(the monster and the superhero pt. ii)

｡･:*˚:✧｡SCREW IT, RAYMOND takes it all back. He truly, sincerely, genuinely hopes Vecna takes Robin Buckley.

As soon as he slumps into the passenger seat, he can hear her giggle behind him. Grimacing at Steve beside him, he curses. "You're dead, Buckley."

"Technically, no, I'm not dead yet. But I might be. Life is strange like that."

He groans and slams his head against the glass window, trying to focus on the view instead of on having been forced to sit next to Steve bloody Harrington.

The ride is short, yet it helps. It helps him breathe, even in a closed space. Just seeing the trees move past them, seeing the road blur beneath the wheels, feeling every bump and every rock. He's not a sitting duck, waiting for death. He's moving, he's doing something about their problem.

And the problem turns out to be bigger than he'd expected it to be when Steve stops the car behind the yellow tape. There's an ambulance. Police cars. Blood. A covered body. A pale skinny hand slipping out from beneath the covers, wrist twisted at an inhuman angle.

Nancy Wheeler can't keep her cool when she spots them where they stand, waiting for her. Raymond notices the shaking hands hidden inside the pockets of her oversized denim jacket, the softness in her eyes as they rake over each one of them before finally settling on Steve. She's not listening to the chief anymore. He's calling her and she can't hear it.

Steve is the first one she embraces as soon as she's close enough. She crashes against his chest and sobs. Raymond sees the worry in the way Steve holds her a bit tighter, frowns a bit deeper, kisses the top of her head.

"Steve, it's Fred," she cries out. "He's dead!"

Now, Raymond isn't entirely sure who this Fred person is -was. He can only guess it was the skinny kid running after her the other day at school. And if he was in on the whole Jonathan Byers drama, he must have been pretty close.

Nancy runs to Robin next and then Dustin and Max. The three of them mutter a few apologies and words of comfort. Raymond supposes it's only fair to approach her somehow.

"Hey, Wheeler," he says quietly. Very carefully, he places a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, Ray." As she places a hand over his and squeezes, there's a small smile on her face. It's not genuine and Raymond knows it. It's the smile you give to people you're not close with when they try and comfort you and you just have to accept it because talking about it would be useless. You can't just refuse to listen to their words because you know they can't help; instead, you give up on explaining and just force yourself to appear comforted.

The trailer park looks as haunted as the lake does. Raymond can't help but see it. There's just something about it. It could be the dogs that seem to see what people can't or the moving trees that almost stare back at Raymond as he passes them. People glancing through windows, then hiding their faces immediately.

There's a loneliness to the place. The feeling of having no one. People don't rely on each other. They hide instead. They suffer, each in their own silence, their own piece of hell until they're dead and no one really cares.

Eddie doesn't fit. He's loud and explosive and more human than his neighbours could ever be. Raymond can imagine it. His guitar breaking the dead silence of the park. His loud friends and their ridiculous games interrupting the so-called peace.

He's a freak even among the freaks.

Raymond barely participates in the conversation because the kids are way more informed than he is. He tries to follow, truly, but all he can pick up on is that the other dimension is called The Upside Down. The Mind Flayer was a spider made of human flesh and it ruined the mall, caused all the mess. The Shadow Monster, its ancestor, had been exactly that. A fucking shadow. It had possessed Byers Junior two years ago because of his connection to the dark dimension. And Demodogs, less developed version of the Demogorgon, used to guard it.

All the characters from Eddie's little game are a thing, apparently. They all exist in some form, so naturally, Vecna does, too.

He can't help but admire what the people in this little group all have. As they speak, he notices they all trust each other. They never question what the other says, not unless as a joke, of course. They're all in, each one of them. They've been bait for demon dogs in an abandoned bus, they've cleansed children of demons by boiling them alive, made isolation tanks for telekinetic girls to look into the other dimension, watched people and rats melt and mold into a flesh spider and interrupted secret Russian operations.

As they follow Steve back to his car to see the school counselor Chrissy had been seeing, he starts believing it. All of it. These people have been through this before. They've defeated those things more than once and they know what they're doing. Maybe he should follow in their footsteps, just in case they can do it this time around, as well.

He's already secured his spot behind Steve in the car so he won't have to sit next to him when Nancy Wheeler brushes right past the vehicle without a word. Her high heels click against the concrete at a pace so fast Raymond isn't sure how her feet aren't covered in blisters. Maybe they are, he just can't see them. When it comes to faking perfection, people are quite fascinating. He's learned that watching his mother.

