To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Thirty-One

Almost two years ago...
Steve walked through the woods. The sky shone down blue and red darkness as he walked along side Eddie. Bandages covered his stomach and chest, Eddie's vest covering his back and shoulders. He ran his finger across the ridged denim that had been stained with blood and dirt. "Did you think about what I said about Nancy?" Eddie's eyes shifted towards Steve. He turned his head slightly to look at Eddie then quickly looked back in front of them.
"What do you mean?" Steve continued walking, checking his steps to make sure he didn't trip. Eddie followed, his arms crossed as they walked into one of the most dangerous situations they could possibly encounter.
"About getting her back." Eddie turned to him, wishing with every ounce of behind being that Steve would say no. That he would say, 'I don't want to be with Nancy.' Or that he would just simply tell Eddie he wasn't into her anymore because he was into someone else. Someone like him. Steve shook his head in response to Eddie's question. Eddie held in his sigh of relief. "I'm gonna want that vest back, you know." Steve's eyes widened as he stared to slide it off his shoulders.
"Y-yeah of course." Eddie put his hand on Steve's to stop him from taking off the vest.
"Not right now, stupid." Eddie continued to follow Robin and Nancy as they lead the way to Vecna.
"This is stupid. We're being so stupid right now. The kids are doing god knows what, they're god knows where and we're down here about to get ourselves killed." Steve continued to trek through the vines and dead trees, his skin beginning to crawl. Eddie shuttered at the idea of one of them not making it out alive.
"Why are you so anal about those kids?" Eddie grabbed a tree branch as they walked side by side. His fingers started breaking off pieces of the branch, dropping them as they walked. He fiddled with a piece of branch before letting it slip through his fingers.
"They're all I have... I mean Nancy and I don't talk. It's just Robin and the kids." Steve followed slowly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Eddie glanced over at him, his hair brushing in his face. "I mean... if something was to happen to me..."
"Nothings gonna happen to you, man." Eddie elbowed Steve's arm. Steve smiled at his blossoming friendship with Eddie. Not too long ago, Eddie was holding a broken bottle to his neck to threaten him. Steve stopped walking.
"If- I mean when- we get out of here would you want to hang out? It's weird, I know." Steve looked at the red sky reflection on Eddie's eyes. Eddie raised his eyebrows in pure shock.
"Y-yeah I guess we could. King Steve wouldn't be crippled after being seen with me?" Eddie smiled, his crooked smile leaving an effect of Steve, causing him to smile a bit.
"Who cares?" Steve shrugged as he glanced to Robin and Nancy, who were a couple feet ahead. Robin's hand was extended, holding Nancy's as she climbed over a fallen tree. Steve looked back at Eddie, their eyes met for a brief second before Steve looked down.
"Are you asking me on a date?" Eddie joked. He joked, yes, but part of him hoped Steve would say he was. I mean who wasn't madly in love with Steve 'the hair' Harrington? Every girl in Hawkins was so why not Eddie too?
"You wish." Steve responded as he took one of his hands out of his pocket. He reached to Eddie's ear, pulling a leaf out of the side of Eddie's hair. "Leaf." Steve smiled and dropped it to the ground.
"Thanks." Eddie looked away. He turned on his heel to continue walking. "I think it's funny, ya' know? Like... we didn't know each other and now we're about to fight some idiot monster dude."
"It is funny. It's stupid but it's funny." Steve smiled over to Eddie as he continued to walk forward. Quiet chirping sounded from the trees around them. Bats, it could only be the bats that had once terrorized Steve. Steve's hands tightened around the edge of the vest. "What if we-" Steve was interrupted by his foot catching the fallen tree that Nancy and Robin had just climbed over. He stumbled forward, falling over the tree. Eddie's hands grabbed his arm and lower back, stopping him from hitting the ground. All Eddie could do was stare at Steve below him. The blush spread across Eddie's face would be noticeable if he wasn't so dirty. Eddie's fingers tightened around Steve's hand, pulling him back up on his feet.  "T-thank you." Steve's eyes were wide.
