Steddie Oneshots

Matching Tattoos (Soulmates AU)

He turns his back as Nancy starts wrapping the fabric around Steve's waist, glancing briefly over his shoulder at the interaction between the two. As Nancy patches him up, he notices something that makes him freeze and his stomach drop in horror. Right above his waistband, sticking out like a sore thumb against the stark white of the makeshift gauze, is a black wing, one he knew all too well.

-

Or, in a world where Soulmates exist, Eddie stumbles upon something peculiar in the Upside Down.

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Eddie always wondered when he'd meet his soulmate. It was something that was always in the back on his mind, a lingering, yet passing thought that consumed his being from time to time. He wondered why they looked like, if they were black, white, tall or short, hell, even if they existed. He was pushing his early twenties, and still hadn't met his soulmate. He constantly felt like the universe was out to get him, as if this was its shitty way of torturing him. Yet at the same time, he thought it was all bullshit. How was a predestined force supposed to determine who he'd spend the rest of his life with, anyway? What if he hated his soulmate, or his soulmate hated him, and then he was destined to be alone, for all of eternity? The thought of that made his spine shrivel up in his body. It left a bitter taste on his tongue and a harsh expression on his face. Yet he longed for the romances he watched in movies, longed for those passionate nights that soulmates shared even though he'd never admit that to anyone. Frowning, he let his fingertips trace over the tattoo that lie wrapped around his lower stomach, the sensation sending sparks down his fingers. Whoever his soulmate was, they had to deal with this shitty bat tattoo as well. And that brought a smirk to his face.

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. "Munson, you good?" Steve said, a hint of concern in his voice. Eddie cleared his throat, nodding as they made their way through the Upside Down, trailing behind the two girls. "Peachy as ever" he grumbled, running a hand through his sopping wet hair. He cringed, mentally noting that it was going to take forever to dry, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. They needed to find a way out of the Upside Down, and fast. "You're handling this a lot better than I would" Steve says chuckling. He then winches, clutching his side, where the demobats had bitten him. "I should be asking if you're ok, Harrington. With bites like that, hell, I hope that shit doesn't get infected" He quips back, stepping over a particularly large tendril as it slithered across the ground. He wrinkled his nose. Steve rolls his eyes, but Eddie pretends not to notice the fear in his eyes as they widen. They walk for a moment in silence, the eerie sounds of shrieking resonating through the woods.

Whenever Eddie was near Steve, he felt drawn towards the man. It was something magnetic, like a string tied between the two men that made him question everything. Ever since he launched himself at Steve with a broken glass bottle, he had felt it. That sensation that made his stomach flutter, as he defensively stared into Steve's eyes. The kids had convinced him to drop the bottle, and with shaking hands he complied, tearing the bottle away from the man's throat, Steve gasping for air in response. Ever since then that sensation never left, and had consumed his thoughts immensely. He wondered if Steve felt it, too.

Steve winced once more as they arrived at Skull Rock, and Nancy cursed under her breath, examining Steve's frail frame. "We need to stop the bleeding-" She started, but as a wave of demobats passed over them, they dove into the cave, taking cover. They held their breath as the demobats screeched, flocking over them like a cloud of smoke. Robin cursed, blowing out a breath. "That was close" she said quietly, leaning back against the rock. "Yeah" Steve panted, still clutching his side.