soph’s lair𖤐 @s0phslibrary - Tumblr Blog

Jun 4

Holding Onto You

description: after a messy breakup, being trapped in the upside down with your ex-boyfriend is the last thing you want. unfortunately, almost dying has a funny way of putting things into perspective.

pairing: eddie x ex gf!reader

tags: eddie x you, no y/n, exs to lovers, second chance romance, hurt/comfort, protective eddie, light(ish) post-breakup angst, satisfying fluff, crawl gone wrong, insisting on changing pairs, robin is sick of their bullshit, steve the relationship counselor

TW: violence, severe injury, blood

WC: 7.3k

A/N: based on a request by @enne02 hope you enjoy:)!! this one had me in my feels idk why LOL. reblogs are a writer's best friend<3 (if you know where this title is from, you know ball)

“Alright,” Steve said, pulling his arms tightly together. “Then it’s decided. Tomorrow, the girls will each wear an article of El and Max’s clothing to throw off the Demodogs.”

“They seem to be gunning for the two of them,” Dustin continued. “El for, well, obvious reasons. And Max, because she has dodged Vecna’s curse like, a thousand times. We add some of their blood to make the scent stronger, and some of Nancy and Robin’s to theirs, so the scent is thrown off. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I love being live bait,” Robin says sarcastically, scanning over to you and Nancy.

Nancy just nods in agreement before looking down at you on the couch.

“What about Will?” You ask, nodding over to the next room. He sat with his back to the group, eyes staring out the window ahead, headphones tight around his head. “Won’t their connection just immediately give this whole plan away?”

Jonathan sighs and closes the door, “He won’t be coming with us. He’s gonna stay at the squawk with my mom and Lucas in case Vecna’s spying. He won’t even be in communication with us.”

You nod once, flashing him a quick sympathetic smile.

“Alright!” Dustin claps his hands together. “Meet at Lover’s Lake gate sunrise tomorrow.”

The room filled with the sound of shifting bodies and tired sighs as everyone slowly stood from their spots around the Byers' living room.

Robin immediately groaned. “Awesome. Another sunrise meetup. Love that for us.”

“You complain every single time,” Steve muttered, grabbing his car keys off the coffee table.

“Because every single time we almost die, Steve.”

“Fair.”

Nancy was already gathering scattered papers from the table, slipping them into her bag with practiced efficiency. Jonathan disappeared toward the kitchen, mumbling something about coffee, while Dustin launched himself into explaining some other part of the plan to Mike for the third time that night.

You pushed yourself up from the couch slowly, exhaustion heavy in your bones. And unfortunately, your eyes caught Eddie’s from across the room.

He stood near the hallway entrance, arms crossed tightly over his chest, fingers tapping nervously against his forearm. His eyes flicked over you for barely a second before looking away just as quickly. Still couldn’t look at each other normally.

Cool. Normal. Totally fine.

You moved first, grabbing your jacket off the arm of the couch. “I’m gonna head out.”

“I’ll walk you,” Nancy offered immediately.

Before you could answer, Eddie suddenly pushed himself off the wall.

“I got it.”

The room went weirdly quiet for half a second. Robin’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline while Steve looked physically exhausted by the tension.

You stared at Eddie. “I think I can make it to the front door alone.”

“Wasn’t saying you couldn’t,” he muttered.

God. There it was, that sharp edge the two of you had been dancing around for months now.

Nancy glanced between the two of you carefully before stepping back. “Okay then.”

You brushed past Eddie toward the door, hearing his boots follow a second later.

The cold night air hit immediately once the front door opened, damp and sharp against your skin. Crickets buzzed faintly somewhere in the distance while the porch light flickered overhead.

You descended the steps first, and Eddie lingered behind you awkwardly.

“You really think this plan’s gonna work?” you asked quietly.

Eddie shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Nope.”

You huffed out a laugh despite yourself, and his mouth twitched faintly at the sound.

“But,” he added, softer, “it’s the best shot we got.”

You hated how easy it still was to stand beside him. Hated how your body still recognized him instantly. The smell of cigarettes and leather and that stupid cologne you bought him lingered in the cold air between you.

“You should probably get some sleep,” he said finally.

You glanced over at him. “You too.”

There was a moment of hesitation between you, then Eddie rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, curls falling into his face.

“Listen, about tomorrow—”

“We’ll figure it out. Night,” you said quickly, opening your car door and closing it just as fast.

“Night,” he muttered to himself, tapping the hood of your car once.

The Upside Down always felt wrong immediately.

The air was thicker here. Wet, heavy with rot and ash and something metallic that clung to the back of your throat every time you breathed too deeply.

The sky stretched above the group in angry shades of red and black lightning, spores drifting lazily through the air like toxic snow, every step squelching beneath your boots.

“God,” Robin muttered, pulling the sleeves of Max’s sweatshirt farther over her hands. “I seriously forgot how much this place smells like a dead animal’s asshole.”

“That is… unbelievably specific,” Nancy replied.

“It’s accurate, though.”

Steve ignored them, flashlight tucked beneath his arm as he unfolded the rough map Jonathan had drawn the night before.

