&&. Steve + Eddie 006 - Blog Posts

stevehharringtcns·:

steve smiled at eddie, nodding his head slowly. he let out yet another chuckle as he watched his now boyfriend, taking him all in and staring at him lovingly. “you really were trying to steal my title for best hair… back in high school, right?” he teased with a chuckle. it was still weird to think about how different they were in high school and how they were both still so different from each other, but still had managed to find each other and be together. steve wouldn’t let that change anytime soon. he closed his eyes for a couple of moments when he felt eddie run a hand through his hair, smiling at the touch. he didn’t even want to think about how his hair looked right now. he had been in that hospital for long enough time for it to become a mess and only he knew how much time it took him to get it ready. “right… probably looks like a mess right now…” he said quietly, before letting out a sigh. “i’ve been thinking about cutting it anyway.” he said with a small nod of his head.

at the other’s question about joining hellfire club, steve couldn’t help but to smile and shrug his shoulders slightly. “listen, i wouldn’t join for… the game. or whatever it is. i would join so i could look at you.” he said, a smile on his face, a charming one for that fact. if there was something that time or that explosion didn’t take away from him was his natural charm, or at least he thought so. but that was only focused on eddie now. he didn’t want anyone else. “i mean it, ed… i would join just for you. even if… i’m pretty sure i wouldn’t know what’s going on… most of the time.” he said, pausing for a bit to take a breath, nodding his head slowly.

while steve had been pretty jealous that dustin had been hanging out with eddie more and more when they had first met, steve was glad that dustin had eddie as well. dustin needed them, or at least that’s what he liked to tell himself. he was glad that eddie cared so much for him that he would keep an eye out for him. it was clear that the two were worried about him, especially with everything that had happened. he pursed his lips together, as he let out a sigh. “i’m glad… he’s okay. he goes through too much…” he said, shaking his head slowly. he thought that all of the kids went through too much for their age, but yet again, they were at the age where steve had burned down those tunnels. hawkins definitely wasn’t a good place to live in. “i know you will, but take care of him… okay? he needs someone there for him.” he said with a smile, knowing that eddie wouldn’t fail him.

he was touched when eddie had offered wayne to stop by with some food. steve was glad that he had someone from his family that cared for him like this. he nodded his head. “okay… that sounds nice.” he said simply, as he looked at his boyfriend. they sat there in silence for a couple of moments, steve smiling at him the whole time until he finally spoke. he let out a small chuckle that only hurt his ribs slightly, but he didn’t show it. “i’m… i’m real. we’re real, eddie. we’re… dating, you know?” he said, smiling at eddie. even with everything, steve was glad that he still had that. he wouldn’t let it go. “kiss me again? i like kissing you.” he said with a nod.

+++

eddie snorted. "back when we were in high school together, you mean? nah, man, my hair looked like shit back then, that weird growing out phase after i buzzed it." he'd sported a mohawk for a week or two, before he'd decided that that looked too punk-y for him and that he was a metalhead now. "you know", he said, moving his hand out of steve's hair as gently as possible to take a strand of his own hair between his fingers, inspecting and then twirling it, "a lot of hard work and dedication went into these locks." a lot of arguments with wayne where he refused to acknowledge his split ends, his uncle trying to talk him into getting that 'wild mop of hair of his' under control. eddie smiled to himself, pulled his hair over his face for a moment before letting it fall to the side again.

"are you for real right now? you want to cut it?" he pursed his lips, eyes squinting and his head tilted to the side as he tried to imagine steve without his signature gravity defying hairstyle. he hummed a question. "whatever you want to do, sweetheart - but the offer still stands. I'm a master of detangling hospital bed induced matting."

eddie chewed on his bottom lip, gave a weak nod but looked away, blinking to fight the oncoming tears. there'd been enough crying today. "i will. you know i will.", he paused for a moment, let out a shaky breath. "don't... don't talk like that, man." like he wasn't going to be around for much longer. like he was passing the torch of care to eddie.

