*hot stuff

*

as much as his uncle and lori had insisted that it was no bother to have him stay with them, that, in fact, it was a delight to have him around, especially since they only saw him on rare occasions, eddie could see the strain his presence put on the both of them. their place, despite being a significant upgrade from that shitty trailer wayne and eddie had spent the first nineteen years of his life in, was already pretty small as is. with eddie and all his baggage, both emotional and physical luggage, it didn’t take long for the bungalow to get croweded. stuffy, even, with no way to air out all the pent up trauma eddie had brought along, or all the love and affection his uncle and his wife were trying to offer him, which he just couldn’t find it within himself to accept.

plus his image around the town, certain townspeople. it would be difficult for anybody, and the last thing eddie wanted was for lori and wayne’s relationship to take a toll because of him. so, he did what any responsible nephew would do, prepare a nice romantic candlelight dinner in the kitchen, pack all the essentials into a worn-out crossbody bag, throw that into the back of his car and speed off into the night, to grant the two of them a little much needed space. god knows eddie needed it , too. 

he’d popped the first of many tapes into his car’s old radio, the sisters of mercy’s iconic album ‘flood’, as he began his aimless driving around the town. driving had always calmed him down, he didn’t know why. maybe his parents had taken him into the car when he was a baby, so the humming of the motor would calm him down and put him to sleep, he couldn’t be sure, he barely remembered anything about them, after all. or at least he chose not to.

but if you’re busy supressing one unpleasant memory, another is bound to surface, and soon enough eddie found himself gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, clenching his jaw so hard it was borderline painful as he was suddenly plagued by unwanted flashbacks. memories, like visions, of the time immediately following their defeat of vecna. so, reall, it was, like … flashbacks of flashbacks, of his near brush with death in the upside down. being chained to a hospital bed, confronted with the death of so many, most of whom people thought you were responsible for.

it was the album that triggered it, wayne had brought it to the hospital and for a solid while, that was the only possession eddie had been allowed to have. while he was still officially the prime suspect of a murder investigation and all. ‘flood’ was irrevocably tied to a lifetime of trauma and of fucking course, it was just eddie’s luck that, when he aggressively tried to hit the eject button, it feel right off. the tape now stuck in the radio, his trauma forever on loop. “motherfucker - are you fucking kidding me right now? are you fucking kidding -”

eddie cut himself off as his car came to an abrupt halt, slamming the steering wheel a few times, only stopping when he accidentally hit the horn a little too hard. “shit. for fuck’s sake.” he really had no choice here. eddie pulled over to the side of the road, grabbed his bag and locked his car. he couldn’t drive all the way back with that stupid tape stuck in there - every song made the cluster of scars on his stomach ache more and more - but … could he walk home? it was too late for a bus. cab’s weren’t exactly an availabilty in buttfuck, indiana and… well, with so many people still blaming him for shit he wasn’t even fucking convicted of !!!! eddie wasn’t gonna take his chances of walking home. it was too far anyway.

so, begrudgingly, he rang the only doorbell that had a familiar name next to it. “harrington! hey there… uh, long time no see, huh. uh…uh, my liege. i humbly request entry into the kingdom of - ah, fuck it.” already half-committed to an extravagant bow, eddie stopped himself mid sentence and got back up, dragging a hand down his face. seeing the look on steve’s face, however, he quickly straightened up. “shit! uh, yeah, yeah, man. everything’s fine. no freaky upside down shit, i should’ve - should’ve cleared that up right away. sorry.” stupid. if steve had showed up on his doorway in the middle of the night looking disheveled, eddie would’ve expected the worst too. which in this case meant monsters and shit. alternatively, eddie would’ve thought he was dreaming but that all depended on whether or not steve was declaring his love for him and ripping off his shirt soon after.

“i … my car, like, broke.” he shrugged. wasn’t really a lie, was it? “this is super weird and you can totally say no but - could i, like, crash here?”

the last person that he had least expected to show up at his door at that hour was eddie munson. well, scratch that, the last person he expected to show up at his door would be someone like the president of the united states, but steve was pretty surprised to see eddie on the other side of the door. the two hadn’t been exactly close over the years, steve only getting certain news about eddie from robin. not even before that they had been close. they had shared a couple of moments that confused steve, remembering the conversations that they had in the upside down - even if it was a bit foggy, since twenty years had passed since then. and after that, eddie had left and steve barely had any contact with him, if any at all. steve wasn’t sure why he had decided to show up at his door, of all people. there was max, lucas... even dustin, even if he had heard about their falling out, only knowing it from dustin’s side.

