out of the shower, his hair still wet as he put on some shorts and he was ready to get in bed. there was nothing better to do and he was tired after spending the day standing on his feet at the video store. he was about to sit on his bed when he thought he heard a car on the driveway, but that couldn’t be possible. and that’s when he heard the knocks on the door.

raising an eyebrow as he got out of the room, not even bothering to put a shirt on, steve made his way downstairs as he heard the banging on the door. he was about to make a detour to grab one of his baseball bats, he didn’t want to try his luck with whatever was out there, and that’s when he heard eddie’s voice coming from the outside.

he frowned, rushing towards the door to open it, only to realize that he was standing shirtless in front of eddie. whatever, it didn’t matter. “eddie, what the hell are you doing? it’s late!” he said, but he couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t a tiny bit relieved that it was eddie and not someone else. he wanted to see him, but he hadn’t gotten the time after he came back and now there he was, standing at his door. “what are you doing here? what’s wrong?” he asked, slightly concerned about the other as he remembered that he was practically begging him to open the door.

+++

there were many strings of thoughts rushing through his head at lightning speed once he opened the door. eddie felt relieved, fucking hell, at least steve was alright, or seemed to be, at first glance. he was safe, from what eddie could tell, and he released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. 

relief however mingled with shock, surprise, and a sharp pang of... something very warm in his stomach. slowly, torturously slow, his eyes travelled down from steve’s face to his bare torso. the sight knocked the wind right out of his sails, eddie’s mouth fell open as if he wanted to say something but no sound escaped his lips. he blinked in disbelief, had to force himself to tears his eyes away fro steve chest. gaze quickly dropping to the floor, he suddenly felt extremely hot, wondered if the temperature had somehow risen in the last two minutes. his cheeks were burning, he was certain that he was sporting a nice, brigt blush.

“uh....”, it took him a moment to assemble the scrambled words in his head into a coherent sentence. he thought back to their first trip to the upside down for a moment, back to how he had nearly forgotten to fucking breathe when steve had taken off his sweater to jump into lover’s lake. how he’d tossed him his denim vest some half hour later, simply because he couldn’t stand the sight of shirtless steve anymore, it was making him all dizzy and disoriented. 

and it seemed that it still had the same effect now. eddie swallowed, frowned. think, munson, think, for god’s sake. “ i, uh. eggs. “, he suddenly blurted out, looked back up to meet steve’s eyes. “in benny’s diner. eggs, they , uh, they, like, hatched and...then there was this fucking fire, and it, it burned down and -”

stevehharringtcns·:

.

at that very moment, steve wanted to get up from the bed and wrap his arms around eddie, tell him that everything would be okay. he just wanted to do that, but he couldn’t. his cuts and bruises were still pretty recent that every movement that he made, made his body ache. he hated seeing eddie like this. steve looked at him as he opened his hand slowly for the other to take. if he couldn’t hug him, he could at least hold his hand. it was the least he could do, he thought to himself. “eddie…” he said, pursing his lips as he tried to hold back his own tears as he saw eddie like this. he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it for a second, but he thought it would be better if the other just shared how he was feeling rather than repressing it.

when he felt eddie’s hand on his cheek, steve closed his eyes for a few moments and let out a sigh of relief. eddie was okay. when he had heard that the other had been arrested for no apparent reason, steve almost thought about getting up from the hospital bed and marching on to the police station, but just the thought of it made his body ache. he was still weak from everything, but he wanted to act tough for eddie. “no… i’m glad… you weren’t there.” he said weakly, giving the other a nod of his head. he would have hated if anything had happened to eddie like it had happened to him, he hated just thinking about it. “when i woke up… and you weren’t here… i thought…” he said, choking up on his own words. he couldn’t finish the sentence, he just couldn’t think about something like that. he didn’t want to. “i’m just glad you’re okay.” he said with a small nod, his hand reaching out to eddie’s.

“this? they’re just some cuts… and bruises. i’ll be fine.” he said weakly, letting out another small chuckle as he started coughing, his body flinching with the pain he felt in his ribs. that was going to be hard to get used to, but he closed his eyes for a couple of moments, gathering his strength as he looked back at eddie. “i need… to ask you something, okay?” he asked, looking over at eddie.

+++

“shh, shh, don’t speak. don’t.”, eddie gulped and quickly shuffled closer, elbows resting on the edge of the bed. cupping steve’s face with one hand he slid the other into his palm, gave it a gentle squeeze, thumb softly tracing along his knuckles. careful not to move any of the iv’s attached to the back of his hand, he gently lifted it to press his lips to his hand, trembling lips lingering there for a moment or two. it’s real, it’s real, it’s real. this is real. eddie squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, brows knitted together. this is real, steve is fine, he’s fine, it’s real. fate had played one trick too many on them these past few years, eddie wouldn’t let himself have that breath of relief until he was absolutely certain that this wasn’t all just taking place in his head. being back in hawkins he was never sure of that.

eddie sniffled,blinked a few tears away. “you’re cold.”, he simply stated as he lowered steve’s hand again, smoothing over where his lips had met his skin with his thumb. “your hand, you feel - it feels cold. do you need a blanket or something? want me to call the nurses? or i can  - i can look for one myself, if you want. i’ll do it. just say the word.” he was full aware that he was rambling. but when steve eyes had fluttered shut at his touch, eddie’s blood had run cold, his stomach had tightened at the sight and if it took him rambling or, hell, even singing for steve to open his eyes again then eddie would gladly oblige. the feeling passed somewhat, not entirely, when he  met steve’s gaze again. no more closed eyes, no more cold hands. from now on only warmth and aliveness. eddie hadn’t even realized that his fingers had positioned themselves around steve’s wrist so that eddie’s pointer rested over his pulse point. 

