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hbyrde36 · 7 months

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Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Chapter 9

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*Eddie*

Eddie pressed his fingers to his mouth as he walked down the front steps, still feeling the ghost of Steve's soft lips against his own. He felt like he was walking through a dream, instead of the nightmare that his life had become in the past 24 hours. Though that feeling began to drift away rapidly as he got into his fan and drove away from the trailer, and Steve and Eleven.

Once he was alone, with nothing to distract him and no sound other than the hum of the engine, Eddie couldn't help but start spiraling, just a little.

Could Steve have really meant what he said, when it was far more likely that he had just latched onto Eddie because he was the first person who’d helped him after two years in what was essentially captivity?

Did Steve actually like him, or was this some kind of Stockholm Syndrome thing?

No, that was for kidnappers.

Florence Nightingale syndrome?

It was a slightly better match, but it wasn’t as if he’d nursed Steve back to health or anything.

Okay, so maybe there wasn’t a fancy name for it, but the two of them had been pulled together under wild circumstances. Was it so surprising that they might cling to each other as anchors for their respective ships in this storm?

A little, considering they were both boys and he had been 100% sure that Steve Harrington was straight, right up until the moment he’d kissed him!

Eddie knew, at least for his part, that it was more than a thing born of shared trauma. He’d been crushing on Steve for years, and had fantasized about kissing him countless times. The reality of it had been better than he could have ever imagined, too good to be true in fact, or maybe that was him projecting his own fears.

It was a scary thing to be handed everything you ever wanted, and even more frightening to accept it when you’ve spent so long being absolutely sure that it would never be an option.

As he pulled into the high school parking lot he decided to just put the whole thing out of his mind for now, as best he could anyway. There were much more important things to worry about than his love life.

The bell rang, and he watched from his parking space as students began pouring out of the school. He spotted Mike and Will first, the two of them having grown so tall this year that they stood out from the crowd. He peered behind them, knowing Lucas and Dustin wouldn’t be far off. The four boys were rarely without each other, except when Lucas had basketball practice of course. Which he must have today, Eddie realized, when he found Dustin bringing up the rear on his own.

He stepped out of the van and made a beeline for the boys, wanting to catch them before they got on their bikes and took off.

“Hey shitheads!” Eddie shouted, hands formed around his mouth to boost the sound.

All three boys whipped their heads in his direction. Dustin’s expression morphed from a wide happy grin into a worried frown in an instant. Mike and Will just looked confused. Eddie jogged the last few feet to them, in a hurry to get everyone on board and get back home as soon as possible.

“Is everything okay?” Dustin asked, at the same time Mike said, “Where were you today?

“Everything is fine” Eddie began, holding significant eye contact with Dustin, then looking at the others. “But there is something back at the trailer that I need you all to come see.”

Dustin gasped.

“What is it?” Mike asked, sounding annoyed.

Will was quiet, watching it all go down with a slightly amused smile on his face. He was definitely in the running to be Eddie’s favorite today.

“All will be revealed in due time, young Wheeler. Go throw your bikes in the back of the van. I’m gonna see if I can snatch up Sinclair before his practice starts.”

Mike opened his mouth, either to ask another question or to argue, but Dustin elbowed him in the ribs and told him to hurry up. Will had already unlocked his own bike from the rack and was walking it towards the parking lot.

Yup, favorite kid.

Eddie set off in the direction of the gym. He opened the door only to see Chrissy who had just come from the girls' locker room. It was perfect timing.

She smiled at him and ran over, her sneakers squeaking on the court as she did.

“Eddie! You weren’t in school today. You okay?”

He smiled in return. Chrissy was a literal ray of sunshine and he couldn’t help but react to that, no matter how weird his day had been.

“Yeah, I just had some family stuff to take care of.”

He scrambled for a way to ask her to come with him. If things did pan out the way they feared, she was in very real and immediate danger, and he just couldn’t imagine letting anything happen to her.

He didn’t really want to give anything away until he could prove it, and there were too many prying eyes and ears for him to just blurt out - I found Steve Harrington in the woods! But he had to try something.

“I know you’re about to start cheer practice,” Eddie began, “But…uh, do you remember all that stuff we talked about in the library?”

Her smile faltered a bit but she nodded encouragingly.

