Chapter Text
The credits rolled up on the screen, the lights came on to illuminate the mostly-empty theatre. The only people Eddie could see among the rows of seats were a couple of stragglers, with mixed expressions on their faces. It was understandable, most of the town was out celebrating the fourth of July, the only people left going to the movies were couples that wanted to make out in the dark, barely paying attention to the story on the screen. To be honest, though, Eddie was mainly there for the aliens, and ideas for a new campaign. Taking notes had been difficult in the near-pitch-darkness, but he had managed it.
He pulled himself out of his seat, stretching, hearing the popping of his joints as he lifted his arms above his head. Stepping out into the halls of the theatre, the harsh light made his eyes squint, and it took a few moments for them to acclimate to their no-longer-dark environment. The pack of Marlbaros he fished out of his leather jacket was crumpled and squished, but he pulled a relatively intact cigarette out of the box with his teeth, his arm started to lower, but it stopped, mid-action, when he heard two people off to the side, discussing what he assumed to be “Back to the Future.”
“But they’re the same age.” The voice was familiar, more familiar than Eddie wanted it to be.
“No- But he went back in time.”
“Then why is it called “Back to the Future?”
Eddie turned his head to see no other than Steve “The Hair” Harrington draped over a water fountain, looking absolutely beat to hell. As if sensing Eddie’s eyes on him, Steve’s head raised, and the most dorky grin Eddie had ever seen split across his face. He raised his arm, propped up on the fountain, and gave the silliest little wave.
“Hi.”
And with all the cruel irony of the universe, Eddie’s heart dropped to his stomach, and he clenched the pack of cigarettes in his fist. What the Fuck. Eddie's thoughts were racing a thousand miles a minute. It wasn’t fair. He had managed to avoid Harrington’s idiotic charm all throughout highschool, it was a relief when the douchebag had graduated and Eddie didn’t have to see his stupid handsome face in the halls anymore. Yet, here he was, grinning up at him from the floor of a mall movie theatre, looking at Eddie like he was the best thing he had ever seen.
Eddie didn’t have time to respond before Steve was pushed off the fountain from behind by Robin Buckley, who Eddie had just barely noticed was there.
“It’s my turn, you’ve had enough.”
Now that his focus was pulled away from Steve Harrington’s face, Eddie noticed that they were both in the most ridiculous uniforms he had ever seen, striped blue sailor outfits with absurd shorts. His attention also drifted to Steve’s collar, the white stripes were stained red with splatters of blood. He watched as Steve shakily pulled himself to his feet, and started stumbling towards Eddie.
Regaining his composure, he bit out a sarcastic remark. “You look like shit Harrington.” Steve just threw back his head and laughed.
“Eddie Munson,” he slurred out, giggling. “What are you doing here?”
Steve’s tone wasn’t sharp or biting, much to Eddie’s surprise. It was like there was some joke that he wasn’t in on. His eyes flicked over to the sign displaying the movies that were featured. “Well, I just stepped out of the theatre, so take a wild guess.”
“Eddie!” Robin’s voice rang out, like she had just noticed he was there. Judging by the way she also raised shakily to stand, that was probably the case.
Steve had already drifted away, head tilted back so he was looking right up at the glass ceiling of the mall, swaying slightly on his feet.
“You’ll never guess what happened to us,” she laughed, spinning around like she was dizzy.
“Hey Robin” Steve mumbled, beckoning Robin to come over and stand with him, pointing towards the ceiling. “You gotta check this out.”
They were both muttering incoherently, looking up at the lights together. Eddie was growing more concerned by the second, recognizing the signs of someone high off their ass.
“Are you guys on something?”
Robin bent her head back, staring at Eddie upside down, grinning. “Evil Russians gave us some wonky blue stuff. It totally rocks.”
Eddie gave the both of them a skeptical look, and watched as the colour drained from their faces. Suddenly, they were pushing past him into the men’s restroom, making a mad dash for the stalls. Eddie followed, more worried about Robin. He didn’t know what Steve got up to in his free time, but he knew Robin was decidedly against any drugs more serious than a little weed from time to time. Eddie was familiar with Robin since they sniffed each other out pretty quickly as the only other gay people in Hawkins High. They hung out pretty often, and every time Eddie mentioned anything other than marijuana, she would always make a face.
