They say death is not for lovers (but that’s not what we are)
I think I messed myself up writing this, so be warned. Might be good if you need a good cry though. (See AO3 for tw)
Read on AO3
He was supposed to die.
That was his intent when he decided to protect Dustin and buy the rest of his ragtag group more time to fight Vecna. They’d spent the better part of a week trying to protect him and keep him hidden and safe from the cops, and the hate-fueled mob powered by Jason Carver’s rage; while at the same time trying to save the town - on the brink of destruction from what Nancy had said - from an evil wizard. He was tired; had been for a while and not for the first time. He’d been a burden much of his life, and if nothing else, he wanted to at least try to repay them in some way for their help. He couldn’t do much; he wasn’t brave like Max, or smart like Dustin, or particularly good at fighting like Steve. But he had a body and a life that he would gladly give in place of good people who possessed such admirable traits.
And so, he cut the rope and accepted his fate.
Or rather, he welcomed it – for Eddie Munson was a coward, too scared to go by his own hand, but just comfortable enough to go under the guise of self-sacrifice.
He was supposed to die – had fantasied about finally escaping his dead-end life and releasing Wayne from years of putting up with his bullshit. He knew Wayne loved him and would never turn his back on him no matter what chaos Eddie flung his way, so Eddie had to make the hard decision for him. He’d always figured he’d “accidentally” OD like his mom before him, like he’d almost done before not long after moving in with Wayne, but he’d take what he could get. This was far more metal.
1986, it was his year – he’d go out in a blaze of glory while helping those who helped him, and finally die with a smile on his face like he’d wanted. It was the best he could have hoped for. Two birds, one stone.
Except he didn’t. Dustin and Steve made sure of it.
***
Steve pulled into the trailer park at break-neck speed, the beemer kicking up ice and stones as it skidded to a stop outside the ruined trailer. He jumped from the idling car leaving the door wide open as he ran into and around the trailer shouting Eddie’s name, not caring if he woke the few stubborn residents still there – but it was to no avail; he wasn’t there. Panic was starting to grip Steve as he ran his hand through his disheveled hair. He was running out of time and places to look. There was only one other place he could think of, and so he quickly hopped back into the car and made his way to Reefer Rick’s.
Steve should have listened to Dustin from the start. Out of everyone in the party, he would know. Even if he weren’t close with Eddie, the kid was always right, even when he wasn’t, so Steve should have listened the second Dustin told him something wasn’t right.
From the very moment Eddie woke up from his near two-month coma Dustin had claimed something was off. He had insisted on spending every waking moment he wasn’t at school at Eddie’s bedside. Nothing could stop him – not even the cops who reluctantly let him under strict rules while Eddie was still in a coma, cuffed to the bed and under investigation – and so he was there to witness Eddie’s miraculous return to land of the living. And so was Steve coincidentally. He tended to spend most of his time watching over Max to give Lucas and her mom a break, but he always popped in to check on Dustin to make sure he ate and got enough rest.
It was on one such occasion that Eddie first became lucid after spending days slowing fighting the pull of the coma.
***
Steve decided to stay a while longer with Dustin after he heard there was a chance Eddie would wake properly soon. He’d been drifting in and out of consciousness and they removed the breathing tube a day or two ago. He’d figured the kid would need the extra support when Eddie eventually came to. And he was right.
“…Henderson?” Eddie croaked, confused.
“Holy shit, Eddie! You’re awake!!” Dustin cried, jumping from his perch next to the bed, tears glistening in his eyes as he tried not to fling himself at Eddie and aggravate his injuries further.
“…awake?” His brows furrowed further as if trying to decipher the meaning of Dustin’s words.
“Yeah, man, I mean, it was touch and go for while there, but you pulled through. You’re alive!” Dustin babbled excitedly.
“Oh,” was Eddie’s croaked, lack-luster response. He looked back at the ceiling above him and didn’t say anymore. If Steve didn’t know any better, he’d have almost thought he sounded disappointed.
Dustin’s face fell at the lack of enthusiastic response and Steve took that as his cue. He rose from the unforgiving plastic hospital chair tucked away in the corner of the room and made his way over to Dustin, laying what he hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“I’d better give the nurses the good news,” Steve smiled, while giving Dustin’s shoulder a supportive squeeze on his way past the boy. “It’s good to see you finally awake, Munson. You had us all worried there for a second. I thought I told you not to be a hero?” he teased lightly, before letting go of Dustin’s shoulder to make his way out of the room.
