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complicatedchelsea · 1 year

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Fallen Through Time For You

Chapter Ten: Ladies and Gentleman, Steve Harrington

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(gif not mine)

(Sydney's POV)

A ringed, waving hand brought me back from where my mind had been slipping to all night. After we got back to the trailer, Wayne was already up and cooking something in the kitchen. True to Eddie’s word, he plopped me down on the couch and settled on the floor in front of me, him leaning back on my legs as he started his homework. I wasn’t much help with his statistics, but with every question I helped him answer he would turn his body to give me a small kiss on my jean-covered knee.

Dinner with the both of them was interesting to watch. The rapt attention Wayne had while Eddie reencountered an event that occurred at school, or how Wayne had to remind Eddie that he was so close to the finish line and regardless of what happened the next few months that he was going to graduate no matter what this year.

Eddie offered to finish the washing up as Wayne packed his meal for the night and got ready for work. I mostly stayed silent, just watching the family dynamic that they had. Eddie got too excited about Wayne’s next day off and got soapy water all over the floor? Wayne just shook his head in amusement and threw him a dish towel, warning Eddie not to flood the trailer while he was gone. Or Eddie tossing me Wayne’s keys from the kitchen table, claiming that since Wayne can’t find his truck keys, that he just had to call out of work and settle with spending the night with the two of us.

“Sweetheart?” Eddie asked as he crouched down in front of me. “Where did you go?”

Wayne had left an hour ago, tugging me into one of his rough hugs with the promise that I better be asleep by the time he gets home or Eddie would be sleeping in the van because he just knew that it would be Eddie’s fault. I laughed at him and once he walked out the door, it was like I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Eddie moved one of his hands to land on my knee, rubbing reassuring circles into my kneecap. I cleared my throat. “You know, I have a pretty nasty scar there.”

I felt Eddie stop his rubbing for a moment before they started up again, this time more lingering. “How did you get it?”

“It was my brother’s birthday.” I started, wanting him to understand what I've been battling since I saw Wayne cooking for me in the kitchen. “I was only ten and my mother had decided that if I wanted any of his birthday cake, I had to help her clean the kitchen for dinner. I was put in charge of the dishes and I guess I wasn’t paying attention and got water all over the floor. She had asked me to grab the stack of bowls off the counter and to bring them to the table. I was rushing, wanting to get everything done in time so I could have a piece of cake. I didn’t realize the water on the floor until it was too late, and when I slipped the bowls had tumbled out of my hands and shattered all of the floor and I landed in all the glass.”

I looked up at Eddie then, meeting his beautiful dark eyes. “She had to take me to the hospital. The whole ride there was about me ‘ruining my brother's birthday’, or ‘getting blood all over the seats of her car’, and how ‘it was going to take me weeks of chores to pay her back for all the dishes I broke’.

Eddie moved his hands to grab at mine that was sitting in my lap. “That doesn’t seem very fair.”

I shook my head. “You know I wasn’t allowed to eat with “real” silverware or plates for two months? Everything was paper plates or paper towels, and that was if I was actually eating. Seeing the way that you and Wayne interact, it scares me sometimes. Not in a bad way! It’s just-kind of hard to explain?”

Eddie squeezed my hands. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“Of course,” Eddie said as he stood up and dropped my hands. For a second I thought he was going to walk away, but he just plopped down on the couch next to me, pulling at my legs to lay them over his lap. His hands went back to rubbing at my knee. “When I first got here, Wayne used to be very loud. Slamming doors, tugging open the cabinets, and stomping around the house. After watching me flinch for almost a week he sat me down and pulled the answer out of me. Have you noticed how quietly he moves around the trailer? He started making a conscious effort to make less noise so I’d stop flinching.”

One of his hands moved up to rub at his neck. “That’s another reason why I’m so loud with my movements. I didn’t want to be scared every time I heard a door slam. So when I did it, it was like taking that fear back.”

It made sense. I didn’t think there was going to be a day that I slammed doors for the hell of it, but what Eddie argued made sense. “Thank you.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows at me. “For what?”

I scooted closer to him on the couch. “For listening. For everything.”

Eddie laughed. “We haven’t even dipped below the surface, sweetheart.”

I smiled and Eddie leaned the top of his body closer to me, little distance between us. “All you gotta do is talk to me.”

Eddie leaned back and motioned for me to pull my legs back. He clapped his hands and stood up, bowing slightly and offering me a hand. “Care to retire to the bed chambers, m’lady?”

“Eddie,” I laughed and took his hand as he helped me stand up. “Are you ever going to stop talking like that?”

Eddie placed a hand to his chest, clutching at his invisible pearls. “You wound me so!”

I rolled my eyes and followed him towards his bedroom. He fell back into his bed with a huff, throwing his arm over his eyes and sagging into the blanket. I watched him in amusement, choosing to lean against the doorway. Eddie peaked at me under his arm, his other day being held out to me from the bed. “Join me?”

“As good as that sounds, I think you should let me borrow some more PJ’s or I’m going to fall asleep in my jeans.”

Eddie groaned before sitting up and forcing himself off the bed. “Good choice.”

He dug through his drawers and presented some clothes at me before tugging his shirt off. I let out a surprised noise before turning around and heading towards the bathroom. I could still hear Eddie laughing at me through the bathroom door. After I changed and made my way back to his room, he had turned all the lights off but a lamp on his desk. I could see that he changed into some flannel pants, but he chose to remain shirtless. He was leaning up against the headboard of his bed, covers tossed back for me and a large notebook in hand.

I closed the door behind me and got into bed next to him, glad that I didn’t have to argue with him about sleeping on the floor. I sat a small distance from him and when Eddie looked up, he sent me a look and used an arm to drag me closer to him. Snuggling up to his side like I did on the porch that night, I relaxed into him and felt the drop of his head against mine. “What’s with the notebook?”

“Hellfire,” Eddie said as he flipped a page. “We were supposed to have a meeting on Friday but I’m thinking about pushing it back another week.”

“Why?”

“Well,” Eddie said with an amused tone. “This weekend I was supposed to finish editing what I had written, but this really pretty girl showed up and I kind of got distracted.”

“She’s that big of a distraction?”

Eddie nodded, tongue pressed into his cheek as he tried to not smile. “The biggest. She’s so pretty that every time I look at her, I kind of forget about everything else.”

My face had to be bright red at this point, but Eddie was still looking at me with that look in his eyes. The one he had when I walked out of the bathroom in his clothes, the look when he had me pressed against his van. I felt like I was burning from the inside out.

Eddie let out a soft laugh, his smile breaking through as he shut the notebook. “The boys will be fine to wait another week.”

