weirdspaceowl

[weirdspaceowl]

Because I am in an unfortunate situation and can't donate, I thought I'd come on here and make a post about this.

A bunch of content creators I watch are raising money for Gamer's Outreach, to bring go-karts to kids in hospitals.

It's a great cause for anyone who's able to donate.

The content creators are also streaming on Twitch, with the host stream by GoodtimeswithScar.

Additionally there are ImpulseSV, GeminiTay, TangoTek, Sizzleman, and Falsesymmetry who are streaming. With a bunch of others from the Hermitcraft community (and friends!) on stream.

[weirdspaceowl]

based on falseknees' comic :)

[weirdspaceowl]

bro beefed it

[weirdspaceowl]

VOTE VOTE

[weirdspaceowl]

small descriptions: sun, moon, & ascendant

Aries

sun - independent and courageous, enjoy leading others and bringing excitement into the lives of others, enthusiastic, very goal-oriented.

moon - incredibly persevering, brilliant sense of humor, modest about achievements (unless they also have aries sun), need to express yourself

rising - individualistic and impatient, quick-tempered, blush easily, outspoken with opinions, likes to get things done quickly

Taurus

sun - fight for what they want, easy going but stubborn, good work ethic, very loyal, strong love for home, practical, choosy about who they befriend

moon - inner wisdom, dislike unpredictability, value honesty, prefer familiarity, gentle and warm, serene quality that calms those around them, set in their ways

rising - great self-reliance, inclined to frequent stubbornness and jealousness, strongly persistent nature

Gemini

sun - very talkative, known for their sociability, go with the flow attitude, ability to think clearly, charming, wide range of interests, driven by curiosity

moon - clear and sharp mind, remarkable communication skills, confident speakers, tendency to over think

rising - quick witted, constantly alert, curious mind, strong desire to acquire knowledge, great need to communicate with others

Cancer

sun - enjoy security while also seeking adventure, unpredictable nature, love to nurture others, value a sense of security, homebodies, kind and warm

moon - need to see the difference they make in other people’s lives, not likely to show their emotional nature to others, very intuitive, supportive friend

rising - sympathetic, very talkative, fond of home, extremely sensitive to criticism, may like to collect things

Leo

sun - high self esteem, very devoted, kind and generous, hot tempered yet forgiving, most comfortable when in charge, independent, idealistic

moon - undeniable energy, charming and intelligent, like to take risks, optimistic outlook on life, amazing wit

rising - strong character, normally good natured and generous, demonstrative, energetic, need to be the center of attention, regal disposition, good humored

Virgo

sun - mind oriented, constantly analyzing and thinking, enjoy bettering themselves, down to earth and practical, selective with friendships

moon - often anxious, intuitive, very critical, high expectations of themselves, detail oriented and a dedicated planner

rising - worriers, tactful and somewhat high strung, strong desire for money, inclined to “tell it like it is”, modest due to self-criticism

Libra

sun - diplomatic nature, very expensive taste, get along well with everyone, quite ambitious, strive to maintain peace in their daily lives

moon - find beauty in simplicity, always seeking balance, they love a challenge and enjoy debates, like to have their way, unpredictable mood

rising - love parties, believe in justice for all, courteous and agreeable, tendency to meddle too much in other’s affairs

Scorpio

sun - very intense, like to question everything, treat others with kindness and loyalty, self reliant and in control, tendency to be a bit obsessive

moon - intense emotions, protective of themselves, loving heart, strong presence, need for control, very passionate, can be intimidating

rising - mysterious, intimidating, may come off as aloof or brooding, powerful, strong presence

Sagittarius

sun - optimistic, adventurous, sees life as a journey, loves to travel, needs variety in life, independent and honest, fast-thinkers, strong willed

moon - happy-go-lucky attitude, competitive, adaptable, likes to leave an impression on others, impulsive and enthusiastic

rising - loves to be active, very opinionated, bores easily with routine, cheerful presence, curious, appears confident, needs independence

Capricorn

sun - practical and persistent, self-confident, profound thinkers, their seriousness may make them seem unhappy, can concentrate very well

moon - needs to feel useful and productive, does not like dealing with emotions, very hard on themselves, hides sensitivity with sarcasm

rising - takes everything seriously, very conscious of the image they project, chooses to be around others who make them look good, calm demeanor 

