Chapter Text
Eddie didn’t think about death much, or at least he tried not to. It was more out of spite than anything. Heaven and Hell were the most common rhetorics. If that was the case, Eddie’s pretty sure he’d be in the latter, all of Hawkins thought so anyway.
He expected it to be cold, painful, lonely. That’s probably why he cried in front of Dustin, that and the pain. It’s hard to be all macho when you’re being eaten alive by demobats.
What he didn’t expect was this fuzzy feeling. Contentment whirled around him, and he felt warm, so warm. Maybe Eddie wasn’t as bad as he thought, bad people surely didn’t feel this tranquility.
No, that wasn’t it. Eddie felt alive . The thought alone made his heart race, and his breathing picked up its pace. His eyelids are heavy, and his throat is dry. C’mon man, open your eyes.
A groan sounded in the room, and Eddie’s eyes shot open. That was easier than expected. Looking around the room confuses him. It’s adult for sure, but in a fun way? It kind of reminds Eddie of his bedroom at Wayne’s trailer, posters taped over each other and notes pinned between each one.
The colors all blurred together, and his throat is still dry. He rubs at his eyes, feeling the guck in the corner of each, though there’s more in his right eye.
He should get downstairs and make sure everything is okay.
As if on auto pilot he bolts up, tripping over his own feet, and opens the door quickly. Why? Why are you doing this? You should stop and look around. Stop going a mile a minute for once. Eddie can’t, he should get downstairs. There’s this anxiety in him, and he knows that it’ll be sedated if he gets downstairs.
The hallway is this nice crème color, and it’s decorated in paintings and drawings from children. The sight calms him rather than what it should do, utterly confuse him. Although it does do just that as well.
Where is he? What’s going on?
The stairs slightly creak as he descends them. He feels like a small child going where he shouldn’t. That would also explain why he doesn’t know anything, although that could be a multitude of things. Maybe he’s dreaming? However, it doesn’t feel like a dream, and Eddie was never one to lucid dream. If he could question if he was dreaming, then he was very much awake.
Maybe he’s just an idiot. An idiot who was nineteen almost twenty living in a trailer with his uncle. This is definitely not a trailer.
Wow, Eds! You cracked the case! Where the fuck are you then?
He keeps walking, he has to, for some unknown cosmic reason. Allegedly.
A cartoon is playing loudly on the tv as he passes what he assumes to be the living room. There’s toys littering the carpet and some blankets on the couch; haphazardly strewn, but comfortable looking. The room is empty, but he hears a clanking noise coming from a room to his left.
Eddie slowly walks towards the room; knowing full well if this was a horror movie his ass would be dead. He probably fucking is, but he doesn’t want to dwell on that idea.
The hallway, like the one that lead down here, had paint strokes along the walls; the paint was the same light brown/crème color as before. No pictures still, unfortunately, although he didn’t have his hopes up at this point. He slowly walks to a curved archway with that fancy white moulding stuff, very cute.
He freezes as he sees a little girl, no older than about 8 years old. She has neat braids with colorful butterfly clips, some matching her blue overalls and purple undershirt respectively. The little girl dances in her chair, her braids swinging across her back. Eddie shifts slightly and the floor creaks, shit . He might not know exactly what’s going on, but he knows he probably shouldn’t give away his position.
The little girl swings around dramatically and smiles widely, “Daddy! You’ve been asleep forever.” She giggles at her own joke, and spins back around to continue eating her eggs that have an ungodly amount of ketchup drowning them. Although, that’s a small detail that can be ignored, because beg your fucking pardon? Daddy? Less than 24 hours ago he was fighting for his life in an alternate dimension, and he’s very sure he didn’t have a kid.
He can’t even dwell on it before he hears a groggy voice and footsteps approach from a different archway, “Violet, my love, if your outfit has ketchup on it tell me now so I can emotionally prepare.” The voice is calm and soothing with a joking lilt to it. It’s familiar, but more mature, though it’s like he has a fog over his mind where he can’t pinpoint certain things. Another thing he doesn’t want to think about or he’ll absolutely spiral.