“What’s your campaign about anyway?”

Eddie froze from where he was trying to toss his notebook to the floor. “You want to hear about my campaign?”

“Of course,” I hooked my chin on his shoulder as I looked up at him. “Dazzle me.”

Eddie got this spark in his eyes when he was talking about D&D. His hands moved in rapid movements as he explained what had happened so far and the plans that he had for the remaining members of the party. He only stopped when I let out a yawn, giving me a sheepish smile as he shut the notebook. “You’re tired.”

I shook my head. “No! I want to hear more.”

Eddie chuckled and gently moved me back so he could stand up. “Why don’t you just sit in on the next session?”

He placed his notebook on the desk and reached over the turn off the lamp, the room being bathed in darkness. My eyes slowly adjusted as some of the street light peaked through his windows. “It won’t bother the others?”

Eddie slipped quietly in the bed, holding the covers open for me as I moved away from the headboard and laid down. Once I was settled, he let the blankets fall as he reached out to me, stroking my face as a hand moved to my waist to pull me closer to him. I went without argument, cuddling up to his bare chest and I couldn’t help but lightly trace at his scars. He trembled for a moment, and then he completely relaxed in my arms with his head leaning back against the pillow.

“Outside of the party, the only ones you haven’t met are the Corroded Coffin boys. I might have told them about you today?”

I paused my tracing, tilting my neck to meet his eyes in the dim light. “You did?”

The hand that was resting against my back traced upward, Eddie messing with one of my braids. “Does that bother you?”

“No,” I said as I started moving my hand again. “I’ve just never had someone want to talk about me like that.”

Eddie smiled and I could feel shaking with silent laughter. “I think after today they are tired of me talking about you.”

“How so?”

Eddie moved to press his forehead against mine. “They said I sounded like a ‘love-sick puppy’.”

I laughed. “You poor baby.”

Eddie let out a noise in protest. “Henderson is the only one that had my back.”

“Where did you tell them that I came from?”

Eddie’s hand continued to run up and down my back. “I told them that you were Hopper’s niece. That I went over there to pick up Dustin and the rest was history.”

“They want to meet me?”

Eddie pulled back far enough that he could make eye contact with me. “Why wouldn’t they? Of course they do! Besides Little Sinclair, I don’t think they’ve met another girl that is interested in half of the stuff we talked about. They might even try to rope you into playing.”

“That sound’s nerve-wracking.” I snorted.

Eddie pulled me back to his chest. “So if I push back the meeting, are you going to come to the next one?”

“Eddie,” I said. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed; but wherever you have been going, I’ve pretty much been following you. Obviously I would like to go. I just don’t want your friends to not like me.”

“Not gonna happen, sweetheart.” Eddie said around a yawn. “I can promise that you’ll be just fine.”

Silence settled over us. I felt Eddie’s breathing slow down and I figured he had finally fallen asleep. I moved my hand that was resting over his scars to push the hair away from his face, choosing to run my fingers through his hair.

“Sydney,” Eddie whispered to me, and I would have jumped backwards if he hadn’t lightly squeezed me in return. “Did I scare you earlier? Trying to kiss you beside the van?”

So he was trying to kiss me.

My heart clenched at the thought. I didn’t want Eddie to think I was scared of him. “No, you didn’t scare me.”

A pause. “Are you scared to kiss me?”

“Yes,” I was honest with him. Why wouldn’t I be? “No one’s ever kissed me before.”

“Well,” I felt Eddie shift and felt his lips press against my forehead. “I guess I need to make it worth your wild. Not against some old van.”

“Hey,” I warned him. “None of that. You know I don’t care. I just got nervous and a little overwhelmed today.”

I could feel his lips stretch into a lazy grin. “Too late, I’m going to rise to the challenge.”

I huffed at him and just closed my eyes. “Are you going to do this with everything?”

“Just the important things,” Eddie teased back as he relaxed back into me.

I don’t really know when I fell asleep, I just know that I felt Eddie tighten his grip on me before I completely dropped off. Like it would allow me to follow him into any of his dreams.

I wasn’t alone when I woke up this morning. I could feel Eddie running his fingers up my back, one hand tracing shapes into my waist. It was still dark outside, the trailer park completely quiet with no signs of life. I let out a groan and tried to shuffle closer to the warmth that Eddie gave off in the cold morning air.

“Sleep well?” I could hear the teasing in Eddie’s voice.

“Five more minutes,” I muttered into his chest.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Eddie says and I feel him try to push me off his chest. “If you ask me that again, I must just give in and then we’d be late.”

“It’s overrated anyway,” I said as I pulled up to look at his sleepy expression. “Good morning.”

“It’s good now,” Eddie said cheekily as he leaned down to kiss my forehead.

I lazily swatted at him and rolled away so I was laying on my back. “What time is it?”

“Wayne’s not home yet,” Eddie answered instead as he sat up, looking down at me.

“And you woke me up?” I whined as I rubbed my eyes.

“Oh baby,” Eddie said with a sleepy laugh. “I just wanted to spend some time with you before we have to separate.”

I lowered my hands and frowned. “I can’t be annoyed with you when you’re being sweet.”

“I’m always sweet.” Eddie said as he shifted to slightly lean over me. One hand came to cup my cheek. “I taste sweet too.”

“Eddie!” I let out a surprised laugh and tried to bring my hands up to cover my blushing face.

Eddie let out a deeper laugh and moved to get off the bed, letting me try to get over his boldness. After I felt calmed, I sat up and watched Eddie flitter around the room. He pulled a gray shirt from his drawers and tugged it on before moving on to his closet. “Do you want to borrow another shirt today?”

“How about another flannel?” I asked as I stretched when I stood up.

Eddie tossed a black and white one in my direction before going back to dig in his closet. “Do you wanna call Steve?”

“Why do I need to call Steve?”

Finding what he was looking for, Eddie turned back to me. “To tell him about spending the day with him?”

I stared at Eddie for a moment, my mind trying to play catch up. “I thought you told him yesterday?”

“Well,” Eddie fidgeted with a pants hanger. “I was supposed to call him last night but forgot?”

“Eddie Munson,” I sighed and shook my head. “Do you think he’s going to be up this early?”

“He takes Robin to school, Dustin too.” Eddie supplied. “Numbers on a pad by the phone.”

I rolled my eyes with a smile and started out of the room. I found the number pretty easily, and it only took two rings before the phone rang. “Harrington residence?”

“Hey, Steve.”

“Sydney?” I heard Steve question around a yawn. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes!” I rushed to reassure him, now realizing how the phone call might sound at whatever the time was. “Eddie mentioned to me yesterday that you have the day off and wanted to spend it with me?”