"Whoa, whoa, Nance!" Steve calls out after her. "Nance, where are you going?"

Nancy stops and turns around, faking a nonchalant shrug. "Oh, there's just something I wanna check first."

Dustin rests against the car door Raymond's previously opened to enter. "Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?"

"I don't wanna waste your time." Nancy shakes her head. Her hair bounces with the motion. It's cute. "It's a real shot in the dark."

"Yeah, okay," Steve mutters with a scoff. "Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need... You need someone to..." Raymond can see Steve's ears slowly turn pink. With every word, the shade deepens. He glances at Robin who only grins knowingly before a set of keys is thrown at her. "Here. I'll stick with Nance. You guys take the car, check out the shrink."

Raymond barks out a laugh and Robin shakes her head. "Don't think you want me driving your car."

"Why?" Steve rests his hands on his hips like he always does.

"I don't have a license."

"Why?"

"I'm poor!"

Steve shakes his head in disbelief. Dustin glances down at Raymond with a frown. "Can Raymond drive?"

"Hell no!" Raymond and Steve shout at the same time.

"Why?"

Steve only shrugs.

Raymond leans back into his seat casually. Steve knows Raymond can't drive - he does have a licence, but that doesn't mean he can navigate a vehicle. He's already crashed this very car so many times and Steve definitely can't take that risk.

"I can drive!" Max suggests.

Steve seems to be against it. "No, never again, please. Anybody but you. No chance."

"Come on!" She insists with the same fire Raymond's familiar with.

"No."

"Alright, okay! This is stupid!" Robin raises her hands in the air and leaves Raymond's side. In a few long strides, she's next to Nancy. Raymond chuckles as she smirks at Steve. "Us ladies will stick together. Unless you think we need you to protect us."

Encouraged by this, Nancy lifts her head in challenge. Her lips are pursed and she stands tall, in all her five-feet-three glory. Steve scratches the back of his head awkwardly before sighing in defeat.

Robin smiles cheekily, tongue peeking out from between her teeth as she ushers Nancy to get going. The two turn their backs on Steve. Raymond notices the smile on Max's face before she punches Dustin in the chest (lightly) to move him out of the way and sit down.

"Be careful!" Steve calls out miserably. Dustin starts lecturing him quietly. Raymond grins, hearing the heated exchange.

"They're insufferable," he mutters. Max looks up at him with wide eyes, visibly startled by him actually speaking to her.

However, she recovers just as quickly, shaking her head with a chuckle. "You're lucky you're not stuck with them constantly."

"Always the babysitter," Steve mutters when he and Dustin have finally settled down in the car. "Always the goddamn babysitter!"

"Don't worry, Henderson," Raymond starts. He looks over where the two girls have almost disappeared in the crowded street. "You'll get invited to the wedding, I'm sure."

Steve glares at him through the mirror and starts the car. "Dude, don't start. I'm serious."

"So am I."

"Uh, Ray." Dustin turns his head to look back at Raymond. "Earlier, Nancy said the chief told her they're working on finding Eddie. Now, I've been thinking and maybe it will be best if you don't leave the house after this. We cannot take any risks. We can drop you off now and we'll go see Ms Kelly without you."

Raymond sighs. As much as he'd like to disagree, it is true. Spring break starts any day now and it's not like he would really miss school anyway. He doesn't really go out except for groceries, but if Harrington and his kids bring those every now and then anyway, he has no reason to leave, not really.

It's fucking serious. It's real shit. People have suffered, hurt, lost. People have died. The Holland girl. Mrs Byers's boyfriend. Chrissy Cunningham. Billy. Maybe he should start behaving accordingly, stop treating it all as a joke because it's still not over. There will be more pain. More fear. More death. They're all preparing for it, each in their own ways, so he should prepare, too.

And back home, Raymond has someone so terrified, so lost. Someone falsely accused, hiding from everything including himself. He is supposed to come back to him, tell him it will all be fine, tell him they should trust those people so he will worry less.

So he replies to Dustin the only way he sees fit.

"Sure thing." He leans forward and rests his elbows between the backrests of the two front seats. He glances to the left. "Harrington, can you do me a favour?"

He notices the wariness in the way Dustin turns to look at Steve as Steve tries to appear nonchalant. "I guess, sure."

"Can we drop by your house first? I need to borrow something."

Steve purses his lips. "Right... Uh, yeah, sure thing."