“Alright, listen up.” Everyone slowly gathered closer.

“The crawlspace splits about a mile ahead,” Steve continued. “We cover more ground if we break into pairs.”

“Cool,” Robin nodded. “Dibs on not dying.”

Steve pointed around the group. “Nancy, you’re with Johnathan. Robin, you’re with Dustin and me—” He paused briefly. “Eddie, you and...”

“No.”

The answer left your mouth immediately. Sharp enough that even the distant growls echoing through the Upside Down suddenly felt quieter. Eddie’s head turned toward you instantly.

Steve blinked. “What?”

“I said no.”

You adjusted the shotgun strap harsher than necessary across your shoulder before looking anywhere except Eddie.

“What about Nancy?” you asked. “I’ll go with her.”

Steve shook his head immediately. “Nope. Both sharpshooters can’t be together.”

“Robin then.”

“Also no,” he replied. “You and Robin both have El's blood scent on you. Two El's means a dead giveaway.”

You clenched your jaw. Of course, there was a reason for everything; of course, it made sense. But still...

“No,” you repeated more quietly this time.

Steve sighed heavily like a tired father of six. “Seriously?”

You finally looked at Eddie, and big mistake. Because he looked just as frustrated as you felt, maybe even a little more exhausted from the situation than you were.

“Jesus Christ,” Robin whispered under her breath. “They’re divorced.”

“We were never married,” you snapped instantly.

“Yet,” Dustin mumbled.

You whipped around. “Whatever. Come on, Dustin.”

The kid blinked. “Wait, what?”

“You heard me.”

“Uh—”

“Dustin. Let’s go.”

Your voice cracked through the air hard enough that nearby spores trembled slightly as you shoved past the group toward the forest line. Dustin looked between you and Eddie like a hostage negotiator trying not to die.

Steve slowly lifted both hands. “Hey, Henderson?”

“Yeah?”

“I wouldn’t argue with an angry girl holding a shotgun.”

Dustin nodded immediately. “Excellent point.”

“Seriously?” Eddie muttered.

Dustin pointed apologetically at himself before jogging after you. “Sorry, man! Self-preservation!”

Robin watched the two of you disappear into the foggy tree line before glancing sideways at Eddie. “…So how bad was the breakup exactly?”

Eddie stared after you quietly for a long moment. “Bad enough,” he said finally, “that she’d rather walk into monster-infested hell with a fifteen-year-old.”

The three of them moved carefully through the wreckage of downtown Hawkins, flashlights cutting through the thick haze drifting between abandoned cars and crumbling storefronts.

Somewhere in the distance, something screeched. Robin immediately tightened her grip on the flare gun in her hands.

“Mm. Hate that sound. Really hate that sound.”

“Pretty sure that’s the point,” Steve muttered from the front.

Store signs flickered weakly overhead, vines pulsing slowly up the sides of buildings like veins beneath skin.

Eddie barely noticed any of it. Because every few seconds, his eyes kept drifting back toward the tree line where you and Dustin had disappeared twenty minutes ago.

“You know,” she said casually, “if you stare any harder, I think you might actually burn a hole right through the fog.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“No, seriously,” Steve added. “It’s getting pathetic.”

“I’m literally just walking.”

“You basically broke your neck turning around five seconds ago.”

Eddie scoffed softly and adjusted the strap of the spear against his shoulder. “She’s fine.”

Steve hummed knowingly. “Uh huh.”

The group ducked beneath a collapsed power line before continuing down the street.

Robin glanced between the two boys. “Wait, hold on. I actually don’t know what happened between you two.”

Eddie groaned immediately. “Absolutely not.”

“Oh, come on,” she said. “We’re in hell dimension therapy hour. Spill.”

Eddie kept walking.

“Munson.”

“No.”

“Eddie.”

He sighed dramatically, dragging a hand down his face. “It was stupid.”

“That means it was definitely your fault,” Robin replied instantly.

“One-hundred percent,” Steve nodded.

Eddie shot both of them a glare before finally relenting. “Chrissy needed a ride home after a game one night.”

Robin blinked. “That’s it?”

“I didn’t tell her beforehand,” Eddie admitted.

Steve already looked exhausted. “Oh, my God.”

“I was going to!”

“But you didn’t,” Robin pointed out.

Eddie groaned louder. “Okay, yes, thank you, I gathered that much.”

Steve shoved aside a hanging vine as they entered the shell of an old grocery store. “So she saw you?”

“Yeah.”

Robin winced. “Oh, that’s brutal.”

“It wasn’t even like that,” Eddie argued quietly. “Chrissy was upset. Jason was being a dick. I just drove her home.”

“But from her perspective?” Steve replied. “Her boyfriend disappears for half the night with the prettiest girl in school.”

Eddie looked genuinely offended. “Why does everyone keep calling Chrissy the prettiest girl in school? That's not even half-accurate.”

Robin deadpanned. "Oh."

“You still love her,” Steve said it casually, like he was commenting on the weather.

Eddie kept his eyes ahead, flashlight shaking faintly in his grip. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Kinda does when you look one bad day away from throwing up every time she talks to another guy.”