how eddie had talked to dustin, when he'd had his head in the boys lap, drawing shaky, ragged breaths, the sting of his wounds slowly fading as he himself had faded into a blissful oblivion. "you're sticking around, harrington." it was a demand, if anything. "you *have* to, now. you can't ask me to be your boyfriend and then kick the bucket. nobody would believe me. id look like some pathetic loser going around telling everyone steve harrington was actually my secret boyfriend all along." cope with humor. he let out a dry chuckle.

and he nodded in confirmation, a smile playing at his lips. "yeah, we sure are." eddie thought about how he'd never dated anyone, not seriously, not as long term as this was going to be - because there was no chance in hell that eddie was ever going to break up with steve. And by the looks of it, the look that steve had in his eyes as he looked up at him, asked him for another kiss, it seemed like steve had no intention of doing so, either. the upside down was going to have to pull its biggest stunt ever if it wanted to separate the two of them. and eddie wasn't going to let it.

he grinned, all wide and toothy, and bent down to give into steve's request. connecting their lips in a sweet kiss, lips lazily moving against one another. there was no rush here. eventually, they'd have to face the fast pace of life in hawkins again, gave whatever the universe was going to throw their way next. but not now.

when eddie pulled back he placed a short peck on Steve's forehead, brushing some hair out of his face. "im getting you some ice chips, stevie. go rest a bit. that's an order." and with a wink, he detached himself from his boyfriend and walked out the room, feeling like he was floating.

THE END

stevehharringtcns·:

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steve smiled at eddie’s reaction, and he couldn’t blame him. steve himself was a little surprised that he was dating eddie. he was dating him. that was real. king steve wouldn’t believe it either if this had happened during high school, but he was too busy being an asshole to eddie. to everyone. it was weird to think about how he used to do that. he didn’t like looking back to high school and be remembered of all of that. while in the end of their friendship he had blamed tommy hagan and carol for everything, the truth was that he was as much to blame as the two of them. he didn’t even know why eddie had chosen to forgive him for allowing his friends to torment him, but… this was definitely going well for the two of them now. they were dating. and for as long as steve could predict, there was nothing that could separate them. and steve liked the idea of that - with nancy, there had always been doubts. with eddie, there was nothing in their way.

he had been lost in his thoughts. he kept his eyes glued to eddie. it was addicting to look at him and he couldn’t get enough. he was glad that no one else had access to his thoughts, because he was pretty sure people would make fun of them. but steve really did like looking at eddie - and before all of this, he would do it when no one was watching. or at least, when he thought no one was watching. and now he was all his to look at for as long as he wanted. a small smile formed on his lips, not leaving his face for a long time as he watched his now boyfriend so close to him.

“i am not… a dork, eddie munson. i was popular because i was… co-captain of the swimming team and i was also in the basketball team. and… i had and still have great hair.” he said with a small chuckle, looking over at eddie with a smile. “i would have never joined hellfire club back then… but now, maybe… i would. for you. and you know, i would have to say that it was because of dustin too, or else he would be jealous.” he said with a small chuckle again, holding on to his chest for a few moments as he took a deep breath and looked at eddie. “speaking of… dustin… have you talked to him? he seemed… pretty upset last i saw him.” he said with a sigh. the two cared too much about the kid, he was family for both of them at this point and they both hated when he was down, although it was sort of impossible not to be after what happened.

steve didn’t like talking about his family, in fact, he hated it. he knew that eddie had meant well when he had brought it up, but he couldn’t help but to be a little sad about it. he knew that most parents would visit their kid if they were in the hospital, but steve’s parents weren’t like most. but that was another story for another day. he didn’t feel like talking about. he looked over at eddie as he talked about wayne and his casserole, a small smile forming on his lips again as he heard him talk. steve knew that eddie’s parents weren’t that present either, but at least eddie had wayne. and wayne was a sweetheart, from the interactions steve had with him. nodding his head with a smile, he looked at the other. “i… i would like that a lot, eddie. you can tell him… but only if it’s not… a burden to come visit me or whatever. i don’t want to bother him.” he assured the other with a sigh.