steve watched as the man did some sort of bow and he was immediately confused. “oh, uh... yeah, sure, right, come on in.” steve was sure that his brain was still half asleep from his small nap earlier, but he watched as eddie walked into his apartment. it was a mess, but steve decided that he would clean it up when he actually had some time for it and he wasn’t tired. “right... why would there be anything related to the upside down?” he asked, frowning a bit. in his head, that had been solved all those years ago, when him, robin and nancy had shot vecna until he was dead. a memory that still played in his head, even after all those years. he felt a shiver going down his spine as he thought about the possibility of it returning - but was it really out of the picture? things had been weird for a while, ever since joyce’s funeral. there were the nails in his bed, which he hadn’t assimilated yet... but he decided not to think about. just as he decided to not think about luke still being gone. they were going to find him eventually.

focusing his attention back on eddie, he nodded his head slowly as the man explained his situation, a soft smile on his face. he wasn’t about to turn him away. plus, it would be nice to catch up with eddie, if he was up to it. they had been encountering each other more and more often, which was a given considering they hadn’t seen each other in years. “of course you can stay here. i don’t have an extra room though, but... the couch will do just fine.” he said, motioning towards the couch and then his eyes widened at the sight of ford’s toys spread out all over the couch, only the spot where he had been sitting in being free. “right, right, i’ll just clean that up.” he said as he moved over to the couch and got rid of all of the toys, before he turned back to eddie, his face slightly red from embarrassment.

“are you alright? you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he held onto one of his kid’s plushies and waved it in front of eddie. “if you want you can cuddle mr. cuddles, but i think you’ll have to give it back to ford once he’s home.” he said, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

After dedicating far too much time to his rental car debacle– and, okay, a few distractions– Cole got around to his reason for being here. Finding one Max Mayfield. Jesus, he had no idea it’d be this hard to track somebody down in Hawkins, Indiana– after he’d chased clients and witnesses into every shitty suburb of LA– but, he’d finally asked the right person, who’d pointed him to a nice-enough apartment complex and mumbled something about the third floor. He wasn’t above going door to door, and had dressed down for the occasion– t-shirt and corduroys in lieu of his usual suit and tie. God forbid anyone assume he was a Jehovah’s Witness or whatever cults they have in the Midwest.

A fifth door slammed in his face, the dull pang in Cole’s stomach chastised him for not bringing a beer along, at least. It was damn near nine o'clock, Indiana time, which was happy hour back home– if you could call drinking alone reading through briefs happy hour. Still, Cole trudged on to the next door, knocking louder when he got no response. Suddenly, the door swung open and a man who was most definitely not Max Mayfield snapped at him. Cole eyed him, lips twitched downward in a frown, like this was nothing more than an inconvenience. “Jesus Christ, dude, pop a Xanax or something,” he said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the aggression. “I’m looking for Max Mayfield, I was told she’s been here?” he said, then decided to reveal a tad more as incentive to share. “I’m a friend. Co-worker. From home.”

steve looked at the man that had been banging on his door, all while ford kept screaming at his ear. closing his eyes, a bit in frustration, steve kept bouncing ford on his arms to try and calm him down. “it’s okay, ford.” he cooed, holding him close to him as he tried to calm him down. he kept crying, but eventually came to a stop once he actually realized that there was nothing that he needed to be crying about. instead, ford focused his attention on the man that had been standing at his door for god knows how long, all while steve kept the eyes on the man. steve was sure that he had never seen this man around the town, and being a small town, steve was sure that he would recognize him from somewhere. but he didn’t. raising an eyebrow as he kept holding onto ford, he went closer to the door to close it in his face, before he heard him asking for max mayfield.

“oh.” he said, tilting his head slightly to the side while ford did the same, not slamming the door on his face this time. “well, next time don’t bang on my door and just knock like a normal person. maybe i won’t yell at you.” he said, shaking his head as he held ford by his hip and stared at him. “but max isn’t here, she’s uh... a friend. she was here not long ago, but she doesn’t live here. and honestly i can’t tell you where she is right now either. plus, how do i know you’re not some... creepy stalker who decided to track her down from wherever you’re from?” he asked, looking over at ford as he seemed to try to rip his face off with his tiny hand. “stop.” he whispered to the kid, before focusing on the man again. “you got a name?”

Working at this place as a kid had its benefits. The owner would still let him come in and borrow some tools when he needed them. It was a win-win, really. John would give him good deals in return when he came shopping at Melvald’s. It was really all hobby-basis for him these days. He tried not to be in any of the mechanics way and tried not to linger. But he certainly did miss working in a place like this. Just being busy but not in a ’you-have-to-think-about-everything’ sorta way. Back then, he wouldn’t come home tired. Well, mentally tired, that was. But he wasn’t up to date with the new techniques anymore and researching was not his strong point.