Eddie let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, well. She’s still pissed.”

Steve crawled up beside him slightly. “Did you ever actually apologize?”

“Shut up,” Eddie snapped, ears turning red beneath his curls.

Robin gasped dramatically. “Wait, wait, wait— is that why she’s so pissed? Because she thinks something happened with Chrissy?”

Eddie’s expression tightened slightly. Because yeah, that was part of it. But not all of it, not the real part.

The real part was that instead of fighting harder for you, instead of explaining, instead of chasing after you when you stormed away crying…He let you go.

And he’d regretted it every single day since.

Meanwhile, somewhere deeper in the woods of the Upside Down, you and Dustin trudged through layers of ash and rotting vines in tense silence. Well, mostly tense silence. Because Dustin physically could not stop talking if he tried.

“I’m just saying,” he continued carefully, trying to keep up with your pace, “from an outside perspective, I really don’t think Eddie cheated on you.”

You climbed over a fallen tree branch without looking at him. “Congratulations.”

“I’m serious!”

“Dustin.”

“No, because you weren’t there after, okay? He was literally miserable.”

You snorted softly. “Please.”

“I’m not kidding!” Dustin insisted. “The guy looked like someone kicked his puppy for, like… three months straight.”

“That’s dramatic.”

“He started listening to sad music.”

You glanced back at him dryly. “He already listens to sad music.”

“Okay, fair.”

Dustin ducked beneath a low-hanging vine before continuing. “But seriously, he didn’t do anything with Chrissy.”

You tightened your grip around the shotgun because it still stung hearing her name, even now. Especially now. Because logically? You knew Eddie probably hadn’t cheated. But emotionally, that night still replayed in your head perfectly.

Waiting for him, watching the clock, then seeing his van pull into the trailer park with Chrissy Cunningham in the passenger seat, laughing at something he said. And Eddie, sweet, oblivious, Eddie, looking happier with her than he had with you in weeks.

“You didn’t see them,” you muttered quietly.

Dustin sighed. “I saw him after.”

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“It should.”

You stopped walking suddenly, sending Dustin nearly crashing into your back.

“You know what the worst part was?” you asked, voice strangely calm.

The spores drifting through the air caught in your hair as you turned toward him.

“I would’ve understood if he just told me.”

Dustin’s expression softened slightly. “He always thought you were too good for him,” he admitted quietly.

That one hit harder than you expected, because yeah. You knew that already, too. Knew it every time Eddie got weird when boys looked at you too long. Every time he joked about you “slumming it” with him. Every time, he acted as if your love for him had an expiration date.

Your chest tightened unpleasantly, but before you could answer, something screeched in the distance. Both of you froze instantly.

Dustin’s face paled. “Uh…” Another screech, but closer this time. Wet. Animalistic.

You slowly lifted the shotgun. The woods around you suddenly felt very, very quiet. Then, movement, fast shadows darting between the trees. One. Two. Three—

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Dustin whispered.

Demodogs, at least five of them. Their slick bodies slithered between the vines surrounding you both, snarling lowly as their flower-like mouths slowly opened.

You grabbed Dustin’s jacket instantly, shoving him backward. “Run.”

“You know what your problem is?” Steve asked as the three of them pushed through the hollow remains of Family Video.

Eddie sighed heavily. “Please enlighten me, Harrington.”

“You think if you screw something up once, that’s it.”

Robin nodded immediately. “Oh my God, yes. That’s exactly his problem.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “You two done psychoanalyzing me?”

“No,” Steve replied simply.

They stepped over collapsed shelves, boots crunching through broken VHS tapes scattered across the floor. Outside, thunder rumbled through the red sky.

Steve adjusted the nail bat over his shoulder before glancing back at Eddie again. “So...did you ever actually apologize?”

Eddie’s jaw tightened. “…Not really.”

Robin looked horrified. “EDDIE.”

“What?” he defended instantly. “Things got heated!”

“She cried and dumped you, and you just let her walk away!” Robin whisper-yelled.

Eddie scrubbed both hands down his face in frustration. “I didn’t know what to say!”

Steve laughed dryly. “Well, there’s your first issue.”

“I figured if she wanted to talk to me, she would’ve.”

Robin stared at him for a long moment. “Men are genuinely stupid.”

Eddie ignored her. “She looked at me like she hated me.”

“Because she was hurt,” Robin shot back. “There’s a difference.”

Eddie went quiet at that, because deep down? He knew. Knew every sharp comment and glare from you over the last few months felt more like woundedness than hatred.

Steve slowed slightly, expression softening just a bit. “Dude.”

Eddie glanced over.

“When this is over…” Steve shrugged. “Just apologize.”

Robin pointed at him enthusiastically. “YES. Exactly. Thank you.”

“Like a real apology,” Steve continued. “Not one of your weird little jokes where you deflect halfway through.”

“I don’t do that.”

“You absolutely do that,” Robin replied.

Eddie opened his mouth to argue, but static suddenly exploded through Steve’s walkie. All three of them froze instantly. A burst of panicked breathing crackled through the speaker. Then:

“STEVE?!” Dustin, terrified.