He received a huff of air in response, what he’d imagine would have been a self-deprecating laugh if Eddie had been in better health. Satisfied he wouldn’t be missed, he left the room to chase down the nurse assigned to Eddie, leaving Dustin alone with him.
By the time he’d returned and Eddie was taken for assessment, Dustin somehow looked more worried than he had sat at Eddie’s side all these weeks.
“He’ll be okay, Henderson, the worst is over now,” Steve reassured, putting an arm around Dustin in a half hug.
“I dunno, Steve. He didn’t seem much like Eddie or all that much like he was happy to be awake.”
“Well, you try having any energy for long-winded monologues and theatrics after being a demon bat’s chew toy and waking from a medically induced coma doctors weren’t sure you’d ever wake up from,” Steve joked, though it fell flat. He always kind of sucked at stuff like this. “Look, I’m sure he’s just tired and groggy. His body’s been through a lot. Give him some time to adjust and you’ll see.”
“You weren’t there, Steve. You don’t get it. Something is definitely wrong, I know it.”
Steve hesitated.
“Like, normal wrong or Upside Down wrong?”
“I dunno…normal? But now that you say it, I guess it could…no.”
“Dustin, what is it? Did he say something to you?”
“It wasn’t what he said, Steve,” Dustin snipped. His attitude often got the better of him when frustrated, faced with a particularly difficult puzzle he couldn’t quite solve. “It’s what he didn’t say,” he finished quietly, dejected.
“Just give him time,” Steve repeated lamely, unsure how to comfort his young friend.
As the weeks progressed and Eddie became stronger, Steve had begun spending more and more time with Eddie and Dustin, mainly to keep watch over Dustin, but Eddie too in case there was some Upside Down-related problem. Steve found he actually quite liked Eddie now that he’d gotten to know him a little better and they enjoyed shooting the shit and teasing the kids together. But he never really knew where he stood with him. They weren’t really close and Steve was sure he’d probably done something horrible to him while in high school. It made things kind of awkward on the rare occasion they were left alone together without a buffer.
The doctors were impressed by how well Eddie was healing up. They were planning on starting physiotherapy later in the week, but Dustin’s concerns remained. He’d tried to talk to him again about what exactly it was about Eddie was putting the boy on edge. Vague statements like, “He’s not Eddie”, and half-formed explanations like he’s not present most of the time are about the extent of the responses he’d got from Dustin on the matter up to now. But surely that was to be expected. It was a lot to process for the guy.
Honestly, Steve knew next to nothing about Eddie outside of the horrific week they spent together fighting for their lives and the little time he’d spent at his bedside. To him, nothing seemed particularly concerning. Eddie chatted with any visitors, laughed along with the kid’s antics most of the time, and he gave Steve a hard time for his own amusement. Sure, he was less animated from what Steve had remembered of him in high school, what with all the jumping on cafeteria tables and causing a general ruckus, but he figured a person couldn’t be like that all the time. Add to it the fact that Eddie was recovering from some serious injuries and it wasn’t all that difficult to come to the conclusion that he was still tired and recovering.
Even so, just in case, Steve had pressed Dustin one evening for just one solid example that would justify worrying about him while they grabbed a coffee in the hospital cafeteria, hoping he could understand his concern at least a little.
“So, you know how Eddie loves DnD, right?” Steve nodded in response, taking a sip of shitty hospital coffee from his Styrofoam cup. “Well, I’ve been trying to bring it up to him over the past few weeks about maybe putting together a one-shot to celebrate when he finally gets out of here, but he’s kinda…I dunno…avoided giving a solid answer.”
Steve waited, allowing Dustin the time to try and put what he was feeling into words.
“It’s just, anytime I bring it up he dismisses it, saying shit like ‘we’ll see’ or ‘maybe’ or ‘we have lots of time to do that later, dude’ or… whatever. It just sounds like he’s intentionally putting it off, like he’d rather do anything else. That’s just not like him.”
Steve had to agree that that was odd, but…
“Dustin, your game is full of monsters and magic, things that up until recently Eddie thought were just fun and games. Maybe now that he knows how real these things are and how close they came to killing him, he just doesn’t find it fun anymore. It might be best not to push him and let him come back to it in his own time,” Steve said, confident that was all it was.
Dustin sagged at Steve’s logical response, his eyes never leaving the rapidly cooling coffee between his hands. He slowly began shaking his head.
