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Steve was panting hard by the time he reached the others, sprinting from his car to Hopper’s house in the woods. The kids were off god knew where, but thankfully not here. Jonathan, Nancy, Hopper, and Joyce were standing on the porch looking worried, and from the inside, Eddie was pounding on the door, screaming himself hoarse.
“LET ME OUT, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!”
Steve skidded to a stop, and all eyes were him. “Eddie?” he asked, stupidly, like he hadn’t just heard him.
Nancy’s mouth was pulled into the tight little furrow it got when she was upset and Joyce was frowning hard, hands twitching with the motherly urge to fix everything somehow. Hopper was the one who spoke, though. “Same as the others. Some sort of dust inhaled, we’re assuming from the Mind Flayer. We think, based on what he’s said, and based on the others, that he is infected with the hope of…passing it on during…intercourse.” Hopper sounded physically pained to have to say it.
Steve’s brain drew a blank for a long moment. “Like an STD?”
Nancy shook her head tightly. “No. Like making an army of children the Mind Flayer can control.”
“Is that how…?” He glanced at Hopper, unwilling to actually ask if that was how they thought the psychic kids had been made in the first place.
“We don’t know,” Hopper said, face grim. “It’s burning him up, though, just like the others. I have the fans on in the cabin, but it’s not cold enough. If he can’t spread it…”
Nancy’s face got even more grim.
“We don’t even know what will happen if we give him someone to spread it to!” Joyce said, with enough annoyance that he assumed it wasn’t her first time making this argument. “We can’t have that kind of risk. What if someone gets pregnant, huh? What then? With a monster baby?”
“Joyce,” Hopper started, but Steve cut him off.
“I’ll do it.”
“What?” Nancy said, some tension in her face uncurling slightly. “You? Steve, you understand—”
“Like Star Trek, right? He’s gotta fuck this thing out of his system or he’s going to die, and we don’t want that. And we can’t risk the Mind Flayer or Vecna or whoever getting what they want if someone gets pregnant. Last I checked, I don’t have the parts for that.” He flashed a grin to Nancy, which made her face harden again. “Although, I guess I did fail biology. Are we assuming that this monster understood human biology when it made its stupid mind control dust?”
“Well, no,” Nancy started. “We don’t know.”
Jonathan shook his head, stepping down onto the stairs and towards Steve. He didn’t start talking until he was close, presumably out of some attempt to save Steve from additional embarrassment, and Steve appreciated the gesture, but letting a friend fuck him or letting a friend die was sort of an easy decision to make. “It doesn’t make sense. You know that, dude. Anything could happen. It might not even work.”
Steve shrugged. “Worth the risk.” A look of hurt crawled across Jonathan’s face, and Steve didn’t have the first fucking idea what that was about, but he smiled and shouldered past him.
Hopper stepped in front of him, grabbing his shoulder to stop Steve from simply side-stepping him, too. “We’ll be out here, and we'll wait. If you need to get out—you let us know, okay? No one’s going to think anything less of you.”
Nancy and Joyce stepped aside, and then Steve was standing in front of the door, and his heart started pounding in his chest. There wasn’t really another option, and it wasn’t even like he didn’t find Eddie attractive; it was just…a little life and death-y for a first time. Hopper stepped up to the door, right next to Steve, key in hand.
This close to the door, the banging and the shouting was so much worse. Eddie sounded like a man headed for the gallows. God, what had Steve gotten himself into?
“Hey, Hop?” he asked as softly as he could. “Do you have anything…slippery?”
Hopper looked like he would rather be drinking bleach than having this conversation, which made two of them. “Bedside table. Top drawer. Don’t—don’t feel the need to give it back.” Hopper cleared his throat, and when he spoke again it was in his Official Police Business voice. “Munson! We’ve got someone for you, okay? Step away from the door.”
The banging stopped suddenly, and Steve’s heart took over its beat, pounding so fucking loudly in his ears that it blocked out all other sounds. Hopper unlocked the door, and it swung open slowly to reveal Eddie, sweaty and disheveled and wild-eyed, a feral grin splitting his face.
“For me?” he said, grinning wider as he saw Steve swallow hard. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Go on,” Hopper said softly. “We’ll be here.”
“Can you be farther away?” Steve replied at long last. He took a centering breath to try and regain some of his swagger, and smirked at Hopper. “I’d like to be able to look any of you in the eyes after this, is all.”
