Chapter Text
Eddie is in the hospital for the next two weeks before he gets the all clear to be discharged. Wayne and Owens had agreed with Steve’s idea. Owens wanted to keep a close eye on Eddie to make sure nothing unusual popped up during his recovery. They were alone in the house as Claudia and Robin had somehow convinced Dustin to give Eddie the night to get settled.
Due to the bites on his legs, Eddie had been discharged with a cane. Steve knows he’s hovering as he gets Eddie in the car and finally into the house. Eddie looks around, “Wow, I mean, I saw it down there but it looks a lot more homely when there aren’t creepy vines and actual electricity and, oh and running water. Please tell me I’ve been cleared to shower. I feel like I’ve been stuck in the arm pit of a cave troll for weeks.”
Steve smiles, “I’m going to take a wild stab that that means you stink. They did clear you but only under supervision. I don’t think you’re steady enough to shower, so I can draw you a bath if you like.”
Eddie agrees and Steve helps him up to the master bathroom. He’s using his parents’ bathroom as it has the stand alone tub. He makes sure the water isn’t scalding and is appropriately bubbly before he turns to Eddie.
“Can you undress yourself or do you need help,” Steve asks.
Eddie grins, “Yes, Steve I can undress myself, I may just need help getting in. The bites on my thighs are kind of tight.”
Steve hands him a towel, “Here, undress and cover up with this and I’ll help you in.”
Eddie takes the towel and immediately takes his shirt off. Most of the bites are in the end staging of healing and Steve can feel the heat flushing his cheeks. He spins around.
Eddie chuckles to himself and finishing undressing, “Okay, Steve, all covered.”
Steve helps him in and the moan that Eddie lets out as he sinks into the warm water makes heat flush somewhere other than Steve’s cheeks. He sits on the vanity as Eddie soaks. The water slowly begins to turn pink and then black as the remnants of the Upside Down soak away. He watches as Eddie struggles to get his arms up to try to undo the messy knot his hair was in.
“Do you want me to wash your hair? It’s going to turn into a rat’s nest if you don’t,” Steve asks. Eddie nods. Steve digs under the sink and pulls out a basin. He fills it with warm water and grabs his shampoo and conditioner from his bathroom. He sits on the edge of the tub.
“Okay, scoot forward and lean your head back,” Steve says and Eddie slowly scoots himself forward and dips his head back, eyes locking with Steve. Steve dunks Eddie’s hair into the basin, slowly cupping and pouring the water over his head, careful not to get it into Eddie’s eyes.
Once Eddie’s hair is properly doused, Steve squeezes shampoo into his hand, “Now, tell me if I scrub too hard, your hair is a mess and I have to get the tangles out.”
“Work your magic. Live up to that Steve “The Hair” Harrington title,” Eddie says.
Steve grins and starts. He uses his nails to softly scrub away the grit and grime. Eddie makes a sound and Steve freezes, “Did I hurt you?”
“Steve, if you stop, I will never forgive you.”
Steve smiles and continues. He rinses out the shampoo and starts with the conditioner, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles on Eddie’s temples. He’d never washed anyone’s hair before, but he needed to touch Eddie, to remind himself it wasn’t a dream. Eddie’s alive, he’s here. He slowly combs through Eddie’s hair. Steve had never realized how long and thick Eddie’s hair was and finds himself rambling about how Eddie needs to keep up with his hair routine like he showed Dustin. How he’ll show him how to keep the curls from going to frizz while he lives there. He gently gets the mats out and rinses out the conditioner. Steve grabs a dry towel and dries Eddie’s hair but the shaking of Eddie’s shoulders takes him by surprise.
“Eddie?”
Eddie has curled in on himself as much as possible and is sobbing. His breathes are coming in gasps. Before Steve can even think of what he’s doing he’s crawled into the tub and is sitting in front of Eddie.
“Eddie? Eddie, look at me, okay? You’re safe, you’re okay,” Steve says, his legs on either side of Eddie as he pushes himself as close as he can get. Eddie’s face is crumbled as he sobs, the weight of everything that’s happened to him finally sinking in.
“I died. Steve. I died. I felt myself die. I felt my body grow cold as I...as I bled to death. It hurt so bad. I tried not to show Henderson but it hurt to breathe, I felt the blood going into my lungs. I didn’t want him to see the end, he wasn’t supposed to follow me. I’ve hurt him so much, Steve,” Eddie says.
“Shh, Eddie. I know it’s a lot to have to deal with. More than any of us will ever understand. But Dustin’s going to be okay. You came back to us. We’ll be okay. But listen to me, you are one of us now. Okay? We’ll help you. I’ll take care of you Eds,” Steve says.
Eddie’s shaking but the crying has slowed. Steve’s hands are on Eddie’s bent knees, thumbs rubbing gently. He’s as cold as the tub water has become.
Eddie smiles weakly, “Harrington?”
“Yeah, Eddie?”
“Did you really just jump into my filthy tub water fully clothed?”
“Uh, yes...yes I did,” he says.
Eddie smiles as he wipes his eyes, “Thank you.”
Steve nods before standing up and stepping out of the tub. He grabs several towels and puts some on the floor to soak up the mess and holds one out for Eddie to step into.
“Yeah, going to need help,” he says.