“There’s been some developments and I'd really like to fill you in on what I found out, if you wanted to come back to my place? The boys are coming too, my cousin and his buddies.” He added quickly, worried that she might somehow take his invitation the wrong way.

Chrissy glanced nervously around the gym, and he was pretty sure she was about to agree to go, when two things happened at once. The outer doors swung open loudly, revealing Dustin, Mike, and Will, who must have gotten tired of waiting and came to look for him, he guessed, while the door to the boys locker room was also thrown wide as the entire basketball team came trotting out. They were buzzing with pent up energy and Jason Carver was at the head of the pack.

He spotted Eddie immediately and rushed over. With no hesitation the jock planted himself between him and Chrissy.

Jason crowded Eddie as he shouted in his face, “Get away from her, freak! She doesn’t want to talk to you. What are you even doing here?”

“Jason, stop!” Chrissy shouted.

He waved her back dismissively. “No, no, it’s alright babe, I got this.”

Eddie grit his teeth, fuming, and not only because of the way Jason was talking to him, he could deal with that, but the way he was so openly dismissive of his girlfriend. Someone he was supposed to love. Chrissy deserved better.

“What is it, Munson? You like to watch the girls while they practice, huh? You got a thing for looking up their skirts?” Jason accused loudly, then lowered his voice to a sinister whisper. “Or is it the boys locker room you’re more interested in getting a peep at?”

It was a dangerous accusation, and it unnerved Eddie a little that Jason might have suspicions about him. If he’d said what he did a little louder, there might be a lot more guys looking to jump into this fight. He tried his best to ignore it like he would any other barb, but it was an effort to keep from overreacting and rising to the bait

“Oh fuck off, you neanderthal. We were just talking.”

“What did you call me?”

Eddie looked at Chrissy over Jason's shoulder and rolled his eyes. She stifled a giggle, stopping abruptly and going wide-eyed when Jason turned his head to glance back at her.

“Don’t worry about it, Carver.” Eddie answered. “Now, if you would just kindly back the fuck up so I can finish my conversation with the lovely Ms. Cunningham here, I’ll be out of your hair in a jiffy.”

“I don’t think so. What makes you think she wants to talk to somebody like YOU anyway?”

In Eddie’s defense, it had been a long and mostly no good very bad day. He stepped into Jason, closing the very small gap that remained between them until they were almost nose to nose.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” He said, jabbing the other boy in the chest with his finger.

Jason shoved Eddie away from him hard. He stumbled, but Will, Mike, and Dustin were all there to steady him.

“Stop it, Jason! He's my friend!” Crissy shouted again, still hovering but trying to stay out of the way. This time her boyfriend either didn’t hear, or completely ignored her.

Eddie shoved Jason right back, pleased when he had to take a step back to maintain his balance. Unfortunately, Eddie hadn’t really been in that many fights. Guys usually took one look at him and backed off, assuming he carried knives and shit just because he wore leather and a battle vest. He was briefly a drug dealer, so maybe that had something to do with it too. So, he was a little unprepared for Jason cocking back a fist and punching him square in the face.

Chrissy looked like she was about to jump on Jason’s back to stop him but suddenly Lucas was there. He caught Jason’s arm, stopping it before he could land another hit.

“I knew you weren’t really one of us Sinclair! I should never have told the coach I had a good feeling about you! I’ll have you thrown off the team for this!” Jason shouted.

He shrugged himself roughly out of Luca’s grip and walked back over to where the rest of the team was doing warm ups and pretending not to watch the drama unfolding in front of them.

Chrissy looked torn. She watched Jason walk away, bouncing her eyes between him and Eddie as she gnawed on her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said to Eddie. “I don’t know why he gets like that.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.”

She nodded a little to herself, sending a sad smile his way and turning to follow after her boyfriend.

Eddie sighed. He’d have to let her go for now and hope that tomorrow wouldn’t be too late. He felt like an idiot, he should have known better than to approach her when that meathead was bound to be close by.

“You good?” Lucas asked. Producing a small towel from his pocket and handing it to him to dab away the blood from his nose.

“Yeah, sorry if I made trouble for you.” Eddie said, gesturing off towards the rest of Lucas’ teammates.”

“Don't worry about it, they all know how Jason can be. I’m sure the whole thing will be forgotten by tomorrow. What are you guys doing here anyway?”

