#(a week later eddie gets home from work to find STEVE with a whole TUB of raw cookie dough in his lap | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

steddieas-shegoes · 1 year

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Wrote this based on this post and heavily encouraged by @zerokrox-blog, so in celebration of finishing my paper, here is a 30 minute attempt at expanding on this particular brain rot

It’s like his brain can’t associate water with anything but death.

He knew Steve had trouble with water after everything, still does. He knew sometimes Nancy wouldn’t come to the pool parties at Steve’s house because she still saw Barb drowning in the deep end if she stared too long. He knew they all avoided the lake for obvious reasons.

His thing started with a sudden downpour. He thought it had to be just rain, right? He could just stay home if it looked like a storm was coming. Easy enough.

Until he had almost the same reaction in the shower the day after. Wayne had to come in and shut the water off, throw a towel around him, and sit on the floor talking to him for almost 20 minutes before he was able to dry off and get into bed.

They did manage to find a system that worked for the shower eventually, though it was embarrassing for Eddie.

Wayne would get the shower started while Eddie stripped off his clothes. He’d turn away while Eddie got in the shower, then sit on the toilet lid and talk to Eddie as he slowly wet each individual limb and scrubbed his skin with soap. He’d rinse the same way, flinching at the way the water felt hitting his skin.

Wayne’s voice did help though. He’d tell him stories of his childhood, of the adventures he’d go on with Eddie’s mom, of crazy things that happened at the plant. It was enough to get the job done.

Then he’d get out, wrap a towel around his middle, and kneel down next to the tub so Wayne could wash his hair.

If Eddie closed his eyes and Wayne kept talking, he could almost ignore the way the water felt. They only washed his hair once a week because it was such a hassle for both of them.

He’d tried everything.

Steve made some suggestions that helped him, most of which revolves around stuff he was already doing.

Robin even tried to come help wash his hair in the sink instead like she did for Steve, but he ended up smacking her hands away the second the water touched his head.

The kids found out by accident; a storm was rolling in right when Eddie was leaving to meet up for movie night at Steve’s. He called Steve and apologized a million times, Steve brushing it off like it was fine and he understood. Deep down, Eddie knew he did, but it still sucked.

Dustin called him 30 minutes later and talked to him about anything and everything for the next hour, saying he didn’t really want to watch the movie they picked that night anyways.

It was kind, but Eddie felt terrible taking him away from the group.

But the kids took turns any time they were all together and Eddie was stuck at home because of rain. They sometimes would pile into Steve’s car and come to the trailer, making sure they didn’t touch Eddie if they were wet. He wanted to cry at their kindness, but he held it in.

But eventually, he couldn’t take it. He felt like a burden. Everyone dropped everything to make him feel better or make it easier for him and it was too much.

He turned to the one person in the group who would look at this objectively: Nancy god damn Wheeler.

“There has to be a way.”

“Therapy might help.”

“I’m already in therapy. It doesn’t help with this. That’s more for like ‘kinda wish I died down there’ and not ‘it feels like water will kill me.’”

“Have you ever heard of exposure therapy?”

Since he was an uneducated idiot, no. He told Nancy he wasn’t sure that would work since he’d been forcing himself to take showers and wash his hair this whole time with no improvements.

“This is different. It’s more a controlled environment and doing small things to move back towards normal exposure to your fear. Like how right now you shower in a way that keeps your whole body out of the water. This would be like getting your whole body under the water for 30 seconds, then the next time a full minute, and keep going until you can do it for long enough to take a regular shower.”

“Okay but I have unmanageable panic attacks when I do that, Nance.”

He could hear her eye roll over the phone.

“When was the last time you tried? Who was there? What was your plan if things went bad?”

Eddie remained silent. She knew the answers to those questions.

“I thought so. I think I have a plan. Can I come over?”

“What, now?”

“Why not now?”

She really did not hesitate when she was set in her ways, did she?

“Okay, fine. Wayne’s not here though.”

“He doesn’t need to be.”

And that’s how Nancy god damn Wheeler first saw him completely, whole ass naked.

It was very clinical; She was basically a therapist doing her job for the entire thing. But it did leave him feeling quite awkward.

“I just don’t understand why I can’t still wear boxers or something.”

“Because you have to do the real thing from the start or it’ll take longer.” Nancy rolled her eyes. “I’m not attracted to you Eddie. You’re very handsome, but you’re not my type.”

“You’re not my type, either.”

Nancy smirked at him. “I know. Steve’s polos aren’t quite my style.”

Eddie looked away, face bright red. She clapped her hands after a moment to get him to focus.

“So for the first time, I’ll turn the water on and you’ll get in like you usually do. After a minute, you have to step backwards into the water so it hits your whole back. You have to stand like that for 30 seconds. Then you step back out. If you have to step all the way out you can. Okay?”

“No.”

“Eddie.”

“Okay! Fine!”

“I read a lot about this. I promise it’ll work if we keep trying.”

He stepped into the shower and let the water hit his toes. This part was normal. It wasn’t fine, but it was fine-adjacent. He was used to it.

“Ready?”

“No.”

“Eddie.”

Nancy’s sighing was slightly amused, so he knew he wasn’t in trouble, but he still felt the nerves eating away at his stomach.

“Okay. What’s the plan if I can’t do it?”

