stolen kisses • steddie

25.

25.

(warning: you guys aren't ready for this one, i'm warning you now.
trigger warnings: homophobia, slurs, violence, mention of blood, weapons, etc. just overall proceed with caution.)

Steve was still staying at Eddie's, even though he had caught word that his parents were leaving. They came into Family Video almost every day looking for him, and they finally told Robin that they'd be leaving again for a few months. Steve felt bad for hiding out, but he was truly upset with them and hated the way that they treated him.

He and Robin finished closing up shop at the store, and he offered to drive her home, but Robin had already lined up a ride home with Nancy.

"You're just replacing me, just like that?" Steve pretended to be hurt, giving Robin sad eyes.

"Get over it, dingus," Robin flipped him off, giving him a playful smile before getting in Nancy's car. Steve waved to the both of them as they drove away.

Steve made his way back to Eddie's trailer, knowing that Eddie wasn't home. He had gone to hang out with his group of friends, and told Steve not to wait up for him. Steve was just glad that Eddie had made some time for his friends. He knew Wayne wasn't going to be home, Eddie mentioned to Steve that morning that Wayne was going to be gone for a few days on a work trip.

He pulled up to the trailer and got out of his car, throwing his Family Video vest in his backseat. As he approached the door, he thought he heard the crunch of some leaves. Steve took a quick look around and didn't see anything out of the normal, so he proceeded to go inside. He had a long day at the store, between lifting and stocking bins full of movies, and listening to Robin talk about where her and Nancy were going on their next date. Not that he minded listening to Robin's love life, she had listened to his romantic failures many times.

Steve changed out of his work clothes into sweats and one of Eddie's many band tee shirts, and had finally gotten comfortable in bed when he heard a knock at the door.

"Who the hell..?" He muttered to himself, getting up slowly and grabbing his bat for safety. He didn't trust anyone who showed up at Eddie's trailer after what happened last time, especially not at 8 o'clock at night.

Steve was suddenly met with an arm wrapped around his neck, putting him into a headlock. This made him drop the bat to try and pull the person's arm away.

"You thought we were done, Harrington?" Andy, one of Jason's goons, hissed in his ear.

"What the fuck do you want from me?" Steve struggled to get out of Andy's grip, and watched as three other members of the basketball team, including Jason, enter the trailer.

"Nothing, we just want to show you what happens to queers in this town," Jason nodded to Andy, who then reached in his pocket quickly with one hand and pulled out a pocketknife.

Steve saw this and immediately tried to calm himself down. "Guys, this isn't the way to go about it."

"There is no other way, Harrington. You and the freak need to learn your lessons," Jason got up in Steve's face, landing a few punches.

Steve wasn't able to fight back, as one of the other team members held down his arms behind his back, while Andy still had the pocketknife way too close to his throat. Jason and another one of his guys started to relentlessly throw punches at Steve, and Steve took every single hit, becoming a little weaker each time.

Jason had come prepared with a plan this time.

As soon as Steve was weak enough to the point where he couldn't stand, Andy let him go, and he fell to the ground, groaning in pain. He could feel blood trickling down his face and felt bruises forming on his torso already.

"Oh, one more thing, for good measure," Jason took Andy's pocketknife and made a small but deep cut into Steve's arm. Steve cried out in pain and tried to get up, but was too weak to even lift his head.

As the teens exited the trailer, Steve tried multiple times to lift his head and sit up, but couldn't. All he could focus on was how much pain he was in, which soon caused him to go completely unconscious.

———————

Eddie had dropped off his group of friends at their homes, and made his way back to his own. He saw Steve's car as he pulled up and smiled, excited to see his boyfriend.

He was not prepared for the sight he saw as he walked in.

On the floor laid Steve, unconscious, and covered in his own blood. Eddie noticed a decent sized gash on his arm, and rushed to his side. "Steve! Steve, wake up!"

Steve didn't respond to Eddie. Eddie felt Steve's neck for a pulse, and let out a sigh of relief when he felt one. "Steve, can you hear me? God, fuck, those assholes were back. This is my fault."

Eddie didn't know if he could call anyone to help him, and decided to try to lift Steve to get him to the car. He needed more medical attention than just cleaning up blood and icing a broken nose. Eddie managed to get Steve in the car and drove to the nearest emergency room, occasionally checking Steve's pulse to make sure he was still okay.

Eddie practically bolted inside the hospital as he got there, and asked for help with getting Steve inside. A few nurses came rushing out with a stretcher and managed to get him inside. Eddie was told to wait in the waiting room while they treated Steve's wounds, and Eddie felt like he waited for hours.

A nurse made her way over to Eddie and his leg started bouncing up and down due to his extreme anxiety. "Is he okay?"

"He's going to be okay. He's not awake yet but we've got him cleaned up. He's been given pain medication and we're going to keep him tonight for observation. If all is well in the morning, he can go home," The nurse explained, and Eddie felt a big weight come off his shoulders. "You can go see him now if you'd like to."

Eddie thanked the nurse and she escorted him to Steve's temporary room. He had to admit that Steve looked a lot better, but his injuries were still highly concerning.

A knock on the door interrupted Eddie's thoughts, and he invited the stranger in.

"Chief Hopper?" Eddie stood as he saw who entered the room.

"We got a call from Max Mayfield. Said she saw people breaking into your trailer earlier tonight. By the time one of my officers got there, no one was there," Hopper explained, glancing at Steve. "Who did Harrington piss off this time?"

"I don't know who did it. I came home and he was unconscious, so I brought him straight here," Eddie explained. "He was staying with me while his parents were in town."

"Do you know of anyone that may have had something against him? Anyone that could have had a motive to stop by unannounced?" Hopper questioned, and Eddie nodded.

"Jason Carver. He stopped by the other day and started a fight with me. It didn't escalate too much, but I got a black eye and some bruises to show for it," Eddie sighed as he glanced at Steve again. "They went way too far this time."

"I'll have a word with Carver," Hopper gave Eddie a small nod and left the room, leaving Eddie alone with an unconscious Steve.

"Stevie, I'm so sorry," Eddie whispered, taking Steve's hand and holding it tightly. "I should've been there."

Tears welled up in Eddie's eyes as he pushed a stray hair out of Steve's face. He couldn't imagine the pain that Steve was in, and couldn't imagine what he was put through. One thing was for certain though.

Eddie couldn't wait to kick Jason's teeth in for harming the love of his life.

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a/n: this chapter made me sad :( i felt like the story needed some drama so here y'all go

in return for making y'all sad and traumatized with this chapter, i've published the first chapter of my new steddie fic!! i would love if you guys checked it out

chapter 26 coming soon!

- jj