“If it was just that, I’d probably agree with you, but it’s that plus a bunch of other stuff that when added together just makes me think something is really wrong. I just- I just have a really bad feeling; I can’t explain it.”
“Dustin, I need you to try to explain it the best you can. Even if it sounds crazy, just spit it out and I’ll listen, man, I promise. I want to help you. You and Eddie.”
“He’s- he’s super focused on getting better and getting out of the hospital,” Dustin starts unsure, his eyes drifting to Steve for the first time since Steve brought up the topic of Eddie.
Steve couldn’t stop his eyebrows from raising. “Aaaannd, that’s a bad thing?” he questioned slowly, a tad incredulous. Dustin sighed in frustration and Steve quickly corrected his mistake. “Look, I’m just trying to underst-.”
“It is when you also refuse to make plans for when you finally get out, Steve!”
Steve blinked back dumbly at Dustin’s outburst, still failing to see the problem.
“You know what, nevermind,” Dustin dismissed, flippant in a way he often was when he was suddenly reminded that Steve was a dumb jock once. “I’m going back to Eddie’s room. Later, Steve.” He stood suddenly, the scrape of the chair echoing around the half-empty cafeteria and hastily exited the room.
“No, Henderson, wait!” Steve pleaded, but Dustin was already gone out the door, his half-drunk coffee left forgotten on the table.
***
Steve white-knuckled the steering wheel and pressed his foot down fully on the gas, driving at full speed down the forest-lined road to the place where he and Eddie first met almost a year ago – mind racing.
He should have listened, really listened, to catch what Dustin was implying. The kid probably didn’t fully understand it himself, but Steve was the adult in the situation. He should have known; he could have been more supportive of Eddie instead of keeping him at arm’s length. And what for? Because of some high school hierarchy bullshit? Because he may or may not have made Eddie’s high school life hell? Because he didn’t want to get in the way of Dustin’s new friendship? Because he felt threatened by it? It wasn’t like Eddie didn’t try with Steve. He always looked happy to see Steve and asked about him to the others often when he hadn’t been around for a while. He always made sure Steve was in on the conversation when the kids rambled excitedly around them about their nerd games. He joked and laughed around Steve – made him feel warm and welcome. He treated him like any other of his close friends. Even giving Steve pet names like Stevie and Big Boy, and faux flirting with him to make him laugh. Unlike Steve, who was cordial at best, hiding behind a veil of formality he’d learned from his years as a Harrington.
Steve should have known, but he didn’t.
In hindsight, it should have been really obvious to him the night he met Eddie’s uncle for the first time.
***
Somehow, over the months, they’d managed to miss each other, both on different schedules. Steve had made his way down to Eddie’s room from Max’s in hopes of catching Dustin before heading home, only to find a strange man sat at Eddie’s bedside instead.
“You must be the Harrington boy,” the man stated gruffly, a lifetime of heavy smoking evident in his voice. Steve nods. “’heard a lot about you. That Henderson kid could talk the hind legs off a donkey,” the man continued, rising from his seat and offering his hand. “Wayne Munson, Eddie’s uncle.”
“Steve Harrington, nice to finally meet you, sir,” he replied, shaking the man’s hand. Eddie’s uncle looked a lot like how Steve imagined him to look from Eddie and Dustin’s stories, but older, more tired and disheveled. Almost losing a family member would do that he assumed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Munson, for everything,” Steve said, feeling the need to apologize as he looked over at Eddie asleep in the bed.
“Sorry? Now, what d'ya have to be sorry about? From what I hear, you’re the reason my boy is still here with us,” Wayne said, clapping Steve hard on the back. “And, it’s Wayne.”
Steve cleared his throat awkwardly at the praise. “It was nothing, sir- I mean, Wayne. Anyone would have done the same, I just happened to be there.”
Wayne looked somewhat doubtful at that, and Steve felt a pang of guilt when he realized, they probably wouldn’t have – they would have made sure the job got done. Neither of them spoke for a moment until the prolonged silence became unbearable for Steve. He cleared his throat again to get Wayne’s attention from where it had wondered back to Eddie.
“Well, I better be going, Wayne. Again, it was nice meeting you and sorry for barging in. I thought it would have just been Dustin here. Have a good night.”
Wayne hesitated momentarily, seeming to debate something.
“Let me walk you out, Steve, it’s the least I could do,” Wayne offered, his hand at Steve’s back, leading him out of the room. “’sides, I need to stretch these old bones a’ mine every once in a while, and these darn hospital chairs ain’t helpin’ nothin’.”