Eddie’s breath hitches as he sees none other than Steve fucking Harrington walk in with not one, but two babies on his hips. He’s in a baggy Iron Maiden t-shirt and booty shorts with a cute pink headband pushing his hair back. The child on Steve’s right hip looks about three years old with dark brown eyes and curly brown hair. The toddler, who seems to be a little boy, is smiling as he’s being carried around the kitchen, and his smile seems to widen at the sight of Eddie. The boy makes grabby hands at him, “Daddy!” He squeals.
This seems to grab Steve’s attention, and instead of yelling at Eddie for intruding on his dream family, he smiles. It’s a tired thing, but one of love and contentment, and if Eddie didn’t know any better he’d also swear he saw some relief in it as well. “Hey, baby,” Steve says softly as he gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. Before Eddie can even respond the little boy is in his arms as Steve carries the other baby on his hip towards the little girl, Violet. Steve grabs a napkin and wipes at her face, probably covered in ketchup. His eyes scan her outfit and gives her a genuine smile, “No ketchup on your clothes!” He cheers as he holds his now free hand out for a high five. Violet high fives back enthusiastically while having a proud smile on her face.
Eddie looks down at the toddler in his arms as he grabs his shirt. The boy looks up at him with a toothy smile, his curls in his eyes. He’s wearing similar overalls to Violet, but with an orange undershirt instead.
“Eddie?” Steve calls out softly, yet concern is evident in his tone, “Eds, are you okay?” Eddie finally looks up at Steve, a smile on his face. He might be so fucking confused right now, but if he’s putting the pieces together correctly, then he has three kids with Steve motherfucking Harrington. Kids who love him, and Steve who’s wearing a fucking Iron Maiden t-shirt and booty shorts; he’d say this is a dream, but that would be an understatement. “Yeah, I’m okay, sweetheart,” he replies just as soft. This seems to soothe out a bit of worry on Steve’s face, but it’s not completely gone. Even as he got older, Harrington still worries all the same.
Steve’s still fucking beautiful; his age adding this charm that he couldn’t place. He had these laugh lines he wanted to trace, and freckles he wanted to make constellations with. More sun exposure over the years made his skin slightly darker, and more sun spots have appeared on his face. Maybe he’s just down bad for the guy. Pining for years and then having that person fight for you during makeshift armageddon will do that to a guy.
“Nathan and Jazmín are fed and dressed so that just leaves us,” Steve smiles as he shifts the baby in his arms, Jazmín . She’s younger than Nathan, but only by a year or so. Jazmín is slightly more tan than Steve, but they look similar, honestly she could be his biological daughter. She’s dressed in an orange autumnal jumper with little red leaves embroidered on. It’s so cute, and of course Steve put matching bows in her hair. That seems so Steve that it puts a smile on Eddie’s face.
Steve puts Violet’s dish in the sink, a mountain of ketchup still apparent, and cleans around the kitchen quickly. Eddie stands there holding Nathan not sure what to do, but feeling utterly useless. Violet grabs a rag and starts wiping the counter, and helping Steve.
“Thanks, babe,” he smiles at Violet as he takes the now dirty rag and hangs it on the sink. When he looks up he seems shocked that Eddie is still there, his eyebrows then furrowing slightly. “C’mon, Eds, you too, Vi.” Steve starts walking out of the archway Eddie came through and towards the living room he passed. Eddie follows quickly, holding onto Nathan tightly. He watches as Steve puts Jazmín into a playpen on the side of the room; it’s padded and has toys scattered inside. Eddie follows his lead and puts Nathan inside the playpen as well; the toddler looks a bit upset at leaving his arms but is quickly distracted by a Barbie doll on his right. Violet is already on the couch and watching a cartoon featuring a big red dog.
“Okay, babe, daddy and I will be upstairs if you need anything,” Steve spoke softly as he kissed her forehead. “Okay, papa!” Violet responded, giving Steve a quick smile before turning her eyes back to the screen.
Eddie felt a hand grab his lightly, and he turned to Steve. He motioned up the stairs and pulled Eddie along with a firm grip, but gentle tug. Walking up the stairs their hands were still intertwined, and Eddie looked down at his feet instead of Steve’s ass. He’s not a creep, no matter how tempting it was to look.
