Coping || STEDDIE

Alone Again

(Tw. mention of something that may seem like self harm but it isn't. Well... i mean it kinda is, it depends on how you interpret it. Still, beware.)

(also sorry this part is like 1k more than the others, but if u guys like the longer parts lemme know bc i can make 'em that way)

"What the fuck..." Mike said as he stepped through the door frame, shoving a piece of the door that was still on its hinges out of the way. Steve watched as his face paled, and then the faces of the kids behind them as they all piled in the doorway. "Eddie?" Lucas asked as he side stepped around Mike's frozen body and moved deeper into the living room.

"Oh shit." Was all Eddie could say before he was tackled to the ground by Mike and Lucas, Will lingering off to the side awkwardly with Max and El. Dustin let out a grunt and they all scrambled off of eachother, and Steve was a little taken aback that Eddie let himself get tackled by the boys. Especially when only minutes before he hadn't even been able to push Eddie off of him.

The grown adults, for some reason, came in last and Joyce made a beeline for Steve and Robin, mostly Robin though. She crouched down next to where Robin slept and moved her off of the wall and into a laying down position. She looked back behind herself and saw Hopper standing in front of Max, El, and Will with the his eyebrows knitted together in sheer confusion. She looked then to the 3 boys who were now hugging a very normal looking late teens maybe early adulthood guy, she assessed that he was pretty tall, lanky looking, alarmingly pale and thin, and had a mess of unruly curly hair.

It was then that Steve saw her move to the kitchen to grab the first aid supplies that was still out from when Nancy treated Steve's neck and cheek. He turned over his shoulder and watched as she gathered everything into the little basket labeled "emergency". It was at that moment that it hit him like a hellish fever.

They were all the same, every single one of them were the same in their shared trauma. He himself recalled the box labeled emergency under his bathroom sink, in case something happened again and he needed to treat one of the kids or himself. Mrs. Byers had the same thing, only a bunch more stuff.

She quickly shuffled to Robin and began cleaning and patching her head, Robin wasn't actively bleeding from her head like Steve was, but she was knocked unconscious for a reason so she was very clearly priority number one. Steve let himself slump to the ground as he glared at Eddie, who was laughing and smiling with the kids.

But there weren't any fangs... his hands weren't claws and he didn't have any wings. Steve blinked a few times, rubbed both his eyes with the hand that wasn't supporting his body weight, and then looked back.

Eddie looked like Eddie, his hellfire shirt, the array of rings and chains, his weird leather jacket and vest combo... The whole thing. Steve let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and watched as Eddie hugged the kids again. Dustin didn't even say anything, almost like he thought the whole vampire scene and breaking the door down was fake, and this was actual Eddie.

Which was so extremely out of character for Dustin, but Steve chalked it up to the mind jumbling experience Dustin just went through and decided to have a talk with him later.

Hopper wasn't doing shit, he didn't have anything to punch or kill so he was just standing there. Staring. Then his eyes flashed to Steve's, almost accusatory, as if Steve and Robin lied about what happened and this was just Eddie coming back from the upside down now that Vecna is fully and completely gone.

Steve glared back as he clutched the back of his head, the girls and will had moved around Hopper and were now looking down at Eddie. Mike introduced him to El and Will, and Max just slightly waved. It was an extremely domestic scene and Steve was almost disgusted.