“We need you to come with us.” Dustin butt in.

Lucas looked at all of them in turn. “Party business?”

“Don’t ask us,” Mike said, hooking a thumb in Eddie's direction. “He won't tell us shit.”

“I’ll tell you everything when we get to the trailer, I promise. We can’t talk about this here. You in, Sinclair?” Eddie asked.

“Fuck it, why not. Didn't feel like dealing with Jason’s attitude today anyway.”

“Good choice.” Eddie said, grinning. “Come on boys, let's get out of here.”

On the way back to his van, Eddie noticed Nancy and Jonathan about to get into her car. He’d thought for sure that he had taken too long and missed them, but somehow he’d gotten lucky. Maybe the eldest Wheeler got caught up doing newspaper stuff after school. Whatever the reason, he was grateful. He told the boys to get in and trotted over to the couple.

Eddie found he had mixed feelings towards Nancy. She’d been so great about the investigation thing and told them everything they wanted to know, and she was nice about Eddie’s own reaction to it all, but there was a small part of him that bubbled up with jealousy when he thought about her and Steve being reunited.

He knew she was with Jonathan now, and had been for a long time, much longer than she’d dated Steve, but the thought still set his teeth on edge. He shook it off, he had no reason to think they would still be interested in each other, and even if they were, it’s not like he had a claim on Steve now just because they’d made out a little bit. Nancy cared about Steve, and she deserved to know that he was alive and safe. Well, as safe as any of them were now.

“Shit, man, what happened to you?” Jonathan said as Eddie got close. He must still have some blood smeared on his face.

Eddie shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “A disagreement between me and one of our resident jocks. No big deal. Listen, uh, are you guys busy right now?”

The two of them shared a look. “Not really, why?” Nancy said.

“I can’t tell you here.” He was getting really tired of saying that already. “I’m sorry to be cryptic about it, but I think you’ll understand when you see. I’m taking all the kids back to my house right now, could you follow us there? There's something I need to show all of you.”

The couple looked at eachother again, confusion clear on their faces, but for whatever reason they agreed. Probably because he already had their brothers roped into something. Oh well, he'd take it. This had all gone much easier than he thought it would, apart from the black eye he could feel forming.

The short ride back to the trailer park was uncharacteristically quiet. Dustin remained silent, though Eddie could practically hear the thoughts churning in his head. The other boys knew at this point that Eddie wasn’t going to give in, so there was no point in questioning him on the way.

He pulled in front of the trailer and got out, ordering the boys to stop when they tried to walk right inside, insisting they needed to wait for Nancy and Jonathan.

He and Steve hadn’t exactly planned this part but Eddie made sure to stomp his feet on the steps so that anyone inside would hear them coming. He turned to his small assembled crowd, feeling like he should give them some kind of warning.

“So, this might be a bit of a shock. Just…everybody try to be cool, ok?”

Eddie spun back around quickly to avoid the several sets of very concerned eyes that were aimed in his direction. He opened the door and stepped inside, doing a quick sweep of the room, finding Steve and Eleven sitting at the kitchen table with Wayne. He stepped further in, letting everyone trail in after him.

Wayne, who’d had a sandwich halfway to his mouth, let it drop from his hands to hit the plate with a little thud. He rubbed at his face muttering, “God damnit Eddie.”

Eleven didn’t seem surprised at the influx of new arrivals, Steve must have filled her in when she woke up.

“Wait, is that?” Lucas started to ask but was cut off by Nancy’s gasp of, “Steve?!”

Steve stood, giving her a little wave. “Hey, Nance.”

She hesitated, just staring at him for a handful of seconds before stepping forward and throwing her arms around him. “You’re alive.” She murmured softly into his chest, eventually pulling away to look at his face.

“Oh my god, you’re alive!” She said again, much louder this time and with tears in her eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands.

Eddie had that feeling again. He knew it wasn’t right but he felt like she was touching something that belonged to him. He held the jealousy in, Nancy and Steve had been something to each other once upon a time, and they were entitled to this without his interference.

Steve lightly took her hands and lowered them from his cheeks. Then he finally looked up and met Eddie’s eyes, smiling as he said, “I’m okay, Eddie’s been taking good care of me.”

Oh and didn’t that make his stomach flutter. Eddie could feel himself blushing a little under Steve’s gaze, glad that no one was really paying attention to him. Everyone was too focused on the missing person in the room, now found, and the young girl at the table who was a stranger to all of them.