Once they were up the stairs, Steve tugged Eddie into the room he woke up in, and let go of Eddie’s hand to shut the door behind them as they entered. Eddie’s heart started to accelerate as Steve’s concerned gaze landed on him. Fuck. He’s been here for less than 20 minutes and already screwed shit up. His kids are going to have to go between two houses on holidays and birthdays. Eddie would probably live in a shitty apartment and the kids would never want to come over.
“Eds, are you okay? You have this weird look in your eyes and…” Steve bites his lips, and wraps his arms around himself, almost like he’s protecting himself. Fuck. What the fuck did Eddie do?! Why is Steve holding himself; protecting himself?
“I… um…” Eddie feels his throat close up, and sweat bead on his forehead. His heart hurts in his chest, and it feels like at any minute he’ll go into cardiac arrest. “Did I make you mad?” He asks, like a fucking idiot.
Steve’s eyebrows furrow again as he takes a step towards Eddie. “Did something happen? Love, you need to tell me if some upside down shit is happening right now, so I can make sure the kids are okay,” Steve exhales roughly, looking already exhausted regarding the conversation.
Eddie swallows, the action making his throat ache. “I don’t know,” he says simply, idiotically .
Steve stares at Eddie, his face etched in worry. “You don’t… know?” He questions, his voice quiet, but it rings in Eddie’s ears loudly. Yeah, he’s an idiot .
Trying to gain the confidence to explain himself feels like something impossible, but he needs to not be a coward. For once ! He needs to do this for Steve and his kids, who he didn’t know existed until this moment, but he should step up as a dad. This needs to be figured out. Eddie knows that, but if he could just pretend this is his life, for this moment, does that make him a bad person? This will all end the moment he opens his mouth. The dream will end and he’ll be in hell where all of Hawkins said he’d be, but for this moment he’s here. In this universe, he gets to be happy one last time.
Eddie, like the bad person he is, debates on just telling Steve nevermind and pretending everything is normal. “ Yeah, I just had a weird dream, don’t worry I’m fine, sweetheart.” Although , he knows that that’s wrong. Steve deserves the truth, no matter what universe he’s in.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” he says finally, staring into Steve’s eyes; hoping Steve can understand. “I was doing the plan, and the bats swarmed me. They were ripping me apart and…” Eddie trails off, ultimately picking the ground to stare at rather than Steve. Tears prickle at his eyes, but he quickly wipes them away. “I guess I blacked out, and then I woke up here.” The answer seems lame, but to be fair Eddie has no goddamn clue what’s going on.
Before Eddie can overthink, and try to sound less stupid, he feels arms wrap around him. The hug is tight, and comforting. Steve smells like cinnamon, with something light that Eddie can’t pinpoint. Probably something fancy.
There’s a mumble coming from his chest, as he wraps his arms around Steve. “What, sweetheart?” He asks, trying to will himself not to cry. Honestly he’s waiting for the room to fade to black.
Steve lifts his head, and looks up at Eddie with those big puppy dog eyes. “You don’t remember anything?” He reaffirms softly, though there’s a slight hitch in his voice.
“No, I’m sorry. I want to, God I want to,” Eddie states with a certainty he didn’t know he was capable of while being this damn confused.
Steve’s eyes are unfocused for a moment as he stands motionless in Eddie’s arms. It’s worrying to say the least. Instinctively, Eddie holds the man a bit tighter. The shift in movement must have triggered something because Steve is immediately pulling out of his grip and rushing towards a door to their left. Fuck, he fucked up .
There’s a bit of noise before Steve emerges from the doorway. He has a beaten up faux leather notebook in his right hand, and he slowly walks towards Eddie. “You’ve always been bad with dates, huh?” It’s not really a question, so Eddie isn’t really sure how to respond. It’s not wrong either.
Steve looks up at him with a soft smile, handing Eddie the notebook. Eddie opened the notebook, no, journal, and flipped through its pages. It’s filled with his handwriting; a cold chill runs through his body, and his heart feels heavy in his chest. There’s dates at the top of each entry, details of his memories that he’s never lived.
The first entry starts April 1986. There’s no day listed like most of the other entries. Eddie doesn’t read it right away, instead he looks to Steve, waiting for him to answer his unsaid question.