Hopper nodded sharply, and Steve stepped into the house, closing the door behind him. The click of the lock closing was the loudest sound in the world, and felt so fucking final. Oh god, what had he been thinking?
The answer was that he hadn’t been thinking, but then again, it was Eddie. And wouldn’t Eddie do the same for him?
“Hey, Eddie,” he said, taking a hesitant step towards him.
“Well, if it isn’t the sacrificial lamb. Did they tell you why you’re here?” Steve nodded, unsure if Eddie even really understood what was happening. He sounded like a man possessed. Fuck, he sort of was, wasn’t he? “Good. So you know I’m going to fuck your little brains out, then.”
Steve forced himself to laugh. “What, just like that? Whatever happened to romance?”
Eddie stalked towards him, languid but somehow threatening, and Steve took an instinctive step back. “There’s a heat in me, Stevie, that’s telling me to tear your clothes off and take you right here. Advance warning is the most romance you’re getting, I’m afraid.”
Swallowing hard, Steve glanced behind him, trying to remember the layout of this cabin from the one time he’d been there. They needed lube, and Steve needed them to be less close to the door. He had no illusions that they somehow wouldn’t be overheard, but like hell was he not going to try and lessen that risk. “Bedroom, at least? It’ll be more comfortable for both of us.”
Eddie’s eyes narrowed. “It sounds to me like you’re stalling. You wouldn’t be trying to set me up for a trap, would you, Steve? I don’t think the hive mind would be happy about that. They’re coming, you know. I’m just a scout, an advance guard. And there’s going to be more like me, spreading, infectious. The next generation! And you? You’re going to help.”
That gave Steve pause. They had seemed sure enough about the baby part, and to be fair, all of the infected so far had spoken of the next generation. But Steve had assumed he wouldn't be infected and now suddenly he wasn't sure why.
Steve stepped backwards a little faster, glancing behind him every few steps to make sure he wasn't about to hit a wall, but mostly keeping his eyes on Eddie, too afraid of what could happen if he wasn’t paying attention. “Lube, Eddie. We need lube. Fuck, dude, do you even know what you’re saying? Like, can you hear yourself?”
"Loud and clear. Your body is going to become host." Eddie smirked, stepping forward, and essentially herding Steve towards the back of the cabin. Luckily, the room that Steve found himself backed up into was Hopper’s. Thank fucking Christ, he thought, and reluctantly turned his back on Eddie to rifle around for lube.
Eddie’s forearm was across his throat in seconds, and Jesus, Eddie could move silently when he wanted to. Eddie wasn’t choking him, not really— not yet—just keeping him there, making it clear how easily he could choke Steve out if he wanted to. Steve cursed his stupid, adrenaline junkie body as his cock immediately took interest, rising as far as it could in his jeans. “Think the seed might transfer better without chemicals,” Eddie said quietly, biting his ear softly.
Steve moaned, like there was a livewire connecting his ear and his cock. “Seed?” Steve thought he should be forgiven for not following entirely. Eddie was so close to him, all over him, and Steve was a very simple, very horny man.
And it was Eddie. Eddie, who Steve jacked off to biweekly at least. Eddie, who was somehow making this Upside Down nightmare scenario almost sensual.
“Mhmm,” Eddie said, scratching his teeth across Steve’s jaw and down his neck. “It’s what I inhaled. Me and all the others. It wants to be passed on. You’ll do so nicely, Stevie.”
Steve shivered and tried to keep his hands moving in the drawer until he found what he was looking for. What if he did get infected? He couldn't imagine anyone willing to take that risk for him. Finally, he emerged triumphant with the lube, and didn't give Eddie the chance to object. “Okay, whoop dee doo for the seed, but you’re not getting close to my ass without lube, Munson.”
Eddie laughed darkly in his ear, and Steve shivered again. “We’ll see.” He dropped his arm, stepping back from Steve. “Get naked,” Eddie said, and gestured to the bed with a tip of his head. “And get on the bed.”
“Eddie…” Steve didn’t know what he was so hesitant about. He’d had sex before—a lot of sex—he’d had sex under the influence, and he’d had sex with friends, and he’d had a little bit of sex with guys, even. But suddenly the idea of being naked under Eddie was paralyzing him. He felt sick. Did he want this? Did Eddie? Fuck, this was such a bad idea—but Eddie dying was unimaginable. “You don’t want to undress me yourself?” he finished weakly.