“Hey. Hey! What’s going on, are you alright?” He rushed in after the two of them, just in time to hear the sounds of their stomachs emptying into the toilet bowls they were hunched over. When he saw Robin trying to feebly hold up her own hair, he batted her hands away and held it out of the way himself, stroking her back soothingly.
He could see Steve’s knees and shoes through the gap between the two stalls, but the asshole could deal with whatever he gave Robin by himself. “You’re alright, it’s okay,” Eddie murmured, trying to comfort her heaving body. “Did he give you something? I swear I’ll kill him.”
It took a few coughs for Robin to answer him. “No, no,” she wheezed out. “It was- it was the damn Russians.”
“Russians? Robin what are you talking about?”
“She’s right.” The breathless voice of Steve Harrington came through the stall. “Tied us up and kept asking the same questions.”
“Ok, ok. Evil Russians. Got it. You two are clearly still high; stay here, I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
He exited the bathroom in a hurry, looking around for the nearest vending machine. He groaned when the closest one he could see was on the other side of the mall, on the lower floor. Not trusting Robin and Steve to stay put, he jogged down the escalator over to the machine, and dug out the coins he needed. He punched the 7up button once, twice, and dug the cans out. He hurried up the escalator again, and made a bee-line to the bathroom.
When he finally got back, he managed to catch the tail end of their conversation.
“And I would go home, and just scream into my pillow.”
“But- Tammy Thompson’s a girl.”
“Steve.” Robin’s voice was barely a whisper, but Eddie knew exactly what she was doing, and his stomach dropped.
“Yeah? …oh. Holy shit”
“Yeah, Holy shit.”
Robin was telling Steve fucking Harrington that she was gay and Eddie was entirely prepared to beat the shit out of him, but the negative reaction he was expecting just… didn’t come. Instead, there was silence, for what felt like forever. He just stood, out of sight, cold cans of soda in hand, waiting.
“Steve? Did you OD over there?” Eddie recognized the subtle fear in her voice.
“No uh, just- just thinkin.” When Steve spoke, it wasn’t with disgust, he just sounded contemplative. “I mean yeah, Tammy Thompson, she’s cute and all but.. I mean, she’s a total dud.”
When he heard Robin again, she sounded both relieved and affronted. “She’s not!”
“Yes she is! She wants to be a singer, wants to move to like Nashville and shit.”
“She has dreams!”
“She can’t even hold a tune!”
And oh, if Eddie’s heart didn’t beat just a little faster. Not only did Steve do the exact opposite of what he was expecting, he was actually dissing Robin’s taste in girls, something that Eddie absolutely agreed with but never said anything because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Instead of being the douchebag Eddie had known him to be, he was reacting with such care and consideration that not only did he accept her, he was joking around, making her feel at ease, taking her mind off the monumental thing she had just told him. Loathe to admit it, Steve Harrington was being nice, and oh did it make it that much harder to hate his stupid pretty face.
When they started singing in harmony with silly muppet voices, he made himself known by walking into view. Acting like he wasn’t just eavesdropping on them, he held out both cans. “Here. They’re cold. Hold them against your heads, I’m sure you’re both sweating. When you think you’re cooled down enough, drink them. Clear liquids help nausea.”
Both of them gratefully took the 7up, Robin touching it to her forehead while Steve pressed it to his very black eye. Eddie had about two seconds to just look at them before some kid in a cap followed by a younger girl wearing overalls and… knee pads? Burst through the door, looking at Robin and Steve with an exasperated expression. “Okay. What. The hell.”
The two teens on the floor just busted out with laughter, and the kid’s focus turned to him. “Who the hell are you?”
The little shit was rude, apparently. “Eddie.” He held out his hand, bowing slightly with a grin stretched across his face. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Eddie could spot a fellow nerd from a mile away, no matter how much of a shithead they were being.
“Ok Eddie, what are you doing with our... friends?” The younger girl spoke up while the boy ignored his hand entirely.
“Helping come down from a very bad trip, apparently.” He crossed his arms. “Do you know what they took? Seems pretty bad. Didn’t catch your guys’ names, by the way.”
“Dustin,” he kid said, peeking out the door.
“Erica Sinclair. Thanks for your help. We’ll take them from here.”
Eddie shook his head. “No way. I am not leaving these two in the care of two little kids. They’ll probably choke on their own vomit the second I leave.”
