Story's on archive so you can read here (chapters)

redamancy

It takes a solid two weeks of living together for Eddie to realize that something might be very, very wrong with Will. Something far bigger than having nightmares.

The Byers household is never not interesting to live in; he and Nancy have to keep their distance from each other for the first few days after she moves in, but that could be said about her and basically every other alpha in the house. She snaps and snarls at El even from time to time, clearly trying to adjust to living with so many people, trying to get her shit together while her pheromones fluctuate wildly in response to Jonathan's pregnancy. Just walking by his doorway is a sure enough way for Eddie to start sneezing and coughing, his eyes running; his room smells like it's telling Eddie to fuck off.

Pretty strong scent, for an alpha who smells like flowers. Most people can probably only pick up the perfume of it, missing the subtle agitation, the layered warning of violence, the threat of spilled blood should anyone cross the threshold without her permission.

So Eddie has to talk to Jonathan in the common parts of the house only. That's fine.

He gets used to being around so many people even though some anxious little part of himself who'd grown up in a lonely household full of yelling and then settled into a quiet household that was very empty in comparison is not used to this. There are so many people and scents and sounds during most hours of the day and night that Eddie feels a little on edge at first, but he settles into it the best he can. It's less space than the pack house, Steve's house, but it's warmer, tighter knit. A real, actual family who love each other.

Hopper comes around after three or four days, showing up in Will's doorway, where he can actually stand without the threat of being choked out by pheromones. Eddie has no reason to scent Will's room like that, and so he doesn't. "Hey, kid, you busy right now?"

Eddie sets his guitar down without much thought, tucking the pick into the hip pocket of his jeans so he doesn't lose yet another one. "Not really. You need something?"

"Could use some help putting the groceries away." Hopper tilts his head toward the kitchen, and Eddie stands up, brushing himself off, tugging his shirt down in the back. Right. He can do that. "Thanks. I can show you where everything goes."

"Sure thing. Not a problem." And Eddie follows him into the kitchen, and Hopper patiently explains, and repeats, where the groceries go while they put them up together.

It's a small thing, but a nice thing. The situation at the house is complex; Joyce and Hopper and Dmitri are not the usual alpha and omega pairing that Eddie would have at least been used to and understood; Dmitri seems sometimes at the very edge of that relationship and sometimes much closer to the center. The exact details are foggy; Eddie never thought it was his place to ask, and so he just never did that.

He watches them from time to time, though. Hopper and Joyce fit pretty perfectly together, their sharper edges not abrading each other, their softer sides fitting so flawlessly together that it sometimes seems like there just isn't room for a third person at all. And sometimes he watches Joyce and Dmitri, and how they seem to have developed some uncanny way of speaking and communicating without saying a word.

Often times, he brushes her hair. She'll be on the phone with a client in the early morning and Dmitri will be there brushing out her hair, careful not to pull on the tangles, tying it back in a ponytail, occasionally braiding it. It seems so small, but so vastly important, too.

Eddie watches Nancy and Jonathan a lot, too. He can't help himself; the two of them have had such a complicated relationship, and he feels bad for almost fucking it up. For trying to wedge Steve between them even if he thought he was doing the right thing at the time. He isn't used to seeing Nancy so aggressive, so irritated, so annoyed like the entire world existing around her is enough to piss her off, but it is kind of funny sometimes.