@steddieangstyaugust Day 30: Vampire
wc: 546 | Rated: T | cw: Bullying (Tommy chases after Eddie and taunts him), Mild descriptions of Blood & Injury, Hospital Setting
Tags: Alternate Meeting, Childhood Friendship, Tommy Hagan, Carol Perkins, The Upside Down, Post Season 4 (Canon Divergence, Eddie Lives), Hawkins General Hospital
'Monsters Are Real'
Steve frowns and places his hands on his hips as he watches his best friend run around the playground. Tommy is pretending to be a vampire, hissing and spitting, shouting, "I 'vant to suck your blood," as he sticks his fingers near his mouth to look like he has fangs.
He said he had watched some old movie at his grandparents' house starring Dracula and boasted that his Pa promised that he'd have a cape ready and waiting for him the next time Tommy visited.
Tommy races towards Carol now, who is sitting with Heather Holloway and both the girls shriek. Their screams make Tommy cackle with laughter and he runs a loop around them before he turns his attention elsewhere.
This time, he heads towards a boy sitting at the far end of the playground by a tree.
It's the new boy at school, Steve realises. He remembers Carol telling him that the boy's name is Eddie and that he is in the grade above them. Carol said other things too, about Eddie's family. Steve doesn't know how she knows these things, or why she is mean about them either.
"Whatcha reading, Eddie the Freak!" Tommy says in sing-song and loudly hisses as he approaches.
Eddie startles, dropping his book and cowering, "What are you doing?"
Steve runs towards them, deciding this is not funny anymore.
"Leave him alone!" he calls after his best friend, who is now towering over Eddie and pretending to flap wings and a cape.
"S'not funny!" Eddie yells, his cheeks reddening with anger.
He looks up at Steve like he might join in. But Steve pushes Tommy away.
"Get lost, Tommy!" he says, "Go and kiss Carol, why don't you!"
Tommy pauses and pokes his tongue out before spitting out one final, "Freak!"
He runs back to the girls, flapping his invisible cape as he shouts out more silly Dracula nonsense.
"I'm sorry," Steve says, crouching down on his knees. He picks up the book Eddie dropped and hands it over, "Tommy is stupid."
"Sure is," Eddie sniffles, snatching the book back and holding it close to his chest, "I'm scared of monsters."
"Monsters aren't real," Steve says, patting Eddie on the shoulder.
But, as Steve sits by Eddie's bedside, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as monitors beep around him, he feels like he lied all those years ago.
Monsters are real, it turns out. They still have fangs and flapping wings. They hunt in the undead hours of an eternal night.
But they attack and maim in ways that are so much worse than any stupid version of Dracula Tommy H. might have ever encountered.
Steve reaches out a trembling hand and places it over Eddie's right, which is one of the only spots on him that doesn't have bloodied scrapes or bandages. Right now, even his brilliant smile is obscured by a sticky bandage that runs from the corner of his mouth to his ear.
He doesn't care if the nurses think he's a bother. As long as Eddie's uncle is okay with him being here, Steve will stay.
He needs to.
He promised Eddie he was safe. He told him that everything would be okay.
And he knows Eddie is scared of monsters.
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