“Hey!” Steve protested groggily. “We can take care of ourselves.” All three of them looked down, utterly unconvinced.
Dustin sighed, still focused on what was on the other side of the door. “I don’t have time to argue. You can follow us or not, but if you do, you’re gonna have to get used to some real fucked up shit really quickly.”
“Yeah, yeah, Evil Russians or some shit.” Eddie rolled his eyes.
Dustin’s head whipped around. “You told him?” he hissed at the two on the floor.
“He’s nice! Gave us soda.” Steve raised the can of 7up to show Dustin.
“Idiots.” Erica hit Steve across the head.
“Woah, woah! Your friend looks pretty beat up already, maybe don’t give him more of a concussion than he probably has.”
“Yeah, ow. What he said.” Steve gave Eddie another stupid grin and Eddie’s stupid heart did another flip flop.
“Shut up!” Dustin whispered harshly. They all quieted, and Eddie heard the sound of noisy people spilling out from the theatre.
“Alright, come on, come on!” Dustin waved frantically with his hand. Eddie helped pull Steve and Robin from the floor, and they all followed Dustin into the crowd.
“Well shit, that worked.” Erica huffed in disbelief.
“Of course it worked.” Kid was smug as hell. “Now we just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home here we come.”
“Uh Dustin,” Steve mumbled, sounding guilty.
“What.”
“Yeah we might not wanna go to your house.”
Dustin looked up at him. “Why?”
“Well, I might’ve told ‘em your full name,” Steve spouted out.
“What is wrong with you?” Dustin scolded him, voice high and nervous.
Steve tried to defend himself. “Dude, I was drugged.”
“Wait wait wait, told who? Drugged?” Eddie was trying to keep up, but whatever story the kids were coming up with was confusing.
Both Erica and Dustin turned to him and whispered. “Russians!” At the same time.
“Alright, alright, Russians. Got it.” He was about to say more, but Robin interrupted.
“Guys.” She grabbed Dustin’s shoulder, nodding her head towards two men checking people’s bags as they left the mall.
“Abort,” Dustin called out with a panic. One of the men’s heads turned to them. “Abort!”
“What-” Eddie didn’t have a chance to ask questions before Steve’s hand grabbed his suddenly, and started pulling him in the opposite direction. When Eddie looked over his shoulder, The two men were whispering to each other, then following after the group with determination.
Eddie truly started to freak out then. He thought these kids were playing a funny little game, make believe about Russians, but now two men decked out in black with very large guns were chasing after them.
They reached the escalator, and Robin looked behind her for a split second before sliding down the space between the two sets of steps going up and down. Eddie was basically being herded by Steve at this point, and he was pushed by Steve’s large, warm hands right after Robin. He watched as Steve made sure both kids went before him before sliding down himself.
They bolted towards the food court; most of the mall was empty by that point, the crowds all gathered around the doors since the mall was set to close in a few minutes. They swung themselves over the counter of one of the restaurants, and when Steve landed on his ass, he dragged Eddie down with him.
“What the fuck, what the fuck you guys, who were thos-” Steve clapped a hand over Eddie’s mouth, and the first thing he noticed was how cold it still was from holding the soda can. The second thing he noticed was the sound of footsteps, way too many to still be from just the two men, and the crackle of a foreign language sounding out over their radios.
He could hear them getting closer and closer, and one of the men spoke quietly into his walkie. Soft footsteps started to converge on their position, and without thinking, Eddie grabbed Steve’s hand and his eyes squeezed shut. Luckily, Steve didn’t think about it and grabbed back just as hard. They were all trying to be quiet, but they couldn’t help from breathing heavily, out of sheer terror.
Eddie was sure they were about to die, when the sudden blaring of a car alarm made him nearly jump out of his skin. Eddie’s eyes flew open and they were all looking at each other in confusion when a very loud crash echoed across the food court. Very carefully, they rose from their hiding place, and were shocked with the sight of the men splayed out on the floor, bleeding and most likely dead. The car that had been on display was now overturned next to the hot dog and a stick, way too far away from its previous position, encircled by faux velvet rope.
Eddie followed the other’s gaze to the upper floor of the mall, landing on a group of kids the same age as Dustin. A girl stood in the front, arm outstretched, and Eddie could barely make out that her nose was bleeding.
“What happened…?” Eddie was so out of his depth.
