Chapter Text
It’s been two days since they battled Vecna, who was somehow still alive, according to Will.
They had managed to do some damage to the bastard, he was weak and couldn’t do much, which gave them more time to plan for another attack. Luckily, Max had managed to make it out okay.
Lucus had sung to her once her cassette broke and it worked just as well, if not better. She had a broken wrist but was otherwise fine.
The important thing was that she didn’t die and a gate hadn’t appeared in the Creel House, so their plan worked; somewhat.
Dustin hadn’t gotten out unscathed either.
He had broken his ankle at some point and now had a cast to help it heal. He didn’t talk much about it or how it happened, he was much quieter after everything went down, and Steve couldn’t blame the kid.
They were able to find him a cool-looking cane at a thrift store, which helped cheer him up a bit. It was like a magic staff or something like that, Will gave Dustin the idea and the two have been rolling with it since.
The town was still on a rampage looking for Eddie Munson, who most of them blamed for the deaths of the three teenagers. Jason was still a firm believer that Eddie was, “Satan’s Vessel” and was parading around town looking for him.
Even after he saw what happened in the Creel house, he was delusional and grief driven. Sometimes Steve wondered if that would have been him instead of Jason. If what happened to Chrissy happened to Nancy back in '83.
He didn’t like to dwell on those thoughts for too long.
The other three gates were still open, though dimmed and they seemed almost dead. Weird, ash-like dust was falling out of them now. Slow, but steadily. People who lived closer to the gates often wore masks when going outside or just moved to get away.
Most of the party were in their own homes, either resting or trying to work on a plan to kill Vecna; for real this time. Dustin and Steve were in the Harrington living room, sitting on the floor and holding each other close, watching and waiting.
On the couch in front of them, was one Eddie Munson, fast asleep. Which normally, wouldn’t be weird, sleep was normal. In this case, however, it was very weird.
Because Eddie died two days ago.
Dustin was the one to have found Eddie first before he passed on.
Steve had left the Creel House to check up on everyone while Nancy and Robin stayed behind to see if they could find Vecna's body.
He hadn’t realized what had happened until he was up close and could see the dead eyes of his friend and could hear the pleas coming from the kid, hunched over the slowly cooling body.
Dustin was screaming out big, ugly sobs, holding onto Eddie’s body and refusing to let go. It wasn’t long until Steve fell beside him.
He had grabbed onto Dustin intending to never let him go again, holding him close and letting the kid scream and cry that it wasn’t fair. And it was true, it wasn’t fair.
Eddie never should have died. He was supposed to just be a distraction, then hide away, and be safe. Not covered in his own blood, lifeless, and gone.
For a while, it was Steve holding onto Dustin and Dustin clinging onto Eddie. It took a long time before Dustin returned the hug to Steve, but the crying didn’t stop. For either of them.
Steve had always had a testy relationship with touch. As a kid, his parents would shower him with love and affection. That wasn't uncommon. Though through the years, their touches became distant and few. Always busy at work or on business trips.
He tried to find other ways to get positive touches. Dates and girlfriends who would let him shower them with affection. He never got the same treatment. Until Nancy, she would give small hugs and hold him. Especially after what happened in 83.
After the Halloween of 84 however, he'd gotten so used to the touches that the sudden lack of them hurt. He tried to find another person that's holding him like that. With love and comfort. He never did.
Any touch was like wildfire to him as the years went by. Negative and positive, he didn't care. Steve just wanted it without seeming needy.
The last time he remembers being held was years ago, and now with Dustin holding him close; it felt like he was burning alive.
He tried, really really hard to be there to hold Dustin, to comfort the child who saw his friend die. But his brain was fuzzing out and he couldn't focus on anything. His bites were burning from the pressure against his chest but he didn't care.
Eddie was dead, he was getting his first hug in years, and he was crying.
The two sat there for what they later learned was about an hour, but it felt longer than that. Like it was centuries of sitting and grieving and sobbing.
Steve was running his hands through Dustin’s hair like he and Eddie had done with him so many times, trying to calm him down, trying to ignore the pain in his side as Dustin just pressed harder into him for comfort. Steve tried to give everything he had.
It wasn’t long until Robin and Nancy found them.
Robin was just as distressed as Steve, and he could tell that Nacy was hurt too. But buried it down and took responsibility, like he should have done, but didn't. She told them they needed to leave, just in case there were still things out there waiting to turn them all into corpses.
The bats were gone, but that didn't mean bigger things were lurking in the dark. Even if they weren't, they couldn't sit here forever.
