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It had been a great day up until that point. The whole Party (Dustin insisted that everyone should call them that) had decided to enjoy their last day of summer in the arcade, begging for all the adults to come with them. Steve would’ve gone anyway, never liking the idea to leave the kids alone.
He was in charge of taking Robin, Dustin, Lucas and Erica there, while Nancy and Jonathan would take Will, El and Mike. Eddie had gotten the easier part, only having to bring Max.
It was supposed to be a nice afternoon out. Everything had been nice, but of course things were never that easy for them.
The kids were almost inside the place, Jonathan and Nancy scolding Mike about something, while Robin and Dustin were laughing at something Max had said. Eddie had one arm slung around Steve’s shoulders (like he always did when they were out in public and both wanted to touch each other, but couldn’t be too physical) talking about a new campaign he was working on to Will, Lucas and Erica. Everything was like it was supposed to be.
Then Jason Carver got out of the Arcade, his friends by his side. Steve knew Carver would sometimes go there to drop his little brother, but he had hoped today wouldn’t be the case.
Steve felt Eddie tense beside him, tightening his hold on his boyfriend’s shoulder. All of the kids stopped talking, the older ones confused at first, but realizing what was happening soon enough.
For a while, they all stayed silent, only staring at each other, but it didn’t take long for Jason to notice the arm around Steve’s shoulder. “Well, shit,” Steve thought, but didn’t move.
“So he’s a fucking murderer and also a queer?” Was the first thing that left the jock’s mouth.
Steve took one step closer to the other, ready to defend Eddie, but his boyfriend stopped him before he could.
“Not worth it,” he whispered.
Steve looked the other in the eyes, looking for something he wasn’t even sure of, but found only tiredness. With a sigh, the brunette went back to his place, noticing Eddie’s arm didn’t come back to his shoulder. It hurt, but he knew it was necessary.
“Just leave us alone, Carver.” Steve said. “No one here wants to fight.”
The blonde guy seemed to only then notice who was the guy Eddie was with. He looked at Steve and he was shocked for a few seconds, but tried not to let it show.
“Steve Harrington,” he said. “How the mighty have fallen.”
Steve rolled his eyes so hard it almost hurt. “Yeah, yeah. Get out of here.”
“Can’t believe we actually looked up to someone like you,” the guys by his side nodded. “Now you walk with a fucking murderer.”
“Eddie didn’t kill anyone, dumbass. Get over that.” Erica said, and Steve almost cried. Why couldn’t his kids just stay quiet?
When the jocks looked at the others, a sense of protectiveness overcame Steve, taking a step closer one more time, keeping himself between all of them. Jason laughed at that.
“You think we’re scared of you, Harrington?”
“You should be,” Robin said, and as soon as everyone stared at her, she went pale. “I mean… just leave us alone!”
Jason took one step closer as well, almost pressed to the brunette now. “Or what? We’re not scared of a fag like you.”
Steve was ready to speak again, but then Eddie was faster. “Yeah, no. You really shouldn’t have said that.”
When Eddie punched Jason, Steve was in shock for the first few seconds. Had his boyfriend really just punched someone for him?
Oh, god. That was hot.
Before he could think more about that, Jason threw a punch in Eddie's direction, but Steve was fast to put himself between them, the punch going to his jaw. “Steve!” he heard Nancy, Robin and Dustin shouting. The brunette could already feel a headache coming, his left ear ringing.
The Carver boy was about to throw another punch when his fist stopped mid air, like something was pushing it back. “What the…?” Jason said, trying to move his hand again, but failing.
“Jason?” one of his friends asked, sounding confused.
“There’s something holding me back, man!” he said, his voice wavering with fear.
Eddie pulled Steve gently out of the way, staring at the Carver boy with so much hatred it left Steve breathless. “I think you forgot who you’re dealing with,” he said. “The devil is by my side, remember?” Realization dawned on the jocks faces, now all of them terrified.
Steve took one look at El, and noticed she had her brows furrowed, a bit of blood coming out of her nose. The boy almost laughed at what was happening. Almost.
“Steve’s mine.” Eddie said, his boyfriend shivering at the words, his insides warming. “You do anything to him again, and I’ll kill you.” he said it so seriously that Steve shivered one more time. The black haired one looked at El briefly and she seemed to understand what the look meant, because soon Jason was wetting his pants. “You mess with him, you’re messing with me.” he took one step closer, this time Jason tried to move, but couldn’t. El was really the best. “And if you’re messing with me, you’re messing with Satan.”
Then, suddenly Jason’s arm was released from El’s powers, and the jocks were fast to run away, Steve feeling like he could finally breathe again.
“Hey,” Eddie said, standing in front of his boyfriend, both hands on Steve’ s cheeks. Steve wasn’t sure when the other got so close, but he leaned into the touch nonetheless. “Are you okay, baby?”
The brunette tried to nod, but his jaw ached, his head was pounding and his ear was still ringing. “We should take him to the hospital, he seems a bit out of it.” Nancy said. When had she gotten so close too?
