Oneshots - Steve x Eddie [Stranger Things]

and i'll tell you all about it when i see you again

"Wait wait wait, you can rewind time now? And everyone would reappear exactly where they disappeared or died?" Steve repeated, clarifying what was just said by Eleven so that he fully understood.

"Not rewind. Reset." Eleven said simply, her vocabulary still not the best. But she could lace together simple, comprehensible sentences.

"Yeah. Hey, didn't Eddie die in the Upside Down? Shouldn't someone go and make sure he gets back okay?" Mike questioned, remembering Eddie's horrible death, recounted to him by Dustin.

"He did. There's still a gate where his trailer used to be. Access to the Upside Down is still easy." Dustin confirmed, unsure of whether anyone would actually voluntarily go back down there.

"None of you shitheads are going back there, that's for certain. I'll go." Steve explained firmly, knowing that his conscience would never let him rest knowing that he let one of the kids go back through into the Upside Down.

"Steve no, don't go back into the Upside Down." Dustin warned, who knew what horrors were down there now?

"Well, Henderson, Eddie died down there, I don't want him reappearing all alone. And I won't sleep at night if I send one of you lot down there. Someone has to help him back through the gate, might as well be me." Steve explained, somewhat reasonably. Logistically, Dustin couldn't argue with that.

But, he didn't know Steve's true reasoning for going to find Eddie all by himself.

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Steve eventually found the spot where Eddie had been killed by the demobats, it had taken only a few minutes, but Eddie should be reappearing any moment now if El's plan worked (which hopefully it did). It was quiet in the Upside Down, eerily quiet in a sort of unsettling way.

"Steve?" He heard a voice from behind him and he spun around on his heels, coming face to face with Eddie Munson once again. The plan had worked.

He ran to him at full speed and engulfed him in a tight hug, his arms snaking around Eddie's waist in a warm embrace.

"I'm so glad you're back, Dustin hasn't been the same since everything with Vecna." Steve explained, pulling away from the hug slightly.

Their faces were only mere inches apart and Steve couldn't help thinking about the fact that he would only have to lean forward maybe two inches in order to kiss Eddie. And he really did want to kiss him, he just didn't have the guts to go for it. He was far too afraid.

"Is it still 1986?" Eddie questioned, still in Steve's arms, choosing to gloss over the younger (older? that was a conversation for later) man focusing on his lips.

"No, it's uh, it's 1988," Steve responded hesitantly, finally releasing Eddie from the embrace, unsure of what Eddie's reaction to this news would be, "You still graduated though, they rounded your grade up and it was just enough to scrape a pass. I think Henderson kept your diploma somewhere, I'll get him to pass it on to you." Steve continued once he saw the deflated look on Eddie's face.

Instantly, Eddie cheered up. He never had to set foot in Hawkins High School ever again and he was determined to make the most of it.

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"Robin, you trusted me with your secret when you came out to me. Now, I need to ask, can I trust you?" Steve questioned as he leant against the counter of the register in Family Video.