Steve managed to pry himself off the ground, the kid coming with him. Dustin clung to his side as he picked up Eddie’s body to bring him back to their realm. It felt odd to carry a limp body, they couldn't hold onto you or even smile back at you.
It just flopped around and felt sickening, Steve just pretended that he was carrying someone who was asleep. That Eddie was just resting. It didn’t help.
Dustin held onto his arms, which made it harder to move, but he didn’t say anything. The kid was grieving and he wasn’t gonna make it worse for him, the touch was grounding anyways. Kept him aware.
They made it back through the portal and headed towards the Harrington house, leaving Eddie’s body in his now cleared-out fridge. Dustin had stayed in the car, Nancy waiting with him with Robin and Steve took care of Eddie. Steve didn't want his body to be destroyed more than it already had before he had a proper funeral.
They left for the Wheeler house soon after.
Dustin was pretty much glued to Steve’s side, only leaving for the bathroom or when he felt safe enough to when the whole party was around.
Steve didn't mind. The hugs were comforting and he really didn't want to be alone. He would take this while he still had it.
Steve had spent the past two days with the Wheelers and the kids. Cooking and driving, planning and arguing. It was a lot. While their company was nice, he wanted to change into his own clothes and have some time away from everything.
Naturally, Dustin followed after him, claiming that he wanted to help pick out some outfits, which was entirely possible, but there was another reason that was left unsaid, and that was okay. Steve didn’t want to be isolated completely and happily let the kid tag along.
That’s when it started to get weird. Because when they first walked into the house, it didn’t smell of rot like they had been anticipating. It smelled bad, but not like death.
Steve had gone upstairs to find some things he wanted to donate or didn’t need any more while Dustin stayed downstairs, claiming to want to get something to eat. Steve should have remembered and told Dustin to say out of the fridge.
He didn't.
Steve was going through his closet when he heard an all too familiar scream.
He rushed downstairs faster than thought he could to find the kid, who was in front of the fridge, holding a bloodied and slime-covered blanket that had previously been on Eddie’s corpse. It felt like deja vu as he got closer to the pair, ready to comfort the kid when he saw it too.
The wounds that once covered the body were now just scars, and the chest of the once lifeless body was now rising up and down slowly.
“He’s breathing, Steve.”
“I know that.”
“He’s not supposed to be breathing, Steve. ”
“I know that.”
“Please tell me I’m hallucinating this out of grief.”
“No, you’re not hallucinating, I see him too. I see him too.”
So now here they were, sitting, waiting for something, anything to happen other than the rise and fall of the chest beside them. Steve eventually got up to stretch and mumbled a soft, “I’m gonna get something to clean him up a bit.”
Dustin just nodded and kept watching as Steve carefully moved the body onto the table, eyes full of curiosity and a small spark of hope that Steve wished wouldn’t be stomped out.
He pulled out a pot and filled it with warm water, and got some soap, and a couple of rags before heading back to the table. He offered a rag to Dustin, who took it and began to roll up the pants and wash off his legs.
Steve focused on Eddie’s chest, carefully taking off the jacket and shirt, and placing them in a pile next to the pot before he started to clean off the blood and grime. When he touched the skin, it was cold, almost freezing.
If it wasn’t for the slow rise and fall that he was feeling under his hand, he would be fully convinced he was cleaning a dead body.
Was he?
Steve didn’t know what to call this, a zombie, vampire, or just something unnamed that hadn’t been discovered yet. He didn’t know. So he just focused on getting the body of whatever Eddie was now cleaned up. He could worry about whatever this was later.
They had to dump out and refill the pot a couple of times, but eventually, they got his front cleaned up the best they could and flipped him over so they could clean the other side.
Which was more difficult than they thought.
They had to switch out the blanket that was under Eddie that separated him from the table, so Steve had to hold Eddie again, while Dustin switched them out. Eventually, they were back on track and got him back on a clean towel.
They cleaned up what they could without completely undressing him and with a couple of rags. It wasn't perfect, but Eddie was cleaner than before.
“Hey, Steve? Come look at this.” Dustin said as he was looking over Eddie’s form, and Steve was coming back from dumping the pot of blood and dirt and whatever else Eddie was covered in outside.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Look, there are these weird bumps on his back, as far as I know, that’s not how the human anatomy works,” Dustin said, pointing to the other’s back, where two lumps about the size of his forearm were slowly forming, not fast, but the longer you looked at it you more you could tell that it was growing, pulsing.