+++

eddie waved it off with a dramatic eyeroll. “yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself, man. though i gotta agree with the great hair part. can’t deny it, much as it wounds me.” a melodramatic sigh, it soon shifted and made way for a light-hearted chuckle as he lifted his hand to gently card his fingers through steve’s hair. awfully careful, so as not to pull too much and end up hurting him. “i’m afraid that best feature of yours has seen better days, sweetheart...”, he muttered, lips twisted into a pitying crooked smile as he absent-mindedly scissored his fingers to detangle a knot in his hair. “but i got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. don’t you worry, we’ll get you back that title of steve ‘the hair’ harrington in no time.”

he kept his hand there for a moment, contuing to detangle steve’s hair, eddie grinned, all wide and toothy. “you would willingly join hellfire, huh?” the thought alone seemed outlandish, with a stifled chuckle eddie recalled the wheeler’s bbq, when steve had sat on his lap, looking all sorts of lost while eddie had attempted to explain the rules of dnd to him in hushed whispers. “you know, there’s no need to sweet talk me anymore, harrington. already got me wrapped around your finger.”

the mention of dustin brought that same worry wrinkle to his brows that was seemingly ever present on steve’s face, he nodded. “i’ve seen him, yeah. he came by. he’s - he’s alright, i think. seemed fine. considering.” he twisted his lips into what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, yet eddie couldn’t completely shake his worries off. the second he’d seen him and suzie go into that tent his heart had dropped, a feeling he’d not forget too soon. there was no parallel universe where eddie wouldn’t worry about dustin. there was none in which he wouldn’t care. there was a running joke, about how steve and later eddie had sort of adopted dustin. eddie didn’t have any siblings, or none he knew of, but he rather thought that this was how one felt about a younger brother. a son, even, if you will.

eddie mirrored his smile, nodded too. “i’ll let him know. it’s on his way, anyway. and he offered, so.” a shrug, eddie fell silent for a moment, simply looked at steve. it was as if he could feel his heart swell, and he wondered if it would always be like this when he looked at steve. when eddie spoke a couple of beats later his voice was soft, low. “you’re so beautiful, steve.” and, adding a pained timbre to his voice, he added: “i was so worried. i ... still don’t - i’m afraid this isn’t real. does that make sense?”

stevehharringtcns·:

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steve smiled at eddie’s reaction, calling him wise and slightly shaking his head, as much as he could of course, as he kept his eyes on eddie. “i wouldn’t necessarily say wise, but… i guess i am. i mean, you are dating steve harrington.” he said with a low chuckle, careful enough to not send him through a cough attack yet again, as he looked over at eddie. it definitely was something to get used to, dating eddie munson and saying it out loud. he thought about how the people around them would take it, but he knew that they would take it positively. or at least steve hoped so - but he definitely had better made friends ever since tommy hagan and carol. that was for sure. he looked at eddie, squeezing his hand once again as he enjoyed the few moments of happiness that they seemed to get. he wondered for a few seconds if they would be happier if they left hawkins eventually, but that was another thought.

he closed his eyes when he felt eddie’s lips against his, smiling weakly into the kiss. he only opened them again when eddie pulled away, looking at eddie. the thought of losing eddie seemed to be unthinkable at that very moment, and just thinking about him getting arrested made him want to go down to the police station and tear everything apart. he didn’t know how that had happened, but he told himself not to get worked up at that very moment. he was still recovering, which probably wouldn’t be very healthy to his body. “i won’t let… anyone hurt you, okay? no matter what.” he promised the other. he knew that it wasn’t possible to keep everyone safe at the same time, but he was going to try.

listening to eddie talk about he had gone through that four times now and apparently counting, steve nodded. it was crazy that he had been brought into this mess all the way back in 1983 and now his life had completely changed. he was no longer the same person he had been all those years back and that was a blessing. but part of him did miss the life without the upside down and the monsters. he wondered if he had run off that night at the byers’ house, if he would have met eddie. or if he would have met max, lucas, dustin and everyone else. probably not. so, in a way, it was sort of a blessing in disguise, if he really thought about it. “i’m pretty badass… it’s true. i got plenty of scars to prove it… if you ever want to see them.” he joked, trying to lighten up the mood of that cold hospital. eddie had already done that by walking in the room though, steve thought to himself.

