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blushweddinggowns · 1 year

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Eddie rubbed at his temples, a headache starting to set in. Whether that was from blood loss or the insanely loud alarm that was still blaring in this hell hole, he wasn’t sure.

Steve was fussing over him, despite how many times Eddie insisted he was fine. He was bleeding, yes, but they all were in some way or another. Yeah, the bite wounds hurt like a bitch, but he wasn’t dying, he knew what that felt like, and in comparison this was nothing. Steve’s frustrated tears were more painful than the claw marks anyway.

“Stevie, I’ll be okay, really-”

“Just shut up,” he hissed, or at least tried too. It came out more like a sad little sniffle, “What the fuck where you thinking?”

Eddie didn’t really have an answer for that. He hadn’t been thinking, critical thought had basically left his brain the second they stepped foot into this place. He had just moved, pushing Steve right out of the way of the bigger and better stream of demon bats, spilling out of another brand new hell portal.

Only a few of them managed to sink their teeth into him before El got it closed, and Steve and Hopper managed to pull them off before any real damage could get through. Maybe that was the one good thing about this place, flying monsters were a lot easier to handle in closed corridors, especially when you had a psychic wunderkind with you.

“It’s called being chivalrous babe,” Eddie tried, wiping a few of Steve’s tears away. Steve leaned into his hand, always willing to accept Eddie’s touch, even when his hands were covered in filth.

Steve glared as he nuzzled into his hand, probably resisting the urge to choke him out, as he examined his bloody chest,“And it’s going to get you killed.”

He wanted to tell Steve the truth, that it didn’t matter if he died as long as Steve and the kids made it out alive. That he didn’t care if they’d only been together a few months, he refused to live in a world without Steve in it. He wanted to tell him he loved him, that dying for him would never be off the table, but the already devastated look on Steve’s face was enough to make Eddie hold his tongue.

And…it felt like if he admitted everything out loud, it would be accepting the idea that they weren’t making it out of here. Eddie shrugged,“Still worth it.”

Steve was just about done with his haphazard first-aid, and Eddie took the opportunity to lean his pounding head against Steve’s, frankly nasty, shoulder, shuddering at the gross squelch sound it made. Steve’s clothes were completely saturated in Upside Down bullshit, but it's not like his hair could get anymore disgusting, and any kind of touch was comforting, for both of them.

They were safe, for now. As safe as you could be when facing the end of the world and cooped up in a glorified storage closet in an underground government facility. He hated this place, and he’d hate it even if it wasn’t invaded by monsters. How El managed to grow up in these sterile, lifeless halls and come out the other side how she was, he had no idea.

Eddie watched the others as Steve wrapped the last make-shift bandage around his chest. Will was fiddling with the radio, trying to get an update on Dustin’s side, while Hopper was cleaning the blood from Eleven's face, and Dr. What's his fuck was babbling to both of them, a plan on the edge of forming. Joyce was wrapping up Hopper’s leg, the blood still seeping through her clumsy efforts.

How Eddie and Steve became the lucky ones to be in the literal maw of the monster, he didn’t know. One minute they were accepting a nice dinner invite to the Byers’ place, more than happy to help Joyce and Hopper start the whole being gay is okay conversation with Will and Eleven. Eddie never thought that he would be considered a role model for the burgeoning bi-curious youth of Hawkins, but he’d take it. And if he had to guess, Steve was supposed to be the star of that show but he was more than happy to be his leading man.

And then the next they were watching literal demons start escaping from the cracks in the earth. Maybe it shouldn’t have been so shocking, Venca had never disappeared after all, not really. But Eleven had gone after him, in that weird psychic way that Eddie still didn’t fully understand, and she had said she found him, didn’t kill him, but did enough damage to free Max’s soul.

She had woken up, screaming her brains out, but she had woken up. And that had been enough.

Vecna had slinked away into the shadows, no monsters to be found, but the presence was still there, trickling into their world at a snail’s pace. El didn’t know what to do about it, she didn’t even know if she could kill him, she had barely managed to save Max, and that was without him having a physical body anymore.

So they waited, what else could they do? And they got a year, a great fucking year in Eddie’s opinion, the best year of his life. And just like that they were facing the end of the world again. At least things were clearer this time around.

Two things. Kill Vecna and hide Max. Neither had been as easy as they’d hoped.

“Will, do you copy? Are you there?” Dustin’s crackling voice asked, the radio finally getting through.

Everyone’s head immediately swiveled, anxious for an update.

“Yes!” Will gasped into the receiver, “We’re here, are you all okay?”

Dustin paused, “We’re all alive? Did you find him?”

“We found him, but…it’s bad.”

