"Dustin, are you sure we should bother Steve with this?"

Dustin turned to face the rest of the party, waving the spare key to Steve's front door wildly. "Yeah, Eddie's missing! Steve would want to know!"

"I mean…" Lucas hesitated. "We don't know for sure he is missing."

"He didn't answer the radio - and neither has Steve by the way - and his uncle said he's not been home since Friday!"

"Or he's gone out of town," Mike muttered.

"His van is still at his house."

"This is stupid," Max interrupted their arguing and grabbed the key. "Steve gave this to us for emergencies. This is not an emergency!"

"What if it's the Upside Down again?" Will asked quietly. "Eddie could be in serious danger."

Max's expression softened. "Okay, fine, we'll ask Steve." She knocked on his door loudly and even rang the bell but got no response.

"See?" Dustin snatched the key back and unlocked the door. "Steve's gone AWOL too. We better make sure he's not hurt."

"Dustin," Max sighed but he was already bounding up the stairs.

He burst into Steve's room, almost falling inside in his haste. "Steve! We've got a code red, Eddie's-" He stopped, eyes going wide at the sight of Steve kissing someone. A rather shirtless someone with curly brown hair in his bed.

Steve jerked back and his face went red as he grabbed a pillow to throw at Dustin. "Get out, Henderson!"

Dustin ducked and sprinted back downstairs to join the group now in the kitchen. They all looked at him questioningly as he caught his breath. "What happened, we heard Steve yelling?" Lucas asked.

Before Dustin could respond they heard hurried footsteps on the stairs and Steve skidded around the corner. He was panting too, eyes slightly wild and half-dressed in a shirt and underwear. He fixed Dustin with a meaningful look and raised a finger as they all started talking. "Not a goddamn word!" He snapped and they fell silent.

Steve exhaled and straightened up, finally entering the kitchen. His hair was a mess which was a rarity and his face was still flushed but not as red as before when- "Oh my god, Steve!" Dustin gasped. "Dude, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"Wait, Steve has a girlfriend?" Max asked gleefully.

"No, I don't." Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Henderson - who doesn't understand the concept of knocking - saw me and well…" He trailed off and Dustin was surprised to see fear in Steve's eyes. But then he blinked and was back to being stern. "Doesn't matter, point is we could've been doing a lot more than kissing if you'd turned up five minutes later. I don't care if Vecna's returned, you knock on my door and wait."

"First of all, gross, I did not need to know that. Although I am happy to hear you're finally over Nancy."

"Henderson-"

He ignored the warning growl and continued. "This is important! Almost as bad as Vecna's return. Eddie's missing."

Steve blinked at him, face screwing up in confusion. "Eddie?"

"He's been gone for over a day now! He didn't even take his van. No one can find him."

"He's twenty-one years old, kid. Sometimes we like to disappear for a while."

"Maybe Eddie has a girlfriend too?" Mike supplied.

Steve nodded and pointed at him. "Maybe. Henderson, Eddie is fine I promise you. Now, will you all go home and leave me in peace?"

"More like let you go back to sucking face with your not-girlfriend." Max snickered.

"Watch it or I'll take that key back," Steve growled before pointing at the door. "Out."

They all muttered sorry and filed out one by one. Dustin was the last to leave and he looked down shamefacedly as Steve raised an eyebrow at him. He stopped at the door though, eyes focusing on a pair of white reebok sneakers. His head snapped up and he met Steve's panicked gaze. Steve's hand shot out to grab Dustin but he ducked and was up the stairs lightning fast, sprinting to Steve's room.

She had curly brown hair…

"Henderson!"

Because there was no way in hell it was-

Dustin slammed into the room in time to find Eddie pulling on a shirt, trousers already mercifully in place.

Steve hit the doorframe a second later and groaned.

Eddie looked between them and then he grinned at Dustin. "Alright, butthead? Still not learnt how to knock?"

"You…" Dustin wheezed, for once completely blindsided as he whirled to look at Steve. "And you?"

"I think we've been found out, Stevie."

"Stevie?!" Dustin thought he might faint.

"Whoa." Steve led him to sit on the bed and sighed. "Alright, Dustin, I suppose we should come clean now. Eddie and I are dating, as you've probably figured out."

He stared between them, brain offline after such a massive shock.

Eddie was still grinning and he nudged Steve with his hip. "I don't think he believes you."

"Dude, he saw us kissing… in bed."

"You're calling Eddie dude…" Dustin suddenly realised where he was sitting and leapt up. "Gross!" Eddie cackled and even Steve was trying to hide a smile. "I can't believe you didn't tell me. And you!" He pointed at Eddie. "We thought something bad had happened to you!"

"As you can see I'm perfectly fine. I was trying to enjoy the weekend alone with my boyfriend but what can you do?" He shrugged and ruffled Dustin's hair. "Hope we didn't scar you too bad."

"No, I'm fine." Now the shock had worn off and Dustin could understand he was more than happy. That was until he saw the bruises on Eddie's neck and he rounded on Steve again. "Why are you hurting Eddie!"

Steve's face went red and he stammered, arms flailing and he looked at Eddie. He laughed before wrapping an arm around Steve's waist to pull him close. He then bent down to whisper conspiratorial to Dustin, "Don't worry, Henderson, I like it. But thanks for looking out for me."

"Munson, shut up."

"I'm gonna go now," Dustin said haltingly, now definitely scarred. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Thank you," Eddie replied sweetly as he reached the door. "Oh and Henderson? You can tell the other buttheads if you want. Don't be afraid to give them all the details!"

Dustin hurried down the steps to the sound of Eddie's laughter. He slammed the front door shut and joined the others who were all looking anxious. "What happened?" Will asked.

"Nothing."

"Who's the girlfriend then?" Max prodded.

"No girlfriend."

"Dude, he's got someone up there. Is she butt ugly?" She looked gleeful at the thought.

"It was Eddie."

The four of them looked at Dustin in complete shock before all screaming, "Eddie?!"

"Yes?" Eddie was leaning out a window on the second floor. "Scram children, we've got grown-up things to attend to and we don't need to hear you lot screaming!"

"Eddie!" He suddenly disappeared as Steve leaned out. "Get home safe! I don't want any phone calls about missing children!" And the window shut.

"Holy shit," Mike muttered. "Eddie could do so much better."

"Hey, don't hate on Steve!" Dustin was quick to defend his best friend.

"I think it's sweet." Will smiled and Max nodded in agreement.

They quickly gathered up their bikes and left, still arguing about whether it was gross or sweet their pseudo-parents had gotten together.