Steve chuckled. “I thought you might want to spend the day with someone. Eddie was supposed to call me back last night with the answer but I can see that he got distracted.”

“This happen a lot?”

“Define a lot?”

I laughed. “But yeah, I’d like to spend the day with you if that’s okay. I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to stay by myself all day.”

“No worries, I’m the one that brought it up. I have to drop Robin off at school, want to catch me there?”

“Sure,” I shrugged my shoulders and realized that he couldn’t see me.

“Max mentioned that you met Murray yesterday?”

“That’s a long story,” I said and I heard a truck pull up in front of the trailer, their lights flashing through the windows. “Tell you later?”

“Of course,” Steve said as I heard a car door slam and the sound of someone coming up the steps and then the door rattled. The door opened quietly as Wayne tried to sneak in before he noticed me on the phone.

“See you soon, Steve.”

Steve muttered a goodbye before I hung the phone back up. Wayne sent me a tired smile and shut the door. “I thought I told you to be asleep by the time I got home?”

Before I could reply, Eddie came bounding down the hallway with energy that I couldn’t fathom having this early. “Wayne!”

Wayne raised his eyebrows at me before putting the pieces together. “You’re up early.”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders before moving around me in the kitchen, dragging a metal lunchbox to the island and popping open the top. “Just couldn’t bear being away from your pretty face.”

Wayne snorted and swatted at Eddie as he made his way into the kitchen. I left them be as I went to grab my clothes and get ready for the day. By the time I came back, there was another piece of toast waiting for me on the table and Eddie was still messing around in that lunchbox of his. Wayne was sitting in his recliner, mug in hand as the news droned on about the weather.

“What did Steve say?” Eddie asked as he slid into the seat across from me, sliding me a mug of coffee.

“That you were supposed to call him last night,” I said. “He said you have a habit of being distracted.”

Eddie rolled his eyes but made no move to argue with me as he just stuffed a handful of cereal in his mouth. I left him at the table as I finished up and Eddie found me as I was taking my braids out, my hair falling in waves down my back. He whistled at me from the bedroom door, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“I might have to let you braid mine,” Eddie said as he pushed off the door and crowded into my space. He touched a loose strand before tucking it behind my ear.

“You’d let me braid your hair?” I asked him, surprised.

“Only if you’d put one of those metal viking braids in my hair! Could you imagine how I’d look onstage?”

“Onstage?

“Yeah? The boys and I performed at the Hideout?” At the look of confusion on my face, Eddie took a step back. “I swear I said something about it.”

I took a step forward to be back in his space. “I think I’d remember you mentioning about one of your performances. You mentioned the band, I just connected some dots.”

Eddie pulled some of his hair in front of his face, his expression turning bashful. “After everything, you know the manhunt and the recovery; it was a bit difficult to get back into it. I think I’ve almost fully convinced the owner that I’m not some spawn of Satan and we might be able to perform again.”

“Do people still really think that?”

Eddie didn’t answer me as he suddenly turned and grabbed his bag on the desk. He held a hand out to me, letting out a deep breath when I intertwined our hands and let him guide me out of the room. Wayne was by the door when we tried to leave this time, Max waving her arms on the other side of the door. Eddie didn’t speak again until we were in the van, Max’s headphones over her ears.

“You saw Carver,” Eddie started. “Even with the cover story that was fed to the town, my reputation didn’t exactly help clear up those rumors.”

Eddie’s attention was on the road, one hand on the wheel while the other rested between my hands. I was fiddling with the rings on his hand and every so often he would turn his hand over to give mine a gentle squeeze before opening his hand back up for me.

“Carver is an asshole,” I argued back, “Shouldn’t some of the adults in this town have common sense?”

“Welcome to Hawkins, hell on earth.” Eddie quoted to me, mirroring what was one of the first things he said to me.

Not knowing what to say, I just squeezed his hand and looked out the window. The highschool was not what I was expecting, smaller than what I thought it would be with people all over the parking lot. Eddie parked towards the back of the lot, shutting the van off and watching the other students filter around the grounds. I turned to look back at Max when I noticed that she had moved forward, pressing against the back of my seat.

“It’s strange that they all just accepted the story from Owens and went back to their normal lives,” Max said as she stared at the windshield. “What are they going to do when Vecna comes back?”

“If he comes back,” Eddie shot back in a tone that said they’ve had this conversation before.

Max snorted, not amused. “You really think he’s going to give up? We know better than anyone.”

“Exactly,” Eddie pointed out as he caught sight of something and threw his seatbelt off. “We know better than to hope that he won’t come back. We just have to be ready for when he does.”

Max didn’t say anything else as she opened the door behind me and jumped out. I turned to watch her walk over to Lucas, who seemed to just arrive at the school. I heard Eddie’s door shut before he was opening mine, helping me out the van. Something nagged at me as Eddie shut the door behind me, leaning up against the door.

“Would you rather not know what you know now?” I asked him as I waved an arm out to the sea of people around us. “Be oblivious to what happened?”

Eddie shook his head as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and went to light one. He took his time answering, taking a big puff before tilting his head back to releasing the smoke slowly. “The scars are painful and the nightmares are horrifying but,” Eddie stopped as he looked back to his right to see more of the party had joined Lucas and Max. Steve’s car was parked next to the group, Dustin excitedly getting out of the backseat to say something to Max. “What they went through? What I went through? If I wouldn’t have gone through it, I wouldn’t have found them. Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have found you. I’m going to be bonded to those little shits for the rest of my life, and most days it makes everything okay.”

“Nightmares?” I asked, seeming to grasp onto that out of his whole speech. “You’ve been having nightmares?”

Eddie chuckled and dropped his cigarette to the ground, stepping on it before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and started leading me towards the group. I could see that Robin had dragged Steve out of the car, him lugging an instrument out of the trunk. “I haven’t had one since you showed up.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“The best,” Eddie said with a smile. “I haven’t had a decent night's sleep in a long time.”

He didn’t say anything else as we joined the group. Dustin was quick to pull me into a hug, claiming that I couldn’t go without seeing him for that long again. Robin rolled her eyes with a laugh and said something to Eddie as Steve settled beside me. He was dressed casually, but for the first time I noticed the glasses on his face.

“Glasses and gray hair?” I teased him. “Maybe you are turning into an old man.”

Steve sent me a bitchy look before shaking his head. “Is this what I’m going to have to put up with all day?”

“Oh Steve,” Eddie sang as he pressed himself up against my back, his head resting on my shoulder with his hair tickling my cheek. “I promise that I’m worse.”

“Oh I know you are,” Steve sighed. “But she’s your soulmate. I’m going to have my hands full with the two of you.”