Eddie circled around the bed, and stripped off his own clothes, which were already see-through with sweat. “If you let me undress you, you’re not going to be wearing those same clothes out of here.”
Steve heard himself gulp at that image—Steve limping out of the cabin at daybreak in Hopper’s ill-fitting cast offs—and then Eddie was laughing again.
When he stopped laughing, Eddie’s voice was ice cold, and just as hard. “Bed, Steve. Now. Play time is officially over. Time for business.”
Scrambling out of his clothes, Steve made sure he kept a firm grip on the lube, and he vaulted onto the bed. It bounced sickeningly beneath him, and he felt nauseous with motion sickness, or maybe that was just everything else.
Eddie climbed on the bed after him, moving sinuously, lithe and predatory, and Steve’s cock was so incredibly hard that he might as well just die and save himself some embarrassment. Crawling over him, Eddie’s hair tickled up Steve’s body where it fell over his shoulder, and Steve remained stupidly attracted to Eddie. Now was so not the time.
Eddie pulled the lube out of Steve’s hand, clicking the bottle open, and pouring a good bit on his hand. “Tell me what you’re here for,” Eddie asked him lightly, pushing Steve’s knees out to the sides to make room for him.
Steve knew the answer to that, of course he did, but he wasn’t sure how to say it without wanting to die of embarrassment first. “I’m here so you can fuck me,” he settled on. Eddie didn’t respond, and instead there were several slick fingers pressing at his asshole. “Eddie—”
Eddie leaned in for a kiss, blanketing Steve’s body with his own. He was so fucking warm against Steve that Steve moaned at the contact, and then Eddie’s tongue was in his mouth and he lost track of what he had been objecting to to begin with. Eddie felt almost feverish, and Steve was beginning to feel that way, too. Two of Eddie’s slick fingers pushed inside of Steve at once, and Steve tried to bolt up at the sudden unexpected pressure, but Eddie held him down with the weight of his body and sinewy strength that Steve hadn’t expected of him.
Maybe it was the Mind Flayer, somehow, strengthening him. Or maybe amps were heavier than they looked.
The Mind Flayer was a boner killer for sure, but then Eddie was pulling back, glorious and naked and well-kissed, stroking his hard cock as he looked down at Steve with naked hunger, and Steve’s dick decided to stay in the game. Eddie’s fingers kept pushing until they bottomed out, large and invasive and pinning him to the spot. A smile curled his lips as he twisted them and stretched them, as he watched Steve writhe.
Steve moaned, fucking his hips into Eddie’s hand and Eddie chuckled. “Taking it like a champ, aren’t you, Harrington? Was there an Championships for getting fucked that I missed? I would have gone to see you perform, Steve, have no doubt about that.”
Steve was blushing from his ears to his toes. He wished he knew why Eddie was saying these fucking things, if he got off on embarrassing Steve or if it was the Mind Flayer somehow; he wished he didn’t find it equally as hot as he found it humiliating. “Please!”
“Please what?” Eddie leaned back in, sucking lightly on a nipple before sinking his teeth into it. Steve reared up, but Eddie kept biting until Steve gave in, covering his face to hide the tears in his eyes and the sound of his wet breaths. “Oh, did you need another finger? Happy to oblige.”
His ass was very much not ready for another finger, but Eddie didn’t give him a chance to protest, shoving another finger in beside the two he already had crammed there. “Eddie!”
“Ooh,” he leaned down to kiss Steve again, speaking between wet pecks, “I do love hearing you say my name like that!” His fingernails scratched along Steve’s prostate and Steve shouted, Eddie kissing him through the sound, groaning with his hand still tugging at his own cock.
Steve realized with a jolt that for some reason he had just been taking whatever Eddie dished out without touching his own cock and there was literally no reason for that, was there? He was sort of afraid of pissing Eddie off, especially since he couldn’t tell if Eddie was possessed or what, but no risk no reward, right? He began to sneak his hand between the two of them, but Eddie stopped him in one sudden movement, the hand that had been on his dick now pinning Steve’s to the bed.
Steve’s cock throbbed, and shit, Steve did not know that he liked being held down that much. He whined when Eddie took his hand away, but didn’t move his own from where it had been placed.
