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shipskicksandgiggles · 11 months

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41. "Hey." "Again?"

I kinda wanna see Steve/Eddie ONLY BECAUSE even if I know NOTHING about them you've gotten me to like em

Their my blorbos in law if u will and I wanna see what u do with em

ajhsjhs hello so sorry this took so long, rough semester and all that, but here we are now so that has to count for something, right?

anyways, here you are my friend

Fighting to Come Home, also on ao3

Steve didn’t want to go home.

It was worth noting that the current reason he didn’t want to go home wasn’t the usual reason he didn’t want to go home.

His usual reason was that he hated going home to a big empty house. It was too quiet, too lonely.

The truth was the house hadn’t been quiet or lonely in months. Since the end of the world and their subsequent saving of it, the whole party was constantly in and out. Robin and Eddie both practically lived with him now, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The latter boy however was the current reason he didn’t want to go home. Not that Eddie had done anything wrong, he really hadn’t, but he tended to hover.

And the kids said Steve had the mother hen personality.

Steve sat in his car for a minute longer than he typically would after he pulled into the driveway and prepared himself. Finally he got out, collected the groceries from the backseat, and made his way towards the door.

He unlocked the door quietly, hoping Eddie was upstairs listening to one of his tapes or messing around with Robin, the two of them loud enough to mask the sound of his entry.

No one met him at the door, so it seemed he got his wish.

Nonetheless, he moved quietly through the house, closing the door behind him softly and depositing the grocery bags as silently as he could on the counter before putting them away.

The one thing he hadn’t counted on was that, when he wanted to, Eddie could be quiet himself. So quiet in fact that he was often able to move through the house without so much as a floorboard creaking.

“Steven.”

Steve flinched and turned to face him. Eddie’s eyes widened when he saw his face.

“Hi.”

“Again?”

“It’s not so bad, you should see the other guys.”

Eddie ignored him, crossing the kitchen in a flash and cradling his face in his hands. “Oh, Christ Stevie. What happened?”

He traced over the cuts that had split open when he got hit. Steve winced. There were going to be bruises later, probably some pretty nasty ones too.

“I’ll go get the first aid kit,” Eddie sighed. “You better come up with a pretty damn good excuse for this before I get back from the bathroom.”

Steve sighed and put away the last of the groceries. He knew no excuse he could come up with would be enough.

When Eddie returned, he set the kit on the kitchen table and pulled out two chairs, one for himself and one for Steve. He pointed to the one closest to Steve. “Sit.”

He sat.

Eddie moved his chair closer to him and popped open the kit. He pulled out the disinfectant, band-aids, and a salve.

It scared Steve when Eddie was quiet. Eddie quiet meant he was planning something. Putting thought into his words.

Steve didn’t dare break the silence. He let Eddie work, even doing his best to keep his grunts of pain to a minimum.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop fucking protecting me from whatever the fuck you’re feeling right now,” Eddie nearly snarled. Then, when Steve flinched, he softened. “I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but you’re allowed to have feelings, Stevie.”

“I know,” Steve said quietly. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad, Steve. I would never be mad at you for coming home looking like someone confused your face for a punching bag.”

He swabbed antiseptic over a particularly nasty cut on his cheekbone, and Steve hissed.

“What the hell happened to you, pretty boy? I thought you were just going to the grocery store?”