Steve grabbed the walkie immediately. “Dustin? What happened?”

More static, heavy footsteps, and your voice somewhere in the background, shouting something muffled. Then Dustin again:

“There’s— Jesus Christ— there’s like FIVE OF THEM!” A deafening screech echoed through the radio.

Robin’s face went white instantly. “Oh, my God.”

“We’re headed east through the woods!” Dustin yelled breathlessly. “They’re right behind us!”

Steve already started moving. “Stay moving. We’re coming to you.”

The radio crackled violently. Then your voice cut through this time, sharp and panicked.

“Dustin RUN!”

Eddie’s stomach dropped instantly. A loud gunshot exploded through the walkie. Then another, then static.

Branches snapped violently beneath your boots as you and Dustin tore through the woods.

The Upside Down blurred around you in flashes of red lightning and black vines, spores whipping through the air every time you shoved past another rotting tree. Behind you, there was screeching.

“LEFT!” Dustin yelled breathlessly.

You grabbed the back of his jacket, yanking him sideways just as a Demodog launched from the trees where he’d been standing half a second before. It hit the ground hard with a wet snarl. You spun instantly:

BOOM!

The shotgun blast echoed through the forest, the flare shell exploding directly into the creature’s chest. Fire burst outward, orange flames illuminating the dark woods as the Demodog shrieked and convulsed on the ground.

“Holy shit!” Dustin yelled.

“No time!” you shouted back. “MOVE!”

The two of you sprinted again. Your lungs burned as another screech split the air, then another. Then three more answered.

Dustin looked back once and immediately paled. “Oh, that is SO many.”

Shapes darted through the fog behind you. Fast, crawling over trees and vines with horrifying speed. One leaped from the side, and you reacted instantly, grabbing Dustin by the shoulders and throwing him down as the creature flew over both your heads.

You hit the ground hard beside him. The Demodog spun immediately, flower-mouth peeling open with a shriek. Dustin scrambled backward, fumbling desperately inside his bag.

“SHIT! SHIT! SHIT—”

The creature lunged, and a Molotov cocktail smashed against its face, fire erupting instantly. The thing screamed horribly, thrashing against the dirt while Dustin stared wide-eyed at the flaming bottle in his hand.

“…That was awesome.”

“Dustin!”

“RIGHT. MOVING!”

You hauled him upright again just as another creature burst from the trees, then another, and another.

Your stomach dropped. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

Because behind the Demodogs, towering above them in the fog…Demogorgons; at least two. Their massive silhouettes moved slowly through the trees, petals twitching open as they tracked the scent of blood soaking into the girls’ borrowed clothes.

“Okay,” Dustin said faintly. “I officially hate this plan.”

One of the Demodogs lunged. Boom. Another flare shell exploded through its jaw. The recoil nearly knocked your shoulder backward as you kept firing. One. Two. Three blasts. Fire illuminated snapping teeth and writhing vines while Dustin hurled another Molotov into the pack.

Glass shattered, and flames erupted across the forest floor. Still, more kept coming.

“Why are there SO MANY?!” Dustin yelled.

“I don’t know!”

A Demodog tackled you from the side before you could reload. You hit the ground hard enough to lose the shotgun entirely. The creature screeched directly in your face, claws slashing wildly as you shoved against its throat desperately, its teeth snapped inches from your face.

“GET OFF!”

You grabbed the knife from your belt and drove it upward into the creature’s neck. Black blood sprayed across your hands as the thing convulsed violently before collapsing on top of you. For one horrible second, you couldn’t breathe.

Then Dustin was there immediately, dragging the body off you. “COME ON!”

The trees ahead suddenly exploded with flashlight beams. Voices.

“THIS WAY!”

Steve. Robin. And then, your heart betrayed you instantly at the sound of his voice. He yelled for you, panicked and terrified; closer now. You turned toward the sound just as one of the Demogorgons burst through the trees.

“LOOK OUT!” Dustin screamed. You barely had time to move.

One massive claw swung forward, and white-hot pain exploded across your side. The force sent you flying backward violently into the dirt.

For a second, everything went silent. No sound. No air. Nothing.

Then warmth poured down your waist, and your hands instinctively grabbed at your sides. Blood, so much blood. Somewhere nearby, Dustin was screaming your name.

And across the clearing, Eddie stopped dead. Because you were on the ground, not moving.

“OH MY GOD—” Dustin’s voice cracked somewhere nearby as the others charged into the clearing.

Steve and Robin immediately started firing at the creatures still circling through the trees, gunshots and screeches echoing violently through the forest while flames spread across the ground from the broken Molotovs.

But Eddie? Eddie only saw you.

Blood soaked through your shirt in horrifying amounts, spilling between your fingers where you clutched desperately at your side. Your breathing came in sharp, uneven breaths against the dirt beneath you.

His stomach dropped so hard it physically hurt. “No no no no—”

He was beside you instantly, collapsing to his knees hard enough to draw blood. Your eyes fluttered toward him hazily, still conscious. Thank fucking God.

“Hey,” he breathed shakily. “Hey, stay with me, alright?”