"Y-yeah don't... don't mention it." Eddie stood silently, staring at Steve's shocked expression. He glanced down to see his hand was still on Steve's waist, the other still wrapped around his hand. "Oh, fuck. I'm sorry." He quickly let go of Steve.
"Stop being gay and come on!" Robin yelled backwards towards them. Steve dusted off his jeans, not that it mattered. They were all ready covered in blood and dirt. He cleared his throat and waited for Eddie to jump over the fallen tree.
"Don't trip this time." Eddie extended out a hand for Steve to take. Steve reluctantly took his hand and climbed over the log.
"Thanks, Ed..." He stepped down off the top of the log then glanced over at Eddie. "Ed...die. Eddie." His voice cracked a bit as he looked forward. He let out a soft sigh then jogged to catch up with Robin and Nancy.
"Hey! Wait up!" Eddie caught up, they were still a couple feet behind. Eddie slapped a hand on Steve's shoulder, following him out of breath. "You just left me back there!"
"You're too slow." Steve let out a small laugh and looked over at Eddie's hand on his shoulder. "Maybe I will talk to Nancy. She's got a boyfriend, though." Steve let out an exasperated breath and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He watched Nancy a couple feet ahead of them. Her hair was bobbing behind her from how curly it was. Her head turned slightly to glance back at the boys, making sure they were still following behind.
Eddie waiting until she turned around and stuck out a finger towards her. "If she looks at you like that, if she takes time out of her day to be with you and not her boyfriend, she likes you. You got to see the way she looks at you, Steve." Eddie hated encouraging them to get back together but it was best for everyone. "Who could not love you, Steve? You're a great guy, you're gorgeous, you're-" Steve's eyes shot over to Eddie, who had stopped talking. His eyes met Eddie's as a light blush shown through his dirty face.
"No, keep talking. I'm loving this." Steve joked as he dug an elbow into Eddie's arm. Eddie waved his hand towards Steve, telling him to shut up.
"You're just... good. You're a good guy." Eddie bit his lip a bit, searching for words. "You're just good. You're sweet and- and you're good with kids. And you make people smile, even though sometimes you're a douche." Eddie glanced over to see Steve was staring at him then quickly looked away. Steve smiled a bit then continued walking forward. "And not to mention you're hot. Package deal." Eddie quickly regretted saying that. He looked down at his feet, continuing to walk and refusing to look at Steve.
"You got a crush on me, Munson?" Steve's smile got larger. The tree branches crunched under their feet as they continued to trek their way forward. Eddie didn't answer Steve. Instead, he just kept walking towards certain doom.
"There's a damn bat!" Robin yelled back towards them, startling the two boys. Steve looked up to see a bat flying in circles above them. It was swooping down, getting close to Nancy and Robin as it made its dives. Steve increased his speed, approaching the girls. It quickly changed its course, going towards, Eddie whom was standing alone a couple feet back. Eddie scrambled on the ground, looking for a tree branch or something he could hit the bat with. Steve turned on his heel, running towards Eddie.
"No. No. No. No." Steve muttered under his breath as he ran full speed towards Eddie. He tripped down to the ground, grabbed a rock, and continued to run towards Eddie. He quickly put his body between Eddie and the bat, throwing the rock. Eddie stood shaken, his hands grabbed Steve's shoulders to hide behind him. The rock whipped past the bat, missing it by centimeters. Eddie pushed past Steve and waited for the bat to get closer, hitting it with a tree limb as Steve fell to the ground from Eddie's push. A thunk noise shook from the tree branch as the bat fell to the ground.
"Shit!" Robin ran towards them, Nancy quickly following behind. Nancy fell to the ground next to Steve, checking him for injuries.