Before I could argue, the sound of a bell resonated throughout the air. Dustin let out a groan and tugged at Lucas. They waved goodbye as they started towards the school, leaving the four of us alone. Eddie unwrapped himself from me, moving the stand in front of me. “Can I call you again at lunch?”

I smiled. “I think you might have separation anxiety, baby,”

Eddie flushed and did the thing where he pulled his hair in his face, like he was trying to hide his smile. I’ve noticed him doing it the past few days, and it made my heart flutter as I reached up to tuck in back behind his ear.

Robin fake gagged beside us and shoved her instrument at Eddie to carry. “C’mon, I don’t want to be late!”

Eddie rolled his eyes and took a step back from me. “You know, if you actually carried your own instrument to class you wouldn’t have to worry about being late.”

Robin just sniggered and with a wave at Steve and I, she started towards the school. Eddie let out an amused sigh and sent me a wink as he started after her. “Till we meet again, sweetheart!”

Steve watched with me as the two of them got through the doors, leaving us in an almost quiet parking lot. We stood there for an awkward moment, really not knowing what to say.

Finally Steve broke the silence. He let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m so used to Robin filling up the silence that I forget I have to speak sometimes.”

I chuckled. “I can be comfortable with the silence. I’m used to not really talking at all.”

“Seems like shitty parents might be a theme around here,” Steve said as he motioned a hand out to the car. “You ready to head out?”

I nodded and took Robin’s seat as Steve started the car. He didn’t say anything else as he drove out of school bounds and in a different direction than Eddie had driven from. It was another few moments of quiet before Steve couldn’t take it anymore.

“I have some errands I need to run today. Would you rather do that or we go back to my house and not know what to say to each other?”

“I’m down for anything,” I said. I was happy to follow Steve anywhere in Hawkins today, I had no problems with being taken along for the ride.

That’s how we ended up in a small grocery store, Steve pushing me a cart when we entered the store while he read off from a list that seemed to have five different hand writing’s on it. I tried to help him make out what seemed to be Dustin’s writing, but mainly just stuck with pushing the cart and taking it all in.

“You know if you want anything, just put it in the cart.” Steve said as he put a box of cereal in the cart that looked exactly like what Eddie was eating out of this morning. “We spend a lot of time at my house, I’d hate to not have anything for you to enjoy.”

I couldn’t even open my mouth to argue before Steve was holding his hand up. “For peace of mind, please grab something? Eddie would kill me if I let you starve, and I promise this guilt that you might feel is not needed. I want to buy you something to eat, so amuse me?”

“What is it with everyone making sure I have something to eat?” I said as I shook my head.

“I take it Wayne said something to you?” Steve asked with a grin as he put a box of poptarts in the cart.

“More like who hasn’t,” I complained as I looked over some of the cereal brands. “It feels like they are trying to smother me.”

I felt my face get red as I turned to face Steve and correct my mistake. “That sounded harsher than I meant it to be! I just me-”

Steve held up a hand. “I know what you mean. It’s hard to accept stuff from someone because you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

I started at Steve for a moment, the comment that Robin made at the Byers house circling my thoughts. “I know that no one here is expecting anything from me, but it’s just…”

“Hard,” Steve finished for me as he moved to stand in front of me. “Before Mrs. Henderson, it was really hard for me to accept things from an adult. But now? She won’t let me leave the family dinner’s without two days of leftovers. For a while I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to come out and ask me for something big. But she didn’t, she never has. She just wanted to make sure I was eating with my parents being gone.”

Steve let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. He looked around the empty isles of the grocery store before leaning closer to me. “Look, if anyone in the group is going to get it, it’s going to be me. I know it’s going to take a while to get used to, but I like taking care of everyone. So why don’t we just start small? Pick out three things to put in the cart and we can go from there.”

“I can do that,” I said. “It really gets easier?”

Steve laughed as he moved to push the cart, me falling into step beside him. “The only one that I still argue with is Wayne. The man took one look at me when I was helping Eddie and deemed me a part of his family. I know that he knows that when I go over there to see Eddie, that I’m not expecting anything. But I’m not used to adults giving so freely without there being a catch.”

Steve left me to think about that as he tried to find the chips that Max would eat. I just stared at the shelves in front of me, trying to decide what I could eat this week when someone grabbed my arm. I flinched and immediately tried to pull my arm away, but when I looked up there was an older woman standing there, no older than Joyce. She refused to let go of my arm, her hand wrinkling Eddie’s flannel as she studied me.

“You’re Hopper’s niece?” She finally questioned as she stared me down. “The one that came down from the city?”

My mouth opened, but no words came out. What the hell was this lady’s problem?

“I-uh,” tried to say as I tried freeing my arm from her grasp again.

A hand landed on my shoulder and before I could flinch from that one, Steve made a point to stand in front of me, causing the woman to drop her hold on me. I clutched my arm to my chest, letting Steve block me from view.

“Mrs. Perkins,” I could hear the fakeness in his tone. “How are you doing?”

“Steven,” The lady-Mrs. Perkins grumbled as she tried to see around him. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”

“Who? Sydney?” Steve asked as he looked back at me, and with a nod from me he moved to stand at my side, his arm going across my shoulders in a protective measure.

“Anne Carver mentioned that Jason and you got introduced over the weekend.” She said, obviously fishing for information. “I didn’t know Hopper had any other relatives.”

“Uncle Hop’s private about his family,” I said with a fake smile, taking comfort in knowing that Steve had my back here. “You know how small towns are.”

“Oh, yes.” She said with a fake grin. “How do you know Steven?”

Her eyes cut to the arm that Steve had loosely hanging by his side and to mine from where I was still clutching an arm to my chest.

“Hopper wanted me to show her around town,” Steve said sweetly, but I could tell he was getting annoyed. “Just stopped in to get some groceries before heading back out.”

“No one has caught the reason that you moved down here.” Mrs.Perkins dug her heels further in. “No one just moves to Hawkins.”

“Didn’t you?” I asked as I looked up at Steve and he shrugged his shoulders for show. “Or have you lived here your whole life?”

She let out a noise of protest and I felt Steve trying to not laugh beside me. She waved a hand in the air. “I just thought I’d do my civic duty and introduce myself to our newest resident. There are a few people that you might want to stay away from, dear. This town hasn’t been the nicest in the last few years.”

I tilted my head. “Uncle Hop made sure to tell me all about what’s been going on the last few years. I think I’m just fine where I’m at.”

She let out a humph and took a step back from us. “Well just be careful. Anne Carver heard that you were hanging around a particular boy at the arcade and I just wanted to warn you that he was trouble.”