Dustin was grinning beside him, pointing towards the girl in the black and yellow shirt. “That’s Eleven. She has superpowers.”
Eddie wanted to ask more questions, but the two groups were barreling towards each other, and Dustin caught Eleven in a hug, along with another one of the boys.
“You flung that thing like a hot wheel!” Dustin shouted excitedly.
Erica was arguing with one of the boys in the other group. She pointed towards Steve and Robin when asked what she was doing here.
“Ask them, it’s their fault.”
“True, yeah, totally true it’s our fault.” Steve admitted quickly.
“Hold on, how did that car get pushed across the food court?” Eddie asked, overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids that had just appeared.
“Superpowers, Eddie, she threw it with her mind. C’mon, catch up.”
“I told you you’d have to get used to some real fucked up shit fast,” Dustin threw at him, still grinning.
“”That’s El?” Erica pointed at the girl with blood on her face.
Robin lifted her hands to her hips, looking around in confusion. “Who’s El?”
“Who are you guys?” The question was directed at both Eddie and Robin, and Eddie recognized Nancy Wheeler, Steve’s ex.
“I’m Robin. I work with Steve.”
“She cracked the top secret Russian code,” Dustin explained.
Eddie raised his hand. “Eddie. I found them high out of their minds on the bathroom floor.” He jabbed his thumb at Robin and Steve.
It went back and forth like that for a while, Eddie couldn’t really follow. He heard more about some Russians, something about low battery and almost dying. He looked around, giving up on the conversation when he saw El stumbling away from the group, holding her hands over her ears. He swatted Steve’s arm, trying to get their attention. “Guys. Guys!”
They all turned to look at him, and he pointed towards the girl, who promptly collapsed on the floor. They all rushed to gather around her, and pulled a dirty bandage from around her leg. Eddie almost threw up when he saw something squirming under her skin.
She was screaming, and Eddie had to back away, hand over his mouth. He stumbled towards the upended chairs in the cafeteria, collapsing on one of the few still standing. He bent over, tucking his head between his knees and trying to breathe in and out. “What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck!”
“Hey, hey hey hey man, you okay?” Eddie raised his head, and of course Steve Harrington was crouched in front of him, concern etched across his face. Eddie laughed hysterically.
“What is going on? One second I’m helping one of my friends and her douchebag coworker ride out a bad trip, the next we’re being chased by Russians with guns and a girl with superpowers flings a car at them, and now they’re dead on the floor, and now supergirl is screaming and there’s something crawling under her skin and-”
“Hey, Hey. Look at me.” Both of Steve’s hands grab Eddie’s head and force him to focus on Steve’s very beat up face. “I know, I know, this is batshit insane, and if I thought it was safe, I’d tell you to leave right now, and get as far away as you possibly can from all this bullshit. But it’s not, so I can’t.”
Eddie’s breathing slowed, and he was soothed by Steve’s somehow calm voice. “I’m sorry we dragged your ass into this, you were just trying to be nice, but now you're in it with the rest of us, and the safest thing for you to do right now is trust me, and stay close.”
“So those guys, they were actually Russians?” Eddie’s voice was still out of breath, but he managed to speak clearly. “And… and they drugged you?”
Eddie could still hear the tortured screams of the girl on the floor, and he could barely stand it. Noticing Eddie was starting to panic again, Steve started speaking, stroking Eddie’s cheeks with his thumbs. “Yeah, they were Russians and yeah, they drugged us. Me and Robin. Had us tied up in a secret basement under the mall.”
“Your face?” Eddie asked, starting to reach for Steve but stopping himself.
Steve laughed. “That bad?” Eddie nodded sheepishly and Steve shook his head. “They kinda beat the shit out of me, trying to get me to admit I was some super secret spy or something.”
Eddie smiled at him. “Are you?”
“No, no,” he chuckled. “Just some idiot who’s best friends with a kid who intercepted a secret code from a giant makeshift radio antenna he built to talk to his girlfriend in another state.”
“Dustin? He’s kind of a little shithead.”
“Yeah, he really is, isn’t he? I’m beginning to think his girlfriend is made up.” Steve was still smiling at him, holding Eddie’s face, and Eddie really hoped he didn’t notice the red spreading across his cheeks. Steve was so close, their heads were almost touching. Steve was grinning up at him from where he had knelt to calm Eddie, and oh hell he was falling for stupid Steve fucking Harrington.