Steve broke their stare after a moment and looked around at the rest of the assembly crammed into the small space of the trailer.

“Hey guys.” He said, nodding to the younger boys.

Dustin, he greeted by name, causing the other three to look his way accusingly. He shrugged at his friends, mouthing the word sorry while looking far too smug to mean it, before walking over to take a seat next to Eleven.

“Hey man.” Jonathan said, finally emerging from a stunned silence as Nancy came back to stand near him. “I’m, uh, glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks.”

“So that’s it? You found Steve?!” Mike blurted out, finally losing patience. Honestly Eddie was surprised he’d lasted this long. “I mean, not that that’s not cool and all but what’s with the secrecy, and why is he here instead of with his parents or Hopper?”

Eddie finally sidled up to Steve, close but not touching like he really wanted to. He wasn’t sure how he was meant to act now in general, let alone in front of this many people, so he was happy enough just to be near the other boy.

Steve wasn’t.

He took that one step closer that caused their sides to brush and rested his hand on Eddie's lower back where no one else could see. “Are you still sure about this?” He murmured the question softly into Eddie’s ear.

Eddie nodded, even as his heart started to race from the gentle touch and the feel of Steve’s breath on his skin.

“There’s a lot we need to tell you all, starting with introducing you to someone. This is Eleven. She and I have been held against our will at Hawkins lab for the past two years.”

Mike, Lucas, and Will’s jaws all dropped simultaneously. Dustin grinned from his place next to the girl. She looked a little shy suddenly with all the attention and Eddie noticed Wayne gave her a little pat on the back in support.

As he watched the interaction, and how the girl smiled up at his uncle, it hit Eddie suddenly how lucky he was to have made it out of that place when he did. Luckier still that Claudia had found him and took him home. He could have died, or been made to spend the rest of his childhood in that place the same way Eleven had. He honestly wasn’t sure which one was worse.

Steve and Eddie took turns telling their parts of the story and then together explained the parallels between the game and the real world. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, it didn’t take much to convince the boys that they were telling the truth. They quickly accepted the fact that much of what they had played through was real and they even took Eddie’s backstory in stride, though they had a lot of questions that he didn’t have the answers to.

Jonathan and Nancy were a bit harder of a sell. He was quietly skeptical, while she kept trying to poke holes in everything and seemed completely unwilling to accept that anyone could have the type of power they were claiming. Finally, with a flick of her hand El sent a magazine that had been sitting on the kitchen counter flying in Nancy’s direction. She caught it on instinct, her mouth opening in a soft ‘oh’ of surprise as her brain caught up to what it had just witnessed.

The rest of the room went dead silent at the display, save for Dustin who was giggling like an idiot at having finally seen what he’d been waiting for since the morning. He offered her a high five, which she returned with gusto, smiling wider than Eddie had ever seen her in their short acquaintance.

Things went a lot quicker after that.

Wayne didn’t say much throughout the explanation, which wasn’t surprising to Eddie, his uncle had always been a quiet person, but he watched the man's face fall as they reached the end and had to tell of Eddie’s character's death at the hands of Vecna via the demobats.

“You boys said things don’t always go the same as your game, right? Do you think…does that mean…is that likely to happen, Eds?” Wayne's voice shook as he finally spoke. His worry for his nephew clear as day.

“We’re honestly not sure.” Eddie admitted reluctantly.

“That’s why we wanted to tell everyone who might be involved as soon as possible,” Steve added.

“There’s more too. Fred, and Patrick were victims in the story, and Chrissy. I tried to get her to come with us but her boyfriend interrupted.” Eddie said, mostly to Steve since the others had been there.

“Yeah! You should have seen it, Steve.” Dustin jumped in. “Eddie got a good shove in but then Jason punched him in the face.”

Wayne shook his head, grumbling softly, “Gonna have to call that school tomorrow. Ain’t right letting my boy get hit like that.”

“I’m fine.” Eddie insisted, catching his uncle’s eye.

“Jason Carver?” Steve asked, jaw tightening every so slightly.

Lucas nodded, answering him.

Steve touched his fingers lightly to Eddie’s chin, examining his face carefully. “Did he hurt you?” He said softly.