“Eddie Munson?” Steve questioned as his arm moved from my shoulder to cross across his chest. “You mean the Eddie Munson that I had to pull out of the rubble of the earthquake because he was locked in the Creel House?”

Mrs. Perkins tsked and raised her purse further up her arm. “If that’s what you claim happened. We all know the truth.”

“Oh, you do?” I questioned, angry now. I gestured at her, raged that she could just talk about Eddie like that in public. “You don’t know fu-”

She reached out again and grasped my left arm, pushing up my flannel sleeve to my elbow. I tried to pull my arm out of her grip again, but she held on tight with her fingernails digging into my arm.

“Ah!” She said as she found what she was looking for, looking down at my soulmark. “So what Jason said was true.”

I was furious and felt humiliated. This bitch really riled me up to prove what Jason was trying to spread around this time. She wanted to see Eddie’s name on my wrist, she wanted to have something to spread around town.

“That’s enough!” Steve said as he pushed her back, her dropping my arm in shock as Steve moved to completely stand between us. “If you don’t leave now, I’m going to call Hopper. I can promise you, he is not going to be happy when I tell him that you were harassing and assaulting his niece.”

“Assault?” Mrs.Perkins said as she clutched at her chest. “I did no such thing!”

“The red marks on her arm say otherwise,” Steve spat out. “Now leave or I’ll drag your ass to the front of the store and make sure that you can’t leave before Hopper gets here.”

“Oh, Steven.” Mrs.Perkins said as she sighed and started walking in the opposite direction. “What would your mother think?”

Steve tensed up in front of me and before he could retaliate, she turned the corner and left line of sight. He didn’t move from in front of me, his stance still rigid as he was breathing deeply.

“Steve?” I questioned softly as I put a hand on his arm and moved to stand in front of him. “Hey, Steve?”

It took Steve a second to tear his eyes away from the corner and down at me. His eyes searched my face before he let out a deep breath and relaxed his stance. “We need to call Hopper.”

“Steve-” I started as he reached for me. I didn’t flinch this time, let him pull my arm to him so he could see the red marks that she left behind.

“Fuck!” Steve exclaimed. “Sydney, I’m so sorry. I had no idea that she was going to do that.”

“Hey, hey.” I said to him, “It’s okay, Steve. I’m not mad at you.”

Steve shook his head and dropped my arm. “Gossiping bitch. I shouldn’t have let her say anything to you, I should have made us walk away. Now she’s gonna run her damn mouth about you and Eddie.”

“Steve, should I be ashamed of Eddie?” I asked.

“What?” Steve asked, appalled. “Of course not!”

“Then don’t worry about it.” I said as I pushed my sleeve back down. “Let her fucking talk. We knew people were going to say something about me showing up; and with how touchy Eddie is, do you really think people weren’t going to notice?”

“Still!” Steve exclaimed. “She didn’t have any right to touch you! I should go after her a-”

“Steve!” I grabbed his arm. “Let’s just finish shopping and get back to your house to call Hopper. That’s what we can do right now, I really don’t want to be in public anymore.”

“Yeah, of course.” Steve nodded as he grabbed the cart. “You promise that you're okay?”

“I’m not,” I admitted. “But I will be, I just hate that I’m going to tell Eddie this. He’s going to be so pissed.”

We called Hopper first when we got to Steve’s house. He dialed the number to the station for me before he went to bring the rest of the groceries in. Hopper was furious, wanting to know what happened from my perspective, and then Steve’s.

“You should have called me at the store!” Hopper said loudly. “I could have nipped this shit in the bud before it got spread around town!”

“You coming would have caused a bigger scene!” I said as Steve crowded me to hear the other side of the conversation. “Steve had it covered, Hopper. How long do you really think you could keep me off the radar before people started talking?”

“Look,” Hopper started. “Munson’s a good kid, I like him a lot now that I’ve got to know him. I trust him, but the people around here have mixed opinions because of what happened back in March. You know some of what they say about Eddie. Are you ready for that to be said about you?”

“Hopper, people were going to find out eventually.” I sighed. “Eddie’s worth whatever they want to say to me.”

I passed the phone back to Steve and let him take care of the rest. My arm was sore and I knew that the conversation with Eddie wasn’t going to be nice. The conversation from that first night on the porch kept coming to mind. How I was choosing to stay with him. Would he feel like it’s worth it?

Steve found me a little later, sitting on the steps of the staircase as I traced at my soulmark. He had his keys in hand and was shrugging on a jacket.

“I need to mail a few bills and I’ll grab something for lunch while I’m out. You okay to wait here?” Steve checked at his watch. “They should be going to lunch soon, it will give you a chance to talk to Eddie without any prying ears.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Hey,” Steve said as he sat down beside me on the stairs. “You know that none of this is your fault, right?”

“I let her rile me up,” I said. “She got exactly what she wanted. If I would just kept qu-”

“No,” Steve interrupted me. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I should have walked the both of us away.”

Steve moved a hand to push my sleeve up further up my arm, taking in the purpling marks on my arm. “She got you pretty good.”

I huffed and pushed my sleeve back down. “I’m just worried about Eddie.”

“Worried how?” Steve asked. “He’s not going to be upset with you.”

“I know that,” I said and I meant it. I knew without a doubt that Eddie would never get upset with me about this. “He’s going to be upset that he wasn’t there or that this is something that I’m going to have to ‘put up with’ being with him. He’s been spending so much time making sure I’m comfortable here that I don’t want anything to push him over the edge.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Steve said as he rubbed a hand down my back. “I’ll make sure of it.”

I nodded and didn’t say anything else.

“Any requests for lunch?” Steve asked me as he stood back up. “Pickles, right?”

“Oh fuck off,” I let out a suprised laugh. “If you come back with pickles, I’ll let Robin put hair dye in your conditioner.”

Steve gasped and let it fall into a smile. “I told you I was going to have my hands full with you guys.”

I rolled my eyes as he left the house. It felt weird exploring someone else’s house, so I just made my way to stand back at the phone in the kitchen and wait for Eddie’s phone call. I knew why Steve wanted me to talk to Eddie about this alone, but it would be easier if I had someone here with me.

“Sweetheart,” was the first thing that Eddie said when I picked up the phone-greeting be damned and not letting me speak. When I didn’t say anything, Eddie let out a groan and it sounded like he smacked the phone against something. “Harrington, I promise I’m not trying to seduce you.”

I laughed. “Why would Steve think that?”

“Sydney!” Eddie exclaimed with a laugh. “You little shit, had me thinking I was professing my love to the wrong person.”

“Was that your intention with this phone call?” I asked as I twirled the cord around my fingers. “Professing your undying love for me?”