“I see what you’re talking about, that’s not good,” Steve said, carefully poking at the skin, almost as if he was teasing it.
“Don’t touch it, Steve! We don’t know what it is!” Dustin pleaded, pulling Steve’s hand away.
Steve was gonna argue back when the phone rang, and he sent a small glare to the kid who teased him back with a playful huff, going back to sit next to Eddie, keeping an eye on his back. Steve barely even picked up the phone before Robin’s voice was booming out of it.
“Steve! Where are you? You planned to be back at the Wheelers two hours ago!”
“I got distracted. I can’t explain it, but it has something to do with Eddie, just get here as soon as you can, and bring El, she might know what’s going on.” Steve was planning to say more but was cut off by the sound of a sickening rrrriiiiiiiipppppppppp come from the kitchen followed by more cries coming from Dustin.
“What was that-!” Robin asked from the other side, but Steve was already slamming the phone down on the receiver and racing back into the table.
Steve swore that every time he left this kid alone the world decided to fucking traumatize him because as he entered the room he saw Eddies back torn open, blood gushing out and a pair of dark red wings looming over the body.
Dustin was covered in the red liquid and was on the verge of crying, hyperventilating, and shaking as he held Eddie's body close to himself again, and Steve was next to them in a flash.
“I-I didn’t do anything I promise, I didn’t t-touch it, I was just sitting there and they just ripped out of his body, I didn’t-”
“Dustin, I know this wasn’t you, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” Steve said over and over, holding the boy close to him, trying to get the blood off of the boy’s face.
The universe really needed to give this kid a fucking break.
While reassuring Dustin, Steve also tried to stop the bleeding that was pouring out from Eddie’s back with the one clean rag they had left; but the wound seemed to be stitching itself back together again, only leaving bright pink scars behind.
Eddie was still breathing as if giant wings hadn’t just sprouted out of his back, so Steve felt himself relax a little as he hugged Dustin closer to his body.
“Look, he’s okay, see? He’s just got some super cool wings now.” Steve said, taking the boy's hand, and placing it on Eddie’s back, letting them both feel the comforting rise and fall.
“He’s okay?” Dustin asked, mostly for himself but Steve assured him anyway.
“Yeah, he’s breathing, so he’s gotta be.”
The two fell into silence again, just listening to each other breathe. It was nice, despite being covered in blood, tired, and most likely traumatized. They kept their hands on Eddie’s back while they held each other closer, just enjoying the space.
It was maybe five minutes before they heard the screech of a car pulling into the driveway and Robin, followed by El, Mike, Lucus, Max, and Will came barreling into the house, spewing questions.
“Why are you covered in blood?”
“Why the hell does Eddie have wings?”
“Why didn’t you call us first?”
Steve was jolted by the sudden noise and quickly stood up, keeping his hand on Dustin.
“One at a time, please! You first.” He said, pointing at Robin.
“Uh, why does Eddie have wings coming out of his back?” She asked cautiously, stealing Mike’s question.
“That I have no clue about, it happened as soon as you called, and it’s why I hung up so fast. Next,” He pointed at Lucus, who had his hand raised.
“Why are you covered in blood?”
“Eddies back opened up and bled before closing itself up again, he’s also kind of alive and breathing, he just won’t wake up.”
“It closed itself up?” Mike supplied, folding his arms.
“I know, it sounds crazy, but I watched it happen. Look.” Steve said as he pointed to where the wings connected with his back, and the pink scars were still there.
“Jesus Christ,” Will mumbled as he looked over the scarred-up and bloody body.
“So, what do we do?” Max asked, stepping forward to look at Eddie.
“I don’t know. Dustin and I have been watching him, we tried to clean him up earlier, but that was pretty much for nothing now.” Steve explained, watching Eddie carefully as he did, other than the soft breathing, he still didn’t move.
He almost looked peaceful resting there, relaxed and calm.
“I feel that’s all we can do. The police are still looking for him as well as Jason’s group. We can’t take him to the hospital, especially like this,” Robin said, gesturing to the wings.
“El, I know you just got back, but do you know anything about this?” Dustin asked carefully, taking his hand away from Steve’s.
Which was kind of disappointing, he liked the contact.
“I’m sorry Dustin, I’ve never seen anything like this before, I don’t know how to help.” She supplied looking down guilty.
“It’s okay, we weren’t expecting you to have all the answers. You’re alright.” Steve jumped in, not wanting her to feel bad. It seemed to help since she smiled up at him.