“Let me worry about it.”

Eddie took another breath, trying to work up the courage. He felt his heart racing and his breath coming in shorter pants the more he thought about the water hitting his whole body.

“Eddie. You can do it.”

“Okay.”

So he turned his back to the water, backed up one step, then two, then three. And water was hitting him.

It hit his shoulders, cascading down his arms and back, hitting his waist and rolling off his stomach down his legs. It was warm, but he felt his whole body shiver at the feeling.

He could hear Nancy counting distantly, feel her eyes on him through the crack of the shower curtain. He tried to focus on her voice, on the way she already had a towel in her hands for when this was over. How no bats were circling above ready to eat him from the inside out. How this water was nothing like the lake, it was clean and the light was on in the bathroom so he could see everything around him.

When she reached 30, he practically jumped out and landed in her arms, towel not quite covering her so she got soaked.

He didn’t have enough brain power to realize he was soaking wet, naked, and being held by Nancy god damn Wheeler.

He sobbed as she managed to wrap the towel around his back, shushing him and telling him to take a deep breath.

He did.

“Another one.”

Her voice was becoming less distorted. He could feel his chest heaving now instead of a dreadful numbness throughout his extremities.

“Good. You did it. You did great.”

He’d done it. He’d done the first step.

“Here, wrap this around you so you get warmer.”

She moved him back enough to wrap the towel all the way around his shoulders, like he was a child trying to cover his entire body in a towel after a bath.

“Thanks.”

His voice was broken and raspy, but she smiled at him all the same.

“Don’t thank me. I feel like I’m kind of torturing you.”

“I may be into that, Wheeler.”

She snorted. “Talk to Steve about that. Though I think he’s probably into the receiving end of that, not the giving part.”

Eddie choked on his next breath.

“You don’t pull your punches, do you?”

“Never have, never will.” She started moving back to the sink to grab his fresh clothes, a cozy sweater he may have stolen from Steve and the sweatpants he wore the night before. “Are you okay if I step out while you get dressed?”

“What? Tired of seeing me naked?”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You love me.”

Nancy smirked. “Yeah. We all do. That’s why I’m willing to stare at your naked ass to help you with this.”

She was trying to make light of the situation, but he couldn’t help but let out a small sob at the fact that he had so many people who loved him enough to do this.

“I’m good. I’ll be done in a minute.”

Nancy waited for him to throw on his clothes, some residual moisture making his shirt stick to him. He hated it, but tried his best to ignore it. Another step towards facing his fears or whatever.

Nancy was waiting in the kitchen, a can of beer waiting on the counter for him.

“Is alcohol the answer?”

“No. But you deserve to celebrate a milestone. Just this one though or everyone will think I’m a pushover.”

“God forbid people know Nancy Wheeler has a heart.”

She nudged his arm with her elbow, smiling proudly at him.

“Proud of you for this. I know I kind of made you do it, but you could have backed out.”

“What was the backup plan? What if I completely freaked when the water touched me?”

“Try again tomorrow.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s always it. We all have to face shit every day. Some of us are scared of water, some of us are scared of clocks, some of us are scared of dogs. Some days are harder and we can’t face it. But we try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. And eventually we don’t have to try as hard. And maybe eventually we won’t have to try at all.”

“Wise words.”

“I have those sometimes.”

They both laughed, but Eddie was drained. He felt the emotional exhaustion manifest in physical aches throughout his whole body.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was only eight.

“Wanna stay for a bit?”

“Oh yeah. No way I’m leaving you alone for at least another hour, Mr. Delayed Trauma Response.”

“Smart plan, Dr. Exposure Therapy.”

So they hung out, snacking on some chips he found in the cabinet that were borderline too stale to enjoy, talking about the next few days’ plan, and if he wanted anyone else to know about it.

“You plan on coming here every night for the next month or more?”

“I’m willing to. But I think it might help to rotate people. Robin would be more than willing. And…”

“Steve cannot see me like that. Not after the rain thing.”

“No offense, but if you ever plan to get anywhere with Steve, it’s gonna involve an emotional upheaval and nudity.”

“A panic attack in the shower? How sexy.”

“Steve will want to help.”

“He always wants to help.”

“And he’s been through this, too.”

“He could take showers, though.”

“But he isn’t gonna judge you. Neither will Robin. Or anyone else we involve.”

“No one but them.”

Nancy searched his face before nodding. “I’ll call them tomorrow. They have to understand the process. But I’m coming tomorrow again. You need a constant the first few times.”

“Was that in a book?”

“It was in all the books, actually.”

“How many books did you read?”

“Seven.”

“I just called you today!”

“Well I may have started a while ago. I knew you’d be ready eventually.”

Eddie shook his head in disbelief. “You’re something else.”

“So I’ve heard.”

When Nancy left, Eddie felt a little worried for a few minutes that he shouldn’t be alone. He thought about calling Steve, but decided he needed to try to face this part of the fear too.

He’d call Steve in the morning.

For now, he got in bed, pulled the covers over himself, and didn’t flinch when he heard rain drops hit the roof.

#eddie munson #nancy wheeler #stranger things #traumatized Eddie #Eddie is scared of water #Nancy helps him #steve harrington #robin buckley #steddie feelings are implied and joked about #headcanon #tumblr drabbles

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