“Alas, I love another.” Eddie said dramatically. “I’m sorry-but Stevie’s the one for me. It’s the polo’s, they just draw me in!”

“Eddie!” I laughed. “You’re lucky that Steve isn’t here to witness this.”

“Steve isn’t there?” Eddie stopped laughing, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “Steve left you alone in his house?”

“He left to grab lunch,” I offered up and was beating around the bush. “I didn’t want to be out in public anymore.”

“Sydney,” Eddie warned. “If something happened this morning, you need to tell me.”

“You have to promise me you won’t leave school.” I said. “Whatever that happened is over with and I have Steve here with me and we’ve already called Hopper. It’s going to be okay.”

“If you don’t tell me what happened, I will leave this school.” Eddie threatened. “I’m not kidding, sweetheart. Spill.”

I let out a troubled sigh. “You won’t get mad at me?”

“Of course not,” Eddie said softly. “I promise I’m never going to raise my voice at you.”

I bit my lip. “So I might have gotten harassed at the grocery store this morning with Steve?”

Eddie’s voice went up a few octaves, but the volume of his voice didn’t increase. “I’m sorry, what? You might have gotten harassed?”

“Eddie…”

I heard him let out a deep sigh, his voice now back to normal. “Baby, I’m sorry. You were saying?”

I looked down at my wrist, Eddie’s name in silver ink gleaming against my skin. I couldn’t lie to him. “So I guess word got out about my little confrontation with Jason at the arcade. One of Hawkins' most respected women took it upon herself to see if it was true.”

“Which is?”

“That I’m Hopper’s niece.”

“Sydney,” Eddie warned. “You do not want me coming to find you.”

“That we’re soulmates.” I rushed out. “I guess that Jason went around telling everyone that you found your soulmate and they wanted to see if it was true. And-she-tried-to-warn-me-to-stay-away-from-you-and-she-grabbed-me-really-hard–”

“She touched you?” Eddie said angrily, his voice the deepest I’ve heard. “She left marks? Where the hell was Steve?”

I looked down at my arm, there was no downplaying it, Eddie would see the dark marks when he picked me up. “Steve separated us. He tried to defend you, but I think she just wanted to rile the both of us. The moment I lifted a hand at her she grabbed me.”

Eddie was silent on the other side of the line. I waited for him to speak, to make a noise, to do anything.

“Baby?”

“So all this happened and you don’t want me to be there with you” Eddie said angrily. “You worried she’s right?”

I let out an angry noise. “Edward Munson, don’t turn this into something it’s not.”

Eddie let out an angry laugh. “And what would that be? My soulmate was harassed in public without me and she doesn’t want me to comfort her?”

“Don’t,” I said. “Eddie, you know that’s not what this is.”

“You really think I should prioritize school over you? I should just leave you with Steve?”

“Yes,” I snapped back. “Eddie, I know that finishing school is important to you and I’m not going to let you give them another reason for you to not graduate this year. I haven’t even been here a whole week, you can’t uproot everything for me.”

The line was silent. Eddie cleared his throat.

“Did it leave a bruise? And it’s the arm with the mark?”

“Maybe…?”

“So this is what we are going to do,” Eddie said. “I’m going to finish the day out because whether I like it or not, you are right. Not about school being more important because I would never walk back into Hawkins High again if it meant keeping you away from all this; but because one wrong move and I know that I’m done. When school lets out, I’m coming to pick you up and we are having a long discussion on the place you have in my life. You seem to think that you just blend into the background sweetheart, and I can promise you that even in a pitch black room I’d be able to pick you out. You are going to tell what happened word for word, and then I’m going to call Hopper.”

“Eddie-”

“This isn’t a suggestion, sweetheart.” Eddie chuckled. “I think I’ve gone about this all wrong and I plan on fixing that today.”

I didn’t say anything. Eddie didn’t seem mad at me, but it was still my fault wasn’t it? No matter how hard I’ve tried not to, I’ve been making waves since I got here. Maybe I shouldn’t have intervened at the arcade, but how could I not?

“I just have one question for you and then I’ve got to head to class,” Eddie broke me out of my thoughts.

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.

“You told me on that porch you wanted to stay. Do you regret it?”

My eyebrows furrowed, even though I knew at some point this question would come back up. “Of course not. I don’t think I could live without you now, Eddie.”

Eddie sighed and there were muffled voices coming from the line, like someone was trying to get his attention.

“I’ve gotta go baby. I’ll see you in a few hours?”

“I’ll be here,” I said. “Eddie, I-”

“I know, sweetheart,” Eddie interrupted. “See you soon.”

The rest of the afternoon passed too quickly and not quick at all. Steve returned with lunch and we spent the rest of the afternoon realizing we were much similar than we thought we’d be. It ended up with us in the backyard, lounging on some pool chairs as the breeze swayed the trees. Steve was reading from some magazine that Robin had left over, mocking the dating advice and hair tips before he got quiet.

“Steve?” I asked him. “Did your bitchiness run out?”

“Har har,” He said as he sat up in my direction. The expression on his face screamed curiosity.

I sat up as well, tucking my feet underneath me to face him. “You want to ask me something.”

He nodded. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer it.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think we are past that point now.”

Steve hesitated. “The mark. I know that you said you didn’t have them where you came from, but I just wanted to know if you noticed anything about the mark since it’s shown up.”

I frowned. “What do you mean by notice?”

Steve’s face turned a bit red. “I don’t want to sound stupid.”

“Steve,” I said as I moved on the chair to be closer to him, grabbing his hand. “I’m not going to think it’s stupid.”

Steve wouldn’t look at me. “Eddie is the only one in the group that has their soulmark. I know that they can show up anytime after you turn twenty, but Eddie has always had his since I’ve known him. Hell, you don’t know how many times Dustin used to make me look up your name at Family Video to see if your name was in our system.”

My chest felt a little heavy with an emotion I couldn’t place. “I didn’t know that.”

Steve nodded and tapped on the back of my hand. “Dude’s obsessed with you. He used to talk about how some days, it was like your emotions were so strong he could feel you. Like you were next to him.”

“That can happen?”

Steve laughed and looked up at me. “That answers one of my questions. You haven’t been able to feel him?”

“I-I don’t know,” I said, curious. Have I been? The times speaking to Eddie that the emotions seem to burst in my chest? Has that been him in the background this whole time?

“Eddie’s been twenty for a few months, about to turn twenty-one.” Steve mentioned. “How long have you been twenty for?”

“Since March,” I said. Hell, I didn’t even know his birthday. Did I ever tell him mine? “Everything is a little fuzzy, I’m still not sure the exact date it was when I left.”

