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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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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?"