“For now I think that we should alternate watches on him since Steve and Dustin already started, they’ll finish up for today, then tomorrow, two other people can, and so on,” Robin said and everyone other than Dustin seemed to agree.
For the next week, Steve and Dustin would watch over Eddie with either another kid or Robin coming over to help. Eventually, they did have to change Eddie out of his old and blood-covered clothes, using Steve's until they could get to Eddie's trailer.
If he thought that Eddie looked nice with his clothes on, Steve kept it to himself.
He washed Eddie’s hair and made sure that it stayed clean. He’d put something on the T.V. for the kids, to help distract them, but it didn’t work with Eddie being the center of attention; wings now cleaned up and folded neatly on his back.
The wings weren’t the only thing to change about Eddie. Throughout the week they kept noticing small changes in him. The way his skin paled, and his fingers blackened, nails growing sharper, more into claws.
His teeth grew sharper and his eyes were still brown, but they had a dull red tint. They were subtle changes but changes nonetheless.
Eddie stopped morphing for sure around Friday, the last change being the claws.
It was Saturday night now.
He and Dustin were in the living room, something was on the TV, but it was mostly background noise.
Steve had made some sandwiches and they were eating some chips on the floor in front of the couch, just watching the screen flicker, the occasional laughing track playing in the background after a funny quip was said.
They'd placed Eddie on the couch, laying down on his stomach to not hurt the wings and to keep an eye on him.
It was oddly normal, Dustin half asleep on his shoulder and half-eaten snacks around them. The kid’s cane was near the couch if they needed it.
It was like that for a while. Just sitting, talking for a little bit, waiting in small silence repeat.
The only thing that seemed slightly out of place was small, shuffling behind him. He almost missed it, but he caught the sound and quickly turned around, starting Dustin, and finding himself face to face with a now very awake, Eddie Munson.
“Uh, hey there?” Eddie's voice rumbled from not being used.
“You’re up!” Dustin screeched next to them, making both Eddie and Steve cover their ears.
“I, yes? How long was I out?” Eddie asked, sitting up, and rubbing his eyes.
“Over a week, dude,” Steve said, getting up to sit next to the other, Dustin sitting on the other side.
“A week!?” Eddie exclaimed, throwing his body back against the couch, cringing a bit as his wings got smooshed, and he seemed to pause afterward, slowly turning to Steve.
“Why do I feel something is attached to my back that isn’t a shirt, Harrington?”
It was quiet, Steve and Dustin looking back and forth between each other. They really didn't know how to answer.
Eddie grew impatient opening his arms as if to say, "well, what is it?" without saying anything. Steve took a deep breath and got it over with.
“Okay, Eddie, I need you to not freak out too bad, but you kind of have wings growing off your back-”
“I have what?!?” the other exclaimed as he jumped off the couch and ran to try and find a mirror, almost falling backward from the new weight, eventually finding one in the kitchen.
“What in the actual hell…”
Eddie mumbled to himself as he looked over his new features in the mirror, surprise written all over his face.
“Look I know they look scary but I think they’ll grow on you-” Dustin tried to soothe, grabbing his cane and walking closer to the other.
“Scary? These are metal! Look at this man, I’m like a vampire but with wings and claws and shit. Fuck wait, those damn bats took my nipple and my chest tatt!?!? The hell!”
He unfolded his wings from behind him, being twice as long as his arms and going above his head, similar to a bat’s. Eddie smiled at it for a moment before turning to Dustin.
“Also, what happened to your leg man? That cane is sick but what the hell?”
Dustin laughed at the other’s antics and was instantly on board with cheering him up. He started popping questions at Eddie, most of which the answers were “I don’t know” and “let’s find out” with smiles and laughter. Steve was only a little bit worried about the property damage that was bound to happen.
Steve let out a sigh of relief that Eddie was at least taking his new changes positively, Steve wouldn’t that's for sure.
He watched the two talk and bond. It was nice to see Dustin smiling again and it was even better to have Eddie back. Even if he was a little different. They weren't really acknowledging him, so he figured he might as well do something useful.
Walking over to the other, he patted Eddie on the back before getting some supplies from the cabinet; making Eddie a sandwich. Noticing how Eddie leaned into the touch.
“What are you doing over there, Harrington?” Eddie asked, walking over to the other confidently, folding his wings in so that he didn’t knock anything over, though he was a little wobbly; likely getting used to the new weight.