The revelation made him turn away, just in time to see the glass behind the group on the floor shatter, and some weird, fleshy thing fly away and land, leaving a trail of blood and ooze behind it. It started to skitter away, chittering and squealing, before it was crushed by the boot of Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper.
Hopper was flanked by a short woman and some balding guy in his undershirt. Eddie’s focus shifted back to Steve when the battered man rose to his feet and offered a hand to Eddie. “You good?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m good,” Eddie breathed out, accepting the hand and following Steve back to the rest of the group. He hung back with Robin as everyone explained everything to everyone else. He paid attention, mostly because Steve was doing the most explaining about the Russians and their secret base, and Eddie’s eyes were glued to his face, enraptured.
“Dude, you’re staring.” Robin elbowed him, and he quickly looked away.
“No I wasn’t.” Robin raised her eyebrow. “Shut up.”
“Swooning over Steve “The Hair” Harrington. Who would’ve thought.”
“I am not swooning,” he grumbled, shoving her playfully.
She laughed. “So I guess it wasn’t you guys in the cafeteria, faces so close you could’ve been kissing.”
“He was helping me Robin, okay? I’m just a little freaked out about all this.”
Robin stopped teasing him. “Yeah, I know, right? I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
“So you and him were trapped underground, and they drugged you so you would tell the truth?”
She nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“So that’s why you spilled your guts to him in the bathroom. Figuratively and literally.”
“Oh my god you heard that?”
He grinned at her. “Here you are, teasing me, when you literally came out to “King Steve,” ruling douchebag of Hawkins High, on a dirty bathroom floor.”
“Shut up,” she squeaked, pushing him back. “He’s actually really nice when you get to know him. He didn’t freak out or anything when I told him about Tammy Thompson.”
Eddie ducked his head. “Yeah, I heard. He was really cool about the whole thing.”
“And guess what,” she asked, not waiting for an answer. “I told him right after he confessed his love for me.”
“What? No way.” Eddie shook his head in disbelief.
“Yeah way. He stooped to our level. He’s basically a permanent guardian of those nerdy little kids, and his best friend is the asshole that picked up the Russian code.”
“Wow.” He shrugged. “Steve Harrington, overseer of the nerds. Who would’ve thought.”
“Right? He acts like he’s sick of them, always complaining about being the chauffeur to their little D&D sessions, but he lights up everytime they show up at the counter.”
“So they’re D&D nerds, huh? Guess I’ve found my batch of newest recruits.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Steve walking over, gesturing for them to follow. “We’re gonna get the hell out of here, drive Dustin up to his homemade radio tower so he can help the adults navigate the Russian lab. He lifted the keys Hopper had tossed to him. “Got us a new ride.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Eddie said, jumping to his feet.
When the group finally made it out into the parking lot, Steve whistled. “Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!”
Eddie raised his eyebrows at the car skeptically.
“Todfather?” Robin questioned, mirroring Eddie’s thoughts exactly.
“Oh screw Tod, Steve’s her daddy now.”
Both him and Robin rolled their eyes. Eddie hopped in the backseat between the two kids while Robin took the passenger seat. They sped down a deserted backroad, definitely going way over the speed limit. Dustin and Steve were arguing about the existence of Dustin’s girlfriend when the kid screeched at Steve to make a left, taking them up a hill with no road.
They made it about halfway up before the car stalled, much to Steve’s distress. They ran the rest of the way up. The kids scrambled to answer the radio while he and Robin sat down in the grass, Robin laying down, looking up at the stars. They sat in silence, listening to Dustin and Erica navigate Murray through the vents, when Steve got their attention.
The Starcourt Mall’s lights were flickering on and off, and everyone panicked at once. Dustin skidded over, radioing the group that was supposed to have left the mall when they did. An inhuman scream sounded out through the walkie, and they all looked at each other, eyes wide.
“Lets go, LETS GO,” Steve shouted. The kids stayed behind while Eddie launched himself back into the car with Robin and Steve. They took off, Steve was driving even faster on the way back.
“What’s happening at the mall?” Eddie practically yelled over the sound of the engine.
“Don’t know,” Steve shouted back. “But lights going on and off always means freaky shit is happening. You heard the sound that came out of the radio, right?”
