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Branches snap under his feet as he runs, his breath fogging in front of him. It’s cold, but he’s sweating. Fear makes your body do strange things.
He was safe until he wasn’t. He was alone until he wasn’t.
He doesn’t know what’s chasing him, he just knows it’s toying with him. It could’ve attacked him minutes ago when he tripped over a vine. It could’ve attacked him only a few seconds earlier when he had to pause at the end of a trail and could practically feel the hot breath on his neck.
Steve’s losing steam and his chest hurts, and no amount of athleticism could have prepared him for running cross country in the Upside Down. It never gets easier.
“Shit,” he gasps as his legs finally give out and he collapses. The ground is warm under him, less muddy than it was at the edge of the pine trees. It’s almost…normal. Like he’s not even in the Upside Down anymore. “Shit.”
A hand curls around the back of his neck, surprisingly gentle. He closes his eyes and hopes that whatever is about to happen, however he’s about to die, it’s at least over quickly.
The hand feels oddly human, though it’s freezing cold and the skin feels a bit rough. A thumb brushes back and forth across his skin, almost like it’s tracing a pattern.
Steve shivers under the touch.
“Please. Just kill me. I don’t have any weapons, I won’t fight.” Steve feels tears fill his eyes as he realizes that he didn’t get to properly say goodbye to Robin or Dustin. He had to run before they realized he was going. He hopes they don’t find his body, whatever mangled corpse that’s left shouldn’t be the last they see of him.
The hand tightens for a moment, but it’s still too gentle for a monster. Steve is afraid to turn his head, afraid it may break whatever last few seconds of peace he’ll know.
“Scared.”
Steve freezes. He vaguely recognizes that voice, but it can’t possibly be who he thinks it is.
“Steve. Scared?”
The hand disappears and Steve finally feels brave enough to turn around and look.
“No fuckin’ way.”
Eddie, or at least something that looks like Eddie, is staring back at him, head tilted to the side as if to question his words. As if this isn’t fucking insane!
“Fuckin’ way.”
Steve snorts, reaches out to touch before he realizes that’s probably not a good idea. Eddie’s clearly not human, not entirely. He could still kill Steve, even if he seems uninterested in doing so at this moment.
“Are you really alive?” Steve asks as he sits on his hands. The impulse to touch him, to comfort him even though he’s the one who’s scared, overwhelms him.
“Alive. Heartbeat.” Eddie touches his hand to his chest, then reaches down to grab Steve’s hand and place it against his chest. There is a heartbeat, though faint and a bit faster than normal. Like a hummingbird.
“How?” Steve asks, then shakes his head. It doesn’t seem like Eddie can speak much, which must be difficult for him. He’s used to running his mouth. “I mean, have you been alive this whole time?”
“Alive.” Eddie nods. “Alone.”
“We didn’t know,” Steve says, gripping at Eddie’s torn and bloody shirt. “We would have come back for you, I swear. I would have-”
“Steve save.” Eddie pats his cheek and smiles, a toothy grin that reveals sharp fangs that Steve knows could do some major damage if he wanted to. “Save me.”
He tries to think about how that could possibly be true. They all left him for dead. Steve was the one to confirm he wasn’t breathing.
“I left you.”
Eddie whines and scoots in closer, his body looming over Steve. It doesn’t feel as threatening anymore, more like a comfort.
“Live here.” Eddie sighs. “Die there.”
Steve’s trying so hard to decipher what that could mean, but Eddie’s making a deep… “Are you purring?”
Eddie shrugs, but gets louder. He’s definitely purring.
“Can you leave the Upside Down?” Steve asks.
“No. Yes?” Eddie leans closer and takes a deep breath. Steve tries not to flinch away. He’s not scared anymore, but he’s still a bit worried that Eddie might be feral. Like a street cat or a raccoon.
Could he have rabies? He was bitten by bats.
“We should get you back to the others. They’ll know what to do. I’m not…” Steve sniffs, coughs. “I’m not the brains of the operation.”
Eddie grips his chin in his hand, so fast Steve almost falls over. He looks angry now, eyes dark and lips turned down in a frown.
“Steve smart. Clocks. Fire. Honeycombs.” Eddie practically growls as his grip tightens, tightens, tightens. Then, it’s gone. “Nice to Steve.”
Steve feels breathless when he nods. He thinks he gets the gist of what Eddie’s saying. He’s doing everything he can not to blush.
“Maybe if you come through with me…” Steve thinks he remembers El saying something about the gates being tricked before. “If all of us go through together, you should be able to.”
“Stay with Steve?” Eddie’s eyes get bigger as an excited smile stretches across his face.
He shouldn’t make a promise he can’t keep. Who knows what will happen when everyone else sees him? They’d have to be careful to keep him hidden from the government and everyone else in town until they can safely leave it.
But he will do anything to rewrite their history now that he knows they have a future.
“We’ll stay together. I won’t leave you again. I swear.”
“Swear.” Eddie places his hand over Steve’s heart and grins.