“Uh, making you a sandwich. You’re probably hungry after not eating for a week.” Steve said it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Yeah, now that you mention it I am feeling a bit peckish,” Eddie laughed getting close to Steve before backing away and talking to Dustin once again about who knows what.
Steve blushed at the closeness, but he kept it to himself as he finished up the sandwich and brought it over to them. Eddie was ecstatic, smiling at him as he picked up the sandwich and took a bite, and instantly spit it back out.
“What the hell did you put in this thing?” He asked as he shoved the plate onto the table, which hurt Steve more than it probably should've.
“Just turkey, mustard, cheese, lettuce, and pickles, you saw me make it.” Steve defended, a frown forming on his face.
“Yeah well, it tastes like ash.” Eddie fired back with a similar expression to Steve's.
“Have you considered that you’re like an actual vampire now and you can’t eat normal food?” Dustin piped in, to which Eddie seemed taken aback.
“...no, but in my defense, I just woke up from a week-long coma with new body parts.” Eddie bit back playfully, frown morphing to a smirk. "We could experiment, what foods I can eat,"
Dustin's face lit up and Steve had a feeling that he was going to need a trip to the store after they were done.
The next hour or so was spent trying all the different foods in the house. Anything that wasn’t meat Eddie immediately spits back out. But even the meats were on “thin ice” as Eddie put it, saying that they just tasted like rubber.
Dustin inevitably brought up the prospect of drinking blood, to which Eddie refused in case he lost control typical vampire style.
“Come onnnnn, Eddieee! We have to know!” he pleaded as he shoved all the other food aside.
“Nope, not gonna happen. I don’t wanna hurt you.” Eddie said, using his hands and emphasis, and backing away from him.
“Who said anything about drinking from me, You could always just drink from Steve, He’s stronger than me and he could push you off if it gets too much for him.” the kid supplied, and Steve was now at full attention.
“Okay well, what if I have like super strength now? What if he can't push off? Eddie mumbled.
"Well have like an arm wrestling match or something, I don't know. But if you can't eat normal food then we have to find something for you. I don't want you to starve," Dustin bit back, grabbing Steve's arm and pulling him down by Eddie.
"Let's just do the match. You win we can wait on the whole blood thing, I win we indulge in the kid's theory and I bleed into a cup or something," Steve offered, holding his hand out.
Eddie was hesitant, but laid down and took Steve's hand. It was soft.
"Okay Harrington, let's do this,"
Steve won easily.
"So that's a no on super strength then," Dustin smiled as he rushed to the kitchen to get a cup.
“Are you okay with this Eddie? I know we agreed on it, but you can say no if you don't want to.” Steve looked at Eddie as they sat back up, 'cause drinking blood really didn’t sound very appetizing.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m the one taking your blood though, you have to push me off if you feel light-headed or get uncomfortable at all. Okay, Harrington?” Eddie said, taking Steve’s arm gently into his hand. The touch felt like fire.
When Steve didn’t answer mostly because he was too shell-shocked to do anything, Eddie tried again, getting up close to him, to where he could feel Eddie’s breath on his nose.
“Okay, Steve?”
“You got it,” Steve mustered out, feeling the heat rise to his face. He’d sort whatever that was out later though.
“Good, I don’t want this turning into a bloodbath,” Eddie said as he backed away and Dustin came back with a knife and a plastic cup.
"Here you go, you ready Eddie, Steve?" Dustin was nervous, but Steve could see excitement twinkling in his eyes.
"As I'll ever be," Steve mumbled as he took the knife and carefully cut the back of his forearm. It'd be easy enough to heal. It was taking a while for the blood to pool into the cup though.
He winced at the small cut, but the pain dulled eventually.
Eddie's eyes began to glow softly, which was, new. He was looking at the blood with vigor as it dripped into the plastic. After a few minutes, Eddie started to get ansty. Shifting where he was sitting and messing with his fingers.
There was only an ounce of blood, but Steve handed it over.
Eddie drank it down greedily before looking over at Steve, the glow in his eyes getting brighter. Before anyone could say anything, Eddie was across the small distance between them, taking Steve's arm into his mouth and sucking on the wound.
Blood was pouring out of the wound faster now, it was starting to sting, but Steve didn't move Eddie off of him yet. He wasn't feeling fuzzy or anything yet. He'd be okay.
It was maybe a couple of seconds before the stinging turned into something sweeter, and Steve felt himself calm a bit. He wasn’t lightheaded, just relaxed.
After about three minutes though, Steve's eyes began to fuzz and he nudged Eddie off his wrist, to which the other instantly stopped and backed up, a little bit of fear in his eyes. they weren't glowing anymore.