“Yeah, Yeah man, didn’t sound good.”
They got to the mall in record time. When they sped into the parking lot, he could see a car hurtling towards where the group that was supposed to have left was parked. Eddie barely had time to scream before they were crashing into the sports car, hurtling it away from Nancy, who was standing like a deer in headlights.
They sat in the car, still in shock, trying to catch their breath. “Everyone okay?”
“Yeah, never better.” Eddie grinned. This may have been totally crazy, but it’s the most excitement Eddie had gotten in probably his entire life. He was high off the adrenaline. He had a split second to bask in the insanity of it all, before a loud crunching shifted the groups entire focus to the top of the mall.
Something was crawling out of the busted ceiling. A giant, fleshy creature came into view, shrieking at the people below.
“What the FUCK is that?!” Eddie screamed, voice shrill and panicked. The other car beeped frantically behind them, and they all piled into the backseat, kids in the car screaming at them to get in. He and Steve looked out the window behind them to see the monstrosity thundering after them.
“Can someone tell me what the HELL that thing is?” He frantically asked again.
“The Mind Flayer!” Erica’s older brother, Lucas, shouted back.
"I may be totally new to all this stuff, but you cannot tell me that thing is an Illithid. It has way too many limbs, and yeah maybe it kinda looks like a really fucked up octopus if you squint, but that is not a Mind Flayer."
Both kids looked back at him in shock. "You play D&D?" The quieter kid, Will, asked.
Eddie grinned, forgetting about the situation they were in for a moment. "Yeah, I'm the Dungeon Master of the D&D club at the high school."
"Oh dude that is so cool!" Lucas seemed excited, but Eddie noticed Will was suddenly upset.
"Oh, so D&D is cool again? I thought you were too busy with your girlfriends to ever actually sit down for a session!"
Eddie gasped, trying to lighten the mood, realizing he touched a nerve. "You're telling me that you left your comrade behind to chase after a fair lady? For shame, Sir Lucas!" He put on his dramatic DM voice, and coaxed a laugh out of Will. "I will keep your betrayal in mind if you ever find yourself at my table."
He shot a sinister look towards the boys, winking at Will. Their antics were interrupted, however, by
Dustin's voice crackling out of the walkie he had given them earlier, followed by another, female voice. They listened to the back and forth, looking at each other in disbelief.
“Suzie,” the boys and Steve breathed out in unison.
“She actually exists,” Eddie laughed.
“It would seem so, my shaggy-headed friend.” Robin reached out to muss with his hair.
They were all giggling like crazy when they heard silence on the radio, right before Dustin began to sing. Eddie balked at the others. “Is that the intro to neverending story?”
The rest of the group shrugged. Eddie listened for a few more seconds to confirm. “It totally is! That little asshole is singing ‘neverending story’!” He looked at the others. “We’re totally giving him shit for this later, aren’t we.”
Steve answered first. “Oh absolutely”
“No doubt about it.” “We’re never gonna let him live this down.” Will and Lucas, respectfully, agreed.
“Everyone else is hearing this right, we’re all on the same channel?” Eddie said, snickering when everyone nodded.
“Guys,” Robin poked at Steve and Eddie. “It’s turning around.”
Lucas looked back. “Maybe we tired it out.”
Jonathan grimaced. “I don’t think so.” He spun the car around, and now they were heading towards the giant meaty flesh monster.
“Woah woah woah, why are we turning around?” Eddie shouted. “I’m pretty sure we want to be getting as far away from that thing as possible.”
“El, Mike, and Max are still at the mall,” Nancy yelled from the front. “It’s going after her, we need to help!”
“And what, exactly are we going to do to the 30-foot monstrosity? Shoot slingshots at it?”
Instead of answering, Lucas pointed down at their feet. Sure enough, sitting in the back with Robin, Eddie, and Steve, was boxes and boxes of very powerful fireworks.
“Alright, okay. We’re going to chuck fireworks at it. Cool. Awesome. That’ll definitely work.”
“It won’t kill it, obviously, but maybe it’ll distract it enough so that Hopper and Miss Byers can close the gate,” Lucas explained.
“The gate to another dimension where everything is the same except it’s dark and creepy and dying?”
“The very one. See, Robin, he gets it,” Steve pointed out.
