Chapter Text
Steve had barely thought of Eddie since he'd graduated from school, hadn't thought of him when he was there if he could avoid it. Eddie was, of course, hard to ignore, he'd always been so there, so loudly himself.
If they'd met now, Steve probably wouldn't have minded his blinding individuality, but, four years ago, Steve was (in Robin's words) a huge dick. He wasn't the kindest to anyone, and certainly not the nerdy goth kid who couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut.
Now, as he drove to Reefer Ricks lake house, two kids in the back and Robin in the passenger seat, he was thinking of Eddie Munson. More than he ever had. He wanted to trust Dustin but, as he turned into the dealer's driveway, he couldn't help but feel as if he was walking into a trap. The way Max had described Chrissy's body was slightly nauseating and, if Eddie had done that, Steve didn't want to be meeting him in the dark, with only him, a torch and a gangly lesbian to protect the kids.
They made their way to the house in silence, torchlight illuminating the way, putting Steve further on edge; too many bad memories attached to the forest and torchlight. When they reached the door Dustin immediately reached for the bell. Ringing it once, twice, three times before pounding on the wood.
"Okay," Steve said, shining his torch through the window, "well that's settled then, he's not here." Robin opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Dustin yelling for Eddie, loudly. Very loudly. Steve winced, and took a step away from the boy, seeing Max and Robin wander to the side of the house, gleaming their flashlights into the grubby windows as they went. Steve desperately tried to tune out Dustin's screeching, which, by now, had turned into repeatedly yelling for Reefer Rick.
"Hey, guys?" shouted Max from the side of the house, shining her light on something in front of her.
The boat house was large, grey and uninviting. Steve almost slipped on his way down the hill, stumbling to the door before catching himself on the wall, he heard Dustin let out a short chuckle that stopped when Robin opened the door, the smell of dampness and smoke hitting them almost instantly. Steve grimaced, tasting the rotting wood as he breathed in.
Looking around the building, Steve could see nowhere Eddie could hide. Well, nowhere except in the boat, suspended by rickety ropes above the water. Grabbing an oar from the wall Steve, less cautious than he maybe should've been, jabbed at the boat, driving the paddle into the tarp, making the floorboards creak and the ropes swing. Dustin jumped next to him, turning quickly, and stage whispering "What are you doing?"
Steve continued to thwack the tarp, and Dustin repeated his question.
"He might be in here."
"So take the tarp off!"
"If you're so brave, you take the tarp off." Steve looked at Dustin, expectantly, feeling like the parent he usually did when around the kids.
Robin and Max were talking in the corner, Steve was too focused on the task at hand to register what they were saying, he did, however, register Dustin making fun of him and his oar. Steve turned to respond, gritting his teeth as he justified his very good reasoning for why he was smacking some plastic with an oar. Midway through there was a noise from his right, he tried to turn but was pushed backwards before he got the chance, trying and failing to push against strong, pale hands, slamming against the wall as he and his friends yelled (begged) for his attacker to wait, to stop.
Steve could hear his heartbeat and when he cast his eyes forward saw Eddie Munson, broken bottle in hand, glaring at him through his curly bangs. Steve gritted his teeth, holding tightly to the oar, trying desperately to angle his neck in a way that the jagged end to the bottle wasn't digging into his skin so painfully.
Dustin was yelling again, telling Eddie that he was safe, that Steve wouldn't hurt him, calming him. He was always good with people, probably better than Steve, not that he'd admit it.
Steve dropped his oar and turned his focus to Eddie, unable to hear much of what Dustin was saying due to dull pain in his head and the shard of glass at his throat. He could feel Eddie's rings, pressing against the base of his neck, cold and heavy; smell his cheap cologne; he could see the tears gathering in his eyes; he tried to ignore the feeling in his stomach at the way the torch light hit Eddie's hair, making him glow slightly in the darkness, reflecting in his brown eyes, turning them golden.
Finally, after all of them swearing on Dustin's mother's life, Steve was released, stumbling to the side, resting on the table and feeling Robins's hands on his shoulders, "You okay?" she asked, sounding slightly frantic, "Steve?"