the sound of steve’s voice had eddie biting down on his bottom lip to stifle a choked off sob. he’d never seen him this weak, this frail. close to crying, too, eddie gulped in an attempt to swallow the enormous lump in his throat. he shook his head, shushed him again. “it’s - i’m fine. nothing happeend, i’m fne. i’m fine, yeah? we’re - “ the small smile eddie had mustered up and given steve now suddenly fell as he broke, erupting into loud, soul shattering sobs. the kind of crying that left one breathless, gasping for air. that had people tell you to ‘calm down’, asking what’s wrong but that left you unable to respond, for every sound was replaced by a wail. the kind of crying usually reserved for a child seeking its mother’s attention. eddie lowered his head so that his hair would hide his face, watched through his clouded gaze as tears fell onto the material of steve’s bedsheets, leaving marks there. “i thought you’d - i - that you weren’t - you - “ he struggled through the words, they made no sense in his head, either. nothing made sense, except for the way the soft skin of steve’s palm felt underneath his calloused fingertips. “i thought you were dead. when max said -” eddie shook his head, didn’t want to continue the sentence. he sniffled again, struggled through shaky breaths until his voice was a little calmer than before. lower, too. weaker, mirroring the sound of steve’s. “i can’t do this without you, man. i can’t - here - i can’t be here when you’re not here. this, the - the whole upside down vecna shit, i can’t - “, he looked back up at steve, through tear stained lashed. “i don’t want to be here - i can’t. i can’t be here without you. heree, everywhere, not - not without you.”

if he’d expected anything from his summer back in hawkins, well, crying at steve harrington’s bedside and telling him how he couldn’t live without him, that certainly hadn’t been on eddie’s bingo. and his sudden confession certainly took a weight off his chest, yet it invoked a sense of horror and anxiety in him previously unknown. he’d let his guard down. he was vulnerable in a way he’d never been before. a way he’d promised himself to never be, not in hawkins. not anywhere, really. weakly and cautiously, he gave steve a nod. “sure. anything, man.”

dvstybuns·:

Dustin wasn’t even remotely phased by having woken Eddie up. He’d woken him up at weirder times before back when Eddie was in Chicago and Dustin had something he had to tell him right that second. It was a wonder Eddie put up with him still, but Dustin wasn’t one to question when people grew a soft spot for him. “I’m talking about the Upside Down! Probably,” He amended. Dustin didn’t know for sure that that was what was behind all of this, but considering it always was, it was a fair guess. 

“I’m injured, I have to elevate it!” Dustin complained when he was called a heathen. Rolling up the leg of his jeans, Dustin showed off Max’s poor bandaging skills to prove that he wasn’t making it up. But, he did move his feet off the coffee table and onto the couch beside him. “What? Come on…” Dustin whined, not fighting the lack of beer too hard. It was noon, after all. And really, he could steal one from Steve’s fridge if he really wanted one. 

With a deep sigh, Dustin began his retelling of their night in the woods. “Okay, so Joyce, Murray, Max, Will, Mike and I were in Joyce’s car going to check something out at the town border. But then I saw something out the window. It was like… human but not? Some kind of mix with a demogorgon?” He shrugged, still not really knowing what to call the thing. “It hit the car, so we all got out to look for it. Then, we kind of got separated. Someone went missing, or something. Anyway, it came back and hit Joyce’s car again and I fell, fucked up leg and took Max down too. We were lucky to get away.” In truth, some of the details were already becoming fuzzy for Dustin. Maybe a side effect of the adrenaline wearing off, or maybe he’d hit his head or something. He wasn’t entirely sure. 

+++

the upside down. if there were any two words that drew a visceral, gutteral reaction out of him it would be those two. a shiver ran down his spine - or was it up, actually? -, goosebumps on his arms, he nearly choked on his coffee. didn't even need the damn thing anymore, seeing as he was suddenly wide awake. still he held onto it, took a cautious sip, for comfort more than anything else.

dustin's mention of his injury had a similarly effect, sobering him up completely, eddie rubbed the last remnants of sleep Form his eyes, cranked his neck to get a better look at his very poorly bandaged injury. "who the fuck stitched you up? max with her eyes closed?"

still, he listened intently to dustin's storytelling, taking the occasional sip of coffee, his tiredness all but forgotten. replaced by an eerie feeling of dread. because dustin's story, combined with eddie's own experiences at benny's, it became undoubtedly clear - the supernatural had somehow wormed its way back into hawkins. and, presumably, it was out to get them.

"fucking - shit, man.", he hissed, dragged a hand down his face. "are you sure? like, a hundred percent - you're not fucking with me here, henderson, are you?"

where: blue quarry mall

who: eddie + max !

@zccming​​

despite popular belief, eddie wasn’t completely clueless. he was in a lot of matters, mostly concerning normal social interactions, but he wasn’t completely oblivious to what had happened those years ago on the very spot they were now standing, partying. after venturing through the upside down he’d been filled in on most of the gory details on what whack shit had taken place in hawkins and it had all started to make a little more sense.

presently, eddie knew, they were very much dancing on graves. of people who had died posessed by the mindflayer, people who had been ‘collateral damage’ and people who had heroically sacrificed themselves. people like billy hargrove.

he’d never been that close to billy, hadn’t come to known the guy that well, except for a few hushed drug deals here and there. their connection hadn’t gone past a somewhat acknowledging nod to one another at a metal gig. but eddie knew that, in a twisted way, he’d filled the position that billy had left -

- in max mayfield’s life. so he’d kept close watch of her througout the evening from his position next to the stereo. when he’d spotted her a little further away from the crowd, he’d quickly made his way over.

“hey kid. you good? having fun?”