steve was about to protest at being called a dork, smiling into a kiss and letting out a chuckle. once they broke the kiss, steve shook his head. “to make it clear, i am not a dork… i just always really wanted to learn that and i was… to embarrassed to ask nancy.” he said with a smile, letting out a sigh of relief as he looked at eddie. he was sure that he had completely fallen for eddie munson and he wouldn’t change anything about it. 

his smile dropped slightly as eddie started asking about his parents. letting out a sigh, steve just shook his head slightly. “my mom… my mom was here for a couple of moments. i asked if my dad would end come here, but apparently work is more important for him.” steve said, nodding his head. he hated talking about his family and their relationship with them. he was much more of a listener than anything else and he would usually listen to everyone’s problems but not talk about the issues he had back at home. right now the only real connection he had with his family was that they shared a house and nothing else. steve didn’t even want to think about introducing eddie to his parents, because he knew what their reaction would be like. “it’s… fine.” he said with a small shrug.

+++

that startled eddie for a second as he pulled back slightly, looking visibly taken aback. not negatively, though, there was an almost starstruck look in his eyes. “i ... guess i am, huh.” he was dating steve harrington. steve ‘the hair’ harrington was his boyfriend. he was in a relationship with king steve and eddie rather thought that if he could travel back in time and tell that to sixteen year old eddie munson who’d just been shoved into the lockers by tommy hagan and his goons, well, that would’ve made him short-circuit. yeah, sixteen year old eddie would’ve probably erupted into nervous laughter, vehemently insisting that he was hopelessly crushing on, like, chrissy cunningham or someone equally unattainable. 

and twenty-two year old eddie couldn’t blame him, either, seeing as he was still very much short-circuiting at laughing nervously, because steve’s low chuckle might be the most divine sound he’d ever heard and that was his boyfriend right there in front of him and it was all entirely too nice. things this nice didn’t happen to people like eddie munson, and he couldn’t help but wonder when this would all be taken away from him again. 

“you’re such a dork, harrington, i wonder how you managed to walk the halls of hawkins high everyday, at the very top of the food chain, all while harboring this longing inside of you, to unleash the full dork potential you were capable of. forced confimity, it’s a drag, man.”, eddie exclaimed mockingly, nearly cracking up, he nodded to himself. “who knows, maybe if you’d given into that side of you sooner you might’ve even joined hellfire. “ /small>

eddie felt a sharp pang in his chest as steve talked about his family, averted his gaze for a moment. sure, eddie didn’t have much of a family himself, not in the traditional sense, anyway, but he knew that if anything were to happen to him, wayne and max would immediately drop everything and come rushing to his bedside. to hear that steve’d dad hadn’t even shown up - he shook his head softly, cradled steve’s hand, raised it to his lips to press a soft kiss to it. it wasn’t ‘fine’ as steve suggested, not by any means, but eddie didn’t want to press on it further, sensing it was a sensitive topic for steve. “you know, wayne makes, like, a killer casserole. he...heard about what happened” - eddie had basically wept in his arms after he’d been released, telling him all about it - “and he asked - well, he offered to, like, drop some of it off on his way to work later. if you - if you want it.”

stevehharringtcns·:

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steve gave eddie a small and weak smile when he saw him take off his vest and placing him over him. that was a sweet gesture, he thought to himself, and steve loved it. he loved the vest, a vest that he had worn before, more than once now and he loved it. he loved the smell of it and it made him feel closer to eddie, especially now that they couldn’t be in the same bed because of steve’s injuries. he had to keep telling himself that the pain was only temporary or he might have gone crazy by the thought of not being able to hold eddie close to him ever again. he hated thinking about that, thinking about that one day he could lose eddie or that eddie could lose him, but he was trying not to think about that right now. he wanted to focus on the man in front of him right now, a weak smile on his lips.

steve hardly cried, so this was new to him. he had cried when nancy broke up with him the first time, but now that seemed something stupid to cry about. he wasn’t sure if he was crying because he was happy that eddie was there and alive, and he could feel him. or if he was crying because he was scared of something happening to him, to them. he let out a small sigh as he felt eddie caressing his cheek, his eyes locked on the other as he watched him close. “it’s okay… crying is okay sometimes… i’m just happy that you’re okay, eddie.” he said, taking a deep breath as he looked at him again. there was nothing more than he wanted other than to kiss him right now. “kiss me?” he asked, looking over at him, hoping that he would just lean forward and kiss him.

