Fingertips (Steve x Eddie)

Prologue

Word count: 886 (Shortest chapter, dont worry)

Steve wasn't the type of guy to cry, he thought. He handled pain in other ways that included getting stoned or drunk in his backyard, punching his bedroom walls and calling a friend over to fix them before his parents came home to see them, and... lashing out at people. That one he wasn't proud of, but he never learned how to control it.

Steve wasn't a crier. He didn't cry when his grandma died, he didn't cry when his hamster got stuck in an air vent and starved to death, and he didn't cry when Nancy broke up with him. He simply didn't have it in him.

However, the circumstances were different. Something, somehow, made them different. As he raced out of the attic of Vecna's home with Nancy and Robin on either side of him, Dustin's screams could be heard in the distance... like he'd been hurt. He was calling for Steve.

The trio ran through the woods, following the pained yelling of Dustin. When they caught up with him, he collapsed in Steve's arms and caught his breath. Robin mentioned something about his leg being all swollen, but they didn't have time to worry about that.

Eddie wasn't with him.
"Dustin, where is Eddie?" Steve demanded in a tone he'd never used with the younger before, surprising himself.

All Dustin could manage to do was lift up his head, staring at Steve with teary eyes.
That was all it took for them to sprint back to the site of the bats, trying to help Dustin keep up with them.

The sight of Eddie's bloody abdomen laying on the ground was enough to make Robin and Nancy start gagging before the waterworks erupted. They shoved it all back, and jumped to him, trying to figure out what the next step was.
Eddie wasn't fully gone yet, and that was the only thing they clung on to. He passed out from blood loss, which was probably for the better considering it would be painful dragging him all the way to the rift and into his trailer.

Steve, for the first time since he was six years old, shed a few tears. He almost thought there was something wrong with him too, and had to step away for a minute to gain his composure.

It took nearly thirty minutes to get him back to the trailer and somehow, through the gate with them. After that, it was a waiting game. Robin was the one to call the ambulance, and made up some exaggerated story about a wolf attack.

There were no wolves in a trailer park, but it was the best she could think of. At this point, anything worked as they were on limited time. Eddie's breathing became shallow, and Dustin's panicking raised the tension higher than ever before (mostly for Steve, who wanted to just shake him to death even though he was already injured).

In less than fifteen minutes, paramedics were rushing inside, immediately spotting Eddie's limp body on his now bloody sofa. Dustin asked them frantic questions, like, 'how bad is it?' 'he's not gonna die, is he?' 'Can I go with him? I- I need to go with him.' Steve finally shut it down and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You need to let them do their job, okay? They're gonna fix him. He's gonna be okay."
That hardly calmed Dustin's nerves.

As soon as the ambulance sped from the trailer park, Steve ran out to his car and started it before waiting for everyone to pile in so they could rush to the hospital.

They'd forgotten all about Lucas, Max, and Erica.

-

It took Eddie a week in the hospital to wake up from the coma he was in, and of course Dustin was right by his side everyday, refusing to go to school or get in contact with anyone besides Eddie's uncle. Steve went in to check on him every other day, but got cursed at every single time.

In that time period, Dustin had no clue what had happened to Max. He didn't know Will and Eleven had come back to Hawkins with Mike. He was oblivious. So, by the time Eddie had finally come back to earth, Nancy had manage to inform the both of them everything that happened.

Eddie couldn't even attend Max's funeral because he was bedridden in the hospital, and it killed him.
However, as soon as he was cleared and discharged (nearly another week later), he took it upon himself to visit her grave and pay his own respects. It's ironic how Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill had engraved its way into his life the same way it had Max's. He was overrun with the guilt of being the one who survived.

Never in a million years, would Eddie have ever imagined any of this "parallel universe" bullshit could've ever REALLY existed, but now that he'd seen it with his own eyes, he wished he hadn't.

Maybe if he never agreed to meet Chrissy in the woods that day, everything would be different. Maybe Max would still be alive.

At least he's getting some killer scars out of it, though.
And a LOT of ptsd.

-Fair warning, this story has not been edited in any way. Usually i just make corrections as i go, but usually i don't go back and fix capitalization errors so if you see any of those, please just disregard. :)

-As i stated, this is the shortest chapter. The rest will be guaranteed over 1500 words each, dont worry. I just needed something to start off with, you know?