You grimaced as another cough wracked through your body. Blood splattered across your chin, and Eddie visibly went pale.

“Jesus Christ,” Robin whispered somewhere behind him.

You sucked in a painful breath, immediately trying to push yourself upright. “I’m fine.”

Eddie stared at you in disbelief. “Are you insane?”

“I can still move.”

“You are literally coughing up blood!”

Another wet cough interrupted you immediately, like your body itself was trying to prove his point. You glared weakly at him afterward anyway.

“Don’t,” you rasped.

“Don’t what?”

“Look at me like that.”

Eddie’s face crumpled for half a second before he could stop it. Like that.

Like he was terrified, like seeing you hurt was physically ripping him apart from the inside out.

The sounds of fighting still echoed around the clearing. Steve yelling. Gunshots. Demogorgons screeching somewhere deeper in the woods.

But Eddie barely registered any of it as he pressed, shaking hands harder against the wound in your side. Blood immediately soaked through to his palms.

“You need pressure on this,” he said quickly, voice uneven. “Can you hold this?”

“I can walk.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can.”

“You got launched ten feet through the air!”

You tried to sit up again anyway, and immediately regretted it. Pain tore through your side hard enough that a broken sound escaped your throat before you could stop it.

Eddie caught you before you could fall back completely, one arm wrapping around your shoulders carefully.

“There she is,” he whispered shakily. “That’s the stubborn girl I know.”

You clenched your jaw hard, humiliated tears burning behind your eyes. Not now, you refused to cry right now.

“I’m not dying in front of you,” you muttered weakly.

Something about that sentence completely shattered whatever composure Eddie had left. His eyes went glossy instantly.

“Hey,” he said softly, almost pleading. “Hey, don’t talk like that.”

Another scream echoed through the woods. Steve suddenly appeared beside them, blood splattered across his bat. “We need to move. Now.”

“Can she walk?” Robin asked urgently.

You opened your mouth immediately. “Yes.”

“No,” Eddie answered at the exact same time.

“I said I can—”

The second you tried to move again, your entire body folded from the pain, and a horrible gasp tore from your chest. And Eddie finally snapped.

“Jesus Christ, would you stop trying to be tough for five seconds?!”

The clearing went quiet for a second, and even you looked startled. Eddie’s breathing shook violently as he stared down at you, terrified and furious and heartbroken all at once.

“Please.”

That one word hurt worse than the injury. Before you could argue again, Eddie slid one arm beneath your knees and the other around your back.

You instinctively grabbed onto his jacket as he lifted you carefully against his chest. Pain exploded through your side immediately, making you gasp sharply into his shoulder.

“I know,” he whispered quickly. “I know, sweetheart, I got you.”

Sweetheart, your eyes shut briefly at the nickname, because he hadn’t called you that in months.

Eddie adjusted his grip tighter around you before looking toward the others. “Move.”

Nancy’s house in the Upside Down looked even worse from the inside.

The wallpaper peeled in blackened strips from the walls, vines crawling through cracks in the ceiling while spores drifted lazily through the stale air. The entire place creaked softly around them as if it were breathing.

Steve slammed the front door shut behind them while Robin shoved an overturned bookshelf against it.

“Are they following us?” she asked breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” Steve answered. “I don’t hear them.”

Eddie barely registered the conversation. The second they got inside, he lowered you carefully onto the couch and immediately dropped to his knees in front of you again. Your blood stained almost everything now.

The couch. His hands. Your shirt. The floor beneath your boots. It just kept coming.

“Okay,” Robin said quickly, trying to stay calm. “Okay, okay. Nancy keeps medical supplies upstairs, right?”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded immediately. “Bathroom closet.”

The two of them disappeared upstairs instantly. Dustin crouched nearby, frantic fingers fumbling with his walkie.

“Nancy? Jonathan? Come in!” Static answered him.

Your breathing hitched painfully again, and Eddie’s head snapped back toward you immediately.

“Stay with me,” he whispered.

You leaned weakly against the couch cushions, face pale beneath the layer of grime and blood smeared across your skin. Every breath looked harder than the last. Still, you forced out a weak, sarcastic smile.

“Pretty sure… this ruins the mission.”

Eddie let out something halfway between a laugh and a broken sound. “Yeah,” he choked out. “Yeah, sweetheart, kinda.”

Your eyes flicked toward the blood covering his hands, then back to him. He looked terrified, like absolutely terrified.

And it hit you suddenly that Eddie Munson looked like he was watching the worst thing that had ever happened to him unfold in real time.

“You can stop looking at me like I’m dying,” you muttered weakly.

The second the words left your mouth, Eddie’s face crumpled completely. “No,” he whispered instantly. Your chest ached at the sound.

Eddie pressed both shaking hands harder against the wound in your side, trying desperately to slow the bleeding.

“You can hate me later,” he said shakily. “Just don’t leave me first.”

Something in your expression broke, because he sounded serious. His eyes glistened under the dim flickering light, curls stuck damply against his forehead, while blood soaked through his rings and sleeves.

And suddenly, all you could think about was Dustin’s voice earlier.