It was almost too much, the way Steve was looking at him, and a lump formed in Eddie’s throat. “I’m fine.” He forced out, hoping his voice sounded more normal than he felt. He swallowed hard and tried again. “I'll probably have a hell of a black eye later, but that’s all.”

“So, what do we do now, what’s the plan?” Will asked.

Steve and Eddie shared a look. “We hadn’t really worked out much past telling everyone what we had figured out.”

“What about Max and Billy?” Lucas asked.

Steve frowned. “Who is she again?”

“Max is a girl the boys tried to make friends with, she and her shitty brother, Billy Hargrove, moved here the fall after you got taken.” Eddie explained.

“What do you mean, tried to make friends?” Steve asked.

“We were all hanging out at the arcade once, a few days after we met Max. Billy showed up early to pick her up. He saw her and Lucas holding hands and he freaked out.” Dustin said. “I’m pretty sure if we weren’t in public he would have killed lucas.”

“Yeah, he said some pretty messed up stuff.” Will added.

Lucas sighed sadly. “She wouldn’t talk to us again after that.”

Will patted him on the arm. “She doesn’t talk to anyone, Lucas. It’s not your fault.”

“He’s right.” Mike agreed. “She always acts pissed off, but sometimes when she thinks no one is looking her eyes go all sad. I don’t think she has any friends.”

Eddie didn’t like the sound of that. “So, she’s alone, and possibly depressed.” He pointed out, looking at Steve.

“And If Henry picks his victims like you said, then…” Steve trailed off.

“She’s screwed.” Eddie finished the thought. “Do any of you dipshits know where this girl lives?”

The younger boys all shook their heads, they didn't know.

“Cherry Street.” Wayne answered out of nowhere.

Everyone including Eddie stared at him for a moment in surprise.

How and why the hell did Wayne, of all people, know where this girl lived?

“That boy you were talking about, the racist one? I know his old man, Neil. He’s a supervisor at the plant and a real piece of work, apple doesn’t fall far, y’know? You go get that girl, but be careful.”

Eddie gaped at his uncle. “You’re seriously on board for this?”

Wayne laughed. “As if I could stop you. You boys go, I'll handle things when Jim gets here.” He paused to check his watch. “Which should be any time now. Probably better if you stay out for a while and let me explain to him what’s going on. He’s gonna blow his stack.”

“Jonathan and I can stay and help you explain it to him, Mr. Munson. If that’s okay with you?” Nancy offered.

“It’s fine with me, and please call me Wayne.”

Steve wanted El to stay behind too. She wasn’t happy about being left out while her brother put himself in danger, but she agreed once Eddie promised to keep an eye on him for her. It was decided that the four younger boys would go along with Steve and Eddie to the Mayfield/Hargrove house, because at least she knew them a little from school, and it would be less creepy than two older boys showing up alone unannounced.

They were getting ready to leave when there was a knock on the trailer door. Eddie, thinking it was Hopper coming early, opened it without hesitation.

It wasn’t the police chief, it was Chrissy Cuningham.

She started profusely apologizing the second he opened the door, but stopped abruptly in the middle of her speech and let out a loud gasp when she spotted Steve hovering behind him.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you found him!” Chrissy cried out.

Eddie took her by the hand and pulled her inside, he didn’t want to risk his neighbor overhearing anything. “Actually, he sorta found me.” Eddie told her.

She smiled brightly at Steve and hugged him before turning back to Eddie. “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

“This, and a lot more actually.”

Chrissy looked around, finally taking notice of just how many people were inside the small home.

“Why don’t we take her with us?” Steve suggested. “I think I can explain it to her on the way.”

Eddie shrugged and looked at Chrissy. “You up for a little field trip?”

Dustin called shotgun. Eddie would have preferred to make the trip with Steve sitting by his side, but he and Chrissy had crawled into the far rear of the van so they could talk, giving the back seat to the other boys.

The whole way there Eddie couldn’t stop staring through the rear-view mirror at the two of them huddled together. It wasn’t a jealousy thing this time, it was the fact that Steve kept catching his eye in the reflection, and smiling in a way that would’ve made his knees give out if he wasn’t already sitting down.

When he almost missed a turn for the second time, Dustin elbowed him hard in the side. “Eyes on the road, Romeo.” He kept his voice low enough that Eddie didn’t worry about the other boys hearing it over the music, but he still blushed and swatted at the kid’s arm. “Shut up!”

