Steve has always been suspicious of Eddie Munson. The guy is too charming, too handsome, too everything for a nerd and a geek in backwater Hawkins.
"You're kidding, right?" his newly cemented platonic soulmate pans, sceptical brow raised as she paints a confident line of black across her nail.
Robin taps the brush against a glass rim, "Munson is like the least charismatic guy I've ever seen." She sniffs, "I saw him fall up once. Up!"
Steadying the polish bottle before it falls on his comforter, Steve scowls, "It's not like you're the expert on what makes a guy hot."
The brush pauses in mid-air, "But you are?" And Steve's thoughts stall and stutter at a sudden revelation that he'd never considered before.
Cue a lot of thinking and a lot of talking that rivals a confessional on the Hawkins Mall bathroom.
Months later, after Vecna, and Max, and after the bats, and brokenly leaving Eddie Munson's body behind in the Upside Down, Steve sits quietly at his kitchen counter, contemplating his whiskey. It's become a familiar companion, along with the self-flagalation for failing to save everyone of the party. Not even Max's shaky new steps in her hospital room helping to stomp out the memories of red lightning and crimson blood against black leather.
The front bell rings, echoed by a demanding knocking when he doesn't move fast enough, and Steve is once again scowling, but this time as he swings open his door.
Against the dark of the night and the glimmer of a new moon, Eddie stands impatiently. "Took you long enough."
Even as his mouth drops, Steve's heart beats faster. The fine hairs at the back of his neck raise at the uncanny sight. Because not only is Eddie standing in front of him alive, but he's stands unscathed.
The pockets of raw flesh torn from his cheeks show instead smooth, unblemished skin. The torn nails on his hand unbroken and strong.
Blood stains his Hellfire shirt and jacket, but none touches his pale skin. Skin that glows in an unearthly light, akin to the moon in the midnight sky.
Breath stuttering in his chest, Steve falls back. "This isn't right," he whispers and all veils fall, showing Steve a glimpse of the unnaturally charming boy he's always thought he'd imagined.
Eddie sighs, resignation heavy in his voice. "I never have been," he admits, brown eyes wide with a universe of hidden things hiding deep within them. "Let me in to explain?"
Wordlessly Steve opens his door wider, but Eddie sighs again. A noise revealing how familiar yet annoying he finds the ritual. He clears his throat, "You have to invite me in."
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