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bestbabysitter
The last thing Eddie remembers is an ungodly amount of pain. It isn’t the first time he’s felt such excruciating pain, but it is the first time he’s been privy to the source of it. The whole concept of soulmates had been one of the many things Eddie had scoffed at over the years. Just like school sports and parties, the idea of being bonded to someone felt like it was meant more for the Carol Perkins in the world than the Eddie Munsons.
It probably didn’t help that Eddie discovered from a young age that he was not like everyone else. Sure, girls were pretty, but he didn’t find himself wondering what it would be like to kiss them. So Eddie had accepted that he would wind up as one of the rare few without an eventual bond.
Then 1985 rolled around, as did his second unsuccessful attempt at senior year of high school, and suddenly it was starting to look like his assumptions were incorrect. It’s no secret that the soulmate bond rears its ugly head through a very literal empathy. For most people, they’ll feel the occasional scrape when their lover bangs their knee into the corner of a coffee table, or the unlucky few to experience a broken bone due to an accident that their lover was unfortunate to endure.
After July 4th, 1985, and the worst sympathetic pain he was certain that anyone had the displeasure of experiencing, Eddie had assumed whoever his soulmate was didn’t make it through some terrible accident. Hearing about the mall fire just compounded that assumption, although if he were being honest with himself, what he felt didn’t feel like being burned alive.
None of that could have prepared him for the worst Spring Break of his life. Eddie had thought he would just be spending the week shut in at the trailer, working on another song or maybe another campaign that he would run after he graduated. Instead, he was forced to go on the run after the whole town thought he was capable of killing Chrissy Cunningham. His only saving grace was an unlikely group of seasoned monster hunters – chief among them Steve fucking Harrington of all people. And hadn’t that been a surprise.
Almost as surprising as diving into a portal into another dimension, only to feel…well, he kept it to himself, the fact that he could feel the tiny little teeth ripping Steve’s flesh to shreds. It was almost certainly a one-sided thing, after all. And considering the writing was on the walls and Eddie could see no way out of this other than death or a jail cell, well…
Waking up in the hospital bed hadn’t been a part of that plan. Less so was waking up in a hospital bed with Steve sleeping apparently peacefully in the chair next to him, but when has any of Eddie’s plans panned out? With the shock of Steve’s presence out of the way, it brings light to the fact that all of Eddie’s body feels like it’s on fire. Whatever drugs that had been pumped into his system to keep the pain at a minimal level must be tapering off, and goddammit why is Steve asleep now when he could really use some help flagging down a nurse or something, but he can barely lift a finger right now, his whole body feeling like it’s made of lead.
“’arrington?” he manages to rasp out in a piss poor attempt to get Steve’s attention.
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The thing was, Steve had been through this before. Not exactly, but fighting for his life - for other people's lives - running from monsters, being scared as shit and still doing what he felt like he had to do. It wasn't unfamiliar, and if the time came, he knew damn well he'd do it again.
He just knew that the aftermath, when everyone was relatively safe and exhausted, SUCKED. The nightmares started up fast and never went away, but they were worst at the start because they were NEW horrors. And this time, Steve was pretty sure they'd only amp up worse. Because this time, it wasn't just that Eleven had lost her powers and her dad and Max had lost her (admittedly, kind of an evil asshole) brother. It was that they'd nearly lost MAX, and even if they hadn't, she'd probably never be the same again. That had happened on Steve's watch. Dustin had gotten hurt, and Eddie ... Eddie had nearly died too. Hell, Steve thought he WAS dead for a minute there.
It'd been the pain that made him realize Eddie wasn't. Because Steve had felt it from the moment it started, and just ... known where it was coming from. Steve had always secretly wanted that soulmate bond with someone. (With Nancy, he'd thought once, but it had never been there, and they'd been hurt together enough times to know.) He knew nothing was really foolproof - but the idea of someone who was destined to want to love him ... yeah. He'd wanted that. Even while at the same time doubting it was possible - parents were kind of supposed to love you too, and Steve was pretty sure his never really had. So he'd wanted, but not expected, and then bats started to carve up Eddie Munson, whose big brown eyes Steve had noticed more than once, and who Steve had blushed over being handed his vest to wear. And Steve felt every second of it. He could even recognize what it was - he'd just had them trying the same thing on him not that long ago.