“No hospital.” Steve said, closing his eyes hard enough to not let any light get through them. “I’m fine.”
“Steve…” Robin tried, but he looked at her pleading. She was the only one who knew how much he hated hospitals, something about them making him feel like the walls were closing in, and he was drowning.
“I’ll take him home,” Eddie spoke up. “I’ll take care of him.”
“What if he had a concussion? We all know he can’t afford to have another one.” Jonathan sounded worried as well, which was kinda shocking to Steve. He always assumed the guy hated him.
“It was just one punch,” Steve said, bringing his hand to his lip and noticing it was bleeding. Eddie took it in his, taking it from there gently. “I’ll be fine, really.”
All of his friends, including the kids, were looking at him, concern written all over their features. Steve hated that.
“Okay,” Nancy said, clearly not liking the idea too much, but letting it slide this one time.
All the kids hugged him, before getting in, except for Erica who only patted his back. Steve really didn’t like worrying them.
“Take care of him, okay?” Max said.
“Make sure he doesn’t fall asleep!” Dustin added.
“I’m not concussed!” Steve rolled his eyes, but regretted doing so the second he did it, the back of his eyes pounding against his skull.
“Also, what El did was so fucking metal!” Mike said, Will nodded alongside him as they entered the arcade.
“Call us, okay?” Nancy asked. “We’ll stay with Steve’s car, to bring the kids back after.”
Before Steve could say anything, Robin hugged him tightly. “You’re such a brave little shit.” She then looked up at him. “Putting yourself between Eddie and Carver was so cute, though. You’re always trying to be a hero, aren’t you?”
Steve sighed. “You know damn well I wouldn't have let that fucker hurt Eddie,” He felt his boyfriend squeeze his hand, only now noticing they were still holding hands.
She smiled, pulling away and walking to Nancy and Jonathan, who were just waiting for her before getting inside. “Like I said: cute.”
…
“I’m fine, Eddie.” Steve tried saying it for the tenth time that night, but the raven just ignored him.
They were in the Harrington household, Steve sitting on the bathroom’s sink while Eddie was standing in front of him, cleaning the cut in his mouth and one in his brow that Steve only noticed was there when he looked at himself in the mirror. “Just shut up,” the boy said, the first words he heard coming out of the other’s mouth in a while.
Steve couldn’t help but notice that his boyfriend’s hands were shaking, his breathing a bit erratic. “Baby, talk to me.” the brunette said, bringing both his hands to the other’s cheeks, trying to make him look at Steve, but Eddie closed his eyes, dropping his arms against his sides. “Please, tell me what’s bothering you, Eddie.” Chocolate button eyes looked at him, a few tears threatening to fall. Steve sucked in a breath, now even more worried than before. “God, Eddie. Please, tell me what’s wrong. I’ll fix it, whatever it is, I’ll fix it, baby.”
“Steve,” the other said, shaking his head. “You’re hurt, and it’s my fucking fault.”
The brunette gently ran his thumbs along Eddie’s cheek. “It was only one punch. I’ve had it worse,”
Eddie shook his head one more time, placing both his hands to Steve’s wrists, feeling the other’s pulse against his fingers. “I shouldn’t have gotten violent, I…”
“Are you kidding?” Steve asked. “I’m glad you did,”
“You should’ve just let him punch me, I was the one who started it anyways,”
“Yeah, no.” Steve said, pressing their foreheads together, noses brushing. “Would never let him hurt you. Never again.”
Eddie pressed one kiss to his boyfriend’s palm, letting his lips linger there for a while, some of the tears finally falling down his face. “If you had gotten concussed, you could’ve gone deaf, or lost your eyesight, had a seizure right there, or…”
“But I didn’t get a concussion.” Steve caught a tear with his thumb, wiping it away gently. “And it was fucking hot when you punched that fucker for me.”
Eddie laughed at that, pressing one more kiss against Steve’s palm, then enveloping his boyfriend’s neck with his arms, pulling their bodies closer together. Eddie tightened his hold when Steve hugged him back, pressing his face to the curve between the other’s shoulder and neck, inhaling his scent. “I’m sorry, baby.” he whispered.
“It wasn’t your fault.” Steve whispered back. You know damn well I would do it for you too, in a heartbeat.”
Eddie nodded. “Could kiss you right now, but your lip will split again if we do,”
“Would be totally worth it, though.”
“I’m not kissing you like that, Harrington.” Steve sighed, but squeezed the other’s waist anyways. “We can kiss later.”
“Just one peck,” He said, pulling away a bit, just enough for both of them to look at each other. Eddie laughed and rolled his eyes, but pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips.
“Now let me take you to bed,” Eddie whispered, kissing the other’s cheek, right under his eye. “You need to rest.”
“I need you.”
Eddie rolled his eyes one more time, but with a smile on his face. “Shut up, baby.”
Steve let himself be taken care of.