Aquarius

sun - free-spirited and eccentric, charming, keeps to themselves and doesn’t express their problems, detached view of life, social, independent and original

moon - very observant, have always felt “different”, emotionally detached, kind and compassionate, strong ego, outgoing introverts, friendly and optimistic

rising - unique, loves to express their individuality, quiet and irreverent sense of humor, curious, likable and friendly, appears aloof while also coming off as kind

Pisces

sun - emotional and instinctual, easily discouraged, generous with friends, homebodies, accepts people for who they are, may feel unappreciated

moon - silly sense of humor, sweet and soft hearted, genuinely cares about others, creative, easily amused, tries to avoid the dull parts of life

rising - charming and intriguing, very impressionable, dislikes confrontation, is seen as genuine and gentle, dislikes attention

[weirdspaceowl]

i watch this every day

[weirdspaceowl]

he’s gonna be just fine 🙂

[weirdspaceowl]

session 6 deaths in order but it’s also a hard-knock life <3

[weirdspaceowl]

LIMITED LIFE COMPILATION

[weirdspaceowl]

The Fellowship gets on the topic of their ages one night and Boromir comes to the dawning realization that he has absolutely no idea how old any of his companions are supposed to be at all

[weirdspaceowl]

omg!!! snickering!! I want an entire comic book of this!!

Eddie Munson, age 10, is an adorable little shit.

He’s still testing the waters with his new guardian, not used genuine kindness.

Also, who wouldn’t want to befriend a trash panda?

Later they learn Mr Scratches is actually Mrs Scratcher and pregnant. Chaos ensues.

(Most of this is based on a conversation on Discord, so mist of this idea is a team effort)

[weirdspaceowl]

Pls reblog if u vote :)

I think I’ve hit it like 3 or 4 times before

[weirdspaceowl]

[weirdspaceowl]

Steve: from now on we’ll be using code names. you can address me as: eagle 1

Steve: Nancy, code name “been there, done that”

Steve: Eddie is “currently doing that”

Steve: Robin is “it happened one in a dream”

Steve: Jonathan, code name “if I had to pick a straight dude”

Steve: Hopper is… Eagle 2

Hopper: oh thank God

[weirdspaceowl]

you’re too young to be lost

Part 1 Part 2 ao3 (Complete)

Faintly, Dustin can hear Steve’s voice get calmer, but no less insistent.

“Eddie, what’s…? Okay, okay, I’m—”

The bathroom door clicks shut. Dustin strains to listen, but their voices are low and muffled; he can’t make out any words.

He sits up shakily, moves his leg with both hands so it’s stretched out in front of him. Remains on the last step, rests his head on one of his knees and just…

Breathes.

Footsteps, quick and light.

Steve.

Dustin doesn’t know when exactly he learned to tell who’s coming without looking, but he does remember thinking in The Upside Down that if everything was suddenly plunged into darkness, he’d still be able to know where Steve and Eddie were, just by listening to their footsteps.

Steve comes to a stop halfway down the stairs. Dustin hears him sigh, like he’s relieved and sad at the same time. Then he keeps walking, slower now, until Dustin can feel him sit down beside him, on the last step.

Dustin sniffs against his jeans. “Is Eddie okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” Steve replies, and he says it reassuringly, but Dustin can’t help noticing that it’s not exactly a ‘yes.’ “He wanted me to come check on you.”

And that’s said like it’s what Steve would’ve done anyway. Like it’s an absolute certainty.

A hand in Dustin’s hair, gently ruffling through it.

“C’mon, lemme help you up.”

Dustin takes Steve’s hand reluctantly although it turns out he needs the support, his bad foot still unsteady beneath him. He doesn’t get it; he’s walked on it by himself in far worse circumstances, had done so in The Upside Down while Steve… took care of Eddie. Sure, he thought he was going to throw up from the pain, but he still managed it.

“There you go,” Steve says, and he guides Dustin over to one of the couches in the living room. His voice lowers, as if talking to himself: “Okay, ice, elevation…”

He props Dustin’s foot up with a couple of cushions before heading off to the kitchen. When he returns, he’s holding an ice pack, all official looking, kind of like the ones the school nurse has on hand.

“Okay, twenty minutes with this on it,” he says, carefully pressing the ice to Dustin’s ankle, “then we’ll rinse, repeat in a few hours.”