It turned out that Chrissy knew exactly where the house was, since Billy had been on the basketball team with Jason before he graduated. They parked a few doors down, trying to scope out the situation a little before going in.

It looked like the kids' parents must be out, as the driveway was empty, but a blue camaro that Eddie knew belonged to Billy was parked out in the street. That was going to be a problem. He had known better than to hope that the girl would be home alone but he still didn’t have any idea how they were going to do this.

“What if I went up to the door and distracted him?” Chrissy offered.

“Yeah! And then we can sneak around the back and find her window or something!” Lucas said.

Eddie chewed on his thumbnail, thinking. “If me or Steve get caught sneaking in a young girl's window we’ll get arrested.”

Honestly if they got caught doing this, getting arrested for that would be the least of their worries.

“You two can stay here then and keep watch. We got this.” Dustin said.

Eddie didn’t like it but he didn’t have any better ideas, so he reluctantly agreed. At least it was dark out now, so the kids had a decent chance of not being seen.

Chrissy slipped out the back door of the van, and they all watched as she walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It didn’t take long for the door to open, revealing Billy, silhouetted in the doorway by the lights inside the house. They weren’t close enough to hear what was said but just based on the guy's body language she must have been doing something right. He leaned against the doorframe with his hip, smirking at her as he listened to whatever it was she was saying.

They didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep it up so the boys quickly spilled out, going through a neighboring backyard to come up behind Max’s house.

With everyone else now gone, Steve climbed over the back seats and settled in next to Eddie, taking his hand right away and squeezing it. It would have been romantic, holding hands with Steve in the quiet dark, had they not been so worried about the others and what could go wrong.

About five or ten minutes had gone by since the boys had left the van, and Billy was still happily chatting with Chrissy by the front door. Eddie should have known that things couldn’t be this easy, that something was about to go wrong.

Out of nowhere, all of the lights in the house began to flicker wildly. Eddie’s heart sank. It had to mean what he thought it meant, there was no way it was a coincidence. They’d almost been too late, still might be if they didn’t get in there right now and try to help the poor girl.

Without a word he and Steve both leaped from the car, perfectly in sync about what needed to be done, and ran for the house. Chrissy was already looking in their direction, a panicked look on her face. Billy was distracted looking around at the blinking lights. Neither of them stopped or slowed their steps as they approached the door to the home, pushing right past a bewildered Billy and into the house beyond. He recovered quickly, following closely at their heels and shouting at them to get the fuck out of his house.

Eddie could hear distantly that Chrissy was trying to stop him or distract him, but he couldn’t concentrate on what was being said. They needed to find the girl.

Thankfully the house was small and the second door they tried turned out to be her bedroom. It was a crazy scene. The young redhead was standing in the middle of her room stock still, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. He could see the boys standing on the other side of the window, they were banging on the glass and shouting. It looked like she'd been walking towards the window to talk to them when the attack started.

Finally Billy fought his way into the room. Eddie was sure that under normal circumstances fists would be flying by this point, but with the lights flashing and his sister having some sort of episode, it was chaos, and the guy didn’t seem to know how to respond to it all.

“Music right?” Steve said.

“Yeah, let’s just hope it works. Everybody look for a walkman!”

Chrissy, Steve, and Eddie started to tear the room apart as Billy continued to shout.

“What are you doing to her?! You better get the fuck out before I call the cops”

Chrissy quickly found it lying on the girl's bed half obscured beneath a throw blanket. She shoved it in Eddie's direction. He popped it open, and after all of this he was still somehow surprised to find that the tape she’d last listened to was in fact Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. He shook his head, rewinding the tape to the start of the last song that had been played before shoving the headphones over the girl’s ears.

He heard more than saw Steve bodily shoving Billy out of the room. Eddie was worried about him getting hurt, but he had to trust that he could handle it. Eddie had his hands full trying to save this girl. Once she was okay he could worry about everything else.

The song began, the volume loud enough that it could be heard in the room which had grown quiet in Billy's absence. When Eddie had envisioned this moment, the young girl’s first battle with Vecna, it had been to the soundtrack of Running up that Hill. Though he was a metal guy first and foremost, he enjoyed all kinds of music, and was able to appreciate Kate Bush for her theatricality. He didn’t know why that was the song his mind conjured up, had never thought to question it. That wasn’t the song that was currently blasting out of the girl’s headphones now, however Jig of Life felt more than appropriate under the circumstances.