Steve’s eyes are glossy with unshed tears, and he quietly clears his throat. “You told me some time around 2005,” Steve chuckles fondly. “You’re going to think I’m crazy,” he states after a moment of silence.
Eddie’s going to think that Steve’s crazy? When Eddie actively can’t remember anything? He shakes his head, trying to convince Steve that he’s not. If anyone is crazy, it would be the freak.
Steve smiles at him, mutters to himself and looks away. After a beat of silence, Steve gets on his knees in front of Eddie, and gently grabs his hands. Eddie’s face grows hot as Steve looks up at him. Get it together.
Steve holds his hands tightly and rubs Eddie’s hips. Get it together, Munson, Holy shit. Steve pulls him towards him, and Eddie stumbles towards the ground unceremoniously.
When Steve speaks, Eddie can feel his breath tickle his face. “God… How do I say this? You remember the Vecna plan, right?” Steve questions, he looks to Eddie patiently, waiting for him to answer.
“Yeah,” he answers back quietly, “The bats were on me, and then everything went black…” he trails off pathetically, leaving the unsaid question in the air.
“You didn’t die,” Steve answers back, “you went into a coma after Robin and I dragged you back to Hawkins. You’re currently in room 2401 at Hawkins Medical Center. When you wake up, it’ll be April 9th, 1986, and I’ll be asleep in the armchair to your left.”
Eddie doesn’t know how long he’s been holding his breath, but it’s starting to hurt. His mouth opens slightly, trying to find the words to respond.
Steve must know what he’s trying to do because he cuts him off. “I know, this is all confusing, and weird, but you need to listen and believe me.” Steve stares at Eddie, sharing his conviction.
“Always,” he whispers back; as if he could respond in any other way.
Steve smiles wide, “Thank you. I’m not doing this well, but you have to deal.” He doesn’t let Eddie respond, “You didn’t tell me till later, about this. You said it was November 2005 or 2006, I thought I had more time. To like, write a speech or something… That’s not important now. Amor, your body is in a coma back in 1986, but your mind is here. You get to live this day, and by the end of it, you’ll go back. I don’t know why, and I don’t know why today.”
There’s so many questions, and yet Eddie doesn’t exactly know what to ask. This entire situation is bizarre, but so was Chrissy getting flayed in his living room. How could he not believe Steve when he was so kind during the upside shit. He tried to make Eddie feel included, never made him feel stupid. Steve had dealt with other worldly forces since 1983. Even if he ignored the feeling in his gut to blindly trust Steve, there would still be a logical force there. Steve knows more than him, and Eddie trusts him with his life.
It’s silent for no more than a minute, but it’s long and nerve wracking. Steve, like the god-send he is, doesn’t pressure him. His eyes are still kind and his hands are warm on Eddie’s.
“What day is it?” Eddie questions softly. Stupid one to start with, but at least he said something.
Steve, honest to God, giggles. Eddie can’t even be embarrassed; the smile in response is completely involuntary.
“Today is Wednesday, November 26, 2003. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have to get ready to drive to Wayne’s tonight. We have three kids, which you met, Violet is seven, Nathan’s three, and Jazmín is 16 months, or almost a year and a half. Oh! We also have to meet up with Robs and Nance, plus some grocery shopping, and you need stuff for payroll at the shop. Your tattoo parlor. Today is such a mundane and busy day. I, um, I’m sorry.” Steve smiled at first, but the ramble quickly turned self-conscious.
It almost feels unnatural to see Steve Harrington anxious and sunken in on himself. Eddie immediately wanted to alleviate any insecurities of the absolutely gorgeous man in front of him. Any day with Steve couldn’t be a mundane one.
“Harrington, I,” Eddie sputters, but is quickly interrupted.
“It’s Munson, actually.” Steve is calm when he says it, his mouth tugging into a smile.
Eddie purses his lips, eyebrows furrowed. “W-what?”
Steve’s smile grows, “My name is Steve Munson. I changed it in ‘98.”
What?! Steve. Steve changed his last name to Eddie’s ?!
“Why?” He asks like the dumbass he is . This hot man has children with him, spent years with him, and changed his name to Eddie’s. And Eddie immediately tries to sabotage himself. Obviously, Steve should leave Eddie, but don’t tell him that!