"He always thought you were too good for him."

Your vision blurred slightly. “Eddie…”

“Don’t,” he interrupted immediately, voice cracking. “Please don’t do the thing where people start talking all soft because they think they’re dying, okay? I can’t—”

His breath hitched sharply. Then…Oh. Oh God. Eddie was crying.

Not loud or dramatic, just silent tears slipping down his face while he tried desperately to keep pressure against your side.

You weakly grabbed at his wrist. Instantly, his other hand wrapped around yours.

“I’m here,” he whispered quickly. “I’m here.”

Upstairs, cabinets slammed open while Robin shouted something about peroxide. Dustin was still trying the walkies. But for a second, the rest of the world faded out entirely. It was just Eddie, holding your hand like letting go would kill you.

Your thumb brushed weakly across his knuckles.

“I don’t hate you,” you admitted quietly.

Eddie froze. His watery eyes snapped up to yours so fast it almost hurt to look at. “What?”

You swallowed painfully. “I tried to,” you whispered. “But I don’t.”

Eddie stared at you like the words physically knocked the air from his lungs. Then suddenly, the house went strangely quiet.

Dustin slowly lowered the walkie. “…Wait.”

Steve reappeared at the top of the stairs with Robin right behind him, carrying supplies.

“What?” Robin asked.

Dustin frowned toward the windows. “Do you guys hear that?”

Everyone went still, and there was nothing. No screeching. No snarling. No pounding footsteps outside. The Demodogs were gone.

Steve moved cautiously toward the window, peeling back the curtain slightly. “…Holy shit.”

“What?” Eddie snapped immediately without taking his eyes off you.

Steve looked back slowly. “They stopped.”

Robin blinked. “Stopped what?”

“Following us.”

Everyone went quiet, then Dustin’s eyes widened. “Oh shit.”

Robin looked at him. “‘Oh shit’, what?”

Dustin pointed toward you carefully. “The blood.”

Eddie frowned slightly, and then realization hit all at once. The creatures weren’t tracking El’s scent anymore, not Max’s either. Your blood threw them back to tracking the real deal.

“Oh, that is dark,” Robin muttered quietly.

Steve looked back out the window one more time before letting the curtain fall shut again. “Doesn’t matter. We still gotta move.”

Eddie’s head snapped up immediately. “She can’t move.”

As if on cue, another painful cough tore through your chest. Blood stained the corner of your mouth again, and Eddie visibly flinched.

Robin quickly knelt beside the couch with the medical supplies, hands moving fast as she peeled back the blood-soaked fabric around your side.

“…Oh.”

Steve’s face tightened instantly. “Bad?”

Robin looked a little pale now, too. “Very.”

You glanced downward weakly. Honestly, you kinda wished you hadn’t.

The slash across your side was deep, way deeper than you originally thought. Blackened blood smeared across torn skin while the edges of the wound pulsed faintly with Upside Down spores and grime.

Robin pressed fresh gauze against it carefully, and you hissed sharply through your teeth.

“Sorry,” she muttered quickly.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Eddie said immediately, everyone turning to look at him.

He was still kneeling in front of you, one hand locked tightly around yours like he physically couldn’t let go. And somehow he still looked angry at himself, like this was his fault too.

Steve crouched beside Dustin near the walkie.

“We need everyone back here. Now.”

Dustin nodded immediately, adjusting the frequency with shaky hands. “Nancy, Jonathan, Mike— anybody copy?”

Static crackled loudly, then Jonathan’s voice finally pushed through.

“Dustin?”

“Get back to Wheeler’s house now,” Steve ordered quickly. “We have a situation.”

“What happened?”

Steve hesitated briefly, but Eddie didn’t. “She’s hurt.”

Jonathan swore immediately. “How bad?”

Nobody answered fast enough, and that was answer enough. Dustin swallowed hard before grabbing the walkie again. “Guys, seriously, we need everyone here now.”

Robin kept trying to wrap the wound tighter, but every fresh layer of bandages turned red almost instantly. Steve’s expression shifted subtly from worried to straight-up scared.

“Hey,” he said carefully, crouching closer to you now. “Stay with us, okay?”

You let out a weak laugh. “Everybody keeps saying that.”

“Because you look like shit,” Robin replied automatically.

“Robin,” Steve hissed.

“What? I’m motivating her.”

Your eyelids suddenly felt heavy, and your head tipped slightly against the couch cushions.

Instantly, Eddie tightened his grip on your hand. “Hey.”

“I’m awake.”

“No sleeping.”

“I’m literally just resting my eyes.”

“Absolutely not.”

You would’ve laughed if breathing didn’t hurt so badly. Robin exchanged a quick glance with Steve. Then, he stood abruptly.

“We’re getting out of here.”

Eddie looked up sharply. “What?”

“She needs a hospital.”

“In the real world,” Robin added quickly. “Like yesterday.”

Steve nodded toward the ceiling. “Nearest gate’s at the trailer park. We move fast, we can make it.”

“And if the Demogorgons come back?” Dustin asked nervously.

Steve tightened his grip around the nail bat. “Then we fight.”

