little things; stranger things littlespace oneshots

♡ 5 - saved ♡

cg!steve
little!eddie (4-5)

tw - bullying scene, punching scene, swearing (just once)
this story was kinda less littlespace and more drama but whatever😭😭

Eddie sat at his desk, eyeing the clock which read 2:50 in the afternoon.
"Just five more minutes.." he thought. It was a friday afternoon so needless to say, he was ready to leave. The teacher seemed to drone on about something he was too uninterested to pay attention to.

At last, the bell finally cut through the silence, dismissing all of the students. As the students flooded into the hallways, Eddie walked faster and kept his head down. He stared intently at the floor, hoping to make it out of the school quickly. Suddenly, a body collided with his, sending him to the floor of a nearby corridor. He winced in pain. Before he could open his eyes, an all too familiar voice spoke from above him.

"Thought you were gonna get away this time?"

Jason Carver and a few of his cronies. Sure, Eddie was taller by a few inches, but Jason was stronger than he was. And with three guys against him, he knew he didn't stand a chance. Eddie stood back up.
"C-come on Jason, drop it. I-I don't have time for this." He dismissed, trying to walk away. Eddie was becoming more and more nervous. He didn't want to deal with it. He didn't want to live like this anymore. He was exhausted.

"Slow down, spaz. I'm not done talking to you yet." He commanded, pushing Eddie to the floor. He landed on his bottom and groaned in pain.
"Please, Jason, let's just talk it out.. stop.." Eddie pleaded, somewhat out of breath from the adrenaline and the fall.
"Or else what? You gonna cast a spell on me, freak?"
The bullies began to close in on Eddie, who was quite literally backed up against a wall. He squeezed eyes shut, anticipating what would come next and wishing he were anywhere else.

Jason threw a punch to his face, knocking him to the floor completely. His friends laughed as Jason taunted him, but their voices were muffled. His ears rang and his eyes felt sore as he stared up at the fluorescent lighting. Only seconds later, Eddie blacked out.

Just moments before, Steve had walked past the hall in time to see Eddie get attacked by Jason and lose consciousness.
" 'The hell are you doing?" Steve shouted, heading towards them.
"We're just giving this wastoid what he deserves." Jason laughed; expecting Steve, the acclaimed rebel, to agree. However, what Jason didn't know was that Steve and Eddie were mutuals. They'd only talked a handful of times, but he seemed like a great guy when you got to know him. Steve knew that Dustin and Mike really cared about Ed, and that's all it took for him to get involved. So he would not be one to let this slide.
"Get lost, if you know what's good for you." Steve spat. He was a grade above them all, taller, and stronger, and at least they were smart enough to not start a fight with him.
"What? You- you can't be serious. He killed Chrissy! THIS FREAK KILLED CHRISSY!" Jason shouted, earning concerned glances from passerbys as he was pulled away by his goons.

"What a guy." Steve mumbled with an irritated expression. He glanced down to Eddie, who lay on the floor unconscious. He looked like he could be dead. Steve didn't have such a heart to leave him laying there, god knows what would happen. So he sighed and picked up Eddie, carrying him out and laying him down on the backseats of his car.

Eddie woke up to a soft rumbling beneath him. The last thing he remembered was getting pushed by Jason. In the school. So where was he?
He sat up and looked around. He was in a car. He begin to panic. Where was he? Whose car is this? Where were they going? Was he kidnapped?
Steve saw Eddie's panicked face through the rear view mirror.
"Relax," Steve said, startling Eddie, whose head jolted towards him. "Those shitheads are gone now. You're alright."

"Well, sort of, I mean, you took a pretty nasty blow to the face. But c'mon, you got knocked out by one punch? You gotta learn how to protect yourself better man." Steve chuckled. "Don't worry though, I'm going to talk some sense into them later. They won't ever-" Steve rambled, before getting getting cut off by a shaky breath from Eddie. Eddie stared off into nothing while crying quietly to himself.
"Oh, bud. It's alright, don't be sad." Steve said sympathetically. Steve pulled into his driveway, getting out and opening the door for Eddie, who only stared back up at him fearfully.

"Calm down," Steve said, motioning for Eddie to take a breath.
Eddie took a deep breath and calmed down, his cries now reduced to sniffles.
"Now c'mon man, you can't stay in here forever." Steve said, grabbing Eddie's hand and leading him inside.

As soon as they sat on the couch, Eddie threw his arms around Steve and hugged him, crying. Steve was a bit taken aback, but accepted it nonetheless, confusedly patting Eddie's back.
"It's okay. You're okay." Steve soothed him.
Eddie mumbled a small "m' sowwy.." into Steve's shoulder. Steve pulled away.
"Why are you talking like that? Are you on drugs again?" he asked. His heart sank when Steve pulled away from his touch. Eddie recoiled. He didn't mean to scare Steve away. Why did he have to be such a monster?

Eddie looked into his eyes with the most saddened and hurt expression, then looking down and shaking his head, whispering a pained "No.. no.." through forming tears. This was a sore sight to see. The way he shrunk himself like he was afraid and the despairing look on his face was enough to make Steve's heart hurt. He instantly felt the need to help the boy. Steve gently wrapped him in another embrace.
"Oh, Eds, I'm sorry!" Steve apologized, running his hand down Eddie's hair.
"I believe it. Please calm down. I'm not mad. You're not mad, right? See? Nobody's mad!" Steve said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Eddie pulled away and giggled softly at Steve's silliness, subconsciously putting a thumb into his mouth.

Steve noticed this. He thought that it was almost as if Eddie was a child.

Realization dawned on him- that was it, he was. Steve had heard of this kind of coping mechanism before, where a person enters a younger mindset. That's what was going on with Eddie!
Eds noticed him staring with a perplexed look and quickly lowered his hand sheepishly.
"Oh- you're fine bud. You can be little." Steve reassured him. Eddie smiled a little and visibly relaxed at that.
"Let's get you out of those uncomfy clothes, huh?" Steve offered. It was starting to come naturally.

Eddie shrugged, not wanting to take Steve's things or waste any more of his time. Steve saw that he looked visibly guilty and reassured him.
"Don't worry bud, I want to help you." Steve said, picking up Eddie.
He set him down on his bed and searched his closet, handing Eddie a pair of dark gray and black plaid pajama pants and a light gray hoodie that was just a little too big for the boy.
"Come back to the living room when you're done. Let's watch a movie."

Shortly after, Eddie headed back and awkwardly sat down next to Steve.
"Relax." said Steve, pulling Eddie closer to him and turning on whatever kids movie was on at the moment. Eddie released a breath and loosened up.
Steve rested his head on Eddie's, which was leaning on his shoulder, and they both watched the movie contently.

- 1279 words

woww, a lot of cg steve, i should write a little steve soon haha
drop requests or suggestions if y'all have any!
c u later :-)