“So you didn’t just turn twenty?” Steve asked. “So that means you didn’t get your mark on your birthday.”

“Steve?” I asked. “What’s this about?”

Steve groaned and fell backwards in his chair. “Can you keep a secret?”

“You’re keeping secrets from Robin?” I gasped in an attempt to make him laugh.

Steve didn’t reply, just laid there with his hands over his eyes. “When I finally got my shit together and turned into a decent human being, I was so grateful for finding Robin and having a relationship with the kids. Sure Nancy, Jonathan, and I are still trying to find our footing; but I don’t know where I would be without the kids. And then I really got to know Eddie during spring break and it was like I had added another person to this mix-match family.”

Steve sighed and sat back up. “And then you came along and it was like I had this feeling that you had to be a part of it too? One look at you on that couch just made me feel so protective, like I had another person to protect but it was a different bond than what I had with Robin and the kids. Like we had grown up together but with a wall between us, siblings that only saw of each other through cracks in the foundation. And I just want to know when it’s my turn. When it’s my turn to find the person I’m supposed to love with no bounds, the one that’s going to come into my life and make everything easier.”

“Steve,” I sighed sadly and moved to sit beside him on the chair. “Is it too much for me to be here?”

“No!” Steve rushed out and grabbed at me. “Just coming down the aisle this morning and seeing Mrs.Perkins all over you, I just felt this instinct that I had to protect you. Like when you stepped in front of El. And it just had me thinking, would this be my life? Shouldn’t I feel grateful for all the love that the party gives me? But no, I’m being selfish in wanting more and wanting it now.”

I debated for a second before wrapping my arms around him and hugging myself to his side. “Steve, it’s not selfish for you to want this. Sure, I didn’t know of Eddie or know that I had the possibility of meeting him. But I did have a feeling that he was out there. That if I could get through the hardest part of my old life, that one day I would meet him and it would be worth it.”

“But haven’t I paid my dues?” Steve’s broken voice asked. “I’ve been beaten, drugged, tortured, bitten into, and dragged through the Upside Down. I’ve had so many concussions that I now have to wear glasses and my right ear rings loudly when it gets too loud. Haven’t I paid enough?”

“Oh, Steve” I sighed as I moved out of his space to look at him. His eyes were red and watery, like he was about to cry. “There is someone out there for you, and I promise when you get your mark I’ll help you search everywhere for them. Think about it, would you really want to bring someone into all of this now? You said it, Vecna’s not dead. Would you really want this person to come in now? Or after you’ve had the chance to heal?”

“It’s just not fair,” Steve said as he moved to rest his head on my shoulder. “I know that I have you all to comfort me, but it’s just not the same. Just watching you and Eddie, the way that you two seem to just gravitate towards each other. It’s so easy.”

I snorted and tried to fix the damage I might have inflicted when Steve raised his head to look me. “I’m sorry, it’s not funny at all. You really think that it’s so easy?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Steve.” I said, deadpanned. “Take a second to really think about this. I had a shitty home life, did you not see how uncomfortable I was spending Eddie’s money to get clothes? Or how he has to order for me or we have to share a plate because I can’t help but feel that I’m taking up too much space? Since I’ve got here, Eddie has been bending over backwards to make sure that I am comfortable and I can’t give him anything in return! I can’t even k-”

I slammed my mouth shut, not wanting to mention what occurred yesterday until I had figured it out for myself. Steve regarded me curiously, wiping at his eyes before leaning back. “You can't do what?”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t want to talk about it, we were talking about you.”

“You’re not getting out of this one,” Steve said with a laugh. “What is Eddie wanting you to do that you can’t?”

“He’s not making me do anything,” I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “Can you just drop it?”

“No.” The little shit smiled at me. “His hands are already all over you, what more does he want?”

Steve stared at me for a moment before his eyes got wide. “Oh shit.”

I felt my face go red. “Whatever you are thinking, don’t.”

“Really? Because I’m over here thinking that you haven’t kissed Eddie. That man is all over you, all the time. I’d think if you were kissing at this point, he’d have no shame in doing it in front of us.”

I groaned. “Can’t we go back to you being sad?”

Steve laughed and moved into my space to knock my shoulder. “C’mon. You were doing such a good job cheering me up.”

I looked up at him. “Are you cheered up?”

Steve shrugged. “The longing is still there. I know they're out there, but maybe you are right. Maybe if I’m patient and all this Vecna stuff is over with, I’ll be able to be happy without looking over my shoulder all the goddamn time.”

“Do you feel them?”

A few emotions passed through Steve’s expression. “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like there is something there, like a faint buzzing in the background? But then I come back into focus and it’s gone.”

I shrugged. “I think you need to be talking to Eddie about all this.”

“You do, huh?” Steve teased. “Maybe I’ll teach him my way so he can properly romance you.”

“Fuck off,” I laughed and knocked my shoulder against his. “I swear to God, Harrington. If try to give Eddie advice on how to kiss me, I’m going to fucking murder you. He’s doing just fine on his own.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “He is?”

I let out another laugh and pushed him further into the chair. “Shut up!”

“Hey, hey,” Eddie’s voice came from the backdoor. He was leaning against the glass, a small smile on his face. “Cat fight going on out here?”

Steve groaned. “Fuck off, Munson.”

“Sorry, I’m taken.” Eddie bit back as he pushed off the glass and made his way to the chair that I was occupying. “What are you two even fighting about?”

“Nothing!” My voice was higher than normal, face flushing again. “Steve here was just being a little shit.”

Steve’s mouth dropped open. “You started it!”

Before I could get back at him, Eddie had grabbed my hands and pulled up off the chair to be pressed against him. No space between us as his hands slid from mine to wrap around my waist. He leaned down to nuzzle into my hair, a deep sigh releasing from his chest. I closed my eyes in content, a warm feeling passing over me and washing away all the anxiety from this morning.

“Get a room.” Steve complained from the chair.

Eddie chuckled and leaned back but not breaking from his hold around me. “You ready to go home, sweetheart?”

“Eddie, man-” Steve started as he stood up from the lounge chair.

Eddie held out his hand. “Sydney, why don’t you grab your shoes and I’ll meet you at the van. I gotta talk to Stevie for a moment.”

I didn’t bother to argue, giving Steve a light hug before making my back into the house. Eddie only took a few minutes before he found me at the van, helping me into the passenger side with little to say. I watched as Steve waved at us from the door, Eddie pulling out in true fashion and starting to head in the opposite direction.

“Where are we going?” I asked him as he drove down some unfamiliar roads.

“We are going somewhere alone to talk,” Eddie said as he took a sharp turn. He made eye contact with me, a small smile pulling at his lips. “Somewhere with no interruptions or where you might feel overwhelmed. Quiet.”