“Uh huh, yup. I totally understand everything that’s going on.” Eddie nodded his head, his tongue pushing out the skin under his bottom lip. “No problemo.”
Robin rolled her eyes, shoving at Eddie. Unfortunately, the trunk was very small, and Robin pushed him right into Steve’s lap. His face was suddenly pressed into Steve’s very broad, very warm chest.
“Woah, Munson. Eyes are up here.” When Eddie scrambled back enough to see Steve’s expression, it was flushed and happy. He definitely didn’t have time to unpack that right now, as they were once again tearing into the mall parking lot.
“Alright,” Lucas began. “We should split up. I’ve got three boxes of fireworks, and if we space out, we can hit it from multiple angles at once.” He shoved a box towards Nancy. “You and Jonathan can take this one, and you three can take the other.” He passed a box to Steve. “Me and Will can take the third.”
“Alright, let’s move out.” Steve spurred the three groups into action, and they all filed into the mall, heading towards the upper floor right away.
Lucas threw the first firework, and that was as good of a signal as any. Eddie dug in his pocket, and tossed two lighters to Steve and Nancy, pulling out another one for himself.
“Dude, why do you have so many lighters?”
Eddie raised his eyebrow at Steve.
“Right right, stupid question.
Eddie threw the first firework and it exploded in a burst of green fire against the Mind Flayer. He laughed. “This is so batshit, Harrington, who knew you were this crazy,” he yelled, lighting another.
Steve stepped up beside him, lobbing his own. “Yeah, this is pretty fucked isn’t it?”
“I’ve gotta be dreaming, throwing pyrotechnics at a monster made up of the flesh of townspeople, fighting side by side with Steve “The Hair” Harrington.
“Just another Tuesday for me at this point, honestly”
“God, your life is so insane man. How long have you been dealing with this shit?”
“Since like, junior year dude. Remember when that kid went missing?”
“When they found his lake in the body and then he turned up alive like a few days later?”
“Yeah. That was Will. That’s where it all started, for me at least.”
Eddie was still throwing fireworks, but he turned to watch Steve. “How’d you get sucked up in all this?”
“Believe it or not, I was coming to apologize to Jonathan after he beat the shit out of me. It was totally deserved though,” he laughed out with dry humor. “Turns out I had stumbled into a monster hunt with Nancy and him. They gave me an out and I almost took it. I was about to drive away when I saw the lights flickering from inside, so I went back in, grabbed a bat full of nails off the floor, and bashed the Demogorgon in the side of the head.”
“A Demogorgon, like the two-headed demon with the tentacles?”
“No, no, just one head and no tentacles. Looked like a tall dude except it didn’t have a face, it’s head just opened up like a flower. Except, instead of petals, there was a shit-ton of teeth.”
“I’m gonna have a talk with the kids about what they name these things. Not accurate at all.”
Steve laughed, a full-bodied sound this time. “That’s what you’re worried about right now? We’re fighting a giant 30-foot monster and you’ve got a problem with the name?”
Eddie grinned at him. “Well, yeah. They suck at naming things.”
“My god, every one of you is a nerd. I’m surrounded by nerds.”
“Uh guys.” Robin’s voice interrupted them. “If you guys could stop flirting for like two seconds, we’ve only got one more.”
Eddie flushed at the comment, and he was about to protest, but he shut his mouth when Steve stooped down to grab it, and held it out to Eddie. “Wanna do the honors, Munson?”
Eddie smiled. “Hell yeah.”
After the last firework was thrown, they all rushed to the edge of the balcony, realizing that the others were running out of fireworks too. Eddie spotted someone pushing back against the monster, protecting El who was lying on the floor in front of it. “Is that… Billy Hargrove?”
“Oh, yeah, he’s like the Mind Flayer's minion now. I guess he snapped out of it.” Steve was elbow to elbow with Eddie, pressed close so they could see what was happening.
Eddie watched with horror, flinching as other arms reached out from the Mind Flayer, digging into Billy’s flesh. The final arm went right through his chest, and he was released, his body dropping to the floor. Eddie shuddered. “Dude was a total asshole, but he didn’t deserve that.”
Without warning, the creature started swaying back and forth, and it’s body came hurtling toward the balcony where they were standing. Eddie froze. His body wouldn’t move, and Eddie could only close his eyes against the inevitable impact when another body collided with his, knocking him to the floor and away from the edge. His eyes blinked open in shock, and Steve Harrington was on top of him, pushing himself up from Eddie’s body where he had collapsed.