“I don’t think you’ll be doing that,” Eddie told him seriously, leaning off the bed to rummage through Hopper’s drawers. “What do you know! The cop’s a cop, through and through.” He let the handcuffs fall from his hand onto the bed, and arranged Steve’s hands above his head. “This is better, even. Really giving the whole sacrificial lamb thing. Something for me to sink my teeth into.” Steve began to lower his hands, not really sure he wanted to see where this was going now that Eddie had props. Being held down was one thing, but being incapacitated was entirely another. “Uh-uh-uh. Sorry, maybe this was unclear to you: the seed needs to spread and I need to spread it. You’re useful but not necessary. So, you’re going to take what I give you, or I’m going to cut your fucking throat and find another warm body, capiche?”
Steve froze, then slowly raised his hand back up.
“Good man!” He slapped the handcuffs around Steve’s wrist, through the headboard, and around the other wrist. They were cold, but where Eddie was pressed against him was so warm that he barely even noticed the chill. He pulled against them, but they were solid, probably police issue, and Steve was so fucked.
Why had he let Eddie do that? Why hadn't he fought back harder?
But also, how was he meant to have stopped him?
And why was there some tiny, tiny part of him that even sort of liked it?
Eddie’s gaze raked up and down his body, and Steve shivered. That starved look was back. Eddie began to feast his teeth on the skin of Steve’s collarbones, sucking and biting, and fingerfucking Steve forcefully while Steve lay on his back and just took it. He hated being so passive, but he liked Eddie. Maybe like liked Eddie.
And there was some small, suppressed part of him that relished the chance to lay back and have the decisions taken out of his hands. He had made the decision to come in. Eddie got to make the rest of the decisions now.
Steve could clearly see Eddie’s cock where Eddie was jacking it, so he was aware the fourth finger wasn’t necessary, but Eddie didn’t ask his opinion. It hurt, and Steve tried to fight Eddie off for the first time, but he was bound and held down, and Eddie had the upper hand easily.
Steve wasn’t even sure he was trying to fight all that hard.
“God, I’m so glad for something to fuck,” Eddie said with a laugh. “I could feel that shit needed to get out of me, but surprise, jerking off does nothing. No, I needed a body. I was wondering who Mystery Inc was going to sacrifice, but I’m honestly surprised it was you. Thought they might find a stranger to feed to the Mind Flayer, but no.”
“Eddie,” Steve wheezed, fucked out and wanting, “c’mon, we just need to fuck, we don’t need the commentary.”
Eddie pulled his fingers free roughly and immediately sunk his cock into Steve’s ass. It hurt, a sudden burning stretch despite all the fingers he had used, and Eddie held his thighs open as he pushed into Steve for forever. Steve was panting, in pain and wanting, hard cock flopping against his stomach, untouched. He tried to jiggle his hips, to get Eddie to touch him or fuck him or some third option he hadn’t yet thought of.
“Look at you, gagging for it.” Eddie took three fingers (thankfully the ones that hadn’t been in Steve’s ass) and plunged them into Steve’s mouth, angling immediately for the back of his throat and not letting up until Steve had gagged. He wiped the wet fingers on Steve’s nipples, which eagerly hardened for Eddie because Steve was a slut. “You’re like a bitch in heat.” Eddie laughed, and thrust into Steve hard. “Say it, Steve. Tell me what you are.”
Steve hadn’t quite been able to catch his breath anyway, but it all whooshed out of him as he heard Eddie’s request. Eddie was like a furnace, and Steve was feeling the heat, from Eddie and from his humiliation, and from the friction between their two bodies.
“I’m a bitch,” he mumbled.
“Nuh uh, Stevie, say the whoooooole thing,” Eddie ordered, fucking him with strong, wild thrusts that rocked Steve’s whole body. Eddie’s hands were holding Steve’s hips tight enough it was sure to bruise and Steve was harder than he could ever remember being.
“I’m a bitch in heat!” Steve shouted, squeezing his eyes closed, wanting this particular moment to be over. He regretted it as soon as the words left his lips, when he realized that all the adults outside had to have heard that. The humiliation was brighter, now, hot and red and all encompassing, but his cock was throbbing.
“And what do dogs do?” Eddie asked, leaning down to maul the nipple he had yet to play with. Eddie was breathing hard and dripping with sweat, and his cock was pounding into Steve’s ass like he was nothing more than a hole, which Steve supposed was sort of the point of this whole exercise.