Eddie didn’t speak again until we reached our destination. He pulled into a deserted parking lot, forestation starting to take it back over. He shut the van off after a moment, jerking his head towards the back of the van before getting out. I watched him, confused as he disappeared from sight, but jumping when the back doors of the van opened.

“You going to join me back here?”

I took a deep breath and got out of the van to follow him around the back. Both doors were open, Eddie smoothing down a thick blanket on the floor of the van. There were a few pillows thrown into the back, another blanket folded in the corner.

Eddie patted the spot next to him, so I kicked off my shoes and made myself comfortable and pulled the extra blanket across my lap. He followed my lead and finished kicking off his shoes, an arm wrapping itself around my shoulders and pulling me to lean against him.

“Start from the beginning,” Eddie said softly. “I promise I’m not going to raise my voice.”

I took a deep breath and told him what happened this morning. The lady riling us up, Steve sticking up for Eddie, sticking up for me. Calling Hopper and arguing about not arresting the lady. I repeated the sentiment that I told Hopper; that no matter what they said about me, it would be worth it to stay with him. That it was my fault that I let her rile me up and how no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the issues that my appearance was causing. That even though I didn’t express it over the phone, the longing I had of wanting him there with me today. That all I wanted was for him to pull me close enough to him that I didn’t know where I ended and he began. That no matter how much that lady upset me, I was worried about him. It wasn’t fair that people were still giving him shit for what happened during spring break and I felt like all I could offer him was some protection against those harsh words.

Eddie was quiet throughout all of this, letting me get it all out. Only prompting me to explain further at certain points. When I stopped to take another break, his free arm reached over to my injured one, and I moved it so he could push the sleeve up and see the faint marks on my lower arm. His name contrasted nicely with my skin, the letter painting a pretty picture against the hateful reminders that were left by the naive women that thought she could easily sway me.

“Sydney,” Eddie started, his voice incredibly soft. “I promise you that with what time you choose to spend with me, I am going to spend all of it making sure you understand what you mean to me. And not just surface level, you need to understand how much of you lives in me.”

“Eddie,” I leaned back, confused. “This is my fault. If I would have listened to you at the arcade, she never would have approached me today and got what she wanted. Who knows how many people she’s started spreading that shit to.”

“I could give two shits about what she’s saying.” Eddie said. He shifted slightly so he could brush his thumb over the mark, a warm feeling passing through me. He wrapped his around my wrist, bringing my arm up to his lips as he kissed over each of the purpling marks. My breath turned shallow, my face heating up at the intimacy about it all. “I care that she hurt you. That she thought for a second she could touch my mark.”

“Eddie-”

“Sydney,” Eddie interrupted me and dropped my arm back into my lap. Before I could protest, he was pushing himself a little further back in the van and reaching over to move me closer to him. He didn’t stop there, moving so I was seated in his lap, straddling him as I faced him. I didn't have time to react as my hands rested on his shoulders, his moving to grab at my waist. This position was new, so new that I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Sensing my anxiety, Eddie moved to rub a hand down my back as I relaxed, one of mine moving to play with his hair. “It is not and ever will be your fault. You want someone to blame? Blame Jason for turning this town against me, blame Powell for labeling me as a suspect so quickly. Blame Vecna because he’s the one that got us into this.”

“Baby,” Eddie swallowed hard, my eyes tracking his movement. “I need you to understand something and I'm tired of being worried of going too fast. So please just listen to me and trust me that I’m being completely honest with you?”

“I trust you,” I said quietly.

“I’ve waited my whole life for you.” Eddie started. “Watching my dad get locked up, moving in with Wayne, being treated like shit for being different in this conservative town. I knew that at one point none of that was going to matter because one day you would walk into my life and I’d have the one person that understood me. The one person that had a piece of myself in them. Then Vecna happened and as I after everyone put me together again, I kept thinking that this was it. I lived my whole life waiting for you and never got to met you this time.”

Eddie shifted, moving to pull the blanket around us as a strong breeze hit the van. He tugged it at my shoulders, pushing me to move closer to him.

“Hell, there were days that I could just be sitting there and I’d get this feeling. Like you were right beside me and your emotions were so strong. You were sad all the time, scared most of the time. I was so worried about the circumstances that I would be meeting you in, and I prayed to any God out there that you wouldn’t get involved with all of this. And then you just showed up, looking so scared on Hopper’s couch like you didn’t know where to go from there.”

Eddie shrugged and looked up at me. Very slowly he moved his hand up to cup my check, bringing his forehead to rest against mine. “I know that you haven’t known about me as long as I’ve known about you. I understand that where you grew up, you didn’t know that you had a soulmate waiting out there for you. But Sydney, I’m willing to wait forever for you. I’ll wait till you're ready to trust me, to trust that no matter what we might get ourselves into, that I’ll always get you out. But you have to let me in, baby. You have to understand that I’m always going to put you first. Just like you did today, putting me first and trying to stop that lady. I’ve waited too long in this lifetime to meet you, and I’ve paid my dues. You’re it for me, sweetheart. I’m going to spend every day that you let me trying to prove that to you.”

Eddie rubbed away a few tears that I didn’t realize had fallen. How could he feel so deeply? How did he just know that I was it for him? I wasn’t worth all this trouble; but if our positions were reversed, I’d feel the same way. If there was anyone in this world I could trust completely, it was him.

“Eddie,” I sniffled and moved a hand to rub at his marked wrist. A shiver running between us at the overwhelming feeling of each other. “I’m a lot. You’re going to get sick of me.”

“Nah,” Eddie teased as he pulled his face away from mine so he could meet my eyes. “I think it's going to be the other way around.”

“I’m sorry,” I felt my lip wobble as I tried to hold in some of the emotions that were trying to pour out. “I really want to trust this. I trust you. I-”

“Hey, hey” Eddie shushed as pulled back towards his chest, my face resting against his neck. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I just want you to understand that what I feel for you is so deep. And I’m not sad, because I know that one day you’ll feel that way for me too. I’m willing to wait lifetimes for you. I’m just lucky I got to experience you in this life too.”

He moved a hand to trace at my mark. “A piece of me is always going to live here, and a piece of you is going to always live in mine. We are together in this.”

“Together,” I repeated after him.

We could do that.

Hello my beautiful people! I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I hope this long chapter makes up for it! So the time jumps are about to start happening and then we are getting into the real guts of this story. How are we feeling? How are we feeling about Steve and Sydney's relationship? I wanted them to have a sibling bond, something close the what he was with Robin, but different. We all know that Robin is his twin flame, but that doesn't mean he can't have siblings. :)

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