A surprised Steve was herded out of the room before he could refuse the offer, and Wayne quietly closed the door to Eddie’s room behind him.
Most of the walk to the main hospital doors three floors down was filled with small talk about Wayne’s job at the plant and Steve’s ongoing search for employment since Family Video fell victim to what those outside of the know claimed was an earthquake. Steve figured Wayne was working up to something and he gave him the space to do so. His efforts proved fruitful when Wayne stopped Steve just as they exited the main hospital doors into the dusk.
“Steve, ya’ seem like a real nice kid, and you’ve done more than enough saving my boy, but if it’s not too much trouble, d’ya think you could keep an eye on him?”
“On Eddie?” Steve was surprised. Eddie had more eyes on him than ever, most of them professionals at that, the best doctors and nurses the government could spare, they’d made sure of it. Steve couldn’t fathom why he was singled out specifically by Wayne but he thought maybe it might have had something to do with Dustin. Steve’s confusion at the request must have been evident as Wayne continued.
“Eddie ain’t had the easiest of lives,” Wayne began, choosing his words carefully. He seemed to be considering how much he should tell Steve. “Hell, that kid ain’t caught a break from the day he was born. Y’know, we used to joke when he was a baby that he’d be an unlucky kid, what with him being born on Friday the thirteenth and all,” Wayne chuckled sadly.
Steve wordlessly listened as the old man spoke. Whatever he wanted to say seemed to be difficult for him to talk about but Steve had time.
“When Eddie came to live with me, I hadn’t seen him since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, and he wasn’t the same rumbunctious kid I remembered either. His daddy, my younger brother, was an alcoholic with a real mean streak, and that’s putting it nicely. And his momma…well, that’s Eddie’s story to tell. Point is, that kid’s been through some shit most folks can't even bare to imagine, and you don’t come out the other side of what Eddie went through at that age unscathed, if you know what I mean.”
At Steve’s hesitation, Wayne steeled himself and brought his hand to Steve’s shoulder pulling him so they were eye to eye, willing Steve to understand.
“Steve, this ain’t the first time – hell, it ain’t even the second time Eddie’s faced death in his young life, and I’m worried it won’t be the last. You understand what I mean, Steve?”
Wayne levelled Steve with a meaningful look. Steve thought he understood and figured even if he didn’t, he could do what Wayne asked of him regardless. And so, he nodded. If there is one thing Steve knows he’s good at, it’s protecting others no matter the cost to himself. Eddie was one of them now and if Wayne was worried about an angry mob or a swarm of demon bats coming for Eddie, then they’d have to get through Steve first.
“Just keep an eye on him for me, okay? I can’t be ‘round as much as I’d like and I reckon he likes you, Harrington,” Wayne smiled and winked, patting him on the shoulder before disappearing back into the florescent lights of Hawkins General.
***
Steve glanced at the clock on the dash; 7:04 a.m. Come on, come on, come on, FUCK! He cursed his car for not moving fast enough up the ice-covered hill. He’d been looking for Eddie for over thirty minutes. It was still dark but he could see first light of morning struggling against the snow clouds to the east. He was running out of time.
Why didn’t he just listen and take everyone’s concerns seriously instead of burying his head in the sand? Why did it have to take a frantic phone call from a sobbing Dustin Henderson at an ungodly hour of the morning – and three days before Eddie was due to be released from the hospital – to open Steve’s eyes to the truth? The truth that Eddie was struggling – fighting demons far more unknown and insidious than anything the Upside Down could produce.
***
“Whoa, whoa, slow down Dustin,” Steve instructed, adrenaline pumping through his veins, making his heart pound rapidly against his ribcage at Dustin’s destress. Steve prayed this wasn’t the Upside Down making its long-awaited comeback. “Take a deep breath and start again.”
He could hear Dustin take two quick shaky breaths before he launched into a slightly more coherent explanation.
“Steve, he’s gone…Eddie’s gone…he’s not at the hospital.” Steve was about to explain it away. Eddie was a grown ass man and he could discharge himself at any time, but he froze, an icy dread running through his veins and accumulating in the pit of his stomach with Dustin’s next words as everything clicked for Steve. “I found his guitar on my doorstep this morning with a note saying to take good care of her and that he was sorry. Something bad is going to happen, something really, really bad.” Dustin’s voice became small, chocking back his tears. “You gotta believe me this time, Steve, please. I think…I think he’s going to hurt himself. You gotta find him, Steve, I’m begging you,” the boy gasped through his quiet sobs unable to keep them back any longer.
