Slow and Steddie wins the race

Stay

Eddie woke up at 8:35, from a long and deep slumber, to a room filled with people. Everyone was talking to one another. He grinned at the sight of so many people whom he loved gathered in such a small place.

Eddie looked around the room. He saw Robin, Nancy, Jonathan and some dude with very long straight hair talking to each other by the window.
By his bed end Lucas sat nervously on a chair and behind him stood a guy with a bowl cut also visibly uncomfortable. The boy with the bowl cut was talking to Mike and this girl with a buzz cut. 'She looks cool' Eddie thought when he saw her. Next to him we're Steve and Dustin doing... well what Steve and Dustin almost always did.

As soon as Lucas noticed Eddie was awake he sprinted towards him and hugged him tightly, saying in a quiet voice "sorry I wasn't with you yesterday." He tightened the embrace and said with a cracking voice "I was with Max"
"That's okay bud" The other day Dustin and Mike had informed him about how Max had only barely survived Vecna and would be blind and paralysed from the hips down for the rest of her life. So he understood why Lucas was with her.

Lucas went back to sitting on his chair, uncomfortably shuffling with his feet.
"You sleep alright?" Steve asked Eddie with a concerned look on his face. Steve wanted to touch Eddies hand but stopped in the middle of the motion and put his own hand back on his own lap where it had layn from the moment he arrived in the hospital room.
No one seemed to notice this, but Eddie did. He was a tad sad to not have Steve's hand on his but he pushed that feeling aside and answered "like a bear in the winter" Eddie announced like he was proud of his accomplishment.

"So who are the cool chick, the stoner and the bowl cut boy?" He asked, already guessing he knew, but still he wanted to be properly introduced.
"This is Eleven" Mike said proudly putting his hand on the buzzed girls back. Eddie nodded and smiled at her "I have heard so much about you. It's great to finally meet you in person."
Eleven stepped forward towards Eddie and said "I also heard about you Eddie 'the brave'" and she put out her hand.
Surprised by not only Elevens formality but also his new name he shook her hand and then pulled her in for a short hug whispering in her ears "thanks for saving everybody and also for dealing with Mike." They laughed and Eleven raised her eyebrows a bit pushing the corners of her mouth downwards in an awkward laugh "he's hard sometimes." She chuckled at him and Eddie nodded his head completely agreeing with her.
As Mike heard what they were saying to each other he started protesting and eventually El and Mike started bantering while Eddie was just laughing at the cute couple.

Will had made his way over to Eddie and stood there uncomfortable, looking at his hands. "I'm Will" he said and then he pointed at Argyle "The stoner is Argyle."
Eddie looked Will up and down and said "So you're the wizard. You staying in town for a while?" Will looked questioning at Eddie "Yes, now that my mom and Hopper are together we'll come live here again." He stated not knowing why he got asked.
"We still need a wizard in the hellfire club." Eddie said smiling at the boy "are you up for it?" Wills face lit up at these words, his eyes began sparkling like little stars as he said "yes of course! You know... I've been planning a campaign the weeks before the whole Vecna thing, maybe w- " While Will was telling Eddie about his campaign and how they could maybe do it in Eddies hospital room in a couple of days, Eddie noticed Lucas standing up and throwing an apologetic glance at Eddie. Lucas left the room, he wanted to go check on Max.

After an hour or two the room was getting less and less crowded. First Dustin, Mike, Will and Eleven had left to go sit by Maxs bed en hear if there were any updates on her situation yet. A while later Robin had to go to her new work, because there was not much left of family video, at the candy store. And because Nancy and Jonathan had gotten in a fight Nancy left fuming and a couple minutes later Jonathan and Argyle went to smoke a couple of palm tree delights.
And so the only one left with Eddie was Steve.

"Don't you need to go to work or something, Harrington?"
"No, family video doesn't exist anymore."
"And you don't work with Robin at the candy store, uhm what's it called?"
"It's candyland." Steve sighed sinking deeper in his chair "and no I don't work there." He looked away from Eddie.
"Why not Harrington?"
" because..." Steve didn't finish that sentence right away. After half a minute he mumbled "Cause I can't sleep at night and by day I want to be here to keep watch over you, protect you." It was hard to admit for him but as he said it out loud Steve knew it was the truth.
At the beginning he often switched between sitting by Maxs bed and Eddies. But after a while he stayed longer at Eddies, to give Sinclair some time alone with Max. Or that was his initial reason. Now he just wanted Eddie to be fine, he knew Sinclair was going to take care of Max. And Maxs mom never left her side unless if she had to eat, pee or get a doctor.

Eddie had heard the words Steve had mumbled and he couldn't help but feel a warm fuzz in his head. King Steve, Steve 'the hair' Harrington the most popular guy in school, cared for him.
He beamed a smile in Steve's direction "my knight in shining armour"
Steve looked up at Eddie, flustered. Steve did not know Eddie could hear his mumbling.
"At your service"
"Do you have a white horse?"
"No but I have a dazzling BMW"
Eddie made a sad face as if disappointed that Steve didn't ride his white purebred horse to Hawkings hospital.
"My car is better than a horse, it has 170 horsepower. That equals about 80 horses" Steve said proudly.
"And is it soft?"
"The seats are." Steve confirmed.
"How do I know?"
"Know what?"
"How do I know they are soft?" Eddie said.
A cunning smile appeared on Steve's face "maybe, if you're nice, you can try them" Steve winked at Eddie and got in a very comfortable position with his legs spread apart.
"And what if I'm not nice?" Eddie teased.
"You'll know either way." They looked each other dead in the eyes. Neither of them backing out.

But after a while Eddie was having a hard time keeping a straight face and his face was going in weird directions. Seeing Eddie like this made Steve laugh so hard he almost fell of his chair, he almost did if he hadn't grabbed Eddies arm to steady himself. They were now both laughing, when they were finished Steve wanted to let go of Eddies arm. But Eddie put his other hand on Steve's.

"Well Munson" Steve said, looking away from the stunning man who was holding his hand "guess I should get going"
In a matter of seconds fear crossed Eddies face, Eddie took better hold of Steve. "Stay with me" he asked "please." Steve looked at his watch seeing it was actually dinner time and he should be getting something to eat. Just as he wanted to say that he had to go to Eddie he saw the fear of him leaving on Eddies face. "Okay then" Steve said to Eddie, who's cheeks formed a little dimple at those words.

Eddies face looked relieved and happy but Steve could still see the fear of being alone in Eddies eyes. He had no idea why Eddie was suddenly so scared of being left alone. But Steve didn't care about the reason, neither did he ask, if Eddie needed him to stay that's what he would do.