There were a lot of answers to that question, but Steve was pretty sure he knew what Eddie wanted to hear. “They bark,” he whispered, eyes closed once again to hide his shame, which was why he was completely unprepared for the backhand that snapped his face from one side to the other. His cheek throbbed and his nipples ached, and his cock was so hard and so ignored, and he was never going to live the shame of all of this down.
He was never going to live down the shame of liking it.
“Then you should be barking, bitch.”
Steve’s mouth snapped shut. He couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t.
“Do you think they heard you before? Outside? Do you think they’re talking about how much of a slut you are? Of course you were the one they chose, you’re the obvious choice, Stevie. Did you want them to hear you? Does that do it for you?” Eddie’s hand was at his jaw, angling it up and pressing hard enough against Steve’s throat that it was suddenly hard to breathe. Steve sucked a breath in through his teeth, and tried to throw Eddie off of him, but Eddie had all the leverage, and Steve was tied down, besides. “Bark, bitch!” Eddie said again, and if he didn’t move his hand, Steve was going to pass out from lack of air.
Steve let out a shaky breath and let out a little sound that he thought could charitably be called a bark.
Eddie shifted his weight down, driving his dick directly into Steve’s prostate, and fuck, even Eddie’s cock felt like it was burning hot, searing Steve to the bone. He wanted someone to touch his cock, he wanted Eddie to fuck him harder, he wanted to not be quite this hard when he felt honestly close to tears.
Eddie licked the shell of Steve’s ear, then whispered, “Louder, Steve. Let them hear you.”
Whatever had possessed Eddie was a fucking dick, Steve thought, but the squirmy feeling in his stomach was only increasing. It was nauseating, but…he kind of liked it? He wanted Eddie to be nicer to him, but maybe also he wanted him to be mean, just not with their friends outside.
Sucking in as much breath as he could between Eddie’s hand on his neck and the way he was fucking the air out of Steve’s lungs, Steve let out a louder bark. Immediately, his face was blazing and he felt embarrassment churning in his lungs.
“Good girl,” Eddie said, exactly how he would to a dog. “Can’t even help yourself, can you? You’re so desperate for any attention that you’d become a vessel for the seed without question, wouldn’t you?” Steve tried to argue that, but Eddie’s hand pressed down hard. “Bark!”
Steve barked again, so embarrassed, and aware that his cock was practically dripping. He shut his eyes again, but Eddie slapped him, over and over until his eyes opened.
Eddie braced one hand on the headboard, letting go of Steve’s throat to stroke Steve’s hard cock. “That was a loud one! They definitely heard that outside! Do you think they’ll look at you the same afterwards? I’m sure they said they would, but you don’t believe them, do you? Would you still look at them the same, if you knew they had willingly whored themselves out for the hive mind?”
Steve whined, high in his throat and desperate. Eddie was fucking him hard but stroking him so painfully slowly. Steve wanted to touch him, to scratch and bite and tug his hair but all he could do was clench his fists and take it.
“There’s another good sound for a bitch! You’re a pro, Steve.” Eddie’s breaths were becoming ragged, and he was struggling to keep the pace. “C’mon, puppy, let me hear you howl.” Eddie leaned in again and bit Steve’s nipple as hard as he could and Steve did howl, fighting hard against the cuffs. Everyone had to have heard that, too. Fuck, they had to hear everything Eddie said in his too loud voice, and Steve was going to have to move away and change his name, too embarrassed to ever make eye contact with them again.
Or maybe, worse, he’d get hard every time he saw them looking at him too long, the part of him that was apparently into this shit overtaking the functioning part of his brain.
The hand on his cock finally, finally started moving faster and Steve felt his orgasm come over him like a wave, and he shuddered down to his toes, riding out the chemical high as muscles spasmed and tensed.
He could feel Eddie cum in his ass, hot and wet, and Steve learned that apparently he liked that feeling, too. His nipple was throbbing when Eddie finally released it from between his teeth, grinning a terrible grin as he fucked Steve through the aftershocks.
“Is that it?” Steve wheezed when he had finally caught his breath.
The grin turned cold, and Steve’s heart, which had already been beating fast, picked up speed. Eddie slid his cock out of Steve and gave it a few strokes. Miraculously, it hardened again in his fist. “Not even close, Steve. And I thought I told you what sounds I wanted to hear from you. Be a good girl, and roll over, yeah? I don’t wanna look at your face this time. Doggy style! Aptly named.”
