Smuts/One Shots

findings. (em + sh)

they'd been looking for ages. dustin insisted they come back to the upside down and look for eddie, or at the very least, eddie's body. he deserved a proper burial, according to dustin. mike, will, lucas, and max agreed, but they didn't exactly like the idea of venturing back into the upside down.

steve was hoping they'd find him alive, but considering the last time dustin saw him, he had been attacked by bats. harrington regretted never telling eddie that he loved him, that he wanted to be with him. the party knew how steve felt about eddie, but they never brought it up. they didn't want to force steve to talk about something he wasn't ready to admit out loud.

dustin knew it went deeper, more than anyone else in the party. he knew steve had been fawning over eddie since the day he introduced them. eddie was the same, maybe even more. eddie fell for steve just by the way dustin talked about him, before even having met him. once they were in the upside down, steve and dustin paired off together, lucas and max paired up, and mike and will were together. they split up, taking on different parts of the upside down.

steve and dustin went back to eddie's trailer. that's the last pace dustin saw him. maybe, if he was alive, he'd still be around. if he was dead, his body would be right where dustin left him. either way, they just had to check. the others really didn't think eddie was alive, but they were doing it for dustin. they wanted their friend to have closure. once they reached the trailer, dustin saw that eddie's body wasn't there anymore. he had to either be alive or something in the upside down took his body.

"steve! we need to check the trailer." dustin whisper-yelled.

"just be careful, dustin. i know venca's dead, but this place is still creepy." steve braced himself for anything that could be on the other side of the door.

dustin pushed the door open. 

nothing. just silence. 

dustin walked deeper into the trailer. he checked the bathroom, the kitchen, the living space, the bedroom eddie kept his guitar in. steve couldn't stomach much more of the trailer. there were too many memories, too many reminders of eddie. dustin pulled back the curtain that separated the main bedroom from the rest of the trailer. steve sat himself down on the couch in the living space. he just let dustin do his thing. 

"dustin?" steve called out as it got quiet.

"dustin?!" steve flung himself off the couch and hurried towards his friend.

dustin wasn't moving. the curtain was still in his hand. he was staring at something. steve hurried over to see what was wrong.

eddie was asleep on the mattress. his chest wasn't moving, but his eyes were. they were moving back and forth, as if he was rem sleep. dustin couldn't move, neither could steve. they didn't know what to do, or say, or think. dustin let go of the curtain as quietly as he could, but the hook made a noise. 

eddie's eyes flew open.

they were red.

"eddie! it's us. it's dustin and - " eddie cut dustin off.

"steve 'the hair' harrington. never thought mr popularity would come looking for little ole me." eddie sat up, throwing his hands behind his head, and smirked at steve.

"why wouldn't i come back for you? you're dustin's best friend." steve scratched the back of his neck.

"i'm sure that's the only reason you came," eddie got close to steve's ear and whispered, "pretty boy."

"whatever's going on here, can we save it for after we meet up with the others and get the hell out of here?" dustin fake gagged as he left thee trailer.