#Robin’s about to cry and Steve is just like ‘���who the fuck is Dorothy?’

[morganbritton132]

The funniest thing Stranger Things could do is reveal that Steve’s parents are like, really liberal. They donate to AIDs research. They were arrested protesting the Vietnam War. They campaigned for Mondale. Steve tells them that Nancy broke up with him and they’re like, “Thank god, that family believes in Reaganomics.”

[how-to-hide-a-body]

Bittersweet Hellos

Kind of sad Steddie content, it’s after the Vecna stuff. It’s not fixed just a different type of broken.

There are some Ronance and Steddie moments also a main character is dead and some are injured.

Total Word Count: 2,090

It had been almost two and a half months since everything with Vecna went down. The town had gone back to its semi-normalness, most people pretended the earthquake hadn’t happened. Most destroyed homes had been rebuilt, but so many people moved out it wasn’t like it mattered much anyways. Eddie and Steve had been sitting in silence in Steve’s room for the past twenty minutes. Steve’s house was like a second home to Eddie, Robin, and Max. There were many nights that the four of them would crash in the otherwise empty house. And though he’d never admit it Steve enjoyed not spending his days alone.

Eddie sat on the floor, quietly plucking at his guitar strings. He suddenly stopped and looked up at Steve, who was sitting on his bed and staring out the window. “Hey Steve?” Eddie asked, “Could we cuddle, I’ve been feeling kind of down.” Steve turned to face Eddie and motioned for him to come closer. Eddie climbed into the bed and placed his head in Steve’s lap.

“Honestly, I haven’t been feeling the best either,” Steve admitted as he played with Eddie’s hair, “I just can’t stop thinking about everything. Vecna, the murders, fighting him in the upside down. We lost so many people, the earthquake wrecked so much, Max might never be able to walk or see again, she might not even wake up. And he’s-” Steve stopped playing with Eddie’s hair, one hand balled into a fist and the other tried to keep his pain from getting out. “He wasn’t supposed to- I should’ve” He couldn’t contain his sorrow anymore, his sobs escaped him and all Steve could mutter anymore was “I’m sorry” in between sobs. Eddie got up from Steve’s lap and pulled him into an embrace. Eddie placed Steve’s face into his neck and tried to provide him with some comfort by rubbing his back and stroking his hair.

"I know, it's been rough. I miss him too, sometimes it feels like he’s still here." Eddie got choked up and started to cry too, "But we have to acknowledge it, he's gone. Dustin sacrificed himself for everyone, he was the bravest and kindest person I’ll ever know. Through everything he never changed who he was, and he was fucking brilliant.”

“He was wasn’t he,” Steve gave a melancholy smile and wrapped his arms around Eddie. So the two just sat on Steve’s bed, holding one another and telling tales of Dustin Henderson with teary eyes and shaky breaths.

They sat like this for a while before Eddie pulled away, “As much as I would love to spend all day here with you, me and Henderson have a graduation to make,” Eddie smiled and started to leave before calling back, “See you for dinner with Mrs. Henderson,”

Steve wiped the remnants of tears from his face and replied, “Of course, but you’ve got to be out of your mind if you think I’d miss you flipping Principal Higgins the bird,” They both laughed as Eddie grabbed his jacket and left.

Eddie raced home and got his cap and gown on. Looking in the mirror Eddie grabbed two photos. One was of him and Dustin on Halloween, Dustin was the scarecrow and he had been the cowardly lion, Lucas had been the tin man. Lucas wasn’t in the photo though because he had been arguing with Erica, she wanted him to take her trick or treating. Mike refused to be in the picture after they had forced him to be the wizard, or rather the man behind the curtain. The other was one he had gotten from Nancy, she had gotten him a picture of Chrissy. Eddie had always loved the idea of being sucked into a fantasy world, going on some great adventure. Though now he had and it seemed so silly to want to do something that caused him so much pain. Eddie liked to think that if Chrissy had befriended him sooner, she could’ve been Dorothy to complete their costumes. But Eddie also wished Chrissy had never met him, maybe then she would have been able to walk the stage herself.