Steve sent the other a reassuring smile and rubbed the back of his neck. The room was quiet for a minute.
“So I’m guessing that it didn't taste like ash?” Steve joked to break the silence.
“Definitely not,” Eddie said as he got up from the floor.
“You’re like a total vampire now, Eddie! That's sick! We have to test out all the different theories! You can obviously see your reflection and you don't have super strength, but what about sunlight...” Dustin trailed off with excitement, getting his notebook out of his bag and writing something down that Steve couldn’t see.
“Maybe tomorrow Dustin, it’s late and Eddie’s probably tired from being berated since he woke up. Plus everybody’s gonna be mad at you for keeping Eddie to yourself,” Steve said as he got up to go find a bandaid, the cut was still bleeding.
“Uh, fine,” Dustin said, getting up and starting to clean their mess up.
“Why don’t you get ready for bed, I’ll take care of this,” Steve gestured to the mess as he came back, a star wars bandaid on his forearm, he was a little reluctant to let Dustin go alone, but he figured the worst of it was over for now. Plus he was a stairwell away, and the bat was near the door so-
“If you say so,” Dustin grumbled as he picked up his bag, and steadied himself on his cane.
The kid looked over at Eddie for a minute, Eddie gave a smile and a nod. That seemed to clear whatever was going on in the kid's head as he headed to one of the guest rooms downstairs.
Steve started to pick up the trash and snacks, with Eddie joining in.
“So Eddie, how are you holding up?”
“What do you mean by that? I’m doing great.” Eddie said, as to try and prove his point he flashed a big smile and let his wings unfold dramatically behind him.
“I don’t know. I just feel like after going through a big transformation like that, you have to be feeling some negativity,” Steve walked back to the kitchen, food in hand, and started to put it away, being careful not to stretch the wounds on his back and chest. Eddie followed quickly behind him.
“What you don’t like the new look?” Eddie leaned up against the counter, a teasing smile on his face.
“I’m not saying that, I’m just thinking that you’re probably going through some kind of identity crisis or self-doubt, or wondering how you even survived being attacked. ” Steve rambled, turning to face Eddie, whose face had fallen a bit.
“I uh, am wondering about that. I just don’t think you guys have those answers seeing as you’re just as, if not more confused about this than I am. I don’t remember much about the attack, just that I was riding the bike, I feel off, the bat things attacked me...and it goes black around there.” Eddie explained, looking down at his hands.
“Well, you’re right about us not knowing much. But the demo bats did some massive damage to you…
...you died, Eddie.”
Steve made his way towards Eddie, reaching out and taking his hand.
“You were dead for two days, but then you started breathing again, and we did our best to take care of you, but over the week your body started to morph into this, and we couldn’t stop it. It’s not a bad thing, but we didn’t know what to do.”
“Oh,” Eddie said, looking up at Steve with sad eyes that he couldn’t look away from.
“Yeah, it sucked, but you’re awake now, and apparently a vampire with wings, which is cool. But I’m here to talk if it gets too much or whatever. Cause it can’t be easy for you to go through this.” Steve reassured in a bit of a ramble but Eddie just smiled at him.
“You know, I was more wrong about you than I thought,” the other said, standing up straight and leaning into Steve’s space.
“What do you mean by that-”
“Hey weirdos, I’m done getting ready, it's your turn, Steve,” Dustin called as he came down the hallway, standing close to Eddie.
“Jesus okay, don’t be so pushy.”
Steve smiled and made his way upstairs and quickly changed into some black sweatpants and the soft yellow sweater he managed to get back after finding it in the boat.
He honestly thought it would've been lost to the lake, but it was still there.
It was one of his favorites, he wasn't just gonna leave it there, but it also held some meaning to it. Good and bad. Steve wasn't entirely sure what to think of it.
He made his way back down the stairs and he could hear the two on the couch laughing about some obscure joke he hadn’t been able to hear before.
Once the two were in view he could see them cuddled up on the couch Dustin wrapped up in Eddie’s wings and smiles on their faces. Steve couldn’t help but let a smile grow himself.
Eddie had changed into some fuzzy pants he had probably left down there and was still shirtless.
It was fair since he had wings now and they would probably tear anything he tried to put on, but he figured that the other was probably cold.
So he gathered some blankets from one of the guestrooms and made his way back to the living room. Smiling like an idiot as he heard the two laughing and poking fun at each other.
It was good to have Eddie back.