when eddie agreed to doing the lift with him, steve let out a weak laugh as he thought about the two of them doing it. eddie was clumsy and knowing them, they would end up on the floor. but they would get up again and they would laugh. steve smiled at the thought, of making memories with him and dustin, max, lucas and everyone. he couldn’t wait until he got out of the hospital. he was glad all of them were okay, even if it would take them all a while to recover from what they had gone through. but steve was trying to focus on the good things for now, looking at eddie with a smile. “i’m pretty sure… i can lift you easily.” he finished off, nodding his head.

he watched eddie closely as he tried to assimilate what steve had asked. steve didn’t regret asking it, in fact, he would ask it again in a heartbeat. they were young and they were clearly into each other. and after this whole thing, steve thought it was for the best if he just admitted his feelings for eddie. he had done that, but he didn’t want to hide anymore. he wanted everyone else to know, he wanted them to share their happiness too. he wanted to tell max and see her reaction. he wanted to tell dustin so he could be happy for them, because he knew he would. he was just waiting for the other’s confirmation, smiling at him. “you heard me correctly.” he said at eddie’s first hesitation, nodding his head slowly.

and then he felt his heart filling up with happiness once eddie said yes, pulling him into a soft kiss and blushing as he did. he was so happy in that moment that he almost forgot the pain he was in, wanting to wrap his arms around eddie and pull him closer to him. but he couldn’t do that without wincing, so he thought it would be for the best if he stayed still. “of course… i’m sure. i’ve never been so sure of anything, ed. i… want you to be my boyfriend. and trust me, i could be put through… russian spies super drugs or whatever, and i would still ask it. i don’t care about anything else, i just want… you. to be my boyfriend.” he said with a nod.

+++

eddie choked on a laugh, mingled with a sob he tried to cover up with said laugh, and he nodded, over-exggeratedly. “you’re....so wise, stevie, i’m... thoroughly impressed.” a weak attempt at a joke to lighten the somber mood, though eddie feared neither of them would be in high spirits anytime soon. as glad as eddie was that they had both gotten out of it ... somewhat okay, he couldn’t ignore the nagging thought at the back of his head. they’d made it out this time.they’d made it out and yet he was visiting steve in the hospital, pulling down his sleeves so he wouldn’t see the marks callahan’s handcuffs had left on his wrisst. eddie couldn’t imagine what it would be like the next time around - if there was a next time. if they survived said next time. this, whatever it was, was far from over.

“i’m happy you’re okay, too.” so happy. and eddie readily complied, leaning in to press a soft kiss to steve’s lips. don’t cry again, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. eddie did his best to try and ignore the constant rhythmic beeping of the monitors and machines around them, the acidic smell of cleaning agent that lingered in the air. it was all .. .well, for lack of a better word, incredibly and horribly depressing. and it simply wasn’t... fair. they deserved their sliver of happiness. they’d been through plenty - they deserved a break. a clean cut, even. a moment of peace, no matter how fleeting.

eddie decided that, despite the stale and creepy atmosphere of a hospital, this must be his moment of peace. a soft chuckle fell from his lips, so low it was barely audbile, yet a sound of genuine happiness, however brief. he shook his head softly, smiling. “you know, sometimes i forget you’ve been through this, like, what ? four times already ? you’re such a ... i hate to say it, you’re kind of a ... badass.” eddie had to give him that. though, the first time steve had told him about their past run-ins with hawkins’ resident supernatural creatures, eddie had had a hard time believing him. well, he’d thought that the starcourt mall incident of ‘84 and steve’s subsequent fighting with russian spy soldiers in their secret underground miliatiry base had been total bogus. but here they were and eddie had come to know that well, stranger things had happened. 