Eddie took off his cap and tucked both photos inside before placing it back on his head. “You and me Henderson,” Eddie whispered to himself before heading towards the school. As Eddie strutted through the front doors of Hawkins High he found himself gathered around with Robin and Nancy. “My sentence is finally up and it only took 1,080 days in this hell hole.” Eddie announced as he wrapped an arm around Nancy and Robin.

Nancy chuckled, “Oh we know Eddie,” They all started walking through the halls to meet the other graduates.

“Yeah, I mean you’ve only told us about 1,080 times” Robin stated with a smile.

Eddie staggered back with his hands on his heart and gasped, “Oh how you wound me!” Robin and Nancy laughed and Steve snuck up behind Eddie.

“Why do you guys always have fun without me?” Steve groaned.

“Because we can’t have any while you’re here,” Robin joked, rolling her eyes. The four of them walked out to the gymnasium. Steve found a seat in the bleachers while the graduates found themselves in the uncomfortable folding chairs arranged in rows before the small stage. Eddie rushed to his seat but Nancy and Robin stood in the aisle. Robin looked into Nancy’s eyes and Nancy grabbed her hand. The two smiled at each other, “Ready to do this?” Robin asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Nancy answered, squeezing Robin’s hand, “I’ll see you in a bit,”

“See you,” Robin gave Nancy’s hand a squeeze of her own before they parted ways and found their separate seats. From their seats they couldn’t help but steal glances at the other.

All the talks for graduation were terribly boring but Robin, Eddie, and Steve listened intently to Nancy’s valedictorian speech. It was beautiful as was everything Nancy does, Robin couldn’t help but stare. Her girlfriend was always the brightest star in the galaxy and she deserved recognition for it. Finally, it was time for diplomas to be handed out. Eddie waited more patiently than he ever had in his life, basking in every moment before it was time. 

He strutted up to the stage and snatched his diploma from Principal Higgins. Eddie locked eyes with him and flipped the bird before resuming his strut off stage. The principal stood in shock with his hand still outstretched, waiting for a handshake he would never receive.

The rest of the graduation went on normally and it came time to toss their caps. The grads all went outside, Robin, Nancy, Steve, and Eddie all stood together. Robin and Nancy joined hands and tossed their caps, under the cover of all the green caps they shared a quick kiss before disguising their affection in a hug.

Eddie didn’t toss his cap with the rest, no, he just stared at the cap in his hands for a while. Steve stood next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Ed, I think it’s time,” he cooed.

“I know,” Eddie smiled. He looked up towards the sky and tossed the cap, mumbling to himself, “It’s our year, ‘86 baby.” Eddie turned to Steve and gave him a hug. “They grow up so fast,” Eddie started to tear up, “I miss ‘em already”

“Me too Eddie, me too.” Steve said.

Robin and Nancy joined Eddie and Steve, Nancy asked “Ready to go see Mrs. Henderson?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied.

The four of them made their way to the Henderson house. They were greeted by Mrs. Henderson. “Hi Mrs. Henderson, it’s great to see you.” Nancy offered with a smile.

“Oh please, call me Claudia. Come on in, Mike and Will are already inside.” Claudia said. She looked as if she had been crying earlier that day, but now she looked like that just about every day she visited his grave. 

“That’s great. I don’t know if they told you but Lucas isn’t coming,” Nancy stated, “He won’t leave Max’s side, we’ve had to take turns bringing him meals.”

“I understand, he has a connection with that girl. Young love sure is beautiful.” Claudia mused, “Well, I’ve got plenty of food so maybe the boys can bring some over to him after, they’ve probably finished setting the table by now.” Dinner wasn’t terribly awkward, it was filled with sorrow but laughter too. They reminisced about the time they had spent with Dustin, his snarky remarks, and brilliant ideas. They talked about Dustin like he was in the other room, just out of reach. Once they finished eating, Nancy sent Mike and Will with some leftovers to bring for Lucas and El, both refusing to leave Max alone for a second.