🎵I'll be sitting in your mirror Now is the place where the crossroads meet Will you look into the future Never, never say goodbye To my part of your life🎵

“Come on, Red. You can do this.” Eddie murmured, shaking the girl by the shoulders. He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, and even if she could, he didn't know what he could possibly say to help her fight this thing.

🎵No, no, no, no Oh-oh-oh-oh let me live She said come on and let me live, girl She said come on and let me live, girl Come on, let me live This moment in time, she said It doesn’t belong to you”🎵

The lights stopped flickering so suddenly that it was jarring, and in the same moment Max’s eyes shot open. She gasped as if rising out of a deep pool of water, swaying on her feet, and would have fallen if Chrissy hadn’t been there to catch her. Max grabbed on to Chrissy's arms, gripping tight as her breath came in short gasps. She looked frantically around the room searching for a danger that was no longer there.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. It’s over. I got you.” Chrissy rocked the girl gently, murmuring comforting words into her hair over and over again as she fought to control her breathing.

Now that Max was free, Eddie finally tuned in to the noise happening in the rest of the house, and he could hear that the raised voices in the other room had reached a fever pitch. It wasn’t only Steve and Billy that could be heard now, but the younger boys as well.

He locked eyes with Chrissy over Max’s head. “Stay with her, I'll be right back.”

She nodded rapidly. “Go! Help them!”

Eddie rushed out to the hallway and found everyone in the living room. Steve was in the middle of it, the only thing standing between an enraged psychopath and the four younger boys. From what he heard, it sounded like Steve had been trying to explain to Billy some of what was going on, but he was refusing to listen. Then the boys had come bursting in, and Hargrove took one look at Lucas and lost it.

Billy had his back to Eddie, so the asshole didn't see it coming when he creeped up behind him, snatched a commemorative plate right off the wall, and smashed it over his head. Unfortunately, it didn’t knock the guy out like he had planned, but it did send him to the floor. Eddie jumped on him, holding his upper body down, while Steve quickly got the idea and took hold of his legs. Eddie yelled at the boys to find some rope or anything they could use to tie him up with. They returned quickly with a handful of zip ties and a roll of duct tape. They made it work, finishing the job off with an extra piece of tape over Billy’s mouth for good measure.

Chrissy and Max chose that moment to come out of the young girl’s bedroom, both staring open mouthed at the scene before them. Max’s eyes were wide but sparkled with amusement as she watched her step-brother struggle against his bonds.

“What are you going to do with him?” Chrissy asked.

“I have no idea, but at least we shut him up for now.” Steve said between heaving breaths. He sat down on the floor hard, using the hem of his shirt to dab the blood from his split lip. Eddie tried not to stare at the strip of exposed skin that the move had caused, but it was a losing battle. He knew it was fucked up to ogle the poor guy while he was bleeding, but he felt less bad about it when he realized that Steve was watching him right back, eyes full of intense desire. Apparently seeing Eddie smash a plate over some douchebag's head had really done something for him.

Dustin cleared his throat loudly, purposefully, interrupting the moment before either of them could do or say something they might regret in front of all these people. Eddie didn’t know whether to thank him for it or throttle him.

Lucas was the first to approach Max, the other boys following close behind him.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asked. The tender expression on the kid’s face told Eddie that his little crush on the redhead hadn’t dimmed at all since that awful night at the arcade.

Max gave him a small smile. “I have no idea what's going on or how you and your weird friends got me out of there, but yeah, I’m okay.” She said.

Chrissy stayed by Max’s side even as the boys swooped in to try and cheer her up, the poor girl was still clinging to her hand like a lifeline.

“Maybe we should take him back to the trailer with us, Hopper should be there by now. Maybe he can hold him for something down at the police station?” Steve suggested, mostly aiming the idea at Eddie since the others were occupied.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Eddie agreed. He offered a hand to help Steve. He took it, letting the touch linger a little longer than necessary once he was on his feet.

Eddie raised his voice to be heard over the small roar of all the younger boys talking at once. “Hey Red, you got a problem with us kidnapping your shitty stepbrother?”