“and then, in the next minute you turn around and ask me to learn the dirty dancing lift with you. you’re - “ eddie had to stop, interrupted by genuine giggles. a couple of beats passed before he’d calmed down enough to continue, grinning down at steve with a fond look in his eyes. and god, his heart felt like it might burst. “you’re a dork, steve harrington.” shutting up any and all protest steve could’ve thrown in with another kiss. followed by a quick peck on the tip of his nose, his cheek, his forehead. yeah. eddie munson was officially whipped. fuck.

he leaned back reluctantly, eyed steve with a curious expression on his face. wondering if the topic better stay avoided but - no, he had to ask. for his own sake, too. he shifted in his seat, cleared his throat. “so, uh. where -have your parents been in yet? “

stevehharringtcns·:

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steve wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to eddie at the carnival. he had been arrested and steve felt his heart sink when he had been told that. the worst part was that he was unable to help, but he was glad to see that the other was okay. he had been unharmed in the explosion. he wouldn’t have been able to handle it if eddie had been in the bed right next to him, in a different room or worse, if he had died. steve didn’t like thinking about that. not after everything that had happened two years prior, where steve had been the one to visit at the hospital after he had been attacked by the demo-bats and almost died. of course, at that point he hadn’t been this close to eddie, but he was still concerned of course. especially since dustin had become so close to eddie and he didn’t know how the kid would handle that loss. now the roles had switched.

he let his eyes be closed for a little longer, opening them to look at eddie. he hadn’t noticed he had been cold this entire time until eddie pointed it out. “a blanket… would be nice.” he said as he tried to adjust himself on the bed, but he was far too weak and far too bruised to even attempt to move. he would have to try again later, he thought. “but… just stay here for now.” he said, squeezing eddie’s hand so that he wouldn’t get up just now. he wanted for the other to stay beside him. it’s all he asked for at that moment. he looked over at him, a small and weak smile forming on his lips as he felt eddie’s hand on his. he was glad he was there with him. they both had survived and they both would be okay. they had to be. steve couldn’t imagine a future where the two of them wouldn’t be okay anymore. he had pushed away the thought of everything going wrong between them.

he enjoyed the silence for a couple of moments, heavy breathing as he did. he looked over at eddie when the other started sobbing, but he didn’t say anything. he couldn’t stop the other from feeling that way. he lied there, as he started feeling his own tears streaming from his eyes down his cheeks. he didn’t sob, he knew that it would hurt if he did, but he was crying. he hated seeing eddie like this, breaking down in front of him and he just couldn’t wrap his arms around him and bring him close. he squeezed his hand once again. “eddie…” he said, his voice weak as he sniffed, hoping that the tears would stop eventually. for both of them. the two were alive, yet they found themselves crying like one of them had died. it didn’t make any sense, but the two had been through enough for this to be allowed. “i’m not going anywhere. i promise…” he said weakly, nodding his head slowly. he wanted to keep that promise. he couldn’t leave eddie, he didn’t want to leave him. he couldn’t hurt him again. and seeing him like this made him feel stupid that he hadn’t seen the signs sooner, when they were fighting vecna and eddie was flirting with him. steve was too busy chasing something that he didn’t want. he wanted to be with eddie, and he was sure of it. “and when… when i leave the hospital, we’re going to…” he said, stopping to cough a little more, wincing as he felt the pain of his broken ribs spreading through, stopping to take a breath. once he recovered, he continued. “we’re going to watch… dirty dancing. and we’ll learn that… lift move. i promise.” he said with a nod.

he let the two of them calm down for a bit before he asked what he wanted to ask. he had been thinking about it for quite some time now. he just didn’t know that he needed a near death experience to actually say it. “life’s too short.” he started by saying, taking a deep breath after that. “i could have died… and-and…” he said as he started rambling, trying to find the right words. “i want you… to be… my boyfriend, eddie.” he said. it felt weird to say that out loud, he wasn’t used to it, but he knew that it was right. he knew that eddie was right for him. “no more… pretending that we’re just seeing each other and going out. i want… to be your boyfriend.” he said, giving the other a small nod. “okay?” he asked. 