At the time, it was one more jarring revelation and spike of adrenaline, shoved aside to be dealt with later, if they didn't die. But now it was a couple of days later, Steve still hadn't slept, and he hadn't really stopped to think of the fact that he had a soulmate he barely knew, and who had hated him up until their venture into the Upside Down. He had, however, gravitated back toward Eddie's room - with Dustin, a couple of times. He was young enough that the nurses could still cow him into bed though. Steve just ignored them with a smile, and they let him get away with it - they had enough to worry about already.
He hadn't meant to fall asleep, and probably hadn't been out for that long. It wasn't the raspy voice that woke him up though, it was the pain. He opened sleep-gritty eyes, neck yelling at him about the position he'd had it in, propped against the side of the chair, and his hand dropped absently toward his leg, but he sat up, cluing in quickly. "Munson, you're awake. You need a nurse?" he asked, already pushing himself up on slightly wobbly legs to go fetch one. "Water?" There was a pitcher for that at least on the rolling table next to Eddie's bed, and Steve hurriedly poured some, crouching down to offer it to Eddie, bending the little straw for him and holding the cup in place.
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Only once he had downed everything in his cup did he trust himself enough to talk again, his throat still sore and dry from disuse. He had no idea how long he had been out of it, and the pain from his healing wounds was too much for him to discern if the muscle ache was from laying in one position for days or something else entirely.
"Yeah," Eddie spoke up finally. "Hurts." He could feel his cheeks heating up as he could not hide his embarrassment at feeling so goddamn weak. He really was no hero -- even if, just days ago, he had nearly sacrificed himself to ensure all his friends would survive. "How'd we do? Did you do it? Did you make him pay?"
He let his eyes fall shut as he gave up trying to move, even with how uncomfortable his current position was. Then again, with his current state, he wasn't sure there was a comfortable position to be found, especially not with the IV in his wrist. At least he was alive, he reminded himself. Although, given what he remembered about how much Hawkins hated him and wanted to see him answer for crimes he didn't commit, he wasn't sure that was such a good thing.
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He winced on Eddie's behalf - even if ... yeah, he knew it did. He reached over, his own stitches pulling uncomfortably, hitting the nurse button on the side of Eddie's bed. "If she doesn't show in a couple of minutes, I'll go bug the desk," he promised. "We'll get you the good stuff."
"He's gone," Steve promised. "Max isn't ...great. But she's alive. Dustin's limping around, but he's all right. Everyone else is safe." Dustin wasn't sleeping, and Lucas wasn't leaving Max's bed. Robin was running on nothing but caffeine and sugar, and Nancy was all but silent. Erica kept staring off into the horizon, like she was planning for something worse to come.
But sure. They were safe.
"You're going to have some pretty gnarly scars, but you're going to be okay," Steve told him, setting the empty cup down. He hovered as Eddie shifted, not sure how to help him, but itching to.
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He let out a sigh when Steve confirmed that Vecna was gone. At least it was worth almost dying over, then. He winced at the mention of Dustin limping. He had thought Dustin would have stayed above, in Hawkins, and maybe got some help. If anything had happened to him...he was glad he didn't have to live with that guilt.
"Gnarly scars," Eddie repeated with a tired laugh as he looked down at the state of himself. He was covered in bandages, so he couldn't see the worst of it but could guess. "Not sure chicks are gonna dig these scars, dude," he added, laying back down now that he had his fill of water. "Gotta admit, Harrington," he started, his voice hushed as if he didn't want anyone else to overhear. "Your pretty face is not what I expected to wake up to. To what do I owe this pleasure...nay, privilege?"
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Of course he didn't expect Steve to be here. He probably didn't think he had much reason to. It wasn't true, but Steve couldn't exactly blame him for thinking the worst of Steve. He'd probably been an asshole to the guy when they were both in high school. He usually was.
Steve tried to ignore a little stir of pleasure at the "pretty face". Eddie was hurt, and probably also high on pain meds, even if he needed more for the pain. "Someone should be here when you wake up, and Dustin got chased out by his mom." Steve hesitated and then added. "And kind of wanted to see for myself you were all right. It was touch and go there."
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"Well, I appreciate it anyway. And, erm, sorry for scaring the shit out of you guys." Although deep down, he knew he would have done it all over again the same exact way. It went beyond that innate desire to stop running. He cared too much about Dustin and Steve and would have done anything to keep them safe.
"Any ideas when I'm gonna be released?" Eddie asked curiously. His face fell as he considered the possibilities of his release. "They're not...Powell's not gonna take me right into custody as soon as I'm healed, is he?"