After All This Time (Steddie)

Ch. 26: Home is Wherever I'm With You

A/N; I've only slightly neglected this but I literally wrote 3 chapters in one day a couple days ago, so like. I don't feel THAT bad.

TW; fluff? Fluff warning. FW. Lol.

We signed the papers, down payment made, the apartment in ours. In two weeks. Two weeks and we're out of this city. It doesn't feel like it's actually going to happen. It feels like it's going to fall through or something scary is going to go down and our life is going to be ruined again.

I'm not used to good news. I don't think either of us are. But after so much bad, so much heartbreak and honest to god horror, don't we deserve it?

I think so. I really, really think so.

The last night in New York for two weeks needed to be memorable. Something to look forward to when we come back. We spend most of the day walking around, enjoying the new feeling of being somewhere we've both never been to before. There are a lot of breaks in our walking around, being a little broken kinda does that. It's okay. We're going to be okay.

We order dinner from some Chinese place Robin suggested to me a while ago when I told her about the trip. Way better than the places in Hawkins. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat at there ever again. Not that I'll have to worry about it for much longer.

"Can I ask you something?" Eddie looks over to me. "Anything, darlin."

"Do you think we're going to be happy here?"

"I told you before, anywhere, anywhere at all, I would be happy as long as I got to see you every day."

"I mean... like. Do you think that this place will be our forever kind of home?" He sighs, looking down at my hands. "I sure hope so."

"I think it will be. Hopefully not in a crappy little apartment forever though. Maybe get a house? Like.. a real house? Invite our friends to come up here on the weekends. Travel when we get bored of the same walls. But always have somewhere to come back to. I dunno.... does that seem crazy to you?"

"Not even a little." His smile is the one I like especially. Reaching all the way to his eyes. "I don't think it sounds crazy at all. I'd love to have that with you."

"Do you think we'll ever actually be able to get married?"

"Is that a loaded question? You proposing right now? Should I cry?" He smirks. "Stop it. I'm serious. Do you think we'll ever be able to in our lifetime?"

"I sure hope so. There's no one else I'd rather be stuck to forever." There's a moment of just quiet between us. It's never uncomfortable to just sit in the silence with him. Something about it is alright. There's no need to fill the air with conversation. Just an understood mutual appreciation for the love between us. It's nice that we can be this way, it's nice to not have to worry.

"We should go to bed. It's gonna be an early morning and a train ride back into hell."

"I know. I'm not looking forward to going back." He sighs, standing up from the couch and making his way over to the bed. "Clothes off, let's go Harrington."

"You're just trying to get me naked again!" I cover myself in a playful way, and he laughs. "I am. But I would also just appreciate just holding you again with your skin on mine. It's more intimate. And I think that's more healing that anything for me right now."

We both strip down and get comfortable in bed, I wrap my arms around him carefully. "I love you."

"I love you too."

--Time skip through morning and train ride back into Hawkins--

"Boys! It's nice to see you! How was the city?" Wayne was waiting for us right outside of the train station. Right on time.

"It was amazing. We loved the apartment. It's in a really nice little neighborhood surprisingly." I smile and we get into his truck. "So, did you make a decision?"

"Yeah, we signed the papers. We move out in two weeks." Wayne nods and smiles. "Good. I'm happy for you both. I'm glad you're making the move. It'll be good for you to get out of here."

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet. A few questions about pricing. What jobs we're going to get. He doesn't question how we got the money to move there, which I'm sort of thankful for. I'm sure he's not completely clueless about Eddie's activities. But it's one of those subjects you just don't really bring up.

He drives us back to my apartment and we wave goodbye, and he's off to work. "I think I'm going to tell Keith about us moving and needing a transfer tomorrow. I don't even know if I can step back into Family Video if I'm being honest."

"You shouldn't have to go back there. I'm surprised you even want to transfer stores." We sit down on the couch in the front room, laying back on the cushions to get more comfortable. It's kinda nice being home, but only in the sense of I can sleep in my own bed again and know what my furniture feels like.

He's right. I don't want to transfer stores. It's the same way I feel about the mall, I hope it never gets rebuilt. I don't want to relive any of this shit anymore. Maybe I could find a better job somewhere temporarily? Since I've been thinking about school I would need something flexible.

"I mean, you're not wrong about that. I don't really want to go back there ever again."

"Then don't. Tell Keith to go fuck himself and stay home with me instead." He bats his eyelashes, making a cute face at me. "I mean it's only for two more weeks..."

"You know you would MUCH rather be here with me all day."

"You make a very compelling argument, you know."

"I know, right?" We wiggles his eyebrows and wraps his arms around me. Only slightly flinching from his wounds. Day by day he's getting better. It's nice to see him heal so quickly. Soon everything will be back to normal. Hopefully sooner than later.