Dustin nods.

Steve tilts his head a little, forehead creased—like he doesn’t know what to do in the face of Dustin’s uncharacteristic silence.

“Can I take a look at your neck? Wanna make sure it’s clean.”

Dustin nods again.

Steve’s motions when he cleans Dustin’s neck with antiseptic wipes are practised, steady—the air of someone who’s done this countless times before. He probably has, Dustin reasons.

“Yeah, speaking from experience,” Steve says, and his voice sounds like he’s trying very hard to keep things light, “you don’t wanna just slap make-up straight on there.” He moves closer, hisses through his teeth when all the foundation is removed. “Shit, Henderson.”

“It’s not that bad,” Dustin says. “It didn’t even bleed, really.”

Steve blows out a breath. “Dustin—”

“You’ve had worse.”

Much worse.

Steve stares at him. “That… that doesn’t make it all right.”

Dustin shrugs. Looks away. He thinks of saying, Figured I should finally pull my weight when it comes to taking hits, something along those lines, but he knows Steve would never hear him out.

He’s thought about it, though. Had an awful lot of time to reckon with it, while waiting for Eddie to wake up in hospital: the thought that Eddie had leapt into danger to keep him safe. That Steve, too, could’ve easily been in a hospital bed multiple times over the years—escaping that possibility by the skin of his teeth.

Starcourt. Steve yelling at him to go.

Your fault.

Steve sighs. “Hey, look at me?” When Dustin does, he says, both gentle and serious, “Did you ever think that maybe, like, the one silver lining to getting the shit knocked outta me was so that you wouldn’t have to?”

And his voice has got this tone, a patience beyond his years, like he’s explaining that’s just the way the world works.

It rankles Dustin. He remembers Mike admitting once that before Will disappeared, the angriest he’d probably ever felt was when Nancy came home from school crying—that it suddenly didn’t matter if she was older or not: just that she was his sister, and he wanted to fix the world for her.

He thinks he feels something close to that anger, now.

“That’s not fair,” he says. “You… you were a kid, too.”

You still are, he adds inside his head.

Because yes, he’s obviously always known that Steve’s older, but he equally knows that there’s not such a huge chasm between them. That Steve might try and carry himself like someone much older, like Hopper, but he shouldn’t be there yet, not even close—as if The Upside Down and everything else has forcibly pressed fast forward on his life.

Steve nods like he’s conceding the point. Then he says, “Yeah, but I got to be, what, twelve, thirteen, fourteen…” He trails off, counting the remaining years on his fingers. “All that without any alternate dimension shit.”

Dustin doesn’t think that’s all that good of a rebuttal. The thought must show on this face, because Steve chuckles and says, “How about we just agree that we’re both stubborn as fuck?”

Dustin tries to smile. “Yeah, okay.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m… I’m sorry, I… didn’t mean for Eddie to—” He glances down. “Didn’t mean to upset him.”

“You didn’t,” Steve says immediately and doesn’t back down even when Dustin shoots him a look of disbelief. “He’s… he was just scared for you, Dustin.”

His eyes linger on Dustin’s neck, the silent, ‘And so am I,’ made clear.

“Listen,” Steve continues after a pause, “remember when we went looking for your weird little slug? Dash or whatever.”

Dustin smiles and rolls his eyes. “Dart.”

“Sure, him. I think about that all the time, man.”

Dustin frowns in confusion. “You do?”

“Oh, yeah.” Steve’s eyes go a little distant for a moment, like he’s walking the railroad tracks all over again. “Just damn grateful I bumped into you, like, you can’t even… And I’m so, so glad you told me stuff.” He gives Dustin an earnest look, eyes imploring. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

“I just…” Dustin swallows. “I just wanted it to be over,” he admits in a whisper.

And Steve smiles sadly, like he can already tell Dustin isn’t talking about Gates and Monsters.

“I know,” he says softly. “It’s not your fault other people are dicks, okay? It’s not your fault.”

And Dustin can hear the unspoken Please tell me as loud as anything.

He digs deep. Opens his mouth.

Talks.

He does his best not to falter, tries to recount it like he would if he was on the walkie, just bringing everyone up to speed.

But it’s hard. It’s so hard.

When he gets to exactly what had been said that led him to throw a punch, Steve goes very still. He doesn’t say anything, like he’s holding in his anger for Dustin’s sake.

