Music • A Steddie Fanfiction

Music

Steve Harrington had already been dealt a poor hand, being born with less than perfect hearing, much to his parents' disappointment. His hearing had stayed the same up until his senior year of high school. Each encounter with a demo-creature worsened it.

After the first fight, he could no longer hear whispers out of his good ear. After the second fight, he couldn't hear most lyrics from the music he liked. After the explosion at the mall, he could barely hear anything from his bad ear and often needed people to repeat themselves, even if they spoke fairly loud.

Most of the party had picked up on this. It was something that they didn't need to talk about. The kids knew without Steve having to say anything. Robin spoke loud enough to begin with. However, he knew he would have to talk about it soon, as Eddie had joined the group. He was currently sat in the passenger seat, complaining about the lack of music in the car. Steve was grateful when he finally pulled into his driveway.

     Steve's house was the perfect place to move Eddie to. It was a big enough place for the others to stay and watch over Max. It was also a plus that Steve's parents were never home. Currently, Robin was the one in charge of keeping an eye on Max, the walkman nearby with the Kate Bush tape rewound.

     Steve was sat outside by the pool, his legs dangling off the side. It had been a long day after almost losing Max to Vecna and relocating the whole gang. He needed the fresh air and time to clear his head. The house was nice and a good idea at the time, but it wasn't a permanent solution. Steve knew that they would have to find a new spot again soon.

     He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over, barely surprised to see Eddie taking a seat next to him.
     "You shouldn't be out here. There could be cops anywhere,"

     "You shouldn't either, not by yourself at least," Steve didn't have a response to that, only looking down. Silence fell over the two for a few minutes.

     "What kind of music do you like?" That earned Eddie a confused look from Steve. "You know... in case of um- if Vecna gets you?"

     "I'm not worried about that," Steve sighed. "I haven't had the headaches or nosebleeds that any of the victims had," he dodged the question. Unfortunately for him, Munson was persistent.

     "Still, it's better to be safe than sorry, man," Steve looked away again instead of giving a response. Though persistent, Eddie didn't ask again, figuring that he wasn't going to get an answer.

     "I don't listen to much music anymore," Eddie was caught off-guard both by the words themselves as well as Steve's tone of voice, much quieter than before. He didn't respond, but placed his hand back on Steve's shoulder, silently urging him to go on, as the look on his face seemed to say that there was more. "I can't hear well enough to enjoy it." Eddie was once again rendered speechless by the admission.

     "You're deaf? But you can hear me...?" Steve seemed relieved at the reaction. Hawkins wasn't the most open-minded place to grow up disabled, even if he had managed to hide the fact most of his life.

     "I can hear you because you're loud," Steve smiled to himself. It was one of the things he found most likeable about Eddie. He rarely had to ask him to repeat himself. "It also helps that you're speaking into my better ear." Eddie frowned and Steve briefly panicked over saying too much.

     "So you haven't listened to music since...?"

     "It's been a couple of years." With that, Eddie stood up and went into the house after saying something that Steve could barely make out. Steve frowned, aiming a confused look in the direction that Eddie had went, but didn't make a move to follow him. It was probably better that he let him process what he had just said.

     About twenty minutes later, Steve felt a tap on his shoulder. Upon turning around, he found that Eddie had returned with a boombox in hand.

    "Sorry it took so long, your house is like a fucking maze. I swear I had to look in like four different closets to find this thing," Eddie put in a tape, one that Steve didn't recognize. He opened his mouth to argue that it was pointless but was immediately shut up. "Just trust me, okay?" Eddie pressed play and adjusted the volume, looking at Steve, gauging his reaction.

Steve had a hand over his mouth and his eyes were starting to water. Eddie began to apologize and went to turn it off when Steve grabbed his hand to stop him.

"No... please keep it on," he sniffled. He couldn't hear the lyrics, if there even were any, but he could feel it. He could feel the vibrations from the speakers, could feel the bass. His tears had stopped about halfway through the song. Eddie smiled fondly as he watched.

"I figured you'd like Ozzy," Once the song was over, he took the tape out and replaced it with another. "This one's a newer song. I'm actually learning it right now. I'll play it for you once this whole Vecna thing is over," Eddie offered, expecting Steve to turn him down.

"I'll hold you to it, Munson." He looked down at the case that Eddie had eagerly shoved into his hands. "Master of Puppets, huh?"

"Well, it's only the best Metallica song ever released," Steve smiled as Eddie rambled on about songs and bands. He didn't know how long they were out there, but they went through all of the tapes Eddie had brought with him by the time Robin came outside, making Eddie switch with her. Before heading inside the house, he grabbed Steve's arm to get his attention. "I'll play all these songs for you if you'd like. It'll be the most metal concert you've ever seen."