His knee was tapping uncontrollably like it usually did when he was seated and he offered the other male a pressed smile as he approached. In his mind he had already greeted Steve verbally, so he went straight to the point. “Would you swap a 1994 Honda Accord 2.0i, still decent mileage, battery barely a year old, in for something new? I mean, I kinda like the whole fixer upper thing it has going on and it’s a popular car so there’s enough parts on the market, but these newer cars..” he whistled to emphasize his point. “they look so good and the things they are able to put in there these days are quite incredible. You’ve seen these new radios? I swear, the next thing they’ll do is getting rid of the manual windows and, I don’t know, get you a remote to put your windows down or something.”

steve decided that this would be a quick lunch, looking over at his sandwich. it didn’t look that good, but he knew that he had to eat anyway. he was about to bite into it when he heard john starting to talk to him. his eyes widened a bit as the man kept talking, holding onto his sandwich. he thought about answering the first question he had asked him, but he was quickly interrupted as the man kept talking away. holding onto the sandwich, steve waited for the other to slow down or at least to stop talking, opening his mouth several times to start talking but only getting interrupted again and again. shaking his head as he tried to assimilate everything that he said, clearing his throat.

once the man stopped talking, he nodded his head. “well, if it were up to me, i would still have my car from twenty years ago. it still pained him to think that it didn’t work anymore, but even he knew that cars couldn’t last that long. he just hoped that they would. “i think new cars are fine. they’re not as good looking as the older cars though, but i think they’re safer now. plus, if you have a kid in the backseat, it’s always better to be safe.” he said, shrugging his shoulders before he finally took a bite of his sandwich and then turned to look at john. “would you? do all of that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

.

kids were kind of like little aliens to thad. he was an only child, the only juvenile he ever engaged with for long periods of time were himself. and sure, luke had been born during his engagement to nancy, but that was totally different than his bond with ford. and steve for that matter. it had taken thad a considerable amount of time to come around to the work force, but guys like steve made it easy. it just seemed like the both of them were on the same track, the same wavelength. so sure, thad spent a couple of hours free of charge showing ford john waters’ hairspray or explaining football teams to deaf ears. every single time it flew by and thad was always caught of guard by steve’s arrival.  thad collected for, who was half asleep, up onto his hip. the door flung open and thad ushered steve in with a green. “i was just getting ready to put him down for the night.” he whispered to steve, glancing toward the pack-and-play in his bedroom. by instinct, thad began to gently bounce ford in her arms, causing the toddler to slump against his shoulder, eyes fighting to stay open. “you’re welcome to stay until morning, pal.” thad offered, still whispering and waiting for the approval of steve. if he wasn’t sold, he was about to be, “we can finish the game.” he coaxed, sing-songing. “i’ve got an unopened six pack.” 

looking over at thad, steve smiled softly at the sight of his son in the man’s arms, barely awake. he wondered for a bit if he was doing all of this wrong, being a dad - because everyone else seemed to make ford asleep faster than he did. there was usually tons of crying involved and ford would throw various tantrums before he actually fell asleep. steve didn’t reach out so he could hold his son, instead moved his hand so he could softly caress the kid’s face, a loving look on his face before he looked over at thad. “i owe you one, thank you man.” he said, standing there as he slowly opened his arms so thad could hand him thad over. but that’s when he heard the other’s suggestion and he thought about it for a few moments, before nodding his head. a few beers wouldn’t hurt - he could use some after the night he had.

“you know what? why not?” he whispered back, smiling over at thad and then taking ford away from his arms gently. “i’ll put him down, you get those beers opened and ready.” he said, being gentle with ford as he carried him towards thad’s room, lowering him and laying him down, caressing his face and then kissing his forehead, before he walked back to the living room, plopping down on the couch and running his hand over his face, grabbing one of the beers. “i hope he wasn’t hard to deal with tonight. but how are you doing?” he asked, patting the man firmly on the back in a friendly manner, before he took a sip of his beer and let himself relax on the couch.