Steve was in shock. How could he have been so blind?! Looking back over Eddie’s recovery, it was all there in front of him. It seemed so obvious now. Steve cursed his dumb brain for its inability to read between the lines or pick up on the worrying signs in Eddie’s behavior. He’d thought he was doing well – Eddie had said so himself, even the doctors said so. So, it never even crossed Steve’s mind that while Eddie’s body was healing well, his mind was rapidly betraying him. Those closest to Eddie did know though, and Steve didn’t listen. If Steve had gotten over his insecurities and let himself become closer with Eddie, he’d have known. He felt sick and helpless. He suddenly wished it had been the Upside Down; he knew how to fight that and protect others – but how do you protect someone from their own mind? He had to shake himself out the shock and the spiraling train of thought. Dustin needed him to be the adult in this situation. Time was of the essence. He had to find Eddie asap, before it was too late.
“Okay, it’s okay Dustin, I believe you,” Steve reassured, grabbing his keys from the bowl next to the phone. “I’ll head out now, see if I can find him. Any idea where he’d be?”
“No. The note didn’t say anything else.” Steve sighed feeling a migraine coming on triggered by the rush of panic; he couldn’t think where best to start his search. Dustin continued, “but I don’t think he could have gone far. There wasn’t much snow on the guitar when I found it even though it’s been snowing on and off all night.”
Smart kid. Well, that was something at least.
“Does Wayne know Eddie’s going to-” Steve stopped himself, unable to bring himself to say it, “that Eddie is missing?”
“I- I dunno…you’re the first person I called” came Dustin’s shaky reply. “He’s probably not back home from his shift yet.”
“Call him as soon as you hang up the call and keep calling until you get him. He’ll have a better idea of where Eddie might be and know where to look, then radio me.”
“Okay. I should radio the party, too. The more people the better, right?”
“No,” Steve objected loudly. The minute those kids find out they’ll be on their bikes to help search and God only knows what they’d find. There’re too young for any of this, and they’ve been through a lot already – especially Dustin. He’d watched Eddie almost die once already and the kid was a mess. There’d be no coming back from it this time if the worst was to happen. He could hear Dustin’s protests through the line bringing him back to the problem at hand. He had to think quickly.
“No, we don’t need to worry the others yet; it could be nothing. Call Hop instead. He can put together a search team in no time, okay?”
“Okay,” Dustin replied, sounding lost.
“I need you to stay put at home by the phone and radio, Dustin, okay? That’s best way you can help Eddie, alright?”
“I got it, Steve. Just…just promise you’ll get him back safe.”
Steve heart broke for the kid and he had to look up to keep his own eyes from welling up. He had to stay strong. Dustin was trusting him with this and he didn’t want to let him down again.
“I’ll do what I can, Dustin, I promise.”
***
Steve was pulled from his thoughts when his headlights brought Rick’s house into view through the light snow that had begun to fall again. The beemer careened into the driveway and came to a halt outside. He wasted no time running straight to the house first, kicking the door in and screaming for Eddie, not caring about the potential future misdemeanor charge. Steve made quick work of the rooms, bracing himself for what he might find behind each door and being equal parts thankful and disappointed each time they came up empty.
With the house out of the way, Steve booked it to the boat shack at the back over-looking the lake, his heart racing making him feel like it was going to explode out of his chest. It was by pure chance that he saw it in his frantic haste to get to the boathouse. His eyes just so happened to sweep the lake as he ran by, and a sudden movement stopped him in his tracks. Out on the water, just visible through the flurries and pale morning light, a figure with wild curly hair tumbled from a small rowboat into the frigid lake water below.
“EDDIE!”
***
Eddie Munson was a human cockroach – notoriously hard to kill. Many had tried including himself, but it never seemed to stick. It would this time; he could feel it.
Eddie stared at the little pills in his hand. He had easily located Rick’s stash in its uninspired hiding place under the floorboards in the bedroom, and grabbed about two dozen heavy duty sleeping pills, a small baggie of Special K, and a half empty bottle of whiskey to wash it all down. He drank from the whiskey bottle and admired what he could see of the shoreline as light began to bleed through the horizon. Hawkins sure did look beautiful when you knew you were leaving it.
