The Break (An Eddie Munson Story)

Chapter 51: Figure In The Doorway (3/3)

A/N: Surprise! I'm baaaaccckk. New chapter, new heartache.

*****

And there he stood, with his facial expression steady but completely unreadable. The silence that had followed Uncle Wayne's stern call for his nephew to end his self-deprecating rant, was both deafening and suffocating. As Steve glanced between Uncle Wayne and Eddie, he was sure that, his presence had bee overlooked, as the former's a Hawk-like gaze was trained upon Eddie and Eddie alone.

"Steve, would you mind giving us some space?" apparently the video employee had been wrong, as he was called to remove himself from his current place within the kitchen. "I think I need to talk some sense into my nephew here." but Steve was not going to be told twice, as he rose from his chair and decided it would be best to leave the trailer for a while. Meeting Uncle Wayne's gaze, he offered a small smile, which was freely returned with a pat on the shoulder. It was an unfamiliar gesture, one he had never experienced from his Father. The last paternal figure in his life had been Hopper and he, well, he was no longer around. "There's a good lad." with Steve no longer in earshot, Uncle Wayne's expression moulded into a look of concern. "You better have a good reason for saying that shit about yourself." he grumbled, moving to take a seat at the kitchen table, exhausted from a long day at work. "What the hell has gotten into you of late?"

"It was nothing."

"Bullshit." while Uncle Wayne was not one to raise his voice towards his nephew, it had to be said that his tone was certainly harsher than normal. During his time living in the trailer, Eddie had said some dumb things- some really, really dumb things- but what he had said about himself only moments ago, had to be the worst. "Don't waste mine or your time with lies, Eddie. I'm going to ask you this nicely only one more time, you understand?" there was a pause, tense and uncomfortable, as Uncle Wane collected his thoughts and all the brunet could do, was hold his breath in anticipation. "Why the hell are you saying you're anything like your Dad? Who the fuck has been lying to you?" when Eddie failed to reply, his guardian had only one thought as to who could have poisoned the boy's mind. "Did Y/N say something?"

"What?" the look of horror upon Eddie's face was telling enough. It was not Y/N's fault but Uncle Wayne was at a loss, as to who could be making his kind albeit wayward nephew, view himself so poorly.

"Ever since they've stopped living here-" the older man continued sheepishly.

"-It's not Y/N. They'd...they'd never..." Eddie stuttered, wanting to defend your honour so fiercely but the mere thought of you, had his chest tightening, as unshed tears rushed to his eyes. The sight of his Uncle blurred into watery obscurity. The brunet knew that, if you had him comparing himself to his Father, you would have been horrified and just like his Uncle, demanded who had convinced him of such terrible things. But Eddie could not help but believe that, he was indeed the mirror image of his good for nothing Father. He had lost count the amount of times his Father's lies had caused unbearable heartache and driven his Mother away and now, Eddie had done the same. The cycle had repeated itself and the brunet had ended up alone all over again.

"Then what's going on with you, Eddie?"

And with that simple question, something inside the young man broke, as the tears cascaded down his face and the numbness he had carried for so long, was replaced with an all encompassing grief, that he finally, after a lengthy, tiring battle, allowed himself succumb to. "I've really messed up this time, Uncle Wayne."

In the clear but cold night, Steve Harrington wandered vaguely away from the trailer he now called home, towards the huddled figure, who sat with their headphones in, Kate Bush blaring tinily through the mini speakers. Upon noticing his approach, Max promptly paused the song mid-play and offered the brunet a strained greeting. "Hey."