Dustin almost wants to tell him not to bother, that his own fury has kept burning ever since he heard it. That they can be angry together.

But then he reaches getting pushed up against the bathroom wall, and he finds that breathing is becoming more and more difficult.

He feels another sharp twist of guilt—that the point is surely what had been said about Eddie—but he suddenly can’t help thinking about what might’ve… He can almost feel the knife against his throat.

Nothing happened, really.

But he… he could have—

“Hey, hey,” Steve says softly. “You’re okay, Dustin. You’re okay.” He cups the back of Dustin’s head, breathes in and out slowly, a guide for Dustin to catch his breath.

Dustin tips forward slightly, heaves out juddering breaths as Steve holds him up. Eventually, little by little, his breathing comes easier.

“That’s it,” Steve says. “That’s it, just… yeah, there you go.” He squeezes Dustin’s shoulders. “Just gonna take the ice off for now, okay?”

He says it with a quiet reassurance, like he’s also saying You don’t have to talk anymore, not if you don’t want to. I’m so damn proud of you.

Dustin finally manages a good, deep breath as Steve removes the ice pack. Steve must notice, because as he stands up, he gives Dustin a relieved kind of smile.

“I’ll be five minutes max, all right? Just sit tight.”

Dustin listens to Steve go up the stairs. He again tries to pick up on any conversation coming from above, but he can’t hear anything—and in the silence, soon finds himself in a losing battle with sleep.

The next thing he knows, he feels a gentle hand on his head. It’s Eddie: he can feel the bottom of his rings, the care taken to ensure that they never once catch in Dustin’s hair, no matter how boisterous his hugs are.

Dustin’s getting slowly lowered down until his cheek rests on a pillow. He must make an involuntary, sleepy noise at the movement, because he hears Eddie whisper, “Shh, s’only me.”

The almost silent sound of a blanket being unfolded, then placed over him. Warmth.

He just hears fragments of speech, like the sensation of nodding off in a car—knowing that it’s him rather than the radio fading in and out.

“… he asleep?”

“Yeah, I… thought he… must be exhausted…”

And then he loses track of all words, of everything.

-

A faucet running. Scrape of a pan being brought out of the cupboard. Clatter of bowls on the counter.

“… just feel like… never gonna…”

“I know. Look, I can… talked to… gonna go up to the school.”

“Since when have… ever fucking cared?”

“I know, but… trying my best here.”

“… I know you… shit, Steve, I’m sorry.”

Dustin keeps his eyes closed. He drifts back into consciousness, becomes aware of the entire conversation around him when he hears Eddie mutter, like he’s despairing at himself, “Just what the fuck did I think I was doing?”

The click of a burner on the stove being switched on.

Steve’s reply is slow and careful. “What do you mean?”

“Fuck, I don’t know. Hellfire. School. The whole fucking thing.”

“Eddie. Come on, you couldn’t have known that—”

“No, just let me—god, I might as well have painted the damn target on his back myself.”

Another click: the burner getting turned off.

“Eddie—”

“Don’t—I chose to—but he—” Eddie’s voice is growing increasingly strained. He inhales shakily. “Sometimes I wish I’d never—he’s just a kid, man, he shouldn’t have to—”

His voice breaks.

Dustin, ever so slowly, raises his head. Peeks over the top of the couch.

Eddie’s back is to him. He’s standing by the counter, shoulders shaking.

Steve is stepping away from the stove. He reaches Eddie, murmurs, “C’mere,” and just…

Holds onto him. Presses a kiss into his hair.

-

Dustin feigns sleep for another ten minutes or so, then begins to gradually ‘stir.’ Steve spots that he’s awake first, retrieves another ice pack for his ankle.

Eddie sits down on the other end of the couch, seems to make himself as small as possible in the corner—hunched up, staring as Wheel of Fortune plays on the T.V, as if suddenly fascinated by it.

Dustin repeatedly checks his watch, like that will make his allotted twenty minutes go any faster. When the time’s up, he immediately flings his ice pack off—“Oh sure, just get that all over the floor!” Steve calls from the kitchen, but he doesn’t sound all that concerned about it—and crawls gingerly over to Eddie.

It takes a few moments for Eddie to notice that Dustin’s moved; when he does, his eyebrows go up in surprise.