Eddie looked back down at you again. You looked exhausted now; blood loss had drained almost all the color from your face.

“Okay,” he whispered shakily. “Okay, we’re moving.”

Then softer, mostly to himself as he brushed blood-matted hair carefully from your face, “You’re not dying here.”

The trip back to the trailer park was brutal; every movement hurt. Every step Eddie took with you in his arms jolted painfully through your side, forcing weak gasps from your throat, no matter how hard you tried to hide them.

“You still with me?” he asked quietly after a while.

You hummed weakly against his shoulder.

“Words, sweetheart.”

“…Unfortunately.”

That earned the tiniest huff of laughter from him. Good. You liked hearing him laugh, even now.

Especially now.

The trailer park gates finally came into view ahead through the fog, and relief instantly loosened the group.

“We’re close,” Steve called quietly. “Gate’s right up—”

A screech exploded overhead, and everyone froze. Eddie’s entire body locked up beneath you instantly. Because he knew that sound, all too well. Demobats.

Robin looked upward first. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

The sky above them suddenly erupted with movement. Dark shapes poured through the red clouds in violent shrieking swarms. Dozens, maybe more.

“No, no, no,” Dustin whispered.

Eddie visibly went pale; you could feel it immediately. The way his arms tightened around you, the way his breathing changed to sharp, uneven, panicked. Because last time, these things nearly killed him.

“MOVE!” Steve shouted.

The swarm dove all at once, and chaos erupted instantly. Robin started firing upward while Steve swung the bat wildly at the creatures swooping down around them. Dustin hurled another Molotov skyward, flames bursting violently across the dark sky.

Still, more kept coming. One of the bats shrieked directly beside Eddie’s head. He ducked sharply, nearly dropping you. Another latched briefly onto his jacket, and suddenly he wasn’t here anymore, not fully.

Your stomach twisted painfully as you watched it happen in real time. The fear. The memory. His eyes looked exactly like they had that night in the Upside Down trailer. Terrified. Overwhelmed.

A bat swooped downward fast.

“EDDIE!” you shouted weakly. Too late.

The creature slammed directly into him, and the impact knocked both of you sideways violently, causing you to slip from his grasp. Pain exploded through your body as you hit the ground hard, tumbling through ash and dead vines.

Your vision blurred immediately, and everything spun. For one horrible second, you almost blacked out. Then you heard Eddie release an agonizing scream. Your head snapped upward weakly.

The bats swarmed him instantly, exactly like before. Clawing. Shrieking. Dragging him toward the ground while Steve and Robin tried desperately to fight them off. And suddenly, you weren’t in the present Upside Down anymore. You were back there, watching Eddie nearly die.

Watching him bleed out while everyone screamed. Watching his body go limp in your arms. No, absolutely fucking not.

Adrenaline slammed through your body so violently it almost made you nauseous.

You forced yourself upward with a broken gasp, fingers scrambling desperately through the dirt until they found the shotgun lying nearby. Your side screamed in protest, but it didn’t matter. You cocked the gun shakily.

One of the bats wrapped around Eddie’s throat while another clawed at his back. His eyes met yours across the chaos, terrified. And that? That did it.

BOOM

The flare shell exploded directly into the swarm, and fire erupted violently across the sky. Shrieking filled the air as the Demo-bats ignited all at once, peeling away from Eddie in flaming screeches. Another shot, then another.

Explosions of orange fire illuminated the dark woods around you while burning creatures dropped from the sky one after another.

Steve grabbed Eddie immediately, hauling him backward. “MOVE MOVE MOVE!”

Robin ran toward you instantly. “Jesus Christ!”

Your arms finally gave out. The shotgun slipped from your fingers as the adrenaline vanished just as quickly as it came. Everything tilted sideways, and Eddie reached you before you hit the ground again.

His hands grabbed your face carefully. “Hey,” he breathed frantically. “Hey, hey, hey, look at me.”

Your vision blurred around the edges, but you still managed the weakest smile.

“Told you,” you whispered faintly. “Not letting you die.” Eddie looked absolutely wrecked by that sentence.

The first thing you noticed was the beeping, soft and steady. Then the smell of antiseptic hit next, clean hospital air replacing the rot and ash of the Upside Down.

Your body felt heavy and warm, and pain throbbed dully through your side the second you tried to move.

A small sound escaped your throat before you could stop it. Immediately, a chair scraped harshly beside you.

“Hey.”

Your eyes blinked open slowly. Hospital room. Dim lighting. And Eddie, kneeling beside your bed so fast it almost looked like he hadn’t moved in hours. Because honestly? He probably hadn’t.

His curls were a mess, dark circles bruised beneath his eyes, while dried scratches still marked his neck and jaw from the bats. One of his hands clutched yours tightly enough to hurt a little.

“Oh, thank God,” he breathed shakily.

Your throat felt raw. “You look terrible.”

A watery laugh escaped him instantly. “Thanks.”

You smiled weakly. Eddie immediately leaned forward in the chair, still gripping your hand like he thought you might disappear if he let go.

“You scared the absolute shit out of me,” he admitted quietly.

“How long was I out?”

