iris. - steddie

29. end

sunday may 22, 1986

on moving day, steve promised he'd take them all to the arcade if they helped move their furniture into the apartment, which of course worked.

steve drove the uhaul with robin, and eddie took the bmw, will in the passenger beside him and the rest of the kids piled in the back.

the ride with robin was normal, he'd gotten used to hanging out with her 24/7 by now. but, eddie's ride with the kids was another story.

sure he hung out with them all the time playing d&d, but being in a small enclosed space with all 5 of them? no way.

the car ride began with eddie giving will advice on being a dungeon master, since he seemed really interested in it. then, someone kicked the back of his seat accidentally.

'hey!' eddie turned around to look at them, they were cruising on a straight path in front of steve so he wasn't really worried about running off the road.

'who the hell kicked byers' seat?' he raised an eyebrow, everyone's fingers immediately pointing at mike. mike.

'wheeler, if you bother him one more time i'm tying you to the top of the car for the rest of the way there and don't you dare think i'm kidding, yeah?'

he nodded, apologizing to will quickly.

'thought so.' eddie nodded, turning back around and giving the kid a grin.

'..him? really?' he whispered to will after a second, glancing back at mike still in disbelief that was the idiot he fell for.

'eddie!' he whisper-yelled back, face growing red even though he knew mike couldn't hear them whispering over the sound of the road & music playing.

'sorry. how's it going?' he said quietly back, glancing up into the rearview mirror to see steve still behind him and smiling.

'i think i might tell him.'

'what??' eddie quickly whispered back in surprise, eyebrows raised.

'well, i mean.. i see what you and steve have, y'know? i want that.' will said quietly, looking down at his hands with a slightly sad look on his face.

he understood that. seeing the kid sad over his feelings for another boy killed him, he knew exactly how that felt.

'i think you should, byers.' eddie nodded, looking at him. 'he'd be a dumbass not to feel the same way.'

will laughed a little, looking over at him. 'thanks.'

'anytime, kid.' he rubbed his shoulder comfortingly before turning the music up to drown the party in the back out again.

this was going to be a long ride.

almost an hour later, they were at the apartment and beginning to unload the uhaul.

it would've been a lot easier if el came along, she probably could've tossed every box up the stairs with her telekinesis but mike said she had a 'family thing'.

but they all helped, it really was a bittersweet thing for steve watching the group of kids he'd practically taken care of since they were 11-12 now in high school still bickering over little things.

lucas accidentally tripped dustin with the cord of a lamp, mike dropped the leg of a table on his own foot, max was trying to show eddie how to do a kickflip on her board she'd brought, and will was attempting to help mike bring things in without laughing as he complained about his previously injured foot.

steve lifted one side of their mattress up, eddie grabbing the other and beginning to carry it upstairs. they took it into the master bedroom, dropping it onto the ground with a loud groan.

'jesus christ i did not know mattresses were that heavy,' steve sighed, pulling the hem of his shirt up to rub the sweat off of his face with.

eddie raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled his shirt up, eyes locked on the happy trail that lead down his stomach to under his shorts.

'hey, harrington?'

'huh?' he dropped the shirt back down, looking at him.

'wanna break in the new bed?'

steve snorted a little bit, rolling his eyes. 'later, keep it in your pants munson.' he patted him on the back, leaving the apartment to continue helping unload.

'worth a try,' he whispered to himself, following.

they all brought the last 8 boxes up, dustin putting the heavier box of eddie's vinyls and record player down with a loud 'ugh'.

'that's it,' robin looked around the apartment, light coming in from the windows and shining on the clean wooden floors.

'yeah,' steve said, voice breaking a little.

she quickly went to hug him tightly, she couldn't stand to hear the sadness in his tone.

not even a second passed before multiple arms wrapped around him also, steve opening his eyes to see all the kids had circled around him in a huge hug.

eddie stepped up behind him, putting his arms around his torso as they all gave the (now crying) individual the most comforting hug he'd ever gotten in his life.

'don't cry, come on i'm gonna-' robin's voice squeaked out, her eyes watered up too.

'if all of you start crying i'm gonna jump out the window of our brand new apartment,' eddie quickly said, knowing if he saw the kids and robin and steve crying it was inevitable for him to join.

they all laughed a little, pulling out of the hug and looking at the two of them with teary eyes.

'i'll come down to hawkins tommorow, okay? promise.' steve said, wiping his face.

robin had agreed to take all of the kids back, since she could now drive & had a car.

'oh! wait,' dustin reached behind him into his backpack, pulling out a walkie-talkie. 'it probably won't reach, but with cerebro it will.'

'can't you just.. call?' eddie's brows furrowed at him.

the kid gave him a blank look for a second. '..yes. take it anyways.'

he huffed in amusement, taking the walkie and putting it on the kitchen counter.

'see you tommorow. good luck byers,' eddie gave him a not-so-subtle wink, grinning.

'oh god, let's go—' will's face got red again, quickly leaving the apartment before he could hint any more at his planned confession to mike.

'see you tommorow,' robin rolled her eyes, following the kids out and making sure to yell a 'don't miss me too much!' before closing the door.

steve took a deep breath as soon as they were gone, turning around to look at their new home.

anywhere with eddie was home.

'you okay, harrington?' he said, walking in front of him and resting their foreheads together as arms snuck around his waist.

'yeah, yeah.' steve nodded. 'perfect.'

eddie gave him a smile, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips and glancing back at their apartment.

'we made it.'