He glanced at his watch. 6:52 a.m. No point in delaying it any longer. He popped the pills four or five at a time and chased it down each time with a mouthful of burning whiskey.
His life had gone to shit fast since the week from hell. Life was already difficult before, but now it seemed more hopeless than ever. The damage from the bats had permanently changed him until he no longer felt like Eddie Munson anymore. He died in the Upside Down, and whatever Steve dragged out of there was nothing but a broken shell infected by the filth of the Upside Down. A week after he woke up from the coma, the doctors broke the news that he would likely never regain full motor function in his left hand. Too much of the muscle had been torn away and the nerve damage had been extensive. That meant he lost the one outlet he had that had kept him going all these years – long before DnD and Hellfire. Though he lost those too. Somehow it didn’t seem as fun and fantastical as before. He couldn’t use it to escape the hardships in his life anymore. He could no longer find comfort immersing himself in a world of monsters and adventure when he knew how real and dangerous such things were. He had the scars to prove it. He would never escape them. They would haunt him forever.
A light snowfall, the flakes melting on his exposed skin pulled him from his thoughts momentarily. It was peaceful at this hour. The gentle swaying of the boat as the water ebbed and flowed around it in little ripples was starting to lull him to sleep. He could no longer feel the biting cold anymore through his sweater and jacket – a good sign. Things were becoming hazier, his mind light for the first time since everything went to shit. He felt the faint trace of a smile stretch across his numbing face. It was almost time – no one could save him now. Not even Steve Harrington.
Steve Harrington. The name made his heart ache even through the numbing effect of the drugs and alcohol. Nothing would suppress a pain like that. The pain of wanting someone so badly but knowing you will never, ever, have them. He’d known from way back in junior year that he had a thing for Harrington, but it was easy to ignore when their paths never crossed and Harrington was a dick. He just admired his beauty from afar. But ever since he’d been adopted into the trauma-bonded party, it had become impossible for Eddie to ignore him. The more he got to know him, the more he realized how wrong he was about him, and the more in love with him he fell. He tried hard to fight it, but he couldn’t help dropping the occasional hint – a lingering touch, a flirty comment he could laugh off if need be. Those were intentional, but discreet. Or so he thought. Buckley clocked him early on. Apparently, his pining was evident on his face. She was the one to break to him what he already knew – gently and with sympathetic eyes. He never had a chance. He could never have good things, and Steve Harrington was the very best.
Stop. He needed it to stop. He couldn’t wait anymore.
He stripped off his winter jacket to slip off the old battle vest underneath, exposing him further to the frigid air and biting snow he could no longer feel. He held the denim with numb fingers, clumsily running the tips over the assortment of patches crudely stitched by Eddie himself over the years; over the faded blood splatter that Steve never could remove before returning it to him after waking in the hospital what felt like a lifetime ago.
He was getting drowsy now, sight blurring around the edges – close to losing consciousness.
All those thoughts about Harrington must have been messing with his head more than usual because he could have sworn he’d heard Harrington’s voice calling for him, echoing in the distance. Wishful thinking. It was probably a figment of his imagination or a hallucination brought about by the combination of drugs and alcohol, but even if it wasn’t; he wasn’t worried. It was too late for him. Steve wouldn’t be able to play knight in shining armor this time.
Without much more thought, Eddie Munson crashed into the freezing waters of Lover’s Lake below, letting it envelop him in death’s embrace as he sank into its depths. It was peaceful, calm even, as his vision began to darken at the edges. He didn’t feel the cold or the heartache or the hopelessness anymore. He felt nothing but relief.
The peaceful serenity was violently disrupted when a strong hand wrapped around his upper arm and yanked him up to the surface.
“Eddie, no, no, no please. Not again, please, not again,” Steve blubbered, his eyes glassy with panic and unshed tears as he grabbed Eddie by the face and slapped his cheek frantically in an effort to keep him conscious. Eddie just watched on through eyes heavily laden with sleep, the whole scene feeling disconnected, just playing out from a distance; the cocktail of drugs and booze quickly dragging him further and further away like a rip current. Jesus, Steve was beautiful – he was selfishly glad he was here so that could see him one last time. What a perfect place to die – in Steve Harrington’s arms.
“Don’t do this to Henderson again…“ Steve begged, his voice breaking, and lowering his forehead to Eddie’s temple, “don’t do this to me.”
“Sorry, Stevie,” Eddie whispered, closing his eyes and feeling the darkness embrace him. “’s the last time…I promise.”