“Day and a half.”

Your eyebrows lifted weakly. “Seriously?”

“Mhm.”

“Wow. Kinda dramatic of me.”

Eddie let out another broken laugh, but this one dissolved quickly. You glanced down at your intertwined hands, noticing how he still hadn’t let go.

“…You stayed?”

Eddie looked almost offended. “Obviously, I stayed.”

Something warm twisted painfully in your chest. You swallowed carefully. “The others okay?”

“Yeah.” He nodded quickly. “Everyone’s okay. Couple scratches, Henderson won’t stop bragging about his Molotovs, Robin cried for like twenty minutes after you passed out—”

“Robin cried?”

“She threatened Steve when he laughed about it, too.”

That earned a small laugh out of you. God, he’d missed that sound.

Eddie stared at you for a second too long afterward, like he was making sure you were real, and alive.

His expression slowly crumbled again. “Listen,” he started quietly.

You already knew from his tone that this was gonna hurt. Eddie rubbed shakily at his eyes with his free hand before looking back at you.

“I am so sorry.”

Your chest tightened immediately.

“I should’ve told you about Chrissy,” he continued, voice uneven now. “I should’ve explained, and I should’ve come after you that night instead of letting you walk away.”

Tears burned visibly in his eyes again. “But honestly?” He laughed weakly at himself. “I think I was just waiting for you to realize you were too good for me.”

Your face softened instantly. “Eddie—”

“No, let me say it.” His voice cracked slightly. “Because I need you to know.”

His thumb brushed carefully across your knuckles.

“You are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen in my life,” he whispered shakily. “Like… stupid beautiful. And smart, and funny, and everybody loves you, and I just kept thinking eventually you’d wake up and realize you didn’t wanna be stuck with some freak in a trailer forever.”

Your eyes immediately stung.

“And then when you saw me with Chrissy…” He swallowed hard. “I don’t know. Part of me almost figured maybe this was it. Like maybe I finally ruined the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Silence filled the room softly. Then finally, “You idiot.”

Eddie blinked, and you squeezed his hand weakly. “I never cared about any of that.”

His face crumpled all over again. “I know that now,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry too.”

Eddie frowned immediately. “For what?”

“I should’ve listened.”

“No, sweetheart—”

“I was hurt,” you admitted softly. “But I think part of me already knew you didn’t cheat.”

Eddie’s eyes went glossy again instantly.

You sighed weakly. “You’re too obsessed with me to cheat on me.”

That startled a laugh out of him so suddenly he actually snorted.

“Well, yeah,” he whispered again.

You smiled faintly. Then after a small pause, “So…” you murmured. “What now?”

Eddie looked at you carefully, like he was scared to answer wrong.

Then slowly, he brought your hand carefully to his lips and pressed the softest kiss against your knuckles.

“Whatever you want,” he whispered.

Your heart melted a little. “…I think,” you admitted quietly, “I’d like my boyfriend back.”

Eddie actually stopped breathing. “You mean that?”

You nodded once, and that was all it took.

Eddie surged forward carefully, terrified of hurting you, one hand cradling your face while he kissed you like he’d been dying to do it for months.

Soft at first, shaky. Then emotional enough that you felt tears hit your cheeks before realizing they were his. When he pulled back, his forehead rested against yours.

“I love you,” he whispered immediately. “Like, embarrassingly bad.”

You laughed softly. “I love you too, you idiot.”

Neither of you noticed the door cracking open. At least, not until:

“Oh, thank fucking God.”

You both startled apart immediately. Robin stood frozen in the doorway holding two vending machine coffees and an open bag of chips, staring at the two of you with pure exhausted relief on her face.

Behind her, Steve physically sagged against the doorframe.

“FINALLY,” he groaned dramatically. “Jesus Christ.”

Your face burned hot instantly while Eddie still hovered halfway over you, one hand on your waist. Robin pointed between the two of you accusingly. “Do you understand how insufferable you both have been?”

“Robin—” Eddie started.

“No. No, I’m serious.” She walked fully into the room now, setting the coffees down aggressively on the bedside table. “The sexual tension alone almost killed me before the interdimensional monsters even got the chance.”

Eddie groaned, dragging both hands down his face. “Can we have like… one emotional moment? Alone?”

“No,” Steve answered immediately.

Robin nodded. “Absolutely not.”

Then her expression softened slightly as she looked toward you lying in the hospital bed. “You scared the hell out of us, by the way.”

Your smile faded a little. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Steve said quickly, pushing off the doorway. “Just stop getting mauled by alternate dimension creatures. It’s becoming a weird habit in this group.”

“You first,” you shot back weakly.

Robin’s eyes flicked back and forth between you and Eddie again before narrowing suspiciously.

“So…” she dragged out slowly. “Are we all emotionally repaired now or what?”

Eddie looked toward you, and you smiled faintly before intertwining your fingers with his again.

Robin gasped dramatically. “OH, my GOD.”

Steve pointed immediately. “I knew it.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but he was smiling now, actually...no. More like beaming at the fact that your fingers were laced with his.

THE END :D

hope you all enjoyed! <33

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