“No.” Max answered quickly, then hesitated before continuing, “but uh, I don't think I want to be alone right now. Can you take me too?”

Chrissy released the girl’s hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she said, “I think you’d better come with us anyway so we can try to explain what’s happening to you.”

Eddie caught her eye and nodded in agreement. “We’re definitely not all going to fit in my van this time. Maybe we could take two trips?”

“One of you could drive Billy’s car. I know where his keys are.” Max supplied helpfully. Eddie was really starting to like this kid.

Together, he and Steve managed to pick Billy up to carry him to the car, the others going out ahead to keep watch and open doors. Halfway down the front yard, their captive started thrashing violently, causing them to drop him to the ground. Luckily for Billy, the lawn was pretty lush and probably cushioned his fall well enough, though Eddie sincerely hoped he hurt something in the fall.

They were working on getting him back up, Mike and Lucas now helping now too, when Eddie heard a rustle in the bushes separating Max’s house from her neighbor’s.

Great.

The last thing they needed right now was for some nosy housewife to spot them in the middle of - whatever this was - and call the police.

Eddie shushed the group and had them lay Billy back down on the ground. He crept over to where he’d heard the noise. It was very dark in the side yard, since Max’s house didn’t have any outside lights other than the single bulb on the porch. He squinted as he got close, trying to see if there was really someone there or if it was just a raccoon, only to get blinded as the creeper turned on a flashlight that was aimed directly in his face.

“Jesus H. Christ,'' Eddie shouted, stepping backwards as he threw his hands up to shield his eyes, and proceeded to trip over a branch and fall flat on his ass.

Steve was at his side quickly, making sure he was okay, and helping him up.

The mystery person with the offending flashlight had also come out of hiding. Eddie blinked a few times, trying to force his eyes to adjust. It took a second, but once they did he realized they were standing face to face with Robin Buckley.

“What are you doing?!” She asked accusingly.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Eddie insisted.

She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the two of them curiously. “So...you don’t have Billy Hargrove trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and you and your merry band of freshman, along with whoever else, aren't getting ready to take him and his step sister god knows where?”

Eddie sighed. “Okay, it’s exactly what it looks like, but I swear we have a really good reason.”

“We’re not trying to hurt anyone.” Steve added.

Robin tilted her flashlight up again, shining it directly in Steve's face this time.

“Wait a second…Harrington?! I thought you were missing!” She all but shrieked.

Eddie slapped his hand over her mouth as he said, “Technically, he is still missing. It’s a long story.”

Robin glared hard and he lowered his hand for self preservation.

He turned to Steve, they hadn’t really talked about bringing Robin into things. She had mostly served as Steve’s side-kick in the game, and she wasn’t a victim of Vecna’s. She also wasn’t friends with anyone in the party, Eddie knew her from band but that was all. Now he wondered if there was some reason why, out of all the people in Hawkins, he had chosen her to be NPC-Steve’s best friend.

Steve seemed to read his mind. “You want to tell her?”

Eddie shrugged. “At this point we might as well.”

“I really love the way you’re talking about me like I'm not here, guys. Doing wonders for my belief that what you're doing has no nefarious purpose.” Robin said, clearly rolling her eyes despite the fact that they could barely see her.

“Look, we can explain everything, but you’ll have to come with us.”

She stared at the two of them, then looked towards the gaggle of kids behind them keeping watch over Billy. Finally, her eyes settled on Chrissy, going just a little wide as she recognized the cheerleader.

Oh, that was interesting.

“Okay, fine.” She said. “ But if anything happens to me I will haunt your asses!.”

Chapter 10

Thank you @penny00dreadful for beta reading once again!

Taglist: @yeahhhh-suga @steddie-there @goinsteddie @brbsoulnomming @the-s-is-silent @paintsplatteredandimperfect @estrellami-1 @herebedragons404 @epiclazershark @mentallyundone @hardboiledleggs @manda-panda-monium @ellietheasexylibrarian @sofadofax @5ammi90 @bestwifehaver @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @soaringornithopter @buckleybarnes @adaed5 @goodolefashionedloverboi

As always, i'm happy to add or remove anyone from the taglist. Just let me know!

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #canon is just a crazy game of d&d #sort of #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve and el sibling supremacy #good uncle wayne #chrissy cunningham #max mayfield

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