having the night all to himself was a blessing that he didn’t know that he was going to miss so much. in his younger years, being alone meant that he would throw a big pool party at his place, have friends over and just drink until they were passed out drunk. now? having ford at his mother’s place for the night just meant that steve could get some sleep and actually rest for once. he was thankful for all of the people around him that helped him out with the kid, or else he would have gone crazy. who would have thought that having a kid would be this hard? he should have seen it coming after years of chasing after dustin, lucas, mike... and the others, that he couldn’t even imagine thinking about right now. steve took a seat on his couch, a beer in his hand and the remote on the other, turning on his tv and putting on the game. he had barely been following this season, not only because of ford, but also because of the disappearance of luke wheeler. it had taken some sort of toll on him and it made him think about what mike was going through. the kid was a good kid, even if he liked to talk back. but steve had grown used to it and now he was worried about it. but he decided to leave those thoughts until he was out in another search party - hopefully the next one would be successful. his mind drifted a bit as he stared at the tv, not really paying that much attention at this point. he could feel himself drifting off to sleep. he was sure that he had fallen asleep when he heard a knock on the door. steve opened his eyes and looked around, making sure that he wasn’t asleep. maybe it had been part of his dream, but he didn’t remember dreaming... and that’s when he heard another knock on the door. letting out a soft groan, he pushed himself off the couch and placed his beer bottle on the table, as he made his way towards the door and swung it open. seeing eddie on the other side shocked him, so he frowned. “eddie! what, uh... what are you doing here? is everything okay?” he asked, feeling his mouth going a bit dry.

it seemed like everyone had found out where he lived. this didn’t happen as often, at least it didn’t before everyone returned for joyce’s funeral. ever since then, people seemed to appear out of nowhere to ask him for something or just to visit him. which was appreciated, but not when he was trying to put ford to sleep. he had been rocking him to sleep all night long. two hours had passed and the kid was still screaming at the top of his lungs - he wasn’t sure what more he wanted - he had fed him, he had changed him, he had done everything in his power so he would stop crying. but it wasn’t working. and then, just like a miracle, ford stopped the crying and steve had to make sure that everything was okay. steve let out a sigh of relief as he put the kid in his crib and softly went back to the living room, making sure to leave the door open. not two minutes had passed when someone was banging on the door and ford was back to screaming. steve threw his hands in the air and walked towards the door, opened it and went back to ford’s room to help him. as he picked him up and walked back to the living room to see who it was, he was shocked to see... someone that he didn’t know. “who the fuck are you?!” he asked, already annoyed that he had woken up ford and that someone he didn’t even know had banged on his door. he felt like ripping his head out.

when thad had first suggested that he could babysit his kid, steve had to admit that he was a bit terrified to do it. who knew what could happen to ford while he was in thad’s hands? not that he didn’t trust him, steve had found a way to somehow trust him when they started working together. and now? steve would consider him a good friend. and good friends babysat each other’s kids, right? luckily for steve, thad didn’t have any kids so he didn’t have to worry about that. but he did have to worry when it came to thad babysitting ford. at least the first time. after spending the whole time worrying about ford, it was shocking for steve to see that everything was actually okay. and it had turned out that thad... was a great babysitter? that was something he didn’t expect.

but now, steve was actually thankful that he could leave ford with thad. especially with everything that was happening, the searches for luke wheeler only taking longer and longer as they tried to look in further each time they went out. after another night of no success, steve went back to thad’s apartment, his feet sore from the walking, to retrieve ford. as he climbed up the stairs, he knocked on the door a couple of times before thad finally opened. with a warm smile, steve nodded his head as he walked inside. “hey man.” he said, patting the other’s shoulder on the way in. “thank you again for taking care of ford. how’s he doing?” he asked, turning to look at him.

it was a busy day at the shop, but steve had managed quite well. he was sure that his smile helped, especially when it came to many of the ladies that appeared at the shop with nothing but an oil change. too bad that he didn’t have that much time for flirting nowadays - the shop and ford kept him busy, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy the compliments from others. of course he was going to enjoy it - he was only human after all. as he dismissed another person after fixing their car, steve sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and started walking towards the break room. it was lunch time and steve loved nothing more than to rest a bit and be all by himself.

but as he walked through the doors of the break room and he spotted johnny melvald, he knew that he wasn’t going to have a quiet lunch. but it wasn’t like he could ignore the guy either. as he reached for the fridge and grabbed out his lunch (that he had lazily packed last night), he went over to the table where johnny was seating. steve had always thought that he was a bit of a weird guy, but he couldn’t say that out loud. smiling at him and deciding to be polite, steve stared at him and gave him a small nod. “hey john. how’s it going?” he asked, staring over at the man as he got his sandwich out of his bag.

when will had gone missing, steve hadn’t been part of the search parties that were often organized. that had happened more than twenty years ago, and steve still thought about it sometimes. would have it made a difference? will had been found, and not in the way most people expected. but he still thought about it. steve had been hoping that the search parties were over forever in hawkins, but he was wrong. steve was just hoping that they could find luke and that everything would be alright - but he doubted that looking for him in the woods for night after night wouldn’t do any good. steve was hoping that he could talk to mike, make sure that he was alright and that nothing bad would happen to him. but he couldn’t seem to catch him alone.

