Food definitely made Steve feel a hell of a lot better, but when he almost fell asleep on the couch, he realised it would probably be a bad idea to attempt anything else that evening. After all, it had been a long day. He was also new at this and El had been adamant that like any other physical activity, it was easier with practice. 

"And I think that is my cue to leave," Hopper said as Steve yawned widely, totally unable to stop himself.

"Can finish tomorrow," he said round another yawn.

"Kid, I haven't felt this good in ten years," Hopper replied with a grin. "If you never get to finish, I am more than happy."

"Your ankle is still bad and the hearing in your right ear is out of whack," he said, pausing as he realised he had no idea he had even had that information, "and I'm not clear on how I know that," he added, "but I don't like leaving it unfinished."

It wasn't like he had catalogued everything in Hopper that needed his help on a conscious level, but apparently part of him had.

"You have a very convincing bitch face," Hopper said, clearly amused by his reaction. "When tomorrow?"

"Same time, probably," he replied, "but Keith is supposed to be calling tomorrow to let me and Robin know if Family Video is reopening. I doubt I'll have a shift, but I'll let you know if I do."

"I thought those stores weren't touched by the gates?" Hopper replied.

"Mostly they weren't," Steve explained, "but Keith got a message to Robin to let her know the pipes in the store had ruptured, took out most of the stock. It's all up in the air if they will reopen or if we'll be looking for new jobs. Kind of shocked we didn't get fired, honestly. Guess with all the excitement Keith never figured out we abandoned the store mid shift."

Given everything else that had been going on, Steve couldn't exactly find it in himself to get excited one way or the other. It was a problem for later.

"Any particular reason you did that?" Hopper asked.

"Well Dustin was adamant we go rescue Eddie and you have met Dustin, right?" Steve replied.

"You were on shift when you found me at Rick's?" Eddie asked, eyes round with surprise.

Steve nodded.

"Did we not tell you that part?" he asked.

Eddie shook his head.

"Yeah, we used the company computer to figure out where you'd be and then abandoned ship to come find you," he replied with a shrug. "We've kind of figured out when weird stuff starts happening in this town it's best to get ahead of it and Dustin was adamant everything was weird."

"Let's hope this is the last time," Hopper said.

"No argument from me," Eddie replied. "Doing all this once is enough for me, that you've all been dealing with this shit since 83 still blows my mind."

"Same here, Munson, and I've lived it," Hopper replied, going to stand up. "But it's time I got back. I told Joyce I just wanted to check in with Powell."

"Might want to come clean about that, Chief," Eddie said and grinned, "I'm sure she'll only kill you a little bit."

"Yeah, gonna avoid that for as long as possible," Hopper said, "at least until I can come up with a decent enough excuse."

"Just tell her I was nervous it wouldn't work and so asked you not to say anything," Steve offered.

"Thanks, Kid," Hopper replied, "but this is on me, not you. I will take the heat once I have worked up the courage."

"Joyce Byers is a formidable woman," Eddie said, and they all nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure who's scarier, Joyce on a mission or Nancy with a gun," Steve commented.

"We're agreed we're never letting either of them team up with Erica, aren't we?" Eddie added. "Because they really will take over the world."

"Not sure that would be a bad thing," Steve said with a laugh.

"Right," Hopper said, smiling, "I really must go. Get some sleep, Steve, and thank you. I can never repay you ..."

"You already did," Steve interrupted him. "You took in a little girl who needed a dad, and she just saved the world."

Hopper didn't seem to know what to say to that, just nodding in that gruff way he had.

"See you tomorrow," the older man said.

Steve went to get up to show him out, but Eddie got there first.

"Stay put, I got this," Eddie said.

Normally he would have protested, but he was pretty comfortable on the couch, and he was sleepy. He heard Eddie and Hopper exchange words at the door. It was too low for him to make out what, so he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Come on, Sleepyhead."

He opened his eyes to find Eddie right in front of him, at which point he realised he had dozed off.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing his face with his hand.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Eddie told him. "You've been working hard. Time for bed."

"It's not even nine o'clock," Steve did his best to object.

"And I woke you up at ridiculous o'clock this morning," Eddie said, "you've been driving all over the place half the day, you just put back together a man the Russians tried very hard to kill, and let's not even talk about the rest of the week. Sleep is just what the doctor ordered."

"Awww, but I was hoping to make out now we're finally alone," he responded, making sure to put just enough of a whine into his voice.

The way Eddie's cheeks coloured pink at his words was absolutely perfect.

"Oh, you did, did you?" was Eddie's not so smooth comeback.

"Yeah," he replied, reaching out to slide his hand into Eddie's.

They had kissed for the first time that morning, but he already felt strangely comfortable with Eddie. To him it was as if the kiss was more a confirmation than a beginning, even though he hadn't actually accepted he could feel this way until then. Robin had definitely been onto something when she told him this had been going on for a while. He might not have acknowledged what he was feeling, but it had been there.

"God, you make it hard to be a responsible human being," Eddie complained, thumb stroking over Steve's palm.

"Don't you want to kiss me too?" he asked, doing his best sweet and innocent impression.