“Careful with your foot,” he says, too quiet.

“I’m fine.”

Silence. Eddie opens and closes his mouth a couple times, deliberating.

“Hey, um. Henderson, I’ve—been thinking, and it’s… it’s fine if you don’t want to, uh… I’ll understand if—”

“Shut up,” Dustin says, as firm and gentle as he can make it.

Because there’s no way he can listen to Eddie finish that thought, no way he can listen to Eddie even suggest the idea that anyone should regret knowing him—as if that’s even possible. As if Dustin ever could.

“Starting high school would’ve sucked without you.” Dustin says it with as much feeling as he can, tries to make it impossible for Eddie to argue. “Dude, you know the Party rules: friends for life. No take backs.”

Eddie exhales with a slight shudder, like he’s been winded. Then, voice a little hoarse, he says, “O-okay. Can I… make another rule, then?”

Dustin pauses. Nods.

“If you’re…” Eddie swallows. “If anything like this ever happens again, you’ve gotta tell someone. Me or Steve or your mom or… just. Someone. A-and you… you’ve gotta give the full picture, I don’t care how ugly it is. Just. Christ, all that matters is your safety, okay?”

“That’s not all that matters,” Dustin says impulsively, thinking of dirty looks towards Eddie, of poisonous words.

“Yeah, it is,” Eddie says, a finality to his tone, like he’s somehow heard Dustin’s thoughts. “Look, Dustin…” He sighs. “It’s not your job to—to defend me, got it? Trust me, it… it means so much that you’d… means more than you’ll ever know.” He gives a knowing, bittersweet smile. “But you can’t fix the whole world.”

“I can try.”

Eddie laughs, choked with emotion. “And that’s a goddamn admirable sentiment. But nothing’s worth you getting hurt.” He hesitates, then opens his arms, and Dustin shuffles forward into a hug. “I can’t fucking bear the thought of you—of you—”

“Okay,” Dustin says. Hears Eddie’s breathing hitch, and holds on tight. “I’m okay.”

-

Steve makes spaghetti and meatballs, balances his own bowl on his knees while he sits directly on the floor—occasionally looks over at Dustin and Eddie sitting sprawled across each other with a fond smile.

For all the past heaviness, the rest of the night is light. Dustin takes advantage of Eddie’s distraction when he’s shouting out answers to quiz shows and steals a couple of his meatballs—though he suspects Eddie knows and just lets him get away with it.

And then, as it gets late, he begins to doze off, leaning against Eddie’s side. Feels a pair of arms around him.

Sleeps.

-

When he wakes, he’s back to being laid out on his usual spot on the couch, tucked in with the blanket.

He turns his head to see that Steve and Eddie are sleeping on the floor, atop a mattress they must have somehow brought downstairs without waking him up.

While Eddie has his back to the couch, Steve is facing it. And Dustin can tell from how they’re mirroring each other, arms outstretched, that they must’ve fallen asleep holding hands.

He smiles. Keeps smiling when Steve wakes up and catches him looking. He watches as some sort of understanding lights up Steve’s eyes; he winks at Dustin, as if in gratitude.

“Too early still,” Steve says kindly. “Go back to sleep.”

Dustin almost does so without thinking, but…

“I’ll be late for school?”

Steve shakes his head. “Called in for you. Said you’re sick.”

And at hearing that, Dustin feels a sudden flood of relief. He sighs. “Thanks.”

Steve shakes his head as if to say it was nothing. He continues, voice low so as not to disturb Eddie, “Got a meeting with the principal on Monday. Told Mike and Lucas to be careful, but that dickhead’s getting suspended already.”

“You didn’t have to—”

“Shut up,” Steve says softly. “And… hey, we can talk it through later, but I think you should tell your mom. Thought we could go the meeting together.” He makes a face. “I know it’s not exactly gonna be, like, plain sailing, but… it’ll make things better, in the end. Trust me.”

Dustin pushes back the knee jerk discomfort around the thought of confiding in his mom, pushes back the instinct to not tell her anything. That belongs to the days of The Upside Down.

This is…

This is different.

And despite his initial misgivings, the idea of Steve and his mom being a united front makes him smile. They’ll be unstoppable, he thinks.

“Mm-hmm, trust you,” Dustin mumbles.