+++

eddie nodded so fast and eagerly that he nearly strained his neck. “yeah, of course, blanket, blanket....”, he trailed off, anxious, strained eyes darting around, briefly landing on the bed cole montgomery currently occupied. but - no, eddie frowned, shook his head to himself softly, no, he couldn’t steal cole’s blanket. the man needed it to himself, probably. despite steve’s wishes to simply stay put, eddie reluctantly let go of his hand for a moment to shrug off his signature leather jacket and denim vest, carefully draping it over steve’s chest. “to tide you over ‘till you’re letting me leave to get you that blanket, hot shot.”

words followed by a weak, disingenuous smile, he squeezed steve hand again, tight, until the tears came spilling out on their own accord, body rocked by heavy sobs. eddie hated it, how easy he began to cry. in front of others, too. ever since he’d been a little kid, once the tears came there was no stopping them, which had obviously made eddie the subject of ridicule. over the years he had learned to ‘suck it up’, develop thicker skin, bottle up his feelings. not let people in on what was truly going on inside him. but steve was ...  different. 

and steve was crying, too. eddie’s head snapped up as he heard him sniffle, his own sobs ceasing instantly. his chest heavy with the guilt that his display of emotion had caused the tears he was now softly wiping away with his thumb, caressing steve’s cheek as he did so. “hey, shh. i’m sorry, sorry, sweetheart. i didn’t mean - sorry.” he shook his head, shaking the last couple of tears out of the corners of his eyes as he did so. they’d have plenty of time to cry once steve got out of there. besides, crying was exhausting, and steve was here to get better, to rest and relax. and eddie could get up and finally get him that blanket once they had both calmed down. steve’s hands really were cold.

the cough made steve wince and eddie tear up again. he bit down on his lip, hard, winced and mirrored steve’s grimace, wishing he could mirror the pain, too. if he couldn’t take it from him then they could at least be together in their suffering . teeth moving over his bottom lip, he waited patiently as steve recovered enough to continue talking. an incredulous chuckle drawn from his lips, brows raised, eddie softly shook his head in disbelief, raised their joined hands to his lips again. “yeah. yeah, alright, we’ll learn the lift. whatever you want.”

life’s too short, i could’ve died. feeling the lump in his throat grow bigger, eddie blinked and averted his gaze to their hands, thumb softly tracing over his knuckles. his whispers of “no” and “don’t say that”, quickly ceased as steve finally popped the dreaded question. come to think of it - not dreaded at all, actually. eddie lifted his head very slowly until he met steve’s eyes, a puzzled look on his face as steve’s words kept repeating in his head. boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. i want to be your boyfriend. he blinked, confused, squeezed steve’s hand - yeah, no, this was real. this was definitely real.

“i - i’m sorry?” a couple of beats passed before the meaning of steve’s words had apparently sunk in, eddie’s bemused expression suddenly fading, making way for a wide, toothy grin. he nodded slowly, his grin spreading wider and wider before eddie surged forward, to connect their lips in a short and soft kiss, careful not to hurt steve in any way. “yeah. yeah, of course, dumbass. duh. “ and eddie laughed, genuinely and loudly, quickly pressed his lips together, giving steve a sheepish smile. “i mean - you’re, like, a hundred percent sure about this?  because .. cause i’d hate for you to wake up, like, tomorrow or whenever the painkillers have worn off and regret the whole thing.”

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.”

stevehharringtcns·:

now that had been a turn of events that steve hadn’t been expecting when he set foot in the carnival. everything had happened so fast. he had gotten into a fight with jack and heather, he remembered that. he remember being bruised when he punched jack, which was weird. and the next thing he knew… he was at the hospital. apparently it had been a full day ever since those events and when he woke up and learned that eddie had been arrested, he felt sick to his stomach. at least he saw that max, dustin and robin were okay. even though, everyone else didn’t seem to be. how had things escalated so fast?

he found it easier when he had his eyes closed, although it was hard to get some sleep with all of the pain he felt. the explosion had left him with a couple of broken ribs, a broken wrist and some other bumps and bruises. he would have thought that his face looked the worst however, with whatever had happened with jack. he was still trying to figure out what had happened, but his brain was too busy thinking about other stuff. he hadn’t seen eddie ever since the carnival, and he was starting to get even more worried about it.