"Fuck, yes, of course I want to kiss you," Eddie replied, leaning down and pecking his forehead. "How about we head upstairs, we get ready for bed, and then we make out until you fall asleep?"

"You inviting yourself into my bed, Munson?" he shot back with a grin.

"Well I can always go and sleep in my own, cold, lonely room, if you're against the idea," was Eddie very dramatic response, even going so far as to hang his head and look at the floor.

Steve stood, pulling Eddie towards him.

"I could never be so heartless," he said, matching Eddie's tone. "Forgive me for ever suggesting it."

Eddie laughed, leaning into him.

"You are a giant dork, Stevie," Eddie said, eyes flicking over his face and landing on his lips.

"Good thing we match then," he replied, voice deepening at the thought of what was going through Eddie's head.

Closing the remaining distance between them, he captured Eddie's lips with his own, pulling Eddie flush to him at the same time. Eddie's arms wound around him as they kissed slowly and gently. It was sweet and light, and it made Steve's head spin.

"You are incorrigible," Eddie said when they broke apart. "Come on, let's take this upstairs."

Steve could totally get behind that sentiment.

~*~

Steve reared off the bed clutching at his throat, the taste of chlorinated water clear in his mouth.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, you're okay, Steve, it's just a dream."

For a second, he didn't remotely comprehend the words, but strong, firm, warm hands gripping his shoulders grounded him. He stared into the darkness breathing hard as the meaning slowly resolved in his brain.

"Eddie," he half gasped, half said.

"Yep, it's little old me," Eddie replied, tone soft and calm, which was just what Steve needed. "Breathe with me, Sweetheart, before you start hyperventilating."

Eddie took an exaggerated breath in while Steve did his best to imitate it. It took a few more deep inhales and exhales, but eventually Steve felt his heartrate coming back down towards normal and his breathing settling. He hated nightmares, but it was always better when someone was there.

"Want some water?" Eddie asked, gently rubbing his back.

"Please," he said with a nod.

The phantom taste of pool water clung to his tongue, even though it was all in his head. Eddie disappeared into the bathroom for a few seconds and returned with a glass.

"Here," he said, handing over the drink and climbing back onto the bed.

They'd fallen asleep tangled together an hour or so after they had come upstairs. Steve had hoped that would be enough to push his dark thoughts far enough away to have a restful night, but apparently not.

"Thanks," he said, sipping the water and trying to push away the images in his head.

"Want to talk about it?" Eddie asked, going back to rubbing him on the back. "You were mumbling about something, but I couldn't make it out."

"Sorry," he apologised, taking a few more little sips.

"Not a problem," Eddie assured him. "My turn last night, your turn tonight. Just let me know what you need."

Steve sat there for a little while longer. Sometimes it helped to talk, sometimes it didn't, so it took him a few moments to figure out what would be best.

"Did you know Barb?" he asked in the end.

"Nancy's friend who died?" Eddie checked.

Steve nodded.

"Not really," Eddie said. "We didn't run in the same circles."

"She died in my pool," he explained. "A Demogorgon took her and killed her. She was here because I invited Nancy to a small party: me, her, Tommy, Carol, and Barb."

"That sucks," Eddie said.

"Today," Steve went on, "when I was out the back I was looking into the pool where the gate was. It occurred to me that the Demogorgon being in my yard might not have been as random as it seemed at the time."

"Why?"

"Do you remember what El said the first day, about them suspecting that Henry took Will because he had dormant powers?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," Eddie replied with a nod. "A lot of that day is a bit fuzzy, but I remember that."

"So, what if the Demogorgon was here for me?" Steve said.

"Oh," Eddie said, leaning closer to him. "But that's not your fault."

Steve smiled a tiny sad smile.

"Robin already rammed that into my thick skull," he said, "but I guess my subconscious didn't get the message. The Barb in my nightmares very much thinks it's my fault."

Moving in close, Eddie wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on Steve's shoulder.

"Nobel of spirit, brave of heart, and far too willing to take things onto himself, my mighty paladin-cleric," Eddie whispered in his ear. "How about this humble bard soothes you back to sleep with some music?"

Steve wasn't sure he'd be doing much more sleeping that night. The mental image of a rotting and angry Barb trying to drown him in the pool was a little too raw. But Eddie looked so hopeful, so he nodded and smiled.

"Be right back," Eddie said, scrambling off the bed and heading out of the room.

One thing Steve did notice was the house was pretty dark. There wasn't much of a moon, but Eddie moved as if he could see perfectly. However, he filed that away for later, because it was possible that Eddie had always had good night vision. Steve knew his was pretty good, but Eddie had moved without any hesitation at all.

Less than a minute later, Eddie was back with his acoustic guitar.

"Any requests?" Eddie asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed and putting the instrument in his lap.

"You pick," Steve said.

"Hmmm," Eddie said, pretending to think very hard. "Okay, this is one my mom used to sing to me when I was little."

Steve smiled as soon as he heard the opening chords. When Eddie's husky tones started with the words of Bridge Over Troubled Water goosebumps broke out all over Steve's skin and the nightmare dimmed in his mind. That they had lost Eddie, that no one, that he might never have had a chance to have this made the back of his eyes prickle. He couldn't figure out how he had gotten so lucky.