𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐃 [steddie]

𝓟𝓸𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓲𝓭

Eddie's eyes wandered over to the small Polaroid picture on his wall. It was placed right above his bed. The sunlight bursting through the window illuminated the room and shone directly onto the picture. The corners of his mouth pulled into a smile as he viewed it. Robin had taken it with the Polaroid camera she had found in a second hand store. The picture was of Eddie and Steve. The two boys were hugging, smiling happily at each other.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Hawkins. The Upside Down was no more and things had almost felt normal. Steve had hugged Eddie that day because he was happy the metalhead was alive. After all he had risked his life for all of Hawkins, but he survived. They all did. Eddie had spent weeks in the hospital, recovering from his wounds, but when he was finally free to go, Steve was there. Waiting for him by his BMW, ready to pick him up.

And Robin had been there too. That's when she had taken the picture. Eddie had questioned why she would bring the camera to pick him up from the hospital, but the girl had just shrugged it off and said that she had found her passion in photography. She took the picture of Steve and Eddie and then handed the small Polaroid to the latter.

Eddie felt his heart beat faster looking at it now. For a long time he had ignored the way he felt about Steve. The way his heartbeat picked up and his hands started to sweat and not to mention the butterflies that ran wild in his stomach. Eddie had liked Steve for months at that point, but he had never mentioned it to the other boy. He had no idea how Steve would react.

Eddie remembered overhearing Steve talk to Nancy once about how he imagined his future with her by his side. Eddie felt a sting in his chest at Steve's words, but he made sure no one noticed. He barely understood the way he felt for Steve himself then, how would he have explained it to anyone else? And of course Steve couldn't know. It might have ruined everything. It might have ruined their friendship. And if Eddie could already not be with Steve the way he wanted to, he at least wanted to be his friend. As much as it hurt loving someone he could potentially never be with, living his life without Steve was not something Eddie had wanted.

Eddie sighed heavily.

If only Steve felt the same about him. Eddie had fallen slowly, but once he had, he was head over heels for the other boy. It almost pained him to pretend that he wasn't interested in more than friendship. And it especially pained him to have been supporting Steve when he had talked about Nancy. To Eddie's surprise Steve hadn't mentioned his crush on Nancy ever since Eddie had risked his life for all of his friends. He had been in the hospital for quite some time, so he understood that Steve didn't want to bother him with his love life considering the situation. But even afterwards, when Eddie had been released, Steve hadn't mentioned Nancy anymore.

Which had surprised him. Steve had seemed to not even care about her that way anymore. Even though Nancy and Jonathan had broken up after the Upside Down had been destroyed, Steve and her didn't get back together. Eddie could tell that Nancy still had a thing for Steve, at least he had convinced himself that it was the case based on the way the girl acted around Steve. He assumed it was the main reason she had ended things with Jonathan, but maybe he had been wrong. Maybe Nancy didn't want Steve back and she had broken up with Jonathan for other reasons. It was none of his business anyways.

Eddie looked into the mirror and checked himself out. He brushed his fingers through his hair, trying to tame his dark locks, but to no avail. His hair always looked a little messy, it was just his thing. He put on his leather jacket and his favorite vest, both which he had been wearing on the day the Polaroid was taken aswell. Dustin had asked him to watch a movie with him. At first he was hesitant. Despite the fact the police was no longer after him a lot of people of Hawkins still believed that he was guilty of the horrendous crimes that had happened.