The four graduates stayed behind to help clean up. Steve was standing with Claudia, “I’m sorry. Mrs. Henderson, I’m so sorry. I-” Steve started to cry, “I was supposed to protect him, and I didn’t. He’s gone because of me, if I’d been a little more careful. If I had kept him a little closer he’d be eating dinner with us tonight.”

Claudia wrapped Steve in a tight embrace, tears streaming down her own face, doing her best to comfort him. “It wasn’t your fault, no one could’ve predicted the earthquake. There wasn’t anything anyone could have done.” But Steve knew that an earthquake wasn’t what had killed Dustin. He had. When he left Dustin he signed his death certificate. He wondered if she would hate him if she knew the truth, that he had killed her son. Eddie, Robin, and Nancy came back into the room, Claudia and Steve pulled away from each other. “I understand that you are all planning to visit Dusty. His room is still untouched so you can take a look around for anything you might want to bring with you.” Claudia said.

“Thank you so much Mrs. Henderson,” Robin said.

“I’m going to take a quick peak, you guys can head out to the car, I’ll meet you there.” Eddie smiled before walking to Mrs. Henderson, “Thank you for everything.” Eddie walked off to Dustin’s room. As he crossed the threshold he realized that was the second time he had ever been in Dustin’s room. Suzie-poo still had his thinking cap, so Eddie grabbed his Camp Know Where cap and his walkie before meeting everyone else in the car.

When they arrived at the cemetery they all had items to bring him. One by one they all placed the things they had brought on his grave. Robin put down his walkie-talkie and her scoops ahoy hat, Steve left behind his Camp Know Where hat and a small can of Farrah Fawcet spray. Nancy placed down a laminated paper snowflake and a picture of her and Dustin dancing at the Snow Ball. “Don’t worry Dustin, you’re still my favorite, and the best Snow Ball dance partner I’ve ever had.” Nancy whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek. Robin walked up behind Nancy and put an arm around her, she curled into Robin’s arms and they started to walk back to the car.

Steve stood by Eddie’s side as he sat down in front of the grave. Eddie placed a folded up Hellfire club shirt and a small case on the grave. Inside the case was the d20 Erica used to deal the final blow to Vecna, and Eddie’s own pick necklace. He placed a hand on Dustin’s name and stated, “Hey Henderson. I brought you some things, you should have a reminder that you were always fucking metal. I miss you man.” Eddie took a shuddering breath. His fingers traced the cool stone indents of the letters and numbers Dustin’s life had been reduced to. Eddie never forgot the feeling of fighting beside him. Back to back, feeling on top of the world, winning, and then suddenly everything went wrong. Dustin was lying there on the ground, bleeding out and more and more bats swooped down. There was too many, so Eddie did the only thing he could. He ran. He had tried to drag Dustin with him but wasn’t strong enough to still be fast. The most he could manage was luring them away from his body. It wasn’t enough though, when they went back to find him, there was nothing left but flesh and bone.

“There was no shame in running, I shouldn’t have let you convince me to stay. I should’ve hauled ass and got you through that gate, I could’ve held down the fort on my own. It should’ve been me.” Eddie’s whispers got louder as he started to sob, “It should never have been you, I’m sorry Dustin. I should’ve taken better care of my flock.”

Steve dropped down to the ground next to Eddie and just held him. “It’s not your fault Eddie, To paraphrase the words of a wise man, don’t bullshit me.” The two sat there for a long time, letting their eyes run dry. Neither said anything or moved, until Eddie turned to Steve and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“I love you Steve Harrington, thank you for sticking by my side.” Eddie whispered into Steve’s infamous hair.

“I love you too Eddie Munson.” Steve replied.

“I can hear the little man saying ew right now,” Eddie laughed, the two got up and held hands, staring at each other.

“We should get going, Nance and Robin are probably waiting for us.” Steve said, he and Eddie walked down the hill to the car, hand in hand.

Thanks for reading! :)

Hi mutuals, I’m dragging you here because I’m evil >:)

@morbid-longing-picturesque @eatmyshortspurr @ur-favorite-almighty-entity

Thanks mutuals for proof reading and giving me good title ideas :)