however, he did spot his sister as they kept walking through the woods. picking up the pace, steve finally caught up to holly, slightly nudging her in the arm. steve was grateful for holly, at least in these past few weeks. she had offered to babysit ford whenever she could and that was always welcome when it came to steve. whenever thad couldn’t babysit ford or his mom was busy, steve would usually go to holly. “hey.” he said quietly, as he looked over at her. he couldn’t even imagine what holly was going through, given that this was her nephew we were talking about. “how are you doing?” he asked, a polite and sympathetic smile appearing on his lips, as he kept walking, holding his flashlight.

even if two years with ford had passed, steve still wasn’t used to walk around with a stroller while everyone had watched. and if he wasn’t used to that, he definitely wasn’t used to doing it while everyone he knew was back in town for joyce’s funeral. it was a tough week, to say the least. even if he didn’t show it, steve had been upset about this whole thing. it was a weird thing to think about, joyce being gone, when steve had grown up seeing her around town. but it wasn’t the time to think about that. steve was walking around, pushing the stroller with ford in it as he tried to get him to sleep - or to take a nap, at least. it was weird that he would have used this time to drive around in his car before, but now he was too busy with the kid. but he wouldn’t complain.

“come on, ford, you need to take a nap... or else you’ll be grumpy all night and then i’m the one who has to suffer, right?” steve talked with ford like he would talk back with him. it wasn’t like he couldn’t understand him, steve just thought that ford had plenty of better reasons to ignore steve than actually listen to him. the other had gone quiet for a bit and steve took a peek to see if he was asleep, but he was still wide awake, just chewing on a toy that he had somehow found. “give me that...” he said as he took the toy away from him, to which he just started crying. steve sighed as he stopped the stroller in the middle of the sidewalk and walked around it so he could kneel in front of the stroller. “really?” he asked. it only hit him that he was basically talking to himself when he saw someone standing there. “oh! sorry, i didn’t see you there.” he said as he handed the toy back to ford so he could stop crying, then turned to the person. “sorry, that was... weird.” he said, clearing his throat.

It was kind of funny, the way Dustin’s relationship with Steve had changed over the years they’d spent in Hawkins. Along with his mom, Steve had always been the one to urge Dustin to leave Hawkins– he was so sure Dustin was destined for something bigger. But then, Heather, and the kids, and Katherine… And Steve was there through it all. With some questionable advice, sure, but Dustin was glad to have him around. Steve had taken Dustin out when he turned twenty-one, bought him his first shot, and carried him to the bathroom when Dustin inevitably threw up the aforementioned shot. With Ford, Dustin for once felt like he had the upper hand on Steve; Someone had to teach him how to change a diaper, anyway, and Dustin was happy to be involved. Plus, Ward loved playing big brother to the baby, for some reason.

But it was still nice to leave the kids with someone else and just hang out– like adults– every now and then. When Steve had called this week, Dustin jumped at the opportunity– he’d do anything to escape Willa’s incessant questions about where Mrs. Byers is now, honestly, he didn’t have the stomach to think about it for too long. A relieved grin spread across his face as Dustin spotted Steve, and slid into the booth opposite him. “Shut up,” he grumbled, though he laughed, too. “It took like an extra ten minutes to drop them off because Ward wanted to count all my teeth again,” he explained, throwing his hands up in confusion. His kids never ceased to amaze him. “Me getting lost? Yeah right. You know I keep it on me at all times,” he joked, reaching into his back pocket to produce his trusty compass. He carried it more as a good luck charm than an actual tool, but still, he was prepared! “No gates today,” he commented, taking a long sip of the beer. “So, what sad sack did you stick Fordie with?”

steve looked over at dustin and he smiled fondly. it still surprised him how much the other had grown up, and if he was being honest, it made steve feel old. he still remembered the time, even if twenty years had passed, where steve would have to take care of dustin. but it didn’t do him well to think about the past, but focus more on the present. dustin had become more than a friend to him over the years, he had become a sort of brother that steve had never had, and he was thankful to have him in his life. but, just like any sibling relationship, steve was still used to teasing him like he always had done. at the mention of ward wanting to count dustin’s teeth, steve let out a small chuckle and shook his head. “i mean, i would say i’m surprised but he is your kid. so that’s not the weirdest thing he could have asked to do.” steve said with a small shrug of his shoulders, before he took a sip of his beer. dustin being a dad before steve had been a shock to him, but it had only showed him how much he had wanted kids. and now that he was a dad too, that was one more thing they could talk about.

