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carolperkinsexgirlfriend · 2 months

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Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 91

Part 1 Part 90

Eddie’s not thinking. Observations are floating into his mind too fast for him to categorize them, just snapshots of blinding confusion and color. Click – the explosion of pain when his knuckle impacts strangely against Hargrove’s jaw. Click – pain blooming against his ribs, sending him sprawling atop Hargrove’s chest. Click – he’s on the pavement, Perkins’ crawling atop him, pointy elbow jamming into his throat as she winds back to slap Hargrove hard enough in the face to send his head ricocheting into Eddie’s side. Click – Hargrove’s straddling his screaming ribs as he punches him, once, twice, ramming his head into the concrete hard enough that it bounces, exploding pain on both sides of his skull.

Eddie closes his eyes against the pain, holding his hands above his face in a futile effort to defend his sparking face against more damage.

Nothing else comes. Just for a second, Hagrove’s weight crushes his ribs further. The pressure compresses his lungs, all the air whooshing out in a quiet oomph. And then it’s gone.

Eddie curls into himself, hands around his ribs on instinct, eyes still closed until the screaming starts.

His eye feels swollen, sight fuzzy around the edges as he looks up at his savior.

It's not Perkins, or Mama Byers, or Barb, or even Steve.

Little Red stands over her brother, the nail bat in her hands pointed warningly toward his junk, dirty sneaker close enough that if she kicked forward, there’d never be any little Billy’s running around the world. Her hair’s got dirt in it, the fire in her eyes making her look almost feral.

Her voice is loud enough to ring throughout the neighborhood, but it’s going through his head like it’s underwater, like he’s Charlie Brown, it’s all just muffled, wah wah wah’s.

All he can hear is the ringing in his ears, high pitched and aching through his skull. Hargrove’s hands are raised, and he’s got a mocking sneer on his face, but his eyes tell a different story. They’re wide and afraid, and he’s scooting backward in the driveway, shirt riding up so his skin’s sliding across the pavement in a way that’s got to hurt.

Eddie levers himself to his feet. He wobbles around on sea legs for a second until a hand clamps onto his shoulder, steadying him. It’s Perkins. There’s a bruise already blooming on her cheek, and her hair’s a riot of knots. She slides her hands into his hair, probing around his head until she finds a spot that has him wincing and pulling back.

Her words reach him, muffled but unjumbled. “—need to get you to a hospital,” she says, leaning around him to look at the spot she’d just proved. “You’re bleeding like, a lot.”

Eddie leans into her, eyes closing for just a second. “Steve first,” he replies. The words rumble strangely through his chest.

He opens his eyes just in time to see Perkins eyes roll.

The voices around him unjumble slowly, until he can make out distinct words, unmuffled and blessedly decipherable.

Clearly, his scrambled egg of a brain just needed to catch up with its new inflamed state.

“Everyone inside,” Mama Byers calls, voice strained. It’s only then that Eddie notices the lights turned on in the houses around them, and the way curtains twitch back like the nosy rich people can’t help themselves.

Hargrove’s still in the ground, but Max hefts the bat up anyway, pointing it toward him with a final edict of, “Go home.” She turns around, sauntering toward the Harrington’s front door in a way the Eddie’d die to be able to emulate. “I’ll be home soon.”

Lucas snorts as he runs to catch up to her, Mike and Dustin right behind him.

Eddie and Perkins don’t start forward until Barb and Will lead Steve out of the van. Barb has his head angled down, clearly trying to obscure the blindfold on his face. Will’s smiling up at him and nodding as if they’re holding a conversation no one else can hear. Eddie hopes it’s enough of a show to stop the nosy neighbors from calling the cops. Hop’s indisposed and everyone else will just get in the way.

Perkins has her arm around his waist, but each of his steps bring more surety, like his brain and his legs are reestablishing their link. Still, she doesn’t let go.

They’re all loitering in front of the front door, arguing about how to get inside. Perkins bullies her way past, digging the hide-a-key out of its place buried in the leaves of the bush planted in the pot beside the front door.

She slides it home, turns it in the lock like she’s used to it. Like she belongs here in a way that Eddie, and the rest of the party, and even Steve himself don’t.

She leads them inside. Eddie wriggles out from her grasp so he can flip the lights on.

Something giddy runs through his veins as he hears the heat click on. He turns, smiling brightly at the rest of the group, just as Dustin closes the door behind them.

There’s something manic, and woozy, and hopeful running through him as he looks at all these people gathered in Steve’s childhood home, willing to do anything to save him.

“Let’s get this party started,” Eddie calls, like they’re at some sort of high school rager instead of a grim group of people about to boil their friend alive if it’ll save his life.

When everyone looks at him, bug-eyed and wary, Eddie just laughs.

Part 92

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#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #my fic #steddie upsidedown au #will byers #i Briefly considered having an awkward interaction between joyce and a neighbor #but I've been to richer neighborhoods #those ppl aren't leaving their house. they're talking shit to each other later or maybe calling the cops

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