Eddie almost laughed at that, bad was the understatement of the century. The piece of shit had gone completely insane, cooped up in the creepiest playroom that Eddie had ever seen. Which was saying something considering how unhinged Vecna was to begin with. Something had happened to him since the last time, and all of those detailed plans and fancy words had been replaced with complete chaos and disarray. They weren��t even sure if he was in control of his powers anymore, not when gateways would open and shut randomly, some even shutting before his monsters could get out. Eddie never thought he would see a demogorgon decapitated by a closing portal, but here he was.

Now, it didn’t even seem like he cared if he lived or died. He didn’t even seem like a he anymore, just a malevolent force of rage and hate, that was losing control on every level. The hive mind was fracturing, the monsters easily agitated and distracted, which was one point in their favor. They were all barely hanging on as it was, Eddie didn’t even want to think about what it would be like if all these things could think beyond killing.

“But you guys can still kill him right?” Dustin asked, panic edging in his voice.

Will bit his lip, hesitating, “He’s protected by all those things, I don’t-”

El shook her head, hastily sitting next to Will to take the receiver, “I can still do it.”

Joyce and Hopper glanced at each other, looking just as lost as the rest of them felt. Joyce stepped forward, trying to be gentle with her words, “Sweetheart, you’re too weak-”

“So is he,” El interrupted, “I can feel it,”

“You can’t take him and all of those things at once!” Hopper insisted, kneeling down to her level, shaking her the slightest bit in his desperation, “He’ll kill you!”

“If he wins, we will all die.”

“But-”

“But could you just take him?” Steve asked, cutting through the noise. Everyone turned to stare at him, confused.

El nodded, “I can kill him.”

“But just him?”

“I…I do not know,” she admitted, looking away.

“So they just need to be separated, right?” Steve pressed, “If you can get him alone, then we have a chance.”

Eddie stared at him, catching on to what he was getting at, his stupid, smart, self-sacrifing Steve.

“Divide and conquer,” Eddie breathed, catching on,“You want to distract them.”

Steve shrugged, “I’m the fastest runner out of all of us. A few gun shots, a look at me, they’d all come running.”

It was definitely possible. Ever since those demons had come back they were remarkably easy to distract, always focused on eating the closest living thing to them. It could work. It could be their best shot.

But Eddie didn’t give a shit if it meant Steve dying, “They’d rip you apart!”

“Not necessarily,” Owens piped up, “This place held psychic children for years, there are places to hide.”

He fished into his pocket, pulling out the keycard he’d been using since they got here, “There’s a room, where they used to do the most dangerous experiments. The glass is bulletproof, government grade. I’m not sure it will be enough, but it’s your best shot.”

Steve nodded, a determined look on his face. Eddie knew that look, it meant that there was no talking him out of it.

Well two could play at that game.

Owens was still going, a solid plan starting to form around Steve’s idea,“When they start chasing you-”

“Us” Eddie interrupted, staggering to his feet, “When they start chasing us.”

Steve stood with him, brow furrowed, “Eddie-”

“Don’t even fucking try,” Eddie hissed out, snatching the keycard from Owen’s hands, “I’m coming with you.”

He was hurt, sure, but it was mostly surface level, and his legs were probably the least mauled thing about him. Steve looked ready to argue, but shut his mouth at the look on Eddie’s face.

He turned to the group instead, “We’ll be the decoys. They come after us, and you go after him.”

No one seemed particularly happy with the plan, but it’s not like they had a choice. Hopper gave them the pistol strapped to his hip, grumbling, “You’re both too young to be doing this shit.”

Eddie shrugged, not really having an answer for that. In fact, he completely agreed. This was the last place on the planet that any of them should be in.

“Go down the hall, one shot. Then back, two lefts. Then swipe the card on the right. It will lock automatically,” Owens instructed, going as far as to write it on Steve’s hand, “If we win, they should die with him and we’ll come get you.”

They left the room after that, not wasting any time as they quietly made their way down the hall, hearts thumping in their chests. They could hear them as they got closer, the collective sound of the hoard breathing, standing guard.

They stopped at the corner, the last hiding spot before they could be seen.

“You ready?” Eddie whispered, glancing at Steve.

Steve shook his head, biting his lip before grabbing the front of Eddie’s shirt, dragging him into a bruising kiss. It tasted like monster blood and Steve, and was probably the most disgusting kiss he’d ever had.

And he never wanted it to stop.

Steve let him go, too soon, with a sad smile, “Now I am.”

They stepped out together, Eddie covering his ears as the shot rang out. It was a blur after that. Neither of them looked back as they sprinted down the hall, but they could hear screeching behind them, and the ugly noise of talons hitting linoleum.

Eddie had never run that fast in his entire life, but they both made it, slamming the door shut behind them. It was only a few seconds before the monsters rounded the corner, immediately jumping against the door and clear windows, their claws screeching against the glass.