"Great."

He leans back and focuses on the view as Max shoots Dustin a not-so-subtle questioning glare, probably curious to know the dynamic between Raymond and Steve. Raymond chuckles. If he knew, he'd be the first one to tell her.

The sky is gradually turning pink, with angry reds and oranges mixing with the blue of the day. Clouds appear almost golden thanks to the setting sun hiding behind them and Raymond can't keep his eyes off of the horizon. The houses appear cartoonish for some reason. Maybe the real world just doesn't seem so real anymore.

He turns to look at Max and finds her staring straight ahead with no particular interest. Steve and Dustin are too involved in their own conversation to pay attention to them, so he quietly calls out to her.

"Hey, Mayfield?"

Again, the surprise of having been addressed by him is there. "Yeah?"

"You okay?" He swallows. "After... Billy and everything. I know we're not really that close or anything, but I just-"

"I knew about you two."

Well, shit. There really is no going back now, is there?

Raymond has never really tried to hide that side of him. The socially unacceptable side. The malignant, corrupted, wrong side, as deemed by the same people who don't accept it. The side that likes boys. He's had moments of doubt, of disgust, of hating himself for it, but it's a part of him and he's learned to see it as exactly that -a trait he can't change, won't change.

Sure, there have been people ready to give him shit for it, call him names, but he's learned to look past it, to ignore those poor people with nothing better to do, thanks to his curly haired metalhead senior whom he'd seen do the same.

It's not something he can hide, either. There is a small part of him that is drawn to soft lips and gentle giggles, hair smelling of flowers, but it's overpowered by his adoration for calloused hands, the smell of gasoline. For being the gentle one and being cared for. Hell, he even struggles with girls not approaching him because they just assume he's gay, even though that's not completely true. It's complicated, but he's working on it, he thinks. Or he's just given up trying to pinpoint it.

One Saturday night back in May, Robin called it bisexuality. He's stuck with it ever since, whatever it is.

Now, unlike Raymond, at first glance, Billy Hargrove wasn't someone you'd look at and assume he wasn't straight. Everything about him looked straight to the shallow minded who couldn't care enough to look beneath the surface, past all the women surrounding him, all the masculinity he had been taught to display, having been raised by a heartless, violent man whose only worry had been Billy's weaknesses and how to conceal them.

Billy wasn't too careful. He didn't hide when he was with Raymond, no. He was just subtle. Subtle enough to be seen as mysterious, rather than secretive. He knew people who had something against it would not dare come close and say it to him, so he tried not to listen to what they said behind his back, either. It would only be another piece of the puzzle, other pieces being his abusive dad and judgemental stepmother.

He didn't care about what he was in public, oh, no, out of pure spite. To prove to the world it could not break him. Behind closed doors, Billy hated it, hated himself for it and wished it'd been different. One of those times was actually the first time Raymond had seen him cry. Probably the last.

So even if what they had, whatever it was, sometimes doesn't feel real -it feels like it was all a dream most of the time, something Raymond only made up in his mind because Billy, the only other witness of it, is dead and Raymond can pretend it never happened --- it feels very fucking real when Max says it like that. When she says she saw Raymond with her brother, knew of their little scheme. Raymond's heart stings a little more.

"If you're going to give me shit for it---"

"God, no," Max hushes out, casting a careful glance ahead to see Dustin and Steve still talking to each other. "I just--- you know, he... You lost him, too."

He swears, he fucking swears, the smoke is back. That night by the mall, being suffocated by the residue of what had seemingly killed Billy, it choked him and it's doing it again.

"Shit." He shakes his head and feels his eyes sting. He turns his head away from the ginger girl. His hands reach out subconsciously to play with the sleeves of his leather jacket. The very rims appear more worn-out than he remembers them to be, but it only allows him to pick at them further, knowing he can't always be absolutely sure of anything in this world anymore. "I did, didn't I?"

"Raymond, it's okay."

He knows it is. It's okay to still grieve. It's okay to hurt. What isn't okay, however, is sitting next to Billy's goddamn sister and taking it worse. Acting like he's the one in greater pain. It's selfish of him.

But he can't stop it.

"Is it true? What you guys said about... the mall fire." He turns to her carefully. "Did he really...?" Did he die saving you? Did he suffer?

"It's true." Max nods and drops her gaze to her hands. "The Mind Flayer got him. It... made him do things. Bad, bad things."