"Are you okay?" Steve pulled away from Nancy's hands. Nancy nodded then quickly realized Steve wasn't talking to her. He was talking to Eddie who was standing with the tree branch grasped tightly in his hands. Eddie's chest moved quickly, heavy breaths sneaking out his lips. Eddie's eyes darted to Steve, then he nodded, reassuring he was okay. Robin looked down at the injured bat on the ground. It's wings still moved but it couldn't fly, it couldn't move. Eddie walked forward, slamming his shoe down on the bat.
"Are you okay?" Eddie looked over to Steve. Nancy sat quietly next to Steve on the ground, staring towards Eddie. She looked back over to the guy in front of her. Steve nodded. His eyes were locked on Eddie, not Nancy or Robin. Eddie.
"Come on, we have to go." Nancy stood, breaking the silence. She dusted off her legs, walking away from the group. Robin turned and followed her, dragging her eyes away from Steve on the ground.
"I'm sorry I pushed you." Eddie grabbed Steve's hand, hoisting him up off the ground. Steve smiled.
"It's fine. It's... thanks." Steve let go of Eddie's hand and raised his eyebrows. "Well, we should keep going."
"Y-yeah, of course." Steve walked away from Eddie as he shook his head and followed. "You put yourself between the bat and me." Eddie's bad grammar made Steve smile.
"I guess I did." Steve put his arm around Eddie's shoulders. "We couldn't let you go down, hm?" Eddie smiled and nodded. His face burned for the stupid jock. Steve let his arm fall off Eddie's shoulders. Eddie glanced over to him, he took a hard long stare at Steve then looked back forward.
"Hey... I appreciate it." Eddie's voice was soft. Steve hummed in response, his eyes locked on Eddie's profile. Eddie noticed Steve's gaze but instead, cleared his throat and looked down at his hand. Black blood was splattered up his hand and arm. "Oh, sick." Eddie wiped the bat's blood off onto his pants.
"That's disgusting." Steve laughed. His eyebrows were furrowed but his smile was huge. Steve grabbed Eddie's shoulder to stop him. "You got a little bat juice on your face." Steve pulled his sleeve over his hand and wiped the blood off Eddie's nose and cheek. "You went ham on that bat. Stepping on its head like that?"
"Are you kidding? You went all Ozzy on that other bat." Eddie laughed, the feeling of Steve's sleeve on his cheek made his heart flutter. Something about the boy made him happy.
"I can't get the bat out of my teeth." Steve joked as his eyes glanced down to Eddie's lips. He quickly moved his eyes back up.
"Really? Let me see." Eddie grabbed the sides of Steve's mouth. Steve smiled to show Eddie his teeth. The two laughed at the stupidity they were making together. There was a moment there. There was a moment in the blue and red light. Steve didn't know it yet but Eddie did. All he wanted to do was kiss Steve. Did he like him? No, he didn't think so. But something about the moment made Eddie feel like Steve was irresistible. He's not the type to fall for a straight boy though. Eddie let go of Steve's face, his smile had faded. Steve's smile still lingered.
"No bat?" Steve kept his teeth shown. Eddie laughed and turned to continue walking.
"There's no bat. I can promise you that." Eddie responded. Nancy and Robin were way farther ahead then before. There was a silence before Eddie spoke again. "You proved my point, about you being a good guy."
"I'm really not. I just wanted to make sure nothing happened... to you."
"Which makes you a good guy." Eddie looked over. His eyes practically sparkled.
"Earlier you said I was hot." Steve leaned over and smiled. It was rumored that Eddie was queer but Steve didn't have any definite proof. It was just funny to poke at Eddie, especially when he got so red, like was now.
"Well you are. You know that, and I... I know that too." Eddie didn't know why he had so much trouble talking to Steve, but Steve didn't notice. "Jesus Christ, we've been walking for so long." Eddie rubbed his thigh as he walked. His legs felt like they were burning, the muscles starting to get weak.
"Really? This is nothing." Steve was in shape from basketball. He glanced to Eddie who was struggling to keep up, realizing that Eddie probably didn't work out too often. "Here," Steve took Eddie's arm and draped it over his shoulders. "Lean on me when you get tired. It'll help."