“I was. Couple of guys staked out my car in the parking lot.”

~~~

“Can I help you?” Steve asked as he approached his car.

“Don’t think so,” one of the men said.

“Any reason you’re standing in front of my car then?” he tried again, shifting all the grocery bags to one arm so he could open the trunk.

“Maybe you can help us actually,” the other guy said, kicking off the driver’s side door. “You’re Steve Harrington, right?”

“Sure am.”

“Up in the beautiful castle of a house in Loch Nora?”

“It’s just a house, man.” He closed the trunk to find the man closer than he expected. Still, he didn’t step back.

“Rumor has it you’re using that house to shelter criminals.”

“I have people staying with me because their houses got destroyed in the earthquakes. No criminals though.”

“Liar.” The guy shoved Steve back. “You know who we’re talking about.”

“Won’t know until you tell me,” Steve pointed out, just to be annoying. He knew what they meant, he always did when people approached him in public.

“We all know you’ve got the Freak stashed up there,” the first man said.

“Sitting high and mighty on that hill when he should be rotting in hell,” the other volleyed.

“I think you’re mistaken, gentlemen,” Steve said. “No freaks to be found in my house. Just good old upstanding citizens.”

“You used to be a good guy, man. The cops would probably look the other way,” he continued as if Steve hadn’t spoken, “if you just took care of Munson the way he needs to be.”

Steve did take care of Eddie. He made sure he took his meds and changed his bandages, ate a balanced diet, and went to physical therapy.

“Look, clearly this isn’t going the way any of us want,” Steve sighed. “Just get out of my way and mind your own business.”

“Not until that murderer is dead or behind bars.”

“Last warning.” Steve shifted, prepared for a fight. “Get out of my way.”

They seemed to consider him for a moment, and Steve had a split second hope they would let him leave.

“Well, in that case,” one of them said, striding towards Steve, “might as well send him home with a taste of what Munson will get.”

~~~

“Steve…”

“Don’t.”

“You shouldn’t have to-”

“I don’t care, Eddie. It’s not like I swung first.”

“You didn’t have to swing at all.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

Eddie stared at him for a moment before he dropped the cotton swab he was using to clear up the last of the blood.

“You really believe that.”

It wasn’t a question. Eddie wasn’t asking. He knew.

“I’d tell you to stop, but I know you won’t.” He carried on, picking up a bandage for one of the nastier cuts. “I just really wish you wouldn’t. I’m not worth this.”

“You are though,” Steve said, making a face. It hurt, but he didn’t wince. “If you weren’t worth it, I wouldn’t have carried you out of the Upside Down. I wouldn’t let you stay here, wouldn’t have helped stitch you up when you insisted on no hospitals. You are worth it.”

“What, just because I gave the kids a place to be themselves? Because I saved Dustin’s life?”

“Because you’re my friend, Eddie.” Steve grabbed his wrists and forced him to look at him. “I know it’s shocking, but it’s true. I’d do the same thing for the kids, for Robin, hell I’ve even gone to bat for Nancy and Johnathan. You’re not an exception.”

“I can fight my own battles.”

“You can. Doesn’t mean you have to.”

There was a pause where Eddie just stared at him. Finally- “Can I finish patching you up, please?”

He released his wrists. “Yeah, sure.”

Eddie put the last of the bandages on in silence, refusing to speak until he was done.

At last, he put everything back and closed up the first aid kit, setting it off to the side while he checked Steve over one last time.

Steve let himself be moved around, complacent in Eddie’s fussing. It wasn’t until Eddie held his face for a few beats too long that he said something.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m good as new thanks to you.”

Eddie smiled softly. “Sure you are. I just don’t know why I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Well, if it helps, I don’t have a concussion this time. I would know if I did. It’s all superficial bruising.”

“Big word, Steve-o, you sure you don’t have another head injury?”

“Positive.”

He still didn’t let go.

“Short of kissing it better, I think you’ve done all you can, Eds.”

“Can I?”

“Can you what?”

“Kiss it better.”

Looking into his eyes, he could tell Eddie was serious, but there was something else there too. Something sweet, tender. It made his chest hurt.

“Sure.”

He closed his eyes, not wanting to look any deeper into Eddie’s expression, so how could he have possibly seen it coming when Eddie pressed their mouths together softly.

“Thank you,” Eddie whispered when he pulled away. “Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for caring. And I’m sorry if that crossed a line, but-”

Steve covered his mouth before he could finish his sentence. “You didn’t cross a line, but for Christ’s sake, I got punched in the face for you. Make it count for something, huh?”

Eddie nodded, still not able to speak. Steve removed his hand once he was sure he understood.

“Good. Now, where were we?”

Their next kiss was less soft and more full of feeling, which almost made getting into another fight worth it.

Thank goodness he had the courage to come home.

#ellis writes #steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson #getting together #steve gets in another fight #critter tag

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