He can remember it clearly. The final few days. How Billy wasn't really himself. How he had changed. How Raymond's last memory of Billy remains the day he came to see him after his shift at the pool and Billy ignored him completely, tears in his eyes, jaw clenched and fists balled.

Months. Raymond has spent months believing it was his fault. Believing Billy died angry at Raymond, when actually, it wasn't Billy at all.

He swallows back the tears and ushers Max to continue. He isn't sure if Steve and Dustin actually have so much to talk about or if they're just giving them time to talk without interruption, but he is grateful nonetheless. "What happened then?"

Max sighs.

"We were stuck in the mall. Lucas, El, Mike, Will... The monster just came through the glass roof and attacked. El had already lost her powers." She sniffles. "We thought we'd die. We thought it was over. But then, he just--- I don't know, it was like something switched. He protected El, bought time."

Her hands are shaking. She's shaking.

Why the fuck is Raymond doing this? Why did he force a child to retell the most traumatic experience she's been through?

"Thank you for telling me this," he says, as gently as possible. "I shouldn't have asked you to talk about it. It was inconsiderate of me."

She shakes her head quickly and tries to regain her usual confidence. "No reason to apologise, it's getting easier with time. Besides, you deserved to know."

"Fucking hell, Mayfield. I know you weren't related, but you remind me of him a whole lot, you know." He smiles a little. "He had a few good traits and it seems like he learned them from you because I doubt it was the other way around."

She chuckles and rubs her face. "For what it's worth, he did care about you. He was a horrible person, but he truly cared. You're probably the only person who can say Billy Hargrove felt that way about them."

He shakes his head, remembering all the nights he'd spent listening to Billy talk about his annoying but (inspiringly) crazy little sister he would die for --- he did die for. "I doubt that."

🖇️ 🎬 🕷️ 🕸️ 🎸

｡･:*˚:✧｡STEVE HARRINGTON NEVER changes and his house doesn't, either.

As Raymond walks through, avoiding the large pool, for it still makes the bad memories resurface, he feels out of place. Perfection, too much of it and it reminds him of his mother, of Steve's parents, of being forced into a mold you can't quite understand.

He used to feel bad for Steve because of it until he realised people like Steve lived in mansions and didn't need anyone to feel bad for them.

He knows exactly what he's looking for. As Max takes in the huge crystal chandelier in the dining room and the rose garden through the window ("It's got a fucking fountain, Dustin!"), he goes up the stairs and opens the door to the second room on the right. He wastes no time making Steve paranoid about him going through his stuff and immediately grabs only the item he'd come in to find.

Steve stands in the doorway. "You used to try and teach me. My mum got me that one and I never even touched it."

"I did try," Raymond mutters, not bothering to engage in Steve's attempt at bonding, "until I realised there are things that just never change. I can't force them to."

There's an audible wince coming from Steve, but he ignores it. He supposes he should be nice, since Steve's just done him a favour, but that would be fake and Steve would know. He'd see right through it and it would be useless. Instead he walks towards the door and Steve gets the cue, moves to the side to let him through.

"Thanks, Harrington. I owe you one."

"Ray."

He is already at the staircase, but he turns back around, lifting an eyebrow at Steve who only gestures towards what Raymond's holding. "He's gonna love it."

It's not about Steve. Steve isn't trying to make up. He's talking about Eddie and about Raymond and about the kids. He always is. Maybe Raymond should follow the example and act civil. After all, they are about to save the world, among other things.

So he smirks. "I know."

Yet, as Steve's car drives away, leaving Raymond alone by the lake, he can't help but feel strange. Restless. Anxious.

He kind of expects Munson to approach him as soon as he enters the house, all noisy and curious, but the one to greet him is Ava. Before he even begins to think about how it reminds him an awful lot of how it used to be before Eddie showed up, he notices the silence. The house is empty.

He freezes, immediately reaches into the pocket of his jacket where he always keeps the knife, yet it's not there. The pocket is empty.

Where the fuck is Eddie?

As quietly as he can, he carefully places what he's been holding on the coffee table and heads for the kitchen area, despite how obvious it is that Eddie can't be in there.

It's empty. Everything looks normal. No struggle, no blood, no evidence of any disorder.

The moment he grabs the knife closest to him on the counter, there's a thud behind him. He immediately turns around, holding the knife in front of himself and hears a scream.

"Jesus Christ, put that away!" Eddie screeches at him, hands raised. Correction: one hand raised -the other one is desperately trying to keep in place the towel that hangs around his waist.