“You okay?” He asked, still hovering over Eddie, scanning his body for injuries.
Eddie’s face flushed and he gulped, throat suddenly dry. “Yeah. Yeah man. All good.” Steve was still just looking at him, staring at his face well after Eddie had assured him that he was okay. Eddie cleared his throat. “You gonna get off of me?”
Steve shook his head, shifting back so that Eddie could stand. “Sorry, got distracted.”
Trying to calm his racing heart, he teased Steve. “Aww, by lil’ ol’ me?”
“A thank you would be nice, I did just, like, save your life or whatever,” Steve grumbled, arms crossed.
Eddie bowed dramatically, spreading his arms out. “Why thank you, my knight in shining armor. I owe my life to you.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Munson. You’re such a nerd.”
Eddie pranced over, sticking his hand in Steve’s hair and messing it up. “Literally your only friends are nerds now. You love it.”
“Are you?” Steve asked, vaguely.
“Am I what, Harrington? A nerd? I think that’s been established my friend.”
“No, that. ‘My friend’. Are you?”
“I’d hope so, we did just, like save the world together,” Eddie answered apprehensively.
Much to Eddie’s relief, a smile broke out across Steve’s face. “Awesome.”
“Ugh, gag. You two are so corny.” Robin pushed between them, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders, pulling them into a hug.
All three of them looked up, still embracing, to see helicopters hovering over the mall. Government-looking soldiers filed into the mall below, spreading out and ushering the kids out into the parking lot. They got their own escorts, and were herded towards an ambulance to be checked for injuries.
Steve got the worst of it, being beat to hell by the Russians. Robin and Eddie escaped pretty unscathed, aside from a few bumps and bruises. He looked out, watching the kids run into the arms of their respective families. He glanced over at Steve, still sitting in the ambulance with a blanket around his shoulders. His face was all patched up, bandages covering his eye.
“No heartwarming reunion for you Harrington?” He slumped down next to him.
“Nah, parents are probably still out on a business trip in Chicago or wherever they went. It’s not the first time they didn’t show up after one of these things. I was actually in the hospital briefly last year.”
“Oh yeah? What did it?”
Steve got quiet, looking back at the mall. “Billy. He came looking for Max when we were all holed up together, hiding from these freaky dog creatures.”
“Oh. I keep forgetting you’ve done this before. I’m still unbelievably freaked out by this whole thing.”
“You seem pretty chill with it.” Steve returned his gaze to Eddie, staring intensely at his face.
“Yeah that’s the shock, I think. I’ll probably freak out once I get home. It’s gonna suck to go back to an empty trailer, my Uncle works nights.”
“Then don’t,” Steve offered, pulling Eddie into his side with an arm around his shoulders . “Come back with me. Parents aren’t home, and even I don't want to sleep alone right now.”
Eddie shivered. It was dangerous, being this close to Steve Harrington.“Really? Trying to get me into your bed after all this? That’s low, Harrington.”
Steve elbowed him, but still held him tight. “Shut up, you probably just saw the most fucked up shit in your entire life. You’re telling me you don’t want another body next to you?”
“I suppose you're right. Damn, here I thought I was special. I guess I’m as easily seduced as everyone else.”
“You are special Eddie.” Steve was surprisingly sincere. “Instead of leaving me and Robin to die on the bathroom floor, you held her hair back and got us sodas.” He shook his head. “And this is your reward.” He swept the arm that wasn’t holding Eddie towards the mall. “Traumatized, sitting in the back of an ambulance with a grade-A douchebag holding you like a teddy bear.”
Against his better judgment, Eddie pressed closer to Steve. “You’re not a douchebag.”
“Yeah, I am Munson. You should know, you had to deal with me in high school too.”
“You were a douchebag. You’re actually kinda cool now, as much as it hurts to say it.”
Steve laid his head on top of Eddie’s, and his stomach filled with butterflies again. Eddie could pretend for now. Pretend like this is where he belonged, in Steve’s arms, tucked against his side. It was nice, even though he knew it couldn’t last. He closed his eyes, relaxing his head into the crook of Steve’s neck.
The lights flashed around them, and they watched as the helicopters set fire to the mall, burning the evidence of what had transpired inside.