"Yeah," He pushed himself off the table, rubbing his neck and turning to look at Eddie, shaking on the floor, "He's stronger than he looks."
Dustin knelt opposite Eddie, willing him to explain, when he reached for the broken bottle, Eddie snatched his hand back, still not looking at anyone.
Robin mirrored Dustin's position on the floor, "We want to know what happened."
Eddie almost laughed at that one, turning slowly to look at Robin, then Steve "You won't believe me." He almost whimpered.
Max raised her eyebrows ruefully and said what they were all thinking:
"Try us."
---
They pulled crates and boxes to sit on while listening to Eddie recount the events of the previous night. Steve stood back, still not wanting to get too close to the long-haired boy when he still had the broken bottle so close to him. Steve believed him. He recognised the specific fear on Eddie's face, that he'd seen on Max and Robin the years before. A familiar fog seemed to settle in Eddie's doe-eyes as he described what happened to Chrissy, and what he did after.
"I ran away," his voice shook as he looked up at Steve and then quickly down at the water, "I left her there."
Steve wanted to say something. That he couldn't blame himself, that he couldn't have helped her, that it was too late but the look on Eddie's face, a mix of guilt and horror told him that his input wasn't wanted.
He found himself wondering if Eddie and Chrissy were friends (if they were more than that) and shook his head, frowning slightly as if trying to get rid of the unhelpful thoughts.
Unsuccessful, he focused again on Eddie's face (He was doing a lot of that) and watched as he scoffed, turning away from them "You all think I'm crazy right?" he dug his fingers into his temples, clenching his jaw.
"No," Dustin said, using the voice you'd use trying to calm a feral kitten, sympathetic, wary, "we don't think you're crazy."
"Don't bullshit me, man," Eddie's voice cracked, he raised his head from his hands, still unable to look at anyone else, "I know how this sounds!"
"We're not bullshitting you." Max retorted, she probably knew better than most what it was like to be in Eddie's position. To lose someone to the senseless unknown.
"We believe you." Added Robin.
Eddie, shook his head, long hair cascading over his shoulder as he let out a sigh, meeting Steve's eyes again, a fleeting expression passing over his features and then looking away. Steve didn't like it, meeting Eddie's eye made his stomach flip and his pulse quicken. Nerves, he told himself. He pretended he didn't know that was a lie.
"What I'm about to tell you might be a little" Dustin paused, thinking over his words, "Difficult to take."
Steve looked down at the floor as Dustin explained, an overwhelming guilt washing over him. He'd felt the same way about Robin and Erica, dragging into a mess, people who didn't deserve, who didn't need to be, dragged into it. And it didn't matter that Eddie was already involved. That he was already a wanted man because of his involvement with the upside-down. It didn't matter because now he knew about the dangers that lurked in that town, and now he'd want to stop it, and now he'd be in danger, and now he was Steve's responsibility.
Eddie wasn't showing much emotion on his face as Dustin spoke. He looked confused, slightly shocked and a bit like he was trying not to throw up. Better than Steve would've taken it if he'd learnt it all at once. He looked more frightened when the questions started again like he feared he wouldn't know the answer. Like he knew he wouldn't know it.
"Did you see anything?" Robin questioned, looking at Eddie with sympathy and a trace of the same guilt that overwhelmed Steve.
"No, man, there was nothing you could see, or uh... touch." he took a breath, steadying himself, and continued, "You know, I tried to wake her, man," He almost seemed like he was pleading, begging them to believe him, "She couldn't move, it was like she was in a trance or something."
Dustin's head snapped up at that, "Or under a spell?"
"A curse." It was a whisper, almost lost in the night air.
"Vecna's curse."
Well, that didn't sound too good.
"Who's Vecna?" He posed the question to the room but Eddie looked at him with that same strange expression that made his skin crawl. He didn't mind it as much as he should have.
"An undead creature of great power," Dustin said slowly as if he was trying to fit his mouth around the words. Force them to sit comfortably in his throat
"A spellcaster" Added Eddie, still not breaking eye contact with Steve, tensing his jaw when the other boy looked away.
Well shit, Steve rolled his shoulders back, hearing them crack, Definitely not too good then.