“I told you the morning runs were going to be worth it,” Steve gasped out between breaths, hands on his knees.

Eddie nodded, eyes skimming over the still standing glass. It was the first time Eddie could really look at the things and they were heinous. Wet, slimy skin, rows of teeth that spanned on forever, all salivating as they pressed against the glass, the shrieking never stopping.

The noise was only gathering more of them to the same place, and Eddie didn’t doubt that they had gotten all of them, not when he was looking out into a sea of demons.

The minutes passed, ten, twenty, thirty, with the well of monsters attacking the glass never stopping. How long did a world-altering final showdown take?

Then he heard it, the first crack. The glass was fucking breaking, government-grade his ass. The second wasn’t too far behind, but this time paired with visible lines, crawling across the surface.

He could feel Steve’s hand slip into his, squeezing as their eyes stayed glued on the hoard of monsters. The hoard of monsters that was probably seconds away from getting to them.

Steve tightened his grip on Eddie’s hand, grimacing, “I think we’re going to die.”

Eddie shook his head, ignoring the tears that were already starting to gather in the corners of his eyes,“Baby, we’re not going to die-”

Another cracking sound, more and more fractures making themselves known. Steve was pulling at his hand, hard, hard enough to make him face him.

He was fucked up, they both were, bleeding from different claw marks and bites, covered in the black blood of those monsters, and the red of their own.

He looked resigned, resigned but determined, “I love you. I’m so fucking in love with you, it’s terrifying.”

They both flinched at another loud crack, more and more spider web lines skittering across the glass. Fuck, Steve was right, they were gonna die. Three months. He had only had him for three fucking months.

Eddie put his shaking hands on Steve’s shoulders, staring into those big brown eyes, “I love you too, of course I love you. You were the best thing that ever fucking happened to me."

The tears were flowing now, for both of them, no stopping it.

Steve rested his forehead against Eddie’s, voice shaking, "I wish I could have spent my life with you,”

It wasn’t fair, none of this shit was fair. They didn’t deserve this, Steve didn’t deserve this. All that fighting, for years, just to die in this pit?

“The next one,” Eddie managed to gasp out in between his tears, “If there’s anything after this, I’m going to find you, understand me?”

Steve smiled, somehow still managing to look devastatingly beautiful underneath all that filth, and that just made Eddie want to cry harder, “You swear?”

“I swear.”

And then they were kissing, what else could they do? Eddie closed his eyes as their lips met, if he was going to die, he wanted Steve to be the last thing he saw.

It didn’t take long for the glass to finally shatter, flying in all directions. Eddie could feel the air move, could feel them all scrambling towards them, eager to get the first bite.

He kept his eyes screwed shut, and kissed Steve harder as they both went down. He didn’t want to see it, never wanted to even imagine watching the man he loved be torn apart.

He felt long teeth sink into his ribs, the pain sharp and stinging. He waited for the next bite, heart in his throat as he tried to mentally prepare to be eaten alive, again.

But then…nothing. He could hear the sound of bodies falling over each other, the scrape of talons on the tile, but that was all. Seconds passed, enough time for Eddie to snap his eyes open, in disbelief that he was still in one piece. He clutched at Steve, relief flooding him when he was staring back. He was bleeding from a scratch on the head from their fall, and a monster had sunk their teeth into his calf, deep but not deep enough where he couldn’t walk.

Dozens of bodies surrounded them, and besides the two limp creatures they had to pry away from their skin, none had gotten the chance to reach them. They both clung together as they looked around. The things weren’t just dead, they were disintegrating, disappearing into floating dust.

"W-we're not dead?" Steve asked out loud, like he couldn’t really believe it, “Holy shit, we aren’t dead!”

Eddie could barely believe it either, but on the off chance this was some near death hallucination, he wasn’t going to waste it. He grabbed Steve’s face, kissing every dirty inch of it, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve gasped out, somewhere between a laugh and a sob,“Are you okay?”

Eddie nodded, ignoring the oozing bite on his side. In comparison to what could have happened, that was nothing. They helped each other up, both a bit wobbly from blood loss and still shocked at the fact they survived.

They heard them before they saw them, footsteps getting louder and louder from the hallway. He could hear Will talking into the walkie, probably trying to calm Dustin down, “We’re going now!”

The group rounded the corner, all of them looking worse for wear, but they were all there, and that’s what mattered.

“They’re alive! I told you they would be fine!” Will’s face didn’t match the confidence in his voice, the kid looked like he was ten seconds away from crying in relief, and the rest weren’t far behind. Eddie wasn’t quite sure, but he could almost swear he heard Dustin and Robin sobbing through the receiver with the rest of them, a few insults mixed in with their happy tears.