“Right, right, right,” Steve says as he wraps his arm around Eddie and pulls him up to his feet. He gets Eddie out of the tub and hands him pajamas and tells him to use whatever he needs and to go to his room when he was done. Them he quickly makes his exit. He makes his way to his bathroom.
“What the hell was that, Harrington? Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he says to himself as he pinches the bridge of his nose. His eyes were aching as he didn’t put his glasses on before picking Eddie up. Vanity striking once again. He takes a quick shower and makes sure to put his glasses on when he’s done. He’s drying his hair as he walks into his room.
“Hey, Eddie, about-” he freezes. Eddie’s sitting on his bed. Going through his sketchbook.
“Jesus, Steve-”
“I can explain,” Steve interrupts, panicked.
Eddie looks up smiling, “Explain what? That you’ve been hiding this fucking awesome talent?”
Before Steve can stop him, Eddie flips the page and gets to the section that’s all him.
Steve’s frozen in place, towel dropping from his hand, as Eddie silently looks through the drawings, one after another. The day after Eddie woke up, Steve had cleaned all of the discarded drawings and put what he could back into the sketchbook. He’d even put in the last drawing he had done of Eddie that night at Max’s. He must not have pushed the book all the way in and now Eddie knows.
Steve wants nothing more than to hide. Eddie must think him a creep for all these unsolicited drawings.
“Steve,” Eddie’s voice makes him jump.
“U-uh, yeah?”
“Why did you draw me? I mean I understand Robin, Nance, Dustin, but why me? I mean this is me in middle school...high school...wait is this me as Macbeth? I don’t understand. Why me,” he asks in earnest.
“Guess it’s now or never,” Steve thinks to himself.
“Honestly? At first, back when I first saw you. I didn’t know why. I would just find myself in English class staring at you, drawing you. You,” he pauses and sits down next to him on the bed, “fascinated me, inspired me. You came in and out of my life. Then Senior year, Nancy broke up with me and there you were again. Only, this time, I started realizing that your eyes made me think of hot chocolate. I even started drawing in color because I just had to get them right. And your hair. Your hair has this soft weightlessness like a feather. A feather from a raven,” Steve knew he should stop as he was rambling, but he just kept going.
“And did you know your eyes crinkle at the corners when you smile? I do. I do, Eddie...because...I can’t stop thinking about you. I was so confused about how I was feeling...and then you died....you were gone and a part of me went with you. And then I knew. I knew why I couldn’t stop drawing you. Why your smile seemed to always make my stomach go all funny. God, I thought I was going to have to live the rest of my life without telling you.”
“Steve,” Eddie starts but Steve raises his hand, cutting him off.
“No, Eddie. I have tried to say this for months and I wasted so much time. And for all I know, you won’t feel the same and things will change, but Eddie. Uh, I,” he pauses and takes a shaky breath, “I love you. I think I have loved you since that day when you took over reading for me in Mrs. Davidson’s class. You saw me struggling, saw people start to giggle and mock me and you made them stop and-,” he’s stopped by a hand on his cheek.
There’re tears in Eddie’s eyes again but he’s smiling, “Steve...”
Eddie’s kissing him. It’s hungry and sloppy but Steve leans into Eddie more. His mouth tastes like Steve’s toothpaste. Eddie’s lips are still a bit chapped and his scruff scrapes against Steve’s chin. But he doesn’t care about that because Eddie’s hands are in his hair, nails scraping his scalp. Steve slowly wraps his arm around Eddie’s waist, his other hand palms the back of Eddie’s head, pulling him in closer. His fingers twist in soft waves before sliding down to cup Eddies neck.
Their lips slot perfectly together.
Steve’s lost in euphoria and pulls Eddie close a little too quickly causing Eddie to grunt in pain. Quickly, Steve pulls back, looking Eddie over.
“Shit Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
Eddie chuckles, his arm wrapped around his middle, “Not at all, Stevie. Body’s just not up for more than first base. But if you play your cards right, princess, you’ll round the bases soon enough.”
“Jesus, you’re cheesy. Yeah, attraction totally over, you’re sleeping on the couch,” Steve says, unable to hide his growing smile.
Eddie cups his cheek again, his thumb rubbing Steve’s cheek softly, “Thanks for saving me.”
“Thanks for coming back to me,” Steve says before taking Eddie’s face in his hands and kisses him again, this time, slow and tenderly. Slowly they move back into the bed.
“Stay with me,” Steve breathes against Eddie’s cheek.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart,” Eddie says before rolling over. Steve wraps his arms around the smaller man, holding him gently but close to his chest. He buries his nose in the crook of Eddie’s neck, the scarring there has begun to soften. The scarring would fade but never go away. Steve didn't care because Eddie will always be perfect.
He can feel Eddie's pulse against his nose. He fades in and out of sleep, still so afraid that he'll wake up and it'll have all been a dream.
He wakes up before Eddie. He slides himself out from under the smaller man and checks the time. They’d slept through the night and the sun would be rising, it was already peeking through the slats of his blinds. He grabs his sketchbook. He pulls from it the drawing he’s made of Eddie all those years ago when he’d first met the boy with the smile like sunshine and eyes the color of chocolate. He tacks it over the hole in his wall.
He stares at it for a minute before crawling back into bed, Eddie instinctively wrapping himself around Steve , his head on Steve's chest, hair tickling his nose. He smiles to himself and, finally, Steve sleeps.