"Why the fuck are you naked in the living room?"

"I thought you wouldn't be here!"

"You heard the fucking car!"

"The goddamn shower was on, I couldn't hear shit!"

Raymond sighs in exasperation and all but throws the knife onto the counter. It clatters and falls into the sink.

He rests his back against the counter and presses his fingertips against the sides of his head where it pulsates. "I thought they'd taken you."

He doesn't mean for his voice to come out so weak. Or for Eddie slowly placing a hand on his shoulder to be so comforting.

"I'm still here, man. In flesh." He pauses. "Too much of it on full display right now, but it helps prove my point, right?"

Raymond can't help the small chuckle that his lips release as he nods. He makes the mistake of looking directly at Eddie, but clears his throat and looks away as quickly as possible. "I guess."

"Give me a sec."

Eddie moves away. Raymond can hear his footsteps as he heads for the living room area. Blood rushing to his face, he looks up carefully to see droplets of water cascade down Eddie's back and the tattoo of a guitar on his shoulder.

Shit.

"Hey, um..." At the sound of his voice Eddie turns around, but Raymond had forgotten to look away. There's a demon head tattooed on his collarbone with a few small bats littered over his chest, all the way to his right forearm. Two mirroring tattoos rest on his hips, but Raymond can't pinpoint what they are because they're almost completely covered by the towel because fucking hell, Eddie is naked. Right. "I left a little something on the table for you. To keep you entertained."

He looks Eddie in the eyes now, but Eddie's smirk makes it incredibly hard for him to do so. He knows.

"And what could that be?" he asks no one in particular and keeps on walking.

That's when Raymond feels it. The restlessness. The anxiety. It's been drumming against Raymond's ribcage ever since he left Steve's house, growing stronger, all to add up to this moment.

Raymond realises he can't wait to see Eddie's reaction.

He goes after him, finds him standing completely still by the table, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'll be damned." Eddie reaches out and grabs the guitar carefully, almost gently. The smile on his face only grows and he tears his eyes away from the instrument to look at Raymond. "Where did you break in to get this pretty one, huh?"

"The Harrington mansion," he replies, smirking to himself. "He doesn't need it anyway, he won't miss it. What do you think?"

Eddie only shakes his head, fingers gliding over the shiny blood red surface. "I'm not even sure I am worthy of touching her. She's worth as much as my fucking trailer."

Raymond only shrugs it off. Still, he can't help but feel surprised that Steve actually let him take the guitar. He didn't threaten him or warn him about its price, gave him a specific deadline for when he should return it. He trusted him with it, unlike he did with everything else, back when they were friends.

"So you like it?" he asks, feeling the giddiness fizzle out into something calmer, yet equally warm.

"You know what, Park? I'm actually glad you didn't die out there." He shakes his head, disbelief evident in his expression. "Just a warning, I might hug you. No homo."

"Right." Raymond grimaces. "Put on some clothes first."

"I will." He nods and walks over to the pile of freshly washed clothes. He takes the shirt from the very top and Raymond recognises it as the Hellfire shirt he'd shown up in. "By the way, you're wearing mine."

Raymond's breath catches in his throat and the smile slips off his face. Immediately, he touches the rigged rims of the sleeves and realises why they appear different. The leather jacket is too big on him. The zipper is broken. The way Eddie stared at him when he was about to leave with the kids makes sense now.

"How--- when--- Did I---"

"You were in a rush, so I didn't say anything about it." He shrugs, unfolding the shirt in his hands. "Besides, it looks good on you."

Raymond's face burns. "Shut up."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
eddie: *walks in naked, tattoos on full display*
ray:...
ray: something lgbt just happened to me

usually i keep these chapters a bit over 3k words, but this one went over 4.4k. i couldn't help it!! couldn't find anything to delete lol

the cat's out the bag!! the guy he's been thinking about all along was billy mf hargrove. our ray has questionable taste in men, but yeah. also he's bisexual yayy!! i just couldn't NOT make someone played by felix bisexual. felix gives off bi vibes.

as i've said already, the pacing of the show is pretty... chaotic, especially this season, so reddie will have to fall in love within a week basically. don't mind me rushing things up sometimes and slowing them down when you don't expect it.

thoughts on his relationship with steve? it's a mess, but it'll be explained in detail pretty soon.

anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please vote and leave comments and share this story with people you think might like it! feedback helps me feel motivated enough to keep going, i work really hard on this :D

take care <3