Eddie is pulled from his thoughts by laughter. Steve’s face is a light peach color, and he gasps for air. “Is this what we were like when we were teenagers?”
He takes a moment, a disbelieving smile on his face. “Eddie, I love you, I want to marry you! We have kids together. Why wouldn’t I want your last name?”
Eddie stays silent while he takes in what Steve just said. Why wouldn’t he? Eddie could think of a million reasons. Though, that’s not the only thing Steve said that caught his attention.
“Marry?” Eddie asked. Wouldn’t that be a dream, to get married. Ever since he was young and realized that he didn’t like girls, he accepted that marriage was a privilege he could never attain.
Steve gives him a sad smile, his eyes knowing. He turns Eddie’s hand over gently, placing his left hand in his. Two rings are situated on Steve’s left ring finger. One was Eddie’s old skull ring; it shouldn’t have been that attractive, it was just a ring, but Steve could make anything attractive. Next to the skull ring is an engraved gold ring. A wedding band. Roses surround the ring, and in the middle is the name Munson . Eddie slowly drifts his eyes towards his own left hand. A similar ring sits, same engraving, but the metal was black.
Eddie’s eyes darted between their hands. There’s this overwhelming hope inside him.
“You gave me one of your rings in ‘87. Said I was it for you, and you’d love me forever if I let you,” Steve’s voice is cracking, but he continues. “Our wedding bands were in ‘98. God, it was so romantic I changed my name two days later.”
A quick breath escapes Eddie. His eyes are filled with tears, and he uses his left hand to cradle Steve’s cheek; his right hand still in Steve’s.
Steve doesn’t seem to notice Eddie’s complete wonder, or he chooses to let Eddie digest his emotions. “There’s talk about legalizing it, like, in the whole state of Massachusetts. If it is, we’re gonna drive up there and get eloped,” Steve whispers, subconsciously leaning his head into Eddie’s palm.
Steve and him could maybe get married, for real. He could maybe get married to a man he loves in his lifetime. It breaks his heart that he can’t give Steve this extravagant wedding, but the selfish part within him is just elated that he could marry Steve .
Steve shifts lightly, face inches from Eddie’s. “I’ll go down with the kids while you take time to adjust and get ready.” His mouth parts slightly and he lets out a short breath. Fuck, he’s beautiful.
“Did I shower already?” Eddie asks quickly, eyes fixated on Steve’s mouth until he watches his lips purse. When Eddie’s gaze trails up to Steve’s eyes he can see his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Last night, why?”
He doesn’t answer the ‘why,’ “Do you need to?” He asks instead. Eddie’s eyes rake over Steve’s face immediately after, can’t help himself; they’re still so close.
Steve draws in a breath and purses his lips again, “Yeah, just a quick one, I-”
“Can you bring the kids up? Or will they be bored in our room? You can shower while I stay with them. I mean, I could go down there? I just don’t want to be too far right now,” Eddie says in one breath, effectively cutting off a stunned Steve.
A multitude of emotions cross his face, although confusion and bewilderment stand out the most. “You don’t need a minute? Time alone to comprehend all this?” Steve questions, rightfully so , while his arms move haphazardly while he speaks.
Eddie follows the movement with his eyes, small smile on his lips. “Nope, if I’m gonna live this day, then I’m gonna live it.”
“You’re insane, Eds,” but Steve has a smile when he says it.
Eddie gives a toothy grin back, “Bring them up? I’ll get dressed while you’re gone?”
“Yeah, um, yeah,” Steve shakes his head slightly, “Playmats are in the closet, and I’ll have Violet grab a coloring book,” Steve mutters out after. He shifts, and slowly gets up and starts walking towards the door, stopping right before he leaves. When Steve turns back, his eyes show hesitance and worry is etched on his face.
“I’m fine, darlin’ you can go.” Eddie punctuates this by flicking hands in a shooing motion. Steve’s blush is prominent when he finally leaves the room.
Eddie didn’t get the chance to read much when he flipped through the journal, but he caught sight of a yellow post-it note on the first page. Just go with it, don’t overthink too much.
So, he’ll do just that.