he lied in his bed, mostly because there was nothing to do. he kept his eyes closed, now used to the noises that the nurses made when coming in and out of his room. at least he had been able to charm the nurses to get more cups of jello, which he didn’t mind at all. he didn’t know why people complained so much about the hospital food - it was good in steve’s opinion. the noise of the door closing didn’t bother him, keeping his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, his insides aching a bit because of the broken ribs and then he heard a voice calling for him. a voice that he knew all too well.

opening his eyes slowly, he saw eddie approach his bedside and he felt relief. actually, he thought it was just a dream at first, but he quickly realized that it wasn’t. he couldn’t help but to give the other a weak smile. “eddie…” he said weakly, nodding his head slowly. “hey…” he said, smiling at him. he wished he had the strength to wrap his arms around him and hold him close, but any movement he made, made his body ache. he would get better eventually. “are you okay?” he asked, looking at the other’s face.

+++

he practically sprinted the last couple of steps to steves bedside as he hear his voice perk up. a relieved exhale basically ripped out of him, eddie blinked repeatedly, gasped a little at the feeling of hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "oh my god, oh my god, steve." he sobbed, crashed into the chair conveniently placed next to the bed. bottom lip trembling so much it made it hard to breath, eddie sucked in a breath, choked on it, erupting into a sputtering cough as the true emotional and physical weight of the past day and a half came crashing over him like a wave. his whole body ached, eyes sore, he wanted to scream.

eddie had to physically hold himself back from pulling steve into a bone-crushingly tight hug,but he needed to reach out and touch him, make sure that this was real, this wasn't just some vecna nightmare scenario thing, where everything started off good and then went horribly wrong. but the other looked so pale, weak. frail and delicate, eddie's hands shook as he softly reached out to let his knuckles ghost across steve's cheek. "god, im sorry.", he croaked, buried his face in his free hand as he let the sons rock through him for a moment. "i should've - i should've been there, i should've done something." something other than run. he dragged his hand down his face, exhaled with a groan.

"you - you're seriously asking me if i’m okay? you're the one in the hospital bed, not me, princess." a smile, an incredulous chuckle broke through eddie's crying, he shook his head softly in disbelief. "don't worry about me, ill be fine. always am. how are you, stevie? you’re okay, right? you’re going to be okay?"

where: the hospital

what: a sleep-deprived, traumatized eddie visits an unconcious steve

who: @stevehharringtcns​ + eddie

despite max’s insistence to wait until the morning, get some shut eye and straighten himself out, eddie found himself wandering the hall so hawkins’ hospital. the circles under his eyes darker then his messy, tangled and frizzy hair, a worry wrinkle on his forehead that hadn’t gone away since he’d seen jack foreman knocking steve out. it was tempting to say that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this awful, but that would be an outright lie. oh, eddie remembered. only then, the roles were reversed - with him waking up in a hospital bed, though chained to it, and steve probably wandering the halls, pacing up and down the corridors. 

he blinked rapidly, his eyes felt weirdly dry and strained from the harsh led lights above him him. max had told him what room steve was in, and so far eddie had managed to successfully sneak by various nurses and guards unnoticed. finding the room was another question, eddie could barely make out the numbers on the doors clearly, and in his sleep-deprived states, all corridors looked the same to him. like an endless maze.

another left turn, then a right, eddie was right back where he started and every step was nauseating, he felt heavy, every inhale getting more and more difficult. so when he finally reached steve’s room he didn’t even bother looking left and right to see if he was beinf watched, eddie bursted through the door,  letting it fall shut with a semi-loud ‘bang’. 

lips trembling as his eyes settled on steve. laying in his bed, his hospital bed, with all sorts of monitors hooked up, beeping deafeningly loud. eddie exhaled shakily, drew his brows together tightly, he swallowed as he approached the other’s bedside. fingers absent-mindedly ghosting over the bruises - burns, more like - that officer callahan’s handcuffs had left on his wrist. “.....steve?” voice meek, eddie nearly choked on a sob. there was time to cry about all of this later, he scolded himself. first he had to make sure that steve was ok. “can you hear me?”