“i don’t know why you carry that thing.” steve said, talking about the compass that the other always carried. at the mention of gates, steve just shook his head softly. “don’t even talk about that, makes me shiver.” he said, thinking about the events of all those years before. he was glad that it was over now... it didn’t even seem like it had happened, for some reason. it was too far away. “holly wheeler, actually. she’s in town, i guess for the...” steve said, before saying what he was going to say. it was obvious that everyone would be back for joyce’s funeral. “i ran into her and she was kind enough to accept my offer.” steve said with a small shrug. “it’s been a shitty week, uh?” he asked, looking over at dustin. he hadn’t had the time to ask him how he was feeling about the whole thing.

.

steve felt like a safe option to reintroduce herself to on her own terms. so, she figured out where he lived pretty quick and showed up to say hi. when she stepped inside though, the last thing max was expecting to see was a kid. no, not just a kid, like, a baby. she blinked at it and uttered in awe, “holy shit…” max snapped out of it and eyed steve pointedly, “is there anyone who didn’t pop out a fucking kid?” she glanced back at the baby quickly, then sincerely asked steve, “how old is it?” she leaned in, “oh my god, dude.” max whispered like it was a secret from the baby, “congrats, i think.” back to the point. she took a breath, then explained, “im in town for you know, that thing, and i thought i’d say hey.” 

max watched steve, wondering if this had been a bad idea, and if she should’ve gone with her gut feeling to keep to herself, “if it’s a bad time i’ll go.” she offered casually, but frowned as she watched steve cleaning, “what is that stuff?” 

@stevehharringtcns​​

steve almost said something towards max’s language. not because she was saying it, she was an adult now, even if it took some time for steve to understand that. but because he didn’t want ford to hear those kind of words. but it wasn’t like he was any better. “well, as you can imagine, i didn’t pop out... a kid.” steve said as he kept cleaning the mess that ford had made. he heard max talk and he nodded his head slowly. of course she would be back in town, and steve didn’t expect it any different. in fact, he expected that he would be seeing way more familiar faces in town for the next week. the thought of it sent some shivers down his spine, but he didn’t let it show. it was just a funeral. he had gone through more than he would like, but he would be fine. everyone would be fine. “he’s two. and it feels like he’s been two for years now, trust me. the terrible twos are truly, the worst.” steve had read something about it on a magazine about being a parent, which he wasn’t proud of... but it had helped him. “thanks.” steve said, a small smile forming on his lips.

“uh... sweet potato. or carrots, i can’t be sure.” steve said as he finished cleaning up and threw out the napkins he had used. “oh, no, it’s fine, you can stay! please, make yourself at... home.” he said, motioning towards the couch, before he went back to the kitchen to grab some more food for ford. “keep an eye out for him!” steve yelled out as he got another bowl of food, hoping that ford wouldn’t send this one to waste. walking back, steve sat on the chair again and looked over at max. “so, uh... how’s life treating you? how have you been?” he asked, as he heard ford babbling some words that he couldn’t understand, but he smiled either way, as he tried to start feeding him.

*

against all odds, eddie munson had decided to go for a walk. not an activity he normally pursued, partly in fear of being recognized, partly because he wasn’t exaclty a health nut, but extreme situations drove people to extreme actions. being back in hawkins for a funeral - another funeral, he thought - definitely qualified as an extreme situation. the circumstances of his trip back home were tragic, no doubt about it, and the fact that eddie rather felt like his very life had derailed into a catastophe in itself wasn’t making this whole thing any easier. he wanted to clear his head. no, he desperately needed to. wayne was entirely too … too caring, too understanding. as if his uncle looked right through him. as if he wasn’t adressing the man that was standing in front of him, but rather that bright eyed, bushy tailed nineteen year old that had, to wayne’s understanding, left his home in search of adventure and whatever the world had to offer him.

eddie had felt the nausea creeping up on him, his guilty conscience climbing up his back to manifest in a painful ache of his shoulders, the minute he had pulled into hawkins, and it had only worsened with every pat on the back, every warm smile his uncle had offered him. and then, of course, there was mallory, lori for short, who’d moved in with his uncle some years back, into that charming little bungalow a five minute drive from forest hills trailer park. the sweet librarian that eddie had heard so much about from wayne, who was now, technically, his step-aunt. though she felt as much like a mom as wayne felt like a father. 