They told them everything on the way to the hospital. El won, all of them lived, and the hell known as the Upside Down was gone for good. There were some more details in there, sure, but Eddie wasn’t listening fully, too busy being grateful to be alive and trying to wrap up Steve’s leg in the back of the van.

He got the broad strokes, what else did he need?

The hospital was a mess, but by some miracle there were enough beds for everyone. Half of them had to stay overnight, the other half longer, but they were all still alive, somehow.

It was hours later, Eddie was sitting up in his hospital bed, staring out the window. He couldn’t really sleep without Steve on a good day, but on the day they almost died together? No shot. Even if he was fully aware that everything, and everyone was fine, Eddie was stuck, staring into nothingness.

He missed Steve, which was stupid considering he’d seen him an hour ago, but he still did. He wondered what he was doing now, only a few rooms away, and he wondered even more if he could get away with sneaking to his room. The staff was beyond busy, maybe no one would notice?

Eddie startled when he heard a knock on his door, too lost in thought with his silly plans. It was late, and the nurses didn’t knock. He perked up a little, already hopeful for it could be, "Come in?"

He grinned as he watched Steve slip inside, still in his own hospital gown. He limped over to the bed, sitting on the edge with an apologetic smile,"Did I wake you?"

“Not even a little,” Eddie said, deciding that he was too far away. He grabbed for his arm, mindful of his bandages, as he pulled him into his lap, his favorite place to be, “You’ve ruined me Harrington, I can’t sleep without you anymore.”

Steve gave a quiet laugh, relaxing in Eddie’s arms, “Me either.”

His presence was like a magic switch had been flipped, and suddenly Eddie could feel the exhaustion from the last forty-eight hours seep in. He kept Steve close to his chest, avoiding his side as he laid them down, one on top of the other.

Eddie kept a hand in Steve’s hair, playing with the strands as they whispered to each other, “Hate being away from you.”

Steve smiled, pressing his mouth to Eddie’s collarbone in a half-kiss, too tired to give him the real thing, muttering against him,“Today fucking sucked.”

“It did, didn't it? But there’s nothing but up from here baby.”

Steve hummed against him, his eyes fluttering closed as he whispered, “I love you.”

Eddie would never get tired of hearing that. He’d never get tired of saying it. Here he was, a drug-dealing, high-school dropout who had almost been eaten alive twice, who had Steve Harrington love him.

It made him feel like the luckiest man on the planet.

He was still petting Steve’s hair, tired but a touch too happy to fall asleep yet,“Y’know, I had a big romantic plan for telling you that for the first time.”

Steve opened up one eye, peering up at Eddie with sleepy interest, “Really?”

“Mmhm, I was going to make you dinner-”

Steve tried to hold in, but a laugh still managed to slip out,“You were going to make me dinner?

Eddie rolled his eyes, the guy knew him too well, “Okay, I was going to pay Nancy to make you dinner and take credit for it.”

Steve grinned, both eyes open now as he listened,“Go on.”

“I was gonna pack it up, drive us out to Lover’s Lake at night, do some stargazing. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower in a few weeks, was gonna do it then. Adds to the romance.”

Eddie omitted the part where he was going to wish for Steve to say it back, ready to take up superstitions he didn’t even believe in for a chance for this man to love him. He went on, his voice dropping the slightest bit, “Would have brought a bunch of blankets and pillows, make the van all comfy before I fucked you nice and slow.”

Steve licked his lips, cheeks pink as he stared up at him, lovestruck, "And then what?”

“Was gonna wait right before you came. You always make the prettiest face when you’re on the verge, I’d be able to tell. Was gonna whisper it in your ear, watch as it sunk in while you fell over the edge,” Eddue kissed the top of his head, teasing, “But then you had to ruin it with your near death confession.”

Steve gave a small laugh at that, but he was breathing a little faster, clutching onto Eddie a little tighter as he spoke, “You know…if I were you, I wouldn’t let that plan go quite yet.”

Eddie smirked, “No?”

“Nope. In fact, consider this a verbal contract. You have to do it now."

“If you insist.”

“I really, really do.”

They grinned at each other like idiots, the exhaustion of the day finally doing them both in. Now that he had Steve tucked next to him, Eddie was more than ready to let sleep take them away. He was so close to passing out he almost didn’t hear it, Steve whispering into his skin, “I still like our version more.”

Eddie smiled, answering before finally letting sleep take him, “Me too.”

#steddie #steddie ficlet #steddie fic #a preview for chapter 6 which will be up by this Sunday!#eddie munson #steve harrington #come and fuck are mentioned but this bit is really not explcicit #you'll pry my insanely long posts out of my cold dead hands #stranger things #eddie munson lives #and almost dies again #that's it that's the fic

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