Rolling over pulled the cuffs that much tighter around his wrists, but Steve didn’t really have a choice. Eddie placed one hand on the back of his neck, pressing his face into the mattress as he pushed his cock back into Steve’s ass. Steve gasped, struggling to breathe.
His own cock was way too sensitive to get hard again so soon, and the way Eddie was rocking into him dragged Steve’s cock against the mattress, and he was whining, loud and oversensitive.
“That’s right, bitch, that right there.”
—
When Eddie had fucked the mind control dust out of his system, Steve was bruised and sticky with cum and sweat, fucked breathless and senseless, sore and leaking from his cum-stuffed ass. The very worst part was, despite the exhaustion and everything else, Steve felt good.
Actually, the worst part was that Eddie was on the floor, wrapped in a blanket with his back to Steve, and Steve was still handcuffed to the damn headboard. “Eddie,” he groaned again, like he had been since Eddie had cum to his senses like, five minutes ago. His voice sounded like he had gargled with sand. He grimaced and tried once more. “Eddie!”
“Sorry!” Eddie called, refusing to turn around, which was the exact opposite of what Steve needed.
“Let me out.” That was a reasonable request, Steve thought. Hard to argue with.
“Nooo, nuh uh, no. If you want to kick my ass you can wait for someone else to unlock you before you chase me down.” Eddie sounded kind of hysterical, which tracked. This whole situation had to have been weird as hell for him at the very least, and probably somewhat traumatizing.
Steve sighed, trying to get comfortable, but his shoulders were aching something fierce. “Eddie, let me out. I’m wiped, dude, I don’t want to kick your ass.”
“Oh yeah? And what do you want?” Eddie stood up slowly, keeping the blanket wrapped around his naked body. Steve had no such advantage, and he caught Eddie’s eyes raking across him again before he stopped himself, looking pained.
Oh god, what did Steve want? Some aspirin, a cup of water, and maybe some insane possessed coitus cuddling, but he wasn’t sure he could actually admit any of that. “Cuddling,” his mouth said without his input. Jesus, he was tired. “I would like to cuddle.”
The horror grew on Eddie’s face. “Oh shit, and I—hang on, hang on, I’ll—” He moved frantically, rummaging through the drawers until he found the key, unlocking the cuffs while touching the least amount of Steve’s skin as he could. “Do you want me to get someone for you?”
Steve shook his head, confused. “I think that would stand in the way of us cuddling?”
Eddie still looked hurt, but now he also looked confused. “You want us to—? Steve, I fucking—you look like you were mauled.”
Steve sat up slowly, groaning at his tight muscles. He rolled his shoulders with a grunt, trying to get his muscles to relax for him. “You were possessed, it so doesn’t count.”
The pained look increased by volumes. “I was possessed,” he said slowly. “But I…I wanted to do those things. I wanted to say those things. I wanted to do and say them to you in particular. I mean, ideally we would have talked about it first, so like, I know it wouldn’t have even happened because there’s no way you’d be into that, or into me. But, in the fantasy land of my own creation, nothing would have been different about this except the urgent life-or-death need, and you like, wanting to do that stuff too.”
Steve was way too tired to muddle through that, but he tried his best. “Yeah, okay. Next time. All that for next time.”
Eddie’s face morphed into confusion. “...Next time?” There was a little bit of hope blossoming on the corner of Eddie's mouth, and it was beautiful to watch. “As in, you and I having sex again in the future?”
Steve nodded, yawning. “Yeah. All that shit. But, no audience please. And cuddling, nowish.”
Eddie moved towards the bed in a daze, lying down slowly, like he wasn’t sure he didn’t think Steve was going to jump him still. Steve grinned at him and collapsed back on the bed, curling up beside Eddie. “So you’re…into guys?”
Steve nodded. “Yup. Guys in general, and you, specifically, and whatever all of that was, apparently. Fuck, you’re mean.”
Eddie laughed, still on the edge of hysterics. “I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be. But also: shhh. Sleep now.” Eddie nodded jerkily and cautiously wrapped his arms around Steve. There was still the issue of Steve never being able to look Hopper in the eyes again, but he suspected that would feel surmountable once he had slept.
"Good night?" Eddie offered awkwardly. "Sweet dreams?"
Steve snorted and closed his eyes. He had earned some fucking rest.