Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence (Steddie, Stranger Things)

Chapter 25: Meetings

Will appeared in the doorway in front of them and immediately stopped. He gave them a small nod before turning away and walking back into the other room. Eddie gave Steve a long, vaguely terrified look, so he leaned in and pecked his boyfriend on the cheek, giving his hand a quick squeeze in support at the same time. 

The way Eddie took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second was very familiar to Steve. He'd used the same technique himself more than a few times in his life.

"Okay," Eddie said quietly and took a step towards the door.

Steve followed a little behind. He wanted to make sure Eddie felt supported, but he also didn't want to intrude on Eddie's moment.

Everyone was gathered in the middle of the living room when they stepped into view. Steve had never really interacted with Eddie's friends, but he knew them by sight, and he had checked with Dustin to make sure he didn't do something stupid like get any of their names wrong. Gareth and Jeff were talking to Dustin and Mike about something, so only Frank was looking in Eddie's direction.

The way Frank's eyes went big and round and the poor guy kind of flailed at Jeff to get his attention would have been funny under other circumstances. When Jeff turned and had an almost identical reaction, Steve held his breath. Only he didn't need to, because a second later the tableau broke.

"Eddie," Jeff said, face breaking out in a huge smile.

In moments, Eddie was swamped by Frank and Jeff, even though Jeff appeared to be limping.

"Hey guys," Eddie said, apparently trying to get his arms around both his friends at the same time.

Steve couldn't help noticing that Gareth hung back a little, even though he had followed the other two.

"I knew you were too stubborn to get yourself killed," Frank said, all but squeezing the life out of Eddie.

"It was close," Eddie replied.

"What happened?" Jeff asked, eyes clearly on the scar on Eddie's face.

"Bad shit I am not allowed to talk about," Eddie said, "sorry. What happened to you?"

"Oh, Mom's mixer fell off the counter onto my foot during the quake," Jeff said with a shrug. "I was dumb and tried to save it and missed."

"You have a war wound from a stand mixer?" Eddie asked, a smile making his mouth twitch.

"My mom was impressed with my valour," Jeff replied, and Steve could see why they were friends.

"A noble act of heroism indeed," Eddie said with a laugh. "And Gar, what's your story?"

Steve had also noticed the bandage on Gareth's hand around two of his fingers. Both obvious injuries were making his instincts prickle. He'd seen people at the hospital when going to see Max who had been in need of help, but they hadn't made him feel like this. Whether it was because he was more aware now, or he'd been focused only on Max, or if it was something to do with these being Eddie's friends and hence now in his orbit to protect, he had no idea. All he knew was it was a little bit frustrating.

However, what pushed those thoughts into the background was the way Gareth reacted. The other boy shrugged and hung his head. If Steve didn't know better, he would have read it as guilt. Frank leaned towards Eddie and whispered something that Steve couldn't hear. The way Dustin was looking over told Steve the kid knew what was going on as well.

"It's so good to see you guys," Eddie said brightly, covering the awkwardness. "If you haven't guessed, while Will the Wise would no doubt have done a great job, I am your DM for today. Thy battlefield awaits."