the home he’d come back to, the one he’d left in shambles all those years ago, was entirely too loving for eddie to comprehend. surely, someone as - as false, as fraudulent as him didn’t belong in a household like that. full of warmth and light and homecooked family dinners. so, in an attempt to stop himself from hurling, to escape the sensory overload of being cared for, eddie had excused himself and gone on a walk.

completely by himself, no music or anything, alone with his thoughts. trying to drown those out by focusing on the sounds of the woods around him as much as possible. the call of a bird there, the rustle of the leaves here, the occasional crack of a branch - that one always made him tense a little, to be completely honest. eddie didn’t know how long he’d been walking, just that, by the ache that was forming in his legs, it was time to turn around soon. just a few more steps. a few more sounds. birds, leaves, disgruntled voices.

hold up. eddie stopped, suddenly aware of his surrounding again. voices? no, no. that wasn’t right. not voices, just one, one voice. but one unmistakeable voice, that shocked him to his core. how was it possible that he still sounded the same? that fucker. 

no, yeah, one voice, just one, one that had haunted eddie in his dreams ever since the spring of ‘86. a voice that he’d really - so far quite successfully - forced himself to forget because, hey, he was turning fourty soon and it was, to be honest, a little ridiculous to be still be sorta hung up on that straight guy you fought monsters from hell with in senior year number three.

and still! that voice, eddie was sure, could wake him from a fucking coma. straightening his back, nervously tucking a lock of frazzled, messy hair behind his ear, eddie approached the car. “steve? steve - steve harrington ?”

it couldn’t be, it couldn’t fucking be. but it was, of course it was. eddie had figured everyone that had lived through vecna had left town immediately after, just like him. but of course, he should’ve known that if anyone it would be steve that had stayed. eddie managed a crooked grin as he took in the other - yeah, they both had aged quite a bit since they’d last seen each other. but fuck, steve still looked as good as ever. not fair, and not helping.

“i’m - i’m just in town for the funeral.” a beat passed. eddie, usually so good with words, desperately tried to think of something to say. “it’s good to see you, man.” pathetic. “so you’re in town for the, the funeral too, or …. “ or did you never leave this godforsaken hellhole? no, no, he shouldn’t be mean. shouldn’t judge. 

movement caught his eye and he stood on his tiptoes to peer behind steve, meeting eyes with - well, with what eddie could only describe as a baby version of steve. he attempted a weak smile, then looked back at steve, back to the toddler, back to steve. it couldn’t be…. no, right? could steve… and, oh god, could steve and nancy … ? 

he cleared his throat. “so!” said a little too loud, making himself jump. “uh… who’s the little guy?”

steve didn’t know how to feel about seeing eddie for the first time in... how much time had passed? he couldn’t be sure, but steve knew that it had been a couple of years ever since he had heard from him. or even seen him. everything he knew about him was from what he saw on the news and from robin, whenever he spoke with her. other than that, the two didn’t keep in touch. it wasn’t like they necessarily had a reason to get keep talking after everything that had happened. they had defeated vecna, even if there had been some casualties and then everyone had gone their own way. steve was sure that eddie had been the first one to do that, to leave. maybe he had been the wisest of them all, but steve couldn’t be sure of that. steve liked his life in hawkins, or at least, that’s what he told everyone he encountered. 

he was shocked that he could recognize the other immediately. even if he wasn’t famous, steve knew that he would be able to recognize him from a mile away. he was sure that it was the hair, or something familiar about his face. as he heard eddie’s explanation about why he was there, he nodded his head slowly as he pursed his lips. “seems like everyone is coming back for the funeral. kind of a shitty reason to come back here.” steve said, a small sigh escaping his lips as he kept his eyes on eddie. he felt his ears turn slightly red when eddie asked him if he was in town for the funeral too. it was weird to him to think about leaving hawkins now, but maybe it would have been for the better if he had. it was too late now. “good to see you too.” he said with a nod. “but, uh... no, i still live here. i was just getting some baby food for, uh...” he said, motioning towards ford that was behind him, being loud inside of the car. he had found a toy in the backseat and was now playing with it... at least he was distracted or something.

seeing eddie peek behind him to see what it was, steve took a step to the side so the other could take a better look. he assumed that not everyone had heard about what had happened two years ago and that he was now a single dad. but it turned out that spending four years taking care of some kids who seemed to get in trouble had made something grow in him. he knew that it was probably cheese to think that, so he didn’t say it out loud. “oh, right...” he said as he looked over at ford, placing a hand on his head and then looked back at eddie, a half smile on his lips. “this is ford, my son.” he said, ruffling the kid’s hair as he  turned back to look at eddie. now that he thought about it, ford had a set of hair that reminded him of his own when he was younger. he was called ‘the hair’ for a bunch of years for a reason.

