Chapter Text
It's been a few weeks since Vecna was killed. Steve hasn't left the house. Worried for him, Dustin has been dropping off groceries at his house. Steve takes it once Dustin leaves. Nobody can see him like this. His eyes were constantly red from crying at some point, wearing clothes for days at a time, and his hair a tangled mess. The few times he does change, he always wears Eddie's vest. Gripping it tightly, he usually cries throughout the day. He thought he'd run out of tears by now, but somehow they just keep coming.
It was spring, and Steve kept his windows open at night to let in the cool spring air. He was laying in bed, half asleep and crying. His quiet sniffles stuttered to a stop when he heard movement outside his window. He grabbed his bat from under his bed. He stood up as something, or someone crept through his window. He swung.
"Ow! Fuck!!" Someone screamed.
"Who are you and why are you coming in through my window!?" Steve yelled, his voice cracking.
"Just stop hitting me and turn on a damn light, Harrington." They responded. They sounded too much like... him.
Steve sidestepped, so his back didn't face the figure as he turned on the light. He gaped. He couldn't be seeing right. He's got to be dreaming, or hallucinating, or something. He sees Eddie, who died weeks ago, Munson. He has these torn-up wings coming from his back though, and his eyes were crimson and not puppy dog brown. He slowly walked towards it, him? He put his hand on his face, he was solid, he was... Real. Steve broke down sobbing. He curled in on himself, and he practically screamed out a sob that shook the room.
"Hey, hey, Harrington. Hey." He kneeled a short distance from Steve. "I may look different, but it's me, I swear on my Uncle Wayne."
Steve looked up, hot tears still streaming down his face. "I saw you DIE Munson. How are you here?!"
Eddie flinched a little at the yelling. " I'm not completely sure Stevie, but you need to calm down, okay? You're gonna pass out on me at this rate."
Eddie examined Steve a little more, now closer to him. He noticed the knotted hair first. Then he noticed how much skinnier Steve was than the last time he saw him, just a few weeks prior. He finally noticed the jacket, HIS jacket.
"Oh sweetheart..." He leaned forward and hugged Steve gently.
Steve calmed down a good bit at that. Eddie kissed his forehead.
"I'm back. Okay? I'm not sure how yet, but I'm real. I'm here." Eddie held Steve a bit tighter and Steve buried his face into Eddie's chest as he sobbed.
It took an hour for Steve to sob himself to sleep. Eddie sighed, and gently took him to his bed, and laid him down. He then took the time to clean himself up. He was covered in dirt, and God knows what else from the Upside-down. He did a quick rinse in the shower and put on some of Steve's boxers he nabbed from his room. He didn't know how a shirt worked with his wings, so he was left shirtless. He then went downstairs. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the house littered with trash. His living and dining room were trashed with beer cans and wine bottles. He got to work picking up everything and doing the sink load of dishes that were piled up.
About half of the way through cleaning the dishes, Eddie heard shuffling, before hearing Steve start to cry. He rushed upstairs to Steve. He was quick to hold him.
"I'm here. I'm real. I was just cleaning up the house a bit. It's okay." Eddie was petting Steve's hair and pressing their foreheads together.
Steve looked up after a few minutes. He clung to Eddie tightly. He made a small whimper and sniffled.
"Missed you so much... I never got to tell you how much you meant to me. I'm so selfish! I'm so sorry Eddie!" Steve was working himself up again.
" Shh angel, it's okay. I'm here now. Shhhh." He kissed Steve's forehead again.
Steve relaxed a bit in Eddie's arms. He nuzzled up under Eddie's chin and had a death grip on him.
Steve's voice was barely a breath if the room wasn't silent, Eddie wouldn't have heard him. "... I love you."
Eddie held him tighter and rubbed his back. "Jesus Christ Stevie, I do too. So fucking much sweetheart."
Without consciously doing it, Eddie draped one of his wings over Steve. Steve flinched but relaxed into it a second later.
"We can talk more when you've had some sleep, big boy. You look exhausted and this is a lot to process when you ARE running on all cylinders. I won't wander off this time. I'll stay right by your side." Eddie pulled back slightly while saying this to look into Steve's eyes.
Steve slowly nodded. He looked up at Eddie for a second before leaning up and placing a chasté peck to his lips. He then went back to nuzzling up to Eddie, already dozing. Feeling more happy and safe than he has is a long, long, time.