He knows there’ll still be a steep hill to climb; they can’t fix everything just like that. And yeah, the meeting might suck. But it kind of feels better already, that Steve and Eddie know. That he’s got a few days here, away from everything.

He listens to Steve yawning, to Eddie’s deep breathing, and lets them both lull him back to sleep.

[weirdspaceowl]

Part 1

Dustin half-expects the phone to ring in the evening—that maybe Eddie will have said something to Steve about how he’s been a dick to him—but no such call ever comes.

So he pretends like he’s busy with homework, times heading to dinner carefully, so that his mom’s got her back to the stove when he limps over to his seat.

At night, he waits until he hears the click of her lamp going off, then manages to smuggle a bag of peas out of the freezer without being noticed. He wraps it up in a dish towel and places it on his ankle, under the bed covers.

He doesn’t sleep.

-

If the weather’s not bad, he usually rides his bike to school, but he pretends to oversleep and gets the bus instead.

The day drags, but it’s fine.

It’s fine until he decides to go to the bathroom during the tail end of last period—reasons that so long as the receptionist doesn’t catch him, he can head to the bus stop early afterwards.

He thinks he’s alone.

But then as he’s drying his hands, he hears a stall door open lightning fast, and he’s suddenly pinned up against the wall, so close that he can see Aaron’s nostrils flare.

“The thing is, Henderson,” he says, as if they’re just picking up from where they left off; he’s got that tone, Dustin thinks, that ‘good people of Hawkins’ tone. Hiding behind a mask of respectability. “Folks seem to think that the buck stopped with Munson, huh? But I know he would’ve passed his sick shit on.”

It takes a moment for the penny to drop.

“You think I’m leading Hellfire,” Dustin says. He almost laughs. A surge of adrenaline briefly overtakes the fear, and maybe he feels like he’s borrowed a little of Steve’s daring, a little of Eddie’s sharp tongue when he says, “Oh, you’re fucking stupid.”

It happens very quickly.

Cold metal pressed to his throat.

He freezes. Thinks of Sattler Quarry again, of a switchblade, a threat to cut his teeth out.

“They say he took Chrissy’s eyes first,” Aaron says. “Gouged them out.” He presses a little harder. “I could do the same to you.”

Dustin grits his teeth, tries to hold his breath. Feels the ridge of uneven grouting digging into his back.

The school bell shrieks.

And he’s falling.

He only just stops himself from hitting the ground, bangs his knee against a sink. Left alone, he coughs and coughs as the stampede of people leaving class rumbles on outside.

Saved by the bell, says a wry voice in his head. It sounds a bit like Eddie.

Eventually he manages to look in the mirror. There’s a line across his neck, almost touching his Adam’s apple; tiny beads of blood from where the knife was pushed hard against his skin. He cleans it up with paper towels, tries not to gag.

Steve had a mark like this, he thinks; he remembers seeing it when they first discovered the gate in Eddie’s trailer.

Steve never flinched.

-

His mom’s packing for a wedding out of town, which means he’ll be spending an ‘extra long weekend’ at Steve’s, Thursday through to Monday—something he’d ordinarily be looking forward to.

But right now he can only focus on hiding his neck. He keeps his coat zipped up when he enters his house, all casual, then changes into an old sweater that covers the mark if he folds the turtle neck just so.

As his mom triple checks her case, he relies on her distraction and steals an old tube of foundation.

He dabs it on his neck, wincing at the abrasion.

Another sleepless night.

Why is this so hard? After everything that’s happened, this is nothing.

It should be nothing.

-

He almost misses Eddie’s van completely, even though it’s parked obnoxiously at the very front of the parking lot. It takes Eddie honking the horn for an embarrassingly long time until Dustin notices him.

“Steve’s picking me up,” he mumbles.

“He took Robin’s shift, she’s sick. So you get me,” Eddie says, complete with the world’s most passive-aggressive jazz hands. “You know, if that’s okay with you and all.”

Dustin doesn’t have the energy to bite back—sure, Eddie’s snippy, whatever—so he just huffs in acknowledgement and gets in the van. His head aches with fatigue; he can barely even feel relief that the day passed without incident.

Lucas had passed him a piece of paper with a comical stick figure during History: ‘Are you okay? You look like your brain is melting through your ears.’ He didn’t even have time to enjoy the stupid drawing, because the teacher busted them for passing notes soon after.