“i’m surprised that you came back, i thought you’d be busy with... the band and all of that. i have to say, i’ve become quite a fan of the music you play. i didn’t think that would happen.” steve said with a small chuckle escaping his lips, as he stood there awkwardly. he wasn’t sure if he should leave or if he should invite eddie over - which would be weird considering the two had never really hung out alone. not that steve could remember anyway.

“stop... fussing. you need to put your seatbelt on.” steve groaned as he struggled to put on the seatbelt in ford’s seat. it seemed like those things were impossible to actually put on and it was even harder when his kid wouldn’t stop kicking around. he was still getting used to being a dad, if he was being honest - even if two years had gone by since ford had been born. but from what he had heard, the terrible twos were a terrible age for kids and luckily for steve, it seemed to be right around the corner. he just wanted to go for a ride in his car, like he used to do, but now he had to take ford with him. not that he didn’t enjoy his own son’s company, but he liked it a lot when he was asleep. it seemed impossible to get him to do that right now. “just play with this.” steve said as he picked up a toy from the car’s floor and placed it next to ford. once the other settled and focused on the toy, steve finally managed to fasten the seatbelt, letting out a sigh of relief.

“see? that wasn’t that hard, was it?” steve asked to his kid, who stuck out his tongue - he wondered if it was intentional. just as he was about to stand up to get up and walk into the driver’s seat, he heard a familiar voice coming from behind. a voice that he hadn’t heard in quite some time - and part of him wondered if he was just hallucinating. hearing the voice made him jump a bit, making him hit the car’s roof. “fuck.” he muttered, which made ford laugh for a bit. steve clumsily got himself out of the car and turned around to see eddie munson. “e-eddie?” he asked, stuttering a bit before he shook his head to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming. he had hit his head pretty hard. “what are... what are you, uh, doing... here?” he asked, rubbing the back of his head in confusion.

the news about joyce’s passing had seemed to hit the town pretty hard, but especially those who knew her. steve wasn’t particularly close to her, but they had all gone through the same stuff back in 1986. and the year before. and the year before that. it had been a couple rough years for all of them back then, but most of them had made it out alive. steve had never gotten the guts to apologize to joyce for what happened to will - no matter how much time passed, steve would always blame himself for those events. but it didn’t do well to dwell in the past. people had gone, people had stayed - one of those who stayed was dustin. steve had to admit that he was pretty surprised that he had stayed behind - the kid had always been smart, or at least, smarter than him and he could have had a bright future out of hawkins. but he wouldn’t complain, especially when dustin had sort of become his only friend in hawkins. it was kind of sad to think about, but he was grateful for him.

his eyes drifted towards the door once he saw it open. steve deserved at least one night out, especially when he had been able to get a babysitter from ford. when he got home, he would be asleep and steve would be able to get some sleep... until four a.m. when ford woke him up screaming. he waved his hand towards dustin when he walked in, a charming smile on his face as the man approached him. the other had grown so much and it only made him realize that he was getting older. “took you long enough, henderson. don’t tell me you got lost. you’ve lived here for more than thirty years.” steve let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he slid a beer towards dustin’s direction.

ever since ford had learned how to walk, the apartment had been a mess. no one had warned that kids started walking this soon... were all of them like this? or was ford just special? steve let his mind drift on that thought for a couple of moments before he saw ford sprinting towards the kitchen. luckily for steve, he was taller and faster than him, grabbing him in time before he ran towards something dangerous in the kitchen. “what did I tell you about the kitchen, goober? not until you’re old enough to hold a knife.” he said as he heard the kid scream in his arms, before steve placed him on his chair. it was a mess, there was baby food everywhere from the previous meals that steve hadn’t cleaned up yet. it wasn’t like no one was going to see... or so he thought. steve had just sat down on the chair in front of ford’s to feed him when he heard a knock on the door. “don’t move.” he said towards the kid, putting the bowl of food down in front of him and getting up from his seat.

steve walked towards the door in a quick pace, turning around for a few seconds to look at ford and then he swung open the door. he hadn’t been expecting visits, so of course he was a bit taken by surprise when he saw max mayfield on the other side of the door. “max! what...?” steve started to ask when he heard something fall to the floor. turning around, he noticed that ford had pushed off the bowl with food from his chair and on to the floor. “great.” he said, shaking his head before he turned back to max. “come on in before he starts trying to get out of the chair.” steve said, rushing max in his apartment and then closing the door, before he went to ford. “what are you doing here? sorry, the whole place is a mess.” he said, as he started to clean up the mess the kid had made.