“What’s up with you?”

Dustin starts at the question—only then realises that he’s been pressing his forehead hard against the window as Eddie makes a turning for Steve’s house.

“Nothing. What’s up with you?”

And it should land on just the right side of petty for Eddie to give him shit about it.

But instead, all he hears is the uneasy drumming of rings against a steering wheel, a soft, “Right, right.”

Eddie isn’t angry anymore; he’s worried. Guilt twists Dustin’s insides.

He heads straight upstairs for the bathroom when they reach Steve’s, uncaring of the fact that Eddie can probably see him limp up every step.

The problem is that he doesn’t think—he just does.

Throws off his coat. Turns on the faucet. Splashes cold water in his face.

It helps, but his eyes still itch. Maybe he can pull out the mountains of homework card again, camp out in the guest room and sleep until Steve—

A faint knock on the other side of the door.

“Hey, uh. Just checking you haven’t died, man.”

And Dustin hates that he’s made Eddie sound hesitant.

“Yeah, I’m so dead. Oooo.”

Eddie chuckles slightly. But then he says, “Listen, did I do something? Like, tell me to fuck off, if so.”

“Fuck off,” Dustin says, not convincing in the slightest.

In the silence, he can practically hear the cogs in Eddie’s brain turning.

“You didn’t run track.”

It’s not a question.

Dustin rubs at his eyes. “I got tripped.”

“…Tripped,” Eddie echoes. “Dustin. Come on.”

“Fine. I… got in a fight.”

“You?”

“What, is that hard to believe?” Dustin snaps.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is, actually.”

There’s something in Eddie’s tone that makes Dustin’s eyes threaten to burn. It sounds like I know you.

“Well, go on. Gimme the details. What, did you place bets in the cafeteria about who would—”

“No-one else saw,” Dustin says, then immediately cringes at the fact that he’s walked right into Eddie’s trap and given answers.

“Oh, well fucking done,” Eddie says, and maybe it’s meant to sound sharp, but Dustin can only hear how it’s tight with anxiety. “So someone started shit, and you decided, in your infinite wisdom, to settle it alone, when anything could’ve—”

“What the fuck was I supposed to do? Just let them keep saying—”

“You run,” Eddie says. “Jesus Christ, Henderson, I don’t give a flying fuck what they were saying. You run like hell out of there, and you don’t look back, do you fucking hear—”

“You didn’t run!” Dustin says.

He hadn’t planned on saying it at all; the words feel like they’ve been ripped out of him, his voice wrecked.

Silence.

The door opens. Eddie looks completely floored.

“Was this about me?” he asks very quietly.

Dustin looks away. “He—he just—you didn’t hear what he was saying. Eddie, it was. Bad.”

And I’ll never repeat it, he thinks. I’m never using that fucking awful word.

“Hey, what’s that on your…?”

Eddie’s eyes narrow, and Dustin realises too late that he’s staring at his neck.

“Are you wearing make-up?” Eddie says, faintly baffled, and Dustin sees the exact moment that he recognises the mark for what it is, because his eyes widen. “Oh, Jesus.”

Dustin uselessly tries to cover it up with his hand. “It’s—it’s fine, it didn’t even—”

But his words die away at the sight of Eddie’s rapidly paling face.

Stop it, Dustin almost wants to say. Between everything that Eddie and Steve have… this is nothing.

He doesn’t expect Eddie bursting into tears.

“Oh God,” Eddie’s saying, and his breathing’s all wrong, “Dustin, please, please don’t—” But it’s like the words are choking him, like he can only stare at Dustin’s neck as if the world is ending.

The front door opening. Steve’s voice echoing, calling out a questioning greeting.

“Hey? You in the kitchen?”

Dustin moves quickly, shoves past Eddie.

“Dustin,” Eddie says again, loud in his panic, “d-don’t go, come on—”

He knows precisely when Steve can hear the fact that Eddie is crying, because his footsteps are rapid on the stairs, speech just as quick and frantic, “What happened, what happened?”

Dustin briefly feels Steve’s hand close around his elbow, “Hey, hey, what’s—?”, but he wrenches himself free. Runs down the stairs as fast as he can, stumbles on the last step.

He feels his ankle give way, and his heart is suddenly pounding like he’s back in The Upside Down—and he lies there, guilt and embarrassment in every heaving breath he takes.